Octopus Overlords

Okay, Jeanne deserves her own thread...

I'm just done the first battle of Chapter 3 and here is what I have learned so far:

1) Stay together! This game is all about synergy - defensive bonus from being next to each other, burning auras, Godspeed set ups and just keeping a single character from getting hit more than once or twice in a turn are keys to success.

2) Transformations heal all damage - sweet little bonus that has saved Jeanne and Gilles on numerous occasions when my healer is otherwise occupied (or incapacitated).

3) Do not sell skill stones to get that easy cash in the early game! They become very useful later on...

4) When possible, equip everybody with a spell of some sort - very handy to have an extra heal or ice bolt when that person may have nothing better to do.

5) Colet is extremely handy. Stealing is nice, but he is great for setting up key burning auras for others. His high evasion means he rarely gets hit, so this is a great role for him. His high movement allows him to fill defensive holes, block for healers/archers and just getting where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Plus, it is funny when Marcel calls him Collette.

6) Godspeed does not have to be used immediately! Wait until another character can soften up another target for you before you strike again. Chain those attacks as much as possible.

7) Do not take on the bonus battle at the start of Chapter 3 right away - it is futile at that point. Cool baddies, though...

Anyway, the game is just plain awesome and is perfectly executed in all aspects. Practically a must-have if you own a PSP - and probably a good reason to grab a Slim if you don't.

Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. 3 days a week I'm not at home and without major gaming distraction. I've been using my PSP and really been wanting just this kind of game to plug away at.

Puzzle Quest was good for last semester, but I'm glad there's something new.

D&D tactics might be a good alternate as well. Here's hoping...

Excellent tips msurby. I was thinking about starting this exact thread and you hit nearly every point I was going to make! Not sure about the Colet tip though, as he gets killed in 1-2 hits nearly every time I try to use him. Consequently, he's been the neglected red-headed stepchild of my group.

I just started Chapter 4, and there's only a couple things I would add:

1. This one's probably obvious, but save the killing blows for your lower level characters as they will get more XP out of them.

2. Be sure to do plenty of random battles to keep your team at least somewhat close in levels. You never know when a party member (or members) might unexpectedly disappear! Pair up a couple of high level folks with a few low-levellers, and you'll be amazed how quickly you'll get them up to speed.

3. I would recommend against using Desperation for axe characters. It never shows the actual numbers, but I've found that the extra offense isn't worth the large defensive hit you'll take.

4. I'll add a +1 to equipping everyone with some sort of spell. You get 6 skill slots once you hit 30th level, so it's not much of a stretch to throw in a healing or offensive spell, even on tanks.

Really dig this game, even though I'm only in CHP 1 due to some sidetracking tendency playing MONSTER HUNTER 2.

I just don't like the fact that you're only given a minimum amount of turns before it's all game o'er, man.

Dodger Bullet wrote:I just don't like the fact that you're only given a minimum amount of turns before it's all game o'er, man.

The turn limit seems more restrictive than it actually is. In 17+ hours, I've only had one battle where running out of turns became an issue.

Just hit the last mission (I think). some tips:

1) When you get Lion-o and Rufus (The Lion and the Dog) early in the game, its very, very, very easy to dismiss Rufus because his stats pretty much blow and he hits like a blind wet noodle.

Oh but lo and behold, the developers have hidden an easter egg in him. Rufus, stat wise, grows to be the strongest character in the game by leaps and bounds. If you stick with him and try to level him, you will be rewarded with a character who can kill things 4+ levels above him in one hit. Your faith will be rewarded! That said, Lion-o is pretty decent, but hits his peak usefulness with at 34 or so...Rufus is an end game axe monster.

2) Level up your archers ASAP. Marcel and your later archer become absolutely godly as time goes on. As you reach skills like Sky Dart, Meteor, and Double Shot, you'll come to rely on their first strike abilities more and more. Some of the later missions almost seem like they are designed for the archers to soften up the incoming zerg so your Transformed heroes can Godspeed their way through em.

3) Colette, while looking silly, and being impossible to understand, can end up being your late game superstar with Rufus. If you pump him with Assassins Blades, +x Evade stones, and lots of attack potions or buffs, you'll have a character who is almost impossible to hit without magic, critcals 80%+ of the time, moves without penalties, and sets up Burning Souls very well for your main lines. As you reach the late game and start getting the double attack and Pre-emtive attack stuff, he literally cant be stopped (at least by anything Ive seen).

4) It may be obvious, but at the start of each chapter, save the game, go to a town, and unequip all your stones. Go into the Fusion Stone area, and make all the combinations you can humanly find, and make a mental note of which sound good to your current playstyle or team. Then reload and make em with maximum efficencey, giving you the ability to buff your team with great new skills, while at the same time saving resources for the really complicated to make/high tier skills that require lots of lower tier combinations.

5) Dont bother with the Colessium until your mid 50's....at which point you can burn through all 10 levels and set yourself up for the late game stages pretty well.

6) MINOR SPOILERS - When you beat the Colessium, you'll get a necklace that you can't use...look for the Graveyard - END MINOR SPOILERS

So Pharoh, did you go back and beat the 800hp dragon level (it first appears at the beginning of Chapter 3)? Just curious what level you have to be to tackle that bugger. Also, how many chapters are there in total? I just started 4, and am wondering how far along I am.

Skinypupy wrote:So Pharoh, did you go back and beat the 800hp dragon level (it first appears at the beginning of Chapter 3)? Just curious what level you have to be to tackle that bugger. Also, how many chapters are there in total? I just started 4, and am wondering how far along I am.

We're about even then, just started 4 last night. I beat the Altois Prairie stage with everyone around level 28, Jeanne at 30. There's two dragons, 3(?) golems, and some qrow's. I took Jeanne, Rufus, La Hire, Gilles, both archers, and Liane. Ended up losing both archers and Liane to the first dragon and the qrows (damn qrows are hard to hit unless you use spells). Jeanne, Rufus, and La Hire ended up finishing off two golems and the last dragon by themselves. For the dragon, I just surrounded him so he couldn't hit more than one person at a time.

That was a fun stage, you shouldn't have any problem with it at your level Skiny. You get some cool stones for Cua to chew on.

The Colosseum just opened up, and from Pharaoh's description, I won't be venturing there for quite a while.

Just wiped the Altois Prarie stage with no problem. With everyone around level 40 (Colet is still a bit behind at 32), the level was a breeze. Rufus, both archers, Liane, Richard, Jean, and the bald guy. One character got down to around 2/3 health from the dragon's breath attack, but that was it.

My #1 tip now is: Develop those archers! Both of mine are some bad-ass damage dealers, and very rarely (if ever) get hit. Beatrix is weak when you get her, but it's certainly worth the time to level her up. One of mine is a archer/healer, and the other has a couple offensive spells. Dual archers plus dual melee plus 1 spear and one mage (depending on the level) has been unstoppable for the last few hours.

FWIW, I'm now 23 hours in and still having an absolute blast. Awesome, awesome game.

Well, looks like I am almost done but I just had to pop in and talk about a cool battle: I was stuck in a situation in which I could use no burning auras (bummer, but okay), no transformations (yikes! - but still okay) and no skills (holy shit...). Totally made me change the way I fought and made for a very challenging level. I think I have only lost 4 battles (all by timing out) so far and I almost never lose even a single person (or Therion). Anyway, I made liberal use of my healing items and ended up losing 3 of my 7 people, but I did manage to beat it on the first try - on turn 19 of 20.

This is absolutely my GotY. I will be sad to see it end.

Currently playing this game. Just reached Chapter 2.

I always liked these grid based JRPG/strat turn based games. This one is a classic on any system. But truly amazing on a handheld.

If you are at all interested in the genre and have a PSP, this is a MUST buy.

Another heads up:

Some of the tougher Free Combats have really nice rewards. I have been mopping up some of the spots I ignored before the final battles and was suprised by some of the nice items I have been getting. So far I have gotten 2 more armlet gems (!) which will surely come in very handy against the final Baddie...

Kemper Boyd wrote:Another heads up:

Some of the tougher Free Combats have really nice rewards. I have been mopping up some of the spots I ignored before the final battles and was suprised by some of the nice items I have been getting. So far I have gotten 2 more armlet gems (!) which will surely come in very handy against the final Baddie...

Which areas give the gems? I've been itching to get more, but haven't come across any yet.

The tunnel gave one, the dwarves/elves (probably whichever you didn't do in the story), and one of the Colet specific ones. Also, ten rounds of the Colleseum (sp?) gives you one (probably want to be close to 50 for that run).

So I have been mowing through a second play through - just placed the Dauphin on the throne - and have a few new insights. I have been playing with no free combats to level and no skill binding at all - just working with what I get from deaths and rewards. This is kind of an anti-power gaming move since it is just way too easy to over level (and over equip) your troops. So here are some more tips to get through the early part of the game:

- Keep Healing Herbs on hand at all times. They are dirt cheap (50gp) and have saved my ass in virtually every level. Early on I try to have at leat 10 in my inventory and I currently try to have 15. This way, every character has the ability to either heal themselves or an adjacent comrade for 60hp every turn.

- Use those Solar/Lunar/Astral Phials! A guaranteed 24 to 36hp hit can be the difference between life or death. It is also a great way to level up your guys who are lagging behind - chop down a baddie with your big guns and then let a lowbie finish them off with a phial lob. With the right level differential, the lowbie can gain 1-2 levels easy and sometimes much more.

- This may bite me in the ass, but I have completely ignored Roger in this run through. I never found him all that great to begin with and his "lack of reliability" later on pissed me off. I started off substituting Bertrand, but I am now growing fond of having a second spearman around. Sweep! and Impale! FTW.

Anyway, I am still having a blast and enjoying the challenge of constantly fighting troops 2-6 levels over my head. Challenging but fun.

I just started Chapter 3. This is a fantastic strat/RPG on any system, nevermind a portable.

I find myself using the same 5 or 6 characters and ignoring the others. I like Jeanne (duh), Liana (healing), Bertrand (great tank), Jean (for his spear), Marcel (ranged combat!) and the lion dude (another nice tank).

This is probably going to kill me later because these 6 are around level 28 / 29 and the rest of the party is in the low 20s.

FlyingElvis wrote:I just started Chapter 3. This is a fantastic strat/RPG on any system, nevermind a portable.

I find myself using the same 5 or 6 characters and ignoring the others. I like Jeanne (duh), Liana (healing), Bertrand (great tank), Jean (for his spear), Marcel (ranged combat!) and the lion dude (another nice tank).

This is probably going to kill me later because these 6 are around level 28 / 29 and the rest of the party is in the low 20s.

Later in the game, there's areas that allow you to catch up on levels pretty quickly. Be careful about building up some characters at the expense of others, however. You never know who might suddenly disappear from your party.

I find myself using the same 5 or 6 characters and ignoring the others. I like Jeanne (duh), Liana (healing), Bertrand (great tank), Jean (for his spear), Marcel (ranged combat!) and the lion dude (another nice tank).

In the long run, Rufus (the dog dude) actually makes a better tank than La Hire (the lion dude) IMHO. Takes a little longer to build him up, but is definitely worth it.

35 hours in, and all my characters are 50-55 level. I just finished battle #27, and probably need to just plow through to the end with Final Fantasy Tactics coming out soon. I think I'm really overlevelled, as I got through the last story battle without a single character losing more than 10% of their HP. It's still a blast to play.

Thanks for the tips Skiny.

I forgot JRPGs are famous for taking away characters for story purposes.

msurby wrote:Okay, Jeanne deserves her own thread...

I'm just done the first battle of Chapter 3 and here is what I have learned so far:


2) Transformations heal all damage - sweet little bonus that has saved Jeanne and Gilles on numerous occasions when my healer is otherwise occupied (or incapacitated).


6) Godspeed does not have to be used immediately! Wait until another character can soften up another target for you before you strike again. Chain those attacks as much as possible.

Ooh I didn't know about those two! thanks for your advice!

I just picked this game up yesterday and I am really loving it.

I'm up to Chapter 2 and I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I'm really impressed by the level of quality of the game and the overall production and care that went into it. I can see myself playing all the way through this one.

Chapter 4 Spoiler

Silky wrote:Chapter 4 Spoiler

Spoiler:

I was pissed when Jeanne fell of the cliff and I had to use the other girl instead. I think she was level 19 or something when the rest of my posse was in the high 30's. First mission with archers and stuff and the directive of keep her alive sucked badly for me.

That's not the only time something like that will happen. It's pretty important to keep everyone leveled pretty close.

Just started playing this game and I am currently on the 2nd mission in chapter 2. However I'm finding some of the missions insanely difficult.
The current mission is to take the first Bastille, Loups, and I lost 3/4 of my characters before I even breached the front gate. The 4 archers inside finished off everyone that actually made it inside in very short order.

Should I be using the "free battles" to level up between missions? So far I've just been following the story line and only doing the free battles as they present themselves. I tryed leveling using random battles in FFT recently and now every fight is so easy I wound up putting the game down and started this one. Does this game present the same balance issue i.e. crazy difficult if you try and just do the story and overly easy if you level outside the story??

If you level too much outside of the story then this game will be even easier than FFT:WotL ever thought about being. It has been a long time since I played but I don't remember this level being all that hard - at least not hard like the "get past the English guy" and the "rescue the French guy" levels early on. You should always have a bunch of healing herbs handy so your guys can heal (and heal others) frequently. Also, a powered up braclet wearer can usually tear through a bunch of baddies in short order, making the levels much easier.

Now available on PS5 (and 4) for $9.99, so I'm in. Once I found you could gain levels and cash on the free church battles I was ecstatic.

I wish the author of this thread were around to adjust the title since it it no longer a PSP exclusive. At any rate I am loving it so far, since with patience and prep you can handle the difficulty spike. Here is a strange tip I figured out: Some of the potions you find will give you a permanent stat increase. But strangely you can only access them during combat, and you have to use a turn to consume one. So I went to the newbie church and used up turns to drink the potions while allowing the weak mobs to come at me. It worked fine.

I played this when it was originally released and I loved it back then. I have it downloaded on my PS5 but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet.

Do the graphics hold up on a larger screen or is it a blurry pixilated mess?

I had this too on PSP and played it a decent way through. Never finished it though, and I enjoyed it but wasn't wowed by it at the time. There were similar tactical games that I enjoyed more. But I think I will like it more now; just haven't gotten around to purchasing it yet.

who tf is msurby and how do they have over 700 posts without me having any idea they exist(ed)?

GreenGoo wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 10:34 am who tf is msurby and how do they have over 700 posts without me having any idea they exist(ed)?

When someone doesn't show up for 17 years, we tend to forget.

Baroquen wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 9:51 am I had this too on PSP and played it a decent way through. Never finished it though, and I enjoyed it but wasn't wowed by it at the time. There were similar tactical games that I enjoyed more. But I think I will like it more now; just haven't gotten around to purchasing it yet.

This is a somewhat random question because I don't know if it is an rpg or a tactical rpg but do you remember an older psp game involving Geppetto as one of the main characters although not the actual protagonist?

Man, I loved this game when it first came out. Was one of my favorites on PSP.

I tried it again recently and while it’s still pretty good, there are more recent tactical strategy games that I definitely prefer. Triangle Strategy, Fell Seal, and FF Tactics: War of the Lion being the three most obvious.

Mainly because playing the upscaled PSP graphics on a big screen looks…rough, to say the least.

Scraper wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 8:19 am I played this when it was originally released and I loved it back then. I have it downloaded on my PS5 but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet.

Do the graphics hold up on a larger screen or is it a blurry pixilated mess?

I'm playing on a recent vintage smart TV and the graphics look fine to me. I am benefiting from never buying any consoles back in the day so I can have a first time experience on PS5 releases.

Madmarcus wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:57 am
This is a somewhat random question because I don't know if it is an rpg or a tactical rpg but do you remember an older psp game involving Geppetto as one of the main characters although not the actual protagonist?

That vaguely rings a bell, but I don't remember. I don't think it was a game I played, and I wasn't heavy into the PSP so I'm no expert in that area. Sorry.

I did pull the trigger on grabbing this. It's in the queue while I finish Eiyuden and Dragon Quest 5.

Madmarcus wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 11:57 am

Baroquen wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 9:51 am I had this too on PSP and played it a decent way through. Never finished it though, and I enjoyed it but wasn't wowed by it at the time. There were similar tactical games that I enjoyed more. But I think I will like it more now; just haven't gotten around to purchasing it yet.

This is a somewhat random question because I don't know if it is an rpg or a tactical rpg but do you remember an older psp game involving Geppetto as one of the main characters although not the actual protagonist?

You’re probably thinking of Shadow Hearts, a niche JRPG for PS2. Geppetto is one of the main NPCs in that one, along with several other completely random fictional and historical characters.

That was a rather bizarre series that I wish would find new life. The first two games were excellent, with the third game being (sadly) a real clunker.

That's it. Particularly Shadow Hearts II. I played through about a third of it years ago in an emulator until I messed up the save files while not paying attention. Since then it has been in the back of my mind like an earworm any time someone mentions PSP games.

Here's a reason why I love this game. I found out you can steal/farm HP Recovery skills from Ogres and Trolls. Combine two and you get an HPR II. Combine two of those and you get an HPR III. Hit point regen of 30% per turn for all my main characters!

Speaking of PSP..i FINALLY found my PSP charger! I dont remember where now but I found it..its here..someplace. Not sure where PSP is now lol.

I finished the game last night. The missions were varied enough that I enjoyed it to the end. Even though I was "over" leveled, the final boss was a challenge: I found that magic spells were underwhelming as you start each battle with no mana and it gradually goes up. Healing is useful early, but the amount of mana needed for high level spells is so high you can almost never use them or the battle is over by the time you can. There was one point where you had to choose either a second thief or a second mage, and I'm glad I went with thief. Overall I give it 6/8 tentacles.