Re: BK1 character build
@BlindNinja, interesting. Do you know bk1 cheats by any chance? If they can be unlocked in-game, any hints on how to unlock them?
@Jayde
Only speaking from my own personal experience here. I don't keep much track of the stories in Bk games, so everything I say is based on gameplay alone. Sorry for the length of this post btw.
When I started with the bk series, the only RPG experience I had was Night of Parasite if I remember right. So, I wasn't very familiar with RPGs, and still am not. At the time I got into the series, BK2 was just about finished with updates, and for me, I think it was the perfect introduction to the series. But for people who like the rpg stuff, BK2 is quite boring. And for people who like platforming, BK2 is also quite boring; it's strictly a side-scroller. You can jump, and there's some primitive height use, but no platforming.
In BK2 you don't level up; the only way to upgrade your character is to buy better weapons or buy more hp. The really frustrating part about that is that the more hp you have, the more expensive HP increases become. For example if you have 100 hp, each hp costs 1 gold. At200, each hp costs 2 gold, at 300 each hp is 3 etc. So... it's annoying. One trick to at least slightly minimize that is to get your hp to 199, 299, 399 etc. Since the prices only increase once you cross the hundred boundary iirc.
If you manage your gold and hp wisely, bk2 isn't super frustrating... well there are many parts of it which can be, and there's one part I have no idea how to do without a secret weapon, but yeah. I'd say half the bosses are at least fairly easy if you're prepared. Just as a heads-up, I found 8-4 particularly frustrating, not to mention stage 25 but yeah.
BK2 is the simplest game in the series. 90 percent of the need-to-know stuff is translated to English. The story isn't, but most menus are.
I like BK2's sounds and enemies a bit more than I do BK3, but I think the difference in complexity between the two games steers some people toward one or the other. I'm kinda in the middle tbh, I don't mind BK3, but I have quite a soft spot for BK2.
Bk1 on the other hand, well I only recently started playing it a month ago, and... yeah. I initially wasn't going to use a guide, but it's quite obtuse as one of my friends put it. Firstly you navigate on a 2D map. I'm told it's a lot like palladan of the sky but since I haven't played that game, I can't make any personal comparison. At random points though you're drawn into battles in side-scroller form, with a weird twist: the audio perspective is not on you, it's on the center of the board. In other words, as you move, your footsteps pan from left to right depending on where you are on the field. Same with the enemy. It's challenging, but I find combat fun if I'm looking for challenge.
Easy is the last word I would use to describe it though... I've taken, what, 3 breaks from it now because I was about to tear my hair out otherwise. And I ended up using a guide to get through the maizes. I'm already not a huge fan of the platforming in BK3, I'm good at it and I can do it, but it's not my thing, so the BK1 exploration stuff is really annoying to me. Not to knock the game any but, ehh. The exploration, combined with fun but awkward combat, make it something I'd only recommend to those who are either patient, ready for a challenge, or used to difficult games like that in the mainstream I suppose.
BTW BK1 is Japanese only so you'll need a translator.
HTH
Edit: fixed typos and put in missing punctuation
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