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jp's Rhythm Heaven (DS)
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| [May 15, 2009 11:41:02 PM]
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In a tradition that may have started with the PSP Katamari game, this game has a playable credits roll! It isn't actually playable the first time you see it, you actually have to select it from the menu later on to play it. Hmmm...interesting.
More curious, the credits roll occurs in the middle of the game. Sort of. Once you've cleared 6 sets, you're treated to the credits and can then start to unlock the last 4 sets. However, none of the games in the last four sets are new. They're all "advanced" (ie, harder) versions of the original ones. I can't think of any other game that does this...placing the credits in the middle! The gall!
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| [May 15, 2009 11:27:47 PM]
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I guess this GameLog is testament to a wasted opportunity. For the first(?) time in my life I could have played (and reflected on) a game before it's official release date! (thanks to Nintendo's keynote at GDC) Oh well. Maybe next year?
It's been kind of interesting to transition from Gitaroo Man to this game. Yes, both games are essentially rhythm games but Gitaroo Man tries to take things in a more musical/expressive direction while this game really does honor its name: it's all about rhythm. What I've enjoyed is how it explores rhythm in a context that isn't music dependent. So, contrary to most games in this genre, you're not trying to match beats to the music, or match beats to notes in the music or anything like that. You're essentially trying to match beats to an activity. Yes, there often is music in the background. Yes, you often end up matching your beats to the rhythm of the music. However, often times, you have to match beats to visual cues and audio cues. At heart though, the game is about finding (imposing?) rhythms upon non-music activities. For the most part. For example, some of my favorite "games" include one the one where you have to snap pictures as race cards drive past you, the one where a ninja dog is cutting flying vegetables with his swords, and the one where a monk stuffs riceballs in his mouth.
The game is essentially a collection of mini-rhythm games and after each set of 4 (you have to unlock them in order, though you can automatically pass one if you choose so after failing 3 times), you get to play a special "remix" stage which combines the four games you just did. In all, I didn't feel terribly satisfied playing it (I've already unlocked all 6 "basic" sets). I've been wondering why. I know it's not the music, the gameplay, or the general style. Rather, I think that I'm not satisfied by the opaqueness of the evaluation scheme in the game. There usually isn't much good feedback (too early? too late? perfect?) and the final score seems almost random. Almost.
Each time you play a game your performance is evaluated as: "superb", "just ok", "ok", and "try again". I'm not really sure what the difference between "just ok" and "ok" is. In fact, I once finished a mini-game with only 1 mistake (on the last beat), and got an "ok". What? Curiously, you can't get a perfect score until you've beaten the game as "superb" and then, only when given the opportunity, have played it again hoping for a "perfect" run (no mistakes). Maybe the scoring isn't just about the number of mistakes but also takes into account whether or not you messed on specific beats? Anyways, it's pretty opaque. There's also a separate overall meter called "flow" that seems to move around a bit. I have no idea what it means or if it has any impact on the game.
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jp's Rhythm Heaven (DS)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Something better came along
GameLog started on: Friday 8 May, 2009
GameLog closed on: Monday 18 May, 2009 |
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