Messages

201

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time

« on: March 31, 2009, 04:42:43 AM »

What do you find confusing about the wireless connectivity? I've only played over WFC and think nothing of it.

I haven't played Ring of Fates, so I can't compare the two games.

I was initially skeptical about "NUMBERS AND EXP POINTS? IN MY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES?" and am honestly still wondering if the change in progression mechanics is a good one. I personally loved the simple adventuring of Crystal Chronicles, and how getting an extra command or magic ring really made you feel special; I never liked experience points and levels, because they are constantly changing and thus have me constantly watching them rather than focusing on the gameplay.

In Echoes of Time, I feel the character progression is too fast, such that I rarely got the chance to enjoy my new equipment and form an "identity" for my character before being forced to upgrade. The "item level" system got my hopes up, but it merely mitigated equipment swaps, rather than making them unnecessary.

From what I understand, higher difficulty levels will have a player "farming" item levels in order to generate specific Jewels from them, with which to upgrade and improve their preferred items. There's an element of min/maxing there that I don't think I'll enjoy, and may have me putting the game down before I complete it on Very Hard. (I am on my second playthrough of Normal as of writing)

The story actually made me genuinely tear up a bit. Just a little bit.

The magic system is fine. While I reminisce about the time getting a magic ring was an event for celebration, this new "universal" magic skillset actually enforces co-operative play, as it allows experimentation with stacking from the beginning. For the solo player like myself, it also makes for a less vulnerable attitude.

The distinct lack of inventory-based item recovery is a good choice, as well. The gameplay is balanced such that you can focus on the action more often than not; this would be a bigger plus if you didn't have to focus on the action more often than not. I've found that the online messaging system is cumbersome to use in the middle of a fight: staying on the move to avoid enemies is difficult to do when you're looking at the bottom screen and fumbling for the right menu. This could have been fixed by reversing the setup on the touch screen, freeing the left thumb for movement while searching for the appropriate chat message with the right thumb.

...Technically you shouldn't use your fingers on the touch screen, but in games that use the D-pad and ABXY, there's really no avoiding it.

I was extremely tickled by the "fashion podium" when I first discovered it.

All in all, my biggest complaint is really the jaggy Selkie female. I am enjoying Echoes of Time and hope I will still be playing it on a relatively regular basis. (Preferably with other people)

202

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

« on: March 31, 2009, 04:13:09 AM »

I also enjoyed the Temple of the Ocean King.

That said, don't all trains come back to the train yard...?

203

General Chat / Re: "Hey I'm new!" Official Introduce Yourself to the Internet Thread

« on: March 31, 2009, 12:19:51 AM »

Kairon never pressured me to join, matter of fact. I believe he may have dreaded it on some level.

I'd like to mention that observing the Mafia games in the Funhouse inspired me to bring the Mafia game to a forum I frequented. Since then, the community that sprang up around the Mafia game got to such a volume and activity that we were forced by the site's administrators to move away and establish our own site. It was February 2008 when I started that first round, with no idea how big it would become...

204

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Pikmin 3: What advancements in gameplay do you want to see ??

« on: March 31, 2009, 12:13:32 AM »

For the past two Pikmin games, the Pikmin have unquestioningly served Olimar and other captains, never flinching in the face of danger and often flinging themselves towards certain doom. There is a simple devotion and dependency here that was eventually translated into famous Pikmin "Ai no Uta", or Love Song. Indeed, who here can forget the subtle emotional bond observable when Olimar first escaped the Pikmin Planet?

I've played both Pikmin games extensively, but losing Pikmin has never been easy, even when you could freely replenish your Pikmin numbers by revisiting the onions. For me, the feeling of loss when a single Pikmin died was a strong emotional discouragement against feckless tactics and bad decisions.

Looking at the ideas in this thread has raised in me the notion that a lot of what other people see in the Pikmin games are the themes of conquest, expansion, and exploitation.

Do you remember how in Pikmin 2, Olimar's company sent him back to the Pikmin Planet to essentially exploit and harvest its resources? Imagine that this becomes the norm: Pikmin are being domesticated and used as slave labor, paving the way for large companies to plunder the Pikmin Planet for treasure, leading to unchecked prospecting and the eventual establishment of colonies. Pikmin themselves are being altered for use by the companies: genetically modified Onions produce purple and white Pikmin, for example.

Olimar is recruited into one of these colonization efforts, and the first part of the game deals with him using Pikmin as part of the mining efforts: gathering treasure, clearing out wildlife, and such. Some of the puzzles here would involve using Pikmin to gather parts and assemble machines, and learning to use the new features and gadgets employed by companies to "farm" and organize Pikmin.

Eventually, the Pikmin are recruited to help assemble what amounts to the atomic bomb: a terraforming device. To further the expansion taking place on the Pikmin Planet, it is essential that its environment be made non-toxic to Olimar's people, even if doing so would wipe out life on the planet. Faced with the unblinking beady little eyes of Pikmin he has raised from pellet to full bloom, Olimar turns against the companies, swearing to undo the damage they are causing before it goes too far.

In this frantic second half of the game, the puzzles and exploration from the first game are now joined with the combat and tactics of the second as the player works to reverse-engineer and disable the colonies and their machines. Olimar will still have the new tools to control the Pikmin; they will simply be more difficult to use or replace. Pikmin armies controlled by the colony would also reintroduce the PvP aspects that were touched upon in Pikmin 2; this could help players prime themselves for online combat, as well. Olimar will have the opportunity to liberate enslaved Pikmin Onions, bolstering his own army or adding special varieties that were bred or genetically altered by the companies (some of which he had worked with while employed).

So the Pikmin story comes full circle: Olimar ultimately owes his life to the Pikmin, and they in turn need his guidance to escape certain doom.

But that's just an idea I had.

205

General Chat / Re: "Hey I'm new!" Official Introduce Yourself to the Internet Thread

« on: March 30, 2009, 07:30:33 PM »

MoronSonOfBoron confirmed for Brawl.