Overrated vs. Underappreciated – Persona 3 vs. Persona 4

OVERRATED – Persona 3 (PS2, Atlus)

Persona 3, to me, feels a little more ragged around the edges compared to its superior sequel, but I tend to hear far more jubilant praise for 3 that I don’t quite understand.  I’m aware that I have a bone to pick with Persona 3 – I will probably never get over the hellish ending and loss of my avatar in FES due to his death.  I hated it, and it’s one reason I love P4 – the hero doesn’t die!  I didn’t go through 70 – 80 hours of connecting with these characters to suddenly have that severed.  But, Persona 3 has a few other issues that Persona 4 ties up that I need to detail.  The cast, for one, is fine and well-acted, but outside of Junpei, I didn’t really connect with them the same way I did with P4′s entire cast.  Part of that may be that there was some noticeable class differences in P3 – Mitsuru, for example, was obviously rich and acted it.  Yukari was trying to be elite, and acted like a snob more times than not (reminding me too much of high school).  Persona 4′s cast was eminently more endearing and likable, perhaps due to the location switch.  The battle engine only allowed to control your avatar – your allies would operate independently, and while they did do a decent job at supporting you, the ability to be able to actively control them in Persona 4 (which, to their credit, Atlus added this feature in Persona 3 Portable) makes this feel archaic and limiting.  Running around Tartarus also grew a little tedious, since it’s always the same.  Sure, the backdrop and enemies changed as you climbed higher, but the switch to internal labyrinths of the minds of the major cast in P4 brought much needed variability and character attachment that P3 lacked.  Sending your allies alone into the halls to search out things was novel, but it also tended to get you in trouble more often than not.  The Social Link system also saw numerous improvements in P4, like hanging out with your girlfriend AFTER maxing out the link.  That’s a novelty, to be sure. :p  That one aspect alone made the relationship more meaningful, like it meant something more than just checking off a feature and moving on.  I’m so sorry I couldn’t spend more time with you, Chihiro…

In short, without repeating myself too much, Persona 4 refined nearly everything Persona 3 set out to do, and I’m dumbfounded why people seem to prefer P3 over the superior P4 (my opinion, of course).  Which leads me to…

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Persona 4 (PS2, Atlus)

Persona 4 is such a gem.  It builds upon the foundation Persona 3 set up for it and leaves its predecessor so far in the dust it’s ridiculous.  The story is more mystery-oriented and interesting, with the cast becoming a “Scooby-Doo” style group set out to solve it that is charming as hell.  The cast are more realistic and even better acted, making your interactions with them far more genuine.  Also, you have to help them from their insecurities before they kill themselves, which I think was a stroke of sheer genius in terms of bonding.  The dungeons are more diverse and are backed with sweet music, making each one a pleasure to poke around in.  The small city the game is located at is significantly easier to explore and more visually intriguing, and your friends are out more often than in P3.  The social aspects are remarkably improved, and raising Social Links is ten times more rewarding.  The battle engine is refined and completely in your hands (if you want), giving you more control (and further establishing your relation to your allies) over the fight.  Boss fights are insane and a kick (which P3 features, too, but I think the strength of uniting with your buds makes these encounters more enjoyable), as well.  In short, I think Persona 4 does what Persona 3 did but infinitely better…which makes me wonder why there’s more of a fervor for P3.  I’ll never understand, I guess.

Overrated vs. Underappreciated: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow vs. A Boy and his Blob

OVERRATED – Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS, Konami)

Dawn of Sorrow started off quite well.  Unnecessary anime redesigns aside, Soma’s second adventure kept up the excellence the first game presented remarkably well. In fact, I would even go as far to say that I understand why people like this game the most out of the DS ‘Vanias.  However, I found enough glaring flaws to make me question that understanding, which I will do here.  The first question – magic seals.  What exactly makes one overlook these horrific game-changers that render your hard-fought effort to conquer a boss potentially moot?  Fantastic boss fights that pushed a little harder than Aria of Sorrow are suddenly aggravating as you “kill” them, with the sudden prompt to slide your stylus/finger in a preset pattern in order to finish them off…I don’t know if I ever got any save the first right on the first try.  And when you’re fighting Death or Gergoth, you really don’t want to witness that seal fail and cringe as they spring back to life – it’s frustrating.  Plus you have to go track the seals down to use them, which is also a minor annoyance.  If I recall, most were easy enough to stumble upon, but I’d rather feel like I’m in control of the game over the game controlling me, which Dawn does.  Second, continued reliance on the touch screen in the form of ice blocks.  These obnoxious objects require the player to clear them with touch screen brushes, which broke the connection to Soma’s adventuring for me.  I’d have to cease moving him in order to do a quick swipe to make a path that Soma could maneuver through, and I didn’t enjoy it at all.  A quick and simple switch to letting Soma smash through them himself would have more than sufficed and kept up the pace.  I’m quite happy that Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclesia dropped the touch screen padding.  Otherwise, Dawn is a great game.  But these attempts to utilize the Touch Screen in order to just play the damn game was abused far too heavily, and compared to its prequel and sequels, it just was too much for me to want to ever play it again.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – A Boy and his Blob (Wii, Majesco/Wayforward)

Wayforward’s reinvention of David Crane’s NES A Boy and his Blob is a gorgeous, well-designed gem of a game that truly deserves more praise than it received.  The game is pretty much like playing an animated movie, with its crisp, luscious animation, detailed backgrounds dripping with clever touches, a soaring soundtrack that is a perfect fit, and a dynamic relationship that builds between the game’s titular heroes.  The game controls very well, has some great puzzlers, and features top-notch level design, and while it has a few glitches and the occasional jellybean misthrow, I was more than willing to excuse the game’s flaws and relish its joys.  If you have a Wii, track this down.

Overrated vs. Underappreciated – Dead or Alive 2 vs. N+

OVERRATED – Dead or Alive 2 (DC, Tecmo)

Dead or Alive – The fighting franchise where the breast physics seem to matter more than the gameplay.

You can buy that catchphrase from me, Tecmo Koei.

Joking aside, I probably wouldn’t have bothered using Dead or Alive 2 as an example in this series if it wasn’t for two things: its creator Tomonobu Itagaki thinking it’s the finest fighter that’s ever been made, and me looking back through some of my old Dreamcast magazines that gushed about how incredible this game is.  I decree that those claims are inaccurate at best.

I will say this in its favor – I dug the stage designs in Dead or Alive 2.  I especially liked the dramatic ones where you could knock your rival off a cliff into some other part of the arena.  And it does look nice for a Dreamcast title – it’s easily one of the standouts of the system.  The basic gameplay, however, is lacking a certain punch (ignore the pun) to truly make it one of the greats.  It’s heavy on the button-mashing, the reversal system is too easy to abuse (the CPU is very guilty of this), and the character movesets and designs are not all that spectacular.  The female half of the lineup were obviously the main focus, and all of these femme fatales have the “plunging cleavage, panty shot-ready and/or bouncing boobs” method of character design, aimed clearly at horny teens, which doesn’t really appeal to me, a 27 year old happily married chum, these days.  When I look at some of my favorite women in gaming, I notice that the majority of them are not of the buxom beauty type, a la Dead or Alive.  Anyway, blatant sexism aside, Dead or Alive isn’t all that fun to square off in for me.  The appeal of the series has always leaned towards extreme fan-service (as evidenced by the Dead or Alive Xtreme Volleyball/Paradise spin-offs), and the fighting engine was not as thoroughly executed as its pandering to sexually-desperate boys and men.  I wouldn’t count it as one of the finest fighting franchises, and I certainly wouldn’t say it’s a “perfect” example of the genre.  I guess it’s just not my kind of fighter.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – N+ (DS, Atari)

It’s a tough sell when you try to market a game that began as a freeware product.  N is such a title.  Atari seemed to agree, as they quietly shipped this out and watched it wallow on the shelves.

However, I think Atari and Silverbirch Studios managed to exceed the original in many ways with their enhanced retail sequel (of sorts).  For one, the DS controls are incredibly responsive, which is a necessity for this game’s tense platforming challenges.  The second screen serves as a useful map to the overall playing field, which was a massive benefit for the player.  And there’s a nice selection of bonus content the Flash-based original did not have – the ability to share custom-made maps (which is now available to the free version), multiplayer modes, and exclusive levels.  There’s something truly special about N+ that’s hard to explain in words, though – it’s some of the most sadistic gaming I’ve played, but it can also be among the most addictive and obsessive games I’ve taken on, too.  It is difficult, and can be nigh-impossible later on, but conquering a series of tough stages is incredibly fulfilling.  While I’m plugging the DS rev, I’ve heard the Xbox Live and PSP variants are solid, too.  And if you’re lacking in funds, there’s always the free Flash game!

Overrated vs. Underappreciated: Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)/Zack & Wiki (Wii)

OVERRATED – Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

I’m aware that there’s a great divide over who likes this game and who doesn’t.  I fall into the latter.  It takes a lot for me to dislike a game within a half an hour, and SotC managed to succeed in that goal.  The environments were sterile, with very little to distinguish them.  Our hero controlled terribly, and trying to accomplish much of anything with him was far too much a chore to be enjoyable.  The bloom lighting was overused, bleaching any sense of personality out of the landscape.  The game’s animation was clunky.  And the art design, the one thing most people who love this game praise, was lost on me.  I didn’t get it.  I became irritable on the first colossi I encountered, because both what I was supposed to do was unclear, and trying to discover what it was became difficult thanks to the unreliable controls.  I often praise games as money well spent – this was $20 I want back.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii)

Capcom took a wild stab with Zack & Wiki, hoping to catch some of the revitalized adventure game market with their clever take on the premise.  Unfortunately, the game bombed, and quickly became a bargain bin title.  It’s too bad, as Capcom came up with a very likable take on the genre.  Zack and Wiki are part of a pirate band, and each stage has them attempting to put together a cursed captain named Barbaros.  He’s been transformed into a gold statue, and his parts have been scattered throughout the game’s world.  Each stage presents the player a set of puzzles to solve.  Wiki can convert various props and creatures into devices Zack can use, like the Mole Drill or Frog Bomb.  The game uses a trial-and-error method of stage completion, which at times works against it.  There’s nothing like nearly finishing up a stage to not react in time for a trigger to occur, and you’ll be punished by redoing the entire stage again.  There’s continues you can purchase, but they became expensive in a hurry.  Beyond that, though, Zack & Wiki is awesome.  It’s loaded with character – the environments pop with brilliant colors, are loaded with details, and are accompanied by cheery music that fits in with the game’s style.  The character design is excellent, too.  If you’re into adventure games, this is a fantastic pick-up.

Overrated vs. Underappreciated: Odin Sphere vs. Elevator Action Returns

Welcome to Overrated Vs. Underappreciated…what will probably be one of the more controversial gaming topics I’ll be posting.  Here I’ll discuss games I’ve played that did little to nothing for me, yet seem to be quite popular for reasons unknown to me.  Also, I’ll highlight a game that was largely ignored by the gaming populace that I think deserves the attention and fandom the more popular game receives.  Of course, this is merely my humble opinion, and I’ll be more than happy to further discuss these in the Comments in a rational manner. ^_^

OVERRATED – Odin Sphere (PS2)

Yes, I highlighted my personal issues with Odin Sphere in the Opinion section already, but when I was thinking of setting up a new ORvUA article, Odin Sphere quickly popped into my brain as one that a ton of game reviewers hailed as fantastic, and honesty, I really don’t know why they did so.  I can say this – the game was gorgeous, the character designs were cool, and the music is excellent.  However, I have to really ponder if any of the reviewers who plastered it with so much praise actually played through the same game that I did (I wonder that a lot, it seems).  Did they get more diverse enemies to battle?  Maybe they were less cheap and crushing than the retail release?  Perhaps slimes took normal damage without having to concoct some sort of potion the game failed to warn you about?  I don’t know.

All I know is that I read so many gleaming reviews about this game, and when I sat down and played it myself, my initial response of “hey, this is pretty cool” mellowed out, and eventually I found no enjoyment thanks to its broken combat and its poor decisions on certain aspects of the gameplay.  Did we really need 5 different forms of currency?  Why must I get juggled when the enemies don’t?  How come I stop attacking when I’m struck while my enemies shrug my blows off and resume wailing me?  There’s way too many nagging issues for this game to be hyped so heavily, and I have to think they were too star struck with the pretty spritework (which, no matter how pretty it is, gets very old when you revisit each level as often as this game forces you to), coughing up B-range scores to a game that really didn’t deserve them.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Elevator Action II/Returns (Arcade, Saturn [JP], PS2/PC through Taito Legends 2)

Now this is how one ought to revitalize a classic!

The simplistic gameplay of Elevator Action was carefully rebuilt into a topnotch action game loaded with excellent graphics (especially for the size of the sprites!), extra responsive controls and plenty of challenge.  The addition of explosive barrels and interactive objects adds a ton of depth into the enemy battling, and the game’s six stages are varied enough to all feel fresh.  This is a game that deserved to be better recognized as a true classic, but alas, the game’s lack of a domestic console release until the PS2 Taito Legends 2 comp has heavily hampered its legacy (unless you were lucky enough to find the arcade cabinet or imported the ultra-rare Saturn port).  Overall, I was completely blown away with the quality Taito poured into this game, and I recommend tracking this game down so you can play it.

Taito Legends 2 is ultra cheap – $15 or less snags you a hefty 38 games.  Can’t go wrong, there.  Hardcore Gamer 101 mentions that a touch of slowdown and a nerfed machine gun are in the PS2 EAII port, but I didn’t think it hurt the quality of the game at all (the machine gun is a bit pointless, and the slowdown only gets to a slight annoyance during the final stage).  Go give it a shot!

Overrated Vs. Underappreciated: Zelda Edition

Welcome to Overrated Vs. Underappreciated…what will probably be one of the more controversial gaming topics I’ll be posting.  Here I’ll discuss games I’ve played that did little to nothing for me, yet seem to be quite popular for reasons unknown to me.  Also, I’ll highlight a game that was largely ignored by the gaming populace that I think deserves the attention and fandom the more popular game receives.  Of course, this is merely my humble opinion, and I’ll be more than happy to further discuss these in the Comments in a rational manner. ^_^

OVERRATED – Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC)

Nintendo’s first Zelda for the Gamecube was a shock to many people.  It abandoned the more realistic look of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask in favor of a cartoon style (forever saddling this Link with the “Toon” moniker), and many “hardcore” fans decried the change and plastered the game as nothing more than a kiddishly coated waste of a Zelda title.  Once Wind Waker was released, though, many of those said haters quickly changed their tune, raising this Zelda well above most others in the franchise, coughing up their Game of the Year awards to this now “SO freaking awesome!” game.  In fact, the glory Wind Waker had obtained has swelled to the point that it laid claim to Nintendo Power’s 4th greatest Nintendo game of all time…which I really do have to wonder.

Before I begin my argument, I would like to state that I do not consider Wind Waker to be a bad game.  It features some of the best battle controls in the whole series, and has some clever boss encounters.  It looks really good (I never thought the look was not Zelda…it reminded me of what Link to the Past might have looked like in 3D), has some great music, and has some nice dungeon layouts.  All and all, Wind Waker still stands head and shoulders above many other games.

But, Wind Waker is not stainless.  It has been saddled with several glaring flaws that plunge the enjoyment factor into one of the game’s many whirlpools.  No matter how much fun Link is to control, you’ll spend around half of the game stuck in a boat.  And that boat is the main factor in the game’s downfall.  Sailing is a novel idea, and for a time, it proves to be droll entertainment.  However, the vast oceans that spread apart the game’s towns, dungeons and other key locales begin to grow more and more weary the more you sail on them, and after a while I began to read books instead of paying any sort of attention to where Link was going.  I just pointed him in the right direction and dove into whatever book I had nearby at the time…a strong indicator that it takes too long to get anywhere.  Even the game’s warp function is too crippled to be of much use.  And once you get to the part in the game where you need to sail around looking for Triforce shards, the sailing’s dullness evolves into annoyance.  Both a game design flaw and a way to cheaply add length to the game, the “Tingle Triforce Shard Parade” (as I will refer to it many times on the blog), will have you spending hours pinpointing various spots in the ocean, circling around the exact point you need to scoop up the chest, warp back to Tingle Island (or, if you’re unfortunate, sail back over there), fork out Rupees to have him translate the map you found, and then sailing out again to try to find the shards lost in the vast sea.  And some of these charts are not stuck in the bottom of the depths, but are reachable only through certain sidequests.  And you need to keep gathering Rupees all the while to let Tingle keep deciphering these important parchments. As a example of gaming design, it sucks.  Badly.

Between the immense amount of sailing, though, there are the enjoyable parts where you control Link wandering about on the game’s islands, beating enemies, solving puzzles, chatting to islanders and such.  Most of these moments are great, and thanks to the sweet combat engine, battling Moblins and other baddies is a lot of fun.  And the dungeons are also fairly good…except for the two where you’re stuck with AI controlled Sages-To-Be in the hopes of getting them safely to the end of the dungeon.  The Wind Waker is used to control them, and the tune you’re required to play before you can move them on your own is a bit long.  Along with that, they don’t control all that well, so it just doesn’t add up to joy…especially compared to the game’s earlier, better dungeons.

Wind Waker is a good game that has problems.  No game is perfect, after all.  But in all honesty, to give Wind Waker Game of the Year awards or high marks on your Top Lists of All Time is a little silly to me.  The game’s tedious sailing, unnecessary length and poor implementation of dungeon allies easily dethrones it…especially in Nintendo Power’s case, which still stuns me.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC)

Meanwhile, the second Zelda ’Cube game is the one most people forget about.  Crippled from mainstream access due in part to the required GBA links to add in more players, Four Swords Adventures nevertheless is a great piece of gameplay goodness and, alas, a tragically mistimed execution by Nintendo.  If only they held back on this game until the DS arrived, then maybe the game would have done a lot better commercially.

At any rate, the game uses the Four Sword in a great manner, offering up a bunch of neat puzzles that require teamwork to topple.  Even playing the game alone proves to be rewarding, thanks to the 4 battle formations you can pick.  The Zelda format has been heavily altered to accommodate multiplayer cooperation and competition, and for the most part, it works out well.  The change in focus to gathering Force Gems to power up Link is a lot of fun, and my wife and I have enjoyed our time playing through the game quite a bit.  The visuals, despite mostly being plucked from Link to the Past, are well suited for the game, and there’s some nice quality animations, too.  You can’t keep items and heart containers between levels (both concepts which may have bothered some Zelda zealots), but for this game to work, it had to be done.  If one player was able to keep all of their Heart Containers, the game would become a contest to get them, and that wouldn’t be much fun.  The game also does use its GBA requirement well, since you can enter houses and caves at your own discretion, letting your friends search up above on the main playfield as you look for Force Gems underground or indoors.  The boss fights are a delight, and the game’s levels (view them as dungeons) are well-designed and use the four Links to its advantage.

All and all, despite shedding some of the usual Zelda rules, FSA remains a joyous title that’s very pleasurable to play.  It is one of the GC’s better multiplayer games, and I think it stands up well enough on its own merits as a solo affair.  You can probably find it pretty cheaply nowadays.  The GBA requirement makes the game a bit difficult and costly to fully enjoy its potential, but I still recommend giving it a go if you can.

Overrated Vs. Underappreciated: GTA: San Andreas vs. Second Sight

Welcome to Overrated Vs. Underappreciated…what will probably be one of the more controversial gaming topics I’ll be posting.  Here I’ll discuss games I’ve played that did little to nothing for me, yet seem to be quite popular for reasons unknown to me.  Also, I’ll highlight a game that was largely ignored by the gaming populace that I think deserves the attention and fandom the more popular game receives.  Of course, this is merely my humble opinion, and I’ll be more than happy to further discuss these in the Comments in a rational manner. ^_^

OVERRATED – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2/Xbox)

First off, let me state that yes, I do appreciate what this series has done for the expansion of the sandbox method of gameplay prevalent in many games today.  The GTA series has opened up new possibilities into gaming in terms of level design, replay value and gameplay opportunities. I also have to say that I did have a fair amount of gaming bliss while playing GTA:SA. The open-ended world of San Andreas was a lot of fun…for a while.

The problem I had with GTA:SA lies in one fundamental flaw that popped up over and over again, and that was in the tightness of the controls…or lack thereof. The cars didn’t feel right when you drove them, turning very poorly and not reacting much to environmental changes. On foot, CJ’s aim was horribly inaccurate, and the lock-on feature was ridiculously busted.  And those two issues were enough to lose any sense of enjoyment because THEY ARE EVERYTHING TO THE GAME.  GTA is all about shooting and driving, and these two elements are broken.  Trying to fight off gangsters is difficult enough with the shoddy accuracy the game gives you when you don’t use the auto-aim; it transforms into pure abhorrence when you do press the auto-aim button, only to end up aiming at some innocent pedestrian halfway across the block that isn’t doing anything to you while the thug two feet away from you with a machine gun wedged into your armpit is blasting your life meter into ribbons.  It sucks.  Hit and run missions are also terrible because your AI buddies can’t aim very well either, and your car doesn’t handle the way it’s supposed to, making it all the more aggravating to watch your car blow up as you run off with your tail between your legs because you can’t turn the corner the way it needed to be done to hit those rival gang members.

And don’t even get me started on the mission where you and Big Smoke shoot gangsters on the train on a motorbike, because I HATED that mission. How many bullets does it take to kill someone?  50+? Yeesh.  The bikes were probably the most fun vehicle I played with, but they handled too loose (which is better than not loose enough, like most the cars) to be effective in most missions, and the chase with Freddie was annoying because of it.  Sure, FREDDIE’S AI can handle that run without a hitch, but the twists and tight alleys were a pain for anyone else to maneuver through, and your AI buddy was stupid, whose routine was too tightly scripted for you to catch up with Freddie if you fell off one too many times…I can’t count how many times I got back on the bike and he just stood there, like he WASN’T yearning to go do his long-plotted revenge anymore.  Grrr.

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Second Sight (PS2/Xbox/GC)

Second Sight is from Free Radical, the ex-Rare guys who left after Goldeneye to later make the Timesplitters series for the PS2.  It’s a rather good action game involving psychic powers and a cohesive plot relating to how you got said powers. Your character, John Vattic, wakes up in a hospital room with a splitting headache and no recollection of who he is, and finds that he can somehow move objects with his mind.  As you go through the game, more powers begin to appear at your disposal, like healing and psi-blasts.  John also has some firearms training, so he can handle an array of weapons, too.  The game bounces back and forth between two timelines, the past and the present.  As you get deeper into the game, the plot throws some excellent loops into the cycle.  It’s a thrilling ride to its finish.

The game’s look is akin to Free Radical’s Timesplitters series, but it’s a touch more realistic here.  The game offers up a sizable amount of interaction (although you can easily glitch the game with telekinesis), and there’s a lot of leeway in the level design (as I’ll get to momentarily).  The voice work is pretty solid, with very few poorly delivered lines and nothing too cringe-worthy.  The music is fitting for the motif, but outside of the main intro, nothing about it springs to mind as memorable or classic.

The game’s control scheme is deep – Second Sight can be played in a run-and-gun style, but that limits its potential.  It’s best to utilize the many opportunities of being stealthy to reap the game’s level design rewards.  Between using your Psychic Powers like Telekinesis, Charm (invisibility) and Projection and the game’s environment, Free Radical gives patient players a great time in its levels.  The controls are a bit unwieldy and there is a hefty adjustment period to get used to them (every button on the GC pad is used for something somewhat important), but the game is fairly understanding to that, offering a tutorial for both psychic powers and the complex stealth routines.  Once those humps are cleared, though, then it’s off to the races for some great gameplay experiences.

The game isn’t perfect.  But I was pretty satisfied with the experience it provided, and it’s quite fun to play.  You can find it used for pretty cheap.  It may not be to your tastes, but it’s still worth a go in my mind.  And considering Free Radical has now pretty much bit the dust, I can say that this is their finest work.

Overrated Vs. Underappreciated: Kingdom Hearts vs. Beyond Good & Evil

Welcome to Overrated Vs. Underappreciated…what will probably be one of the more controversial gaming topics I’ll be posting.  Here I’ll discuss games I’ve played that did little to nothing for me, yet seem to be quite popular for reasons unknown to me.  Also, I’ll highlight a game that was largely ignored by the gaming populace that I think deserves the attention and fandom the more popular game receives.  Of course, this is merely my humble opinion, and I’ll be more than happy to further discuss these in the Comments in a rational manner. ^_^

OVERRATED – Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

I failed to grasp the hysteria that has surrounded KH.  The overwhelming love that fans give to it, the heaps upon heaps of art, fan-fic and cosplay…I just don’t get why people have gotten so into this series.  The music was great, I will give it that.  The models look nice, too.  Combating the Heartless was okay…for a bit.  But once the battles begin to escalate, the problems became clear.  The fighting system was little more than a mindless button-mash (which does have its merits, but I don’t really like doing it without other redeeming qualities), the camera was uncooperative and your allies were pretty brain-dead.  My healer didn’t heal when I needed him to (silly Donald!), and I didn’t really feel like I was fighting with a cooperative team, but with guys that were just kind of hanging about and occasionally scored a lucky strike that aided me here and there. 

The overworld parts were kind of drab and boring (granted, I didn’t get past the jungle realm of Tarzan, so I may have missed the good stuff), and sometimes figuring out what exactly your objective was for being here wasn’t clear.  Picking up munny was VERY frustrating because you had to walk right on top of it for it to be added up into your total.  The Gummi Ship segments were a horrible, horrible disappointment, boring as hell and made moving between worlds tedious.  Some lessons could have been learned from Starfox 64.  But what finally broke the game’s fun for me was the idiotic vine puzzle in Tarzan’s realm.  The controls for leaping from vine to vine were atrocious, the vines themselves had little collision detection, and unlike a wisely designed platformer, you had to climb all the way back up if you fell.  I never did find the way through this mess of a maze, because I just wasn’t having a good time anymore.

I find the concept to be interesting, but eh.  It takes more than Final Fantasy and Disney characters for me to overlook gameplay this questionable.  I may be railing on it a little harshly, but I was really disenchanted.  I expected a lot more, and maybe I merely expected too much from it (which happens, unfortunately).

UNDERAPPRECIATED – Beyond Good & Evil (GC, PS2, Xbox, PC)

I gush about this game a lot here, don’t I?  Well, I can’t sing its praises enough!

Michel Ancel’s masterpiece came out during the holiday season of 2003, but it quickly got lost in a massive sea of games.  I recall seeing it on the cheap 1 to 2 months after its release, which prompted me to buy it on the spot.  I have no regrets about it…well, outside of not buying it earlier.  A wonder of game design, Beyond Good & Evil had a great control scheme that rarely frustrates, a myriad of gameplay styles that offer plenty of variety, great character designs, the best graphics I’ve seen on a multiplatform title last gen, excellent music, a solid voice cast, and some terrific dungeons.  The storyline is as good as gaming has done thus far, as well.  The game’s flaws are rather paltry compared to Kingdom Hearts; the game’s length is short (but awesomely sweet), the dungeon count is unfortunately small (but outside of the last one are so well done that you want there to be more…the last one was not as rich in stealth or puzzles…and once you do the key objective, it wraps up really fast), and the game’s ending offers up a cliffhanger that screamed out sequel…which, due to the general apathy it received in retail, was not expected to ever occur.  Thankfully, Ancel managed to convince UBI to let him and a small team begin work on a sequel, one that has me more excited than anything else gaming is offering right now.

In short, BG&E is an excellent game deserving of your attention. You’ll probably find it for under $10, and it’ll be one of the best $10 bills you’ll spend on a game.