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Just finished Gravity Rush. It was great. I really liked the setting and art direction and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. They never really provided any concrete answers in regards to plot, which I know wouldn't sit well with some, but I actually liked the ambiguity. Plus there's a sequel in the works. Anyway, I also found the soundtrack to be fantastic for the most part. The only real qualm I had with the game was that the controls were sometimes uncooperative (and I wish there were a proper lock on feature). It wasn't anything game-breaking though. Overall I'd highly recommend this to Vita owners.
Also, The Last of Us arrived in the mail today, so I'll probably start that soon.
Edit: fixed typo.
Also, The Last of Us arrived in the mail today, so I'll probably start that soon.
Edit: fixed typo.
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He said what games were you playing right now, not over the course of your life. :cookie:
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Prince Naphtali
Tales of Xillia
Currently: Around 10 hours into the game, and I've got off at Sapstrath(?) seahaven after the events Nia Khera and Hamil. Due to head to Sharilton, and I've got Elize and (*sigh*) Teepo tagging along.
Was this game rushed? I surmise it had to be rushed, or was given a smaller budget, because Bandai Namco had to somehow produce a direct sequel in relatively timely fashion, which has me suspecting whether the two Xillias suffer as full games on their own because of it. From my ten hours so far, I'm seeing a range of bland, sometimes utterly uninspired landscapes that are bafflingly divided into smaller zones. As I was playing, I couldn't help but think that FFXII had bigger area zones than this, with more of a monster population than in this game, and that is a PS2 game!
So as I'm playing and I'm seeing how basic and barebones the environments are, I'm constantly telling myself that this is a (late) PS3 game, and not a PS2 RPG. It certainly feels like one, with the two ports I've discovered so far that both look the same, blatant invisible walls, and tiny, compact towns with only a few indoor rooms. I can rationalise this as being partially my fault. I should have expected a B-tier effort when it comes to Tales, but this appears to fall below even what something like Star Ocean: The Last Hope had to offer. And after spending a number of years playing other forms of RPGs that have either sated or tickled that wanderlust in me, Xillia feels like a decisive step back a generation. It has a mountain ahead of it to climb if it wants to impress me, otherwise it blurs into the background as another forgettable game in the pile.
And I want to like it, so I hope to persist until the game's relatively dire opening chapter(s) give away to the exciting cruxes of the plot, and when I finally receive every party member to tweak and test out in battle.
I had very negative first impressions of the combat, perhaps because I was struggling to work out, after forgetting what the tutorials said, how to activate/do half the things. I still maintain that switching links and the player character in battle is a chore, because I constantly forget which direction I should press the D-pad in order to de-link from someone to link up to another character. Fortunately I was able to begin enjoying the combat after gradually working out how to actually play the game, complemented by my working out at long last what TP and AC mean, taking advantage of link artes, and experimenting with artes abilities unlocked from the Crystari- Lilium Orb.
This early on, I'm going to refrain from writing in length about the story, writing, and the characters as of now, because there's little substantial I can say about it all, apart from the general mediocrity. I see a trio of rather used stock tropes strutting around, and one Elize, who hasn't yet had the chance to do anything meaningful or leave much of an impression on me, bar questioning whether she even looks twelve. I'm likely to have a heavy falling out with Teepo, because the voice and mannerisms are already getting on my nerves from the moment it opened its mouth. Jude's adolescent shyness is almost definitely going to be continually mocked throughout the course of the game, that much I can wager. Alvin constantly projecting innuendos in the skits is enough indication of that.
So in summary:
- Combat, as cumbersome and odd as I initially found it to be, is decent enough now that I've been able to gain a firmer grasp of it.
- Writing, story, characters, all mediocre so far, and somewhat expected.
- Looks and feels too much like a PS2 game. Was this rushed?
Currently: Around 10 hours into the game, and I've got off at Sapstrath(?) seahaven after the events Nia Khera and Hamil. Due to head to Sharilton, and I've got Elize and (*sigh*) Teepo tagging along.
Was this game rushed? I surmise it had to be rushed, or was given a smaller budget, because Bandai Namco had to somehow produce a direct sequel in relatively timely fashion, which has me suspecting whether the two Xillias suffer as full games on their own because of it. From my ten hours so far, I'm seeing a range of bland, sometimes utterly uninspired landscapes that are bafflingly divided into smaller zones. As I was playing, I couldn't help but think that FFXII had bigger area zones than this, with more of a monster population than in this game, and that is a PS2 game!
So as I'm playing and I'm seeing how basic and barebones the environments are, I'm constantly telling myself that this is a (late) PS3 game, and not a PS2 RPG. It certainly feels like one, with the two ports I've discovered so far that both look the same, blatant invisible walls, and tiny, compact towns with only a few indoor rooms. I can rationalise this as being partially my fault. I should have expected a B-tier effort when it comes to Tales, but this appears to fall below even what something like Star Ocean: The Last Hope had to offer. And after spending a number of years playing other forms of RPGs that have either sated or tickled that wanderlust in me, Xillia feels like a decisive step back a generation. It has a mountain ahead of it to climb if it wants to impress me, otherwise it blurs into the background as another forgettable game in the pile.
And I want to like it, so I hope to persist until the game's relatively dire opening chapter(s) give away to the exciting cruxes of the plot, and when I finally receive every party member to tweak and test out in battle.
I had very negative first impressions of the combat, perhaps because I was struggling to work out, after forgetting what the tutorials said, how to activate/do half the things. I still maintain that switching links and the player character in battle is a chore, because I constantly forget which direction I should press the D-pad in order to de-link from someone to link up to another character. Fortunately I was able to begin enjoying the combat after gradually working out how to actually play the game, complemented by my working out at long last what TP and AC mean, taking advantage of link artes, and experimenting with artes abilities unlocked from the Crystari- Lilium Orb.
This early on, I'm going to refrain from writing in length about the story, writing, and the characters as of now, because there's little substantial I can say about it all, apart from the general mediocrity. I see a trio of rather used stock tropes strutting around, and one Elize, who hasn't yet had the chance to do anything meaningful or leave much of an impression on me, bar questioning whether she even looks twelve. I'm likely to have a heavy falling out with Teepo, because the voice and mannerisms are already getting on my nerves from the moment it opened its mouth. Jude's adolescent shyness is almost definitely going to be continually mocked throughout the course of the game, that much I can wager. Alvin constantly projecting innuendos in the skits is enough indication of that.
So in summary:
- Combat, as cumbersome and odd as I initially found it to be, is decent enough now that I've been able to gain a firmer grasp of it.
- Writing, story, characters, all mediocre so far, and somewhat expected.
- Looks and feels too much like a PS2 game. Was this rushed?
Yes actually. The development team actually rushed to get the game out during a certain year since it was supposed to be the Tales series' 15th anniversary title (or so I've heard). So I guess we got a more inferior product than we should have.
I think that newcomers to this series often do not realize that, despite being pretty damn popular in Japan, Tales isn't very high-budget. Certainly not anywhere near something like Final Fantasy. And like you said, your expectations were probably too high from the get-go. Keep in mind too that Xillia was the first fully 3D Tales game, and it shows. Prior to Xillia, the series had been your traditional, top-down type of thing, and you can tell they just took the design sensibilities of a top-down RPG and stuck them onto a fully three dimensional one.
To be honest Xillia isn't the most newcomer friendly Tales game in regards to combat. It throws quite a lot at you at once. Graces, on the other hand, did a great job of easing players into combat, and I can't help but think Xillia was a step backwards in this regard. And perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying, but you don't have to de-link in order to link to another character. You can press the direction of the character you want to link with at any time. Any existing link will break and a link with the new character will form.
As far as story goes, the characters do indeed stay trope-ish, although there are a few interesting twists in regards to character development (if you're playing Jude's side) and plot. Obviously nothing groundbreaking though, so I hope you weren't expecting a masterpiece.
All that said, I enjoyed Xillia for what it was. Perhaps it helped that it wasn't my first Tales game and I knew what I was getting into from the start. Either way, I personally suggest you play on. The combat only gets better and better, and though the story treads familiar water, it was entertaining.
I think that newcomers to this series often do not realize that, despite being pretty damn popular in Japan, Tales isn't very high-budget. Certainly not anywhere near something like Final Fantasy. And like you said, your expectations were probably too high from the get-go. Keep in mind too that Xillia was the first fully 3D Tales game, and it shows. Prior to Xillia, the series had been your traditional, top-down type of thing, and you can tell they just took the design sensibilities of a top-down RPG and stuck them onto a fully three dimensional one.
To be honest Xillia isn't the most newcomer friendly Tales game in regards to combat. It throws quite a lot at you at once. Graces, on the other hand, did a great job of easing players into combat, and I can't help but think Xillia was a step backwards in this regard. And perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying, but you don't have to de-link in order to link to another character. You can press the direction of the character you want to link with at any time. Any existing link will break and a link with the new character will form.
As far as story goes, the characters do indeed stay trope-ish, although there are a few interesting twists in regards to character development (if you're playing Jude's side) and plot. Obviously nothing groundbreaking though, so I hope you weren't expecting a masterpiece.
All that said, I enjoyed Xillia for what it was. Perhaps it helped that it wasn't my first Tales game and I knew what I was getting into from the start. Either way, I personally suggest you play on. The combat only gets better and better, and though the story treads familiar water, it was entertaining.
I din't think the combat was that bad. I thought it was quite fun for most of the time, if you could grasp what the hell you were doing. The major problem I had with the game was the lazy structure. Yes it had towns but that is not enough. 2-3 "overworld" areas filled with monsters between the towns simply isn't good design. As for the story, well, I found it to be really mediocre and convoluted, mainly due to the length of the game (50+ hours? Can't remember). Bunch of clichés too. By the time I had reached the final dungeon I was already tired of everything that had been thrown at you in the story. For the characters, I don't like Jude (seriously, not everything is Milla), Milla was really cool because of her stubborn "I-don't-care-I'm-going-to-do-what-I'm-supposed-to-do" attitude, Alvin's an ass, and the rest of the cast is meh. It wasn't a painful experience like my time with SO4, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Currently I'm playing Final Fantasy X-2 and, well, I'm disappointed even though I didn't expect much. It has a neat battle system, which is enjoyable enough for me to get quite far into the game (though I had to turn of those sailor moon-ish animations). But pretty much everything else about this game is just terrible:
-annoying characters - main party is even tolerable (thanks to Paine) but why introduce someone like Leblanc?! or Brother?!
-the story is meh and half of the missions feel like filler ("There's that dangerous vegnagun thing lurking around, so let's throw a jpop concert!")
-soundtrack is mostly annoying
-the whole charlie's-angels-meets-sailor-moon vibe
-as a sequel it's completely unnecessary and doesn't really add anything to the story and universe of FFX
But I could get over all of these things if this game didn't feel so half assed. 90% of the places we vistit are exactly the same locations from FFX with some random npcs or treasure chests thrown here and there. The only redesigned place (Kilika) feels like a mock-up because you can't even enter any of the buildings there. Same goes for enemies (they even reused dark aeons, because designing new bosses is apparently too much trouble) and npc characters (at least Lulu could be given a belly if she's supposed to be pregnant). Overall it feels like the devs were really, reeeaaally lazy.
I want to finish this game just to be done with it and finally start Ni No Kuni which seems more promising.
-annoying characters - main party is even tolerable (thanks to Paine) but why introduce someone like Leblanc?! or Brother?!
-the story is meh and half of the missions feel like filler ("There's that dangerous vegnagun thing lurking around, so let's throw a jpop concert!")
-soundtrack is mostly annoying
-the whole charlie's-angels-meets-sailor-moon vibe
-as a sequel it's completely unnecessary and doesn't really add anything to the story and universe of FFX
But I could get over all of these things if this game didn't feel so half assed. 90% of the places we vistit are exactly the same locations from FFX with some random npcs or treasure chests thrown here and there. The only redesigned place (Kilika) feels like a mock-up because you can't even enter any of the buildings there. Same goes for enemies (they even reused dark aeons, because designing new bosses is apparently too much trouble) and npc characters (at least Lulu could be given a belly if she's supposed to be pregnant). Overall it feels like the devs were really, reeeaaally lazy.
I want to finish this game just to be done with it and finally start Ni No Kuni which seems more promising.
Believe it or not I never finished FFXIII. I got it the day it came out and was literally at the very end of the game, the last "dungeon" when my PS3 harddrive went bad. That was back before PS+ and cloud saves. I'm just now mustering up the motivation to go back through it. I own FFXIII-2 and LR but I just don't feel right playing 'em before officially beating XIII. Anyhoo, that's what I've been playing lately.
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Nikolasvanitas
Currently playing the original Kingdom Hearts. Story line seems simple so far.
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Nikolasvanitas