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Nov. 13th, 2010 02:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tammaiyaUpdate time!
I am making headway into Lost Oddyssey. Briefly I changed the voice-acting back to Japanese, but I couldn't deal with Seth - I usually like low female voices, but it was too low, it just sounded wrong, especially for her character - so I'm leaving it on English now, although I might toggle it here and there when I get new characters so I can hear the difference. I do so like being able to choose. Another reason to stick to English is that it allows me to space out a bit when I'm tired (which is a curse and a blessing) but more to the point, lets me compare the differences in dialogue. It's a pretty well-done localisation-style translation. It's not completely literal to the Japanese, but it makes the characters sound natural in English in a way that's been true to the nuances except in a few minor situations. It reminds me of the FFXII translation, actually, since I played the International version with a similar situation of English voice-acting/Japanese subtitles.
One thing I can't help finding exceedingly frustrating, though, is the hair that hangs in Kaim and Jansen's faces. Especially when it defies gravity and sticks there when they lean forwards, gaaaah. It's such a small thing, and yet it has the capacity to annoy so greatly. I just want to shove it back. It's impractical, illogical, occasionally impossible, and it doesn't even look good. :( I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the character design as a whole, actually. I keep changing my mind on whether I like it or not.
Tonight I watched a documentary about ASIO and Russian spys with my parents. It was all a bit frightening, the kind of things ASIO got up to in the 60s and 70s. I'm not entirely convinced they don't still. Dad told me he once got vetoed for a promotion in the public service during the anti-communism period by a Liberal member of government for his "leftist tendencies" (i.e. being a member of the Labor party). Ah, the land of civil liberties... creepy.
In other bothersome news, I made a bunch of long-overdue appointments yesterday, which included a visit to the doctor today and to the hairdresser next Thursday. According to the doctor, I may have something slightly wrong with my immune system. Other than diabetes, that is. I probably just had a virus or something when the test was done, but I need to have a further test breaking it down just to be sure. Ho-hum. I also need to decide what to do with my hair, which is always such a trial for an indecisive person who no longer just does the same thing every time. I was considering cutting it shortish again, but mum thinks that's impractical, and if I'm not going to go the whole hog, I'm not really motivated to do more than trim the split ends. If it's long, I'd like it to actually be long. (My hair has never been super long - it doesn't grow past a certain length - but it's certainly not short at the moment. I'm fairly tall and it reaches just over halfway down my back when it's straight.) That does not even begin to address my troubles regarding how to have the fringe cut and what colour to dye it... gah. I'm thinking of going a middling-to-darkish semi-permanent brown this time, when it starts to grow out the faded colour should be closer to my natural colour and the tone shouldn't be too different to the current maroonish red.
Meanwhile, my vague tossing up over whether or not I really want an e-reader - would I use it? Can't read in the bath with it, and I still have an objection to the idea of paying almost as much for a digital file as for actually physically owning something - has turned into concrete longing for a kindle when I realised how many out-of-copyright things I want to read, and also that you can convert cbr files to display on it. This is to say nothing of my desire for a PS3... or a new, unbroken DS that is not held together with stickytape and can actually be taken out... or various and sundry books... or...
You get the picture. It's hard, being a consumeristic whore. Especially when you don't have the income to match. :( /self-mockery
So anyway, meme-time!
Day 3 - A game that is underrated
Most games that I love get the popularity they deserve, I think, at least in Japan if not in the West. However, there are nevertheless a few contenders for this category.
1. Tales of Hearts: Underrated by EVERYONE, except maybe critics. A recent instalment in the "Tales of" series; it came out in December 2008, while I was living in Japan. It was the third title Tales Studio had released on the DS, and I was pretty wary after their first two attempts. Tempest was appalling, with unplayably bad gameplay, and Innocence was fun enough but just not at the same standard as the best Tales games. I wasn't really that interested by Hearts, although the demo at Tokyo Game Show did change my mind a little. When I picked it up, though, I LOVED it. I never felt like it was restricted by being on the DS, or that they'd forced it onto the wrong platform and it could have been better on PS2. It was a full 80 hour RPG with a rich assortment of subevents, and I enjoyed it every bit as much as my favourite PS2 Tales games. It reminded me a fair bit of ToD Remake, actually, I think it may have had the same dev team.
However, Hearts has never made it out of Japan, which is a TRAGEDY. And unlike some other unlocalised Tales titles which nevertheless have a pretty big following in Japan, it's even pretty underrated by the Japanese fanbase, because it was on DS and because it was overshadowed by Tales of Vesperia, which had come out 6 months prior. Not that I don't love ToV, but. D: ALAS.
2. Suikoden Tiekreis: Underrated by fandom. You know, I'm not sure how much attention this game actually got, but it doesn't have much of a fandom in English. I don't see people talking about it that much. And again, I don't know how well the game itself did in Japan, but it has a fairly moderate number of fansites, which is sad, because it has such great characters and such a vibrant world.
3. Seiken Densetsu 3: Underrated by its own developer. You know, a lot of people have heard of Secret of Mana for the SNES. It was a fun game, and could probably stand a bit of a revival itself. Anyway, Secret of Mana was called Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan - sequel of a game that didn't see the light of day in English until the release of Sword of Mana for GBA a few years ago, and prequel to Seiken Densetsu 3, which only ever made it to English by virtue of a fan-translation. It was a good fan translation, from what I recall - I played it in English, YEARS ago, when I could barely string two words of Japanese together - and as far as I know was actually reasonably popular amongst the kind of gaming fans who play emulators. And yet, it has never been officially ported. Square remakes SD1 for GBA and releases it in English, nothing happens with SD3. Square makes three new Mana games after about 10 years have elapsed since Legend of Mana, nothing happens with SD3. Square releases Secret of Mana/SD2 on Virtual Console in both English and Japanese, and... you get the picture. They haven't even put SD3 on Virtual Console in Japanese. They remake FF1 (which I LOATHE WITH A FIERY BURNING PASSION) a billionty-one times, and yet they can't even be bothered to release SD3 through Virtual Console. WHY THE HATE, SQUARE? D:
Okay, yeah, I think those are the main ones. And I generally don't have much of a clue what kind of scores the critics give, so I don't know if any of these games are critically underrated or if any other games I like may fall in that category. *shrug* Whatever, I answered the question in my own way.
... Why are there no questions about HORRIBLE games, anyway? Since I've referred to two such things in answering this question, I realised...
Day 1 - Very first video game.
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you’re playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time.
I am making headway into Lost Oddyssey. Briefly I changed the voice-acting back to Japanese, but I couldn't deal with Seth - I usually like low female voices, but it was too low, it just sounded wrong, especially for her character - so I'm leaving it on English now, although I might toggle it here and there when I get new characters so I can hear the difference. I do so like being able to choose. Another reason to stick to English is that it allows me to space out a bit when I'm tired (which is a curse and a blessing) but more to the point, lets me compare the differences in dialogue. It's a pretty well-done localisation-style translation. It's not completely literal to the Japanese, but it makes the characters sound natural in English in a way that's been true to the nuances except in a few minor situations. It reminds me of the FFXII translation, actually, since I played the International version with a similar situation of English voice-acting/Japanese subtitles.
One thing I can't help finding exceedingly frustrating, though, is the hair that hangs in Kaim and Jansen's faces. Especially when it defies gravity and sticks there when they lean forwards, gaaaah. It's such a small thing, and yet it has the capacity to annoy so greatly. I just want to shove it back. It's impractical, illogical, occasionally impossible, and it doesn't even look good. :( I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the character design as a whole, actually. I keep changing my mind on whether I like it or not.
Tonight I watched a documentary about ASIO and Russian spys with my parents. It was all a bit frightening, the kind of things ASIO got up to in the 60s and 70s. I'm not entirely convinced they don't still. Dad told me he once got vetoed for a promotion in the public service during the anti-communism period by a Liberal member of government for his "leftist tendencies" (i.e. being a member of the Labor party). Ah, the land of civil liberties... creepy.
In other bothersome news, I made a bunch of long-overdue appointments yesterday, which included a visit to the doctor today and to the hairdresser next Thursday. According to the doctor, I may have something slightly wrong with my immune system. Other than diabetes, that is. I probably just had a virus or something when the test was done, but I need to have a further test breaking it down just to be sure. Ho-hum. I also need to decide what to do with my hair, which is always such a trial for an indecisive person who no longer just does the same thing every time. I was considering cutting it shortish again, but mum thinks that's impractical, and if I'm not going to go the whole hog, I'm not really motivated to do more than trim the split ends. If it's long, I'd like it to actually be long. (My hair has never been super long - it doesn't grow past a certain length - but it's certainly not short at the moment. I'm fairly tall and it reaches just over halfway down my back when it's straight.) That does not even begin to address my troubles regarding how to have the fringe cut and what colour to dye it... gah. I'm thinking of going a middling-to-darkish semi-permanent brown this time, when it starts to grow out the faded colour should be closer to my natural colour and the tone shouldn't be too different to the current maroonish red.
Meanwhile, my vague tossing up over whether or not I really want an e-reader - would I use it? Can't read in the bath with it, and I still have an objection to the idea of paying almost as much for a digital file as for actually physically owning something - has turned into concrete longing for a kindle when I realised how many out-of-copyright things I want to read, and also that you can convert cbr files to display on it. This is to say nothing of my desire for a PS3... or a new, unbroken DS that is not held together with stickytape and can actually be taken out... or various and sundry books... or...
You get the picture. It's hard, being a consumeristic whore. Especially when you don't have the income to match. :( /self-mockery
So anyway, meme-time!
Day 3 - A game that is underrated
Most games that I love get the popularity they deserve, I think, at least in Japan if not in the West. However, there are nevertheless a few contenders for this category.
1. Tales of Hearts: Underrated by EVERYONE, except maybe critics. A recent instalment in the "Tales of" series; it came out in December 2008, while I was living in Japan. It was the third title Tales Studio had released on the DS, and I was pretty wary after their first two attempts. Tempest was appalling, with unplayably bad gameplay, and Innocence was fun enough but just not at the same standard as the best Tales games. I wasn't really that interested by Hearts, although the demo at Tokyo Game Show did change my mind a little. When I picked it up, though, I LOVED it. I never felt like it was restricted by being on the DS, or that they'd forced it onto the wrong platform and it could have been better on PS2. It was a full 80 hour RPG with a rich assortment of subevents, and I enjoyed it every bit as much as my favourite PS2 Tales games. It reminded me a fair bit of ToD Remake, actually, I think it may have had the same dev team.
However, Hearts has never made it out of Japan, which is a TRAGEDY. And unlike some other unlocalised Tales titles which nevertheless have a pretty big following in Japan, it's even pretty underrated by the Japanese fanbase, because it was on DS and because it was overshadowed by Tales of Vesperia, which had come out 6 months prior. Not that I don't love ToV, but. D: ALAS.
2. Suikoden Tiekreis: Underrated by fandom. You know, I'm not sure how much attention this game actually got, but it doesn't have much of a fandom in English. I don't see people talking about it that much. And again, I don't know how well the game itself did in Japan, but it has a fairly moderate number of fansites, which is sad, because it has such great characters and such a vibrant world.
3. Seiken Densetsu 3: Underrated by its own developer. You know, a lot of people have heard of Secret of Mana for the SNES. It was a fun game, and could probably stand a bit of a revival itself. Anyway, Secret of Mana was called Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan - sequel of a game that didn't see the light of day in English until the release of Sword of Mana for GBA a few years ago, and prequel to Seiken Densetsu 3, which only ever made it to English by virtue of a fan-translation. It was a good fan translation, from what I recall - I played it in English, YEARS ago, when I could barely string two words of Japanese together - and as far as I know was actually reasonably popular amongst the kind of gaming fans who play emulators. And yet, it has never been officially ported. Square remakes SD1 for GBA and releases it in English, nothing happens with SD3. Square makes three new Mana games after about 10 years have elapsed since Legend of Mana, nothing happens with SD3. Square releases Secret of Mana/SD2 on Virtual Console in both English and Japanese, and... you get the picture. They haven't even put SD3 on Virtual Console in Japanese. They remake FF1 (which I LOATHE WITH A FIERY BURNING PASSION) a billionty-one times, and yet they can't even be bothered to release SD3 through Virtual Console. WHY THE HATE, SQUARE? D:
Okay, yeah, I think those are the main ones. And I generally don't have much of a clue what kind of scores the critics give, so I don't know if any of these games are critically underrated or if any other games I like may fall in that category. *shrug* Whatever, I answered the question in my own way.
... Why are there no questions about HORRIBLE games, anyway? Since I've referred to two such things in answering this question, I realised...
Day 2 - Your favorite character.
Day 3 - A game that is underrated.
Day 4 - Your guilty pleasure game.
Day 5 - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 6 - Most annoying character.
Day 7 - Favorite game couple.
Day 8 - Best soundtrack.
Day 9 - Saddest game scene.
Day 10 - Best gameplay.
Day 11 - Gaming system of choice.
Day 12 - A game everyone should play.
Day 13 - A game you’ve played more than five times.
Day 14 - Current (or most recent) gaming wallpaper.
Day 15 - Post a screenshot from the game you’re playing right now.
Day 16 - Game with the best cut scenes.
Day 17 - Favorite antagonist.
Day 18 - Favorite protagonist.
Day 19 - Picture of a game setting you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite genre.
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
Day 22 - A game sequel which disappointed you.
Day 23 - Game you think had the best graphics or art style.
Day 24 - Favorite classic game.
Day 25 - A game you plan on playing.
Day 26 - Best voice acting.
Day 27 - Most epic scene ever.
Day 28 - Favorite game developer.
Day 29 - A game you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite game of all time.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-12 04:02 pm (UTC)But I'll have to confess sth: I almost didn't play Suikoden Tiekreis because of the English dub. When the Eng version first came out, I was really very excited. I started the game and 10 seconds into the opening I switched my DS off bcos I couldn't stand the dub. D: I only played it properly after my friend who played the Jap version told me how awesome it was and motivated me to try again. And try again I did, and I totally fell in LOVE with it. I'm really happy that I played this wonderful game.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-12 06:14 pm (UTC)And I am predictable.