An enterprising Final Fantasy 14 fan has set out to complete the MMO’s story content using only a party of healers, with additional rules thrown in to make the task more difficult. They were quickly made to regret the decision.
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia is the classic Shin Megami Tensei adventure I needed
13.10.2023 - 19:15 / destructoid.com
Something many people might not know about me now is that I used to be a massive fan of the Megami Tensei franchise. Digital Devil Saga is still a favorite and my 3DS remains a Shin Megami Tensei 4 machine.
My adoration for this franchise extends even to the SNES titles. Specifically, I enjoyed the first SMT game and played some of its sequel on the same system.
There are definitely issues with these titles, ranging from Zio-breaking bosses to barren dungeons, but these games have a vibe. There’s something about exploring a desolate world, using computers to summon demons, and becoming a formidable force. The soundtrack is pretty killer, too.
It’s just a shame that the only official way to play the first SMT in the West is on older iOS devices. These older installments have a feel I haven’t seen in any other game, and I always wanted more. Well, a new game has captured that certain je ne sais quoi, and it’s a Touhou fan game.
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia (Touhou ADIA because the name’s long) is a dungeon-crawling RPG developed by Bar Holographic Otaku, and it’s SMT with Touhou characters. That might be a reductive description, but it emulates how those older titles looked and played so well I want to consider it their successor.
The basic gameplay is of a straightforward dungeon-crawler. Players lead protagonist Sumireko throughout Gensokyo, exploring the world and the various dungeons. Throughout her adventure, she encounters many Touhou characters along with their mysterious clones called Sleepers.
Part of the SMT influences comes from the fact each Sleeper is recruitable or turned into items.
Something impressive is that most Touhou characters appear as these clones and are recruitable. I don’t know much about Touhou or its characters, so seeing over 150 listings in the compendium was astonishing.
Even elements from later SMT titles carry over into Touhou ADIA. While the series always emphasized exploiting enemy weaknesses, certain spells broke older games. Zio, for instance, is basically a win button in the first SMT since stuns were almost guaranteed. As most bosses had no electricity resistance, stunlocking them until they die is as viable as it is hilarious.
This isn’t so much the case in Touhou ADIA, as lightning spells don’t have stun capabilities. Finding weaknesses and managing party buffs is important as either can turn a battle’s course. Like SMT, optimal party composition with varying skills is crucial to survive.
Combat and exploration have a wonderful flow that takes the aesthetics of old SMT titles while improving the actual gameplay. Even better is that with each reminiscent feature, there’s a new element to it.
Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia not only takes SMT‘s
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polygon.com
29.10.2023 / 13:23
The best movies and TV like the Alan Wake games
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pcgamer.com
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news.blizzard.com
26.10.2023 / 21:33
Defend the Dream When Guardians of the Dream Arrives the Week of November 7
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destructoid.com
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What you need to know about Alan Wake’s story, before jumping into the sequel
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wccftech.com
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destructoid.com
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Experiencing the Animal Crossing X Seattle Aquarium partnership
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pcgamer.com
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Serpens is a stealth sim that's carrying a torch for Thief: The Dark Project, then quickly extinguishing it with a water arrow
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gamesradar.com
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The Witcher 4 dev on avoiding another Cyberpunk 2077 console disaster: "We need to make sure they're functioning from the get-go"
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pcgamer.com
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