Lagoon
I just started going through this last night. This is one of those games I've been curious about for 20 years now (hard to believe it came out December 1991!) I remember being mesmerized by the ads in EGM and GamePro back in the day. It made the game look so cool, even though I wasn't a fan of this type of genre back then. Last night I spent 90 minutes on it and defeated the first boss. I'm at L8...
I know majority of people slam this game, but there is also a small group that has backed this game over the years on the internet. Just curious what everyone thinks of Lagoon here.
My quick thoughts so far based on 90 minutes of play:
-So-so graphics, even for late '91 standards
-Can't move diagonally
-Can't enter houses?! You just talk at the front door. That's kind of lazy...
-Sword range bites.... it's like a toothpick
-Fighting enemies is kind of lame as a result
-First boss fight was unsatisfying
-The game has sort of a choppy feel to it (until you get used to it)
+Good music, as mostly everyone's agreed
+Ability to save at ANY point, even in dungeons... kinda cool
+Ability to heal HP/MP by standing still... kinda cool
+Nasir levels up pretty fast, keeping the "action" going at a solid pace
+I like how simple it is. Not many swords, armor or spells to get... good change of pace
+Nasir can jump, and it has a nice gliding feel to it. His cape also faps pretty cool
+It's in that "so bad it's good" territory. At least it's not without some charms IMHO
I'm looking forward to going through this one, although I hear some of the later dungeons are rather difficult and easy to get lost in. The first cave was fairly long and I did get lost a bit already. Too bad Nasir has no run button. In no way would I classify Lagoon as genuinely good, but it's not a total loss. Worth going through once for action-RPG SNES fans adamant on completing much of the system's library.
I know majority of people slam this game, but there is also a small group that has backed this game over the years on the internet. Just curious what everyone thinks of Lagoon here.
My quick thoughts so far based on 90 minutes of play:
-So-so graphics, even for late '91 standards
-Can't move diagonally
-Can't enter houses?! You just talk at the front door. That's kind of lazy...
-Sword range bites.... it's like a toothpick
-Fighting enemies is kind of lame as a result
-First boss fight was unsatisfying
-The game has sort of a choppy feel to it (until you get used to it)
+Good music, as mostly everyone's agreed
+Ability to save at ANY point, even in dungeons... kinda cool
+Ability to heal HP/MP by standing still... kinda cool
+Nasir levels up pretty fast, keeping the "action" going at a solid pace
+I like how simple it is. Not many swords, armor or spells to get... good change of pace
+Nasir can jump, and it has a nice gliding feel to it. His cape also faps pretty cool
+It's in that "so bad it's good" territory. At least it's not without some charms IMHO
I'm looking forward to going through this one, although I hear some of the later dungeons are rather difficult and easy to get lost in. The first cave was fairly long and I did get lost a bit already. Too bad Nasir has no run button. In no way would I classify Lagoon as genuinely good, but it's not a total loss. Worth going through once for action-RPG SNES fans adamant on completing much of the system's library.
Comments
Me personally, I haven't given it much time, but from what I've played so far it's "meh". I guess I can't complain too much though, as these things can be snagged for $5 with free shipping on eBay.
I read some reviews and such on the game, giving it such a high praise, and one of the SNES's best gems, which I truly disagree with. I won't bash the graphics since graphics don't make a game great or horrible, but the controls are stiff, some of the quests are just ridiculously pointless and annoying (like when you have to have that girl follow you), the battle system is horrible, the dungeon design and layouts are way too long and boring (not enough variation, very mundane looking, nearly bland colors, etc), and the bosses... well, they're all unsatisfying. The game also goes from being very easy to very challenging when going from one area to the next, so you need to spend time grinding just to survive enough to gain more gold and experience. The towns are just awful, much like the dungeons.
The nice thing is you can save whenever you want, but you can only have 1 save game at a time (if I recall correctly), the music is alright, it's simple enough for most people to just pick it up and play. I wouldn't even put it in the "it's so bad, it's good category" like most B class horror movies. I'd put this in the "give it a shot, play it through once, and never touch it again" category, much like Brain Lord lol.
Originally posted by: dra600n
I wouldn't even put it in the "it's so bad, it's good category" like most B class horror movies. I'd put this in the "give it a shot, play it through once, and never touch it again" category, much like Brain Lord lol.
Brain Lord is a good comparison. In fact, BL is like a rich man's Lagoon.
I feel like the fact the game allows you to save at any point and you can heal at any point is what's pushing me forward to beating it. I can play it for X minutes exactly, since I don't have to worry about trudging through a long dungeon with no save point in sight. It is easy to pick up and play, and stop whenever you want since you can conveniently save it at any point. If only the sword had at least double its range, this game might actually be good.
Originally posted by: Steve
Originally posted by: dra600n
I wouldn't even put it in the "it's so bad, it's good category" like most B class horror movies. I'd put this in the "give it a shot, play it through once, and never touch it again" category, much like Brain Lord lol.
Brain Lord is a good comparison. In fact, BL is like a rich man's Lagoon.
I feel like the fact the game allows you to save at any point and you can heal at any point is what's pushing me forward to beating it. I can play it for X minutes exactly, since I don't have to worry about trudging through a long dungeon with no save point in sight. It is easy to pick up and play, and stop whenever you want since you can conveniently save it at any point. If only the sword had at least double its range, this game might actually be good.
Haha love the comparison there, totally fits. And I agree, the self healing/save any time is a nice feature, but even those nice features can't turn a bad game to a mediocre game, unfortunately.
This game became a lot more fun when I acquired the fireball magic skill. Just gives you another offensive option other than the crappy sword
And the grinding in Lagoon doesn't seem bad to me by RPG standards, either it happens naturally while you're getting lost in the dungeon or you can pick and choose your fights with the stronger monsters. Before knocking it, try playing a contemporary game like Ys III: Wanderers from Ys--yeah, you get a longer sword but it might as well be for show while you're getting life-raped by the level one cavern-monsters.
Also, what's wrong with the first boss? Samson = Biblical Allegory.
Originally posted by: Indigo_Streetlight
I'd say the stubby sword mechanic is counterbalanced by the auto-heal, much more forgiving than say Zelda 2...namely since you can charge the enemies and stand to get a little beat-up to make the shot.
And the grinding in Lagoon doesn't seem bad to me by RPG standards, either it happens naturally while you're getting lost in the dungeon or you can pick and choose your fights with the stronger monsters. Before knocking it, try playing a contemporary game like Ys III: Wanderers from Ys--yeah, you get a longer sword but it might as well be for show while you're getting life-raped by the level one cavern-monsters.
Also, what's wrong with the first boss? Samson = Biblical Allegory.
I don't disagree with much of your post. I love the auto-healing and definitely feel it off-sets the short sword length, at least somewhat. If it weren't for auto-healing, I wouldn't play this game at all. It really "saves" the game... like someone said earlier, it's worth playing through at least once. Shame the stronger swords didn't each get one pixel longer than the previous sword. Now that would have been pretty cool...
I don't find the grinding in Lagoon tedious at all. I love how fast you level up. It keeps the flow going.
My beef with the bosses is that the battles last TOO short! When Samson appeared, I was quaking in my boots at what a huge character he was. He jumped, stomped, and I managed to whack him a few times... and then he was dead?! It was over in like 10 seconds. That's highly unsatisfying IMO. I don't mind easy boss fights, but they should last longer than 10 seconds and allow the player to have a sense of "wearing down the bad guy." With Samson, he was dead before I knew it.
That's what I meant. Bosses look cool, but the fights are very disappointing. Too bad, because strong boss fights could have made this a better quality game overall.
I will say I like it. And I am finding it to be oddly addicting.It's nice to play such a basic action RPG. I also love the pick up and play factor of this game... saving at any point is as cool as Nasir's auto-healing.
Originally posted by: Steve
I don't disagree with much of your post. I love the auto-healing and definitely feel it off-sets the short sword length, at least somewhat. If it weren't for auto-healing, I wouldn't play this game at all. It really "saves" the game... like someone said earlier, it's worth playing through at least once. Shame the stronger swords didn't each get one pixel longer than the previous sword. Now that would have been pretty cool...
I don't find the grinding in Lagoon tedious at all. I love how fast you level up. It keeps the flow going.
My beef with the bosses is that the battles last TOO short! When Samson appeared, I was quaking in my boots at what a huge character he was. He jumped, stomped, and I managed to whack him a few times... and then he was dead?! It was over in like 10 seconds. That's highly unsatisfying IMO. I don't mind easy boss fights, but they should last longer than 10 seconds and allow the player to have a sense of "wearing down the bad guy." With Samson, he was dead before I knew it.
That's what I meant. Bosses look cool, but the fights are very disappointing. Too bad, because strong boss fights could have made this a better quality game overall.
I will say I like it. And I am finding it to be oddly addicting.It's nice to play such a basic action RPG. I also love the pick up and play factor of this game... saving at any point is as cool as Nasir's auto-healing.
I'll have to play it some more to see if the boss fights increase in difficulty; I remember in my play through of Valis 4 the second-to-last boss was stupidly easy, but it kind of balanced out over all because that green-skinned clone level wasn't a cakewalk. Generally I'm not so bothered by lower difficulty and eye-candy in my old age of young adulthood (I love Run Saber for this); it makes up for all the asskicking I once experienced.
Yeah, I do remember with Samson you could get stomped on a few times and duck out the front door if it got too intense. It makes me wonder actually if anybody would be willing to code a Lagoon 2, one with higher difficulty, increasing sword-sizes, etc.