Siliconera Speaks Up: We Want More

By Louise Yang . January 18, 2009 . 8:30am

Siliconera Speaks Up: We Want More

Last week, we talked about certain aspects in gaming we didn’t like. This week, let’s be positive and talk about what we like and what we’d like to see more of.

 

Siliconera Speaks Up: We Want MoreJenni: Well, I love to see when companies take chances on games that we’d normally never get to see outside of Japan. Atlus and Xseed always seem to be great at surprising gamers with titles we’d oogled a few months back when they debuted in Japan, but never expected to see translated. I’m always excited whenever I hear either company has a new title coming out. I’d love to see other companies take more risks when localizing.

I also like genre bending games, it helps keep fresh and more interesting. Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which could be considered both an adventure and puzzle game, is a good example, as is Persona 4, which is both a life simulation and an RPG, and Rune Factory 2, a farming simulation and dungeon crawler. I think its because the lines are blurred in these games that I find myself continually playing or replaying.

 

Siliconera Speaks Up: We Want MoreSpencer: I tend to enjoy and remember video games with stories. As a whole games are better at storytelling than before. Ninja Gaiden was one of the NES games that experimented with cutscenes. Now it seems like every game has them and a purpose for the protagonist. Some of these stories are pretty good too! The Phoenix Wright games come to mind for being witty, Klonoa is a tearjerker, and there are too many RPGs to name here. Since stories are important companies are investing more into writing them and localizing them. Chrono Trigger may have not changed much, but one can look back at all the different versions of Final Fantasy IV to see how video game writing has evolved.

 

Siliconera Speaks Up: We Want MoreLouise: It might sound silly or superficial, but I would love to see more games show their characters wearing whatever equipment they currently have on. This mostly applies to RPGs. I really liked it in Ragnarok Online and always wondered why more games didn’t do this.

While I was playing Persona 4 and upgrading my armor and weapons, I kept wishing I could see pictures of these strangely named objects. Sure, we see different weapons during fights, but I’d love to see my party members running with their different weapons and armor while exploring in the dungeon.

This was one thing I liked about Too Human. In addition to the stats boost, finding new armor felt rewarding because I could see my character wearing it. It makes sense to do it on an MMO, so you can show off your new gear to everyone else, but I’d like to see more of it in single player games.


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  • Volcynika

    Louise mentioned one of my favorite things! I remember playing Shining Force EXA (not a great game, but a great example), and I had this really awesome setup of armor and weapons, and it just looked great to see all that equipment be represented on the character, rather than just having some default look with stats changing. Stuff like that makes me enjoy the game that much more.

  • Volcynika

    Louise mentioned one of my favorite things! I remember playing Shining Force EXA (not a great game, but a great example), and I had this really awesome setup of armor and weapons, and it just looked great to see all that equipment be represented on the character, rather than just having some default look with stats changing. Stuff like that makes me enjoy the game that much more.

  • http://www.cigarettesandcoffee.com/ jeffk

    One of my favorite things about The World Ends With You was the character-level slider, which could be adjusted at any point during the game. Dropping yourself to a lower level boosted the drop rate, resulting in a nice risk-reward system, and I’d love to see more RPGs pick up on that.

  • http://cigarettesandcoffee.com jeffk

    One of my favorite things about The World Ends With You was the character-level slider, which could be adjusted at any point during the game. Dropping yourself to a lower level boosted the drop rate, resulting in a nice risk-reward system, and I’d love to see more RPGs pick up on that.

  • Aoshi00

    A movie theater that lets you view various cutscenes later at your own leisure, even Prof. Layton and Jeanne D’arc have it. Sometimes there are so sweet cutscenes and I don’t feel like fighting a hard boss to view it every time, don’t know why they didn’t include that in Crisis Core.

    Also, if the discs have enough capacity, not including the original Jpn track is a little vexing given both US & Jpn version of the game have the same built. Many games, eg. Sonic Unleashed, Ninja Gaiden 2 etc, all have both Eng. & Jpn, text and audio. I wish all games have this too.

  • Aoshi00

    A movie theater that lets you view various cutscenes later at your own leisure, even Prof. Layton and Jeanne D’arc have it. Sometimes there are so sweet cutscenes and I don’t feel like fighting a hard boss to view it every time, don’t know why they didn’t include that in Crisis Core.

    Also, if the discs have enough capacity, not including the original Jpn track is a little vexing given both US & Jpn version of the game have the same built. Many games, eg. Sonic Unleashed, Ninja Gaiden 2 etc, all have both Eng. & Jpn, text and audio. I wish all games have this too.

  • http://veryimmature.blogspot.com Geoff

    The world needs more SRPGs with town/world exploration. Shining Force and La Pucelle aren’t enough.

  • http://veryimmature.blogspot.com Geoff

    The world needs more SRPGs with town/world exploration. Shining Force and La Pucelle aren’t enough.

  • Guest

    I really enjoyed Xenosaga because of the story, plot twists, mystery, and the graphics in the 3rd episode.
    So I’d like to see more games that span multiple discs (.Hack G.U. is also a good one) and have a well thought out story line. As well as having smooth graphics and mysteries that are gradually revieled to you as you play through the series.

    Side Note: I also like the bad arse dudes that don’t care what people think as the protagonist too. Haseo, Dante, others?

  • CK

    I really enjoyed Xenosaga because of the story, plot twists, mystery, and the graphics in the 3rd episode.
    So I’d like to see more games that span multiple discs (.Hack G.U. is also a good one) and have a well thought out story line. As well as having smooth graphics and mysteries that are gradually revieled to you as you play through the series.

    Side Note: I also like the bad arse dudes that don’t care what people think as the protagonist too. Haseo, Dante, others?

  • Snow Gurl

    We need more Black, Asian, Latino, Arab, and gay (male or female) characters in games.

  • Snow Gurl

    We need more Black, Asian, Latino, Arab, and gay (male or female) characters in games.

  • jeffx

    @jeffk: yup that slider was ridiculously AWESOME. Kinda like the experience vs gold option in Lunar DS, but done RIGHT!

    @Geoff: Do you speak the truth or what? I’d like to see more non-linear SRPGs.

    As for me? SHMUPs SHMUPs SHMUPs! I want to see more companies taking chances on this awesome genre. There’s barely any text to translate in most cases.

  • jeffx

    @jeffk: yup that slider was ridiculously AWESOME. Kinda like the experience vs gold option in Lunar DS, but done RIGHT!

    @Geoff: Do you speak the truth or what? I’d like to see more non-linear SRPGs.

    As for me? SHMUPs SHMUPs SHMUPs! I want to see more companies taking chances on this awesome genre. There’s barely any text to translate in most cases.

  • Nick Doerr

    This might sound silly, but I'd like to see more boss battles. A ton of the latest generation of games seem to forget the sheer awesomeness of a gigantic beast that forces you to rely on some clever strategy to survive, instead of giving us a “big scary new enemy” that becomes regular fodder later on in the game. Dead Space had two great bosses. Two.

    Heavenly Sword had bosses, but they were humanoids, mostly.

    I guess I just miss the gigantic creatures that don't hesitate to crush your heart and soul in a moment's notice. Or maybe I'm playing the wrong games. As much as I loved Valkyria Chronicles, nothing ever felt like a “boss” fight, except for the gigantic tank mission in the first third of the game.

  • http://myanimelist.net/profile/Kuronoa Kuronoa

    I agree with “SHMUPs SHMUPs SHMUPs”! Especially danmaku. I kinda stick at them still but they are fun to play. ^_^

    I would also like boss rush modes in more games.

  • daizyujin

    I would like to see more developers take a region free standpoint. I have to say this is a huge selling point IMHO with the PS3.

  • vicviper42

    I want side-scrolling platformers to make a comeback. Specifically, I want to see more franchises “return to their roots” a la Megaman 9. A new side-scrolling Sonic game would be phenomenal. I also want to see more humor in games, you never really see very much of that outside the occasional point-and-click adventure.

  • http://next-zone.blogspot.com vicviper forty-two

    I want side-scrolling platformers to make a comeback. Specifically, I want to see more franchises “return to their roots” a la Megaman 9. A new side-scrolling Sonic game would be phenomenal. I also want to see more humor in games, you never really see very much of that outside the occasional point-and-click adventure.

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