Topic: Episode 357: Legal Satire

[Pandareus]

Maybe it's hard to find Halloween games on Nintendo platforms, but that won't stop us!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/35872

This episode may start out with Wii U Party (which Gui actually likes plenty), but the dominant topic of New Business is Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies, a.k.a. Ace Attorney 5. James has already beaten the game and leads the discussion, but you'll also get less complete reactions from Jonny and guest Michael Cole. We learn how the game reinvents investigation scenes (complete with a comparison to Zork... friggin' Zork!) and that it may be a surprisingly sharp commentary on the Japanese legal system. Jonny tacks on the short version of why he pre-ordered a PS4 launch bundle, and even picked up a Dual Shock 4 controller before launch.

After the break, we lost TYP to more important website business, but the remaining trio return to discuss some Halloween-themed games available on Nintendo systems. We may not have the same array of M-rated horror fests that you'll find on PC or even other consoles, but there are still plenty of opportunities to celebrate the spookiest holiday. Case in point -- we expected this to be a 15-minute mini-feature, but it kept us occupied for the entire second half of the show! Each of us played one or two extra games for the occasion, so it starts as kind of supplement to New Business and later develops into a discussion of the larger concept of Halloween-related gaming.

Do you have any favorite Halloween (or Thanksgiving...) games? Send in your ideas, plus any other questions for the podcast crew. And don't forget that the NWR Telethon for Child's Play, including TYP's Live Radio Trivia, is coming up in just three weeks!

[lolmonade]

Fun episode.  When the topic of Halloween/fall games came about, the first thing I thought of was a Sega Genesis game I grew up with, Haunting Starring Poulterguy.  I'd play it during the fall season, and the premise of the game is you are a ghost haunting a spoiled family out of various houses they own.  You do so by possessing several items in the rooms they're in until they're scared enough to run out of the house.


It was certainly a flawed game, but something I found very novel & unique.  I'd love to see a game with a similar premise come out.

[azeke]

Yep. Wii Party > Mario Party. What looks just too janky, weird and just don't gel at all in MP, works great with Wii aesthetic.

Talking about optional modes, i really wish they implement option to just remove some mini-games. Tournament in U game sounds interesting.

I am sure that everyone who says online mode would be the sole reason for them to start playing "these kind of games" (insert perpetually disgusted Anton Ego facial expression at other people having the nerve to have fun) won't actually play them even with online. One or two times to test it out and nod "yep, it works" for novelty sake -- and that's it.

That's how far your interest will go.

Fortune Street ("Boom Street" in Europe) has online mode. How many of you bought it? How many of you played it? How many of you still playing? Anyone? Noone? That's what i thought.

Ace Attorney:
Applying "Vertigo effect" (dolly zoom) when player changes 3d slider was already done. I am pretty sure SF4 did that and probably few other games. Super Mario 3d Land made that a separate setting where you can switch between two different FOV settings.

Love to hear that they made moving between location easier now. And overall glad to hear impressions that the game got streamlined. I downloaded the game but didn't started it properly.

I've got those costumes. Not really much of change. I wish they made hobo Phoenix costume. Of course that would make no sense story wise but who cares?

Autumn atmosphere. Newer Super Mario Bros. (NSMB mod) has entire world set in in autumn, leaves and everything.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories:
When i say "this videogame has a good story", i actually mean "it's actually trash and doesn't make sense, but it's videogames and this is a bit better in few moments than the rest of the crap".
Shattered Memories to this day is still the only game that i played that i can honestly say has a legitimately good, no, GREAT story with no reservations about it's medium.

[Enner]

Good show. The Halloween gaming segment was really interesting. I'm a 'fraidy cat so I have been avoiding scary and creepy games. When I played through Resident Evil 4, I was in a constant state of stress and tension just walking around due to the atmosphere.

The great big talk on Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies was a treat. It is tempting me to buy the trilogy on WiiWare and picking up Dual Destinies on the eShop. However, I worry so much Ace Attorney at one time will be too much.

[Jonnyboy117]

I didn't buy Fortune Street because I didn't want Fortune Street, especially with the hoop-jumping of playing any Wii game online. A first-party, refined sequel on the far superior Wii U platform with voice chat integrated into the controller is a totally different proposition!

[NWR_Neal]

I didn't buy Fortune Street because I didn't want Fortune Street, especially with the hoop-jumping of playing any Wii game online. A first-party, refined sequel on the far superior Wii U platform with voice chat integrated into the controller is a totally different proposition!

Jonny - we should play Fortune Street at PAX East. I totally get what you mean regarding playing it online, but if you've got a few people together, it's the best version of Monopoly ever. And there's a Slime from Dragon Quest in it.

[Pandareus]

I'd play, Neal.

[Plugabugz]

Did i hear Now Playing twice?

[Crimm]

Did i hear Now Playing twice?

Indeed. I guess Gui really enjoys my writing.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Did i hear Now Playing twice?

Indeed. I guess Gui really enjoys my writing.

Well, at least someone does.
 
 :
 
 
On the topic of games from back in the day which were frightening, I remember Shadowgate on the NES scaring the hell out of me. I think most of that, however, has to do with the box art and the music, both of which really set the tone. As a kid, that's all I really needed, because once the tone was established my imagination usually took over.
 
All I have to do is hear that music today and I still get chills.

[ejamer]

I didn't buy Fortune Street because I didn't want Fortune Street, especially with the hoop-jumping of playing any Wii game online. A first-party, refined sequel on the far superior Wii U platform with voice chat integrated into the controller is a totally different proposition!

Jonny - we should play Fortune Street at PAX East. I totally get what you mean regarding playing it online, but if you've got a few people together, it's the best version of Monopoly ever. And there's a Slime from Dragon Quest in it.

Totally agree that this is the way to go: a few friends (and plenty of drinks) in the same room, and it's a blast.

[daverhodus]

DLNA is awesome and the PS4 FAQ flat out saying that PS4 won't support it is a big deal.

[Sarail]

Yeah, that makes the PS4 a no-go in my book. Complete wreck, too, as that would have completed the package for me. It's such a defining feature because I'd use it constantly for movies and the telly. That's pretty much what my PS3 was used for before it finally YLOD'ed.

I can live without the next big Naughty Dog game. Won't bother me one bit.

[adadad]

Good episode but a few quibbles have inspired me to comment.


- Sad to hear James saying how much he dislikes the tank Resident Evil games! I've never tried the N64 version of RE2 but the Playstation version I thought was really good. Remake on the Gamecube was too scary for me, but RE2 on the PS1 was really enjoyable, the voice acting was incredibly funny-dumb but there was enough tension to make for an entertaining game.


- Even worse to hear was Gui dismissing Silent Hill 1. That game is side by side with Silent Hill 2 as the best in the entire series in my opinion, and a genuine classic. Why on earth would you stand around shooting the winged enemies in the street when it's completely unnecessary? And silly too - they're difficult to kill, it's takes ages to kill them and there's another one waiting for you in the next street. They probably respawn too. All you have to do is run away. They're a bit annoying but the street sections are such a tiny part of the game.


The school is the introductory level and then after that the game really starts hitting its stride in the hospital. From there on out I found the experience completely engrossing and creepy as hell. Not in the RE jump-shock way but scary in a psychological sense. Silent Hill 2 is just as compelling although it has a slower start than the first game, and has more jump scares than the first game.


Shattered Memories has a brilliant story but I think it's sorely lacking in the gameplay and the fear department. The split between the normal world and the ice world means that neither world is particularly interesting. The normal world is utterly devoid of threat, and the ice world alternates between frustrating (when enemies pile on you) to boring (when you're running round in circles, hopelessly lost). Wherever you are, the gameplay is totally predictable with no surprises. I appreciate there's a lot of care and detail in the normal world but I wish they had given the player more to do in it.

[Crimm]

Games with fixed cameras are inherently broken.


Any time the enemy can see you, and you can't see them, and there is nothing you can do to correct the problem (and this isn't a stealth enemy) you fucked up as a game designer.

[Pandareus]

- Even worse to hear was Gui dismissing Silent Hill 1. That game is side by side with Silent Hill 2 as the best in the entire series in my opinion, and a genuine classic. Why on earth would you stand around shooting the winged enemies in the street when it's completely unnecessary? And silly too - they're difficult to kill, it's takes ages to kill them and there's another one waiting for you in the next street. They probably respawn too. All you have to do is run away. They're a bit annoying but the street sections are such a tiny part of the game.


The school is the introductory level and then after that the game really starts hitting its stride in the hospital. From there on out I found the experience completely engrossing and creepy as hell. Not in the RE jump-shock way but scary in a psychological sense. Silent Hill 2 is just as compelling although it has a slower start than the first game, and has more jump scares than the first game.


Shattered Memories has a brilliant story but I think it's sorely lacking in the gameplay and the fear department. The split between the normal world and the ice world means that neither world is particularly interesting. The normal world is utterly devoid of threat, and the ice world alternates between frustrating (when enemies pile on you) to boring (when you're running round in circles, hopelessly lost). Wherever you are, the gameplay is totally predictable with no surprises. I appreciate there's a lot of care and detail in the normal world but I wish they had given the player more to do in it.

I felt I gave the game a good try. I did learn to just run past those flying creatures after a while, but then the dogs showed up and they aren't so easy to avoid.

The school is basically where I stopped playing, because I felt the puzzles were really unintuive. At that point, I asked myself why I was playing the game and whether it was worth going on, but the answer I arrived at was "No". Maybe I'll get back to it one day, but it's doubtful.

You are correct, however, in saying James is wrong about Resident Evil.

[Crimm]

yep, that resident evil gameplay is soooooo timeless, which is why after RE4 people kept making games that play like 0-3.

OH WAIT! They didn't. Because theyre awful.

You all can nostalgia all you want, but fixed cameras and the stupid control scheme they require died because they're not functional. The hard shifts are disorienting. Aiming at enemies is nearly beyond your control as you cant "line up" your sights. Enemies exist beyond your frame of view and there is nothing you can do.

But if prerendered backgrounds are that much more important than non-awful gameplay by all means, continue to live in the delusion where these were good games.

[adadad]

I felt I gave the game a good try. I did learn to just run past those flying creatures after a while, but then the dogs showed up and they aren't so easy to avoid.

The school is basically where I stopped playing, because I felt the puzzles were really unintuive. At that point, I asked myself why I was playing the game and whether it was worth going on, but the answer I arrived at was "No". Maybe I'll get back to it one day, but it's doubtful.

You are correct, however, in saying James is wrong about Resident Evil.

Funnily enough when I played through Silent Hill 1 I did a similar thing to you - played to the end of the school and then put it down for a good while. I was sufficiently intrigued and returned only to be really impressed for the rest of the game. I guess the puzzles are a matter of taste because I felt they were decent. Strange and weird but intuitive, and the puzzles actually make sense within the game world given how messed up and dreamlike Silent Hill is (this becomes increasingly evident as you progress). The settings too are realistic, totally unlike the Resident Evil games - Raccoon City apparently has an insane maverick architect building its police stations and mansions.

Gui, I'm surprised you would dislike Silent Hill and like the early REs, they're closely connected in my mind. Resident Evil is like Hammer Horror, B-movies, over the top and a bit of a laugh, while Silent Hill is like a David Lynch film.

James, I think fixed camera angles are a matter of taste, and as long as they're not overly obtrusive I don't find them too annoying. Incidentally the Silent Hill games including the first one handle the camera better than RE, it gives you over the shoulder control in many environments but not for small rooms which have fixed angles, which works pretty well I think.

It's true that the fixed angles have almost entirely gone away in favour of over the shoulder camera, and I don't wish them back but at the same time it doesn't ruin the early REs for me. The game compensates somewhat by autoaiming - it's not exactly taxing when you just have to shoot in the right general direction. I think the bosses are probably the biggest hassle in that sense since they can often move fast.