The Wish Bitch List

The Wish Bitch List
-Paolo Cosejo

The Bitch List '10:
► Front Mission Evolved
► Okamiden
► Valkyria Chronicles 2

SRPGs being one of my favorite genres with the first Valkyria Chronicles and Front Mission 5 being in my Top 5 for the genre, it should be no surprise that Valkyria Chronicles 2 and Front Mission Evolved making this pull list. Also with Okami being one of my Top 5 games of all time, damn right I'm interested in the sequel. Now you might be thinking, "Why is this 'the Bitch List?' You should be excited for sequels to your favorite games!" It's because I'm a bitch for putting aside cash for these expected disappointments.

Front Mission Evolved:
I'm a mecha whore and a snob. Unless it's quirky and ridiculous, the concept of god through mecha, or mecha as glorified tank, I might as well choke on a Gundam model. The Wanzers in Front Mission are essentially glorified armor units. I also love moving customized units through square spaces, so Front Mission is an automatic gem in my book and it only makes sense for me to be interested in Front Mission Evolved.
The largest complaint I've heard against Front Mission Evolved is it's a third-person action game. This change in genre happens to be something I look forward to. If this game bombs and they make a "proper" Front Mission 6, I'm on board for that too. Producers for Front Mission have discussed the combination of real-time elements into the franchise. Third-person action was the natural progression for the series, hence Square made Front Mission Online which was a third-person, multiplayer action game, which worked well no less.
A reason Front Mission Online worked is because it realized the franchise’s emphasis on working in a coordinated effort with other units hence the online aspect. Front Mission conveyed the realism and necessity of teamwork and coordination in combat. Being a third-person action game, it seems the squad/party aspect will be down played although still present. Though I hate Final Fantasy XII, the gambit system would work with an action title, especially a Front Mission action title. If I can have at least two wingmen and set their combat routines as well as their Wanzer setups, I will be a ridiculously happy camper. I'd rather have that type of SRPG-like customization for my wingmen rather than play with some idiot online.
Another worrisome change in Front Mission Evolved is the return of on-foot gameplay. Whoever decided to bring it back, I want to hit that person over the head with a copy of Front Mission 3. It was an interesting idea and it was a nice novelty that made sense in the context of those situations, but I did not miss it in the following installments. I love the idea of taking down a Wanzer as a guy with anti-armor shells. It can be really cool as long as they make it work and those segments are brief and logical in a context. But I am a man of little faith and I've only heard bad things about the on-foot portions.
My main problem is that Square outsourced the work to Double-Helix. Outsourcing is a part of business, I get that. It can work too, look at the success and acclaim of Metroid Prime. Front Mission 5 had the best customization of the series, which I will be sorely disappointed if it’s not carried over, and Front Mission Online is a perfect template to build upon for Evolved. Being a Western developer, there’s a good chance Double Helix didn’t play either game since they never left Japan, which this fan finds troubling. Most troubling is Double Helix’s history. Double Helix's track record of Silent Hill: Homecoming and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra has me in low, low spirits and I'm looking for a sweet chariot coming for to carry me home.

Valkyria Chronicles 2:Valkyria Chronicles is my favorite game of this generation. It is one of the principle reasons I ended up buying a PS3 over the 360. When rumors of a Valkyria Chronicles sequel first appeared I was excited. Let me say this though. The only way I would’ve been happy with Valkyria Chronicles 2 is if it involved in the North Africa campaign of the Second Europan War fighting an anime Rommel and had absolutely nothing to do with Gallia or the characters of the first game since all their stories came to a neat, tidy conclusion. Now that I’ve been up front about my disappointment in Valkyria Chronicles’ producers not having a psychic link with me and pandering to my whims, I can get into my other complaints about the sequel.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 is suffering from what I call “Pander Phantasy VIII syndrome.” If you want to something to sell in a Japanese market, make the characters teenagers and set it in high school. Final Fantasy VIII made the same step after VII and now Valkyria Chronicles 2 is following suit, possibly due to the success of the Persona franchise. The producers seem desperate to turn this into a bankable franchise for Sega which explains the move to the PSP, which is cheaper to develop for and it’s the only system that consistently goes head-to-head with Nintendo in the Japanese market. The producers are also trying to bank off the success of the anime, which is a huge problem for me.
The anime adaptation of Valkyria Chronicles is complete and utter shit. And that’s me being as polite as possible. The anime took the rounded, human characters of the game based on existing anime archetypes and turned them into extremes of those archetypes, most obvious in the case of Alicia. Valkyria Chronicles seems to be adopting the overall style of the anime in order to appeal to anime’s larger audience. The character designs in Valkyria Chronicles 2 reflects this attitude the most. The characters in Valkyria Chronicles, the game and not the anime, were believable not only from their characterizations but from a design perspective as well. The characters in the sequel, however, are clearly the anime archetypes of optimistic, laid-back, but competent slacker that grows into a leader; clumsy, air-headed moe girl; and the fastidious and uptight straight man who eventually opens up. The overall problem of the Valkyria Chronicles anime was that it took something simple and then bogged it down by adding too much, notably the unwarranted Faldio/Welkin/Alicia love triangle. From a preliminary perspective, the same thing seems to be happening to the sequel.
Listening to fan demand isn’t always right, especially with Valkyria Chronicles 2. Multiplayer versus in a TURN-BASED strategy game is down right STUPID! Considering missions can be won in a single turn, whoever goes first wins. No question. The multiplayer co-op seems more like a novelty than anything else. The battles in the first game offered a fair challenge. Never once did I think “Gee whiz, it would be handy if I could have a buddy control another unit,” while I was playing.
The producers claim there are 35 classes in Valkyria Chronicles 2. They aren’t really unique, but rather they branch from the preexisting classes in the first game. The first game worked excellently with the original five classes. Also worthy of note, the revealed designs for the upgraded classes look lamer than FDR’s legs. Along with increased infantry customization, there’ll be added vehicle customization. All these additions have me seriously worrying about the balance of the game. Combining all the additions along with the preexisting systems in Valkyria Chronicles 2 may cause the game to be unnecessarily obtuse.
What I loved about Valkyria Chronicles was its simplicity. The simplicity of customization makes sense in the military context of the game and also led to really balanced combat in the BLiTZ system. The potentials and the diverse personalities of Squad 7 was enough for me and made sense in the context of the game.
It was the overall presentation, how all aspects of the game came together so naturally, that had me investing so much of my self into Valkyria Chronicles. Valkyria Chronicles 2 works against the overall presentation that was established in the first game. Rather than going through a book, you go through semesters in the Royal Academy. That’s fine, I love Persona. The sequel also touts having more missions than the first game, adding in a plethora of generic missions that the player knocks out from a list. Part of what made the missions great in Valkyria Chronicles was the gravity of each mission. Each chapter had bearing on Squad 7. With the sequel, I might as well be talking to a guild master and running through some generic quest.
With all the changes being added, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is shitting on the overall presentation, the charm, the simplicity, of the first game. I’m not looking forward to the diversion from the simplicity. If I want the sort of unit customization in an SRPG that Valkyria Chronicles 2 is touting to have, I’m going to play… wait for it… Front Mission. At least Front Mission won’t have a generic shonen art style. If I want an RPG in a school setting, I’ll play Persona. Valkyria Chronicles 2 is representative of my Dixiecrat position on gaming; I like that they’re trying new things and bringing change, but I really dislike what they’re changing it into. With my stance on Valkyria Chronicles 2, I’m caught between a rock and a hard place and I can’t take cover because it’s not a sandbag. Come what may, I’ll always have the first Valkyria Chronicles to fall back on and enjoy.

Okamiden:
It's official, Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyou is a DS sequel to Okami and it’s looking to be a sheep in wolves’ clothing. My heart broke a little, and not because of my usual anti-Nintendo agenda. The DS stylus interface for the Celestial Brush trumps both the analog stick and the wiimote for drawing. It can't be argued that the stylus makes the most sense for a drawing mechanic. I would be much happier if the Okami sequel happened on the PS3, but I much prefer Okamiden being on the DS than on the PSP or Wii. With the added fluidity to gameplay the DS offers, I'm willing to over look that Capcom said themselves that they want to reach as broad an audience as possible. And nothing has a broader audience than the DS.
With what little praise I have for the sequel out of the way, I can start unloading my grief. I don't want to play the same game that I played in 2006. What I want out of an Okami sequel, any sequel for that matter, is an improvement on the first game. A sequel is a chance for the developers to accomplish several things: utilize potential unrealized in the first game, fix problems and address player complaints about the original, explore and expand on ideas in the first game.
A large concern is that it's not Platinum, essentially what used to be Clover Studio, handling Okamiden but a Clover-less Capcom, a company notorious for pumping out lackluster sequels. Without the Clover boys, the development team lacks the personal motivation to try and one up themselves with the sequel. A prime example of this mentality in sequels is Hideo Kojima. By being so entrenched in his franchise, he realizes the natural progression in gameplay that the next Metal Gear would take, as well as polishing elements from the previous games while adding new elements.
With Chibiterasu, a “new” character, the lazy, fat bastard that is Capcom has an excuse to make you learn the same abilities you learned in the first game and go through the same damn puzzles and platforming that those who played Okami have already done before. With a mechanic/gimmick like the Celestial Brush, the new abilities that could stem from that could be limitless. Capcom should take a hint from Banjo-Tooie and follow Amaterasu into the Celestial planes and stack new abilities on top of the abilities already learned in the first game.
Unfortunately, Okamiden is set in Nippon again. The Celestial land would offer new landscapes that, with being placed in a more magical land, would offer developers to stretch their legs and be really creative with the environment. It would also offer up something even more vibrant for the fans of the first game rather than retreading old stomping grounds. The initial trailer revealed the cracked walls from the first one that you used bombs on, further confirming the likelihood of learning the exact same abilities to solve the exact same puzzles from Okami. How interesting is the hook shot after you've used it for 50 damn games?!
In order to succeed, Okamiden needs to capture the magic of the first game and show newcomers what’s great about Okami while offering something new to the fans of the first. Quite frankly, if the partner mechanic is the only new thing Okamiden has to offer fans of the first, that's not going to cut it. Hardly ever do partner mechanics work out. Even in games I enjoy, such as Ico, the partner mechanic worked beautifully from a presentation standpoint but was also the most annoying part from a gameplay standpoint. And the less said about Sheva, the better. From the looks of it, the partner mechanic works just like the celestial brush interface. Why not translate that into new abilities instead? For now, the partner mechanic seems like a poor substitute for new abilities.
However, I am not without hope. All my negativity stems from very initial impressions. Okamiden may end up impressing me by the time it comes out. The sequel captures the look of the first game very well for being moved to a portable. It could still be fresh granted Capcom takes the time to develop new god abilities rather than cut and paste them from the first game, although that is an unlikely wish. Although in a TGS video, I thought saw what looked like a penguin god that I don’t remember being in the first game which might mean new abilities. Maybe, just maybe, Okamiden could still work out and be the game that finally has me permanently "borrow" my ex-girlfriend's DS.

Now I'm not an idiot. We live in a free market and if I don't like what has been done to a franchise, I shouldn't support said franchise with my money. I may not be an idiot, but I am a huge bitch. I could easily pirate Valkyria Chorincles 2 and Okamiden, and I definitely will before the game officially comes out. But I'm a sucker for the whole package and the dying routine, with the rise of DLC and the fact that there are few interesting IP’s on the market, of going into a shop and buying a game and holding something tangible. And with the good chance of a pre-order artbook or some other crap coming with at least one of these games, Gamestop might as well have my $140 plus for all three games right now. Hence, I am a bitchy bitch bitching about my Bitch List.