Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 2/22/2006 2:57 AM · Permalink · Report

A lot of people play games so that they can do in them what they cannot do in real life. Like shooting random people and beating up whores. Now, the moment a game allows them to do that, they get excited and call that "freedom of gameplay". What kind of freedom is that if you can ONLY do that? You can't be nice to people in GTA III. You can't decide yourself what to do on your missions. There is no interaction with the world and nothing else beside a few gimmicks. Does someone actually remember that in Ultima VII you could sleep with whores too? And kill them? And kill random people on the streets? You could do all that. But you could also be a good person and help people. THIS is freedom of choice. And, there was a really huge world with interaction, NPCs, conversations, party members, books, items... of which GTA III has none.

Arrrrrgh, I can't stand GTA III and the cult following it created. This is one of the most unfair things that ever happened to the industry.

Okay, I'll stop, I'll stop :)

Mobygamesisreanimated (11069) on 2/21/2006 3:03 PM · Permalink · Report

I can understand why people like it, it isn't a terrible game. I was just surprised to see it getting 90%+ ratings from so many mags and websites. It has an unusual setting, unusual story and a certain charm. It's very good technically and gameplay is decent for the most part (though there are some problems that I have mentioned in my review). One thing that bothers me though, is that so many people got so excited about it and seem to think that it's something special or innovative. Again, it's not downright bad, but as far as game-design is concerned, it's not very impressive (read: boring and uninspired).

Maw (832) on 2/22/2006 12:56 AM · Permalink · Report

Starcraft. I have no idea why everyone loves it, it's just Warcraft II with a slightly improved GUI and better graphics. Sure you could argue that it refines rather than innovates, except it doesn't really refine either. Basically it comes down to "build a base, pump out a billion zerglings/tanks/whatever, kill the other guy before he does the same to you" the same stuff Warcraft II was about three whole years previously. It's a total micro-fest where the guy who can click the mouse fastest wins. Strategy my foot. :S

Warcraft III is pretty much the same, except Blizzard tries to incorporate a few cheap RPG elements like inventories, hero classes, etc. Plus there's an atrocious build limit so "battles" consist of about 10-15 units per side whamming each other. Still, multiplayer is pretty fun with Bnet support, and it comes with good multiplayer maps out of the box, so that's one thing they did right I guess.

If you ask me Warcraft II was and still is the high point of Blizzard's real-time strategy games. Starcraft and Warcraft III are IMO way overrated.

The Fabulous King (1332) on 2/23/2006 3:21 PM · Permalink · Report

Well, I said it mostly as a protest against that Fallout-is-the-messiah-of-RPGs kind of attitude which can be found almost everywhere a la "This game is not an RPG , where is Fallout when you need him" or "Fallout, why hast thou abandoned us". What was so SPECIAL about Fallout anyway. Well, beside the system....maybe the setting also(for mutants are not elves). Fallouts were also linear, the illusion of non-linearity came from a weak narrative. Looking at the year (1997) when Fallout came out, it was already possible to do a game with a strong narrative and strong story. Fallout 2 was a theme park, the sense of non-linearity came from side-quests which had usually 3 choices. In Fallout 1 most of the time you stumbled around, and suddenly the game ended. I found that Master guy when I played the game through 4th time. Dialogue was boring also. Fallout had some interesting ideas, but he is not the Messiah.

Indra was here (20755) on 2/25/2006 10:26 PM · Permalink · Report

Over-rated:

1. Empire Earth
   
2. Age of Empires 3
   
3. Shadow of the Colossus
   
4. My IQ level
   
5. Warcraft III
   
6. Stronghold II
   
7. Quest for Glory 2 (subjective of course)
   
8. Men's ability to withstand sexual urges...

Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 2/26/2006 5:32 AM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start monkeyislandgirl wrote--] [Q2 --start Luis Silva wrote--]Two come to mind:

-The whole RPG genre is way overrated, but that's to blame on my dislike for the genre. I never got that much into Fallout, and found all Final Fantasy games dreadfully boring.
[/Q2 --end Luis Silva wrote--]

Uh oh...Oleg's gonna have a fit!! lol j/ks [/Q --end monkeyislandgirl wrote--]

LOL, I still haven't recovered :-/

Indra was here (20755) on 2/27/2006 12:39 PM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Unicorn Lynx wrote--] [Q2 --start Luis Silva wrote--]found all Final Fantasy games dreadfully boring.
[/Q2 --end Luis Silva wrote--]

Tell me where you live so that I can come and kill you!! ;-) [/Q --end Unicorn Lynx wrote--]

Let me know the address too! Grrr.

Haha. Anyway, I do admit, RPGs are an acquired taste. Not many young gamers I know are that interested in RPGs as it seems to be reserved for most hardcore gamers.

I asked a fellow younger gamer his opinion about RPGs. He answered "A game with lots of dialogs". Somewhat an odd answer if your familiar with RPGs, but for someone not familiar with the genre, I do understand his viewpoint.

But throwing the ball, I'm against the brain-dead FPS genre. Hah!

Indra was here (20755) on 2/27/2006 12:43 PM · Permalink · Report

I think Baldur's Gate was over-rated. Don't recall why but I didn't like it very much.

Anyone wants to know my address so they can kill me? :)

Gonchi (3590) on 2/27/2006 9:59 PM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Unicorn Lynx wrote--]Speaking of which... KotOR is overrated?! Why do you think so? [/Q --end Unicorn Lynx wrote--]

Well, there were several reasons, but besides it’s length (or lack thereof), KotOR oozes console port. Controls, combat, the interface, the dreaded mini-games... shrudder

Just overall (as I don't intend to write a review), I found the game very simplistic. Planets felt claustrophobic in their layout, lack of locations and exploration, with a large dose of NWN's “clear the area” feel.

The story was generic. The writing was childish and dialogue was a joke, where different choices result in the same response, or if you didn't like the outcome you could just redo them to your hearts content. Role-playing was also fairly inexistent, and so was non-linearity.

I didn't like the way party interaction was handled, and the fact that "followers" level up with you regardless of their inclusion in the party was plain cheese.

I like Adventure games, so I have no problem with Puzzles, but those thrown into the game have been so overused and don’t fit the setting or the goal that they just make you wonder why they were placed in the first place.

Little interaction with the game world, an underdeveloped crafting system, unbalanced weapons with a clear emphasis on melee over ranged, swords you can use to duel with lightsabres, swords for god's sake! I half expected to run into an elf... there were other minor qualms, like not being able to use force jump to avoid the acid pool for example, but I've already typed more than I intended.

I don't know, KotOR felt very RPG-lite to me, or even Action/Adventure-ish. It was fun, sure, but I have serious issues about classifying it as a cRPG, let alone the best of all time as many claim, or even the year (an award I feel it won only due to lack of competition).

Anonymous Gamer (161) on 3/4/2006 7:26 AM · Permalink · Report

I feel I must step in here and defend Morrowind. While Morrowind is by far not perfect, I can't think of any other RPG that gives you as much freedom and modability that it does.

I haven't played Morrowind since I beat it about a year or two ago. I'd like to go back to it and pick it up again, like a good book. Try a different character this time around.

Still I can see why it might lose some people. It is rather grand and one can get lost in it. It's much like Derek Smart's Battlecruiser series, for every ten people who loathe it there's at least one person who adores the incredible depth built into the game. ('Course, I wonder if some people merely hate it because they just hate Derek Smart grin).

Neverwinter Nights disappointed me the first time around I beat it, no argument there, but there's something about that game that brings me back.I guess I just need a D&D fix from time to time.

On a side note,

Inderanta of the Clan Depari, I see your exasperation that I listed Rome:Total War and Starcraft as over-rated, but take solace that I was amazed to find out that you think Quest for Glory II is overrated.

I'll stick to my guns on Starcraft, but I will say this, Rome: Total War is a little over-rated. I just don't find it as deep as it should have been. It's basically a big game of Risk with Romans. I love the RTS aspect of it but the strategic map should have been better, more fleshed out, and there should have been a multiplayer strategic game.

Just my two cents :)

Mike

Zovni (10504) on 3/7/2006 12:43 AM · Permalink · Report

I would say. In any event the game is pretty good, dunno why it's getting so much flak here.

Unicorn Lynx (181775) on 3/11/2006 4:12 AM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start Dr. Von Katze wrote--] If a game can't manage to provide some thrills in the first hour, it gets a bad review. Developers have one goddamn job: entertain us. And we mean now, goddamnit, not in six hours.[/Q --end Dr. Von Katze wrote--]

I can't really agree with this... well, maybe it's true when applied to shooters. But when you play an RPG, you can't judge it after one hour of playing. An epic story cannot develop with too much speed and intensity. It takes time to get used to characters, game system, setting. I usually form my opinion about an RPG after at least 10-15 hours of playing, not before.

For example, I'm playing Xianjian Qixia Zhuan 3 Waizhuan: Wen Qing Pian now, and after 10 or so hours of playing I thought it was a boring and uninspired game. Then I decided to give it one more chance. And I saw how the story picked up and started developing... like missing pieces of a puzzle coming together. Now I'm eager to finish the game. What would happen if I discarded it too early?