Zero Punctuation: The World Ends With You

[Xenoveritas]

He IS English, y'know. I was going to say "British", but his accent is neither Scottish nor Welsh, and I KNOW it's not from No'rn Ir'n', so English it must be.

All I know is that he lives in Australia currently. And calling someone an Australian love-machine is funnier than calling them a British love-machine.

Just to clear things up:

Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder.

His accent is British. (Or, more accurately, his dialect is British. Freaking pedantic linguists.) Don't ask me where, specifically, I dunno. He currently lives in Australia.

 

[dynamicsketch]

Every biased Square-Enix fan of a game reviewer was praising this game. I don't see how they aren't finding Square-Enix's games repetitive. Great review. I heard what I wanted to hear--What makes this game annoying.

 

[sfried]

I'd say most console RPGs went downhill after FFVI.

If there's someone suspect of all of the wierdly dressed up characters, it's Tetsuya Nomura.

And I though Yahtzee like Paper Mario and the Mother/Earthbound series. Doen't those qualify as "jRPGs"? And what about Etrian Odyssey?

 

[otterbeans]

First of all, I totally called this one.

Secondly... Eh. It seems that Yahtzee was bit bit too concerned with spewing PURE HATRED to get any funny jokes in. Even if I like JRPGs and dislike FPS games, I'd rather him review another FPS game and be hilarious than review something I've actually played and be boring.

But all that might be because I enjoyed the game and my inner fan is screaming foul play. I'd like to think that isn't it, but it probably is.

I'm glad he realized how much he connects with the main character, at least at the beginning of the game. Uniting over their hatred for mankind!

 

[laikenf]

I'd say most console RPGs went downhill after FFVI.

If there's someone suspect of all of the wierdly dressed up characters, it's Tetsuya Nomura.

I would have to disagree. I too am pretty old school when it comes to RPG's but YOU CAN'T deny that we have had GREAT RPG games ever since FF 6. I don't feel like naming any, but you should know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Besides Crono Trigger came out after FFVI... as did Earthbound

 

[Jerakal]

I AGREE COMPLETELY!
I get so tired of games feeling like they have to hold my damn hand whenever I'm presented with some sort of obstacle, or rediculously simple puzzle. I mean if it' at least something challenging or clever I can understand them helping me along somewhat, but do they really think people are so stupid they need to tell you how to accomplish fucking ADDITION!?

 

[SimpleReally]

I'd love to see him review crisis core and see how many chinks he can find in that armor.

As for the "you are stupid, let us help" factor, i think its more likely due to the fact that its a DS game intended for younger audiences.

 

[TheeSpongeman]

I agree, most frustrating things about JRPG's are that they never involve YOU as the main character or acknowledge you doing anything for the storyline. It's always making a character that you either hate or like (mostly hate) do everything for you. Some games have crossed that line (Praise the ONLY good JRPG of 2007, Persona 3. In fact I would have to recommend it because it's so good, if anyone is looking for a great RPG.) and make you FULLY involved in the story. But again, great review, thanks for telling me the kinda stuff to look out for. I heard great reviews from many people, but since I often share your point of view, I find your reviews to be most helpful. I indeed played some of the games that were "Great" by ratings and found them to be exactly how you said it would be. The game reviewers of today fall into hype too much, and don't honestly look at bad or good points of a game. And the number system will always fail, because it's based on opinion. What we need is an overall look at the game, honest and true. You made a great point, "If you are into the JRPG's then you might want to take a look at this because it has done some interesting things." (Not exact quote) Sadly, I'm not too into the screwed up idea of fashion changing my stats. It kinda reminds me how they screwed up Final Fantasy 12. As far as I'm concerned.. the Final Fantasy was number 10.

 

[lightbulbthief]

the kinks and REM, very nice...oh and the review was good as well

 

[Parallel Streaks]

Hmmm, time for Streaks to way in like he always does; with a bottle of gin in one hand and a stomach full of bile for any game Yahtzee reviews negatively, but that isn't nescesarily true this time because to be quite frank I agree with Pedro's comments on the first page. Sure we complain about JRPG's getting old but this is being spouted by the same people who say that the same game with the same guns same basic storyline and same crap brown and boring steel maps are Quote Works of Art Unquote. I quite like JRPG's in the fact that they usually have colourful and interesting Creatures and Scenery rather than Enemy Soldier B and Grey Wall A. I also like the Soundtracks for most of the Final Fantsy games, although I'm a fan of Rock I also like a good well composed piece of Orchestra and the opening theme for FFIX knocked my socks off.. although I agree most of the Characters are just plain unloveable but then again I've never shown much enthusiasm or affection for any Game Protaganists (Excluding Kain and Raziel).

 

[A Username Not In Use]

Yahtzee I'm disappointed, I guessed you would use REM but than dismissed it when I remembered you had used it before. Poor, very poor.

 

[Thediscoducky]

*sigh* Yet another weekly masterpiece
"Hohihohiha" rofl

 

[RussDCA]

Hmmm... Is it just me, or does Yahtzee sound different today. Clearer maybe? Possibly a new microphone. Or maybe recorded in a more sound proofed room/setup... Who knows..... And am I the only one that cares D

FuZion.

 

[TheeSpongeman]

Yahtzee I'm disappointed, I guessed you would use REM but than dismissed it when I remembered you had used it before. Poor, very poor.

What the hell is REM? That's a stage in sleep if I remember. REM sleep...

 

[ayoama]

Happy birthday to youuuu, happy birthday to youuuu, happy birthday dear Yahtzeee, happy birthday to youuuuuuu!
(Sadly, this is all I can contribute with. I happen to like JRPGs.)

 

[The Thief]

I've never been much for Jrpg's. I don't hate them, but I just can't get into them easily.

I really enjoyed Chrono trigger and FFVII though.

Anyways, great review. I'm glad you went outside your favored genres, and yet still didn't completely hate on the game.

And happy birthday apparently!

 

[KBKarma]

[lots and lots of text]

"BWAAAH?!" I forgot about that. I wish I hadn't. *shuddder*

The game made me start caring about the characters. You can actually see Neku's evolution from introverted hate-monkey to decent human being over the course of the game. Which, y'know, is cool.

Yes, the AI sucks ass. No, the Fusion is not, necessarily, useless, since it will also heal you a bit, thus resulting in one hell of a last-minute save. Didn't know it did less damage than pins, though. Point is, though, it overcomes an enemy's resistance to either melee or ranged combat, and does the damage directly. It's also not affected by trends, so that's cool too.

But, yeah. Tin Pin Slammer. Not a CLUE why. I also missed the Imprinting mechanic, which went the way of the dodo and choosing your battles near the end. I miss it. :'(

 

[miller483]

I find these topics funny. Had Yahtzee said, "I think TWEWY is a solid RPG. Everyone with a DS should pick it up." or something to that extent, everyone would agree.

Gotta love Yahtzee fanboys.

Personally, I've lost interest for RPGs in general shortly after completing Tales of Symphonia. (Which I found really enjoyable.) And yes, FPS' are getting pretty stale nowadays, but you could say that for almost every genre.

 

[Iori Branford]

The question is though, how would an RPG work where the gameplay and story were integrated?

First to come to mind are cutscenes affected by character stats and previous actions. So if you had to watch your archer do some sniping, his/her Archery skill would determine whether he/she killed, wounded, or missed the target. Or the course of an enemy ambush could change if you had the right items or laid some traps beforehand.