Review for Vandal Hearts II on PlayStation. A unique turn-based strategy RPG. Vandal Hearts II is an often misunderstood strategy RPG gem that many gamers have tried but gave up after not understanding how to play. The game requires a lot of patience and if you are willing to learn the complexities of battle and teach yourself strategies to win then the reward is well worth the effort.
A.J. says: "The question of whether authors should complete games before writing reviews frequently comes up. In this article, I explain why I decided to do so with plenty of examples that'll hopefully shed some light on the issue."
Sound reasoning "Good first impressions don't always stick" this was applicable to me when I played MGS V. Although it was a pretty good game overall, I have a feeling it would have got far fewer 9s and 10s if reviewers played through to the end due to it's repetitive nature, especially the repetitive nature of the story missions on Chapter 2
Lol at the disagree: So you don't mind placing reliance on reviews that were rushed out for the sake of having it out Day 1. DO you use that object inbetween your ears even?
Get with the program guys, first chapter. Review. Rate. Done. Post on n4g for instant first too review said game article for hits! Boom.... Or just give it a very low rating.
S/
I think the repetitive aspect only becomes incredibly apparent if you over play the game. Any game is repetitive if you play it daily for large chunks at a time.
When I find a game is becoming like this for me, I usually take a break from it for a week or two, and when I return it's just as fun and enjoyable as it was day one (although doing this with mgs5 has left me with losin a lot of my best staff from FOB invasions XD)
I totally agree with the writers opinion, games need to be finished before reviewing. Or in the case of a game like ff6/7/8/9/X or a fallout or a skyrim that would be impossible to complete within a year for some people, at least a solid month needs to be spent with the game.
We need more reviewers like this guy. Sadly the way the gaming industry operates today just doesn't allow for it if you're working for a big company that values profit over integrity and doing your job right.
Kind of true though.
Certain games, people almost just give them the GOTY title without even earning it, and once reality sets in those same people are no where to be found and they stop posting and what not....they just downvote and dislike everything.
It's like trying to review a movie whilst only watching about 30 minutes of it.
It's the right thing to do, always. You need to review the whole experience, The Phantom Pain is a perfect example recently, the game is still great but the lack of a good narrative in comparison of another games from the séries didn't please a lot of gamers.
I think most people knew MGS5 would have a stripped back narrative when it was announced it would be open world. You just can't deliver the same kind of story in an open world game as you would with a linear game.
Another reason it should have been apparent was, the story was more or less all but finished with mgs4, there was nothing really left to tell that we didn't already know. MGS5 did tie up some remaining mysteries like the origin of the cobra units "powers" (there was no way they ALSO could have been nanomachine related XD). Kojima did his best to deliver one of the most fun tactical espionage action games to date, where we can just pick up and play an MGS scenario without having to invest hours in to watchin cutscenes and codec conversations. I know in the past I used to replay mg1/mgs2/snake eater time and time again just to get to some of my favourite parts (yes i couldve just made saves, but other games were competing for memory card space)
It has also been rumored that when Kojima Productions started work on the FOX engine, it was going to be for a brand new IP but the bigwigs in Konami got scared and had them make another MGS rather than take the risk of spending all that pre-production time building an engine for a new IP. Kojima was more or less done with the franchise's story and he has tried to leave it several times in the past.
Happy to see he finally gets to move on to something new.
All of the reviews of the Phantom Pain that I saw (before it was released) had the reviewer talking about end-game content (they all mentioned a twist ending), so I'm not sure what you guys are talking about when speaking of MGSV - all of the reputable sites got it well before release and did their job.
I think the only places that don't finish every game before rushing out a review are places that don't get review copies, but want their review seen while it's still relevant.
Thats the ONLY way to review a game. Dont look at the internet for other reviews.
No, begin the game with a clear mind and play it to the end. Then wright your review
Dont review a gamegenre that you hate. You will be biased, and that is not gonna work.😋
That was one thing that always bugged me, even back in the days when gaming magazines were the go to source for reviews, you'd have people reviewing RPGs that HATED them; I remember a particularly scathing FF7 review made by a staff member who was more in to racing and sports games.
It throws off positive and negative reviews. An RPG getting a positive review from someone who only enjoys sports games could be horrible for someone that actually enjoys RPGs. It all just adds an unnecessary layer of confusion to the mix.
"Hiroshi Tamawari helped to define the sound of Konami’s PlayStation era, with his leading roles on Vandal Hearts, Azure Dreams, and Vandal Hearts II, as well as his memorable contributions to the Goemon, Twinbee, and Suikoden franchises. Since his departure from Konami at the turn of the century, Tamawari has worked exclusively outside the gaming sector, handling everything from scoring commercials to translating musicals. " - Patrick Kulikowski
"A full hour devoted to this semi-forgotten Konami PS1 strategy RPG series." - Brett Elston, Patrick Kulikowski
Vandal Hearts 1 and 2 was great, but the 3rd game was not that good in comparison. I'm sure even FF Tactics was inspired by Vandal Hearts, considering it came before that.
Old but Gold :)
Wish those retro games were playable on new consoles.
This was Konami's first RPG game for PS :)
Vandal Hearts 2 , FF Tactics and Vanguard Bandits are my all time favorite SRPG on the PSX.