Cmtz
01-01-2003, 11:36 PM
Now I love EGM!! it was a month full of good games and SOA managed to be game of the month!
here
PS2
ATV Offroad Fury 2: 8.5, 7.5, 7.0
Dead to Rights: 7.5, 7.0, 6.5
Dynasty Warriors 3 Xtreme Legends: 6.5
Pro Race Driver: 7.5
Dragonball Z Budokai: 8.0, 7.5, 7.0
.hack Part 1 Infection: 7.5, 7.5, 6.0
Minority Report: 6.5, 5.5, 6.0
Star Wars Bounty Hunter: 6.0, 7.0, 5.0
The Sims: 9.5, 8.5, 8.0 (SILVER)
War of the Monsters: 9.5, 6.5, 7.0
Gamecube
Swingerz Golf: 7.5, 6.5, 7.0
Hunter: The Reckenong: 6.0, 7.0, 6.5
Blood Omen2: 6.5
Evolution Worlds: 4.0
Legends of Wrestling II: 7.0, 6.0, 5.0
Lord of the Rings Two Towers: 8.0, 8.5, 8.5 (SILVER)
Skies of Arcadia Legends: 9.0, 9.5, 9.0 (GAME OF THE MONTH, GOLD)
Xbox
Battle Engine Aquila: 7.0, 7.5, 8.0
Dark Angel: 6.0
Fatal Frame: 6.5
BMX XXX: 2.5, 3.0, 3.5
Capcom vs SNK 2 EO: 7.5, 7.5, 9.0 (SILVER)
Crimson Sea: 7.0, 7.5, 7.0
Kakuto Chojin Back Alley Brutal: 2.5, 4.0, 3.0
Superman The Man of Steel: 4.0, 4.0, 2.5
Lord of the Rings The Two Towers: 8.5 (SILVER)
SeaBlade: 4.5
Panzer Dragoon Orta: 9.0, 8.5, 9.0 (SILVER)
Shrek Super Party: 2.0
Gameboy Advance
Altered Beast Guardian of the Realms: 6.0
Phantasy Star Collection: 9.0, 8.0, 7.5 (SILVER)
Super Monkey Ball Jr.: 8.0 (SILVER)
Tomb Raider The Prophecy: 4.5
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Posts: 1 | From: US | Registered: Dec 2002 | IP: Logged
Goldni
2nd Party
Member # 46
posted 12-29-2002 09:25 AM
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Yeah EGM has'nt been getting on my nerves of late. I may have to buy this game. What all did they say about it? I have not got mine yet.
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The industry that Mario built.
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Posts: 715 | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
fallout
Editor &
Forum Administrator
Member # 176
posted 12-29-2002 03:32 PM
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Stupid, stupid Sega. Don't they know that my bank account can't keep taking this pounding thanks already to Nintendo? I'm thinking to myself: "Hey, I don't need to worry, I won't have to buy another game until Zelda comes out." ... then we get SoAL.
::sigh:: ... what I'm a bitching for anyway? I'd buy it if I was broke.
Also, I'm surprised the Super Monkey Ball Jr. got such a great score. When Emily and I played it at E3, it looked absolutely gorgeous, but without the analog control... it was pretty brutal.
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Brenden Petracek
Forum Administrator & Webmaster
N-Sider.com
"Entertain first, inform if you're lucky." -- Dennis Miller on the American media.
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Posts: 1984 | From: Censored for explicit content | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged
shakamikaze
2nd Party
Member # 41
posted 12-29-2002 03:34 PM
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It was already on my purchase list before this EGM thingie. In its short Dreamcast lifespan, many hailed it as one of the best RPGs ever even better than the recent FF stuff. Is there any more reason to want to purchase it. The purchase list 2003 3 already has 3 titles in it and 2002 ain't even over yet.
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Homer Simpson: The problem with relationships today is communication. Just too much communication.
For gawd so loved the wurld, he gave his only begotten sons at Factor 5....
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Posts: 1126 | From: City, State, Country | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
lord-of-shadow
2nd Party
Member # 1100
posted 12-29-2002 03:52 PM
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I loved the whole idea for the Skies of Arcadia world, and have been anticipating this game ever since it was announced that it was coming to the GC...
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Posts: 122 | From: NH | Registered: Jan 2002 | IP: Logged
Underwood
2nd Party
Member # 1372
posted 12-29-2002 06:33 PM
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SOA is the greatest rpg of all time...... :
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SFA is the greatest game of ALL TIME. Yes, better than Zelda. Yes.
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Posts: 132 | From: AZ | Registered: Jul 2002 | IP: Logged
rugal
3rd Party
Member # 1461
posted 12-30-2002 12:40 AM
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I only got around to playing around 8 hours of it, but from what I played it's up there with the best of them. It's also a pretty unique rpg so it beats buying another Final Fantasy say. Irrespective of whether it's a port with DC standard graphics, it's a game you should definitely buy.
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Posts: 18 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2002 | IP: Logged
Silicon Knights
Executive Editor
Member # 16
posted 12-30-2002 02:29 AM
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I think the biggest appeal of Skies of Arcadia when it released on Dreamcast, was that it literally came out of nowhere. There was absolutely zero hype surrounding the game, therefore, leaving no reason to be dissapointed. I'm not saying it is a bad or even average game, as it's a truly phenemonal RPG, but I do think the zero hype helped it to reach such a status of admiration. I mean, I surely wasn't expecting it to be so incredible.
Seriously, in terms of my favorite RPGs from the 32 bit + generations of RPGs (3D I suppose you could say), I'd place it alongside Final Fantasy 7. But my suggestion to anyone who intends on buying the game, don't read about it, contemplating the purchase...just buy it.
And for those of you requiring further convincing, I'm going to buy it for GameCube even though I own the Dreamcast version. Not only because I want to play through it again, but I'm also doing it to support the game's sales. There exists no RPG that I would rather see a sequel to. (Actually, I'd like to see one to Chrono Trigger; none of that Chrono Cross crap.)
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Glen Bayer (ironichaos)
www.N-Sider.com
e-mail: glen@n-sider.com
Irate Static Stick Copyright 2001
"You require a good old-fashioned dry humping." -fanboy
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Posts: 1148 | From: Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes and an infinite amount of mosquitos) | Registered: Aug 2000 | IP: Logged
Axord
2nd Party
Member # 207
posted 12-30-2002 12:54 PM
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While I'm really happy we're getting this game, it sort of highlights the scarcity of RPGs on the Cube.
What've we got?
Lost Kingdoms/Rune
Evolution Worlds
Animal Crossing
Phantasy Star Online
What're we allegedly getting at some point?
Summoner 2: The Prophecy
SoAL
Lost Kingdoms 2
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
FF: Crystal Chonicles
Animal Crossing 2
Giftpia
Virtua Fighter Quest
Right. And how many of these are non-ported, traditional, non-action RPGs? Riiight.
Still, even if many of those titles are average, some have been, and some promise to be, outstanding.
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It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
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Posts: 1205 | From: Foggy California | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
Pulstar_Theory
3rd Party
Member # 1516
posted 12-30-2002 02:02 PM
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While it may sound a bit too optimistic, I'm not too worried about RPGs right now. It took the PSone a couple of YEARS to hit their stride with games such as FF7 and Alundra, among others.
Did anybody read the interview on the creator of SOA on gamespy?
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This is, pardon me, a damn fine cup o' coffee.
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Posts: 26 | From: Albuquerque | Registered: Oct 2002 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 12-30-2002 04:30 PM
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Damn you, Sega! GIVE ME SHENMUE! The Gamecube controller would be easy on the hands (unlike Dreamcast's and XBox's controllers), so I could play the game without worry of developing arthritis.
That, and I want a Shenmue III. Badly.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
Underwood
2nd Party
Member # 1372
posted 12-30-2002 05:44 PM
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Import it from the UK.
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SFA is the greatest game of ALL TIME. Yes, better than Zelda. Yes.
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Posts: 132 | From: AZ | Registered: Jul 2002 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 12-30-2002 06:37 PM
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Actually, I already have (in a matter of speaking). I just want to see Shenmue on Gamecube for two reasons: up the RPG count on the system and the Gamecube controller is ultimately easier to handle for Shenmue's type of controls than the Dreamcast's or XBox's.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
Kamek
1st Party
Member # 50
posted 12-30-2002 08:36 PM
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Camelot are officially developing a GC RPG now too. It's been rumoured for forever, but confirmed in some Japanese interview. Golden Sun I would think.
The thing is, out of the 8 games you listed Axord, I'm actually interested in 6 of them! 7 even, though Lost Kingdoms 2 is just at the back of my mind as a potential if reviews are good enough. And I don't think much of RPGs at all!
As for Skies of Arcadia, I almost got it on the DC, but held back due to what I heard about the frequency of battles. That sort of thing annoys me so much, especially if the battle system is slow. I'll wait for reviews and see what improvements have been made.
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Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow. I am the sun on ripened grain. I am the soothing, gentle rain. When you awake in morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush. Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
-I saw it on another forum and decided it was the sig for me.
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Posts: 3204 | From: I'm onto you lot and I ain't tellin ya! | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
bingomasters
2nd Party
Member # 1542
posted 12-30-2002 09:55 PM
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I wouldn't worry about frequency of battles too much:
"When you're on your ship, flying around in the sky finding items and treasure there were too many battles. We're definitely working on improving this in the GameCube version. Part of it is lessening the battles, part of it is adjusting the controls in the sky."
-Rieko Kodama, adorable producer of Skies of Arcadia
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Posts: 132 | From: I can see your house from here | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged
Sergenth
2nd Party
Member # 213
posted 12-30-2002 10:38 PM
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Oi! I wish that Gamespy article author would have... uhm, done more interviewing rather than use the quotes of this designer to append his own comments.
At least now I know the name of Rieko Kodama. She and other designers should be on N-universe cards I say.
Edit: Oh, and the real problem with Skies of Arcadia's battles was that from the moment you heard the Dreamcast disc-reading head "go nutty", through the blackscreen of loading and the swirling camera dive-in as the character models were loaded off the disc... you were forced to wait 20 seconds before you could input a command!!!. A Pokemon game has a 4 second wait, though it only has a few kilobytes of data to load (and that same delay could be as dangerously little as 0.4 seconds). Still, waiting that long for the battles to load just became unfun, especially since the battle system is fairly derivative of Final Fantasy 2 or 3.
So it wasn't the amount of battles... it was the amount of time that was wasted per battle which got on my nerves. A good RPG game can be nothing but battles, as long as they are short and sweet (Pokemon), or involving (Grandia 2) -- both of which require that no time be wasted with stupid loading!!!
I'm also remembering the "choose-your-own-advenuture" style of fighting that occurred during ship combat. While it was certainly different from other RPG battle engines out there, I can't say I enjoyed the lack of control and the shallow, sometimes arbitrary decisions. I did like the ability to choose your moves ahead of time, but other than choosing attacks in quantity and biding your time till a "super-hit" oppurtunity mechanically came up, I didn't see many other options to make it more interesting.
I do need to say something to balance out the negative comments I've made. The strongest thing about the game is it's charm of character. The cast of personalities is great, and the character models are well-designed and very expressive... Zelda 64 expressive. I played through the game just to see what would happen next in the story and I was rewarded for my patience, even though the melee and ship battles were dull to me. I hope that the GC version will have bloody fast load times, because it will make it easier for people to love this game.
I paid $24 for the DC version just as DC was dying, but I can't afford to buy it again for $50, let alone other games that cost money, because I don't have any
[ 12-30-2002, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Sergenth ]
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Sergenth - Vice-roy of his own fantasy land.
Animal Crossing Info:
Name: Pinky
Town: Towntown
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Posts: 639 | From: Milford, NJ, USA | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
Ripe Melons
2nd Party
Member # 480
posted 12-31-2002 03:36 AM
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"Camelot president Hiroyuki Takahashi mentioned that they will publish a RPG title for GameCube in 2003, the game title has not yet announced."
-The Magic Box
Piece.
EDIT: Nintendojo, whom I've never been able to trust, claims that Skip Ltd.'s "secret" RPG 'The Gift' will be released this spring in Japan.
[ 12-31-2002, 03:46 AM: Message edited by: Ripe Melons ]
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Posts: 749 | From: Da Melon Patch | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged
Colossus777
2nd Party
Member # 39
posted 12-31-2002 08:51 PM
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Ah, Skies of Arcadia. I bought this game, and initially wasn't too involved in it, and it got pushed behind some other games. And then, it took over my life. I also made a long thing of game ideas for it I posted on some forum, since I guess I like to do that for the games I really like.
SoA has very charming characters, as Sergenth said. The world is also really, really cool. It's kind of like Treasure Planet, but 100 times cooler, and without cheesy robots, aliens, or outer space. In short, it has flying boats, Sky Pirates, floating continents, and more. Discoveries were soooooo much fun to find, as was getting together every crew members, who provide interesting comments, services, and help in ship battles.
Speaking of the ship battles, I think they are pretty fun, despite what Sergenth says. True, it often seemed too balanced upon super-hit opportuinites, and some of the choices were pretty pointless. Personally, if I were to make the game, I would have added a "strategic choice" decision you can choose at the beginning of your turn, perhaps with the C-stick. You can choose to be more aggressive (lots of damage given/taken) by pressing up, or more defensive (little damage given/taken) by pressing down. In addition to affect the stats of your ship, your level of aggressiveness/passiveness affects your choices, which are choosen automatically (note that the game will notify you when a decision is coming up). Also, the d-pad can be used to change your altitude with up and down. This affects accuracy of certain weapons for you and the opponent. Also, you should be able to increase/decrease speed with left and right on the d-pad. Once you have set altitude, speed, and strategy and enter your moves, otherwise normally, the game proceeds, carries out the moves, and while doing so, changes a little bit towards the set conditions, until the conditions are fulfilled by the time all your characters are done moving.
The normal combat is not too interesting, except for the spirit meter, which I think is quite cool, adding a sort of charge style effect like FF Tactics. However, as is said here, combat in random encounters often took too long, especially with load times. It could be improved.
Anyway, to everyone just discovering this fine game, I hope you enjoy it very much.
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I'm a thief, I'm a liar. There's my church; I sing in the choir. -Pearl Jam
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Posts: 579 | From: Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
Axord
2nd Party
Member # 207
posted 01-01-2003 10:05 AM
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I'm really impressed by the gaming philosophy of Rieko Kodama, as shown in that interview at least. I hope we get more games from her direction.
quote:
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Originally declaimed by Sergenth:
The strongest thing about the game is it's charm of character. The cast of personalities is great, and the character models are well-designed and very expressive... Zelda 64 expressive.
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Hmmm. I hope that the leap of expressiveness allegedly presented by Zelda:WW doesn't spoil us all and make it harder to enjoy Arcadia. High watershed marks and all that.
quote:
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Originally stated firmly by Ripe Melons:
Nintendojo, whom I've never been able to trust, claims that Skip Ltd.'s "secret" RPG 'The Gift' will be released this spring in Japan.
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Planetgamecube is reporting that Giftpia is due out April 2003 in Japan, according to the Skip website. Knowing that doesn't increase my Dojo trust, somehow.
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It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
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Posts: 1205 | From: Foggy California | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
wazoo
3rd Party
Member # 731
posted 01-01-2003 10:38 AM
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I bought SOA for the Dc and put somewhere in 50h in that game.
This game has very japanese charming look and the whole airship settings is wonderful. The story is nice too but very cliche.
Now for the bad points:
- the combat system as said above is the worst I've played for years (the best being Grandia2 and recently FFX), the weapons are useless as the whole color scheme attached to it. The fact you are selecting all your choice for all your warriors is also very perplexing, letting you see some very strange moves, where your characters will do some stupid things (they were not stupid when you selected them, but they are during the fight when both your and the opponent tactics are running). To sum it up, there is no way to alter your choices until all the round is finished (G2 is marvellous for that).
- the rare items are rare. I do not have found all of them even with the walkthrough, since you are supposed to fly exactly trough them to see them.
- the boss fights have lots of charm, but the whole fighting scheme is stupid.
- loadings and useless camera flyby before and after combats.
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Posts: 89 | Registered: Aug 2001 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 01-01-2003 05:08 PM
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Out of curiosity, can anyone tell me what became of Brownie Brown? It was a team made up of ex-Square developers who were responsibile for the Seiken Densetsu series (including one of the best Adventure RPGs to ever exist, SD3) and were developing a game "in the same style" of the aforementioned series. Then, Square announces a remake of SD1. So, has Brownie Brown scratched their project in light of Square's insistence on remaking on of their old creations, or are they still hard at work?
Also, I am not sure, so don't take this as fact, but I thought Sega gave the rights to Shining Force to Camelot, while the rest of the Shining Series (Soul, Sword, etc.) belonged to Sega after the sales debacle the wonderful Shining Force III was. Even if they didn't, Camelot could easily make an identical game with a different title.
Again, I may be completely off base, but I think I remember hearing that once. However, I wouldn't take it as any more than words.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
The-stranger
2nd Party
Member # 272
posted 01-01-2003 10:18 PM
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Shawn, Brownie Brown has made Magical vacation for GBA quite a while ago, very nice game from the reviews though never brought to north america. Now they're making a remake of SD1 like you mentioned.
And sega has the rights to shining force, camelot simply did 2 out of the 3 shining force. Contracted developer. Nintendo will still own the Fzero and star fox franchises once namco and sega are done with them, for example.
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Posts: 277 | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged
here
PS2
ATV Offroad Fury 2: 8.5, 7.5, 7.0
Dead to Rights: 7.5, 7.0, 6.5
Dynasty Warriors 3 Xtreme Legends: 6.5
Pro Race Driver: 7.5
Dragonball Z Budokai: 8.0, 7.5, 7.0
.hack Part 1 Infection: 7.5, 7.5, 6.0
Minority Report: 6.5, 5.5, 6.0
Star Wars Bounty Hunter: 6.0, 7.0, 5.0
The Sims: 9.5, 8.5, 8.0 (SILVER)
War of the Monsters: 9.5, 6.5, 7.0
Gamecube
Swingerz Golf: 7.5, 6.5, 7.0
Hunter: The Reckenong: 6.0, 7.0, 6.5
Blood Omen2: 6.5
Evolution Worlds: 4.0
Legends of Wrestling II: 7.0, 6.0, 5.0
Lord of the Rings Two Towers: 8.0, 8.5, 8.5 (SILVER)
Skies of Arcadia Legends: 9.0, 9.5, 9.0 (GAME OF THE MONTH, GOLD)
Xbox
Battle Engine Aquila: 7.0, 7.5, 8.0
Dark Angel: 6.0
Fatal Frame: 6.5
BMX XXX: 2.5, 3.0, 3.5
Capcom vs SNK 2 EO: 7.5, 7.5, 9.0 (SILVER)
Crimson Sea: 7.0, 7.5, 7.0
Kakuto Chojin Back Alley Brutal: 2.5, 4.0, 3.0
Superman The Man of Steel: 4.0, 4.0, 2.5
Lord of the Rings The Two Towers: 8.5 (SILVER)
SeaBlade: 4.5
Panzer Dragoon Orta: 9.0, 8.5, 9.0 (SILVER)
Shrek Super Party: 2.0
Gameboy Advance
Altered Beast Guardian of the Realms: 6.0
Phantasy Star Collection: 9.0, 8.0, 7.5 (SILVER)
Super Monkey Ball Jr.: 8.0 (SILVER)
Tomb Raider The Prophecy: 4.5
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Posts: 1 | From: US | Registered: Dec 2002 | IP: Logged
Goldni
2nd Party
Member # 46
posted 12-29-2002 09:25 AM
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Yeah EGM has'nt been getting on my nerves of late. I may have to buy this game. What all did they say about it? I have not got mine yet.
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The industry that Mario built.
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Posts: 715 | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
fallout
Editor &
Forum Administrator
Member # 176
posted 12-29-2002 03:32 PM
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Stupid, stupid Sega. Don't they know that my bank account can't keep taking this pounding thanks already to Nintendo? I'm thinking to myself: "Hey, I don't need to worry, I won't have to buy another game until Zelda comes out." ... then we get SoAL.
::sigh:: ... what I'm a bitching for anyway? I'd buy it if I was broke.
Also, I'm surprised the Super Monkey Ball Jr. got such a great score. When Emily and I played it at E3, it looked absolutely gorgeous, but without the analog control... it was pretty brutal.
--------------------
Brenden Petracek
Forum Administrator & Webmaster
N-Sider.com
"Entertain first, inform if you're lucky." -- Dennis Miller on the American media.
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Posts: 1984 | From: Censored for explicit content | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged
shakamikaze
2nd Party
Member # 41
posted 12-29-2002 03:34 PM
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It was already on my purchase list before this EGM thingie. In its short Dreamcast lifespan, many hailed it as one of the best RPGs ever even better than the recent FF stuff. Is there any more reason to want to purchase it. The purchase list 2003 3 already has 3 titles in it and 2002 ain't even over yet.
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Homer Simpson: The problem with relationships today is communication. Just too much communication.
For gawd so loved the wurld, he gave his only begotten sons at Factor 5....
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Posts: 1126 | From: City, State, Country | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
lord-of-shadow
2nd Party
Member # 1100
posted 12-29-2002 03:52 PM
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I loved the whole idea for the Skies of Arcadia world, and have been anticipating this game ever since it was announced that it was coming to the GC...
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Posts: 122 | From: NH | Registered: Jan 2002 | IP: Logged
Underwood
2nd Party
Member # 1372
posted 12-29-2002 06:33 PM
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SOA is the greatest rpg of all time...... :
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SFA is the greatest game of ALL TIME. Yes, better than Zelda. Yes.
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Posts: 132 | From: AZ | Registered: Jul 2002 | IP: Logged
rugal
3rd Party
Member # 1461
posted 12-30-2002 12:40 AM
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I only got around to playing around 8 hours of it, but from what I played it's up there with the best of them. It's also a pretty unique rpg so it beats buying another Final Fantasy say. Irrespective of whether it's a port with DC standard graphics, it's a game you should definitely buy.
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Posts: 18 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2002 | IP: Logged
Silicon Knights
Executive Editor
Member # 16
posted 12-30-2002 02:29 AM
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I think the biggest appeal of Skies of Arcadia when it released on Dreamcast, was that it literally came out of nowhere. There was absolutely zero hype surrounding the game, therefore, leaving no reason to be dissapointed. I'm not saying it is a bad or even average game, as it's a truly phenemonal RPG, but I do think the zero hype helped it to reach such a status of admiration. I mean, I surely wasn't expecting it to be so incredible.
Seriously, in terms of my favorite RPGs from the 32 bit + generations of RPGs (3D I suppose you could say), I'd place it alongside Final Fantasy 7. But my suggestion to anyone who intends on buying the game, don't read about it, contemplating the purchase...just buy it.
And for those of you requiring further convincing, I'm going to buy it for GameCube even though I own the Dreamcast version. Not only because I want to play through it again, but I'm also doing it to support the game's sales. There exists no RPG that I would rather see a sequel to. (Actually, I'd like to see one to Chrono Trigger; none of that Chrono Cross crap.)
--------------------
Glen Bayer (ironichaos)
www.N-Sider.com
e-mail: glen@n-sider.com
Irate Static Stick Copyright 2001
"You require a good old-fashioned dry humping." -fanboy
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Posts: 1148 | From: Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes and an infinite amount of mosquitos) | Registered: Aug 2000 | IP: Logged
Axord
2nd Party
Member # 207
posted 12-30-2002 12:54 PM
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While I'm really happy we're getting this game, it sort of highlights the scarcity of RPGs on the Cube.
What've we got?
Lost Kingdoms/Rune
Evolution Worlds
Animal Crossing
Phantasy Star Online
What're we allegedly getting at some point?
Summoner 2: The Prophecy
SoAL
Lost Kingdoms 2
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
FF: Crystal Chonicles
Animal Crossing 2
Giftpia
Virtua Fighter Quest
Right. And how many of these are non-ported, traditional, non-action RPGs? Riiight.
Still, even if many of those titles are average, some have been, and some promise to be, outstanding.
--------------------
It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
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Posts: 1205 | From: Foggy California | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
Pulstar_Theory
3rd Party
Member # 1516
posted 12-30-2002 02:02 PM
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While it may sound a bit too optimistic, I'm not too worried about RPGs right now. It took the PSone a couple of YEARS to hit their stride with games such as FF7 and Alundra, among others.
Did anybody read the interview on the creator of SOA on gamespy?
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This is, pardon me, a damn fine cup o' coffee.
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Posts: 26 | From: Albuquerque | Registered: Oct 2002 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 12-30-2002 04:30 PM
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Damn you, Sega! GIVE ME SHENMUE! The Gamecube controller would be easy on the hands (unlike Dreamcast's and XBox's controllers), so I could play the game without worry of developing arthritis.
That, and I want a Shenmue III. Badly.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
Underwood
2nd Party
Member # 1372
posted 12-30-2002 05:44 PM
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Import it from the UK.
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SFA is the greatest game of ALL TIME. Yes, better than Zelda. Yes.
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Posts: 132 | From: AZ | Registered: Jul 2002 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 12-30-2002 06:37 PM
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Actually, I already have (in a matter of speaking). I just want to see Shenmue on Gamecube for two reasons: up the RPG count on the system and the Gamecube controller is ultimately easier to handle for Shenmue's type of controls than the Dreamcast's or XBox's.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
Kamek
1st Party
Member # 50
posted 12-30-2002 08:36 PM
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Camelot are officially developing a GC RPG now too. It's been rumoured for forever, but confirmed in some Japanese interview. Golden Sun I would think.
The thing is, out of the 8 games you listed Axord, I'm actually interested in 6 of them! 7 even, though Lost Kingdoms 2 is just at the back of my mind as a potential if reviews are good enough. And I don't think much of RPGs at all!
As for Skies of Arcadia, I almost got it on the DC, but held back due to what I heard about the frequency of battles. That sort of thing annoys me so much, especially if the battle system is slow. I'll wait for reviews and see what improvements have been made.
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Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow. I am the sun on ripened grain. I am the soothing, gentle rain. When you awake in morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush. Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.
-I saw it on another forum and decided it was the sig for me.
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Posts: 3204 | From: I'm onto you lot and I ain't tellin ya! | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
bingomasters
2nd Party
Member # 1542
posted 12-30-2002 09:55 PM
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I wouldn't worry about frequency of battles too much:
"When you're on your ship, flying around in the sky finding items and treasure there were too many battles. We're definitely working on improving this in the GameCube version. Part of it is lessening the battles, part of it is adjusting the controls in the sky."
-Rieko Kodama, adorable producer of Skies of Arcadia
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Posts: 132 | From: I can see your house from here | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged
Sergenth
2nd Party
Member # 213
posted 12-30-2002 10:38 PM
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Oi! I wish that Gamespy article author would have... uhm, done more interviewing rather than use the quotes of this designer to append his own comments.
At least now I know the name of Rieko Kodama. She and other designers should be on N-universe cards I say.
Edit: Oh, and the real problem with Skies of Arcadia's battles was that from the moment you heard the Dreamcast disc-reading head "go nutty", through the blackscreen of loading and the swirling camera dive-in as the character models were loaded off the disc... you were forced to wait 20 seconds before you could input a command!!!. A Pokemon game has a 4 second wait, though it only has a few kilobytes of data to load (and that same delay could be as dangerously little as 0.4 seconds). Still, waiting that long for the battles to load just became unfun, especially since the battle system is fairly derivative of Final Fantasy 2 or 3.
So it wasn't the amount of battles... it was the amount of time that was wasted per battle which got on my nerves. A good RPG game can be nothing but battles, as long as they are short and sweet (Pokemon), or involving (Grandia 2) -- both of which require that no time be wasted with stupid loading!!!
I'm also remembering the "choose-your-own-advenuture" style of fighting that occurred during ship combat. While it was certainly different from other RPG battle engines out there, I can't say I enjoyed the lack of control and the shallow, sometimes arbitrary decisions. I did like the ability to choose your moves ahead of time, but other than choosing attacks in quantity and biding your time till a "super-hit" oppurtunity mechanically came up, I didn't see many other options to make it more interesting.
I do need to say something to balance out the negative comments I've made. The strongest thing about the game is it's charm of character. The cast of personalities is great, and the character models are well-designed and very expressive... Zelda 64 expressive. I played through the game just to see what would happen next in the story and I was rewarded for my patience, even though the melee and ship battles were dull to me. I hope that the GC version will have bloody fast load times, because it will make it easier for people to love this game.
I paid $24 for the DC version just as DC was dying, but I can't afford to buy it again for $50, let alone other games that cost money, because I don't have any
[ 12-30-2002, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Sergenth ]
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Sergenth - Vice-roy of his own fantasy land.
Animal Crossing Info:
Name: Pinky
Town: Towntown
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Posts: 639 | From: Milford, NJ, USA | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
Ripe Melons
2nd Party
Member # 480
posted 12-31-2002 03:36 AM
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"Camelot president Hiroyuki Takahashi mentioned that they will publish a RPG title for GameCube in 2003, the game title has not yet announced."
-The Magic Box
Piece.
EDIT: Nintendojo, whom I've never been able to trust, claims that Skip Ltd.'s "secret" RPG 'The Gift' will be released this spring in Japan.
[ 12-31-2002, 03:46 AM: Message edited by: Ripe Melons ]
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Posts: 749 | From: Da Melon Patch | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged
Colossus777
2nd Party
Member # 39
posted 12-31-2002 08:51 PM
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Ah, Skies of Arcadia. I bought this game, and initially wasn't too involved in it, and it got pushed behind some other games. And then, it took over my life. I also made a long thing of game ideas for it I posted on some forum, since I guess I like to do that for the games I really like.
SoA has very charming characters, as Sergenth said. The world is also really, really cool. It's kind of like Treasure Planet, but 100 times cooler, and without cheesy robots, aliens, or outer space. In short, it has flying boats, Sky Pirates, floating continents, and more. Discoveries were soooooo much fun to find, as was getting together every crew members, who provide interesting comments, services, and help in ship battles.
Speaking of the ship battles, I think they are pretty fun, despite what Sergenth says. True, it often seemed too balanced upon super-hit opportuinites, and some of the choices were pretty pointless. Personally, if I were to make the game, I would have added a "strategic choice" decision you can choose at the beginning of your turn, perhaps with the C-stick. You can choose to be more aggressive (lots of damage given/taken) by pressing up, or more defensive (little damage given/taken) by pressing down. In addition to affect the stats of your ship, your level of aggressiveness/passiveness affects your choices, which are choosen automatically (note that the game will notify you when a decision is coming up). Also, the d-pad can be used to change your altitude with up and down. This affects accuracy of certain weapons for you and the opponent. Also, you should be able to increase/decrease speed with left and right on the d-pad. Once you have set altitude, speed, and strategy and enter your moves, otherwise normally, the game proceeds, carries out the moves, and while doing so, changes a little bit towards the set conditions, until the conditions are fulfilled by the time all your characters are done moving.
The normal combat is not too interesting, except for the spirit meter, which I think is quite cool, adding a sort of charge style effect like FF Tactics. However, as is said here, combat in random encounters often took too long, especially with load times. It could be improved.
Anyway, to everyone just discovering this fine game, I hope you enjoy it very much.
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I'm a thief, I'm a liar. There's my church; I sing in the choir. -Pearl Jam
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Posts: 579 | From: Hilton Head, South Carolina, USA | Registered: Sep 2000 | IP: Logged
Axord
2nd Party
Member # 207
posted 01-01-2003 10:05 AM
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I'm really impressed by the gaming philosophy of Rieko Kodama, as shown in that interview at least. I hope we get more games from her direction.
quote:
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Originally declaimed by Sergenth:
The strongest thing about the game is it's charm of character. The cast of personalities is great, and the character models are well-designed and very expressive... Zelda 64 expressive.
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Hmmm. I hope that the leap of expressiveness allegedly presented by Zelda:WW doesn't spoil us all and make it harder to enjoy Arcadia. High watershed marks and all that.
quote:
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Originally stated firmly by Ripe Melons:
Nintendojo, whom I've never been able to trust, claims that Skip Ltd.'s "secret" RPG 'The Gift' will be released this spring in Japan.
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Planetgamecube is reporting that Giftpia is due out April 2003 in Japan, according to the Skip website. Knowing that doesn't increase my Dojo trust, somehow.
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It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. - A.D. 65)
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Posts: 1205 | From: Foggy California | Registered: Feb 2001 | IP: Logged
wazoo
3rd Party
Member # 731
posted 01-01-2003 10:38 AM
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I bought SOA for the Dc and put somewhere in 50h in that game.
This game has very japanese charming look and the whole airship settings is wonderful. The story is nice too but very cliche.
Now for the bad points:
- the combat system as said above is the worst I've played for years (the best being Grandia2 and recently FFX), the weapons are useless as the whole color scheme attached to it. The fact you are selecting all your choice for all your warriors is also very perplexing, letting you see some very strange moves, where your characters will do some stupid things (they were not stupid when you selected them, but they are during the fight when both your and the opponent tactics are running). To sum it up, there is no way to alter your choices until all the round is finished (G2 is marvellous for that).
- the rare items are rare. I do not have found all of them even with the walkthrough, since you are supposed to fly exactly trough them to see them.
- the boss fights have lots of charm, but the whole fighting scheme is stupid.
- loadings and useless camera flyby before and after combats.
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Posts: 89 | Registered: Aug 2001 | IP: Logged
Shawn K.
2nd Party
Member # 548
posted 01-01-2003 05:08 PM
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Out of curiosity, can anyone tell me what became of Brownie Brown? It was a team made up of ex-Square developers who were responsibile for the Seiken Densetsu series (including one of the best Adventure RPGs to ever exist, SD3) and were developing a game "in the same style" of the aforementioned series. Then, Square announces a remake of SD1. So, has Brownie Brown scratched their project in light of Square's insistence on remaking on of their old creations, or are they still hard at work?
Also, I am not sure, so don't take this as fact, but I thought Sega gave the rights to Shining Force to Camelot, while the rest of the Shining Series (Soul, Sword, etc.) belonged to Sega after the sales debacle the wonderful Shining Force III was. Even if they didn't, Camelot could easily make an identical game with a different title.
Again, I may be completely off base, but I think I remember hearing that once. However, I wouldn't take it as any more than words.
-- Shawn K.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop.
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Posts: 160 | From: Everywhere you want to be | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged
The-stranger
2nd Party
Member # 272
posted 01-01-2003 10:18 PM
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Shawn, Brownie Brown has made Magical vacation for GBA quite a while ago, very nice game from the reviews though never brought to north america. Now they're making a remake of SD1 like you mentioned.
And sega has the rights to shining force, camelot simply did 2 out of the 3 shining force. Contracted developer. Nintendo will still own the Fzero and star fox franchises once namco and sega are done with them, for example.
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Posts: 277 | Registered: Mar 2001 | IP: Logged