How would pricing down their games make Sony more money? As it is, plenty of people pay 50 or more dollars to buy a game. Never mind a few do buy games used, they still make plenty. By allowing competetion, the implementation of which is nonsensical much like your opinions, and selling games at like 15$, they would not make money. This is stupid. You are dumb
"If a new game fell in price 75% in six months we would be on to something. This is what happens in the PC world now and developers and publishers are both successful."
First, this relates directly to what I've been saying all along. The existence of a healthy used market helps keep new game prices high. PC game prices drop to almost nothing within 6 months because they have no resale value. Nobody wants to play $50 for a game that drops to $0 in value after they open it. So they simply won't buy them......unless the price is lower. Not being able to resell a game forces publishers to drop their price. I make my living selling used equipment. It pisses off the manufacturer. But they know that if their equipment didn't command high resale, that same gear wouldn't command high retail. It's simple economics. Which brand of car would you be willing to pay more for? The one with zero resale value or the one with great resale value? It's a no brainer. So, if they eliminate used game, you can guarantee the price of new will drop hard and fast.
Second. The PC developers and publishers "are successful"? This is kind of vague I think. We've seen more publishers and developers expanding to, or completing transitioning to consoles. Mostly due to piracy and price curves. Also, they've made pretty significant moves toward subscription and microtransaction models. If they remove the price curve advantage of consoles, I bet a lot will go back to PC.
Overall great post though. Glad to finally hear someone who agrees with me. Let them do it! I can't wait to see what happens.
I really don't want used games blocked either, but it feels like a catchier/more trollish title to phrase it that way. But multiple download stores? Please.
I probably won't buy a next generation system if they make it not play used games. In that way, it would ruin renting, borrowing games, etc. Things that I've grown to EXPECT on my consoles, and NOT my PC. That's the big difference here. An educated review helps, like you've produced, but overall, people will still be upset.
Anything that I buy should be mine to do what I want with, as long as I don't break the law - - On Console games, because that's what I've grown to expect.
Now, what you're proposing is certainly interesting. To me, however, it's just an excuse to keep PC gaming. I won't have to upgrade my PC for awhile, and Steam just keeps churning out goodies. I don't think consoles will be able to catch up. The thing keeping them above water are people that started on consoles and literally hate the PC's peripherals.
Buuuut - maybe Billy Bob decides that Microsoft is full o' shiet and decides that he's already got a computer, so why doesn't he try the new Modern Warfare 4 on it? Billy Bob is surprised, as it's a different game, but the same game. It takes getting used to, but he gets used to it. He bought the game on the cheap, and the game runs, blah blah.
I have a 360 for my wife and I to play. If it weren't for my wife, I wouldn't own any consoles.
I honestly think that you have a good idea, Greg. I just think it's going to be too late.
I agree with a lot of what you said here about used games and digital downloads. I have made a lot more impulse purchases on Steam because the price point is so low. Even though I haven't necessarily liked some of the games I ended up buying, this also made me take risks more often on games I ended up loving (such as Arkham Asylum/City) that I would have avoided otherwise. But if you're going to charge $50-60 for a game, I would definitely be much more cautious about purchasing something out on a limb. Considering that the cost of digital downloads is minimal, even compared to a super cheap medium like DVDs/CDs, as you say, everyone could make a lot more money. With such a business model, there's no need to harass your paying customers with annoying, useless, and expensive DRM. That, and like Steve, I hope never have to purchase a console again. (I only recently got an Xbox 360 but that's because they gave it to me for free when I bought a new PC a few months ago)
P.S. Speaking of World of Goo, I've actually been going camping over the last year with one of the guys who developed the game. I never realized it until last weekend when someone else mentioned it
When I was devising the editorial in my head, I thought about using this as a reason. Would save me a lot of money if I didn't buy any more consoles in the future.
I hope they disallow used games. That way, they can fail along with Nintendo's never-ending supply of gimmicks and I won't be tempted to purchase a console ever again.
If you didn't take the time to make your own characters, have a problem with manually leveling up your characters (god forbid they don't include an auto-level button, too much work in clicking through four menus when you level), and want to be a badass right from the start, then don't play old RPGs. You are not a badass, you are weak. Sure, you are above average warriors compared to some, but you can't go out and kill dragons in your first few levels. You have to prove yourself and become stronger in order to achieve that.
You seem to be incredibly lazy, and I don't know if you just haven't played RPGs with customization before or what, but it seems insane to me that you are complaining about the average amount of customization available in ID2. Creating your own team, leveling them as you see fit, and watching them grow as you progress are HUGE parts of the game. Let's go through the list of things you hated:
1) No auto-level.
Auto-level would be a terrible idea. Unlike RPGs today, you can't have a single build work for every situation. Your group of 1-6 can work off of each other, and you can't have one auto-level for an archetype because it may cause a lot of unnecessary overlap with another character (for example, dumping points in intimidate for 3 characters would be a poor choice).
2) Little guidance.
Again, the game doesn't hold your hand. But with a bit of adventuring you can find everything just fine. If not, check out a guide, fine. The game isn't going to have big arrows pointing you to your destination, you don't get babied through ID2.
3) Goblin grinding.
You are not a badass. That is, at the start you are relatively weak. You don't just go to dragon-slaying and ogre bashing from level one. That would be a very poor sense of progression. There are still boss units in ID2, a wide assortment of enemies, and much more that you can't fully experience in one hour. But ID2 wasn't made to be a one hour game, so I suppose you had a flawed review from the start.
4) Too much stuff to click on and assign.
5) Couldn't select different options for party members when in battle.
Which one is it? You have plenty of options, but not enough? If you tried clicking on a single party member while in battle, you would have seen that you can have them operate independently from the group. Didn't know that was a complicated concept.
6) Didn't know about the pause button.
Error between the chair and the keyboard.
7) Never felt immersed in the game.
Your fault for not customizing your characters or caring about them. The game can't FORCE you to care about it, you have to try. Sorry, error again between the same space as before.
8) Too much to manage.
There is an average amount of customization for your character. There really isn't that much, and its just enough to be satisfying. How you can be overwhelmed by the level up system is beyond me. The character creation screen, sure, its a bit much. Take 15-20 minutes and you can get a solid crew. If that's too much time, then you should not play this game.
9) No cool loot.
Same thing with the goblins. You aren't going to get a staff that summons Demons from the sky in the first few minutes. QQ.
TL;DR You give this game zero justice because of your own laziness. Go play ME and get your hand held through it and auto-level up your way to being a total badass in the first few levels if that's what you want.
I seem to come away a bit more impressed than you were (with full review at some point, so I won't say too much here).
As for your thoughts: "Her story leads the arc in the final act of the game, but It falls a bit flat in execution, and I’m left wondering if the magnificent setup Unbound pulled off was wasted in the third game. We mostly understand how she became The Countess, but I still felt it pretty vague why she’s killing seemingly innocent people. For centering the game on her, I don’t come out of the experience as fulfilled as the previous two titles."
SPOILERS
I thought it was mostly well explained. A second playthrough/refresh would probably clarify it for you. The Countess and Madeline were a normal medium-guide. Somehow, their connection was broken (this is the only part which is a bit vague). According to Madeline, the Countess initiated the break. As a process of this break, part of the Countess' mind/soul was trapped in the spirit world. She lost part of her humanity while simultaneously becoming one with the universe. This overwhelmed her and fractured her mind, but she still continued to carry out her mission as a medium to save people. I would imagine she then seeked out guides to hook onto, and then saved the victims in the only way she could figure how. As one stopped guiding, she found another; her entire purpose and only goal was to save.
Now, there is the other question of how she can still physically interact with the living while in spirit form. But, she was apparently a very powerful spirit, so chalk it up to magic.
Its a good thing there are SOME intelligent people here. Personally, I love Persona 3. I named my character randomly after the mc in FF Tactics A2 and Death Note ; Luso Yagami. I also think his blue hair is awesome. I'm in love. I think Persona 4 did it better fighting/grinding/dungeon-wise, but I liked 3's Social Links and story more. 4's bores me with its constant "I gotta face myself and be who I am!"
le system. it's not like it would have been unrealistic. the 2 characteres that first join you have never fought before so it would have made more sense for them to follow minato's orders than to do what they think's best.
2. The social link system was far worse in 3 than in 4. i suppose that's not a fair argument, seeing as 4 was newer, but still. i didn't like the people i was presented with nor their problems. i only played the first few hours, but from the first guy alone (seriously, what whacky and fun guy, he wants to bang his teacher) i could tell i wouldn't like it. i liked junpie and the fact he was magician arcana was ever better cause i loved brosuke, but i do-it-yourself get to link him, just this creepy bland guy.
that's all i really have to say, but i'm glad i said it.
just as a reference as to where i'm coming from, i stumbled across this article when i googled "can you control your team in persona 3". I played p4 first, and i absolutely loved it. the writing was good, the combat, while not innovative by SMT standards, was masterfully exocuted, and i enjoyed the social link system. i made it to naota's dungeon bedore i had to give my ps2 back, but i loved what i played. so when i got a new ps2, i thought, hey, i've heard some good things about 3, and i loved 4 and what i'd played of 1, so why not. i got it, and was so disapointed i almost cried.
1, you only control minato? i'm sorry but... why? seriously, i'm all for the SMT tradition of not letting the MC die but... it defies logic. i loved final fantasy 13, i was a BIT miffed when i found out only the main character could be controled, but it made sense as i went through and the combat system evolved with the paradigm system. but persona 3 had NO such excuse. it's a simple turn based rpg with a variation of the push batt
Everything you disliked about IWD2 were it's greatest strengths. Making your own A-Team of D&D heroes is a blast. When I played through this game (10 years ago, when it was relevant) I simply 'Imagined' personalities for all my characters. I'm suddenly nostalgic for the adventures of my made up PCs Lord Doomhammer, Nameless One, Ice Princess, Nargh, Brakka and Thraxus.
I would not recommend you bother going back to replay this game at any point. It's an endless dungeon crawl that plays solely off the strength of it's combat system, and requires its player to have a decent grasp of Dungeons and Dragons rules. Loads of fun back in 2002, awfully dated today. Play Dragon Age 1 instead. It's the same play style, but with a cleaner rules system and upgraded graphics.
Never before has a puzzle game enthralled me so much. I played Picross and Picross 3D, but Pushmo is just excellence. I do admit the first section of tutorial puzzles were easy and slow, but the difficulty of the puzzles really ramps up. Along with the nostalgia factor of climbing 8 bit Nintendo characters? Amazing. Don't even get me started on the level creator. There's some crazy player-made Pushmo puzzles out there that are a thrill to see and play. Really wish you had mentioned it, one of the defining aspects of the game that make it so great.
Wanted to comment on my favorite Zelda game of all time. I happen to be one of the 2D Zelda fans. I enjoyed what I played of OoT, TP, and SS, but I could never stick with them for very long. My completion rate with Zelda games is very low, in fact, I've only beaten A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. It may just be my "hipster" in me wanting to say I like Link's Awakening the most especially because it's one of the most overlooked Zelda games out there.
Also, remembered that in ALttP you always had your sword while the other button was mapped for any other item. I find Link's Awakenings two button freedom amazing. I do have to replay ALttP since LA is so fresh in my mind so I can make a better judgement for myself (Choosing a favorite Zelda game exposes a lot about who you are as a gamer, imo). I've been holding out because of rumors of a remake on the 3DS. Should probably just give in.
Anyway, hope you finished the game. It's actually pretty light on story, but I feel as though the player can really connect with the characters, especially Marin. It makes the ending of the game just that much better.
It's not even that it was a tough game (it was, thanks to the one-hit-and-you're-done style), it's that it is built like a rhythm game but punishes you for getting into the groove. I liked Beat and Void quite a bit though. Might go for Fate and Flux someday, too.
BTW, I played through this about a week ago and entirely agree with this review (to the point where I didn't bother making my own). Except it was even more frustrating for me, in fact probably the most frustrating game experience I can remember. I can't remember a game before making me think I'm just bad at games, but this managed it. The complete lack of controllable horizontal movement and auditory distractions made it so painful for me. The game tries to visually trick you as well, to the point where you have to basically mentally map out your movement through the stages in advance and can't rely on reaction a good deal of the time. I was full of so much hate.
...yes the first few seasons, were rather boring. It got a LOT better after the marriage and then after a week or two later wifey has the baby. And then Generation 2 starts! And all the options open up! Remember all those area that were gated off before? Because your so small, being a child, you can squeeze right past and find the rest of the dungeon.
Its pretty weird that your mom doesn't have any affection for you when you start off as a kid.
Yue starts selling a kitchen, shelves, makers and benches for the school. The mayor will let you expand the schools library and stuff. If you enter the school around 12-1 pm and go to the left or right passageways(either will do, but I normally go right) one of the adults will give you lunch, any day that is a school day.
Some of the other kids have spell books if you can't find them in the library. Recipes are learned by attending class every day, you can learn 3 selections each day. I say selections because they come in bunches anywhere from 1-5 recipes a selection I do believe.
The other children have friendship points toward you, but the children of the opposite gender also have love points, so you can have a boyfriend/girlfriend. The twins are the exceptions to this. No matter which gender you are you can gain love points with them, and have a pretend wedding with them(yes both of them). Actually if I recall you can do a pretend wedding with all of them. Giving they are at the right point levels and you met the gender requirement (of course excluding the twins).
The story line (basically) is your dad (Kyle [you in the first gen]) left in the middle of the night, it sounds horrible and it looked so sad in the little clip they showed, and you want to help you mom so you grab your dads old tools and help on the farm. You feel the desire to find dear old dad so you go to the dungeons (secretly).
All in all the second generation is way better than the first one. It moved faster, and everything was available to do.
I give it a 7.8 of 10, it orriginally was a 9 but it is so time consuming to get to the second generation to when the story actually starts.
There's a campaign, but there's really no story in either game. There's some basic background on levels, but wouldn't change anything if it wasn't there. The game is more about designing your own units, sharing maps you made with others, stuff like that.
Wow, this game looks just amazingly well-made. Does it have a decent story mode? Or if it's really not in the game yet due to beta, did GSB have a good story?
looks like FES had been release on the PSN. Oh goodies my old wound open up again. Doesn't help that I love Persona 4, I have to hear about this game no matter which P4 related thing I go to.
I've invested more then 40 hours in this game before I just gave up and just youtube the rest of the story. This gameplay had put me to sleep in the afternoon at times.
The story feels like it's been written by a child trying to create a dark story (come on "Dark" Hour? water turn red like blood? and they really try to use the death word when ever they can.) When you put logic on the Dark Hour it doesn't make sense (what happen to planes and animals in the sky? don't gravity works? )
Who in their right mind decided to build a public school in the middle of the area where that Tower shows up?
The story doesn't even have anything to the theory of Persona itself (as in multiple selves of yourself) until you play The Answer part. Try replacing anything mentioning Persona with any Magic Power. the story would be the same.
And this might be the only Silent Protagonist that I dislike in gaming, yes Silent Protagonists do have personalities they show it though their actions. He is represented by "The Fool" Arcana which represent that he should be the type who doesn't get lead around by the Dog. Though out the entire game he is always being lead by someone or something else. Everything that happens in the main story is him being used, or he was force into it.
The other party members... I though they were okay. nothing special, I would have forgotten all about them if I haven't been reminded of them all the time. Sometimes they make dumb decisions in the story.
and the antagonist Strega were poor villains who doesn't seems like they are trying to win over the heroes. They introduce themselves for no purpose but to say Hi nice to meet you. They interfere with what seems to be two death seeking party members trying to kill each other. He even acknowledged this and kill one of them and in turn making the other one no longer want to kill himself. And they think the Conservation of Ninjutsu applies to them, seriously they couldn't win 2 on 4, what made them think that 1 on 4 is going to be better for them.
The Ending was dumb. almost everyone forgot everything that happen and then the every party members remember. Uh what happen to physical evidence? you can guess what question they would be asking. Why am I living here? Why do I have something that shape like a gun on top of actual weapons? Why did we build this Robot with Guns attach to it and something called Persona and let it live with teenagers? Where all our money go? Who is this person listed on my call list? Why am I just doing in the middle of the street filled with other people wondering the same thing?
How would pricing down their games make Sony more money? As it is, plenty of people pay 50 or more dollars to buy a game. Never mind a few do buy games used, they still make plenty. By allowing competetion, the implementation of which is nonsensical much like your opinions, and selling games at like 15$, they would not make money. This is stupid. You are dumb
"If a new game fell in price 75% in six months we would be on to something. This is what happens in the PC world now and developers and publishers are both successful."
First, this relates directly to what I've been saying all along. The existence of a healthy used market helps keep new game prices high. PC game prices drop to almost nothing within 6 months because they have no resale value. Nobody wants to play $50 for a game that drops to $0 in value after they open it. So they simply won't buy them......unless the price is lower. Not being able to resell a game forces publishers to drop their price. I make my living selling used equipment. It pisses off the manufacturer. But they know that if their equipment didn't command high resale, that same gear wouldn't command high retail. It's simple economics. Which brand of car would you be willing to pay more for? The one with zero resale value or the one with great resale value? It's a no brainer. So, if they eliminate used game, you can guarantee the price of new will drop hard and fast.
Second. The PC developers and publishers "are successful"? This is kind of vague I think. We've seen more publishers and developers expanding to, or completing transitioning to consoles. Mostly due to piracy and price curves. Also, they've made pretty significant moves toward subscription and microtransaction models. If they remove the price curve advantage of consoles, I bet a lot will go back to PC.
Overall great post though. Glad to finally hear someone who agrees with me. Let them do it! I can't wait to see what happens.
I really don't want used games blocked either, but it feels like a catchier/more trollish title to phrase it that way. But multiple download stores? Please.
What do you mean by too late though?
I probably won't buy a next generation system if they make it not play used games. In that way, it would ruin renting, borrowing games, etc. Things that I've grown to EXPECT on my consoles, and NOT my PC. That's the big difference here. An educated review helps, like you've produced, but overall, people will still be upset.
Anything that I buy should be mine to do what I want with, as long as I don't break the law - - On Console games, because that's what I've grown to expect.
Now, what you're proposing is certainly interesting. To me, however, it's just an excuse to keep PC gaming. I won't have to upgrade my PC for awhile, and Steam just keeps churning out goodies. I don't think consoles will be able to catch up. The thing keeping them above water are people that started on consoles and literally hate the PC's peripherals.
Buuuut - maybe Billy Bob decides that Microsoft is full o' shiet and decides that he's already got a computer, so why doesn't he try the new Modern Warfare 4 on it? Billy Bob is surprised, as it's a different game, but the same game. It takes getting used to, but he gets used to it. He bought the game on the cheap, and the game runs, blah blah.
I have a 360 for my wife and I to play. If it weren't for my wife, I wouldn't own any consoles.
I honestly think that you have a good idea, Greg. I just think it's going to be too late.
I agree with a lot of what you said here about used games and digital downloads. I have made a lot more impulse purchases on Steam because the price point is so low. Even though I haven't necessarily liked some of the games I ended up buying, this also made me take risks more often on games I ended up loving (such as Arkham Asylum/City) that I would have avoided otherwise. But if you're going to charge $50-60 for a game, I would definitely be much more cautious about purchasing something out on a limb. Considering that the cost of digital downloads is minimal, even compared to a super cheap medium like DVDs/CDs, as you say, everyone could make a lot more money. With such a business model, there's no need to harass your paying customers with annoying, useless, and expensive DRM. That, and like Steve, I hope never have to purchase a console again. (I only recently got an Xbox 360 but that's because they gave it to me for free when I bought a new PC a few months ago)
P.S. Speaking of World of Goo, I've actually been going camping over the last year with one of the guys who developed the game. I never realized it until last weekend when someone else mentioned it
When I was devising the editorial in my head, I thought about using this as a reason. Would save me a lot of money if I didn't buy any more consoles in the future.
I hope they disallow used games. That way, they can fail along with Nintendo's never-ending supply of gimmicks and I won't be tempted to purchase a console ever again.
If you didn't take the time to make your own characters, have a problem with manually leveling up your characters (god forbid they don't include an auto-level button, too much work in clicking through four menus when you level), and want to be a badass right from the start, then don't play old RPGs. You are not a badass, you are weak. Sure, you are above average warriors compared to some, but you can't go out and kill dragons in your first few levels. You have to prove yourself and become stronger in order to achieve that.
You seem to be incredibly lazy, and I don't know if you just haven't played RPGs with customization before or what, but it seems insane to me that you are complaining about the average amount of customization available in ID2. Creating your own team, leveling them as you see fit, and watching them grow as you progress are HUGE parts of the game. Let's go through the list of things you hated:
1) No auto-level.
Auto-level would be a terrible idea. Unlike RPGs today, you can't have a single build work for every situation. Your group of 1-6 can work off of each other, and you can't have one auto-level for an archetype because it may cause a lot of unnecessary overlap with another character (for example, dumping points in intimidate for 3 characters would be a poor choice).
2) Little guidance.
Again, the game doesn't hold your hand. But with a bit of adventuring you can find everything just fine. If not, check out a guide, fine. The game isn't going to have big arrows pointing you to your destination, you don't get babied through ID2.
3) Goblin grinding.
You are not a badass. That is, at the start you are relatively weak. You don't just go to dragon-slaying and ogre bashing from level one. That would be a very poor sense of progression. There are still boss units in ID2, a wide assortment of enemies, and much more that you can't fully experience in one hour. But ID2 wasn't made to be a one hour game, so I suppose you had a flawed review from the start.
4) Too much stuff to click on and assign.
5) Couldn't select different options for party members when in battle.
Which one is it? You have plenty of options, but not enough? If you tried clicking on a single party member while in battle, you would have seen that you can have them operate independently from the group. Didn't know that was a complicated concept.
6) Didn't know about the pause button.
Error between the chair and the keyboard.
7) Never felt immersed in the game.
Your fault for not customizing your characters or caring about them. The game can't FORCE you to care about it, you have to try. Sorry, error again between the same space as before.
8) Too much to manage.
There is an average amount of customization for your character. There really isn't that much, and its just enough to be satisfying. How you can be overwhelmed by the level up system is beyond me. The character creation screen, sure, its a bit much. Take 15-20 minutes and you can get a solid crew. If that's too much time, then you should not play this game.
9) No cool loot.
Same thing with the goblins. You aren't going to get a staff that summons Demons from the sky in the first few minutes. QQ.
TL;DR You give this game zero justice because of your own laziness. Go play ME and get your hand held through it and auto-level up your way to being a total badass in the first few levels if that's what you want.
I seem to come away a bit more impressed than you were (with full review at some point, so I won't say too much here).
As for your thoughts: "Her story leads the arc in the final act of the game, but It falls a bit flat in execution, and I’m left wondering if the magnificent setup Unbound pulled off was wasted in the third game. We mostly understand how she became The Countess, but I still felt it pretty vague why she’s killing seemingly innocent people. For centering the game on her, I don’t come out of the experience as fulfilled as the previous two titles."
SPOILERS
I thought it was mostly well explained. A second playthrough/refresh would probably clarify it for you. The Countess and Madeline were a normal medium-guide. Somehow, their connection was broken (this is the only part which is a bit vague). According to Madeline, the Countess initiated the break. As a process of this break, part of the Countess' mind/soul was trapped in the spirit world. She lost part of her humanity while simultaneously becoming one with the universe. This overwhelmed her and fractured her mind, but she still continued to carry out her mission as a medium to save people. I would imagine she then seeked out guides to hook onto, and then saved the victims in the only way she could figure how. As one stopped guiding, she found another; her entire purpose and only goal was to save.
Now, there is the other question of how she can still physically interact with the living while in spirit form. But, she was apparently a very powerful spirit, so chalk it up to magic.
ENDSPOILER
Its a good thing there are SOME intelligent people here. Personally, I love Persona 3. I named my character randomly after the mc in FF Tactics A2 and Death Note ; Luso Yagami. I also think his blue hair is awesome. I'm in love. I think Persona 4 did it better fighting/grinding/dungeon-wise, but I liked 3's Social Links and story more. 4's bores me with its constant "I gotta face myself and be who I am!"
le system. it's not like it would have been unrealistic. the 2 characteres that first join you have never fought before so it would have made more sense for them to follow minato's orders than to do what they think's best.
2. The social link system was far worse in 3 than in 4. i suppose that's not a fair argument, seeing as 4 was newer, but still. i didn't like the people i was presented with nor their problems. i only played the first few hours, but from the first guy alone (seriously, what whacky and fun guy, he wants to bang his teacher) i could tell i wouldn't like it. i liked junpie and the fact he was magician arcana was ever better cause i loved brosuke, but i do-it-yourself get to link him, just this creepy bland guy.
that's all i really have to say, but i'm glad i said it.
just as a reference as to where i'm coming from, i stumbled across this article when i googled "can you control your team in persona 3". I played p4 first, and i absolutely loved it. the writing was good, the combat, while not innovative by SMT standards, was masterfully exocuted, and i enjoyed the social link system. i made it to naota's dungeon bedore i had to give my ps2 back, but i loved what i played. so when i got a new ps2, i thought, hey, i've heard some good things about 3, and i loved 4 and what i'd played of 1, so why not. i got it, and was so disapointed i almost cried.
1, you only control minato? i'm sorry but... why? seriously, i'm all for the SMT tradition of not letting the MC die but... it defies logic. i loved final fantasy 13, i was a BIT miffed when i found out only the main character could be controled, but it made sense as i went through and the combat system evolved with the paradigm system. but persona 3 had NO such excuse. it's a simple turn based rpg with a variation of the push batt
which actual pc pad du you think looks like the frankencontroller?
Everything you disliked about IWD2 were it's greatest strengths. Making your own A-Team of D&D heroes is a blast. When I played through this game (10 years ago, when it was relevant) I simply 'Imagined' personalities for all my characters. I'm suddenly nostalgic for the adventures of my made up PCs Lord Doomhammer, Nameless One, Ice Princess, Nargh, Brakka and Thraxus.
I would not recommend you bother going back to replay this game at any point. It's an endless dungeon crawl that plays solely off the strength of it's combat system, and requires its player to have a decent grasp of Dungeons and Dragons rules. Loads of fun back in 2002, awfully dated today. Play Dragon Age 1 instead. It's the same play style, but with a cleaner rules system and upgraded graphics.
He in fact was inspired by the album according to Wikipedia:
Never knew this. Very interesting.
I'm guessing the developer was a Queen fan. Both the "Ogre Battle" and "March of the Black Queen" are song titles from the bands second album.
(Sorry to do this as a reply, but it wouldn't let me post as a comment for some reason).
Letting you remap both buttons lets you use bomb arrows, it's awesome!
I love Link's Awakening too, in my top five Zelda games for sure.
Never before has a puzzle game enthralled me so much. I played Picross and Picross 3D, but Pushmo is just excellence. I do admit the first section of tutorial puzzles were easy and slow, but the difficulty of the puzzles really ramps up. Along with the nostalgia factor of climbing 8 bit Nintendo characters? Amazing. Don't even get me started on the level creator. There's some crazy player-made Pushmo puzzles out there that are a thrill to see and play. Really wish you had mentioned it, one of the defining aspects of the game that make it so great.
Wanted to comment on my favorite Zelda game of all time. I happen to be one of the 2D Zelda fans. I enjoyed what I played of OoT, TP, and SS, but I could never stick with them for very long. My completion rate with Zelda games is very low, in fact, I've only beaten A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. It may just be my "hipster" in me wanting to say I like Link's Awakening the most especially because it's one of the most overlooked Zelda games out there.
Also, remembered that in ALttP you always had your sword while the other button was mapped for any other item. I find Link's Awakenings two button freedom amazing. I do have to replay ALttP since LA is so fresh in my mind so I can make a better judgement for myself (Choosing a favorite Zelda game exposes a lot about who you are as a gamer, imo). I've been holding out because of rumors of a remake on the 3DS. Should probably just give in.
Anyway, hope you finished the game. It's actually pretty light on story, but I feel as though the player can really connect with the characters, especially Marin. It makes the ending of the game just that much better.
It's not even that it was a tough game (it was, thanks to the one-hit-and-you're-done style), it's that it is built like a rhythm game but punishes you for getting into the groove. I liked Beat and Void quite a bit though. Might go for Fate and Flux someday, too.
BTW, I played through this about a week ago and entirely agree with this review (to the point where I didn't bother making my own). Except it was even more frustrating for me, in fact probably the most frustrating game experience I can remember. I can't remember a game before making me think I'm just bad at games, but this managed it. The complete lack of controllable horizontal movement and auditory distractions made it so painful for me. The game tries to visually trick you as well, to the point where you have to basically mentally map out your movement through the stages in advance and can't rely on reaction a good deal of the time. I was full of so much hate.
...yes the first few seasons, were rather boring. It got a LOT better after the marriage and then after a week or two later wifey has the baby. And then Generation 2 starts! And all the options open up! Remember all those area that were gated off before? Because your so small, being a child, you can squeeze right past and find the rest of the dungeon.
Its pretty weird that your mom doesn't have any affection for you when you start off as a kid.
Yue starts selling a kitchen, shelves, makers and benches for the school. The mayor will let you expand the schools library and stuff. If you enter the school around 12-1 pm and go to the left or right passageways(either will do, but I normally go right) one of the adults will give you lunch, any day that is a school day.
Some of the other kids have spell books if you can't find them in the library. Recipes are learned by attending class every day, you can learn 3 selections each day. I say selections because they come in bunches anywhere from 1-5 recipes a selection I do believe.
The other children have friendship points toward you, but the children of the opposite gender also have love points, so you can have a boyfriend/girlfriend. The twins are the exceptions to this. No matter which gender you are you can gain love points with them, and have a pretend wedding with them(yes both of them). Actually if I recall you can do a pretend wedding with all of them. Giving they are at the right point levels and you met the gender requirement (of course excluding the twins).
The story line (basically) is your dad (Kyle [you in the first gen]) left in the middle of the night, it sounds horrible and it looked so sad in the little clip they showed, and you want to help you mom so you grab your dads old tools and help on the farm. You feel the desire to find dear old dad so you go to the dungeons (secretly).
All in all the second generation is way better than the first one. It moved faster, and everything was available to do.
I give it a 7.8 of 10, it orriginally was a 9 but it is so time consuming to get to the second generation to when the story actually starts.
There's a campaign, but there's really no story in either game. There's some basic background on levels, but wouldn't change anything if it wasn't there. The game is more about designing your own units, sharing maps you made with others, stuff like that.
Wow, this game looks just amazingly well-made. Does it have a decent story mode? Or if it's really not in the game yet due to beta, did GSB have a good story?
looks like FES had been release on the PSN. Oh goodies my old wound open up again. Doesn't help that I love Persona 4, I have to hear about this game no matter which P4 related thing I go to.
I've invested more then 40 hours in this game before I just gave up and just youtube the rest of the story. This gameplay had put me to sleep in the afternoon at times.
The story feels like it's been written by a child trying to create a dark story (come on "Dark" Hour? water turn red like blood? and they really try to use the death word when ever they can.) When you put logic on the Dark Hour it doesn't make sense (what happen to planes and animals in the sky? don't gravity works? )
Who in their right mind decided to build a public school in the middle of the area where that Tower shows up?
The story doesn't even have anything to the theory of Persona itself (as in multiple selves of yourself) until you play The Answer part. Try replacing anything mentioning Persona with any Magic Power. the story would be the same.
And this might be the only Silent Protagonist that I dislike in gaming, yes Silent Protagonists do have personalities they show it though their actions. He is represented by "The Fool" Arcana which represent that he should be the type who doesn't get lead around by the Dog. Though out the entire game he is always being lead by someone or something else. Everything that happens in the main story is him being used, or he was force into it.
The other party members... I though they were okay. nothing special, I would have forgotten all about them if I haven't been reminded of them all the time. Sometimes they make dumb decisions in the story.
and the antagonist Strega were poor villains who doesn't seems like they are trying to win over the heroes. They introduce themselves for no purpose but to say Hi nice to meet you. They interfere with what seems to be two death seeking party members trying to kill each other. He even acknowledged this and kill one of them and in turn making the other one no longer want to kill himself. And they think the Conservation of Ninjutsu applies to them, seriously they couldn't win 2 on 4, what made them think that 1 on 4 is going to be better for them.
The Ending was dumb. almost everyone forgot everything that happen and then the every party members remember. Uh what happen to physical evidence? you can guess what question they would be asking. Why am I living here? Why do I have something that shape like a gun on top of actual weapons? Why did we build this Robot with Guns attach to it and something called Persona and let it live with teenagers? Where all our money go? Who is this person listed on my call list? Why am I just doing in the middle of the street filled with other people wondering the same thing?
I know I hate this game much more than I should.