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Nintendo Gaming / RE:Skies of Arcadia...

« on: August 21, 2004, 06:38:28 PM »

Ahh, well, I did ask questions on topic about the game at hand, which as usualy with forum boards nobody seemed capable of responding to.  Instead they pick something off topic to reply to.  Either way they would have to read over the portion where I asked questions yet ignored or did not know, in which case, don't hit reply.  Well this time I have clearly demarked and separated the on-topic portion from the off-topic one.

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Q: I'm at a loss to find the "Maroon Isle" (i.e. have spent 5+ solid hours looking).  One online walkthrough quotes some coordinates, which are just wrong.  Yet this same walkthrough describes a vague area between two points: half way between a discovery and an ocean.  Yet literally there is no visible island in the region between the discovery and the entrance boundary to the ocean.  I've also checked all visible islands within the ocean in the area and I can not seem to find anything, neither waiting for my compass to spin, or actively pushing the 'A' button.  Another discovery list merely echoes the hint given in the game.  Yet another walkthrough doesn't mention it at all!  Is "Maroon Isle" invisible?  Is it above or below clouds?  Does it move around actively in the game, or is the location static yet varies each time you play?  Can anyone PM coordinates of where they have found it?  Can it only be found at a certain point and not after that point in the game?  I run into a lot of monsters in the region, and there is great turbulence, so it takes forever.  Any help would be great!

Update: I've found the Ixa'ness Demons, it was in a walkthrough I found after my previous post.  If you follow the plot you'll find them and you'll be able to beat them... if you use your best move(s).  ;-)  The walkthrough I found can be obtained via Google: walkthrough link.

Sorry for being vague, but I don't want to give away anything major and ruin the game for anyone.  Best to err on the side of caution.  If you have a hint, please PM, or post a URL to a document in the thread, or give some other cryptic response.
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This next section seems to be straying off-topic a bit.  Sorry for perpetuating it in the "Skies of Arcadia Legends" GameCube forum.  However for anyone who cares to read, here is a commentary.  Otherwise the rest of the post can be skipped.  Just scroll on down.  Save your time and mine, if you don't want to read, then don't read, and don't gripe about what you didn't want to read in the first place!  Does this work for everyone?  :-)

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Quote
Originally posted by: Ms.Pikmin
So.....much.....text....

*head explodes*

Such... small... head  *implodes*

Quote
Originally posted by: Infernal Monkey
O_O The mere fact that the TurboGrafx had three Bonk games eats your statement. It also had Devil's Crush! DEVIL'S CRUSH! And Dreamcast suffered from a lack of decent games? What? Rush 2049 every day.

The "Bonk" games did not excite me.  Back in the day my cousin and I shared the opinion that they were quite ridiculous.  We had played many games on many platforms since Atari 5200.  Three of the same game demonstrates a lack of originality or creativity.  Several games on the TG16 platform were exciting to me at first, to experience the then-amazing capabilities.  But in the end the games were not up to par.  To this day the only game which I seem to have even a marginal rememberance for was Neutopia (the first).  "Devil's Crush" was never on my radar.  Actually I never even bought a TG16.  I went to my cousin's house and used his.  I read gaming magazines and did not see any games that I liked.  After a couple years I stopped looking at TG16.  I never owned a Dreamcast, and only played a few titles on rare occasions, none of which were very interesting.  By this time I was not really into gaming.  But from what few titles I have read reviews of online, I did not see any games which appeared to suit my tastes.  Junk, garbage comes to mind.  But someone else's review may not reflect my actual experience with the game.  In any case, half a dozen titles on a platform which I personally find interesting and stimulating, as well as entertaining and well composed, does not give much incentive to buy the platform.  At least 10 decent games to start with and I'll buy a platform.  :-)

I was always into RPGs, not Mario rip-offs.  The first sucked, the 2nd and third were my favorite, the first SNES Mario game was worthy.  After three or four times it's exceedingly mind numbing to play the same story, no matter how fancy the graphics.  And speaking of Mario, how many incarnations have there been?  50?  100?  Time to retire already, jeez.  Try inventing something new once in a while, i.e. non-franchise, non-sequential.  There are way more of these quirky, offbeat, somewhat experimental sort of games on the GameCube these days, amid the overwheming number of movie-based games and franchises.  This is good.  Unfortunately most of them are geared towards three to five year olds or just plain suck.

While I have enjoyed much of the technical aspects of game play of the Zelda games (the game engines), the whole franchise is becoming very boring.  They main character is always someone dirrerent, in a different land.  The bad guy is always someone different.  But it seems to be always a guy named link trying  to rescue a princess named Zelda from an evil guy who wants to rule the world by force.  It's a tired formula.  It was an RPG on NES, now it's classified as an "adventure".  The distinction I guess is no experience, levels, stats nor turn-based combat.

Quote
Originally posted by: RCmodeler
I doubt it. Skies of Arcadia is just a port of the Dreamcast game... minor enhancements... nothing more. If Sega had wanted full dialogue, they would have put it on the PS2. But I doubt Sega wanted to waste extra cash hiring voice actors and syncing the mouths.

I guess that is all one can expect from a very simple low-budget port.  However, I believe I was speaking in a more informal manner, emphasizing the "next" game, if they make one.  A waste of cash, is perhaps the pessimistic way of looking at things.  It makes an assumption from the outset:"The game is going to fail, so why spend any more to make it better?"  In which case, why port it at all?  Perhaps it would have sold better if it had caught up with the times (had a full verbal track).  Such a game may be just a product to the business people, but a well made game can almost be like an interactive work of art.  It's pointless to comment further about the game that already "is", so apply these comments to a sequel, or any original work in the genre.
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edit note0: syntax confusion caused two edits, sorry!
edit note1: incorrect link syntax corrected
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Nintendo Gaming / RE: Skies of Arcadia...

« on: August 12, 2004, 08:42:51 PM »

Well, I bought the game this spring but have just gotten to playing it last week and this week.  I've only just finished getting the Green Moon Crystal, but I was hooked on the game after about an hour or two playing.

I also bought a booklet from Prima.  The booklet is fair at best.  If I were giving stars, I'd say 3/5 at best, maybe 2.5.  It covers no bounties.  It often reports the incorrect color weapon or magic to use against a boss.  Discovery locations have vague descriptions, aren't complete (don't tell you what it's called before you find it, nor how to find all of them, like how to get the cham from the sky merchant by trading stuff, yet the merchant doesn't appear to have any trade dialogue, and if you sell the type and quantity described in the Prima guide, nothing happens, nor if I need to come back at a specific time to get the required dialogue, after which events, or when something else is too late, etc.), often pinpoints the incorrect location on the printed map.  All enemies in the game are listed, but not all the details like experience, gold, where to find, level to beat them, notes on strategies, etc..  Anyone remember the original Final Fantasy on the NES and the special Nintendo Power issue that covered just that game?  Or the Ninja Gaiden special issue?  Or am I just showing my age?  Anyways those were the last game guides I've seen that covered any game to that level of detail.  Ahh, just like treasure hunting: you shell out good money for a half-done map that only gets you so far and then leaves you high and dry.  In that regard I suppose one could wryly say that it makes the whole experience seem much more real, tangible.  ;-)

I've found some half-done walkthroughs online, but none mentioned the Ixa'Ness Demons bounty, except one possible hit on a pay-site.  But Google had half or that FAQ cached, which had half the info about the Ixa'ness Demons bounty: how to fight, but not where or when to find.  ;-)  I'd rather avoid stumbling blindly on to a bounty in air while exploring, when I expect to find a different bounty.  I have just been trying to collate search results from a few online sources, and what little info is in the Prima guide.

To those who say the game wasn't well advertised, well, I never pay much attention to ads.  I do not need advertisements to tell me that I am going to like a game because some weird guy with a voice modulator makes it sound cool with a 5 second sound byte on TV, and custom CGI sceenes which are exclusive to the TV ad and not related to or representative of the actual game.  I bought a GameCube system, went to Nintendo's game list, looked at each of the 400+ games, and this was one of about 10 that I liked.  The game sold itself on the Nintendo game list.  And after playing the game, it proved itself worthy and kept itself from being sold to anyone else.

Those who complain about the distribution, I have one word for you: eBay.  That's where I got my games, some used, some new, some slightly scratched, but all playable and some half the price of new including the shipping.  I had no problem finding this game in new condition when I bought it in late winter/early spring 2004.  Furthermore, there's something else to worry about.  Out of 400+ games, only about 10 seemed interesting for a serious gamer and that's pretty pathetic.

Fans of the GameCube should maybe worry that it'll become another dead platform like the DreamCast or TurboGrafix 16, both of which had decent hardware in their day, but suffered from decent titles.  Sony with PSX/PS2/PS? and M$ with it's XboX are likely to persuade most smaller game makers to release builds only for their platform, by simply paying the software company outright for all the copies of the game that anyone would ever buy on the competing platforms, minus the added costs to the developer of supporting multiple platforms.

About buying online, I would only advise against buying a GameCube online from anywhere, unless you actually know the person and can trust them to pack it competently (get them to take pictures of a product that is currently being packaged, if they won't do it, forget them) and use a good shipper (I've had mostly good luck with UPS, FedEx, and USPS, but an item like this would maybe do better in one 3-hour jet flight than 7 days cross country by road).    You need a box at least twice as long, wide, and high (that's 8 times the volume) and packed almost full of peanuts, or foam blocks, or crumpled (not popped) bubble wrap.  Of course it's ok to buy online to reserve your copy and go pick it up at the store in person.  :-)

I got 2 DOA systems in a row from one online seller, complained about the packaging each time and cited it as the likely cause of malfunction, explaining that the DVD-like drive can't take vibrations of an icy road and potholes with a driver going 50-60 m.p.h. on small side streets.  ;-)  I'm sorry but 1/2" of air (no, not even the air-cells, just air) and 6-12 foam peanuts is not going to absorb the vibrations from pot holes, or even the guys tossing the box around the trucks!  They promised a refund, but sent a 3rd unit!  It has sat on a shelf unopened, as I am at least 75% sure that it's a dead unit, and I was so angry at not getting my refund, I would have destroyed the unit (package and all) if I handled it more than a few seconds.  I may eventually test the unit when I am sure I won't destroy it.  If it fails, I will likely throw it on the sidewalk several dozen times, and whatever is left I will smash to pieces with a hammer!  Maybe tie a rope around it so I can swing it and get the most momentum.  I will NEVER sell anyone junk, or skimp on the packaging, or refuse a refund for DOA because of something I did!  Unless someone knows how to repair it and would want to pay shipping?  ;-)

Well, I sure hope a few more decent games come out on the GameCube.  But, if Nintendo ever decides to drop the platform, I hope they release the programming specs and drive specs, so other companies or even game developer enthusiasts could continue to make their own titles and spread them freely and let people burn their own discs.  ;-)  The system is OK in my book.  Maybe not 100% spectacular, and a major flaw with the proprietary disc format and limited size.

Anyone know how much disc space (not memory blocks) Skies of Arcadia Legends uses?  I bet if Nintendo had gone with a full DVD we'd have a full audio dialogue with this game!  That is the only thing I would strongly recommend for a sequel.  Also, I do not like losing control of the character to walk slowly between two buildings in the same town.  It should all be loaded and seamless.  I understand it's going to happen in the bigger dungeons.  And also, would having background battle scenes which actually correspond to a snapshot of your current background and angle be too much to ask?  It gets boring looking at the same 2-3 static backgrounds per area.  And what else... oh yes.  I'd strongly recommend the ability to jump off the ladder!  What the heck?!  I'm an Air Pirate!  I'm a risk taker!  Yet I walk down to the last step on every ladder like an opld lady because I'm afraid to fall off, afraid of heights?  If you jump too high, you get ingured, if you jump way too high, you die.  But if you jump maybe 1-2 body lengths, it saves time from going all the way down, and no injury.    If one must stick to the ladder, at least let the characters choose to hold the sides only and swing their feet out and slide down really fast, like on the pole or rope thing.  :-)  The ability to jump in general would be a great addition.  The combat system is way too easy so far and very simplistic.  I've had one challenging battle, Rupee and Barta.  I'd get rid of all the "mass destruction" super moves, or at least add some major magic point penalties, or unable to move for 1-2 rounds after.  They make the game way too easy.  On the other hand, I'd add some high-level item which lets you repel all enemies while wandering.  When you're full of money and physical and magical experience, I can see how the game will be pretty retarded and more of a nuisance to play when you hit enemies every 1.5 seconds on the world map!  I'm a big pirate!  See my ship and run in fear, stupid creatures!  Hmm, and while it is nice to have 6 stones for variation of magic, I become more of a bean-counter than a pirate, watching numbers and juggling stones around.  It's the limitation of many RPGs.  Maybe I've changed, because I never was bothered by spending 12 hours fighting little nothings with no plot elements, just to watch some numbers go up.  ;-)  Now it's just incredibly boring!  I'd rather achieve the power quickly after key battles, exploratory missions, or otherwise plot-related events.  It makes the game progress much smoother such that I don't forget where I was supposed to go before I started powering up to be able to survive when I get there.  On the other hand, I'd like to see some more physical skills as well.  The special moves are physical for some and magical for others, but are mostly way too powerful and make the game too easy, and there are far too few, and they overlap with magical spells or items and are thus redundant.  Finally, if there's a sequel, I think it should at the very least pay homage to the original cast, both for sake of fluidity of the story and from a marketing strategy.  Instead of selling an entirely new game, they can latch on to the previous game's name recognition and storyline familiarity.  At the least they should be the elders, or the grandparents telling kids their stories of old, or maybe a strange kid from another land joins their community and is inspired by the old stories and given some substantial guidance at key points by key members from the previous crew.  It would probably be a dismal failuire to try and force this current group through a second or even worse a perpetual adolescence.  Maybe the second story has them as adults and growing older towards retirement, and the third has them as really old up to when they die and the mysteries of their lives are further explored by the younger generation in addition to newer original adventures.  ;-)

Oh well, here's to decent games which not only raise the electric bill and waste time, but stimulate the mind and present at least something challenging, humorous, exciting, and intriguing to pass the time and stir the imagination!