SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
As an alternate to these, you can just use a mod that removes enemy scaling, because enemy scaling is silly anyway.
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
Kadmus
Dragon's teeth are surprisingly hard to sow
- Location
- Devon
- Pronouns
- He/Him
One of the most popular mod groups for Skyrim is, unsurprisingly, one for tweaking the entire skill system into an experience based one with point distribution. Because who the hell has the time to deal with a system that decides that this one skil you only used this one time is your main skill just because it gave you your first level up.
I'm guessing you mean Oblivion mod? Skyrim does this already, kinda.
But honestly I think games trying to be too 'clever' with their level-ups leads to just... really perverse gameplay incentives. Just either let people assign a set of points at will or have a fixed level-up spread for each character.
(Definitely don't do the 'worst of both worlds' option of Fire Emblem, where you get random-chance stat increases based on class.)
To defend Fire Emblem, basically every single game has been beaten with base stats even on higher difficulties at this point, and the games do provide you a lot of characters with everything from "low level babby who relies on high stat growths to be good" to "high level veteran who has slightly lower stats than the average unit trained from babby, but is reliable because they don't have to worry about those rng growths." Fire Emblem works perfectly well for what it is. And that's not even getting into how a few games have fixed growths as an option, meaning things like "40% strength growth" become "strength increases at each 3rd then 2nd level as your growth total reaches 100%."
But yes, it also wouldn't translate well to games with a more static party and less strategy gameplay, like Final Fantasy. A big part of what makes FE works is all the other options outside of pure stats.
Connelly
As useless as a penguin with mittens
- Location
- Salamanca, Spain
- Location
- SV's Only Complete Persona Quest
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Huh, funny that Oblivion got brought up before we got to FF8, given one notorious similarity those two games have
Good ol "whoops the enemies level with you, optimal strat is now to just junction shitloads of spells while using the card command and running to never level up and wipe the game".
Actually played up to partway through Disk 2 like that once, good times, it's hilarious how hard you stomp once things get going.
- Location
- Texas
I guess I'll hold of on the character profiles. They're easy enough to find if anyone's really interested anyways.
…but I enjoyed KOTOR's combat.
I was thinking more with the feats and ability scores that can be customized through level up than the combat specifically. Something I should have clarified since D&D is 80% combat nowadays.
Not sure what you mean with the skills?
Though I wholeheartedly agree Vancian Magic can go away forever.
Agreed. What's the point if you don't have a chance of stumbling somewhere you shouldn't be and getting wiped out? Or sneaking in and snatching some OP loot.
I think you're getting your systems mixed up. Skyrim has all skills as equal. You can bump skills a few levels based on your character (high elves get some magic, orcs get some two handed, etc.) but the exp formula is the same for everything. You do a Thing, Thing's category gets experience. Thing's Category levels up, you get character experience. Character levels up, you get a perk point and your choice of a stat increase (with a grand total of 3 choices, but still). You can get modifiers to make a skill category level faster, but they're buff based, not baked in, and easy to change.
Most of the overhauls I've seen are more about redoing the perk trees (because a lot of the perks admittedly suck). I'll have to look at the one you mentioned.
…but I enjoyed KOTOR's combat.
I was thinking more with the feats and ability scores that can be customized through level up than the combat specifically. Something I should have clarified since D&D is 80% combat nowadays.
Not sure what you mean with the skills?
Though I wholeheartedly agree Vancian Magic can go away forever.
Agreed. What's the point if you don't have a chance of stumbling somewhere you shouldn't be and getting wiped out? Or sneaking in and snatching some OP loot.
One of the most popular mod groups for Skyrim is, unsurprisingly, one for tweaking the entire skill system into an experience based one with point distribution. Because who the hell has the time to deal with a system that decides that this one skil you only used this one time is your main skill just because it gave you your first level up.
I think you're getting your systems mixed up. Skyrim has all skills as equal. You can bump skills a few levels based on your character (high elves get some magic, orcs get some two handed, etc.) but the exp formula is the same for everything. You do a Thing, Thing's category gets experience. Thing's Category levels up, you get character experience. Character levels up, you get a perk point and your choice of a stat increase (with a grand total of 3 choices, but still). You can get modifiers to make a skill category level faster, but they're buff based, not baked in, and easy to change.
Most of the overhauls I've seen are more about redoing the perk trees (because a lot of the perks admittedly suck). I'll have to look at the one you mentioned.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This one actually. But this is getting off-topic
Skyrim doesn't have any such thing as a 'main skill', and certainly nothing like one being autolocked 'because you happened to use it first'.
That mod means skills don't contribute to your level, ties levels to quest progression, and ties skills to levels, because some people want to turn every game into D&D or something, IDEFK.
Skyrim's original system is quite elegant. You do stuff, you get better at doing that stuff, simple as.
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- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Planescape Torment was one of the best video game stories I ever played tied to an ungodly abomination of a D&D Real Time With Pause system which, somehow, felt worse to play than Baldur's Gate II (but not, thank god, than BG1, which may be considered unplayable). But it is legitimately so painful as a game that I would not rank it even in my top 5, story or no story.
If, however, you are like me and have terminal Dungeons and Dragons disease, then the Owlcat Pathfinder games are the best incarnation ever put to computer of Literally Pathfinder But A Video Game No Compromise Not A Single Rule Was Changed. It feeds the brain spiders like nothing else does, not even so-called 'good' games.
Man, I'm only five hours in to Wrath of the Rightious (Which is barely the prologue what the shit this game is long) but I'm absolutely loving it. We'll see if that holds as I start leveling up and get hit with the sheer ridiculous amounts of build options, but so far the Roleplaying part is fun and the gameplay part is fun, so it's a great game.
My problem with the Owlcat Pathfinder games is that they seem to demand that I optimize my character to play, because they sure as hell optimized every encounter on their end.
This results in the fun of millions of options just going away, because it just turns into a minefield of suboptimal choices that flatten player expression into a handful of ridiculous dual-class meta builds.
This results in the fun of millions of options just going away, because it just turns into a minefield of suboptimal choices that flatten player expression into a handful of ridiculous dual-class meta builds.
GilliamYaeger
M'crazy.
You could always just play straight Skald. Can't go wrong with Skald.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Well, more like "why does all the random wildlife get stronger while I do".
Also, without scaling you can go fight harder monsters if the game is too easy and easier monsters if the game is too hard.
I just played a quasi optimized alchemist and I didn't have any real problems till the end game and even then I still beat it.
FunkyEntropy
Occasionally insightful, possibly grumpy
- Location
- Los Angeles
Time for another edition of The Music of Final Fantasy. Today I'll be moving a bit ahead because I want to cover these two tracks while they're current to the playthrough (and also because I like both of them).
First off we have the Phantom Forest. Original. PR.
So I have to start off by saying that the original version is really iconic to me and so I'll be judging the new version pretty harsly...which is what I'd be saying if the new version had done something wrong. New version is fine. I wouldn't say it's better, but the choices that were made work and so all I'm left with are minor nitpicks. So let's pick at those nits.
Intro: they changed the sample for the weird vocals that start things off. It's different. Not better, not worse - just different. The original is pretty well burned into my brain so it's a little jarring for me but it's not like it really detracts from things so it's fine. For those interested, these are triads where the root moves but rest of the triad remains static on a minor 3rd. Pretty bold of Uematsu to start things off on a 2nd inversion (these triads are very unstable sounding), but OTOH it works because instability works in the context of what's going on in game.
Next we have guitar enter acting as the bass, this is where I'm going to seriously pick a nit. In the original all of its notes are more or less equal in prominence. In the PR however...I don't know if this is just a guitar technique thing or something that's just how the instrument works, but the initial note is nice and strong but the later notes in the bar really lack a solid attack. If this were a brass or woodwind I'd say they were ghosting the 2nd and third notes. And, well, it's not the worst thing in the world but I don't like this change because it robs the piece some of its horizontal motion.
And, at last, we reach the final element of the track: the whatever the hell this woodwind sample is supposed to be. It's not a flute (it's a flute in the remaster), it's not a clarinet, it's not an oboe, it's...just some kind of piercing woodwind adjancent sound. For what it's worth if I had to nail it down I'd say its a oboe flute hybrid. Anyway, I love both this sample and the flute that the remaster uses - they both do different things that work brilliantly for the piece. The mystery sample makes the piece more otherworldly, the flute is just hauntingly beautiful.
There's some background strings in all this, but they do their job without overstepping their bounds so I'll just tip my hat in acknowledgement of a job well done by supporting instruments and move on.
Last, I will shamelessly plug the final moments of the track before the repeat. It's just a thing of pure beauty, all the elements of the track working together to create a perfect sonic moment. The remaster does this pretty well to, but IMO it'll never be able to fully capture that original moment for me. My nostalgia is just too strong at this point.
Remix recommendation: mp's Phantom Midnight. This just flat out works as a solo piano piece. Moody and melancholy, with some really neat chord choices to start things off.
The other track I'd like to cover is The Phantom Train. Original. PR.
I'll be honest here - I don't think the PR does a good job reimagining this piece. The trumpet sample is too brash, maybe the gain was too high when they recorded the sample, maybe some tech's elbow accidentally jostled the trebles on the EQ, maybe just plain bad mixing, whatever it is it just doesn't do it for me. It also completely buries the woodwind line, which is a terrible shame. My other big issue is the intro, the guitar sounds nice but I'm getting too much of the repeated notes and the rest of the chord is basically non-existant in comparison. It's basically the same issue I had with the Phantom Forrest but in this context this change is significantly worse because the chord progression - you know, the part that makes this segment interesting - is functionally nonexistant due to performance issues. Big dissapointment all around, the remaster is nowhere near as good as the original unfortunately.
That being said, I love this track and what it represents. It's basically a dirge and funeral waltz all wrapped up with overly dramatic brass and woodwind lines (at least in the original. Very disappointed about the fatally flawed execution of the remaster). You could say that it's very...theatrical, to borrow a term that @Connelly has been using, which I think is a very useful lense for viewing FFVI's world. Endlessly we shuffle on the dance room floor as the train carries us to our final destination...
First off we have the Phantom Forest. Original. PR.
So I have to start off by saying that the original version is really iconic to me and so I'll be judging the new version pretty harsly...which is what I'd be saying if the new version had done something wrong. New version is fine. I wouldn't say it's better, but the choices that were made work and so all I'm left with are minor nitpicks. So let's pick at those nits.
Intro: they changed the sample for the weird vocals that start things off. It's different. Not better, not worse - just different. The original is pretty well burned into my brain so it's a little jarring for me but it's not like it really detracts from things so it's fine. For those interested, these are triads where the root moves but rest of the triad remains static on a minor 3rd. Pretty bold of Uematsu to start things off on a 2nd inversion (these triads are very unstable sounding), but OTOH it works because instability works in the context of what's going on in game.
Next we have guitar enter acting as the bass, this is where I'm going to seriously pick a nit. In the original all of its notes are more or less equal in prominence. In the PR however...I don't know if this is just a guitar technique thing or something that's just how the instrument works, but the initial note is nice and strong but the later notes in the bar really lack a solid attack. If this were a brass or woodwind I'd say they were ghosting the 2nd and third notes. And, well, it's not the worst thing in the world but I don't like this change because it robs the piece some of its horizontal motion.
And, at last, we reach the final element of the track: the whatever the hell this woodwind sample is supposed to be. It's not a flute (it's a flute in the remaster), it's not a clarinet, it's not an oboe, it's...just some kind of piercing woodwind adjancent sound. For what it's worth if I had to nail it down I'd say its a oboe flute hybrid. Anyway, I love both this sample and the flute that the remaster uses - they both do different things that work brilliantly for the piece. The mystery sample makes the piece more otherworldly, the flute is just hauntingly beautiful.
There's some background strings in all this, but they do their job without overstepping their bounds so I'll just tip my hat in acknowledgement of a job well done by supporting instruments and move on.
Last, I will shamelessly plug the final moments of the track before the repeat. It's just a thing of pure beauty, all the elements of the track working together to create a perfect sonic moment. The remaster does this pretty well to, but IMO it'll never be able to fully capture that original moment for me. My nostalgia is just too strong at this point.
Remix recommendation: mp's Phantom Midnight. This just flat out works as a solo piano piece. Moody and melancholy, with some really neat chord choices to start things off.
The other track I'd like to cover is The Phantom Train. Original. PR.
I'll be honest here - I don't think the PR does a good job reimagining this piece. The trumpet sample is too brash, maybe the gain was too high when they recorded the sample, maybe some tech's elbow accidentally jostled the trebles on the EQ, maybe just plain bad mixing, whatever it is it just doesn't do it for me. It also completely buries the woodwind line, which is a terrible shame. My other big issue is the intro, the guitar sounds nice but I'm getting too much of the repeated notes and the rest of the chord is basically non-existant in comparison. It's basically the same issue I had with the Phantom Forrest but in this context this change is significantly worse because the chord progression - you know, the part that makes this segment interesting - is functionally nonexistant due to performance issues. Big dissapointment all around, the remaster is nowhere near as good as the original unfortunately.
That being said, I love this track and what it represents. It's basically a dirge and funeral waltz all wrapped up with overly dramatic brass and woodwind lines (at least in the original. Very disappointed about the fatally flawed execution of the remaster). You could say that it's very...theatrical, to borrow a term that @Connelly has been using, which I think is a very useful lense for viewing FFVI's world. Endlessly we shuffle on the dance room floor as the train carries us to our final destination...
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I think the guitar notes are played evenly, but there's a small drum hit right when it enters. I was also thinking they might have put it on an actual harp, and I know striking the body of the harp for a thump is part of harp music sometimes so that might be it as well.
Gonna disagree with you on this one overall. You're right about the trumpet buries the woodwind runs (though in the original, that's a full ensemble phrase so I think it's the woodwinds that are too soft there), but moving the bridge from that... harpsichord (?) sample to the spanish guitar complete with embellishments is an absolute chef's kiss decision and almost singlehandedly makes the piece for me.
This isn't the only place in the soundtrack though that has 'issues' with ensemble balance, and I have a hypothesis about it but we'll need to wait for the end of disk 1 for me to really have the context to talk about it properly outside spoiler boxes (though you can probably guess which tunes I'm thinking of, Funky).
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deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
It may be miserable as an actual game, but at least we have the sequel Planescape 2: Harry DuBois' bad day.
Yeah, a lot of the stuff is overtuned for a normal person, and there are so many encounters with so many enemies it's a bit of a slog.
As is well known, The Draugr are Training.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hilariously though, both restoration and smithing are extremely useful in helping you kill the Drauger Murderboss Deathking
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Ironically, I beat Baldur's Gate I without too much trouble, but had to drop Baldur's Gate II when I discovered I was doing a Troll centric quest without enough sources of fire damage and my last save point before being locked into the quest was too far back.
Poor Tides of Numenera. No one remembers it exists. It even has Torment in the name!
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Torment: Numenera was good. It was a good story, not like, landmark storytelling in medium like Planescape, but had an actually playable and even potentially fun gameplay so it was overall a great experience.
Disco Elysium is just one of the best games of all time straight up, though.
Disco Elysium is just one of the best games of all time straight up, though.
Connelly
As useless as a penguin with mittens
- Location
- Salamanca, Spain
Strange, I quite distinctly remember that being the case, but it's been a long time since I played and I admit I may be wrong.
BG1, being basically the first of their type, is in a very rough shape precisely because of how much we've progressed since then and the lack of much we now consider a given (cooldown based skills, standarized mechanics, etc). A level 1 character has high chances of being insta gibbed straight out of Candlekeep, and that was to be expected back then. Your fighter going into melee was pretty stupid when you could take a bow and try to kite that mangy wolf before it rips your throat, and a mage had to abuse Sleep to even survive. It's not until you've managed to level up a few levels and got your party that your chances of survival shot through the atmosphere.
Incidentally, with the Enhanced Editions, the engine getting up to the same speed as BG2 and being allowed to use kits means the game is far more easy in that aspect. Playing a berserker or a conjurer is absolutely not the same as playing a vanilla fighter or mage. Which I think is all good, even if you find the usual curmudgeons complaining about it.
The D'Arnise keep? Huh, even in my first play when I knew jack and shit about DnD, that's where I went first and didn't have much trouble. Did you have no mages with even Flame Hands or Melf's Acid Arrow? (even if you only go with Nalia I think she starts with it) No one to use the fire arrows you're given at the start? Or wasted them all on the first trolls? Even with the stack of arrows you're given before and the one you get inside, you get enough to mercy kill each downed troll (they don't need to be downed by fire, only when they're dying on the floor).
- Location
- Nunya, Arizona
If we're offering remixes, to date Gobble, Snarf, Snap is probably my favorite of that particular track. It's a bit of a tonal shift, but one of the fastest ways to get me to love something is add a klezmer spin to it, heh.
Also it has tapdancing traintrack noises so, y'know
Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
Oh when we get to that part, people are going to be racing to post one remix in particular. I've ichy fingers right now and it's still a good bit off.If we're offering remixes, to date Gobble, Snarf, Snap is probably my favorite of that particular track. It's a bit of a tonal shift, but one of the fastest ways to get me to love something is add a klezmer spin to it, heh.
Also it has tapdancing traintrack noises so, y'know
Though if we're posting remixes of tracks that already played, I'm very fond of La Montana de los Caballos Jovenes.
That could work, sure. Perks in Fallout are great, as a point of comparison.
The only issue is that they're hard to balance: you get perks that give you some additional skill points in given skills, which are basically useless, and then you get Sniper. (Or, on the other hand, you have perks that are completely worthless to the point of bafflement. Real ones remember Mental Block from F1).
Interestingly, this disparity was present among D&D 3e feats by design. If you google "Ivory Tower Game Design", you would find quotes from now deleted Monte Cook blog where he talks about deliberately including trap options in the game so that players would feel joy as they mastered the system and worked out that Toughness is not worth the paper it's printed on and should never be taken.
I have a particular hatred for class skills and the decision to make the fighter archetype "the dumb one" and give them next to zero skills, which is particularly troubling in single player games where more often than not the main protagonist is the only one who can actually use the majority of skills.
I consider PST to be a better game than BG because both are bad, but BG requires you to engage with its systems if you don't want to wipe, while in PST it's entirely possible to just always use such advanced tactic as "group up and hit it till it dies."
Numenera was good, if not as remarkable as either PST or DE. My main problem with it (aside from inescapable caster supremacy) is that the underlying setting deliberately lacks the sense of history, which is an odd choice, considering.
To explain: one of my favorite things about this thread is speculations about dead magitek empire and how they fit into the current narrative. You can do the same in the Ninth World, encouraged so, even, but you're intentionally denied ever being right. There is a GM advice in the book stating that if your players ever get a solid theory about what's going on, you should throw in something that contradicts it. You should never explain the full picture, just endlessly complicate it with new details. It's Mystery Box without a key, in other words.
Going over the author's original settings (Numenera, the Strange, Invisible Sun), it appears he just really likes the ability to throw in some unexpected, often surreal elements into his games without thinking about the larger context.
That's... well... that's definitely a choice.