LOL, I have to admit, this kinda makes me want to go back and play it knowing this. I actually have the game right now again, so who knows what will happen.
The guards become less aware as the game moves on. Don't ask me how that makes sense. I guess your a pretty well known guy before you decide to dress up like a gay masonic mercenary.
I'm having a great time so far as well. Clever battle system, appropriate challenge, great pacing, solid story. I'm not as keen on the graphics as you are, though. The sprites are a bit basic and I'm seeing a lot of seams between tiles in the 3D environment, actually. Still, it looks more than good enough and certainly not ugly by DS standards.
...is an even better way to describe the graphics. I guess people in love with Ocarina of Time thought they were decent way back when, but now it's very hard to sit and look at. Your only reward? Really slick animated cutscenes.
It's no surprise that we experienced the same first hour of Radiant Historia, and I fully echo your sentiments on the (...) bubbles. They are gonna get old real fast. Other than that, I loved it. The branching story paths and battle system rock. I played for about a half hour more last night and reached the point where Stocke has to make his very first important decision. We'll see how it plays out...in TIME! Ha, sorry. Had to do it.
You do decide what you want to do, but the computer does try to stop you if you make war on a faction. Things can get really dicey really fast if you don't have a properly trained and sized army.
...makes the game a lot better for those playing on PS3. You get to tinker with a lot of settings from ME1 and have Wrex alive/dead, the council alive/dead, the Rachni saved/destroyed, Anderson/Udina in charge etc. - and really feel like it's your call. Plus you can fast forward the text so it takes about two minutes.
Also - Male Shepard is lame. Female Shepard is voiced by Ms. Jennifer Hale, and her acting is about a million times better. Just FYI. (Plus you still get to seduce a certain party member from the first game in DLC, so if simulated dating of men ain't your thing...alllllright.) At the very least you ought to try making your own face so you feel like you own it.
I was always curious about this game. I'm usually pretty tolerant of dated graphics, but those screens look pretty tough. The cutscenes sound nice though.
The Two Towers game is one my "most underrated" list. I really loved that game. And I struggled with The Third Age too!
:)
I used to have this game when I first got my Game Gear back around 1995 or so. I was big on side scrolling platform games (a la Mario and Sonic and such), so this one was pretty exciting for me...until I got to level 4. For some reason on my copy the credits would roll and the game would end after completing the 4th level, though the manual indicated there should be 10 levels. I tried it a couple more times, turned it off and back on again, but it just kept ending at level 4. I got so mad I made my dad take me to the store to try to return it. Luckily they let me exchange it, but I didn't want to risk getting another bad copy, so I chose a Sonic game instead. It was too bad. I really liked it and was eager to finish it all. I still have my Game Gear and would totally give this game another go if I had a copy of it.
I'm glad you wrote about this, as The Hobbit has always intrigued me. It looked like a decent game from images I had seen, but at the same time I knew it was a cash-in of bits with the LOTR movies out at the same time and this being based on the book license.
You ever play the Lord of the Rings game on Super Nintendo? Another game I always wondered about. Might have to try it someday.
I'm sure there will be movie-based games of The Hobbit out whenever the films are released, so it's good to get this one out of the way. :)
Also, if you've got a better genre than "frustrating, linear platformer" please feel free to change it. From reading your minutes I got the feeling you weren't going to keep playing, so I was a bit surprised when I read you wanted to go on (but for atypical reasons). No big deal either way, decent games can still be frustrating.
Jennifer Hale is the best actress in the business and does an excellent job in both Mass Effects. Mark Meer is a decent male Shepard, but the game is definitely better as a woman.
This game is pretty much fantastic in every aspect. You played only the first half hour, and you didn't even get to anything major. If your favourite part was Zero kidnapping you, then there's a lot of promise. I was hooked on this game and I loved it. If only you had carried on playing that extra half hour, I think your opinion would change.
I love the game's overall visual style, but I hate the character models. All of them. They all look super chunky and overly muscular and detailed. Especially the enemy thugs, who don't even look human.
The boss battles were also a bit disappointing, but I guess it's pretty tough to create memorable, epic, one-on-one encounters in a game based on stalking and beating down large groups of inept thugs.
And the final boss...as much as I liked the reasoning behind his grand scheme, it just seemed very out of place for him to do THAT to himself.
But really, as an overall package, it's an outstanding game by any standards, and therefore a HUGE surprise coming from the Batman license and an unknown developer. Looking forward to Arkham City.
SNES/Genesis (doubly so if you include the 32X and SCD).
What the guy above said (only with added Zelda, because I hate OoT for naming the first song "Zelda's Lulliby", which was the name of the intro theme to LoZ2, which is my fave.).
Also, it was the golden age of RPGs (DS is making a comeback, but it's hard to beat what's been done...). Phantasy Star 2-4, FF4-6 (2 and 3 in the States), Shining Force, Warsong, and Bahamut's Lagoon for S/TRPGs, as well as Lunar (SCD). Crusader of Gency heads up the ARPG titles for me, and it's certainly no slouch, and... oh, the list is endless.
Shmups, beat'em'ups (YAY MIKE HAGGAR!), and the beginning of competitive console fighting games... ah
Part of it is nostalgia, and I'm quite aware of that, but it was a time when gameplay ruled design law, instead of prettiest or flashiest. Games were aimed at those who loved them and who strove for perfection. This was the time when games were aimed at me. I miss it!
Keep going, it gets better and better and you eventually get access to all the abilities you said you were missing.
The translation is poor but it's part of the games' charm.
I hadn't even heard of this game until I saw your review. I checked out a few movies and the GameTrailers review as well, and now I've got yet another reason to Boot Camp my Macbook...
As a Flyers fan I was disappointed by this.
But then checked the current standings and felt better.
LOL, I have to admit, this kinda makes me want to go back and play it knowing this. I actually have the game right now again, so who knows what will happen.
The guards become less aware as the game moves on. Don't ask me how that makes sense. I guess your a pretty well known guy before you decide to dress up like a gay masonic mercenary.
I'm having a great time so far as well. Clever battle system, appropriate challenge, great pacing, solid story. I'm not as keen on the graphics as you are, though. The sprites are a bit basic and I'm seeing a lot of seams between tiles in the 3D environment, actually. Still, it looks more than good enough and certainly not ugly by DS standards.
Never played the LOTR game for SNES. Honestly, didn't really know one existed. I bet it doesn't feature Bilbo attacking mutated, angry plant-beasts!
...is an even better way to describe the graphics. I guess people in love with Ocarina of Time thought they were decent way back when, but now it's very hard to sit and look at. Your only reward? Really slick animated cutscenes.
It's no surprise that we experienced the same first hour of Radiant Historia, and I fully echo your sentiments on the (...) bubbles. They are gonna get old real fast. Other than that, I loved it. The branching story paths and battle system rock. I played for about a half hour more last night and reached the point where Stocke has to make his very first important decision. We'll see how it plays out...in TIME! Ha, sorry. Had to do it.
You do decide what you want to do, but the computer does try to stop you if you make war on a faction. Things can get really dicey really fast if you don't have a properly trained and sized army.
...makes the game a lot better for those playing on PS3. You get to tinker with a lot of settings from ME1 and have Wrex alive/dead, the council alive/dead, the Rachni saved/destroyed, Anderson/Udina in charge etc. - and really feel like it's your call. Plus you can fast forward the text so it takes about two minutes.
Also - Male Shepard is lame. Female Shepard is voiced by Ms. Jennifer Hale, and her acting is about a million times better. Just FYI. (Plus you still get to seduce a certain party member from the first game in DLC, so if simulated dating of men ain't your thing...alllllright.) At the very least you ought to try making your own face so you feel like you own it.
I was always curious about this game. I'm usually pretty tolerant of dated graphics, but those screens look pretty tough. The cutscenes sound nice though.
The Two Towers game is one my "most underrated" list. I really loved that game. And I struggled with The Third Age too!
:)
So, you pretty much just do anything you want in this game? I bought it onlinea few days ago and it should probably be here on Tuesday.
I used to have this game when I first got my Game Gear back around 1995 or so. I was big on side scrolling platform games (a la Mario and Sonic and such), so this one was pretty exciting for me...until I got to level 4. For some reason on my copy the credits would roll and the game would end after completing the 4th level, though the manual indicated there should be 10 levels. I tried it a couple more times, turned it off and back on again, but it just kept ending at level 4. I got so mad I made my dad take me to the store to try to return it. Luckily they let me exchange it, but I didn't want to risk getting another bad copy, so I chose a Sonic game instead. It was too bad. I really liked it and was eager to finish it all. I still have my Game Gear and would totally give this game another go if I had a copy of it.
Congratulations on the article, it was a long time coming!
Oh, and for your son, too!
I'm glad you wrote about this, as The Hobbit has always intrigued me. It looked like a decent game from images I had seen, but at the same time I knew it was a cash-in of bits with the LOTR movies out at the same time and this being based on the book license.
You ever play the Lord of the Rings game on Super Nintendo? Another game I always wondered about. Might have to try it someday.
I'm sure there will be movie-based games of The Hobbit out whenever the films are released, so it's good to get this one out of the way. :)
Also, if you've got a better genre than "frustrating, linear platformer" please feel free to change it. From reading your minutes I got the feeling you weren't going to keep playing, so I was a bit surprised when I read you wanted to go on (but for atypical reasons). No big deal either way, decent games can still be frustrating.
Jennifer Hale is the best actress in the business and does an excellent job in both Mass Effects. Mark Meer is a decent male Shepard, but the game is definitely better as a woman.
The female version of shephard, voiced by Jennifer Hale, is head and shoulders above the default.
i found out from a friend about it. After the first 2.5 hours, i got through the first boss.
This game is pretty much fantastic in every aspect. You played only the first half hour, and you didn't even get to anything major. If your favourite part was Zero kidnapping you, then there's a lot of promise. I was hooked on this game and I loved it. If only you had carried on playing that extra half hour, I think your opinion would change.
I love the game's overall visual style, but I hate the character models. All of them. They all look super chunky and overly muscular and detailed. Especially the enemy thugs, who don't even look human.
The boss battles were also a bit disappointing, but I guess it's pretty tough to create memorable, epic, one-on-one encounters in a game based on stalking and beating down large groups of inept thugs.
And the final boss...as much as I liked the reasoning behind his grand scheme, it just seemed very out of place for him to do THAT to himself.
But really, as an overall package, it's an outstanding game by any standards, and therefore a HUGE surprise coming from the Batman license and an unknown developer. Looking forward to Arkham City.
Too bad I'm not an Xbox or PS3 owner.
My first experience with Bionic Commando was the Game Boy Color version. I loved it. Was one of my favorite games.
SNES/Genesis (doubly so if you include the 32X and SCD).
What the guy above said (only with added Zelda, because I hate OoT for naming the first song "Zelda's Lulliby", which was the name of the intro theme to LoZ2, which is my fave.).
Also, it was the golden age of RPGs (DS is making a comeback, but it's hard to beat what's been done...). Phantasy Star 2-4, FF4-6 (2 and 3 in the States), Shining Force, Warsong, and Bahamut's Lagoon for S/TRPGs, as well as Lunar (SCD). Crusader of Gency heads up the ARPG titles for me, and it's certainly no slouch, and... oh, the list is endless.
Shmups, beat'em'ups (YAY MIKE HAGGAR!), and the beginning of competitive console fighting games... ah
Part of it is nostalgia, and I'm quite aware of that, but it was a time when gameplay ruled design law, instead of prettiest or flashiest. Games were aimed at those who loved them and who strove for perfection. This was the time when games were aimed at me. I miss it!
Keep going, it gets better and better and you eventually get access to all the abilities you said you were missing.
The translation is poor but it's part of the games' charm.
That's the solution... Move the ace as he says and the puzzle will be solved. Thank you
I hadn't even heard of this game until I saw your review. I checked out a few movies and the GameTrailers review as well, and now I've got yet another reason to Boot Camp my Macbook...
Thanks Namco. You've just earned $60.
Anyone else? Nintendo? Wanna make a hundred bucks or so?