Castle Paradox

Rinku · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 690

I think the main challenge of DWII and games like it is trying to deduce when you are powerful enough to attempt to complete the next large challenge (usually get through a dungeon). Of course level gaining and battles aren't a challenge, and of course there's no challenge if you have infinite time to level grind, but I think there actually is a significant challenge in figuring out when you are at a high enough level and have good enough equipment to attempt the next challenge. Save states sort of ruin the challenge of these RPGs though, because it's no longer risky to venture a little farther.

There's also the challenge of completing the game in the least time and at the lowest level you can: when I used to replay NES RPGs I usually aimed to finish the game faster and at a lower level than I did the previous times.
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Tower Defense Game

J.A.R.S. · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:54 pm Post subject:

is that the focus wingedmene has when it comes to being "harder"?

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

It's not about being harder. It is more fun for Rinku to push through that kind of toughness. Grinding shouldn't be a bad thing, but if a game is terrible, it will be.

Rinku · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 690

Wingedmene actually has a dynamic difficulty level: if you play badly, the game becomes easier for you; if you play well, the game becomes harder. It's all done with plotscripting.
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Tower Defense Game

J.A.R.S. · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:03 pm Post subject:

I'm interested in that. Care explaining more in-depth a lil?

Moogle1 · Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:44 pm Post subject:

Rinku · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 690

I don't remember the details of it since I haven't worked on it so long, but depending on how you fought certain battles (and other things), the difficulty level of the game changed. This level affected which enemy formations would show up in which areas (larger and harder formations in higher difficulty levels). You'd have to ask Komera for more details, as my memory is bad.
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Tower Defense Game

Newbie_Power · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 1762

J.A.R.S. · Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:30 am Post subject:

ya thats what I thought, but I was wondering if I had the right idea... like switching which formation for the boss or normal monsters, adding 1 monster or using some with higher hps against good players. I like the idea of tayloring the difficulty of a game. But it is just that much harder to define what is the correct difficulty level....

msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

First off, I have to step in for just a moment and make the claim that I like DW II probably better than either I or III. I partially agree with what Rinku is talking about (deducing your chances at completing the next task), but I also love the fact (I'm being serious here) that when you first get the boat, you have practically NO IDEA of where to go. You can go anywhere, and the world seems so huge all of a sudden. I've never gotten quite this feeling from any other RPG I've played (I'm not sure why I don't get the same feeling from DW III, as it is pretty similar in this regard).

I also wanted to say that I played the first part of Wingedmene, and I really wasn't terribly impressed. I think I'd like to play it again when it is finished. The battles were difficult, but to me the difficulty seemed almost more based on the enemies' speed, which you had no way of affecting. I don't really enjoy having to think quickly in RPGs. I think Wingedmene would be more fun for me if the pause on all battle menus bitset was turned on.

PS: I haven't played this game in several years, so I'm afraid I cannot say too much more about it. The graphics were nice, I think.
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My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com

J.A.R.S. · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:16 am Post subject:

I have to agree there, thanks pointing out, I had totally forgotten this period of my life

he funny thing about it is you could screw up in a way other rpgs didn't really apply. You ended up on a territory that you could reach, but the first enemy formation could kill you, enforcing that not all battles can be won Wink

Also, it allowed the player to do the things that were to be done in a relatively loose order (of course, last didn't come first, but ya, if you could survive it, and there were no special requirements, you could just do it)
Correct me here 'cause I'm not exactly sure about this, but I think the player received the boat before the princess right? If so, that's rare to see a game issuing a vehicle that gives access to nearly everything before all the main characters are even found? (I reeeeally need to doublecheck that, for some reason, it sounds wrong?)

As for the speed of enemies, outside a certain range, I find it annoying. Not only because you have to think faster, but sometimes its just a cheap gangbang and even though you have the upperhand fight-wise, there's just too many of them. Though, in wingedmene's case, I believe the initial sword attacked all enemies did it not?

Rinku · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 690

The first sword attacked all enemies but you lost it in the third battle (after the game's introduction), so it wasn't really your first sword, since you can't use it once the game actually starts.

I'm not sure what version you played, but I think I have been adjusting the speeds of the heroes and enemies back and forth for awhile. It may be slower now, but it's still much faster than the typical OHR game (and it's more fun that way, once you get used to the intensity). There are faster-paced battle systems though --FFX-2 was faster.
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Tower Defense Game

msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

To JARS:

You find the princess before the boat. I am not sure if I have ever played an RPG where you are given relatively full world access before you gain all of your main characters. FF III (VI) is a somewhat questionable case, but may be considered a counter-example.

To Rinku:
I'm sorry but I really have no idea when exactly I downloaded and tried Wingedmene, so I can't hazard a guess at what version I've tried. The battle speed was the only thing that really turned me off of the game, but since battles are such a huge part of the standard RPG experience (and I think I'm within reasonability to call Wingedmene a standard RPG), this was enough for me to quit before finishing. I also might say that I did not like the towns' map design either, but that's rather nitpicky. Basically, I did not like having to walk so far after entering the town just to get to the inn and the shops.
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My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com

J.A.R.S. · Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject:

I personally stopped because of the first city... everything's blue, i didn't feel urged to get my sword back so... all in all i didnt quite know what i was doing. I don't remember battles being overly tough though?

msw188 · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 1041

Also to Rinku:
I just finished Dragon Quest 8, and I must say that I do recommend it. I was kind of iffy going in after 7, and with how different it looked at first, but overall I think it turned out to be a very fun game. Probably the most fun I've had playing a one-player game in quite some time, actually. Although to be fair, I don't play video games very often.
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My first completed OHR game, Tales of the New World:
http://castleparadox.com/gamelist-display.php?game=161

This website link is for my funk/rock band, Euphonic Brew:
www.euphonicbrew.com