ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Just an opinion piece.
We know imageepoch keeps on saying that they'll be the saviour of JRPGs and they'll make a come-back but in the end they fail to deliver. See Toki to Towa (Time and Eternity), sure the graphics look interesting (2D sprites on a 3D plane) but the overall game was crap from what I've read (repetitive and dull) not to mention their art direction for the game is what turns away the older JRPG fans (heavily animu) and their other games aren't even better save for The Last Ranker (and maybe 7th Dragon).
Level-5 on the other hand has a great track record for having beautiful looking games and having stellar soundtracks (from what I've heard from Ni no Kuni), unfortunately that's where it ends. Their stories and gameplay aren't fun nor are they endearing and end up being mediocre in most fronts. Ni no Kuni was a visual masterpiece but unfortunately the direction of the game (partially voiced wtf) and the exploitable, slow, and repetitive battle system made it fall flat despite its graphical showpiece. Rogue Galaxy is another victim of L5's mediocre gameplay with great presentation. Sadly, their recent games seem to have been overshipped almost all the time according to Media Create.
We do know these two companies are pushing RPGs out the window a lot. The former promoting themselves as "JRPG" saviours and the latter as "high-budget, going back to old-school" kind of developer, but they aren't doing the JRPG genre a favor but instead making it unappealing (I don't know about Ni no Kuni but it seems to appeal to kids save for the difficulty). Heck at least Star Ocean 4 and Final Fantasy XIII had fun gameplay in my opinion compared to Ni no Kuni's.
Both of these companies have great potential for making visual presentations and probably the direction of the game but their gameplay and stories suffer greatly.
So do you think L5 and imageepoch should reconsider making JRPGs and go for another genre? Should they be outsourced for their quality work but not for their gameplay decisions? What do you think L5 and imageepoch should do to be considered "saviours"?
Side note: I don't hate Ni no Kuno. In fact I'm happy it's a throwback to the older JRPGs in terms of content and world mapping. If Ni no Kuni had a much much better gameplay and was fully voiced (the voice acting was good IMO), I'd probably be one of my favorite games this generation.
We know imageepoch keeps on saying that they'll be the saviour of JRPGs and they'll make a come-back but in the end they fail to deliver. See Toki to Towa (Time and Eternity), sure the graphics look interesting (2D sprites on a 3D plane) but the overall game was crap from what I've read (repetitive and dull) not to mention their art direction for the game is what turns away the older JRPG fans (heavily animu) and their other games aren't even better save for The Last Ranker (and maybe 7th Dragon).
Level-5 on the other hand has a great track record for having beautiful looking games and having stellar soundtracks (from what I've heard from Ni no Kuni), unfortunately that's where it ends. Their stories and gameplay aren't fun nor are they endearing and end up being mediocre in most fronts. Ni no Kuni was a visual masterpiece but unfortunately the direction of the game (partially voiced wtf) and the exploitable, slow, and repetitive battle system made it fall flat despite its graphical showpiece. Rogue Galaxy is another victim of L5's mediocre gameplay with great presentation. Sadly, their recent games seem to have been overshipped almost all the time according to Media Create.
We do know these two companies are pushing RPGs out the window a lot. The former promoting themselves as "JRPG" saviours and the latter as "high-budget, going back to old-school" kind of developer, but they aren't doing the JRPG genre a favor but instead making it unappealing (I don't know about Ni no Kuni but it seems to appeal to kids save for the difficulty). Heck at least Star Ocean 4 and Final Fantasy XIII had fun gameplay in my opinion compared to Ni no Kuni's.
Both of these companies have great potential for making visual presentations and probably the direction of the game but their gameplay and stories suffer greatly.
So do you think L5 and imageepoch should reconsider making JRPGs and go for another genre? Should they be outsourced for their quality work but not for their gameplay decisions? What do you think L5 and imageepoch should do to be considered "saviours"?
Side note: I don't hate Ni no Kuno. In fact I'm happy it's a throwback to the older JRPGs in terms of content and world mapping. If Ni no Kuni had a much much better gameplay and was fully voiced (the voice acting was good IMO), I'd probably be one of my favorite games this generation.
