Ranting Time With CIntyr! My Realization...

[The VGM Lover]

Welcome to Ranting Time! With your host, amcintyr9998!

I've been thinking. As I've sat here in my pajamas, on my camping chair literally all day, doing nothing but the usual stuff, which is checking out all my friends on the internet and at home, doing my daily tune tweets, watching Youtube, and listening to tunes there, what was the one game I was most compelled to play today before I sat down to continue my daily routine?

Some F-Zero X. I found it satisfying to the very core. Perhaps because it was a quick burst of fun, challenging, and intense gameplay, that I can quickly pick up and after a single cup, put down with a sense of thrill and happiness, and a feeling that I haven't totally wasted my time, whether or not I even won the cup.

Now, many of you already know how blindingly loyally fanatical I am of the Star Fox series. I've played 'em all: Star Fox, Star Fox 64, Adventures, Assault (Which is the first Star Fox game I ever played, and it was on a christmas of 2005, I believe), Command, 64 3D, and of course, Zero and Guard (The first two games I ever bought day one), and on the SNES, last year, Star Fox was officially the game I played most on that system, with Super Metroid coming in second. What were the things that Star Fox had that made me wanna go back and replay, time and again? You already guessed it, and I don't have to repeat it for you.

Many of you also know how extremely hyped I was for Star Fox Zero before it came out.

GET. STAR FOX. ZERO. 

Anyone remember this?  

 

And when I got it, I was overall satisfied! I love motion controls in general, so I found myself able to pick up and play Star Fox Zero with little problem, except for the clumsy walker. Robotech Battlecry still has the best mech controls in my books to this day, but I digress. The two best levels in Star Fox Zero for me would be, big shocker I hope, Sector Beta and the second Space Colony mission. One has the sheer epic scale of one big space battle that I absolutely LOVE from both Star Fox, and Star Fox Assault, plus Star Wars Rogue Squadron II, and the other has the intense, crunching but satisfying challenge that keeps me going to back to games like again, Star Fox, but also the F-Zero and Fast Racing franchises.

Now, this is where things might get a little controversial to some readers, but bear with me.

Star Fox Zero is not doing well, both in terms of sales and reviews. Common complaints are directed towards the controls being crappy, or hard to get used to, and low amount of content. The game, according to VGChartz (If there's a site that has a better tracking record, please send me the link!), sold only 261,698 copies as of May 7th. But here's why I think Star Fox Zero did as poorly as it did. It did poorly because it overall failed to match the simplicity, and quality of character from the classic titles. First and foremost, Star Fox to me is a game that's meant to be easy to just pick up and play for short bursts of intense, memorable fun, and the second Space Colony mission where you chase Andrew through loads of enemies and obstacles, is the best level that I feel truly hit this mark without feeling too frustrating. Second and also importantly, the missions themselves just aren't interesting enough to revisit just for the heck of it. Maybe I'm becoming a tired old fan, or I just can't get enough time on the Wii U, these days, but I usually don't feel obliged enough to stick around for any mission beyond Space Colony 2, Sector Beta and Alpha before I move on to something else. Some just don't have enough high stakes. Fichina, for example, just feels like an all-range, ground version of Fortuna's "Hunt the Bioweapon". Others are just boring or make little sense without enough dialogue to go with it. Katt, anyone? Or Fox and Star Wolf?

Having thought of these, I realized exactly what it is that made me an unbreakable Star Fox fan in the first place. High quality, challenging, but fulfilling, mission to mission experiences. No mission is ever dumbed down just to fill a spot. They each have something going for them. No mission felt too disconnected, either. The dialogue is placed where it needs to be, and doesn't feel too underused.

Star Fox Zero's delay should not have been used to double down the controversial controls, or to simply improve on the visuals alone! It should have been used to improve on character aspects of the story, giving levels more meaning, and obviously, options for the control layout. In other words, the game could've easily been way better if more time was dedicated to its world building, and difficulty.

If Nintendo's going to make a sequel to this game, this what I want for the next Star Fox game. Star Fox Zero tried, but it didn't try nearly hard enough.

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Thank you all to whichever one of you decided to read my Ranting Time. I'm not doing this because I want likes, but one would certainly be fulfilling, nonetheless. I'm doing this simply because... well, I've done it many times before as a simple reply. Why not expand on it, am I right? Anyone is welcome to share their thoughts, as well, however. What did you think of my rant? Did you enjoy it? Do you have any constructive criticism that I should probably hear? Please tell me, so I can improve with every word I continue to type with just one finger! Take it easy, now!  

Edited June 9, 2016 by amcintyr9998
Even I know what mistakes are easily sticking out!