The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!

[cybercylon]

That has been one that I have been meaning to try even though it has nothing to do with the current Legend of Heroes story in anyway. But it is a glimpse into Falcom's past.

 

I am not sure that it will be high on the priority list after reading that though. There are some clunky gameplay mechanics that I may have put up with back in the day that would just frustrate or annoy me now.

[newtmonkey]

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

I finished Chapter 1 and got a good ways into Chapter 2.  The game does get quite a bit better after the first chapter; for example, the game seems to have dropped the "minimum level" requirement to make progress, and the world has opened up a bit.  I think Chapter 1 is basically meant as a tutorial, which explains the immersion-breaking "that guy is a level 11 fighter" nonsense.

 

One unique thing about this game is how you learn spells.  Instead of gaining them when you level up, you learn them from sages in huts located throughout the land.  Each character can learn any spell, but there's a maximum number of spells you can know at once.  If you want to learn a new spell, you have to replace one of the spells you already know.

 

Another unique thing is that you earn attribute points when you level up.  The game allocates these automatically by default, but you can also choose to do this manually.  All the attributes are pretty important, actually, so I recommend keeping it on AUTO.  The game seems to know what it's doing.

 

I must say that I like the story and characters so far.  You have characters dropping into and out of your party as the story goes along, important NPCs dying, and even some intra-party double-crossing so far, reminiscent of Final Fantasy IV (though the original PC version of this game came out a couple of years prior to FFIV).

Edited July 4, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Razzie.P]

Anyone here have any luck using the EDFX?

 

https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/edfx.html

 

I got my Turbo Everdrive Pro and EDFX -- the Everdrive works great but the EDFX is making me feel like an idiot.  Came with no instructions, I'm not sure what cable to use.  I read somewhere that Retrovision's Genesis HD cables work, but no luck.

 

I'm not even sure if I need to use this thing since I already have a TurboBooster, but would still like to verify that it works.

[newtmonkey]

It's supposed to be compatible with Genesis/MD 2 cables (including the Retrovision cable).

 

The only reason to use the EDFX over the TurboBooster is to get stereo CD audio. The TED Pro only does mono CD audio otherwise.

[newtmonkey]

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

I became seriously addicted to this game over the last couple of days, and I don't know why.

 

This game is legit bad.  It's a total grind fest, and by that I mean you HAVE to grind.  It's got "Ys Syndrome"... if you are below the required level or don't have the best equipment available, you die in a couple of hits from regular enemies, and bosses are invulnerable.  If you are at the required level and have the best equipment available, nothing can stop you.  There's nothing in between.  The game gives you all these spells and it feels deep at first, but it's all meaningless.  It's more effective and quicker to just smack everything with your weapons.  Every boss encounter is the same exact thing: cast your buffing spells, get the boss down to 50% HP and cast the silence spell (otherwise the boss will heal to max HP every round), and then just wail on him until he's dead.

 

I've completed dozens of computer and console RPGs over the last few years, and this is the first game that's been like this.  No RPG I've completed so far (computer and console RPGs alike, ranging from as early as 1981 to as recent as 2018) requires any grinding whatsover.  The worst I've experienced up until this point is Dragon Warrior (NES), where you reach a point around halfway through where you know where to go but are too weak to proceed, and have to grind for an hour or two.  Even the hateful Tengai Makyo: ZIRIA didn't require any grinding to complete.  The Legend of Heroes requires constant grinding, and is almost like a parody of what people think RPGs are like.

 

The graphics are actually pretty charming, and the way the story progresses is fun.  It's also got some good dungeons, with treasure actually worth seeking out.  The CD (and even PSG) soundtrack is top tier.  It has so much going for it, so it's too bad that it's let down by the neverending grind.

 

It's apparently only 15-20 hours long, and I've just reached Chapter 4 (out of 6) 7 hours in.  I'll complete this, and then probably focus on some good computer RPGs for a while.

Edited July 7, 2023 by newtmonkey

[+Black_Tiger]

You don't have to grind constantly or really at all in Dragon Slayer. The game is setup to let you play any way you want.

 

You can create any kind of character class and party and have different experiences each time you play through.

 

Setting leveling point allocation to auto gives you a generic team and promotes grinding.

 

There are special items/gear that drop from certain enemies or are found in special shops that can have a major effect on how you play.

 

There is also an invisible amount of luck that you can burn through that affects special weapon effects and other aspects (ability to flee, dodge, critical?).

[newtmonkey]

No offence, but this doesn't make any sense to me.

 

The game literally forces you to grind early on to certain levels before you can progress.  In Chapter 1, you cannot progress in the story until you are level 6 (to get the third member of your party) and then level 8 (to enter the next area).  You will never be at these levels naturally by the time you reach these points, since the world is so tiny in the first chapter.  The game prevents you from making progress unless you are of the appropriate level (it literally turns you away from the entrance if you are lower than level 8).

 

You cannot create any kind of character and party, everything is forced on you as the game progresses.  Unless you mean that you can customize the party by assigning spells and attribute points upon level up?  Even so, the party is set at any point in the game.  And most of the spells are pretty useless, outside of the def+ and attack+ spells.

 

I don't understand what you mean by special drops and invisible luck.  Those are certainly not things that you naturally arrive at?

 

BTW luck has nothing to do with running from battle.  You can run from any battle, anytime.

 

Please, tell me your low-level strategies for this game.  What is your leveling strategy?  All attributes seem pretty important.  I initially tried manual leveling, and focused on STR/INT based on the character, but found the lack of SPD and LUCK causing problems very quickly.  I'd love to hear what I'm doing wrong.  I like the game enough that I'd like to play and complete it without having to grind.

Edited July 7, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Razzie.P]

14 hours ago, newtmonkey said:

It's supposed to be compatible with Genesis/MD 2 cables (including the Retrovision cable).

 

The only reason to use the EDFX over the TurboBooster is to get stereo CD audio. The TED Pro only does mono CD audio otherwise.

Yeah, it's compatible.  Was complete user error and I'm almost ashamed of myself for taking so long to sort it out.  🤣

 

Are we sure the Turbobooster doesn't do stereo with TED Pro CD, though?  I haven't tested much, but sound definitely comes through both channels.   There's a chance it's just sending mono to each and not true stereo, I suppose, but I'm sure I get both.

[newtmonkey]

@Razzie.P

I think unless your Turbobooster has been modified, it's just mono CD audio.  It's the primary reason for the EDFX being released, as the TED Pro itself isn't capable of stereo CD audio on it's own.  There are mods that can be done to the expansion port AV devices to enable stereo audio.

[newtmonkey]

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

Chapter 4 complete!  This was actually a great section of the game.  You have a pretty big area to explore, some fun situations, and finally no need to artificially grind at all.  There is a ton of going back and forth between towns talking to NPCs to make progress in the quest, so you end up getting a lot of EXP and gold along the way.  Slaying enemies in this chapter also gives you tons of EXP/gold, even though the enemies are really no more difficult than in the previous chapter.  I remember in the previous chapter some enemy groups giving only a couple hundred of EXP; nearly every enemy group in Chapter gives at least 1,000 points.

 

I was curious what was changed between the JPN and US versions, so I took a look at the single FAQ on the US version (GameFAQs).  In addition to changing ALL the names of everything, the US version was apparently the victim of ridiculous censorship; there's one part where you have to give a pirate rum from a bar in exchange for explosives in the JPN version, but in the US version you are giving him "medicine" from a "hospital."  I also read some other weird changes, like how encounters were removed from one dungeon in Chapter 3 (it's full of monsters in the JPN version), or how the slave market in Chapter 4 was changed into some kind of bazaar in the US version, where you can buy all sorts of items?  I wonder if they also adjusted the game to reduce the grind in the US version.

 

I've only got two chapters left, so hopefully they'll be as good and grind-free as Chapter 4.

[newtmonkey]

Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

Chapter 5 down.  Another great chapter, no need to grind at all, and some cool dungeons to explore with some fun gimmicks, one particularly clever puzzle, and a tough "puzzle" boss.  One nice thing is that the game eliminates the "random" encounters once you've pacified an area.  It makes you feel like you are actually making a difference in the world.

 

I must mention the excellent enemy art throughout the game.  Monsters are pretty tiny, but very detailed and memorable.

 

Anyway, we'll see how the final chapter goes.  Hopefully the game will end on a high note.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Off topic related to games for the PCE and TG-16, but if you are looking for a good solution to get RGB, S-video, and composite from a single point off one of these consoles and still have the expansion bus be usable... Then you might look into a TurboNanza. These kits are new and sold from a guy in Texas but it is a pretty elegant way to get all the outputs easily and pretty fun kit to install.

 

As you can see from the pics, the main part of the kit is a small PCB assembly you solder to the bottom pins of the expansion bus port on the rear. Some wiring is needed for the RGB and sync to route back to the PCB and then a flex cable is used to route the output signals to a new 10pin Sega Saturn wired mini din to provide all the outputs from. That gets installed in place of the original AV din port. 

 

I've been pleased with the output from it although I do advise doing the jail bar fix on these PCE models to get the RGB output looking that much better.

 

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy

Having completed Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, I decided to give this one a shot next.  First off, this is one ugly game.  It's slightly better looking than Tengai Makyo ZIRIA when walking around, but the graphics during battle are quite poor (I do like that the boss enemies are somewhat animated).  The problem, as with ZIRIA, is a lack of tile variety, which I guess is due to CD-ROM2 hardware not having enough memory to store a bunch of tiles in memory.  Things obviously improved with the DUO hardware and Super System Card... just compare this game and its sequel (both CD-ROM2 games) which look closer to Famicom RPGs, with Cosmic Fantasy 4 (Super CD-ROM2 game) which looks closer to a SFC game.

 

Anyway, it's really generic and basic so far, but there's also something charming about it... possibly just the nostalgia kick I get remembering the screenshots from this game in EGM and also in the Die Hard video game store ads in the same mag.

 

I'm happy to report that it requires no grinding at all so far.  I'm still early into the game (just defeated the third boss), so we'll see how it goes.  I also like all the weird items you can buy from the cat merchant character, as it gives you some more options against bosses other than "just level up."  For example, the third boss was basically impossible at my level (8) fighting normally, but I was able to slay it by just using a couple of "super bomb" items.

 

I've read it's really a tiny game, so I'll probably focus on this one for a while.

[+jeremiahjt]

11 hours ago, newtmonkey said:

Having completed Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

Uh, what?

[Tanooki]

If I remember right back in the original Duo ownership era of 1997-05 period when I got things from early ebay and tzd along with a local shop too one of them was Cosmic Fantasy 2.  I remember looking up the earlier one and it did look as he said, overly bland and the rest.  But I did go for it on CF2 and it was relatively improved, definitely fun, but I do vaguely recall it being more stiff than what I was used to from Square with Final Fantasy and SMRPG at the time, same with Dragon Warrior out of Enix too.  It wasn't bad, but it is something to be aware of, but the game did have some fun personality with the various characters in the videos and what not.

[+jgkspsx]

8 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

Uh, what?

Are you saying you expected a final assessment? Because I was expecting one too.

[newtmonkey]

Oh, in that case, I had posted my final assessment in the "Games Beaten in 2023" thread:

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by newtmonkey

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy

This game is kind of lame.  I don't think you could make a more mediocre 16-bit console RPG... you just go from town to town in a linear path solving one problem per town (conveniently located in a nearby cave or castle or whatever).  There's absolutely no exploration, nothing to even think about.  Enemies continue to get stronger in each area, so you never feel like you are getting stronger, yourself.  Every NPC in every town just says the same thing, but in a slightly different way.  It's a lot like the similarly dull Tengai Makyo ZIRIA, honestly, but in a way even more offensive because Cosmic Fantasy promises some kind of sci fi story, but then sticks you in generic fantasy land.

 

Every battle uses the same "strategy": cast that one spell that doubles your defence, wail on the enemies until they are dead, and then after battle heal up.  Boss battles are basically the same thing, but you also cast that one spell that doubles your attack power.  The overly simple combat is mostly due to having just a two-character party.  One of your characters is strong with no magic, the other has strong magic but is weak.  There's not much you do with that.  Plenty of other characters join your party as the story goes along, but they literally do nothing other than just tag along with you as you walk around.  Why?

 

The game gives you a run option in battle that basically never works.  What's the point?  I assume that the developers looked at a screenshot of Dragon Quest, didn't really know what they were looking at, but added RUN to their menu just to be sure.

Edited July 19, 2023 by newtmonkey

[Tanooki]

Maybe they looked at the controller on the PCE and thought RUN meant pause?  As in, pause a turn and get your ass beat, instead of actually you know...running.

[newtmonkey]

That's pretty much exactly what happens when you "run"... you eat a full round of attacks and are back at square one, just with half your HPs now!

[newtmonkey]

Cosmic Fantasy

Another couple of castles/caves explored, another couple of bosses taken down.

 

The game loads you up with full HP/MP restore items (you can even buy cheap items that restore HP/MP for both party members), and your two characters ALWAYS go first in battle.  Unless you are just not paying attention and somehow show up to battle with no MPs and no items, you're basically guaranteed to win.  If you wanted to, you could fill your inventory with 12 cheap items that restore both character to full HP/MP; how could you possibly lose?

 

Even so, the random encounters are such a grind.  The game keeps introducing more and more difficult enemies (i.e. more HPs and more damage), so you never feel like you're getting any more powerful.  It's just kind of tedious.  You absolutely need to cast the spell that cuts damage in half every single combat, because otherwise enemies will just do way too much damage; if either character dies, it's game over and back to your last save.  Even so, you basically have to heal at least one character after every single combat.  But healing is cheap and you have tons of MP, so it's just a bunch of busywork.

 

The game has a ton of seemingly useful items, based on the in-game descriptions it provides, but they do nothing.  Literally!  You use the item thinking it will stop enemies from acting based on the description, but you just get a message, "but nothing happened."  Was this game even tested before release?

 

The game also annoys me for having a spell to exit dungeons, but it doesn't even work most of the time!  Why even have this?

 

I do like the "dungeons" in this game.  They aren't particularly large or complex or anything, but they also aren't just straight paths to the boss, and they're full of nice treasure worth seeking out.

---

 

I'm 0 for 3 with the PC Engine RPGs I've played so far.  Hopefully this is just growing pains or something, and the quality of RPGs on this system will improve once I start playing the sequels to this first batch of RPGs.

Edited July 22, 2023 by newtmonkey

[SlidellMan]

I just released a WIP of Turbo Engine, but it isn't in .vgm and won't be until the song is done.

[newtmonkey]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:55 AM, newtmonkey said:

Cosmic Fantasy

The game loads you up with full HP/MP restore items (you can even buy cheap items that restore HP/MP for both party members), and your two characters ALWAYS go first in battle.  Unless you are just not paying attention and somehow show up to battle with no MPs and no items, you're basically guaranteed to win.  If you wanted to, you could fill your inventory with 12 cheap items that restore both character to full HP/MP; how could you possibly lose?

I think the game is reading my posts...

The next section of the game has Saya (the magic user) being kidnapped, so I was forced to explore a winding maze full of tough enemies with just the main character.  This was a frustrating experience.  He has a healing spell, but only enough MPs to cast it twice!  You simply cannot run from encounters, so you have to fight every battle along the way.  The tower does have lots of Elixirs in chests (restore to max HP/MP), so it's not impossible, but it sure is a pain.  An unlucky encounter against two enemies means using up a couple of your precious Elixirs.

 

Luckily, you can buy a "Camp Capsule" that restores you to max HP/MP and also saves the game at that point (even in dungeons), so once you make decent enough progress into the tower, you can at least save your progress and not have to do the whole thing if you get unlucky or run out of items or whatever.

 

One funny thing about this game is that the bosses become absolute jokes after a certain point, thanks to all the overpowered restorative spells and items.  Most bosses are capable of just a single attack per round, with no special attacks or magic or anything... so that 40 damage to one character per round means nothing when you have 100+ HPs, always go first in battle, can cast a cheap healing spell that maxes HPs, and have an inventory full of full HP/MP restoratives.

[newtmonkey]

Comic Fantasy

Finished!  Like usual, I posted my thoughts in the ""Games Beaten in 2023" thread, for anyone interested:

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/345832-games-beaten-in-2023/?do=findComment&comment=5289869

Edited July 27, 2023 by newtmonkey

[roots.genoa]

This game is going to get re-released in a compilation for Switch; do you think it's worth it? You sound like it didn't age well enough.