02-20-2010, 12:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-07-2010, 08:28 AM by Crimson Fox.)
C'mon, someone else out there must be playing some games. XP
Surprises:
Persona 4 (PS2): Even though Mar recommended it and The Spoony One gave it a good review, I was still unsure about this one. Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best RPGs I've played this year or maybe ever. The story is rather interesting and deals with the troubles that pervade society and one's inner self. The characters are also all pretty good, well except Teddy, but eh, there's always that one annoying character in any RPG. The battle system which revolves around Personas that you create is also fun. It's somewhat based on Pokemon, but is a lot deeper thanks to the fusion system, plus the designs of the Persona are strange, yet awesome, kind of like the TV world you must explore throughout the game. You'll also get your money's worth with this one. I'm only about 35 hours in the game, and I'm just a little past the midway point. Graphics are pretty good, and the musics okay, though it feels a bit too J-pop at times. All in all though, a very excellent game and really shows how fun and unique an RPG can be when the creators aren't stuck up their own ass. *looks at recent Final Fantasies*
The Magic of Scheherazade (NES): Another fun RPG I played recently. It's a very unique game and is one of the few hybrid games on the system. Though through most of the game you'll travel through the overworld and fight through dungeons like in the Legend of Zelda, you'll sometimes have to enter turn based combat with allies you've gather which is more in line with Final Fantasy. The story is okay. It's just another save the princess plot with time travel segments thrown in to vary certain levels. However, it is unique in the fact that the whole game is based on Arabian legend. Thus, some of your allies are genies and you can save your game and revive your allies at the local Mosque. You also have access to different classes which each have their own bonuses such as the Swordsman being proficient with his sword with strong attacks, or the Magician who can attack from long range and can pin his enemies down from afar. The graphics are great and the music is okay. All in all, a good hidden gem on the system.
Oh, and here's a challenge. Try saying the name to this game three times fast, or heck, even just once.
Disappointments:
Dragon Warrior II (NES): WARNING, RANT AHEAD!
I'd like to state for the record that this game was released at about the same time as both Final Fantasy I and the game I just mentioned above. Unfortunately for DWII, it fails miserably at being as fun or memorable as those two games.
The story is just a rehash of the one from Dragon Warrior I with the Dragonlord replaced with Hargon, an evil wizard. Besides the fact that Dragons > Wizards, they made no effort to improve on the story.
Even with a lame story though, maybe they made efforts to improve the battle system, right? Slightly. You do get the privledge of multiple party members this time around with a larger arsenal of weapons, but unlike Final Fantasy I or The Magic of S, DWII's hero and party members are locked completely in place with their classes with only slight stat changes based on what you name the hero. The game also learned nothing from it's predecessor and still requires a lot of level grinding on enemies that don't cough up nearly enough Exp. and that can kill you quickly before you know it.
And as a final blow to this terrible game, the graphics are barely improved from the first game with no evolution to the music.
About the only redeeming feature of this game are the monster designs. They still have that odd and cute design that Akira Toriyama (who made DBZ and Dragon Ball) uses throughout his works.
I have no idea why Japan loved this game. It's awful compared to what else was available at the time.
DWIII may have had some of the same problems, but it at least felt like a real step up from the first two Dragon Warrior games. You were able to make a custom party complete with names and class. Heck, you could even choose the gender for each party member including the main character. The world was wide and varied with plenty of secrets, and the plot at least tried to be different by throwing in a few twists so it wasn't just another rehash of "Hero, our land is in danger. Kill this one guy and all will be well." That and it at least eased up a little on the required level grinding if you created a decent party from the start. Plus, it along with Castlevania II were some of the first games to feature a day and night feature, which I though I was really unique and added a sense of urgency to the game.
Anyways, final verdict. DWII is a boring and brutally plain RPG, go play DWIII instead.
Surprises:
Persona 4 (PS2): Even though Mar recommended it and The Spoony One gave it a good review, I was still unsure about this one. Luckily, it turned out to be one of the best RPGs I've played this year or maybe ever. The story is rather interesting and deals with the troubles that pervade society and one's inner self. The characters are also all pretty good, well except Teddy, but eh, there's always that one annoying character in any RPG. The battle system which revolves around Personas that you create is also fun. It's somewhat based on Pokemon, but is a lot deeper thanks to the fusion system, plus the designs of the Persona are strange, yet awesome, kind of like the TV world you must explore throughout the game. You'll also get your money's worth with this one. I'm only about 35 hours in the game, and I'm just a little past the midway point. Graphics are pretty good, and the musics okay, though it feels a bit too J-pop at times. All in all though, a very excellent game and really shows how fun and unique an RPG can be when the creators aren't stuck up their own ass. *looks at recent Final Fantasies*
The Magic of Scheherazade (NES): Another fun RPG I played recently. It's a very unique game and is one of the few hybrid games on the system. Though through most of the game you'll travel through the overworld and fight through dungeons like in the Legend of Zelda, you'll sometimes have to enter turn based combat with allies you've gather which is more in line with Final Fantasy. The story is okay. It's just another save the princess plot with time travel segments thrown in to vary certain levels. However, it is unique in the fact that the whole game is based on Arabian legend. Thus, some of your allies are genies and you can save your game and revive your allies at the local Mosque. You also have access to different classes which each have their own bonuses such as the Swordsman being proficient with his sword with strong attacks, or the Magician who can attack from long range and can pin his enemies down from afar. The graphics are great and the music is okay. All in all, a good hidden gem on the system.
Oh, and here's a challenge. Try saying the name to this game three times fast, or heck, even just once.
Disappointments:
Dragon Warrior II (NES): WARNING, RANT AHEAD!
I'd like to state for the record that this game was released at about the same time as both Final Fantasy I and the game I just mentioned above. Unfortunately for DWII, it fails miserably at being as fun or memorable as those two games.
The story is just a rehash of the one from Dragon Warrior I with the Dragonlord replaced with Hargon, an evil wizard. Besides the fact that Dragons > Wizards, they made no effort to improve on the story.
Even with a lame story though, maybe they made efforts to improve the battle system, right? Slightly. You do get the privledge of multiple party members this time around with a larger arsenal of weapons, but unlike Final Fantasy I or The Magic of S, DWII's hero and party members are locked completely in place with their classes with only slight stat changes based on what you name the hero. The game also learned nothing from it's predecessor and still requires a lot of level grinding on enemies that don't cough up nearly enough Exp. and that can kill you quickly before you know it.
And as a final blow to this terrible game, the graphics are barely improved from the first game with no evolution to the music.
About the only redeeming feature of this game are the monster designs. They still have that odd and cute design that Akira Toriyama (who made DBZ and Dragon Ball) uses throughout his works.
I have no idea why Japan loved this game. It's awful compared to what else was available at the time.
DWIII may have had some of the same problems, but it at least felt like a real step up from the first two Dragon Warrior games. You were able to make a custom party complete with names and class. Heck, you could even choose the gender for each party member including the main character. The world was wide and varied with plenty of secrets, and the plot at least tried to be different by throwing in a few twists so it wasn't just another rehash of "Hero, our land is in danger. Kill this one guy and all will be well." That and it at least eased up a little on the required level grinding if you created a decent party from the start. Plus, it along with Castlevania II were some of the first games to feature a day and night feature, which I though I was really unique and added a sense of urgency to the game.
Anyways, final verdict. DWII is a boring and brutally plain RPG, go play DWIII instead.
