I guess this is a matter of preference. I will laugh every time though, after having played the game on a 29" RGB monitor. Then again, I laugh at most handheld games these days. I enjoy them on planes, and that's it (and I don't fly so much anymore). That's kind of sad. This is the first PS2 game in ages that has deserved it's full retail price, yet, it's released way less.
I guess so. Yet PSP is definantly a high-end handheld that could even do 2D games like odin sphere with no downgrade (psp lcd is 24bit and supports 8bit alpha channel). Ds of corse is another gba (strange 18bit display yet can only render sprites that are 14bit with 1 bit alpha channel (on or off)). Probably SCEA politics. SCEA has an issue with 2D games at full price. They must be budget price or bundled (why usa gets alot of snk games with 2 games on the disc insted of single like japan).
I received a copy of Odin Sphere from Atlus to review some time ago, and I must say it impressed me. It impressed me to the point where when it hit store shelves, I went out and purchased a copy simply to support the concept.
I think it's been full price everywhere, at least from what I've seen, that was just a good deal I found!
I noticed at Play-Asia that the Korean NTSC-J version of Odin Sphere has English text and Japanese voices. I pre-ordered that: http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-1739-71-43-77-2-49-en-15-odin+sphere-84-j-70-21bj.html
Does the Japanese NTSC-J version also have english text? The screens of the Japanese version I have seen seem to suggest Japanese-only.
I'm not talking about processing... I'm talking about display. The PSP screen is a 31khz display. Sprites written on an old system w/ 15khz (320x240p) display will be upscaled on a system like the PSP (and Xbox, Xbox360, GC, etc). Looks like shit to us old 2D connoisseurs. Nope. In fact the Japanese text is painfully difficult. Not as hard as Okami, but still very "old" Japanese.
I was not talking about processing either. The PSP is a interlaced 480x272 display with 24bit color depth (same color depth ps2 can do). Not all 2D psp games streched and even princess crown ran with boarders. Sony does not inforce running games streched. It's purely a developers desision. Here is a picture from the PSP version Second the PSP LCD is not washed out like other consoles (First model DS had an issue with a blue tint, GBA had an issue with saturation). PSP shows 2D crisp and clean. The only major falt of the PSP is it's low refresh rate which causes some ghosting in 2D games with heavy use of contrasting colors (ie characters with a black outline apon a brightly colored background). The PSP has the best 2D you can get out of a handheld that is on near same level as PS2.
Well, the screenshot doesn't do the game justice (at all). While Atlus did a nice job of not doing any stretching, Princess Crown is supposed to look like the first image shown below, not the second. I realize that playing games on handhelds is a totally different experience, but that's my point. Games like PC, which are meant to be seen really big are basically bastardized on handhelds. Well, I'm one of those that thinks handhelds are really good for vacations, and suck for just about everything else. I own a DS, but as I don't ride the train much at all, and don't do a horrible amount of flying, it just gathers dust. And, since technically the PSP can't display old games as they were originally intended, that would put it far out of the PSP's league (Ghosting issues set aside). That being said, the PS2 apparently seems to be the last system which can fully replicate classic games. The Wii can apparently handle the output, but you've got controller issues (nothing close to an arcade stick) although that's far less of an issue for me.
You do realise a framebuffer grab (which ign is using) will not show interlacing regardless of the platform? Not even a fb grab of a game running in 15hz would show interlacing lines. I'm familiar with what 15hz looks like since I do have a Jamma arcade cabinet (and old capcom impress japanese candy cab). --edit-- I think you're being overly crazy about 15hz rendering.
Scanlines aren't interlacing. They are proof of the absence of interlacing. 240p (a progressive low res signal) has every other line blacked out (a scanline). A 480i (interlaced) signal doubles the lines and displays them at odd intervals. It's this line-doubling that cocks up sprites that were intended for low res display. And yes, I realize a frame buffer will fuck that up. Hence I said the screenshot does not do it justice. But, the PSP's screen does a max of 272 lines, right? No space for scanlines. The sprites aren't doubled, but they still "don't look right". This is igorning the issue of ghosting and the 3" inch screen. I'm actually one of the calm ones. When you like games as much as me, and have only sufficient time to play the ones you really, really want to, demanding perfection is not unfair. I understand that in this case (and any case when porting to a handheld) it is impossible to recreate the game w/ the same feeling it had on a console (that was my initial argument in the thread if you'll remember). It's silly to bash the quality of the port, but not the idea of the port in general. However, a well-deserved bashing is on collections of old games, arcade and console, which are put on systems such as the PS2 which can handle either signal, and they give it the non-native one. Cheers to Sega/M2 for giving the option to the user in the latter Sega Ages 2500 installments. Hamster also heard many screaming fans for their Oretachi no Gesen series and put native resolutions in all installments after the first set (although they apparently mangled other parts).
My mistake for improper termenology (i understand the difference between interlacing and scanlines, i just was incorrectly mixing between the two). PSP like (almost) all handhelds are of fixed display (exceptions are a few pda which can do a high res mode). So yes it is a max of 272 lines only. I understand where you are comming from for gaming but I think taking an issue as scanlines might be over critical in a sense still. Maybe thats just me tho. I can understand poor emulation or broken timing to be critical about but I think the interlacing issue is a bit too much. I also still disagree and feel the PSP (as a handheld) does do classic 2D games justice by actualy being able to create an image that is not lacking of color depth or resolution like GBA/DS does. As a huge fan of streetfighter, I am still blown away how much nicer SFZ3DU backgrounds look on the PSP vs playing the CPS2 version of SFZ3 on my cabinet in 15hz.
No more or less than say poor frame rates in 3D games. A novice will rarely notice the difference or at least not care. The problem is that w/ 2D games, even "real gamers" often don't know the difference. There's even a thread in here somewhere where the flip side of the argument was "NTSC can't even handle 240p" which couldn't be further from the truth.
Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I finally got around to purchasing Odin Sphere and playing it, and it's really surprised me. I don't tend to go for brawlers of any kind, but the RPG-ish elements have me hooked. The storyline is actually... enjoyable? Maybe I'm enjoying it because I'm not forced to listen to a horrific, low-budget English voice acting, which instantly gains it a "10/10 best game ever" from me. Obviously the graphics are the most publicised aspect of the game, and on an RGB CRT, it's fucking stunning. Nothing much else to say, really - there are very few games that look this delicious. It's pretty cheap now so if anyone hasn't checked it out yet, here's a gentle reminder that you really should. (Guilty admission: after hearing so many people give up on the game in frustration over the difficulty level, I decided to play it on easy. I'm glad I did, because it's been plenty challenging enough, and the parts of the game that really interest me -the storyline and plant growing/crafting- really aren't affected that much by the difficulty anyway. Yes, I realise this destroys any shred of credibility I ever had.)
I've installed an anti hot-linking of images at gamengai. A mod might want to perform surgery on Subbie's quote of my post. Congrats on getting the game. It gets a bit repetitious but I enjoyed it all the way through. Graphically, it's amazing.
It is repetitive, but I'm twenty-something hours in now and coming up on the end of the 4th book, so I reckon if I was going to get sick of it, I'd have quit long before now. I haven't tried Princess Crown (wasn't convinced that paying £60 or whatever for it was a wise investment, and there's no way I'm playing the PSP port), is it decent? How similar is it to Odin Sphere?
yes, game is very princess crown esque but that to be expected(it's a great thing!), I am playing it on a ps3 via 40 sony crt hdtv (via hdmi) - it looks AMAZING!
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/odinsphere/princesscrown.htm Best in-depth writeup of Princess Crown and Odin Sphere ever. Check it out.. it answers everything. (Princess Crown is not as good as Odin Sphere, according to this.)
