I absolutely detest RPG reviewers.
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Topic: I absolutely detest RPG reviewers.
Posted By: Man Overboard
Subject: I absolutely detest RPG reviewers.
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 21:55
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It's no fun being a fan of niche videogame genres. It's a fair bit like being a prog fan, flipping through Rolling Stone. On the off-chance that something in your genre is reviewed, it's panned. Not because it's bad, but because it belongs to a genre that isn't a mainstream darling. Like when Pitchfork Media (yes, they -are- a mainstream media outlet) gives an overall excellent King Crimson EP a 3.9/10. Or their best record in many years a 6.1. This is really unacceptable, and oftentimes fans of the genre who aren't as research-obsessive may pass on an excellent album because the review they read drove it into the ground as if it were some awful abomination. In music, this is bad, but ultimately not the end of the world; there are plenty of online resources like ProgArchives where albums are reviewed for the genre they're in (...usually  ), rather than against a mainstream-biased agenda.In videogame enthusiast media, it's indefensible. It's rare to see a niche game reviewed on its on merits within the genre. Sometimes, the best games will end up with scores comparable to that of an absolutely -broken- game in a more popular genre. I'm a fan of strategic dungeon-crawlers, generally known as Roguelikes. Roguelikes are RPGs with a heavy emphasis on gameplay over story. Common features include heavy item/stat management, randomly-generated levels, extraordinary difficulty, and battle strategy markedly more complex than "do I use a physical attack or magic". To a dedicated fan, the battle systems in your more mainstream Final Fantasies and soforth come across as painfully easy and lacking depth or strategy. To finish one of these games is not a given as it is with more mainstream RPGs, where any blockade can be defeated with a little bit of grinding. No, to complete a Roguelike requires your wits to be about you at all times, where a single misstep can bring about a great struggle or even total defeat. It is at times frustrating, but making progress and eventually obtaining victory is extraordinarily satisfying. In short, playing one of these games can be described as 'hardcore'. So how did I end up in this land where 'hardcore' gaming consists of playing button-mashers and 'mature' games (over-the-top swearing and bloodshed is -not- mature in my eyes), and deep, niche games that require true active thought are snubbed and rated incredibly poorly? Scanning recent professional reviews for some of the better games in my preferred genre, I find descriptors like "total garbage" and "appalling". Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer, a wonderfully polished gem and -very- accessible to newcomers in the genre, earned the following: "We're also sure the majority of today's gamers will find it nasty, plodding, and archaic," and the reviewer proceeded to give it a disgustingly low score. Sounds a lot like a prog review in a music rag, eh? Then they feel no qualms handing out perfect 10s to formulaic, overdone RPGs where the gameplay consists of walking to a town, having a long cutscene, walking to a small cave or tower, fighting a boss, and repeating... where the player is never faced with difficulty beyond trying to stay awake long enough to get to the next part where they can control their character again. It's gotten to the point where these niche games aren't even rated -relatively- accurately within each other. The score merely mirrors just how little the reviewer knows about the genre, and you end up with ridiculous aggregates where a poor game in the genre may've scored higher than a jewel, just because the reviewer honestly doesn't understand what it's about. It's like asking an FPS fan to review an RTS. It just doesn't -work-. To be honest, I only discovered this genre of gaming a couple of years ago. I passed on all the games because the reviews panned them, and I assumed the reviews were at least a -little- accurate. It wasn't until I played one of the games by accident that I fell in love with the depth and strategy involved, and it took quite a bit of searching to discover that it was even a genre. Kind of like how I discovered prog when I was a young teenager.  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Replies:
Posted By: Padraic
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:01
I haven't gamed in many years, but I had to crack up at this - it's sort of the reason I gave up on RPGs when I left college. I don't know how old you are, but let me tell you that I was playing Ultima games on an Apple //c in the mid 80s, and the description you provided fit back then, only at that time it was more state of the art. Fast forward 20 years and we're still doing the same sh*t. Incredible. |
Man Overboard wrote:Posted By: Proletariat
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:02
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dude, I might have to check these roguelikes out, because I tend to enjoy indepth involved TBS and RTS games, and always found RPG's to be to simple... though I must confess to loving Final Fantacy ------------- who hiccuped endlessly trying to giggle but wound up with a sob |
Posted By: heyitsthatguy
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:07
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I wish I had more time for gaming instead of being on prog forums lol ------------- 
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:07
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It sounds just like being a prog fan. You just have to find people who are into about the same stuff as you, and ignore the people who (like me) don't know anything about RPG's beyond a couple of Final Fantasy games. I know that laplace is really into RPG's, maybe he'll have something to say here. BTW, as I said before, I know virtually nothing about RPG's beyond Final Fantasy IV and V. What others would you recommend? -------------   |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:09
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I was toying with the idea of getting Baulder's Gate (1 or 2...meh) and/or the likes of Fire Emblem. Any suggestions, or reinforcements of those I've already said, since I've payed neither?
------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:09
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I'm personally a big Fire Emblem fan.
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:17
If you've got a DS, you've got the best possible system for new and inventive RPGs. While the upcoming full 3D remake of Final Fantasy IV may pique your interest, I'd also recommend wholeheartedly any of the following "Roguelike" RPGs (or similar) that have very little story focus, but provide nearly endless gameplay and challenge, ranked from most accessible to least:Izuna: Legend Of The Unemployed Ninja Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer Orcs & Elves Mazes Of Fate DS (upcoming) Deep Labyrinth Etrian Odyssey Tao's Adventure Many of these have a steep learning curve, but if you can figure out 'what it's about' in terms of gameplay, it's ridiculously engrossing.  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:19
Are those all for the DS? I don't actually have one  ------------- |
Posted By: The Lost Chord
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:19
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First off, my man Man Overboard is the man, thanks.
OK I am a video gamer since birth, hell, even before bith...been playing video games in my mind in the whom, that is how much I love video games.
So here, I trust reviews to an extent, almost as though you play guitar or piano or what have you for thousands of years and you know the instrument like the back of your hand so you can basically filter out any BS and all and come to your own conclusions always, but can still filter out. I know video game reviewing this well, and video games in general.
I don't like RPGs, never have. But I do find that games get reviews based pretty fairly. Unpopular games like PC adventure games always come out on top in reviews, and they are bad sometimes and reviews are fairly accuarte for me. My personal experience is that SCREW reviews and just do your own thing, but I use them, definitely, for reference.
RPGs i find score lower than usual nowadays, but I do NOT disagree with them. I have no taste for RPGs, though, also...I usually agree with reviewers on just about everything and this is by my own merit.
For instance, I find the game ICO for the PS2 to be the best game ever or one of. The reviews are great, thank you reviewers you are right. No one played that game, no one cares for it, when it came out it was brushed aside, but the REVIEWERS were not bias and still loved it. Shadow of the Colossus, TEAM ICO's second project, got rave reviews and brought light to the greatness of ICO.
I must just say that reviews are irrelevant to most. Just choose for yourself! test a game out, see how you like it, screw the reviewers, they are just as much people as you or me, we are all gamers who is to say they "know more" than us!!?
Stay peaceful is above all else, love the game, love the case, instruction booklet and all else...games are beautiful and peaceful in all light, enjoy them with full heart and soul!
Take it easy and don't feel pissed at the RPG reviewers man because they are just fiends trying to make a point and look at us doing the same damned thing what a beautiful world of constant craziness and brilliance let us just live and let live baby come on thats right go for it!  -------------  "Only the sun knew why"
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:19
Hmm, what do you have then? ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: heyitsthatguy
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:19
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are there any with a reasonable balance between story and gameplay? I kind of like some story in my games
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Posted By: Drew
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:20
Nice post/thoughts
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:21
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Ico was awesome. They created such an incredible atmosphere for that game; I can only think of a few games that absolutely bring you into another world to the degree that that game does.
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Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:21
Have you been doing recreational drugs with Jon Anderson? ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:22
Every Nintendo console before the DS, plus a PS2 and XBox 360. ------------- |
Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:27
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Why care About story when you can get hyped for GEARS OF WAR 2!!!!!1! only this time you can SAW ALIENS IN HALF with a CHAINSAW ROCKET LAUNCHER!!!!!11one! ZOMG  ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:29
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WHAT A COINCIDENCE! ROCKET LAUNCHERS AND CHAINSAWS ARE MY TWO FAVORITE THINGS IN VIDEO GAMES! ------------- |
Posted By: The Lost Chord
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:29
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Stonebear btw best post ever, awesome.
Jon Anderson greatest man alive at times ofcourse!
Remember there is more to the game than the "game" come on people come on!!!
PLAY ICO AND SEE THE LIGHT OF ATMOSPHERE AND BEAUTY IN ONE, in 1!!!!!!!! ------------- "Only the sun knew why"
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Posted By: Drew
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:35
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Stoney
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Posted By: KoS
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:37
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No one played Okami either and it was critically acclaimed.. And talking about Gears 2 did anyone see the presentation with the shiny cube of meat? |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:53
Deep Labyrinth is a bit of an odd duck gameplay-wise, but the story/soundtrack were written by key contributors to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, and Xenogears
The PS2 had a ton of incredible RPGs, but no pure Roguelikes that I can recall... you may try Rogue Galaxy, Nightmare Of Druaga, Persona 3, and even Final Fantasy XII (the character/battle system is pretty impressive). ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: heyitsthatguy
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 22:57
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duly noted
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Posted By: Salvo_
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 23:01
Baldur's Gate 2 Or if you're not so big on the D&D fantasy setting, Fallout 2. Both can run on any modern PC and can be gotten very cheap.
MO, are you talking about games like Diablo 2? I don't recognize all those Japanese names, but from what you said I assume they're not JRPGs.
I never liked Diablo 2 very much, but eh. I see your point, although I haven't played many modern RPGs and none from anywhere near Japan, so I can't really comment on its accuracy.
Again, Baldur's Gate 2. I mean, unless you're looking for a JRPG, in which case I can't help you because I am not a fan. ------------- Member suspended |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 27 2008 at 23:07
Absolutely -not- Diablo 2 It's like they tried to make a Roguelike, but took out all of the strategy and left only the superficial aspects of it  ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Salvo_
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 00:20
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Haha, fair enough. There's a lot more room for strategy in dungeon crawlers than Diablo 2. I never understood why it was so damn popular. ------------- Member suspended |
Posted By: darkmatter
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 00:53
I haven't played Persona 3 yet, but I'll suggest another Atlus game for PS2: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. It's one of the best RPGs I've played for PS2, excellent story and gameplay. It's similar to Persona 3 in that you can summon demons, but you use them as party members. Highly recommended! Final Fantasy XII was also excellent, as was Okami. |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 08:18
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I'm not sure what games you're exactly on about, Aaron, but I am familiar with Hack (NetHack) and Ragnarok. I am presuming they're not related to those type of dungeon crawls. They're very difficult games, I might add and very low on graphics content, yet strangely addictive.
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Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 09:11
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^those are roguelikes =) Angband's my favourite of the text batch. my favourite roleplaying game remains Ultima Underworld. It's not a console game so it has little repeated content or grind value, and there are relatively few "towns" (since the whole game takes place underground) and even better, the dialogue isn't stupid. The music was actually relevant to the game unlike swathes of jRPGS - I love light-jazz town music soundtracks but how did we ever become convinced that they fit such desperate situations as you find in FF, Grandia, et al? Earthbound's my favourite console RPG if it comes to that. But I prefer the first-person PC games like UU, Morrowind, etc. Maybe it's time I went back and played System Shock... ----- I think part of the problem is that professional reviewers write for each other rather than for an audience, so in music journalism you tend to see swathes of ridiculous adjectives that in no way describe the music to anybody else, while in film reviewing what you mostly see is a plot synopsis written in the most thoughtful and eloquent way possible. In a professional reviewer's assessment of a game the most important element seems to be the wow factor. maybe if journalism wasn't a vocation we'd have people in reviewing roles who actually like the product ;P ------------- FREEDOM OF SPEECH GO TO HELL |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 12:09
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I think World of Warcraft was named that way deliberately, so people would type "WoW" all the time. Ah yes, I have played Worlds of Ultima - Savage Empire and I also have Martian Dreams to play too. I did enjoy Savage Empire and must return to it. I much prefer it to the original Ultima, which I get frustrated with. Morrowind I lost interest in actually, as I found myself doing the same thing over again. Earthbound I did like for the SNES though and again, I must finish it one day. -------------
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Posted By: Gamemako
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 17:58
You, sir, are about to open Pandora's Box.
God, I love FE. FE games are all the same, though, so don't get your hopes up for any one if you don't like any other. Simple turn-based strategy RPG. You move your troops and attack once or twice. Enemy dies or doesn't. Axes beat lances beat swords beat axes. It's only slightly more complicated than chess, really, but its simplicity is why it is so great. Unfortunately, the recent titles have been a bit on the easy side. As for Baldur's Gate, I'd say your time is better spent with Planescape: Torment -- among the best stories in a video game ever.
Here's the thing. They're just not always objective. Look around at major media outlets and how they treat FPS games. Prior to Halo, most console FPS games sucked, and Halo just wasn't nearly that great, either. Sure, there was Perfect Dark, but there were other games out there getting 9/10 like Medal of Honor games (which were absolutely horrid). Look at Call of Duty 2 and 3 -- weak, weak, and more weak. Hardly worth a playthough, and some of the worst multiplayer in the genre, yet they score extremely highly. Just take a look around at FPS games: they all score highly, even when most of them aren't that good. And Halo 3 was the most disappointing FPS in years, with its lackluster AI, unbalanced weaponry, and astounding volume of rehash (not to mention the neglect of the Elite story). But what did it score? Hype-whores at Gamespot gave it a 95%.
Heh, I remember Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Such horrible censorship in that title. I didn't ever play Okami, but I may go for it on Wii because of the celestial paintbrush.
System Shock 2 and Deus Ex were awesome. Bioshock is also incredible, but there aren't really RPG elements, per se. Just a world under the sea. Deus Ex 2 was a disappointment. ------------- Hail Eris! 
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Posted By: The Lost Chord
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 18:28
TOTALLY DISAGREE. Period!
Halo 3 is probably the best FPS in years that I have played, perhaps not for single player but the multiplayer is astounding and doesn't gather in millions of people for no reason!
FPS have always been great since their 3D debut. From Doom and Duke Nukem, Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, the medal of Honor games which I find are all excellent ESPECIALLY the first three...Game reviewers are accurate as far as I am concerned, for the most part.
When a game gets super hype and turns up terrible I think usually the reviewers are honest and are like "what the hell happened to this game?!"...i've seen that so many times! ------------- "Only the sun knew why"
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Posted By: Gamemako
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 19:51
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/822/822714p1.html - Aussie IGN did call out Halo 3 on not living up to the hype, actually. Halo 3 is not popular because it's great; Halo 3 is popular because it's Halo 3. It's a flagship of the console. It's the game that everyone plays because everyone else plays it. It's like WoW: at least half of the players are only there because their friends are there. And speaking of which, there have been quite a few bad FPS games. Hell, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is a memorably bad one: you constantly overrun your enemy's spawns, enemy and teammate AI is terrible (the medic will run straight into enemy fire to save you and enemies will try to run up to melee-kill you from 20 metres away -- and once, I had a medic come and pick me up after I overran the spawns and 10 guys spawned on top of me, but they just chased him up to me and stood around us unable to actually hit the medic). http://www.gamestats.com/objects/535/535989//articles.html - GameStats average press rating: 8.0 . The entire genre is babied to death. ------------- Hail Eris!
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Posted By: Salvo_
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 20:04
But the combat in BG2 is much better, and good luck finding Planescape. It's on Gametap, but other than that the few copies are absurdly expensive. I haven't played Planescape yet, so I don't know which one is "better". But BG2 is still very very good.
Eh, I don't like Halo 3 all that much, but I don't know if I could call it a disappointment. It was better than H2, and lots of people played it, which is what was intended.
TLC there are LOTS AND LOTS of abysmal FPSs. I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Even ignoring Daikatana, there's tons of games like http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/hourofvictory - Hour of Victory and http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/turningpointfallofliberty - Turning Point . ------------- Member suspended |
Posted By: Gamemako
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 20:18
LOL, I forgot to mention Daikatana. Thanks for correcting my oversight. By the way, both Baldur's Gate games are excellent, but Planescape is just such an incredible game. It's the reason I can't call The Witcher the best PC RPG ever.  ------------- Hail Eris!
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:12
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I'm bitter, man. I still haven't bought a PS2, and I know it destroys the Xbox (and probably somewhat better than the Gamecube) in the RPG area, even though Bioware games are generally top-notch. But besides those and Marrowind, not much is going on on the Xbox. And on the 360 there's Oblivion, and...I dunno if anything else. I think I might wait on buying a PS2, though, because my roommate for the fall has one, so I'll just buy the games. And the last PC games I bought was Half-Life (pissed me off half-way through, never picked it back up) a year ago, and Need for Speed 2 I don't even know how long ago. Other than that, no PC games. It's about time, I think. I assume Planescape and Baldur's Gate 2 would run alright on a new, middle-of-the-road, non-customized laptop, right? ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: KoS
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:22
It's cool for consoles because I can play with my friends who aren't PC gamers, but for competitive play nothing beats PC games. |
Posted By: Gamemako
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:22
BG2 and P:T are what, 8 years old now? If it doesn't run, it's because you're running Vista. ------------- Hail Eris!
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:24
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I have Vista, will they still play? I haven't had any problems with much, but are they compatible? ------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:25
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You probably won't have any problems. If you do, I think you can set the program to "compatibility mode" or something to make it run as if you were using XP.
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Posted By: KoS
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 21:32
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Stones, have you played Half-Life 2 and the Episodes? They're not as hardcore as the first one. Get the Orange Box, Portal is amazing. I love how this thread got off topic.. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 22:02
Earthbound just might be the strangest game I have ever played. ------------- |
Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: March 28 2008 at 22:08
lawl |
Posted By: Salvo_
Date Posted: March 29 2008 at 00:38
There are patches and compatibility things, you'll get it to work. Yes, it will run fine on any modern PC, hardware has increased tremendously in the past 8 years. ------------- Member suspended |
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: March 29 2008 at 05:10
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If you've got Vista and older games won't run even with compatability mode on, you can install a Virtual PC which is basically a very posh emulator, I've got an XP VPC on my PC at the moment for playing the 16 bit titles which no longer work in Vista. So far I've only got Theme Hospital installed on the VPC as the only other game of similar age that I'm playing at the moment is Sam and Max: Hit The road which runs perfectly in Vista thanks to SCUMMVM. |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 29 2008 at 06:31
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If you're going to play Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal, I'd suggest playing Baldur's Gate: Wizards of the Coast first, because the stories follow on. With BG, you should definitely play it using BG Tutu, which improves many aspects of the game and allows you to play it better in Windows. I love this particular mod, because it allows other great mods to be played, such as extra characters, different rules and all sorts. Plus you can transfer your character to BG 2. Planescape: Torment also has some major updates that have been made unofficially that need to be downloads, because it makes the game play much better. This includes a few quests that weren't in the original game, plus 99% of bugfixes removed. -------------
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 29 2008 at 20:44
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I'm really enjoying Chrono Trigger, despite it being one of the easiest games I have ever played. Maybe I'm not cut out for these "roguelikes." In other news, I am probably going to buy a DS off of a friend soon, so I might pick up a couple of RPG's you recommended, after I pick up the new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid titles to fulfill my fanboyness. ------------- |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 29 2008 at 21:59
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I am presuming that's the SNES original, Jake? I wouldn't say it was a Roguelike, actually. Grab yourself a copy of NetHack for free and see how you get on with it. -------------
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 12:06
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That's what I'm saying, it's the opposite of a roguelike. It's ridiculously easy. I'm halfway through the game and I haven't died once yet.
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Posted By: Mikerinos
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 13:04
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Chrono Trigger rocks, but I don't think I'd like it as much as Final Fantasy 4 or 6 if I played it now, it's too easy and the story isn't as deep. I'd buy an RPG now, maybe Vagrant Story or Chrono Cross for PS1, but they're too time-consuming, reading is better. And by the way, FF12 was pretty lame. The last "new" RPG I bought and might ever buy, really a shame considering the world, battle system, and graphics had such awesome potential. Unfortunately, the story was very static and boring, the characters really had no development, and it required to much mindless leveling up (which would be great if it led to something half-interesting happening, but it didn't). A lot of people diss FFX, but that was really a great game and much better than XII. Some of the Xbox 360 rpgs look pretty good, as does FFXIII, but I'm not going to bother with this current gen. I might get a Wii some day, but I'd rather spend money on turntable carts, music, or books. :) ------------- 
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Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 13:34
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Yeah I've heard that XII was pretty terrible, the last FF game I played for any length of time was VII and I can't help but feel that any other FF game will be a disappointment after that. I also found Chrono Trigger to be a real disappointment, it's definitely not as good as the hype or average used price suggests. The RPG I'm currently playing is Baten Kaitos for the Gamecube, it's got a great story, an elegant combat system, very well developed characters and as a final plus it looks fantastic. The only downside is the voice over but I've heard far worse voiceovers in the past. |
Posted By: Man Overboard
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 14:22
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XII was the first one I was able to really get into since VI... the more serious/political storyline, combined with the first worthwhile battle/character system in the series, really made it a winner for me. I think a lot of people approach it expecting it to be another no-thought-required-let's-enjoy-the-story Final Fantasy, and are shocked to discover quite the opposite... aside from the linear story progression, it's extremely open-ended, especially in terms of character development and questing  ...going to work now. ------------- https://soundcloud.com/erin-susan-jennings" rel="nofollow - Bedroom guitarist". Composer, Arranger, Producer. Perfection may not exist, but I may still choose to serve Perfection. Commissions considered. |
Posted By: Mikerinos
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 16:25
I liked some of the side quests and stuff, just it really seemed like NOTHING happened storyline or character wise. Haven't played it since it was out, but I got about 15-20 hours into it and it just had nothing exciting going on, I really think an average 12 year old could write a more engrossing plotline with better character dialogue/development. I'm surprised you don't like 7 that much, I mean it's not the "omg best game evar" to me like many claim, but it's still great. 8 was okay, hated the battle system, never really got into 9, liked 10 a lot. -------------
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Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 17:34
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I love III/VI but couldn't get into VII as easily. Firstly, I prefer the more fantasy setting and secondly, the loading times on PSX are downright appalling, even when playing Origins (the original SNES games repackaged and updated slightly). I think it's 8 or possibly 9 I've played too (the medieval setting) and I quite liked that too. I've not played an later FFs though. -------------
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Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 17:56
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I thought FFXII was torturously dull and repetitive. A lot of cod-MMO influences were added, IE, hunting and gathering, large fields of the same one or two enemies, real world encounters and swathes of truly pointless loot items. I understand that these are considered advancements, but blargh. ;P if you want an offline faux-MMO then just play the Hack Infection games. The tower climbing segment was the vicious revenge of the Shinra Building steps. Character advancement was spoony, too, because the license board was just the sphere grid again, meaning that it was still fully feasible to complete the whole circuit, which in turn means you don't have to choose between skills or limit your characters in any way at all. As it was I only stuck with it as long as I did because it was hard to get bored with watching Fran run. o:) ------------- FREEDOM OF SPEECH GO TO HELL |
Posted By: Salvo_
Date Posted: March 30 2008 at 18:20
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Yeah, I thought XII was pretty boring, from what I saw. But I am kind of offended by Japan, so I primarily found it offensively Japanese. ------------- Member suspended |
Posted By: Trickster F.
Date Posted: April 01 2008 at 15:09
I agree, FF12 pretty much revived the series. And eh, there's no use complaining about the mainstream reviewers giving negative evaluation of everything they do not understand. It's like this everywhere, even in not-so-mainstream marginal communities. ------------- sig |
Posted By: TGM: Orb
Date Posted: April 01 2008 at 20:33
Baldur's Gate II, for the overall superb quality. The gameplay's not savagely tough, but not pathetically easy either, the characters, plotline and setting work very well. The first is essentially similar, but has more, less fleshed out, characters + dialogue, and more areas where there isn't much going on. In Baldur's Gate II, every bit of space is used well. Fallout (1), for the atmosphere and choices. I didn't find it *that* hard (still not a walk in the park) once my character got decent at hitting things and loads of action points, but could definitely be harder if you limited yourself. The atmosphere and environment is amazing, and you have many, many options. Not that easy to start with, but great once you get into it, and perhaps the most similar option to what you could get with other players. Planescape, for atmosphere, some difficulty, really unique characters, and a stunning soundtrack. I love that game. Not exactly cheap by comparison to the others here though. Those are, to this day, the three best games I've ever played. |