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Forums > Contributor Zone > RotW: Clearing out an older one...Aug 18-24, 2013

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Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: September 04, 2013 (11:30 AM)
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Just a bit late, as I was working on a review for part of last week and being really lazy for the rest. Four reviews, everyone gets words. And the occasional bit of unwanted social commentary!


EmP: Silent Hill 3 (PS2)

Strong review of a game I've been played a lot of recently. You do a good job of hitting a lot of key points, such as how the plot is more weakly portrayed in past games and how there are still some great moments, such as the amazingly creepy mirror room. You strongly communicate this is still a worthwhile game, but not quite at the level of the first two. About all I'd be critical of is how, at times, I think you are a bit brief with some things to where a person not familiar with the subject matter might be a bit lacking in detail. The subway level is mainly what I'm talking around, as a bit more detail of exactly why this area is so boring might be of help. Of course, that could just be me -- when I'm playing a game and fired up about wanting to talk about it, I want EVERY SINGLE THING mentioned, even if you end up with a 5000-word behemoth of a monstrosity that no one besides me would sit through!!!! Still, this is good stuff -- the sort of thing that makes me want to go home and play some Silent Hill, instead of playing what I was planning to play.

pickhut: Metroid II: Return of Samus

This was a really effective review. I've played the NES and SNES Metroid games, but hadn't gotten to this one yet. I'm intrigued enough to want to play it now. The horror vibe seems really neat -- the flawed level design, not so much -- and you do a good job of displaying exactly why those things do or don't work with this game. I particularly liked how you described the way the game messes with your mind in getting you to be freaked out that a Metroid could be just a few steps in front of you. Very effective.

bigcj34: Road Rash II (Genesis)

Interesting title that does seem to be a neat take on the racing genre, what with its "underground" racing theme mixed with combat. The way you describe the difficulty seems a bit of a turnoff to me, but then I've loved playing games that are similar (even though there's way more tracks, the NES' Formula One Built to Win has the same "be perfect or eat dust" vibe when you get about halfway through the actual Formula One series at the end of the game), so that might be 2013 Rob speak, as compared to the Rob of the era games like this were being made. You do a good job of showing how cool this game was for its time and how it still has play value today.

honestgamer: Dragon's Crown (PS3)

Ah yes, my reminder that I do own Odin Sphere, but haven't gotten around to it yet, since the guys who made that made this -- a point also brought home by the pics, as the art style does seem very reminiscent. I don't pay much attention to things like this, but was there that much conversation about the boobs that it really detracted from the game itself? I guess my general confusion/amusement on how up-in-arms people are getting over this whole Penny Arcade dickwolves thing shows that I might be a bit out of touch about what things are important in the minds of at least some percentage of the more vocal and socially-involved gamers (to me, if anyone cares, it seems that some people are so concerned that others might look at their hobby/profession as this basement-dwelling nerd activity that they flip out when anyone says anything crude or potentially offensive because to them, that reinforces that gamer stereotype, so they blow things so far out of proportion it's comical), but lol, man, that's just rich. Anyhow, after getting past the (humorous, at least to me) part about the boobs, you do a really good job of showing how this game is really nice. If anything, I got a little annoyed because you made this game sound so fun to play. You see, I bought a 360 instead of a PS3 because of how the 360 seemed to be a better system for RPG-type games. And now it seems the PS3 is getting these really good exclusives while I'm…well I guess I'm really just looking at the huge stack of games I haven't touched yet…but if I didn't have that big stack, I'd be really green with envy over this! REALLY! Anyway, since I've been off-topic most of this paragraph, you just did a really good job describing what things could have been done better and what things work out great. A fine effort, I say!


It was tough to pick a winner, but that's what they pay me the big money for! In the end, I'm going with Pickhut. It was a strong review that made me interested in a game that, from the issue of Nintendo Power it was featured in, I'd never looked at as more than a curiosity. Now, it seems like a legitimately intriguing game I wouldn't mind giving a try. Congrats for that!

And now that that's done, it's back to the games I'm playing. Which mainly is X-Men Legends II, but I'm also working with Stella Deus and, now that Silent Hill HD Collection is done, I'm back with Resonance of Fate. As well as any number of retro projects I pick up and drop at the drop of a hat. I'm an erratic one, I am. Also have to finish a review I started last week. More erraticness, i say.


I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

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Author: honestgamer
Posted: September 04, 2013 (12:52 PM)
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Xbox 360 has Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and The Last Remnant as exclusive console titles (with the last also coming to PC). Tales of Vesperia I believe may also be available on PS3. Eternal Sonata and Star Ocean definitely are. And beyond that, everything is either multi-platform or (much more frequently) PS3-exclusive. In general, the PS3 has been at least tied with the Xbox 360 basically since the second year the two platforms were directly competing, and pulled ahead in a big way a year or so later. If you want a slew of RPGs, the best system at this point is the 3DS, since you can play the huge library of DS titles and also a bunch of newer RPGs on the 3DS... and the PS3 is in second place. Vita isn't bad if you are ready to invest in a few expensive memory cards and download a bunch of PSN titles that were originally available for PSP. Xbox 360 just plain dropped out of the race a long time ago. It has the FPS genre mostly locked down, though, so at least there's that!


"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

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Author: overdrive (Mod)
Posted: September 04, 2013 (01:55 PM)
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lol, if only I didn't think that FPSes peaked with Doom II and have been steadily been going downhill as the technology's gotten better. At least, I haven't found anything with the fun and shelf-life as Doom II and all the wondrous things its source code has created.

And yeah, if I buy another system in the foreseeable future, it'll be the 3DS. Lot of games I'd like to play there. Might be my Xmas money purchase this year.


I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

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Author: honestgamer
Posted: September 04, 2013 (02:07 PM)
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If you do get one, make sure it's the 3DS XL. The price difference gets you a bigger screen and that really, really makes the games more enjoyable even if it makes the unit fit less comfortably into your pocket.

And to move this back on topic... congrats to pickhut on the win and congratulations to other participants, including me and my excellent Dragon's Crown review that everyone should read. ;-)


"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

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Author: dementedhut
Posted: September 04, 2013 (08:27 PM)
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Hey, thanks for the RotW! Glad you liked the review enough to want to try it out, though it's a very love it or hate it game. I was trying very hard to convince what made the game tick for me, and why it really fumbles in places. I actually wanted to add an additional paragraph concerning the map design (about how certain places looked the same and how that was actually effective in this kind of game), but decided not to since the week I submitted the review had long passed.

This was a good week: had reviews I very much wanted to read, and from good writers! Road Rash was always a series I wanted to try out, there's so much Silent Hill talk on this site that actually makes me want to go through the "original series" line of titles, and I'd very much would buy Dragon's Crown if I had a PS3.


I head spaceshit noises.

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