This Old Neon Forum

Picked this up the other day and I'm a bit surprised not to see any discussion! It's fair to say it's a re-release, but there are a ton more songs and the unlockables are much easier to get to.

I actually like the quest map feature a lot better than the Chaos Map system in the original. Instead of 100% randomized sets of three songs, you follow a little map with special features. You can't see the song options you're playing next, but you can at least see what game they're from, so you can pick from games you know/like better if you want.

I was happy to see Benjamin (FF:MQ) and Ramza (FFT) in the game, but neither has been that useful a character so far. Generalists don't seem to be very good, not that the stats and abilities make a huge difference in general.

The button controls are a big improvement for me, though. My hands aren't terribly steady so I much prefer hitting buttons to wielding the stylus.

I pre-ordered the limited edition for 30% off during the E3 sale earlier this year, and I expect my copy to arrive today.

I have to say... I enjoyed the original for a while, but overall I didn't think it was a very good game. It got repetitive quick and had limited reward. I'm glad to hear this version brings significant gameplay updates & enhancements.

I didn't know about Benjamin and Ramza, but it's awesome that they're in there, even if they suck!

I'll report back when I sink some time into it.

I haven't played enough Final Fantasy to really appreciate the music, though I'm sure I would still find it enjoyable. I tried the demo for the first one found it was a bit too limited for me to decide whether I liked it or not.

Niahak wrote:Picked this up the other day and I'm a bit surprised not to see any discussion! It's fair to say it's a re-release, but there are a ton more songs and the unlockables are much easier to get to.

I actually like the quest map feature a lot better than the Chaos Map system in the original. Instead of 100% randomized sets of three songs, you follow a little map with special features. You can't see the song options you're playing next, but you can at least see what game they're from, so you can pick from games you know/like better if you want.

Spoiler

If you use the Gnomish Bread item, you will be able to see full information of what the next stage is, and its difficulty. Another item, Fortune Sphere [regarding the latter part], will decrease the level difficulty by one (if it was on ultimate score, it will now be set at expert score)

The button controls are a big improvement for me, though. My hands aren't terribly steady so I much prefer hitting buttons to wielding the stylus.

I wish the d-pad was used though for the arrows... All in all however, this has so many improvements over the original, including online play against another person.

kitroplious wrote: *spoiler*

I wish the d-pad was used though for the arrows... All in all however, this has so many improvements over the original, including online play against another person.

Good to know!

Yeah, I wish the D-pad was usable for the slides. I also wish the slides at the end of holds were easier to pull off in button mode (I'm often still moving up or down when it "reads" what I'm doing as the slide).

Kong: I'd recommend downloading the demo and playing it once before you start the real game. If you have a demo save file, you get 10 extra characters to pick from at the start. Keep in mind any characters you don't pick at the beginning will be locked until you unlock them, though.

Niahak wrote:Kong: I'd recommend downloading the demo and playing it once before you start the real game. If you have a demo save file, you get 10 extra characters to pick from at the start. Keep in mind any characters you don't pick at the beginning will be locked until you unlock them, though.

Are those characters demo-exclusive, or would I be able to unlock them through the course of the game anyway? Because I don't mind having carrots hanging from the end of a grind-stick for this kind of game.

Kong Wen wrote: Are those characters demo-exclusive, or would I be able to unlock them through the course of the game anyway? Because I don't mind having carrots hanging from the end of a grind-stick for this kind of game.

You'd still be able to unlock them through the course of the game.

E.g. normally you have 10 heroes to pick from. You choose 4 and the other 6 still have to be unlocked normally along with the remaining 20
If you play the demo, you have 20 to pick from. You choose 4 and the other 16 still have to be unlocked normally along with the remaining 10

My numbers aren't correct, but you still have to unlock the same number of heroes whether you demo or no. You just can choose from characters like Ramza, Benjamin, Zack at the beginning in addition to the heroes from the numbered games.

It's definitely better than the first one. Doesn't feel like you grind quite as much. While I still don't really care for the look of the characters, I have to say it is worth a play, even if you only trade it after a few months.

Alright, I couldn't get the demo because I forgot my NNID password and my computer was in the other room, so I got impatient and just started playing.

One improvement that immediately filled me with joy is that there are no longer two separate critical charts for each song depending on whether you choose to summon or not—you always have a summon equipped and you can always use one in a battle, without worrying about missing the "no summon" notes.

The Questing mode is also a lot more fun than the original game's Chaos mode or whatever it was called.

Unfortunately, the game is chock-full of terrible songs. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are a ton of great songs too, but they've also loaded it up with awful songs from modern spin-off games. And some of the original Final Fantasy are remixed—I'd love to unlock the original 8-bit versions of those tunes. This game works really well with chiptunes, but it starts to feel sloppy when you're playing to an orchestra or some syncopated techno jazz-metal.

I'll post my progress soon.

Typical Kong Wen, leveraging stats as motivation. This is all pulled from the in-game Records & Collection menus. Lots of stuff to grind!

General
1:41:26 Playtime
2475 Rhythmia
7/21 Characters unlocked
0/21 Characters max
3/96 Trophies

Songs
16/209 Basic Scores cleared
00/209 Expert Scores cleared
00/209 Ultimate Scores cleared

12/627 Perfect Chains
02/627 SSS ranks received
00/627 Critical Charts completed

CollectaCards
7/162 Normal Cards
4/162 Rare Cards
0/162 Premium Cards