[OMG Aero]

I want to let's play for GAF but then I'd have to talk. And you'd hear my horrible voice.

Screenshot and subtitled LPs are a thing too.

[ViewtifulJC]

Bork vs Trips happened?

At SS?

This is why I stop watchin', ya'll

[Professor Beef]

Bork vs Trips happened? At SS? This is why I stop watchin', ya'll

Trips lost.

CLEAN.

[Nocturnowl]

Bork vs Trips happened? At SS? This is why I stop watchin', ya'll

No respect for THIS BUSINESS.

Trips lost. CLEAN.

And he's dead now, as in as dead as Shadow the Hedgehog after SA2.

[ViewtifulJC]

Trips lost. CLEAN.

And just when you think "that HHH who lost clean to Dean Melanko and John Cena at seperate Wrestlemanias" was dead and buried

[Dark Schala]

Yessss, Beef's gonna do it! :D

And screenshot / text LPs work too. Some of us are doing that in the FF Anniversary thread.

Snow? That title would certainly go for Hope.

I like Hope, though, considering he's the only character to go through actual character development out of the entire cast (ex: he's the only one who acts believable considering his relationship with his father, the only parent he ever got to see most of his life was his mother, he's fourteen, etc.).

Should I feel bad or good for skipping FFXIII? The overworld's overarching overt linearity kind of killed my interest. I don't like RPG fighting mechanics enough that streamlining the game to be them and only them would really tickle my fancy...

I still think you should play it, though. Different strokes and all that.

But I'll be completely honest here.

When I played Final Fantasy XIII's Japanese release in 2009, and then played a fraction of the English release in early 2010, it killed my interest in the RPG genre in general. It put me into a slump for half a year because FF13 was not what I wanted out of FF at all. I don't need long cutscenes, I don't need things to look pretty, I don't need one-dimensional characters to look cool, I don't need to read a damn text dump every time I wanted to find something out about the world... I want NPCs to provide world info to me, characters who evolve throughout the game (not experience growth after delivering a fifteen minute speech, and then become a static character afterwards), better atmosphere, better rising action/climax/falling action, etc.

As someone who plays RPGs for tactical systems and ability systems, it's kind of surprising that I was bored, until I realized that I didn't care about the characters much outside of Hope and Sazh, and that I didn't find CSB all that compelling because most of the battles are easy. I wanna blame it on being curled up in a faux wool blanket, but I did fall asleep while playing the game one night, lol.

I'm not a huge fan of CSB (the battle system -- Command Synergy Battle), but the system shines when you're fighting harder enemies... and there are only about... 5-6 battles in the entire game that take advantage of CSB. Outside of those battles, it's kind of boring. The problem with FFXIII is that it's basically structured like this: dialogue / cutscene, roaming path, battle, roaming path to checkpoint, dialogue/cutscene, roaming path, battle, roaming path to checkpoint, dialogue/cutscene, and so on. It's very cyclical.

Outside of Chapters 7 and 8 there is no adequate build up to tension or a climax, nor is there an adequate climax and falling action. It's just... a straight line in terms of storytelling and scenario design. That's partially what makes it boring because you're doing the same things repeatedly. There's little diversity in terms of objectives in that game.

I've provided a detailed summary of all the battle systems in Final Fantasy here, and it includes CSB in there. CSB is interesting, but you need hard battles to exploit the best of the system (ex: passive skills, synergy skills, etc).

The linearity doesn't super bother me because all FF games are linear. There's a Point A and you're going to go through a path with some small sidepaths to get to Point B, thus all FF games prior merely provided the illusion of non-linearity. FFXIII merely does a super-shitty job of masking its linearity.

I'll say this though: after getting the plat in FFXIII-2, I ended up liking FFXIII better because FFXIII actually had some resemblance to a challenge and using movesets to your advantage.

If I had to give both FF13 games a score, I'd give FFXIII-2 a 6 and FFXIII a 6.2-6.5. Yep.

schala stop talking shit about snow he is a good character

Ewww, Snow. Terrible in Japanese, couldn't be saved in English.

[Professor Beef]

Ya'll are getting too much pleasure from this. I HAVE DONE NOTHING. >:(

:lol

[Sciz]

Much like Quake after the first one and Michael Jackson after the 80s, FF was quietly killed and replaced with an imposter after FF6.

[OMG Aero]

Ewww, Snow. Terrible in Japanese, couldn't be saved in English.

Snow just wants to be a HERO, punches everything instead of using a fancy weapon and is voiced by Troy Baker who is always awesome.

[Dark Schala]

Some would say the same about Sonic.

One is a faker. One is real to some people. *shrug*

Ya'll are getting too much pleasure from this. I HAVE DONE NOTHING. >:( :lol

Remember to link music and stuff. Heck you can do the thing that I do often and substitute better music in for the bad music.

Looks like they might be bringing back the unlockable stuff for this version? It'd be silly to have Galleries AND Presents, so maybe the Question Marks are something different again? We can assume one of them is Christmas Nights, other is probably movie theatre, but I would have thought they'd put them into the presents?

One of them had better be Christmas Nights.

With stuff like this, you'd think that Sega would put more Saturn stuff on digital download services or something. Is it just hard to do it, or is it the size of some of these games holding them back?

Snow just wants to be a HERO, punches everything instead of using a fancy weapon and is voiced by Troy Baker who is always awesome.

Snow was voiced by Daisuke Ono in the JP version who voices almost every single character like that archetype, his dialogue is insipid, he fights with a weapon embedded in his jacket, and he barely evolves as a character.

Troy Baker couldn't even save that character. That says something. Edit: The only good scene with Snow was when he was shirtless in FFXIII, I guess.

[Shadow Hog]

To be fair, you're also talking to a guy who's never beaten a single Final Fantasy game he's started, so it might be better that I save my money.

Seriously. FF1, I tend to get bored after getting either the boat or the raft (I forget which it is). FF6, stopped playing after failing to figure out how to progress in the World of Ruin (also Advance version, but eh). FF7 I liked enough to see all the way through to Sephiroth, but never got around to actually beating the bastard. Aaaand that's it. Not exactly a great track record of mine, I must admit.

I have beaten RPGs in the past, though. Admittedly I can count them on my hands (Skies of Arcadia Legends, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Chrono Trigger, both mainline PS2 Kingdom Hearts titles, Magic Knight Rayearth if that counts, Shenmue if that counts, and I don't think Super Paper Mario or any Zelda games count at all), but I can occasionally do it!

Which reminds me, I should probably wrap up Shining the Holy Ark sometime, I was making good progress there.

[Emitan]

Hey, beef

[Kokonoe]

I like Hope, though, considering he's the only character to go through actual character development out of the entire cast (ex: he's the only one who acts believable considering his relationship with his father, the only parent he ever got to see most of his life was his mother, he's fourteen, etc.).

I honestly don't really consider it to be too much of a development because it's more of a switch out of nowhere that is turned to to accommodate the situation, and even then it's not that big of a change. It's hard for me to believe that to be honest, and I found the times after his supposed change to be rather awkward when he puts himself into a lot of the conversations where they seemed rather forced, and could have most likely been fine without.

It's the only character I can say I dislike in the game, while Sazh I feel to be the best character and most realistic.

[Dark Schala]

So is the XL worth it? I kinda want one. How do original DS games look on it?

The problem with Hope's apparent lack of development is a consequence of almost his entire backstory was told in that prequel novel for the game. If you didn't read the prequel novel, you wouldn't think he developed much. That's the biggest problem with the FF13 games; you have to read and have knowledge about every single piece of media they put out there to get it, and you have to read the stupid text dump they put in both games.

It makes me... like... Grrr!

And to be fair, they had to scale back Hope's development in Chapter 11 because they forgot to give him his special Transformer in Chapter 7.

To be fair, you're also talking to a guy who's never beaten a single Final Fantasy game he's started, so it might be better that I save my money. Seriously. FF1, I tend to get bored after getting either the boat or the raft (I forget which it is). FF6, stopped playing after failing to figure out how to progress in the World of Ruin (also Advance version, but eh). FF7 I liked enough to see all the way through to Sephiroth, but never got around to actually beating the bastard. Aaaand that's it. Not exactly a great track record of mine, I must admit. I have beaten RPGs in the past, though. Admittedly I can count them on my hands (Skies of Arcadia Legends, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Chrono Trigger, both mainline PS2 Kingdom Hearts titles, Magic Knight Rayearth if that counts, Shenmue if that counts, and I don't think Super Paper Mario or any Zelda games count at all), but I can occasionally do it! Which reminds me, I should probably wrap up Shining the Holy Ark sometime, I was making good progress there.

Based on that, and I'm generalizing here, I think you like your share of RPGs with a sense of humour, and with a fixed sort of structure (ie: you're always progressing towards something). I'd go for some of the Digital Devil Saga games, the Mother games, and maybe some of the Tales games if you really wanted to try to get into the genre. Start with Earthbound, though, I urge you. I think you might have a preference for ARPGs rather than the turn-based stuff too.

Try out the Soul Blazer games for SNES as well (Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and Terranigma).

I'm not a fan of KH so I can't offer advice there. >.>

(btw, if you like SoA, please play Suikoden. It's awesome. ;_;)

[Kokonoe]

If you use the 1:1 mode on the 3DS XL, it'll look exactly as if you were playing a DSi (which by the way looks great). I'm not certain on the full blown image mode, but I do know it won't be perfect pixel duplication, so it will be a little blurry.

[Dark Schala]

Thanks. That doesn't sound too bad. Might get one when they're on sale. I was considering getting a DS XL since a department store around here is closing down and they're on sale, but it doesn't seem worth it now that the 3DS XL is around.

Also, poor Sega:

An eyewitness report published on Sega Addicts explains that Sega left their space barren: [....] To my disappointment, the area where the booth was said to have been was completely barren, an empty void surrounded by the attractions of competing companies. The only other presence Sega had was a 45 minute video compiled of various trailers shown on a general Gamescom screen. That and the appearance of some dear old Sega friends in the retro gaming section. Sega may have elected instead to show products behind closed doors, as was previously reported, but if they indeed reserved the public space in the first place, leaving it blank could be the company’s most glaring example of wasteful spending to date. That aside, having a few game journalists try out Sega games may be beneficial in preserving the PR message, but having the public do the same while providing feedback can be invaluable–an opportunity that, for better or worse, Sega chose to miss out on for Gamescom.

Sega's going to be at PAX, right? Surprised they didn't show more of All-Stars Racing Transformed, then.

[Seven Force]

I'd get an XL, but I already have two regular 3DS models (A US and a JP model) and as appealing as the XL looks, I'm not too sure I want to drop $200 or so on a third 3DS.

Start with Earthbound, though, I urge you.

Seconding this. EB has one of the best scripts of all time.

[qq more]

Earthbound is the best rpg ever. Real talk.

[Shadow Hog]

I want Earthbound, but Jesus Christ @ the prices on eBay. Not even for a complete collection, just a loose cartridge. Why oh why didn't I buy this while it was sub-$100?

Did try it on SNES9X GX on my Wii for a while, though. It's hard! Did like what I saw, though.

One day.

As for the XL, waiting on a green one. Maybe during a Christmas season, like with the DSi.

[Seven Force]

I want Earthbound, but Jesus Christ @ the prices on eBay. Not even for a complete collection, just a loose cartridge. Why oh why didn't I buy this while it was sub-$100? Did try it on SNES9X GX on my Wii for a while, though. It's hard! Did like what I saw, though. One day. As for the XL, waiting on a green one. Maybe during a Christmas season, like with the DSi.

Yeah, it's stupidly expensive online, and it's one of the few Nintendo games that'll probably never get a VC release. :/

I was lucky enough to get a copy for around $40 to replace my original copy. (the save battery dies in it)

[Emitan]

Holding Select to launch games in the 1:1 mode looks great. They're the same size as my DS Lite and I think the games actually look better in the fullscreen view than they did on the 3DS.

[Professor Beef]

Remember to link music and stuff. Heck you can do the thing that I do often and substitute better music in for the bad music.

I was thinking of doing an actual recording of the game so everyone could listen to my suffering enjoyment playthrough.

Hey, beef

Good for you, I guess?

[Emitan]

I was thinking of doing an actual recording of the game so everyone could listen to my suffering enjoyment playthrough. Good for you, I guess?

You didn't notice what I checked? Just for you?

[Dark Schala]

Earthbound's a good RPG only to be bested by these games + Genso Suikoden I/V, FF5, Persona 4, SMT3, and Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, maybe.

Why can't Sonic have cool RPGs like that or the Mario games? It has the cast of characters for it! The script could be quirky and funny, and they can have a nice artstyle for it. I don't get it! D:

Even using the Advance sprites and stuff would be acceptable. I'm surprised they didn't think of it back then.

I want Earthbound, but Jesus Christ @ the prices on eBay. Not even for a complete collection, just a loose cartridge. Why oh why didn't I buy this while it was sub-$100? Did try it on SNES9X GX on my Wii for a while, though. It's hard! Did like what I saw, though. One day.

I ended up paying... $78 for a loose cartridge (with a working battery so I didn't have to go in and take pliers to the battery then apply duct tape/solder it) back when I was in high school after much haggling. I don't regret my decision to purchase it right then and there, though, considering it's not on VC or anything. I have the Mother 1+2 collection for GBA now, but I prefer the SNES version. Buy Earthbound is a good place to check prices and stuff in a good place.

Earthbound has one of the most hilarious forms of anti-piracy measures I've ever seen. You can read about it all here. It won't even let you finish the game.

[Professor Beef]

You didn't notice what I checked? Just for you?

Yeah, I saw.

[Shadow Hog]

Buy Earthbound is a good place to check prices and stuff in a good place. Earthbound has one of the most hilarious forms of anti-piracy measures I've ever seen. You can read about it all here. It won't even let you finish the game.

I'm actually aware of both of these :)

Either way, I'm a bit strapped for cash right now. Or rather, I'm not, but only in terms of non-frivolous spending. See, I only set aside $50 of each semi-monthly paycheck to spend on video games/movies (I've gotten two raises since I set that limit, but I figured it was proving to be more than enough money and didn't raise it accordingly). That was building up earlier in the year when I wasn't buying much, but within the past couple of months, I went on a retro gaming binge which has kind of whittled that down to less than $100 as of writing (it'd be $150 if I hadn't forgot to disable renewal for my PS+ subscription - but then I kind of like that service, so no huge loss). Plus I'm bidding on a cheap, loose Sega CD right now (I dunno, I just like the idea of having one; I know there are good games for it, particularly in terms of RPGs). If I'm lucky, it won't completely wipe that account dry...

Good thing I'm not still committed to getting a Wii U at launch, huh.

[Emitan]

Yeah, I saw.

:T

[Professor Beef]

:T

What?? You bought a 3DS for Fire Emblem! Be happy! Unless of course you did it to try and get a rise out of me which wouldn't work because that survey doesn't affect me. :3

[BlackJace]

Sweet lord, CD's JPN music is so goddamn good.

Dat Quartz Quadrant, dat Stardust Speedway Present, dat Tidal Tempest Bad Future....

[Kokonoe]

Sweet lord, CD's JPN music is so goddamn good. Dat Quartz Quadrant, dat Stardust Speedway Present, dat Tidal Tempest Bad Future....

Sonic CD music battle commence.

US Invincible

I like this compared to the Japanese soundtrack.

JPN Invincible

[Emitan]

Sonic CD music battle commence. US Invincible I like this compared to the Japanese soundtrack. JPN Invincible

JPN sounds like actual Sonic music. US is wtf

[BlackJace]

US soundtrack has nothing over JPN imo. You could argue the special stages, but I feel JPN edges it out.

And the US's boss and game over themes, wtf? Were they trying to scare lil kids?

[Professor Beef]

Sonic Boom >>>>>> toot too tug boat or whatever

[Dark Schala]

Japanese Sonic CD's music is some really good stuff, man.

US invincible music and the special stage music are pretty good, though. Oh, and Sonic Boom.

Good thing I'm not still committed to getting a Wii U at launch, huh.

Yeah, I'm not getting one at launch either. It's a good thing, though, because I feel like I'm importing a lot this year. :|

Probably just gonna buy Rayman Legends and wait until Wii U gets a price cut or when I'm able to afford one.

[BlackJace]

Japanese Sonic CD's music is some really good stuff, man. US invincible music and the special stage music are pretty good, though. Oh, and Sonic Boom. Yeah, I'm not getting one at launch either. It's a good thing, though, because I feel like I'm importing a lot this year. :| Probably just gonna buy Rayman Legends and wait until Wii U gets a price cut or when I'm able to afford one.

Ain't Rayman Legends a Wii U exclusive?

[qq more]

US soundtrack has nothing over JPN imo. You could argue the special stages, but I feel JPN edges it out. And the US's boss and game over themes, wtf? Where they trying to scare lil kids?

Why would you criticize US's Game Over theme? It's wayyyyyy better than the crappy JPN Game Over song, not to mention I love nightmare-inducing songs for certain things. But seriously, that JPN Game Over song... what was THAT? :lol

But I agree that the JPN OST is overall better.

[Seven Force]

I'm in the "I like both soundtracks and don't care to rank one over the other" camp.

I'll probably get crucified for this, but I like Stardust Speedway Present US more than it's JP counterpart.

[Dark Schala]

Ain't Rayman Legends a Wii U exclusive?

I think so. Thus I'll just buy the game and wait to get a Wii U. It's just like how I have a bunch of 360 games and no 360 yet, or how I bought DMC4 prior to owning a PS3. >.>

[BlackJace]

Why would you criticize US's Game Over theme? It's wayyyyyy better than the crappy JPN Game Over song, not to mention I love nightmare-inducing songs for certain things. But seriously, that JPN Game Over song... what was THAT? :lol But I agree that the JPN OST is overall better.

It's not so much that I dislike it, I just feel it didnt fit.
Creepy laughing and moody organ? Kinda foreign for Sonic, no?

I think so. Thus I'll just buy the game and wait to get a Wii U. It's just like how I have a bunch of 360 games and no 360 yet, or how I bought DMC4 prior to owning a PS3. >.>

Oh okay, I remember doing that with Twilight Princess :)

[qq more]

It's not so much that I dislike it, I just feel it didnt fit. Creepy laughing and moody organ? Kinda foreign for Sonic, no?

It makes up for the lack of drowning music at least!

[Kokonoe]

Sonic games don't usually sound like other Sonic games.

US Collision Chaos Zone

Great song.

I'm in the "I like both soundtracks and don't care to rank one over the other" camp. I'll probably get crucified for this, but I like Stardust Speedway Present US more than it's JP counterpart.

I actually think I'm in this department since there are a few I'd pick over each other, except I like a little bit more of the US one.

[BlackJace]

Okay okay, Metallic Madness US bad future was pretty good too.

[Dark Schala]

Collision Chaos Present US has a really good atmospheric thing going on. Both soundtracks are good, but I simply prefer the JP one over the US one in some cases.

Oh okay, I remember doing that with Twilight Princess :)

I'm sad to say that a few friends and I waited overnight outside of a store to get our Wiis on launch day since we really wanted Twilight Princess.

We got free coffee and doughnuts, and got to play some games on a TV they hooked up, so it wasn't a bad thing. It was really really cold, though...

[Sciz]

The best things SCD US has going for it are Sonic Boom, Wacky Workbench Present, Tidal Tempest Present, and a couple good future tracks that don't immediately jump to mind. The JP/EU music otherwise takes its lunch money and picks it last for kickball.

[BlackJace]

Collision Chaos Present US has a really good atmospheric thing going on. Both soundtracks are good, but I simply prefer the JP one over the US one in some cases. I'm sad to say that a few friends and I waited overnight outside of a store to get our Wiis on launch day since we really wanted Twilight Princess. We got free coffee and doughnuts, and got to play some games on a TV they hooked up, so it wasn't a bad thing. It was really really cold, though...

,

When I finally got my Wii, which was like a week after launch (I caved), me and my friend endured the worst customer service imaginable. The line was horrendous. The ONE cashier was hoarding 4 Wii units for her family (or to sell, Idk), and she got an attitude when someone asked her if the 4 stacked Wii units were for sale.

We got to 2nd in line, and the couple behind us dropped out of line, so me and my friend were the last ones. The store then announced that they were all out. The lady in front of us got pissed at yelled at the cashier to sell her one of the 4 Wiis. They both bickered until the manager came out and forced the cashier to sell the lady AND me and my friend 3 of the 4 Wiis. So the cashier went home with 1 Wii that night I guess.

[PhantomOfTheKnight]

"Sonic - You Can Do Anything" and "Cosmic Eternity" are better OP/ED songs than "Sonic Boom" becuase they actually are OP/ED songs.

While Black Knight is my personal favourite soundtrack , (JP) Sonic CD and Adventure are the soundtracks I think personify the series the best.

[TheCongressman1]

[spoiler]I'll probably get crucified for this, but I like Stardust Speedway Present US more than it's JP counterpart.[/spoiler ]

Nah man, I'm right there with you. It's far more fitting to the situation.

I like the other one too, but it's really silly sounding with the "wheeeh wheh wheeh wheeh's".

[Nocturnowl]

It makes me... like... Grrr!

Something about this sentence amuses me greatly.

Sweet lord, CD's JPN music is so goddamn good. Dat Quartz Quadrant, dat Stardust Speedway Present, dat Tidal Tempest Bad Future....

Quartz Quadrant JPN is so good, easily my favourite from both soundtracks, Wacky Workbench US nips closes at its heels.

Sonic games don't usually sound like other Sonic games. US Collision Chaos Zone Great song.

While I give the JPN set the edge over US this is easily one of the tracks where I felt US just flat out won the round, love the crazy percussion going on in this one.

[Shadow Hog]

I camped out overnight in front of the local Target for my Wii. Came home with Twilight Princess (had to) and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (wasn't impressed; my first clue that motion controls could kinda suck). Also nabbed a points card; I forget if I got a Classic Controller or not, but since I was playing Super Mario 64 on the first day, I can only assume that I had.

Goddamn was that a cold night. I'm not doing the same thing for Wii U, nothing screams "gotta have this day 1" like Twilight Princess did.

[Azure Dream]

I'm in the "love both soundtracks" group. One of the reasons I like the US soundtrack is that it kind of has a... "mystical" sound to it, I suppose. Which in my eyes fit how the game was a little more focused on exploring the environments, and how they were a little more barren of enemies and such than usual.

Sonic games don't usually sound like other Sonic games. US Collision Chaos Zone Great song.

I don't recognize the art being used on those videos. Is that fan art, or some promotion image I've not seen before?