EINANDER'S PROFILE

Ooh. I admit, I'm not too interested in Ox (be fast or gtfo, tia), but I like the Traits. Are there slots, or are they all strict always-on upgrades? Is there a progression where Trait A unlocks Trait B for purchase, or are they all available from the get-go?

I also like the idea of having few "small fry" enemies; if it's not a straight-out dungeon crawler, boss and mini-boss battles are where all the real game play is, so it's good to hear there's more focus there. (Of course, the original V&V was basically a dungeon crawler, what with its focus on conserving resources so you could maximize exploration before sleeping and ending the day. I liked that, too.)

The thing is, why are you getting rid of the site because of the atmosphere on a separate part of it, one that isn't directly relevant to the *point* of the site?

This site exists for the game pages. You're deleting it because of the forums.

Admittedly, this makes more sense in light of your apparent attitude of "fuck it, I'm tired of doing this"; this thread seems to show that that's your real reason, and one you weren't willing to admit up-front. But if that's the case then you really should hand it off. This a community founded on user contributions. You own the web space, but the site itself is a communal thing.

This is just senseless.

I enjoy reading all of the updates, even if they're not particularly big ones. For what it's worth, I'd be happy if you continued updating at your current pace!

Out of curiosity, why did you add back the AP costs to the travel spells? I can think of several reasons you might decide that, but I'm interested in the specific rationale. (I'm assuming that you haven't added them back to the movelists of non-Ryu characters.)

Dragons use all of Ryu's AP. You can't exactly dial back the spell cost to leave enough AP for either utility spell. The others who had it don't have this problem. This is especially annoying in the case of Exit, which serves the same "oh shit button" functionality as the Dragons do: "I screwed up and I'm going to die, so I'm going to (kill these enemies/leave this dungeon)." And in the event that you don't auto-leave a dungeon area after killing a boss, there's also the possibility of you not using the Dragons as an anti-boss measure because you want to be able to Exit afterward without using AP items.

I mean, considering Bleu/Deis had both and she was pretty solidly the best character, I think this change means I'll be using the skills *less* in this version than I would in the original, because they're actually substantially less convenient for a big part of the game. Which seems like a problem when the change is a matter of accessibility. And even if you added them back to the others' skillsets, then the end result is me never using them on Ryu as soon as Ryu has dragons and anyone else can cast.

I'm personally fond of the Charge system; I prefer it over Limit Breaks, if simply because it allows you to choose when to use the skills rather than having it largely decided for you. Why not add a few Charge skills to some of the physical characters, like Ray or Blaise? Ray's Enrage skill would have good synergy with a Charge move, for example.

On the topic of making physical attacking more interesting, you could also implement a physical version of the reaction system. Balanced, higher accuracy and lower damage, lower accuracy and higher critical? You could also potentially move Counter to offensive reactions and make Cover the fourth defensive reaction. (Of course, then you still have the problem of people using both...) Multiple types of normal attack might do a decent bit to help the high accuracy characters in the mid-game and the low accuracy characters at end-game; both groups struggle a bit at those points. It's not too interesting by itself, but it's a potential supplement.

If Ray and Vanquish are meant as the "defensive" physical characters, you could also differentiate them into "active" and "passive" defense. Vanquish heals and has defensive buffs. Ray could have moves where he reduces damage from or counters physical attacks aimed at party members or magical attacks aimed at party members, so that his ability to defend your party is based on prediction. Low-level versions might be defend against or counter the next skill, while better versions might last until his next turn. A skill in a similar vein might be "block all statuses this turn" or the like.

Let Blaise be Charge-based. He uses guns, so it even works thematically. Vel I have no real opinions on in terms of changes. She could use either a little more offensive power - I'd like Truth Perception on her! - or get most of her buffs a little earlier. She gets her good stuff quite late. Laaik is fine, though an offensive skill or two on him would be nice; once everyone else's equipment starts catching up, I'd say Vanquish is strictly better as-is by virtue of group healing. There's more reason to use Laaik over Vanquish if Laaik's a better attacker. (Laaik can also apparently can dual-wield a holy sword and a carbine. I'm not sure why he's the only other character who can use sidearms but it's still a pretty badass image, and that meant I kept him in my party for longer than was probably strategically sound.)

Rien is good. Not to my tastes (I'm too defensive) but good. Zaqris could use more on the magic damage end, especially with Rien being the only real 'mage' for most of the game. (Water magic comes a little late!) He's otherwise good, especially since his build seems like a good one if you keep his equipment current. (And unless the new paths change things Zaqris changes aren't too high in priority.) Seri and SUPER SECRET GUEST STAR are near the top in usability as-is, so I can't see much cause for change.

Just my two cents. I'm looking forward to the new versions!