MithraPride

I mean, you guys do know that SE makes a lot of games, right?

Seriously, I am looking forward to a few of them and one I was a little disappointed to hear some bad things about.

Dirge of Cerberus was previewed on 1up.com and apparently, it isn't the bastard child of Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy I was hoping for. Seriously, I still own and play the original DMC. Being able to throw an enemy in the air with your sword then hold them there, suspended only by the bullets from your pistols...does it get any better?

Apparently unless you wanna play with a keyboard and mouse you'll need to adjust the controls and the game hails back to the glory days of Duke Nukem where you complete scripted events to get keycards to advance to the next series of scripted events. Also, they noted that in combat, there is a lag on firing the gun and the frame rate chokes when 5 or more baddies appear onscreen. The good? The cutscenes look better than Advent Children.

Kingdom Hearts 2 is a game that I'm not too excited about to be honest. The camera in the first Kingdom Hearts made me curse the salesgirl at GameStop who talked me into paying $50 for that game. The camera was on Sora's ass like Michael Jackson which made combat difficult. Again, I was expecting a more cinematic camera style. Then there was the platform jumping. I hated that with a passion. Not to mention that for certain levels you had to return later to lock them with the keyblade. The only part of KH I enjoyed was the Gummi ship building. That was pure fun. I literally spent hours looking for new parts and building my ship up and taking it out to see how this upgrade or that upgrade affected it. I actually got to the point where I only played that aspect and would only advance the story if it meant new ship parts.

What do I want to see in KH2? First off, cinematic camera. Its not asking for a lot and it would make a good game better. More variable combat. Not just in spells but in weapons and moves. Again, a DMC/FF love child would make me happy and willing to pay $50 for it. Also, do more with the FF characters and worlds. I know that its a Disney game, but COME ON. Put me in the FF worlds and let me play as some of those characters, too. A better balance of FF and Disney overall would be great.

Then there's Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Online. Online I am really looking forward to. From what I hear it'll be a real-time combat game and as long as the controls are Halo-esque i'll be happy. Seriously, who in the hell thinks its a good idea to use face buttons for weapon controls in a console FPS? You can't "Run and gun" unless the shoulder/trigger buttons fire weapons. I loved FM4 and play it about as often as my other Strategy RPG's (La Pucelle and FFT) so if FM5 is more of the same, I will love it. Although, some people do complain that the combat is a little slow and I would like the option to go real-time in combat situations but if not, no big.

After playing it for some time now, a number of things about Dragon Quest VIII have started to bug me. Mainly, having to go to a church to revive fallen characters and having to talk to NPC's to see when people level up in weapon skills and from experience points. Back when the original came out, I can understand that there were issues with that, but its 2006 and consoles are incredibly powerful so menus that display this information and items to revive people aren't that big an issue. I dunno, maybe its because DQVIII is the first i've played and I am kinda spoiled to Final Fantasy but that stuff annoys me. At least give me the option to display my exp. in the menu!

Finally there's the Final Fantasy that isn't an MMORPG but plays like one: Final Fantasy XII. The combat system, OH MY GOD!!! I can't say enough good about it. Real-time combat! It reminds me a lot of KOTOR (A game I love and have played countless times through on my Xbox and I swear I will someday beat as a Jedi) and well, there's an issue with KOTOR that I know Final Fantasy XII will fix: Depth. In KOTOR you only get 20 levels on each character (8 and 12 on the main which is a pain in the ass first time through) and on top of that, customization of weapons and armor isn't as deep as I had originally hoped it would be. I like how you can enhance guns with scopes and lightsabers with crystals and such, just I wanted more. Once you get to a point in the game where you're really good with the customizing and get a character's skill tree headed where you want to go, the game ends. Again, I know Final Fantasy XII will not be as shallow as KOTOR but I hope that it is deeper and more complex than Final Fantasy X.

All in all, I love a lot of what SE is doing, I just hope they aren't going to half-ass their new games just because the games are installments in a franchise they know will sell games.

Hehe well Dirge of Cerberus looks graphically pretty awesome, SE obviously pushed the envelope on PS2 graphics a little too far with that one hence the lag and such. It has Yuffie so yay! I don't have a PS2 so won't play it anyways

KOTOR I & II was awesome, kinda disappointed about the ending of II, all I got was a CS of the ship leave the planet before it blows up and that's it. Went back, choose the dark side options on the boss and same cut scene, hmm plot was pretty good still yet not as awesome as the huge plot-twist on I anyways, limited vendors that rarely sold upgrades they weren't gonna make it all that "in depth" since the game is fairly linear afterall

What about Grandia 3 =)
I'm very much anticipating its release in less than 2 weeks. Grandia's battle system is to die for I think.

This is kind oldschool, but I really dug Chrono Cross.

Even though I screwed up and couldn't go any further after already playing for like 4 hours.

Argl.

Chrono Cross? Pfft. Chrono Trigger is where it's at, you.

My favorite non-FF Square game ever, Vagrant Story. Best. Friggin'. Game. Ever. Truely dark and gothic plotline, wonderful animation, music done by the same wonderful people that did FFT...

Aye CT was awesome, I played on emulator so f*ck their save points I saved wherever I wanted

Vagrant Story eh, what console was that on? I may "pick it up"

Best non-FF Square game... Uh, why hasn't anyone mentioned Einhander yet? What about Bushido Blade? Brave Fencer Musashi?

Ah, Musashi, such a fun little platformer that was even better due to how unseriously it took itself.

I'm still sometimes dreaming of a FF-quality plot with the kick-ass combat system of Grandia 2....

Chrono Trigger was very good!

And yes, I was a little disappointed of the ending of KotoR 2. Both KotoRs were great games though.

'Planescape: Torment' anyone?

Fallout and Fallout 2
(post apoc coolness and lots of references to other stuff)

Arcanum: of steamworks & magick obscura
(Steampunk coolness, magic, who could ask for more?)

Vagrant Story I, too love mainly because me and the main character have the same name and the game was so incredibly deep and complex it made me cry I was so happy.

As for Brave Fencer Musashi (Sp?) is a game i've been looking to play for some time. Problem is I every time I find a copy I don't have enough money to get it /cry.

As for Grandia 3, it's on my GameFly Queue but I don't know a lot about it beyond everyone I know is foaming at the mouth in anticipation. Sowwy.

I like Radiata Stories

You can't "Run and gun" unless the shoulder/trigger buttons fire weapons.

Not true. Play any console Armored Core game (using Type B controls if it's AC: Nexus or Nine Breaker) and you'll understand this fact.

JediKitsune wrote:Best non-FF Square game... Uh, why hasn't anyone mentioned Einhander yet? What about Bushido Blade? Brave Fencer Musashi?

Ah, Musashi, such a fun little platformer that was even better due to how unseriously it took itself.

Bushido Blade and its sequal are the best fighting games ever. Soul Caliber 3 is mud compared to them.

Kistala wrote:

You can't "Run and gun" unless the shoulder/trigger buttons fire weapons.

Not true. Play any console Armored Core game (using Type B controls if it's AC: Nexus or Nine Breaker) and you'll understand this fact.

I mean when you have the two analog sticks for movement and aiming; the ever popular "Halo style" that I love.

One word for great non-FF SE games. Ehrgheiz.

Kistala wrote:Bushido Blade and its sequal are the best fighting games ever. Soul Caliber 3 is mud compared to them.

Soul Calibur 3 sucks big fat ass, PS2 onry wtf? God damn sony dumping a big fat truck of money on Namco's door What's with those new characters? Got a reject extra from Star Gate, some Japanese chick with an umbrella and a whore with a hoolahoop of doom, ooo!

Basically if you have an XBox DOA is the best options, PS2 has Virtua Fighter and GC... shoot yourself

Sorry off-topic-ish rant XD

Sugami wrote:

Kistala wrote:Bushido Blade and its sequal are the best fighting games ever. Soul Caliber 3 is mud compared to them.

Soul Calibur 3 sucks big fat ass, PS2 onry wtf? God damn sony dumping a big fat truck of money on Namco's door What's with those new characters? Got a reject extra from Star Gate, some Japanese chick with an umbrella and a whore with a hoolahoop of doom, ooo!

Basically if you have an XBox DOA is the best options, PS2 has Virtua Fighter and GC... shoot yourself

Sorry off-topic-ish rant XD

I don't care if you bash the PS2-onry thing, but I wouldn't scoff at the new characters until you've seen what they can do.

And for GC, get, uh.... Smash Bros. and Bloody Roar: Primal Fury.

If you have a PS2, uh... go import Rumble Fish 2 or Guilty Gear XX SLASH when it comes out.

Someone said Einhander(PS). Speaking as one who's played it extensively, I can very much recommend this if you're any good at side-scrolling space ship shooters. Very good controls, excellent versitility in game, nice graphics, and an above average plot for the type of game.

Planescape: Torment(PC) too is excellent. D&D 2nd gaming system executed perfectly on the PC with possibly one of the more expanded and in depth plotlines I've seen in a non-MMO.

And Vagrant Story is for PS. Ashley Riot is my God. ......no, really.

Ooo Smash Bros forgot about that, the one game on that console I haven't played and want to and my friend refuses to buy it. Also SC2 is on that platform too

Anyways the 3 "main" fighting series are DOA, SC and VF (not gonna say Tekken it sucks balls ). All 3 of which have undergone some changes (apparently). DOA4 had quite a few small changes which barely effects how it's played, VF5 had a couple of big changes which apparently makes it even more awesome and SC3 just went to pot.
Read this article somewhere, dude went and played DOA4 against the creator of the series (and got his ass kicked) but nevertheless he's "the man" at fighters and knows his stuff, which is what I relayed above

Virtua Fighter really isn't THAT big. Most casual players stay away from it due to the complexity.

Aso, for 'main' fighters, where's Street Fighter?

Also, there's King of Fighters, you know... the series that's had sequential games since 1994.

Oh yeah, and Guilty Gear? It's fairly recent, but it's already developed a considerable fanbase.

Talk about off-topic, it went from Non-Final Fantasy games made by SE to discussing fighting games.

Hehe well we're still in the non-FF games just they're not made by SE
I love almost all fighters and believe most of them have a place and are good for something

Street Fighter hasn't really been around for a while, there was that special anniversary edition and all those crossovers but not really competition for DOA etc.

I haven't seen King of Fighters and Guilty Gear in the shops over here, at least not to my memory. Nor have I seen any advertisements for it so they're obviously not big enough

I haven't played VF4 or later, I hear it's really good but don't know anyone with the game Both VF4 and the slightly later version (using same engine) had arcade release aswell as PS2, possibly bigger in Japan than anywhere else but still a top-runner.

Most "casual" players prefer Tekken, right? Because it's so slow and you can cheese the other player to death, I really can't stand those games but I'm not gonna go on a rant about how much I hate it...

Honestly, I think most 'casual' players play Soul Calibur more than anything. It's usually the fighting game freaks like myself that are raving about Tekken 5 and such.

agreed, casual players prefer soul calibur cauze of one thing... SWORDS!!

tekken is more for the type that masters a character or style. for example, im working on mastering mashima(my best rotates between kaz, devil jin, and old man) , karati jin, mastered kazama, and working on the two ninja's move lists (seem to be having more luck with raven right now).

my friends each mastered different chars. one mastered kaz mashima, lei, and yoshimitzu

the other knows mashima (not mastered), mastered brian, paul, christie, sumo guy, and ya.. alot

right now, im just wishing they had a tag mode in tekken5 (cauze damn tekken tag ROCKED). and i kinda wish devil kaz was in tekken5.

My Xbox 360 isn't online due to a defective Ethernet port (Waiting for Wal-Mart to get more in and i'll exchange it. After all, why should I go Xbox-less when Microsoft has guaranteed plenty by March?) ANYWAYS, my friend loaned me a copy of DOA 4 and I am addicted. I've never been a fighting game fan and despite many friends telling me to get DOA3 when I got my original Xbox I just said "Doesn't interest me."

Well, after selling my original Xbox to cover my credit card (Went over my limit when I bought the 360 and I was planning on using my Xbox money to buy CoD2 but bank said if I paid the amount I was over now they'd wave the penalties and pretend like it never happened ) so the loaned copy of DOA4 is the only Xbox 360 game I have until Gamefly sends me some (Bitch, bitch, bitch) and it is so much fun. I just started mastering the blocking and that has taken me from punching bag to actually being able to deal some damage and I'm damn close to actually winning a fight!

Point is this: Try a game and you may shock yourself and find out you like it. Like I did with the original PGR and Halo.

Hehe Team Ninja define the term "Hard Game" if you've ever played Ninja Gaiden you'll know
I wanna play DOA4 so much >.< if you set it to easy you should be able to win and do the Exercise mode (in sparring) for your favourite character, it'll familiarise yourself with their movelist. Blocking is for chumps, hit them first or get a counter/hold in

I really don't understand how people can like Tekken so much, besides trying to work out the 15 hit unblockable combo there's really nothing to it. For a 3D game you can only move back and forth, no 8-way run system like all the others. The engine is so slow I could go off and make a cup of coffee in the time it takes to do one move, most of the characters are just duplicates of others, and you can just cheese someone to death.

Er, you've been able to sidestep in Tekken since Tekken 3.

As for the duplicate thing, are you talking about stuff like King and Armor King? Because they have quite different move sets.

The DOA games have always bothered me because of counters and how they've *always* done way too much damage.

Also, if you think Tekken is slow and you've never played Virtua Fighter, you're in for a surprise.

Bah, I'm pretty sure it just made me jump or duck.
You have 3 different Jacks all seemed pretty much the same to me, Eddy and Afro man, not to mention the panda and bear that also use Jack movelist. What about that stick person or persons, think there's 2 which use someone else's moves.

Yes Tekken 5 (or whatever the latest one is) moves just as fast as Virtua Fighter 1! I'm pretty sure VF4&5 moves almost as quick as DOA. Heck even the last 2 Mortal Kombat games have faster pace than Tekken.

I agree about counters doing too much damage, especially against hard AI when they counter every other attack. DOAU had 4 counters (high, low, med-punch, med-kick) which all need pretty good timing and DOA4 apparently has made it more complex for humans (AI probably pull it off just as easily).

All of the Virtua Fighter games are slow. VF4 is considerably slower than DOA.

I can't say much about the Jacks, I don't play them. Tiger is basically just an extra costume for Eddy (you hit Start when selecting Eddy to get Tiger), and Mokujin/Testsujin are like Edge Master/Inferno/Charade/Olcadan in Soul Calibur in that they mimic random character's movesets.

Bah I'll find a video and proove you wrong!