Caltrops - Gamerasutra - Re: Random PS2 musings

Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra

by FABIO 02/18/2003, 5:31pm PST

curst wrote:

Mortal Kombat 5 are also really cool games that newbies can just pick up and play much more easily, but VF4 is the most rewarding IMO.

In the 2 hours I spent playing MK5 until I got bored, I got the impression the entire thing was nothing more than just "memorize your character's two best combos and do them over and over and over". Each character only got a tiny handful of special moves and most of them seemed useless. The characters only get ONE fatality each (wtf?) and they're all just rehashes of the boring generic ones: cut off your enemy's head, kiss of death, etc. Where the hell is Lui Kang turning into a dragon and biting the guy in half? The whole thing just felt too slow.

Am I just out of the loop? Are all fighting games these days just simply memorizing the 50+ hit, preprogrammed, arbitray (why does punch + punch + kick work and not punch + kick + punch?) combos and waiting to "fake" your opponent out before unleashing it over and over and over? MK2 was the last fighter I enjoyed and could get into. I tried Soul Calibur but it seemed to be another combo game. Then there was Capcom vs. SNK, which everyone seems to agree is nothing more than button mashing.

Now to turn-based strategy. I don't think Koei has ever made a sequel for Nobunaga's Ambition,

Well, they made a SNES version, so mark doesn't have to suffer through NES and gameboy graphics anymore. I always found it fun until late game where managing your vast empire became too much of a chore. If they released a new version with AI that adequately automated provines and troop movement across multiple territories I'd be in heaven.

While we're on the subject of NA, can anyone tell me what the difference between the troop types are? Every FAQ I've read says cavalry are twice as powerful as spearmen, and gunners are twice as powerful as cavalry, which is utter bullshit. From my experience (stats such as training and arms being equal) it seems that cavalry are something like 1.3 times better than spearmen and gunners are 1.5 times better.

Final Fantasy X was really cool - at least I enjoyed it much more than 7 or 8. There's still some really annoying things about it, though, so if you despise things like Marlboros or having to spend hours leveling up to take on the final bosses or to complete the secret quests, then you'll despise those things in FFX as well.

I think I've finally pegged down what bugged me about FFX, the formula:

1. Walk down a straight, narrow, long ass road for miles while being attacked every few steps.
2. Listen to Tidus's Wonder Years style narration about how he feels sorry for Yuna, wonders if Yuna likes him, or if he'll ever get back to Zanarkin.
3. Repeat.

At least the overall story about Sin was an original FF break from "protect the crystal/Espers/planet from the evil empire".

(have I mentioned that Koei is my favorite game developer right about now?)

Gitaroo Man! Gitaroo Man!

DVD playback is problematic at best. Only use the PS2 for that as an absolute last resort.

I haven't had problems with DVD playback, but I'd agree with using it for DVD's as a last resort simply because it seems the damn things have a life of less than 1000 hours of use. You'll want to ration out its short lifespan sparingly to games and games only, and NEVER leave it on when you're not using it. yay sony!