RPGCast - Episode 139: "Jumping The Shark"

[sabin1001]

RPGCast - Episode 139: "Jumping The Shark"

RPGCast finally jumps the shark when Anna recommends hidden object games. Starcraft II also makes large inroads in the conversation. But don't worry, we also have a long discussion on the history of Shin Megami Tensei games, in order to preserve our street cred.

You can find the links to all our stories on delicious: http://delicious.com/rpgamer/139

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[Paws]

RPGCast finally jumps the shark when Anna recommends hidden object games.

So cruel.

[jcservant]

RPGCast finally jumps the shark when Anna recommends hidden object games.

This is what happens when I'm not around....

[MasterChief]

So cruel.

Well, it's not like people normally go about recommending hidden object "games". Seriously, what's next, FMV games? Or maybe a choose your own adventure book?

But hey, at least you weren't gushing over Starcraft II. I'll take hidden object games over that.

[SiliconNooB]

Who doesn't want Night Trap II? LOL

[Clix]

RE: Mistwalker's relationship with Sony. Sakaguchi doesn't like Sony anymore (stems from the development and release of The Spirits Within). So long as he heads Mistwalker, I don't we'll see any Mistwalker on PlayStation.

[SeraphimKitten]

ANOTHER Podcast? It's like these things come out once a week. I need to finish off the last one, it seems. When it comes to feedback, do you like to keep your feedback on the forum post related to that podcast? If I have things to say about last week's podcast, should I post it here or on the other thread?

[risingsun]

ANOTHER Podcast? It's like these things come out once a week. I need to finish off the last one, it seems. When it comes to feedback, do you like to keep your feedback on the forum post related to that podcast? If I have things to say about last week's podcast, should I post it here or on the other thread?

You know, as long as what you have to say is interesting and spurs conversation, I dont think anyone will mind.

[SeraphimKitten]

Ut oh, you really put me on the spot, RisingSun. They're probably neither of those things, but I'll try my best!

On Kerrigan's voice actress -- this is a pretty common occurrence with Blizzard. In my mind, their major characters are people like Sylvannas, Kerrigan, Arthas. None of those have retained their original voice actor. Sylvannas has gone from a wonderful angst to a very feminine and British accent. Her lines that used to drip with venom -- "What joy is their in this curse?" -- have become slightly sad. You don't feel like this is someone who allied with the Lordaeran survivors to retake their capital only to kill them again, you feel like sad little zombie girl just needs a hug. Arthas used to sound like... well, as much as I hate Star Wars, it felt like he just didn't understand why Uncle Uther wouldn't let him go up to the Toshey Station and pick up some Power Converters. Then World of Warcraft comes around and we see all those old Warcraft 3 scenes rendered in the WoW engine with the same voice actors -- except Arthas. Kerrigan just continues the trend. I'm always curious what the old voice actors were doing that was more important. Was Arthas being launched by NASA into space to stop a meteor headed for earth? What was he doing that Blizzard couldn't offer him enough money to come back and record a few lines? The same thing with Sylvannas. Of course, now that I've said that, Blizzard has changed a lot of voice actors and people haven't cared. Go play through Warcraft 2 and tell me Gromm Hellscream didn't deserve a new voice actor. I guess I'm just saying that Kerrigan having a new voice actress is simply par for the course with Blizzard. Metzen does a significant portion of the voice acting, so if a character's voice stays the same it's probably Metzen.

You were also pretty mean towards Legend of Mana. I loved that game. It doesn't live up to Secret of Mana or what I've played of Densetsu 2, but it was still a great game. My only real problems with it were the difficulty, length, and multiplayer. Secret of Mana's best asset (in my opinion) was that you played it with two friends. Legend of Mana has multiplayer, but you can't switch it on the fly like in Secret of Mana. Not only that, but only two player? Now, if a friend is playing and having trouble you can hop on your character from your game and join their adventure, which I found to be an amazing feature. But most stories require the "second player" take control of that stupid rabbit or the emo kid who rambles on about not sparkling. As for the difficulty, the game was extremely easy. It had an in-depth crafting system, but even the clueless could easily create a two-handed sword that would one-shot the final boss on the nightmare difficulty. And the length was maybe 30 hours, far too short. When it ends, you feel like there was so much more you wanted to do and see. Really, the whole game felt like that -- if they added another 30-60 hours worth of content I'd say it would be one of top 10 or top 20.