The Dark Spire

[Young Al Capone]

So there is no way that I am the only one here playing this. Right?

So for those who don't know, it is an old school dungeon crawler, like Wizardry or Stonekeep of old or Etrian Odyssey of new. Only thing is now there is an automap, so if that was the main draw for you last time you may not like this as much.

The presentation is top notch as far as style and art go, with an art deco meets graphic novel sort of style. The music is great too.

The game has a strange sense of humor and personality that make the dungeon crawling not seem so grim all the time. It has been dangerous and very difficult (more so even than the Etrians, I think), but that is to be expected given the genre. So far I love it.

[frederec]

I would be playing it. But time and budget have really limited my gaming options lately. Glad to hear someone's enjoying it.

[Spigot]

A huge part of my love of the Etrian games is the cartography aspect. I want to rent Dark Spire and see how it is but I still have EO2 to work on and as much as I love me some EO, dungeon crawler/hackers are not my most favourite of genres.

[Purple Santa]

I've been waiting for this. I have it on my Gamefly Q. Hopefully it will be here on Saturday.

A dungeon crawler with a sense of humor? Certainly different than the last dungeon crawler that was kicking my butt (EO II).

[Spigot]

A dungeon crawler with a sense of humor? Certainly different than the last dungeon crawler that was kicking my butt (EO II).What are you talking about? I could hear EO 2 laughing at you from miles away.

[Young Al Capone]

I've been waiting for this. I have it on my Gamefly Q. Hopefully it will be here on Saturday.

A dungeon crawler with a sense of humor? Certainly different than the last dungeon crawler that was kicking my butt (EO II).

I think you will like it, it is pretty funny.

Like I said though, I think it is harder than those games. I have ran into huge groups of enemies and barely escaped, and definitely wouldn't have had I not had experience with the genre.

Its fun.

[Evil Avnovice]

Due to a stomachache I've been having most of the week, I'll end up missing my Gamestop pre-order. I'll most likely be late with this unless I get lucky and can pick it up somewhere else.

[Young Al Capone]

Super bummer, have you tried calling them and telling them?

[Gorvi]

I've been reading that both this and Class of Heroes are punishingly difficult, at least in the beginning. I don't know if I have the patience for that right now. I know I don't have the time or money for it. :(

[Evil Avnovice]

Super bummer, have you tried calling them and telling them?

I'll either do it today or tomorrow. I'll lose 5$ on the pre-order, but so be it. Sadly, I'm in no condition to hop the necessary buses up to the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu.

However, I can stop by and hit up the Gamestop here on-base to see if they'll get it in.

[Spigot]

I'll either do it today or tomorrow. I'll lose 5$ on the pre-order, but so be it. Sadly, I'm in no condition to hop the necessary buses up to the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu.

However, I can stop by and hit up the Gamestop here on-base to see if they'll get it in.Wha?

Why would you lose the $5 on the pre-order? I can understand them not necessarily holding it for you for longer than the 48/72 hours they're supposed to, but if that's the case, you just transfer your $5 to something else if they sell all of their copies.

If they're just keeping the $5 because you're not there to get the preorder, in the words of Bob Saget, "That ain't right."

[Evil Avnovice]

Wha?

Why would you lose the $5 on the pre-order? I can understand them not necessarily holding it for you for longer than the 48/72 hours they're supposed to, but if that's the case, you just transfer your $5 to something else if they sell all of their copies.

If they're just keeping the $5 because you're not there to get the preorder, in the words of Bob Saget, "That ain't right."

The thing is, with my recent cutbacks on game purchases, I have also been cutting down on pre-orders. Now, I try to get it at Gamestop as soon as I see it on shelves, or order it through Amazon if it's necessary.

In the case of this pre-order for The Dark Spire, the Gamestop which I've pre-ordered it from is in Honolulu, whereas I live in Wahiawa. Or to say, to catch two buses is roughly a two-hour ride to GameStop, and a two-hour ride back. And that pre-order money was originally for The Conduit before it was pushed back to June 2009, where it was listed for March 2009. I could find something else as I still have time to transfer to 5$ to some other game, but I currently have nothing for April/May to put down for any sort of reservation.

And the times I go to Honolulu also depend on my work schedule. I missed today, so it won't be until next week until I can go up there. But until I see what my days are for the following week, I can't plan ahead of time, or most likely I might cancel the pre-order.

[Spigot]

Ah. I see. I just thought they were going to keep your $5 and that wasn't sounding right.

[drobvice]

This may be kind of a dumb question but can you apply that pre-order money to online purchases (not saying you could or should just a question)?

[Panthera]

I'm badly tempted by this, but I've still got FFIV and Crystal Chronicles to play.

[bstiff]

In the case of this pre-order for The Dark Spire, the Gamestop which I've pre-ordered it from is in Honolulu, whereas I live in Wahiawa. Or to say, to catch two buses is roughly a two-hour ride to GameStop, and a two-hour ride back. And that pre-order money was originally for The Conduit before it was pushed back to June 2009, where it was listed for March 2009. I could find something else as I still have time to transfer to 5$ to some other game, but I currently have nothing for April/May to put down for any sort of reservation.

And the times I go to Honolulu also depend on my work schedule. I missed today, so it won't be until next week until I can go up there. But until I see what my days are for the following week, I can't plan ahead of time, or most likely I might cancel the pre-order.


wahiawa? Is that the town just outside schofield? I was stationed there in the early 90's. I was just looking into maybe taking a trip back on one of my weeks off.

[BLeeP]

I am definitely getting this, as it is my most anticipated Atlus release out of what is coming out soon. Sadly, I don't know if I can get it right away (I really want to for the first printing soundtrack, the music is awesome!), as I need to be saving the money for a trip to the homeland (Kentucky) and the girlfriend might kill me if I spend the money.

[Purple Santa]

What are you talking about? I could hear EO 2 laughing at you from miles away.
Bastard. That's all have for you. Bastard ;)
I think you will like it, it is pretty funny.

Like I said though, I think it is harder than those games. I have ran into huge groups of enemies and barely escaped, and definitely wouldn't have had I not had experience with the genre.

Its fun.

It's actually harder than EO II? Whew. This should be fun. It came in from Gamefly yesterday but i've spent most of my game time with GTA:CTW. I'm going to try this out though before I put out Monday Blues thread...

[Panthera]

I'm badly tempted by this, but I've still got FFIV and Crystal Chronicles to play.

I caved. Couldn't find it locally, so it's been ordered online. Can't wait.

[Evil Avnovice]

wahiawa? Is that the town just outside schofield? I was stationed there in the early 90's. I was just looking into maybe taking a trip back on one of my weeks off.

Yep. Same one. :)

[lucklesswonder]

How does the saving system work? Can you save anywhere, or do you go back to the beginning of a floor, or the whole dungeon?

[Young Al Capone]

You can save whenever, it is very nice.

[Spigot]

You can save whenever, it is very nice.Hmm. That's almost enough to mitigate the weird attribute stuff.

Sigh. I think I'll definately rent this first. There's too much about it I'm not 100% sure about and if EO2 is the better of the two, I have barely scratched its surface.

[tombofsoldier]

Looking at it brings back memories of playing, I think it was M&M? on my cousins Genesis. But I've got little interest in such now and want to know why I'm not playing a Fallout or Baldur's Gate style game on my DS.

[Purple Santa]

You can save whenever, it is very nice.

I'm with Spigot on that point. That may be the single reason I actually keep the game longer. The weekend is near...plan on freeing up some time to play this.

[Karmakin]

Looking at it brings back memories of playing, I think it was M&M? on my cousins Genesis. But I've got little interest in such now and want to know why I'm not playing a Fallout or Baldur's Gate style game on my DS.

It's actually a Wizardry clone, to be honest. There are distinct differences between those two series. Wizardry was more about random battles and usually was tightly focused on dungeon exploring. Might and Magic has non-random combat that takes place directly on the map itself, and is more about world exploration.

I always preferred Might and Magic as I thought that its UI was a lot more approachable, however I think the Wizardry V port for the SNES done by Capcom is a very underrated gem that was just way ahead of its time.

The Dark Spire, is VERY Wizardry, in almost every way to be honest. From the D&D style AC system to how the stores are done to the combat to the spell magic system to how alignment works to the puzzles in the maze to how the maze is laid out....

So Yeah. It's a Wizardry game, for good or for ill.

[Spigot]

Hmm. I was always more of a Might & Magic fan myself, so that explains some things.

[Panthera]

I've actually been playing Might and Magic III lately. On PC of course.

The interesting thing about Japanese Wizardry games is that there are so many of them. They outnumber English languages ones almost 2:1, and that's not counting games like EO and The Dark Spire that are simply clones.

* Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (MZ-2500, X1/turbo, FM-7, FM-77, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, NES, Game Boy Color, WonderSwan Color, Cell phone, C64/C128)
* Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (MZ-2500, X1/turbo, FM-7, FM-77, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, NES, Game Boy Color, C64)
* Wizardry I & II (PC Engine)
* Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (X1/turbo, FM-7, FM-77, PC-8801, PC-9801, MSX2, Famicom, Game Boy Color, C64)
* Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (X1/turbo, FM-7, FM-77, PC-8801, PC-9801)
* Wizardry III & IV (PC Engine)
* Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (FM Towns, PC-8801, PC-9801, SNES, PC Engine, C64)
* Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (FM Towns, PC-9801, 98note, J-3100, SNES)
* Wizardry VI & VII (Sega Saturn)
* Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (PC-9801, PC-9821, PlayStation)
* Wizardry Gaiden: Suffering of the Queen (Game Boy, 1991)
* Wizardry Gaiden 2: Curse of the Ancient Emperor (Game Boy, 1992)
* Wizardry Gaiden 3: Scripture of the Dark (Game Boy, 1993)
* Wizardry Gaiden 4: Throb of the Demon's Heart (SNES, 1996)
* Wizardry Nemesis (Microsoft Windows, Sega Saturn, 1996)
* Wizardry: Llylgamyn Saga (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, 2000)
* Wizardry: New Age of Llylgamyn (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, 2000)
* Wizardry: Dimguil (PlayStation, 2000)
* Wizardry Empire (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, 2000)
* Wizardy Empire II: Fukkatsu no Tsue (PlayStation, Game Boy Color, 2002)
* Wizardry Empire III (PlayStation 2, 2003)
* Wizardry Chronicle (Microsoft Windows)
* Wizardry Summoner (Game Boy Advance, 2001) published by Natsume
* Busin: Wizardry Alternative (Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land in North America) (PlayStation 2, 2001)
* Busin 0: Wizardry Alternative Neo (PlayStation 2)
* Wizardry Traditional (Cell phone)
* Wizardry Traditional 2 (Cell phone)
* Wizardry Xth Academy of Frontier (PlayStation 2, 2005)
* Wizardry Asterisk: Hiiro no Fuuin (Nintendo DS, 2005)
* Wizardry Gaiden: Prisoners of the Battles (PlayStation 2, 2005)
* Wizardry Summoner (PlayStation 2, 2005)
* Wizardry Xth2 UNLIMITED STUDENT (PlayStation 2, 2006)
* Wizardry Empire III: Haoh no Keifu (PSP, 2007)


Class of Heroes is apparently a port of Xth2 UNLIMITED STUDENT.

[lucklesswonder]

I give up. I'm gonna Gamefly it. I hate level grinding, but I'm too damn curious.

[AversionFX]

Just finished the side quest to get my Priest as a Paladin. So now my party is:

Samurai (original Warrior)
- - - - -
Ranger (original Thief)
Paladin (original Priest)
Samurai (original mage)

Two effective healers, two effective group nukes. The game is incredibly frustrating in that early on, the only character capable of dealing damage (consistently and effectively) is a warrior. So, essentially, I have 1 guy who can deal damage ALWAYS, and one guy (the mage) who can instantly kill 9 enemies at a time, but only has so many casts.

Now, every single character in my party hits consistently, and they deal damage. Warrior->Samurai is great because you get bonuses on Eastern weaponry and armor, plus he can cast such greats as Visum Situs, and the group nukes.

Ranger is good because he gets bonuses with bows and also can heal.

Paladin was kind of a toss, simply because I didn't want to make him a dedicated caster. I wanted a healer that could use heavy armor and also use weapons to fight, then heal if needed.

Mage to Samurai allows high level mage spells with the protection of a warrior, and also the ability to fight from the back row (with spears /bows).

There's been a lot of activity on the gamefaqs board, and also the Dark Spire wikidot.