Question About Difficulty

[bclouds]

If I want the same difficulty as normal on Laxius Force, should I choose normal or hard for 3 Stars of Destiny?

[Tomas]

I would say that hard in 3SoD is a bit harder than normal in LF, but I've never played 3SoD on normal, so I don't know how this mode compare.

[bclouds]

Have you tried playing Eridani's games in hard? OMG, I have trouble enough on normal.

[Tomas]

Ella's Hope was quite hard, but doable. The Witch and The Warrior was hard even on normal, but in a more "annoying" way. Every fight takes quite a bit of your party mana and health pools and consumables are too expensive - so you need to go back to inn very often. It gets tiring very fast and there's basically no way around it (except from leveling characters to ridiculously high levels).
It's ok to "bash your head against wall" in an optional boss fight and then enjoy the new super weapon/armor against standard enemies, but not every fight should be hard. It's the same problem with Sweet Lily Dreams, btw. In the end, I solve it by playing on easy (something I was never forced to do when playing Indi's games).

[bclouds]

So Sweet Lilly Dreams should be played on normal difficulty for a pretty decent but not too frustrating challenge?
I have the game but hasn't played it yet. Was it a great game? Is the end do-able on normal if I level up my characters?
Thanks for your responses and tips by the way. Yes, I too thought Witch And The Warrior was infuriating. Leah's Tale is not as hard on normal which is a good change of direction.

[Indinera]

@Tomas:
My games in hard mode require knowlegde and strategy. Nothing to do with the examples you gave, indeed.

[bclouds]

Its what I love about your games, Indie. Tough but fair, just work out weaknesses and attack strategies.
And level up and save save save crap-loads of money for the best possible gear. Look for the hidden treasures ;-)

[Indinera]

Yup. I play my own games on Hard Mode and I have to own them badly otherwise there is something wrong. So it proves it's possible if you know the game well enough.

[Tomas]

bclouds: SLD is probably best played on easy. And yes, I can definitively recommend it. It's a bit different game than I usually prefer (not much equipp, getting status bonuses through buying furniture to your house and so on), but Ajeeej is really good when it comes to touching stories and horror scenes. If Indi's games are thrillers, then SLD is more a horror. Plus the visuals and sounds are top.
Btw, the beginning of the game is pretty good in making it clear what's the game like, so I would try the demo and if it doesn't "hook" you, then avoid it.

Indi: Actually, I consider the way you "tune" the difficulty of battles an "etalon", i.e. until I played LP I didn't know fighting in RPGs can be that much fun and I also judge other games by comparison to it...

[bclouds]

Indie, will start playing 3 Stars of Destiny again this weekend. Will let you know if I come across any more bugs. In fact I will arrange to give you my save file if I do which will probably make your life so much easier.
Oh and this time I shall play it to the end. I swear it on your coffee. If I fail, your coffee will be cursed to taste like teabags.

[Indinera]

Thanks for the nice comment, Tomas.
I've always pay a lot of attention to balancing and possible strategies in my games.

[bclouds]

Exploration is another key feature of your games, you get rewarded big time if you take the time to explore every-thing.
By the time I got to Tyrine in Laxius Force, I had over 10000 gold, got some awesome gear and had already explored so much and got rewarded for it. Also what is so great is how fast the average battle plays out. Levelling up does not feel too much of a chore because of this.

[Indinera]

Exploration is another key feature of your games, you get rewarded big time if you take the time to explore every-thing.
By the time I got to Tyrine in Laxius Force, I had over 10000 gold, got some awesome gear and had already explored so much and got rewarded for it. Also what is so great is how fast the average battle plays out. Levelling up does not feel too much of a chore because of this.

Fast battles is a key component of my games. In fact, fast everything.
I could make 300h games if i made combat slow and stuff

[loof123]

Yeah I love how fast your combats are. Especially in MM if you turn the faster mode on.

[Indinera]

Thanks. I never wanted to slow down everything in order to have very long games (I mean, even longer ones). Quite the contrary, I want them fast AND long.