That Friday Feeling 29/08/08

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Hero of Canton wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Banjo wrote:Any good word on Baroque (PS2)?

Apparently it's ******* hard and strangely contructed, essentially requiring you to die to make progress. Is a remake of a Saturn/PS1 game apparently.

Personally, I think a nice hard roguelike would be a nice addition to my Wii collection though, and at less than £20, it's mighty tempting.

I'd go for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Tales instead. Harder than you'd think, and with an absolute whopper of a dungeon once you've completed it (as well as several other challenges). And you get the usual Squeenix production values and several tracks from previous Final Fantasy games in the soundtrack.

It's another great Wii game that will remain sadly overlooked by the majority.

...A Wii game? I thought that was a DS game. My DS RPG slot is currently filled by Final Fantasy IV... which is a bloody amazingly good game.

The interesting thing about Baroque (for me) is that it's much closer to a traditional western RPG experience, combined with the art-styles and relative accessibility of the jRPG. A modern "Fatal Labyrinth", if you will. It also retains one of the major distinguishing features of the Roguelike... randomly generated dungeons.

It's cheap, it's on a platform that could use some significant playtime, and it's like the game that was created specifically to appeal my own personal RPG tastes.

Sorry, I should have said Chocobo's Dungeon. And that has randomly generated dungeons. In fact, it's possible to step on a trap which makes you 'forget' that floor, and it regenerates the floor again, changing the layout.

Baroque sounds quite interesting in some ways but it also seems to be getting some pretty bad reviews. I know roguelikes aren't the most popular genre, but of the two Chocobo is almost certainly the most polished. It'd be great if Shiren 3 was heading westward but there's no sign of that arriving any time soon (if at all). That's my next 'project', by the way.

Out of genuine curiosity, what about Baroque makes it western? I have to admit I've only skimmed the reviews.

About bloody time! Been waiting to play this since it was announced

I also want Too Human... But I think CC will give my all the random slaughtering I need till it drops in price.

Hero of Canton wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Hero of Canton wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:

Banjo wrote:Any good word on Baroque (PS2)?

Apparently it's ******* hard and strangely contructed, essentially requiring you to die to make progress. Is a remake of a Saturn/PS1 game apparently.

Personally, I think a nice hard roguelike would be a nice addition to my Wii collection though, and at less than £20, it's mighty tempting.

I'd go for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Tales instead. Harder than you'd think, and with an absolute whopper of a dungeon once you've completed it (as well as several other challenges). And you get the usual Squeenix production values and several tracks from previous Final Fantasy games in the soundtrack.

It's another great Wii game that will remain sadly overlooked by the majority.

...A Wii game? I thought that was a DS game. My DS RPG slot is currently filled by Final Fantasy IV... which is a bloody amazingly good game.

The interesting thing about Baroque (for me) is that it's much closer to a traditional western RPG experience, combined with the art-styles and relative accessibility of the jRPG. A modern "Fatal Labyrinth", if you will. It also retains one of the major distinguishing features of the Roguelike... randomly generated dungeons.

It's cheap, it's on a platform that could use some significant playtime, and it's like the game that was created specifically to appeal my own personal RPG tastes.

Sorry, I should have said Chocobo's Dungeon. And that has randomly generated dungeons. In fact, it's possible to step on a trap which makes you 'forget' that floor, and it regenerates the floor again, changing the layout.

Baroque sounds quite interesting in some ways but it also seems to be getting some pretty bad reviews. I know roguelikes aren't the most popular genre, but of the two Chocobo is almost certainly the most polished. It'd be great if Shiren 3 was heading westward but there's no sign of that arriving any time soon (if at all). That's my next 'project', by the way.

Out of genuine curiosity, what about Baroque makes it western? I have to admit I've only skimmed the reviews.

Perhaps western isn't exactly the right word. Retro is a little more on the mark, but the two are inextricably linked in my mind. The jRPG as I know it didn't really start to take shape 'till about Final Fantasy IV and the SNES.

The apparently unforgiving difficulty seems to me to hark back to games like Ultima and Eye Of The Beholder.

Baroque is incredibly hard - especially to those that haven't experienced the genre before. The way the story is handled is very unique and quite intriguing, but the gameplay is stilted and that all but tainted the experienced for me. If you've got lots of time and patience, I'm pretty there will be something for you. A potential 'cult game' if ever I saw one.

TheTurnipKing wrote:The apparently unforgiving difficulty seems to me to hark back to games like Ultima and Eye Of The Beholder.

In which case, you really need to get hold of Etrian Odyssey, which I think I described as being like a modern day EOTB when I reviewed it. The second one's even harder, but for me the first has the risk-reward balance just about right. EOII is just too punishing, and requires a ridiculous amount of grinding before you get anywhere.

Despite the cute art style, Chocobo's also unforgiving - as an example, the very first 'special dungeon' has you and all enemies on 1HP. And you're not allowed to take any items or money in. So it's basically one hit and you have to start again. And there are hidden traps.

That said, it's definitely more forgiving than other roguelikes, in that you get to keep your experience level and your equipped items - it's just everything else you lose. It's sort of a halfway house between Shiren The Wanderer (DS) and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, really.

Dammit, what is it with the deluge of RPG's lately anyway? I can only handle so many of them at once, and between FFIV and Eternal Sonata, I think I've got about my fill! But we've got Baroque, Too Human* and now you've just suggested another two.

*OK, so it's not an RPG EXACTLY, but it's got enough RPG DNA in there for me to count it.

When did Smash Court Tennis get all serious? I was intrigued when I saw that, but nah. Too Human is tempting, but I think I will wait till it drops in price.

I think I might just *gasp* trade-in Soul Calibur 4.

I've come to the conclusion that the latest iteration of the franchise holds no lasting appeal for me. Online play is (imo) a mess, and the create a character mode is missing that most critical of create-a-character mode classics, the Mohawk, making the creation of a Mr.T alike a practical impossibility.

TheTurnipKing wrote:I think I might just *gasp* trade-in Soul Calibur 4.

I've come to the conclusion that the latest iteration of the franchise holds no lasting appeal for me. Online play is (imo) a mess, and the create a character mode is missing that most critical of create-a-character mode classics, the Mohawk, making the creation of a Mr.T alike a practical impossibility.

To be fair I'd say SC4 is lacking in most respects. Sure it looks amazing, but has the depth of a puddle and it more than a bit...soulless.

TheTurnipKing wrote:I think I might just *gasp* trade-in Soul Calibur 4.

I've come to the conclusion that the latest iteration of the franchise holds no lasting appeal for me. Online play is (imo) a mess, and the create a character mode is missing that most critical of create-a-character mode classics, the Mohawk, making the creation of a Mr.T alike a practical impossibility.

Sold mine to a friend yesterday. Like you said, no lasting appeal what so ever.

Neo Cortex wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:I think I might just *gasp* trade-in Soul Calibur 4.

I've come to the conclusion that the latest iteration of the franchise holds no lasting appeal for me. Online play is (imo) a mess, and the create a character mode is missing that most critical of create-a-character mode classics, the Mohawk, making the creation of a Mr.T alike a practical impossibility.

To be fair I'd say SC4 is lacking in most respects. Sure it looks amazing, but has the depth of a puddle and it more than a bit...soulless.

I ... I was looking forward too getting this. Can this be true? I played a bit of it over the weekend, whenever I could push my 12 year-old nephew off his Elite 360 to grab a few moments with it. I quite liked it. I even unlocked the Jedi Apprentice. For him. So he could do Yoda vs Jedi Apprentice duels and pretend he was playing a Star Wars game instead of a Japanese beat-'em-up for which he has little to no enthusiasm...

If I had people around regularly, I might be able to justify keeping it.

Local Multiplayer IS the lifeblood of a beat-em-up like this.

Tiger!

I'll wait to see if CC is worth it from the reviews.

Cal wrote:

Neo Cortex wrote:

TheTurnipKing wrote:I think I might just *gasp* trade-in Soul Calibur 4.

I've come to the conclusion that the latest iteration of the franchise holds no lasting appeal for me. Online play is (imo) a mess, and the create a character mode is missing that most critical of create-a-character mode classics, the Mohawk, making the creation of a Mr.T alike a practical impossibility.

To be fair I'd say SC4 is lacking in most respects. Sure it looks amazing, but has the depth of a puddle and it more than a bit...soulless.

I ... I was looking forward too getting this. Can this be true? I played a bit of it over the weekend, whenever I could push my 12 year-old nephew off his Elite 360 to grab a few moments with it. I quite liked it. I even unlocked the Jedi Apprentice. For him. So he could do Yoda vs Jedi Apprentice duels and pretend he was playing a Star Wars game instead of a Japanese beat-'em-up for which he has little to no enthusiasm...

My Son just commented on this today oddly enough "You bought that and you've hardly played it.. you might as well trade it Dad". Doesn't speak well for it really I guess.

i think im gonna invest in viva pinata, blue dragon and too human this friday. how much am i looking at for lego indiana jones and call of duty 4 in trade in?

SCIV does lack a substantial amount of single player interest, and all the Star Wars characters in the world don't make up for that.

mario101 wrote:i think im gonna invest in viva pinata, blue dragon and too human this friday. how much am i looking at for lego indiana jones and call of duty 4 in trade in?

I'd guess about 25 quid for COD, most places are still selling it at full retail price.