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The minute I first heard about it, I was interested in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. I absolutely adored Final Fantasy Tactics, and Disgaea was looking to take that kind of tactical RPG style and mold it with a witty, comical story. Fast-forward a few months; the game is released and I read a couple of reviews from all the popular video game magazines. Nearly every review I read made a point of how Disgaea's graphics were "PS 1 quality" and in no way impressive, due to the fact that they were 2D. Some of the reviews openly admitted knocking the score down a half point or point because of the graphics.
Now, everyone has an opinion as to whether or not they enjoy playing 2D games. Some (gasp!) actually prefer 2D graphics over 3D graphics, some will only tolerate 3D gaming, and finally there are some who prefer Cel-shading (a sort of in-between 2D and 3D look) above all. I am not going to argue over which is better, but instead I want to make a point that just because a game is a 2D game we shouldn't write it off as a old, boring game without a hint of innovation. Rather, we should appreciate it as a whole and only criticize graphics if they take away from the game play, story, or basic feel of the game.
I love the RPGs on the Game Boy Advance. A lot of them are some old classic games that I hadn't ever gotten a chance to play before, and some are new RPGs that I just adore. In all cases, anyhow, they've got 2D graphics. I say this because I often hear mass praise for a game on the GBA for its 'good graphics' and whatnot, but for some reason it didn't bother the reviewer that the game was in 2D! Now imagine if you will we took this game, which along with great 2D graphics had wonderful game play and a good story, and put it on the ps2. Without a doubt I can see every reviewer of the game jumping down its throat for not utilizing the Playstation 2's full potential, and then making themselves blind to the fact that the RPGs' game play would put a lot of 3D games to shame.
This, to me, is stupid. Going back to Disgaea, one of the reasons it was so charming was its witty dialogue and funny characters. It also had a wonderful battle system. In my opinion, the anime styled graphics fit the characters and story very well. Yet, I can't help feeling that if the game had been made for the GBA, it would have been received with more praise. Gamers would have jumped right in, rather than be wary of the game because of its 2D look.
A lot of experiences with friends back up my point. At one point in time I had introduced my friend to Suikoden III. He fell in love with it, so I recommended playing Suikoden I or Suikoden II, which are on the Playstation. He declined, saying he was turned off by the 2D graphics. Now, the majority of people I know have always preferred the two original Playstation Suikodens over Suikoden III. My feeling is that my friend missed out on a great time because he was more concerned with the look the games, rather than what made the Suikodens so awesome in the first place.
I understand the expectations that are brought to the table with each console generation. Instead of blocky characters with jagged edges, we want smooth and vibrant characters. But where's the sense in writing off a game because your smooth and vibrant character are in a different dimension? I think a lot of people are missing out on a lot of awesome games because they are rating games down strictly on how they look.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." I think the same concept can be applied to gaming. I love my 2D gaming on the Playstation 2 and Gamecube as much as I love my 2D gaming on my GBA!
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