>>22713555
Game looks great but combat feels spammy after a while. English dub is horrible, not worth playing if you can't play the JP version.

It's fantastic and occasionally pretty horrid. It relies heavily on the PS2s weird architecture for transparency and particle effects like a lot of other cool games, and it uses them a lot, and it tanks the performance on anything else.
I think the game itself is great but it's got too many gimmick segments. It feels like you just start getting into the rhythm of some normal fights and then it's like "fuck you do this sliding block puzzle, underwater escort mission, chacha real smooth or fucking die". The bit with the boss that attacks itself followed by a timed escort carry segment almost filters me every time. I still love it a lot.

>>22713578
What about the PS4/Steam version ?

I'm the guy who was trying to emmulate it in the other thread. Turns out my GPU is dying and I literally can't run anything so disregard what I said about it

>>22713630
PS4 version runs excellent.

>>22714350
It's arguably the best version of ZoE2 with all the extra content and even it being fully playable in VR cockpit mode. PC version has a few glitches though they seem to occurs at random from people to people. PS4 version has no glitches from what I know.

Such a shame it sold badly, the original director of ZoE1 Okamura directly said he wanted to do a ZoE3 after if it did well enough... Since he's now handling Metal Gear, I hope MGSdelta will do well, perhaps it will boost the ZoE3 effort again

>>22713565
>Game looks great but combat feels spammy after a while
I agree, it's still a pretty good mecha character action game.

>>22713555
Skip Zone of the Enders 1. It's criminally short and the controls are awful.

The second game is big improvement, but still not a great game. Good presentation, not so great gameplay.

>>22713555
you will never think about hijacking a raptor
you will assume you can win

One word: OVERRATED.

>>22717085
Another word: NIGGER.

>>22714427
Don't listen to this guy. ZoE 1 is still worthwhile to play. Plus ZoE2 is made even more enjoyable when you get to experiences the payoffs setup in ZoE1

>>22714362
>Such a shame it sold badly, the original director of ZoE1 Okamura directly said he wanted to do a ZoE3 after if it did well enough
The terrible performance of the original HD port on the PS3/360 killed any chance of it selling well. Word travelled fast about the performance from Amazon Japan reviews to the west, and everybody interested swerved the collection.

>>22713555
It is ok, you can beat both games in a weekend. Has some cool moments and designs, makes me wish they did something else with the IP besides the GBA game

>>22714427
>>22717274
>Skip Zone of the Enders 1. It's criminally short and the controls are awful.

The controls and core combat are pretty much 1:1 identical between the two games. Since both games are short, I always play them back to back, and there's little difference between the core controls in the two (changes are mostly subtle things like sub weapons getting expanded in the sequel, stuff like clashes and bursts getting tweaked a bit, etc.)

I love the combat in both games. I don't think there's any other vidya that feels so speedy while also being simple and fun and arcade-y. It's not the deepest shit, but it feels fucking good and there's nothing else like it.

>>22714427
>skip it

The fact it's so short is all the more reason to play it. Nevermind that they're BOTH short. You can beat both in an evening.

>>22713578
Agreed. Additionally, I think 2 kinda lacks in narrative compared to 2; I like Dingo, but there isn't really any kind of arc. 1 is a really nice microcosm of a mecha anime, with Leo and ADA bonding.

>>22713555
I'd emulate 1 and simply play MARS for 2.

>>22723286
Also 1 has really fantastic atmosphere, the very dark electronic music and a lot of subtle "constructed world" elements of the space station give this really ominous view of a quiet peaceful place that could come screaming apart into the void of space at any moment.

I also think in some ways Zoe1 feels a little more challenging to play than Zoe2. Zoe1 individual enemies feel tougher and more unpredictable to fight solo, while in Zoe2 they feel a lot dumber but they attack you in greater mobs (which you are intended to rip apart with the mega buffed sub weapons). Also while I really love the spectacle of Zoe2's final battle, the last Viola fights in Zoe1 are way more intense and challenging imo.

>>22723345
Also while I'm on a tangent, one thing that bugs me about both games is that giant orbital frame battles in Zoe1 kinda suck: they have cool attacks that are fun to dodge but are RUINED by being unable to melee them and having to plink them to death.

Then finally they figured out how to make the giant battles fun in 2 by letting you melee, and so you have Zakat who is straight up one of the best boss fights in all of video games...

...but he's the only giant boss in the game. fuck.

>>22723349
ZoE1's only good boss is Viola but then they made her the worst boss in every rematch in 2 for some reason

>>22713555
A hell of a lot better than Gundam Vs. Z Gundam. I am emulating ZOE 1 on a low end laptop with no gpu, it works fine

i've unfortunately only played like half of ZoE2 but i love both games' soundtracks, intros, endings, etc. goosebumps-inducing stuff.

highly atmospheric, great experiences i reckon (both games) though parts of the gameplay can get tedious (puzzles, bs missions). i would've played them long ago if i had motivation for gaming. i'm 90% they'll be some of my fav games

>>22723286
I think an undub would help both a lot. ZOE1 just gets too many complaints about a whiny protag, and 2 is a lot better but still very stilted and weird.

>>22717331
Which is a fucking shame because MARS was a damn good remaster unlike HD
>>22723286
I think 2 feels different due to the lack of Noriaki Okamura, who was a very strong willed director and had a big plan. Enough to have told Kojima to kinda fuck off in a respectful way, and Kojima respected that. Kojima had zero influence on ZoE1´s design and story
But Okamura was forced to leave. The new director/writer Murata wasn’t as strong willed even if very talented. he barely used the OG plan of Okamura and was much more open to include suggestions of Kojima, for better and worse (it’s why it had almost an entirely new cast as an example. OG plan of Okamura kept Leo and his friends. But Kojima hated Leo with all his guts because «a pilot being a kid is a stupid concept» in his views»)
Fun fact : the original concept of ZoE2 is teased in the GBA spin off. As Okamura still worked on it
Other reason is lack of Sunrise who had a big role on ZoE1 and all entry beside 2

Since Okamura got quite big at Konami as he’s handling MG now. I’d love him to revive his idea of ZoE2 (though he himself still love the game we got) or revive the ZoE prototype of before Kojima helping him (Mechas were not by Shinkawa and more Gundam-like, Only LEVS, and the tone seem a bit similar to ZZ)

>>22723225
>but it feels fucking good and there's nothing else like it.
This, I'm not sure what people wanted out of the game. It's so satisfying to smash enemies into walls and shit, and the explosions are some of the best I've seen in a game.
Just simple arcadey fun

>>22723430
I wish 2 didn't go so hard on the gimmicks. It almost feels like it doesn't have confidence in its core gameplay, because it's constantly trying to distract you from it, even in the boss fights which tend to be super gimmicky.

>>22723469
There IS an undub patch for Zoe1 that restores JP voices with subtitles. It's on CDRomance.

>>22713555
1st game is kinda meh.
2nd got improved to the point it's genuinely fun.

>>22724508
>I wish 2 didn't go so hard on the gimmicks. It almost feels like it doesn't have confidence in its core gameplay, because it's constantly trying to distract you from it, even in the boss fights which tend to be super gimmicky.

the combat is amazing but every other level is "that level" that makes you not want to replay the game

>>22723469
The undubs help, though the problem with 2 has less to do with delivery and more just a focused plot. 2 throws around a bunch of lofty stuff like the Will of Metatron and Human Evolution, and never really bothers to establish anything beyond hoping you'll take its word for it.

I will say though, I think ADA's English voice is better. The flat, mature voice just feels much more fitting than the girlish voice of the original.

>>22713555
Honestly the only part that I hated was the fight where you had to protect everyone. You get filtered hard with the control scheme although maybe the PC and PS4 versions are better.

Everytime Viola says, "I'M COMING!" in that fight sequence I had to stop and laugh because it comes off as hentai-esque

the new update for pcsx2 made it playable now through emulation

>>22713555
first one is jank, 2nd one is awesome. I heard the handheld (gba?) one was decent

>>22724508
>even in the boss fights which tend to be super gimmicky.

Yeah, it's really annoying how the game really never wants you to fight a boss straight up, there's always some silly thing you have to do to actually get hits in. The Anubis fights are easily my favourites in 2 because you actually just, fight the thing.

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>>22714427 1 feels like an extended tutorial/ prologue for part 2. I always hoped that if they remade it that they'd be combined, with part 1 shortened.

>Get to the end of zoe2
>Nohman gives his "destruction to end all" speech
> That voice sounds familiar
> Credits
> Nohman- Roger L Jackson
>Pic related


I am morbidly curious what kind of shit show happened with the dub. I'm not sure about the other English vas but that motherfucker knows how to emote.

>>22729497
Okamura, the original director/writer of ZoE1, wanted to make a remake/enhanced remaster of the game. But ZoE2MARS sales in 2018 were abyssal. So this plan died for now.

As for the English dub, fun fact : the original dev team extremely loved it.

>>22713555
Yes but you will live a life yearning for more ZoE afterward.

>>22729501
>the original dev team extremely loved it
tbf I've heard this a few times about different series and it turned out what actually happened is they heard it at a convention or something and said "yeah that's cool man".

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>>22730417
Some staff actually were there in the recording booth