The nostalgia for Desperados is off the charts up in here. I think most people need to try to play it again. While it is a very good game with some truly unique stuff it suffers from serious pacing issues, an interface from hell and the fact that Kate is broken and you really have to restrain using her.
I've finished replaying Desperados (non-lethal style for 23 missions, I haven't even used dynamite this time which I thought would be impossible, almost no guns too, had to use bullets in level 19 and next ones to lure enemies, had to start using guns for killing in 24th mission though when facing Demonios behind curtains) and all I can say is that it's not nostalgia. It is
BY FAR the best tactical game in history and Shadow Tactics pales in comparison. I also don't understand how could anyone be bothered by the interface, once you remember shortcut keys it becomes super easy. The buttons are smaller than the ones in ST but that's because it's a game from year 2001. Anyway, there were more varied opponents, some gradation of them which was both cool and logical (the closer you got to El Diablo the better men he had). In ST you see all the opponents during the first mission and use the same tricks over and over, especially when dealing with samurai which only Mugen can kill without problems (and Takuma with a bomb). In Desperados there were tougher opponents but you could gang up on them and defeat them that way, here you can do it one way only with the others.
Anyway, the missions were also more varied (e.g. when you were forced to not kill anyone or when you had to play two factions against each other or when you robbed a bank) and MUCH more interesting. They're also shorter and I was never bored or tired, on the other hand ST levels are sometimes too big IMO. Also the plot was better and missions were more fluid/uninterrupted (there were no cuts, no timeskips). And cowboys > samurai (and I'm saying that as Gintama/Samurai Champloo fan).
Oh, and in Desperados there was also a chance to use a cart in silver mines (besides chandelier) to kill opponents so "accidental deaths" was nothing new and I recommend replaying that game because it seems to me you're the ones who compare a game you don't remember too well.
I like how this game has different quote sets for the characters depending on map/weather.
Regarding the weather, in Desperados you couldn't light dynamite and Kate couldn't use her mirror but in ST Takuma can use his bombs no problem. There was no chance to check whether Aiko's powder would work during rain though.
Also lol @ "less characters", when the 6th character in Desperados you get for, what, the last 3 missions?
That 6th character appears in 17th mission so 8 missions before the end and you can play as her in 5 missions which is almost 40% of the amount of missions in ST
. Anyway, it is significant advantage when comparing the two titles, I wish I had another character to play with even for the last mission, it would always bring some freshness to the game. And when you were comparing these two games you said that insanity dart is the only unique thing that's missing which is far from the truth. Every character had some perks unique only to him/her. JC could instantly perform 3 shots, could climb, saddle horses or cut the saddles; Kate could sneak upon others, could light up gun powder with her mirror and act as a beautfiul spy. I won't bother listing the rest but suffice to say that contrary to ST every character in Desperados played differently and offered different tactical options making the missions much more varied if needed. In ST most characters had practically the same weapons and didn't differ that much, in Desperados, even discounting their special abilities/perks unique only to them they also had different guns with different advantages and disadvantages. In ST a blade's a blade and kills exactly the same whether it's a hairpin, a knife or a katana (and it's the only way to kill a samurai for the three characters, they can't gang up on him or use a shuriken). In Desperados range mattered much more.
The good news in all this is that ST has lots of room for improvement. Desperados is a 10/10 game while ST is maybe 7 or 7.5/10 game (I love the detailed statistics, Desperados only had time count, Japanese dubbing is also great, as for vertical movement, it is a nice addition but the way levels were set up it was necessary to use them and not an optional skill so levels were more linear compared to Desperados ones, plus you could jump out of window/balcony if there was a horse) and here are ways to change that:
- weather should be more impactful like in Desperados (e.g. Takuma's bombs shouldn't work during heavy rain, maybe they could work if you could get into a building and light it up)
- enemies should be more varied and don't let us see everyone in the first level
- vertical movement should be more optional adding a bit more non-linearity to the levels
- characters should have more unique abilities even if it's not too realistic (e.g. only Cooper can saddle horses and only JC and Sanchez can carry bodies and only Doc can heal or awaken KOed allies by using smelling salts)
- some more modes of transport would be appreciated (horses added much more tactical options than carts in ST)
- ganging up on someone should be possible and selecting all or only the chosen ones should be possible (in Desperados we can do that by clicking while holding shift, selecting all is using A button as a default)
- allow non-lethal way to finish all or almost all missions, as it is now it's impossible mainly because of samurais (often it's impossible to sneak past them)
- add more varied missions and make them shorter instead, short tutorial missions to show new abilities of others would also be appreciated
- nerf character like Aiko and balance them better
- add range of an attack as a more significant factor, killing with a hairpin should be in point blank range only but with a katana the distance should be bigger (it was like that in Desperados, Sanchez with his whirlwind had higher range than Cooper with his fists)
- for the next game change setting, wild west wouldn't be a bad idea ;P
There are more things to add, that is how polished and great Desperados is. Hopefully ST will sell well and we'll see a much, much better sequel that will bring it closer to perfection (i.e. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive).
. Give us a setting that hasn't already been done in this genre.
