You're not the only one, I find that it lacks any sort of "oomph." Ghibli is all about the superflat style.....and it comes off as extremely flat.mjc0961 said:
Zero Punctuation: Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Once again Yahtzee sets up a good indie band name..."Octopus Abortion Sequence".
Love the communism analogy.
Also, Yahtzee liked a Final Fantasy game? What is this madness?! (Even if it was the last pre-polygon one that all nostalgic gamers usually seem to cite as the best in the series.)
Using drop-down menus in real-time combat? What is this madness? Is there a pause button (like in e.g. Baldur's Gate) that Yahtzee didn't find?
Love the communism analogy.
Also, Yahtzee liked a Final Fantasy game? What is this madness?! (Even if it was the last pre-polygon one that all nostalgic gamers usually seem to cite as the best in the series.)
Using drop-down menus in real-time combat? What is this madness? Is there a pause button (like in e.g. Baldur's Gate) that Yahtzee didn't find?
I always found it amusing that Norman could be called masturbates.Neefertiti said:
Is their any dick jokes in this game?
In other news, "Can't we all just stop being so cynical and appreciate the octopus abortion sequence in the innocent spirit with which it was meant?" just shot up near the top of my list of all-time favorite Zero Punctuation quotes.
Ni No Kuni punishes you for getting further in the game with it's boring, not fully thought out and ultimately broken mechanics. But at face value, it's a beautiful game, with outstanding level of detail, it's graphics are just simply superb and does psychologically make you want to continue despite it's bad level design (twisty corridor galore - think Eternal Sonata) and extreme levels of padding (think Skyward Sword only worst). It's understandable why Yahtzee quit, he got about as far as I did before I returned the game out of frustration.
The first 12 - 15 hours of the game could have made a very smooth 5 hours if they created a better tutorial with less padding in the gameplay, because yes, the first 15 or so hours are a bludgeoning tutorial, implemented worst than even Final Fantasy XIII, as it holds out important survival mechanics as long as it can, such as, as Yahtzee described, the All Defend ability and that's not good enough.
Personally as a JRPG fan, I felt this game will actually do the JRPG industry further harm if it continues being as popular as it is; and it has no good reason to be as popular as it is, as the only reason people ARE buying it, is because of the Ghibli name associated with the title. As with all things, brands don't make a product magically better than others. Although technically released first, Ni No Kuni has no place on the market in a post -Xenoblade world and any game that doesn't try to be at least to the standard of Xenoblade is surely to fail, so when a lacklustre title that fails in almost everything it set out to do, tries to one up the superior title and somehow gets more recognition, you're entering pop market mentality / territory (ie: Call of Duty) here.
Publishers will see that Ni no Kuni sold better with 170,548 copies sold in it's first week than Xenoblade Chronicals with 161,161 copies sold in the entirety of 2010 (about a 6 - 7 month period) and will insist on more games like Ni no Kuni and less to the standard of Xenoblade because that's good business. As-per-normal, people will then complain about how stale the genre is and then blah di blah di blah, aeternum repetit.
Well that rant when longer than expected but that's how I feel about the popular title and sorry to Susan Arendt for all the crap she had to deal with for reviewing an over-hyped title (on JRPG standards) before anyone had the chance to play it and see for themselves that the game is as she says.
The first 12 - 15 hours of the game could have made a very smooth 5 hours if they created a better tutorial with less padding in the gameplay, because yes, the first 15 or so hours are a bludgeoning tutorial, implemented worst than even Final Fantasy XIII, as it holds out important survival mechanics as long as it can, such as, as Yahtzee described, the All Defend ability and that's not good enough.
Personally as a JRPG fan, I felt this game will actually do the JRPG industry further harm if it continues being as popular as it is; and it has no good reason to be as popular as it is, as the only reason people ARE buying it, is because of the Ghibli name associated with the title. As with all things, brands don't make a product magically better than others. Although technically released first, Ni No Kuni has no place on the market in a post -Xenoblade world and any game that doesn't try to be at least to the standard of Xenoblade is surely to fail, so when a lacklustre title that fails in almost everything it set out to do, tries to one up the superior title and somehow gets more recognition, you're entering pop market mentality / territory (ie: Call of Duty) here.
Publishers will see that Ni no Kuni sold better with 170,548 copies sold in it's first week than Xenoblade Chronicals with 161,161 copies sold in the entirety of 2010 (about a 6 - 7 month period) and will insist on more games like Ni no Kuni and less to the standard of Xenoblade because that's good business. As-per-normal, people will then complain about how stale the genre is and then blah di blah di blah, aeternum repetit.
Well that rant when longer than expected but that's how I feel about the popular title and sorry to Susan Arendt for all the crap she had to deal with for reviewing an over-hyped title (on JRPG standards) before anyone had the chance to play it and see for themselves that the game is as she says.
I'm honestly surprised. I expected him to tear this game apart much more then he did. Equally surprising is the fact that Yahtzee actually liked Studio Gibli.
I especially liked how Yahtzee strung this line into the review: "you're in the fantasy world fighting in the grasslands, desert, forest, jungle, ice world, fire world, bada-bada-bada-bada..." That was truly a unique addition to this epic episode! More of these sound effects are welcome!
The first Yahtzee-video where I laughed out loud in ages. Great one.
I admire Studio Ghibli for their artistic style and integrity, but I also think that I personally have outgrown JRPGs. I used to like them a lot when I was younger, but now, I feel like I see every plot twist coming, know every character etc... Same with Anime - they often just seem so... predictable..
Also, I just remembered this:
I admire Studio Ghibli for their artistic style and integrity, but I also think that I personally have outgrown JRPGs. I used to like them a lot when I was younger, but now, I feel like I see every plot twist coming, know every character etc... Same with Anime - they often just seem so... predictable..
Also, I just remembered this:
I've never been a big fan of JRPG's, but they've always fascinated me. I've always really liked Ghibli movies so perhaps this would be a good place to start.
