What made MNOG (and MNOG 2) Good?

LEGO BIONICLE
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#1

The title pretty much says it all. What made MNOG so great? I mean you always here people harping about how amazing it it is, but they are usually not specific. Also, even though it ended up the lesser game, MNOG’s ill fated sequel has some good in it to. tell me about that. also, take off the nostalgia glasses and tell me both games short comings. Also, it should be noted that there is a reason for this survey that involves development of a game.
Here is a teaser for said game.

WIN_20151208_10_01_21_Pro.jpg1920×1080 208 KB

(It should be noted that all of the game’s art and design will be hand drawn like this)
Tell me what you think of this first teaser!
Also theorize based on this extremely small amount of vague information (It seems like there is plenty of that on the message boards already anyway.)
Ps. Despite the moc tag, there are currently no mocs on this topic.
Sorry.

4 Likes
#2
  • The ability to explore a seemingly infitite amount of space
  • The mysteriousness and ambiguity of your surroundings that make you want to explore
  • The music (mesmerizing mix of techy and tribal/cultural music)
  • The ability to be truly involved in a virtual community; such as Hahli running various errands in MNOG 2
  • Wide variety of characters, each with different quirky personalities (being able to actually interact with them is a plus)
  • Choice. You are not bound by one specific mission, and you can choose in a variety of different activities that may or may not affect the outcome of the story.
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#3

I never really played the original, but there is one thing that makes MNOG II great.

That one thing is:

  • The infinite collection of Seaweed and Cowrie Shells.

…

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#4

@Rockho Thanks for the feed back!

I hope you are being fesicius.
Other wise, go get your head examined.

Edited for Double Post - Slime
Hello darkbrick. Please give this topic a read.

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#6

I have some great childhood memories, of doing that again and again.

Even just a few months ago, I booted up the game and did that, for several hours…

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#7

No offence.

Sorry, it’s just that to me it seems like a bunch of boring fetch quests.
To each his own, I suppose.

Edited for Double Post - Slime
Ahem.

Wait a minute- I get that I’ve been accused o double post before and rightfully so, but why was that a double post? The no offence was actually for the above comment, so it should have been edited there. Also is what I just did what your supposed to do or am I still failing.

#9

A double-post is any two consecutive posts made by the same user.

Before Slime edited your last double post, what showed up was something like this:

Post 1:

Post 2:

Since both posts were made by you, it was a double post.

And yes, if you want to add something but you’re the last person to post in a topic, you’re supposed to edit it–so good job, you’re getting the hang of it. :slight_smile:

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me or the other mods–let’s get back on topic here now. XD

Heck, I’ll get on topic myself…

I think @Rockho pretty much nailed it. I’d also add the excellent sound design (more than just the music, the ambient sounds as well) which adds to the distinctiveness of each environment, as well as the worldbuilding elements (always a strong point with Bionicle). There was also some very well-written dialogue with some really memorable quotes–“In creation, there is destruction. In destruction, there is rebirth. There is no such thing as void; all thing are in flux.” “Where wisdom and valor fail, all that remains is faith. And it can overcome all.” “You cannot defeat me, for I am Nothing.” Etc.

1 Like
#10

Fair enough about the double post, and extremely good points about why MNOG if so great, but maybe try to think of some cons with the game. After all, no game is perfect, and (Prepare for epic quote here) if something borrows all things from another thing, it will only become as good as the original thing. If it gathers only the good things from the thing it may surpass it.
Hm. That sounded more epic in my head.

3 Likes
#11

(Was writing this before you posted. XD )
Ohhh, also, it’s really clever with the way it involves the player character in the story. Since Takua has amnesia, it makes sense in-universe that he doesn’t know anything and has to ask tons of questions–but it also makes sense that people accept him, because they know who he is more or less. A lot of games, especially from that time period, will have the player character ask questions they should really know the answer to in-universe (MNOG II is guilty of this), or will have the PC be an foreigner who people wouldn’t realistically answer tons of questions for. So MNOG’s way of making all that makes sense within the game itself is really good writing/design.

The minigames could definitely be better. They’re super hard to get the hang of initially, but become super-easy once you do learn how to beat them. Something that’s accessible but also has more replay value would be preferable.

I’m sure there are more, but that’s the main one that comes to mind right now, at least as far as the first game goes. :stuck_out_tongue: The second game has even worse minigames that make you grind forever, and the overall plot is also less interesting–there’s not much of the mystery-solving and epic questing the first games has. It’s better as an open-world, though.

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#12

We plan on having a battle system in stead of mini games to avoid this. Also, that thing about the questions making sence in universe is a good point. We’ll have to try to avoid that trap.
Thanks!

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#13

MNOG2 was good?

#14

It was better than ET, so it wasn’t the worst game ever.

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#15

Thats was a weird, out of place, bad comparison.

#16

Weird, yes, out of place, most definitely, and possibly a bad comparison as well, but it is undeniably true.

#17

Character, personality, and world building.

#18

IMO yes, it was better than MNOG in terms of design, interactivity and scale. It was the somewhat lackluster story and obligatory Kohli matches that kinda ruined it.

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#19

Personally, I think that it could have been good even with those fallts, it is just that the rest of the game wasn’t good enough to make up for them. For example, look at Mario- Its story is crap, and it has some lackluster elaments besides, but it is still fun. I wish MNOG 2 had been more like this.

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#20

A) the open world
B) the AMAZING artwork

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#21

A good blend of tribal and mechanical culture with great worldbuilding and cute/funny characters.

The mystery was a definite plus too, and so was the atmosphere.

Its level of animation and detail were somehow superior to the 2015 animations, yet its backgrounds weren’t.

1 Like
#22

This

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