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| KTallguy 1467th Post
  
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Red Carpet Executive Member
    
    
    
    
|  "Re(1):Random Thread: 2013 New Year Edition" , posted Tue 8 Jan 07:00:  
quote:
By lord, the Prize catcher setups are horrifically harder and quite deceiving compared to the old days. Here's a few examples on what they're like now. Note that the games are usually 200 yen ($2.30) per try, 500 yen for 3 tries.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0tJ8xnn84k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzrb_ri4BnU
At the time I had never seen this before, but one time I was at some amusement park in Japan with a girl, and I was playing a UFO catcher. I played it once and almost got the prize, and I was about to put in my money and finish the job. Then some attendant nonchalantly walks behind the machine, opens the door, takes the almost won item, and puts it back where it started.... I was like what the hell!!! Is that normal?? I remember being more angry than I should have been, but it was just so shocking at the time.
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
[this message was edited by KTallguy on Tue 8 Jan 07:00] |
| Pollyanna 3365th Post
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
| "Re(4):Random Thread: 2013 New Year Edition" , posted Thu 10 Jan 09:10
quote:
if you play through all of the story mode, the whole cast is unlocked for single player.
This is correct.
I was looking forward to playing with Americans, so I could have less lag/endless combo filled multiplayer matches, but I have so much work right now that I don't know if I'll ever play video games again. Also, I'm seeing a lot of complaints about online, so maybe I'm no better off than before.
quote:
At the time I had never seen this before, but one time I was at some amusement park in Japan with a girl, and I was playing a UFO catcher. I played it once and almost got the prize, and I was about to put in my money and finish the job. Then some attendant nonchalantly walks behind the machine, opens the door, takes the almost won item, and puts it back where it started.... I was like what the hell!!! Is that normal?? I remember being more angry than I should have been, but it was just so shocking at the time.
Ugh, that is so Japanese. This is one of those stories, like losing your pants or getting hit in the groin that's horrible at the time, but makes for a great story later.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| KTallguy 1468th Post
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Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(5):Random Thread: 2013 New Year Edition" , posted Thu 10 Jan 11:57:
Gosh, maybe I'll have to buy Anarchy Reigns. $30... I guess it's better than Asura's Wrath, which I grabbed for $35.
quote:
Ugh, that is so Japanese. This is one of those stories, like losing your pants or getting hit in the groin that's horrible at the time, but makes for a great story later.
Yeah, the funny thing was the girl seemed really embarrassed that I even protested, which is also very Japanese.
Another funny story: I'm visiting my friend in Wuhan, China, for Chinese New Year next month. Because the US treats Chinese people like shit when they try to enter the country, United States citizens must get a Visa in order to enter mainland China. On the LA Chinese Consulate website they list all of these documents that you have to produce in order to apply, not the least of which is a letter from an individual inviting you to China, copies of your passport pages, airline ticket, photograph, etc. It took me a few weeks but I finally secured everything, and had it printed out nicely in a folder.
So this morning, I go to the consulate, put my bag through the metal detector, grab a number and take a seat. After about 10 minutes I get called up to one of several windows lining the wall. I hand the young lady behind the glass my Visa application, photo, passport, and the stack of supplementary documents. She flips through the application, scanning it quickly, and hands it back, saying I need to sign it. I do, and give it back to her. She glances at it, laughs, and says that I signed the wrong part. So I get it back from her and sign it correctly, then hand it back, smiling.
She looks over it a bit more, showing me the photograph. "Is this you?" she asks through the tinny speaker on the table. I nod at her, "Yes, it's me."
She takes the application, photograph, and my passport, and snaps a rubber band around them. Then she turns around and unceremoniously dumps the bundle in a plastic bin behind her. She hands back my thick stack of documents, untouched. "Come back Monday."
Ahh, China. The polar opposite of Japan.
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
[this message was edited by KTallguy on Thu 10 Jan 11:58] |
| karasu99 1057th Post
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| "Re(6):Random Thread: 2013 New Year Edition" , posted Thu 10 Jan 13:11
quote:
Gosh, maybe I'll have to buy Anarchy Reigns. $30... I guess it's better than Asura's Wrath, which I grabbed for $35.
Argh, I still haven't gotten Asura's Wrath. Someday I'll see it somewhere for $15 and grab it.
quote:
Ahh, China. The polar opposite of Japan.
I especially enjoyed the temperature testing apparatus that you pass through when entering the country, designed to detect anyone with a fever.
But yes, casual disregard for any kind of policy and many rules was something I found really interesting in China. My favorite example of this was in the National Gallery, where there was a special exhibit of enormous Party-themed paintings. Signs were everywhere saying no photography, yet every single person was taking about a photo a second. Every now and then one of the museum attendants would go up to one person, seemingly chosen at random, and tell them to stop. Amazing!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Mosquiton 1849th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Random Acts of Anarchy" , posted Thu 10 Jan 15:19:
quote:
I tried [Max Anarchy Reigns] out yesterday and... so far so good? I enjoy a good brawler and this game is all about the brawl but there are still parts of the game that I wish had been approached differently.
I dig the game a fair amount too, but as you mention I did wish I had the opportunity to switch characters a bit more often... at least for the non-story missions.
A few things bug me about the single-player. The open-stage structure doesn't quite work for me, the areas are large but they're not very fun to explore. Too much auto-navigation with the boost panels and zip-lines, and too many impossibly high walls. Jumping only serves to slow you down, and with nothing interesting to find and few enemies that pose any sort of actual challenge I felt like I might as well just beeline it to my next objective. The combat system just isn't well-suited to taking on hordes of enemies and peon-slaying isn't as fun when they pop before you can properly juggle/beat the crap out of them. Ah well. Definitely some cool stuff here.
quote:
There's a lot of things to do in single player but I didn't expect it was going to be so dedicated to showcasing a storyline.
I really wish you could scroll through dialogue during the talking-head sequences, if not skip entire cutscenes. Platinum clearly has a sense of style, their title screen and character select screens are awesome, but I wish they went a bit more minimalist with the story.
quote:
When I can connect to a game multiplayer seems amusing in very small doses. Maybe it will grow on me but right now I'm not certain I'm ever going to want to play capture the flag even if it involves punching instead of shooting.
I have a couple of favorites. Every modes technically works, but even a 4-on-4 deathmatch is too chaotic for the fighting system to effectively handle with its near total lack of wide-ranging attacks. If your team doesn't adopt a pack mentality matches can become hopelessly one-sided. Deathball and Tag Deathmatch, however, manage to get around these issues.
Deathball provides another point of focus with the ball, and encourages you to attack or stop certain players rather than simply gang up on one guy or go for the easy kill. Tag Deathmatch ensures that things never get more hopeless than a 2-on-1 situation, and I think this is actually the best fit for the fighting system.
This feels like a bit of a side-project to me... the basic ideas work but there's a lot of room for improvement here. I hope the discount price-tag helps it a bit outside Japan, but there's no way this will become Platinum's first international hit. Metal Gear Rising, on the other hand, might have a chance...
/ / /
[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Thu 10 Jan 15:24] |
| Pollyanna 3368th Post
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Random Acts of Anarchy" , posted Sat 12 Jan 19:24:
quote:
that boring cop's storyline
There were quite a few characters I liked in Anarchy Reigns, but the protagonists were NOT among them.
Also, surely they'll offer Bayonetta later. She turned out really good! I was delighted!
Unrelated...
I felt like I gave a really half-assed impression of Project X Zone before, so for those interested, I'd like to elaborate a bit.
I've been playing one or two levels a day, which is a fairly pleasant pace for the game. I think I'd be bored to death if I marathoned it.
The combo system is flashy, but perhaps a bit too simple. You get a bonus for attacking at the same time as your third member/support units (you can call in whoever you're standing by for one attack in as well) and if you do that, the enemy is pretty much glued in place, ready to get hit by whatever you throw at it. More interestingly, though, in events where you're fighting with just your normal pair, if you hit the enemy RIGHT before they hit the ground (and your combo is broken), then you'll hit critical and get an EXP bonus for each time you do it. Finishing with a super move also gets you an EXP bonus. Extended combos up your super (Cross) gauge.
The Cross Gauge is the most interesting thing in the game, because it calls for "meter management". When it reaches 100% you can do a super, but it takes 20% to guard or counter and 60% to do a full guard. All techniques (like healing or stat boosts used on the map before engaging an enemy) also take different percentages. There's a lot of "if I use it for this, will I still have enough for this other thing?" Since the gauge is constantly building and dropping, it's more fun than having MP or something like that.
This plays out really well with the boss units, because they block so much that if you don't do a super, you won't do enough damage to risk the counter they're likely to hit you with...but if you DO use a super, you won't have enough gauge left to fully block their next attack. Generally, you use weaker enemies to "fuel" you for the boss.
Most levels have multiple optional bosses that make you decide how many you can handle beating. They usually drop something rare and valuable, in addition to a lot of EXP, so it's fun to see how much you can bite off...especially since the stages tend to be kind of easy otherwise.
Although the stage design is better than Namco X Capcom, they rely on the "fill the screen with unexpected enemies halfway through the fight" method. Not knowing when or where the enemies will come from will randomly leave some party members stranded, unable to catch up to the rest of the party. In other cases, you'll find yourself obnoxiously far from your objective and have to sit through several turns of like...45 units just to get to the action. There's rarely much strategy involved either way.
Also, the units all feel the same. Members with party healing skills would mix things up a little, but if they use their gauge on healing, they won't be able to do much damage, meaning they won't get much EXP. So, having a "healing unit" or rather an "anything but ass-kicking unit" isn't really possible.
I mentioned before that the plot is stupid...and not really in a funny way...really, more like a "hopelessly unfunny" way, though there are occasional gems or at least ridiculous situations. Heihachi helping himself to Dmitri's food gave me a laugh. One stage had Flynn (the knight from Tales of Vesperia) protecting Devilotte from a bunch of Mets (from Rockman) when the first boss from Dai Makaimura shows up. Morrigan then says the delightfully awful line:
魔界の..."あの村"の番人じゃなかった？
(the gag doesn't really work in English...)
There are a lot of win dialogues in the game, some of which are character specific. Since you can switch around the units and you get dialogue from units that attack beside you, there are a huge number of fun combinations. Some of the phrases are not specific like "I couldn't agree more!" (which could go after just about anything) and others...well, I can't tell if they're specific or not. Like:
Valkyrie: Oh Goddess, thank you for this victory.
Erica: That technique was quite divine, wasn't it?
Mentioning Erica, reminds me, I was shocked to see Ciseaux, the scissor-wielding rabbit that ends his sentences with "pyon" from Sakura Taisen 3. I might have said he was "literally the most ridiculously horrible character ever" at some point...so that was a fun trip down memory lane?
I like the win quotes because they have some fun references in them and you get to enjoy them outside of the context of the horrid plot. Quick quips between the characters tend to be less groan-inducing. They make some very specific references, but the only one I can think of off the top of my head is (paraphrased):
Lei-Lei: Ahhh, even though I'm dead, I still get hungry.
Frank: Don't worry, after the fight, I know just the juice mix to fix you up!
I didn't mention the sprites in all of this because they're obviously awesome, but there are some really cute little details. For example, the SF4 dashes are reproduced exactly and when Ryu does his super, he does an accurate-looking dragon punch, FADC, super.
On a side note, the Sega characters chosen are kind of lacking. There are so many iconic Sega series completely missing. If you compare the cast to Sega Allstars Racing, for example, the only character in both is Ulala.
Also, the soundtrack is full of awful arranges of great songs.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sat 12 Jan 20:53] |
| Pollyanna 3369th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Random Acts of Anarchy" , posted Sun 13 Jan 18:26
quote:
Thank you, I find it quite useful and I'm no more so hyped about the game now. I think I'm not so depressed about not having a Japanese 3DS anymore, although region lock in a portable system is the dumbest choice of all.
The last bit of your comments (the music) made me very disappointed: NxC had very cool arrangements, is PXZ ost so bad? Who's the music composer?
I have to take back what I said. I think the term is "uncreative arranges", not awful...just uninteresting. Older, digital songs sound close to their original (the Darkstalkers music in particular) and orchestrated/vocal pieces a very straight-up digital renditions. There's no "overall sound" or theme to the arrangements. Some songs made the transition to digital poorly. No idea who the composer is. I have the soundtrack that came with the game and it doesn't have a name on it.
Although I haven't kept up with it, since I have 2 3DS systems anyway, I heard they made some progress with hacking the system, so that itch might be scratched for some people eventually. I got a used Japanese system (in perfect condition!) for fairly cheap, so if you shop around and aren't in a rush, you might catch a deal. It has the nice advantage of allowing you to buy games with foreign credit cards from the online shop, making it the first system you can import from without a middle-man, I think? I like to own games physically vs digitally, but I might be changing my mind on that soon.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| badoor 292th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK
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| "Re(1):Random Acts of Anarchy" , posted Mon 14 Jan 23:52
quote:
This feels like a bit of a side-project to me... the basic ideas work but there's a lot of room for improvement here. I hope the discount price-tag helps it a bit outside Japan, but there's no way this will become Platinum's first international hit. Metal Gear Rising, on the other hand, might have a chance...
This feeling does preside throughout the game. It's been delayed several times even before it was released in Japan. I bet when Platinum took hold of MGR, Max Anarchy was the game they've taken most resources from to compensate for the obviously much more important Metal Gear project. And SEGA being the publisher isn't really helping matters either. Just look at how long it took Gearbox to make Aliens: Colonial Marines. They released Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway, Borderlands 1&2, and even help push out Duke Nukem Forever between the official announcement of Aliens on Feb 2008 and now, and it has yet to be released. But to be fair, I doubt having more resources put on Anarchy would help with sales. Though I hope the reduced price does.
With that said, the game itself is great. If I manage to get a decent online match going, it is a lot of fun with it's Platinum grade combat. But it's clearly made for 1v1 fighting rather than fighting massive hordes in the campaign. And I also do feel that Max Anarchy is at its best with 4-player small arena matches like tag team deathmatch or free-for-all. The other larger modes just feel too ambitious and are simply too rare of an occasion due to the honestly awful matchmaking. Also, I noticed doing Ai Rin's air R2+Square take up like %30 hp. It's way too damaging, has long range and large hitbox, and only needs 1/4 of the special move bar. I doubt Platinum will do any more balancing patches since they didn't seem to have done much since it's Japanese release last July. Bayonetta is fun though and feels very much like how she does play in her game. She's pretty strong too.
I also feel that the story is way too ambitious (The game has an opening static text crawl. There are NES games with more impressive intro cutscenes) and is really trying too hard to its own detriment. MadWorld, despite having a Yasumi Matsuno helmed story, had a lighter, more fun motif by being based around this Running Man-esque gameshow. And the black baron was this weird funny character that just appears at every bonus game and yet inexplicably gets killed every time. In Max Anarchy, well...
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
There are dead children.
End of Spoiler
And the BlackER Baron is now an annoying comic relief sidekick. And the cop story is boring. And they don't explain much at the end either. It feels like it ends halfway through the story. On the whole, not fun at all.
But the punching things till they explode into blue chunks, still fun.
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| Pollyanna 3375th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):PxZ coming to the US!" , posted Tue 22 Jan 20:00
Sorry if I missed mention of them before, but has anyone picked up Guild01, or any of the Guild01 titles that came to the US? I've played a bit of Crimson Shroud, but I can't regard it as anything but a novelty yet. Is Suda's game worth the low asking price?
quote:
Wow
Simple. There is no dub planned according to Destructoid. Japanese voices only.
Thank you for solving that mystery for me. Given the somewhat iffy sales potential of the game, this is probably a good financial decision as well. However, there's a huge amount of dialogue in the game that probably won't the translated. Battle quotes and map quotes when you destroy objects, get items or use skills. I hope they do something for the win quotes, though, since those are really entertaining.
It's interesting to see this happen with Japanese games these days, where it's like "we can bring it over here, but we can't dub it" or "we'll bring it over, but only as a downloadable title." I'm sure the people who would be interested in the game in the first place are just happy to have it.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Ishmael 4531th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):Divekick coming to the US!" , posted Wed 23 Jan 23:50
More Dragon's Dogma trailers. I love this game.
quote:
I've been away from the computer for a bit so it's possible that someone's mentioned it, but it looks like Kaizoku Musou 2 is coming to the states as well, regrettably on PSN only again.
Since I own a cheap PS3 with limited space I can only store one puffy PSN Musou game at a time. To avoid the headache of having to re-install a game I now try to get as much out of each downloaded game as possible before moving on to whatever its replacement will be. This digital-only garbage is helping to streamline my gaming quite a bit.
quote:
I think that depends on what you mean by 'fully embraced'. Having grown up with inexplicable NES port alterations, I'm shocked these days at how many games make it to the states, but then I'm also often amazed at the kinds of manga that make it to the states as well.
Having passed through the ages of 'complete reskin' and 'ruthlessly altered script' for Japanese games, we're in a kind of of strange place: 'localized because it's Japanese and therefore cool'.
Or, perhaps, "it's Japanese and therefore a certain demographic will be interested in it." There seems to be a perception in both the West and Japan that if a game is too Japanese it won't sell all that well overseas. Perhaps there is something to that since games like BB are often lumped into the category "anime fighters," suggesting their designs are seen as being more grounded in Japanese pop culture than something like SF. Whatever the case, it seems that smaller titles or things associated with established franchises have a much better chance of making it to the West than something like Ryuu ga Gotoku Kenzan ever will.
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| Spoon 2381th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Thu 24 Jan 03:57
I know a few people (Iggy!) were critical of Ni No Kuni, but I frankly have forgotten all the reasons why. Was it just boring? That'd be a fairly valid criticism, but I don't remember if that's what you guys said.
So a recent piece gushed about the aesthetic and feel of just going around in Ni No Kuni, and so I wanted to revisit the various complaints that were mentioned at that time, mainly because I don't have a PS3 right now and really, really don't need another reason to acquire one right now.
SMT x Fire Emblem just came out of nowhere. I have no idea who conceived of this crossover. I'm a little disappointed in myself on the extent to which my excitement for FE games seemed to dissipate entirely once they moved from the charming sprites of the GBA games to the mediocre 3D of the GCN titles. I also am worried about how the SMT cast is going to be, because the Chaos/Order characters play a very specific archetype for thematic reasons each game, so do we really want 3 pairs of the same thing? It's not like Chaos dude in SMT 1 or 2 or 3 were particularly interesting characters, either. Main character is possibly even worse in this regard, because s/he doesn't even have a defined personality. No matter how shallow the characters in FE can be, it's still a character game, so them squaring off with a bunch of characters that have even less different things to say might suck. On the other hand, it might allow for extraordinarily funny support conversations between the SMT characters since the writers can do whatever the hell.
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| Pollyanna 3377th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):Divekick coming to the US!" , posted Thu 24 Jan 09:18:
quote:
More Dragon's Dogma trailers. I love this game.
There isn't a DLC version of this, is there? I don't mind "buying the same game twice" when it comes to fighters, because there's a need for them to be "perfect" to last in the community, but with DD, I feel like it's paying to get the "real game" when I got slighted before. That being said, I realllllly want it.
Pre-edit edit: Oh, Iggy asked the same thing.
Post edit edit: Capcom is my abusive husband. There's no way I'm not getting this.
quote:
I know a few people (Iggy!) were critical of Ni No Kuni, but I frankly have forgotten all the reasons why. Was it just boring? That'd be a fairly valid criticism, but I don't remember if that's what you guys said.
I had heard that the DS version was too simplistic and childish to be terribly enjoyable, despite its lovely backgrounds and impressive soundtrack. The PS3 one seems fun, though. I like the battle system.
I think most of the derision the game faced was because of its sad sales numbers. It seems to be getting a lot of good press in the west, though.
WiiU stuff
I was hoping for more, as Bayonetta 2 and SMTxFE look super early, but Xenowhatever is in surprisingly good shape! My heart leapt a little, but that game (even when I knew nothing about it) was one of the reasons I bought the WiiU in the first place.
I have no comment on SMTxFE. It has rendered me speechless.
quote:
Can't say how I feel about. Bloody hated Xenoblade and its game system (basically an offline mmorpg with tedious quests and infinite grinding, story and characters are ok but not interesting and deep as other Takahashi's works)
Although I loved Xenoblade myself, I can't disagree with your perception. However, I don't think "endless grinding" is right. I found the game virtually devoid of grinding, which is a very long way from "endless." Maybe your definition of grinding is different than mine?
I like that whenever there was a cinema in Xenoblade, it was exciting and really moved the game forward...but the story still wasn't as good as Xenosaga (the series, I mean). I was most impressed with the story and atmosphere in the first Xenosaga, but the game was just awful.
EDIT:
Whoa. I just noticed that the new Xeno game is multiplayer. How did I miss that before!? If it's like "a single player RPG with a strong multiplayer component" this could be MEGARAD.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Thu 24 Jan 11:45] |
| Maou 2398th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Thu 24 Jan 12:38:
quote:
I know a few people (Iggy!) were critical of Ni No Kuni, but I frankly have forgotten all the reasons why. Was it just boring?
Oh, that might've been me. Yes, the DS demo I played on Iggy's worst nightmare a Level 5 demo cart was terribly dull and boring. Pretty designs and music, but the writing seemed childish and simplistic, rather than charming in a Dragon Quest kind of way. Given that the whole modus operandi of Ghibli is to make "children's entertainment" in the sense that it challenges children with nuance and depth, as opposed to children's enteratinment that talks down to them as dumb children, it really rubbed me the wrong way.
quote:
The mech thing is a big factor to me
The sight of a mech in the new demo actually provoked a shiver in me, not from glee but from raw fear. Xenoblade looked to have cut all the excess out of the series (I really want to play it, still), but here comes one of the symbols of Xenogears' deperate need for an editor to slice out bloat--including the Evangelion mini-fanfic aspect of mechs that do not matter to the story at all.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 24 Jan 12:43] |
| Ishmael 4532th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Fri 25 Jan 02:42
It seems DD is going to be a disc release or a download of the full game, making this more of a DD: Xtreme Legends than some DLC that was created with the original game. I've seen conflicting online comments on the price but what would the internet be without misinformed news?
Xeno: Speaking as someone who has never played the Xeno games I found the trailer quite appealing. Killing big animals until I wreck the ecosystem and cause everything to go extinct looked pretty cool, plus I could hop into a robot to kill even bigger animals. It made me excited about the game and I don't even own a WiiU. However, that face reveal of that guy at the end of the trailer worried me. Not only did the endings in Tekken 2 look more sophisticated, it suggested there might be some sort of story that gets in the way of all the animal killing.
quote:
I know a few people (Iggy!) were critical of Ni No Kuni, but I frankly have forgotten all the reasons why. Was it just boring? Oh, that might've been me. Yes, the DS demo I played on Iggy's worst nightmare a Level 5 demo cart was terribly dull and boring. Pretty designs and music, but the writing seemed childish and simplistic, rather than charming in a Dragon Quest kind of way. Given that the whole modus operandi of Ghibli is to make "children's entertainment" in the sense that it challenges children with nuance and depth, as opposed to children's enteratinment that talks down to them as dumb children, it really rubbed me the wrong way.
Ni no Kini is an odd game. Friends of mine who have zero interest in games are interested in this title because of the Ghibli connection. But after playing the PS3 demo I found I could not recommend the game. In the demo the battle engine felt like a clunky mix of real time action and menu shifting. It's like the game couldn't decide whether it wanted to be DQ or KH so it turned into a poor mix of both. Does the full game feel smoother?
Maou's post crystallized another problem I had with the demo: it didn't feel like a Ghibli story. The subtly that marks the best of Ghibli's output wasn't there for me. Instead it felt like a Monster Rancher game with a coat of Ghibli paint smeared over the top. If I wanted something that looked like Ghibli but was empty inside I would watch a Goro Miyazaki film. It also didn't help that I wanted to drop kick that clown with the latern in his nose within the first few minutes of playing the demo. I can't imagine spending 40 hours with that guy.
Perhaps I'm missing something since the game does seem to be getting good vibes in the West. I guess I'll wait a month or two and see what the final verdict is among the intitial players.
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| Pollyanna 3377th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Fri 25 Jan 16:28
quote:
The sight of a mech in the new demo actually provoked a shiver in me, not from glee but from raw fear. Xenoblade looked to have cut all the excess out of the series (I really want to play it, still), but here comes one of the symbols of Xenogears' deperate need for an editor to slice out bloat--including the Evangelion mini-fanfic aspect of mechs that do not matter to the story at all.
Xenogears needed the mechs to be "that RPG with the mechs" because otherwise it might be "that RPG with the green guy" or "that RPG with that fucked up pink thing."
Despite having mechs, Xenosaga will always be "that RPG with Kos-Mos."
quote:
Maou's post crystallized another problem I had with the demo: it didn't feel like a Ghibli story. The subtly that marks the best of Ghibli's output wasn't there for me. Instead it felt like a Monster Rancher game with a coat of Ghibli paint smeared over the top. If I wanted something that looked like Ghibli but was empty inside I would watch a Goro Miyazaki film.
That is a beautiful Goro burn, but too damning a statement to make, given the limited content of the demo.
I see the Ghibli connection working as a double-edged sword here. People want it regardless of what it is because it's Ghibli, but it's not like Ghibli did anything but visual work for the game, so if you're expecting Ghibli, you might not get what you want.
On a side note, I haven't seen Goro's newer film, but after Ged Senki, I had the impression that he was the director version of an actor that couldn't convincingly walk into a room. It confounds me that some people watched that film and were like "Yayyy, Ghibli."
quote:
Wait, forgive the lateness of this comment, but it only just dawned on me... they're still calling the game Ni no Kuni? No localization at all?
It has the subtitle "Wrath of the White Witch" in English at least. Maybe they assumed that most people already knew it by that name. Kind of funny to have a title that most people won't understand, I suppose, but it happens a lot with anime at least.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Maou 2399th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Fri 25 Jan 23:41:
quote:
Xenogears needed the mechs to be "that RPG with the mechs" because otherwise it might be "that RPG with the green guy" or "that RPG with that fucked up pink thing."
Heheheh. If only it'd been "that RPG with the aeon-spanning, adult, challenging evolution of Chrono Trigger's story." That's all in there, too!
quote:
Despite having mechs, Xenosaga will always be "that RPG with Kos-Mos."
Or Mok-Kos.
quote:
On a side note, I haven't seen Goro's newer film, but after Ged Senki, I had the impression that he was the director version of an actor that couldn't convincingly walk into a room. It confounds me that some people watched that film and were like "Yayyy, Ghibli."
I'm still amazed at how bad Gedo Senki/Earthsea is. I've never met a living human who went "Yayyy, Ghibli" after seeing it, and I've had 6.5 years since I saw it in 2006. Well, except for one friend who saw it at the same time. But then, he likes literally everything. There's a whole tragic substory worthy of its own movie as far as Goro getting the film and making a crappy one true to his doubtful father's low expectations, when Miyazaki himself had been wanting to make an Earthsea movie for years...
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Fri 25 Jan 23:43] |
| Maou 2400th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Sat 26 Jan 00:28:
quote:
I want to hear this story!
Gosh, I wish I remembered it better, but the gist of it was that Ursula Le Guin and Hayao had maybe talked about the idea forever ago, or maybe it was one of his early ideas, but it never happened for various reasons. Meanwhile, Hayao was attempting to retire for the 8th or so time, and somehow his son Goro got put on a project, despite the fact that Hayao expressed an extreme lack of confidence in his ability to handle Gedo Senki---he turned out to be right, though I wonder if it wasn't also a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Like, it was in the news here, as I recall, that Goro was working against his father's own doubts, and this was all right around the time the film was about to come out. Remarkable. I have no idea how Hayao's prodigal son could get put on a project against his better judgment. But either way, in the end, a story Hayao was fond of got made into the worst Ghibli film ever, Le Guin was disappointed that Hayao didn't get to do it since she was apparently either a fan of his works or confident in his abilities, and she tactfully said that it's a nice story/Ghibli film, but that it's "not my Earthsea," or someting like that. I'm sure the internet can tell this much more properly, but this is the vague chain of events I had in my head.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sat 26 Jan 00:29] |
| GekigangerV 1807th Post
PSN: gekijmo
XBL: gekijmo5
Wii: n/a
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Random DmC" , posted Tue 29 Jan 06:15:
I finally got around to playing “DmC” and I was able to power through it in two and a half days on the hardest default difficulty.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
I guess I will start off with the game play as that is the most important part of any game. This game is a pretty good action game overall that tries to create its own identity with a bunch of platforming segments with the angel and demon pulls. Level design is hit or miss depending on if they stuck too much platforming in. Before a couple of boss fights they stuck in a short platforming segment that just really seemed like a waste to me. I HATE the color palette this game uses. Some stages are overwhelmingly one color which really annoyed me. For example, the demo stage is overwhelmingly orange and it was starting to make me nauseous then there is a club stage where you are in an almost pure dark blue room and I got the same feeling.
The combat is fairly competent. The lack of lock on was a grave mistake though, especially when you have flying enemies in the area. I really hated having to fight anything that started in the air because it was hard to focus on them. There is a parry mechanic in the game that I found only useful in boss fights and against an enemy with buzzsaw arms, but you can use it on regular enemies as well. Although 30fps is noticeable the game is steady at that frame rate which helps thing go smoothly. The game has a DMC style meter, but it is pretty much a remnant of the namesake. It doesn’t deplete completely after you stop your combo and will just stop at the last rank you obtain. You can get a huge boost in style with the axe’s limited move list which is pretty wrong.
As far as weapons go, you got your big sword Rebellion with Ebony and Ivory as your baseline weapons. They got their standard fair DMC moves for the most part. A couple of moves were parsed out to other weapons though. There are two demon weapons you get. The first is the axe and the second are Super Skrull gauntlets. They are slow, mundane, but powerful weapons. Their move list are pretty limited, but the damage the axe deals is obscene especially if you are in the demon dodge power up or Devil Trigger. The Angel weapons are a scythe and a sort of three pronged boomerang which are crowd control weapons that just throw up wide and persistent hit boxes (something I personally dislike in action games). Their move lists are about double the size of their demon counterparts and look a little more stylish. Prop and shredder were given to the scythe while round trip was given to the boomerang. You get two extra guns as well, a shotgun and a explosive dart gun. Not much to say about them though.
The need to hold a trigger to activate either angel or demon mode was frustrating at first as I couldn’t coordinate myself to switch to the demon button if I wanted to do a demon dodge or I would forget to let go of the trigger when I wanted to shoot something and I would get a grapple move instead. Even after beating the game I still had a bit of trouble when I was trying to style on an enemy. It was easier to get used to toggling between your two angel/demon weapons by using the D-pad though.
Enemy design is forgettable overall, but they serve their intended gameplay roles. You eventually get to a point in the game where you need to color match your attacks with the color of the enemy and that got frustrating if two opposite color enemies would be closely grouped together as mismatched color attacks are auto parried. Thankfully they limited those types of mixed enemy encounters though. Devil trigger gets rid of this need for color matching your attacks, but Devil trigger in this game is horrible. Not only is there no unique devil trigger design, there are no unique devil trigger attacks, the screen goes all white(seriously I HATE the color palette in this game), and it lifts every enemy into the air where you are just free to combo them.
Boss fights were ok, but the game really went out of its way to tell you the weak spot right off the bat. Nothing too hard or challenging and were heavily pattern based. I went back and played the first level again with all my power ups and was able to beat the first boss in a few seconds once I got devil trigger activated.
The story and characters of DmC were also mundane. DmC is quite different when it came to storytelling though. Almost every cutscene advanced the plot bit by bit, but the quality of the writing and cutscene direction pretty much peaked when Vergil explained to Dante their backstory. After that is becomes almost like an early 2000’s Wesley Snipes/Steven Seagal film. There is a COMPLETE lack of style in every character either it be in their personality or choreography in a cutscene. At one point there is a hostage exchange between Vergil/Dante and the troops of Mundus. I am sitting there watching Dante hold onto Ebony and Ivory and Vergil with a high powered rifle against no more than 6 regular guys and think that this is the antithesis of Devil May Cry. Nothing really memorable happened in any cutscene and whats worse is that when you got a new weapon it didn’t show Dante trying it out. Those types of scenes really defined Devil May Cry to me. Also, with the ability to design a character from head to toe they still couldn’t get Vergil to look “cool” in a fedora.
In the end, I don't think I would particularly mind a sequel set in this universe, I just want a REAL devil trigger, more stylish weapons and removal of the color coded enemies. Unfortunately the story reason for the unique level design was kind of written out with the games ending. However, I would prefer Devil May Cry 5. Which reminds me, "Devil May Cry" was never said once in the whole game.
End of Spoiler
quote:
-Finally played Lollipop Chainsaw. It was worth the $15 I payed for it
 Back of the box material there. I spent more than that on food at a couple of airports on Saturday. I hope it was an enjoyable $15 experience though. I am borderline on whether or not to ask my brother to pick up the Valentine's Edition on PS3 when it comes out in Japan.
[this message was edited by GekigangerV on Tue 29 Jan 07:26] |
| Pollyanna 3380th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Tue 29 Jan 08:53:
quote:
I get annoyed by the story parts so much but I can't skip them because I'm scared I miss something cool! Wish they could have just compacted the story parts and put everything at the end instead of having it come up every level.
Yeah, I think I would actually be eager to see them that way...they'd feel more like a reward than an intrusion. I just tell myself that there will be plenty of time for endless dungeon crawling later.
On a side note, I feel like the save system is at odds with the game. Like "really? I can just undo that?" I'm not loading my game after a death on principle. I don't remember if Zettai Hero was like that...
quote:
Back of the box material there. I spent more than that on food at a couple of airports on Saturday. I hope it was an enjoyable $15 experience though. I am borderline on whether or not to ask my brother to pick up the Valentine's Edition on PS3 when it comes out in Japan.
I think you mentioned before that you only learn some of the most fun moves by the end of the game. I had a problem with that only because the game didn't give me a satisfactory way to keep playing it. Like, I was ready to start over on hard when I finished, but the BS minigames made that an undesirable prospect. Literally every single death of mine was from minigame segment. I never once died in a melee part. So, with my newly expanded movelist, hard mode would be very welcome if I didn't know that the parts that I found annoying would be EVEN MORE annoying.
Some reworked more beat 'em up friendly levels would've been a nice bonus, or survival mode or something. Of course, I'd love multiplayer too, but that's asking too much.
Anyway, I liked the system and world and music enough that I wanted to spend more time with it, but that just wasn't in the cards.
EDIT: Also, thank you for your DMC impressions. Your write up, like several before it, have confirmed my doubts about the game. Not that I think it looks terrible...it's just not for me. Maybe I'll get in on PC when it's like $12. I miss Dante, but I feel like I've "moved on" to Bayonetta. I'll join the sad crowd of people vainly hoping for a Platinum-developed crossover.
quote:
I was satisfied with it, more so than a few other recent Grasshopper Manufacture titles.
Yes. In terms of what I said above, it's an improvement over Shadows of the Damned, which literally gave you NOTHING to do except start over. And in terms of the annoying parts, it was a step above No More Heroes 2, which had a lot of creativity in terms of its boss fights, but stretched the game's system to its breaking point. So many parts of that game worked in theory, but were unbearable in execution.
So yeah, Lollipop Chainsaw was a steal at $15, but $60 would've been too much.
Still, hugely looking forward to Killer is Dead. That's what made me play Lollipop. I was like "oh wait, I HAVE a Suda game to play."
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Tue 29 Jan 10:16] |
| karasu99 1061th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(1):Dracula's Purse" , posted Thu 31 Jan 01:31
quote:
...since anyone mentioned Castlevania around here. "Who has awakened me from my deep slumber?"
This would be a good time to mention that the venerable toastyfrog, Jeremy Parish, has been publishing a nice series of "anatomy of a game" articles on the 8-bit Dracula games, analyzing the visual-structural layout of the various levels in terms of game design and in-story architectural consistency. I figure that many Cafe readers might already have seen this, seeing as how it's one of the few sensible places writing about games, but just in case!
**DIES**
Wow, I had definitely not seen that so far, but... wow, thanks for linking! Maou, you know about all the good stuff! Sadly it looks like my morning productivity is completely shot now...
www.secret-arts.com
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| GekigangerV 1807th Post
PSN: gekijmo
XBL: gekijmo5
Wii: n/a
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(5):Re(10):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Sun 3 Feb 05:45
quote:
I think you mentioned before that you only learn some of the most fun moves by the end of the game. I had a problem with that only because the game didn't give me a satisfactory way to keep playing it. Like, I was ready to start over on hard when I finished, but the BS minigames made that an undesirable prospect. Literally every single death of mine was from minigame segment. I never once died in a melee part. So, with my newly expanded movelist, hard mode would be very welcome if I didn't know that the parts that I found annoying would be EVEN MORE annoying.
True, I remember getting stuck at Zombie Baseball for a bit and that elevator game was purely random with its drops and you HAD to die a couple of times to figure out what was coming.
quote:
EDIT: Also, thank you for your DMC impressions. Your write up, like several before it, have confirmed my doubts about the game. Not that I think it looks terrible...it's just not for me. Maybe I'll get in on PC when it's like $12. I miss Dante, but I feel like I've "moved on" to Bayonetta. I'll join the sad crowd of people vainly hoping for a Platinum-developed crossover.
Speaking of old Dante, they released a costume pack with DmC Dante in DMC3 Dante clothing and hair. I had to get it just to try it out and I had some free points through bing so it didn't really cost me anything. It only just reminded me that DmC is just too slow and lacking in style to live up to Devil May Cry. In fact, I feel in the end that DmC will be forgotten as it really doesn't do anything unique with combat other that the troublesome Ikaruga color matching.
quote:
GekigangerV: Thanks for the DmC impressions. I wonder if DmC is ever going to have a chance to be judged on its own merits. Not only does it have the entire DMC back catalog to be compared to but when MGR comes out I'm certain the two games will be stacked against one another. (Side note: While I'm cautiously optimistic about MGR part of me still wonders how Platinum is going to screw up this one. After giving Raiden all these cool ways to flip out and kill people are they going to make him suffer through a Space Harrier level and then go sit in a turret?)
I have played through the MGR demo three times and I really love it. It has many of the aspects I love in DMC and the basic concept Zandatsu will get a lot of casual people into the game I am sure and I got to say it is pretty sweet cutting someones leg length wise and watch them hop on it. It is amazing how Platinum can introduce a slo-mo mechanic in their action games and not really slow down the pace of the game itself (Witch time in Bayonetta, AR mode in Vanquish, Zandatsu in MGR). I just hope that the movelist is more diverse in the final game and I hope Platinum also learned their lesson about adding HangOn or Space Harrier levels.
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| Pollyanna 3381th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Re(10):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Sun 3 Feb 21:02:
POLLYBLOG
-Finished Crimson Shroud. I like the bad ending better, but the way they handled NG+ was neat for a budget game.
-Got Liberation Maiden. I thought "Grasshopper sent me a New Year's card all the way from Japan. I can buy their $8 game." So far so good.
-I am all over this.
-Even if you have never played Gravity Daze this is a good book if you're interested in the art/world. I expected a thorough game guide with some illustrations, but it's just the opposite. Lots of the comic panels, too (although they're small).
quote:
I hope Platinum also learned their lesson about adding HangOn or Space Harrier levels.
Like with Lollipop Chainsaw, this sort of thing seriously discourages replay for me. I wish you could skip segments like this on a second playthrough. My only problem with Bayonetta was that these didn't have their own chapters. Having to go through what is essentially a different game to replay my favorite boss fight was NOT COOL.
quote:
It's shocking to me that so many people can't tell the difference between DMC and the original games. I think we've come to a point where action games simply don't need to be as polished and deep as they used to be in order to be successful. In fact, maybe they never had to actually be that good.
I don't want to be negative and use "good" or "bad", but I understand that my taste isn't necessarily what's in fashion anymore. Well, that's my "ideal" taste. The games that I like the best and shake my head in disbelief and confusion when people don't "get" them. I like lots of games of lots of types...I just love games, but I do worry that the kinds of games that Platinum makes aren't what people are interested in as much.
I hate series recognition over creator recognition too. Silent Hill fans would rather play these abysmal Western SH games than try Siren or even look into Gravity Daze. People bitch about new Final Fantasy games and haven't touched a Mistwalker game. I couldn't talk a single friend into playing Bayonetta and they all liked Devil May Cry.
I just realized that I have a lot of emotional investment in Metal Gear Rising's success. (though it may be damned from the start, since people who follow Metal Gear moreso than Platinum are likely to have a negative response.)
But back on topic, I think the most important thing for action games these days (vs technical merit) is inoffensive forward momentum. The game has to move you along in a non-frustrating way, even if that means lots of enemies that are just there to kill, platform segments you can't possibly die from or boss fights that hold your hand so you can feel cool killing things (these are all things I've heard mentioned about DMC, for the record, though I haven't experienced them first hand).
That isn't to say that games that have this are necessarily bad. Mass Effect has this to an extent and Uncharted certainly does and I like both of those. Gears of War has it bad, though...or at least 3 did. I wonder if Biohazard 6 attempted this and (mostly) failed, or if it was just an evolution of the "segmented little challenges" approach that 4 started.
I don't know where I'm going with this anymore.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sun 3 Feb 22:56] |
| Iggy 9426th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Re(10):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Sun 3 Feb 22:59
quote:
-Finished Crimson Shroud. I like the bad ending better, but the way they handled NG+ was neat for a budget game.
I actually started this this week, too! I'm just beginning the second chapter (I'm very slow, because I alswo started Kid Icarus, which I'm madly in love with one year after everyone else).
I like Crimson Shroud, though it's a little bit too... not enough... a bit less... OK, it's not U:Saga. It's trying, though, without all the frustrating and downright mean parts, which means without the fun parts.
But if I try to forget U:Saga existed, I like it. Can you think of anything (non-spoilery) that I should be paying attention to in the long run?
I try to fusion all the weapons I find (bone axe +1, bone axe+2...). Not sure where I'm going with that, especially because the game is not too challenging for the moment and I'm afraid I might be wasting precious ressources early on.
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| Pollyanna 3382th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Re(10):Ni No Kuni reprise" , posted Mon 4 Feb 08:32:
EDIT:
Midnight Fire Emblem eShop launch! Wheee~!
quote:
Can you think of anything (non-spoilery) that I should be paying attention to in the long run?
I try to fusion all the weapons I find (bone axe +1, bone axe+2...). Not sure where I'm going with that, especially because the game is not too challenging for the moment and I'm afraid I might be wasting precious ressources early on.
You aren't wasting resources. I had like...52 of the fusion items by the end of the game (new game plus). I got to a few +4s, but that's it. You usually only get repeat equipment if you fight the same enemies over and over and since the game is short and not hugely difficult, you probably won't have much reason to do that. Often, before you do much fusion, you'll have a new, better items anyway.
The only way you can really mess up is if you override a really useful spell by fusing a useless spell to a weapon with no empty slots.
If you want to suffer through figuring out what to do in NG+, that's fine, but I'd recommend just looking online. I'll give you a few hints if you want to suffer a little and figure out things for yourself. These are as spoiler free as I can do (which is pretty spoiler free)
I don't think the game was that great in the end, but it was interesting and good for the price. It excited my imagination and I had enough fun to finish it, which I think was the point.
One thing I liked was transparency in letting you know the chances of a spell working. You don't have to wonder "can I actually poison this thing? Surely not..."
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Mon 4 Feb 14:25] |
| Nekros 538th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(1):Dragon's Crown coming late March, new T" , posted Tue 19 Feb 00:05:
quote:
Atlus today announced that Dragon Crown for the PS3 and Vita is set for release in Late March. The company also released a new trailer to go along with this announcement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V44wra_jQzE
Ahh excellent... just the perfect game to play until JoJo ASB comes out.
FFX HD was also annouced for PS3 and Vita. Considering how Vita is poorly performing I ask myself what Sony is thinking because every Japanese title announced on Vita is also coming to PS3 or other platforms and to add another nail in the coffin Vita is getting only re-release of PS3 titles (see NG Sigmas, Konami HD Collections, Sega ASRT, PSABR, DOA 5, SFxT, that MH ripoff with Japanese monsters coming to PSP,FFX and Dragon Crown). What's next? Soul Sacrifice coming to Ios? God Eater on Android?
Can't name a single reason except collecting that make me interested in buying a game on Vita.
PS: I know I'm terrible late to the party but finally got a chance to play Shadows Of The Damned... really fun game! It is true I don't like shooters as a genre but damn this game is so packed well! The humor is also enjoyable even if is juvenile, gameplay is not my cup of tea but interesting anyway (the shadow mechanic is really a good idea).
[this message was edited by Nekros on Tue 19 Feb 00:10] |
| Pollyanna 3394th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Dragon's Crown coming late March, new T" , posted Tue 19 Feb 07:29:
quote:
FFX HD was also annouced for PS3 and Vita. Considering how Vita is poorly performing I ask myself what Sony is thinking because every Japanese title announced on Vita is also coming to PS3 or other platforms and to add another nail in the coffin Vita is getting only re-release of PS3 titles (see NG Sigmas, Konami HD Collections, Sega ASRT, PSABR, DOA 5, SFxT, that MH ripoff with Japanese monsters coming to PSP,FFX and Dragon Crown).
Yeah, I watched that Vita announcement thing and it was the saddest thing ever. They didn't have a single new game to announce and only showed ONE that wasn't on another system. I was hoping for something.
EDIT: Oops. Two. I forgot about Valhalla Knights.
I think they announced FFX for both a long time ago actually and have nothing to show but this? For something that scarcely looks different than what you can do with an emulator for free to take years of development is no good. They need to either give it up or find a better way.
On the bright side, software sales haven't actually been that bad. Even niche titles like Demon's Gaze and Monster Monpiece sold reasonably well and beyond expectation. I would guess that, like the 360 in Japan, no one bought the system by accident, so the consumer base for it probably supports the system as well as it can. Personally, I've bought a fairly large number of games and been very happy with the system and its lineup. I think it hits whatever my demographic is very well...there just aren't nearly enough players in that demographic to make the system a success.
I wonder if more of my sympathy goes to the Vita or the WiiU right now....
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Tue 19 Feb 09:58] |
| Pollyanna 3399th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Fri 22 Feb 22:31
My opinion of any Platinum game is going to be skewed, but I'm absolutely crazy about Metal Gear Rising. For a dumb action game, it's surprisingly full of delicacy. While it doesn't require a huge amount of technical expertise, it gives you a wonderful playground to explore lots of beautiful combos. I'm constantly finding interesting new ways to slice things up. Makes me want a new Onimusha somehow...must be the parrying.
Also, someone described Raiden's English performance as "confused," which really made me laugh. From that perspective, I've been able to enjoy his sometimes bizarre, misguided reads, rather than cringing.
quote:
Demo version of Mirror Of Fate is on the European store, enjoyed the game so far.
Even with my power of two 3DS systems, this is beyond my reach. Hahaha....
quote:
* for comparison I think this plays better than Chi No Rondo 3D remake on PSP.
Something felt off about the 3D Rondo to me, but it's quite different than Mirror of Fate, right? So you're saying that "Rondo felt awkward in 2.5D, but Mirror of Fate feels more natural?" That sort of thing?
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1073th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Sat 23 Feb 01:18
quote:
My opinion of any Platinum game is going to be skewed, but I'm absolutely crazy about Metal Gear Rising. For a dumb action game, it's surprisingly full of delicacy. While it doesn't require a huge amount of technical expertise, it gives you a wonderful playground to explore lots of beautiful combos. I'm constantly finding interesting new ways to slice things up. Makes me want a new Onimusha somehow...must be the parrying.
Also, someone described Raiden's English performance as "confused," which really made me laugh. From that perspective, I've been able to enjoy his sometimes bizarre, misguided reads, rather than cringing.
Wow, you're not kidding about this game! I'm absolutely insane for it! I could write some kind of super-post about what I love about it, but I'd just be preaching to the converted. I had been worried that my high opinion of Platinum was based exclusively on Bayonetta after being honestly disappointed by Vanquish and only moderately impressed by Anarchy Reigns, but MGR shows that they can definitely wow me.
I'll just leave it at this: I'm impressed by how well the fighting system feels like playing around, especially as far as fights against larger opponents go. It's like I could play each fight a dozen times and just mess around with my approach to it. And the best part is that the game just goes along with you. There's an openness of gameplay and exploration that I've gotten used to in games like Borderlands and Deus Ex that just doesn't seem to be present in a lot of third person action games, at least not in this way, and I don't just mean digging around for bonus trinkets. And best of all (mild spoiler I guess, so...)
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Getting weapons from bosses just expands all of these things-- playing around gets even more open and fun! Also, while I've got the spoiler section-- I loved the whole first fight against Metal Gear Ray where you go from throwing around a huge enemy to running down the side of a building avoiding missiles to jumping from missile to missile as they're being lunched at you. This game is great at making you feel like a superhero!
End of Spoiler
And I haven't even mentioned how much I love the character and enemy designs!
So... yeah, loving it.
Okay, so Castlevania-- I wonder if the demo will be in the US store at some point. The game comes out in like 2 weeks, doesn't it?
www.secret-arts.com
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| Mosquiton 1852th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(2):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Sat 23 Feb 07:08
quote:
Also, someone described Raiden's English performance as "confused," which really made me laugh. From that perspective, I've been able to enjoy his sometimes bizarre, misguided reads, rather than cringing.
I think it might be like Harrison Ford had said to George Lucas, "George you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."
The story is ridiculous. Stranger than Camus, even, ahahahah.
/ / /
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| Pollyanna 3400th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Sat 23 Feb 11:15
quote:
I was actually on the fence about MGSR for a while, so I'd like to hear about your experiences with it.
I know you weren't asking me, but I have a few things to say...
I think this is key:
quote:
It's like I could play each fight a dozen times and just mess around with my approach to it. And the best part is that the game just goes along with you.
The game encourages creativity. There are lots and lots of effective ways to kill enemies. It's not "pick a best weapon and combo", but "have fun with it.
My favorite right now is an air combo that sends you elegantly spiraling upward, and ribbons of flesh beautifully raining down. (for the record:4 slashes, launcher, sai pull, full air combo, zandatsu (or sai air finish if you aren't ready to kill).
I like how the game always has you moving forward. You don't turn your back on your enemy, you face them head on and clash. You can't stand still and deflect bullets...you have to RUN to do it.You automatically leap, slide and soar over obstacles. The way the game is played tells you everything you need to know about your character.
Another high point is the fact that nearly all of the "wow" moments in the game are gameplay-related. Cool things don't happen in cinemas, they happen in action. The way that weapons clash, the way you overcome boss attacks, the way that limbs fall after a combo all play out so nicely. I've had to pause the game and say "wow, that was really cool" several times, especially in the boss fights. (And it's not QTE stuff at all...it's the real deal)
The soundtrack is getting a lot of derision. I don't know if it's DMC embarrassing, but it's not the kind of music I'd like to be seen listening to. Still, it's used so incredibly well. The way that the music changes in each phase of a boss fight is another neat way they added to the drama without imposing on the gameplay.
Ah, also, it has screeching brains and the character renders are really lively. They sacrifice a little realism for personality and it's a good tradeoff.
OH OH OH! And the best part of the game! You don't have to win it before you can use an ALT costume! As soon as I saw the mariachi outfit, I thought "I want that all the time right now!" then BAM, they deliver. Mariachi Raiden 4EVA.
quote:
I think it might be like Harrison Ford had said to George Lucas, "George you can type this shit, but you sure as hell can't say it."
Wow. I'd never heard that before. That's fantastic.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Grave 1480th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: eccothedolphin
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Return to MMC" , posted Sat 23 Feb 11:53:
Hello friends! Haven't visited in a while. I'm sure I'll have lots of things to talk about when I catch up on posts, but here's some Grave Game Goodies for y'all:
1. Sometime in January a customer came into my store looking to sell a 3DO. This had happened in the past but I wasn't there, which angered me to no end. This time the guy came right to me. FZ-1, unbelievable shape, didn't really care if it worked. Paid $40, took it home, was SO EXCITED!
As I kind of expected, it booted fine but the CD drive was boned. There's a plastic gear in those drives that tends to crack over time. It's mechanically identical to a PC drive that was sold under both the Panasonic and Creative labels in the early 90s, so I scooped up one of those and swapped the drive. This one had a cracked gear too, but slightly less so - after playing around with the screws on the housing a little bit I eventually got it to the point where it'd catch every time. System sounds like shit but it works! So I proceeded to go 3DO crazy.
So 3DO crazy that I bought a FZ-10 a few weeks later. I'm up to 8 working controllers now too. I don't know what's happening to me but I like it, goddamn it!
The system has a lot of remarkably strange stuff from both the east and the west- almost all of it critically panned, but quite fascinating! Since the system lacks copy protection I've gone wild sampling games left and right, but the one I've spent the most time on so far is Iron Angel of the Apocalypse, which I'll talk more about in a later post because I'm just completely blown away by it. It's the epitome of a "Grave game" if you know what I mean. You don't know what I mean. I'm sorry. I have no idea what I'm talking about.
2. A side effect of getting that 3DO was rekindling my love for WARP - playing D again, finally laying my hands on Trip'd (TRIP'DANCE IS AMAZING)... and then tragedy strikes on the 20th of this month. I can't believe we lost Kenji Eno so young. I've been a fan of the man's work and outlook basically since I've become aware of his existence, and I consider myself lucky that we were able to interact even just once, a brief conversation on twitter that made me happy for days... it's awfully sad. So young. Get your blood pressure checked, people.
3. edit: somehow when I first posted this I neglected to mention that this passage was about Ken's Rage 2 somehow. Whoops!
Despite my endless bitching and moaning about download-only Musou games on PS3, let's face it, it's the future of the series here. I've come to accept it, and since I've also come to accept that I paid $60 for every licensed Musou game the day they came out on disc and never once sold one back, it wouldn't hurt to buy the download version. And, well, maybe it did...
I'm so torn on whether or not this game is better than the original. I was enthused about the Kaizoku Musou-style dash/dodge after playing the demo, but after playing the full game for a few hours I'm not convinced it was the right choice for this series. At the very least, it wasn't the right choice at the expense of jumping. Combat is much, much faster and more fluid, but without jumping attacks it's a lot less varied.
On the upside, they took out the horrible boss finishers from the first game. No more entering string after string of buttons for what feels like hours. A minor thing, but a great thing: when you have to press a button for a QTE, it shows both an image of the button and that button's position on the controller. That'd help me a LOT if I bought this game on 360, because for the life of me I can't keep the colors/letters of those buttons straight. Still.
I'm nowhere near the "new" content and am in the first part of the storyline still, so I can't really tell you how I feel about the game for sure yet. But I will say that some scenes that were masterfully done in the first fall completely flat here. The Jagi fight in the first game was INCREDIBLE. After the fire segments you can continue the fight on the roof... or you can smash the roof with a jumping attack, followed by Kenshiro telling Jagi to say his name and the game's version of Ai wo Torimodose starts playing... YEAH! That's good shit! And that's not here at all!
I'm disappointed so far, but like I said, barely touched the game. We'll give it time.
4. I don't know if any of you are pinball fans, but I felt it was worth noting that in the last month or so, both Twilight Zone and Scared Stiff were added to the PS3 version of Pinball Arcade. It's waaaay behind the mobile versions, but I'm really happy. They're two of my favorite pins of all time. We had a Scared Stiff in the Boston area for some time but unfortunately the owner of the machine sold it to replace it with Stern's new Avengers game... not a horrible move, but I want Scared Stiff back, dammit. Playing it on PS3 isn't the same but it's a hell of a lot closer than playing it on an iPhone! if you haven't checked out TPA, I recommend it. Lots of recreations of great tables. They just added Dr. Dude to the mobile versions, and the last update prior had Attack from Mars. Good stuff.
5. If any of you are also playing Puzzle & Dragons, let's trade IDs ~~~
[this message was edited by Grave on Sat 23 Feb 14:10] |
| Maou 2408th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Pinball in 2013" , posted Sat 23 Feb 14:37:
quote:
Hello friends!
Aha! "How are you gentlemen!!"
quote:
p-p-p-p-pinball!
Yeah! For me, most important was that the legendary Attack from Mars was added recently, so I can switch between that and Medieval Madness (oh god here is the soundtrack) with no end. I love pinball more than the narrator from Murakami's Pinball in 1973 (I would link you an English copy but think it's out of print), and once had to go searching for the lost Attack from Mars from my youth in a similar fashion. I was saying to the Professor the other day, though: I wonder if even these high-quality ports are fun for people young enough to never have really played pinball in real life? They're great since they remind us pretty well of the "ooomph" and physical force/friction/etc. of real pinball, but does that come through if you've never played the originals? Like, the bundled pinball game for Windows really sucked, and I wonder if that's what people think of when they think of pinball nowadays. Well, that, and "it's like pachinko but actually fun." I have to use that one a lot.
At least in the States, some good-hearted tech nerds have started a pinball museum, since pinball is kind of a nice match for people who like artisanal video games and tech design in general. They seem to focus on the older stuff, though.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 26 Feb 15:24] |
| Nekros 544th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(2):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Sun 24 Feb 10:36:
quote:
My opinion of any Platinum game is going to be skewed, but I'm absolutely crazy about Metal Gear Rising
Me too, and from the demo alone. I quote everything you have said about it (the music bit in particular... DMC music is terrible, ebm + dubstep, to me much less beareable than nu metal). I like how the game is shaped, the constant speed, the combat, the crazy boss fights (the very first boss fight resembles a typical Sonic FINAL boss fight), even the jokes are enjoyable (the TMNT reference got me more than a smile). The scifi setting, the violence and the general juvenile badassery place this game as a modern era heir of 90s action games. It brings me the same feelings as playing with Shatterhand, Hagane, Shinobi, etc. I really love this game and the only complaints I have are the lack of evasive maneuvres (no strafe, roll, slide and defensive cancels) and the role of Wolf. I really like the character but he does absolutely nothing in terms of gameplay. The first time I saw him I hoped he was a supportive character like Rush from Rockman or Yamato from Shadow Dancer.
quote:
Something felt off about the 3D Rondo to me, but it's quite different than Mirror of Fate, right? So you're saying that "Rondo felt awkward in 2.5D, but Mirror of Fate feels more natural?" That sort of thing?
I'll try to explain... MOF feels more natural because it's exactly what you think: a sidescrolling Lords Of Shadow. It does not play like a classic AD episode or an Igavania one. With this in mind, and if you liked LOS, you can enjoy the game.
[this message was edited by Nekros on Sun 24 Feb 10:39] |
| karasu99 1074th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(3):Return to Castle Vania" , posted Sun 24 Feb 13:54
quote:
My opinion of any Platinum game is going to be skewed, but I'm absolutely crazy about Metal Gear Rising
Me too, and from the demo alone. I quote everything you have said about it (the music bit in particular... DMC music is terrible, ebm + dubstep, to me much less beareable than nu metal). I like how the game is shaped, the constant speed, the combat, the crazy boss fights (the very first boss fight resembles a typical Sonic FINAL boss fight), even the jokes are enjoyable (the TMNT reference got me more than a smile). The scifi setting, the violence and the general juvenile badassery place this game as a modern era heir of 90s action games. It brings me the same feelings as playing with Shatterhand, Hagane, Shinobi, etc. I really love this game and the only complaints I have are the lack of evasive maneuvres (no strafe, roll, slide and defensive cancels) and the role of Wolf. I really like the character but he does absolutely nothing in terms of gameplay. The first time I saw him I hoped he was a supportive character like Rush from Rockman or Yamato from Shadow Dancer.
I'm still gearing up to write something rambling about this game, but in the meantime, anyone who's playing it (demo included) should try saving a civilian, then ninja running after them and slashing. You won't kill them, but... well, just try it. It's this kind of asinine humor that's really enjoyable for me. There's just tons of tiny touches everywhere that are really refreshing.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Grave 1480th Post
PSN: Drakee
XBL: eccothedolphin
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Iron Angel of the Apocalypse / Tetsujin" , posted Tue 26 Feb 17:02
quote:
I admit I know nothing about the 3DO so I missed out on all the weird things it was doing. For instance, I have never heard of Iron Angel of the Apocalypse. What is that? Just a second, I'll go look it up on Youtube.... what is that?
Well, if you're going by the box art, Iron Angel of the Apocalypse is an "Action Role-Playing Movie" and it even says "ARPM" right underneath, which is cute. It's almost as cute as when Yu Suzuki tried to make "FREE" happen.
Anyway, if you go into Iron Angel of the Apocalypse expecting a first-person shooter you'd be sorely disappointed. Apparently a lot of people were! Poor framerate? Very. Clunky controls? Certainly. You can't even strafe and aim at the same time. Lining up shots can be hard as well because of how limited the number of directions you can be facing is. The game is ugly and most of it takes place in tight, winding, sometimes extremely confusing corridors with a short draw distance. None of this sounds good, right? Wrong!
Iron Angel of the Apocalypse is one of those packages that's far greater than the sum total of its parts. While the game is lacking in many aspects, what it has is mood and atmosphere - BUTTLOADS. Besides Tetsujin, there are only two characters who speak in the entire game: another robot and the man who created them, who is played by a live actor. The video has a great feel to it, it's a beautiful sort of bleak futuristic. The game's sound is incredible too - it goes so far in establishing a great mood.
Outside of hearing from the other robot from time to time, you're totally on your own, alive in this new metal body, challenged to climb to the top of the building you're in to meet the man responsible. So you explore each floor methodically, looking for health/ammo pickups, new weapons, and most important of all: the map for each floor.
It's really more slow-paced dungeon crawl than anything else. I had no idea what to expect when I turned the game on, but from the beginning it hooked me and I couldn't stop. I just finished it last night and the ending left me with more questions than answers, so I moved on the sequel and...
...
No, this is not what I wanted. It's probably what everyone else wanted, and I'm willing to bet it had a much more positive critical reception, but ugh! It's a real first person shooter now! You move fast, strafe fast! Ammo on your default gun refills! You have an AUTOMAP! I've played for less than an hour and there's already been a ton of dialogue and a friggin' space battle. I can't say the sequel is bad because it's a much more technically sound game. While I find the world it's presenting to me appealing, the minimal approach of the first is part of what I found so thrilling about it! The higher production values and adherence to mainstream ideas of what a first-person game should be here seem to have done nothing but make a more generic experience so far. I intend to continue to play it, but I'm kinda bummed.
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| Pollyanna 3406th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Iron Angel of the Apocalypse / Tetsujin" , posted Fri 1 Mar 14:26
Not as exciting as JoJo, I know, but for those keeping up with it there's a substantial new Kaizoku Musou 2 trailer out.
I appreciated what they did with the first game, but I can see how they would want to take a typical Musou approach with this one.
Marco was also announced this week (though not featured in the video). Given resources from the first game, we can probably expect Krieg, Arlong, Wapol, Lucci, Kaku and Jabra. Bon and Ivankov are possibilities (and I suppose Hachi as well, though that would be a waste).
Given the current arc, we're likely to see Caesar, possibly Vergo and maybe possibly Kinemon. I would expect Doflamingo as the last reveal. Since Oda's yet to reveal the last Shichibukai, we'll sadly have 6 of the 7 to use, most likely.
I'm sure we can expect Hody and maybe Vander Decken if they're generous.
Am I forgetting anyone who has even a vague chance of inclusion? Kid?
I hope they do NOT include Shanks, who has no business in any game yet, despite his popularity. Mihawk is bad enough. It'll be great when they show Shanks again in the manga and he fights with something ridiculous, like a giant sticky hand and every game that included him in the past is way off.
With the Marco reveal, we saw that he can call on Vista and Jozu. I don't know if this is a Marco specific thing or if we'll be seeing support-specific characters. If that's the case, who knows what the hell we'll see.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3407th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Iron Angel of the Apocalypse / Tetsujin" , posted Sat 2 Mar 01:47
quote:
Speaking of One Piece, I was wondering:
Since there seems to be some controversy (well, at least discussion) about Hokuto Musou 1 vs 2 (some good mechanics and elements of 1 being unfortunately taken out of 2, which still seems the better game but could have been much better), how is the situation between One Piece 1 and 2?
I mean, of course Kaizoku 2 hasn't been released yet and I can't reveal your identity as a time traveler to the public, but does it looks like some elements / characters of Kaizoku 1 might end up left out of the sequel?
For example, the first's scenario mode covering a first arc of the series, while the second covering what happens next?
Kaizoku 2 is hugely different from the first game- you can tell from the trailers. The first game had a really robust story mode with a lot of running around, some puzzle elements, pseudo-platforming and QTE stuff. It followed the manga very closely and you couldn't use any of the villains. Some boss fights required you to do specific things, making it more like a 3D action game than a beat em up.
There was a traditional "musou-like" mode in it, but it was limited compared to other Musou games. Story mode was big and it was the focus. Although it skipped two major arcs, it told most of the story available at the time.
Kaizoku 2 is the complete opposite. The story is original or "what if", you can use tons of characters, good and bad, and all of the non-Musou elements from the original seem to be missing. I felt like the Musou-type system stuff in the first game was very strong, so the sequel should make for a better game than Hokuto. However, I can't say if the level design will be any good or not and the story certainly looks stupid.
I don't have an opinion on the change, really. The first game did what it did well enough and I really enjoyed its recreation of the manga, but it already covered most of the story and having more characters to kick ass with is a big plus, since they're all represented so well.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1076th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(7):Iron Angel of Dracula" , posted Wed 6 Mar 02:27
So someone pointed out a while back that the Castlevania 3DS game had a demo in the EU store, but last week it appeared in the US store as well, so I downloaded it. I've just now gotten around to trying it, and it appears that the full game's been released today in stores. Anybody else try it and care to comment? I know that... hmm, I can't recall who mentioned here that it was on the EU store, so I know it's on someone's radar at least. I've just played the demo myself but it might be enough to push me to buy the whole thing. I'm really hoping that writing this mini-review will help take me in one direction or the other.
I wasn't one of the people who absolutely hated on the PS3 game, so I wasn't dead-set on hating this one either. Seeing that it was a 2D game made me a little bit optimistic since I was curious how a mix of 2D perspective and Mercurysteam's take on the franchise would go. And believe it or not it came out pretty much exactly like that: and mix between the two.
I like that there's a 'combat system' with upgrades to moves and a fairly decent move set, much like the console game. The level design was surprisingly nice, with lots of interconnecting passageways and tunnels to crouch-walk through (more on that in the negatives as well). It reminded me of that set of articles describing the NES trilogy of Castlevania games where the author talked about clarity of design from an architectural perspective. Aside from a weirdly large number of stairs, the game feels like you're actually walking through crumbling old edifices. There's even a chapel with a regionally appropriate set of religious icons.
Enemy design is also pretty nice, if you're prepared to accept something other than 'classic' Castlevania enemies. Personally, I've been prepared for the move away from the Metroidvania enemy set for quite some time, so I was happy to see most of this change.
Play-wise it's also enjoyable. Scrambling over debris and searching through the ruins is pretty fun, and the return of a whip-swinging mechanic is also pretty nice. Play is nice and smooth, and once you realize that few enemies take only the one hit, that you can block, and that you can roll away from enemies (something not mentioned in the otherwise overly-hand-holding style of demos) everything plays out very well.
There are a few things I didn't care for that spring to mind: first, drops from above a certain height cause you damage, but it was never clear what that height is exactly. I've never liked this kind of mechanical decision myself. Second, there's a boss that requires you to double jump over him, but his height is just about exactly the max height of your double jump. This kind of precision is very NES-game like and doesn't fit with the rest of the game's expectation.
Something else I didn't care for is that in a game that feels otherwise like a an old-school Castlevania in so many ways, you can't crouch, except when you autocrouch to squat walk through a collapsing tunnel. The only reason I can think for not including crouch as an action is that Mercurysteam didn't have the resources to come up with a whole bunch of crouch attacks. Still, my first impulse as a long time fan was to duck underneath a stabbing attack from the first 'boss', not roll away from him.
A few other minor things: Lots of candles and lanterns, but nope, you don't get to smash them. Hearts 'naturally' are found in barrels! Naturally, the same stock set of three barrels is spread around all over the place. There are no 'lives' per se, at least not in the demo, but upon dying you're returned to a place that might not exactly make it easy to proceed. When I died at one 'boss' enemy, it respawned me a few steps from him, in the second phase of the battle, with nowhere near my full life. I'm guessing it's checkpoint based and that the thinking was that at least I don't have to fight the whole boss fight over again. EDIT: I'm wrong, it was user error about the jumping. I stink.
The sum up: it's competent. Like LoS, if I came upon this game without the CV branding I'd probably feel about the same. Atmosphere and design are both handled well, as is combat and gameplay, for the most part. I think many of my complaints are due to an unavoidable comparison with CV games of old, but I'm not sure it's possible for me to play a Castlevania game, of all things, without some preconceptions. As I look back at this little review-ish thing, I think I'm leaning toward getting it.
www.secret-arts.com
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| badoor 295th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK/PSVITA:BadoorUSA
XBL: BadoorSNK/WiiU:BadoorSNK
Wii: 3DS:4253-3532-0341
Copper Customer
| "Re(10):Iron Umihara of Kawase" , posted Wed 6 Mar 17:51:
I too have tried the demo and feel less than psyched about it. Aside from obvious complaints like 1-hit kill QTEs, I'm not liking the fact that MercurySteam for some reason retained the split platforming section & combat section from the console game. This makes exploration pretty danger-less and in turn boring. And apart from changing enemies, combat done on flat arenas make every encounter feel identical, apart from the different backgrounds.
Despite the monotony, I like the combo system. And parrying is never a bad addition. But I don't like how the character moves forward a bit with each strike, which means I have to roll them back away from static enemies after 3 or 4 hits. It sort of defeats the point of having a very long ranged whip as a weapon.
Even with all this bashing, I'm still planning to buy it. It is after all a new Castlevania.
In more hopeful news, there's a new Umihara Kawase for 3DS. Some scans here and here.
I first read about the series when the PSP version was announced for release in the US. That never came through which is actually GOOD since the PSP version was pretty buggy due to lack of involvement from the original developer, who then came through and did a much improved DS version a year later, which is what I played and immediately loved. Since this one has a very small chance of coming out internationally, I am now seriously considering importing it AND a 3DS system too.
Basically, region-locking still sucks.
http://100daysofmegashock.wordpress.com/
[this message was edited by badoor on Wed 6 Mar 17:54] |
| karasu99 1078th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):Re(10):Iron Umihara of Kawase" , posted Thu 7 Mar 05:31
quote:
I too have tried the demo and feel less than psyched about it. Aside from obvious complaints like 1-hit kill QTEs, I'm not liking the fact that MercurySteam for some reason retained the split platforming section & combat section from the console game. This makes exploration pretty danger-less and in turn boring. And apart from changing enemies, combat done on flat arenas make every encounter feel identical, apart from the different backgrounds.
Despite the monotony, I like the combo system. And parrying is never a bad addition. But I don't like how the character moves forward a bit with each strike, which means I have to roll them back away from static enemies after 3 or 4 hits. It sort of defeats the point of having a very long ranged whip as a weapon.
Even with all this bashing, I'm still planning to buy it. It is after all a new Castlevania.
These are all good points. I've since bought the game and spent a few hours with it so I can speak semi-intelligently, not just based on a demo that may in no way reflect the game itself.
I'm not in love with the one hit kill QTE's either, and I'm mystified that there don't seem to be lives at all, or even very much in the way of consequences for dying. You just respawn pretty much where you fell, often with a boss battle at the same 'checkpoint' you reached before dying. I know 'lives' in games are a dying concept, but the challenge would be greater if it at least spit you out at your last health fountain. Ah well.
Speaking of QTE's, we should have a discussion of them elsewhere. I know there's got to be some interesting takes on them here at the cafe.
The aesthetic of the game is pretty fantastic overall. Even though the polys are relatively low it's a real pleasure to look at some of the backgrounds, like the underground castle battlements and the kitchens. The enemy design is pretty good too-- I especially loved the first boss:
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Kind of a mix between a huntsman and a plague doctor. The cape and hat and mask were pretty great!
End of Spoiler
Simon's design is not bad (despite the beard-- it just seems wrong somehow for a Belmont to have a beard!) and the comic book style filter on the story parts is appropriate for the look overall.
The way I see it, this is very appropriate for a new generation of handheld Castlevania games, even if they've made some decisions I don't agree with.
quote:
In more hopeful news, there's a new Umihara Kawase for 3DS.
I tried the DS version some time ago. It was pretty fun, so this is good news!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3408th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
|  "Re(3):Boob Report" , posted Thu 7 Mar 07:45
It seems like everything about the new Castlevania just boils down to "It's LoS on 3DS" to me. Kind of neat that they were able to make so many of the same things work in 2D, but I just can't get enthused. The more I compare it to Castlevania the less I like it and that's a waste of time for me anyway.
I got Senran Kagura on Vita, which might be worth mentioning. The LE, combined with the preorder bonuses makes for a nice package of 5 figures, 4 CDs and artbook and a bunch of useless buttons.
[Pollyblogging]
I had said before that the 3DS games were surprisingly sweet and that the fanservice elements were non-invasive, but for unexpected reasons, I can't say that of the Vita version.
The story is still straightforward and generally non-sexual, but the jump in technology made the clothes-tearing scenes less ridiculous and more explicit. That is to say, the breasts don't look like basketballs waved around frantically on sticks anymore.
Also, there is a silly thematic in the series that works well with the "losing clothes" theme. It's captured well on the back of the (LE?)box, which has no screenshots, just a naked girl in the snow with a bunch of swords stabbed in the ground around her. It says something like "Even if everything is stripped bare, (there's something) I want to protect."
When I played the first 2 games, this idea of unwavering, but clashing principles that each of the characters fought for matched really well with the idea of fighting so wildly that their clothes can't keep up. It was like the sexy version of two hard-headed tough guys trading headbutts, while wrecking their own faces. Obviously, this is really silly, but it fit with the theme of the game...or rather, contributes to it. It's thoughtful in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
But the Vita game, by virtue of being too easy sometimes, makes me uncomfortable. I've had several fights where I'm just tearing up the boss with some massive combo, beating her naked despite her screams. To me, this feels BAD. This feels like something that people should not enjoy. This is a tough guy mounting another tough guy and beating his face in with a brick while the other guy cries.
But I don't know if I can blame that game for that...I just thought it was funny how thin the line was and how it was crossed by difficulty and quality of graphics.
Anyway, the game is good and I would recommend it to those interested in the series. The plot is a little dumbed down from the 3DS games and they recycle some of the short stories, but everything else is a big improvement.
The battle animations are lively, the enemy variety and level design is a big step up, the balance between the different fighting styles and new super moves are great, and there are way more boss fights with a nice focus on "rival vs rival". Same as the 3DS games, the soundtrack is good as well. There's also a surprisingly decent multiplayer vs mode with a few different options. (On the downside, it has a online pass that only works on Japanese accounts, though)
They also added a sort of "arcade mode" for every character (and there are a lot!) that has a short intro and ending framing a series of small levels with boss battles. This is a great alternative to the story mode, which might have more talking/reading than you want in a short session. For the record, the story mode is fairly robust, though, with several chapters for each of the 4 groups of characters represented.
One bad thing...the loading time is kind of bothersome. In story mode, some of the chapters will be broken up into fighting/talking/fighting/talking/boss with waiting after every switch. It's not horrible, but it ruins the momentum.
So yeah, boobs aside, it's pretty good high-energy, character-focused beat 'em up. I'm interested to see what they'll do with the inevitable 3DS sequel to keep up with all the great improvements in the Vita one.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1081th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(10):What is a man pt.5 Mirror of Fate" , posted Mon 11 Mar 12:16:
quote:
Playing Mirror of Fate right now. Already at Act III. So far, mixed feelings, but is it really that bad?
I just started Act 3 as well, and I have seriously mixed feelings. The game itself is pretty fun, and I LOVE the backgrounds, but if the punchline to the game's characters is what I think it is, it's pretty damn stupid, even though I suppose it makes sense at least, given the revised storyline.
I also have to say the QTEs are getting to be seriously annoying. Why, for instance, do I need to mash 'B' to open a chest that makes my subweapon count go up by 1? I'm generally mixed when it comes to QTEs but this is just dumb.
EDIT: AND ANOTHER THING! Navigation stinks. You're given two kinds of maps (one that's a catsle-in-the-background NES style map and another that's a local area map) and teleporters that are ostensibly a throwback to the Metroidvania games, but the maps don't help you figure out where you are, and the teleporters are barely useful since the game itself isn't very expansive. Minor stuff, but still.
www.secret-arts.com
[this message was edited by karasu99 on Mon 11 Mar 12:56] |
| karasu99 1081th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(4):Re(10):What is a man pt.5 Mirror of Fat" , posted Tue 12 Mar 03:36
quote:
Welllll I would be inclined to mock them mercilessly as missing the entire point of a gameplay system (why is there a break in the system to allow an event to occur lazily? If it's so divorced from the game's core, why not just leave it a cinema, assuming it even has to be there at all), but given my tragic love affair with Shenmue, there's no way I can hate QTE's TOO much given their august source. Unless you count Dragon's Lair.
Now see? I knew that something like this would awaken you from your accursed slumber!
I think QTEs in a game like this indicate a lack of planning or imagination on the part of the developers, or at the most generous a line-toeing of convention, since today action games just have QTEs. Look at God of War after all! You've got to mash those buttons to stomp your opponent into the ground!
In games with big overblown cinematic scenes I think QTEs arose in larger numbers to give the player something to do during the cutscene, but in a game like this it doesn't really have a purpose other than just completely interrupting the action. At this point in most games I feel like the QTE is there to keep me from skipping the cutscene that 60% of the game's budget went toward making.
quote:
Good news, in the spirit of the undead, Toastyfrog Jeremy Parish was kind enough to upload a review to the dearly-departed/departing 1UP that nails why it is probably dumb!
My problem is that I really want to keep playing Castlevania games, and I want somebody to make the game that I know is there in all the mess of cash-in games of the last decade plus. I think Aria of Sorrow and Ecclesia both show that there's some fun to be had by deviating some from both the old-school and the Metroidvania formulas. But the more I play of Mirror of Fate the more I feel like some decisions were made to satisfy a checklist of Metroidvania mechanics. Backtracking for instance: in Metroidvanias you backtrack, right? Great! In MoF, you'll backtrack to find... scrolls that for some reason give you experience, and to find bestiary entries!
www.secret-arts.com
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| sfried 811th Post
PSN: My3DSFriendCode
XBL: isdownbellow
Wii: 279306128909
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(5):Re(10):What is a man pt.5 Mirror of Fat" , posted Tue 12 Mar 04:46
quote:
My problem is that I really want to keep playing Castlevania games, and I want somebody to make the game that I know is there in all the mess of cash-in games of the last decade plus. I think Aria of Sorrow and Ecclesia both show that there's some fun to be had by deviating some from both the old-school and the Metroidvania formulas. But the more I play of Mirror of Fate the more I feel like some decisions were made to satisfy a checklist of Metroidvania mechanics. Backtracking for instance: in Metroidvanias you backtrack, right? Great! In MoF, you'll backtrack to find... scrolls that for some reason give you experience, and to find bestiary entries!
Yeah, they were trying to appease too many people at once. But on top of that, I think the biggest problem was how segmented the combat is from the platforming, as in, the reasons why some sections feel so sparse is that I think they deliberatley took out enemies in these areas so you could have some breathing room to jump. But the claustrophobia with enemies is one of the key things that made Castlevania feel like Castlevania. That bone thrower near the staircase being the classic example. (The Medusa heads being another, but that's entirely different...)
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| karasu99 1082th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(7):Re(10):What is a man pt.5 Mirror of Fat" , posted Wed 13 Mar 01:45
quote:
The topic title really made me laugh...because when you're overweight, every mirror is the Mirror of Fat.
Hahaha, yeah I found this pretty hilarious too! I'm still not 100% sure if it was by design or if the subject line got auto-cropped. It's funny either way!
quote:
Yeah, they were trying to appease too many people at once. But on top of that, I think the biggest problem was how segmented the combat is from the platforming, as in, the reasons why some sections feel so sparse is that I think they deliberatley took out enemies in these areas so you could have some breathing room to jump. But the claustrophobia with enemies is one of the key things that made Castlevania feel like Castlevania. That bone thrower near the staircase being the classic example. (The Medusa heads being another, but that's entirely different...)
And the appeasement also included making sure it wasn't too hard for anybody! I think I actually laughed out loud the first time I died from a one-hit QTE fail only to find that there had been a checkpoint halfway through the boss battle. It makes me realize the balls that Capcom had a few years back when they made Goku Makaimura as hard as they did. And even that was taking it down a few notches from Cho Makaimura.
I finished the game late yesterday although I have to confess there have been a few points where I felt like I shouldn't bother. THAT'S how bad it's gotten.
While I do find some redeeming qualities (that I've already mentioned), overall the game has just heaped disappointment on disappointment. Maybe the worst thing has actually been the storyline. So I know it's an 'alternate' Castlevania, but... ugh.
Now what should I play to get this taste out of my mouth?
www.secret-arts.com
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| nobinobita 1129th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(4):Boob Report" , posted Wed 13 Mar 08:58
quote:
When I played the first 2 games, this idea of unwavering, but clashing principles that each of the characters fought for matched really well with the idea of fighting so wildly that their clothes can't keep up. It was like the sexy version of two hard-headed tough guys trading headbutts, while wrecking their own faces. Obviously, this is really silly, but it fit with the theme of the game...or rather, contributes to it. It's thoughtful in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way.
But the Vita game, by virtue of being too easy sometimes, makes me uncomfortable. I've had several fights where I'm just tearing up the boss with some massive combo, beating her naked despite her screams. To me, this feels BAD. This feels like something that people should not enjoy. This is a tough guy mounting another tough guy and beating his face in with a brick while the other guy cries.
This very very very specific distinction is the best thing I've read about a game in a while! Thanks!
www.art-eater.com
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| Pollyanna 3413th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Drakengard/Drag-On Dragoon 3" , posted Thu 14 Mar 04:10
quote:
!!! That is high praise! I humbly line up Lunar 2 in challenge (Yokoyama Chisa - Lucia, Hayashibara Megumi - Lemina, Naya Rokurou - Ghaleon, Okiayu Ryoutarou - Rongfa...still blows my mind), but still marvel at the love for weird weird Drag-on-Dragoon. I almost played that...it was on my list of Things I Might Play, one time! I'm getting an almost God Hand-like vibe (preposterous and unpolished but simultaneously perfect) here.
DoD2 used stage and film actors...and Rolly, who is my a repeated Polly-Award Winner for "Coolest Man to Walk the Earth".
Of the actors you mentioned, I can't think of a single role a single one of them played that I liked them in with the exception of Okiayu Ryoutarou. As much as I love Lemina, Hayashibara deducts points from any cast for me. That's just my preference, of course. Lunar was a 90s anime game with 90s anime actors.
Speaking of Okiayu Ryoutarou, the last thing I heard him in was Tales of Xillia 2, where he has the misfortune of playing a guy who's so cool, it's kind of annoying (Gaius). In the game, you can place all sorts of accessories on the characters, move them and change their size/color. There's a stuffed animal in the game called "Bunnish" that everyone wants. You think you win one, but you end up with a cheap knockoff with this bizarre looking face. Anyway, you can equip it as an accessory, and I put it inside Gaius' body so that its bunny ears and disfigured snout stick out of his stupidly handsome head. Totally fixed his character.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| karasu99 1084th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(6):Drakengard/Drag-On Dragoon 3" , posted Fri 15 Mar 02:07
quote:
The demo of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge is now available in the usual outlets. While I have not spent enough time with the demo to form an opinion I do find it fascinating that the original NG3 demo is also still around. This means it's now possible to try out two different versions of the same game. I haven't seen something like this since the sequel happy arcade days.
I'll have to check both out. Back when the original version came out I avoided it based on many, many peoples' consistent scorn for it, but in the current game drought it's actually sounding interesting to try both.
Speaking of Ninja Gaiden, a friend gifted me the Vita version of Sigma 2, so I've been playing through it to find that there's almost nothing 'Plus' about it. I've got this weird love/hate going on with the series, but to bottom line it, NG2 I hated, NG Sigma 2 I loved, and this... just... ugh! I'm amazed it ever made it past any kind of quality control, but it's pretty good for a laugh if you have either a generous friend or money to burn to try it.
A few 'highlights':
- Easiest NG game ever. I've blown through it on Hard and never once wanted for a health item and never died. It's not an issue of the updated weapon upgrades where you don't pay for them but only get one per blacksmith visit-- my only guess is that the enemy AI didn't get ported correctly from Sigma, which I found to be genuinely hard. But here... bosses sometimes just... stand there.
A side effect of this is that I haven't even come close to spending all of the yellow souls I've earned.
- What was once a beautiful game is now an uninhabited PS1-era wasteland of clipping and shitty textures. I know that the Vita had to take a hit in this regard, but Sigma 1 Plus actually looks much, much better, so I know it's at least possible.
- The camera has a lot of unexpected jitter. I think this is probably caused by the issue I'll describe next, but the camera feel like a glitchy mess.
- Most hilarious of all, there's some weird kind of collision problem between non-flat ground and character models. Case in point: after dismembering some manner of goon, I laughed like crazy while his arms, legs, head and torso twitched all over the place. At first I though it was by design, but I soon realized that it only happens when you're on an incline. Pretty funny to see, but pretty sad all the same.
- BONUS: This isn't an issue with the Vita version, but when you finish off one boss in particular she's thrown into a circular pool of blood, and sucked down to the bottom in what appears to be a giant toilet flush. I'm sure it was meant to be dramatic!
So anyway, yeah-- avoid.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3414th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Drakengard/Drag-On Dragoon 3" , posted Fri 15 Mar 09:03
quote:
Even though FF XII is instantly disqualified/requalified for Most Hilarious Acting based on the guy who played Oiyoiyo Vaan, I briefly thought of tossing it out there since it managed to have Ootsuka Akio and Wakamoto in the same game.
I loved the FFXII dub. Oiyoiyo and all. Sad that the actor takes the flak for that, when there's a whole line of people who shouldn't said "hey, shouldn't we take that one over again?" Vaan was replaced by one of my favorite actors later though (the Japanese Harry Potter!) so whatever, I guess?
Also, Ootsuka shows up in the strangest places.
quote:
But tell me more about Drag-on Dragoon!
The thing I like best about DoD and Nier is that most games...or most anything...leave you with a sense of "I know what kind of story this is going to be" early on. With Cavia's games, the only guarantee is that it's going to be a "fucked up kind of story."
DoD was a bad game, but an inoffensively bad one. You jammed on buttons so you could see the next nutso plot twist. DoD2 made the button jamming much more fun, but the plot was a little less crazy. Nier added lots of unnecessary screwing around to an already boring battle system, making you "dig" for the buried gold of the story.
The irony of Access doing the next game is that Deadly Premonition is the worst masterpiece I've ever played and perhaps the only game I genuinely love that I would rather watch someone else play. It's also ugly as...well, a Cavia game.
Please note that when I describe the stories as "crazy" I mean that in the most complementary way possible. Not like "so bad it's good", but "mind meltingly awesome".
quote:
current game drought
Whuuuut? I never finished Kamipara or Xillia 2, barely started on Senran Kagura, only done the intro to Tales of Hearts R, finished Metal Gear Rising, but got less than halfway through on hard and only skimmed over Naruto. Oh, and I got Vampire Savior, despite my complaints and it's all I want to play. Next week is Kaizoku Musou 2 and I passed on both Hokuto Musou 2 AND the new Sangoku Musou.
Did you play Fire Emblem? It's very good.
Also
quote:
- Easiest NG game ever. I've blown through it on Hard and never once wanted for a health item and never died. It's not an issue of the updated weapon upgrades where you don't pay for them but only get one per blacksmith visit-- my only guess is that the enemy AI didn't get ported correctly from Sigma, which I found to be genuinely hard. But here... bosses sometimes just... stand there.
This is bizarre! Did they maybe add difficulty levels and mess up all the other ones in the process?
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Iggy 9454th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Drakengard/Drag-On Dragoon 3" , posted Fri 15 Mar 23:49
Oh god, what was that Ôtsuka thing. That was...
.... well... Thanks, I guess.
quote:
Whuuuut? I never finished Kamipara or Xillia 2, barely started on Senran Kagura, only done the intro to Tales of Hearts R, finished Metal Gear Rising, but got less than halfway through on hard and only skimmed over Naruto. Oh, and I got Vampire Savior, despite my complaints and it's all I want to play. Next week is Kaizoku Musou 2 and I passed on both Hokuto Musou 2 AND the new Sangoku Musou.
I had to stop whatever I was doing in MH3P and DQ7 to start digging through the wealth of downloadable games recently released in Japan.
I'm almost done with the Zelda Oracle games, but now I need to get the sequel to THE Uwaki Kareshi (a game where you play a bunch of moronic girls who all have the sudden revelation that their boyfriends are cheating on them, so you have to storm through their flat to find evidence that you'll throw in their face in the correct order (literally: hold L and R and then tilt violently your 3DS to throw the item. Too bad you can't aim anywhere else than between the eyes).
And yesterday, the first game of Guild 02 was released, a Boku no Natsu Yasumi where you play a little kid in a then-rural part of Tokyo in 1971, with the tiny detail that you're living in a world where sentai are real and you have to walk around the big footsteps of the random monster of the week to reach your neighbor's house and catch insects.
It's unreasonably cute. Next Guil 02 game is a shitty Inafune game, but the following one is written by Abiko Takemaru and I'm not passing it by.
I'm worried I won't be done with DQ7 before Megaten 4... And I haven't even started Fire Emblem...
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| karasu99 1085th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(8):Drakengard/Drag-On Dragoon 3" , posted Sat 16 Mar 02:53
quote:
Whuuuut?
Did you play Fire Emblem? It's very good.
Well, game drought for me. I just happened to finish a bunch of stuff at once, like Metal Gear Rising, NGS2,+ and so on. I've stopped buying imports since I pretty much can't afford them. I haven't tried Fire Emblem, but I've been thinking about it, so thanks for the suggestion!
quote:
This is bizarre! Did they maybe add difficulty levels and mess up all the other ones in the process?
It's got to be a bug. The only boss I had even remote trouble with was the very last one, but that's only because it's such a long fight. I can't imagine they ratcheted the difficulty down again from plain Sigma 2, which was already much easier than 2.
quote:
After spending a bit of time with NG3EXPlus it feels less crappy than the original, unloved NG3. What a recommendation that is! A few random thoughts:
Har har, yeah, that really sells me! I suppose it at least sells me on the demo, so no harm done.
quote:
I'm probably going to buy Razor's Edge since it is going to have a cheap
I was pretty disappointed that for having so many selling points about Rachael, Ayane, and Momiji playable in Sigma 2, you only get to play as each one for exactly one short extra stage. I wonder if the same will be true for Ayane and Kasumi in Razor's Edge. I guess I shouldn't care since they're just 'bonus' characters, but Ayane in particular is fantastically fun to play as in Sigma 2!
While I question Tecmo selling what basically ends up being the demo version of each NG game before creating a final iteration, I do like that they have the nerve to go back in and fix things that didn't end up feeling right in the original. But again, it sucks to then have to go out and buy it again if you got the original.
www.secret-arts.com
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| Ishmael 4564th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):The Lack of Vests Disturbs Me..." , posted Tue 19 Mar 02:34
quote:
http://kotaku.com/5990832/capcom-and-valve-team-up-for-resident-evil-6-x-left-4-dead-2-title
Even though a lot of the enemies in L4D are analogues of RE creatures, I still find the series to be more interesting than the latest RE offerings.
Hopefully, this may lead to an even more important crossover with Team Fortress 2. HATS!
While that's good news for the folks who enjoy those franchises I'm more excited that Capcom's crossover with D&D is getting re-released. Yes, I know this has been mentioned before but this is something I will bring up in any conversation I can.
quote:
I was pretty disappointed that for having so many selling points about Rachael, Ayane, and Momiji playable in Sigma 2, you only get to play as each one for exactly one short extra stage. I wonder if the same will be true for Ayane and Kasumi in Razor's Edge. I guess I shouldn't care since they're just 'bonus' characters, but Ayane in particular is fantastically fun to play as in Sigma 2!
While I question Tecmo selling what basically ends up being the demo version of each NG game before creating a final iteration, I do like that they have the nerve to go back in and fix things that didn't end up feeling right in the original. But again, it sucks to then have to go out and buy it again if you got the original.
I do like that in the demo you are able to unlock a stage select that will let you re-play the levels with different characters. True, the level may not be designed with that character in mind but I get the feeling that nothing in Razor's Edge is going to fit together perfectly anyway. After playing a bit more I get the feeling that the entire game is a bit slap-happy, with pieces of play mechanics from different games tossed together in a way that doesn't totally gel. This is probably not good news for those that approach the NG with the precision of a surgeon. My usual gameplan, however, is to hop around like a crazy person so I'll probably be able to make do.
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| karasu99 1086th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):The Lack of Bloody Evil Arms..." , posted Tue 19 Mar 02:58
quote:
I do like that in the demo you are able to unlock a stage select that will let you re-play the levels with different characters. True, the level may not be designed with that character in mind but I get the feeling that nothing in Razor's Edge is going to fit together perfectly anyway. After playing a bit more I get the feeling that the entire game is a bit slap-happy, with pieces of play mechanics from different games tossed together in a way that doesn't totally gel. This is probably not good news for those that approach the NG with the precision of a surgeon. My usual gameplan, however, is to hop around like a crazy person so I'll probably be able to make do.
I played through the demo (Razor's Edge, not plain flavor) this weekend with a kind of lack of appreciation. I liked some of the newish enemy types, like the wizard guys with pixelish shields, but the gameplay was a turnoff, with it just being wave after wave of guys saying the same clip of "I'm gonna fucking kill you" over and over rushing in on you, while a few guys with rocket launchers shoot at you from a distance. If there's actually variety in the game, these were some pretty poor choices for the demo.
Then I discovered that the demo versions of a few other games I was interested in sampling clocked in at outrageous numbers like 3GB and up. I seriously need to upgrade my hard drive, since I have an 'old' PS3 and I'm tried of juggling saves/data installs/games.
Ah well! It was a disappointing weekend in playing games. Oh well, there's always this week and Fire Emblem (thanks Polly)!
www.secret-arts.com
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| badoor 300th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK/PSVITA:BadoorUSA
XBL: BadoorSNK/WiiU:BadoorSNK
Wii: 3DS:4253-3532-0341
Bronze Customer
| "Re(3):The Lack of Bloody Evil Arms..." , posted Tue 19 Mar 18:37
quote:
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
I don't think I mentioned it before but I have bought and played the Wii U version, which I assume would most likely be exactly the same as the upcoming 360/PS3 and maybe a highly possible distant VITA port.
In short, I think Team Ninja did a good job fixing the original NG3 within the 8 or so months they had. But still, it is merely putting bandages on the original's problems. And there's a certain limit to what they can fix.
To elaborate, combat mostly reverted back to NG2 style (dismemberment, insta-killing dismembered enemies, similar ninpo), which might be the best combat style in the series for me. They also changed the uses of those horrible steel-on-bone QTE attack. Now you activate that when you attack an enemy that's doing an unblockable grab (triggered with a bloody red flash). If you do it, it's also an insta-kill and you can chain more insta-kills if you attack nearby enemies immediately. I thought this is a clever way to turn a once annoying and useless animation into something that's much more useful and rewarding for players. Also, I like that you can use the ninpo meter to do more stuff like heal or teleport safely thru attacks.
Even with all that, this still feels the most corridor-y, linear, and just monotonous of all Ninja Gaidens, with little variety. All you do is fight multiple waves of enemies, then move ahead, activate boring QTE, then rinse & repeat. Funny enough, they added a few branching paths every 30 minutes or with optional VR missions where, you guessed it, get to fight more enemies.
I do miss the exploration and platforming aspects of the 1st Xbox Ninja Gaiden. Even the swimming parts, while not the absolute highlight, did a good job breaking up the monotony. I guess what this version of Ninja Gaiden 3 shows is that if you build a game solely using the best & most important part of a series, you'll get a rather boring game in the end. quote:
http://pics.lockerz.com/u/ao.zaki_n1930/photos/287494208/_7_25
8,190 YEN WHOA that's expensive even for Japan.. the VA for the elf girl is the same as Blazblue's Tsubaki.
IGN says the US release date is August 6th.
Happy to see that it finally has a solid release date. Though It's doubly-good that this news and the Capcom D&D news (which George Kamitani worked on) came about in the same day. I guess good things do come in pairs.
http://100daysofmegashock.wordpress.com/
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| Ishmael 4565th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Dragon's Crown release set for July 25" , posted Tue 19 Mar 22:23
quote:
I played through the demo (Razor's Edge, not plain flavor) this weekend with a kind of lack of appreciation. I liked some of the newish enemy types, like the wizard guys with pixelish shields, but the gameplay was a turnoff, with it just being wave after wave of guys saying the same clip of "I'm gonna fucking kill you" over and over rushing in on you, while a few guys with rocket launchers shoot at you from a distance. If there's actually variety in the game, these were some pretty poor choices for the demo.
Someday I should try the English option just to hear how bad it can truly be. Trouble is, in games like this where guys in goofy suits are blathering on about the "true spirit of the sword" or whatever it simply works better for me in Japanese.
When I think about the enemies in NG it's usually a matter of which ones I hate less. Whether it's ghost fish or birds that loiter around bottomless pits the non-human enemies in NG can get frustrating quickly. I expect that in a future game Ryu is going to get his ass kicked by flying squirrels.
quote:
I do miss the exploration and platforming aspects of the 1st Xbox Ninja Gaiden. Even the swimming parts, while not the absolute highlight, did a good job breaking up the monotony. I guess what this version of Ninja Gaiden 3 shows is that if you build a game solely using the best & most important part of a series, you'll get a rather boring game in the end.
Ah, so that's what the steel-on-bone thing was in the demo! Something that counters enemy throws is most welcome.
While I liked the idea of the platforming in NG1 I can't say that any of it was all that memorable for me. The level I really remember fondly was the blimp level and that was probably the most straightforward section. I'm not certain how I would change the layout of the game but I do remember finding the exploration a bit dull since all the buildings and rocks were identical.
Side note: Now that I think about it I liked the NG blimp level since it also reminded me of Strider. As far as I'm concerned the main goal of in the life of a ninja is to knock down airships.
quote:
http://pics.lockerz.com/u/ao.zaki_n1930/photos/287494208/_7_25
8,190 YEN WHOA that's expensive even for Japan.. the VA for the elf girl is the same as Blazblue's Tsubaki.
Yeow, maybe next time they should consider doing a Kickstarter for funding! I'm kidding a bit but seeing as how Skullgirls has shown there are other avenues of game funding out there smaller games should be more creative with how they get made.
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| Pollyanna 3415th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Dragon's Crown release set for July 25" , posted Fri 22 Mar 07:03
quote:
For all you Tokyo Jungle fans.
This is great!!! It looks rough and I'm sure it would've been a lot more work, but it's quite striking! They probably made the correct decision, but I would've much preferred this look.
Thanks for posting this! I would've missed it.
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More yummy 2D motion art in latest trailer
I can't wait to get this on a fancy TV. Then it'll really be like a painting in motion.
I like how the fighter is handsome under all the armor. I didn't notice that before. The wizard is also more "Swedish Speed Metal" than I realized. LOVE IT.
I have a few concerns, but they're just personal. The bosses look amazing and their size is very impressive, but the "pound on the giant hand/face of the thing in the background" kind of boss is my least favorite. Too many of those might make the game annoying to play.
Also, I'm torn between importing or not. I'm especially fond of Vanillaware's Japanese dubs and especially not fond of Atlus' English ones. If they don't offer dual language, that's a big letdown. I don't know if the game will have enough dialogue to warrant the import price, or not, though. The stories are a big selling point of Vanillaware games for me, so we'll see....
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3417th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sat 23 Mar 03:48:
Seeing as I know more than one person that lists "Ducktales" as their favorite Capcom game, I guess this is a good move!
Kind of annoying that Capcom announced a SF update with literally no information at all, but the really good news from their panel is that Ryu, Gouki, Ken and Chun-Li won in the character poll. That means we can look forward to seeing them in the new SF4 update, guys!
Before I was more receptive to a new Vampire game, even if it was ugly, but after spending more time with Savior lately, I've changed my mind. I don't like talking about "the good old days", but over and over playing that game, I've thought "nothing beats this."
Still, seeing skin on people's faces flap and cave in in the new Naruto game gave me hope that something acceptable could come from a Dimps/Cyberconnect union. (I mean, if we're cool with JoJo, they can do "that other awesome Capcom game", right?)
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sat 23 Mar 03:50] |
| karasu99 1088th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
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Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(3):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sat 23 Mar 04:44
quote:
Seeing as I know more than one person that lists "Ducktales" as their favorite Capcom game, I guess this is a good move!
As a general Capcom fan it pains me to say this, but I've never played DuckTails. I can't really say how that happened, but... yeah. So I'm not super excited about this one.
quote:
Kind of annoying that Capcom announced a SF update with literally no information at all, but the really good news from their panel is that Ryu, Gouki, Ken and Chun-Li won in the character poll. That means we can look forward to seeing them in the new SF4 update, guys!
Ha ha, I'm also pretty confident that if new characters are announced, they'll be something along the lines of Elena, Hugo, and Poison. Not sure what would give me that idea, or why I'd pick those particular characters!
Seriously though I sometimes think I'm the only person out there who would rather see either some really new characters or at least some 'deep cuts' from an older game who don't get as much love. But given people's love for more of the same, I have a feeling it's like wishing a Capcom crossover game from the early 2000's didn't have Morrigan with her original sprite.
quote:
Before I was more receptive to a new Vampire game, even if it was ugly, but after spending more time with Savior lately, I've changed my mind. I don't like talking about "the good old days", but over and over playing that game, I've thought "nothing beats this."
Still, seeing skin on people's faces flap and cave in in the new Naruto game gave me hope that something acceptable could come from a Dimps/Cyberconnect union. (I mean, if we're cool with JoJo, they can do "that other awesome Capcom game", right?)
It could be not bad, and I think that ultimately the kinds of visual effects that are possible in 3d could make for an excellent and visually flashy game, but I know what you mean about Savior-- it's hard to consider a 3d sequel to a game that was pretty much pushing 2d spritework to its limit and not feel like something would be lost.
So a June date for 'Chronicles of Mystara'. And for lots of platforms! It will be interesting to have these games as well as their spiritual sequel available to play side by side within a pretty close timeframe!
www.secret-arts.com
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| Pollyanna 3418th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sat 23 Mar 09:33:
Quick Kaizoku Musou 2 report:
-You can change Franky's hair on the fly (this is the most important thing)
-It's a musou game. All of the non-musou elements from the first game are gone
-There's a lot to unlock and customize. (like any other musou game)
-The original story is no good. The cinemas are unpleasant to watch. That's fine...you can skip most of them.
-There's a fairly large number of NPC bosses, but fewer player characters than I expected. All of the ones included are well-realized, though.
-You can wreak an unreasonable amount of havoc. In addition to your musou moves, you have a "style gauge" that puts you into super mode, lets you do another super, call out an invincible buddy to do combos and another super, then tag you back in for a 3rd super. It's BONKERS.
-The maps are crowded. There's a lot of slowdown and frame rate hiccups. It's a fair tradeoff for the insanity, but I'm wary of 2 player mode.
All in all, it's a good musou game with everything you'd expect from a good musou game. It's nothing like the sad free mode from the first game. Now the story is the sad part.
I haven't had the fortune of playing the new Sangoku Musou, but I have a feeling it's the better game. Kaizoku gives you plenty of pretty methods of mayhem, but it feels like it's lacking a technical edge or something.
EDIT:
I just remembered, one neat new feature...if you go to a team member that's injured, you can heal them. In other musou games, even when I would clear out most of an area, I'd still have this feeling of "can I leave this person alone, or are they still going to die?" Now it's like "okay, I healed them. They're good."
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
[this message was edited by Pollyanna on Sat 23 Mar 12:02] |
| Pollyanna 3418th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sat 23 Mar 16:07
quote:
I have an extremely import question for you: is one of his hairstyles the braids?!?? If so-- automatic buy.
I'm surprised to hear that there aren't that many playable characters, since the prerelease info seemed to indicate that there are tons.
Braids or no, I think this is a buy for me.
I wanted braids too, but it's too much to hope for, since he's only had them in the manga and only for a few weeks. After the last chapter, I want BEARDS for everyone.
Anyway, he's got a mohawk, pompadour and kabuto hair, but no braids.
After a few more hours of play, my impression of the game has improved. The levels get increasingly more insane, and although the PS3 can't even begin to keep up, it's too much fun. I like that every character does what they're supposed to and none of the bosses are immune. Brook can make Lucci dance a jig, Perona can make Akainu depressed. Hancock can make Whitebeard turn to stone with hearts over his head.
The characters that didn't work as well in the last game (Chopper, Brook and Franky come to mind) are still crazy, but HAVOC WREAKING CRAZY now. Marco is the most unique and impressive character in any musou game (I mean it!). When Perona activates her style gauge, she gets extra violent with Kumashi (or his stuffed equivalent). There's a lot to explore with every character.
As for there being "few" characters...it's more like there are a whole lot that you can't use that I thought they would either take out of the game or make playable. Sentoumaru, Lucci, Kaku, Blueno, Krieg, Arlong, Hacchi, Magellan, Ivankov...the list goes on. I don't feel like the game is lacking in playable characters, necessarily, though, since they're all so enjoyable to use.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Iggy 9460th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sat 23 Mar 20:23
quote:
As for there being "few" characters...it's more like there are a whole lot that you can't use that I thought they would either take out of the game or make playable. Sentoumaru, Lucci, Kaku, Blueno, Krieg, Arlong, Hacchi, Magellan, Ivankov...the list goes on. I don't feel like the game is lacking in playable characters, necessarily, though, since they're all so enjoyable to use.
I hope you'll enjoy buying Kaizoku Musou Ultimate Pirate Boonanza ++ in 6 months!
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| chazumaru 976th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "New releases" , posted Sat 23 Mar 20:32:
@Pollyanna/OPKM2: Out of curiosity, why did you buy it on PS3 rather than Vita ?
There are tons of perfectly valid reasons but I am genuinely curious about each person's motive. Same goes for people who bought Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U rather than 3DS (and vice versa), actually.
I am genuinely surprised by how much fun I am having with the Guild 02 series so far. The quality is quite higher than the first series. It's almost a shame this one is not a retail release because that card would have been an amazing purchase of very heterogenous experiences. There are only three games this time but the first two are arguably better than the first four titles.
Kaijū ga deru Kinyōbi is basically a whole new Bokunatsu, which is insane to see on a Nintendo console. I would not be surprised if that was a Vita or PS3 concept rejected by Sony. This one is shorter than a real Bokunatsu but adding a Kaijū Eiga angle is a really cool idea which is well done. Inserting the Guild 01 card at the title screen rewards you with an artwork section. Really cool trick ! That reminds me of DS games which had bonus contents if you inserted the proper GBA cartridges.
Mushikera Sensha by Comcept (Inafune's studio) is best summed up as Honey I shrunk the Nazis. By the way, as much as I like Hans, Joachim, Kommander Dierkmann and the ridiculous German voice-overs, that one can never ever leave Japan without a serious makeover... Anyway, in 194X, your Panzer Division disappears from the frontline in mysterious fashion. Have they vanished? No! They all mysteriously shrunk to insect size and must now survive those pesky ants and mosquitoes. Hide from the giant rain drops! Raid anthills to rob their biscuit reserves! Save your panzer friends from the spiderweb! You only control one tank but as you find new parts from other Axis/Allies tanks, you can customize it as you feel. It's kind of a mix between Choro Q and Chikyū Bōeigun. The cutscenes are hilarious, too. Inserting Guild 01 will reward you with a Golden Panzer and I don't even want to think about where the Mini Nazis got that gold from.
Uchūsen Damrey-Gō is a Sci-Fi sound novel out next week, by the creator of Machi. I am not so excited by that one but given the fun I had with the other games, I'll give it a shot. Guild 01 gets you an exclusive scenario bit.
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
[this message was edited by chazumaru on Sat 23 Mar 20:33] |
| Pollyanna 3419th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sun 24 Mar 04:07
quote:
I hope you'll enjoy buying Kaizoku Musou Ultimate Pirate Boonanza ++ in 6 months!
They pack so much stuff into Musou games that I've never felt the "need" to buy one of their addons. I'm surprised they sell at all, though I suppose they don't have to sell many to make back the limited amount of money they put into them. The fact that they always have a sequel looming further devalues them...
(So I say, but we'll see who they add...)
quote:
@Pollyanna/OPKM2: Out of curiosity, why did you buy it on PS3 rather than Vita ?
There are tons of perfectly valid reasons but I am genuinely curious about each person's motive. Same goes for people who bought Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U rather than 3DS (and vice versa), actually.
Given its technical hiccups and Koei's history of that sort of thing, I think it would be "irresponsible" to buy that particular game on Vita. I imagine the Vita version is kind of a mess.
I would probably never buy a game on a portable system vs a TV console, though. For one, I usually work from home and don't have time to play games when I go out. I also love my TV and sound system.
In the case of Monster Hunter, although I'm not buying either Ultimate with 4 on the horizon, I would buy the WiiU version because it runs at a higher resolution/out of my receiver/on a controller I like more. I enjoy playing MH with a group in person, but if it was 3U, my friends would bring their 3DS(s) and I would play on the TV. Even when we played 3P, I would play the PSP through the TV, so that people who weren't playing could watch as well.
I love and enjoy plenty of games on portable systems, but as of yet, they've never been my preference.
Ah! I can think of ONE game I would rather have on a portable system, though! Kamipara, the new(ish) Nippon-1 game requires you to play for too long at a time. As a result, I haven't finished it. I think I mentioned that the PS4 feature I'm most excited about is suspend/resume. I may not leave the house a lot, but I stay very busy and sometimes only have a few minutes to spare for a game. Having an instant startup/stop process is very appealing.
Aaaand...
quote:
Guild02
I wonder if these games are DL only because the card version didn't sell, or because the DL versions sold well.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 3420th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Sun 24 Mar 05:55
quote:
Really? I thought if you liked the characters, you'd buy both... For example, I love my Basara, and I'm pretty sure Basara 4 will follow 3: half old popular characters, half new ones, the rest NPC, and the NPCs become playable in the update. And you can bet I'd buy both on release. I thought you'd do the same?
That does sound like me, seeing as I buy pretty much anything, but the timing has never been right for Musou games. I did buy Utage, but only because I got it for cheap, but that's been it.
I was hugely fond of the last Sangoku game, but I never finished all of the stuff in it. When the update came out, I thought "well, I shouldn't get this unless I finish the initial material and I have too many other games to play, so I'll pass." By the time they put out a possible Kaizoku 2 update, I'll probably be looking at the next Sangoku, so I might pass on that. It wasn't until recently that I felt like Musou games got decent again and Basara 3 was a bit of a let-down for me, so we'll see if I change my tune in the future.
If I had fewer games to play, I would finish more and buy more addons, but even with my sometimes "wild" spending, I haven't been able to justify a purchase yet.
I still buy fighting game updates even though my friends don't like to play anymore and I hardly play online, though... Urgh...
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Ishmael 4569th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):So, Capcom's new game..." , posted Mon 25 Mar 05:51
I heard that one of the additions to Shin Duck Tales is a money vault that you can swim around in. Why did it take this long for that feature to show up in a game?
quote:
I am genuinely surprised by how much fun I am having with the Guild 02 series so far.
Kaijū ga deru Kinyōbi looks like it could be a genuinely fun game but Mushikera Sensha boggles my mind. Way to make certain your game never gets an international release!
quote:
Ha ha, I'm also pretty confident that if new characters are announced, they'll be something along the lines of Elena, Hugo, and Poison. Not sure what would give me that idea, or why I'd pick those particular characters!
Rolento, however, can go pound sand. I like how vague Capcom is being with this update, even going so far as to ask for community polling. There's no way that will end well and I can't help but wonder if Capcom is doing that just to watch the players work themselves into a lather. Much like getting a small dog worked up over nothing it's something you shouldn't do but it's so easy...
quote:
I honestly thought that Dhalsim's animation in SF4 was the strongest point that somebody at Capcom could make a 3D engine based Darkstalkers game not look like total garbage.
I'm still holding out hope for a new DS game at some point in the future. True, it won't be VS but that's a complaint that could be leveled at all games that aren't VS.
quote:
-It's a musou game. All of the non-musou elements from the first game are gone
I didn't mind the non-musou stuff in the first game, I just thought a lot of it was badly implemented. Oh well, as long as the musou stuff works it's all good. I just hope the crying has been toned down a tad.
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so little time...
