6th September 2007, 1:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 6th September 2007, 2:19 PM by A Black Falcon.)
Wave beam combo attack, huh... yeah, I don't have that. Or the xray visor of course. *goes to FAQ to find where it is and how to get it*
... yeah, like I'd have thought of looking up some random tower in some random screen for an essential item I need halfway across the map... they really should TELL you these things. I mean, without one of those attacks the invisible drone is ridiculously hard. I know that you're just supposed to figure out all these things (remember exactly what things are in exactly what rooms so that later on you can go back and pick up the stuff you needed other items to get or something), and maybe I just missed this thing earlier, but it would be nice if they'd give you a hint if you've obviously missed an essential item... games like this aren't really playable without FAQs. I just don't find wandering around looking for things I can now do without really knowing if I'm actually going anywhere fun for long... and looking at the whole map trying to find that one door I can now open with my new item is kind of tedious. I know that that's the point of the game, in a way, but still... it's so easy to miss things on that map, and they don't exactly help you very much most of the time.
It's also kind of annoying to have to re-cross the same terrain fifteen times looking for yet another new area opened up off of old ones... in 2d Metroid the areas were smaller so you could get around faster, but in 3d it's more time-consuming.
... huh, and there was a Chozo Artifact there too (the Tower of Light in Chozo Ruins). I seem to have two now.
Anyway, I really shouldn't complain... after all, one of the most annoying things about so many FPSes is the way that they're just a linear succession of cooridors and rooms you shoot through. MP does things differently, and more interestingly... still though, it does get frusterating at times. Having to cross several huge regions to go pick up an item I missed and then go back to where I started just so I can face the next area... I know that 'not giving the players help' is the way games all used to be, but that's not true anymore (for instance, the idea of playing one of those old dungeon-crawler RPGs where there is no automap and instead you are expected to make it yourself on graph paper is such a daunting task that I doubt I ever will... I need ingame mapping... :) (though Etrian Odyssey's 'make it yourself' map is seriously awesome and another great solution to the issue within that genre). MP's hints on where to go next are fine, but that doesn't help with things like this Wavebuster... without it you're shooting blind at a boss you can't see, and that isn't exactly going to go well. Blah... essentially I guess my point is that I wish they'd had more of those "go to location X" things for stuff like this. :) I'd rather not have to use FAQs if I don't have to... it's kind of like fighting games (the progression towards special move lists available in the pause menu instead of just partial listings in the manual) or JRPGs/strategy games (the way they love to hide half of the game system so without an FAQ you have absolutely no idea how to play the game), really, though a bit different. I do like it when a game actually tells me what I'm supposed to be doing. They don't need to be TOO obvious (see: annoyance at all those FPSes which are so blindingly linear), but too obtuse is just as bad.
Or maybe I'm just impatient. I mean, I can't think of a single adventure game I've actually finished without using an FAQ... :) (wait, maybe Curse of Monkey Island? ... probably not, but it's possible... can't think of any others though...) Heck, I even used an FAQ during the first time I played through Ocarina of Time...
... yeah, like I'd have thought of looking up some random tower in some random screen for an essential item I need halfway across the map... they really should TELL you these things. I mean, without one of those attacks the invisible drone is ridiculously hard. I know that you're just supposed to figure out all these things (remember exactly what things are in exactly what rooms so that later on you can go back and pick up the stuff you needed other items to get or something), and maybe I just missed this thing earlier, but it would be nice if they'd give you a hint if you've obviously missed an essential item... games like this aren't really playable without FAQs. I just don't find wandering around looking for things I can now do without really knowing if I'm actually going anywhere fun for long... and looking at the whole map trying to find that one door I can now open with my new item is kind of tedious. I know that that's the point of the game, in a way, but still... it's so easy to miss things on that map, and they don't exactly help you very much most of the time.
It's also kind of annoying to have to re-cross the same terrain fifteen times looking for yet another new area opened up off of old ones... in 2d Metroid the areas were smaller so you could get around faster, but in 3d it's more time-consuming.
... huh, and there was a Chozo Artifact there too (the Tower of Light in Chozo Ruins). I seem to have two now.
Anyway, I really shouldn't complain... after all, one of the most annoying things about so many FPSes is the way that they're just a linear succession of cooridors and rooms you shoot through. MP does things differently, and more interestingly... still though, it does get frusterating at times. Having to cross several huge regions to go pick up an item I missed and then go back to where I started just so I can face the next area... I know that 'not giving the players help' is the way games all used to be, but that's not true anymore (for instance, the idea of playing one of those old dungeon-crawler RPGs where there is no automap and instead you are expected to make it yourself on graph paper is such a daunting task that I doubt I ever will... I need ingame mapping... :) (though Etrian Odyssey's 'make it yourself' map is seriously awesome and another great solution to the issue within that genre). MP's hints on where to go next are fine, but that doesn't help with things like this Wavebuster... without it you're shooting blind at a boss you can't see, and that isn't exactly going to go well. Blah... essentially I guess my point is that I wish they'd had more of those "go to location X" things for stuff like this. :) I'd rather not have to use FAQs if I don't have to... it's kind of like fighting games (the progression towards special move lists available in the pause menu instead of just partial listings in the manual) or JRPGs/strategy games (the way they love to hide half of the game system so without an FAQ you have absolutely no idea how to play the game), really, though a bit different. I do like it when a game actually tells me what I'm supposed to be doing. They don't need to be TOO obvious (see: annoyance at all those FPSes which are so blindingly linear), but too obtuse is just as bad.
Or maybe I'm just impatient. I mean, I can't think of a single adventure game I've actually finished without using an FAQ... :) (wait, maybe Curse of Monkey Island? ... probably not, but it's possible... can't think of any others though...) Heck, I even used an FAQ during the first time I played through Ocarina of Time...