Random Gaming Thoughts

[Exhuminator]

Been playing 999 on DS. Almost done with my first play-through. Still waiting for this game to OMFG!ZORG blow my mind like the internet promised. Hasn't happened yet. Plan to play through at least twice just to be sure. Thus far this is a "good" game, but not the bombastic headplosion I was promised.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Been playing 999 on DS. Almost done with my first play-through. Still waiting for this game to OMFG!ZORG blow my mind like the internet promised. Hasn't happened yet. Plan to play through at least twice just to be sure. Thus far this is a "good" game, but not the bombastic headplosion I was promised.

Dammit! I paid a full $20 - a king's ransom by my standards - for a complete copy of that game earlier this month with the expectation that it would make my head esplode!

[AppleQueso]

never believe the internet hype for anything

[Exhuminator]

Never believe NeoGAF hype for anything!

I'm not saying 999 is a bad game, it's definitely decent. I'd say it's even $20 decent, sure. But I was just expecting the writing to be more intriguing than it has been, and the pace to be a bit faster than it is. I mean, for every 30 minutes of puzzle solving you do, you've got to wade through 90 minutes of dialogue exposition. It kind of kills any sense of tension in that regard.

That said, this game is meant to be replayed over and over, choosing new paths and uncovering more of the plot every time. So perhaps the mindbending twists only start happening on subsequent plays. We shall see. I will say I enjoy 999 enough to have already bought its sequel on Vita, for what that's worth.

Anybody else around here already beat this one? Spoiler free opinions?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

^ I love NeoGaf a whole lot but they can get you hyped and convince you the biggest piece of shit is gold. Just check out their Amazing Spider-Man 2 OT

999 is on my play list since I really want to try Virtues Last Reward.

[isiolia]

I've beaten 999 (all paths/etc), but only have done one ending or so of the sequel so far.

I didn't find the writing to be all that gripping either, but the way things are tied together does make it more interesting than it might seem early on. You do need to play through to each of the endings (pretty much), and can't even get the true end without doing others first.
The downside there is that the game really isn't well designed for repeat playthroughs. You can fast-forward dialogue like in a visual novel, but you've still gotta do the puzzles over and over. I believe the sequel does let you just jump past segments of the game entirely if you just want to try a different decision later on, but 999 gets veeery tedious if you're doing it back to back.

[AppleQueso]

Nah, it's not just a NeoGAF thing, any big internet community will do it. People tend to get... overenthusiastic about things they like online. (They also get really overenthusiastic about things they hate, to the point where people will get genuinely, relentlessly upset with you for liking things that they don't.)

When I see something that's gotten really popular and really hyped up, the general takeaway I usually get is "this will probably be decent I should check it out."

I find that works out well.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I used to never buy strategy guides because:
- I always figured I could find the information online
- for the price of one I could usually buy a game instead

....but I'm slowly warming up to them. Definitely better than trying to read an FAQ off a computer screen. And the last thing I need is more games considering the size of my backlog. Picked up a nice guide for A Link Between Worlds for $15 today.

[darsparx]

Heh I still have my official guide for dk64 and donkey kong country(gba port). Two big magazines and I still haven't finished those games

looks like I'll be raiding my local gamestop before the end of next month:



Especially because I'm sure I can get another coupon or something with 17,286 points...

[Exhuminator]

The downside there is that the game really isn't well designed for repeat playthroughs. You can fast-forward dialogue like in a visual novel, but you've still gotta do the puzzles over and over.

Yeah, I'm on my second playthrough now, and this is already bothering me. If you know your game has to be replayed continuously, why not make it convenient to do so? This aspect really bothers me because this is a "good" game that could be "great" if only it were more respectful of the player's time. Well I will do one more playthrough and see if the story becomes more "what a twist" amazing. I doubt I will do more than two playthroughs though, simply because of how inconvenient it is. Youtube can provide the other endings if things don't exponentially become more intriguing.