I like the game because it's simpe and easy to play, something that most other dungeon crawlers fail at. I'm glad they didn't get ambitious with it and turn it into a complicated mess, it's better off as it is.
E3 has become way too big for its own good, I feel like it's bad for the industry now.
Do you know if DooM and DooM II can be played online, like the XBLA versions can?
You didn't like Mega Man 10?
It isn't a filter, it's due to image scaling. The 3DS has a higher resolution than the DS, so DS games are stretched out to fit the 3DS screens. There's no way to get around that because the two resolutions don't match up; think of it as watching SD content on an HDTV. The "tiny scale" option is the DS's original resolution.
I'm not really sure what the "moderization" comment means in the opening paragraph, but if it in some way is saying that an action-based battle system is an evolution of a turn-based one, I take real issue with that. But this is probably not the place to open that can of snakes.
In any case, I agree with just about everything besides calling this game a change instead of being something different. I don't think I've been this into an RPG since Chrono Trigger, I've just been wandering around the world and seeing what kind of stuff I can find.
The battle system was engaging for a while, and provided some new options once I got some more members, but now I'm wishing that I could control my party members. They don't always do what I want themt to, especially Melia. The CPU uses her pretty badly. Oh well, I guess with a long game like this, things wear thin everntually, but the battle system could be a little deeper. It's still fun a majority of the time though.
I would have to disagree about the game being gorgeous. Though there are a few nice scenes in the game, most areas are plagued with blurry textures, and the character models are extremely blocky. If cutscenes didn't get so close to the characters then that wouldn't be an issue, but the graphics are sometimes so bad that it's distracting. I'd have taken fogging for some more visual clarity.
I agree about the interfaces and such, though the game has taken some steps towards streamling things, there's still more it should have done. One would be adding a bestiary, something most other RPGs have. This would make finding monsters you already found easier when you get a side quest for them.
I'd say most of this game's issues are only issues if you want to complete it 100% (or as 100% as possible), but since it's all optional stuff, the main story is mostly free of problems. 4 1/2 stars is probably what I'd give the game, too.
The main things that separates them is the selection of modes and tracks, so I can't really say which is better. Exotica doesn't really introduce new gameplay mechanics or tweaks, so it all comes down to which game has the tracks you prefer. Exotica is almost fantastical at times, so if you want some more real-world, World is the way to go. If you're looking for something a little more wacky, then go for Exotica.
If you've played the first two games and want more, definitely get Exotica. It's cheap now, and being so similar, you already know you like it. There's not much to lose.
As Nick mentioned, the multiplayer mode was mostly well done, and that adds at least one star to my score. Without that, I probably would have given it three stars. It has some problems too, but at least the control issues are less frustrating when you're playing with human opponents, who all have to struggle with it.
If people think RPGs are still following the same template from the original Dragon Quest, then it is an apt comparison to compare Call of Duty to DooM. Kill all the enemies, make it to the end of the stage. This is the basic formula of first-person shooters. Shooters have changed and evolved since then, just as RPGs have evolved from Dragon Quest.
Profitability doesn't make a genre popular: niche games are profitable all the time. Companies like Atlus and XSeed sustain themselves on niche games that large publishers won't touch. When it comes to popularity and hype, sales dictate that, and show that little else beyond Final Fantasy became more than niche.
The problem is that western RPGs are not moving the RPG genre forward, they are creating a new genre. Action-based gameplay is not an evolution from turn-based gameplay, and I don't understand how anyone could think it is. JRPGs already have tons of customization; just look at Dragon Quest IX. Not sure about choice, but again, an open-ended world is not an evolution of RPGs, it's moving towards a different genre.
If people think JRPGs need to be more like WRPGs, that's like saying Mario games need to be more like Zelda games. I don't see a point in saying a game should be like another game that exists: just go play that game, and leave the other one to the people who already like it as it is.
I don't think it has anything to do with JRPGs following the same template: North America goes crazy for new Call of Duty games, even though they are never anything new and are basically following the same template as DooM. The truth is, North America has never been into RPGs, not even during the PlayStation era when Final Fantasy VII mysteriously became a mega hit. Just look at every other RPG outside of the FF series, how many of them sold over a million copies in North America?
So what happened here? Everyone was gaga over the CGI scenes featured in Final Fantasy VII, and didn't really care what kind of game it actually was. People who enjoyed this game would later try out the new FF games like VIII and X, but they never migrated to other RPGs. They were just in it for the CGI, and once other, more action-oriented games started featuring CGI and FMV, North America no longer had a reason to play RPGs.
Now, you have western developers who have mixed the story elements of RPGs that North America liked with the action gameplay they crave. This isn't an evolution of the RPG, it's a whole other type of genre. That's why Western-developed RPGs became popular here, and Japanese-developed ones are back into obscurity, because they're just not a style of game that a majority of North America is into - and they never were actually into it.
