Magna Carta 2
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I never even knew that it had a prequel, until I saw the ads. Hell, I didn't even know it exsisted.
I recall the first game getting a lot of flack for poor gameplay choices and boring storytelling. But since the JRPG (or KRPG in this case) is getting to be an endangered species, I'm trying to support the good ones.BrotherhoodOfSteel said:
Haven't heard a thing about Magna Carta 2 yet though, hence the topic.
My friend has been playing it nonstop but from what I read about it is your relatively run of the mill J-RPG that more or less does nothing new or interesting.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/103/1034355p1.html
If you havnt seen it.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/103/1034355p1.html
If you havnt seen it.
I rarely pay attention to reviews, but Metacritic has it at a 73%, with the user score being 80%.syndicated44 said:
Thanks for the review, but the reviewer's main problem with the game seems to be that it's a JRPG. Readers on IGN gave it much more favorable reviews than IGN did.
That's why I was hoping to hear from someone who played it since it seems that dismissing a game just because it's a JRPG is the norm for reviewers now.
Well the best I can offer is that whenever a buddy of mine plays his 360 for the past week or so it has constantly been magnacarta 2. I was never one for jrpg simply because I cant stand turned based combat and random encounters. Because obviously I could not have anything happen until I have to walk 2 more spaces to get to the boss and then like 5 leveled enemies show up and blast me to half health and then I have to use half my magic or pots to get back up to health then I die fighting boss and urgh..Ammadessi said:
haha sorry for that but I dont know rent it or something or if you liked the first one just go get it. I am sure it isnt an unplayable mess and from what I skimmed from the review it seems pretty solid so I dont really think you should be dissapointed, good luck!
The second is supposed to be really good.
Of course, compared to one of the worst RPGs ever made(the first), that's not saying much.
The first did have good art design and music going for it, at least.
Of course, compared to one of the worst RPGs ever made(the first), that's not saying much.
The first did have good art design and music going for it, at least.
Sorry I couldnt be of more help. I used to play a few jrpg on my gameboy decades ago and I pick it up here and again. Hell I might even take a peak at this sometime. If that guy were on I would ask him about him unfortenatly he is not. Good luck again.Ammadessi said:
Here is another review that is more of a user than a "proffesional" game reviewer.
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/magna-carta-2/review/
I have had the game since launch but have yet to play it. I am waiting til I get Borderlands so I can jump between them. Don't ask me why cuz I really don't know.
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/magna-carta-2/review/
I have had the game since launch but have yet to play it. I am waiting til I get Borderlands so I can jump between them. Don't ask me why cuz I really don't know.
GameTrailers did a pretty good review of it. If you can ignore their fucking segueway graphics, their reviewer is pretty good.Ammadessi said:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-magnacarta-2/57762
Basic gist, the combat is novel and fun, but repetetive. Voice acting is hit or miss, and repetetive. Gameplay is repetetive. Story is delivered via 2d exposistion. Story is awesome, if you like Japanesy stories.
I thought it was nice. Too bad I will not be finishing it since my 360 finally decided to up and die. literally fifteen minutes ago.
I have both acquired a copy of this game and slashed my way through it and I will say it's alright in some regards and others feels cheap and uninspired. If I may give my own personal run down on the game.
To begin with graphics and character motion it is beautiful, character designs aren't exactly fresh as far as JRPG's are concerned, but they are done rather well and never at a moment did I feel bored with their designs, I must admit I rather did enjoy them. The landscape is your typical action land set in a generic fantasy setting and are up to par with current graphical standards, meaning that while they are not laughable but they're not exactly immersive either. Motion capture is done fairly straightforward and at least in my eperiance never really bogged down or glitched away so I'm satisfied.
If I may push the story quickly through, it all familiar ground for JRPG's. As to not get bullied around with spoilers, two waring faction, and you join in on the fight through not so cuddly circumstances, priestess and bodyguard, a world breaking from the stress's of war etc. Now this isn't bad, in fact there exists a couple elements that I quite like one of which involving the central protagonists and fire but that is neither here nor there. Aside from dropping the ball and not exploring a couple cool or interesting ideas, MG2 moves along nice and only once in the games story did I have to take an hour brake because I felt the need to charge my electronic medium with the crime of idiocracy.
Now the game play is the buy for this title, two things are brought into play one very well and enjoyable and the other nice but with a few snags. Firstly as far as monster encounters and plot fights, gone is the quick flash and a four or five second dance of lights as the game highlights the opposition. If you want or need to pick a fight you simply walk up to the opposition in question and press the combat button, flipping the controls into combat mode, and thus you begin smashing away at the enemy. It is this I love and adore, it keeps the combat feeling engaging and quickens the pace as to not feel like days have passed when your just mucking about trying to get some xp before the next boss fight. Second is the combat itself, as hopefully all RPG's are moving into...real time combat. I do applaud this action as this makes the game feel more like a game and less like game of checkers between cut scenes. However there exists an element in this game that I found not so much a problem but rather an annoyance. While in combat you characters are limited by an action meter in that you can only do so much before your acting character gets "overheated" and needs a rest and while the game provides a manor in which to instantly refill you action bar with a chain combo trick the whole thing still feels like a ball and chain to keep me the player from smashing the enemies into little tiny bits before the NPC's figured out I showed up and slaughtered all of their friends. I suppose this is an in built system to allow the NPC's time to adjust for combat mode but still it feels like the whole gimmick retards the gaming process.
Now game play as far as the central story is concerned is nice and linear with a solid number of hours to do the things that central protagonists do with respect to the antagonists. But between central moves in the story the player can go and do "quests" for the local populous in which the character is spending their free time in. While they often cycle through go here and kill these things and go there and beat up these guys, never did I feel cheapened by the whole experience, also they never feel overly time consuming and flow by rather calmly and a decent chuck of xp comes with each quest so they are worth the time to complete. As well every so often doing these side quests rewards you with a special item or means of acquiring a special item so I'm satisfied in this regard. All together there's a solid 25-30 hours of game play and at the end I didn't feel robbed for the price of the game.
Furthermore the little things help, I don't know if I'm alone in this category but when you the player acquire new weapons in the game they should each look different and have their own little aesthetic appeals and in MG2 they do, oh what joy. Also each character has two different types of weapons in which to engage enemy combatants and each feel different from the other as far as combat is concerned rather then just stronger versions of one another, so again another little win. Given that the player must walk from location to location the map has a wierd way of not seeming to be to large so that crossing it seems like a drag while managing not to feel to small and feeling like a cat stuck in a ice cream container and another little victory for the game.
As there are good things to say there are also bad, but not to many. First the leveling system quite frankly feels cheap, more like a game designers after thought and doesn't feel all that rewarding. Another fall is how the characters exchange dialog, the game screen fades to a soft grey and the two characters speaking are presented up front and on either side of the screen, now while this isn't a complete fail it's certainly not a win and feel cheap. As I've said before the combat can't escape the feeling of having a ball and chain attached to the player. Finally not so much a complaint of the game but I must say as far as the finale boss is concerned, let me just say for me that was the easiest point in the game.
So to finalize this little spiel MG2 is this, a worth while for buy for both fans and interested gamers of the genre. While it stumbles along with a few mechanics and drops a possible outlandish story for a more conventional JRPG approach it's not all that bad. As a rating scale I shall fall back to the game price in that it's worth the standing price tag, although I don't blame you for buying it used or simply wait for it to drop but in the end I didn't feel ripped off buying the game.
To begin with graphics and character motion it is beautiful, character designs aren't exactly fresh as far as JRPG's are concerned, but they are done rather well and never at a moment did I feel bored with their designs, I must admit I rather did enjoy them. The landscape is your typical action land set in a generic fantasy setting and are up to par with current graphical standards, meaning that while they are not laughable but they're not exactly immersive either. Motion capture is done fairly straightforward and at least in my eperiance never really bogged down or glitched away so I'm satisfied.
If I may push the story quickly through, it all familiar ground for JRPG's. As to not get bullied around with spoilers, two waring faction, and you join in on the fight through not so cuddly circumstances, priestess and bodyguard, a world breaking from the stress's of war etc. Now this isn't bad, in fact there exists a couple elements that I quite like one of which involving the central protagonists and fire but that is neither here nor there. Aside from dropping the ball and not exploring a couple cool or interesting ideas, MG2 moves along nice and only once in the games story did I have to take an hour brake because I felt the need to charge my electronic medium with the crime of idiocracy.
Now the game play is the buy for this title, two things are brought into play one very well and enjoyable and the other nice but with a few snags. Firstly as far as monster encounters and plot fights, gone is the quick flash and a four or five second dance of lights as the game highlights the opposition. If you want or need to pick a fight you simply walk up to the opposition in question and press the combat button, flipping the controls into combat mode, and thus you begin smashing away at the enemy. It is this I love and adore, it keeps the combat feeling engaging and quickens the pace as to not feel like days have passed when your just mucking about trying to get some xp before the next boss fight. Second is the combat itself, as hopefully all RPG's are moving into...real time combat. I do applaud this action as this makes the game feel more like a game and less like game of checkers between cut scenes. However there exists an element in this game that I found not so much a problem but rather an annoyance. While in combat you characters are limited by an action meter in that you can only do so much before your acting character gets "overheated" and needs a rest and while the game provides a manor in which to instantly refill you action bar with a chain combo trick the whole thing still feels like a ball and chain to keep me the player from smashing the enemies into little tiny bits before the NPC's figured out I showed up and slaughtered all of their friends. I suppose this is an in built system to allow the NPC's time to adjust for combat mode but still it feels like the whole gimmick retards the gaming process.
Now game play as far as the central story is concerned is nice and linear with a solid number of hours to do the things that central protagonists do with respect to the antagonists. But between central moves in the story the player can go and do "quests" for the local populous in which the character is spending their free time in. While they often cycle through go here and kill these things and go there and beat up these guys, never did I feel cheapened by the whole experience, also they never feel overly time consuming and flow by rather calmly and a decent chuck of xp comes with each quest so they are worth the time to complete. As well every so often doing these side quests rewards you with a special item or means of acquiring a special item so I'm satisfied in this regard. All together there's a solid 25-30 hours of game play and at the end I didn't feel robbed for the price of the game.
Furthermore the little things help, I don't know if I'm alone in this category but when you the player acquire new weapons in the game they should each look different and have their own little aesthetic appeals and in MG2 they do, oh what joy. Also each character has two different types of weapons in which to engage enemy combatants and each feel different from the other as far as combat is concerned rather then just stronger versions of one another, so again another little win. Given that the player must walk from location to location the map has a wierd way of not seeming to be to large so that crossing it seems like a drag while managing not to feel to small and feeling like a cat stuck in a ice cream container and another little victory for the game.
As there are good things to say there are also bad, but not to many. First the leveling system quite frankly feels cheap, more like a game designers after thought and doesn't feel all that rewarding. Another fall is how the characters exchange dialog, the game screen fades to a soft grey and the two characters speaking are presented up front and on either side of the screen, now while this isn't a complete fail it's certainly not a win and feel cheap. As I've said before the combat can't escape the feeling of having a ball and chain attached to the player. Finally not so much a complaint of the game but I must say as far as the finale boss is concerned, let me just say for me that was the easiest point in the game.
So to finalize this little spiel MG2 is this, a worth while for buy for both fans and interested gamers of the genre. While it stumbles along with a few mechanics and drops a possible outlandish story for a more conventional JRPG approach it's not all that bad. As a rating scale I shall fall back to the game price in that it's worth the standing price tag, although I don't blame you for buying it used or simply wait for it to drop but in the end I didn't feel ripped off buying the game.
Ok so I finally got into it. The first couple hours suck ass. You are solo with guests and that is not a good way to start it. The story thus far is so cliched I swear they just took every piece of line from some obscure compilation of RPG cliches and mashed them together. Then I got past the first area and everything changed. The combat is quite fun and is going to take some time to master. Alot of which I still don't understand after the tutorials. The story seems to be taking a turn for the better (even though the MC is still an amnesiac). The sidequests are easily found so you aren't spending days talking to NPCs about The weather or thier cats looking for them. The cutscene graphics are nice but the dialog graphics in game are terrible. The characters look odd since thier heads seem disporpotionate to thier bodies (or thier necks are too long). Something is off about them and not in the uncanny valley type way. Although the voice acting is good and familiar.
I think the model designer tried to give the characters fairly realistic facial types (While retaining the overly symmetrical style common in Japan and Korea.) and that just makes everyone look creepy.squid5580 said:
I appreciate how the characters are not needlessly whiny douche-bags too.
That is the thing though thier faces aren't the problem. I don't find them realistic or even close to realistic. It is the way thier heads meet thier bodies that are odd. They have the shoulders of linebackers in full gear with the heads the size of infants. Held together by giraffe necks (may be slightly exaggerating).shadow skill said: