_Alkaline_ said:

Take one for the team!

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ok ok ok. So I decided on a whim Friday to take a chance and buy a couple games I have heard almost no feedback on, positive or negative:

Opoona - $49.99



Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None - $29.99



so....first with the Opoona impressions because that is definitely what ate up my weekend.

OPOONA

GRAPHICS -

I am actually really impressed with the graphical presentations of this game. Is it mind blowingly lifelike? Not at all. Is it creative, original, and just plain pretty to look at? HELL YES. I love the different areas that I have experienced so far. I will update tomorrow with some pics (forgot my camera over the weekend), but all in all the game is vibrant, colorful and just a joy to look at. Lots of little details you typically wouldn't expect. For example, in one area you can visit a theatre. I don't know if there's anything that happens there yet, but the whole area is incredibly detailed. The walls have posters for plays and/or shows that are coming, including the names of the shows and the times and dates they will play. Certain rows in the theatre have digital signs saying "reserved seating". You know? There are just lots of little details like that thrown into the different areas in this game. One of my favorite things to do so far has been exploring and finding "art". You will find upon searching different areas, pieces of art... paintings, sculptures, devices etc... and each one will have a plaque that you can read to get more info on the piece of art. Doing so raises your "art" stat.. still not sure what that does but it's still cool. Plus, these aren't skeezy paintings that are sloppily put in. Some of these pieces are REALLY interesting to look at! I found myself wandering through a museum (in game) genuinely taking it in, examining each piece, etc... you will be surprised at the detail in this game IMO.

SOUND -

WOW. That's all I can say. The audio in this game is UNBELIEVABLE. The songs are stuck in my head, there are so many different tracks I can't keep up with them and they are ALL really really good. At one point I even compared one of the songs to Vangelis. Any ambient fans out there should perk up at that one. The compositions are really really really really really fucking good.

LOCALIZATION -

Ummmm.....I've heard a lot of bitching about the shoddy translation, and I just have to say.....it really doesn't bother me. For some reason, obviously poor translations are charming to me O_O

Seriously though, the translation isn't nearly as bad as some are making it out to be. Are there enough typos and odd word choices in the game to stick out and be noticeable? Yes. Are there so many you can't figure out what's going on? Besides a few dialogue options where you aren't exactly clear whether to answer yes or no (and it doesn't matter because even if you don't answer properly you can do it over again), the answer to this question is a resounding NO.

If you can appreciate this:



then the text in this game won't bother you a bit. Like I said, I generally find this to be charming, not a turn off.

GAMEPLAY - JOB SYSTEM - BATTLES -

ok, so..... a lot to say here. I have to admit the first couple of hours kind of dragged for me, but I'm not entirely sure why. I don't know if it was the fact that I was tired or what, but I found myself getting increasingly addicted to the game. I kept thinking "how did Game Informer give this a 5 in good conscience?"

Running around can get a little tiresome, especially in the beginning where you are likely to get lost, and lost often. I know I did, but it's mainly because the GPS map system is really not that great. In fact it's pretty useless. However, getting around isn't that dificult and once you get familiar with an area it's effortless to get where you want to be, and get there quickly. There are LOTS of different areas to explore and many areas that you don't get access to until later in the game. You interact with lots of people and generally it is a good idea to talk to everyone. I say this because sometimes you will talk to what looks like a random dude, and he will give you specific instructions on how to find some secret area or something. Or you'll talk to a kid who is playing hide and seek, and he'll just randomly increase one of your stats. Dialogue pays off in this game, especially when it comes to finding friends. You will develop friendships over the course of the game, and these friendships will develop if you follow up with people. Each friendship is listed in the menu (it looks like there are ~20 all together in the game) and given a star rating of between 1 and 10 I think. So far the most "developed" friendship I have is a 3 star level. I don't know what the outcome is of these friendships or what effect they have on gameplay later on but it doesn't feel like a chore to find these people.

The areas in this game are very large and expansive, in fact even though there is no 'overworld' map or anything like that you get the feeling that the world is huge which is a plus. You will take a skypod thingy to transport between different areas of the world as the game progresses and each area has a unique look. Like I said before the game is just pretty to look at.

The areas outside the "dome" which is basically like the city are where you encounter enemies. These areas are usually pretty expansive also and it really pays to explore them thoroughly as you will find treasure chests that actually contain useful items.

Battles are really fun, REALLY fun IMO. And not so easy either. I've died probably 10-15 times already, mostly in boss battles. You control Opoona's 'bonbon' and direct it using the control stick on the nunchuk. How long you hold the control stick, and at what angle, determines the speed and angle of the flying bonbon. This is critical to use as oftentimes you will want to strike an enemy in the back (maybe he keeps healing the boss) before you hit the guy in front. So you'll have to throw the bonbon so it goes OVER the front guy and strikes the back guy. I think it's really done well. Plus the battles are on a timer which is explained in the beginning of the game. Although most battles will easily be won before this expires, I have already had a couple REALLY close calls where I only had a few seconds left to win. There is no "wait" battle option, so when you go to use magic or items , enemies are still hitting you. You really have to watch your health in this game, or you will die. The battles are not easy, at least not all of them.

The job system is one of my favorite things about Opoona so far. Earning the different licenses and going up in their respective ranks is cool. Plus each area has it's own unique licenses (for examples, attendant, farmer, seamaster, fortune teller) so it doesn't get repetitive. As an example of a job, one of mine was to work in a hotel restaurant. I had to take customers orders, their room numbers, collect all the different food items, box them up, then physically run them to the room. If you ran into any walls or people on your way the box would become shaken and you would have to run back and start over again, all while working inside a time window. Fun!

OVERALL

I have to say I'm really glad I bought this game. I have a feeling it will become rare (shit, I could hardly find a copy) and this game is NOT the stinker people are making it out to be. If you like RPG's, and are okay with a bit of lightheartedness and quirk, you should enjoy it. I REALLY AM. So basically, screw the haters. If you are thinking this game might be enjoyable to you, it probably will be.

CONTROLS

fucking ace. Playing this game with only the nunchuk is fabulous. I thought I was going to hate that but I love it. It's really easy and intuitive. You can also use the wiimote or classic controller if you like, but the nunchuk controls are spot on. The only control related issue I have is in battle. Sometimes it is difficult to target the enemy you want to target.


I'll update later with pics for Opoona and my impressions for Agatha Christie.... I haven't played that one much yet.

Yeah, I've been playing Opoona, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit so far. I wrote some of my own first impressions here, although I should probably post some updated impressions now that I'm much further in the game.

And yes, the music is incredible.

lol nice title, at least you have a sense of humour when taking a plunge into something like this.

Wow nice detailed impressions for Opoona and very positive as well, I remember a thread a while back talking about the hype (or lack thereof) for the game and inside were a bunch of people basically saying "lol it doesn't deserve any hype" so I kinda fell into the line considering I never had too much interest because the character art is really off-putting for me as well as the loltastic name. I mean they just look stupid which is why I'm surprised you say the art is so good coz I gotta admit I can't really remember the screens because I was always caught up staring at the goofy looking protagonist.

...

K so I checked out some IGN screens and I'll agree, I like what you had to say about graphics and sound and you were pretty positive about the gameplay too, maybe it was just you thought so I can't really tell. Anyway this thread has thrown Opoona back on my radar and depending on how much free time I can muster and if my current catalog of games can hold my interest, depending on the australian release date I might consider buying it if it's budget and I like what I see when I check it out more.

Anyway it sounds good but I'm only cautiously optimistic at the moment, I might look into it further, certainly when looking past the goofy character designs it seems like I might find it enjoyable.

Nicely done!

Thanks for the impressions. This seemed to me like the type of game that reviewers and I might disagree on, hopefully I'm right.

i put a few hours into opoona on the weekend, but i'm still withholding judgment so consider all of these very early impressions:

in cities ("domes") you have full camera control, even with only the nunchuk (i had read somewhere you need the remote for camera control - you don't). outside you can't rotate the camera at all (you can raise/lower it, which is largely pointless). this has made the outdoor areas less interesting to explore, but surely helps prevent you from getting lost (which is definitely an issue indoors for the first while). lots of interesting visual design stuff makes the requisite exploration better. controls are great in general (i've flipped the use of c and z from the defaults).

combat has been pretty easy for me so far, but i haven't been too far afield yet, and i *did* die once due to being dumb (which transported me back to town, advanced the day by one, and cost me 20 money). the standard bonbon attacks provide lots of options though (four attack types(overhand, underhand, left/right curves), and you always have to decide on charge (which affects attack speed, strength, and recharge time)). i find myself attempting to optimize during battles, which is always a good sign - correct aim/timing can cancel enemy attacks too, which means selecting enemies in a smart order, and deciding between slow/fast/strong attacks matters. there are items and spell-like abilities usable in combat that i haven't messed with at all yet. the active system means mucking with menus needs to be fast.

this is going to be a game that rewards looking in the nooks and crannies: there's art to admire (ups art stat), people to befriend (add to friends list), secret codes to find (i think this unlocks items), and lots of other loot about.

overall i'm not completely sucked in yet, but i feel i'm just coming out of the requisite early-rpg hand-holding period, so things should be getting better (i've just started exploring the second city). i'll post some more impressions once i've delved a bit deeper into the combat and the job systems.

I think we have an Agatha Christie thread, but I can sum up my own feelings on the game in a single word: terrible. The puzzles in the game itself are bad enough, and the implementation of everything is horrible (stamp pad + ink pad = "I don't think those two go together" - oh fucking really?!) but the Wii controls are a fucking nightmare. I mean it gets to you just throwing your arms around like a mad man trying to get some sort of damn response out of them.

Looking forward to Opoona some day.

batbeg said:

I think we have an Agatha Christie thread, but I can sum up my own feelings on the game in a single word: terrible. The puzzles in the game itself are bad enough, and the implementation of everything is horrible (stamp pad + ink pad = "I don't think those two go together" - oh fucking really?!) but the Wii controls are a fucking nightmare. I mean it gets to you just throwing your arms around like a mad man trying to get some sort of damn response out of them.

Looking forward to Opoona some day.

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LOL i know I like how they said the wii controls are "part of the puzzle". I sat there for like 10 minutes trying to scoop up some flour before I finally got it to respond.

Man, Opoona sounds pretty interesting but I'm not sure if I want to pay $50 for it. But on the other hand it seems like the type of game that could become impossible to find, so there may not be an opportunity to pick it up cheaper.

nincompoop said:

Man, Opoona sounds pretty interesting but I'm not sure if I want to pay $50 for it. But on the other hand it seems like the type of game that could become impossible to find, so there may not be an opportunity to pick it up cheaper.

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Yeah I definitely see this becoming a hard game to find. I had to drive 40 miles to even find a store that HAD it, and they had only gotten 2 copies in. But, you should never buy a game based only on that unless you have money to burn. Get it if it sounds good to you. I'll update tomorrow with some cool pics.

In my gamefly queue now. I wanted to play this game when it was announced, now I really did forget about it, seems neat still. Good impressions.

Agatha Christie for Wii is terrible?

A cheapo port of a cheapo crappy PC game on Wii didn't work out?

I am shocked.

SHOCKED.

I recently received a copy of Agatha Christie (though not by choice) and was forced to play it.

Take it back.

a few opoona pics... sorry for the poor quality!

ALSO, CAN A KINDLY GAF'ER DOWNLOAD A GUIDE FOR THIS GAME OFF GAMEFAQS AND EMAIL IT TO ME? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... MY WORK PROXY KEEPS ME FROM GETTING A GUIDE

useful interface tip: '+' on the remote activates/deactivates the hoverboard. the board also works well as an encounter-reduction mechanic.

a couple more hours yesterday and i think i'm getting sucked in:

- there's definitely a huge amount of rpg-style running around: talk to this person, go here, do this for me and i'll help you with that, etc... people annoyed with this kind of rpg busywork are going to be driven nuts by this title. i figure so far i've spent more time indoors doing stuff than i have in dungeons and outside doing fighting.

- the design of places in this game is really, really amazing so far: lots and lots of cool visual stuff all over the place. i'm quite enjoying poking about the domes looking for secret stuff and looking at the sights. this is not a cookie-cutter fantasy/sci-fi world - it's full of imagination and nice details.

- fighting is getting much harder. i've discovered another "basic" attack (making 5) and i'm definitely having to pay attention in battles. you're always ranked on battles: "won handily", "won easily", "won adequately", etc... i'm not sure if these matter, but it gives you a bit of a motivation to fight flawlessly. i'm still not much using the items/spells in battle, but if difficulty ramps up much more i'm going to need to start experimenting.

- i really miss a controllable camera outdoors. there's art, architecture and interesting views all over the place, but you can't just look around like you can in the domes which is a tragedy.

What about Agatha?

I'm glad to see this game getting some attention at least. It definitely does not deserve all the bad and mediocre reviews it's getting. I picked it up a couple days after it was released and I love it. It reminds me a lot of Earthbound for some reason. Everything about it just oozes charm. Sadly, with tons of work to do for classes this week, I haven't been able to put as much time into it as I would have liked.

Excellent impressions straydog, thanks. I've read enough positive things about Opoona, so I'm giving it a go too. I'm incredibly swamped with games right now, but I'll squeeze this one in, gonna give it priority over others.

TheKingsCrown said:

What about Agatha?

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sorry. I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, but here are some quick impressions;

the Music is better than I expected, however there isn't a whole lot of noticeable music during the actual gameplay.

the graphics are........ meh. Character models are pretty bad, but the environments are pretty well done. Think Myst for a comparison. You walk around in different environments and can zoom in on particular places (mantle place, tables, bathroom counters etc.. to get items.

the inventory is pretty well done. You have a lot of items, which you can combine and deconstruct in different circumstances.

I am only about 1 hour in, no one has died yet, I'm pretty much just collecting information right now (log entries, journals, etc..) about the different guests.

I enjoyed the hour I spent with it. The only things that irritated me were:

1 - the character models. They are not good.
2 - the motion controls, which the manual says are "part of the puzzle". You use motion controls to do only a few things, such as turning door knobs. Everytime you open a door you hold the A button then twist to open the door. You have to do different twists for different types of doors but it's pretty logical so that isn't bad. However I did do one thing where I was trying to scoop flour out of a bag to reveal a hidden item. Since the motion was "part of the puzzle" I was flailing around for a good 2 minutes before I figured it out. Not too sure I like this, in fact I don't

If you are looking for a point and click adventure, I would say off hand and prematurely that this is worth the 30 bucks. However, give me a couple more days to get some solid impressions and pics for you to peruse and you will make a better decision.

by the way this is my favorite opoona screen:

Great thread! I'm happy to see more Opoona love, as I feel like it's a really solid title for those who give it a chance.

I finally finished my review of the game, and it's quite a monster. If you want a pretty in-depth explanation of the game, it might be worth checking out here. I don't think it deserves quite as much negative publicity as it's getting, but it's localization and some flaws with the battle system/trekking definitely hold it back from being a game I can recommend to everyone I know.

On a whole, if you think it's a game you might enjoy, there's a good chance that you probably will. It oozes a sort of quirky Earthboundian vibe, but what made Earthbound so memorable for me was how commonplace it all seemed to me, and the phenomenal story, so with Opoona missing both of these big aspects, I couldn't really get behind the comparison.

On a whole though, It's a good game, and I would have easily paid full price for it and enjoyed it just as much.

bump for Agatha Christie pics and more impressions:

Okay, well as far as graphics are concerned, the "closeups" i talked about earlier when you zoom in to examine objects or find items all look pretty good. I would hearken them to a Myst type presentation if you know what I mean:




I believe that this one pic best depicts the overall graphical appearance of this title. Nice backgrounds, poor character models:




This picture should give you an idea of what I'm talking about when I say poor character models. They all just look so frumpy...



All in all exploring the house is nice, it's set up pretty logically and it's not ginormous so you won't get lost after a run through or two, plus a lot of the rooms are really pretty to look at imo




One thing I really do like about this title is the inventory/log system. You hit the - button to bring up and close the inventory which is on the left side of the screen:



You use the + button to bring up and close the log which is on the RIGHT side of the screen. This actually works really well:




I've had fun so far talking to all the characters, running around picking up items and trying to figure out what to do with them. So far only 1 guest has died, and I just started chapter 2 (there are 10 chapters I believe). It's standard fare, point and click, interregate guests, collect items, use said items to push story along. I see myself finishing this and having fun with it. I can't really say too much more about it other than if you're a fan of point and click adventures you will probably get around the same level of enjoyment out of this that I am. And for 29.99, it's certainly priced appropriately. If I had paid 50 bucks for this I would have been pissed, but at this price point it is acceptable. The voice acting is pretty good and there is lots of it, there are also nice little graphical and audio touches like lightning, thunder and rain through the windows, the sound of crackling as you approach the fire etc....

It's not the best game I ever played but it's worth checking out for point and click fans IMO

so Opoona isn't bad, huh?

PolyGone said:

so Opoona isn't bad, huh?

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no, I'm actually reallllllly enjoying it

Wow Straydog, excellent impressions!

You've actually got me pretty excited to try out Opoona. It sounds really interesting.

Oh and thanks for the pics too, they look great!

I want to play Opoona now. Sounds very interesting, and the videos looked great. Thanks for the impressions.

For those new to the party, I posted my reviews and impressions of Opoona in this other thread if you want to hear some more thoughts on it. Information is so scarce on the game, it's nice to have a few different opinions.

It's a game with a lot of great extras and other good stuff in it. If you think it might be up your alley, it probably will be, as the graphics and story are probably the most endearing part of the whole adventure. The localization is terrible though, so just be warned. Even though playing it isn't a chore by any means, it definitely could have benefited from a better English translation.

straydog1980 said:

ALSO, CAN A KINDLY GAF'ER DOWNLOAD A GUIDE FOR THIS GAME OFF GAMEFAQS AND EMAIL IT TO ME? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE... MY WORK PROXY KEEPS ME FROM GETTING A GUIDE

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I can email the guide to you if you still need it. There's only one guide up there and it doesnt look complete, though.

straydog1980 said:

It's not the best game I ever played but it's worth checking out for point and click fans IMO

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I honestly have to disagree, and I didn't even pay for my copy (Mom saw it and bought it instantly). Unenjoyable to the max for me, and I love point'n'clicks

Yanno...this is a great idea.

This whole "taking it for the team" thing.

I'd join a club of like-minded individuals who all took turns buying suspect titles and giving reviews. We might be able to dig up a few gems.

There would need to be some ground rules but if everyone that joined knew they would be expected to sacrifice some of their personal entertainment fund...it might actually be enjoyable.

Opoona sales +1.

bigdaddygamebot said:

This whole "taking it for the team" thing.

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we're going to need a "take one for the team": baroque thread.

preferably someone who will take *two* for the team and give ps2/wii comparisons.