Mastodawn

Any of you who've beaten Manamon 2, what did you think of it? I haven't bought a copy so just have it in demo mode, which I haven't got too far into. I'm wondering if it's worth my time and money.
For context, I bought the first one not long after it came out and have only played through it once. I thought it was pretty good and it sparked my interest in this sort of game when there wasn't an accessible way to play any of the Pokémon series. Now that I can, it kind of feels redundant to me. But that might be just me.

@KaraLG84 I definitely prefer the second Manamon game over the first, I feel like the storyline is generally more cohesive. Although in my opinion, that isn't a high bar. I'd note that the story can get a bit heavy in some parts and has no content warnings to tell you what you're going into, and if you aren't into giant mazes I'd say it might get difficult later on. Trying not to spoil too much here lol, but those are my main personal notes. Other than that it's an okay play if you're into that sort of game, I had fun with it. Although I haven't played it since it first came out 6+ years ago.

@Kaliah @KaraLG84 I'd love to play the second one, but i can't really manage it.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@Kaliah Are the mazes worse than the Minorough tunnel or however it's spelt in the first one? That one was a bit of a bastard.

@KaraLG84 Yes, yes they can be worse. Some of those areas are nasty. I will note, though, that the main horrific maze is in the post game, so you can beat the game in terms of story without going through it. I'm generally good with mazes and this post game maze took me at least 3-4 hours.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@Kaliah wow. I wish it had Shades of doom's have I been here before button. That was so useful.

@KaraLG84 Yes, that would be very very useful. I would've appreciated that immensely when I was trying to do that stupid maze. That thing is a horror.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@Kaliah I imagine if I do buy it, I don't think I'll be playing much of the post game stuff. I haven't in the first one.

@KaraLG84 That's fair, then yeah you can avoid that maze entirely. There are still some bad mazes in the main game, there's one area that's particularly nasty, think shadow kingdom equivalent if you beat manamon 1. But I don't think anything in the main game even comes close to rivaling that post game maze.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@Kaliah Oh good god I forgot for a sec how bad Shadow Kingdom is. that was harder than anything else that came after.

@KaraLG84 Yeah, shadow kingdom is nastiness. Although that area isn't so much mazey as it is just a lot of annoying nasty puzzles, not just pure mazes. So if you're concerned about specifically the mazes it shouldn't be a very big issue, or at least it wasn't for me.

Nikola Jović Mar 1

@KaraLG84 @Kaliah You actually do, in Manamon 2, Shift+R will tell you if you have visited an area before, and if so, when.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@NikJov @Kaliah Oh really? excellent. Waiting for Kaliah's scream of rage after reading this. lol

Nikola Jović Mar 1

@KaraLG84 @Kaliah TBh other than this optional one in the post game, I can't say Manamon 2 has any tough mazes. Following walls will pretty much always lead you where you need to be.

@NikJov @KaraLG84 I'd argue with that, I think within the main game it has a few places where following walls will just lead you in circles or take you on unnecessary detours for no reason. But the bulk of the truly annoying mazes are post game.

Nikola Jović Mar 1

@Kaliah @KaraLG84 Even if you take a detour, 90% of these cases reward you with an item.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 2

@NikJov @Kaliah Oh, fun fact, kind of. you know the hidden items in these games? I thought that was just a thing he came up with. but Pokemon has them also. bits on the map with no visible items.

@NikJov @KaraLG84 Does this apply to specific tiles/small areas, or just maps?

Nikola Jović Mar 1

@Kaliah @KaraLG84 Only maps. For tiles, if there is an item, or in general an interactable object, Shift+Enter will tell you if you've ever examined it before.

@NikJov @KaraLG84 Ah. Okay yeah that'd kinda be useful, but I think shades of doom will let you find out if you've been in a particular passage/room/ETC before. Now that would be very useful in these giant mazes.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@Kaliah @NikJov Great minds and all that.

Kara Goldfinch Mar 1

@NikJov @Kaliah Ah, because in Shades of Doom, it's more specific. I can't remember if it's down to the tile but it's at least down to which passage you're in.

James Scholes Mar 1

@KaraLG84 I personally found it just a bit too challenging in annoying ways to be much fun after a while, and the story was typically shallow.

I completed it somewhere around the middle of last year, then used CheatEngine to speed-grind my way to some expensive items I was curious about in the post-game world. Haven't opened it since.

Jack-Frostodon Mar 2

@KaraLG84 It's a well done story, if a bit rushed in places. One of the cities early on in the game, well. Let's just say you'll be revisiting that for a pretty intense multi-dimensional story arc. Following the main story you're in for actually quite a bit of postgame content. What I can reveal without spoiling anything is that you do get to rematch all seven stadiums plus a leveled-up master stadium.