I would agree that this review does highlight flaws in the old review style: are numerical scores given for the first hour supposed to reflect on the entire game? Is it a guess, an estimation on what the next 50 hours will be like? I never really could answer that, and have since dropped the scores. Now it really boils down to one question: Would I keep playing this game?
If I had answered that question when I wrote this review, I would have said no. But somehow, years ago, I beat this game and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been trying to understand the disconnect there, and I think for a game like Star Ocean 2, it comes down to the player character.
Rena is boring! Especially at first where she's just some village girl. Whenever I played beforehand, I always played as Claude, he's a space traveler, carries a gun, and is stuck in this remote village against his own will. His story is so much more interesting.
So for the past couple of months, I've been debating on whether I want to replay the first hour of Star Ocean 2 or not with Claude. Chances are most people new to the game would choose him, so it would have made sense for me to select him too. I think now I will go back and replay SO2 using Claude and under the new review style. Look for it in early 2010.
I bought Star Ocean 2 from a used game store on a whim, several years ago, and after the first couple hours of play I very nearly put it down and never picked it back up again. Something made me give it another shot, and once I got a bit further in, I just absolutely in love with it.
But I cannot at all disagree with your assessment of the first hour. So slow! So weak! It's the game's worst flaw that it starts so poorly. How many players who would have become loyal fans were just driven away?
So while I do feel this highlights a failing in Star Ocean 2, I have to say I think it also highlights a failing in the concept of the first hour review. Yes, it's important for games to hook the player early, but not all the ones that fail to do so are irredeemable. Similarly, if we had first five minute film reviews, I'm sure a lot of great films would get utterly slammed.
Don't know how many of these you've done - I just landed here while looking for some Star Ocean images. But honestly I think it's a weird idea.
Thanks for apologizing. Not like you did anything wrong but Okami was awesome for me, a girl who likes games but cant find anything I really like. Thanks again.
Personally even though with all the story this is one of my favorite games. Be glad to hear that the story actually gets interesting later on, and after the first time playing the game, and in the Wii version, you can skip the cutscenes. YAY!
For a while every other game they released was a direct sequel to the previous. Therefore: LoZ, AoL. LttP, LA. OoT, MM.
Actually, since Ocarina of Time Nintendo has kept up a storyline canon. OoT split the timeline into two by the time-traveling antics of young Link.
The child timeline goes OoT, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, the next Wii Zelda game.
The adult timeline is OoT, Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks.
There's a separate Four Swords Timeline: Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Minish Cap. So far it doesn't cross with the main timeline, and given some of the plot elements, I don't think it's supposed to.
I think Link's Awakening is supposed to be a direct sequel to A Link to the Past. After he saves Hyrule he decides to take somewhat of a vacation and sails around until a storm crashes his ship.
But it makes more sense if it's a sequel to Wind Waker since he's already sailing around. Either way, Zelda timeline discussions are pointless because Nintendo couldn't give a crap about it.
It's also of my opinion that Link's Awakening falls somewhere around the Wind Waker timeline. I always liked to think that at the end of Wind Waker when Link went to sail the high seas, that soon after the events of Link's Awakening occurred.
I just played half an hour of this game, and it felt like two. It needs to be a lot less 'novel' and a heck of a lot more 'interactive' to make it worth even half the money I paid for it. If anyone is expecting the quirkiness and playability of 'Professor Layton', steer well clear of this game. I am angry with myself that I made an impulse purchase instead of researching the game first.
1. I can't help but wonder if this isn't some one way thing, (in the games I mean) where zelda likes link, but he's preoccupied. (Idk. Just stabbing at air here.)
2. I actually can see zelda/link-ness. Nothing against it. I can't help but wonder if they will ever. (I'm kinda curious. Kinda)
XD Yes i do agree that some of the monsters could be cuter, particularly the crop gathering ones (why are they all trolls and orcs??). There were some cute ones, the foxes were adorable. I really liked that you had to capture your monsters. It was great being able to go through and collect different monsters for different tasks and when one was no longer needed i could release it and catch something better. I do think it should be harder to catch the higher lvl monsters. I never felt at risk catching monsters, even when taking damage while trying to pet them into servitude. Honestly, just making the game more difficult seems to be what would improve it the most. It would be interesting if they were to let you breed monsters.
The Prince of Persia movie is getting a game tie-in, only this one is called Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands rather than Prince of Persia: The Game of the Movie of the Game.
It's like a novelization of a movie based on a book... which I'm pretty sure exists, although I can't think of an example offhand.
On that note, why aren't games novelized? I can think of a few JRPGs that might be easier to follow if the story was written out.
I played about half-an-hour of this game and got bored. Yes, it's impressive for a Flash game, but the exploration was so bland I couldn't play any longer. The battles weren't bad.
I'm playing Rune Factory 2 right now and looking back at this review, I'm actually surprised at the score I gave it and what I complained about. Very interesting, I can't really go back and change anything because this is obviously how I felt, but I am definitely enjoying the sequel more. I remember having animals, but don't remember having as many as you! Part of the charm of raising animals is gone in the Rune Factory series if you ask me, as you can just go and capture more in the wild whenever you want them instead of raising your hard earned cash or having a baby cow. Plus, they're all monsters and really ugly!
I thought they integrated the fighting and farming very well. I have to agree, that for experienced Harvest Moon players, it was far to easy to earn money. Although, i disagree with your claim that the game has to artificially lengthen the game I paced myself and tried to complete everything. The wait for winter gave me time to try to max out everything and gather monsters for livestock. It seems like you skipped almost entirely dealing with monsters on the farm which makes me wonder what else you opted not to do. I had all 7 huts with all three floors and the max number of monsters when i finished the game. Your issues seem like many of them stem from you rushing through the game. If you take the time to do everything, doesn't need to be to completion, the pacing of the game is fine. I think the girls (mostly) look fine. In Rune Factory 2 all the girls and the main character look like they are all 10 year old's O_o much worse then the first one. If the makers just make the farming and basic dungeon monsters more difficult and increase the cost of upgrades and certain products things would greatly improve. But the games great without the added difficulty. Not to mention that players can finally access the middle crop!!!! Great game much better then some of the regular Harvest Moon games. such as the one for game cube (Horrible!!).
Spot-on! I don't disagree with any bit of your posts, and I myself played and defeated the game on PS2, Im considering buying it for 360 all over again, the replayability is amazing and I plan on making better weapon choices: Upgrade Pistol, then MP5, then Self, then Sniper Rifle. The W2000 is good in its case and as a backup for the whitehouse ;)
Then, in that case, you have no knowledge that the films' graphics were generated on a Cray-XMP.
A supercomputer at the time.
It was a remarkable piece of hardware. Stuff they don't make any longer.
Indeed Star Control 2 (Or just Ur-Quan Masters these days) is a game which doesn't pull you in right away. That's a difference in modern gaming culture opposed to ye olde gaming culture. Some people have grown to dislike dialogue-heavy RPGs, for which I like to blame all these new crappy action RPGs.
Also it'd be good to first check the key configurations before starting to play. If you have no clue where to shoot, you haven't checked the buttons. Regardless I hope you continued playing the game despite all the difficulties you faced ... and will face.
This brings back memories... I remember you would sit in our dorm room and play this game over and over trying to perfect your speed run. I can't believe someone actually made a Chip n' Dale MMORPG, too. XD
The Four Swords thing itself was pretty hilarious. I remember Josiah and Mike (I think) took that so seriously and then kept killing you, while I was meanwhile stealing all the rupees in the aftermath... and then they got mad at me. LOL I think we vowed not to play that again, but I thought it was pretty fun. ;)
The game is great (gets my vote for best ever) and may be setting new standards in the RPPG gaming buiz. As far as it sticking to the book they seeem to take some liberties which may dissapoint book fans but certainly not gamers.
Some of my favorite games ever are point and click adventures (Day of the Tentacle, anyone?), but they can be messed up so badly. It by 1995 they wouldn't have made some of those mistakes, such as losing because you chose the wrong dialog options.
I would agree that this review does highlight flaws in the old review style: are numerical scores given for the first hour supposed to reflect on the entire game? Is it a guess, an estimation on what the next 50 hours will be like? I never really could answer that, and have since dropped the scores. Now it really boils down to one question: Would I keep playing this game?
If I had answered that question when I wrote this review, I would have said no. But somehow, years ago, I beat this game and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been trying to understand the disconnect there, and I think for a game like Star Ocean 2, it comes down to the player character.
Rena is boring! Especially at first where she's just some village girl. Whenever I played beforehand, I always played as Claude, he's a space traveler, carries a gun, and is stuck in this remote village against his own will. His story is so much more interesting.
So for the past couple of months, I've been debating on whether I want to replay the first hour of Star Ocean 2 or not with Claude. Chances are most people new to the game would choose him, so it would have made sense for me to select him too. I think now I will go back and replay SO2 using Claude and under the new review style. Look for it in early 2010.
I bought Star Ocean 2 from a used game store on a whim, several years ago, and after the first couple hours of play I very nearly put it down and never picked it back up again. Something made me give it another shot, and once I got a bit further in, I just absolutely in love with it.
But I cannot at all disagree with your assessment of the first hour. So slow! So weak! It's the game's worst flaw that it starts so poorly. How many players who would have become loyal fans were just driven away?
So while I do feel this highlights a failing in Star Ocean 2, I have to say I think it also highlights a failing in the concept of the first hour review. Yes, it's important for games to hook the player early, but not all the ones that fail to do so are irredeemable. Similarly, if we had first five minute film reviews, I'm sure a lot of great films would get utterly slammed.
Don't know how many of these you've done - I just landed here while looking for some Star Ocean images. But honestly I think it's a weird idea.
Thanks for apologizing. Not like you did anything wrong but Okami was awesome for me, a girl who likes games but cant find anything I really like. Thanks again.
Personally even though with all the story this is one of my favorite games. Be glad to hear that the story actually gets interesting later on, and after the first time playing the game, and in the Wii version, you can skip the cutscenes. YAY!
For a while every other game they released was a direct sequel to the previous. Therefore: LoZ, AoL. LttP, LA. OoT, MM.
Actually, since Ocarina of Time Nintendo has kept up a storyline canon. OoT split the timeline into two by the time-traveling antics of young Link.
The child timeline goes OoT, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, the next Wii Zelda game.
The adult timeline is OoT, Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks.
There's a separate Four Swords Timeline: Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Minish Cap. So far it doesn't cross with the main timeline, and given some of the plot elements, I don't think it's supposed to.
I think Link's Awakening is supposed to be a direct sequel to A Link to the Past. After he saves Hyrule he decides to take somewhat of a vacation and sails around until a storm crashes his ship.
But it makes more sense if it's a sequel to Wind Waker since he's already sailing around. Either way, Zelda timeline discussions are pointless because Nintendo couldn't give a crap about it.
It's also of my opinion that Link's Awakening falls somewhere around the Wind Waker timeline. I always liked to think that at the end of Wind Waker when Link went to sail the high seas, that soon after the events of Link's Awakening occurred.
I just played half an hour of this game, and it felt like two. It needs to be a lot less 'novel' and a heck of a lot more 'interactive' to make it worth even half the money I paid for it. If anyone is expecting the quirkiness and playability of 'Professor Layton', steer well clear of this game. I am angry with myself that I made an impulse purchase instead of researching the game first.
Andrew
1. I can't help but wonder if this isn't some one way thing, (in the games I mean) where zelda likes link, but he's preoccupied. (Idk. Just stabbing at air here.)
2. I actually can see zelda/link-ness. Nothing against it. I can't help but wonder if they will ever. (I'm kinda curious. Kinda)
2. Book?
Tag your own wall with Jet Set Radio Future Wall Graphics
XD Yes i do agree that some of the monsters could be cuter, particularly the crop gathering ones (why are they all trolls and orcs??). There were some cute ones, the foxes were adorable. I really liked that you had to capture your monsters. It was great being able to go through and collect different monsters for different tasks and when one was no longer needed i could release it and catch something better. I do think it should be harder to catch the higher lvl monsters. I never felt at risk catching monsters, even when taking damage while trying to pet them into servitude. Honestly, just making the game more difficult seems to be what would improve it the most. It would be interesting if they were to let you breed monsters.
Metal Gear Solid 2 contained a book about Metal Gear Solid, written as non-fiction by an in-universe character.
The Prince of Persia movie is getting a game tie-in, only this one is called Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands rather than Prince of Persia: The Game of the Movie of the Game.
It's like a novelization of a movie based on a book... which I'm pretty sure exists, although I can't think of an example offhand.
On that note, why aren't games novelized? I can think of a few JRPGs that might be easier to follow if the story was written out.
I played about half-an-hour of this game and got bored. Yes, it's impressive for a Flash game, but the exploration was so bland I couldn't play any longer. The battles weren't bad.
I'm playing Rune Factory 2 right now and looking back at this review, I'm actually surprised at the score I gave it and what I complained about. Very interesting, I can't really go back and change anything because this is obviously how I felt, but I am definitely enjoying the sequel more. I remember having animals, but don't remember having as many as you! Part of the charm of raising animals is gone in the Rune Factory series if you ask me, as you can just go and capture more in the wild whenever you want them instead of raising your hard earned cash or having a baby cow. Plus, they're all monsters and really ugly!
I thought they integrated the fighting and farming very well. I have to agree, that for experienced Harvest Moon players, it was far to easy to earn money. Although, i disagree with your claim that the game has to artificially lengthen the game I paced myself and tried to complete everything. The wait for winter gave me time to try to max out everything and gather monsters for livestock. It seems like you skipped almost entirely dealing with monsters on the farm which makes me wonder what else you opted not to do. I had all 7 huts with all three floors and the max number of monsters when i finished the game. Your issues seem like many of them stem from you rushing through the game. If you take the time to do everything, doesn't need to be to completion, the pacing of the game is fine. I think the girls (mostly) look fine. In Rune Factory 2 all the girls and the main character look like they are all 10 year old's O_o much worse then the first one. If the makers just make the farming and basic dungeon monsters more difficult and increase the cost of upgrades and certain products things would greatly improve. But the games great without the added difficulty. Not to mention that players can finally access the middle crop!!!! Great game much better then some of the regular Harvest Moon games. such as the one for game cube (Horrible!!).
I remember seeing Street Fighter The Movie The Game and thinking it was only supposed to be a joke on how lame movie tie-ins are.
Spot-on! I don't disagree with any bit of your posts, and I myself played and defeated the game on PS2, Im considering buying it for 360 all over again, the replayability is amazing and I plan on making better weapon choices: Upgrade Pistol, then MP5, then Self, then Sniper Rifle. The W2000 is good in its case and as a backup for the whitehouse ;)
Then, in that case, you have no knowledge that the films' graphics were generated on a Cray-XMP.
A supercomputer at the time.
It was a remarkable piece of hardware. Stuff they don't make any longer.
Indeed Star Control 2 (Or just Ur-Quan Masters these days) is a game which doesn't pull you in right away. That's a difference in modern gaming culture opposed to ye olde gaming culture. Some people have grown to dislike dialogue-heavy RPGs, for which I like to blame all these new crappy action RPGs.
Also it'd be good to first check the key configurations before starting to play. If you have no clue where to shoot, you haven't checked the buttons. Regardless I hope you continued playing the game despite all the difficulties you faced ... and will face.
This brings back memories... I remember you would sit in our dorm room and play this game over and over trying to perfect your speed run. I can't believe someone actually made a Chip n' Dale MMORPG, too. XD
The Four Swords thing itself was pretty hilarious. I remember Josiah and Mike (I think) took that so seriously and then kept killing you, while I was meanwhile stealing all the rupees in the aftermath... and then they got mad at me. LOL I think we vowed not to play that again, but I thought it was pretty fun. ;)
The game is great (gets my vote for best ever) and may be setting new standards in the RPPG gaming buiz. As far as it sticking to the book they seeem to take some liberties which may dissapoint book fans but certainly not gamers.
Some of my favorite games ever are point and click adventures (Day of the Tentacle, anyone?), but they can be messed up so badly. It by 1995 they wouldn't have made some of those mistakes, such as losing because you chose the wrong dialog options.
Ferrari F355 Challenge on PS2. One car.