Has anybody else played Mystic Ark? Any thoughts on it? I've

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>>3989679
I know I can't expect much of a 16-bit JRPG but I was kind of hoping that I'd get party members one by one, exploring their worlds and following their stories, but instead I get all six party members at once and they're all interchangeable as a result.

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>>3989679
>Has anybody else played Mystic Ark?
Yep.
>Any thoughts on it?
Great setting, GREAT music, great art direction, meh gameplay.
>has kind of taken the wind out of my sails.
Fool, the game has some great bantz in some worlds, especially if you play as Remeer, Felys has some, but Remeer is way better.
Mystic Ark isn't about the characters, the plot revolves around who's collecting people, worlds, objects and hearts, the playable characters just happen to be there thanks to Remeer/Felys being strong willed enough to uncard themselves, they're entirely collateral and unimportant, and some of them are also a nod to the first game in the series, Elnark, which is known as the 7nth Saga in the west.
The whole series isn't character driven, it's just going on fun and weird adventures, Mystic Ark was the first actually plot heavy game in the series.

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>>3989731
>Felys has some, but Remeer is way better.
Damn, I picked Felys. Define bantz, because as far as I've seen neither of them talk.

I never said I wasn't enjoying it, I was just hoping for a bit more to the playable characters themselves because they looked cool
and interesting. I know it's not fair to judge a game based on expectations and what it isn't, rather than what it is.

I didn't know that Seventh Saga was actually in the same series as it, though, that's interesting.

>>3989753
There will be some moments where you'll interact with other NPCs and while your characters don't talk you're usually part of a series of comedic jokes, if you're chose Remeer for instance you'd get one in the third world you'll visit when you're nearing the end of the plot there, Felys doesn't because she's female and can't be part of the joke.
In some worlds you'll even get some snarky meta comments on the fact that your characters never say anything.
>I didn't know that Seventh Saga was actually in the same series as it
Remeer is the main recurrent character in the series that appears in every title, in Elnark he was the King, then he was the MC in Brain Lord too, then there's Lux, which is implied to be the very same Lux from Elnark and the tetsujin race is the same one from Elnark, most of the monsters are straight up reused from Elnark too, I can only assume you still haven't played Elnark/7nth Saga because it's all pretty evident since the first hour in the game.

Felys is a good choice for a first playthrough though, the fight with the mole in the first world is much harder with Remeer since he can't cure himself with magic, Felys has heals and defensive buffs while Remeer has offensive buffs and spells, that makes the early game and the first world especially much harder when you play as Remeer.

I hope you enjoy it though, despite the mediocre gameplay and some infuriating puzzles it's a pretty nice game.

>>3989773
>In some worlds you'll even get some snarky meta comments on the fact that your characters never say anything.
I wish we got more actual canon silent protagonists. Playing as a literal mute who is treated as such would be a fun experience, as opposed to just a blank slate for the player to project onto.

>>3989773
I had heard that the two were related, but I figured it was just a meta sequel with similar gameplay rather than having some sort of continuity, as much continuity as you can get in a game about hopping between worlds anyway.

>>3989779
Yeah, it's pretty rare, it's not for everyone though, as much as I like games with silent protagonists or minimal dialogues most people prefer reading more than reading less.
Talking about mutes, Mystic Ark's fourth world is interesting because in one part there's no colours and in another one there's no sound, and that is reflected into the gameplay and writing too, you can't speak with people in the soundless region until you learn how to make signs and there's no music or sounds either to reflect that, conversely, the part without colours turn the game on a scale of gray, the NPCs stories also reflect that, like that kid who wants to become a musician or the various people who suffer depression from the loss of colours.
>>3989785
>as much continuity as you can get in a game about hopping between worlds anyway.
That's pretty much the case for the entire series, Maboroshi Gekijyo on PS also has Remeer/Felys and the Arks from Mystic Ark but it's a completely different game in a completely different setting, imagine a proto KH:CoM with a slightly creepy atmosphere.
The series has recurrent characters and objects or monsters but each game is self contained and usually different in gameplay, with the exception being Elnark and Mystic Ark being more or less the same, Mystic Ark is basically a remaster of Elnark or a prequel of sorts if you want to speculate on the lore, Brain Lord and Maboroshi Gekijyo are pretty much alternate worlds, there's no real unifying theme for the games unlike other series.

A shame the series died though, I love Yamada's art and Mystic Ark was a step in the right direction in creating a more cohesive visual identity for the series

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>>3989679
Ohh wow! I bought an artbook for this years and years ago just because I loved the drawing inside. I never knew what kind of game it even was.

>>3990048
Shit, now I want that artbook. His art is great.

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>>3990070
It' a really cool book, even has a bunch of his rough sketches in the back which I love seeing from any artist.

>>3990107
Can i get this illegaly?

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Yep, played and beat this. It's a strange one - I loved the atmosphere, which is truly unlike any SNES rpg I've played, and the fact some bits played like a strange horror/point and click adventure. It's let down a little by its battle system seeming very by the books, and the minimap with the enemies moving around doesn't really help you avoid random battles as they move about erratically, too. Top tier soundtrack helps a ton though - boss battles are hype as fuck when that synthmetal kicks in.

Brain Lord is related to this too, and it and 7th Saga, not to mention a PS1 Mystic Ark i'm super intrigued about past its language barrier make a 'Remeer' series. Wondered if some day I should play 7th Saga with a difficulty hack that fixes it. Brain Lord is awesome though and I'd hugely recommend it.

The PS1 game looks like a pure 3d adventure game with Resident Evil puzzles and a strange gothic storybook feel. The only combat seems to be via cardbased spells. Seen a few bits of it on YT - looks interesting but has almost nothing to do with this game afaik.

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>>3990048
You made a good deal Anon, Yamada's one of my favorite artists, you should play the game too.
>>3990458
>boss battles are hype as fuck when that synthmetal kicks in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5e-90ZzWt4

>>3990458
Brain Lord's a pretty great ARPG too. The fact that there are other adventurers exploring the dungeons with you is a nice little extra touch.