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Re: Deletion/Moving of the Junk forum

The gaming sub forums got about 5 topics a month at the most so it's just pointless having them separate. As for the junk forum the new mods and Yama have said that they are going to be more lenient on stuff going in General so as long as they stick to that I'm cool with it.

The junk forum was cool I had a quick look over the topics in there about a week ago. I won't miss the topics like 'What colour is your poop?' I hope we still get topics in general like when QWERTY took the piss out of Alimn meeting Yu with a story on how he met Brian Blessed.

The fact is it won't kill this place because a good amount of the people who post here don't even give a shit about the drama.

Me and Pete tried to save what we could. Some of the topics gave me a big laugh last weekend, like the Orange vs Dragnoix topic (classic), or when everybody was trolling Jokatech in his relationship topic, or the odd topic from QWERTY or Mittens that made me smile, it was a trip down nostalgia lane, for sure.
by Henry Spencer
Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:39 pm
 
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Re: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

So yeah, game looks like a mixed bag. No Kaneko!

New Trailer:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXH5WRP36fA[/youtube]
by Henry Spencer
Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:01 am
 
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Re: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

^Pretty much. I'm honestly surprised that Orange thinks that looks like Kaneko, like at all . It doesn't. In the least. It's actually Masayuki Doi; the artist for the Trauma Centre series, definitely. And yeah, his art is fine there since he isn't trying to do an (frankly terrible) imitation of another artist in those games. I wouldn't mind the change in art style, as much, if Doi was employing a new style instead of imitation. I'm not a fan of the actual designs of them either...like Segata said, they're very modern anime-like.

I honestly think at this stage that Kaneko has either: A) left Atlus (you've got to be shitting me if you think Kaneko wouldn't work on a mainline SMT title). Or B) Atlus has other projects up there sleeve, such as a new Devil Summoner game, which Kaneko is heading the art on. I so hope it's the latter, since the thought of Doi simply replacing Kaneko just sucks. I'm all for giving the new guy a job, but shoving the lead artist of the series away like that to make room for the new guy, (Kaneko has been at the company since the beginning) is kind of nasty. Or maybe Kaneko flat out refused to help make the game, not liking what the team has in mind? Guess we'll never know. Either way, major blow to the series, to be sure.

As far the game goes, I like that they're trying to strive for the best of both worlds by combining both third person exploration and first person combat. I'd even go as far as to say that the environments look absolutely incredible. The music is also brilliant. A shame they're cutting corners with the certain factors when it comes to presentation; animations of the demons (static one moment then massive shaking, the next, guess I'll get used to it). I'm a bit worried about the storyline being really anime inspired at this stage. No offence to Persona, they're great too, but I like to draw the line between the mainline SMT and Persona, it would be the same if Persona suddenly changed dramatically. They're both great series, but ultimately different.

I'm sure I'll like the game, Atlus have never let me down, I really like the settings and music, but at this stage, it'll take a lot for me to love it .
by Henry Spencer
Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:42 pm
 
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Re: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

I don't want to keep going on like a negative nancy, but those terrible anime artworks will be the cutscenes of the game. So it's not like it won't be a factor into the presentation of the game.

And I still don't see how Doi's art is anywhere near Kaneko's, not on quality (I actually think Doi is good; not when he's imitating Soejima or Kaneko, though) but in similarity. Doi isn't using the same techniques at all, he's just sort of trying to imitate (badly), whilst also trying to do his own style at the same time, and it is pretty jarring to me. Doi's art doesn't try to convey the same disturbed look on the character's faces (look at the "villain" of SMT4, he doesn't look disturbed or anything of the sort, he just looks plain evil), look at the Demi-Fiend and compare him to the main protagonist of SMT4; it's a stark difference. Night and day, really. I also miss Kaneko's vibrant colour palette vs. Doi's monotonous colours. The big close ups of the demons make them look ugly, too. Aesthetics of the series are part and parcel of why I like this series so much, if the artist is gone, it won't be long till I stop giving a shit about it.

As far as Kaneko goes, the guy's gone from Atlus, no doubt about it. It's an end of an era, but it's no use crying over spilt milk, the damage is done and I've got to live with it. Oh well.

It's to me, like the soul of Shin Megami Tensei is gone now. It'll more than likely be a great fun game to play, but the themes will probably be shallow (by the looks of the anime inspired storyline and cliche characters; time travelling, oooh, that isn't overdone in JRPGs, or anything; the only positive will be the variety of beautiful environments we'll get) and the art mediocre.
by Henry Spencer
Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:33 pm
 
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Re: Your favourite gaming steeds

Angelus from Drakengard. She was a complete juggernaut of death and destruction.

Image

I also liked Epona from Zelda, the hog from Nier and the dragons from Panzer Dragoon series.
by Henry Spencer
Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:40 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

Game Republic founder/director Yoshiki Okamoto comes out of hiding to reveal he has retired from the game industry and is now "making mobile phone games".

Video game creator Yoshiki Okamoto, the man behind Time Pilot, 1942, Final Fight, and Street Fighter 2, says he's retired from the business of making console video games.

Following the closure of his studio Game Republic, where he developed moderate successes like Folklore and two Genji titles for Sony, the famed game designer and producer tells Polygon he's now working on mobile games. His first mobile title, a "secret" game, he says, will be released in the near future, he says.

"I have retired," Okamoto said during an interview in Tokyo this week. "That's what I'm told to say [by my boss]."

Okamoto won't actually say who he's working for. But he believes that mobile games, not traditional, increasingly risky console games, are the path to his future success.
Quote:
Okamoto got out of the business of making video games for consoles when his studio, Game Republic, closed its offices last year. The company still exists, he says, but Okamoto is its only employee.

"Game Republic has not gone away, but we ran out of money," he explained. "So I had to let go of everybody."

At its peak, Game Republic employed about 300 people. The company was hit hard financially after the closure of publisher Brash Entertainment. The studio was developing a video game adaptation of Clash of the Titans for Brash and when the publisher folded in 2008, Game Republic lost "a large amount of money."

"But of course we had made the decision to go with Brash Entertainment," Okamoto says, shouldering some of the blame. Okamoto also pointed to the weakened global economy at the time, adding "It wasn't totally their fault."

"There were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish [at Game Republic]," Okamoto says, including a sequel to PlayStation 3 game Folklore, "But I need a sponsor to create those games." Even mobile titles, Okamoto says, require an investment of more than $600,000 to have a chance at success.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/9/18/3349570/game-republic-yoshiki-okamoto-retired-console-games-mobile
by Henry Spencer
Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:25 am
 
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Re: American vs. PAL vs. Japanese

MGS3: Snake Eater

US box art:

http://i.imgur.com/TFKEW.jpg

Japan box art:

http://i.imgur.com/cnFwJ.jpg

EU box art:

http://i.imgur.com/yhMhs.jpg

Personally, I really like art we got, they're all pretty good though.

Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance (PS2)

US box art:

http://i.imgur.com/XuXzV.jpg

Japan box art:

http://i.imgur.com/4oaOB.jpg

EU box art:

http://i.imgur.com/pzxiw.jpg

Again, I really like our box art as opposed to the ones for Japan and the US; the blood on the main character's knuckles are subtle rather than the US ugly box art with a weird colour palette.

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS2)

Japan box art:

http://i.imgur.com/SFRRv.jpg

US box art:

http://i.imgur.com/a3Zp8.jpg

EU box art:

http://i.imgur.com/E2oLU.jpg

This, on the other hand...ugh. It's not even close; Ayami Kojima's artwork >>> badly composed CG art placed awkwardly on to box art "tearing off the page" with the use of the whip.
by Henry Spencer
Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:32 pm
 
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Re: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

Kaneko back on Persona? That would be weird and Soejima fans would throw a hissy fit. In that case, maybe Soejima is doing art for the next Trauma Team game just to complete the mindfuckery that Atlus are doing here. lol
by Henry Spencer
Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:33 pm
 
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Re: Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series

A new IP with Kaneko on art and Meguro doing the music has me pretty excited...the last time that happened we got Maken X! That was 13 years ago!
by Henry Spencer
Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:09 pm
 
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Re: Metal Gear series

Raiden:

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara01.png

Enemies:

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara02.png

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara03.png

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara04.png

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara05.png

http://www.konami.jp/mgr/jp/images/chara06.png

Gifs:

http://www.abload.de/img/ai2kog.gif

http://www.abload.de/img/a0gkl5.gif

http://i.minus.com/ibxwgAn1Y7DjdS.gif

http://i.minus.com/im7HbDrUvVE54.gif

http://www.abload.de/img/risingrunkmsmp.gif

http://www.abload.de/img/a6aqyl.gif

Codec team revealed (5 of them! Definitely better than MGS4):

http://www.abload.de/img/cut-what-you-will-metsjq3z.jpg
by Henry Spencer
Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:04 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

Cool your jets, Ryudo. Otherwise take a vacation.
by Henry Spencer
Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:03 pm
 
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Re: Yu Suzuki should be ashamedof himself!

Let's not rag on Yu too much guys, eh? He doesn't want to start getting our hopes up, for them to just fall if something doesn't work. Cmon we've all been through that rollercoaster of Shenmue hype.

But he sorta did falsely get people's hopes up...like last year - on Shenmue 3: "I think SEGA will let me make it". :roll:
by Henry Spencer
Sat Sep 22, 2012 7:28 am
 
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Re: Fist of the North Star series

Yeeeeaaaaaaahhh, yet another import to invest in.
The UK has never been as useful to me as it has in this generation of gaming.

Same for you guys, but in reverse. I've been importing from the US, like mad, this generation. Don't forget we're also getting Way of the Samurai 4 physical, too! :twisted:
by Henry Spencer
Sat Sep 22, 2012 6:49 am
 
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Re: Games you periodically re-visit

Mostly my favourites like:

Shenmue I & II
MGS 1-3
Silent Hill 2
SMT3: Nocturne (which I am currently)
Final Fantasy Tactics - such an addictive game
Vagrant Story
Parasite Eve
Snatcher
Metal Gear AC!D 1 & 2
The Ys games
Final Fantasy XII (most addictive game, ever)
God Hand
Resi Evil 1, 2 & 3 (like crack; love seeing those glorious pre-rendered backgrounds, listen to the atmospheric music and the classic scenarios)
Nier
Front Mission 3
Breakdown (Xbox)
Call of Cthulhu
Treasure games: Sin & Punishment, Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, Mischief Makers etc.

A lotta games, really. I play them all whenever the mood is right. It's sorta what gets in the way of me playing new games; I'll play a new game and sometimes think like "well, this new game isn't that great, it's okay, but I'd rather be playing [insert game I love here] instead".
by Henry Spencer
Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:40 pm
 
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Re: What Anime are you watching right now?

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Not watched an anime in years, found this box set lying around, so it was about time I watched, really. Tis good. Love me some cyberpunk.
by Henry Spencer
Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:46 pm
 
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Re: dev comment of the day topic

Kojima wants to remake Snatcher & Policenauts and the president of Konami has asked Kojima to handle the Silent Hill series...

Hideo Kojima is open to reviving Policenauts, Snatcher as well as lending a hand to a new Silent Hill game - though it's unlikely he'd be able to take a direct role in any of the projects himself.

"Personally I love adventure games," Kojima said during today's Eurogamer Expo developer session, "and I'd love to see other chapters in the Snatcher or Policenaut series. But from a business perspective it's pretty hard to make that work. I think it's my job to push forward, so I don't think I could make it.

"I do think there's a possibility that I'd make an adventure game in collaboration with someone else who's great at making adventure games - maybe there's a possibility. As far as making a remake of Snatcher, that's something I'd like to attempt. We couldn't do it internally, but maybe we could partner with someone."

Snatcher has been treated to a prequel of sorts in the shape of the catchily titled SDATCHER, a seven episode radio play that aired last year and that was created in collaboration with Suda51.

Kojima also spoke about potentially getting involved with the Silent Hill series - a subject he expressed interest in via Twitter earlier this year.

"In the past I've mentioned Silent Hill in interviews, and as a result of that the president of Konami rung me up and said he'd like me to make the next Silent Hill," Kojima revealed today.

"Honestly, I'm kind of a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror movies, so I'm not confident I can do it. At the same time, there's a certain type of horror that only people who are scared of can create, so maybe it's something I can do.

"That said, I think Silent Hill has a certain atmosphere. I think it has to continue, and I'd love to help it continue, and if I can help by supervising or lending the technology of the Fox Engine, then I'd love to participate in that respect."

Most of the questions sent Kojima's way were, understandably, centred around the Metal Gear series, and he revealed many of his favourite moments from its 25 year history.

"If we're to talk boss characters, then I have one answer," he said. "I've done a lot of boss battles in a lot of games, and one thing I try to accomplish is make something no one has ever seen before. From that perspective, two bosses I'm a fan of are Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid and The Sorrow from Metal Gear Solid 3."

Kojima also spoke of his personal relationship with Snake, and how he's grown with the character that he created. "What I can say is that I've aged alongside Snake, and I've matured along with him," Kojima said. "As long as there's a Snake in Metal Gear Solid, that Snake will always be a part of me, so I don't think I could ever do a Snake that's much younger than myself.

"For example, if at some point if we decided to bring out a JRPG with Snake in his teens, I don't think that's something I could do. I'd have to leave that with the younger staff. As you've seen, Ground Zeroes will feature a slightly older Snake."

They'd fuck up a remake of Snatcher, half of the greatness to it is the fact that it's a pixelated graphic adventure that's all nostalgic to me. I betcha they'd turn it into a half assed First Person Shooter from some mediocre company like Double Helix.

Kojima handling Silent Hill, though? Well, Kojima Productions actually has a few former members of Team Silent, so that might not be as bad as it sounds (Kojima directing a psychological horror game though? I'll have to wait and see on that).

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-27-policenauts-silent-hill-and-a-metal-gear-jrpg-an-audience-with-kojima
by Henry Spencer
Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:14 pm
 
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Re: Biohazard

Just a lurker really.
by Henry Spencer
Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:14 pm
 
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Re: dev comment of the day topic

Don't like the new Splinter Cell? Its because you are simply uninformed :roll:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-28-fan-response-to-splinter-cell-blacklist-is-a-kneejerk-reaction-and-uninformed

Ugh. Yeah, not a big fan of how the new Splinter Cell is looking, at all (and this is coming from somebody who liked Conviction). I'm so sick and tired of those desert Middle Eastern settings in games.
by Henry Spencer
Fri Sep 28, 2012 3:25 pm
 
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Re: PSVita (PSP2)

^I'm really happy to hear that you love the PSP that much.
by Henry Spencer
Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:28 pm
 
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Re: Where did Henry Go?

Just wanted to log in to say thanks for all the kind words, it really means a lot. I won't be coming back for the foreseeable future, but all the well wishes definitely encourage me to do so, in time. And it's okay that people know what happened, my apologies for disappearing like that.. I did realise I would be letting down some people on here, since I promised to do certain things for them (Dorian, Mittens, Ryudo, my apologies, I'll pay you guys back one day, bet on it). Also apologies to my fellow staff members (and Dojo forum members) for bailing out like I have, if I could turn back the clock, I would have contacted you guys and the Dojo with what was going on, I feel bad about it.

I also hope ThyDarkAngel is doing fine himself, he's going through with difficulties himself also. If you're reading this, take care of yourself and all the best. Same goes for any of you going through hard times right now. I wish all the best to all of the members on here [for example: Orange (hope you have the best damn wedding there ever is and ever will be) and Kenny (keep on living the dream)] in the future.

Don't want to make a big deal out of my absence, but seeing all of the posts in here, I felt I had to.

I vote Crimson Ryan or Kenny for mod!

I'll always be on PSN or my Hotmail if any of you guys fancy a chat. Sorry if this comes off as pretentious, I was just rather touched by all the nice messages.
You guys and gals are the best there is. See you around (and maybe again, in the future).
Be well.
Henry out.
by Henry Spencer
Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:01 pm
 
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Re: Dark Souls

Just wanted to chime in and say I am fifty hours into this game myself, currently up to Anor Londo and Smough and Ornstein is the hardest boss encounter I've come across in both games yet (and I am playing Demon's Souls & Dark Souls for the first time alongside one another). Incredibly challenging (especially when you beat one of them and the other inhabits the abilities of the other AND your Estus Flasks aren't useable).

@OL: The Hydra is surprisingly easy once you have leveled up your Defenses enough, all you have to do is go through Darkroot Basin and run up to the Hydra, block, wait for it to hit you with all of the heads, then dash to one of the heads, strike it, rinse and repeat until all of the heads are gone and the beast is dead. Well done on beating the Capra Demon though, that bastard is tough! (I was actually lucky enough to beat him on the first try, I kept using the stairs trick, didn't look it up online or anything, I just let him fall down after me and hit him once or twice then legged it to the top of the stairs and repeated that process over and over). And yup, the fanbase can be really pretentious, but I've luckily come across some nice other players when I've played it online who have helped me along the way (especially in the sewers, damn that area is tough).

Definitely going to play through From Software's back catalogue when I am through the Souls games. They seem to be the masters of atmosphere. I suppose people have heard that Dark Souls II is going to make the game "more accessible", the original creator of the Souls series (Miyazaki) isn't directing it and is instead directing a new game of some sort (new King's Field? New IP?) I'm not too worried, I trust From Software enough.

I love how the game is littered with Berserk references throughout too.
by Henry Spencer
Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:22 pm
 
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Re: Games With Interesting & Immersive Stories/Settings

I'm currently playing Matsuno's new game on 3DS - Crimson Shroud (it's out on the eShop in both US and Europe now) and once again, it's very well written RPG with unique game mechanics. Incredibly atmospheric too. Fans of Vagrant Story and the Ogre saga look no further. Music is fantastic too.

The story pulls you in, it's very much a dungeon crawler with character (complete with a dungeon master narrating, ala tabletop RPG style).

I also played through Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time on the PSP this year and it's the biggest surprise of the year for me, really reminded me of the PSX RPGs that you just don't get anymore (complete with the convoluted mindfuck storyline).

I'll also agree with the posts about Deadly Premonition, the ending is mind-blowingly good.

I'd also add Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines on the list for immersive setting/well written characters.
by Henry Spencer
Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:09 am
 
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Re: What movie are you watching right now?

It's funny because on one side you have the LOTR film fans bitching that it's too comical/songs feel out of place despite being straight from the book and on the other side you have the book fans bitching that it's got too many new changes (Azan; leader of the Orcs being the main antagonist, The Necromancer stuff being WAY extended with stuff straight from Unfinished Tales, new battle scenes, Radagast the Forest Wizard being in it despite never appearing in the novel, other scenes that weren't in the book like Galadriel, Elrond & Saruman meeting with Gandalf etc). To some extent, they're both right I guess, but being so anal about such a well made movie is secondary to me.

Poor Peter Jackson probably knew he was never going to please both, so settled for somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, the reception has been very mixed. Even with all of its faults, it was a hugely enjoyable movie, to me.

And thanks, nice to see you too.
by Henry Spencer
Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:59 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

Darksiders, Its okay but so far nothing special.

Yeah, that's how I felt about it too. I got it free from being a PS+ subscriber and didn't think much of it.

I finally finished SMT3: Nocturne last night after so long (kept dying against a boss, left it in the backlog for a while). Really wonderful game, one of the best RPG games I've ever played, no doubt. Final play time was 78:47

Started playing Persona 3 Portable three days ago and it is incredibly good. Atlus games are so good man, damn.
by Henry Spencer
Sun Dec 23, 2012 7:44 am
 
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Re: Great Gaming Designs and Artwork

First one is actually Gorky 17 AKA Odium (as it was released in NA) which is a tactical turn-based game for PC.

Info from the dev:
Gorky 17 is a mix of adventure and strategy-RPG. Remember "Final Fantasy Tactics" and "Vandal Hearts"? In those console hits the main focus was on the battles, with the plot shown non-interactively in-between. Now add fantasy-full adventures and plot-twists, explorations and much, much more! That's Gorky 17! For all you PC fanatics out there, here's the description in a nutshell: it's similar to "XCOM", but with a much simpler user interface (doing for strategy what "Diablo" did for RPGs), plus implemented adventures (so it's not only a matter of having the right strategy, but also using the right objects, getting information through conversations, interacting with other characters, etc.). In short, this is state of the art graphics with 3D characters and a "living" environment.

Other factors also play a major part in making Gorky 17 a great game experience. For example, we threw out the old-school "European/US" approach to RPG (pseudo non-linearity, a lot of stats, random and repetitive monster encounters) and implemented the more varied and interesting Japanese approach (partial linearity, simplified stats and user interface, with a lot of nice touches and small details, graphical excellence, accent on movie-like plot, and better use of fantasy/s-f settings - not just stereotyped skeletons and demons, or radioactive mutants). Of course this doesn't mean that Gorky 17 is a manga game. It's based solely on Western culture, with realistic characters and settings, horror/s-f story and some game-play mechanisms which are to be the best.

In short, we try to do the same for strategy RPGs what Diablo did for action RPGs. We took the best part from each genre. From adventure games, we took exploration and interaction with characters and environment, which not only puts the player into an active, role-playing part, but also enables him/her to actually influence story events. From RPGs we used the character development factor, and simplified the player's statistics, making every bit of data really vital and the data values (eg. the value of Accuracy) easily understandable and clearly visible during play. From the strategy aspect, we implemented battles which really make the player use his thinking cap just to stay alive and make progress. Then we added dozens of 3D characters and monsters with a high polygon count, detailed textures and skeletal animation system, plus state of the art rendered graphics and cut-scenes, real-time 3D special effects, many small touches and "secrets", and of course, a soundtrack that lends the perfect musical atmosphere to scene by scene events.

Finally, let us repeat again... Gorky 17 has the best of three genres: exploration and interaction with environment (adventure), character building (RPG) and absorbing battles with various enemies (strategy). We hope you'll like it.

More designs from the game:
http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/screens/gorky17/grandma.JPG
http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/screens/gorky17/Fang.JPG

This is the artist's webpage, some really good designs on there:

http://mutsaev.com/gallery.html

Third one, I think, is Coded Soul for PSP. But I could be wrong, sorry.
by Henry Spencer
Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:31 pm
 
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Re: Best 3DS/DS games

It's funny how the SNES version of Front Mission had a better translation than the dry, direct one we got for the DS version, but the inclusion of the 1st Mission (PSX game originally) with it, so it's like two games in one, was a really nice surprise for me. A shame the other DS Front Mission games never made it across to the West...

On the 3DS side of things, Ocarina is great, still to this day my favourite Zelda and the new Fire Emblem is definitely something to look forward to (the more I hear about it, the better it sounds). Speaking of ninja action titles, Shinobi for 3DS is also similarly great, if you want a ninja action game. It's pretty ugly, but man, the gameplay more than makes up for it, it's got that classic Shinobi design, the developers were Western, but it's pretty obvious they got what Shinobi was all about and that's what is important. The game is a celebration of the whole series.

I just got Virtue's Last Reward for Christmas and it's definitely a game you should play after 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors otherwise the story may be a bit spoil for you. It's incredibly good so far though, plenty of mysteries and twists.

I can definitely see a game like The World Ends With You appealing to somebody like Axm though, it's right up his alley (since he appears to be a fan of Japanese games that fit into that style, very stylish).

Even though I proclaim myself to be a big fan of the DS, it still amazes me how much there is still to play for it (I actually have a few of the games, just not gotten around to playing them yet), the library for it is nothing short of mindblowing.
by Henry Spencer
Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:37 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

Don't worry about it, I've done things like that loads of times in games myself before, I know the feeling well. (But in that case, it isn't your fault, it really doesn't make sense that it's the red carpet as opposed to the Triforce symbol)

Playing Virtue's Last Reward, they've ramped up the amount of endings something fierce (instead of there being six endings, this time there is over 20...)

Some of the game overs are very interesting and add extra layers to the mystery. It's still gotten that old school point and click adventure feel that made the first game so great too. The puzzles are well varied. Reminds me how great the adventure genre is again.

Also, the music is fantastic , especially if you're like me and love electronic ambient music. So damn atmospheric, a couple of the tracks sent shivers down my spine. Like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooK86eSZFCo

Also, there's a good portion of the storyline that reminds me of a part of Snatcher too, wouldn't surprise me since the writer/director is a fan of that game! Overall, really impressed, it's great coming into the game even with my high expectations. Expectations I couldn't help myself from having since 999 really is one of the best adventure games I've ever played. Just got to see how they're going to tie up so many loose ends before the game ends (and I can't stress enough how many there are).
by Henry Spencer
Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:29 pm
 
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Re: Dark Souls

^Read Berserk. Thank me later. :-"
by Henry Spencer
Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:20 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

Rondo of Swords and Virtue's Last Reward both kept me up till 3AM last night. I'm losing sleep over these games. Me last night: *Just one more battle/puzzle, okay...* then the engrossing storyline captures me and won't let go.
by Henry Spencer
Mon Dec 31, 2012 9:44 am
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

I've gotten 8 of the character endings for Virtue's Last Reward now (and around ten "game overs") and can safely say the game is a masterpiece. The story is just...phenomenal. So crazy, but oh so good. It's a different beast from 999, which is great for me, but I can see how some people preferred 999; the characters in VLR are so cold and mysterious, whereas, I felt there was some trust and camaraderie in 999, people stab each other in the back in VLR frequently. Which makes the atmosphere also more tense and colder. And people die a lot too. Still think "Good People Die" is a waaaay better title than VLR, especially having played pretty far into the game (two endings to go). The more answers you get, the darker/more grim the game gets.

The game is really lengthy too, got it for Christmas and even with obsessively playing it pretty much every day since then and still not finished it yet. Still, as far as adventure games go, this one is essential. The only complaints I can lobby against it are the questionable character designs, the slow start (far slower start than with 999, which puts you right into the action) and the repeating character animations (I found it far more noticeable this time around since they opted for 3D instead of the 2D art). Also, there's save corrupting bugs for the 3DS version which can pretty much kill your game, 30 hours into *poof* your save is gone! That's pretty damn bad...(this only happens if you save in a puzzle room though, just glad I was well informed before playing this).
by Henry Spencer
Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:13 pm
 
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Re: Dark Souls

Very likely I'll be done with this in about a week though, so I was wondering: can anyone recommend any good medieval fantasy games with a similar vibe?
Something smaller-scale, something dark, something focused on single-character advancement. Not a bunch of epic battles, or travelling between kingdoms, or a party of characters. I'm probably just looking for a dungeon crawler (I keep getting the urge to go through Vagrant Story again).
The King's Field games (specifically the PS2 one) and Shadow Tower come to mind of course. I was just looking into Eternal Ring, which look like it might be alright.
I've never been all that interested in medieval fantasy before until I experienced the darker and slightly less-bombastic style of Dark/Demon's Souls, so it's not something I've looked into before.
Any suggestions?

I'm afraid that the likes of Vagrant Story, Demon's Souls & Dark Souls are a rarity. Single playable character RPGs are unfortunately, very rare indeed. The Witcher series may be for you, though, you only play as Geralt throughout, yes there's other people on your side, but they're normally off doing their own thing and join you temporarily. I have these games in my backlog myself but the bit I played of the first one was pretty darn good (a bit janky though).

How about Baroque for PS2? That has some very interesting parts to it, like the more times you die, the more the mysterious storyline unfolds to you. The game seems to be set in a hellish, dark place where you do nothing but dungeon crawling. No other party members at all either, game looked really atmospheric to me and Sting make some very interesting RPGs, like From Software do. And there's also Drakengard 2 , where it seems to be like you do a lot of dungeon crawling and knowing Cavia, the story will be really good (and incredibly atmospheric). That, and the fact that the combat looked waaaay better than Drakengard 1's means you'll probably like it more than the first.

Again, other games in my big backlog, lol. They just came to me now.
by Henry Spencer
Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:34 pm
 
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Valve/nVidia & Square-Enix(?!) Making Consoles

Valve engineer just let the cat out of the bag:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=506899

The console is being called "Steambox" for now. No idea if that will be the final name for it, or not. This will be a console which hooks up to the digital Steam store.. This will be great for those of us who do not play PC games too much. I'll finally be able to play STALKER and Last Remnant.

The interesting part is that it will be using Linux OS instead of Windows (since Gabe Newell views Windows 8 as a disaster, lol). Supposedly Valve are also working on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality projects too. Let's see what happens at E3!
by Henry Spencer
Sat Jan 05, 2013 3:42 pm
 
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Re: THQ UPDATE Assets to be Sold 'Title by Title' on January

I can see Square-Enix/Eidos trying to grab an IP or two. Obsidian's South Park game being one of them. Supposedly Del Toro is taking his horror game (inSane) to a "big company".
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:27 pm
 
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Re: Final Fantasy

Already got the game on pre-order for PS3. We should create a Dojo clan for those of us who get it (Axm, Segata, Riku and if anybody else is? Tuffty?)
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:53 pm
 
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Re: Devil May Cry series

Still bargain bin material.
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:24 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

Well, Anarchy Reigns came today and it's really fun. £15 from Zavvi for fellow UK folks, who pre-ordered (free delivery). Now that's cheap.

It's basically MadWorld 2 mixed with God Hand and Power Stone (multiplayer is absolutely chaotic). No one else playing/getting this?
by Henry Spencer
Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:58 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

^Knowing Orange and his OCD ways, he'd have to collect every last bit of Gungriffon media under the sun and review them all in one video!
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:37 pm
 
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Re: E3 2013 hype train starts now!

I'd love it. Means my 360 and PS3 are relevant for another year

To be fair though, they will still be relevant even if they shove the new consoles on the shelves as fast as possible (as in before the end of the year). I think the support for 360 and PS3 won't die down right away, just look at what happened to the PS2 and Xbox; they had plenty of great games really late into their life. I certainly won't be rushing out to buy the consoles right away anyway since I'm broke. #-o
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:35 pm
 
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Re: Metal Gear series

At this point? Who really cares? Series has jumped the shark anyway.

Personally, I'm going to play the game with the mindset that it's like the AC!D series (non-canon but takes pieces from the original canon into the storyline). More excited for this than I am for the next "proper" Metal Gear.
by Henry Spencer
Tue Jan 15, 2013 6:40 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

I was lucky enough to play Virtual On in my local arcade back in the day. Absolutely loved it. A real classic arcade gem. May have to borrow my brother's 360 to play these...
by Henry Spencer
Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:24 pm
 
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Re: 2003 Members

Same as Spokane and Samanosuke; I was only 13 when I signed up back in '03. It was also my first ever PC. Ah, those were the days. I used to look forward to posting on here after high school. Like SEF, can't believe it's been 10 years for some of us and we used to joke about staying on here so long and yet here we all are.

What's wrong with us all, seriously? lol.
by Henry Spencer
Sun Jan 20, 2013 7:30 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

Top 3 Nintendo DS games whose Japan-only status still bothers the hell out of me :
#2 .) Nanashi no Game

Just a heads up, there's actually a fan translation (100% complete) out now for Nanashi no Game. I know you're not into those nowadays, but it's out there if you ever change your mind.

#1 .) Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness

Again, thankfully there will be a fan translation for that, hopefully. That is, if the Front Mission Translation Project manage to get through Front Mission: Alternative okay.

On the topic, here's some of my choices I'd like to have gotten localized:

Soma Bringer (DS):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJjVzcZ-KY

A Monolith Soft game for the DS created by the Xenoblade team. It's an Action RPG with a very fun looking battle system and involving storyline. Great presentation for the DS too. The game looked really neat overall. I do realise there's a fan translation out there (99% complete) but it would be nice to be able to play it fully localized.

Project Hacker (DS)

http://i.imgur.com/X68ziSE.jpg

No videos up on YouTube for it, but the game was basically a point and click adventure game developed by RED Entertainment (Gungrave, Bonk’s Adventure). The game would include solving crimes with puzzles and hacking. I saw footage of it a long time ago was hoping it would get an English release, alas, no such luck.

Night of the Sacrifice (Wii)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTrOjEAuTSI

Of all the horror games released for the Wii, this was the one I wanted the most. The game has the same gameplay style as Ju-On and the other horror titles (Wiimote used as the flashlight for First Person horror scares) except this time, the human characters have a very cartoon look to them, whereas the monsters and "zombies" look really graphic and realistic. It made for a very interesting artistic pairing. Just watch the trailer and see what you think. Game looked scarier to me than the other (more generic) horror games (and was way more interesting looking on the aesthetics side of things).

Oh, and the first Growlanser for PSP, of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5ZXB4pUOs

Also, I'm still miffed off about the ASH cancellation by Nintendo. I have no idea why Nintendo of Europe just didn't pick up Treehouse's (NOA's) translation and just release it over here instead? At least that way, it would be out there, for everybody to play. They even ESRB'd the damn game! It always interested me more than The Last Story, because you know, I love my Strategy RPG games and all.
by Henry Spencer
Sun Jan 20, 2013 7:17 pm
 
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Re: Project X Zone coming to Europe & USA!

Wow. Colour me surprised. Really surprised. I'm so getting this, we need to support risks like this. I think Namco Bandai deserve praise for releasing this.

Yes!

http://www.abload.de/img/xlms2ei2ju7.gif

Well I'll be getting it immediately.
Not out of crazy excitement or anything; it just looks okay to me. I'll be getting it more so because stuff like this needs to be supported. It's still irritating that we never got NamcoXCapcom.

I do kind of take issue with this one though. Whereas NamcoXCapcom was like a big love note to knucklehead videogame fans, mainly featuring characters from the 80s and 90s (with some more modern ones too), this one just looks like a cash-in on the more recent generations. Pretty much everyone in there is from last gen or this gen.
Kind of annoying when the main company I'd want to get it for is Namco, but all of the characters they're contributing are from more recent fighting games and RPGs that I don't generally play, like .Hack or Soul Caliber.
NamcoXCapcom had it right; they included Hiromi from Burning Force, Kissy from Baraduke, Valkyrie from Legend of Valkyrie, Gil from Tower of Druaga, Kagekiyo from the Genji and Heike Clans, Taizo from Dig Dug, Wonder Momo, Bravoman, etc, alongside characters from Tekken, Klonoa, Soul Caliber, and the Tales series.
Hell, even Capcom contributed greats like Strider and the Unknown Soldiers from Forgotten Worlds.

The lack of any of those characters feels like one big cop-out in this one. And even worse, it's a HUGE missed opportunity for Sega. Almost none of their contributions are anything you could call "classic" yet. It's all modern stuff. And they couldn't even find it in their hearts to include anyone from Ryu ga Gotoku.

So I'll get this.
But I'll do so with a chip on my shoulder.

Totally agree with you. The roster is the most disappointing part of it for me too. But hey, it has classic Dante! And Tron Bonne & Nemesis! Still though, could be a lot better.

Hey Ryudo, will this be your first Strategy RPG? If so, welcome. :beerchug:
I predict lots of angry posts. A lot of Strategy RPGs I've played are super hard, will be interesting to see if it's accessible or difficult...
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:25 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

There's a photo doing the rounds at the moment regarding Japanese 3DS games, supposedly this is leaked from a secret press conference from a while back:

http://i.imgur.com/pMFPiv1.jpg

Project X Zone became true. Oh man, but if we get Time Travelers, EX Troopers and Bravely Default all released in US and EU too. \:D/
by Henry Spencer
Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:46 pm
 
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