Game of the Month: August 2021 - Exile

[geise]

EXILE

Late again as usual. Anyways, Exile for this month! Wanted an action RPG and this is a good one. It's nowhere near as broken as Wicked Phenomenon. Decent story and a kickass main character. One of the early Working Designs games that I played that was an RPG. Been decades since I beat this one so it will be nice to play through again. Enjoy.

[Gredler]

I've really wanted to be in on some of these GOTM's but have been so busy lately I have just not even tried, but this has been on my "want to play" list for so long, I've never gotten very far let alone try to beat it... Maybe August will be my month. I don't own a copy, but will find a way to play it and give it a shot. Looking forward to experiencing this game I've been curious about since seeing those awesome magazine ads for the sequel back in the day.

[xelement5x]

Excited to see this one come up as well.  Disclaimer though I will probably patch and use the "un-worked" version.

[Gredler]

I thought I remembered a chatroom discussion about a superior version to play than the US turbo release, any more info would be greatly appreciated!

[geise]

I'm fine with how working designs did this one. It's Wicked Phenomenon that you need the un-working designs patch. That game is broken. It's beatable but super frustrating.

[Necromancer]

Mmm, nice pick.  I'm down to play through Exile again.

Keep an eye out for Yuko!

[MrFulci]

This was a game I overlooked early on with the system, since from what I recall, when I was buying games at TZD, the only Working Designs games they had in stock... may have been Parasol Stars, at one point.

I forgot about certain Working Designs games for a while, as in the very late 90s, very early 00s I had a bit of a break from certain gaming. When I picked it back up in... 2002 or so, the internet was a bit of a bigger place, and I got clued in that Working Designs still had most of their games in stock, for something like $30 each. That was a cool find, I recall ordering this and Cosmic Fantasy 2 from Working Designs in the very early 00s.

A decent game, I recall the last boss fight, for some reason, taking me a while. Revisited it once more after that, I may have to break this game out again this year, and give it a 3rd spin.

[xelement5x]

Gave the regular version a bit of time last night.  I wasn't able to beat the first boss unfortunately, looked online and it said it took something like 19 hits.  Just gotta git gud I guess!

Also, for anyone that's played this before are you able to grind later on?  I know my limits on platforming so grinding for gold to buy items normally helps me get through better.

EDIT:
It being Friday I decided to give it a whirl again over lunch and grind a bit before going against the boss again, hoo boy does it make a difference.  I also discovered there's an easy grind spot in the first dungeon where you can stand and knock out a ton of flying enemies that seem to spawn infinitely.  Used that to level up to 4 and was amazed at the difference it made.

[majors]

... Wanted an action RPG and this is a good one!

And I just started to play Popful Mail for the first time.

I've never played Exile (or don't remember) so this will be a good one this month. I wonder how it compares to Fiend Hunter. Looking forward to it, Geise.

[geise]

Fiend Hunter's a bit different but also good. I'll take this game over Fiend Hunter though.  Exile is definitely shorter than Popful Mail so I'd say take a break and just try Exile if you really want to. Wouldn't take long.

[Gentlegamer]

Never played Exile before, so I burned a copy to play on my Duo-R.

Made it to the oasis and killed by a giant ant.

[xelement5x]

Never played Exile before, so I burned a copy to play on my Duo-R.

Made it to the oasis and killed by a giant ant.

This is what got me as well, it sucks but leveling up a bit in the pit helps a lot.

Second area of the pit, when you jump to the platforms on the right a dragonfly comes right at you.  Put on turbo mode for attack and then jump onto the platform and wait until the dragonfly comes at you and just hold down the attack button as they keep coming.  I also got a sword upgrade (remember to actually equip it) before entering the oasis. 

[majors]

Second area of the pit, when you jump to the platforms on the right a dragonfly comes right at you.  Put on turbo mode for attack and then jump onto the platform and wait until the dragonfly comes at you and just hold down the attack button as they keep coming. 

Yeah, I laid my phone on the attack button and engaged turbo on my stick, then took a smoke break to gain a few levels I recall from past discussions about Exile, that grinding is a key strat for this one.

[Necromancer]

... and engaged turbo on my stick

What a weird way to say "masturbation".   

[majors]

Got a clear (nice to have an easy game every now and again!). I did cheat a bit by looking up a strategy to beat the final boss (after a few attempts using just my sword). This game really screams Valis to me, but like a good Valis The RPG elements are about as basic as can be and only push the dialog of the story. I can understand why ppl would have complained when it came out due to it being so easy, but if pricecharting is to be believed, it's asking $100+ now, so those complainers can now flip their copy (30 years later ). It seems the JP version is real cheap tho, as an option.

Now I can get back to Popful Mail (SCD) and Hana Taaka Daka.