The Temper Post: Issue #3

[drock360]

Awesome issue JPH! Keep up the good work!

 

[xJonny]

I think you mean sell instead of see, in "Temper tips"

 

[Artheido]

Wow, that Rondo of Swords review is EXTREMELY biased.

Spoiler: The Review

Rondo of Swords takes place in the Kingdom of Bretwalde, a land of dense forests, rich ports, deserts, bandits, castles and usurped kings. Playing as a team of surviving warriors, headed by Prince Serdic, the player makes strategic movements on grid overlaid combat arenas while attempting to reclaim the throne.

k

While the enemy AI continually overwhelms with large forces, players make decisions to cast spells, use skills, attack, or move.

Requires a tactical mind.

Each option ends the turn resulting in wasted healing items

At the end of every battle, you get tons of items to re-equip.

or quickly thrown spells

Don't know what that means.

as the enemy pounces on your location.

So their just supposed to stand there and wait for you?

A slow leveling system means it takes more hits to take out a single enemy character until close to half way through the game.

It was actually a rather fast leveling system if you actually killed a few enemies. You can also restart a mission but at the same time you can keep your EXP.

Meanwhile the enemy obliterates and decimates your teams with 4 to 5 successful hits per movement.

Tactiiicccssss

Thus leaving the player with two strategies, one is to attempt to line up the enemy for a possible pass-through multi-hit maneuver attack, and the other is the understanding that the separation of the team means death.

Keep them separate but close together. You can use the defender to draw enemy, use his POV (?) skill to stop the enemy from going through him and use a mage from long range to cast a spell around him. This way, most of the enemy can be killed in 2 turns from getting attacked.

Once you have these two ideas down the strategy behind this game is mastered.

Nope, the tactic you pointed out doesn't work on most enemies. Only those low class direct attack enemies can die from that.

Constant trial and error then completes frustrating attempts to clear levels and move on with the story.

If you plan out your routes before hand, you won't need to 'trial and error'. Tactics~

Automatically computer controlled RPG like elements allow sidelined characters to quest, train, shop, or upgrade. Considering the repetitiveness of each combat scenario it would have been nice to allow players to pursue these elements manually for their own enjoyment.

Wouldn't that get repetitive? You'll have tons of side-lined characters because the maximum on front is 6. I don't really see how training and shopping is enjoyable =/ Quests aren't that fun either and would suck out more time, like you said; 'move on with the story'!

The menu system is flawed by assuming each DS owner solely relies on the stylus. New menu options are never pre-selected, forcing you to hit “Down” each time you enter a menu or submenu.

It is a lot faster to use a stylus on menus, but if you did want to use the buttons, simply press down once, like you said. All the buttons presses are always on-screen so you know what to hit and eventually get used to it.

Saving time and repetitive menu selecting was obviously not the goal of the programmers who pirated the “IM received” sound effect from AOL’s AIM 95.

The controls are accessible from the stylus or through button combinations, yet the stylus feels more cumbersome. In-game decision making and attack routines simply unfold easier using the polished controller scheme.

The AIM thing is just a coincidence. Why would Atlus go back to AIM 95? -.-

The top screen of the DS contains the most basic and useless information about each character.

Knowing stats of your characters compared to the enemy is pretty useful.

Important combat facts such as available spells or skills are missing, forcing the player to spend time digging a few menus deep per character before planning “strategies.”

This is part of the 'strategy' actually.

The bottom screen contains a playing field much too large for its size, leading to confusing map comprehension
True, probably because it was supposed to be played with the touch screen.

while the player waits up to a minute for the enemy to finish moving its troops.
Again, true. Skip options would've been better. The game has no options what so ever T_T (which you never mentioned)

During attack sequences the top screen displays animated kid friendly violence
How often do you see blood, piercing and death on a TBSRPG? Fire Emblem doesn't have blood, nor does any other that I know of =/

which will have you looking for the skip button after the fourth or fifth time.

True, it is long and boring. Global skip option would've been better.

The pass-through maneuvers allow for friendly forces to gain additional stats per battle. While good in concept, it rarely aids in favorable outcomes during fight sequences.

Erm... Yes they do, if you level the skills up. =/

Magic users can obtain powerful spells but begin the game as feeble defenseless pawns that are quickly sacrificed when spell hurling ends the characters turn and with it the ability to move.

Yeah... That's why you need tactics in this game.

Archers can attack after movements but never yield to the cheapness of the whole concept.

They're meant to be used to kill long ranged units like mages and other archers that are hard to reach. Again, needs skill.

Besides the overly womanizing remarks of the character named Margus

That's classical RPGs for you

this game has nothing entertaining going for it.

I kinda liked the storyline. You never actually explained the story to actually criticize it. The title in Japanese 'Rondo of Lies' and the story of a guy deceiving everyone by saying he's the prince is unique thought the rest of it is re-hashed.

The “pounce on you” enemy AI,

If you actually went deeper into the game, the AI actually get clever. It's the whole 'easy at start, hard at end' thing that most RPGs have. -.-

very little actual strategy,

So the game requires you to kill x10 your amount of forces WITHOUT strategy? Yeah right. The game is strategy-only. You can't be a nub to play the game, you need brains and skill.

repetitive character models
How? =/ Variety of Elemental Mages, Healers, Variety of different Warriors, Cavalry, Ninjas, Archers, Defenders, Beastmen. The game isn't that long and there aren't enough characters to call it repetitive.


GBA era graphics, implistic combat choices, long winded enemy decision making,

True, true, true.

and lack of important character statistics
There are plenty of statistics actually, if you checked the top screen -.-

will leave you wishing for a port of Final Fantasy Tactics.
Hmm... This game was actually inspired by Fire Emblem. FFT isn't such a good comparison since they differ in a range of things.

This game is for the strategy purists, and as soon as I find one I’ll ask how they cope with this piece of NDS shovelware.

Wait... CONTRADICTION! You said the game contains: very little actual strategy, remember? =/ So why would be for strategy purists when it contains very little actual strategy?

It's not shovelware. =/ We cope with it by using our brains rather than playing randomly like most games out there =]

You also never pointed out other cons such at the lack of varied enemy units, the in-battle UI

As you can see... NOTHING positive was given =/ This is more like a 'My Thoughts' (+rant) rather than a 'Review'

This game tried something different rather than the normal TBSRPG and it worked but requires strategy. It is a SRPG so a strategical mind is to be expected.

I just had to point everything out because the reviewer down-graded the game so badly.

The rest is great

 

[bluebright]

great read, keep up the hard work.

 

[ScuberSteve]

I won?
o.O

 

[silent sniper]

great stuff.

 

[Costello]

yay great!
thanks jph! and I also get an award this week

woohoo!

 

[Mewgia]

:| If you had actually read the thread about C.O.R.E. being the next online DS shooter, you would have seen that it's just speculation and interpretation, the official website doesn't actually say anything about Wi-fi.

And I didn't really see what was funny about ScuberSteve's post...

otherwise a good temper post.

 

[Szyslak]

Nice job JPH. Thanks for keeping us up to date!

 

[Another World]

<!--quoteo(post=1113334:date=Apr 27 2008, 01:48 AM:name=Seazn)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Seazn @ Apr 27 2008, 01:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1113334"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Wow, that Rondo of Swords review is EXTREMELY biased.

Spoiler: The Review

<b>Rondo of Swords takes place in the Kingdom of Bretwalde, a land of dense forests, rich ports, deserts, bandits, castles and usurped kings. Playing as a team of surviving warriors, headed by Prince Serdic, the player makes strategic movements on grid overlaid combat arenas while attempting to reclaim the throne.</b>

k

<b>While the enemy AI continually overwhelms with large forces, players make decisions to cast spells, use skills, attack, or move.</b>

Requires a tactical mind.

<b>Each option ends the turn resulting in wasted healing items</b>

At the end of every battle, you get tons of items to re-equip.

<b>or quickly thrown spells</b>

Don't know what that means.

<b>as the enemy pounces on your location.</b>

So their just supposed to stand there and wait for you?

<b>A slow leveling system means it takes more hits to take out a single enemy character until close to half way through the game.</b>

It was actually a rather fast leveling system if you actually killed a few enemies. You can also restart a mission but at the same time you can keep your EXP.

<b>Meanwhile the enemy obliterates and decimates your teams with 4 to 5 successful hits per movement.</b>

Tactiiicccssss

<b>Thus leaving the player with two strategies, one is to attempt to line up the enemy for a possible pass-through multi-hit maneuver attack, and the other is the understanding that the separation of the team means death. </b>

Keep them separate but close together. You can use the defender to draw enemy, use his POV (?) skill to stop the enemy from going through him and use a mage from long range to cast a spell around him. This way, most of the enemy can be killed in 2 turns from getting attacked.

<b>Once you have these two ideas down the strategy behind this game is mastered. </b>

Nope, the tactic you pointed out doesn't work on most enemies. Only those low class direct attack enemies can die from that.

<b>Constant trial and error then completes frustrating attempts to clear levels and move on with the story.</b>

If you plan out your routes before hand, you won't need to 'trial and error'. Tactics~

<b>Automatically computer controlled RPG like elements allow sidelined characters to quest, train, shop, or upgrade. Considering the repetitiveness of each combat scenario it would have been nice to allow players to pursue these elements manually for their own enjoyment.</b>

Wouldn't that get repetitive? You'll have tons of side-lined characters because the maximum on front is 6. I don't really see how training and shopping is enjoyable =/ Quests aren't that fun either and would suck out more time, like you said; 'move on with the story'!

<b>The menu system is flawed by assuming each DS owner solely relies on the stylus. New menu options are never pre-selected, forcing you to hit “Down” each time you enter a menu or submenu.</b>

It is a lot faster to use a stylus on menus, but if you did want to use the buttons, simply press down <i>once</i>, like you said. All the buttons presses are always on-screen so you know what to hit and eventually get used to it.

<b>Saving time and repetitive menu selecting was obviously not the goal of the programmers who pirated the “IM received” sound effect from AOL’s AIM 95. </b>

The controls are accessible from the stylus or through button combinations, yet the stylus feels more cumbersome. In-game decision making and attack routines simply unfold easier using the polished controller scheme.

The AIM thing is just a coincidence. Why would Atlus go back to AIM 95? -.-

<b>The top screen of the DS contains the most basic and useless information about each character.</b>

Knowing stats of your characters compared to the enemy is pretty useful.

<b>Important combat facts such as available spells or skills are missing, forcing the player to spend time digging a few menus deep per character before planning “strategies.”</b>

This is <i>part</i> of the 'strategy' actually.

<b>The bottom screen contains a playing field much too large for its size, leading to confusing map comprehension </b>
True, probably because it was supposed to be played with the touch screen.

<b>while the player waits up to a minute for the enemy to finish moving its troops.</b>
Again, true. Skip options would've been better. The game has no options what so ever T_T (which you never mentioned)

<b>During attack sequences the top screen displays animated kid friendly violence </b>
How often do you see blood, piercing and death on a TBSRPG? Fire Emblem doesn't have blood, nor does any other that I know of =/

<b>which will have you looking for the skip button after the fourth or fifth time.</b>

True, it is long and boring. Global skip option would've been better.

<b>The pass-through maneuvers allow for friendly forces to gain additional stats per battle. While good in concept, it rarely aids in favorable outcomes during fight sequences.</b>

Erm... Yes they do, if you level the skills up. =/

<b>Magic users can obtain powerful spells but begin the game as feeble defenseless pawns that are quickly sacrificed when spell hurling ends the characters turn and with it the ability to move.</b>

Yeah... That's why you need tactics in this game.

<b>Archers can attack after movements but never yield to the cheapness of the whole concept.</b>

They're meant to be used to kill long ranged units like mages and other archers that are hard to reach. Again, needs skill.

<b>Besides the overly womanizing remarks of the character named Margus</b>

That's classical RPGs for you <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" />

<b>this game has nothing entertaining going for it.</b>

I kinda liked the storyline. You never actually explained the story to actually criticize it. The title in Japanese 'Rondo of Lies' and the story of a guy deceiving everyone by saying he's the prince is unique thought the rest of it is re-hashed.

<b>The “pounce on you” enemy AI,</b>

If you actually went deeper into the game, the AI actually get clever. It's the whole 'easy at start, hard at end' thing that most RPGs have. -.-

<b>very little actual strategy,</b>

So the game requires you to kill <b>x10</b> your amount of forces <i>WITHOUT</i> strategy? Yeah right. The game is strategy-only. You can't be a nub to play the game, you need brains and skill.

<b>repetitive character models</b>
How? =/ Variety of Elemental Mages, Healers, Variety of different Warriors, Cavalry, Ninjas, Archers, Defenders, Beastmen. The game isn't that long and there aren't enough characters to call it repetitive.

<b>
GBA era graphics, implistic combat choices, long winded enemy decision making, </b>

True, true, true.
<b>
and lack of important character statistics</b>
There are plenty of statistics actually, if you checked the top screen -.-

<b>will leave you wishing for a port of Final Fantasy Tactics.</b>
Hmm... This game was actually inspired by Fire Emblem. FFT isn't such a good comparison since they differ in a range of things.

<b>This game is for the strategy purists, and as soon as I find one I’ll ask how they cope with this piece of NDS shovelware.</b>

Wait... CONTRADICTION! You said the game contains: <b>very little actual strategy,</b> remember? =/ So why would be for strategy purists when it contains very little actual strategy? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" />

It's not shovelware. =/ We cope with it by using our brains rather than playing randomly like most games out there =]

You also never pointed out other cons such at the lack of varied enemy units, the in-battle UI

As you can see... NOTHING positive was given =/ This is more like a 'My Thoughts' (+rant) rather than a 'Review'

This game tried something different rather than the normal TBSRPG and it worked but requires strategy. It <i>is</i> a SRPG so a strategical mind is to be expected.

I just had to point everything out because the reviewer down-graded the game so badly.

The rest is great <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yaynds.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yayds:" border="0" alt="yaynds.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

If you spent time reading the review and not being so selective to your assumed comprehension on the meaning you would see that the entire piece is littered with good and bad thoughts. an example would be by stating that magic users can gain powerful spells (very good) but start out as pawns who are quickly sacrificed (very bad). I'm sorry I left out the 3rd strategy which is to run and let your distance attackers cut down the forces. I did not write the review with bias and as you don't know who I am you are entitled to your mistaken opinions of me. I wrote the review looking at the game as if it was my first time playing a SRPG. I made notes of all of the positive things and negative and made sure to include as many as possible in the review. I can not be held responsible for the plethora of negative aspects left in this game during publication.

Can you explain to me how AI that just pounces on you is strategy?
Tell me how MP, HP, and other useless facts help you plan a strategy? So using those you can either choose to walk into the enemy pounce or run from it. That top menu does not tell you what skills, weapons, items, or magic spells you have on hand.

I really don't want to make a line for line comparison as you did. I'm glad this review pissed you off and sparked your thought process to form a rebuttal. However, you are defending a genre you are obviously attracted to, and as a result does that not make your opinions biased?

Cheers,
-AW

 

[ndpndnt16]

i want this on PDF file and with images ofcoarse would be good

 

[Urza]

i want this on PDF file and with images ofcoarse would be good

Printscreen -> copy into Paint -> export to PDF image writer