@Ralizah Great write-up on one of my favourite games of all time! I agree about the trouble centre being rather annoying at times and some of the design is slightly obtuse but it’s a brilliant game. I love some of the music like Rogueport’s theme but I don’t think it’s one of the game’s strong points either. It’s such a shame the series hasn’t lived up to the same standard ever since, although Super Paper Mario isn’t terrible.
The new game seems like it's going to be more story driven than SS/CS, so I'm hoping for good things. I'm not expecting it to be an RPG, though. I think Paper Mario's RPG days are done.
I finally understand why Paper Mario fans are so angry, though. The dip in quality from this to Sticker Star is... pretty incredible, honestly.
I'm really eager to play the other two parts of the original trilogy, though. I didn't give the N64 one long enough to grab me, but I think I'll be more willing to persist past the slow opening now.
Nice one @Ralizah! (I'm sure I've missed a few reviews on the previous page but they'll have to wait til tomorrow when I'm not so knackered)
Thousand Year Door was one of those games I always saw in the shops and was always interested in playing it but I never had a gamecube so I unfortunately couldn't.
By the time the wii came around and I actually could've rectified not playing it I'd kinda forgotten about it. It's probably stupid expensive now too 😂
It sounds really inventive and fun, especially with the battles sounding quite engaging. I'm glad you enjoyed your time with it Ralizah!
And I see what you mean about the music not particularly standing out either
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
Great review @Ralizah and nice screenshots! It really is gorgeous. I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much. How much did you play with your nephew? It's arguably one of the best Japanese RPGs ever made; absolutely bursting with character, creativity and humour, yet beneath all that its core gameplay foundations are fundamentally solid. Intelligent Systems absolutely nailed it. The backtracking is a problem, but I didn't mind too much blat the time because the environments are so visually appealing.
It's such a shame that the series is now very much treated as B-tier schedule filler when it should have remained Nintendo's top RPG franchise. Super Paper Mario is decent and many fans do like the story, but other than a few nice gameplay ideas I found it somewhat bland overall. It was apparently originally intended to be a spinoff for the GameCube, but the system's quick death led to it being moved over to the Wii.
@mookysam It's funny: didn't Nintendo say something about not needing two Mario RPG series? Well, the developer of the Mario and Luigi games is out of business now, which makes me wonder if they'll change their approach to Paper Mario over time. Or maybe they'll continue relying on the increasingly successful Xenoblade Chronicles games as their marquee first-party RPG franchise, although you'd think they'd see the appeal of continuing Mario-themed RPGs.
I don't know that their view of the series' importance has shifted, though. It'd be easy enough to churn out half-hearted Paper Mario JRPGs on the regular. They're experimenting and mixing up elements of the series, and are doubling down on stuff that fans clearly don't want, which makes me think Nintendo doesn't understand the appeal of the series at all. Well, I can't speak for the newest game, but I feel like Nintendo is trying to pull in bigger numbers by making the series more 'approachable,' in their minds, to newcomers. As I recall, Sticker Star did very well.
I remember reading that Nintendo decided against focusing on narrative elements in this series after conducting some sort of polling and discovering that almost nobody who responded cared about the story in Super Paper Mario
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks. I've actually noticed that, in a lot of older Nintendo games, the music is... passable at best. Most of their best soundtracks have been in games released since the start of the Wii era, IMO.
And yeah, it's a uniquely difficult Nintendo game to find. Paper Mario N64, Super Paper Mario, and Paper Mario: Color Splash are all playable on Wii U. And a few of their GameCube-era games like Twilight Princess, The Wind Waker, the first two Metroid Prime games, Resident Evil 4, etc. were made playable on later systems as well. But TTYD was never re-released, and second-hand copies are expensive, to say the least. Granted, one could fairly easily... erm... sail the high seas and experience it that way, but I get the desire to play games on their native hardware. It looked great on my CRT set.
Good fun, though. I obviously wouldn't put it up against the best Square Enix or Atlus JRPGs, but it's hard to imagine someone playing it and walking away unsatisfied.
@Ralizah You’re definitely right about TTYD being expensive, I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to sell my copy of a few of my Cube games. They seem to have just shot up in price, TTYD, Path of Radiance, Pokemon XD and Skies of Arcadia Legends can fetch up to £100 now. I disagree with you about Nintendo’s soundtracks being better since the Wii era though, imo they peaked in the N64 and Cube days. Zelda OoT, MM and WW all had great soundtracks and there’s a few tunes off TP that I really loved too. Mario 64 is fantastic, I think we probably take the music for granted because it’s just so iconic. Now that you mention it though, I actually do get what you mean to be honest, I don’t think any of my favourite OSTs are from Ninty first party games. My favourite tracks ever probably are though, I love OoT’s title theme, Dire Dire Docks from Mario 64 and Stickerbush Symphony from DKC2.
@nessisonett Some of it might be the improving technology allowing for richer soundscapes (I'm especially fond of the games where Nintendo employs a full blown orchestra), but, if we're just talking their Mario games (I think it applies to most of the games they internally publish, though), the music in a lot of their more recent games is more complex and sounds more like... actual music. Stuff I'd listen to for enjoyment. Which isn't to say that they haven't obviously created very iconic tunes in the past, or the occasional beautiful track (actually just listened to Dire Dire Docks recently, and it is, indeed, a beautiful track), but it's mostly very basic. That isn't the case for other companies. I'd say, for example, that most of Square-Enix's best soundtracks were in older games of theirs (mostly; I really liked the music in FF7R, although so much of that is grounded in the original game's melodies that, more than anything, it just showcases how amazing FF7's OST was). Many older companies had games with amazing chiptune soundtracks, and their more modern games can't really measure up in the sound department.
Matter of opinion, I guess. Maybe some of it goes to how I didn't really grow up with Nintendo beyond the NES (I was primarily a Sega and Sony kid, and I loved my PS1, PS2, Genesis, Dreamcast, etc.), and so I really have no nostalgia for their older soundtracks. I can think of quite a few Wii-era and beyond Nintendo games where I genuinely adore the soundtrack, but I struggle to do the same for almost anything older developed by them.
@Ralizah Yeah, I’m not a massive fan of the orchestra stuff outside Galaxy’s OST and even then, I prefer the tracks that are quite mellow like the Space Junk Galaxy and Freezeburn Galaxy. Odyssey did have some great tracks but I dunno, I really like the N64’s sound font and I think Sunshine also had catchier tunes that totally suited the setting.
@Thrillho Man, lots of love for SPM around here. I'm definitely going to be playing that game sooner than later.
Interestingly, the new PM game is going back to the concept of performing in front of an audience (at least aesthetically; I don't know if it'll be mechanically integrated into the gameplay like it was in TTYD), although the stage looks more like something from a Greek open air theater as opposed to the more familiar enclosed theater in TTYD.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
Ya know I'd completely forgotten that Déraciné was a thing @Rudy_Manchego?
Granted I don't a VR headset but it'd completely slipped my mind From Software had done this anyway.
It sounds rather interesting though, and without any screenshots and only your description to go on i'm only more intrigued by the prospect... Maybe I'll take a peek at a youtube playthrough or something?
Nice little write up! 👍
Quite late (Fashionably late maybe?) but congrats @KratosMD on beating Hollow Knight
I went through it last year before I'd joined PushSquare on PS4 in... Ooh maybe 50 hours? It was actually my first Metroidvania ever, I thoroughly enjoyed it to bits, particularly being sucked in by the Dark Souls like atmosphere and world building.
I hope it hasn't ruined other Metroidvania's for me though starting with one of the best!
Can't wait for SilkSong too... That trailer they released ages ago for it looked so good!
Granted, one could fairly easily... erm... sail the high seas and experience it that way
I love how you phrased that Ral 😂
And those musical tracks are so good @Ralizah! The World Bowser track from 3D World in particular made me smile (I love how Jazzy that and Hisstocrat are)
The Super Mario Galaxy 2 track was rather pleasant too!
Though now to awkwardly segway to your Animal Crossing review from the previous page...
... What a review!
There's just something about games that are so open ended and essentially telling you to just make your own fun and faff about that... just don't sadly work for me no matter how cutesy and adorable it may look 😅
Some really lovely screenshots and as always you're ever the wordsmith Ral!
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
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"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Ralizah The Wii is the only Ninetendo console I’ve owned (other than the Game Boy) so that will partly be why it’s the only one I’ll mention. From what I remember, the combat sticks to just bouncing off heads rather than turn based but they certainly make the most of it.
Days Gone Don't Believe The Lies (Though do believe the reviews?)
For Days Gone (DG from here on in) I was kinda expecting to be laughing all the way to the bank if I'm honest.
I did hold the thought that most of the reviews for this were from reviewers whom were perhaps unfortunately suffering from a case of open world burn out and I'd, like a lot of players seem to have done with DG, would be totally fine with it. Especially as I really don't play a whole lot of open world games.
Not to mention the only zombie games I've really played are the Resident Evil series (And I've nowhere near played all of them) so... I'm not particularly burnt out on the idea of the walking dead either.
I was quite eager to play DG... and it started off fairly good too.
Your ever trusty bike
The bike mechanics I thought were rather brilliant and I really enjoyed traversing the world on the trusty motorcycle.
Getting upgrades for it, repairing it when I got ambushed via snipers or tripwires, searching for petrol when it was getting low on fuel. Trundling down a mountain and just letting gravity do the work. Really satisfying to use.
You can only make a hard save when Deacon's by a bed or more likely by your bike so there's a definitely a sense of attachment that forms with your trusty vehicle whilst going round and about the world.
Deacon being a drifter means that he has no affiliation to the numerous survivor camps that inhabit DG's Oregon... which means upgrades will have to be (somewhat) hard earned.
Copeland's camp having the only mechanic to help you upgrade and improve your bike whilst Tucker's camp has all the guns guns guns you can buy.
There's no universal money system in DG. Each camp has it's own credit and trust system tied to it, increased by the supplies you give them or the jobs you do for that camp... It does give you a somewhat effective choice on what you want to focus on getting and improving first.
Boozer and Deacon St.John
The combat is about what you'd expect for a third person shooter with stealth, crafting & light survival mechanics.
You're a lot weaker at the beginning... the weapons almost like dinky little BB guns and your low health pool making things quite brief if you judge things wrong in combat or stumble upon a 300 plus hoarde of freakers that quickly swarm Deek and turn him into an all you can eat buffet.
Well for the first six or so hours at least.
At the end of the game I was mainly shotgunning everything to face, hucking molotovs like they were going out of fashion or did the stealthy stealthy stab stab from behind.
I never did quite feel invunerable though, even on normal.
Deek always feels juuuuuust weak enough... even if you can craft a bandage and heal your health by half in the blink of an eye, you can always blink again and lose it by getting a sniper round to the head or have a grizzly bear pounce on you and try chomping your face off.
The game is also quite beautiful as my many screenshots of the game in the screenshot thread showed off.
I told you it's pretty
Oregon in DG has a good amount of variance in it's numerous locales with some locations and even a road or two being quite familar enough in my mind as it went along, which I admit has rarely happened in other open world games to me.
Some nice weather effects occur too with snow slowly building up (even on Deacon) or rain... being rain. Not to mention some gorgeous lighting effects.
Character models are extremely well done and detailed... if they're a main character. Background characters not so much and I did notice a number of re-used models for human enemies and especially the survivors you ocassionally find.
On my slim I did encounter a few framerate drops in a few areas and there was a few progession related bugs (Thankfully only in a sidequest or two which resolved themselves after a simple reload)
Unfortunately whilst it looks pretty, has some good mechanics and plays well enough... It's the story and characters that let this game down for me. Pretty badly too.
... And here's where we go down the slippery slope
I will say this though. DG actually does showcase a better lost spouse/lost loved one relationship then most of the games I've played.
Even Horizon Zero Dawn with Rost's death falls a little flat in how it's never brought up again(Well you can go to Rost's grave and it's touched on more... But it's not the greatest showcase regardless)
With Deacon and DG however the loss of Sarah is quite prominent.
There are a number of side missions peppered throughout the story that involve Deek heading out to Sarah's memorial to let him simply talk to her gravestone and you do get hints through the story that she's probably the only good thing that ever happened to Deek throughout his miserable little life (baring his friendship with Boozer).
... Unfortunately I just don't care about Deacon.
... Sorry(Not Sorry) Sam Witwer (Or StarKiller you might know him as)
Whilst yes, losing your wife in a zombie apocalypse would certainly make you an unhappy chappy and I'm sure there are plenty of people in the real world who talk with obscenities peppered through thier speech like those foulmouthed sailor's your mother told you about... but it really doesn't make for a compelling protagonist.
He's rarely ever appreciative of any help he gets, often comes across like a massive jerk to anyone who does help him (why they bother helping him I'll never know beyond him having protagonist slapped across his head) and he's incredibly selflish to boot.
I don't want him busting out Peter Parker like quips or snarking like Nathan Drake either.
Whilst maybe a bit levity may've helped a bit (I'd personally say DG isn't even that dark of a game... The story's ending was probably the cheesiest thing I've seen even when compared to Shining Resonance Refrain which was like a bloody fondue) Deacon's just not interesting.
He's certainly not deep or that compelling of a character.
The photo mode is good too obviously! Trying to be somewhat postive amidst all this... gimme a break lol 😥
Pretty much every other character in the game is more interesting to me personally (Especially Boozer. He actually cracks a smile every now and again) but they're barely given any focus and you're stuck with Grumpy Mc Grumpy pants, cursing and raving his way through the story beats.
There isn't even a good villain either. Whether tragic or even over the top "I'm evil cus I kick kittens into large vats of acid" kind of villainy. They're also rather boring, painfully predictable or pathetic.
Don't fool yourself into thinking that the writing concerning the plot id any better either. It's not.
The pacing is often glacial at points and then when it finally starts getting interesting it zips straight towards tying plotlines up at 100 miles an hour making it feel rushed and overall very unsatisfying.
Not to mention in my opinion I think the game goes on way longer then it should do. The entire third act feeling rather slapped on and kinda there to pad it out more.
Oh and I never noticed the music at all in the game aside from when it suddenly brought in a guy with an acoustic guitar and the game was really trying it's hardest to sound meaningful and deep...
... But's it not.
Day's Gone gets a high 4/10 from me.
Even with seeing the "secret" ending (Watched via youtube) can't say I'm interested in seeing anymore of Oregon with Deacon.
It's nowhere near as fun or as polished as the other Sony exclusives such as Spider-Man Or Horizon Zero Dawn.
Trying to be as objective as I can... I'm finding it really hard to score it anything more then a 5 personally.
It doesn't do enough I don't think to warrant any higher scoring for what is honestly a very average game with a main character I couldn't stand. I mean maaaaaaaaybe it could go as high as six? But a good traversal system and solid shooting mechanics (That should very much be the norm) aren't what make a game in my mind.
Days Gone sadly kind of lacks it's own unique personality or charm.
I knew it was your first exclusive home console game in over 15 years Sony Bend (Syphon Filter had two psp games that were ported to PS2, but SF: The Omega Strain was PS2 only all the way back in 2004!)
I'm not mad, I'm just... disappointed.
Though I will say it ain't no Bubsy 3D either (... Before Sony Bend even did Syphon Fliter... the first game they did way back in 1996 as Eidetic was Bubsy 3D.)
It's better then that at the very least 😂
For me to be interested in a sequel I'd desperately want a new lead more then anything else.
Extra Little Tidbit
Oh and the challenges they patched in are alright.
There's a crazy taxi like one with a golf cart and a few "races" involving your bike and some glowing rings.
A bunch of hoarde challenges including one where they pour into a house and you have to survive until morning, running from room to room.
There also some involving waves of human enemies or bandit camps (...But I never played those)
They were only a fun little diversion. I can't say they held my attention that long. You do get a reward from each challenge that can add a buff to certain stats and effects in the main game if you get high enough points. But they aren't that interesting or vital.
It's been a long while since I've actually posted in this topic with an actual review I know. I hope you enjoyed reading it! (Sorry Day's Gone lovers, I really wished I enjoyed it more 😅)
I decided to go a bit more loosey goosey with this then my usual review form of more technical and informative.
Expect a compliation of smaller reviews/impressions sometime in the week maybe of a bunch of other games I've played the past few months!
I do however intend to return to my normal reviewing format for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Divinity Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition (Yes it's still coming!) in the next few weeks hopefully!
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
Interesting review, thanks for sharing! Characters and plot are important factors in a game like this for me, they make a huge difference. So I'll probably give it a pass going on what you've said, a shame as the whole exploring by motorcycle thing does look pretty cool.
The "lack of a personality" you mentioned when talking about the game is the biggest strike against it for me, I think. The trailer and footage don't make it look bad at all, but it feels very... generic. It feels like the game you might end up getting if you fed a neural network a bunch of plot synopses of Western AAA games and TV shows and told it to spit out an original idea based on these inputs.
It's good to hear that it mostly holds up on the gameplay front, though, even if the story and characters aren't great.
I'm actually not put off by the idea of the game having an unlikable main character, but I'm guessing it just ends with Deacon being unlikable, right? There's no interesting character development or surprising plot twists, by the sound of it.
Also, it's not fair at all, but Deacon St. Backwards Baseball Cap's design just rubs me the wrong way. He looks like every douchey guy I've ever met in the rural American South.
There are a number of side missions peppered throughout the story that involve Deek heading out to Sarah's memorial to let him simply talk to her gravestone and you do get hints through the story that she's probably the only good thing that ever happened to Deek throughout his miserable little life (baring his friendship with Boozer).
I'm never sure how the topic will go over on these boards, since it's quite touchy, even for old, out-of-print games that absolutely nobody stands to lose any money from.
And those musical tracks are so good Ralizah! The World Bowser track from 3D World in particular made me smile (I love how Jazzy that and Hisstocrat are)
The Super Mario Galaxy 2 track was rather pleasant too!
The jazzy music in 3D World is awesome. And I love how bombastic the orchestral music is in both Galaxy games. In general, when I think of Nintendo soundtracks I love, they're almost all at least semi-modern.
Though now to awkwardly segway to your Animal Crossing review from the previous page...
... What a review!
There's just something about games that are so open ended and essentially telling you to just make your own fun and faff about that... just don't sadly work for me no matter how cutesy and adorable it may look 😅
Some really lovely screenshots and as always you're ever the wordsmith Ral!
Thanks! I don't mean to be as long-winded as I am, honest. I really wanted to go into my feelings about the changed game mechanics, though, and this was the perfect thread to do it in.
As ever, I appreciate y'all taking the time to read my very "tl;dr"-tier posts.
I'm really looking forward to hearing how you ended up feeling about the original Danganronpa.
@Thrillho I've noticed a lot of praise in general for the story in that game, though. Not just from you. SPM seems to be evidence that Paper Mario games don't need to be JRPGs to be good, which is why I'm holding out hope for the new one.
There are a number of people on here who seem to be quite enamoured with Day's Gone (Or at least moreso then I) @LieutenantFatman (I believe there was some talk about it in the what are you playing this weekend article)
It's a shame but it is something that could quite easily be remedied in a sequel and compared to gameplay mechanics the plot and characters are more subjective!
I'm glad you enjoyed reading it regardless!
I'm especially glad to to hear you liked it @Ralizah! It's been so long after all that writing burnout I was experiencing I was a little worried it was going to be pants 😥
Wait.
WAIT.
His friend is named BOOZER?!
WTF
Could he get any more stereotypical?
Deacon (And Boozer) were bad boy 1%-er bikers Ral before the apocalypse went down... What were you expecting? That he was secretly a florist with the plot being a meticulously crafted deconstruction on Toxic masculinity? Get outta town, we're here to shoot guns and cave zombie (I can't say Freaker it's dumb) heads in! That's what the cool kids want! 😎
(Also Boozer's actual name is William... How Bill became Boozer I'll never know!)
I'm actually not put off by the idea of the game having an unlikable main character, but I'm guessing it just ends with Deacon being unlikable, right? There's no interesting character development or surprising plot twists, by the sound of it.
He becomes slightly less of a jerk? That grime covered golden heart of his showing a teensy bit more clearly?
... It's kinda like he's a character in someone else's story? That's what Deacon feels a bit like to me. Except the someone else never showed up 😅
I didn't mind that he was unlikeable either at first (It was quite refreshing in fact after Shining Resonace and it's by the numbers protagonist of Yuma: shy, weak boy who wants to protect his friends) but Deacon just wore me down... I was skipping cutscenes in fact just to finish it off 😂
The secret ending is a bit of a twist and could lead to something interesting for the sequel... But I found the way it was presented kinda silly and I didn't find terribly surprising either!
And you're very welcome Ral... Your posts are always good reads!
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Great review and I was thinking of picking it up if it bag ors cheaper in the day’s of play sale tomorrow. That said, story is king for me and I have been spoilt with Sony and other third party open world stories of late. I may give it a whirl but will possibly be more cautious.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
I quite liked Deacon from about the mid way point, when he becomes less of a jerk and actually alright. Story I thought was decent to good. There's not much originality plot wise, but I was interested enough to want to see the end. It's far from the worst video game plot I've seen in recent months. Gameplay is king though.
At the very least it's mechanically sound baring the odd progression glitch or two I mentioned and like Phil_j above there are a number of people on PushSquare whom really quite enjoy it.
The two games I was playing before Days Gone was Iconoclasts (Which as you know is quite narratively driven and fairly unique) and Shining Resononace Refrain which is a very animey jrpg and quite heavy on the cliches and tropes... maybe they did play a small part in me being more negative towards Days Gone?
Plus with me being pretty negative, maybe you might actually think it's not so bad? Humans are weird and complicated and I'm just one woman with an opinion and some adequate writing skills lol 😂
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