another great episode, guys!
my responses....
1. This is unrelated, but did James ever finish 999? I remember him saying he would hate the game if it didn't provide a good explanation at the end and having walked the same exact road, I felt very unsatisfied by the conclusion. So, just wondering what James' reaction wound up being?
2. MH3 is definitely not for everyone. I tried the demo because my brother-in-law was hellbent on getting the game and wanted me to play with him. I hated the demo. Then, as release day approached I thought "well, I do love online co-op and my co-worker is psyched about it too ... aw heck I'll buy it." 500 hours later, I found that though we toss around the word "addictive" a lot, I was ADDICTED to MH3. It scared me a little how much I wanted to play that game.
I completely understand the gripes voiced by John in the episode. None of his points were wrong. Just his tastes and, as he said, if he wanted to invest that kind of time the game may have appealed to him more.
But I do have to say, the things that REALLY appealed to me about the game was the fact that after 500 hours I STILL felt like I saw something new every day I played! For instance, the secret area on the ice map that can only be accessed if a monster breaks down a wall. or the time when Jhen Mohran threw a teammate into the air and he (well, the game) caught himself on the lip of the ship with just his hands! epic!
Also, I really liked a break from the battle = XP = progress formula. I know John said it feels like a lack of progression, and again, that's his feeling so there's nothing wrong with it. But to me, I felt like the game just rewarded SKILL more than GRINDING. And that was a big deal for me. Yea, you can grind like hell and get the best sword in the game.... now do you know how to use it?!!? That was very cool for me.
If anyone on the RFN crew wants a bad-ass status gunner for support ... I know a good one! (hint: it's me!)
3. Still lovin' the PKMN. Still lovin' Lindy's discussion of the series.
John's idea of HM streamlining as ADDITIONS instead of moves? Heck yea, that'd be nice. And given the tweaks in Black/White I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of thing happened someday.
I really don't think GameFreak/Nintendo is as "shackled" by the HMs as it may appear. I know I had to delete all HMs and remove all items before I could "Pokeshift" my old guys into the new game.
And hey, I also missed having the old Pokes because - as much as it may be sad - a big part of PKMN is people developing some weird sentimental attachment to these little guys. So, they will probably neeeeever start completely from scratch. But that's just my take on it.
Also, EV training is ridiculous. Battle for fun and strategy or not at all!
4. I got a chance to demo a 3DS for the first time a few days ago. It was at Best Buy. There was no line. My wife and I really thought the 3D was going to blow our minds. But... it just didn't. The conditions were not ideal: the screen was grimy and had all sorts of harsh light reflections .... so that didn't help I'm sure. But even when I felt like I really "got it" I was just kinda like "oh, ok, it's WSResort in 3D............... nifty."
And right now, "nifty" isn't worth $250.
As for Pilot Wings, I looooooooooooved the plane stuff in WSR. I'm probably one of the few people who got EVERY landmark on all 3 times of day.... which is why I have little need to fly around it again. Know what I mean? Can't believe they didn't make a new location for that. Maybe they felt not many people played the airplane stuff in WSR?
Also, since it was brought up, my wife loves the Chicken Suit in WiiFitPlus. She's very good at it.
5. Totally agree w/ James on the FPS content. It's not the genre I hate, but I do hate the generic take-no-guff roid rager protagonists. I don't care if it's first person and I can't see them ... I would rather let the f*ckin' aliens tear that d-bag to shreds. ^_^
6. Totally agree w/ the panel on motion control going forward. Let's face it, there were growing pains this generation. It shouldn't have been a surprise. No one knew Wii Fit would take off but Wii Music would crash and burn. Sure, in hindsight it seems obvious, but ... that's the luxury of hindsight now isn't it?
But, in the future, I think companies won't be as worried about shoe-horning motion into gaming (they'll have 3D for that!) and motion control will gradually become a staple of gaming that has its applications just like the d-pad and the analog stick. I'm sure that if modern gaming media existed when the NES came out people would have been UP IN ARMS that their precious Atari joystick was taken away ( "my entire right hand gives much more accurate control than my left thumb!! wtf?!?!" )
7. My concerns for the future? I'm with James. I like to OWN games. It bothers me that my WiiWare games will be flushed down the digital toilet one day. Where as I can still hold annual Tecmo Super Bowl tournies with my cartridge on Super Sunday. Even disc-based games that thrive on updates and DLC ... good luck playing that in 10 years.
And if we really are supposed to "move on" from a game in 10 years, what does that say about the medium in general? Imagine if writers and directors expected no one to want to watch their movie in 10 years. Indeed.
Lastly, gaming journalism is my biggest concern for the future. You guys rule but you're in a class by yourselves. I could talk for hours on why Kotaku, G4 and parts of GameTrailers are poisoning the well for all of us.
... and I'm allergic to poison.
Topic: Episode 236: Trauma Hunter (Read 11296 times)
