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[MeshGearFox]

I don't wanna be that guy, but I didn't like the original Odin Sphere :< My issues were:

A) You had to grind for things.
B) There was no level design, you just had flat rings.
C) Too much DARK LEVEL/CONSTANT FIRE DAMAGE/CONSTANT ICE DAMAGE gimmicks. Admittedly that was only like three areas, but there were only eight areas total in the game IIRC.

Then again, I haven't played it in years, so maybe I'd like it more if I replayed it now -- that was my experience with Morrowind and Suikoden 3, at least.

[Keops]

I don't wanna be that guy, but I didn't like the original Odin Sphere :< My issues were:

A) You had to grind for things.
B) There was no level design, you just had flat rings.
C) Too much DARK LEVEL/CONSTANT FIRE DAMAGE/CONSTANT ICE DAMAGE gimmicks. Admittedly that was only like three areas, but there were only eight areas total in the game IIRC.

Then again, I haven't played it in years, so maybe I'd like it more if I replayed it now -- that was my experience with Morrowind and Suikoden 3, at least.

Your concerns are true, and very understandable. In my case I was so enthralled by the art and immersed in the story that gameplay became secondary to me. But it's true, maps were rings. I kinda feel the game is conceptually a bite-sized action RPG, kinda fits with mobile game design trends, but came a LOT earlier hehe.

The level design as you said, is null. Basically what you had were these wrapping rings with different enemy combinations in waves and different loot (depending on the rank). It kinda worked though, I could grind and got into some sort of trance, totally relaxed, while grinding veggies for alchemy and levels. But then again, I grind a lot hehe

[gimymblert]

level design isn't just topologie, it's also enemy placement and encounter design

[JWK5]

The following is pretty horrific, but it highlights just how intertwined with religion slave trading has been in history, something that always seems to be omitted from the discussion...

Because Irish slaves were so much cheaper, the loss of investment from torturing and killing them was not considered an effective deterrent. In an ironic twist, this caused some to recommend importing African slaves instead for humanitarian reasons.

Colonel William Brayne wrote to English authorities in 1656 urging the importation of Negro slaves on the grounds that, "as the planters would have to pay much more for them, they would have an interest in preserving their lives, which was wanting in the case of (Irish)...." many of whom, he charged, were killed by overwork and cruel treatment. African Negroes cost generally about 20 to 50 pounds Sterling, compared to 900 pounds of cotton (about 5 pounds Sterling) for an Irish. They were also more durable in the hot climate, and caused fewer problems. The biggest bonus with the Africans though, was they were NOT Catholic, and any heathen pagan was better than an Irish Papist.

Sorry, random read. Thought I'd share.

[s0]

I don't wanna be that guy, but I didn't like the original Odin Sphere :< My issues were:

A) You had to grind for things.
B) There was no level design, you just had flat rings.
C) Too much DARK LEVEL/CONSTANT FIRE DAMAGE/CONSTANT ICE DAMAGE gimmicks. Admittedly that was only like three areas, but there were only eight areas total in the game IIRC.

Then again, I haven't played it in years, so maybe I'd like it more if I replayed it now -- that was my experience with Morrowind and Suikoden 3, at least.

to be honest i have this problem with all the vanillaware games ive played. i WANT to like them bc the artwork IS really nice (even for a non anime fan like me). but then theyre always so grindy and lacking in level design and mechanical depth. id say vanillaware has a problem with unnecessarily padding out their games and spreading content extremely thin. probably bc theyre a low budget dev that spends most of their money on visuals and "rpgs" are expected to last you a certain while.

[JWK5]

I like Vanillaware games but I have to play them in short sprees because they do tend to get pretty repetitive. They are the kind of games where early on everything's pretty awesome but two to three hours in and you've pretty much seen everything gameplay-wise, after that point progress is really about checking out the new bits of character and level art.

[gimymblert]

closed game studio per year
http://infogr.am/nombre_de_studio_fermes

I would say a crash in the video game industry DID happen

[s0]

closed game studio per year
http://infogr.am/nombre_de_studio_fermes

I would say a crash in the video game industry DID happen

i hope the AAA publishers have some high profile failures in the next few years  so we have a faint chance of awaking from the nightmare of endless asscreed and calla doody sequels

j/k thatll never happen

[Torchkas]

isn't it just the uprise of the digital medium and indie standards becoming higher since 2008

let's revolt or something

[gimymblert]

I think the last one have a diverse portfolio with solid franchise, ea, activision have pretty solid feet, ubisoft is weaker almost fragile but still have a strong footing, rockstar and bethesda don't do franchise fatigue ... and IP of lost dev and publisher might have end up in their hand. There is some I didn't mention like WB but they benefit from mainstream cinema and comics franchise to pick from.

Why endless call of duty when you have endless skylander already?

[Keops]

Wow, my game got Greenlit today :O I'm very happy of course but it was kinda unexpected. At any rate here's to my first Greenlit game  

[Cobralad]

Wow, my game got Greenlit today :O I'm very happy of course but it was kinda unexpected. At any rate here's to my first Greenlit game  

AAA itself was invented during 2007-2008 financial crisis that was pretty much permian-triassic extinction event of the industry.
Maybe usa-centric console-big publisher oriented consumers didnt notice it, but in other countries like 90% of studios with ambitious projects got closed at the time.
Dont know about Poland and Germany, but in Russia and Ukraine everyone died overnight and next morning only shareware and javaphone games left. Only biggest local companies left struggling, all other midcore teams pretty much disbanded those years.

[oahda]

My news feed suddenly exploded with acquaintances reporting their houses were shaking. People around Gothenburg, all the way to northern Halland and even in the archipelago.

News were quick on the story. Apparently there's been a 2.0 earthquake in Sweden around this area. I live reasonably close but I didn't notice anything here, but still, quite the range. It does indeed seem to have started in the archipelago as well.

No reports of anybody getting hurt. And it wasn't the Russians dropping a bomb so everyone is relieved.

Interesting...

[gimymblert]

Only 2.0?

I barely feel 3.0 earthquake and it's a log scale ...
Generally it start shaking noticeably at 6.0 (never had 4 or 5 though)

I guess that being on an earthquake prone zone mean construction are build to minimize shakes ...

[oahda]

Well, forget the number. Earthquake in Sweden AT ALL is really quite something.

Seismologist now says perhaps even 2.5 but not 3.0.

But there was a 5.6 one a few years ago apparently.

[gimymblert]

interesting how far is sweden from fault line and vulcano spot?

[oahda]

No idea. I actually had never heard of an earthquake in Sweden before this but the news article managed to dig up a lot of them from over the years.

[gimymblert]

Found this map, IMO the plot thicken (with my limited knowledge)

I have trouble finding any map with sweden and volcano

sweden is like in a sweet and calm spot away for actual activity area 

So what would the cause be

Other hypothesis is geological underground collapse or something

[oahda]

It's 2012 happening in 2015. And localised to the Gothenburg area. The other day a lot of people lost power due to a thunderstorm, including the amusement park, so people got stuck in the attractions for 45 mins. ;-;

[gimymblert]

ouch