| Original message (1677 Views )
|
Replies: |
| Pollyanna 2748th Post
 
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
    
     
|  "Re(1):Dissidia: FF question+general thread" , posted Wed 26 Aug 09:52
I would say the plot is the worst part of Dissidia (maybe the only really bad part?), so from that perspective at least, the less you know the better. I grudgingly tolerated the (excessive, idiotic, repetitive) cinemas for a while, but eventually just started skipping them.
The game certainly has enough merits to stand on its own, but it's so obviously aimed at FF fans that it's a bit hard for me to recommend it if you've only played one game.
But if it looks interesting to you (and the battle system looks appealing), regardless of what its based off of, I would still recommend it, I guess.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
|
| HAYATO 931th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(2):Dissidia: FF question+general thread" , posted Wed 16 Sep 23:43
AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.
When I started playing it after all the "OMG, PSP game of teh year, man!!!" racket and fully realized what the game really consisted of, I felt insulted, offended in such an intimate and agravating way that I considered to drop it on the spot. In case you are unfamiliar with the system, just think of it as a FF-themed Psychic Force, with some pseudo-RPG elements crammed in and a "nice, intuitive and versatile" (please, notice the sarcasm) checkered map, where the main events and fights unfold.
Oh, and the fights!! A wonderful system, indeed. Too bad that there are so few movements available for each character, and even fewer of them can be equipped at once (3 ground + 3 air for each attack category). In order to solve this, you'll have to GRIND LIKE HELL, battling minions (geared with a pretty nasty AI, so expect to die A LOT) again and again, using the same attack pattern ad nauseam, until you are granted a new movement or ability.
Talking about minions, I suspect the nature of them is what the game draws its title from. While you may encounter some bosses (Sephiroth, Kefka and the rest) in the checkered board (represented as a special totem) the vast majority of your fights will be against what seems to be some knight-like minions in the map. Much to my surprise (and disgust), once the battle begins, you are always confronted by a randomly, one-colored doppelganger of any of the main characters (good or evil). Think of a random character with the hue of Dr.Manhattan or the Pink Panther and you'll get the gist of it. Truly, a game born from Dissidia.
The plot is bland and uninspiring, full of the crap Nomura keeps feeding to the fans since Kingdom Hearts (perhaps earlier) and they love so much. You know, all that repetitive stuff about people being alone, the importance of friendship, etc ("OMG, feel the mature themes!!"). Of course, you'll have no cue on what's going on if you aren't a RABID fan of the series (such is my case), and you'll feel overwhelmed by the intertwining storylines (just in case you are willing to play the game with more than a single character, something I wouldn't suggest not even to my worst enemy).
Hell, at least we PSP users have the chance to test games before buying them. If I'm so pissed off by a game I got for free, I can't imagine what would have been my reaction had this game pop up on, say, PS3...
PS: Forget my sloppy english and my poor grammar, this text was born from a burst of passion which blinded my senses. Besides, this game doesn't deserve a much more elaborated review...
|
| karasu99
211th Post
Frequent Customer
| "Re(3):Dissidia: FF question+general thread" , posted Fri 18 Sep 04:31
quote:
AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Funny, I was just about to post about how it isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I agree Hayato on many of your points, but I've been taking great advantage of the 'always skip cutscenes' setting to avoid the loathsome story pieces.
But overall, I've liked the game. I am enjoying the upgradeable skills, the fighting engine (even if it is a little simpleminded in some ways), and the little details that I've noticed so far (like how many of the characters are very close to the Amano art-- right down to the poses, like Onion Knight's ninja EX attack, which is very close to FFIII's original Famicom packaging).
So yeah, it's got problems, but overall pretty good and distracting.
|
| Pollyanna 2753th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Dissidia: FF question+general thread" , posted Fri 18 Sep 09:23
I think Hayato's complains are reasonable if you're expecting a fighting game out of it and as KTallkguy said, Vs is a mess. It's nice and all to show off your high level or interesting combination of items, but I'd rather have an option for a more balanced "normal" fighting game experience underneath that.
Still, all of my friends were intimidated by the game, so I didn't have anyone to play it with anyway. The game gives you so many little things to do that unless you severely dislike the engine, it makes for a fun overall experience.
I never really felt like I was "grinding" (just "playing the game") because there were so many different things to do and I relished the battles where I would bite off more than I could chew, struggle like crazy, then level up a tremendous amount at the end. That isn't "grinding" to me, it's "challenging myself".
The battles never stopped looking cool to me, either. The characters come together in such a cinematic fashion...everything looks nice without making you sit through any lengthy animations. I thought it would get old after a while, but I never stopped chuckling at how good some things looked.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
|
| HAYATO 935th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(6):Dissidia: FF question+general thread" , posted Fri 18 Sep 10:39
quote:
I think Hayato's complains are reasonable if you're expecting a fighting game out of it and as KTallkguy said, Vs is a mess. It's nice and all to show off your high level or interesting combination of items, but I'd rather have an option for a more balanced "normal" fighting game experience underneath that.
Still, all of my friends were intimidated by the game, so I didn't have anyone to play it with anyway. The game gives you so many little things to do that unless you severely dislike the engine, it makes for a fun overall experience.
I never really felt like I was "grinding" (just "playing the game") because there were so many different things to do and I relished the battles where I would bite off more than I could chew, struggle like crazy, then level up a tremendous amount at the end. That isn't "grinding" to me, it's "challenging myself".
The battles never stopped looking cool to me, either. The characters come together in such a cinematic fashion...everything looks nice without making you sit through any lengthy animations. I thought it would get old after a while, but I never stopped chuckling at how good some things looked.
As Karasu pointed before, perhaps the best aspect of the game is the high level of fidelity to the original Amano designs Squenix achieved in portraying the characters on a 3-d environment. But, taking into account that there's hardly anything else on screen during battles (save some dull, ugly and randomly CPU-picked backgrounds), that actually isn't as meritorious as it could seem at first glance...
And about grinding... I had the opposite experience to Pollyanna. In fact, I had the sense of grinding even before I started to do it willingly (never before had such a thing happened to me). When I became aware of the whole game system, and the way to obtain some of the items and game improvements, an intense sense of dread took over me, almost as if I could feel the game's inner potential to make one waste hundreds of hours...
|
| Pollyanna 2754th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Fri 18 Sep 18:47
Monster Hunter is all about improving your game. The greatest accomplishment isn't getting the fancy armor, it's being able to beat the bosses without it. The only time you have to fight a monster over and over is when you find yourself too weak, in which case you could use the practice anyway.
Of course, Dissidia doesn't quite accomplish this, but I was always focused on improving my game along with leveling up. Obviously, making your character stronger made the game easier, but exploring the system and learning new tricks does too.
quote:
I heard that at TGS will be a presentation of a new version of Dissidia for the Japanese market, including content from the western version and new stuff. What about this new content? It is only items, equipment etc. or it'll include new characters, stages, music?
English voices, arcade mode from the US version, "rebalanced characters"...which could result in new moves, but more than likely, just rebalanced properties on existing moves.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
|
| Time Mage 2771th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Sun 20 Sep 04:04
quote:
If the International version adds, say... Ramza and Delita, I might be tempted to pick it up, not gonna lie!
If they get to the International Version, I'll sell my soul if necessary to get one.
On the other hand, I'm enjoying Dissidia so far. It's not a fighting game, but it has managed to give each character enough uniqueness in their fighting style to make it fun to try them all against the CPU (which yes, can be a cheap bastard). Besides, as commented before, the 3D rendition of the original designs is really good.
"News flash big guy: You can wax on wax off all you want I'm still... KICKIN' YOUR ASS!"
|
| KTallguy 1153th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(7):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Sun 20 Sep 13:13
The art in the game (for the characters) is amazing, definitely. Too bad the story is a piece of rambling bullshit.
And Polly, the problem with Monster Hunter is when you get to a certain point, you have to start grinding for better weapons because all of your attacks start to bounce off the monsters (even when you hit them in the right spot)! I don't really care about armor, but that pisses me off.
Also it's very time consuming/difficult to use certain weapons on certain monsters. I used Bow and then Hammer, and with Bow it takes 30+ minutes to kill something. Hammer takes less time, but the window of opportunity is so small that I get frustrated.
With Dissidia, I can tell why I am doing absolutely no damage, at least. And even if you don't grind, single player is pretty doable.
[/rant]
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
|
| karasu99
214th Post
Frequent Customer
| "Re(7):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Sun 20 Sep 13:43
quote:
I've seen the original source models in Maya. They are the best low polygon (ps2/iPhone range) models I've ever seen. Ever. They are marvels of artistic ability, engineering and planning. They use the least amount of polygons necessary, with awesome edge flow (perfect for the rigs) and their UVs take up 100% of the square utilizing textures that are painted with the same care they used to put into their sprite art. They are completely efficient, effective and best of all they are interesting looking.
Those guys really know what they're doing.
We need to talk, someday, about what exactly it is that you do-- you have some of the most in-depth technical/artistic opinions of games that I think I've ever heard. The above is a perfect and excellent example of the sort of thing that I like to hear.
Agreed, by the way, about Dissidia's models. Bartz, for example, is a pleasure to watch, from a technical point of view.
|
| Pollyanna 2756th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Sun 20 Sep 19:40
quote:
And Polly, the problem with Monster Hunter is when you get to a certain point, you have to start grinding for better weapons because all of your attacks start to bounce off the monsters (even when you hit them in the right spot)! I don't really care about armor, but that pisses me off.
Also it's very time consuming/difficult to use certain weapons on certain monsters. I used Bow and then Hammer, and with Bow it takes 30+ minutes to kill something. Hammer takes less time, but the window of opportunity is so small that I get frustrated.
I still don't think you need to "grind" in MH unless you need a SPECIFIC something, in which case, it's your choice. The game gives you such a huge array of options that you're unlikely to get stuck on any single point, unless you need to get better at the game. In that case, I would call that "practice", not "grinding".
Now, if your idea of "grinding" is fighting a monster 3 times, then I can't argue with that, but I think you're playing the wrong game. For me, though...the first time I fight a new monster (or a monster on a new difficulty) that's a trial run. The second is the real thing. If I use 3 different weapons on them, it's a different experience each time. That's essentially 6 times I can fight the same monster and it's still fresh.
But there are many many instances that can turn into grinding experiences. The rare items are completely ridiculous. I hate the random aspect of collecting them. I wanted to make the 3rd rank Red Khezu/Furufuru set and needed...something or other.
My "skill at beating the monster" had long since capped out and I was still fighting it over and over. I wish they would make it so that you needed a higher number of the items, but could get 100% drop if you broke certain things/combinations of things. That way, I could say "if I want to make this armor, I am going to have to kill 15 of this monster. Do I want to do that?" As it is now, it's "I may have to kill anything between 2 and 50 of them."
While I'm busy ranting, I also wish they would make it easier on bowgun users. Why not have a select set of ammo that each bowgun receives for each mission? That way, you don't have invest double the time and money that a non bow-gun user does. If the player is always going to bring the full extent of what the bowgun can use anyway, then why not save them the trouble? The experience isn't enhanced by burdening one class of weapon with excessive micromanagement.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
|
| Spoon 1806th Post
Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(9):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Mon 21 Sep 06:03
quote:
And Polly, the problem with Monster Hunter is when you get to a certain point, you have to start grinding for better weapons because all of your attacks start to bounce off the monsters (even when you hit them in the right spot)! I don't really care about armor, but that pisses me off.
Also it's very time consuming/difficult to use certain weapons on certain monsters. I used Bow and then Hammer, and with Bow it takes 30+ minutes to kill something. Hammer takes less time, but the window of opportunity is so small that I get frustrated.
I still don't think you need to "grind" in MH unless you need a SPECIFIC something, in which case, it's your choice. The game gives you such a huge array of options that you're unlikely to get stuck on any single point, unless you need to get better at the game. In that case, I would call that "practice", not "grinding".
Now, if your idea of "grinding" is fighting a monster 3 times, then I can't argue with that, but I think you're playing the wrong game. For me, though...the first time I fight a new monster (or a monster on a new difficulty) that's a trial run. The second is the real thing. If I use 3 different weapons on them, it's a different experience each time. That's essentially 6 times I can fight the same monster and it's still fresh.
But there are many many instances that can turn into grinding experiences. The rare items are completely ridiculous. I hate the random aspect of collecting them. I wanted to make the 3rd rank Red Khezu/Furufuru set and needed...something or other.
My "skill at beating the monster" had long since capped out and I was still fighting it over and over. I wish they would make it so that you needed a higher number of the items, but could get 100% drop if you broke certain things/combinations of things. That way, I could say "if I want to make this armor, I am going to have to kill 15 of this monster. Do I want to do that?" As it is now, it's "I may have to kill anything between 2 and 50 of them."
While I'm busy ranting, I also wish they would make it easier on bowgun users. Why not have a select set of ammo that each bowgun receives for each mission? That way, you don't have invest double the time and money that a non bow-gun user does. If the player is always going to bring the full extent of what the bowgun can use anyway, then why not save them the trouble? The experience isn't enhanced by burdening one class of weapon with excessive micromanagement.
I find that there are a lot of things that just waste time. I did not enjoy mining the 100 Iron Ores needed for the Onslaught Hammer; there was really nothing fun about it. Some of my pals who want *name of monster* Rubies spend hours grinding away (even with a full team of 4 people) because the drop just doesn't happen.
The worst part is grinding up enough equipment so that I can have some modicum of effectiveness/survival when dealing with the monsters my friends are fighting, otherwise it just turns into a situation where my biggest contribution to the fight is either tossing flashbombs, drinking the healing potion, or simply staying out of the fight. And to top it off, if I want to use the Bowgun, I'll have to grind up a new set of armor for it, the equipment needed to make the Bowgun, and then components for the Bowgun's ammo. I had picked a melee weapon simply because the low rank Bowguns seemed to take forever to kill even low rank bosses; I'd often run out of ammo in the middle of a fight and have to resort to plinking it down with the unlimited ammo shot. It's not impossible, but the return for the time investment was awful.
After I started realizing that the way I was playing MH was largely built on establishing metrics for my use of time, I started enjoying the game even less. If it weren't for the fact that some of my friends have already sunk hundreds of hours into the game and its predecessors and always want to play it, I wouldn't be playing MH.
So how's that Dissidia?
|
| Pollyanna 2757th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):International Plus Whattafaq Dissidia" , posted Mon 21 Sep 11:54
quote:
So how's that Dissidia?
If you're talking about playing with friends who like to spend hundreds and hundreds of hours playing it, then TERRIBLE. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE. The vs is a mess, because people can piece together really devious combinations of skills/items/summons that are fine and dandy for countering overpowered CPU opponents, but just mean and unbalanced against friends.
As for the game itself, the chances are, you'll reach a point in each character's story mode where you'll have to step back and do vs or survival or arcade mode or whatever for a little while (or do a second run on the story mode). However, you'll probably be unlocking other new stuff in the process, (or practicing with new moves/item/summon combos), so it's not like ramming your head against a wall for hours and hours just to make it anywhere.
Altogether, it makes for a pretty solid 30-40 hour experience. Any time you spend after that is going to be more "grindy", but totally unnecessary to the "main" experience, since you will have already won the game. I never cared about unlocking all the items or anything, but I kept playing after I won the game because I was still having fun unlocking new attacks.
As for Monster Hunter, your friends are mean. Whenever I play with my friends, we play on the level of the weakest player and wear weak/joke equipment (or use a weapon we aren't good with) so that everyone has a balanced experience. Nobody likes to feel like the weakest link and we're all just playing for fun anyway (is there any other reason to play, really?).
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
|
|
|
