Two Videos of Good Gameplay

[Saphion]

The graphics are blowing my mind.

[Vanzazikon]

Oh great, my computer is lagging and it won't play the videos. >.> man everybody seems to enjoy it, lucky.

[Kent]

As great and fun as the gameplay does look, I still have a few concerns.

Show me a character casting techniques without a rod or wand equipped. If you can't do this, then the game will probably end up being about as flawed as PSU's design.

...And is it so much to ask for some exploration elements and actual map design? I'm really hoping the bleak room with only enemies, then you go into the next room is something they threw together for TGS, and is not representative of the exploration aspect of the full game, 'cause that looks really disappointing.

[ShadowInferno119]

As great and fun as the gameplay does look, I still have a few concerns.

Show me a character casting techniques without a rod or wand equipped. If you can't do this, then the game will probably end up being about as flawed as PSU's design.

...And is it so much to ask for some exploration elements and actual map design? I'm really hoping the bleak room with only enemies, then you go into the next room is something they threw together for TGS, and is not representative of the exploration aspect of the full game, 'cause that looks really disappointing.

Yeah, i'm sorry I don't see the flaw in the casting system, matter of fact all rpg's that i've player(Thats one longs list) You need to have a rod or wand to cast, infact the better the wand the stronger the magic. So could you please explain that one?

And yeah I agree to about the small exploration maps, I'm thinking that's because it was multiplayer, and just for the show. I'm pretty sure the single-player will be huge. Four Known levels, and a speculation of 4 more, from a screen shot. The maps I seen were fairly decent. But I don't think its something to worry about.

[Kent]

Yeah, i'm sorry I don't see the flaw in the casting system, matter of fact all rpg's that i've player(Thats one longs list) You need to have a rod or wand to cast, infact the better the wand the stronger the magic. So could you please explain that one?

...Judging by that answer, you make it sound as if you've only played Phantasy Star Universe. It's the only game I can think of that actually requires that you have a Rod or Wand equipped to cast spells.

A short list of games that don't require it: Phantasy Star Online, all Final Fantasy games, Diablo series, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Ragnarok Online, Dungeons and Dragons (where all of this stuff originated), Shadowrun... Just to name a few.

Now, it's one thing to have things such as rods and wands boost your magic damage - that's fine, and completely understandable. However, it's safe to say that there are a lot of people who enjoy specifically not specializing in one thing. In Phantasy Star Online, the chief way of differentiating characters from one another, especially among Hunters and Rangers, is their ability and capacity for using techniques... And not a single one of them could use a Cane, Rod, or Wand-type weapon, yet all of them could cast techniques at will if they're not an android.

Phantasy Star Universe, among its myriad of poor and thoughtless design decisions, decided that it was necessary to restrict casting techniques only to Forces (or Force derivatives), and also require that a Rod or Wand be currently equipped in order to cast at all. Again, this greatly hurt the fun factor of having a wide array of abilities, because you were constantly switching weapons, and therefore, constantly forcing the system to load and re-load different weapons (which is a well-known problem with the game, the loading times of weapons being so long) every time you want to cast a technique. Since in base PSU, Wands can only go in the right hand (just like one-handed melee weapons), and Rods are two-handed weapons, there was no option for someone to be able to use a one-handed melee weapon and a casting weapon at the same time (for the record, the only left-handed weapons were guns). This was one of the few of the game's numerous issues that was addressed in the expansion, where a left-handed casting weapon was introduced.

So really, if they want to make it more like what PSO was, they pretty much have to implement the ability to cast without a specific "casting weapon" equipped, or else, there would be basically no point in playing anything other than an Android if you're a Hunter/Ranger, and no point in playing anything other than a Newman if you're a Force.

Not to mention, we still haven't seen any form of quick weapon switch, which was one of those things that became pretty vital to higher-level play in PSO.

And yeah I agree to about the small exploration maps, I'm thinking that's because it was multiplayer, and just for the show. I'm pretty sure the single-player will be huge. Four Known levels, and a speculation of 4 more, from a screen shot. The maps I seen were fairly decent. But I don't think its something to worry about.

I don't think the fact that it's multiplayer will really make that much of a difference as to how big each part of an area can be. I don't expect anything absolutely massive, being that it's a DS game (but then again, we did get some pretty nicely-sized areas in games like Metroid Prime: Hunters).

That, and as far as rendering limitations due to hardware is concerned... Antiportals make the world go 'round.

But lets compare it to the Forest are of PSO. Forest 1 had a static overall layout, with the only differences being object placement, which thusly affected progression... But the areas weren't all that big, and something similar could certainly be done on the DS' hardware. Hell, bigger things are already available in current games on the system. Large-scale outdoor areas could be questionable, unless they're built like the Forest, where you can't really see the entire place from whatever room you're in... And Forest 2 could easily have its polygon count limited even further, to accomodate.

I don't honestly see the reason for doing this, unless they're planning on having encounters being the focus, rather than actual adventure - and even if that were the case, drastically-simplified areas as such would only be necessary for huge encounters with massive numbers of enemies at once... Which were fun in Endless Nightmare.

[ShadowInferno119]

...Judging by that answer, you make it sound as if you've only played Phantasy Star Universe. It's the only game I can think of that actually requires that you have a Rod or Wand equipped to cast spells.

A short list of games that don't require it: Phantasy Star Online, all Final Fantasy games, Diablo series, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Ragnarok Online, Dungeons and Dragons (where all of this stuff originated), Shadowrun... Just to name a few.

Now, it's one thing to have things such as rods and wands boost your magic damage - that's fine, and completely understandable. However, it's safe to say that there are a lot of people who enjoy specifically not specializing in one thing. In Phantasy Star Online, the chief way of differentiating characters from one another, especially among Hunters and Rangers, is their ability and capacity for using techniques... And not a single one of them could use a Cane, Rod, or Wand-type weapon, yet all of them could cast techniques at will if they're not an android.

Phantasy Star Universe, among its myriad of poor and thoughtless design decisions, decided that it was necessary to restrict casting techniques only to Forces (or Force derivatives), and also require that a Rod or Wand be currently equipped in order to cast at all. Again, this greatly hurt the fun factor of having a wide array of abilities, because you were constantly switching weapons, and therefore, constantly forcing the system to load and re-load different weapons (which is a well-known problem with the game, the loading times of weapons being so long) every time you want to cast a technique. Since in base PSU, Wands can only go in the right hand (just like one-handed melee weapons), and Rods are two-handed weapons, there was no option for someone to be able to use a one-handed melee weapon and a casting weapon at the same time (for the record, the only left-handed weapons were guns). This was one of the few of the game's numerous issues that was addressed in the expansion, where a left-handed casting weapon was introduced.

So really, if they want to make it more like what PSO was, they pretty much have to implement the ability to cast without a specific "casting weapon" equipped, or else, there would be basically no point in playing anything other than an Android if you're a Hunter/Ranger, and no point in playing anything other than a Newman if you're a Force.

Not to mention, we still haven't seen any form of quick weapon switch, which was one of those things that became pretty vital to higher-level play in PSO.

I don't think the fact that it's multiplayer will really make that much of a difference as to how big each part of an area can be. I don't expect anything absolutely massive, being that it's a DS game (but then again, we did get some pretty nicely-sized areas in games like Metroid Prime: Hunters).

That, and as far as rendering limitations due to hardware is concerned... Antiportals make the world go 'round.

But lets compare it to the Forest are of PSO. Forest 1 had a static overall layout, with the only differences being object placement, which thusly affected progression... But the areas weren't all that big, and something similar could certainly be done on the DS' hardware. Hell, bigger things are already available in current games on the system. Large-scale outdoor areas could be questionable, unless they're built like the Forest, where you can't really see the entire place from whatever room you're in... And Forest 2 could easily have its polygon count limited even further, to accomodate.

I don't honestly see the reason for doing this, unless they're planning on having encounters being the focus, rather than actual adventure - and even if that were the case, drastically-simplified areas as such would only be necessary for huge encounters with massive numbers of enemies at once... Which were fun in Endless Nightmare.

Wow, I don't know where to start on this one so many possibilities. For one I never even played PSU, infact every game you just mentioned are the game I do play and was planning on quoting. Final Fantasy, Guild Wars, Diablo, WoW, Dragon Quest, Slik Road, Maple Story, Ragnarok, FFXI, My list can go on and on. And for almost 99% of them only Mages, cast spells, However in Guild Wars, there is a secondary class, which is different. Warriors can't cast spell's unless they have a Mage (elementalist) as there secondary. So its quite obvious you'd need a wand/rod to cast spells. Some of the games I mentioned I'm not 100% sure if they "REQUIRE" you to use a rod/wand to cast spells or other type of weapon, but since I like the stat boost i've always had it.

I am positive of the fact though that in everyone of those games, there is a requirement for using rods/wands, and that would be your class, which is always a Mage. You sort of lost me when you started referencing PSU, since I never played that game, but what I understood is that switching weapons made it hard to use certain skills effectively since there was a bad loading time on changing weapons. Which I agree that would be troublesome, however I never played PSU as I said, and i'm quite frankly not sure how the Class system/skills work.

But I do remember in Guild Wars, there were hot keys for switching weapons "F1~F4" Where you had certain weapons for each, and you'd switch them for certain stat bonus' and health regins, and what not.

[zandra117]

awesome! mag statuses are back!

In the second video during the dragon's entrance you can see the players' mags casting shifta deband on their owners. Just like PSO!

[Kent]

I'm talking requirements for casting - I'm not talking classes.

In my experience, only PSU has had the requirement of a wand or rod to cast at all.

In FFXI, for instance, you have your mages. White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Blue Mage... And not a single one of them has to use a staff or wand. Hammers, Daggers, Rapiers, and Sabers, respectively, can be used and the character is still allowed to cast their respective magics, because the equipment is irrelevant, as it's something ingrained into the character.

What I said before seems to bear reiteration: I'm not against the idea of being able to equip a wand or rod to boost your casting-specific stats, as that's what their purpose is - what I am against is the requirement to do so to cast at all. If I know a technique/spell, I should be able to cast it if I have my saber equipped, simply because, odds are, if I'm playing some sort of online RPG... I'm not going to be a "pure" caster or "pure" melee character.

It's something that I don't enjoy doing - being forced into only using melee, or only using ranged means of combat. It's why I played a FOmar in PSO (because they mixed the two together so well), and a Blue Mage in FFXI. It's also why I stayed clear of playing Androids in PSO - because I was essentially prevented any form of hybridization, and one of many, many reasons I don't enjoy PSU - because from the beginning, they never liked people doing anything but being purely one thing or another.

[Hucast-Kireek]

Hmm..since you can fight without weapons and since CAST don't have magic but can use traps again, I really hope magic without a wand or rod is back, it pwnt all!

That being said, I hope CASTS are uber again and heal HP while standing plus don't get poisoned. >:]

Those videos are great! being a ranger actually looks like tons of fun now! Now rejoice ranger dudes and dudettes! :]

[Rakath Talyn]

There's no real reason to play HUnewm/ne if I can't use Techs and Blades at once... I really want techs to be available to all.