NEStalgia

by Silk Games
NEStalgia
A unique MORPG inspired by the gameplay of classic console RPGs

NEStalgia Review

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ID:93675
 
Mar 30 2010, 6:39 pm
Keywords: review
Hey all, today I'm going to touch up on the finer/lower points of the new RPG NEStalgia. For those of you who aren't aware, NEStalgia is Silk Games' latest endeavor. It is a mix of old and new, borrowing concepts from popular RPGs from the past and present to bring an interesting new game to Online RPG scene.

Gameplay: 8
The gameplay in this game is great. It definitely captures the feel of the genre. Lag, and small design flaws keep this game from getting a 10. The classes all seem extensively tested and balanced, though some classes are definitely easier to play than others. The storyline is mediocre, but is presented very well, though its important to note this is only midway through the game, so it might improve as it goes along. The various game systems are all designed great, and most of the interface is self-explanatory(though a few buttons confused me at first.) The open pvp system is debatable, I like it personally, but it can get old for some people if they continuously get ganked. There are small improvements to be made, for example a player shouldn't have to pick who to attack when there is only one enemy. For those looking for excellent gameplay, consider giving this game a try.


PVP Combat/Interacting with NPCs


Presentation: 9
Almost everything in this game is presented well, however I think the music could use a little work. The graphics and sounds are all reminiscent of classic rpgs, and the programming that ties everything together seems to be very good. Nothing else to say about this category really, the screenshots speak for themselves.


Various in-game systems


Originality: 6
The obvious reason for the mediocre originality score is the fact that it borrows so much from older games, from graphical styles to presentation. It gets bonus points for modernizing the 8-bit theme though. Other than that, it had a lot of standard MMORPG quests, kill X number of mobs, collect X number of drops from mob, deliver this to X, however some of the quests, especially in the beginning, are delivered in cool and unique ways.


Questing


Overall: 8
So thats my short(?) review. Definitely hop on the server and give it a try. You won't have to worry about pvp until you hit level 10, so check it out. I personally recommend a Ranger or Cleric, they're excellent classes to play, the latter is especially useful in groups. Hope to see you around!

P.S. This can be considered blame for why SNEStalgic may not be released in time.
Mar 30 2010, 7:35 pm
The originality at least deserves a 7.
Mar 30 2010, 7:37 pm
Ranch Jolly wrote:
The originality at least deserves a 7.

You do a review then.
Mar 30 2010, 7:39 pm
Great to see a review from someone who has actually played the game. Thanks for taking the time write up your thoughts on NEStalgia and for sharing them with everyone :)
Mar 30 2010, 7:40 pm
Ranch Jolly wrote:
The originality at least deserves a 7.

Nah man, I used a computational cell supercomputer using a highly advanced scoring algorithm to calculate that the originality score should actually be 6.45339749.

In all honesty. Numbers in reviews are usually meaningless.
You should be reading the review for the opinions in it, not the score it gives.

Mar 31 2010, 3:40 am
I cannot agree with the 'originality' section. You seem to confuse originality with innovation; they are not one and the same. Innovation is the creation of something new and never seen before. Originality can be that, but much more often originality is the combination of old ideas into something novel; it is as much application as it is innovation.

The theme shouldn't affect a game's originality score at all. If anything, an innovative gameplay experience is far more important to factor in.

This is a mistake reviewers make all too often. The originality score of a DBZ game should not go down merely because it is a DBZ game. It should go down due to cliche gameplay and/or thematic elements -- but not those that you'd expect to see in the first place! Especially NEStalgia, which is a homage to old, classic NES RPGs, should not be considered unoriginal because it borrows elements from classic NES RPGs.

Shakespeare's plots are all very cliche. The star-crossed lover's story has been around long, long before he wrote Romeo and Juliet. He uses almost every trope in the book. However, he is considered one of the greatest playwrights, ever (if not the greatest). If we rated originality based on the story and the various stereotypical elements, he would've been considered a copying schmuck who hasn't had an original thought in his whole life.

That said, it's not that I disagree with your actual score: I haven't played the game long enough to decide that. It's your justification of the score, that's unconvincing.
Mar 31 2010, 4:53 am
I cannot believe you're using Shakespeare as a device to compare to NEStalgia of all things.
Mar 31 2010, 6:17 am
Devourer Of Souls wrote:
I cannot believe you're using Shakespeare as a device to compare to NEStalgia of all things.

People really need to stop doing this when another person brings up a well known example of something to get their point across. He wasn't comparing NEStalgia to Shakespeare. He was using the example of a well known author to illustrate his point.

People communicate based upon shared experiences and common understandings. You might as well be telling him "I cannot believe that you're using the english language to talk about NEStalgia!".
Mar 31 2010, 7:33 am
Toadfish wrote:
I cannot agree with the 'originality' section. You seem to confuse originality with innovation; they are not one and the same. Innovation is the creation of something new and never seen before. Originality can be that, but much more often originality is the combination of old ideas into something novel; it is as much application as it is innovation.

The theme shouldn't affect a game's originality score at all. If anything, an innovative gameplay experience is far more important to factor in.

This is a mistake reviewers make all too often. The originality score of a DBZ game should not go down merely because it is a DBZ game. It should go down due to cliche gameplay and/or thematic elements -- but not those that you'd expect to see in the first place! Especially NEStalgia, which is a homage to old, classic NES RPGs, should not be considered unoriginal because it borrows elements from classic NES RPGs.

Shakespeare's plots are all very cliche. The star-crossed lover's story has been around long, long before he wrote Romeo and Juliet. He uses almost every trope in the book. However, he is considered one of the greatest playwrights, ever (if not the greatest). If we rated originality based on the story and the various stereotypical elements, he would've been considered a copying schmuck who hasn't had an original thought in his whole life.

That said, it's not that I disagree with your actual score: I haven't played the game long enough to decide that. It's your justification of the score, that's unconvincing.

Why shouldn't the theme have an effect on originality? The game basically looks like Dragon Warrior, and thats fine, its going to do great for marketing purposes. However, the graphics are what really took a chunk out of originality for me. Yeah, graphics shouldn't affect originality blah blah you expected it to look like this, whatever, I don't really care if you agree with me, because all reviews are opinion. You guys are acting like 6 is a horrible score, its above average. If I wanted it to be bad, it'd be below 5.
Mar 31 2010, 10:33 am
Why shouldn't the theme have an effect on originality? The game basically looks like Dragon Warrior, and thats fine, its going to do great for marketing purposes. However, the graphics are what really took a chunk out of originality for me. Yeah, graphics shouldn't affect originality blah blah you expected it to look like this, whatever, I don't really care if you agree with me, because all reviews are opinion. You guys are acting like 6 is a horrible score, its above average. If I wanted it to be bad, it'd be below 5.

So...Battlefield 2 Bad Company should have been marked down on originality because it reminds me of Modern Warfare. The graphics were made by that team (Silk Games), just because they remind you of a similar game, it shouldn't be marked down (I'm not saying this review in general, everyone has there opinion). I don't really care about this kinda stuff, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.
Mar 31 2010, 11:34 am (Edited on Mar 31 2010, 12:27 pm)
Zxc,

Reviews may be subjective, but subjective about what? Your way of judging originality was conceptually wrong, it's not a matter of opinion (unless you want to argue about the perceived purpose of an 'originality' score). I already mentioned it wasn't the score I cared about.

I'll admit my wording was a bit off, and that I may have not phrased my point as clearly as possible (I'm not entirely in my right mind today. In particular, the originality vs. innovation point in my post is idiosyncratic), but you might as well take the time to comprehend what I was saying. Responding to my post with the exact question it was intended to answer shows a lack of communication between the two of us. I won't explain myself more than I have; I suspect it'll just become a typical (read: pointless) back-and-forth argument.

This could become a more interesting discussion if someone iterates the point more clearly than I could.

That said, an addendum: the reason the score attracts attention is most likely due to two different interpretations of it. On one hand, as you said, a 6 (or '60%') could be considered an "above average" score. On the other hand, I suspect most people don't think of review scores as percentages, but as independent scores, such as ones you might receive for a test. Scoring '60' in a 100-pt test is the bare minimum required to receive a 'D' in a test in the US, and I think you'll agree a 'D' is hardly a good score. Personally, I think indicating what each score means is very important for preventing misunderstandings having to do with them; it's a shame not too many people do this.

A review is your opinion about the game, but keep in mind it still has an official air about it. I can definitely understand developers and fans of a game being insulted when their game receives a poor score (just check out the drama in most any review website). So it's important to be as precise and clear as possible when writing one.
Mar 31 2010, 12:11 pm
These are pretty fair scores. Toadfish, we understand what you're saying, It's just that your logic doesn't make sense. Search up the definition of originality and I'm pretty sure that's what he was basing his decision off of.

You just seem disappointed because it didn't get a perfect score.
Mar 31 2010, 6:17 pm
Subjective is a falsehood, meaning "only exists in ones mind"..And is usually the case following a belief that disregards facts, etc. So..In any case, an opinion is a "possible fact", neither true nor false until proven.

Its not a discussion of "opinions", its an argument between two people who refuse to accept they are using different connotations of a word, and most likely have different goals via the argument. Therefore, your both possibly correct in the given contexts..Has nothing to do with subjectivity.
Apr 1 2010, 5:01 am
An interesting idea is (from a debate in Chatters) that NEStalgia shouldn't be judged for originality at all, and anything "truly new" about it detracts from its polish. I'm not entirely decided.
Apr 1 2010, 12:04 pm
Chatters lol. There's BYOND's think tank in action, not coming up with any real conclusion.

The score is an opinion, and my opinion is that he is spot-on. If you had read WHAT he wrote below the score, I think you'd find you don't have ground to stand on.

The review was well done, kudos.
Apr 3 2010, 8:50 am
I'm quite revolted by the responses here, but then, I should know better - it's not like an intelligent discussion could ever happen due to disagreement. Someone is wrong on the internet, right?
Apr 3 2010, 4:00 pm (Edited on Apr 3 2010, 4:06 pm)
Toadfish wrote:
Someone is wrong on the internet, right?

You're right.
Apr 10 2010, 6:53 pm
Disturbed Puppy wrote:
Toadfish wrote:
Someone is wrong on the internet, right?

You're right.

Someone's HTML sucks too.
Apr 11 2010, 9:08 am
DivineTraveller wrote:
Someone's HTML sucks too.

Irrelevant troll is irrelevant. Take your white knighting elsewhere, and if you want, take the princess toadfish with you.
Apr 11 2010, 9:26 am
Disturbed Puppy wrote:
DivineTraveller wrote:
Someone's HTML sucks too.

Irrelevant troll is irrelevant. Take your white knighting elsewhere, and if you want, take the princess toadfish with you.

I think the princess is best off in another castle, y'know? I'd rather not have to cart her around, just to have her taken away every few years.
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