Yeah. I certainly agree that some Japanese games and such need to evolve a bit, but it's just like too many of them are trying too hard to follow Western formula's and outcome just isn't really ever that great.Gamerforlife wrote:I have mixed feelings about japanese games. I don't think they should lose their identity, but there are many things about them that are archaic and dated and gamers are getting tired of that
You're right about localization. I started playing Okamiden recently and I'm surprised by how lazy the localization is. For a game that seems to hold up the same level of quality as the original Okami I was surprised by this. I guess it's not considered a high profile enough release for them to care
I too am sick of sequels. I'm sick of multi-platform titles too. I wish every game could be unique and special, but that would be a fantasy world. I firmly believe any good series, be it video games or movies should really just stop after three installments, after which it is unlikely a series can stay interesting. Multi-platform games annoy me because I'm tired of having to do research to find out which version is better
I have never been a big shooter fan, but I would like to see more FUN shooters. I mean funny stuff like Armed and Dangerous on the Xbox or Metal Arms:Glitch in the System. I am sick of post apocalyptic worlds, master chiefs, steroid using guys named Dom, brown and grey color palettes and realistic war simulators. To your point though, the genre definitely is oversaturated. One of the reasons I lost interest in 2-d fighters years ago is because there were too many of them and they all seemed the same. It was rare to see something creative like Darkstalkers or Red Earth and those didn't even catch on much
I support digital games to some extent, as a way for new ideas and smaller devs to get out there. I hate downloadable content though, which isn't to say that it's all bad, but I much prefer just having a finished product that the devs put 110% into. DLC gives them an excuse to be lazy. Oh, we'll just add that other stuff later. It's also a great way for notoriously greedy companies like Capcom to nickel and dime us
Yeah, about localizations/licensing, it just seems to be a huge issue with Nintendo (again) and stuff like JRPG's. I guess because these markets are risky thesedays, and that's just a damn shame. Also no offense to anyone that feels this way about JRPG's, but I got so sick of reviewers and articles dogging on turn-based gameplay being outdated and such throughout these past several years. I don't think that's the issue at all and could see myself still enjoying turn based games today, the issue is that a lot of JRPG's simply aren't that great in general now. The gameplay is fine for me, they just need to work on other things. Lost Odyssey was great stuff and the combat was as simple as it could get, but it stood out with it's good polish, audio options, great story and characters, etc.
Not to derive this topic too much or rant endlessly like I'm some cranky gamer already, but I think the issue is that gaming has just gotten way too mainstream to an extent. Everyone just plays it safe. It's crazy to compare Square Soft to Square Enix of today, whom are 99% nothing but Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts spinoffs and such being milked to death. Apparently three separate games in the "XIII Line" wasn't enough, as we've now got that sequel to XIII I don't think anyone really wants, when something that looks like it has potential ... Versus XIII, just continues to get pushed to the side.
Also just to slap SE more, they really need to get off their pompous high horse with the hilarious stupid game names: Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy, are you kidding me?
Where I'm getting at there though is that I'm a big fan and support of the little guys like Atlus. I really appreciate their efforts and look forward to the stuff they bring, but they're still not a huge company and can't license everything for us. I just wish that weren't so and it were easier for other small publishers to get stuff out to us and make good profit.
And yeah, I also actually support XBLA/PSN/indie stuff a good bit. And look, a lot of those games are sticking to really old formula's and they're turning out awesome (Shadow Complex randomly comes to mind). Though I kind of hate how XBLA titles went from a standard $10 to $15 within the last year or so and won't be surprised if more price rises happen. I'm starting to see "HD re-releases" being somewhat of an issue too, I'm all for big collections of trilogies and stuff... but stuff like what Capcom is trying to pull with RE4 and Code Veronica, that's just nickel and diming us. And yeah, they're one of the worst when it comes to DLC abuse. I'm sure many of us won't forget that controversial what was it, a 1-2mb file download that was a whole new mode for RE5? Not already on the disc? Hmm...
Hey look, new article...
"Homefront Xbox patch live, 'wide range of exciting DLC' inbound"
Great!...
