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NW Epic Center: Chrono Trigger: FINAL WEEK
 
* * * * * Chrono Trigger - Week 5 * * * * *

(Plain English: Scroll down to the bottom of the "OP" if you're lagging behind for previous weeks)


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue:
i Okami Club
ii Fire Emblem Club

Epic Center:
01 Ogre Battle
24 Secret of Mana
39 Phantasy Star IV (cont'd)
67 Earthbound (cont'd)
99 Breath of Fire II (cont'd)
110 Paper Mario (cont'd)
123 Golden Sun (cont'd)
136 Chrono Trigger

(ALL VINTAGE EC GAMES ARE CONTINUED IN THEIR OFFICIAL DISCUSSION THREADS!)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Hello, true believers! Welcome to Negative World's newest RPG-centric Club Hub, springing off the heels of the Fire Emblem Club. Way back when, Nintendo Power introduced a monthly walkthrough / in depth Role Play Game section (right around the beefiest SNES RPG era), but since they aren't around anymore to use it, Negative World will bring it out of the ashes, dust it off, and roll with it (two things of note: #1, this is not in reaction to Nintendo Force Magazine at all -- I know that because I thought of it in the shower this morning, so THERE; and #2, I just looked up "Epic Center RPG" on Yahoo, and there is apparently another RPG-based site that has that, ugh. I guess we're looking at a "Ghostbusters" / "Real Ghostbusters" thing now... Whatever..).

For anyone who grew playing SNES RPGs, and were a fan of them, they surely resonated to the point where they still hold office as some of your favorite games of your entire videogame life, systems, generations, and decades later. The NW Epic Center (run primarily by myself, with the aid of some special friends occasionally) will help to expose some of those games that didn't quite get the recognition they deserved, and also to relive some of the greatest games EVER as we play through them again -- together -- and open up a whole new dialogue on these lost treasures.


Next up..



Chrono Trigger is held by many (myself included) as The Greatest RPG of All Time, pun not intended. It is a benchmark title in the genre, and even after 20 years the game is discussed daily and held in high regard, even in the face of juiced-up, HD "masterpieces." Is simpler sometimes better? Sure, but we're not talking "Dragon Warrior" simple here; we're talking 16-bit perfection at its finest. I'm personally a bit worried about pursuing this game once more; it's been a long time since my last jog through it, and I'm afraid I might have the rosiest pair of glasses that any shot of nostalgia could ever produce. We find out later this month, for better or for worse. (C'mon, it's gonna be fine -- we're talking Chrono Trigger here!! THE BEST, JERRY, THE BEST!!)

Sunday, August 30th marks the start of Week 1 (if you prefer to start your own quest AFTER Sunday, like Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, thats fine!). Golden Sun ran 6 Weeks. GameDadGrant will be our DUNGEON MASTER for this one, and we figure the playthrough to run about the same length. Less than two months. I'm told the total quest should last you between 20 and 30 hours.


See ya soon!!


CHRONO TRIGGER

Dungeon Master: GameDadGrant

You Did It! Chrono Trigger Complete:
VofEscaflowne
Scrawnton
Mop it up
Ludist210



Week 4 Complete:
GameDadGrant
mrbiggsly
DapperDave

Week 3 Complete:
Mr_Mustache (and Mrs_Mustache!)

Week 2 Complete:
Smerd
Dark weres
warerare
sirmastersephiroth

Week 1 Complete:
Anand

Triggermen:
HammerLord
Koovaps

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

--------------------------------

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12/22/12, 00:24    Edited: 10/31/15, 03:51
 
   
 
I'm in. I'll pick it up on VC once I'm done with Radiant Dawn.
12/22/12, 01:32   
@gojira

Man. You're an awesome guy, has anyone told you that recently? Thumbs up, brother.

--What other games do you want to see in the future? (This is not up for debate NOW, haha!!) I know there has been talk of..man, I'm hesitant to even mention anything now as it can cause unrest.. Anyway, Skies, Tales, Secrets, Illusions, Fantasies, Stories, etc. I'd actually like to play through and beat Final Fantasy on NES with a guided hand sometime. I don't even know if I've ever even had "adult" characters in that game. I always get stuck somewhere and trail off.




**EDITED IN**

First up..



Ogre Battle is one of my favorite series' of all-time in all aspects, and it just paved a way for me where I would look for the same types of things that I experienced in this game, in other games. I wasn't a fan of RPGs on the NES until I had already dealt with SNES games (as far as I can tell; I know that I returned Faxanadu one time..I'm fine with it now, haha), and this one certainly did its job. I first met with it on a rental from Wegman's way back when, my mom double checking to make sure I actually wanted 'that' game since it didn't look like something I'd enjoy. But it spoke to me. We used to go weekly to grab a new game, and I never really said anything about it after. I do remember with that one though (and later with Final Fantasy III), I specifically went and sat on the couch next to her (after playing for a lengthy time) and told her just how much I appreciated the rental. I wasn't an unappreciative kid by any means, but I remember going out of my way to say thank you again. A game that special, striking the heart of a young boy and capturing his attention, should be experienced by a wide array of folks. Sadly, it has not.

At press time, Negative World has but 4 (FOUR) ratings for Ogre Battle in the NW Database, and just 6 (SIX) owners. I went over to howlongtobeat.com last night so I could give an accurate time to some of our Ogre Battle combatants..and nobody over there has beaten it. I'd ask people about Ogre Battle Club, and they'd tell me "nah, not really into Tactics games" or "I don't have time for Ogre Battle 64," and then I realized that some people might have no idea what I'm talking about at all. This is NOT a Tactics game. This is NOT Ogre Battle 64. This is OGRE BATTLE: MARCH OF THE BLACK QUEEN, the game that started it all.


We disembark on the the first Sunday of January (you don't have to start ON Sunday), the 6th at the stroke of midnight on the 5th. This will be run in the fashion of Okami Club / Fire Emblem Club with a series of checkpoints to hit through the course of your week. Burn through it in one night night, nibble away at it through the week, whatever you want to do, really. Just be sure (if you fall behind, its fine..and we can slow down if you need it) to have your stuff done by Saturday at the end of the week. I can promise you that it will NOT overwhelm you, and it is certainly not as time-consuming as either of the previous Clubs, and it won't be nearly as unforgiving as Fire Emblem. If you have to repeat a course for some reason, something definitely went wrong somewhere, haha.

A brief overview of Ogre Battle. It is a Strategy RPG where you control an army of characters. Within this army is groups, formed by you, consisting of 5 (or less) characters. Large characters count as 2. The game consists of your stereotypical Fantasy classes; knights, wizards, dragons, wyms, griffons, imps, giants, etc. They gain experience points, and levels, and can change class at a certain point. The battles are automated, but depending on where you set them up in their group, they perform a certain attack, a certain number of times. You'll encounter enemy groups on each map similar to your army, and whoever deals the most damage wins the battle. The loser is bounced back, but will return until they are obliterated.

You Liberate / Capture towns through your adventure, earning money along the way. Liberation will raise your reputation, a meter that is paramount to receiving one of THIRTEEN possible endings. You can't really mess up this game, so don't worry about that. If a character dies, you can simply revive them at a Temple, or just wait until the chapter ends. No permadeath here.

We'll get into the meat and potatoes of it as we progress, I expect this first game to take about EIGHT WEEKS before we move onto our next game, but that could change on the speed at which we're completing stages, for better or worse. I would be overjoyed with a great turnout in this one, but after the 3-man sprint to the finish in Fire Emblem, morale is not high (Morale! Another important Ogre Battle feature!).

We've got a few set for this initially, when you toss your hat into the ring, we'll get you on there, too.


Please post any and all questions, you have, and YES, this will be THE place for future RPG Club stuff.

See ya soon!!




(A game so awesome, Queen made TWO songs about it)


OGRE BATTLERS
1. Mr_Mustache
2. Renjaku
3. Stephen
4. Anand
5. gojira
6. Zero
7. Pokefreak911
8. chrisbg99
9. HammerLord
10. GameDadGrant
11. Dark Weres
12. Koovaps
13. Mrs_Mustache



12/22/12, 01:37   
Edited: 01/07/13, 21:26
@Mr_Mustache

I'm still hanging out for Tales some time in the Future.

Skies if it ever gets a digital re-release.
12/22/12, 01:39   
Hmm, what is the difference between a strategy and tactics game?

Alright alright, sign me up. But I can't guarantee that I will progress at the rate you need, I have a lot on my plate right now.
12/22/12, 03:32   
@Zero

YES.

--The Tactics games are grid-based, I believe, and they really turn me off for some reason. (But I loved the heck out of Fire Emblem, go figure.) I don't know EXACTLY how the Tactics games work, but this one isn't turn-based. Everyone kinda moves at the same time, though different Units progress at different speeds based on their movement type. Liiiike, a group carried by a huge Griffon will move much faster than dragging an Octopus through the mountains. And I feel like the Tactics battles are like 1-on-1 or "A attacks B" and that ends that turn? These are 5 on 5 affairs, which each side getting to fight. You may NOT attack someone without them having a chance to return attack (think "using a bow against someone who can't fight back"), unless, of course, you kill them.
12/22/12, 03:36   
Edited: 12/22/12, 05:29
I would do this but, I don't own a Wii. My Mum does. And you can't buy VC games on Wii U through the Wii mode right?
12/22/12, 04:57   
@Pokefreak911

Pretty sure you can but I don't believe you can gift/receive gifts.
12/22/12, 05:02   
@VofEscaflowne
Awesome so I'll definitely do this. May take me a little longer to pay off a game I'm getting but never mind.

Sign me up Mustache.
12/22/12, 05:04   
@Pokefreak911

I think V basically told you you CAN'T do that. How are you going to get it?

If it matters at all, you can obviously play on cartridge on the SNES, and I know it also re-released on Playstation.

How are you going to get the game, dude?

EDIT- Oh, he's saying you can use the Wii Shop while in Wii Mode? Is that confirmed??

@VofEscaflowne

Are you gonna tear it up, too, V?
12/22/12, 05:28   
Edited: 12/22/12, 05:33
@Mr_Mustache

I'm not much of a RPG fan. I do own a few RPGs that I haven't put much time into Final Fantasy II (US) and Chrono Trigger are the the more well known ones. I am more interested in strategy games though, so that would spark my interest more.
12/22/12, 05:46   
@Mr_Mustache
Yeah he said I can. I could always track down the cartridge, I do have a SNES. How much is the cartridge normally?
12/22/12, 05:49   
@gojira

Not sure how many more Strategy-RPGs we have out there. Not many..right? At least not "classics." Most of 'em are "J"RPGs, yes?

@Pokefreak911

Lemme check eBay (though it'll be different for you, of course).

--Wow, too expensive. $90 US, somehow?? Apparently these people are blissfully unaware of the Virtual Console.
(800 Wii Points, people!!)
12/22/12, 06:06   
@Mr_Mustache
SNES cartridges are normally expensive. Same with NES and 64 carts.
12/22/12, 06:10   
Since you asked so nicely I might as well join along.
12/22/12, 09:37   
@Pokefreak911

Eh, I dunno. I just did a grab bag thing where you could get anything for 8 bucks (randomly). I got Super Empire Strikes Back. Good stuff! Or maybe you mean that stuff is extra expensive for you guys? I ordered Illusion of Gaia less than a year ago for around 15 dollars including shipping? Wasn't too bad at all.

@chrisbg99

You're a gentleman, and a scholar-- and a daily inspiration to us all. Thats what you call a three-for. Welcome!

EDIT- I'm just BS'ing with the avatar-type deals up there. If your guy stinks for you (any of you), lemme know and I'll work on something else. I think I'll go to MUCH smaller character icons for the actual progress tracking. These're funnish for now, I guess. (Are they?)
12/23/12, 00:36   
Edited: 12/23/12, 00:40
How many weeks do you expect it to run?
12/23/12, 01:18   
@Stephen

I guessed somewhere between 6 and 10. I'm pretty sure it'll DEFINITELY be between there. Depends on how fast we want to work, and how much work we want to do. -I- can handle 6 Weeks on it, and be fine, not sure if other people can. Remember, we'll be going at the same pace (more or less), so we gotta move with the group. If one or two people are laggin' though..they gotta pick it up! Know what I mean?

First week'll be pretty light. 2nd week will be the true test. And if that is "just right" or "too much," we'll adjust accordingly. I've looked ahead at some stuff, and it looked like 8 weeks is probably a pretty good number, though there are some optional "best ending" stages that you need to complete, too, which will be truly EXTRA work for people going into that, and WILL NOT affect the people who choose NOT to do those stages. Does that work? You can't NOT beat the game, I think. Heck, as a kid I never even new about those places, I just ran into them the last time I played.

I'm totally stoked for this game, brah. So very rewarding when you peg your Reputation Meter to the ceiling.
12/23/12, 01:58   
Okay, I'm definitely interested, and I did get this on VC, but I have already failed at Backlaugust and NewGameber. I'm not so good at the finishing of the games. I don't think I should dare to disappoint again.
12/23/12, 03:04   
@Koovaps

Haha, why DO you fail on those other things? Is it so hard? Maybe those ones were harder for you because you didn't have someone -telling- you exactly what to do each week? How does the format of Fire Emblem Club suit you? "Finish this stage. Beat that stage. Beat that stage," and then you're done for a whole calendar week? No good?
12/23/12, 03:30   
I guess Mrs_Mustache isn't going to play. One of my dreams, to play Ogre Battle side-by-side (literally) with her will not come to fruition. Ogre Battle Gift from years ago: huge waste of money and excitement.

Forever, will remain, "to do," in the NW Database. Schlonnnnnk.
12/24/12, 10:30   
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