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| Iron D 3369th Post
 
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
    
    
    
     
     
|  "Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Sat 6 Feb 07:12
quote:
Official U.S. site with short trailer.
2d gameplay, download for PS3, 360 and Wii this summer. Supposedly takes place story-wise after Sonic and Knuckles (although that game didn't really have a TON of story to follow or anything). Oh, and Sonic is the only playable character.
I dunno. I've had my heart broken so many times recently, hoping for that Sonic game that was a return to the glory days. It looks like they're really going for a retro feel this time, but...I'm highly, HIGHLY skeptical.
Well it's not like sonic team haven't made a decent 2D sonic game in a while. I though that Sonic Rush Adventure was pretty good if you can stomach the chatter. I even liked the traveling mini games.
Then again all the DS/GBA sonic games were co-developed by dimps so it could be that they're the ones responsible for the quality of those games.
Actually Sonic Rush Adventure is the only one of the handheld Sonics that I haven't played (the NGPC Sonic notwithstanding). I've played all of the Sonic Advances (and actually went from liking Sonic Advance to really liking Sonic Advance 2 to LOVING Sonic Advance 3), and I think that Sonic Rush was...okay. But for some reason I never felt that any of them really succeeded in completely recapturing the true essence of the classic games. At least not in the same way that New Super Mario Bros. did for the Mario franchise.
quote:
As for Sonic the Hedgehog 4, I don't understand the reasoning for it to be episodic. Couldn't sega have just called it Sonic the hedgehog 4 and the next one be sonic the hedgehog 5? The whole episodic thing at least with me suggest that the game is short and has an important chronological story structure that isn't self sufficient itself which contradicts the whole simple throw back old-school idea of sonic 4.
Yeah, this is a popular sentiment among the 'Net right now, and I have to say I agree with it.
Er.....
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| Pollyanna 2846th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Sat 6 Feb 21:00
Sonic 4 is an interesting topic for me, because I want to hear what people's ideas of what would make the game good are.
Quoting Badoor from the previous thread:
quote:
Well it's not like sonic team haven't made a decent 2D sonic game in a while. I though that Sonic Rush Adventure was pretty good if you can stomach the chatter. I even liked the traveling mini games.
I skipped every single cinema past like...the third one in Sonic Rush Adventure and thought it was a decent improvement over Sonic Rush in every aspect except the soundtrack. Actually, it wins out in the only aspect that matters, which is level design.
Sonic Rush wasn't a good game because it had awful level design. It had un-Sonic-like level design, if you want to put it that way, too. Old-school type games live and breath by the strength of their level design.
I wonder if both Sega and consumers will miss the point on this. It looks like Sega is stripping away anything that might be offensive, and most likely leaving us with nothing but a recycled rehash. Mario Bros on Wii saved itself from drudgery by adding an excellent multiplayer mode...Sonic 4 has already removed Tails. Would it hurt to have him as a second player? Is that a feature players would complain about--being able to play with your friends?
And the story, like Mario Bros will undoubtedly be one that's been told already. Isn't it better to create memories with a game, rather than incite you to relive old ones? Can't you have minimalistic storytelling and still tell a story no one has heard before?
But I wonder if players will be content with mediocrity so long as nothing is wrong with it. As long as Sega uses the old formula and doesn't do anything mind-bogglingly stupid (as they have so often), that might be enough.
I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I have my fears. I certainly know this sort of thing CAN work, though. Megaman 9 was fantastic. It has challenging, concise level design, stretched its limited mechanics in every way possible and had a new, non-obtrusive story that (for a Megaman game) was reasonably engaging.
(Don't ask me how I feel about Megaman 10, though)
Sidenote:
I suppose its expected for games to have more "in-depth" plots these days, but so many Japanese developers seem to interpret this as "the characters need to talk more". You have the same tired old stories, only now they take 5 times as long to tell because the one-dimensional characters talk in circles for 15 minutes at a time. This doesn't flesh them (or the story) out so much as it shows in painstaking detail how bland they really are.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Toxico 4854th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
|  "cue to the Harbringer of death." , posted Sun 7 Feb 08:22:
character update The goshasei seems to be in, Rei's sister looks.... not like I expected, but at least they captured the feeling of a women who used(?) to be in the sex industry...
I didn't noticed the seiyuus (some of them are listed on the site), Kenshiro is Katsuyuki who plays Maxima , Rei is our always over rated friend Koyasu ....
Raoh , Yuria , Shin , Mamiya , Lin (alternative link), Fatty sama (alternative link)
obscene voodoo dance teleport
EDIT : Oh, there it was a stupid small scandal on the evo 2010 line up, and now the line up looks like this yeah, you can laugh. Udon SF > SF III.
If you aren't into the scene, remember that evo =/= tougeki.
目に焼きつけて、死ぬがいい・・・
Update 21 as of 29/01/10 (Temporary mega upload link).
Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 15 as of 21/01/10
[this message was edited by Toxico on Sun 7 Feb 16:43] |
| Iron D 3372th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Sun 7 Feb 19:20
quote:
Sonic 4 is an interesting topic for me, because I want to hear what people's ideas of what would make the game good are.
Quoting Badoor from the previous thread:
Well it's not like sonic team haven't made a decent 2D sonic game in a while. I though that Sonic Rush Adventure was pretty good if you can stomach the chatter. I even liked the traveling mini games.
I skipped every single cinema past like...the third one in Sonic Rush Adventure and thought it was a decent improvement over Sonic Rush in every aspect except the soundtrack. Actually, it wins out in the only aspect that matters, which is level design.
Sonic Rush wasn't a good game because it had awful level design. It had un-Sonic-like level design, if you want to put it that way, too. Old-school type games live and breath by the strength of their level design.
I wonder if both Sega and consumers will miss the point on this. It looks like Sega is stripping away anything that might be offensive, and most likely leaving us with nothing but a recycled rehash. Mario Bros on Wii saved itself from drudgery by adding an excellent multiplayer mode...Sonic 4 has already removed Tails. Would it hurt to have him as a second player? Is that a feature players would complain about--being able to play with your friends?
And the story, like Mario Bros will undoubtedly be one that's been told already. Isn't it better to create memories with a game, rather than incite you to relive old ones? Can't you have minimalistic storytelling and still tell a story no one has heard before?
But I wonder if players will be content with mediocrity so long as nothing is wrong with it. As long as Sega uses the old formula and doesn't do anything mind-bogglingly stupid (as they have so often), that might be enough.
I don't know how this is going to turn out, but I have my fears. I certainly know this sort of thing CAN work, though. Megaman 9 was fantastic. It has challenging, concise level design, stretched its limited mechanics in every way possible and had a new, non-obtrusive story that (for a Megaman game) was reasonably engaging.
(Don't ask me how I feel about Megaman 10, though)
Sidenote:
I suppose its expected for games to have more "in-depth" plots these days, but so many Japanese developers seem to interpret this as "the characters need to talk more". You have the same tired old stories, only now they take 5 times as long to tell because the one-dimensional characters talk in circles for 15 minutes at a time. This doesn't flesh them (or the story) out so much as it shows in painstaking detail how bland they really are.
Agreed on a lot of your points. I'm going to sound like a broken record here, since I'm always running my mouth when the topic of Sonic comes up, but they really need to put back the explorative elements of the old school Sonic's stage design. Even Sonic 1 had some hidden sections in walls where extra rings and items could be found (although there were a lot more in 2, 3 and Knuckles). If any of the developers of the recent games even went back and played any of the classic Sonics for one friggin' hour they'd see that Sonic WAS NOT always about speed.
I realize that making new games that are part of aged series can be challenging. On one hand, you have to pay proper tribute to the other games in the series and on the other hand you have to make sure that it is indeed a NEW game. Balance the old with the new. Two games I feel did this well were Contra 4 and New Super Mario Bros. Both of those games had what made their respective series great in the first place, but both had enough new that it didn't feel like a simple rehash.
And then there's the little things. In the trailer you can see that Sonic's new sprite doesn't have the "wheel legs" animation that the classic Sonic sprites had when they got to a full speed run. I guess if everything else about the game was awesome then I'd be willing to ignore this, but it's a troubling sign to me and shows that the developers are already overlooking some of the smaller things that overall added to the classic games' charm.
I also read that the 3d games' homing attack is in. Don't know what to think of that. New SMB added the butt stomp from the 3d Marios and that only helped the game, so I guess we'll see about that.
Oh, and yes, I WOULD buy Tails if he were made available as DLC. I'd be passed for having to do it, but I'd do it anyway. I know, I'm weak willed.
Er.....
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| Spoon 1892th Post
Gold Carpet V.I.P- Platinum Executive
| "Re(1):Blaster Master Overdrive WiiWare out to" , posted Mon 8 Feb 04:49
quote:
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/02/07/blaster-master-overdrive-rolls-onto-wiiware-this-monday/
It was just announced today and it comes out tomorrow.
Apparently, Sunsoft's marketing plan (if there is one) is wholly based on people like me spreading news about their game on different forums for a day.
EDIT: Looking at the trailer again, the graphics look very very similiar to Castlevania ReBirth's style. I wonder if M2 is the secret developer.
It always seemed to me that after the first Blaster Master game, the amount of level you could see on the screen at a time decreased. The enemies and the tank were quite small in the first one, but they were detailed and the tank animated superbly. I remember being startled by the incredibly smooth movement and "believable" physics of the round projectiles dropped by some enemies in that game.
Some things I was thinking about:
- Setting when the scrolling occurs to reveal more of the level is really important in a game like Blaster Master! I remember in the NES one, there were times when I'd be moving past the current platform blind, because of how close to the edge of the screen I needed to be before it scrolled. It gave a bit of a sense of, "Oh, I wonder where this vertical drop will take me!" but also a sense of "Damn, I wish I could see where I was going!" Of course, once we hit the 16-bit era, such things as Mario looking up/down/left/right gave you a bit of a preview of what's to come, and the power of dynamic camera and 3D graphics offers all kinds of things that fixed resolution and fixed sprite size restricted.
- When making a "traditional" styled game full of tiled elements, it's very important to consider the size of the tiles in proportion to the screen. It's nice to have big, gorgeously detailed tiles, but it's no good if you can barely see anything. Back in the NES days, there were hard limits on the sizes of sprites and the amount that could be displayed on the screen. Nowadays, with the power of 3D we can make things of arbitrary size, and just zoom the camera in and out dynamically. But capturing the right amount of visibility is really important!
I still have frothing demand for this new WiiWare Blaster Master, though!
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| Ishmael 3679th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Blaster Master Overdrive WiiWare out to" , posted Mon 8 Feb 06:15
quote:
Sidenote:
I suppose its expected for games to have more "in-depth" plots these days, but so many Japanese developers seem to interpret this as "the characters need to talk more". You have the same tired old stories, only now they take 5 times as long to tell because the one-dimensional characters talk in circles for 15 minutes at a time. This doesn't flesh them (or the story) out so much as it shows in painstaking detail how bland they really are.
That is a very good point. Thanks to how much material can be stored in a game nowadays too many titles are either filled with more detail than is necessary or hashes over the same few points endlessly. Simply having more of something does not make it better. Programmers need to realize that a game should have as much dialogue and plot as it needs, and not try to meet some unstated quota.
quote:
character update The goshasei seems to be in, Rei's sister looks.... not like I expected, but at least they captured the feeling of a women who used(?) to be in the sex industry...
Hah, the horse made it onto the character listing page! Then again, the horse is one of the primary characters...
quote:
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/02/07/blaster-master-overdrive-rolls-onto-wiiware-this-monday/
It was just announced today and it comes out tomorrow.
Apparently, Sunsoft's marketing plan (if there is one) is wholly based on people like me spreading news about their game on different forums for a day.
EDIT: Looking at the trailer again, the graphics look very very similiar to Castlevania ReBirth's style. I wonder if M2 is the secret developer.
I hope Master Blaster retains the plotline of you driving around in a 4WD tank you just happened to find in order to rescue your pet frog. Forget Sonic and all his hopelessly chatty friends, that's a real plot!
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| HAYATO 958th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(8):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Wed 10 Feb 13:35
quote:
I skipped every single cinema past like...the third one in Sonic Rush Adventure and thought it was a decent improvement over Sonic Rush in every aspect except the soundtrack. Actually, it wins out in the only aspect that matters, which is level design.
...
Sonic Rush wasn't a good game because it had awful level design. It had un-Sonic-like level design, if you want to put it that way, too. Old-school type games live and breath by the strength of their level design.
I was a ravid fan of the original Genesis games and, much to my dismay, I was forced to skip every Sonic game since Sonic Advance 2, because they were so horrid and heretic I couldn't stand it anymore. To anyone who, like me, heavily despises all the shitstorm that Sega has tried to sell us since 1999 or so, I'd strongly recommend SonicRetro's Sonic Megamix. Just get a decent Genesis emu, like KEGA and forget all the furfest crap. It'll work like a bliss (at least it did for me), at leas until Sega screws us again with this STH4...
quote:
But I wonder if players will be content with mediocrity so long as nothing is wrong with it. As long as Sega uses the old formula and doesn't do anything mind-bogglingly stupid (as they have so often), that might be enough.
Easier said than get done, coming from the Sega of late... But yeah, I'd be happy enough if this turn out to be just a half-decent mediocre game. The alternatives are just too awful to even think of them...
quote:
And then there's the little things. In the trailer you can see that Sonic's new sprite doesn't have the "wheel legs" animation that the classic Sonic sprites had when they got to a full speed run. I guess if everything else about the game was awesome then I'd be willing to ignore this, but it's a troubling sign to me and shows that the developers are already overlooking some of the smaller things that overall added to the classic games' charm.
Doth not despair, my childe, for Sega confirmed not long ago that the running animation showed in the teaser is far from complete. Plus, it isn't the one corresponding to Sonic's at full speed (which, if rumors turn out to be true will be a mix between those featured in genesis and sega cd).
quote:
I also read that the 3d games' homing attack is in. Don't know what to think of that. New SMB added the butt stomp from the 3d Marios and that only helped the game, so I guess we'll see about that.
Try the aforementioned Sonic Megamix. Sonic can perform this move and it fits pretty nicely in the game IMO...
quote:
Oh, and yes, I WOULD buy Tails if he were made available as DLC. I'd be passed for having to do it, but I'd do it anyway. I know, I'm weak willed.
Yeah, we know you are a cheap bitch whenever anything-Sonic comes across... but who isn't?
Now seriously, if there's anything concerning this game I can clearly rejoice in, is Sega's bold decission to sacrifice all that horde of furries that had infested the whole franchise. It was about damn time anyone would put them out of their miserable existence. I bet half the cast was, by now, ridden by rabies and tumors of all sizes and virical origins, so it was the wise course of action...
Tails may be ok though, since it was the hero's original uke sidekick. But even a single DLC addition may make enough room to ruin the desired reboot-sequel-whatever effect due to ravid furfag petitions the likes of "ZOMG, I wanna Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee as DLC because they are sooo cuuuteeee!!!". If even Tails must be sacrificed to prevent that, so be it, I say!
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| Iron D 3374th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(9):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Wed 10 Feb 14:00
quote:
I skipped every single cinema past like...the third one in Sonic Rush Adventure and thought it was a decent improvement over Sonic Rush in every aspect except the soundtrack. Actually, it wins out in the only aspect that matters, which is level design.
...
Sonic Rush wasn't a good game because it had awful level design. It had un-Sonic-like level design, if you want to put it that way, too. Old-school type games live and breath by the strength of their level design.
I was a ravid fan of the original Genesis games and, much to my dismay, I was forced to skip every Sonic game since Sonic Advance 2, because they were so horrid and heretic I couldn't stand it anymore. To anyone who, like me, heavily despises all the shitstorm that Sega has tried to sell us since 1999 or so, I'd strongly recommend SonicRetro's Sonic Megamix. Just get a decent Genesis emu, like KEGA and forget all the furfest crap. It'll work like a bliss (at least it did for me), at leas until Sega screws us again with this STH4...
But I wonder if players will be content with mediocrity so long as nothing is wrong with it. As long as Sega uses the old formula and doesn't do anything mind-bogglingly stupid (as they have so often), that might be enough.
Easier said than get done, coming from the Sega of late... But yeah, I'd be happy enough if this turn out to be just a half-decent mediocre game. The alternatives are just too awful to even think of them...
And then there's the little things. In the trailer you can see that Sonic's new sprite doesn't have the "wheel legs" animation that the classic Sonic sprites had when they got to a full speed run. I guess if everything else about the game was awesome then I'd be willing to ignore this, but it's a troubling sign to me and shows that the developers are already overlooking some of the smaller things that overall added to the classic games' charm.
Doth not despair, my childe, for Sega confirmed not long ago that the running animation showed in the teaser is far from complete. Plus, it isn't the one corresponding to Sonic's at full speed (which, if rumors turn out to be true will be a mix between those featured in genesis and sega cd).
I also read that the 3d games' homing attack is in. Don't know what to think of that. New SMB added the butt stomp from the 3d Marios and that only helped the game, so I guess we'll see about that.
Try the aforementioned Sonic Megamix. Sonic can perform this move and it fits pretty nicely in the game IMO...
Oh, and yes, I WOULD buy Tails if he were made available as DLC. I'd be passed for having to do it, but I'd do it anyway. I know, I'm weak willed.
Yeah, we know you are a cheap bitch whenever anything-Sonic comes across... but who isn't?
Now seriously, if there's anything concerning this game I can clearly rejoice in, is Sega's bold decission to sacrifice all that horde of furries that had infested the whole franchise. It was about damn time anyone would put them out of their miserable existence. I bet half the cast was, by now, ridden by rabies and tumors of all sizes and virical origins, so it was the wise course of action...
Tails may be ok though, since it was the hero's original uke sidekick. But even a single DLC addition may make enough room to ruin the desired reboot-sequel-whatever effect due to ravid furfag petitions the likes of "ZOMG, I wanna Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee as DLC because they are sooo cuuuteeee!!!". If even Tails must be sacrificed to prevent that, so be it, I say!
Thanks for sharing about Sonic MegaMix. I'm dling it right now. I also have Streets of Rage Remix, which is awesome, and reminds me of this Sonic Megamix in it's core concept. Kinda shocked that Mighty made it into the game though. Really? Mighty? Who ever gave a fuck about him? Then again, I consider myself a fan of Fang, and no one seems to remember him.
Otherwise, I'm totally agreed on all your points in the post above. But I have to ask: have you played Sonic Advance 3? I'd say it's as fun as any of the old school games, even though it's fun in a different way. The tag-team aspect kinda sets it apart and makes it less of an homage to the older games, while the level design and music are top notch.
If I were to keep some characters and omit everyone else FOREVER, I'd keep Tails, Knuckles and Amy (they WERE all introduced before Chaotix, which makes them okay in my book) and the only character I'd keep post-Chaotix would be Shadow. Yes, I like Shadow. Not "Shadow the Hedgehog" wanna-be hardcore, gun-toter Shadow. Just Shadow, more like he was depicted in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles. All the rest can go to hell.
Er.....
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| Pollyanna 2847th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(10):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Wed 10 Feb 17:32
quote:
I didn't noticed the seiyuus (some of them are listed on the site), Kenshiro is Katsuyuki who plays Maxima , Rei is our always over rated friend Koyasu ....
Raoh , Yuria , Shin , Mamiya , Lin (alternative link), Fatty sama (alternative link)
As long as Koyasu isn't Kenshiro, I think I can deal with it at least.
quote:
EDIT : Oh, there it was a stupid small scandal on the evo 2010 line up, and now the line up looks like this yeah, you can laugh. Udon SF > SF III.
I imagine that Capcom is pushing to promote games that they can actually still make money on. SFIII is out of that reckoning.
Still, the lack of Blazblue or Guilty Gear is a pretty big letdown when paired with two "vs" games, Melty Blood and Super SF4, which may or may not be decently balanced.
quote:
I'd say it's the Chrono Trigger of Sonics, inexplicably getting neglected for re-releases nine times out of ten. I think it's because it's Too Good and they fear to unleash it upon the world again. But anyway.
I think you word-filtered one of your favorite RPGs for another. CT has been re-released twice already, which is certainly enough. I think perhaps what you meant to say was LUNAR 2 is is too good and they fear to unleash it upon the world again.
But I'd like a Sonic CD re-release myself...with both soundtracks.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| HAYATO 959th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member++
| "Re(10):Continuing Sonic 4 discussion...." , posted Fri 12 Feb 07:24
quote:
Now seriously, if there's anything concerning this game I can clearly rejoice in, is Sega's bold decission to sacrifice all that horde of furries that had infested the whole franchise.
But, but... Sonic *is* a furry to begin with, isn't it...?
No man, Sonic is THE furry!! Being Sega's mascot is a bit too risky to wipe him out of the game as well, don't you think? Well, truth is that Sega may have looked for another kind of mascot to compete against Nintendo's infamous plumber (like, a welder perhaps?), but choosing a furry was the wisest movement: innovative gameplay to attract teenagers and a cuddly, adorable animal as main character to get the attention of children! Go ask Disney whether the furry formula is profitable...
Besides, it could be worse, imagine an anthro mushroom as a main character in a platform game with fucked up mechanics. Oh wai...
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| Maese 564th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(1):Basara3" , posted Tue 16 Feb 22:59
quote:
I would describe the graphics style as "lifeless" and "lacking in any sense of artistry", which is very much NOT how I would describe Basara. I am tragically unexcited, even after (inexplicably?) enjoying the PSP game.
The boringness of the new heroes, added to the brilliant idea of "let's kill half of the popular characters and only let the others as non-playable enemies" didn't help.
I mean... Kenshin AND Kasuga unplayable?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, KOBAYASHI!
Indeed, graphical dullness is not at all the biggest problem I see here. I've not been following Basara 3 developments very closely, but somehow I have the feeling that the game is conspicuously shaping up to appease the yaoi fangril hordes appeal bishounen fandom above all. And, while pretty boys have always been an intrinsic part of Basara, there's much more than that on the formula that led this series to its (relative) success in the past.
A fancy-dandy grown-up Ieyasu, a Mitsunari with a Kaede Rukawa vibe... sure, why not. But where are my bizarre, outrageous, over-the-top characters to whom, in fact, this "Basara" thing owes its name? It's amazing how Capcom guys have managed to completely bastardize a series by the third installment...
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| Pollyanna 2862th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(1):Basara3" , posted Sat 20 Feb 12:36
quote:
The boringness of the new heroes, added to the brilliant idea of "let's kill half of the popular characters and only let the others as non-playable enemies" didn't help.
I mean... Kenshin AND Kasuga unplayable?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, KOBAYASHI!
I like reinvention. Switching around the cast can be a good thing...I like the fact that they redesigned Tokugawa (even though I liked his old design as well). But as you said, the new heroes don't have the appeal of the ones that were dropped, and it's obnoxious that only Tokugawa was redesigned. Where this could have been an exciting re-haul, it just feels half-assed. I'm sure the inability to play as some of the characters is just to open the possibility of further pseudo-sequels, which makes the disappointing graphics even worse. That means I'm stuck with this look for SEVERAL games.
quote:
Indeed, graphical dullness is not at all the biggest problem I see here. I've not been following Basara 3 developments very closely, but somehow I have the feeling that the game is conspicuously shaping up to appease the yaoi fangril hordes appeal bishounen fandom above all. And, while pretty boys have always been an intrinsic part of Basara, there's much more than that on the formula that led this series to its (relative) success in the past.
A fancy-dandy grown-up Ieyasu, a Mitsunari with a Kaede Rukawa vibe... sure, why not. But where are my bizarre, outrageous, over-the-top characters to whom, in fact, this "Basara" thing owes its name? It's amazing how Capcom guys have managed to completely bastardize a series by the third installment...
I'm not sure if I agree with this or not. Otani is a superfreak, Kuroda (although not ugly) isn't specifically attractive and they brought back Shimazu. Depending on who else they announce, I may change my opinion, though. Right now I would say they're "making sure they don't LOSE the bishounen fanbase."
Again...God, I hate these renders. They suck the attractiveness out of the characters that are supposed to be attractive.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Maese 570th Post
New Red Carpet Member
| "Re(2):Basara3" , posted Mon 22 Feb 20:35
quote:
But where are my bizarre, outrageous, over-the-top characters to whom, in fact, this "Basara" thing owes its name? It's amazing how Capcom guys have managed to completely bastardize a series by the third installment...
I'm not sure if I agree with this or not. Otani is a superfreak, Kuroda (although not ugly) isn't specifically attractive and they brought back Shimazu. Depending on who else they announce, I may change my opinion, though. Right now I would say they're "making sure they don't LOSE the bishounen fanbase."
You're probably right; actually I've only seen a few screenshots of the game and am mostly taking out of my ass (as usual). I guess we'll just have to wait to see how things shape up, but somehow I can't help a bad feeling... There's something odd about this Basara 3 that gets my "Rant sense" tingling. I'm willing to give Capcom guys the benefit of the doubt, and I´m really, really eager to like this game, but they're making things difficult for me this time.
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| Toxico 4868th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(2):Umm......... what?" , posted Thu 25 Feb 20:38:
quote:
I'm not clicking on these filthy links, but I lost all hope on the Tekken franchise when I discovered Miguel, the somewhat hot new Spanish guy, didn't speak Spanish. And the astrologist didn't even speak astrologist.
I want my money back!
The actor is not even a native spanish speaker, nor any type of spanish speaker at all, so even the accent is not as obscenely weird as we can make it sound.
I already had conflict since 4 : Ling Xiaoyu was the only character that was supposed to speak chinese, used nihongo, Christie, the brazilian chick spoke in english..... unrelated but King and Eddie still had his tekken 3 voice samples, and that mean that with every attack you'll heard a stupid, sloppy monoaural annoying moan which will fell weird compared to the "CD quality" bgms and voices, scarring your eardrums permanently if you stood up to close to the sound source unprotected. This last detail was even kept for 5 and 5 DR. But at least Marduk sounded like a rabid dog, and used his weird barks to make everything right in the world, but only on Tekken 4.
To make long story short, my innocence was lost way earlier than yours. As usual.
EDIT : (uses Blazing Star tone) BONUS! . BONUS! . BONUS!
目に焼きつけて、死ぬがいい・・・
Update 21 as of 29/01/10 (Temporary mega upload link).
Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 15 as of 21/01/10
[this message was edited by Toxico on Thu 25 Feb 20:48] |
| Loona 301th Post
Bronze Customer
| "you meant "Kweh"?" , posted Mon 1 Mar 21:41
quote:
Final Fantasy XIV has a website
FF XI offline event?
more XI
More here:
http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/event/vanafes2010/
http://twitter.com/vanafest2010_en
After years of keeping the level cap at 75, they're now gradually raising it to 99 during the year.
To give an idea of how this'll change game and party dynamics, Red Mage have always been desirable in parties due to Refresh, a spell that gives MP to party members at the cost of some MP, and a job ability that swaps their HP with MP, practically giving them infinite MP - those are available at level 41 and 40 respectively.
With the update, these skill will be available to any mage job that subs Red Mage, unless those abilities are tweaked or changed to different levels in the process.
I was almost reaching the level cap after playing for 2 years, now they raise it... oh well, more stuff should become soloable now - especially on the zones which will cease to be level-capped.
"Beat the machine that works in your head!" - Guano Apes "Open Your Eyes"
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| KTallguy 1188th Post
Red Carpet Premium Member+
| "Re(3):CING>FFXIII" , posted Thu 11 Mar 11:33
I finally finished FFXIII (JP version)
Although the plot had a strong start, near the end it switched focus from the characters to the narrative with pretty poor results.
Battle system was excellent though. Completely different than FFXII, yet it felt more like a tactical fighting game than anything. Looking at the enemy patterns like a puzzle and finding a way around them was amazing fun. Split second decisions to heal or try to capitalize on a well timed break, etc., felt more interesting than any other FF battle system to me. One thing that shocked me is how I could take down one tough enemy, but put two of them in front of me and the dynamic of battle changes completely. Different combinations of enemies created completely different challenges, even if they were the same enemy type. Even though you encounter a lot of the same enemies in some sections, the different combinations can make each battle feel unique.
I don't mind that the game is linear. Honestly the game is FFX style linearity without towns and backtracking. FFX had a pretty OK illusion of freedom but this game just throws that out the window in favor of a very tight pacing/story presentation. But sometimes the constant battle gets tiring, and it would be nice to have a relaxing space to explore... luckily FFvXIII has towns and day/night cycle, it will make it feel more like a world.
One other thing about FFXIII is that it's made in such a way that even casual people should be able to make it to the end. As a result the game is more focused, which might annoy some people, but I think the majority of the audience will enjoy the game more than FFXII. Even though I loved FFXII to death.
Also I finished Heavy Rain, and you people have to play this game. Simply incredible.
Play to win... or to have fun too! :)
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| Pollyanna 2878th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):CING>ALL" , posted Thu 11 Mar 12:06
quote:
I finally finished FFXIII (JP version)
Although the plot had a strong start, near the end it switched focus from the characters to the narrative with pretty poor results.
Battle system was excellent though...
When I heard that they cut a tremendous amount of material from the game, it made a lot of sense. The game felt a bit hacked together, with so many plot elements poorly explained. FF12 felt a little bit like this as well...like a lot of concepts either didn't mesh or ended up on the cutting room floor. I enjoyed the plot, world and characters in FF13, but it ended up feeling like wasted potential all the same.
The battle system was great, though...and not only did you have to switch up your tactics based on who you were fighting, but who you had on your team. I mean, that's normal...but assigning different roles in different combinations really mixed things up. The fact that you spend much of the game switching between pre-arranged character groupings made this really palpable. Switching to a new combination of characters forced you to constantly rethink things.
Although most of the game was linear, people tend to forget the GIANT OPEN WORLD you go to with like...50+ sidequests? That has to be worth something, even if it wasn't implemented as well as it could've been.
quote:
Meanwhile, I hear that Final Fantasy XIII came out in the US now? I'm looking forward to seeing if there's a reversal phenomenon, from FF XII being the game everyone in Japan hated and everyone in America loved, to FF XIII being the one everyone in Japan loved and everyone in America hated. MMORPG vs. on-rails and all that. And apparently Americans (and Europeans??) have the added contention point of being able to argue about the allegedly inferior Xbox port? Intrigue.
I've never seen any indication that FF12 was especially well-liked in America. It made its way to the bargain bin remarkably fast. I also haven't gotten the impression that FF13 was especially well-liked in Japan (might be too early to say). I know 7 and 10 are consistently voted as the favorites in Japan, and it seems to be the same in America, but I don't have any data to back that up.
quote:
Isn't there a lot of backlash towards the game in Japan? I heard tons of stores are having trouble pushing out copies lately.
I believe it was a case like Monster Hunter 3, where the distributor put unfair demands on the stores, they ordered too many copies, and while it sold well, it didn't sell nearly what it could have...resulting in an excess of stock.
As far as internet trash talk goes, it's probably a case of "the weakest dog barks the loudest" like with DQ9.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Nekros
237th Post
Frequent Customer
| "Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Fri 12 Mar 23:36:
quote:
I've never seen any indication that FF12 was especially well-liked in America. It made its way to the bargain bin remarkably fast. I also haven't gotten the impression that FF13 was especially well-liked in Japan (might be too early to say). I know 7 and 10 are consistently voted as the favorites in Japan, and it seems to be the same in America, but I don't have any data to back that up.
Isn't there a lot of backlash towards the game in Japan? I heard tons of stores are having trouble pushing out copies lately.
Here in Italy FF is a great success, most influenced by its shojo fandom. FF12 is considered even apart from the series for his settings and battle system too far from the series in the current opinion. FF13, is fresh and new for some parts (optima change, crystarium, equipment level, faster battles) but lacks the freedom of the old jrpgs. FF13 is received with a lot of scepticism and negative impressions by gaijin players (a game where aren't guns to fire? it's crap! :P), even Edge Magazine gave it a 5/10 score.
In my opinion, there's too much hate in actual market for eastern products, especially rpgs.
I'm near the Gran Pulse location in the game and I'm enjoying it, for the most part. I didn't like the lack of options initially, it simply takes too long before you can really DO something with the Crystarium and Optima. Since it starts the real thing it's a very good jrpg, one of the best this generation.
Xenoblade? Seems cool, really good for a Wii in terms of graphics, but that's all.
Btw, how is Arc Rise Fantasia? I'm waiting for a pal release...
[this message was edited by Nekros on Fri 12 Mar 23:43] |
| karasu99 306th Post
Bronze Customer
| "Re(2):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 02:08
quote:
Of course Italians are beautiful people and they like beautiful things..and FFXIII excels in this area.
So far I'm enjoying the game..It's weird. Even though I'm aware that I'm just hitting the X button all the time and that there is nothing for me to do, I still feel trapped by the game...Can't stop playing
I'm for some reason strongly considering buying FFXIII, and much of that desire likely comes from how pretty it looks.
Drawbacks though are that I will probably never finish it, I would rather encourage the release in the US of Ryu Ga Gotoku 4 by buying Yakuza 3, and... well, I always seem to end up hating Final Fantasy games in the end, after devoting stupid amounts of time playing them. I've had a love-hate thing with the series for a long time.
I can think of a few reasons why I might like it though-- mostly things that other people seem to hate about it, like the linearity. One of the turnoff in recent FF games for me is how you can literally get sidetracked on non-essential quests for tens of hours. I'd rather be able to get to the end and then go back and do the extra stuff if I enjoyed the rest of the game enough.
It's weird... now that I think of it, I've always managed to play every third FF game soon after its release (FF, FFIV, FFVII, and FFX), so it may be that fate has this one in store for me somehow.
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| sfried 493th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(4):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 06:47
quote:
Karasu: is simple, if you like japanese chara-design, their modern-styled mechas and storytelling common to jrpgs, FFXIII is your game.
I strongly recomend it to who loves jrpg and is bored of the genre in this generation. FFXIII is not revolutionary but takes the right lead in terms of battle, level-up and storytelling. Take it as a cross between FFX, FFX-2 and Xenosaga. And it has characters that aren't the usual metrosexual ambiguos cool guy Nomura-style....yet Snow is the the typical FF hero, positive and naive as hell.
The characters aren't just happy friends (friends of the Galbadia Garden! friend guardians of Yuna!), in the beginning they barely stand each other....is a catch I appreciate a lot.
Tai-Pan: sorry, didn't felt your irony in written form ^^'
I highly dislike the assumption that all "Japanese made RPGs" are nothing but Shinjuku fashion shows with silly character designs and character driven plots, not to mention I dislike Tetsuya Nomura's style, which I find very, very generic and cliche. At least Yoshitaka Amano had the guts to go his own voice with his skinny albino figures, but at least that's not inspiration drawn from the streets of Akihabara.
I also dislike the assertion that so-called "Western" designs are unimaginative and uninspired. If only the lot of you played A Boy and His Blob for Wii (which I admit is not an RPG). And as mentioned in the shilling thread, AC2 has a nice setting and characters.
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| Pollyanna 2879th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(4):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 08:03
I said this before, but in regards to FFXIII "just" looking good...I don't think good graphics necessarily indicate something shallow. Aside from the amount of design work that went into the game, expressive renders make for more engrossing characters and detailed environments make exploration much for engrossing, even if you are just "walking on a straight line".
quote:
I'm near the Gran Pulse location in the game and I'm enjoying it, for the most part. I didn't like the lack of options initially, it simply takes too long before you can really DO something with the Crystarium and Optima. Since it starts the real thing it's a very good jrpg, one of the best this generation.
This is a huge frustration for me because it doesn't lend itself to replay value very well. I feel like it intentionally introduces the systems slowly, which is fine for the first playthrough, but once you're accustomed to the (excellent) system in its entirety, it's too hard to go back to the (comparatively boring) beginning.
quote:
Btw, how is Arc Rise Fantasia? I'm waiting for a pal release...
It's GREAT. It doesn't innovate, but it takes the traditional RPG engine to the absolute limit. The battle system is fantastic. I'm just fearful for the English release because they might screw up the experience with bad voice acting. I'm not a dub hater in specific, but it's ALWAYS a possibility.
Anyway, AWESOME THINGS about Arc Rise:
1) INTENSE boss battles, hard as hell and extremely strategic. Less about pounding away a mass of HP and more about finding an opening and launching a crushing combination of attacks.
2) Moral ambiguity. Not a "good vs evil" story and no "love magically saves everything" cop-out ending.
3) Does not include the line "how can I save the world if I can't even save one person!?" (Seriously, fuck you Japan for using this stereotype)
4) Every character is both extremely unique and hugely customizable.
5) Awesome, character-specific "super" moves that are the foundation of a winning battle strategy.
6) Cecille.
7) Great facial renders for a Wii game.
8) Every weapon is uniquely useful. No "sell this weapon then get the next one which is exactly the same, only stronger". Even L'arc's wooden sword from the beginning of the game is significantly useful.
BAD THINGS
1) It's on Wii. PS3 remake, please!
2) The songs that Mitsuda does not compose sometimes suck.
3) The weapon system is brilliant, but you spend too much time leveling up your weapons and not enough time using the maxed-out ones you so cleverly built.
4) Despite being good at what it does, it still has more RPG stereotypes than innovations.
5) The FMV opening is embarrassingly poor.
Also...
quote:
Most of them barely recognize a Japanese manga from a western comic in a manga style (like TokyoPop books Vampire Kisses or Luna Agent-something).
I actually found the relative lack of division between comics and manga in Italy refreshing. I believe it leads to less needless labeling.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily speak for the tastes of consumers...
quote:
Because of the heart breaking work Sega did botching Yakuza 3 I suddenly have a large hole in my game playing schedule.
You really have my condolences on this one, but I have to admire anyone who refuses to buy the US release on principle, even if it means shooting themselves in the foot. Gotta love Sega with their "We cut things because the game isn't going to sell anyway, and when it doesn't sell because we cut things, we'll blame consumers for not buying it when they ask about Yakuza 4. PS: We're doing you a favor!"
quote:
Uh oh. I had seen that there had been some cuts made (although why you would think to bring to the US a game that included hostess bars and love hotels, only to cut those items is beyond me). But is it utterly butchered? If, for instance, I thought I could probably live without those things?
People are finding numerous side quests missing as well.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Pollyanna 2880th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 18:14
quote:
I thought that pimping whores was the only thing left out (since they are modeled after fashion magazine models).... well, only that and the japanese history tests.
Is there is something else that I should know before going to my local story and buy this? While I could miss to a point the reminiscence that sulks me when I see a chubaka akin criminal trying to pic up girls way younger than him, I might be able to stomach this if most of the other weird things are in... and if the violence is there, in full.
Mahjong, Shougi, sidequests related to the removed content and like...10 or so unrelated sidequests were inexplicably (?) removed. I don't have the game for myself, so this is based on what other people have said. Either way, I think the game is more like 85% intact, rather than Sega's quoted 99%. I don't believe it's specifically "censored" as much as "butchered", though.
But I would get the game if I were you, because according to 1-Up, you "fail at life and will never have sex" if you don't buy it.
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3178337
Personally, I would not consider "taking it in the ass from Sega" "having sex", but that's just me.
Either way, score one for video game journalism!
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Nekros
242th Post
Frequent Customer
| "Re(5):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 18:31
quote:
It's GREAT. It doesn't innovate, but it takes the traditional RPG engine to the absolute limit. The battle system is fantastic. I'm just fearful for the English release because they might screw up the experience with bad voice acting. I'm not a dub hater in specific, but it's ALWAYS a possibility.
You're right, it's a risk.
ARF reminds me the Grandia series (loved the first 2 games), it seems to have a nice "classic" jrpg style both in art and gameplay. Very interested since the jap release, plus Mitsuda....game sold.
I don't get the point of how being a Wii game is a minus, sure hi-res the better, but the game really deserves being on PS3 excluding the graphics? I mean, Muramasa is also a very good game, despite the system (I don't find Wii so terrible, I enjoyed it when comes to REAL games instead a collection of party games) and so most of old games from old consoles.
quote:
I actually found the relative lack of division between comics and manga in Italy refreshing. I believe it leads to less needless labeling.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily speak for the tastes of consumers...
Have you been to Italy? Is so interesting our comics market? °_°
"Needless labeling" depends...some western works that imitate mangas are terrible (speaking about art, not the story) in most cases is necessary for avoiding misunderstanding.
The only one to me is fairly near to japanese graphics is Vampire Kisses, the artist is probably asian and had published a story on a Japanese magazine, but that's all.
Mahnwa instead are as good as manga and even surpass them in terms of storytelling and originality in some cases.
Mahana are...weird. Not so similar to asian comics, but not similar to comics either. Don't like them, see what they've done to Street Fighter!
Oh, I used to run a comic shop some years ago, but when I quit I lost interest in following the market (I'm currently buying only 3 manga series: Alive, Mushishi and Shin Angyo Onshi).
|
| Pollyanna 2882th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(6):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 19:49
quote:
I don't get the point of how being a Wii game is a minus, sure hi-res the better, but the game really deserves being on PS3 excluding the graphics? I mean, Muramasa is also a very good game, despite the system (I don't find Wii so terrible, I enjoyed it when comes to REAL games instead a collection of party games) and so most of old games from old consoles.
I like playing games at their native resolution. Muramasa and Arc Rise are both great looking games, but to get them looking how I wanted, I had to run them through a VGA box and display them on a screen within a screen on my TV. I was sad to hear that they made the Muramasa sprites at twice the resolution they are in the game. I can only imagine how beautiful that would look. Games like that certainly aren't ruined by being on Wii, but they certainly don't benefit, either.
Might not be a minus for other players, though...
quote:
Have you been to Italy? Is so interesting our comics market? °_°
"Needless labeling" depends...some western works that imitate mangas are terrible (speaking about art, not the story) in most cases is necessary for avoiding misunderstanding.
The only one to me is fairly near to japanese graphics is Vampire Kisses, the artist is probably asian and had published a story on a Japanese magazine, but that's all.
I went to Italy and visited the Lucca Comics and Games convention. I was happy to see people buying manga and western comics right next to each other. I was happy to hear publishers say that they don't draw a line between the two...they simply publish the titles they find merit in. I don't know if this is the prevalent belief or not, but it's definitely nothing like that in America.
I won't argue that western "fake manga" is terrible on the whole. Unfortunately, some of that comes from pressure from publishers to make art more or less "Japanese." Artists who are confident in manga style are forced to compromise that for "comic" publishers, while other artists are forced to draw "Japanese style" (which they know nothing about) for "manga" publishers.
I mean, crap is crap, and so much western "manga" has no right to be published in the first place, but the labeling certainly doesn't help. If an artist is allowed to nurture their own style without boundaries, it's going to look better in the end.
Also, your remark about Italian people and fashion made me laugh, because it's comically true in Milan. It's like there's a list of what's "in style", it's only three items long, and EVERYONE follows it. My first response was "Wow! Everyone is SO stylish!", but that kind of loses its novelty when 90% of the people dress exactly the same (splash of purple, leather jacket, tight jeans or short skirt, thick-rimmed glasses).
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Nekros
245th Post
Frequent Customer
| "Re(7):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 20:09
quote:
I like playing games at their native resolution. Muramasa and Arc Rise are both great looking games, but to get them looking how I wanted, I had to run them through a VGA box and display them on a screen within a screen on my TV. I was sad to hear that they made the Muramasa sprites at twice the resolution they are in the game. I can only imagine how beautiful that would look. Games like that certainly aren't ruined by being on Wii, but they certainly don't benefit, either.
Might not be a minus for other players, though...
Didn't know that, but is a great point. Muramasa graphics at double resolution....yummy....
quote:
I went to Italy and visited the Lucca Comics and Games convention. I was happy to see people buying manga and western comics right next to each other. I was happy to hear publishers say that they don't draw a line between the two...they simply publish the titles they find merit in. I don't know if this is the prevalent belief or not, but it's definitely nothing like that in America.
It's a common believe the thing "we only publish titles that deserves it". In most cases the imperative is MONEY.
There are some titles that sold really near nothing that are published because they're good (Narutaru by Kitoh or some Kei Tome's works), but are exceptions and a support like this is impossible if you don't have a seller hit like a Naruto, One Piece, Dragonball or TONS of shojo.
You've been to Lucca? Did you enjoy? I liked it (I've been there some years ago), I recall buying that freaky KOF Pinky Street..... ^^'
So you are into comic market? Now I'm curious but respect if you want to keep safe your true identity :P
quote:
I won't argue that western "fake manga" is terrible on the whole. Unfortunately, some of that comes from pressure from publishers to make art more or less "Japanese." Artists who are confident in manga style are forced to compromise that for "comic" publishers, while other artists are forced to draw "Japanese style" (which they know nothing about) for "manga" publishers.
I mean, crap is crap, and so much western "manga" has no right to be published in the first place, but the labeling certainly doesn't help. If an artist is allowed to nurture their own style without boundaries, it's going to look better in the end.
Here is more or less the same, I though in America is different. A friend of mine is into comics, finished a specialized school, but the teachers and tutors hardly criticized the manga art and storytelling and forced pupils to avoid that style.
Btw Italian-native comics are boring as hell, really nothing interesting except one called Quebrada (that was published FIRST in usa by Vertigo).
quote:
Also, your remark about Italian people and fashion made me laugh, because it's comically true in Milan. It's like there's a list of what's "in style", it's only three items long, and EVERYONE follows it. My first response was "Wow! Everyone is SO stylish!", but that kind of loses its novelty when 90% of the people dress exactly the same (splash of purple, leather jacket, tight jeans or short skirt, thick-rimmed glasses).
Yeah, the same in my city (near the Adriatic coast). It's ironic how especially girls think about how are unique and can attract a boy for what they really are when they are exactly the same, like freaky clones.
And it not stops with the clothes....
Very stupid ^^
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| Grave 1304th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Modnar" , posted Sat 13 Mar 20:27
All this talk about fashionable people makes me want to take a moment to bring up Style Savvy aka Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode for DS. This came out in English last November and I found myself very curious from things I read about the Japanese release. Since I've only very recently started to have spending money for games again I've been trying to catch up on '09 releases now and decided to pick it up on a whim. IT IS SO MUCH FUN. Who knew that helping customers find the perfect outfits could be so much fun? A lot of guys I know seem surprised by the fact that I could even get this to the register, let alone have fun with it. They never seem surprised by the fact that I have a pink DS. Go figure!
Anyway, this game has ridiculously high production values, the presentation is simply stunning and I have to believe that anyone can have a blast with it if they let their guard down a little bit. Try it out! If you're not secure enough in your masculinity to do even that much, well, you are a turd.
tl;dr: in the afterlife I hope I am a perpetually youthful and skinny girl who sells clothing at a hip boutique for eternity
I guess this is slightly offset by the fact that I recently picked up Legend of Kage 2 as well and the boss battles in this game are a delight. Lots of fun! There's so many of them! The stages I could take or leave, but you get to do some fun ninja things and fun ninja things are pretty cool. Considering it released for $20 and it's $15 or less in a lot of places now, it is also recommended!
quote:
I was sad to hear that they made the Muramasa sprites at twice the resolution they are in the game. I can only imagine how beautiful that would look. Games like that certainly aren't ruined by being on Wii, but they certainly don't benefit, either.
Not ruined, no, but it's super heartbreaking. I hesitate to buy games for Wii because it's rarely ever plugged in at my apartment... because everything looks really, really bad. Japanese TvC was one of the first since... right around launch, I think, and the US version might be the next since then. If Muramasa was on a console with HD output I don't think I would have hesitated after my dramatic love-hate relationship with Odin Sphere.
I would still pay $60 for an HD Odin Sphere... even if they didn't retune the gameplay at all and it occasionally makes me want to scream and scratch all the skin off of my face.
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| Iggy 9082th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(7):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sat 13 Mar 23:59
quote:
Also, your remark about Italian people and fashion made me laugh, because it's comically true in Milan.
I gathered a lot of experience about Italian people in the last few months, and from what I saw, I can only concur. Milanese people look indeed incredibly elegant, but those I met lost a lot of point when
1) I met other Milanese dressed exactly the same
2) I noticed they only had 3 classy outfit nothing else.
3) didn't have anything inside their pretty, pretty head
4) didn't see the problem in living in a cheap crappy room and eat only cheap and unhealthy food if that meant being able to buy that new pair of shoes that costs twice their monthly salary (and they didn't really eat that much to begin with, because eating is gross anyway).
I mean... It's like Snotty Parisian people overplaying vain, but seriously.
All in all, what I mean is: Spanish guys FTW.
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| Ishmael 3716th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sun 14 Mar 05:46
quote:
You really have my condolences on this one, but I have to admire anyone who refuses to buy the US release on principle, even if it means shooting themselves in the foot. Gotta love Sega with their "We cut things because the game isn't going to sell anyway, and when it doesn't sell because we cut things, we'll blame consumers for not buying it when they ask about Yakuza 4. PS: We're doing you a favor!"
I know I'm going down in a blaze of stupidity on this one but there's no correct choice for me to make. While I would happily purchase and support a niche series here in the US I can't financially back Sega's decisions on this title. The best I can do at this point is struggle through the Japanese version with an FAQ or buy a used copy -so Sega won't get a nickel of my money- and dream about what might have been.
quote:
Uh oh. I had seen that there had been some cuts made (although why you would think to bring to the US a game that included hostess bars and love hotels, only to cut those items is beyond me). But is it utterly butchered? If, for instance, I thought I could probably live without those things?
The list of what has been cut is growing daily. It makes for morbid reading. While this whole situation is perplexing what I find most interesting is how long it's been since cuts this large and this arbitrary have been made during a localization. It's like we're back in the SNES days.
quote:
All this talk about fashionable people makes me want to take a moment to bring up Style Savvy aka Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode for DS.
When one game leaves, another takes its place. Here's the game I should be playing!
Yes, I am serious.
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| Pollyanna 2884th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(8):Fynaru Fanutasi and RPGS" , posted Sun 14 Mar 07:12
quote:
You've been to Lucca? Did you enjoy? I liked it (I've been there some years ago), I recall buying that freaky KOF Pinky Street..... ^^'
So you are into comic market? Now I'm curious but respect if you want to keep safe your true identity :P
I enjoyed the convention and I LOVED the city. It was nice to be able to walk just a little bit outside of the convention area and have a quiet, private experience as well. I had a lot of fun seeing non-stylish Italians and checking out all the cosplayers up on the wall. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun.
quote:
Here is more or less the same, I though in America is different. A friend of mine is into comics, finished a specialized school, but the teachers and tutors hardly criticized the manga art and storytelling and forced pupils to avoid that style.
This can be a shame, but it can also be a good thing for less experienced artists. I'm not saying your friend is necessarily like this, but so many wannabee manga artists don't master the basics, first. Manga is very demanding. If you don't have a strong grasp of the fundamentals, your work is probably going to turn out like the worst of the American manga.
As for me...I've worked on a bunch of little things here and there, but I'm no one important.
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Actually I'm searching a box that converts rgb signals into hd tv support. On Neogaf they told it works well and that "grainy" effects are toned down.
I found one on ebay this holiday at about 60$.
This sort of thing isn't a miracle product, but it helps with the colors a bit, and if you're content not playing at full-screen, you can make it look just right. It's worth it if you have the money to spare, but I wouldn't make it a super big priority.
On Muramasa...
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I have difficulty believing that they're capable of a good action title, but it hardly matters.
I'm sure I've said this before, but the combat system in Muramasa is clever and tremendously fun. The boss fights are great as well, but there's SO MUCH RUNNING AROUND. It's a totally awesome 5 hour game stretched thinly across 20. If they had made it more like Metroid/modern Castlevania it could've been brilliant.
青春謳歌 弱肉強食
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| Grave 1309th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(2):Modnar" , posted Sun 14 Mar 14:01
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I got Legend of Kage 2 a while back last year. It definitely reminded me of those Genesis-era platform games like Valis, with a few modern sensibilities.
Yeah, it's definitely reminiscent of 16-bit platformers but modern enough that it doesn't feel contrived. I'm kind of disappointed that nobody knocked me down and screamed at me for not buying this last year.
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I'm playing Murasama on a plasma right now using the official components and I don't have any "grainy" signals or whatnot. In fact, it's the opposite of what you'd come to think that it looks nice and incredibly sharp! Sometimes the folks at NeoGAF exacerbate claims, and as long as you get component cables (and turn on progressive scan through the options menu) instead of using the composites that came with your Wii you should be fine.
I have to imagine a lot of this has to do with how well your TV scales? The 720p set in the living room makes Wii games a moderately blurry mess even with progressive scan... and I know for a fact that my monitor scales things very poorly and the Wii fares even worse. It's like smearing vaseline all over the screen. This shouldn't have even been an issue in 2006 and the fact that it is one now is pretty frustrating. When Nintendo sends screenshots of Metroid: Other M to video game media and warns that the final product won't run at that resolution it's intensely depressing.
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Here's the game I should be playing!
Yes, I am serious.
Please pick it up! I hope you like it. Amusingly enough, when I splurged the other day and bought Legend of Kage 2, Avalon Code and Style Savvy... that was the $60 I was going to spend on Yakuza 3. True story! The situation depresses me but I'm very tired of giving Sega money to... be Sega. When they stop fucking up they can have my money.
I kind of want Infinite Space but this whole thing has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth toward Sega. Not sure what I'm gonna do regarding that one.
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I'm sure I've said this before, but the combat system in Muramasa is clever and tremendously fun. The boss fights are great as well, but there's SO MUCH RUNNING AROUND. It's a totally awesome 5 hour game stretched thinly across 20. If they had made it more like Metroid/modern Castlevania it could've been brilliant.
As long as said running isn't punctuated by long loading times I think I can handle it. Er, it isn't, is it? I wonder if the local rental store has it, they have a pretty decent game selection. It's funny how often I forget that renting games is actually an option.
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| sfried 496th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(3):Modnar" , posted Sun 14 Mar 17:45:
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I have to imagine a lot of this has to do with how well your TV scales? The 720p set in the living room makes Wii games a moderately blurry mess even with progressive scan... and I know for a fact that my monitor scales things very poorly and the Wii fares even worse. It's like smearing vaseline all over the screen. This shouldn't have even been an issue in 2006 and the fact that it is one now is pretty frustrating. When Nintendo sends screenshots of Metroid: Other M to video game media and warns that the final product won't run at that resolution it's intensely depressing.
My TV is a 720p Panasonic Viera and there's nothing smeary about the images from my Wii. In fact, I'm not sure if it has passed the "break-in" period, but the images are very clear. A Boy and His Blob looks excellent. Muramasa even more so. A little calibration would make them even look more vivid. Funny you mentioned Other M, since that was the first video I tested it out on.
I also tried the Monster Hunter Tri demo. Very sexy looking, although I've yet to beat Qurupeco.
I know there are devices out there that can scale for your TV but it seems they cost a pretty penny. Best advise is to get those VGA cables and see if the VGA inputs cut out much of your TV's post-processing crap, which it is the number 1 source of awful scaly images and lag. If all else fails, get an external signal scaler that acepts progressive scan.
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As long as said running isn't punctuated by long loading times I think I can handle it. Er, it isn't, is it?
I've been playing for quite a while, and I've yet to encounter any loading screens. In fact, the transition between screens is seemless.
[this message was edited by sfried on Sun 14 Mar 17:50] |
| Toxico 4886th Post
Platinum Carpet V.I.P- Board Master
| "Re(5):Modnar" , posted Sun 14 Mar 20:59
I second sfried's comments : anything that is supposed to have progressive scan, being player without the component cables and the progressive off looks extremely odd, but once you get the cables and activate the option it can look pretty nice in most cases.
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So, if I want to play with my old systems on LCD screen the best solution is VGA cable, right?
I assume this for the past generation consoles but what about my Snes, my PCE or my Megadrive?
In those cases you have to play with the options of the TV. I have a Bravia (one that Polly commended in one thread, long ago) and it has pretty neat filters for 4:3 ratios, it even has a "memory" system where every configuration from every tv input slot is saved, so you can have "true definition" config in the hdmi, and a weaker contrast, less shinny configs for the lesser worthy beings plugged in to your tv; you won't have to change anything if you change the device.
目に焼きつけて、死ぬがいい・・・
Update 21 as of 29/01/10 (Temporary mega upload link).
Now sponsoring : video game analogies (ES)
Last update : Chapter 15 as of 21/01/10
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| sfried 497th Post
Gold Customer
| "Re(5):Modnar" , posted Mon 15 Mar 01:15:
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So, if I want to play with my old systems on LCD screen the best solution is VGA cable, right?
I assume this for the past generation consoles but what about my Snes, my PCE or my Megadrive?
In many cases, most of them offer an S-Video output, but even then, some LCDs models are horrible at handling interlaced signals, especially for the cheap-end models (they will look like a blocky mess). I would usually avoid using those kinds of displays for legacy devices. Most newer models handle old signals better, though. I know there are some "interlace blending effects" that are lost when using something higher end than a composite such as S-Video; in these these setups certain patches of graphic look like regular dithers.
If you want a full lowdown on the details, head over here.
[this message was edited by sfried on Mon 15 Mar 09:20] |
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Ono and the Fanboy spirit.
