Dept. Heaven General (Riviera, Yggdra Union, KitN, Gungnir)

We kinda hit on this a bit in the Final Fantasy general thread, and I figured that with Gungnir coming out next week this board could use a Dept. Heaven thread.

Quick overview: Dept. Heaven is a series of nine planned titles, four of which are currently out (and a bunch of No Export for You side-stories), and all available for the PSP. Developed by Sting and published by Atlus in North America, these titles typically take an established RPG style and turn it on it's head. The four titles currently available in the US are:

• Riviera The Promised Land - A turn-based RPG, where out of battle exploration is limited and dependant on your battle performance. Battles are performed using items, the vast majority of which have limited use, and you can only carry a small number per battle, so planning counts. Also has light dating sim elements. Also available on GBA.
• Yggdra Union - A tactical RPG where the main gimmick is that you're only allowed one attack per turn. The basic strategy is getting your team to form Unions, giving the game's battles a bit of an Advance Wars feel. There's a whole bunch more tacticcool shit the game gets into as well. Also available on GBA.
• Knights In The Nightmare - Gosh, can this even fit into a genre? A... bullet hell strategy role-playing shootan gaem. Has a lengthy tutorial that everybody and their mother recommends you go through. Also available on DS.
• Gungnir - The newest entry in the series. Another tactical RPG, more Tactics Ogre than Advance Wars. Plan and excute your actions around Tactical Points you earn during battle, and balance between storing them to buff your actions and using them to interrupt your opponent's turn.

So yeah. Discuss!

edited 15th Jun '12 12:58:59 AM by MrDolomite

I'm amazed I actually got to play all of the above except for Gungnir. Riviera and Yggdra Union on the GBA, Knights on the DS.

Unfortunately, I only remember bits and pieces of the story for Riviera and Yggdra Union, and Knights' story just flew over my head.

Still, I love those games, because they put a spin on the usual trappings of the genre they're in. Especially Knights, whose gameplay was so unique that for me it overshadowed everything else.

I'm curious about Gungnir's battle system. It allows you to "ignore the natural turn order"— does that mean turn-changing a la Radiant Historia?

edited 9th Jun '12 2:41:18 AM by fillerdude

Aw right someone create a thread for the series!

Boy I haven't finished KitN yet (scene...17? Yggdra route...it's after Gunther fight)...neither Yggdra Union, but still, I got farther with the latter than the former so...

^ Yeah, concur with elaboration...

I do think it's turn-changing because I can't think of any other way to ignore turn order.

I also have to mention that I didn't realize that these games were part of one series until like half a year ago. Yeah, weird.

Ah yes, a Dept. Heaven thread

I have the GBA version of Riviera and both versions of YU and Kit N. Gungnir will probably be the next video game I buy.

Yggdra Union is one of those guilty pleasures I have because I can see why many people find the game to be irritating in some ways, yet I really really enjoy it. It kinda sucks that America doesn't seem to ever be getting Blaze or Gloria Union.

Knights in the Nightmare is also very fun, especially when you play on hard mode (on hard mode you have to make 2 kill lines instead of one, meaning that in order to advance from one map to another you have to defeat almost twice as many enemies as before.) This, along with higher hp and such for the enemies, made the battles a fun mix of planning out strategies with your weapon choice and character placement, and execution as you tried to execute your plans. I'm not sure which of these 2 games I prefer.

I...honestly don't care for Riviera that much. The music is good and I'm actually cool with the VN style of the game, but I was really irked by the small inventory that the game gave you. It meant that grinding on practice mode was more required than I would have liked. At the very least the game could have given me the option to combine like weapons and items so they wouldn't clog up the inventory.

edited 9th Jun '12 4:21:11 PM by Barrylocke

If there's something awesome about Yggdra Union, it's that it introduced me to Satoko Kiyuduki...love her art and her manga is gooood...

Anyone here read the Anthology Comic of Yggdra Union?

I have no clue about what that is.

EDIT: I just looked it up. Looks kinda cool.

Classic Game Room did a review on Gungnir a couple days ago apparently.

edited 9th Jun '12 9:44:14 PM by Barrylocke

YES! Stupid limited inventory in Riviera filled with junk.

GBA Yggdra Union was hard. I remember having trouble with that one, enough that I actually took three-day-long breaks from playing it. Never did get the PSP version, but apparently it's easier? I might have to check that out.

And you played Knights on hard?! Wow, props to you.

I've played all three of the previous ones, although Riviera was the only one I really got into. Yggdra was fun too, but the battle-system (and the item-system) of Knights was just too complicated for me.

Haven't played these games but I read the Yggdra Union page on this wiki...

And it's kinda depressing. Everyone seems to be a victim, and by stopping the villain (who really was responsible for a-lot of horrible things, so he's not exactly a Designated Villain), the Heroes just fuck things up worse.

That just ain't fair.

The PSP version is indeed easier, mainly because the game gives you additional ways to replenish your morale. When a unit levels up, it gets 25% of its morale back, and they also get some of their morale back if you have the unit sit out for the battlefield.

The new unit Mistel is also pretty handy if used properly. Her stats are on the low side, but she uses scythes, giving her the same all good/no bad traits that Dragon Knights have. And her Oblivious Dawn card drains the enemies rage meter, which can help stop enemies from using their special skills (great for Revolution and FFFFFF Genocide)

Don't forget hard mode only Pamela! Her card is an another I win button if the condition is met...although you won't get morale recovery on level up on hard mode...

Then again, elemental card tweak might make Mizer fight harder than it should be in GBA ver though...that's what I heard anyway...

edited 10th Jun '12 6:58:35 PM by onyhow

I think Mizer was harder in the PSP version actually. It's kind of annoying how most of the elemental status effects benefit the enemy more than they benefit you (Burn in particular is something I never found very useful, even though card itself is powerful for being the main attack card of staff users).

I still need to beat Normal mode of YU on the PSP actually. I'm only a little bit past Yggdra's coronation.

What version of Knights In The Nightmare have you guys played? And if you played both, which did you prefer?

edited 10th Jun '12 8:15:14 PM by Barrylocke

^ I was saying PSP ver, sorry for bad wording...after all, Thunderbolt now get paralysis in PSP ver, not in GBA...

KitN...I play both PSP and DS...didn't get anywhere in DS ver...got to after Gunther fight in PSP...should continue soon...

edited 10th Jun '12 8:57:37 PM by onyhow

I much prefer Knights on the DS, the PSP one feels so slow. (There's also some bias there since it's the first version I played)

@ Barry Holy crap a scythe user? Who can drain rage? That's like, the stuff of dreams, man.

^ But Yggdra route, man!

There's an Yggdra route? I never finished playing the PSP version, mind you, the game wasn't mine to begin with.

Though that sounds interesting. How the hell is there an Yggdra route?

It got added in the PSP ver...you either have to clear Maria route or have a Yggdra Union save file on your memory stick (don't need to be completed) to be able to access it...having the save file also gives you access to Pamela...

The PSP version added more stuff, but I really do prefer the control scheme of the DS version. It's hard for me to get used to moving the wisp around with the analog nub. It also has some annoying loading times. I do like the added Yggdra Mode and the fact that it saves all of the Knight conversations that you find.

TBH, I would have skipped out on the PSP version entirely if it hadn't come with that free Digital Download of Yggdra Union.

edited 11th Jun '12 1:24:15 PM by Barrylocke

^ Yeah, the control precision sucks on PSP...I still didn't get used to the acceleration/deceleration buttons...

Ah, seems like Gungnir would be released today (it's 12 here already, probably in a few more hours in the states)...

edited 11th Jun '12 6:55:57 PM by onyhow

Just when my PSP is busted. I'm just gonna hope for one of those updated rereleases, I guess...

Hey, I'm playing DS 2 too! I'm still at the second day though, I can't seem to stop myself from Macca-farming and buying demons and fusing them.

edited 11th Jun '12 9:32:06 PM by fillerdude

Depending on my paycheck, I may pick it up this week. I'm almost done with Devil Survivor 2 after all.

I just noticed on the site, but why Julio's name is transliterated into Giulio?

Little bit of a heads up: Gungnir is currently not on the Vita's PSN store, and will not transfer from your PS 3 if you download it onto there. It currently going through Sony's approval process for PSP games on Vita, so the ETA is "eventually".

I realize this is a bit of old news already, but I could've sworn I already posted it here.

No you didn't posted it here yet...

Got to play the game a little bit...it feels...familiar...

Also, wondering if overusing the spear itself will cause anything bad to happen story-wise or not...

edited 14th Jun '12 6:47:46 AM by onyhow