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ADVENTURES OF MR BIG T PART IV
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By MR BIG T
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I've finished this four times now, which is four more times than I finish most things I review. Not necessarily because I
liked it and I want to do it again (though I do), but because of the sheer number of multiple paths it's possible to take -
not little things like "you can go around the mountain or through the cave"; this is essentially half a dozen smaller
RPGs that branch off from the same beginning. It *is* possible to plow through the game in about 10 minutes, but that's kind
of missing the point.
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PRESENTATION
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Graphics
They're on par with most RM2k games, but the sheer variety of stuff is enormous, with individual chipsets only used for one
or two maps total. The maps themselves are quite small, but there are tons of them packed really tightly into the
game's world, so there's no pointless treks over repeating tiles in order to get anywhere. There are a lot of rips, but
they're used for cameos and jokes, so it's not like Celes will suddenly join the party. There are a few pictures thrown in
the cutscenes to make things more interesting, and they're well drawn. The monsters are fairly eclectic. Actually, the
monsters are fucking insane. The most normal is an eyeball with arms and legs. Then you can beat up Shinji, who just screams
and cries instead of defending himself. One of the possible final bosses is a bright green pudgy severed head with badly-
drawn MSPaint horns. Also, Ozzy Osbourne. Now, none of this exactly looks great on its own, but the sheer amount of different
things there are to see takes the score up.
Music & Sound Effects
One Hundred And Sixty. That's how many midi files are in the game all up, and I'm pretty sure they're all used at some
point. Every map has its own unique music, the non-random battles have their own unique music, cutscenes have their own
unique music (often several tracks), and even a few houses and shops have their own unique music. There are a few remixes of
known tunes, and the only outright rips are bizarre things like the theme from Ducktales. The problem, though, is that
this means the music is never cohesive. The remixed Mario Brothers music makes it worth the download on its own, though.
Originality
Like I said about the Graphics and Music, there's just so much going on in this game that it wins out due to the law of
averages. Are there rips in here? Yeah, there's even one of Cloud, in place of a character who isn't meant to be Cloud. But
there's also a bizarre edited Mario sprite, a pudgy severed head and an eyeball with teeth in its hands.
Extra stuff
Every time you play actually is a different experience.
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STORYLINE & CHARACTERS
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Storyline
What's good about Big T 4's storyline is that the game doesn't control what happens - it has a beginning, but, from there on
in, you can just do whatever you feel like and make up the story as you go along. You can, for example, help some mercenaries
kill Mario, then dump your girlfriend for one of the mercenaries, then end up dying in the end sequence. Or, you can head
straight to the evil scientist's lair, but, depending on what choices you make, you can end up killing your own party. Or,
you can stop your quest and just end the game without having accomplished anything. Or...
What makes it work well is that this isn't a case of being forced to make a choice by the game at a certain moment, and then
having to follow that path throughout - you can (most of the time, at least) totally abandon your current path and take up a
new one without much fuss. And they aren't simply variations on the same storyline, either: Each time you start a game, it
can turn out totally and utterly different to the last time.
The storylines themselves are OK. They're more interesting than most RPG plots by virtue of weirdness alone, but they're
short and don't really develop beyond going to X to get revenge on Y. However, I don't know if you could construct anything
relatively complex without sacrificing the way the game is set up, and individual stories are hardly the point anyway.
Characters
There are a lot of returning characters from the earlier games here, and it helps to have a context for them, even though it
isn't required. What I'm noticing about the Big T games is that they're moving away from the structure of self-contained
games that exist on their own, and becoming more like episodes of a sit-com. So, all the characters have their own broad
personalities, and the conflict and humour is generated by the characters remaining true to their natures despite the
situation. The fact the cast consists of hermaphrodite nurses, talking severed heads and a sex-crazed dragon is also infinitely
more entertaining than a group of teenagers who discover they're the chosen ones.
Cut Scenes
It's pretty much all conversations with a bit of animation here and there. The use of pictures and branching dialogue
enlivens things beyond what could have been, but it's still mostly static. They're all short, to the point, and don't meander
like a lot of homemade RPGs, which is a big plus.
Originality
This is about as original and bizarre as you can get while still managing to tell a coherent story.
Script
There's less broken English than in previous games, but it's still extremely weird and irreverent. The strength, though, is
that all this dialogue is in character - the sophomoric humour isn't there for the sake of it; it's there because that's how
these people (or dragons, or severed heads) talk. A lot of other comedy games would just string together jokes in place of
dialogue, but this is a comedy game that uses dialogue which contains jokes.
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GAMEPLAY
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Event Programming
There's no custom systems, but a lot of smaller events and sidequests - easter eggs hidden around maps, there's a karate
tournament you can enter, most of the dungeons are based on (simplistic) puzzles rather than combat, and, of course, the
entire game branches off into new areas constantly. As far as I can tell, it doesn't bug.
Fun Factor
Big T 4 has more variety and freedom than most RPGs, as well as a lot of very individualistic humour and bizarre characters.
There isn't much to do in terms of combat or developing the characters, but the amount of stuff you're capable of doing
outside of combat more than makes up for it.
Combat
Outside of the Dojo fight and a few of the bosses, the combat is really easy and just involves using the same skills over and
over. This isn't really a combat-oriented game, though, and there's hardly any random encounters (especially compared to
other games), so it doesn't get frustrating or annoying.
Dungeons
In keeping with the rest of the game, they're puzzle / exploration oriented dungeons as opposed to slogs through linear
tunnels full of monsters. They're better than most dungeons, but they aren't really brilliant - however, the low number of
random encounters makes them much more enjoyable overall, allowing you to just focus on the puzzles.
Puzzles & Minigames
Lots of very simple ones, which, as anyone who played FF9 can tell you, is better than a single complicated one. They range
from simple math problems (the 2nd digit of the code is twice the 3rd digit, which is...) to electrified floors you must
avoid the dangerous spots of, to Zelda-like switch puzzles. Again, on their own, none of them would be extraordinary, but,
together, they make for a much more interesting experience than most.
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OVERALL
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This is, like Xenosaga, an RPG that is mostly concerned with its story and characters than it is with combat. Unlike
Xenosaga, however, they are developed quickly and you are given freedom to explore them at your will, as opposed to being
railroaded around hour-long cutscenes. This is much more of an adventure game that's been designed with an RPGmaker than it
is a 'real' RPG, and if you're after a traditional experience you'll be disappointed, but it's very original and, most
importantly, never boring.
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