kwaz28: Solatso:I've read it was done as a throwback to old FF games, kinda like a last hoorah before going full steam ahead with the last 3 horrible incarnations that they're passing off as final fantasy these days. I think that this is the reason why I really loved IX. I think "a last hurrah" is a very apt way to put it - I haven't played any RPG's in a long time that have given me that old-school feeling while still having freshness to it. The "new" final fantasy games have left me feeling out of my league, and it's a whole new ball game.
Solatso:I've read it was done as a throwback to old FF games, kinda like a last hoorah before going full steam ahead with the last 3 horrible incarnations that they're passing off as final fantasy these days.
I think that this is the reason why I really loved IX. I think "a last hurrah" is a very apt way to put it - I haven't played any RPG's in a long time that have given me that old-school feeling while still having freshness to it. The "new" final fantasy games have left me feeling out of my league, and it's a whole new ball game.
I feel the same way, I find myself going back and playing the old SNES ones more than the new stuff. I still haven't gotten around to playing the "new" FF WiiWare game that takes place after number 2 (u.s. #2 that is), maybe I'll do that tonight. Lost Odyssey came close to the old school feel, or at least as close as anything else has in the past several years. The Dreams and storyline are what made that game for me, very well done. I believe it has subtitles, but I'm not certain, as I've read in your other posts that it's a bit of a requirement.
Solatso:Brooding self-important emo kids who save the world......whatever.
AND AS FOR THE REST OF YOU I am quite surprised to see there are a few games I actually like being posted in this thread. I was hoping we could discuss why you dislike these games so I can explain to you why you are wrong.
Solatso: feel the same way, I find myself going back and playing the old SNES ones more than the new stuff. I still haven't gotten around to playing the "new" FF WiiWare game that takes place after number 2 (u.s. #2 that is), maybe I'll do that tonight. Lost Odyssey came close to the old school feel, or at least as close as anything else has in the past several years. The Dreams and storyline are what made that game for me, very well done. I believe it has subtitles, but I'm not certain, as I've read in your other posts that it's a bit of a requirement.
Remembering my previous posts about subtitles - cool. Glad to see that I've made an impression (hopefully positive) on some people.
With regards to Lost Odyssey, I don't have the 360... are there any PS3/PSP equivalents I could look at?
When I get the urge to replay the old RPG's once a year, Final Fantasy IX is the only one I am able to finish each time. In FFVII and FFVIII - I always stop near the before or at the end of the first disc.
mrkekeru:AND AS FOR THE REST OF YOU I am quite surprised to see there are a few games I actually like being posted in this thread. I was hoping we could discuss why you dislike these games so I can explain to you why you are wrong.
That actually gave me a laugh - i'll bite. Outside of SMG, which of your sacred cows were slaughtered?
Goozex Forum Moderator
Any of the Zeldas. Super Mario 64. Give me any valid criticism that doesn't involve the graphics. And yes I am aware of the primitive camera in Super Mario 64, but it should by no means be a game breaker.
Well one valid criticism of the zeldas is that they are completely stale. Ocarina of Time was essentially a rehash of LTTP, which was essentially a rehash of the NES one (but I love LTTP). Rehashing is what Nintendo does though.
Fallout 3=Trash. I've never put a crappier game in my xbox, and i played 'hannah: the movie' for the achievements. it had bullshit savepoints and some of the uglies motions ever. i can drop off a box, hill, etc. and my guy still looks like he's just walking on flat ground.
GTA. i've tried playing all of them, and the clunky controls and driving are ridiculous. how in the hell that game has made it to so many sequels is beyond me. oh, wait, IT'S BECAUSE YOU CAN BEAT UP HOOKERS AND POLICEMAN! take those two characteristics out and i bet gta sales more than half. what i think is so funny though is that bully is essentially the same game, but it is one of the best games ever in my opinion. i guess a rated 'm' game isn't always better than one rated 't'
kwaz28: With regards to Lost Odyssey, I don't have the 360... are there any PS3/PSP equivalents I could look at?
Unfortunately, no, nothing even close. Though in my opinion, Lost Odyssey is a good enough reason alone to buy a 360...if it's within your means.
Edit: I'm speaking directly from a PS3 standpoint, I can't say if there's anything that caliber on the PSP.
Catastrophic: kwaz28: With regards to Lost Odyssey, I don't have the 360... are there any PS3/PSP equivalents I could look at? Unfortunately, no, nothing even close. Though in my opinion, Lost Odyssey is a good enough reason alone to buy a 360...if it's within your means.
Within my means, yes, but can I justify it? Not really...
I've only bought a new system for a single game just once in my gaming career (Sega Dreamcast for NFK2k).
kwaz28: Catastrophic: kwaz28: With regards to Lost Odyssey, I don't have the 360... are there any PS3/PSP equivalents I could look at? Unfortunately, no, nothing even close. Though in my opinion, Lost Odyssey is a good enough reason alone to buy a 360...if it's within your means. Within my means, yes, but can I justify it? Not really... I've only bought a new system for a single game just once in my gaming career (Sega Dreamcast for NFK2k).
Yeah, I can't think of anything on the PS3 that's comes close to Lost Odyssey, pretty much just the same old jrpg's. I haven't had a PSP for years so I have no idea if there is anything for that, there wasn't when I did have one. Here's hoping they port it to the PC one day
criminolelawyer: Well one valid criticism of the zeldas is that they are completely stale. Ocarina of Time was essentially a rehash of LTTP, which was essentially a rehash of the NES one (but I love LTTP). Rehashing is what Nintendo does though.
A Link to the Past was definitely based on a foundation laid by the original Zelda, but to say it's essentially a rehash of the original means you either greatly overrate the merits of Zelda 1 or can't recognize exactly what LTTP did to improve the series. It took a largely aimless and somewhat sandboxy top-down dungeon crawler and structured it around a more coherent guiding main quest. It became a bit more linear, but the simple but functional narrative it acquired gave it a much more dynamic flow than its predecessor. And if that previous sentence doesn't make sense, Zelda 1 = mostly empty ravine, Zelda 3 = rollercoaster. Not to mention, the actual dungeon diving in the first Zelda was nothing but one bloodbath after another, with a few incidences of find-the-key and push the switch. Zelda 3 had a lot of that too but introduced a stronger puzzle element with items like the hookshot, boomerang, flippers etc. that gave it the distinctive 'dungeon crawler with emphasis on gadgets' that we know it for today.
Link's Awakening was a handheld title, and those are never given AAA attention, but I still think it was great. It gave the series a much-needed transplant of setting (well, it wasn't needed as much back then) and very expertly combined the nonlinear for a japanese game explorative style of the first game with the puzzle-based and railroaded dungeons of ALTTP.
OOT was stylistically identical to ALTTP and its gameplay was quite similar to be sure, but it was definitely much more than ALTTP in 3D. It introduced the cinematic presentation style which became standard for the rest of the series. While that doesn't really mean anything for the throwaway storyline, it did wonders for the actual playable parts by making the puzzles centered around larger setpieces rather than switch, hookshot panel and key. Examples: The boat in the shadow temple, the water temple's levels, the dodongo skull in the second level. Additionally, while it has simplistic combat by today's standards, it improved the swordplay in a way that was essentially as good as it got on consoles until Devil May Cry came out (I might change my mind if I remember something else). And just like ALTTP before it it linearized the main story to give it a more structured flow. There's also a lot of other stuff that was done elsewhere first, but introduced to the series here, like the day/night cycle. I wouldn't say it is ALTTP in 3D, but if you take all I said into consideration, then yes, it is a rehash of ALTTP if you consider its improvements in the same areas (but in different ways) to be such. If it is a rehash, and I'm not entirely sure I will disagree, you also have to remember that it was of its time, and even if they won't admit it, a lot of game designers were greatly influenced by it.
Majora's Mask is like nothing before it or since, unless you count time limit games that force you to replay them because you'll suck on your first playthrough (Pikmin, Pathologic, etc). I've heard some people say the framing device makes no difference when the puzzles you solve inbetween time warping are the same, but MM was more focused on Masks as puzzle-solving tools rather than gadgets, and even then they were secondary to the player's own puzzle solving skills. The character models are the same, but it carries an air of impending doom that makes it thematically unique from any other game in the series, and I would even consider it one of the most triumphant examples of non-geneirc tolkein ripoff fantasy style done right.
Wind Waker? I didn't like that one so I'm not going to defend it.
Twilight Princess was definitely Ocarina of Time with better graphics, but that's not a bad thing at all. The same could be said of largely of any sequel. The series definitely wore out its welcome at this point, but that was more due to the setting itself becoming tired rather than the gameplay (there are enough tweaks and improvements since WW and OOT to make it a worthy sequel). I would feel more compelled to defend it if Nintendo ever finished it, but it takes a severe nosedive in quality about 1/2 way in.
To conclude, Majora, LTTP, LA = good, Zelda 1, OOT = still good, TP, WW = not as good but still good.
I would ask you this, if Zelda has become stale, what exactly is the difference between a rehash and a sequel? Nintendo gets a reputation for rehashing, but they don't do this at all with their main titles, and compare them to something like capcom, EA, activision, Sega, SQEnix, it looks like they are rewriting the book of genesis every time they make a game. What's the difference between Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting? COD MW and COD MW2? You get my point.
nuff said!
Solatso: kwaz28: Solatso:I've read it was done as a throwback to old FF games, kinda like a last hoorah before going full steam ahead with the last 3 horrible incarnations that they're passing off as final fantasy these days. I think that this is the reason why I really loved IX. I think "a last hurrah" is a very apt way to put it - I haven't played any RPG's in a long time that have given me that old-school feeling while still having freshness to it. The "new" final fantasy games have left me feeling out of my league, and it's a whole new ball game. I feel the same way, I find myself going back and playing the old SNES ones more than the new stuff. I still haven't gotten around to playing the "new" FF WiiWare game that takes place after number 2 (u.s. #2 that is), maybe I'll do that tonight. Lost Odyssey came close to the old school feel, or at least as close as anything else has in the past several years. The Dreams and storyline are what made that game for me, very well done. I believe it has subtitles, but I'm not certain, as I've read in your other posts that it's a bit of a requirement.
Couldn't disagree more about IX. It didn't feel like a last hurrah. It was supposed to, and I was very excited for the game that had been touted as a return to the crystals for about a year. I felt very disappointed, and IX is perhaps at the top of my list for single worst Final Fantasy game. There were crystals in the game, sure, but they were nothing like the original concept of the crystals, which IX was supposed to return to. Just having crystals, and less guns, is not a return to the old school.
I play FF games pretty religiously when they release, and I didn't have a job, or anything to do when 9 came out. As such, I picked it up from gamestop at 10 am the day it came out, played non stop, until I finished it at 6 am two days later. Now, I have a tendency to keep my FF games for my collection too. I traded the game back in as soon as gamestop opened that day. Within a week I couldn't tell you anything about the utterly forgettable story except that I didn't like it, at all. The only thing worse than the story were the excuses for characters.
Anything in the COD series and most shooters. Too many shooters out there now I think. I've always liked Halo since playing it on a friends Xbox. I only bought an xbox when the 360 came out and following the interest from the Halo series we're stuck with lots of wartime games like the COD series. Kind of irks me.
Surprised at the FF and GTA votes on here. Granted theres lots of room for improvement in GTA as far as true choice and freedom, but the game overall was pretty fun. Agreed some parts felt like work and the graphics and popup issue they never fix needs work. Can't relate on FF though. I thought 2 (US) was the best of the series on the storyline alone which was a lot of fun, and 3 (US) was also great although not as good a story as 2. Had a lot of fun with 7 as well, own 8 and 9 but never really played far into them just out of sheer laziness and my completionist tendencies. Been right at the end of 10 ready to beat the last boss but can't allow myself to fight him until I max out the characters just to see how many hits I can beat him in. I know. Thats insane. Can't wait to play the new FF 2 content downloaded from wiware though.
Also surprised at any Zelda votes. Link to the past and Ocarina were loads of fun although yes similar story wise. I still have wind waker and twilight princess sitting around waiting for me to start.
I think it just comes down to the fact that parts of these games are work such as the need for level grinding in some parts of FF games and puzzle solving in Zelda games. I guess if you don't have the patience for some of this stuff then these games probably aren't for you.
What do you mean by bullshit save points in Fallout 3? You could save anywhere.
And it's true: The character animation on the game doesn't look great, but complaining about animation on a Bethesda game is like complaining about the dialogue in a Mario game (which is actually my beef about Mario games, so maybe you have a point).
Of course, Bethesda should strive for better animation, but Tranquility Lane is maybe my favorite RPG quest of all time. If I were to try to make a Top 10 quests lists, it'd be almost exclusively Bethesda and BioWare.