Welcome to the fourth annual edition of “Games I started but realized they sucked and dumped them so quickly that I didn’t have anything to write about!” *canned applause* Happily enough the list gets shorter and shorter every year, partly because I’m more discerning about what I even start, partly because I’ve had all my consoles and handhelds for years so there isn’t much left to play and partly because I play fewer games overall these days. Without further ado, last year’s victims:
Pandora’s Tower (Wii) – This is an unusual case in that I haven’t 100% quit it. The dull art and ‘save the princess’ storyline didn’t really grab me, and the gameplay was too “action game-ish” and “puzzle-y” for me to make it past the first few floors, but I can see myself coming back in a couple of years when I’m better at action games and giving it a proper try. If Phantasy Star Portable, FF Type-0 and The Last Story have taught me anything, it’s that when I get into an ARPG system, I get into it in a major way. Maybe that will happened with Pandora’s Tower someday. Dropped for the foreseeable future.
Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS) – I’m not much of a Mario fan. Maybe I’ll take a turn at Mario Party once in a blue moon, and it can be fun to watch Mario Kart sometimes, but otherwise nothing Mario appears in really interests me. Still an RPG is an RPG so I borrowed Bowser’s Inside Story from my brother because he seemed to be having so much fun with it. Unfortunately the platform-style gameplay, boring battles and my complete lack of interest in what became of Mario and Bowser did me in pretty quickly.
Ys DS (DS) Uhh… how does the combat work again? I got through the part where my character washes up on an island somewhere, but then I went out into the fields and got slaughtered in two hits. I’m supposed to… bump into monsters? Or use the stylus to slash them? Do I even have a sword? I dungeddit. Next!
Hayate no Gotoku! Nightmare Paradise (PSP) – The most disappointing of the lot. I’ve played two of the three Hayate no Gotoku! games on the DS and had a great time, especially with the first one. Nightmare Paradise has the gang wandering into one of the Sanzenin libraries and being put to sleep by a mischevious spirit. Now it’s up to Hayate to dive into each girl’s dreams and help them write an ending to the story… or something like that.
The writing wasn’t funny. The story wasn’t interesting. The gameplay was non-existent. Nagi’s dream just has you moving through a lame dungeon for ages. There really wasn’t anything to do except read a bit and plod through dull stages, so it was hard to enjoy. And it’s already been a few years since I dropped the HnG manga, meaning I wasn’t particularly motivated to tough it out. Basically the whole experience was more Nightmare than Paradise and I dropped it with a heavy heart.
Houkago wa Hakugin no Shirabe (PS2) – An otome visual novel I downloaded at random many years ago. Something about a girl whose grandpa forces her to disguise herself as a boy so she can investigate things at some boy’s high school or the other. I don’t know what else I expected when I started a visual novel, but there was just too. much. talking! She couldn’t even walk through the gates without a 10-minute soliloquy. Quit after 1 hour.
And that’s all for the duds? I did pretty well last year, didn’t I? *canned applause*
About YS the first game relies in a system know like bump sistem. Unfortunately the developers of ds version did a poor work with this game, you supposed to draw a line in your target and charge in they (like a bull! Lol! ) but the ds version didn’t bother to add that. I recommend the PSP version better 🙂 if you want to experience the bump sistem play the PSP instead or if you want a Arpg the oath and seven can suit you better
Ah I see, so it’s not a system common to all Ys games, just this one? That gives me hope.
The DS version of Ys actually allows you to swing your sword at foes instead of bumping into them: by pressing Select, you can access the Options menu and choose the configuration you prefer. The PSP version, on the other hand, only offers the bumping system. Anyway, both configurations take a little time to get used to; but once you master them, the fighting physics can become amazingly intoxicating and addictive. I’ve played both the DS and PSP versions and in both cases, I really couldn’t get enough of fighting! 😀
Eh….so I should give it another chance huh? I’ll think about it.
the thing with Ys is that you have to bump with the enemies but it doesn’t have to be in a perfect straight line,you have to bump them from the side otherwise both you and the monster take damage
this pic explains it
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ys/sword101.png
and yes, ys 1 and ys 2 are the only game that do that… most modern version like PSP,DS and steam bundle them together since ys 2 starts right from where ys 1 ends
as for bowser inside story, try to give a try to superstar saga on gba? it’s the first game of the series and i think it was the best one out of all mario rpg
The difference between ‘Yay’ and ‘No’ is, like, 2 pixels! No wonder I got killed >_< M...maybe I'll give it another try later.
Man, there sure are a lot of comments on the bump system.
I only played the PC Engine version, but it’s not as hard as it seems in that version because the movement system is very obviously “grid” based, if that makes any sense. Just being slightly off is enough for you to damage the enemy instead of the other way round.
If the remakes made the movement more “fine-tuned” then I suppose it could be harder to do… but I imagine Falcom actually wanted more people to attack from the sides and back instead of the front… it’s still a good idea to approach them at a bit of an angle in order to prevent any unexpected monster turning but still.
Final commentary but I probably wouldn’t recommend the DS version because the aesthetics are pretty bad in that one and I think that’s about the only real draw of Ys 1 and 2 – the gameplay hasn’t aged that well.
If I have to PC Engine version to get any enjoyment out of Ys then it’s just not for me.