RPGWatch Feature: Laxius Force - Restrospective

Myrthos

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We normally don't pay much attention to Japanese style RPGs, but as Fluent wrote a piece on Laxius Force, a game he likes and there is always room for an exception, here is his retrospective of the game.

Okay, I know it's probably a surprise that I'm writing an article about JRPGs (that's Japanese Role-Playing Games, for those of you who weren't aware) on a site dedicated to computer role-playing games, (most notably, Western RPGs), but if you know anything about me, it's that I grew up with console games, and console RPGs, specifically, were my first foray into the RPG genre. These console RPGs, at least the ones I've played, were mostly made byJapanese game developers, hence the JRPG acronym. Nowadays, it seems to be different. Western RPGS are all the rage on consoles and PC, and Japanese RPGs seem to be aimed more at handheld devices. We're not going to delve into what differentiates these two popular styles of the RPG strata, we're instead just going to focus on a game that blends a bit of both worlds together. After all, the official blurb on Desura says this about the game: "an epic, addicting RPG at the crossroads of games like Baldur's Gate (!!!) and the old Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (double !!!)." That game is Laxius Force. Interested yet?
More information.
 
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Another great article Fluent.:clap:

I also grew up with console games, and just like you said RPGs then were all made by Japanese developers. Nowadays WRPGs rule, and it's cool to bash every JRPG.
 
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A mix between Baldur's Gate and Dragon Quest? - sounds interesting - I think I'll check this out. Thank you Fluent.
 
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Tiny thimble characters on a top-down Barbie dollhouse map and that music. Aarrgghh… Maybe prisoners should be made to play these types of games so they could learn to be very good when released on parole.. OR ELSE you will be back in no time playing Laxius force!
 
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I played Millenium (which you are asking to be Greenlit) and found it to be decent. The strength of these kinds of games are normally story and conversation, and in both I found Millenium satisfactory at best. The graphics were extremely good for a RPG maker game, and they did a super job giving the game sort of an open world feel. Still after playing episode 1 (which I bought on sale) I didn't feel the need to go out and buy part 2.
 
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What sort of native resolution does Laxius Force run in? I'm not the hugest fan of games that run in small windows and I couldn't find the info doing a quick Google search.

That said, I do have a lot of nostalgic love for the old Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games...
 
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What sort of native resolution does Laxius Force run in? I'm not the hugest fan of games that run in small windows and I couldn't find the info doing a quick Google search.

That said, I do have a lot of nostalgic love for the old Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games…

dpc76, You can run it in fullscreen mode OR windowed mode, and you can use a program called 12 Noon Display Changer to change the resolution of your desktop automatically when you open the game. That's what I did. I have it set to 640x480, which is basically full screen, yet it's a window, and the nice part is the resolution will automatically change back when I close the game. Works great for me.

Glad some of you enjoyed the article and are planning on checking out the game. It's a sweet game!
 
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Tiny thimble characters on a top-down Barbie dollhouse map and that music. Aarrgghh… Maybe prisoners should be made to play these types of games so they could learn to be very good when released on parole.. OR ELSE you will be back in no time playing Laxius force!

==============

Amen. Adorable spiky-haired, doe-eyed, estrogen overloaded kids with outrageously sized weapons saving the universe all to an annoyingly saccharine sound track. Put me out of my misery with a Spiked Cudgel.
 
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dpc76, You can run it in fullscreen mode OR windowed mode, and you can use a program called 12 Noon Display Changer to change the resolution of your desktop automatically when you open the game. That's what I did. I have it set to 640x480, which is basically full screen, yet it's a window, and the nice part is the resolution will automatically change back when I close the game. Works great for me.

Glad some of you enjoyed the article and are planning on checking out the game. It's a sweet game!

Thanks for the info! I'll look into that.

Nice write up, by the way. Definitely piqued my curiosity, especially the 15 possible party members and the nods to FF6, one of my all time fav games. I may have to swing by Desura tonight. Kinda bummed I missed the bundle it was in recently.

I have a soft spot for those turn-based jRPGs of the early 90s... they're like video game comfort food :)
 
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Two graphic-whores detected in this thread :)


If you're referring to my comment as me being one of the two, you're wrong. I take issue with the genre as a whole based on style. I don't like the looks, sound, story lines, or game play of JRPGs. And I'm getting burned out on high fantasy heroes and such, too. That's why FO3 and to a lesser degree FO:NV appeal to me.
 
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Thanks for the info! I'll look into that.

Nice write up, by the way. Definitely piqued my curiosity, especially the 15 possible party members and the nods to FF6, one of my all time fav games. I may have to swing by Desura tonight. Kinda bummed I missed the bundle it was in recently.

I have a soft spot for those turn-based jRPGs of the early 90s… they're like video game comfort food :)

Yep, they sure are!

If you guys do play the game, just be sure to be very thorough. The game does not hold your hand. If you don't explore on your own you will miss things. This game actually has more secrets and intricacies than any other JRPG I've played.
 
Thanks for the info! I'll look into that.
…especially the 15 possible party members and the nods to FF6, one of my all time fav games…
Laxius Force is actually a first part of a whole series, and in the final game (Laxius Force III), you can even have 40+ characters. Maybe I should emphasize that in battles, you can only use four of them at once.

Fluent: First I wanted to place here a link for the Let's Play LF videos, then I realized you are the author…:biggrin:
So, I will only repeat that for me, the whole LF series is a masterpiece. 200+ hours of gameplay, absolutely epic and thrilling story and secrets everywhere. You are right, though, that the game does not hold your hand. It's for dedicated players only.
 
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Yeah, it's definitely a bit more of a hardcore experience. That said, it's not that intimidating at all, it's a breeze to play, you just have to keep in mind to search everywhere and go down every path before moving on. You never know what you will find. And without a walkthrough, just expect to miss some stuff as you go.

If any of you guys are interested, yes, I have started a Let's Play on YouTube for this game. You can check out all the episodes by going here > http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhv3GvL8EaJHNZOJDQfNsa0yur0MwOkeG
 
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