Stella Deus

[Sadness]

I've heard pretty bad things about this game from this Japanese guy at rpgdreamers.com. I'm definitely gonna wait till I hear more before I buy this.
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Make me feel with your razor.

[Drizzt]

Yeah well there are always going to be mixed reviews about these sort of games, I myself am always a big fan of any form of Strategy RPG no matter how bad it is (with very few exceptions, but that is just me). And in regards to the graphics being PSOne style, that is usually how all PS2 TRPG are going to look like (which is of course no problem at all to me:) with again few exceptions such as how good and 3D the new Fire Emblem looks on the Gamecube (and the new Advance Wars, also Gamecube).

I hope this game turns out okay though, hey I shall buy it anyway (TRPG!!!). But if it does not do very well, then all it really means to me is that there shall probably be no sequel...
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“Firbolgs die with honor,” Morten explained as the logs beneath Tavis began to burn. “We don’t beg for mercy. We don’t show pain. We just die.”
“Maybe we skin you alive,” Noote warned. “That hurt plenty." - The Twilight Giants, Book I.

[jjrrs]

Got it on sale last Friday. Intresting thing, this maybe the first PS2 game(or even the only playstation family game ever?) in NA that dosen't have a Sony seal.
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[Drizzt]

Formed any opinion of Stella Deus yet jjrrs? I shall probably order this game among other sometime in June I think, when a couple more games I would like to purchase become available. (And when my wallet fills up a bit more, as I only recently paid off a large game order the other day...)
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“Firbolgs die with honor,” Morten explained as the logs beneath Tavis began to burn. “We don’t beg for mercy. We don’t show pain. We just die.”
“Maybe we skin you alive,” Noote warned. “That hurt plenty." - The Twilight Giants, Book I.

[jjrrs]

Oh I haven't even opened it yet since I'm way behind on my RPGs and I just quit FFXI for the month again to try to catch up. it sucks to have a load of new rpgs sitting around unopened but I'd end up saving more money on those games later on; as I'd more than likely ending up keep the copy I got sealed until gamestop has a buy 2 get 1 free sale to pick up a used one for $25 or so, and returning this one when that happens to get my $37.99 back.

The reviews that are slowly coming in are very soild as the 7.5 from game informer was by far the worst grade yet, everyone else had it between 8-8.5 or above. For some reason neither gamespot or ign which I check the most have yet to reviewed it, don't know why since there wasn't much else that came out the last 2 weeks... I would think this is a solid "B" grade game on the fact that it is a good tactical RPG alone and how much more one would like it depends on how well that person likes the story.

[Drizzt]

Yeah I am like that as well, I buy lots of brand new games (especially RPG's) when I have never even finished the first game, or when I still have lots of various other ones to play/finish in general. Oh well, when you have given the game a go, I look forward to hearing your opinion on the game after you have given it a fair shot. And the same goes to anyone else who has actually played the game a good bit, not just going with the flow of the reviews they have read. Sometimes when a person does not play an RPG game simply because they have heard bad things about it, they can be missing out on a good game...

Stella Deus looks good enough to occupy my time with, so I shall buy it no matter what someone else says, but I do hope my money shall not be going to waste. I can afford that gamble (not literally, as my wallet tells me...)
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“Firbolgs die with honor,” Morten explained as the logs beneath Tavis began to burn. “We don’t beg for mercy. We don’t show pain. We just die.”
“Maybe we skin you alive,” Noote warned. “That hurt plenty." - The Twilight Giants, Book I.

[Keriaku]

[Cedric]

Well I'm not jjrs, but maybe I can offer my opinions about the game, if you'll have me.

Let me say this though, as an RPG, the game is fun for me, but I can tell why so many people hated playing this.

Voice Acting - First off, these guys have no emotion whatsoever. I understand that EVERYONE reads off a screen or paper, but that doesn't give a person (who gets paid by the way) any reason to sound monotone. Spero is the main villain of this crime because his face says one thing, but his lines indicate someone reading a story just because a report is due tomorrow. I'm thinking they read each line one by one, and then just put it in the game where it needed to be. There's no motivation whatsoever. Vizer, Lumena, Prier, Echinda, and Viper seem to be the only ones that have appropriate voices. Everyone else needs some caffeine.

Moronic AI - This didn't bother me at all, but I have to put it here because many don't play too long because of this. The opponent AI has this big problem with mastering the concept of moving around the perimeter to reach the stairs in order to attack your characters that are on the top. Many times, they move back and forth and just end their turn. While it takes the same amount of time to do both, it seems longer if the computer just paces back and forth while not doing anything rather than move in a timely matter across the perimeter. Just one minor tidbit.

Point and click world map - In my opinion, this is the biggest injustice to RPG fans in the history of mankind. Either that or cancellation altogether (Suikoden 3 PAL) But strategy games are exempt just because of their complex battle system. It would be nice to change it someday though. I don't see how hard it can be.

Scenery - Or lack of it. There's no real scenery aside from the battles and backgrounds of the text box when people are talking. Most of the time, the battleground seems rehashed at times. Only in story battles do you get a sense of new scenery. When you're levelling up in the Catacombs, the environment looks almost the same as the last level.

Lack of Progress - This is everyone's biggest complaint. It doesn't seem like there's much progress being made from the first battle than the second. I'm not sure how it is in the later chapters, but I see what they mean. You'd think they'd reveal more of the story as you visit every town, but they really don't. Throughout most of chapter 1, you're just doing spirit hunting. (errands I guess) But I'm fine because leveling up itself is a big enough thrill for me. I just wish that whenever people would class change, they'd look different. Oh well.

***

Now that was all bad, but it's weird how I really like this game. I didn't feel Phantom Brave as much, but for some reason I can't put this game down. Maybe I was playing too many SRPG's back then. There was Disgaea, La Pucelle, Phantom Brave, and Fire Emblem, so that's probably the reason.

I think the battle system which is similar to FF tactics also made me enjoy it. Like tactics, learning skills causes you to gain SP where you use it to gain new moves or raise your stats. There's also an Active point counter that dictates your actions. I can manipulate that gauge to have myself attack 2 or 3 times before the computer takes a turn. That makes it worth my time. There's also a free dungeon much like Disgaea where you can power level to the max before you even fight the second duel (If you really want to do that type of thing) the only problem is that the scenery of the dungeon is almost always the same format, thus boring you. So leave your characters the same level as the regular enemies and 2 or 3 levels below boss characters to enjoy the game to its fullest.

There's also a money trick available from the start of the game. That made me happy because fusing items cost a hefty penny. Now I'm having fun making all sorts of armor and weapons. I was doing this for three hours straight. Fusion is one of the many reasons I still play this game.


So this game is pretty much hit or miss. It really all depends. I recommend renting it if you are a strategy RPG fan. I'm a little concerned about length though. I heard it was 5 chapters and I'm already in Chapter 3. I clocked about 26 hours though. (some of which was idle time) It's a little on the mundane side, but it should last until Wild Arms: Alter Code f and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana comes out.
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[Keriaku]

Ced the Lad, nice post. Since you're ahead of me (I just got to Chapter 2) I have a few questions. First of all, what's the money trick you talked about in your post? I've been running a bit low on money lately. So far I've been using Spero, Adara, Grey, Avis, Lenia, and Generic Cleric as my party, what did you use mostly? I hope I can get through the game without getting bored.
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Inspired by everything

[Cedric]

At that point in the game, I used the same party as you. But soon in that chapter, you will meet Gallant who is an Axe user. I tend to use him and Avis interchangeably. While the Generic Cleric looks super ugly, at the end of the chapter, he will be replaced with a more Aesthetically pleasing character. It would be nice if she had a personality, though: lol:

As for the money trick:

1. You fuse a "whistle" (item) with a "charm" (accessory) in order to get something called a "Rich Wallet".

2. Make 6 of these things and equip one on each character you use. To my knowledge, its effects don't stack, so one is enough.

3. Spend SP to get your 6 characters Combo slash *one combo attack*(or at the later stages, Combo Flame *2 combo attacks*, or Combo Flash *3 combo attacks*)

4. Now go to level 1 (yes level 1) of the catacombs and do a 6 person unite. Take your time, because they can't kill you. Make it so that EVERYONE shows up on the combo screen. Obviously, that one low level person you attacked will die instantly. Finish the level as usual. If you have any combo attacks left, use them.


If you killed at least one person with the 6 person unite, you will gain at least 40,000 gold at the end of the battle. No typo. It's 40 grand. Fusion's practically free now. (which makes the game fun for me) I hope that helps. Let me know if you need anything.
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[Drizzt]

Thanks for all the useful information, Ced The Lad. Yeah I suppose all TRPG's these days are going to have their numerous bad parts and flaws, but as long as you think it is playable, that is all I need to know. I'll give it a go, by which I mean pay the full price for it without first renting it...living in Australia and all. Stella Deus is a Strategy RPG I have wanted to add to my collection for a while, so I intend to stick to my decision.

But yeah I will wait until Wild Arms: Alter Code F (which I only have the Japanese version of...which was still good, but I only understood bits of conversation here and there) and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana are released before I order this game. Which I guess could be a bad idea, since you said this is a game you think should tide people over until Wild ARMS and Atelier come out...oh well.
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“Firbolgs die with honor,” Morten explained as the logs beneath Tavis began to burn. “We don’t beg for mercy. We don’t show pain. We just die.”
“Maybe we skin you alive,” Noote warned. “That hurt plenty." - The Twilight Giants, Book I.

[Keriaku]

A few more questions, Ced the Lad (Thanks for all the useful tips!). I tried the money trick, and I set everyone up. I think I started the Team Attack with avis, it showed that all my characters where in the yellow area including the enemy. But when I actually attack for some reason it left out Linea and Spero, which both have Combo Attack, and I don't know why I didn't have the option to use them in the attack. Do you have a good explaination of how the Combo Attacks work? The yellow areas and stuff are a bit confusing. :?

Also, I recently got a list of fusion that someone on GameFAQs complied (with other people's help)

http://www.inflammare.com/sd-fusion.php

I started some fusing now (getting rank 5 weapons for my characters). I can see how it can cost much, I'm running out of money. Also, should I replace my Priest with Gallant, until I get the story-priest? (I just got Gallant).
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Inspired by everything

[Cedric]

To my knowledge, it's dependent on their weapon. Linea has her combo attacks situated two spots to the left, right, top, or bottom of them. Spiro has range one on his combo. The area effect just shows you how far you can target people in a combo attack. At that point of the game the time, my setup went something like this:


========Linea=======
===Gallant=Spero=Adara==
=======*enemy*======
===Cleri= (blank)======
========Grey=======

This was because their area of effect made EVERYONE able to target the opponent.

Everyone's area effect

Grey and Linea: (2 spaces)

=====*=====
=====*=====
==*=* 0*=*==
=====*=====
=====*=====

Spero and Avis: (1 space)

=====*=====
===*=0 =*==
==== *=====

Adara (2 spaces with diagonals)

=====*=====
===*=*=*====
=*=*=0 =*=*==
===*=*=*====
=====*=====

Cleric and Gallant: Basically they have Adara's Area of effect minus the Northernmost, southernmost, easternmost, and westernmost points. I don't remember if the cleric's AOE was a lot bigger though. I thought it was.


Anyway, I can't put this game down! This game has so many things which should stop me from playing, but seriously, I think all the bad stuff meshes together to form a good game! :lol:

Let me say this, on a scale of 1 to 10, this game is no 10. This game is usually a 7 or 7.5. At points in the game, it gets as high as 8 or 9, but then goes back to 7. But that is its strong point. It NEVER goes below 7, ever. It's a solid game. That's probably why I can't put it down.

SPOILER: But then again, I don't want anyone playing the game to miss this important info.

***WARNING recruiting bosses ***

BTW: Bosses are people like Echinda, Vizer, Jade, etc. People who don't look like the regular enemies.

There are secret characters from what I read, but they are extremely hard to obtain. First off, EVERY single time you fight one of these unique bosses apparently we have to overkill them with a certain amount of HP. You notice that those guys typically run off after about half of their hp is taken. We have to beat them soundly in order to recruit them in chapter 5. The details are a little sketchy since the game is new, but it should be good practice to overlevel your characters before fighting a boss, so you can kill them with a combo attack or something. I'm mad because I missed out on Jade the first time and Echinda the first time too. I hope they changed this in the english version.
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[Keriaku]

Unfortunatly I haven't been playing this much, I'm about half-way through Chapter 2 still.

Also, about the boess recruiting...

*Spoilers, highlight to read*

I'm pretty sure by overkill, it means that you have to bring their health the 0, because usually the boss fights end when the boss' health is anywhere from 200-900. Also, I read somewhere that to know if you've overkilled or not, if you've overkilled the boss will actually fall down and disappear before the fight ends, like when you kill a normal enemy.

I hope the above information help anyone trying to recruit the secret characters, also I've already missed Jade, though I'm probably not even gonna try to get the bosses, because I don't want to overlevel my characters just to get the characters. Then the game won't be any fun becaus eit would be so easy.
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Inspired by everything

[Blackjack]

I rather enjoy this game (Except for the crap voice acting. I'm rather upset with Atlus for this. They're usually so good. I guess their voice acting budget went to DDS, instead, 'cause that game has excellent VA).

I especially love fusing items and getting incredibly powerful items really early (How powerful? Rank 11 Katanas for Spiro, Rank 10 for Grey and Adara and Rank 9 for Gallant :D How early? Beginning of chapter three Yeah. It's nice)

I really enjoy the battle system--the AP is a good way of making it seem more "real," I think.
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