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Post by Ex on Nov 17, 2019 23:31:31 GMT -5
The Mystic Elephant is a standout... Surprisingly hard to find videos of the shopkeeper on Youtube. But you can see and hear a little bit of him here: I don't think I'd claim as such. There's not much of a horror vibe to Evergrace at all. Although there's the occasional silliness at times. Like, you can wear a pot or bunny rabbit ears as a helmet for instance. If you ever play through the game, I mean the whole shebang, you'll understand why I said there's some Demon's Souls DNA going on here. This game was definitely one of the stepping stones on FromSoftware's path to the Souls franchise.
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Post by anayo on Nov 18, 2019 8:01:18 GMT -5
Well it wasn't my opinion that would be the case, just what I read on the internet. For example from IGN's review:
"It wasn't until after the game's development process started that the company decided to try and develop the game for the PlayStation because of its stranglehold on the console market in Japan. Then, after finding out that the title was way too ambitious for the PlayStation, From Software decided to develop the title for PlayStation 2 instead. " source
My bad, I didn't mean to attribute that quote to you. I was just curious if you agreed with that take and why. That would have meant a lot to me back then. I think it's taken for granted now, but as a kid I remember being irritated by games that expected me to use my imagination when the equipment screen said my hero was wearing something but the in game graphics just showed him as usual. When I owned a N64 I yearned for a day when game consoles were powerful enough to give 3D characters individual fingers. The characters in most of the screen shots you've posted have this. The texture work on that old dude's face looks way more detailed than what I would have been used to in the year 2000. The opening CG cinematic also looks as though it would have impressed me back then. Additionally in that video you posted, the characters have spoken dialog. That would have seemed really fancy to me because only a few N64 games did that (notably Pokemon Stadium and James Bond the World is Not Enough). It's probably not that great compared to other PS2 games, but compared to N64 and Playstation 1 it looks pretty cool.
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Post by Ex on Nov 18, 2019 10:44:52 GMT -5
as a kid I remember being irritated by games that expected me to use my imagination when the equipment screen said my hero was wearing something but the in game graphics just showed him as usual I agree, it's all too rare even today for JRPGs to bother doing this (it's much more common in WRPGs). The sequel Forever Kingdom continues to use this feature. You brought up some good points as a frame of reference. I'm just thinking when you compare Evergrace's graphics to some of its PS2 year 2000 contemporaries, it's not quite as impressive. For example: But let me be clear, I didn't dock Evergrace any points for its graphics. There's just some not great game design at times which rubbed me wrong. Thankfully the sequel so far seems to alleviate those issues.
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Post by toei on Nov 18, 2019 14:33:56 GMT -5
3D fighters were always the best-looking 3D console games, though, since they have fewer characters, and much fewer locations, to depict. Dead Or Alive 2 looked incredible on the Dreamcast.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 18, 2019 16:01:58 GMT -5
Yep. I'd argue that DoA2 on Dreamcast still looks really good.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2019 16:08:58 GMT -5
Evergrace looks much more appealing to me than From Software's other PS2 launch title, Eternal Ring, which had a pretty generic fantasy setting going for it and an original but ultimately broken combat system. Armored Core 2 is another PS2 launch title of theirs. All three games came out in 2000, so I assume they were pretty low budget.
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Post by Sarge on Nov 18, 2019 16:16:07 GMT -5
Eternal Ring is more a magic-based spin-off from the King's Field series. If I remember Ex's review, it's much easier than those games.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 18, 2019 16:31:53 GMT -5
Evergrace looks much more appealing to me than From Software's other PS2 launch title, Eternal Ring, which had a pretty generic fantasy setting going for it and an original but ultimately broken combat system. Armored Core 2 is another PS2 launch title of theirs. All three games came out in 2000, so I assume they were pretty low budget. Not sure about that last part, From Software may very well be alive to this day because of the Armored Core franchise and I'd wager maybe up until the last few entries, that series had high production values. The series has always had some killer CGI intros that blew my mind and the game still looks really solid to me skimming some clips.
I sold a huge N64 collection for this game and like a controller... on one hand I did regret it many years later since I crushed my N64 collection so hard, but on the flip side I loved AC2 and got a lot out of it. For a kid making the next gen jump, it definitely made the PSX/N64 look like small fry to my eyes back then.
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Post by Ex on Nov 18, 2019 16:51:05 GMT -5
3D fighters were always the best-looking 3D console games, though, since they have fewer characters, and much fewer locations, to depict. That's true. It's also true Tekken Tag Tournament represented top of the line graphics for PS2 circa 2000. Evergrace looks much more appealing to me than From Software's other PS2 launch title, Eternal Ring, which had a pretty generic fantasy setting going for it and an original but ultimately broken combat system. Armored Core 2 is another PS2 launch title of theirs. All three games came out in 2000, so I assume they were pretty low budget. At this point I've managed to beat all three of those games. I'll be honest, I enjoyed Eternal Ring about equally as Evergrace. I enjoyed Armored Core 2 more than both of them. On one hand, Eternal Ring was an interesting experience, but on the other... an entirely mediocre one. The biggest problem is it's clear upon finishing Eternal Ring, FromSoftware had some lofty ideas for the experience, which were blatantly cut short, due to it being rushed out the door as a launch title. Though the Jewel Master-like ring-combo magic system was accomplished well. With another year of development, I think Eternal Ring could have been a true classic. As it stands, Eternal Ring's just an archaic curiosity piece. If anyone has a PS2 and wants a good first person dungeon crawler, go with the infinitely better King's Field: The Ancient City or outstanding Shadow Tower Abyss instead. FromSoftware was firing on all cylinders with both of those games, but not with Eternal Ring. And yes Sarge is right, Eternal Ring is like easy-mode King's Field. Armored Core 2 is actually the fourth game in the Armored Core series. AC2 largely apes previous installments insofar as main game design is concerned. That is to say; you play as a mercenary (Raven) taking on jobs from competing corporations, using the profits to evolve your armored core (mech), so that you might rule the arena, thereby having maximum prestige and profits. Whether doing missions or fighting in the arena, the gameplay remains the same. This is third person robot shooting action with a tiny hint of strategy. The most important strategic element, is designing your armored core for maximum capability. You'll choose from hundreds of parts, carefully constructing a custom armored core, all depending on the requirements of any given mission or arena challenger. This aspect is often daunting for newcomers, and some people give up as soon as they realize how deep the customization is. For anyone who thinks maintaining a single armored core is too daunting, all I can say is they should never play Front Mission. As far as improvements go, AC2 is a fair graphical improvement over its predecessors. (Though this has more to do with the PS2's base power upgrade than FromSoftware pushing amazing graphics.) Also the inclusion of voice acting during mission dialogues was nice.
However, I found the arena to be not as challenging as previous installments. But on the other hand, missions were often much tougher than previous AC games! This has more to do with balancing issues, meaning the designers obviously favored one certain type of AC design for their playtesting. And truly Armored Core 2 feels rough around the edges, likely a result of rushed development, as FromSoftware were once again in a hurry to release PS2 games into the "PS2 launch title window" back in 2000. For the right person, Armored Core 2 is a worthy investment of their time. And by right person, I mean someone who loves giant robots, enjoys endlessly tinkering with configurations, and is tenacious enough to ignore antiquated graphics and short sighted controls. If you are that type of gamer, Armored Core 2 will scratch your mech-shaped itch. Albeit not as well as its predecessors did. Still, all things considered, Armored Core 2 is a good start to the long PS2 run of this series. I plan to check out Another Age next year. It's been far too long since I took down an armored core in a blaze of furious glory. Not sure about that last part, From Software may very well be alive to this day because of the Armored Core franchise and I'd wager maybe up until the last few entries, that series had high production values. Absolutely true. Before the Souls series cash cow, it was the Armored Core franchise that kept FromSoftware alive. Without a doubt. They just need to make a hybrid of the two ideas. Armored Souls if you will.
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Post by Xeogred on Nov 18, 2019 17:08:49 GMT -5
Absolutely true. Before the Souls series cash cow, it was the Armored Core franchise that kept FromSoftware alive. Without a doubt. They just need to make a hybrid of the two ideas. Armored Souls if you will. I dream of such perfection... but in the 10 some years of the Souls / Hidetaka Miyazaki era, I fear that this man has no interest in sci-fi. They keep telling us AC is still alive at least, but I'm not sure about that either at this point. It's weird to complain though, since all of Soulsborne/Sekiro are a chain reaction of 10's for me anyways, but I want their Midas touch to get back to sci-fi someday.
When you get to Another Age, you'll have to confirm if that's the one with the insanely hard Arena or not. It was either Another Age or AC3, but yeah I remember AC2's being pretty easy once you get the game down well enough.
The PSX games were crude but super cool and experimental at the time. I don't think they did third person? Unless I never figured out the camera change as a kid, or played versions that didn't have that feature.
There's still so many on the PS2 I haven't played it's kind of crazy, no clue if they're good or not though and some of them sound gimmicky. As in like, not a traditional AC here and there.
Armored Core 2 Armored Core 2: Another Age Armored Core 3 Silent Line: Armored Core Armored Core: Nexus Armored Core: Formula Front Armored Core: Nine Breaker Armored Core: Last Raven
For instance, Nine Breaker:
I did play AC4 on the 360, I thought it was weak sauce personally. In the three I played on the PS2, you had to constantly change and upgrade your mecha along the way. Sure, near the end game you can land on some permanent equipment to stick with sometimes. But in AC4, I'll never forget loading up some shoulder mounted grenade launcher early on in the game and then dominated 90% of it with that weapon alone. It was pathetically easy. I'm not going to purposely gimp myself either, so they just didn't balance this one as much I guess.
I forget which of the new post-2009 ones I played between V and Verdict Day, but after like hours of installations/updating and a bunch of online required crap, I remember hating it and immediately deleted everything.
Apparently Hidetaka Miyazaki directed the 2008 Armored Core: For Answer... not sure if I've played that one or not (who can blame anyone getting these mixed up at this point? haha)
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