Avalon Code redux – No, my opinion hasn’t really changed

wpid-Avalon-Code-WallpaperI said I’d give Avalon Code a second chance so I gave Avalon Code a second chance. Last time I quit barely 5 hours into the game, but right now I’m at the 9 hour mark. Of course about 3 of those hours have been spent just fiddling with codes alone, but progress is still progress. Baby steps, baby steps. It helps that I’ve played a lot of action RPGs since 2010 so I’m more used to the kind of running and dashing that the game calls for.

Buuuut… I still think the system is too fussy. I still like the premise and I still wish the game allowed you to focus on that instead of throwing you into boring dungeons with horrible puzzles and wasting tons of time that way. Barely anything has happened story-wise in those 9 hours so when oh when is the story ever going to get going?

And the book is still a pain in the buttocks to control. If I need a simple Iron code to modify a weapon, I have to flip through every single page in the whole book looking for the places where I’ve used iron. And if I don’t have an empty palette to put the Iron on, I have to find a space on another page, put something down (which I might need later) and grab the Iron then flip back to where I need to use it. If they had made a proper code index for the book that would have improved the game by 80%.

We would still have to deal with the dungeon puzzles though. Have I told you lately how much I hate dungeon puzzles? And that even in the best of games, which Avalon Code certainly is not. So, to continue or not to continue? A commenter on my previous Avalon post promised me a “heart-wrenching and nerve-wracking plot twist” which I would kind of like to see, but am I curious enough to put up with terrible gameplay? I know I did it for Suikoden Hyakunen, but the battles there weren’t half as bad as this. Not to mention the chances of finding a complete Let’s Play are higher for AC, so maybe I should do that instead.

…aight, I’ll give it another 3 hours to get its act together and take it from there.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors – I knew I wouldn’t like it

Nine_Hours,_Nine_Persons,_Nine_Doors_Cover_ArtTo be honest the odds were stacked against 999 from the start.

1. I don’t like visual novels. I don’t think I’ve made a secret of this dislike or of the reason: they’re really boring to read. The dialogue parts aren’t so bad, but there’s always a lot of description of things that don’t need describing (because we can see them, because this is a visual novel) and a lot of time-wasting before anything happens. It’s especially annoying in 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors because they’re supposed to be trying to escape with their lives, but they spend an extraordinary amount of time chatting or bickering about little things when I’m screaming in my head “Just open the door already!”

2. I don’t like puzzle games. I’ve played and liked a few such games here and there, but it’s not a genre I really enjoy or one that I actively seek out. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

L2 Love x Loop – So boring I couldn’t keep playing

l2 love x loop wallpaper2Yes, Idea Factory actually managed to make a game worse than Kurunugyaaah. And they achieved it quite easily too, by making L2 Love x Loop unspeakably dull. Bad games I can handle. Boring games? Urgh… If this was on the DS or the PSP then maybe I might have toughed it out and completed at least one route, but my PS2 is on its last legs as it is so I have no time to waste. And seeing as the game is so poor, I’m not going to waste too much time writing about it either. I quit and here, in short form, is why:

1. Main reason: There’s too much talking. Yeah, I know it’s a visual novel, but still! They keep repeating themselves – robots this, robots that, Eua this, Eua that. On top of that their dialog is choked with lengthy, unnatural explanations about things that don’t shouldn’t need explanation for the in-game characters. And the writing just doesn’t read very well, so it’s hard to follow much of the time. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

The Conveni DS – Sexist? Or realistic? Either way it’s boring

the conveni ds coverThe Conveni DS is a convenience store simulator developed by Hamster and published by Nippon Ichi Software. Like most Nippon Ichi Software games it is a disappointment through and through, though I did derive some fleeting enjoyment right at the beginning before I realized just how bad it was.

The problem is that, as the game’s subtitle (“Management Training for Adults”) claims, the game is supposed to simulate the day to day running of a convenience store. However instead of making you play the manager of such a store, you’re rather set up as the owner of a company that manages a bunch of Lawson franchises. What that means is that you set up the franchise, pick the merchandise, hire a manager and some workers and then basically sit back and watch the money roll in. The Conveni is the most boring game I’ve played all year because there’s simply nothing to do once you’ve set things up right. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Fuurai no Shiren DS 2 – I’m not really into postgame content

shiren ds 2-3I finished the Hole of Tonfan dungeon! It was a pretty fun dungeon, now that I look back on it. Your first few runs will always be devoted to getting Nfuu to eat the best meats you can find – first finding out what those best meats are and then obtaining some and feeding it to him. Piggo meat is great, the healing bunny meat helps a lot and my life has been saved a few times by the meat that cuts enemy ATK or HP in half.

After that it’s all up to your luck. The run I finally finished was one where I was lucky not to encounter a monster house. Those are hellish because Nfuu always insists on staying and fighting no matter what, and he usually gets himself killed. I was also lucky enough to pick up lots of mamel meat on level 1, which I used liberally on the enemies lower down. And I was lucky again when killing those transformed mamels gave me back the meat half the time, letting me reuse them at all. After that it was all a matter of arriving on floor 15 and I was done. Yay! It took me a while to believe I’d actually cleared that dungeon. ^_^ Do please go on, this is most interesting →