GolgoCast S02E09 - CES/Best and Worst of 2010

[Cory Jacobs]

Yep, it's story time from the Golgo-crew again!

After weeks of failed attempts at putting together a coherent podcast we manage to bounce from the shit show that was CES triumphantly! This week myself, Mista B. Hines, Hucklebuck, and good ole' NamelessTed, recap the week of Vegas festivities. It's a little light in the staff area, as some of us are still partying or dying of pneumonia. That aside we still do our do-diligence in recanting our CES tale! We're talking parties, girls, celebrities, and yes, we even made it to the floor this year!

Hell, you might even know who Mike Ross is by the end of it!...

...Oh, also we DECLARE OUR BEST AND WORST GAMES OF THE YEAR!

[Mr. Hawkins]

Oh I can't wait to hear this. I'll take with me on the flight home tomorrow. Nice job on the banner image on the post, too.

[dosmas]

Nice job on the banner image on the post, too.

Seconded, good stuff there

[Mr. Hawkins]

Glad this finally got to iTunes. Listened on the flight back last night. A few thoughts:

- Rich, I hate you sometimes.
- Heavy Rain was awesomely cinematic, but I hated playing it. QTE events seem like a cop-out for folks who have no reflexes. I would have rather watched the game play itself than suffer through all the forced "gameplay".
- Link to the Past is the best Zelda ever. OOT is FF7 for fanboys. It was great, but not the best.
- Favorite Quote: "I've beaten it three times." "Yeah, you seem like the type of person to do that."
- Alan Wake DID have batteries, in packages and loose, and they all said Energizer on them. IF a flashlight may have had Energizer on it, it would have been the yellow super torch you got throughout the latter chapters.
- I LOVE when games (not fantasy based) use real brands. I also like the real billboard thing in racing games. It gives it a sense of reality and, maybe it's just the capitalist in me, makes me enjoy the game all that much more. What's bullshit is when games have in-game ads yet charge for DLC or online subscription fees.
- Cut the Rope is better than Angry Birds in the long run because you use more physics. Angry Birds got SOOO old after getting all the stars on the core levels. Plants vs Zombies is better than both. Chaos Rings, Infinity Blade, Rage HD.. all impressive mobile releases that should be mentioned.
- Don't lynch me for this, but Super Meat Boy is super overrated. The soundtrack is outstanding, as is everything I've heard of Danny B's, but the game isn't quite as amazing as people lead on. It gets old real quick, especially after playing 500+ levels of N+.
- Even Jim Sterling, the biggest scourge of all in the industry, had the integrity to note the difference between "bad" and "disappointing". FFXIII was his least favorite game ever, and he couldn't put it in the worst game list for Destructoid. Don't be petty, Rich. We get it, you didn't like it. To me, Deadly Premonition was so fucking bad I couldn't bring myself to waste more than a couple hours on it, but so many people loved it that it can't possibly be as bad as I see it. Disappointing does not mean worst.
- I loved FFXIII. I liked Vanille, Fang, and Lightning. I put 100+ hours in it, just like with 6, 7, and 8. You're not supposed to care about Hope or his mom in the beginning. You're just supposed to know where his immature angst originates from. Japanese games, movies, comics, animation, etc., all usually put their emotion directly into dialog or ridiculous facial emotes. That's one major reason Japanese entertainment is so polarizing in the US. That's not new to Final Fantasy games.
- Having to use specific strategies to beat enemies is what defines boss fights in Zelda, Megaman, and many FF games. Bullshit you can beat anyone with dagger and potions easier in any other FF game than you can using that strategy in FFXIII.
- Other than that, CES seemed like a blast! Glad we covered it.

[NamelessTed]

- Having to use specific strategies to beat enemies is what defines boss fights in Zelda, Megaman, and many FF games. Bullshit you can beat anyone with dagger and potions easier in any other FF game than you can using that strategy in FFXIII.

I completely understand that point but in my head the two games are very different and it is acceptable for one to do it, and not the other. With Zelda, and other games like it, part of the game requires you to solve puzzles. That is part of the enjoyment is that each dungeon has different puzzles to solve (damn you Water Temple) and each boss requires you to use a slightly different strategy to defeat them.

But Final Fantasy isn't a puzzle game. Yes, I understand that there are different puzzle elements here and there but not in the same way as Zelda or God of War. For me, a lot of the fun of FF games has been to pick my team as I explore my world, learn the strengths and weaknesses of each character, and build a strategy around them that I enjoy. Obviously different enemies and bosses have different strengths and weaknesses so it would behoove a player to have a well balanced team and to also scan the enemies to learn what their weaknesses are and exploit them. But in FFXIII it essentially forces the "strategy" down your throat by forcing you to use three specific characters, put them into a specific paradigm, and fight a specific way. There are points in the game where changing your paradigm to anything but the one the game wants you to use results in near-instant death as the enemies go on a fucking rampage and kill your party faster than you can realize what just happened.

I really really really don't like this. Even when fighting Ruby Weapon in FFVII, there isn't a set way to win. The boss is excruciatingly difficult to defeat but there are multiple strategies on how to do so and they do work. FFXIII doesn't allow you to experiment with different fighting strategies which, for me, completely negates the reason the fighting is there to begin with. The actual battle system is less interesting than the one in FFX-2.

[Mr. Hawkins]

Well thank you Mr. Ted for a well thought out response. I can't disagree with what you're saying about the forced strategy bit, but it just didn't bother me in the slightest. Even later on when you build your own party on demand and have all the skills acquired, there's still a right tool for the job and if you're not using it, you're working too hard. Maybe, just maybe, they'll retool it enough to redeem themselves with you on XIII-2. I just hope they don't make something that neither of us likes.