You know, it's weird. Videogames are one of the great loves of my life, minus novels, and yet I can't seem to recall the last time I had written an entry that focused on videogames.
Ever since I have entered the period of time known to students as Summer Vacation, I have been in a gaming frenzy. Just a few weeks before, I had made a vow to complete a wide series of games under my property, including Lost Odyssey, Persona 3, Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, Breath of Fire 4, and Suikoden. All but the first two were games I downloaded onto my PC because I could not find them in stores.
If you did not count my desire to do things besides playing videogames (like, perhaps, writing a book), it is very apparent that I have a busy summer in store for me.
Two Thursdays back, I ordered Final Fantasy IX, because I was determined to essentially complete my collection of the Playstation era of Final Fantasy. The only title that is absent is 11, but since it is an MMO, I want nothing to do with it.
I knew even before I inserted the CD into my PS2 that FF9 was designed as a tribute to the previous eight entries in the franchise. I was expected to be alienated for the most part, due to the fact that I had not completed 6 of the games FF9 was a tribute to. For the most part, FF9 is just as enjoyable as 7,8 and 10.
It is a fun game. I love how each character has a class, with limits and advantages. Zidane is a thief, so he is the only character that can steal...but despite his high health, his defense is not up to snuff. Vivi as a Black Mage is a powerhouse, but his health and defense is dismal at best. Steiner has little MP, and not the best strength, but as a Knight his defense and health is through the roof. These are just a couple examples. It brought back memories of the one aspect of WoW that I loved - everyone has to know their class and work together. It is the reason why I will be adopting the Enforced Class System Challenge when I eventually get to play 12 (with the exception of everyone being able to use items).
9 is the most humorous entry in the series I have encountered. 7,8,10, and especially 12, is a lot like the Gundam anime - any sort of comic relief is strictly forbidden. It's almost as if the story writers thought of themselves as "Manly men who can only write manly stories for manly games! Comedy is for sissies! We are manly! Final Fantasy is manly! So, no comedy for Final Fantasy!" Steiner's antics of him trying to perform his Knightly duties always bring a smile to my face.
However, there was one instance of Final Fantasy 9 that just made me pull my hair out - the dancing scene in Cleyra. It is was just sheer idiocy, and it just looked so stupid. I never wanted to see humanoid rats dance some cross between Polka and Folk before I played Final Fantasy 9, and I certainly do not want to see it after the fact!
Besides Final Fantasy 9, I have also been playing Final Fantasy Tactics. I have been fascinated with Strategic RPGs ever since I first encountered Ogre Battle 64 in Junior High, and I have head time and again that Yasumi Matsuno was a master of the genre. I also wanted to understand Matsuno as I played up to Final Fantasy 12 - from Tactics to Vagrant Story to finally his latest piece of work.
Strategic RPGs have never been known for being simple to understand. There is a reason why you can have access to a tutorial right from the start menu, and why said tutorial can easily last an hour - these games make you think! Alot! I don't want to exaggerate the matter, but Strategic RPGs are the Risk of console games. You can easily miss a good deal of essential game mechanics just because you wouldn't know that it was there. It was only after reading a FAQ on GamwFAQS that I learned my characters had to manually learn skills.
I am barely into the game, but the story is intriguing. I like the idea of a young noble being placed in a position where his naive beliefs will be challenged. It should make for good storytelling. And when we know right from the beginning that our main character will be wrongly told as a villain make for an intriguing way to prepare us. We see Ramza as he is now. How will he be at the end? Will he make some immoral acts of judgment? Will the government paint him as a villain, or will his own actions be all the evidence historians need?
Overall, this should be an interesting summer.
Nine years ago, gas was just ninety nine cents a gallon. Now, it's almost four dollars.
Really makes you envious of those who were old enough to experience such wonder.
And before you ask, yes, the all caps title was needed for a movie as wonderful as "IRON MAN".
We've all seen our share of just downright bad movies, especially comic book ones. Anyone who has seen the direct to video Captain America or The Fantastic Four knows what I am talking about. In most cases, comic book movies are either geek love stories that stay so close to the original material that everyone else doesn't get attached to it, or films that take so many creative liberties from the original material that to call them adoptions would be downright insulting.
Amazingly, somehow, "IRON MAN"'s director, Jon Favreau, managed to reach a middle ground, and amazingly so. It is a roller coaster ride all the way through, one that is wonderfully acted, and the pacing is just great. If you were to find a flaw, I suppose you could say that it would be that even at just a little over two hours, "IRON MAN" ends too soon. I went to see the 9:30 show with my friend and brother, and before we knew it, it was already 11:30. It just speeds by, and I wouldn't mind at all if it was an additional four hours long. Heck, I probably would of have preferred it that way!
Of course, with Favreau having signed up the actors for a trilogy, I really shouldn't have any complaints.
