Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Octane Two things that stand out - Yellow team for the win and See Saw is great so git gud 😉

@crimsontadpoles Oh, c'mon, that's clearly Paper Moltres.

@RogerRoger Yeah, I liked it early on, but it was easy to see how it could go wrong. Thankfully, the game mostly improves as it goes on. I really liked the creative environments, unique dungeons, and emotional depth to some of the characters — all things basically missing from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It feels like the developers are learning how to harmonize deeper game design and writing with the bizarre restrictions Nintendo has placed on them.

So, in terms of plot and setpieces, are the PSP/NDS versions of Legends and Underworld basically identical to the console versions, but just in 2.5D?

How far into FFVII are you, by the way?

@RR529 Yeah, I agree that aspects of the game felt actively rebellious in terms of how they approached character writing. Like... NPCs complaining about how toads are stupid and all the same? It's very on the nose.

Sounds like you're still in the desert area, then? You still have a lot of the game ahead of you. I agree with what you said on NL about how it's sad that old-school fans will miss a superior entry in the series, although I'm starting to notice a general softening of the angry attitude many people have about the game as people start playing it and talking about how decent it is. It won't be a universally beloved entry like the first couple, but I think it'll quickly develop a cult following.

@Rudy_Manchego Yeah, I think GoT releasing at the end of a generation filled with bold, visionary open world games probably hasn't done it any favors. Although it's hard to get over how beautiful the game is as a whole. Good post.

@Octane

"Verdict: Fall Guys is a good metaphor for real life. Working together is impossible, everyone is doomed."

😂 Seems like 2020 was the perfect year for this game to launch, then.

To be honest, I'm sort of curious about this, but gameplay videos just put me off. It looks like a meme game that people will rave about for a month or two before it disappears off the face of the Earth.

It has definitely attracted an insane player base fairly quickly, though. It'll be interesting to see if player retention is strong.

@Ralizah You can download it for free with August PS+ games.

Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Partial playthrough: My system says I spent about nine hours on it, and I seem to be more than halfway through the game.

Gurumin 3D (henceforth referred to as G3D) is a 2016 port of an obscure, one-off 2004 action-RPG from Trails and Ys developed Nihon Falcom. The game was also released on the PSP in 2006/2007, so this isn't its portable debut. In G3D, you play as Parin (you can actually name your character, but, like Link in The Legend of Zelda games, her default name seems to be considered canon), a young girl who is sent to a small mining town to live with her grandfather after her parents go on an expedition somewhere. Her initially boring town life is turned upside down, however, when she discovers a race of monsters that are visible only to children. These monsters live in a different dimension, but enter and exit the human realm through a crack in one of the mining town's walls. The initially peaceful and orderly Monster Village she encounters is razed early on by a rogue group of monsters known as the Phantoms, however, who are led by a mysterious figure known as the Prince. Parin unearths a legendary drill weapon and sets out to save Monster Village from the destructive Phantoms.

G3D plays out a bit like an Ys game insofar as Parin is primarily running around various dungeons (connected by a world map) killing enemies via an action-based battle system. She can wear equipment that will add various effects that are necessary for her to survive throughout the game (making Parin immune from damage when swimming, when nearing poison gas, etc), and these are upgradeable when you return the small hub town via the scrap metal Parin can drill off her enemies in battle. There are also a few special moves she can learn to increase her move pool, although some of these require fighting game-esque nonsense in terms of the controls needed to pull them off, so, generally, I didn't bother.

The world map is initially shrouded in a mist that represents the discontent of the monsters in Monster Village or something. Remember how I said the village was destroyed early on? You have to help them rebuild. When you complete levels, at the end, you'll acquire furniture they lost. When returned to the correct villager, this furniture... uh... makes them happy and arbitrarily reveals more of the world map. A lot of the progression in this game is sort of Metroidvanian insofar as figuring out how to uncover more of the map requires traveling back and forth between different areas to communicate with various monsters.

...I wanted to like this. I really did. The game received good reviews. Although I'm finding that a lot of people seem to give Nihon Falcom a pass on stuff they'd savage other games for, and G3D is no exception to that rule. Honestly, the game is a litany of irritations that brought the whole experience down for me.

Swimming, or getting anywhere near water in this game is the worst thing ever. It's like trying to wade through the stickiest stew imaginable. Good luck trying to jump when you're in the water in this game.

The game has a system where, to 100% a level, you have to destroy all of the pots and kill all of the monsters. This wouldn't normally be problematic, but you have no idea how many monsters or pots are left in the game's lengthy levels until you complete them. Additionally, every time you move on to a new area, the game seals previous areas with doors so that you can't backtrack. So, there'll be some replaying involved.

I wouldn't mind having to replay levels so much to kill all monsters if it were a reasonable requirement, but when the game forces you to do this with half of the levels because it's almost impossible to kill fish in this game thanks to the abominable way Parin controls in the water, it gets on my nerves quickly. Seriously, if you don't attack the fish that are almost impossible to hit in this game, you won't be able to fully master a level. It's possible you receive something later on that makes this process easier

The game's controls are not ideal at all. Part of this is due to playing it on a handheld without a dedicated second stick due to all of the camera rotation you'll need to do (which must have been an even bigger issue on the PSP, considering it didn't even have a c-stick), but, in general, the game just doesn't feel good to control. Even when you do rotate the camera, you can never really get it where you want to go, so it's too easy to fall off platforms. Parin's powered up drill move, when held too long, will make her do a spinning attack that pushes her significantly forward, which can also make it easy to fall off platforms.

The 3DS version doesn't appear to have maps at all. The PC version has maps. A map would have easily fit on the touchscreen and been a massively welcomed addition. It's not here. What the hell?

Also worth mentioning that the game's irritating boss fights require a LOT of camera rotation, too, so have fun with that.

The characters are all unlikable, and have paper thin characterizations. The best character is thankfully Parin herself, whose often sarcastic and abrasive temperament mirrored my own irritation when dealing with these characters. Also, there's some blue-haired adult who keeps creeping on my young girl protagonist and tries to push her into dating him. No!

This is one of the uglier games I've played on the 3DS, with muddy texture work everywhere and extremely rudimentary 3D character models. Given the age of the base game, this wouldn't be a big deal if it performed well. The 3D effect isn't terrible and does help with image quality a bit, but, like Dead or Alive Dimensions, it seems to kill the framerate in a lot of places, so I usually ended up playing with the 3D turned off. The chunky performance isn't primarily a 3DS issue, as even the PC version seems to run at 30fps. A game that looks like it could have run on the PS1.

This port also has an issue where the music will stutter during cutscenes, during loading sequences, etc. It's not a big issue, but it's one more thing to add onto the list.

The audio stuttering might or might not be a port issue, but the terrible music certainly isn't. Falcom games are usually said to have great soundtracks, but the same absolutely cannot be said for Gurumin's irritating OST. Just... listen to this game.

Not EVERY track in this game sucks, but a large portion of its OST does.

Sound effects are generally terrible, too. When Parin runs on snow, it sounds like a pig is snorting. How do you screw something like that up?

I'll probably end up finishing this game since its design is fairly modular and easy to return to, and I don't like leaving things unfinished. But, suffice to say I'm NOT impressed, and I'm glad I bought this game in a steep sale. That's one hit and two misses for me so far with this developer (loved Ys VIII; Gurumin and Trails in the Sky FC? Not so much)

3/10

@RogerRoger Sounds like the PSP versions have the Switch port problem, where, instead of being redesigned to run well on a handheld, they're just full ports of home console games that run poorly.

The rocket with a town built around it? That's "Rocket Town." I take it you're not enjoying the game?

@Octane As long as... cough... Egg Scramble exists, I find the hate towards See Saw misguided! Totally agree with everything else you said, though. Team Yellow can go up my butt.

@RogerRoger

"Did you get the game because of its good word-of-mouth?"

Not really. I saw it for a cheap price, noticed the developer, looked up reviews (mostly pretty positive), and decided to take the plunge. It was $4.99, so not a massive loss.

"And crikey, if that first track of music you posted were playing in an elevator, I'd get out and take the stairs. The second sounds like a rip-off of Sweet Mountain from Sonic Colours (although I should be careful, as I'm not certain which game came first) and the third is one of the most nightmarish lullabies I've ever heard. I know handheld gaming used to carry a stigma of being somewhat limited, but it had gotten over it by the 3DS era, and nothing was ever this devolved."

The sad thing is that a lot of their games have pretty genuinely decent music.

Anyway, the game was initially on PC, so it's definitely not a handheld limitation.

"And no, speaking of being able to rename well-established characters like Link or Parin, I wouldn't exactly call FFVII my favourite game of all time. This is reflected in the fact that I've renamed everybody at every opportunity, with semi-hilarious results. I need all the help I can get!"

lol! At least you're giving it a chance. Between you and Foxy, I'm starting to feel like maybe FFVII doesn't hold up as well for people without childhood nostalgia for it. I'm sure it doesn't help that it was one of the first major Japanese RPGs to be made in 3D, and so everyone in it is so low-poly that they look like reanimated legos.

Hard to imagine, indeed, that, in the mid-90s, it was basically the video game equivalent of Star Wars: a gigantic blockbuster effort whose focus on cinematic flair and new technology helped usher in a changed industry, and the game that basically guaranteed the future of the JRPG genre in the West.

As is often the case, though, technical showcases often end up not holding up well, and, at least on a technical level, that's definitely true of FFVII. Even compared to the FF games that come immediately after it in the series and on the same platform, FFVII looks like hell.

This is one primary reason I'm glad the FFVII Remake project is a thing. The game needed a refresh, and, some low-res background textures aside, FFVII Remake looks super AAA.

@Ralizah It was also the first Final Fantasy game released in the UK, which is why so many hold in such high regard. It was probably my first JRPG ever. One of the reasons I do not play many (if any) games from that period these days is I rather not have my memory of them not tarnished.

@JohnnyShoulder It holds up tbh. I’ve still not finished the Remake because I just don’t think it’s particularly fun but I’ve beaten VII a few times in the last couple of years. I was what, minus 3 when it came out so I wouldn’t say it was nostalgia based considering the PS2 launched in Japan before I was even born. Now that’s a scary thought.

@nessisonett Yeah this 'oh look how young I am' talk from you can stop right now!

@RogerRoger

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihon_Falcom

"Falcom was also a pioneer in video game music, with their early soundtracks mostly composed by chiptune musicians Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa. They were one of the first game companies to have their own named sound team dedicated to writing scores for their games, known as the Falcom Sound Team jdk. Falcom's Ys soundtracks in particular are considered some of the most influential role-playing game scores of all time."

They're a smallish company, so I imagine, other than occasional turn-over, the same group of people does the music for all of their games.

Apparently they've been developing games since 1981(!)

Oh, and the Wall Market section of the game is SO much better in the Remake. Granted, Don Corneo is still gross, of course, but it went from: "Oh, remember that funny cross-dressing part in Midgar?" to one of the most memorable video game locations of all time.

@Ralizah The original Ys soundtracks are indeed brilliant and influential. Yuzo Koshiro is one of my favourite video game composers since he could get the very best out of both the Master System and Mega Drive’s soundchips.

@nessisonett Yuzo Koshiro is one of the best video game composers of all time. Personally, my favorite of his contributions to the medium has been his long-running stint working as the composer for Atlus' amazing Etrian Odyssey series.

@RogerRoger Their series all tend to have their own musical "styles." I guess they wanted to try something different with a one-off like Gurumin. I'm not a fan, personally, but, as you point out, no single company is going to put out nothing but bangers eternally.

@Ralizah Great to see some Etrian Odyssey music love here. There's a lot of great tracks in the series, especially the boss battle music.

And your Gurumin 3D writeup was an interesting read. Shame that you weren't so keen on it. The problems you mentioned do sound quite frustrating.

@crimsontadpoles A lot of the boss battle themes (particular III's) sound like someone tried to use the Genesis sound chip to create thrash metal. They're awesome. I also happen to think Koshiro did an amazing job transitioning from synthesized music to what sounds like a full orchestra without altering the spirit of the series' musical style.

Just gorgeous.

I maintain that Gurumin isn't very good, but after just completing a particularly tough boss battle, I do want to say that, more than ever, the 3DS (and, by extension, PSP) hardware feels inappropriate for this game. They should have remastered this for Switch or something. This NEEDS full dual analog. I think it'd be a still mediocre but slightly more enjoyable experience on PC, so should you ever decide to play it, I'd probably recommend that version.

@Ralizah A lot of the ordinary exploration tracks are excellent as well. I've always been very fond of the small labyrinth track at the beginning of Etrian Odyssey IV. This one feels very alive. Some of the instrument noises sound like birds chirping, animal screeches, and a woodpecker effect at one point. It makes it feel like you've entered a forest that's full of life.

Another good one is the boss of Gladsheim in Etrian Osyssey 1 Untold. Like all other songs in that game, the player can toggle between the modern 3DS orchestral version, or the original DS chip tune version. However, this area wasn't in the original game, so the song is brand new. Despite that, both the modern version and the (newly created) "old" version fits perfectly with the rest of the soundtrack.

@crimsontadpoles That dungeon music from EO IV is my favourite in the series. Like you said, with the added ambience it feel so alive. Right up there with Chrono Trigger and Donkey Kong Country’s forest themes.

@crimsontadpoles Etrian Odyssey V also had an entire alternative "synth" OST that was extremely decent.

I think my favorite dungeon exploration track was the Misty Ravine in EOIV.

The beautiful, emotional track really mixes well with the lonely, atmospheric dungeon, whose corridors are choked with thick fog.

While I wouldn't call it catchy, this kind of terrifying theme for EOV's final labyrinth was pretty memorable, and I like how complex it is, even in synth form

@Ralizah That’s another great track from IV, ie the only game in the series I’ve played. Really should just plough through them, they’re pretty much all on 3DS after all.

@nessisonett Everything except Etrian Odyssey III. And even that is playable via BC, although good luck finding a copy for a decent price. Atlus DS/3DS games are just going up and up in value these days.

I'd highly recommend Etrian Odyssey V as your next game. The class system is... different for the series, and I really liked its adventure log mechanic, which gave it a sort of tabletop RPG feel. It also has a pretty wild final dungeon.

@Ralizah I was tossing up whether to go for V or Untold first so thanks for the recommendation. Really enjoy the gameplay loop so worth a go if I end up burned out by Zero no Kiseki/Ao’s patch needs a bit more work.