CrapSandwich
former Navy SEAL
I picked DOAX2 up this afternoon and have sunk a couple hours in so far. So far, it's pretty good. I'd level the same criticism as with DOAX, in that it's a very simple affair without a lot of depth. Except that it does a better job in some key ways:
Volleyball is smarter now. The question going into a match isn't whether you'll win 7-0 or 7-1. The timing is more difficult, the game is faster with quick spikes, and you can't rely on everything going your way as much. Other than that, it's still very similar to the original. But those changes provide some suspense and seem like they'll keep matches from being a monotonous, repetitive exercise in money grinding. We'll see if it maintains any difficulty level through 5, 10, or 20 hours of play.
Other than that, there's a whole lot of extra stuff to do.
--Camera's a nice addition. But the controls aren't changeable and are set to southpaw. ****ing horrible trying to learn that. Still good to have.
--The ladies don't throw your million dollar gifts away anymore. Instead they'll politely return them. Itagaki said that American gamers didn't understand this aspect of the game in the original. And he's right. I considered it a game breaking glitch disguised as game design.
--Jet ski racing is solid. Very reminiscent of Wave Race. I haven't messed with the tricks and it seems like there's only 1 track. Nice addition, good to see it, but not amazing or anything.
--Mini-games... waterslide is fun, butt battle's pretty funny, pool hop races are more exciting than going solo. Though you can still go solo if you prefer that.
--Casino is still very rudimentary. Still I love it. Slots, blackjack, and poker are all good gambling. Roulette not so much, unless you enjoy roulette for some reason.
Nobody was playing online... I'll check in on that later.
Overall it seems like a nice improvement. It's easy to recommend this to anyone who liked the first.
Any questions, ask away.
Volleyball is smarter now. The question going into a match isn't whether you'll win 7-0 or 7-1. The timing is more difficult, the game is faster with quick spikes, and you can't rely on everything going your way as much. Other than that, it's still very similar to the original. But those changes provide some suspense and seem like they'll keep matches from being a monotonous, repetitive exercise in money grinding. We'll see if it maintains any difficulty level through 5, 10, or 20 hours of play.
Other than that, there's a whole lot of extra stuff to do.
--Camera's a nice addition. But the controls aren't changeable and are set to southpaw. ****ing horrible trying to learn that. Still good to have.
--The ladies don't throw your million dollar gifts away anymore. Instead they'll politely return them. Itagaki said that American gamers didn't understand this aspect of the game in the original. And he's right. I considered it a game breaking glitch disguised as game design.
--Jet ski racing is solid. Very reminiscent of Wave Race. I haven't messed with the tricks and it seems like there's only 1 track. Nice addition, good to see it, but not amazing or anything.
--Mini-games... waterslide is fun, butt battle's pretty funny, pool hop races are more exciting than going solo. Though you can still go solo if you prefer that.
--Casino is still very rudimentary. Still I love it. Slots, blackjack, and poker are all good gambling. Roulette not so much, unless you enjoy roulette for some reason.
Nobody was playing online... I'll check in on that later.
Overall it seems like a nice improvement. It's easy to recommend this to anyone who liked the first.
Any questions, ask away.