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jp's Elite Beat Agents (DS)
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| [March 12, 2009 10:06:52 PM]
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Finished this one a while ago, I just hadn't remembered to update the log!
Ethics in games has been on my mind lately and, other than things I've already mentioned, I confess that I was surprised by the Elite Beat Agents willingness to go out and help anyone. Even jerks and idiots. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not...but it was definitely interesting. Sure, it's all a comedy and fun, but I did notice myself asking the question: why am I helping this person? He/she doesn't deserve it.
The "xmas" song was incredibly moving. I was really surprised by that as well. It was such a change of pace and tone with all the other songs that I guess that's what surprised me. I could swear I went all "misty" on the train when I first played that song. Sniffle...
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| [February 5, 2009 04:06:56 PM]
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Cool discovery!
Elite Beat Agents has a mode that allows you to compete against yourself. Most racing games will have some sort of time trial in which you race against your best time. Some go further and implement a "ghost racer" so that you can see a visual representation of your earlier gameplay during your current one. (and thus gauge how well you're doing). As its name implies, the ghost racer is incorporeal in the game, meaning that you can't crash into it, be rammed of the road by it etc. In terms of gameplay, your earlier gameplay has no effect on your current gameplay. It's merely represented visually.
Elite Beat Agents has a "ghost" mode. You can play against an earlier recorded version of yourself. Interestingly enough, the ghost can, and does, affect your gameplay by unleashing special "combo" attacks! Wow! Of course, the special attacks are determined by how well you did (and what you did) in your earlier game. So, they're not dynamic, but, they DO have an effect!
As far as I know, this is the only game I know where you can do this sort of thing! It also comes in perfectly with something I'm currently working on...woot!
I wonder if there are any games out there where you can affect your ghost?
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| [February 2, 2009 12:49:33 PM]
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I've just finished this game on the 2nd difficulty level. Wow, that was harder than I thought. In fact, I had started playing on this level and went back "down" to the easier mode without much confidence that I'd be able to go back and beat it. Well, that's done now. :-)
I guess I have something of a soft spot for beat-matching games. I've played quite a few, even some of the "rare" ones and I've been thinking of mapping out the design space as it where. Generally speaking, I don't think that it's a genre (or sub-genre?) of gameplay that has evolved much over the years. Interestingly enough, Elite Beat Agents does take things in a slightly new direction.
Most beat matching games require that you match each of the "beats" shown. The two exceptions I can think of are Bust-A-Move (or Groove) in which you had to perfectly match only the LAST beat shown and Parappa the Rapper, where you could "improvise" as long as you kept the beat (but didn't have to match was was shown necessarily. Actually, now that I think about it, I think that Frequency also allowed you to pick what you wanted to match from a limited selection.
Secondly, most beat matching games don't change the "how" you go about matching the beats. Generally speaking, you always have to press the same button, or do the same thing on the screen. (just make sure you do it in time).
Elite Beat Agents takes advantage of the DS' touchscreen to play with the 2nd point a bit. Yes, you have to match what's shown BUT the things you need to match move around the screen. It's not about tapping the same part of the screen based on some cues, rather tap (in time) wherever the cues appear. It adds an interesting spatial component to this type of game that I don't think has been explored much. Any suggestions of other (older?) games where this also happens? (maybe Vib Ribbon to a degree?)
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| [January 23, 2009 11:17:11 AM]
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I've played some 6 or 7 missions so far and this game is exactly what I was expecting. Rhythm-based action with some funky and (oftentimes) very funny characters and scenarios. Even though the music isn't Japanese, the game feels entirely Japanese in a good way.
What has surprised me the most is how similar this game feels to "Feel the Magic XY/XX" and "Rub Rabbits". If I were to create a family tree of games I might say that these games are siblings of a sort. I can't really pin down why, but I know it isn't about the aesthetic or the gameplay. Perhaps it's only about the utter craziness of the premise of the game together with the outlandish scenarios? Hmm.. I need to think about this a bit more...
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jp's Elite Beat Agents (DS)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Thursday 22 January, 2009
GameLog closed on: Thursday 12 February, 2009 |
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