Well..... Tokimeki Memorial for PSP US

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#21

They should have just done a direct port of Tokimeki Memorial with some Americanization of the lines and phrases that wouldn’t make sense to most US audiance…then brought it out on the DS. What with the popularity of anime being at record levels I think it would have done decently well.

Yes they would have had to, as i mentioned before, done some dialogue changing, but it would have been so much better…

Hopefully Konami will realize that the market lies more with direct ports of their own games. The only thing i can think of is that they were turned off by the lackluster sales of Azure Dreams: Another Life.

#22

Interesting rant I found on GAMEFAQS from one of the gamedev, Seppo Helava:

Here’s the original thread:

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=932930&topic=35657840

Turns out this guy did work on The SIMS for EA. Would explain a few things about the game. :wink: :stuck_out_tongue:

[ 06-04-2007, 05:29 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#23

gamespot doesn’t give it the greatest review… but then, it seems that most PSP games suck anyway… :slight_smile: (from glancing over the recent ones. again, I don’t have a PSP.)

#24

I was quite happy when I saw the title of the thread since Japan release Tokimeki Memorial Forever With You on the PSP. But the first post, especially the picture, literally killed all the happiness that I had gained just looking at the title of this thread.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/data/930805.html

Quite frankly, I knew of the remake in Japan and hope that it would get release here. I guess all hope is lost now…

It looks like Brooktown High seems to be more of a game where you fit in with the “cool” crowd than a dating simulator. At least in Tokimeki Memorial, the main point in the game was. You try to impress the girl your going after as much as you can and let her confess her love to you on the last day of school. Something that is not easy to achieve, and it can be quite challenging for some girls, all the while balancing your schedule.

#25

Brooktown does the schedule balancing thing.

There are 20 date characters (10 male/10 female) divided into four groups: jocks, preps, nerds, and rebels.

You have four personal stats: smarts, originality, charm, and athletic.

You attend four classes: French, physics, P.E., and art

You also have the choice of four jobs, four after school activities, four colleges to apply… seems 4 is the magic number. :wink:

I finally realized what causes the schizoid personalities. It’s not as random as I originally thought… it’s tied to the stats and a fifth factor… which is a bit of a spoiler if I give it away.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m liking this game more than I should… If you can rent it, or know a friend with a PSP you can borrow, perhaps giving it a whirl isn’t all that bad an idea.

I guess I’m the only one with a PSP on this board… no one else is mentioning anything. :stuck_out_tongue:

[ 06-05-2007, 08:40 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#26

I also have been playing Brooktown, and agree that the game is better than reviewed, and certainly better than I hoped given the drastic changes from the JP-based games we know it’s based on.

– The hall monitor being a robot that uses a tractor beam to pull you to detention or class is a fun element as is the movie cut scenes which detail how the date is proceeding.

– With the character designs, I think the developers were going for the sims/urbs look; which isn’t an impossible to understand choice. I think this has a better chance to hit that audience than Sprung did, and then perhaps. just perhaps, a few may want to follow the path further.

– The extremely limited amount of time you have to interact with the other students is a detraction, given that likely one of your talking to targets will be the person you are dating, limits interactions more.

 -- I have been noticing more things that obviously are tied together based on stats (getting more from jobs for example).
#27

Glad to see it’s just not me, and the game is actually entertaining to someone else. I thought I was getting hardup for full English b-gaming. :wink:

  • I take back about what I said on the limited wardrobe. As you amass more money, and as time passes on, more stuff that you can buy becomes available.

  • The repeating conversations, is because there’s no “flag” in the game engine to denote if you’ve had it already. If the release of the title was rushed or unfinished (and it seems so according to one dev person), then this would explain the lack of something to stop it.

  • Some characters have better development than others. It’s not equal. So one person might have an entertaining background, while another just makes you yawn: of course personal faves affect that too (i.e. you hate goths but like tomboys).

  • I’m running into more “cultural references” now that I know how to play the game. There’s a nerd girl who is like Napoleon Dynamite… only female and not bad looking. :wink:

#28

I guess he’d be willing to talk about the game; but I can’t interview him without having played it myself (not to mention I don’t own a PSP). Well, I can but the interview wouldn’t be any good. I can also try asking one of the other guys from the PSP site; but if you want to conduct the interview on our behalf though I believe our sister site would be all for it. I don’t think the other guys are familiar with bishoujo titles anyways. PM me if interested and I’ll look into it.

#29

Thank you for the honor, but I really can’t. :frowning:
Too busy with other commitments… and Ayyo would kill me through the Internet.

I’ve got enough death threats for being late with things. :stuck_out_tongue:

#30

Wow I didn’t know people here could be so ignorant, unless they’re joking about the DS = success and PSP = wanting to fail. I own both systems and that game. In my opinion the PSP is better for these types of games. It has a bigger/better quality screen to see H pics (or video). Unless you tilted the DS sideways to get a wider screen, which, for a game like that, is very unappealing. Not that any of this matters, it’s just that comments like “this just WANTS to fail” annoy me, because its false and it isn’t even funny, not even stupid funny. It’s just ridiculous. The game is eh, not bad but not good either. You either freeroam a small school or your room. It would be better if it was like Leisure Suit Larry where that had a full school and other places. Other than that it’s actually entertaining, especially the music.

[ 06-17-2007, 03:07 AM: Message edited by: DetectiveConan ]

#31

Hmmm… so I guess that’s three out of three b-game vets who have a PSP and this game, and find it entertaining.

Brooktown High must be alright then. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT
I agree with you DetectiveConan, about the PSP being superior to the DS in the b-game department. I’ve strongly indicated as such in many threads - the Princess Maker most recently.

However the DS has a larger market share, and is more common for the notion of “experimental games” (b-games are still considered experimental for mainstream America) .

[ 06-17-2007, 08:29 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#32

Believe what you want, I really don’t care if you think it’s funny or I’m ignorant or whatever. Though you do make a good point about the screen, I’m not really interested in playing any B-games on a portable system.

[ 06-17-2007, 10:38 AM: Message edited by: Billybob ]

#33

Game made the news two days ago:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19102721

A woman wrote the article. Not all that significant in of itself, but it does have a factor in view points I suppose.

That and she’s not a b-game vet. :stuck_out_tongue:

[ 06-17-2007, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#34

Yea. But if this is the future of b-game ports to the US i’m not for it.

#35

The way you’re reviewing it, it may have similarities with Tokimemo, but not even one point with SentiGra… There’s no stats in SentiGra, for instance; nor are you studying in school, nor use your money to buy clothes, presents or the like.

And, of course,

That’s the main difference between games aimed at Japanese people and US people, I think: Japanese people focus on the characters, their personality and personal story when US people focus on the gimmickry and gameplay. As it was said about the failure of MGS2:
US fan: “The game is not good: there’s too much talking between two combats!”
Japanese fan: “The game is not good: there are two many combats between not enough plot advancement talking!”

OTOH, I didn’t play the game, so my comments are to be taken with a grain of salt.

[ 06-18-2007, 06:08 AM: Message edited by: OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol ]

#36

I don’t think of it as the future, but a beginning. The developers of the game openly state things went wrong during development, and Brooktown was supposed to be more… I’ve seen some hint it was supposed to have wider story arcs. Rather than let all their hard work go into development hell and never see the light of day, they released it in a more limited fashion. Sad… but something is better than nothing I suppose.

In any event, if Brooktown sells and Konami wants to make a follow up to it, perhaps they’ll let the dev team take more time to polish and finish everything - since it seems it was Konami that rushed everything to begin with.

Oh… and here’s an in-depth non b-gamer review to the game, that’s actually pretty positive. :slight_smile:

http://www.hmtk.com/archives/psp-review-brooktown-high.html

I wish I knew the sales to this game… I’m hoping it’s doing well…

#37

Not always: I’m among the people who think negative advertisement can kill novelty rather than support it.

#38

True. But you also have to look at it from a dev point of view as well: especially from the parent and/or distribution company.

When time and effort (i.e. money) is spent on the production of a title, and nothing comes from it, there’s a lot - and I mean a lot – of bad blood. While the development studio may not necessarily lose it’s standing with the distributor, the distributor may not be willing to take as many risks or try out new ideas from the dev studio anymore.

It also causes a distributor – especially one such a Konami experimenting with dating games in the West – to abandon their interests in doing so again.

Yes gamers have to buy a game to make is successful, but dev groups have to make the game and have it sold to even let gamers enter the equation. That Brooktown has made some “dents” is a good thing, since it might stir greater interest in the genre.

Had Brooktown failed and never seen the light of day, Konami would have been more inclined to just shelve Western b-games for good. And so far, as far console gaming goes, Konami is one of the few big dogs who actually have keep interest in the whole damn thing.

EDIT
In any event, Brooktown is not a terrible title. It’s not perfect, but given how the PSP doesn’t exactly have the greatest library selection on Earth, the title seems to rank average everywhere.

As I’ve said before, most negative reviewers aren’t familiar with dating games - thus it reflects in their opinion of it. From the dozen or so b-gamers I’ve spoken to and have this game; their assessment is much higher.

Brooktown is worth the cash if you own a PSP - but not worth actually buying a PSP for.

I only got a PSP because I’m a Castlevania nut and I want the Rondo of Blood remake. :stuck_out_tongue:

[ 06-18-2007, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#39

Well a better story would help, and less repitition, but I don’t care for the graphics at all. I just can’t stand the graphics and over-americainzation…and that’s a lot coming from a guy who doesn’t care for eye-candy and whatnot.

#40

Well a graphic change I can agree with – although I must admit that I’ve kinda grown to like them over time. :stuck_out_tongue:

As for the Americanization… well… it depends on what the target market is.

Even in Japan, b-gamers are mostly a niche market. Yes there’s a few major hits here and there, but compared to the sales for something like a new Pokemon or Zelda – well… there’s quite a difference.

Now if you’re releasing a Western b-game targeted for the “mainstream” (like EA Games and Square Enix typically target towards) – then you’re going to need that Americanization thing to sell it to the masses.

However if you’re releasing a Western b-game targeted for the “niche” (like NIS America or Atlus target towards)– then keeping away from Americanization is a good thing.

Brooktown High is aimed at the mainstream, since if Konami wanted to target the niche dating market, they would have simply ported one of their own Japanese titles. I assume Backbone bore a significant amount of the… err… backbone to get this title out.

EDIT
Niche in the later part of my post, meaning we b-game purists - and mainstream being… well… the mainstream. :stuck_out_tongue:

[ 06-18-2007, 04:44 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]