RPG Progress Report

[touchofkiel]

Agree with you guys there. While I enjoy the series, it's one of the most overrated RPG series in recent memory... especially the baffling amount of love that P4 gets. Probably because it's still the best RPG on Vita...

[Stark]

I don't think it's overrated, if you like the things that are awesome about it. I adored P4, I think I put like 120 hours into it.

[Exhuminator]

Do all the Persona games have standalone stories?*


*I mean besides Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment being plot related.

[flash1987]

[
I want to be clear that I don't think VP2 is a bad game. I'd rate it a 7.5/10 right now. It's got a lot of good ideas and its audio/visual stuff is top notch, but VP2's got some really bad ideas that weigh it down too.

This is what is extremely weird about video games and how they are rated and reviewed whether by journalists or fans/bloggers.

How can a game which you potentially do not wish to finish and has some bad ideas/narrative issues be worth 7.5 / 75%? Yet this is a common ooccurence.

If it was a film with similar positives and negative points then surely it would be looking at a 4 to 6 rating depending on the reviewer.

Sorry total sidetrack I know. I just wish games didn't always have to be rated 7+ or they are worthless. It's a weird thing that everyone seems to now accept for only video games.

[Sarge]

RPGs are inherently slower media than movies, though. Low points in a movie where things drag might be... ten minutes in a good one? In a 50-hour RPG, the equivalent is a bit more than four hours. Even some of the better (but not best) films will have areas that could have been done better, or paced poorly, but you don't notice it quite as much.

Video games are just weird. And it feels like there's even more room for subjectivity, because not only do you have the presentation, but you have different gameplay systems that folks might like and others don't, and controls that might be sub-optimal for some and not others as well. For all the parallels, there are just as many things that don't line up, which is why I personally don't use the same standard.

Now, if we're just talking about the grading curve, it feels like it's to the point where we grade on a school-style system, with 7/10 being average. Some take 5/10 instead. I'm pretty sure Exhuminator uses that for his scoring. I tend toward the 7/10, for better or for worse, although I've started adjusting a lot of my scoring downwards in recent years.

[darsparx]

Pokemon yellow: finally got around to turning on my gba again...and I'm in rock tunnel. I don't know where I am and I should've bought more super potions XD

[Erik_Twice]

Do all the Persona games have standalone stories?*

Yes

Sorry total sidetrack I know. I just wish games didn't always have to be rated 7+ or they are worthless. It's a weird thing that everyone seems to now accept for only video games.

Thankfully scores are sloooowly coming down. Sometimes you see sixes and sevens being given to blockbusters (Destiny is the best example, though there was a lot of posturing about it) which was unheard of just a generation ago.

[Exhuminator]

I'm pretty sure Exhuminator uses that for his scoring.

Yep. If I give a game a 5/10 that means it's perfectly average. If I give a game a 7/10 that means it's above average. If I give a game a 10/10 that means it's unbelievably amazingly good. (So no I don't use the IGN version of 7/10 being average.) Also after sinking nearly 20 hours into VP2, I think I have a fairly informed opinion as to its merit on a ranking scale. And I might even go back and finish it someday, but I've had enough for now.

Yes

Thanks for the clarification.

[Ack]

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

Day 2 in the abyss.

Today I met the goblins. The friendly ones, I mean. I'd killed quite a few wandering the halls, but now I've discovered there are two rival races of goblins duking it out with each other on the first floor of the Stygian Abyss. Their leaders informed me of many things, such as the 8 treasures meant for the 8 leaders of the abyss and the massive spider boss that I'm assuming was that angry red spider I already killed. I also discovered that the octopuses that terrify me so much are really called lurkers, and they make wonderful pets for goblins unless you have one in your toilet.

Having now explored roughly 90% of the first floor, I decided it would be a good idea to unload my heavy pack and further furnish my storage area. I've now expanded it into multiple rooms, complete with areas for weapons, armor, and supplies. I have yet to find the shrine that I was told was on the first floor, though I think I have an idea of where it is. Still, considering I had spoken with the goblins, solved a few puzzles(including one with a weird stairwell and multiple switches), and grabbed as many items as I could find, I decided to plunge down into the depths of level 2.

Immediately upon entering level 2, I wandered through a narrow maze full of slimes that lead me to a shrine! Finally, after missing it entirely on level 1, I have found a shrine on level 2. Just one problem...I have to know some kinds of words or something to pray before the shrine now. My hopes of using it dashed for the moment, I decided instead to go out and explore more of level 2. Narrow, mazelike passages gave way to wide open corridors, and soon I had mapped out a massive central hallway shaped like a large + symbol. Every area of this floor seems arranged into the various quadrants, so I have warily begun exploring them. Already I have set up a cache of supplies in a small room that contained a few items off of the main corridor. I have also uncovered a key that lets me access a small township of men, found a stairway to level 3, found another route back up to level 1, and slaughtered a few goblins in a pitched running battle through the halls which left me barely alive but encouraged by my victory.

Currently my food and light supplies are good, with extra sitting in storage in case I suddenly have the need for it. I have decent enough armor, but my short sword is wearing down. Oh, I made a fishing rod while messing around in my inventory! I did finally discover how to tell if I'm hungry too. I have to interact with my compass. Oh, and I started to figure out the magic system, but the only spell I know about, I lack the letters to produce. Much remains to be discovered, with six more floors still entirely unknown to me. Further exploration is warranted.

[Exhuminator]

If you can beat this one without a walkthrough, I'll be impressed Ack. Some of the stuff you have to do to finish the game is rather... byzantine.

UU1 is great, but UU2 is freaking amazing. You're in for some great experiences man.