What Are You Currently Playing? 5.05: You Are (Not) A Gamer

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just played some Streets of Rage 2 today on my XBOX360. I made it about half-way stage 5 playing as Axel before I got a Game Over. The funny thing is that I really only ever end up losing lives to bosses in this game, if only because I suck at getting down their patterns and taking them out quickly. I barely ever get damaged by the normal enemies and most of the sub-bosses in this game. I think its pretty hilarious how easy it is to stun-lock enemies in this game by just not doing any combos and leaving enough of a gap in-between your inputs to just have Axel keep punching the enemy until they die.

I have to admit that I do get a bit spoiled playing games like Ninja Gaiden and DMC, so the combat in this game being a lot more simple in nature kind of bugs me at first, but eventually I get into the flow of the game and enjoy it for what it is, on its own merits. I think the advantage of a good, classic 2D beat-em-up like this over a hack n' slash game is that it is fine-focused and distilled to the pure essentials of entertainment. That is to say, there aren't any bad levels or moments in the game, and the entire experience is fun until the end. One thing that I've noticed with any hack n' slash game that I've played is that there are always shitty parts (even in NGB), and there are plenty of flaws that you have to work around. That said, I'm still more of a fan of the hack n' slash genre because the highs far outweigh the lows for my favorite hack n' slash games, but I just had to point out that for all of the great things about a game like DMC3, I at least can say that I don't have to put up with things like Enigmas or Arkham in a Streets of Rage game. So, that's kind of the way that I derive my appreciation for old-school 2D beat-em-up games. That said, I'll be happy to get back to DMC3 eventually, when I feel up to it. I'm just stalling right now because I am thoroughly dreading having to play through the Arkham boss fight on Very Hard mode.

[gunswordfist]

Played any of it online?

[Nel_Annette]

I just made a list of all the new release games I plan on getting from today until March. Looking at it now, and with that and all the cheap old games I still plan on buying... I may as well just mercy kill my bank account.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I just played some Streets of Rage 2 today on my XBOX360. I made it about half-way stage 5 playing as Axel before I got a Game Over. The funny thing is that I really only ever end up losing lives to bosses in this game, if only because I suck at getting down their patterns and taking them out quickly. I barely ever get damaged by the normal enemies and most of the sub-bosses in this game. I think its pretty hilarious how easy it is to stun-lock enemies in this game by just not doing any combos and leaving enough of a gap in-between your inputs to just have Axel keep punching the enemy until they die.

I have to admit that I do get a bit spoiled playing games like Ninja Gaiden and DMC, so the combat in this game being a lot more simple in nature kind of bugs me at first, but eventually I get into the flow of the game and enjoy it for what it is, on its own merits. I think the advantage of a good, classic 2D beat-em-up like this over a hack n' slash game is that it is fine-focused and distilled to the pure essentials of entertainment. That is to say, there aren't any bad levels or moments in the game, and the entire experience is fun until the end. One thing that I've noticed with any hack n' slash game that I've played is that there are always shitty parts (even in NGB), and there are plenty of flaws that you have to work around. That said, I'm still more of a fan of the hack n' slash genre because the highs far outweigh the lows for my favorite hack n' slash games, but I just had to point out that for all of the great things about a game like DMC3, I at least can say that I don't have to put up with things like Enigmas or Arkham in a Streets of Rage game. So, that's kind of the way that I derive my appreciation for old-school 2D beat-em-up games. That said, I'll be happy to get back to DMC3 eventually, when I feel up to it. I'm just stalling right now because I am thoroughly dreading having to play through the Arkham boss fight on Very Hard mode.

The best part about SoR2 is when you get that good at it then play it on Maniac difficulty because enemies are much faster with stun-lock. They don't use cheese moves like SoR1 or just get ridiculous health bonuses like SoR3, they just get faster and hit harder (as in knock you down) so you have to master when to time your attacks. I like old school beat em ups because they make hard difficulty engaging to try and master but still keep it simple.

[gunswordfist]

I never even heard of that mode. Well I saw it in Remake but paid it no attention

[Foggle]

My friend is trying to get me into the Tales Of series. Figured I'd start at the beginning. Currently playing Tales Of Phantasia for the PS1 and I love it!

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was made by the same team that also made the Star Ocean games.

So it was before they went off their rockers.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

The only Tales game that I have ever played is Tales of Vesperia. I thought it was....pretty boring, honestly. The battle system was amusing at first, but quickly started feeling too repetitive for my liking. The main problem here is that, I've heard from a BUNCH of people that this is supposedly one of the best games in the entire Tales series. If that's true, then it certainly isn't a series that would appeal to me. Though, to be fair, I'm not a fan of most JRPGs, as it is.

[Nel_Annette]

Vesperia and Symphonia are at the top. Abyss is pretty good, if not repetitive.

Won't play Xillia or Graces until next month.

Tales games are fun, but plot-wise can be as predictable as an episode of House once you figure out each games patterns.

-Game is usually separated into three major acts, with the first "holy shit" moment coming at the end of Act 1.
-One party member will betray you at some point. Every game, every time. Someone on that team is going to sell you out... and probably get forgiven.
-Exspheres, fonstones, blastia cores... each game has its own name for what are essentially the same thing.
-The main villain is pretty much always a well-intentioned extremist.
-A character will allude to knowing more than they let on, and when a character asks them what they're talking about, they'll respond with "Oh, it's n-nothing. IGNORE MEEE!", withholding information that could move the plot along exponentially.
-There always seem to be 2 or 3 factions in the world fighting that your party has to ease tensions between before the world can be saved.
-MISSABLE FUCKING SIDEQUESTS. If you want to 100% a Tales game, you better be ready for at the very least, two playthroughs full of blood, sweat and tears. You WILL miss awesome weapons. You WILL miss awesome costumes. You WILL miss extra character development. Easily my biggest gripe with the series.

EDIT: Foggle, I do suggest trying Symphonia Chronicles for the PS3 when it comes out if you can. It includes Symphonia and it's Wii sequel Dawn Of The New World in HD, and actually takes place in Phantasia's world 4000 years earlier. There's a lot of neat callbacks to it once you get into the late game.

[Spark Of Spirit]

-One party member will betray you at some point. Every game, every time. Someone on that team is going to sell you out... and probably get forgiven.

This was actually a fault for me with Destiny (Which I otherwise really enjoyed) because Leon is more or less just taken out of the story and never completes his story arc. Apparently they STILL didn't address this in the remake.

He was never going to be a full on good guy or anything, but he just sort of leaves the story and is never mentioned again. I never liked that.

[Nel_Annette]

-One party member will betray you at some point. Every game, every time. Someone on that team is going to sell you out... and probably get forgiven.

This was actually a fault for me with Destiny (Which I otherwise really enjoyed) because Leon is more or less just taken out of the story and never completes his story arc. Apparently they STILL didn't address this in the remake.

He was never going to be a full on good guy or anything, but he just sort of leaves the story and is never mentioned again. I never liked that.

Ah, that sucks. I never actually played Tales Of Destiny, but I hear they do address his character further in Tales Of Destiny 2. No idea how though, never touched either game. He's about the only thing that was ever spoiled for me.

[Foggle]

Just so you know, E-K, my friend who's a big Tales nut doesn't consider Vesperia to be a top game in the series like a lot of people here do. Then again, he also admits that he's biased against the Xbox 360, so...

Tales games are fun, but plot-wise can be as predictable as an episode of House once you figure out each games patterns.

I know better than to expect great writing from a JRPG that doesn't include "Megami Tensei" in the title, so predictable plots don't bother me much. I've seen my friend play some of Symphonia, Abyss, and Xillia, and I thought the characters were pretty likeable in them. That's usually more important to me in games than the actual storylines.

-MISSABLE FUCKING SIDEQUESTS. If you want to 100% a Tales game, you better be ready for at the very least, two playthroughs full of blood, sweat and tears. You WILL miss awesome weapons. You WILL miss awesome costumes. You WILL miss extra character development. Easily my biggest gripe with the series.

I've never been one to 100% a game unless I'm literally in love with it (like R&C or something). Ain't got the time or patience for dat.

EDIT: Foggle, I do suggest trying Symphonia Chronicles for the PS3 when it comes out if you can. It includes Symphonia and it's Wii sequel Dawn Of The New World in HD, and actually takes place in Phantasia's world 4000 years earlier. There's a lot of neat callbacks to it once you get into the late game.

Absolutely. I'm already planning on picking it up.

[Nel_Annette]

Yeah, even if the plots are predictable, most of the games are really good for the characters. Tales Of Legendia is absolutely the worst Tales game I've ever played (seriously, don't touch that shit), but damn if Moses and Jay constantly putting each other down wasn't funny as hell. And the casts of Abyss and Vesperia are pretty awesome. Especially Jade Curtiss. Kirk Thornton sells that character. Probably my favorite character in the series.

[Foggle]

Tales Of Legendia is absolutely the worst Tales game I've ever played (seriously, don't touch that shit)

Yeah, I've heard it's pretty damn terrible. That one actually wasn't made by the Tales team (and neither were Tempest or Innocence, which only came out in Japan).

[Nel_Annette]

Sadly enough, Legendia's soundtrack is arguably the most beautiful in the series.  And the character's aren't half bad. Hell, the premise isn't bad, either (giant technologically-advanced ship that is so old it's now covered in forests and canyons and etc.). But the bad guys suck, and the plot twist after you beat them is horribly done. Then they give you a whole second half of the game that focuses on each character one by one, and none of it's voice-acted. The dungeon's are way too maze-like, the battles are random encounters (you can't see the enemies on the map; battles just happen.), and the battle system. Holy fuck the battle system. You rarely need to use artes. You can literally just hold the X button and your character will keep attacking the bad guy forever until you win. And it's all on a strict 2D plane.