Last week was the conclusion of the PS3 odd debate brackets, and we certainly finished with an incredibly crazy comparison and contrast competition. With two games that are nothing alike, everyone had to give a lot of thought to how they'd vote, and for what reasons. However, in the end, the winner was clear. Here are the results:
- Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (41 votes) -- Winner!
- LittleBigPlanet (26 votes)
This week we move on to the Nintendo DS brackets. With the DS being an insatiable handheld gaming device with record-breaking sales, there's no short list of games to choose from. Based on past popularity and the suggestions you all left in last week's comments, I've narrowed the picks down to a few iconic DS games.
For this week we choose between Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the game that started a fervent series of legal leisure and laughs, and Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the quirky and enigmatic game that has spawned a series of its own. Which game do you think is better, and why? Give it some serious thought, get some DS friends to share their opinions as well, and check back next week for the winner.
Bonus Question: What was one thing you didn't like about the game you voted for?
Contest:
8:39 PM on 04.07.2009
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Bonus Question: Usually only 2 or so cases were really worth playing in each game. BUT! Those cases worth playing, they were SO worth playing. GODOT!! CRY ME SOME MANLY TEARS!!
One thing that I will say that I didn't like about this game was that it seemed extremely difficult. I've probably just gotten stupid in my old age, but I beat my head against a wall on two occasions and had to consult a walkthrough. Seriously. Stupid.
Vote: Professor Layton.
BQ: a bit too much back and forth in the early game. and some of the extras, like room feng shui, were mostly useless. also -- wayyy too many hint coins. shoulda made them used for something else.
Hard decission, but I vote for Phoenix Wright. The writing, the trama, the suspense, absolutely addicting.
What i didn't like was the navigation system, maybe if it had something like Trace Memory or tapping along a map to go to different places.
Played my furnds copy, its pretty much perfect.
i've just bought a dsi and have been playing these all weekend!
they are both amazing!
Bonus: I agree with the fact that it can be extremely difficult. It was rewarding when things came together, though. Good times.
As for a dislike...some of the mindteasers were just plain stupid, in retrospect. Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, required a goddamn doctorate to solve. I'm smart, but I'm not THAT smart, guys.
Even then all you have to do is wait a year and all the puzzles will be relatively fresh again.
That said, the first Ace Attorney game was just great, not super great, and therefore I have to give it to Layton and the Curious Village.
That game is SUPER great.
BQ: Curious Village is a bit flat in terms of difficulty progression. It could use some highs and lows, like boss fight puzzles, or instant death puzzles or something.
So my vote goes the Professor Layton even though that game has way too much math in it.
Vote: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Bonus: a tad slow at times, some puzzles pacing were a bit wonky. You would do like two really easy ones, then maybe a super hard one that has you scratching your head for a while, then the game throws a handful of medium ones before slamming your face with another hard one, then a super easy one. A minor gripe.
Yeah so i vote for Layton cause I love me some logic puzzles.
The only thing i didn't like about this game was about 1-2 compulsory puzzles toward the end that were too arduous and difficult for me to enjoy them (princess block sliding or something).
yea...not hard to notice.
Bonus question: uh...the fact that this isn't the 3rd game in the series being voted on? lol
My vote goes to Professor Layton. No idea why, its just a gut feeling.
Bonus: A bit slow paced at times and somehow, at the same time, extremely short lived.
Also:
I didn't know what to expect when I picked the first one up, a random buy which I don't regret. I love it for the writing, characters, story and animation. It's too easy and there are parts which make you think hard, and I love a challenge.
Bonus Question: Out of the whole series, I didn't enjoy the second game all too much. It just felt like filler until the third game, since the main story wasn't really focused on TOO much during the second game but it picked up in the third. It was still playable, but parts of that game like some of the characters annoyed me.
The bad part is that replay value is fairly low. Some cases you would never want to touch again. I always look forward to the next game, but after finishing it in a few weeks, I wonder if I should regret laying down $30 for a game I may never pick up again.
Overall I think Layton just made me feel happier and like I had accomplshed something.
yeah, Layton has beautiful animations, cutscenes, voices and all the magic stuff, but when i played i felt like "oh, i remember this from the school". Beside that, really makes you think.
BUT! PW came first, it gots a freakin awesome history and it let me saw the lawyers worlds from a very diferent perspective. Also it becames part of the videogame popular culture, and his simplicity really caught me.
The only thing i don't like about it, NO VOICES, VERY FEW ANIMATIONS. Now you can see layton or lux-pain, similar games with voices, videos. Yeah Wright it's a port, but capcom could have added that on the DS version, but they didn't :(
I've played 2 Wright games and half of Layton (so far) but I'll have to go with Wright.
Just cause hes meme-able.
I absolutely loved this game.
Now Ace Attorney, on the other hand, at its best, featured some of the best video game writing I've ever seen. Every detail ties into the story, whether you realize it or not.
I'll admit I don't like most leaps of faith the game asks you to take, or the investigation segments which give you no player direction whatsoever.(seriously, i hate going from screen to screen tapping every pixel on the off chance I missed something that is vital to progressing the story.) But when you start to finally untangle the case, there is no better feeling of satisfaction.
BQ: Too much baxktracking, sometimes it's hard to guess between two really related clues to present to the judge.
I have to agree that the first game wasn't as good as the third (and even fourth) in terms of storytelling and such, but it layed the foundation for everything else. ALl the realisations you make in the third would of had no meaning without the first game. I sure remember when you see Mia's death again during the later cases, they'd always send shivers down my spine and tears to my eyes. Oh, and the 'Pursuit - Cornered' remix in Trials and Tribulations made me so happy.
All in all, I don't actually get emotive about Layton, so it fails.
BONUS: Little to no replayability. Sure it's hard to do for a graphic novel, but check out 'Chaos;Head' for example and you'll see the possibilities.
Bonus: Mia's death, I know she appears later, but i really liked her character
BQ: The sequels haven't been localized yet.
Professor Layton.
Replayability and bonus content wins it for me. (Sorry Phoenix! I'll still buy the blue badger dsi if it comes to the states)
My vote: Phoenix Wright
Phoenix Wright has an awesome cast of characters and I enjoyed going through each case trying to figure out "who did it." Layton was very fun as well but I didn't feel much of a connection to the Layton world or the people in it. I was more obsessed with the puzzles than figuring out what was happening.
BQ: I hated figuring out what the answer was and not being able to reveal that information until the game allowed it.
Layton is badass, and the puzzles are really inventive, and the art style is gorgeous, but no matter how great the puzzles were and how charming the story was, being in a village full of people who only do things in exchange for having a puzzle solved that they are too lazy to figure out is a little weird. I love it, but Phoenix is a game that I could not put down ever. All four of them.
VOTE: Phoenix Wright
BONUS: I don't like how Phoenix is basically not a game. It's an interactive novel with choices. You rarely feel like you are playing a game; it always just seems like a novel with some trial and error segments.
Professor Layton
Bonus: I have something of an OCD so when a puzzle comes up that I can't solve I'll just guess until I get it, so I dislike the fact that some of the puzzles I don't solve with me mind, though perhaps that is not the games fault.
So Leyton it is!