James Mason's Blog -or- The Journal of Contemporary Lunacy

I'm only playing with a fairly modest setup, but even a slightly toned down modlist makes for a very pretty world - especially considering the age of the game.  

Suikoden II - 108 Stars of Destiny and Nanami/Jowy ending PSX  I'd been at the end of Suikoden II for a year on my latest play-through but couldn't bring myself to finish it. I've finished it so many times before that this time I was more focused on building my ideal party(-ies), in particular optimizing the rune users. I also wanted to experiment with some characters I'd not used much in the past.  In the end, safe in the knowledge that I could always return, I took my party of battle hardened rune masters to the end game. Sierra, Rina, Nina, and Tengaar provided the magic power; (Hero) is, of course, a bit special and handles magic and physical stuff; and Victor rounded out the party as a bit of a traditional tank. Han bet the farm on a good old fashioned one-on-one duel. It didn't go well for him... Culgan and Seed were jerks until the end. They form a pretty potent combination, with some nasty magical attacks (they attack twice each per turn as well). After a qu...

Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System) マリアちゃんゲットだぜ！ I've always been fairly rubbish at Dracula X/Castlevania games, so the first order of business in Rondo of Blood was to unlock Maria, who serves as the "easy mode" character. She's hidden behind a locked door midway through the second level but, once unlocked, can be used anywhere. She has a projectile attack (two doves... sure, why not?) and a very handy double jump, which makes avoiding enemies and getting out of tricky situations that much easier. She's also much faster than Richter. The level design is familiar to anyone who's played a Castlevania game before but it seems a little prettier or more vibrant than the SNES or Mega Drive releases.

Yikes A bit of accidental good timing with the share button caught the above moment. I love how nonchalant Cloud looks in the frozen moment: "Meh, hang in there."

With an abundance of (enforced) time inside, I thought it was high time to start rotating through some RPGs I'd been in mid-playthrough, as well as some I'd been meaning to play for many, many years. I'd also meant to give Seiken Densetsu 3 and Shining Force 3 a go. In the case of the former, enjoying the Trials of Mana re-make demo gave me a push. Meanwhile, thoughts of how much I'd enjoyed Shining Force 2 made me fire up 3. I've been seeking an entry point to the Breath of Fire series for years, trying 2, 3, and 4 at various times. I'm trying 2 again on SNES but the frequency of random encounters is getting on my nerves a bit... I've recently restarted Grandia to try out the fan patch that translates the Saturn version. It made for a good excuse for yet another play-through, albeit my first proper replay in many years. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed some of the early game, once leaving Parm, and a...

Given it wasn't a big player in Japan (or Asia in general), JRPGs that were only available on the Xbox 360 are quite a rare breed indeed. Even rarer, then, are those that are included in the list of backwards compatible titles for Xbox One. Exclusives The only 3 titles that I know tick both boxes (360 exclusive AND backwards compatible on the Xbox One) are: Blue Dragon Infinite Undiscovery Lost Odyssey Infinite Undiscovery Infinite Undiscovery Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon enjoy reasonably high profiles, but I have a soft spot for Infinite Undiscovery . It seemed to mainly exist as a test game for the new Star Ocean engine but is an enjoyable fantasy JRPG with a solid cast and good battle system. It also features a New Game+ mode, which bumps up the difficulty. Multi-platform Titles Then there are a few more which are backwards compatible but are available on other platforms: Star Ocean: The Last Hope As an example, Star Ocean: The Last Hope (TLH) ...

Part two of my Lunar Eternal Blue play-through for #JRPGJuly After getting to the bottom of the Blue Spire and subsequently having Lucia weakened, it's time to make our escape. Unfortunately, the guardian statue at the entrance as come to life and isn't in an accomodating mood. (Part one is here) Best not to fight the Guardian until Gwen learns Rust Weapon! If Gwen has reached level 12, he will have access to Rust Weapon, which will negate the guardian's otherwise powerful physical attack (it buffs periodically but Rust Weapon cancels it out nicely). Gwen learns Rust Armor earlier, which also cancels out the guardian's armor buff. Poor Lucia's 1HP means she doesn't stand a chance if she's in the wrong place at the wrong time... After getting past one guardian, the ante is well a truly upped with 4 more appearing. This is what they call "fighting a losing battle" but Leo and his battleship come to the rescue. Leo to the res...

I decided to start off #JRPGJuly by continuing the replay of Lunar Eternal Blue that I'd recently started (I was only 45 or so minutes in, so I'm practically starting from scratch here). Apart from the opening, this is the first significant dungeon of the game. There is a healing statue near the mid-point and HP and MP potions are also available (in chests and as drops), so it's a good introduction to combat without being overwhelming. Hiiro's first AoE special attack - very useful early on "Hey, a shiny crystal. I wonder what's inside?" *gack* [un-impressed expression] Hiiro is immediately taken with Lucia but she has no time for idle chit-chat - she wants to be taken to the Goddess Althena right away. Hiiro doesn't really know how to accomplish this but offers to help anyone. Anything for a pretty face, huh? Ruby is suitably un-impressed with her lovestruck partner. Look at those stats! Shame they don't last...