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[dark10x]

Well, with this massive sale finishing up for most of us, I figured there would be a number of games that people are now trying out and would like to comment on. I haven't tried everything yet (and will wait on many), but I just wanted to toss out small impressions for each game. When a sale like this comes along, I'd imagine many people end up buying games they would not normally have purchased at full price so you get some interesting impressions...

Here's the list of games I picked up...

Disgaea - Hour of Darkness
Grandia Xtreme
Guilty Gear XX
Burnout 2
Pikmin
DOA-XBV
Chaos Legion
PN03
Voodoo Vince
DMC2
Grabbed by the Goulies
Forver Kingdom
Drakan 2
EOE
Haven
VEXX
Silpheed
PaRappa 2
The Bouncer
Legaia 2
Dark Cloud 2
War of the Monsters
Spyhunter 2
Crimson Sea

I'm just tossing out a few impressions for now (of games I had odd expectations for or even no expectations at all). Some of the games are better known and really don't need too much said about them...

PN03 - I've had very little interest in this title based on my playtime with the demo. However, I figured it was worth a shot after hearing many positive impressions from various people. I'm actually quite suprised! It's simply a strange little game with a unique concept. I kinda dig the gameplay design, despite the repetitive level design. I haven't played too terribly far at this point, but from what I've played, it actually controlled suprisingly well. I didn't like the idea of "tank controls" in a game of this type, but it actually makes sense here as you really do not need to navigate through too many complex areas. It looks very nice as well, which was suprising. At 480p, you could really see just how grainy the game really is and notice that it just isn't as sharp as it could be, but the actual models moving around the world are of high quality and everything has a very unique design. If the framerate was 60, I think it would feel a whole lot better...but hey...

Grandia Xtreme - I just never really had a massive interest in this title due to its "dungeon crawler" nature. You see, I can enjoy a good dungeon game on the PC...but all attempts at enjoying similar console titles failed (Evolution, Time Stalkers, and a couple PSX games). I should have figured that Grandia could pull this off a bit better. The battle system, as usual, kicks ass and is actually refined to the point that I would call it the best battle system yet featured in a game of this type. Hopefully the difficulty picks up a bit, though, as that could really put the system to use. I also happen to be enjoying the dungeon design here as they are far more complex and interesting than anything in the other Grandia titles and SLAUGHTER those AWFUL random dungeons in similar games. The biggest complaints are those that were expected (ie - the voice acting and plot really haven't done anything for me). Visually, the game looks very good. It is suprisingly sharp for a non-480p PS2 title and is very colorful. Also, the fact that it runs at 60 fps REALLY makes everything feel very lively in comparison to the previous games. I'm shocked that they didn't try to use this engine for the PS2 port of Grandia II (which I don't own, but I've played) as it had an AWFUL framerate and tons of other issues.

Voodoo Vince - I'm incredibly impressed with Vince, here. I honestly didn't expect anything other than another generic platformer, but the level designs are extremely creative and full of interesting content. So far, the Voodoo Doll aspects haven't really been all that important...but everything else is wonderful. Good humor, great music, nice visuals, perfect controls, good puzzles, etc.

Forver Kingdom - I actually LIKED Evergrace, believe it or not, so I decided to give this a go. I won't damn it yet, but the first impressions were quite bad. While the general gameplay seems to have recieved a boost in certain aspects, some of the small details were ruined. The intro was pretty dull and loaded with bad voice acting, the framerate is HORRIBLE (whereas EG was 60 fps), the animation is absolutely inferior, and the whole game just feels really unpolished. I was shocked to find Evergrace to be a more polished title. On the flipside, the world is actually quite beautiful from what I've seen and the game seems like it could be fairly enjoyable, but those small issues really hurt the game.

Haven - This has been cheap for a while, but I grabbed it just for shits. I am aboslutely shocked at how fun this game IS! I actually would say the game is vastly superior to stuff like Jak and Daxter. There is much more variety, more interesting objectives, better level flow and design, MUCH better music, etc. It feels a bit...low budget at times, but the actual gameplay is suprisingly good! The fact that you never have to do anything or remain in any environment for too long really helps a lot as well. Visually, the game is also quite lovely. The character designs certainly don't appeal to me, but the actual worlds are extremely cool at times.

 

[Iceman]

You suck.. not because of your honest and helpful reviews.. but because you live near a circuit city that (a) has ANY of the games for sale available and (b) knows anything at all about the sale.

Madison, WI -15

 

[drohne]

i was about to start a thread just like this. anyway, i picked up:
disgaea
dark cloud 2
frequency
megaman x7
onimusha 2
maximo
boktai
konami arcade advanced

so far i've played:
frequency: this game rocks. passed on it earlier as it seemed a bit dry; generally i prefer parappa-esque rhythm games with characters and storylines and such. but the gameplay here is just really intense and challenging, and the concept of building up a song one instrument track at a time is inspired. the way the tracks are arranged, if you get a good run going, you actually put together a nice little breakdown, with a new instrument coming in every couple bars. too cool. perhaps the real mark of the game's merit is that, in context, i find myself enjoying even the nu metal, the cheesy trance, and fuckin no doubt. never thought i'd say that. so far i've beaten all of easy mode, and the first two stages of normal mode along with the bonus songs. stage 3 seems to be much more difficult, but this is one of those games you subconsciously acclimate to as you play, and you find yourself improving without really knowing how.

konami arcade advanced:
er, it's a compilation of a bunch of old konami arcade games, most notably frogger and gyruss. cool feature: each game has an enhanced mode activated by entering the konami code at the title screen. in most cases this will provide a couple gameplay changes or enhancements, but with frogger and scramble it gets you totally remade graphics and sound. neat.

i'll probably start playing disgaea tonight.

 

[heavy liquid]

Fuck, I can't believe you found all those! I got a few okay titles, but the stores by me were picked clean. Vultures! There were about 5 other guys (all looked over 40 - weird) in the store, all with printouts of the list and scouring the shelves.

 

[shoplifter]

There were about 5 other guys (all looked over 40 - weird) in the store, all with printouts of the list and scouring the shelves.

They were looking for cheap stock for their stores. I fucking hate them, because those are the people who buy a ridiculous amount of stuff.

I wish that they'd do a limit of 10 during these. People that walk out with 100 games fucking piss me off.

 

[B'z-chan]

I got a few games so far these are my impressions:

Dark Cloud 2: So far the game is so fun, so fun in fact that just looking for the disc is like a game.

ICO: I owned this game when it first came out, and finsihed it. What a great game.

MGS2S: i had MGS2 so its much of the same but with some really cool stuff added in it.

RAD: havent opened it, probably wont either who knows.

Okage: taking this one back for sure. Really bad trade in credit i rather have my 5 bucks back.

Clone Wars/ Tetris: yeah so it was a penny, who can fucking beat online tetris for a penny shit is it fun.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I bought:

Naval Ops: Warship Gunner
Guilty Gear XX
Fantavision

I'll let you know what I think of them after I buy another PS2 memory card. -_-

Oh, and my local CC had a limit of 3 games per person.

 

[johnnyboix]

i didnt get any games from there.....

 

[signet]

The game that surprised me the most was Mystic Heroes for the PS2. Its plays kinda like the Dynasty Warrior games but with the addition of over the top magic effect and gigantic boss fights. If you like beat-em ups check this one out.

 

[Lil' Dice]

I'm looking for the Konami Arcade Advanced game. I'll gladly buy if from soemone here.

 

[Dice]

I'l expand impressions later...

Eternal Darkness: Only seen like an hour of it, but everything has such a polish on it. I know I can say much right now, but my impression is that this is one very special game and I will remember it for years.

Beyond Good & Evil: It's very pretty, but it has an unstable framerate that starts giving me a headache. Everything about this game is just so... mainstream. I don't know how to explain it, but just everything in the character designs, how they talk, the moves you have and animations for them, the objectives, etc. It's just so very mainstream, feels like an EA game.

Choas Legion: I know I'm not far enough in it to say. I need to get more moves and legion units. It's pretty cool so far though.

LOTR Two Towers: This game likes to throw you into a situation where there is only one very distinct way to beat it with any other option leading to near instant death. Once you figure out what to do you can play through again and have fun, but the process of starting over and over again is annoying. This Rohan Village level is especially irritating.

NHL Hitz 2002: Really crappy and disappointing. You don't feel like you're in control of anything, and there were more ways to attack the other players in NHL 94, I'm gonna take this to a pawn shop and get my $5 back (hopefully for a better game sunday).

 

[Otaking]

ARGH! You lucky people and your Circuit City having Disgaea. I went on Sunday and there was no sign of Disgaea at all. I want to play that game so bad after hearing you people say good things about it.

 

[etiolate]

I've been wanting to post impressions myself, soooo

Rygar: This game rocks harder than I ever thought. I was going to trade it in, but now I really like it. It is Devil May Cry with wicked yo-yo action. The wrap-around level design and destructive enviroments give you reason to explore and attack everything in sight in search of more powerups. Good level design + good gameplay = Me happy. Nice soundtrack and graphics as well.

Parappa the Rappa 2: I enjoyed the first 5-7 levels I played of this before getting wrapped up in Rygar. Similiar to what I remember of the original. Some catchy tunes to bop to, but I don't know if I like them as well as in the first game. I'd like to try out two player to see if its fun competing. I like the addition of little bonus levels.

Bloody Roar 4: I was actually a semi-fan of the bloody roar series. I guess I was just a fan of Bloody Roar Primal Fury on GC. Bloody Roar 4 is a bit of a letdown. Except for the cat girl, combos seem less and less fun to dish out. Some of the enviroments feel smaller also and you get bounced around. No ring out makes it feel even more confined. Primal Fury looked and played much better than this game. I tried the new crow character, who has taekwando moves. It's just much more of a limited button smasher than PF. There's no tap-it-out then quarter-circle type combos. It's just dial a combo like Tekken. All the beast combos are just pushing beast attack over and over.

PS: That may be the first and only time that I hear Beyond Good & Evil called mainstream.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

I got Halo 2 for $4.99. It wasn't worth it.

Meanwhile, Metroid Prime was worth it. Three words. W. O. W. I would have paid a million bucks for it.

 

[The Shadow]

I played my friend's games when we got back from CC so people who want to buy my games rest assured that they're still in shrink wrap.

PN03 - I didn't care for the "tank" controls and I believe that was the first thing I mentioned to my friend when I started playing it. It controls way too stiffly. I "allegedly" didn't care for the opening cinematic either. My friend said I had a look of near horror when I first saw it.

Chaos Legion - Final Fantasy characters in a hack and slash. A bit on the shallow side. The box said "If you like Devil May Cry, you'll love Chaos Legion" but I would tend to disagree. The camera is free floating and it's more of like Dynasty Warrior's "Fight the hoard" type of gameplay. Can't say there was anything really bad about it except for the repetitive nature. Just not my type of game. My friend really seemed to like it though and even mentioned that he liked the "neo-goth" look of the game.

 

[rastex]

NHL Hitz 2002: Really crappy and disappointing. You don't feel like you're in control of anything, and there were more ways to attack the other players in NHL 94, I'm gonna take this to a pawn shop and get my $5 back (hopefully for a better game sunday).

Oh man, you don't know what you're talking about here. Playing against the computer sucks as you can really destroy them, but it's an INCREDIBLE multiplayer game that's very easy to get into, so it's great for your casual friends. The simplicity is its greatest strength!

 

[StoOgE]

I got:

Crimson Sea
GBTG
Quantum Redshift
Burnout 2

Crimson Sea is a surprisingly good game, probably my favorite of the bunch... pretty easy to pick up game, it doesnt do alot, but its pretty solid at what it does.

GBTG is not very much fun. Its not necesarily a bad game, but its just so middle of the road. Nothing horridly bad, but nothing really done that well either.

Quantum Redshift I have allways liked.. very solid futuristic racer, and much better than Wip3out Fusion. Still sad that there wont be the Xbox Live sequal

Burnout 2 is what it is, a great aracade racer. Ton of fun.

I could have gotten about 30 to 40 other games, for consoles I dont own and sold them for more money at gamestop.. but not being an asshole I decided against it and left the games for people who might want them.. or some asshole who would just buy them all and sell them.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Eternal Darkness was not 4.99 was it?

 

[dark10x]

Quantum Redshift I have allways liked.. very solid futuristic racer, and much better than Wip3out Fusion. Still sad that there wont be the Xbox Live sequal

See, as is the case with F-Zero GX, I feel that Wipeout Fusion is a much better game than both of those simply because of the track design and controls. The track design in QR doesn't even seem made for the game. I was really disappointed in that aspect...

 

[MoxManiac]

The story in Xtreme goes nowhere, but the gameplay and dungeons get better and better. There's even a bonus 100 floor dungeon at the end that is pretty tough. Great game!

 

[StoOgE]

I disagree, the track design in QR is really well thought out. Tracks change completely based on the class you are running.. entire parts of the track open up that you couldnt reach, and it makes the game not only insanely fast, but makes the tracks more challenging to negotiate. The wide open nature of most of the tracks makes for a much better racing experience, IMO. the narrower courses are not as much fun, but they are much tougher and ad something to it.

Fusion for me, was ruined by the absoltely retarded ship upgrades that ruined gameplay balance and weapons that were FAR too powerfull and destroyed balance as well. Same thing that ruined SMK64.

 

[Meier]

Ape Escape 2 - Played it for an hour up to right after the first boss and have had a blast.

ESPN NHL Hockey -- See here.

 

[PanopticBlue]

ICO - I had bought this when it came out at full price and loved it, however I sold it off cause I thought I wouldnt play it again. Glad I picked it back up, I'm going to love going through it again, and this time I'll keep it. (prolly wont be worth much trade in anyway) More than worth 5 bucks, hopefully more people can experience this game now that it's hit such a low price. (I ran across several during my 3 CC stint)

Parappa the Rapper 2 - I have mixed feelings about this one. I've already finished it, and it only took a few hours. I don't really care about the length, cause these games are always short anyway - my worst problem was the fact that I finished the game without having to replay one single level the entire game start to finish. Waaaay too easy. I did NOT play on easy mode either, I cant believe there is an easy mode cause it can't get any easier. The first game had me replaying the levels almost immediately. The other disappointment is the fact the music doesn't have nearly the variety of the first game at all...really disappointing here, especially considering I loved almost every song in the first game, and there was a lot of variety as well. The good thing about Parappa 2 though, in spite of the lack of variety and the baby difficulty is the fact that I do like most of the songs, and the charm, humor, and general atmosphere of it all still manages to totally win me over again. It also has a 2 player battle mode which could be quite fun. Absolutely worth 5 bucks.

Ape Escape 2 - Wow, to think I passed this game up before, especially considering how much fun I had with the original...this game is fun as hell! If you played the first game on psone, just try to imagine that, only with much nicer graphics and animation, bumped up to 60 fps, and you start to get the idea. I've only played through 5 levels so far, but I'm itching to get right back to it. Right now I would go so far as to say this is the best platformer on PS2, it's that much fun to me. I just can't understand how drivel like Jak & daxter sells but this game just gets the table scraps. No justice man. WHY did Sony not release this game themselves?! Arahgrg. Thank you Ubisoft!! I also love the simple look the game has, somehow, as simple as the textures in the game are, they are really pleasing to the eye. I almost feel like a criminal for getting this game for 5 bucks. It's so much fun, I really wish you guys who didn't manage to find it get to play it sometime...I was lucky and got the last copy at the third CC I went to, and I'm so glad I got it. Worth $5? Shame on me for not buying this at release.

I'll try and post more later..since I got a pretty good amount of games.

 

[southernmissfan]

All I got was:
Mario Party 4
Zoocube
Dynasty Warriors 4
Bomberman Generation

MP4 is basic Mario Party with a few new features. Zoocube is pretty decent puzzle type game. I haven't played DW4 yet. Bomberman is loads of fun.

 

[Archaix]

I'll add my impressions, sure, why not.

Ape Escape 2: Very fun, but seems as though it may be too easy. I've only played past the first boss, so I am holding out hope that it gets harder.

Parappa 2: Also fairly fun, but short and easy. Not bad for five bucks, however I'd be pretty upset with even a $30 purchase.

Maximo-I can't save and I have given myself gaming ADD. When I have a bigger chunk of time to dedicate to the game, I'll actually play through until I can save the damned thing. By playing it five times, though, I can say with some certainty that the first level is fun enough

Megaman X7-Not a fan of this one. Megaman 2 was the best game ever as far as I remember. I played the rest of the NES series on and off as a kid, Megaman Collection should be getting here soon. I won't know until after I play that whether I have simply lost my taste for Mega Man or if this is just a poorly made game(I'm leaning towards the latter). Plus, the complaint I remember having when Mega Man X came out still stands. I want to fight robots that look like people. I'm not interested in shooting Smelly Mongoose and the Raiding Rabbit.

I also got Marvel vs Capcom 2, Guilty Gear X, War of the Monsters, and Bomberman Generations. I'd played them before (very little of the first two), so I haven't really started getting back into them yet. That, and my 2d fighting skills are as nonexistant as ever.

 

[Meier]

Oh btw, the camera in Ape Escape 2 just might be the worst ever.

 

[atomsk]

guilty gear x, ohhh pretty sprites. i still suck at 2d fighters

super bust a move, havent played, but i know what to expect

wheel of fortune, uhhhh, it's wheel of fortune. vanna white is SCARY. please cut down on the botox

crazy taxi 2, more of the same. meh

fairly odd parents, bought it for the kid, but the gf's 16 year old sister is getting the most play out of it. looks rather bland. some adult humor here and there (a joke about binary, WOO)

grabbed by the ghoulies, got to the 2nd chapter, i'm actually enjoying this alot more than i thought i would. slick presentation, a little annoyed at the camera, but it's been fun so far.

mojo, fun little marble madness puzzle game

wreckless, sweet replays. can't say much for the game as i've only played 1 level

 

[Ninja Scooter]

chaos legion-played through the first level. Seems cool enough, if a little repetitive, though the Legion summoning stuff could be nice. Its like DMC meets Dynasty Warriors

Ico-damn, this game is just as beautiful as i remember, it really hasn't aged much at all.

Dark Cloud 2-haven't had a chance to play it. Did watch the intro though, and the graphics seem fairly cool.

War of the Monsters-as shitty as i remembered. This one is going to Gamerush as a tradein.

 

[Saint Cornelius]

mojo, fun little marble madness puzzle game

fucking STOP IT. really ? Anyone else concur with this gentleman?

If it's anything like Marble Madness, I am so going back to pick it up. I saw plenty of copies there (and I see it everyhwere for mad cheap too, like Super Bubble Pop)

 

[seismologist]

Ape Escape sounds cool but now I feel like I shouldnt pay more than $5 for it

 

[Dice]

Eternal Darkness was not 4.99 was it?

Yes, and it only gets better! It is soooo good! My sanity meter dropped to a tiny sliver for a bit, it was so whacked out. Everything is so well done, I really don't know how to describe it, it's just one you can immediately tell is a classic. It's like when you played Super Metroid or Mario 64 or MGS1 for the first time, it's just so right.

It has also reminded me how much I love horror games. I don't like horror movies but in games there is a real sense of danger with real consiquences, which makes it very intense and actually scarry. I had to stop playing because I was getting all jittery.

Ape Escape sounds cool but now I feel like I shouldnt pay more than $5 for it

Well hold on to that $5 and hope it's there Sunday. If that doesn't work, this site is the next best thing. It's the best means I have found to trade games online, everything is 100% secure, and the service only costs about $5 to trade one game. Some people have exceedingly bad taste in what they are willing to trade for something that is pretty crappy.

GameXchange trading site

 

[luxsol]

Eternal Darkness was not 4.99 was it?

It wasn't! I had them price check it in two CCs and both rang up as 19.99!

 

[Dice]

I hope you bought it for $20 anyway, it's more than worth it.

 

[helium121]

Ico- Had before but it's such a beautiful game I had to rebuy it for the collection.

Rez- Awesome game. Awesome music and trippy visuals.

MGS2 Substance- Had before wanted for collection. Not as great as the first but still worthy of a $5 purchase.

Parappa 2- Loved the first one. This is sooo much easier and the music isn't as catchy. Wouldn't pay more than $10 for, perfect at $5.

Rygar- Good action game. My girlfriend says it reminds her of Ninja Gaiden. Not quite but close.

Disgaea- Waiting for my vacation next week to play this.

Devil May Cry 2- No where near as good as the first. Glad I only paid $5.

Voodoo Vince- Nice platformer. Nothing too original, but a decent game.

Resident Evil Code Veronica- You've played one, you've played them all. Wanted for collection. Was wowed on Dreamcast, nothing too special now.

Viewtiful Joe- Awesome game. Rebought for collection.

 

[luxsol]

I hope you bought it for $20 anyway, it's more than worth it.

Nope... this week is dedicated to buying games in the price range from $4.99 - 4.99 and abusing the price matching system so many stores imploy.

 

[Wario64]

Just played some Disgaea today from the sale (thanks Saurus!). Played it for about a hour, going through the tutorials. Game seems pretty sweet so far, I like how you can do team attacks and stuff, and still have your allies make a move on the battle field. Your characters can attack like 5 times in 1 turn if you can get it right! And I accidently killed my entire party on that Geo Panel tutorial, oops! Pretty sweet that they kept in the Japanese voices too, as well as the English dub. I probably should play La Pucelle Tactics first but oh well

 

[TheDiave]

Those of you who actually got to seize the deal and snag some good games cheap... I hate you.

That is all.

 

[bobbyconover]

I probably should play La Pucelle Tactics first but oh well

Yes. Do it. I've never played Disgaea and I'm absolutely loving the hell out of La Pucelle - and I almost never like RPGs, Tactics games, OR anime-styled games. So it's pretty much a miracle that this one has me hooked like crazy.

I think it's the Pokemonish nature of the game that really sold me. Something about amassing an army of pink hippos that I've toughened up through commands like "Kick in nuts" and launching massive team attacks on hordes of mushroom-with-a-face enemies just really turns me on. I've put 30 hours into it in a matter of days. I think the last time I did that with ANY game was Paper Mario, years ago.

So yeah, give it a go!

 

[Shouta]

PINK HIPPOS!

Anyhoo, I want a copy of Disagea for myself

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Yes. Do it. I've never played Disgaea and I'm absolutely loving the hell out of La Pucelle - and I almost never like RPGs, Tactics games, OR anime-styled games. So it's pretty much a miracle that this one has me hooked like crazy.

I think it's the Pokemonish nature of the game that really sold me. Something about amassing an army of pink hippos that I've toughened up through commands like "Kick in nuts" and launching massive team attacks on hordes of mushroom-with-a-face enemies just really turns me on. I've put 30 hours into it in a matter of days. I think the last time I did that with ANY game was Paper Mario, years ago.

So yeah, give it a go!

Do yourself a favor and play Disgaea, you'll love it. Promise.

 

[bobbyconover]

Do yourself a favor and play Disgaea, you'll love it. Promise.

Yeah, totally. I just wanna finish off La Pucelle first so I don't end up getting spoiled by the added features, or whatever it is that people seem to like more about Disgaea, and giving up on La Pucelle.

Of course I'm always ready and willing to take any $4.99 hookups! I scoured several CCs on the day the list went up, but every store within 100 miles of me was sold out from the get-go.

 

[Wario64]

Yes. Do it. I've never played Disgaea and I'm absolutely loving the hell out of La Pucelle - and I almost never like RPGs, Tactics games, OR anime-styled games. So it's pretty much a miracle that this one has me hooked like crazy.

That's good to know, cause the anime-style kinda turns me off. But I want to play Disgaea first!

I'm gonna have to put both games into the backlog anyhow since I'm gonna attempt to beat Tales of Symphonia in a rental period (1 week)

 

[Gattsu25]

fuck my luck but i was only able to get a single sega sports game by the time i found out about this sale


note: i hate sports games

 

[Alex Anderson]

I picked up Super Monkey Ball Jr. (GBA), Disaster Report (PS2), ESPN NHL Hockey (PS2), Gunvalkyrie (XBox), and Eternal Darkness (GC). Here's what I've played of them so far:

Super Monkey Ball Jr: Realism Ltd. has made a faithful recreation of the GameCube games here, especially given the hardware they had to work with. I like that the stages are in 3D and aren't the faux-3D Mode 7 sort. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a slowish frame rate, being stuck with d-pad control, and stages being too similar to SMB Sr. As a fan of the series, though I think it's a great package. Helped that it was $5.

Disaster Report: I remember being intrigued by screenshots of Disaster Report a couple of years ago. I'm only about an hour into the game, but I really like the premise of escaping a natural disaster-- an interesting twist on the whole survivor/horror genre, not having to fight enemies and such. I like low budget games like this and Sky Odyssey. And paying bottom dollar for them two years after they come out is always fun. Thanks for bringing Disaster Report over, Agetec.

--

I'm looking forward to ED after I wrap up Disaster Report (I hear DR's on the short side).

 

[Bishman]

Skies of Arcadia: Legends

I was wondering why everyone loves this game and I finally know why. The story is just so awesome. I love the battles and the airship battles. Another reason why I like it, it reminds me of One Piece.

 

[Dice]

I haven't been playing games very much lately, and in fact when I did it was RE2, but I can update, or rather warn you about Two Towers.

Basically, it sucks. I thought it was an occasional flaw, but it turns out to be the whole concept of the game for everything to be invincible until you follow a specific pattern. In several levels you will fail almost instantly unless you do just the right thing, and against enemies you have to do exactly only one thing according to one pattern to beat them. And it's not only frustrating because of this trial and error design, but once you do get the trick it's completely boring because you're just sitting around waiting to exploit artificial weaknesses that get you an instant win.

If you ask me, you should have freedom in beat-em-ups. If I get 15 different moves, I would rather have the freedom to use those moves in different situations as I think would be best, not have each one of them be specifically to defeat one type of enemy. Thats a whole part of the fun in beat-em-ups, that once you get good you can deal with 20 enemies at once and even kind of play around with them. But, if they insist on making moves only work on specific enemies, it should at least make sense why they work.

For instance, why can I only beat trolls with an upward swing on their front end? Does the troll have special magic that blocks horizontal or stabbing attacks at his face but not vertical? And every single boss character is this way, compleyely invincible until you wait around for them to follow their pattern and give you a chance to make them go "duhhh... whats going on???" at which point your weapon decides to finally work. It should always work at least a little, it's a 4 foot sword for goodness sake.

This trial and error gameplay is only worsened by the level/point system. You see the better you do, the more points you earn to learn new moves. These new moves are essential for effectively defeating enemies in the next level so you can get a good score and moves for the level after that. The problem with this is that if you beat a level you can't play it over again to get more points if you didn't do so well. And since the game is very trial-and-error based, you will have most likely barely scraped by the first time you beat a new level, leaving you with slim pickins.

Level designs don't exactly make sense either. In one level of helms deep, you are responsible for kicking down ladders so that the enemies dont get up there. As the level progresses more and more ladders come up and you have to fight enemies that do make it up while still kicking down the ladders, and if you fail to keep the amount of enemies on the wall low your friends die. But when Legolas, Gimli and like 50 Rohan soldiers are up there with you, you really wonder why you are the only one who is kicing down the ladders in the first place.

Overall I really don't understand the praise this game got. It makes every single bad move you could possibly make in a beat-em-up game. The design principles are awful and the overall focus seems to be earning/unlocking things rather than making the gameplay that unlocks it fun. Ultimately one may trudge through and beat it, but afterwards they realize it was like some chore they had to do to unlock the fun mode. It's bad enough to have to work through something bad in order to get to the good stuff, but in this case it's even worse because it never does unlock anything fun.

Conlusion:
Rating 4/10. Typical movie liscence crap game. Pretty graphics and everything functions, but just plain bad.

 

[jacksonphonic]

I got Dead to Rights, Waverace (both GC) and my brother got Britney's Dance Beat and Devil May Cry. My take:

Dead to Rights: Should have left for dead. Terrible game, froze three times within the first couple of hours. Clunky game design, repititve and boring. Needless to say, I accepted the $3 I got in trade for it, and was happy to even get that.

Waverace: had it before, and sold it. Great game, though not quite the step up above the n64 version that I imagine it could have been.

Britney's Dance Beat: Clowned my brother for about 4 hours for even buying the game, but he really likes it. Not my type of game, but to each their own.

Devil May Cry: I played the sequel before I played this one, and thought it was fun, besides the fact that it was waaaay too easy. This one is harder, but I think it is a better game overall. Great weapons, animation, and the battle system and enemies aren't as mind numbing as the second became.

 

[Ristamar]

Dead to Rights: Should have left for dead. Terrible game, froze three times within the first couple of hours. Clunky game design, repititve and boring. Needless to say, I accepted the $3 I got in trade for it, and was happy to even get that.

 

[User 406]

I got a good number of games during the sale so I'll give some impressions:

Roadkill - Sort of GTA meets Twisted Metal, but not as good as either. I had a little fun driving around looking for hidden icons and doing a few basic missions. It's amazing just how much this games rips off GTA3 in presentation -- even the fonts, map, and interface sounds are complete copies. The car combat so far is pretty lame, the most effective strategy seems to be to stop, line up with an enemy vehicle who obligingly stops to line up with you, and hold down the fire buttons until they're dead since you have far greater health/armor than they do. I'm hoping that later there will be more Twisted Metal style dogfighting, but I'm not counting on it. Not sure how much longer it will keep my interest. Oh, and the radio stations are fucking awful. And why are there radio stations in a post apocalyptic world anyway?

HSX: Hyper Speed Xtreme - I was hoping for a decent Wipeout clone, but it fell short. First, the physics of the craft weren't terrible, but they just weren't good enough. I didn't need to use the airbrakes much at all, although that can also be partially attributed to the annoying track design. One thing I thought was neat at first was that your craft's thrust affects your jumps. If you tilt the nose forward, you go faster but you fall faster. If you tilt it straight up, you fly farther but lose speed. However, after crashing multiple times while missing jumps, I discovered that for the vast majority of jumps in the game, the way to make it across successfully is to not adjust your attitude at all. :/

Second, the game boasts a track editor, but unfortunately it looks like that's what they used to make all the tracks. The width of the tracks are horribly uniform with easy curves, and while they go all over the place in all dimensions, it took me about four races before I found a segment of track that was narrower than the others, and it was another race or two after that before I found a single narrow chicane that actually required braking. I'm trading this one in.

Headhunter - I've only played some of the training area so far, and I wasn't too impressed. Fairly bland third person sneaky-shooty stuff with slightly clunky controls. I'll come back and try out the actual game, but it had better be really interesting.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto - I've heard a lot of good things about this game, so I figured I'd risk five bucks. I played even less of it than I did Headhunter, so my impressions are extremely superficial. I ran down a hill and shots some bugs. Bad framerate. FIANAL JUGAMENT: One of the worst games ever made - 9/10. But seriously, when I get back to it, I'll proceed farther to the bits where I switch to the giant thing or the gurl. I did find the cutscene at the beginning to be funny, so I'll give it a chance.

Super Bust-a-Move - Dude, it's BUST-A-MOVE, therefore it's fun. TToB and I played about a hundred rounds of Vs., so I already got my $5 out of it. The new characters are pretty disturbing looking though. :X

Bloodrayne - I haven't opened this one yet, but I already know how it plays since I tried TToB's copy ages ago. Fun third person beatem/shootemup that's worth $5. Paul Verhoeven approves of der titties und der blood.

Sub Rebellion - I only played this for a few minutes, but what I tried was great. It feels like an underwater Warhawk. The sonar ping effect was pretty cool and I blew stuff up! Note to self: Do not attack big minelayer sub from the rear next time. A definite keeper. I just want to mention the magic word, Warhawk again, in bold, so you who know will buy it.

Ring of Red - Holy crap I'm loving this game. The graphics are terrible and it totally kicks ass. The premise is that Japan didn't surrender at the end of WWII, and that it was invaded and split into North Japan and South Japan. (The Soviets grabbed Hokkaido.) Also, Germany invented the Armored Fighting Walker unit, as a substitute for tanks in areas with rugged terrain. There's a nifty intro video where they take old black & white war footage and insert big mecha clunking along beside the charging troops. The game is set in early 60's Japan, where North and South Japan primarily use AFW units in combat. Each mission is played on a strategy map, where you move your AFW units in turns to engage enemy units and occupy strategic sites. When your units enter into combat with the enemy, a realtime battle begins, and this is where things really get interesting.

Each AFW unit consists of an AFW and up to three platoons of footsoldiers. There are a variety of AFW types and platoon types, and each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses and special skills. In your AFW unit, you have one crew platoon that rides on a platform on your AFW and assists in reloading and special attacks, and two ground platoons that you can move during battle as needed to the rear or the front of your AFW. Depending on the special skills your pilot, crew, and ground platoons have, you can customize the combat style and ability of your units to a tremendous degree. You can also pick up new platoons in each mission by occupying various towns and cities.

Each realtime battle lasts 90 seconds, during which you can move your AFW towards or away from the enemy to get into your optimum range. When your crew loads your main weapon, you can choose to fire at the enemy AFW or the vanguard of his ground troops. When you're ready to fire, a crosshair will appear that bobs around and focuses on the enemy as a hit percentage readout increases. The longer you wait before firing, the higher the hit percentage will go, but being hit by the enemy while doing so will reduce it, and you can't issue commands to your troops or move your AFW while aiming, so you'll have to use your best judgement.

You can command your ground platoons to move forward or back. Platoons in the rearguard are safe from enemy fire (aside from certain special attacks) and can charge up their special attacks. Once they are charged, sending them to the vanguard will unleash their special attacks. Troops in the vanguard will also attack the enemy vanguard or AFW normally. Different types of platoons are stronger/weaker against soldiers/AFWs. There are also special rearguard skills that can repair damage to your AFW's legs or weapon, or improve the defensive abilities of your troops. The crew platoon can also have special skills for certain types of shots. Then there are your pilot's special skills which vary from character to character.

Tuning your AFW units' skills and using them is battle is a blast. I highly recommend Ring of Red to anyone who likes a bit of strategy. It should be dirt cheap anywhere you can find it now, and it's also a good opportunity to see what Konami was doing graphically with the PSX2 before they got a good handle on it. :X


I also got Gungriffon Blaze and The Thing, but I haven't opened them yet. From what I've seen of TToB's copy of GGB it looks worth the $5. Mecha combat, unfortunately in first person mode.

Even though they weren't part of the sale, I picked up Intellivision Lives, and Ace Combat 4 while I was at it. Got over 800,000 in Astrosmash and unlocked all the sweet George Plimpton commercials in Intellivision Lives. The Ace Combat 4 impressions will be in a forthcoming thread.

 

[dark10x]

I'll proceed farther to the bits where I switch to the giant thing or the gurl.

The Meccs are actually the best part of the game. Giants rocks, but the PS2 version is pretty terrible...