Zel-kun’s Words

It isn’t very often anymore where I pick up a game and am impressed by it.  Usually the best anything scores on a scale of 1-10 is a respectable (but not nessessarily astounding) 7.

Best Games in the last couple years:

Suikoden III - 7/10

Suikoden IV - 7/10

Zelda: Windwaker - 7/10

Soul Calibur III - 7/10

Dragon Quest VIII - 8/10

These are the creme of the crop, the best games that I’ve played, and they are only ‘good.’  The gaming market is really dying, with the games both predictable and mundane.  Really, the only reason why those two Suikoden games made the list is because they WERE Suikoden games.  If they were forced to stand on their own, its unlikely I would even have finished them.

Now, there are likely other great games out there, unfortunately my game of choice tends to be an action-adventure or an RPG, of which the pickings are despairingly slim.  The Japanese are the source of these games, and for many years, they have succeeded in this endeavor.  Unfortunately, they are now failing, and failng repeatedly.

Its not even nessessarily because of lack of a good story-based RPG, they have those.  Their stories are as strong as they’ve ever been, and with modern technology turning them into interactive anime, the visual presentation of the games is a work of art.  These games fail for the following reasons:

1. “Innovative” battle system - Most RPG’s that have come out lately use this live-action system that splices traditional RPG battles with action-filled combat.  This is a good idea in theory.  In fact, I thought it was pretty cool when I played Star Ocean back in 1999 and saw it.  There’s one problem, this makes even the most mundane battles take forever, forcing the player to actively participate in every last random battle.  This makes the game drag out unnessessarily and quickly increases the ‘boredom factor.’  Even games with interesting plots can fall victim to this (Star Ocean 3, Tales of Symphonia).  Because of this, otherwise good games end up in the trash pile.

2. Japanese people think I’m a pervert.  Japanese people, hear my plea, because someone needs to say this.  Bare chests and male midriffs are not cool, midriffs especially.  If you ever ask the question “Should I have this char with a mesh tanktop or a halter top?” then stab yourself with your pencil.  I’m tired of my heroes looking like they’re going to a San Fransiscan gay bar (if that character actually IS gay, more power to him).  Conversely, I know what the female form looks like, I happen to enjoy the female form, but I really don’t need it bouncing and strutting its way all over my screen.  Its hard to take a character seriously if she’s going on about how the government is controlling people and how her parents were murdered if she looks like she is about to go on the strippers’ runway.  I know you want to make your character look unique, and I applaud that, but there are many ways to accomplish that other than making your cast look like its in a porno.

3. Side Quests.  Side quests are cool, I love a good side quest.  But you know what you’re doing that’s really beginning to tick me off, Japanese people?  You’re putting windows of opportunity on your side quests.  So if I don’t speak to guy A in town B before I accomplish event C, I don’t get to do that sidequest ever.  So now I’m frantically going through, making sure I do everything two or three times to pick up those vague clues as to what I should be doing.  I’d rather spend my time playing and then seeing what I missed at the end of the game.  Because if I want to advance the plot, I feel that’s my right, I don’t want to worry about what I’ll possibly lose out on.  This makes the game frustrating and really cuts the replayability factor.

4. Character design - I touched on this in point 2, but there’s one thing that needs to be done.  If you, even with modern technology, insist on only having one character model per character, make sure its something that fits the situation.  Mages going around in t-shirts and shorts (I’m looking at you, Symphonia) don’t exactly scream ‘epic.’  If you plan to have a warrior in full plate, and you plan to have a scene where he is roused from slumber, don’t have him WEARING the armor while sleeping.  Think about who your character is, and what he’s doing, and ask yourself, “Would he be wearing that?”

I’m sure if I sat down and thought about it, I could think of more reasons why RPG’s are failing these days, I could, but I’m not going to.  This isn’t about the not-so-great games, its about a terrific new game I picked up entitled ‘Okami.’

Okami is an action-adventure game about Amaterasu (of Shinto origin) coming to Nippon (Japan) in the form of a great white wolf, to fight the demon Orochi.  In the game, you run around as a wolf, fighting demons, helping people, and cleansing the land of the dark curse that strangles it.  You attain new weapons and powers, and use praise (exp) to increase your godly powers.  Your biggest powers come in the form of ‘Brush Techniques’ which basically have you pressing a button, then drawing a simple shape on the world, invoking the power of your choice.  For example, drawing a line through a rock will slice said rock in half, or drawing a couple of lines where a bridge used to be will restore said bridge.  Once you get the hang of it (deceptively simple), invoking these powers is a breeze, and much quicker than going to an equipment screen selecting and equipping powers and items (looking at you, Zelda).

The game is visually stunning, like a Japanese painting come to life, and running through the world is a pleasure.  Most transitions between events are practically seamless, so you don’t have to tap your foot while watching that ‘now loading’ screen.  The one drawback is its painfully long exposition, but once that’s over you have free reign, the game being explained to you in short bursts by your companion.

Your movement is unrestricted and fluid, there’s no limitations like being unable to jump or unable to swim.  If you want to jump off that cliff, feel free, you’re a god, you’ll be fine (you can’t swim for long, but you get a technique that creates giant lilpads on the water).  Battle is colorful and dynamic, running around, leaping and attacking and using your brush techniques to finish them off.

Time is spent both in batlle and in towns, performing small and large miracles for people, and earning praise in the process.  It isn’t one long dungeon crawl nor a series of sidequests that never end, this makes the gameplay stay fresh and exciting without getting old too quickly.

I would recommend this game to anyone looking for something a bit different out there.  I’m not sure if I’d give it a 10/10, but I think it holds a solid 9/10.

Zel-kun out.