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Maou

1856th Post

Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive

"Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni No Kuni" , posted Fri 13 Nov 15:47:

So in a stunning reversal of my usual trend of playing games about two years late, I've actually managed to play demos of Level 5's newest things early thanks to a pushy friend at Tokyo Game Show who managed to acquire their DS demo cart. I played these back in September, and here are the thoughts I had...any other opinions, or questions?

So, the third Layton (Professor Layton and the Devil's Whistle) seemed charming, though I had the distinct sense without having played them that the first games (back to the 'playing everything two years too late' thing) were probably better since the whole thing would have been fresher and more charming still. But maybe that's just me being jaded after seeing poor Katamari Damashii getting maimed to hell by the corporate geniuses at Namco who forced it from one creative burst into retread purgatory. But anyhow, the demo mostly just made me want to play the first, but I like the dialogue, and Professor Layton is charming. As an English gentleman, I approve.

Let's see, then I tried Inazuma 11 2...what? The generic shounen manga opening was tiresome, and then it was a generic high school mania script. Maybe you have to really like soccer to enjoy it? Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who played through Justice Gakuen's Nekketsu Seishun Nikki (life sim mode) all the way through at least three times and actually really liked it.

And finanlly, Ni No Kuni is terrifyingly, massively disappointing. I love Ghibli and when I saw the animation scenes for this game, I was ready to love it, but...it's an RPG for little children. And I don't mean a "children's RPG" in the sense that Dragon Quest is where there is a cheerful worldview but with enough depth and heart that people of all ages can enjoy it or in Miyazaki's sense where it's a serious tale "for children" that is asking a great deal more intellectually of said children than most artists do. I mean that the simplistic dialogue and scenario are undeniably meant for young players, possibly around age 8. The field appears to be 100% on rails with no exploration whatsoever or even a maze or any way to go but forward, and...yeah. I had a bad feeling as soon as the narrator at the start of the demo started reading like it was from a preschooler's fairy tale. Not in a charming old way, but in a way where they have winning descriptions about curses from "a bad magician." Well.

The battles are standard Dragon Quest bits, mostly harmless, but the scenario really isn't there, which doesn't leave you very much beyond gorgeous animation sequences. And Lunar already did that in 1996 but with a real story to go with it. I guess it could be sort of fun in the non-demo version where you can actually cast spells with the stylus in battle (disabled here), but in the context shown, it was just gimmickry (like, draw this shape because we told you it is the shape you need to draw). Hum.

人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．

[this message was edited by Maou on Fri 13 Nov 15:57]

Replies:

Maese

545th Post

New Red Carpet Member

"Re(1):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Fri 13 Nov 23:17

Thanks for The pointers! I really appreciate them, altough I don't like very much what I hear.

About Layton and Inazuma 11, I guess WYSIWYG. Nothing unexpected there. I've never tried myself a "soccer RPG" on all these years roaming ~~Jianghu~~ the videogame world, but I'd say is safe to assume that you should like soccer to enjoy it, to begin with. Even tough it is arguably the best possible ice-breaking topic of conversation on most countries in the world, soccer is such an obsesively addictive hobby that you might want to stay as far as possible from it. Be warned.

But I digress.

What's really, really dissaponting is Ni no Kuni's mishap. I can't say I did not see this one coming, but I was (naively) hoping for another thing. It's OK to have a somewhat kiddy game (heck, Ghibli's stuff can be considered childish in some way), I can enjoy that. Zeldas always had a childish vibe, and I love them with a passion. But if they really brought down the level that much, then is a waste. Such a great artistic effort only for a game oriented to primary schoolers...

Anyway, your comments are about the demo version, so there's hoping things would be more interesting on the final product. I WANT TO BELIEVE.

Iggy

9011th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(1):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Fri 13 Nov 23:30

quote:
Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who played through Justice Gakuen's Nekketsu Seishun Nikki (life sim mode) all the way through at least three times and actually really liked it.

Dude.
I played until I had dated each and every character of EACH of these games (the two date sims and the painful DC board game).

Other than that, Tamamayu Monogatari taught me to stay away from any Ghibli themed videogame.

Pollyanna

2798th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(2):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sat 14 Nov 03:12

quote:

Dude.

Other than that, Tamamayu Monogatari taught me to stay away from any Ghibli themed videogame.

Dude.

I made a lizard-bug-dog in that game. I named it Lenny.

Thank you for reviving that sweet memory.

I love you, Lenny. Rest in peace.

青春謳歌　弱肉強食

nobinobita

650th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member

"Re(3):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sat 14 Nov 07:22

quote:

Dude.

Other than that, Tamamayu Monogatari taught me to stay away from any Ghibli themed videogame.

Dude.

I made a lizard-bug-dog in that game. I named it Lenny.

Thank you for reviving that sweet memory.

I love you, Lenny. Rest in peace.

Dude.

Don't forget the Rakugaki Kingdom games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_goGxXQEFp4&feature=PlayList&p=ECE23078052EFE06

Most creative games ever.

I believe some members of Ghibli were involved in that series.

Spoon

1850th Post

Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive

"Re(4):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sat 14 Nov 08:28

quote:

magic pengel

I remember a long and heated discussion about how some of us would refuse to play a game because it has a name that sounds lame, with Magic Pengel vs. Graffitti Kingdom being one of the examples.

I personally liked the appearance of the first of those two games a lot more, though the second one probably had better gameplay.

Maou

1856th Post

Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive

"Re(2):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sat 14 Nov 15:27

quote:
I played until I had dated each and every character of EACH of these games (the two date sims and the painful DC board game).

I knew we were meant for each other. I do hope you'll be joining me to sing the chorus of Justice Gakuen's school song. I still remember that better than my own school song. Hmm.

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．．．

Iggy

9012th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(3):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sat 14 Nov 23:02

quote:
I still remember that better than my own school song. Hmm.

That's the only school song I ever had.

Maou

1857th Post

Silver Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive

"continuous justice" , posted Sun 15 Nov 04:08

quote:
That's the only school song I ever had.

That's okay, let's sing it! 明日の日本を創り出す若き力を磨くため．．．

I forgot how 渋い Gedou's song was, too. Ahh, this makes me want to go back to my ~~virtual~~ high school, Taiyou.

This also almost makes me forget how disappointed I am about Ni No Kuni.

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．．．

Ishmael

3620th Post

Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master

"Re(5):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sun 15 Nov 06:46

It's a shame to hear that Ni No Kuni is hitting the notes of a Ghibli film but is missing the melody.

quote:

I remember a long and heated discussion about how some of us would refuse to play a game because it has a name that sounds lame, with Magic Pengel vs. Graffitti Kingdom being one of the examples.

I personally liked the appearance of the first of those two games a lot more, though the second one probably had better gameplay.

While I appreciated the idea behind Magic Pengel and Graffiti Kingdom both games became more frustrating than fun. The idea of drawing your own character should have given me the feeling of limitless possibilities. Instead, all I could think about was how lousy and dull the games were that this ability was tied to. Sure, I could make a cat that flies through the air and projectile vomits on enemies but the novelty of that sight could only get me so far.

sfried

436th Post

Gold Customer

"Re(6):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Sun 15 Nov 08:02

quote:
While I appreciated the idea behind Magic Pengel and Graffiti Kingdom both games became more frustrating than fun. The idea of drawing your own character should have given me the feeling of limitless possibilities. Instead, all I could think about was how lousy and dull the games were that this ability was tied to. Sure, I could make a cat that flies through the air and projectile vomits on enemies but the novelty of that sight could only get me so far.

Reminds me of another game with create your character capabilities: Drawn to Life.

chazumaru

696th Post

Red Carpet Regular Member

"Re(7):Let's talk about Level 5 demos and Ni N" , posted Mon 16 Nov 08:56

It is not mentioned in the opening post but there is a fourth demo (for Layton's London Life, the Brownie Brown RPG "hidden" inside Layton 4) which can be unlocked when you finished the three others.

I found Ni no kuni's story to be neither better nor worse than any given Japanese RPG, but I have a fairly low opinion of them. The game is clearly aimed for kids but the universe is not without charm. The BGM is fairly conventional by Hisaishi's standards but it is always nice to have orchestral music in a RPG. The game's engine is very impressive; it reminds me of Chrono Cross. I think it will be another huge hit for Level 5 in Japan.

IT'S THE BLACK PUDDING!