I'm honest from the very beginning; I'm not going to buy PSP2 / NGP for a long time after its release. It's going to be overpriced monster like PS3 was. Dual stick do seem like a good thing, but how am I supposed to keep it in my pocket without a proper shell? Generally its looking pretty uncomfortable like its predecessor. With touch screen and touch sensitive back it seems so frail. There's no proper side to put it down without scratching it.
But the hardware doesn't matter as much as the games. PSP2 might get similar game library as PSP, with all the extravagant properties it'll have more iPad applications and so on. This handheld will bring losses to Sony, just like every sold PS3 makes Sony lose money. Unlike Nintendo, Sony throws money at their console and hopes that the software sales bring money back. It seems they're going to have a lot of power, but nothing to back it up. I hope that PSP2 will do well. Or rather, I hope developers can utilize t well, pull everything it has to offer. But there's few things that WILL make it sell less than 3DS; price and its power.
Now let's be honest for the second time; I'm not going to buy 3DS at launch. I thought I would, I even have the money for it and Street Fighter IV 3DS Edition. It's overpriced piece of technology. It's as expensive as Wii was at release. With each new handheld, prices have been skyrocketing like no other. I don't like how this is going on, and I doubt Nintendo likes it either. I loved how Wii is the NES 2, but 3DS isn't GameBoy 2. Actually, I really wish Game Boy return as a brand. It could be more cheaper system with less bells and whistles. Most likely it would sell more than 3DS.
Now, 3DS seems to get a nice load of good games at start; Street Fighter IV, new Kid Icarus, that submarine game and others. And no, Dead or Alive isn't one of these. It's only good for porn. Then why I'm not going to get it? It's what it is at soul. It's New Nintendo. New Nintendo is all about 3D, as in graphics, not depth. When was the last time we saw truly 2D game from Nintendo? New Super Mario Wii might've been easy, but it was the best Mario game in a long time. Sadly, it was held back by the fact that the New Nintendo does not like 2D. Even Miyamoto himself said that he doesn't like to do 2D Mario.
I'm afraid that these new handhelds will have a similar competition as SNES and MegaDrive had. I don't want to see game companies repeating similar games in different platforms, mimicing each other and stagnating even further than the industry already has. This is why I feel that PSP2's touch sensitivity is so out of place. It's like Sony doesn't seem to compete with Nintendo, but with Apple. Even Apple sees Nintendo as a small time competition, if even that. Both of these companies fail to see why Wii is so popular.
But then again, five years ago everybody said that Wii would bomb, that it would fail miserably. Well, I hope future generations will learn more from the past than what the current industry.
3DS, I don't see much appeal in it. Because of its 3D screen I have doubts how well it will success. In every generation thus far, the least powerful machine has always won. I have no doubts that this trend will continue, especially with the current state of world's economy. I'll wait and see if either handheld console is worth purchasing.
After few years, and after few serious price drops, they most likely are.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Friday, 10 September 2010
Pesonal Top Five Games with honourable mentions
In this post I will talk about my personal top five of games in no particular order. For every game I mention another game that might not be in my top five, but deserves mentioning.
1. Ys - The Oath in Felghana (PC/PSP)
If I had to choose a game which I had to say was my favourite, Oath in Felghana would get that place. It's not a flawless game and it shouldn't be. However, the gameplay is nearly perfect simply because it works. The music is, quite honestly, perhaps the best soundtrack found in any games, perfectly suited for any given area and situations. Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games have far less memorable music than this. I bought my copy from Osaka with Ys Origin, but whereas I haven't finished Origin even once I've blasted through OiF more than seven times within two years. You will find no Ocarina of Time in my top ten list, this game taken its rightful place.
Oath in Felghana is simply an excellent game. And I emphasize on the word game.
Honourable mention; Illusion of Time/Gaia
I have a knack to like to like action adventures with RPG'ish elements. Quintet's Heaven and Earth saga is pretty damn fine example how to make good games, and all of them are good in their own way, but Illusion of Time is the game from the saga that hit me. It's pretty damn well paced and has nice qualities all around. While it is extremely linear compared to its brothers it doesn't reduce its quality. I'd argue that it has far more focused gameplay that adds more to the game. Illusion of Gaia plays pretty much like a 2D Zelda game, which is why its not in my top ten itself, but deserves a good word for it, and its predecessor and sequel; Soul Blazer and Terranigma.
2. Duke Nukem 3D (It belongs to PC)
Its fun. Duke Nukem 3D is what I expect from my FPS games; pure over the top action, corny dialogues, massive amounts of weapons to choose and fire, cleaver stage design and emphasize on the action and nothing else. Most of the time I don't even want to think about realism when I can just run through corridors filled with aliens to shoot. While it's not nearly as engaging as the latter entry, it still ranks in my top ten because it represents pure grass level basics in games, which has been lost these days, replaced with boring and complex mechanics and systems. There's not much to say about it; we've all played it.
Honourable mention; Crysis (PC)
Now I was searching for realism and found pretty looking FPS with bad execution. Luckily there's a lot of mods to fix the game as you like. I find it more enjoyable with a mod that boosts the nanosuits abilities, making the game more fun to me, rather than a chore most FPS have come. Why can't we have either actually realistic game (in some certain frames) rather than games that simply try to be realistic?
3. Metroid Prime (NGC/Wii)
Metroid Prime is my favourite first person game. I do count it as a first person adventure, as you can skip most of the fauna that's trying to kill you. This game was my first FP game after Wolf3D, Doom and Duke3D, and it shows. While people complain about the controls I for one love them. People most of the time want similar control scheme with certain types of games without any changes. However, I couldn't imagine Prime's control method with anything else than the GC controller. It's good. I actually dislike Wii's controls on Metroid Prime games more than anything else.
Now, the game has some good music. None of the Metroid games have music that actually gets stuck in your head, except for few tunes that really mellow out when something like Valestein Castle kicks in. The game plays good and it took me about 23 hours to beat it on my first play. The second time I kicked in somewhere near 8 hours. The world is compact, but not small, and there's a lot of routes to take. I didn't feel that the backtracking in this game was a chore, unlike its two sequels, Prime 2 being absolute trash and Prime 3 being simply an under achievement. Prime 1 is a good start, and is an adventure I will take again time to time, simply because so many things from gameplay to world was made with correct decisions. I don't think anything was done wrong with this game, but there are some parts that might have been a bit better, and the exclusion of Kraid hurts it a bit, making one area feel rather devoid, but tense with atmosphere. If they had changed Ridley in some other character, then it would be OK in my books. Ridley really deserves to finally be killed in Metroid games, and I hope he never returns after Other M (which is a damn fine game.)
Honourable mention; Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
I like Castlevania just like any other gamer. Aria of Sorrow however was a nail in the Dracula's coffin, which really lifted the series' faces on the GBA. Before that the last good Castlevania was Symphony of the Night. In my eyes Aria of Sorrow is better because it was made for hand-held. There are games that simply work better in hand-held consoles, like Super Robot Wars and Pokémon. Metroidvania games feel "right" on hand-helds, perhaps because GBA and DS Castlevania games offer pretty nice length and do not overstay their welcome. Symphony of the Night kinda did with its Inverse Castle; Perhaps one of the most boring artificial way to make the game longer.
4. Super Mario Bros. 3
I have no need to say anything.
Honourable mention; Makeruna! Makendo / Kendo Rage (SFC/SNES)
First obscure Japanese game on my list. Makeruna! Makendo is a notable for having pretty much nothing to note for. Why I like it so much is because it is basically embodiment of 90's anime humour with actually working kendo play mechanics and rather good (but generic) platforming. It's charm is in the characters and how much the game shows that it was loved. It almost feels like a Compile game. A cute little gem that I love to play occasionally.
5. Mega Man Legends 2
Old E3 trailer time!
Underrated is the word for this game. It's not the best game out there, but like Makeruna! Makendo it has its charm and glows with love from its creators. Music's good, but not in the stucks-in-your-head way, but it creates atmosphere, and it exists there without you noticing, until you force yourself to make a note that there's some excellent music right there. The game pace is constant, and pretty good. Difficulty can be lifted with certain extra missions, but can't be lowered. However, you might just do all the extra missions pretty early in the game with low value equipment and make the game essentially impossible to finish. The story, in all of its intents and purposes, is pretty interesting sci-fi plot that has made fans rage and wage flamewars since its inception. Personally, people pull shit out of their pants when theorizing with this game.
The mechanics are a bit clunky, but its best described with Ocarina of Time with Mega Buster. It works and is somewhat unorthodox in execution, but when you get used to it (which is pretty was) you start terrorizing underground terrors in such a pace that Sonic gets mad. The game's length is pretty average, which works well for it. It doesn't feel too long or too short. It does leave you wanting more, but sadly we aren't going to get Mega Man Legends 3... until they say otherwise.
Honourable mention; The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Just... check this game out. Its a collection of smaller games, but these games are large enough not to be called minigames. The plot is silly; Tron's big brother took a big loan and can't pay back, so he's kidnapped and thus Tron has to get the money to pay the loan, and the interest, back to the mafia. Tron does everything a good sister should; steal, mine, become Indiana Jones with a mech, steal food and sell it to their owner, order underlings attack animals, cowjack, horsejack and all other zany things. This game is somewhat short, but damn it's fun to play. I personally own two copies; one busted and one working. This game has a high price as it had a limited print and had a late PSOne release in PAL era. PS2 was in its middle life crisis when I saw this on our store shelves. It's a neat little gem that doesn't take itself too seriously, and stands on its own amidst other spinoffs Capcom has made.
1. Ys - The Oath in Felghana (PC/PSP)
If I had to choose a game which I had to say was my favourite, Oath in Felghana would get that place. It's not a flawless game and it shouldn't be. However, the gameplay is nearly perfect simply because it works. The music is, quite honestly, perhaps the best soundtrack found in any games, perfectly suited for any given area and situations. Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games have far less memorable music than this. I bought my copy from Osaka with Ys Origin, but whereas I haven't finished Origin even once I've blasted through OiF more than seven times within two years. You will find no Ocarina of Time in my top ten list, this game taken its rightful place.
Oath in Felghana is simply an excellent game. And I emphasize on the word game.
Honourable mention; Illusion of Time/Gaia
I have a knack to like to like action adventures with RPG'ish elements. Quintet's Heaven and Earth saga is pretty damn fine example how to make good games, and all of them are good in their own way, but Illusion of Time is the game from the saga that hit me. It's pretty damn well paced and has nice qualities all around. While it is extremely linear compared to its brothers it doesn't reduce its quality. I'd argue that it has far more focused gameplay that adds more to the game. Illusion of Gaia plays pretty much like a 2D Zelda game, which is why its not in my top ten itself, but deserves a good word for it, and its predecessor and sequel; Soul Blazer and Terranigma.
2. Duke Nukem 3D (It belongs to PC)
Its fun. Duke Nukem 3D is what I expect from my FPS games; pure over the top action, corny dialogues, massive amounts of weapons to choose and fire, cleaver stage design and emphasize on the action and nothing else. Most of the time I don't even want to think about realism when I can just run through corridors filled with aliens to shoot. While it's not nearly as engaging as the latter entry, it still ranks in my top ten because it represents pure grass level basics in games, which has been lost these days, replaced with boring and complex mechanics and systems. There's not much to say about it; we've all played it.
Honourable mention; Crysis (PC)
Now I was searching for realism and found pretty looking FPS with bad execution. Luckily there's a lot of mods to fix the game as you like. I find it more enjoyable with a mod that boosts the nanosuits abilities, making the game more fun to me, rather than a chore most FPS have come. Why can't we have either actually realistic game (in some certain frames) rather than games that simply try to be realistic?
3. Metroid Prime (NGC/Wii)
Metroid Prime is my favourite first person game. I do count it as a first person adventure, as you can skip most of the fauna that's trying to kill you. This game was my first FP game after Wolf3D, Doom and Duke3D, and it shows. While people complain about the controls I for one love them. People most of the time want similar control scheme with certain types of games without any changes. However, I couldn't imagine Prime's control method with anything else than the GC controller. It's good. I actually dislike Wii's controls on Metroid Prime games more than anything else.
Now, the game has some good music. None of the Metroid games have music that actually gets stuck in your head, except for few tunes that really mellow out when something like Valestein Castle kicks in. The game plays good and it took me about 23 hours to beat it on my first play. The second time I kicked in somewhere near 8 hours. The world is compact, but not small, and there's a lot of routes to take. I didn't feel that the backtracking in this game was a chore, unlike its two sequels, Prime 2 being absolute trash and Prime 3 being simply an under achievement. Prime 1 is a good start, and is an adventure I will take again time to time, simply because so many things from gameplay to world was made with correct decisions. I don't think anything was done wrong with this game, but there are some parts that might have been a bit better, and the exclusion of Kraid hurts it a bit, making one area feel rather devoid, but tense with atmosphere. If they had changed Ridley in some other character, then it would be OK in my books. Ridley really deserves to finally be killed in Metroid games, and I hope he never returns after Other M (which is a damn fine game.)
Honourable mention; Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
I like Castlevania just like any other gamer. Aria of Sorrow however was a nail in the Dracula's coffin, which really lifted the series' faces on the GBA. Before that the last good Castlevania was Symphony of the Night. In my eyes Aria of Sorrow is better because it was made for hand-held. There are games that simply work better in hand-held consoles, like Super Robot Wars and Pokémon. Metroidvania games feel "right" on hand-helds, perhaps because GBA and DS Castlevania games offer pretty nice length and do not overstay their welcome. Symphony of the Night kinda did with its Inverse Castle; Perhaps one of the most boring artificial way to make the game longer.
4. Super Mario Bros. 3
I have no need to say anything.
Honourable mention; Makeruna! Makendo / Kendo Rage (SFC/SNES)
First obscure Japanese game on my list. Makeruna! Makendo is a notable for having pretty much nothing to note for. Why I like it so much is because it is basically embodiment of 90's anime humour with actually working kendo play mechanics and rather good (but generic) platforming. It's charm is in the characters and how much the game shows that it was loved. It almost feels like a Compile game. A cute little gem that I love to play occasionally.
5. Mega Man Legends 2
Old E3 trailer time!
Underrated is the word for this game. It's not the best game out there, but like Makeruna! Makendo it has its charm and glows with love from its creators. Music's good, but not in the stucks-in-your-head way, but it creates atmosphere, and it exists there without you noticing, until you force yourself to make a note that there's some excellent music right there. The game pace is constant, and pretty good. Difficulty can be lifted with certain extra missions, but can't be lowered. However, you might just do all the extra missions pretty early in the game with low value equipment and make the game essentially impossible to finish. The story, in all of its intents and purposes, is pretty interesting sci-fi plot that has made fans rage and wage flamewars since its inception. Personally, people pull shit out of their pants when theorizing with this game.
The mechanics are a bit clunky, but its best described with Ocarina of Time with Mega Buster. It works and is somewhat unorthodox in execution, but when you get used to it (which is pretty was) you start terrorizing underground terrors in such a pace that Sonic gets mad. The game's length is pretty average, which works well for it. It doesn't feel too long or too short. It does leave you wanting more, but sadly we aren't going to get Mega Man Legends 3... until they say otherwise.
Honourable mention; The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Just... check this game out. Its a collection of smaller games, but these games are large enough not to be called minigames. The plot is silly; Tron's big brother took a big loan and can't pay back, so he's kidnapped and thus Tron has to get the money to pay the loan, and the interest, back to the mafia. Tron does everything a good sister should; steal, mine, become Indiana Jones with a mech, steal food and sell it to their owner, order underlings attack animals, cowjack, horsejack and all other zany things. This game is somewhat short, but damn it's fun to play. I personally own two copies; one busted and one working. This game has a high price as it had a limited print and had a late PSOne release in PAL era. PS2 was in its middle life crisis when I saw this on our store shelves. It's a neat little gem that doesn't take itself too seriously, and stands on its own amidst other spinoffs Capcom has made.
Monday, 5 July 2010
General rant; Story and visuality
Some people don't like Monet, some people don't like cubism in general, some people on the other hand hate realism with a burning passion that would melt half of world's ice. There's no pleasing every single person on this planet, but can you appreciate art as it is without liking it? Personally I've tried to keep an open mind on stories and art when it comes to comics, animation and films. Books are a matter completely different. It's pretty damn clear that some people just do not draw well, and some people have that flaming hate towards certain kind of art.
If you didn't finish reading / watching Hokuto no Ken because of how it looks, you lost one of the high calibre comic story Japan has to offer. Hokuto no Ken, or Fist of the North Star has been rated extremely high in various Japanese polls regarding story, characters, art and pretty much every aspect it has to offer. It's a cultural phenomena almost as large as Dragon Ball is, thou its violence tends to turn most western audiences off. I can't blame them, the comic is very gory, depicting explosive bodies, ripped bodies and tons of other forms mutilation.
It's kinda funny to notice how western fans know it only because of few memes it has spawned in the Internet. It doesn't help that the anime is about 150 episodes (I've heard people calling it too long, but shows like Sailor Moon ran about 200 episodes, so it's ´pick your poison´situation) and manga has been largely underground, either getting very few official releases or limited prints. The license must be expensive. Even thou this kind of art is realistic to an extension, it only serves it purposes to set the mood to the story. Artist and creator Bronson has his unique style, that has been emulated in another very long-running series known as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
JoJo has similar realistic style as Hokuto no Ken, except it's more fabulous. Character poses are beyond ridiculous and fights go way out there, even on standards set by later Dragon Ball characters or newer series like Naruto or Bleach. It's a fan-favourite series in Japan like Hokuto no Ken, except perhaps it has less recognition because it uses similar style, thou the style in the comic, the story telling and plot itself is completely different. You could say that JoJo is Hokuto no Ken with vampires, over-supernatural martial arts, ghostly assistants and fabulous. Lots of fabulous.
Funny thing is, most of women in Japanese polls regard Hokuto no Ken pretty damn read-worthy. It placed on place seven in this latest poll. The ninth is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by the way.
Trivia; Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! has stated that his favourite manga is JoJo and that he used style inspired by Hirohiko Araki's art. There's some notable places where a reader can see this, thou they are far more subtle that the similarity between JoJo and Hokuto no Ken.
So, why people drop these two series because how it looks, thou both of them are pretty damn fine pieces of comic storytelling from Japan? After inquiring this matter in most professional way I can think of, that is recommend both of the stories to few people and ask them few weeks later if they liked them, and the answer was that these people in question basically read few chapters and dropped both series because "they didn't like the art." Did they appreciate what kind of pieces they were? Practically, no.
What I gather is that the first impression is important; the characters should be good looking and well made, and the story should be interesting. We can see that in both specimen the art is detailed, perhaps ultra-detailed and well made in their own respective styles. The stories are pretty damn good, the poll tells us that; they've stood the test of time and Hokuto no Ken frequently gets new animation projects and comics published.
Now we get to the point where I say "you can't argue about taste." But we will forget this now, because if we should discuss matter of taste, then I'd have to hide my behind from mad fans for few weeks at least.
Let's take few comics from my shelves as an example of comics that do not fare that well in the art department; Sailor Moon, Saikano, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Warp Boy and few others as well. If wee look simply at the art we can see that they are bland, uninspiring and generic in their genre and in comics in general. We take a simple panel from each of the and see that they aren't anything special. Still, Sailor Moon has nice story, pacing is good and characters most of the time are compelling. Saikano is simplistic and strikes to the emotional centre of the readers, making best of it in a world torn by hidden war. Miyuki-chan is you run-of-the-mill Clamp, but it's charm and cheer sexual hilarity makes it one of the best works Clamp has done. Warp Boy is simply fun 90's story about AI and teenage boys. Sadly, it's only in Japanese.
Art, as it is, shouldn't be a factor alone when dismissing pieces. If we were to do that, then we all would be hypocrites.
However I blame most of this the lack of skill in reading comics. Just like books and studying there's a right way to read a comic, and then there's those other ways that won't work. I'm not the one going into how to do it, because there's so many damn opinions and ways how to do it and how NOT to do it. I say this; accept the art as it is and explore every damn bit you can. Find the things you enjoy in it and let it flow. Not every comic should have the same eye-pleasing view.
Broadening reader's personal view is a good thing to do, as then one might notice that Spider-Man has pretty damn good art compared to some ... other series that I won't name here.
When we talk about animation being horrible and dated we have to remember that it always has been and will be. EVERY anime has bad moments, thou nowadays the character models are somewhat simpler with more well defined lines and only few "lines" to speak of. This is a double edged sword that offers easier animation, but then again, screw with the simplicity's fine line and you get something like this.
If thought only old animation was victim of "bad animation," you were wrong. Actually, most of 80' OVA's are superior both in animation and character models that shows of these days, but hey, we're talking about OVA's. It still stays like that, because animators get less pay and more hours. Few exception to mention in form of Hellsing Ultimate and Gundam Unicorn.
Now, let's get back to the the matter at hand.
Readership should try to broaden their areas, and dismiss their own prejudice rather than what's on their hands. I've done so. If never had done that, I've never got interested in so many series I've seen or read before. I've seen a small saving grace in pretty much every published and unpublished material I've seen when regarding art. Art can save story at times, and vice versa rarely when panels and art is used in ways that support the story in some sort of way that is very unique to that story. One occasion would be Jing; King of Bandits. The stories are pretty lame at times, but the visual world just brims and supports the surrealism so well that it constructs part of the story solely in the art itself, a feat that most comics should be able to do. Comics are visual medium, not for reading. I'm going to read a book if want to read text only.
Take a cup of coffee and read the first story arc of JoJo and Hokuto no Ken if you have left them alone.
And while you're at it, read Gon.
Gon's so awesome that he got into Tekken 3.
It's kinda funny to notice how western fans know it only because of few memes it has spawned in the Internet. It doesn't help that the anime is about 150 episodes (I've heard people calling it too long, but shows like Sailor Moon ran about 200 episodes, so it's ´pick your poison´situation) and manga has been largely underground, either getting very few official releases or limited prints. The license must be expensive. Even thou this kind of art is realistic to an extension, it only serves it purposes to set the mood to the story. Artist and creator Bronson has his unique style, that has been emulated in another very long-running series known as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Funny thing is, most of women in Japanese polls regard Hokuto no Ken pretty damn read-worthy. It placed on place seven in this latest poll. The ninth is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by the way.
Trivia; Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! has stated that his favourite manga is JoJo and that he used style inspired by Hirohiko Araki's art. There's some notable places where a reader can see this, thou they are far more subtle that the similarity between JoJo and Hokuto no Ken.
So, why people drop these two series because how it looks, thou both of them are pretty damn fine pieces of comic storytelling from Japan? After inquiring this matter in most professional way I can think of, that is recommend both of the stories to few people and ask them few weeks later if they liked them, and the answer was that these people in question basically read few chapters and dropped both series because "they didn't like the art." Did they appreciate what kind of pieces they were? Practically, no.
What I gather is that the first impression is important; the characters should be good looking and well made, and the story should be interesting. We can see that in both specimen the art is detailed, perhaps ultra-detailed and well made in their own respective styles. The stories are pretty damn good, the poll tells us that; they've stood the test of time and Hokuto no Ken frequently gets new animation projects and comics published.
Now we get to the point where I say "you can't argue about taste." But we will forget this now, because if we should discuss matter of taste, then I'd have to hide my behind from mad fans for few weeks at least.
Let's take few comics from my shelves as an example of comics that do not fare that well in the art department; Sailor Moon, Saikano, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Warp Boy and few others as well. If wee look simply at the art we can see that they are bland, uninspiring and generic in their genre and in comics in general. We take a simple panel from each of the and see that they aren't anything special. Still, Sailor Moon has nice story, pacing is good and characters most of the time are compelling. Saikano is simplistic and strikes to the emotional centre of the readers, making best of it in a world torn by hidden war. Miyuki-chan is you run-of-the-mill Clamp, but it's charm and cheer sexual hilarity makes it one of the best works Clamp has done. Warp Boy is simply fun 90's story about AI and teenage boys. Sadly, it's only in Japanese.
Art, as it is, shouldn't be a factor alone when dismissing pieces. If we were to do that, then we all would be hypocrites.
However I blame most of this the lack of skill in reading comics. Just like books and studying there's a right way to read a comic, and then there's those other ways that won't work. I'm not the one going into how to do it, because there's so many damn opinions and ways how to do it and how NOT to do it. I say this; accept the art as it is and explore every damn bit you can. Find the things you enjoy in it and let it flow. Not every comic should have the same eye-pleasing view.
Broadening reader's personal view is a good thing to do, as then one might notice that Spider-Man has pretty damn good art compared to some ... other series that I won't name here.
When we talk about animation being horrible and dated we have to remember that it always has been and will be. EVERY anime has bad moments, thou nowadays the character models are somewhat simpler with more well defined lines and only few "lines" to speak of. This is a double edged sword that offers easier animation, but then again, screw with the simplicity's fine line and you get something like this.
If thought only old animation was victim of "bad animation," you were wrong. Actually, most of 80' OVA's are superior both in animation and character models that shows of these days, but hey, we're talking about OVA's. It still stays like that, because animators get less pay and more hours. Few exception to mention in form of Hellsing Ultimate and Gundam Unicorn.
Now, let's get back to the the matter at hand.
Readership should try to broaden their areas, and dismiss their own prejudice rather than what's on their hands. I've done so. If never had done that, I've never got interested in so many series I've seen or read before. I've seen a small saving grace in pretty much every published and unpublished material I've seen when regarding art. Art can save story at times, and vice versa rarely when panels and art is used in ways that support the story in some sort of way that is very unique to that story. One occasion would be Jing; King of Bandits. The stories are pretty lame at times, but the visual world just brims and supports the surrealism so well that it constructs part of the story solely in the art itself, a feat that most comics should be able to do. Comics are visual medium, not for reading. I'm going to read a book if want to read text only.
Take a cup of coffee and read the first story arc of JoJo and Hokuto no Ken if you have left them alone.
And while you're at it, read Gon.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Movie Rant; Star Wars should not have been about Darth Vader
According to George Lucas in Empire Strike's Back audio commentary the Star Wars movies were a story about Anakin Skywalker, AKA Darth Vader. I don't know if Lucas thought this up before or after original trilogy, but if it was before, dear GOD that man is master of deception. I admit that the Episodes I-III aren't that bad people make them to be.
Personally my biggest gripe is what kind of person Anakin Skywalker is prior to Darth Vader. Anakin feels nothing like the myth given in Episode IV and on. I've said that Anakin goes from annoying kid to annoying young adult to annoying young emo adult. It feels so damn technical plot device just to make a character that is driven to the Dark Side just to create Darth Vader, but how and why Anakin acts and reacts to his surroundings is simply stupidly made. After the I-III movies Darth Vader has become progressively more emotional and human.
Perhaps this is what bugs me; Darth Vader was shown as emotionless character with black armour and terrifying mask. Now we have an invalid man in a suit that keeps him alive. Agreed, I loved how Darth Vader's legacy have been handled in Dark Empire and generally in AU, to the point he is shown as that sick man in an iron mask. But Lucas blew it. He made this bad dark character into big crying character. GRANTED he went through a lot of shit but if Anakin had any character and emotional strength he wouldn't been such a wimp. He would have been far more furious. The way he was was just... so mechanically driven and artificial.
Though this just might be what Lucas wanted from Anakin. Anakin is the Chosen One, weak childish person who just happens to be pretty goddamn powerful in the force.
If that's the case Episodes I-III really undermine later movies even more. Yes, he was a great Jedi and nothing else.
I'm really driving myself into a corner here. Luke's father should have been different.
But to the point. Star Wars movies are about Darth Vader. I grant Lucas that, but I'd argue that most of AU is about the Skywalker family. Even the movies support this to an extent I believe. But no, Lucas said that it's about Anakin so its about Anakin.
Oh just kick me, I'm really driving myself to Lucas' trap.
Personally my biggest gripe is what kind of person Anakin Skywalker is prior to Darth Vader. Anakin feels nothing like the myth given in Episode IV and on. I've said that Anakin goes from annoying kid to annoying young adult to annoying young emo adult. It feels so damn technical plot device just to make a character that is driven to the Dark Side just to create Darth Vader, but how and why Anakin acts and reacts to his surroundings is simply stupidly made. After the I-III movies Darth Vader has become progressively more emotional and human.
Perhaps this is what bugs me; Darth Vader was shown as emotionless character with black armour and terrifying mask. Now we have an invalid man in a suit that keeps him alive. Agreed, I loved how Darth Vader's legacy have been handled in Dark Empire and generally in AU, to the point he is shown as that sick man in an iron mask. But Lucas blew it. He made this bad dark character into big crying character. GRANTED he went through a lot of shit but if Anakin had any character and emotional strength he wouldn't been such a wimp. He would have been far more furious. The way he was was just... so mechanically driven and artificial.
Though this just might be what Lucas wanted from Anakin. Anakin is the Chosen One, weak childish person who just happens to be pretty goddamn powerful in the force.
If that's the case Episodes I-III really undermine later movies even more. Yes, he was a great Jedi and nothing else.
I'm really driving myself into a corner here. Luke's father should have been different.
But to the point. Star Wars movies are about Darth Vader. I grant Lucas that, but I'd argue that most of AU is about the Skywalker family. Even the movies support this to an extent I believe. But no, Lucas said that it's about Anakin so its about Anakin.
Oh just kick me, I'm really driving myself to Lucas' trap.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Artisan rants; Stonecraft
Venus de Milo. Made of marble by hand in ancient Greek, it still is one of the finest piece of stone sculpture ever made. That's a pretty damn big deal, considering that it still stands today.Let me get one thing straight; Venus de Milo was made by hand and pretty much no one can achieve the same with equipments of today.
Today I was grinding down my long rectangle raw stone slabs for my mahjong set, I noticed long it took to grind down Mohs 6 stone (Mohs 10 is diamond, mohs 1 is soap stone.) It hit me that with these equipment it is rather easier to create geometrical shapes as well as polish and cut stone. However, going for far more accurate matters take a) time B) patience c) skill, all of which I severely lack. I imagine that creating Venus de Milo took more than few years to create, and I am supposed to create perfectly harmonized and identical mahjong tiles (that's at least 142 tiles) within next three months. I assure you that I will finish the set before the deadline, but consider this; In the past the working methods were far slower and accurate than what we have these days. The saw blades cut stone quickly and painlessly, but we lose in accuracy a millimetre or so. That's a big loss in 20mm work. I should do my tiles by grinding them with a hand file, however, I have not time to do it by hand. Grinding them by hand would at least quadriple the time spend in grinding the stones alone, yet to talk about turning the rectangles into small tiles and polishing those tiles as well as design the pictures on the tile and sandblow them and paint them. It takes a lot of time, a luxury I can't afford that much.
I also have to cut about 4mm from the surface of the stone in order to get them into proper shape, however I can't do this by grinding. Time is against me. I have to simply saw them, a matter that will create dispersion of tile size. I still have to grind the cut surface in order to strandardize the size, however stone is a bitch lover. It will always have errors and varies a bit when done by a mere student such as myself. If I try to play by the millimetre as I try to do, I will still fail to see insights of the creating process. If I had time to consider the element of the stone, each single difficulty in each single tile and process every step I make beforehand, then I'd pull it off like a master I dream to be.
Yet again, time is against me. In creation of Venus de Milo there was a lot of time. Every process was carefully made with enough time to perfect each stroke, each swipe and each cut. It's insane to think that we can do the same with modern equipment just because it makes our work easier. it doesn't, and in fact it hampers our creating process. I mean, in ancient Greece they managed to polish stone so well that it became almost transparent. It's something that can't be achieved by modern methods. We just have to choose just the right stone and polish it like hell.
It's not even funny how miserable I feel when my work is throwing off my mere half millimetre. It drives me mad so much to see that with a modern stone saw were not even able to cut straight. I know that with enough time I could do it, with enough resources I could do it, with enough confidence I could do it. But because I have to use the equipment we have now in order to finish the set in time, I simply have to accept that stone requires more time in its handling than I can afford to give it. Even if I give my all, I'll just fail, but just wait and see how great my failure is going to be. It will be the most beautiful mahjong set you will ever lay your eyes upon.
Even if it will be utter and complete failure.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Videogame rants; Computer is a cheating bastard
You could say that Crysis is my guilty pleasure. I don't really like it, but it still draws me into itself for some unfathomable reason. The game, in short, isn't very good to begin with, and this is mainly how the game is made. As mentioned in an earlier post, it has pretty scenery but my god how it drives me mad.
In short, the game has been made so that the player has pretty fucking hard time to defeat the computer, not because the computer is good, but because the mechanics simply suck monkey balls. First of all the weapons are inaccurate as hell. Imagine standing in front of an enemy and stabbing him/her, missing most of the time. You wouldn't miss because your standing less than feet away, right? Well, in Crysis you are missing your shots when the goddamn gun is pressed against the enemies head. The guns are inaccurate, really unrealistically inaccurate that it's not even fun any more. Same goes for the rest of the game. If the guns are that unrealistic, then why is the rest of the game realistic, or rather, why does the game try to be realistic?
It's unbalanced. The enemies have an edge that is based on bad game design rather than just being good. I end up usually emptying a complete magazine into an enemy just because I happen to stand more than a feet from him, and that's just bad. Really, really bad. With few mods Crysis is far more enjoyable.
And thank god there are mods that make this game better and far more enjoyable than it ever was.
Granted, I suck at FPSes and the only FPS games I've ever liked are Wolfenstein 3D, Mirror Edge and Metroid Prime. Thou Prime is FPA and ME is First Person Platformer. Nevertless, when I see a bad game deigns decisions I recognize them fairly easily. Crysis renders nature quite well, but basically ignores some of the finer aspects in order to grasp on good gameplay. It really doesn't. It may be because I don't regard FPS games anything other than mindless mayhem, and quite frankly I don't seek any deeper meaning in them. They're just for shooting and laughs. Crysis however drew me in with a promise of a good and balanced game.
And you know what I think. It just frustrates that when I try to do things my way, the game throws a wrench into the clockwork and punishes me for it. Dunno, the weapon accuracy should be accurate enough to me /enemy to shoot through the visor. THAT'D add some good weapon accuracy.
I still think weapon accuracy sucks donkey balls in Crysis.
In short, the game has been made so that the player has pretty fucking hard time to defeat the computer, not because the computer is good, but because the mechanics simply suck monkey balls. First of all the weapons are inaccurate as hell. Imagine standing in front of an enemy and stabbing him/her, missing most of the time. You wouldn't miss because your standing less than feet away, right? Well, in Crysis you are missing your shots when the goddamn gun is pressed against the enemies head. The guns are inaccurate, really unrealistically inaccurate that it's not even fun any more. Same goes for the rest of the game. If the guns are that unrealistic, then why is the rest of the game realistic, or rather, why does the game try to be realistic?
It's unbalanced. The enemies have an edge that is based on bad game design rather than just being good. I end up usually emptying a complete magazine into an enemy just because I happen to stand more than a feet from him, and that's just bad. Really, really bad. With few mods Crysis is far more enjoyable.
And thank god there are mods that make this game better and far more enjoyable than it ever was.
Granted, I suck at FPSes and the only FPS games I've ever liked are Wolfenstein 3D, Mirror Edge and Metroid Prime. Thou Prime is FPA and ME is First Person Platformer. Nevertless, when I see a bad game deigns decisions I recognize them fairly easily. Crysis renders nature quite well, but basically ignores some of the finer aspects in order to grasp on good gameplay. It really doesn't. It may be because I don't regard FPS games anything other than mindless mayhem, and quite frankly I don't seek any deeper meaning in them. They're just for shooting and laughs. Crysis however drew me in with a promise of a good and balanced game.
And you know what I think. It just frustrates that when I try to do things my way, the game throws a wrench into the clockwork and punishes me for it. Dunno, the weapon accuracy should be accurate enough to me /enemy to shoot through the visor. THAT'D add some good weapon accuracy.
I still think weapon accuracy sucks donkey balls in Crysis.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Gaming Rants; Stagnation of Battles
It seems that I don't know what font and font size I'm using, so I apologise for that.
I've been trying not to write about anything game related. As you might see, that's been fruitless attempt since TMNT post. Perhaps I'm just too into games. Thou I might open Pandora's Box and start talking about art. That'd be the death of me.
Let's talk about RPG battle systems, and no, I'm not going to dissect into Western and Japanese RPG's, as they all bear the basic method of battle to none other than Dungeon's & Dragons.
The most basic battle system we know is from Hydlide and Ys series; ramming to your opponents. There's nothing more gratifying and fulfilling than running against your opponents until either one of you are dead. In Hydlide your character's attack stat is the thing that makes the difference with your defense stat, and you can change from attacking stance to defending stance, thou you win any of the fights with only defensing. Most of the game's beginning really depends on whether you die first or your enemy, until you level up enough to kill enemies without damaging yourself. Ys follows similar pattern, thou added a small quirk in it; you ran towards enemies so that only half of your character needs to hit them. If you hit your enemies with head-on, you'll just die and deliver zero damage. So, attacking in an angle is your best bet in the later games, while older games really forces you to attack with pixel perfect accuracy if you want to avoid damage. Thou Ys has abandoned this kind of play style for newer games, as you need to push a button to attack, and string those attacks together. The basics is still the same; run towards your opponents and attack.
RPGs that use this kind of battle system are usually called Action Role Playing Games, where the player takes immediate control of the character rather controlling them around a system.
The second battle system most widely used in RPGs is the Turn Based Combat, or TBC. First used by Enix's Dragon Quest it pretty much defined the genre for years to come. People still believe console RPGs are determined by this battle system and its variants and derivatives. Basically, upon enemy contact (random or not) you decide what action should your character/party do. The selection commonly is catered as Fight/Attack, Magic, Item and Run. These are the four basics that have been used and modified since Dragon Quest. Skill, Summon, you're all familiar with this I presume.
It is important to emphasize that TBC is how people used to determine RPG's for long time, most of 90's at least. Action RPGs were action games with levelling up and equipment changes. Nowadays most of games seem to have sort of grinding system, and personally I'm not too happy about that, but later on that perhaps.
TBC was and is the standard of RPG, thou the epic of the battles has been lessened by the years. As seen in the video above, pretty much every move and instant has some sort of textual representation. The phrasing "A Slime attacks! What thou do?" was standard and was pretty damn important part of the game, until even those were dropped only to follow visual representation. This is mostly how Final Fantasies do this; an enemy appears, but the only noting thing is whether thet Ambushed you, is it Pre-emptive strike or nothing. There is no "Lizardosaurus attacked!" text, there's nothing to note that this fight is an important fight. Dragon Quest made every fight important, because without grinding your characters are on brink of death. Same goes for FF. However, in FF none of the battles have text outside menu paremetres or indication of Critical strike. Sometimes there's speech in scripted points, but nothing more. The basics of older RPG gaming, the story telling, is left on the players mind, a step away from Dungeons & Dragons. Final Fantasy streamlined the BTC and made its own variation (and multiple derivatives) based on the Dragon Quest mould, thus basically eradicating the Storyteller, the Dungeon Master, from their games. It can be debated whether or not this is a good things, as Square seemed to move away from textual representation to film making around Final Fantasy V, culminated in VII and VIII, and especially in the latest one, XIII, which basically is a movie with RPG minigames in-between.
Somehow I find it sad that because of Dragon Quest's and Final Fantasies overbulking popularity and impact on general RPG genre has caused a split in game community to see western made RPGs in their own light.
What these "WPRGs" use is some kind of mix of the last two. Most of the time you're in control of every of your character's movements, but still the battles are fought inside a menu system. This system was developed mostly for PC, as most of fights can be simplified to "click your opponents to death" and there's nothing wrong with this. TBC runs down to "buttonmash your opponents to death," especially when you don't need to use magic or summons. If you do, you're playing it wrong. The main difference between BTC and... I haven't named this system yet, so let's call it Integrated Combat System, or ICS. The difference between BTC and ICS is that ICS rarely has same kind of random encounters as BTC. BTC opens completely new window of gameplay for combat, whereas ICS merely is there all the time. The fighting system is completely integrated into the menus at hand.
Fallout's a great game BTW.
However, these battle systems mentioned haven't really evolved a bit since their firs creation. They are the most basic template that is used in pretty every damn RPG game ever made. There isn't a game with a battle system that is completely new or isn't a derivative from the mentioned. Are these two Battle Systems the only ones that can be realized within games? And no, Quick Time Events aren't Battle Systems, they are QTE's. Goddamn, every game after Shenmue has used them so much that they are becoming more and more stale than the last. God of War is a sad example, how to NOT do boss battles. Same goes to Resident Evil 4 and few others with QTE's. As an idea QTE is nice, but overusing it and turning your last battle into "push butan, receive cinema" is stupid. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still top in my personal Best Final Boss Battle, closely tied with Mega Man Legends 2. In OoT you really fought the enemy, no QTE's to add cool factor, nothing but pure atmosphere and player's own skill. Wind Waker also had nice end fight, but it had to be done with a QTEish technique.
However, there is a game that derives from the TBC, but makes it pretty damn... well, I can't really say, it makes it fun, but doesn't forget that this is a game based in Role Playing. Epicness included.
Enter Mother 3.
Mother series is the child of Shigesato Itoi, who happens to be pretty damn famous writer in Japan. In the 80's he happened to be in a hospital that had Dragon Quest. While he was sick he played it. The best way to understand older Japanese RPGs is to say every line aloud, as the text is written in kana without kanjis or such, meaning that the basic characters didn't really tell you what the sentence was saying, unless you get the meaning. That's why saying the lines aloud starts making sense, as the player "gets" what's going on. It's hard to explain this to people who don't know jackshit about Japanese, and if you're interested I recommend you to consult your nearest Wikipedia in this matter.
Nevertheless, Itoi liked the idea and somehow got to work on Nintendo's RPG, which he named "Mother." There's a lot of allusions in the game to the title, as Itoi himself basically has created the characters, plots, world and everything in the game. The games are so vast and variant that it's awesome. I recommend you to see links section in this post afterwards.
But back to the subject; th battle system. Mother 3's battle system is unique as its music. It's basics lies in the BTC, but it has more to it. You deliver more damage to your opponents when you press button in rhythm with the battle music. My love to this game partially stems from the fact that there exists more than two or three battle themes, but I didn't really know that the musics had far larger meaning.
Mother 3 delivers so much in its battle system that its not funny. I have no qualification to start opening it up, so see links section down under.
There's few games from a company known to us as Monolithsoft which derive from the TBC but mix things up similarly to Mother 3's Sound battle system. In Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier the battle mechanics are based on tuned based juggling. Every character in a battle waits for their turn and then attack an enemy, or enemies depending what you choose. However, once a normal attack is initiated the chosen character attacks as many times his/her gauge allows, or when push of a button misses. Every juggle is initiated by the player, and every enemy has slightly different point of juggle. You could say that some enemies are heavier, and that they don't rise as high, thus requiring character specific attack pattern to juggle them successfully. While the juggling may seem easy, it takes some time to get down to how and when to initiate attack in specific enemy. It is true that there are copy enemies with different colour, but there's a healthy amount of unique battles that are more or less pin-point challenge in accuracy. Unlike in Mother 3 which is based on music and rhythm, Endless Frontier's system is far more skill based in timing, thus more people can access it, like myself. I have no music ear whatsoever, and I did need some Internet help to find Mother 3's beat points... thou it doesn't really need music ear per se, only to the extend that you can feel the beat. Nevertheless, Endless Frontier is something different. It's battle system is a bit rare and most RPG fanatics most likely put it off as some experimental item, but it's really a fleshed out battle system. It actually creates a bit more illusion of acting within a game as the character, even thou it's really a series of button presses when compared to the standard fares of Final Fantasies or Dragon Quest.
But to the conclusion... I really have none. My intention was to show the three basic Battle Systems used in RPG since the 80's. Nothing has changed since then, and probably won't change in the next ten years or so. It will continue to use these unbroken and tempered systems and add new things or change a bit how it works. The systems still have the same core, and if something isn't done we won't be getting the next -insert your favourite RPG- for a long time. They might make it fun, but its still the same. Whether its for good or not, you decide it yourself.
Link Section
Few articles about Mother 3's AWESOME Rhythmic Turn Based Battle system. Recommended reading.
http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/rpg-you-can-play/
http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/mother-3-battle-music/
There was this damn sweet article, but I'll post it later when I find it
EDIT; And here that article is! http://www.largeprimenumbers.com/article.php?sid=mother2
I strongly recommend you to read it.
I've been trying not to write about anything game related. As you might see, that's been fruitless attempt since TMNT post. Perhaps I'm just too into games. Thou I might open Pandora's Box and start talking about art. That'd be the death of me.
Let's talk about RPG battle systems, and no, I'm not going to dissect into Western and Japanese RPG's, as they all bear the basic method of battle to none other than Dungeon's & Dragons.
The most basic battle system we know is from Hydlide and Ys series; ramming to your opponents. There's nothing more gratifying and fulfilling than running against your opponents until either one of you are dead. In Hydlide your character's attack stat is the thing that makes the difference with your defense stat, and you can change from attacking stance to defending stance, thou you win any of the fights with only defensing. Most of the game's beginning really depends on whether you die first or your enemy, until you level up enough to kill enemies without damaging yourself. Ys follows similar pattern, thou added a small quirk in it; you ran towards enemies so that only half of your character needs to hit them. If you hit your enemies with head-on, you'll just die and deliver zero damage. So, attacking in an angle is your best bet in the later games, while older games really forces you to attack with pixel perfect accuracy if you want to avoid damage. Thou Ys has abandoned this kind of play style for newer games, as you need to push a button to attack, and string those attacks together. The basics is still the same; run towards your opponents and attack.
RPGs that use this kind of battle system are usually called Action Role Playing Games, where the player takes immediate control of the character rather controlling them around a system.
The second battle system most widely used in RPGs is the Turn Based Combat, or TBC. First used by Enix's Dragon Quest it pretty much defined the genre for years to come. People still believe console RPGs are determined by this battle system and its variants and derivatives. Basically, upon enemy contact (random or not) you decide what action should your character/party do. The selection commonly is catered as Fight/Attack, Magic, Item and Run. These are the four basics that have been used and modified since Dragon Quest. Skill, Summon, you're all familiar with this I presume.
It is important to emphasize that TBC is how people used to determine RPG's for long time, most of 90's at least. Action RPGs were action games with levelling up and equipment changes. Nowadays most of games seem to have sort of grinding system, and personally I'm not too happy about that, but later on that perhaps.
TBC was and is the standard of RPG, thou the epic of the battles has been lessened by the years. As seen in the video above, pretty much every move and instant has some sort of textual representation. The phrasing "A Slime attacks! What thou do?" was standard and was pretty damn important part of the game, until even those were dropped only to follow visual representation. This is mostly how Final Fantasies do this; an enemy appears, but the only noting thing is whether thet Ambushed you, is it Pre-emptive strike or nothing. There is no "Lizardosaurus attacked!" text, there's nothing to note that this fight is an important fight. Dragon Quest made every fight important, because without grinding your characters are on brink of death. Same goes for FF. However, in FF none of the battles have text outside menu paremetres or indication of Critical strike. Sometimes there's speech in scripted points, but nothing more. The basics of older RPG gaming, the story telling, is left on the players mind, a step away from Dungeons & Dragons. Final Fantasy streamlined the BTC and made its own variation (and multiple derivatives) based on the Dragon Quest mould, thus basically eradicating the Storyteller, the Dungeon Master, from their games. It can be debated whether or not this is a good things, as Square seemed to move away from textual representation to film making around Final Fantasy V, culminated in VII and VIII, and especially in the latest one, XIII, which basically is a movie with RPG minigames in-between.
Somehow I find it sad that because of Dragon Quest's and Final Fantasies overbulking popularity and impact on general RPG genre has caused a split in game community to see western made RPGs in their own light.
What these "WPRGs" use is some kind of mix of the last two. Most of the time you're in control of every of your character's movements, but still the battles are fought inside a menu system. This system was developed mostly for PC, as most of fights can be simplified to "click your opponents to death" and there's nothing wrong with this. TBC runs down to "buttonmash your opponents to death," especially when you don't need to use magic or summons. If you do, you're playing it wrong. The main difference between BTC and... I haven't named this system yet, so let's call it Integrated Combat System, or ICS. The difference between BTC and ICS is that ICS rarely has same kind of random encounters as BTC. BTC opens completely new window of gameplay for combat, whereas ICS merely is there all the time. The fighting system is completely integrated into the menus at hand.
Fallout's a great game BTW.
However, these battle systems mentioned haven't really evolved a bit since their firs creation. They are the most basic template that is used in pretty every damn RPG game ever made. There isn't a game with a battle system that is completely new or isn't a derivative from the mentioned. Are these two Battle Systems the only ones that can be realized within games? And no, Quick Time Events aren't Battle Systems, they are QTE's. Goddamn, every game after Shenmue has used them so much that they are becoming more and more stale than the last. God of War is a sad example, how to NOT do boss battles. Same goes to Resident Evil 4 and few others with QTE's. As an idea QTE is nice, but overusing it and turning your last battle into "push butan, receive cinema" is stupid. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time still top in my personal Best Final Boss Battle, closely tied with Mega Man Legends 2. In OoT you really fought the enemy, no QTE's to add cool factor, nothing but pure atmosphere and player's own skill. Wind Waker also had nice end fight, but it had to be done with a QTEish technique.
However, there is a game that derives from the TBC, but makes it pretty damn... well, I can't really say, it makes it fun, but doesn't forget that this is a game based in Role Playing. Epicness included.
Enter Mother 3.
Mother series is the child of Shigesato Itoi, who happens to be pretty damn famous writer in Japan. In the 80's he happened to be in a hospital that had Dragon Quest. While he was sick he played it. The best way to understand older Japanese RPGs is to say every line aloud, as the text is written in kana without kanjis or such, meaning that the basic characters didn't really tell you what the sentence was saying, unless you get the meaning. That's why saying the lines aloud starts making sense, as the player "gets" what's going on. It's hard to explain this to people who don't know jackshit about Japanese, and if you're interested I recommend you to consult your nearest Wikipedia in this matter.
Nevertheless, Itoi liked the idea and somehow got to work on Nintendo's RPG, which he named "Mother." There's a lot of allusions in the game to the title, as Itoi himself basically has created the characters, plots, world and everything in the game. The games are so vast and variant that it's awesome. I recommend you to see links section in this post afterwards.
But back to the subject; th battle system. Mother 3's battle system is unique as its music. It's basics lies in the BTC, but it has more to it. You deliver more damage to your opponents when you press button in rhythm with the battle music. My love to this game partially stems from the fact that there exists more than two or three battle themes, but I didn't really know that the musics had far larger meaning.
Mother 3 delivers so much in its battle system that its not funny. I have no qualification to start opening it up, so see links section down under.
There's few games from a company known to us as Monolithsoft which derive from the TBC but mix things up similarly to Mother 3's Sound battle system. In Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier the battle mechanics are based on tuned based juggling. Every character in a battle waits for their turn and then attack an enemy, or enemies depending what you choose. However, once a normal attack is initiated the chosen character attacks as many times his/her gauge allows, or when push of a button misses. Every juggle is initiated by the player, and every enemy has slightly different point of juggle. You could say that some enemies are heavier, and that they don't rise as high, thus requiring character specific attack pattern to juggle them successfully. While the juggling may seem easy, it takes some time to get down to how and when to initiate attack in specific enemy. It is true that there are copy enemies with different colour, but there's a healthy amount of unique battles that are more or less pin-point challenge in accuracy. Unlike in Mother 3 which is based on music and rhythm, Endless Frontier's system is far more skill based in timing, thus more people can access it, like myself. I have no music ear whatsoever, and I did need some Internet help to find Mother 3's beat points... thou it doesn't really need music ear per se, only to the extend that you can feel the beat. Nevertheless, Endless Frontier is something different. It's battle system is a bit rare and most RPG fanatics most likely put it off as some experimental item, but it's really a fleshed out battle system. It actually creates a bit more illusion of acting within a game as the character, even thou it's really a series of button presses when compared to the standard fares of Final Fantasies or Dragon Quest.
But to the conclusion... I really have none. My intention was to show the three basic Battle Systems used in RPG since the 80's. Nothing has changed since then, and probably won't change in the next ten years or so. It will continue to use these unbroken and tempered systems and add new things or change a bit how it works. The systems still have the same core, and if something isn't done we won't be getting the next -insert your favourite RPG- for a long time. They might make it fun, but its still the same. Whether its for good or not, you decide it yourself.
Link Section
Few articles about Mother 3's AWESOME Rhythmic Turn Based Battle system. Recommended reading.
http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/rpg-you-can-play/
http://cruiseelroy.net/2009/01/mother-3-battle-music/
There was this damn sweet article, but I'll post it later when I find it
EDIT; And here that article is! http://www.largeprimenumbers.com/article.php?sid=mother2
I strongly recommend you to read it.
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