Review: PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus (PC)
Like most Sega fans I played Phantasy Star Online to death, the game was revolutionary and playing an MMO on a console was something special back then, I could meet up with my fellow Sega fans online, kill monsters, battle each other or just sit around in the lobby areas and chat about how awesome the Dreamcast is. Those were the days!
So when Phantasy Star Universe was announced you can imagine the excitement, I waited years for this game to finally release and when it did… What a disappointment, don’t get me wrong, it did everything PSO did and did it better! But that, in my opinion, is partly the problem!
If you haven’t played PSU yet let me give you a quick rundown of what the game is all about. PSU and its expansion AotI are Online RPGs in which you can team up and fight along side 6 of your friends in instanced levels, the battle system is by far the best part of the game. You fight in real time, none of that ‘target and watch’ nonsense that plagues most MMORPGs. Then you can retire to the main city or lobby areas where you can talk among everyone who is playing a bit like a traditional MMORPG but only in the city areas where there is nothing to do but chat and buy new items.
You get four races to choose from, human, numan (elf), cast (androids) and beast (weird product of sex with animals) and then you get a bunch of classes, you know the usual type stuff, one for strength, one for magic, shooting and so on.
[youtube JIScFn3AbHs]
~PSU AotI trailer~
The tacky Single player campaign that you can tell was made using an Online RPG engine returns in PSU Ambition of the Illuminus but this time you can play as your own created hero and not the pansy Ethan Waber from the first game, While it’s nice that Tit Face, (my character) got some of the lime light, it also means that the story just unfolds around your avatar and you aren’t directly involved, your just along for the ride in silence, the story relies on the characters around you being interesting…
Other additions in the expansion pack include:
- Expanded character customisation. Players get many more options to customise facial features, hair styles, body types and clothing options.
- Enriched player-to-player interaction. New lobbies, including the Casino Voloyal which features games like roulette and slots, provide more social experiences for players.
- New weapons, combat abilities and classes. With additional weapons types and new special fighting abilities, such as SUV-weapons, Photon Arts, and all new classes, players will have more ways to expand or specialise the character’s role within the Universe.
- New levels, enemies and bosses. With new areas to explore, such as the ruins of Old Rozenom City and the Granigs Mine, and new enemy types including new bosses, players face brand new challenges in all-new environments.
[youtube Gm2SZ0MU0G4]
~Some random but totally sexy move I found on youtube~
Summary:
So what I’m basically saying here is if you liked PSU you’ll like the expansion. Myself? I find paying for such little content a hard pill to swallow. Maybe if the game was free I’d play it more. The game was a hit in 2000 because it was revolutionary. In 2008 it’s far from it and their are far better online games you could be spending your hard earned cash on.
5/10.
…But wait!…
Sonic Team could turn this series around and make something outstanding out of it and being such a nice guy, I’m going to tell them exactly how to do it! (In my opinion of course!)
So, lets get started!
The Over world:
I’ll get right to the point, Phantasy Star Online needs an over-world, one server were everyone plays together in a giant over world with lots of pretty locations that we can visit, Different planets with cool themes.
How about a desert like ‘Space cowboy’ planet with cowboy towns and cities, mountains, cliffs and deserts with trains running through them and lagoons dotted around the landscape. Or how about space pirate themed a water planet made up of small Islands with bounty hunting and treasure quests. How about a cyberpunk/futuristic theme planet or what about floating islands ‘Skies of Arcadia’ style? As long as it isn’t a dull vast open brown desert with nothing interesting to see or do like most MMORPGs it would be a blast.
Before anyone starts moaning about getting rid of the lobbies and dungeons, I’m not suggesting that at all, I would be happy if the kept the cities and outposts like the ones in Phanasy Star Universe and even keep dungeons and quests for small parties of people to do. But as it stands, Phantasy Star needs more then that to keep the majority of gamers attention these days.
Battle System:
The Battle system in Phantasy Star Online games is nothing to scoff at, even more so in Phantasy Star Universe, I’m impressed to say the least. The battle system is what will keep bringing me back to the Online Phantasy Star games, I love that I’m actually in control of the character and I’m not just targeting with a mouse and watching wile my online avatar hits away at a giant rat with a sword 10 meters from the target.
The moves are awesome and I can’t get enough of watching some of the new Photon Arts in action, I hope that this online third person action game feel can be expanded on, how about a block button? dodge? counter attack? or Jump? I would even go as far as to say I would like to see some QTE action moments like in Shenmue or God of War with some funky camera angles. I’m sure it could fit into the game play some how, what about when you walk next to the edge of a cliff a QTE happens where you have to press a button quickly or you fall off, for an example.
Customisation:
Customisation in Phantasy Star Universe was good, very good in fact but it could be better. First of all I really like the fact that what your wearing has nothing to do with how powerful you are it’s based purely on the way you want to look, that’s a great start and stops everyone looking the same, but I think there should be much more of everything to choose from, more hair and facial features, more clothes and clothes styles… more, more, more!
I also think you should be able to pick up new hair styles, clothes and so on as loot from dead monsters as well as buying it in shops, special uniforms and hair styles you can only get from monster drops and so on.
It would also be nice if there was more classes to choose from, more weapon and magic types and even more races, but that’s something I don’t mind too much about, It’s kind of a given if you ask me.
Mini Games and other Events:
I love these in the Phantasy Star games, I don’t like football/soccer much but I still enjoyed a game on Phantasy Star Online and what about that fire works event were you could let fire works off, there is even a gambling room in Ambition of Illuminus! I think we need more of these, How about Vehicle racing? or that game from ‘Phantasy Star Online Episode 3‘ with the card battle, you could pick up the cards as loot or buy them, I’d be up for a game or two!
Player vs Player battles:
I understand that the Phantasy Star community is divided over this subject but I really liked the Battle mode in PSO for what it was and I know for a fact just as many people who don’t like PvP do like it and the lack of it really hurts PSU. I would suggest to solve the problem future Phantasy Star Online games be split into two completely different servers, one for PvP players and ones for passive players. One thing I will agree on is there should be no PvP in towns, cities, outposts, lobbies what ever you want to call them. But the lack of PvP is a big mistake if you ask me!
Space:
I don’t know about you, but ever since I first played the original Phantasy Star games way back in the day I’ve wanted to fly my own ship through space, am I asking to much? I don’t think so, MMORPGs like Earth and Beyond, Star Wars Galaxy and EVE online have been doing this for years, flying our own ship from planet to planet would be a blast.
How about guild space stations? Wouldn’t that be great? Guild wars in space ships, with your own personal customised ships, space pirates, traders and all the rest, my mouth drools at the thought!
Get rid of offline story campaign:
Anyone who is a big fan of the original Phantasy Star saga will know that the offline story modes in online Phantasy Star games do not hold a candle to the original JRPGs series and it occurs to me that the offline mode is effecting the review scores of the final game in a negative way when it comes to most reviews I’ve read.
It’s my opinion that if Sonic Team want to give us an offline story driven Phantasy Star they should definitely go for it because we have been waiting for one for many years now but please don’t insult us with the half baked rubbish tacked onto the online games.
What I’m saying here is, if Sonic Team and Sega want me to pay for another Online Phantasy Star game they have to work for it and make something revolutionary again…Going back and doing the same old thing is Sonic Teams biggest downfall and not just in PSO games.
Thanks for reading guys!
Tags: Phantasy Star Universe
23 opinions for Review: PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus (PC)
Bryan
Jan 28, 2008 at 4:22 pm
See, the offline story campaigns are the only reason I keep buying these. I don’t play online, and I’m not interested in the monthly fee, but I love the gameplay, and while I can objectively see that the story is crap, I really like it for some reason. Your character also levels up a lot faster and makes money quicker in the offline mode, so you never fall into that boring MMO groove of farming for experience and money.
Sharkone
Jan 28, 2008 at 4:29 pm
The most serious problem of Psu for me was the slow release of content. But with AOi Sonic Team is working well, every week for now they have presented contents and they have presented already a new mini-event(Winter Event). For now are attended 2 important events: Maximum Attack G and Dengeki Cup. With the first of these Sonic Team will put in PSU many things of PSO, such weapons/clothes/customisation and most important all old stages, as Forest, Mine, Caves and Ruins.
With Dengeki Cup Sonic Team will put in PSU new modality as PLAYER VS PLAYER, SURVIVAL MODE and a Racing mode(?!).
So, imho for now AOI is good. The releases are frequent, there will be many Events and the Game now is more easy for people that can’t stay all they on the game(easy level up, easy meseta, more drop, etc…).
ps Dengeki Cup seems to have some the modalities that you wanted, I hope Sonic Team holds them also when these Cup ends, if it will be so I will happy, more mode=more fun.
radrappy
Jan 28, 2008 at 5:04 pm
was the slowdown on Ps2 version fixed at all? This is all that matters to me.
Ryan
Jan 28, 2008 at 6:03 pm
@ Shark:
I understand what your saying mate but for me the game just doesnt offer me enough for the monthly fee.
I love the gameplay of the Phantasy Star Online games… It’s nice to be playing an MMORPG (of sorts) and actually be able to control your character properly when it fights. But with out PVP it still feels like a grind fest and even more so when your doing the same old areas time after time.
If Sonic Team could give us a NEW Phantasy Star with an over world like they have in normal MMORPGs as well as the lobbies and dungeons of the PSO games I would be thrilled, because I like the fighting system so much that I want to play this game but the lack of content and same repetitive levels put me off.
Oh and I REALLLLLY want to be able to fight other people, I get tired of fighting monsters very quickly. I want to put that awesome battle system to good use and fight real people!
paly
Jan 28, 2008 at 7:42 pm
hmmm the truth is sega was a revolutionary company ….. but they are not anymore and this has put the company in the same level of other third partys or even lower …. sega had the chance to be the biggest company as a software developer and publisher when they were out from the consoles .. but they just started well but with bad promotions to the great games they had.. look at the images of the front of the box of skies of arcadia from dreamcast and skies of arcadia for gamecube the gamecube box was horrible and the dreamcast version was great u wanted to buy the game.. that happend with the shemue 2 box of the xbox version horrible boxes not many promotions not anything so i think sega thought well why invest to much on great games if other are making money with more cappy games so hehe we have the result … they sold visual concepts and the 2k sports maybe the were not succesful because of bad marketing but look how their doing now …. sega needs the passion they had they were the first true contender to nintendo because they had passion creativity and art… we see lots of great low budget games but sega low budget horrible games .. phantasy star online was the wow experience better thatn WOW for its time but sega its not the same sega …when i read articles about console history i see that in the articles sega dont get the recognition it deserved but it all have to do with actually sega not doing(almost) nothing to go ahead of the competition only a miracle will bring the old sega back
Ryan
Jan 28, 2008 at 8:28 pm
No I dont agree with what you are saying paly, It is true that Sega had an off period but from what I see now Sega have a great line up of awesome games that I’m looking forward to. Yakuza Kenzan and Valkyrie of the Battlefield for example.
The only thing that dried up and lost it’s magic is Sonic Team, Which is a shame because in the eyes of alot of gamers Sonic Team games are the face of Sega.
Which is why this sudden hate for Sega came about in the last few years, Sure Sega as a whole could be better then they are at the moment but they are improving… Sonic Team are holding the rest of Segas image back.
Kogen
Jan 28, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I completely agree, it’s a pile of shite for single player. The story, characters, and “alone” factor are all horrible.
Paly is simply retarded or hasn’t paid serious attention to SEGA for about 4 or 5 years.
radrappy
Jan 28, 2008 at 9:19 pm
It’s true Ryan, that while Sega as a whole still is able to create pretty high quality enjoyable titles, they just seem to be lacking in the spirit and enthusiasm that was so prominent during their first party days. Valkyrie of the Battle field seems to be the first title in a while that demonstrates any kind of inventive creativity. Virtual Tennis 3 and Virtual Fighter 5 are high quality titles that improve on their predecessors but do little else. It’s going to take more than one interesting title to recover the image of Sega.
What else are you looking forward to?
Neal
Jan 28, 2008 at 11:19 pm
In my opinion, they need to quit with the online games and make a solid single-player RPG more akin to the SMS/Genesis games which I love so much.
Single-player RPGs are still huge sellers, and if they took their time and made it right they could have a real contender against the Final Fantasys and Mass Effects out there.
The Phantasy Star RPGs (especially 2 and 4, but I’m still partial to 1) are still widely-considered to be great games by long-time gamers, and I think we’d all love to see a brand new epic installment of the series.
to radrappy:
Virtua Fighter 5 may have only built upon its predecessor, but thats all fighting game sequels really do - build upon their previous versions. The same can be said for Tekken 5/Dark Resurrection, DoA4, Soul Calibur 3 and all the new sequels coming out for these games.
SEGA making VF5 both the best VF so far and one of the best fighting games out there in existence may not be breaking new ground, but it is certainly helping to prove that Sega can still produce quality games, and that is a step towards ‘recovering the image of sega’ in my opinion.
jopamine
Jan 28, 2008 at 11:32 pm
I enjoy PSU very much, and, I heard the story is worth playing through.
I like the amount of missions in PSU, but a lot of them are not played anymore. What I really miss from PSO is the ease of choosing a party. All the parties on a PSO server were located at one location, in this one, you have to go to the correct lobby, then see if there’s a party playing.
Also, the feeling of completing a game isn’t there either. In PSO, there was a sense of accomplishment when you went through all 4 worlds with a team. In PSU, it’s just missions, and lvling up your character. There’s no reason for you to stick with your same party for countless hours.
those are my gripes…
I was also thinking up design for a PSIV online game–With combo spells and attacks. I was gettin super excited about it.
radrappy
Jan 29, 2008 at 12:05 am
It is a step in the right direction and I said it was a quality title. However I find it hard to believe that sonic team is the only division that’s underperforming lately. What else has come out in the past couple years that was wonderful? And I don’t mean a decent title that didn’t put the company to shame. I’m saying that they’ve lost their spirit, the imagination. Name me a title that proves that wrong.
Buying up licenses and trying to be the dominant 3rd party? outsourcing? That seems the only thing they’ve been doing these days. The only games people have been looking forward to include
Sonic Chronicles, Sega Superstars Tennis, Viking, Golden Axe,
all outsourced
Valkyrie looks interesting, and I’m pretty optimistic about that title. But what else is there? How can you argue that Sega is intact and just as prominent a creative force as ever save Sonic Team? That’s obviously not the case.
Angelo
Jan 29, 2008 at 1:01 am
“Wile [sic] it’s nice that Tit Face, (my character)”
This is about where I stopped reading.
Neal: If it doesn’t have “Final Fantasy” or “BioWare” somewhere on it (maybe Bethesda, but even that’s a bit of a stretch), then actually, no, they’re not–not “huge” sellers by any measure, anyway.
radrappy: The PlayStation 2 version allegedly runs better than its predescessor. I don’t have any first hand knowledge, though, as I’ve never bothered with it on PS2 myself.
I think part of the reason we just don’t see really inventive titles anymore from Sega internal is (presumably) because whenever they DID come they were entirely unprofitable/ignored by the general populace, and the money they hemmoraged as a result only contributed further to their continuing downfall and eventual merger with Sammy. It’s a sickening catch-22, but that’s the way things have ended up.
Neal
Jan 29, 2008 at 2:30 am
Angelo:
Theres still a market for RPGs. For example, the DS in particular has been doing well on the RPG front with portable versions of Draqon Quest and Final Fantasy games, and it would be easy for SEGA to jump on that bandwagon with a nice polished Phantasy Star RPG and find an audience. I’m pretty sure thats the very reason the Sonic RPG is a DS exclusive.
radrappy:
I’ll go ahead and state for the record that I believe both Sonic Rush Adventure and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams to be quality titles that show that Sega still retains their spirit. I know lots of people, and SegaNerds specifically, don’t think too highly of those two games, but I think they capture the spirit that made me love my Sega consoles and games my whole life. I’ll also admit that quite a bit of my love for those two games comes from a combination nostalgia of the two sega franchises that helped shape my taste in games and my own personal rejection of the idea that games need to be “gritty, realistic and ‘mature’ (read: violent with swearing and maybe some tits)” to be good.
But you’re right about the fact that Sega hasn’t been producing the same quality that they were several years ago. Once upon a time when Sega went 3rd party we had titles like JSRF and Panzer Dragoon Orta scoring high reviews and showing true originality in gaming, and now Sega is phoning it in with games like Virtua Quest and Golden Compass. Even those two games I just mentioned aren’t up to the standards of the original NiGHTS or the Genesis Sonic games.
I wasn’t trying to argue that SEGA is as good and creative as ever, because I agree with you that that certainly isn’t the case. I was just stating that SEGA has shown that it CAN still produce quality, and I’m optimistic that since some people within SEGA are still concerned with quality, then maybe someday the rest of the company will start to care as well.
I think its time I got a forum account.
Saphion
Jan 29, 2008 at 4:29 am
Completely agree with the review. PSO was epic, while PSU should be renamed Phantasy Star Uninteresting.
Aki-at
Jan 29, 2008 at 8:00 am
This may very well be my longest response yet, do I hold a world record now?
@ Paly
“they sold visual concepts and the 2k sports maybe the were not succesful because of bad marketing but look how their doing now”
Their still struggeling now dude. SEGA did better by selling off Visual Concept and buying Sports Interactive, who are much much more profitable then Visual Concept will ever be.
@ Radrappy
“However I find it hard to believe that sonic team is the only division that’s underperforming lately.”
Care to point out a more then two bad games from AM2, WoW Entertainment, Smilebit, Overworks, SEGA Rosso, Amusement Vision and Hitmaker?
You’ll probably find Virtua Quest, and maybe even Altered Beast (Though most development was carried out in China) I suppose Blood Will Tell too, but you’ll find it hard stretch to actually say the other studios have been under performing to the same level as Sonic Team or anywhere near for that matter.
“What else has come out in the past couple years that was wonderful?”
The House of the Dead 4, Let’s Go Jungle, Yakuza, Yakuza 2, Football Manager 2007, Afterburner Climax, Money Ball: Banana Blitz, Medieval: Total War, SEGA Rally Revo, Football Manager 2008, Kokoro Scan, Medieval 2: Total War Kingdoms and 2Spicy
I can confirm that Afterburner Climax is a truly awesome game, by far one of the best games to ever come out on the arcade and the number of people who ignore its exsistance is down right criminal. Yakuza is one of my favourite games on the Playstation 2 and one of the best 3D brawlers out there, add to this a pretty great storyline, really memoriable experience.
SEGA Rally Revo got a lot of stick for being just a arcade racer but I think it was absolutely perfect entry into the series, Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz mini-games do indeed, not compare to the originals, however the control for the MAIN GAME is fantastic and so is the game itself.
Kokoro Scan and Let’s Go Jungle aren’t so great as the other games I’ve listed, but their trippy and I do enjoy a quick game of Let’s Go Jungle when I go to my local arcade. It’s a shame that I haven’t been able to play Kokoro Scan because its only a Japan only game right now, but looking at the trailer, for a stress/lie detector game it looks awesome.
House of the Dead 4 is the usually stuff, not as good as number one or two but better then three I felt, I’d get a port if one was available. The Football Manager series has destroyed families thanks to its addictiveness, so many families. 2Spicy continues to expand on the on-rails experience slightly and you should check G’s report on it, pretty stylish looking too.
“Buying up licenses and trying to be the dominant 3rd party?”
They bought up licenses before you know, Aladdin, Godzilla, Jurassic Park and Spiderman didn’t come from nought! It’s something that SEGA use to do back in the days to so it’s containing a successful strategy.
“Outsourcing? That seems the only thing they’ve been doing these days”
They’ve done that in the past too, Sakura Wars, Shining Force, Treasure games, SEGA’s does a lot of out sourcing to third parties back in it’s hare days so it’s the same strategy as the past.
“The only games people have been looking forward to include
Sonic Chronicles, Sega Superstars Tennis, Viking, Golden Axe,
all outsourced”
Sonic Chronicles? Yes siree that is a totally out sourced project, SEGA Superstar Tennis, somewhat but as far as I know they’ve got the code to the Virtua Tennis engine to help them out, but whatever, I suppose it’s still outsourced. But Viking: Battle for Asgard and Golden Axe? Showing a bit of unawareness there, both development studios who are making the game, the Creative Assembly and Secret Level, are both OWNED by SEGA, so no, those aren’t out sourced.
“But what else is there?”
Well we have Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! Valkyrie of the Battlefield, SEGA Race TV, Football Manager LIVE, Empire: Total War and Iron Man (Maybe) right so RGG Kenzan! And Valkyrie of the Battlefield might not be out this year in the West but I still find it hard to believe the other four SEGA games are all going to be bad, five if we want to include Yakuza 2 that gets released here this year.
SEGA may not be in the form they were at the time of Dreamcast, but come on, who was like that? Nintendo? No never, Capcom? Not quite either, Konami? Not even close. Though they may not be at that same level as they were at the Dreamcast, there still a very awesome developer, I don’t see how people can say otherwise.
@ Neal
“Once upon a time when Sega went 3rd party we had titles like JSRF and Panzer Dragoon Orta”
You have to remember, those games were not developed for the Xbox or games like Monkey Ball were originally Dreamcast games, they were not proper third party SEGA titles.
“Sega is phoning it in with games like Virtua Quest and Golden Compass.”
As much as I wish it isn’t done…It needs to be done, you need to cover all your bases this gen, if one games flop you need another relatively cheap game to cover your back, that’s why despite Mario and Sonic not really being so great yet selling over 2 million, I don’t mind, I just hope SEGA uses the revenue they get from these games to make better games for the old SEGA fans like myself, so far this seems to be the case.
“I think its time I got a forum account”
Great to see your joining the forums, I hope to continue to have many great more discussion and such with you!
George
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:41 am
Neal you have a forum account, if you sign up to comment here, you automatically sign up in the forums.
so to sign in it will be:
Username: Neal
Password: whatever you picked for here.
radrappy
Jan 29, 2008 at 10:58 am
You know, while looking for those bad games Aki, I noticed that these in house divisions haven’t made games in a while it seems. What the flaming hell is amusement vision doing now? or Hitmaker? Or Smilebit? I know they’ve been folded back into sega but I thought it was mostly cosmetic. That the members were still a team.
Yes, Viking and Golden Axe are being made in house technically, but the companies are so newly acquired and unfamiliar that I didn’t think it fair to include them as arguments for Sega still having their edge.
I guess for the underperforming games I’d list
Virtual On Marz, Shining force Neo, EXA, Shining Tears, Sonic Riders(Made by Amusement vision members under sonic team), Virtua Quest etc etc
It’s not that these games are terrible or even bad. They’re just nothing special. Where are those triple A sega titles?
Out of your list of a hundred games or w/e Aki, barely any of them make me even raise an eyebrow. That might be personal taste, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it.
Ryan
Jan 29, 2008 at 11:55 am
Angelo, if you can’t take a joke then I feel sorry for you, your friends and your family.
P.S Thanks for pointing out a spelling error with out being a complete twat, oh wait.
Aki-at
Jan 29, 2008 at 5:30 pm
@ Radrappy
“You know, while looking for those bad games Aki, I noticed that these in house divisions haven’t made games in a while it seems. What the flaming hell is amusement vision doing now? or Hitmaker? Or Smilebit? I know they’ve been folded back into sega but I thought it was mostly cosmetic. That the members were still a team”
They are! Let me enlighten you on what all the teams have been doing in recent time.
Amusement Vision: Yakuza 3 (PS3)
Overworks: Valkyrie of the Battlefield (PS3)
Sonic Team Japan/UGA: Phantasy Star Universe Exspansion (PS2, X360) Kokoro Scan (DS) Sonic Riders 2 (Wii, PS2)
Sonic Team US: NiGHTS 2 (Wii)
AM2: Virtua Fighter 5 (360) Ghost Squad (Wii)
SEGA Rosso: Intial D (arcade)
WoW: ? Maybe House of the Dead 2 & 3?
Smilebit: Mario & Sonic (Wii, DS) Let’s Make a Soccer Team! (PS2 Japan)
AM2+: SEGA Race TV (arcade)
Hitmaker: Virtua Tennis 3 (PS3 & Xbox360)
As you can see, all the teams have been fairly busy, Overworks and Amusement Vision being the ones who’ve got the biggest budget on there projects.
“Yes, Viking and Golden Axe are being made in house technically, but the companies are so newly acquired and unfamiliar that I didn’t think it fair to include them as arguments for Sega still having their edge”
Why not? SEGA bought both teams so they would have a larger development arsenal and then went to beef them up, I think they should be included when ever discussing SEGA’s capabilities because they are now part of SEGA’s development arm. It be silly to say otherwise, were talking about a company here after all!
“I guess for the underperforming games I’d list
Virtual On Marz, Shining force Neo, EXA, Shining Tears, Sonic Riders(Made by Amusement vision members under sonic team), Virtua Quest etc etc”
I myself can’t argue much with Virtua Quest and Sonic Riders (And by the way, its made by former members of United Game Artists) Virtual On Marz, I haven’t played so I can’t comment. But all three Shining games you just listed are outsourced projects, none of them are made by SEGA, just like Spikeout and other outsourced games.
“Where are those triple A sega titles?”
I just listed them and then you went on to say…
“Out of your list of a hundred games or w/e Aki, barely any of them make me even raise an eyebrow. That might be personal taste, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it”
My point wasn’t one that got you excited, my point was the games on that list are actually good and very much enjoyable, I don’t really mind if you don’t like Afterburner Climax, the Yakuza series, SEGA Rally Revo, Total War series or any of the Football/Soccer Manager games, but they are all good games and you can’t deny them that.
@ Ratix240sx
Sorry about offending you, I was trying to more point out the games from each individual studio and at the time that were considered sub-par and that was all I was coming up for in terms of WoW Entertainment.
Radrappy
Jan 29, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Oh you’re right about Sonic Riders and Shining force Exa. However, Neo and Shining Tears were in fact co developed by amusement vision.
Amusement Vision: Yakuza 3 (PS3)
Overworks: Valkyrie of the Battlefield (PS3)
Sonic Team Japan/UGA: Phantasy Star Universe Exspansion (PS2, X360) Kokoro Scan (DS) Sonic Riders 2 (Wii, PS2)
Sonic Team US: NiGHTS 2 (Wii)
AM2: Virtua Fighter 5 (360) Ghost Squad (Wii)
SEGA Rosso: Intial D (arcade)
WoW: ? Maybe House of the Dead 2 & 3?
Smilebit: Mario & Sonic (Wii, DS) Let’s Make a Soccer Team! (PS2 Japan)
AM2+: SEGA Race TV (arcade)
Hitmaker: Virtua Tennis 3 (PS3 & Xbox360)
Out of the games you’ve listed,
I haven’t played the expansion, but PSU in itself is pretty terrible. After reading the recent review here it doesn’t seem like they’re very different. (Angelo, I know you like PSU and that’s fine. I’m not looking for a fight)
I admit I had lots of fun with Nights 2 and like it a great deal. However never in a million years would I call it a quality title.
I haven’t played Riders 2, but Ive heard its worse than the first one which wasn’t great.
I actually loved Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.
Am interested in Yakuza 3 and Valkyrie
Virtual Fighter 5, is fantastic and a compliment Sega’s current devloping abilities. I wish all the franchises were treated this well.
“My point wasn’t one that got you excited, my point was the games on that list are actually good and very much enjoyable, I don’t really mind if you don’t like Afterburner Climax, the Yakuza series, SEGA Rally Revo, Total War series or any of the Football/Soccer Manager games, but they are all good games and you can’t deny them that.”
I’m not saying sega’s making shitty games. In fact I’ve constantly been saying yes, they still crank out quality titles. I’m only trying to argue that they don’t have as much spirit as a 3rd party developer. If these games were released without the sega logo on the box(and removed sega references from within) and without any outside information, I doubt anyone would know who made them.
I’m with you that Sega might very well be on the road to a comeback. I just don’t think this past year was very indicative of that.
Aki-at
Jan 30, 2008 at 8:40 pm
“However, Neo and Shining Tears were in fact co developed by amusement vision”
And Sonic Advance series and Sonic Rush series was made in co-development with Sonic Team. So I guess that sort of evens that out.
“I’m only trying to argue that they don’t have as much spirit as a 3rd party developer”
Well true, they don’t have as much spirit as when they were first party, but recently they’ve found some good form and have been gaining ever since early 2006, considering how bad they had become by the end of 2005.
“If these games were released without the sega logo on the box (and removed sega references from within) and without any outside information, I doubt anyone would know who made them”
The same could be said of Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime series. Really, if I just wiped your mind clean of all memories of everything AM2 did other then Outrun or Virtua Fighter, I doubt you’d think they were behind Virtua Cop or Afterburner.
Anyway, how exactly is that a bad thing? XD
“I’m with you that Sega might very well be on the road to a comeback. I just don’t think this past year was very indicative of that”
I’m not saying they’re on the comeback as there former selves, but I think their on the way to being the one of the best developer/publisher in the world and they has been a lot of games that the general public let go by them that is truly excellent (The most being SEGA’s main division, the arcade sector, is over looked by most people which is a shame as there are some epic games on offer from them there) though some, like Yakuza, has grown a good following. This year is going to be pretty good as they seem to be lessening the number of bad titles their publishing.
jonboy101
Feb 2, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Well Rapdaddy, what then would you consider to be a AAA game?
From what I can tell, the Yakuza series is one of the most popular and well regaured series Sega’s ever released in Japan (Yakuza 2 got the same Famitsu as Twilight Princess). While it may not be as well regaured in the west, I think alot of it has to do with language. From what I’ve heard, Yakuza is much better in its native Japanese. I’d go so far as to say that its one of Sega’s flagship franchises now.
Condemned Criminal Origins was a very well reguarded game, and many are biting their nails in anticipation of the sequel coming out soon. I think it averaged in the high 8s, which is about where Orta and JSRF landed. While it may be outsourced, its still a Sega game, just like Shining Force or Ecco the Dolphin are.
Sega Rally Revo was another well recieved game (even Kogen liked it), developed by Sega’s brand new Racing Studio.
Virtua Fighter 5 speaks for itself.
Sonic Rush, Sonic Rush Adventure and the upcoming Sonic Chronicles and Sonic Rush 2 are all examples (hopefully in the case of the latter 2) that even Sonic has good games coming out. And there are rumours that the next Sonic game is going to be a 2.5D game, which should turn out to be great.
theALLseeingeye
Feb 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm
I still have not played PSU online, but the single player was fun enough. But ya, not so revolutionary.
If any of you guys are looking for a new PSU style game, I’d suggest looking at Too Human for the 360. Made by Silicon Knights, the makes of Legacy of Kain, and Eternal Darkness, it looks like it’ll have an incredible story, incredible atmosphere, and have evolved PSO style 4-player online co-op, loot collecting, mixed with intensely better visuals, and a far better combat system (more towards Devil May Cry, God of War, in a controller adaption of the Diablo style point and click style, but more involved, and far action/arcade style).
Silicon Knights is making a game for Sega as well. So, they have thier Sega ties too.
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