
To be on topic, I recently beat REmake2 Claire A and am now playing through Leon B. I'm inclined to agree with Squire on the gameplay - it's fantastic.
The gameplay can be really draining and you can keep its melodrama. Most choresome to complete a jRPG I recall having finished, rivalled only by Chrono Cross in this regard. As you can guess, it's the OST that had supported my persistence all the way through each one of them. Actually, the graphics were ace viewed on RGB CRT (two different flavours of PSX-good). Also, that MGS2-type of fasination when witnessing so much resource put in such comically flawed products. No hard work ever goes to waste indeed.Steamflogger Boss wrote:I've been nibbling away at Xenogears. This is as far as I've ever been in it. Not sure why I stopped before.
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
I have heard the second disc falls apart a bit from some buddies that have finished it. Tedious does seem like a good word for the gameplay. It's not offering anything particularly interesting. Edit: The entire package is pretty long. If most of it is on the first disc that would be pretty weird. I'm definitely fine that it isn't some 120 hour monstrosity like Dragon Quest VII.Xyga wrote:Some of the best things come with major flaws, while some that people say are by-the-book crafted masterpieces, can be tasteless and boring...
Xenogears has a well-presented good sci-fi story even if not written better than your average anime, it is indeed supported by its environment and ambiance that fit it like a glove.
Kinda alright that the game's unfinished and rushed by the end, since as you say the gameplay is tedious. Imagine if they had made the second disc as packed as the first one...ugh.
EDIT: don't get me wrong it's a good game, but overambitious even for Square of Yore.
I can't argue with any of this. Some areas are *really dark* too which exacerbates the camera + no minimap issue. The forest near the start of the game was pretty disorienting at times.Obiwanshinobi wrote:I had most problems with the camera, coupled with something like no minimap, therefore spending more time just wondering where the hell I was heading prior to the latest surprise battle than it would take in a mechanically identical game, only in 2D. Just the whole game engine was overall ill-suited for the kind of game it was. And when I got to 3D-platforming with D-pad, missing jumps due to mid-jump surprise battles, that was just enormous heap of annoyances overall. Yes, 8-directional 3D platforming CAN be made somewhat pleasing to perform in (isometric) 2D as well, as the GBA humble game Catwoman proved. Not that I wish Xenogears wasn't 3D, considering how good it looks, mind, but it so comes at a price.
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
I'm definitely not that far in yet. The combat seems to only be attack in different orders to unlock death blows. Definitely lacks the depth of something like Octopath or Etrian Odyssey.Xyga wrote:As 'tedious' yeah I was thinking of the battles, they are rigid, lack depht and become very repetitive, and as cool as the gears look they're not enough to make up for the lackings, which is a way bigger problem in a RPG imho especially if it's a long one.
Videogame plotXyga wrote:And of course the plot holes, with funny use of real-world cultural references in it, but that's not too bad considering it's only a video game.
(I never expect masterful writing here, it's never been the proper support for that, if the presentation is good-enough for suspension of disbelief, like it's the case here, then it's alright, even if honestly it worked best on 90's teenagers lol).
When I was younger I probably would have scoffed at this but it's pretty much where I'm at with things now. As a whole entity, the game keeps me playing it somehow. So that makes it "good" essentially and worth playing. Games either grab me or they don't which might sound overly simplistic but if I'm just not having fun/enjoying a game I drop it like a rock. There are other parts of the equation and I can enjoy games for different reasons but it all goes back to am I enjoying myself playing the game.Xyga wrote:Yes Xenogears is good, definitely not by pure gaming standards, not even really by jRPG standards, but by itself.
EDIT: it's kind of the same for Xenosaga, even though three games weren't necessary, burying the even more abstruse plot under tons of fillers.
I might drop them for a while.Steamflogger Boss wrote: Games either grab me or they don't which might sound overly simplistic but if I'm just not having fun/enjoying a game I drop it like a rock.
At the end, up to 92% completion (baffled as to how to access a few just out of reach side areas).guigui wrote:Great, please give more opinion regarding how well it is in the long range.
Also, what similarities are there with the Souls series ?
Much the same here. Away from home with only a PS4 Slim for company, and I only picked that up for Natsume's miraculously improbable The Ninja Warriors Once Again. Decided to give ACA a go and have been very impressed. Been tackling my longtime nemesis Saigo no Nindou the last week or so, will be picking up a bunch more of these! (though I'm not moving on until I've bagged that Saigo no-miss... so many goddamn one death clears over the weekend, stage 6 is the most convincingly unsympathetic "versus army" scene I'm aware of in gaming. there's no danmaku sleight-of-hand here - everything is trying its damnedest to kill you)Leviathan wrote:Received some PSN credit as a gift, and decided to pick up a few games from the Arcade Archives/ACA Neo Geo.
There was a time, in the era of great chaos, when the Earth and the moon were at war with each other. A daredevil from the moon piloted a bizarre aircraft. It was feared, and because of its shape, called... Einhander.
Those are the last 'true' and good ones until they became that bizarre amalgamation they are now, where you hunt, level up, and don't actually look for treasure. Man those make me furious.BulletMagnet wrote:I honestly don't plan on playing any of the Tomb Raider titles that aren't on the PS3 compilation - from what I know of them the older ones sound like their controls would put me off, while the later ones come across as too "gritty" for my taste - but at least the first of the bunch wasn't too bad as a "tourist trap" side trip.
BIL wrote: "Small sack, LOTS OF CUM" - Nikola Tesla
I'll surely look that up if I get time. The video makes it look rather fun.BIL wrote:Going cross-eyed for lack of sleep, but just popping up to recommend Double Dragon Advance (foot of that post) - superb remake of the AC game by ex-Technos staff, refines everything without losing the classic bone-crushing impact.Leviathan wrote:Received some PSN credit as a gift, and decided to pick up a few games from the Arcade Archives/ACA Neo Geo.
You still haven't reached the second disc yet? Hoo boy, I can't wait for you to experience one of the most bizarre turns in any video games ever. It's baffling to me that they even managed to release a game in this state, and at the end of the day I still prefer this solution over not having seen the game at all. I have a personal subjective love for Xenogears.Steamflogger Boss wrote: I have heard the second disc falls apart a bit from some buddies that have finished it. Tedious does seem like a good word for the gameplay. It's not offering anything particularly interesting. Edit: The entire package is pretty long. If most of it is on the first disc that would be pretty weird. I'm definitely fine that it isn't some 120 hour monstrosity like Dragon Quest VII.
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
Sumez wrote:You still haven't reached the second disc yet? Hoo boy, I can't wait for you to experience one of the most bizarre turns in any video games ever. It's baffling to me that they even managed to release a game in this state, and at the end of the day I still prefer this solution over not having seen the game at all. I have a personal subjective love for Xenogears.Steamflogger Boss wrote: I have heard the second disc falls apart a bit from some buddies that have finished it. Tedious does seem like a good word for the gameplay. It's not offering anything particularly interesting. Edit: The entire package is pretty long. If most of it is on the first disc that would be pretty weird. I'm definitely fine that it isn't some 120 hour monstrosity like Dragon Quest VII.
I only finished the 3DS version of DQ7, and Xenogears is still the longest JRPG I've ever played, clocking in at over 80 hours.
Strikers1945guy wrote:"Do we....eat chicken balls?!"
Going through these again is on the to do list. Don't think I finished back in the day.Xyga wrote:Sure is long, not in the 100+ hours club but that's quite enough.
Xenosaga (all three episodes consecutively) lasts easily over 100hrs if you don't skip any scenes.
I'm resigned to the fact that I'm never going to see an atmospherically proper (hours of silent wandering) sequel to the PS1 era Tomb Raiders, so as a kind of hate follower of the franchise (almost always disappointed, with Legend as the nadir, a total abomination), managed to squeeze a fair amount of enjoyment out of the recent trilogy, with Rise of the Tomb Raider as the high point. It's Tomb Raider for shorter attention spans, but they've kept enough of the adventuring vibes, with miniaturized tomb raiding segments, while transitioning to an open world type of thing. Tomb Raider '13: 7/10, Rise: 8+, Shadow: 6.drauch wrote:Those are the last 'true' and good ones until they became that bizarre amalgamation they are now, where you hunt, level up, and don't actually look for treasure. Man those make me furious.