Yahtzee vs. the JRPG

[Crunchy English]

I'll vouch for Yahtzee as someone who played the game for a more extended period of time. If this game had come out with a different title, no one would have touched it. It's bad design, through and through.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

But I don't think you can say that it is impossible to play FF13... You only got 5 hours in, only unlocked the barest bones of the combat system.

He mentioned why waiting to get to the best parts is not a good selling point, using Plan 9 and putting your hand on a stove as metaphors (both in different reviews).


That said, I want to know if he's ever played Persona 3 and/or 4, and what his thoughts on them were. I guess he really just can't be bothered to play them, given his apparently busy schedule.

 

[Suskie]

For the lion's share of the game the only real input the player has is during battles (and even that's a loose and uninvolving input)

And how exactly would you know what the "lion's share" of a 40-hour game consists of when you've only seen the first five? I wasn't a big fan of the game either, but I at least finished it before I started making claims like that. At last contextualize it like you did in the video.

To be fair to Yahtzee, if a game isn't interesting by it's 4th Hour, it IS wasting time and as good as FFXIII gets around hour 15, that's still 15 hours of SLOG that you have to get through. It's bad storytelling and it's bad game design.

I agree to an extent, even if it's a game that requires an enormous overall time commitment. I think what bothered me was the way he phrased it. Realistically, he has no idea what the "lion's share" of the game consists of.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

i love final fantasy 6, earthbound, and paper mario but i haven't played chrono trigger ...

 

[The Critic]

For the lion's share of the game the only real input the player has is during battles (and even that's a loose and uninvolving input)

And how exactly would you know what the "lion's share" of a 40-hour game consists of when you've only seen the first five? I wasn't a big fan of the game either, but I at least finished it before I started making claims like that. At last contextualize it like you did in the video.

To be fair to Yahtzee, if a game isn't interesting by it's 4th Hour, it IS wasting time and as good as FFXIII gets around hour 15, that's still 15 hours of SLOG that you have to get through. It's bad storytelling and it's bad game design.

Agreed. Games, like books, movies, and other forms of storytelling, have to have that critical "hook" to pull you in and keep you interested. If there is no hook, no golden nugget in the river bed, then there's no reason to go through the trouble of digging in the dirt, regardless of how profitable the gold mine might theoretically be.

 

[BeholdMyGlory]

Have you ever played FFIX? It's kind of a throwback to pre-FFVII, and it's actually my favourite in the series. I never really liked FFVII, FFVIII or FFX and later, I prefer fantasy over sci-fi in Final Fantasy games.

 

[Caiti Voltaire]

That's part of the whole premise though. Your character knows nothing more than you do when you start the game, but in FFXIII all the characters have some background and connections that you find out later, rather than an adventure where you gradually figure things out. Which makes it a good thing.

That's one of the problems with JRPGs. When your characters know more than you do and they seem to be going down a linear path regardless of what you do, well it just seems like your watching cinema where you occasionally have to mash buttons to progress through a scene transistion.

 

[duchaked]

I don't see why FF7 is bad to him, since I felt it did more than just look pretty (back in the day of course).

I can see why he hates where FF as a series has gone (all trying to live up to VII but whatever)

I couldn't get into Oblivion, and Mass Effect hasn't really gotten to me (was hoping to finish it and try ME2 out but getting there will be a challenge)

maybe my gaming style simply isn't suited for RPGs anymore...don't have the time to invest these days

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

For the lion's share of the game the only real input the player has is during battles (and even that's a loose and uninvolving input)

And how exactly would you know what the "lion's share" of a 40-hour game consists of when you've only seen the first five? I wasn't a big fan of the game either, but I at least finished it before I started making claims like that. At last contextualize it like you did in the video.

To be fair to Yahtzee, if a game isn't interesting by it's 4th Hour, it IS wasting time and as good as FFXIII gets around hour 15, that's still 15 hours of SLOG that you have to get through. It's bad storytelling and it's bad game design.

I agree to an extent, even if it's a game that requires an enormous overall time commitment. I think what bothered me was the way he phrased it. Realistically, he has no idea what the "lion's share" of the game consists of.

Very true, he should have referred to this as an "Impression" like he did with The Witcher.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

"Beat it to the rush to give me money" oh Yahtzee you silly silly man. I'll probably get Mogworld at sometimes after it initial release but now right away.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Yahtzee, are you willing to share any your other exceptions to the rule? Like do you like any fighting games, any RTS's, or any Multiplayer games? If you can find expections to something that you hate as much as JRPG's, and you have admitted to liking TF2 and WoW when you can't stand the human race, their has to be other exceptions your holding back on.

 

[T_ConX]

...and I don't care what any official media says, if Vanille is over 16 I will suffocate myself with a miniskirt

As both a fan of spectacle, and someone who played more then the first five hours, I feel obliged to point out that...

Spoiler

... later in the game, you find out that Vanille is over 500 years old.

 

[VGFreak1225]

I can respect that.

By the way, if you never did finish Chrono Trigger Yahtzee, you should try the DS remake. I know that that you hate remakes, but the New Game + mode makes it much faster to tackle the bosses for subsequent runs and to get the other endings, even if you still need to finish them the traditional way the first time.

Edit: New Game + was in original as well. I STAND HUMBLY CORRECTED.

 

[FBPH]

...and I don't care what any official media says, if Vanille is over 16 I will suffocate myself with a miniskirt

Spoiler

... later in the game, you find out that Vanille is over 500 years old.

What HAVE YOU DONE!? You've effectively killed Yahtzee!
You shall rue this day ConX...mark my words...

 

[The Critic]

I also have a sinking feeling that games like Fallout 3, Mass effect, and Dragon age, have ruined jrpgs for me.

Baulders gate, previous fallouts and kotor were all good. However lacking the same power that the aforementioned games had.

I'm in the same boat, so to speak.

Western RPGs (Fallout 3 in my case) and CRPGs (KotOR I and II, though II isn't strictly defined as a CRPG) have pretty much destroyed any promise that JRPGs can ever hold in my eyes (I suppose that which games bring this revelation to your eyes is a matter of personal taste, so I'll leave my other opinions out of this).

Granted, I still play Pokemon games, for some inexplicable reason (see my avatar). Probably nostalgia, but I could be missing something.

 

[WaderiAAA]

I remember him mentioning Earthbound and Paper Mario as games he liked when he reviewed Super Paper Mario. I also liked those two, and very few other RPGs. Haven't tried Chrono Triggers and Final Fantasy 6.

 

[FBPH]

I can respect that.

By the way, if you never did finish Chrono Trigger Yahtzee, you should try the DS remake. I know that that you hate remakes, but the New Game + mode makes it much faster to tackle the bosses for succeeding runs and to get the other endings, even if you still need to finish them the traditional way the first time.

I highly doubt that Yahtzee is willing to go through all the trouble of beating the bosses he got bored with originally again on a hand-held. Also, do you really believe he'd be the type to complete several play-throughs to get all the endings?

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Vanille is indeed over 500 and with all the mental maturity of someone who is 8. Seriously, if I EVER met a woman like that in real life I'd strangle her just to keep her from sucking everyone's intelligence into her black hole of kookiness. -shudders- The FF team needs a SERIOUS reexamination of characters in fiction.

Anyway, aw nuts, I was hoping for a mailbag showdown. Oh well, Yahtzee did his time with the game (time he didn't need to) so he's suffered enough. And I'm definitely going to keep an eye on Mogworld

 

[VGFreak1225]

I can respect that.

By the way, if you never did finish Chrono Trigger Yahtzee, you should try the DS remake. I know that that you hate remakes, but the New Game + mode makes it much faster to tackle the bosses for succeeding runs and to get the other endings, even if you still need to finish them the traditional way the first time.

I highly doubt that Yahtzee is willing to go through all the trouble of beating the bosses he got bored with originally again on a hand-held. Also, do you really believe he'd be the type to complete several play-throughs to get all the endings?

Just a thought. Not saying he'll like it, but I'm just throwing that out there. Heck, Chrono Trigger is short for that very reason.

 

[Project_Omega]

The ones that arent japanese nor rpgs