Video Games

Originally Posted by embowafa

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BOOMSHAKALAKAAAAAA!!!

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/p...319-20/nba-jam

They're saying Wii only right now. No way it stays that way!

So I've been playing FF13... don't play video games anymore but I went and grabbed a secondhand 360 for 100 bucks and rented it for two weeks for nostalgic purposes. I have played every final fantasy ever. Have played the good ones several times. I'm about halfway through this one. My impressions...

-They focussed on the visuals. They are stunning. The environments in particular are beautiful. Big win there. There are a lot of cutscenes but done with just the in-game graphics and it looks great.
-There are a lot of cutscenes. It's pretty much a movie with intermittent gameplay. Which is cool, because I play FF for the nostalgia and the memories of prior trips through cheesy JRPG storylines with simplistic character tropes.
-The voice acting has been getting progressively better since X (which was cringe-worthy) and is now largely passable. Writing is pretty much par for the course, but what do you expect from a JRPG.
-Kind of funny how we've gone from controlling 4 characters on SNES to 3 on PSX/PS2 to only one on PS3. I don't mind the battle system so much even though it's simplistic (hit dude with magic until staggered, then hit more, heal as needed), but it's a big departure... and I'd like the option to at least switch which character I'm controlling.
-There are a few minor gameplay design issues - the fact that enemies don't give you cash makes the shop / upgrade system, such as it is, pretty useless unless you're willing to take the time to do a ton of grinding. I've probably put 1/4 of my game time into grinding and that doesn't even scratch the surface of the tedium that would be necessary to do the completionist thing.
-The music is okay, probably actually good by video game standards, but not good by FF standards. Nobuo Uematsu, where art thou.
-The linear progression thing bugs the crap out of me. There's no interaction with anyone, no exploring cities, because you're basically fighting the whole time. There's no exploring the new town and checking out the shops for new schwag, talking to people, performing little mini-quests or any of that. It's like you're transported from dungeon to dungeon. For me this detracts from my enjoyment of FF and also puts a lot of roadblocks in the game designers' way in terms of plot and character development and giving the game actual depth.
-Which brings us to the bottom line: the game seriously lacks depth. This was a problem with XII as well (how many actual towns were in that game), but more so here. The story's concept has an absolute ton of untapped potential. I think the platforms make it completely unrealistic to make a complete FF game since PSX- this one took forever, and it still feels like you're rushing through it. It's like the entire game would be the first act of one of the PSX games. I just keep thinking they could take it so much further and add more layers to the story but here I am in Chapter 9 and there just isn't enough game-room left to do it all. Slim chance I get proved wrong and disc 3 is insanely long, but I ain't holding my breath.

Overall, XII is still the best since the PSX games, but nothing since PSX has wowed me at all. VI thru IX are still the champs.

vi through ix? No love for iv? If you haven't played, i think you'd enjoy it

I just started xiii but am assuming i'll feel to same way. Felt pretty similarly about xii and x

I have a fondness for the early games but realistically VI elevated the genre... Everything that came before was to use SF terms previous level, too simplistic. Plenty of love for IV but it's not on the same plane for me. I would also include Chrono Trigger / Cross in that list (treating them as one game) which has probably the most complex and simultaneously most well creafted plot of any game ever made, which more than makes up for Cross' gameplay oddities.

^ i agree. I recently tried IV after reading the raves in this thread. I have been underwhelmed. The leap that VI made in complexity, believablility, and cohesiveness is stunning - not to mention the gameplay is better.

I lurved chrono trigger for the longest time - putting it at the top of my list. I replayed it this past summer and In my opinion it has not aged as well as FFVI. Still great, but now I give the nod to FF. Got most of the way into Chrono Cross but never finished it. Being on the PS1, everything looked so different I had trouble associating the two of them.

Originally Posted by breakz

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They're saying Wii only right now. No way it stays that way!
He's on fire! From DOWNTOWN!

Slam-a-jamma! i've never been this excited for anything in ages.

Originally Posted by RedLantern

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^ i agree. I recently tried IV after reading the raves in this thread. I have been underwhelmed. The leap that VI made in complexity, believablility, and cohesiveness is stunning - not to mention the gameplay is better.

I lurved chrono trigger for the longest time - putting it at the top of my list. I replayed it this past summer and In my opinion it has not aged as well as FFVI. Still great, but now I give the nod to FF. Got most of the way into Chrono Cross but never finished it. Being on the PS1, everything looked so different I had trouble associating the two of them.

If you compare IV to I, II, and III it was a huge leap in terms of character development, narrative, plot twists, and overall experience. Dragon Quest was doing good things at the time too but FFIV was more polished at the time of release.

Chrono Cross was cool in theory but gameplay and other systems were a bit odd at times (pain ********** to set all your little magic sets or whatever they were for all the players depending on what dungeon you were going to or what your party was) and the story was a bit disjointed and a bit much at times. Still fun though. Not sure how i would've felt if it wasn't a chrono trigger sequel

God of War 3 is incredible.

Originally Posted by Brian SD

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God of War 3 is incredible.

+1 I just finished.

Just bought Fallout 3. Haven't tried it yet though.

Just grabbed Demon's Souls off eBay.

Sounds like God of War 3 is a must-play...that might come next.

Thanks for the impressions JDM
Thinking about getting God of War 3 or FF13 tomorrow. It'll most likely be FF13 though, been waiting too long..

Originally Posted by JD_May

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Overall, XII is still the best since the PSX games, but nothing since PSX has wowed me at all. VI thru IX are still the champs.
I will strongly disagree with your first statement. FF XII had no substance. Half of the characters really had no reason for even being there; each also lacked in any sort of development. In older FF games, VII for example, you would go on side quests to unlock the history of the characters and gain more insight into the storyline; this was not the case with XII. Instead you would go on side quests just to gain items that only had a certain percentage chance of actually being there. The whole game is based on pointless dungeon crawling just to gain things you don't even need. I kept playing it through hoping something special would come, but it never happened. Instead I was left not caring what happened to the characters at the end. I would say that FF X is far superior to XII, and on the same level as VI,VII, and IX. That however is a discussion for another day.

Originally Posted by evilbananas

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I would say that FF X is far superior to XII, and on the same level as VI,VII, and IX. That however is a discussion for another day.
Gotta disagree on this. I enjoyed FFX more than others, and I'd even call it one of my favorites. But FFX's character development doesn't compare to VI or VII, and its battle system is also very easy to master. Let's call XII what it is--a proof-of-concept. It's a single-player MMO, and like other MMOs there is little attention to character development. The battle system is still the best I've seen in a FF (haven't played XIII yet), and its world is full of life and character.