2010-03-13, 06:37 PM
Krondor is one of the few exploration based games produced by Westerners I can remember being really satisfying. My brother played all the sequels/follow ups I believe. The second seemed kinda like a step down visually at least to me, the 3rd I think was a more contemporary nostalgia milking production which you may or may not count as a sequel. The game play did not appear open in the 3rd game (ie. it was like the original PSOne Resident Evil, aka Biohazard, setups.)
Another game that set well with me was System Shock. A contemporary follow up to that was also made which I've yet to try (not expecting much) ...System Shock would even make an interesting Som game.
I'm really not a fan of contemporary Japanese themes (obsessions?) per say, but the Japanese generally know how to make a game that feels cohesive, and in the art dept solid. Where Western games typically are either oversimplified and inconsistent/unappealing visually or overwhelming and floundering. For example I picked up two big/questionable PS3 titles yesterday marked down to 17$. MGS4 and Fallout3. MGS4 so far has pleasantly surprised me, Fallout has been a bit of a disappointment (though I was not expecting much after trying Oblivion out on my 360) ...MGS4 seems like the most refined MG game yet / probably the most indicative of the series. The cutscenes are more bloated than ever, but otherwise even if you're not a fan of big budget games it's clearly a milestone of some sort in gaming history. Fallout3 seems equally ambitious and intriguing... I mean who doesn't want to navigate a nuclear wasteland, it seems innovative... picking things up with the right analog stick (something I'd just setup for myself for playing KF games) feels very intuitive. However the game itself is really a mess. The camera is a nightmare, the 3rd person avatar does not jump/walk as much as slide thru air and over things, the beginning scene where you're practically forced into a fist fight with a gang in the hallways (why is there only ever one dignified answer to your dialog choices?) is like flailing bodies just rubbing up against one another... without the pause/target feature being constantly fired it's completely unplayable. Fallout feels more like a simulation on rails that you're forced to play wearing mittens (I'm sure it might feel less linear if I ever get that far)
Don't get me wrong, the Japanese produce a ton of crap too, and esthetically 90% of Japanese games might as well come from another planet / dimension where the rules of good taste do not apply. But when it comes to gaming all else aside they seem to know what the hell they're doing... even the cheapass games (that don't exist outside Japan) are playable. On the other hand the poor Westerners just don't seem to know how to make playable games with more than 4 buttons (not counting keyboards) ...furthermore Japanese games are wacky as all hell, and world wide production quality is at an all time low, but that doesn't absolve/explain away why even the best assets in Western games have a way of just being ugly (proportions/composition anyone?)
Maybe I'm just trying to say Westerners as a whole are very weak on fundamentals. Even if you take a game that appears to be esthetically ok like Fallout here, it doesn't have legs to stand on... but then where is its Japanese counterpart? There probably isn't one. However an unplayable game is still an unplayable game. Kudos for experimentation, but next time save everyone the trouble and go back to school first please. (PS: I might yet play/enjoy this Fallout more but it's clearly crippled in so many depts and my personal tendency is to leave cripples to die by the roadside)
EDITED: Time well spent.
Another game that set well with me was System Shock. A contemporary follow up to that was also made which I've yet to try (not expecting much) ...System Shock would even make an interesting Som game.
I'm really not a fan of contemporary Japanese themes (obsessions?) per say, but the Japanese generally know how to make a game that feels cohesive, and in the art dept solid. Where Western games typically are either oversimplified and inconsistent/unappealing visually or overwhelming and floundering. For example I picked up two big/questionable PS3 titles yesterday marked down to 17$. MGS4 and Fallout3. MGS4 so far has pleasantly surprised me, Fallout has been a bit of a disappointment (though I was not expecting much after trying Oblivion out on my 360) ...MGS4 seems like the most refined MG game yet / probably the most indicative of the series. The cutscenes are more bloated than ever, but otherwise even if you're not a fan of big budget games it's clearly a milestone of some sort in gaming history. Fallout3 seems equally ambitious and intriguing... I mean who doesn't want to navigate a nuclear wasteland, it seems innovative... picking things up with the right analog stick (something I'd just setup for myself for playing KF games) feels very intuitive. However the game itself is really a mess. The camera is a nightmare, the 3rd person avatar does not jump/walk as much as slide thru air and over things, the beginning scene where you're practically forced into a fist fight with a gang in the hallways (why is there only ever one dignified answer to your dialog choices?) is like flailing bodies just rubbing up against one another... without the pause/target feature being constantly fired it's completely unplayable. Fallout feels more like a simulation on rails that you're forced to play wearing mittens (I'm sure it might feel less linear if I ever get that far)
Don't get me wrong, the Japanese produce a ton of crap too, and esthetically 90% of Japanese games might as well come from another planet / dimension where the rules of good taste do not apply. But when it comes to gaming all else aside they seem to know what the hell they're doing... even the cheapass games (that don't exist outside Japan) are playable. On the other hand the poor Westerners just don't seem to know how to make playable games with more than 4 buttons (not counting keyboards) ...furthermore Japanese games are wacky as all hell, and world wide production quality is at an all time low, but that doesn't absolve/explain away why even the best assets in Western games have a way of just being ugly (proportions/composition anyone?)
Maybe I'm just trying to say Westerners as a whole are very weak on fundamentals. Even if you take a game that appears to be esthetically ok like Fallout here, it doesn't have legs to stand on... but then where is its Japanese counterpart? There probably isn't one. However an unplayable game is still an unplayable game. Kudos for experimentation, but next time save everyone the trouble and go back to school first please. (PS: I might yet play/enjoy this Fallout more but it's clearly crippled in so many depts and my personal tendency is to leave cripples to die by the roadside)
EDITED: Time well spent.