How much are you wanting for it? I was considering trading KOTOR in to one of the game stores for credit but if you would be interested in trading for the game or selling it for a good price i would be interested. Feel free to email me privately as opposed to cluttering up this thread any more than i am already

Well I just put it up on eBay, so go take a look. User name is lilbloop27

I picked up Gladius last night and so far I'm happy with the purchase.

The game is a bit overwhelming with all of the information it feeds you, but the tutorial helps out a lot.

I'm still in the first city and going through the beginning leagues. I'm just doing the level 1 & 2 battles. I tried a level 3 battle and got my ass handed to me. There were 4 spearmen and they killed me pretty quick.

I'm pretty sure this game will keep me busy until FFX-2 comes out and hopefully after that.

The key to the spearmen is to a. get up close so they can't use their spear attack, and b. get your own spearman. One is available pretty early to recruit into your school, although you will find some battles where you can't use support characters.

FS

No problem, i very well might bid on it. I was just giving you the option to outright sell it to a fellow dvdtalker. I will keep an eye on your auction however.

I would have sold it to you, bro. I actually edited my post after I listed it. It had previously said "Does anyone want to take it off my hands before I put it on eBay" but after a couple hours I decided I'd just list it

Of course the part where I say game has never been played is wrong (I only played it once) but you gotta stretch the truth just a tad

So if you're looking for a cheap hardly used copy, yeah by all means bid on it.

Ok, I got to the point where you can explore the map a little bit. I currently have only 4 members of my school. Should I get more right now, just so they can accumulate experience points? Or should I wait until better recruits become available?

Just wanted to add to the praise here. I've never really been into the strategy genre...nor the gladiator genre for that matter. But like many here, when the Toys R Us deal popped up during a week of several new releases I took the plunge on several games based simply on positive reviews. Kill Switch and Gladius ended up being the biggest (pleasant) surprises. I've purchased an embarassing number of new releases over the past few weeks and yet Gladius gets the lion's share of my time. I'm completely hooked on this game, and I really have no idea why. What is it about the game that Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force couldn't do for me? Not really sure, but I'll mention what I do like...

The depth of the actual combat is crazy. The rock/scissors/paper of certain class battles, the myriad of creatures each with their own sets of moves, the terrain advantages, the audience and its effect on the battles, the Affinity system (which is complex enough that I'm still not 100% certain I know what I'm doing heh). Then there's the Swing Meter, which appeals to the action fan in me (the most probable explanation for this game keeping my attention).

I like how each town has its own arena, with its own variable terrain and such. Going from a tiny little circular arena with barely any room to maneuver to a huge ice arena with a fallen tree blocking passage really makes you rethink your strategy.

The different requirements for each battle, and the varied goals, makes most sequences seem fresher than they really are. I love going through a King of the Hill battle, then a straight-out fight, then a timed barrel hunt...only to be thrown a series of fights against packs of ravenous wolves which culminates in a duel against a huge boss wolf.

The game is friggin' huge. When I finally won my first League and was awarded a badge and the goal screen popped up with THREE OTHER LANDS and about a dozen leagues per, I was shocked.

You don't have to fight all the listed battles to complete a league, which is nice if a certain objective is causing trouble (which for me is usually the King of the Hill).

I'm getting spoiled by all the recent games which let you customize your character (SSX 3, THUG, Top Spin, Amped 2), so imagine my surprise when I realized you could do the same in Gladius with ANY character you recruit. Change outfits, change colors, hell you can even change the fur color of any animals you recruit. It's pretty entertaining to see your battlefield loaded up with purple-clad warriors of light...although burnt sienna is about as close to purple as I can get the animals.

The cinematic interludes are much more prevalent than I assumed, and again, so far they're entertaining. The style may be off-putting to some (mainly still images with brief flashes of animation and loads of narration), but the art is gorgeous.

Okay, that's enough methinks. Loving the game, recommend it to anyone willing to take a risk.

And Fujishig....I had 5 characters until I leveled them all to 5. When I realized I couldn't get to Level 6 until I had completed my Regional, I recruited a Bear just to try him out. Some of the League challenges require 3 Light or Support characters, so you will need at least 5 for the Regional. None have required anything more yet, although I've got one more town to go. If you'v got the money to spare, go nuts....you can always ditch a member from your school later on if you want a replacement. The fact that you can recruit characters of any level helps this, although certainly diminishes any sense of accomplishment when your favorite character finally reaches that new level.

Great post Larry!

Another bad thing about this game...I'm not playing any other games! I have a stack of unopened games that I keep passing on for more time with Gladius!

FS

Don't forget that once you get done with Ursula's storyline, apparently you still have Valens' storyline (the advanced one). I started it just to see if it was any different, or if it just had a different name, but it started with an entirely different cinematic and first battle. Hopefully the Valens storyline is just as long as Ursula's.
Hang on to that bear! Out of the three animals I left Nordagh with, he's the only one I have left. He's a tank with all his HPs, and he deals out huge amounts of damage. Get Raging Bear (auto-counter any hit) and Power Throwdown (a "prolonged stomping attack"), and you will be freakin' set.

And Flash, I know exactly what you mean. Tron 2, Max Payne 2, MOH: Breakthrough, Jak II, SSX 3... almost all games that I've been looking forward to for a long, long time, and they're gathering dust.

I seem to have found a bug (Xbox version). The level requirements for the weapons don't seem to work. In other words, if I have a sword that is Level 4, a Level 1 character can still wield it (providing they meet all the other requirements).

Is that how it's supposed to work? I just figured that the weapon-level stuff was a relative thing, not that the stuff was buggy. There have been some weapons that I haven't been able to wield because I was low-level, but others I wielded just fine that were higher level than me, I'm pretty sure. But I haven't really read the manual, so you're probably right.

I haven't read the manual either ( ). Maybe it's explained in there, but level restrictions on items are so common in this genre, I just assumed that's how it's supposed to work.

Hmm... Is everyone starting out with Ursula? I'm using Valens. Maybe that's why the game is a wee bit tougher.

I guess I should read the manual too.

I started with Valens too...it's not ben overly difficult, I've maybe lost 10-15% of the battles on the first try.

And I have no idea about the weapons either...it's a shame this game doesn't have an extensive in-game FAQ

FS

Glad you are all enjoying it. I played it a little more, but I still can't see the greatness you all see

Anyone have this happen? I'm one battle awayfrom my first championship, and all of my characters are maxed at level 5 (1 point from lvl.6) I was going through and completing different battles with them, and I realized I might as well just wait until after the championship, because I'm really just wasting the experience points.

FS

Ok you punks and your positive reviews convinced me to bite the bullet and get this game. I started playing Ursula's campaign and been having a blast playing it. I've lost a few battles and had a couple close ones so it has been very strategically satisfying. One question hough, how do you easily save your game? When i back out of menus by hitting "B" i backs me out to a save and then gives me a cut scene that takes me to a new town. How do i just save?

at the town menu, press the start button and choose save game. You have to back all the way out, to the screen right before the map (where you can choose to go to the town, the shop, your school, etc.)

I maxed out at level 5 pretty early too. I was doing all of the missions, and didn't realize that it would max out so soon, so I wasted a lot of potential experience points doing the required tasks.

It shipped to me from Freevideogames.com along with RPG Maker 2. So far I've gotten these two, F-Zero GX, Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA) and Pokemon Ruby (GBA) for ~$60. I can't wait, it seems great

Yep. The same happened to me at the next level cap. However, I was a good ten levels away from the final level cap (30) when it was time to go to Caltha for the final tournament. Maybe speeding through the first two lands is the solution, to save all the non-essential battles (and extra experience) for near the end-game? I don't think I was ever in need of gold, either... if I ran low, I just sold some of the million items I had in inventory, and I was rich again.

That, or rotating your players enough so that they all gained experience at roughly the same rate. When Ursula and Urlan had hit the first cap in my game, my other characters hadn't.

What's the level cap for the second level? 5 for the first, and 30 for the last, right?

I'm trying to even out the experience. I've also been trying to recruit lower level characters and leveling them up myself... but that takes a long, long time. Usually, I have to use several higher level characters and one useless lower level one who dies...

10 is the second level cap, I think. You have the other ones right.

I always recruit the highest-level, most expensive character I have for the class I want. In the end, all my characters were around the same level. Characters that are too high-leveled compared to you usually won't even join your party, anyways.

I never got past the first town. I had no idea what to do. Plus, it just seemed so repetitive.

nickdawgy, I think all of dvdtalk's visitors already know you disliked this game.