Sunday, 20 June 2010
Double Post, LOL.
I think Tales of Graces Last Two Dungeons is a pretty cool guy. Eh has massive difficulty spike and doesn't afraid of anything.
Monday, 14 June 2010
Tales of Grbces.
So I finally got my hands on Tales of Graces, 6 months after the game's initial release and just a few weeks prior to E3, where we'll soon find out if the game is to receive a localisation. That said, having finally played the game, I feel well placed to finally be able to comment on it.
So, is it the best game ever? Well, no. But it is fantastic.
First things first, it's a Wii game, so obviously, it is at a disadvantage to say, Tales of Vesperia. Or at least you'd think. Truth be told, while the visuals lack that HD sheen, they are certainly more imaginative than Vesperia's. Put plainly, it is simply better designed from a visual point of view. Another point worth noting on this front is that cutscenes are motion captured, so they look more convincing than those of Vesperia.
Audio is a sticking point for any Tales game as naturally, the very mention of audio in the same breath as Tales brings up two words a lot of Japanese audiophiles dread more than anything. Motoi Sakuraba. Yes, the man is back at the helm of his 11th soundtrack for a Tales game. That said, it is a mostly innocent affair, with themes that strike as unremarkable, if not horrible, for the most part. Standout tracks include a couple of dungeon themes which have a very "Star Ocean-y" feel to them and of course the battle themes.
On that note, the battle themes this time around are handled pretty differently. Unlike Abyss or Vesperia, the FIVE main battle themes of the game, (not including the battle theme that plays during the extended prologue,) play depending on what area you are in at the time. Fighting in the snowy mountains of Fendel, for example, will cause the chilly "Cold Wind Flash" to play as the battle theme, while the deserts of Strata have their battles played out to the notably warmer and upbeat "Scorching Brawl". But while that's all well and good special mention has to be made of the style used for one of the other battle themes. I'll be frank, it sounds like an Irish Jig, which is very strange indeed...
Characters, for me, are always a high point of the series and Graces is no exception in that regard. I'll get the bad out the way first. Asbel is boring. His character is played straight from start to finish and he does nothing remarkable for the entirety of the game. On the other hand, Sophie, the game's heroine, is an adorable yet entirely awesome ass-kicker extraordinaire. Without wanting to spoil anything, Sophie gets all the good cutscenes in the game. Then there's Cheria, who is just kind of there really, I'm mostly indifferent towards her. Hubert is an interesting one for me though. His transition between child and adult is extremely dramatic in terms of the change he undergoes. Rounding out the roster are Malik, Richard and Pascal. Malik is a pretty cool old guy with a hidden past and Richard is a clichéd damsel in distress, only not a girl, (that we know of.)
Pascal on the other hand, gets her own paragraph. Yes, she's that awesome that I've dedicated as much space to her as I have all the other characters combined. I don't know quite what makes her that awesome, but I'll try and explain. First off, she is insanely fun to play as, certainly moreso than Asbel or even Sophie. This is in no small part due to the fact that her weapon is a freaking rifle staff. Then, there's her personality. The best way to describe it is as something like a mix of Rita's genius and Norma's go-getter attitude, with a dash of Harold's insanity thrown in for good measure. Basically, she's always the cheerful one in any given situation and even when she's knocked down, you can bet she'll have bounced right back within a moment. And then there's the comedy value she brings to almost everything she does. I'm talking about the dances, the scenes with the drill, anything that occurs that involves Banana pie. That and the mirror. Oh yes, the mirror...
Gameplay wise, the game is a refinement of Tales of Destiny: Directors Cut and Tales of Hearts, only in 3D rather than 2D. Given that those two are considered to be the best games in the entire series, that's a good starting point, I would say. The actual battles are amazingly good fun to play, though they are quite a departure from the way things have been done up to now. I don't know exactly how to describe it, other than to say that the system is genuinely intuitive. I found it very easy to pick up indeed, despite my minimal Japanese skills, but at the same time, like all games with the Destiny pedigree, it's very deep and hard to master.
Like I said at the beginning, the game is not perfect though. Some of the default routines for learning skills are very annoying and the AI will need tweaking to get the best out of each character. And lets not forget that the initial release of the game was glitched to hell and back. Of course, this was fixed in the revised release for the most part, but there are still occasional sound glitches and whatnot. The difficulty curve is pretty uneven too, with a sudden, huge jump in difficulty for the last third of the game.
But with that said, I wouldn't consider any of the above reason enough to not reccomend this game. It is fantastic, simple as that and even if a localisation is announced, I won't regret having splashed out on a Japanese copy. All in all, if you even moderately like even one game from the Tales series, you need this game.
p.s. The title is an intentional typo. No, he's not in this game, I was just feeling punny.
So, is it the best game ever? Well, no. But it is fantastic.
First things first, it's a Wii game, so obviously, it is at a disadvantage to say, Tales of Vesperia. Or at least you'd think. Truth be told, while the visuals lack that HD sheen, they are certainly more imaginative than Vesperia's. Put plainly, it is simply better designed from a visual point of view. Another point worth noting on this front is that cutscenes are motion captured, so they look more convincing than those of Vesperia.
Audio is a sticking point for any Tales game as naturally, the very mention of audio in the same breath as Tales brings up two words a lot of Japanese audiophiles dread more than anything. Motoi Sakuraba. Yes, the man is back at the helm of his 11th soundtrack for a Tales game. That said, it is a mostly innocent affair, with themes that strike as unremarkable, if not horrible, for the most part. Standout tracks include a couple of dungeon themes which have a very "Star Ocean-y" feel to them and of course the battle themes.
On that note, the battle themes this time around are handled pretty differently. Unlike Abyss or Vesperia, the FIVE main battle themes of the game, (not including the battle theme that plays during the extended prologue,) play depending on what area you are in at the time. Fighting in the snowy mountains of Fendel, for example, will cause the chilly "Cold Wind Flash" to play as the battle theme, while the deserts of Strata have their battles played out to the notably warmer and upbeat "Scorching Brawl". But while that's all well and good special mention has to be made of the style used for one of the other battle themes. I'll be frank, it sounds like an Irish Jig, which is very strange indeed...
Characters, for me, are always a high point of the series and Graces is no exception in that regard. I'll get the bad out the way first. Asbel is boring. His character is played straight from start to finish and he does nothing remarkable for the entirety of the game. On the other hand, Sophie, the game's heroine, is an adorable yet entirely awesome ass-kicker extraordinaire. Without wanting to spoil anything, Sophie gets all the good cutscenes in the game. Then there's Cheria, who is just kind of there really, I'm mostly indifferent towards her. Hubert is an interesting one for me though. His transition between child and adult is extremely dramatic in terms of the change he undergoes. Rounding out the roster are Malik, Richard and Pascal. Malik is a pretty cool old guy with a hidden past and Richard is a clichéd damsel in distress, only not a girl, (that we know of.)
Pascal on the other hand, gets her own paragraph. Yes, she's that awesome that I've dedicated as much space to her as I have all the other characters combined. I don't know quite what makes her that awesome, but I'll try and explain. First off, she is insanely fun to play as, certainly moreso than Asbel or even Sophie. This is in no small part due to the fact that her weapon is a freaking rifle staff. Then, there's her personality. The best way to describe it is as something like a mix of Rita's genius and Norma's go-getter attitude, with a dash of Harold's insanity thrown in for good measure. Basically, she's always the cheerful one in any given situation and even when she's knocked down, you can bet she'll have bounced right back within a moment. And then there's the comedy value she brings to almost everything she does. I'm talking about the dances, the scenes with the drill, anything that occurs that involves Banana pie. That and the mirror. Oh yes, the mirror...
Gameplay wise, the game is a refinement of Tales of Destiny: Directors Cut and Tales of Hearts, only in 3D rather than 2D. Given that those two are considered to be the best games in the entire series, that's a good starting point, I would say. The actual battles are amazingly good fun to play, though they are quite a departure from the way things have been done up to now. I don't know exactly how to describe it, other than to say that the system is genuinely intuitive. I found it very easy to pick up indeed, despite my minimal Japanese skills, but at the same time, like all games with the Destiny pedigree, it's very deep and hard to master.
Like I said at the beginning, the game is not perfect though. Some of the default routines for learning skills are very annoying and the AI will need tweaking to get the best out of each character. And lets not forget that the initial release of the game was glitched to hell and back. Of course, this was fixed in the revised release for the most part, but there are still occasional sound glitches and whatnot. The difficulty curve is pretty uneven too, with a sudden, huge jump in difficulty for the last third of the game.
But with that said, I wouldn't consider any of the above reason enough to not reccomend this game. It is fantastic, simple as that and even if a localisation is announced, I won't regret having splashed out on a Japanese copy. All in all, if you even moderately like even one game from the Tales series, you need this game.
p.s. The title is an intentional typo. No, he's not in this game, I was just feeling punny.
Glaceons are awesome.
Even though they suck competetively. But seriously, how can anyone not find them adorable? Case in point, this wallpaper I just made. Its made of fail, but Glacie is still adorable.
Click for full size, bla bla bla...
Click for full size, bla bla bla...
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Note to Self: Version 1337.
Smugleaf is not smugleaf. Smugleaf is actually Abicion. This concept confuses and enrages me.
RE: Concrete Reasons Why I hate my DS. The DS Lite Version.
So I have a DS Lite now... I like it. Here's why;
1: Power switch is in a sensible place that you can't accidentally push when using the D-Pad
2: Sexy, shiny, ooh...!
3: Screen is bright and awesome.
4: Stylus is located in a convenient spot and isn't the size of a fingernail.
5: Start & Select are placed nicely below the main buttons.
6: Not a DS Phat
7: Screen was shiny and awesome when I bought it.
8: Headphone socket works. Nuff said.
9: Volume slider is much improved.
10: F***ing massive battery life.
11: Pokémon Heart Gold.
1: Power switch is in a sensible place that you can't accidentally push when using the D-Pad
2: Sexy, shiny, ooh...!
3: Screen is bright and awesome.
4: Stylus is located in a convenient spot and isn't the size of a fingernail.
5: Start & Select are placed nicely below the main buttons.
6: Not a DS Phat
7: Screen was shiny and awesome when I bought it.
8: Headphone socket works. Nuff said.
9: Volume slider is much improved.
10: F***ing massive battery life.
11: Pokémon Heart Gold.
On Procrastinating.
Well it's a day late and it's neither witty nor humorous, but I have a deviantArt account! Only 5 years overdue, so I didn't do too badly, I guess. http://evilsapphie.deviantart.com/
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