| HAYATO 1085th Post
  
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
    
    
    
|  "Re(6):The George Kamitani & Vanillaware Threa" , posted Sun 12 May 09:30  
Wow, gotta love that amazon!!! Basing my opinion solely on the promo video, I can say that not only do I find her character the most appealing of the batch design-wise, but also the most enjoyable one on the playable side. Her moves and playing mechanics struck a chord in me: they reminded me of "Alien vs Predator" Predator Hunter somehow; she sports just the dazzling and powerful close-range, old-school combat mechanics I learned to love back then!
As a competent King of Dragons player ( I used to 1CC the game back in the day, playing as the Barbarian/Fighter) I can say that this blonde amazon looks like the best choice for brawler-type players, even more versatile than that ironclad bishonen warrior we already know of. In addition, I'd say that this is the best depiction of this classic fantasy trope since Golden Axe's Tyris-Flare.
BTW, don't pay too much attention to my ramblings (and, to some extent, my grammar), since I've just come from a Galician folk festival and I'm far beyond tipsy. Blame it on massive doses of Queimada (an old, ritual-laden celtic beverage consumed in Galicia, which some may find quite suitable to the topic at hand) that got the better of me...
|
| Mosquiton 1867th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
  
   
| "Re(7):The George Kamitani & Vanillaware Threa" , posted Sun 12 May 10:00
quote:
Wow, gotta love that amazon!!! Basing my opinion solely on the promo video, I can say that not only do I find her character the most appealing of the batch design-wise, but also the most enjoyable one on the playable side. Her moves and playing mechanics struck a chord in me: they reminded me of "Alien vs Predator" Predator Hunter somehow; she sports just the dazzling and powerful close-range, old-school combat mechanics I learned to love back then!
I was just mentioning this to my friend the other day! It's those unarmed attacks that really remind me of AvP, in particular. She also has a nasty dive attack that is a bit Predatory. I was leaning toward Sorceress or Elf before, but I think I`ll have to go with Amazon first. If only Elf was a little closer to Lynn Kurosawa...
quote:
BTW, don't pay too much attention to my ramblings (and, to some extent, my grammar), since I've just come from a Galician folk festival and I'm far beyond tipsy. Blame it on massive doses of Queimada (an old, ritual-laden celtic beverage consumed in Galicia, which some may find quite suitable to the topic at hand) that got the better of me...
That sounds like something worth trying. Did it produce the blue flames? Are you feeling magically enhanced and ready to enter a RL fighting tournament?
/ / /
|
| HAYATO 1088th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(9):The George Kamitani & Vanillaware Threa" , posted Sun 12 May 21:38:
quote:
THAT SOUNDS AMAZING.
Your magical elixir has summoned me here to tell you that I just made some more updates to the Dragon's Crown article:
http://art-eater.com/2013/03/from-mickey-mouse-to-jesus-the-latest-dragons-crown-trailer-is-full-of-epic-homages/
This latest update is about the Rosetta Stone, Summoning Demons and the enduring legacy of Princess Crown.
Man ... I always think I can just breeze through these subjects in a paragraph or so, but they just keep going deeper and deeper and deeper @____@ and it keeps getting later and later and there's still so much to unearth!
Thanks a million for reading!
For those interested on Orochi blood-powered pagan beverages, here's a link to the basic Queimada Ritual in motion (the original, Galician-spoken version of the spell can be heard in the background). When most of the concoction's alcoholic volume is gone due to combustion, the fire extinguishes itself and the hot beverage is ready for consumption. If given the chance, don't hesitate to try it out, but take into account that albeit easy to drink, it packs a serious punch. Measly drinkers beware, or you'll experience a hangover of celtic proportions!!
Back on topic, I'm glad to see even more references covered in your article, Nobi. The Rosetta Stone one was so obvious that I let it slip, as I assumed everything related to Champollion's main piece of work was common knowledge by now.
On the essay about the Greater Demon... I completely agree with you on the influences that inspired the design. Moreover, this may be a recurring Vanillaware character, a buffed-up version of Grand Knights History's Demon, whose design is nearly identical save for the tail and extra muscle the new one sports.
Some weeks ago, I left some info on the comments section of your site, mainly about some possible connection between the draped skeleton and the works of Juan de Valdes-Leal and some info on that Frazetta painting you left undated in your article. I don't know whether they are of any use to you, but I took the liberty of pointing them to you again because feedback on the Cafe is much more fluent and inmediate than the one on your site.
Oh, and for those interested on Princess Crown: it seems that an English fan translation is in progress. Could this be ported to the PSP version? If that were the case, and given the recent developments on the PS3 scene (custom PSP games to PSPminis and PSP remaster conversion), we may even be able to play it on a CFW PS3. One can only hope...
Edit: links on Psp to Ps3 conversion
[this message was edited by HAYATO on Sun 12 May 21:50] |
| nobinobita 1168th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillaware Thre" , posted Mon 13 May 18:24:
quote:
If given the chance, don't hesitate to try it out, but take into account that albeit easy to drink, it packs a serious punch. Measly drinkers beware, or you'll experience a hangover of celtic proportions!!
Looks amazing. The Queimada sounds right up my ally, like a leveled up mulled spice wine. What does it taste like? Does the fire change the flavor of the ingredients at all?
quote:
On the essay about the Greater Demon... I completely agree with you on the influences that inspired the design. Moreover, this may be a recurring Vanillaware character, a buffed-up version of Grand Knights History's Demon, whose design is nearly identical save for the tail and extra muscle the new one sports.
Wow, thanks for pointing that out! I haven't played Grand Knights History (wish it could come out in the US!). Cool, now I know that the arch demon is kind of a recurring character/archetype.
quote:
Some weeks ago, I left some info on the comments section of your site, mainly about some possible connection between the draped skeleton and the works of Juan de Valdes-Leal and some info on that Frazetta painting you left undated in your article. I don't know whether they are of any use to you, but I took the liberty of pointing them to you again because feedback on the Cafe is much more fluent and inmediate than the one on your site.
Thanks for that info! I will try to update soon. The way I update the site and handle comments is a bit unwieldly right now. I end up missing a lot of stuff!
And man, I hope that Princess Crown translation comes along. In my dreamsDragon's Crown does so well that people become curious about Vanillaware's past work and they release Princess Crown in English and it gets wide recognition as the politically correct girl power game that everyone has been clamoring for; starring a strong, independant (not defined by her relationship to a man), unsexualized, fully armored ass kicking girl who wisely rules over a proud matriarchal kingdom, all done in earnest, unpanderingly, over a decade before most people cared to look at games through the filter of gender studies.
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Mon 13 May 18:26] |
| HAYATO 1089th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillawar" , posted Tue 14 May 02:15:
quote:
The Queimada sounds right up my ally, like a leveled up mulled spice wine. What does it taste like? Does the fire change the flavor of the ingredients at all?
It all depends on the orujo you use to make the blend. Plain Orujo is a crystal-clear, strong distilled liquor produced in Northwestern Spain since the middle-ages. It's similar in appearance and taste to tequila, vodka or kaoliang, so other ingredients such as honey or aromatic herbs are often added in the proccess to make it more flavoury. Thus, the 3 main branches of Orujo were born : Orujo blanco (plain orujo), Orujo con miel (honeyed orujo, similar to German, vodka-based Bärenfang) and Orujo de hierbas (herbal orujo). I'm no expert on the subject but, according to my experience and my personal tastes, I'd go for honeyed orujo in my Queimada, as the sweetness of honey helps it to blend better with the rest of ingredients used in the concoction. Those ingredients include roasted coffee grains, cinnammon, apple dice, cane sugar, orange and lemon peels.
By igniting the Queimada, most of the alcohol contained in it just evaporates, resulting in a softer drink, more suitable for everybody. It also heats the mix and helps the ingredients to blend.
Last but not least, one should constantly pour the beverage while ignited, as shown in the previous video, because the heaviest ingredients tend to sink to the bottom of the pot. So, in order to get an even distribution of the flavours and to keep the beverage burning (via adding oxygen to the mix with each pouring), the Escanciador's (i.e. the pourer's) role is of paramount importance. In fact, escanciar, the verb used in Spanish to describe that particular way of pouring wines, cider and some other alcoholic beverages of the Northern Iberian Peninsula comes from the Goth term comes scanciorum (circa. 6th century A.D.), a palace official who was in charge of the service people who poured drinks at royal banquets. You can't go wrong with a 1400 year-old pouring technique!!
quote:
Wow, thanks for pointing that out! I haven't played Grand Knights History (wish it could come out in the US!). Cool, now I know that the arch demon is kind of a recurring character/archetype.
Well, as its release was cancelled both in USA and Europe I think that, in case you have access to a modded PSP, you should do it. It was my third Vanillaware game and the one I enjoyed the most (Odin Sphere didn't get me and the language barrier forced me to drop Princess Crown). The battle mechanics were so similar to my beloved "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth" that GKH got me hooked right away. I didn't make much sense of the story (it was about three kingdoms vying for some holy relics to prevent a demon's awakening or something like that), but almost all the items, menus and tutorials were translated. Be prepared for some serious grinding, though. Difficulty romps up towards the end of the game, specially when reaching the last dungeon/mission. Plus, the final boss is pretty overwhelming: I couldn't beat it and, after a couple of weeks, I quit out of frustration but I really enjoyed the game nonetheless.
EDIT:
Here I come with some more possible references. Although you already covered the subject of the draped skeleton, I think you'd like to check those baroque paintings: The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb(1522) by Hans Holbein the Younger (who seems to be one of Kamitani's main sources of inspiration, according to the amount of evidences you previously collected) and Philippe de Champaigne's Le Christ mort couché sur son linceul (1654), a much darker rendition of the same trope (the colder color palette, and the head of Christ enshrouded in shadows gives the piece a much grittier mood, on par with Kamitani's Defunctus portrait). Note the latin inscription written on the slab below the corpse: another veiled reference, perhaps?
[this message was edited by HAYATO on Tue 14 May 21:10] |
| HAYATO 1089th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "The Georujo Kamitani & Queimadaware thread" , posted Wed 15 May 17:38
quote:
I noticed some stuff on the wiki claims that Queimada might not actually be that old... I wish my grandfather was still alive, he was from Galicia (a village called Louro) and he fled the country when the Communists lost the civil war (he fought on the communist side). I would have been curious to ask him about it.
Too bad he isn't around anymore, his recollections and knowledge of the matter at hand should have been really, really useful.
You are right, anyway: Queimada's ritualistic side can be traced back around half a century ago but its original recipe is about 80-100 years old, likely an invention of Galician emigrants or civil war exiles (such as your grandfather). Galicians are known in Spain for their big sense of community and their proclivity to homesickness, so they tend to gather together when residing abroad to celebrate holidays and other festivities in their own fashion, so that's a likely explanation on how and when Queimada was born. Plus, both cane sugar and the Alquitara (the traditional Alembic used in Northern Spain to distill Orujo) were introduce in the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs, so this brewery couldn't be invented prior to the 12th century in any case.
Only one thing is for sure: Orujo, its main ingredient has been in production in Cantabria (and later also in Galicia) since the middle ages and was used as a traditional medicine to treat flu and colds. Beyond that... who knows?
|
| maese 682th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member
| "Re(1):The Georujo Kamitani & Queimadaware thr" , posted Wed 15 May 18:37
quote:
I noticed some stuff on the wiki claims that Queimada might not actually be that old... I wish my grandfather was still alive, he was from Galicia (a village called Louro) and he fled the country when the Communists lost the civil war (he fought on the communist side). I would have been curious to ask him about it.
Too bad he isn't around anymore, his recollections and knowledge of the matter at hand should have been really, really useful.
You are right, anyway: Queimada's ritualistic side can be traced back around half a century ago but its original recipe is about 80-100 years old, likely an invention of Galician emigrants or civil war exiles (such as your grandfather). Galicians are known in Spain for their big sense of community and their proclivity to homesickness, so they tend to gather together when residing abroad to celebrate holidays and other festivities in their own fashion, so that's a likely explanation on how and when Queimada was born. Plus, both cane sugar and the Alquitara (the traditional Alembic used in Northern Spain to distill Orujo) were introduce in the Iberian Peninsula by the Arabs, so this brewery couldn't be invented prior to the 12th century in any case.
Only one thing is for sure: Orujo, its main ingredient has been in production in Cantabria (and later also in Galicia) since the middle ages and was used as a traditional medicine to treat
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Just to link this whole Queimada stuff with the topic on course... Hayato, did you mention that you have to sing an enchantment spell during the concoction in order to make a *true* Queimada? The whole Queimada is probably just a mockery of the covens of witches so common in Northern Spain back in the day. There are many versions of the spell, most of them written (and sung!) in ancient Galaecian.
Such magical liquour would fit our lovable, voluptuous, polemy stirring Sorceress quite well, don't you think? The Amazon is nice and all, sure, but I would let that Sorceress stir up my Queimada anytime!
|
| HAYATO 1090th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(2):The Georujo Kamitani & Queimadaware thr" , posted Wed 15 May 20:48
quote:
Just to link this whole Queimada stuff with the topic on course... Hayato, did you mention that you have to sing an enchantment spell during the concoction in order to make a *true* Queimada? The whole Queimada is probably just a mockery of the covens of witches so common in Northern Spain back in the day. There are many versions of the spell, most of them written (and sung!) in ancient Galaecian.
Yeah, it seems the first version of the spell was written by Mariano Marcos Abalo in 1967 to commemorate a local celebration in Vigo. After 5 years of continual use in parties at Fausto, a local disco pub, its popularity grew exponentially and massive circulation of his text began. About 30 years later, he managed to secure the rights to the spell in 2001. Or so states Wikipedia...
This revelation may kill part of the charm typically sold around Queimada but, as we stated before, the origin of the mixture and their ingredients can be traced back to the middle ages, or even the Iberian Goth Age (if you take into account the pouring method, Escanciar)
quote:
Such magical liquour would fit our lovable, voluptuous, polemy stirring Sorceress quite well, don't you think? The Amazon is nice and all, sure, but I would let that Sorceress stir up my Queimada anytime!
I bet she's as good at preparing Queimada as the Amazon is at drinking it (otherwise, it would be impossible for her to avoid catching a cold, dressed in that gorgeous, scanty iron bikini of hers), but I know what you mean... and I concur!! 
At this point, someone should suggest Kamitani to include a restorative potion in DC, based on this wonderful drink, subject of many ramblings. Or would Queimada vials be better suited as a sort of flammable, throwing weapon?
|
| HAYATO 1091th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member
| "Re(5):The Georujo Kamitani & Queimadaware thr" , posted Thu 16 May 06:57
quote:
A thing I find a little curious about the Amazon is that she seems to have... 3 versions of her own physique in the game?
Her in-game sprite is the most voluptuous, and has some playful sexuality (butt drop), the portrait of her that caused all kinds of stir initially is still very voluptuous, but emphasizes her rippling midsection muscles, and the picture of her in the bar where she's resting her chin on her hand has the most amount of muscle tone (and she's not in some muscle-tensed state of readiness, either; she almost looks bored!), and makes her look like a female body-builder.
Queimada sounds super interesting!
The presence of roasted coffee beans in it I find especially interesting; it seems like such a curious addition! Coffee didn't spread to Western Europe until the 16th century if I remember right, so its use in the drink certainly represents an evolution in the long history of alcohol pouring tradition.
Some purists (Marcos Abalo, the author of the famous Conxuro amongst them) abhor the inclusion of coffee in the traditional recipe, and state that it's nothing but a bad influence coming from a Catalonian spiced, rum-based beverage that has nothing to do with Queimada's tradition at all.
To me, it's a nice and fragant addition that enriches the original recipe; a novelty I've learned to appreciate. But take my opinion with a pinch of salt, as I'm no connosieur myself (I'm used to drink raw, plain orujo after all)...
|
| Maou 2469th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
 
| "Kamitani interview translation p.1" , posted Wed 22 May 13:05:
No time to actually do a line-by-line translation, but here's a quick summary of most paragraphs that caught my attention for the first page. Anyone else feel like doing pages 2 or 3? Interesting stuff.
--------
George Kamitani 4gamer Interview Outline page 1
Got his start in the gaming sector in high school during the Famicom heyday when a friend at a software company gave him a part-time job doing pixel art. He tricked his parents into saying okay by saying it would improve his mathematics grades.
Later entrusted with doing porting work to different consoles. Did the graphics graphics for Famicom port of AD&D Hillstar.
Moved to Osaka from Hiroshima after college and applied to Nintendo, Capcom, etc. Went with Capcom which was really thriving then under Executive VP Yoshiki Okamoto (Time Pilot, Sonson director)
At Capcom, entered as a planner in order to see how games were built from ground up, around 1992-1993 when SF II was a huge hit. When he entered the company, his department was mostly working on side-scrolling action games.
Worked on Muscle Bomber, heavy on the throwing techniques, making for complicated graphics--putting different graphical parts together and animating. This experience was important in developing Vanillaware's 2D tools later on.
Worked on D&D Tower of Doom after Muscle Bomber, on red dragon and stage layouts. Lots of fun, and wished he'd been on project at start rather than mid-way through. This shows in Dragon's Crown, too.
Left Capcom after feeling he could never direct there--too many talented people. Invited by an old upperclassman from school to join a small game company in Kansai that formerly did adult games but that was diversifying. Started building the foundation of what would become Princess Crown there.
Princess Crown originally from idea of making a Princess Maker 2 type of "raise your character" game with many endings. Character training/raising sections would be replaced by fighting action sections instead.
Strong RPG elements in Princess Crown because when shopping the game to Sega, it was assumed that it was an RPG, and he answered yes, of course, it will have 40 hours of playtime!---Sega really needed RPG's for the battle with Sony (Saturn vs. PS) then. Talked with his two main programmers on the train back and said that they'd really need to make it an RPG now that they'd said it was one.
Entered development at the end of 1995 but problems a year later because the development company went bankrupt. A friend at Sega introduced him to Atlus, which totally saved him and the project. Deep appreciation for them still.
At the end of project, rather than Vanillaware becoming a smaller unit of Atlus, all of the development members scattered, so later Vanillaware games with entirely new staff. 10 years later, still hard to make games now!
After being saved by Atlus, he became a staff member there at "Atlus Kansai" (Atlus Osaka Development Office, from which some members later broke off to form Noise Factory). Was very attached to his Princess Crown team and always wanted to make another work and thought of Dragon's Crown at that time. However, Atlus Kansai dissolved soon after.
Though Princess Crown was highly praised, it came at the end of the Saturn's life and sales weren't huge---bankruptcy of the development company was a big loss, too. Princess Crown was branded as a "red ink project"/money-loser and people who worked on it weren't looked upon favorably.
He really wanted to keep his team together and make even better things with them, but he didn't have the grit or the guts to start his own company at that time. An Osaka development company called Racjin took on his team members.
So, after Princess Crown, there was no sort of "Team Kamitani" around to make games.
Later invited to Tokyo by Shigeo Komori, who helped with Princess Crown development, and went to work at Sony Computer Entertainment in Tokyo (Kamitani's work at Sony is not well-known and much of it is confidential). Wanted to do game planning there but the team he assembled ended up in pieces.
In the end, he and Ohnishi (current Vanillaware programmer) were the only ones left, in dire straits with no money, living on 200 yen a day and eating bread ends. This was 2001 and he was 32 then. Couldn't just go back to Osaka with no job so stayed in Tokyo, got introduced to a job that would become involved in development of Fantasy Earth~The Ring of Dominion (MMO). His involvement shifted the world theme from a humans vs. vampires thing into a more princess/fantasy thing. His team that was contracted for this work was an early version of Vanillaware.
This was his most harrowing project. He owes a lot to Shigatake (now a Vanillaware illustrator), who at the time told Kamitami he was in love with Princess Crown---Kamitani says he "tricked" poor Shigatake into joining the project based on this!
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 23 May 02:37] |
| Professor 3754th Post
MMCafe Owner
     
| "Re(4):Kamitani interview translation p.1" , posted Sun 26 May 11:16
I've did a quick rundown of about half of Impress' Interview Page 2, hopefully the other half later.
Vanillaware gets established soon after Kamitani leaves the Fantasy Earth project. Princess Crown 2--later to be known as Odin Sphere, started out with only 5 developers. Only two members, Kamitani & Nishii, were from the original Princess Crown. Despite Kamitani's bad credentials doing no help to gather people up for his suspicious company (He was only known for Princess Crown til then), his staff eventually grew to 10 members.
His reputation really didn't help him to get a funding from Atlus either. When he proposed Odin Sphere to them, a lot of voices were heard in the company saying that it's a bad decision considering that Princess Crown was a flop and Kamitani hasn't even made a new game in 7-8 years. Their R&D cheif decided to go with it though, and the proposal miraculously went through.
Everything went smoothly with Odin Sphere except for its schedule. But that alone brought down Atlus' trust, and after development was finished, they refused to begin talks on a new project until they see how well the game will do. What's more, Atlus was going to delay the game's sale to accomodate their release schedule. Given that Vanillaware needed money to keep alive, Kamitani had to seek around for new funds. This led to Nipponichi Software's Grimgrimoire and Marvelous AQL's Oboro Muramasa.
By the time Grimgrimoire was completed, Vanillaware was so dead out of funds that Kamitani had to personally borrow money. About 20 million yen. He went so mental that the ceiling looked like it was morphing whenever he lied down.
Odin Sphere came to the rescue. Atlus had set its loyalties pretty high that Kamitani got enough money to pay back his debt and even give bonuses to his workers. Still, Vanillaware was down to its knees again by the time that Oboromuramasa was done.
His company just ignores deadlines and keeps working until its funds run out. That hasn't changed even as of now. It's bad practice as a company, but Kamitani is just happy being able to make games. Given that Vanillaware has more employees now, he realizes that he needs to reconsider his dangerous approach-- even though Vanillaware exists to make games, doing so til' money runs dry is simply not ideal.
|
| Maou 2475th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Kamitani interview translation p.3" , posted Tue 28 May 20:48:
Thanks, Prof. T-T-TAG OUT! Second fighter enters the screen again:
Here are quick outlines of page 3 of the Kamitani interview.
----------
Reason he doesn't do sequels is that he can't usually, so he makes games such that they're stuffed full of all the ideas he wanted to have, with no potential for regrets over things left out. Dragon's Crown is one such game, where he's completely exhausted all the ideas he wanted and implemented them, so that it'd be hard to make a sequel quickly even if asked.
Agrees that it's unusual for an independent developer to be able to continue to make originals rather than sequels, suggesting that Princess Crown's influence was probably there---even if it didn't sell well, it was critically acclaimed within the industry.
Vanillaware is now trusted to create originals that also make money, which enables them to keep creating originals, with everyone's support. He has never had any intention of taking on work for other companies because he believes most strongly of all in creating original games.
Right now, there are 24 people at Vanillaware, slowly transitioning so they can have two lines of 12 people on 2 projects. Odin Sphere was 12, Oboro Muramasa was 16.
As for Kamitani's direct work, he does the overall design, character and monster drawing, and scenario writing. But everyone at Vanillaware does all kinds of jobs.
Wants to keep making consumer-oriented games (i.e. for gamers) as opposed to smart phone games, seeing as he worked so hard to have his own company.
FINALLY TALKING ABOUT DRAGON'S CROWN NOW
Dragon's Crown is Vanillaware's largest-scale production, not something they could normally make. It was a long and meandering road, taking 4 years to make. Everything they could think of was put into the game.
Originally meant to be published by UK-based UTV Ignition but then given to Atlus, with some risk that the project would be frozen because UTV was no longer involved. Kamitani felt strongly about this project, though, begging Atlus for help, which decided to bring the money.
Dragon's Crown is just packed with things he liked, everything he was hoping for pretty much got put in. The game system, the art, the game book style [does this mean like in Odin Sphere? I don't know.--edit: oh wait, he must mean the "choose your own adventure" style of branching stories.], monsters, scenario events. Now that he's made this game, he can die happy. Not that he wants to die yet----even when his game designs weren't going forward, he always was making planning documents and has tons of other ideas he wants to do. There's at least 10 that he still wants to do most of 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 Wed 29 May 00:34] |
| karasu99 1139th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(3):Monsters!" , posted Sun 2 Jun 05:13
quote:
Phooey, I prided myself on not buying a newer system than the DS, weathered Polly's good-natured ribbing during each year's Game of the Year thread, and steadfastly only played new fighting games on other friends' consoles, but Kamitani and his lot are about to make me buy a new system. Will it be a Vita so I can finally play Gravity Daze, or a PS3 for everything else?
Don't worry Maou, we'll never tell! Your secret's safe with us! (instantly goes and Tweets about Maou's shameful console desire)
I kid, I kid! In all seriousness though, it's very telling as to the quality of this game that someone who's not bought a system in so long is ready to buy just to play it. I wish I could help you narrow down your choice, but I'm not sure which I prefer either. The Vita at least comes with a gorgeous screen.
www.secret-arts.com
|
| HAYATO 1120th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(4):More preoder items" , posted Sat 8 Jun 05:54:
quote:
Hey Professor, if you check it out, can you tell us if the game is stick-friendly? I'd love to play this arcade style when it arrives.
Me tooooo~! I'm not getting my hopes up, though. They were dashed on the Guardian Heroes remake, which you COULD us a stick on, but obviously you weren't meant to.
As far as I know, analog sticks will control the character and the D-Pad will browse the inventory. Or so IGN said... 
I wish it wasn't true, though. I too would love to play this game Arcade Style, even if that means losing access to the inventory thing (assuming it's a non-vital feature, which I highly doubt).
[this message was edited by HAYATO on Sat 8 Jun 06:00] |
| Professor 3771th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Atlus' parent company raided for fraud" , posted Wed 12 Jun 20:40:
Atlus' parent company Index is being investigated for account fraud and the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission raided their office today. It's being reported on the evening news here, which is a clear sign of the issue's magnitude.
According to the Nikkei and other media outlets, Index corporation, best known for its Atlus videogame brand, is being investigated under alligations of infringed bookkeeping. The company is under suspect for having inflated its sales figures through round-tripping, making fictitious transactions through multiple companies. A couple dozen companies and business clients were supposedly used, including those without capital ties to Index. (Update: The Nikkei now reports that over 100 companies may have been involved)
Index allegedly bloated sales figures in the billion yens (million dollars) per quarter up to its August 2012 period, with its CEO taking direction. His house is also being searched.
Index acquired Atlus in 2006 and was known as a leading content distributor making 130 billion yen in FY2007. The company's tide started turning in the years after due to its inability to keep up with the shift of the mobile market and issues in penetrating the overseas, amongst other failures. It's being said that the bankruptcy of their partnered bank Nippon Shinkou in September 2010 further worsened their financial health, leading to their alleged infringements.
Coincedently, that's only about a year before KOF13 came out for consoles. Considering the scale of this investigation and that Atlus was the game's North American publisher, it wouldn't be surprising if SNKPlaymore got a knock on their doors. Not that it'll be any of problem. Hopefully.
This also brings up the question of what will happen to Dragon's Crown and Atlus' future titles & updates, their game servers, as well as other projects under the water. Dragon's Crown's trial event this weekend in Tokyo has just been postponed without explanations, which isn't a great sign. Fortunately though, Atlus PR says that its scheduled titles will be launched as planned.
Moreso, it brings about the question of whether Index will get delisted from JASDAQ as a result, and also of what'll happen of Atlus in that case.
Needless to day, Index's price has been plummeting to an all-time low and it's still far from over.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 14 Jun 18:40] |
| badoor 318th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK/PSVITA:BadoorUSA
XBL: BadoorSNK/WiiU:BadoorSNK
Wii: 3DS:4253-3532-0341
Bronze Customer
| "Re(7):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillawar" , posted Sun 30 Jun 20:23:
quote:
don't know that the base game is any different (other than the US version's new script), but there are several DLC scenarios that feature new characters. Contrary to the average consumer, I have way too many games to play on Vita, but I hope I can get around to this eventually. The game would've been gold without all the senseless running.
Yeah. That seems to be the case. I don't see any differences with the Wii version as I'm about to finish Momohime's story, though I never really got this far on the Wii version either.
Gojira: I sort of understand what you mean. The music is the sort of ambient, atmosphere setting type, less of the melodic, catchy stuff. It's just a thing I didn't notice as much on Wii as I am now. And I think it has a few more catchy tunes. I personally like this one and its arranged version too .
Also, I'm a sucker for seamless, interactive, music-switching iMUSE stuff. I like how the music transitions to "battle version" immediately, then back to normal.
http://100daysofmegashock.wordpress.com/
[this message was edited by badoor on Sun 30 Jun 20:39] |
| karasu99 1160th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(3):Week of DC" , posted Wed 10 Jul 05:22
quote:
The loot and equipment system was explained today and, well, the whole thing sounds a bit more twiddly and complicated than it needs to be. How is inventory management going to work in a multiplayer game? Is everyone going to drop out at the end of each stage to muck about with their loot or will the rest of the group have to wait for that one indecisive slowpoke? I've already pre-ordered the game so I'm onboard no matter what the game is like. Still, I wish someone would hold my hand and reassure me that this isn't going to be Odin Sphere 2.
Yes, I'm worrying over that a bit too (not that I'm much of an on-line player), but more significantly to my idea of a good game, I'm worried that while it may look amazing, the play may not be all that thrilling. It sure looks like I'm wrong, but I'm also the guy who played multiple times through the not-so-amazing-to-play-and-kindof-a-chore-to-get-around-in Muramasa. Let's just say it's weighing heavily on my mind that it might be anywhere along the spectrum from flat-out incredible to nearly unplayable due to careless choices of UI, pacing, and so on.
I don't know, I keep going back and forth between a great desire to play it and a certain kind of dread that it can't possibly live up to its lineage.
www.secret-arts.com
|
| Professor 3790th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "PSN Online preorder begins, 1.5GB" , posted Fri 12 Jul 08:23:
For anyone with a Japanese account, looks like online preorders has begun on the PSNStore. The game is being offered at 6,980 yen, which is about the same as street price. You won't get the gorgeous booklet bonus, but you'll get a special theme and limited edition avatar set. Also, the game doesn't take up so much room, just 1.5GB for even the PS3 version.
With 14 days left until launch, Vanillaware has started a daily countdown on its official Twitter account for Dragon's Crown.
Here's day 1.
https://twitter.com/vanillaware_boy/status/355161468100042752
Also for anyone picking up the game in Tokyo, you can show your receipt at the Club Sega Shinkan arcade in Akiba on the 25th to win a souvenior. The lowest prize sorta looks the best.
http://dragons-crown.com/info/2013/07/post-4.html
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 12 Jul 23:23] |
| Professor 3796th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(1):Vita vs. PS3" , posted Tue 16 Jul 19:35
quote:
Vanillaware's trademark food porn is indeed going to be a part of Dragon's Crown.
Oho! Delicious, though not as delicious as the Sorceress eating cake.
I see that with a wifi connection, one can play online with the Vita version---could I conceivably be playing with PS3 players (most of you, likely), and would it be fun/reliable? I suppose it wouldn't be possible to chat, at least. I'm going to have to break down and buy one of these systems to play this game, you see, and I really would prefer the PSP for Gravity Daze.
Dragon Crown for the Vita unfortunately can't netplay with PS3! ...which is a tad odd, because a lot of other games can do that.
If you have to pick one over the other, the PS3 console will let you enjoy graphics on a bigger screen and it also has a larger library of games... but the Vita probably suits your lifestyle better. It's a tough decision!
PS- If you're thinking of playing the PS3 with your laptop's screen via its HDMI socket, keep in mind that's a no-go because the socket on laptops are for output, not input!
|
| Professor 3803th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Dragon's Crown Exhibit photos & Merchandises" , posted Sat 20 Jul 19:31:
The Dragon's Crown art exhibit and trial event was pretty good and a tad underwhelming at the same time. I can only assume that the artists at Vanillaware are doing their works in full-digital without relying on traditional medium, because the artworks were all printouts. Still, there were some new stuff to see, and they were also giving out some nice freebies. Interestingly enough, there were minimum restrictions on photography.
A few of the arts that were on display / This probably hasn't been seen yet / A shot of the exhibit / The Freebies
Sorceress / Wizard / Elf / Dwarf / Amazon / Knight
As usual for these kinds of mini-exhibits, they had a stack of merchandise to sell, like iPhone covers, plastic folders, pin badges, and t-shirts. They had a few new announcements on that side of things as well. First, a Sorceress figure is being released by Orchid Seed and a protype was on display. There's also a 1/1 scale model figure of the game's fairy Tiki coming out from Vertex, and figures for the Amazon and Elf are underway by MegaHouse. MegaHouse will be showing the prototypes at the upcoming Wonderfest on the 28th. .....Hey, no dwarf figures?
Merchandises
Gashapons / Plastic Folders / T-shirts and.. DORAGON's CROWN / All teens should wear this
Sorceress figure prototype
front / side 1 / side 2 / back / birds-eye
Figure announcements
Megahouse / Vertex / Orchid /
I tried out both the PS3 and Vita versions of Dragon's Crown. I'm not going over on details since there's been plenty reported already, but here's my two cents on what I thought.
- There was supposed to be a developer at the trial event to answer the harder questions, but he was MIA at the time. There were staffs from Index/Atlus though, and I've been told that Atlus' official stance regarding whether joysticks can be used for the game is that... the game has been developed for play on the default PS3 pad and they make no recommendations for it on joysticks. It's not going to hinder my purchase though, especially after seeing the preorder bonus.
- Graphic-wise, both the Vita and PS3 version are really good. However, you really can't see details like the character's faces in the Vita version because the screen is too small. The rare exception may be when you're in the town where the screen is zoomed in.
- Control-wise, the Vita version is superior to the PS3 simply because of the touch pad. It makes the cursor control a lot easier.
- This is one of those games where you want to pick up whichever version you have more friends to play with. It's the same thing as Capcom's D&D; you can play it solo, but its true fun comes when you play it with people.
- The preorder/early-purchaser bonus is a lot better than I imagined. I thought it'd be a mini-booklet about the size of the PS3 disc package, but it's actually the size of an issue of National Geographic (B5 size). It's 64 pages so it's got less pages than the world's beloved nature magazine... but this bonus booklet comes in hardcover so it's around the same thickness. If you're picking up this game, you may as well get the preorder unless you're thinking of buying it used or old.
You can sort of see the booklet in this shot (direct photography of the booklet was prohibited)
- The Dwarf is round, cute, and feels like a Sonic on steroids when he's in the air.
- These adventurers are hungry! You leave them in neutral for about a second and you see them eating already.
- Doing dashes with forward x 2 motion is really hard, both likewise on the PS3 and Vita. I thought doing it was a tad tight back with P4A, but Dragon's Crown takes the cake. Fortunately you can also do it with forward + attack, which is the recommended/official way of doing it in the game.
- The in-game gallery seems to have a bit over 50 images.
[this message was edited by Professor on Sat 20 Jul 21:28] |
| nobinobita 1197th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(1):Dragon's Crown Exhibit photos & Merchan" , posted Sun 21 Jul 02:44:
quote:
The Dragon's Crown art exhibit and trial event was pretty good and a tad underwhelming at the same time. I can only assume that the artists at Vanillaware are doing their works in full-digital without relying on traditional medium, because the artworks were all printouts. Still, there were some new stuff to see, and they were also giving out some nice freebies. Interestingly enough, there were minimum restrictions on photography.
A few of the arts that were on display / This probably hasn't been seen yet / A shot of the exhibit / The Freebies
Sorceress / Wizard / Elf / Dwarf / Amazon / Knight
As usual for these kinds of mini-exhibits, they had a stack of merchandise to sell, like iPhone covers, plastic folde
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Wow, thanks for the update!
What was the public reaction like? Does Vanillaware have a decent following in Japan?
That's a ton of cool merchandise! I hope we get some action figures out of this too. I'd love to see Revoltechs or Figmas of all the characters :D
I highly doubt any of the dudes will ever get a figure though :(
Professor, would it be OK if I reposted this info on my blog? (I will link back to the Cafe of course)
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Sun 21 Jul 02:45] |
| Maou 2521th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillawar" , posted Thu 25 Jul 18:14:
Seriously successful day for Dragon's Crown...if some major outlets in Ueno, Akiba, and Shinjuku being sold out of the preorder version is any sign, that is. While I failed to secure a copy due to PS3/Vita indecision, my day was brightened when I noticed that the Sorceress is played by Inoue Kikuko, who, among many roles, was Luna in the original Mega CD Lunars. At first I was like, woah, there is a shift in character type, but then I remembered her goddess transformation...
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 25 Jul 18:16] |
| Professor 3810th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(7):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillawar" , posted Thu 25 Jul 18:56
quote:
Seriously successful day for Dragon's Crown...if some major outlets in Ueno, Akiba, and Shinjuku being sold out of the preorder version is any sign, that is. While I failed to secure a copy due to PS3/Vita indecision, my day was brightened when I noticed that the Sorceress is played by Inoue Kikuko, who, among many roles, was Luna in the original Mega CD Lunars. At first I was like, woah, there is a shift in character type, but then I remembered her goddess transformation...
500 Yen turns the narrator voice to her!
|
| Professor 3812th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(10):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Vanillawa" , posted Fri 26 Jul 00:16:
quote:
Hearing from twitter, it seems that you need to play for a few hours (some say 3, others 7!) before unlocking the online-MP mode. Weird decision It should be open immediately but I'll probably be playing for about an equal or more amount of time in singleplayer before even considering trying out online-MP.
I've been playing for over 4 hours, still not there. Having too much fun looping through the same dungeons. You need to advance through the scenario a bit to unlock the area where you can go online. Also, I stand corrected-- this game is pretty good even in single player mode! It does a good job filling in those small things that lack in the old side scrollers, albeit not overdoing it to make things annoying. Some of the bonus status on the equipments are interesting, like health recovery when going to the next screen.
Btw the amount of details in this game is great. For example, The Elf's ears twitches every once in a while when she's in neutral state. Also,
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
The Amazon's... buttocks, wobbles when she gets hit and falls on the ground. I did not see that coming.
End of Spoiler
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 26 Jul 00:25] |
| Professor 3815th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(5):Re(10):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Van" , posted Fri 26 Jul 05:47:
quote:
Cannotto waitto.
Here's an overview of the online play and related stuff.
1. The online play is very smooth, feels no different from offline. To say the least, it's much harder to recognize compared to fighting games (like KOF13 where just 4 frames of lag feels like there's glue on your feet). Quite nice considering there's always 4 players together. You can exit out if you find a laggy match, which thus far happened once for me out of about 10 games.
2. When you play online, you can either have people join you while you're playing, or you can join someone's game randomly. The game automatically connects you and there's no filters.
3. That said, if you join somebody's game randomly, there's a good chance you might end up seeing spoilers. On the other hand, you get NPCs and equipment that are far beyond what you normally can acquire. Spoilers are not a problem if you're the one who's hosting, of course.
4. Of course you can play with friends as well.
5. As it's been said, you can't immediately start playing online after you get the game. You need to progress through quite a bit and beat though a stage which difficulty recommendation is for LV17 and higher.
6. I haven't confirmed it yet myself, but my understanding is that the game doesn't support voice chat.
7. Oddly enough, you *can't* pause in this game during mid-battle even if you're playing offline. Even if you hit the Home button to launch the XMB, you'll see the game running in the background. For my own guess as to why, see post below.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 26 Jul 11:33] |
| Professor 3815th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(2):Re(10): Vita and PS3 BFF" , posted Fri 26 Jul 10:34:
quote:
I have noticed that the amount of niconico bans that footage of this game has produced have reached historical figures (like, 99,99% of banned footage; it's like a re-conceptualization of "The Ring").
I wonder if this has something to do with Index
Atlus has been extremely pro-active about killing Nico videos and streams since Catherine.
Sorry, after skimming through this thread, I can't seem to find the answer (even though Iggy swears he saw it somewhere and most likely on MMC) : how do the Vita and PS3 version interact, exactly? I already know you cannot play online between PSV and PS3. But can you play locally?
If so, can you each play with you own heroes?
And can you transfer your savefile from one to the other?
Ex. Let's say I buy the Vita version and a friend buys the PS3 version. Can we play together with our respective heroes in local multiplayer and progress together?
Could I eventually continue the progress of my own single player mode on my friend's console and TV, then recover that progress on my Vita to continue on a trip?
Thanks in advance for the clarifications!
Gojira--
I think Vanillaware might've been thinking along the line of "well, this game is going to be played online by most people, we may as well make it function the same way offline as it does online". So yeah, getting a call during a boss battle or whatnot can be irritating. That happend to me last night, in fact.
However, the game doesn't penalize idling after you beat a scene by spawning enemies. There's a lot of things Dragon's Crown mimics to the old arcade side scrollers (like for example when you get a Game Over, you'll see a countdown on the side of your name on the top of the screen and you can continue from the spot by spending in-game coins). However, forcing people to advance is one of the things they didn't adopt, which is great. It also gives time to search around the scenes, since you can actually scroll back.
Chazumaru--
Shorthand reply, the answer is no. The PS3 version doesn't have an option for Adhoc connection, meaning it can't play local matches with the Vita. Also, you can't play with your data on a friend's console, at least not while he's using his own account (only one person's save data can be used).
That said, the game has an option for you to upload and download your savedata on PSN, letting you continue progress from the PS3 on the Vita during travel, and vice versa.
If both players have a Vita of course, they can each Adhoc with their own save data/characters. And again, the PS3 lets each player use their own save data/characters if it's online play. Just want to make that clear for any new readers to this thread.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 26 Jul 11:33] |
| Professor 3820th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(7):Re(10): Vita and PS3 BFF" , posted Sun 28 Jul 15:46:
Finally cleared through the game once. Kind of reminded me of my RO days with all the arrow attacks and "Backstab" that the elf has. Online is really fun.
The way the game was built, Vanillaware obviously understood that beatem' ups doesn't take too long to beat, and they came up with various ideas to make the game worth replaying. I've beaten it with Elf so far, but I'm going to keep playing and then try out Sorceress, Dwarf, Amazon.
The biggest advice I have for anyone picking up this next month is, you can't play online until quite a bit into the game but *don't* rush it. Enjoy the single mode, the quests, and all the hand-drawn artworks that move around the screen.
A little something about the Staffs in the Ending Credit
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Our Beloved Brandon is listed in the Special thanks section, and at a pretty visible timing too, early in the staff roll. Wonder what he did?
End of Spoiler
About the downloadable voices
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Once you beat the game with a character, you can buy its narrator voice for 1 million coins. It's also available as DLC on the PSN shop for anyone too lazy.
End of Spoiler
[this message was edited by Professor on Sun 28 Jul 21:18] |
| karasu99 1176th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(1):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 30 Jul 03:49
quote:
HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER
At last, Kamitani and friends have forced my hand and I am buying my first new system of my own since the DS Lite. I payed a premium for my indecisive idiocy but have bought a marked up new limited edition PS3 copy with the art book and can't wait to play it and a bunch of fighting games with you all soon.
Like Prof has noted, this first shipment's sell rates seem great. Forget about the limited edition, there is no TRACE that Dragon's Crown ever existed in Akihabara. Not that it's the best place to buy games or whatever but they do have the volume. There was this hilarious moment where the now-ransacked stand in one store had one lonely copy of the Vita standard version lying unadornedly on the table, and some guy glided up and picked it up before my very eyes. "This is the end of Dragon's Crown, move along, nothing to see here people." Excellent news!
Hah, that's an incredible way of illustrating its popularity! I'm not used to a game that isn't a first-person dudebro shooter or football game having quite such demand, although I suspect that a clueless person could visit a Gamestop in the US a week after Dragon's Crown's release and find much the same situation, but that's likely because they will have only received three copies (all preorders, two by store employees).
Hearing these impressions make me wish I had gotten the Japan version! It sounds like loads of fun!
www.secret-arts.com
|
| Professor 3822th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(1):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 30 Jul 20:16:
quote:
HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER
At last, Kamitani and friends have forced my hand and I am buying my first new system of my own since the DS Lite.
Forget about the limited edition, there is no TRACE that Dragon's Crown ever existed in Akihabara. Not that it's the best place to buy games or whatever but they do have the volume. There was this hilarious moment where the now-ransacked stand in one store had one lonely copy of the Vita standard version lying unadornedly on the table, and some guy glided up and picked it up before my very eyes. "This is the end of Dragon's Crown, move along, nothing to see here people." Excellent news!
Congrats! Now you are a slave to Dragon's Crown. Now, you must get a... PS3!!
quote:
I saw dragon's sekuhara and figured we were talking about dragon's crown in here.
I named all the rune magic in that game.
okay bye!
Ahh, you mean the stuff like "ECG" (Enchanted Coin Geyser) and "SSN" ( Strip Sorceress Naked ) ?
quote:
Does the JP version have both JP and English voices, or just JP voices? I've heard a rumor than the English version will have individual voice selection, a la SF4.
I'm not 100% certain. Here's what I know for sure.
1- The Jp version has both EN and JA voices for all the playable characters {selectable differently for each of your created characters}. In fact, you'll sometimes hear both kinds while playing with others online.
2- I'm not sure about the narrator voices because I haven't unlocked any of the bonus voices yet. The default narrator is available in both EN and JA voices.
quote:
Do you know if the male characters will get releases too?
There hasn't been any annoucements yet. I have a feeling we won't be seeing any, simply because they probably won't sell as many. A tad of a pity, considering the Dwarf should look good on a desk.
[this message was edited by Professor on Tue 30 Jul 22:30] |
| Maou 2528th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):The Fated Hour" , posted Thu 1 Aug 00:51:
Yeah, that is great news, and it correlates with what we've been seeing at the actual shops! Why, I just about convinced a friend this very evening to pick up Dragon's Crown because after a few drinks we realized for the first time that he did D&D as a middle schooler (in Japan, mind you, and it was rarer here then) and loved the old Capcom game, and when, thanks to the interview that Gekiganger pointed out, he realized that Kamitani did the red dragon in that game, his favorite part, he was sold!
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 1 Aug 00:52] |
| Pollyanna 3538th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Re(10):Re(10): Vita and PS3 BFF" , posted Fri 2 Aug 14:14
quote:
I'm not trying to sound snarky or anything, but what makes it so hard to produce a good dub?
Well, there are a large number of factors that could go wrong. Here are a few I've seen:
-Directors have no knowledge of the source material and don't bother reading up on it or watching it. They may even have contempt for it, especially if they've failed to make it in a different field.
-Directors will get a job because they have experience in ad sales or educational company videos. Though that does not necessarily mean they'll be bad for the job, it doesn't mean they'll be good either.
-Actors are often ill-informed or uninformed when it comes to the material they're working on.
-To conserve precious studio time, many projects are cast without audition.
-Many of the same actors are used over and over again, because their familiarity with the process is most important.
-Writing is usually handled by a contract worker, not an employee. In the case of Atlus, they require the worker to live in the area, but only provide them with temporary work. Writing deadlines are usually quire harsh, so the writer may have to devote every waking hour to a project and turn down other projects in the meantime. As a result, it's difficult to find writers that are both worth something and have a lot of free time.
-Actors, sound engineers and directors must be paid for every hour of recording and some projects that don't sell huge numbers (JRPGs) do have hugely long scripts to dub. As a result, there's a tendency to settle for mediocrity and move on to maintain a reasonable budget.
I am undressed from 80’s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
|
| Professor 3824th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(4):The Fated Hour" , posted Fri 2 Aug 22:18:
Oh woah, I missed out in answering a few questions! Here they go.
quote:
Since I was just playing Muramasa, I was wondering whether Dragon's Crown has any "Vanillaware problems", like the ones that appeared in their other action games, stuff like repeating backgrounds or having to play through the game twice to fully beat it or other techniques to stretch-out the game or not-so-super-solid combat with long frames of animation etc.
I haven't played Muramasa but as far as Dragon's Crown goes, it plays like a typical arcade-style beat-em-up in terms of stages. Each of the stages feel unique and there's no looping backgrounds, but you will be beating through the game multiple times-- in fact, that's sort of the way the game has been developed.
If anything, I think the game is a lot easier compared to the old side scrollers, but then again, it's probably because of the online functionality.
Which BTW reminds me! The netcode in this game is really unique, sort of like a GGPO without rollbacks. There's absolutely no lag when you're playing other people, apparently because there's different instances of the game playing on everyone's console. However when you take an action that needs to be reflected universally, like picking up an item, only then will you notice the lag as the item will disappear from the floor after some latency.
quote:
I got the English version because a lot of my friends will be playing English version. The narrator can't be changed to Japanese
Also you can only change the voice language for your own character, meaning all the NPCs will still continue to have their English voices while your character voice is in Japanese in battle. Feels weird!
In the Japanese version, changing the narrator's voice to English will also switch the other NPC voices to English. I tried checking if the PS3's console's language setting made any difference, but it seems to do nothing.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 2 Aug 23:28] |
| badoor 334th Post
PSN: BadoorSNK/PSVITA:BadoorUSA
XBL: BadoorSNK/WiiU:BadoorSNK
Wii: 3DS:4253-3532-0341
Bronze Customer
| "Re(5):The Fated Hour" , posted Sat 3 Aug 03:49
quote:
I haven't played Muramasa but as far as Dragon's Crown goes, it plays like a typical arcade-style beat-em-up in terms of stages. Each of the stages feel unique and there's no looping backgrounds, but you will be beating through the game multiple times-- in fact, that's sort of the way the game has been developed.
If anything, I think the game is a lot easier compared to the old side scrollers, but then again, it's probably because of the online functionality.
Which BTW reminds me! The netcode in this game is really unique, sort of like a GGPO without rollbacks. There's absolutely no lag when you're playing other people, apparently because there's different instances of the game playing on everyone's console. However when you take an action that needs to be reflected universally, like picking up an item, only then will you notice the lag as the item will disappear from the floor after some latency.
Thanks, Prof!
No repeating Backgrounds?! Wow. I guess it is true that Dragon's Crown is Vanillaware's most expensive game. But good news anyway. As for playing through the game multiple times, it's not a problem in this case since it's a beat em up game and since all the characters play so radically different, unlike Muramasa.
http://100daysofmegashock.wordpress.com/
|
| Lugos
39th Post
Rare Customer
| "Re(5):The Fated Hour" , posted Sat 3 Aug 05:00
quote:
Well, there are a large number of factors that could go wrong. Here are a few I've seen:
Whoah, I had no idea it could be like that. That's a tough situation to be in, especially when fans have such high expectations.
quote:
In the Japanese version, changing the narrator's voice to English will also switch the other NPC voices to English. I tried checking if the PS3's console's language setting made any difference, but it seems to do nothing.
So it *is* possible to change the narrator's voice in the JP version? That gives me hope that we might have the same option here in the US. And even if we don't, it's not like it's a dealbreaker, though it would be nice to have.
Btw, I'm hearing that the 2nd player can be the computer. Is this true? And if so, can you turn that feature off. I'm not a fan of forced AI partners.
|
| nobinobita 1202th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(6):The Fated Hour" , posted Sat 3 Aug 06:50
quote:
Well, there are a large number of factors that could go wrong. Here are a few I've seen:
Whoah, I had no idea it could be like that. That's a tough situation to be in, especially when fans have such high expectations.
In the Japanese version, changing the narrator's voice to English will also switch the other NPC voices to English. I tried checking if the PS3's console's language setting made any difference, but it seems to do nothing.
So it *is* possible to change the narrator's voice in the JP version? That gives me hope that we might have the same option here in the US. And even if we don't, it's not like it's a dealbreaker, though it would be nice to have.
Btw, I'm hearing that the 2nd player can be the computer. Is this true? And if so, can you turn that feature off. I'm not a fan of forced AI partners.
I believe you can find the remains of other adventurers and revive them and they join your party (computer controlled). This would be SUPER COOL if they implemented it like the pawn system in Dragon's Dogma and you were actually adventuring with characters created by other people.
www.art-eater.com
|
| karasu99 1183th Post
PSN: robotchris
XBL: robotchris
Wii: n/a
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(1):Back to the same old, ugly diatribe..." , posted Sat 3 Aug 09:08
quote:
I'd hate to ruin the mood but I thought that someone would like to know about Polygon's review of Dragons Crown and its "gross depiction of women" and "one-sided, blatant objectification of women":
DRAGON'S CROWN IS AN UNAPOLOGETIC ADOLESCENT FANTASY
It looks like a new case for the Cafe Crusaders is at hand...
Hahaha, yeah I was going to post about that but then I figured everyone here pays as much attention to the subject as I do.
I've been saying for quite a while that I kinda agree on this subject, and that YES, Dragon's Crown is tied up in a lot of ways with a lot of things I personally associate with adolescence (not just boob fixation of course but AD&D and monsters and swords and magic and on and on-- not surprising since it turns out Kamitani is right around my age, give or take a year or two), but I just don't see it as a BAD thing like everyone seems to assume it is. It's cool, it's fine, Kamitani wants to have big boobed characters in his games, so he damn well was going to have the Sorceress and Amazon have big boobs. I don't see any reason to be apologetic about that.I also think that while yes it's art, it isn't just valuable as a game or a great thing JUST because it's art.
Oh well, that's just my two cents!
www.secret-arts.com
|
| Professor 3824th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(6):The Fated Hour" , posted Sat 3 Aug 13:30
quote:
Well, there are a large number of factors that could go wrong. Here are a few I've seen:
That's quite an in-depth look into the industry-- thanks for the knowledge. The voice acting market in Japan is bad as well, but in a different direction as you probably know: oversaturated market and extremely low wages.
quote:
So it *is* possible to change the narrator's voice in the JP version? That gives me hope that we might have the same option here in the US. And even if we don't, it's not like it's a dealbreaker, though it would be nice to have.
Btw, I'm hearing that the 2nd player can be the computer. Is this true? And if so, can you turn that feature off. I'm not a fan of forced AI partners.
The game is normally played by 4 players. If you play solo, the other 3 characters will be CPU. You can turn them off and play all by yourself if you want-- in fact, some of the quests require you to do that. Of course the difficulty can be quite different if you're a magician class and you don't have someone to tank.
Also, if you play online even with CPU characters on, a random player can join your game and take over their slot. Pretty nifty.
Btw I finally unlocked a narrator voice-- it doesn't come with an English counterpart. So here's a wrapup of what we seem to know so far. I don't have the English ver, so someone with it can maybe check if there's anything wrong.
Japanese version:
- Default narrator is selectable between Japanese and English
- Changing the narrator will also switch NPC voices into that language
- Additional narrators are available only in Japanese
- Character voices are selectable between Japanese and English
- Day 1 DLCs for unlocking narrator voices are 500 yen per voice actor (6 voices for the 6 characters). They're also unlockable in-game with 1 million coins.
English version:
- Default narrator is available in English only
- The NPC voices are in English
- Additional narrator voices are available only in English
- Character voices are selectable between English and Japanese
- There should be free Day 1 DLC that unlocks narrator voices. They're also unlockable in-game with 1 million coins.
Hopefully there'll also be a free DLC with an option to switch between languages.
|
| Maou 2530th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Sun 4 Aug 11:12:
quote:
Certainly anyone who knows Vanillaware is no stranger to its style!
Again, I think it's a particularly (and stupidly) American hang-up born out of the puritanical history that never got quite erased even among so many well-meaning progressive individuals. As Parish noted, how many people are honestly offended, how many are "offended" because sexy designs past a certain undefinable and arbitrary threshhold are somehow wrong, and how many people just think "these designs are dumb?" (All three views are greviously misguided, but that's just my take.)
This inability to accomplish something so shockingly simple as distinguishing between sexuality and sexism is astounding. I literally can't imagine what it must be like to think like this. But if a country's half-assed history of sexual liberation is coupled with a cultural/literary/poetic history essentially devoid of playful sexuality, I guess it's not too surprising that people are rambling on. Back to space marines sawing people in two, I suppose.
Edit: Why, this sounds like another job for the Super Nobi Bros.! Nobi and HokutoAndy, I choose you!
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 Sun 4 Aug 11:16] |
| Iggy 9603th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(3):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Mon 5 Aug 03:41
quote:
in that once one person has called sexism, everyone else floods in and jumps on the issue.
People calling such deformed depictions of the female body "sexist" hurt my mind so much.
If the male characters were Final-Fight or Street-of-Rage proportioned, that might be a valid point. But I haven't seen anyone out of the White Knights Army United Against Sexism expanding their view (I won't even dignify them by calling that "criticism") to the male characters.
It's not only calling big boobs "sexism" that's wrong: it's also the fact that these people still think "feminism" is about women when it's actually about everyone. Yes, men also suffer from the traditional gender repartitions. THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF FEMINISM.
Calling giga-boobed sorceress problematic is a sexist comment in itself, since it aims to define what women (and women bodies) should and should not look like, while men are absolutely free of any normative judgement. It's an oppressive opinion made fact.
What makes it even more ridiculous when applied on Dragon's Crown is that, unlike most classical heroic fantasy artists, the men are also deformed (and I cannot insist how important that is: neither the sorceress, the knight, or the thinnest big boobed heroins of Frazetta could be alive if they were human).
The body shape of male barbarians in Frazetta&friends is humanly possible, and with the progress of protein shakes and hormones, routinely seen in most gay clubs around the world. What would make that art sexist is the fact that only females are deformed to the point of being harmful to their health (on top of the harmful gender roles, both for men and women).
The fact that Dragon's Crown treats men and women absolutely equally, not only graphically (one deformed character for each gender, one normally proportioned for each gender, and one in-between for each gender (dwarf and Amazon; I'll call them "deformed within the boundaries of regular fantasy")) but also in terms of role, power, independence, lifestyle, everything that so many games, movies or comics don't even try to aim at, actually makes it a truly feminist game that jumped far ahead of not only the miserable debate that is happening through the internet, but the general issue of gender roles at all level of our civilisations.
I mean, even a harmless movie such as Pacific Rim ended up having the girl fainting and the guy saving the day for being macho and brave enough for two, while the crazy bitch became all hysterical and almost killed everyone in the base. And should we talk about Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII? Dragon's Crown is miles ahead of that.
I would be totally secure to have my imaginary daughter play a game such as Dragon's Crown. I would want her to have absolutely no doubt that being a girl doesn't prevent her from kicking ass whichever way she likes (and she's imaginary too young to play Bayonetta anyway).
The only way for the white knight army to somewhat redeem themselves would be to raise the same shields of feminist virtue when the next Gears of War or Gods of War will be released.
I'm not holding my breath.
tl;dr: what's the point of having Judith Butler writing books if nobody reads them.
|
| nobinobita 1204th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(2):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Mon 5 Aug 19:34:
quote:
DRAGON'S CROWN IS AN UNAPOLOGETIC ADOLESCENT FANTASY Since we're on this again, I really enjoyed reading Jeremy Parish's excellent and very level-headed examination of Dragon's Crown art, wherein he compares it to other "tiny, controversial issues" in otherwise great movies.
I usually like Jeremy Parish's writing, but I find his tone here quite troubling.
He compares the portrayal of the sorceress to a racist caricature. Mickey Rooney's gross act of yellowface in Breakfast at Tiffany's (which Parish obtusely refers to as "Asian blackface") was clearly meant to degrade an entire race of people. It is a conscious act of hate.
The sorceress is a sexy cartoon lady in a fantasy game. To equate overt sexuality to hatred is a weird leap and belies an outlook that's not comfortable with sexuality.
George Kamitani loves women. It's evident in all his games, which consistently star strong (but more importantly) fleshed out female leads:
http://kotaku.com/5879900/looking-for-a-video-game-that-is-a-literary-masterpiece-try-odin-sphere
quote:
But if a country's half-assed history of sexual liberation is coupled with a cultural/literary/poetic history essentially devoid of playful sexuality, I guess it's not too surprising that people are rambling on. Back to space marines sawing people in two, I suppose.
Edit: Why, this sounds like another job for the Super Nobi Bros.! Nobi and HokutoAndy, I choose you!
Maou! I choose you! I really don't have anything to add to all the things Iggy already beautifully spelled out. I would really like to hear you elaborate on the concept of "playful sexuality" from a historical perspective though!
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Mon 5 Aug 19:58] |
| Pollyanna 3540th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 6 Aug 08:03
Seeing some of the comments in reviews, I feel like there's a layer of conversation we're missing here in regards to sexism. It sounds like a bigger hangup for some people are the "provocatively posed damsels-in-distress that you can poke." I haven't played the game to make a judgement based on anything but second-hand descriptions, but to me, this sounds like something that crosses the line from "all in good fun" over to "maybe you just shouldn't have done this," even if it stands mostly clear of "blatantly offensive."
My argument has always been that the women in Vanillaware games are just flat out awesome. I'll take giant jiggling boobs with great execution to vapid and modestly dressed any day.
But now we're possibly combining victimization with sexualization. To me, that certainly could be seen as "possibly too self-indulgent" or a decidedly guilty pleasure. For those who would consider complaints about this as close-minded, where would you draw the line? What would the game need to include to get an "okay, maybe this is too much" response?
Again, I haven't seen this stuff in the game itself, so this argument is mostly hypothetical. I might play the game and find it to be funny and cute or hot in a really creative way or whatever.
On a somewhat-related note, I'm frustrated by the constant "but look at the muscles on the men!" or "the men should be hot too" arguments, as if that has anything to do with this. This is a tribute to fantasy tropes. Going out of the way to sexualize men in...what way, I'm not sure doesn't make sense and it's not like male and female sexualization/exploitation works the same way at all. How-ev-er...I do believe that when it comes to victimized characters, it's very easy to do it with both sexes. I can think of tons of sexy ways to have guys beat up, tied up or whatever that very closely match the same thing you would see with female characters. If people are talking about a "level playing field" there's an easy way to do it.
I am undressed from 80’s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
|
| Mosquiton 1899th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(9):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 6 Aug 09:50:
quote:
I feel like there's a layer of conversation we're missing here in regards to sexism. It sounds like a bigger hangup for some people are the "provocatively posed damsels-in-distress that you can poke." I haven't played the game to make a judgement based on anything but second-hand descriptions, but to me, this sounds like something that crosses the line from "all in good fun" over to "maybe you just shouldn't have done this," even if it stands mostly clear of "blatantly offensive."
I'm curious, which reviews actually mention the poking? I only found this out recently. I'm both proud and simultaneously disappointed with myself that I never tried harassing the bound spirit with my cursor.
Like so many other things in this game this is almost certainly another homage to Capcom's D&D games (If you poke the lady shopkeeper in Tower of Doom she'll reply "I'm not for sale!"), but that was literally twenty years ago it's more overtly sexual here... the fact that she's tied up does make it feel a bit creepy to me.
I believe this is confined to a single instance you can harass a damsel (it also seems you can poke the barbarian and the Orcish chef). This is Easter Egg territory, and it's not as if Dragon's Crown is a damsel-poking simulation, but it's clearly fair game for discussion.
The one thing that stuck out to me as getting close to that line you mention is a provocatively drawn cleric with a visible keyhole for her chastity belt... but you can only use the cursor if you're at a route selection screen. Probably for the best.
Iggy is right to point out the balance in the core cast, but I think one has to admit that the game panders to a specific audience. Of course they have every right to pander, but I can understand that people would call this out. As Polly implies, a chained, shirtless he-elf would have done the trick for them. A skewed balance that doesn't serve some greater artistic message is certainly much more of a legitimate issue than the misguided "I am offended by these boobs on behalf of all women everywhere" argument.
EDIT: Oh man look at my post count, that French press coffee I've been dreaming of will soon be mine! I can almost taste the refinement!
/ / /
[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Tue 6 Aug 10:24] |
| Professor 3826th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(6):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 6 Aug 11:48
quote:
One interesting thing I heard about the camping stuff, is that right after offing a boss, you get some more ingredients temporarily added to the camp menu (for example, Dragon's meat or Medusa's meat becomes available). After hearing that the first thing I wanted to know was Can you cook the pirates?
Fortunately there's no cannibalism-- the camp cooking only comes out after certain stages where it's appropriate-- for example, it'll come out after beating a dragon or a medusa, but not after beating something like a gate.. because you can't chew on that.
Well, you can chew on pirates I guess, but pirates aren't exactly a healthy red meat, they have scurvies.
quote:
I'm curious, which reviews actually mention the poking? I only found this out recently. I'm both proud and simultaneously disappointed with myself that I never tried harassing the bound spirit with my cursor.
EDIT: Oh man look at my post count, that French press coffee I've been dreaming of will soon be mine! I can almost taste the refinement!
Everyone *loves* poking! Play multiplayer and you'll see that everyone has a wicked mind. The magical mouse is especially cute.
Go for the coffee!
|
| Iggy 9605th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Tue 6 Aug 20:33
quote:
But now we're possibly combining victimization with sexualization. To me, that certainly could be seen as "possibly too self-indulgent" or a decidedly guilty pleasure. For those who would consider complaints about this as close-minded, where would you draw the line? What would the game need to include to get an "okay, maybe this is too much" response?
To me, the line is drawn depending on what actions are available to the player, and what actions are required to the player.
If there's something Kojima did right for the videogame media as a whole, it's the conclusion of MGS3. Forcing the player to "act" the last action of the game, not leaving it as a passive cutscene or having the action taking place automatically if the player doesn't do anything is what separates videogames from any other form of entertainment.
Dragon's Crown obviously plays with fire here, by allowing you to do stuff you might not want to do. But then, you don't HAVE to. None of these actions are mandatory or offer any reward beyound their own playfulness if you are so inclined. If (big "if" here) blames were to be given, they would be to the players who indulge, and to the game creator who thought of offering the option. The game itself, however, comes out relatively harmless: perversion is in the eye of the beholder, and in the hand of the pervert (if perversion there is).
Because ultimately, the damsel in distress trope is not, in itself, sexist. What is sexist, what is problematic, what I would go out of my way to try to disconstruct to my imaginary daughter, is when the role of the damsel is the only one available to women ("Princess" or "Witch": Utena represents). Which is the case in so many movies, games, TV commercials, entertainment products aimed at children...
And, even through there are damsels in distress in Dragon's Crown, women can be a lot of other things in the game. More importantly, they can be sexy scholars, they can be agile hunters, or they can be unrefined brutes. AND you, as the player, can be them.
This is not Final Fight 1, where 3 guys went liberating the princess who was at the same time daughter, wife, and... love rival? of the 3 main males. (But Final Fight is all sorts of weird in the gender department, so I'm just using it as an example of a broader thing. Plus Final Fight 2 reversed the situation in offering the player to play Maki trying to save one of the main males).
Another important detail is that the 3 women you can play as are professional adventurers. We all have seen fighting games where the guys were serious martial artists or violent brutes while the girls are adorable brats who don't know how to fight, but are fighting with comically ridiculous moves that outline condescendingly the fact that women can't fight very well (while it's of course natural in most men).
It goes from Roll's adorable cleaning antics in TvC to that pathetic moment in KOF when Athena found out that attacking with her butt could be as efficient as using proper kenpô or using her magic powers.
The three female characters you can play as in Dragon's Crown are ultimately as tough and efficient in what they do as the guys. The Damsels in Distress here are not Mario saving Peach for the nth time.
Playing a woman undermines one of the most problematic aspects of the Damsel in Distress issue: saving the princess may entitle her savior to a reward, but the reward doesn't have to be her body. Princesses are allowed to say "thank you" and leave unharmed, and saviors are allowed to understand they are not entitled to a kiss, a wedding or a good shag.
So, yeah. If there is a line to draw, it's not about what the game does to women, but with what the game doesn't allow them to do.
The problem is not Dragon Crown's big giggly boobs and sexy attitude: it's Castlevania Lords of Shadows, and all the thousands of stories we've heard that made us think there was no issue in having "yet another male-centric story where the girls watch helplessly on the side".
|
| Mosquiton 1900th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Wed 7 Aug 06:49:
quote:
Dragon's Crown obviously plays with fire here, by allowing you to do stuff you might not want to do. But then, you don't HAVE to. None of these actions are mandatory or offer any reward beyond their own playfulness if you are so inclined.
It's true that you don't have to, but what's possible and what's not possible in the game is of the utmost importance to a game's identity.
Let's say there were a game where you could hit an interact button to perform a simple prank on people on a street. The game is otherwise a stock-trading sim, and you don't get points or any reward other than watching the animation of the interaction. The prank performed on male characters is shaking their hand and shock them with a joy buzzer, then points and laughs. For females, your character pulls down their pants and laughs.
The simple fact that the choice is there matters, and even though you can prank everyone you meet, the exact nature of the prank also matters. Sure you can simply choose not to bother anyone, but the possibility doesn't go away. The game world is still a world where such a thing is possible. Likewise, choosing not to screw with people now has its on meaning.
I'm not saying this is the same situation Dragon's Crown presents, and to be honest I personally see the "poking" as mostly harmless....
But I still wish it weren't there. The fact that people can seize on this point while attacking what they think the game should/should not be portraying is kind of annoying.
Finally, I agree that what the game does to women probably isn't as important as what it allows them to do. But what players are allowed to do is important as well.
/ / /
[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Wed 7 Aug 07:10] |
| Pollyanna 3541th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Wed 7 Aug 07:38
quote:
GS is notorious for gutting sealed copies and repackaging them. I only go there to browse the shelves, but any purchases I do through Best Buy, Amazon, or Play-Asia.
Public Service Announcement:
Play-Asia has gotten on my bad side for selling preorder bonuses, overselling preorders so that they don't ship on time and not adjusting their prices based on yen. Unless you're buying Asian versions of imports, I highly recommend CDJapan, which is very transparent on when your order will ship and what bonuses it will come with. Also, your price is determined by the yen exchange and you can combine orders/items to ship when you like. Their customer service is also good and their "point system" has earned me a fair amount of free money. Also, they do special orders on web-only LE stuff.
quote:
I'm not saying this is the same situation Dragon's Crown presents, and to be honest I personally see the "poking" as mostly harmless....
But I still wish it weren't there. The fact that people can seize on this point while attacking what they think the game should/should not be portraying is kind of annoying.
Finally, I agree that what the game does to women probably isn't as important as what it allows them to do. But what players are allowed to do is important as well.
You just saved me the effort of writing a lengthy reply. Yes to all of this.
Mentioning the poking in D&D puts it in perspective, though. I have a feeling it was just too tempting to resist for the developers. For me, it still falls into the realm of "probably shouldn't have" and yes, it does make the game harder to defend to its detractors.
quote:
The three female characters you can play as in Dragon's Crown are ultimately as tough and efficient in what they do as the guys. The Damsels in Distress here are not Mario saving Peach for the nth time.
Playing a woman undermines one of the most problematic aspects of the Damsel in Distress issue: saving the princess may entitle her savior to a reward, but the reward doesn't have to be her body. Princesses are allowed to say "thank you" and leave unharmed, and saviors are allowed to understand they are not entitled to a kiss, a wedding or a good shag.
So, yeah. If there is a line to draw, it's not about what the game does to women, but with what the game doesn't allow them to do.
The problem is not Dragon Crown's big giggly boobs and sexy attitude: it's Castlevania Lords of Shadows, and all the thousands of stories we've heard that made us think there was no issue in having "yet another male-centric story where the girls watch helplessly on the side".
Yes. Wow. Very eloquent. I was discussing with some friends that what women "are not allowed to do" is even more obvious in action films where you have a token female love interest who only fulfills that role. Of course, some women look for that in a movie, but I think it would make sense to have another female character not defined by a gender role. That's one area that Vanillaware really excels in...they present women in a wide variety of different roles.
I am undressed from 80’s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
|
| Maou 2531th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Thu 8 Aug 01:18:
quote:
Everything Iggy says is correct
Bravo on this, and in a non-sycophantic way! If the entire internet/US society read your post, they would save so much time.quote:
elaborate on the concept of "playful sexuality" from a historical perspective though!
Counter-summoned by Nobi? OKAY! BUSTA-WOLF! By the way, Andy, my ire was centered on Polygon and not on Parish, who is pretty wonderful even if this particular piece is half-reasonable and half-prudish. Seems to me that Greco-Roman myth provided a pretty libertine, playful (Zeus's sexual exploits and hilarity ensuing from angry Hera), and open approach to sexuality for Western civilization, but one which was far outweighed by the later advent of Judeo-Christian-Islamic thought, which take a highly serious, duty/succession-oriented, and generally prudish approach to sexuality (at least as they are written as opposed to however they are practiced).
So while you may have the pre-modern tradition of things like Carnal Prayer Mat or Japanese "laughing stories" with raucous and lighthearted sexual humor in parts of Asia, or widespread shunga or what have you, I see no similar mainstream historical tradition in the West (least of all the Puritan-influenced early US). Sure, there was plenty of erotica even in buttoned-up Victorian England, but it was a countercurrent and not public conversation.
By the time sexual liberation came around to the US, people had the right spirit but had no broadly acceptable historical body of art or literature that presented sex in a positive, creative, or playful light. Certainly nothing that would lead to Kamitani's designs so easily as certain artistic traditions in Japan and perhaps elsewhere. Without anything to go on, people justifiably tired of sexism and exploitation in the US have a tendency to assume that the sexuality and depictions thereof are the problem, rather than the nature of one's position/abilities as Iggy outlined. The result is a hilariously and unplannedly conservative approach towards women, one that assumes that their sexuality could not be anything but for pleasing men and thus should be minimized. Preposterous.
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 8 Aug 01:19] |
| Professor 3830th Post
MMCafe Owner
| "Re(8):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Fri 9 Aug 02:24:
quote:
Just a question for a friend that I'm not sure I can answer by "yes": is the online region-locked? That is, can a player with a Japanese game play with someone who has an American copy?
I've played with a certain someone here who has the English version, so yes, the online isn't region locked. I haven't played it since the patch came out yesterday, but I doubt that changed things. Can anyone confirm?
quote:
What are the contents of the artbook?
It's 64 P. There's about 4 pages dedicated per character; 2 pages for art, 2 pages for sprites. The monsters, background art, and food art (which are drawn really well) seem to be all there, as well as the NPCs. They take up a good number of pages, so people may see it as a great way to see the in-game stuff, or see it as pages that could've been used for other artwork. Six pages are dedicated for the Capcom guests (Kinu, Akiman, Bengus). There's also a number of pages used for the promotional artworks excluding the stuff that are vendor-specific.
If there's one thing I wished the art book had, it's the rough drafts and character animation sketches. In fact, I wouldn't mind buying a book that just has all the sketches and post-processed versions of them, even though that's pretty niche.
quote:
I'm currently playing the Sorceress and she lends herself to a very methodical approach. The way I'm playing I usually get into range, dump all my magic, and then dart away so I can recharge.
Do you have the Skeleton spell? If you do, you can have up to 7 characters fighting for you (3 x characters and 4 x Skeletons). It gets pretty crazy.
[this message was edited by Professor on Fri 9 Aug 02:31] |
| Lugos
41th Post
Rare Customer
| "Re(8):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Fri 9 Aug 03:51
quote:
But yeah, how's the game so far? What are the contents of the artbook?
I haven't had much time to play it since I've been working on an assignment, but the sprites and backgrounds are absolutely beautiful. All the characters are also well animated, even by standards of Capcom's 2D brawlers of the 90's. The game's controls are nice and crisp, though I do wish there was an option to use the d-pad instead of the stick for even more precision. And the music is just as beautiful as the sprites.
Though I think the lack of a pause button was a pretty stupid decision. I'm not a fan of knowingly removing player options unless it can enhance the gaming experience as a whole, but that certainly wasn't the case here. And I find it hard to believe that this might've been done in consideration of the online mode. It's the year 2013. All gamers know by now that while you can pause an offline game, you can't do that in online multiplayer. Hopefully Vanillaware will add this function in a future patch. And yes, I figured out that you can "pause" the game by holding the PS button down for a few seconds, but it's an annoying experience in the midst of battle.
The artbook is pretty nice, a lot of the artwork that's in it was already on DC's website. The actual paper and image quality are passable, but I've seen better. I guess that's what they call a freebie :)
quote:
I felt the artbook is nice for what it is but I'm certain they are saving their best presentation for the inevitable deluxe design book.
Just curious, but did your artbook come shrink-wrapped?
|
| Pollyanna 3545th Post
PSN: Lilly_Dopamine
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Fri 9 Aug 07:35
My random impressions:
-I didn't expect the game to be so solid. Each character has a very well-realized style of play, with mostly useful, well thought out moves that round out their playstyles really well. I also like how the game brings more modern conventions (online play, a hub, lots of random loot/stats) to the 2D beat 'em up genre without disrupting it.
-The Sorceress is so cute and funny! She doesn't really come across as sexy and cool to me. She's very charming. I feel like no one, even the other Vanillaware artists can capture her quite like Kamitani, though.
-The clicking stuff in the background can go to hell. Forget perceived sexism- that's the REAL stain on this game. Oh how nice it must be to just touch things on the Vita instead of having your full character eat their food because you forgot to block while you awkwardly move a cursor with the analogue stick. When I play multiplayer, someone else can do the runes, or were' not getting rune magic at all.
-Morgan's English actress is just...what? Like, they actually heard those reads and said "Perfect! That's a wrap!"!?
-The way the Amazon stops and the way the Magician falls down are too cute.
-I wish there were more move animations as you level your characters, as some skills recycle the same look (like, the Amazon's jumping down square and double jump down square are the same), but they had to draw the line somewhere.
quote:
I do wish there was an option to use the d-pad instead of the stick for even more precision.
Let me use my Magical Princess Polly Powers and...your wish is granted! Check your options! It might be under individual character options, I think?
quote:
Just curious, but did your artbook come shrink-wrapped?
Mine did. And to chime in with everyone else, I agree that the book is really nice as a free bonus, but the print quality is kinda meh. I liked Akiman's sketches and Kinu's illustration a lot, though.
quote:
Another thing slowing DC down is that I'm currently playing the Sorceress and she lends herself to a very methodical approach. The way I'm playing I usually get into range, dump all my magic, and then dart away so I can recharge. Her constant need to manage meter and the somewhat silly feature of poking at the background causes even the shortest levels of DC to feel a bit leisurely.
Maybe you're still low-level or the Sorceress is a bad match for you? After getting a few MP regen-related skills, she seemed to blaze through things very quickly for me. I took to her right off the bat, but it took me a while to "get" the Amazon. She felt sluggish to me at first, but now she hardly ever touches the ground. Nuts that she can do four air attacks, dodge cancel, then repeat indefinitely.
I'm trying to put at least a few levels into every character before I pick one to focus on.
I am undressed from 80’s style and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel never been experienced world before.
|
| Ishmael 4685th Post
PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Re(10):Re(10):The Fated Hour" , posted Fri 9 Aug 22:31
quote:
-I didn't expect the game to be so solid. Each character has a very well-realized style of play, with mostly useful, well thought out moves that round out their playstyles really well. I also like how the game brings more modern conventions (online play, a hub, lots of random loot/stats) to the 2D beat 'em up genre without disrupting it.
-The Sorceress is so cute and funny! She doesn't really come across as sexy and cool to me. She's very charming. I feel like no one, even the other Vanillaware artists can capture her quite like Kamitani, though.
These were the two biggest happy surprises in the game for me as well. I was expecting another Vanillaware game but the characters handle well and feel different from one another. Even better, they also have a great deal of personality. From the fun way that the Sorceress fiddles with her hat to the Wizard doodling with fire when he idles, the mannerisms of the cast help bring them to life. It's not the Diablo-esque piles of loot that are going to make me want to continue playing, it's that I like these characters.
Also you were right in that my Sorceress was a bit underpowered. Now that she has a few more levels under her belt she can stay in the fight instead of having to run away constantly to recharge her batteries. Between her skeleton army and blizzard spells I'm filling the screen with glorious amounts of garbage. The game still slips out of gear when I'm clicking on the background but you can't have everything.
|
|
The industry rumours about who will buy Atlus are interesting. 
Like, who *wasn't* expecting this to happen? 
I'll be picking up a PS3 copy in the far-off future of August.
"Re(4):Re(10):Re(10):The George Kamitani & Van" , posted Fri 26 Jul 05:34
confused
) in that once one person has called sexism, everyone else floods in and jumps on the issue. Certainly anyone who knows Vanillaware 
