Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment announced for PSN & XBLA

[LanceHeart]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/01/ ... pdate-120/

It's Out!

[thcrock]

I'm downloading it right now. This is honestly the first time that the US PSN has pleasantly surprised me. Maybe it's just the debacle of Trine's US release that scarred me, but I mentally add at least a month or two to the release dates of any games I want.

[Antimatzist]

Tell us then your opinion of the game!

[thcrock]

The download took too long to play last night. I'll try it tonight after work and post my thoughts.

[Oppenheimer]

I am shocked! I never even checked because I assumed there's no way it's out yet. Well, I guess I'll be going home for lunch today

[avenger]

YAHOO GUAH HA HA..

I started it!!! I spent 3 hours Just leveling up my characters, Guah ha ha...

[thcrock]

I'm about three to four hours into it. Here's my thoughts:
Pros:

• The pacing and variety of battle situations is good for such a small game. They could've gotten away with making battles all pretty similar due to the game's length, but I keep getting surprised.
• Battles definitely evoke Vandal Hearts 1. Gratuitous arterial sprays when an enemy dies, counter attacks by default, hard-to-reach chests, and odd spots on the ground you must examine for secret items
• Not just secret items, but hidden passageways to optional treasure dungeons too.
• Being able to carry two weapons at once adds some more strategy. Do I take out the bow and soften this enemy up, or keep my sword equipped and defend so I can counterattack?
• The graphics are decent. It won't win any awards, but it at least makes an attempt to look like its on a current-generation system, unlike Disgaea 3. It reminds me a bit of Trine. I actually like the environmental art/textures. Even the in-battle character models aren't bad.

Cons:

• As was commonly known, the character design in portraits and cutscenes is awful
• The voice acting doesn't help. The acting itself isn't terrible, but too many of them sound like caffeinated 13 year olds.
• Some of the characters are annoying.
• The above three cons add up to some cringeworthy cutscenes. Thankfully, they aren't actually too long.
• I'm really missing the lack of flying characters, or any other high-movement class. You do have a mobility buff spell, but I wish there was more. I'm just hoping that changes before the end of the game. More generally, character customization is possible but its not as deep as I expected. Again, this may change
• While there is a lot of blood, they took out the sharp THWAK when an attack connects. Half of the primal satisfaction of killing an enemy in VH1, to me, was that sound. The weapon sounds are much less present here.
• Spells have been pretty disappointing so far, in both spectacle and function. I haven't seen anything even half as cool or effective as Phase Shift yet.

[avenger]

For me, this reminds me of Valdal Hearts 1. So far i've seen some (not much at all) hints to the first game. Basically, as I play on maybe i'll get some more clues that link this game to the original.

No spoilers here , just my thoughts. The characters each are filled with many possibilities.
Right now i am at the second Chapter.

I love the death calls in this game. when someone dies, they really sound like they are dieing guah ha ha hense , i think it is a Vandal Hearts tradition.
Even when you lightly hit someone blood comes out whoohoo!!

This game looks very simple, in terms of graffics, thou the color array is beautifull. Something i just dont' get however, the music is not really the Vandal Hearts music we all loved in the original.....Too bad....

[thcrock]

I maxed out the sound effects slider, and killing is more satisfying now. The rumble helps, too. There is a loud sound on impact now, but no 'river of blood' sound like VH1.

[avenger]

Guah ha ha, i already started the game with max volume for battles and voices but i kept the music two notches down from max, just so i can enjoy the deaths and impacts..

[thcrock]

I kept the music at halfway, where it started.

I just finished the game five minutes ago. I was still somewhat disappointed at the character customization, but the game was short enough that it was only a minor complaint. I'm trying to not judge it based on its similarity to VH1, but I would have preferred the class system to what was in this game.

Without spoiling anything about the specifics of the last battle, it was way too hard compared with any other battle in the game. It did make me think differently, and ultimately was a really fun battle. I just wish there was a difficulty curve leading up to it, rather than a path leading to the base of a cliff.

The inevitable questions is 'Did the short downloadable format work?'. For Vandal Hearts, I think it did. The plot felt kind of summarized, which made me think that the short length was bad for it. Then, I remembered that even the first Vandal Hearts felt that way. I think strategy-RPGs in general don't tell as much of a story as regular RPGs, unless they're trying really hard (FFT). So the short length wasn't too bad, but it still felt like it could've been a bit longer - maybe a few more hours would have given us some more detail in the story.

[avenger]

I finished the game just a moment ago. It is now 2am where i live.

The last battle was VERY EASY for me. Yes it took me 50 minutes to win, however I enjoyed every minute.

I saw some more stuff that would lead up to the first game. However, I still have questions..Is it safe to talk about the original for a minute? Or do we have to wait untill more have completed this game.?

I guess i'll just play this game again to see if there is anything different....I know there is but I won't spoil it.

I agree, that we couldn't class change in this one, and that kinda...well...
mums the word for now..

[Oppenheimer]

I downloaded it and am not even though Act 1 but I am enjoying it so far. I really like this type of strategy format, how it's not so bogged down with the FFT-A2 style ability learning red tape. I think the characters are interesting so far. There was an escort mission early on that I wasn't thrilled about as my guy died by rushing into a whole bunch of baddies. But otherwise it's good.

I still recommend Jean D'Arc more if you have a PSP. It's downloadable on the store and it's not too expensive but is a really good example of how to do a tactics game right (maybe except rune combination thing).

[avenger]

Guah ha ha, yes, i have that game!!! i finished her off twice. She's a real good game, and you learn some history as well.

Now about that battle when a guy rushes off into his moronic tantrum. The Lady with a cape can cast a spell that heals people each turn. Have her do this to that guy and he won't die ..as easily, if you ain't leveled up enough.
Of course if you level up your characters before hand then you won't even have to worry about dieing period.

[thcrock]

I had no problem with any escort missions because for most of the game, I played aggressively. I used lots of archers and barraged the most powerful enemy units. The unruly escorts become more of an asset this way, because its just one more person attacking (the enemy doesn't seem to specifically target the escorts if there's other characters within range). I never did any skirmish battles to gain experience, though I did use healing often.