Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[UselessBytes]

There's a lot I didn't like about TP. Most of it I recall about everything looking so... jarring. Most of the textures and character models outside of link, Zelda, Zant, etc. just looked bad to me. I know I shouldn't be too hard on a GameCube game when it comes to graphical prowess, but if you put it side by side with something like Metroid Prime, it just looks kind of shoddy. (And hey, maybe the HD remake fixes this. Too bad I don't own a Wii U.)

 

[Beth Pavell]

Skyward Sword's art style much better suited the likes of the Wii - or well, the Game Cube, I suppose. It might be heresy to suggest that anything other than photorealism is appropriate, but well, call me a heretic.

 

[UselessBytes]

Skyward Sword's art style much better suited the likes of the Wii - or well, the Game Cube, I suppose. It might be heresy to suggest that anything other than photorealism is appropriate, but well, call me a heretic.

There's another thing I don't get - Skyward Sword hate. It's one of my favorite Zelda games. It's got a good, Zelda-esque story, it looks amazing, and the motion controls were fairly well done. (At least, they worked for me. Other people I've met said otherwise. Although if I compare it to the prime series again in terms of control quality it could be a tad better.)

 

[Beth Pavell]

The motion controls were a vast improvement on some previous games. Calibrate it once: done.

The challenge is to stop yourself from getting overexcited and actually pay attention to what your hands are doing - the motion equivalent of not button-bashing. It kind of shows up a damned if you do situation, something I've seen in some of my friends. Make the motion controls forgiving and they lambast it as mindless waggling. Make them think about what they're doing and they blame the game when they lose

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I like Twilight Princess for the Snowpeak Ruins. It was the first part of the game I genuinely enjoyed, and I also got to it around the same time I started playing it on a better-lit TV.

I played Skyward Sword before Twilight Princess, and I like it because it completely blew my mind. It's the Zelda game I went into knowing the least about, and although it took me three months to finish, from December 2012 to March 2013, I never gave up. It made me feel like I'd played a "proper" game for the first time, as elitist as that sounds, and certainly made me good at video games.

Here's a brief rundown of games that have been my favourite in recent years:
2012: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2013: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2014: Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
2016: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
I have no idea what my favourite video game is now.

 

[UselessBytes]

Here's a brief rundown of games that have been my favourite in recent years:
2012: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
2013: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2014: Solatorobo: Red the Hunter
2016: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
I have no idea what my favourite video game is now.

I can give my top three in order, easily.

1. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
2. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
3. Pac-Man World 2

Prime 2 is a beautiful game. It might not be as technically polished as the first prime, (read: there's a lot more places to clip out of bounds and make unintentional game breaking sequence breaks. You won't find any of that in a normal playthrough, though.) but it's one of those "non-horror horror" games, like metroid fusion and parts of Prime 3 are, (looking at you, GFS Valhalla) and the whole atmosphere of the game is perfect. Torvus bog is hauntingly beautiful, the Sanctuary Fortress/Ing Hive is absolutely terrifying with its abandoned cyberpunkish theme, and everywhere else in the game feels so unique from each other while still feeling like part of the same planet. It's a fantastic experience.

I've got explanations behind the other two as well, but I'll spare you all the word vomit.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I'd like to hear about the other two!

Oh, I just remembered another one:
2015: Kirby's Dream Land 3
I'm not good at ranking my favourites.

 

[UselessBytes]

I'd like to hear about the other two!

Well, okay I guess.

As for Phantom Hourglass, it's amazing, and it feels like a near perfect sequel to a game that's almost just as amazing. The whole world is bright and vibrant, just like wind waker, with an even more Zelda-Esque story than WW. It really feels like a classic Zelda game like LttP or Ocarina, while keeping the same charm that made Wind Waker so unique. Not to mention the characters. While there's only a few that have more than a few minutes of significance, they're all super memorable, especially Linebeck. (the best Zelda companion) And I get that the touch controls aren't everyone's thing, but I loved them and felt like I had total control over link at all times.

As for Pac-Man World 2, the reasons are a lot simpler. It's a short, but addictively fun platformer that's easy to beat in three or four sittings. It's charming and fun and unexpectedly polished, and has that classic touch of arcade-game-updated-into-something-new that sets it apart from everything else. If you own a GameCube, this game is a must. Plus, the controls are unbelievablely tight. (Although the Volcano world has such a random difficultly spike that it can be a bit frustrating at times.)

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Phantom Hourglass' touch controls work because the game was designed around them. For a game that wasn't designed around its unorthodox controls, see the Wii version of THE DOG Island.

One reason I like Phantom Hourglass is that TheGamerFromMars (back when he did gaming videos) put the Isle of Ruin in a list of creepy Zelda locations, pointing out that it was rarely talked about. It made me realise that there was a lot of interesting discussion material in the game that hadn't been discussed to death. Before that, back in 2012, Phantom Hourglass and White 2 were on the road of me becoming good at video games, since I beat them both in twelve days.

As for the PMD video, I'm worried that people will hate me for it. I'm also planning on briefly comparing Super to Cars 2, which might make people double hate me.

 

[canisaries]

others: i have had positive experiences with many video games but my absolute favorite would have to be this because of its masterful design in both... (1/273)

me: i like super mario 64 because u can get cap and fly wheeee

 

[Nitro Indigo]

me: i like super mario 64 because u can get cap and fly wheeee

WAHOO!

Don't worry, though, I can't explain why I like Ever Oasis.

 

[TRNatalie]

Do any of you have thoughts on "The Last Guardian" game just out of curiosity? I watched a playthrough but I haven't played the game.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I've heard Trico has bad AI.

Does anyone else think that some name changes in Pokémon are pointless? Like, Achroma and Cosmovum have the same impact on English speakers as Colress and Cosmoem, if not more so.

 

[TRNatalie]

It looked like it in the playthrough. At first, I thought the game designers were trying to make him a lot like real animals where they don't obey you right away but towards the end it became obvious something was up with the controls on the game. At least the interactions in the story mode are cute.

Yeah. Sometimes it's understandable like with Magmar but other times, it doesn't make sense like Mimikkyu-Mimikyu.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Sometimes the changes are pretty much cosmetic, yes. I would usually point to certain pokémon, and names that are supposed to sound esoteric and/or odd as examples of that.

 

[canisaries]

i used to have the problem of not writing because i had no motivation and was worried that would lead to my prose turning out soulless and it making me permanently visualize the scenes in the same, dull way so that i wouldn't even be able to fix it later.

now i have the problem of having plenty of motivation but not being able to write because i fear it would turn out soulless anyway.

???

 

[TRNatalie]

I have that problem and I have one where I try to tell people about my stories but it all comes out as a stammer. I also have a problem where I'll be in full writing mode during an action scene and if I'm interrupted, I can't get back my groove.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I've found that my beta finds far, far less things to comment on if I just power through the no motivation, write, and don't care if it's bad. If I have the motivation, I overthink my writing and all of a sudden there's coherency issues and just verbose wording all over the place. Your subconscious can do wonders if you give it the chance, believe me.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Sometimes you just have to buckle down and write. I honestly think too much is made of motivation - as a hobby, writing has to be a bit like running. It might not always be fun when your legs are burning - or when you just cannot figure out how the scene should go - but the pay off is the satisfaction of bludgeoning through to get the job done.

And now I must go and rewrite this sentence, again, because it's still too anaemic for a Finals battle

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I'm currently scripting a video about my problems with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and I was worried at first that I didn't know how to begin it, but then I realised I should take my time with this one and I can always go back and rewrite it after I've gotten all my points down. I still have a problem of not writing enough, though.

Also, my fundamental problems with Pokémon Mystery Dungeon are exactly the same as my fundamental problems with Cars 2 - poor pacing and a passive protagonist. I'm taking a Story Laboratory approach to this, and their videos aren't too long, so...