AppleQueso wrote:D.D.D. wrote:AppleQueso wrote:Xenosaga.
What about Xenosaga did you like? If music, any youtube/music clips in particular?
I guess the story/characters and all that. Had a pretty cool universe. Definitely very sci-fi 'anime' feeling, but it worked really well so I don't have any complaints in that department. I liked that Shion was a very different kind of protagonist for a JRPG. Hell I even liked the voice acting, it was very solid dub work.
Music was pretty well done too, but there wasn't very much of it.
The big problem was that there was so much story that you literally were watching the game's cutscenes more often than you were actually playing the game. Seriously, it actually puts Metal Gear Solid 4 to shame in some areas.
Gameplay itself was fairly boring too, just walk around one of many various labyrinths for a while and fight baddies. The whole 'boost' system was kinda interesting, but the battles ended up feeling like a slower, clunkier, less polished version of the battle system from Final Fantasy X. It just wasn't very fun.
I'm glad to see others criticize Xenosaga. The game has received so much fanboyish love from some people and was a critical darling upon its release. It has a nice soundtrack and a good story, but that's about it. I mean, the graphics are nice too, but only by Wii standards. Playing Xenoblade after spending a few hours on Final Fantasy XIII-2 on a 40" Samsung TV almost felt like going from a modern day game to a PS2 game. The gameplay in Xenoblade is BORING. Not initially, because you see interesting ideas in the affinity system and the combat, but those ideas never get fleshed out enough. The combat just pales in comparison to the stuff Final Fantasy games have put out in recent years, and doesn't even hold a candle to Grandia. On top of that, eighty percent of the game is sidequests, and they go through the same formula over and over again. Go kill X number of this enemy type. Go do some item fetch quests. Rinse, repeat. Ugh, most overrated title of 2012 by far
I would add games like Alien Hominid, Scott Pilgrim and Odin Sphere to this thread. Scott Pilgrim has one of the greatest video game soundtracks I've ever heard, and the graphics are gorgeous enough to be compared to the visual splendor of games like Castle Crashers and Dust:An Elysian Tail, but the combat in Scott Pilgrim is just so sloppy, half assed, and uninspired. Plus, the game is cheap as hell if you play solo, unless you grind your stats. You play any other decent XLBA beat 'em up like Castle Crashers, The Dishwasher Vampire Smile, or even Shank 2 then come back and play Scott Pilgrim and see just how shoddy the combat is by comparison.
Alien Hominid has a fantastic art style and is a hilarious game, but the level and enemy design fall waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay short of high quality run n gun games like the Metal Slugs, the Contras, Gunstar Heroes, The Adventures of Batman and Robin (Genesis version), and pretty much any other run n gun game you can name. Seriously, this is bottom tier compared to other great games in the genre. The best parts of Alien Hominid from a gameplay perspective are the mini-games. The run n gun stuff is crap
Odin Sphere - Great operatic story, gorgeous visuals, nice music, interesting theater like presentation, and the most pathetic excuse for an action rpg combat system I think I have ever seen. Odin Sphere doesn't even seem to understand something as basic as what an actual combo is. Plus, the game has performance issues (slowdown) and a lack luster game design that consists of you replaying the same levels and boss fights over and over again.
Catherine - The story is intriguing and the game has a great look to it, and I've no complaints with the audio department, but the difficulty level of this game gets frustratingly high and towards the end of the game you're dying to completely random, cheap crap. Plus, many people who have played the game will attest to the rather slippery controls
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne - I loved everything about the game from its story, to its unique look and sound, but I hated combat and I hated the cheap, frustrating level of difficulty the game had. I never finished it as I just got sick of playing it.
But I loved the story and gameplay. I here comments like corny story and over the top and messed up gameplay but funny thing is when i played i did not notice any of this whether it was there or not. This was actually my first true rpg I played so maby it holds nostalgia for me but I love it!
