Games: What games are you currently playing? [OT!]

[mrwiseman]

Edit: Oops! I had forgot how we quoted here.

IRT Phaq:

length does not a good story make

Raw size, and pretty much raw anything is never an indicator of quality, but there are certain constraints. You just cannot tell a story like Xenogears' in 2, 4, 6 or 12 hours. You just can't develop anything complex with not enough time to introduce all the characters and elements, let alone to develop them.

Most movies with excellent stories won't last more than, if they even reach, 2 or 3 hours.

Though they offer no gameplay, and would be expanded to 6-10 hours if they were converted to RPGs; 15-25 hours if you don't want stupid Gamespot and the like reviewers bitching that cut-scenes are too long. And even so, you wouldn't be able to fit some RPG stories in a movie. Think about how would you make Xenosaga 1 into a movie, when the cut-scenes alone without any glue between them take like 10 hours.

so why would an adventure need 20 hours to be anything good?

Not to be anything good, but to be good by today's demanding standards, and that's simply because if it's as enjoyable as it is, you want it to last long and you usually don't like repetitive things.

what asshole still thinks it's a great idea to use random battles?

I agree, random battles aren't too enjoyable, nor simple combat systems are. The former are done just to make the game longer for cheap, and the later are done because they are simple to design and implement, therefore cheap. Blue Dragon, if I'm not mistaken, would be an example of this. Supposedly good story and characters, reasonably good (though not brilliant) visuals, good music, and the same combat system as Final Fantasy 1.

<font color="#345E81" size="1">[ January 13, 2007 05:23 PM: Message edited by: -Wiseman- ]</font>

[Cataferal]

Random battles are being phased out nowadays anyhow: the upcoming FFXII and Rogue Galaxy are testament to this. I remember enjoying the style, but as a gameplay convention it was always a bit of a double edged sword, and i think they're making the right decision by leaving it in the past. Hopefully all the other companies will follow Square Enix's lead and just ditch it in favour of something a bit more neoteric for the next generation (or is it now the current?).

With regards to game length, i just recently beat Kingdom Hearts II in 25 hours. Now, it may have been a bit easy, the story a little overbaked, but i felt the length was just right and suited the pace of the plot perfectly. Some may criticize this for being too short, but i think too many developers aim to make RPG's epic just for the sake of it, often attenuating the actual value of the story and leaving players bored before the climax. Games like the .hack// series, where the plot is widely considered the main attraction, are perfect examples of this.

<font color="#345E81" size="1">[ January 13, 2007 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Cataferal ]</font>

[phaq]

Maybe I should quit getting new games and finally look into what i can do to find some old ones. I mean, back in the day you would play a game that once you finally got to the end and could beat the final boss, you'd still play it again the next day. I mean, was it because we were kids and couldn't afford anything new, or was it the simplicity of the game design, being "short" by todays standards or what? there was no saving even. I mean there was on a select few non-rpg/adventure titles in the 16-bit era, but otherwise, nothing. In fact, the only RPG I ever went out of my way to get back then was Dragon Warrior, and that's only because it seemed the best option in the store at the time. I didn't even know the genre existed, and just my luck I get the first one(on consoles).

These days ya just gotta hope for something like Metal Slug to come along. Something that has that feel of a game from back then, but was actually born during the 3d era. When I play 3 on the X-box, I'm reminded of those earlier days. It's hard as nails, and the more you play, the further along you get. That and, again, the story is only in the manual.

That's what gaming should be, quick bursts of action, or tetris type puzzles or whatever. Not this 3d artsy fartsy, watch the pretty graphics help some story unfold, so you have this overly complicated excuse to do what you have to do to finish the game crap. It's a game, it's supposed to be fun in it's own way, not something to watch, that's what they made movies for.

IRT Wiseman, length does not a good story make. Most movies with excellent stories won't last more than, if they even reach, 2 or 3 hours. The original Legend of Zelda had no story to it, just the back story you got from either the manual or waiting on the title screen for too long. It's also hailed as one of the best games ever, and happens to be an adventure. so why would an adventure need 20 hours to be anything good? Chrono Trigger takes me 15 hours tops. Of course by now I know what I'm doing with it, so maybe it would take more if I didn't, who knows? Length just makes me thankful that I finally got through the game, and with that realization I'm pretty much done with the RPG genre as a whole(for the record I still don't have, and am not getting a PSP RPG). Well, that and what asshole still thinks it's a great idea to use random battles? **cough**square-enix**hack**namco(don't care if the battle systems great, random battles SUCK ELEPHANT BALLS)**sneeze** must be coming down with stopthebullshit-itis.

[Nevan]

Well I haven't been playing any RPGs for maybe the past year or so since Oblivion, and I'm still playing Oblivion some.

Most these days I'm focusing on Gears of War, Call of Duty 3 (still wish Ranked Matches were better made) and Oblivion. However, I want to get Lost Planet.

[melfice]

I finally got my hands on xenosaga Ep II and well, it has started interestingly (after seeing the Xenosaga Ep1 DVD...)

[Cataferal]

Good luck. I think you'll need it - and probably the patience and commitment of a buddha. Just keep in mind that it'll all be worth it to play Episode III, which is, in my humble opinion, an understated masterpiece.

[mrwiseman]

Nevan, how's Oblivion?

I already downloaded the two DVDs of Episode 2 and I'm too lazy to burn them. (I own the European version BTW, just wanted the NTSC version.) Maybe I'll get myself to play it through this year.

[mrwiseman]

Yeah, I've been playing a lot myself. I've already installed a good collection of mods, not big quest/landmark mods yet but gameplay-balancing and mods, to make the game better, and of course, the best nude mod combination I could find.

I also made a textures mod that lets you play the game with high quality textures with a 128 MB VRAM at better framerates and much reduced stuttering (reducing textures you don't notice to save 15 to 45 MB VRAM everywhere; Oblivion needs 160 MB to run comfortable with the default high textures).

[Nevan]

Man, Oblivion is amazing. I love that game. It can end up being all-consuming of your free time. Plus they're releasing an expansion pack this summer, featuring all kinds of new crazy stuff with around 25 hours of quests, and adding 25% of the original landmass to a new part of the game.

If you have a 360 or powerful enough computer, it is a MUST buy.

[Nevan]

Yah, that's the only bad thing about the 360 version is that one can't mod it. But I swear, I'm always finding new things to try in this game. Not to mention I enjoy maxing out skills and stuff like that.

A friend of mine is running Oblivion on his PC, barely. I think he said with a frame rate of 14. If more companies put as much dedication into their games as Oblivion, then there wouldn't be a bad game out there.