Dire Straits - May 22, 2000 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of
the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There
is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Then came the churches, then
came the schools, then came the lawyers, then came the rules. Then came the trains and the
trucks with their load, and the dirty old track was the Telegraph Road. Don't say we
didn't warn you.
Not gonna talk about Vagrant Story in the intro today. Nope, nosirreebob.
Which doesn't give me much else to work with.
Onward.
| Fortunately, I can talk about it in the column |
| After hearing so many good things about Vagrant Story, I went out and
rented it. I wasn't quite as pleased with it as other people, though. The story and
atmosphere were nice, but the battle system seemed like nothing more than a glorified
turn-based RPG's battle system. Usually battles go like this: I attack boss. Boss attacks
me. I attack. Boss attacks. Repeat a few times. That works fine in Final Fantasy, but it
is very annoying in a 'real-time' game. It should be more like Zelda and PC adventure
games where battles are more strategic and you can actually avoid attacks. Oh well, back
to Wild Arms 2. Sometimes a lack of innovation can be a good thing! Minion |
Heretic! Blasphemer! Troglodyte! Philistine!
Er, that is to say, everyone's opinion is a valid as the next man's, and no one has the
right to judge anyone else.
I can't say Vagrant Story strikes me in any way, shape, or form as turn based. If
anything it's far more real-time than FF's ATB. I can usually attack most enemies multiple
times before they get anywhere near me, and boss fights are best of all. Tons of strategy
involved, I really can't see how you could think otherwise, unless you're totally ignoring
chain abilities, which seems to be the case. You can't avoid attacks when you're right up
against a boss, but with the right timing you can make the attacks significantly less
painful. Try going a little deeper, I think you'll find there's a lot more there than you
would have thought.
| "Follow my nose, it always knows..." |
| "And to everybody who scoffed at my idea that menus might not be
around forever, take a look at VS and tell me if I'm still loopy." You're so
loopy, you've practically got Toucan Sam doing ads for your column. Vagrant Story is
nothing special... the battle system is nothing but the QTE that made so many people
(including me and maybe even you) think twice about anticipating Shen Mue. Yet here it is,
months ahead of schedule, in the form of Vagrant Story.
Think about it, what's there to do in this game except tap a button when the little
exclaimation point comes up over Ashley's head? Practically nada.
It's really interesting... I know LOTS of gamers at my high school, some are clued in
to the Japanese scene, others just play games as they come out without knowing what's in
store for them months in advance. Almost all the people who knew about the 40/40 Famitsu
review can't get enough of this game, while the people who don't know Famitsu from
Matsushita think it's above average at best. Could the review be influencing people's
initial reactions to this game? It's a possibility. Think about that, all you Vagrant
Story lovers.
Whether some people like it or not, Vagrant Story is not where RPGs are headed. I think
future mainstream RPGs will be both fully realtime and without menus, ala Secret of Mana.
IMO, no RPG has yet to come close to it, gameplay-wise. Until then, the menu is here to
stay. No way in hell are QTE battle systems going to take over the RPG genre. |
I assume the "exclamation point" you refer to is the timing display, which I
don't use. Figuring out when the attacks come from the sound effects and graphics is much
more interesting. Factor in which attacks get used when and you've got something that's a
lot of fun to play - from what I've read, much more so than Shen Mue.
And I'd like to suggest an alternate theory as to your observations regarding
Famitsu-aware gamers. Perhaps it has less to do with what Famitsu thinks and more to do
with what RPG fans think. Vagrant Story is the type of game that dedicated players will
swoon over, with customizable weapons, a deep combat system, lots of exploration and a
very complex plot. And surprise surprise, such dedicated gamers are much more likely to be
aware of the gaming world in general, in this case Famitsu. I really don't like coming off
as "hard core", but if your observations are true for gamers as a whole, than it
probably is more a question of hardcoreness than anything else. I honestly didn't remember
that Famitsu gave it a 40 until you mentioned it.
I'd hesitate to use the word QTE (Quick Time Events) to describe Vagrant Story, since
that brings to mind the "running down the hallway" sequences in Die Hard Arcade.
Instead, I'd tend to see Vagrant Story as a very satisfactory compromise between menus and
real-time fighting. It has considerably more technique than I remember from SoM, but flows
and feels much better than a menu-based RPG. At the very least, VS's battle system has to
be recognized as a bridge to your "fully realtime" Nirvana.
| Just keep movin', you don't want to get
involved here |
| Ahem...as a french canadian...I have to point out that there is a damn
good reason for all the biliguilism stuff in Canada. Now, I will grant this...the whole
video game thing is a little drastic. I mean, people who play the games are probably able
to read and understand what is said during the english game...so they don't particularly
need a bilingual handbook. There were a few exceptions however, where the actual game was
translated to french here in Canada (ok, I can only think of one, Zelda : a link to the
past)., but those cases are rare. And you're right Chris...this is a pretty ugly debate
in the first place, so I'd stay out of it if I were you.
J-F, who's trying not to yell at all the " Bilingualism bad! French bad! "
canadians out there. |
J-F's right, it's not my fight so I should just steer clear. I'm including this to be
fair, and thus ends the bilingualism debate.
And the crowd rejoices.
Yea.
| Moronocity, the long-awaited follow up to
Synchronicity |
| howdy, For me, the main problem with Front Mission 3 was the fact that
Kazuki was one of the biggest idiots in gaming history. He would need things repeated to
him three times in order to understand what was being said. And if I knew where to find an
online script for the game, I'd give you some examples of his moronocity, but I don't. And
I have no desire to play the game again just to quote the text. I keep on hearing that you
have to play both scenarios to comprehend the "full scope" of the game, but I
just don't think it's worth it to have to put up with kazuki for another 50 hours.
yours cruelly,
opul (Map Mantis)
ps. you are one of my best friends |
Kazuki seemed kinda cool to me, 'cause every story needs wacky comic relief somewhere.
But you've played though a lot more of it than I have, so I'll take your word for it.
And if that postscript is true, that's just about the most depressing thing I've ever
heard.
| Who needs a job when you've got Vagrant Story? |
| Hmmm, you don't think Vagrant Story reminescent of PE?? I do. At least
the mechanics of the story: you have a hero who is somehow connected to the villain,
except he does not know how, and it takes the whole game to figure it out (I am guessing
on the last part, since I'm only 5 hrs into it, and I have yet to clear more than 15% of
the map [note to self: it is okay to suck at this game]). Right now I'm just glad that
even though it's a dungeon crawler, it does not involve the acrobatics of the Tomb Raider
series (another set of games I am reminded of)... That would really suck...Really wish I
didn't have to go to work monday through friday, as I really can't seem to concentrate on
anything else for the lack of sleep. This one may yet get me fired from my job (sob). Oh,
and thanks a lot for posting those spoilers on the FF movie...jerk! Like you didn't know
everyone would follow the link (and if someone swears otherwise they are lying through
their teeth)....
Oh, and for the guy that complains about the long convoluted dialogues in FM3: I found
them interesting, and not quite as long as Xenogears (and I happen to love Xenogears, long
plot points and all). Also, you can skip the dialogue by hitting start repeatedly, which I
wish you could do with Xenogears, now that I've played it 4 times straight through. That's
what has prevented me from playing it straight through for the 5th time (to the Xenogears
bashers: yes, I AM that disturbed).
Princess Jemmy, who's e-mailing from work (like I'd take some time off from VS just to
e-mail you....hah) |
The wireframe attack sphere is very PE like, but other than that I still don't see much
resemblance. Or maybe Vagrant Story is just the hyper-evolved form of PE and I just don't
see it yet.
I didn't read the FFM link. Truthfully. Will power is a Good Thing. But if you've
managed to make it through Xenogears 5 times, you probably know that already.
| Blaming is fun |
| Chris I blame you for the Colorado Avalanche losing yesterday. May the
rest of your life be spent as a prison guard, being....violated...by the inmates.
Yeah, I like my hockey.
Justin Freeman |
I'd never even heard of the Colorado Avalanche before I saw this, but if I'm to blame
then I'm to blame. And if I were a prison guard, wouldn't it be the other way around?
Never mind, I don't want to know.
Closing Comments:
Taking a little time off, but not for Vagrant Story. Instead I'm gonna code up the
awards for tomorrow, so you should have a double dose of DA deliciousness forthcoming.
Topics return! As much as I'd like to play Metal Gear Solid on the Game Boy Color, it's
occurred to me that I'm probably never going to because there's no situation in which
that's possible. Let me put it this way - any time I'm able to play games, I'm at home and
I'd rather play on a real console. Anytime I'm away from a real console, I'm unable to
play games. Take your pick. And on the off chance I've got a minute or two waiting in line
or something, I'd probably rather play something quick and harmless like Tetris or
something.
So my question is, am I just a freak (well, yes, of course I am) or is there just not
much of a demand for deep, complicated titles in handheld gaming? Let me know your mind on
these matters. Later.
-Chris Jones, who prefers love over gold, but games over love |
|
|
|
