tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post3556572140945328620..comments2024-01-30T18:06:40.312-08:00Comments on Up late talking games & writing? You're...: The Games of PAX - Day TwoBrad Gallawayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09452185302281177580noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-16740093326966503422009-09-21T23:59:52.567-07:002009-09-21T23:59:52.567-07:00Heh, I've gotta say that RTS titles are among ...Heh, I've gotta say that RTS titles are among my least favorite games. Something about the slow, tedious, passive build-up/swarm nature of the formula just turns me off. I've played a few, and they all bore me. = PBrad Gallawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452185302281177580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-64483749817900882502009-09-21T07:36:14.773-07:002009-09-21T07:36:14.773-07:00I couldn't get into GrimGrimwoire... but that&...I couldn't get into GrimGrimwoire... but that's because I'll never, ever like RTSs regardless of how well-designed they are. I'd rather play an EA sports game than an RTS, frankly.Matthew "Sajon" Weisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379770938858222511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-60395823038005832872009-09-20T01:47:32.107-07:002009-09-20T01:47:32.107-07:00Hey Matt.
Thanks for those details… you're no...Hey Matt.<br /><br />Thanks for those details… you're not the only person who I've heard say that Odin Sphere had a good story, but in all honesty, I couldn't get past the gameplay. It's kind of a shame since I am always a sucker for a great story, but in this case I found that I wasn't able to power through for the sake of the narrative. Funny you mention Vagrant Story, though… I had the same initial reaction that you did, and I eventually came around to enjoying it quite a bit. I remember the last boss being badly designed, but other than that, I still have very fond memories of my time with it. <br /><br />Not so with Odin Sphere though… or GrimGrimoire, or Muramasa either. I certainly love Vanillaware’s art style, but all their games leave me extremely cold. = PBrad Gallawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452185302281177580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-90223583072595131082009-09-16T06:17:39.261-07:002009-09-16T06:17:39.261-07:00> So, why was it so good for you?
It's har...> So, why was it so good for you?<br /><br />It's hard to explain, but I think it had something to do with how I didn't even know the game existed until it was right in front of me. <br /><br />Someone brought it over to a friend's house the day it came out, and I was immediately impressed by it on almost all points. I have a real weakness for beautiful 2D sprite art, and an even greater weakness for such art when its in the service of a great story in the grand tradition of the best JRPGs. Odin Sphere's melancholy epic narrative about the end of the world really hit the ground running, and I was hooked from the first scene. It made me feel the way a JRPG hadn't in almost 10 years, since I played Vagrant Story on the PSX. Vagrant Story is one of my absolutely favorite JRPGs ever, even though I found it repetitive and frustrating when I first played it. <br /><br />Odin Sphere is actually similar to Vagrant Story in a lot of ways, right down to the music (which is by the same guy), the overly complicated character advancement system, and the fact that it combines said system with twitch-based combat. Maybe I'm just a fan, but once I began to see Odin Sphere as Vagrant Story somehow reincarnated I really began to obsess with learning how to enjoy it.<br /><br />Vagrant Story I hated so much the first time I played it I actually returned it. Later, after giving it a second chance, I realized that the game's seemingly repetitive combat was really a symptom of me not understanding the weapon crafting system. Once I mastered that, the grinding was replaced with complex strategic planning. Although Odin Sphere seemed to have similarly repetitive combat on first glance, I was convinced a similar pattern was at work.<br /><br />Odin Sphere is really boring if you don't master the alchemy system. You can level up by endlessly killing enemies or by growing fruit and cooking. The right dish will send you up four levels instantly and save you hours of grinding. If you know how to play it, Odin Sphere is basically a cooking game with intermittent boss fights and a great story.<br /><br />The art, the music, and the fact that I really "got" the system all made it easy for me to enjoy the story, which only got better and better until it culminated in the most harrowing apocalyptic scenario to appear in a game since FF6. The characters are all fantastic, the translation is really good, there is no bad English voice acting to distract you, and everything comes together beautifully in a marvelously tragic finish.<br /><br />I don't imagine any of this would make you change your mind about this game, but at least you can understand how someone could like Odin Sphere for intelligent reasons. I admit the game is not easy to get into. You have to work at it. My first impression of the game was so strong that I was very motivated to work at it, and I felt very rewarded in the end.Matthew "Sajon" Weisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379770938858222511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-71582181240020205332009-09-16T00:38:09.910-07:002009-09-16T00:38:09.910-07:00Hey Matt.
>>Funny you should mention Odin S...Hey Matt.<br /><br />>>Funny you should mention Odin Sphere as being wildly overrated. Are you referring to reviews, mostly? <br /><br />Yeah, it received a tremendous amount of buzz before launch and had basically stellar reviews for quite a while afterwards. It wasn't until quite a bit later that some more downbeat pieces started showing up. I basically bought it after hearing so many people swear that it was the real deal, but ended up being bitterly disappointed.<br /><br />>>I had a really powerful experience with that game. <br /><br />I'm actually very curious as to why you like it, because I found it to be extremely unpleasant and offered very little that encouraged me to keep playing.<br /><br />I've heard from a few people that the story was their driving motivation, but honestly, I found the game so non-entertaining that I couldn't stick around to find out how it went.<br /><br />So, why was it so good for you?Brad Gallawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452185302281177580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4625171860671748699.post-62449583447120717612009-09-15T13:16:58.563-07:002009-09-15T13:16:58.563-07:00Funny you should mention Odin Sphere as being wild...Funny you should mention Odin Sphere as being wildly overrated. Are you referring to reviews, mostly? <br /><br />I had a really powerful experience with that game. It was one of my favorite games of the last several years, so I guess I'm in the "love it" camp. However, I don't think I've ever read a single review of it. I discovered Odin Sphere entirely on my own and have pretty specific ideas as to why I like it, but I'm not sure how these fit with the overarching critical reception of the game. <br /><br />I thought it had good gameplay, but mostly I felt it had one of the best stories to appear in a JRPG since Suikoden II. It was so good it kept me going for 72 hours, and it motivated me to master the alchemy system, which I found extremely rewarding once fully comprehended.Matthew "Sajon" Weisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08379770938858222511noreply@blogger.com