Games that become big hits often are ‘cult hits’ prior. Mario Brothers was more of a cult hit which paved the way to Super Mario Brothers. Duke Nukem was a cult hit which paved the way for Duke Nukem 3d. Warcraft was a cult hit which paved the way for Warcraft 2 (and one could say Warcraft 3 cult-like nature paved the way for World of Warcraft). Dune was a cult hit that paved the way for Command and Conquer and that paved the way to Red Alert. The cult like Ultima games paved the way to Ultima Online.
I distinctly remember one game every magazine called a “cult hit”, and it was fun to mostly run from the cops. Who knew the successor of GTA 2 would be so big?
The point is that The Next Surprise Hit has a high potential from a cult like game. The game has a cult for a reason. There is lightning in a bottle somehow in the game. Sometimes the developers recognize the lightning and is able to uncork the bottle.
Earth Defense Force very much has that ‘cult game’ appeal to it. I have always noticed that these ‘cult games’ always appear “crappy” to the “Industry” at the time. GTA 1 and 2 was scoffed at as being PC game junk, but it had a fierce and loyal following.
Do not misinterpret this. I am not saying Zangeki is going to be the next GTA or Super Mario Brothers. This is not going to happen. I am only saying there is potential here. EDF has a cheesy sci-fi environment that can put off potential players. A fantasy environment could just be what it needs. And with Motion Plus, oh baby there is big potential with any game with Motion Plus.
Listen to the EDF review first. The reviewer is a Sega fan. I love Sega fans as they are cut from the same arcade cloth. Sega fans can recognize a good game unlike our Industry Gamers (we shouldn’t call them hardcore anymore. They are nothing more than ‘Industry Gamers’, little tools used by the “Industry”).
EDF has some funny flaws, but there is something about the game that is very, very appealing.
Now we get that type of awesome gameplay for the Wii with Motion Plus.
There is a 1up preview that incorrectly says the game is “on rails”. Why is there a nunchucka in the above if the game is “on rails”? “On rails” is a game like Umbrella Chronicles. Zangeki will not have an open world but levels like EDF. This is an action game, not a sandbox game. But any non-sandbox game doesn’t mean it is a ‘rail shooter’.
Here is some more picture goodness:
Ooohhh! Map screen!
Look at the different weapons on the right side. Looks like bows and arrows and magic is in too so it is not all just melee.
Here is what we do know about the game:
– Two playable characters: Freyr and Freyja. They’re siblings in the game, which is based on Norse mythology and Ragnarok.
– Freyr uses melee weapons like swords, spears, hammers, etc. Freyja uses range weapons like bows and magic. The 300+ wepaons available in the game are separated between the two characters. It’s totally like EDF2.
– You are allowed to bring 3 weapons into each mission. When you defeat enemies, you gain mana. You use mana to “create” new weapons using alchemy. I suppose it’s easier to just think of mana as currency, and new weapons as stuff you development along weapon trees available for each character.
– There are NPCs in various missions, like villagers running for safety, or other soldiers fighting alongside you. Similar to how it was in EDF2 and EDF3 I suppose.
– The game is normally running at 30fps, but like all Sandlot games, the framerate is “variable” (lol). It can climb up to 60fps, or dip to below 20fps. Apparently the game is programmed to take these framerate drops into account so it won’t hinder the actual controls in the game, but… lol anyway. EDF!!!!!!!
– There are 5 difficulty settings for each mission, like in EDF. Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard and Inferno.
– For range weapons, Freyja uses homing and lock-on to fire her arrows. From what he says, it sounds like how ZoE and Panzer Dragoon handles it. A bow at lvl1 can apparently lock on to 4-6 targets at once, but the number increases with higher level weapons. When you use magic, it consumes MP, which you regenerate by defeating enemies. Not sure if MP is the same as Mana.
– the game will have luxury VC (voice casting)
– CERO:D due to the violent and bloody zone (eg. enemies’ body part been slashed off)
– Tree diagram to show the path of the weapon customization
– unknown specifec guage for the weapons (maybe to count the durability)
– you group your team at the lobby like PSO
– name & HP meter will be shown above the head of the character
– characters can have simple variety customization
– small communication is available likely (fixed form sentence chat only though)
– you cab replay the stage with different difficulty after you passed the stage
– the atmosphere is like “Lord of the Rings” battle zone
This is the type of game that Wii needs. Some people are worried that Reggie and NOA won’t bring it over. I am confident that they will bring it over. “But it has violence!” Reggie likes violence. I can see at E3 2010 that Reggie comes out and says, “To all those who say our machine caters only to women and grandparents, eat this:” and the video shows Zangeki.
You guys can keep Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M. I’ll likely pass on both of them. But Zangeki no Reginleiv and Monster Hunter Tri? Day one on both.
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