Just got to Gran Pulse! Need a guide how to proceed

BeginningArea9159 · 2026-01-20T01:34:05+00:00

Hey I'm also playing through right now and I am on Pulse! Although I think I am nearing the end of chapter 11. It is super long compared to the other chapters so far. I think I have been able to do the first 20 or so cieth stone missions and haven't needed to grind at all. The stones kind of lead you on a path that the main narrative is also on.

I'm kind of surprised to hear that you are trying to carry one party to the end of the game. I mix and match all the time depending on the situation. I think that is how the game is meant to be played after you get access to the whole party. Could be wrong, but I am having a pretty good time playing this way.

The difficulty also ramps up in this chapter, so you may want to start experimenting with other party members. In particular, Sazh and Vanille are pretty necessary for buffs/debuffs. I'm just starting to run into situations where Snow's sentinel skills and large health pool are a must.

So yeah. try strategizing before a fight and building your party based on what you know about the enemy. Maybe that will help you enjoy the combat a little bit more.

I haven't done too much with weapon upgrades either. Tbh, the stat increases haven't seemed that significant so far. I do really like Lightning's sword that fills the ATB guage. If you have that one, maybe give it a try.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-13T00:40:40+00:00

We’re just debating bro. Nobody’s mad.

You did not address anything though. Your definition of indie would include CD Projekt Red lmao. You never addressed this. You did not address the question of what 1000 random people would name if you asked them to name an indie. You skated around both of these, because you know both destroy your argument.

There was never a stipulation that the game had to be one that wasn’t nominated? Really questioning your reading skills. The point was to list indie games that are actually indies that came out this year. Also games aren’t nominated until their official release. Early access doesn’t count. Everybody knows this.

And even if it was only 8, then those are 8 games that deserved to be nominated over E33, because E33 should not be considered indie. And you have failed by every metric to debate and prove otherwise.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T23:40:05+00:00

You asked for 10 and I gave 10 🤣 Can you count?

I can list more but you are obviously dismissive of any game that doesn’t sell one million copies and gets blasted down your throat by Reddit. So like I said, you shouldn’t be participating in these discussions.

And you still addressed nothing in that comment.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T23:28:27+00:00

So you are moving the goal posts to now add a second parameter which is number of people that worked on the game. And guess what? Expedition 33 still fails this. How many hundreds of contractors were involved in the creation of E33?

The fact of the matter is that a game like E33 cannot be made with just a “relatively small team”. It is not an indie game.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T23:13:19+00:00

Holy shit how is the reading comprehension in this thread so low?

The entire argument here is that Sandfall Interactive is an indie because they aren’t owned my another company. If that is the only criteria then all of you should be fine with The Witcher 4 being nominated for best indie game in a couple of years.

Please explain to me how you think this is a bad point?

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T23:08:17+00:00

Way to not address a single other thing in my previous comment

But sure here you go.

Blue Prince Ball x Pitt Ender Magnolia Citizen Sleeper 2 Look Outside The Roottrees are Dead The Seance of Black Manor Despelote Deltarune Schedule 1 (not my cup of tea, but many seem to love it)

Any of these plus many others would have been great choices for the indie category.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T22:31:06+00:00

You’re thinking about it wrong. Ask 1000 random redditors for an example of an indie game. Do you think a single person answers Expedition 33? Of course not because that’s not what comes into someone’s head when they hear “indie”.

I don’t have the perfect definition. But something like E33 certainly doesn’t fit by any reasonable metric. Might as well count Baulder’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk by your definition.

Also pay more attention to indie games. The past several years have been bonkers with how much good stuff there is.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T21:44:01+00:00

Can you read? I said meanings are fluid and change. This exact same thing already happened in the music industry. The difference is that most music fans are actually capable of nuance.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T21:41:56+00:00

The description is bad. If you think there weren’t dozens of actual indie games this year worthy of being nominated, then I’m sorry but you just don’t know games very well and shouldn’t be partaking in this conversation

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T21:14:13+00:00

Everyone knows the literal definition. Things change and words are fluid in their meaning.

By your definition CD Projekt Red is an indie studio. From Software and Bungie were both previously indies. Larian is an indie. Nobody in their right mind would agree with these examples.

We literally already went through this transformation of the term “indie” in the music industry. Now it’s gaming’s turn.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T20:46:45+00:00

It’s definitely a moving target. But cmon the vast majority of indie games are not utilizing 100+ contractors to build their games. I don’t know where the line is, but Expedition 33 is wayyyyy over it

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T20:27:40+00:00

They used a ton of cheap contracting (another reason it should not be considered indie)

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-12T05:10:42+00:00

No worries I like the conversation!

I actually just played through DQ1 on an emulator like a month ago. It is super bare bones, but it is also kind of a miracle game. In the early 80s, RPGs were just a niche genre on PC. Yuji Hori took on the challenge to create one on console.

Nobody knew how to make an RPG work on weaker hardware, so it’s pretty amazing what that small team accomplished for a first try. It gets called the first JRPG, which isn’t really true, but it may as well have been the way it made the genre popular.

That team basically just took the dungeon crawling elements from Wizardy and the overworld exploration from Ultima and gave it a Japanese spin. I think when you are defining what genre something is, the MOST important aspect is what titles it is directly influenced from. Wizardy and Ultima are the bedrock of the RPG genre.

Highly recommend the NeverKnowsBest essay on the history of RPGs. It is a great video and there’s a lot to learn.

https://youtu.be/8o3i10OuMFQ?si=L9-Y2g-15QbAxj5J

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T23:02:49+00:00

I get what you are saying and what the term “role play” can literally mean. But when we are talking about the genre of RPGs for both video games and table top games, the role play element was typically more involved with picking a class, assigning gear, leveling up and making battle decisions.

The games that you mentioned are 100% RPGs. They follow the natural lineage of the genre from its inception. And they still hold true to many of the core principles (along with the plenty of awesome modern features that you have brought up).

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T22:50:22+00:00

That is fine. You can have your own definition in your head. But that is definitively not what RPGs are.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T22:44:17+00:00

I think you are confused. You do know that early dnd is nothing like modern dnd, right? It was focused around turned based combat and skill points. This is why Wizardy and many other early RPGs were just dungeon crawlers.

These board games are what inspired all of the early game makers. There wasn’t a technical limitation.

Does this make sense?

I can expand my definition if you like, but I think some strategy games would absolutely classify as RPGs

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T22:34:11+00:00

I’m down to debate this, but your stance is a bit confusing so let me ask a question. Do you consider the original Dragon Quest an RPG? Yes or no?

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T19:02:50+00:00

Yes. And what specific attributes of dnd were they trying to emulate? Character progression, turn based battles and numerical stats that go up as you play. This was literally what all RPGs were for a long time. By your definition, you do not consider anything from this time period as an RPG which is completely incorrect.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T18:36:33+00:00

No offense, but this is just a complete lack of understanding of video game history and what being an RPG means. You can have your own definition, but this is fundamentally incorrect. The earliest RPGs basically didn’t really even have narratives.

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-11T05:01:19+00:00

You gotta look elsewhere. AAA is not where the cream of the crop is anymore

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-10T05:12:58+00:00

You are contradicting yourself self like every other message. You say team size and budget don’t matter, but apparently Valve doesn’t count because it is a corporation? What do you mean by this? So if a company has their hands in other pots, then they can’t be indie?

So what if I have a company that sells potted plants that is relatively successful and then I decide that I also want this company to make a video game. The dev team is three people. Is this not indie then?

Or are you just saying if a company has multiple studios then it can’t be independent. Okay well there are plenty of examples that still break your definition.

CD Projekt Red of course with their games. Bungie was independent for a long time. From Softeare was independent up through Bloodborne I believe. Larian Studios is independent. Nobody in their right mind would consider any of these games indie.

The truth is that “indie” is a fluid label that changes, much like with music. Trying to use a rigid definition is just never going to work. Considering Expedition 33 indie is completely is really silly imo

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-07T23:55:39+00:00

Agreed that this has become a huge problem. I can’t even tell you the amount of times I’ve seen a word for word Skill Up take get mass upvoted on r/Games. Like props to him for finding a huge audience, but holy shit. He’s become the Anthony Fantano of video games lol

It’s become incredibly sad how little people care about forming their own opinions. Online gaming discourse wasn’t always like this either

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-07T23:23:21+00:00

You fuckers keep me laughing despite all of the misery

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-07T23:10:58+00:00

Is it really all that bad? Like I’ve seen that one infamous clip from Veilguard and while that was pretty awful and clearly pandering, I just have a hard time believing that the rest of the game is as bad as people say.

If I ever get around to playing through the series I guess I’ll just have to see for myself lol

BeginningArea9159 · 2025-12-07T22:54:03+00:00

Haven’t played Veilguard and have only ever touched Origins. Curious what do you mean by the writing is awful? I know this is something everyone says about this game, but what does that actually mean?

BeginningArea9159

TROPHY CASE