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Ten Most Anticipated Games of 2005
Gamemethod writes "We've highlighted ten of our most anticipated games for 2005 spanning each major platform from PlayStation 2 to Nintendo DS to PC. While our feature by no means intends to be comprehensive or to denote that we're not looking forward to other games, these ten titles stand out as the most impressive of what 2005 has to offer. There are exclusive galleries of Gran Turismo 4 and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth as well as a lengthy developer interview with the Call of Cthulu producer."
A new Zelda game is coming out for GC. But that's bad because it's bad when Nintendo uses their franchise characters. Oooo Gran Turismo 4!!
"Derp de derp."
Facing competition from a host of other role-playing game, our list of anticipated game wouldn't be complete without naming Final Fantasy XII...
...as the most promising of them all.
Agreed...
Urg. No. No more Final Fantasy. Square fooled me with IX, that was supposed to "return to the roots" but just sucked. (It's hard to explain, other than "lackluster plot and annoying gameplay.") Square tricked me with Final Fantasy X, offering a new gameplay style that wound up being yet another power-gamer uber-level fest system with an extremely linear and boring story.
And then Square raped the franchise with Final Farming XI, a game so plagued with flaws and outright boredom that I vowed never to buy another Final Fantasy game ever again. They finished off that convinction to never buy another Square product with Final Fantasy X-2, The Search for More Money and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals, The Quest for More Gameboy Advance Sales.
Final Fantasy XII is supposed to be "like Final Fantasy XI." If that's true, then NO. I am NEVER going to buy another game from Square EVER AGAIN regardless of content. Final Fantasy XI is without a doubt the WORST online game I've ever played. Combined with server issues to put World of Warcraft to shame (remember the time the servers were inaccessible for OVER A WEEK?) and a gameplay system that rewarded powergamers above all else (hey, why would someone want to only level up one class? Let's force 'em to level up two!), the game was a total stinker.
Ultimately, I'm not looking forward to Final Fantasy anything any more. Square's fooled me enough in the past, I won't be tricked by Final Fantasy XII, We Won't Try Something New.
... is Metal Gear Acid, I've got the Japanese version on import and the story is just very weird and because it's a card game it gets very tedious. Why do I need to use cards to move across an empty room after killing all the enemies?
Because that's what's really going to be the big news for this year.
Wait for E3.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Zelda looks better the way it's 'always' looked...
You mean like a cartoon?
About the only games where it didn't look strictly cartoonish was Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Other than that, cartoon all the way.
Of course, I still feel like they've been overly kid-ifying Link, and would like to play an older Link because, let's face it, I've grown a little since 1987, but still - he's always been a cartoon.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
" Zelda is not. It looks 'stylish' or whatever, but I really wish they would have just left it alone and made it look like 'normal.' Zelda looks better the way it's 'always' looked..."
.... yeah I think so. Would that have detracted from the game? Probably not. So yeah, I can see eye to eye with ya on this one. To make a long story short, what you're saying right now wouldn't cause me to write a scathing reply, and I hope you don't feel included in my generalization.
Though I don't entirely agree with you, I understand your point of view. You'd prefer the other look, right? I don't have a problem with that statement. If that's what ya said, I doubt you'd be one of those that I was thinking of. To a point, I agree with you.
There were some who treated it like Nintendo pooped on the franchise. And man, I just don't agree with that. I think their stylistic choice was good. It was pleasing to the eye, and nicely animated. Would the game look better with the style used in the original GameCube trailer?
"but I really wish they would have just left it alone and made it look like 'normal.' Zelda looks better the way it's 'always' looked..."
Ehh... I don't see Wind Waker as being that drastic of difference from Ocarina. His head is shaped a little different, but I wouldn't say one is much more realistic than the other. What we saw in the GC SpaceWorld demo.. that was a new animal altogether.
Maybe though, I'm just looking at it from a different perspective. I create 3D art for a living. So maybe I'm seeing it like "It wouldn't be much of a switch for me to go between the styles of Wind Waker and Ocarina, but it'd take significantly more time to represent the new style Nintendo has created Zelda with recently." (Sorry for my less-than-grammatically-correct writing style here.)
"Derp de derp."
Just replying to just about everyone who replied to me...
First of all, I realize that Zelda has been pretty cartoony for most of the series, but I think that you can't really call the NES versions cartoony...maybe the SNES one, and the N64 ones did have a certain cartoony quality to them. Hence the quotes.
However, I did like the way they were going. It wasn't totally realistic, because the world wasn't totally realistic...but I liked the style of the N64 Zeldas. They struck me as very Zelda (I've played most of them).
Does anyone remember the ill-fated games for the....iCD, was it? The 'PlayStation?' the CD add on to the SNES? That's what I thought of when I saw Wind Waker. It just struck me as very un-Zelda. The graphics are quite beautiful...but I liked A Link to the Past, was obsessed with Ocarina of Time, and couldn't really find myself getting into Wind Waker that much. Just a personal prefrence, but I'm just trying to give my OP and everyone else some reasons of why a lot of us don't like the new cel shaded look.
I think I understand what you mean - you don't like the new art style they're using. And, honestly, neither do I.
Between Majora's Mask and the Wind Waker, they completely altered the art style. The "new" style is used in the Four Swords, Wind Waker, and the Minish Hat.
Link used to have a very anime-ish look to it. You can look at this album from the Ocarina of Time, specifically young Link and old Link. Compare with art from Wind Waker (like Link posing).
I don't like the new style either. But the problem wasn't with the cel-shading - it's with the change of art styles. The new style is very "cartoony" and not quite as "animeish" as it used to be. The problem most people have with Wind Waker isn't really with the "cartoony look," it's with the change in art style.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.