#but oh my god the third game is just so unengaging

[bucketofcrows]

okay so i played through the first two Zero Escape games and i have mixed feelings about them. but then i start playing the third game and it’s like. how did they drop the ball on character designs so hard. the designs in the first two were pretty good but how did they end up with the most generic looking cast of characters for the third game

#i'm guessing that it's probably the game directors trying to be ~cool and hip~ by doing a more 'modern' style #rather than the people who were designing the characters themselves #and it's not like the designs in the first two games were perfect either #like Alice Lotus and VLR Clover are probably the biggest offenders #i don't feel i need to justify since they are so incredibly sexualized #especially bad with clover (you cannot convince me she is 21 that is a child) and alice (exoticism) #also i think clover's palette in the first game was a bit off but that;s much more of a nitpick #but oh my god the third game is just so unengaging #also from a gameplay perspective it's incredibly unengaging as well #i get it's a visual novel but forcing it to essentially be Cutscenes: The Game with no way to manually forward text just sucks #like not only am i forced to play at a certain pace but even the act of pressing someting to advance text was a layer of interactivity #and i'd be more okay with that if it was more visually interesting but it's not #also you're telling me that *that's* what junpei akane phi and sigma look like??? #where is the flavor. #redesigns are one thing but oh my god. those are atrocious #anyways tag rant over #zero escape #zero escape 999 #zero escape virtue's last reward #zero time dilemma #zero escape zero time dilemma

[rayxnkh3]

Dead Players Tell All Tales

Pirates! One of my favorite things, sadly in my least favorite world so far. Haul anchor and drop sail cause this is gonna be a long voyage.

Story:

Fusing “A Pirate’s Life” with exposition actually does a great job at engaging us while telling us where we are inside the films story. Though I must admit the song lingers on a little too long.

We find ourselves inside Davy Jone’s locker as we start the level, so that places us at the third movie. Most of my problems with the story of this world stem from this choice. Even if you did watch all of the films, there is a lack of build up towards the climax at the end of the world. We have almost no time to bond with characters, set the stakes, or build dramatic tension before the final fight. Hell, if you don’t remember the movie well you would be completely lost as to what was going on! Right before the final fight Elizabeth makes a rousing speech spouting of freedom and the need to fight. If you didn’t understand why they needed a speech to boost morale and turn the tides of battle then this speech has no emotional weight.

In particular Jack is devoid of all of the charm and precociousness we saw in the films and the voice actor for Davy Jones seems far off (Hard to live up to the great actor who portrayed him in the film). This was one of the instances with which I feel like it would’ve been better not to go with the film as the story and instead just have a fun high seas adventure with Captain Jack.

So the story of the film doesn’t transfer over well, let’s focus on the other aspect of it. Luxord shows up periodically trying to figure out about a mysterious black box the organization has been looking for. His interactions with Jack and use of the parley gag were actually quite fun and I felt like Jack and Luxord mixed well together. Of course the black box wasn’t what he was looking for and he quickly made his escape, though I liked that they decided to have him show up at all. Over-arcing story seems to be gaining a little steam.

Design:

KH2′s design of Port Royal always seemed off to me. Having live action transferred over would be fine, but they went with the grittier more realistic look rather than making them more cartoonish. While the bump in graphics mitigates this a little, the world still looks awkward and out of place compared to the aesthetic of Sora and the gang.

All of the characters eyes seemed glossy and reflective in a strange way. Their faces also conveyed much less emotions so the already unemotional story was not helped by the characters all looking apathetic.

The design of Port Royal felt the same to the town in Tangled, filled with characters and life. The islands and water themselves looked gorgeous, the newer engine really showing its power.

Mechanics:

Oh god where to start...

The aerial combat towards the start of the level was actually rather fun. Bouncing from heartless to heartless while shooting at the larger dinosaur bird thing felt like a good culmination of multiple mechanics: R1 movement and classic mounted combat. My issue comes in with how slowly I was able to move while mounted. The ability to boost forward to more easily catch up with the bird pterodactyl thingie would’ve given made me feel like I was setting the pace of the combat, and not the flying undead bird thingie. (I could’ve looked up what it was called, but I didn’t)

I release a large exasperated sigh and have horror flashbacks to KH1′s Atlantis as I start writing this next piece. Now, to be fair, the underwater combat/section was much more merciful than KH1. Mainly because it was short. The combat felt stagnant and forced as we were unable to form change or swap out our keyblades. Have a really great mechanic? Nope, throw that shit away and give us a single combo to spam over and over as we flop around not controlling where Sora goes. Though I did really like the idea of modifying the spells to be more underwater friendly, but it didn’t do enough to save the lack of keyblade fun. We even got a small boss in this section, which seems weird mainly because it didn’t do anything remotely boss like. He felt less like a boss and more like a fish that never learned from Magikarp that flail was an ineffective attack.

Now on to the biggest issue I had with this level. Ship... Combat... Don’t get me wrong, I have had ship combat in other games and have genuinely enjoyed it. I will be the first to admit that it is a very tricky mechanic to work properly and is not for the enjoyment of everyone. This iteration of it was everything I dislike about ship combat. The camera is too zoomed in to be able to effectively see the battlefield and the movement wasn’t quick enough not only as a ship but when moving the cannons. Upgrading your ship was possible but for the life of me I couldn’t figure it out. I know you needed to collect more crabs and I went into town to find more, only to be disappointed in finding none. I figured I would just use the extra I had but couldn’t find where to turn them in back at the Port. Very unclear as to how to improve my ship.

As I left Port Royal I came across and island with a very large unbreakable box marked with a red X. I tried slashing it, spell casting it, and shooting it with cannons. Eventually I got frustrated and moved on, not caring what sort of loot it had. Chests that have special ways of opening them are supposed to inspire desire, the want to figure out how to open the chest and get whatever shinies are inside. I felt no need to figure this out as the game gave me no inclination as to what was inside, or how to actually open said box. Instead it felt like a red herring and a huge disappointment to my pirating ways.

The fight leaving Port Royal right before the Maelstrom final battle was infuriating. All of my problems with ship combat pulled into one, mixed in with wonky mechanics. The flagship (the final big red one) was excruciatingly painful of an enemy to fight. Firstly, he teleports in front of you randomly, so if you have a chance to lean in and do tons of damage, he will teleport away as soon as you hit the special firing button. Secondly, he constantly spawns extra ships no matter how many you shoot down. Now, I don’t have a problem with this in spirit, but when your ship combat normally is taking down the smaller ships and saving the bigger ships for last, forcing us to do the opposite seems a little irksome unless otherwise stated. If we had the ability to heal or repair our ship in some way than I wouldn’t care so much. I would sink the smaller ships for a little bit while taking chip damage along the way until I realized my plans weren’t working. Instead of this I slowly died twice while realizing that my plans weren’t going to work. Almost no game makes dying enjoyable, with the exception being the Arkham series when the villains would riff on Batman for failing miserably.

The Kraken fight was just as boring an unengaging as the other ship combat, so I am just going to blow past it.

The fight with Davy Jones was also a bit of a let down. If you decided to make the villain of the movie be the final boss, I don’t have an issue with it, but make their combat more engaging then what just the character does. Davy Jones slashed at me and summoned tentacles. He himself didn’t hit very hard and my massive AoE took care of most of the tentacles. Not once did I have to pause to think about strategy or mitigate any sort of damage. Hack, slash, repeat, boring.

Final Thoughts:

This world was a disappointment after having so many previous fun worlds. But that’s also why I am so willing to forgive it. This was truly the first bad world I have found while playing this game. Unemotional story, irksome mechanics, and choppy visuals all added up to a High Seas Horror Show. Even with all my problems with this world, I still find myself extremely eager to continue playing, knowing that the game itself is still a huge win.

Level of Enjoyment: NOT getting a choreographed song and dance number in skimpy clothing (both men and women)

#kh3 review #KH3 #gamedesign #gamereview #kh3 spoilers #pirates