Thalzon

I've never played in any real tournaments or anything, so I guess I just don't miss that kind of stuff like other people do. The speed change was negligible for me, and as far as I can tell "advanced techniques" were just the physics going wonky when something specific was done. I'm pretty sure all those techniques weren't discovered on day one, either, so there may yet be more useful ones discovered.

I think the issue is that SSB was a nice little game, and fun, but nothing too exciting beyond the concept. Melee blew it out of the water, and Brawl ended up not being as much of a jump between the two, so it felt like we were just playing the same game as Melee, only updated. So after playing Melee for like seven years, Brawl playing mostly the same takes the sheen right off. If one had played Melee for a year or two then stopped entirely, I bet Brawl would have felt a lot more fresh. I still play Brawl pretty consistently, though. About as consistently as I played Melee, in any case.

Because I am a fanboy, I am reposting my fantasy roster (updated). It's way too huge to be anything resonable, though.

de Blob is MY dream character. I love the guy. Jade's from Beyond Good & Evil. And Cooking Mama was added just because, but she will invite her friends... to your FUNERAL. Also, she has shown she can be a crazy beeyotch when portrayed by a certain crazy animal rights group...

There. Fixed for almost everyone.

Sega has realized they don't need to. They have a crazy-rabid fanbase they can cater to, and as long as they do a somewhat passable job they can rake in the profit. Hell, Sonic 360 even showed that they can be really freakin' lazy about it every so often and still come out clean.

Yeah... she paid for my college, so no.

Canadian here. Black Friday does not exist up north. Instead we have Boxing Day (December 26th), but I doubt my grandma would be too happy with me for buying an HDTV over the holidays.

Impossible-to-read text! God, Blue Dragon was especially bad for this. I really want an HDTV, but I'm on a very fixed income.

If they cut off the top and bottom, wouldn't the HUD for Super Metroid have not been visible?

They already did the "not at all" deal in Prime 3. Your three allies help Samus through scripted sequences, and then get killed (by Samus) later on.

Uh, Frigate Orpheon is the first area in Prime 1. It's named as much in-game, I believe (it later crashes onto Tallon IV in a swamp area). Even if it isn't clearly defined in Prime 1, Frigate Orpheon is a stage in Brawl, and has the Parasite Queen in it there.

By simply piling on the power-ups, the game would soon become glutted with them, and most of them would never get used enough to justify their existence in the game. Unless you're also proposing the game's length be increased to accomodate the power-ups, in which case... Good luck getting any developers on board with that idea. Power-ups are nice, but if they're only used once or twice in an entire game you'll be left wondering why they even bothered to implement them. By limiting the number of power-ups to a maximum of 10, minimum of 4 (or whatever the gameplay demands in terms of flow, difficulty curve, risk/reward, etc), the developer can not only ensure they get enough use by the player, but can also get more creative with how they are implemented.

And that's why you're not a game designer. Thankfully.

I recall a scan from Prime 1 which pretty much stated Meta-Ridley is the original Ridley rebuilt. He's destroyed at the end of Prime 1 but returns in Prime 3 (still "Meta-Ridley" during the first encounter). I think it's futile to explain how or why he keeps coming back, except perhaps from a dramatic perspective. That is, he'll keep returning until some aspect of Samus's character is resolved, simply because he represents that aspect of her.

The Uncanny Valley applies to games a little differently, yes. It's not always something that the player themselves will notice. But when the game has realistic graphics but unrealistic (read: bad) animations, texturing, or what-have-you, then the appeal of the game overall is going to go down. Final Fantasy X is a perfect example. While many find the gameplay fun, I think everyone who's played it can agree that when Tidus makes a toothy grin (CG scenes of him underwater tend to be where he does this) his grin is odd and strained, and has been noted as being "zombie-like". It doesn't help the first time this happens is supposed to be a really touching moment where he swims with Yuna in a lake. Really rips you back to reality. BRAAAAAINS.

Publishers are the financers of games, but often they are simply that, and have no idea what sells beyond "blood, gore, boobs" or what-have-you. They simply want a profit on their investment. For SEGA to have picked up Conduit does mean their name will be on the box and before the game boots up, but to carry it at this near-complete stage probably means they think it's a sound investment. Now go out there and prove them right when it releases.

Finally went and looked through your videos. Nice! This recent one was definitely the best, but your arguments in all of them are solid.

Blah blah blah Tidal WAVE! And suddenly I have 6500 grade.

Some status immunity accessories would probably help. The bastard inflicts status ailments like no tomorrow. Heal poison, paralysis, or contamination immediately. If you have Rita in your party, take her out. Her spells are too slow and the boss can teleport at will. Raven or Karol can act as a supplemental healer to Estelle. If you still have an open party slot, I recommend Judith for raw damage. Repede's only necessary if you want to steal from him.

Remember that bird guy from Battletoads? The one who speaks in hip jive and rails against the Toads' collective ineptitude throughout the game even though all the bird does is sit and click-clack away at a computer? Geeky, loud, sarcastic, and full of himself? Well, I'm the Toad with the sunglasses.

Those assassin gals can be fought in a side quest, but it requires going to so many random locations that I was lucky enough to happen upon it by accident. And there is one big evil enemy boss in particular... The final boss has a third form, but only if you completed the Fell Arms side quest, that side quest found in pretty much every modern Tales game where you round up as many weapons as there are characters, beat the hardest thing in the game, and THEN they become useful.

Koudelka: Haven't played it, can't comment. Shadow Hearts 1: A mediocre start to the series. You can tell it was originally intended to be a PS1 game. Muddy prerendered backdrops, high random encounter rate, and the battle system is a little lame duck at this point. On the plus side of things, it's probably the most difficult of the proper trilogy. Shadow Hearts 2: Awesomest game in the series. Improved graphics, characters, story, and battles. A little less horror-soaked than 1. Battle system is now awesome, includes range in spells and unique movesets are fleshed out and creative. On the easy side of things, but still a worthwhile RPG to play. Too bad the "international" version never saw release here (had like 4 new dungeons, one where you even play as the villains!). Shadow Hearts 3: Only tenuously related to the previous games. There's some recurring characters and a reference or two to the games of before, but other than that it's an all-new story. More or less abandons the horror and demons of the games, foregoing them in favour of more bizarre and kooky (which could be seen in the previous game, but they go full force here). Battle system is further improved and balanced, characters are zany-awesome (Brazilian ninja, trained by a giant talking cat, anyone?), and the music is as enchanting as the previous game's. Sidequest hell, though. You need to do EVERYTHING to get to the bonus dungeon. I recommend 2 and 3, but unless you really, really want to emerge yourself in Yuri and Alice's stilted, awkward, poorly-translated relationship, stay away from 1.

Vesperia's a great game, but man... I can't help but feel sorely disappointed by the story. Not even Blue Dragon let me down this much (granted, BD was pretty mediocre in terms of story from the start). Not to spoil anything, but the final boss and ending were absolute, predictable lameness. I guess I just put my expectations too high after Abyss's refreshing characters and extensive, tight plot. Vesperia's story ultimately proves lazy and sapped a good deal of enjoyment from the game for me. That said, I'm on my second playthrough now. I even mastered all the recipes with Yuri.

Holy hell Pearby is creepy.