I also began 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors on the train down.
(An aside: it was the most miserable train ride I have ever had. The person behind me was a college sorority sister taking her first train ride to visit her folks back home, and I know all of this and SO MUCH MORE because she spent 45 minutes of the trip on her cellphone telling stories about how this girl in her sorority that had punched her had been disaffiliated because assaulting a sister is an automatic DA. I also got to hear the entire plot of The Avengers, so if I ever wanted to see that film—which I didn’t, really—I sure don’t now. Protip: the message they broadcast at the beginning of your trip will tell you that phone calls over five minutes long must be held in the space between cars. That message annoys the shit out of me because it’s ten minutes long and has cheesy music and I’ve heard it a hundred times. THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME ON THE TRAIN. THE MESSAGE IS FOR YOU. LISTEN TO IT. Also stop yelling into your cellphone. Also if there is a queue for punching you in the face then I would also like to join the line.)
It was a miserable introduction to the game, because of attendant circumstances but also because I got stuck on the very first puzzle. First puzzles are delicate things, as they illustrate how you should approach the entire game: should you probably be looking for an ingenious and surprisingly simple solution, à la Professor Layton? do you have to do some brilliant puzzle solving with the barest bones of clues? or did you simply fail to find half of the answer because it was under the fucking pillow the whole time?
Spoiler: 999’s puzzles aren’t incredibly difficult. If you’re really, really stuck, it probably means you’re missing an item or a door or something similar. That’s obvious now because of that first puzzle, but stranded on the train listening to the blow by blow of a college girl’s fascinating social life, with no internet or helpful game faq to solve my problem … never again, guys, never again.
Express: also
your tumblr
about layton
am confused
i thought he was nice middleaged man
now he seems creepy
“The difficult part is having confidence that you’ve found the correct answer!”
It feels to me like Unwound Future ramps the puzzle difficulty up just a notch—slightly higher than Diabolical Box, but safely out of Curious Village’s danger zone of oh come on, now you’re just being mean. It’s a good change, because as much as Diabolical Box was a relief after the first game’s brutality, its difficulty level was a bit unfulfilling.
But having the ground shift below me as the difficulty curve adjusts once again has one major side effect, and that side effect is that I’m never quite sure if what seems like the obvious solution is actually wrong because it’s a trick question or I’m underestimating the difficulty or I’m just an idiot, nor am I quite sure if what seems like the hard-won answer is actually the right one because what if I’m missing something or making it too complex or am just an idiot.
So yeah, basically: what you said, game.
Still a work in progress, but the paperboy cap demanded a Luke Triton-inspired outfit, so I’m making one. The cap (and therefore outfit) are a few shades too green for a perfect Luke match, which disappoints me because it’s such a pretty blue. I need to work on the sleeves in order to fix the neckline of the sweater, which as is is a bit cut off. And one day I may even risk Kicks in the search of brown shoes—they’d be a nice but still neutral (and so suitable for more than this one outfit) change of pace. But it’s a start!
Started Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective today. Feeling a bit sick, so sitting up and blogging isn’t on the menu (but a game I can play in bed is), but let me say:
Art style is so-so—the portrait shots aren’t to my personal taste, but nor do they quite match up to my in-game impressions of most characters. The art direction, however, is beyond fantastic. The premise alone of possessing and manipulating objects scratches an itch for detail-porn fostered by Professor Layton. The hardboiled detective/noir atmosphere is working out okay—its atmospheric contribution to the stylization helps outweigh some of its lackluster and/or sexist features. Most importantly, I knew the character animations were a big deal going in but they’re better than I ever imagined. Cabanela is an exaggeration but not an exception: watching people walk up stairs is fantastic. The animation is the perfect combination of exaggerated and fluid, and people move with their whole bodies and I want to watch every motion on repeat. Ah, so beautiful.
underredskies:
juushika:
Does this mean his real name is Sagaminator?
I’ll give him this, that is an awesome kick stat. But I have this … thing … about aesthetics. Not always traditional aesthetics, but this is the land of awesome hair; if you don’t look cool you have to be at least as wonderful a character as Someoka, and this guy is not that. I’m sure I miss out on a number of great players on account. I’m not sure, though, that I care.
I totally screen my characters by their looks. It annoys me that almost all of the bigger (Jack-sized) characters look ridiculous.
Yeah, the character design is all over the place—crazy stylized in all sorts of good ways, but predictably ridiculous/unflattering for everyone that’s not a candy color-haired little shota boy. Having just played Professor Layton (and the Diabolical Box), it makes me miss that art direction—there’s some fail character design in Layton, too, but it carries a similar commitment to stylization while managing a broader cast of character types and body types, with less delineation between cool/ridiculous and attractive/unattractive.
Source.
(Things what are somewhat more common, or at least better fit my usual taste.)
