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[Molly Renata]

In classic fashion, I accidentally got myself into a game series which would be considered older by today's standards. Also in classic fashion, it's based around one of my more obscure interests (medical stuff).

To summarize, for those of you who don't know about this series: Trauma Center is basically Ace Attorney, except with surgeons instead of lawyers. Most of the game plays in a visual novel-like fashion, with intermittent surgical procedures that serve as actual "gameplay". The realism of these operations is dumbed-down (perhaps for playability's sake), and in every single one of the games, the plot goes seriously off the rails at some point - it starts with a newbie doctor who just finished his residency, and then things go very, very wrong. (Or right, depending on your perspective.)

For those of you who do know about this series: hi there, did you learn about this series because it's made by Atlus?

[Il Palazzo]

Never played it, but I did watch a let's play done by GameGrumps (well, a good chunk of its 50 videos), which provided the much-needed irreverent commentary to all the crazy that was going on in the plot.

[Molly Renata]

Never played it, but I did watch a let's play done by GameGrumps (well, a good chunk of its 50 videos), which provided the much-needed irreverent commentary to all the crazy that was going on in the plot.

The sad thing is, that LP is pretty much spot-on in a lot of regards. It really is that crazy. XD

[Aklyon]

Theres also a different lp on the lparchive site (four of them now apparently, but I've only actually seen the linked one), but yeah. Atlus continues to make games with magic in them, even if said magic is one an s-ranker never uses outside of plot against evil doom viruses of doom. With extra doom at the end.

Myself, I actually found out about the game first while looking for interesting ds games, and then found out atlus made it afterwards. And then went and tried the second one on an emulator, because the first is too bloody hard and I haven't finished it.

[Molly Renata]

Theres also a different lp on the lparchive site (four of them now apparently, but I've only actually seen the linked one), but yeah. Atlus continues to make games with magic in them, even if said magic is one an s-ranker never uses outside of plot against evil doom viruses of doom. With extra doom at the end.

Myself, I actually found out about the game first while looking for interesting ds games, and then found out atlus made it afterwards. And then went and tried the second one on an emulator, because the first is too bloody hard and I haven't finished it.

Dear lord, don't get me started on the original Under the Knife. It is the most bullshit ridiculous game I've ever played, and that's saying something. I have actually beaten it (once), but it was a struggle and I still have no idea how I managed to pull it off.

The other games (there are five total) aren't anywhere near as stupid hard, although UtK2 does get pretty tough near the end (even if you're playing on Easy). I've actually gotten several XS ranks in UtK2 (only available on Hard, rank requirements are stricter than for S rank).

...then again, most of this is probably entirely because I've been playing the game waaay too much lately...

[Ozyton]

I remember playing Trauma Center for the Wii. I didn't play for long, since I couldn't get past the level you were introduced to Healing Touch because I could never ever ever get the Wii to recognize me drawing a 5-point star. I did see LPs of the whole series, and the last one (Trauma Team?) looked really cool. I heard that we're never going to see any more games in this series, which is a shame.

There's a more realistic game for DOS called "Life & Death", but every video I've seen of people playing involves them screwing around with/killing patients. I've never seen any go through a successful surgery, and most end up screwing up early by drawing smiley faces and hearts with the scalpel.

EDIT: Nevermind, just found some MLG pro run here but unfortunately there's no commentary. I wonder if there's one for the brain surgery...

[ChairmanPoo]

... you know, I've seen appendix removals, and they're not that gory... 

[Gabeux]

I never owned a DS but played one of the Trauma Center games in my father's DS (go figure) years ago. I think I may have finished it, if the ending involved:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Removing dozens of pieces of glass from a patients' heart.

It was more fun than I thought it would be, and I have no interest in medical stuff/surgery, in games or otherwise.
Would probably recommend trying it out to anyone who owns a DS.

EDIT: I'm so knowledgeable about DS games! That mission I mentioned is just the ~6th one in a game with 30+ missions. Derp.

[Aklyon]

If it doesn't involve shenanigans and rather different music, its not near the end

[Molly Renata]

I remember playing Trauma Center for the Wii. I didn't play for long, since I couldn't get past the level you were introduced to Healing Touch because I could never ever ever get the Wii to recognize me drawing a 5-point star. I did see LPs of the whole series, and the last one (Trauma Team?) looked really cool. I heard that we're never going to see any more games in this series, which is a shame.

There's a more realistic game for DOS called "Life & Death", but every video I've seen of people playing involves them screwing around with/killing patients. I've never seen any go through a successful surgery, and most end up screwing up early by drawing smiley faces and hearts with the scalpel.

EDIT: Nevermind, just found some MLG pro run here but unfortunately there's no commentary. I wonder if there's one for the brain surgery...

For what it means, I have trouble using the Healing Touch in the Wii games too, and I've beaten all of them...

I may be a little biased, but I do think that Trauma Team is probably the best game in the series. It doesn't have the Healing Touch mechanic, but it does have 6 different gameplay modes (one for each protagonist), and the most absolutely batshit plot I've seen in a long time. It's also significantly easier than the other games - most operations have no time limit, and on the lowest difficulty setting (Intern), if you get a game over at any point during an operation, you can pick back up right where you left off (as opposed to having to do the whole thing all over again). Playing for rank still poses some challenges, and - again - XS rank is only achievable on the highest difficulty setting (Specialist), which you have to clear the game to unlock. (I have exactly one XS rank in Trauma Team. It's for the very first operation.)

...And yeah, I've heard of that DOS game before, though I'm not sure if I want to actually try it. I'll stick with the silly anime games

[miauw62]

You should really really watch all the videos in that full S-rank LP, by the way. It's completely ridiculous.

[Sirus]

Ah, Trauma Center. Possibly my favorite game for the Wii (never tried it on the DS).

[Trapezohedron]

IIRC the first trauma center DS game (under the knife) valued accuracy more than under the knife 2, which valued speed over accuracy.

incidentally, the 2nd game is the much easier game. The 1st has sections where it's flat-out broken. Also, fucking triti.

[Molly Renata]

IIRC the first trauma center DS game (under the knife) valued accuracy more than under the knife 2, which valued speed over accuracy.

incidentally, the 2nd game is the much easier game. The 1st has sections where it's flat-out broken. Also, fucking triti.

...you know, everyone talks about how horrible Triti is, but it's actually doable for me :V Still obnoxious, but nowhere near the level of Pempti or Paraskevi. (Hoooly shit, Pempti.)

And UtK2 can be pretty tough at times, too. I do consider Aletheia the hardest final boss in the series.

[Vattic]

Played and enjoyed the first. One of the better uses of touch screen and stylus.

Didn't get it because Atlas, but might have been one of the things that made me notice them.