Awesome. I've only played AC so far due to not wanting to play at night, despite ToS being my favorite game of all time. AC seems too similar to it's previous installments, though. I'm all for the 'If it's not broken, don't fix it' philosophy, but I've been playing the same thing for 6 years. I haven't been to the city yet, though, so we'll see how it goes. As for ToS... Damn, I need to make time for that.

Feel free to post more about AC as you play it. I never bought the DS one and while I'd get this for the Wii, Chrono Trigger has little over a week to go and I know I'll want to play that and nothing else.

I think I have AC pre-ordered, so tell me how it is. Have you played any wi-fi on it?

I've got the new TOS. I got as far as the Lightning place last game if I recall.

This one is cool. Plenty of hours in, plot just meh so far, but it's got enough set up that I'm expecting a decent plot twist coming up soon.

Monster aspect is fun, there are a lot of monsters to get. Doing the Bear line right now, and Axe Beak (looks sweet especially pink evo form).

Monsters are so broke in this game though, they level up so fast, and once they evolve, and start speeding up again from level one, they'll be doubling the regular characters stats, especially if you feed them.

Also keep in mind when capturing early in the game. Just have Marta spam First Aid so Element Grid is all blue while everyone is on standbye excluding the guy you control. Then once you get to add Wind attribute to Phoenix Rush, spam that, as its WAY WAY faster to do.

I've got hopes for the plot though, it's kinda cool so far, it's really the monster part that's grabbed me though. (Maybe pokemon aspect of me kicking in perhaps?)

Eh, I played a couple of hours of ToS so far, and the animation certainly tops the original. Dialogue has long pauses, though, and scenes often flash back to previous scenes unnecessarily. I can't help but notice how Emil attacks fairly slowly, even in 'Ratotosk' form. I find myself needing to heal often, and the monsters die quickly. I died in the first dungeon due to not having the backstep option (which I overused in the first game, making it a habit), and enemies dealing a ton of damage for my HP level. The controls seem off, like they did in Abyss. I guess I just really love the original's control scheme. The plot is awesome so far. Having Lloyd as the villain is pretty much one of the greatest plot twists ever.

Please refrain from spoilers in this topic, BTW. If there's any game I don't want spoiled, it's this one.

I'm not good with acronyms...could you tell me what AC:CF and ToS:DotNW is?

AC:CF = Animal Crossing: City Folk
ToS:DotNW = Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

I hope.

Whats so great about AC anyway?

AC is a hit or miss type of game. You love it or you hate it. I love it because of the variety of things you can do, but someone can easily find it boring fishing and paying off a mortgage. It just puts a spin on life and allows you to take the game in whichever direction you want.

I got bored of Animal Crossing, the first time it came out on GameCube. When I saw my friend play it, it looked so fun. So I went out and bought my own GC and the game....

Bad choice. I got bored within a week. It's basically a nerfed down "The Sims" with Animals -_-

Anyway, I do enjoy games like that. AC:CF is for the Wii right? Maybe I'll check it out at Blockbuster or something.

Chapter five in tales so far. No big plot deal yet, but I can feel the game bursting, just waiting to tell me. (Right game please)?

The beginning is rough, the most you can do is chain a three combo attack into a base arte. But like at the point I'm at, you sky combo(with longer chains) into arts, backstep, got mystic artes (crazy powered up unison attacks). And your monsters just continue to dominate.

I've got a cave bear still waiting to turn into a Galf Beast. Now Emil's Hp has almost hit 3000, the bear guy has over 8000 hp! These guys have always been in the same amount of battles too. Monsters just dominate.

Now come on story, just one plot twist or something please.

Oh yeah, Sky Combos are awesome. So much better than in Symphonia 1.

Also, I've heard there are several important plot twists in the game, so I guess you should expect some soon. I'm only in Chapter 2, at the end of the Asgard Dias Ruins. Windmaster Prime is being a sunnuva douche to me, I tried for 30 seconds. Here's how it went.

Got into the battle. Windmaster Prime and two Axe Beaks. Shouldn't be too hard, right? I check out the Axe Beaks' HP. Both have freaking close to 4000. 10 times what it should be. I go to attack one, attack it for a few seconds. I check my allies... Marta AND Colette are dead. My black wolf was only alive because he was with me, attacking the Axe Beak.

Haven't played ToS2, and I'm unlikely to play it in the near future for various reasons, but that last post reminded me of my first time through the original. When I got to Undine, she was absolutely unbeatable (partly because I hadn't gotten very good at that point). So I did what you usually do when you're stuck in an RPG - go level up. That was the shortest level-up session ever, though, because after two or three battles Raine learned Nurse, and then I went back and absolutely wiped the floor with Undine. It goes without saying, spamming 30% recovery on one character and spamming 40% recovery on your entire party makes a hell of a difference.

Ah, yes, Raine's broken recovery. I remember thee well. Revitalize was insane, even if it took a while to cast. Still, with the 'Randomize' skill set for her, occasionally she could heal in a split second. Spamming Revitalize made it nearly impossible to die, as long as you have the gels for TP recovery.

Usually I only keep it as a last resort (unless I'm fighting, say, Abyssion) - otherwise Nurse gives the best recovery for your TP point and casting second. But yeah, healing spells were outrageously good. So good, in fact, that the combo system that dooms Genis to uselessness is a non-factor here, making Raine a must in any party. I pity the fools who got Raine down the S-line, thinking a Reraise-like spell would be so awesome. Nya-hah!

BTW, Happy 1000th post, Slowflake.

I've always used Genis, if only because a lot of the spells he gets are visually impressive. If you can't do damage effectively, you can at least make it look like you are. Nothing more satisfying than nailing Sword Dancer with Indignation.

Also, can anyone who owns ToS2 answer this for me? I'm only just past the Asgard Ruins in chapter 2. Is this a good time to start monster collecting? I'm currently using a black wolf (who'll probably stay with me, I've heard the wolf line is good. I'll have a Fenrir soon, and when I de-evolve, I'll go for the Orion line.) and a ghost. Are there any good monsters I should look out for in the near future?

EDIT: In AC, I just went to K.K. Slider, AKA Totakeke. You can't request a song to take with you in the first week, unfortunately. Still, he lets you request songs as much as you like, so you can listen to all of them if you want. I got K.K. March as a gift, so I wasn't very happy. I want mah DJ K.K.!

Hrm, really for me, I only caught the monster's that looked visually appealing to me, and even if they did suck at first, they still smoke the playable characters in stats anyways when they level up.

If you can get Fire dragon guy, or Sea Wyvern get them, people seem to do that. I've had a bear since like ever, and it tanks like none other through the entire game, the only reason why I'd lose is because Emil would get ganged up on with Marta twiddling thumbs and falling over and dying herself or something.

*thinking*.... Don't know what to say actually, for all monsters theres one line that does better than the other, check out this link if you haven't already. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=942210&topic=46714221

Usually lines that use statues eventually are the best, but early game you might want to try the other lines first, to get their skills, and so by the time you can evolve using the statue, you don't get stuck without one.

Yeah, my situation looks like this:

I've been forming pacts whenever they come up, but I haven't been adding anything to my party. Due to going away for a week just recently, I haven't played it much lately and am still in chapter 3, just after the Triet Ruins. My party consists of Emil, Marta, a Fenrir, and a Wraith. I haven't tried out either of those in battle yet because I just evolved them. My Black Wolf and Phantom were great, though. Phantom was pretty slow, but made up for it in the fact that it can teleport, a huge plus. Also, it can handle big crowds with Ghost Fire, which is great. My Black Wolf was always up with me in combat, making it easy to alternate staggering the enemy.

Anyway, I'm on the lookout for notable monsters such as dragons and Dullahan, so I should be set. I'm happy with my party now.