I feel like isekai used to be mostly centered on girl protagonists and the shows were often good. Been watching Escaflowne with a friend recently and that show still kicks ass. She's been watching Inuasha and that show is a perfectly fine action comedy thing still.
Idk if it was SAO's fault the genre turned into the shambling horror it is today, kinda feel like trends in modern anime were going to get there one way or another. But it is depressing something as simple as "person gets sent to another world" has been so thoroughly coopted by shitty dudes.
Gundam, of all things, actually managed to make a good isekai a year or so back, so it's not like people can't. Antisocial dude power fantasy just sells I guess.
Magic Knight Rayearth: also an old-school shoujo isekai that’s great
Was just thinking of that one.
Did anyone ever play the JRPG on the Saturn based on it?
Yep, I still own it. It's fantastic.
Indeed, I still have a Saturn I keep doing minor repairs on, to keep it running just for that, Dragon Force, and Shining Force III.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
Someone correctly pointed out here once that the problems with floods of shitty isekai stories now are actually a continuation of the problems with the floods of shitty harem stories that existed in the 00s, they just kind of all started adding isekai elements to them. The tired power fantasy plot structure and collection of a list of sex appeal-ful partners with an intentionally generic protagonist was already there, they just started putting it in a fantasy-like-a-video-game setting, and making the isekai cheat powers the source of the power fantasy instead of other forms of superpowers.
the other thing about isekai is the rise of the light novel industry in the mid to late 2000s, which quickly became a key pillar in anime production because of certain magical railgun et al
once isekai took roots in light novels (which makes sense because the formula fits for serialized novels you have to pump out rapidly) it was always going to consume anime broadly
Not sure the veracity of this site, but there’s rumblings of a chrono cross remake.
Dunno if it's real. If it is I'll bet it's actually a remaster, since Squeenix has done ones for not just Final Fantasy, but also Legend of Mana and Saga Frontier recently. Going through that PS1 back catalogue
Someone correctly pointed out here once that the problems with floods of shitty isekai stories now are actually a continuation of the problems with the floods of shitty harem stories that existed in the 00s, they just kind of all started adding isekai elements to them. The tired power fantasy plot structure and collection of a list of sex appeal-ful partners with an intentionally generic protagonist was already there, they just started putting it in a fantasy-like-a-video-game setting.
I don't think I agree with that. There was certainly always a lot of misogyny and wish fulfillment in harem stuff, but isekai takes both into absolute overdrive; full on slave wife actual bona fide literal harems and the protagonist being straight up ordained as the ubermensch. Even the trashiest harem action light novel stuff of that earlier time, stuff like C3, KoreZom, Horizon, etc, had a very different approach and overall philosophy towards how they developed the characters and the setting. They frequently end up in similar places, but how they get there is extremely important and extremely different.
Personally, I suspect it's one part a reaction to the bitchy/tsundere magical girlfriend craze exemplified by stuff like Shana and Zero no Tsukaima, and one part the hard swerve into pulp fiction, particularly web novels where this kind of alt right shitbag stuff thrives. I don't know that I can back that up with anything more than a feeling though.
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MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
I feel like isekai used to be mostly centered on girl protagonists and the shows were often good. Been watching Escaflowne with a friend recently and that show still kicks ass. She's been watching Inuasha and that show is a perfectly fine action comedy thing still.
Idk if it was SAO's fault the genre turned into the shambling horror it is today, kinda feel like trends in modern anime were going to get there one way or another. But it is depressing something as simple as "person gets sent to another world" has been so thoroughly coopted by shitty dudes.
Gundam, of all things, actually managed to make a good isekai a year or so back, so it's not like people can't. Antisocial dude power fantasy just sells I guess.
Magic Knight Rayearth: also an old-school shoujo isekai that’s great
That and Dunbine are on my short list of stuff I wanna watch.
Love me some fantasy mecha.
Dunbine is one of those things where I kind of want to watch it entirely because of Super Robot Wars
I feel like isekai used to be mostly centered on girl protagonists and the shows were often good. Been watching Escaflowne with a friend recently and that show still kicks ass. She's been watching Inuasha and that show is a perfectly fine action comedy thing still.
Idk if it was SAO's fault the genre turned into the shambling horror it is today, kinda feel like trends in modern anime were going to get there one way or another. But it is depressing something as simple as "person gets sent to another world" has been so thoroughly coopted by shitty dudes.
Gundam, of all things, actually managed to make a good isekai a year or so back, so it's not like people can't. Antisocial dude power fantasy just sells I guess.
Magic Knight Rayearth: also an old-school shoujo isekai that’s great
That and Dunbine are on my short list of stuff I wanna watch.
Love me some fantasy mecha.
Dunbine is one of those things where I kind of want to watch it entirely because of Super Robot Wars
I feel like isekai used to be mostly centered on girl protagonists and the shows were often good. Been watching Escaflowne with a friend recently and that show still kicks ass. She's been watching Inuasha and that show is a perfectly fine action comedy thing still.
Idk if it was SAO's fault the genre turned into the shambling horror it is today, kinda feel like trends in modern anime were going to get there one way or another. But it is depressing something as simple as "person gets sent to another world" has been so thoroughly coopted by shitty dudes.
Gundam, of all things, actually managed to make a good isekai a year or so back, so it's not like people can't. Antisocial dude power fantasy just sells I guess.
Magic Knight Rayearth: also an old-school shoujo isekai that’s great
That and Dunbine are on my short list of stuff I wanna watch.
Love me some fantasy mecha.
Dunbine is one of those things where I kind of want to watch it entirely because of Super Robot Wars
I watched about half of it back in the day when ADV released it and honestly its just kinda meh, but maybe it gets incredible in the back half who knows.
The thing that disappointed me the most was the bug mecha themeing is mostly for show, it isn't like you actually see any of these creatures they're ostensibly turning their carapaces into mech armor or anything.
Not sure the veracity of this site, but there’s rumblings of a chrono cross remake.
Dunno if it's real. If it is I'll bet it's actually a remaster, since Squeenix has done ones for not just Final Fantasy, but also Legend of Mana and Saga Frontier recently. Going through that PS1 back catalogue
hope they remaster the soundtrack, or even better get mitsuda back to re-record it with better audio
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MaddocI'm Bobbin Threadbare, are you my mother?Registered Userregular
The remake of CC rumors come from an artist having an interview saying she had recorded music for a Square game, and then the composer of CC having posted a picture with said artist.
Plus I guess it was in some data mining leak a while ago.
Seems like such a random remaster since the Chrono series seems to be ignored by Square but I would get it.
That soundtrack is amazing. I remember the combat being really unique and fun.
I don't really want them to change anything about vagrant story, it was the pinnacle of PS1 games artistically and I bet a lot of that would be lost in a remaster
maybe just a straight port with perfect emulation
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
I would appreciate it not looking like it was covered in vaseline mostly. I haven't played it since it came out, but my memories of it are that it was really trying to write checks that the ps1 just could not cash. But the first time you opened combat and the targeting sphere thing flashed out I knew I was in love.
Hmm, I have a psOne and screen around here somewhere, wonder if my memory cards still work...
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BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
I don't really want them to change anything about vagrant story, it was the pinnacle of PS1 games artistically and I bet a lot of that would be lost in a remaster
maybe just a straight port with perfect emulation
That said, can you imagine a game that nailed the faded painting art style of the original with today’s technology while maintaining the same cinematic sensibilities?
They weren't even willing to re-license the Parasite Eve property when making that game, which is why it only includes things they created (like Aya Brea) and nothing from the original novel.
And they still fucked up the things they created (like Aya Brea). Baffling.
the big brain call on the chrono cross rumours is that the composer in question is primarily known for irish folk, which would significantly more in line with Xenogears Remaster than chrono cross
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turtleantGunpla Dadis the best.Registered Userregular
edited November 2021
God if they do a Xenogears remaster some people are gonna scream bloody murder about them needing to "fix" disc 2.
turtleant on
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
I’m the weirdo that likes disc 2
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turtleantGunpla Dadis the best.Registered Userregular
Man, I just refreshed myself on the stories for Xenogears and Chrono Cross, and man, they were just swinging for the fences on those two games.
I love them, warts and all. Xenogears is the better game, but I enjoyed the hell out of Chrono Cross after I got the nuances of the battle system down and just rode with the story instead of being disappointed at the lack of connection to Trigger.
I'd welcome a remaster or remake of either of them, provided they go to real consoles, instead of mobile and PC only like the FF Pixel Remasters.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
According to an interview with Xenogear's director (taken at the time XB2 was coming out) he was asked about what happened with disc 2, and he said it was his decision.
They were coming up on a deadline that they weren't going to meet. And they could've just end the game at disc 1 and ship it, and I guess pray there was enough interest to make a sequel for the rest of it.
But he felt that players would feel really unsatisfied with it ending on a cliffhanger like that. He wanted it to have a complete story. So he made the call to fit the rest onto disc 2.
I agree that despite everything, disc 2 really adds to XG's character and helps cement why it's so unique. And the story of why it led to that honestly makes me respect it even more.
For as uneven as it is, they have never made a game I enjoyed as much as Xenogears
The only game that came close for me was Xenosaga 3, and even it's a very messy game, plot-wise.
Stellar gameplay and music, though. Yuki Kajiura made Mitsuda look like an amateur. (I loathed his score on XS1, it's the most dead soundtrack I've ever heard.)
For as uneven as it is, they have never made a game I enjoyed as much as Xenogears
I agree, but I'm also aware that it had that effect on me because I was young enough to appreciate the garbled mash of gnosticism and judeo-christian mythology. I'd never seen anything like it before and wasn't able to see through how paper-thin it was.
My best friend and I split the cost of importing Xenogears Perfect Works back in the day, despite not knowing japanese. It was like a sacred text because of how scarce and impenetrable it was. Seeing concept art of the unused gears was like seeing the face of god back before we had fan-wikis for things.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Yeah Xenogears is still one of my favorite hot messes up a game to this day.
Combat was fun and the game goes to places a lot of JRPGs don't or won't(like characters actually having sex).
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Indeed, I still have a Saturn I keep doing minor repairs on, to keep it running just for that, Dragon Force, and Shining Force III.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
SAO was just sort of at the front of that wave.
once isekai took roots in light novels (which makes sense because the formula fits for serialized novels you have to pump out rapidly) it was always going to consume anime broadly
Dunno if it's real. If it is I'll bet it's actually a remaster, since Squeenix has done ones for not just Final Fantasy, but also Legend of Mana and Saga Frontier recently. Going through that PS1 back catalogue
I don't think I agree with that. There was certainly always a lot of misogyny and wish fulfillment in harem stuff, but isekai takes both into absolute overdrive; full on slave wife actual bona fide literal harems and the protagonist being straight up ordained as the ubermensch. Even the trashiest harem action light novel stuff of that earlier time, stuff like C3, KoreZom, Horizon, etc, had a very different approach and overall philosophy towards how they developed the characters and the setting. They frequently end up in similar places, but how they get there is extremely important and extremely different.
Personally, I suspect it's one part a reaction to the bitchy/tsundere magical girlfriend craze exemplified by stuff like Shana and Zero no Tsukaima, and one part the hard swerve into pulp fiction, particularly web novels where this kind of alt right shitbag stuff thrives. I don't know that I can back that up with anything more than a feeling though.
Dunbine is one of those things where I kind of want to watch it entirely because of Super Robot Wars
this is me and gun x sword
I watched about half of it back in the day when ADV released it and honestly its just kinda meh, but maybe it gets incredible in the back half who knows.
The thing that disappointed me the most was the bug mecha themeing is mostly for show, it isn't like you actually see any of these creatures they're ostensibly turning their carapaces into mech armor or anything.
I'm sure it's probably a C grade show but hey.
SRW gets me to watch all kinds of trashy mech shows. Like Cross Ange.
hope they remaster the soundtrack, or even better get mitsuda back to re-record it with better audio
Remaster Brave Fencer Musashi
I remember loving that game. Couldn’t tell you anything that happened in it or how it played, but I know I liked it as a kid.
Plus I guess it was in some data mining leak a while ago.
Seems like such a random remaster since the Chrono series seems to be ignored by Square but I would get it.
That soundtrack is amazing. I remember the combat being really unique and fun.
remaster bushido blade
Parasite Eve, but somehow in the RE Engine.
Vagrant
Story
maybe just a straight port with perfect emulation
3rd birthday killed the franchise
Hmm, I have a psOne and screen around here somewhere, wonder if my memory cards still work...
Assless chaps (yes, I know technically all chaps are assless) in 4K60fps glory!
~ Buckaroo Banzai
That said, can you imagine a game that nailed the faded painting art style of the original with today’s technology while maintaining the same cinematic sensibilities?
Goddamn.
The Manga and Novels are far better the anime for K&M
Meanwhile SRW30 has gotten me in a mood that it might be Time for L-Gaim.
// Switch: SW-5306-0651-6424 //
They weren't even willing to re-license the Parasite Eve property when making that game, which is why it only includes things they created (like Aya Brea) and nothing from the original novel.
And they still fucked up the things they created (like Aya Brea). Baffling.
I think it could use a bit more meat on it's bones but I mostly think it's fine.
you can definitely tell they ran out of time/money, but I think it gives it a lot more character
I love them, warts and all. Xenogears is the better game, but I enjoyed the hell out of Chrono Cross after I got the nuances of the battle system down and just rode with the story instead of being disappointed at the lack of connection to Trigger.
I'd welcome a remaster or remake of either of them, provided they go to real consoles, instead of mobile and PC only like the FF Pixel Remasters.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
They were coming up on a deadline that they weren't going to meet. And they could've just end the game at disc 1 and ship it, and I guess pray there was enough interest to make a sequel for the rest of it.
But he felt that players would feel really unsatisfied with it ending on a cliffhanger like that. He wanted it to have a complete story. So he made the call to fit the rest onto disc 2.
I agree that despite everything, disc 2 really adds to XG's character and helps cement why it's so unique. And the story of why it led to that honestly makes me respect it even more.
Link to the interview
The only game that came close for me was Xenosaga 3, and even it's a very messy game, plot-wise.
Stellar gameplay and music, though. Yuki Kajiura made Mitsuda look like an amateur. (I loathed his score on XS1, it's the most dead soundtrack I've ever heard.)
I agree, but I'm also aware that it had that effect on me because I was young enough to appreciate the garbled mash of gnosticism and judeo-christian mythology. I'd never seen anything like it before and wasn't able to see through how paper-thin it was.
My best friend and I split the cost of importing Xenogears Perfect Works back in the day, despite not knowing japanese. It was like a sacred text because of how scarce and impenetrable it was. Seeing concept art of the unused gears was like seeing the face of god back before we had fan-wikis for things.
Combat was fun and the game goes to places a lot of JRPGs don't or won't(like characters actually having sex).
I'm the weirdo that thinks disc two was better. It forced them to actually get through the story at a good clip, without all the pointless padding.