DS #2023: Dungeon Explorer: Warrior of Ancient Arts (USA)

[Nottulys]

I like this game, it reminds me of Guantlet Legends for the N64. Havent tried the Multiplay yet, but the Dual-Swords Charged Kick ass! Also, you cant really choose the "Form" you get, but I ended up with the Snake Form(I wanted the Skull form).

 

[Awdofgum]

I'm going to try this before i go to bed.
i hope i'm not dissapointed.

 

[dib]

I played it up to the castle boss. It kills me in one hit, and asking me to keep walking back there every time to try again is too much. I don't put up with that kind of nuisance from _good_ games, why would I put up with it in a mediocre game like this?

 

[asuri]

u mean the poison one???? its so frekin hard it killed my bots, i use up items i cant hit him without having to use a potion. he walks through walls which makes it even harder, his shots are wide range. i trained about to levl 27 till and stocked up on lots of potions and a def bot this time i killed it. btw that day for me the merchants are in town, the people who sell rare stronger equip and stuff + lottery

 

[TheVirus]

Wait until you have to fight the Szeh or whatever goblin guard. Killed me instantly and I haven't died once. Nothing has ever given me that much of a challenge. Level 28 mage with most points in Arts so my attacks are pretty powerful, but shit, he raped me. Turned the DS off because I lost my robot and I'm not losing 40k for a continue. I'll pick up where I last saved, where ever that is.

Might have to wait for a cheat because I may have lost an our or two and don't feel like replaying that shit. *sigh*

Edit: Mother fucker, it autosaved when I died. Now I'm out a 20k bot and 40k West (by the way, what a shitty name for currency). Anger++;

 

[dib]

I could care less about the stupid currency, they can take every last penny in the bank if it saved me having to walk from town to where I can die for the umpteenth time against the same boss.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with losing in a game. It's when you set the game up for tedium+frustration of having to constantly replay parts until you get it right. Add in a bunch of unskippable text and we would have to start lighting torches and arming pitchforks.

When your game traverses the wide range between abysmal and mediocre, you don't have the right to ask much from the player. Dungeon Explorer is tolerable as a trite run through between clobbering things and gaining experience, anything beyond and its expense outweighs its utility.

 

[Deleted member 110780]

So on my second try I actually got the form I wanted, the MOON. It isn't random, I don't think, you just need good timing and then wait for the spinner to slow down.

These dungeons have almost no depth whatsoever. No matter how many twists and turns, it's almost always four to six rooms before fighting a single boss that may have a few lackeys that die in one hit anyway. And genebombs are totally useless because generators can die pretty easily too.

My other complaint is that in this backwards-ass society, where lasers and arrows can go way past the screen, is that the fucking bullets don't go very far. From a gun.

 

[gov78]

anyone got to the necromacers temple yet i need a lil help finding the ghost spirit urn anyone know where the secrate room is the hes talking about?

EDIT: DONT WORRY I FOUND IT

! My Robot was havign a spaz attack so i checked where he was freaking out n there wasa door there

 

[Kassius]

for all the flak people seem to be giving ign for it's rating, the average reviews of it being not bad, mildly entertaining, pretty good if you're a fan of that kind of genre seem to be pretty representative of a rating of about 6/10

 

[Osaka]

so, does anyone know the differance between the DS version and the PSP version? (besides story)

 

[osirisFIVE]

anyone got to the necromacers temple yet i need a lil help finding the ghost spirit urn anyone know where the secrate room is the hes talking about?

EDIT: DONT WORRY I FOUND IT

! My Robot was havign a spaz attack so i checked where he was freaking out n there wasa door there

My stupid robot died because of that lameass Dark Knight.

Any idea how to specify where the Ghost Spirit urn is?

 

[dakeyras]

so, does anyone know the differance between the DS version and the PSP version? (besides story)

The psp graphics are a lot better.
Psp only has local wifi.
DS version has 60 fighting arts to chose from, psp 150.
And that's all I can think about really.

 

[lacechan]

The games are entirely different, basically.

Different stories, different classes (and races, DS uses tribes and calls everyone human, PSP uses races), a different system (on the PSP you have full customization of your weapons and character), additional arts.

PSP version seems more of a mix between Diablo II and Gauntlet Legends as opposed to the DS version. There might be more differences but here is what I noticed right off the bat...

DS:

3 Tribes, 1 Gender for each Tribe (two male tribes one female tribe)
Certain discounts in Confine based on what Tribe you chose.
3 Jobs only, although they vary within each Tribe
4 Stats (Vit, Arts, Str, Dex)
No Big Bang Arts
18 or so Weapon classes
Equipment use restricted by Job, which cannot be changed.
Dungeons are the same

PSP:

3 Races, 2 Genders for each Race.
Story is different depending on which race you chose.
12 Jobs, 6 basic and 6 advanced (unlocked by leveling two certain basic jobs to A and B rank)
7 Stats (Vit, Str, Dex, Int, Luk , Mag, Spd? It was called Rapidity on JP ver)
Big Bang Arts (very flashy party skills)
28 Weapon classes
Equipment use restricted by Job, which can be changed freely. Weapons are also upgradable as opposed to being "reworked" on DS. Downside, Equipment is not Unique (Exclusive)
Dungeons are completely random
Character stats can be increased without using leveling points.

 

[AndreXL]

hmm... If there was only online game for the PSP, it would have been a massacre. :|
I don't have a PSP... that's another thing.

 

[lacechan]

Apparently on that note, the DS only lets you Co-op for the Pyramid part of the game (aka the non-single player part), while the PSP lets you Co-op for the entire game (I guess makes sense because they aren't even remotely related).

 

[Dominator]

The wifi party are absolutly great i play 2 hour with a man and i loot a lot of rare item (you may gain point stat but no level up)


The multiplayer is long and hard (lvl 99 for le last boss)

 

[Szyslak]

The multiplayer is long and hard

Just as any cooperative multiplayer experience should be.

I played this for a while yesterday, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I think I'll be playing this one for a while.

I like the equipment system where you need to get certain stats or levels before you can equip an item. Makes things more interesting. I'm not a big fan of limiting the equipment to a certain job though. There should be a little more crossover there.

I'm going to play for a while and then look forward to trying some pyramid co-op! That could be pretty cool if you get to keep the items you pick up.

I will say this: It's better than Children of Mana and Izuna (fanservice not withstanding).

 

[lacechan]

After you beat the game (well, the single player story part of it):

You are given a choice to keep grinding and beat the Pyramid, or go to the Lake Temple and "return to the starting point".

You basically start the whole game over except you bring everything over (except Arts, but when you unlock them again any points in them still carry over).

It's not a total loss since of course the drops are catered to your level, and you can probably defeat the four dragons again for another +7 in each resistance

Based on some wiki, might not be 100% accurate in the end-game (it kind of just stops):

Maximum Stat required for gears

Headgear - 63 DEX
Armor - 63 STR & Lv. 65
Shields - 63 STR & 63 DEX
Rings - Lv. 47
Amulets - Lv. 54

1h Sword - 63 STR & Lv. 61
2h Sword - 96 STR
Dagger - 60 DEX
Hammer - 104 STR
Bow - 63 DEX
Bowgun - 53 STR & 54 DEX
Claws - 56 STR & 56 DEX
1h Axe - 69 STR
2h Axe - 100 STR
Shotgun - 60 DEX
Pistols - 55 DEX & Lv. 57
Sickle - 56 STR
Polearms - 63 STR & 50 DEX
Throwing Weapon - 65 DEX
Boomerang - 50 STR & 56 DEX
Stave - Lv. 62
Scepter - 56 DEX
Club - 75 STR

 

[ASK]

Not bad so far. Pretty basic and repetitive though. Reached level 17 in my first round of play

Edit: Awesome, nothing like having your 3hr save disappear, having a heart attack, then having it magically reappear!

 

[cutterjohn]

The games are entirely different, basically.

Different stories, different classes (and races, DS uses tribes and calls everyone human, PSP uses races), a different system (on the PSP you have full customization of your weapons and character), additional arts.

PSP version seems more of a mix between Diablo II and Gauntlet Legends as opposed to the DS version. There might be more differences but here is what I noticed right off the bat...

DS:

3 Tribes, 1 Gender for each Tribe (two male tribes one female tribe)
Certain discounts in Confine based on what Tribe you chose.
3 Jobs only, although they vary within each Tribe
4 Stats (Vit, Arts, Str, Dex)
No Big Bang Arts
18 or so Weapon classes
Equipment use restricted by Job, which cannot be changed.
Dungeons are the same

PSP:

3 Races, 2 Genders for each Race.
Story is different depending on which race you chose.
12 Jobs, 6 basic and 6 advanced (unlocked by leveling two certain basic jobs to A and B rank)
7 Stats (Vit, Str, Dex, Int, Luk , Mag, Spd? It was called Rapidity on JP ver)
Big Bang Arts (very flashy party skills)
28 Weapon classes
Equipment use restricted by Job, which can be changed freely. Weapons are also upgradable as opposed to being "reworked" on DS. Downside, Equipment is not Unique (Exclusive)
Dungeons are completely random
Character stats can be increased without using leveling points.

The sad thing is that the DS version could EASILY have been made indentical in gameplay, with the only caveat being reduced graphical quality. Although it's hard to see if they used the same graphics how they could get any better, as they aren't all that great to beging with.

Also, in no way, shape, or form does this game fit the definition of "old school" "RPG". It's a Diablo ripoff, which is NOT an old school RPG as it is (a) barely an RPG, (b) is an ARPG, © has a shallow story/plot, and (d) rapidly becomes repetitive and boring although multiplayer may eventually make up for that. IMO it looks like IGN surprisingly hit the correct score for once. [EDIT] Of all the DS RPGs that I've seen so far, Etrian Odyssey comes closest to being an old school RPG, along with Mazes of Fate for the GBA. The rest are, primarily, jRPGs of one type or another and even the two mentioned have quite a bit in common with jRPGs.[/EDIT]