|
|
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-17-2007,
10:51 PM)
 |
#252
I'm in the last dungeon and all the enemies I've been fighting for the last 3 dungeons are old enemies I've fought before with new colors and maybe 1 new enemy type. Even the previous dungeon boss was a color-swapped old boss.
I guess Namco did not have much faith in an X360 rpg, because the budget for this game is a joke. :( I can't wait for Tri-ace to show off IU and show people how next-rpgs are DONE. |
|
(06-17-2007,
10:54 PM)
 |
#253
Bleah sounds skippable.
|
|
Member
(06-17-2007,
11:11 PM)
 |
#254
No offense to Bebpo, because his opinions are certainly just as valid as any others and I greatly appreciate his impressions, but I wonder if this is the sort of game that some people absolutely love and others hate, ala Condemned.
John and Duck seem to enjoy the game quite a bit more. I really liked the demo, and wouldn't mind if the battle mechanics are exactly the same in the final product. Unless the story is completely non-existent then I can have a good time with a lower-tier RPG which features great art and music. |
|
Member
(06-17-2007,
11:25 PM)
 |
#256
Originally Posted by Bebpo:
Hmmm ... I look forward to your final evaluation when you complete it. |
|
(06-17-2007,
11:36 PM)
|
#258
Originally Posted by Phoenix Fang:
You're joking right? I can't tell anymore. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-17-2007,
11:44 PM)
|
#259
Originally Posted by GreekWolf:
Eh, Aokage said it's B-level, duckroll's said it's 7/10, and I pretty much agree it's generally around those levels. It's not a horrible game by any means. It's not the kind of rpg that's so bad you shelve it and go play something else. It's fun, but it's just the kind of simple fun with not much depth or any drive to make you care about the game beyond a short little time-killer. The story is non-existant and bad, the battle system is shallow, the game is extremely linear, there's just not much worth turning on your brain for. It's basically the Ghost Rider/Fantastic Four of rpgs. Colorful, action-packed, popcorn entertainment that's bad in about every legitamate sense, but entertaining enough to keep you from walking out of the theatre. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-17-2007,
11:49 PM)
|
#261
Originally Posted by GreekWolf:
Didn't make much of a lasting impression on me. Enjoyed them enough to play through SSS and EB back in the day, but don't really have an opinion on either one. I don't remember hating either, but they weren't so awesome that I still remember them to this day, either. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
12:04 AM)
|
#263
Originally Posted by Son of Godzilla:
Depends on if you hated [EM]? :P Enchant is a very, very like/hate relationship. I personally dug the battle system, but many just hated the game. If you liked [EM], Trusty Bell is worse. If you hated [EM], Trusty Bell is better. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
07:44 AM)
|
#265
Finished it at 20:09
Not going to make too many comments now as reading the Japanese faq there is a bonus dungeon if I backtrack out of the last dungeon and doing it may change the ending. As it stands though it was a totally mess from a plot-structure. I mean like, possibly the worst story I've ever seen in an rpg. I don't even know what the **** it was supposed to be about, honestly. It was just boring talking in a dull fantasy world mixed with random events and then an ending. Gameplay-wise it was easy as hell from start to finish. The dungeon design went from ok to shit as the game progressed with the final dungeon being TONS AND TONS OF BACKTRACKING FOR MINUTES ON END mixed with megaman style fight all the bosses over again because they uh, couldn't make many bosses it seems. I swear there's like <8 bosses total in the game and maybe 15 enemies. Dungeons are totally "let's make a room and copy it but flip it 180 degrees". It's like .... "wow" Right now the game really feels like FFXII, in that it seems like there is a plot in there somewhere (or was one), but something bad happened in development and we're just left with a mess of incoherent pieces. Unfortunately thought it doesn't have any of the awesome stuff FFXII had to make you feel bad for the team's situation. Also the majority of the achievements are 2nd play only. Again it's like they said "oh ****! We have no more money/time, let's just end it as a 20 hour game and I know! Let's make it 40 hours by having them play through it again!!". Again...wow. I'm curious if the plot/ending changes on 2nd play as well. This is the first rpg disaster of this new generation. Hopefully it is not the start of many. I wonder if Namco pulled all the budget out of TB when the X360 tanked in Japan :( Right now I'd give the game an F+, but again I need to see if there's another ending and may revise the grade accordingly. Last edited by Bebpo : 06-18-2007 at 07:48 AM. |
|
minna ni naisho dayo
(06-18-2007,
08:22 AM)
 |
#267
Originally Posted by Aokage:
Originally Posted by Bebpo:
QFA (absurdity) :p |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
08:46 AM)
|
#268
Originally Posted by Bebpo:
Ouch. Out of all my expectations for this game, I thought the last place it could fail was the story. It's such an interesting setting and concept. It's a shame it sounds like it was wasted. |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
11:42 AM)
|
#269
Originally Posted by john tv:
well, after all the comments i don't really unterstand why you or duckroll are enjoying the game. based on what everyone said the characters suck, the plot sucks, the battles are shallow and supereasy and the dungeons linear and boring - so...why is it fun again? only because of some nice art pieces and a good ost? Last edited by dermannmitdemcolt : 06-18-2007 at 11:45 AM. |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
12:03 PM)
 |
#270
Originally Posted by dermannmitdemcolt:
No, its because it is GAF. You wouldn´t be taken serious if you confirmed that the game is a fap-fest for you. |
|
(06-18-2007,
12:08 PM)
|
#271
Originally Posted by Phoenix Fang:
No, it doesn't. As for the comments in this thread, I'm disappointed. It's also looking like Blue Dragon is getting a similar grilling from IGN. It begs the question - if these RPGs were coming out on PS2 (or had have done when the console was at its peak), would they even get noticed? Next to the likes of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Dark Cloud, Kingdom Hearts, Odin Sphere, etc? Or are they only getting the hype and exposure because they are on 360, a western-dominated system? I'll still reserve judgement on Rusty Balls until I've actually played it through for myself, but this thread does make the game seem somewhat disappointing. :( |
|
I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
(06-18-2007,
01:00 PM)
 |
#272
Originally Posted by pswii60:
 "Rusty Balls"I still plan to try it, (either by renting, or buying when it's cheaper (say $25) Based on these impressions, and pending very positive reviews, I won't be buying it at launch. |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
01:19 PM)
|
#274
Ultimately though, was everyone expecting that Trusty Bell would beat a $25 million title in Blue Dragon?
ES is still a day one purchase for me. My girlfriend loves the idea of the game, and wants to play co-op through the entire game. Shallow story or not. I guess everyone's expectations are far too high for the game, and when there are comments of "its okay" everyone thinks that it's the end of the world. So there are achievements for beating it a second time? Sweet. Hopefully they get some good DLC like BD's New Game+ is going to have. |
|
Worships the porcelain goddess
(06-18-2007,
02:24 PM)
 |
#276
Originally Posted by JoeFenix:
... *facepalm* |
|
(06-18-2007,
03:16 PM)
|
#278
I hope there really will be a next-gen JRPG-fest at some point, with some AAA games. Certainly next year is looking good with Last Remnant, FF XIII and White Knight Story, hopefully Lost Odyssey will be good at the end of this year, but its development troubles also worry me.
|
|
mashadar's neko-mimi slave
(06-18-2007,
03:27 PM)
 |
#279
Originally Posted by pswii60:
What, no love for Infinite Undiscovery? :( |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
03:38 PM)
 |
#282
Originally Posted by Kintaro:
Why is that a facepalm? I fully intend to buy this game, too (and not at budget price).
Originally Posted by ivysaur12:
Even with Monolith Soft, the team's success rate was only 50%... so it's not that shocking. |
|
Worships the porcelain goddess
(06-18-2007,
03:54 PM)
|
#283
Originally Posted by ethelred:
Was the way he put it. I don't care what you do with your money, but saying...
Quote:
And ending it with...
Quote:
Is just funny to me. Not busting on the guy or anything, but the actual statement is funny. I'll buy it too cuz it's pretty, but I'll buy it for $20. :) |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
05:27 PM)
|
#287
Originally Posted by dermannmitdemcolt:
Well, there is the fun factor. What's not fun about running up to enemies and bashing them with watching numbers flying out in quick battles as you beat them to good art and good music? The game's definitely playable and those who don't look for anything too deep will enjoy it at the start, though with time & dungeons it may bring them down. In the main media magazines like EGM or so, I'd expect the game to score around 7-8.5 depending on how far the reviewers play the game. Famitsu's 35 isn't that surprising when they only play games for 30-40 mins, so they just saw nice graphics and fun battles and called it as they saw. If I had to be nice and friendly in a review for an official source I'd probably end up giving it a 7/10, because at least it's not a chore (besides the final dungeon) to play. Here's how I would breakdown the + & - Positive aspects: --Great art --Character models are gorgeous --Great music. Sakuraba's score sounds like a mix of VP2 and Abyss, while Chopin's tracks are extremely good. --Battles are quick --No random battles --Combo system is fun (tap A as fast as possible then combo into Y. More A hits you do the more damage Y does) --Defensive dodge system is fun (though breaks the game if you're any good at it) --No loading --Many playable characters with unique moves --Chopin's lifestory (told briefly in the game) is a very interesting one Negative aspects: --Insanely short --Dungeon designs are weak --Decent amount of backtracking padding out a very short story --Not much enemy variety --Few bosses --Fixed camera can be bad at times. In some dungeons it's hard to see where you are going or even if you're about to run into an enemy. Camera can also be bad in battles since it can't be rotated and you might be behind something and hitting air if a large enemy is blocking your view. --Easiest rpg I've ever played. Impossible to die. Can kill all enemies in 1 round before they even have a turn. Can kill bosses in <2-3 mins before you even need to heal once. There's no satisfaction in beating the final boss in 3 mins like a normal battle and then seeing the clear save screen. --No real depth to the battle system. Game plays almost the same from start to finish with only 1 real change throughout the game. --Money system is broken. Too easy to have infinite riches within minutes and 99 of everything at the store. --Not many towns, dungeons --Not much interactivity at all. Nothing to do in towns besides shop. Very, very few real dungeon puzzles. --Extremely linear. You just keep moving up. --Almost no subquests in the entire game (though a few are added on 2nd play). So nothing to do besides walking forward. --Weak character development, which leads to a terrible cast. --Disjointed plot, where the developers seem to not know what the story is about and neither do the players. --Character model's can't emote. All they can do is open/close their eyes and mouths and body animation is very limited with wierd problems (when covering their mouth laughing, their hands are like 3 feet away from their face due to collision issues). So everyone looks like dolls. A character might say they are sad and crying but the model will just show them with a straight face. Feels like a step back from what we had at the start of last generation with FFX. |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
05:35 PM)
|
#290
Originally Posted by Thoren:
yep, back to going OMG over Blue Dragon. At least that has been confirmed to be excellent by many. :) edit: Is it REALLY an F+? I can vaguely remember...I think you said you thought Enchanted Arms was like a B game and Blue Dragon was an A. Correct me if I'm wrong. Poor Eternal Sonata. :( |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
05:42 PM)
|
#291
Originally Posted by pswii60:
Blue Dragon is a very good game, though. It starts off a bit slow (doesn't really take off until the end of disc1), and it's definitely too easy outside of a few bosses. But it isn't so easy you feel like there's no fun in beating bosses. There's still some challenge in the game. Even if Blue Dragon was on PS2 it'd make its name since for the first game in a new franchise it got pretty close to FF/DQ and maybe even better than some entries in both franchises. If Trusty Bell was on PS2, we'd still all play it as the battle system is unique, fast, and fun, and that's a big selling point for any new rpg. But it'd just be forgotten pretty quick as most people forgot Radiata Stories (though I really like Radiata for its sense of humor), Legendia, Star Ocean 3, etc... So now at 1 for 2, it's not that bad. PS2 rpg stories of success were probably about a 50% ratio as well early on in the PS2 life. My only real worry is that since BD was easy and TB was very easy (both likely because they are aiming to please first time Western j-rpg players), that we're going to be stuck playing games we can snooze through and that the days of challenging rpgs are gone. Between the X360 aiming at people who've never played jrpgs before and the Wii/DS aiming at people who've never played games before, we're just seeing one easy rpg after another. At some point, somebody's got to put their foot down and I'm hoping it's either Mistwalker with LO or more likely Tri-ace will be the one to do it with Infinite Undiscovery.
Originally Posted by FateBreaker:
Probably more of a "C" when I look at all the positives and negatives as a whole. That was just my reaction when I felt jipped when the game ended. |
|
Member
(06-18-2007,
06:12 PM)
 |
#292
Originally Posted by Bebpo:
|
|
(06-18-2007,
06:16 PM)
|
#293
Originally Posted by duckroll:
Oh yeah :) Sorry. I suppose there'll be Cry-on too. But slim pickings really. Either because it's early days or because they're all moving development to the Wii :( |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
06:38 PM)
|
#295
Originally Posted by Thoren:
Feel Plus is made up of worse staff than Artoon IIRC. They're ex-Cavia guys and Cavia makes stuff like Bullet Witch, Drag-on Dragoon, Vampire's Rain. But Blue Dragon showed that if you have a good script, good art, good music, good game design plan given to you, as long as you are a competent group of programmers you can make great rpgs. |
|
Banned
(06-18-2007,
06:53 PM)
|
#296
Originally Posted by Bebpo:
Oh god.. Vampire Rain? Bullet Witch? Im losing any hope I used to have in 360 JRPGs now. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
06:58 PM)
|
#297
Originally Posted by Thoren:
I wouldn't worry about it. They're just doing the grunt work of programming, while very talented people are doing all the important aspects. At worst if they have bad programming it'll just mean the load times suck (like they did in the demo) and some bad collision detection. Plus MS is putting A LOT of money and PEOPLE on the project to make sure it turns out well. Hell, they flew Americans who knew UE 3.0 like the back of their hand over to tighten up their code and help them out. I think LO will turn out fine, and maybe even great depending on the battle system/dungeon-designs/writing. |
|
trying to mount a comeback
(06-18-2007,
07:24 PM)
|
#300
Originally Posted by dirtmonkey37:
You'd think all the people who bought an X360 for Blue Dragon would get this as well. Only way I can explain the difference is that a lot of people who bought a system for BD, probably sold it after they beat the game. |
