I need to play better games.
Feb. 17th, 2008 12:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_barretteSo, instead of trying to beat the third Phoenix Wright game (the new one comes out in a few days, doesn't it =__= Drat.) I've been playing Eternal Sonata.
...I'm not really sure if I hate this game or not. The battle system is entirely acceptable, even fun, and I don't hate some of the characters. The story, on the other hand, is incredibly stupid and I hate it. Some of the characters' motivations to do certain things is just so incredibly stupid but everyone acts like these motivations actually make sense. The characters are just so shallow and so stupid and frustrating. Two playable characters are given any sort of backstory. Two. TWO OUT OF A PARTY OF 10.
I'm a big fan of characters. I'll put up with any sort of weird, bizarre, off-putting, strange, even stupid story if I like the characters. I'm a very character-oriented person? This is why I like games like KotOR. And games like Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. And games like Final Fantasy 8 and 9 and 10. Even Katamari Damacy I probably wouldn't have gotten through if I didn't find the characters so likeable. I can go on. If I like the characters, and sympathize with the characters, I will probably like the game. I really wanted to like the characters in this game. Their character designs are adorable. Their voices don't, with very few exceptions, make me want to claw my ears off. Even their base personalities are acceptable! I can live with the girl who says "I'm sorry" every five seconds! I can deal with the thief who only steals so he can give it to the local children! I can handle freedom fighters who don't seem to do a whole lot of actual fighting! I can even handle irritating, pink-haired, snotty kids! What I can't handle is characters who HAVE NO PERSONALITY OTHER THAN THE BASE ONE. GIVE THEM PERSONALITY QUIRKS. GIVE THEM CONVINCING MOTIVATIONS. PLEASE.
It's as though someone who was a very large fan of JRPGs decided to sit down and make one, filling it with nearly every cliché available. In fact, what it reminds me of is Quest 64. That was another game that I thought had a lot of potential and I tried to get through it, but in the end it just kind of sucked. Eternal Sonata's gotten a lot of good reviews, but I think it's mostly because it's better than the other JRPGs on the Xbox360. Which really isn't saying much.
At least the church isn't evil in that game. I swear, if I play another RPG that decides that religion is evil... I probably won't do anything, but I'll probably be somewhat annoyed. I swear, it seems like most video game religions turn out to be some sort of horrible cult. I guess video games need a powerful bad guy, and religion is a powerful thing, along with major corporations, governments, aliens, zombies and Nazis.
EDIT: I've beaten the game and I have decided that I hate it! The plot is nonsensical at best. The ending was incredibly obscure for no good reason, except when it was obviously trying to give some sort of ham-handed environmental message. Actually, that was kind of hilarious, but the rest, ARGH. ARGH ARGH ARGH.
...I'm not really sure if I hate this game or not. The battle system is entirely acceptable, even fun, and I don't hate some of the characters. The story, on the other hand, is incredibly stupid and I hate it. Some of the characters' motivations to do certain things is just so incredibly stupid but everyone acts like these motivations actually make sense. The characters are just so shallow and so stupid and frustrating. Two playable characters are given any sort of backstory. Two. TWO OUT OF A PARTY OF 10.
I'm a big fan of characters. I'll put up with any sort of weird, bizarre, off-putting, strange, even stupid story if I like the characters. I'm a very character-oriented person? This is why I like games like KotOR. And games like Tales of Symphonia and Tales of the Abyss. And games like Final Fantasy 8 and 9 and 10. Even Katamari Damacy I probably wouldn't have gotten through if I didn't find the characters so likeable. I can go on. If I like the characters, and sympathize with the characters, I will probably like the game. I really wanted to like the characters in this game. Their character designs are adorable. Their voices don't, with very few exceptions, make me want to claw my ears off. Even their base personalities are acceptable! I can live with the girl who says "I'm sorry" every five seconds! I can deal with the thief who only steals so he can give it to the local children! I can handle freedom fighters who don't seem to do a whole lot of actual fighting! I can even handle irritating, pink-haired, snotty kids! What I can't handle is characters who HAVE NO PERSONALITY OTHER THAN THE BASE ONE. GIVE THEM PERSONALITY QUIRKS. GIVE THEM CONVINCING MOTIVATIONS. PLEASE.
It's as though someone who was a very large fan of JRPGs decided to sit down and make one, filling it with nearly every cliché available. In fact, what it reminds me of is Quest 64. That was another game that I thought had a lot of potential and I tried to get through it, but in the end it just kind of sucked. Eternal Sonata's gotten a lot of good reviews, but I think it's mostly because it's better than the other JRPGs on the Xbox360. Which really isn't saying much.
At least the church isn't evil in that game. I swear, if I play another RPG that decides that religion is evil... I probably won't do anything, but I'll probably be somewhat annoyed. I swear, it seems like most video game religions turn out to be some sort of horrible cult. I guess video games need a powerful bad guy, and religion is a powerful thing, along with major corporations, governments, aliens, zombies and Nazis.
EDIT: I've beaten the game and I have decided that I hate it! The plot is nonsensical at best. The ending was incredibly obscure for no good reason, except when it was obviously trying to give some sort of ham-handed environmental message. Actually, that was kind of hilarious, but the rest, ARGH. ARGH ARGH ARGH.
