VIDEO GAMES: INTERESTING PREMISE; TERRIBLE EXECUTION

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Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
Let's kick nostalgia in the shin by discussing games that had interesting concepts and would have been timeless classics if it hadn't been for their shoddy programming or an overarching design flaw that ruined everything.

I'd prefer to keep this to games that you've actually played and can praise in certain respects but can logically conclude that the game hasn't just aged poorly, but was bad to begin with.

As always, I'll start:


Solstice
Console: NES
Year: 1990

The game is centered around finding different magical items and overcoming perilous obstacles in an isometric world filled with beautiful music and distinct graphics. Each time you find an item is like a small reward grouped with a beautiful illustration of what it is you just picked up. There's very little to dislike about this game... until you realize that isometric games with floor traps don't work when there's absolutely no indication of depth. Seeing as this is the only point of view you're going to be experiencing the game from, it quickly becomes an unplayable mess as you fall/bump into your doom when you would have otherwise been okay. Consolation prize goes to invisible tiles in a room filled with spikes that you have to take leaps of faith to find where they are.

RIP
SNES Sequel Equinox was more of the horror but in 16-bit!
Oh boy, time for everyone to start training their guns right at my frontal lobe.

Oneshot
Console: PC
Year: 2014

We're all familiar with Oneshot so I'm not going to explain what it is. I also understand that it was made for some sort of contest or something? So perhaps my complaints are "unfair" or whatever, but anyways:

What could have been a average adventure title is ultimately ruined by a central gimmick that places itself in front of the player's own gameplay experience and seems to directly contradict the genre of the game. Adventure games weren't meant to have a restriction like "only playable once", since a lot of the time in games with puzzles a player may need to take a breather and come back to things with a fresh mind. Keeping in mind that a lot of the puzzles are unclear and require the player to fuck around doing ridiculous stuff outside of the game without even a single hint that the game operates that way, this sets the game up for a pretty heavy fall.

Skyward Sword
Console: Wii
Year: 2011

Having the player perform technically precise sword movements in a Zelda game certainly wasn't a bad idea, but Nintendo's technology was nowhere close to good enough for the job. Anyone who's played Skyward Sword will agree (I hope) that the combat is constantly broken by the hideous motion control coupled with enemies that react much quicker than the remote can detect the player's movement. The game is intensely frustrating, even without considering the shit tier puzzle/level/boss design and the bullshit writing.

Super Mario 64
Console: Nintendo 64
Year: 1996

Alright, this game is still definitely a classic. My complaint is that people praise it far too much and seem to overlook a lot of the obvious flaws that only serve to frustrate the player. It's not still such a shining example of a good platforming game, and people need to stop acting like it hasn't been trumped by nearly every Mario game that's come out in it's wake.

The camera is bad. Not awful, but still bad. The player doesn't have as much control over it as they really need, and some of the levels seemed designed specifically around the fact that you can't turn the camera certain helpful ways. Example: Wet-Dry World. There's one section near the top of the level where a thin bridge is positioned in such a way that you can't turn the camera towards it, making crossing it unnecessarily difficult.

As you progress in the game, it seems like the level designers end up running out of ideas and just throwing gimmicks in your face. The main floor levels are great, as are the basement levels, but the top floor levels start to introduce weird design choices like the fucking ice bridge in Snowman's Land or the awkward downward long jump in Tall Tall Mountain (and the subsequent cannon-shot of faith). The hat-losing mechanic makes no fucking sense at all in terms of gameplay (being that it isn't gamemplay), and they stick it on levels that are otherwise already pretty frustrating, like the aforementioned fucking ice bridge in Snowman's Land or the log rolling, monkey dodging, shyguy sniping cliff face in Tall Tall Mountain. Once you reach the final three stages they've transformed into gigantic gimmicks. I don't know how any reasonable person is supposed to enjoy Tick Tock Clock or Rainbow Ride, and Tiny-Huge Island is nothing but a stupid gimmick disguised as a platforming level.

Also, the Wing Cap is bullshit. Fuck it.

If I think of some more I'll contribute again, but those are the ones that stick out in recent memory.
I don't agree at all that Skyward Sword's combat is broken, nor your assessment of Mario 64.

I submit Spore. It still has its high points, like the creature creation and space exploration phase, but it nowhere lived up to its potential as some sort of evolution simulator.
Corfaisus
"It's frustrating because - as much as Corf is otherwise an irredeemable person - his 2k/3 mapping is on point." ~ psy_wombats
7874
author=Jude
I don't agree at all that Skyward Sword's combat is broken, nor your assessment of Mario 64.

I submit Spore. It still has its high points, like the creature creation and space exploration phase, but it nowhere lived up to its potential as some sort of evolution simulator.

Oh ho ho. Take a day and go play it again, you'll quickly find out why the rest of the world thinks it's become a pile of burning ass.

Just try to get the 8 red coins in Dire Dire Docks without losing your fucking mind with the camera.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Lol Pizza!



Spore
Console: PC
Year: 2008


I think we all know about the fate of this one. It was way over-hyped for what it actually is, but knowing a bit of its backstory makes me teary-eyed.

This was the dream game of Will Wright, known for his works on the "Sim X" series of games. It was an evolution simulator where the player would guide a creature throughout the phases of life, from being a cell, to emerging on land and living as a creature, to becoming sentient and forming tribes, forming civilizations, and even going to space. Not many games attempt to undertake this scope, and there are fewer evolution/life simulators that are actually as good and allows tremendous flexibility for the way players can beat it.

Unfortunately, someone at EA thought the game wasn't friendly enough for casual gamers, so they got Will to botch it. Lo and behold, the amazing, flexible "sandbox" that we got was a collection of bare-bones mini-games that hardly surpass anything their competition achieved with a singular, focused game. While I admit that the creature creator is awesome, the actual game stops being fun by the end of the creature stage. The game then turns into a boring RTS which feels way more restrictive and depthless compared to the other game modes. The tribal stage is piss-easy and goes by within minutes; the civilization stage has many instances of bullshit difficulty (like economic nations not appearing at all for you to conquer, or some competitive city just not being able to die within minutes of their foundation) and it's just as forgettable; Space stage returns the sandbox elements promised with this game's numerous ads, but you have to do repetitive grinding, carrying out very unengaging missions in order to get to that point.

So yeah, maybe if EA stayed away this game could have been better, or maybe not. For now, all it's worth is for its creature creator and the Galatic Adventures expansion.



Kirby's Adventure
Console: NES
Year: 1993


I can't believe that I actually have some things to slam on this game being a Kirby fan myself, but I do. For it's time, it had a HUGE scope by NES standards, as well as gorgeous graphics and open-ended gameplay that allowed you to beat it in any way you want to, such was the purpose of the copy abilities, which were new for the franchise at the time. They weren't Mario power-ups taken up to eleven, they were their to change playstyle.

Whether this game succeeded at that, especially when you compare this to Kirby's recent titles, is questionable.

First, Kirby's platforming physics are one of the worst I've ever seen. The moment Kirby "squashes", "bumps", or does any type of animation solely implemented to make the game look cool ends up locking his controls. What this means is that it's way too easy for you to skid and get hit by the hordes of enemies this game has, and there is always a bit of a delay to inflating yourself to get out of pits. Fortunately the game is forgiving enough to make this not too detrimental to its quality, but it's frustrating.

Second, the level design feels as if the team just stuck some platforms here and there and sprinkled everything with enemies. Nothing felt really "designed." That became evident to me when I was climbing up a ladder to reach a door, and a Waddle Dee that was placed JUST ABOVE IT lands on top of me before I even have time to react, and getting out of that climbing position is always clunky.

Aside from that, it's not a good idea to play this right after playing something like Kirby Superstar or Kirby Triple Deluxe. Not only are the copy abilities limited in capabilities, they don't feel as smooth to control. Alot of abilities also feel cookie-cut, like Freeze Kirby being the same as Spark and Needle Kirby, only with ice. Maybe HAL couldn't come up with something different due to the fact that they pushed the NES system towards its limits.

Finally, in terms of being the game that allows for both advanced players and beginners options, the franchise's future titles do it way better. The game is pretty easy all around, minus a few instances where some secret areas are cryptically hidden. One of such requiring that you exploit the mechanics of the game to find.

For what it's worth, however, it's still a fun game to play once in a while, but boy the aging.
@Pizza: Whoa, shots fired! I had some infrequent issues with Skyward Sword's motion controls, but overall I think they work okay. Even in my recent play-through, they were just as I remembered them. Still, I won't miss them in Zelda Wii U at all. Also, I understand that even though they worked for me, they won't necessarily work for everyone. :P


Mario 64 is pretty fresh on my memory since I finally went and got all 120 stars recently. I'll can partially agree with what your saying.

Alright, this game is still definitely a classic. My complaint is that people praise it far too much and seem to overlook a lot of the obvious flaws that only serve to frustrate the player. It's not still such a shining example of a good platforming game, and people need to stop acting like it hasn't been trumped by nearly every Mario game that's come out in it's wake.


Pretty much. Although no Mario game has been so exploration focused since either. Exploring all the levels is still really fun.

The camera is bad. Not awful, but still bad. The player doesn't have as much control over it as they really need, and some of the levels seemed designed specifically around the fact that you can't turn the camera certain helpful ways. Example: Wet-Dry World. There's one section near the top of the level where a thin bridge is positioned in such a way that you can't turn the camera towards it, making crossing it unnecessarily difficult.


haha I distinctly remember that part in Wet-Dry World and being like, "What the fuck"? Yeah, the camera is not great, but there wasn't really a standard for cameras in 3D enviornments back then? Nintendo, hurry and make Mario 64 HD with a fixed camera system!

As you progress in the game, it seems like the level designers end up running out of ideas and just throwing gimmicks in your face. The main floor levels are great, as are the basement levels, but the top floor levels start to introduce weird design choices like the fucking ice bridge in Snowman's Land or the awkward downward long jump in Tall Tall Mountain (and the subsequent cannon-shot of faith).


I'm not sure...what? I remember there being an ice bridge, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary? What do you mean by "downward long jump"? Are you talking about that ledge underneath the section with the giant mushrooms that leads to a cannon? If so, I think the intended way to get down there is a hidden warp on the tiny mushroom. But yeah, that star is pretty weird and the cannon shot to the star is...yeeahh.

The hat-losing mechanic makes no fucking sense at all in terms of gameplay (being that it isn't gamemplay), and they stick it on levels that are otherwise already pretty frustrating, like the aforementioned fucking ice bridge in Snowman's Land or the log rolling, monkey dodging, shyguy sniping cliff face in Tall Tall Mountain.


The hat losing thing is really annoying, yes. I remember spending hours as a kid just looking for Mario's hat in the different levels. I guess it's...hard mode? Since Mario takes more damage without his hat on? I dunno. It's lame.

Once you reach the final three stages they've transformed into gigantic gimmicks. I don't know how any reasonable person is supposed to enjoy Tick Tock Clock or Rainbow Ride, and Tiny-Huge Island is nothing but a stupid gimmick disguised as a platforming level.


Tick Tock Clock is fine. Rainbow Ride can go to hell.

Also, the Wing Cap is bullshit. Fuck it.


I actually gained more appreciation for it after getting all the stars. It's still awkward as hell to control, but mastering it for that final red coin romp was really satisfying!



Anyway, I raise you all:



All of my friends at the time really enjoyed this game(we only played the GC version, though), but I never really found it all that fun. The camera is wonky, the treasure hunt levels were a huge pain in the ass...oh god, that Rouge one with the 5 minute time limit...

Sure, I beat it eventually, along with those super frustrating space levels at the end, and the final story...and the final boss...ugh.

And the Chao Garden: Even more of a time invenstment than Pokemon breeding with no substantial payoff besides bragging rights? Yay!?
@Zeuzio: Yeah, I mean the 6th star on Tall Tall Mountain. I too recently attempted a 100% clear but I didn't get that far, only got to 94 stars I think. I'm talking about the first star on Snowman's Land, where you have to edge across the ice bridge behind the Penguin. It bothered me so much just because... It's not really a fair challenge based on the game mechanics, at least not in my mind. I guess I can't explain that well but it seemed really out of place and just annoying, since you had to climb all the way back up and deal with the entirety of that stupid world again whenever you fell (also, even past the ice bridge the level geometry on the snowman's head is terrible, and if you aren't intensely careful you'll slip straight off).

I don't dislike Tick Tock Clock for straight up being a bad level or anything, it's a cool premise but... It fees out of place in the game. Like Rainbow Ride it uses a completely different formula for level design that doesn't really match what the player has learned up until that point.

I dislike the Wing Cap mainly out of a lasting spite for the N64's often tanky controls, and the stuff you have to do with it in the game. I felt like the hats were really phoned in to begin with, you don't really do anything with them throughout the game. The Vanish Cap basically doesn't exist and the Metal Cap is used for like one kind of "challenge", AKA sinking to the bottom of a pool.

Don't get me wrong, Super Mario 64 is still a really fun game. It's just not the same game it used to be, it didn't age well and in my mind the Mario mothership titles that have come out since easily beat it out. I just don't understand where all the overbearing love for it comes from outside of nostalgia.

EDIT: Also, I haven't played it but I can agree about Sonic Adventure 2. I watched Brickroad's LP of it and... yeah. It looks pretty low ball even for one of the bad Sonic games.
Ratty, you should type the name of the game you're talking about down, even if using pictures, since they don't show up on certain browsers.

I will agree with Pizza to some degree on SM64 and Skyward Sword, but I have different reasons for disliking those games.

author=Pizza
the combat is constantly broken by the hideous motion control coupled with enemies that react much quicker than the remote can detect the player's movement.

I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to here, but I don't think its a matter of "reacting". I'm pretty sure the AI just straight-up "button reads".

My issue with the combat is more that I feel that its too gimmicky and the enemies aren't aggressive enough for the most part. Every 3D Zelda game has had a number of directional swipes on command, but they were never important, seemingly even in situations where they probably should be. I figured being able to break guard with the proper directional swing would be a good addition, but all they did with it was have most enemies just stand in place and block, waiting for you to find the obvious opening. I could almost hear Eggman taunting "SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE IT OVER HERE, SONIC!" every time. Best part is, with some enemies, you can just whack at them, and if they guard, just swing again and you'll hit them out of their counter-attack.
Or just chuck bombs at them. That works... when and if the shake control gets registered...


Anyways, time to get crucified:
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega Genesis/MegaDrive, 1991

The physics engine and obtainable speed for this game was really quite impressive and well done for its time. I can't think of any other platformer around then or before anywhere near its depth or reliability. The beginning levels are really pretty fun to figure out how to go fast in, abusing all the little slopes, loops, and badniks for temporary speed gains.
However, the level design is just outright terrible once you get out of Green Hill Zone and mostly nulls this incredible work. Marble Zone's outdoor sections are good, but once that's over its just another dull platformer where you push blocks, wait for crushers to move up and down, and ride blocks as they drift slowly over lava. Yeah, you can skip some of that, but you won't know that your first time through. Most of the later stages aren't much better.

The saddest part of it is that the series never really stopped being inconsistent like this. Almost every level gimmick I can think of throughout the games involves either reducing or completely removing player control for a bit (pulleys, warp tubes, etc), or grinding to a screeching halt (crushers, switches, etc). I think Sonic CD is the only game to really make much use of speed with the Time Travel gimmick (that also isn't very well thought out), but even then, most of the levels let you cop out of that and just bounce between two springs or whatever.

I feel like the early 3D games had somewhat better level design, and certainly a 3D perspective better suits a game as fast as Sonic, but holy shit were Sonic Adventures 1 & 2 terribly programmed, in addition to the extra characters most people don't like (though I actually like Tails, Knuckles, and Gamma in Adv. 1) because they don't gel well with rest of the game. Things kinda slid downhill after that, then started going off in all kinds of crazy tangents, and now Sonic just seems content with awkwardly imitating more popular platforming franchises.

Oh well, Cloudbuilt seems like it might be the Sonic game I've been waiting for, if I could just get my computer to run it at more than 15 FPS...

EDIT: Wow, 3 whole posts happened while I typed this I am so fucking slow...

I want to defend Sonic Adventure 2... but I really can't for the most part. I still enjoy Sonic and Shadow's stages, but this is mostly because I don't care for the style that the series took afterwards, which was an era of switch-throwing, enemy-spamming mediocrity (Heroes~'06), and then the boost era where gaining/losing speed was mostly relegated to holding or not holding a button. Then I guess nowadays Sonic is just trying to be other platformers, but I don't have first-hand experience with those.
@Pizza: Ooooh, now I know which ice bridge you're talking about. Yeah, this baffled me too at first, until I realized "Oh you just climb on top of the penguin's head to get across". Your overall assessment of the game is really fair, not arguing with that!

@TurkeyDawg: Everything you said about Sonic 1 is correct...But I still love it anyway! Sonic 2 remains the greatest game of the franchise for sure, but Sonic 1 is second best for me because god I don't even know why. I guess that's how people who really like Adventure 2 must feel. XD

I even like Labyrinth Zone...help me
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
The problem with Skyward Sword is that it's filled with enemies who change their guard once per second, and it takes about half a second to swing the remote, another half a second for the game to realize you did, and maybe a quarter second for Link's swing to connect. At that point the enemy has changed stances and is immune to your attack. I liked the idea though, but man.

My entry to this shitlist is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, a multiplayer gamecube game where each player used a game boy advance as their controller, giving them a personal screen. This was an idea that obviously had merit, since the Wii U did the same thing later successfully. But for FF:CC, you needed a game boy for each player who wanted to play the game, and there was no online play. Each player also needed the cable that connected their GBA into the gamecube. This meant the game effectively cost over $600. No other game used this technology, so you couldn't justify it the way you can justify a console purchase. It was a pretty mediocre game, too.
The problem with Skyward Sword is that it's filled with enemies who change their guard once per second, and it takes about half a second to swing the remote, another half a second for the game to realize you did, and maybe a quarter second for Link's swing to connect. At that point the enemy has changed stances and is immune to your attack.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I was trying to get at when I said AI that reacts faster than the technology/player can. You spend the entire game being forced to use controls that just don't operate anything like they were intended to. Words can't express how bad the game feels when you're sitting there bouncing your sword off of every enemy like 50 fucking times before it goes down.

You know what worked better? Twilight Princess. Because the game wasn't built around having microscopically exacting precision with the stupid remote. You just swing it around to attack and it feels satisfying.

@Pizza: Ooooh, now I know which ice bridge you're talking about. Yeah, this baffled me too at first, until I realized "Oh you just climb on top of the penguin's head to get across". Your overall assessment of the game is really fair, not arguing with that!

Are you fucking serious? You can climb on the Penguins head? God fucking dammit.

Fuck Super Mario 64.
@Zeuzio:
Sonic is the kind of series that I think engenders a love/hate relationship in anyone with even a mildly critical eye. Rolling around at the speed of sound is such a fun concept with almost no imitators outside of the racing genre, but each game in the series ends up borking it in its own unique way. I suppose the game you end up having the least hate for is just the one you're most familiar with. I've played SA1 & 2 since they first came out on the Dreamcast, so dealing with the glitches and other oddities is just second nature to me now. That being said...
I even like Labyrinth Zone...help me
you most defs need professional help with this one, brah.


@LockeZ:
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is the one other game that used the GBA screens.
I played Crystal Chronicles once like 10 years ago, so correct me if I'm misremembering here: Didn't the GBA screen ultimately only exist to display tiny health and magic bar that probably could've just been put on screen. I mean, I seriously don't remember actually looking at the GBA screen much.
I think the people behind the game just assumed/hoped that a group of friends would all coincidentally have a GBA and a GC link cable for the small handful of games like SA2: Battle or Pokemon Colosseum that used it for other things.

- - -

I'd like to quickly add NiGHTs: Journey of Dreams to this. The regular flying stages, boss fights, and even some of the "bonus" flying missions are a worthy successor to the original, keeping what was good and improving the camera issues, and the transformation system is a decent addition. However, that's only maybe a third of the game. The rest of it is unfortunately saddled with long, terrible, sometimes unskippable cutscenes, and platforming levels with the kids that are so stiff, tedious, and bland that you'll have to do a double-take at the box to make sure you didn't accidentally buy one of those half-assed licensed kids' movie games that come out before the actual movie does.


EDIT: Also, the SNES Starfox. A polygonal rail shooter on that system is pretty impressive, but once you start hammering the shoot button the game's FPS slows down to a nigh-unplayable 3~5-ish. No, I'm really not trying to be funny with that estimation. The slowdown is THAT BAD.
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
Let me echo Crystal Chronicles.

It could have an amazing four-player beat-em-up with magic and swords and a decent go at a plot. But it was too limiting not just with the GBA stuff (which was the biggest problem lets face it) but with the mechanics of the game, the way that upgrades and rewards had to be grinded for in practice, towns being basic and bare bones, and the fact that you had to pick up that chalice and move it around everywhere if you wanted to play it with anybody. Which makes sense. But its dumb for a video game. Single-player you get a moogle to carry that shit for you.

For those who have not played the game: The chalice = the camera. Its a beat-em-up where one of your dudes has to carry the camera with you to make the screen move. I shit you not.

Its still one of my favorite games in terms of the world-flavor and setting. Not to mention that the music is amazing. But the stuff they tried to do to make it work and give it cool features ended up making it suck.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
You know, I agree with this topic. Video games were an interesting premise, but the execution on them is mostly pretty terrible.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3D zelda is a very interesting premise! Too bad it was ruined by making the central gameplay mechanic of "waiting". Waiting for your opening to attack, waiting for skulltulas to turn around, waiting for bombs to regrow, etc..

I might have been in the minority here, but I really liked the combat system with it's Z-targeting, and shooting arrows in first-person, but too bad there were only like 2 interesting battles the entire game (Dark Link and those armored warriors that you had to attack and dodge n' shit). The final battle was fucking PONG.

Anywho, OoT was a game with potential, but ultimately fell flat in very important areas.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Dark Link wasn't an interesting battle, it was just an enemy that had a 99% block chance for every attack except Din's Fire. If you didn't have Din's Fire and the extended magic bar you just had to stab it about fifteen hundred times.

I liked the game as a whole though. The battles weren't great, but the battles were such a small part of the game. The game was about puzzles, and the puzzles were about observation, so making the bosses (and even most of the normal battles) into puzzles that involved waiting was fine. You weren't just doing nothing, you were observing the enemy's pattern. It only seems lame going back and replaying it because you already know them now.

Plus, I mean, you only actually have to fight all of three skulltulas that way in the entire game, then you get the hookshot. You can toss bombs at skeleton and lizard warriors instead of waiting for them. You can hit keese with your bow or boomerang instead of waiting for them to fly down. It's a game about using your tools to solve puzzles, the game just gives you an alternate way to win with only your sword when that puzzle is a normal enemy, but intentionally makes the alternate way slower to encourage you to use the tools properly. Geez.

I'm not saying you're wrong that there's a lot of waiting during fights. But it wasn't bad design. The game was not about fighting. It was about figuring. You needed that time.

@Isrieri: What you're saying sounds more like "terrible premise, terrible execution." You're not wrong, but I'm not sure it's what the topic's about.
Ocarina of Time 3DS and Majora Mask 3DS improved the item selection mechanics
with the touch of a screen pad. I really liked the better graphics including the recoloration of woodfall swamp.
This is pretty much becoming the "shit on a beloved classic" thread... oh well, Corfy did say "kick nostalgia in the shin".

Anywho, I had the strange compulsion to play Shinobi (PS2, 2002) again last night. The game was rather well received at the time (review average 75/100), given that the 3D hack-n-slash hadn't completely exploded yet. However, as titles like DMC3, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War came out years later, this title was forgotten.

Thing is, the basic system of the game is a blast: You run around like a maniac trying to kill the groups of enemy zombie ninjas and such as fast as possible using your shurikens and dash+decoy hologram maneuver in addition to your attacks. If you can kill four or more enemies within a time limit, you get a brief cutscene of the player character striking a pose or two, and then everyone spilts into bloody halves (even the zombie tanks! You can even do it on bosses!), and its fucking awesome when you do it. Unlike Devil May Cry and other such games, there's no adventure/metroidvania stuff. Its a straight, arcade-style rush, complete with a scoring system, which is a nice change of pace.

However, the game seems like it was really rushed in the end. It started as a Dreamcast title, and a lot of the graphics and animations still look like it. The environments are mostly made of the same couple of pre-fab chunks, to the point that they actually to had seal off where you come from so that you don't end up going backwards after every battle. The enemy selection per stage is also equally repetitive, and it only gets worse as the game goes on. The enemy AI is wonky and sometimes doesn't activate, which is annoying when you've killed everyone else and are about to get one of those delicious cutscenes/bonus points, but then that ONE ASSHOLE is just staring off into space halfway across the map. Your basic sword combo also has wonky hitboxes, making it more difficult than it needs to be to actually hit things when you get your chance. Enemy attacks also tend to have wonky hitboxes... Also, no fucking level checkpoints, and some of these levels are, like, 10 mintues long!

And that's not EVERY beef I have with this game. Its such a shame, though. It could've really been right up there with the other heavy hitters that generation. One of these days I'll have to check out its sequel, Kunoichi/Nightshade, to see if its any better.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
I wanna bitch about SaGa games but I feel like that's just too easy. It's like kicking a small child. tl;dr How To Utilize Nonlinearity To Fill The Player With Intense Regret And Sell Strategy Guides: The Series
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