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I like petty politics type story its why I love FFTactics and Suikoden series because they supply it for me. I'm not fond of the combat system either but I actually feel it lends itself better to the story and world than a turn based traditional RPG mechanic. It keeps the flow between scenes feeling like a movie. Though before I say this, I will say that I feel ME2 has been a downgrade in terms of gameplay from the first. ME1 is at least an interesting mix of 3rd person shooter with RPG mechanics making a hybrid kind of genre, whereas ME2 feels like a 3rd person shooter with an RPG dialogue tree attached. They kind of lobotomized customization and party building in ME2, to the point I wondered why they bothered to implement the systems in the first place.

Story is subjective so I am not going to knock anyone who doesn't care for it but for me, the game fulfilled a serious craving I've had for a few years. I may have to see if I can find my copy of Baldur's Gate 1 my friend gave me, see if I can actually get into it this time.

For some reason, I never got into ME. To me, after Baldur's Gate, Fallout 1-2 and NV, and Planescape: Torment I tend to be very picky about my story-driven WRPG's. The combat annoyed the piss out of me (I prefer character skill over player skill in my RPG's and ME was too much like a shooter) and the plot and characters just weren't very engaging.

I will say that the production values were absolutely fantastic though and set a new standard for game presentation.

I agree with Shlup.

I also agree with your points about Persona 3 and SMT in particular though. I think a hell of a lot more needs to be done to make battles interesting again in FF, and a large part of that would be helped by making combat more challenging, and making everything useful at least some of the time. Far too many of the games have allowed you to basically spam one attack or type of attack and win.

And the NPC's example from Persona 3 is particularly good. I'll admit I've never beaten Persona 3 (my god how I've tried. 3 separate attempts, the first two ending with me putting it aside for too long and forgetting what happened and the last one ending when my save file was lost after my original PS3 died), but it is possibly my favourite RPG ever made overall. And a large part of that was because the character interaction, even with random NPC's around town, is so unbelievably compelling. No other game I've played has done NPC's so well, and expanded the game world so well as a result.

Originally Posted by Depression Moon

Yeah I definitely agree with you about Persona 3's NPC from what I can remember of the game I never got to finish. The weakness mechanic also sounds fun and challenging. I can't say I'm that much of a fan of alchemy though. In IX I wouldn't have cared if it was there or not considering I was using stuff for the synthesis that I wasn't going to use later anyway, so it didn't feel much different to me than just buying armor and weapons from a regular shop. DQVIII's alchemy was both appealing and unappealing to me. Too many items were really vague on where to get the ingredients from and even looking them up online didn't help as I found no information as to where exactly I can get those items.

There are certainly weaknesses with DQVIII's and IX's systems but my point was to create a fun mini-powering experience for players and reward for hunting down items through a Thief or by getting rare drops or going off the beaten path. It actually adds more rewards to collecting items and it will also allow the programmers to play with drop rates so we never have to experience getting Pink Tails or Onion Gear again. Overall, it can be reworked and made more user-friendly but I would still like to keep with the playful testing of what goes with what to make something new. I honestly had no issue just experimenting with different items until I got something. I found it fun.

I also never felt in one bit that Chrono Trigger was holding your hand in the game. The obscurity of triggering some of the events late in CT was frustrating as hell like with Frog's.

Up until the Black Omen arrives, there is only one way to progress the story, that is what I mean by "hand holding".

Though you do bring up a good point, but I will have to disagree, I actually like that unlocking some events were not so easily and required exploring, paying attention and having to talk to everyone after every event. Figuring out Frog's quest with Cyrus or Marle's with the Rainbow Shell were really rewarding for me because it involved having to explore around, talk to people, and pay attention to what comes across as minor details. I mean in the old school days of RPGs, the replay value of a game was based around how hard it was to uncover everything.

Strategy Guides have pretty much killed replay value in RPGs. They were not meant to be completed on a first try, rather they were meant to be replayed and experimented with until you uncovered something new. I may not have gotten the awakened Masemune for Frog in my first playthrough, but when I finally figured it out on my subsequent playthroughs, I definetly felt a sense of accomplishment that is rare in gaming today.

To Schlup: I'll hijack a studio and get on it.

Make me an RPG, please.

Yeah I definitely agree with you about Persona 3's NPC from what I can remember of the game I never got to finish. The weakness mechanic also sounds fun and challenging. I can't say I'm that much of a fan of alchemy though. In IX I wouldn't have cared if it was there or not considering I was using stuff for the synthesis that I wasn't going to use later anyway, so it didn't feel much different to me than just buying armor and weapons from a regular shop. DQVIII's alchemy was both appealing and unappealing to me. Too many items were really vague on where to get the ingredients from and even looking them up online didn't help as I found no information as to where exactly I can get those items.
I also never felt in one bit that Chrono Trigger was holding your hand in the game. The obscurity of triggering some of the events late in CT was frustrating as hell like with Frog's.

The point of the NPC is to make them feel like real people by making them have problems that exist outside of the plot. Considering most RPGs have been skimping on towns or playing more with Hub Towns, I don't think it would be hard to implement nowadays. Still, I think it would be a nice treat to watch these mini-stories unfold as you travel across the globe and stop evil empires and genetic experimentation from getting artifacts of doom. It's a treat for players who bother to check back on NPCs.

I agree with your points about Persona's NPCs (I love Spacey Girl and Errand Boy <3) and SMT's weakness system. Until FFXIII it was just Attack Attack Attack. Then it became Auto-Battle, Auto-Battle, Auto-Battle but at least defense and buffs/debuffs were given great importance. But I think it may be difficult to make it worth talking to specific NPCs often without making it a huge sidequest. In FF you're running around the world to many continents, sometimes even many countries, not around town where you see the same faces every day.

It's an awesome game dude, I've yet to try Brotherhood and I'm gonna hold off on Revelations, but it's good to know that I got some really good adventure games ahead of me.

Awesome review! I played the game and pretty much enjoyed it. I just like the end of the world feeling the game gives. I agree with almost everything you've said. I kind of enjoyed the plot though, but that may be because I like these sort of themes...and wasn't Yuzu annoying? UGH!

Good luck with Nocturne. I gave up playing it because of the ridiculous difficulty. I mean, it sucks having to battle a boss just so that you can die first, and try again with the right elemental combinations right?

I forgot to mention how fun the achievement were, I generally ignore them cause they are mostly just time sinks but I honestly had fun doing them in AC2, especially when some of them are completely absurd like spending 5000 florins on prostitutes or kicking a guard while flying on Da Vinci's flying machine. I also forgot to mention the sheer amount of history in this game, as a history buff I was well pleased to learn more about an era and place I knew very little about. I've actually been reading more books on Renaissance Italy and the Italian families like the Borgias and Medici. The historical element is actually my favorite part of the series.

I've also picked up the PSP entry Bloodlines, but it will probably be awhile before I start that. While I love Ezio, I still have a soft spot for Altair, and I'm looking forward to being able to play him again in Revelations.

I have to say you summed up my feelings on the game just about perfectly. If I had to pick one thing that made the huge difference going from AC to AC2, it has to be variety. Variety in the locations, variety in the tasks you complete, variety in the weapons available to you, and even in how you can hide from and escape enemies. It's just a much richer world with more likable characters, and doesn't require you to complete the same handful of tasks a half dozen times (or more when it came to saving civilians). Of course it helped as well that the controls felt a bit tighter and combat was less of a pain in the ass. It actually felt more button-mashy to me for most of the game, but the original was so frustratingly bad that that was actually an improvement.

As much as I love the first Assassin's Creed, I just can not go through the whole game again after playing the second one, which is why I always tell anybody wanting to skip it to play AC1 first or never. And I want to play Brotherhood! I'm tired of running into spoilers whenever the topic of Revelations comes up

I definitely agree with you about the monotony comment with the first. I think they improved upon it a great deal in the sequels.

wouw ive actualy read the whole thing ^^
glad u enjoyed ac2, caus i certainly did to.

ACB is also a great game, though i found some -points.
(SPOILER) the first thing is the map.. it looks awesome but i really enjoyed the exploring in the previous games, including the traveling between maps.

in AC2 i thought: 'wouldt it be cool if i could ride the horse in town!? ' .. .. .. No, its not cool. it ruins the game becaus when u think 'jeez im tired of climbing' u wistle to yr horse and just runn of -.-
.. . the temptation to make it yrself easyer is always to big. and since there are no consequenses when u run ppl over it just spoiles the fun of it.

and in my opionion the biggest spoiler of the game is the actual brotherhood. when u have that, all the fun is ruined.
it just makes it to easy to go to a 'boss' whistle your brotherhood and sit back and relax. Ive tried not to use it at all, becaus i want some challenge but unfortunatly sometimes u just have to.
and once again, using the brotherhood has no consequenses for Ezio, and so ruins the challence and fun of it


if i were to replay one of these games it wouuld without a doubt be AC2. to me that one is the most perfect balances of the 3 games..
Now just have to wait for Revelations ^^

It was not fully explored i feel...They could have added a much bigger variety of aspects to the gameplay like in the sequels.. Plus its annoying that everyone speaks in a middle eastern accent while Altair speaks in a very american accent :/ Sorta ruins it a little! But atm....Brotherhood is the game for me! Its come a looooooong way from AC1 xD

Yes u do

I need a PS3 ;(

Just in time to be caught up for when Revelations is released!

The three-part comic series that came out around Brotherhood's release is based around that period in Russia. The writer's let on that a game for Nikolai, the comic's assassin, isn't out of the question for them. I think it would be awesome to play a part in the Tunguska event. If you're a story man, you should check out the comics, they're called The Fall iirc. The story is really, really interesting.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed AC1. A lot of people I've talked to about it quit playing once the gameplay reveals itself to be repetitive, and that's just sad to me. It's such an incredible game. Despite the later entries having better gameplay, AC1 is my favorite simply for its story. And Altair is such a badass. You definitely won't be let down with 2 or Brotherhood though. The gameplay never gets boring, or feels repetitive, and the story just keeps getting better and better.

And if you're down for even more ACness, you should check out Assassin's Creed: Lineage, a three-part movie Spike played a bit before 2 was released to hype the game up/advertise, and to shed some light on the conspiracy backstory involving Ezio's dad.

I've already started on AC2 and I'm quite amazed at how much they overhauled the game (for the better) compared o the original. Makes me feel bad for Altair cause he'll probablt never get as much love as Ezio, seeing how he's working on his third console game and Altair only has his crappy original title and two handheld titles the main games mostly ignore.

Cliffhangar endings don't bother me as much but had I played AC1 back when it came out without knowing their was a sequel, I'd be a little annoyed cause I can understand why the game got mixed reviews, so I wouldn't know if the story would ever be resolved.

Part of me is hoping that a future installment in the series will be set in Russia between WWI and the Russian Civil War(basically 1910-1930). I'm happy to know the team will be avoiding WWII, so maybe a little Russian history would be nice. I want to see Rasputin, and then try to kill him a dozen times before he goes down.