Game Vs. Game! This week: SA1 Vs. SA2

[psychospacecow]

I thought KH2 was a lot smaller, but I enjoyed it more overall.

[recme]

Neither, honestly... all the urge to play a KH game goes away when I see the anime & disney shit. It's comparable to making a sprite comic with unmatching styles - it just sucks.

its ok man, not many people take kingdom hearts seriously due to the many side games, plots, characters, etc.. i mostly play the games because of how fun they could be.

character growth is a really cool thing in kingdom hearts. it always fascinates me on how sora gets stronger throughout the game. also, the customizable ships were cool. stuff like this always makes me want to revisit these games.

I was hoping this would be the challenge for this week.

i did it just for you, e-man.

...wow, so people really like Kingdom Hearts huh? I played them not long back and thought it had aged really badly/actually wasn't as good as the claims.

Kinda see them as fangasm games. Like how people will defend a mediocre game because the subject matter/concept is so good but the game just isn't or because of the sheer status it has.

if this game aged really badly, then i wonder how old nes games live up to this day!

also, your second statement reminds me of how people defended sonic adventure 2. people actually claimed that it was a good game just because of the chao garden. i understand the charm of raising chao's, but its only fun for so long. i would discuss a little more, but i think ill just save that for another game vs. game.

[Kriven]

re:Chao Garden: I think if Sega knew what the heck they were doing, a Chao Garden with an RPG adventure (where you can use the Chao you raise as party members) could be an extremely good game.

[Goemar]

A lot of NES games have aged really well. RPGs, not so much. But well games like MegaMan 2, Little Samson, Moon Crystal, SMB etc etc are still excellent. Not really sure what your point was.

And yeah, some people really loved the Chao Garden. I thought it was boring and never really bothered with it. Hell Chaos just suck and should be removed (and thankfully mostly have been) from the Sonic series.

Anyway my point is some games age better than others. Someone who has never played SMB 3 could play the NES one today and still have a good time. On the other hand, if they picked up say, the first Zelda (although I love that game) they might ask what all the fuss is about, the game hasn't aged that well. You have to do some research to really get going in it (no one knows to burn that bush or where the hell first dungeon is you liar). Basically if they "HD'd" SMB 3 you wouldn't know it was an old game.

[Kosheh]

Kingdom Hearts, huh? :/

KH1 > KH2

The premise of KH, originally felt like "oh hey, we [Square Enix] did it - we're making a crossover RPG with Disney characters". With a concept like that, it's TOTALLY FINE to just let Disney take center stage, while the anime takes a seat and the original characters have minimal interference (besides the core guys: Sora being he just serves as an avatar throughout the journey, Riku being his rival, and Kairi being the damsel)
It was alright. I liked it, even up to the ending (spoilers: Sora gets STRAIGHT-UP REKT by tectonic plates)

KH2 was just really lousy because neither Disney nor Square Enix really takes the spotlight - it's all ORIGINAL CHARACTERS DO NOT STEAL (anime gang in black hoods) hogging the spotlight with their shonen-ai shit

"oh, xion, let's lick our sea-salt ice creams together in the sunset while we figure out why we exist. sometimes i feel like a nobody. i must be a big nobody"

to be fair, the mechanics and stuff of KH2 were Pretty Fucking Dope (turn into antisora and just wreck the shit out of everything. BUT IT'S RANDOM) and I really want to like it (the worlds were just straight-up better. Steamboat Willie and Tron worlds AAAAAAAAAAAA) but like, for it to get all twisted up with the animes at the end just felt like a really huge copout.

---

I also feel like Square should have shut up and let Disney handle character development 100%, and let the entire game have a Disney aesthetic instead of trying to mash two conflicting character design ideologies together. If Sora looked like a character out of something like Treasure Planet or Atlantis - you know, AN ACTUAL DISNEY PERSON, I would have been able to get behind the whole premise a little better, but it's hard - basically since I'm wholehandedly agreeing with Gors here

[Koh]

KH2.

KH2 had the much more polished engine and gameplay, but KH1 is decent too. KH1's controls were awkward and sucked though (seriously, cycling through a menu to interact with objects, and being unable to control the camera with the right analog stick in a PS2 game!?). Both games are too easy without Proud or Critical Mode on though. Like, you could literally just go through the game getting hit by everything and still win. Proud and Critical modes are the only way to get any sort of challenge out of them XD.

Kingdom Hearts, huh? :/ KH1 > KH2 The premise of KH, originally felt like "oh hey, we [Square Enix] did it - we're making a crossover RPG with Disney characters". With a concept like that, it's TOTALLY FINE to just let Disney take center stage, while the anime takes a seat and the original characters have minimal interference (besides the core guys: Sora being he just serves as an avatar throughout the journey, Riku being his rival, and Kairi being the damsel) It was alright. I liked it, even up to the ending (spoilers: Sora gets STRAIGHT-UP REKT by tectonic plates) KH2 was just really lousy because neither Disney nor Square Enix really takes the spotlight - it's all ORIGINAL CHARACTERS DO NOT STEAL (anime gang in black hoods) hogging the spotlight with their shonen-ai shit "oh, xion, let's lick our sea-salt ice creams together in the sunset while we figure out why we exist. sometimes i feel like a nobody. i must be a big nobody" to be fair, the mechanics and stuff of KH2 were Pretty Fucking Dope (turn into antisora and just wreck the shit out of everything. BUT IT'S RANDOM) and I really want to like it (the worlds were just straight-up better. Steamboat Willie and Tron worlds AAAAAAAAAAAA) but like, for it to get all twisted up with the animes at the end just felt like a really huge copout.

---

I also feel like Square should have shut up and let Disney handle character development 100%, and let the entire game have a Disney aesthetic instead of trying to mash two conflicting character design ideologies together. If Sora looked like a character out of something like Treasure Planet or Atlantis - you know, AN ACTUAL DISNEY PERSON, I would have been able to get behind the whole premise a little better, but it's hard - basically since I'm wholehandedly agreeing with Gors here

This is why i said the games would look a lot better if the models emulated the style of the artwork.


It'd all be consistent and much more appealing to look at. Dragon Quest has been doing it since 8, so I know it's not impossible.

[Kosheh]

KH1 actually holds some sentimental value to me, too - it's the first time "next-gen" title I played. I actually borrowed my neighbor's PS2 just to play through it. I ended up corrupting my save just before you travel off to the final boss battle, and I was PISSED.
I've never played through a game so fast lol

being unable to control the camera with the right analog stick in a PS2 game!?

Thanks for reminding me about the rerelease for PS3. I have it, but I don't know why I've never thought about trying to adjust the camera with the right stick.

This is why i said the games would look a lot better if the models emulated the style of the artwork.  

It'd all be consistent and much more appealing to look at.  Dragon Quest has been doing it since 8, so I know it's not impossible.

I WANT TO AGREE, BUT LIKE, I CAN'T. It would HELP, maybe, but they'd still visually clash given the way characters like Mulan and Tarzan are designed!

Like, the whole experience would just sit better with me if they designed Sora and the rest of the Square cast to fit in with the other human Disney characters, with the more diverse facial expressions, knobby joints, vivid body language and not-absurdly-huge clownfeet. Of course, you'd have purist fans complaining "uh, HELLO Sephiroth is of GLORIOUS HONORABLE JAPANESE DESCENT not a goofy American cartoon!!" etc. but really, at the same time the game's popularity would have TRIPLED and the series would have become a real household name. Simultaneously too its popularity would have been RIDICULOUS in Japan because it'd be a game with a Japanese feel and audience but an exotic American aesthetic.


Then again, if you think about it it's probably the way it is so it appeals to both audiences, overseas and domestically. :/

I just want to play as Kairi.

Team her up with Minnie and Daisy (or Max Goof)

Max Goof

Maximilian Motherfucking Goof

wait. I've never actually played through the second one fully or any games afterward, but does Max Goof become part of KH canon? For God's sake, please tell me he's part of KH canon because if he is I will literally BLOW OFF all my playthroughs right now and play whatever KH game he's in to see Max Goof.

(it'd be a little weird though, being Max is one of the few Disney characters who actually age. How on earth they'd bring Max onboard to anything current Disney is beyond me, especially since Max's Goof Troop VA died like ten years ago)

Spoiler

I am a fucking Goof Troop ENTHUSIAST
I've got the press binder from their show's original press release, containing several prints of the cast (both animated and IRL) and one of those prints may or may not have been signed by Rob Paulsen. Sadly, my escapade for all of the signatures will never come to day because as I mentioned, Max's original VA is dead



also yeah max probably would never, ever be in KH because they'd have to actually give a canon reasoning behind the disappearance of Ms. Goof, which, well

haha

nope

[Kriven]

Unfortunately Max isn't KH canon... if he were I'd go with his late teens incarnation, make him a knight-in-training at Disney Castle.

[recme]

the new game this week is mother 2 vs. mother 3

discuss!

[Gors]

Both are great games and it's what built me into what I am now today.

I will pick Mother 2 (Earthbound) as my favorite title because of the sentimental value it has. It is a worse game, gameplay wise (there is no space for key items, there is no comboing, there is no run button, the graphics are vastly improved while keeping the same art style) but it's that 'one of a kind' game... I met a ton of friends because of that game - frindships that last for more than 7 years! - and I can't deny that it's a life-changing experience.

Mother 3 is a great game too, much like its predecessor but I didn't really get new friends because of that title. Nonetheless I really suggest playing both this and the prequel. It's not only a tale of good vs evil; it's a tale of friendship, growth and fuzzy pickles.

[Goemar]

Oh man. Erm... Ahhhh. Jesus... Hmmm...

Ahrgggh my brain. WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ASK SUCH QUESTIONS!!!

I think, I am, sadly, going to have to say Mother 3. I absolutely love EarthBound, the music, the style - just my god it was so good. Hell I brought an American SNES just to play it. It was just an incredible experience.

But, as has been said before, Mother 3 is the better game as a game. Both endings are extremely powerful but Mother 3 was more emotional for me (having brothers and all). It was just a shame about the "after ending" being a bunch of unneeded nonsense (in my opinion). And Mother 3 also just took forever to happen. I mean we had the 64DD screenshots, a little tease there, a little tease here, Mr Saturn telling us they are also working on Mother 3 - I just never thought it would happen. I also never thought it would be any good.

And then you have the incredible Earthbound fanbase translating the whole thing, making models, making a guide like the old EarthBound one. Mother 3 was just a celebration of gaming culture. People working together for something they loved.

[recme]

unlike the past game vs. game, ill actually give my thought about this.

earthbound (mother 2) was truly an experience for me. for a game genre i dislike from time to time, earthbound kept me on my toes. its easy to learn the system and a fun game that anybody can get into. not only that, its a fun game to watch and play. ive had great times with my cousin while he was playing this game, which made me want to get it and play it myself. when i started my own playthrough, my sister got interested and decided to watch as well. since she started watching me play, she started her own save file and went through the game!

another thing i enjoy from earthbound is that its not your typical rpg. its something that you can (kinda?) relate to, since it takes place during modern times. fighting against people like "annoying old party man" and "handsome tom" is really humorous. speaking of humor, this game has the best of it. although its weird, i enjoy all of the humor in this game.

mother 3 is also a good game. even though i dont have the same feeling i have with earthbound, its still a wonderful game. out of the first four chapters i played, chapter 2 & 3 were my favorite. i wont say much since i pretty much started this game, but its all very fun and weird like the first one.

[recme]

inb4 shitflinging...

melee vs. brawl! competitive vs casual! pick sides and settle it in smash!

[Gors]

Brawl

[Paladin]

Honestly, I don't really like either. I am kinda nostalgic about melee, so I probably like it a bit more than Brawl, but I still don't think it's a very good game.
It's not polished, it looks bad, the audio quality is bad, there are lots of clones, etc.
Brawl looks better and is more polished, but it's too slow and has its fair share of stupidities. The games both have some strong points, though. Melee
is fast paced and has tight controls, and Brawl has a large cast and varied stages. I think some of the items in Brawl are pretty broken, but you can
turn them off anyway, so it's not a big deal.

Personally, I think Project M is the ultimate Smash game, but unmodded Brawl is pretty bad. If we don't count mods, then Melee is the better one.