Other games to worry about: Square Enix Edition
Square Enix's decisions have been awfully bizarre this gen, bizarre enough that I'm starting to wonder what form of logic they're using. At this point, were nearly four years into this generation, given your definition of "this generation" applies to it beginning with the 360 launch and doesn't adhere to the Sony style "next generation doesn't start until we say it does." Thus far, just about all of Square Enix's games have received mixed reactions; also, their main game for this generation, Final Fantasy XIII, is still well off despite being shown for the first time at E3 2006. But still, there's always hope for the future, right? Well, that's not looking so good either, and a couple of the games announced by them at E3 2009 just make me scratch my head.
Nier was originally teased back in June's issue of Playstation: The Official Magazine. The strangest aspect of its unveiling is that it was more intriguing when it was still a secret whose only clues were contained in a literally thumbnail-sized screen shot in the pages of that very magazine. When the game was officially announced right before E3 began, people initially looking forward to it along with gamers who pay attention to all Square Enix announcements (not necessarily to hope that it's a Final Fantasy VII remake, of course!) gave a collective "well, huh" when the first screen shots and trailer were shown on the official website. The game itself, at least so far, looks odd and empty. Hearing that it's developed by Cavia, responsible for the promising-though-mediocre Drakengard games and the just-damned-mediocre 360 shooter Bullet Witch, doesn't really help matters at all.
The thing is: I really like Cavia's ideas. I was really disappointed when Drakengard, a game telling the story of a man who makes a pact with a dragon to save his kidnapped sister at all costs, basically turned out to be a hollow Dynasty Warriors clone. I'm probably one of the, oh, three people who actually likes Bullet Witch's concept. No, really, it's good! I think someone could weave the tale about a witch that has to rid the world of demons in the future year of 2013 (uh oh), could be told well given the right talent. The game? Yeah, it's a middling third-person shooter. I want to like Cavia, but their games leave a lot to be desired, which makes me a little concerned about Nier.
Meanwhile, Front Mission Evolved looks much worse. And that's a shame, since usually Front Mission games aren't much to worry about. But this one is...well, it's a bit different. The somewhat-baffling fact is that Evolved isn't a Strategy/RPG. But the really baffling fact is that it's not even Japanese developed. Evolved is actually an Action/Shooter in the vein of the Armored Core games, and it's developed by Double Helix, who were also responsible for Silent Hill: Homecoming. Homecoming wasn't very well received by fans of the franchise, so you can see where the concern is here. In fact, developers of the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories are telling fans to put the game out of their memory, and I don't think that's viral marketing at work.
Looking at the game so far, it looks awfully rough. We still haven't seen the actual game in motion yet -- the trailer on the official website is all CG -- but from the screens the mechs themselves look pretty nice so far; a shame the same can't be said of the environments, which look bland and colorless. The thing is, that description would also describe Homecoming to a tee (just replace "mechs" with "character models"). It's always nice to see a new Front Mission game, though it's a shame when games like Front Mission 5 for the PS2 and 2089: Border of Madness for DS skip localization entirely. But, uh, I don't think this is what fans wanted in return.
I'll probably be looking at all of these games with a sense of cautious optimism, hoping that initial impressions about them (along with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, though I don't know how I should feel about that one) are sorely misguided. Though I don't have too much faith in that, since these assumptions, at least as far as video games are concerned, tend to be right. Fortunately, these days Square Enix has been pretty OK on the handheld front; but their approach to console development has been peculiar, more so than a lot of other Japanese companies.
Nier was originally teased back in June's issue of Playstation: The Official Magazine. The strangest aspect of its unveiling is that it was more intriguing when it was still a secret whose only clues were contained in a literally thumbnail-sized screen shot in the pages of that very magazine. When the game was officially announced right before E3 began, people initially looking forward to it along with gamers who pay attention to all Square Enix announcements (not necessarily to hope that it's a Final Fantasy VII remake, of course!) gave a collective "well, huh" when the first screen shots and trailer were shown on the official website. The game itself, at least so far, looks odd and empty. Hearing that it's developed by Cavia, responsible for the promising-though-mediocre Drakengard games and the just-damned-mediocre 360 shooter Bullet Witch, doesn't really help matters at all.The thing is: I really like Cavia's ideas. I was really disappointed when Drakengard, a game telling the story of a man who makes a pact with a dragon to save his kidnapped sister at all costs, basically turned out to be a hollow Dynasty Warriors clone. I'm probably one of the, oh, three people who actually likes Bullet Witch's concept. No, really, it's good! I think someone could weave the tale about a witch that has to rid the world of demons in the future year of 2013 (uh oh), could be told well given the right talent. The game? Yeah, it's a middling third-person shooter. I want to like Cavia, but their games leave a lot to be desired, which makes me a little concerned about Nier.
Meanwhile, Front Mission Evolved looks much worse. And that's a shame, since usually Front Mission games aren't much to worry about. But this one is...well, it's a bit different. The somewhat-baffling fact is that Evolved isn't a Strategy/RPG. But the really baffling fact is that it's not even Japanese developed. Evolved is actually an Action/Shooter in the vein of the Armored Core games, and it's developed by Double Helix, who were also responsible for Silent Hill: Homecoming. Homecoming wasn't very well received by fans of the franchise, so you can see where the concern is here. In fact, developers of the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories are telling fans to put the game out of their memory, and I don't think that's viral marketing at work.Looking at the game so far, it looks awfully rough. We still haven't seen the actual game in motion yet -- the trailer on the official website is all CG -- but from the screens the mechs themselves look pretty nice so far; a shame the same can't be said of the environments, which look bland and colorless. The thing is, that description would also describe Homecoming to a tee (just replace "mechs" with "character models"). It's always nice to see a new Front Mission game, though it's a shame when games like Front Mission 5 for the PS2 and 2089: Border of Madness for DS skip localization entirely. But, uh, I don't think this is what fans wanted in return.
I'll probably be looking at all of these games with a sense of cautious optimism, hoping that initial impressions about them (along with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, though I don't know how I should feel about that one) are sorely misguided. Though I don't have too much faith in that, since these assumptions, at least as far as video games are concerned, tend to be right. Fortunately, these days Square Enix has been pretty OK on the handheld front; but their approach to console development has been peculiar, more so than a lot of other Japanese companies.
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