I have been a previewing machine lately. And by lately I mean “within the past 24 hours.” See:
Etrian Odyssey II
Although this write-up ultimately degenerates into obligatory F! O! E! references, the path it takes to reach that point is fairly lengthy. Circuitous, even. I tried something a bit different from usual with this one and dared to insert some first-person pronouns into the preview. First-person singular. None of this silly Royal We nonsense! I did a fair amount of fact-checking on some of the gameplay details that remain obscured by the language barrier, so I’m confident that the parts I state as fact are correct and the parts offered as speculation… may not be.
Anyway, sometimes you can tell when I’m in love with a game, and I’m pretty certain this is one of those tragic cases where my heart is on my sleeve.
Fez
Also, this is another one. I think I’m out of things to say about Fez at this point, though, having blogged about twice, talked about it on the 1UP Show, on EGM Live, and in this preview. I mean, it’s just a one-level demo. Let’s have some perspective here, eh?
Bangai-O Spirits
Bangai-O remains my favorite Treasure game to this day. I think I just appreciate the fact that it’s quirky and challenging without being all ridiculous about it, unlike, say, Alien Soldier. It’s also more leisurely than most of their stuff, since you can take your sweet time getting through the levels. Of course, once you get going it promptly kicks your hinder, but at least you can sort of go at your own pace. That’s important to me, for some reason. I hate being rushed. Anyway, ah, the DS version does things no one ever knew were possible with the hardware, and apparently it’s going to have about 150 levels and a level builder and a bizarre, impractical system that lets you transfer save info with friends through WAV files. Oh, Treasure.
Crisis Core
Oh, yeah, and Crisis Core. If you’ve seen the latest EGM you already know that I really enjoyed Crisis Core despite myself. I’m as surprised as you are.
You might also have noticed that 1UP has undergone some changes, beginning with the scoring system and ending with vastly improved performance… or so I hope. Please to enjoy.
Even on Gamespite there’s an F.O.E.!
I have only two question about Bangai-O.
1.) Can you still do a 400 missile Superbomb?
2.) Is Sabu in the game?
I cannot stress the importance of these points enough.
1Up.com actually loads at normal speeds now…amazing!
I also have just one question about Bangai-O:
Is the “put yourself in danger to unleash hot death” mechanic still there? I’ve been finding conflicting reports on the internet. Some people say you charge up to release a hail of bullets.
Yeah, it wouldn’t be Bangai-O otherwise. The more stuff on screen, the more you can retaliate with.
I love the fact that 3 of those 4 game are portable. To remedy Fez’s situation, I motion that SCEA should hookup Kokoromi up with a nice a exclusive contract to get the game on PSN and help them enable PSP remote play.
I’m serious. Parish, pass this on. Please.
“Yeah, it wouldn’t be Bangai-O otherwise.”
Sweet. I was worried about that, I’m glad the rumors were unfounded. Now all I need is an online Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and I can finally retire my Dreamcast. Alas, that’ll never happen.
Scrolling down the comments page F.O.E.!
Yay on the superbomb! And I’m not worried about Sabu. It wouldn’t Bangai-O without him either.
I don’t know anything about characters because I wasn’t allowed to see the story bits as they’re currently untranslated. The fact that Treasure is doing the localization internally gives me great hope for a deliriously nonsensical English-language version, though.
I have invested a lot of hope in Bangai-O spirits. It’s the third of my four favourite games of all time to be sequeled in the last few years, with the first two (Yoshi’s Island 2 and NiGHTS 2) getting disappointing reviews. Treasure, do not let me down.
Obligatory Parish Must Play Treasure’s Astro Boy reminder F.O.E!