what you mentioned about the talky heads and limited sprites is interesting. i want to chalk it up to limitations of the engine, but it's been foreverrrr so
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NO I'M INTERESTED haha I don't really know too much about RPGmaker so I guessed that limited movement and such could be part of the limitation of the engine, but I haven't actually worked with it myself to see. :O
The talksprites in this game seemed pretty big! But I'm not sure if that's natural for it or a hack or what. :O I do wonder if maybe walk sprites just straight up don't have the ability for more complicated movements or emotions. I'M NOT HASSLING THE GAME ABOUT IT it just made me realize that of the two options I'd prefer walk sprites emoting instead of talk sprites. (for what it's worth wadanohara is 2k i think)
I figured the samey sprites were due to a common source! It'd make the most sense. And I don't blame them if they don't have sprite artists and want to focus on other parts of the game! It just sticks out to me as an enjoyer of wellmade sprites, haha.
I JUST GET SO TALKY ABOUT RPG MAKER it was such a big part of my life for a decade or so and i NEVER SHUT UP when the chance to talk comes around :B though looking at those sprites again, i think they may be original? comparing them to the 2k spriting tutorials i have stored on an old computer they are a couple pixels larger in the head than what the tutorial says to do, but oldoldold tutorial maybe it updated at some point. HARD TO SAY
Yeah, I think if it's just tiny sprites doing the emoting it's like... they're already tiny and not too detailed, so you're not expecting TOO much and your brain just kind of fills in the details anyway. Whereas if you're looking at a closeup of their face then you're already expecting it to be more realistic, the details are RIGHT THERE in front of you and there's nothing to fill in.
Plus if you're using the main sprites instead of talksprites, you can have them all there on the screen at once and have them all react at once. So it's a little more natural than showing you reactions one at a time like everybody's taking turns.
oh oh, yikes. D: Yeah, who exactly is out there going "yeah this game was okay but it really could have used some rape" and why would you ever listen to them, ugh. Especially if it makes a plot hole like that.
Oh yeah, the encounters are handled well too. The enemies just chill on the map, and they're not hostile. So you can choose if you want to fight them or not. Because the game is so easy, you can
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Yeah, I'm able to fill in a lot of what's going on with little sprites with just a hint in the right direction of how they feel. FF6 comes to mind in particular for this, but Chrono Trigger too! And Secret of Mana, though SoM really had very few cutscenes compared to the other two, haha. It just feels more immediate and like the world is more cohesive, like talksprites and such feel sort of like they're on a different plane than the rest of what's happening, if that makes sense? Not that that's a bad thing necessarily, I just prefer the former I think
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Yeah, I get what you mean--when it cuts to a different style for a cutscene or even just a conversation then there's that disconnect. It might be worth it, if the regular art style/game engine isn't up to whatever you're trying to show, but still.
That too! Like even if it's not objectively saving much time it still feels less like you're being... made to wait I guess.
Yeah less is more sometimes.
Ah, but even if leveling is a big deal and you're going to want to fight pretty much every enemy anyway, it's still muuuuch nicer to be able to choose when and how you fight them. Or even to be able to skip certain types of enemies that are a huge pain or tedious or whatever.
Haha yeah, exactly! And yeah I can see why people would want to do it, it just gives things a bit of a different feel. Important things to consider when staging a game, haha.
AND YEAH THAT IS ALSO TRUE it would be SO nice to be able to just skip the most annoying enemies sometimes. THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES THIS COULD APPLY TO. It was a really convenient system.
I love indie horror games, but you definitely see a pattern after playing a ton of them. After playing the classics like Yume Nikki, Ib, Eversion, and OFF, I feel spoiled because a lot of the other indie horror games like Misao, Mad Father, and Witch's House don't hold up to them and their unique style. Compare the reviews I made of OFF and Mad Father (spoilers for both). With the former, I felt encouraged to analyze the game and look into its themes/characters/the experience of playing/etc. The latter, I bitched about wasted potential and felt annoyed I had wasted my time (and criticized the generic Anime-style designs for the cast of Misao in one of the comments. Maybe I'll write my thoughts on the game later) And I'm still pissed off about the True Ending of Witch's House. <.< To put it in non-spoilery terms, the game was too... nihilist for my tastes (OFF handled tragedy WAY better, imo), though I did like the creative deaths
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I was actually wondering if you'd played this one! I remembered you talking about some indie games but the titles all blurred together. |D I do remember you getting mad about Mad Father though, haha. I wonder if I should check that one out myself? That one and The Witch's House I hear a lot about for some reason. It's definitely true that OFF and Yume Nikki are in a class on their own, and Ib too is definitely above a lot of these other efforts. I feel bad being too mean about it though since I know they're just people trying to make a game and all and nothing's gonna be perfect, but it's like OFF and YN set a high bar, you know?
I was sort of curious about Crooked Man and Paranoiac! Perhaps I will check them out. :O Is Dreaming Mary an Ib knockoff or am I thinkin of something else? And I heard Space Funeral is hilarious, haha.
Wadanohara isn't bad! Just sort of forgettable, unnecessary rapescenes aside. Some of the gijinka designs are kind of clever. |D I liked the jellyfish girl.
If you have to pick between the two, go with Witch's House. As mad as I was at the ending, at least it was clever (in a Cruel Twist Ending kind of way) and foreshadowed without the damn red herrings. I've thought of making my own indie horror game, and it's actually quite tough! I don't blame people for using templates and preset sprites and what-not, but it's so refreshing when they go the extra mile like in OFF and Ib, you know? That, and I'm better with story and characters and I don't have much experience coming up with innovative gaming mechanics. (Maybe I just want an excuse to include a Chinese Crested in a game as your Ugly Cute guide
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I haven't played any of these games, but I'm very picky when it comes to horror, so these toss-away themes and lazy sprites would drive me nuts. And I really wish games would stop using sexual assault as an "edgy" scene, because it's bad enough how desensitized the public is in general; when it's in every game it's too easy for it to be seen as "normal" or "no big deal" and that needs to come to a screeching halt.
But this reminds me, since your blog is where I heard about it in the first place, did you know that Silent Hills has been cancelled? Konami made weird business decisions all around on this one. I was really looking forward to it, too. :(
Haha I'm not easily impressed I think. |D Although I do recognize how much time and work must've gone into the graphics in the game on a technical level. SPRITEWORK IS EXHAUSTING
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I remember liking the anime. though some of the promo images have weird weird art.
It's always the way. "I'M GONNA MAKE A POST ABOUT HOW I DON'T POST ENOUGH."
*doesn't post for ages after* damnit!
Hurr, girls are wet blankets and guys are lovable neanderthals, hurr.
Sounds interesting at least overall. Even if not great.
Hey, at least you're posting something
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Samekichi's more like the I DON'T LOVE WADANOHARA WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT I'LL PUNCH YOU BLUSH BLUSH I'M TOO SHY TO TELL HER MY FEELINGS kind of thing
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The talksprites in this game seemed pretty big! But I'm not sure if that's natural for it or a hack or what. :O I do wonder if maybe walk sprites just straight up don't have the ability for more complicated movements or emotions. I'M NOT HASSLING THE GAME ABOUT IT it just made me realize that of the two options I'd prefer walk sprites emoting instead of talk sprites.
(for what it's worth wadanohara is 2k i think)
I figured the samey sprites were due to a common source! It'd make the most sense. And I don't blame them if they don't have sprite artists and want to focus on other parts of the game! It just sticks out to me as an enjoyer of wellmade sprites, haha.
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it was such a big part of my life for a decade or so and i NEVER SHUT UP when the chance to talk comes around :B
though looking at those sprites again, i think they may be original? comparing them to the 2k spriting tutorials i have stored on an old computer they are a couple pixels larger in the head than what the tutorial says to do, but oldoldold tutorial maybe it updated at some point. HARD TO SAY
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which sprites, the world sprites or the talk sprites? I assume the world sprites. |D
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Plus if you're using the main sprites instead of talksprites, you can have them all there on the screen at once and have them all react at once. So it's a little more natural than showing you reactions one at a time like everybody's taking turns.
oh
oh, yikes. D: Yeah, who exactly is out there going "yeah this game was okay but it really could have used some rape" and why would you ever listen to them, ugh. Especially if it makes a plot hole like that.
Oh yeah, the encounters are handled well too. The enemies just chill on the map, and they're not hostile. So you can choose if you want to fight them or not. Because the game is so easy, you can ( ... )
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That too! Like even if it's not objectively saving much time it still feels less like you're being... made to wait I guess.
Yeah less is more sometimes.
Ah, but even if leveling is a big deal and you're going to want to fight pretty much every enemy anyway, it's still muuuuch nicer to be able to choose when and how you fight them. Or even to be able to skip certain types of enemies that are a huge pain or tedious or whatever.
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AND YEAH THAT IS ALSO TRUE it would be SO nice to be able to just skip the most annoying enemies sometimes. THERE ARE MANY ENEMIES THIS COULD APPLY TO. It was a really convenient system.
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I was sort of curious about Crooked Man and Paranoiac! Perhaps I will check them out. :O Is Dreaming Mary an Ib knockoff or am I thinkin of something else? And I heard Space Funeral is hilarious, haha.
Wadanohara isn't bad! Just sort of forgettable, unnecessary rapescenes aside. Some of the gijinka designs are kind of clever. |D I liked the jellyfish girl.
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But this reminds me, since your blog is where I heard about it in the first place, did you know that Silent Hills has been cancelled? Konami made weird business decisions all around on this one. I was really looking forward to it, too. :(
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