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Post by Justin on Feb 25, 2009 23:20:22 GMT -5
Personally, I thought the music wasn't that bad, but I'd like to hear some more electric guitar arrangements...but that's just me. I agree though, the graphics aren't the greatest; it honestly looks a bit cheap to me... Since I'm an Ys fan, though, it was worth it. =) Yeah I thought the same thing. While I like the guitar heart pumping nature of the original games, the more orchestral arranges are a nice change. I can't wait to get the game myself (Hurry up Amazon), and I am going to spend some serious time with the game. I am hoping and expecting it to be a little better than Wyrd's review.
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Post by SkyeWelse on Feb 26, 2009 0:46:08 GMT -5
Well I can agree a lot with what Wyrdwad said about the game not being the "ideal" Ys version, but I guess I look at it a bit differently. Graphically speaking, it wont win any awards as it has very basic, low-polygon structures which are not all that aesthetically pleasing to the eye. But with that being said, it doesn't look any better or worse than the 3-D environments for Final Fantasy III / IV DS and most people are fine with how that looks. The character sprites are still there as well as all the Eternal character artwork, so that still remains intact. The stylus controls are a bit cumbersome at first, but they aren't impossible to learn. I've gotten fairly accurate with it by now and I was eventually killing enemy after enemy without any sword, armour or shield on Nightmare mode if I was careful enough. Sure I died a lot figuring it out, but eventually I did. Now of course, when you get the first sword and chain mail armour (which is usually what I buy first after trading for the Sapphire Ring), even on Nightmare mode I was tearing through enemy after enemy with ease even being level 1 and it only got easier after a few level ups. I guess if you aren't used to using a stylus, it can be a little awkward, but it seems about the same as playing Ys Eternal with the mouse, which is how I originally beat it the first time through since I didn't know it offered joystick support. The music isn't the best mix of Ys and it seems like a lot of songs such as "Beat of Terror" are missing vital notes, but the overall melody is still there and its not horrible. Tower of the Shadow of Death and Termination actually have decent remixes I think. I guess to me it generally feels more like a "what can we take from Ys I & II Eternal and still make it function on the DS" kind of experience. So while it may not be perfect, it still is an official modern release of the first two Ys games for the English speaking populace, which is more than we had before. Sure the ideal situation is to get everyone to get into the series through Ys I & II Eternal / Complete, but I'd wager most people do not care enough to either purchase or download a Japanese version of a PC game, or spend the time to patch it and try it out. This experience on DS, if anything, will make more Ys fans out of gamers who may not have ever heard of the series before or only by chance of hearing it called "Wise" and nothing else. What "Atlus" (Thanks Wyrd for correcting my spelling.) has done is try to deliver this experience in the best way possible, by including a soundtrack, extra beautiful artwork and brief history on the Ys series. Sure they missed a few games, maybe more than a few even, but there are a lot of Ys versions out there and probably more than they could fit on that two mini-page pamphlet. I didn't expect it to be perfect and it's not, but it turned out better than my expectations. I was expecting a mediocre case, with some mediocre Ys DS art, an instruction manual with basic info on how to play the game and not much else and I expected the soundtrack to be an "assortment" of tracks, maybe 5-10 at most. I was overjoyed to learn that they delivered a package that was well beyond that which shows to me that they at least tried to put out a serious effort in bringing out the Ys series so that it would catch an eye or two. Maybe the reviews will rate it as being mediocre, but most of the people who are going to not get any sense of enjoyment from the game after having never played an Ys game before, more than likely were not the type of gamers who would have enjoyed Ys I & II in any form whatsoever. And the ones that play it for the first time on the DS and do enjoy it, may they find their way here and to future Ys titles/remakes. One thing that Atlus said in the manual that really hit home with me was this: "However, no one could anticipate just how popular and acclaimed that Ys would become. Countless revisions and sequels to Ys I and Ys II have been made over the years on numerous platforms. No two versions of these games are ever exactly alike, and each brings a different sense of imagination with it." Oh and the wireless 1-4-player battle mode sounds most promising to try out, but I would actually need to know someone else who had a DS and liked Ys in my local area. That's going to be a tough one to work out... -Thomas
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Post by Justin on Feb 26, 2009 1:26:48 GMT -5
........your kidding me, you won't play it anymore? I can't believe you hate the DS that much.
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Zoelius
Wilewarer
IF you play Blazblue on PS3 add me.
Posts: 441
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Post by Zoelius on Feb 26, 2009 1:38:05 GMT -5
That depends on what DS Wryd is using, my hand feels kind of cramped when playing on the DS lite, but when i was playing on the original DS, it felt perfect to me.
Anyways, with the release of Ys 1 & 2, I think its fine to beg Atlus to localize LOH VI Sora no Kiseki for PSP?
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Post by psybuster on Feb 26, 2009 2:09:25 GMT -5
Doubt they'll work on LoH, even that might be too much for them to translate lol
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Post by Kimimi on Feb 26, 2009 2:13:54 GMT -5
They should do VMP - then when people start asking where all these awesome characters are from we can get them into Sora no Kiseki that way
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Post by psybuster on Feb 26, 2009 2:58:21 GMT -5
I'll see about putting in a good word for those titles next time I'm in Irvine/Westminster/Costa Mesa area to visit my friend >_>
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Post by SkyeWelse on Feb 28, 2009 6:17:06 GMT -5
Well maybe I'm just not a fan of how FFIII and FFIV look on the DS. I see the low-poly 3-D environments to be quite ugly looking and I'd much rather it be a nicer 2-D version. I just see it as a step down in general. I mean I was fine with it when FF7 was released, but technology and 3-D standards have risen so much higher since then and these models are not that all much better, but people seem to be fine with it, and that's just something I don't get.
You're probably right that FFIV is pushing the DS' hardware and graphical capabilities, and much more than Ys DS is, but then again, Square-Enix also has a much bigger budget for making their 3-D work be the best it can currently be on the DS. But the way I see it, all three are ugly looking in the 3-D department, and would have looked nicer in 2-D. It also seemed from my viewpoint at least that while the character models in FFIV are actual 3-D models and the 3-D environments are a touch better, the result ends up being much longer loading times, which was a turn-off of FFIV DS for me. It seemed like it would take forever each time you would journey to a new screen.
I don't know, yes, Ys DS is ugly looking, but I don't let it bother me because I simply chalk it up to how the current 3-D standards are for DS games. I just don't see Ys DS as being all that bad and I'm not at all bothered by the packaging of the the game. I think it looks quite nice when comparing it to the U.S. cover of Ys: Ark of Napishtim. I thought the cover art for that was absolutely terrible. Sure, it's official art from Ys VI, but it makes Adol look like an inept swordsman.
So I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on whether or not we feel Ys DS is a complete waste or not. But regarding the marketing and packaging, I think you're definitely right that we could have come up with a better design if we had the opportunity to design in.
-Thomas
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Feb 28, 2009 9:07:54 GMT -5
Yet they do perfectly fine when they port N64 games to the DS -- what's that all about?! Their 3D didn't suck with Mario 64x4 DS, but it sucked tremendously for titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and Dragon Quest IV. They have this annoying pop-up, the textures look all gritty (very much so like a PS1 game, I'm thinking Megaman Legends myself) and pixelated. When they combine 2D with 3D, even the sprites themselves look disproportionate (for sprites) from time to time, like there's always one less or one more column or row of pixels than there should be. At least in the old days, we got sprites right -- they never popped up or stretched in bizarre-looking ways!
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Post by Kimimi on Feb 28, 2009 10:54:12 GMT -5
The DS simply *should not* attempt 3D, in much the way the PS1 *should not* have ever attempted 3D. Both systems should've just quit while they were ahead, and only ever featured 2D games... yet both of their respective companies really liked marketing them as 3D devices, despite the fact that all 3D looks like ass coming from either of them. May I direct you towards Omega Boost, Gran Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Vagrant Story and many, many more?
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Post by Yakra on Feb 28, 2009 11:18:41 GMT -5
I'm going to disagree with adoru on the packaging for Ys I & II DS, though. While the Japanese releases of the games had packaging I disliked due to the new art style, the American release actually has REALLY NICE box art, which I think looks very pretty, grabs the eye, and represents Ys quite well. I have no issue whatsoever with the box art for this game... I just don't like the game that comes inside said box. Speaking about the box art - the Japanese special box has the very same box art? The very pretty picture of the goddesses lies on the inside of the big containing box. As nice as the picture is though, I have to agree with adoru, the yellow yellow logo on the English release just kills it. >___< Horrendous! I wish they'd reduced the size of the 'Books I and II'! Box aside, I'm incredibly happy with these DS releases, if only because it makes Ys I and II portable!
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Post by SkyeWelse on Feb 28, 2009 13:05:26 GMT -5
Yeah, I do agree that the yellow "Ys" could have been a much better color scheme. That's one of the only things that really bothers me about the cover art/ logo though.
-Thomas
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Post by Justin on Feb 28, 2009 14:27:30 GMT -5
The DS simply *should not* attempt 3D, in much the way the PS1 *should not* have ever attempted 3D. Both systems should've just quit while they were ahead, and only ever featured 2D games... yet both of their respective companies really liked marketing them as 3D devices, despite the fact that all 3D looks like ass coming from either of them. May I direct you towards Omega Boost, Gran Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Vagrant Story and many, many more? How about Jumping Flash, which was a first generation PS game, and it plays far better than most FPS games today. How about Final Fantasy 8 and 9, which look incredible even by today's standards. Tobal no.1, Chrono Cross, Later Tomb Raider games, Ace Combat series, bla bla bla Dude, the PS did very well in the 3d department. The DS pumps good 3d graphics imo. What are you expecting from the thing, IMAX quality visuals? Its a new age gameboy for god sake. Its not the DS's fault the programing for Ys DS was crap.
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Post by Incog Neato on Feb 28, 2009 15:21:30 GMT -5
Pssh.
People, wyrdwad is just biased. Let's leave him in his own little world because we'll never convince him otherwise. :3
As for the low score for Ys I & II DS, while I've never played those versions before nor read the reviews, I can imagine they frown at the graphics, gameplay, and general uncreative, yawn-inducing story.
Sadly, Ys games are only meant for us cool cats. :(
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Post by Falcom Director of Fanservice on Feb 28, 2009 21:42:12 GMT -5
Posing aside, did any of those updates/improvements people were hoping for ever manifest in the US Version?
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Post by Red Hairdo on Feb 28, 2009 22:55:24 GMT -5
About the graphics,... graphics never really mattered much to me. I loved most PS1 titles mentioned here, including titles with MUCH uglier graphics (The Granstream Saga)... There're so many awesome titles. The graphics never were a bother to me. But I understand people who get bothered by it.
Oh yeah, also, I saw FFIV once and I thought it really looked like crap. xD I don't know a thing about Ys I/II on the DS, but indepedently FFIV's graphics were ugly. Terrible. (But it must be a fun game anyway.) (It also made me think 3D on portables should be left solely for the PSP. Although some games kind of push even its limits when they shouldn't.)
That's it. =o Oh, but about Atlus' efforts on the game box and extra contents... I think they did a superb job. I would have never expected that from a company nowadays, especially from a non-japanese one. (LOVED THE CHART. Very informative for those who don't know a thing about the series. And it's neat anyway.)
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Post by Falcom Director of Fanservice on Feb 28, 2009 23:01:20 GMT -5
Except for the numerous times you've argued against DS games due to graphics.
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Post by Falcom Director of Fanservice on Feb 28, 2009 23:15:17 GMT -5
Except you use the latter to imply the former.
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Post by Falcom Director of Fanservice on Feb 28, 2009 23:19:33 GMT -5
Alright, it's cool. It happens sometimes.
=]
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Post by Justin on Mar 1, 2009 3:12:50 GMT -5
Of all the PS1 games you people listed, the ONLY one I can concede as having good 3D graphics is FF9. Every other game you listed has, IMHO, very bad 3D that could've been done better on other platforms (such as the N64). Even titles like Vagrant Story, which have excellent art direction and lighting, are marred by blocky, ugly-looking character models IMHO. N64 had terrible rendering problems, and everyone just loved the Nintendo Fog that's prevailent in almost every game on the platform. Yeah some of the games may have looked a little better, but the soundtracks would have taken a serious dent. Zelda had programing that ended up using processor power from the console to help with the sound, as well as the built in sound chip. Those games would have suffered if they were on the n64. Square and many many many other 3rd party companies used the N64 overall limited hardware capabilities as a reason to float to the Playstation. #1 - Shitty graphics share absolutely no relativity to how good a game is. #2 - Everything looked like crap back then because that was what the technology was like. Its like 90's grunge, 70's rock, 80's hair metal... all products of their time. #3 - The 3D graphics on FF IV DS are not that bad, and even though they aren't as "superb" as the graphics on a PSP, I can at least play the damn game for more than 2 hours without having to worry about parking my ass by an outlet. Its a handheld game on a handheld device, not a AAA BluRay Squeenix shebang.
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