Famitsu Awards Dragon Quest IX A Perfect Score

@Dangeresque: "They are not wrong because they dissent... they are wrong because they are barely cemented in reality." It's a review, and opinion. How the fuck can they be wrong? You disagree with their assessment, but unless something they liked/disliked wasn't actually in the game, then they can't be wrong. There's no such things as wrong opinions.

This sounds like a case of "my opinion > your opinion". I don't think Halo and the GTA series in general deserve such high praise, but it doesn't mean everyone else who does praise it wrong.

Leanid

@Ueziel: FFXII feels like it was written by a melodramatic tween recycling generic fantasy cliches. I suppose if you're also a generic-fantasy-loving melodramatic tween, you might enjoy the writing and feel.

FFXII is so dull and formulaic it makes WoW look fun.

emag

Of course they give it a perfect score, they give good scores to popular games and developers regardless of quality. I'll wait for western reviews, they're less biased.

@InconspicuouslyConspicuous:

Japanese gaming market is different than the American gaming market. The best selling games here are not necessarily the best selling in Japan due to different gaming perspectives.

Yokai

I like famitsu reviews, they put on top games that are fun, they don't care if the game is a breaktrough tech achivement, has the best graphics or an original idea, they tell you when things are executed right and will bring a great experience.

@excel_excel: I welcomed the loss of wavedashing mostly because it pissed off my 20 something friends who play this game like it's some sort of respectable and balanced fighting game.

Rozzlit

@InconspicuouslyConspicuous: Well, Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de is a really good game - unusual, too. It's not a typical visual novel, in that real actors are used and the story itself changes dramatically depending on how you approach it. The replay value alone is pretty high.

As for do they cover Western games, look yourself. http://fs.finalfantasytr.com/yearly-scores.asp?year=2009

@excel_excel: The popular opinion of Hikikomori on a hateful and spiteful message board.

Rozzlit

@Stealth_chill: Dude, it's Brawl. Of course you can trust this magazine, wth? D:

@MysteryPersonX:

Not really. For the most part, Melee had the competitive depth that it had by accident. It was widely known by the time Brawl went into devlopment though, and they went out of their way to make the game inferior at a basic level. It's kind of ridiculous. There is literally nothing about Brawl's engine that is superior to Melee's. This is one case where going the lazy route would've been better. And I don't care how casual of a player you are, anyone who defends tripping is a fool.

So pretty much, you're just another one of those angry argumentative people that gets up in arms because you weren't capable of enjoying Melee as much as other people. I feel sorry for you.

Danved

@excel_excel:

It was Kirby game, but with terrible physics. I didn't care for it at all.

Danved

@jellyfish: They all look weird.

Ferkner

@jellyfish: If anything, Famitsu tends to overrate occidental games. It's part of the insular complex I guess.

@maxpower4649:The thing is that the very short review was preceded, for a game as popular as DQIX, by hundreds of pages of preview. And be sure it will be followed in the next few issues by dozens of pages of maps and item lists. Famitsu simply is not about reviews.

@jellyfish: I wonder what God of War 2 got.. I think it's a bit silly giving SSBB a perfect score though <_<. A lot of Famitsu's scores tend to feel like marketing more than honest reviews. A new DQ comes out and a lot of people are suspicious of how it's handheld and not couch-potato-tastic. But fear not! For Famitsu gave it a perfect score. Lose those fears and run out and buy it. Well played Nintendo.

Jilkon

i agree with Famitsu
i wlould buy ds only for playing DQ IX

Francuzzz1010

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: I'm gonna go ahead and mention that this is the first Dragon Quest to get a perfect from Famitsu.

Nobuyuki

@Stealth_chill: Uh, maybe because they aren't obssesive about wavedashing or some crap and actually saw that its a very good game. But doesn't matter they've given loads of games perfect scores

@VergessenHeld: Lackluster adventure mode? no sorry, it was not lackluster in the slightest, tons of CG cutscenes, some great levels, it was awesome!

@bobtheduck: popular opinion?? Hateful bile spat out on amazon is NOT popular opinion

@Ueziel: Don't forget that Nintendogs also sold 22.27 million copies, is the second best selling game of all time, and it widely credited with being the DS's killer app. It may not be my "perfect" game, but the score seems to line up with how successful it was as a game.

@GameRankings a minute. Final Fantasy XII didn't get any perfect scores elsewhere, but it did score extremely highly in pretty much every corner of the gaming press and has an average score of 90%.

Just because a very vocal minority of gamers like to bitch about it endlessly does not mean "popular opinion" declares it a bad game.

How much did the perfect rating cost? Everyone fails to remember that Famitsu is the magazine that gave Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire a heavily modest 32/40 despite having a 35% on Gameranknings.

StillLee

@InconspicuouslyConspicu
ous:
They usually just cover the ones that are ported over.

jellyfish

@bobtheduck: it's not that famitsu's reviews "don't line up" with "popular opinion" -- it's that what you perceive as "popular opinion" is, in many cases (when we're talking about the internet-originating hard-core "gamer" crowd), senseless orchestrated trolling.

the brats on 2ch.net are having their way with the amazon review page for dragon quest ix the same way they did with final fantasy xii.

that's, uhh, not to say i think the game is absolutely flawless or anything.

or that famitsu's reviews aren't, umm, hatefully insipid.

lol

too bad that 40 don't mean anything anymore.

AlphaUltima

this girl in the middle looks wierd, can't they hire someone better looking ?

jellyfish

@Panteleon: The story is generic, the main characters fail to be memorable, the overworld is hardly original enough, the cities feel like MMORPG hubs... actually in general the game feels like an offline MMORPG. That's not bad per se... it's bad for a game based on the premises of eastern RPGs and having the name FF. Mind you though, I'm not against innovation, but innovation shouldn't overhaul the game so that you barely recognize it. FFXII from what I've seen will have the right amount of innovation, without changing the game system from top to bottom.

Beside, as they always say: if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Axass

@Ralff: Again, a matter of perspective. I thought he was engaged, engaging, and that he was a terrific vehicle for balancing the ensemble cast's stories. Every character felt valuable in that game, not just the main character. I agree with Ueziel, best story from a Final Fantasy game, at least. On a personal level, it has to be one of the best games I've ever played, but I won't bother trying to defend that position when we all feel differently about that sort of thing.

@Dangeresque: This debate hinges on the idea that Famitsu is "out of touch", which is an easy but unprovable assertion to make. If we're honest, it looks like they're more specifically not rating games the way you think they should. On that topic, I'm kind of surprised by the suggestion that FFXII was unfinished. If it was, I certainly didn't notice it. It was easily the best Final Fantasy I've ever played. The story was beyond top notch, and the gambit system made the end game combat very engaging (particularly for the optional bosses). I couldn't spot a single flaw in the game, either in mechanics or execution. What exactly makes you think the game was unfinished?

Yet on Amazon, it has 2 1/2 stars out of 5...

@Danved: But if Melee was so deeply flawed to these players that they didn't bother with most of the characters and stages (or any of the items) -- i.e. most of the damn game -- yet they still played it to death anyway, isn't it a bit hypocritical of them to criticise Brawl for not catering specifically to them like Melee supposedly did?

MysteryPersonX

@Dangeresque: But why couldn't it have been a 40/40 for the Famitsu reviewers? I liked his point about the discourse, even though his post may not have hit yours spot on.

Also, wasn't FFXII's story finished? I kinda remember it finishing.

@Dangeresque: Sorry if I did misrepresent you. That wasn't my intention. And thank you for clearing up your point of view. But back to Famitsu. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that FFXII's perfect score wasn't justified. That makes one bad call. Errors can happen. On the other hand, Nintendogs' 40 was, for me, justified. Either way, as long as they can justify any number through their text (and I know that there isn't much of it) that is good enough for me. They jsut have a different take on games. Which makes the magazine's reputation. As I tend to focus on the text which motivates a number, I can even agree with scores that I wouldn't give. And why not as long as they can back it up? If I disagree I have to respond to their text and to their number. So as long as we haven't got a text dump of their review our discussion is becoming more and more futile. As sad as it is.

amadeus3000

@UncleMark:
wasnt it because of shitty sixaxis helicopter controls it got 39 instead of 40

pneboy

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!:

@Ueziel: Yeah, the player's avatar being completely unrelated to the main story is great writing.

Ralff

Hey, a couple of people believe the game is better than popular opinion.

That's totally new. A few of my friends and I think Sonic Unleashed is way better than the 30-whatever% average score it's received.

@MellowJade: Considering each Famitsu reviewer just writes a paragraph or two and gives a score, it's not really helpful to anyone. I do find western game reviews are much more in-depth and do point out the pros & cons fairly well.

maxpower4649

@amadeus3000: I think you misunderstand, or at the very least, misrepresent me, sir. I couldn't give less of a shit about sales. That's not the point. The point is, when you say one thing about a game, and every other (hyperbole) magazine and publication as well as the gaming population at large says the exact opposite, something is wrong.

My take on this may be wrong, but that's not for you to decide, especially given that how you represent me in your post is not my point at all. My point is not, "do whatever the public says." My point is not, "conform to the consensus." My point is, Famitsu has lost touch with what the rest of the world thinks... to the extent that their reviews, in my mind, are no longer accurate. They are not wrong because they dissent... they are wrong because they are barely cemented in reality. FFXII was not a 40/40. The story wasn't even fucking finished.

Does their opinion on video games really matter? Reviews don't make a good game.

@Dangeresque the Observer: Since when do magazines or journalists in general have to write for their readers? Alright, I'm seeing already the argument about sales coming. But that is beside the point. Journalism should engage the reader in a discourse It should not write something just to please their readership. At least good journalism should do that. I can see though, where you are coming from. Famitsu's perfect score games aren't exactly my perfect games either. But maybe it was good enough motivated in the review. But what do I know? One thing: Your take on this is wrong. At least in my opinion. If they awarded those games a perfect score and didn't motivated it enough, that's clearly a bad judgement call. That problem should be discussed by readers, gamers and journalists. They should however not ask a magazine to fall in line with the opinions of their readerhip. One should not read just for the sake of getting his opinion confirmed. Getting challenged while reading may be even more important.

amadeus3000

@Hey_Blinkon: Yeah? Well, I'm just quantifying why I would give it a perfect score, which I would. The people at Famitsu also gave it a perfect score, which means that, aside from the writing, they found a lot to like outside of that.

Game reviews from Famitsu don't always deal with objectivity or anything like that (hell, you can whine all you want but no US review is objective either). It's just four people they picked to say whether or not they found the game fun and why they thought that was. They don't have to mention graphics or sound or anything else. They literally could write "this game has amazing writing" and give it a perfect score if that's how they felt.

Definitely don't agree with Famitsu's perfect score on FFXII. Although I do love the new combat system and the engaging storyline, the main character is boring in comparison to the story and the licence system allows everyone to be a master of everything rather easily, making everyone 'generic'.
That said, my first impression on playing the game was "no wonder it got 40".

maxpower4649

@Ueziel: Now you're rating intangibles though. Maturity and feel cannot be objectively measured, they're in the eye of the beholder. And besides, the original point was that FFXII was a perfect score. This would include gameplay, and everything else.

Hey_Blinkon

@Dangeresque the Observer: What exactly is the gaming majority? I mean we all know those Famitsu Reader Polls are completely bogus as they're not representative of sales but of a niche inside a niche.

Although, what exactly do you have behind the statement that they're out of touch? All of the other 40/40 had great user reviews/feedback.

outlawauron

@Ueziel: Planescape wants a word with you, and although a day-one purchase fan of the FF series, 12's plot bored me to tears. So much for entertainment.

Teira

I'm very dissapointed in the multiplayer :/
You can tell that was made for Japan. Unless you're a little kid in school, playing Pokemon, local wireless play is never going to be that great in America :x At least that's how I see it :x

@InconspicuouslyConspicuous: On their wikipedia page it lists all of their 40/40 and 39/40 games. The only American-published game that I could spot was GTA IV. That was only a 39, there were only Japanese games rated 40.

@Ueziel: Oh, so Famitsu review games like Kotaku? Weighing up pros and cons and then giving it a numerical value? That's pretty cool.

Is it just me, or does it look like the one on the left has a bit of a long neck?

@guymanbro: Decent set of RPGS. Very long, nostalgic of SNES times.

Hey_Blinkon

I hereby forecast the inevitable perfect score for FF13. Also everything else that generate enough buzz no matter what is inside the game

babitempur

Lots of DQ as of late. I haven't played damn one of em. Am I missing out? Or is it just a Japanese thing like apple pie for us?

guymanbro

@spiderweb1986:

"and given that they whittled Melee down to a handful of levels and characters in the name of "balance," I think it's safe to disregard those opinions entirely."

How does it feel to not have a clue. They didn't do the whittling, the game did by not being balanced. That's what balance is.

Danved

@Hey_Blinkon: I'm not speaking on gameplay or anything but there is absolutely no question. No RPG or possibly even game has had better writing. Every other game looks sophomoric in comparison to the maturity that writing contained. I'm not speaking overall plot or twists or whatever.

Lemme guess.... 'Courtesy review'?

@TaylorEatWorld: XBM gave Halo 3 a double post? That game must be awesome enough to be reviewed twice.

@Ueziel: That's a bit of an overstatement for FFXII, I'd have to say. Good... yes, great.. quite possibly. But to say it put every other RPG ever to shame? Balls on that. .

Hey_Blinkon

@(Zombie) Goldwings: Go to the bottom and click on the "Show All Comments"

You mean... IT'S AS GOOD AS NINTENDOGS!?!?!?!?

*shrieks with glee, pees self, then keels over and dies"

Hey_Blinkon

@bobtheduck: Aw, you've already got a star. Too bad- I wanted to put that post up for one.

But yes, precisely. Famitsu has gradually grown out of touch with the gaming majority, and has made some pretty bizarre reviews over the years- they loved Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, for instance, which was not only a game about killing their ancestors and spitting on their corpses... but was a BAD game about that.

Not sure about Fusasareta... but the "Hrm"? implies Famitsu handing out 10's to Japanese developed games?

Do they cover any western games?

InconspicuouslyConspicuous

Thing is, Famitsu doesn't exactly have its finger on the pulse of Japanese gaming anymore...

That's not to say this game isn't great (don't know, never played a DQ game past the first one), but Famitsu's reviews haven't quite lined up with Japanese gamers' popular opinion.

Of course, it's possible there will be more good user reviews once the panda hating crowd is done having their say.

@(Zombie) Goldwings: So it's not just me double posting, also any videos/pictures I post seem to double post.

Come on Gawker Media.. ://

TaylorEatWorld

Double posted? Sorry. I can't wait till the bugs are cleared out :/

@Bialia: Right. We always go though with this whenever something gets a "perfect" score. Since there are only four numbers everyone uses in a 10 point system anyway, I say we just use those numbers (the numbers being 1, 7, 9.5 and 10) whenever reviewing something, because god forbid they don't hold weight like they used to. Now it's a tool used in this console "war."

Apparently the abbreviated title is DQIX: BOOBS. Ahem.

@Michael Forsberg: That's odd...this comment was already posted by somebody else, and was almost identical except for that they spelled "hype" right and you didn't.

Apologies for giving this one the thumbs-up. I'd revoke it if I could, but that's not part of the star powers. I guess this is a side effect of reading the thread in reverse chronological order...

spiderweb1986

@Keanu: To be fair, Nintendogs pretty much IS the perfect dog simulation game and FF12's writing and overall feel put every other RPG in history to shame.

Why am I double posting on everything? Thank god there's no double edit.

@Ladi: What criteria? There's no set criteria or whatever for them to review by. The reviewers for Famitsu are just asked to write down whatever they think about a game and how fun it is and then assign a score based on that. It's not like game reviewing is some magical science. They thought it was really fun.

@Ladi: What criteria? There's no set criteria or whatever for them to review by. The reviewers for Famitsu are just asked to write down whatever they think about a game and how fun it is and then assign a score based on that. It's not like game reviewing is some magical science. They thought it was really fun.

@Ganji: Go to the bottom and click on the
"Show All Comments"

This makes me even more excited for it to come out here in the states. How I want to live in Japan.

AFXisgreat

Double post! I don't know anything about MGS4, so here's a squirrel with its head stuck in a yogurt cup.

spiderweb1986

@VergessenHeld: "SSBB has been declared as broken as hell by a lot of people"

I haven't heard it from "a lot of people" - just ones who are obsessed with the "competitive" Smash Brothers scene...and given that they whittled Melee down to a handful of levels and characters in the name of "balance," I think it's safe to disregard those opinions entirely.

The online play, however, was broken. Broken, in the sense of "I've been here for five minutes and it can't find another two or three people for me to fight against."

Subspace Emissary got to be tedious after a while, but I do give Nintendo credit for trying something new with the Smash Brothers series, and for making the characters easier to unlock in the process.

No, the game's not perfect...but when it comes down to it, my friends and I have fun playing it, and that's good enough for me.

spiderweb1986

Brawl got a perfect score? Can we really trust this magazine?

Stealth_chill

It begs to question if they fell victims for the massive hyp train in Japan

Michael Forsberg

@VergessenHeld: Most of the Brawl complains stem from Smashboards types who are just whingy about there not being wavedashing or whatever.

This isn't just a Famitsu thing, or a DQ thing. Perfect scores seem to be more of a trend this gen, on both sides of the pond.

Bialia

Congratulations, DQIX! I think Vagrant Story got 40 as well. Anyway, now I'm looking forward even more to the english release...was worried a bit after the amazon outrages.

Also, the main page says there's comment but I don't see them here.

Ganji

So basically, they're like American reviewers and just give 10s to the hyped/anticipated games. Well, I never heard of that 428 or whatever but then I'm not Japanese.

It begs to question if they fell victims for the massive hype train in Japan.

ToniaHaet

It kind of bothers me that MGS4 and SSBB got perfect scores. Sure, they're great games, but they are by no means perfect. I still hear a lot of complaints about MGS4's plot, pacing, and cutscenes. SSBB has been declared as broken as hell by a lot of people, not to mention the lackluster adventure mode.

One would think that with big flaws like that, a game wouldn't get a perfect score. Though, maybe it's because I'm REALLY picky about reviewing things.

VergessenHeld

Requesting the criteria Famitsu games are reviewed by. I know they have several people pick over the game and have some sort of casual gamer opinion as well, but details would be appreciated.

I also always seem to remember so many more games getting 40s than actually seems to happen, haha.

Nintendogs - Perfect
FFXII - Perfect

We'll never forget.

And yet none of those games deserved a full score

Drogmir

I see that you also feel that Famitsu's reviewing policy is a little shaky at best, but then again what reviews with a number, letter or panda isn't?
At least though for me the numbers don't matter as much because I will actually sit down and take my time reading and reviewing a lot of the written review. At least by reading it I can see what the person hated or liked about it and use that preference to see and think if I might want to get it or rent it myself.

Double.. post?

TaylorEatWorld

@D Mitsuki : Gotta have guts kid!: DUDE HOLY FUCK GUESS WHAT OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE JUST GAVE HALO 3!?!?!

TaylorEatWorld

HOLY SHIT! I CAN'T FREAKN BELIEVE THIS! DRAGON QUEST? PERFECT SCORE? FAMITSU? THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!

WHATS NEXT, HALO OST ACTUALLY MOVES COPIES?

@Rozzlit:This also. A winner is you.

@excel_excel:This.

I guess I'll take the chick on the left... and maybe the one on the right. You chumps can fight over the one in the middle!

@Axass:

This. I don't think I've ever struggled so hard to want to finish a Final Fantasy game. It just wasn't enjoyable to me. The combat felt like they tried to make it more complex and then completely watered it down. The "Quickening" system was ridiculous and really only cool the first time you use it.

The story WAS generic and felt like something that could have just as easily been on the NES (Final Fantasy II anyone?). I couldn't have given a crap about any of the characters. The only one that had any depth to him was Balthier.

Don't get me wrong, the game had its merits and some of the things it did, it did well. But, for someone who had played all of the previous Final Fantasies to death, this one just didn't feel like a Final Fantasy game to me. And, I was looking forward to the new combat system. But, people play games for many different reasons, so it gets mixed reviews from all types of gamers. It's a game that seems to make everyone's opinions valid.

You know... maybe DQIX is actually great enough that it deserves a perfect or near-perfect score. People can bicker all they want, but I'm just really looking forward to a North American release for this game!!

lesmiron

@MysteryPersonX:

Considering I put probably a thousand hours into Melee, I think it was reasonable to hope it would cater to me. I didn't actually expect that though. I enjoy Brawl just fine as a party game, possibly even more than Melee, but there is literally no reason that extra depth couldn't have been there. Oh, and SSE was boring.

Danved

@Danved: I enjoyed Melee just fine thanks. It's an excellent party game. I'm not up in arms, I just don't really see the need to criticise Brawl for not being something Melee was never intended to be either. If you expected Brawl to cater to you, you simply had unrealistic expectations.

MysteryPersonX