Replayed Mega Man 8 on my Switch recently via the second Legacy Collection. I have a lot of nostalgia for this game, as it was among the first games I was gifted on the PSOne as a child. Predictably, for the first CD-based game in the mainline series, the big innovation in MM's Playstation debut was the inclusion of animated cutscenes. This SHOULD have made the narrative more engaging than the simplistic static dialogues peppered throughout previous games in the series, but... ah, as anyone who played the original Resident Evil might know, Capcom's games in this era were known for their... interesting voice acting.
OK. There's no tap-dancing around this: most of the voice actors are decent for that era, but their work is COMPLETELY undone by whoever voices Dr. Light in this game, who gives their worst amateur Elder Fudd impression throughout. It really needs to be seen to be believed.
The heavily anime-inspired aesthetic does come through in certain ways, though. I PARTICULARLY like the catchy, instrumental opening theme to the game, which I will always allow to fully play whenever I first boot up the game (although, sadly, it's much easier to see this less on modern systems with their game suspending function).
It should be noted that, in what is still a semi-common practice with some Japanese games due to licensing issues, this was a replacement for the original Japanese opening, which was an actual, entirely different song. This sort of thing usually irritates me, but, for whatever reason, I actually happen to prefer what we Americans got instead.
The game is strange in a number of ways, from the weapons (you get a new basic weapon very early in the game that's... basically an explosive soccer ball that Mega Man can kick at enemies), to the level design/setpieces (including vehicle sections, which aren't unheard of in the series, but which are particularly prominent here: I never want to hear the words "jump" or "slide" ever again, to be honest), to the bosses (Clown Man takes the cake for me, although I guess this is the same series that, at its nadir of creative inspiration in Mega Man 6, hit players with the stereotypical Tomahawk Man, a design which has aged PARTICULARLY poorly, lol), to the aesthetic (while Mega Man has never been a dour-looking series, this one is particularly vibrant: backgrounds look like something out of a Disney princess film or something) to even the music. And that's not all a bad thing. I actually quite like the stylistic changes to the music in this game. I'll link a few tracks. It's very unsual for the series.
This game is sort of a black sheep in the mainline series, and it's not hard to see why, considering it goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from its 8-and-16-bit brethren. The enhanced presentation, gorgeous character animations, and sheer weirdness of it all makes it one of the standout games in the series, though, even if there are drawbacks (like most late-stage Mega Man games, it doesn't have the snappy pacing of early Mega Man titles). 6/10
I get why older fans would get frustrated with Nintendo's obstinate refusal to give them a Paper Mario game fashioned after the older entries, but I do hope this doesn't get permanently lumped in with rubbish like Sticker Star. The more I play of it, the more it feels like one of the best releases I've played this year.
@Ralizah Mega Man 8 is really odd compared to other entries but I kinda love the terrible cutscenes and different feel it has. Plus, itās totally worth it just to hear āDoctor Wahweeā.
@Ralizah Oof, I forgot about that one! Poor Rex, I know the guy who voices him from TV over here where he plays a camp gay vicar.. which says a lot about the way he voices Rex. Dante in DMC1 is a rough one too, with the whole āI was to be the one to fill your dark soul with lieugheughtā. Capcom do not understand voice acting evidently.
@nessisonett Well, I'm sure the voice talent behind Rex is probably fine when he doesn't have to act upset or engage in spontaneous karate yells.
@RogerRoger Heh, I bet there's a lot of truth to people just preferring whatever version of a game they were exposed to first. Have I ever mentioned the disagreement an IRL friend of mine and I have over the song "Kaze no Nocturne" from the first Lunar game? It's relevant to the conversation, but I don't want to bore you with some long post if I've already brought it up in the past.
Yeah, I kind of like the change in music for Mega Man 8. It's uncharacteristic for the series, but definitely not bad.
No gay characters, but Birdo is in this game, and despite NoA's unfortunate history of erasing trans characters from their games during the localization process, there's no take-backsies with her particularly well-documented history.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
@Ralizah With that Birdo mention, please tell me youāve heard about what happens in Captain Rainbow because itās both incredible and honestly canāt be repeated here despite being a Nintendo game šš
@nessisonett Oh wow, I've never even heard of that. I think the Wired article on it is perhaps subtle enough to repeat:
The officer throws [Birdo] in jail for using the ladies' room [...] Birdo asks you to go to [...] her house and find "evidence that I'm a woman." So you do. This is how it happens. As you walk into Birdo's bedroom, you hear ... a buzzing. The pillow on her bed is vibrating and buzzing. You walk up to it, and Captain Rainbow looks under the pillow to find ... an item that's censored out on the screen. It's covered up with a question mark. "Proof that the owner is a woman," it says, leaving it at that.
I should email this out to some people I know. One in particular is going to be interested to learn that he's actually a woman. A guy with more testosterone in his left pinkie than I've ever had in my entire body. š
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
@RogerRoger RE: Liking whatever version of a thing you're exposed to first - An IRL friend of mine and I are both that way when we discuss the first Lunar game. So, bit of background: Lunar: The Silver Star was a JRPG that released on the Sega CD originally, but it received a massively updated remaster years later on the PSOne in the form of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. This was the version I played when I was young. Years and years later, the game was remastered again for the PSP in the form of Lunar: Silver Star Harmony. This was the version my friend first experienced.
A point of constant (friendly) contention between us is which version of the game's iconic musical sequence is better. In the game, probably 1/3 of the way into the game, a character named Luna belts out a musical number, Kaze no Nocturne or "Nocturne of the Wind/Wind's Nocturne," in an animated cutscene. The company that originally localized the game, Working Designs, took significant liberties with the script in the Sega CD and PSOne versions of the game, and that includes the lyrics of the song in the game, turning it from something of a traditional love song into something more introspective and (in my mind) meaningful in the context of the story. Well, the PSP version was localized by XSeed years later, a company known for their excellent and very faithful localizations of niche Japanese games, and while they hired the same lady who originally sang the song in the PSOne version of the game to reprise her role for the English dub, they changed the lyrics back to something much more reflective of the Japanese original.
Each of us absolutely loves the English version of the song we were first exposed to, and can't really get on with the other.
For comparison
PS1 version:
PSP version:
It's interesting how I was mostly tolerant of a number of other, probably larger changes to the game in the PSP remake (granted, I think they're universally for the worse, but it's the only legal way to play a competent version of Lunar on a handheld), but when I got to that changed song, I sat in stunned disappointment for a few minutes before rage quitting the game and deleting it from my Vita. š
Nightfire sounds... Well like absolute pants to put it mildly. The deathtrap lifts sound like an absolute joy to try to get through
The bond triple feature you put up ages ago all sounded fairly decent from what I remember (Wasn't there a car based one with a ridiculous set-up?)
It's a bit of a shame Bond hasn't had a game for 8 years. The licence lends itself to a wide range of locations and varying game mechanics quite easily.
Hell you could probably take the framework of the recent Hitman games and just lighten it up & add more spy stuff and it'd probably be a fairly competent Bond by the time you're done
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"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for reading, and you're absolutely right; this generation's Hitman games would be a better fit for Bond than another FPS. Bond isn't Rambo and, as a result, GoldenEye 007 has a lot to answer for. Still, having said that and even after writing out all of the above, it's simply been too long. I'd take anything at this point. We need a new Bond game.
Yeah, EA did well on consoles. NightFire on PS2 is properly good (second best they ever released, behind Everything or Nothing). It's mind-boggling to comprehend how wrong this PC version gets it.
When that ridiculous car-based one (well-remembered) is a better game, you're in trouble!
I think I might've played a bit of Everything or Nothing @RogerRoger via one of the last few ps2 demo discs I got. I have some very foggy memories regarding reviews of those Bonds being fairly decent.
The Lord of the Rings tie in PS2 games were fairly decent as well. Even the rpg that ripped off FFX's turn based system, and had a bunch of knock off characters from the LotR films to play as, was actually fairly fun.
Think I've only bought one EA game in the past 6 years or so years and that was inquisition's all the bells and whistles edition for a tenner!
I used to see that EA logo & that "Challenge everything" slogan quite a bit back in the day...
And yeah, I played more of it today. I'm in the second unofficial chapter of the game now (new area, an additional partner character, new narrative elements, etc.), and the more I play of it, the more I'm sure I'm going to be very happy with it in the end. The pacing is great. I only played for an hour and a half or so, and I feel like a ton of things happened already. This new area is also particularly gorgeous.
The remix for Peach's Castle in Origami King is really pleasing on the ears.
Glad to hear you're enjoying Paper Mario all the more now, especially after that stream which did seem to take the wind out of everyone's sails a little!
Dumb question perhaps but why's Megaman called Rockman in the japanese intro?
He... doesn't have any rock based abilities as far as I'm aware. This series loves very on the nose naming conventions like Tomahawk man or Block Man (Though admitedly all I know is what you've put through these reviews!)
That Wily stage 2 music in particular sounds pretty good and I quite like the instrumental american opening to the game as well.
The voice acting for Dr Light really isn't good... But good gravy that voice acting for Zero in that other video! That's gotta be them taking the pi$$ surely?! I dont't think I've ever heard voice acting that bad before in my life
Can't say that I can vouch for one or the other without the wider context of the game's story, but I do like the coherent narrative in the PSone one's lyrics. Quite often with more literal Japanese translations, you get a bunch of random, tangentially-connected sentences which don't quite fit the tune; to my ears, that's what's happened with the PSP version there.
In other words, you can tell your friend that the score is now 2-1.
Make it 3-1 Ral.
Was just in the process of writing basically what RogerRoger said more or less when his post popped up.
There's something about the PS1 version of that Lunar Star song that reminds me a little bit of a Disney Renaissance song... And I'm more then ok with that
@RogerRoger Oh wow. I knew the PC version of Nightfire was supposed to be different, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. It sounds like they took the console version and sucked all the fun out of it.
Nightfire on PS2 is excellent, and I like it even more than Everything or Nothing. Nightfire is amongst my favourite PS2 games.
Great thoughts on Paper Mario, @Ralizah! Once I'm done with Seven Sirens it'll likely be my next Switch game. Anyhow...
Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) - The first part in a massive remake of the JRPG classic, and my first time with it in any form.
Time to get to work.
Gameplay
Taking on more of a level based approach, most chapters are pretty linear affairs with pretty rigid progression outside of the occasional chest or other treasure right off the beaten path (it's generally more segmented off than even FFX, though this wasn't a problem for me. In fact X is my favorite FF, and this is my favorite since). That said, every few chapters take place inside a town, and these are a bit more open in that they always feature optional sidequests to complete, and sometimes even an arena, giving you opportunities to get useful gear or do some level grinding if you think you need it (though I never felt the need to grind myself, I did complete all sidequests I ran across, and did each available arena fight once).
Also in towns (& in a few other areas) you'll run into Chadley, a character who will reward you with unique materia for completing certain sets of goals during battle, and new summons by defeating them in boss fights.
Combat is mostly real time, with you being able to freely run around, dodge attacks, and use basic attacks at will, though each character has an "Active Time Battle" gauge that builds over time (faster if you're dealing damage), and only once one of it's bars are full can they use an item, magic, special ability, or summon (by opening the command menu the action slows to a crawl, giving you a taste of the title's turn based roots), meaning you can't spam items/magic willy nilly. Summons are powerful, but can only be called upon during boss fights & a few other large battles.
Even regular battles can be quite engaging, but I must give special props to the boss fights, which are generally fantastic. A couple of the later ones I sort of just powered through with frequent healing as there was so much going on, such as the final boss, but they're generally really engaging fights that are fun to figure out.
In addition to leveling, you can power up by upgrading your weapons & using materia. While different weapons have different strengths, you can upgrade them as you go along, so sticking with your starting weapons is entirely doable (it's recommended you switch out from time to time though, as using new weapons is how you learn new special attacks).
As for materia, they are items that slot into your equipment that let you use magic, can increase your stats, or make available some other ability/buff, which you can only use while it is equipped (while earlier weapons tend to have less slots for materia, they obtain more via upgrading). You can buy materia from shops/vending machines, but I got enough through just playing (some are found along the main path, just off the beaten path, or by completing sidequests) that I rarely did this.
Didn't take any battle screens, so here's a couple random pics.
The fighting is usually broken up by light puzzling (such as looking for a switch to unlock a door, or moving containers with a giant robotic hand) which provides a nice breather. I also enjoyed the occasional bike segment. There are a few other minigames along the way as well, such as the surprisingly fun darts game in "Seventh Heaven" (disappointed that you couldn't play the pinball tables, though).
Audio/Visual
The game's large budget is very apparent as this is one of the most graphically impressive JRPGs I've ever played. There are times when you'll run across the random element that looks incomplete, but for the most part it looks great, especially at night. Some of the set-pieces, particularly in the final chapter, were the most I've been wowed by a game's visuals in quite awhile.
Some impressive night lighting...
...with the occasional incomplete textured item.
Aesthetically I think it looks great. Though the main cast still has a few anime-ish elements to their designs that make them stand out amongst the NPCs that largely play straight, making them any more realistic wouldn't feel right and the balance they struck I think is the right decision.
While some of the locations aren't that interesting (such as the sewers), in general the more contemporary/steampunk/sci-fi setting is still pretty fresh for a JRPG, and I think infinitely more interesting than the standard fantasy worlds of classic FF. I really liked some of the areas too (such as Wall Market, the Train Graveyard, the Shinra Building, and the trippy final chapter).
The music quality is top notch & I loved the fact that you could collect music discs (however the jukeboxes were few & far between, without much range).
Story
It has an interesting set-up for a JRPG given the setting, and while it seemingly starts out pretty grounded (considering), naturally things start to get out there by the end. A lot of gripping story threads are begun, but as this is just the start of a larger tale, most mysteries are left unresolved, a few even introduced in the game's final moments.
I'm conflicted on Cloud himself, as he's not particularly interesting character personality wise. He clearly has a mysterious past that's responsible for his stoic personality that I'm itching to learn more about, and he does some badass things, but as a human he's only beginning to open up by the end.
Tifa & Aerith are nice enough (with Aerith having an interesting backstory of her own & Tifa is just nice to have around), but it's Barrett that absolutely steals the show in terms of personality (and it's brilliant how he loudly sings the classic Final Fantasy fanfare theme upon some victories, keeping it alive in an organic way). Red XIII is pretty cool too, though we don't get much of him here.
While I don't dislike it, I'm not a huge fan of the "choose your own Waifu" approach to the romance elements in the game. I much prefer a strong central romance in a game if it's to feature one (such as Tidas & Yuna, keeping to FF), and while Cloud's choices may be whittled down if it goes on to adhere to the original story pretty tightly, there's some rumblings that it may go on to change things up.
Make up your mind, my man.
Conclusion
With satisfying combat, some of the best boss fights I've experienced in recent memory, wonderful worldbuilding, an interesting story setup, and high polish all around, this has quickly become one of my favorite FF titles, and is currently in the running for the best game I've played this year.
The sun sets on an epic adventure (screenshot not actually from the game's final moments).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
@RogerRoger š Great review of that Bond game, Rog. I really need to play one, at some point, someday. No idea where I'd start. What would be the ideal James Bond game for a newbie to this surprisingly diverse world?
The elevator thing is funny, and reminds me of games where characters can survive all sorts of ridiculous stuff, but die the moment they encounter in a small decline in their environment. I do have to thank you for the amazing mental image of Pierce Brosnan jumping up and down in a state of sweaty terror on a moving elevator because he's afraid he'll die if he doesn't. I'll admit: I'd have called it quits the moment I encountered that particular... ah... design choice. You're truly a dedicated connoisseur of interactive James Bond experiences.
Although, to be fair, if this were Connery, I'm not sure he'd mind a quick tussle in the back seat of a car as a reward for completing a difficult mission, although it does make it less "suave super spy" and more "horny teenager terrified of trying to sneak his girlfriend into the house."
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, Rock Man sounds rather like someone who would shoot boulders at people, doesn't he? The name was an awkward attempt at sounding cool with an English name: it's actually a reference to the phrase "rock and roll," which is why his sister is named "Roll." That latter name was never changed in English. I'm pretty sure I remember reading some Capcom exec changed the English title (and, resultantly, character name) because he realized it would sound stupid in English speaking countries.
And yeah, Capcom did an amazing job scouting voice talent back in the PS1 days.
RE: Origami King, looking back at the stream footage, it seems like they completely removed setpieces and narrative crucial to the build-up of that one colored pencil boss. Otherwise, all I can say about it is that the game is significantly more fun to actually play than it is to watch someone play.
I can't complain about the difficulty, either. The last boss I fought wiped me a couple of times before I figured out a strategy to take it down, and I still maintain that the ring battles are more interesting than 'Pressing A to attack.' I've also died more in TOK than I did in the entirety of TTYD, and they're not what I'd call unfair deaths.
And yeah, in terms of both the song and the atmosphere created by the animation, I get a distinct Disney vibe from Wind's Nocturne as well. I love the Lunar games. Once I'm through with this next set of JRPGs, but before the SMT-fest that's coming next year, I need to revisit the first two games.
@RR529 Great FF7R review! I'm glad there's finally one up. I was planning to write one, but no review of mine would ever measure up to the fullness of my feelings about this game, so I'm glad someone else took up the challenge. I've felt for a while like the art of the boss fight is an important one in JRPGs, and that's probably the best aspect of FF7R: the boss fights are bombastic, challenging spectacles that blow anything comparable in the original out of the water.
And yeah, the presentation is interesting. Most of it feels super premium and SO visually rich, but then you get something like a background that could have been ripped from a PS1 game, or Aerith's really terrible looking flowers.
It's fine, though. The parts of the game that are important look amazing.
RE: the "choose your own waifu approach," I thought it was interesting how they kind of left the romantic elements in the player's hands this time around, which can lead to some radically different cutscenes. It makes me wonder how much more involved The Gold Saucer will be in the Remake, considering that was the only section of the game that seemed to take your interactions with the characters into consideration.
I will say this, though: Squeenix could have pitted them against each-other, but they wisely chose to emphasize the growing friendship between Tifa and Aerith this time around, and I'm glad they did. There's some friendly competition over Cloud in the game, but it never... turns ugly, which seems to be the case in so much media with more than one romantic interest.
@RogerRoger Nightfire on the Cube was soooo good and I still bring out my Wii U to play a few rounds of the multiplayer with my brother. The PC version sounds awful though, I have no idea how they managed to screw it up that badly.
@KratosMD Nice post. I've eyed this game for years, but never took the plunge. When you battle people, does it lock you into combat like in Yakuza, or does the combat happen in the open world like in GTA?
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
@RogerRoger I enjoyed āLift and Let Dieā there! Did QA just not exist back in the day??
@RR529 Nice thoughts on FF7R, especially from someone who hasnāt played the original. As such, itās funny to hear you say you enjoyed the extra biking section!
Do you have any plans to replay it on hard mode? I found the combat much more enjoyable the second time around as it is much more strategic with such limited MP but great to have all the gear. The grinding I did to prep for it was a bit tedious but laid off in the end.
Erica is what is known as an FMV game, where footage of real actors is combined with light adventure game mechanics. I've never played one, so when this became available via PSPlus, I thought it was a good opportunity to expand my horizons a bit.
Erica is a decent speculative horror tale that follows the daughter of a brutally murdered researcher who begins receiving grotesque 'gifts' in the mail, perhaps from her father's own killer. She's moved by the police to Delphi House, the mental care facility where her father previously worked, but it quickly becomes clear that not everything is right in paradise.
The "game," if it can be called that, largely plays out in a similar manner regardless of what is chosen until the very end of the game. Erica plays out largely as a live-action movie with brief elements of interactivity sprinkled throughout to keep the player invested.
Erica is a playlink-compatible title that allows the player to use their smartphone as a touch screen controller, which is a bit more intuitive than controlling the entire game via the DS4's touchpad. The player makes simple motions and gestures to unlock doors, open drawers, and whatnot throughout the experience. The player will also be able to drag their finger around like a stylus to point Erica toward an interactive vector in the environment.
I enjoyed my time with this title, although I don't know how much it has sold me on FMV games are a concept. There are no NG+ features to help with replayability. Even if this game is short, it's irritating to sit through the same scenes over and over to try and find new endings and moments of interactivity. Additionally, the quality of the acting is very forced, taking away from the filmic quality of the production. I can't help but feel this would have been a better overall product as a film with better acting, less filler, and a stronger narrative push toward a particular ending.
6/10
***
Mega Man 9
Platform: Nintendo Switch (via Mega Man Legacy Collection 2)
Playthroughs: 1.5
Mega Man 9 was the glorious return of the Blue Bomber after twelve years of dormancy. This entry, along with Mega Man 10, was created by the often brilliant talents at Inti-Creates (a name you should keep close to your heart if you like retro-style games; after all, they created the Mega Man Zero and ZX games as well, along with Blaster Master Zero/Zero-II, the Azure Striker Gunvolt games, Mighty Gunvolt Burst, and the brilliant spinoff classicvania Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon), who took more than a little inspiration from the acclaimed Mega Man 2.
Mega Man 9 is very close to MM2 in a variety of ways: from how some of the weapons work (the Plug Ball, for example, bears a striking resemblance in terms of how it can be used to MM2's Bubble Lead, as well as it being the primary weakness of the last boss' final form, also like in MM2), to the streamlined structure of the game itself (eight stages, a small handful of Wily Castle stages, rematches against the robot masters you fought earlier, and then on to the final boss), to Mega Man's limited moveset (as in MM2, you merely run and jump; no charge shot or sliding for Mega Man, which were innovations introduced in the third and fourth NES games). Even certain setpieces recall that Capcom classic. With that said, "borrowing" elements from one of the best action platformers ever made is not necessarily a bad thing, and, IMO, Mega Man 9 is the strongest game in the series overall since the original NES trilogy
There are differences, of course: the in-game narrative is actually presented throughout with cute, brief cutscenes instead of relegating story to a series of screens at the very start and very ending of the game. Although, and this might seem like anathema to certain hardcore Mega Man fans, story doesn't really matter in any of these. There's also an in-game store that you can buy items from, akin to other later games in the series.
Mega Man 9 also has a series of built in trophies to clear, challenges to complete that were added to the Legacy Collection, multiple additional difficulty modes, and, most notably, a Proto Man Mode, which, obviously, allows you to play the game again as Proto Man. Unlike Mega Man, he's actually able to slide and charge his buster weapon, meaning he controls like MM did in 4 - 6. So there's quite a bit here to dig into.
8/10
@RogerRoger Thanks for the detailed breakdown. š Where'd that gif come from, btw? I'm not sure why that exists, but it's fantastic.
@RogerRoger Yeah, Erica falls squarely in that "I don't mind that I got to play it for free" category for me. It was... different. Not an experience I regret, but also not one I'd recommend people spend much money on.
Too horror-ish for your liking, I take it?
And yeah, Mega Man 9 was fantastic. Not only was the IP dormant for the longest time, but the last two games... like, you know I enjoy Mega Man 8, but it's an atypical Mega Man experience. And Mega Man 7... well, I skipped over that one right now, because I really don't feel like replaying it. It's actually the reason I'm doing these separate impression pieces instead of talking about the package as a whole.
With Capcom releasing all this Mega Man stuff lately, I'd love to see them do a collection of the PS1 Mega Man Legends games. They were initially going to do a MML3 for the 3DS, but that fell through, much to the consternation of the series' hardcore fans.
Currently Playing: Fields of Mistria (PC); Cookie Clicker (PC); Metaphor: ReFantazio (PC); Overboard! (PC)
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