Phew. I am still playing Final Fantasy XII. I am beginning to seriously doubt that this game is real. Perhaps I'm stuck in my own personal video game purgatory where I must do never ending hunting side-quests and travel almost exclusively on foot through an enormous world. Maybe this is my punishment for actually sort of liking Final Fantasy X-2.
Relax, I said sort of.
Anyway, I am making progress. I think I am starting to near the end because the plot is picking up. And, by 'picking up,' I mean where the story usually negins to fall apart because they are running out of game to properly develop the third act.
In completely unrelated news, I have numerous new additions to my collection. Part of me is psyched about this (because most of my new games are awesome), but my more rational half tells me that this just puts me deeper into my never-ending black hole of a backlog.
Who cares, bring on the awesomeness!
My newest additions:
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I was lucky enough to find this brand new and for super cheap at my local abandoned warehouse... um, I mean K-Mart. Seriously, didn't K-Mart declare bankruptcy, what a decade ago?
Carrier Aces. I picked this up on a whim at a sketchy basement used DVD/game store. After having tried it, I can firmly say that it sucks. I can also say that this is the kind of game that I would have deemed 'awesome' when I was eight, despite taking thirteen weekends worth of renting to finally get the hang of the control scheme.
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. I'm not very fond of fighting games. In fact, the last fighting game I really played a lot of was Killer Instinct. But, BlazBlue has all the right stuff to attract me to a game: kick ass art style, 2-D sprite based graphics, awesome backgrounds, enough of a story to keep it interesting, and lots of pretty explosions.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Hell yes. It's about time I rounded up a copy of this. I've wanted to play this ever since someone described it as being 'sort of like Super Metroid.' Anything that remotely resembles Metroid is cool by me. I can't wait to fire up this little beauty.
Demon's Souls. I've wanted this for a while now, but never enough to actually shell out the cash. Fortunately, the girlfriend paid attention to my longing gazes at Target and gave it to me for Valentine's Day. Score! I definitely think she got the raw end of the deal... I got her Scribblenauts.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XII – Part 2
Holy balls. Does this game ever end? It’s like the freaking NeverEnding Story, except this time, the Princess has a name and there isn’t a luck dragon.
Right now, I’m crushing through the 60 hour point and if I had to guess, I’d say I'm at the halfway point. Maybe the two-thirds point, but that’s pretty dang optimistic.
Part of the reason I have no idea how far along I am, stems from the plot not really increasing in tension. Oh, sure, political intrigue
can be awesome. I’m a huge fan of political thrillers. But, just because it’s political in nature doesn’t really mean that it’s mature or intellectual, or even good for that matter. If I want a Final Fantasy with some serious political intrigue, backstabbing, plotting, and manipulating, I’ll stick with Tactics (which also happens to be one of the best games of all time).
Anyway, the plot fails to build in tension largely due to the expansiveness of the game. The game gives you five minutes of plot and someone telling you where to go next. Five hours later, I finally get to the designated location, fight through a mine (or something equally generic), then get the next five minutes of plot.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sidequests and having cut my teeth on the original Final Fantasy, I don’t really mind grinding either. But, when I take off to do the available sidequests and it takes in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 hours to complete them. Now that’s bullshit!
Take hunting, for example. I like doing the hunting quests, they pit me against some stronger-than-average monsters and I sometimes get good loot from beating them. It gives a pretty satisfying sense of accomplishment. But, let’s look at the time required to finish each hunt.
First – Go to a bar and look at the bills for available hunts. After selecting one, it will direct you to talk to a specific person, who usually resides on the other side of the continent.
Second – Go talk to the person indicated and accept the hunt. They will give you a fairly obvious hint of where the monster can be found, if not its outright location. Oh, and in case you’ve played through the game before and know where the monster will be found, you still can’t skip this step: the monster won’t even appear until you’ve talked to the poster of the bill.
Third – Find the monster and beat it. Most of the time, this is fairly easy as all the running around and talking to people has a nice added bonus of leveling up your characters, but on rare occasion, there might be a tougher battle.
Fourth – Go back and talk to the person who posted the bill. Seriously!? I have to walk my ass all the way back there just to get my loot? I couldn’t just, I don't know, get it from the monster when it dies? Ridiculous.
Okay, I get it. It’s more realistic this way, kind of like getting loot from monsters instead of money. Yeah, I know a vulture shouldn’t drop a bunch of cash, but it sure beats the hell out of going to a store and spending several minutes selling all the random items I collected during my 30th circumnavigation of Ivalice. All I’m saying is that I would gladly sacrifice a bit of realism for a little bit more time economy.
Like I said, I like doing the side quests and roving all over Ivalice. The problem is that all this filler takes away any tiny bit of tension that the plot is trying to build.
Whatever. Back to it I guess, maybe I'm further along than I think.
Oh, and I totally know that I can teleport from the red save crystals. Doesn't help all that much though.
Fran, if Jim Henson had been in charge of character design
Right now, I’m crushing through the 60 hour point and if I had to guess, I’d say I'm at the halfway point. Maybe the two-thirds point, but that’s pretty dang optimistic.
Part of the reason I have no idea how far along I am, stems from the plot not really increasing in tension. Oh, sure, political intrigue
Want a sophisticated, complex plot? Don't forget to add a crappy translation to really bring it all together.
Anyway, the plot fails to build in tension largely due to the expansiveness of the game. The game gives you five minutes of plot and someone telling you where to go next. Five hours later, I finally get to the designated location, fight through a mine (or something equally generic), then get the next five minutes of plot.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sidequests and having cut my teeth on the original Final Fantasy, I don’t really mind grinding either. But, when I take off to do the available sidequests and it takes in the neighborhood of 5 to 10 hours to complete them. Now that’s bullshit!
Take hunting, for example. I like doing the hunting quests, they pit me against some stronger-than-average monsters and I sometimes get good loot from beating them. It gives a pretty satisfying sense of accomplishment. But, let’s look at the time required to finish each hunt.
First – Go to a bar and look at the bills for available hunts. After selecting one, it will direct you to talk to a specific person, who usually resides on the other side of the continent.
Second – Go talk to the person indicated and accept the hunt. They will give you a fairly obvious hint of where the monster can be found, if not its outright location. Oh, and in case you’ve played through the game before and know where the monster will be found, you still can’t skip this step: the monster won’t even appear until you’ve talked to the poster of the bill.
Third – Find the monster and beat it. Most of the time, this is fairly easy as all the running around and talking to people has a nice added bonus of leveling up your characters, but on rare occasion, there might be a tougher battle.
Fourth – Go back and talk to the person who posted the bill. Seriously!? I have to walk my ass all the way back there just to get my loot? I couldn’t just, I don't know, get it from the monster when it dies? Ridiculous.
Okay, I get it. It’s more realistic this way, kind of like getting loot from monsters instead of money. Yeah, I know a vulture shouldn’t drop a bunch of cash, but it sure beats the hell out of going to a store and spending several minutes selling all the random items I collected during my 30th circumnavigation of Ivalice. All I’m saying is that I would gladly sacrifice a bit of realism for a little bit more time economy.
Like I said, I like doing the side quests and roving all over Ivalice. The problem is that all this filler takes away any tiny bit of tension that the plot is trying to build.
Whatever. Back to it I guess, maybe I'm further along than I think.
Oh, and I totally know that I can teleport from the red save crystals. Doesn't help all that much though.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XII
I've been playing FFXII for the first time. Instead of going on a rant, I'd like to to do something a bit different.
So instead, I'm going to sketch out a scene from Star Wars or Final Fantasy XII and you tell me which one I'm describing.
Let's get started with: Star Wars or Final Fantasy XII?
Game on.
We're going to start with our blond-haired protagonist. He's grown up in some sort of foster care, as his parents are presumed
to have died when he was very young, perhaps in the previous war. At the beginning of the story, he spends his days running errands for an older gentlemen, but dreams of being more, perhaps becoming a pilot of some kind?
After finding himself in a bit of trouble, our hero teams up with a mercenary-scoundrel type anti-hero and his extremely tall, animal-like sidekick, who incidentally is also a very good pilot and has a knack for using various weapons including something that looks like a bow.
Our ragtag team also joins forces with an aging knight who fought in the last war. Apparently, public opinion is that he failed in his role as a protector and through his actions, essentially led to the Empire becoming even more powerful.
Eventually our hero and his band find themselves near capture on a huge Imperial superweapon. Mere mention of this superweapon strikes fear into the hearts of the Empire's enemies. Fortunately, our heroes are able to evade a one-way ticket to the brig by having someone trick the dimwitted Imperial Troops by dressing in their own armor!
Once free, our heroes then locate the Princess (whom they are obviously going to save) in the detention area. After sneaking through various corridors and hallways without so much as even raising an alarm, they arrive at the detention area, only to be met by resistance. Once dispatching all the guards and their officers, our hero hurries to free the Princess before reinforcements arrive.
Despite freeing the Princess without too much trouble, our heroes failed to plan an effective escape. To complicate issues, the forced entry into the cell block has raised the alarm and Troopers throughout the vessel are now rushing to stop the rescue attempt.
The team decides to return to the
hanger to make their escape. Despite facing off against Imperial Troopers the entire way, the team makes it to their destination. Unfortunately, a malevolent man, dressed completely in unique and intimidating armor, and possessing powerful magic was there and a battle ensues. Unfortunately, the masked man is not defeated and the team must beat a hasty retreat before he is able to marshal his forces to stop them.
Escaping on a speedy vessel, our heroes barely avoid the fighters that escort the massive superweapon and are able to continue on their quest.
Okay, I know that I am not the first to draw extensive comparisons between Star Wars and FFXII, but, seriously, this is freaking ridiculous. Nearly the entire portion of the game involving the Leviathan is a direct copy of Death Star scenes from A New Hope.
I know Square has a love of Star Wars. The addition of Biggs and Wedge into many of the FF games is a fitting Star Wars tribute. But when it comes to the Leviathan, in there simply aren't enough direct references to make the player view it as a tribute. Instead it seems like Square simply had written themselves into a corner, couldn't think of how to make a 'Save the Princess' quest fit, and said, 'Screw it, let's just copy Star Wars.
So instead, I'm going to sketch out a scene from Star Wars or Final Fantasy XII and you tell me which one I'm describing.
Let's get started with: Star Wars or Final Fantasy XII?
Game on.
We're going to start with our blond-haired protagonist. He's grown up in some sort of foster care, as his parents are presumed
But, I was going to Toshi station to pick up some power converters...
After finding himself in a bit of trouble, our hero teams up with a mercenary-scoundrel type anti-hero and his extremely tall, animal-like sidekick, who incidentally is also a very good pilot and has a knack for using various weapons including something that looks like a bow.
Apparently, Fran has really let herself go.
You must learn the ways of the Force, if you are to come with me to Alderaan.
Eventually our hero and his band find themselves near capture on a huge Imperial superweapon. Mere mention of this superweapon strikes fear into the hearts of the Empire's enemies. Fortunately, our heroes are able to evade a one-way ticket to the brig by having someone trick the dimwitted Imperial Troops by dressing in their own armor!
Once free, our heroes then locate the Princess (whom they are obviously going to save) in the detention area. After sneaking through various corridors and hallways without so much as even raising an alarm, they arrive at the detention area, only to be met by resistance. Once dispatching all the guards and their officers, our hero hurries to free the Princess before reinforcements arrive.
Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?
Despite freeing the Princess without too much trouble, our heroes failed to plan an effective escape. To complicate issues, the forced entry into the cell block has raised the alarm and Troopers throughout the vessel are now rushing to stop the rescue attempt.
The team decides to return to the
Now I am the master...
Escaping on a speedy vessel, our heroes barely avoid the fighters that escort the massive superweapon and are able to continue on their quest.
I sure hope the old man got that tractor beam out of commission!
Okay, I know that I am not the first to draw extensive comparisons between Star Wars and FFXII, but, seriously, this is freaking ridiculous. Nearly the entire portion of the game involving the Leviathan is a direct copy of Death Star scenes from A New Hope.
I know Square has a love of Star Wars. The addition of Biggs and Wedge into many of the FF games is a fitting Star Wars tribute. But when it comes to the Leviathan, in there simply aren't enough direct references to make the player view it as a tribute. Instead it seems like Square simply had written themselves into a corner, couldn't think of how to make a 'Save the Princess' quest fit, and said, 'Screw it, let's just copy Star Wars.
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