Yahtzee vs. the JRPG

[Mirroga]

Yahtzee played Chrono Trigger? My mind is blown! At least I know now that Yahtzee has at least been exposed to good JRPGs.

 

[Mr.Lucifer]

Anyone here a fan of the shin megami tensei franchise?

 

[ziggy161]

I DEFINETLY need to play Earthbound now o_o;

 

[ziggy161]

Anyone here a fan of the shin megami tensei franchise?

YES

 

[TacoBob]

Am I the only one that groans when I hear people say, "Ooh! Just wait until you play it for blank blank hours THEN it stops sucking!". I'm sorry, when I spend 60+ bucks on a game, I want to be hooked the SECOND I put the gaming disc in. As someone who is a fan of JPRGs and who has been playing them since Final Fantasy 1 (I purchased it when it was new) I have to say the latest FF game sucks. Horrible characters, boring story. DECENT battle system and waaaay too many boring cut scenes. I've never played a game before where I hated EVERY SINGLE ONE of the main characters until this turkey came up. Thank God I was able to return this for a real game.

 

[ziggy161]

If someone (im looking at you Mr.Croshaw) would like to try out some Really good jrpg titles i would wholeheartedly recommend the Shin Megami Tensai: Persona games (especially SMT: Persona 3 FES & Persona 4, both available for the PS2)

and just to remind people: If you dont like Japanese culture/storytelling and/or Anime/manga you should never try to review a JRPG.
that like i i where to review a Kanye West or Akon cd( and i hate Rap and hip hop with a passion).

3 is good, 4 not so much >_>

 

[pretender85]

I have to agree with him actually..All those games listed in that column are great games from the past that I still play over again to this day(and I actually finished Chrono Trigger)..Don't get me wrong, I liked FF7 just because it had a really good storyline(and for some twisted reason i liked 9)..but 8 10 10-2 13 etc. have all lost my interest. I haven't bought a FF game since 10 and I've seen my roommate playing 12..it just doesn't look that interesting anymore. I miss the good ol standing in a line or around a gigantic boss turn based whackem..none of this moving around the arena crap. That wii download for the expansion on FF2(or 4 if u prefer) is actually quite good and challenging..just a bit expensive i guess.

 

[Abriael]

Gameplay can be contradictory to the story if the player's actions don't match what the game story is trying to tell you. For example, it's contradictory for an RPG that's about healing the world to only make the combat situations playable. For a better explanation of this google "ludo-narrative dissonance".

Good point, too bad that Final Fantasy XIII isn't about "healing the world" at all, not even nearly.

Spoiler: It's about... click the spoiler if you dare

It's about DESTROYING the world, and rebellion. That's perfectly compatible with combat

Thats like saying Quake 4 is not a corridor shooter because of the large vehicle levels.....or Turok is not a corridor shooter because 2 or 4 levels have 2 paths you can take.......through the corridored layouts.....

The difference is that there isn't a "large vehicle level" or "2 paths you can take". There are completely open world areas, with several tens of quests that you can take in any order. That's most definitely not anyway comparable with corridors.

I'd advise you to actually get your info straight before commenting on a game, since actually playing it seems to be asking too much in yathzee's environment

 

[kingpocky]

I just read/watched "let's plays" for Persona 3 and 4. If playing through games is your thing, hey, there's no accounting for taste, but I had a much better time than I would have by playing it. There's the added bonus of witty commentary, plus I can just skip past all the pointless grinding and get to the actual interesting parts.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Gameplay can be contradictory to the story if the player's actions don't match what the game story is trying to tell you. For example, it's contradictory for an RPG that's about healing the world to only make the combat situations playable. For a better explanation of this google "ludo-narrative dissonance".

Good point, too bad that Final Fantasy XIII isn't about "healing the world" at all, not even nearly.

Spoiler: It's about... click the spoiler if you dare

It's about DESTROYING the world, and rebellion. That's perfectly compatible with combat

Thats like saying Quake 4 is not a corridor shooter because of the large vehicle levels.....or Turok is not a corridor shooter because 2 or 4 levels have 2 paths you can take.......through the corridored layouts.....

The difference is that there isn't a "large vehicle level" or "2 paths you can take". There are completely open world areas, with several tens of quests that you can take in any order. That's most definitely not anyway comparable with corridors.

I'd advise you to actually get your info straight before commenting on a game, since actually playing it seems to be asking too much in yathzee's environment

The problem is unlike the open world FFs and even modern RPGs with less explorable content this thing is a corridor then a large area to tool around in before moving on to the next corridor. The large area with tons of stuff to do is a illusion that fails to pass the test of a good illusion. At least FF12 was awesome in this respect a shame the rest of that game did reach that level of design.

Call it what you will but this is RPG lite and ME2 is extra virgin lite....... I compare them because in some respects they are simualer.

 

[Abriael]

[
The problem is unlike the open world FFs and even modern RPGs with less explorable content this thing is a corridor then a large area to tool around in before moving on to the next corridor. The large area with tons of stuff to do is a illusion that fails to pass the test of a good illusion. At least FF12 was awesome in this respect a shame the rest of that game did reach that level of design.

There's no illusion. You can go where you want, do the missions in any order. There's no corridor in that part of the game, and honestly it seems that you're grasping at straws a-la "it's a corridor because I say so! It's no no matter that it doesn't look, feel and play like a corridor! It's an illusion!".

Doesn't fly.

 

[Tetranitrophenol]

Am I the only one that groans when I hear people say, "Ooh! Just wait until you play it for blank blank hours THEN it stops sucking!". I'm sorry, when I spend 60+ bucks on a game, I want to be hooked the SECOND I put the gaming disc in. As someone who is a fan of JPRGs and who has been playing them since Final Fantasy 1 (I purchased it when it was new) I have to say the latest FF game sucks. Horrible characters, boring story. DECENT battle system and waaaay too many boring cut scenes. I've never played a game before where I hated EVERY SINGLE ONE of the main characters until this turkey came up. Thank God I was able to return this for a real game.

Amen to that!

Id like to see someone that has played and mildly enjoyed the Final Fantasy series since FF1, and still say that FFXIII is a masterpiece.

 

[Abriael]

Id like to see someone that has played and mildly enjoyed the Final Fantasy series since FF1, and still say that FFXIII is a masterpiece.

I played the Final Fantasy series since FF1 and enjoyed it (besides V and XII that were very, very sub-par story and characters-wise), including XI (for about three years), and I think FFXIII is a masterpiece.

Glad to be of service.

 

[ckam]

Wow, even Yahtzee liked FF6.

 

[sketchesofpayne]

Seems like all RPGs these days keep the training wheels on for the first 10 hours of play. I just want to tell the game "Shut up, I've played tons of RPGs, just let me dive into the combat and leveling system. Start sending the difficult monsters at me!"

On another note, it got to be an out and out joke that every hero started his journey being woken up because he's late for [school, training, breakfast, etc]. That's how EVERY jRPG started back in the day.

 

[smartyknickers]

Apreciation for Paper Mario 2, one of my all time favorate games, from the most critical critic ever makes me very happy. There is not enough love for this game.

 

[JakobBloch]

Well I suppose I should add a criteria to my buy-game-when-list: Ignore Yahtze when it comes to JRPGs. While I have not played FF13 (due to lack of... well... PS3 or xbox360) I am a big fan of FF7 through to 10 (and ignoring FFX-2). I love the convoluted stories and characters with mysterious pasts and so forth so they are great for me.

That being said Yahtzes reviews has lead me to play some very good games - even when he didn't like them. Most notable is Psychonauts but the list also includes Dead Space and Batman Arkham Asylum. The key is thinking to yourself: Can I live with these flaws that he is highlighting or do I even enjoy the kind of gameplay he detest? If the answer is yes then you just gained some good info from a yahtze on top of 5 minutes of entertainment.

 

[tobyornottoby]

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

This is just racial ignorance. Have you ever watched one of those Japanese shows where moms are dressed up in their daughter's school uniform? Could be mistaken for a school girl themselves anyday. The lesson: they really can look way younger.

But don't suffocate yourself just yet. Aside from your flaming fanboys I love your videos every week =)

EDIT: of course you could also draw a lesson that confirms that blatant fetishism you're talking about there But that's a chicken/egg

 

[Abriael]

Jesus, you don't think there's a problem with that? Final Fantasy is the only series that can get away with "Oh you only played for five hours and therefore didn't get to play half of the system."

In a game that can easily last more than a 100 hours? You playeded 5% of the game and you're surprised if you didn't unlock more than half of the system?

Then I guess all the western RPGs in which you start with crappy equipment and very few skills must be horrible for you?

Not to mention those FPSs that, have you play the first 5% only with a crowbar? Those must really disgust you, I guess.

 

[Abriael]

Lets stick with WRPGs here. You start with shitty equipment like in a JRPG, but oh hey, you can't attack or loot because *Gasp* you're only five hours into the game! You shouldn't have to unlock the fucking system of the game, that is just poor design.

But you CAN attack and loot since the very beginning in Final Fantasy XIII. What you unlock with progression is the Paradigm Shift itself (very, very early), which is basically the ability to change class, and further paradigms for each character, which is no different than unlocking additional classes.

Sorry, but flawed and biased comparisons don't fly