How it all works + Generation of Chaos (VG) Review
Alright folks, after more delays than a Blizzard game and Twilght Princess put together, I am finally starting my 'blog. As it says above, this is primarily an Entertainment Review 'Blog (entertainment meaning any media that is intended to be entertaining. I.e. books, video games, movies, what have you.) with a little rantage as a side, so be prepared for a lot of opinion; most of which you're not likely to agree with. Which is fine, if you have a different take on whatever I happen to be talking about in a given post, feel free to say so in the comments. That is, in fact, what they're there for.
Now, on to how things work around here. My review system is... Needlessly complicated, but it's my 'blog, so that's okay. Basically, it's a modified a 1-10 scale, with 0 and 11 tacked on at either end. So a 0-11 scale, if you want to be precise. 0's and 11's are rare, though. A 0 is the absolute worst a thing can be, and an 11 the absolute best. Now, keep in mind, these ratings reflect the raw entertainment value I found in a work, and thus are even more subjective than the average ratings system, which is why I have the open door policy for conflicting opinions. More the better, in fact; bring 'em on!
Oh, and one other element to the review system I need to mention: the Awards. If a work does something special in some way, something that sets it apart from it's peers, then it'll get an Award for that certain element, even if the rest of it isn't all that hot. Just a little tilt factor thrown in there to keep things interesting.
Well that should about cover everything, so how about I give y'all a demonstration of how it all works out? Without further ado: my Review of Generation of Chaos (VG) for the Playstation Portable.
Now, on to how things work around here. My review system is... Needlessly complicated, but it's my 'blog, so that's okay. Basically, it's a modified a 1-10 scale, with 0 and 11 tacked on at either end. So a 0-11 scale, if you want to be precise. 0's and 11's are rare, though. A 0 is the absolute worst a thing can be, and an 11 the absolute best. Now, keep in mind, these ratings reflect the raw entertainment value I found in a work, and thus are even more subjective than the average ratings system, which is why I have the open door policy for conflicting opinions. More the better, in fact; bring 'em on!
Oh, and one other element to the review system I need to mention: the Awards. If a work does something special in some way, something that sets it apart from it's peers, then it'll get an Award for that certain element, even if the rest of it isn't all that hot. Just a little tilt factor thrown in there to keep things interesting.
Well that should about cover everything, so how about I give y'all a demonstration of how it all works out? Without further ado: my Review of Generation of Chaos (VG) for the Playstation Portable.
Okay, so I was rather hyped about this game prior to actually getting my hands on it. And while it's not technically bad, it's not as good as I was hoping it would be. I suppose that this is usually the case. At any rate, it does have its good points. The visuals, at least the 2d stuff, are excellent. Well drawn, and the character portraits and anime sequences are satisfyingly high-res. The in-game sprites, while limited in animation, are pleasant enough to look at. While it can't really compare with, say, Guilty Gear or a Mana title in terms of 2d art, it certainly holds its own.
And, though it may not quite achieve all that it set out to do, it can't be argued that the developers didn't try. This game is epic in scope, with ten different nations to contol, almost 80 different unique unit types, and dozens of individual Generals to command your armies. You can't say that the game's light on content. That actually ends up being one of it's biggest drawbacks, though. Bit more on that in a minute. In terms of gameplay, the overall idea is pretty cool: You take your armies, in a sort of anime-infused Total War fasion, and move them around a board-game like over-world until you run across an opposing force. The combat then resolves with your two armies meeting each other on a small rectangular field and beating, blasting, or shooting the heck out of each other.
And this is where it begins to break down.... The first thing you'll notice, as you clash with your bitter enemy's cute little sprites is that you have next to no control over your forces. You can issue a formation order at the beginning of the fight, which your troops will only loosely obey, and then you can give them very, very general attacking orders in combat. I mean, really general. Charge and Stop Charging, and that's about it. This wouldn't so much of an issue for me, except for the fact that the A.I. in this game is bag-of-hammers dumb. They know how to move and use whatever weapon they happen to be holding, and that's it. Except, they're not very good at either, really.
Remember how I told you that the battles unfolded on small, rectangular fields? Well, small in this case means about wide enough for ten of your little soldiers abreast. The units themselves come with thirty. As you might expect, things get a little crowded, and your troops end up spending more time trying to navigate around they're fellows than actually giving the enemty what-for. This, coupled with the fact that changing orders mid-battle tends to make your forces not move for several seconds while they figure out what exactly it is you want them to do. This leads to battles often being exercises in frustration, especially when faced with foes that aren't burdened by the illusion that tactics or order make the slightest difference in the fight and charge at you en masse. This seems to work rather well for them, too.
Oh, and I haven't gone over the Generals yet, have I? They're the little guys and gals that lead your forces. They are exponentially stronger than the rank and file soldiers, and usually have some neat little Special Attacks that they can pull off, for, unfortunately, somewhat underwhelming effect. I mean, they look neat. Sparklies all over the place, and for the major plot-related characters they're proceeded by a nifty little speech and animated sequence. But they just don't do that much. Even the most powerful of them is only really useful for finishing off already weakened soldiers; they're more or less worthless against other Generals.
And battle isn't the only place you run into problems. If it was, I wouldn't mind nearly so much, as the fights are generally short, and I really do like the look of the game. Particularly the character designs. But, alas, the rest of the game has two highly persistent annoyances. The first, and greatest of these is the slowdown. Actually, it's more like the slooooooooowwwwdoooooowwwwwnnnnn.... This game will hang on the littlest things. Even just dialog leaves the poor thing gasping. Now, this isn't solely the game's fault. The Generation of Chaos exhibited here was originally the fourth part of a PS2 series in Japan. And while the PSP is pretty damn powerful for a handheld gaming system, it just doesn't have the muscle of its older, bigger cousin.
The second major frustration that persists through out this game is the sheer complexity of it all. I'm not against complexity, really, but everything in this game seems almost purposefully obscure. More than half of the menus are abbreviated into something that really doesn't make a lot of sense unless you already know what they stand for. Couple this with a less-than-helpful manual and no tutorial what so ever, and you'll be scratching your head trying to figure out even the most simple tasks.
All in all, the game has it's good points, but it will take a very patient person to dig down deep enough to find and enjoy them. I'm not one of those people, I'm afraid. This game gets a 6 out of 11. Not a horrible waste of time, but there are much, much better time wasters out there for your perusal.
And, though it may not quite achieve all that it set out to do, it can't be argued that the developers didn't try. This game is epic in scope, with ten different nations to contol, almost 80 different unique unit types, and dozens of individual Generals to command your armies. You can't say that the game's light on content. That actually ends up being one of it's biggest drawbacks, though. Bit more on that in a minute. In terms of gameplay, the overall idea is pretty cool: You take your armies, in a sort of anime-infused Total War fasion, and move them around a board-game like over-world until you run across an opposing force. The combat then resolves with your two armies meeting each other on a small rectangular field and beating, blasting, or shooting the heck out of each other.
And this is where it begins to break down.... The first thing you'll notice, as you clash with your bitter enemy's cute little sprites is that you have next to no control over your forces. You can issue a formation order at the beginning of the fight, which your troops will only loosely obey, and then you can give them very, very general attacking orders in combat. I mean, really general. Charge and Stop Charging, and that's about it. This wouldn't so much of an issue for me, except for the fact that the A.I. in this game is bag-of-hammers dumb. They know how to move and use whatever weapon they happen to be holding, and that's it. Except, they're not very good at either, really.
Remember how I told you that the battles unfolded on small, rectangular fields? Well, small in this case means about wide enough for ten of your little soldiers abreast. The units themselves come with thirty. As you might expect, things get a little crowded, and your troops end up spending more time trying to navigate around they're fellows than actually giving the enemty what-for. This, coupled with the fact that changing orders mid-battle tends to make your forces not move for several seconds while they figure out what exactly it is you want them to do. This leads to battles often being exercises in frustration, especially when faced with foes that aren't burdened by the illusion that tactics or order make the slightest difference in the fight and charge at you en masse. This seems to work rather well for them, too.
Oh, and I haven't gone over the Generals yet, have I? They're the little guys and gals that lead your forces. They are exponentially stronger than the rank and file soldiers, and usually have some neat little Special Attacks that they can pull off, for, unfortunately, somewhat underwhelming effect. I mean, they look neat. Sparklies all over the place, and for the major plot-related characters they're proceeded by a nifty little speech and animated sequence. But they just don't do that much. Even the most powerful of them is only really useful for finishing off already weakened soldiers; they're more or less worthless against other Generals.
And battle isn't the only place you run into problems. If it was, I wouldn't mind nearly so much, as the fights are generally short, and I really do like the look of the game. Particularly the character designs. But, alas, the rest of the game has two highly persistent annoyances. The first, and greatest of these is the slowdown. Actually, it's more like the slooooooooowwwwdoooooowwwwwnnnnn.... This game will hang on the littlest things. Even just dialog leaves the poor thing gasping. Now, this isn't solely the game's fault. The Generation of Chaos exhibited here was originally the fourth part of a PS2 series in Japan. And while the PSP is pretty damn powerful for a handheld gaming system, it just doesn't have the muscle of its older, bigger cousin.
The second major frustration that persists through out this game is the sheer complexity of it all. I'm not against complexity, really, but everything in this game seems almost purposefully obscure. More than half of the menus are abbreviated into something that really doesn't make a lot of sense unless you already know what they stand for. Couple this with a less-than-helpful manual and no tutorial what so ever, and you'll be scratching your head trying to figure out even the most simple tasks.
All in all, the game has it's good points, but it will take a very patient person to dig down deep enough to find and enjoy them. I'm not one of those people, I'm afraid. This game gets a 6 out of 11. Not a horrible waste of time, but there are much, much better time wasters out there for your perusal.
Final Score:
6/11
6/11
No awards this time, but the next review should have one, so stick around!
posted by Mr. the Tiger at 22:13
1 Comments:
Based on your discription of the menu it sounds like they ran out of space when replacing the kanji that was there in the Japanese version.
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