Indinera wrote:It has came to my attention that some people were able to finish the game. So here goes!
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Sorry if this comes too late, I started the game last year, lost my save when my hard drive died, and just started / finished it again recently.
* What was your ending score?
731 I think. I used the guide in the forums or it would have been lower
* Your opinion about Random?
Seems more arrogant and obnoxious than in LF1-3, as if he, Sarah, Coryool and a couple others had all their negative traits amplified or personalities simplified. Maybe I'm missing context since I didn't play Laxius Power or Fortress Hell, but I don't remember him actively forcing Wendala to do things she didn't want to do or him or Sarah rubbing the "slave" thing in her face nearly as much.
* Your opinion about Sarah?
Same writing quality issue as Random compared to LF1-3
* Your opinion about Luciana?
Good as the only sane one, a bit Mary Sue-ish though
* Your opinion about Wendala?
Good as she's actually complex, funny, takes the slave thing a bit too far at least until she gets hit with the squid, then it makes sense
* Your opinion about Sandy?
Decent in that she retains her personality from LF1-3
* Your opinion about Coryool?
Good for gags but also seems muted compared to LF1-3, complex enough to repeatedly be a double agent and keep you guessing at whether the grabber worked but all he says outside that one scene is gwahaha beer and sex
* Your opinion about Baretta?
Decent, similar to Luciana but slightly quirkier
* Your opinion about Nash?
Nash/Leon are probably my favorite character(s), arrogant but it works since it usually leads to comic relief since no one takes them seriously
* Your opinion about Yveen?
Never liked her much, she's a "god" but fairly useless throughout the entire series except for making portals, barely smarter than Sarah, gripes about Wendala being undead and not allowed in her palace but if I recall correctly in LF1 she's the one who raised Wendala and Sandy as undead in the first place
* Your opinion about Zelina?
Smart but annoying
* Your opinion about Louthros?
I liked him for being a complex character until the end where his reasoning for attacking Yveen is given, his whole motivation just doesn't make much sense. He could have used a back story to justify some of it. Him being arrogant and confrontational doesn't really match his long-term goal either.
* Who was your most anticipated character return prior to playing?
Wendala since I didn't know who else would be in it other than Random/Sarah/Luciana
* Who is the strongest character, and why? And the weakest?
Varies depending on point in the game, Random for damage prior to laxius skills (and post if he doesn't get countered using psycho sword), Luciana for damage post laxius skills, Louthros for being able to 1shot most earlier encounters with Lycosine + spider spirit, Wendala/Sarah for all around skill variety and good damage pre-laxius skills
* Who's more handsome, Random, Coryool or Louthros (or Neon)?
...
* Who's the prettiest, Sarah, Luciana, Wendala, Sandy, Baretta, Yveen or Zelina?
Wendie or Zelina
* Who's had the best Laxius Power reveal?
Luciana, or Yveen because she can't do much prior and Dominion is strong
* Your opinion about the characters' artworks?
Decent
* Your opinion about the story?
The mystery aspect was good, better than the previous games I would say. I was kept guessing who was going to do what or what their intention was for a good part of the game. The dialogue and interaction unfortunately was not. The Grand Commendanter had a long, dramatic cutscene and so did his lieutenants and a good number of the other villains along the way in LF1-3. Nothing like that happens here, when you reach each boss, Random or Louthros exchange swears with them and that's it. Character interactions/development beyond the usual bickering were few and far between. More serious scenes like Sandy/Wendala at the campfire just prior to Louthros going to get the Heart of Indinera would have been nice (and that only appeared optionally if you went to the town first, came back, and slept at the campfire, in that order, before failing to get the heart) outside of horror or Random/Louthros getting pissed off at people.
* Your opinion about the graphics, sounds and atmosphere?
Good enough. RPGMaker graphics can only take you so far. Music was pretty good, though I tended to turn it off in some places since it loops fairly fast. Did like the tracks for Psychodrium and most of the boss music, though.
Ambiance/atmosphere of the different areas and guilds was nice.
* Your opinion about the gameplay?
7/10, I like the unlocking of new skills/bonuses at 60/70/100/250 throughout the game, but considering how much grinding it takes, it would have been nice to be able to see the bonuses and new skill possibilities beforehand. Laxius skills felt random and a bit unbalanced. Most things in the palace or psychodrium took little damage from anything else except Baretta's special. Would have much preferred to be able to swap extra characters in and out like in LF1-3 rather than forced to leave them behind, and have some ingame forewarning about when control of one party/character is about to be switched so you aren't locked out of having important gear stuck on a character you won't be able to access for a long time.
I also thought the amount of things that must be done at a certain time was too high, and didn't like the general closed world feeling. LF1 had some of that with time-limited guild quests but was largely open world, and you could miss a few quests and still max out every guild by LF3. LF2 and LF3 were less open in terms of where you could go and when, and Soul went much further in that direction. Yveen gives you some portals at the end, it would have been nice to be able to actually access the overworld map with all the places on it and go to any previously visited location at several points in the game.
* Your opinion about the "horror" elements?
I don't mind them but they were overdone, sorry to make the comparison so often but LF1-3 did them better, they were there and set the atmosphere well but not thrown in your face every 5 seconds.
* What was your favorite twist/moment, and why?
Wendala/Coryool double crossing Louthros was satisfying, although it would have been nice if he put up more of a fight instead of getting ganked offscreen
* What was your favorite chapter, and why?
1-2, was more challenging in the beginning
* What's the game's best/strongest sides?
Amount of content and things gotten from exploration
* Favorite and hardest dungeons?
Zanthra (favorite because of the size and background, hardest because of the coffin mimic)
* Favorite and hardest sidequests?
Piso King because he was killable but extremely difficult in his first 3 fights, although I couldn't complete it due to a missed Bosch sighting which was lame
* Favorite and hardest bosses?
Piso King
* Favorite Guild?
Shadow Guild due to the background/ambience
* Who were the 2.5 enemy sides as announced by Indinera (me)?
No idea
* Which moment was the best LP/F throwback?
Can't remember
* Any character(s) that you missed a lot?
Not really
* Did you like Mimics?
Yes
* Did you like the Piso King?
Yes
* Did you like the Dreams (if any)?
Yes, they were challenging
* What did you think of the MSI and any other of Baretta's works?
Liked the concept but the layout made it very annoying to get around, especially when you're expected to do an "MSI loop" half a dozen times
* What did you think of the ending?
Didn't really care for the sudden switch from dealing with the Order to random invaders in Yveen's palace, the order were complete pushovers and the dialogue / fights with them were too easy and anticlimactic compared to the things they've done and the difficulty of the Commendanter's lieutenants in LF3. The Psychodrium was neat though, and somewhat more challenging (probably would have been a lot more challenging, but I had the inexistence final reward and lv99 on most of my characters by then.)
* How does this game compare to past Aldorlea epics (Laxius Force, Millennium, The Book of Legends, Witch Hunt, Forever Heroes etc)?
TL;DR compared to LF1-3, better mystery/overall plot lead-up in the first half but anticlimactic in the second. Dialogue had better gags but more simplified/angry? character dialogue in general. Liked the overall amount of content, almost too much for one game, but preferred the more open world approach of LF1. Haven't played most of the others (first installment of Millennium I think I did, IIRC it was nice, less dark than LF, easier, similar stuff to find in exploration, but too short.)
* Are you looking forward to the remaining 2 games of the "Soul" trilogy?
Overall yes. Hoping they resemble LF1 more so than LS1 as far as gameplay/dialogue.