5 posts tagged “rpg”
The Etrian Odyssey F.O.E. which became an internet Meme actually stands for something crazy in Latin:
Foedus Obrepit Errabundus or The Vile that Sneaks Up. Go figure...
I bought - nay - pre-ordered Eternal Sonata after I enjoyed the demo on Xbox Live to little itty bitty bits. Then, I never completed the game.
It seems like Tri-Crescendo has learned their lessons.
What I really detested about the 360 version:
- The game makes me play through the exact same preachy storyline TWICE to get everything. That means going through some crazy long dungeons, again. Fighting the same repetitive sets of enemies. Again. Watching the cut scenes which looked marvelous the first time, but now drag on and irritate you the second time. I'd gladly play through again knowing there's multiple endings that depend on my choices.
- Repetitive battles. Great battle system squandered on total lack of variety of enemies.
- Brutal linearity. If you pass up doing something when you're supposed to do it right then and there you don't have chances to go back. I hope for a bit more freedom, especially when it comes to the side quests.
- Characters aren't too well developed. They've got personality built through their choices of voice actor/actress as well as attacks, but for a game where story is a big deal, not knowing so much about everyone is a disappointment.
Anyways, moving on from the Xbox360 Crash Test Dummy phase of RPGs, the Wall Street Journal of all places had an article on Monster Hunter. Playing with other people, face to face? I know some people that play various online games meet up in the real world, but I doubt this "same space" gaming would work too well in the US. If anything, I find it a bit comforting that I'm not near some of the people I've played online games with. Especially children I've encountered over Xbox Live. I don't know what I'd do if I was in the same room as Chocolate Milk Boy(Warning: NOT WORKPLACE SAFE! Video contains heavy duty profanity.) Monster Hunter Frontier-Capcom's PC based online game has potential to succeed in the US but the PSP version...not so much.
and slay virtual foes. Is this a real money trading scam?
Nope, it's a very cute toy designed to encourage children to save coinage.
Big congratulations to the fine trio at Easy Game Station on their newest release. Recettear was released at Comic Market for those lucky enough to go to the event but today they released it at a number of well known doujin shops for those of us who couldn't get to Tokyo on Christmas weekend to brave the massive waves of nerdy-types. I've been to a Comic Market and it was so crowded, I got crowd surfed just trying to get to some stairs on the way from the West Halls to the East. Tokyo Big Site has to be one of the largest convention areas I've ever seen and Comic Market makes TBS burst at the seams. I know I could have gotten this game via torrent months ago, but I look forward to some of my favorite retailers hooking me up with a legitimate copy. Seriously, EGS. Look into selling your games on Steam. You guys could even make Valve quake in it's boots for a bit, no pun intended.
Yeah, I know, Super Smash Brothers Brawl is also out, but seeing how I doubt I'd have people over to enjoy local multiplayer which has always been SSB's strong point, I'm paying visits to friends who are raving mad for this game. Especially since they've got bigger entertainment rooms and nicer TVs. The single player game doesn't come close to teaching you how to be really good at that game. You can button mash your way through story but if you even think about trying that "tactic" against a seasoned pro, don't count on landing a single hit. Almost all of the friends I'd go play the game with are the "seasoned pro" type, not looking for the equivalent of Mario Party, The Fighting Game.
The iPhone/iPod Touch SDK is out! I'm still looking for info on touch sensitivity and tilt accuracy that could help me come up with a design for a platform specific game. Hardware horsepower-wise, the platform veers on the PSP's specs. One fellow on a forum said:
"Think of a Dreamcast with 8X the RAM, 2X the CPU, and a generation newer graphics chip pushing 1/4 the pixels."
Dreamcast. That console has some games with absolutely stunning graphics(Soul Calibur, Grandia 2) and now that power is in a wee little device along with a trio of accelerometers that work like Sony's SIXAXIS controller.
Oh, the possibilities....
To Do: Brush up resume, register for Game Developers Conference and so forth.
I was recently contracted to play through a game. I am under an NDA so no, I won't divulge any identifiable details about the game in question whatsoever.
I wanted to get through the game as quickly as possible. I wasn't there for the game itself, I had ulterior motives. The game did feature leveling up your character. I found myself running through levels, not fighting too terribly often then occasionally getting into trouble when going up against the boss. I'd go back to older areas where enemies were easier to kill to grind and build up my persona.
Then, I started to wonder. Why am I doing this? Why am I avoiding encounters that would give me a chance at much needed experience during the actual levels, only to begrudgingly grind elsewhere? In the case of this particular game, it doesn't abide by standard RPG rules of letting you enjoy your level ups as soon as you get them. You only enjoyed the fruits of your labor after successfully completing an area. So of course I go back to easy areas, unless I do something really foolish, I'm absolutely positive I will win and gain the ability to power up my character.
I realize, though, this is by far not the only game I've avoided encounters like mad. I'm an RPG enthusiast, Unless I've got some insatiable urge to utterly dominate the ins and outs of a certain game, I have a tendency to go through under-leveled. This is true for games whose combat I've enjoyed. If a player hates the game, then
What is with under-leveling and why should it matter? Under-leveling is a balance issue. A very important balance issue, especially for RPGs. Chances are, if a gamer goes to an encounter and gets horribly beaten down multiple times, their reaction may not be to go level up and try again but to curse the programmers for making a game too hard. Yes, I know, it's not the programmers fault, but I've seen a lot of rants and vitriol directed at programmers.
Towards the end of the game I was playing-as well as some other RPGs- I've hit a lot of "forced encounters." Sub-bosses/Mini-bosses you have to beat in order to keep going through the final dungeon. These can be particularly devastating for the under-leveling gamer. I never finished Final Fantasy IX off my own personal save file because of this. I didn't run away from any enounters, but I didn't do a lot of the "extra curricular leveling" activities. I did a few side quests that were readily accessible to me but I didn't seek out certain high powered items that would have both leveled my characters on top of giving me a special move with astonishing power. Power that usually breaks the balance, but you spent all that time chasing the item instead of leveling up so it's essentially the same result. Only, with brighter, bigger fireworks.
Well...I'm still not sure why I do the whole under leveling thing...I'll have to give it a bit more contemplation.
