By that point I think I was using Maritte, Ima, and Gilda for basically every fight. Gilda’s AOEs are clutch for all the minions that bosses constantly spawn, Ima’s sword is great damage and their multi-turn regen is incredibly strong so long as you keep your team bunched together for re-casting it, and Maritte can buff up your heavy hitter or use items for healing as necessary.
One thing to note is that Gilda has a hidden mechanic where she does way more damage with all her spells when she’s at or near full health. But if she’s got Ima’s regen applied, she can always take two turns in a row and heal to full whenever she wants, since her teleport spell lets her go again right after you cast it.
Edit: And for the hit timings on defense, I felt like basically every enemy attack in the game wanted me to defend a split second after the impact of the animation. Took me ages to get used to it.
It is officially August! It is time for us to suggest new games to play for our final voting poll. The theme will be Vacation. Feel free to suggest up to two games that either feature a vacation in its storyline, have a vacation vibe, or is an activity you would do or a place you would visit on a vacation. Have your suggestions in by August 8.
Just wanted to say the August theme sounds really fun and now I’m trying to think about all the games that give me a vacation feeling… Donkey ko- no I shouldn’t.
Mario Sunshine that BMO suggested is a great one!
Passpartout (1 or 2) always gave me vacation vibes because of the little quaint seaside town and the quirky people you meet. Not that I’d go around drawing everyone’s portrait on my vacations.
Harvest Moon (SNES)
I used to go to my mom’s friend’s farm during the summer for their annual barn party. Also summer vacation (at least in the US) originated from sending kids home to help with the farm chores.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
I remember spending a summer vacation waking up at 6am every morning to play the Animal Crossing on Gamecube. For this entry with it being on an island gives us a tropical vacation vibe as well as events, holidays and activities such as fishing. This could be a multiplayer activity too where we could visit each other’s islands or at least share them. We could also come up with cute summer outfit ideas. :))
For my first pick I’ll go with Klonoa 1, either the original PS1 version or the remake for current consoles and Steam. I’ve never played it, but the blue sky visuals, ultra-90s woodwind soundtrack, and infectious WA-HOO energy totally scream “summer vacation” for me.
And then for my second I’ll throw in Windjammers 2, it’s got lovely beach frisbee vibes and it’d be fun if we could get a game club multiplayer lobby going.
Lake! It’s a short nice game about a woman that goes to her parent’s small town to cover for her dad’s job as a mail delivery person. It’s chill and beautiful.
I remember trying Lake on Game Pass when it first launched and it was pretty rough. I was really looking forward to it too cause I loved the premise and setting. Hoping if it wins, it’ll be a much better experience.
This 1997 platformer was originally developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. It’s the first entry in the Klonoa series, later being remade for Wii in 2008 and then remastered in 2022 for the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series compilation, which also includes its sequel Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil, which was originally released on PlayStation 2. Director Hideo Yoshizawa, also known for Ninja Gaiden, wanted to create a dream world that would appeal to both children and adults.
This 2002 platformer was developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube, one of the console’s best-selling titles. It is the second 3D Super Mario game and the tenth entry in the mainline Mario series. The game was re-released in the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection in 2020, though the collection had a limited run and is no longer available to purchase. A Nintendo Classics re-release for the Nintendo Switch 2 has been announced but no release date as of yet.
