Reprise wrote:Really? I didn't notice that in Choubu... I wonder what he's referring to. Maybe it sounds more impactful than it actually comes across in the game. I loved the idea of what happens in the final hour or two, but the execution was flawed.
Yeah, that was my reaction, like, 'There was less to the story before?' The article isn't specific, because it seems to involve spoilers, but I think it's safe to assume, given the context, that it's at the end of the game. I actually misinterpreted part of it though, and thought he was saying that the additions to the scenarios were the main reason for the delays, but he was just saying that part of what they were trying to do with the scenarios during that time was work on adding more emotion to some part of the back half of the game. He also cited overall balance, and combat tweaks as reasons for the delays. (Conspicuously, no real mention of presentation or visuals.)
Whoa! We got Sload on board. Nice!
Sload Soap wrote:Obviously the voice acting is bad but we assume that's deliberate, although Shenhua sounds like one of those Gamerpoop videos where they cut up preexisting voice lines to make new dialogue. It had the effect of making her sound a bit cretinous. I mean, in reality she would be having no formal education and all but still.
This is the one thing where I wish Yu had just said, 'Y'know what? This aspect isn't worth listening to the fans on.' God bless those people for whom the terrible English audio is a selling point, but I'm pretty sure they're in the minority, and that it does a lot more harm than good to the brand. It would be be another matter entirely if they had just tried to make the performances good, though.
Sload Soap wrote:I have a bit on an issue with the overall quality of the sound mix. The music is lovely but the way it fades between areas in Bailu can lead to some abrupt changes between tracks. This is really noticeable in the paddy field by Panda market as it can flick between steps depending where you are. You also have songs that just play through, stop, have a few seconds of dead air then restart. That and the incidental sound effects are very plug-in. That's a more minor criticism though.
This doesn't bother me generally, but it is kind of a weird issue that I would expect to be patched at some point. I've had times while in shops looking for Choubu-chan where I'm in first-person, and near a wall, so I get the audio bouncing between the shop music and the outside music. Also, I just really wish the music for Hanasaki-dori would extend out beyond the stone path, because I really enjoy it, but it's really hard to listen to without being parked in one spot for a while. It's on the short side, though, so I think they might have tried to mask that by making the range for it a bit limited. The BGM implementation certainly has some kinks to iron out.
Sload Soap wrote:I don't like how some sidequests seem to end if you talk to the questgiver without the relevant item to hand. That's basic gaming stuff really and wasn't present even in Shenmue's 1 or 2. Weird.
Yeah, the only time I had really encountered something like that was on the first fishing sidequest, but I did get kind of ticked off when I was doing a sidequest in choubu and I just happened to talk to the first shopkeeper that gave me the quest notice. It turned out to be the last segment of that quest, but I had (basically by chance) not gotten a note from the quest giver that would have completed it early. So I couldn't talk to any of the other shops about it, and it just forced me to fail the quest. I happened to have a save that was only about two in-game days back (so maybe 2-3 hours of progress lost) that I was able to recover from without much trouble. Plus the reward wasn't something I would have been too bent out of shape about missing, so overall it didn't bother me as much as that fishing quest. I haven't failed any otherwise. I think they kind of fail you if you haven't completed it before progressing to certain parts of the story, though. Usually you can go back to talk with them, and get more notes in the notebook, if the story hasn't progressed too far.
Sload Soap wrote:Mr Tao is the second most evil capitalist shop-keeper in gaming after Tom Nook. Chop his wood so he pay you a pittance so buy garlic off him so you can go on living. The loop is closed. I would dob him in to the local Communist party official but Bailu seems to be stuck in the 1910's.
Dude, did you do the conversation quest? Bailu has a slumlord, too.Sload Soap wrote:Anyway it's really good all round but I probably have a long and boring rant about the story and why Yu Suzuki is not and never has been a good writer in me.
Glad you're liking it. I'd be curious to hear to your thoughts on Yu as a storyteller. I don't think he deserves an Akutagawa Prize, or anything, but I think the storytelling comes from more than just the narrative (although I personally really enjoy the more direct aspect of the storytelling, too).