Going against the grain...

[Sketcz]

hmm, topics warming nicely.

Shenmue 1 > Shenmue 2

Shen1 in almost every way is infinetly better than Shen 2.

Shenmue 1, a masterpiece that allowed every gaming nerd to live out their phantasy: being a Japanese high school student.

Graphics, story, locales, atmosphere, everything were better in 1.
People prefer 2, but I dont know why, ever NPC was random, and pointless, with no history. In 1, everyone had a history and background, and house. I should know, I stalked them......
I prefered the immersion in 1, in 2 everything seemed cut back. Random NPC's, crappy polygon models for the ears, characters you just didnt care about.

[Concept]

hmm, topics warming nicely.

Shenmue 1 > Shenmue 2

Shen1 in almost every way is infinetly better than Shen 2.

Shenmue 1, a masterpiece that allowed every gaming nerd to live out their phantasy: being a Japanese high school student.

Graphics, story, locales, atmosphere, everything were better in 1.
People prefer 2, but I dont know why, ever NPC was random, and pointless, with no history. In 1, everyone had a history and background, and house. I should know, I stalked them......
I prefered the immersion in 1, in 2 everything seemed cut back. Random NPC's, crappy polygon models for the ears, characters you just didnt care about.

Hmm. I think they're both great and compliment each other in different ways.

Shenmue feels a lot more intimate and 'warmer' in many ways. Yet Shenmue II feels vastly amibitious, epic and breathtakingly huge... The effect one might feel if they travelled away from a town where they knew people, to a gigantic foreign city where so many faces seemed the same...

Personally, because Shenmue as a project was developed continuously up to a point, I think it's difficult to separate both games whose development with each other was so clearly intertwined. I just think if you ever get the chance to play both titles back-to-back, their contrasting atmospheres really work brilliantly to convey the sense of a journey. Shenmue II offers more freedom of choice, yet it also loses player environmental-connection, because you move about and shift location a number of times throughout the game. There is no fixed 'home' as in the original. Having said that, I do think Xiuying, Fangmei, Joy and Shenhua are definately better developed female characters than the likes of Nozomi and Ine. And I much prefer Ren as Ryo's partner-in crime than Guixang. Ah... I've just remembered how much I love this series.

Both games are utterly superb. Sometimes though it feels going against the grain admitting one likes Shenmue, when you consider many think the series is an awful failure.

As for myself on the subject of this thread...

Well, this year I've found it difficult getting into Animal Crossing to any significant degree, despite picking it up based on previously overwhelming positive opinion. I know it's a game I should like, and I've tried to like, but it's just never clicked with me.

[M?bius_One]

The hostility towards Zelda series, Metroid, Mario Kart suprises me but you're entitled to your own opinion

My turn:

The Gran Turismo series are over-rated and dull

All PC FPS games lose their appeal after 5 minutes

The Final Fantasy series went downhill after FF6. FF7 did not make a single iota of sense, but I enjoyed FF8's love story

Rez is over-rated. So is Radiant Silver Gun.

[nips]

GTAIII and GTA:VC are a bit ****!

I can appreciate why they are cool, and the whole living breathing city is cool... but the games are just dull... Steal a car, drive around, avoid the cops, crash, busted, ****! or Steal a car, drive around, avoid the cops, mission complete!

I just don't enjoy it!

I think MK64 is a really good game, and Super Mario Sunshine is one of my favourite games this generation. I really, really enjoy it!

[Sketcz]

Well said Concept.
I know people have said that it was meant to convey being in a foreign country, NPC's had no background since you didnt know them etc.
Perhaps it wasnt for me, but I really did love Shenmue 1. (wether its going against the grain or not )
I just like... "being".
A little kung fu, then a quick soda drink. Oh no, now its raining, time to visit that old man again... etc.

Hmm, as for RS?
Too complex for a shooter, I never really got into it. The fact there something like 8 different weapons, and a combo system that needs crystals, colors, numbers and a whole lotta else to get good scores in, meant it was just too much for me.

XBOX Live: Not a game, but a system that many love. I hate it.

Broadband only "+" no modded xbox's "X" monthly bills "=" me very annoyed ft:

[IcePak]

Sonic 2 is the best one

Damn straight. They messed up Sonic 3 with excessively large, confusing levels. Plus, the music in Chemical Plant Zone rules.

No way man. Sonic 3 & Knuckles is the ultimate Sonic experience. The larger levels give room for lots of exploration, replayability, and more speedy sections. It also had cutscenes that revealed a pretty good story (for the time).

Don't get me wrong, Sonic 2 is a great game, but I feel it's too much of a rehash of Sonic 1. Sonic 3 & Knuckles took the series in a new (and better IMO) direction, which the series needed.

[IcePak]

I think Halo is distinctly average and Goldeneye is a headache inducing 20 fps, blurry screened load of old bollox.

There, I SAID IT!

I totally agree with you in regards to Halo. It's a highly overated game, and in no way lives up to the hype it is given. How it ever got a 10/10 in Edge is beyond me.

IMO however, I still believe Goldeneye to be the best console FPS. And it's one of my all time favourites. I can understand the dislike if you only played it in recent years, because it looks a bit dated now.

[IcePak]

I don't think Project Gotham is a good as MSR - Worse handling, horrible soundtrack, no real-time daylight system, no amusing adverts on the radio. They took out everything I liked about the first game. ft:

I fully agree with you about that. The handling in the PGR games was poor, and MSR was so much more fun. The inclusion of the 911 and F50 unbalanced the gameplay IMO (even though I love both cars in real life).

[IcePak]

Final Fantasy 7 on the other hand was dull & repetitive, with annoying random battles that dragged on for an eternity of New Kids On The Block songs.

I definitely agree with you about the repetativeness of FF7. It got to points where I was was like "why am I even bothering to play this?". The story is the strong point of the game, which is why I suspect so many people love the game. I don't hate the game, and I equally don't love it, but I can see the points both for and against the game. It is highly overrated these days, but it's far from a bad game.

[IcePak]

I prefer Mario Kart 64 over the much praised SNES version. It's pure multiplayer madness. It sucks as a single player game though.

I hate the GTA series. Apart from going around, beating people up, and causing general havok (which only remains fun for 10 minutes at a time) the game is utter crap. I like the 80's theme of Vice City, but it doesn't make the game anymore playable than the rest of the series.

Halo is highly overrated. The first few levels are ok, but then the level design and gamplay become very repetative, thus boring. Multiplayer (on PC) makes for some good fun, but I still prefer a lot more games over it. Goldeneye is one of them.

Turn-based RPGs are becoming more and more monotonous. Give them a action-packed story, and an excellent battle system (ala the Grandia series) and they are quite good. But the Square-esque style of RPGs is becoming very tiresome, and bleeding the genre dry of quality.

FPS are a dime a dozen - they are all the same these days. The genre needs to be overhauled into something better. I especially hate war-based FPS's (although I didn't mind multiplayer Battlefield and MoHAA).

[IcePak]

hmm, topics warming nicely.

Shenmue 1 > Shenmue 2

Shen1 in almost every way is infinetly better than Shen 2.

Shenmue 1, a masterpiece that allowed every gaming nerd to live out their phantasy: being a Japanese high school student.

Graphics, story, locales, atmosphere, everything were better in 1.
People prefer 2, but I dont know why, ever NPC was random, and pointless, with no history. In 1, everyone had a history and background, and house. I should know, I stalked them......
I prefered the immersion in 1, in 2 everything seemed cut back. Random NPC's, crappy polygon models for the ears, characters you just didnt care about.

I prefer Shenmue II because it's more epic, the story is more action-packed, and it gave you more freedom. Don't get my wrong, the first game is great, and something everyone deserves in their game collections, but IMO I prefered the full-on type gameplay of the sequel over the more laid back gameplay of the original.

[jtorry]

For me the gamecube is massively over rated. I was so excited about it before its japanese launch and paid a fair bit to get one from Lik sang at launch. I loved Luigis mansion, but that only lasted two evenings. Since then I have been dissapointed by everything. I own more gamecube games than I do for any other console, but I don't think I have played any of them for more than a few hours. I don't understand how the cube is doing so well at the moment and how mario Kart seems to be selling well, even though it is the most infuriating game I have ever played. Anyway, for me the gamecube is the most dissapointing console of the last two generations.

Other things.
PGR2 is the best racing game ever. Gran turismo series is boring.
All turn based RPGs bore me. In fact most RPGs bore me.
Halo is the best FPS ever (is this against the grain?).
Animal crossing is the most over rated game ever. I have owned this three times, but I simply don't get what is so great about it.

[Abhisara]

Well, my favourite Mario game is not Super Mario 64 or Super Mario World or even Super Mario Bros 3, but Super Mario Bros 2.

I know that SMB3 and SMW are better games, but I've always enjoyed SMB2 more. If you gave me a copy of Mario All-Stars, the first game I'd play would be SMB2 - all the way through to the end.

[IcePak]

I dislike Star Fox 64. I like the idea, but the execution of these ideas was done poorly. I do like the first level of the game, but everything after this is pretty lame.

1080 on the N64 is overrated. It is a fairly decent game, but I much prefer Steep Slope Sliders on Saturn.

[bowser123]

Well I thought I was the only one but judging by the posts on here I am not alone. I can't stand Halo .Maybe it's because I don't like FPS but I find it to be dull and boring. I really don't like the game in multiplayer, would much rather play something like Mario Kart in multiplayer. Orta is the best game on the XBrick IMO.

Mario Kart 64 is far, far better than Super Mario Kart.
Couldn't really get into the SNES version when it 1st came out, playing it retrospectively I just can't see the appeal personally. The handling is superb on the SNES version though, but that's it really.

Mario Sunshine isn't awful. Frustrating? Yes. Dire in places? Yes. Better than Mario 64? No.
However none of these points make me feel that there isn't a better 3D platformer than Sunshine, bar Mario 64, around. When this game is good, it's wonderfull. And it has Yoshi.

Burnout 2 is the greatest, non Mario Kart racing game around. For me I would take it over GT, PGR, Colin McRae, Wipeout, F-Zero, etc.

Metal Gear Solid is boring as hell. Metal Gear Movie would be more applicable as 99.9% of that game is movies. I hated it.