I'm gonna start one of these this week and I only have a couple of weeks to finish it (I am going through chemo treatments and I have two good weeks out of each three week cycle - I need to finish the game because I would forget way too much if I went through a treatment in the middle of a game). Which one would you play first? Is ToS just way too long to finish in two weeks?
Ha, what a coincidence, I got the same two games recently. Personally, I chose to go with ToS because it was something new for me even though I loved Paper Mario for the N64. But I am also playing Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga for the GBA and didn't want to overdose on Mario and cutesyness. But LoS is an awesome game. I am 15 hours into it and thinking that it might be one of the, if not the best RPG that I have ever played. You just gotta love the battle system.
I'm gonna start one of these this week and I only have a couple of weeks to finish it (I am going through chemo treatments and I have two good weeks out of each three week cycle - I need to finish the game because I would forget way too much if I went through a treatment in the middle of a game). Which one would you play first? Is ToS just way too long to finish in two weeks?
I'm gonna start one of these this week and I only have a couple of weeks to finish it (I am going through chemo treatments and I have two good weeks out of each three week cycle - I need to finish the game because I would forget way too much if I went through a treatment in the middle of a game). Which one would you play first? Is ToS just way too long to finish in two weeks?
I personally couldn't get past the goofy plot and stupid characters. I liked Destiny II (US) though, even though it shares some faults (although I liked the craymel cage better than the T and S system)
I like Nintendo and Mario but Tales of Symphonia is a better game. Especially as a RPG. PM2 is great too and i enjoyed it but everyone i know outside of the internet prefers TOS.
Play Tales of Symphonia first because it's better. It's the only RPG this Gen that I've played more than once. And it was still fun the second time.
But Tales is all about the combat. If you don't get into learning how to use the action based combat system then your probably not going to love the game. But if you have fun learning all the tricks of the combat system, which keep changing even when your very deep into the game, then you'll probably love it.
agreed interms of most fun and addictive, i thought it was stupid at first due to the cartooniness but i even ended up liking Paper Mario 2. Although thats not to say Paper Mario isnt great. I feel like playing the n64 game now. I remember people here saying that was shit.
ToS's "battle system" is essentially smoke and mirrors--in other words, not only is it unnecessary to master it in order to beat the game, but mastering it provides an almost negligible benefit. Battles are still extremely simple to clear, whether you spend time tweaking and configuring your characters beforehand, or whether you just mash the A button to get through them. One doesn't hear of people getting stuck in ToS very often for a reason, and in the twenty hours I spent playing it before I put it aside in favor of something more demanding, I didn't even come close to getting a game over. When the unimportant battle system is combined with the handholding party AI, ToS becomes such a rote exercise that it barely qualifies as a "game," even by the standards of today's traditional RPGs, which don't exactly require enormous intellects to clear. The hard mode of the game jacks up the stats of the enemies, but that doesn't make the game more challenging--merely more tedious.
Compare ToS to SMT: Nocturne, in which mastering the complex battle system is absolutely critical to success. I suppose you could beat the game without learning the strengths and weaknesses of every monster, or what effect Kagutsuchi has on every single aspect of gameplay, but it's extremely unlikely, and would probably take so long that you'd give up beforehand. Nocturne also hands out game overs like Halloween candy--now that's an RPG that doesn't waste your time.
No, can't say that I liked Destiny 1 or 2 either. I can say I liked it better at first than ToS at the time, perhaps because of the whole novelty of the different battle system. But now that it's worn out, it doesn't have any place in my heart.
I don't like the crappy cliche storyline with pathetically 1.5 dimensional characters with flat-as-hell anime-esque humour and all the typical bells and whistles. I don't like the arbitrary movement of the plot, i.e. the whole
COLLECT SUMMON SPIRITS!!!1
. Seriously, clever developers can come up with better things than that. Shit, the only reason why it's acceptable in Paper Mario: TTYD is because every segmented chapter is like a self-contained direction in of itself, with a completely different atmosphere and focus. For instance,
a murder mystery
at one point or a
deserted island disaster
at another. In ToS it's just the obligatory pallet swap, with the mandatory fire dungeon, the mandatory water dungeon, etc...
...I'm just tired of it. I don't really accept it anymore. And don't take this as an assault on ToS. I have problems with MANY RPGs these days. I'm thinking it's time for RPGs to seriously move forward, but they simply have not. But, it's my opinion.
In the end, at its very basic, I can just say that while technically aspects of various games move forward, other things are left in the dust. How come after all this time storylines have progressed in tiny baby steps in comparrison to other aspects? They're still poorly written, with messy, convoluted dialogue and shitty never-at-all-funny humour. That's why Paper Mario is a delight, because it is actually funny. You can forgive some of its other faults far more easily.
:lol i find it funny how some gamers can pick at anything. The above post is a perfect example.
My impressions of both TOS and PM2 are that they were both addictive and i enjoyed both immensly. Not sying they were perfect but different strokes i guess. I hated the tree level and the train level for example but they were still far from poor and from what i gather people here like htose levels. Rest of the game is great however and i cant recommend it enough. Just an example.
Ok this is so subjective that it's not even funny, but no even in this I feel you're wrong. Most other RPGs have nothing they should brag about, it's true, but there are a few noteworthy exceptions that don't call home every anime cliche and boring, derivative plot progression technique available in order to provide a compelling story.
Planescape Torment and Fallout have fantastic storylines, for instance.
Ok, but see, PM2 is like a comedy in that the story is not supposed to be deep, it's supposed to be FUNNY. Which it is. Approximately five hundred billion times funnier than any joke in ToS. Not that ToS was a comedy RPG, but at least PM2 does have comedy going for it, whereas ToS doesn't have a whole lot going for it imho.
Of course I understand a lot of people disagree and are not as critical on storylines as I am, but that's my POV. I can't imagine as many people coming away disappointed with PM2 as ToS, since PM2 is a genuinely light hearted affair filled with whimsical locations and truly funny dialogue.
ToS's "battle system" is essentially smoke and mirrors--in other words, not only is it unnecessary to master it in order to beat the game, but mastering it provides an almost negligible benefit. Battles are still extremely simple to clear, whether you spend time tweaking and configuring your characters beforehand, or whether you just mash the A button to get through them. One doesn't hear of people getting stuck in ToS very often for a reason, and in the twenty hours I spent playing it before I put it aside in favor of something more demanding, I didn't even come close to getting a game over. When the unimportant battle system is combined with the handholding party AI, ToS becomes such a rote exercise that it barely qualifies as a "game," even by the standards of today's traditional RPGs, which don't exactly require enormous intellects to clear. The hard mode of the game jacks up the stats of the enemies, but that doesn't make the game more challenging--merely more tedious.
Compare ToS to SMT: Nocturne, in which mastering the complex battle system is absolutely critical to success. I suppose you could beat the game without learning the strengths and weaknesses of every monster, or what effect Kagutsuchi has on every single aspect of gameplay, but it's extremely unlikely, and would probably take so long that you'd give up beforehand. Nocturne also hands out game overs like Halloween candy--now that's an RPG that doesn't waste your time.
Ok this is so subjective that it's not even funny, but no even in this I feel you're wrong. Most other RPGs have nothing they should brag about, it's true, but there are a few noteworthy exceptions that don't call home every anime cliche and boring, derivative plot progression technique available in order to provide a compelling story.
Planescape Torment and Fallout have fantastic storylines, for instance.
Ok, but see, PM2 is like a comedy in that the story is not supposed to be deep, it's supposed to be FUNNY. Which it is. Approximately five hundred billion times funnier than any joke in ToS. Not that ToS was a comedy RPG, but at least PM2 does have comedy going for it, whereas ToS doesn't have a whole lot going for it imho.
Of course I understand a lot of people disagree and are not as critical on storylines as I am, but that's my POV. I can't imagine as many people coming away disappointed with PM2 as ToS, since PM2 is a genuinely light hearted affair filled with whimsical locations and truly funny dialogue.
I just find many people's idea of what makes a good story around here pretty stupid. As wel as good games. POP is my idea of bad gameplay. I'd rather have these so called flaws than a boring as hell game anyday.
After you've completed Paper Mario, there's nothing left to do. (No, the after-sequence ending doesn't count).
I just find many people's idea of what makes a good story around here pretty stupid. As wel as good games. POP is my idea of bad gameplay. I'd rather have these so called flaws than a boring as hell game anyday.
Well, that's good and all... but I cannot entertain the idea that ToS has a good story. It's just so far from that realm that it's silly to even think it, imho.
well actually i spent 30 cause I had a Toys R Us giftcard. I cant believe how people could be praising this game - its boring, contrived - and not the good contrived like Skies of Arcadia either.
Ugh..thank god pikmin 2 is awesome like always. Regardless I wish I had purchased paper mario 2 instead.
but i even ended up liking Paper Mario 2. Although thats not to say Paper Mario isnt great. I feel like playing the n64 game now. I remember people here saying that was shit.
