I've warmed slightly to the idea of bringing Mass Effect to... some screen, but I like your idea better of a television show. I've been a much bigger television fan lately than I have ever been a fan of film, and I think you may have a good idea. I watched The Walking Dead, and while the show has issues, it's at least giving the story a lot of room to breathe. Mass Effect might very well gain a lot from a set of 12 episode seasons.
Lets picture if a movie was made. To put just the main story into a movie and keeping only maybe half the dialog, unless the writers dont have any time constraints to deal with thats already going to be a very long movie. At some point the writers would have to leave things/people/places out. Well if thats gonna happen they shouldnt make a movie. Maybe a series? I like this idea and they are becoming more popular then acual movies. A series doesnt have the same time constraints as a movie does, they are just different. Take the series " The Walking Dead" on AMC for example. The story of a man who wakes up in a hospital and find the city of Atlanta over run by zombies, his goal is to find his family and continue living. Each episode is an hour long and has its own story in a story to fill the hour. Mass Effect would be perfect for this seeing that each place Shepard went to wasnt just for a few minutes. He and his team had to do things. The way the game is made and with the finding crew members, loyalty quests other side quests, a series would be the way to do it. Probably not a great idea once all the t's are crossed, but still makes better sense then a movie.
I can't believe your virtual, in-game wife got you to stop playing the game. That's... bizarre. You need therapy.
I had a kid and then ditched the family for the rest of the game, there's actually a moral choice at the very end of the game that involved them (without me realizing it), so my decision kind of makes me look like I was on good terms with the wife and kid.
This game's three biggest draws are:
1. Moral choice system
2. Use of a mixed bag of Disney properties
3. Overall tone
The problem is, each of these features has been done better by another game. The choices amount to meaningless in the long run, the Disney properties aren't as well-liked as those to show up in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and the medium-dark tone is overshadowed by a significant number of indie games. As a result, the game gives no reason to play it when you could be playing something else that achieves whichever goal you were looking for, but better.
Sorry to hear you disliked it so much. I played it about 6 or 8 hours and didn't have nearly as much trouble with it.
The thing that killed it for me was the simulationist aspect of it. The idea of buying houses, furniture, buying and reselling items based on their profits, starting businesses, etc eventually started to consume my game time. I eventually got married in-game and wanted to earn money to buy my wife a nice house, thinking it would keep her happy while I was away adventuring. Nope. By being nice to her, it just meant she was bothering me all the time wanting me to come home and "bed" her. It was funny at first, but then quite annoying. I didn't want to run her off so I finally just quit playing the game.
Re-reading that now, it's amazing that this could be said about a game. Very strange.
Can't think of anything you missed, and you reminded me of several things I'd forgotten about. I wish they didn't shoehorn waggle into the game, but it wasn't that bad I guess. And I didn't like all the little blow-able stuff around the environments, it tapped into my OCD to search everything and really slowed the pace of the game down for me.
But yeah, excellent game for sure. Metroid and DK are on opposite ends of the spectrum in so many ways, and yet Retro managed to make something stellar from both franchises. I'd love to see the studio's take on...well, pretty much any Nintendo franchise. Or hell, let them make something brand new. No matter where they go from here, I'm on board.
Good article. I really liked the first Onimusha, but for whatever reason I never got around to playing its sequels. I always wondered what happened to the series... I figured there would be a PS3/360 version by now.
I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon your blog, but I am glad I did! This is a really cool idea for reviewing games. Just wanted to say keep up the great work, and I look forward to digging through your catalog.
According to mine, I played 29 games from 2010 and 43 games from earlier years that I missed out on. Definitely the most games I've ever played in one year by far. I'll have to check out Infinite Space and Borderlands at some point, too.
PSP version doesnt ,as ussaly it happens cause of lazy Sony, doesnt have online mode. For DS graphs are uber good. For psp - nothing new realy. So DS users win ALL , PSP get close to nothing at all. Also that chat is pretty epic... xD.
"while Mass Effect 2 is, in my opinion, a better game than Mass Effect, I think I actually like the original more." I actually share this sentiment, although on subsequent play-throughs, the exploration elements of Mass Effect 1 get a little grating.
I loved reading your post.
As I sit here trying to find a topic or theme to write a chrono trigger fanfic I stumbled upon your page.
I have been a Chrono Trigger Fan since 95 when I rented the game at a video smith store.
Ive been so captivated by the story and the characters as well. I still love all the payable characters including Magus. There is only one thing that I would change about Chrono Trigger and that is Flea's Gender. For some reason I just "see" her as a female, and its not going to change for me. Chrono Cross is a separate game I agree with you on that. I bought the game when it came out and had high hopes of playing as the original characters, but that was short lived. Good post, now i need some ideas for a fanfic after a 15 year wait.
"The team is currently developing Duke Nukem Forever so there's no fear of Borderlands 2 coming out for at least a year and a half, I would think."
:( times 1000.
When I heard this news, it was the biggest disappointment of the year for me.
I've never cared for the Duke Nukem games and didn't quite understand their popularity. And to find out that the Borderlands team was assigned to that was pretty saddening. Although, I suppose the upside is that the team takes a break and rejuvenates their creativity for Borderlands.
everything was great about this game was great except the gameplay. for anyone saying this is like legend of zelda, please explain that to me. the combat system is not even remotely like Loz; and that's why i play the game. like i said this is a great game...if you like legend of zelda with no z targeting.
Shotgun Guy was definitely a pain in that final shootout. I'd be picking off Machine Gun Guys from the rafters when a pack of Shotgun Guys sneak up behind me and drop my health, forcing me to scavenge for health packs among the bodies littered around the vulnerable spots in the battlefield.
I agree about the hit indication, and I know exactly what you're talking about. It's almost like a slapping sound when they take a bullet, so rewarding and very helpful to know when your shot hits its mark. Too many games have no feedback on the enemy AT ALL until they inexplicably succumb to the fourth shot to the abdomen.
The sound design is very unique. It's a very interesting read on Wikipedia, actually. It seems like they put way more work into that than most developers would even consider.
I've warmed slightly to the idea of bringing Mass Effect to... some screen, but I like your idea better of a television show. I've been a much bigger television fan lately than I have ever been a fan of film, and I think you may have a good idea. I watched The Walking Dead, and while the show has issues, it's at least giving the story a lot of room to breathe. Mass Effect might very well gain a lot from a set of 12 episode seasons.
Greg pays quite well for the content I write for the site.
Lets picture if a movie was made. To put just the main story into a movie and keeping only maybe half the dialog, unless the writers dont have any time constraints to deal with thats already going to be a very long movie. At some point the writers would have to leave things/people/places out. Well if thats gonna happen they shouldnt make a movie. Maybe a series? I like this idea and they are becoming more popular then acual movies. A series doesnt have the same time constraints as a movie does, they are just different. Take the series " The Walking Dead" on AMC for example. The story of a man who wakes up in a hospital and find the city of Atlanta over run by zombies, his goal is to find his family and continue living. Each episode is an hour long and has its own story in a story to fill the hour. Mass Effect would be perfect for this seeing that each place Shepard went to wasnt just for a few minutes. He and his team had to do things. The way the game is made and with the finding crew members, loyalty quests other side quests, a series would be the way to do it. Probably not a great idea once all the t's are crossed, but still makes better sense then a movie.
Extremely impressive list of games, I'm jealous you have so much time to play and I say that in a completely non-condescending manner.
Keep up the stellar writing too.
How the hell did you find the time to play all those games? Do you work!?
I can't believe your virtual, in-game wife got you to stop playing the game. That's... bizarre. You need therapy.
I had a kid and then ditched the family for the rest of the game, there's actually a moral choice at the very end of the game that involved them (without me realizing it), so my decision kind of makes me look like I was on good terms with the wife and kid.
This game's three biggest draws are:
1. Moral choice system
2. Use of a mixed bag of Disney properties
3. Overall tone
The problem is, each of these features has been done better by another game. The choices amount to meaningless in the long run, the Disney properties aren't as well-liked as those to show up in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and the medium-dark tone is overshadowed by a significant number of indie games. As a result, the game gives no reason to play it when you could be playing something else that achieves whichever goal you were looking for, but better.
Sorry to hear you disliked it so much. I played it about 6 or 8 hours and didn't have nearly as much trouble with it.
The thing that killed it for me was the simulationist aspect of it. The idea of buying houses, furniture, buying and reselling items based on their profits, starting businesses, etc eventually started to consume my game time. I eventually got married in-game and wanted to earn money to buy my wife a nice house, thinking it would keep her happy while I was away adventuring. Nope. By being nice to her, it just meant she was bothering me all the time wanting me to come home and "bed" her. It was funny at first, but then quite annoying. I didn't want to run her off so I finally just quit playing the game.
Re-reading that now, it's amazing that this could be said about a game. Very strange.
Seems like a fairly interesting premise at least.
I share this sentiment.
Glad Steve mentioned VVVVVV, excellent little indie game.
Can't think of anything you missed, and you reminded me of several things I'd forgotten about. I wish they didn't shoehorn waggle into the game, but it wasn't that bad I guess. And I didn't like all the little blow-able stuff around the environments, it tapped into my OCD to search everything and really slowed the pace of the game down for me.
But yeah, excellent game for sure. Metroid and DK are on opposite ends of the spectrum in so many ways, and yet Retro managed to make something stellar from both franchises. I'd love to see the studio's take on...well, pretty much any Nintendo franchise. Or hell, let them make something brand new. No matter where they go from here, I'm on board.
Good article. I really liked the first Onimusha, but for whatever reason I never got around to playing its sequels. I always wondered what happened to the series... I figured there would be a PS3/360 version by now.
I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon your blog, but I am glad I did! This is a really cool idea for reviewing games. Just wanted to say keep up the great work, and I look forward to digging through your catalog.
Those are long games, they would cut into your epic game count!
According to mine, I played 29 games from 2010 and 43 games from earlier years that I missed out on. Definitely the most games I've ever played in one year by far. I'll have to check out Infinite Space and Borderlands at some point, too.
PSP version doesnt ,as ussaly it happens cause of lazy Sony, doesnt have online mode. For DS graphs are uber good. For psp - nothing new realy. So DS users win ALL , PSP get close to nothing at all. Also that chat is pretty epic... xD.
....I missed this guys. But I sure enjoyed reading your picks!
I don't think anyone would have liked to hear mine anyway, I'm too much of a contrarian I think. My worst hour of the year was God of War III.
:)
"while Mass Effect 2 is, in my opinion, a better game than Mass Effect, I think I actually like the original more." I actually share this sentiment, although on subsequent play-throughs, the exploration elements of Mass Effect 1 get a little grating.
I loved reading your post.
As I sit here trying to find a topic or theme to write a chrono trigger fanfic I stumbled upon your page.
I have been a Chrono Trigger Fan since 95 when I rented the game at a video smith store.
Ive been so captivated by the story and the characters as well. I still love all the payable characters including Magus. There is only one thing that I would change about Chrono Trigger and that is Flea's Gender. For some reason I just "see" her as a female, and its not going to change for me. Chrono Cross is a separate game I agree with you on that. I bought the game when it came out and had high hopes of playing as the original characters, but that was short lived. Good post, now i need some ideas for a fanfic after a 15 year wait.
"The team is currently developing Duke Nukem Forever so there's no fear of Borderlands 2 coming out for at least a year and a half, I would think."
:( times 1000.
When I heard this news, it was the biggest disappointment of the year for me.
I've never cared for the Duke Nukem games and didn't quite understand their popularity. And to find out that the Borderlands team was assigned to that was pretty saddening. Although, I suppose the upside is that the team takes a break and rejuvenates their creativity for Borderlands.
i stumbled on this page thinking that i was going to get a bland walkthrough, but i got a more quick thinking and natural. i really liked it.
everything was great about this game was great except the gameplay. for anyone saying this is like legend of zelda, please explain that to me. the combat system is not even remotely like Loz; and that's why i play the game. like i said this is a great game...if you like legend of zelda with no z targeting.
Shotgun Guy was definitely a pain in that final shootout. I'd be picking off Machine Gun Guys from the rafters when a pack of Shotgun Guys sneak up behind me and drop my health, forcing me to scavenge for health packs among the bodies littered around the vulnerable spots in the battlefield.
I agree about the hit indication, and I know exactly what you're talking about. It's almost like a slapping sound when they take a bullet, so rewarding and very helpful to know when your shot hits its mark. Too many games have no feedback on the enemy AT ALL until they inexplicably succumb to the fourth shot to the abdomen.
The sound design is very unique. It's a very interesting read on Wikipedia, actually. It seems like they put way more work into that than most developers would even consider.