So, I happen to be an Enforcer for the Penny Arcade Expo, a volunteer position I definitely love, as it comes attached to the most amazing group of people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. ;P Anywho, we have a Meet and Greet/Function a week before PAX every year, to which I’ll be headed in the next 5 Hours. (Yeah, I should probably sleep, but I’ve never really been good at the whole Sleep thing. ;P ) This is the First Official step towards PAX this year for me (Last year I lucked into assisting elsewhere, but this year my schedule is whacked. ;P Which is why I’ve taken off work from Wed 08/27 – Tues 09/02 for it.) and I’m Psyched… which certainly isn’t helping with the whole Sleep thing. >.> Anywho, you can count on my next blog being somewhat about that, so stay tuned. ^.^
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Chrono Trigger for the DS
Okay, so I love Chrono Trigger just as much as the Next person who broke their way (Almost literally… ;P ) into RPG’s through Final Fantasy (The Original, on the NES), but I must admit that I’m not That excited for the release of Chrono Trigger for the DS. Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to snatch it up the day it comes out and I’ll be fighting Gato’s evil twin in the Black Omen before the weeks out… but I’m just not as Excited as I’d love to be…
Here’s the thing. I’ve played Chrono Trigger all the way through, on not only the Snes, but also the PS1, and even on my computer… so when I pick it up to play on the DS, I’m looking for a compelling reason to do it again (Awesome Story, Fun Characters, Amazing Combat System, and Overall High Caliber Game aside… >.> ). I mean, if you Really want to get down to it I can take Chrono Trigger with me on the Go. I mean I’ve got a PSP, and there are perfectly fine Snes Emulators out there that run it… so why am I buying it on the DS Again?
My main gripe is that it sounds like they’re doing practically nothing to it. One new dungeon (Though some quick Digging looks like they may have confirmed more. That at least would be ^.^ !!! )… wireless battles (Which with Whyte from the DS Remake of FFIV having reared his ugly head… even this doesn’t immediately excite me. ;? )… and the extra content (Bestiary, Cut Scenes, Etc.) from the PS1 Version. Whoop?
Forgive me, but while messing too much with a classic can be dangerous (Anyone play Wild Arms Alter Code F? Did you like Wild Arms? Then Don’t. :/ Or at least realize that it’s a Re-imagining, and not a Remake… there’s a significant difference. ;? ), I like to see some kind of Additions. If you want examples of Doing it right look to the Ports of FFI/FFII (Would have Liked a Hard Mode), FFIV(<3 Character Swapping… could have fleshed them out a mite more. ;P ), FFV (The Odd duck, though since the Jobs were the core here, there wasn’t much they could do… except maybe more meat to the story. O.o ), and FFVI (Nicely done… though lighter on the awesome) on the GBA. If it turns out like these games, then I’ll be more than Ecstatic, I’ll be Jubilant.
Finally though, it all comes down to the fact that I’m terribly hopeful that this is Sqeenix’s attempt at seeing how much sway Chrono and the gang still hold in the Market. That maybe, if this game does good, they’ll release a real sequel. (Chrono Cross feels like an Original IP that they chickened out on and attached to the Chrono Trigger Universe to cash in on the Fans… :/ Sad really, as it was actually a very good game… just not a good sequel to Chrono Trigger…. I think they actually hurt it more in going that route. ;?) For that, I’ll buy the game, recommend it to anyone who’s never played it (Everyone who has is in the same hope boat as I. ;P ), and watch the horizons hopefully.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Kirby
So, I just played through Kirby's Dream Land (For those of you that don't know, Kirby's Adventure for the NES was actually the Sequel to the Game Boy Game) and I must say, the series lost a little something from the transition. Don't get me wrong, I loved Kirby's Adventure (It's one my all time favorite NES Games) but now having played the original, there are a few things that were lost in the Transition (Which is odd considering that the NES is head and shoulders more powerful than the Game Boy).
First off, the games play the same for the most part. Mechanically, the main difference between the two is the "Copy" ability, which is now a series staple, originated in the NES Game. In the Game Boy version, you could still inhale enemies, but they didn't give you any abilities, and instead you only spit them back out as projectiles, which you could still do in the NES version, but in Dream Land, this was your main offensive maneuver (Where in Adventure some enemies gave you other abilities that replaced your ability to inhale, and were frequently more powerful/fun to use. :P ). Now this seems like something that was "Improved", but in doing so, some of the enemies that were interesting, or slightly more challenging became a joke on the NES (The Key Example being Scarfy. When you attempt to inhale him, he turns from a Happy little Red Dude who bounces in place, to a psychotic looking red dude that homes in on Kirby and Explodes on contact. O.o As you generally have another ability at your disposal, after encountering him once, you never have to worry about attempting to inhale him in future). Not only that, but while the literal variety of enemies was improved, the "Personality" of the enemies wasn't as varied(Since they had all these new "Ability Enemies" now, they used them for variety, and while it did spice it up, the non-ability enemies lost something in the transition).
Personality is the other thing I noticed. The Game Boy version has charm, and quirky characters. While yes the NES iteration certainly had plenty of that, it was at the cost of well... nothing exactly, but the NES version was Neapolitan and I kinda liked my Chocolate. I guess that's my main thing, Dream Land was a fun platformer, that when you beat it, gave you the option to play an "Extra Game", which like the "Extra Game" in the Original Legend of Zelda, was a re-mastered, and harder version of the game. The level layouts were the same, but not only were New Enemies introduced, but old enemies were given new abilities (It's enough of a real step up in the difficulty department, that I still after two attempts haven't beaten it... "Extra Game" Kracko PWNS my Noob Arse... ;P). While in Adventure, the "Extra Game" is the same exact game, with your life halved... Harrowing I know...
It's a trend that I'm noticing though. It seems that less effort is put into "Additional Content", and personally I feel the overall product suffers from it. Yes, I know that with rising development costs... yada yada... Fiercer Competition... Blah, de Blah... Higher Overhead... Loop ti Loo... and etc. It's "Riskier" to include content that the majority of people may never experience, but in such a "Competitive" market, wouldn't you want to stand out, more than blend in? See... "Extra Content" used to be a way for a developer to say, "Yes, we appreciate the effort you've put into this game, here's a little (Or "a Lot of" in the Two Examples I've given) something to show that. For those of you who played Legend of Zelda, who didn't here about the "Extra Quest", and then get all giddy to have it?