Influence Me, Post #1,000,000 in a series

[laceblade]

the_andy is The Shit, and sent me video games to play! SO THE QUESTION IS:

Poll #9601 Which game should I play first?!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

View Respondents

Which game should I play first?!

View Answers

Wild Arms (and then also Wild Arms 2)
2 (13.3%)

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
1 (6.7%)

Okami
6 (40.0%)

Beyond Good & Evil
2 (13.3%)

Odin Sphere
0 (0.0%)

Persona 4 (though I'd have to finish Persona 3 first and am finding head-shooting triggering at the moment)
4 (26.7%)

Comments

[wrdnrd]

OH MY GOD, PERSONA 3. >___________< Andy isn't allowed to play that if i'm at home anymore. Or, if he does, i announce myself before entering The Gaming Loft because of that one time i came upstairs and he paused the game JUST AS SHOOTING WAS HAPPENING. Goddamn, who the fuck thought that was a good idea???

I voted for "Okami" because it is, hands down, THE most gorgeous game i've ever seen. In fact, just the other day i suggested to Andy that he should play it again and he informed me that IT WAS IN A BOX ON ITS WAY TO MADISON. So now you GOTTA play it. PLAY IT FOR ME, JACKIE.

[laceblade]

OMG. Usually stuff like this doesn't trigger me, so I played the first part of the game just fine, but this past week, it's been triggery as fuck and now I'm all, NOOOO. I just want to play the school parts, ;_;

I'M SO EXCITED FOR OKAMI, :O

[wrdnrd]

BUT I AM GETTING VOTED DOWN BY THE PEOPLE. [pouts]

[laceblade]

It's only been 20 minutes, you can go get your friends to vote with you more people will vote!

[wrdnrd]

O-ka-mi! O-ka-mi!! O-KA-MI!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the_andy]

Okami is great, except for the couple over-sexualized characters. Oh, and the rulebook's instance that Amaterasu is male. Did they put that in there just for the US audience? Cause you can say that, but it's the sun goddess, man.

Also, if you're up on your mythologly the game is even funnier. As expected from a game with a pun for it's title.

[laceblade]

I suck at mythology, I think, if you mean Japanese mythology.

"Kami" means god, right?? I think I learned this from Evangelion and Kamichu! animes.

[the_andy]

Yes, Japanese mythology. Now I need to bring a bunch of books out to WisCon and get you up to speed. You'll soon be seeing magatama everywhere in anime!

Okami (大神) is god and okami (狼) is wolf.

[lileyo]

You don't have to play Persona 3 first! 4 is only tangentially related, plus no head-shooting, and the mechanics are almost identical but slightly better. Characters are just as badass. More gruesome murders, but I'm guessing that'd be okay (for you anyway, bwahaha); you don't witness them at least.

[laceblade]

It is good to know! My Internet osmosis of these games is weak.

Grumsome murders = I can deal. It's the self-inflicted gunshot wounds that make me kind of claw at my face.

[the_andy]

Yeah, the only connections between P3 and P4 are some easter eggs, otherwise they're separate games that use the same basic mechanic.

Combat in P4 is better, you can control everyone (though they default to computer controlled, annoyingly), and developing social ranks with party members gives you combat bonuses in addition to extra fusion XP.

P4's look takes a while to get used to after P3 (I LOVED P3's look), but in the end the bright colors and more relatable characters provide a refreshing break after the horrible murders.

Oh, and there's a stage that [SPOILER]!

[raanve]

I showed your list to Nick and had him answer. He thought about it for about a full minute & then said Castlevania. "It's the best game on that list." (This is a list of games I know Nick has played & enjoyed. I've seen a lot of them.)

He said he felt Wild Arms wasn't "that good". But he played it for about forever so, there you go.

[laceblade]

I WAS SURPRISED NOBODY ELSE HAD VOTED FOR CASTLEVANIA YET, TBH.

[the_andy]

I love SOTN as much as anyone, but you have to be in the right mood for it. After the first area it's pretty much "here's the castle, go find stuff" and "no we're not going to explain how magic works, idiot". Also, that whole second half of the game that YOU CAN MISS if you don't know what to do is a bit irritating.

Still an excellent game though.

[laceblade]

OMG, that not explaining magic sounds so annoying.

I almost broke the disc for the Harvest Moon (Protect the Homeland!) game I bought because NOTHING WAS EXPLAINED AT ALL and it was like, wtffffffff.

At least SOTN has like, atmosphere and shit?? Knowing this going into it, I'll have a guide ready.

[the_andy]

Also, the exploring aspects are mitigated by it having an experience system and some interesting weapons dropped by enemies. You may have not found the correct area, but that's easier to take if you gained a couple levels and found a sweet sword.

[the_andy]

Also, Nick is wrong, Wild Arms 1 is still a good game. Also, if you're feeling lazy and want to breeze through it has an item multiplication trick. And there are items that increase your stats. And you can find some in the very first areas!

Since WA1 is mostly 2D it's held up better in the graphics department that WA2. I would recommend peaking at a FAQ though: there's at least one part where it wasn't clear what to do next. Also, there are some items and techniques you can miss (in at least one case in an area you can't return too).

Damn, now I wish WA1 was available on a portable system, I want to play it again.

[the_andy]

WA2 has some interesting ideas, but I think WA1 stands up better. Part of it is graphics, but part of it is that WA1 has a ton of hidden stuff, but with a world small enough to manage by the end, while WA2 was a little too big. Still, WA2 isn't bad (otherwise I wouldn't have kept it) and if you have time by all means play it.
Also, though there are some ties between the two as far as names they're actually entirely separate games as well.

[the_andy]

Beyond Good & Evil should eventually be played for the same reason as SOTN; it's a benchmark game for a lot of reasons. I'm not sure exactly how well it holds up and I'm unclear at times if the game should be commended for having a diverse cast or slapped down for them being a little bit caricature-ish (heavily accented Jamaican rhino people).

[the_andy]

Odin Sphere is beautiful, but it takes a little while to get used to the combat. Don't be afraid to reply areas to get more experience and items, the game does like to throw tough bosses around. Also, as soon as you get good with a character you'll complete their chapter and have to play as someone else.

Still, any game where you can plant a seed, feed it the souls of your enemies, and have it grow sheep is at least innovative if nothing else. Oh, and eating food gives your HP XP!

[wrdnrd]

GROWING SHEEP IS WEIRD, MAN.

[the_andy]

You can also bring ingredients and special coins (not just any coins, oh no!) to a bunny lady who will cook you food that gives your hit points a lot of experience.