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| karasu99 1018th Post
  
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|  "Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 24 Oct 04:45:  
As always, the last random thread got way too long, so here goes with a new one.
In the spirit of a random thread, I'll mention a bunch of unrelated things:
I find myself strangely drawn to the upcoming Assassin's Creed III. I blame Oroch for suggesting I play Dishonored, and Resident Evil 6 for causing him to suggest it. The particular American war of independence setting is oddly compelling, what can I say? Anyone have any timely advice on approaching the game? I haven't played the rest of the series in any way (not even demos or Ezio in Soul Calibur!).
Also, and it's not exactly news, but i have the chance to pick up a copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for a slightly discounted rate, and I was curious if anyone here had played it, and if so, what their thoughts were about the game. In recent years I've found the music to be the most compelling thing about Final Fantasy as a series (gameplay and design were left behind for me years ago), so the subject matter is at least a good fit. I tried out the demo, but it's pretty sparse (just two songs, representing a mode each), but pretty enjoyable. The art is nicely done, the song arrangements are well carried out, and the weird random phrases before each level are oddly fun.
Speaking of demos, I've been a lazy 3DS owner for a bit now, but the Theatrhythm demo was the first I'd downloaded from the store. Are they all limited to a certain number of plays? I can't think of a single reason why they would limit plays of a demo-- especially as teeny tiny as this one is in terms of content.
www.secret-arts.com
[this message was edited by karasu99 on Wed 24 Oct 04:54] |
| Replies: |
| Pollyanna 3328th Post
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|  "Re(1):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 24 Oct 06:19
AGAIN, GIVE ME YOUR FRIEND CODES
My JP friend code is 3909-8864-0650
US is 0516-8614-9424
Add both, if you like. I would like people on both.
quote:
Also, and it's not exactly news, but i have the chance to pick up a copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for a slightly discounted rate, and I was curious if anyone here had played it, and if so, what their thoughts were about the game.
I'm not hugely fond of it, myself, but it's not bad. It has lots of lazy little things about it. The demo gives you a pretty good idea of what you're in for. It's simply lacking the stages with cinemas and character customization, I think? The cinema stages show a collection of in-game scenes from each game, for the record.
Having the original music was not a huge selling point for me. I would've liked remixed versions with unlockable originals and downloadable originals of everything else. The DLC for the game is quite robust and the game system is fun enough on higher difficulties, so if you're looking for a vehicle to replay old FF music, you'll probably like it.
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Speaking of demos, I've been a lazy 3DS owner for a bit now, but the Theatrhythm demo was the first I'd downloaded from the store. Are they all limited to a certain number of plays?
Yes. As far as I know. In America and Japan. For some it makes sense, but for others (like the 8-10 hour Bravely Default demo), it's a bit odd.
From the other thread...
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Personally, I found NSMB2 to be almost shockingly easy, as opposed to the Wii game which was the most challenging SMB I've played since SMB3. I felt the same way about the DS game as well-- it was strangely easy.
As far as 3D Land goes, I enjoyed it quite a bit since it really used the 3D of the system in a well thought out way. I just didn't find it all that much fun, all told!
I passed on NSMB2, since I severely disliked the original. I am also not super fond of the Wii version, excluding the brilliant multiplayer. The game isn't bad, it just isn't very creative. I hope that they got all their "just reuse the old ideas" out of their system and the WiiU one will be a little more exciting.
3D Land, in my opinion, takes the old concepts and recreates them in a charming way. It feels just like playing an old Mario game, but also like playing something new.
But I'm not really a big Mario fan, so my opinion might be skewed.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| KTallguy 1439th Post
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|  "Re(2):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 24 Oct 08:49
I like the pumpkin icon. :)
This is random, but I've been playing this game on and off, it's called "The Real Texas", and it's kinda like a combination of Ultima and Zelda. The story is off beat and kinda quirky, the music is great, the combat is interesting, and it's got a really unique look to it.
I haven't beaten it yet, because of other games and stuff, but what I've played so far has stuck in my memory. It's not an easy game, because it genuinely expects you to think through and explore the world. Some of the puzzles require a bit of thought. There are forums if you get stuck though.
Anyway, just throwing it out there :)
PS: I'm dressing up as a special Abraham Lincoln for my 30th Halloween on this planet. Any cool halloween plans?
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
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| karasu99 1018th Post
PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(2):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 24 Oct 08:50
quote:
AGAIN, GIVE ME YOUR FRIEND CODES
My JP friend code is 3909-8864-0650
US is 0516-8614-9424
Add both, if you like. I would like people on both.
Added! My friend code (US) is 4167-5411-1174.
quote:
I passed on NSMB2, since I severely disliked the original. I am also not super fond of the Wii version, excluding the brilliant multiplayer. The game isn't bad, it just isn't very creative. I hope that they got all their "just reuse the old ideas" out of their system and the WiiU one will be a little more exciting.
3D Land, in my opinion, takes the old concepts and recreates them in a charming way. It feels just like playing an old Mario game, but also like playing something new.
But I'm not really a big Mario fan, so my opinion might be skewed.
I think Mario games in general suffer from a lack of seriously new ideas-- grabbing all the coins you can is not enough of a new idea as far as I'm concerned. But then I think the average fan is looking for every Mario game for the foreseeable future to have the Raccoon Suit rather than some new cool idea. But then I'm one of those fans, and I find them to be pretty charming since they're almost always well made and enjoyable, if in no way original.
Speaking of 3DS games, I'm really enjoying Code of Princess as I move through the story mode. The game feels a lot better once you begin leveling up and being able to kill things without hitting them 1000 times. As has been said before, the character designs are well done and charming and extremely varied (at least for the main characters). Like in Guardian Heroes, all the incidental characters feel understandable broken and/or unfinished (and cheap when played against others online).
So, what else should I be playing on the 3DS? Polly, you have remarkably close taste to mine-- what would you recommend? I've already got Tales of the Abyss, both Mario games, and Kid Icarus, in addition to CoP.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3329th Post
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| "Re(3):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 24 Oct 10:33
quote:
This is random, but I've been playing this game on and off, it's called "The Real Texas", and it's kinda like a combination of Ultima and Zelda. The story is off beat and kinda quirky, the music is great, the combat is interesting, and it's got a really unique look to it.
Whoa, interesting! I never would've heard of that if you hadn't mentioned it. What on earth brought you to that game?
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I think Mario games in general suffer from a lack of seriously new ideas-- grabbing all the coins you can is not enough of a new idea as far as I'm concerned. But then I think the average fan is looking for every Mario game for the foreseeable future to have the Raccoon Suit rather than some new cool idea.
Well, when you think in terms of going from Mario 1 to 3 to World, to Yoshi's Island to Mario 64, it feels like they were exploding with new ideas. Mario Galaxy is exploding with ideas. NSMB Wii had ONE super great idea. But again, what do I know, since I couldn't stand NSMB (DS) and that sold like...INSANITY.
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Speaking of 3DS games, I'm really enjoying Code of Princess as I move through the story mode. The game feels a lot better once you begin leveling up and being able to kill things without hitting them 1000 times.
Just got the game like..5 minutes ago, but with Bravely Default and Project X Zone coming tomorrow, who knows when I'll get to it.
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So, what else should I be playing on the 3DS? Polly, you have remarkably close taste to mine-- what would you recommend? I've already got Tales of the Abyss, both Mario games, and Kid Icarus, in addition to CoP.
I'm a 3DS rookie, so I don't have anything you don't, except Theatrythm. I've heard Mario Kart is good for Mario Kart. If I had 4 local friends with 3DSs I'd get it, but I'm not too interested otherwise. I didn't mean to diss Theatrythm too hard. It's worth playing, but I wouldn't have astronomical expectations.
Side note, but did you ever play Gravity Daze, by the way? I just bought that for a second time (1 Japanese, 1 English) because I love it so much and it'll save me some DLC hassle.
I was going to get the 999 sequel on Vita, but that would put me at $60 spent on PSN for the month after Dokuro. Since they have the "Spend $100 get $20 back" that would put me in "dangerously close to spending money on something I don't need just to get the deal" territory.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1019th Post
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| "Re(4):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Thu 25 Oct 02:33
quote:
Well, when you think in terms of going from Mario 1 to 3 to World, to Yoshi's Island to Mario 64, it feels like they were exploding with new ideas. Mario Galaxy is exploding with ideas. NSMB Wii had ONE super great idea. But again, what do I know, since I couldn't stand NSMB (DS) and that sold like...INSANITY.
Good point-- Galaxy, especially 2, is amazing, as were there NES and SNES games. Yoshi's Island may be in my top 5! The whole NSMB series, however, just feels like they figured everybody loved SMB3, so why not just take its powerups and bosses and throw them into a few more games?
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Side note, but did you ever play Gravity Daze, by the way? I just bought that for a second time (1 Japanese, 1 English) because I love it so much and it'll save me some DLC hassle.
YES!!! I love that game-- in all likelihood it's going to end up being my favorite game of the year. Not only is it a really fun game to play, it's also got such a great overall style and excellent music.
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This is random, but I've been playing this game on and off, it's called "The Real Texas", and it's kinda like a combination of Ultima and Zelda. The story is off beat and kinda quirky, the music is great, the combat is interesting, and it's got a really unique look to it.
Hah, that looks fantastic! I really like its style! Thanks for linking to it! Like Polly I'm curious how you ever came across it though.
www.secret-arts.com
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| chazumaru 951th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(8):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Thu 25 Oct 09:58
I want to stop playing Fire Emblem but it won't let me 
All my female characters are harlots begging to get a bun baked in the oven faster than Sailor Hitler.
Speaking of annoying addictions...
quote:
Also, and it's not exactly news, but i have the chance to pick up a copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for a slightly discounted rate, and I was curious if anyone here had played it, and if so, what their thoughts were about the game.
I spent around 100 hours with the game. It's nothing ingenious or breathtaking as the game simply mixes mechanics from three excellent rhythm games (Gitaroo Man, Ouendan and Pop'n' Music) then adds an XP/grinding layer similar to most RPGs and MMORPGs. Although I am disappointed that only two characters from each game appear in the roster, I thought it was really well done and a testament to Indies Zero's skill as a developer. It made me quite nostalgic of several FF titles such as FF9, which would probably be a terrible idea to play again.
Earlier this year, I would have made THTRHTRHM an important element of the 3DS library, but the catalogue has picked up since then... As Pollyanna mentioned, the demo gives a good idea of what awaits you.
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I was going to get the 999 sequel on Vita
You may have done so already but I strongly encourage you to try the demo on 3DS and Vita before you buy that game on Vita.
Unlike Level Five's Time Travellers, I found the Vita version to be very sloppily adapted from the (3)DS interface. As a result, the game is much more comfortable to play on 3DS.
Apparently The new Danbooru Senki W suffers from the same "lazy port" issue as it takes no advantage of the Vita interface and instead follows the PSP version to a T (i.e. no use of the touch screen or second stick). I wish developers would understand that the potential interface upgrade on Vita is as important as the visual upgrade...
78… 78… 絵札はさすらい ♪ 78… 78… 秩序は廻る ♪ 78… 78… 絵札はさすらい ♪ 78… 78… 未来を示す
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| Pollyanna 3330th Post
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| "Re(6):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Fri 26 Oct 02:00
Bravely Default is exceeding expectations, which is probably the nicest thing I've ever said about a game before. Also, the game is reasonably accommodating for people who can't use Street Pass to recruit townspeople.
I didn't know you could change the name of your "Limit Breaks" as well as what the characters say when they do them! Each character also has their own theme song that plays during and after the attack. A cute little touch in a game full of cute little touches!
Although it looks like this will justify my purchase of a Japanese 3DS in itself, I know it doesn't make sense to tell other people "buy a Japanese 3DS for this-it's worth it." But I will say, even if you miss out on the game, DO NOT miss out on the soundtrack. It might seriously be my favorite game OST ever. It, at the very least, holds the distinction of "arguably #1".
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Code of Princess
I've played a fair amount now. The game is very plot intensive! I find the levels a bit short, though, especially when coupled with lengthy cinemas. I'm finishing some of these in like, 15 seconds. When I think in terms of playing with people online, I'd like a "full game" experience. Perhaps there's a mode I'm overlooking?
I'm having fun pouring all my EXP into MND, like I did in the original Guardian Heroes, though I think it's breaking the game. The 360 GH was smartly rebalanced to avoid this sort of thing, but I sometimes miss the madness of the original where I would lock enemies and friends alike into 200+ hit combos. All I could say to my poor friends is "Sorry, I have a good thing going here."
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Mario
Just to point out my mild hypocrisy here, I talk about how I want more innovation in Mario games, but when Mario 64 came out, I was totally turned off. I think 3D Land would've been a better move into 3D for the first time, as 64 didn't "feel like Mario" to me. The game is still highly regarded, but I never could get into it. I still can't.
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You may have done so already but I strongly encourage you to try the demo on 3DS and Vita before you buy that game on Vita.
I don't believe the Vita version has dual-language support, so the controls would have to be pretty appalling (or the Japanese voice track pretty bad) to trump that AND HD visuals.
quote:
Time Travellers
Was this any good? It seemed like it got zero buzz, so I never picked it up.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Gojira 2889th Post
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| "Re(7):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Fri 26 Oct 04:06
quote:
It might seriously be my favorite game OST ever. It, at the very least, holds the distinction of "arguably #1".
Although I hadn't planned to get the game yet (really Zero Escape takes priority for me) I have been looking into Sound Horizon's works on youtube since hearing they were doing the soundtrack, and wow talk about unique. Not to be pretentious, but it's not even music so much as drama; they weave dramatic story to music like modern-day bards. They cover fairy tales, mythology, history, really amazing stuff.
I can't recommend any single one, just do a search for "sound horizon" on youtube. I will say that Song of Dusk off their Marchen album is batshit insane, though. Beethoven, Chopin, even Hatsune Miku is thrown in there, and somehow it all just works.
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| karasu99 1020th Post
PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(1):Hotline Miami is pretty remarkable" , posted Fri 26 Oct 06:03
quote:
Interesting that two games about rampaging in the 80's/early 90's have come out in October!
It looks pretty great-- and weird, but then I'm not surprised given that Jonathan Söderström is involved. It reminds me a bit of Smash TV as well, which I'm sure is at least part of the point. Thanks for pointing it out! Once I'm done with the Real Texas, I'll check it out!
I downloaded the demo for the other rampaging in the late 80's/early 90's game, Retro City Rampage, a week or so back, and I found it to be pretty fun, completely nuts, quite a bit AD/HD, but overall really well done. I will note though that I was completely distracted by the constant barrage of references though.
As far as Kickstarter goes, there's nothing as far as I can tell to ensure that a project you back will actually get made, but there is definitely a disclaimer that's part of the process of setting up a project that removes any liability on Kickstarter's part, as well as wording stating that if you don't come through with the promised items, legal action might be taken against you.
I think it's ultimately a good thing overall, but it's troubling to see huge $100K plus projects being put up, which would likely get made even if not for the Kickstarter-- it may just be a means of removing pesky financiers from the process and getting the money up-front. While I think the spirit of Kickstarter is one of 'the little guy', I suspect it will become more and more involved with megaprojects.
www.secret-arts.com
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| KTallguy 1440th Post
PSN: Hunter-KT
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| "Hey Y'all" , posted Fri 26 Oct 06:56
quote:
Interesting that two games about rampaging in the 80's/early 90's have come out in October!
Yes it is! I have Retro City Rampage. I think it's a good time killer, some cool sequences and humor but it doesn't have too much meat on it's bones. 15 bucks kinda stings... but it was fun. I'm watching a video of Hotline Miami feels almost... cheaper. But hilarious. And my internet sucks so the video won't load. :(
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but then I'm not surprised given that Jonathan Söderström is involved
Oh shit well I'll refrain from passing judgement until I've played it. This guy are sick.
How did I find The Real Texas? Hmmm. I think I stumbled upon it through other forums, maybe? I follow a lot of indie game circles (because I'm sorta trying to do that myself), and I'll play a bunch of weird stuff that is sometimes free, but sometimes costs money. Anyway I found this particular game to be really endearing, and it also is a very full, fleshed out experience with combat, a story, puzzles, and other mechanics. But hell if you've heard of Jonathan Söderström, I figure you'd have heard of this game too.
Oh and Ishmael, it IS convoluted! It's hilarious how you can type special conversation topics to people, even though it's not really necessary, and hard to remember when you might want to use it. And fishing for keys in the silly inventory system is a pain. The controls are this odd mix of mouse and keyboard that doesn't translate to a controller at all... it's so weird! Which makes it charming, I guess.
The only video game Kickstarter I've supported is THIS!! (Republique, the Ryan Payton game) Precisely because I want my phone to also have games like a DS or Vita or PSP, real games. That's not to say I take oh my's position on the subject, but I think there would be less complaining if more really high quality stuff was properly published on these devices. Normally I don't really see the point of doing kickstarter, but in this case it's something that's an original, risky IP on a device. I want the market to move in a good direction, so I'm willing to help with my moneys. </rant>
PS: I LOVE GRAVITY DAZE/RUSH, it's such an awesome game. It feels like Kiki's delivery service!
PPS: If you have some spare time and want your mind blown into several pieces, please have some fractions!
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
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| karasu99 1021th Post
PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(1):Hey Y'all" , posted Fri 26 Oct 07:19
quote:
Oh shit well I'll refrain from passing judgement until I've played it. This guy are sick.
Har, exactly. I'm something of a fan-- some of his stuff isn't just bizarre, it's downright haunting. The music for this game, in particular, comes to mind. The game itself is of course totally effed up.
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I follow a lot of indie game circles (because I'm sorta trying to do that myself)
We should talk sometime off-forum, since it seems we may have similar goals and interests. chris dot harback at gmail dot com if you care to.
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fractions
Haha, I was playing that earlier today when I should have been working! Funny that Brandon's comment was at the top of the list there!
Oh, and Professor, I'm sorry to hear about your candy corn angst, since they're an annual favorite of mine. I would have thought it would be something the Japanese would be totally into! I'm sorry to hear you can't find them!
www.secret-arts.com
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| karasu99 1023th Post
PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(3):Hey Y'all" , posted Fri 26 Oct 23:53
quote:
We should talk sometime off-forum, since it seems we may have similar goals and interests. chris dot harback at gmail dot com if you care to.
Oh man, if only KTall's schedule hadn't kept him in SoCal for the MMCafe San Francisco Convention earlier in the year! Karasu, did you or Gregaman mail him that photo at least? It was like a virtual party. We all seem to keep hopping from coastal city to coastal city on the Pacific rim, but one day we'll get another one of these things going.
That's right, we did come perilously close to meeting! The MMCafe San Francisco Convention was quite a lot of fun-- we should all try and do that kind of thing more often! While I'd love to entice everyone to come up here to Portland, I'm pretty sure I'm the only Cafe denizen who lives here.
Maou, which photo did you mean? I'm sure I'm just blanking on it, but then it's pretty early here.
Since this is the official Random Game Thread, I feel obligated to actually, you know, mention a game, so here you go. It's well put together, kinda pretty, and overall cool. Bonus points: it's a small studio-produced game. Bonus Bonus points: it was a successfully Kickstarted project!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Gojira 2893th Post
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| "Zero Escape from bugs" , posted Sat 3 Nov 05:59:
Okay, so I got Zero Escape on the 3DS, and while the game itself is great and I'm enjoying it, bugs have really marred the experience. Already I've had the game freeze on me twice and I'm only like 4-5 hours in, and even though it hasn't happened to me I'm hearing that some people have had their entire savegames corrupted and had to start over after playing for dozens of hours. The only known thing right now is that they definitely happen because of saving during certain escape sections, but it's not known which ones trigger the issue. So just to be safe I'm only saving during the novel portions.
My question here is, did the JP version have these same issues? I hadn't heard anything before, but then I was also trying not to hear anything about the game in general, so maybe that's my own fault.
Anyway just a heads-up for anyone thinking of getting it. I hear the Vita version also has some freezes as well, but no reports of savegame corruption.
[this message was edited by Gojira on Sat 3 Nov 06:00] |
| badoor 288th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK
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Copper Customer
| "MGR:R Demo thoughts" , posted Sat 3 Nov 23:59:
Sorry I didn't reply earlier but I hope everyone in the US east coast is ok.
quote:
Zero Escape Bugs
What a shame. I'm about to finish 999 and am planing to get Zero Escape for the 3DS. I feel that, especially with a 3DS XL, the system works (nay, have already shown to be) better for adventure titles, plus you get better "packaging" I feel. But I can wait to see how things turn out. Paper Mario should be enough of a time sink.
Metal Gear Rising: Sons Of Liberty Demo
So I bought the ZOE HD collection, played the MGR Demo several times for a few days, heard about the ZOE2 fps problems, and then sold it to a friend for a good price. And now I'm waiting to see if I can get the LE 360 version., or just the 360 version.
Generally, MGR:R it feels like a PG action game with a few control elements taken from Assassin's Creed or the Batman: Arkham games. Ninja Run mainly functions like AC free running mode. And regular attack seems similar to Batman's (i.e. animation and movement adapts to enemy position and distance) though not as "sticky" and that's only for regular attack, strong attack is more "traditional" feeling. But the biggest factor I think is that there is no guard nor evade buttons. The fact that you need to parry using the attack button makes blocking more of "an event", so enemies tend to telegram their attacks very early and very clearly.
Stealth, while functional, is nowhere near as complex as MGS. The main problem is that the enemy doesn't communicate their intentions clearly, none of that "Huh, what was that noise?" stuff. It's hard to know if either you're in full alert status or if an individual is merely "distracted" by something you did. But in the end, other than a hostage situation or to insta-kill tough enemies, stealth feels uncritical with regular goons, who seem to die instantly with 1 slash in blade mode but for some reason take a lot of abuse with regular attacks.
Blade mode seems like something that's extremely unnecessarily accurate. I mean other than the childish joy of slicing a man from scrotum to head or filleting a man's face, there's no danger in slicing people through a wrong angle, other than not getting a health/meter boost with the ZANDATSU mechanic. I kind of wish it has a bit of Zelda: Skyward Sword, where some enemies can block your blade from a certain angle but are open from others. I'm sure this demo is just early basic easy mode enemy type and things will get more complex and harder a few hours more in the full game. And looking at this guy he seems to be exactly the type of challenge that I was talking about. I hope some of that comes through with regular enemies though.
It's a great game overall but it's not yet a total homerun. Again, I'm guessing all my concerns should be amended with the full game.
[this message was edited by badoor on Sun 4 Nov 02:12] |
| Pollyanna 3331th Post
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| "Re(8):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Sun 4 Nov 08:02
quote:
Although I hadn't planned to get the game yet (really Zero Escape takes priority for me) I have been looking into Sound Horizon's works on youtube since hearing they were doing the soundtrack, and wow talk about unique. Not to be pretentious, but it's not even music so much as drama; they weave dramatic story to music like modern-day bards. They cover fairy tales, mythology, history, really amazing stuff.
I can't recommend any single one, just do a search for "sound horizon" on youtube. I will say that Song of Dusk off their Marchen album is batshit insane, though. Beethoven, Chopin, even Hatsune Miku is thrown in there, and somehow it all just works.
Sorry for the grossly late response on this. I had written off Sound Horizon as "too dorky" in the past, but I have to admit when I saw a video of them playing live I was like "I want to do this!"
I got the BD vocal CD (Luxendarc Daikikou) and was reasonably pleased. Some of the lyrics are straight up silly, but it was neat that Revo got to make "his own" album with the music. Also, there's a little song that the Superstar Girl, Purin sings in the game that isn't on the OST, but is made into a full song on the Linked Horizon CD.
Song of Dusk is great, but I can live without the lengthy German mumbling intro.
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But ZOE2 is a pretty damn good game. You should give it a shot if you can. ZOE1 was a great vehicle for the MGS2 demo, and a semi-rushed, half baked game. ZOE2 is basically the real deal... and hopefully the upcoming ZOE3 is good.
Seconded. I played ZOE2 not too long ago and it still stood up pretty well. I wouldn't waste time with ZOE1, but if ZOE2 looks like something you would enjoy, I don't think it'll disappoint.
I had considered getting the HD version, but I already have the (old) artbook and I have way too much other stuff to play right now any way.
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Unit-08! New characters! Asuka in space! Lovin' it!
If this somehow turns out to not be awesome, I think it might break my brain. The last movie had me biting my lip and digging my fingernails into my thighs in a way that I didn't know was possible anymore. I think I might have even thrown up my arms in wild delight a few times and I didn't even think of myself as an EVA fan anymore.
quote:
I can't say I was ever in love with the original characters.
Same here, though in the last movie, I (unexpectedly!) felt myself desperately hoping Rei wouldn't die. It's amazing to me that the new movies play like a time loop that I've been stuck in for 15 years, where it's like "maybe it'll turn out different this time!"
quote:
Metal Gear Rising: Sons Of Liberty Demo
Thanks for the impressions! I have high hopes for the creative use of Blade Mode, so I'm with you in wishing they take it a little further. Hearing that they took a cue from the Arkham games is exciting as well. The fights had such a nice rhythm to them and they felt like an important step towards a more "cinematic" feel in combat without sacrificing too much on the game end.
I feel like the "no dodging or blocking" mechanic is going to cause a lot of complaints from critics, though. Like, "No stealth, no dodging, we want Snake, Japan can't make games anymore 4/10".
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Mosquiton 1841th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "MGS Rising Revengeance "hidden commands"" , posted Sun 4 Nov 14:31
quote:
I feel like the "no dodging or blocking" mechanic is going to cause a lot of complaints from critics, though. Like, "No stealth, no dodging, we want Snake, Japan can't make games anymore 4/10".
My friend and I actually figured out a few interesting things about the game from the demo (although I wouldn't doubt other people had noticed them too) but I thought I'd share for anyone interested.
First off there actually is some kind of dodge. Try pressing Square + X and a direction; Raiden will do a dodging slash. Without the direction, it's a retreating slash. If you're locked onto an enemy (hold R2) and do this, you can actually swing around behind them.
There a few more things. Forward, forward, Square is the launch command while forward, forward, triangle is a nice lunging stab (connecting it lets you cancel into free cutting mode).
Doing a 360 motion and hitting triangle will do a breakdancing spinny-foot sword dance move (probably very similar to an action performed in a MGS4 cinema sequence) that's not particularly practical but hits multiple times and does pretty big damage.
I like the demo overall. Parrying is fun! I'm glad there's no whiff animation.
/ / /
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| Nobinobita 1110th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(4):MGS Rising Revengeance" , posted Tue 6 Nov 04:00
quote:
Between Wreck-It Ralph, Shrek and Monsters Inc. it seems a lot of animated films are about lumpy old guys who complain about their jobs. Is that what kids are into nowadays?
I think it's more that plots about the reality of a grinding daily job and how nobility/virtue/etc. can be rediscovered in them, or how those jobs can be abandoned without that being the end of the world, are immensely appealing to parents. When I talk about how a key part of REDLINE is the dogged pursuit of a dream, no matter how stupid or how small or how stereotypical or how literally foreign (JP pursuing a very American dream) that dream is, that's a perspective that has more and more appeal to me the older I've gotten. In some cases (like REDLINE) where that theme is a very real expression for the artists' own sentiment with respect to the very making of that piece, it becomes that much more poignant.
YES! Well said!
Redline is an amazing blueprint for how to make your dreams come true (work hard, prepare to eat a lot of shit, don't be an asshole, when opportunity comes you better seize it!). The fact that the movie exists is a miracle, and proof of its own message. The older (and more tired!) I get, the more I cherish that movie.
www.art-eater.com
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| Nekros 516th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(4):NGE Rising Revengeance" , posted Tue 6 Nov 23:27:
quote:
Between Wreck-It Ralph, Shrek and Monsters Inc. it seems a lot of animated films are about lumpy old guys who complain about their jobs. Is that what kids are into nowadays?
Can't forget the Incredibles in that list, especially when the main character gets himself fired, lies to his wife about it and stil has no job by the end of the movie.
The only lumpy old guy I remember was from Up... I think Pixar has really a thing for nostalgic memes (toys, young age, arcades, even the "moral" of Ratatouille hints that). It makes me feel a bit aged sometimes.
Ah, right: Evangelion. That glimpse of Q almost gave me a boner. Seriously, I'm sentimentally involved with that series till the beginning. Every movie in the new series is more and more engaging and intriguing. I also love the fact they hold a bit the psychological and philosophical aspects in favor of action and mystery, and they use also Salomonic occultism along Kabbalah. And I'm in favor of the metempsychosis theory in the new series, so I see that more a sequel than a remake of the original NGE. It's a Shin-Shinseiki to me. Also loved the manga and the more "human" approach of Sadamoto to the story, even with the changes that most people seem to hate. So, don't take me seriously when speaking about Evangelion, I'm a fanboy -_-
Ans as much as I am of the original, I hate with all my soul that atrocious doujin side projects such as Raising Project, The Eva Shojo or the other abortion where they fight angels in human form.
[this message was edited by Nekros on Tue 6 Nov 23:50] |
| KTallguy 1452th Post
PSN: Hunter-KT
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(8):Oboro Muramasa Vita pretty stuff" , posted Fri 9 Nov 10:23:
quote:
Man, that's alarming. What have you heard about their labor practices?
Well, I went to their office at about 10 in the evening after having dinner with their boss, and the whole team was there grinding away. We went and had a drink with the bossman, and then after an hour or so he's like "ok, I have to go back to work now."
I don't think that the company is exploitative or terrible, they're passionate developers and have a crazy eye for detail, and they work extremely hard. However it's really a shame that they have to stoop to working 14-18 hour days for long stretches of time, sacrificing their health and any personal time to make something of that quality. I would like to live in a world where creators such as Vanillaware are able to be funded properly and valued as a talented studio by a publisher, instead of being grinded into the floor by the realities of the economy and their niche project.
If Rayman can be a crazy 2D game that sells a lot of copies, it would be nice if Vanillaware could reach that level of success without killing themselves.
I'm not sure what the main cause of their situation is, it could be a combination of multiple factors: crappy processes that waste man hours, unbelievably impossible schedules, amazing attention to detail, bad business decisions that left them unable to create games in a realistic timeframe, etc. But Vanillaware is like Cing was, or MADHOUSE, or any of those small, niche, crazy-passionate studios... they suffer for their art and try to create something amazing for the world. It was just sad to see them like that, and to know that they have been doing the same thing, day in and day out, probably for many years without stopping, and only being able to afford 5 dollar shitty bentos for lunch and dinner.
But selfishly, I want and hope that the game comes out, and soon if possible. Time to crack that whip?
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
[this message was edited by KTallguy on Fri 9 Nov 10:24] |
| Pollyanna 3334th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10): pretty stuff" , posted Tue 13 Nov 21:14
Just finished Bravely Default, so I thought I'd post some little notes about the game that people might not know yet.
*It has a guy named Brave Lee in it.
*It's full of death, crazy people and bitterly depressing things.
*You get your summon spells from stuttering owl wizards.
*Some of the villains are very bad people. They made me think "I have got to stop this guy."
*An oddly huge amount of the game is totally optional. If you skipped it all, I imagine the game would seem empty and confusing. I had a tear-filled emotional resolution to the entire story in a completely optional scene.
*The town you build is a great idea, but it's very simple and completed very quickly. I imagine this feature will be hugely expanded upon in the sequel.
*Without spoiling too much, to get the true ending the "last chapter" must be replayed several times in what can be described as "mini new game+s" This will undoubtedly annoy a lot of people.
*The game explains both you as a player and the existence of every other player in the game, in game terms (and it totally works).
*The last boss fight is so long, my battery almost ran out in the middle of it. The fight was inventive, but boy did I ever want that thing to die.
*One of the characters has a notebook that tells the future. If you read it, you'll be spoiled.
All in all, it was a great game, but not quite as good as its soundtrack. The writing felt really fresh and the side stories were fantastic, but most of the game was spent dangling the truth just out of reach instead of providing actual plot developments. There were so many scenes like "And the horrible secret behind everything is--(cut)."
I had a great time with the class system and there are a huge amount of skills to play with (like 300+). Although some classes are useless to stick with, you can mix and match passive skills from all classes and set a secondary class battle command (like white/black magic)as a sub. For example, Superstar has good skills, but is not good to keep as your main class. Freelancer is no fun, but their "Encounter rate down" skill was a must. My Ringabel was a Dark Knight sub Superstar, which is obviously the only correct choice for him.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| GekigangerV 1796th Post
PSN: gekijmo
XBL: gekijmo5
Wii: n/a
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(7):Random Thread: October Edition!" , posted Wed 14 Nov 11:45
quote:
No kidding? I live in Boca, maybe I should cheggit out.
Ah man, if I saw this earlier maybe we could have tried to meet up.
More info for ya
So I made the drive from Miami to Boca Raton to go see the "Art of Video Games" exhibit. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. As a fairly ardent follower of video games nothing really caught my eye there and it appears to be an exhibit to appeal to the general population who don't really follow games. They have all the major consoles set up where they give an example of a game in either the action, adventure, tactics or target genres and you get to see them progress through out the year.
The only interesting thing to me was at the beginning of the exhibit they had a little slide show about the advance of mechanics over the console generations. Stuff like shooting, exploring, flying, etc. with an example from a game from each generation. I would have liked that to be a bit more fleshed out as each mechanic was only given a couple of sentences and really didn't express how far some things have really come.
I noticed that they had to keep on referring to sprites and quickly defining them everytime a video mentioned it. It would have been nice to see a quick slide show about how pixels make up a sprite and how color limitations and patterns were used to shade them as I think a lot of people would be surprised what could be done with 16 colors in the SNES days.
There was a small side display with some playable games. Arcade Pac-Man, NES Super Mario Bros, Monkey Island, Myst and Flower on the PS3. I tried out Flower for the first time and I really enjoyed it and will probably download it.
Damn, that FF14 trailer kind of resparked the dark abyss that FF13 left in my heart. If only my laptop could handle more serious games.
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| Pollyanna 3338th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Brave" , posted Sat 24 Nov 06:42
I am extremely fond of Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. I heard good things about it and picked it up, so I am now spreading that good word in hopes that someone else will do the same. If nothing else, if you're on the line about the game, I highly recommend it. It's only $40, after all and it has Gilius Thunderhead.
Some of the cast decisions are a little off (3 monkeys!?) , but the levels are absolutely insane and the system is just crazy enough. I haven't loved a racing game this much since Motor Toon Grand Prix (whatever that means).
quote:
I just beat Victor and that really, really annoying bitch Victoria last night.
I couldn't get enough of Victoria's voice actress. She's really like...8 years old. Victor is an enabler. I blame him for everything.
quote:
I am about 60 hours in thanks to an unhealthy obsession with the GepuGepu job point farming spot. Your post reminded me to open the 3DS and check my village for what I believe will be the final crafting update.
Since I've taken so long to respond to this, you probably know this already, but the game gets quite generous with JP as you move along. I guess the idea was that if you have one class at 14, the balance can allow for you to have several. You're probably quite strong, though! I had to fight the temptation to level myself, to keep the game challenging.
Also possibly too late (?) but be sure you have some friends before the end of the game if you don't already.
And
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Be sure to fight Papa Brave in the last or next to last "thing" before the end. Very moving scene, especially if you like Anazel.
End of Spoiler
quote:
My Ringabell is a very effective Furry (sub Superstar). It's giving a very disturbing tone to most cutscenes.
Hunter is SOOO effective! Bows are too strong! I used it as a "crutch" class when I needed to level less effective ones. I love how they hold their arrows in their tails, but I wanted to avoid using it, because it kind of...well...as you said, added a disturbing tone.
My only big complaint about class balance is that thief felt too important. The "steal up" ability taking up 3 slots was nuts and with only one accessory slot, the accessory was costly to equip as well. Since the boss battles are quick and deadly, if you didn't use a thief, you were likely to either accidentally kill the boss or get killed yourself while you were trying to steal.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1036th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(3):Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 Teaser" , posted Wed 5 Dec 07:31
quote:
I sort of stumbled upon Musou Orochi for WiiU and holy crap, anything you might have heard about crazy ass slowdown and frame rate drops and people disappearing is totally true. Did anyone get the game on PS3? Is there much of this nonsense?
That aside, playing two-player without having to share the screen with someone is a very appealing prospect. I find split-screen Musou borderline unplayable.
Also, I love that somehow, they already worked Orochi into a different numbering system than Japan. It only took 2 games!
Speaking of funky ports, just to chime in, Chaz was not kidding about the Vita version of Zero Escape 2. It's downright unpleasant to do just about anything. Also, the English script it quite different than the Japanese. Listening to one and reading another is a bit odd. The English script is certainly more lively than the Japanese, but I feel that it overdoes it from time to time.
Hah, that's pretty amazing that Musou Orochi for WiiU is quite that bad! Those are all things that I would expect were big no-nos for modern game releases. I wonder if it's actually a problem related to the WiiU or if it's just that it was rushed to release for the launch. I can't comment on the PS3 version-- I wanted to buy it, but in the US it's download only and clocks in at some ridiculous size. I don't have the drive space to spare and I'm too lazy to go through the trouble of swapping my drive for a bigger one.
Speaking of WiiU, I'm in Australia at the moment and I was surprised to see that at an EB Games store there were tons of WiiU systems for sale, whereas in the US they were nowhere to be found. Too bad they're likely region locked or else I'd consider the impulse buy!
Speaking of Musou, it looks like Hokuto Musou 2 has been confirmed for a US release in February! Also looks like there will be a WiiU version that I won't be considering. Also, Shura Country arc content has been definitively confirmed as well, hooray!
Lastly, suspicion seems to be that SquareEnix is bringing Bravely Default to the US as 'All the Bravest'. It's great how ridiculously the crowd of trademark-registration-watchers has grown over the years!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3343th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Thu 6 Dec 04:47
quote:
So, on top of Jojo ASB who has all my attention and undevided love, Naruto ultimate ninja whatever, Kaizoku Musou 2 just confirmed for One Piece, Shin Hokuto Musou 2, Dragon Ball random subtitle, and surely other stuff I never heard off like Trico or Gintama, here's another Jump crossover game coming.
http://twitpic.com/bj9gf6
Let's hope Gambarion is making it!
I'd like a game from Ganbarion as well, but that really looks like Luffy's render from Kaizoku Musou, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's another damned Musou game. This is sick. I would have my plate full if I ONLY played Musou games. The announcement of Kaizoku Musou 2 has pretty much discouraged me from getting (Shin) Hokuto Musou, since I'm already playing Musou Orochi. Never mind that the new Sangoku Musou is coming out soon (which I normally wouldn't care about, but the last one was so good...)
Speaking of Musou games, I have reconfirmed my overwhelmingly negative opinion of Sengoku Musou thanks to Musou Orochi. All of the Sengoku characters I've played are so boring in comparison to the newer Sangoku ones.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1040th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Thu 6 Dec 07:24
quote:
I'd like a game from Ganbarion as well, but that really looks like Luffy's render from Kaizoku Musou, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's another damned Musou game. This is sick. I would have my plate full if I ONLY played Musou games. The announcement of Kaizoku Musou 2 has pretty much discouraged me from getting (Shin) Hokuto Musou, since I'm already playing Musou Orochi. Never mind that the new Sangoku Musou is coming out soon (which I normally wouldn't care about, but the last one was so good...)
Speaking of Musou games, I have reconfirmed my overwhelmingly negative opinion of Sengoku Musou thanks to Musou Orochi. All of the Sengoku characters I've played are so boring in comparison to the newer Sangoku ones.
It's funny, my impression has always been that Musou games are a niche market, even in Japan, and yet we've gotten an increasing number of them over the last 5 years or so. Personally I love playing them, even though I feel like they're a guilty pleasure since they're relatively brainless despite the fact that they involve some strategy at higher difficulties. Plus for some reason my brain responds to them as though they're crack or something. Shameful!
Polly, feel like talking about the parts of the Wii U Musou Orochi that aren't horribly broken? I'm contemplating the PS3 or X360 version and... oh hell, of course I'm going to buy it, but I want to get your opinion as well.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3344th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Thu 6 Dec 09:04
quote:
Polly, feel like talking about the parts of the Wii U Musou Orochi that aren't horribly broken? I'm contemplating the PS3 or X360 version and... oh hell, of course I'm going to buy it, but I want to get your opinion as well.
Well, I only played Orochi briefly and never touched Orochi 2, so it it might be all the same. So, please excuse me if I fill this with information you already know.
The Dynasty Warriors 7 characters play like their DW counterparts and that's really all it needs for success. The Sengoku characters seem to be really stiff in comparison, which also matches my memory of Sengoku 3. The story mode is based on the the idea of going back in time to save people who died. That would be really fun if they had it play out in actually historical battles, but applying it to crossover battles (from other Orochi games, I take it) makes the plot kind of pointless. Also the magma and such make the levels all look kind of same-y. In that respect, it can't really compare to DW7's excellent story mode.
However, in terms of just...general flow, it's arguably more fun, with huge masses of enemies and 3 armies to contend with. I don't know if the move set is quite as robust as DW7, and you don't seem to have multiple Musou attacks, but the team dynamic and sheer number of characters makes up for it. The system for unlocking things and getting weapons is extremely painless. I haven't tried all of the non-story modes yet, though.
Also, it has some of my favorite songs from other games, so that's nice.
I don't know...there's nothing I dislike about the game, but it's a cut-and-paste job, so I can't give it the same credit I give DW7. It's a nice vehicle for scratching a Musou itch, but there's like, a bajillion things for that. I got the game as part of a deal, but I wouldn't have bought it for full-price unless they stopped making Musou games and I really wanted one to play. I mean, DW8 is coming out in February, isn't it? I WAS looking foward to that, but buying this game has now made me not want to buy two other games.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Iggy 9398th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Thu 6 Dec 21:04
The problem with so many Musou games is that they are very CPU-intensive games, and that's the WiiU's main weakness. If the WiiU ends up winning over Japan and create a galapagos-situation there, even though it's a current generation console, Koei Tecmo (and, to a lesser extend, Capcom's Basara team) will have some trouble to fit all their hundreds of hunchmen on screen and yet call it a step forward from the last iteration.
Adversely, even if MS and Sony's "real" next-gen console ends up delivering on-par with some of the current rumours, will there be room for Musou games there? Stuck between the multimedia page and the Netflix app, buried under the big hundred-million western games that use the hardware to the maximum of their capacities, but also require the marketing budget to be 4 times the development budget if they want to make a profit out of it?
The future is going to be interesting.
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| Ishmael 4503th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Thu 6 Dec 23:53
While a sequel to One Piece Musou was pretty much a given I'm still happy to see it get announced. Hopefully they will fix the terrible platforming aspects of the game. But even if they don't, as long as they give me more Brook adventures I'll be happy.
quote:
At last, Han got confirmed!! I'm looking forward to see that Ken vs Han fight, arguably the best duel in all the Shura arc (after that, Hyoh and Kaioh were such huge flops to me that I didn't feel so engrossed by the manga series till Bat's crucifixion)...
I have no idea why that Ken vs Han fight was so amazingly epic but if even a glorified punching bag of the week like Han can make it in it proves that this game is going to cover all the great moments of the Hokuto series.
quote:
The problem with so many Musou games is that they are very CPU-intensive games, and that's the WiiU's main weakness. If the WiiU ends up winning over Japan and create a galapagos-situation there, even though it's a current generation console, Koei Tecmo (and, to a lesser extend, Capcom's Basara team) will have some trouble to fit all their hundreds of hunchmen on screen and yet call it a step forward from the last iteration.
If the WiiU wins out I expect the sales charts in Japan will be ruled over by Romance of the Kingdoms and Nobunaga no Yabou games. The WiiU controller will give the player thrilling new ways to interact with submenus! In this topsy-turvy world I take comfort in the idea that Koei is still out there doing the exact same thing they have always done.
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| HAYATO 1071th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(6):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Fri 7 Dec 23:17
quote:
I have no idea why that Ken vs Han fight was so amazingly epic but if even a glorified punching bag of the week like Han can make it in it proves that this game is going to cover all the great moments of the Hokuto series.
As the uploader of this video already stated, "This fight has everything. Grappling, Flipping, flying muscular men, and ki blasts!" What's not to love? Besides, the fight in the original manga series looked much better, that's for sure. In fact, I'd dare to say that this fight sports the best art in the whole series (much more detailed, intricate and dynamic than those in any previous or following episodes). I'd encourage everyone to revisit the original manga chapters (most of vol. 20) and rediscover good ol' Han, the Freddie Mercury of Hokuto Ryuu Ken!!
Also, I may be biased beause of my fond memories of him in Genesis' HnK 2/ Last Battle. Talk about suggestible, 9 year-old minds...
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| Pollyanna 3345th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Sat 8 Dec 13:25
quote:
The problem with so many Musou games is that they are very CPU-intensive games, and that's the WiiU's main weakness. If the WiiU ends up winning over Japan and create a galapagos-situation there, even though it's a current generation console, Koei Tecmo (and, to a lesser extend, Capcom's Basara team) will have some trouble to fit all their hundreds of hunchmen on screen and yet call it a step forward from the last iteration.
Adversely, even if MS and Sony's "real" next-gen console ends up delivering on-par with some of the current rumours, will there be room for Musou games there? Stuck between the multimedia page and the Netflix app, buried under the big hundred-million western games that use the hardware to the maximum of their capacities, but also require the marketing budget to be 4 times the development budget if they want to make a profit out of it?
The future is going to be interesting.
You took the words right out of my mouth. I've been repeatedly yammering the same thing at my poor friends who don't care either way.
One of the reasons I've jumped onto the WiiU so quickly and so enthusiastically is because I feel like it might be the best environment for many of the games I love. There are so many games and so many series that have "peaked" in terms of what they can sell. Better graphics and more computing power isn't going to help them sell more. They can either make their series into DL titles or they can stay on lower-spec systems. So, I hope the WiiU provides a good environment for HD console games that don't have to break the bank.
I imagined Musou games on next gen consoles to pretty much be the same, but have more enemies on screen effectively. A lot of titles may have advancements like this, where you get more working better rather than a massive increase in graphical quality.
But it creates a difficult situation when they like to cram the same game onto as many consoles as possible and that advancement is in direct opposition to what the WiiU is good at.
As a side note, although I disliked the Wii, it's interested how it introduced a new element to designing a system. In the past "more power" was all you needed, but now you need a "concept". What is going to be the "concept" behind the new Xbox and PS? Will people "get it?" I felt like the idea behind the WiiU was solid enough, but most people don't seem to understand the "point" of the system. I hope Nintendo can turn that perception around.
Side side note...I would not like to be in charge of Xbox anything in Japan right now, even less so than usual. I would be crying myself to sleep at night, saying "do we have to release the next system over here?"
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Grave 1477th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: eccothedolphin
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Castlevania, Musou, Musou, Musou, and Musou" , posted Sun 9 Dec 10:40:
I really want Mercurysteam to make a good Castlevania... I tried really hard to like Lords of Shadow and I recently picked it up again but it's still not doing much for me. I love their art direction, I love that someone's finally doing something different with Castlevania- I just hope they have it in them to make either this or Mirror of Fate great!
Anyway, on to important business. Please skip this post if you don't play Musou games, also please meditate on your life thus far and ask yourself, "Am I really satisfied? Is something missing in my life?" Maybe Musou is the answer. Maybe Musou is for you. Please feel free to call me at any time if you need to talk.
The Kaizoku Musou 2 announcement came at the perfect time because I finally got back into the first! Despite the horribly awkward "platforming" segments which I've complained about here before, I really loved the story mode but as usual I'm having more fun in the free modes. Initially I was concerned that the story hasn't progressed far enough for a sequel, but then I realized how many amazing characters just don't exist in the first, or aren't playable. There's SO MUCH that they could add that I'm already psyched for this and I have a lot left to do in the first!
Still, Kaizoku Musou seems kind of thin as I just finished 100% completion on Gundam 3, which is probably the "busiest" Musou game I've ever played. So much to do! So many suits! So many pilots! So many great things to discover! So much horrible friendship grinding. Still, I loved all 100+ hours of it. OP might be lacking in content in comparison, but the quality of it was fantastic. I used to hold up the mediocre Treasure Battle (GC) as my favorite OP game simply because of how well they captured all of the characters in 3D and how "right" everything felt. This game shits all over that! It's gorgeous and it's full of wonderful little touches that make me love it even more- like Nami having Luffy's hat on in Cocoyashi, the bananawani detailing on the archways in Rainbase, even allowing you to pick which ship appears on the menu screen...!
Also, playing as Whitebeard. Yes. Very yes.
Anyway, I had NO IDEA there was a Shin Hokuto Musou demo until Polly mentioned it! Thank you Polly, you are very good! I downloaded it immediately and yes, I'm glad they're covering the whole story again because it's a MASSIVE improvement! It seems like they learned a lot from OP, with the dodge mechanic replacing the jump button of the original Hokuto Musou. The action is a ton faster and the fact that you can use the dodge button to step away from attacks up close OR DUCK PROJECTILES (!!!) is fantastic! Using special moves is a bit less disruptive. I still don't like the character designs compared to the source material and I wish they would have taken this opportunity to try something different. But I'm not that concerned because we're getting it in the US in February barring any delays, and that's way better than I was expecting. I'm always reluctant to accept these PSN-only releases but who am I kidding, I'll probably buy the 360 disc too.
Hey, so I still have Lost Planet 2 for PS3 and now I have the 360 version too. Been feeling the itch. If anyone wants to play sometime please let me know! I miss you guys!
edit: I think it's important to note that earlier today I was thinking about how amazing it would be if Cyberconnect2 or Omega Force made a Yoroiden Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors game and I got so mad. Really, really mad! So mad my skin hurts! OK that's the end of the story
[this message was edited by Grave on Sun 9 Dec 10:44] |
| Amakusa 922th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(5):Too many Jump comics games" , posted Sun 9 Dec 16:56
quote:
The problem with so many Musou games is that they are very CPU-intensive games, and that's the WiiU's main weakness. If the WiiU ends up winning over Japan and create a galapagos-situation there, even though it's a current generation console, Koei Tecmo (and, to a lesser extend, Capcom's Basara team) will have some trouble to fit all their hundreds of hunchmen on screen and yet call it a step forward from the last iteration.
You can only do so much with computing 100s of guys that stand around waiting to be killed. Making 1000 persistent guys waiting around to be killed doesn't exactly make anything an advancement, it just means you have so much computational power and so little imagination you can't figure out what to do with it other than make 10 times more worthless minions on screen. Now, there really isn't anything wrong with this per se, but back on the PS2 killing 1000 guys was something of a feat, but with the latest generation of Musou games (especially the latest Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi games) it's something of an afterthought.
There has to be a point where just throwing more worthless minions at the player has to be enough, otherwise the whole 1 vs 1000 thing no longer means anything and just escalates into how to increase your kill counter.
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."
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| Pollyanna 3347th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Castlevania, Musou, Musou, Musou, and M" , posted Mon 10 Dec 11:47
quote:
I really want Mercurysteam to make a good Castlevania... I tried really hard to like Lords of Shadow and I recently picked it up again but it's still not doing much for me. I love their art direction, I love that someone's finally doing something different with Castlevania- I just hope they have it in them to make either this or Mirror of Fate great!
The first trailer they showed for LoS 2 really got me interested, but the new one was just awful! My optimism has turned to trepidation. I don't regret the time I spent with the first game, but it just didn't come together very well, despite all its strengths.
quote:
Anyway, on to important business. Please skip this post if you don't play Musou games, also please meditate on your life thus far and ask yourself, "Am I really satisfied? Is something missing in my life?" Maybe Musou is the answer. Maybe Musou is for you.
You are DRUNK WITH MUSOU. I would say you have bad taste, but Koei has been on a roll. DW7, Kaizoku Musou and to a lesser extent, Orochi 3 all really impressed me. Shin Hokuto seems good, too, but when so many Musou fans spent so much time with the first game, it makes me wary of their opinion.
Anyway, with Kaizoku Musou, I disagree with the general dislike for QTE and platforming in the game. The platforming wasn't fun. I didn't like it, but I did like the added layer to the levels. Similarly, the QTEs added a sense of progression to the fights. I'm not saying they took the best approach, but I much prefer this to having a straight up "One Piece plugged into the Musou formula" game. In particular, the use of Luffy's non-combat abilities in the Crocodile and Magellan fights was nice. In the entire, rich history of Musou games, I can't say I ever had a good boss fight until Kaizoku. If they can find a way to temper these ideas with a system that's a little more fun, I think they'll strike gold.
I REALLY wonder what's going to happen with Kaizoku 2, though. As you said, there are a lot of amazing characters that weren't in the first game, but I can't imagine the sequel having the same robust story mode unless it has a large amount of repeated material. In terms of new stuff, you can't start with Skypeia, skip Enies Lobby, go to Thriller Bark, then time skip! If the first game had included more early material and ended at (a more robust) Enies Lobby with "To Be Continued", I would've been happy, knowing that the sequel would be the most amazing thing ever. But as it stands, I can't think of a good solution. Maybe start with Skypeia, redo Enies Lobby (adding Kalifa, Fukurou and Kumadori), then do the rest of the story, excluding Marineford and Impel Down (since most of the crew is missing) up to the latest arc.
I don't doubt that we'll see a greatly improved "normal Musou" mode, but they have to have SOME sort of story and I have no idea how they'll represent it. Although I would appreciate more "beat stuff up with any character you like" content, I hope to see some of the cinematic flair from the first game make a return.
I could go on forever, but there's one point I wanted to make about Musou games and their future. To me, the most important thing is making the characters come to life and making them fun to play. The characters in Kaizoku and DW7 are so dynamic and creative in their movements. If you play Orochi 3, you can see how hopelessly bland the Sengoku characters are in comparison to the Sangoku ones. My love for these characters and my joy at seeing them in motion is making me stop playing other games just to hammer away at Orochi for hours, even though I have many more Musou games on the horizon.
Although I have plenty of ideas for the series, I think the one thing I would like best are more interesting boss fights that showcase the characters better. Although I can easily say "this guy is awesome and that guy is awesome" outside of Kaizoku Musou, I rarely feel the sense of "the battle between these awesome guys was awesome."
The generally awful voice acting across the non-licensed games doesn't help. This is one case where I'd be happy if they scrapped the entire cast.
quote:
I think it's important to note that earlier today I was thinking about how amazing it would be if Cyberconnect2 or Omega Force made a Yoroiden Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors game and I got so mad. Really, really mad! So mad my skin hurts! OK that's the end of the story
Although I don't know that this applies to Samurai Troopers, whenever there's a popular new anime/manga that receives a shitty cash-in game, I grind my teeth, thanks to the possibilities that Namco and pals have presented to us lately.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Grave 1477th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: eccothedolphin
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(2):Castlevania, Musou, Musou, Musou, and M" , posted Mon 10 Dec 12:34
quote:
You are DRUNK WITH MUSOU. I would say you have bad taste, but Koei has been on a roll. DW7, Kaizoku Musou and to a lesser extent, Orochi 3 all really impressed me. Shin Hokuto seems good, too, but when so many Musou fans spent so much time with the first game, it makes me wary of their opinion.
Ha! No, I understand. The first game is extraordinarily clunky and slow and is rife with problems... but it's as you say, it's in the characters I guess. And while I was not necessarily thrilled with how they were rendered, playing as them made me really happy! Happy enough to deal with the rest. I know I'm certainly not alone on it, and I'm glad we'll be seeing those characters improved and appearing in a better game this time. Still, I don't regret the time I spent with the first and I was playing it again not too long ago and had fun. When a friend sees me on the licensed games for hours and asks me if they should try it, if they're not a) obsessed with that license and b) obsessed with this series, I tell them no... and they usually listen. That's probably good!
quote:
Anyway, with Kaizoku Musou, I disagree with the general dislike for QTE and platforming in the game. The platforming wasn't fun. I didn't like it, but I did like the added layer to the levels. Similarly, the QTEs added a sense of progression to the fights. I'm not saying they took the best approach, but I much prefer this to having a straight up "One Piece plugged into the Musou formula" game. In particular, the use of Luffy's non-combat abilities in the Crocodile and Magellan fights was nice. In the entire, rich history of Musou games, I can't say I ever had a good boss fight until Kaizoku. If they can find a way to temper these ideas with a system that's a little more fun, I think they'll strike gold.
When I first complained about the QTEs, I hadn't finished the main story mode. Now that I have, I see your point! I do appreciate that they tried something new, and lately it certainly seems that Omega Force is capable of learning! The "press a million chains of buttons as they appear" from Hokuto was softened in Gundam 3, and in OP it became very simple QTEs that were occasionally (occasionally) fun and added to scenes. There, I said it! Some of the finishers to fights were just fantastic and left me feeling excited, whereas in Hokuto I absolutely dreaded the end of every fight because the button strings were coming and I hated them so, SO much.
quote:
I REALLY wonder what's going to happen with Kaizoku 2, though. As you said, there are a lot of amazing characters that weren't in the first game, but I can't imagine the sequel having the same robust story mode unless it has a large amount of repeated material. In terms of new stuff, you can't start with Skypeia, skip Enies Lobby, go to Thriller Bark, then time skip! If the first game had included more early material and ended at (a more robust) Enies Lobby with "To Be Continued", I would've been happy, knowing that the sequel would be the most amazing thing ever. But as it stands, I can't think of a good solution. Maybe start with Skypeia, redo Enies Lobby (adding Kalifa, Fukurou and Kumadori), then do the rest of the story, excluding Marineford and Impel Down (since most of the crew is missing) up to the latest arc.
Well, since Shin Hokuto is running headfirst into repeated content city I have no doubt that that's what's going to happen, but they could easily do the "crew reminisces about what happened" thing with much more gaps in the story!
What I'd really like to see is some sort of "what if" mode where storyline events play out differently and they take the opportunity to do some really original stuff but that will never ever happen.
quote:
I could go on forever, but there's one point I wanted to make about Musou games and their future. To me, the most important thing is making the characters come to life and making them fun to play. The characters in Kaizoku and DW7 are so dynamic and creative in their movements. If you play Orochi 3, you can see how hopelessly bland the Sengoku characters are in comparison to the Sangoku ones. My love for these characters and my joy at seeing them in motion is making me stop playing other games just to hammer away at Orochi for hours, even though I have many more Musou games on the horizon.
As I said earlier when talking about Hokuto, I agree with this 100%! If you don't have an investment in the characters already or they don't move you once you control them, there's really nothing here for most people. I've never played any of the Sengoku games, and that's a real bummer to hear- I played the PC port of the first Warriors Orochi briefly a number of years ago and I found it to be dull as hell. While hearing that doesn't give me much interest in WO3, I did take home a cheap copy of DW7 to toy with over my next couple of days off, so I'm very excited to see what it's like considering I've seen you and others rave about it so much.
I also bought Otomedius Excellent because I enjoy getting angry. God I hate that this game exists. I had it in my bag at work today and I almost returned it before it even hit my Xbox, haha. If it's anywhere near as boring as the first one I doubt I'll last a half hour.
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| Pollyanna 3349th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Tue 11 Dec 16:09
I'm surprised grumpy 'ole Capcom of Japan allowed such a fun project to get made. Maybe it won't have an international release.
quote:
I played the PC port of the first Warriors Orochi briefly a number of years ago and I found it to be dull as hell. While hearing that doesn't give me much interest in WO3, I did take home a cheap copy of DW7 to toy with over my next couple of days off, so I'm very excited to see what it's like considering I've seen you and others rave about it so much.
The original Orochi came when (in my opinion) Musou games were in a rut, so I wouldn't judge 3 by its merits. Rather, Orochi 3 takes enough from DW7 to make it almost good by default.
After playing a bit more, I like the way time travel is used in finding new missions. Characters have conversations at the camp (sometimes they need to up their "bond" level to do so) and initiate new levels, which then initiate new ways to finish old levels. So it's like:
-Guy says "man, I wish we could've saved that guy who died in Level 3, but there was that gate in the way."
- Other guy says "We could use those battering rams from Level 5!"
-You open up a new version of Level 5 that revolves around getting battering rams
-You open up a new version of Level 3 that revolves around saving the guy you couldn't save before
Cute and fun!
I'm happy and sad that the game doesn't have the ridiculous DLC costumes like DW7. Happy because I don't have the buy them, but sad because they were awesome. It does have a decent selection of past game ALT costumes, though.
If you like DW7 and aren't afraid of being SUPER MUSOU BOMBARDED in the following months, I would recommend Orochi 3. The 360 version is available for cheap
This isn't specifically directed at you, Grave, since I'm sure you'll have your hands full with DW7 (assuming you like it).
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Grave 1478th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: eccothedolphin
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(3):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Tue 11 Dec 16:45
quote:
(assuming you like it)
Oh, do I EVER!
Despite my unwavering and at times bordering-on-masochistic love of the licensed Musou games, I've ignored Sangoku for a long time. Maybe I mentioned that in the last post? I can't remember. Anyway, other than taking home 6 for PS3 for a night, retching and taking it back the next day I hadn't logged serious time on one of the "originals" since DW3. I'm almost positive I had 4 but I can't remember a lot about it. I let the series stay as a fond memory for some time and little else.
Before I loaded up 7 I spent some time watching videos of 2 and remembering how amazing it was to me when I first played it on a PS2 demo, how obsessed I was with it when I took it home... note to self, you have a copy of Ridge Racer V, you should play it again. Anyway! Fuzzy memories but goddamn does it look hard to play today!
And then... 7. Wow! The fluidity of combat I've come to love in recent Musou games (barring the first Hokuto, admittedly) combined with the general map structure and play I never knew I missed from the older games in a package that flows wonderfully and is just overflowing with the polish I had always wished for way back when and never got. I've only logged a few hours, but story mode has yanked me away from playing the "another" missions in One Piece for the time being. I'm having a ton of fun trying new weapons! And yes, I saw the DLC and yes, I'm probably gonna have to dip into some of those costumes. When they say "DW1" costumes, I'm not sure if they mean Sangoku Musou or Shin Sangoku Musou...? Wouldn't be surprised if they goofed on the numbers but if the costumes are from the fighting game I'm SO in. I'm in if they're from DW2 too... OK.
Anyway, I'm kind of mad that I slept on this for so long but it cost me next to nothing now so that helps. I know nothing of the "Xtreme Legends" games though- is this something worth caring about?
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| Pollyanna 3350th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Tue 11 Dec 18:34
quote:
DW7 Costumes
For those who might not have seen them, Check this shit out.
So yes, they are actually DW1 costumes, though the school-themed ones are my favorites.
The Xtreme Legend games are add-ons. You can buy them individually, but you're locked out of content like story mode in the original game if you don't own it. Personally, I never saw the need for them because there's SO MUCH content in the game already and by the time they come out, there's usually some other Musou game to jump on.
DW2 was the first game that got me excited about the PS2. Ah! How fresh it was back then! I was really struck by the soundtrack as well, but that's a given.
Speaking of which, I was pleased that I could download some old OST favorites in DW7, though that's a little silly, since I own half of the soundtracks already. Still, they know which songs are the good ones and there are some great picks in the OST packs.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Ishmael 4506th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Wed 12 Dec 07:06
1. If I was in the market for a new fighting game stick this would be tempting.
2. I recently got caught up with the rest of the world and started playing Mass Effect 1. It's enjoyable enough and it's certainly impressive to see how much world building was done for one game but anybody who declares this initial entry to be the best in the series might be on hallucinogenic drugs. It's sometimes those little things that can be the most frustrating. Which brings us to...
quote:
QTEs
I think Koei is on the right track with a number of their ideas in games, it's just that the implementation is sometimes way off. For instance, I thought the platforming in OP wasn't a bad idea, I simply thought that execution was off. Instead of flowing along as in a game like GoW, the plaforming in OP too often pulled me out of the action since I was spending a lot of time messing with where I was standing or what I was aiming at. The worst part was there were four of five convoluted steps you had to go through to throw a rock. Mario never has to put up with this kind of crap when he's throwing junk at turtles. As Grave already noted, the speed dial deaths in Hokuto were another potentially good idea that got away from them.
But since there are more Musou games coming out than any human being could possibly play there's a good chance these problems will be addressed through random odds alone. In the videos I've seen the dodging system in Hokuto 2 looks really slick and DW8 looks even more gargantuan than the already absurdly large DW7. But even if those games don't fully deliver I can take comfort in the knowledge that there will be other Musou games just on the horizon. Musou games have become the Puzzle Bobble of this generation.
quote:
Hey, so I still have Lost Planet 2 for PS3 and now I have the 360 version too. Been feeling the itch. If anyone wants to play sometime please let me know! I miss you guys!
Don't tempt me to start that game up again, I love Lost Planet 2 too much.
A recent article on The Onion's AV Club listed affectionate gestures you could perform in video games. Making the list is the "Crazy Good Job" taunt from LP2. At one point when I was playing LP2 all four players, without any prompting, did that move at the same time. It was the greatest multiplayer moment I've ever experienced.
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| Gojira 2900th Post
PSN: Gojira_X
XBL: Gojiraaa
Wii: 80085
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Wed 12 Dec 07:33
quote:
DW7 Costumes
For those who might not have seen them, Check this shit out.
So yes, they are actually DW1 costumes, though the school-themed ones are my favorites.
Dear lord that's crazy. I thought there were too many outfits back when I checked a few months after the game came out, but at the time the only outfit DLC out were the packs for DW4, 5, and 6 and the Wei school outfits. The sad thing is that there are so many there now, I don't think I want any of them (even though some of them are pretty amazing). I feel sorry for anyone with the compulsion to acquire them all.
quote:
The Xtreme Legend games are add-ons. You can buy them individually, but you're locked out of content like story mode in the original game if you don't own it. Personally, I never saw the need for them because there's SO MUCH content in the game already and by the time they come out, there's usually some other Musou game to jump on.
So I take it you haven't bothered with the DW7 XL then? I was slightly interested for a while, until I unlocked the characters it adds in WO3, where they seem so bland and one-dimensional. Though given the polished DW7 approach, I'm curious if it manages to make even these guys interesting.
Oh and on the blandness of the Sengoku cast, I'm not sure I would have agreed with that before DW7 came out. To me the Sengoku cast had always been much more well-defined with a wider variety of personalities than the Sangoku cast. I think Omega Force shot themselves in the foot by making the series a Nintendo exclusive, though. It's clear that they struggled immensely just trying to get everything they wanted to fit on the Wii and couldn't do enough with the quality of the content. Porting that low-quality content to WO3 and placing it alongside the high-quality content of DW7 really makes it look twice as awful.
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| Pollyanna 3351th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Wed 12 Dec 09:09
Highly relevant Sangoku Musou 7 trailer.
quote:
A recent article on The Onion's AV Club listed affectionate gestures you could perform in video games.
I loved the high-fives/fist bumps you could do in Uncharted 3's multiplayer. I loved them so much that I would do them even while I was being shot at. I would throw up my hand in a "don't leave me hanging!" gesture until my poor partner would eventually realize that I wouldn't save myself unless he gave recognition for our awesome job.
quote:
But since there are more Musou games coming out than any human being could possibly play there's a good chance these problems will be addressed through random odds alone.
The fact that we're seeing a modified version of the Kaizoku dodge in the new Hokuto is really reassuring. Although I found the QTE/platforming elements "unobtrusive" in Kaizoku, I hope they can get upgraded to "fun" rather than simply tossed out.
quote:
So I take it you haven't bothered with the DW7 XL then?
No. I told myself I had to finish DW7 first and that didn't happen. I finished story mode, of course, but that's not really "finishing".
quote:
Oh and on the blandness of the Sengoku cast, I'm not sure I would have agreed with that before DW7 came out. To me the Sengoku cast had always been much more well-defined with a wider variety of personalities than the Sangoku cast. I think Omega Force shot themselves in the foot by making the series a Nintendo exclusive, though. It's clear that they struggled immensely just trying to get everything they wanted to fit on the Wii and couldn't do enough with the quality of the content. Porting that low-quality content to WO3 and placing it alongside the high-quality content of DW7 really makes it look twice as awful.
Putting things in perspective, I bitched about almost all Musou games before DW7. So, you're right...as a series, I don't think Sangoku is (historically) hugely better, just that when you compare Sengoku 3 to DW7, it's a joke. In terms of Orochi, DW7 retroactively made pretty much the entire cast seem cooler, while the Sengoku series never had a game to do that. I feel like they should've done something more with the Sengoku characters...given them some extra functionality to even the playing field a little.
Speaking of characters in Orochi, I'm finding a lot of the people I never bothered with in DW7 to be really fun. They did such a good job with everyone that I'm sure to go into the next game with less bias in terms of my character choices.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Baines 337th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(6):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Wed 12 Dec 12:54
quote:
Oh and on the blandness of the Sengoku cast, I'm not sure I would have agreed with that before DW7 came out. To me the Sengoku cast had always been much more well-defined with a wider variety of personalities than the Sangoku cast. I think Omega Force shot themselves in the foot by making the series a Nintendo exclusive, though. It's clear that they struggled immensely just trying to get everything they wanted to fit on the Wii and couldn't do enough with the quality of the content. Porting that low-quality content to WO3 and placing it alongside the high-quality content of DW7 really makes it look twice as awful.
Sengoku 3 had flaws beyond being on the Wii. I liked it at first, but I also quit playing it long before I'd quit an Orochi or Sangoku game.
Things like putting the sub-missions on the map... At first I thought it was a good idea. The game already had such sub-mission moments, and now it was just spelling them out in advance and even showing the results of success. But as I played, I noticed that they were really just dot-to-dot maps for the linear path to take through the stages. It really hit home when a stage where it looked like I'd have to choose which sub-missions to complete immediately had the outlier target moving into position so that you wouldn't even have to go out of your way to hit him before his time limit expired.
And the Sengoku cast is bland. They really shouldn't be, but they are. And I don't even know why. Minor Sangoku characters seem to portray more character in a Musou game than even major Sengoku characters.
Honda is a knock-off Lu-Bu. Oda should be something big, but Koei's version of him has always made me think of Dracula crossed with Cao Cao. Masamune Date is just kind of annoying. Hanzo is one of the dullest "Hanzo"'s I can think of.
Some characters stand out for me. But it feels like half the roster isn't living up to its potential. And the battles are kind of boring as well. Sengoku has a few stand-outs, but again the rest are weak. The history itself is weaker. Sengoku doesn't have a Guan Yu. It doesn't have Zhuge Liang strategies, or the strategist battles in general. No Chi Bi. No Yellow Turbans (nor Koei's Zhang Jiao wackiness.)
A stand-out Sengoku game needs work to catch up to the Sangoku stuff, but it seems when Koei actually tries something (like castle interior battles) to make the Sengoku game stand out, they always fumbled the execution.
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| Iggy 9401th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Wed 12 Dec 21:32:
In term of characters, the Sengoku Musou series also has the issue of competing with the Basara series, which doesn't shy away from anything that could be entertaining. The Sengoku period is full of great anecdotes, that Basara is able to capitalize on with its wacky universe, while Musou remains the most serious, "battle and strategy oriented" of the two, and struggle to fit the pre-ordered game into that setting.
All the strategy of that periods happens off the battlefield : alliances, marriages, resource managing... Basara material, but unusable in the guidelines of Musou.
Anyway. It appears Polly was right (unfortunately) and the Jump crossover game is on PS3 and Vita, which kills any hope of a new Ganbarion game. It seems like the sequel to... that other shitty Jump crossover game nobody liked.
Link
We'll probably learn more at the Jump Fiesta in 10 days.
[this message was edited by Iggy on Thu 13 Dec 07:41] |
| Iggy 9403th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Thu 13 Dec 18:29
So, I started Gyakuten Layton, and only went up to the end of the introduction chapters (one for Layton, one for Naruhodo).
I never played a Layton game, and I was very worried by that part, especially the boring dialogues. However, from the second the Gyakuten intro starts, we're back into friendly territory again: good dialogues, wacky situations, irrational justice system... It feels so fresh! So good! Takushu I love you!
I suppose they kept the style of each series's writing for each character... but then, I'm worried of what will happen when they will meet and act together.
Also, I never really liked Mayoi (Maya?) but she's super cute and funny in the part I played. Probably she's relieved she's not the one accused of murdering one of her family members for once.
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| Pollyanna 3354th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):Now THAT's an unexpected crossover..." , posted Thu 13 Dec 20:00
Basara still rocks the Sengoku era way harder than Musou, but comparing Basara 3 to DW7, shockingly put Koei ahead of Capcom for me. Basara 2 really stole my heart, and I'd like to see the series take a more exciting turn, but with Capcom, it's more likely to just recycle itself into nothingness.
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Also, I never really liked Mayoi (Maya?) but she's super cute and funny in the part I played. Probably she's relieved she's not the one accused of murdering one of her family members for once.
I'm glad they got Naruhodo and Mayoi from the movies to voice the characters. I wasn't super nuts about the film (or at least the last portion), but that wasn't the cast's fault. Even if Mayoi was different in the movie, her actress seems to sound good in her role in the game.
Speaking of which, is the game mostly voice-acted? The trailers seem to imply that, but trailers can lie. I forgot how much I liked Layton's voice, too...
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| Iggy 9404th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):Now THAT's an unexpected crossov" , posted Thu 13 Dec 23:52
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Basara still rocks the Sengoku era way harder than Musou, but comparing Basara 3 to DW7, shockingly put Koei ahead of Capcom for me. Basara 2 really stole my heart, and I'd like to see the series take a more exciting turn, but with Capcom, it's more likely to just recycle itself into nothingness.
Wow, maybe I should have a look at DW, then...
I was disappointed in Basara 3 for the most part, but Utage really fixed everything back for me. Not only because Matsunaga is the most amazing character ever created at Capcom, but also the situations, the out-of-nowhereness of some of the dialogues that borderline Monty Python movies...
However, indeed, the gameplay is the same as in 3 (which is still a big improvement over 2, which aged pretty badly). I fail to imagine any Koei game trying to be funny, so I suppose your praises to DW are on the gameplay mechanics side ?
The fact Capcom only release a new Basara every 3 years (at least for the 2=>3=>hypothetical 4) makes the evolution much more visible, but prevents them for trying to innovate. Their emphasis is clearly on the characters.
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I'm glad they got Naruhodo and Mayoi from the movies to voice the characters.
I don't like Naruhodo's voice... Too grave for the character. I wished they had kept the UMvC3 actor...
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Speaking of which, is the game mostly voice-acted? The trailers seem to imply that, but trailers can lie.
I'd say it's VA-ed quite a lot... but your mileage might vary. Also, since I only finished the introduction (with several animated sequences, some that we've seen in trailers, some not), it's possible they put most of their efforts at the beginning, and the voice acting will fade away more and more as the game progresses ?
We'll see. However, all the minor characters I've met so far are voiced, even if only for a few sentences.
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| Pollyanna 3357th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):Now THAT's an unexpected crossov" , posted Fri 14 Dec 10:34
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I fail to imagine any Koei game trying to be funny, so I suppose your praises to DW are on the gameplay mechanics side ?
The fact Capcom only release a new Basara every 3 years (at least for the 2=>3=>hypothetical 4) makes the evolution much more visible, but prevents them for trying to innovate. Their emphasis is clearly on the characters.
Keep in mind that I am biased, since I am enjoying Orochi 3 right now, haven't played Utage in ages and am I big fan of the 3 Kingdoms novel.
Apples to apples, Basara kills Sengoku Musou, but as far as Sangoku 6/DW 7 goes, I think it presents a hugely enjoyable cast in a hugely enjoyable manner.
As Grave and I were saying earlier, Musou games are character-driven for me as well. It's not just in terms of writing, though, but in terms of execution. One of the great things about Basara is the way the characters played. They had exciting special moves and good momentum on the screen. Their designs, their writing and their gameplay came together well. DW7 (and Orochi 3 by association) has that same "electric" quality with most of the characters. They have special moves, over-the-top EX combos and multiple Musou attacks to show off their uniqueness.
Characters that failed to grab my attention in previous Sangoku games really came alive in DW7. Although the entire cast isn't quite as insane as Basara, and most of the situations are more reserved, there's more than a handful of fun and quirky characters. I especially enjoyed Ma Dai's goofy accent and swirling ink attacks and Ding Feng's caveman poetry with head-grabbing throw combos. Also, with Huang Gai's ALT costume, you get an old man with a giant anchor in a chef costume with no pants doing super throws.
I enjoyed story mode tremendously in DW7, but it is decidedly less comical than Basara. The characters on the field are amusing, but in the cinemas, it's more about telling the story. Also (I'll say it as many times as I can) the voice acting is pretty mediocre.
I do regret that while we see Zhao Yun's heroic rescue of Liu Bei's baby, we'll never see him throw it violently on the ground as he did in the novel.
But for reference, for total entertainment value, I'd say it's DW7/Orochi 3>Basara>>every other Musou.
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| Pollyanna 3358th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Boob Musou" , posted Sat 15 Dec 09:19
So here's the new trailer for Senran Kagura on Vita. It's worth watching!
I got Burst on 3DS a bit reluctantly. I had to tell myself that I could trust the Yuusha 30 team even in a game about ninja boobs. I didn't post my opinions, because I wasn't sure that anyone would be interested, but the Vita trailer is explosive enough that I though it warranted mention.
Anyway, the original game is not what I expected at all! It's very story-intensive with a lot of straight up novel sections. The story is surprisingly sweet, cute and a little heartbreaking. Other than the fact that the breasts look kind of silly, the fanservice elements are there if you want them, and non-invasive if you don't.
The gameplay is really simple, but revolves around doing insanely high-number combos with dash cancels, air launches and air dash cancels. Also, it's super super fast. The fastest beat em up style game I can think of.
On the downside, the character animations are pretty poor sometimes, it could use one more layer of complexity and the "all-out-offense" mode is more fun, but less visually gratifying than normal mode. Normally, you start out in your school uniform, have a cinema when you choose to transform into your battle uniform then get progressive cinemas if you take damage. At the beginning of the battle, though, you can choose to blow off all your "armor" for super speed and strength (at the cost of all your defense). This has no cutscenes whatsoever. If the girls are going to lose their clothes and get a powerful aura around them, why can't we get a cutscene of their power shredding their clothes while they say something dramatic? This is too obvious!
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| Pollyanna 3360th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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| "Re(3):Boob Musou" , posted Wed 19 Dec 06:48
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Mildly off topic, but is Toriko any good?
I read a few volumes and was very confused by its popularity. A friend gave an explanation: "I think it's for children" she said. It seems to awaken your inner little boy.
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Is that what Senran Kagura always is, or is that just the Vita game? The promotional screenshots I saw back in the day never gave me even the slightest impression of gameplay in that series so I just ignored it as random H nonsense.
The 3DS game is like what you see for the Vita game only in 2D. So, it's a side-scrolling beat 'em up. I would say it has just enough depth to keep your interest, but is enjoyable to play in short bursts. The plot is a major part of the game, as it's heavy on cinemas and some just...novel parts that are pages of text. My initial response was "you expect me to read all this crap?", but when I actually sat down and finished one of the stories, it brought a tear to my eye. I found the characters to be unexpectedly likeable and the writing to be unexpectedly thoughtful.
The game isn't just super excellent, but it's very easy to enjoy. They totally over bill the fanservice stuff, in the trailers though. I mean, there are always giant jiggly boobs on the screen, but it's really just a story-driven, hyper speed beat 'em up.
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I had ignored the series because it looked like it was primarily aimed at a very specific niche and whatever the gameplay might be would be secondary. Instead, that has a real Basara vibe going on in the fighting. I wonder if this is a series that could have found wider acceptance if it had tried to broaden its appeal? Then again, there already have been a number of games in the series so I guess there's something to be said for knowing your audience.
That particular trailer represents the game very well. Story, lots and lots of fighting, then bouts of boobs. I would say "Yeah, they should've marketed it differently! I didn't know!" but I also bought the game, so, what can I say? On the other hand, I was iffy about if I wanted the Limited Edition of the Vita versions since the first trailer was just boobs, but after I saw the second trailer, I ordered it immediately.
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Speaking of 3DS and region lockout, did anyone actually play through Project X-zone yet? It's been out for quite a while now and it was riding on a decent wave of hype for some time, but after it came out I don't recall hearing much of anything about it. Was it a huge disappointment, or did I miss the discussion somewhere?
I got it along with Bravely Default and Senran Kagura Burst, so it got "buried". I played for a few hours. The writing, much like Namco X Capcom is really groan-inducing (for me at least) and the battle system seems a little shallow at this point. Like, there's not much room for improving your combos. You pretty much find the "optimal" combo on the first try, then just repeat it easily. On the upside, the level layouts seem to play out better than NxC and the game looks very cute and sharp in 3D. Maybe the game is just trying to slowly acclimate me to it and later levels will allow the system to widen a little. I was reluctant to post an impression, since the game might improve over time. With NxC, I felt very positively about it at first, but it eventually wore out its welcome quite thoroughly.
The dialogue is seriously stilted though, to the point that it makes the voice actors sound bad.
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| Pollyanna 3361th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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| "Re(1):Lightning Returns: Final? Fantasy XIII" , posted Thu 20 Dec 17:46
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It appears that when I wasn't looking Black Knight Sword snuck out into the world. Has anyone tried this Edward Gorey platformer? The demo made it feel like Actraiser without the megalomania. Is there more to it or is it a hop and poke game with some earned special moves?
Ah! I didn't know there was a demo! I was excited to hear the soundtrack at least.
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Choppy framerate aside, I'm hoping that this is my coveted Crisis Core sequel. The way the battle system looks (1-man party, half-ATB half-Action combat yet still menu based, with actions assigned to each button) is very reminiscent of that. And I'm also glad that this is REALLY honestly based around Lightning (who beside Sazh is probably the only other character I liked in XIII), unlike the XIII-2 CG reveal, which was I think a clear act of misdirection.
I felt like "this looks even more like a Tri-Ace game than the last one." Of course, it would never be coming out if Square was actually making it. I enjoyed FFXIII when I played it, but disliked it when it was over. I still love Lightning to pieces, though.
Ah, but I think your Crisis Core sequel is very clearly Type-O and not this game. It was almost certainly built from the CC engine. If it didn't have the most strangely awful difficulty balance I've ever seen, it would've been one of my favorite Final Fantasies.
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"Re(2):Re(10): pretty stuff" , posted Mon 12 Nov 18:45
"XIII-III(⌐■_■)" , posted Thu 20 Dec 17:02