Lunar Threads

http://www.atlus.com/hexyzforce/

I've been excited about this game for a while and wondered if anyone played it. I just bought it in the PSN store, but they updated that crappy Media Go client and the download is embarrassingly slow. Seriously it's like I'm on a dial-up and I have broadband. Everything else is fine so it's not the connection, this new downloader just sucks compared to the last one.

Sony rant aside the appeal of this game is that there are two completely different stories based around the same world and events and based on which of the 2 selectable characters you play as you get a different story. There's a cheery and bright cleric girl and the angsty-looking dark knight guy cliche's to choose from.

But it's an Atlus title so I'm expecting the execution to be pretty good since I love just about everything they've released.

Back to Sony... the old downloader would drop the connection sometimes which was inconvenient to say the least, but it was fast and reliable enough to download games that were over a gig in less than an hour. Hexys is 563MB and it's at 7% after almost 20 minutes. If I knew that it would be this difficult I would have driven to Best Buy and picked up a umd for my other psp instead.

I do also think that one of the many reasons people pirate games is because the legal means of acquiring them can be such a headache. I don't want to pirate games because I want companies like Atlus to have my money, but really all I'm trying to do is download something I paid for and they're making it ridiculously difficult. I think if their software made the process easier it would cut down on piracy and get companies like Atlus the money they deserve.

I bought it too. I'm from Europe so it hasn't arrived yet though(umd obviously).
Looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to it! I pre-ordered it as soon as it was announced because Sting has never made a game I didn't thoroughly enjoy. I even loved the Evolution games, and they were plain old dungeon crawlers. They had so much charm, though.

But I digress! I'll enjoy it as soon as it arrives...June 2nd. Thanks, Amazon.

My one qualm is that I really loved the last few Sting games (in the Dept. Heaven series) precisely because they were fun and experimental. I'm worried that the vanilla nature of Hexyz Force might bore me a bit, without a couple dozen crazy new gameplay systems to learn.

I'd greatly appreciate some impressions of the game, if you get a chance. Thought about picking it up, but ultimately convinced myself out of it.

...where to start?

I even loved the Evolution games

I loved Evolution on Dreamcast and there was a port to the Neo Geo Pocket Color that was pretty great too.

As for the game itself, it's the best game I've played since LSSH. I've started the Levant story (the guy who looks like Soma from Dawn of Sorrow) and so far it's pretty well-written. The plot is engaging early on and was really immersive, also like most RPGs there are those moments where you go from controlling an individual to controlling a party and they explain why the party members join pretty well. What I'm trying to say is that it seems like a lot of thought was put into the story, it wasn't just a bunch of events that happen between fights.

And the fights are fun! If you want you can toggle a mode where the animations are sped up so if you ever want to level up quickly you can, or if you want to take your time you can. There are two types of weapons that can be equipped and they erode while you use them, but some are more like items where they can only be used 5x or so to heal individuals or the party. In that regard it's a little like Riviera: The Promised Land.

One thing that kind of bothered me is that the menu has an inactive "Save" selection. It only activates at a save point like the menu in FF7. When you're at a save point it says "press X to save" which makes the menu item useless, but I was just bummed out that you can't save anywhere because it's a portable title and that's kind of a necessary feature unless you really like putting your psp to sleep or using the Go's Pause feature.

But for me that's the only negative so far which is pretty great. There are some anime cutscenes that are beautifully animated, and they don't overdo it, it's only at key points. The beginning is very story heavy, so don't start unless you really have time to sit back and really get into it.

It's definitely worth the $30, but BUY THE UMD! Don't bother with PSN, my download took almost 2 hours, and I've purchased much larger games that downloaded in half the time on Sony's old downloader... I really hope they fix that. The new downloader also keeps it on your hard drive like iTunes so on the plus sign if you ever delete it you can get it back easily, but the downside is that it takes up a few gb of your hard drive if you download your psp games which just sits there. Also there's no digital booklet like most games have which isn't totally necessary since the in-game tutorials are good, but they help for things like that disabled "save" that made no sense.

Went searching for the game today and couldn't find it anywhere. I've been in the mood for some portable RPG gaming, but I guess I'm going to have to wait.

I'm definitely going to check Hexyz Force out, as Atlus makes the best RPGs nowadays IMO. No store in my area has it though, so I may have to order online when I get paid.

Still can't find it anywhere. Guess I'm going to hold off on it since MGS: Peacewalker and Disgaea Infinite come out next week. IU'll defintely snatch it up as soon as I can though.

localflick wrote:http://www.atlus.com/hexyzforce/


Sony rant aside the appeal of this game is that there are two completely different stories based around the same world and events and based on which of the 2 selectable characters you play as you get a different story. There's a cheery and bright cleric girl and the angsty-looking dark knight guy cliche's to choose from.

Sounds kinda like star ocean 2 for the psx, i might have to check it out unfortunately i have no psp so id have to download it.

I have evolution for the dreamcast but i never got very far into it, i might have to give it another shot sometime.

exigence wrote:

localflick wrote:http://www.atlus.com/hexyzforce/


Sony rant aside the appeal of this game is that there are two completely different stories based around the same world and events and based on which of the 2 selectable characters you play as you get a different story. There's a cheery and bright cleric girl and the angsty-looking dark knight guy cliche's to choose from.

Sounds kinda like star ocean 2 for the psx, i might have to check it out unfortunately i have no psp so id have to download it.

I have evolution for the dreamcast but i never got very far into it, i might have to give it another shot sometime.

I read a review that brought that up. It said that while Star Ocean 2 had more of the two viewpoints showing the same thing and diverging only occasionally, in Hexzy Force, the two viewpoints are vastly different and only cross paths occasionally. I guess the spectrum is something like:
Star Ocean 2 <-> Suikoden III <-> Hexyz Force

I still haven't gotten my copy. Bleh.

As for Evolution, the plot isn't anything special, and the last boss took me something like 20 tries to beat, but the game just oozes charm. I hope you don't mind typos in your localizations.

I'm on Atlus' mailing list, and got an email that it came out in stores TODAY.

Maybe there are more, but as far as I know this is the first game to hit the PSN store before the actual retailers. In a way it makes sense because the game has to be completed before manufacturing and if the steps needed to get it in PSN take less time than manufacturing and shipping it'll be there first. But so far big titles from Sony themselves like Little Big Planet and Gran Tourismo were out in stores way before the PSN and again that's Sony.

I've been playing it every morning on the way to work and am still really enjoying it. I've never played a Star Ocean game, but now I want to get into them.

Anyway as I've gushed about before, it's a great game and totally worth the money. The systems are easy to pick up, the characters are fun, and it's just a solid game overall.

localflick wrote:I'm on Atlus' mailing list, and got an email that it came out in stores TODAY.

Maybe there are more, but as far as I know this is the first game to hit the PSN store before the actual retailers. In a way it makes sense because the game has to be completed before manufacturing and if the steps needed to get it in PSN take less time than manufacturing and shipping it'll be there first. But so far big titles from Sony themselves like Little Big Planet and Gran Tourismo were out in stores way before the PSN and again that's Sony.

I've been playing it every morning on the way to work and am still really enjoying it. I've never played a Star Ocean game, but now I want to get into them.

Anyway as I've gushed about before, it's a great game and totally worth the money. The systems are easy to pick up, the characters are fun, and it's just a solid game overall.

Hm. I think this is just the date that it hit brick and mortar, non-specialized retail. I know for a fact that Amazon, Gamestop, et cetera shipped a week and a half ago. (And, according to the UPS, my copy has been sitting in a mailbox I haven't been able to get to for the last week. Ugh.)