I'm struggling to get through my current project, but not my previous project...

May 12, 2019

I thought I would have a hell of a time getting through Phantasy Star II. It kicked my ass two times before, and it tried to do so again. However, I didn't waiver. I stayed the course, fought hard, took advice from everyone on here (thank you all again!) and managed to power my way through it. It was ultimately fulfilling.

Hell, even when Sekiro took the wind out of my sails dozens of times, I never really contemplated throwing in the towel. I made idle threats, but knew I would never let myself give up.

Right now, though, I'm considering if I even want to keep going with my current playthrough of Blue Dragon, and this game is in no way, shape or form in the same league of difficulty as the last two games I mentioned. It's boring, overly simple and the characters are obnoxious. As I've stated before, Marumaro is the worst offender, as he yell-whines every line.

Nearly everything this game does puts me to sleep. Its battle system is straightforward, which isn't necessarily bad. However, the enemies you face are all pretty weak and fall easily. Half of the time, I ask most of my party to defend while my black mage hits the enemies with a multi-target spell that wipes them all out. I've even begun avoiding battles because I'm tired of cutting through everything.

You get multiple classes to assign, each with special skills that you can mix and match, thus creating cobbled classes. However, you only receive the most basic jobs you find in almost any game: a warrior, a monk, a white mage, a black mage, a thief and a support mage. Only two classes really stand out: one that uses barrier magic and another called a "generalist" that allows you to use extra skills and accessories. Obviously, this one is a must for crossover creations.

None of this really matters, because even bosses die in mere minutes. I have yet to come across a storyline enemy that even comes close to defeating me. The best any of them have managed is temporarily knocking out one of my mages, and one of those times was only because a boss landed a crit.

The story is nothing special. Generic kids chase after a generic villain. This game is basically Final Fantasy V, except not fun.

We'll see if I continue playing. I hope to get a lot of progress done within the next few days, and maybe even scratch this off my list. Afterward, I'll probably look into either selling or trading this one off.

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Feedback

honestgamer - May 12, 2019 (11:52 AM)
"Final Fantasy V, except not fun" is no sort of recommendation to me, because Final Fantasy V itself wasn't fun! After a promising opening, that game fell apart pretty spectacularly, class system aside, and I couldn't finish it at the time. Now I would probably have to start over from scratch. Blue Dragon looks good to me, though, and I own it and hope to play it at some point because I like the art style and the look of the world and those are two of the most important aspects of an RPG for me. Give me a beautiful world to explore and I'm often quite happy. I hope when/if I get to it, I don't feel like I'm enduring an endurance test instead of having a good time. Blue Dragon, more than most, seems to be one of those franchises people either love or hate.

jerec - May 12, 2019 (01:43 PM)
I gave up on Blue Dragon for most of the same reasons.

hastypixels - May 12, 2019 (07:22 PM)
I dunked on FFV just because of that annoying job system, and the story fell out from under me. It just wasn't my jam, and grinding for jobs wasn't enthralling either. Tactics had a similar pitfall, though it had a bang up story as a saving grace.

By the time I reach boredom, "we'ere done here" usually follows in close pursuit. Blue Dragon was another would be Dream Team with Chrono Trigger greats - there was even an anime series that was dubbed. That, too, fell off of the collective radar. I'm sure no one's going to weep if you shift gears to something you enjoy, unless you feel like tearing it down for the interest of a review.

Not that I recommend that - you deserve to have fun with the games you play.

EmP - May 13, 2019 (02:44 AM)
I legit don't know anyone who beat Blue Dragon. I know plenty of people who say they have started it but couldn't maintain the interest needed to complete it. So there's no shame in throwing in the towel.

overdrive - May 16, 2019 (01:05 PM)
I FINISHED IT!!! Unless you count optional bosses (aka: the one part of the game that is challenging, as that threw me off big-time!). I mean, I didn't much enjoy much of any of it. One of those games that reminded me of a big-budget version of one of those Kemco games, in that it wasn't good, but if you were brain-dead from work, illness, stress, whatever, it was the sort of game you could churn through without feeling like you're in danger. I mean, I think the only mandatory part of the game that was remotely difficult was some "escort a caravan" area since one of the enemies you fight there are these big cats that hit hard and move quick. I remember thinking the game was picking up there. And then everything else was the same mindlessly easy stuff.

And blasphemy on Jason and Hasty for their anti-FF V views. Definitely a Top 5 game in the series. EASILY.

JoeTheDestroyer - May 17, 2019 (01:59 AM)
Well, I finished Blue Dragon this week, and I'm currently playing Riviera: The Promised Land, which is a million times better. Also, I liked FFV. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I got a little tired "Let's follow Ex-Death to a place.... Oh! He got a way!" But other than that, I dug it.

Jason:
I neither love nor hate Blue Dragon. I would say I'm more indifferent to it. After all, it has a fantastic soundtrack and probably one of the best final boss themes I've heard.

hasty:
I like Final Fantasy's job systems, for the most part. DS FFIII's wasn't great, but I typically love job systems. Dragon's was... well, it was there.

EmP:
I beat it, and so did Rob. Now you know two.

OD:
Big budget Kemco sounds about right.

Feedback
	honestgamer - May 12, 2019 (11:52 AM) "Final Fantasy V, except not fun" is no sort of recommendation to me, because Final Fantasy V itself wasn't fun! After a promising opening, that game fell apart pretty spectacularly, class system aside, and I couldn't finish it at the time. Now I would probably have to start over from scratch. Blue Dragon looks good to me, though, and I own it and hope to play it at some point because I like the art style and the look of the world and those are two of the most important aspects of an RPG for me. Give me a beautiful world to explore and I'm often quite happy. I hope when/if I get to it, I don't feel like I'm enduring an endurance test instead of having a good time. Blue Dragon, more than most, seems to be one of those franchises people either love or hate.
	jerec - May 12, 2019 (01:43 PM) I gave up on Blue Dragon for most of the same reasons.
	hastypixels - May 12, 2019 (07:22 PM) I dunked on FFV just because of that annoying job system, and the story fell out from under me. It just wasn't my jam, and grinding for jobs wasn't enthralling either. Tactics had a similar pitfall, though it had a bang up story as a saving grace. By the time I reach boredom, "we'ere done here" usually follows in close pursuit. Blue Dragon was another would be Dream Team with Chrono Trigger greats - there was even an anime series that was dubbed. That, too, fell off of the collective radar. I'm sure no one's going to weep if you shift gears to something you enjoy, unless you feel like tearing it down for the interest of a review. Not that I recommend that - you deserve to have fun with the games you play.
	EmP - May 13, 2019 (02:44 AM) I legit don't know anyone who beat Blue Dragon. I know plenty of people who say they have started it but couldn't maintain the interest needed to complete it. So there's no shame in throwing in the towel.
	overdrive - May 16, 2019 (01:05 PM) I FINISHED IT!!! Unless you count optional bosses (aka: the one part of the game that is challenging, as that threw me off big-time!). I mean, I didn't much enjoy much of any of it. One of those games that reminded me of a big-budget version of one of those Kemco games, in that it wasn't good, but if you were brain-dead from work, illness, stress, whatever, it was the sort of game you could churn through without feeling like you're in danger. I mean, I think the only mandatory part of the game that was remotely difficult was some "escort a caravan" area since one of the enemies you fight there are these big cats that hit hard and move quick. I remember thinking the game was picking up there. And then everything else was the same mindlessly easy stuff. And blasphemy on Jason and Hasty for their anti-FF V views. Definitely a Top 5 game in the series. EASILY.
	JoeTheDestroyer - May 17, 2019 (01:59 AM) Well, I finished Blue Dragon this week, and I'm currently playing Riviera: The Promised Land, which is a million times better. Also, I liked FFV. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I got a little tired "Let's follow Ex-Death to a place.... Oh! He got a way!" But other than that, I dug it. Jason: I neither love nor hate Blue Dragon. I would say I'm more indifferent to it. After all, it has a fantastic soundtrack and probably one of the best final boss themes I've heard. hasty: I like Final Fantasy's job systems, for the most part. DS FFIII's wasn't great, but I typically love job systems. Dragon's was... well, it was there. EmP: I beat it, and so did Rob. Now you know two. OD: Big budget Kemco sounds about right.

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