Hey, I'm back from the dead to create this entry and then I'll be immediately returning to my grave. 2009 was a strange year for videogames. It started off kind of slow, with a few gems here and there, and ended strong with hits after hits. There were almost no notable RPGs this year though. All we really got was Star Ocean 4, Bowser's Inside Story, Persona PSP, and a bunch of other handheld RPGs. Before I get to my list, I would like to add that I did not play Modern Warfare 2, and I'm almost certain that it would be on my list if I had. It'll probably be on Casey's list if he makes one this year. However, I did play all other AAA titles and then some, so here are my top five selections for 2009.
5. Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Resident Evil 5 has one of the best co-op experiences in a videogame. Not as good as Gears of War 2, but it holds its own nonetheless. The elephant in the room seems to be that you aren't able to run-and-gun, and that it's not quite survival horror and not quite a shooter. However, these faults turn into qualities when playing co-op and there is one main reason why. Teamwork. Eliminating the option to run-and-gun gives the player a heightened sense of urgency; creating panic and claustrophobia. This allows for a more satisfying experience when working as a team. You'll find yourself overwhelmed and forced into actually creating strategies with your team mate to get out of a sticky situation. I've never worked so well with another person in a videogame. When all is said and done, you'll be proud of how you worked with your partner and feel like you both actually accomplished something, instead of going in guns-blazing like most other games.
Resdient Evil 5 merits many playthroughs with its new game+ as you can carry over your customized weapons and further power them up. There are also a variety of collectables you can obtain for all you perfectionists out there. The game looks very nice, the music is great, and it really pumps you up with its high levels of intensity. Being what it is, the gameplay is actually pretty good and not at all as frustrating as you probably think it will be. The downfalls for this title are the storyline and voice acting. Also, the when playing single player, the AI of Sheva is pretty bad. However, RE5 is a great experience that I recommend you play with a friend.
4. Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
Who likes fanservice? I know I do. Dissidia is pretty much the ultimate fanservice game in existence. This is not why it's good though, but i'll get to that later. Dissidia contains twenty-two fighters ranging from the heroes and villains from Final Fantasies I-XII, but you start with only the first ten heroes. Throughout this entire title, there are references, tidbits, trivia, etc, to almost every moment in the series. You might only get to play as the main characters, but I assure you that you'll see all other familiar faces in some shape or form. This game truly is a Final Fantasy fan's wet dream.
Dissidia puts a pretty complex RPG spin on a simple fighting game engine. You move around an area like in Power Stone or Destrega, and you perform simple moves on your enemies like in Super Smash Bros. However, there are multiple different ways to kill an opponent. You have two health bars, BRV and HP, and you can utilize whichever way you think is best to take down your opponent. Factor in summons, EX Gauges, and Traps then everything gets more complicated. You also have tons of stuff to customize and unlock: Armour, accessories, characters; and all these "points" are being thrown at you: EXP, AP, DP, PP. Yes, there is a lot of content to learn, and the learning curve is fairly steep. It can take hours ingest all of the turtorials and this game has to offer, but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome. Dissidia is a very fun game and you can easily play for hours among hours and realize that your entire day has come and gone. It's much more than just a fighting game, so even if that's not your cup of tea I think you'll still have some fun with it. It's very refreshing, and definitely a welcome addition to the series.
3. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
You played Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World right? Well, add in the charm from New Super Mario Bros. for the DS and you get this lovechild. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is basically just a new version of an old formula. It's a side-scrolling Mario game with crazy level design, and a few new power-ups. So obviously this is fun, but why is it so good? Especially top-three good? You can play it with four players. Mario is a blast by itself, but once you get three of your friends on board its a whole new type of crazy. NSMBW is more of a party game than any of the Mario Parties, and I'm not exaggerating here. It's a ton of fun.
There is also a competitive multiplayer option which is fun for a while, but you'll find that the main game is where the heart is. With a load of unique levels, tricky bosses, and a Lost-Levels-esque bonus world, you'll find not only excitement, but challenge as well. But wait a second, isn't Little Big Planet like already a 4-player platformer? Yeah, but this is a 4-player Super Mario game. So if you like high dosages of fun, then play this game. Mind you, it's very easy to overdose.
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Just like with last year's list, I find it hard to decide which of my top two games I want to have the number one spot, as they're both so good. With much debate, Uncharted 2 finds itself at number two. Uncharted 2 takes what we know and love from the first Uncharted and then makes it a million times better. The only real selling point for the first game was that it was a genuine cinematic experience, since the exploration was linear and the gameplay was mediocre at best. Uncharted 2 develops upon the movie experience as well as taking the gameplay and exploration to a whole new level.
Let's start with the movie aspect. Uncharted 2 is a literally a non-stop thrill ride from beginning to end. The gameplay transititions seamlessly into cinematics, and it gives "intense" a whole new meaning. The voice acting is top-notch, the best I've seen in any videogame to date, coupled with the fact that the script is extremely well done. Not to mention that this game looks amazing; its on par, if not moreso, than Metal Gear Solid 4. The gameplay is much more refined. Better shooting controls, aiming, cover, etc. It's pretty much the same idea as the first Uncharted except a lot more polished. The exploration is still kind of linear since its, you know, like a movie, but the areas are a lot more detailed and expansive, and the content gets your blood pumping.
On its own, it's already a solid experience and you can tell how much blood, sweat, and tears went into this game, but there's more... Uncharted 2 comes with an online multiplayer mode, which comes with traditional competitive options and co-op missions. People were doubtful of the multiplayer when it was first announced, but once it became live they realized that it was an experience on par with Gears or Call of Duty. All in all, Uncharted 2 is an amazing as hell game that everyone should play. If you were ever wondering about whether or not to buy a PS3, now is the time.
Game of the Year - Assassin's Creed II (PS3, Xbox 360)
Just like with Uncharted 2, this is a game that develops upon a previous idea, but makes it so much better. Sequels really are a device to get things right. All the complaints about the first Assassin's Creed derived from repetitive missions, awkward combat, and confusing story sequences. Well, Ubisoft Montreal was aware of these problems and corrected them. Unlike Uncharted 2, however, Assassin's Creed II is an open world experience, which is the main reason why it got the number one spot. As much as playing through an action-packed movie is fun, playing through an action-packed game is a tad more fun. The world is gigantic and detailed. There are a ton of sidequests to take on and objects to collect. The world is your oyster. You can purchase weapons, skills, armour, and even upgrade an entire city. Everything that you collect actually counts for something in AC2, which is refreshing.
The true underlying storyline of Assassin's Creed is a Davinci Code meets National Treasure conspiracy adventure. You go through actual events in history and find all these conspiracy theories in real artifacts. There is a spooky sidequest that's dedicated to just this. AC2 takes place in 15th century Italy. You go to such famous places as Rome and Venice, as well as kickin' it with Leo DaVinci and the Pope. The voice acting is excellent and everyone actually speaks italian which is awesome. The story is actually quite surprising and compelling. The Demond stuff is really compelling this time. There's a wide variety of missions to take on this time around and some one-time events that are fun-as-hell to play. There is always something to do. Also, the combat is refined, and it makes killing dudes a lot better.
Assassin's Creed II is a masterpiece. My words here do not do this game any justice, go and play it for yourself. It's amazing.
So yeah, I'm quite happy with how this year turned out. It's certainly not the best year for games, but it was pretty good. The fall/winter sweeps really made 2009 what it is though, and I still have to get on Modern Warfare 2. Looking forward to 2010, I can only imagine the awesome-storm that's coming. Final Fantasy XIII, XIV, God of War 3, Alan Wake, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Halo Reach, Metroid, maybe a new Wii Zelda and Gears 3 as well, plus much more. 2010 should be a wonderful year for videogames.
Honourable Mentions
Flower (PSN)
Flower is beautiful and relaxing. The perfect game for winding down. Anyone who appreciates art and symbolism will enjoy this game. It's under ten dollars and it's quite good.
Street Fighter IV (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
Latest installment in the Street Fighter franchise. A true sequel to SFIII. There are some new characters, explosive combos, online multiplayer, etc. It's Street Fighter. It's fun.
~ Ichimonji
LJ
Friday, December 11, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
anyway.
Haven't posted anything in a while, so.
Phil's pretty much done with the whole writing thing, so you won't see much/anything from him here anymore. He's back in school, studying radio broadcasting to pursue a career in voice acting. Wish him well, plz. He'll probably pop in occasionally to post a thing or two, but don't expect much.
I haven't updated in a while because I've been studying for the last couple months, and before that I had some personal issues to take care of.
Other than that, I actually registered at EoFF after Mirage shamelessly blackmailed me by making me a welcome thread and then telling me he'd feel stupid if I didn't post in it. No idea how much I'll post there. Probably not much. I had no idea Shotgunnova posted there though, I've followed a few of his FAQs; they're really good.
I had some things to write about before I got occupied, so I'll probably do a couple articles on that stuff... I haven't played any new games lately, though, so I don't have much to say about any of that. I would like to note that the Lufia II remake looks terrible, artistically. I'm not sure how I feel about the gameplay changes, though.
I've been watching the ExtraLives gaming marathons. They don't have all the fancy cameras and huge team of players that The Speed Gamers have, but they are a genuinely funny group of guys, and you can't really argue with raising money for charity. The low-budget-but-still-well-done nature of the whole thing is actually pretty endearing; it makes it seem very sincere. I think they have a full-fledged marathon coming up next month, but I don't think they've announced what they'll be playing yet. I'll watch it regardless.
o_O (Face) from EoFF IRC posted some music he made on Last.FM. If you're into trance/house kind of stuff, definitely check it out. I'm not a fan of that kind of music and I actually kind of like it.
What else... I dunno. I'm playing through Tales of the Abyss on Unknown (read: 4x enemy stats) and it is balls hard. The first real fight of the game took me about 15 minutes to finish. The first boss, almost half an hour. That grade shop is definitely getting a workout... and it better, I spent like 8 hours combined farming grade for 10x EXP and other misc. crap.
That's all I can think of. I'll post an actual thing with stuff in it pretty soon.
LJ
Phil's pretty much done with the whole writing thing, so you won't see much/anything from him here anymore. He's back in school, studying radio broadcasting to pursue a career in voice acting. Wish him well, plz. He'll probably pop in occasionally to post a thing or two, but don't expect much.
I haven't updated in a while because I've been studying for the last couple months, and before that I had some personal issues to take care of.
Other than that, I actually registered at EoFF after Mirage shamelessly blackmailed me by making me a welcome thread and then telling me he'd feel stupid if I didn't post in it. No idea how much I'll post there. Probably not much. I had no idea Shotgunnova posted there though, I've followed a few of his FAQs; they're really good.
I had some things to write about before I got occupied, so I'll probably do a couple articles on that stuff... I haven't played any new games lately, though, so I don't have much to say about any of that. I would like to note that the Lufia II remake looks terrible, artistically. I'm not sure how I feel about the gameplay changes, though.
I've been watching the ExtraLives gaming marathons. They don't have all the fancy cameras and huge team of players that The Speed Gamers have, but they are a genuinely funny group of guys, and you can't really argue with raising money for charity. The low-budget-but-still-well-done nature of the whole thing is actually pretty endearing; it makes it seem very sincere. I think they have a full-fledged marathon coming up next month, but I don't think they've announced what they'll be playing yet. I'll watch it regardless.
o_O (Face) from EoFF IRC posted some music he made on Last.FM. If you're into trance/house kind of stuff, definitely check it out. I'm not a fan of that kind of music and I actually kind of like it.
What else... I dunno. I'm playing through Tales of the Abyss on Unknown (read: 4x enemy stats) and it is balls hard. The first real fight of the game took me about 15 minutes to finish. The first boss, almost half an hour. That grade shop is definitely getting a workout... and it better, I spent like 8 hours combined farming grade for 10x EXP and other misc. crap.
That's all I can think of. I'll post an actual thing with stuff in it pretty soon.
LJ
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
IRC Shit #3: Backpackers backpacking through Demon's Souls with Jibril (REPLACEHUMANS) and Mirage (Mapping an invisible world)
(9:40 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
after a bit of research
demons souls is probably a shitty game
(9:40 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
isn't it like super balls hard
(9:40 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
no
it's super balls annoying
(9:41 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
somewhat like getting hit by aoe instant kill before you have a persona that can resist it
in P3
(9:41 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
lol
(9:41 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and to add to it
if you're logged on to PSN
anyone can enter your game and fuck with you
no way to turn it off
except logging out of PSN
(9:42 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
that sounds terrible
(9:42 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
some weeaboos might mistake it as "difficult"
i saw through their bullshit
and just called it horribly designed
another guy said if you had played anything like it before
like Monster Hunter
(9:43 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
you'd find it loleasy
yeah
so the game sounds liek it is build around grief play
and endorses it
and promotes it
both from other players
and the devs
so fuck that
(9:45 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
the thing is
(9:45 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
the japanese love it
(9:45 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
brutal game design like that is fine
but only if
ONLY if
no exceptions
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
there are lots of checkpoints
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there are checkpoints
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
and/or save points
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but i couldn't squeeze the frequency of these out of the guy
apparently there is one after each boss
and if you die at the boss, you have to start from right after the previous boss
who knows how far back that is
10 minutes? fine
knowing this type of game
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
sounds like there's not many checkpoints
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
it's probably 30-60 minutes
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
which = bad design
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
can't really argue with it
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but it works on some people
because they think more time invested is directly propotional to difficulty
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
the only people who think doing an entire level over because the game is pretentious to the point where you need a guide for every coridoor
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and they can jizz over other people when they go on about how much harder their game is
(9:48 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
are weeaboos and tryhards
is hard*
(9:48 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeap
(9:49 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
guess it's why those games don't sell a lot either
(9:49 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
persona 3 and 4 have that problem to a lesser extent
also published by atlus
(9:49 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
with like 3 difficulty settings
you could have easily reached out to 10 times as many players
and kept it as hard for the HARD FUCKING CORE players
i mean tryhards
however
knowing them
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
they're gonna complain the game is too easy bow
and refuse to play it
non-hardcores in my game?
FUCK THAT YO
According to this guy who loves DS
(9:50 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i'm watching a video of this game
it looks
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there will be moments
(9:50 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
fucking boring
:(
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
where you can get ambushed
knocked down
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and unable to defend against the followup blows
and die
(9:51 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
oh man THATS SO AWESOME
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
THATS HARD YO
that's also why i hate the tekken arcade bosses
(9:51 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
I LOVE BEING PUNISHED FOR NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT ENEMY SPAWNS IN EVERY SPOT
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
they are imba to the point that they can't ever be made playable
(9:52 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and have moves like
STUN
KNOCKBACK
LONG RANGE DAMAGE
KNOCKBACK
STUN
DEATH
that's how their battle script goes when you're playing it on easy
difficulty rating on tekken arcade stages are like
(9:53 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
1 1 2 2 3 3 9 10
(9:53 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
god damn this game looks so boring
(9:53 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
links
(9:53 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MIfCEPDU94
it's like the most generic hack and slash shit you can think of, but everything takes off half your hp in one hit
(9:54 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yep
he said that
(9:55 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
but god damn i hate gamers
I AM SO NONCONFORMIST THAT I ROLL WITH A GROUP OF SIMILARLY BRAINDEAD PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS
(9:56 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
HURHUR COUNTER CULTURE
IM SO COOL
(9:57 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
not buying this
(9:58 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
there has always been a need to look intelligent in the eyes of other people, but when gamers start to do it, the people who are supposed to be the cool-headed intellectuals of the modern world
(9:58 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
are they?
(9:58 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
and they do it to the extent of thinking games like demon's souls are good
(9:59 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i really don't want to be associated with these people
i feel embarrassed telling people that i played video games
play*
(9:59 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but yeah jibril
looking at this trailer
imagine dying from a single mistake there
you'd have to start fromt he very beginning
and everything respawns of course
(10:00 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i need a name for these people
(10:01 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
hipsters, backpackers, mouth breathers
don't quite fit
something more specific that rolls off the tongue
well actually backpackers is a pretty good word, but it's not entirely accurate
(10:01 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
never heard that used before
(10:02 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
oh rght, you can only take two stabs before dying
(10:02 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
backpacker refers to people who started wearing backpacks to be "fashionable" because graffiti artists would go around with backpacks that had all their spraycans and shit
(10:02 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but falling 60 feet is fine?
(10:03 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
basically another word for "poser"
now it's primarily used to describe stupid hipster kids who listen to fringe hip-hop and think they're part of the whole scene
(10:03 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
i wear backpacks man
(10:04 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
don be hatin
(10:04 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
):
(10:04 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there's 4 parts of this stage on DS
so it's 36 minutes apparently
and this is the first stage
death at any point here means restart from the beginning
(10:05 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
but the average "smart gamer" these days is a stupid hipster kid who rides on the coattails of the intellectuals and thinks they know shit
so i guess it's fitting!
yeah
see
what an awful, awful game
(10:05 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
no its hard
u just a noob
LJ
after a bit of research
demons souls is probably a shitty game
(9:40 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
isn't it like super balls hard
(9:40 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
no
it's super balls annoying
(9:41 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
somewhat like getting hit by aoe instant kill before you have a persona that can resist it
in P3
(9:41 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
lol
(9:41 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and to add to it
if you're logged on to PSN
anyone can enter your game and fuck with you
no way to turn it off
except logging out of PSN
(9:42 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
that sounds terrible
(9:42 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
some weeaboos might mistake it as "difficult"
i saw through their bullshit
and just called it horribly designed
another guy said if you had played anything like it before
like Monster Hunter
(9:43 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
you'd find it loleasy
yeah
so the game sounds liek it is build around grief play
and endorses it
and promotes it
both from other players
and the devs
so fuck that
(9:45 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
the thing is
(9:45 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
the japanese love it
(9:45 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
brutal game design like that is fine
but only if
ONLY if
no exceptions
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
there are lots of checkpoints
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there are checkpoints
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
and/or save points
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but i couldn't squeeze the frequency of these out of the guy
apparently there is one after each boss
and if you die at the boss, you have to start from right after the previous boss
who knows how far back that is
10 minutes? fine
knowing this type of game
(9:46 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
sounds like there's not many checkpoints
(9:46 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
it's probably 30-60 minutes
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
which = bad design
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
can't really argue with it
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but it works on some people
because they think more time invested is directly propotional to difficulty
(9:47 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
the only people who think doing an entire level over because the game is pretentious to the point where you need a guide for every coridoor
(9:47 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and they can jizz over other people when they go on about how much harder their game is
(9:48 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
are weeaboos and tryhards
is hard*
(9:48 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeap
(9:49 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
guess it's why those games don't sell a lot either
(9:49 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
persona 3 and 4 have that problem to a lesser extent
also published by atlus
(9:49 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
with like 3 difficulty settings
you could have easily reached out to 10 times as many players
and kept it as hard for the HARD FUCKING CORE players
i mean tryhards
however
knowing them
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
they're gonna complain the game is too easy bow
and refuse to play it
non-hardcores in my game?
FUCK THAT YO
According to this guy who loves DS
(9:50 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i'm watching a video of this game
it looks
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there will be moments
(9:50 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
fucking boring
:(
(9:50 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
where you can get ambushed
knocked down
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and unable to defend against the followup blows
and die
(9:51 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
oh man THATS SO AWESOME
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
THATS HARD YO
that's also why i hate the tekken arcade bosses
(9:51 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
I LOVE BEING PUNISHED FOR NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT ENEMY SPAWNS IN EVERY SPOT
(9:51 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
they are imba to the point that they can't ever be made playable
(9:52 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
and have moves like
STUN
KNOCKBACK
LONG RANGE DAMAGE
KNOCKBACK
STUN
DEATH
that's how their battle script goes when you're playing it on easy
difficulty rating on tekken arcade stages are like
(9:53 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
1 1 2 2 3 3 9 10
(9:53 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
god damn this game looks so boring
(9:53 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
links
(9:53 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MIfCEPDU94
it's like the most generic hack and slash shit you can think of, but everything takes off half your hp in one hit
(9:54 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yep
he said that
(9:55 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
but god damn i hate gamers
I AM SO NONCONFORMIST THAT I ROLL WITH A GROUP OF SIMILARLY BRAINDEAD PSEUDO-INTELLECTUALS
(9:56 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
HURHUR COUNTER CULTURE
IM SO COOL
(9:57 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
yeah
not buying this
(9:58 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
there has always been a need to look intelligent in the eyes of other people, but when gamers start to do it, the people who are supposed to be the cool-headed intellectuals of the modern world
(9:58 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
are they?
(9:58 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
and they do it to the extent of thinking games like demon's souls are good
(9:59 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i really don't want to be associated with these people
i feel embarrassed telling people that i played video games
play*
(9:59 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but yeah jibril
looking at this trailer
imagine dying from a single mistake there
you'd have to start fromt he very beginning
and everything respawns of course
(10:00 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
i need a name for these people
(10:01 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
hipsters, backpackers, mouth breathers
don't quite fit
something more specific that rolls off the tongue
well actually backpackers is a pretty good word, but it's not entirely accurate
(10:01 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
never heard that used before
(10:02 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
oh rght, you can only take two stabs before dying
(10:02 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
backpacker refers to people who started wearing backpacks to be "fashionable" because graffiti artists would go around with backpacks that had all their spraycans and shit
(10:02 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
but falling 60 feet is fine?
(10:03 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
basically another word for "poser"
now it's primarily used to describe stupid hipster kids who listen to fringe hip-hop and think they're part of the whole scene
(10:03 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
i wear backpacks man
(10:04 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
don be hatin
(10:04 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
):
(10:04 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
there's 4 parts of this stage on DS
so it's 36 minutes apparently
and this is the first stage
death at any point here means restart from the beginning
(10:05 PM) REPLACEHUMANS:
but the average "smart gamer" these days is a stupid hipster kid who rides on the coattails of the intellectuals and thinks they know shit
so i guess it's fitting!
yeah
see
what an awful, awful game
(10:05 PM) Mapping an invisible world:
no its hard
u just a noob
LJ
Monday, July 6, 2009
may your children always play with guns by Jibril
Yuji Horii wants to make Dragon Quest IX really hard. Perhaps, if you haven't given it much thought, this seems like a reasonable statement. Maybe you even admire him for wanting to make a difficult JRPG.
Me, I'm too busy being dumbfounded at how little the man who created the JRPG understands his own genre.
valkyrie profile is hard
I don't know if you've noticed, but JRPGs aren't difficult. Ever. It doesn't happen. The JRPG is a genre in which all obstacles are overcome by one or more of four simple solutions:
1. Grind more.
2. Employ a specific, often arbitrary or gimmicky strategy.
3. Abuse unbalanced or broken game mechanics.
4. Hope the random number generator doesn't step on your nuts (i.e. get lucky).
As you can tell, not one of those things entails any form of difficulty. Grinding is boring and tedious, not hard. A specific strategy simply requires knowledge beforehand. Broken game mechanics, ditto. RNG is pure luck unless you know how to manipulate it, which is tricky unless you're emulating the game.
ff4 is haaard
The JRPG is an extremely simple, reactionary game of the mind, not one of notable skill. What most people confuse for difficulty is actually what I like to call... well, artificial difficulty. Remember how hard it was to collect all those monsters in Final Fantasy X so you could fight Nemesis? I do. Except it wasn't hard, we were just getting reamed by random number generators and the veritable black plague that is random encounters. You shouldn't feel accomplished after you finally capture that tenth Tonberry, you should feel angry that you got swindled out of valuable time by awful game design. To think, there was a group of people sitting around a table somewhere in Japan, talking about how good an idea that whole thing was.
Some people like randomness in their games. I will never understand those people. Random numbers, random encounters, random items, random enemies. I know, at the core of the RPG is the dice roll, and the dice roll generates randomness to simulate chance -- that's fine. This concept crosses a line, however, when you start balancing vital elements of the game on the randomness of a dice roll. If, when you enter a generic random battle, there's a set chance that you will die and game over no matter what you do -- I'm looking at you, Persona 4 -- that is bad, bad game design.
Randomness in games clouds the perception of a lot of things, including difficulty. I'll use one of my favorite games as an example, Star Ocean 2: In the post-game dungeon, there's a chance you'll find a merchant on the 6th floor. A chance. He sells a few extremely valuable items, and it's worth the time to find him. The thing is, why is there only a chance? Why isn't he there all the time? If you're looking for the items, you're going to keep exiting the dungeon and re-entering until he appears, and if you're not, who cares, anyway? So what does the randomness of his appearance accomplish? Nothing. It doesn't accomplish difficulty and it's a waste of your time.
ff12 is haaaaaard
I guess some gamers undervalue their own time because they have too much of it on their hands. I know I do. We shouldn't, though -- time is all we have, and it pisses me off to no end that game designers have no qualms about wasting huge chunks of it so they can trick you into thinking their games are hard, or clever. I don't know if developers realize this, but there's nothing to gain from using things like random chance and arbitrary design choices to keep people playing the game longer (unless it's an MMO, but that's a whole other story). It doesn't matter if people play for 10 or 50 hours, they still get the same profit. In fact, the game would probably sell and review better if they didn't bullshit around with these kinds of archaic concepts.
Getting back to the original point, Dragon Quest has always been all about grinding. Dragon Quest VIII was a very grind-intensive game; things just rolled over you if you didn't take time to level up and get all the new equipment at every new town. That grinding took a long time, too; shit was expensive as hell. How is DQIX going to be "harder" than DQVIII? Is it going to be even more grind-intensive? If the lack of wifi multiplayer and single save slot weren't enough to turn you off from the game, surely this should do it. Sadly, this is Dragon Quest, and pretty much every country that's not America will be all over it regardless of how much it sucks -- and it has always sucked. People love to parrot Japan when it comes to games, and Japan loves DQ because it's tradition. You know how it goes.
battle toads is haaa... wait.
Knowing that JRPGs are not difficult by both nature and design, I don't see how you can perceive Yuji Horii's statement as anything other than "enjoy lots and lots of grinding, you'll buy it anyway." I doubt I'll be buying the game -- this announcement has completed a painful trilogy of Square-Enix uppercutting me squarely in the junk. I'll never bear children. Someone get me some ice, I need to lay down.
At least it doesn't have random encounters.
-Jibril | LJ
Me, I'm too busy being dumbfounded at how little the man who created the JRPG understands his own genre.
valkyrie profile is hard
I don't know if you've noticed, but JRPGs aren't difficult. Ever. It doesn't happen. The JRPG is a genre in which all obstacles are overcome by one or more of four simple solutions:
1. Grind more.
2. Employ a specific, often arbitrary or gimmicky strategy.
3. Abuse unbalanced or broken game mechanics.
4. Hope the random number generator doesn't step on your nuts (i.e. get lucky).
As you can tell, not one of those things entails any form of difficulty. Grinding is boring and tedious, not hard. A specific strategy simply requires knowledge beforehand. Broken game mechanics, ditto. RNG is pure luck unless you know how to manipulate it, which is tricky unless you're emulating the game.
ff4 is haaard
The JRPG is an extremely simple, reactionary game of the mind, not one of notable skill. What most people confuse for difficulty is actually what I like to call... well, artificial difficulty. Remember how hard it was to collect all those monsters in Final Fantasy X so you could fight Nemesis? I do. Except it wasn't hard, we were just getting reamed by random number generators and the veritable black plague that is random encounters. You shouldn't feel accomplished after you finally capture that tenth Tonberry, you should feel angry that you got swindled out of valuable time by awful game design. To think, there was a group of people sitting around a table somewhere in Japan, talking about how good an idea that whole thing was.
Some people like randomness in their games. I will never understand those people. Random numbers, random encounters, random items, random enemies. I know, at the core of the RPG is the dice roll, and the dice roll generates randomness to simulate chance -- that's fine. This concept crosses a line, however, when you start balancing vital elements of the game on the randomness of a dice roll. If, when you enter a generic random battle, there's a set chance that you will die and game over no matter what you do -- I'm looking at you, Persona 4 -- that is bad, bad game design.
Randomness in games clouds the perception of a lot of things, including difficulty. I'll use one of my favorite games as an example, Star Ocean 2: In the post-game dungeon, there's a chance you'll find a merchant on the 6th floor. A chance. He sells a few extremely valuable items, and it's worth the time to find him. The thing is, why is there only a chance? Why isn't he there all the time? If you're looking for the items, you're going to keep exiting the dungeon and re-entering until he appears, and if you're not, who cares, anyway? So what does the randomness of his appearance accomplish? Nothing. It doesn't accomplish difficulty and it's a waste of your time.
ff12 is haaaaaard
I guess some gamers undervalue their own time because they have too much of it on their hands. I know I do. We shouldn't, though -- time is all we have, and it pisses me off to no end that game designers have no qualms about wasting huge chunks of it so they can trick you into thinking their games are hard, or clever. I don't know if developers realize this, but there's nothing to gain from using things like random chance and arbitrary design choices to keep people playing the game longer (unless it's an MMO, but that's a whole other story). It doesn't matter if people play for 10 or 50 hours, they still get the same profit. In fact, the game would probably sell and review better if they didn't bullshit around with these kinds of archaic concepts.
Getting back to the original point, Dragon Quest has always been all about grinding. Dragon Quest VIII was a very grind-intensive game; things just rolled over you if you didn't take time to level up and get all the new equipment at every new town. That grinding took a long time, too; shit was expensive as hell. How is DQIX going to be "harder" than DQVIII? Is it going to be even more grind-intensive? If the lack of wifi multiplayer and single save slot weren't enough to turn you off from the game, surely this should do it. Sadly, this is Dragon Quest, and pretty much every country that's not America will be all over it regardless of how much it sucks -- and it has always sucked. People love to parrot Japan when it comes to games, and Japan loves DQ because it's tradition. You know how it goes.
battle toads is haaa... wait.
Knowing that JRPGs are not difficult by both nature and design, I don't see how you can perceive Yuji Horii's statement as anything other than "enjoy lots and lots of grinding, you'll buy it anyway." I doubt I'll be buying the game -- this announcement has completed a painful trilogy of Square-Enix uppercutting me squarely in the junk. I'll never bear children. Someone get me some ice, I need to lay down.
At least it doesn't have random encounters.
-Jibril | LJ
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A quick thing about E3 by Jibril
Alright, here's the thing about this year's E3.
Last year's E3 was so unspeakably terrible that it couldn't have gotten any worse. E3 2008 was the worst video game-related expo that I can remember.
With that in mind, be glad that all three major competitors announced games. Like, real games.
I've heard the most braintarded complaints about the conferences in the hours since Sony's ended today. Here's some of the highlights.
Microsoft
-Natal is gimmicky!
So is the wiimote. This kind of shit isn't meant to appeal to you, it's meant to appeal to soccer moms and old people. It's for selling consoles.
-Milo looks boring! It's not even really a game!
You're right. It's a tech demo for Natal, dingbat.
-That new Metal Gear looks lame!
...
What? Did you see a gameplay video somewhere? They didn't even talk about how it plays. There aren't even any screenshots. God, you're an idiot.
Nintendo
-Nintendo is just rehashing their old games!
Uh. Okay, I don't know where to start.
First of all, the main target of this complaint is probably Super Mario Galaxy 2. The funny thing about that is, saying it about that game implies that there have been significant changes to each 3D Mario game. I hate to break it to you, but there hasn't. Just because you tack a subtitle onto a sequel doesn't mean the game is radically different from the last one. Sunshine played exactly like Mario 64, with a couple moves replaced with F.L.U.D.D. functions. Aside from that small change, which resulted in very little departure from the feel of the game or its structure, there wasn't much of a difference between them aside from the graphics and the setting.
Galaxy was another step up from Sunshine, but you know what? Mario still controls exactly the same as he did on the N64. The structure of the game is still nearly identical -- you collect big shiny objects from isolated worlds connected to a single hub world. Super Mario Galaxy was unique because of the way it explored the concept of gravity and spherical worlds, not because the gameplay itself was changed. Moreover, there's a lot more to explore there -- it's only natural that they'd want to make a sequel when they feel they didn't fully explore the central concept of the original game.
It's not like there's no new features in Galaxy 2. There will be: we've already seen Yoshi and that crazy drill thing, and there's sure to be a ton more where that came from. In effect, Galaxy 2 is just as relevant as an entirely "new" 3D Mario title is. It's going to take a step up from Galaxy, just like Galaxy did from Sunshine and Sunshine did from 64. Too many people put too much stock in what a subtitle means. Learn to think.
If someone out there is actually saying this about the new Metroid: uh, no. Watch the trailer -- no Metroid game... or game at all, really, looks or plays like that. It's being co-developed by Team Ninja, for christ's sake.
-No one cares about New Super Mario Bros.!
Obviously someone does, considering it's the second-highest selling DS game in the world. Considering the DS is also the highest selling console in the world, that's saying quite a bit.
It was a fun game. Playing it with friends seems like it would also be fun. If nothing else, it's an interesting experiment. You don't have to play it co-op if that's not your thing. Either way, it makes all the business sense in the world to make a Wii sequel. Money in the bank for Nintendo; if you don't like it, don't play it. Not that you have, which means any complaint you have is null and void. Hurr.
-What the hell is Golden Sun anyway?
You missed out on the two best handheld RPGs ever created. Go educate yourself.
-THERE WAS NO CONSOLE ZELDA WHAT THE FUCK AHHH
I KNOW, MAN. Shigeru Miyamoto said that it is coming, though, and that he plans to announce it formally next year. Be patient. Zelda always takes a while -- that's why its quality is so consistent.
Sony
-Final Fantasy XIV is an online game?! Why ;_______;
Oh shut up. The number next to the game doesn't mean anything. Yeah, FFXI probably should have been called FF Online. FFXIV should probably be called FF Online 2. They're not, but it also doesn't matter. If you think this is going to make FFXV or whatever come out later than it was already going to, you're sorely mistaken. The teams that work on the main series and the online games are completely different -- they work on games simultaneously.
If you're one of the people who wants to hate on it because it's cool to hate on Square-Enix's MMOs: you're about three years late to the party. FFXI, for the most part, is a pretty good game now. It still has drop rate issues and two boss enemies that are near impossible to kill, but overall it's not a bad way to waste time. You can use that time more efficiently in WoW, but if you're one of those people who can't stand WoW's art style or something, FFXI is fine.
The FFXI team has learned from their mistakes, and if they keep that knowledge in mind, FFXIV will actually be good from the get-go. If.
That's actually the only real complaint I heard from Sony's conference... that I can remember, anyway. Sony's lineup is rock solid.
In summary: The people who believe any of this shit need a tall glass of shut the fuck up and stop trying to menstruate all over games other people will enjoy.
-Jibril | LJ
Last year's E3 was so unspeakably terrible that it couldn't have gotten any worse. E3 2008 was the worst video game-related expo that I can remember.
With that in mind, be glad that all three major competitors announced games. Like, real games.
I've heard the most braintarded complaints about the conferences in the hours since Sony's ended today. Here's some of the highlights.
Microsoft
-Natal is gimmicky!
So is the wiimote. This kind of shit isn't meant to appeal to you, it's meant to appeal to soccer moms and old people. It's for selling consoles.
-Milo looks boring! It's not even really a game!
You're right. It's a tech demo for Natal, dingbat.
-That new Metal Gear looks lame!
...
What? Did you see a gameplay video somewhere? They didn't even talk about how it plays. There aren't even any screenshots. God, you're an idiot.
Nintendo
-Nintendo is just rehashing their old games!
Uh. Okay, I don't know where to start.
First of all, the main target of this complaint is probably Super Mario Galaxy 2. The funny thing about that is, saying it about that game implies that there have been significant changes to each 3D Mario game. I hate to break it to you, but there hasn't. Just because you tack a subtitle onto a sequel doesn't mean the game is radically different from the last one. Sunshine played exactly like Mario 64, with a couple moves replaced with F.L.U.D.D. functions. Aside from that small change, which resulted in very little departure from the feel of the game or its structure, there wasn't much of a difference between them aside from the graphics and the setting.
Galaxy was another step up from Sunshine, but you know what? Mario still controls exactly the same as he did on the N64. The structure of the game is still nearly identical -- you collect big shiny objects from isolated worlds connected to a single hub world. Super Mario Galaxy was unique because of the way it explored the concept of gravity and spherical worlds, not because the gameplay itself was changed. Moreover, there's a lot more to explore there -- it's only natural that they'd want to make a sequel when they feel they didn't fully explore the central concept of the original game.
It's not like there's no new features in Galaxy 2. There will be: we've already seen Yoshi and that crazy drill thing, and there's sure to be a ton more where that came from. In effect, Galaxy 2 is just as relevant as an entirely "new" 3D Mario title is. It's going to take a step up from Galaxy, just like Galaxy did from Sunshine and Sunshine did from 64. Too many people put too much stock in what a subtitle means. Learn to think.
If someone out there is actually saying this about the new Metroid: uh, no. Watch the trailer -- no Metroid game... or game at all, really, looks or plays like that. It's being co-developed by Team Ninja, for christ's sake.
-No one cares about New Super Mario Bros.!
Obviously someone does, considering it's the second-highest selling DS game in the world. Considering the DS is also the highest selling console in the world, that's saying quite a bit.
It was a fun game. Playing it with friends seems like it would also be fun. If nothing else, it's an interesting experiment. You don't have to play it co-op if that's not your thing. Either way, it makes all the business sense in the world to make a Wii sequel. Money in the bank for Nintendo; if you don't like it, don't play it. Not that you have, which means any complaint you have is null and void. Hurr.
-What the hell is Golden Sun anyway?
You missed out on the two best handheld RPGs ever created. Go educate yourself.
-THERE WAS NO CONSOLE ZELDA WHAT THE FUCK AHHH
I KNOW, MAN. Shigeru Miyamoto said that it is coming, though, and that he plans to announce it formally next year. Be patient. Zelda always takes a while -- that's why its quality is so consistent.
Sony
-Final Fantasy XIV is an online game?! Why ;_______;
Oh shut up. The number next to the game doesn't mean anything. Yeah, FFXI probably should have been called FF Online. FFXIV should probably be called FF Online 2. They're not, but it also doesn't matter. If you think this is going to make FFXV or whatever come out later than it was already going to, you're sorely mistaken. The teams that work on the main series and the online games are completely different -- they work on games simultaneously.
If you're one of the people who wants to hate on it because it's cool to hate on Square-Enix's MMOs: you're about three years late to the party. FFXI, for the most part, is a pretty good game now. It still has drop rate issues and two boss enemies that are near impossible to kill, but overall it's not a bad way to waste time. You can use that time more efficiently in WoW, but if you're one of those people who can't stand WoW's art style or something, FFXI is fine.
The FFXI team has learned from their mistakes, and if they keep that knowledge in mind, FFXIV will actually be good from the get-go. If.
That's actually the only real complaint I heard from Sony's conference... that I can remember, anyway. Sony's lineup is rock solid.
In summary: The people who believe any of this shit need a tall glass of shut the fuck up and stop trying to menstruate all over games other people will enjoy.
-Jibril | LJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
