I'm wondering if anyone here has played the japanese release yet, considering the localized version doesn't come out until next week (supposedly).
i gotta say, i'm really excited. the original was one i always wanted to play, but due to my complete lack of japanese literacy, i was sort of forced into avoiding it.
heh, i even made a desperate attempt at justifying the purchase on these forums (located here).
also, as a mini celebration i "baroque" my classic avatar into something a little more wing-ed.
i made the graphical additions myself, can you tell?
I too have been curious about this release. I REALLY like the graphics I've seen. Nintendo Power (what are they good for?) gave it a 3 out of 10!!?? I'd like to hear more, but I know the saturn version was a (cult) classic of sorts. Definitely intrigued.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
captain ahar wrote:also, as a mini celebration i "baroque" my classic avatar into something a little more wing-ed.
Hopefully this implies that Cap'n Kitt will be making an eventual return (when I first saw the ghosty thing my immediate thought was "Oh God, who are you, and what have you done with Cap'n Ahar?").
As for Baroque, I'm half-tempted to buy it myself...if nothing else, it seems like the sort of oddball under-the-radar sort of title that I might go for. On the other hand, I know next to nothing about it outside of what's on the official site. I think it comes out on the same day as Arcana Heart (which I reserved)...I'm torn as to whether I ought to cough up an extra 40 bucks for this when I go to pick it up. I might wait for impressions from others, but then again...
EDIT - There's also this at HG101 if you haven't seen it...
As an RPG-lover, I really hope that this turns out well. According to gamerankings.com, there's only one review-by Nintendo Power, who gave it a 3 out of 10. I hope it's a better game then that!
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
firstly : they are not to be trusted on anything they say. how long have they been around anyway? because that is how long they have been a joke.
second: they would have been reviewing the wii version, not having read the review myself, i can't comment as to the content of it. but i can't help but think that it is a review of a straight up dungeon-crawler RPG on a console whos predominant control feature is motion-control. i will reserve my judgments for the ps2 version.
captain ahar wrote:not to fret about nintendo power:
firstly : they are not to be trusted on anything they say. how long have they been around anyway? because that is how long they have been a joke.
second: they would have been reviewing the wii version, not having read the review myself, i can't comment as to the content of it. but i can't help but think that it is a review of a straight up dungeon-crawler RPG on a console whos predominant control feature is motion-control. i will reserve my judgments for the ps2 version.
I'll reserve my judgment too, but you're being a little harsh on NP. It was a pretty good magazine back in the NES days, and I've switched my GameCrazy subscription to it since I own both a DS and a Wii. EGM I would definitely call a joke, but not NP.
At any rate, I can't wait to check this out from my GameStop, once we get enough copies in.
"Farewell to false pretension
Farewell to hollow words
Farewell to fake affection
Farewell, tomorrow burns"
The NP review cited no control problems, and the Classic control option works just like the PS2 version.
Instead of people making random assumptions about the review, let me post it:
Nintendo Power wrote:You may not have heard of it until now, but the Baroque series has been around for almost a decade in Japan. And while we usually envy Japanese gamers for getting games we don't, in this case we would have been better off with out it.
You spend the majority of your time wandering through dungeons and fighting monsters in real time. As in most dungeon-crawlers, Baroque's combat is slowed down to the point that it almost fells turned-based, and it quickly grows boring. As you progress, you gain experience and collect items as you might expect, but when you die (a key gameplay element), you lose everything and have to start from square one.
On top of the boring gameplay, Baroque just throws you into the action from the get-go, with no explanation of what is going on or who you are. (The main character, conveniently, has amnesia.) When you die and are reincarnated, more of the story is explained, but it's in little bits and peices, and you'll often find yourself wondering what to do or where to go next.
The rest of Baroque is under-whelming as well. The graphics are average, and the dungeons are drab and unimpressive. The localization-from lines that are completely nonsensical to the character who cheerfully adds "goddammit" to every sentence -is laughably bad, and doesn't make the story easier to comprehend. All in all, Baroque has few redeeming qualities, and your money is better spent elsewhere. - Tom H.
Honestly, the review sounds about like what I was hoping for. It's a shame the reviewer couldn't appreciate it.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
BulletMagnet wrote:
As for Baroque, I'm half-tempted to buy it myself...if nothing else, it seems like the sort of oddball under-the-radar sort of title that I might go for. On the other hand, I know next to nothing about it outside of what's on the official site. I think it comes out on the same day as Arcana Heart (which I reserved)...
I'd like to hear about your impressions about the USA Atlus release of Arcana Heart as well... ^_~
PS2, still haven't evolved to the current generation, heh heh. Gave it a few minutes' time last night, but will play some more before posting anything here...
I'd like to hear about your impressions about the USA Atlus release of Arcana Heart as well...
I should have had it by now, but apparently the shipping of it got held up or some such thing - the store says it'll be in on Friday, I'll try again then.
EDIT - In the meantime, a review of the PS2 version (I think) has popped up...
I'll probably pick this up in the next few days even without the reviews. I've read up enough about the game system that it does seem rather intriguing and while dying might be a bit harsh, it seems every time you go in the dungeon you still make progress in some way.
Hmmm, man I've got a lot of rpgs on my plate right now.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
I have the PS2 version, didn't play it a lot yet, but the few hours I've spent on it were pretty good. It's everything I expected, except for the story which is even better than I thought it'd be.
I kinda understand the bad reviews though. Baroque seems like the kind of game people hate just because it isn't exactly the kind of game they expected. Kinda like Dawn of Mana last year (which I loved, btw).
And lol @ this part of NP's review:
Baroque just throws you into the action from the get-go, with no explanation of what is going on or who you are.
What the hell? Were they expecting the whole plot to be revealed in five minutes or something?
I'm digging this game, and while I can understand that it's definitely not something for everyone, I don't understand the really low ratings - 3s? 4s? I can see a 5 if the gameplay's not your thing, but the supremely creepy atmosphere and amazing musical score are well worth at least a couple points IMO. And I really don't get the ragging on the localization, either. Given the overall atmosphere of the game, I'm willing to bet some of the characters (like the Coffin Man) had weird speech patterns in Japanese that the team struggled to put into English.
(Or maybe I'm biased because I have some friends on Atlus localization staff? Could be.)
In any case, I'll probably be getting my own review of this published somewhere, so keep an eye out for it
Okay, I've put a few hours into this by now, here are my thoughts so far...
As has been said a bunch of times already, this one is definitely not for the masses - for starters, the graphics are nothing special to say the least (though it could be argued that the blurry/grainy look contributes to the "dreamlike" atmosphere, it's still no looker) and the music and sound are hardly worth noting either way. Also, this title will be far too masochistic for most, especially "traditional" RPG fans...in a sense, it's got an almost shmup-like mentality behind it (before you start throwing bricks at my head, allow me to elaborate).
Basically, there's only one "main" dungeon in the whole thing, but to finish the game it seems that you have to "1CC" it. You don't have to do it all in one sitting, since you get plenty of opportunities to save, but if you die you're sent back outside, reset to level 1, and all your items are kaput unless you've taken specific efforts to save them in advance - no exceptions. Believe it or not, the game actually keeps a "high score" list (using experience points as the basis) - the first RPG-ish game I've ever heard of to do that - so you're definitely expected to die and start over a lot. Really, the game places a great deal of emphasis on dying - not only are certain story elements and such only revealed after you die, but the game even keeps track of all the different ways that you get killed, and a list is filled in as you perish in new ways. If it wasn't obvious enough already, this is not a game for the impatient or easily frustrated - it will take awhile to get used to its play style.
As far as actually "playing" the thing goes, running around and smacking things isn't a big deal (though the camera can be a pain in tight spots), but combat also takes some getting used to - you need to learn how to "read" enemies to avoid damage, and use the lock-on selectively, since it slows you down (and if you're surrounded, you'd better run for it). Then, aside from your health meter, is a "stamina" meter, which is constantly decreasing (and when I say constantly, I mean it - even if you're just standing and listening to someone talk before you enter the dungeon, it drains) - when it empties your life meter begins to drain (before it's empty your life will slowly refill), so you can't hang around for too long in a given area or risk losing too much of it, so you've got to balance exploration and getting experience with keeping yourself moving. Also, in similar fashion to Odin Sphere, you can only hold a small amount of items at a time, so you're encouraged to use them liberally - interestingly, almost any item can be used on either yourself or an enemy, so you can end up either accidentally poisoning yourself or healing an enemy if you're not careful.
Aside from what I've already mentioned about the "ambience" of the game, I figure I ought to note that while the game is rather macabre and morbid, it's not really scary - so far I haven't seen any blood or gore, and there's not much in there to frighten anyone (except the unconventional play style), though you'll probably be confused for awhile as far as the plot is concerned, since you are indeed dumped right into the game with little to no background given to you. The game also has a black sense of humor to it - aside from the emphasis on death, there are some downright silly things in there (try on the "flasher" coat, for one) to at least partially balance out the darkness otherwise.
In summary, if you're looking for something different and/or difficult, this is certainly your game, but again, even if the aforementioned is true, be prepared to be put off at first, you're going to need to persevere (and to an extent get lucky) to start getting anywhere. I'm hesitant, though, to recommend that you wait too long to purchase it if you're interested, considering how Atlus-published titles like this tend to become tough to find...then again, if this one puts enough people off there'll be copies sitting on the shelves for awhile. Anyways, hopefully the above will help you get a sense of what kind of game you're in for.
@PCEFX - I've picked up Arcana Heart, and will dig up the forum thread on it to post some impressions once I've spent some time with it.
BulletMagnet wrote:Believe it or not, the game actually keeps a "high score" list (using experience points as the basis) - the first RPG-ish game I've ever heard of to do that -
Some form of scoring is fairly common among computer roguelikes (and haven't I heard that Shiren does this too?)
BulletMagnet wrote:Believe it or not, the game actually keeps a "high score" list (using experience points as the basis) - the first RPG-ish game I've ever heard of to do that -
Some form of scoring is fairly common among computer roguelikes (and haven't I heard that Shiren does this too?)
Shiren does do it, but I'm not entirely sure how the points in-game are tallied. There's even an online leaderboard for it.
Played Baroque for a couple hours last night. The out-of-the-box impression isn't a terribly good one, but as time went on, the gameplay itself stated becoming rather addictive. I definitely spent a lot of time running away which I am not sure is good, since rushing on to later levels without leveling up can be a great way to ensure death.
The intensity of the game is there, and it definitely looks/feels pretty surreal. I don't know if that is going to be enough to hold up for the long-run, but we'll see.
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
BulletMagnet wrote:Basically, there's only one "main" dungeon in the whole thing, but to finish the game it seems that you have to "1CC" it. You don't have to do it all in one sitting, since you get plenty of opportunities to save, but if you die you're sent back outside, reset to level 1, and all your items are kaput unless you've taken specific efforts to save them in advance - no exceptions. Believe it or not, the game actually keeps a "high score" list (using experience points as the basis) - the first RPG-ish game I've ever heard of to do that - so you're definitely expected to die and start over a lot. Really, the game places a great deal of emphasis on dying - not only are certain story elements and such only revealed after you die, but the game even keeps track of all the different ways that you get killed, and a list is filled in as you perish in new ways. If it wasn't obvious enough already, this is not a game for the impatient or easily frustrated - it will take awhile to get used to its play style.
Dang. Sounds like Fushigi, except a few certain events happen when you die instead of story progression. Your "brother" in Shiren, for instance.
BOOOOOO! *throws rotten vegetables*