I shall join you in this minority and we shall endure their scorn together, my brother.
Video Game News and Miscellany
- Thread starter figmentPez
- Start date
Is it that bad? It's on my "eventually when I have time" list.[DOUBLEPOST=1369022128][/DOUBLEPOST]Though, their track record is why I really don't want them to make a new Legacy of Kain game, despite myself.
The gameplay is okay, though would work better if the PSP has a second analog stick (the aim-switching works fine though).
The story is an incoherent mess that manages to intrigue in the first half ... then flop about lamely in the second half ... and then finally there's the ending, which is offensively awful to anyone who enjoyed Parasite Eve before. I mean, there's really no preparing you for how bad it is. You're probably getting an idea of what it might be as you read this--whatever that idea is, it's wrong, because it couldn't match the unbelievable stupidity and awfulness that is the ending to The Third Birthday. Ashburner tried to warn me that it was unsatisfying. That does not begin to describe what goes on in that ending. If there was ever a time I would use Spoony's "Betrayal" thing, that would be it.
In all honesty I'd have to give VIII another chance to really decide how I feel. I thought I truly hated XII when it first came out, but a few months ago I replayed it and was stuck on it like glue. Enjoyed the hell out of it.
I've come back to XII 4 times and failed to get past Kingranparre's Tomb all 4 times.
I don't remember that place at all. There's a Ranperre's Tomb in XI according to Google, are you talking about the mmo?
I got them confused but I'm talking about the King's Tomb in FFXII where you're supposed to get the relic that proves her lineage.
That's exactly where I've stopped in that game too.
Ah. Yeah, I think that's where I stopped the first time. I got to the first Zodiac boss and kinda stopped there. Once I had a better grasp of the Gambit system and setting characters to roles instead of "oh that license looks neat" the game went a lot more smoothly. Basch made a great tank and Vaan was a solid melee fighter, usually used Fran or Penelo as my caster/buffer/backup DPS. Stopping here and there to sidequest/Hunt makes things more interesting too, as it's really the only real free-roaming non-corridor FF on the PS2 or beyond. It's a beautiful game world, and it pays to get your party out there to see it.[DOUBLEPOST=1369033170][/DOUBLEPOST]That Fire Giygas thing at the end is a real bastard, and it's probably the first dungeon to really ramp up enemy difficulty and test you. Even at the start you have the Demon Walls, which are even worse than the one in FFIV.
I can make it worse actually CynicismKills - the 4th time I tried, I managed to get to FFXII International Zodiac System version running in full English.
I still couldn't do it.
I still couldn't do it.
The demon wall is exactly what made me stop
Your actually SUPPOSED to run from one of those Demon Walls.
I keep saying this, but Jim Sterling has gone from my least favorite VIDJAGAMEJERNLIST to my favorite at like light speed when he switched from being an overwrought online troll to inspired online commentator, seemingly overnight.
This is spot on shit about why Namco is likely making a huge mistake taking Dark Souls 2 into AAA territory.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7340-Guns-Blazing
This is spot on shit about why Namco is likely making a huge mistake taking Dark Souls 2 into AAA territory.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7340-Guns-Blazing
My friends and I are also worried about Dark Souls 2. Even if there is nothing wrong with the game, if it doesn't meet some bloated sales projection, we'll never see another.
Fun new Man at Arms video, dude makes pop culture weapons voted on by the mouth breathers of Youtube (Who, after he made the Cloud's FF7 Buster sword, now want him to make Guts buster sword for some reason even though THEY'RE SO GOD DAMN SIMILAR) who shockingly, finally got him to make Cloud's Buster Sword. He's also made Sora's Keyblade (which was lame as fuck, because the keyblade is lame as fuck).
Dumb piece of shit weighs 80 pounds.
Dumb piece of shit weighs 80 pounds.
Keyblade is supposed to be more like a club, not a shitty axe.
Otherwise this guy does good work.
Otherwise this guy does good work.
So this is why Dead Island: Riptide sucked so much: The original team was making a DIFFERENT zombie game called Dying Light. It looks like it has elements of Dead Island in it (melee focus, crafted weapons), but it's tying in parkour running (like Mirror's Edge) and a day-to-night system that makes the zombies much more aggressive at night.
Dead Island: Riptide was just farmed out to another team. This is why is sucked SO hard and was worse in every way that mattered.
Dead Island: Riptide was just farmed out to another team. This is why is sucked SO hard and was worse in every way that mattered.
I have a friend with terrible taste, too.
http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/g84vkz/timeline-kingdom-hearts
Even though this video goes through the timeline of the Kingdom Hearts, it's still confusing as hell as to what's all going on. A friend of mine keeps sending me links like this because he's a huge fan of the series, but I just can't because of the ridiculously confusing narrative and the fact that the story is told across multiple platforms, making it impossible for me to play them all.
Even though this video goes through the timeline of the Kingdom Hearts, it's still confusing as hell as to what's all going on. A friend of mine keeps sending me links like this because he's a huge fan of the series, but I just can't because of the ridiculously confusing narrative and the fact that the story is told across multiple platforms, making it impossible for me to play them all.
There's a better video that explains everything. It's five minutes long, it's funny, and if you follow along, it brings you up to speed pre-KH Dream Drop Distance. I only had played the first game before KH3D and seen some of the cutscenes from the second and Chain of Memories. I used that video and Wiki for the rest, and was caught up enough to understand KH3D.
Then KH3D wasted a lot of time with non-plot, until the final stages of the game where it becomes dramatic, engrossing, and well-written without warning. KH3D, you're by Square-Enix; you're not supposed to pull that shit on me in the last few hours. How dare you have engaging dialogue and involved voice acting--you weren't doing that before and the quality was inappropriate for the state of your company these days.
I stopped playing the KH series when it jumped to it's 3rd different console.
No thanks. Story was convoluted but if you played them in order (which was also hard to do with the idiocy of the sequel/prequels) you could follow them. Still I wasn't going to jump consoles, especially putting a sequel/prequel on a hand held after it's been on a main console system? Yeah no.
No thanks. Story was convoluted but if you played them in order (which was also hard to do with the idiocy of the sequel/prequels) you could follow them. Still I wasn't going to jump consoles, especially putting a sequel/prequel on a hand held after it's been on a main console system? Yeah no.
Yeah, the amount of console crossing one has needed to play them is asinine. PS2, then GBA, then back to PS2, then DS, then PSP, then DS, and then 3DS. Five consoles. Yeah, the GBA game was re-released onto PS2 (like six years later) and you can play the DS games on 3DS, but that's still garbage. Honestly, it'd be forgivable if the handhelds were just side stories, but all but one of them are crucial aspects of the plot. The PSP game, the only game in the franchise to appear on that console, is vital to understanding a lot of what's going on later and establishes more of the setting and mythos than even the original game.
I can't blame someone for not bothering with it. It's work to get up to speed. I watched the video Nick posted too; that video is 52 minutes long and still leaves out a lot of important information, especially regarding Xehanort's plans in KH3D and Birth By Sleep's impact on the events in that game. It's not worth the trouble if you're not already invested.
Is it sad that, despite how much I loathe the idea of the story being told across multiple platforms, I'm still strongly considering getting KH 1.5 when it comes out in September?
No, because it's a testament to how much you like the story itself. Square's ability to shoot itself in the foot with platform jumping only hurts themselves, and they should be doing more to reward the loyalty of customers like you instead of making it harder for people to actually play all the games.[DOUBLEPOST=1369755234][/DOUBLEPOST]Square says the definition of "AAA" has to fundamentally change.
I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, I agree entirely that the "AAA" side of the industry is riddled with gross inefficiencies of scale based on an old model of distribution that hasn't kept up with market realities.
On the other hand, you can make a solid argument that Square's own poor handling of internal cost/sales expectations is an enormous part of their problem, and that's not something that can really be solved by diving deeper into smartphone/digital distro.
Yes, the AAA model needs to change, but that needs to come with internal restructuring and a lot of cold hard truth at the corporate level, not just switching business models.
Square decided to supplement their income due to their own ballooning incredibly inefficient development costs (games that are in development for nigh a decade etc) by purchasing a western publisher with a bunch of dev studios under their hats expecting to make some money there. Then they let those devs have the same insane budgets they were giving their own internal studios and are surprised when the games don't make a whole lot of money.
Tomb Raider, a franchise that's been lukewarm for years not selling over 10 million, something the series has never done in the past, ITS THE END OF VIDEO GAMES!
Tomb Raider, a franchise that's been lukewarm for years not selling over 10 million, something the series has never done in the past, ITS THE END OF VIDEO GAMES!
With all of these AAA games apparently tanking (in the corporate eyes, anyway), I think back to Double Fine.
You know how they decided to do the Amnesia Fortnight, which wound up giving us great little games like Stacking and Costume Quest? Splitting their larger teams into smaller teams and thus, creating smaller games? What if more big companies did this? It allows guys lost in the shuffle of big teams to get more spotlight and maybe make a name for themselves, you've got smaller budgets and thus less worries, and you get a few more games - though smaller - released.
Am I alone in thinking this isn't the worst idea?[DOUBLEPOST=1369756840][/DOUBLEPOST]
I just want to visit the Disney levels again. I loved the Winnie the Pooh stuff because it was so whimsical and innocent.
You know how they decided to do the Amnesia Fortnight, which wound up giving us great little games like Stacking and Costume Quest? Splitting their larger teams into smaller teams and thus, creating smaller games? What if more big companies did this? It allows guys lost in the shuffle of big teams to get more spotlight and maybe make a name for themselves, you've got smaller budgets and thus less worries, and you get a few more games - though smaller - released.
Am I alone in thinking this isn't the worst idea?[DOUBLEPOST=1369756840][/DOUBLEPOST]
I just want to visit the Disney levels again. I loved the Winnie the Pooh stuff because it was so whimsical and innocent.
Would anyone be opposed to a beautifully done -old school- 2d Final Fantasy game as their next big FFXV? Imagine how long a game they could make and how interesting it could be, if they used a graphics style like the SNES but updated it (Bastion comes to mind) with beautiful artwork. Then imagine how long a game they could create. It could span generations of your character's lives. Imagine a FFVI where after the main characters complete their journey, you take over as their children and continue? The game could take so little effort and budget but it'd be huge. -sigh-
I've been wanting exactly that for years, man. YEARS. A huge, huge sprawling epic, but done with 2D sprites. Oh yes. Yes. Yes, that would be good. Yesssssss...
*ahem* Excuse me. I'll be in my bunk.
100% agreed with this. Isn't this more or less what Valve is doing these days?