This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
| Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision Next revision Both sides next revision | ||
|
sb:recommended:playstation [2017/05/24 18:58] felix |
sb:recommended:playstation [2017/07/04 18:50] gatotsu2501 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 60: | Line 60: | ||
| ***//Castlevania: Symphony of the Night / Akumajo Dracula X: Gekka no Yasokyoku (JP)//** (also on: PSN, PSP, Saturn, XBLA) | ***//Castlevania: Symphony of the Night / Akumajo Dracula X: Gekka no Yasokyoku (JP)//** (also on: PSN, PSP, Saturn, XBLA) | ||
| *diplo: A game that's been referenced so much within the series and outside in accolades and recommendations that it's hard to not be tired of its presence, yet the game itself remains, and it's still brimming over with valuable stuff. Who knows what the developmental thrust was like, but this sure as hell is the first Castlevania that doesn't seem to make any attempt to try to have you die at least once -- so if you're coming in hoping for the knotted action-bursts of preceding titles, well, sorry. What this game does have is a density of usable items, secrets, and stylistic accomplishments that accumulate to make the world feel lush and baroque. Appraisals of the game often don't seem to recognize that the castle works like no castle in subsequent games due to areas' distinct, thematizing macro-architecture that spatially solidifies places and builds graphic narratives. Super fun soundtrack that's way more diverse than the "rock" descriptor that's usually applied to it, and some of the best pixel art around, period. | *diplo: A game that's been referenced so much within the series and outside in accolades and recommendations that it's hard to not be tired of its presence, yet the game itself remains, and it's still brimming over with valuable stuff. Who knows what the developmental thrust was like, but this sure as hell is the first Castlevania that doesn't seem to make any attempt to try to have you die at least once -- so if you're coming in hoping for the knotted action-bursts of preceding titles, well, sorry. What this game does have is a density of usable items, secrets, and stylistic accomplishments that accumulate to make the world feel lush and baroque. Appraisals of the game often don't seem to recognize that the castle works like no castle in subsequent games due to areas' distinct, thematizing macro-architecture that spatially solidifies places and builds graphic narratives. Super fun soundtrack that's way more diverse than the "rock" descriptor that's usually applied to it, and some of the best pixel art around, period. | ||
| - | * Ni Go Zero Ichi: I'm admittedly not on diplo's level of //Castlevania// fanaticism but, well-documented aesthetic merits aside, I never much liked how overly easy it is to break the game by like not even the halfway point. I don't know if I could honestly say it's better than the DS games. | + | * Ni Go Zero Ichi: It's a wonderful game until the balancing just completely falls apart not even halfway through and you can complete the rest of it in your sleep. Its aesthetic merits are well-documented by diplo and others, and there's a bunch of intriguing quirks and rough edges in it that the other games don't have so I can understand people loving this. But as an actual video game I don't know if I can honestly say it's better than the DS titles. |
| ***//Chocobo's Dungeon 2//** (also on: PSN - JP only) | ***//Chocobo's Dungeon 2//** (also on: PSN - JP only) | ||
| Line 120: | Line 120: | ||
| * Ni Go Zero Ichi: In a series notorious for provoking passionate responses one way or the other from its fans with each installment, //Final Fantasy IX// is doomed to forever be remembered by nearly all who played it as "the okay one". It gets off to a phenomenal start and the first disc is breathtaking; after that, unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that the game has no real idea where it's going, apart from throwing out the odd arbitrary reference or borrowed plot element from previous //Final Fantasy// games. In Disc 2 the pacing slows down to a crawl, before Disc 3 starts wildly chucking outlandish plot twists out of nowhere in a confounding effort to reconcile the convoluted existential angst of the series' later entries with the whimsical fantasy melodrama of its earlier ones. The gameplay - exploration, battles, minigames - is always moderately fun, the music is always moderately pleasant, and the characters are always moderately amusing. But it never really cranks the volume up to 11 and sustains it, the way the series' most outstanding entries do, in a way that would allow someone to either love or hate it. | * Ni Go Zero Ichi: In a series notorious for provoking passionate responses one way or the other from its fans with each installment, //Final Fantasy IX// is doomed to forever be remembered by nearly all who played it as "the okay one". It gets off to a phenomenal start and the first disc is breathtaking; after that, unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that the game has no real idea where it's going, apart from throwing out the odd arbitrary reference or borrowed plot element from previous //Final Fantasy// games. In Disc 2 the pacing slows down to a crawl, before Disc 3 starts wildly chucking outlandish plot twists out of nowhere in a confounding effort to reconcile the convoluted existential angst of the series' later entries with the whimsical fantasy melodrama of its earlier ones. The gameplay - exploration, battles, minigames - is always moderately fun, the music is always moderately pleasant, and the characters are always moderately amusing. But it never really cranks the volume up to 11 and sustains it, the way the series' most outstanding entries do, in a way that would allow someone to either love or hate it. | ||
| * cavefish: The story probably does go downhill after the first disc, but I didn't even notice it since the game keeps sending you to charming, imaginative places until the end. I even liked the slow pacing because the world you're stuck in is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen in a video game. | * cavefish: The story probably does go downhill after the first disc, but I didn't even notice it since the game keeps sending you to charming, imaginative places until the end. I even liked the slow pacing because the world you're stuck in is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen in a video game. | ||
| - | * Felix: I'm a known FFIX liker, for all the usual reasons (light tone, art direction), but one aspect that isn't widely appreciated is that this is the only classic Final Fantasy game whose English script really sings. The writing being generally good is probably attributable to Hiroyuki Ito, but I think the //prose// being so much better than usual must be due in part to the game having been developed in Hawaii; it's as though Woolsey were never clipped by the limitations of an SNES cartridge. Plus the love story actually works (due largely to ever-reliable stealing from Castle in the Sky)! | + | * Felix: I'm a known FFIX liker, for all the usual reasons (light tone, art direction), but one aspect that isn't widely appreciated is that this is the only classic Final Fantasy game whose English script really sings. The writing being generally good is probably attributable to Hiroyuki Ito, but I think the //prose// being so much better than usual must be due in part to the game having been developed in Hawaii; it's as though Woolsey were never clipped by the limitations of an SNES cartridge. Plus the love story actually works (due largely to ever-reliable stealing from Castle in the Sky)! Also it's not that long, it's the usual 20-30 hours of any Final Fantasy game, just ignore the Chocobo whatever (all you miss is one optional battle and the best gear for Steiner), and the final battles are actually challenging! |
| ***//[[game:Final Fantasy Tactics]]//** (also on: iOS, PSN, PSP) | ***//[[game:Final Fantasy Tactics]]//** (also on: iOS, PSN, PSP) | ||