|
Post by vnisanian2001 on Sept 22, 2013 23:06:21 GMT -5
On IMDB, someone claims that the movie version was reshot in some places, and that the original cut released in Japanese theaters is locked away in Toho's film vault. I have yet to see this claim verified.
Of course, I shouldn't put 100% faith into IMDB.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 23, 2013 6:54:05 GMT -5
To those who have beaten the game, are there any items you can tell me definitely aren't needed anymore after a certain point? I feel like I'm lugging around stuff that won't get used again... I'll have to think back but off the top of my head, there's only two locations you need the Flashlight for. Unfortunately I kept it with me the whole game because of the movie and how the killer shadows were everywhere.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 23, 2013 15:17:52 GMT -5
On IMDB, someone claims that the movie version was reshot in some places, and that the original cut released in Japanese theaters is locked away in Toho's film vault. I have yet to see this claim verified. Of course, I shouldn't put 100% faith into IMDB. I imagine that there's some truth to it from what I've found (I'm trying to dig up some info, hopefully enough to justify a rewrite of do an addendum to the Dark Prince's article). In the mid-90's there was a lawsuit by the film's director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, against Toho and the producer, Juuzo Itami. Where I'm seeing conflicts in information is that some sources say that it's over royalties from the home video release, while others say he was suing because among other things Itami reportedly re-edited the film prior to its release, and forced the casting of his wife in the leading role (Nobuko Miyamoto, who played Akiko). Also, something I realized when looking at the credits - the film's score was done by none other than Masaya Matsuura, who did the music for Parappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy. So now we know where all those bizarre out of place upbeat musical cues came from, xerxes---now that I think about it there's a lot of similarities to the incidental music in the cinemas between levels in those games.
|
|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 23, 2013 15:37:05 GMT -5
Wait, you're telling me they got the guy who did Parappa the Rapper's music to score a horror movie?! That makes even less sense than most of what happens in the Sweet Home film!
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 23, 2013 15:46:15 GMT -5
Wait, you're telling me they got the guy who did Parappa the Rapper's music to score a horror movie?! That makes even less sense than most of what happens in the Sweet Home film! Well, to be fair it was 8 years prior to Parappa . There's apparently a gamebook based on Sweet Home as well (think "Fighting Fantasy" or "Lone Wolf"). And on that topic, I just found a gamebook based on the American movie "House," Snarboo...
|
|
|
Post by kal on Sept 23, 2013 20:52:38 GMT -5
I hope they're compatible with Queen's Blade.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 23, 2013 23:29:36 GMT -5
I hope they're compatible with Queen's Blade. Dude, you just made me have an image of Asuka with giant boobs in bikini armor. I'm not sure what to think of that.
|
|
|
Post by vnisanian2001 on Sept 25, 2013 13:57:48 GMT -5
Speaking of the movie, I noticed some people saying both were made simultaneously. I'm pretty sure the movie was made first, because if you watch the end credits, it ends with a 1988 copyright date, obviously indicating when it was completed. The game must have been developed right after that, and took a whole year to make, with both versions being released on the same day.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 25, 2013 14:36:19 GMT -5
Speaking of the movie, I noticed some people saying both were made simultaneously. I'm pretty sure the movie was made first, because if you watch the end credits, it ends with a 1988 copyright date, obviously indicating when it was completed. The game must have been developed right after that, and took a whole year to make, with both versions being released on the same day. Yea, I was looking info up the other day and they came out during opposite ends of 1989 - the movie came out in January IIRC, and the game came out in December. There's an interview I read with the game's producer that said that it was being developed concurrently, though - I'll have to find where I put that link.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Sept 30, 2013 16:59:25 GMT -5
Ok, so show of hands, who's beaten the game so far? I know Sotenga and I have both beaten it, anyone else? What were your thoughts of the final battle?
|
|
|
Post by kal on Sept 30, 2013 19:57:58 GMT -5
As you'll learn when the Podcast eventually gets finished, I did not finish it for reasons.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Oct 1, 2013 17:59:44 GMT -5
As you'll learn when the Podcast eventually gets finished, I did not finish it for reasons. I'm looking forward to your excuse (just kidding). Seriously though the beginning hour or so (up to the generator) is a bitch. And people who aren't old JRPG fans (looking at you, bobinator) will not have fun with the random encounters. It's too bad there weren't more map enemies like the bats and armor so you could avoid them
|
|
|
Post by kal on Oct 1, 2013 19:41:30 GMT -5
As you'll learn when the Podcast eventually gets finished, I did not finish it for reasons. I'm looking forward to your excuse (just kidding). Seriously though the beginning hour or so (up to the generator) is a bitch. And people who aren't old JRPG fans (looking at you, bobinator) will not have fun with the random encounters. It's too bad there weren't more map enemies like the bats and armor so you could avoid them Honestly I think the beginning hour is the stronger part of the game, you're not sure what to expect but your direction is fairly clear - you're not sure how much life you'll have and the enemies are a constant threat. Plus the BS status effects haven't shown up yet.
|
|
|
Post by Feynman on Oct 2, 2013 1:53:06 GMT -5
Honestly I think the beginning hour is the stronger part of the game, you're not sure what to expect but your direction is fairly clear - you're not sure how much life you'll have and the enemies are a constant threat. Plus the BS status effects haven't shown up yet. I would agree with this statement. Liberal use of the Call command will power your party up very quickly, and after an hour or two actually dying in combat stops being a thing you need to worry about. I love the adventure game aspects and the two-party system, but holy shitballs do those random encounters ever get annoying. I have nothing against random encounters in RPGs, but completely nonthreatening random encounters for most of the game that serve absolutely zero purpose other than to pad the length of the game out are annoying as hell, especially when the game starts to require more backtracking. Map-based enemies like the bats and armor are great, and Sweet Home would have been a much better game with more of that... in fact, static, non-respawning, map-based enemies would have gone a long way towards making the resource management elements of the game more meaningful. Regardless of the RPG elements not meshing well with the overall flow of the game, it's still quite fun! Searching out clues, solving minor item/lock puzzles and piecing together the history of the manor and the sequence of actions needed to exorcise the final boss is great. Even though the basic concept would be executed far better in the future with games like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil, it's damn impressive for a Famicom game.
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Joestar on Oct 2, 2013 7:06:52 GMT -5
Honestly I think the beginning hour is the stronger part of the game, you're not sure what to expect but your direction is fairly clear - you're not sure how much life you'll have and the enemies are a constant threat. Plus the BS status effects haven't shown up yet. I would agree with this statement. Liberal use of the Call command will power your party up very quickly, and after an hour or two actually dying in combat stops being a thing you need to worry about. I love the adventure game aspects and the two-party system, but holy shitballs do those random encounters ever get annoying. I have nothing against random encounters in RPGs, but completely nonthreatening random encounters for most of the game that serve absolutely zero purpose other than to pad the length of the game out are annoying as hell, especially when the game starts to require more backtracking. Map-based enemies like the bats and armor are great, and Sweet Home would have been a much better game with more of that... in fact, static, non-respawning, map-based enemies would have gone a long way towards making the resource management elements of the game more meaningful. Regardless of the RPG elements not meshing well with the overall flow of the game, it's still quite fun! Searching out clues, solving minor item/lock puzzles and piecing together the history of the manor and the sequence of actions needed to exorcise the final boss is great. Even though the basic concept would be executed far better in the future with games like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil, it's damn impressive for a Famicom game. Shit, now you're going to think I'm plagiarizing you when my article comes out, you took most of the words out of my mouth. I have mixed feelings (I hate resource engagement in survival horror games), but overall I think the enemies should have been better balanced, and I definitely agree that they should've had map-based enemies. Once you get some decent weapons and learn to abuse the call command or spam Pray, the new challenging enemies you encounter are not a threat, you'll level up, and then you can beat them easily with a two person party. Most of the "challenge" in the game is more of an inconvenience or roadblock to take up time, and less of a skill issue (like the dreaded "wind" status effect, or any status effect for that matter). One thing that I thought both was frustrating but also kind of cool (in that it took some skill and timing) was how you had to rescue party members from the quicksand traps. And if you failed, the trapped party members were dead (unlike other traps that just did damage to you, and gave you a wider berth).
|
|