Yeah, auto-aim is a nasty crutch, for the most part. You do roughly 2x as much damage by leaving it on the free-aim reticle. And sword-reflecting missiles are a HUGE part of the strategy, both for taking out bosses, as well as hitting as many objects as possible. It's a bit part of the scoring meta-game.
Squeak said:
Yeah I know, suggesting that it's possible to like S&P for its aesthetics. The nerve!
Again, until you can argue otherwise, I win.
Alright. I didn't really want to do this, but fine. I never said that you couldn't like the game for its aesthetics, so don't put words in my mouth. You don't
win that point.
I am, however, of the opinion that the game's strongest suit is BY FAR its gameplay. And unlike some, I'm not new to the game. I bought it about 6 years ago.
Playing Sin and Punishment with the sound off is only playing it half. The music is really an integral important part of the experience.
This is entirely subjective, and it isn't something that can be 'argued' or 'proven' to any degree. I'd say that for Rez, the music is a fairly large part of the experience. And clearly for any music rhythm game. But horrible music is never an 'integral' part of anything. That said, sounds should be kept up if only due to the audio cues for missile-reflecting swordplay. Actually, the game featured pretty great sound effects by the standards of the day.
Squeak said:
Wow, I didn't think it possible for a human to be so wrong...
I'm flabbergasted and don't know where to begin.
You start off by saying all of us are wrong, then follow up by suggesting that we can't state the same until we 'prove' it?
Well, first off the music is awesome.
Your opinion. It isn't shared by all. Or most. Or many, probably.
It might not be your style (which is completely beyond me)
By this very post I'm quoting in piecemeal, I'm not surprised that it's beyond you to consider that your opinion might not be universally shared.
but within its domain it's as good as it gets.
Yes, within the domain of 'suck', it's not the worst I've heard. And the Earth Mimicry battle theme is all kinds of awesome. But that's one song.
I've have a feeling that people who criticize this kind of music with the such scorn, really is secretly enjoying it and is just afraid to admit it to the supposedly "cool" side of themselves, that was raised on indie and "difficult listening" where the mantra is "if it sounds immediately good it's not worth your time".
I have no idea what the FUCK you're babbling about here. But it strengthens what I said above, about suggesting to me that you cannot reasonably consider that your opinion isn't universally shared.
And the porn music accusation is just ridiculous. Whether it has a similarity to some music heard in certain european porn flicks I don't know, but to write off an entire genre because of the arbitrary association with porn, is really unfair and stupid.
Who's writing off a genre? Just a couple of bad tunes... that happen to remind some of bad porn music.
This is synth-fusion at it's very best, combining classic electronic harmonies plucking at your heartstrings, with airy casual pop funk/jazz and the controlled aggressive energy of electric guitar.
Again, entirely subjective. Nothing here to 'argue' or 'prove'. That said, not only did I find the composition offensively bad, but even the synth is of terrible quality. Not even close to the N64's finest, as far as sound quality is concerned.
This is the kind of music that makes you feel like the greatest hero ever while playing.
Nah. Sounds like Eurotrash music (the kind I haven't heard in a game since the Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat) fused with the dregs of Skinemax softcore porn. Nothing heroic there, to my ears. For that, I'll listen to some awesome Falcom Rock, for example.
The graphics are a perfect example of art over technology.
In the same way a great artist can create works of great beauty with simple tools like a pencil and watercolours, or even black ink on white paper as in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, this game works with the limitations and particularities of the available technology, instead of stubbornly pushing against them.
The style, which can best be described as shredded polygons, perfectly captures Suzuki's scrawly, sketchy style.
I don't think that the N64 was capable of too much more, not while maintaining the clip it did, but the texture work in this game was pretty horrific. Especially during the cinematics, which really had no business panning so close to any of the surfaces it did. The game was at its best when everything was moving quickly and shit was exploding everywhere. Anytime it slowed down, the graphics turned into blurry, pixelated mess. Special effects, however, were pretty fucking awesome.
The voice acting is bad in the good way and I have a strong feeling it's entirely on purpose.
It never grinds or becomes irritating, it always serves to give life and personality to the characters.
There's good VA, and then there's bad VA. S&P depicts some of the worst, and I refuse to believe that it was intentional. Saki and Brad were alright, but Achi, Airan, and especially Leda were horrible and cringe-worthy. If there's one thing I can say about it, is that the horrible quality early-anime-like dub at least matched the horribly nonsensical-anime plot.
The story while not a masterpiece of shakespearean writing (show me a game story that truly is) is nevertheless compelling enough in its own way, revealing hidden depths with every playthrough. What was at first confused and non sequitur, slowly makes a vague emblematic kind of sense.
And for those who don't know it, the game was originally called Glass Soldier during development, but the title was changed when a plot similarity to Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment was seen.
And as someone who has read the book, I have to say (without drawing any qualitative comparisons) it's not too far fetched.
Actually, Glass Soldier is even displayed as part of the credits scroll, IIRC. The game's story and characters play out like some of the worst 80s/early 90s anime I've ever seen... with a dub-quality to match.
I wholeheartedly recommend Sin and Punishment, in every aspect. It's one of the four best games ever made for the platform and the greatest railshooter ever.
Hell yes. Fantastic level and shooter design married to solid competent and excellent replay factor. A testament to absolutely magnificent gameplay, IMHO. But to make it out as an amazing aural experience wrapped around clever prose? Hell no. IMHO, of course.