Random Thread... What's TGS? Is that edible? - http://www.mmcafe.com/ Forums


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Toxico
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"Random Thread... What's TGS? Is that edible?" , posted Tue 13 Sep 08:02post reply

The other thread is like +200 replies and it's really, really difficult to say something better than "playable Matsunaga", so why not star over?

Not a news, but let's hop into some Castlevania music.

More Kunio, Pics at famitsu

That FF music thing

Ashura's Wrath get's a new playable character. Unfortunately is not a fat Crushing Planet Class Buddha.






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Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 22 as of 10/01/11

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sfried
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"Re(1):MonHun 4 3DS Edit: Now with more Musou" , posted Tue 13 Sep 13:15:post reply

All hell breaks lose on message boards...

More Musou is always a good thing?

In other news, waht?





[this message was edited by sfried on Tue 13 Sep 14:13]

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"East and West today" , posted Tue 13 Sep 20:40post reply

A bit off topic with TGS but I found it interesting to read: http://www.1up.com/features/japanese-games-breaking-west





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"Re(2):MonHun 4 3DS Edit: Now with more Musou" , posted Wed 14 Sep 03:27post reply

quote:
More Musou is always a good thing?


I don't know. The competitive player modes have always been its weakest part of the franchise to me, whether it was the minigames of the console versions or the entirety of Dynasty Warriors Online.





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"Re(2):MonHun 4 3DS Edit: Now with more Musou" , posted Wed 14 Sep 05:45:post reply

quote:
More Musou is always a good thing?



From what I understand the game is going to play like a hybrid of base capturing and Orochi-style 3 player party rather than how SW Chronicles did a hybrid tactical game.

While some people seem to go nuts over the multiplayer part of it, that's not one of the things I think of when I think of a Musou game.


Kind of bummed now about the region locking, though, since I'm almost positive the Miku game isn't coming overseas.





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[this message was edited by Amakusa on Wed 14 Sep 05:48]

karasu99
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"Re(1):East and West today" , posted Wed 14 Sep 06:45post reply

quote:
A bit off topic with TGS but I found it interesting to read: http://www.1up.com/features/japanese-games-breaking-west


Thanks for posting that! It was a really enjoyable read!

Every time I think I understand the Japanese games industry, I realize shortly afterward that I in fact had no clue whatsoever.

I would have guessed that Japanese games would be trending more toward western style games-- a distressing prospect-- when in fact I think it's just that I'm judging them more by the games that actually make it to the US, or by the Japanese games that on some level target (or have been co-opted for) Western audiences, like MvC3 and Resident Evil.






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"Re(2):East and West today" , posted Wed 14 Sep 16:17post reply

quote:
A bit off topic with TGS but I found it interesting to read: http://www.1up.com/features/japanese-games-breaking-west

Thanks for posting that! It was a really enjoyable read!

Every time I think I understand the Japanese games industry, I realize shortly afterward that I in fact had no clue whatsoever.

I would have guessed that Japanese games would be trending more toward western style games-- a distressing prospect-- when in fact I think it's just that I'm judging them more by the games that actually make it to the US, or by the Japanese games that on some level target (or have been co-opted for) Western
audiences, like MvC3 and Resident Evil.



This is the theme of the week ah? This article resumes one of the biggest notisable movement in the gaming industries. The moe and lolita thing was kind of ah? But whatever. Oh my.... We are just different populations. I don't known what to say about this new gamer movement. But people get tired fast.





what?

maese
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"Rage never dies" , posted Sat 17 Sep 03:18post reply

Here, your weekly (?) dosis of Ashura goodneess. You know you love it as much as I do.





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"Re(1):Rage never dies" , posted Sat 17 Sep 04:03post reply

More info on Sega's Space Channel 5+Layton+Lupin+Rhythm Tengoku game set in Paris.





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"How to make a dull game great" , posted Sat 17 Sep 08:51post reply

お前はもう死んでいる





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"Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sat 17 Sep 12:51post reply

quote:
お前はもう死んでいる

Thanks to hatclub, I was able to take back the love and ai o torimodosu. I don't give too damns about this game, but with that audio track it brought to mind the unbridled joy of GODHAND, greatest of video games.





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"Re(1):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sat 17 Sep 16:30post reply

As a conclusion to my Musou dilemma in the last thread, I would like to say thanks for the input for Karasu and Grave. I picked up Musou 6/Dynasty Warriors 7 and love it. The story mode is really nice this time around and an excellent representation of the novels. The game is still Musou for better or worse, but it fixes enough of my old complaints and delights me enough with the presentation to warrant the purchase.

I was itching for 3 Kingdoms so bad, I was about to read the novels again, but this does the trick quite nicely.





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HAYATO
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"Re(2):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 02:15post reply

quote:

I was itching for 3 Kingdoms so bad, I was about to read the novels again, but this does the trick quite nicely.



Those itching for an "Outlaws of The Marsh" fix should check this one instead...





karasu99
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"Re(2):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 03:05:post reply

quote:
As a conclusion to my Musou dilemma in the last thread, I would like to say thanks for the input for Karasu and Grave. I picked up Musou 6/Dynasty Warriors 7 and love it. The story mode is really nice this time around and an excellent representation of the novels. The game is still Musou for better or worse, but it fixes enough of my old complaints and delights me enough with the presentation to warrant the purchase.

I was itching for 3 Kingdoms so bad, I was about to read the novels again, but this does the trick quite nicely.



That's great! I'm glad I was able to help. I've been enjoying DW7 quite a bit still, to the point of being almost done the Jin story mode. I think given that you're required to play as certain characters has made it more interesting for me overall since in earlier games I would invariably get stuck using a favorite whenever possible. I plan on playing campaign mode (or whatever they call it) when I'm done with Jin. I may even pick up the expansion disc when it come out in a few months, assuming I'm able to get through much of the game in the meantime. We'll see how that turns out.

In turn I should thank you as well Polly, since I just ordered a set of the Three Kingdoms novels (and Outlaws of the Marsh!) just now, after your mention of them. I've been leaning on the Musou series for my knowledge of Three Kingdoms history for way too long.

EDIT:
quote:
Those itching for an "Outlaws of The Marsh" fix should check this one instead...

WHOA! I most certainly will! I've been away from the series since the very first game, poorly translated for the US market on the PS1.






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[this message was edited by karasu99 on Sun 18 Sep 03:08]

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"Re(1):Rage never dies" , posted Sun 18 Sep 06:24post reply

quote:
Here, your weekly (?) dosis of Ashura goodneess. You know you love it as much as I do.


Why does this look so good and the DmC reboot look so mediocre?

Speaking of action games, Itagaki is still farting around with Devil's Third. For the younger members of the board who may not have heard of him Itagaki is someone who used to make games.





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"Re(3):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 06:55post reply

quote:


In turn I should thank you as well Polly, since I just ordered a set of the Three Kingdoms novels (and Outlaws of the Marsh!) just now, after your mention of them. I've been leaning on the Musou series for my knowledge of Three Kingdoms history for way too long.

EDIT:
Those itching for an "Outlaws of The Marsh" fix should check this o

-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --


Ack, Hayato beat me to it... A brand new Gensou Suikoden should be good news enough to have me dancing naked on the streets, but it seems this one is gonna go the Tierkreis path again and won't be related in any way to the marvelous and awesome main series we all know and love. Awww, I feel like shutting myself up on my den and crying for a whole week...

And for those who are about to enter the marvelous world of Three Kingdoms and etc., welcome to the club of classic chinese novel's lovers! You will find that the original texts are even more over-the-top than what any game, manga or movie adaptation could ever dream. I have yet to see anything on any media that matches the sheer awesomeness of certain chapters of Outlaws of the Marsh. Indeed, there's no way like the chinese gallant way!





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"Re(4):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 08:07post reply

quote:
I've been enjoying DW7 quite a bit still, to the point of being almost done the Jin story mode. I think given that you're required to play as certain characters has made it more interesting for me overall since in earlier games I would invariably get stuck using a favorite whenever possible.


I like how you will sometimes switch generals in the middle of a battle. It adds a nice touch to the storytelling.

I didn't play the last game, so maybe this is nothing new, but I also like the variety of musou moves as well. Rather than the "walk forward and destroy everything" kind, there are a lot that are selectively useful or more difficult to hit with.

One of my favorite parts of the novel was Sun Ce's somewhat pathetic sorcerer-related demise. The game makes it a bit bore dramatic and paints a nicer picture of him, but follows the book in a gratifying way all the same. I'm finding more of that in this game than any Koei game in the past.

I think the books will treat you well. If you're familiar with the Musou games, it's a lot easier to put faces to names...because there are a lot of names.

quote:
A brand new Gensou Suikoden should be good news enough to have me dancing naked on the streets, but it seems this one is gonna go the Tierkreis path again and won't be related in any way to the marvelous and awesome main series we all know and love.


Konami dropped the ball so long ago that I don't know if there's any point in picking it back up again. I felt like the plot for the series as a whole was really taking off after the end of Suiko 3, only to have two mostly-irrelevant sequels and Tierkreis. It's been so long since the "core plotline" has been touched on, it wouldn't make much sense to continue it (and who knows if it'd be any good, anyway).

Speaking of times long past, I wonder if Konami has the staff to make a new Suiko game. I imagine it's outsourced, but to who?

quote:
I have yet to see anything on any media that matches the sheer awesomeness of certain chapters of Outlaws of the Marsh. Indeed, there's no way like the chinese gallant way!


Maybe I'll finally pick up Outlaws of the Marsh. I read Journey West and Three Kingdoms, so I might as well finish the "Triad".





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"Re(4):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 19:21post reply

quote:

Ack, Hayato beat me to it... A brand new Gensou Suikoden should be good news enough to have me dancing naked on the streets, but it seems this one is gonna go the Tierkreis path again and won't be related in any way to the marvelous and awesome main series we all know and love. Awww, I feel like shutting myself up on my den and crying for a whole week...



I almost teared up, then I saw PSP. Oh well.

I disliked Tierkreis, but not being linked to the main series lore was the least of my complaints. Everything about it was just nothing like a Suikoden title. The character graphics were these ugly squashed 3D models, the plot leaned more on fantasy than war, the battle engine was wrong, there were no runes, or duels, or strategic battles, or a fun mini-game for the castle. It didn't even have 108 stars IIRC. It could have passed for an above-average Final Fantasy spinoff, but not Suikoden.

I think as long as this new game manages to feel like the main series, that's really all I'm asking for.





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"Re(5):Ai o torimodose!" , posted Sun 18 Sep 20:06post reply

quote:



Konami dropped the ball so long ago that I don't know if there's any point in picking it back up again. I fe

-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --


I remember reading somewhere that the original Suikoden team was disbanded a while ago... So Konami has virtually lost all its RPG know-how. I think the situations is explained here. Thus, for better or worse this new GenSui is going to be developed by TriAce, while having the same director as the previous Tierkreis.

Regarding Konami's loss of RPG mastery, as you probably already know, Yoshitaka Murayama, director, scenario writer and, well, "father" of the first Suikodens, left Konami for good on the middle of GenSui 3's development (which explains why, while being arguably the best game on the series, it had certain parts that seemed kind of half baked). Recently there were some rumors of him receiveng an offer from "certain company" and "crossing the proverbial Rubicon" again, but seemingly it all ended in nothing. So the good ol' GenSui is lost forever, it seems.

quote:
Outlaws of the Marsh goodness


I thoroughly recommend everybody to read this book, specially if you liked RoTK and Journey to the West. While it has its flaws and surely can get repetitive, it has plenty of awesome moments. The first book is one of the most memorable reads you'll ever find. But be warned: gallant and corageous as they might be, this is a tale of wrecked brigands and rebellious outcasts, so certain passages can be a bit difficult to stomach. Albeit thoroughly enjoyable, I wouldn't call it exactly an edifying read... Not in vain the old chinese saying advised the youth not to read "Outlaws of the Marsh" and the old not to read "Three Kingdoms"!





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"Re(6): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 01:29post reply

Even though it's hardly news, I thought I would point out that Golden Fantasia X's demo is allegedly available in the X360 Japan store. Anybody try it so far? I probably won't have time before the weekend, since it's hard to bother with going to all the trouble when I don't especially like the character design or anything. Although, it is a 2D fighter and all.

In other 'news', I finally had a chance last weekend to try out the 2D Bloodrayne game and El Shaddai demos. I applaud the careful animation work present in Bloodrayne, but the game was just, well, DULL, with an even higher level of repetition than I had already resigned myself to accepting. I'll pass, but again, great job on the animation! As for El Shaddai, I'm really torn. It's beautiful in a lot of ways-- it's arty, atmospheric, beautiful... but it just wasn't any fun to play. Maybe it gets better in the full game ? I just found it, too, to be repetitive and a little boring in terms of gameplay, which stinks since it's so gorgeous in a lot of ways. And sadly with my budget right now I can't justify dropping $60 on a game that feels like it should have been released for $15 on Steam or download for the PSP, in which case I would have snapped it up in a heartbeat. Argh, it kills me to say that, but... yeah.






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Mosquiton
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"Re(7): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 03:19:post reply

Yeah where is everybody? I just got back from Japan and I'm all jet-lagged and what not. So I will post about games now. Yeah!

First since you mention El Shaddai and Blood Rayne, I think the former is a little more interesting than your initial impressions lead you to believe. BR, though, is maybe my least-favorite Way Forward game ever, not counting the DS chat program. The controls just feel really imprecise... I can't properly position myself and every hit feels like a cheap shot. I put it down after a few minutes.

But I played a few games at TGS. I'm looking forward to Dragon's Dogma now after stomping the hell out of the Chimera boss in the floor demo. I love that you can use shoulder button modifiers to do a diagonal upwards slash, two types of shield bash, and some cool power attacks... although without any stamina system or whatever it does seem a bit easy to spam fast, high damage hits. Lots of fun though!

I also messed around a good bit with Lili in SF x Tekken. She has nice juggle ability on nearly all her EX moves, and as such can do some pretty stylish looking damage. I don't think they have the game systems and feel totally figured out though... the 123tag->super combo still seems to be the alpha and omega and it just seems really thrown together. The health bars seem criminally small with a lot of oh-shit-match-over-already moments, and I think the pandora system is a really weird and dumb idea. They have time to keep working on the game in general though.

Oh, and Max Anarchy Reigns Forever Platinum seems kind of okay. And the Saint Seiya DW clone looks WAY radder than Hokuto no Ken's Musou spinoff. Anyone vaguely interested should watch the trailer





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[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Wed 21 Sep 04:50]

Ishmael
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"Re(8): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 04:51post reply

It's too bad that the most interesting thing to come out of El Shaddai was that teaser trailer people became fascinated with. The demo was pretty but it was pretty little bore of a game. From clunky jumping to combat that was slow to begin with and ground to a halt whenever the playable character had to repeatedly clean his weapon like a fussy raccoon, the demo seemed designed to frustrate me at every turn. While I want to support games that are trippy I don't want that to be their only selling point.

quote:
But I played a few games at TGS. I'm looking forward to Dragon's Dogma now after stomping the hell out of the Chimera boss in the floor demo. I love that you can do a diagonal upwards slash, two types of shield bash, and some cool power attacks... although without any stamina system or whatever it does seem a bit easy to spam fast, high damage hits. Lots of fun though!

Glad to hear that the modern version of Magic Sword is coming together nicely. How are the different character classes? I'm looking foward to playing Dragon's Dogma but for the sake of variety I would like to play as somebody other than yet another guy hopping around with a sword.

In other news, back when I tried out the demo for the DC Universe Online game I thought it was more than a bit of a mess but sort of fun in spite of itself. Although I enjoyed making my own super-dude or super-dudette there was no way I was going to pay a monthly fee for the honor of playing the game. The new pricing structure for the game seems a lot better.





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"Re(8): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 05:33post reply

quote:
Yeah where is everybody?

The party has only started, everyone should join! Toxico said he'd pay for the drinks.





karasu99
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"Re(9): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 06:13post reply

quote:
Yeah where is everybody?
The party has only started, everyone should join! Toxico said he'd pay for the drinks.


Ohoho, I've always wanted to see Chile! Maybe now is the time.
quote:

First since you mention El Shaddai and Blood Rayne, I think the former is a little more interesting than your initial impressions lead you to believe

Hum, I may yet try it out since, like I said, it's GORGEOUS, and I want to love it. Plus it's strange and I feel like I haven't had a good strange game since Bayonetta Shadows of the Damned Catherine ... well, let's just say it's been a while. Unless anyone can suggest an alternative strange game?

Still, El Shaddai could have had a much better demo, if the game itself is actually good. With Bayonetta, I actually played the demo something like 4 times to completion and enjoyed every moment of the full game.






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Pollyanna
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"Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 06:45post reply

If El Shaddai was super cheap and I had lots of spare time, I'd play it, but its particular balance of beauty and mediocrity doesn't do it for me.

On top of Black Rock Shooter, Xillia and Dynasty Warriors 7, I got Gears of War 3 today, so I'm pretty booked. GOW has always been too manly for me, but I'm hoping now that I can at least pick a girl, it won't make me grow chest hair and/or a pair of cantaloupe-sized testicles.

quote:
Even though it's hardly news, I thought I would point out that Golden Fantasia X's demo is allegedly available in the X360 Japan store. Anybody try it so far? I probably won't have time before the weekend, since it's hard to bother with going to all the trouble when I don't especially like the character design or anything. Although, it is a 2D fighter and all.



A played a bit of the PC version and thought it would make for a pretty decent game if it had a little better balance and a few more characters. The music and spritework were really good, but the game just wasn't quite there. I'm hoping that the 360 version ironed things out nicely, but I don't know if I can justify the purchase.

I mean, I doubt it'll be good to play online, since most players will be in Japan and there probably won't be many to begin with. If you don't have friends who are interested and/or you're not big into Umineko, it just doesn't seem worth it. Maybe if we were in the middle of a 2D fighter drought, but that isn't really the case.

Also, I know I've posted this before, but it still has the best character select music ever.

Heavy metal version





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karasu99
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"Re(2):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 21 Sep 07:30post reply

quote:
If El Shaddai was super cheap and I had lots of spare time, I'd play it, but its particular balance of beauty and mediocrity doesn't do it for me.


Agreed, that's exactly how I feel. It sucks, and I really wish the timing of its US release had been different. I want to encourage the release of games like it that can be beautiful, rather than bland, but... argh, I just don 't have the cash.
quote:

On top of Black Rock Shooter, Xillia and Dynasty Warriors 7, I got Gears of War 3 today, so I'm pretty booked. GOW has always been too manly for me, but I'm hoping now that I can at least pick a girl, it won't make me grow chest hair and/or a pair of cantaloupe-sized testicles.


You're braver than I am-- I tried about 20 minutes of the first Gears game and it was enough to convince me to stay far away. It's not that I dislike it because I have that whole East vs West thing-- I just found it to be completely unappealing, from the design to the story to the gameplay. As it is I'm still up to my ears in DW7 and Black Rock Shooter (thanks for the recommendation, I love it!) and the DW7 expansion is coming before too long. Plus I think Catherine still has another play in it for me as well.
quote:

Even though it's hardly news, I thought I would point out that Golden Fantasia X's demo is allegedly available in the X360 Japan store. Anybody try it so far? I probably won't have time before the weekend, since it's hard to bother with going to all the trouble when I don't especially like the character design or anything. Although, it is a 2D fighter and all.


A played a bit of the PC version and thought it would make for a pretty decent game if it had a little better balance and a few more characters. The music and spritework were really good, but the game just wasn't quite there. I'm hoping that the 360 version ironed things out nicely, but I don't know if I can justify the purchase.

I mean, I doubt it'll be good to play online, since most players will be in Japan and there probably won't be many to begin with. If you don't have friends who are interested and/or you're not big into Umineko, it just doesn't seem worth it. Maybe if we were in the middle of a 2D fighter drought, but that isn't really the case.


True. Plus it will be astronomically priced for the US market. I'll pay it for a Cave shooter, but not for a mediocre 2D fighter. Now if you had told me it was fantastic, that might be a different matter.






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"Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Wed 21 Sep 09:01:post reply

I just played the Demo for El Shaddai and it won me over with its unique art direction. I actually didn't like the first screens and movies I saw of the game, but seeing it in person I felt very immersed, and that's the most important quality of a game for me.

I do agree that the gameplay is a bit repetitive though.

Actually, it's a prime example of one of my least favorite trends in videogames of the last decade: Everything takes too many dang hits to kill.

Are there any modern games where you can kill things with decisive, well timed blows?

I mean like in Castlevania or Shinobi or the original Ninja Gaiden. This isn't just a nostalgia trip thing, there's just a simple pleasure in gauging distance, timing your jump or dash and pressing attack at the precise moment.

Most current action games make me feel like I'm mowing the lawn. I'm just an unstoppable train of combos mowing down enemies left and right. There's very little timing involved, I just vaguely point myself in the direction of the enemy and mash the attack buttons. The worst part is that they don't even go down right away, I have to keep chipping away at them, even if they're just faceless grunts.

Even in shooters, you can't take a guy out with one shot (unless it's a head shot), you have to shoot them a dozen times in the chest.

Are there any modern games where the basic unit of damage is a single, well timed hit? As opposed to a full combo?






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[this message was edited by nobinobita on Wed 21 Sep 09:02]

Mosquiton
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"Re(1):Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Wed 21 Sep 13:09post reply

quote:

Are there any modern games where you can kill things with decisive, well timed blows?



I don't have time to explain, but try the demo for Space Marine. There is both shooting and slashing, and certainly some comboing, but you may be pleasantly surprised.

Also if you want to go back a bit, try to get a hold of Crimson Sea 2.





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"Re(1):Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Thu 22 Sep 00:29post reply

quote:
I just played the Demo for El Shaddai and it won me over with its unique art direction. I actually didn't like the first screens and movies I saw of the game, but seeing it in person I felt very immersed, and that's the most important quality of a game for me.

I do agree that the gameplay is a bit repetitive though.

Actually, it's a prime example of one of my least favorite trends in videogames of the last decade: Everything takes too many dang hits to kill.

Are there any modern games where you can kill things with decisive, well timed blows?

I mean like in Castlevania or Shinobi or the original Ninja Gaiden. This isn't just a nostalgia trip thing, there's just a simple pleasure in gauging distance, timing your jump or dash and pressing attack at the precise moment.

Most current action games make me feel like I'm mowing the lawn. I'm just an unstoppable train of combos mowing down enemies left and right. There's very little timing involved, I just vaguely point myself in the direction of the enemy and mash the attack buttons. The worst part is that they don't even go down right away, I have to keep chipping away at them, even if they're just faceless grunts.

Even in shooters, you can't take a guy out with one shot (unless it's a head shot), you have to shoot them a dozen times in the chest.

Are there any modern games where the basic unit of damage is a single, well timed hit? As opposed to a full combo?


That's a really great point about things taking too many hits to kill-- I agree, and I think it's a complex problem to encapsulate and even harder to think of a solution that doesn't also cause a whole lot of problems in the opposite direction. I think originally combos became common because a) they're pretty realistic. Games like Shinobi aren't as realistic since a single hit kills almost all of the standard grunts. Also, b) if everything takes a single hit to kill, the levels ends pretty quickly. So it's a way to extend levels semi-artificially.

Anyway, I'll break my ramble and say that I'm not really sure that there's a modern game that addresses this problem. On top of that, some games (like the El Shaddai demo, incidentally) are so uneven in terms of what it takes to kill something that I was never quite sure how many hits it took to kill anything. Sometimes the standard grunt dude took like 5 hits to kill, other times he took 10. I dunno.

As for El Shaddai in general, I'd love to give it another chance, because I don't think it's a bad game-- I love the style a lot and maybe I'll discuss it a bit elsewhere-- but sadly it will have to wait until it drops at least a bit in price. It raises an interesting question though, about how companies put together demo versions of the full product, and which ones don't represent the finished game very well.






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"Re(2):Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Thu 22 Sep 01:44post reply

quote:
On top of that, some games (like the El Shaddai demo, incidentally) are so uneven in terms of what it takes to kill something that I was never quite sure how many hits it took to kill anything. Sometimes the standard grunt dude took like 5 hits to kill, other times he took 10.


Wasn't El Shaddai supposed to have some kind of Rock, Paper, Scissors system with its weapons, where certain weapons killed certain enemies faster than others, in an attempt to get people to think about what order they fought enemies and what weapons they used to do it? And something about having to purify weapons (and a special disarm move that automatically purified them)?

Could stuff like that have been in play, or did it just seem to vary for no reason at all?





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"Re(2):Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Thu 22 Sep 02:00post reply

I've been tooting my horn about this for a long time, but probably not here.

It's actually only in a few particular genre games that this is really evident, but the cases of it stick out so sharply in my mind that I've come to think that it's a more prevalent thing than it really is. For instance, one of my biggest complaints about MW and the like is that none of the guns in single player feel very powerful because everything dies in a single burst/headshot no matter what gun it is you are using.

But the "everything is too durable" issue is particularly evident in all the games that have been inspired by RE4/Gears, though. Trying to enumerate all of the things inside Gears that make it what it is and how it differentiated itself from the FPS games that preceded it is a whole other discussion, though I think a few key parts of its feel include making all of your actions including movement very deliberate (in stark contrast to the 90s-era PC FPS games where you frequently had to be constantly moving for the sake of being constantly moving), and giving the game a chunkiness and slowness that fit the console control scheme (as opposed to the lightning-fast uber-precision of the mouse/keyboard). Part of that involved making everything more durable.

If you look at Mass Effect 2 and RE5, both contain systems that count how many consecutive shots/headshots you have fired and hit and how many times you've been hit/how much damage you have recently taken and scales enemy durability accordingly. In both games, it's not at all uncommon for headshots to NOT kill normal enemies, and for it to stay that way as the player does well. It's kind of fun that this system is really quite hidden from the player... I remember back when Zanac touted this sort of dynamic game difficulty adaptation as a central selling point of the game!

The worst problem of Gears which also manifests itself in ME2 is the weak hit reaction enemies have to being shot. I've had this sort of video game upbringing that goes from just around 8-bit-era where I was used to the notion that getting hit equates to knockback/invuln/something substantial, to SF2 where getting hit was AMAZING, to the early PC FPS games where getting hit had no gameplay effect on the player unless it was a rocket, back to fighting (IN THE 90s!) games where hit effects were tremendous, and.... eventually to now. I'm of the opinion that when an enemy gets hit and doesn't react to it in some significant way, that should be something special rather than something commonplace; that should be Gold Armor War Machine or Juggernaut, not ordinary Gears grunt #12364532164 just going on his way while you riddle him with Lancer bullets. Or it's a shoot'em up, in which case the rules go out the window.

I'm not sure if it feels even more laborious when a game actually manages to even somewhat decently sell impacts, but still makes the enemies tremendously durable. I do know that the last few levels of God Hand were by far the ones I enjoyed the least because the grunt enemies were so durable, though.





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"Re(3):Things Take Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Thu 22 Sep 04:33post reply

quote:
If you look at Mass Effect 2 and RE5, both contain systems that count how many consecutive shots/headshots you have fired and hit and how many times you've been hit/how much damage you have recently taken and scales enemy durability accordingly. In both games, it's not at all uncommon for headshots to NOT kill normal enemies, and for it to stay that way as the player does well. It's kind of fun that this system is really quite hidden from the player... I remember back when Zanac touted this sort of dynamic game difficulty adaptation as a central selling point of the game!

Interesting! I've played both those games but I never realized a system like that was lurking in the shadows. What a clever way of providing a challenge when the player is doing well or a "lucky" comeback when they are on the ropes.

As for the damage question, yeah, for every DMC game where you want to keep the enemies alive to keep the combo going there are a dozen games where the ememies stupidly sponge up damage for far too long. An odd choice, but I've always been fond of the different ways you could instantly kill enemies in Way of the Samurai 2-3. Those aren't exactly action titles but I always enjoyed the sense of impact those games provided when it came time to kill off some grunts.

But as for other recent games that feature combat that uses a single, killer strike the listing gets very slim. Does the Deadliest Warrior franchise count? Do the Deadliest Warrior games even count as games?





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"Things Take Way Waaaay Too Many Hits To Kill!" , posted Thu 22 Sep 07:14post reply

Congratulations, nobi! I think you've managed to lead me to the answer as to why I disliked Spanish Castlevania, a solid game that had decent-to-good mechanics and gorgeous art direction. Even the good fights refused to end and it was especially laborious in any of the ones involving fighting something huge with QTEs. Even miniboss battles refused to end in a timely fashion and it wasn't always clear which moves were the most effective. And there were too many goddamn moves!

Also, anyone who has the nerve to make Patrick Stewart read that dreck should probably be imprisoned for life.

I feel better now.





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"A+B = Dead footsoldier" , posted Sat 24 Sep 07:43post reply

I was just reminiscing about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games and how they gave you a 1-hit move to dispatch of the basic goobers.

quote:
Also, anyone who has the nerve to make Patrick Stewart read that dreck should probably be imprisoned for life.



My thoughts as well when I played the demo.





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"Re(3):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Sat 24 Sep 18:31post reply

quote:

You're braver than I am-- I tried about 20 minutes of the first Gears game and it was enough to convince me to stay far away. It's not that I dislike it because I have that whole East vs West thing-- I just found it to be completely unappealing, from the design to the story to the gameplay.



Same here. Never liked gears after 20 minutes of the first game. Unappealing is the right word to describe it,I find also the art style terrible, generic and dull (Warhammer 40000 wannabe imho) and the whole gameplay fast-pace and polished but repetitive as hell. In terms of shooter games I like something with more personality, better art and game design (like Half-Life or the first Bioshock), and in general anything different from the whole army-dudebro cliche that I can't stand no more.

El Shaddai on the other hand is the opposite, amazingly conceived and clever in some choices (the whole jew religion thing has always a magnetic effect to me), but poorly executed in terms of gameplay. Precisely: controls. The gameplay is not bad per se, but the controls don't work fine at all, especially in platforming sessions, with imprecise jump and physics (especially the landing, reminds me of post-DC Sonic games). I like the game as it is, but I think it would have been way better. The final product is not like the demo in the beginning, although boring sessions like that are still present in the game (I find the demo inferior to the whole product).





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"Re(4):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Sun 25 Sep 20:32post reply

For what it's worth, since I'm usually a shameless Japanophile, I've really enjoyed GoW3 thus far.

I can't speak for the other games, but the design work that went into the settings in this one are quite incredible. The cities you visit are some of the best environments I've seen in any game. Some of the enemy designs and animations are top-notch as well.

I only wish the characters looked half that good. Maybe they stuck with their old designs and amped up everything else around them? Maybe they're not supposed to look anything like people? Is it supposed to be kind of cartoony? And I'm not just talking about how bulky everyone is. Anya's hair, for example, looks like it was rendered 15 years ago.

But whatever. It's a great game. My only real problem is that it's kind of...too perfect...too calculated in a way that makes it a little dull. All the segments are just the right length, with just the right level of challenge and just the right number of boss fights with just the right amount of cinemas. All the scenes that you're used to seeing you see...shooting while driving, holding off the enemy at the gate, using the turret gun on something huge, the guy heroically staying behind when you probably could've managed just fine...it's the pinnacle of "epic game", I guess. I may not have played it better, but I feel like I've played it before.

As a result, I don't find it terribly compelling, even if it doesn't give me much to complain about. I'm only about halfway. Maybe my opinion will change later. Playing it 4 player with friends must be a splendid experience and I'm interested to see how online goes as well.

But for now, I've gone back to Tales of Xillia, because that just draws me in a little more.


SIDE NOTE
On the subject of enemies taking too many hits, I do have a difficult time determining what kind of damage I'm doing in GoW3. Having a sniper headshot not kill something leaves me wondering if the weapon is worth anything at all.





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"Re(5):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Mon 26 Sep 00:06post reply

quote:
I only wish the characters looked half that good. Maybe they stuck with their old designs and amped up everything else around them? Maybe they're not supposed to look anything like people? Is it supposed to be kind of cartoony? And I'm not just talking about how bulky everyone is. Anya's hair, for example, looks like it was rendered 15 years ago.



Good hair is somewhere way down there in the list of priorities in the Unreal 3 engine. The games I can think of offhand using UE3 which had characters with nice hair are... I guess Arkham Asylum and Lost Odyssey, but not at all because of the technology in the hair; they're pretty static, and they just look nice largely because they are nicely modeled. I know part of it has to do with the kinds of games that UE3 tends to be used for, though. 15 years ago is a little harsh, though! That'd put us in 1996, when Quake (the first one) and Resident Evil (the first one) came out. I'd think that Anya's hair looks a little more accomplished than the hair in Tekken 2 :)





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"Re(5):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Mon 26 Sep 02:12post reply

quote:
I only wish the characters looked half that good. Maybe they stuck with their old designs and amped up everything else around them? Maybe they're not supposed to look anything like people? Is it supposed to be kind of cartoony? And I'm not just talking about how bulky everyone is. Anya's hair, for example, looks like it was rendered 15 years ago.


Gah, character design in so many of these sort of western AAA games is really, really awful seeming, in an 'everybody is three feet wide', square-headed, soul-patch-having, bandana-wearing sort of way. I know there are tons of exceptions, and I know the way a game looks isn't everything, but... yeah. And poorly rendered hair is for me just the tip of the iceberg.

quote:
On the subject of enemies taking too many hits, I do have a difficult time determining what kind of damage I'm doing in GoW3. Having a sniper headshot not kill something leaves me wondering if the weapon is worth anything at all.



I think this sort of artificial durability is also a way to extend the length of the game. A headshot not taking someone out is pretty silly, even in the kind of game where a leg shot doesn't knock someone down. For me, I'd rather have the enemies be harder to hit that to have them take ten headshots to kill.






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"Re(6):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Mon 26 Sep 05:04:post reply

quote:

Gah, character design in so many of these sort of western AAA games is really, really awful seeming, in an 'everybody is three feet wide', square-headed, soul-patch-having, bandana-wearing sort of way. I know there are tons of exceptions, and I know the way a game looks isn't everything, but... yeah. And poorly rendered hair is for me just the tip of the iceberg.



Just think of it like this:
remember in the 80s where the villain characters and jobbers were mostly either midgets or WWF wrestlers (e.g. HnK)?

That's what we have here... though I would be tremendously more entertained if the various muscle-bound dudes of Gears were presented in bright Technicolor dreamcoat glory.





[this message was edited by Spoon on Mon 26 Sep 05:06]

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"Re(7):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Mon 26 Sep 22:25post reply

quote:

Gah, character design in so many of these sort of western AAA games is really, really awful seeming, in an 'everybody is three feet wide', square-headed, soul-patch-having, bandana-wearing sort of way. I know there are tons of exceptions, and I know the way a game looks isn't everything, but... yeah. And poorly rendered hair is for me just the tip of the iceberg.


Just think of it like this:
remember in the 80s where the villain characters and jobbers were mostly either midgets or WWF wrestlers (e.g. HnK)?

That's what we have here... though I would be tremendously more entertained if the various muscle-bound dudes of Gears were presented in bright Technicolor dreamcoat glory.

Oiled, muscled men with giant guns designed to compensate for sexual inadequacies shoot aliens have always been in games but they used to know that there are more colors in the world than just brown. Dig those pastel headbands!





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"Re(8):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Tue 27 Sep 00:15post reply

quote:

Gah, character design in so many of these sort of western AAA games is really, really awful seeming, in an 'everybody is three feet wide', square-headed, soul-patch-having, bandana-wearing sort of way. I know there are tons of exceptions, and I know the way a game looks isn't everything, but... yeah. And poorly rendered hair is for me just the tip of the iceberg.


Just think of it like this:
remember in the 80s where the villain characters and jobbers were mostly either midgets or WWF wrestlers (e.g. HnK)?

That's what we have here... though I would be tremendously more entertained if the various muscle-bound dudes of Gears were presented in bright Technicolor dreamcoat glory.
Oiled, muscled men with giant guns designed to compensate for sexual inadequacies shoot aliens have always been in games but they used to know that there are more colors in the world than just brown. Dig those pastel headbands!



Indeed, I always preferred Probotector sprites, especially the colorless Gameboy rendition.





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"Re(9):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 28 Sep 02:18post reply

Gamefaqs has a marvelous(?) pool about Castlevania, it's funny how most of the voters have had no contact with the series.

Love Plus always creeps me out

Details about Continium Shaft Extend not that many pics, though..... December, huh?

Having a huge ToX everywhere in the latest tales game is definitely not setting well with me.

BTW, now we have that Final Fight is available in the iphone app store.... I wonder, how are you supposed to tap your life out of troubles there? I suppose Haggar would behave the same since he wasn't turbo button dependent, though.






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"Re(10):Re(10): Where is everybody?" , posted Wed 28 Sep 22:24post reply

quote:

Details about Continium Shaft Extend not that many pics, though..... December, huh?


For the first time I'm not interested AT ALL in a BlazBlue game. There isn't much new content to make me buy another version of the game, a renewed balance and story mode and 1 character aren't enough convincing.





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"SDATCHER" , posted Wed 28 Sep 23:15post reply

artemioありがとう

.               /               \
             /                   ヽ
             /   ハ      ヽ. |         l
          / /   ハ ト、\  \  |    |    |
         /イ  |.ハ| ヽ! \!\、 | |     |    |
          / !| |!     , -‐- \ト、l      |   |
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.             | |     ハ |f´ 介、 l l  l _]/         |__/
.             | |     ハ |レイ || `| l  ト、 |       八






無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は

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"Re(1):SDATCHER" , posted Fri 30 Sep 06:50post reply

quote:
[AA]artemioありがとう
There has been a severe lack of AA on this board as of late.

In other news, over 120 characters want to team up with Nobunaga in order to fight demons.





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"Re(2):SDATCHER" , posted Fri 30 Sep 18:02post reply

quote:
over 120 characters want to team up with Nobunaga in order to fight demons.



And who wouldn't?

        /       . . . . .   _, ::::::::ヾノノ人
.        /    ..: : : : : : : :  /:/ :::::::::ヾノノ人
.         /   .: : : : : : : : :   /:/   ::::::::::}ノノ人ノノ
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             r''゙´fう }} }i  ヽ        .::::::,':::::',_rtノヾ; 〃
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                  \:::::彡' ー=≦       .:::/::::::::   :::/
             x=込::::::.     三    .::::/::::::::::  :/
                /{:::::::::::> 、:.,_  三   ..::/:::::::::::  /





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"Re(3):SDATCHER" , posted Sat 1 Oct 01:24post reply

quote:
And who wouldn't?


The day Furuta Shigenari appears in either Sengoku Musou or Basara (or if someone makes a Hyôgemono game) is the day all the discussion on "which is the best game ever" will finally find its ultimate and final answer.
I hope dinosaurs and monkeys team up to eat the whole human race soon after.





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"Re(4):SDATCHER" , posted Wed 5 Oct 09:19post reply

Tche. In the other hand, is better than Ono having a hand in the franchise.






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"Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Thu 6 Oct 04:13post reply

It's not like we haven't discussed Musou much of late, but I saw this little news story about Musou Orochi 2 (wasn't there already a 2?) and while I love that 酒呑童子 is in the game... he... uh, has a weirdly pronounced chest area. So much so that I actually did a double-take when I first saw his image there.






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"Re(1): Can't have enough Sangokushi" , posted Thu 6 Oct 05:48post reply

Inafune presents King of Pirates: Three Kingdoms with animals!



Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Kongming: Do a barrel roll!

End of Spoiler







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"Re(2): Can't have enough Zombies" , posted Thu 6 Oct 07:30post reply

Fugly hostess, here I come






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"Re(1):Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Thu 6 Oct 09:04post reply

quote:
It's not like we haven't discussed Musou much of late, but I saw this little news story about Musou Orochi 2 (wasn't there already a 2?)


It was 2 outside of Japan, but in Japan it wasn't.





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"Re(2):Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Fri 7 Oct 02:59post reply

Wow, Shuten Doji, a version of Three Kingdoms that looks like it's all over the place and the chance to go on zombie killing dates with hostesses? That's an amazing range. My only problem is that I'm horribly behind on my Yakuza games at the moment. I'm visiting Shinjuku in a month so whenever I sit down to play there's a voice in the back of my head that reminds that I should be looking up train schedules or whatever. I play games to relax, not to be reminded of chores I'm neglecting.

Speaking of Musou, a new trailer for Orochi has been posted. If it's possible to score 4,000+ KO's on a level it seems that the demon army prizes quantity over quality.





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"Re(1):Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Fri 7 Oct 13:54post reply

quote:
It's not like we haven't discussed Musou much of late, but I saw this little news story about Musou Orochi 2 (wasn't there already a 2?) and while I love that 酒呑童子 is in the game... he... uh, has a weirdly pronounced chest area. So much so that I actually did a double-take when I first saw his image there.



Maybe you influenced my eyes but the first thing that crossed my mind was "demon implants"





/ / /

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"Re(2):Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Sat 8 Oct 10:30post reply

quote:

Maybe you influenced my eyes but the first thing that crossed my mind was "demon implants"


Har! Then my job here is done.

In other news, even though I've never been a huge Saint Seiya fan, the game coming out for PS3 in November is looking really great! But maybe it's just the intoxication talking.






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Mosquiton
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"Re(3):Re: Can't have enough Musou" , posted Sat 8 Oct 12:42post reply

quote:

Maybe you influenced my eyes but the first thing that crossed my mind was "demon implants"

Har! Then my job here is done.

In other news, even though I've never been a huge Saint Seiya fan, the game coming out for PS3 in November is looking really great! But maybe it's just the intoxication talking.



I actually thought the same thing when I saw it TGS. Much faster than Hokuto Musou and it looks like it may have decent one-on-one fights. And speaking of intoxication, it might be a good game to play while drunk.





/ / /

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"Valkyria Chronicles" , posted Thu 13 Oct 02:14post reply

Apparently says bye bye to Occident, well; I suppose things like there happens all the time, right? at least the game didn't get "the axe" as some other games had lately..... Which reminds me -- I have a 20 hours something unfinished file for the first game laying around.






さっきの感じならあと100発はもつ‥‥と思うぜ
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badoor
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"Re(1):Valkyria Chronicles" , posted Thu 13 Oct 06:18:post reply

quote:
Apparently says bye bye to Occident, well; I suppose things like there happens all the time, right? at least the game didn't get "the axe" as some other games had lately..... Which reminds me -- I have a 20 hours something unfinished file for the first game laying around.

Maybe it needs fugly hostesses. Remember when that franchise was at one time considered non-profitable outside japan?

I find it funny that in today's market a game by Atlus or Falcom or NIS have a greater probability of getting a US release than a Sega game or a Nintendo game.





[this message was edited by badoor on Thu 13 Oct 06:19]

sfried
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"Omnibus games" , posted Thu 13 Oct 12:45post reply

What is this Guild 0 thing with Suda51/Yoot Saito/Yasumi Matsuno collaborating with Level5?





karasu99
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"Re(1):Omnibus games" , posted Thu 13 Oct 13:17post reply

quote:
What is this Guild 0 thing with Suda51/Yoot Saito/Yasumi Matsuno collaborating with Level5?


Not sure, but man, the games sound weirdly adventurous-- I love especially the airport game that deals with baggage, the least glamorous part of an airport.






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Pollyanna
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"Re(2):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 15:20post reply

i hope everyone is too busy playing Dark Souls to rant about it. I liked Demons Souls fairly well, but Dark Souls has become an instant all-time favorite. If only the targeting system didn't SUCK SO HARD!

Sadly, it's killed my interest in the new Zelda (which looks pretty good!), because Dark Souls is like Zelda in hell where every enemy can kill you and the puzzle is how to stay alive.

ALSO ALSO ALSO

The 360 Guardian Heroes is great! Actually, I guess Guardian Heroes is just great, though they did a good job with the remix mode anyway. I hadn't played the game in many years and I was afraid that my overwhelmingly positive opinion of it was actually unfounded. I was surprised to find that the game is actually BETTER than I remembered it, though!

On the downside, even if it would be complete and utter madness, I'm still bummed you can't play story mode 4 player...





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nobinobita
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"Re(3):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 16:32post reply

quote:
i hope everyone is too busy playing Dark Souls to rant about it. I liked Demons Souls fairly well, but Dark Souls has become an instant all-time favorite. If only the targeting system didn't SUCK SO HARD!



Dark Souls is an instant all-time favorite.
Playing through it with my best friend who insightfully summed up the appeal of the game with the following statement:

"Dark Souls is about the joy of defeating stronger than you and the glee of killing something dumber than you."






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sfried
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"Re(3):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 16:44post reply

quote:
Sadly, it's killed my interest in the new Zelda (which looks pretty good!), because Dark Souls is like Zelda in hell where every enemy can kill you and the puzzle is how to stay alive.

I don't get this analogy. Dark Souls and Zelda are nothing alike. One is more of a roguelike and the other...has dungeons where combat is only part of the challenge and progression is more of figuring out how to get to the next room. I'd say the only thing they'd probably have in common is...a crafting system? And even that's not something typical in a Zelda game, as this installemnt to be the most departed from the typical structure since Majora's Mask.





Pollyanna
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"Re(4):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 17:31post reply

quote:

I don't get this analogy. Dark Souls and Zelda are nothing alike. One is more of a roguelike and the other...has dungeons where combat is only part of the challenge and progression is more of figuring out how to get to the next room. I'd say the only thing they'd probably have in common is...a crafting system? And even that's not something typical in a Zelda game, as this installemnt to be the most departed from the typical structure since Majora's Mask.



Maybe our perception is just wildly different, but I take it you haven't played Dark Souls? I don't see how it's anything like a roguelike. Roguelikes are characterized by randomization, are usually turn-based and have some sort of permanent death/loss. Other than the chance that you might lose your souls/money, Dark Souls has none of those things.

But maybe we're thinking of different Zelda games as well. I'm mostly thinking of Twilight Princess in this case. Comparing it to that, the combat system takes a similar approach (locking on, in particular), and it has a similar method of progression. You have large areas to explore as you like with tons of extra stuff, eclectic NPCs scattered across the game, a rich world, but few actual cinemas, "dungeon" and "overhead map" areas that are functionally the same and boss fights that usually require a specific form of strategy.

In contrast, Dark Souls is more open-ended in terms of what you can do in what order (as well as how you can effect the world), though you still have major plot "turning points." Also, although there are some traditional puzzles/traps, most of the things you have to figure out are more combat-centric. To make another analogy, in terms of puzzles, Zelda is more like ICO and Dark Souls is more like Shadow of the Collosus, where Zelda has you solving environmental puzzles and Dark Souls has you solving monster-related puzzles. I guess I see Zelda and Dark Souls as the same kind of game in the same way that I see ICO and Shadow as the same type of game.

I don't mean to discredit Zelda in any way, I was just frequently reminded of it while I played Dark Souls. In the case of the new Zelda, it's a matter of DS appealing to my sensibilities a little better. Kind of like if a fantastic new KOF came out and a new SF(4) was coming out a month later. I'm sure SF would still be great, but I'd have to give some time after KOF before I'd be terribly interested.





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KTallguy
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"Re(5):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 19:07:post reply

Dark Souls has similarities to Zelda, but the focus in Zelda is using in game tools introduced at an incremental rate to solve specific puzzles more often than not. Like using the boomerang to trigger switches, for instance. When someone plays Zelda, they will more or less have the exact same experience as someone else playing Zelda, in general.

Dark/Demons Souls is much more free in terms of how you solve things, and there is a lot more variety in play styles. You can rely on a lot of ranged combat, for instance. Or you can focus on mobility. Or you can create a walking tank that can't move fast but absorbs damage. There are so many variations that different people will have distinct memories of how they got past certain areas.

Dark Souls doesn't have an entirely linear progression, however you are gated in until you defeat certain bosses. So the content you are experiencing is "generally" in the same order as your peers, just the way you tackle that content can vary.

Just throwing this out there, if you want a Zelda Dungeon Like game that is ALSO a Roguelike, check out this game: The Binding of Isaac.

Trailer:
http://youtu.be/BiZ6mMlOF7c

Demo, playable online!!
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581168

I love love love this game :)
It's a roguelike combined with a shmup combined with Zelda level design combined with funny art, great music and a very non-politically correct concept. It's a bit grotesque though, fair warning.

[/enthusiastic rant]





Play to win... or to have fun too! :)

[this message was edited by KTallguy on Fri 14 Oct 19:08]

chazumaru
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"Re(3):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 20:02post reply

quote:
i hope everyone is too busy playing Dark Souls to rant about it.

ピンポン~♪ Precisely!

quote:
I don't get this analogy. Dark Souls and Zelda are nothing alike.

Dark Souls and Zelda and very much alike.
Dark Souls and Zelda Skyward Sword seem to be nothing alike, which is a very good thing for both.





無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は無限早見は

Pollyanna
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"Re(6):Omnibus games" , posted Fri 14 Oct 20:19post reply

quote:
"Dark Souls is about the joy of defeating stronger than you and the glee of killing something dumber than you."

Ha! And you feel so smart when you figure something out. I love the wavering feelings of frustration and elation the game gives you, where you start out in a situation and say "this is impossible!" then an hour later you say "that was easy!" There are like...10 thousand wonderful things about the game, but the element of searching for a solution is one of my favorites. There are certainly some ways to rob yourself of a challenge (especially with a bow), but thinking "there has to be a way to do this!" and figuring it out is very gratifying.

Oh oh! And then there's that feeling of superiority when people online complain that there's no way to get past something you just finished (despite the fact that you were in their boat a little while ago).

quote:
There are so many variations that different people will have distinct memories of how they got past certain areas.

Yes. It's wonderful to play the game along with friends and share experiences. I'm constantly saying "Whaaaat!? You did it that way!?

quote:
Just throwing this out there, if you want a Zelda Dungeon Like game that is ALSO a Roguelike, check out this game: The Binding of Isaac.


That doesn't look like my cup of tea, but I have a friend that will most certainly love it. I'll pass along the recommendation.

It certainly looks weird, though! I could figure out what kind of game it was and how it was played from the trailer, but I can't figure out the concept whatsoever!

quote:
Dark Souls and Zelda Skyward Sword seem to be nothing alike, which is a very good thing for both.

I haven't dug up any information on Skyward Sword whatsoever. I thought I would just buy the game and (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised. All I know is that Zelda looks cute in a homely sort of way and there's some awesome looking grey(?) dude?

My big problem with Twilight Princess was that the enemies were almost completely unnecessary. They couldn't really hurt you, but if they weren't there, the game would feel empty. I felt like I got a much more satisfying sense of exploration, discover and puzzle-solving from Mario Galaxy.





青春謳歌 弱肉強食

karasu99
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"Re(7):Code of Princess" , posted Thu 20 Oct 01:02:post reply

Code of Princess sure is looking pretty swell! I'm sure it doesn't hurt at all that the art is by Kinu Nishimura! Eh, maybe this will be what causes me to get a 3DS, but I'm sure a US release is a ways off.

Also, regarding Binding of Isaac, I can't say that it's my favorite game of all time aesthetically, but it sure is A) a bargain B) creepy and weird, and C) interesting to hear that part of the game's inspiration was the designer finding a bunch of 1980's Fundamentalist Christian anti-devil worship VHS tapes!

Also also, the strangest character to be seen so far in Musou Orochi 2: but I kind of think the idea is cool, somehow.






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[this message was edited by karasu99 on Thu 20 Oct 01:04]

Professor
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"Re(8):Code of Princess" , posted Thu 20 Oct 02:09post reply

This is the latest promo for Idol Master 2.
Limited time menu for Namco Namjatown.
... I'm not sure what to say.

http://www.namja.jp/news/idolmaster/menu.html





Toxico
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"Re(9):Code of Princess" , posted Thu 20 Oct 02:26:post reply

quote:

http://www.namja.jp/news/idolmaster/menu.html

... I'm not sure what to say.



How about this? (or this?)

speaking of

bonus... Now we are talking! [[!!!]]

Oh, and don't drop that soup.






さっきの感じならあと100発はもつ‥‥と思うぜ
Update 23 as of 25/10/10 (Temporary mega upload link).

Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 22 as of 10/01/11

[this message was edited by Toxico on Thu 20 Oct 09:25]

Baines
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"Re(7):Omnibus games" , posted Thu 20 Oct 08:29post reply

quote:
My big problem with Twilight Princess was that the enemies were almost completely unnecessary. They couldn't really hurt you, but if they weren't there, the game would feel empty.


Considering Aonuma said that he thought the original Zelda may be one of the hardest games ever, and that he's never beaten it because he always quits after dying too much, I wouldn't exactly start hoping for new Zelda games to start having enemies that matter.





sfried
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"Re(8):Omnibus games" , posted Thu 20 Oct 09:57post reply

quote:
Considering Aonuma said that he thought the original Zelda may be one of the hardest games ever, and that he's never beaten it because he always quits after dying too much, I wouldn't exactly start hoping for new Zelda games to start having enemies that matter.

Might change with Skyward Sword as previews say they start you out with six hearts and each enemy hit can take one heart away, as much as 3 hearts for mid-bosses. Plus Zombie Bokoblins and whatnot.

quote:
Code of Princess sure is looking pretty swell! I'm sure it doesn't hurt at all that the art is by Kinu Nishimura! Eh, maybe this will be what causes me to get a 3DS, but I'm sure a US release is a ways off.

Nishimura's art has been popular as of late. Wonder why don't he and that other Capcom employee who made Vanguard Princess get together or something.





Grave
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"Re(9):Omnibus games" , posted Thu 20 Oct 20:12post reply

quote:
Might change with Skyward Sword as previews say they start you out with six hearts and each enemy hit can take one heart away, as much as 3 hearts for mid-bosses. Plus Zombie Bokoblins and whatnot.

Not to mention that this could be the first 3D Zelda with combat options that matter! Of course, Link will probably still control like shit while targeting (and hell, probably during everything else too) and I'll probably hate it anyway. Considering how boring TP got and how long they say this game is projected to be, I'm pretty sure I can just save my money this time. Does anyone really want a 50+ hour Zelda game? Who does this appeal to?





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"Re(8):Code of Princess" , posted Thu 20 Oct 22:14post reply

The front page of MMCafe has been updated?!?

quote:
Code of Princess sure is looking pretty swell! I'm sure it doesn't hurt at all that the art is by Kinu Nishimura! Eh, maybe this will be what causes me to get a 3DS, but I'm sure a US release is a ways off.

Wow, I like Guardian Heroes as much as the next person but I never thought about putting out a game that looks identical to it. Maybe it's the small screens but everything from the town to the enemy goons is giving me a sense of deja vu. I'm not saying that's bad but I hope the direct comparison between the two games doesn't hurt whatever it is Code of Princess is going to do. Also, when reading up on Cod of Princess I was also surprised to discover that a statue of the heroine has been on pre-order for months. I guess I haven't been keeping up on my videogame trollops.

Speaking of people who are letting it all hang out, I'm impressed with the kerfuffle our very own Brandon Sheffield has managed to cause.





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"Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Thu 20 Oct 23:11post reply

quote:

Speaking of people who are letting it all hang out, I'm impressed with the kerfuffle our very own Brandon Sheffield has managed to cause.



I read Brandon's interview with Todd Hollenshead and Andy Chang and it didn't strike me as mean-spirited or self-serving. Some of Brandon's questions were nitpicky, but they were still legitimate questions. And that's what good journalism is supposed to be about. It's unfortunate that some "AAA creative directors" feel like their companies are entitled to nothing but praise and kind questioning. If they'd prefer to stick their heads in the sand and blacklist sites like Gamasutra, that's their prerogative. But video game journalism is a field that's still maturing and detailed questioning is only going to become more and more common.





Maou
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"Re(1):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 01:27:post reply

quote:
on the basis of your hostile and clearly biased line of questioning
Is this a joke? Brandon and friends have performed a service for the medium, as usual, by taking the lead and writing like adults in what is otherwise a stunted, childish field. I see nothing controversial here. If games "journalism" is going to insist on calling itself that instead of "miserable cesspit of regurgitated official press releases written by largely talentless gamers who never actually studied journalism," then I reckon they'd better remember journalism is about asking actual tough questions that people have not prepared for in advance. And this wasn't even a particularly hard line!





人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は...

[this message was edited by Maou on Fri 21 Oct 01:42]

Baines
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"Re(1):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 01:59post reply

quote:
If they'd prefer to stick their heads in the sand and blacklist sites like Gamasutra, that's their prerogative. But video game journalism is a field that's still maturing and detailed questioning is only going to become more and more common.


I don't know. The video game developers and publishers currently have all the power, and the majority of video game journalists seem willing to keep it that way.

For video game journalism to advance, we may need some major outlets to take a hard stance and actually hold to it. I don't see that happening, because any major outlet is going to be more concerned with profits that long term effects on video game journalism.





karasu99
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"Re(2):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 02:26post reply

quote:
Is this a joke? Brandon and friends have performed a service for the medium, as usual, by taking the lead and writing like adults in what is otherwise a stunted, childish field. I see nothing controversial here. If games "journalism" is going to insist on calling itself that instead of "miserable cesspit of regurgitated official press releases written by largely talentless gamers who never actually studied journalism," then I reckon they'd better remember journalism is about asking actual tough questions that people have not prepared for in advance. And this wasn't even a particularly hard line!


The idea that journalists are on some level 'expected' to be yes-men for AAA games is nothing all that new though, right? Weren't we (and here I mean we as in people on the internet talking about games, not the cafe itself) discussing something very similar to this in a roundabout way a few years back in regard to major game magazine and web sites acting almost as shills for AAA titles by writing near-flawless reviews?

As with a whole lot of stuff on the internet it sounds like people have blown this whole discussion out of proportion, something that Brandon even notes in his article. It's still amazing to me how little it takes for threats to start coming out of the woodwork over things like this, whether they're from legitimate sources or not.






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Toxico
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"Re(3):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 02:48:post reply

quote:

The idea that journalists are on some level 'expected' to be yes-men for AAA games is nothing all that new though, right? Weren't we (and here I mean we as in people on the internet talking about games, not the cafe itself) discussing something very similar to this in a roundabout way a few years back in regard to major game magazine and web sites acting almost as shills for AAA titles by writing near-flawless reviews?



I think that it was a few years ago when Famitsu started to give away perfect reviews like no tomorrow (and destroying their hard earned from eons ago journalistic reputation) and when people noticed that Kotaku was just a bag of air.

About the interview, I can only guess that the other party was frightened when they noticed Exodus gallantly walking into the room dressed as Van Hellsing


quote:
The front page of MMCafe has been updated?!?


Covers his hears, and sits naked in the floor in a corner of the room, facing the wall and whimpering like a newborn.






さっきの感じならあと100発はもつ‥‥と思うぜ
Update 23 as of 25/10/10 (Temporary mega upload link).

Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 22 as of 10/01/11

[this message was edited by Toxico on Fri 21 Oct 03:10]

Loona
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"Re(9):Code of Princess" , posted Fri 21 Oct 05:59post reply

quote:
The front page of MMCafe has been updated?!?



That's happened on special occasions, but 4 news items in the same day?... interesting times... I wonder if this will become more frequent...

I don't know how to feel about being explicitely mentioned in one of them, reminds me of posts I check on other sites that do update more or less daily, or at least a handful of times a week when it comes to the SNK-centric ones.

Random thought, but now that I think about it, I don't recall any of the SNK fan sites having a news item, short as it might have been, about Queen's Gate having 4 SNK characters in it, embarassing as the game might have been - it feels odd to notice a gap like that when the community's so split there are about 3 or 4 sites a fan can go t for news...





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Spoon
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"Re(2):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 06:48post reply

I do kind of wonder what "game journalism" ought to be about, because it's somewhat different from "real journalism". As much as games want to establish themselves as unique from the other entertainment mediums, when it comes to journalistic coverage of them it's hard to say just how they should be approached differently from the others. Journalism on things like war, politics, the environment, etc. ought to be held to a much higher standard not only because of the seriousness of their subject matter and the real-life effects they have on people's lives, but also because they aren't covering a thing that is really a luxury/fun thing.

Especially considering that games are an entertainment industry and game journalism is still in its infancy, trying to get "hard hitting" journalism that covers "issues that matter" often sounds like a laughable endeavour. Almost like kids trying to sound like adults.

There is the entire business angle, which has some very real-life implications for a lot of people (namely, the people making the games). But more often than not, this is only brought up when crazy/infrequent things happen (e.g. hella ppl get laid off, someone makes a storm about the working lifestyle, etc.). Otherwise, it's a bunch of people working in offices for 8-10 hours a day. It can be interesting anecdotally, but by and large it really doesn't make for interesting news, I can assure you.

There is the technology angle, which is genuinely interesting. Of course, there are things like Gamasutra and GD Magazine which cover this, as well as the internet in general, GDC, etc. While sometimes the benefits of the tech get played way up (or the drawbacks don't get discussed enough), engineers are often very honest about what worked with their tech. This is good stuff, but in detail not something that many can appreciate. Would you be interested in version control systems that try to prevent bad code from being submitted to repositories so that automated builds don't get screwed? Be honest.

Art/music/design are all kind of interesting. We can be critical about what there is and why it's there, and I think there can be some genuinely interesting material that can come out of discussion on it. But there really can't be a lot of honesty or even veracity to it until after the game is done.

If video games are still a highly immature medium, then game journalism is yet more immature. Some of the most interesting stories about games are things that officially a company should not allow out as a press release, nor would the developers want out as a press release. Stories about how annoying enemies in games were named after annoying people on the team who were fired, or how angry messages were hidden in the assembly code of old ROMs, or other such things are great and entertaining, or the personal opinions of some of the people in charge of popular games on their fanbase are things that shouldn't be officially stated, and that they'd be well in their rights not to say if asked about. To me, conceptually, there's just a limit on what game journalism can be taken seriously about, and I'm not sure what can be (or ought to be) done to change that.





Baines
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"Re(3):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 06:52post reply

quote:
The idea that journalists are on some level 'expected' to be yes-men for AAA games is nothing all that new though, right?
quote:
As with a whole lot of stuff on the internet it sounds like people have blown this whole discussion out of proportion, something that Brandon even notes in his article.


The two are related. Video game journalists are expected to be yes-men, and any deviation from that pattern is seen by some as an attack, bias, or some attention getting scheme.

Just look at some of the responses, to both this and other similar events. Several people calling it an attack, or an ambush. Several saying it was bias and he was out to get id. Several saying it wasn't a fair interview.

Even some of the people who liked the interview were saying things like how Brandon should have included positive comments in order to balance the negative ones?





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"Re(4):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 07:07:post reply

I can't think of many, if any, instances of "hard-hitting journalism" on other kinds of entertainment or art - then again, most of those others don't cost nearly as much, or maybe I just haven't been looking in the right places. Most of what I see for movies doesn't deviate much from celebrity gossip, for example...





"Beat the machine that works in your head!" - Guano Apes "Open Your Eyes"

[this message was edited by Loona on Fri 21 Oct 07:22]

Amakusa
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"Re(9):Code of Princess" , posted Fri 21 Oct 07:14post reply

quote:
Speaking of people who are letting it all hang out, I'm impressed with the kerfuffle our very own Brandon Sheffield has managed to cause.



That was awesome. I've gotten too jaded lately about game journalism since most seem to pay lip service to the developers that it's refreshing to see someone still has a pulse for the game itself.





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Professor
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"Re(4):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 14:25post reply

quote:
The front page of MMCafe has been updated?!?
Covers his hears, and sits naked in the floor in a corner of the room, facing the wall and whimpering like a newborn.

---

I don't know how to feel about being explicitely mentioned in one of them, reminds me of posts I check on other sites that do update more or less daily, or at least a handful of times a week when it comes to the SNK-centric ones.

Loona- Egh sorry, should I take out the credit?

About this update, the KOF13 changes list was kind of long so I decided to post it on the index instead. Also decided that it'd be a good chance to experiment on how long it'd take to do a normal update in the old fashioned way. Turns out to be a bit time consuming-- it's probably better to switch to CMS and also create some sort of online system to edit images. That'll take some time though.

quote:
I think that it was a few years ago when Famitsu started to give away perfect reviews like no tomorrow (and destroying their hard earned from eons ago journalistic reputation) and when people noticed that Kotaku was just a bag of air.

About the interview, I can only guess that the other party was frightened when they noticed Exodus gallantly walking into the room dressed as Van Hellsing

Game Journalism is dead in Japan. Brandon needs to bite a few editors and bring them back to life, call them into his own side.





Loona
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"Re(5):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 22:11post reply

quote:
Loona- Egh sorry, should I take out the credit?



No problem with the crdit here, it just feels odd considering all the other people that seem to post news more often, appear to be better informed, and have actually played Castlevania.
The other day I created KoF-i and KoF Encounter articles at the SNK wiki but they were soon deleted by the admin for "being ports of XIII", so so acklowledgement of a relatively smaller contribution here feels odd in contrast, I guess.





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Professor
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"Re(6):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Fri 21 Oct 22:45post reply

quote:
No problem with the crdit here, it just feels odd considering all the other people that seem to post news more often, appear to be better informed, and have actually played Castlevania.
The other day I created KoF-i and KoF Encounter articles at the SNK wiki but they were soon deleted by the admin for "being ports of XIII", so so acklowledgement of a relatively smaller contribution here feels odd in contrast, I guess.



Well, it seemed right on spot since Ex-capcom's Inafune's hand..some.. art, was also being mentioned. Overall it's an experimental update, I think I need to revamp the site design to begin with.

I'm not sure how those Smartphone titles, particularly KOF-E, should be considered a port. Social games are not Social (and not fighting games either).





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"Re(7):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Sat 22 Oct 03:39post reply

quote:
and have actually played Castlevania.
Loona, I, I thought we knew you! This is October, there is no better time to get in touch with your deepest vampire-killing urges.
quote:
Overall it's an experimental update, I think I need to revamp the site design to begin with.
Not too much, I hope, Prof! As someone who thinks that hobbyist website design reached its peak in 2001, I love that the Cafe looks like a lovingly crafted personal website as opposed to yet another blog template.





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"Re(8):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Sat 22 Oct 04:30post reply

quote:
and have actually played Castlevania.Loona, I, I thought we knew you! This is October, there is no better time to get in touch with your deepest vampire-killing urges.



Castlevania and you is going to happen, want it or not.






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"Re(9):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Sat 22 Oct 07:45post reply

quote:
and have actually played Castlevania.Loona, I, I thought we knew you! This is October, there is no better time to get in touch with your deepest vampire-killing urges.


Castlevania and you is going to happen, want it or not.


Such treatment is the appropriate response to such chronic cases. Or so I hear!

But seriously Loona, we won't judge!

...

...

...








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"Re(5):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Sat 22 Oct 07:53post reply

quote:

Game Journalism is dead in Japan. Brandon needs to bite a few editors and bring them back to life, call them into his own side.



As long as they do a Thriller dance line.





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"Re(3):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Sat 22 Oct 08:35post reply

quote:
I do kind of wonder what "game journalism" ought to be about, because it's somewhat different from "real journalism".
Personally, I think game criticism is an idea that has not been fully worked out. The way to approach a game and the vocabulary used in the discussion still aren't fully agreed up so any criticism that goes beyond ranking by bullet points can vary wildly depending on the author. Game journalism, however, can borrow a lot of its structure from journalism that covers any other form of popular entertainment. Mostly it will be dressed up press releases, rumors and general silliness with a small section dedicated to discussing the deeper nuts and bolts of the creative process. What I think confused some people about Brandon's interview is that Gamasutra is aimed at people who work on games so his questions, by necessity, have to go beyond PR shilling.

quote:
Well, it seemed right on spot since Ex-capcom's Inafune's hand..some.. art, was also being mentioned. Overall it's an experimental update, I think I need to revamp the site design to begin with.
Between that unrelated "Shin Keiji Inafune" guy who's running around and whatever the hell is going on in that game it seems that Inafune's mid-life crisis is in full swing. Most people just buy a sports car or date someone who's totally wrong for them so it's a surprise to see Inafune channel all that angst into his work. I guess the results could be interesting?

Finally, some live Attorney action. It's not takarazuka but it will do.





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"Re(10):Follow-up to obscured title" , posted Sat 22 Oct 10:34:post reply

A sequel to Nazo no Murasame Jyo has been announced of sorts, Okami-diszed Takamaru included.

Now that I think about it, should I catch up with old times by getting Sengoku Musou 3?





[this message was edited by sfried on Sat 22 Oct 11:50]

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"Re(2):Re(10):Follow-up to obscured title" , posted Sat 22 Oct 15:11post reply

quote:
A sequel to Nazo no Murasame Jyo has been announced of sorts, Okami-diszed Takamaru included.




You got the "of sorts" part right, because there's nothing about that game that would make me think about the original aside from characters that look like they come from the same time period.

I remember trying to beat that game on the Famicom. The enemies weren't hard individually, but surviving through an entire maze wasn't easy at all.





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"Re(2):Re(10):Follow-up to obscured title" , posted Sat 22 Oct 19:09post reply

quote:
A sequel to Nazo no Murasame Jyo has been announced of sorts, Okami-diszed Takamaru included.



Actually that looks like the most interesting piece of software for the system so far. Is it digital download only?

And somehow seeing the town made me want to play Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song..





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"Re(2):Re(10):Follow-up to obscured title" , posted Sun 23 Oct 00:04:post reply

quote:
A sequel to Nazo no Murasame Jyo has been announced of sorts, Okami-diszed Takamaru included.


Nintendo seems to be systematically reviving every franchise they ever did no matter how obscure it is, after this, Kid Icarus, and Urban Champion, I'm hoping they'll do Devil's World and Wrecking Crew next.





[this message was edited by badoor on Sun 23 Oct 00:06]

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"Re(8):Re: Journalistic Rage" , posted Mon 24 Oct 10:06post reply

quote:
and have actually played Castlevania.Loona, I, I thought we knew you! This is October, there is no better time to get in touch with your deepest vampire-killing urges.



I recall a lot of praise for Symphony of the Night, how come that's still not on PSN?... Konami has the original MSG in there, what gives?...
I gave the Harmony of Despair demo a quick spin, but the zoom was kinda crazy, it tried to show the whole ma at once during play with no appanrent way of changing that, so I could barely see lil' Alucard stabbing things and being attcked by even smaller things.





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Maou
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"it's DRACULA WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 10:55:post reply

quote:
Symphony of the Night, how come that's still not on PSN?

Loona, let's make this easy for you, in honor of Halloween and the fact that I finally beat Death in Dracula 1 yesterday! Nocturne/Symphony is only on 360 I'm afraid...but it's also in the Dracula X Chronicle for PSP.

Ignoring the logistics, let's give you some good series entry points...so while I'd love to have the 8 bit ones on here, because Simon and Ralph jump like cretins I'm instead choosing more accessible ones! Cafe denizens, add yours!

1. Nocturne/Symphony was actually my first Dracula. What!? It's true. The wonderful design and music grabbed me and convinced me that I could handle "scary games" if they were baroque and classy. Seeing so many nods to previous Draculas, including having the first level be the final stage of the previous game, drew me into the old 16 bit series. It might for you, too.

2. Dracula SFC/Castlevania "IV" - this is a wonderful introduction, available on Virtual Console I think, with sublime music, reasonable difficulty, and all manner of creative level designs, a tour-de-force for the early Super Famicom. We talked about it a lot last year.

3. Rondo of Blood - available on PSP, Wii (maybe Japanese only), it's a superb bridge between the old platformers and Nocturne. Classy music and level design, tons of alternate routes, dramatic.





人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は...

[this message was edited by Maou on Mon 24 Oct 11:31]

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"it's RETARDED WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 11:51post reply

I love you guys but you need to get your heads in the game! Come on now!
quote:
I recall a lot of praise for Symphony of the Night, how come that's still not on PSN?... Konami has the original MSG in there, what gives?...

quote:
Nocturne/Symphony is only on 360 I'm afraid...but it's also in the Dracula X Chronicle for PSP.

But... it's right there. PS1 Classics section. Wasn't added this year. Or last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. It's been there since 2007!
quote:
I gave the Harmony of Despair demo a quick spin, but the zoom was kinda crazy, it tried to show the whole ma at once during play with no appanrent way of changing that, so I could barely see lil' Alucard stabbing things and being attcked by even smaller things.


Click the right stick to change zoom, there's 3 levels of it. I kinda like this game. It's this weird CV-meets-Diablo grindy sort of deal, and it seems like any character with a whip has an extreme advantage early on, and with Julius being the best one of those, it's hard to justify picking anyone else, heh.





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"it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 12:24:post reply

quote:
I love you guys but you need to get your heads in the game! Come on now!
Hahahah! W, weird! So it's been on American PS3's since 2007, how about that! Only in Japan since last December. I still feel like the re-animated Frankenstein-like hodgepodge of parts, Harmony of Despair, is a hard start to the series, better try the above. Speaking of which, five demerits if you don't list your recommendation for Loona's introduction to the series!





人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は...

[this message was edited by Maou on Mon 24 Oct 12:28]

Grave
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"Re(1):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 12:56post reply

This is going to be long and rambling and I'm going to make no attempt at editing it into something coherent. Because shut up. Here are my important opinions on things:

Well, the first three CV games are a pretty easy way to scare someone who didn't grow up with the series away from the series entirely, as much as it pains me to admit it! 2 would have been impossible without reading a lot of game magazines at the time and I hardly think it's worthwhile today when the SotN-and-beyond games have succeeded so well at what it tried to do. Regarding how obtuse that game can be - I've always wondered if the Japanese version actually gave you the info you need to complete the game via dialogue, or if it was just as insane.

CV1 and 3 do involve a lot of frustration with "Castlevania jumping" but I think it's important to know where the series came from, so don't take that as me telling you to ignore them! I know full well that playing games from that era that you didn't necessarily grow up with can be trying and you might even come to resent them if you can't immediately grasp what draws someone to a series - so maybe developing an appreciation for the basics of what's going on here is the key.

That is to say, a basic appreciation of the walking primarily in one direction, whipping things, periodically changing direction at a different elevation sort of Castlevania! SotN and beyond, as good as they are, are hardly a place to start out. Gothic Metroid etc. So if we're going to look at something that plays well enough for modern sensibilities but is still a CV at heart, your choices would be a bit limited. Right now I'm thinking it's either PCE CD Dracula X, SNES/SFC Castlevania IV, SNES/SFC Dracula XX or the X68000 CV. Dracula XX is arguably the weakest of these, not to mention the hardest to play via legal channels these days. Despite how fond I am of some of the SNES arrangements of the music, it's not worth playing when you can get your hands on the original and far superior game so easily. Note that I didn't mention the PSP version - it's kind of a pointless remake, though if I recall it does contain the original version. Why bother? I have the Wii Virtual Console version and I'm very happy with it on an SDTV. Anyway, moving on.

Dracula X is a wonderful game, and I think it represents the absolute height of what CV games in the classic style were capable of - the art and sound were wonderful, the game feels rock solid and does away with a lot of the baffling concerns of the NES games. Richter is a whole lot less likely to plummet through a staircase to his doom! Far and away it's my favorite of them... but is it the right one for you? Is it? Well...

The X68000 CV, the one you probably know as Castlevania Chronicles, shares something in common with CV4 in that they're both something of a reimagining of the original Castlevania. Kinda. Sorta. They're also very, VERY different games. Both very good games, mind you, but playing one in no way should keep you from playing the other. Comparatively I think CV4 is kind of on the easy side and a lot of its gimmicky moments seem like a goofy SNES tech demo when played today. CV Chronicles still certainly qualifies as something that plays like a more modern sidescroller than the NES games but will also occasionally deliver a savage kick in the dick to remind you that it is the boss and you have to do what it says.

So really, when it comes down to it, I desperately want you to buy CV Chronicles and I want you to love it and I want you to play with the cool new Simon sprite based on the Ayami Kojima artwork too. But if I have to be realistic (please don't make me be realistic) you're going to have a much better time playing Dracula X. Because it's a better game. You should probably buy it.

But CV4 is good too. And so are the NES ones. And the GBA and DS games. And that weirdo Genesis game. And Spanish Castlevania is OK too. Just kind of boring.

Don't play the N64 games.

MORAL: ???????????????





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"Re(2):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 16:49post reply

tl;dr

Real Castlevania: Castlevania rebirth, on VC. Second choice: Chi no Rondo.

Metroidvania: Symphony first choice, Ecclesia second. Don't bother with anything in-between.

3Dvania: DMC1.

Don't bother with anything else.





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"Re(1):it's RETARDED WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 19:09post reply

quote:
I love you guys but you need to get your heads in the game! Come on now!
I recall a lot of praise for Symphony of the Night, how come that's still not on PSN?... Konami has the original MSG in there, what gives?...
Nocturne/Symphony is only on 360 I'm afraid...but it's also in the Dracula X Chronicle for PSP.
But... it's right there. PS1 Classics section. Wasn't added this year. Or last year. Or the year before. Or the year before that. It's been there since 2007!



Not in this corner of Europe it isn't - I checked the PS One Classics section before posting about that yesterday.

quote:

I gave the Harmony of Despair demo a quick spin, but the zoom was kinda crazy, it tried to show the whole ma at once during play with no appanrent way of changing that, so I could barely see lil' Alucard stabbing things and being attcked by even smaller things.

Click the right stick to change zoom, there's 3 levels of it.



Thanks, I'll have to give this a try later on.





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Pollyanna
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"Re(3):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Mon 24 Oct 20:23post reply

I mostly second everything that's been said, but I've talked about these games so much that it seems silly to repeat everything. Dracula X is truly excellent and "Castlevania Chronicles" (or whatever you want to call it) in the same class.

My favorite "new type" CV is Order of Ecclesia. SoTN has a fantastic atmosphere and soundtrack, but it's just a little too easy for me to really get into.

On a side note, I have Harmony of Despair on 360 and lament the fact that I can't do local multiplayer. Has anyone tried it yet? Does it work out nicely?

Also...

quote:
Now that I think about it, should I catch up with old times by getting Sengoku Musou 3?

We tend to disagree on things, so I would take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I found Sengoku Musou 3 to be quite horrible. Notably inferior to the latest Sangoku Musou, certainly. If you're looking for non-sluggish semi-historical action on Wii, I'd go for Basara 3 instead.





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"Re(4):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 00:38post reply

quote:
I mostly second everything that's been said, but I've talked about these games so much that it seems silly to repeat everything. Dracula X is truly excellent and "Castlevania Chronicles" (or whatever you want to call it) in the same class.

My favorite "new type" CV is Order of Ecclesia. SoTN has a fantastic atmosphere and soundtrack, but it's just a little too easy for me to really get into.

On a side note, I have Harmony of Despair on 360 and lament the fact that I can't do local multiplayer. Has anyone tried it yet? Does it work out nicely?

Also...

Now that I think about it, should I catch up with old times by getting Sengoku Musou 3?
We tend to disagree on things, so I would take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I found Sengoku Musou 3 to be quite horrible. Notably inferior to the latest Sangoku Musou, certainly. If you're looking for non-sluggish semi-historical action on Wii, I'd go for Basara 3 instead.



You can't play locally Castlevania HD which is a shame, I hope to see some patch or dlc one day to had this option

And the game is fun





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"Re(1):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 01:46post reply

quote:
Speaking of which, five demerits if you don't list your recommendation for Loona's introduction to the series!



What a week to have a curse!

I think there is little else to add to what's been said, but since this is the random thread and Maou is threathening us anyway, a little Castlevania chat won't hurt.

I guess SotN can be a good entry into the series for somebody who has not ventured into Dracula's castle before: elegant visuals, nice soundtrack and a most pleasurable (albeit a bit easy) gameplay.

If you liked what you saw there, then you can move to the main course, where I'd recommend good ol' Castlevania IV for the entreès and the glorious Rondo of Blood/Dracula X as the main dish. And if you're still hungry for vampiric blood, then any of the GBA titles would make a most decent dessert. But pretty much these are the same as Maou's recommendations, I guess...

Other than that, I keep hearing good things about some of the DS titles, but I have yet to play them (mental note: this Halloween will be a perfect chance to solve that). Oh, and if you're into the retro thing and don't mind midi melodies and crude pixels, most of the oldest titles from the NES and the MSX are real gems as well.

Happy hunting!





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"Re(5):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 01:48post reply

I can't imagine how local CV HD would work. You need the full screen a lot of the time, but the PSN version DOES have it... I imagine you'd need a really, really big TV.

I do like the game a lot though! I only got it a couple days ago but I had such a great time playing through the normal mode with two other players that I actually splurged for a little DLC - there's a $3 map that takes you through the course of the entire NES Castlevania, complete with classic enemies, bosses and items hidden in the same places as they used to be! I expect hard mode will be a lot of fun too.

The way your character's stats level up and you get new items via random drops from chests is pretty cool - the whole thing feels like some odd Castlevania meets Diablo mashup. But just last night I got a rare drop that made a longtime player jealous! That was fun.

If anyone wants to play it on PSN sometime let me know!





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"Re(5):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 02:00post reply

I think there is local multiplayer available on the freshly released PSN version of Harmony, up to 4 players.





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"Re(2):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 02:49post reply

quote:

What a week to have a curse!

I think there is little else to add to what's been said, but since this is the random thread and Maou is threathening us anyway, a little Castlevania chat won't hurt.

I guess SotN can be a good entry into the series for somebody who has not ventured into Dracula's castle before: elegant visuals, nice soundtrack and a most pleasurable (albeit a bit easy) gameplay.

If you liked what you saw there, then you can move to the main course, where I'd recommend good ol' Castlevania IV for the entreès and the glorious Rondo of Blood/Dracula X as the main dish. And if you're still hungry for vampiric blood, then any of the GBA titles would make a most decent dessert. But pretty much these are the same as Maou's recommendations, I guess...

Other than that, I keep hearing good things about some of the DS titles, but I have yet to play them (mental note: this Halloween will be a perfect chance to solve that). Oh, and if you're into the retro thing and don't mind midi melodies and crude pixels, most of the oldest titles from the NES and the MSX are real gems as well.

Happy hunting!


I think my suggestions pretty much follow these as well, although I'd say Ecclesia on the DS is quite nice, although not explicitly as a Castlevania game. I'll also agree with Iggy regarding Rebirth. It's funny that even though I'd never have suggested the GB Castlevanias to a first-timer, its remake is quite fun as an into to the series-- a few years back I would have suggested the Castlevania Chronicle X68000 remake instead. Still, now that Chronicle is on PSN, it's much easier to come by so you may as well try it too.

Even though no one actually asked (and likely no one cares), my own personal favorites in the series are SOTN and Super Castlevania IV; SOTN is at this point so familiar to me (I've probably played it to completion 10 or more times) that it's the game equivalent of comfort food, and IV is a distillation of what I like the most about the original pre-Metroidvania games, but without all the irritation of the slowness and maddening jumps and hit knockback (as in when you get hit by a medusa head and get knocked back, thereby falling into a pit) of the first three games.

I do find it odd that the Mega Drive version has seen only a bit of mentions. It's far from my favorite, but the multiple characters, nice-sized spritework, and nice soundtrack make it something of a sentimental favorite of mine. It's sadly still not available on Virtual Console though as of the last time I checked.

ALSO (and there is always an also with me) I would suggest a play through Dracula XX on the SFC, but only for the interestingly remixed take on Rondo of Blood's music.

As for HoD, I have to say I don't quite care for it. Not really sure what it is that I don't like, but I didn't find it very appealing. Perhaps I should look some of you up for a match or two sometime.






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"Re(3):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 03:13post reply

Hey, I forgot about the PS2 and Xbox (original) entries! Lament of Innocence was OK. Kind of dull, bad environments, competent action. Good monster design from what I remember. I have a copy of Curse of Darkness for Xbox but I'm not gonna hook that thing up unless it's Steel Battalion time. Was it any good?

Re: SotN as "comfort food" game, hah, absolutely. That's exactly how it feels to me as well. I can kind of remember the week when I got it, I was absolutely blown away the first time I saw so many parts of the game and just the scale of the castle felt insane to me at the time, and then the inverted castle...! It's not exactly difficult but good god I love going back to it. I still find out new things about weapons and items every time!

quote:
ALSO (and there is always an also with me) I would suggest a play through Dracula XX on the SFC, but only for the interestingly remixed take on Rondo of Blood's music.

I don't blame anyone for skipping my wall of text, but I feel the same way! A lot of the music is quite good, I really like how the first stage theme sounds. I know mbisonhatclub is a fan of it too. The game itself isn't terrible, it just seems unnecessary considering how easy it is to get the superior original game these days.
quote:
As for HoD, I have to say I don't quite care for it. Not really sure what it is that I don't like, but I didn't find it very appealing. Perhaps I should look some of you up for a match or two sometime.

I'm hoping the game will become a great deal more difficult on hard, because on normal most of the level parts are a cakewalk. It only got difficult when fighting bosses, really. Most of the fun we had was goofing around and talking about things we liked in other CV games. 3 people seems to be the sweet spot for this game, 6 is just kind of insane.





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"Re(6):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 03:42post reply

In terms of personal preferences, I'd suggest anyone interested on playing this wonderful series the following titles (orderly sorted for your convenience):

- Symphony of the Night: As many of you have already stated, this is the best game for neophites to be exposed to the series for the first time.

- Dracula X: The PC Engine precuel sounds like the logical choice to me, as both games share a good deal of visual themes, enemy design and (to some degree) playing mechanics, more so if the player made a Richter run on SotN.

- Castlevania Chronicles: Following the same rule stated above, this one should be the third entry on the list. The game mechanics are pretty similar to DX and equally enjoyable. Plus, the enhanced visuals on the PSX version are very well done and blend seamlessly with the rest of the graphics, which also contributes to a better gaming experience.

- Super Castlevania IV: despite its age, this game still stands out thanks to its immersive, dark atmosphere and its dynamic and innovative mechanics, unique in the whole 2D series (multidirectional whip slashes and grappling abilities). I suggest to play it after the rest just for consistency's sake. One is free to either begin or end the "2D Castlevania experience" with this game, but playing it inbetween would ruin the experience and, as appealing visuals are so important nowadays, I decided to play it last.

One should take my proposed run as an involutionary process, a journey back in time in search of the roots of everything which made Castlevania so loved and dear to us Cafers...

And about 3D Castlevania games... just stick to Lords of Shadows, what Castlevania should have been since the PS2 era and never was until Spain teached Japan how to make a dwindling franchise cool and appealing to the masses again...





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"Re(4):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 04:04post reply

quote:

Re: SotN as "comfort food" game, hah, absolutely. That's exactly how it feels to me as well. I can kind of remember the week when I got it, I was absolutely blown away the first time I saw so many parts of the game and just the scale of the castle felt insane to me at the time, and then the inverted castle...! It's not exactly difficult but good god I love going back to it. I still find out new things about weapons and items every time!


I was so excited to get SOTN that I actually imported it and used the miserable, PS1-killing disc-swap spring method to play it, and then bought it for US PS1 when it came out. Nobinobita mentioned buying SFA3 many, many times; SOTN has been my SFA3 I guess, since I've bought it compulsively every time it's been re-released. I should note that while it's not technically superior to the PS1 original, it may be of interest to track down the Saturn version. It's Japan-only, but has extra stages, enemies, weapons, and best of all music, as well as a different playable Richter sprite and a different playable Maria from the one that's playable in... what, the PSP version?

Not really sure it's worth the steep cost it goes for these days, but I like it quite a bit.
quote:

I don't blame anyone for skipping my wall of text, but I feel the same way! A lot of the music is quite good, I really like how the first stage theme sounds. I know mbisonhatclub is a fan of it too. The game itself isn't terrible, it just seems unnecessary considering how easy it is to get the superior original game these days.


Urk, I knew someone had mentioned that! I did read your wall of text, but then in scanning to see who to quote on it, I totally missed it the second time. As for Dracula XX, I'd say that given how easily emulated these sorts of things are, it's worth a play or two AFTER trying Rondo of Blood. But definitely not worth the $50 or so I paid for it years ago.






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"Re(5):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 09:19post reply

I'm so glad everyone likes Chronicles so much. When I played it I thought it was really great, but no one else I knew seemed to share my opinion.

On the subject of Lament of Innocence...it was a bad game that suffered from a common PS2 problem where enemies took too many hits and levels were big (and empty) just to make the game longer. On the upside, the last level theme (Leon's theme?) is one of my favorite Castlevania tunes. Only thing I liked about that game!

quote:

I'm hoping the game will become a great deal more difficult on hard, because on normal most of the level parts are a cakewalk. It only got difficult when fighting bosses, really. Most of the fun we had was goofing around and talking about things we liked in other CV games. 3 people seems to be the sweet spot for this game, 6 is just kind of insane.



This was my big problem with the game. The levels were too easy and the bosses were too hard. Actually...the bosses were just about right, but the levels were just "prelude to the boss".

I got all the DLC levels (and music!) and loved them all (in varying degrees). The DLC characters kind of vary in quality, though.

I am ALMOST ready to buy it again to be able to play with friends, but I have the same concerns you do about local multiplayer. I have a 46 inch TV, which should probably alleviate the problem a little bit, but I would hate to buy a game I've already bought for friends who may or may not want to play it with me when it might not even work terribly well. I imagine, as far as building up the characters/items, everything goes to and comes from the system you're playing on.





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"Re(2):Re(10):Follow-up to obscured title" , posted Tue 25 Oct 09:53post reply

quote:
A sequel to Nazo no Murasame Jyo has been announced of sorts, Okami-diszed Takamaru included.

Now that I think about it, should I catch up with old times by getting Sengoku Musou 3?



I played the Murasame mode to death in that game; the video seems to be pretty much just like it without the free movement (of course the Musou game engine probably wasn't the best way to do this kind of game-- it boils down to all your power attacks to kill anything).

As for Sengoku Musou 3 itself, it plays like a better version of 2, but in my opinion the 3DS game is better by far and is what the game should've been.





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"Re(6):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Tue 25 Oct 10:33:post reply

quote:
I'm so glad everyone likes Chronicles so much. When I played it I thought it was really great, but no one else I knew seemed to share my opinion.
X68000/Chronicle is great fun. But has the passing of a year been enough time to lift the evil curse that prevents you from loving SFC Dracula/"IV," m'dear?

Anyway, Chronicle's first level with the insane pumped up arrange version of Vampire Killer is OUT OF CONTROL (the only "weird" mix of Vampire Killer that I love--I blare it every Halloween before I go out and defeat the undead), as is the majestic arrange version of Simon's theme for the last stage.

I do feel that the green snot-filled level 2 sort of kills the momentum early on, though. The clocktower battle with the werewolf is really good, though, complete with the clock getting used as a weapon. Meanwhile, like I wrote last year, I don't think I've ever put my playing-platform-games-since-age-8-skills to the test more than I had to to beat Chronicle in original mode. Death and Medusa must have killed me 50 times before I won.





人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は...

[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 25 Oct 11:42]

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"New NeoGeo / Dreamcast game for pre-order" , posted Tue 25 Oct 10:55post reply

http://www.gun-lord.com/

It seems similar to Turrican. The video looks cool but I'm just amazed there's still a fan community for making Neo games.





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"Re(1):New NeoGeo / Dreamcast game for pre-ord" , posted Tue 25 Oct 11:12post reply

quote:
http://www.gun-lord.com/

It seems similar to Turrican. The video looks cool but I'm just amazed there's still a fan community for making Neo games.



Whoa! I kind of ignored Last Hope and I sort of figured that'd be the end. This looks cool! The artwork really grabs me, it's the kind of art that if I saw it in a game magazine as a kid I would immediately become obsessed with said game. Curious to see how well it plays being such a Turrican homage

Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
complete rip-off

End of Spoiler

and all. Might have to order it, mostly because buying a brand new DC game in 2012 will feel pretty damn weird!





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"Re(7):it's CASTLEVANIA WEEK" , posted Wed 26 Oct 00:46post reply

quote:

Anyway, Chronicle's first level with the insane pumped up arrange version of Vampire Killer is OUT OF CONTROL (the only "weird" mix of Vampire Killer that I love--I blare it every Halloween before I go out and defeat the undead), as is the majestic arrange version of Simon's theme for the last stage.


If you haven't already, you may want to attempt to find the OST/AST for Chronicle... 'somewhere'. It has a total of four versions of each track, of varying qualities-- most of which are actually really good! I typically shy away from Castlevania 'weird' mixes (the recent Akumajou Dracula Tribute albums were pretty repellent) but these are great.

quote:
Whoa! I kind of ignored Last Hope and I sort of figured that'd be the end. This looks cool! The artwork really grabs me, it's the kind of art that if I saw it in a game magazine as a kid I would immediately become obsessed with said game. Curious to see how well it plays being such a Turrican homage and all. Might have to order it, mostly because buying a brand new DC game in 2012 will feel pretty damn weird!

Yes, that's really exciting! I missed out on Last Hope as well, and by the time I had a chance to get it it was unavailable/too expensive (OH! But looks like they are reprinting it in January!). But a Turrican-esque game! That's pretty cool.

Urgh, I wish I hadn't sold my Neo Geo 15 years ago! I know the DC version will be cheaper and all, but every time I start up my Dreamcast I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that something will break/burn out in it.






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"Re(8):Sengoku Basara STUPID SIDE STORY" , posted Wed 26 Oct 09:36:post reply

I felt some strange urge to post this story. Stereotypically, I should find this okay, even though in the US I would think it was asinine, since it's Japanese and therefore somehow not a stupid attempt by a retailer to horn in on my game playing activities with dumb ads. Right? RIGHT??? I should probably ask if Domino's is quite as disgusting as Japan as it is in the US though.

Sorry to interrupt the regularly scheduled CASTLEVANIA broadcast, already in progress!






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[this message was edited by karasu99 on Wed 26 Oct 09:38]

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"Re(9):Sengoku Basara STUPID SIDE STORY" , posted Wed 26 Oct 20:44post reply

quote:
I felt some strange urge to post this story. Stereotypically, I should find this okay, even though in the US I would think it was asinine, since it's Japanese and therefore somehow not a stupid attempt by a retailer to horn in on my game playing activities with dumb ads. Right? RIGHT??? I should probably ask if Domino's is quite as disgusting as Japan as it is in the US though.



I dunno what connotations Domino has on the States, but I find this piece of news quite adorable. I bet Nobunaga would have loved to have a Domino's Pizza in Azuchi!





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"Re(10):Sengoku Basara STUPID SIDE STORY" , posted Wed 26 Oct 22:17post reply

quote:
I dunno what connotations Domino has on the States, but I find this piece of news quite adorable. I bet Nobunaga would have loved to have a Domino's Pizza in Azuchi!
The latest ad campaign from Domino's is them admitting their pizza sucks but they are going to try to do better. Is this another attempt to introduce the public to their new, hopefully non-awful pizza? Still, I think this in-game ad would work better in the Basara games just so we could have Date scream "Pizza time!" in Engrish.

Yesterday I managed to try out the demo for Elevator Action Deluxe. While EAD still has all the elevator riding you can handle the game mostly put me in mind of Rampage World Tour. This is not the title I was hoping the game would draw inspiration from. One positive that EAD has going for it is that it looks like it's going to have a huge amount of baffling guest stars that's all the rage at the moment.





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"Re(9):Sengoku Basara STUPID TEAPOT" , posted Thu 27 Oct 05:44post reply

At first, I was intrigued by which standard this story would be stupid, as by normal, sane standards, all the stories in Basara are stupid, and retroactively, by Basara standard, no story can possibly be stupider than the leader of the Maeda clan kicking St Francis-Xavier's ass at Sekigahara because she's secretly the magical girl of cooking.

Then I saw it was actually Musô, not Basara, and I shrugged.

By the way, Basara 3 Utage is shaping up to be all sorts of awesome and manlinesses(?), including an old man haunted with ghosts and rheumatisms, and the most historically accurate way to ride horses.
It also has a version of Matsunaga that manages to make up for the less glorious depiction of the treacherous bastard in Hyougemono.

Is anyone reading Hyougemono, by the way? Pineapple will never taste the same for me after that manga.
Elephant riding will never be the same either, now that I've seen what Nobunaga wore when he did so.





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"Re(10):Sengoku Musou STUPID TEAPOT" , posted Thu 27 Oct 06:28post reply

quote:

Then I saw it was actually Musô, not Basara, and I shrugged.


Whoops! In my defense I was coming down with a flu last night when I posted that so everything I said is suspect.

Reading over it I'm also not sure what I had against Domino's Pizza last night either. Ah well!






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"Gyakuten Saiban/Phoenix Wright film" , posted Sat 29 Oct 12:29post reply

It has everything in there to make it genuine, yet it looks so freaking cheezy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_foqkDzsvtQ





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"Asura's Wrath's EUR release date" , posted Tue 1 Nov 03:46post reply

Headbutt Buddha back to Tenjiku on 24th february!!





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"Re(1):Asura's Wrath's EUR release date" , posted Tue 1 Nov 04:29post reply

quote:
Headbutt Buddha back to Tenjiku on 24th february!!


Ho ho, can't wait! At least having it take so long will let me finish a few games I've been at for a while.

Wasn't someone here talking about Sonic Generations not long ago? Well, either way, I tried this and a bunch of other demos this weekend and found it to be actually not bad. The demo I tried was the one marked Green Hill-- I think there are actually two demos-- and it includes an 'HD Remix' of Green Hill Zone along with a 3D reinterpretation. I thought the HD Remix just did't feel right (and here I know several folks have talked about 2D Sonic's 'feel', and how Sonic 4 didn't have it). However, the 3D reinterpretation was pretty sweet-- it has the feeling of speed that I always felt like 3D Sonic could have, but just didn't, without making you feel like the slightest twitch to left or right would cause me to plummet off of something.

Also-- and I know that there's a mobile game thread somewhere, but here is as good a place as any-- I just got Shantae: Risky's Revenge for my iPhone, and it's pretty great as well. Given the platform I still have issues with the control scheme's accuracy, but the sprites are great, it's fun, the characters are likeable, and best of all it's a huge explorable new platform game, something I feel like I haven't gotten to play a new game of in quite a while. It does the sensible thing of making the game free-- basically a demo that gives you 4 areas-- and then making the full game an in-app purchase (US $2.99 at the moment). It's a nice way to do it since now I won't have to download a separate 'lite' version to get the demo. Anyway, check it out, it's pretty good.






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"Re(1):Asura's Wrath's EUR release date" , posted Tue 1 Nov 08:06post reply

quote:
Headbutt Buddha back to Tenjiku on 24th february!!

That's the best thing I've seen in some time.





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"...!!" , posted Wed 2 Nov 10:04post reply

Ryu Hayabusa and other crossover characters in Musou Orochi 2

While I'm not that fond of Ryu anymore, seeing any reference to Bladestorm in a Koei title raises my hopes ever so slightly for a sequel.





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"Re(1):...!!" , posted Thu 3 Nov 03:10post reply

quote:
Ryu Hayabusa and other crossover characters in Musou Orochi 2

While I'm not that fond of Ryu anymore, seeing any reference to Bladestorm in a Koei title raises my hopes ever so slightly for a sequel.

I figured Ryu would show up as a guest character but I never expected them to pull Bladestorm out of mothballs. Here's to hoping that Bladestorm 2 and Kessen 4 are just around the corner.

Character creation mode is back in Soul Calibur 5. Since this is easily my favorite part of the SC games at this point I'm happy to see it return.





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"Doujin game recommendations" , posted Fri 4 Nov 14:38post reply

I hope I'm not derailing the thread by posting this, but I thought I'd recommend this doujin game that I found by chance.
It's an arena-style platformer/beat'em up, and I personally found that it just feels great to play: solid gameplay, great animation, sound effects, etc.
It starts out simple, but has a surprising amount of depth. You can basically customise your playstyle.

花咲か妖精フリージア (Fairy Bloom Freesia)
Official website and trailer
There's a trial download on the website. I've been told that an official English version is on the way.
I honestly don't know if it's the kind of thing others might like, but I enjoyed it, so I'm hoping others will too.

Another doujin game I was surprised at the quality of was Koumajou Densetsu 2, the Touhou equivalent of Symphony of the Night, if anyone's interested in checking that out too.
My apologies if this is all old news. I'm kind of behind on everything.





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"SCE taking measures against PSN gamesharing" , posted Fri 4 Nov 20:45post reply

I'm pretty sure most people have heard about this, but just in case-- content purchased on PSN after Nov 18 can only be run on two consoles now.





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"Re(1):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Sat 5 Nov 01:02post reply

I actually think what Sony's doing is a good idea. It's going to prevent people from sharing their purchases with 4 other people. And if you're unfortunate enough to have two of your own PS3's die within a short amount of time, you can unregister those dead PS3's through your PSN account and theoretically move your game(s) to your new system(s).

I guess the only folks losing out are those who have three or more PS3's in their home?





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"Re(2):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Sat 5 Nov 02:45post reply

Good. As long as these games don't require a connection to play, just an activation, this is infinitely better than the DRM Capcom was applying to their titles. If this means no more stupid online-only DRM for single player titles, I'm all for it.





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"Re(3):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Sat 5 Nov 04:51post reply

Will this PSN change also affect DLC content? Personally I don't have a problem with this change but I am curious as to what all this is going to affect.

In unrelated news, idle rumors about a Carmen Sandiego movie are floating around. Carmen is odd in that she may be the only game character who is more well known for her non-game material than for the medium she started in.





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"Re(4):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Sat 5 Nov 08:09post reply

I am surprised that they allowed 5 system sharing in the first place.

quote:
Will this PSN change also affect DLC content? Personally I don't have a problem with this change but I am curious as to what all this is going to affect.

In unrelated news, idle rumors about a Carmen Sandiego movie are floating around. Carmen is odd in that she may be the only game character who is more well known for her non-game material than for the medium she started in.



I thought this sounded bad, but then my brother showed me pictures of the live-action Ranma 1/2 pics

Link Here

I would like to see a Carmen Sandiego movie in the same style as the cartoon, but not obviously set in a video game world.





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"Re(5):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Sat 5 Nov 14:43:post reply

quote:
In unrelated news, idle rumors about a Carmen Sandiego movie are floating around. Carmen is odd in that she may be the only game character who is more well known for her non-game material than for the medium she started in.


I thought this sounded bad, but then my brother showed me pictures of the live-action Ranma 1/2 pics

Link Here

I would like to see a Carmen Sandiego movie in the same style as the cartoon, but not obviously set in a video game world.



That Ranma 1/2 thing is serious?

As for Carmen Sandiego... I loved the cartoon. I would love to see a movie in that style.

But the chances of someone remembering she's smart and she's stealing stuff because she's bored and needs a challenge are somewhat small, and somehow I don't trust someone to not write her a boyfriend, a steamy shower scene, flashbacks to her 'horrible' childhood or whatever Hollywood cliche someone comes up with.





I found Kagami's sword in a junk yard.
I will rule the world and find that truly good cup of coffee.
"Dink-a-dink-a-dink-a-do."

[this message was edited by Amakusa on Sat 5 Nov 14:45]

Lugos
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"Re(4):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Mon 7 Nov 10:16post reply

quote:
Will this PSN change also affect DLC content? Personally I don't have a problem with this change but I am curious as to what all this is going to affect.



Good question. As far as personal licensing concerns go, I'd imagine that games and DLC are considered the same. I know that Xbox Live considers games and DLC as the same.





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"Re(2):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Thu 10 Nov 03:49post reply

quote:
I guess the only folks losing out are those who have three or more PS3's in their home?



This also affects PSP, PSPGo, etc. So if you have at least two Sony game systems then you are already at the limit. We happen to have three PS3's but I'm sure there are lots of people out there who have three or more total between PS3 and PSP.





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"Re(3):SCE taking measures against PSN gamesha" , posted Thu 10 Nov 03:58post reply

quote:
I guess the only folks losing out are those who have three or more PS3's in their home?


This also affects PSP, PSPGo, etc. So if you have at least two Sony game systems then you are already at the limit. We happen to have three PS3's but I'm sure there are lots of people out there who have three or more total between PS3 and PSP.



Good thing I am not planning on getting a Vita. Already have a PS3 and a PSP that I share Game Archives titles with. Or are those kinds of games exempt for this?





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Pollyanna
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"Re(1):Doujin game recommendations" , posted Thu 10 Nov 09:00post reply

quote:
I hope I'm not derailing the thread by posting this, but I thought I'd recommend this doujin game that I found by chance.
It's an arena-style platformer/beat'em up, and I personally found that it just feels great to play: solid gameplay, great animation, sound effects, etc.
It starts out simple, but has a surprising amount of depth. You can basically customise your playstyle.

花咲か妖精フリージア (Fairy Bloom Freesia)
Official website and trailer
There's a trial download on the website. I've been told that an official English version is on the way.
I honestly don't know if it's the kind of thing others might like, but I enjoyed it, so I'm hoping others will too.

Another doujin game I was surprised at the quality of was Koumajou Densetsu 2, the Touhou equivalent of Symphony of the Night, if anyone's interested in checking that out too.
My apologies if this is all old news. I'm kind of behind on everything.



Late reply, but that looks fantastic! The animation is really good for a doujinshi game. That's my problem, though...I used to play more doujin games, but I always found myself saying "this is good for a doujin game" or "I can't blame it for lacking this, since it's a doujin game." Eventually, I gave up everything but Touhou because I have more than enough to play already.

Did you play the first Koumajou Densetsu? Is this one terribly different? I was drawn in by the artwork of the original, but the game couldn't keep my attention, despite the fact that I'm a big Touhou and Castlevania fan.





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"Re(2):Doujin game recommendations" , posted Sat 12 Nov 12:32:post reply

quote:

Late reply, but that looks fantastic! The animation is really good for a doujinshi game. That's my problem, though...I used to play more doujin games, but I always found myself saying "this is good for a doujin game" or "I can't blame it for lacking this, since it's a doujin game." Eventually, I gave up everything but Touhou because I have more than enough to play already.


Glad you like the look of it :D I also used to try out doujin games a long time ago, but they often felt too simple or empty for me. It seems like there are more high-quality doujin games now. Freesia totally surprised me, because I wasn't expecting it to be so good. I think they successfully combined the best elements of action platformer, beat'em ups and fighting games into a high-quality package.

Edit: If you don't mind spoilers or if you've finished Freesia's story mode, you may want to check out this crazy guy on Nico Douga who can beat double boss fights without taking a hit:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm15487546

quote:

Did you play the first Koumajou Densetsu? Is this one terribly different? I was drawn in by the artwork of the original, but the game couldn't keep my attention, despite the fact that I'm a big Touhou and Castlevania fan.


I did, but I played the second game first. I tried the first game afterwards and felt that the sequel refined a lot of what was in the first game (eg. you can't just fly through entire areas). For me, the first game felt very easy up until about half-way through the game, then I suddenly had a lot of trouble. I think the sequel ramps the difficulty better, but generally felt very difficult to me. The boss fights in both are interesting, but brutal... particularly the later bosses. I'm not too great at classic platformers, though. I have no patience and tend to rush through.

I'm not sure whether it was because I didn't know the controls when I first played, but the second game felt kind of sparse at the very beginning. It got better quickly. Unlike the first game, flying is limited, but you still have to use it as a dodge in some situations. In place of the slide, there's a backflip dodge that can be cancelled. I think the invincibility for both the flying and the backflip is limited to the direction you're facing. There's also a rapid slashing attack, and you can customize your equipment/partners before a level. There's sufficient learning curve, gameplay depth and experimentation. I did feel that the complete arsenal is not very large, and there were lengthy periods where I didn't gain any new abilities. Some of the equipment/partner options also didn't seem very useful.





[this message was edited by Moo on Sat 12 Nov 12:55]

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"Re(3):Doujin game recommendations" , posted Mon 14 Nov 02:59post reply

My favourite doujin game of the past X years is Dynamarisa 3D, but that's because I'm an EDF fanboy. Loot drops with random stat modifiers, (sometimes) hilarious Touhou things, combined into an EDF game was way more than I could ask for.

It also supports stereoscopic THREE-DEE, which makes it probably the most technologically advanced doujin game to date.





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"Persona on stage" , posted Mon 14 Nov 20:17post reply

After starting out as light novels, then games and more recently being adapted into a fighting game, Persona (4) expands its media presence getting a theathrical adaptation - apparently they also accept suggestions for the protagonist's name for every performance, which may be true to the games but probably annoys the actors.





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"Re(1):Persona on stage" , posted Mon 14 Nov 23:30post reply

quote:
- apparently they also accept suggestions for the protagonist's name for every performance, which may be true to the games but probably annoys the actors.



I'll feel bad for the poor soul who gets trolled into being 'Unko' for the night.





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"Re(2):Saint Seiya Senki" , posted Thu 1 Dec 03:05post reply

So I've noticed that the Musou-ish Saint Seiya game I lately gushed about without really having a good explanation for it has been released for PS3 this past week, so I was curious if anyone had tried it, and if so, if it's any good.

Incidentally, is there some explanation for why this particular game is so costly? It's clocking in at around $100US to import-- typically that kind of price is reserved for small-run or niche titles like Cave games, isn't it? I seem to recall that Saint Seiya is pretty popular in Japan, and even in Europe (where I'll probably import it from, eventually).






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"Re(3):Saint Seiya Senki" , posted Thu 1 Dec 06:48post reply

I'm interested in this. If anybody hears something please don't be afraid to share. I will definitely import the European version.



quote:
So I've noticed that the Musou-ish Saint Seiya game I lately gushed about without really having a good explanation for it has been released for PS3 this past week, so I was curious if anyone had tried it, and if so, if it's any good.

Incidentally, is there some explanation for why this particular game is so costly? It's clocking in at around $100US to import-- typically that kind of price is reserved for small-run or niche titles like Cave games, isn't it? I seem to recall that Saint Seiya is pretty popular in Japan, and even in Europe (where I'll probably import it from, eventually).







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"Re(3):Saint Seiya Senki" , posted Thu 1 Dec 07:44post reply

quote:
So I've noticed that the Musou-ish Saint Seiya game I lately gushed about without really having a good explanation for it has been released for PS3 this past week, so I was curious if anyone had tried it, and if so, if it's any good.



Import prices are going up up and up, but even the Asia version is pretty high on that one. Science can't explain it!

As a result, I got Basara Utage and One Piece: Gigant Battle 2 instead, so alas, I have nothing to say about Saint Seiya.

I will once again recommend Gigant Battle, though. It has the "Docking System" as an assist, and if you know what that is, that should be enough to sell you on the game. I have only a few complaints...

1) No playable Moria. Really! They have Wapol, but no Moria!? I would complain that Caribou is another silly addition, but I understand that they're trying to push the new arc. But Wapol!? The lack of a decent Thriller Bark level adds insult to injury

2) Law is boring. I guess his powers don't translate well to a fighting game.

3) The opening is so ugly, I can't make it through it. The game uses the manga designs, but the animation is still like the anime.

The fact that these are the only complaints that immediately come to mind speaks pretty well for the game, though. I wasn't originally planning on getting the game, but I'm glad I did, even if it's stopping me from winning Type-0.





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"Ueda gate" , posted Thu 1 Dec 17:31post reply

quote:

3) The opening is so ugly, I can't make it through it. The game uses the manga designs, but the animation is still like the anime.



I thought the original One Piece manga was already the pinnacle of visual ugliness, but it seems that even such heights can be surpassed... How frightening.

Oh well, since we're on the random news thread, let's drop in some random rumor: Fumito Ueda could have left Sony for good, altough he would still be working there as a freelance just to finish Torico once for all. I cannot seem to find any source in a language other than Spanish, but here you are the complete story for what's worth. Probably it will end up being just an unfounded rumour but, hey, you guys could take the opportunity to brush up your Spanish skills so you'd be able to throw offensive remarks at Shakira's old hag face on her next world tour or whatever!





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"Re(4):Saint Seiya Senki" , posted Fri 2 Dec 01:56post reply

Aha, I had figured that invoking a strange import game would summon you Polly! Sorry to hear you haven't played it, but I definitely sympathize with having a queue of games ahead of it. I'll have to see if there is a demo for it in the JP PSN store and try it out there.
quote:

I will once again recommend Gigant Battle, though. It has the "Docking System" as an assist, and if you know what that is, that should be enough to sell you on the game. I have only a few complaints...


Gah, I noticed it was out, and I recall your high praise for the first game, but again I'll bemoan the high price of this one, on top of the huge number of great games that have recently been released. It's on my list, but I'll likely wait until after the first of the year to pick it up.
quote:

1) No playable Moria. Really! They have Wapol, but no Moria!? I would complain that Caribou is another silly addition, but I understand that they're trying to push the new arc. But Wapol!? The lack of a decent Thriller Bark level adds insult to injury


That's pretty remarkable that they were able to include something like 40 playable characters, but exclude one of the most charismatic and interesting characters. And Wapol?!? Who actually wants to play as him?
quote:

2) Law is boring. I guess his powers don't translate well to a fighting game.

3) The opening is so ugly, I can't make it through it. The game uses the manga designs, but the animation is still like the anime.


I guess it's not that surprising that the OP anime is so bad looking. The style of the manga for the last several hundred chapters has been so beautifully dynamic that I'm not sure how they would translate it to animation anyway.






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"Re(5):Saint Seiya Senki" , posted Sun 4 Dec 22:08post reply

On a related note to Saint Seiya Senki, I'll leave you with this sad news: Shingo Araki passed away

What a great loss for the anime industry...