What games are you currently playing?

[Yellow Mage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

You know, I don't have Dissidia myself, but I've seen a couple of people at school play it a few times, and not once have I ever seen "Luneth" as a character select option, nor do I ever recall seeing a "vs Luneth" at the start of a fight . . .

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Finding it interesting that everything some people hate about Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is something I actually really appreciate.

There's complaints about the lack of interaction between you and the Disney characters. this being the forth time I've been prancing around their worlds, I'm glad that they're less involved and that original characters are the focus, even if its a light focus in spaces. The Organization was really central to the plot of the series, not to mention more interesting than Sora was.

This game links up with my favorite - Chain of Memories - perfectly. Now that everyone in the organization has seen some proper screen time, KH2 doesn't seem as callous in its presentation of these characters, some of which were offed within their first appearance.

What some are saying are bland and repetitive missions I'm finding to be perfect, bite-sized missions for a portable platform. No long-drawn out sessions where my objectives aren't clear and sidequests aren't this obscure, mystical bullshit SE ususally likes to pull on you. Its all rather straight-forward and sidequests and incentives to repeat some missions for full completion are all there.

I'll concede that the areas they picked are nothing new, but they seem content to overlook the fact these have all been fit on the Nintendo DS, which was probably no small feat. They pulled quite a few clever visual tricks to make it happen, too.

Then again, these critics are telling me how awesome the gameplay was in the PS2 games. I'd agree if the console versions actually had gameplay. This one seems to actually fix most of what was wrong with that alleged gameplay by giving me more content to go on than story based missions. That and it fixes most camera issues the series had and streamlines menu functions a whole hell of a lot better.

Oh and partner AI supports itself now, so I've got no idiot AI burning up my stock of potions and ethers. They're not to keen on curing me often, but they do when its important.

So I'm actually finding this one refreshing and not a chore to play at all.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Sounds good, been meaning to get my hands on it. I've heard the game has multi-player. How does that work? Does player 2 actually take over one of the AI controlled units during one of the two player's story mode? 'Cuz co-op KH sounds too awesome to be true.

And Disney characters can fuck off. If they're not gonna replace most of the worlds then I don't want to talk to the same NPCs for the 4th time. I can't exactly imagine Organization XIII members prancing around helping Winnie the Pooh get his hunny either.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Yeah, I think the most interaction Organization XIII members get is a bit with The Rug from Aladdin, which is the last thing that could effectively rat them out. That and you'll come across Pete from time to time, but you're shadowing his movements to see what he's up to.

The multiplayer stuff is all local multi-card, unfortunately not online at all. Its also separate from the main game, but I think each player can use thier upgrades within it, though for non-keyblade users that doesn't mean much. There are incentives to take the mission mode on solo, though, as well to revisit the same missions in story mode, such as the various kinds of medals you can collect in both modes for free upgrades rather than spend heart points or munny on them.

Some of the organization members are hit or miss. Rather disappointed that Xigbar can't take a hit and even Xemnas or Saix aren't as sturdy as their profiles claim, which make them look top tier. Luxord, Larxene, Xaldin and Axel seem to do OK, though, I haven't tried the rest. Curious as to why Xion isn't selecetable in this mode, either.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

This game links up with my favorite - Chain of Memories - perfectly. Now that everyone in the organization has seen some proper screen time, KH2 doesn't seem as callous in its presentation of these characters, some of which were offed within their first appearance.

I didn't play CoM on PS2... does it handle better than it did on DS? I absolutely hated the battles on DS and just got too frustrated to bother with it. I agree with you about KH2; too much of plot seemed senseless or terribly convoluted since IIRC, KH2 came out after CoH and we're not getting what if I'm not mistaken is the bridge between CoM & KH2?

Am I the only one who's completely fed up with prequels? Citing my favorite example again, what if Crisis Core had come before FF7? How differently would people have reacted to the game and it's cast? I got a feeling that Cloud (and possibly though unlikely) Sephiroth wouldn't have the retarded followings they do now.

I find it makes for a more enjoyable experience too, going through a plot in chronological order. There's nothing more infuriating to me, regardless of how good a prequel is, than playing it and knowing how it's going to end the entire time. I didn't know everything that was going to happen in CC but I did know that it was going to end with Zack dieing and Cloud limping off in the distance. At least SE changed it a little though; originally Cloud was just left to die by the Soldiers and didn't even say goodbye to Zack (oh god that Wussy scream he lets out in the NA version though...)


So back on topic, how's the gameplay in the new KH? By the looks of it I'm guessing it resembles the console games more? Hurray for the lessened Disney involvement too... but does that go for the FF characters as well? That was one thing I LOVED about KH2; the FF characters finally had some decent involvement in the plot. Sora's still a douche bag though.

[Feba]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I find it makes for a more enjoyable experience too, going through a plot in chronological order.

It depends on the plot. MGS3/PO, for example, made incredible movement forward with the plot of MGS, without covering things people already knew any more than an MGS game set in chronological order.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Am I the only one who's completely fed up with prequels?

Probably, yes.

I find it makes for a more enjoyable experience too, going through a plot in chronological order.

Not all plots are meant to be gone through chronologically. How a plot is presented is as important as the plot itself. A game or movie is under the context that the viewer/player only knows certain information. After-the-fact prequels and interquels obviously contain spoilers that can ruin the "sequel's" big reveal, or otherwise just the general game experience if the plot is made such that the viewer is expected to try to piece the past together from subtle hints and clues. Season 1 of Haruhi most definitely wasn't meant to be watched in chronological order. There are plots where the point is precisely what you complain about - you're presented the ending from the very beginning, and the fascinating thing is seeing how the plot got there.

Other times, the events in the past of a series aren't really that interesting in a vacuum. For instance, Star Wars episodes I-III probably would have been far less successful if they had been released before IV through VI. The highlight/climax of the plot is arguably IV through VI; a lot of the people that went to see I through III wanted to learn more about a fictional universe they already loved. But someone unfamiliar with Star Wars altogether might go watch I-III and say "what's the big deal?"

Then there are the cases like 358/2 Days which are interquels by definition, but its real point isn't to be an interquel but to look at the plot from another set of characters' viewpoint. KH2 isn't about Organization XIII. Whether you know every detail about what they were doing behind the scenes isn't important to KH2's central plot. There was only so much that you could show about their pasts without starting to digress from the main plot. You can't flesh out half a dozen antagonists in a single game.

tl;dr You're looking at it all wrong if you ask me. If they bother you so much don't play them I guess. Prequel/interquel whoring can be milking a cash cow for all its worth, but it can be a good thing when it's done "responsibly" and intelligently.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Star Wars.

Would you seriously watch the movies from prequek trilogy to the original Trilogy. Sometimes telling the end of the story first is more suspenseful than telling it in sequence. Otherwise, Vader being Luke and Leia's father holds no surprise.

Crisis Core serves to make Sephiroth's fall to madness feel as tragic as it should have been. In FFVII, we're seeing everything from Clouds rather garbled memory. He lives Zacks life in memory of him, so every every action he made had to be presented through that scope so we realize that later on, its just Cloud puts lots of his baggage on top of that.

Crisis Core's purpose was, in many ways, to humanize Sephiroth and show the bonds that Zack developed with other key FFVII characters. Not just Cloud, but Aerith and Tseng as well. Sephiroth being an elitist of sorts, he wasn't going to be chums with Cloud and Zack per se so they gave him the friendships with Angeal and Genesis and showed us how that fell apart, which adds a bit more realistic weight to his decent to madness.

What we know about Zack starting from FFVII to Crisis Core is going to have a different impact than those that start with Crisis Core. Important because it changes what you believed about some characters and how things ended and that the conclusions you brought over from FFVII aren't entirely true.

For the person starting with the prequel, they don't get the benefit of that realization.

[Feba]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Otherwise, Vader being Luke and Leia's father holds no surprise.

At the same time though, is there a man alive now who does not know that Darth Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father, whether they've seen Star Wars or not? It's basically impossible to see Star Wars nowadays and appreciate it for the surprises, because it's become so culturally ingrained that it's common knowledge.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

There are people that don't know and can be oblivious to Star Wars. My sister filters out anything that's fantasy with the exception of Twilight and the recent Batman movies.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

At the same time though, is there a man alive now who does not know that Darth Vader is actually Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father, whether they've seen Star Wars or not? It's basically impossible to see Star Wars nowadays and appreciate it for the surprises, because it's become so culturally ingrained that it's common knowledge.

Eh, it's just an example. It just happens that Star Wars is so old and well-known you probably know all the spoilers already. But the argument still applies in general, especially with recent works or works that aren't mainstream.

[Feba]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

No, no, my point was that if we know these spoilers in Star Wars, but can still appreciate the turnabout for the drama ("NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE", "HOLY FUCK I'VE BEEN ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED WITH MY SISTER." etc.), how important is it that spoilers not be shown in prequels?

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

That varies depending on the plot and how it's presented. The plot may be ruined if you know the spoilers beforehand. It may not. It's nothing universal. My point wasn't that you always have to view/play works in the order they're released; it's that it's not always desirable to view them chronologically. Sometimes it doesn't matter, sometimes it does. Sometimes you might even find a plot that works better chronologically than in the order it was originally presented. But one thing is for sure, the experience is not the same when you alter the order in which you go through a series of works or plot events.

[Feba]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

But one thing is for sure, the experience is not the same when you alter the order in which you go through a series of works or plot events.

Thanks again, Captain Obvious!

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I'm kinda struggling with Persona PSP right now. I think its more a symptom of when the game came out than a problem with the game itself. Personas have have high level requirements, slow skill growth and there aren't many to obtain starting out. That and weapon upgrades for certain characters is kinda slow, it wasn't until recently that I got Maki something to fight with besides a mop and a revolver. Now its bow and a revolver, and for whatever reason, guns are a different category from all weapons, though I have to say mute bullets are awesome.

I'm fairly used to the SMT style of dungeon crawling, but unlike later installments of the series, that's really all there is to be had in Persona. To put it another way, its like leaving Midgar in FFVII, only to get stuck in another Midgar for a while.

Once I get into it, I do well enough, but I wish they had tweaked the game just a bit to add more personas, weapons and armor upgrades. That and I wish all participants got rewarded EXP equally rather than get rewarded based on who's done the most.

Listening to the OST packed in with the game, I'm loving the new version of the soundtrack. The stuff from the other storyline sounds great so I can't wait to play through the Snow Queen quest.