I would have enjoyed 'X' if 'Y'

[Liquidprid3]

I would've enjoyed Earthbound Zero more if battles didnt happen every two seconds, and if there was less grinding. I couldn't get through it, so I downloaded the easy patch and started over. Now I level up way too much and the game is too damn easy. Not only that, but the map is waaaaay too big with nothing interesting in those areas. I love Earthbound and Mother 3, but it might take some time before I beat this one.

 

[Toastie058]

I would have enjoyed Bioshock: Infinite (more) if it wasn't for that archaic, annoying check point system that had no business being in a Bioshock game.

I would have enjoyed Silent Hill 2 if it wasn't for the convoluted, ass-backwards control scheme that changed each time I turned a corner.

Let's go ahead and get some of the Mass Effect 3 ones out of the way:

I would have enjoyed EDI as a character more if she hadn't been transformed into a sex-bot with ultra-metal boobs.

I would have enjoyed Joker as a character more if he hadn't developed a weird space fetish for the sex-bot with ultra- metal boobs.


I would have enjoyed From Dust if there were more levels where I could have used just the basic powers.

I would have enjoyed Dead Rising 2 if I wasn't on a constant timer.

I would have enjoyed Crysis if the graphics didn't make my eyes bleed.

I would have enjoyed Tomb Raider if Lara Croft didn't moan like a wimp the entire time.

I would have enjoyed Tony Hawk's Pro-skater HD edition if I could actually use the Left Thumbstick.

I would have enjoyed enjoyed Portal 2 if-- Just kidding, what is there to not like about Portal 2? XD

 

[scorptatious]

I would have enjoyed the Arkham games if they weren't about Batman.

Joyless, scowling, conversationally crippled prick, please get out of my game.

I honestly can't say anything about Asylum or Origins as I haven't played them. But considering that in City, Batman was kidnapped and thrown into a locked off portion city full of criminals, poisoned, AND blackmailed by one of his worst enemies, I can't blame him for not exactly being all that joyful.

That's just me though.

Anyway, I'd probably enjoy Mirror's Edge more if the gameplay was a bit more polished and it was a bit more open world. I'd imagine it would be pretty fun exploring the city and performing parkour all over the place.

 

[Maple Syrup]

I would've enjoyed 00s if they had released another Vampire the Masquerade sequel.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

I would have enjoyed Blood Bowl if there was a way to turn off all the timers in single player. I know that's how is "supposed" to be played, but I want to play it like chess, where I can take my time looking at the board and coming up with a strategy.

 

[Nata-chan]

I thought the OP was talking about Pokemon 'X' and 'Y', hahaha. My bad!

OT: I would of enjoyed Skyrim more if...
It had actual choice making decisions when you joined up with either the Stormcloaks or Imperials...
Far more variety in clothing and armors for everyone...
The Guards to stop disrespecting the Dragonborn whom saved their hides from Alduin, Vampire Lords, and more...
Marriage was actually a well-thought out mechanic rather than being so dull...

I second this wisdom, and I also thought that the OP was about Pokemon X/Y...

I'd like to add, I would have enjoyed Skyrim more IF not everyone had the same voice and dialogue. Come on Bethesda, you have a legion of nerds you could have sampled for voices.


I also would have liked Borderlands 2 more if after finishing the game it wasn't just "go back to the beginning and do it again". That literally made me pack it up about an hour after finishing the game co-op. I loved how the original B/L had lots of EXTRA stuff to do after you finished the game.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

Yay, I get to rip on Final Fantasy XIII again. I haven't done that enough the past few days.

I would have enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII if it were still a Final Fantasy game.

Sorry, let me reign it in a bit.

If all of the pacing had been completely overhauled and the game hadn't been terrified of letting the player do cool stuff against enemies, I would've been able to put up with the extreme linearity, complete lack of world-building in the form of characters, NPCs, towns, cities, and side-quests, and the ham-fisted nature of the main character arcs (which was destroyed by the terrible pacing). Alternatively, if all of the latter stuff had been different, I would've been able to put up with the horrific pacing of the story and the game's over-reliance on using cutscenes to show the characters doing awesome stuff in what would've been normal combat encounters the player controlled themselves in any earlier Final Fantasy game.

What awesome stuff is done that would have been done in normal combat in any other FF game? I'm confused because outside of the crazy anime flying stuff (which would have been in cutscene elsewhere too) I can't name anything.

OT: I would like Pokémon X if I didn't buy Pokémon Y, ONLY JOKING!

I felt I would have liked Dragon Age: Origins if the console version of the game wasn't so absolutely terrible. I suffered so many glitches and I hated more or less all of the characters. I liked the idea but I guess I just wanted it to be a bit more like a dark fantasy Mass Effect as opposed to a dodgy Final Fantasy XII in Dungeons and Dragons world but with less freedom.

 

[shrekfan246]

Yay, I get to rip on Final Fantasy XIII again. I haven't done that enough the past few days.

I would have enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII if it were still a Final Fantasy game.

Sorry, let me reign it in a bit.

If all of the pacing had been completely overhauled and the game hadn't been terrified of letting the player do cool stuff against enemies, I would've been able to put up with the extreme linearity, complete lack of world-building in the form of characters, NPCs, towns, cities, and side-quests, and the ham-fisted nature of the main character arcs (which was destroyed by the terrible pacing). Alternatively, if all of the latter stuff had been different, I would've been able to put up with the horrific pacing of the story and the game's over-reliance on using cutscenes to show the characters doing awesome stuff in what would've been normal combat encounters the player controlled themselves in any earlier Final Fantasy game.

What awesome stuff is done that would have been done in normal combat in any other FF game? I'm confused because outside of the crazy anime flying stuff (which would have been in cutscene elsewhere too) I can't name anything.

I think you took me a little too literally.

It's not so much that they put all of the really cool choreography into cutscenes, but more the ratio of cutscene combat:in-game combat. To use, say Final Fantasy IX as a comparison, there is exactly one fight in the game (as far as I recall at the moment, at least) that functions like a "cutscene", and the player still has complete agency in the situation because it's basically a quick-time event and you're putting on a show for a watching crowd. In Final Fantasy XIII, tons of mooks are mowed down by Lightning & Co. just because it would be inconvenient for the player to have to fight them, and because they don't actually serve the plot in any way, they're just there to make the main characters look cool.

Even the really big fights that the player did eventually get to play were opened up with excessive cutscenes of Lightning or Snow beating the pulp out of worthless peons. The turning point that made me say "Screw it" was when I got to a cutscene where Snow summoned up Shiva to do her motorcycle ice thing and help Lightning, and rode around killing all of the enemies in the area, and I was just watching the whole thing thinking "You know, it'd be cool if I got to actually do anything during this." Then it just dumped me into a fight against the enemies he had been trampling over anyway, because obligatory boss fights.

Or, to branch off from the original for a moment because it's technically still in the same "series", take the very opening from Lightning Returns. There's a massive fight between Lightning and Snow during basically the first cutscene of the game, culminating in the creation of an awesome ice crystal which may or may not have been part of their logo at some point. But the player did nothing the entire time. In literally any pre-Final Fantasy XIII Final Fantasy game, that fight against Snow would've been something the player actually manually played out.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

Yay, I get to rip on Final Fantasy XIII again. I haven't done that enough the past few days.

I would have enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII if it were still a Final Fantasy game.

Sorry, let me reign it in a bit.

If all of the pacing had been completely overhauled and the game hadn't been terrified of letting the player do cool stuff against enemies, I would've been able to put up with the extreme linearity, complete lack of world-building in the form of characters, NPCs, towns, cities, and side-quests, and the ham-fisted nature of the main character arcs (which was destroyed by the terrible pacing). Alternatively, if all of the latter stuff had been different, I would've been able to put up with the horrific pacing of the story and the game's over-reliance on using cutscenes to show the characters doing awesome stuff in what would've been normal combat encounters the player controlled themselves in any earlier Final Fantasy game.

What awesome stuff is done that would have been done in normal combat in any other FF game? I'm confused because outside of the crazy anime flying stuff (which would have been in cutscene elsewhere too) I can't name anything.

I think you took me a little too literally.

It's not so much that they put all of the really cool choreography into cutscenes, but more the ratio of cutscene combat:in-game combat. To use, say Final Fantasy IX as a comparison, there is exactly one fight in the game (as far as I recall at the moment, at least) that functions like a "cutscene", and the player still has complete agency in the situation because it's basically a quick-time event and you're putting on a show for a watching crowd. In Final Fantasy XIII, tons of mooks are mowed down by Lightning & Co. just because it would be inconvenient for the player to have to fight them, and because they don't actually serve the plot in any way, they're just there to make the main characters look cool.

Even the really big fights that the player did eventually get to play were opened up with excessive cutscenes of Lightning or Snow beating the pulp out of worthless peons. The turning point that made me say "Screw it" was when I got to a cutscene where Snow summoned up Shiva to do her motorcycle ice thing and help Lightning, and rode around killing all of the enemies in the area, and I was just watching the whole thing thinking "You know, it'd be cool if I got to actually do anything during this." Then it just dumped me into a fight against the enemies he had been trampling over anyway, because obligatory boss fights.

Or, to branch off from the original for a moment because it's technically still in the same "series", take the very opening from Lightning Returns. There's a massive fight between Lightning and Snow during basically the first cutscene of the game, culminating in the creation of an awesome ice crystal which may or may not have been part of their logo at some point. But the player did nothing the entire time. In literally any pre-Final Fantasy XIII Final Fantasy game, that fight against Snow would've been something the player actually manually played out.

Aaaah I get what you mean now. Yeah there's plenty of random mooks that Snow and Lightning just down in a second that should have been a fight, especially in the Shiva moment, I think Snow takes out like 20 guys and then you have a small battle with 3 guys and a slightly bigger guy that you kill in one Shiva summon.

Then again I think that's because of tech differences between now and then.

Spoiler: I guess I should

There's a bit where Yaag Rosch is surrounded by a ton of monsters near the end of the game.

In an older FF game that entire scene would have been played out in the battle system, not necessarily with you in control (I'm thinking Leo/Kekfa battle here) but because it's easier and looks better to have these things take place in a cutscene now what's the point?

Lightning Returns does it a lot too, that scene with Snow and Light, that's ALL style and no substance. I mean they could stick on the end game equipment and two fairly basic garments on as a demo for the battle system and then you lose your power/weapon when Lumina snaps it or whatever it is she does.

I personally have no problem with watching a scene but I can see how it would be a bit like, oh I should be doing this.

 

[shrekfan246]

I personally have no problem with watching a scene but I can see how it would be a bit like, oh I should be doing this.

In general, I don't have problems with it either. I'm a massive fan of the Metal Gear Solid games, for instance.

But when it comes to Final Fantasy in particular, there were certain expectations I held before going into XIII, and it completely dashed them. I mean, I understand that there was so much more they could do because of new tech so they weren't constricted by the same conventions as their older games, but like you said with the Snow v. Lightning scene, it was at the expense of substance.

To bring this back in to be relevant to the thread topic, I always maintain the belief that I would have enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII a lot more had I simply watched it rather than try to play it myself. But as someone who had been a long-time fan of Final Fantasy beforehand and had built up possibly unrealistic expectations of what should normally be found in Final Fantasy games, the little differences in XIII were just too much for me to stand.

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

I personally have no problem with watching a scene but I can see how it would be a bit like, oh I should be doing this.

In general, I don't have problems with it either. I'm a massive fan of the Metal Gear Solid games, for instance.

But when it comes to Final Fantasy in particular, there were certain expectations I held before going into XIII, and it completely dashed them. I mean, I understand that there was so much more they could do because of new tech so they weren't constricted by the same conventions as their older games, but like you said with the Snow v. Lightning scene, it was at the expense of substance.

To bring this back in to be relevant to the thread topic, I always maintain the belief that I would have enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII a lot more had I simply watched it rather than try to play it myself. But as someone who had been a long-time fan of Final Fantasy beforehand and had built up possibly unrealistic expectations of what should normally be found in Final Fantasy games, the little differences in XIII were just too much for me to stand.

See I'm also a big Final Fantasy fan but I began my love at X and went backwards and played every main title from I onwards (except online) and my take away from what a REAL Final Fantasy should be is "different". That's it!

I loved the ambition of XIII, not to say it was perfect, far from but I felt they tried to do something different and interesting with the way narrative meets with gameplay but for the most part they weren't confident enough to go 100% crazy with it. I guess I see XIII in an unusual way, I love the game for its flaws and what it attempts more than what it does well.