games  anime  |  toys
This is a Dtoid readers's blog. For staff blogs click here. Confused? read this Create you own!  |   Members: Login now





If I'm addicted to something does it mean that I like it? [Bangai-O Spirits]
perri | 8:34 AM on 11.04.2008 6 comments


The DS is my favourite system. It has enjoyed recently, if not constantly, a downpour of games that I want/need. It would seem that this year a new RPG was announced for the platform every day. While I was ecstatic about the incoming RPGs (and other games like MOON, Kirby, etc) I found myself just excited about playing my DS, and since I recently gave up on FFIII, and needed a break from Pokemon (70+ hours?! wtf...) I head out to my local EB and was confronted by a problem.

I didn't know what I wanted to buy.

This is a dangerous position to be in...So of course, none of the RPGs I wanted were out yet; Square sat a freshly baked apple pie on the sill, but the taste FFIII left in my mouth superseded the sweet aroma that was FFIV.

I've wanted Prof.Layton for a while but I was in the mood for a traditional, sort of action oriented game, and Ninja Gaiden, used, was still $45, so that was a no-go. As an aside, I've always been a big fan of SHMUPS, I'm not any good but I'm ALWAYS looking for a good one (Haven't played Ikaruga, trying to get the GC version) So Bangai-O caught my eye; the price was right, it was a treasure game, I had heard good things- I bought it.



Bangai-O is not a SHMUP.

Well, at least it isn't a traditional one. You control a mech (awesome) and you do 'Shoot'em up' (awesome) But it's sort of an arena based game, with no story (but a very entertaining Tutorial...strangely...) The game is essentially a series of levels designed by the developer in which players must destroy designated targets. The levels are not connected in any way, there is no progression through the game (you can play any level at any time).

You can assign two weapon types to your mech, plus two special weapons but this isn't a review so you probably don't care.

Here's where my title comes in; If I'm addicted to something, does it mean that I like it?



To be honest, I was surprised to see that the game was not what I had envisioned, and initially, was disappointed, and sort of confused.

For the first time in a while I spouted forth the most vile words known to a gamer playing a game they just brought home; "I think I'm going to trade this in..." This crossed my mind within 2 or so hours of play, it just wasn't what I was looking for and I think that set me off (to be redundant). However, that night I curled up with my DS, as I usually do, (to my Shakespeare professors distress.) and decided I would give the game a chance.



Well that night something magical happened. I learned how to play the game, I learned how it worked, and of course the missile paths and bounce physics looked awesome on those little screens. I don't think I ever thought "Okay this game is awesome! I should have gave it a chance!" No, I never thought that, and I'm not sure if I think that now, a few weeks later. What happened was I couldn't stop playing it.

I became addicted, which I believe to be rooted in the games near perfect difficulty and learning curve. It kept me playing, I would get closer, better almost every time. The simple goals always seemed attainable, even though I had to restart any given level multiple times. I couldn't stop playing the game, not that night, not the next day. Treasure included many many levels, in a way one could relate it to Mario Galaxy...Hear me out.

The designers of Galaxy invented a hub that allowed them to create as many different levels as they wanted, none of them had to be connected in any way. Every idea was legitimate and successfully brought to fruition because they were not tied down by continuity, or story. In Bangai-O this process is employed aswell, developers use a set of tools to create a number of unique levels, and even puzzles- This was crucial to my addiction.


Galaxy's Design allowed for many unique levels, also, gorgeous.

So I'm still a bit confused...Does my motivation, which is inherently addiction based on smart design, mean that I like the game or simply that I appreciate the game and it's design...In writing this I think it's helped me realize that I do truly love this game.

Has a similar thing happened to anybody else? Maybe I should make a thread in the forum for this, yay or nay?

[Also, this month's topic couldn't have come at a better time. My first musing will likely be related to the game's level creator, stay tuned!]



Is this post awesome? Vote it up!

0


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

6 comments | showing # 1 to 6

prev next

Char Aznable's Destructoid Blog
I came in to this game expecting something COMPLETELY different, and I was turned off. It seemed like I was missing something that everyone else was raving about. I'll have to give it another shot.

Side note: did you ever finish up that sweet RetroforceGO! animation that you were working on?
perri's Destructoid Blog
ya, its a strange game, I felt the same way, somehow it grew on me though.

The animation was put on hold due to work and now school. I am DEFINITELY going to finish it, every episode I listen to gets me excited to work on it, I just can't find the time. It's actually been nice to take a break and watch the RFGO mythos grow! Gives me a lot to work with, I've got a lot of ideas.

Oh and recently I was able to purchase a new imac so work on the animation will go smoother and faster once I get back to it.

Thanks for the interest!
king3vbo's Destructoid Blog
Bangai-oh is freaking amazing, but it takes forever to get good enough to not die in 2 seconds
necrozen's Destructoid Blog
I'm addicted to it on Dreamcast. Didn't get the DS version. Have you played both versions? If so, is there a marked difference between them?
superflossy's Destructoid Blog
BANGAI-O!!!!! GO! Love the end of this video: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38219.html

Also, heart the Amy Winehouse photo.

I know exactly how you feel, Perri. Sometimes, I become addicted to a game simply because it just angers me I keep losing and I need to prove to myself that I can do better. This addiction becomes worse when each level is interesting and different, even though it's the same basic premise. I'm like, well I beat the last level so I can totally do this one since it's kind of the same, then because of the raised difficulty I'm like 90% away from the end and I die. And I just have to play one more time... So your inherent enjoyment of the game isn't necessarily from the joy/happiness that it brings you, you are just a big masochist like me and get satisfaction from making yourself work harder for no other reason than to meet the absurd standards you set for yourself. so in short, if a game can do that you and make you have such strong feelings, yes, you like it. :D
perri's Destructoid Blog
Superflossy! Bang on! well said.

Also, Necrozen- I didn't even know there was a Dreamcast version until recently, I think Topher mentioned it a few episodes ago. I'm going to head to youtube to see if they're any different.


prev next


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

 about me

Hey Dtoid. Welcome to perritoid!

I'm a 21 year old artist fresh out of University. While I was there I experimented mostly with Animation, Video, and Games.

The lovely Anthony Burch* recently featured the fruits of my experimentation here on Destructoid as part of the Indie Nation Series Which probably is one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me! One of many reasons why I love Destructoid.

*The Resident Person Named Anthony Who Isn't Anthony Perri.

My first console was the SNES. It remains my favourite, and I've been playing games ever since without pause. Recently I've been a little burned out on the modern sensibilities of a suddenly overwhelmingly Western market. Most of the HD games don't appeal to me. I love my Wii and have undergone, because of this, a sort of Retro-Renaissance of my own.

When I discovered RFGO I immediately went out and bought a second SNES and a bunch of games, since then I've dived into the Virtual Console and tried to buy as many cartridges as I could!


That said, I've been able to get my hands on a pretty powerful iMac and, with the help of Bootcamp, may have been converted into something of a PC gamer courtesy of Valve. Seriously, Steam is amazing...



Oh one other thing that you may be interested in is that I AM ON DIAL UP. ugh.
Luckily my iMac is pretty much portable so if I need to download a game or play some L4D my friends are more than happy to have me.

Want to know more? remember those 10 things... posts? I was a little late.

Follow 'anthPerri' on Twitter!


Header photo by Dario Ayala, 08
Edited by Anthony Perri, 09







 friends' updates
BigKev's Profile BigKev
Please Please do me a favour (NVGR)
BlindsideDork's Profile BlindsideDork
Leaked Transformers: RotF trailer #2 = YES PLEASE!
Chad Concelmo's Profile Chad Concelmo
The tragic history of the videogame turkey
Char Aznable's Profile Char Aznable
Niero Whupped Superman's Ass
Colette Bennett's Profile Colette Bennett
The Whispered World gets lucky at German Game Dev Awards
Cowzilla3's Profile Cowzilla3
Monday Review: Drag Me to Hell
CypherVR's Profile CypherVR
Why I love Destructoid
DreRox's Profile DreRox
Game Music Vid - Forza Motorsport 3
Dyson's Profile Dyson
Madness spreads to Playstation Network, Military style
FinalFist's Profile FinalFist
My Junior Independent Study of Video Games PART 3
garganroo's Profile garganroo
oh, Y0j1mb0 (the unsolicited art)
garrfunkel's Profile garrfunkel
Annoy FFIV dev team through the power of internet
Justice's Profile Justice
A new addition to the household (shortblog)
king3vbo's Profile king3vbo
Why I Love Destructoid
Krow's Profile Krow
Kauza's review of Mass Effect 2
MiOdd's Profile MiOdd
Homemade Akuma Costume
naia-the-gamer's Profile naia-the-gamer
Why I love Kristen Bell
pascuz46's Profile pascuz46
Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy, Part 1: The Over Night Nation Film Review
Rifter01's Profile Rifter01
Tekken 6 Soul Calibur 4 Tourney & Magic XBLA Update
Rockvillian's Profile Rockvillian
I Suck at Games: Negative Reinforcement Negatively Reinforces Everything
superflossy's Profile superflossy
Happy Birthday Christian Bale!!!
Togail's Profile Togail
New art, long post, NVGR
Y0j1mb0's Profile Y0j1mb0
PS3 Friday Night Fights: I CAN'T MOVE EDITION


 

 
  get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
contribute a news tip
suggest a feature
be a guest editor
support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meetup+play online
seriously

about Destructoid
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap
our network

Tomopop
Japanator
Despingation?




Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006