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|  "Farewell to USGamer" , posted Mon 1 Feb 15:49  
The venerable games site and 1up.com successor USGamer is closing down. That really sucks! It was a very MMC-relevant site given its long-form writing and older staff (including some 1990s Gaming Intelligence Agency alum) with a retro games bent that the original Retronaut Jeremy “toasty frog” Parrish set in motion while he was there.
The reason, as ever, is the evolving (declining) state of media in a social media hell age, so I guess it means we will get our news from twitter PR, occasional odd newspaper columns, or hired carnival barkers charitably called “influencers,” so I guess that sets us back to...pre-1990, really?!
Once again, the Cafe stands high as all the old internet has fallen away, but I wasn’t particularly hoping we’d be victors by default. 
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．．．
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| | "Re(2):Farewell to USGamer" , posted Tue 2 Feb 16:26
quote:
Once again, the Cafe stands high as all the old internet has fallen away, but I wasn’t particularly hoping we’d be victors by default.
Nobody wants to win through disqualification. I want to destroy our enemies and sit upon a throne of their skulls! Wait, that's not the right attitude...
Too bad USGamer has gone into the great beyond. It's nice to think that the internet is large enough to provide space for anything, such as the more unique approach of USGamer. However, time and again I've been proven wrong.
I think that magazines and highly focused/idiosyncratic publications can still exist, as basically a dozen well-monetizing niche Patreons show. I do think that trying to sell "subscriptions" in a fashion which is crudely translated from print media to internet simply isn't as effective as how Patreons allow idiosyncratic and tailored monetizations which actually allow enthusiastic readers to give MORE money.
One of the things I particularly would like to see is a reduction in need for up-to-the-second news which is often little more than the PR out of the company's own mouth with no insight. I think it'd be tremendously more valuable for what journalists (like, actual journalists!) are in the employ to actually compose thoughtful analysis of particular news things as they pertain to particular topics that that journalist is actively covering. Needing to be driven by clickbait results in the entire content of the publication being diluted by clickbait, when ad impressions is already a largely nonfunctional method of earning revenue for all but the most cosmically large sites.
One of the very important points of basically any game design is "how do you intend to make money from this game". It sounds callous, but it's incredibly important and is something that was absolutely a consideration in the design of iconic classic arcade and console games. Freeware games are also a thing, and they can be wonderful, too! But if you decide that your game is to generate a profit as a means of generating livelihoods, then that has very real implications for the design of your game. People haven't stopped reading regardless of the prevalence of streaming media, and there are now more ways than ever for words to enter people's eyes!
I have previously wondered if "constellation" publications/journalism "channels" are possible, where a bunch of interested journalists form a loose association such that they can gattai their clout much like larger publications of the past. Something more formal than a feed of the twitters you follow, but less formal than a monthly fixed publication.
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| | "Re(3):Farewell to USGamer" , posted Tue 2 Feb 19:22
quote:
One of the things I particularly would like to see is a reduction in need for up-to-the-second news which is often little more than the PR out of the company's own mouth with no insight. I think it'd be tremendously more valuable for what journalists (like, actual journalists!) are in the employ to actually compose thoughtful analysis of particular news things as they pertain to particular topics that that journalist is actively covering. Needing to be driven by clickbait results in the entire content of the publication being diluted by clickbait, when ad impressions is already a largely nonfunctional method of earning revenue for all but the most cosmically large sites.
The issue with that is that mainstream news site also suffer from this issue.
So the moment someone intend on actually doing journalism appears, like Jason Shreier, they are whisked away to a mainstream news site because of the dearth of actual original content driving visits there.
Ironically, his piece on Cyberpunk 2077 was super dull because he had to cut the most interesting anecdotes so that the casual Bloomberg reader wouldn't be confused, apparently. Though his article on Amazon is much better.
I think the other way is to divert from the news and invested into entertaining original content and personalities. Yahtzee or Brian David Gilbert doing their own weird thing has probably driven a lot more traffic to Polygon's Youtube channel than boring content "so, is the new AAA game any good?". Obviously, the issues there is that you're at the mercy of Youtube for your revenue, which is never a good idea, and also that investing in creative people is a long and expensive process, and you can't expect these people to stay doing their thing forever, as BDG's departure shows. Plus the risk of a milkshake duck is always high, especially in gaming.
That leaves us with... Gamasutra, I guess? Haven't visited there in a while. Is it still good? Is it healthy?
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| | "Re(6):Farewell to USGamer" , posted Thu 4 Feb 06:59
quote:
After thinking about it a bit more, I do realize that what is interesting to me and other oldsters around here is also often of a particular level of interest: as Iggy mentions with the difference between Bloomberg articles and Kotaku articles by Schrier, different audiences sometimes need to be written for differently, or have a different bent.
From what I've read elsewhere, Bloomberg restricts Schrier's article lengths, which also prevents him from doing the more in-depth features that he did at Kotaku.
That also doesn't surprise me, and I think just points out the value of having different editorial interests for different publications imposing different restrictions. There is value in concise overview articles! There's also value in lengthy nitty-gritty articles!
Frankly if I had to run a news-like (as in rogue-like) website, I'd have one entire section of the site cordoned off as the "PR FEED!" which would effectively be run by a bot that just crawls the tweets and PR releases of companies and puts that into its own little div in the website that users can just choose to scroll past or that they can dive into and endlessly scroll in. That way I could have entirely separated "update" pings to the site's feed and readers that they can filter: if they want the "PR FEED" they can, if they just wanted authored content by writers/creators from the site they can, etc. It simply isn't worth someone's time to do "PR release plus extremely minor amount of context that doesn't really meaningfully add to the release" as their job, and I also wouldn't want that element of the news to dilute the higher value updates and search results that come from the work of writers/journos/etc. on the site. I have no idea if that would actually work, but it's the kind of site I myself would be more interested in looking at.
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| | "Seaside Vacation" , posted Mon 22 Feb 21:53
I can't find it, I know we wrote about 13 Sentinels in some thread here somewhere, I don't remember if it was a dedicated thread or not.
By the way, I got the game, I was dubious about the real time/tower defense aspect of the gameplay (a type of game that usually I hate and thought it could be a deal breaker). But I love their games, so I tried, and wow, I am amazed to what they were able to cram in the story, there is literally everything vaguely or tangentially related to sci-fi in there, it's fantastic. Anything else I could write about the story would be a giant spoiler, I think this is a game that must be played with knowing the less possible about the story outside of the 2 or 3 things showed in the trailers.
And that song played in that mission, oh wow, that was E P I C.
I haven't completed the game yet, I'm on the last mission, I don't know if they can surprise me with something even bigger for the ending, but who knows. I had to write this as I can't stop listening to that song. Or I don't want the game to ends. Send help.
I forgot, the gameplay it's funny, not too difficult, upgrades helps a lot, initially you sucks and can't do much with what you get to use, but when you start to update the right things and abuse the system you can annihilate everything (at least at normal difficulty).
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| "Re(4):The lady will see you now" , posted Wed 10 Mar 04:30
Recently I tried two games that not only take inspiration from other games but expand upon them in new ways that may or may not work.
First up, is Remnant: From the Ashes. That poorly worded, janky title is appropriate for a game that is yet another low budget Dark Souls clone. As you would expect, there are bonfires, healing flasks and a world of decay that resets whenever you save your progress. The difference is that instead of poking monsters to death with medieval weapons you are using firearms. Yes, your character still spends an embarrassing amount of time rolling around on the ground like a modern-day Morph Ball. However, the change in weapons also means getting rid of blocking, backstabbing, riposte and all those other genre staples. In its place you have to blast your way through hordes of enemies before they can swarm you. Right now I'm playing as a cowboy with shamanistic powers who is putting daylight through eldritch horrors with a shotgun. That's a weird hot-pot of ideas but I'm enjoying the mixture.
For the second game I recently realized I was the last person on planet Earth who had not tried Fortnite so I had to do something about that. After running a few matches I can't understand why this game became the biggest thing since the last big thing. I'm not saying that as a grumpy old person complaining about the kids today, I honestly don't know why it was Fortnite that captured the zeitgeist of the times. Is it the art style? Is it the payment plan of free upfront and pay through the nose later (a plan popular with both credit card companies and drug dealers)? There must be thousands of papers and meetings held on why this particular game has gotten all the money.
Am I missing something in the way it plays? When I went into battle royale mode I found the fighting straightforward if simple, and a building mechanic that was obviously designed for a different game. In spite of never having played I still won two of the four games I participated in on the first day. Since I'm not Death that Walks that either means I was either knocking off hyperactive ten year olds who couldn't shoot straight or I was wasn't playing according to the game's meta. Was playing to win the wrong approach? Is Fortnite the modern equivalent to an arcade, where people hang out and occasionally play a game? Is it an absurdist social phenomenon, where you're supposed to dress up like a banana, do dance moves and then all stand around in a circle and shoot each other like it's the finale of a Hong Kong gangster movie? I don't understand Fortnite and I'm not certain it's worth paying $20 to play as a xenomorph to find out.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "NIER-ly time for release" , posted Sat 20 Mar 00:06:
quote:
I'm not certain it's worth paying $20 to play as a xenomorph
Lord SNK's 13 Sentinalful vacation
I meant to say I was really glad to hear this Vanillaware report! The over-familiar setting kept me away, but it sounds like I'm missing out. Also, "Xenomorph" may have sold Fortnite for me! Actually, randomly fooling around seems to be the name of the game in Valheim, so maybe that's what Western games are all about now. Now, I must get back to building my elaborate flower garden in Animal Crossing, so...
MEANWHILE IT IS ALMOST TIME FOR THE NIER REPLICANT REMAKE
I'm typing this listening to the godly intensity of Nier Automata’s fierce battle track Dipolar Nightmare and wondering what veterans of the original Nier are thinking as the remake is approaching. That, and whatever Nier Reincarnation was. You see, I've studiously avoided all post-Nier Automata stage plays, novels, etc. in what is obviously my mental defense mechanism after having finally managed to obtain a fairly happy ending for these poor characters in Ending E after 40 hours of intense mental distress and profound/harrowing brilliance.
I'd be glad to see Replicant become as Automata-like as possible art- and design-wise. I realized that what attracted me to a game like Automata that would otherwise be far too emotionally terrifying was the extravagant gorgeousness of the character designs and music that was already clear on its PR site. I don't remember if Nier Replicant had Yoshida Akihiko on designs, but the PS3 game’s promo art was boring, even more so with the Japanese copies since at least the American one caught your eye for being an early "dad game" by transforming the hero from a brother to a father.
Any experts on what's coming? Is it time to get excited??
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sat 20 Mar 00:10] |
| | "Re(2):NIER-ly time for release" , posted Sun 21 Mar 07:04
quote:
Any experts on what's coming? Is it time to get excited??
I'm no expert, but playing Nier/Automata was my lockdown project last year (just after I bought PS3 Nier, they announced the remake, what a luck!).
Everything should be better than the original (smoohter gameplay, moves, etc) but the updated graphics seems to change the "atmosphere" of the original. I'm talking specifically of Kainé, the new look is a bit off. Considering how much she is foul-mouthed in the game, that "soft" looking face/expression with a side of moe is not what I expected.
Yeah, I agree. The technology that allows for rounder faces and more flesh-like flesh is nice and all, but I think the inhuman whiteness of Kaine (as opposed to the more albino look she has now) along with the harsh angles of her face that went along with her harsh manner of speaking helped make the character better.
On a similar note, I think the story which Nier tells by being about a father and a daughter works better than it being about a brother and a sister. In particular, a lot of things which Nier does in ignorance when he's the one who has to come across as "knowing better" and "raising a child" I think work much more strongly in a parent/child relationship than in a sibling one where the two are more equal.
In particular, father Nier doesn't have the angle of "well he's just a dumb teenager" to lean on for his approach to things: if anything, the idea that he's lived an entire adult life doing this and he's so hardened in his ways that he just can't do otherwise, I think is much more powerful.
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New Customer  | "Re(1):Motto Kunio" , posted Tue 15 Jun 15:19
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Wayforward announces River City Girls 2 and RCG Zero, the localized version of Kunio-tachi no Banka
Curious to see how they'll handle Banka's ending since they're adding stuff. Hope they don't cop out and say it was all a dream.
I'm always torn on more Kunio games released in America, because I remember that long ago weekend of renting River City Ransom for the NES and some other game. At that time, RCR was the back-up game, I don't recall what big game we rented that weekend; but what I distinctly remember was not being impressed by the shiny game of the moment. Then popping in RCR and being captivated along with my friend.
We sat there, probably eating pizza and soft drinks while we enjoyed the late weekend during the school week; and enjoyed how we were each able to customize our player character and kick butt cooperatively.
I have such fond memories of that localization, which I'm not sure what the inspiration was from? West Side Story? Happy Days? Either way, I actually prefer the Westernized adaptation of the Kunio games. The Japanese school delinquent aesthetic of more recent releases, while true to the source material just leaves me cold.
So I don't mind if they take liberties with the localization, and I suspect I'm more inclined to enjoy the RCR Girls spin-offs since I don't have chonky greaser bois ingrained deep in my reptilian gamer brain.
Hey, maybe that could be the least popular DLC pack pitch? American street tough DLC? Or the more marketable reversal that would tick off fans would be, American street toughs are the default and Japanese delinquent fashions are the DLC. . . However in the interest of fairness, I'd be willing to pay to appease my nostalgia and not make other suffer. :b
Not to mention the inspired sprite work of RC Girls was much appreciated. So many indie and lower budget games default to the NES / 8-bit aesthetic, it was a relief to see something more 16-bit or arcade in it's presentation. I hope more developers will move beyond the NES / 8-bit cash grab and pick up the torch dropped by the CPS-3 or Dot Pixel styles of sprite work.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Advance Warsssssss...Switch Wars?" , posted Thu 17 Jun 12:33
Woahhhhhh wasn't someone (me?) just talking about how we need another Game Boy Wars entry? The best news of E3 is that the only strategy game you'll ever need, Game Boy Wars Advance 1&2, isgetting a Switch remake. I don't like low-poly but I do like the animated generals and I love this game. Most of all, thank god it's not the shitty "dark" DS version. For some terrifying reason the US site doesn't indicate there's a Japanese version (yet (???)), but I really hope it's not like that weird time when the originals released on GBA in Japan like three years late.
Meanwhile I may be talking about new things but I still have a bounty out for 500 MMC Fun Bucks for anyone who knows the answer:quote:
I happened to be playing a cute little board game called Chickapig where each turn you advance one of your pieces all the way forward/sideways until hitting an obstacle (which you can use a turn to move), ultimately moving towards a goal area. Because everything relates back to SaGa, I realized that the earliest version of this mechanic I know of is in 1993's RomaSaGa 2 in the frozen Nazelle Strait, but I'm certain this puzzle type must be older than video games and widely used, just the way versions of ladder game Amidakuji appear in Estpolis/Lufia II and the archetypal Soukoban/Warehouse Box Mover format has been in everything from puzzle RPGs to Nier Automata, and surely comes from an earlier physical block game.
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．．．
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| "Re(1): METROID" , posted Mon 28 Jun 16:01
Recently I have dusted off my Wii U (it was never dusty to begin with, but did have to do some cable management to accomodate for my "retro" consoles being plugged on the same TV) and double down getting Metroid Zero Mission, which I am playing for the first time in preparation for Metroid Dread...
...You guys have heard of Metroid Dread, have you? As in, it isn't some stupid rumor on the internet but a real thing like "Final Fantasy VII Remake is happening" sort of thing real? Meanwhile, a lot of people are scratching their heads wondering "What ever happened to Metroid 4?" when everybody seemingly forgot Metroid Fusion existed...
Anyways, I just beat Kraid and good the Speed Booster, which means the most tricky sequence-breaking/speed-running technique is unlocked to me: Shine-sparking. You see, I never really knew about this technique until much later in my life, and I recall having played through Super Metroid without ever once knowing how to pull of this technique, as well as several others trickier ones as many might attest. It was only made known to me by the hidden message one could attain in Metroid Fusion, and ever since then, this game traveral "exploit" is making me appreciate what this series has done with regards to map design, even with the modern likes of titles such as Hollow Knight.
I still have trouble pulling it off, though: Appart from "storing" shine-sparks and then choosing to boost straight up, I'm wondering how I to consistently execute the charge horizontally or diagonally.
quote:
I don't like low-poly but I do like the animated generals and I love this game. Most of all, thank god it's not the shitty "dark" DS version. For some terrifying reason the US site doesn't indicate there's a Japanese version (yet (???)), but I really hope it's not like that weird time when the originals released on GBA in Japan like three years late.
WayForward is apparently responsible for the Advance Wars 1&2 "Reboot Camp" which could explain the lack of a Japanese release date. Some people have been complaining about the animation too because of it...
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| "Re(3): METROID" , posted Tue 29 Jun 21:45
quote:
What do Metroid fans think of Dread? Are people happy with what appears to be an older style Metroid game built using new technology? Or were they hoping for something different? It's been so long since this style of Metroid game came out -or any Metroid game came out- that I wonder how this is being received.
A lot of people are excited, if not ecstatic, that a proper follow- up to Metroid Fusion is being create. There are a still segment of people who put Super Metroid in high regard and that nothing could ever top it (though I believe that segment splintered off with Zero Mission), and theres a segment who definitely appreciates Fusion for what it was trying to do. Then there are a ton of fans who got into the Metroid series thanks to the Metroid Prime games who may not be intimately familiar with the 2D mainline games.
All agree that Other M is perhaps the lowest point, and while it was nice that the remake of Metroid 2, Samus Returns, came out, some still don't give MercurySteam a benefit of the doubt considering what they did to the Castlevania franchise...
Of course, it helps that with Samus Returns and Dread, they are being supervised by Yoshio Sakamoto and the Metroid team themselves.
A good primer (heh) on the Metroid franchise is recommended to understand how it was and where it's going. In fact, I'd dare say Metroid series is kind of like the Metal Gear franchise in that there are cohesive narrative themes in each of the mainline games. I recommend The Geek Critique's Metroid videos as a good introduction for someone who has never gotten into the series, or is just starting out.
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| | "Kunio-kun no Sangokushi dayo: Zeiin Shuugou!" , posted Tue 14 Sep 01:59
quote:
What ship are you on? I'm on ship 2.
I haven't had much time to play anything since I picked up a second job, but I'm on occasionally. Account ID is ungenesis.
Okay, I'm going to have to create a new character on Ship 2 in the near future. :p
I know there's a lot of upset fans of PSO currently with NGS; but not having played a PSO style game since Phantasy Star Portable 2 on the PSP - I'm finding some enjoyment in the routine of the game.
I'm looking forward to the map growing, and additional content being added. It would also be nice if Sega would come up with a solid set of reasons (access to customization items) for players to go premium with the game. As a fan, I want to give Sega my money; but I'm not a gambler - so I'd rather have a season pass with access to customization, rather than enter gacha hell.
Ignoring that, I'll gladly poverty grind to unlock content if they're unwilling to meet my terms. Which given the market, will probably never happen. A steady stream of compulsive gamblers throwing away money in the hopes of "winning" items seems to be a business model. Heck, I'd settle for a Fortnite style option where I can buy characters, or in this case - character customization packs.
In other news. . . Kunio-kun no Sangokushi dayo: Zeiin Shuugou!
I'm excited for this.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| PSN: Ishmael26b
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| "Re(1):Wario and What (Not) to Wear" , posted Sat 25 Sep 00:04
In an incredible surprise, ActRaiser is back!
quote:
Like the rest of the English-language Netflix promo sites and top ten lists "gaming press," Polygon has gotten pretty crappy in recent years, but some glorious maniac decided to commission like 20 articles on why Wario is great, and this one with a real fashion consultant grading Wario's outfits is the perfect fit for the Cafe, which has been pretty fabulous since at least 2004.
Finally, some good journalism! The article is appreciated, but I was surprised to find it was only one of dozens of pieces on Wario. Somehow, Wario became the leader of a personality cult over at Polygon.
quote:
OH! And speaking of stylish, Bayonetta 3 for Switch!
Huh, so that's what happened to Scalebound.
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| PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(2):Wario and What (Not) to Wear" , posted Sat 25 Sep 04:18:
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In an incredible surprise, ActRaiser is back!
I'm seriously here for it, and with new tracks (built from the ground up by Yuzo Koshiro, even! Next, give us ActRaiser 2 (but good) remake, you cowards!
quote:
OH! And speaking of stylish, Bayonetta 3 for Switch!
Huh, so that's what happened to Scalebound.
I saw someone's serious (or not) speculation earlier that Bayonetta 3 IS Scalebound.
Hey, and I wouldn't be the karasu you all know and love if I didn't point out that on the also-just-released Castlevania Advance Collection, they've included the game everyone loves to hate but that I mysteriously love, Dracula X for SNES! I also have on good authority that this collection was also assembled by M2 (despite that detail being absent from pretty much all materials for the collection), and includes various lil quality of life improvements as well as actual functioning bestiaries, which is always excellent news.
I won't ever see the Mario movie, so my stake in its casting is pretty light, but it was odd to see that they had cast someone to play Spike in it. No, not Super Mario Spike, Wrecking Crew Spike. Which... I mean, okay? At the very least it was something from the Direct that I was actually shocked by.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
[this message was edited by karasu on Sat 25 Sep 04:22] |
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| "Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Sat 25 Sep 23:47
Wow, Actraiser! I missed out back in the day on all those great Quintet games. Veterans, is there anything charming I'd be missing by playing this remake instead of the original? Meanwhile:quote:
"Once every 100 years, when Christ's power revenue is at its weakest, Count Dracula is resurrected by the power of the prayers of wicked humans game-hating company Konami..."
It occurs to me that they really ought to call this the Un-Dracula X Collection since it's got the low-budget derrivatives of varying quality of Dracula X~Nocturne in the Moonllight and the horrifying SFC version of Dracula X~Rondo of Blood! Each of them is pretty interesting in their own way:
Circle of the Moon felt like Super Mario Land: a launch title that was obviously worse than the mainline original and designed by a different team but still exciting to have portable! Actually, Circle's poor design taught me about Metroidvania balancing subtleties: this one doesn't work because each new ability gets you to exactly ONE new place, meaning a lot of annoying backtracking, rather than the newfound freedom to go lots of new directions like on Playstation.
Concerto of the Midnight Sun/Harmony of Dissonance (aptly renamed for its unlistenable music in the US) is a great case study in boring, slavish imitation, with an inverse castle that does nothing and yet another brainwashed friend to fight. At least you could decorate your private room with chairs and things. (But why?)
Minuet of Dawn/Aria of Sorrow: this is a really, really good game! Imagine if it had a proper budget and Nocturne's baroque music.
As for Dracula XX, I'm always impressed by Karasu's ability to endure the unendurable, but I did give him a fair hearing by chronicling my suffering through another entire playthrough on his behalf! The inclusion of this in the collection (what's the opposite of a "bonus?") will also have the effect of making Rondo's perfection and attention to detail all the sweeter in the next (???) collection.
Plus here's my annual reminder that godly draculalike Rusty is readily available and better than all of these games! Plus my god, the gloriously rocking Mega Drive-like music!
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．．．
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| PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(1):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Sun 26 Sep 01:46
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the horrifying SFC version of Dracula X~Rondo of Blood!
How dare.
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Maou's actual good comments about Dracula XX
Ahem. I can't explain my love for Dracula XX any more than other folks can explain their love for lousy junk food they loved as kids. I just think that if not for all the elevation of Rondo of Blood in popular media at a time when importing the game was stupidly expensive, we'd all be looking at Dracula XX as just another middling-tier classic Castlevania. With excellent, excellent music.
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Rusty
quote:
Actraiser 2 IS good
I can address both of these (sort of) at the same time! Both look gorgeous and have great and atmospheric design! Unfortunately the thing that makes me love them a little less is mostly the same: their controls feel not very good to me! Rusty looks and sounds great, but its controls make it hard for me to love. Actraiser 2 is a gorgeous gorgeous game, but there's something... off... about the controls, in particular the jumps. I haven't gone back to play it in years though, so who knows! Maybe I'll give it a try and report back.
As for Actraiser Renaissance, I did the thing and bought it, for better or worse! Too bad I only have like six other games I'm trying to complete right now! My understanding is that it's significantly beefed up from the original, with much more involved levels. So to answer your question Maou, I think you'd prefer the original.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(2):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Sun 26 Sep 05:00:
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Rusty, you say? It is indeed an excellent game!!
Holy cow, Rugal, that is awesome! I thought I'd never enounter anyone with a real PC-98, but I should've expected no less from the Cafe's last boss. I'm curious about the music variations since I feel like I've heard several, and even MP3s I own seem faster than in-game (especially the wonderful track when you beat corrupt vampire hunter Brian Gateau). Is there a processor speed setting on the PC-98 series, or a bunch of different sound card options like the X68000?
quote:
if not for all the elevation of Rondo of Blood in popular media at a time when importing the game was stupidly expensive, we'd all be looking at Dracula XX as just another middling-tier classic Castlevania.
Ah, it's time for the biennial friendly Dracula XX duel...have at you! But as Zophar says, "I hold the winning hand, and the time has come to play my trump card!" Because I am a moron, I came to Dracula late, starting with Nocturne, then SFC Dracula ("IV"), then Dracula XX, long before I got a copy of Rondo. My unbiased impression was: "what the hell is this?!" (Non-Lamer Credentials: I have beaten X68000 Dracula, Mario 2/Lost Levels, and Alien Solider without save states.)
I can also address Dracula XX and Rusty at the same time: Rusty may not control as perfectly as some Dracula games, but the environment is still designed for her...the jumps you have to do, the ropes you have to climb, the landscapes you have to traverse. Dracula XX is literally not designed for Richter: the pits are too wide, so you have stand with one foot floating in space, the jump arc doesn't match the geography (see legendarily awful last boss), enemies will hit you on both sides while going up stairs despite your inability to jump away, etc. This was already starting to happen in Akumajou Densetsu/"III" when the later ascending vertical levels no longer match the dumb Belmont jump, unlike the original game where levels are designed with precisely that jump in mind. So for different reasons, I think Dracula XX controls wayyyyy worse than Rusty.
Tell you what: I gave Dracula XX another (undeserved) chance, why don't you try Rusty again and see if control isn't a bit easier if you map it to a controller via JoyToKey?
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sun 26 Sep 09:06] |
| PSN: beatolover
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| "Re(2):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Sun 26 Sep 09:30:
quote:
I can address both of these (sort of) at the same time! Both look gorgeous and have great and atmospheric design! Unfortunately the thing that makes me love them a little less is mostly the same: their controls feel not very good to me! Rusty looks and sounds great, but its controls make it hard for me to love. Actraiser 2 is a gorgeous gorgeous game, but there's something... off... about the controls, in particular the jumps. I haven't gone back to play it in years though, so who knows! Maybe I'll give it a try and report back.
Ah, controls. For me, I’ve always viewed getting used to the peculiarities of the controls as a part of the experience (qv, jumping in makai mura). This reminds me of a discussion I had years ago with a friend who claimed “Astyanax sucks”, specifically citing jumping, to which I responded “you just have to get used to it”. I can beat that game pretty consistently without dying, so we ended up sitting down and going through it.
As for the jumps in Actraiser 2, I bet I know what the problem is… stumbling while landing! It’s one of the aspects of the game you have to get used to, but you pretty much have to dive bomb(press down) for every landing after gliding. 2 is a game I can ALMOST say “I can consistently no death run it”, but there is admittedly a choke point for me (the rematch with the dragon boss in death heim) so I’ll hold off on such a claim.
quote:
Is there a processor speed setting on the PC-98 series, or a bunch of different sound card options like the X68000?
There were just straight up different processors and sound card options, yes; this can cause an issue with some games. EX., better processors make giten megami tensei impossible because the in-game time is connected to processor speed, and the music in genei toshi (a game I highly recommend, btw!!) sounds like a robot farting on the roland cm-64 (I THINK it was cm-64, it’s been a while).
That being said, I think the issue with the different music speeds is simply flawed emulation, which seems to be a common problem with pc98 stuff.
People play it on an emulator, hear the music come out a specific way, assume that’s correct and run with it, not realizing the emulator is not actually doing it quite right because they have no other point of reference.
[this message was edited by Red Falcon on Sun 26 Sep 10:29] |
| | "Re(3):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Sun 26 Sep 21:18
To describe Actraiser to someone who never heard of it, I'd say the game was two things: a technical marvel at the time (the most beautiful game on SFC for at least its first year) and a game from a time when it was still normal for developers to try to push the boundaries of genres.
The first point is moot in 2021, of course, but the second point still holds water, in an “archaeology of video-games" kind of sense. The action part is stiff and unbalanced, using difficulty as a way to keep play time longer rather than providing a fair challenge. It could be argued that the Populous part was also added for the same reason: it multiplies exponentially the time needed to beat the game, so from a publisher point of view it was a good choice to keep people from renting/selling the game the day after they bought it.
But it's also a bold choice in 1990. Action games were already ubiquitous and stale, while Populous, released the previous year on PC, had yet to reach consoles and was a very avant-garde choice. The "city-builder" part is passive, relaxing, with very few things to keep track on, and honestly very little opposition. (Also the music of that mode is legendary, but that applies to the entire game).
What the Populous mode provides is some downtime between the frantic action scenes, and the very idea that "downtime" is a good thing, something that many games (and movies) still don't understand. But also, it conveys some actual sense that you are a god. Your interactions with your humans are kind, but distant: they are faceless (no doubt a technical limitation at the time, but that reinforces the idea that you love "humanity", but you don't really care for individual humans as you raze their houses to force them to build better or worship better). It's a game that expresses the idea of godhood better than even Populous and its clones did, and I think only Ôkami matches (albeit in a very different way).
More importantly, the game (again, an ambitious launch game for SFC) tries to be more than "the newest action game", in the way Mario World was "the newest platformer" and F-Zero "the newest racing game". It bends genres, try a combination that was never seen before, and pushed the boundaries of the media. Did it succeed? it's debatable. The two modes barely interact with each other, and each has flaws that could prevent people from enjoying the game even at the time (outside of the Stockholm syndrome of "I used my year's allowance on this game so I'm going to love it to death, god damn it").
Actraiser 2, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. The only trait it shares with 1 is that, like 1, it was the most beautiful game of the console at release.
It is a very good action game (the controls need some time to get used to, but the gliding and landing are novel and interesting ways to interact with the environment). But it is only that. Pure action games were stale in 1990; by 1993, they were even more drab. It could have refined both sides of 1 to try to perfect the formula, or it could have decided that "Actraiser" was a genre-bending series and try to do something entirely different, part shoot'm up part dungeon crawler, for example. Instead, it made the game more "like so many other games". Greater than most other action games, but still a by-the book action game. Ultimately, it's this lack of ambition (driven by American focus groups, should I add) that killed the series.
Imagine if the sequel to Justice Gakuen had been a pure fighting game, with new characters, but no side-mode. You can hate the board game of MoeJus as much as any sane person, but at least that mode tried to do something different for the game (something that could be exported outside of Japan without astronomic localization costs), that remained true to the roots of the previous episode, and expanded the character's individualities in a unique way (something Baines was complaining about KOF in another thread: I know much more about Yurika or Zaki thanks to that mode than I know about Angel, Shen-Wu or Duo Lon in KOF). A JG sequel that would "only" had been a competent fighting game with no extra would be as forgotten as Toshinden or Star Gladiator today, instead of having the small but dedicated fanbase it still has now (some of them even not bisexual!).
Soulblader, probably my favourite Enix game on SFC, is the real Actraiser 2 for me: half Ys-like action game, half city-rebuilder, both sides very easy but with the intricate interactions that Actraiser 1 lacked. That game pushed some of Actraiser's ideas forward better than Actraiser 2 did.
So, the remake.
It's ugly as sin. The best parts of it look like a Saturn game through nostalgia's lens; the worst parts of it look like a Saturn game covered in all the ugly post-processing of Octopath Traveler.
It misses the point of the faceless god interacting with faceless humans by giving those individuality and gacha game-like portraits. It diminishes the godhoodness by making the angel a tutorial-bot that talks to you ALL THE BLOODY TIME. It makes the action part "better" (a low bar) but still not "good" (far worse than Actraiser 2). It develops the Populous part by adding Tower Defence segments to it, which makes it more involved, but also worse (it's still entirely separate from the action scenes, and it adds heroes to add even more individuality to humans, the last thing the game needed). It has trouble to reconcile the idea of a generous god, and of a god that burns down houses because you want to, and narratively makes you into the weird bipolar god of some branches of Christianity.
The design is very informed by mobile gaming: the angel interrupts you at least once per minute to show you something new or give you a new quest or tell you what to do in case you got bored or want to try something off-script. The game has plenty of gauges to fill to level up your heroes.
Also, the avatar you use in action phases inexplicably looks like Leneth from Valkyrie Profile, which I find hugely distracting.
The music still slaps.
tl;dr:
- Play the SFC Actraiser 1 if you feel like discovering a buried part of video game history (or better, watch a let's play).
- Now that Quintet's licences are back on the table, I have 30 bucks saved for the Soulblazer remake, and I don't care if it's as drab and unimaginative as this one.
- Also, THIS.
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| "Re(6):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Mon 27 Sep 10:30:
quote:
comparing Actraiser 2 to Rastan hurts worse than a pipe to my face.
Yahahaha, I feel for Rugal even while having really enjoyed Iggy and Ishmael's comments. I figure between 1 and 2 there exists an Actraiser for everyone, so maybe it's all fine! I'm excited to play 2 for those gorgeous skies that look like you're hanging out with Cefca during the last fight in FFVI, and maybe the original 1 since Japanese reviews on Steam (!!) from veterans and newcomers alike don't like the new tower defense mode and conversations with insignificant humans.
Depending on your perspective on Actraiser 1's city sim, it may either seem like the essential Justice Gakuen side modes, or something that was better cut in 2, but Iggy's metaphor of Justice Gakuen as a case where side stuff is inseperable from a game's identity is right. As someone who can't possibly be considered part of the "FGC" but still plays a lot of fighting games, I guarantee that the love for Justice Gakuen is 90% about its characters and stories, particularly via the lifesim. (I imagine even international fans like it because at least the arcade mode story wasn't cut and the characters are so universally appealing.) I guess what I'm saying is that as a SFIII-disliking philistine, it fills me with such joy every time I remember that in Japan the lifesim sequel Nekketsu Seishun Nikki 2 has outsold every home release of Third Strike ever made.
The real question about Actraiser 1 vs. 2 then becomes: is the city sim like Nekketsu Seishun Nikki, or just Tekken Ball?!?!
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 Mon 27 Sep 11:25] |
| PSN: beatolover
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| "Re(7):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Mon 27 Sep 12:43:
quote:
comparing Actraiser 2 to Rastan hurts worse than a pipe to my face. Yahahaha, I feel for Rugal even while having really enjoyed Iggy and Ishmael's comments.
Ha ha ha ha, thank you. Believe me, I enjoyed their comments too, but it got me to thinking about where I find enjoyment in a lot of games and how I perceived them at the time as well; I think I’ve realized I value a game “doing something well” more than necessarily “doing something new/different”.
I think for me, trying something new in a game series or genre is neither good nor bad, it just “is”.
I will admit Actraiser tried new stuff by combining a sim and an action game, but I also realize I don’t think it did either genre in a way that particularly impressed me even at the time (the fact I managed to soft-lock myself the first time I ever played Actraiser also probably left a permanent stain on it for me.) There were better action games at the time and as mentioned before, Populous (which did in fact come out before Actraiser in the US, and on the same day as Actraiser in Japan, coincidentally.)
I also had an Amiga and had played Populous previously (and didn’t enjoy it) so I think even at the time I felt the sim aspects were getting in the way of the action parts I actually enjoyed.
As for Actraiser 2, I disagree pretty strongly with the statement action games were passé; they were simply starting to evolve in a different direction; heck, Rockman X3 didn’t even come out until 1995, and this was long before the rise and dominance of the FPS on consoles.
Actraiser 2 is up their with Hagane in terms of well-made super famicom action games in my book, so I say again, a somebody who also loves Rusty (and coincidentally is responsible for the manual scans on Giant Bomb years back, ha ha ha) give it a try!
I will also say I don’t dislike Actraiser 1, I just have… certain issues with it, for the reasons I mentioned before. By the way, Maou, it’s kind of sudden, but is there a way to contact you outside of SFV? I wish to discuss PC98 stuff, if you’re interested.
[this message was edited by Red Falcon on Mon 27 Sep 12:46] |
| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(8):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Mon 27 Sep 13:17:
quote:
somebody who also loves Rusty (and coincidentally is responsible for the manual scans on Giant Bomb years back, ha ha ha)
Ha, it was you! Brilliant work! I shall now do an 8-Way Run sidestep around the topic of my sworn enemy Rockman X3 being anything other than démodé to say instead that I just recruited a longtime Dracula fan who used to work at Capcom to finally play Rusty, and he fell into its marvelous spell instantly. So on that note, since e-mail is more useful than Line for involved thoughts, you can find me at top-secret games-specific address maoujacky at hotmail.com. Feel free to talk about PC-98 here, too, though! Its glorious late Showa/early Heisei fantasy/sci-fi anime aesthetic and righteous action is just the kind of delicacy the Cafe enjoys.
Meanwhile, depending on how this goes, maybe we can build off Iggy's Soulblader references and talk about everyone's favorite Quintet games for a while, all of which I missed! I especially wanted to play Tenchi Souzou/Terranigma back in the day, but a friend was less than impressed with it, and we were moving into PS1 days, so I let it go. Uhhhh Granstream Biography never happened, though. D:
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 Mon 27 Sep 13:28] |
| PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(8):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Wed 29 Sep 04:52
quote:
I think I’ve realized I value a game “doing something well” more than necessarily “doing something new/different”.
I think for me, trying something new in a game series or genre is neither good nor bad, it just “is”.
And this gets to the heart of what I was interested in for ActRaiser 2 (and why I would have preferred to get ActRaiser 3 instead of Renaissance): I am the opposite, in which I strongly prefer game companies do something new and different over doing something well, at least as far as new games go. I mean, it's just a matter of opinion; I *like* ActRaiser 2 as a beautiful action platformer, but I don't *love* it.
Honestly though, I think ActRaiser 1 is only remembered because of what it was, when it was, so it's not even as though I find it to be a wildly fun and incredible game. More than anything else, I think the reason I remember it so fondly has mostly to do with its soundtrack, which is still great.
I put aside my stack of in-progress games this past weekend to play some Renaissance, and... 
I won't go so far as to say I hate it, but it really highlights the limits of the original and how much could (and couldn't) be done to 'update' it for modern audiences. The music is still great, and there are a few nice set pieces here and there, but the sim portions highlight pretty much every single reason why I don't enjoy sim games these days. In short, I'm delighted that it got made and I don't feel as though I wasted my money, because hey, this might be the means by which we get a rerelease or whatever of the rest of Quintet's back catalogue. I just wish they had built something new from the ground up with ActRaiser as the template.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| | "Re(5):Akumajou Drac-Actraiser" , posted Thu 30 Sep 02:07
To be clear with what I say: I don't think Actraiser is a forgotten gem that should be heralded as an overlooked masterpiece. It has aged, had flaws already at the time, and without nostalgia it doesn't have much to offer outside of its timeless music, probably one of Kishiro's best works (for a while I thought the town theme was some classical music fallen in the public domain). In a way, Street of Rage 2 is to his body of work what Actraiser 2 is to Actraiser 1 : more focused, better, but less varied and... wait, I forgot where I was going with that comparison.
One of the main points is that Actraiser was an interesting draft, but very lacking and in need of its Street Fighter 2. The fact the remake adds some tower defense and still fails at making the game really work cohesively (actually making it worse) reminds me of a very recent Actraiser clone, Sega's SolSeraph, which stayed too close to the blueprint of Actraiser and was, as a result, not very good.
I still think Actraiser could have been refined, improved, or tried a different path. It's not that the formula doesn't work, it's that it seems some people think "it's good enough as it is" and simply iterate from there.
quote:
Just want to mention that I appreciate this thoughtful analysis, particularly the points related to games conveying the idea of godhood. I'd be curious to hear you elaborate on Ôkami, as well.
Ôkami's way of expressing Amaterasu's divinity is by contrasting the attitude of people who know what you are (the peach nymph, the various gods...), who are extremely emphatic in their reverence to you, and the humans, who at best treat you like a good dog, and at worse like a dog.
Amaterasu, meanwhile, is so above it all that she doesn't really care for either the adoration of the lesser gods, or the bad treatment of the humans. She's not trying to be incognito: she still does everything to save humanity and defeat all the monsters that represent a danger to them, but doesn't care enough to reveal herself to anyone that doesn't see her for what she is. She is so sure of what she is that she doesn't take personally any of the blasphemous things Susanoo says, for example (contrary to many gods' fragile egos in many existing mythologies and religions).
It is contrasted by the delightfully flowery introduction of each god as you meet them. It gives a very strong impression to a player when a gigantic dragon or a terrifying tiger jumps at you, and then bow to you and go into 3 whole windows of text of "Dear holy mother of all, whose merciful light is the most generous present that ravishes the heart of all living creatures, I am in awe that you are condescending to appear in all your glory in front of the meek servant that I am, even though I am undeserving of such an extravagant blessing" before they even start saying anything relevant to the game. And then Amaterasu reacts to the praise as little as she is reacting to the humans calling her a good doggie: she is so above anything else that, to her, there is very little difference between the humans and the lesser gods. Even Ushiwaka, who knows who you are and still disrespects you, merely enrages Issun, while Amaterasu only reacts to his physical attacks to defend herself.
In the end, the only blasphemous character is Issun, whose constant chatter even make Amaterasu lose patience a couple of times and really should have been removed from the remaster my god I hate Issun so much.
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| | "Re(7):Shin Megami Tensei V" , posted Thu 30 Sep 19:42
quote:
I wonder what are people's thoughts about this game...more particularly some of the monster designs that have been highlighted over the past few weeks. Something something Kaneko, but it does look respectful towards that lineage while trying to bridge the gap between the mainline games and Persona...which they've been attempting to do for the longest time now.
I think so far it looks much, much better than 4 and 4A ever did. Mechanically, they seem to have changed quite a lot of things (single-target buffs and debuffs, strengthening of moves...), and the presentation is (obviously) the best it has ever been.
I really like some of the new designs (The Manananggal and the Loup-Garou are really great designs, and Lahmu is as Megaten as you can get); as well as the choice of old-favourite returning. My only regret is the Angel losing her BSDM attire, but I can understand why, and some of the other redesigns like the Lilim is almost an improvement over her old design so I can't be mad.
So far, my only question is whether to take it on Switch, or wait 1 year to see whether it releases on Steam.
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| | "Re(10):Shin Megami Tensei V" , posted Fri 1 Oct 19:12
quote:
I tend to bounce back and forth between both sides of such arguments. Accessibility is nice, I don't have the time or patience I use to either, and some games just seem pointlessly difficult. At the same time, some games lose meaning when their difficulty is reduced, while others can be functionally damaged.
When the game is engrossing enough that the difficulty is interesting and convinces you to push forward because the game is well made (and also you happen to be in the target demographic), I don't particularly mind. Rather than Dark Souls, I think Sekiro is the best example of a game whose mechanics would be lessens by an easy mode, although I know many people didn't like the game at all.
On the other hand, I'm replaying Harmony of Dissonance right now (in the GBA Castlevania collection) to see whether it really was as bad as I remember it, and lo and behold, it's actually worse? The EN title encapsulate perfectly the terrible soundtrack too.
Because I am too stupid to stop playing it and actually go play something enjoyable, I'm pushing through it as fast as I can, using the rewind feature to breeze through boss fights where I'm under-leveled and too uninterested to learn the patterns.
What I'm saying is: bad games need accessibility features even more than good games.
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| | "Re(2):Re(10):Shin Megami Tensei V" , posted Sat 2 Oct 11:07
quote:
What I'm saying is: bad games need accessibility features even more than good games.
I recently played through the Final Fantasy 2 pixel remaster, and if you were to think of it as Romancing SaGa Zero you wouldn't be far off. It has received multiple re-issues in which parts of its mechanics have been patched up, and while its ambition remains evident, its music (once freed of the NES soundchip) is wonderful, and its innovations are far-reaching, there's still one thing plainly evident: the game part of it isn't that good.
It's good at occasionally tickling your imagination, the huge lottery of what may happen is fun in the way lotteries are, but before too long your characters cannot be hit by enemies >90% of the time and either kill enemies instantly with physical attacks or can't damage the enemies at all with physical attacks. The encounter rate is very high, the dungeons are full of trap rooms which contain nothing but an encounter and which are impossible for you to tell in advance are trap rooms, and levelling up Esuna so that you can heal actually important status ailments involves parking your team before some slimes and letting them poison you continuously... except you can't do that with level 1 Esuna, because level 1 Esuna can only cure Blind.
Final Fantasy 2 as an adventure has a lot of fascinating ideas, and as a testing ground for new lore in Final Fantasy is exceptional. With an open mind it is an interesting curiosity, but I could not in good faith recommend anybody to play through it without the usage of any of the accessibility/quality of life/making-the-game-part-go-by-faster features. I'd say that all those things together make the game more bearable, and allow you to persist with the adventure for longer.
On the other hand, I think that legendary kusoge are done a disservice with too much accessibility features, because rather than having something fascinating that can be gained access to with the help of modern things that will shield you from the sludge, the entire value/novelty/memorableness of the kusoge is the sludge itself. Once you take that away, you are left with nothing at all!
Dark Souls games I think have an important distinguishing quality with regards to their difficulty, and that comes from the fact that there's a now-gigantic contingent of people who have played many of its games or games like it. What counts as "difficult" for them is very, very different from what counts as difficult for people not used to such games. I think they've done a pretty admirable job of making this many games whose first third or so manages to still be challenging and engaging to experienced players without being absolutely unbearable for newer players!
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| "Re(3):Re(10):Shin Megami Tensei V" , posted Tue 5 Oct 08:09
I only played ff2 in the gba port, after already having experienced 5,6,4 on this order in snes. I personally really liked how free it is.
FF4 in special is so linear, restricting every path behind a keyitem, vehicle or quest interaction. It felt to me like a bucket of cold water.
On the other hand, you can go pretty much anywhere in FF2, except the room with ultima and the final dungeon/castle with the emperor.
The way skills are build up by what you use the most also is very nice, automatically customizing your char toward what it needs the most in the moment.
But it do create some holes where you can make your chars super broken before even starting the game. You can train some skill combinations till they are unmatched, access late towns/dungeons early and get late equips/magic, trivializing the rest of the game.
About dark souls, i feel the series really shine at teaching players by example. The large majority of enemies are humanoid zombies that drop their whole armor/weapon set, and their AI give a living example of how to use those drops properly. This is further enhanced by npc and human invaders/friendly summons.
The soft/hard caps also almost force people to diversify their status lvl ups, opening up new strategies/combinations.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(1):Even if it is hell, I'm gonna crawl!" , posted Mon 11 Oct 11:08
Thanks for sharing. Seriously odd English narration intonation but a sweet send-off. This makes me really sad! My arcade of choice has always been Mikado (not just because of their annual Justice Gakuen tournament, but…), despite all the smoke, and I imagine that the smaller hobbyist stores like that are going to be easier to sustain in the future, sort of like indie bookstores over large bookstore chains in the US. As the author of the definitive Tokyo arcade guide, it’ll be great to hear Professor’s comments when he’s back.
I recommend another very good documentary, the Lost Arcade, on the final days of New York’s legendary Chinatown Fair arcade. Both of them are focused less around particular games and more around the communities that these places build. It’s always especially nice to see these in English since the connotations of the word are much more negative than in Japanese given the shady or dangerous imagery that built up. But both of these documentaries are useful to show English speakers that’s not the case! Arcades are wonderful places to gather with friends, talk to people, find a community, or practice getting good at something you love!
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．．．
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(3):Even if it is hell, I'm gonna crawl!" , posted Tue 12 Oct 05:29:
I think Rugal's edit gets at the challenge for arcade operators in deciding their audience and scale. A massive place like Sega Ikeburo Gigo that everyone can enjoy, with multiple floors with everything from classic fighters to legacy games, UFO catchers, and purikura? A smoky collection of mostly competitive games like Mikado for the true believers, a natural Cafe hangout? A small bar filled with very early classics that are fun for people who barely remember anything beyond SFII, Space Invaders, and Pac Man, but have next to nothing for people like us?
I lived in San Francisco around 10 years ago, when SFIV resulted in the unusual phenomenon of not one but two new arcades opening up in the US: the intriguingly named South Town in SF and one whose name I forget in San Mateo where all the actual Japanese companies and food are. The former was small but going for a hardcore audience, and the latter had more of a mix, but both failed. In contrast, this was around the time when the barcade concept was on the rise in the US, and I imagine it still is. There are also country-level issues with urban planning, of course, and whether people happen to be in the area on foot or not.
I still expect more of the Mikado style in Japan to survive...or maybe the fate of casual interest in purikura and UFO catchers will be the ultimate decider for designers.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 12 Oct 05:39] |
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| "Re(2):Even if it is ZDR, Metroid gonna crawl!" , posted Fri 15 Oct 00:22:
Wow, that is some high praise for Metroid Dread! It is incomprehensible that it's been made by the hated creators of Lords of Shadow, so I guess this is an uplifting tale of redemption! You know, it's been rumored that anti-game company Konami might actually make some games again based on its horribly wasted catalogue of 16 and 32 bit legends...maybe they will use these guys to make a new Dracula game?
Speaking of outsourcing, it's interesting that Nintendo has farmed out Metroid for so long (starting with Prime, I guess), and that they're doing the same thing with the pretty ugly Game Boy Wars Advance remake coming up. Both titles are way more popular abroad than domestically, so I guess it makes sense.
Ah, this one got lost in the Random flow above:
quote:
I just finished Eastward. You know, that gorgeous pixel-art game that had been in development for 6 years...
I will say it has many moving, and particularly BEAUTIFUL moments for a pixel art game that aren't just wasted for charm.
Interesting! I'm always confused by the proponderance of "retro pixel" RPGs that look more like a Diesel Sweeties comic than any actual classic RPG with their unusual blocky proportions, but this one looks much better. But what's going on with the setting and the miswritten Japanese signage in those photos? Still, this reminds me that we live in an era where a spiritual sequel to the unusual US-made Secret of Evermore is imaginable!
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 15 Oct 00:28] |
| PSN: robotchris
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| "Re(3):Even if it is ZDR, Metroid gonna crawl!" , posted Fri 15 Oct 02:12
quote:
Wow, that is some high praise for Metroid Dread! It is incomprehensible that it's been made by the hated creators of Lords of Shadow, so I guess this is an uplifting tale of redemption! You know, it's been rumored that anti-game company Konami might actually make some games again based on its horribly wasted catalogue of 16 and 32 bit legends...maybe they will use these guys to make a new Dracula game?
Nope, nope, nope, after those 3 miserable (little piles of secrets) Castlevania games by those folks, I would sooner see the series languish for a century until Shaft returns to resurrect it. Consider this your official yellow flag warning for suggesting such a thing.
That said, so far so good with the new Metroid, which I've just started on. It's brutal! I've probably died more times than in a whole playthrough of most other Metroids! I'm still not sure it's the game for me! But I think MercuryStream has a much better handle on this series than it did on Castlevania.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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| PSN: Gojira_X
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| "Re(4):Even if it is ZDR, Metroid gonna crawl!" , posted Fri 15 Oct 05:26:
I'm a little over an hour into Dread and I will concur that the game feels great. Movement is swift, abilities are simple, and I think one of the things that contributes to it feeling so new is the fact that it's one of the first Metroids I've played that holds back on giving you the morph ball.
Although I feel it does experience a few design failings in terms of communication; the way it tries to convey "there's something hidden here" to the player is extremely subtle and not entirely obvious, which has lead me to backtrack around a lot with no easy way back only to find that the thing I was looking for was a floor I had to shoot at a specific dead end way back at the path I diverged. Shooting the environment in Dread feels very awkward compared to, say, Super Metroid, because instead of holding a button that automatically angles your shot upward or downward, you either hold in a diagonal direction (which feels chaotic because you will be running at the same time) or hold a button and then aim with the awkward and imprecise analog pad. It doesn't feel fun and it doesn't lend itself well to exploration.
Also the lore that the EMMI tracks you from the "noise" you make while nearby seems a bit cheap considering the game presents you with no immediate way to stop making noise. Samus will run and jump with aplomb no matter what you do, and every time she hits the floor or wall a target marker will beat you over the head as if to say "NON NON NON" even though there's nothing you can really do. And after the initial tutorials telling you "hey look the X button is useful in this situation" it basically footnotes this with "oh by the way it's impossible to actually do this" as it gives you no indication when to use it in subsequent encounters, making cheap deaths pretty easy to experience since with the way the map is staggered you can easily walk through a door and run directly into an EMMI (which happened to me several times).
But otherwise I'm enjoying it. I liked Other M after all. I clearly don't know how to find Metroid unenjoyable.
quote:
Eastward
Regarding this game, I have a bit of a personal connection to it. Nothing too deep - I wasn't exactly involved in its development - but the game runs on Moai, which some might remember I had some involvement in developing. And yes, Moai is still around, still free and still being used. What I didn't find out until recently, though, was even though Moai had only been mobile game middleware, Pixpil actually took the Moai source and ported it to the Switch just for Eastward. They could have just gone with a different framework, but they went this route and now we can develop games for the Switch. So that was very cool of them.
[this message was edited by Gojira on Fri 15 Oct 05:39] |
| | "Re(1):Sega returns!" , posted Sun 17 Oct 08:46
quote:
Hooray! Following the emotional closing of Sega Ikeburo Gigo game center, they are getting a new place...right across the street?! It opens on October 22. I was honestly expecting a much sadder ending to this story!
Fantastic news. Warms my heart!
The Western barcade meme never really sat well with me, primarily because it was afflicted by the same conditions that ruined the old American arcades - neglect of machine care. There's not enough craft beer, or expensive novelty cocktails to make me tolerate a bad monitor or broken input (joystick switch, or push button switch - easy fix).
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I found a cozy little time tunnel on weekends locally. A small retro arcade, John Salter's Full Blast Arcade that was well maintained and stocked with games I never saw in local arcades (Capcom Vs. SNK 2, Virtua Fighter 4!) as they went into their final days, followed by a double feature at the drive-in down the road. It was like living in the good old days again.
The arcade moved into a larger space, and the operator obtained a food and liquor license to have snacks and drinks on site for a fun afternoon. Unfortunately it was an early casualty of the Covid-19 lockdowns here.
A trip to Japan is a must once society wrestles the endemic phase of Covid-19 into submission.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P - IGGY ARI !  | "Re(2):13 Sentinels switching to Nintendo" , posted Tue 30 Nov 09:03
quote:
Meanwhile, since it's Nintentime for Vanillaware now anyway, there are a great many reasons I'd love to see Oboro Muramasa break out of Wii U jail and onto a console I actually own!
More than breaking out of the WiiU: it should break out of the freaking PS VITA!!! Remember the game had 4 DLC there, with 4 original scenarios where you played 4 characters that moved and attacked differently from the 2 identical main MC. And no, I never played those so I don't know how good they were, but they were undoubtedly pretty so that's all that matters.
The thing is, there is a chance that 13 Sentinels, Dragon's Crown or the better Odin's Sphere might end up on Switch or PC or Stadia. It will just take them 20 years, the time to drip through VW>Atlus>Sega Japan>Sega who actually knows how to sell games
For Muramasa, the path is VW>Marvelous>???
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| | "Re(3):13 Sentinels switching to Nintendo" , posted Wed 1 Dec 03:48
quote:
It will just take them 20 years, the time to drip through VW>Atlus>Sega Japan>Sega who actually knows how to sell games
As a lowly Western Sega fan, I bristle at Sega knowing how to sell games - outside of Japan. If it were up to Sega of America, the port of Dragon's Crown would be switched to Yakuza Crown, or Sonic Crown (replacing the Dragon's Crown cast with Yakuza or Sonic characters) as we have been relegated to these being the only substantive titles Sega releases in the West.
Being a Western Sega fan is probably as close as I'll get to being into a domination and submission relationship. Waiting eight years for PSO2 to be localized, never seeing Border Break localized and being forced to live in a world of bland Western FPS titles and battle royal trash. Maybe Border Break is robot battle royal trash, but I'd like to find out for myself. :(
Right now, I'm wrestling with my willingness to throw Sega some money for Free to Play New Genesis; but finding it difficult to rationalize doing so as I'll only be buying into the sixth ring of Gacha Hell. I'm not opposed to playing dress-up, it's a big appeal of the game; but I'd like more direct purchase for my financial investment options.
Hopefully it gets ironed out. Caving will inevitably happen, because I've paid actual money to play games far, far worse than New Genesis which I'm enjoying the heck out of despite the rabid players being angry over the lack of content.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(3):13 Sentinels switching to Nintendo" , posted Thu 2 Dec 11:25:
quote:
I also second a Muramasa port. That and Odin Sphere and Dragon's Crown.
While I seldom buy re-releases that aren't full-blown Lunar~SSS style remakes or at least a very high quality remaster like FFVIII, I would happily buy Dragon's Crown again to play with all of you! I'm listening to Ghost Ship Cove B Route, one of the most sublime pieces Sakimoto has ever made, on the stereo right now and recalling our glorious Toxico-led adventures.
As for Sega: I can't speak much about their treatment of Western consumers today, but in comparison to the well-known bad old days under Bernie Stolar and the anti-RPG, anti-RAM cart, self-destructive US Saturn regime, it's pretty interesting that some really Japanese games like Ryuu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza, Judge Eyes, and even Sakura Taisen appear to be getting international releases, and pretty quick ones at that. No idea if these are well-written, but from afar, it actually seems pretty good?
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 2 Dec 11:32] |
| | "Re(4):13 Sentinels switching to Nintendo" , posted Fri 10 Dec 16:00
quote:
As for Sega: I can't speak much about their treatment of Western consumers today, but in comparison to the well-known bad old days under Bernie Stolar and the anti-RPG, anti-RAM cart, self-destructive US Saturn regime, it's pretty interesting that some really Japanese games like Ryuu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza, Judge Eyes, and even Sakura Taisen appear to be getting international releases, and pretty quick ones at that. No idea if these are well-written, but from afar, it actually seems pretty good?
Barring my theatrics, I attribute it to the adversarial nature fostered in the console days between Sega of Japan and Sega of America. My conspiracy theory is American fans are being "punished" (read: neglected) by Sega.
Delving further into tinfoil hat territory, it's my personal belief that Nagoshi turned himself into Japanese Mickey Rourke and propped up the Yakuza series as complete fealty to the rumored actual Yakuza connections Sega of Japan had during their coin-op / arcades days of the 90's.
Bernie Stolar should thank his lucky stars there's an ocean to protect him from righteous Yakuza retribution. :p
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| | "Re(2):Phantasy Star forever" , posted Mon 13 Dec 00:04
quote:
The unexpected appearance of Phantasy Star in the classic fighting game thread has more or less inspired me to finally play Phantasy Star IV on my Mega Drive Mini (soon) and made me feel bad again about only getting partway through the PS2 Sega Ages version of II. Meanwhile: the end of an online game world seems like a sad thing, and I was impressed to read that fans basically have their own preserved Phantasy Star Online servers still running, each with its own local variation! That is some Phantasy Star III-style transgenerational heritage from the collapsed home planet and/or multi-generation story branching right there!
I hate to admit that a massive part of my love for Phantasy Star on the Master System (although I played it thanks to Gensis MS convertor) was the first person dungeons.
The original series lost me when they ditched that gimmick, and crushed my love of drawing graph paper dungeon maps. :b
PSO took a lot of coming around to, even in 2001 I had such nostalgia for the Master System game and characters. Plus the designs of the game were so far out compared to the classic anime sci-fi designs of the original. Fortunately it was a one of a kind franchise for me, and I'm still with it to this day; despite the abuse of Sega of Japan neglecting Western audiences.
It's interesting how PS and PSO belong to the same franchise, yet feel like completely different and unrelated entities.
The first-person dungeons in PSI were really amazing, and it's odd that they were dropped in the later entries. It feels like Sega wasn't sure how to move the series forward in PSII (with most party members randomly appearing at Rolf's HQ barely justifying why they want to join the party - then again, that death scene is one of the strongest moments in the entire saga) and PSIII (whose idea of exploring multiple generations is amazing in theory, but executed in a really shallow way, to the point where even Sega treats it as a side story and PSIV as the true sequel to PSII).
Fortunately, PSIV is amazing. It's a pity that it didn't bring the first-person dungeons back, but it did everything else right, with a fleshed-out story, multiple party members with different skills, the team spells... It was a great way to conclude the original universe.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(3):Phantasy Star forever" , posted Mon 13 Dec 15:52
Thanks to you guys, I'm having a blast with Phantasy Star IV! PSI and II's adult sensibilities and dramatically directed sci-fi worlds are so cutting-edge in 1987 and 1989 (!!) and blow away the inane nonsense in Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest stories at the time. PSI is remarkable for its early strong female lead in Alisa, and no less so for the large number of female staff on the series. Lots of people know artist/designer/PSIV co-director Kodama Rieko, maybe the coolest lady in video games, but a lot fewer know Aoki Chieko, who directed and wrote PSII! I was shocked to find her role misattributed throughout the English-speaking internet, so I spent the better half of today fixing this.
Even though FFIV, DQIV, and Lunar finally caught up with Sega by 1993 with their own dramatic stories, PSIV still really impresses me with its environmental ruin and fearlessness in doing away with main characters (unlike FFIV's constant fake-outs). And like how I played the second Lunar game first, which also takes place centuries after the original, I'm enjoying all the tales of the past games like some glorious legend. I really like incidental story bits like the optional visit to the crashed spaceship that fled Palma in PSII, and how they generously suggest that even the much-maligned PSIII could somehow fit into the story even though almost no one involved with the series worked on it. Not that they go overboard and confirm the whole thing, since it doesn't fit with the series chronology at all, especially regarding Dark Force who should've been gone by then.
Too bad the field graphics are so weak, but its manga panel cinemas are the most visually impressive RPG direction on MD until Lunar~Eternal Blue's 50 mintues of actual animation on Mega CD in 1994. I can't believe no one else was doing this! The music is half awful and half awesome, but that opening sequence is hot hot hot.
As for those impressive 3D dungeons in PSI, I think that was the very last moment when imitating the influential early American PC RPGs still made sense, even as Dragon Quest was changing the mould. By PSII, I guess their time had passed, and the creators themselves have said that good 3D dungeons on Mega Drive would have taken way too much space and weren't really what they were interested in. I can't think of too many mainline console RPGs with 3D dungeons after this other than Shining and the Darkness!
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．．．
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
XBL: n/a
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(5):Phantasy Star forever" , posted Tue 14 Dec 13:24
Hmm, PSIV ends up feeling like Breath of the Wild for me, where the music doesn't quite match the grandeur of the rest of the game. There are definitely some really great tracks: the opening, last boss, and Palma spaceship ruin songs are AWESOME. The overworld and most town themes are good, but then you also have to deal with the usual grungy Mega Drive sound on the weak battle tracks, as well as ear-splittingly awful ten second loops like the town of Tonoe, the suspicion music with the academy head at the beginning, and the unlistenable shop theme. Like, it really makes me not want to go shopping!
I find the instrumentation and composition of many PSIV tracks compare poorly with its 1992-3 peers like FFV, DQV, and Lunar 1, with a towering achievement like FFVI's soundtrack coming out right after. The SFC's superior soundchip isn't an excuse, though: the MD has superb examples like Lunar 2's soundtrack the next year which used only PCM, not streaming CD audio like Lunar 1, and Sonic 1 and 2's soundtracks showed the beauty you can achieve with the right sound programmer.
I still love the game, though.
And wow, $99 in the US! That's even higher than Japan's 8800Y. You really were paying for the size of the cartidge back then...I always delight in reminding people that FFVI cost 11,000Y in 1994 money!
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．．．
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| | "Retem? Damn near killed 'em!" , posted Fri 17 Dec 18:28
The Retem update for New Genesis released this week. While I have yet to venture into the new region, Sega addressing quality of life issues with the game are impressive.
User Interface has been tweaked, e.g. now regions of the map have a glow when selected to indicate the boundaries of the area. There's now a nice audio cue when your Photon Blast has fully charged (I think that's new, or altered). You can set your Mag to ping a variety of items in the world (crates, fruits, vegetables, rare items).
Two new NPC's to issue additional missions while playing are a welcome addition.
Enemy AI is a bit more aggressive. I had a malevolent Daityl Axe follow me out of the Halpha wetlands tonight, which is a problem as my battle power is too low to engage it. Very intimidating and fun in a masochistic manner. I will not lie, I was attempting to lure it to a group of players since nobody was coming to my aid before I was struck down by a laser beam to the back.
Level cap is raised from 20 to 35.
I could swear there are new visual effects as well. I was taken by the beauty of dawn sunlight on a nearby mountain as I engaged a veteran Big Frogga.
Overall, it's a very nice and substantive quality of life supplement.
Sadly, the lock-on system is still very wonky. I hope to draw up a quick diagram of how a line of sight lock-on system should work, as it's highly bothersome when your character locks on to something you are not looking at, or worse - behind you.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(3):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Thu 10 Feb 13:19
quote:
even Chrono Trigger has barely any uncompromised ports
Ported to PC in 2018.
Hahaha, note the "uncompromised" part, though. With a DS port that "did its best" with the shoddy music and rammed in Katou's dumb Chrono Cross stuff, and a hideous mobile-to-Steam port, I like to imagine that Chrono Trigger has been untouched since 1995. ...Actually, in my Good Future where I travelled back to AD 1996 and destroyed Katou before he could ever start befouling Chrono with Radical Dreamers, it has indeed remained untouched!
But wow, you're right, I totally forgot that Rudra, Bahamut, and even Treasure Hunter G (!!) made it to Wii or Wii U (what's that). What a wonderful thing Virtual Console was.
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．．．
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| | "Re(6):Crossing the Chronos" , posted Thu 10 Feb 21:56
quote:
Mario Strikers looked neat. Getting some sort of Arch Rivals vibes off of it. Big fan of hybrid sport games, so the combat and customization is welcome. BEWARE TANK TOAD! :B
It does look great! I usually find soccer games boring, but this one looks very fun.
It's interesting that once again Rosalina takes Daisy's place as the second princess in a Mario game... at this rate, I won't be surprised if Nintendo eventually decides to retcon her as Luigi's sweetheart crush (they already had that special photo together in Super Mario Galaxy).
quote:
I heard...Cross is a bad Trigger sequel, but a great game on it's own terms.
You heard right. Cross is very different from Trigger, and not as epic as its predecessor, but it's still quite charming itself.
It's a pity that we never got a third Chrono game (and no, Radical Dreamers does not count). Then again, with Trigger already exploring time travel, and Cross exploring parallel timelines, I'm not sure what sci-fi concept a third game could explore in order to fit with the franchise's themes while not feeling repetitive.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| | "Re(7):Crossing the Chronos" , posted Fri 11 Feb 02:13:
quote:
I forgot to ask, any idea how long LiveAlive stories are? If each story were bite sized, it may make an interesting entry point for myself, as someone who lost interest in RPG's due to the time commitment on top of disinterest in game mechanics.
It varies from story to story. For instance, the Present Day story is ridiculously short; assuming you have good strategies for the battles and manage to win them all on your first try, it can be over in 20 minutes or less. If I remember correctly, the Wild West story was also pretty short (of course, not as much as the Present Day one). On the other hand, the Twilight of Edo Japan and the Near Future stories were quite long.
This could lead you to decide to start with the Present Day story, but the thing is, each story had a different way to be played. I mean, the overall mechanics and battle system are the same, but appear in different rates: Present Day is basically a SFII parody, and as such it's all about battles, with zero exploration and barely any narration or dialogue; conversely, the Distant Future story involves lot of exploration and story but only one battle (...well, unless you count the videogame that can be played in it).
Unfortunately, I don't think it was possible to play a new story before finishing the one you were playing at the time (maybe I'm wrong, or maybe this will be changed in the remake); still, it's interesting trying each of them to find out what unique features it has that the other stories don't.
—-
EDIT: For anyone here who decides to try this game out, one thing I forgot to tell: the Ancient China story presents quite a dilemma on whether you should follow a walkthrough or play it completely unaware of anything - personally, I suggest the latter.
It’s not a complicated chapter full of hidden areas and items (like the Ninja chapter), so a walkthrough would normally be completely unnecessary. The thing is, there is one huge plot twist in this chapter that only works if the player is completely unaware of what happens - but, by doing so, the player may take a decision earlier that will make the rest of the chapter (and the final chapter of the game as a whole) harder in terms of gameplay and the skills you have access to.
If I remember correctly, as long as you hadn’t finished all seven chapters, you could play a finished chapter again - if the remake keeps this idea, my suggestion would be to play the Ancient China story completely in the dark first, and then, once you experience the twist and understand what you should have done to make your life easier before the twist comes, you can play it again and do what you didn’t do before.
(Unless, of course, you had already done it during the first playthrough - I guess each person will take different choices when playing it for the first time, and it’s quite possible that many players actually do the best choice by themselves… it’s just that I didn’t)
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Sat 12 Feb 21:14] |
| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(6):Crossing the Chronos" , posted Fri 11 Feb 08:48
Love the Live A Live commentary, Just a Person! As the only person I have ever seen writing about it in English (and possibly Japanese), you could compile your posts over the years and be the foremost authority by default! It's a nice prelude to Square's experimental PS1 phase. Is Racing Lagoon possible without Live A Live? I don't think it is!
I can offer a different opinion on the other game, though:quote:
I heard...Cross is a bad Trigger sequel, but a great game on it's own terms.
"Once every 100 years, when Christ's power is at its weakest, Count Dracula Maou is resurrected by the prayers of wicked men to pontificate endlessly on Chrono Cross..."
You are in luck, I have been refining this unasked-for set of opinions for years, waiting to bombard some unfortunate reader when the time was right! Chrono Cross is:
-a hideous non-sequel with a completely incongruous tone, created by none of the original directors or producers who defined Chrono Trigger. It is a vapid piece of dark fanfiction by Katou Masato, a mediocre scenario writer who, like Nomura as designer in FFVIII and X, produced decent work under very strict supervision by men of superior talent like FF creator Sakaguchi and DQ creator Horii but failed utterly when left to his own direction. Chrono Cross is the Advent Children of video games.
-a game with a fascinating first hour and ending sequence that movingly invites you to consider the very different directions your life could have taken. Too bad the rest of the game is not like this at all: hilariously, this game is unwittingly a mise en abyme that reflects its own theme of poor decisions and missed opportunities!
-an act of crass vandalism against Chrono Trigger’s earnestness. It is cynical, brutal, and joyless, where the only redeeming feature of the main story is that the good ending basically undoes the entire chain of causality that ruined the original game’s world and set up this dumb story in the first place.
-a vehicle for a soundtrack of sweeping beauty, possibly Mitsuda’s greatest work, with an ending song whose profoundly moving lyrics I translated for a mix album I made for someone very important to me when I was very young.
-an embarrassing and self-important pile of exposition with no characterization at all, punctuated by occasional barrages of psychobabble and unidirectional backstory explanations, the logical extreme of chuunibyou Evangelion-inspired abstruseness disguised as thematic depth. Perhaps you played it English and assumed it was someone else's fault, but no: it is truly awful writing.
-a game with a pretty unique battle system that some people really love, some people don’t really care about, and that all people will find hard to concentrate on due to the most irritating battle theme of all time.
-an entire story premised around saving an optional Chrono Trigger character’s NPC sister (who most reasonable players would have reasonably assumed was dead anyway), yet said character is nowhere to be found, and instead the game is populated by 40 party characters whose only personality is literally their accents. It is also a game where one of the “main” characters is only obtainable by being relentlessly cruel to the other and not letting her join you, ensuring that you see as little of what passes for this game’s characters as possible.
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．．．
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Platinum Carpet V.I.P - IGGY ARI ! | "Re(2):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Fri 11 Feb 09:24
I have nothing to contribute to the current discussion, since I think Live A Live is a charming experiment that is being bolstered for being not available outside of Japan, and I found Chrono Cross stale and... I think Maou used the best word, "Joyless". How could a thing with so many colors and great music be so drab? Not to mention why bring the Chrono Trigger baggage with you if you weren't going to do anything about it.
However, the real reason I posted was
quote:
Rudra No Hihou
Yes. If current SQEX can translate Radical Dreamers on a whim, Rudra should be next on line. It may not be the best game in the world, but I have a special soft spot for it, its nice music, its surprising yet simple gimmick about the 3+ scenarios happening simultaneously, its weird battle system, and the best looking Squaresoft game on SFC.
I'm surprised we didn't get announcement for the Saga Frontier 2 remake. We need to get through that to reach Unlimited and Minstrel Song, so the faster it comes, the more likely we are to get those games before the money well of the gacha dries up.
Small disappointment at Capcom not showing anything out of their back catalogue either. I don't know, they could have done some Rockman Dash compilation, or Warzard added to the arcade machine thingie, anything, really.
Anyway, I'll probably buy the Front Mission 1 and 2 remake. I remember 2 having minutes of loading between each actions back in the day, so I'm excited to finally finish that.
Oh, and also, I can't tell whether this is ridiculous or fantastic. Possibly both.
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| "Re(3):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Fri 11 Feb 11:21:
quote:
Anyway, I'll probably buy the Front Mission 1 and 2 remake. I remember 2 having minutes of loading between each actions back in the day, so I'm excited to finally finish that.
I'm happy Front Mission 1st and 2nd are getting remakes but...considering the genre of their previous work, for the love of me, I have no idea why Forever Entertainment passed up the opportunity to revive Einhänder instead and bring it to modern consoles instead.
I'm eager to try out LiveALive due to its omnibus nature! And speaking of trying out, apprently the 13 Sentinels demo is now out on eShop.
quote:
-an embarrassing and self-important pile of exposition with no characterization at all, punctuated by occasional barrages of psychobabble and unidirectional backstory explanations, the logical extreme of chuunibyou Evangelion-inspired abstruseness disguised as thematic depth. Perhaps you played it English and assumed it was someone else's fault, but no: it is truly awful writing.
Wasn't that...pretty much everything the Playstation represented during that era? Certainly Legacy of Kain felt that way with it's edgy writing.
Shame to hear then about Chrono Cross being a joyless endeavor as I was willing to see what the hype surrounding it was all about (I heard more favorable stuff regarding Radical Dreamers though). Same with Symphony of the Night, if only that game were released on the Switch...
[this message was edited by sfried on Fri 11 Feb 11:28] |
| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(4):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Fri 11 Feb 12:22:
quote:
Shame to hear then about Chrono Cross being a joyless endeavor as I was willing to see what the hype surrounding it was all about (I heard more favorable stuff regarding Radical Dreamers though).
Haha, putting aside Just a Person's kinder view, I find any hype around Chrono Cross is from a minority of internet contrarians and revisionists, usually people who grew up playing games and are now looking for "dark" or "underappreciated" things to reevaluate now that they've lost their youthful ability to judge things earnestly and squarely on their actual merits. At the time of release, Chrono Cross got what it deserved: embarrassing sales that were less than one third of Chrono Trigger's despite its predecessor's universal acclaim, and the end of Katou's involvement with any projects of significance. If not for the astounding music, Chrono Cross would long since have been completely forgotten.
...much like: Radical Dreamers. I mean, if you're going to make an inane Chrono Trigger fanfic text adventure with none of the original creative visionaries, you may as well make it a downloadable Satellaview game with a different name that no one will ever, ever play! So in a way, I am less offended by the existence of Radical Dreamers just because its lowly medium instantly signals how experimental/stupid/unimportant it was, rather than wasting good budget and the Chrono Trigger name on such a half-assed yet self-important story like Chrono Cross. Plus, Radical Dreamers was more aware of the absurdity of it all before Katou got lost in Xenogears and Chrono Cross levels of narrative muck later: sure, it has basically the same awful "dark" base scenario as Chrono Cross, but also a bunch of perplexing add-on scenarios, like one where one of the main characters is now a space detective and the villain is the king of Mars. Uh????
Anyway, I promise you will enjoy that Dracula game when you finally manage to play it, though! Sometimes a good reputation is well-deserved.
quote:
Saga Frontier 2 remake.
I don't second that.
Hee hee hee. This is all a necessary sacrifice in order to bring about Lord Kawazu's master plan of an Unlimited Saga remake, as divinely revealed in the Book of Iggy.
PS: Splatoon is a lot of fun!
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 11 Feb 12:52] |
| | "Re(4):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Fri 11 Feb 16:32
quote:
Wasn't that...pretty much everything the Playstation represented during that era? Certainly Legacy of Kain felt that way with it's edgy writing.
Hey now, I can't let you run at Blood Omen like that. Granted I haven't played it since it released, and I do agree that the Playstation did make a concerted effort to appeal to Western audiences, my original pre-Toshinden impression was something akin to, pardon my phrasing here, white trash paradise. Demolition derby, WWF game, Twisted Metal, and Mortal Combat whatever edition (although that was not unique to the PS in that era).
For the record, I was and am a Saturn die-hard (from my cold dead hands, etc.); but when I eventually got around to spending my comic shop paychecks on a used Playstation Blood Omen and Vandal Hearts left a pretty solid impression. Coming out of the Sega and Nintendo era of console gaming, the mature tones and language used in the games felt different to a gamer in 1996.
Plus Blood Omen had a wonderful voice cast, many of whom worked on another favorite the ReBoot TV series; and then went on to do a fantastic job on the dub of Berserk for the Dreamcast.
I haven't played the game since, and I do recall the load times being nightmarish; but in terms of the titles on offer at the time - Blood Omen was a cut above the rest. At least, it was more loquacious and wasn't merely YEEEEHAW! Cars! Guns! Mountain Dew! :b
Sony really needs to put more respect on Toshinden, were it not for the first two games - I probably would have never purchased a Playstation back then. Kids these days are flipping their wig over Happy Chaos, but I recall having my wig flipped by Vermillion in my buddy's import copy of Toshinden 2. The OG gun-fu fighting game character.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| | "Re(7):Crossing the Chronos" , posted Fri 11 Feb 21:27:
quote:
Love the Live A Live commentary, Just a Person! As the only person I have ever seen writing about it in English (and possibly Japanese), you could compile your posts over the years and be the foremost authority by default! It's a nice prelude to Square's experimental PS1 phase. Is Racing Lagoon possible without Live A Live? I don't think it is!
Haha, thanks! But I'd say Hardcore Gaming 101 did a much better job detailing Live-A-Live, pointing out both its creative gimmicks... and its many, many problems as well.
Just beware, this article spoils many of the surprises and plot twists of the game.
quote:
Sony really needs to put more respect on Toshinden, were it not for the first two games - I probably would have never purchased a Playstation back then. Kids these days are flipping their wig over Happy Chaos, but I recall having my wig flipped by Vermillion in my buddy's import copy of Toshinden 2. The OG gun-fu fighting game character.
The problem with the Toshinden series is that its quality was... questionable, wasn't it? If I remember correctly, 1 was quite mediocre (but acceptable as a game released in PS1's early days), 2 was considerably better... then came 3, which was awful. And then 4 tried to follow KOF's idea as a team-based fighting game, but having only 13 characters (an okay number for a 1-on-1 fighting game, but too limited for 3-on-3 battles) and nevertheless still being unforgivably poor in all aspects (graphics, gameplay, animation etc.) for a game released long after Soul Edge, Tekken 3 and even PS1's version of Dead or Alive 1.
But yes, Vermillion was quite a cool design. In fact, other characters in the series also have pretty good designs - but not good enough to save Toshinden.
(and I guess DC never found out that Toshinden 3 had a blatant Catwoman rip-off)
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Fri 11 Feb 21:28] |
| | "Re(8):Crossing the Chronos" , posted Sat 12 Feb 02:16
quote:
The problem with the Toshinden series is that its quality was... questionable, wasn't it? If I remember correctly, 1 was quite mediocre (but acceptable as a game released in PS1's early days), 2 was considerably better... then came 3, which was awful. And then 4 tried to follow KOF's idea as a team-based fighting game, but having only 13 characters (an okay number for a 1-on-1 fighting game, but too limited for 3-on-3 battles) and nevertheless still...
I don't disagree there.
Toshinden 3 was a hard break for me. It was at that point they went the Tekken route, artificially inflating the roster by making lame clone characters of all the main characters. Yay! You have 30 characters now (or whatever it was), because you just added new models. Low effort.
Although through the lens of today's fighting game market; this was also a heyday of developers not putting us on a pay as you go content drip... :b
I think it all boils down to having good times and fond memories of the first two games, as clunky as they may have been. The Saturn installments were. . . not good. The port of the first game was very rough and I appreciated the idea of Toshinden URA; but. . . oof! Not to mention Saturn was awash in all of the Sega fighting games I loved, with the superior 2D ports from Capcom and SNK.
Tsukasa Kotobuki's mad character designs are always appreciated. Like Obari he had a pretty unique visual style, although that circle he ran in had a common language (Kotoyoshi / Kotobuki, and I forget the others at the moment). In general that's part of the artistic trade in Japan that really isn't seen these days in the West, despite the prevalence of style jackers who put a fast one over on their young fans who don't know they're just doing an imitation of Kinu Nishimura or Hiroaki...
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| | "Re(5):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Sat 12 Feb 07:24
quote:
my original pre-Toshinden impression was something akin to, pardon my phrasing here, white trash paradise. Demolition derby, WWF game, Twisted Metal, and Mortal Combat whatever edition
As with a number of PS1 games, Destruction Derby was about showing the power of polygons. Racing games largely didn't do "realistic" damage modeling. And if you are going to build your racing game on the idea of trashing cars, particularly in the early days of 3D when you still couldn't actually do "realistic" damage, then you might as well go all in on it.
Twisted Metal 1 was kind of jank, but it was a nice proof of concept. I'll continue to defend Twisted Metal 2 as the best arcade-style car combat game that I've ever played. I say that as someone who went back to the game a few years back and found it was still as fun as I remembered. (I say that as someone who beat the game with every vehicle without continuing, and then went on to do it again without dying at all.)
Toshinden was...a game. On one hand, I hate that the franchise never made it out of the PS1 era. I was memorable, fun enough at the time, and had some decent to interesting character designs. You could tell it wanted to be seen the same as Tekken and Soul Edge. At the same time, I can understand why the franchise never made it out of the PS1 era. It just wasn't that great, and the design philosophy seemed more focused on style than substance. It can be hard to realize it today, but at the time Toshinden was the eye candy fighting game, sold more by its graphics than its gameplay. Heck, I remember people using Toshinden as "proof" the Playstation was better and more powerful than the Saturn, because the Saturn couldn't handle its transparencies. When fighting game fans were trumpeting the necessity for 60fps gameplay, one of the sequels made it an option. You could play the game at 60fps with "reduced" graphical effects, or play it at 30fps with full graphical effects. I tried both, and don't remember feeling a difference...
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| | "Re(9):Living a live (or seven) on the Switch" , posted Sun 13 Feb 08:28
quote:
It was just a bit annoying in deathmatch or rally clutch situations. A less intrusive route, would be take the Street Fighter 3 method and standardize the special move input Super Arts style. Eliminating the left/right inputs would remove a lot of the hassle of trying to maintain your target while accidentally steering to fire off an ice ball.
I can't recall the number of special moves there were - jump, ice, cloak (?)... But I think a more sensible approach could have been implemented.
I think that it interfered with your steering was part of the point, it was the trade-off for using them.
However the moves are also designed to have a pretty low impact once you learned and practiced them. Most are only three inputs long. While you mention veering off, no move requires more than two horizontal direction inputs, and the moves that require two such inputs always use opposing inputs.
The inputs are also built to easily remembered patterns. Attacks start with either left,right or right,left. Forward attacks end with up, while rear attacks end with down. Evasive jumps and shields instead start with up,up. The only confusing bit is keeping straight which moves you get from left and which you get from right. (forward ice versus forward napalm, rear fire versus rear mine drop, jump versus shield)
Temporary invisibility was a 4-input 360 motion (right,down,left,up). I recall it did mess with my steering, but I hardly ever used it, preferring to be able to deploy a shield or similar instead. Health recovery (Sell Your Soul) was an intentional 8-input commitment. (Some argue that Health recovery was instead a cheat, but my counter-argument is that all of TM2's other cheats involve a shoulder button input. And it wasn't free health recovery, you sacrificed all of your stocked weapons for a proportional amount of healing.)
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| "Re(8):GrimGrimoire OnceMore" , posted Thu 28 Apr 06:29
quote:
I would love to hear more of your thoughts! I saw a fair amount of strategy stuff and I don’t like mecha very much, but I would like to change my mind while waiting for an Oboro Muramasa port!
Boy...I've been playing this game nonstop. It's just that addicting. What a wild ride!
I've finally finished it, and I'd say most of the main mode is focused on the story mode, which acts more like a pooint-and-click adventure game. Other than that, the "stop-and-go" RTS mode can become fairly addicting.
Might I ask, did you mean you dislike the involvement of mecha in the story, or was it more "giant robot-style gameplay", whichever that means? I'll tell you right now that the story...is far more than just a bunch of high-school kids piloting mechs. I would strongly suggest checking it out even if you're not fond of giant robots.
BTW, the Switch version does contain certain rebalances over the PS4 version when it comes to the pause-based RTS segments. For one, there's a bit more customizability with the added arsenal.
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| | "Re(1):Two spiritual sequels, 1 Kickstarter ca" , posted Sat 27 Aug 16:55
quote:
The core teams behind PS1/PS2's Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts series will launch a Double Kickstarter campaign to fund their respective spiritual sequels, Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood.
I'm not too familiar with the Shadow Hearts series (but I remember reading some articles about Koudelka in the late 1990s and it looked pretty cool), but I love the first Wild Arms game, so this news got me very interested. Plus, Gematsu's interview with the projects' respective lead game designers shows that both games have some very interesting ideas. Hopefully they'll manage to achieve their goals.
The one thing I didn't understand is where the decision to make a joint Kickstarter campaign for these two projects came from, considering that they're being developed by different companies... maybe the projects' respective lead game designers are friends, like Danganronpa's Kodaka and Zero Escape's Uchikoshi?
(speaking of which, I frequently wonder when Kodaka and Uchikoshi will finally release that "Limit X Despair" game that they announced when Too Kyo Games was founded...)
Wow that's such cool news! Thanks for the heads up!
I imagine they're comfortable sharing the Kickstarter because the platform's true utility is in marketing, not raising money. Most successfully funded games raise less than $10k from crowdfunding. Notable titles like Shenmue or Eiyuden Chronicles can raise several million dollars, which *is* significant, but still a fraction of their overall budget. But the most powerful thing about those kickstarter campaigns is how they raise awareness of the game. Their announcement is press worthy. The most hardcore fans will make sure all their friends know about it. Afterwards, when the campaign is over however much money they've raised is also a benchmark that can be used for securing more funds from publishers (you can make a good argument to get 4x your kickstarter funds from a publisher). So however money these two companies raise together, I don't think they'll haggle over the amount too much cos the positive coverage that it'll generate for both games is the most important thing.
www.art-eater.com
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| | "Re(3):Two spiritual sequels, 1 Kickstarter ca" , posted Thu 1 Sep 01:10
quote:
Good point! In that sense, these two companies sharing a Kickstarter campaign may attract more attention to their projects than if each of them did a Kickstarter campaign separately, right?
Hopefully they will manage to achieve their goals and keep these projects running.
Yup! They even said so in the Kickstarter video, their intention was to come together and share the publicity to essentially double the coverage for each game. Win/win!
And what a win! The met their funding goal within the first day and are closing in on raising $1m as we speak! Come to think of it, if they better cash that out ASAP since the dollar is so damn strong right now!
Also HOLY MOLY, I feel so lame commenting on their business practices rather than the games themselves. Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood look FANTASTIC!!!!
It's so cool to see the core teams behind classics like Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts are still together! But what really gets me excited about these games is they're not just playing on nostalgia. They're not making clones of their old classics with retro graphics and gameplay. They're making new and exciting things! This isn't them trying to relive their past glories, this is them showing the world what they can do NOW.
And oh man, it's so cool to see new games made with the strong points of 90s Japanese RPGS (strong distinct art direction and characters, great music, unique gameplay, hopefully great stories too!) but powered by modern tech. The cel shading that they're doing looks great! And it's so nice to see such pristine character designs. True to their roots, they're not overwrought, overdetailed and overdesigned as I feel a lot of newer games tend to be. And the color design is great too. They haven't fallen into the trap of using too much color grading and flashy lighting effects ending up with games that look good as Instagram posts, but exausting to actually look at while playing at length. They just look so ... nice! It's rare that I can get behind new games like this. Feels good!!
www.art-eater.com
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| | "Re(4):Two spiritual sequels, 1 Kickstarter ca" , posted Thu 1 Sep 05:53
quote:
Yup! They even said so in the Kickstarter video, their intention was to come together and share the publicity to essentially double the coverage for each game. Win/win!
And what a win! The met their funding goal within the first day and are closing in on raising $1m as we speak! Come to think of it, if they better cash that out ASAP since the dollar is so damn strong right now!
Also HOLY MOLY, I feel so lame commenting on their business practices rather than the games themselves. Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood look FANTASTIC!!!!
It's so cool to see the core teams behind classics like Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts are still together! But what really gets me excited about these games is they're not just playing on nostalgia. They're not making clones of their old classics with retro graphics and gameplay. They're making new and exciting things! This isn't them trying to relive their past glories, this is them showing the world what they can do NOW.
And oh man, it's so cool to see new games made with the strong points of 90s Japanese RPGS (strong distinct art direction and characters, great music, unique gameplay, hopefully great stories too!) but powered by modern tech. The cel shading that they're doing looks great! And it's so nice to see such pristine character designs. True to their roots, they're not overwrought, overdetailed and overdesigned as I feel a lot of newer games tend to be. And the color design is great too. They haven't fallen into the trap of using too much color grading and flashy lighting effects ending up with games that look good as Instagram posts, but exausting to actually look at while playing at length. They just look so ... nice! It's rare that I can get behind new games like this. Feels good!!
My bad; I forgot to watch the Kickstarter video... I loved it!
Anyway, as you pointed out, it's very interesting how these projects take several pages from Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts, but also bring several differences to stand out from their inspirations. And, of course, they're also very different from each other, which makes the idea of pairing them up for the Double Kickstarter campaign much more interesting.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(1):Yoko Shimomura, PASSION and random musi" , posted Wed 14 Sep 14:08
quote:
The new Theathrythm or however it's spelled has been announced! Chrono Trigger and Legend of Mana's best songs, and all the PASSIONATE RYTHM of Minstrel Song.
https://twitter.com/FinalFantasy/status/1569699414762995713
What's this?! Songs by SFII- and Mana-composing goddess Shimomura Youko in a Theathrehrherhehrythm game? Even if I don't care for the art, I sure do care that her music is in the game, especially if it places us one step closer to having her best track ever (this one, orchestrated Ghibli-esque-ly on her wonderful Drammatica album) as part of the Live-A-Live entries. And that's to say nothing of having Chrono Trigger (and Cross, if you must) tracks like Corridors of Time in there, together with Xenogears and Nier. I mean, for god's sake, the new track list has the glorious Battle 3 from the otherwise useless Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest, of all things!
Will the Romancing SaGa tracks enable us to perform the disco sewer dance from the SaGa thread at last?!
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．．．
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| "Re: FFXVI Hearts from the New World" , posted Fri 21 Oct 11:52
The troubled schedule of FFXVI hasn't kept them from releasing an intense new trailer, which is sort a curious mix: most importantly, I'm sure one of the kings is voiced by Wakamoto Norio, and another is oddly similar, so that's a solid start, but what we have here reminds me a bit of FFXII, also delayed, and also with characters whose movie models don't quite look right because they were probably made much earlier in a delayed process. FFVIIR has better moving faces, and for whatever reason the lip-sync feels off...or did they make it in English first??
I, I'm kind of more excited to play FFVIIR(s), which would be as remarkable a conversion as my joining the Kawazu SaGa cult!
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．．．
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| | "Re(9):Jad the Taff Returns" , posted Fri 11 Nov 10:15
quote:
I am deeply amused that what I thought was going to be an incredibly overt pun comes across as "possibly subtle"!
At first I thought it was a little too obvious, so I wrapped all the way back around and thought to myself, "It would be beautiful to believe that this could be unintentional."
We haven't enough discussed how one of the playable characters is named "Kart", as if this entire game was themed around mechanized transportation but only of particularly limited conveyance.
Every level ends with you leaving the confines of the building, with the first two levels seeing you hop into a van and driving away. The essential metaphor of descent and escape, and how even though you have means of mobility within these man-made places and the ability to kill countless people in them in a life-or-death struggle, the arenas which stall your progression until all your foes are dead ludologically confine you just as much as the environment of "places with elevators" does.
This even ties to the surprisingly shocking and understated ending
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
Normally every stage sees Jad the Taff stoically driving you off in your vehicle of escape, but you see no such scene after the final level, suggesting that there was no escape this time for the gang. The credits even show on the side of a flaming structure shown earlier in the stage, and it descends in flames.
End of Spoiler
There was no freedom to be jad.
Now I wish for the ultimate crossover fighting game:
TAFF E NUFF
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Nikke and Kim Hyung-tae" , posted Fri 9 Dec 12:33
You know, the Cafe is one of the only places in the early 2000s I can recall talking in English about Kim Hyung-tae's gloriously beautiful art for Korean PC RPGs like War of Genesis and Magna Carta, so it seems fitting to bring up Nikke, Goddess of Victory here now that it turns out it's made by Kim's own company. If not for Nobi, I probably wouldn't have noticed this refreshingly unrepentant cheesecake cellphone shooter that, I guess, revolutionizes the industry in terms of bouncing asses the way DOA did for bouncing breasts.
I am truly, unironically impressed by how thoroughly they have managed to capture every single modern artistic fetish and female anime design trope across so many characters. It's a shame the girls don't have more frames of animation since they're clearly center stage here.
This is all doubly interesting because I didn't realize it was Korean at first and it's a great study in cross-cultural artistic influence over time. Kim's superb early illustrations were very Japan-influenced but had these uniquely remarkable proportions and adult voluptuousness that predicted Bayonetta by a full decade, whereas the Nikke art is extremely high-quality (even if not my style) but is now indistinguishable from the prevailing child-like faces of most gal games in Japan today.
Alternate justification: MMCafe is also one of the few places to ever discuss Doki Doki Majo Shinpan in English, either, so this is a long tradition.
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．．．
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| "Re(2):Nikke and Kim Hyung-tae and Ys" , posted Tue 27 Dec 13:29
We now move from the theme of bouncing asses amidst crashing machine guns to the similarly propulsive theme of crashing into your enemies to defeat them: yes, it's a Switch port of Ys III: Oath in Felghana! Long ago, the Cafe told me that if I were ever to actually PLAY a Ys game rather than just listen to the perfect music all day, it should be Ys III, and I assume this is still true?
The hottest thing here, of course, is that three different soundtracks are selectable: the PC port, the PC-8801 version, and the X68000 version. Holy s--t! Just like Ikaruga is secretly a rhythm game disguised as a space shooter, I'm pretty sure Ys has always been the original Theatrhythm that just happens to contain some foundational RPG traditions that influenced a lot of people on the side.
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．．．
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| "Raystorm-ing away" , posted Thu 30 Mar 04:33
I feel sure that some Cafe patrons must have been fans of Taito's marvelous space shooters Rayforce, Raystorm, and Raycrisis from the 1990s! But what if I told you that emulation masters/my favorite game company in the world, M2, just put together a Switch and PS4 collection, Ray'z Arcade Chronology?!
It's as nice an occasion as any to remember the happy fact that M2 actually owns the rights to most of the legendary Aleste series by Compile (RIP), and of course also did the ports of Your Favorite Space Shooter (or else), Musha Aleste, and Den'nin/Robo Aleste on Mega Drive Mini and Mega Drive Mini 2 (thread resurrection coming soon once I finally play through all 60 games).
...If only they would also inherit the rights to Akumajou Dracula from Konami (they did make the ReBirth games, after all!), we might actually see new Draculas more than once every 100 years and possibly without human sacrifices!
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．．．
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| "Future Redeemed: Perfect Works" , posted Sun 30 Apr 16:47
So I just finished playing through the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC, Future Redeemed, and it's making me wonder if Takahashi has some...real serious intention on revisitng XenoSaga. As in (mega spoiler video link), literally wrestling it away from Harada/Bandai Namco, or perhaps work out some deal...
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
The fact that they literally namedrop certain key elements/figures from XenoSaga, not to mention the Vector logo on the radio, means that this isn't just some cameo appearance of KOS-MOS/TELOS as guest characters like before. This is literal acknowledgement that, contrary to popular belief that Xenogears/Saga are unrelated to Xenoblade, this pretty much outright ties the lore of said games in an official capacity. (Incidentally, Bandai Namco was listed as part of the Special Thanks in the credits)
End of Spoiler
Then again, I guess some people have been burned out by the MCU and multiversal narratives in general. It's still admirable that Takahashi is still trying to complete his magnum opus in some grand capacity.
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| "Re(1):Future Redeemed: Perfect Works" , posted Mon 1 May 00:25
quote:
Then again, I guess some people have been burned out by the MCU and multiversal narratives in general. It's still admirable that Takahashi is still trying to complete his magnum opus in some grand capacity.
I will always have space in my heart for Takahashi and Saga's grandiose, moving, overambitious, poorly edited, yet toweringly important work!
I think one of (many, many) reasons I never had any interest in the Marvel Corporate Cinematic Universe or today's dreadful march of endless Lucas-less zombie Star Wars or the relentless clutter added atop already cluttered FFVII is that those extended stories lack the artistic integrity of coming from essentially the same writer(s) and original plan. They're nothing but templates or shortcuts for new teams (anyone will do) to make very slight iterations on. In contrast, we have even in underdeveloped, profoundly flawed Xenogears a multi-chapter epic in draft form, a proverbial heartbreaking work of staggering genius, with the Perfect Works (nice reference!) book containing a volume of world design dwarfing any other RPG. When the Xeno people make more stuff, they're not just dragging things out or doing shallow corporate reboots, they're making some attempt to revive the original Xenogears plan on the scale of ancient societies' mythology.
I have a copy of Xenoblade I've been meaning to play and know I will love. I'm reminded by Sfried's link that I'd like to see the return of more ("nineties?") intelligent character design and actual adults to match the gravity of the stories, ideally with the return of Tanaka Kunihiko, or---dare we dream?---Amano Yoshitaka.
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．．．
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| "Re(2):Future Redeemed: Perfect Works" , posted Mon 1 May 05:29:
quote:
I have a copy of Xenoblade I've been meaning to play and know I will love. I'm reminded by Sfried's link that I'd like to see the return of more ("nineties?") intelligent character design and actual adults to match the gravity of the stories, ideally with the return of Tanaka Kunihiko, or---dare we dream?---Amano Yoshitaka.
From what I recall, didn't Kunihiko Tanaka retire or something? And Amano would be an interesting choice, abeit his art-style is tied very closely with Final Fantasy. I kinda wish if Hironobu Sakaguchi has another project in the works, he could enlist his services once again...
(Though it's funny: Kunihiko Tanaka did come back to make art for the Xenoblade 2 DLC characters. But I get what you mean.)
Besides, it's not as if SAITOM (Saitou Masatsugu) is doing a bad job moving forward, either, considering the more reigned-in sensibilities of the current artwork (most likely as a response to the backlash of the fan-service that Xenoblade 2 had with Pyra/Mythra). Then again, KOS-MOS was pretty much Takahashi's idea...special attacks and all.
An off-tangent thought: The XenoSaga series was at this era where 3D modelers were struggling to translate the concept art into something tangible, but XenoSaga I's models looked very doll-like in that early 2000's kind of vibe. I felt they were able to get more together by the time XS III rolled around. Xenoblade I's developement, in comparison, had no concept artist for the characters (they started out the with models first and formost, hence why they revisited the designs in Definitive Edition). SAITOM was introduced in XB II, along with a bunch of guest artists for all the various characters abd "Blades" (including Tetsuya Nomura!). It almost felt like a recruitment for a potential long-term artist, before they settled with SAITOM and his art style for XB III.
[this message was edited by sfried on Mon 1 May 10:35] |
| | "Master Detective: RAIN CODE later this month" , posted Wed 14 Jun 23:25:
Probably not many people here will be interested, but for those who like visual novels and/or mystery games, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE will be released for Switch this month. Judging from the trailers, it looks like a combination of Danganronpa (which makes sense, considering that DR's creator Kazutaka Kodaka is also RAIN CODE's creator) and the AI: The Somnium Files duology (from Zero Escape's creator Kotaro Uchikoshi, currently working in Kodaka's Too Kyo Games company, although he isn't involved in RAIN CODE).
When Kodaka and Uchikoshi announced the foundation of Too Kyo Games, I was very excited, especially when they announced that the two of them would be working together on the company's major project (whose tentative title was even a nod to both Danganronpa and Zero Escape series - while I doubt it'd be an actual crossover between the franchises themselves, a game capable of combining their gameplay concepts and narrative styles would still be fantastic)... which unfortunately seems to have been put on hold since the Covid-19 pandemic. While they don't resume that joint project, I guess RAIN CODE may be the closest thing we'll get this year. And hey, I'm not complaining at all, because judging from the trailers, RAIN CODE looks very promising.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Thu 15 Jun 00:55] |
| | "Re(1):DD2 gameplay" , posted Sat 23 Sep 01:50:
quote:
Courtesy of TGS, a new video about Dragon's Dogma 2 had been released. There's several interesting tidbits but the main thing here is the new hybrid vocation Mystic Spearhand. This style looks so ridiculously entertaining the remaining modes are going to have a hard time competing.
I'm hyped, but my baseline hype is probably much higher than average. I've seen a lot of fans feeling rather underwhelmed at the TGS showing, and other than the awesome-looking Mystic Spearhand there is admittedly very little that looks all that new. But I think this is pretty natural considering the sizable gap between the original and the sequel. They seem to be assuming that much of the potential audience is unfamiliar with or has perhaps forgotten how dogmas and dragons might relate to one another (and to be fair it's been over 10 years).
Supposedly Itsuno is streaming 50 minutes of play on Sunday, I imagine it'll probably going to stick to early game/intro stuff. So probably more goblins, harpies, griffins, and trolls... but I did see a rather massive minotaur in some off-screen footage. Fairly intimidating and at least a little bit novel—the first game had huge dudes with metal bull-headed helmets, but this thing is definitely all beef.
They actually teased a grinning giant sphinx in the first trailer, but assuming that's later-game and/or plot-related, showing a battle with an enemy like this might just be overload to people that don't even understand how the jobs/pawns/other systems work.
It seems clear to me that they see DD2 as kind of a redo, and after showing their "proof of existence" trailer are starting at the beginning in terms of explaining and marketing the game. The new stuff is not going to be visible in these early stages, as they are actually making the foundation broader (two major areas instead of one, separating some functions of the basic classes, retaining geography and enemies from the first game). It will take a while to build up from here, and they may want to save some secrets. Still a non-zero odds we go to the moon this time...
Looking at classes, it's kind of interesting that they've split daggers and bow (formerly united on the basic Strider class) into two separate classes (archer and thief), resulting in a wider vocation base. Since classes are color-coded, that should mean at least one more advanced class (darker color) and at least two more hybrids (two-color combos), if not more. There are some worries that there are fewer skills to assign after a control layout change, but I think it's too early to judge. Fun to speculate along these lines and imagine what new classes and analogs to DD and DDOnline classes might appear, but I won't get into too much detail here.
Idk, overall I think the game looks great and there's zero question that it will deliver on the strengths of the original game. If they make advances in terms of storytelling and emergent gameplay (which the original was already pretty good at), I'm going to be very pleased.
/ / /
[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Sat 30 Sep 02:19] |
| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(2):Exit 8 vs. Shinjuku Dungeon" , posted Wed 8 Nov 23:18
quote:
"who built this dungeon and why?"
Ha! And now I have a new career goal, to become the stationmaster and make this the official motto of Tokyo Station. While no one is quite sure if it's physically bigger than Shinjuku, its indistinct corridors form of a Phantasy Star II-caliber maze that, combined with the fact that no one goes there except for Shinkansen or if they work in the office buildings nearby, ensures that you can get even more reliably lost, whether or not you live here. The encounter rate is arguably much higher given the smaller number of platforms, but the item drops are much worse.
If it were earlier in the evening, I might start a Favorite Dungeon thread, but maybe I'll just stick with assertions that Phantasy Star II's are famously crazy and even the designers are on record as regretting that they left dungeon design to the new guy who "went nuts," that the superior Mega CD version of Lunar~Eternal Blue (now available on your (Japanese) MD Mini 2!) has the best and most ambitious last dungeon in history, followed narrowly by FFVI and then FFVIII, and that the original Fuurai No Shiren is the best Mysterious Dungeon game. That is all!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "DDR Classic Mini" , posted Sun 12 Nov 17:14
As a known, crazed supporter of Sega's work here and actually most mini devices as combined preservation and brilliant new port opportunties, even I wasn't expecting a...crowdfunded Dance Dance Revolution classic mini? Now with 59 million yen in backers?!
I mean, beyond the godly Mega Drive Mini 1 and 2 and the minimal but great collection of games on the SFC mini, I've got room in my heart for almost all minis (but not the Playstation mini, of course, don't be stupid (ahahahah)), even the Taito Egret II mini and its before-my-time-and-mostly-forgotten arcade collection, the gachapon prize-level Game Gear Micro, and of course the unevitably incomplete Saturn and Dreamcast minis we are ritualistically sacrficing virgins for each week, but even I'm not sure I get the point of DDR you play with your hands. Isn't that...what the home versions with controllers are for? At least they classily have up through the superior 3rd Mix, but...no confirmed Butterfly or Mr. Wonderful yet?!
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．．．
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
XBL: n/a
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Unicorn Overlording" , posted Sun 26 Nov 18:48
I wrote before that I don't especially like strategy RPGs but I sure love when Vanillaware stays medieval, and Unicorn Overlord in motion is a lot of fun to watch! It's kind of a clever mix of a world map with enemy encounters, optional quests, and Shining Force/Game Boy Wars-style skippable (but why would you?) battle animations following commands, plus story bits and event littered amidst all this.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but the character faces look slightly more post-2000 "generic CG" than I prefer, especially after the gorgeous stylization of Dragon's Crown, but the horses and armor are still hulking and cool, and the background art is goregous.
More importantly, move to the last few seconds: in a Vanillaware game, of course there's cooking (for me to mess up). Phew!
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．．．
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| | "Re(2):Exit 8 vs. SS RPG" , posted Mon 4 Dec 02:51
quote:
In other news, the Samurai Shodown RPG has finally received a fan translation. It's a shame emulators and I don't mix, since the SSRPG makes up in ambition what it lacks in polish.
Reading the notes, I'd wondered why the patch included an option to choose between the NeoGeo or the PS1/Saturn version of the elements system. (Which elements do more damage against other elements) While the PS1/Saturn version is a couple of pretty basic loops (fire/ice/electricity/wind, light/dark, and non-element sits by itself), apparently the NeoGeo arrangement is completely bonkers. Fire and Ice oppose each other, Light and Dark oppose each other, but Wind also beats Fire, both Light and Dark beat Non-element, and Electricity sits by itself?
I played the PS1 port back in the day, and found it fun and with some interesting ideas. But the load times... I want to recall that simply entering and leaving shops in town brought up load screens.
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| PSN: Ishmael26b
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CFN: Ishmael26b
| "Re(3):Exit 8 vs. SS RPG" , posted Wed 6 Dec 00:06
quote:
In other news, the Samurai Shodown RPG has finally received a fan translation. It's a shame emulators and I don't mix, since the SSRPG makes up in ambition what it lacks in polish.
Reading the notes, I'd wondered why the patch included an option to choose between the NeoGeo or the PS1/Saturn version of the elements system. (Which elements do more damage against other elements) While the PS1/Saturn version is a couple of pretty basic loops (fire/ice/electricity/wind, light/dark, and non-element sits by itself), apparently the NeoGeo arrangement is completely bonkers. Fire and Ice oppose each other, Light and Dark oppose each other, but Wind also beats Fire, both Light and Dark beat Non-element, and Electricity sits by itself?
I played the PS1 port back in the day, and found it fun and with some interesting ideas. But the load times... I want to recall that simply entering and leaving shops in town brought up load screens.
I thought saddling the player with an original character for the back half of the game was the strangest thing in SSRPG, but that elemental system sounds confounding. Has anyone tried this version of the game and, if so, how was it? Considering the PSX/Saturn ports had more conventional elements I'm guessing the game producers weren't entirely sold on the system either.
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| | "Re(4):Exit 8 vs. SS RPG" , posted Wed 6 Dec 06:05
quote:
I thought saddling the player with an original character for the back half of the game was the strangest thing in SSRPG, but that elemental system sounds confounding. Has anyone tried this version of the game and, if so, how was it? Considering the PSX/Saturn ports had more conventional elements I'm guessing the game producers weren't entirely sold on the system either.
Strangely, one of the old FAQs on GameFAQs claimed the NeoGeo version used a more sensible three loops. Fire<>Ice, Electricity<>Wind, Light<>Dark, with Non-Element by itself.
But the weird breakdown came from the person who made the translation patch, so I'm willing to put more weight on it being correct, as he would have looked at the actual code when he was adding in an option to change it.
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| | "Re(9):Jet Set Bomb Funk Crazy Taxi" , posted Tue 2 Jan 04:20
quote:
The bigger issue would be that the game would be 100% unsellable in Japan, both because of extreme violence and total lack of interest in chara designs that are “lame” or at best “really American” (witness the absence in Japan of a known financial success like Mortal Kombat for literally three decades), hugely decreasing any chance of Sega HQ being involved—and I’m not aware of SOA being able to make many if any games these days. Maybe they could farm it out to the people who make MK, but I don’t think Sega HQ would take the financial OR reputational risk in this case, and SOA certainly doesn’t have the freedom it had in the Mega Drive days, for better or for worse.
Good point.
Still, maybe Sega could be willing to take that risk if it were developed as a low-budget project and/or if the absence of sales in Japan could be compensated by bigger sales in other countries - like you pointed out, MK is unsellable in Japan yet it manages to outsell both SF and Tekken in total worldwide sales.
The violence issue could be solved by toning down or even eliminating the gore altogether, like 2013's Killer Instinct did (in fact, the original Genesis game was quite tame in terms of violence). The biggest issue, I think, would be the gameplay, since both Eternal Champions games were pretty much unplayable with terrible controls and broken AI.
...Yeah, I don't think this series will be brought back anyway (maybe they'll just include a re-release of the Genesis game in a new collection of old classics and that's all). Then again, I didn't think that Streets of Rage would ever be brought back (especially after Sega demanded that the creators of that SOR fangame took it down)...
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Stage select music jamfest" , posted Fri 26 Jan 02:24
While RPGs and fighting games generally have far better soundtracks, the platform game stage select has historically been the site for some ingenuous little ditties that I still hum ALL THE TIME, even when only a few seconds long! What are your favorites?
Mario 3 might have the earliest real world map I can remember in any platform game, and what better way to start the tradition than a 17 second crescendo. (The video has it looped at the proper length of ten hours).
Hook's map music is GREAT even at only a few seconds long, and remixes the movie's main theme to make it as piratey as possible. It's great hearing the Super Famicom's high-quality sound chip on this early a game, with synth violins that I associate with later, more sophisticated games and soundtracks like FFVI and Estpolis/Lufia. This is practically a launch title!
Rockman X's stage select is probably the all-time pinnacle with such high quality guitars and a full thirty second variation even though they could have ended it at eight. Like the rest of the soundtrack and the game itself, its design is miles ahead of its cut-rate, inferior successor titles. BUT:
Rockman X2's stage select, despite being a laughable six seconds with junky sound programming, is still the catchiest little ditty ever that I constantly have in my head when moving computer menus around. A commentor apply notes that it "really captures the vibe of fighting a ragtag cabal of robot terrorists." And's really what platform games are all about!
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．．．
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| | "Re(3):Bloodstained getting a free Shantae ite" , posted Sat 10 Feb 22:55
quote:
Last I heard, they still have yet to fulfill the remainder of the backer promises. Not sure if they're contractually obligated to do so, or if it's just easier to keep updating the existing game if 505 is being dodgy about funding a sequel.
Update 1.5 should finally complete the backer promises, excepting the Roguelike mode which was replaced with the Randomizer mode and the Wii U port which was replaced with the Switch port. Update 1.5 will also come with the free Shantae DLC, and new cosmetic Paid DLC will be available.
As for obligations to fulfill backer promises, I believe Kickstarter is more of a "you kind of tried" obligation. I want to recall a board or card game was successful sued over failing to deliver on promises, but it was the exception. The vast majority likely see nothing worse than a quickly forgotten public shaming, if that much. It does probably hurt their ability to raise money through future Kickstarters, but some people and companies still manage to run new successful campaigns even while failing to deliver on their old ones.
Basically, they could have dumped Bloodstained years ago and likely been legally safe. More so if they'd put out a few updates, to further show they "tried" before financial issues made it "impossible" to continue. Just look at the histories of other Kickstarter games, like Peter Molyneux's Godus or even Neal Stephenson's CLANG.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(1):Endless Ocean" , posted Thu 22 Feb 19:25
quote:
The Endless Ocean series is coming back with Endless Ocean Luminous. I am on record as stating that Everblue 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so it makes me unreasonably happy that another game built around finding peace through aquatic exploration is being released.
Woah, peaceful diving! The surprising dearth of ocean games meant that I cycled mentally through a small list of about four likely deepsea classics before realizing I hadn't heard of this!
First I thought of Sea of Stars, not an ocean game at all but seemingly the first 16-bit Japanese RPG-inspired game by non-Japanese that actually truly looks as good or better.
Then I thought of Subnautica, full of undersea danger, originally made by guys building off of the Natural Selection engine I think...one time I almost made a Japanese translation for them because it was just random guys hanging out, then I forgot.
Then I thought of Daikoukai Jidai, the classic age of exploration sailing RPG that apparently occasionally appears in English as Uncharted Waters, though the steam version looks like an old one instead of the superior SFC and Saturn ones. Then I thought of the venerable Seaman and the dearly departed Dreamcast.
We live in more oceanic days, happily, where Sea of Thieves is also an option...I feel like it would have been a good Cafe team game so we could just sit around playing accordions and burning food in between pirating.
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．．．
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| PSN: Gojira_X
XBL: Gojiraaa
Wii: n/a
STM: 29347508
CFN: Gojira
| "Re(2):Of Unicorns and Overlords and demonstra" , posted Tue 27 Feb 10:05
quote:
It has a pretty bad start imo (you get control of one unit and can have no influence at all on battle during the early action... anyone who hasn't already played Ogre Battle could assume there's not much here in terms of actual gameplay). But it opens up nicely once you get multiple units and can start expanding the group size.
A bit surprising that physically weaker units with hard counters can get one-shotted (thieves vs archers), that's a bit more Fire Emblematic than I'd guessed.
But I played a couple of hours at least and like what I'm seeing so far, despite not loving most of the character designs I can recognize the incredible degree of skill and polish. All the gilded menus and accents and finery just really give off a lordly feel. I actually pre-ordered the deluxe edition. I feel like I have to support it if it increases the odds of an actual new Ogre Battle manifesting by even 1% (rounding up if necessary).
Yes, the opening wants to sell the story but it's practically the same bland story as the most recent Fire Emblem. And the characters, despite getting introduced first, I can tell are just headswaps of generic units with only slightly more plot relevance. But that's all standard fare, what I want from a strategy RPG isn't so much story as possibilities.
It certainly takes its time getting there, drip-feeding you agency until finally you have some sort of control over battle. But when you reach that certain point and everything is just there, it's clear all that other stuff was just the free bread before the meal. There's quite a lot to figure out and I still have yet to look at the micro-managing feature of editing commands.
I have now played through the demo a second time to see how much more I could find with a better understanding and some skipping of scenes, and I STILL have yet to see everything it had to offer. That's with a five-hour (unpaused) limit. But I did finally catch sight of some places that you weren't allowed to access yet, showing that this was indeed a demo and not a full game.
Needless to say, it has done the trick. I'm quite sold. I was going to wait until later to buy it, since I have other games I've already bought and want to play, but I might have trouble thinking about other games in the weeks before this comes out. I'm kind of really hooked.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(3):Of Unicorns and FFVII vs. FFVIII" , posted Mon 4 Mar 21:37
I am really glad everyone is enjoying the newest Vanillaware game, as per the Cafe customs, and that we've managed not to join the rest of the internet/world in saying a single word about the ongoing Final Fantasy VII remakes! ...oops. Actually, since I always liked the characters more than the badly plotted story they are placed in, the opportunity to hang out with them in endless worlds, forever, is probably just the thing for me!
BUT who cares about that when two glorious things have come together: a cooky 1990s-style fansite dedicated to the absolute truth that FFVIII is the greatest (except maybe VI (whatever)). While writings of crazed black-cloaked MMCafe posters wandering around Shin-Ra mansion (hello!) and an extremely funny-if-no-longer-politically-correct Let's Play were always here to remind us that one of the wildest, most beautifully-scored, D&D-like, and emotional entries in the series was a masterpiece, we now have someone who got right to the point with a site called Final Fantasy VIII Is the Best. He also probably has the only known record of a games magazine that was so thoroughly dedicated to annoying an anti-FFVIII reader by reprinting the same screenshot over and over again that they actually placed it as spine art for the magazine if you line them all up in a row, woah!
In conclusion: thank god Kawazu that Square chose FFVII to drive into the ground like Star Wars rather than the perfect FFVI or the nearly perfect FFVIII.
So who has already beaten Rebirth? No shame, I own Remake. I just haven't turned it on yet.
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．．．
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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CFN: zonepharaoh
| "Re(5):Of Unicorns and FFVII vs. FFVIII" , posted Wed 6 Mar 19:46:
quote:
I am also pleased to see FFVIII fans are gathering in one area; it will make it easier to have them identified and properly quarantined.
Hahaha. I'm wounded, Ishmael---hurt!---or I would be, if it weren't all true. But don't think of the site as a collection of crazed FFVIII worshippers, think of it as a nice tower with peaceful organ music where people are having a friendly gathering. What's that? That's not what the fanatics tower is all about? Ah. Well, at least I managed to reference a third classic Final Fantasy in the same sub-thread.
Wait, let me try again another way! Just like I had an Amazing Grace-like change of heart and came to join Kawazu's Army, occasional-MMC-antagonist-but-all-around-fun-writer/narrator Tim Rogers also made a wonderful collection of eight video vignettes about the (amazing) FFVIII remaster as a former-FFVIII-not-liker that might soften hard hearts...
....
BONUS CONTENT: speaking of Insert Credit comrades, Frank Cifaldi's delightful Video Game History Foundation put together a very nice new history of cut stages and changed plans for Sonic 2, far beyond the old Hidden Palace tales. One time I ate vegan Vietnamese with him and Tim! Best meat I ever had, and it wasn't even meat.
It's fun to see more of the creative process, and interesting to see how the game originally had a Sonic CD-like time travel structure together with its similar scenario of chasing after Eggman as he ruins the environment in the past and present, combined with Sonic 3's Icecap and Sonic & Knuckles' space battle. All your memories of little magazine pictures of Dust Hill (a ruined Emerald Hill later in the story) and Genocide City (Metropolis+Death Egg), your suspicions about slightly misplaced (though perfectly composed by Dreams Come True bassist Nakamura Masato) music, surprises like how the lake zone was supposed to get polluted into Oil Ocean, etc., come together here. It's fun!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Wed 6 Mar 19:47] |
| PSN: Ishmael26b
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| "Re(2):DD2" , posted Sat 9 Mar 11:33
I finally got around to trying the demo to Unicorn Overlord and quickly found it turned into Unicorn Overload. The filigreed menus featured rows upon rows of stats and information for every one of the dozens of characters on the screen. Even with my slovenly approach to playing I know I would not have enough hours in the day to actually enjoy this game. My plan upon retirement is to take up streaming as a hobby. It will be a way to keep me out of my family's hair. I will play games poorly and provide banal commentary in a livestream that will be watched by no one. My inaugural title will be Unicorn Overlord.
quote:
According to Kotaku Dragon's Dogma 2 Has The Best-Looking Video Game Food Ever
Not going to lie, I just woke up and at first I was looking at the image saying "uh huh, yeah, that part looks a little untextured, that part looks a little low quality" until I realized what I was looking at.
The humility of just deciding to eschew elaborate CG food for good old-fashioned FMV, what a genius move. We've been striving so hard for realism that we can just save our money and use real footage now. It's brilliant.
That meat is straight out the Sega Saturn, but in a good way! Kudos to the DD development team for cooking up fine dinners for themselves and letting Capcom foot the bill.
Speaking of demos, I tried the character creation demo for DD2. It has changed somewhat from the DD1 creator, so I'm still trying to figure out the nuances. It will also let you create mangy looking cat people, if that's your thing.
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| PSN: Ishmael26b
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| "Re(6):DD2XKUO" , posted Wed 3 Apr 09:11
I've been slowly going through the start of Dragon's Dogma 2. I don't have the uninterrupted blocks of time that I did when DD1 came out, so epically plodding across the map is more difficult for me now. Combine that with DD's love of being vague with how some of the finer points of the game engine and plot and it makes for slow going. Still, I'm enjoying my time so far. Just the other day I tried to go somewhere when a troll dropkicked the mage in my party into the river. Being the hero I am, I left the rest of my pawns to die and ran for it. I then found myself wheezing from exhaustion like a lame ass while wolves nipped at my heels as I desperately hobbled toward a town. It's just as bizarre and clunky as the previous entry, but I like this game.
The chit-chat system in DD2 is also producing some unexpected results. I was talking to my main pawn by a campfire one night when she bluntly stated that I pick a lot of women for party members. I'm getting called out by my pawn!
Speaking of public shaming, I tried out the demo for Stellar Blade. The discussion surrounding the game has been unpleasant, but it made me curious about the game, so it worked on some unfortunate level. Although I probably wasn't going to buy the game, I felt I should at least try it so I could have an informed shunning. After trying the demo, I came to the conclusion that it was a mediocre action game that was catching more press than it deserved solely based on the selling of its main character. It's this year's version of the game Stray. Also, when watching the opening cut scene in which the heroine boobily bursts out of an escape pod, Mrs. Ishmael happened to walk into the room. Lucky me, I was able to flip the screen before she saw that otherwise she would have been laughing at me for a week.
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| | "I'm Draggin' my Dog, too, Ma!" , posted Fri 12 Apr 03:16:
quote:
Overall I like it ok, but it's nowhere near as good/complete as the original base game.
Stealing Juan's intro. "Overall I like the game OK, but..."
I basically agree with everything you said. I love the game but it doesn't live up to my expectations. And tbh, as much cool stuff as they packed into the original Dragon's Dogma, it's not exactly a high bar for feeling "complete."
It's true, the story doesn't add much and takes a lot of thinking to figure out the relationship to the first game. Though finding a certain surprise at the bottom of the now dry ocean floor is not bad.The post-game exists and is kind of cool, but it's no Everfall or Ur Dragon. There isn't even really a proper final/proper big battle at all.
Put some more dogma in there, please.
quote:
Dragon's Dogma 2
I'm still at the beginning, but I'm surprised how restrictive it feels with only 4 moves. There's a lot of buttons on controlers these days Capcom, find a way to allow more! Some vocations may end up being broken but who cares, it's a single player game anyway.
I was initially fairly optimistic that having R1 be a dedicated "class skill" button, along with moving some moves to regular control inputs (e.g., Thief can tap light attack for scarlet kisses), would make having only four dedicated abilities not feel so restrictive. Then I realized they took out some combo variations that worked on delayed button presses...
The longer I played the more these limitations irked me. As an Archer it hits pretty hard, as you need both special arrows and an ability slot to do situational things like tarring/dousing your enemies. The exploding arrow is the only way to really do mega-damage, so that leaves three slots to work with (if you want the tarred/fiery explosion combo, you're down to two). It just feels kind of onerous, and while the kicks are fun Magick Archer ends up making plain old Archer feel underpowered if not straight-up obsolete. For you and your pawn, originality as well as utility tend to suffer as you naturally gravitate toward what works best. You very quickly start to wonder why R1 can't just bring up four more skills like L1 does. If a particular skill is so important, just make it permanently assigned to X or Triangle or something. Hell, you could do it twice!
Doling out big damage quickly and efficiently as a Sorcerer can be fun, but it can feel quite limiting. I want to be a master of the elements, not a servant to the DPS god serving up the same limited menu to every customer that walks in the door. The four-ability limit is especially irksome for Sorcerer, and left me feeling like someone ripped my spell book in two and handed me back half. But even the complete catalogue would have been a bit underwhelming. Rather unforgivably, there are fewer weird spells. If I wanted mind-numbing repetition I'd play an MMO. Sure, stuff like Miasma and Exequy are not exactly practical, but come on. They enrich the experience. And Brontide, whereby you wield a gigantic lightning bolt like a scourge, was really cool! The new spells work fine but they're not very memorable. There's no new sufficiently apocalyptic magick to join the ranks of meteor and tornado in the "cower before me, foolish mortals" spell category.
Regardless of the class I use, it always seems like a sacrifice on the altar of effectiveness was requisite. Using a slot for a situational or "fun" ability can really feel like a waste, even to someone like me who is not typically tempted by min-maxing. You really have to plan out exactly how you want to play before setting off rather than using something when the situation feels right. I feel like I'm asking "What will I deprive myself of?" rather than "How do I want to play?" There's just not enough room in the proverbial pack. I ended up feeling overspecialized or like I was taking icecream scoops out of my brain, whittling the wide-spreading oak of my skillset down to a measly toothpick. For example, I like the zoom-in sniping skill Lyncean Sight for the Archer to play Vermundian Sniper with stray gobs and harps, but it's useless against larger/stronger/closer enemies. It doesn't make sense that I would just leave my ability to see far and shoot good on a table somewhere, but that's what I found myself doing.
I do admit that Mystic Spearhand is pretty cool, and Warfarer would actually be great and well to my liking with more ability spots, but with only four skills I can't even create a proper Strider... especially when they deleted Downpour/Cloudburst Volley! It's like when a restaurant drops a classic menu item. Weapon swapping feels doofy, there's something deeply uncool about going through a brief loading state to have access to maybe one new ability.
Again, I like the game and spent many enjoyable hours with it, but it does kind of feel like they started a project from scratch with the exact same aims and goals you had last project. A lot of things feel missing or streamlined without having new things/added complexity to replace them. Not that there aren't a few cool new ideas, like the Dullahan and Sphinx (I admit, the Sphinx is pretty good) and Medusa, but we lose one of the coolest enemies in the original game, the Hydra.
People are right to levy complaints at the limited enemy variety. Even if there are several flavors of lizardmen with varied appearances and behaviors, there are too damn many of them and you're still broadly using the same handful of moves in the same way to kill each one. What is this, Saurians Dogma? It feels like you're always in Saurian territory, always in Goblin territory, and always in Harpy territory. I know the world has fallen to Chaos, but couldn't get a more interesting chaos without quite so many freaking lizards? You go from one country at the north end of the map to a second, different country with an entirely different clime to find what? More goddamn Saurians.
Pawns feel less distinctive. Visually so, because they took out clothing layers for body and legs and glued the arm slot to the chest armor. Behold, the Emperor's Stargazer's new clothes. There are just not enough weird/unique pieces and too few ways to combine them to create a distinct style. I'd thought they would simply have more pre-set variations on similar looks, but there's a huge lack of variety and probably 1 out of 3 pawns is a female mage wearing the bikini. A similar problem definitely existed in the first game, with a disturbing number of characters that looked like half-naked children, but the fewer options just might make lack-of-clothes syndrome an even more visible issue DD2. It doesn't bother me to have some blatant sex appeal, but the flavors of sexy are too few and lacking in nuance.
There's also less functional/combat variety for pawns. The baseline for pawn intelligence and usefulness has gone up by just having you pick one of four set temperaments, preventing an Arisen's careless stewardship from creating dependent dullards that run around forever picking up items and actively avoid engaging in combat. But the spectrum feels very narrow now, and pawns have less personality. I felt like I couldn't match my pawn's training and qualities to their profession and abilities to create deliberate behaviors (the original game has primary and secondary motivations). And with the limit of four skills, every pawn of each class tends to carry the most obviously effective options with no surprises.
Maybe I'm resentful because my pawn in the first game was attractive, versatile, well-heeled, and popular while my new pawn seems only to distinguish herself via her resemblance to a certain giallo actress (which is probably lost on nearly everyone but me). But it really does feel like one pawn is just as good as another in nearly all cases. You do see the occasional neglected dummy who never swapped classes or is lacking a full set of augments to avoid, but I'd love to be able to hire (maybe on the road or in a pinch) the occasional imbecilic doof who by way of contrast demonstrates the value of a truly capable pawn whose master put some effort into them beyond just trying to make them look fuckable.
The enemy knowledge retained by pawns, which could previously be filled out very quickly by having the pawn witness all the different tactics/vulnerabilities that apply to a certain creature are now just badges that are earned by naked grinding. Kill 30 chimeras! Killing a certain number of enemies also advanced knowledge in the original, but now it seems like it's all there is. And I finished the game having only gotten one or two badges. It's just not satisfying. You're rewarded for repetition, not for smart and careful play.
Finally, the way professions use the color system (Archer yellow, Fighter red, etc.) and icon frames (Warrior is darker red with a fancier frame, hybrid classes use two colors) created expectations for additional classes. There's no "fancy grade" green class, and Trickster is inexplicably pink and purple colors with a fancy border. I think nearly everyone who played the first game expected more classes based on patterns/extrapolation, and it took me a long time to accept that it probably wasn't going happening (it'll happen in DLC for sure though, right???).
Some beefy form of DLC is completely necessary for a true redemption. This is still probably the coolest game I've played this year, but my love for the first game really colored my experience here. I feel like people that didn't play the first game are enjoying DD2 more than I am, which is great for them but also kind of dismaying.
This was close to a rant I guess. I'm definitely leaving some positive thoughts out here (character creator is great, characters in general look great visually, there's a great variety of appearances and beast-folk are good to have, Mystic Spearhand is pretty cool though I am one of those people that really liked the class it replaced, Mystic Knight). But at the same time I'm also leaving out many big and small complaints! I won't drag this out any longer though, I'm sure everyone gets the gist. I love the game. But I am also really disappointed.
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EDIT: Speaking of BORING, in the original game the only way to achieve the last tier of armor upgrades was to get yourself honey garlic sesame roasted in a drake/dragon's fire. Hence Dragon Forged tier: get yourself barfed on by a drake/dragon. Now you just give currency to a vendor. Boo. BORING. COWARDS. WEAKLINGS!!!
1000% agree and I immediately had this same thought when I met Dragonforged Dan or whoever that guy is. Almost nothing is better than subjecting oneself to fiery battle and having three or four items luckily tempered in one glorious moment of triumph. Almost anything would be better than tracking down a rare draconic foe in DD2 postgame and having them drop a measly 5 blood monies that you can cash in at a vendor, once you somehow get 10 more because you spent the same currency to buy one of the strongest weapons from a guy who has an absolute monopoly on dragon juices and every single one of the best weapons in the land that he is just hoarding for himself for some reason. I think he probably eats wyrmlife crystals like skittles, shits them out, and eats them again. Goddamn degenerate.
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[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Fri 12 Apr 05:04] |
| PSN: Buttermonster
XBL: Prepaidpenguin
Wii: WiiU:Buttermonster
STM: n/a
CFN: n/a
|  "Re(1):I'm Draggin' my Dog, too, Ma!" , posted Fri 12 Apr 04:41:
quote:
Dragonforged Dan
We really got a downgrade with this one. The original Dragon forged was this mysterious old man that clearly has seen some rough stuff, but was still trying to help you in his own cryptic way. His loyal pawn buddy was pretty cool too. And now we have Dragonforged Dan that looks like he crawled from the back of a 7 Eleven asking my for a hit of "dragon crystals" so he can "upgrade" my armor.
Like you mentioned, all the skill cutting and simplification is pretty jarring coming from the older game. The armor slot simplification sucks too.
I guess I'm a bit concerned with modern companies being afraid of putting complexity in newer games. I get that Capcom probably had to play it super safe with this one so they can make money, but I wish they would stop underestimating users. Specially younger players. If you present it well, they will eat a complex game up. Baldur's Gate 3 is a good example.
I guess there's also the streamer/influencer factor, but same deal. Not every streamer is a skibidi toilet kid, or a gross incompetent weirdo like DSP.
EEEDIT: Wonder if this game would have benefited from a Classic and Modern control scheme? That way you keep most legacy skills. Equipment could be something similar to Mass Effect where they level and equip the character for you, give you some canned combos, etc.
Lizardman flavors.
[this message was edited by jUAN on Fri 12 Apr 04:52] |
| PSN: Ishmael26b
XBL: n/a
Wii: n/a
STM: n/a
CFN: Ishmael26b
| "Re(3):Before I Dogget 2" , posted Sat 13 Apr 01:22
I agree with a number of the complaints and compliments lobbed at DD2. It feels like, once again, the team creating the game bit off more than they could chew. Hopefully there will be a Dark Arisen style DLC to flesh out the enemy variety and the story itself.
The more randomized feel to the monsters goes a bit toward adding variety to the paucity of enemies, but it also creates problems. For example, I was in the middle of a cut scene for receiving a quest when a Drake decided to attack the village I was in. Everyone in the background was in a tizzy while the quest giver and I casually chatted about how many lizards I needed to kill. After I shooed off the Drake and did some reptile extermination, I tried to find the quest giver to wrap up the job, but he had vanished. Did the Drake eat him? Did he run off? I eventually found him in the graveyard in Vernworth, but that meant I had to hike back to his village once more to finish the quest. Hopefully he doesn't get killed again in the interim.
The changes to the number of action slots are intentional, but I'm not certain what the motivating idea was behind the difference. It certainly isn't to make it less complex; there are still a dizzying array of commands buried within sub-commands. (The last time I tried to remember the sub-command for putting away my lantern I got scolded by the townsfolk for accidentally taking out my sword and waving it around.) That you can swap out skills at campfires shows that the programmers are aware of the limited slots and want you to build your gameplay around it. Was it to avoid the "good at everything" skillset of the Strider in the first game? I'm still trying to figure it out.
At least the new skill system compliments the Mystic Spearhand build I'm currently playing. With the ability to toss rocks and stun-lock enemies with the Force I feel like a Jedi. But since I'm freezing enemies in place and then casually walking up and landing critical hits while they are helpless, I'm beginning to feel like I might have gone to the dark side. Hopefully I can find some flowing black robes to wear to compliment my unsporting playstyle.
A minor thing, but the character faces you can create in this game are wild. My pawn has a slightly asymmetrical face, which makes her portrait look much more realistic. It's not something you can notice when everyone is busy punching a cyclops to death, but I appreciate the attention to detail.
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| | "Re(3): Dogged attitudes" , posted Sun 14 Apr 05:43:
quote:
which one of you did this? Or this a message from beyond the Football camp?
I had the same thought. If there were two devil faces bookending the tweet, I'd be 97% sure it was someone from this board. If it had been me, I'd not have failed to accomplish this.
But back to my dogma piling... (forgive me)
quote:
The more randomized feel to the monsters goes a bit toward adding variety to the paucity of enemies, but it also creates problems.
It is good to feel a bit more dynamic, and I do appreciate it. You could essentially memorize all the encounters in the first game, which made traveling known paths get boring fast.
But at the same time, in DD2 you end up finding everything pretty much everywhere (even in caves, which seem to be the breeding grounds for the expansive Saurian empire). As I mentioned, Battahl to me feels much too similar to Vermund. The local fruits (apples to quinces) seem better differentiated than the local fauna.
Basically I'm saying that the monsters seem to have been turned into a jam that has been spread over the entire land. I wouldn't say it's spread too thin, and it has some nice chunks in it, but if I have two slices of toast for my entire meal I'd like to have two different taste experiences.
...what the hell am I doing with this metaphor? I think I forgot to eat lunch. Also, throw some more bones in there for crunch. I only found one or two Skeleton Lords my entire first playthrough (before post-game). An easy fix occurs to me here.
Given the game's fondness for reptilian resistance, I am perplexed that they did not go as far as to raise up and animate the sturdy bones of slain lizardfolk to face the player—soaked as they are in a profound hatred for the human race which has penetrated their very marrow. The very cool and new slimes that you can wade through at your peril also attacks and digests other creatures, just go ahead and skeletonize them and then do the necro thing! You can reuse some animations! You were nearly halfway there!
Also, add gelatinous cubes and maybe just delete the lava slimes. I was doing an escort quest and thrice had to crack open a wakestone to revive an NPC who kept stepping in them.
But back to the topic of random and less predictable enemies, while it's exciting that encounters are less predictable, it's dismaying when you don't have the right skill for the job. You want to have every element and big single-target attacks at all times.
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The changes to the number of action slots are intentional, but I'm not certain what the motivating idea was behind the difference.... Was it to avoid the "good at everything" skillset of the Strider in the first game? I'm still trying to figure it out.
I believe it was to keep me from having too much fun. But honestly, I think they might have intended for players to explore different ways to play the same class. You can see this in some professions (the Magick archer can do a pawn-support build). Thief has so much going for them that you might spend some time agonizing on which fun/OP skills you actually want to grab.
But even if this was the intention I think it's largely a failure. With no interesting restrictions or bonuses (e.g., no skill has a higher or lower "cost", no skill generates a resource), it's normally a matter of taking the most powerful/useful abilities and trying to cover all your bases more than really creating your own playstyle.
And even with the Sorcerer, who has the fewest number of distinct skills in the game (only the expressive language of Q*Bert could accurately express my frustrations here), you can only take half of your ability set. "We're headed off on a perilous adventure, you say? Let me just write down a few spells on this cocktail napkin. See, if I unfold it there's plenty of space. I guess I also have a few squares of toilet paper..."
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A minor thing, but the character faces you can create in this game are wild. My pawn has a slightly asymmetrical face, which makes her portrait look much more realistic. It's not something you can notice when everyone is busy punching a cyclops to death, but I appreciate the attention to detail.
That part is great, and I spent several hours with the character creator demo. A lot of the clones of popular fictional and real-life persons are dead on. Tremendous job on the diversity of options, though I'd still like more hairstyles.
I could probably talk about Dragon's Dogma all day.
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[this message was edited by Mosquiton on Sun 14 Apr 06:05] |
| PSN: Gojira_X
XBL: Gojiraaa
Wii: n/a
STM: 29347508
CFN: Gojira
| "Re(3):DD2" , posted Sun 14 Apr 14:02
As much as I'd love to join the DD2 discussion I have still not thrown in with the game yet. Not me being cautious, I just had some other games in the way and I also needed some time to recover from
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Unicorn Overload
It took me 100hrs to complete it, give or take. I'm sure a better gamer could have done so in 80 hours or less, but I did a lot of endgame stuff before I reached the endgame. And honestly I thought that the charm of it would wear off eventually, but it was such a well-balanced SRPG experience that the time just flew by. I genuinely enjoyed the systems, the exploration, the side quests, the character rapports and just the flavors of the world in general, I visited every armor shop in the northern continent just to be greeted by the friendly bear salesman. I started just playing the digging minigame after having found all the hidden treasures just to see how good I could get at it. I obsessively shifted units and equipment and commands around to try and inch past the coloseum battles while being woefully underleveled. None of this felt like wasted time to me.
All of this left me wondering "maybe I'm just a simp who will like anything Vanillaware makes" as I fired up 13 Sentinels for the first time. Well... it turns out I really can dislike a Vanillaware game. Egads. I struggled so hard to enjoy the game it took me 2 weeks to progress 3 hours. Actually that's just what the save clock said, but I'm not convinced I spent that long, since there were a couple of times I left the game on while I was distracted by something else.
I don't know what I'll do. Usually I'm the kind of person who finishes games even if I think they're bad, but despite the flaws people are listing off DD2 sounds like it would be a much better thing to dive into right now.
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| | ""Extreme X Despair" gets an official title" , posted Fri 21 Jun 02:59:
The collaboration between Kazutaka Kodaka (Danganronpa) and Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape), which has been teased for years, will be released on Switch and Steam next year as The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-. Which surprisingly doesn't have Spike Chunsoft among the companies involved, despite both creators having released other games with SC during the last years (such as Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE and the AI: The Somnium Files duology).
So far, it looks a lot like Danganronpa, even involving special students locked in a special high school in a dystopic scenario, with some sort of mascot... but instead of the students having to kill and/or judge each other in a visual novel, they'll be fighting together against external invaders in some sort of turn-based RPG/adventure hybrid game (also, the mascot seems to be on their side this time).
Now, considering that this project was heavily promoted as the big collaboration between Kodaka and Uchikoshi but we can only see Kodaka's style in it so far, I wonder what aspects from Zero Escape (or AI: The Somnium Files) Uchikoshi will add to it. Apparently there will be "100 endings", so I wonder if Uchikoshi's habit of having branching timelines in several of his works will also make its way into The Hundred Line (...either that, or a good dose of lewd jokes in dialogues).
(EDIT: I only realized now that the "Extreme X Despair" tentative title may not make sense for anyone not familiar with Kodaka's and Uchikoshi's most famous franchises. "Despair" refers to Danganronpa's storylines and murder mysteries revolving around the antagonists' desire to make the whole world drown in despair; as for "Extreme" - this one is harder to figure out -, it turns out that the Japanese title for the Zero Escape series can also be translated as "Extreme Escape", though Spike Chunsoft obviously didn't choose that translation... maybe they should have named the project as "Escape X Despair", but it doesn't matter now that the game got an official title anyway)
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Sat 22 Jun 05:20] |
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I truly don't know what I'd do without the Jad Man's Cafe! .png)
