Messages

1026

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 22, 2011, 03:26:12 PM »

I would honestly compare Legends' plot and dialogue to a typical kids' anime. There's quite alot of exposition, tons of it actually, but there's quite a few character moments as well. It's far from anyone acting realistically, but it's a start.

I saw nothing in your Jak & Daxter video that was any better.  Even being unfamiliar with the game the exposition is still very obvious.  Legends generally does a better job than that of letting the characters be who they are.  And the Bonnes are about as three-dimensional as villains get, balancing their survival, their pride, and oddly enough their moral compass, thoughout most of the games, especially Legends 2.

In the series, Misadventures is probably the most guilty of excessive exposition, due to the majority of the game being about coming up with ransom money.

Gaming narratives are a whole other beast than TV/movies in that part of their inherent role is justifying the game's structure, or at the very possibly least keeping an appropriate pace with it.  And inevitably there's always something in game structure that flies in the face of what a solid narrative-for-the-sake-of-narrative should be.  If the narrative fails to tie to the gameplay properly, the game comes off as anticlimactic (case in point: Metroid Other M).

1027

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 22, 2011, 04:24:41 AM »

A few characters have decent dialogue. Rouge, for example, seems to have good lines overall, even though she probably has the least amount of speaking lines out of the entire cast. But it's a big difference between it and the rest of the entire game.

Surprisingly, the dialogue picks up a bit in the last story and it turns out passable.

...my problem with your comparison, was that you compared it (SA2 being one of my favorite games of all time, believe me, I have nothing but praise for it for the right reasons) to one of the greatest examples of writing in a kids' show that I have ever seen in my life. Sonic Adventure 2 may be good in an industry where most japanese games are given incredibly cringe-worthy dialogue I find unfitting to any culture, but compared to MLP, where comedy coexists with good characterization and really good behavior and dialogue from characters, it's [parasitic bomb]. Because in SA2, I don't really see any of the character's personalities beyond their onedimentionality, and the stuff they say when it's necessary. In MLP, I see the purpose each character fulfills, as well as them having their own place and influence in the world around them. I am able to find a well-weaved narrative and realistic characters in a god damn girls' show about pink magical ponies.

I never made any such comparison to My Little Poly.  You did.  I repeated your adjectives in terms of character behavior (and yeah, I really need to exclude Tails and Amy from that thought), that doesn't mean I consider SA2's narrative comparable to MLP's on the whole.  Admittedly, I've seen only the first episode of MLP, but comparing a game story to a TV series story is a bit of an uphill battle anyway, seeings how a video game narrative generally does not carry the same weight as a television narrative.  For that reason I would prefer to keep discussions of video game story quality within the context of video games.

You know, we got to that discussion on the grounds of justifying how cute-and-cuddly atmospheres can trounce the dark/gritty ones.  But really, Mega Man Legends in and of itself is one of the first and best examples I would think of in terms of intelligent video game characters that talk to each other and not their audience.  Even something as trivial as a boss's weak point can lead to some amusing lines in those games (case in point: Marlwolf).

1028

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 22, 2011, 12:59:26 AM »

Please tell me that someone other that OBJECTION MAN looked at my post...
RPM, please stop ignoring me... I'm not like that little [parasitic bomb] I was from years back.

I did, and it was sweet news, I just don't drool over Inafune as much as the rest of the internet, 'nor did I have anything significant to add.

*stuff*

I guess I should have clarified and said that SA2 covers both ends of the spectrum (but then, who needs to be told when they're supposed to [sonic slicer] about Sonic?).  Sonic and Eggman have some pretty great dialogue, but there are a lot of cringe-worthy lines from the likes of Tails and Amy.

1029

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 21, 2011, 04:00:41 AM »

The reason MLP is so successful, is because it's one of the only franchises whose characters actually act like normal, intelligent beings. Few cute videogame franchises have even managed to do that. Heck, the only one that comes to mind is probably Jak & Daxter (nope, both Sly and Ratchet are either too comedy, or too classic-pastiche.) Mario and Sonic will probably never have a single game where they treat kids like normal human beings instead of children who are watching a story for the first time.

Mario has so little dialogue that I don't think he's really applicable to that comment (besides maybe the fact that he's no longer allowed to use an axe to destroy a bridge).  As for Sonic, I'll stick to the usual "Adventure 2 was golden" footnote.  There was some great dialogue in that game.

I'd also say that plenty of "grimdark" games/characters either lack intelligence or fail to treat their audience as normal humans.

In terms of how it treats its audience, Mega Man can be all kinds of sloppy and silly, but outside of Zero1's localization I don't recall it ever being patronizing.

1030

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 21, 2011, 01:23:58 AM »

And why Legends fans cling to Servbots as the most iconic and widespread series reference.

Funny, IGN just posted an article about how not to reboot MegaMan.  Unfortunately, Jonathan Drake is severely misinformed about his X6/X7 development stories, but I applaud the effort all the same.

1031

Gaming / Re: Code of Princess (3DS) Inspired by Guardian Heroes~

« on: October 20, 2011, 01:38:17 AM »

There's an exception to every rule.  I'd actually forgotten about that one, though.

1032

Gaming / Re: Code of Princess (3DS) Inspired by Guardian Heroes~

« on: October 20, 2011, 12:53:29 AM »

It'd be fine if it was on any other system, but the combination of Nintendo and any attention to female anatomy never seems to go well (barring Smash Bros.).  If you don't live in Japan there's a good chance such games either go unreleased or get ruled illegal.  How many other T-rated games are classified as child-porn in Sweden, I wonder?

1033

Off The Wall / Re: Post Pictures Of Yourself

« on: October 17, 2011, 05:08:27 AM »

At Comic Con saying hi to Seth Killian.

1034

Gaming / Re: Legend of Zelda - The official Zelda thread

« on: October 17, 2011, 03:38:34 AM »

I opted to go with the bird-flying, so I still have yet to experience the swordplay (probably just as well; a guy my size waving his arms around in a crowded booth could have gotten ugly).  Even though the bird is controlled by tilting the remote, it is surprisingly fluid.  And this is coming from somebody who will curse Super Mario Galaxy's ball-rolling until the day he dies.  Link's bird controls easily, fairly precise without being over-sensitive, and overall feels pretty much like Epona with wings.

The red-haired Skyward Biff is a jerk, BTW.  He and his pals will start throwing eggs at you when you start doing well in the festival.  Still, the end of it was pretty sweet.

1035

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 17, 2011, 03:31:00 AM »

I can certainly see both sides of that discussion.  One hand, a unique experience with even more nostalgic stages/bosses than we would have had with the consoles alone is awesome.  On the other, a scaled-down version (obviously the 3DS cannot handle a direct port) that included some actual 3D stages would have been appreciated as well.  I'm happy with what we're getting, but I can see why some wouldn't be.

I got some hands-on time with the 3DS game today, modern Sonic in Mushroom Hill Act 2.  The game moves extremely quickly, and the screen is panned back fairly far, which can at times make things difficult to see.  Thankfully, the over-use of bottomless pits is gone, and loose rings are pretty easy to re-aquire, so the game wasn't necessarily frustrating.  It might take some getting used to.  I'd imagine that classic Sonic, being without the boost and all, is a little more user-friendly.  But IIRC his stages in the 3DS are fairly straight ports.  I didn't get to confirm this for myself, though.

1036

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 17, 2011, 03:19:24 AM »

Was about 3:15 today.  We all marched, chanted,

sang

, did the Data-dance, and got a photo op with Seth Killian.

Somebody posted a YouTube video of the march, but they recorded ONLY the chanting, which kinda makes us look like a bunch of lunatics (well, even more of a bunch of lunatics than we already are). 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBgH2sRL8kE" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBgH2sRL8kE</a>

1037

DASH / Re: It's dead, Jim.

« on: October 16, 2011, 02:21:03 AM »

Thanks, Batty.  The videos are a little tough to find admist all the flooding on Facebook.
(and it's awesome seeing my 'bot front and center on that wall )

To add to the pile, check here at 1:11:21 for Dashe's interview with some guy hired two months prior:
http://ja.twitch.tv/capcomunity/b/297470584
Was supposed to be Seth, but a scheduling conflict reared its ugly head.

I'll be at the 'con myself tomorrow, so I ought to get to meet the gang then.

1038

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 15, 2011, 04:12:02 AM »

I like the redesign for the most part (though the teeth could stand to be bigger).  But, I kinda agree with Batty on how taking him on as normal Sonic kinda kills the "Perfect Chaos" vibe.

1039

Gaming / Re: The Pokemon Generation III Appreciation Thread

« on: October 14, 2011, 12:39:04 AM »

The basics of Gen 3 are pretty awesome.  Great music, plus it gave us Double Battles, which I love.  I just have not-so-good memories of it 'cuz it cut off the oldies (NO DRAGONITE?!!!) and introduced the current EV system, which pretty much made the idea of Zapdos continuing to use Drill Peck laughable.  I would probably enjoy remakes more than I did the originals.

Gen5 games need berries so much right now, so that's all I can really say.

Get equipped with Global Link.

1040

Gaming / Re: Legend of Zelda - The official Zelda thread

« on: October 12, 2011, 03:13:09 AM »

Debatable.  FSA has some damn heavy LttP references.

Further, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess (both branching from OoT), both have Ganon killed rather than sealed.

Fact of the matter is, wherever a game is "intended" to be in the timeline, Nintendo is worried less about continuity and more about the individual title.  OoT was meant to be LttP's sealing war, and you can pull quite a few inconsistencies out of it.  Needless to say the timeline these days is far more complicated.

1041

Gaming / Re: Legend of Zelda - The official Zelda thread

« on: October 11, 2011, 12:27:43 AM »

Dude, Ocarina of Time was the Ganon origin story. I'm not sure what Ghirahim's true motives are yet, but I'm sure they're not influenced by Ganon.

Unless it's another Ganon. Like these are, yet again, another Link & Zelda.

There are at least two Ganons already.  Four Swords Adventure has another Ganon origin story.

1042

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 11, 2011, 12:26:01 AM »

Horn, teeth, and eyes are green (and the eyes were always green).  The rest is black/dark blue.

1043

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 10, 2011, 11:24:29 PM »

Shadow's graphics/framerate sucked, and the missions MIGHT have worked if they weren't so overly strict.  I don't even have too many issues with the "friendlies" aiming at you (the G.U.N. commander is a dick who disregards whatever Shadow is doing anyway, and we don't know how much if any brains the Black Arms has), but I just wish that mission requirements didn't have you needing to kill EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM.  There is absolutely no leeway, which gets aggravating.

I for one hated the concept of Shadow with a gun, but once aliens and ray beams were thrown into the mix (providing a more "fantasy" and less "GTA hedgehog" feel), I warmed up to it a little better.  Having actually played it, the game convinced me that the concept could have worked.  But the execution was way off.  I will say, though, that I still enjoyed it more than I did Heroes.

1044

Gaming / Re: Sonic Generations (360, PS3, 3DS) - Holiday 2011

« on: October 10, 2011, 11:18:34 PM »

I dunno, I thought a dark Perfect Chaos looked pretty damn awesome.

1045

Gaming / Re: Talk about Sonic

« on: October 08, 2011, 05:03:53 AM »

While the game looks badass, it's hard to say that it's "proved" to be anything before one has actually played it.

1046

Gaming / Re: Shiggy: Super Mario 3DS: Mix of Galaxy & 64, Tanuki Suit Confirmed, 2011!

« on: October 08, 2011, 04:21:00 AM »

No, it certainly was not.

It's not the Hammer Suit, but it's still pretty badass.  Mario using Boomerangs has previously only been possible on a limited scale, involving either Yoshi's tongue or e-Reader cards.

1047

Gaming / Re: Shiggy: Super Mario 3DS: Mix of Galaxy & 64, Tanuki Suit Confirmed, 2011!

« on: October 07, 2011, 10:47:49 PM »

Batty, this thread was started in April.  It's just recently updated with trailers and such.

1048

Gaming / Re: The Mario Kart Thread

« on: October 06, 2011, 11:57:05 PM »

Did I call that raccoon tail, or what?  'course, I was hoping the whole kart would spin, it'd be crazier that way.  Instead, the tail has a mind of its own (and I can't do a thing with it ).

(click to show/hide)

Koopa Clown Car is back, whoo!  The bee kart that Yoshi is driving is pretty nifty, as well.

Also, I'd rather the Metal Block be an item rather than JUST Metal Mario. And that's solely cause I want to hear this power up song in the game!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wefgiEphiE[/youtube]

Can't argue with the music. Another way to get it in would be if each character had their own victory theme, the way they used to do it in Super Mario Kart.

1049

Gaming / Re: I did it once and I'll never do it again!

« on: September 29, 2011, 02:17:52 AM »

Mario Sports Mix, Sport Mix/Expert Mode, 3 on 3, Star Cup final round, computer picks Basketball.

I don't know what it is with Nintendo, but this console generation they had a lot of games which are 99% insultingly easy and 1% rip-your-balls-out-through-your-throat.

having to dodge those reploids while playing as X but making sure to keep them alive so yu can save them with Zero.

Done that twice.

1050

Gaming / Re: Super Smash Bros. Thread

« on: September 29, 2011, 02:06:44 AM »

None in the least.  It's getting tougher and tougher to find some good Brawl opponents.