The Gamer's Quarter

[friedchicken]

Okay, you asked for it, so I'll tell you what I can.

Bleach DS I've played much more-- basically a full plane ride across the country in both directions. It's by Treasure, so a certain style and quality can be expected-- and it doesn't disappoint with either. Without going into specifics of the manga/anime, the gyst is this: You start as the main Bleach guy, Ichigo-- the orange haired guy with the big ass sword. It's a straightforward fighter, with 3 attack buttons and one dash button (dashing is limited by a meter that depletes as you dash), and pretty standard special and super attacks, which I didn't quite expect-- I thought it might have fighting elements mixed with the fighting engine, but it doesn't-- but it's closer to something like Guilty Gear Isuka, where up to four fighters can be on-screen at a time. Only unlike GGI, you don't have a turnaround button because the fighting engine is much less complex-- all the special moves can be executed in both directions. There's also a 2-plane system, similar to Real Bout Fatal Fury, which is only really useful (against the CPU) when you're fighting more than one enemy.

Once you finish story mode with Ichigo, another character's story mode is unlocked, up to a total of 24 different characters (another 6 or so are available in VS mode). Ichigo's mode has multiple branches that are opened up by fulfilling different criteria-- but anyone buying the game who doesn't read Japanese should consult a FAQ to find out the conditions-- otherwise you'll be like me and keep fighting the same two guys over and over if you don't finish the fight under the right conditions.

Another nice feature is the card system. You can compose a deck of 10 cards that you can active (up to 2 at a time) via the touch screen. While you have a few level 1 cards to start, you earn more in various other modes and can buy some in the store-- there are levels 1 through 4. Some cards effect you only, some effect all of your enemies, and some effect both. Again, since I can read about 3 kanji total I've had to figure them out through trial and error, but cards do things like increase or deplete your Super Meter, make you stronger for a limited time, slowly increase your life, etc. It's a well implemented system and fits well into the rest of the game-- and doesn't seem tacked on.

Oh, and you earn gold by beating the game, etc., so there's a shop where you can spend your money on new cards, new colors for all the characters, gallery images, BGM, and so on.

Overall it's pretty good, and a great distraction that I blew through much faster than I usually do.

So then, Goemon. I just started it a day or so ago, so what I'll have to say is limited.

It appealed to me because I remember absolutely going crazy for the old 'Legend of the Mystical Ninja' game on the SNES, and this looked similar, and in fact it's a lot like that game. I also liked what it looks like-- a very effective combination of ink painting-looking backgrounds and not-overly-complex player characters. It's very pretty. The top screen displays an overhead map while bottom screen is where the action goes on.

Also, I was rendered lightheaded to hear that there are parts of the game where Goemon Impact (a Goemon-looking giant robot) is controlled by running alongside it across rooftops while issuing commands on the touch screen. I haven't gotten to any of these yet, but I can't wait.

Something else that's pretty interesting is that to examine objects while Goemon runs around onscreen, you tap them on the touchscreen. There are also some other touchscreen uses-- such as pulling down on a stretched rope whil Goemon's on it to shoot him up and through an exit. Pretty cool.

Again, my lack of Japanese is presenting a problem-- there's a LOT of reading to be done in this game, but a FAQ is available, so that should help. Wes, if you want to hear more, maybe I'll try to do a running commentary about the game as I get further.


I have to say that both are great games, and worth importing, since it looks unlikely that either one will make it to the US.

[dessgeega]

[SuperWes]

Well, Bleach was pretty much a given, but I'll have to look into Goemon again because running on rooftops does sound pretty rad.

-Wes
_________________

[friedchicken]

Okay. So I've put about an hour of play in the game, and let me tell you, it's gorgeous. The old ruined temple where you find the first boss... whoa. The great big hand-drawn temple guardians and the broken floorboards that block your way are really very stunning. The NPC's, enemies, and player characters are all rendered in that sortof-crappy Super Mario 64 era polygons-- which I expected, since the size of them is quite small. But there's a lot of attention to detail. For instance, you get a little 2-D face shot of Goemon when he's talking to an NPC. Early in the game you get a tengu mask that you can wear for various purposes. If it's equipped, Goemon has it on in the face shot. It's a small detail, but it's good to see Konami paying attention to things like that. Oh, and many of the NPCs-- villagers, shopkeepers, etc.-- are unique, not just pallette-swaps.

As for the gameplay, it's fairly solid. There have been a few moments where I haven't been able to tell wehere I was in relation to the enemies and/or the floor, but they have been pretty infrequent.

I may have to go back and get the Goemon 1+2 pack for the GBA when this is all done!

I'll post some more about it tomorrow.

[friedchicken]

Just a very quick update.

I've seen some commentary about one particular stylus mini-game in Goemon DS, one where you have to use the stylus to make a clay pot that matches very closely the one displayed onscreen. Oh, and if you can't complete it, you can't progress. Apparently a lot of people had problems with this, but I got it on the second try. The point is not that I'm especially talented, but that it wasn't really any harder than the average Warioware Touched minigame. In fact, it was so cool and so much fun that I'm hoping I can access it as a minigame and try it again! So. Don't be scared off by anything you read suggesting that the clay pot task ruins the game.

Still haven't gotten to the first Goemon Impact! fight, but I did get the controller (it's a DS of course), so it should be coming soon.

[TOLLMASTER]

It's too bad that Japan gets all these DS games that I would buy if they were released here. They keep bringing over Japanese titles, but never the ones I actually want to buy, and then when they fail I feel like I'm part of the problem where companies don't want to take risks innovating or trying to make good games.

Then again, if you multiplied the number of PSP titles in the United States that I want to buy by a billion you still wouldn't have the number of DS titles in the United States that I want to buy. Though if Generation of Chaos wasn't a Gordian knot it would probably be the kind of game I've been looking for for years. I played a game called "Sword of Aragon" back in the DOS age that seems to be just like GoC, except GoC has something like a 3-to-5 hour learning curve to it (example: to have a unit guard a town, the command is "ARG").

[friedchicken]

Hey Tollmaster, where have you been?

I see your point about Japanese DS games, but we can fall back on the knowledge that for every cool game, there are 5 mediocre games that are made that we should be glad don't make it over. I can't say if that's definitely the case with DS games, but it sure does apply to the PS.

By the way, what's everyone's feeling about licensed games? I've been thinking about Bleach DS this week, and whether it would be a better game if it wasn't based on a manga/anime. Or worse, or the same, of course. I don't know. I'll have to think on it, myself.

That it's Treasure makes a difference, but there are a lot of only-adequate licensed games out there-- Jump Super Stars is a notable exception.

[TOLLMASTER]

Sorry I haven't been posting, I've kind of been stuck in a bout of depression for a while. Still am, but I've kind of decided to try to fight it as best as I can. Small stuff, really -- force myself to post a few thoughtful posts, maybe play an hour of games a day, take a walk for 45 minutes or so. Forward progress is better than standing still and all that.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that licenses don't make games bad by default. It's just that a license is a strong way of getting people to buy a game, and that makes it less necessary for the game to actually be good. In fact, if you are the CEO of a company, it might even seem like a better idea to make a terrible game than a great one--it's cheaper to make a terrible, rushed game than a finely-tuned one with all those spiffy features gamers want. While being great might get a few more people to buy your product, it's kind of a risky business: not all great games sell well. In fact, most don't.

Even so, licenses can produce good games, and how successful this is usually depends upon two factors: how well the license is suited to a game, and whether the company is committed to a good game. The first variable is rather tricky. Things can sound like good ideas for games when they end up terrible in practice. Star Trek is a good example. A game where you fly across the galaxy in a starship meeting aliens and engaging in battles to protect the Federation seems like the game would write itself! But the appeal of Star Trek is how conflicts get resolved, and that element is tricky to put into a game. You can't suggest options to a video game (at least, not yet!) and instead you have to pick from a list of options available; you can't come up with a brilliant idea and put it into practice unless the game designers expected you to make that choice. And if Star Trek is hard, imagine making a game based on SpongeBob Squarepants. It's about a sponge who works at a burger joint. It's no wonder games get made where characters run around collecting (insert license-relevant-item here) and engaging in minigames. It's an established formula that works and gets used because no one knows if anything else is even possible. Bleach DS probably works so well because it's an anime/manga about people with special powers fighting, and we already have a genre that does exactly that, so...

The second variable is mostly self-explanatory. If a company doesn't want to make a good game, it's not going to happen. Simple. But sometimes this also means the company also has to break the "rules" of the license to produce something that doesn't suck. For example, Dragon Ball Z Budokai for the PS2 has an extremely odd battle system. It's not really like a regular fighting game's, and it doesn't fit the way the fights happen in Dragon Ball Z, either. It's more of a combination between the two, where the exact combination was chosen by what worked while remaining as faithful as possible. If they followed the DBZ formula to the letter, half the attacks would occur from half a mile away, characters would have moves that make them 20 times as powerful, the game would have to have a HUGE 3D battlefield while maintaining the camera on at least two characters, etc. To make a good game they had to change how the formula worked. But it's similar enough to Dragon Ball Z for the fans to like it, and it's designed to be as much fun as possible for non-fans to play it. So if a company commits itself to making a good game with a license, it also can't be afraid of breaking a few of the rules to make something playable.

[friedchicken]

Sorry to hear you've not been feeling your best, Tollmaster. It's great to hear more from you though-- especially now that Disgaea 2 is on its way (presumably) stateside.

Well, yeah, I realized after my post that I had made it sound as if all licensed games are crap, but that wasn't my intention. Certainly, many of the Batman games over the years have been excellent, for example. I think I was just wondering what would be better-- a Treasure multi- player fighting game with original characters, or one that uses Bleach characters instead. I don't know the answer, really, but I suspect that the Bleach license doesn't add much to what is already a pretty good game. So really nobody loses. I was just posing a very dull question.

[Szczepaniak]

I've wanted to pick up goemon DS on import for ages, but the language barrier puts me off.

It looks awesome. Any chance of it getting localised in English?

EDIT:
Never read all the posts. Sorry to hear about your depression Tollmaster, that sucks. But I must say i agree with your previous post a great deal. There are plenty of games coming over from japan and being localised, but none of them are the ones I want to play!

I feel so disconnected from the mass market, I don't know if it's liberating or scary. But yeah, it never feels like the companies are catering to my tastes. Ever.

[friedchicken]

[TOLLMASTER]

[friedchicken]

[TOLLMASTER]