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Product Number 03 Appreciation Thread

To be honest I simply loved this game; a mix of gameplay, style and tempo elements made it stand out from other games.
 
ethelred said:
I never played the game, but it seems from that video that it serves no point other than showing off the female lead's barely clothed ass as it shakes around.

To be honest, I find it a little embarrassing to play with a lead character in blatantly skimpy outfits like that. But I liked the game. I don't have that outfit, and I don't think I'd try to unlock it either. Is it he last one in the game?
 
Well, thanks to this thread and my boredom, I finally opened up my copy of PN03. Been backlogged for ages honestly. Got it for around 19.99 awhile back. It's pretty sweet, I'm hoping to get it completely down eventually tho. I'm still not too good with the weaving yet. Still just hiding behind walls. It looks so damn good in that papillion video. In that regard, how is it that you unlock that papillion? Professional on all trials right? Also, anyone know where I could find the soundtrack now?
 
LuCkymoON said:
Thanks I've been looking for a bigger image of that. Got any more?
Sadly, no. I repainted the whole Suit (it was the standard white one before) but accidentally oversaved the PSD with the smaller 800x600 version. :[
 
Hrm. Any real pointers to the dodge/twitch play? Do I need to memorize the bullet patterns or just be really fast about it? The former hasn't worked out too far. I often find myself sidestepping into bullets.
 
kiryogi said:
Hrm. Any real pointers to the dodge/twitch play? Do I need to memorize the bullet patterns or just be really fast about it? The former hasn't worked out too far. I often find myself sidestepping into bullets.

Memorize enemy shot patterns AND be fast about it. Usually it is best to wait until enemy fire is collectively shot at you and just as it is about to hit you dodge the whole mess at once. That will give you the "reload" breather to pound on them as fast as possible before the next volley, and also helps avoid dodging from one volley into another.

Secondly, experiment with ducking as well. You'd be surprised how much enemy fire can be ducked under, specifically that from robots on ground level, not of course guns targeting from wall for which dodging in and out of cover between volleys is the best answer.

Love this game, Capcom's best expression of 2D score-based gameplay into 3D.
 
I must post in this thread to say that I, too, enjoyed this game.

Nice graphics, phenomenal explosions, and a kewl female lead.

Thumbs up.
 
Me too, I liked the game.

someone confirm:

vanessa is german, right?

I think I heard something like " Gute nacht " at the very end of the game but I don't remember.
 
I got around the time when it dropped to $20. Didn't much care for it, nothing clicked with me.

BUT

Then after playing through RE4 I tried it again and realized that it's basically Mercenaries mode in a sci-fi setting. Loved it.
 
Shig said:
I got around the time when it dropped to $20. Didn't much care for it, nothing clicked with me.

BUT

Then after playing through RE4 I tried it again and realized that it's basically Mercenaries mode in a sci-fi setting. Loved it.

wow, nice way of making a game "click"
 
P.N.03 is a great game... under-appreciated, since people probably expected a standard third-person shooter and got something much more like Gradius or R-Type, but great.

kiryogi said:
Well, thanks to this thread and my boredom, I finally opened up my copy of PN03. Been backlogged for ages honestly. Got it for around 19.99 awhile back. It's pretty sweet, I'm hoping to get it completely down eventually tho. I'm still not too good with the weaving yet. Still just hiding behind walls. It looks so damn good in that papillion video. In that regard, how is it that you unlock that papillion? Professional on all trials right? Also, anyone know where I could find the soundtrack now?

Yeah, you need to complete all five trial missions between every story mission -- and since the trial missions reset each time you beat a story mission, this means you have to do that again every time you beat one of the main missions (and make sure you have completed all five before going on to the next main mission; there's no going back...). Quite time-consuming compared to just beating the game...

vanessa is german, right?

Yes.
 
The character's full name is Vanessa Z. Schneider. She only ever speaks English in the game (when an actual recorded voice is used), but when she does it's with a slight German accent. Also, the enemy bots are the result of military R&D and have German codenames. Her parents were involved with the creation of said bots. Going by her name, they were probably German, also why they could have given the bots German codenames.

And the next person who complains about the genius control system, perhaps the greatest ever used in a third person run & gun shooter, gets a kick in the face. Seriously.
 
Boerseun said:
The character's full name is Vanessa Z. Schneider. She only ever speaks English in the game (when an actual recorded voice is used), but when she does it's with a slight German accent. Also, the enemy bots are the result of military R&D and have German codenames. Her parents were involved with the creation of said bots. Going by her name, they were probably German, also why they could have given the bots German codenames.

The story... that's the game's biggest flaw, it's ridiculous, incomprehensible, and horribly translated conversations that make up the story... :) Oh well, it's a shmup. Story is irrelevant.

And the next person who complains about the genius control system, perhaps the greatest ever used in a third person run & gun shooter, gets a kick in the face. Seriously.

It's really not a third-person shooter, that's the thing; it looks like one, but it's not... it's a shmup where you happen to control a human in 3d instead of a spaceship flying up or right, and that's why it's great. If it had standard third-person shooter controls it wouldn't be an interesting game at all...
 
I love the aesthetics of this game- the techno music was awesome and the art style reminded me of Chris Cunningham's work. But I couldn't get into the gameplay- it kept giving me the feeling that I was playing it the wrong way without giving me any clue on how I should be playing it.
 
A Black Falcon said:
it's a shmup where you happen to control a human in 3d instead of a spaceship flying up or right, and that's why it's great.
WTF? Why have I never even heard of this game before this thread. I just checked online retailers, importers and ebay, but seems like it's absolutely impossible to find here. Shit sucks.
 
Durante said:
WTF? Why have I never even heard of this game before this thread. I just checked online retailers, importers and ebay, but seems like it's absolutely impossible to find here. Shit sucks.
You're looking for "P.N.03", right? Because that's what's prominently diplayed on the box, "Product Number" is just written like a subtitle.
 
I've been playing Excite Truck with the P.N.03 soundtrack on, and it's making me nostalgic. In fact, I kind of regret selling P.N.03 now. I could get it for cheap, but because I wiped my save file, I'd have to play through all the trial missions again to get the suits.

And I really don't want to play those trial missions.
 
This is one of those games I always saw and heard about but on the day never picked up, I honestly had no clue what sort of game it was apart from a shooter so thats probably why.
 
I just started playing this game, and it rocks. I'm not that good, but I'm having a lot of fun learning enemy patterns and dodging like there's no tomorrow. My only complaint is the insane cost for buying and upgrading suits. I just finished mission 6, unlocked the Ultra Suits, and now I want to buy one. So far I've only bought one suit (the Prima Guardian), trying to save money for the big gunz. An Ultra Suit costs 600 000. I have about 280 000. wtf? Am I really supposed to grind for hours (and hours, and hours, and hours) in the Trial Missions to get these points? It's crazy, that'd take me days of playing! Other than that, I love the game :D :D :D

oh, and btw, a couple of days ago I borrowed Mass Effect from a friend (I love rpgs). After playing for 3 hours I popped in PN03 to give it a try. Haven't played ME since :lol
 
L and R are your best friends in the game. Don't rely on the stick too much. The strafing and ducking is what will really save you in the game. The game is a lot more lateral than I think a lot of people think.

The major reason it gets so much hate is because many people play it incorrectly.

I personally think it's an awesome and underrated Mikami game.
 
wow, year-old thread bump

but yeah I liked this game enough to unlock the papillon. The only problem with that suit is that you literally cannot get hit or you will die. I can't remember how many times I beat the main game on the different difficult levels, maybe 3? but since the game is pretty short the only real pain is doing the trial missions (if you want that suit). But yeah its definitely an under-rated game, I think people had unrealistic expectations for it, thinking it would be the next DMC or something. I look at it as sort of a space shooter in 3rd person...
 
Agreed, great game for the right price. I nabbed this one about a year after it came out for less than 14 dollars brand new at my old stomping grounds (KB Toys). I stayed away from it because of the bad press, but enjoyed the hell out of it once I actually played it.

Black Falcon put it best by comparing it to a shump. I think people were pretty confused as to what this game was supposed to be and expected it to be a Capcom epic, which it's not.

I also see the RE4 comparisons and thought this as well. I believe Capcom was nailing down the tech and the controls from RE4 with this game, as it's obviously using a similar, if not the same, engine. It has the heart of a shooter and the soul of The Mercenaries, which is okay by me.

It also helps that the music is awesome and that Vanessa probably has the sexiest game ass in the history of game asses.
 
The game is awesome and very addictive. Anyone remotely interested should pick it up at GS since it's only like $3 or $4 used.
 
The controls make perfect sense when you realize they’re designed to force the player to jump instead of run through traffic. That’s why Vanessa has a high rate of inertia when turning, and she doesn’t turn around when you push down on the stick. Mikami likes to limit controls in one way in order to force the player to exploit them in another. The game wouldn’t be half as interesting if it used a standard third-person control scheme.

It's hands down my favorite game from last gen.
 
Ledsen said:
I just started playing this game, and it rocks. I'm not that good, but I'm having a lot of fun learning enemy patterns and dodging like there's no tomorrow. My only complaint is the insane cost for buying and upgrading suits. I just finished mission 6, unlocked the Ultra Suits, and now I want to buy one. So far I've only bought one suit (the Prima Guardian), trying to save money for the big gunz. An Ultra Suit costs 600 000. I have about 280 000. wtf? Am I really supposed to grind for hours (and hours, and hours, and hours) in the Trial Missions to get these points? It's crazy, that'd take me days of playing! Other than that, I love the game :D :D :D

oh, and btw, a couple of days ago I borrowed Mass Effect from a friend (I love rpgs). After playing for 3 hours I popped in PN03 to give it a try. Haven't played ME since :lol

I wouldn't grind through the trial missions. I'd get good at the game (which you should be able to do fairly quickly). Once you're good, you can whip through the game in 90 to 120 minutes depending on the difficulty setting, and you rack up money quickly.

If the games doesn't hold your interest enough to play through it again, then you're stuck because it won't give you enough cash on one playthrough to buy an Ultra suit and max it out.
 
Ooooh. A PN03 thread I haven't posted in yet? Say it ain't so.

PN03 is one of those games that gamers either hate or love. I happen to love it, but I can understand if it just doesn't suit certain gaming "personalities".

Anyway: PN03 appreciation +1
976xc2.jpg


What i wouldn't give for a PN04...
 
I got it early on, thought it was on the bad side of average, sold it.

Saw a review or something a few years later (maybe the retrospective section of EDGE?), and it sounded so awesome I decided to give it another shot. Got into it more that time, as I "got it" a little more, but after only a couple of hours I lost interest and ended up selling it again.

Now this thread is intriguing me again. I know I got it at GS for like $3 a year or so ago, so I may try to track down a copy and give it a THIRD try.
 
GremlinInTheMachine said:
I wouldn't grind through the trial missions. I'd get good at the game (which you should be able to do fairly quickly). Once you're good, you can whip through the game in 90 to 120 minutes depending on the difficulty setting, and you rack up money quickly.

If the games doesn't hold your interest enough to play through it again, then you're stuck because it won't give you enough cash on one playthrough to buy an Ultra suit and max it out.

Hmm, okay, thanks. I got confused because Gamefaqs tells me to buy one of the new suits everytime they become available, which isn't even remotely possible.
 
sky said:
Precisely.
One of those games you know isn't AAA, but still find strangely compelling and addictive.


I really miss this game.

I've been having a similar type of affair with Bullet Witch of late although it's a poor comparison to PN 03.

Does anyone know if PN 03 works in the Wii or do I have to unpack my GC to play it again?
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
Does anyone know if PN 03 works in the Wii or do I have to unpack my GC to play it again?

I don't see why it shouldn't work, on the wii you even get double the power!
Well, except if you have region-different game and console and no freeloader.
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
I really miss this game.

I've been having a similar type of affair with Bullet Witch of late although it's a poor comparison to PN 03.

Does anyone know if PN 03 works in the Wii or do I have to unpack my GC to play it again?

All GC games work on the Wii.
 
WTF, a PN03 appreciation thread i have not posted in?! fixed : )

one of my favourite shooters, and one of the primary reasons i own a cube. the sequel to this game will sell me any console, easilly.
 
Count me in, I love P.N.03 as well.

I remember bringing it to a friends house to show him, and he couldn't get past that all I was doing was mashing the A button like a maniac. :lol

I have to use my index finger, one of my friends can just mash away at the A button with his thumb, and hes just as fast as me.
 
Wow, didn't expect to see this bumped. Anyone ever manage to rip the OST? Or is there an official release?
 
Hero said:
Wow, didn't expect to see this bumped. Anyone ever manage to rip the OST? Or is there an official release?

At the end of the "Sounds of Papillion" video on Youtube, there's a link to a ripped soundtrack.
 
Ledsen said:
At the end of the "Sounds of Papillion" video on Youtube, there's a link to a ripped soundtrack.

I watched the video, they said it's available by Zerohour, but they don't give a link. Unless I'm blind.
 
Ledsen said:
Hmm, okay, thanks. I got confused because Gamefaqs tells me to buy one of the new suits everytime they become available, which isn't even remotely possible.

If you do trial missions after every mission (remember that they reset), you should be fine... getting through all five each time will get you a lot of points. It'll take quite a while, but it'll get you a lot.
 
I just pick this game forced for complete the Capcom´s 5 big, and gaf. I´m loving the game so far, is a little hard first getting it like a standart 3rd person shooter, once you get the shooting arcade felling you probably like it. Someone mention (Dragona IIRC) that P.N.03 was more about dodging and evade that presice shooting, I couldn´t agree more, that is in short what the game is all about. Good game so far, but some flaws exist like repetitive scenes or lack of history, excellent aesthetic I love the character desing, the bosses one is superb. I like the learning curve, the game isn´t broken or anything is just people sucks playing this, I know I suck at first.
 
If only more people got it back then.. :(
Hope Capcom surprises me with a (at least) port ..on Live Arcade..or something..
 
You've gotta be kidding me. That game was complete trash. AI had perfect targeting, while you were better off punching yourself in the nuts than trying to aim back. A friend talked me into pre-ordering it and I never forgave him. I love Capcom more than anything, but this, I cannot forgive.
 
Team Klimt said:
You've gotta be kidding me. That game was complete trash. AI had perfect targeting, while you were better off punching yourself in the nuts than trying to aim back. A friend talked me into pre-ordering it and I never forgave him. I love Capcom more than anything, but this, I cannot forgive.
You do now that this is an appreciation thread...right?:p
 
Team Klimt said:
You've gotta be kidding me. That game was complete trash. AI had perfect targeting, while you were better off punching yourself in the nuts than trying to aim back. A friend talked me into pre-ordering it and I never forgave him. I love Capcom more than anything, but this, I cannot forgive.

Get out of my thread!
 
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