Summer DS Grab Bag.
by alzabo
Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2008I bear FFIV no ill will, it was an excellent SNES/SuFami game. While I don't think people who played it in 1991 need to rush out and pick up a copy, if a FFIV veteran does pick up the game they will not experience the nostalgia death marchs that FF IV, FFV & FFVI were on GBA. The game presentation and difficulty level are so different that it honestly feels like a different game, even if the primitive 3D models do feel inappropriate for some of the emotionally heavy situations (kind of like FFVII). If you're interested in playing something a little different this summer you could always import a DS game.
As a child I felt Japan got all the best games, reading gaming mags that endlessly previewed what was hot in Japan every month. Importing games used to give me a giddy little thrill, I felt I was performing an end-run around the domestic companies who usually dictate what the American public can play. How I viewed Japanese games has been summed up neatly by Percy Bysshe Shelly:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' "
There are 3 games that come out within a month of one another in Japan this summer that I'd love to get my hands on. While the majority of DS owners around the world will never play these games, they'll at least have a chance to own one of them this fall. Provided Nintendo doesn't fuck up the localization. Moving on, here's a list of DS games you can import this summer.
1) KORG DS-10 Synthesizer
It's a KORG synth, IN YOUR DS. If you are not immediately rushing out the buy this after reading that you should probably skip ahead to the next section of this article. The Synth is supposedly a super accurate recreation of the real KORG synth and has features such as a touch screen patch panel & a built-in save memory big enough for large drum loops and crap like this:
Sorry 'bout the rickroll. I applaud the concept and exicution of the KORG DS10 Synthesizer software/tool. However, I must admit that I have no desire to fool around partially because it is yet another DS game that requires the use of headphones and mainly because drum loops are about as interesting to me as running a mixing board at a raga concert.
2) Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan Tatari
If the Phoenix Wright games and Hotel Dusk are the decendents of the old LucasArts adventure games like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle, the Higurashi games are the crossbred decendents ofthe most brutal Sierra and Infocom games you ever played.
The basic premise of the Higurashi adventure games is that you fail over and over again. With each failure you crawl towards the ultimate "good ending." The "bad ends" (NWS) are honestly quite disturbing (yet strangely enjoyable) and are as satisfying as the "good endings" that lead to the ultimate solution to the game. I also love the game play element where the perspective of the player changes from one cast member to another as they play through the various scenarios. While a comparison of the Higurashi Games and Sound Novels to the Bill Murry's film Groundhog's Day would be apt, I feel it has just as much in common with the Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.
I could bang on about good adventure games like this on the DS for quite a while I must draw a clear line in the sand and say I won't be playing this game because it'll never receive an English localization. Oh well, at least Konami is US localizing their weird time-travel DS adventure game Time Hollow.
3) Rhythm Tengoku Gold
The first Rhythm Tengoku game was a pretty big hit at a time when the GBA was near the end of its production life cycle in Japan. It's simple controls, addictive game play and off-beat sense of humor made it THE GBA game to import for people everywhere.
The sequel will be more of the same, and I can't wait. Nintendo has stated that they're considering bringing the game to North America and maybe Europe. Call me obtuse if you must but I can't bring myself to trust Nintendo to localize the game properly. If I choose to buy Rhythm Tengoku Gold, I'll be importing the Japanese version.
I don't have a good closer for this article. I could write something snide about Nintendo or how "America misses out on the good stuff again." I could write something redundant about how Nintendo's gutsy little platform is home to more than mere children's games. Honestly, this is a wish list that belongs to a person who has become so jaded with mainstream games that he only wants to play with synthesizer simulators, horror novel games with 50+ gory endings and off-beat 1 button rhythm that are difficult to the point of being inaccessible to mainstream gamers. Article Permalink
Why Rock Band Rocks (And Guitar Hero 3 Sucks)
by K1
Posted on Friday, November 30, 2007
(disclaimer: when I say Guitar Hero 3 sucks I say this in relation to Guitar Hero 1 and 2 and Rock Band. The core Guitar Hero gameplay is there, but Neversoft dropped the ball in regards to what makes a must-own guitar hero game, making GH3 just an okay one.)Things I like about Rock Band:
Note charts that don't destroy your hands with CONSTANT 3-button chords
Seriously, GH3 has this strange idea that lots of 3-button chords are a good thing. Fuck that shit. Once in a while is fine, but that shit will destroy your hands way more than crazy solos.
Strict (but fair) note timing and a HO/PO system like GH2
For those of you that don't know this, the hammer-on/pull-off timing in Guitar Hero 3 is way more forgiving than GH2 and Rock Band. I don't quite understand the point of making the timing less strict then adding incredibly complicated note charts. Maybe it's some kind of high end difficulty inflation going on, but it sure makes it hard to go back to GH2 or Rock Band where the timing is more strict.
Extensive character customization and band customization
Once you fully explore the depths of the Rock Band character editor do you see how much you can do. I'm sure people have messed with the tattoo/face paint maker and the band logo maker, but did you know you can edit instruments and clothing the same way? Plus the fact that you can layer, move, rotate, stretch, and change the colors of the extensive library of stickers means there's some crazy customizing that you can do.
All that little touches that make playing with a group fun
Harmonix put a lot of love into this title, and you can tell. The loading screen faux band covers that are generated for your band? Awesome. The myriad of animations and camera effects that play in the background are awesome. The freeze-frame "Yay!" look each band member gets when you save someone who failed? hilarious. They way the lead singer crowd surfs and the way the audience sings along with the lyrics when the band is doing particularly well just adds to the flavor that you are playing as a band. Animations that actually match what you are doing (the singer's lip syncing in particular)? this shouldn't be amazing, but compared to how other games do it, it is.
That little meter that shows you how many stars you have and how close you are to the next one
It really encourages teamwork and putting that effort in to reach that next star.
The guitar solo system
It's just the right touch to add a new wrinkle to how the guitar is played, and adds flavor to the instrument that people might be tired of playing since it's been around more than the others. Plus, it lets people know when to pay attention to the guitar instead of the vocals :V
Drums are fucking hard
All the more satisfying it will make it when I finish Expert Drums Solo Career.
Being able to buy and download new songs one at a time
It would be really nice to be able to preview songs before you download, but I guess that's what Youtube is for. At least they don't force you to download song packs with songs you don't want, and when they do have a pack it's optional and at a discount compared to just getting the individual songs. Approximately $1.50 a song is fair price and since I've played the stock songs extensively already, so it's great how fresh it keeps the game.
Things I hate about Guitar Hero 3:
3-button chords can go to hell
See above.
All the extra crap they added for singleplayer
The ONE thing everyone hates about Guitar Hero is having to play the singleplayer game to unlock all the songs, and AGAIN at each difficulty to unlock the secret guitars. Aside from practice mode to get to hard parts down, the real appeal of Guitar Hero is the social experience of two player versus/co-op or playing with others to show of your skills (tournaments, parties, whatever).
Boss battles are stupid and pointless
Again, it's more pointless single player crap that gets played once, then the rest of the game's life is spent in quickplay or multiplayer. There isn't even much strategy to it: save up a bunch of powers then unleash them all in a row to make the other person fail during a part with a lot of notes. At least they released the songs as a free download pack, I guess if you want to play a song that's all solos there you go.
They replaced Pandora with Midori
Midori is a stupid character that has no place in a Guitar Hero game. In addition, they removed a character I actually liked. Why? They also made Judy Nails look like she's been taking steroids (or was previously a man). Admittedly, the quirky art style of the Guitar Hero games was one of its weak points, but at least it didn't detract from the game. They've somehow made it worse, which amazes me, really.
I could easily go into detail about the song choices and such, but there are plenty of reviews out there, and this is more of a hands-on report of details reviews might not emphasize. In conclusion, I feel that Guitar Hero 3 is an okay purchase for Guitar Hero fans, and Rock Band is a must-buy for anyone who likes music games and likes having/making friends. Article Permalink