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[OmegaZero]

Flipping back and forth between Gravity Rush, Motorstorm, Wipeout and Jet Set Radio. Admittedly none of them are really bad except for JSR which is trash of the highest order and I'm not really versed in the racing genre enough to properly criticize or find flaws in motorstorm and wipeout.

Gravity Rush I like but I have serious control issues with that game that stop me from getting the most out of it. I still haven't adapted to any of the motion crap or even the basic gravity shifting, not to the point where I can pull of gold medals in challenge races.

Ouch.
Gravity shifting should the the thing that you focus on first. Motion grinding is fun if you can adapt, but gravity kicks are faster, and mastering gravity shifting is the first step toward learning how to aim your kicks.

EDIT: Oh, you're skipping the challenges. Nvm then.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

What? I don't understand the Ghost in the Shell comparison at all; I don't see any similarities between the two stories.

The pacing of Trails in the Sky does feel like a novel as opposed to a typical game, but that's not a bad thing. It allows the world to be carefully fleshed out, pulling me in and getting me immersed to an extent that few fictional worlds, especially in gaming, have. By the end I really cared about the fate of the characters and wanted to see them succeed, which is a mark of successful storytelling.

Of course, if you're looking for a tight, mechanics-focused game, it's not for you.

I love reading and don't feel like the game felt like a novel at all. It just felt really slow. Lots of text is fine but so much of it is just meaningless. I didn't feel much of a connection to the characters at all really.

The game has enough redeaming features to mean I will prob go back to it eventually but compared the like likes of something like persona 3 which drew me in immediately and kept me hooked,its not a priority game at all for me.

 

[Splash Wave]

Out of that list, TitS is the best game. People complain about the plodding pace of the first few chapters, but it's very refreshing for an RPG of this style to have a slower, more personal pace that allows you to really get to know the characters and it's very much worth it for the end. There's a reason people are clambering for the next in the series to be localized.

Next would be Parasite Eve, a better than Resident Evil Survival Horror RPG with an actually believable female protagonist. It feels like a 90s cyberpunk horror novel, which makes sense because it's based on a 90s cyberpunk horror novel.

Tomba is a often looked over Action RPG that should be played, but don't be in a big hurry. It's good, but not worth pushing to the top of the play list.

Ys 7 is great, but not near the classics that the three above on this list are.

TitS would be the last game on that list I would recommend. Everything about the game is plodding. The story would be fine if it were in a book instead of a game where it's like trying to get a sandwich through a straw (these are issues with how the game handles storytelling via incredibly long conversations where you're only pressing a button to get to the next snippet of conversation). The characters and plot are pretty much Ghost in the Shell (GitS) set in a fantasy universe, but summarizing it that way probably makes it sound far more entertaining than it really is.

I would put Ys 7 at the top of the list because the combat system is a lot of fun.

I should have included in a little more information in my post:

As far as Parasite Eve goes, I haven't played it since it came out, and I didn't beat it then--I hardly remember anything about it other than the way it looked, but my vague memories are very fond.

I've also played TiTS on PSP, maybe around 10 hours. I was actually surprised how little the slowness bothered me because I'm very impatient these days. I'm going to see if I can move my save over from PSP.

I'd love to play P4 but I'm still so intimidated from the first time I played on PS2. I must have gotten 20 hours in, but I remember fusing and all that shit got to be overwhelming--it always felt like I was fucking something up.

I appreciate all of the recommendations thus far because I'm incredibly indecisive, and since this will be the first long-ish game I've had time for in awhile (I'm graduating this weekend) I want it to be the "right" one.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

What's this weird brooding aura in this thread....oh hi Toto.

I certainly get where you are coming from with regards to PSM. I think there needs to be a better way of promoting new releases on the PSM platform. Listing the new releases in the PSN section of the store in would be a big help, as well as putting them under new release and featured sections. I'd venture to guess most users don't even know the PSM section exist. When new Minis came out they were listed alongside other games, the same needs to happen for PSM games.

I believe in the platform it just needs to be more accessible in the store and thus get better exposure.

 

[kiyomi]

The controls are the one thing holding Gravity Rush back from being a truly great game, imo.

I've been told this a bunch of times with this game and other games. I'm doing it right but it's the inaccuracy of these gimmicky motion or tilt controls that's the problem. I would pay $5 for the ability to control my sliding with the sticks and to have greater control while free falling.

In regards to free falling, I found that I had to constantly stop Kat and readjust, but I got quite adept at it, so I never lost too much time. You can alter her course a little bit with the left stick - as I'm sure you know - but yeah, the controls are just not quite there. And any game that forces me to move my head just so that I can see what's going on as I tilt the screen leaves me frustrated.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

I pretty much am now. I unlock the challenges with gems to boost my rep but I don't play them.



I've been told this a bunch of times with this game and other games. I'm doing it right but it's the inaccuracy of these gimmicky motion or tilt controls that's the problem. I would pay $5 for the ability to control my sliding with the sticks and to have greater control while free falling.

With the slide if you take one finger off the screen you slow down to a crawl allowing you to turn better.
However it is still not that easy. What worked for me in the end was I just stopped sliding, turned with the right stick and started a slide again. Got gold on all the sliding challenges doing that.

 

[Derrick01]

Ouch.
Gravity shifting should the the thing that you focus on first. Motion grinding is fun if you can adapt, but gravity kicks are faster, and mastering gravity shifting is the first step toward learning how to aim your kicks.

EDIT: Oh, you're skipping the challenges. Nvm then.

I'm on episode 13 or 14 now so it's a little late to really learn how to shift right lol.

I can do it good if I constantly stop and start again but there are a lot of times when there is a super long row of gems and the game clearly wants you to fall through it but if you're not lined up you have to move back with the left stick, but you move so damn slow while free falling it's easy to miss a lot. The only alternative is to constantly stop and go and that takes forever. I just did a mission where I spent at least 30 minutes going down through a tree or some shit and a good portion of that I HAD to free fall for the gems because my shifting was taken away. I probably missed hundreds of gems.

 

[corrosivefrost]

I pretty much am now. I unlock the challenges with gems to boost my rep but I don't play them.



I've been told this a bunch of times with this game and other games. I'm doing it right but it's the inaccuracy of these gimmicky motion or tilt controls that's the problem. I would pay $5 for the ability to control my sliding with the sticks and to have greater control while free falling.

There's no problem with the accuracy. It's just becoming acclimated to it.
If there was a problem with the accuracy, I never would've been able to get gold in that damn health race (or any of the sliding races, for that matter).

Once you're powered up and acclimated to the controls, it works well enough. Otherwise, there's no way that I would end up with times for the golds that were 5+ seconds under the cutoff for gold and I would have given up on my platinum.

--

As far as JSR, I agree completely, the controls there are so bad that I gave up on the second level and haven't played it since.

I'm on episode 13 or 14 now so it's a little late to really learn how to shift right lol.

I can do it good if I constantly stop and start again but there are a lot of times when there is a super long row of gems and the game clearly wants you to fall through it but if you're not lined up you have to move back with the left stick, but you move so damn slow while free falling it's easy to miss a lot. The only alternative is to constantly stop and go and that takes forever. I just did a mission where I spent at least 30 minutes going down through a tree or some shit and a good portion of that I HAD to free fall for the gems because my shifting was taken away. I probably missed hundreds of gems.

Yeah, that's a bit aggravating, but it's no biggie... once you finish the weird VR type mission at the bottom of the tree, you'll be banking gems like whoa whenever you wish, pretty much and will only be limited by your patience for collecting them, I think.

When I finished the game, I had over 4k spare gems and everything maxed to the DLC levels. There are the 10 and 25 bigger gems all over.

 

[kiyomi]

I can do it good if I constantly stop and start again but there are a lot of times when there is a super long row of gems and the game clearly wants you to fall through it but if you're not lined up you have to move back with the left stick, but you move so damn slow while free falling it's easy to miss a lot. The only alternative is to constantly stop and go and that takes forever. I just did a mission where I spent at least 30 minutes going down through a tree or some shit and a good portion of that I HAD to free fall for the gems because my shifting was taken away. I probably missed hundreds of gems.

IIRC you can hold X to speed up even while free falling. Right? Or am I mistaken...?

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

IIRC you can hold X to speed up even while free falling. Right? Or am I mistaken...?

Yes but he means moving side to side while falling is slow. Which it is.

 

[Mondriaan]

As far as Parasite Eve goes, I haven't played it since it came out, and I didn't beat it then--I hardly remember anything about it other than the way it looked, but my vague memories are very fond.

Do you remember that you had to wait for an attack bar to fill up before you could perform an attack and just running around in circles until it fully charged?

I don't know if it's aged that gracefully, if you're an impatient kind of person, but it probably holds up graphically since the environment was pre-rendered.

 

[kiyomi]

Yes but he means moving side to side while falling is slow. Which it is.

Ah, gotcha, misunderstood.

 

[Derrick01]

IIRC you can hold X to speed up even while free falling. Right? Or am I mistaken...?

It says I can but I don't notice any speed increases. I only notice it when I shift towards a direction and hold X, but not when I'm falling (after hitting L to cancel any shifting).

The speed of the fall isn't the problem anyway it's how slow she moves when you want her to move to the left or right while falling.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

There's endless political intrigue, clandestine activities to bypass bureaucratic nonsense, shadowy figures manipulating politicians, mind control, and the like. GitS also takes place in a world following a major war where there is a relatively uneasy truce. I don't think it's that much of a stretch.

First off, the core theme of Ghost in the Shell, as the name implies, is the mind-body relationship and there's no philosophical explorations like that in Trails. Second, yes, there's political intrigue, but whereas Ghost in the Shell is set inside a secretive government group and mostly in one city, thick with the atmosphere of bureaucracy, Trails is from the perspective of two more-or-less ordinary people traveling the countryside who happen to gradually get caught up into events larger than themselves, lending a personal perspective to events not found in the other work. Also, the futuristic cyperpunk world of GitS feels very different from the quasi-early 20th century steampunk-ish world of Trails.

In short, I'd say Ghost in the Shell is about ideas, at least in Oshii's and Kamiyama's version (haven't read Shirow's manga), while Trails in the Sky is about characters. It's a big stretch to say the two are similar.

I love reading and don't feel like the game felt like a novel at all. It just felt really slow. Lots of text is fine but so much of it is just meaningless. I didn't feel much of a connection to the characters at all really.

The game has enough redeaming features to mean I will prob go back to it eventually but compared the like likes of something like persona 3 which drew me in immediately and kept me hooked,its not a priority game at all for me.

Each to their own, I guess. I didn't feel there was that much meaningless text; the town NPC dialogue, for instance, was much more meaningful than in most RPGs, with individual villagers having their own subplots that unfolding simultaneously to the main plot instead of just being there to provide quest information to you like "This town is X. You need to go to dungeon X next." It made it feel like the world didn't just exist for the benefit of the protagonist; everyone had their own individual lives.

I mean, I can see why some people don't warm up to it eventually. It certainly doesn't start off with a big hook or setpiece. But for me, I found the mundaneness of the opening sections of the game refreshing; I loved having an RPG which wasn't just about saving the world.

 

[dallow_bg]

Moving while falling is just to fine tune your direction.
I found moving around and quickly graving gems to be pretty nice and easy. I loved the controls in the game.

 

[zroid]

lol, it's funny, based on the demo, I thought the motion controls were the only thing that pulled Gravity Rush's jank into a playable state.

I tried it the first time at a fixed kiosk where it was impossible to use the gyro (and it was awful); then when I tried it again at home it was a remarkably better experience (though still not good enough to get me to buy the game).

 

[Totobeni]

What's this weird brooding aura in this thread....oh hi Toto.

I certainly get where you are coming from with regards to PSM. I think there needs to be a better way of promoting new releases on the PSM platform. Listing the new releases in the PSN section of the store in would be a big help, as well as putting them under new release and featured sections. I'd venture to guess most users don't even know the PSM section exist. When new Minis came out they were listed alongside other games, the same needs to happen for PSM games.

I believe in the platform it just needs to be more accessible in the store and thus get better exposure.

well the store itself need a full on change(something like the old Xbox 360 market place layout)now it's hard to search for contents, more search options too(price range/publishers,old/new..ect)

 

[Takao]

Flying Hamster HD Available in Europe on december 19th 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbNZnfNS_tw

 

[Mondriaan]

First off, the core theme of Ghost in the Shell, as the name implies, is the mind-body relationship and there's no philosophical explorations like that in Trails. Second, yes, there's political intrigue, but whereas Ghost in the Shell is set inside a secretive government group and mostly in one city, thick with the atmosphere of bureaucracy, Trails is from the perspective of two more-or-less ordinary people traveling the countryside who happen to gradually get caught up into events larger than themselves, lending a personal perspective to events not found in the other work. Also, the futuristic cyperpunk world of GitS feels very different from the quasi-early 20th century steampunk-ish world of Trails.

Please. Two more-or-less ordinary people? Are you deliberately trying to go into spoiler territory with this?

The heavy emphasis on political intrigue and on *identity*, which is the core theme of Ghost in the Shell is very similar to that of TitS. Futuristic cyberpunk versus steampunk-ish world is window dressing.

 

[zulux21]

Flying Hamster HD Available in Europe on december 19th 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbNZnfNS_tw

is there any new features because quite frankly it looks fine on the vita as is.

 

[Takao]

is there any new features because quite frankly it looks fine on the vita as is.

Trophies?

I dunno, Vita's not even HD how they getting away with that name?

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Please. Two more-or-less ordinary people? Are you deliberately trying to go into spoiler territory with this?

The heavy emphasis on political intrigue and on *identity*, which is the core theme of Ghost in the Shell is very similar to that of TitS. Futuristic cyberpunk versus steampunk-ish world is window dressing.

I'm not trying to go into spoiler territory, just trying to talk about the story as Trails presents it. I agree that Trails does involve the theme of identity, but on the individual level of "Who should I try to be? How much does my past determine who I am today?", not on the big idea level of "What is a soul? What does it mean to be human?", etc. that GitS deals with. The former is a coming-of-age story; the latter is philosophy.

But this is a silly argument to be having, and I regret getting into this in the first place.

 

[Totobeni]

Trophies?

I dunno, Vita's not even HD how they getting away with that name?

 

[Toma]

Well they are two games. Add the vertical and horizontal resolution and you'd get 1920*1088 :-O

Now if that isnt HD!

 

[Skyzard]

I really like BSI actually. Great fun and looks gorgeous. Don't see why you all dislike it

I'm enjoying it too ( Big Sky Infinity ) - although I wasn't as much before. Took a little while to get used to the quick deaths and I'm still not sure what's going on with some of the effects like b&w and inversion...as well as some of the very quick deaths, especially during the colour changes but it is still fun to play.

I wish there was an advanced tutorial but it's ok to learn as you play...just takes longer that way.

Sound is good, framerate is .. ok, bit variable but not too bad. Bit of noise distortion just before it goes into the speedup mode but otherwise fine. Sometimes it looks like there is nothing on the screen and it makes a hit-sound as well, which is a bit confusing.

I would love to know how I can tell how many hits I have left on normal bullets...I can't see any sort of health bar?

I'm playing it more than Sine Mora, SFxT, SMB and S&S RT which I bought recently and actually paid for. Doesn't seem to have uploaded my score on the leaderboards but so far it's something above 600K. Hopefully break 1 million tomorrow, decent PS+ game imo!

 

[Data West]

Is there really not a proper Harvest Moon game on Vita?

 

[OmegaZero]

I'm enjoying it too ( Big Sky Infinity ) - although I wasn't as much before. Took a little while to get used to the quick deaths and I'm still not sure what's going on with some of the effects like b&w and inversion...as well as some of the very quick deaths, especially during the colour changes but it is still fun to play.

Those color changes are events that occur randomly.
The b&w one makes enemies spew bullets at you.
The inverted one makes all enemies you kill release bullets in a circle pattern as they die.

 

[marrec]

I'm not trying to go into spoiler territory, just trying to talk about the story as Trails presents it. I agree that Trails does involve the theme of identity, but on the individual level of "Who should I try to be? How much does my past determine who I am today?", not on the big idea level of "What is a soul? What does it mean to be human?", etc. that GitS deals with. The former is a coming-of-age story; the latter is philosophy.

But this is a silly argument to be having, and I regret getting into this in the first place.

Part of why I feel like the TitS story telling is far superior to most other JRPGs is the identity questions being asked throughout the story. Most importantly the answers to those questions aren't integral to saving the world but more just for the characters and their development. You don't HAVE to find yourself in order to do what you have to do. I HATE when stories try to tie in a existential identity story into some larger plot lever.

I intentionally danced around spoilers, BTW.

 

[TheSeks]

I'm having trouble deciding what PSP/PS1 game I want to play next. What I'm considering:

Parasite Eve

Or I could just say "fuck it" and finally buy P4.

PE1/2. They're both $5 and like 2-12 hours. Play both of those, skip PE3 since it sucks hardcore and shits on Square's best character, then do P4.

 

[Takao]

Is there really not a proper Harvest Moon game on Vita?

There is no native Harvest Moon for Vita, but there's a few options:

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PSone Classics)
Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl (PSP Classics) - enhanced port of the above
Innocent Life: A Futuristic Harvest Moon (PSP Classics)
Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley (PSP Classics)

The Harvest Moon series has had more success on Nintendo hardware, which is why there is so few releases on Sony platforms.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

My mouth waters at the thought of a non-half assed Vita harvest moon (and I own a 3DS!). But yeah you can play Back to Nature at least, that ones a classic.

 

[Skyzard]

Nice screens Live Free or Die.

Those color changes are events that occur randomly.
The b&w one makes enemies spew bullets at you.
The inverted one makes all enemies you kill release bullets in a circle pattern as they die.

Thanks! had no idea and couldn't work it out, just went back and read some posts I seem to have missed - btw the sound isn't bad with headphones - some nice bass on the firing and other effects.

Another thing I'm not sure about (other than getting the claymore and rocket upgrades to show up (maybe not in classic mode)) was when I drill through the large asteroids and I move onto the "bomb" circles - it doesn't replenish the bomb..? Any ideas about the health bar or number of hits as well?

Flipping back and forth between Gravity Rush, Motorstorm, Wipeout and Jet Set Radio. Admittedly none of them are really bad except for JSR which is trash of the highest order and I'm not really versed in the racing genre enough to properly criticize or find flaws in motorstorm and wipeout.

I'm going to wait for something you really like and then pounce.

Trophies?

I dunno, Vita's not even HD how they getting away with that name?

Higher definition It's a decent mini-game but I'll likely pass...personally I prefer the Rayman Origin shmup sequences anyway, which seem comparable.

 

[Data West]

4k is the new HD, so everything below that can now be HD

 

[VanWinkle]

really? I missed a lot of things I guess...no one of you people didn't even bother to throw a PM me and tell me this thread is here..your fault really.

a huge fail for our "Community"

Toto, you knew the old thread was done. It was locked. I don't know why you didn't just look for the new thread. It's been on the first couple of pages since it's been here. Did you think we all just disbanded or something? And then your first posts back are rants. Welcome back, though.

 

[Toma]

Toto, you knew the old thread was done. It was locked. I don't know why you didn't just look for the new thread. It's been on the first couple of pages since it's been here. Did you think we all just disbanded or something? And then your first posts back are rants. Welcome back, though.

Well, all of his posts are, so of course his first ones would be as well

 

[corrosivefrost]

Well, all of his posts are, so of course his first ones would be as well

So true.

Why would you expect anything else from Totobeni?

If he came in here and acted the opposite from what we know... it'd be a sure sign the world was ending in a week.

 

[Toma]

So true.

Why would you expect anything else from Totobeni?

If he came in here and acted the opposite from what we know... it'd be a sure sign the world was ending in a week.

So Toto will be positive on everything starting tomorrow? :-o

 

[michaelius]

So to save the world we need to discuss Persona 3 Portable ?

 

[Splash Wave]

PE1/2. They're both $5 and like 2-12 hours. Play both of those, skip PE3 since it sucks hardcore and shits on Square's best character, then do P4.

You convinced me, although I can see myself buying a ton of PS1 games and never playing them. I grabbed Alundra for some reason and I've barely touched it.

 

[Toma]

You convinced me, although I can see myself buying a ton of PS1 games and never playing them. I grabbed Alundra for some reason and I've barely touched it.

Play it then >_<

 

[OmegaZero]

Thanks! had no idea and couldn't work it out, just went back and read some posts I seem to have missed - btw the sound isn't bad with headphones - some nice bass on the firing and other effects.

Another thing I'm not sure about (other than getting the claymore and rocket upgrades to show up (maybe not in classic mode)) was when I drill through the large asteroids and I move onto the "bomb" circles - it doesn't replenish the bomb..? Any ideas about the health bar or number of hits as well?

Your health is determined by the Radioshield stat, I think. Which allows you to survive more hits as you upgrade it. Once the shield is depleted, there should be a effect around your ship to signal that (a flash or something for a second). I have no idea how much health you have unshielded. Maybe two or three hits before you die.

EDIT: Have you checked out the Library? It tells you all sorts of helpful things.

 

[corrosivefrost]

So Toto will be positive on everything starting tomorrow? :-o

Pretty much. Though my "week" was a loose unit of measurement.

So to save the world we need to discuss Persona 3 Portable ?

Indeed.

 

[Totobeni]

Yoshida..please ;_;

 

[corrosivefrost]

Yoshida..please ;_;

Are you hoping for a remote play or a sequel that fixes all the problems the PS3 game had?

 

[OmegaZero]

Yoshida..please ;_;

What's that? Looks stupid.

Spoiler

Folklore on Vita? Or remote play?

 

[Mondriaan]

What's that? Looks stupid.

Spoiler

Folklore on Vita? Or remote play?

Maybe it's on youtube,

Spoiler

where it belongs

.

 

[Skyzard]

Your health is determined by the Radioshield stat, I think. Which allows you to survive more hits as you upgrade it. Once the shield is depleted, there should be a effect around your ship to signal that (a flash or something for a second). I have no idea how much health you have unshielded. Maybe two or three hits before you die.

EDIT: Have you checked out the Library? It tells you all sorts of helpful things.

Ah thanks again! And nope I haven't even clicked on library yet, pretty foolish - will do next time I fire it up....can't be long now, craving that 1million mark.

 

[Toma]

Ah thanks again! And nope I haven't even clicked on library yet, pretty foolish - will do next time I fire it up....can't be long now, craving that 1million mark.

You craving a record reminds me that I wanted to check my current position in the first Motorstorm world after I've beaten all my friends scores yesterday. Right in the middle of a AC:L mission though, so I cant quickly check. I'd love PC browser accessible leaderboards for these games like on Steam.

 

[Shinypogs]

*sighs* I forgot I finished all my games that are fun to play on car trips. I'm going to be stuck in a car for 4 hours tomorrow while trying to not break my vita in half while playing MHFU.

On a happier note I should be able to pick up P4 next week.

 

[Toma]

*sighs* I forgot I finished all my games that are fun to play on car trips. I'm going to be stuck in a car for 4 hours tomorrow while trying to not break my vita in half while playing MHFU.

On a happier note I should be able to pick up P4 next week.

Plenty of worthwhile PS1 games on the store. Longer battery usage time as well.