Has there ever been a final dungeon in the Final Fantasy series that wasn't an annoying painful slog through content that should have been optional? Because I certainly can't think of one. Final Fantasy VIII certainly doesn't fit into that category. Since the point of these blog posts is sort of to try to take a snapshot of my mindset during and immediately after I play a game, that's what I need to talk about right now.
It seems to happen at the end of every Final Fantasy game - I get to the final dungeon having fun, and then feel like I have to slog through a bunch of crap and cannot WAIT for the game to be over. Happened last year with Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIII, happened in X, it's particularly bad in IV, etc. Since it's not story related at all, let me explain why the final dungeon is a piece of shit in VIII:
As soon as you step foot in it, the game takes away your ability to do anything but your normal attack. I don't just mean in battles, either - you cannot use items or magic outside of battle at all either, without leaving the final dungeon. You have to earn the ability to use them again by beating bosses sprinkled throughout the dungeon. Here's the list of abilities you can't use:
Magic (all of it. No Curaga, no Haste, no Firaga)
Item (no Potions, no Phoenix Downs, nothing)
Draw (hope you don't fight the one boss in the dungeon with a new GF without this ability!)
Command Abilities (special abilities your GF give to your characters during battle, such as Treatment or Mad Rush, both of which I made heavy use of that were suddenly cut off)
Revive (THE WORST OF THE LOT. Even IF you have your magic or items again, you have to beat ANOTHER boss before Life or Phoenix Down will work on any of your characters! *kills self*)
GF (Summons.)
Save (That's right! You can't save in the dungeon until you beat a boss and pick this option! Have fun trudging back to the very beginning every time you beat a boss to save!)
Limit Breaks (The least offensive one to me, since I didn't use them much in VIII)
There might be one or two more, but those are the ones I can remember. Absolutely incomprehensible that anyone would design a game like that. There is literally no reason other than blatant padding that someone would do that in a game. Ugh.
Anyway! It may not seem like it, but I really do enjoy Final Fantasy VIII. It has some pretty good bits! The mechanics are quite fun, if a bit out there. Junctioning magic to your stats seems pretty complicated and annoying at first, but once you get the hang of it, tweaking your characters to be efficient fighters is really satisfying. For example, I turned Squall into a physical damage powerhouse, and routinely would cast Haste and Berserk on him to just crank out huge amounts of damage. But it isn't just your Strength stat that you can mess around with! You can also change your attack element, slap a status on your attack such as Sleep that causes your normal attack to inflict that status (and the more of that spell you have junctioned, the more likely it will stick). All of this is done by junctioning Guardian Forces to your characters and using their abilities to junction magic to different stats and abilities.
It sounds daunting, but it actually starts to make sense fairly quickly in game. The menus could be organized a bit better, though. It took a while to get used to figuring out which part of the menu let me junction magic to status attacks as opposed to stats, and the fact that you can't see what abilities a GF has in the Junction menu is stupid - you have to back out of the Junction menu and go to the GF menu AND press L1 or whatever to see which abilities that GF has. Ugh.
As clunky as Junctioning could be, it is my favorite part of the game. Really deep diving into the system and making my characters as strong as they could be was very satisfying. Then using some of the abilities to boost stats was fun, too (Str Up at level up was a fun one, since that made Squall or whoever gain a bonus strength point every time he leveled up). I enjoyed making my defense so good that Thundaga and Firaga did all of 200 damage to my 7000 HP characters. Nice!
As for the story... Well, it is full of holes. I ended up liking a big chunk of it though - he's kind of a pain to play as at first, but Laguna ended up being done really well overall. A lot of his story isn't really spelled out for you - you have to figure it out with the bits you have. But when you start to piece together what he was up to, it's actually pretty impressive. He's probably my favorite character in the game.
Not that the other ones are bad, though. Irvine didn't get much time to develop, nor did Quistis or Selphie or Zell, but none of them are offensive. Squall is a douchebag until disc 3, and Rinoa is fine I guess. Seifer's entire story arc doesn't make a lick of sense though. The payoff of the ending was fine, I suppose. Ultimately, there are parts of the story that are head-slappingly weird (the big one coming near the end of disc 2), but I still found even those parts enjoyable and charming. And even though there are parts of it that don't make any sense, I still enjoyed the story of VIII more than VII, as it's easier to follow.
I'm having difficulty placing VIII in the series as far as my favorites go, though. VI still has a deathgrip on the top slot, and it's probably still followed by X, but I have no idea whether I like VII or VIII better. I'm leaning towards VIII but I don't know. VII actually had a little challenge, whereas VIII was such a cakewalk I wonder if I'll ever have the urge to play it again.
Anyway, it's really weird that I've now beaten all the Playstation Final Fantasies (well, the PS1 ones, anyway. Still haven't even tried XII). As some more time passes, maybe I'll be able to rank them or something. Not sure which game I'll play next... I might jump into Luigi's Mansion, who knows.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2
"Why do you like this game?"
It's such a simple question, one that I struggled to answer. It was asked in earnest, not in any way mocking me, by my roommate, who also likes games quite a bit. He wasn't saying the game was shitty - he probably thinks so, though - but he just wanted to know why I was playing it. "Just to play all the SMT games?"
I suppose that's part of it. It's hard for me to define aloud, though, so I'm going to attempt to do so here, even if it comes out stupid.
There's just something about weird stuff, to me. I don't like the anime crap that pervades so many Japanese RPGs these days - full of trope lines like "That's the power of friendship!" and other groan-worthy moments such as that. The truly weird stuff, though - the strange worlds they seem to create for those games is a big one for me. How many games have you played made by somebody outside of Japan wherein the last dungeon takes place on and IN the sun, that has you delving deeper within by jumping into lotus flowers all the while fighting progressively stronger demons from actual world religions?
Not many, I'd say.
I'm sure there are subtleties to the story of the two Digital Devil Saga games that I'd appreciate if I knew more about these obscure religions (or even the not obscure ones, like Hinduism). There were parts I thought were neat as it was! But not having that context stripped out quite a bit of meaning, I'm sure.
So why did I end up enjoying most of my playthrough?
Although the two games can be boiled down to pretty big grinds (you don't HAVE to play it that way, but it's probably the easiest way to get through it), I did enjoy customizing my characters quite a bit. I'd say that's something that Japanese RPGs still do very well for the most part - Etrian Odyssey, Persona, and yes, Digital Devil Saga all let me tweak my characters down to a very minute level. DDS even lets me switch moves in and out of my characters' move pools at will outside of battle which is always fun (and makes the bosses interesting, since it's assumed that the player will have varied skills by the time you reach them). But I talked about that in my last post about this series.
I don't know, though. It's hard for me to pin down why I feel the need to play through these games. It certainly isn't masochism, I wouldn't play a game if I hated it or even worse, if it was absolutely boring (like I think the DemiKids games are). Maybe I want to be able to notice callbacks in future SMT games or something to that effect (if there even are any. Who knows). I don't really consider it a "badge of honor" or anything like that, because who would be "impressed" that I played through these games? Who would even care?
I guess it just boils down to the fact that I like experiencing weird things. I like being presented stuff without much context and try to absorb it and figure it out. I like dreamscapes. I enjoy grinding levels and customizing characters. I guess that's it?
As for Digital Devil Saga 2, I'm glad I played through it and finished it. It was a very strange ride, and figuring out how to set my party up for the bosses was pretty fun (especially once I finally beat the last boss - I went from getting beat up pretty badly to winning pretty easily with some tweaks and no grinding - satisfying!). I doubt I'll ever play through them again, but you never know.
My next project, after maybe Soul Hackers on 3DS in a few weeks, will likely be the Devil Summoner games. I played quite a bit of the first one, but I feel like I should restart and see how far I get, considering I know this series a lot better now.
It's such a simple question, one that I struggled to answer. It was asked in earnest, not in any way mocking me, by my roommate, who also likes games quite a bit. He wasn't saying the game was shitty - he probably thinks so, though - but he just wanted to know why I was playing it. "Just to play all the SMT games?"
I suppose that's part of it. It's hard for me to define aloud, though, so I'm going to attempt to do so here, even if it comes out stupid.
There's just something about weird stuff, to me. I don't like the anime crap that pervades so many Japanese RPGs these days - full of trope lines like "That's the power of friendship!" and other groan-worthy moments such as that. The truly weird stuff, though - the strange worlds they seem to create for those games is a big one for me. How many games have you played made by somebody outside of Japan wherein the last dungeon takes place on and IN the sun, that has you delving deeper within by jumping into lotus flowers all the while fighting progressively stronger demons from actual world religions?
Not many, I'd say.
I'm sure there are subtleties to the story of the two Digital Devil Saga games that I'd appreciate if I knew more about these obscure religions (or even the not obscure ones, like Hinduism). There were parts I thought were neat as it was! But not having that context stripped out quite a bit of meaning, I'm sure.
So why did I end up enjoying most of my playthrough?
Although the two games can be boiled down to pretty big grinds (you don't HAVE to play it that way, but it's probably the easiest way to get through it), I did enjoy customizing my characters quite a bit. I'd say that's something that Japanese RPGs still do very well for the most part - Etrian Odyssey, Persona, and yes, Digital Devil Saga all let me tweak my characters down to a very minute level. DDS even lets me switch moves in and out of my characters' move pools at will outside of battle which is always fun (and makes the bosses interesting, since it's assumed that the player will have varied skills by the time you reach them). But I talked about that in my last post about this series.
I don't know, though. It's hard for me to pin down why I feel the need to play through these games. It certainly isn't masochism, I wouldn't play a game if I hated it or even worse, if it was absolutely boring (like I think the DemiKids games are). Maybe I want to be able to notice callbacks in future SMT games or something to that effect (if there even are any. Who knows). I don't really consider it a "badge of honor" or anything like that, because who would be "impressed" that I played through these games? Who would even care?
I guess it just boils down to the fact that I like experiencing weird things. I like being presented stuff without much context and try to absorb it and figure it out. I like dreamscapes. I enjoy grinding levels and customizing characters. I guess that's it?
As for Digital Devil Saga 2, I'm glad I played through it and finished it. It was a very strange ride, and figuring out how to set my party up for the bosses was pretty fun (especially once I finally beat the last boss - I went from getting beat up pretty badly to winning pretty easily with some tweaks and no grinding - satisfying!). I doubt I'll ever play through them again, but you never know.
My next project, after maybe Soul Hackers on 3DS in a few weeks, will likely be the Devil Summoner games. I played quite a bit of the first one, but I feel like I should restart and see how far I get, considering I know this series a lot better now.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
I just finished off the last main story boss of Etrian Odyssey IV. I want to put down my initial reactions to the game here for posterity.
So the first thing I want to say is that the game is really good. It seems well balanced (at least in the early game; unlike the first three games, it got easier as it went), the balloon is a much better idea and better executed than the ship from III, and many other things I'll get into.
But that "it gets easier as it goes" thing bothers me. I'm not saying the game has to be absolutely insanely hard; that wouldn't be very much fun either. But the fact that I was able to plow through most FOEs when I came across them as the game went on was disappointing; it wasn't like the first three in that FOEs were absolutely deadly until you outleveled them by quite a bit. There were exceptions, of course; many of the quests you got from the Dancing Peacock had areas with FOEs that were pretty brutal (Chameleon King and Baboon King can go to hell). Even the FOEs you encounter in the 4th Maze aren't tough at all on their own; I beat two of them at once the first time I encountered them. Strange!
The classes in this game are pretty fun, though. They did a very good job of giving each class quite a bit to do during battles. Each member of the Metroid Guild supported each other in many different ways. My Fortress was always busy. Whether reducing the damage characters take for a couple of turns to straight up taking the damage for them, to taunting the enemy so he got attacked more often, etc. My Night Seeker did so much damage, I ended up using her ailment throws less and less throughout the game, to the point where I'd only use them on bosses and when Spread Throw would auto-activate at the beginning of some random battles. My Runemaster did more and more damage as the game went on; I didn't think Origin Rune would be too useful because of it's insane TP cost, but because of Free Energy and its ability to do a TON of damage quickly if needed, I found it quite useful for the late game.
But my favorite class is actually a tie between Dancer and Arcanist. Dancers are fun because they are such fantastic supporting characters. I primarily used mine to keep my front line's HP up throughout the game - Regen Waltz was used quite often, and Chase Samba is quite possibly the most useful ability in the game. I had fun subclassing Dancer onto my Night Seeker, to occasionally have her Chase Samba along with my main Dancer for some attacks that went on forever (especially with Swords Dance, which is a passive skill that makes your character sometimes get 1-3 extra attacks in a turn). All of this combined with Mist Dance, which stuns the enemy (makes them lose a turn), meant my Dancer was a mainstay through the entire game (who made my Night Seeker even better because of all the extra attacks, subclass or no).
Arcanists are so useful, though, I'm not sure if I would have been able to beat the game without one. Maybe subclassing Arcanist onto a Medic would do in a pinch, but some of the abilities are so amazing I would want them maxed out (plus I can't imagine an Arcanist without the Class Ability that lets them regain spent TP whenever a circle dissipates). Apparently, Poison Circle is incredibly useful (and would really help a Night Seeker do an absolutely ridiculous amount of damage), but I didn't even put one point in it! My Arcanist was a binding machine, with maxed out Chain, Snare, and Hood Circles so I could bind the enemy at will. Having put Sniper as my Runemaster's subclass, whenever someone was bound he would hit them with a free Chase Bind, so that was a nice bonus as well. After casting a circle, though, my Arcanist would usually Dismiss Blow or Dismiss Blast (depending on the amount of enemies remaining) to do several hundred damage. I'm glad I switched out my Medic for an Arcanist - they are a lot more versatile and absolutely fun. I really enjoyed balancing keeping the Circles in effect for their passive healing or Dismissing them to do a lot of damage to an enemy. For the final boss, Dismiss Blast was critical.
Subclassing is interesting in Etrian Odyssey IV. I would like to go back and play III to remember all the things I did there for subclassing; one thing I don't like about IV is the inability to put more than half the points into abilities for subclasses as compared to main classes. I understand it's likely a balance issue; many of the classes in EOIV would be pretty much unstoppable, most likely, if they could max out their subclass (can you imagine a Night Seeker with pretty much full Dancer capability? Wow), but I enjoyed the flexibility of III. Also, I miss the ability to fill the sixth slot at will from III - either with a summoned animal or a Ninja clone. Sure, you could have guest characters join you on the third floor of the late mazes, but they were optional! I want to clone my Dancer for the back row, Atlus!
It's quite interesting to think about how the characters in the series have evolved from characters who all serve their own individual purposes and stand on their own to being pretty codependent on each other. I'm not sure if the Wizardry games (the inspiration for the series, according to the developers) did that to much degree. If not, it's a pretty interesting evolution!
I really enjoyed exploring in the balloon, though. Dodging giant FOEs on the overworld was challenging, and having some of them guard extra caves to explore was neat, too. The whole world felt a lot more coherent than any of the other Etrian Odyssey's because of the balloon, and I hope it returns for future games in the series.
The music was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, the music in the 4th Maze is absolutely amazing, but stuff like the music in Tharsis is just awful. I mean it's good music, but I think I prefer the old school charm and mystery of the PC88 music from the first three games. Etrian Odyssey III had some gems in its soundtrack for sure.
I also miss the multiple endings of III - I'm not sure if your choices throughout the game really change the story much if it all in IV. I thought it was pretty fun in III that you had to choose sides, and I thought the same would happen in IV but it really didn't. If there are other endings in IV, I'm unaware of them! There does seem to be a New Game + option though, so perhaps I'm missing something.
All in all, though, I'd rank the games as follows, from best to worst:
1. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City
2. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
3. Etrian Odyssey
4. Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
A lot of the reason that list reads the way it does is because III and IV are way more sophisticated than the first two. It would be interesting to go back and play them now; without subclassing, they would probably feel pretty light. Which is weird to think about, since I enjoyed them quite a bit!
I may delve into the postgame stuff a little; none of the postgames of the series have really captured me yet. I hear IV's is the most accessible. I guess time will tell.
I love this series. I'm already waiting for Etrian Odyssey V.
So the first thing I want to say is that the game is really good. It seems well balanced (at least in the early game; unlike the first three games, it got easier as it went), the balloon is a much better idea and better executed than the ship from III, and many other things I'll get into.
But that "it gets easier as it goes" thing bothers me. I'm not saying the game has to be absolutely insanely hard; that wouldn't be very much fun either. But the fact that I was able to plow through most FOEs when I came across them as the game went on was disappointing; it wasn't like the first three in that FOEs were absolutely deadly until you outleveled them by quite a bit. There were exceptions, of course; many of the quests you got from the Dancing Peacock had areas with FOEs that were pretty brutal (Chameleon King and Baboon King can go to hell). Even the FOEs you encounter in the 4th Maze aren't tough at all on their own; I beat two of them at once the first time I encountered them. Strange!
The classes in this game are pretty fun, though. They did a very good job of giving each class quite a bit to do during battles. Each member of the Metroid Guild supported each other in many different ways. My Fortress was always busy. Whether reducing the damage characters take for a couple of turns to straight up taking the damage for them, to taunting the enemy so he got attacked more often, etc. My Night Seeker did so much damage, I ended up using her ailment throws less and less throughout the game, to the point where I'd only use them on bosses and when Spread Throw would auto-activate at the beginning of some random battles. My Runemaster did more and more damage as the game went on; I didn't think Origin Rune would be too useful because of it's insane TP cost, but because of Free Energy and its ability to do a TON of damage quickly if needed, I found it quite useful for the late game.
But my favorite class is actually a tie between Dancer and Arcanist. Dancers are fun because they are such fantastic supporting characters. I primarily used mine to keep my front line's HP up throughout the game - Regen Waltz was used quite often, and Chase Samba is quite possibly the most useful ability in the game. I had fun subclassing Dancer onto my Night Seeker, to occasionally have her Chase Samba along with my main Dancer for some attacks that went on forever (especially with Swords Dance, which is a passive skill that makes your character sometimes get 1-3 extra attacks in a turn). All of this combined with Mist Dance, which stuns the enemy (makes them lose a turn), meant my Dancer was a mainstay through the entire game (who made my Night Seeker even better because of all the extra attacks, subclass or no).
Arcanists are so useful, though, I'm not sure if I would have been able to beat the game without one. Maybe subclassing Arcanist onto a Medic would do in a pinch, but some of the abilities are so amazing I would want them maxed out (plus I can't imagine an Arcanist without the Class Ability that lets them regain spent TP whenever a circle dissipates). Apparently, Poison Circle is incredibly useful (and would really help a Night Seeker do an absolutely ridiculous amount of damage), but I didn't even put one point in it! My Arcanist was a binding machine, with maxed out Chain, Snare, and Hood Circles so I could bind the enemy at will. Having put Sniper as my Runemaster's subclass, whenever someone was bound he would hit them with a free Chase Bind, so that was a nice bonus as well. After casting a circle, though, my Arcanist would usually Dismiss Blow or Dismiss Blast (depending on the amount of enemies remaining) to do several hundred damage. I'm glad I switched out my Medic for an Arcanist - they are a lot more versatile and absolutely fun. I really enjoyed balancing keeping the Circles in effect for their passive healing or Dismissing them to do a lot of damage to an enemy. For the final boss, Dismiss Blast was critical.
Subclassing is interesting in Etrian Odyssey IV. I would like to go back and play III to remember all the things I did there for subclassing; one thing I don't like about IV is the inability to put more than half the points into abilities for subclasses as compared to main classes. I understand it's likely a balance issue; many of the classes in EOIV would be pretty much unstoppable, most likely, if they could max out their subclass (can you imagine a Night Seeker with pretty much full Dancer capability? Wow), but I enjoyed the flexibility of III. Also, I miss the ability to fill the sixth slot at will from III - either with a summoned animal or a Ninja clone. Sure, you could have guest characters join you on the third floor of the late mazes, but they were optional! I want to clone my Dancer for the back row, Atlus!
It's quite interesting to think about how the characters in the series have evolved from characters who all serve their own individual purposes and stand on their own to being pretty codependent on each other. I'm not sure if the Wizardry games (the inspiration for the series, according to the developers) did that to much degree. If not, it's a pretty interesting evolution!
I really enjoyed exploring in the balloon, though. Dodging giant FOEs on the overworld was challenging, and having some of them guard extra caves to explore was neat, too. The whole world felt a lot more coherent than any of the other Etrian Odyssey's because of the balloon, and I hope it returns for future games in the series.
The music was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, the music in the 4th Maze is absolutely amazing, but stuff like the music in Tharsis is just awful. I mean it's good music, but I think I prefer the old school charm and mystery of the PC88 music from the first three games. Etrian Odyssey III had some gems in its soundtrack for sure.
I also miss the multiple endings of III - I'm not sure if your choices throughout the game really change the story much if it all in IV. I thought it was pretty fun in III that you had to choose sides, and I thought the same would happen in IV but it really didn't. If there are other endings in IV, I'm unaware of them! There does seem to be a New Game + option though, so perhaps I'm missing something.
All in all, though, I'd rank the games as follows, from best to worst:
1. Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City
2. Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
3. Etrian Odyssey
4. Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
A lot of the reason that list reads the way it does is because III and IV are way more sophisticated than the first two. It would be interesting to go back and play them now; without subclassing, they would probably feel pretty light. Which is weird to think about, since I enjoyed them quite a bit!
I may delve into the postgame stuff a little; none of the postgames of the series have really captured me yet. I hear IV's is the most accessible. I guess time will tell.
I love this series. I'm already waiting for Etrian Odyssey V.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Now this is a job system.
Okay, so SMT: Digital Devil Saga's level up system isn't quite a job system. It's more like a Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X Magicite/Sphere Grid fusion.
Which is everything I want in the world, turns out.
So when you win a battle in DDS, you gain experience for your characters, which allows them to level up and boost their stats. You also gain "Atma Points," which level up your "Mantra," which are basically Magicites that teach your characters new moves. Where the sphere grid comes in is the progression that you move between "Mantra." You can see the entire board from the very start, although you can't see specifically what each node teaches you. But, you can figure it out, because all the first nodes in each category are available from the start - the fire node starts with the weakest fire attack, the ice node starts with the weakest ice attack, etc. Once you "master" a particular Mantra, the next node in the category becomes available. To start learning a new node, you have to a pay a fee of Macca (in game currency also won from battles).
If you're worried about not being able to afford a new node, I don't know if that is ever really a problem. I'm grinding quite a bit, but I've never run into a problem with Macca, and don't think I would even if I weren't grinding.
Each character has their own grid, and move along it independently of the others. So, if you wanted, you could have every character in the game master fire magic exclusively. Not sure why you'd want to, but you could. So party customization comes into play pretty quick - who is going to be your primary physical attacker? Who is going to level up wind attacks? Who is going to heal your party? And so on. Eventually, if you did enough grinding, you could have everybody learn everything (hello further comparison to Final Fantasy VI).
What is different about DDS (and what feels so INCREDIBLY LIBERATING after Nocturne) is that at any point outside of battle, you can go into the menu and pick whatever moves you want your guys to have equipped in battle. Their movepool is any move they learned from the Mantras you've mastered. So, early on in the game I decided I didn't want to be instakilled by any dark or light magic, so I had Serph learn those spells which came with some Null Light and Null Dark party buffs, and found myself eventually up against a boss that used them. Because I came prepared, he was a pretty easy boss. After him, I didn't encounter any of those attacks for a while, so I switched in some wind magic and went on my merry way.
Because they brought back the basic structure of Nocturne's battle system (called the "Press Turn" battle system, if you'll recall), the fact that you can switch moves at will outside of battle is kind of crazy. See, when I was Null-ing that boss's Dark spells, he was losing turns, so I could attack/buff/heal more often. I'm sure every boss won't be as easy as that (spoiler from later in the game: they aren't), but it certainly makes the same battle system from Nocturne have a fun new twist.
So if it isn't especially clear, I absolutely love the battle system in DDS.
So far, the story is dumb. That's about all I have to say about that. I've heard it gets better, so I'll hold off on final judgement, but yeah, I'm in it now for the absolutely sublime mechanics.
It is a bit grindy, though, but the obsessive compulsive part of me doesn't mind because I'm learning like Bufudyne twelve hours into the game. YES.
I'm going to try to write another post about this game, because so far I'm having a pretty great time and would like to compare it to the other SMT series. Assuming the game doesn't get godawful at the end, I'll probably roll right into DDS2 next.
Okay, so SMT: Digital Devil Saga's level up system isn't quite a job system. It's more like a Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X Magicite/Sphere Grid fusion.
Which is everything I want in the world, turns out.
So when you win a battle in DDS, you gain experience for your characters, which allows them to level up and boost their stats. You also gain "Atma Points," which level up your "Mantra," which are basically Magicites that teach your characters new moves. Where the sphere grid comes in is the progression that you move between "Mantra." You can see the entire board from the very start, although you can't see specifically what each node teaches you. But, you can figure it out, because all the first nodes in each category are available from the start - the fire node starts with the weakest fire attack, the ice node starts with the weakest ice attack, etc. Once you "master" a particular Mantra, the next node in the category becomes available. To start learning a new node, you have to a pay a fee of Macca (in game currency also won from battles).
If you're worried about not being able to afford a new node, I don't know if that is ever really a problem. I'm grinding quite a bit, but I've never run into a problem with Macca, and don't think I would even if I weren't grinding.
Each character has their own grid, and move along it independently of the others. So, if you wanted, you could have every character in the game master fire magic exclusively. Not sure why you'd want to, but you could. So party customization comes into play pretty quick - who is going to be your primary physical attacker? Who is going to level up wind attacks? Who is going to heal your party? And so on. Eventually, if you did enough grinding, you could have everybody learn everything (hello further comparison to Final Fantasy VI).
What is different about DDS (and what feels so INCREDIBLY LIBERATING after Nocturne) is that at any point outside of battle, you can go into the menu and pick whatever moves you want your guys to have equipped in battle. Their movepool is any move they learned from the Mantras you've mastered. So, early on in the game I decided I didn't want to be instakilled by any dark or light magic, so I had Serph learn those spells which came with some Null Light and Null Dark party buffs, and found myself eventually up against a boss that used them. Because I came prepared, he was a pretty easy boss. After him, I didn't encounter any of those attacks for a while, so I switched in some wind magic and went on my merry way.
Because they brought back the basic structure of Nocturne's battle system (called the "Press Turn" battle system, if you'll recall), the fact that you can switch moves at will outside of battle is kind of crazy. See, when I was Null-ing that boss's Dark spells, he was losing turns, so I could attack/buff/heal more often. I'm sure every boss won't be as easy as that (spoiler from later in the game: they aren't), but it certainly makes the same battle system from Nocturne have a fun new twist.
So if it isn't especially clear, I absolutely love the battle system in DDS.
So far, the story is dumb. That's about all I have to say about that. I've heard it gets better, so I'll hold off on final judgement, but yeah, I'm in it now for the absolutely sublime mechanics.
It is a bit grindy, though, but the obsessive compulsive part of me doesn't mind because I'm learning like Bufudyne twelve hours into the game. YES.
I'm going to try to write another post about this game, because so far I'm having a pretty great time and would like to compare it to the other SMT series. Assuming the game doesn't get godawful at the end, I'll probably roll right into DDS2 next.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
A few minutes ago, I beat SMT: Nocturne, one of the most interesting games I have ever played.
I will start by saying I got what I can only think to be the most anticlimactic ending. Not necessarily a "bad" ending, really, like where everything turned out to be a dream or I died or something. Just... there. Regardless, I don't feel too bad about it, besides the fact that I didn't get to fight the actual last boss.
Anyway! I definitely beat it - a 48 hour game clock tells no lies (it also gave me a clear save to use if I want to start a New Game +). It certainly wasn't easy, either - the game pulls absolutely no punches. It says to the player, "Here are some tools and a few clues. Good luck..." and then sets you loose in what is probably the most oppressive environment I have ever seen in a game.
You play as the demi-fiend, a half-human, half-demon silent protagonist who, in order to survive, must join up with demons and use them to help create the world he wants. This is done by meeting up with the very few humans left, who come up with their ideal worlds and fight amongst themselves in order to win and create their own "utopia." Since you're a demon, you can't come up with what's called a Reason (the aforementioned possible "utopias"), and must instead back one of the humans and help them create their world.
The reason everybody is trying to create the world they want is because about fifteen minutes into the game, the world as we know it ends. What's left is called the Vortex World, a sort of fetal recreation of parts of Tokyo, which is infested with demons and monsters and is very dangerous. This world is only temporary; eventually, a new world will be created in it's place via one of the Reasons.
Anyway, this environment is interesting because it is the only time I can think of in which the near constant threat of random battles (yes, even in almost every town, save for a very few temporary ones) is justified. There are demons everywhere, who are trying to gather power! So, they try to kill other demons to gain their power. This is interesting because usually I cannot stand random battles, but they make sense here (it helps that the game wastes no time in getting them loaded and started, so it doesn't feel too slow paced).
The game is also pretty creepy. Other than the very few humans left, everyone else are scattered around as ghosts who the player can talk to. They usually give clues as to where to go next. The player can also talk to the various demons who wander about, but must be careful because some of them will attack.
Other than some story specifics, that's all I'll really say about the world of Nocturne. It's very bleak. Most places are decrepit versions of the pre-apocalypse and are grim reminders of the end you just witnessed. All these reasons are why I think Nocturne is such an oppressive feeling game.
But the mechanics! They are absolutely solid. Nocturne is the first game in the SMT series to use what is called the "Press Turn" battle system. During battle, each side gets one action for each party member on their side. They can use an attack or item, skip a turn, or return to the player's stock or escape. If they skip a turn, they only use "half" of their turn, meaning that the next demon in line gets to go and complete that full turn for them. It's a little difficult to explain, but basically, you can pass your turn to the next demon in line if you like.
The twist, though, comes with enemy weaknesses and strengths. If, say, you use a spell type that the enemy is weak to, you get a bonus turn. If you use a spell that they are strong against (as in, they take zero damage), you lose two turns. If they are able to absorb your attack or reflect it back on you, you lose all your turns. This applies to the enemies as well - if I have a stable of demons who reflect fire attacks, demons who use fire attacks will be absolutely steamrolled by me because they won't be able to touch me and won't get any turns.
This allows the game to have a very good back and forth during battles. If I have a good team setup, I won't have a particular element that will destroy my team. I may have a demon that is weak to electricity, but I'll also have one that will absorb it, so if the enemy uses an attack that hits the whole party with electricity, they'll lose the rest of their turns since that one demon I have absorbs it.
Neat, eh? My beloved Persona 3 and 4 use a modified version of this system where you do bonus damage to the enemy if you hit their weakness and "knock them down." If all the enemies get knocked down, you do a bonus unblockable attack for a huge amount of damage.
Demon fusion is probably at its most important in Nocturne, moreso than in Persona or even Devil Survivor. Your only means of survival is the demons you have, and you better fuse them smartly or you will be outclassed fast. In Persona, you can pretty much use whatever demon you want so long as they are near to your level and aren't weak to whatever element the boss you're fighting uses. In Devil Survivor, you gain access to new demons through fusion, but you can easily buy demons through the demon auction and usually start rolling in macca pretty quickly, unlike in Nocturne.
It's nice to see the fully animated demons in Nocturne as well, unlike the few frames you get in Persona 3 and 4 (which were probably ripped right out of Nocturne, it's hard to tell). There is also demon negotiation in this game, and while it is not as obtuse as in Persona 1 or 2, it's also pretty weird and I never really got the hang of it, besides just generally trying to please the demons I talk to (basically by giving them whatever item they're asking for, so long as it's not something precious like a Chakra Drop or something). Certainly an interesting mechanic, and one that really makes battles even weirder.
I don't like Nocturne as much as Persona 3 and 4, despite really having enjoyed myself. I feel like P3 and 4 have a much better narrative and I feel like they got the story/battle balance just right, and as a result created a much more interesting (and less oppressive) world to take part in. I also really identified with the characters, which is something I can't say for Nocturne since, you know, I haven't survived an apocalypse. To be honest, though, I kind of enjoyed the difficulty of the Nocturne battle system a little more than what Persona has, which surprises me. I still like Persona! But I feel like it's too easy and Nocturne hit that balance of difficulty and breakable systems just right. You either get demolished because you are unprepared, or you win the battle pretty handily, but usually when you win in Nocturne you get by by the scrape of your teeth. It's pretty rare to absolutely dominate a boss in Nocturne (I did it a few times - there was a boss late in the game who only used fire attacks, which was lucky for me since I had several demons who were immune to it). Although I remember when I first played Persona, I felt the same way about that game's difficulty. Who knows! Maybe I'm just getting better at SMT.
Regardless, I'm glad I played through this game. I'm definitely a MegaTen fan, so I need to be able to say I've beaten it. Next, I'm going to play the Digital Devil Saga series, which, I'm told, use the exact same "Press Turn" battle system from Nocturne. I figure it will be an easy transition.
On a related note, I'd like to make this year the Year of the Hardcore Backlog, with only a few exceptions. I will play Etrian Odyssey IV as soon as it comes out, and probably SMT Soul Hackers in April. Other than that, I'm going to try to beat some of the games I've owned for a while. I'm just starting with the SMT games (hence the "Hardcore" above).
Hopefully I don't burn myself out of RPGs.
I will start by saying I got what I can only think to be the most anticlimactic ending. Not necessarily a "bad" ending, really, like where everything turned out to be a dream or I died or something. Just... there. Regardless, I don't feel too bad about it, besides the fact that I didn't get to fight the actual last boss.
Anyway! I definitely beat it - a 48 hour game clock tells no lies (it also gave me a clear save to use if I want to start a New Game +). It certainly wasn't easy, either - the game pulls absolutely no punches. It says to the player, "Here are some tools and a few clues. Good luck..." and then sets you loose in what is probably the most oppressive environment I have ever seen in a game.
You play as the demi-fiend, a half-human, half-demon silent protagonist who, in order to survive, must join up with demons and use them to help create the world he wants. This is done by meeting up with the very few humans left, who come up with their ideal worlds and fight amongst themselves in order to win and create their own "utopia." Since you're a demon, you can't come up with what's called a Reason (the aforementioned possible "utopias"), and must instead back one of the humans and help them create their world.
The reason everybody is trying to create the world they want is because about fifteen minutes into the game, the world as we know it ends. What's left is called the Vortex World, a sort of fetal recreation of parts of Tokyo, which is infested with demons and monsters and is very dangerous. This world is only temporary; eventually, a new world will be created in it's place via one of the Reasons.
Anyway, this environment is interesting because it is the only time I can think of in which the near constant threat of random battles (yes, even in almost every town, save for a very few temporary ones) is justified. There are demons everywhere, who are trying to gather power! So, they try to kill other demons to gain their power. This is interesting because usually I cannot stand random battles, but they make sense here (it helps that the game wastes no time in getting them loaded and started, so it doesn't feel too slow paced).
The game is also pretty creepy. Other than the very few humans left, everyone else are scattered around as ghosts who the player can talk to. They usually give clues as to where to go next. The player can also talk to the various demons who wander about, but must be careful because some of them will attack.
Other than some story specifics, that's all I'll really say about the world of Nocturne. It's very bleak. Most places are decrepit versions of the pre-apocalypse and are grim reminders of the end you just witnessed. All these reasons are why I think Nocturne is such an oppressive feeling game.
But the mechanics! They are absolutely solid. Nocturne is the first game in the SMT series to use what is called the "Press Turn" battle system. During battle, each side gets one action for each party member on their side. They can use an attack or item, skip a turn, or return to the player's stock or escape. If they skip a turn, they only use "half" of their turn, meaning that the next demon in line gets to go and complete that full turn for them. It's a little difficult to explain, but basically, you can pass your turn to the next demon in line if you like.
The twist, though, comes with enemy weaknesses and strengths. If, say, you use a spell type that the enemy is weak to, you get a bonus turn. If you use a spell that they are strong against (as in, they take zero damage), you lose two turns. If they are able to absorb your attack or reflect it back on you, you lose all your turns. This applies to the enemies as well - if I have a stable of demons who reflect fire attacks, demons who use fire attacks will be absolutely steamrolled by me because they won't be able to touch me and won't get any turns.
This allows the game to have a very good back and forth during battles. If I have a good team setup, I won't have a particular element that will destroy my team. I may have a demon that is weak to electricity, but I'll also have one that will absorb it, so if the enemy uses an attack that hits the whole party with electricity, they'll lose the rest of their turns since that one demon I have absorbs it.
Neat, eh? My beloved Persona 3 and 4 use a modified version of this system where you do bonus damage to the enemy if you hit their weakness and "knock them down." If all the enemies get knocked down, you do a bonus unblockable attack for a huge amount of damage.
Demon fusion is probably at its most important in Nocturne, moreso than in Persona or even Devil Survivor. Your only means of survival is the demons you have, and you better fuse them smartly or you will be outclassed fast. In Persona, you can pretty much use whatever demon you want so long as they are near to your level and aren't weak to whatever element the boss you're fighting uses. In Devil Survivor, you gain access to new demons through fusion, but you can easily buy demons through the demon auction and usually start rolling in macca pretty quickly, unlike in Nocturne.
It's nice to see the fully animated demons in Nocturne as well, unlike the few frames you get in Persona 3 and 4 (which were probably ripped right out of Nocturne, it's hard to tell). There is also demon negotiation in this game, and while it is not as obtuse as in Persona 1 or 2, it's also pretty weird and I never really got the hang of it, besides just generally trying to please the demons I talk to (basically by giving them whatever item they're asking for, so long as it's not something precious like a Chakra Drop or something). Certainly an interesting mechanic, and one that really makes battles even weirder.
I don't like Nocturne as much as Persona 3 and 4, despite really having enjoyed myself. I feel like P3 and 4 have a much better narrative and I feel like they got the story/battle balance just right, and as a result created a much more interesting (and less oppressive) world to take part in. I also really identified with the characters, which is something I can't say for Nocturne since, you know, I haven't survived an apocalypse. To be honest, though, I kind of enjoyed the difficulty of the Nocturne battle system a little more than what Persona has, which surprises me. I still like Persona! But I feel like it's too easy and Nocturne hit that balance of difficulty and breakable systems just right. You either get demolished because you are unprepared, or you win the battle pretty handily, but usually when you win in Nocturne you get by by the scrape of your teeth. It's pretty rare to absolutely dominate a boss in Nocturne (I did it a few times - there was a boss late in the game who only used fire attacks, which was lucky for me since I had several demons who were immune to it). Although I remember when I first played Persona, I felt the same way about that game's difficulty. Who knows! Maybe I'm just getting better at SMT.
Regardless, I'm glad I played through this game. I'm definitely a MegaTen fan, so I need to be able to say I've beaten it. Next, I'm going to play the Digital Devil Saga series, which, I'm told, use the exact same "Press Turn" battle system from Nocturne. I figure it will be an easy transition.
On a related note, I'd like to make this year the Year of the Hardcore Backlog, with only a few exceptions. I will play Etrian Odyssey IV as soon as it comes out, and probably SMT Soul Hackers in April. Other than that, I'm going to try to beat some of the games I've owned for a while. I'm just starting with the SMT games (hence the "Hardcore" above).
Hopefully I don't burn myself out of RPGs.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
This is a shoehorned prequel done right.
That sounds more insulting than it should be. I don't think Square ever intended for Zack to have too much of a story, other than what happened in VII proper. But Crisis Core sure makes it seem otherwise, because I legitimately enjoy what they came up with for him.
The story can be a bit nonsensical at times (would it be a Final Fantasy game if it wasn't?), but overall it's much easier to follow than VII, and still just as good even though you know going into it how it's pretty much going to end. And what an ending! I won't spoil it, but one of the central gameplay mechanics of the game is used to amazing effect at the end.
The gameplay is quite fun as well. Crisis Core is Kingdom Hearts done right, I think - a lot less running around, a lot more strategy and positioning more than just mashing X over and over again until the enemy is dead. Actually it's funny - that's possible in Crisis Core to an extent as well, although it makes the game quite boring and more difficult than it needs to be. If anything, the Materia system really makes Crisis Core better, because of the way it lets you customize Zack. It isn't just his available powers - your standard Fire, Fira, etc. - but also buffs and status protection that you can add to him. For example, I was getting hit with Stun and Stop quite a bit in the last half of the game, and it was driving me nuts, so I fused some Materia to come up with something that prevented me from getting stunned, as well as giving me quite the health boost as well (I had 9999 health by the end of the game with the boosts from my Materia and items). To be honest, I could have explored the Materia Fusion quite a bit more, but by the end, I didn't really need to. Because I did so many of the missions, I feel like I was pretty overleveled by the end, as the final boss was a cakewalk for me.
Those missions are addicting, though. I could easily have seen myself beating every one of them had I not wanted to get to the end of the story and see how everything played out, besides wanting to play other games. They are bite-sized, and aren't risky - if you lose a mission, you still keep the items and experience that you found, you only have to start from the beginning. That's not too big a deal since most missions are very short, mostly just a walk from one end of a dungeon to the other fighting enemies and opening treasure chests. The only time it is a big deal is if you happen to spend an hour and a half doing the 1000 man gauntlet fight and they kill you somewhere around the 850th man with the stupid dynamite move (you get hit with dynamite, it brings you down to 1 HP no matter what, so if you get hit with anything else before healing you're dead). After I lost that mission I decided to go beat the game (which worked out because I was in the last dungeon anyway).
It's too bad there weren't more levels like the last dungeon, actually. There's a lot of stuff Crisis Core did very well, that I would like to see expanded upon, and a game made up of dungeons like the last one would be fantastic. The game was a bit linear up to that point - do a story mission, explore the limited environs of lower Midgar (with seemingly diminishing returns), or do a side mission for items and gil.
Anyway, the scene everyone wanted to see - what happens in Nibelheim - is done extremely well, and was both incredibly fanservicey and yet tastefully done. If you like Final Fantasy VII at all - and I'm not its biggest fan but I had fun with it - you need to play Crisis Core. Had I played VII in 1997 and then Crisis Core in 2007, I would have been very satisfied with what they came up with. Now I'm just jealous that more of the properties I love don't get this sort of fanservicey goodness.
Of course, next on my plate is Persona 4 Arena, so we'll see if Atlus in 2012 can do Square 2007 right. (Also, why isn't Crisis Core on PSN, Square Enix? It's one of the PSP's best games, and people would buy it, judging by how many people continue to buy FFVII on there!)
That sounds more insulting than it should be. I don't think Square ever intended for Zack to have too much of a story, other than what happened in VII proper. But Crisis Core sure makes it seem otherwise, because I legitimately enjoy what they came up with for him.
The story can be a bit nonsensical at times (would it be a Final Fantasy game if it wasn't?), but overall it's much easier to follow than VII, and still just as good even though you know going into it how it's pretty much going to end. And what an ending! I won't spoil it, but one of the central gameplay mechanics of the game is used to amazing effect at the end.
The gameplay is quite fun as well. Crisis Core is Kingdom Hearts done right, I think - a lot less running around, a lot more strategy and positioning more than just mashing X over and over again until the enemy is dead. Actually it's funny - that's possible in Crisis Core to an extent as well, although it makes the game quite boring and more difficult than it needs to be. If anything, the Materia system really makes Crisis Core better, because of the way it lets you customize Zack. It isn't just his available powers - your standard Fire, Fira, etc. - but also buffs and status protection that you can add to him. For example, I was getting hit with Stun and Stop quite a bit in the last half of the game, and it was driving me nuts, so I fused some Materia to come up with something that prevented me from getting stunned, as well as giving me quite the health boost as well (I had 9999 health by the end of the game with the boosts from my Materia and items). To be honest, I could have explored the Materia Fusion quite a bit more, but by the end, I didn't really need to. Because I did so many of the missions, I feel like I was pretty overleveled by the end, as the final boss was a cakewalk for me.
Those missions are addicting, though. I could easily have seen myself beating every one of them had I not wanted to get to the end of the story and see how everything played out, besides wanting to play other games. They are bite-sized, and aren't risky - if you lose a mission, you still keep the items and experience that you found, you only have to start from the beginning. That's not too big a deal since most missions are very short, mostly just a walk from one end of a dungeon to the other fighting enemies and opening treasure chests. The only time it is a big deal is if you happen to spend an hour and a half doing the 1000 man gauntlet fight and they kill you somewhere around the 850th man with the stupid dynamite move (you get hit with dynamite, it brings you down to 1 HP no matter what, so if you get hit with anything else before healing you're dead). After I lost that mission I decided to go beat the game (which worked out because I was in the last dungeon anyway).
It's too bad there weren't more levels like the last dungeon, actually. There's a lot of stuff Crisis Core did very well, that I would like to see expanded upon, and a game made up of dungeons like the last one would be fantastic. The game was a bit linear up to that point - do a story mission, explore the limited environs of lower Midgar (with seemingly diminishing returns), or do a side mission for items and gil.
Anyway, the scene everyone wanted to see - what happens in Nibelheim - is done extremely well, and was both incredibly fanservicey and yet tastefully done. If you like Final Fantasy VII at all - and I'm not its biggest fan but I had fun with it - you need to play Crisis Core. Had I played VII in 1997 and then Crisis Core in 2007, I would have been very satisfied with what they came up with. Now I'm just jealous that more of the properties I love don't get this sort of fanservicey goodness.
Of course, next on my plate is Persona 4 Arena, so we'll see if Atlus in 2012 can do Square 2007 right. (Also, why isn't Crisis Core on PSN, Square Enix? It's one of the PSP's best games, and people would buy it, judging by how many people continue to buy FFVII on there!)
Friday, December 28, 2012
Final Fantasy VII
I just got done beating Final Fantasy VII for the first time. There's a lot to say about this game, especially given all I'd played of it had been up to the first time you visit the Gold Saucer.
Let's start with Midgar - that city is fantastic, easily one of the best in the series, and probably the best, at least of the ones I've played a good chunk of (I, III, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, X, and XIII). It has very tight design, and looks great as well which is quite a feat considering the majority of the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds, Midgar included. The music in Midgar is great, too, and for the most part (battle themes and Cosmo Canyon aside) the music takes a nosedive once you leave Midgar (when the music from Midgar comes back around the endgame is where the music picks back up). The setpieces within Midgar are pretty cool, too - my favorite being breaking into the Shinra building itself just before you leave Midgar for pretty much the rest of the game.
Once you leave Midgar, the game sort of settles down from the cool setpieces immediately followed by cool setpiece that it had been up to that point. The pace slows down and you're able to explore the world, and start the quest, if you will. As for the plot... I enjoyed it, but there are a few problems, which I will detail while not going into the good stuff too much, since the majority of the plot is pretty neat (and I love to bitch). The rest of this post has spoilers for FF7, so beware.
So, Aeris! As everyone knows, she dies in this game. I have known this for years, and never got to the end of disc 1 where this happens to actually see it within the context of the game (I had seen the famous scene where Sephiroth drops at about 3 MPH from a hundred feet up and stabs her many times, though). It was definitely interesting, because I know how many people were absolutely blown away by her death. I understand, partially, because it really kind of comes out of nowhere - there isn't much foreshadowing besides Sephiroth threatening her right after she leaves your party for the last time. Mostly, though, my guess is people were blown away by it because they may have invested a bunch of time leveling her up, only to have her permanently gone unexpectedly.
Or, and I think this is more likely, her death was kind of dumb. I mean I get what she was doing (which would have been a complaint if the game didn't explain what she was doing at the end - she just kind of dies, your party shrugs, and they move on, really), but why didn't she explain everything to Cloud or anybody else? Maybe she should have waited for the others and gone safely, rather than just wander off with Sephiroth running around killing people like a maniac. She just peaced out and when Cloud is standing right in front of her, sword raised (which is the next plot point I'll discuss), she just opens her eyes, smiles, and without a word, Sephiroth drops down and kills her. So I can see people being a bit upset by that, since it isn't exactly satisfying to see a party member die without a word.
Now, my favorite character in Final Fantasy VII is Cloud, and that is because I really enjoy his character arc. He was the biggest surprise in the game, to be honest, since I had always heard that he was a mopey asshole who didn't really care about anyone but himself. This is largely untrue! He comes off that way at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly starts to change as he learns more about himself and those around him (and Aeris seems to loosen him up a little bit as well). His confusion between his own memories and Zack's was a neat little internal struggle, and I thought Square did a good job doling out information little by little about the little purple guy. Particularly, the part where Cloud and Tifa are in the lifestream and are trying to sort through Cloud's memories together - pretty poignant, neat, and nicely symbolic, I think. Not really any complaints there, besides wanting to know a little more about Zack, although Crisis Core exists so that takes care of that!
With regards to Sephiroth... let me put it this way. I would like to see a remake of Final Fantasy VII (for many reasons beside this as well), and I hope if they ever did it, they might add in some bonus content or something that explores his character and motivations a bit more. I mean he's supposed to be this badass supersoldier (and he is!) but he loses his mind and decides to destroy the world when he finds out he was basically created (which apparently, he isn't, Hojo just injected Jenova cells into his body when he was born or a fetus or something). His character art is pretty cool, but to be honest, the coolest moment with him is the final battle with him, where it's just him and Cloud squaring off in a one on one battle, where Cloud omnislashes him and kills him. God damn if he doesn't have some of the best battle songs in the series, though.
One of the reasons I'd like to see a remake of this game is because of the graphics. Not necessarily the pre-rendered backgrounds, which still look alright, but the low-poly enemies and summons and the like. Also, the overworld models for the party look really bad and could use an update, especially for the cutscenes the little guys are in. The localization needs an almost complete overhaul, at least to get rid of the copious spelling errors throughout the game (would you like to continue? Choose between "off-course!" and "no, way!" That guy are sick, etc. etc.). I'd also like to see some plot points expanded upon - Cait Sith being the big one. What the hell was up with that thing? He betrays the party, and they get mad at him, let him tag around, then get sad when he sacrifices himself only to come back a minute later. Apparently some dude at Shinra is controlling him, but it's only vaguely alluded to who it is, and when you do find out, it's some random guy you've never met? Very odd. I thought maybe something was lost in translation but I think it just wasn't handled very well.
The Materia system was alright, although it became a little tedious near the end when I had a million slots to manage. I think I like just managing individual spells and abilities for each character, rather than leveling up what is essentially an item that can be moved around. I really would have liked the ability to unequip my inactive party members of Materia at any time, because switching them in, taking off their Materia, then switching them back out got a little tedious.
I have to praise the battle system of VII, though, because it runs very well - I'm not sure if that's a result of me playing on a Vita with high speed loading or not, but there were only a few times that I got annoyed because battles were taking too long (the final battle against Sephiroth being the most fragrant offender - that stupid animation that plays of his attack DESTROYING PLUTO, SATURN, JUPITER, THE SUN, MERCURY, AND VENUS literally takes just over a minute to watch, and he does it over and over again in the battle and it cannot be skipped. URGHHH). Also Final Fantasy VII has the best Regen, which I think might be the first time that spell is worth using.
Let's see, what else... Final Fantasy VII Cid is my favorite Cid, and I'm a big Final Fantasy IV Cid fan, so that says a lot. He certainly beats out Final Fantasy VI Cid, who's notable accomplishment was looking like a candy corn.
The music, as stated before, is pretty good. The songs that are good are fantastic, the final boss music (all three songs, when you fight Jenova, and Sephiroth 1 and 2), Cosmo Canyon, the regular battle music, the boss battle music, and anything associated with Midgar are really good. Demerits go to the overworld music, which is supposed to be oppressive, I suppose, but I just hated it. The music is another place where a remake would improve upon the original game, to maybe get rid of those midis.
I'm not sure where VII is going to go on my personal list of the best Final Fantasies, but I will say this: I enjoyed myself, and despite people hating on the game, I think it holds up pretty well, aside from what I bitched about above, which is less about the game itself and more just a product of a sloppy translation (well done, SCEA) and the limited technology of the time. I can totally see why people lost their minds over this game and consider it to be one of the best games of all time (I do not, but I get what those people are saying now).
I guess I'll end this post with a troll: Final Fantasy VI is better. :)
Let's start with Midgar - that city is fantastic, easily one of the best in the series, and probably the best, at least of the ones I've played a good chunk of (I, III, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, X, and XIII). It has very tight design, and looks great as well which is quite a feat considering the majority of the game uses pre-rendered backgrounds, Midgar included. The music in Midgar is great, too, and for the most part (battle themes and Cosmo Canyon aside) the music takes a nosedive once you leave Midgar (when the music from Midgar comes back around the endgame is where the music picks back up). The setpieces within Midgar are pretty cool, too - my favorite being breaking into the Shinra building itself just before you leave Midgar for pretty much the rest of the game.
Once you leave Midgar, the game sort of settles down from the cool setpieces immediately followed by cool setpiece that it had been up to that point. The pace slows down and you're able to explore the world, and start the quest, if you will. As for the plot... I enjoyed it, but there are a few problems, which I will detail while not going into the good stuff too much, since the majority of the plot is pretty neat (and I love to bitch). The rest of this post has spoilers for FF7, so beware.
So, Aeris! As everyone knows, she dies in this game. I have known this for years, and never got to the end of disc 1 where this happens to actually see it within the context of the game (I had seen the famous scene where Sephiroth drops at about 3 MPH from a hundred feet up and stabs her many times, though). It was definitely interesting, because I know how many people were absolutely blown away by her death. I understand, partially, because it really kind of comes out of nowhere - there isn't much foreshadowing besides Sephiroth threatening her right after she leaves your party for the last time. Mostly, though, my guess is people were blown away by it because they may have invested a bunch of time leveling her up, only to have her permanently gone unexpectedly.
Or, and I think this is more likely, her death was kind of dumb. I mean I get what she was doing (which would have been a complaint if the game didn't explain what she was doing at the end - she just kind of dies, your party shrugs, and they move on, really), but why didn't she explain everything to Cloud or anybody else? Maybe she should have waited for the others and gone safely, rather than just wander off with Sephiroth running around killing people like a maniac. She just peaced out and when Cloud is standing right in front of her, sword raised (which is the next plot point I'll discuss), she just opens her eyes, smiles, and without a word, Sephiroth drops down and kills her. So I can see people being a bit upset by that, since it isn't exactly satisfying to see a party member die without a word.
Now, my favorite character in Final Fantasy VII is Cloud, and that is because I really enjoy his character arc. He was the biggest surprise in the game, to be honest, since I had always heard that he was a mopey asshole who didn't really care about anyone but himself. This is largely untrue! He comes off that way at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly starts to change as he learns more about himself and those around him (and Aeris seems to loosen him up a little bit as well). His confusion between his own memories and Zack's was a neat little internal struggle, and I thought Square did a good job doling out information little by little about the little purple guy. Particularly, the part where Cloud and Tifa are in the lifestream and are trying to sort through Cloud's memories together - pretty poignant, neat, and nicely symbolic, I think. Not really any complaints there, besides wanting to know a little more about Zack, although Crisis Core exists so that takes care of that!
With regards to Sephiroth... let me put it this way. I would like to see a remake of Final Fantasy VII (for many reasons beside this as well), and I hope if they ever did it, they might add in some bonus content or something that explores his character and motivations a bit more. I mean he's supposed to be this badass supersoldier (and he is!) but he loses his mind and decides to destroy the world when he finds out he was basically created (which apparently, he isn't, Hojo just injected Jenova cells into his body when he was born or a fetus or something). His character art is pretty cool, but to be honest, the coolest moment with him is the final battle with him, where it's just him and Cloud squaring off in a one on one battle, where Cloud omnislashes him and kills him. God damn if he doesn't have some of the best battle songs in the series, though.
One of the reasons I'd like to see a remake of this game is because of the graphics. Not necessarily the pre-rendered backgrounds, which still look alright, but the low-poly enemies and summons and the like. Also, the overworld models for the party look really bad and could use an update, especially for the cutscenes the little guys are in. The localization needs an almost complete overhaul, at least to get rid of the copious spelling errors throughout the game (would you like to continue? Choose between "off-course!" and "no, way!" That guy are sick, etc. etc.). I'd also like to see some plot points expanded upon - Cait Sith being the big one. What the hell was up with that thing? He betrays the party, and they get mad at him, let him tag around, then get sad when he sacrifices himself only to come back a minute later. Apparently some dude at Shinra is controlling him, but it's only vaguely alluded to who it is, and when you do find out, it's some random guy you've never met? Very odd. I thought maybe something was lost in translation but I think it just wasn't handled very well.
The Materia system was alright, although it became a little tedious near the end when I had a million slots to manage. I think I like just managing individual spells and abilities for each character, rather than leveling up what is essentially an item that can be moved around. I really would have liked the ability to unequip my inactive party members of Materia at any time, because switching them in, taking off their Materia, then switching them back out got a little tedious.
I have to praise the battle system of VII, though, because it runs very well - I'm not sure if that's a result of me playing on a Vita with high speed loading or not, but there were only a few times that I got annoyed because battles were taking too long (the final battle against Sephiroth being the most fragrant offender - that stupid animation that plays of his attack DESTROYING PLUTO, SATURN, JUPITER, THE SUN, MERCURY, AND VENUS literally takes just over a minute to watch, and he does it over and over again in the battle and it cannot be skipped. URGHHH). Also Final Fantasy VII has the best Regen, which I think might be the first time that spell is worth using.
Let's see, what else... Final Fantasy VII Cid is my favorite Cid, and I'm a big Final Fantasy IV Cid fan, so that says a lot. He certainly beats out Final Fantasy VI Cid, who's notable accomplishment was looking like a candy corn.
The music, as stated before, is pretty good. The songs that are good are fantastic, the final boss music (all three songs, when you fight Jenova, and Sephiroth 1 and 2), Cosmo Canyon, the regular battle music, the boss battle music, and anything associated with Midgar are really good. Demerits go to the overworld music, which is supposed to be oppressive, I suppose, but I just hated it. The music is another place where a remake would improve upon the original game, to maybe get rid of those midis.
I'm not sure where VII is going to go on my personal list of the best Final Fantasies, but I will say this: I enjoyed myself, and despite people hating on the game, I think it holds up pretty well, aside from what I bitched about above, which is less about the game itself and more just a product of a sloppy translation (well done, SCEA) and the limited technology of the time. I can totally see why people lost their minds over this game and consider it to be one of the best games of all time (I do not, but I get what those people are saying now).
I guess I'll end this post with a troll: Final Fantasy VI is better. :)
Monday, September 24, 2012
Best Sega Genesis Game of 2010: Pier Solar, Part 1
Today, I opened a brand new Sega Genesis game, something I haven't done since the 90s. What is also interesting about this fact is that this is a game I've never played before, released twenty years after the Genesis itself: Pier Solar, by Watermelon.
The very first thing that must be mentioned is the absolutely gorgeous packaging. This is exactly how packaging should be done to this day, whether the game is a cart or a disc. Pier Solar comes in a solid plastic case that doesn't seem like it is going to fall apart. Within the case are a set of cool looking stickers (not that I'd imagine anyone who owns this game would ever actually use them) and a full color, lengthy manual. The entire package exudes tasteful design aesthetics, not something I think I have ever seen in Genesis packaging (actually, almost anything from the 90s). The cart itself has a nice Pier Solar logo on it and looks classy popping out of my Genesis Model 2.
The game's charm hits you immediately - after the familiar "Licensed by Sega" screen, another screen pops up that says "Please disregard the previous screen - this game is not licensed by Sega Ltd. (or something to that effect, I'm paraphrasing here)." The Pier Solar menu pops up, and then you create a save and start the game.
I was not expecting the music in Pier Solar to be very good. I thought it would be passable at best, due to how few Genesis games actually have good soundtracks (even Castlevania: Bloodlines sounds weird despite having great tracks). And while Pier Solar doesn't have the soundtrack of, say, Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger, it is very charming and quite good, to be honest. One thing most Genesis games didn't do was evoke atmosphere via music - Pier Solar does this very well. The cave music in particular does this excellently, from what I've heard so far.
The graphics are very elaborate and remind me of Phantasy Star IV, despite being a little more finely detailed. It took a bit of adjusting because I've played so many more recently made games, but the abstract nature of the tilesets make getting around a bit difficult. The game compensates for this a little bit with it's "pathfinder" setting, which makes your character always move if he hits a wall and can go around some nearby corner to keep advancing in the general direction you were going (this feature can be turned on and off at will as well as the "autorun" ability, which speeds up your characters walking speed).
The battle system struts its stuff right off the bat as well. The first battle I fought had three floating jellyfish-looking things, and some thing that was sitting on the ground. What is important about this is that every time I had my main character - who was equipped with a dagger - attack the floating guys, he wouldn't do any damage. My bow and arrow user always did. Without giving me some annoying tutorial, I figured out right away that there are two heights at which enemies could be, and I have to compensate for their position given the situation. A little bit of strategy right away!
So I beat what I think is the first boss and I might have been a tad under-leveled. I'm going to go back and look around for some sidequests because I want to savor this game while I can - how often are true 16-bit RPGs made these days?
The very first thing that must be mentioned is the absolutely gorgeous packaging. This is exactly how packaging should be done to this day, whether the game is a cart or a disc. Pier Solar comes in a solid plastic case that doesn't seem like it is going to fall apart. Within the case are a set of cool looking stickers (not that I'd imagine anyone who owns this game would ever actually use them) and a full color, lengthy manual. The entire package exudes tasteful design aesthetics, not something I think I have ever seen in Genesis packaging (actually, almost anything from the 90s). The cart itself has a nice Pier Solar logo on it and looks classy popping out of my Genesis Model 2.
The game's charm hits you immediately - after the familiar "Licensed by Sega" screen, another screen pops up that says "Please disregard the previous screen - this game is not licensed by Sega Ltd. (or something to that effect, I'm paraphrasing here)." The Pier Solar menu pops up, and then you create a save and start the game.
I was not expecting the music in Pier Solar to be very good. I thought it would be passable at best, due to how few Genesis games actually have good soundtracks (even Castlevania: Bloodlines sounds weird despite having great tracks). And while Pier Solar doesn't have the soundtrack of, say, Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger, it is very charming and quite good, to be honest. One thing most Genesis games didn't do was evoke atmosphere via music - Pier Solar does this very well. The cave music in particular does this excellently, from what I've heard so far.
The graphics are very elaborate and remind me of Phantasy Star IV, despite being a little more finely detailed. It took a bit of adjusting because I've played so many more recently made games, but the abstract nature of the tilesets make getting around a bit difficult. The game compensates for this a little bit with it's "pathfinder" setting, which makes your character always move if he hits a wall and can go around some nearby corner to keep advancing in the general direction you were going (this feature can be turned on and off at will as well as the "autorun" ability, which speeds up your characters walking speed).
The battle system struts its stuff right off the bat as well. The first battle I fought had three floating jellyfish-looking things, and some thing that was sitting on the ground. What is important about this is that every time I had my main character - who was equipped with a dagger - attack the floating guys, he wouldn't do any damage. My bow and arrow user always did. Without giving me some annoying tutorial, I figured out right away that there are two heights at which enemies could be, and I have to compensate for their position given the situation. A little bit of strategy right away!
So I beat what I think is the first boss and I might have been a tad under-leveled. I'm going to go back and look around for some sidequests because I want to savor this game while I can - how often are true 16-bit RPGs made these days?
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII Postmortem
What entry in the Final Fantasy series has been maligned as much as the thirteenth (two doesn't count)?
When the game came out, I couldn't help but read and hear everywhere about how much the game was terrible and linear and stupid and hard and it plays itself and a bunch of other things that would be impossible to actually describe a single game. One thing was certain: the game was controversial.
What little we know about the troubled development history of Final Fantasy XIII is very interesting. We know the game started development for the Playstation 2 in 2004 after the team had finished working on Final Fantasy X-2 International for Japan's market. It was moved to the Playstation 3 later on, and the teams involved all began churning out a bunch of characters and areas to be stitched together. The team was having trouble coming up with a collective look and feel for the game, and the higher ups wanted to ship a demo with the Japanese version of Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII straight to home video movie. They ultimately did create the demo, then buckle down and finish the game, although they cut - according to Isamu Kamikokuryou, the game's art director - so much content, there was enough left over to create another game.
All of which is very forthcoming from a Japanese developer. But anyway, I just find it incredibly interesting that this game took as long as it did and came out like it did. I recommend 1UP's Active Time Babble podcast from January 14th, 2010 about Final Fantasy XIII for an interesting discussion of the above and in-depth discussion about the battle system and structure of the game. Frankly, I think they do a great job of discussing it without spoiling the story.
Here's my take, though. I think the game is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. The first few hours don't really do it much justice; you're stuck in cramped hallways that are too abstract to really be appreciated. Once you get outside and explore the outdoors of Cocoon (and later the vast, stunningly gorgeous Pulse), I guarantee you will stop and just look around for a while.
I know people say that every five years or so about whatever game just came out, but this game really is gorgeous. It really showcases Square-Enix's art talent.
Speaking of art talent, I actually like most of the character designs! Sure, Vanille and Serah look really jailbaity, and yes, Lightning's sheath bounces off the back of her legs for the entire game (wouldn't there be chafing or something?), but there are barely any zippers to be found! These characters actually look like people, and their clothes aren't TOO ridiculous (as women in JRPGs do, most of them are dressed pretty skimpily). A lot of people think Snow looks like a dudebro douchebag, but that's what he's supposed to look like, because he kind of is a dudebro douchebag. Other than the aforementioned sheath, I really like Lightning's character design. She actually seems like an adult and isn't a pile of zippers, like some female Final Fantasy characters that shall not be named.
I like most of the character arcs, too. Without spoiling anything, I really like Lightning's evolution throughout the game, along with (*gasp!*) Snow's. Near the end, their arcs get a little messed up, but overall they pull it off. I enjoyed the voice acting besides Vanille's, and rather enjoyed most of the story. Some of the individual scenes are poorly written and embarrassing, but they're sadly endemic to the genre ("We can do it! Let's pull off a miracle, guys!" followed by "We decide our own fate. Right guys?!" etc etc).
That battle system, though. Picking apart every battle to find the thread that will not only let you win, but absolutely trounce the enemies is a blast. The Paradigm system, while very strange and counter intuitive at first, becomes second nature fairly quickly (yes, before the 15 hour tutorial ends) and never really becomes uninteresting throughout the game. What's nice is that there is some room for most fights to be approached in multiple ways with different characters and classes. For example, I didn't use the Sentinel much, despite hearing all over the place how absolutely essential it was. Sure, one of the characters I used sometimes was a Sentinel, but I feel like Saboteur and Synergist were way more interesting and important (especially in the endgame). To each their own.
I've never looked forward to boss battles as much as I do in Final Fantasy XIII, though. Intricate puzzles designed to be perfectly balanced for whatever point in the game you're at (with the exception of the final two chapters, anyway), they never disappointed. Some were a bit cheap, but if you rearranged your Paradigms and changed your strategy, you would suss out a win. For example, I got absolutely murdered three times by the final boss. The last time, once I realized a certain strategy, I went in and kicked the crap out of him. It was cathartic and very enjoyable.
I'm not sure if I'll go back and do some of the side mission stuff, though. You see, I actually enjoyed the linear nature of the game, and while I didn't dislike when Chapter 11 opened up and let me do basically whatever I wanted, I felt a little disconnect. The game had been so rigidly linear up to that point that I felt a little paralyzed by choice. I certainly don't look at it as a negative, though! Whoever wants to mess around in that playground can certainly do so, and if you don't want to, you can just grind a little and move on with the story. It sure would be interesting to take down some of those giant monsters, though...
All in all, a very good game. I know next to nothing about Final Fantasy XIII-2, despite owning it. Perhaps I will give that a try soon...
Oh! The music is very good, too.
When the game came out, I couldn't help but read and hear everywhere about how much the game was terrible and linear and stupid and hard and it plays itself and a bunch of other things that would be impossible to actually describe a single game. One thing was certain: the game was controversial.
What little we know about the troubled development history of Final Fantasy XIII is very interesting. We know the game started development for the Playstation 2 in 2004 after the team had finished working on Final Fantasy X-2 International for Japan's market. It was moved to the Playstation 3 later on, and the teams involved all began churning out a bunch of characters and areas to be stitched together. The team was having trouble coming up with a collective look and feel for the game, and the higher ups wanted to ship a demo with the Japanese version of Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII straight to home video movie. They ultimately did create the demo, then buckle down and finish the game, although they cut - according to Isamu Kamikokuryou, the game's art director - so much content, there was enough left over to create another game.
All of which is very forthcoming from a Japanese developer. But anyway, I just find it incredibly interesting that this game took as long as it did and came out like it did. I recommend 1UP's Active Time Babble podcast from January 14th, 2010 about Final Fantasy XIII for an interesting discussion of the above and in-depth discussion about the battle system and structure of the game. Frankly, I think they do a great job of discussing it without spoiling the story.
Here's my take, though. I think the game is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. The first few hours don't really do it much justice; you're stuck in cramped hallways that are too abstract to really be appreciated. Once you get outside and explore the outdoors of Cocoon (and later the vast, stunningly gorgeous Pulse), I guarantee you will stop and just look around for a while.
I know people say that every five years or so about whatever game just came out, but this game really is gorgeous. It really showcases Square-Enix's art talent.
Speaking of art talent, I actually like most of the character designs! Sure, Vanille and Serah look really jailbaity, and yes, Lightning's sheath bounces off the back of her legs for the entire game (wouldn't there be chafing or something?), but there are barely any zippers to be found! These characters actually look like people, and their clothes aren't TOO ridiculous (as women in JRPGs do, most of them are dressed pretty skimpily). A lot of people think Snow looks like a dudebro douchebag, but that's what he's supposed to look like, because he kind of is a dudebro douchebag. Other than the aforementioned sheath, I really like Lightning's character design. She actually seems like an adult and isn't a pile of zippers, like some female Final Fantasy characters that shall not be named.
I like most of the character arcs, too. Without spoiling anything, I really like Lightning's evolution throughout the game, along with (*gasp!*) Snow's. Near the end, their arcs get a little messed up, but overall they pull it off. I enjoyed the voice acting besides Vanille's, and rather enjoyed most of the story. Some of the individual scenes are poorly written and embarrassing, but they're sadly endemic to the genre ("We can do it! Let's pull off a miracle, guys!" followed by "We decide our own fate. Right guys?!" etc etc).
That battle system, though. Picking apart every battle to find the thread that will not only let you win, but absolutely trounce the enemies is a blast. The Paradigm system, while very strange and counter intuitive at first, becomes second nature fairly quickly (yes, before the 15 hour tutorial ends) and never really becomes uninteresting throughout the game. What's nice is that there is some room for most fights to be approached in multiple ways with different characters and classes. For example, I didn't use the Sentinel much, despite hearing all over the place how absolutely essential it was. Sure, one of the characters I used sometimes was a Sentinel, but I feel like Saboteur and Synergist were way more interesting and important (especially in the endgame). To each their own.
I've never looked forward to boss battles as much as I do in Final Fantasy XIII, though. Intricate puzzles designed to be perfectly balanced for whatever point in the game you're at (with the exception of the final two chapters, anyway), they never disappointed. Some were a bit cheap, but if you rearranged your Paradigms and changed your strategy, you would suss out a win. For example, I got absolutely murdered three times by the final boss. The last time, once I realized a certain strategy, I went in and kicked the crap out of him. It was cathartic and very enjoyable.
I'm not sure if I'll go back and do some of the side mission stuff, though. You see, I actually enjoyed the linear nature of the game, and while I didn't dislike when Chapter 11 opened up and let me do basically whatever I wanted, I felt a little disconnect. The game had been so rigidly linear up to that point that I felt a little paralyzed by choice. I certainly don't look at it as a negative, though! Whoever wants to mess around in that playground can certainly do so, and if you don't want to, you can just grind a little and move on with the story. It sure would be interesting to take down some of those giant monsters, though...
All in all, a very good game. I know next to nothing about Final Fantasy XIII-2, despite owning it. Perhaps I will give that a try soon...
Oh! The music is very good, too.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
In a Gravity Daze
Gravity Rush is the best game ever made.
Okay, so it's not. But you know that feeling you get after you just spend as much time as you possibly can with a game and beat it 100%? That's what I just did with Gravity Rush. I got all the trophies. All of them. I must stress that this is something I almost NEVER do. I could care less about "gamerscore" (mocking quotation marks intended) and starting with this game it's the first time I've ever even looked at trophies on a Playstation system (note that I've had a PSP for four years, a PS3 since 2010, and bought a Vita... well, a few weeks ago).
It's not something I usually care about.
And to be honest, even though I just got them all, I don't really care about it here, either. It is just that Gravity Rush is so damn fun that I want to drain every ounce of enjoyment out of it that I can. I want to do every mission. I want to collect every gem (well, maybe not that one). I want to find out as much as I can about the gorgeous world in the game. I want to listen to the music as much as possible.
I don't want this game to end.
I mean I realize that I've probably got a mix of shiny new item syndrome (the Vita) and the old "hey, that game was a pretty great experience," which combine to form some sort of pleasure cocktail that completely overloads my ability to think rationally and develop coherent thoughts.
But who cares?
I suppose I should actually talk about the game now. You play as Kat, an amnesiac who finds out she has an interesting ability to manipulate her own personal gravity. This means that, as long as she has the energy to do so, Kat can "fall" anywhere at a pretty good clip. I say fall because that's basically what she does - she changes gravity and then falls in whatever direction she pointed. So you can "fall" up, down, sideways, wherever you desire. As you play through the game, you level up your abilities a bit - such as length of time Kat can manipulate gravity, the speed at which she "falls," and her attacks - more on those in a minute. The gravity controls are the real draw of the game, and they are intoxicating. The feeling you get as you send Kat careening around the town of Hekseville is not unlike Crackdown and its sequel, wherein the hero is able to move about quite quickly, and is insanely fun to control. Coming immediately off Gravity Rush, I must say I think I prefer it over the Crackdown games, and I had quite a bit of fun with those.
They are different beasts, though. Gravity Rush is a game that overflows with personality, beginning with its well made cel-shaded graphics to its fantastic music. I have trouble describing music and graphics so I'll leave it there, but they must be seen to behold. They are stylized perfectly and I find myself longing to listen to the music when I'm not even playing the game.
The great graphics, though, do add quite a bit of character to the town, its inhabitants, and especially the story of the game, though. Gravity Rush develops its world quite well, and, like the TV show Lost, forces the player to ask questions while answering a few - but not all - of them. This is rare in a video game - the ability for the writers to have enough restraint to not explain every little detail of the world the player just spent several hours in. It leaves a little mystery, and I find that when I attempt to fill in the cracks myself that the game becomes even more intriguing with what could be. I'm glad I don't know everything about Hekseville and its inhabitants.
So I beat the game, beat all the challenge missions, killed the tough enemies (and that last one was a pain, believe me), and am now going to move on to the downloadable content. I plan on 100% all those, too, although I don't think they'll be as hard as the main game. All told, assuming they don't release more than the three packs that I can already see on the Trophy menu, I will have spent about $53 on this game - and every penny has been worth it.
That Vita purchase from two weeks ago? Justified.
Okay, so it's not. But you know that feeling you get after you just spend as much time as you possibly can with a game and beat it 100%? That's what I just did with Gravity Rush. I got all the trophies. All of them. I must stress that this is something I almost NEVER do. I could care less about "gamerscore" (mocking quotation marks intended) and starting with this game it's the first time I've ever even looked at trophies on a Playstation system (note that I've had a PSP for four years, a PS3 since 2010, and bought a Vita... well, a few weeks ago).
It's not something I usually care about.
And to be honest, even though I just got them all, I don't really care about it here, either. It is just that Gravity Rush is so damn fun that I want to drain every ounce of enjoyment out of it that I can. I want to do every mission. I want to collect every gem (well, maybe not that one). I want to find out as much as I can about the gorgeous world in the game. I want to listen to the music as much as possible.
I don't want this game to end.
I mean I realize that I've probably got a mix of shiny new item syndrome (the Vita) and the old "hey, that game was a pretty great experience," which combine to form some sort of pleasure cocktail that completely overloads my ability to think rationally and develop coherent thoughts.
But who cares?
I suppose I should actually talk about the game now. You play as Kat, an amnesiac who finds out she has an interesting ability to manipulate her own personal gravity. This means that, as long as she has the energy to do so, Kat can "fall" anywhere at a pretty good clip. I say fall because that's basically what she does - she changes gravity and then falls in whatever direction she pointed. So you can "fall" up, down, sideways, wherever you desire. As you play through the game, you level up your abilities a bit - such as length of time Kat can manipulate gravity, the speed at which she "falls," and her attacks - more on those in a minute. The gravity controls are the real draw of the game, and they are intoxicating. The feeling you get as you send Kat careening around the town of Hekseville is not unlike Crackdown and its sequel, wherein the hero is able to move about quite quickly, and is insanely fun to control. Coming immediately off Gravity Rush, I must say I think I prefer it over the Crackdown games, and I had quite a bit of fun with those.
They are different beasts, though. Gravity Rush is a game that overflows with personality, beginning with its well made cel-shaded graphics to its fantastic music. I have trouble describing music and graphics so I'll leave it there, but they must be seen to behold. They are stylized perfectly and I find myself longing to listen to the music when I'm not even playing the game.
The great graphics, though, do add quite a bit of character to the town, its inhabitants, and especially the story of the game, though. Gravity Rush develops its world quite well, and, like the TV show Lost, forces the player to ask questions while answering a few - but not all - of them. This is rare in a video game - the ability for the writers to have enough restraint to not explain every little detail of the world the player just spent several hours in. It leaves a little mystery, and I find that when I attempt to fill in the cracks myself that the game becomes even more intriguing with what could be. I'm glad I don't know everything about Hekseville and its inhabitants.
So I beat the game, beat all the challenge missions, killed the tough enemies (and that last one was a pain, believe me), and am now going to move on to the downloadable content. I plan on 100% all those, too, although I don't think they'll be as hard as the main game. All told, assuming they don't release more than the three packs that I can already see on the Trophy menu, I will have spent about $53 on this game - and every penny has been worth it.
That Vita purchase from two weeks ago? Justified.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)