Epic Battle Fantasy 4 (RPG)

Epic Battle Fantasy 4 by Matt Roszak (a.k.a. kupo707) (along with lots of help - check the credits!) is a full RPG with a story, loveable characters (especially NoLegs), great music, excellent artwork and lots and lots of epic battles (when played on Epic difficulty). Also, lots of weapons and skills and a few interesting game mechanics.

Free RPGs of this magnitude are rare since it requires a lot of work to make. There is the core program engine, the tremendous amount of artwork and game content, and the bug-hunting. Oh, the bugs, both in the programming and in the content! As a testament to the quality of Epic Battle Fantasy 4, I have only found one bug in the game. I think the bug is supposed to be there since I can fight it. The game even awards a Medal for squashing that bug.

Epic Battle Fantasy 4!

As the direct sequel to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, there is a new character, Anna, though she has already made an appearance in Bullet Heaven. Anna brings some balance to the party by providing sense to an otherwise carefree band of adventurers. Her participation also allows party-switching game mechanics whereby one of the characters can be benched to recover his/her HP and MP while the others fight.

The story has Anna discovering that the Jewel of Greenwood that has protected her village for generations missing. Of course, it was bound to go missing sooner or later! At the start, the player can see the scene of the crime where the jewel had sat upon a holy stump and guarded only by a 'DO NOT STEAL' sign.

Anyway, Anna had heard of a band of thieves in the area stealing loot from just about everyone. She sets off after those thieves to retrieve the jewel. Later in her adventure, she will find that there is a second stolen jewel, which had even worse security (no sign!), and a third that actually had a single hired guard (do listen to his tale of his epic encounter with the thieves).

Exploring the world.

Similar to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, there is a world to explore, one screen at a time. There are enemies to battle, loot to find and funnies to laugh at.

As the game progresses, the story is told through conversations and cutscenes. There are jokes here and there in conversations and also in dialogs during battle. Reference to pop culture are made a few times for amusement.

Story is told through conversations and cut scenes.

As expected of RPGs, there is character management. Not only is there equipment to consider (and there are lots of equipment), there are also skills to invest with AP earned in battle. By the way, equipment can be upgraded with ingredients won in battle, found in loot and bought from shops.

The battles are varied with enemies having different strengths and weaknesses. As such, different skills and equipment are necessary to beat them, especially on Epic difficulty. Part of the fun is preparing the party for combat.

Upgrading Equipment.

Compared to Epic Battle Fantasy 3, each character may now equip up to three Flairs, giving even more options to customize the characters. The Flairs even show on the characters during battle, as with other equipment.

There are also Summons which allow the player to call some help to deal massive damage or cast a really useful buff on the party. Summons use SP, which is shared by the party and is charged by defeating baddies.

Disturbing fact I did not need to know.

The graphics are pretty - colorful and detailed. I liked the character portraits that appear with the characters' expressions during conversations out of battle. And of course, as mentioned earlier, the characters' appearances can be changed with equipment.

The music is nice and enhances the feel of the game. I am listening to it while writing this - the music puts me in a mood to write. There is a Music section from the Gallery in the Main Menu where all the music from the game may be played.

Performance-wise, the game runs fine except during battles, which may be slow unless the graphics are set to Low Quality. There is a convenient button provided during battles to change the graphics quality.

Court is in session.

The game lasted around 27.5 hours for me. I played most of the game in Epic difficulty, though. The time does not include the time I used when I loaded the game to see a conversation again (and again). It does include the 45 minutes I took in the final battle, and that was just in Normal difficulty. The final boss was too difficult for me on Epic.

There is a New Game+, but this feature requires the purchase of the Premium Pack, which includes a few other toys for the party to equip and use.

Overall, Epic Battle Fantasy 4 is a fun free RPG even without New Game+. The battles are challenging, there are loot to collect and there are enough equipment and skills to sate players who like to customize their party. The graphics are beautiful and the music is excellent.

The End.

Update 1 February 2014:
There is an expansion to Epic Battle Fantasy 4, adding new content. The official notice, listing what the expansion adds, is here.

Buddy Rush: Fishing Set (1.8.1)

Today, I completed the Fishing Set. I considered calling this the A Set but that name does not adequately describe the set. I have been fishing for more than a year and it was only this month when I received these two purples:

Fished 'A Ring from First Love'

Fished 'A Swatter'

All the items in the set can be looted from the Fishing minigame, hence the name of the set. There are two items in the set:

A Ring from First Love

A Swatter

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Rusty Master Craftsman Set (1.8.1)

Today, I looted the 'Rusty shield of a master craftsman' from a treasure chest in Chapter 5, Bootomb. With that, I have completed the Rust Master Craftsman Set. This is a hard set to complete since the items are found rarely in treasure chests in the earlier chapters. I had looted the 'Rusty shield of a master craftsman' ages ago (maybe more than a year) and it took me this long to get the other item.

Rusty sword of a master craftsman

Rusty shield of a master craftsman

Update 17 June 2013:
I just found this:

Daily Quest Special Reward (1.8.2)

Update 29 June 2013:
I just received the 'Rusty sword of a master craftsman' from the Daily Quest Special Reward. Looks like it is possible to complete this set with Daily Quests.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Arena Season 4 Ends

Arena Season 4 ended today after two short weeks of fun, especially with the sudden increase of Arena difficulty where opponents of equal level were assigned (rather than 2 levels below). That set me up against Diamond Level 5 opponents who are more likely to have their skill points assigned after the last reset when the Ninth Wave was introduced.

The rewards given to players based on their Arena ranks were:
1-100 => Purple profile frame + Accessory (Wings of the Vanquisher)
101-200 => Red profile frame + Accessory (Wings of the Destroyer)
201-500 => Blue profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor A)
501-1000 => Green profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor B)
1001-2000 => White profile frame + Accessory (Wings of Honor C)

I ended up with the Wings of Honor A, again.

Wings of Honor A

My buddy disboima received the Wings of the Vanquisher:

Wings of the Vanquisher

The wings can be seen on Nagne on the screenshot below. A pair of Angel Wings similar to the one on Botherella was also equipped on Nagne to give the Wings of the Vanquisher more substance.

Buddies with Wings

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: March 2013 Attendance Reward

The 20th of March also happens to be the same day Arena Season 4 ends. For some reason, I could not start Buddy Rush after the update that gives the Arena rewards. I did not want to clear my cache since it will also clear my Flash saves so I had to do things the hard way. I installed Safari, ran Buddy Rush there, quit, then returned to Firefox where Buddy Rush worked fine. This is the same solution I used before.

Anyway, the attendance reward for March 2013 is a Pencil.

20-day Attendance Reward

The Pencil gives HP+2%. Despite what the screenshot shows below, it is really only HP+2%. I compared with the screenshot I took for the Arena Season 4 end and it seems that Att+2% is at the exact same position as the flavor text for the Wings of Honor A. Just some weird bug.

Pencil

Anyway, I equipped the Pencil on Nagne to make him look a little studious.

Nagne with the Pencil.

Time to go play.

Nagne goes to play.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Bloody Set (1.8.1)

The Bloody Set can be obtained from the revamped Challenge Mode. The sets look like they would be good for skill-spammers with high Skill CoolTime and bonuses to Skill Pow.

Purple
My buddy disboima sent me these screenshots of the Bloody set:

Bloody Sword (purple)

Bloody Shield (purple)

The complete set gives:

Att+144
Def+35
HP+90
HP Regen+12%
MP+0
MP Regen+6%
Critical+4%
Evade+5%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+0%
Skill Pow+72%
Skill CoolTime-4.8sec

Silver
My buddy disboima sent me this screenshot of the Bloody set:
(Update 6 June 2013: Added the unrefined silver Bloody Sword.)

Bloody Sword (silver, 1.8.2)

Bloody Shield (silver)

Bloody Sword (silver, rank 10)

Bloody Shield (silver, rank 10)

The complete set Rank 10 gives:

Att+298
Def+45
HP+100
HP Regen+31%
MP+0
MP Regen+21%
Critical+10.5%
Evade+10%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+5.5%
Skill Pow+136.5%
Skill CoolTime-8.3sec

In addition to these awesome stats, note that the silver Bloody Sword has Hit Speed and the silver Bloody Shield has Critical, both of which were not present in the purple set.

Update 19 March 2013:
I collected both green Bloody items. Turns out that the green Bloody items do not form a set.
Green

Bloody Sword (green)

Bloody Shield (green)

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Betty Junior's Skill Guide (1.8.1)

Betty Junior is a durable character with great damage-dealing Active Skills capable of harming multiple targets.

Superhard Stonehead

The animation for 'Superhard Stonehead' has been sped up. When Betty Junior was first introduced, she would fly up to use this skill. Now, it looks like a float and a sharp fall to the ground where Betty Junior will deal damage to Oblins in an area around her, thrice.

This skill is great for damaging a crowd of Oblins. There is some risk in running into the middle of a group of Oblins to use 'Superhard Stonehead' but Betty Junior's durability reduces the danger.

Nobody can stop me

The description for 'Nobody can stop me' still has not been extended.

Anyway, when Betty Junior executes 'Nobody can stop me', she will charge forward, dealing damage to Oblins in her path. However, most bosses have a collision area that will hinder Betty Junior's charge. She will still damage the boss, though, just maybe not the Oblins behind the boss.

This skill is good against melee Oblins who charge at Betty Junior at the beginning of a fight.

Originally, when Betty Junior was introduced, she could Stun Oblins with this skill. This is no longer possible after the Seventh Wave.

Do be careful as this skill potentially sends Betty Junior away from the company of buddies, into a group of Oblins. If there are weaker buddies in the party, they will chase after Betty Junior, into danger.

Burping Fire

With 'Burping Fire', Betty Junior breathes a stream of flame for a few seconds, dealing a lot of damage to Oblins in the way. It even damages Oblins just behind her. It can even hit Oblins behind walls. If this skill is activated while Betty Junior targets an Oblin, she will correct her aim if that Oblin moves.

Although Betty Junior does not charge at Oblins while using this skill, she will be immobile.

GrandMa

When Betty Junior calls GrandMa Betty, the latter will stomp her giant foot down, dealing lots of damage to Oblins in a huge area around Betty Junior. This is a simple and straightforward skill.

Beware that GrandMa Betty's foot covers much of the screen, hiding what is going on.

Bone of dinosaur

'Bone of dinosaur' increases Betty Junior's Max HP even more than Worrier's 'Getting Strong'. I don't think there is any extra HP Regen from this skill despite it being mentioned in the description.

Having more Max HP increases the effectiveness of red orbs that heal when Betty Junior is the main character.

I have a brain, too

'I have a brain, too' increases Betty Junior's Max MP and MP Regen, allowing her to power her skills better. The extra Max MP also increases the effectiveness of blue orbs to replenish MP when Betty Junior is the main character.

Teeth Trimming

'Teeth Trimming' increases Betty Junior's damage-dealing potential. The Stun is an added bonus although Betty Junior does not have a high Hit Speed.

Shiny Scale

'Shiny Scale' is an Aura that increases the HP Regen of all party members. It acts like a passive healing ability. However, the bonus it gives is not a lot compared to that from equipment and consumables.

***

Betty Junior is a solid character with Active Skills that deal damage and Passive Skills that boost her stats. She is a reliable buddy to have in a party, able to deal damage and stay alive long enough to deal more damage.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Grim Reaper Set (1.8.1)

My buddy disboima sent me the screenshots of the silver version of the Grim Reaper Set.

Silver

Scythe of Grim Reaper (silver)

Gloves of Grim Reaper (silver)

Note the Set Effect in the second screenshot. According to my buddy, there are two pieces in the set. Both items are obtainable from Challenge Mode at challenges 81 and above.

The complete set effect gives:
Att+208
Def+39
HP+240
HP Regen+5%
MP+64
MP Regen+0%
Critical+3%
Evade+0%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+0%
Skill Pow+86%
Skill CoolTime-6.1sec

The Grim Reaper Set has considerable Att, Skill Pow and Skill CoolTime, making this set good for boosting damage from Active Skills. And these stats are before there equips are refined. However, the lack of MP Regen means that consumables are necessary to keep using skills - not that it is a problem with the Daily Quest generously supplying potions.

Update 20 March 2013:
Here are the stats for the rank 10 Grim Reaper Set:

Scythe of Grim Reaper (silver, rank 10)

Gloves of Grim Reaper (silver, rank 10)

The complete rank 10 set effect gives:
Att+327
Def+68
HP+390
HP Regen+5%
MP+126
MP Regen+0%
Critical+5.5%
Evade+0%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+0%
Skill Pow+107%
Skill CoolTime-9.9sec

Purple
My buddy disboima also sent the screenshots for the purple Grim Reaper set.

Scythe of Grim Reaper (purple)

Gloves of Grim Reaper (purple)

Note that unlike the silver set, the purple Scythe of Grim Reaper does not have Skill CoolTime and Critical bonuses. Similarly, the Gloves of Grim Reaper does not have the Att bonus that the silver version has.

The complete set effect gives:
Att+168
Def+36
HP+192
HP Regen+4%
MP+56
MP Regen+0%
Critical+0%
Evade+0%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+0%
Skill Pow+70%
Skill CoolTime-4sec

Red
Update 10 April 2013:
disboima sent the following screenshots of the red version of the Grim Reaper Set:

Scythe of Grim Reaper (red)

Gloves of Grim Reaper (red)

The complete set effect gives:
Att+138
Def+28
HP+152
HP Regen+3%
MP+44
MP Regen+0%
Critical+0%
Evade+0%
Stun+0%
Hit Speed+0%
Skill Pow+48%
Skill CoolTime-3.1sec

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: Mini-wave of March 2013

There was a Mini-wave yesterday. I'm going to call it 1.8.1. The major changes are to the Challenge Mode.

Challenge Mode is now focused on the first 100 challenges. There are more challenges after that but those are said to be really tough. Also, new items are added to be won in Challenge Mode, with the really good ones appearing on challenge 81 and after.

One major change is that there is a reward even if the player is defeated. As such, the quit button is missing between challenges.

No quit button.

If there's no quit button, is there any need for that screen above? Can't we just jump to the next challenge?

Oh, and there is now an ignoble defeat screen:

Guaranteed to happen, unless one manually quits.

And there's more opportunities to spend chips like on the special reward after 'winning' .

Chips for an extra reward.

Chips can also be spent to skip challenges. This is good in order to save on consumables. This is bad as it, well, costs chips.

Also, I noticed a new button on the top left of the character selection screen:

Note the button for Attendance Event on the top left.

It is now possible to use chips to change the bonuses of accessories.

More ways to spend chips.

One important change in this Mini-wave is that there is no communication with the server when items are deleted. Instead, the server access is done after the inventory is closed. This makes it a whole lot faster to delete items (one of the things I used to hate about the game). I also find that switching equipment and consumables to be smoother too.

Stamina recovery time has been reduced from 1 hour (it seemed like 59 minutes to me previously) to 40 minutes - less waiting time!

Don't forget to switch on the 'Show HP/MP bars' in the Options menu.

More details on the Mini-wave can be found in the patch notes.

Update 13 March 2013:
disboima sent the following screenshot of the silver item he received from Challenge 82:

Scythe of Grim Reaper (silver)

Also, level requirement for SD-91's Oblinium Set is now Diamond Level 1.

Buddy Rush: Contents