11:45 lol, what is it with this era of RPGs and culling the local wildlife? 15:58 This poor elephant lol. Linda didn't choose the circus life, the circus chose her! 17:13 I love how Flotsam just sorta lets you leave xD Such a Saturday morning cartoon villain. 20:27 Maybe a bit of an awkward tutorial, but a neat mechanic. Like, gramps just explained what we need to make the energy pack, and Max presumably already knows what pipes, belts, and milk cans are...so just make it already, haha. 23:40 Definitely one of those things I went to gamefaqs for as a kid...I don't know if I wouldn't still just do the same thing nowadays, eh. IIRC, there's LOTS of little hidden "ideas" and inventions. This first one they kind of throw you into the deep end for too, since the mechanic isn't super intuitive as far as PS2 game mechanics go (we weren't used to such open ended mechanics back in those days). 25:25 Didn't this girl do a bit in the Circus scene? 28:49 I (unironically, but still conflicted--more on that below!) love how this game has a child's understanding of how things work. It *looks* like a robot's energy backpack...so it must *work* like one too! 33:00 I also love how everyone poses for a photo. Very endearing! 33:30 Sane minds can differ, eh. Already said how I feel about the art direction, so I won't digress on that again. I remember despising the photo/invention mechanic. I'm softer on it nowadays, but still can't help but feel that it feels disconnected from the rest of the mechanics and a bit directionless. If I want to specifically find a new weapon "invention," for instance, there's nothing besides taking photos of anything and everything and crossing my fingers I can really do about it--it is all entirely meaningless until the game tells me how to cobble these things together or I get lucky with a guess (you'd better hope you never miss a crucial photo, either!). Your jokes about the Energy Pack in this episode point to this feeling too. Again, though, perhaps the setting just isn't for me; this turn-of-the-century Europe vibe is on the short list of go-to tropes in Anime and JRPGs and it has never really worked for me, so it is totally possible it is just a me thing! 38:18 I'm the same way, haha! I have to *do* something a couple of times before it really sticks. Physically writing it down myself helps a little bit, certainly more than verbal instructions. 39:35 There was more in that shop that might interest you. It isn't just the crafting materials place! 40:20 This feeling is exactly what I am talking about! It's so arbitrary. I recall they love to hide things behind the camera too, as it were. lol, though I do admit the occasional "ah ha!" feeling you get when finding the last piece of a recipe you have is nice. 44:30 So polite of them to wait patiently for you lol.
I would say, first and foremost that I was actually quite used to games with crafting systems, or somewhat open world exploration. There was this kind of buffer zone, between quite expansive games on the SNES or PS1, and more experimental titles like this on Ps2, where the burden of being 3d kinda made you go "Does this game have anything extra in it, or is it just a 'graphics game'?" Sometimes, for me anyways, I could tell when a game was largely spending its time on being 3d, and maybe the depth of a 2d only game was being sacrificed. Suffice to say, I feel like the world being a game-play mechanic itself (items to take pictures of) added to this feeling that 3d game-play isn't just a gimmick, but can contribute to a deeper feeling of immersion while still having mechanical depth. I liked the invention system when I first encountered it, because I wasn't very cynical yet and had a misplaced idea of how expansive it was. I didn't really understand how set the inventions were, so as a creative kid, I just thought I can figure out a lot of cool stuff. Suffice to say, I still enjoy it now. Maybe because Max reminds me of Peter Parker a little bit? Just, scraping together random stuff in the back alley and making something cool. Getting inspired by literal garbage. The world building, and character building element of it overrides the arbitrary nature of the mechanic for me.
@@JoshPAuthor That's an interesting take, re: 3D as mechanic, not just a gimmick. I didn't really get into games until after 3D games had become normal (I had played some, but my experience until then amounted to Sonic Pinball, my dad's copy of Doom, and browser games). Although, I do have a very vivid memory of convincing my parents to pick up a dual shock controller so I could play our rental copy of Ape Escape lol. I hadn't thought about that, and while I still might think the implementation here falls a bit flat for my taste, I think I have a better idea of what they were going for at least! Also, I was moreso referring to the "taking pictures of random objects" part of the equation, rather than the crafting system itself, with regards to my comment about it being so open-ended (or, well, I know it isn't exactly open ended in the strictest sense, but you know what I mean). It's immersive in a way many of its peers weren't, even ones with crafting systems. Like, I don't know how else to put it, so bear with me. You know how in old Hanna-Barbera cartoons you could always tell which parts of the background were going to move later because of how different they looked? A lot of games of this era used that kind of language, where interactable or important things just *pop* like they were completely out of place, you know? The things you need to take pictures of in DC2 *aren't* like that, and I'm not sure how ready people were for that approach lol. Or, indeed, even how good of an idea this other extreme is...something something yellow paint in modern games being a middle ground something something. Edit: In hindsight, I wonder if the way the inventions work and how recipes are dished out gradually is meant to aid repeat playthroughs? You can invent some powerful items long before finding their actual recipes but after finding the right photos, IIRC, so that would be the kind of thing that could be fun on a second playthrough!
45:42 Where's Linda? Did Max...just kill that abused circus elephant >.>? 48:30 Definitely much better cutscenes and character interactions in this one. Better localized too, eh. 49:25 I wish I could have told you about the select button while you were still playing Dark Cloud 1, oh well lol. 50:25 It's not just a gimmick either! IIRC, there's some enemies where chucking them is a big part of how you beat them. 53:40 I have such conflicted feelings on the Ridepod. On the one hand, it is a customizable mech, love that. They do a pretty good job providing neat options for it too, all things considered, at least if you stay invested in the inventions mechanic. On the other hand, I didn't like giving it valuable experience I'd rather have on my weapons, especially since the enemies you use it for typically give a lot (and yes I know about the switching you can do before it is collected). Interested to see how you feel about it down the line. 57:25 Aye, this is sorta what I meant in the previous video's comments. In DC1, Building Up your weapons was very attainable in the first dungeon (perhaps even expected), but the game fumbled giving the player direction badly enough that you ended up completely disengaged from the system. Certain kinds of fanboys would call that a "skill issue," but I guarantee you weren't the only person that happened to--regardless of how similar the systems are, DC2 did such a better job engaging the player with it that it **feels** like a better system, which is an actually real improvement in and of itself. 59:40 Ya, I mean, obviously as a massive fan of DC1 I would have liked you to like it at least a little bit, but for a variety of reasons that didn't happen. And as much as I hope you return to it down the line with fresh eyes and that DC2 bug out of your system--if only to compare and contrast--I can hardly begrudge someone wanting to find enjoyment in their hobby! 1:11:40 I believe Select sorts your inventory in this one. This is another one of those things that would have felt *terrible* in a game you already aren't enjoying, but when there's enough good will built up it's just like water off a duck's back, eh.
Love the ridepod. Would it be nice if there was like, an exp share? Yea. But it's so over powered early, I view it as an RPG. Pull it out when I need it, tuck it away otherwise. It will probably always be decently strong. With DC1, honestly after I have played more DC2. I can easily say the reason I didn't look more into building weapons up in DC1 is because I didn't enjoy the feel of combat. The stiffness, the lack of movement when initiating an attack, the weird i-frames, the risk of everything being broken so it all feeling like throwaway stuff. Whether I had the weakest dagger, or the greatest sword, Toan's melee attack was still going to feel like swishing a bug net through nothing. So I just, wasn't excited to see my numbers get bigger, but 'feel' the same. The system was fine, but in DC1, I just wasn't motivated to interact with it, because the core was boring. I didn't want to hit monsters with progressively cooler weapons and that's not a good thing. Compared to the much grinder, arguably more punishing systems like Monster Hunter where the motivation of seeing a new weapon is massive. Based only on my experience going back, I would probably stand by the opinion that DC2 is the objectively better game. Unless I was being paid, I probably would never go back to DC1. Namely because, in-so-far as my play through of Dark Cloud 2 has gone so far. I can't pick out a single thing, to me, that DC1 did better.
@@JoshPAuthor Sane minds can differ, eh, lol. Ironically, even if by most objective measures we can muster when it comes to judging these things DC2 is "better" than DC1, I have played through DC1 maybe half a dozen or more times, but only completed DC2 once! And I don't see that ever really changing, honestly much the same with how you feel regarding DC1. For whatever reason, DC1 resonates more with me by a country mile, and you are basically in the opposite situation. And that's fine. Obviously, nostalgia is a factor here--for both of us--though, I reckon it mostly just comes down to preference. For instance, the more fluid control of DC2 means *almost* nothing to me in terms of my personal enjoyment of the game, whereas for you it seems to (as far as I can tell from your comments) be one of the primary, if not *the* primary, reason for liking it more. I could really take it or leave it, like, it's fine. The systems in the game(s) were always the main draw for me; another example would be the minimal world building in DC1 not bothering me, because I mostly enjoyed the puzzle of putting the villages together, again contrary to your stated experience with that title. That said, I have a feeling I probably have a much higher tolerance for jank than most! And honestly, as a viewer, I'd *much* rather watch you play a game I don't necessarily care for but that you enjoy, rather than the inverse. I already know what it is like to be a fan of DC1, but not of DC2, so I can experience a bit of that vicariously through your videos, dig? So, even if you never pick up DC1 for the channel again, c'est la vie!
![Let's Play: Fallout 3 [TTW] | EP11](/img/1.gif)
11:45 lol, what is it with this era of RPGs and culling the local wildlife?
15:58 This poor elephant lol. Linda didn't choose the circus life, the circus chose her!
17:13 I love how Flotsam just sorta lets you leave xD Such a Saturday morning cartoon villain.
20:27 Maybe a bit of an awkward tutorial, but a neat mechanic. Like, gramps just explained what we need to make the energy pack, and Max presumably already knows what pipes, belts, and milk cans are...so just make it already, haha.
23:40 Definitely one of those things I went to gamefaqs for as a kid...I don't know if I wouldn't still just do the same thing nowadays, eh. IIRC, there's LOTS of little hidden "ideas" and inventions. This first one they kind of throw you into the deep end for too, since the mechanic isn't super intuitive as far as PS2 game mechanics go (we weren't used to such open ended mechanics back in those days).
25:25 Didn't this girl do a bit in the Circus scene?
28:49 I (unironically, but still conflicted--more on that below!) love how this game has a child's understanding of how things work. It *looks* like a robot's energy backpack...so it must *work* like one too!
33:00 I also love how everyone poses for a photo. Very endearing!
33:30 Sane minds can differ, eh. Already said how I feel about the art direction, so I won't digress on that again. I remember despising the photo/invention mechanic. I'm softer on it nowadays, but still can't help but feel that it feels disconnected from the rest of the mechanics and a bit directionless. If I want to specifically find a new weapon "invention," for instance, there's nothing besides taking photos of anything and everything and crossing my fingers I can really do about it--it is all entirely meaningless until the game tells me how to cobble these things together or I get lucky with a guess (you'd better hope you never miss a crucial photo, either!). Your jokes about the Energy Pack in this episode point to this feeling too. Again, though, perhaps the setting just isn't for me; this turn-of-the-century Europe vibe is on the short list of go-to tropes in Anime and JRPGs and it has never really worked for me, so it is totally possible it is just a me thing!
38:18 I'm the same way, haha! I have to *do* something a couple of times before it really sticks. Physically writing it down myself helps a little bit, certainly more than verbal instructions.
39:35 There was more in that shop that might interest you. It isn't just the crafting materials place!
40:20 This feeling is exactly what I am talking about! It's so arbitrary. I recall they love to hide things behind the camera too, as it were. lol, though I do admit the occasional "ah ha!" feeling you get when finding the last piece of a recipe you have is nice.
44:30 So polite of them to wait patiently for you lol.
I would say, first and foremost that I was actually quite used to games with crafting systems, or somewhat open world exploration. There was this kind of buffer zone, between quite expansive games on the SNES or PS1, and more experimental titles like this on Ps2, where the burden of being 3d kinda made you go "Does this game have anything extra in it, or is it just a 'graphics game'?" Sometimes, for me anyways, I could tell when a game was largely spending its time on being 3d, and maybe the depth of a 2d only game was being sacrificed. Suffice to say, I feel like the world being a game-play mechanic itself (items to take pictures of) added to this feeling that 3d game-play isn't just a gimmick, but can contribute to a deeper feeling of immersion while still having mechanical depth.
I liked the invention system when I first encountered it, because I wasn't very cynical yet and had a misplaced idea of how expansive it was. I didn't really understand how set the inventions were, so as a creative kid, I just thought I can figure out a lot of cool stuff. Suffice to say, I still enjoy it now. Maybe because Max reminds me of Peter Parker a little bit? Just, scraping together random stuff in the back alley and making something cool. Getting inspired by literal garbage. The world building, and character building element of it overrides the arbitrary nature of the mechanic for me.
@@JoshPAuthor That's an interesting take, re: 3D as mechanic, not just a gimmick. I didn't really get into games until after 3D games had become normal (I had played some, but my experience until then amounted to Sonic Pinball, my dad's copy of Doom, and browser games). Although, I do have a very vivid memory of convincing my parents to pick up a dual shock controller so I could play our rental copy of Ape Escape lol. I hadn't thought about that, and while I still might think the implementation here falls a bit flat for my taste, I think I have a better idea of what they were going for at least!
Also, I was moreso referring to the "taking pictures of random objects" part of the equation, rather than the crafting system itself, with regards to my comment about it being so open-ended (or, well, I know it isn't exactly open ended in the strictest sense, but you know what I mean). It's immersive in a way many of its peers weren't, even ones with crafting systems. Like, I don't know how else to put it, so bear with me. You know how in old Hanna-Barbera cartoons you could always tell which parts of the background were going to move later because of how different they looked? A lot of games of this era used that kind of language, where interactable or important things just *pop* like they were completely out of place, you know? The things you need to take pictures of in DC2 *aren't* like that, and I'm not sure how ready people were for that approach lol. Or, indeed, even how good of an idea this other extreme is...something something yellow paint in modern games being a middle ground something something.
Edit: In hindsight, I wonder if the way the inventions work and how recipes are dished out gradually is meant to aid repeat playthroughs? You can invent some powerful items long before finding their actual recipes but after finding the right photos, IIRC, so that would be the kind of thing that could be fun on a second playthrough!
45:42 Where's Linda? Did Max...just kill that abused circus elephant >.>?
48:30 Definitely much better cutscenes and character interactions in this one. Better localized too, eh.
49:25 I wish I could have told you about the select button while you were still playing Dark Cloud 1, oh well lol.
50:25 It's not just a gimmick either! IIRC, there's some enemies where chucking them is a big part of how you beat them.
53:40 I have such conflicted feelings on the Ridepod. On the one hand, it is a customizable mech, love that. They do a pretty good job providing neat options for it too, all things considered, at least if you stay invested in the inventions mechanic. On the other hand, I didn't like giving it valuable experience I'd rather have on my weapons, especially since the enemies you use it for typically give a lot (and yes I know about the switching you can do before it is collected). Interested to see how you feel about it down the line.
57:25 Aye, this is sorta what I meant in the previous video's comments. In DC1, Building Up your weapons was very attainable in the first dungeon (perhaps even expected), but the game fumbled giving the player direction badly enough that you ended up completely disengaged from the system. Certain kinds of fanboys would call that a "skill issue," but I guarantee you weren't the only person that happened to--regardless of how similar the systems are, DC2 did such a better job engaging the player with it that it **feels** like a better system, which is an actually real improvement in and of itself.
59:40 Ya, I mean, obviously as a massive fan of DC1 I would have liked you to like it at least a little bit, but for a variety of reasons that didn't happen. And as much as I hope you return to it down the line with fresh eyes and that DC2 bug out of your system--if only to compare and contrast--I can hardly begrudge someone wanting to find enjoyment in their hobby!
1:11:40 I believe Select sorts your inventory in this one. This is another one of those things that would have felt *terrible* in a game you already aren't enjoying, but when there's enough good will built up it's just like water off a duck's back, eh.
Love the ridepod. Would it be nice if there was like, an exp share? Yea. But it's so over powered early, I view it as an RPG. Pull it out when I need it, tuck it away otherwise. It will probably always be decently strong.
With DC1, honestly after I have played more DC2. I can easily say the reason I didn't look more into building weapons up in DC1 is because I didn't enjoy the feel of combat. The stiffness, the lack of movement when initiating an attack, the weird i-frames, the risk of everything being broken so it all feeling like throwaway stuff. Whether I had the weakest dagger, or the greatest sword, Toan's melee attack was still going to feel like swishing a bug net through nothing. So I just, wasn't excited to see my numbers get bigger, but 'feel' the same. The system was fine, but in DC1, I just wasn't motivated to interact with it, because the core was boring. I didn't want to hit monsters with progressively cooler weapons and that's not a good thing. Compared to the much grinder, arguably more punishing systems like Monster Hunter where the motivation of seeing a new weapon is massive.
Based only on my experience going back, I would probably stand by the opinion that DC2 is the objectively better game. Unless I was being paid, I probably would never go back to DC1. Namely because, in-so-far as my play through of Dark Cloud 2 has gone so far. I can't pick out a single thing, to me, that DC1 did better.
@@JoshPAuthor Sane minds can differ, eh, lol. Ironically, even if by most objective measures we can muster when it comes to judging these things DC2 is "better" than DC1, I have played through DC1 maybe half a dozen or more times, but only completed DC2 once! And I don't see that ever really changing, honestly much the same with how you feel regarding DC1. For whatever reason, DC1 resonates more with me by a country mile, and you are basically in the opposite situation. And that's fine.
Obviously, nostalgia is a factor here--for both of us--though, I reckon it mostly just comes down to preference. For instance, the more fluid control of DC2 means *almost* nothing to me in terms of my personal enjoyment of the game, whereas for you it seems to (as far as I can tell from your comments) be one of the primary, if not *the* primary, reason for liking it more. I could really take it or leave it, like, it's fine. The systems in the game(s) were always the main draw for me; another example would be the minimal world building in DC1 not bothering me, because I mostly enjoyed the puzzle of putting the villages together, again contrary to your stated experience with that title. That said, I have a feeling I probably have a much higher tolerance for jank than most!
And honestly, as a viewer, I'd *much* rather watch you play a game I don't necessarily care for but that you enjoy, rather than the inverse. I already know what it is like to be a fan of DC1, but not of DC2, so I can experience a bit of that vicariously through your videos, dig? So, even if you never pick up DC1 for the channel again, c'est la vie!