Niahak's Place

It’s too early.

That aside, a recent post on one of the forums where I lurk got me thinking.  The question was “what games do you regret buying?”.

I don’t do that too often anymore.  I don’t have a whole lot money so I have to be careful when I decide whether or not to make a purchase.  I tend to read several reviews and some personal testimonials before I buy much of anything anymore (excepting the few cases where I think I can trust a developer, such as Level 5).

That said, it still happens every once in a while.  The biggest one was Crimson Sea 2.  The game sounded marginally interesting, and it was made by Koei, so I thought I couldn’t lose even at $50.  I was unfortunately mistaken, as the game becomes Dynasty Warriors in space before too long, and there’s no storyline co-op (despite having two playable characters).  I ended up trading it in.

More recently, when Gamestop was selling off the last of their PSX games,  I picked up Beyond the Beyond for $13.  I had bought (and then sold) it when it was the first RPG on PSX.   When I tried playing it, the game was almost painful in parts.  It’s one thing to have lots of encounters and require strategy… it’s quite another to have a lot of encounters and also expect the player to keep tapping X to get lots of critical hits and blocks.  Considering that Wild Arms was the same price, I feel ripped off at $13 for that game.

The last game I regret buying new was probably Romance of the Three Kingdoms X, but I feel I haven’t given that game a decent chance since the first time playing it so it’s not in any danger of being sold.  As monotonous as it became, Final Fantasy XII had its moments, so I don’t much regret buying it.

I accepted a job offer from a company today, so it looks like I finally know for sure what I’ll be doing in 3 months or so.

I’m in the final section of Rogue Galaxy, and I have to say, the earlier plot points are better done than the last parts.  The game starts out light and fun, but events become really heavy-handed after a bit and it turns out I like some of the subplots better than the main one.  Game’s still fun, but it’s winding down.  What’s next?  I have no idea.  I’ve been meaning to replay Wild Arms ACF, as well as the entire Suikoden series.  I’ll just have to see how I feel in the next few days.

I do have to say one thing, though.  This game is very pretty.  I liked FFXII’s graphics for a while, but I thought they were grainy, and there were too many browns and grays (the foresty and snowy parts tended to be pretty short, while dungeons were quite long).   Rogue Galaxy, meanwhile, has a few scenes that are absolutely amazing, between a landscape of a tropical water planet to a far-reaching view of a futuristic city.  Most areas are well-fleshed out, and even in some hostile areas I would rotate the camera just so I could see the background.

Tomorrow (technically today) is the beginning of the last quarter. Thankfully, my first class is at 11:45 each day. Unfortunately, I have work at 7 AM on Wednesdays. This may take some getting used to.

I also have a lot of time at work, and I probably won’t have much homework. You know what that means; more frequent posts to this site. Soon I’m likely to finally choose what job I’ll go for, and soon my group is likely to choose what kind of game to make for Computer Game Development. Guess which one you’re more likely to hear about?

I finished the first Phoenix Wright today. If you own a DS, you need to try this game. I tried the first trial and was mostly unconvinced. But this game has a wonderful translation, and by the last trial I pretty much couldn’t stop playing. There are so many twists and turns in each case that it’s a wonderful chain of brain teasers, with a very colorful cast of characters. I hear the second game has a different translator, and isn’t quite as well-phrased. I’m not surprised at the latter; there were several typos and such in the last case of the original. The former I’m disappointed with, but I hope it won’t make much difference. I plan to try it out sooner or later.

Gumshoe is by far my favorite Phoenix Wright character, and I don’t know exactly why. There’s something about his honesty, maladroitness, and personality that I find hilarious. He also has some of the best lines in the game (“Hey, you can’t go around calling people “pal”, pal! That’s my endearing character trait!”). He always has good intentions and helps Phoenix even when Gumshoe is technically working for the other side.

I also played Rogue Galaxy for something like 6 hours today. I was surprised when, an hour in, Kisala reminded me to save (your characters will randomly say things as you wander around, a feature you can turn off). Around 4 hours in, Kisala said “You know, you’ve been playing for a while. Maybe you should call it a day”. I know I have a problem when games are telling me to stop playing them.

That said, RG is still good fun 36 hours in. I found out hunts were available all along (you can get them after Chapter 4, I think), so most of them are easy now. I tried the Insector competition, and it’s sort of like a combination of Chess and Monster Rancher. I may go further in, I may not. I’ve found the Factory much easier to deal with now that I have some materials, and it’s actually kind of fun. I look forward to continuing RG this week.

Imagine the best shower you’ve ever taken.  Water at just the right temperature to relax in, plenty of water pressure (if you’re like me and you like that), plenty of time.

Now imagine something at least 5 times nicer and you may just have the idea of a Bathhouse (either ofuro or onsen, depending on whether it’s a hot spring) in Japan.  One of the professors at my college – in fact, our non-Japanese expert on Japanese culture – is an expert on baths, and has written a book specifically on them.  That’s how nice they are.

Just when you thought completionist games couldn’t get any worse (or better, if you’re obsessive-compulsive), Rogue Galaxy hits a new low (high).  The nice part about this is that none of it is necessary.

The game introduces you, first, to the Hunter Ranking system.  Very briefly, it tells you that if you can kill off several of each type of creature (generally 15-30), you get some hunter points.  Getting more hunter points means increasing your hunter rank.  Increasing your hunter rank means getting some spiffy treasures once you get past the 50ish mark.

Then, on the second planet, you gain access to the Insectron game.  The introduction is quite brief, and you never have to do anything with it.  I haven’t even tried it yet, actually.  It looks sort of like a simplistic Monster Rancher or Pokemon.  You catch insects out in the field, and then you raise them and form teams to do battle.

Also on the second planet, you can do weapon refining.  You combine two weapons, and, if they’re compatible (they usually are) you get a better weapon.  It’s a cool system, and it rewards increasing your weapons’ elemental affinities, too.

On the third planet, you find out about the Factory system.  You take basic blueprints and design machines to fit the need.  If you’re successful, some shops will sell the new item you just made (the only real benefit, actually).  It sounds easy, but it’s almost too complex for me.  I don’t have the ingredients to even make any of the blueprints yet.

Finally, once you reach the point where I’m at game-wise, you can finally reach all the teleports on each planet.  Once you reach all of them, you can see all treasures on the map (quite possibly the nicest little feature I’ve seen on a game like this).
I’m on Chapter 8 (of 12, IIRC) right now, and I think there’ll be one more completionist timesink (a Hunt system similar to FFXII’s).  I wish I had the time to plumb the depths of this game.  Maybe I’ll give some of the minigame-things a try and see if I enjoy any of them.