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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #28: Pandora's Tower

« on: August 30, 2013, 09:26:30 PM »

That's great if you liked the reused dungeons. More power to you. To me it felt like they wanted to hit the benchmark of 20+ hours of gameplay and didn't have the time, manpower or wherewithal to produce original content so they had to repurpose existing assets. Going through those repurposed dungeons just felt like more of the same. If you can't show me anything new just cut it out. Always better to leave them wanting more than be bored.


I get what you're saying about the Dawn/Dusk towers. I think it was more just my expectations that caused the problem. I was excited by the prospect of two more original towers, and instead got one larger tower. Not a big deal.

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #28: Pandora's Tower

« on: August 29, 2013, 09:26:24 PM »

Aaaaaaand done! I clocked in right around 20 hours and got the B ending. I was just a couple dresses away from the A ending, but I was at the end of the Dawn/Dusk tower and had no desire to grind affinity. After I finished the game I watched the S ending on YouTube. Gotta say, I liked the darker ending I got better, heh.

I had a lot of fun playing this, and I'm glad this RetroActive pushed me into playing it. That being said, one game design sin holds it back from being truly great: it's lazy. Dungeons are my favorite part of Zelda games, so a game basically consisting of only dungeons got me really excited! Then I realized that 5 of the dungeons were just retreads of the first 5, the next two were just mirrored versions of one another and the final was just a boss battle... Excitement deflating. Then add the fact that, outside of the New Game + key, you start the game with every ability needed to solve every puzzle in the game. This made me appreciate Zelda dungeons even more. Seeing an area you can't reach and then coming back to it with new abilities in tow is an almost unparalleled feeling in games, and the lack of this sense of growth in Pandora's is quite jarring. Sure there are new weapons and equipment, but nothing that drastically alters the gameplay.

I agree with The Cowabunga Kid and KisakiProject that the high points are the boss battles. Each one had its own clever hook. This is vital considering you're largely doing the same thing to attack each one. Easiest boss: The scorpion that you ride on top of. It barely ever hit me. Hardest boss: For some reason I really struggled with the water guy that had the master flesh riding around on a track. Looking back it doesn't seem that tough, but the jerk kept spraying me!

Some other observations:

I used the sword throughout. It was the perfect middle ground.

The combat got much better when I realized you could charge up your attack and move at the same time. I guess games have conditioned me into standing still while charging up so I didn't even consider it an option for a while.

Speaking of combat, I was surprised that random enemies wandering about the dungeon gave me more trouble than the bosses. Even those little flea guys can take off a healthy chunk of, well... health. And don't get me started on that fire moth that shot out the flaming bats. *shudder*

The endgame bug got me twice. I restarted and slept for 4 or 5 hours and that did the trick.

I hate having to scour every inch of a game to find journal entries. Don't hide the story.

The final boss was boring and took too long, but I love that music!

A fun game overall, but at this point in my life I'll take the polished 10 hour experience over the bloated 20+ hour experience any day. Looking forward to the next RetroActive!

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Podcast Discussion / Re: RFN RetroActive #28: Pandora's Tower

« on: August 17, 2013, 02:27:27 AM »

Howdy, all,


First RetroActive and first post, heh. I got lucky and my GameStop had it for $20.


I've played through the first two towers so far, so these are just some initial thoughts:


Overall the presentation is pretty nice. I like the art style and character design (except Aeron, who looks like a complete tool. (And acts like one.)) That opera piece that plays throughout is great, and the final boss variation (which I heard before ever playing the game) makes me want to pick up the score.


The controls are a bit clunky. For some reason it really bugs me that you can't jump, even though I'm fine with that in Zelda. Using the C button to pick up items is annoying, and sometimes I end up having to press it two times to get it to actually pick up my five Leots. Also, I wish the dodge maneuver was a bit faster. It always seems to take longer to start than it should and he just leisurely jumps aside when a quick roll would feel much better. There have already been a few times when the camera suddenly switched views on me during a battle and screwed me up.


The scenes with Elena eating are quite disgusting and a little disturbing. Add in her moaning during the transformation scenes and you've got some major creep-factor going on. Pervy wanker stuff aside, it is, at least, an interesting premise.


I like the structure of the game so far. Kind of Zelda meets Shadow of the Colossus. Although the first two bosses were very easy, and not particularly interesting to fight. Hopefully that timer doesn't end up biting me at some point. I despise timers in games and was a bit hesitant to pick this up because of it.


I'm enjoying it so far, but I think I'm going to have to play it in a very piecemeal fashion. It doesn't seem to hold my attention for very long.