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Star Ocean 3 1up review...
- Thread starter Doom_Bringer
- Start date
Kobun Heat
Member
Oh, OUCH.dark10x said:
SolidSnakex
Member
eXxy said:
The Golden Sun series has that title on lock.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
Soul4ger said:
Is that so? I played through FFX-2 and Kingdom Hearts, not only to completion but also enjoying both.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
dark10x said:
It is good to be the king.
SolidSnakex
Member
FFX-2 atleast had an enjoyable battle system. I'll take that over alot of RPG's that really only have a story going for it. KH's main problem was the overuse of a battle system, that much like 99% of all other ARPG's was severely under developed. They're going to have to revemp the battle system completely for KH2, or cut back on how much fighting you have to do.
RevenantKioku
PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS PEINS oh god i am drowning in them
dark10x said:Oh no, the battle system could be considered flawless in light of the other problems.
The Gummi ship was pretty much the biggest negative about the game in my mind, but eventually you could just warp around, so my issues dwindled. It lacked a whole lot of stat tweaking, but it was an ARPG and the battles were enjoyable, so it balanced out. I did get pissed off in the Little Mermaid world since I kept getting lost, but that's my own fault most likely. I wouldn't put the game in my list of top 10, but it was enjoyable.
Alex
Member
FFX-2 beats out Kingdom Hearts for abysmal game design.
FFX-2 had nothing at all good going for it despite that it was mostly recycled content.
The most horrifying mythos in a game just about ever. An absolutely shattered, not broken, shattered battle system and job system. And non-linear presentation/exploration so utterly clueless and tedious it'd make Wind Waker blush.
Don't get me wrong, Dark. You know I hate Kingdom Hearts, but holy fuck did FFX-2 suck. It's like Square took a bunch of retarded 15 year old fanboys and gave them a multi-million dollar budget.
FFX-2 had nothing at all good going for it despite that it was mostly recycled content.
The most horrifying mythos in a game just about ever. An absolutely shattered, not broken, shattered battle system and job system. And non-linear presentation/exploration so utterly clueless and tedious it'd make Wind Waker blush.
Don't get me wrong, Dark. You know I hate Kingdom Hearts, but holy fuck did FFX-2 suck. It's like Square took a bunch of retarded 15 year old fanboys and gave them a multi-million dollar budget.
Kobun Heat
Member
Alex said:
Since the pitchforks have been drawn out, can I just say that Tales of Symphonia has to have the most dizzying unfocused narrative ever to be stretched to the limits of pap fiction... Yeesh, as far as plot framework is concerned, I actually found MORE coherent meandering from Legend of Dragoon or the Space Channel 5 games.
On the flipside, I just hit Disk 2 with nearly 50 hours on the clock...progress!
I pray SO3 does in fact fare better...
On the flipside, I just hit Disk 2 with nearly 50 hours on the clock...progress!
I pray SO3 does in fact fare better...
Alex said:
I'd say FFX/X-2 did a far better job of creating an interesting, internally-consistent, fully-realized world than about 99% of the RPG's out there. Perhaps not to your taste, but still light-years better than the derivative sf/fantasy backdrops that fill most other games, some earlier FF's included. At least with X and X-2, they established some interesting ground rules for the world, then took the time to explore the implications. The only thing I find 'horrifying' is how rarely other RPG developers bother to flesh out the settings of their games.
As for what FFX-2 had going for it, it was a coda to FFX. It gave players the chance to revisit a world and characters that they'd grown fond of. It also offered them the opportunity to seek answers to the questions raised by the final scene in FFX. (The fact that the player is given the opportunity to determine how it all works out is an excellent touch.) The truth of the matter is, it was a bonus for FFX fans, more an interactive 'appreciate disc' than something meant to stand on its own merits to non-fans. For some of us, that was enough. If you weren't big on the setting or characters of X to begin with, then X-2 wasn't designed with you in mind, anyway. (Personally, I think X-2 might've worked better as a CG OVA in the vein of Advent Children, given what it was intended to accomplish.)
Alex
Member
The narrative work started off pretty atypical for a Tales game, although the character aren't near as interesting as past series ones. Although, I still admit I get a kick out of Raines violent streak.
But the further you progessed, the pacing and presentation turned into Wild Arms. I had a hell of a time just finishing Symphonia whereas I had a blast in the first half of the game.
But it was good stuff, if you can just completely ignore all the superficial aspects the second half of the game offers. Good dungeons, decent character construction although Eternia's subsytems were better, battle system was fun as per usual, although it still had the same 'ol problems. Mania mode should've been avalible from the start.
Legend of Dragoon, har, I almost forgot about that. I think I made it five hours in before I just said "fuck it" and returned the game. Oh, how I miss GameStop's return policy.
But the further you progessed, the pacing and presentation turned into Wild Arms. I had a hell of a time just finishing Symphonia whereas I had a blast in the first half of the game.
But it was good stuff, if you can just completely ignore all the superficial aspects the second half of the game offers. Good dungeons, decent character construction although Eternia's subsytems were better, battle system was fun as per usual, although it still had the same 'ol problems. Mania mode should've been avalible from the start.
Legend of Dragoon, har, I almost forgot about that. I think I made it five hours in before I just said "fuck it" and returned the game. Oh, how I miss GameStop's return policy.
X2 is nothing more than a cheap cash-in... The way FFX ended was fine, there didn't need to be a sequel. Instead, Square decided on reusing 95% of the same graphics from FFX, added some 70's porn music soundtrack, cheesed up the plot, and made a total mockery of the series to long time fans (and former fans, such as myself, who has been burned out on the series since 8). The battle system was fast, which was about the only thing going for it, but it was so fast, that it was sometimes hard to keep track of what was going on... luckily, all you needed to do was attack with Darkness from the Dark Knight class. Broken gameplay, annoying mission-based structure that disrupts the game's utter lack of narrative, the fact the "story" was ridiculously cornball (the Kinderguardians? Give me a break!)... Plus the whole point was to save a character (Tidus) who I didn't even like to begin with I can't find one redeeming thing about that game, at least I can say that Kingdom Hearts had good graphics. I actually managed to get like 95-96% in my first playthrough of X2, I have no idea how I put up with that.
I can't find one redeeming thing about that game, at least I can say that Kingdom Hearts had good graphics. I actually managed to get like 95-96% in my first playthrough of X2, I have no idea how I put up with that.Kobun Heat
Member
Alex
Member
Tellaerin:
The problem with your post is: I don't really care. It was just a minor complaint in the grand scheme of mechanics/battle systems/exploration/gameplay, etc.
You're kinda talking to the wrong person, although I still post like we have the same RPG bit we did four years ago or so at GA, so that's kinda bad on my behalf.
My apprecation of mythos in videogames goes as far as this:
1) Motivational padding for progression/pretty artwork. The more adventurey the better.
2.) Charming characters to get a few laughs out of. The more comedic the script, the better.
My pet peeve: Videogame writers who take themselves too seriously. Espically those who do it to the point where we wind up with incoherent bullshit like MGS2 and Xenogears.
There's a fair slew of games where I apprecaite the narrative work. But there's never going to be a time where I consider it one of the main points of a game for me, nor will I ever sit around on a message board and discuss it in length.
I will always note what I feel about it, however. Well, at least I would if I still gave impressions.
The problem with your post is: I don't really care. It was just a minor complaint in the grand scheme of mechanics/battle systems/exploration/gameplay, etc.
You're kinda talking to the wrong person, although I still post like we have the same RPG bit we did four years ago or so at GA, so that's kinda bad on my behalf.
My apprecation of mythos in videogames goes as far as this:
1) Motivational padding for progression/pretty artwork. The more adventurey the better.
2.) Charming characters to get a few laughs out of. The more comedic the script, the better.
My pet peeve: Videogame writers who take themselves too seriously. Espically those who do it to the point where we wind up with incoherent bullshit like MGS2 and Xenogears.
There's a fair slew of games where I apprecaite the narrative work. But there's never going to be a time where I consider it one of the main points of a game for me, nor will I ever sit around on a message board and discuss it in length.
I will always note what I feel about it, however. Well, at least I would if I still gave impressions.
Patrick Klepek
furiously molesting tim burton
i can appreciative proper narrative work over a game suffering from bland gameplay (SO3 seems to fall into this trap), but FFX-2 didn't even try. i have no idea how i managed to make it to the end of the game. when my memory card disappeared and i couldn't see the ending, i was HAPPY.
fuck, i look at some of the reviews for FFX-2 and just wonder what the hell they were thinking while playing that game.
fuck, i look at some of the reviews for FFX-2 and just wonder what the hell they were thinking while playing that game.
Alex said:Tellaerin:
The problem with your post is: I don't really care. It was just a minor complaint in the grand scheme of mechanics/battle systems/exploration/gameplay, etc.
You're kinda talking to the wrong person, although I still post like we have the same RPG bit we did four years ago or so at GA, so that's kinda bad on my behalf.
My apprecation of mythos in videogames goes as far as this:
1) Motivational padding for progression/pretty artwork. The more adventurey the better.
2.) Charming characters to get a few laughs out of. The more comedic the script, the better.
My pet peeve: Videogame writers who take themselves too seriously. Espically those who do it to the point where we wind up with incoherent bullshit like MGS2 and Xenogears.
There's a fair slew of games where I apprecaite the narrative work. But there's never going to be a time where I consider it one of the main points of a game for me, nor will I ever sit around on a message board and discuss it in length.
I will always note what I feel about it, however. Well, at least I would if I still gave impressions.
Hmm, I thought Kojima didn't take MGS2 seriously at all, so you got ridiculous crap like Raiden's balls getting grabbed and the Colonel spouting gibberish at you. And that was part of the fun of the game, Kojima was trying to defy the convention of a serious narrative (like MGS1 had).
The Xeno games are filled with so much pretentious religious crap, that the few silly bits (Chu-Chu, the Erde Kaiser transformation sequence) are such sharp contrasts, and make the games seem even more awkward.
ferricide said:
could you explain the battle system of shadow hearts 2 a bit? i really liked the theme of shadow hearts, as there is a distinct lack of gothic rpgs, but the battle system was really boring and eventually i just couldnt take it anymore. add to that pallete swapped enemies, boring battle music and bland graphics...the whole thing just fell apart for me, even though i was actually liking the characters and settings.
eeeek...ill wait for the price to drop i guess. 2 years of waiting too!
SH2 is a big step up from the original.nitewulf said:
the judgment ring system makes a return, but there's a lot more customization to it. you can add more segments to the ring (could you do that in 1? it's been a long time; i don't think you can) and you can also enlarge the segments to make it easier. you can pick different ring configurations -- i.e. normal (normal speed, normal size) or technical (smaller, but better damage) or auto (if you can't manage the system, you can still play the game.)
magic is accomplished by equipping demonic crests which grant spells (except for yuri, whose magic is inherent to his demonic forms, of which there are lots, though some are redundant.) every character has his/her own special attacks, too, like FF. karin has sword techs (forget what they're actually called) and joachim has wrestling attacks, etc. these are also cool because for each character, you have different ways of powering these up, which adds to the outside-battle gameplay.
another big addition is the combo system, where you link up attacks to do massive compounding damage to enemies. special attacks all have knock down, launch, or blowback built into them, so you have to do things in the right order to link 'em up. these are fun, and each of yuri's forms has a massive combo-ending spell that's unique, so it's worth puzzling out the elemental resistance of bosses to use this properly.
there's just a lot to this game. nothing terribly original, but tons of it, and an interesting story told well. it shames square enix's recent stuff IMO, if you want this kind of game. better than any of their RPGs this gen, FFX excepted, IMO. (i was going to say "games" but i haven't played FM4 much. nor do i know definitively how this stacks up to DQV, so japan-only releases are excepted.)
djtiesto said:Plus the whole point was to save a character (Tidus) who I didn't even like to begin with
I was going to address your previous post in more depth, but ultimately, I think that this is the lynchpin on which all your criticisms turn. You didn't like Tidus, so you couldn't enjoy a game that revolves around rescuing him. In light of that, I doubt anything could have made the game enjoyable for you, any more than I could have had fun playing a game starring Squall. Nothing kills enjoyment of an RPG faster than trying to force the player to care about characters they dislike. Given that I liked Tidus a great deal, the premise of X-2 hooked me, and that shaped my enjoyment of the game. So I'll agree to disagree with you on X-2, and leave it at that.
Alex said:
Since sloppy world-building and RPG premises with glaring logic holes are pet peeves of mine, I felt like responding. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and freshness of Spira as a setting. In light of that, I felt your criticism was unfounded, and I said as much. Whether or not you care is irrelevant.
Alex said:
So you basically like the GameArts-style stuff. Nothing wrong with that; I enjoy those types of RPG's myself. On the other hand, I also enjoy titles that take themselves seriously. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the videogame equivalent of LotR, a rousing adventure played for dramatic impact, rather than 'a cast of charming kids, their colorful allies, and the obligatory fluffy critter engage in wacky hijinks while saving the world'.
Alex said:
Incoherency is bad in any medium. That doesn't mean that writers shouldn't take themselves seriously, just that they should strive not to let their seriousness become pretentiousness.
Alex said:There's a fair slew of games where I apprecaite the narrative work. But there's never going to be a time where I consider it one of the main points of a game for me, nor will I ever sit around on a message board and discuss it in length.
The narrative is almost invariably the main point of JRPG's for me. Rarely have I played one with battle mechanics that I find entertaining enough in their own right to carry the game. (SRPG's and games with action-battle systems like the Tales series are the exceptions.) It's a shame that you're above discussing such things, since the art of storytelling in a videogame context (and how narrative can/should influence game mechanics and vice-versa in story-driven games) is definitely a topic worth discussing. I'd be far more ashamed of participating in the ever-present NPD threads than I would that.
Alex said:
And I'll always remark on the observations of yourself and others when I feel the desire to, regardless of whether or not the original poster happens to care what I think.