Companies that are falling apart, or have fallen apart

[Zaarock]

Could someone explain more into why SoTN is considered the best metroidvania? I never played it back on the PS1 but did on XBLA and have played Dracula X, Aria of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin.. I mean the atmosphere and exploration are better than the others, but the game is so full of imbalanced weapons, glitches and super easy bosses along with overall lack of difficulty curve after the first bits that it ruins the atmosphere and gameplay? (or is that just because of how I played?)

Should I give it another try and play in a certain way, with limited weapons or something?

I think Portrait of Ruin is my favorite of them, it mixes exploration and linear levels nicely, the two-character mechanics work well and there are some great boss battles (death especially, oddly enough) loving the bonus area as well.. though I haven't played dawn of sorrow so that means it's like a boss rush with only new bosses for me.

Guess I need to try circle of the moon.

[Sumez]

The lack of a decent difficulty curve is the only drawback in SOTN, IMO.
Bascially, it's the exploration and atmosphere that's unrivaled, and personally I'm a fan of all the imbalanced weapons and powers, there's really a hidden treasure trove of crazy equipment in that game, most of them well hidden. I only heard about the Crissaegrim about third or fourth time I played through the game.

[Arcade Legends 3]

The best videogames had been already made.
For some reasons, modern arcade software does not contain "microelements", or "microswitches", which the older games possess. Personally I am a retro player, 1990-2003. I do not care about the videogaming industry - but it is obvious that the quality will become lower and lower.

[Sumez]

Why is that obvious?

[Skykid]

I do not care about the videogaming industry - but it is obvious that the quality will become lower and lower.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

[evil_ash_xero]

I think there are some real moments of "wow" nowadays...just few and far between.

Sin And Punishment 2 and Valkyria Chronicles come to mind, when I was just floored playing a game. I was wholly satisfied.

There's others(the Souls games are really strong), but those two are almost "perfect" to me.

What gets me is that people say that Japanese gaming has gone to handhelds. Well, then why aren't there tons of masterpieces on handhelds? Peace Walker was great, but I can't think of many more.

It just seems like the quality in Japanese gaming has gone lower, and they don't put out much stuff. I don't know what's up. I understand that they're having a hard time keeping up in HD, with production. But what's the deal with the lack of "wow" type games, that used to come out so often? It's depressing.

[replayme]

i didn't like s&p2. even as a treasure "fanboy", i was disappointed.

looking at my recent purchases, it does seem to be the case that most of the "interesting" stuff is coming from japan at the moment, although i wouldn't be so quick to say that the quality is dropping. i would say that it's more a matter of taste.

i never really liked the first 'souls game. doubt i will like the 2nd.

considering that this holiday season is rammed to the brim with quality titles, and bearing in mind that i already have a huuuuuge backlog of games to sift through, i don't think i'll be thinking of those titles any time soon.

i guess hideo kojima was right all along. old games really do rot at the bottom of one's fridge. now's the time to make new...

[replayme]

has anyone even played lords of shadow? most of the reviews say that it's pretty good, if not overlong...

[Skykid]

has anyone even played lords of shadow? most of the reviews say that it's pretty good, if not overlong...

Yes, here:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... &start=180

It's one of my classic game battles with Strider. Although I didn't love it as much as he did, you could do worse. A solid 7 in my book.

S&P2 eats it for breakfast tho.

[Zaarock]

S&P2 eats it for breakfast tho.

Wouldn't Bayonetta be far more fitting and true? :p

[Skykid]

S&P2 eats it for breakfast tho.

Wouldn't Bayonetta be far more fitting and true? :p

Uh, no.

[Gus]

S&P2 is mad overrated. I couldn't even be bothered to finish it. Too fucking long.

[iconoclast]

has anyone even played lords of shadow? most of the reviews say that it's pretty good, if not overlong...

I played it (twice). It's decent for a western action game, but it has a lot of problems. First of all, the framerate is horrible. I don't have exact numbers off-hand, but the game is choppy from start to finish, which is ridiculous for an action game (or any game, really). The combat is pretty solid - there's only one weapon, but they gave it enough variety for it to stay fun for a while. And as you said, it's way too long. There are a ton of stages, but a lot of them are a complete bore to play through. I suppose they were going for quantity over quality, but at least the good still outweighs the bad. And you know, I used to wonder why there weren't more Shadow of the Colossus knockoffs out there. I mean, it's an awesome concept - you climb to the top of an enormous monster and then stab him in the forehead. But apparently making a good boss fight out of that concept is a lot harder than I thought, since LoS fucks up the formula horribly.

All that being said, I still enjoyed it because 1. I went into it with very low expectations, and 2. I love action games, so I'll probably like anything that's not complete trash (like X-Blades or Dante's Inferno). It was worth a rental at least.

S&P2 eats it for breakfast tho.

Wouldn't Bayonetta be far more fitting and true? :p

Bayonetta is approximately a bazillion times better than LoS, so yeah.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Square-Enix is dead to me after the 90's. They had variety and quite a few good games back then. Final Fantasy Tactics, Brave Fencer Musashi, Einhander, and Parasite Eve. Last SE game I bought was DQ8.

Konami has kind of gone meh. Haven't bought one game from them this gen. Last gen, I really enjoyed their 2 Contra games, Gradius 5, and MGS3. All they have to do is do a proper 2D high res 'vania game printed on a disc and I'll buy it in 2 seconds. Why hasn't there been a proper 2D Castlevania in like 2 years ? That Contra reboot better be some hot shit.

Capcom doing fine imo. I like SF4 and MvC3 enough and then, there is stuff like Asura's Wrath, Monster Hunter and Dragon's Dogma doesn't look half bad. I wish they showed more love to Mega Man (MM is like their mascot!!!), Breath of Fire, Ghosts and Ghouls, Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, and so many other classic series they have forgotten, tho.

[Sumez]

Demon's Crest 2, yo.

[MR_Soren]

I think it's easier to list the companies that still make (IMO) good games:
Treasure, Intelligent Systems, Arc System Works, From Software, CAVE, Atlus, Sting.

I hear a lot of complaints about CAVE. I think Cave put out too many console ports too quickly and had to back off for a while. I'm sure there will be more in the future, but at a pace that the market can bear. Still waiting for that Ibara 360 port.

Yes, no CAVE arcade shoot-em-up for 2011, but their 2012 offering could amaze all of us. One can hope, as it could be the last if it doesn't do well.

Atlus hasn't done a lot lately, but the two Devil Survivor games are some of the most strategically deep SRPGs I've ever played. I guess that's what happens when you have a game director who worked on the Langrisser series.

Treasure's S&P2 was probably hurt by pressures to apply some mainstream elements to the game. (Unnecessary length, cutscenes, poor pacing, lower difficulty, etc.) They've done a fantastic job with their XBLA ports and I hope Sega gives them the green light on Guardian Heroes 2. That will be the true test. Sega still seems to have people who understand the appeal of a game like this.


Capcom, unfortunately, really doesn't do anything for me anymore, and I think most people here feel the same way. They're just chasing dollars now, I don't expect them to do anything impressive ever again. I see them as the developer that's fallen the farthest.

Activision also makes me sad. I remember when they were making fantastic games for the Atari 2600, and now they're just another sequel-pumping mega-publisher.

[Ebbo]

Treasure's S&P2 was probably hurt by pressures to apply some mainstream elements to the game. (Unnecessary length, cutscenes, poor pacing, lower difficulty, etc.)

I know this isn't a time and place for this but I must disagree. There are hardly any dead or dull moments (I agree that some bosses feel a bit chore to milk for points) and lower difficulty has nothing to do with Treasure adding some cursed mainstream elements - actually they started building the game while playing with GC-controllers but once Nintendo's testers played the game with Wiimote+nunchuk they asked Treasure to make the game harder. Of the all possible people, Nintendo asked Treasure to make their game HARDER. In the end it comes to down to the fact Wii's controller simply fits the game like a glove which gives it a impression being much easier than its predecessor. I personally thought the challenge was great but if you can just breeze through the game on hard well more power to you.

While the game is lengthy I wouldn't blame it unnecessary. Not a single setpiece or idea is recycled and this game is just brimming creativity all around - there is no padding and I can't really blame Treasure throwing me with everything they've got. And those terribad cutscenes were the part of the original game's charm as well and you can skip/ignore those anyway so I don't really see the problem with them. Other than *GASP* making the game more mainstream!

If anything, S&P2 is the true testament that Treasure is still kicking strong. Atleast we do agree on that but in my eyes all around strong sequel is more assuring than bunch of ports for a download service.

[Drum]

I think it's easier to list the companies that still make (IMO) good games:
Treasure, Intelligent Systems, Arc System Works, From Software, CAVE, Atlus, Sting.

I hear a lot of complaints about CAVE. I think Cave put out too many console ports too quickly and had to back off for a while. I'm sure there will be more in the future, but at a pace that the market can bear. Still waiting for that Ibara 360 port.

Yes, no CAVE arcade shoot-em-up for 2011, but their 2012 offering could amaze all of us. One can hope, as it could be the last if it doesn't do well.

Atlus hasn't done a lot lately, but the two Devil Survivor games are some of the most strategically deep SRPGs I've ever played. I guess that's what happens when you have a game director who worked on the Langrisser series.

Treasure's S&P2 was probably hurt by pressures to apply some mainstream elements to the game. (Unnecessary length, cutscenes, poor pacing, lower difficulty, etc.) They've done a fantastic job with their XBLA ports and I hope Sega gives them the green light on Guardian Heroes 2. That will be the true test. Sega still seems to have people who understand the appeal of a game like this.

Guardian Heroes is a worse game than S&P2 across the board, and has always been one of their weaker efforts. Poorly balanced, easy, and ugly to boot. Baffling post.
Also, Intelligent Systems has gone pretty far downhill. Their DS efforts are widely considered weaker than their GBA games, and pretty much nobody liked Super Paper Mario.

[Vexorg]

The main problem I had with CotM was that I spent way too much time going around in circles with no clue where I was supposed to go next, and then when I found it, I was missing some item to get past it and had no idea where I was supposed to find it. It is largely because of that reason that I put it at the bottom of the list of GBA/DS Castlevanias.

[Paradigm]

Also, Intelligent Systems has gone pretty far downhill. Their DS efforts are widely considered weaker than their GBA games, and pretty much nobody liked Super Paper Mario.

Oh, right.

[Drum]

Also, Intelligent Systems has gone pretty far downhill. Their DS efforts are widely considered weaker than their GBA games, and pretty much nobody liked Super Paper Mario.

Oh, right.

It's generally disliked among players. Bit like GTA IV. But I have nothing to back that up and your point is noted.

[MR_Soren]

Guardian Heroes is a worse game than S&P2 across the board, and has always been one of their weaker efforts. Poorly balanced, easy, and ugly to boot. Baffling post.

I never played the original, but I've been having a lot of fun with it. I'm curious to see how it would turn out if they made a modern sequel.

Also, Intelligent Systems has gone pretty far downhill. Their DS efforts are widely considered weaker than their GBA games, and pretty much nobody liked Super Paper Mario.

Well, they've certainly gone downhill, but I don't know if it's been very far. Fire Emblem is the only recent IS game I might complain about, but most of the problems are probably due to it being a remake and I think it was still better than Sacred Stones. I heard the second FE game for DS was pretty good. With no localization in sight, I may have to buy the Japanese version and see for myself. Now that they're doing an original FE game again, I'll check that out before assuming they've lost it.

[Sumez]

I remember when they were making fantastic games for the Atari 2600

Wait. Fantastic games for Atari 2600?

[replayme]

has anyone even played lords of shadow? most of the reviews say that it's pretty good, if not overlong...

Yes, here:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... &start=180

It's one of my classic game battles with Strider. Although I didn't love it as much as he did, you could do worse. A solid 7 in my book.

S&P2 eats it for breakfast tho.

didn't like s&p2.

i might check out los (tis only a tenner at the mo)... if it weren't for the fact that so many games are being released this side of xmas...

oh: i got goldeneye wii today. not bad, from what i've played of it. but i find the controls infuriating - only because i am so unused to wii controls.

[antron]

I remember when they were making fantastic games for the Atari 2600

Wait. Fantastic games for Atari 2600?

Megamania and Pitfall II come to mind.

Can I chalk Apple down as a company that will fall apart?

[louisg]

I remember when they were making fantastic games for the Atari 2600

Wait. Fantastic games for Atari 2600?

Megamania and Pitfall II come to mind.

Ooh, we could spin this off into a new thread.. there are so many awesome 2600 games, and quite a few are overlooked! Not to mention some of the homebrew lately.

i didn't like s&p2. even as a treasure "fanboy", i was disappointed.

Same here. I felt like the extra axis of movement actually detracted from the game, and it was so padded that there were some truly uninspired levels and bosses (kind of how I felt about Gradius V). You know, like the boss that are just a bunch of boxes that fire at you. Were the artists on strike when that level was created? The original game felt like a much tighter experience in general.

Nobody has mentioned Factor 5 yet, have they? I was reminded by the GunLord thread. AFAIK, they are basically done.

[Sumez]

Yeah, haven't heard anything about Factor5 since Lair. Too bad, I really liked the Rogue Squadron games.

[Zaarock]

I'm hoping Platinum Games will make some more great original titles.. Vanquish was good but disappointing due to some lack of polish and compared to how well put together Bayonetta was. A Bayonetta 2 will probably get released but would be awesome to have some more innovative Clover Studio-esgue titles.

[BulletMagnet]

Nobody has mentioned Factor 5 yet, have they? I was reminded by the GunLord thread. AFAIK, they are basically done.

From Wikipedia:

In late December 2008, several online media outlets reported that Brash Entertainment (Factor 5's publisher of their current project) would close at the end of the month after encountering financial problems. This sudden interruption in funding left Factor 5 with their own funding difficulties, eventually causing its closure in May 2009.

Another link from there.

[kid aphex]

considering that this holiday season is rammed to the brim with quality titles,

So, what games this holiday season do you consider quality?