Is it just me, or are many videogames lately putting us through a lot of unnecessary crap before the actual game starts? Does anyone else miss the good ol’ NES and SNES eras, when you turned on the power switch, and ker-blammo, title screen within a second or two? You press start, and the game, you know, STARTS? Taking loading times on CDs and DVDs into account, it’s still a painfully long wait nowadays. Before we even GET to the titlescreen in a lot of games these days, there’s ‘Presented by X Company’ ‘Produced by X Company’ ‘Copyright 200X’ ‘In association with string of names’ ‘Also on the payroll: another name’ ‘Janitor at the mens washroom during time of production: another name’ You get the (albiet exaggerated) idea. AND THEN, there is usually an opening movie, thankfully most games can have that skipped. Then the title screen comes up. At which point you have to wait for more loading, and if it’s your first time playing through the game, very long and sometimes unskippable opening sequences which while are helpful during the first run, become annoying if they cant’ be skipped on consequtive plays. Then, depending on the game, there is another long sequence of an intro stage and/or tutorials. This process can take from 10-40 minutes, depending on the game.
I guess I just miss games that didn’t jerk you around. I mean, with all the tutorials in game, why do they even bother printing instruction manuels anymore? Instructions shouldn’t go in the game! If the people who play it didn’t read the manuel, then it’s their fault for not knowing that suchandsuch a button activates whatchamacallit skill. Look at SMB1, insert cart, press power and (hopefully, depending on how old your machine is) Titlescreen comes up INSTANTLY, games don’t DO that anymore. Press start, and you’re in the game right away!
Guess this is just a big rant, but still, instructions should go in the manuels, and credits should go in the credits (duh)! Just let us play the freaking /game/.
I gotta agree with you there- there’s too much recation and not enough action in games of today. In RPGs, where the story is a central element, yes, some explanation of what’s going on isn’t so much nice as essential, but in games like Mario? No. And definitely not to the extent that there was in MGS or MGS2- I’ve not watched any FMV fully twice, and the second time I played MGS2 I cut about an hour and a half off the finish time by zipping through the codec screens.
However, tutorials are better than manuals IMO- they let you play the game for yourself, and work it out better, rather than simply saying “read and play”.
I agree, Some games do have a problem with this, and need to take the tutorials out and stuff, but most games these days make the tutorials optionial and so, I guess I can’t really complain about it. I do miss the good ol’ days when you could just push though…
Yeah, like in FFX where the intro when you turn on the game is the same as the introduction to starting a new game. A lot of games I’ve played let you quickly skip through the produced by, etc., credits. It is a pain, I agree.
I totally agree. I hate having to press the Start button 7 times just to get to the title screen (assuming the game will LET me skip the introductory credit crap).
And attacks, dude, attacks. It’s pretty the first time, but afterwards, <i>damn</i>. I’m replaying Legend of Dragoon through, and I’m quite thankful you have an option of turning the transformation sequences off, but unfortunately, you can’t turn the magic casting off, which is much LONGER. Stuff like that.
Originally posted by Dragonessa, I just couldn’t word it any better I totally agree. I hate having to press the Start button 7 times just to get to the title screen (assuming the game will LET me skip the introductory credit crap).
Because it’s less work to make lots of cinematics than actual gameplay. And because there’s a lot of people out there who buy the games for the graphics, and the graphics in the cinematics are usually above the average for the game.
And because they are sadists who like to torture us with endless waiting.
Actually, I have no real idea why it is like that. All I know is that I don’t like that it is like that.
You know what? They should have a mini-game like pong or something during loading times…like in SotN, you could make the “Loading…” text swirl around. I mean, c’mon…if FLASH games can have them, why not DVD-quality games?
Originally posted by Devillion I think games have gotten to cinematic in general. I also hate when summons are like, ten mineuts long…>_<
FF7: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I Summoned Knights of the Round.
FF8: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I summoned Eden.
FF9: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I summoned Ark.
Originally posted by KaiserVonAlmasy Style over substance, packaging over content, sound and fury signifying nothing and all that stuff…
Games are turning into DBZ then?
Originally posted by Valkyrie Esker I’ve taken to reading books while I wait for it to load entirely. I can usually get through at least a page before my PSX is done loading.
I once summoned Ark, went to the bathroom, washed my hands, brushed my teeth, went back to my bedroom and it STILL wasn’t over.
Originally posted by Seraphim Ephyon I once summoned Ark, went to the bathroom, washed my hands, brushed my teeth, went back to my bedroom and it STILL wasn’t over.
that and eat 2 slices of pizza is what i can do lol that summon was really messed up
<img src=“http://www.rpgclassics.com/subsites/twistedrpg/images/hero/rirse.gif”> I know what you mean. After so many stupid logos and silly loading screens, I just want to play the game. At least Nintendo tries to keep it simple at times. Even so I do wish the opening scroll in Metroid Prime could be shorted.
Well, at the same time, you could always just <b>not</b> summon the big long-animation guys. It’s not quite long attack animations that I’m griping about, but it’s true they are also becoming a big problem. But my point is, I’m getting tired of all the crap you have to go through before the actual <i>game</i> starts.
I especially hate long sequences (summons) when you have time limits. I mean, you pick your strongest summon, unfortunately the clip is long- but hey, you’re so strong, it will kill him in one hit, right? When the movie is over you discover that the enemy was immune to the element you used, you did 228 damage instead of 9999 and you have 1:03 minutes left to beat him. Yay.
Originally posted by Seraphim Ephyon
[b]FF7: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I Summoned Knights of the Round.
FF8: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I summoned Eden.
FF9: I wanted to ram a knife trough my wrists every time I summoned Ark.
See a patern here? [/b]
That’s nothing `Any Star Ocean fan knows about the pain in the ass that is Ashton’s attack called Tri Ace…it just went on and on and on…I summoned it only 17 times and probably lost 35 minutes of my life.
