Ever want to crawl inside Sonic Team's heads?

[Polenicus]

I bet you it's a scary place in there. Any group that can come up with some of the best games out there, and then turn around and churn out the most purile crap imaginable USING THE SAME BASE FOR THE GAME has got to have some freaky shit in their craniums.

For instance, look at Phantasy Star Online Episode III

Not, before you jump all over me, I'm NOT saying the game will be crap. I'm not saying the game will be ANYTHING. There's not enough info. There is just enough info to know that A) It will be a turn-based, card-using strategy game, which is about as far from a real-time action RPG as you can get, and B) It is not a side game or a 'companion' game, but part of the mainline. It directly continues the story from Episode I & II.

Now, I can understand why change is a good thing, but I can't get my head around WHY they're making THIS change NOW. True, other famous franchises have made major changes, but let's look at how they did it:

Metroid: Went from a Side-scroller to a 3-D adventure game.

This was almost a required update. The side-scroller genre was, if not dead, then nowhere near as big as it once was, and Nintendo wanted Metroid to play with the big boys. That being given, they made the transition wonderfully, putting in enough classic elements for the old school gamer to feel at home, while making it accessable for new players. That, and the lag time between Super Metroid and this game made the audience more receptive to change.

Starfox: Went from Space Combat to Action/Adventure

Despite this being, by most accounts, a good game, a lot of die hard Starfox fans were disappointed. Why? Because the game WASN'T STARFOX! This simple fact alone hurt what was otherwise a perfectly good game. Nintendo didn't meet the expectations of the gamer crowd. However, this was also helped by the time lag between Starfox 64 and Starfox Adventures... players were willing to accept a change.

Now, on to PSO.

You're taking players who are currently playing one game (Action/Aventure RPG), asking them to switch over to a COMPLETELY new genre (Turn based/Strategy), accept the game as the next installment, not as as side game or whatnot (And thereby implying that all future games will likely follow this new model) and expecting them to accept it.

Simple fact, right now people palying PSO want more of what they're getting. Better graphics? Yes. Smarter monsters? Sure. More levels? Hell yeah! Blue Eyes White Dragon?

Errr...

So, screw the current players, we're after that new, younger crowd that watched Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon!

Okay, so they fire up the game, and find themselves halfway through a planetary colonization, hearing about 'Red Ring Rico' like they should know her, 'Heathcliff Flowen' like they should know HIM, Dark Falz, Ragol, Pioneer 1, 2, 3...

You're dumping them in the middle of the story. Either you're going to have to go back and re-iterate the entirety of Episode I & II, or the game isn't going to make SENSE. And even if you do, the new players simply aren't going to GET it like the players of Episode I & II would.

Simple fact: Episode III is NOT Phantasy Star Online.

I think Sega should have taken this concept and made a completely new game out of it, rather than recycling the monster graphics from Phantasy Star Online and slapping the name on it. I think this is going to be a collossal mistake.

But hey, that's just me.

[AzureBlaze]

When it comes down to it (despite my other post to the big thread) you seem to be right.

Turn based and Card games are NOT any kind of essence of PSO. They may have only released a paragraph and 3 screen shots, but those words are undeniable. There's no way you could 'misunderstand/read wrong/jump to conclusion' about the word "Card game which is turn based"

However...your other point is how the heck can ST be doing this? It's totally unlike them to shove something so random into a main continuity. I mean...ST isn't Segas main developer team in charge of their most important mascot and icon because they make horrible decisions. They're just not!

I mean...they must think they have something really good going on here, that CURRENT people will like as well. It's total nonsense to forget about your entire user base. That would like be turning Pokemon into rated R killfests. You'd obliterate the current audiance and go out of buisness because any NEW audiance 1. Doesn't care 2. Dosn't know the way around 3. Thinks they know it all already, and won't buy a "Rehash". This dosn't seem like something ST would do. It's like...stepping into bizzarro world or something. The point being...to hold out hope because it's just too absurd that they would pull this about-face on everyone.

[blaketx11]

Well I totally agree, it's a BIG mistake. BUT, I wonder.... Notice how it's entitled "Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Battle" ? Maybe they'll release (in parallel/afterwards) "Phantasy Star Online Episode III: Real-Time RPG" ?
It's a long shot, but damn I'm just flabergasted they did this. How can they completely IGNORE the 9K+ players of the current PSO, and release the next segment to a totally different market?! It's like saying, "well, we know you guys like the game, but we thought we'd completely switch to an FPS about a cyborg cowboy who runs for president in a make-believe cheeseburger world designed by Tim Burton!" I mean, seriously, why did they do this??

[saffaya]

May you realize that Sonic Team has been burnt by the PSO experience and doesn't care anymore.
The turn based card game is a proven and unimaginative (= no risk and no gameplay research to do) type of game and they have all the 3D models already done from previous PSO. (= quick buck)

Personnally, I take it as a final insult after all the cowardness and incompetence of managing the online part of previous PSO games.

Well, optimists can always look at the bright side : GC is getting its second online game ! whoopee ! (sarcasm)

[Spacepest]

Yes, I'd like to get into ST's head to find out what kind of crack they've been smoking to come up with such lame, LAZY ideas from previously excellent games. Personally, I just don't see how innovative a CARD game can be, and I will most likely be renting this game before I even buy it...if I EVER buy it!

Considering I've spent thousands of hours playing the various editions of PSO, I can honestly say I do not see myself playing even a fraction of that time in a card game. Chasing monsters in real time and smacking them with rare weapons I've found is just too much fun.

I just don't see this game selling very well to its original USA fan base either. It seems like ST is trying to cash out on the "little kiddy market," because the only card games that Americans over the age of 12 like to play for extended amounts of time involve betting, casinos, and money.

And so what if it has a chat feature? If i wanted to hang out, chat and just play cards with complete strangers AND PAY TO PLAY, I'd go to play blackjack in Las Vegas.

I can only hope ST releases another version of PSO; maybe XBOX will get something different? Although with the way Sega has been going lately, I wouldn't be surprised to see them try to offload some lame crap on XBOX players like "PANZER DRAGON ORTA CARD BATTLE" instead. yuck!

[gallaugher]

On 2003-04-29 09:13, Spacepest wrote:
I wouldn't be surprised to see them try to offload some lame crap on XBOX players like "PANZER DRAGON ORTA CARD BATTLE" instead. yuck!

LMAO!!!