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General / Re: New here, Just finished, commenting on the game.
« on: February 17, 2009, 07:53:48 pm »
The Jelly costume is pretty amazing, especially as it scales with HP gain. It saved me from having to reload many times.
Hey, we have forums!
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 17, 2009, 07:46:26 pm »there's a modest mouse song about the pony express that I've had no luck thumping up. they are challenging, amazing and not easy on the pallette.
They're definitely one of my favorite bands. I first heard them with "Good news for people who love bad news" which is generally seen as one of their more main stream albums. It was a nice way of easing into them, had I heard anything off of "Lonesome Crowded West" Or "Sad Sappy Sucker" I probably would of been turned off to the music.
Once you get used to the sound though and discover the lyrics the band really sets itself apart from its peers.
As for a pony express song, I've got no clue. I've got all of their released albums, but it might of been on some obscure EP or a live show recording. A few songs on Lonesome Crowded West seem like they'd be era appropriate for that but none really touch on that specific topic. /shrug
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 16, 2009, 02:14:14 am »
"All this dog and pony, we're still monkeys the whole time
We could not help from flinging shit in our modern suits and ties"
-Modest mouse.
;-)
We could not help from flinging shit in our modern suits and ties"
-Modest mouse.
;-)
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 14, 2009, 12:02:51 am »
"IMO, Xenogears had a pretty terrible story[/b], and the storytelling was even worse. It even degraded into a novel at the end. (I'm guessing they ran out of time to finish the game properly? They just ended up having large periods of text followed by a single boss or single dungeon)
I enjoyed playing through Xenogears, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about the plot[/b], because it was so convoluted."
Odd that you'd describe something as terrible when you don't remember anything about it! The plot was robust, yes, and it had a lot of intertwining stories, but it was presented clearly, provided enough back story to instill a sense of emotional involvement with the characters and had a coherent flow. I'm surprised you wouldn't be more fond of it considering it has several similarities with your story (A very powerful being with amnesia, two lovers bound by 'fate' to be with each other, the destruction of a 'god', a puppet master controlling a growing power to use for his / her own ends, etc.)
And once again, to reiterate, I wasn't saying "OMG I HATE AQUARIAS STORY LOLOLKEKEKE", I was voicing an opinion not uncommon on this forum, that the story had a lot of holes for parts of games, telegraphed too much in others, and lacked needed back story to instill an emotional interest. Of course though, thats fine. Its a side scroller. SoTN had about as interesting a plot as Commando, I still love them both.
The only reason I voiced this opinion to begin with is that a lot of people were talking the plot up quite a bit. I figured any forum benefits from diversity, so why not contribute?
I enjoyed playing through Xenogears, but I can't for the life of me remember anything about the plot[/b], because it was so convoluted."
Odd that you'd describe something as terrible when you don't remember anything about it! The plot was robust, yes, and it had a lot of intertwining stories, but it was presented clearly, provided enough back story to instill a sense of emotional involvement with the characters and had a coherent flow. I'm surprised you wouldn't be more fond of it considering it has several similarities with your story (A very powerful being with amnesia, two lovers bound by 'fate' to be with each other, the destruction of a 'god', a puppet master controlling a growing power to use for his / her own ends, etc.)
And once again, to reiterate, I wasn't saying "OMG I HATE AQUARIAS STORY LOLOLKEKEKE", I was voicing an opinion not uncommon on this forum, that the story had a lot of holes for parts of games, telegraphed too much in others, and lacked needed back story to instill an emotional interest. Of course though, thats fine. Its a side scroller. SoTN had about as interesting a plot as Commando, I still love them both.
The only reason I voiced this opinion to begin with is that a lot of people were talking the plot up quite a bit. I figured any forum benefits from diversity, so why not contribute?
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 12, 2009, 11:03:27 pm »Sorry to post so harshly, Grahf. You do have some reasoning for your position, though I wholeheartedly disagree with you.
Haha, no worries, given the scope of the internet thats not uncommon.
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 11, 2009, 07:17:42 pm »
Hmmm, I'm surprised that by simply not enjoying the story as much as some of the other forum members I'm somehow less mature and should stick to Ninja Gaiden. For the record several stories in games have captivated me, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy Tactics to name a few. Xenogears, in particular, will always be the standard for me in terms of story telling in games.
But Aquaria...
Where I think Aquaria fell short was in the voice acting (Yes, I know, it was low budget, it just bothered me), the sudden addition and over simplification of the relationship with Li, the often over acted emotional scenes, and the massive gaps in game play where nothing happens spotted with huge story points that seem to throw the whole back story at you in bursts. Theres something to be said for flow. In regards to the nuts and bolts of the plot it's honestly not that hard to come up with a "deep" concept, as its been done time and time in other games. Its mostly a matter of recycling ideas in clever ways and dressing it up so that its entertaining to the player. Every once and a while a new and exciting story comes around that really catches you off guard (ie. the three games I listed above), but most are just the same old jumbled around with new faces, and thats fine! I just enjoy a little polish with those games, which Aquaria lacked.
But even though I'm being hard on the story I really did enjoy the game play. The combat was smooth, the environments were well designed, the bosses were challenging. The song system brought a sincere sense of difficulty and, at times, panic when surrounded by enemies before I realized I could use the number keys to switch effortlessly =P. My only gripe is that character upgrading came primarily through food farming (which wasn't even necessary to beat most bosses) and form acquisition, which would be nice if most of the forms weren't a simple gimmick to get through barriers. I suppose I'm still a fan of the item system used in Castle Vania Symphony of the Night, which is still my #1 side scroller. It created a nice sense of character development which I found lacking in Aquaria. You could grab new armor, but their effects were largely worthless barring one incredibly overpowered silly looking suit ;-). I'm sure one of the main reasons for this is that programming in a huge item database and balancing bosses accordingly would be much much much more time consuming and for a small dev team, thats not always an option.
So all in all, Great gameplay, average plot, sub par story telling, sub par character development. I'd still buy it again if I could go back. = )
But Aquaria...
Where I think Aquaria fell short was in the voice acting (Yes, I know, it was low budget, it just bothered me), the sudden addition and over simplification of the relationship with Li, the often over acted emotional scenes, and the massive gaps in game play where nothing happens spotted with huge story points that seem to throw the whole back story at you in bursts. Theres something to be said for flow. In regards to the nuts and bolts of the plot it's honestly not that hard to come up with a "deep" concept, as its been done time and time in other games. Its mostly a matter of recycling ideas in clever ways and dressing it up so that its entertaining to the player. Every once and a while a new and exciting story comes around that really catches you off guard (ie. the three games I listed above), but most are just the same old jumbled around with new faces, and thats fine! I just enjoy a little polish with those games, which Aquaria lacked.
But even though I'm being hard on the story I really did enjoy the game play. The combat was smooth, the environments were well designed, the bosses were challenging. The song system brought a sincere sense of difficulty and, at times, panic when surrounded by enemies before I realized I could use the number keys to switch effortlessly =P. My only gripe is that character upgrading came primarily through food farming (which wasn't even necessary to beat most bosses) and form acquisition, which would be nice if most of the forms weren't a simple gimmick to get through barriers. I suppose I'm still a fan of the item system used in Castle Vania Symphony of the Night, which is still my #1 side scroller. It created a nice sense of character development which I found lacking in Aquaria. You could grab new armor, but their effects were largely worthless barring one incredibly overpowered silly looking suit ;-). I'm sure one of the main reasons for this is that programming in a huge item database and balancing bosses accordingly would be much much much more time consuming and for a small dev team, thats not always an option.
So all in all, Great gameplay, average plot, sub par story telling, sub par character development. I'd still buy it again if I could go back. = )
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General / Re: So whens the sequel? :p
« on: February 10, 2009, 10:37:34 pm »
The ending and the plot in general seemed shallow, predictable and forced. I think the design team would do well to take the smooth and dynamic game play and apply it to a better written storyline. Perhaps hire some writers. ;-)
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Gameplay / Re: Help! I'm Stuck!
« on: February 10, 2009, 05:56:47 pm »
Hmmm, I must be missing something blatant or somehow bugged out his spawn. I've extensively checked the area immediately to the left of the temple and the far left area of the veil. Currently parked in the octopus cave poking around in there, these 20 minute sweeps of the zone are getting pretty old -_-
Alright, well I guess theres no one else with more detailed info. I going to drop this game until I can find out where he is, swimming around looking at the same rocks, tent, sunken submarine, and assorted fish is not my idea of a fun game.
Alright, well I guess theres no one else with more detailed info. I going to drop this game until I can find out where he is, swimming around looking at the same rocks, tent, sunken submarine, and assorted fish is not my idea of a fun game.
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Gameplay / Re: Help! I'm Stuck!
« on: February 10, 2009, 05:36:12 pm »
Hey Guys,
I've explored just about everything possible, and having wracked my brain jumping through bubbles, grabbing secret pets, armor, etc. I find the only place to head now from here in the giant purple tongue in the abyss, and the golden door.
Having browsed the forums I understand I need to get li to open the door, but I cant, for the life of me, find this jerk. Been through the whole veil, gotten sun temple cleared out, jumped out of the stupid bubble, killed the octopus and so on. If anyone could point me in the direction of where to find this guy I'd appreciate it. I'm not looking for some vague "check out the veil" comments, need some actual directions because I've been all over the place.
I've explored just about everything possible, and having wracked my brain jumping through bubbles, grabbing secret pets, armor, etc. I find the only place to head now from here in the giant purple tongue in the abyss, and the golden door.
Having browsed the forums I understand I need to get li to open the door, but I cant, for the life of me, find this jerk. Been through the whole veil, gotten sun temple cleared out, jumped out of the stupid bubble, killed the octopus and so on. If anyone could point me in the direction of where to find this guy I'd appreciate it. I'm not looking for some vague "check out the veil" comments, need some actual directions because I've been all over the place.
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