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Disappointed.

randytaylerrandytayler Registered User new member
edited May 2008 in Penny Arcade Games
I've been anxious for PA Adventures to come out, giddy with anticipation. But the demo, while providing a few laughs, was not engaging to me. I'm not a big fan of turn-based combat in general, but the repeated battles while walking down one single street was... tedious.

I love PA, and the game was funny... it just wasn't fun. I uninstalled the demo before finishing it; I felt I'd given it enough time.

I hope that I'm alone in this, though -- I really want PA to succeed. I just wanted to share my honest opinion.

randytayler on

Posts

  • yuttyutt Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    You didn't even finish the demo? What, like all 30 minutes? Do you have ADD?

    yutt on
  • ZhirzzhZhirzzh Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I have to agree with Yutt. I have NEVER given up on a game in less than 30 minutes, and many of them didn't have the writing that this game does. To be fair though, I love Arcanum, so combat obviously doesn't matter to me in a game with good writing :)

    Zhirzzh on
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  • jamespatrickjamespatrick Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I agree. The combat here you have to stay very focused. You can die pretty easily if you don't dodge, and use the special attacks.

    Overall though the adventure game aspect really is what makes me love this game. The story, and presentation is very funny. Unless you hate RPG's a lot I think this game does more then enough to make it engaging.

    jamespatrick on
  • yuttyutt Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I don't even generally like this genre. The only Final Fantasy I've played through was the original.

    This game was great, however. The atmosphere, artwork, story, dialog and gameplay were all excellent. I was a bit worried and expected the game to be much shorter than it was.

    I will admit, I was disappointed by the...
    ...three carnival games. They were extremely poor quality and kind of embarrassing to the rest of the game. I really wish they had been left out. I've seen Flash advertisement banners with as high of quality gameplay.

    yutt on
  • PhironePhirone Registered User new member
    edited May 2008
    I HATE turn based combat in most games... PA is not one of them... what i've seen so far makes me very excited and i'm deffinetly going to buy that game!

    Phirone on
  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    That's too bad. I enjoyed the combat: it was just action-y enough to be challenging, but not so much as to be annoying. Everything seemed simple on the surface, but when you combined abilities, items, and your enemy's abilities it got a lot more interesting.

    Did you at least get far enough to get Gabe and Tycho into your group? The first few combats are mostly waiting games meant to introduce you to the mechanics. It gets a lot more hectic once you have a full party. In most later fights there are almost no chances to rest.
    yutt wrote: »
    ...three carnival games. They were extremely poor quality and kind of embarrassing to the rest of the game. I really wish they had been left out. I've seen Flash advertisement banners with as high of quality gameplay.
    While I won't argue for the quality of the carnival games, I think the elements surrounding their inclusion made them worthwhile. The item salesman that took tokens, the fortune-teller, even the names of the games were funny enough to make the thirty seconds it takes to get what you need worthwhile.

    admanb on
  • RosettiRosetti Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm not a big fan of turn-based combat in general

    Then, yes, it's not your type of game. Fair enough.

    Rosetti on
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  • anti-everythinganti-everything Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I was expecting the gameplay to be vanilla and the PA presentation to keep me entertained but the gameplay quality really surprised me and I'm enjoying it much more than I expected.

    anti-everything on
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  • PhanmanPhanman Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Gave up on a demo? How do you not even finish a demo? Your hatred for action oriented turn based combat must be so deep that it is deeper than the deepest deep crow.

    Phanman on
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  • WillethWilleth Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I didn't even finish the demo either.

    I saw a trashcan full of cats and paid for it right then.

    Willeth on
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  • randytaylerrandytayler Registered User new member
    edited May 2008
    I got to where Gabe and Tycho and I were fighting together, but it just wasn't intriguing -- I wanted MORE of the story, the dialogue, the humor.

    I thought I was getting a more Monkey-Islandish game, knowing the creators. Once it was firmly established that my choices in the game were going to be limited to what attack to use next, or the occasional choice of dialogue, I quit.

    (One other quick gripe -- the pathfinding seemed buggy. My guy couldn't find his way around mailboxes on occasion, and I had to guide him step-by-step.)

    (Oh, and lastly -- was there some sort of training I missed? It never told me how to block -- I just stumbled onto it.)

    That said, I'm glad to hear everybody here enjoyed it -- never been happier to be the odd man out.

    randytayler on
  • NATIKNATIK DenmarkRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I am quite certain I was told how to block by the voice or something similiar, but a lot of others have complained about the missing that bit so you aren't alone there.

    I personally went into the game expecting a story told in true PA style and only that expectation, so to me the game was a pleasant surprise. The jRPG quasi turn based combat is fine for getting that out of the way (would personally prefer totally turnbased combat, but I am a sucker for turn based and I dislike most real time gaming). The describtion of random items makes exploring fun, the conversations makes getting and finishing quests fun and the atmosphere makes the rest fun.

    The game could certainly be more advanced and it could be deeper, but given that it is an episode of a game and it cost $20 which is practically nothing (less then an hour pay for several hours of fun, sign me the fuck up) I really have no issues with it, especially as a medium for the story it told.

    NATIK on
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  • anti-everythinganti-everything Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I'm reading a lot everywhere that people are missing the 'how to block' tip that comes up. It does come up as it teaches you combat, but that's it. I think if you don't block or fail at it consistently it should come back up imo.

    anti-everything on
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  • strike_the_tripstrike_the_trip Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    So... you're disappointed that this game didn't make you like something you already didn't like?

    strike_the_trip on
  • FireflashFireflash Montreal, QCRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I like some RPG's but the demo failed to hook me sufficiently to buy the game tho. Well actually the story seems pretty funny and interesting in a Penny Arcade kinda way.

    My problem was with the combat, more specifically the interface. Yes I know how to block attacks but as soon as I got Tycho and Gabe in my party I couldn't focus on doing it anymore.

    The way the interface is setup I constantly have to look at the bottom of the screen to see if one of my party member is ready to attack, which means I'm not looking at the battlefield and I don't always see when enemies are about to attack. There needs to be some kind of popup telling you a party member is ready to attack again. In a Final Fantasy game when a party member is ready there's a very distinctive sound, you see the character's menu appear and the appropriate character is already selected. There's no such thing happening in this game.

    Fireflash on
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  • Walrus PeteWalrus Pete Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Fireflash wrote: »
    I like some RPG's but the demo failed to hook me sufficiently to buy the game tho. Well actually the story seems pretty funny and interesting in a Penny Arcade kinda way.

    My problem was with the combat, more specifically the interface. Yes I know how to block attacks but as soon as I got Tycho and Gabe in my party I couldn't focus on doing it anymore.

    The way the interface is setup I constantly have to look at the bottom of the screen to see if one of my party member is ready to attack, which means I'm not looking at the battlefield and I don't always see when enemies are about to attack. There needs to be some kind of popup telling you a party member is ready to attack again. In a Final Fantasy game when a party member is ready there's a very distinctive sound, you see the character's menu appear and the appropriate character is already selected. There's no such thing happening in this game.

    There is a sound that plays when a character's attack finishes recharging. It would help if there was some kind of flash or something though, I guess. I dunno, it was never a problem for me.

    Walrus Pete on
  • lokimantislokimantis Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I understand your frustration at the turn based component of the game. I was weary going in. I downloaded the demo off of live arcade and played through to the end of the demo. When I got to the end I wasn't sure if I dug the experience as it was somewhat of a new take on an old mechanism. I

    talked myself into purchasing the full game with the thought that Tycho and Gabe are gamers...and gamers wouldn't dare let other gamers down for fear of beyond biblical physical punishment and reputation damage galore.

    So I bought the game. I poured myself a nice sized jager bomb, sat down, and started over from scratch. What I had missed in the demo was now coming to light. The scenery was beautiful, the plotline was comical and the gameplay started becoming familiar. Once I got used to the attack mechanism and timing (which to mean seemed like a mix between warioware for the wii and final fantasy), I found it challenging and fun. I ended up playing the game until the wee hours of the morning.

    So I guess to sum up the story, give the mechanics a chance, because the gameplay and storyline are definately worth it.

    :rotate:

    lokimantis on
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  • DroolDrool Science! AustinRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    This is probably the most active turn based combat in any game I've seen. You have to like really really really hate turn based combat to not want to play this game because of that one mechanic.

    Drool on
  • AiranAiran Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Just tried the demo. I don't mind the turn-based aspect of battles, I just wish it was faster. Before I got Tycho and Gabe it was painfully slow, and even afterwards Tycho took ages to charge up (though his gun took those fruit fuckers out in 1 hit, so that's cool).

    Is there a gamepad cursor interface? By that I mean console-styled 'move left to select next enemy' type interface. That would be awesome for the PC version - it's just faster and less fiddly imo.

    So yeah, from that demo, I want a slightly faster paced game.

    Airan on
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  • DroolDrool Science! AustinRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I really don't get that complaint. With three people doing attacks there is always something to do, and with at least 3 enemies there is almost always something to block. If it was faster paced it would just be more frantic.

    Drool on
  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    AbsoluteZero on
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  • NotASenatorNotASenator Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Rosetti wrote: »
    I'm not a big fan of turn-based combat in general

    Then, yes, it's not your type of game. Fair enough.

    This is the correct reply right here.

    NotASenator on
  • GnomeTankGnomeTank What the what? Portland, OregonRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Hey, not everyone is going to like it.

    For a 1600 pointer DLC, it's been a ton of fun for me. I can't wait for Episode 2. The combat requires a lot more focus than most JRPG style combat engines though, as blocking isn't a "do it if you feel like it" kind of thing, it's really required if you don't want to die a lot.

    GnomeTank on
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  • NotASenatorNotASenator Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    I'm pretty sure you're the only person who thinks this. The narrator has gotten almost universal and abundant praise around here.

    NotASenator on
  • DVGDVG No. 1 Honor Student Nether Institute, Evil AcademyRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    For the record, the combat gets a lot twitchier after you get Gabe and Tycho.

    DVG on
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  • ElkiElki get busy Moderator, ClubPA Mod Emeritus
    edited May 2008
    NotACrook wrote: »
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    I'm pretty sure you're the only person who thinks this. The narrator has gotten almost universal and abundant praise around here.

    Because he's awesome.

    Elki on
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  • ZhirzzhZhirzzh Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Elki wrote: »
    NotACrook wrote: »
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    I'm pretty sure you're the only person who thinks this. The narrator has gotten almost universal and abundant praise around here.

    Because he's awesome.

    Awesome doesn't even come close to describing him. He is Tycho's disembodied wit speaking in an awesome narrator voice.

    Zhirzzh on
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  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Zhirzzh wrote: »
    Elki wrote: »
    NotACrook wrote: »
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    I'm pretty sure you're the only person who thinks this. The narrator has gotten almost universal and abundant praise around here.

    Because he's awesome.

    Awesome doesn't even come close to describing him. He is Tycho's disembodied wit speaking in an awesome narrator voice.

    Except he goes on and on and on and you can't really do much of anything until he's done speaking lest you miss something important.

    AbsoluteZero on
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  • NATIKNATIK DenmarkRegistered User regular
    edited May 2008
    All who got this game for the PA atmosphere and humour should have no problems listening to him, if you don't want to listen to that then this game certainly have zero interest for you.

    NATIK on
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  • ZhirzzhZhirzzh Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Zhirzzh wrote: »
    Elki wrote: »
    NotACrook wrote: »
    I love the combat but the rest of the game seems really slow and monotonous. Also the narrator needs to shut the fuck up.

    I'm pretty sure you're the only person who thinks this. The narrator has gotten almost universal and abundant praise around here.

    Because he's awesome.

    Awesome doesn't even come close to describing him. He is Tycho's disembodied wit speaking in an awesome narrator voice.

    Except he goes on and on and on and you can't really do much of anything until he's done speaking lest you miss something important.

    Why would you want to do something other than listen to the narrator? Also, you can just read what he says, and hit skip if it bugs you that much.

    Zhirzzh on
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  • Dark_SideDark_Side Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    Yeah, for reals, I find listening to the narrator one my favorite parts of the game. I usually hate rpgs and games that have extended cut scenes or text, but I find myself increasingly taking part in the game's dialogs just because they're so much fun.

    Dark_Side on
  • Fatty McBeardoFatty McBeardo Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    I just finished the game and I really enjoyed it. I feel like I totally got my money's worth and will pick up the next chapters.

    Fatty McBeardo on
  • BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited May 2008
    the narrator is awesome. i played the demo through twice, then decided i needed this game, and i have not been disappointed at all yet

    Belruel on
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