|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 10, 2015 17:28:55 GMT -5
I actually prefer episode three over episode two! I like the medieval setting more, and it feels like less of a slog when compared to the spider infested catacombs that is episode two. It helps that the weapons are more fun to use overall.
Also, I'm not sure which episode(s) Killcreek was responsible for. I've heard she did all the levels in episode one, which is probably the worst episode. :p
|
|
|
|
Post by alphex on Sept 10, 2015 18:56:13 GMT -5
According to Gamefaqs' credits for the game, John Romero wasn't involved as an actual level designer, just with overall design. Is that true? That'd probably be the worst idea ever. Guy designed great levels, so why would he sit that one out?
|
|
|
|
Post by moran on Sept 10, 2015 21:20:34 GMT -5
The puzzle solved tune sounds very much the one from Link's Awakening.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheGunheart on Sept 11, 2015 4:36:04 GMT -5
The level design in episode 1 has been a drag all around. Narrow corridors with little room to dodge (and plenty of places for your C4 launcher to attach by accident and explode in your face), punctuated by opaque "puzzles" that bring things to a halt as you try to find that one console that you can actually interact with.
The Marsh easily has one of the worst examples with the forcefield door that kills you instantly for walking into it and tantalizingly seems to have the way forward beyond. There are these big pillars with rotating parts that seem like obvious locks, but they aren't. There's a pond full of crocs and frogs below but all you have are your useless glove and an Ion Blaster that malfunctions horribly underwater. And the genuine way forward is an easy to miss canyon down in said pond.
|
|
|
|
Post by kaoru on Sept 11, 2015 7:38:19 GMT -5
Ahh, Daikatana GBC. It's strikingly similar to the Game Boy James Bond game, one of the last big B&W games. It's tempting to suggest they might somehow share code, but then developing a game of that nature is not especially difficult. I looked into this, actually. While not at all by the same people or the same code, Daikatana GBC was developed by a Japanese company called Will, apparently; they are also notable for Echochrome, Silent Hill Play Novel for GBA, and friggin' Sentai Bomberman. They did a lot of diverse stuff, even 18+ Visual Novels for PC. That's actually where I know Will from, I've "played" two of thir Boys Love VNs way back in the day, and everyone loved the Otome Under the Moon one when that got released. Actually, besides the DS Style Series, VNs are pretty much all they did in the last decade I think. |
|
|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 11, 2015 17:13:25 GMT -5
Beat the GBC version last night, and got a "D Rank" for my troubles. :p
Does anyone know what the ranking system in this version refers to? I can't quite figure out what contributes to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheGunheart on Sept 12, 2015 2:51:04 GMT -5
I'll admit, while I can put up with a lot of the PC version's bullshit, the sound design is unquestionably some of the worst I've heard and I'm surprised as far as I know that the 1.3 patch did nothing to remedy it.
It starts with the repetitive buzzing of robot bugs and the hokey clanking noise they make as the debris crash. Then you get the repetitive guard lines and annoying robot hydraulics stomping around in rooms you can't get to yet. And worst of all, the weird sound overlaid over every attack should you put points in "Power" that completely drowns out the weapon sound itself! It doesn't even sound like "power"; I've been thinking it was a glitch all this time because of how nonsensical and annoying it is!
|
|
|
|
Post by Weasel on Sept 12, 2015 11:37:13 GMT -5
And the voice acting above all else. It's no surprise at all that the players' "failed to use" grunts got recycled into fake porn audio by overeager fans. Mikiko's voice is...really unfortunate, in that respect.
"Hnngh! This...door won't open!"
|
|
|
|
Post by TheGunheart on Sept 12, 2015 13:58:31 GMT -5
I've died a couple of times with Superfly nearby and his overwrought emotional breakdown over a guy he met an hour ago is hilarious.
|
|
|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 12, 2015 17:15:40 GMT -5
Sometimes I wonder how much of Daikatana's stupidity was intentional. Was Romero making a joke that nobody else was in on?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2015 17:20:40 GMT -5
He wasn't making a joke, just making us his bitches.  |
|
|
|
Post by alphex on Sept 12, 2015 17:51:30 GMT -5
The weird thing is that the game's megalomania doesn't even show all that much. Sure, it tries to work in a ton of influences that weren't typical at the time of its release (JRPGs, mainly), and it has a hard time balancing all its ideas (the leveling system is weird, the story is not told very elegantly, the levels lack character, the AI is not good enough for what it's supposed to do, the swordfighting sucks), but really, it doesn't feel like it cost a lot of money and/or is heavy on wowing its players.
With DNF, you can tell that it features a ton of ideas that were developed over various redesigns and don't really fit together. Shenmue, released around the same time as Daikatana, tries its best to come off as epic and grandiose. But Daikatana? It's an episodic shooter set in four time periods, with AI companions and level ups. That's it, really. The GBC version has the same narrative.
The means of telling the tale (not necessarily the story itself) aren't exactly finetuned to the tale itself. The journey and the experience work rather well when presented Zelda-style, and that's kinda worrying. Doom doesn't work as a top down game, the whole feeling of the game changes. Daikatana? Not so much. Form doesn't follow function for this one.
|
|
|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 12, 2015 18:31:29 GMT -5
The means of telling the tale (not necessarily the story itself) aren't exactly finetuned to the tale itself. The journey and the experience work rather well when presented Zelda-style, and that's kinda worrying. Doom doesn't work as a top down game, the whole feeling of the game changes. Daikatana? Not so much. Form doesn't follow function for this one. That's true of a lot of modern games, too! You could easily adapt them to a new genre or viewpoint and they'd still work. I don't think that's a weakness necessarily, since some games completely fall apart if any part of the experience changes. What amazes me about Daikatana is how unintentionally forward thinking it was. John Romero's obsession with RPG mechanics and stats, as pointless as they are in Daikatana, would eventually bleed into newer games, to the point that almost every game today has them. There's also the glut of recent coop games like Gears or L4D, where you're constantly supported by AI teammates in singleplayer. Much like those examples, Daikatana almost seems like it was designed with coop in mind. The game plays much better without the constant deaths, or having to babysit the AI. |
|
|
|
Post by alphex on Sept 12, 2015 20:37:07 GMT -5
So, did you play this thing cooperatively for the podcast? (I have no idea if that is even possible as of 2015, as I suppose the original servers are long down)
|
|
|
|
Post by Snarboo on Sept 12, 2015 20:43:14 GMT -5
I've played it cooperatively before with a few of the forum regulars! This was a couple years ago, but I've been meaning to poke a few people to start a new coop session. :p I also used to play through Daikatana every couple years in solo coop games, which worked surprisingly well. You can save and everything, but that route is pointless now that the 1.3 patch allows you to toggle the sidekicks in singleplayer games.
IIRC, we used a VPN to connect to a LAN game.
|
|
