A masterpiece built on the foundation of another masterpiece (BotW) and made better than its predecessor (BotW) to a staggering degree… in objective ways, and as a matter of personal preference.
Objective ways:
There’s greater enemy variety. There’s no more backing out of chests to drop an item so you can get the item that’s in the chest. The ability to now sort items by “most used”, which is a great addition. Recipes that save to your cooking log for much easier food prep. A log that records prior conversations so you can refer back to them when you forget something. Being able to see the selling value of each item without needing to hover over each individual item. The stamina boost given if you fall into water when your stamina is at zero. The ability to throw an item, not just weapons. Fuse increases weapon durability, greatly mitigating the frequency of breaking, which was a HUGE complaint by a lot of people about BotW (I wasn’t one of them). Coordinates are provided on your mini map. Horse stables emit smoke so you can better spot them from a distance. More ways to ameliorate the problem of slipping while climbing in the rain. The shrine sensor is more accurate. The slow-mo effect no longer depletes stamina unless you shoot an arrow.
I could go on about even more ways that, from a game standpoint, TotK objectively improved upon and/or fixed things from BotW.
Personal preference:
The story is just plain better in TotK. The premise and introduction are much more compelling, the main villain is actually an interesting character, and Zelda’s story arc is very touching and even makes her likable. (PSA: You can easily watch the memories in order by simply collecting them, skipping the cutscenes, and then watching after you’ve collected all of them.) The entire ending sequence, from storming Ganondorf’s stronghold to when Link catches Zelda is a chef’s kiss. The voice acting, especially for Zelda, generally seemed a lot better to me than in BotW. The finding/pulling of the Master Sword is easily the most epic of the series. The bosses are better, and they’re visually and mechanically very distinct from each other. Dungeons are much closer to classical Zelda dungeons than BotW’s, even quasi-simulating the “key item” mechanic via how the companion character in each dungeon is utilized. The cave systems are overall fantastic and really add a lot to the exploration aspect. The Depths, which I know are disliked by a vocal minority, are a great time and a wonderful addition in my opinion; it’s the Light World/Dark World concept brought back to life, and something BotW was missing. Loved it. There’s a lot more to do in the world, if you want to, and for those who say there’s too much, to them I will always simply say— you don’t have to do most of it. It’s there if you want to do it, but you can easily ignore most of it and get on with the critical path if that’s your preference. Same goes for building/crafting with Ultrahand; you can largely ignore that mechanic after the brief tutorial area, if building stuff isn’t your thing. That’s the beauty of TotK. You’re given plenty of options to try out and determine how YOU prefer to play, and they’re all viable.
TLDR: Bottom line is, if BotW is “The Hobbit,” then TotK is “The Lord of the Rings.” It takes a superb foundational work and then fleshes it out, matures and deepens it, and turns it into an even greater masterpiece.
Well deserved. Best game of 2023. But at the end of the day, I’m not really surprised that these award ceremonies went with BG3 as the GotY. It was the new hotness, while TotK was a direct sequel and definitely didn’t have the same “fresh factor” as BotW, even though TotK is superior to its predecessor on very nearly every level. Oh well.
Coming from someone who put maybe 1000+ hours into Melee, Ultimate is the best, no contest. Seriously, Melee doesn’t hold a candle, and my buds and I loved playing it when we were growing up. Minus target practice, Ultimate just has it all… the roster, the stages, the music selection and playlist options, the customization in general, the best stage builder, the Amiibo trainees, the Spirit Board (which is a better form of the trophy system and ties in nicely to the single player Adventure Mode “World of Light”), 6-8 player Smash, a broader selection of viable characters for high-level competition, online play which is pretty good for 1v1 and private rooms with friends, and the list goes on.
@RiasGremory
By my count, TotK has taken 13 GOTYs. If you count Famitsu’s award event that was voted on by like 180+ Japanese developers, then it has taken 14.
"It's still the EXACT same Hyrule from BotW..."
No, it is not. The general surface land mass is essentially the same, but there were a ton of changes made to the topography to give old locations a fresh look. Moreover, there was a megaton of caves and cave systems added that are completely new (and also wells).
"... just with the Underground now added.. and some smaller islands in the sky, but that's really not significant enough. I had to even edit my comment because I forgot about them haha."
Is it possible you forgot because you haven't played the game? I'm just saying... those are some big additions to Hyrule that would be pretty hard to forget for anyone who has played it beyond a few hours. The Depths area alone is literally the size of the surface, with plenty of stuff going on down there. There are dozens of Sky Islands, of different shapes and sizes, with various activities. Not to mention the 152 shrines that are necessarily very different from the 120 shrines in Breath of the Wild because the vast majority of them make use of the new physics and mechanics that simply are not found in BotW.
"with actual new game changing mechanics"
Can you Ascend through surfaces in BotW? No. Can you Recall time in BotW, and do it on specific objects for various effects? No. Can you Ultrahand objects together in BotW, creating all manner of vehicles and tools for traversal, combat, and puzzle-solving? No and no. Can you Fuse objects to your weapons and shields in BotW, increasing their power and durability and granting them various special effects, which hugely changes and improves the entire item economy because it makes everything you find useful beyond just selling it or cooking it? No to all of that. Can you skydive AT ALL in BotW? No. Can you take a handful of companions with you to fight by your side in BotW? No. Can you fight inside a giant combat mech in BotW? No. Can you build homing attack drones that fight for you in BotW? No.
@Mauzuri
"That didn't stop you lot from giving Tears of the Kingdom a 10/10"
Different reviewers, friend.
"even though it basically did pretty much the same things BotW did,"
It did more than your statement would suggest. A lot more.
"with a few minor additions like the fusion mechanic."
So... Fuse, Ascend, Recall, and Ultrahand — abilities that greatly changed up the gameplay, exploration, traversal, and puzzle-solving in TotK over what was seen in BotW — you consider to be minor additions/mechanics. Heh. Okay.
I think perhaps it's safe to say that yours is simply a bad take. But what's even sillier to me is that your comment has 20 likes. Oh well.
@Chaotic_Neutral
"none of those are memorable 'Zelda' moments and could easily have come from any open world game. Most of the ones you highlighted reminds me of my time playing ESO."
1. You can't honestly say that things like your first encounter with a BotW Guardian robot, your first encounter with a Lynel, first time shield-surfing while popping off arrows at enemies, first time encountering a Divine Beast, your first Shrine, your first encounter with the Lord of the Mountain, your first time causing lightning to strike an enemy by using your own equipment as a lightning rod, your first time starting a brush fire and then using the updraft it creates to glide up on your paraglider and bullet-time snipe an enemy with arrows... and so forth... are experiences that "could easily have come from any open world game" prior to BotW. And no, I'm not going to allow you to fallaciously emphasize things which are simply common to video games writ large, such as shooting arrows at things, having dungeon-like structures, puzzle-solving, etc.. A lot of games share base-level ideas and mechanics such as those, but that does not mean they can't/don't implement them in ways that are uniquely their own. Those things I listed about BotW are uniquely BotW, and thus uniquely Zelda.
2. That person’s statement, the one to which I originally replied, made no differentiation between memorable “moments” and memorable “Zelda moments”. He didn’t even so much as imply said distinction. That's because...
3. Making such a distinction is silly. Friend, a memorable moment is a memorable moment, period.
4. When I think of Breath of the Wild, I remember all those moments and more. Therefore, they are “memorable moments” for me.
5. Hard disagree that there isn't a great feeling of progression in BotW. I sensed a great deal of progression during my 200+ hours of playing the game.
6. To your final remark, I’m glad that’s what gives you joy in Zelda games. That and much more gives me joy in Zelda games. BotW was lacking that aspect, but the joy of everything else in it completely washed away any feeling of disappointment I might have had in there being no classically designed dungeons.
Looks great. Secret Base used a very similar art design for their 2014 game "Devil's Dare", which they later ported in 2018 to consoles as "Streets of Red", albeit with a much brighter color palette. Streets of Red had solid, fun gameplay mechanics and some cool ideas that were unique for a Beat 'Em Up and that I'm glad to see are being brought to Double Dragon Gaiden in some form, such as the mission structure. Looking forward to this one.
@sketchturner
You said: "BotW is great but it doesn't have dozens of memorable moments like OoT, does it? I've completed BotW 4 times and almost nothing stands out in my mind."
Your statement is a bit of a head-scratcher. BotW has tons of memorable moments.
Waking up in the sleep chamber to Zelda's voice
Exiting the sleep chamber (cue music) to see the vast, open Hyrule for the first time
The strange old man just down the path, sitting all by himself at a campfire
Your first climb on ANYTHING and realizing the joy of being able to climb ANYTHING
Climbing the first Tower
Surviving the journey to the shrines on the Great Plateau for the first time
Using the Rune abilities for the first time
Entering your first shrine and...
completing your first shrine
Getting the paraglider from the old man as he floats in
The revelation of who the old man is
Paragliding for the first time off the Great Plateau, into the vast unknown and...
in any direction you want
Seeing a group of wild horses and...
trying to tame one for the first time
Your first Stable
Your first interaction with traveling NPCs fending off monsters
Your first encounter with a fully operational Guardian
Your first dragon sighting
Your first brushfire to clear an enemy camp
Your first lift on an updraft
Your first shield-surfing moment
Your first Lynel staring you down with an exclamation point above its head
Your first Divine Beast sighting and...
your first time trying to enter one
Discovering the "Lord of the Mountain"
Discovering lightning charges your metal equipment and can strike you
Discovering you can throw your charged metal weapon for a timed lightning strike on an enemy
I could go on and on.
I grew up with Ocarina of Time and played it with all vigor when it first released on the N64. Breath of the Wild held just as many memorable moments for me. Probably more, if I'm being real.
@Araragi
Hi there. You cited Shining Force as having romance. Which entries are you referring to? I've played Shining Force 1, Shining Force 2, and Shining Force CD... and none of those have romance/social-sim elements. Other than Shining Force 3, which most people haven't played because it was a Sega Saturn exclusive that has been re-released since, I'm not sure which other Shining games you could be referring to. The later SF entries aren't even Tactics games.
@CoastersPaul Hi there! Could you please elaborate on “rough development”? This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that. I know they ran into their share of hurdles along the way, which is pretty standard in project development, so I’m not sure what you mean by that. I know CT was initially meant to be CD-ROM based, but that fell through because the CD adapter wasn’t completed. They also had a bunch of new staffers brought in to help because it was Square’s largest game to date, and some of the new people didn’t know how to program (but apparently they learned quickly). Not once have I read that they needed to change the time travel stuff because of any of that. No details have been provided on what specific changes were made to the direction of the game after they transitioned the project over to cartridge format. It’s all speculation as far as that goes.
This link I’ve pasted goes over pretty much all the major beats worth noting in CT’s development. It’s a great read that I highly recommend.
Interestingly, the article notes how it was someone from OUTSIDE of the project who suggested the time travel piece, and Kato initially pushed against it but then embraced it and ran with it (Kato is noted as really loving the concept of time travel, even before CT). If it had been Tokita who brought the time travel piece, they certainly would have given him credit for it seeing as he was on the CT project at the time.
Also, yeah, the “Dream Team” moniker might have indeed been a marketing gimmick. That doesn’t change anything I’ve said, though.
@Falksi Thanks, man. Yeah, I just wish these young journalists would do some research and know what they are talking about before saying things. It doesn’t take much time to research it. Five minutes tops.
Also, yep, Trigger may have been a key game to popularize combo attacks in RPGs, but that doesn’t mean it was the first to invent that system. You’re totally right.
“it’s plain to see the influences the game had on Chrono Trigger. From spanning multiple timelines to the inventive area of effect skills, and right down to the simple, sometimes deep story, director Takashi Tokita clearly used 1994’s Live A Live as a springboard for his eventual masterpiece.“
Sorry, but no.
Again, Chrono Trigger and Live A Live were in development at more or less the same time. In fact, CT started in development FIRST; started early 1993, whereas LAL started in December of ‘93. So, why are you assuming LAL influenced CT and not the other way around? CT started many months prior, and took longer to develop, so it released several months after LAL, yes. The two games share similarities and were both developed at Square (by different teams), yes. None of that means CT cribbed its ideas from LAL. The biggest reason for this, beyond the fact that CT was started first, is simply that CT was not Tokita’s game. It was the brainchild and creation of “The Dream Team” — Sakaguchi, Horii, and Toriyama, and they began tossing around ideas as early as 1992. Tokita was only one of several directors on CT, and the lead writers/story planners were Yuji Horii and Masato Kato. Never mind that not once has the Dream Team mentioned being influenced by LAL when they made CT.
Let’s please stop the revisionist history; trying to make it seem as if Live A Live was a big influence on Chrono Trigger. Thanks. Frankly, given the known timeline of events, it is more plausible that Trigger influenced LAL more than LAL influenced Trigger.✌️
This game really had nothing to do with Chrono Trigger and I really wish you people would stop trying to make it sound as if it was some kind of progenitor to Trigger. Live A Live was only a “precursor” in the most literal sense in that it released a few months ahead of Trigger. That’s all. Both games were actually developed concurrently (at the same time) by different teams, but Trigger started in development several months BEFORE Live A Live started. Also, Tokashi Tokita was only one of several directors on Trigger. Regardless, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama, were the “Dream Team” who brought CT to life. Trigger was their brainchild, not Tokita’s.
Comments 16
Re: Review: The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - A Sublime Sequel, Now Sublimer
A masterpiece built on the foundation of another masterpiece (BotW) and made better than its predecessor (BotW) to a staggering degree… in objective ways, and as a matter of personal preference.
Objective ways:
There’s greater enemy variety. There’s no more backing out of chests to drop an item so you can get the item that’s in the chest. The ability to now sort items by “most used”, which is a great addition. Recipes that save to your cooking log for much easier food prep. A log that records prior conversations so you can refer back to them when you forget something. Being able to see the selling value of each item without needing to hover over each individual item. The stamina boost given if you fall into water when your stamina is at zero. The ability to throw an item, not just weapons. Fuse increases weapon durability, greatly mitigating the frequency of breaking, which was a HUGE complaint by a lot of people about BotW (I wasn’t one of them). Coordinates are provided on your mini map. Horse stables emit smoke so you can better spot them from a distance. More ways to ameliorate the problem of slipping while climbing in the rain. The shrine sensor is more accurate. The slow-mo effect no longer depletes stamina unless you shoot an arrow.
I could go on about even more ways that, from a game standpoint, TotK objectively improved upon and/or fixed things from BotW.
Personal preference:
The story is just plain better in TotK. The premise and introduction are much more compelling, the main villain is actually an interesting character, and Zelda’s story arc is very touching and even makes her likable. (PSA: You can easily watch the memories in order by simply collecting them, skipping the cutscenes, and then watching after you’ve collected all of them.) The entire ending sequence, from storming Ganondorf’s stronghold to when Link catches Zelda is a chef’s kiss. The voice acting, especially for Zelda, generally seemed a lot better to me than in BotW. The finding/pulling of the Master Sword is easily the most epic of the series. The bosses are better, and they’re visually and mechanically very distinct from each other. Dungeons are much closer to classical Zelda dungeons than BotW’s, even quasi-simulating the “key item” mechanic via how the companion character in each dungeon is utilized. The cave systems are overall fantastic and really add a lot to the exploration aspect. The Depths, which I know are disliked by a vocal minority, are a great time and a wonderful addition in my opinion; it’s the Light World/Dark World concept brought back to life, and something BotW was missing. Loved it. There’s a lot more to do in the world, if you want to, and for those who say there’s too much, to them I will always simply say— you don’t have to do most of it. It’s there if you want to do it, but you can easily ignore most of it and get on with the critical path if that’s your preference. Same goes for building/crafting with Ultrahand; you can largely ignore that mechanic after the brief tutorial area, if building stuff isn’t your thing. That’s the beauty of TotK. You’re given plenty of options to try out and determine how YOU prefer to play, and they’re all viable.
TLDR: Bottom line is, if BotW is “The Hobbit,” then TotK is “The Lord of the Rings.” It takes a superb foundational work and then fleshes it out, matures and deepens it, and turns it into an even greater masterpiece.
Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Just Won Two More Awards
Well deserved. Best game of 2023. But at the end of the day, I’m not really surprised that these award ceremonies went with BG3 as the GotY. It was the new hotness, while TotK was a direct sequel and definitely didn’t have the same “fresh factor” as BotW, even though TotK is superior to its predecessor on very nearly every level. Oh well.
Re: Best Super Smash Bros. Games Of All Time
Coming from someone who put maybe 1000+ hours into Melee, Ultimate is the best, no contest. Seriously, Melee doesn’t hold a candle, and my buds and I loved playing it when we were growing up. Minus target practice, Ultimate just has it all… the roster, the stages, the music selection and playlist options, the customization in general, the best stage builder, the Amiibo trainees, the Spirit Board (which is a better form of the trophy system and ties in nicely to the single player Adventure Mode “World of Light”), 6-8 player Smash, a broader selection of viable characters for high-level competition, online play which is pretty good for 1v1 and private rooms with friends, and the list goes on.
Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Nominated For D.I.C.E. Awards 'Game Of The Year'
@TenEighty There’s a metric ton of content in TotK’s world. Just sounds like you didn’t play it.
Re: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Nominated For Another 'Game Of The Year' Award
@RiasGremory
By my count, TotK has taken 13 GOTYs. If you count Famitsu’s award event that was voted on by like 180+ Japanese developers, then it has taken 14.
Re: Review: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
@Mauzuri
"Welp, you can believe what you wanna believe.."
I will continue to believe the truth based on the evidence. Thanks.
"I highly doubt it’ll win Game of the Year though. Lots of other games that deserve it (far) more."
Okey doke. Your opinion.
Re: Review: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
@Mauzuri
"It's still the EXACT same Hyrule from BotW..."
No, it is not. The general surface land mass is essentially the same, but there were a ton of changes made to the topography to give old locations a fresh look. Moreover, there was a megaton of caves and cave systems added that are completely new (and also wells).
"... just with the Underground now added.. and some smaller islands in the sky, but that's really not significant enough. I had to even edit my comment because I forgot about them haha."
Is it possible you forgot because you haven't played the game? I'm just saying... those are some big additions to Hyrule that would be pretty hard to forget for anyone who has played it beyond a few hours. The Depths area alone is literally the size of the surface, with plenty of stuff going on down there. There are dozens of Sky Islands, of different shapes and sizes, with various activities. Not to mention the 152 shrines that are necessarily very different from the 120 shrines in Breath of the Wild because the vast majority of them make use of the new physics and mechanics that simply are not found in BotW.
"with actual new game changing mechanics"
Can you Ascend through surfaces in BotW? No. Can you Recall time in BotW, and do it on specific objects for various effects? No. Can you Ultrahand objects together in BotW, creating all manner of vehicles and tools for traversal, combat, and puzzle-solving? No and no. Can you Fuse objects to your weapons and shields in BotW, increasing their power and durability and granting them various special effects, which hugely changes and improves the entire item economy because it makes everything you find useful beyond just selling it or cooking it? No to all of that. Can you skydive AT ALL in BotW? No. Can you take a handful of companions with you to fight by your side in BotW? No. Can you fight inside a giant combat mech in BotW? No. Can you build homing attack drones that fight for you in BotW? No.
Literally game-changing mechanics all.
Re: Review: Super Mario Bros. Wonder - The Best 2D Mario Since The Super NES
@Mauzuri
"That didn't stop you lot from giving Tears of the Kingdom a 10/10"
Different reviewers, friend.
"even though it basically did pretty much the same things BotW did,"
It did more than your statement would suggest. A lot more.
"with a few minor additions like the fusion mechanic."
So... Fuse, Ascend, Recall, and Ultrahand — abilities that greatly changed up the gameplay, exploration, traversal, and puzzle-solving in TotK over what was seen in BotW — you consider to be minor additions/mechanics. Heh. Okay.
I think perhaps it's safe to say that yours is simply a bad take. But what's even sillier to me is that your comment has 20 likes. Oh well.
Re: Best Zelda Games Of All Time
@Chaotic_Neutral
"none of those are memorable 'Zelda' moments and could easily have come from any open world game. Most of the ones you highlighted reminds me of my time playing ESO."
1. You can't honestly say that things like your first encounter with a BotW Guardian robot, your first encounter with a Lynel, first time shield-surfing while popping off arrows at enemies, first time encountering a Divine Beast, your first Shrine, your first encounter with the Lord of the Mountain, your first time causing lightning to strike an enemy by using your own equipment as a lightning rod, your first time starting a brush fire and then using the updraft it creates to glide up on your paraglider and bullet-time snipe an enemy with arrows... and so forth... are experiences that "could easily have come from any open world game" prior to BotW. And no, I'm not going to allow you to fallaciously emphasize things which are simply common to video games writ large, such as shooting arrows at things, having dungeon-like structures, puzzle-solving, etc.. A lot of games share base-level ideas and mechanics such as those, but that does not mean they can't/don't implement them in ways that are uniquely their own. Those things I listed about BotW are uniquely BotW, and thus uniquely Zelda.
2. That person’s statement, the one to which I originally replied, made no differentiation between memorable “moments” and memorable “Zelda moments”. He didn’t even so much as imply said distinction. That's because...
3. Making such a distinction is silly. Friend, a memorable moment is a memorable moment, period.
4. When I think of Breath of the Wild, I remember all those moments and more. Therefore, they are “memorable moments” for me.
5. Hard disagree that there isn't a great feeling of progression in BotW. I sensed a great deal of progression during my 200+ hours of playing the game.
6. To your final remark, I’m glad that’s what gives you joy in Zelda games. That and much more gives me joy in Zelda games. BotW was lacking that aspect, but the joy of everything else in it completely washed away any feeling of disappointment I might have had in there being no classically designed dungeons.
Grace and Peace.✌️
Re: 'Double Dragon Gaiden' Announced With Scott Pilgrim-Inspired Visuals And Gameplay
Looks great. Secret Base used a very similar art design for their 2014 game "Devil's Dare", which they later ported in 2018 to consoles as "Streets of Red", albeit with a much brighter color palette. Streets of Red had solid, fun gameplay mechanics and some cool ideas that were unique for a Beat 'Em Up and that I'm glad to see are being brought to Double Dragon Gaiden in some form, such as the mission structure. Looking forward to this one.
Re: Best Zelda Games Of All Time
@sketchturner
You said: "BotW is great but it doesn't have dozens of memorable moments like OoT, does it? I've completed BotW 4 times and almost nothing stands out in my mind."
Your statement is a bit of a head-scratcher. BotW has tons of memorable moments.
I could go on and on.
I grew up with Ocarina of Time and played it with all vigor when it first released on the N64. Breath of the Wild held just as many memorable moments for me. Probably more, if I'm being real.
Re: Review: Fire Emblem Engage - Relationships Get Sidelined By A Thrilling Combat-First Focus
@Araragi
Hi there. You cited Shining Force as having romance. Which entries are you referring to? I've played Shining Force 1, Shining Force 2, and Shining Force CD... and none of those have romance/social-sim elements. Other than Shining Force 3, which most people haven't played because it was a Sega Saturn exclusive that has been re-released since, I'm not sure which other Shining games you could be referring to. The later SF entries aren't even Tactics games.
Re: Review: Live A Live - A Brilliantly Faithful Remake Of A Unique And Influential JRPG
@CoastersPaul Hi there! Could you please elaborate on “rough development”? This is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that. I know they ran into their share of hurdles along the way, which is pretty standard in project development, so I’m not sure what you mean by that. I know CT was initially meant to be CD-ROM based, but that fell through because the CD adapter wasn’t completed. They also had a bunch of new staffers brought in to help because it was Square’s largest game to date, and some of the new people didn’t know how to program (but apparently they learned quickly). Not once have I read that they needed to change the time travel stuff because of any of that. No details have been provided on what specific changes were made to the direction of the game after they transitioned the project over to cartridge format. It’s all speculation as far as that goes.
This link I’ve pasted goes over pretty much all the major beats worth noting in CT’s development. It’s a great read that I highly recommend.
https://medium.com/insert-cartridge/timeless-the-history-of-chrono-trigger-375ce25b481e
Interestingly, the article notes how it was someone from OUTSIDE of the project who suggested the time travel piece, and Kato initially pushed against it but then embraced it and ran with it (Kato is noted as really loving the concept of time travel, even before CT). If it had been Tokita who brought the time travel piece, they certainly would have given him credit for it seeing as he was on the CT project at the time.
Also, yeah, the “Dream Team” moniker might have indeed been a marketing gimmick. That doesn’t change anything I’ve said, though.
Re: Review: Live A Live - A Brilliantly Faithful Remake Of A Unique And Influential JRPG
@Falksi Thanks, man. Yeah, I just wish these young journalists would do some research and know what they are talking about before saying things. It doesn’t take much time to research it. Five minutes tops.
Also, yep, Trigger may have been a key game to popularize combo attacks in RPGs, but that doesn’t mean it was the first to invent that system. You’re totally right.
Re: Review: Live A Live - A Brilliantly Faithful Remake Of A Unique And Influential JRPG
“it’s plain to see the influences the game had on Chrono Trigger. From spanning multiple timelines to the inventive area of effect skills, and right down to the simple, sometimes deep story, director Takashi Tokita clearly used 1994’s Live A Live as a springboard for his eventual masterpiece.“
Sorry, but no.
Again, Chrono Trigger and Live A Live were in development at more or less the same time. In fact, CT started in development FIRST; started early 1993, whereas LAL started in December of ‘93. So, why are you assuming LAL influenced CT and not the other way around? CT started many months prior, and took longer to develop, so it released several months after LAL, yes. The two games share similarities and were both developed at Square (by different teams), yes. None of that means CT cribbed its ideas from LAL. The biggest reason for this, beyond the fact that CT was started first, is simply that CT was not Tokita’s game. It was the brainchild and creation of “The Dream Team” — Sakaguchi, Horii, and Toriyama, and they began tossing around ideas as early as 1992. Tokita was only one of several directors on CT, and the lead writers/story planners were Yuji Horii and Masato Kato. Never mind that not once has the Dream Team mentioned being influenced by LAL when they made CT.
Let’s please stop the revisionist history; trying to make it seem as if Live A Live was a big influence on Chrono Trigger. Thanks. Frankly, given the known timeline of events, it is more plausible that Trigger influenced LAL more than LAL influenced Trigger.✌️
See: medium.com/insert-cartridge/timeless-the-history-of-chrono-trigger-375ce25b481e
Re: Feature: What Is Live A Live? Everything You Need To Know (And Maybe More)
This game really had nothing to do with Chrono Trigger and I really wish you people would stop trying to make it sound as if it was some kind of progenitor to Trigger. Live A Live was only a “precursor” in the most literal sense in that it released a few months ahead of Trigger. That’s all. Both games were actually developed concurrently (at the same time) by different teams, but Trigger started in development several months BEFORE Live A Live started. Also, Tokashi Tokita was only one of several directors on Trigger. Regardless, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama, were the “Dream Team” who brought CT to life. Trigger was their brainchild, not Tokita’s.