Castlevania Dungeon Forums
The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => General Castlevania Discussion => Topic started by: Battler Ushiromiya on December 07, 2008, 08:15:31 PM
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There. I said it. Lynch me if you want now.
Also, I'm being serious. The wanton, often uncalled for bashing of PoR is getting kinda ridiculous around here. Give it a rest.
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In Reply To #1
good for you(I liked it only because I liked Death's Design)
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I liked it too. IT's not my favorite game in the series, but it's a fun little action game with plenty of replay value.
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To be completely honest.. I never got to finishing PoR. I'm not saying it's a bad game. I'm not the one to judge since I haven't even played it myself. All I know is that I HATE the artwork for it. Castlevania suits better with a gothic, serious kind of art, imo. The artwork for OoE is amazing. Does anyone know the name of the illustrator? I hardly believe it's the same person who illustrated for DoS and PoR.
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I'm not a bit fan of the art work, but it was a decent game. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either.
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I've made my affinity for Portrait of Ruin made clear on this forum on several occasions. All I'm going to add here is that for a game so roundly criticized around here as everything wrong with the franchise, we've spent more time talking about it than any other Castlevania in recent memory. Two years later and it still gets more analysis and discussion than most of its peers.
Love it of hate it, at least it wasn't so mediocre that you don't have an opinion on it.
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In Reply To #6
it's easier to bash something than praise it, and it's usually more fun to do that. especially if it deserves the bashing like the game in the topic. ;D
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No, it really doesn't. You're just trolling now.
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What exactly is the point of this topic? Is this a bad attempt at flamebaiting?
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In Reply To #7
I don't know if it's deserving of it as much as it gets.
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@psm:
If some'ne's flamebaiting, then they're not serious. This is me seriously telling you people to lay off. I'm sick of people acting like PoR is worse than Superman 64.
@Jorge:
Yep, that about sums it up. Good analysis!
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@psm:
If some'ne's flamebaiting, then they're not serious. This is me seriously telling you people to lay off. I'm sick of people acting like PoR is worse than Superman 64.
And I'm sick of people at gamefaqs praising PoR as if it was the greatest thing in the world and labeling anyone who says one subtle bad thing about it as a troll, but I don't go there and get angry at them for it.
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In Reply To #11
I wish the hating would stop, but some people just cannot help but beat you over the head with their opinions every single time.
I've had thoughts about making that part of the 'ass-behavior' unspoken/understood Rule that we have here at the forums (y'know, the "Don't be an ass" rule) that way I can actually give people warnings about it.
This exists everywhere though.
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Eh, I found it to be more fun than DoS. Although to be fair, DoS and PoR are the only Castlevanias I've been able to play so far.
That said, I did prefer DoS's story, and Yoko>Charlotte. However, DoS also got VERY boring, VERY fast. PoR had more variety to offer, making it in my opinion more enjoyable. Hell, I loved Sisters mode, despite all the whining I hear about it.
EDIT: GameFAQs is designed for trolling. Dead serious.
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Although to be fair, DoS and PoR are the only Castlevanias I've been able to play so far.
If they're the only games you've played, then you probably wouldn't understand the hate for PoR. It's hated for very good reason.
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In Reply To #15
What exactly are the reasons its hated? I've never played it myself, and was planning to pick it up. It looks like a typical Metroidvania to me, but it seems that certain fans have a real dislike for this game. Just curious as to why that is, before I spend the money on it. I understand the artwork is one reason, but the same art was in Dawn of Sorrow, so it has to be more than that.
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The guys who wrote the dialogue script were lazy idiots. Other than that, it's mostly hot air.
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Do you really want me to say why PoR is so damn terrible? I'll do it as long as it doesn't start an argument.
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(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.inverteddungeon.com%2Fjorgefuentes%2Fimages3%2Fthreadstorm.jpg&hash=9cd53291f8e9049b8043fa8b0c1d3b92a530fdf9)
Let's not.
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The level design was uninspired and uninteresting. It was very flat in most places. So yeah, the level design was pretty much horrible.
The subweapon leveling up was a nice concept, but executed very poorly. The level goals were way too high.
The art, while "good" in its own style, was overly cartoony and a large stray from the Castlevania tone. It cheapened the atmosphere.
The characters were goofy for the most part. The heroes were just a silly pair of kids, dancing through a magic castle. The most 'serious' moments were usually failures at being serious.
PoR gets an A for weapon variety though. Whips! And not only that, diagonal whipping! So long overdue in my opinion. I wish they went the whole mile with it and gave us diagonal swording, and down whipping too.
I also liked having two character available, like DoS's Julius mode. Thought the team activities were completely under used. I wished there was more of that.
It was nice to get a leveling, and always running, Richter mode too. However they did an epic fail by using loli Maria when the adult one would have been far more interesting.
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The level design was uninspired and uninteresting. It was very flat in most places. So yeah, the level design was pretty much horrible.
To add to this, the only platforming consisted of zig-zagging vertical spaces, and/or small platforms scattered all over the place. PoR is also probably the most broken CV game. It has about 30 glitches and a bunch of typos. Other than that, Uzo pretty much said why the game is bad.
Also...
Portrait was too "down to the ground", what with having the seemingly endless possibilites the setting opens up only utilized marginally: It's World War II ! ... but only outside Brauner's Castle. Brauner can create portraits that harbour some sort of power and embody his spirit! .... too bad Brauner is a pretty boring guy whose creativity seems to be limited to placing a Jellyfish in the middle of a bakery. Two playable characters! ... if we had a third, we could have pushed even bigger objects!
Portrait tried to be "cool" by gleaning sprites from its elder brothers and lighting a cigarette only to vomit after the first puff. The vomit consisted of obnoxious characters and lines like "Let's fight for real!" and "I can still kick your ass :) ", with Charlotte's ANGRY FACE as a big, undigested gobbet somewhere in it.
I don't really think many mental resources went into the production of PoR, to be honest. The only guidelines seem to have been "Make it child friendly!", "Make it cool!" and also "Make it a game!".
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In Reply To #21
I think 'bad' is relative. I still like some aspects of PoR more than some aspects of, say, HoD.
While I don't think it's the best game, that's not the point of the thread or the argument. The argument is that the game gets a lot of unnecessary hate every time it's mentioned, and I can definitely agree with that.
It may be a mediocre Castlevania game at best, but it's not a bad game overall. There are non-CV games that are far worse. I think the scales are tipped improperly here.
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Gotcha. I do think the anime art style looks pretty silly and doesn't really fit the series, and it sounds like the protagonist is another 17 year old "cool kid", which is not a good thing IMO. Maybe I will try to find a used copy just to check it out.
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Jonathan still gets a good deal of character development for a Castlevania. He sure as hell beats most of the Belmonts there. His daddy, too.
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Jonathan still gets a good deal of character development for a Castlevania. He sure as hell beats most of the Belmonts there. His daddy, too.
Now, how did John get more character development than most of the Belmonts? Did john even get any development? He's just some Texan stranger with a whip to me. I also don't recall much character development from Jonathan.
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Personal Opinion:
Real men do not need lines of text to go forth and be badass.
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Personal Opinion:
Real men do not need lines of text to go forth and be badass.
That's why Simon is the greatest character in the series. He let his actions speak for him. Giving Simon dialogue would do nothing.
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Trevor too. All he ever did was nod, or shake his head. (Well, until Curse of Darkness, anyway...)
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In Reply To #28
Ah, but he had to talk for the lower beings that followed Dracula to understand. I'm sure he didn't have to, and could've just killed them all.
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In Reply To #29
I liked PoR, but DoS, OoE, CotM and AoS all shit on it. Seems like the middle game out of the portables was always the worst, HoD and PoR. I hated HoD.
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In Reply To #30
What's so bad about HoD?
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The music. Not a whole lot of harmony in that. The game just felt blah too... can't say too much since its been a good while since I've played.
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In Reply To #31
I didn't really like HoD either. I thought the game was way too easy, the music was terrible for a CV, and the story was kind of hokey. Of the Metroidvanias I've played (still haven't played PoR or OoE), that was my least favorite so far.
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In Reply To #29
Seems like the middle game out of the portables was always the worst, HoD and PoR.
that's not always the case. see gb and belmont's revenge which was easily the best out of the three gb titles.
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In Reply To #32
The music can't be the sole reason. It's not even that bad.
In Reply To #33
What's bad about the music? Saying it's terrible for a CV game means you're just missing the point badly. I also don't get why the weird story should count against it. You don't seem to get the point of the game. Those also shouldn't be reasons to dislike it that much.
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In Reply To #35
The songs in the game are very bland. None of them stand out. What point am I "badly missing" about the music?
Also, I like the games to be a little challenging, and HoD definitely is not, at least not compared to most other Castlevanias. I just think that compared to Symphony, the Sorrow games and even CotM, HoD just doesn't measure up to those games.
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In Reply To #36
The songs are strange and bizarre and help the atmosphere of the game. The atmosphere and story of the game center around the bizarre castle.
HoD is the most difficult CV game when it comes to exploration. Most people still get lost in the game(including myself) no matter how many times the game is played. I also don't see how you can complain about difficulty since I'm assuming you don't care about the difficulty in SotN.
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In Reply To #36
I loved the Music.
Iron Blue Intention's remix(and Extention) may be my favorite video game tune ever.
not only does it fit Victorian London, but it also invokes a great feeling of heroism, like these characters are on a serious mission to defend everything good and wholesome.
("Gaze up at the Darkness" gave off a very similar vibe as well.)
despite the cartoonish dialogue, the game still gave off a very epic feel and the story drew me in.
and the character drawings where nowhere NEAR as Bad as DOS, you can't say Jonathan's angry face was as bad as the ones in DOS, Charlotte's was the only unrealistic one, and I really liked the sisters animation.
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In Reply To #37
I'm not complaining about the difficulty, I just think the game is easy, which is one of the reasons I didn't like it as much as the others.
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In Reply To #32
The music can't be the sole reason. It's not even that bad.
I never said it was the sole reason.
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I never said it was the sole reason.
Well, it's the only reason you gave.
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In Reply To #41
Doesn't mean it was the sole reason. I have to admit, though, as much as I like music in video games, it would have to be utterly bad/ or good (depends on the people) Indian music to stop me from playing it. (if that's what you call it, anyway)
And I also said I haven't played it for a good while, so obviously I wouldn't remember much from it. Especially when I didn't like it in the first place. It just felt blah. (as said before)
EDIT: you know what? I'll add some more for you. I thought the sprite sucked. I didn't like the level design ( I can safely say this since I don't like many level designs in the port games ), and the two button for dashing just seems like the laziest thing evar. They oculd've easily added something and made one button for dashing.
EDIT 2: Happy?
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"HoD is the most difficult CV game when it comes to exploration. Most people still get lost in the game(including myself) no matter how many times the game is played."
I also don't think that is a good thing, either.
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In Reply To #42
I like double tapping to run. I like it in CotM, when playing as Richter, in 3rd Strike..but anyway, nice to see I sparked a little discussion. Someday I'm gonna go through HoD again, mostly so I can play as Maxim and old Simon. I also never really played the old GB games that much, Serio. I emulated them a bit, mess around for a little while, and I guess I just wasn't really feeling them.
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In Reply To #25
I meant Jonathan got more develo0pment than his daddy, too.
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In Reply To #45
doesn't matter much when his "development" just portrays him as an underage buffoon who can't stop himself from underestimating everything/everyone during the story as if he knew he was the main hero and will win in the end.
all he needs now is a "i'm invincible. i wear main hero plot armor :)" catchphrase to join his "noooo problemu!1 :D" one.
if you want a character with real development in cv, see leon.
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Well, yeah, Leon and Soma (Soma actually did have the most out of all the handhelds, BTW) pretty much blow the rest of the cast away when it comes to character development. Also, Jonathan actually grows up in his story.
Your comment reminded me of Kira Yamato of Gundam SEED, BTW. Not only does that comment ring true for him, it's the polite version. He's got Plothax armor AND Instahit weapons, nevermind the fact that Simon got more development than him in the original Castlevania. Really, compared to that, Jonathan here is a literary masterpiece.
Note that this is a comparison. Jonathan's script still blew. It just wasn't as bad as SEED.
*/Obligatory outside source comparison. ibn4flames*
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Yeah, I think we all know how the script is his greatest downfall. That's the main reason we hate him.
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>liked
What's the matter, Charlotte finally changed her outfit?
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Last time I played Portrait of Ruin, I didn't care for it much. The last 4 paintings were a real deal breaker for me. I plan to give it another shot soon, though.
Still, I'm not quite sure why people feel the need to repeatedly and abrasively mention that they hate the game. Well, I guess I am sure, it's just that the reasons are pretty silly, I guess. But, hey, that's people on the internet for you.
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In Reply To #49
Shanoa was hotter. And worked better.
Older Maria was hot, too, but since she's only playable in the Saturn version of the game, she kinda got the Shaft. Pun semi-intended.
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In Reply To #51
what, dxc sotn's so bad you don't count the superior playable maria there?
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Wouldn't know. I'm not wasting my money on an overpriced paperweight *CoughPSPCough*
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Above all else, to me, PoR is fun. it's more fun than pretty much every other Castleroid except SoTN. There are aspects of it that are better done and more compelling IMO than OoE and give it more replay value to me.
I agree that the anime sucks and that the level design isn't great, but it's not that great in ANY of the Castleroid games except maybe SoTN.
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I agree that the anime sucks and that the level design isn't great, but it's not that great in ANY of the Castleroid games except maybe SoTN.
I actually quite liked the level design in DoS. Looking back at it I can see some places that aren't too interesting, but overall I felt the castle was kinda cool in that one. There are some good spots in PoR too, but for a game of such length I feel there needed to be more variety in the background graphixx! The final portraits were just dull. Boss fights were fun though (albeit too easy), but they somehow always are in Castlevania. Shame about the rest.
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In Reply To #53
and yet you waste money for an even bigger paper weight with almost no good games in english (most of good games it has are in moonspeak) *coughsaturncough* ;)
i don't have a psp either, i base everything i know of it from other people's descriptions and videos (and a remake of her i did for my game, which i tried to keep mostly faithful to the psp one). and sorry to say, but saturn maria is horrible compared to the psp one which not only has better sprites, but is also true to her character and what she was originally.
the mutilation saturn did to her could be comparable to taking the whip away from richter and giving him a gun. just because the original weapons are silly doesn't mean you have to replace it with some "cool" stuff that makes no sense to be there. :o
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In Reply To #55
People always slag the remixed portraits but praise the Inverted Castle in the same breath (not saying you did, but it's something that happened pretty commonly). At least they made some attempt to change the remixed portraits around a bit rather than turning them 180 degrees.
I agree with you about the need for variety in the level design and backgrounds, but that's a problem CV has had as a whole since CoTM.
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In Reply To #57
yeah, they didn't even bother to turn the portraits upside down this time. they moved some rooms around, but their platform layouts are almost identical.
sotn's inverted castle changed the entire gameplay by placing you on the roofs, what with the very big emphasis on superjumps/flying to get through and many enemies made specifically to make your journey through that miserable, knocking you down and stuff.
portraits use those abilities like 3 or 4 times during the entire game, other than those it's just the same level design as before with some minor variations. you still go through the individual rooms in the same way (in the pyramid it's the worst since over 80% of the level is a complete copypasta with pretty much identical room layout).
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In Reply To #56
I played the Satun version at my cousin's house back when they still had it, along with one of the NiGHTS games. That's the only real experience I've had with the Saturn.
I could probably find a good Rom online somewhere, too...
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I thought PoR was okay. Not great but not a train-wreck either. It's a middle game for me.
I really liked all the unlockables and the gameplay, but the characters would fit right in on an Adult Swim edition of Captain N.
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Heh, Seth Green should take a crack at a Portrait of Ruin parody on Robot Chicken.
Complete with everyone kicking Desmond's and Soleyu's asses at the end.
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Wouldn't know. I'm not wasting my money on an overpriced paperweight *CoughPSPCough*
Correction: a portable NES, SNES, SMS, GEN, GG, GB, GBC, SGB, GBA, PCE, PS1, etc etc etc.
I dunno. Sells itself.
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With the correct mods, a DS can do the same thing. Hell, my Cell phone can do the same thing if I put enough effort into it.
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No. Check that list again. And even the ones the DS can do, the PSP can do better.
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PSP has uglier graphics than the DS and the clunckiest controlls of any handheld I've ever used.
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In Reply To #65
*chokes on his soda*
WHAT?!
If you go by 2d its really just the developers style but 3d isn't even a contest... Controls is really dependent on developer too.
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I puked at the Liberty City Stories graphics on the PSP, and out of all the PSP games I know of, only DXC and Jeanne D'Arc have gotten anything anyone could even consider praise.
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Ever heard of Maverick Hunter X, or Crisis Core? Street Fighter Alpha 3 also got praised.
You're being extremely short sighted. Like you just want to find fault in the PSP, when there isn't.
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MHX! Totally awesome!
I hear the MM power up was fun too.
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In Reply To #69
Hell yeah. Especially the level editor.
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How about the fact that it's $200 for a PSP? They're overpriced.
Not like that really matters to me since I found my DS in the pocket in front of me on an airplane a few years ago, so it was technically free...
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Patrick Colasour is a Nintendo fanboy that is trollin around the castlevania board sayin how the psp and ps3 are crap while DS and the wii are superior. Just ignore him.
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DS's are only 50$ less.
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As a fan of home consoles, i think they're both overpriced.
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Not crap, just way overpriced. I still mlaugh that the 360 is cheaper than the Wii, though.
Also, I'm fairly certain the DS is only $100...
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In Reply To #75
My phat was 150. My lite was 150.
If you wanted the DS to do things the PSP does, you need to buy ADD ONS. That bumps the price up. So no. The PSP is not over priced, because it does more than the DS and has a better display.
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DS graphics are at least crisp. PSP gets ugly smudgy graphics.
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DS generally go for 130 ish now I think. And no, their graphics aren't any "crisper."
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In Reply To #77
Ah I get it now, you've never played a PSP. There is ghosting (even the DS has that to a lesser extent, surprise), but no smudging.
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In Reply To #81
A cracked iPhone can play more than just shitty games, and PSP is not like ps2 graphics. Its better than PS1 but not by that much.
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In Reply To #80
I had a post just now, somehow I quoted myself, went to delete the quote, and it deleted the original post, too. Weird, heh. PSP does have *almost* PS2 graphics, with the games buddy listed, and MGS Port Ops, God of War and Daxter.
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In Reply To #77
really doesn't mean much when 3d on ds looks as bad as/worse than n64. at least some blur would hide those spiky blocks of low polygons. :(
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In Reply To #82
Some games look pretty good on DS. The Zelda game, Dragon Warrior Monsters: Joker, that Viewtful Joe DS game, The World Ends With You. The FF remakes look alright, too. New Super Mario Bros. art style is awesome.
But yeah, I'm gonna go play The Legend of Dragoon now.
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In Reply To #83
i was talking specifically about the ff remakes, though i guess it's because of that silly balloon head designs and tiny textures so you could see pixelization even on ds's tiny screen.
the ds is probably better for 2d games (or was, psp's screen is bigger, uses 24 bit colors compared to ds's 16 bit, and can do many effects the ds would choke on like add/sub blending, alpha channels, pixel shading style and other cool effects. and slim's motion blur isn't so bad anymore i hear).