Our new MMORPG.com Megaten Correspondent goes by the name Hushicho Phoenix and today submits this article discussing the game's minimap and its importance to understanding the new MMO.
One of the most crucial, yet most overlooked features in Megaten is its minimap. Newcomers to the world of Megaten often find themselves lost and disoriented, partially because the world in Megaten is based squarely in urban Japan; Home III, which is where play begins in earnest, is situated in Tokyo. Suginami, just outside of Home III's protective walls, is a ward of Tokyo. To a Japanese audience, the visual impact of a ruined Suginami is somewhat more than a Western audience not intimately familiar with the surroundings. But part of the experience of any game is to get into the mindset of the characters of the game, and so knowledge of the map feature is paramount. Even a Tokyo native can't be expected to know his way around a post-apocalyptic wasteland, even if it is where he presently lives!
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