Here's a translation patch for 3.08. As with the previous ones, it's MTL with editing.
To apply to an official demo, place in the game directory, and rename any patch.xp3 file in the game directory to patch2.xp3, since otherwise files in that patch take precedence.
Saves from this patch should be compatible with current/future unmodified Japanese trial versions and allow swapping between them.
Import works from trial 2 with my previous English patch, so should work in the full version too (if it's ever released
). If further patches were applied to trial 2, this may not be the case.
So please don't push any "enhanced" version with cheated party size/movement etc as a default, but an alternative, for those already familiar with the game to explore around the edges of the developer's intended experience.
Download link:
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Enjoy.
Anyway, on to my own thoughts about the new demo.
I guess it makes sense for the developer to release another trial version, to identify bugs in the engine or scenes. Seems to have slightly more content than the last.
Free mode seems like a mess of duplication. I'm sure it could have been done in an easier way. He could just have kept "Theo" as the perspective character in the cut-down scenes by making him a hands-off party leader who accompanies them, but doesn't have to be in the active party. Or just had the current leader say the same lines, though that would be more jarring in Japanese due to masculine/feminine speech differences and speech style quirks between the races.
For the discussion about classes, I find physical attackers with secondary magic are best.
- Assassin is always amazing (though not as broken as pre instant death nerf), and has secondary Alchemy magic. Hide and Sneak attack to avoid damage completely. And thief utility in addition.
- Spellblade is good, with Line Attack, occasional instant death (particularly good for MC who gets innate counter) and secondary spirit magic. Equipment's a bit limited
- Valkyrie is always solid, more accessible than the other top classes and has secondary priest magic. Very good equipment selection, though not the very best.
- Mages... kinda suck. Which is unfortunate given that magic is necessary. The D&D system of limited spell slots and broadly fixed damage just doesn't work well in a game of frequent battles, replicating enemies, and damage scaling warriors. To add insult to injury, most of the bosses have a chance to completely nullify magic. While I take a dual caster along for testing, all they really bring is crowd control with ice spells or out of battle utility. Possibly bosses like the dragons might give a controllable healer that can survive hits a niche. Bard might be a very gear-dependent way to address these shortcomings too. Maybe I'll have to try one.
- Lord may be worth trying, due to all the good equipment they seem to get making them look like Valkyrie+. The original demo (and still tutorialed) restriction of too widely varied alignment in parties that wouldn't allow running them with Assassin seems to have been removed.
- Combining Hunter with Summoner would have made one good unique class, rather than two awkwardly linked ones. I always bring a Summoner for testing, since they're often bug magnets and expose a bunch of extra text, but they're underwhelming in battle. That said, Cold Wisp is still more reliable crowd control than mages or using break-happy staves...
- Fighter/Pirate: No real reason to use them bar flavor or a change. No secondary magic, no Line Attack. Just counter at very high levels, which Monk gets earlier, and MC gets anyway. But they still beat:
- Smith: Ha. Your entire class and associated mechanism is invalidated by every shop, plus one Alchemist spell that's also available as a scroll for repairing the expensive stuff.