chibikaie (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} chibikaie) wrote,@ 2009-01-23 21:28:00 |
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what the ...?
I got my hands on a copy of Valhalla Knights 2 yesterday. Considering that I really enjoyed the first game despite all of its problems and that I knew somebody who had played both VK and VK2 who said 2 was better, I at least expected to get some enjoyment out of it. It's about 24 hours later now.
1. Uh. Peeps. Targeting. Why does battle no longer pause for targeting? Also, did the battle menu need to be so confusing that I can't read it before my allies finish everything off, or are themselves finished off and I get slaughtered?
2. Like the previous version, it's impossible to know where you're supposed to go without a map. Unlike the previous version, there is no printed strategy guide available for purchase, nor is there any online help. I'm currently stuck on the very first quest.
3. Ahem. Raising the price of analyzing unknown items makes it extremely difficult to earn money. For most items found in the early game, you lose money by identifying cheap junk that you won't use and need to sell. Should anyone reading this be so insane as to purchase the game for themselves, I recommend prioritzing books, armor, and swords for analysis - they typically have sale prices that will at least recoup the cost of analysis. Sorting your items before analysis and starting from the bottom up may also help - I think, but am not certain, that it sorts according to ascending value. Identifying and selling the more expensive potions netted me some decent gold.
4. All things considered, it's still not that bad of a game. You get Fire Storm early on, which eliminates the need for targeting (if you initiate the spell and do not press any other buttons until it fires, it simply roasts everything on the screen). Several lengthy animations of the previous game were speeded up to make combat go more quickly (although of course this does bring up the difficulty that combat goes so quickly that you have no freaking clue what the heck is happening). As with the first game, your allies' AI is advanced enough to do most of the work. The fun value therefore comes from building a strong party that does all your work for you.
5. You can hold far more items than before (60) and when your characters change jobs, they don't unequip their usable items (8). This makes changing job classes much less of a hassle. The monk class also brings a little something new, as do the new skills and improvements to existing classes. For example, you can now create a priest/fighter who can equip a shield and use the Guard skill to defend against attacks. It also looks like experience point gain has been tweaked to make keeping a full party of six units more appealing.
I got my hands on a copy of Valhalla Knights 2 yesterday. Considering that I really enjoyed the first game despite all of its problems and that I knew somebody who had played both VK and VK2 who said 2 was better, I at least expected to get some enjoyment out of it. It's about 24 hours later now.
1. Uh. Peeps. Targeting. Why does battle no longer pause for targeting? Also, did the battle menu need to be so confusing that I can't read it before my allies finish everything off, or are themselves finished off and I get slaughtered?
2. Like the previous version, it's impossible to know where you're supposed to go without a map. Unlike the previous version, there is no printed strategy guide available for purchase, nor is there any online help. I'm currently stuck on the very first quest.
3. Ahem. Raising the price of analyzing unknown items makes it extremely difficult to earn money. For most items found in the early game, you lose money by identifying cheap junk that you won't use and need to sell. Should anyone reading this be so insane as to purchase the game for themselves, I recommend prioritzing books, armor, and swords for analysis - they typically have sale prices that will at least recoup the cost of analysis. Sorting your items before analysis and starting from the bottom up may also help - I think, but am not certain, that it sorts according to ascending value. Identifying and selling the more expensive potions netted me some decent gold.
4. All things considered, it's still not that bad of a game. You get Fire Storm early on, which eliminates the need for targeting (if you initiate the spell and do not press any other buttons until it fires, it simply roasts everything on the screen). Several lengthy animations of the previous game were speeded up to make combat go more quickly (although of course this does bring up the difficulty that combat goes so quickly that you have no freaking clue what the heck is happening). As with the first game, your allies' AI is advanced enough to do most of the work. The fun value therefore comes from building a strong party that does all your work for you.
5. You can hold far more items than before (60) and when your characters change jobs, they don't unequip their usable items (8). This makes changing job classes much less of a hassle. The monk class also brings a little something new, as do the new skills and improvements to existing classes. For example, you can now create a priest/fighter who can equip a shield and use the Guard skill to defend against attacks. It also looks like experience point gain has been tweaked to make keeping a full party of six units more appealing.