Sorry, I'm pretty lame for posting about PS2 RPGs on here, but you guys seem like the sorts of people who'd benefit from this kind of information. (:

After about 20 hours of play time, I hit the "big plot twist" in Okage: Shadow King last night... you know, the standard moment in every RPG where everything is explained and your mission becomes clear?

...

...and I think it actually managed to top even FF7 in terms of coolness.

Seriously, I did NOT see this coming AT ALL. It's one of the coolest, most shocking plot twists I've ever encountered, and it basically turned the whole game upside-down and changed your objective ENTIRELY. But the thing is, it did it REALLY WELL, too... there WAS foreshadowing for this, little subtle hints throughout the game, but until you hit the plot twist, you really don't notice them -- you dismiss them as part of the game's "RPG parody" motif.

But the fact of the matter is, Okage's plot has suddenly made a giant leap from "amusing and fun, best I've encountered in a little while" to "one of the best RPG plots EVER" in my mind... you really have to see this game to believe it.

It even has a main villain who can easily hold his own against Sephiroth. (:

Bravo to Zener Works for writing such an awesome story... I highly recommend that anyone on this board with a PS2 go out and get this game a.s.a.p. If you actually bother to play through it, you definitely will NOT be sorry.

-Tom

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I actually just beat the game yesterday, and I had no such troubles... the trick is to pull the ol' "have two characters go to defense/wait, then have the third choose attack/combine so all three can gang up on one enemy and kill it instantly" technique. (: And if you get fought by one of those two-moon one-sun battles... RUN. They're not worth fighting! Run from the Bad Poetry Golem, too, so he doesn't steal all your hard-earned cash!

And while you're at it, you can always go to gamefaqs.com and read Bodi Anderson's wonderful FAQ, which has a link to a map of the World Library, with every treasure chest marked and even the path you should take drawn in!!

And don't worry about the final boss -- he's the EASIEST final boss I've EVER encountered... quite a gyp, actually. I was really enjoying the game's difficulty level, and then they let me down in the final battle!!

But yeah, the key to success in Okage, as I've found, is to just use attack/combine as much as possible, heal (using items) after every battle, and run from the hardest enemies. (: Oh, and if you don't have the ultimate weapon for the character you're most compatible with (most likely Rosalyn, since she ROCKS and all), be sure to go back to a love fortuneteller, then go to Triste to get it... it's +40 attack, and thus VERY worthwhile. (:

Hope that helps!

-Tom

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...accidentally stumble on it, that is? I remembered that the game had claimed that the church's secrets were not all found at first... So I went back one day for no reason, and ran into the elder...

And here I was figuring that clue was a *really* obscure reference to the 'Midnight Star' symbol the church had in it... Thanks for the explanation!

I also ran into Rosalyn's +40 rapier, which is why I said she'd been maxed out, equipment-wise... But I hadn't realised that it was for the compatible person, so I'd been wondering where the other characters' +40s were... Hmmm... So what if you're compatible with Stan at the end... ?

I've found nowhere near enough gears... Drat!

As for the battle strategy, I seem to have missed the Combine strategy altogether... I'd been using Ari's Overdrive for *everything* up to that point (I ignore the burst command, since boosted attack power is so much better), used up my Black Cat Gem and a bunch of bottles fighting Epros, and was crying about it when I took on the Vampire. I'll give it a shot when I get back to playing it. I'm playing FFX right now, and I've finally reached a non-linear part.

Speaking of FFX, here's my opinion on it: Nowhere near as fun as 9, but less excruciating than 8. (Me: 'Kurse all SeeDs?!?!' That's your *only* line?!! What kind of end boss *are* you?)

Still, I figure I'll finish what I've started, ignore the third-of-the-way-done game of Wild ARMs 2 I've got going, and finish Okage next. Or maybe I'll just take out Okage tonight since I've got not much left now...

-GMW-

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Wow... Teaches me to read *all* of the manual, doesn't it? I must've skipped over the part telling me how to use Wait to Combine... (Me at the time: I *know* what wait does! It's standard in all RPGs! It doesn't need to tell me!)

I'm not sure why, since I was usually able to kill an enemy or two a turn without Combine, but your way *really* works out well! I took very little damage, and thus got the keys quite quickly! The final boss *was* kind of easy, but I was level 70+ for Ari and Rosalyn, and had Big Bull at 60+. I found out that the battle with two Radiant Suns and a Bad Poetry Golem gives about 2000 experience when most other battles are giving less than 200, so I leveled up heavily!

As for the +50 sword, is that Hopkin's Sword? A guy in the mansion mentioned a sword that opened hidden areas, and I was trying to figure out where it was, with no success...

And the spoiler... I don't mind, since I don't think I'll complete the gear quest at least for a while. I was *wondering* who would tell me the end of that joke! (Nobody! Drat! :) )

-GMW-

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