I have a hard time getting into handheld RPGs. It does look good, though.
But Leo I like girls in bunny suits.
Covenant of the Plume? Sounds like one of Doctor Steel's pornos.
I buoght it, probably won't play it this year.
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Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
The next strategy RPG I need is the DS Fire Emblem. But honestly there are TOO many RPGs and SRPGs on DS, its so saturated I can barely tell them apart anymore. It's like the SNES lives on in RPG form on DS X 100.
I need more Phoenix Wright type games or off the wall inventiveness like Soul Bubbles or warioware. Or proper versions of big franchises like GTA.
And yeah, I agree that the DS has too many RPGs and SRPGs that are really starting to look alike. Aside from the titles, it seems like every game was made by game designers who graduated from the same school taught by the same teacher!
But I do agree that Valkyrie Profile DS's more mature content is what the DS needs. No more Luminous Arc, cookie-cutter nonsense or throwing snowballs with a Never-ending Story type of story! I want blood, drama, romance, and politics in my stories!
Anyway, sorry to bring this up but the PSP has perhaps the best SRPGs, even better than the DS does. Aside from Fire Emblem obviously, FF Tactics War of the Lions and Jeanne D`Arc are awesome. Especially Jeanne D`Arc.
I never heard too much about VP Covenant of the Plume to say anything on it, but I do know it's getting mixed reactions. But I'd probably like it. Unfortunately, I have to many SRPGs already, so I'll pass for now. Playing Wild ARMs XF on the PSP and that's filling my time.
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
robio said:Valkyrie Profile 2 left a really bad taste in my mouth. Insanely dull and the story was just far too convoluted to follow at times. Not to mention it had a horrible battle system. This is obviously night and day different, but I'm just not sure its something I want to give a chance to.
Yup. That's how I felt about VP2, but I still liked the game. I guess, in this case, coolness and amazing graphics won over gameplay and story, but not by much.
VP2 came out late in the PS2's lifetime and the visuals are some of the most beautiful I've ever seen for the system. That's really the only good thing about the game when I think about it.
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
The problem with DS RPGS is that there are tons and they are all good and have obscure japanese names. unless you are well read you can't possibly choose between them. It's not like a system which has a few great RPGs you buy, 3 or 4. It's like here are 25 and they're all pretty good, now choose.
It's like FPS on 360, I gave up caring a long time ago.
Covenant of the Plume is a short but tough game. It's unafraid to throw near impossible rescue scenarios your way, unashamed to punish players who rush in or lack foresight, and happy to require the waging of back-to-back battles without opportunity to save or restock supplies in between.
The hefty challenge is welcome, particularly as the DS is already home to many a lightweight TRPG. But the drawn out length of battles, the promotion of minor mechanical inventions and the depressing forced sacrifice of team-mates ensures the game is an acquired taste.
With multiple endings and 20 potential allies to recruit across the adventure, as well as a tough bonus dungeon once it’s complete, there’s the promise of longevity here. But few will venture back to this curio once the end credits have rolled.
Review score is a se-cret. Click on the link.
That sounds nearly identical to the GameSpot score and review (which I totally disagree with).
This isn't a hold your hand, bright and sunny SRPG; you have to pre-plan and play well or you're going to have your ass handed to you. It's no secret!
People complaining about the difficulty and saying how you MUST sacrifice are probably not playing the game "right" not utilizing the team-ups and boosts from flanking. Not taking the time to learn the nuances of this game WILL lead to failure, of THAT I can assure you!
This is not Luminous Arc; This is not Tactics A-2; This is not Fire Emblem or Rondo of Swords, Drone Tactics or Hoshigami... This is a game of dark themes, serious dialouge and satisfying adult decisions and challenges. It should be viewed differently than those others. The fact that it is a Tri-Ace game with its unique battle system with shades of Final Fantasy Tactics (original) makes this stand head and shoulders above the others!
Should you dare to challenge this game and walk the path that I chose (I will NOT invoke the plume!)...
**Here's a few words of advice and encouragement**
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(1) Yeah. Read the directions. For the first couple of hours, I didn't know that pressing the "Y' button lets you choose what ally you want to use and when. I thought there was a pre-set order: Wyl>Character at X>Character at A>Character at B. So NOT so, and playing this way makes it nearly impossible to set up effective flanks. Oops! As a testament to how much I love the game though, even under such restrictive, self-imposed, difficulty, I was still enjoying it. It's just now I am playing it correctly and enjoying it THAT. MUCH. MORE!
(2) See rule #1. The L and R buttons rotate the battlefield. How stupid am I that I thought it was horrible programming when enemies moved behind structures and I would get angry cause I couldn't see them? Duh.
(3) There are times when it is going to seem like you are in an impossible situation. ESPECIALLY when you have to rescue someone and all they seem to be good at doing is DYING and earning you a "Game Over." You are going to be tempted to use the plume over and over. Go ahead if you want --BUT-- I feel more rewarded when it is my strategy and skill that beats a near-death struggle and --NOT-- sacrificing one of my valued teammates! You will have to replay battles over and over, and this CAN teeter on becoming tedious --BUT-- the feeling of beating a battle like this is priceless!
(4) Use all the tricks, techniques and tactics at your disposal! Ever play Disgaea? Know how you can NOT move a character, use that character in a Team Attack, then move that character into another Team Attack in the same turn? It's called "Siege" here and --GET USED TO IT-- as it will be your best friend. NOT doing this will make the game nearly impossible; You will NEVER earn enough SIN and you --WILL-- quit out of frustration! This is not cheating, this is strategy, and you need to figure out how to use this effectively whenever you can! Also Techniques and Tactics are indisposable! Buy them. Equip them. Use them! Quite a few battles you will juuust missgetting to one of your allies in time before they are killed by NOT using the "Dash" Tactic effectively. This game is only as hard as you make it! It is challenging, but NOT AT ALL AS IMPOSSIBLE as some of the (poor) reviews would lead you to believe! The reviewers obviously, simply DID NOT take the time to learn to play this game properly! Keep at it, you will succeed!
(5) Learn the nuances! Re-order your attacks. Pay attention to what attacks build your meter faster. Who combos best after whom? Who juggles to earn crystals and more experience? Who is the best Overdrive to use and when? The timing of the activation of certain Techniques is MORE IMPORTANT than simply just using them. This game forces you to pay attention and learn your lessons WELL. This is STRATEGY. This game is for big boys (and girls) with more than a minute's attention span! Like I said before: this game will NOT hold your hand (if you choose the noble route, that is!)... it is as CRUEL as the world that it portrays, but you'll get an extreme appreciation for what the developers were trying to do by learning to work WITH their system. It REALLY is a sound, good and unique one... again, DESPITE what the lazy reviewers had to say!
(6) Realize you can go back and play different paths as a Bad-Ass, if you want to. I want to die as the noble Wyl, not the Bastard! I will plow through the "Bad" endings with Overpowered, Evil Wyl as a reward for getting through the game FIRST as Noble, Regretful Wyl-with-a-Conscience! This game is SO WELL DONE I am going to enjoy playing it more than once; that is rare for me...! At 10 hours a playthrough, it is entirely feasible though. Hope some of my words of advice help your playthroughs too!
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Okay, everyone! All of you who loved the original Final Fantasy Tactics, raise your hands. Now. All of you who wanted to love the GameBoy Advance version and the DS version, but couldn't get into them because of snowball fights and overly perky lead characters, raise your hands! Okay. I can't see any of you; I just wanted to make you all raise your hands so someone observing you at your computers would think you are weird. Please. Put your hands down.
Sorry about that. I do have a point though. I bet a lot of you wished you had the serious tone of the original Tactics in a portable game. Yeah, yeah, I know: the PSP version. Does anyone actually own one of those things? You want a serious strategy game for a portable system you actually care about! Anyway, I digress. How exactly does Square expect us to go from half-sisters being blown up during a revolution to "let's drink hot cocoa and read a storybook together to warm up after our snowball fight!" Whee! Ummm. No.
The Tactics games had sound strategic engines, tons of job cIasses and for the most part, played like the original. The story-lines just, well, sucked. I'm also tired of bunny-women, moogles, lizard dudes and sheep men. Who are they trying to appeal to? Kids generally don't like strategy games and adults don't want to have snowball fights and battle obese chickens! We want to make life or death decisions, have heart-wrenching motivations for fighting and see lots of arterial spray. (Hey! How 'bout that Vandal Hearts announcement? Cool, aye? Oops! Off-track again!)
Ugh.
Well, the game you've all been waiting for has FINALLY arrived...
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**and all of you doofuses are ignoring it!**
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How many of you have actually bought Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume for the DS? Raise your hands!
**Please tell me you didn't just fall for it again**
...Well, why the Hel not?!
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Here's a summary of the plot: You play as Wyl. Your Dad was killed on the battlefield and taken by Lenneth Valkyrie to the halls of Valhalla to drink a bunch of mead and celebrate his life until he is chosen to fight at the final battle at the end of the reign of the Gods (Ragnarok). To a warrior, there is no greater honor. To the family of the fallen warrior left behind, it basically means the head of your household is dead and you are doomed to starve to death. Just like Wyl's little sister did. Wyl doesn't like Lenneth all that much. In a turn of events during a routine mercenary practice session, Wyl is mortally injured and is forced to make a deal with Hel. He is to sacrifice human lives and commit enough sins to blacken a plume from Lenneth's wings, to provide himself with a magic powerful enough to KILL the Valkyrie! He is to befriend allies and then sacrifice them in battle, (1) to absorb their skills, (2) to turn the tide of battle when things are looking grim and (3) to feed the bloodlust of the Black Plume! A bit more interesting than snowballs and spoiled-brat princes, eh?
So the mood is there. The motivation is there. And, you couldn't get a darker plot if you tried. Throw in multiple endings and game paths, serious life and death decisions and the guilt of living with yourself... you evil, evil bastard... and you FINALLY have a worthy, spiritual successor to the original FF Tactics!
Better yet, it is set in the world of Valkyrie Profile! The sequel may not have been too hot, but the original ranks up there with Vagrant Story as one of my favorite RPGs of all time! Those two games alone would have made owning the PSOne worth it, even if that VII game never came out! (Again, I digress...) You are treated to serious themes in this game. You get to see beautiful, stylized character portraits and the text and story is given that special Nordic flair! Lots of honor, lots of bloodlust, lots of cruelty and pain... and not a single bunny-woman in sight! You get to fight a lot of soldiers and sorcerers and, of course, wolves, demons and half-human/half-plant monstrosities. The sprites look like Tactics sprites, but the allies and enemies have that Valkyrie Profile personality to them.
What ties it all together is the cIassic VP battle gameplay. You manuever your troops on the battlefield to flank your enemies for stat bonuses and such, but the battle actually plays out just like the VP of olde. Each character is assigned to a face button of the DS. As your gauge allows, you keep on pressing the buttons corresponding to the characters, combo-ing and juggling your enemy til they either die --OR-- you build up enough meter to do a SUPER Special Attack (Think: Nibelung Valesti. Which, if my guess serves me right, YOU will be on the receiving end of at some point in this game! Oooo! Scary!) --OR-- your time runs out for that turn.
There's so much more to it than this, of course. This is a 2009 Sqaure-Enix game, is it not? Your a bad man, remember? You almost NEED to OVERKILL your enemies to commit enough SIN to please Hel! You don't want to piss this goddess off! If you do, (1) You get less loot at the end of your battle --AND-- (2) She sends dopplegangers of YOU and your fallen allies to seriously kick your arses next battle! You DO NOT want this to happen! Trust me! It's B-A-D ! ! ! This makes for some heavy strategic consideration while playing! You gotta kill your enemies BUT. GOOD. Did I mention you're a bastard? Assignable Tactics and Learnable Techniques make all of this possible, but certainly NOT easy. This is NOT your little brothers strategy game! (For a change... on a Nintendo system! Yay!)
The game is comprised of 5 Chapters, but your paths will vary as you make different decisions. Who you choose to sacrifice and who you do not MUST make a difference in the course of the game! I will not lie, I am just starting this game now; this is not meant to be a review. I am playing an AMAZING SRPG on my DSi, but no one else seems to be talking about it!? I just had to get the word out! This is the kind of game I've been yearning for, for a while. I KNOW I will play through this more than once to discover the different endings. This game is brilliant strategy with a sound, satisfying battle system and best of all, it has deep replayability. I could be wrong here, but there just has to be a way for Wyl to redeem himself. If there is not, that would make this game that much more unique and would culminate in an end-battle I just can't even fathom...!
People constantly complain about the casual or kiddy appeal of all of the games on Nintendo's various systems, but when a game like this is released and ignored, can you blame developers for not even trying anymore? Nope! You only have yourselves to blame! Now! Who's man or woman enough to take on this game with me?! Come my DS Einherjer! A portable Valhalla awaits!