Official Penny Arcade Thread

[James]

If Thunder Force V hadn't been quite so... oh what's the word... Oh yeah, ugly! If TFV wasn't quite so ugly and was in my preferred vertical mode rather than in horizontal (then it wouldn't be a Thunder Force game, yeah yeah, I know) it'd give RS a serious run for its money in the Best Shooter Ever department. As it is, it's just going to have to settle for merely godly.

I still can't believe the RS/TFV style of shooter, having a weapon for every situation mapped to a different button on the controller, switch over at will as often as you like, never caught on. Definitely the direction I would have liked to have seen shooters go, but looks pretty much like wishful thinking now.

James

[1CCOSA]

Originally posted by phoenix angel wing
Just give them DDP, and watch the tears flow...

I thought about suggesting DDP to Gabe also but I decided to be humane and just suggest Garegga for now.

[Punky Skunk]

once you've beaten it via the 5-billion credit method you've seen all there is to see

What kind of shooter fan...

I still can't believe the RS/TFV style of shooter, having a weapon for every situation mapped to a different button on the controller

That's one of the things I loved most about TF5. Ingenious.

[James]

I'm not saying I've got any respect for that method, although I hate to admit how many times I've used it myself just to see a game's ending, I'm just saying that that's how a lot of people view these things. Once a game is beaten, no matter how cheaply or stupidly, it's on to the next.

Case in point- remember the Strider 2 reviews? Exact same syndrome, the reviewers blew through it on infinite credits, wrote a short commentary, and cashed their checks for another piece if writing completed. The absolute worst thing about the method they used is that the casual, mainstream gamer does the same thing. "I beat this game in under a day, only took me 36 continues! I demand a refund!" On the other hand, it should be noted that these kinds of games aren't designed or marketed to these people in the first place.

James

[Mode7]

Add to the mix the fact that each of the three ships you can choose from behave quite differently and you have a recipe for re-playability, something that most shooters are sorely lacking.

Words fail me.

[StriderKyo]

Y'know what? I love Strider 2. Honest, check the handle. I also love Giga Wing 2 and plenty of other games that offer you unlimited continues straight off the bat. But if a reviewer wants to give any of those games a mediocre or bad review based on that, I support them.

Because I don't understand why the developers put them in in the first place. Why should the player be called upon to create their own challenge? Does that mean I suck because I don't arbitrarily decide that if I win Gradius III using two hands I'm softcore and it somehow doesn't count? Anything that severely compromises the game like that counts as a pretty serious design flaw, in my opinion.

Mars Matrix had it right: 3 continues, then if you've played for 6 months straight and suck so bad you still can't win it, you'll have finally unlocked the unlimited continues. But if the designers of these games intend them to be for the super-hardcore (and nobody else plays them anyway) why not just say "no continues for you, beeyatch!" from the get-go? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play Strider 2. My Strider Hien score hasn't been improved in months, and I'm gonna try and do it while my hands are immersed in acid.

[MechDeus]

But if the designers of these games intend them to be for the super-hardcore (and nobody else plays them anyway) why not just say "no continues for you, beeyatch!" from the get-go? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

I agree with that. More games designed along these lines need at least an option for no continues, so one can proceed directly to the score tables once they've used up their three ships or single life or what have you. Just a convienence.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play Strider 2. My Strider Hien score hasn't been improved in months, and I'm gonna try and do it while my hands are immersed in acid.

Hardcore +5, Damage +10

[Josh]

Originally posted by phoenix angel wing
Just give them DDP, and watch the tears flow...

For a second there I thought you were talking about Diamond Dallas Page...

You were about to invoke the wrath of Korly.

[Mode7]

But if the designers of these games intend them to be for the super-hardcore (and nobody else plays them anyway) why not just say "no continues for you, beeyatch!" from the get-go? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

And then we'd get reviews complaining about how difficult the game is.

But yeah, Mars Matrix definitely has the right idea.

[StriderKyo]

Originally posted by Mode7
And then we'd get reviews complaining about how difficult the game is.

Maybe; how many Mars Matrix reviews docked its review score over difficulty? I only recall two reviews for it- ECM inexplicably called the game easy, and whoever reviewed it for EGM gave it an 8/10.

And MM is one of the most insanely tough games I've played. Sure, there'll always be sucky reviewers who take that sort of copout, but most will just give the reader a warning that the game's tough and judge it on its own merits unless it's a bad control scheme that causes the difficulty.