Support NeoGAF

[Prospero]

I've been putting off buying DDS1 for months now, and I'm thinking about picking it up before it becomes too hard to find without paying a premium price on eBay. But I've got some reservations--help me out here.

The thing is--the take-no-prisoners difficulty of SMT: Nocturne just about ruined me for traditional RPGs. That was a hard, hard game, and I loved it. The reviews I've read about DDS say that it's more "accessible" than SMT: N, but seems to me that in order to create that accessibility, the designers took out everything that actually made Nocturne such a challenge (like the limit on acquired skills, the demon fusion, etcetera). And after Nocturne, the idea of playing a simpler RPG (in which all the obstacles can be overcome simply by powerlevelling) seems almost like a waste of time to me.

I could still get into the game, though, if it's somewhat challenging. So how hard is the game? Are we talking harder than FFX, for example, or about the same level of difficulty? (Note that I don't consider a super-high encounter rate as difficult--it doesn't matter if battles come every five seconds if each of those battles is stupid simple to beat.) Or is my perception of the game's difficulty wrong--is it actually pretty hard?

 

[MrAngryFace]

Nocturn's gameplay is a little so simple. Nippon Ichi games have spoiled me.

 

[distantmantra]

I never died once in Final Fantasy X, but I've died a good number of times in DDS. I've encountered a few sections where powerleveling will NOT help.

 

[..pakbeka..]

ALWAYS SAVE WHEN YOU SEE A KARMA TERMINAL

that is all

 

[Tamanon]

Just the addition of the Null type spells greatly decreased the difficulty. Also the fact that you don't have to constantly shuffle demons means your party grows to actually being balanced without having to replace someone every few levels.

And it's definitely more difficult than FFX, but only because it doesn't have the Sensor ability, the battles are more strategic and a lot of boss battles will come down to fighting the first time as a dry run to see the pattern and attacks, then the second time as the real fight VERY fun game though!

 

[Prospero]

Nocturn's gameplay is a little so simple. Nippon Ichi games have spoiled me.

See, there's my other problem--Makai Kingdom shipped to me today, and once that shows up I expect it to claim 70 hours of my life at the least (since I put about that much time into Disgaea and Phantom Brave). I can only spend so much time with RPGs.

 

[Ruas]

i thought it was easy.i still havent found a rpg that i consider hard.

 

[Razoric]

is the story good in DDS?

 

[Tamanon]

The story is AMAZING in DDS, IMO, really sets up the sequel also, which looks very interesting

 

[Bebpo]

DDS is easier than SMT3. But it's still pretty challenging.

The game is 85% about having the right skills and a smart strategy and 15% luck though, so just think intelligently and try to spread out skills between the characters and you should be ok.

 

[Prospero]

Ah, hell--it's better to regret something you did than something you didn't do. I'll buy it.

 

[maskrider]

The story is AMAZING in DDS, IMO, really sets up the sequel also, which looks very interesting

I had recently finished DDS and half way through DDS2 (then stopped and played Shadow Hearts FTNW), the sequel reminds me of Star Ocean Till The End Of Time (in terms of the story).

 

[Bebpo]

I had recently finished DDS and half way through DDS2 (then stopped and played Shadow Hearts FTNW), the sequel reminds me of Star Ocean Till The End Of Time (in terms of the story).

hehe, the story doesn't get really good until the 2nd half of DDS2. Then it gets really good! Expect a great plot when you get back to it.

 

[maskrider]

hehe, the story doesn't get really good until the 2nd half of DDS2. Then it gets really good! Expect a great plot when you get back to it.

I was about to get to

Spoiler

the sun

and stopped.

 

[Bebpo]

Spoiler

I was about to get to the sun and stopped.

You might want to spoiler tag that

 

[Saurus]

All this DDS talk is REALLY making me want to pick it up before it disappears off store shelves. My only hesitation is by the time I finish SMT: Nocturne the PS3 will probably be out.

 

[Shouta]

DDS is more like 40% Strategy and 60% luck if you ask me. More than half the time, even with the right skils, you gotta be lucky that the enemy doesn't outright blow you away with some lucky shots or exploiting a weakness. You can never really figure out a strategy or setup that will be 90% proof against dying in any area because of how strong the game's approach is to weakness exploitation. It actually feels more like a game of rock-paper-scissors most of the time

 

[Korranator]

DDS is more like 40% Strategy and 60% luck if you ask me. More than half the time, even with the right skils, you gotta be lucky that the enemy doesn't outright blow you away with some lucky shots or exploiting a weakness. You can never really figure out a strategy or setup that will be 90% proof against dying in any area because of how strong the game's approach is to weakness exploitation. It actually feels more like a game of rock-paper-scissors most of the time

That's why you work on skills that eventualy will overcome their weakness.

 

[Ferrio]

It's not bad, just sucks if you go into a fight with the wrong abilities.

The amount of fights wear on me though, gotta play DDS in small doses.

 

[Shouta]

That's why you work on skills that eventualy will overcome their weakness.

Then there's lucky shots that the enemy will land on you which actually happen a bit too frequently. Besides, the skills that overcome your character's natural weaknesses aren't really achievable until towards the end of the game due to the high cost of the mantra which sort of makes it a bit meaningless since you'll only be using it for a fraction of the game.