Now things are getting interesting.��
Listed on Nintendos japanese site
IGN eyes on trailer and screens
A lone warrior chopping through an army of robotic warriors with an outsized Cloud Strife-like energy sword. Colossal war machines advancing though a misty canyon, shooting anything that moves. The few remaining human defenders hiding behind simple wooden shields that are no match for high-energy weapons. Welcome to the world of Monado.��
The debut trailer for Monado: Beginning of the World premiered today at E3: 2009, and first impressions for the new Wii RPG are that the beginning is going to be pretty exciting. Things kick off with that canyon-set battle, revealing more and bigger enemies with an interesting steampunk design. Things likely don't end well for our lone warrior, as we soon segue to a young blonde hero discovering that energy sword - now inert - only to see it flash blindingly to life the moment he picks it up. Your standard JRPG Hero's Journey (tm) is definitely in full effect here, with just a dash of King Arthur.��
Gameplay appears to be open-world, where you'll traverse lush jungles, glowing forests, climb sheer walls, and encounter the crumbling remains of a conquered people. It looks nicely textured and details pop, animating at what looks like a smooth 30 fps.��
Players will pick up two partners in their travels, and while combat initially looks turn-based, we saw all three party members attacking simultaneously. Transitions into combat are completely seamless; characters approach enemies, draw weapons, and it's on. One scene showed your team (wielding much smaller edged weaponry) surrounding a lizard-man enemy, who didn't make much of a dent in their lifebars before it was downed. A much larger lizard-man (a good twenty feet tall) and giant mutant crab monster probably fared better.
(back up link - check the japanese site first link in post for proper quality trailer)
Hit the HQ option.
Just completed the sequence with Juju, Otharon and the Ether River. Don't know how many hours at the moment. I've stopped doing quests --UNLESS-- they are Timed Quests, so my Experience isn't increasing --AS-- fast. I am encountering enemies just 2 Levels below me for the most part and the challenge is perfect.
One thing I don't quite get, even after reading the tutorial screens again and again is: How do you handle Visions in Battle? I kinda get you are supposed to use Shield when it is a White Named Talent Attack they are going to use... But Blue and Red named attacks still elude me. Blue is Ether so... What? Get Sharla to Cast the Cure and Debuff Protection? Red, I see you can warn your teammates, but then what? You can choose skills of theirs, but it nevers seems to be enough to stop the attack. Don't know what I am doing wrong... Are there times when you are supposed to use the Speed Up Monado Skill rather than shield? Don't get it.
By the way: Wii-Mote or Classic Controller?
How did you defeat that boss? I am right there now.
One word of advice that hopefully won't reach you too late: Try to get all of the collectibles in the Ether Mine --BEFORE-- getting on the Escape Elevator. I was missing ONE of the Machine Pieces and a cut-scene happens which effectively closes off most of the mine. Once you leave the mine, yet another cut-scene and battle happens... After getting through all of this I noticed the missing piece, went back into the beginning parts of the mine (around the Test areas) and for the life of me, I couldn't find that last piece. I went back to a save about 30 minutes prior and got the collectible in 30 seconds... of course, then I had to go through all of the cut-scenes, battles and areas of the upper part of the mine I discovered in my lost progress save... I guess it was worth it though; I want to 100% all of the collectibles in the areas.