If you've noticed, my blog activity has dwindled quite a bit. I haven't actually started my next RPG, and I have been working on a number of other things in the meantime. Most of it real life stuff, which always gets in the way of more creative ventures. Anyways, today I will talk about Lunar: Dragon Song, and whether or not I will play it.
If it isn't obvious, this is a game I haven't even played yet, yet it stands as one of the absolute worst RPGs according to just about everyone who's played it, not to mention a boil on the face of a once-proud RPG franchise that has practically died after it. So what went wrong.
First off, the one thing I have a pet peeve for, sequels that are actually prequels. Now, Lunar: Walking School was one of these, in which the protagonists are from Burg, well before Alex ever started his adventure. Dragon Song is one thousand years before Silver Star. Good lord.
The main protagonist, from what I read, is just a normal adventurer and some sort of errand boy who ends up being a cliche hero eventually. This would slide if the adventure wasn't released in 2005.
The female lead just so happens to be an Althena incarnate. Shocker, right? She, like Luna, is already friends with the male lead. Oh, the kicker is her name is Lucia. The series already had a strong female named Lucia in Lunar 2, one with striking blue hair and a personality that goes from stern to rather collected, one that of course you grew to enjoy but not think was outright horrible. This Lucia isn't like that, apparently.
From what I read, the character archetypes for Dragon Song's playable characters are a lot like Grandia's playable characters in a way. Jian is obviously like Justin, given his lust for adventure. Lucia a lot like Feena for obvious reasons. Rufus, being a rival, is a lot like Gadwin. Flora and Gabi are a lot like Rapp and Milda, respectively for their archetypes.
So let's see, gameplay-wise...
So it's one of those games that pulls the Nintendo Hard aspect, in which the game gets super hard super quickly. Nice. And then there's the fact that enemies actually level with the player, sort of like Final Fantasy 8 did, but other things will prove to mean this game was a lot worse at handling things. One being that rewards are divided, not in a good way of course. What do I mean? Well, you can beat enemies for experience or items, but not both. I'm usually not a fan of item drops from enemies in the first place, as I get useless stuff in my inventory when I'm not grinding for them and when I am grinding for them, it takes me hours to get what I want. Another kicker? The money you get ingame isn't traditional, so items are really what you need to even gain money in the first place. This basically amounts to grinding for experience OR money. This puts early Nintendo Hard RPG grinding like Dragon Warrior to shame.
You'll notice that these pertain to battles. Apparently so. There's also the mechanic that used to be in games like Lufia 1, where you actually cannot target specific enemies. It was 2005 for crying out loud, the ability to target who you need to should be prevalent in every RPG at that point. This just makes things more tedious. I bet people savescummed when fighting battles, because there was also the probability of enemies stealing or breaking equipment. And given the earlier frustrations, this certainly made this unenjoyable.
One of the kickers here in this game, running apparently saps HP. Who thought that was a fantastic idea? You can run out of original ideas, but making a sacrifice between very slow walking and running that takes HP away is one of those original ideas that shouldn't be an original idea, because it SUCKS. Lunar 2's Playstation remake had slow walking speed too, but it also had a run button that can be used in dungeons for about two seconds, and then you have to wait to run again. Bring that back. It's not original, but it's better than losing HP.
So will I play this game in the future? It depends. I admit I want to see this trainwreck for myself with my very own eyes. But these gameplay aspects make me think otherwise. I guess it's too soon to tell at this point.
Friday, August 31, 2018
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Action Commands, and why I hate them
Time for a general rant. So yes, I hate what's known as the Action Command. It's basically the whole "press X to do more damage" sort of ordeal. Quite frankly, it ultimately depends on what game it is used in, and some games of course will do it better than others. But it is just so much more frantic overall to just have a randomized critical hit rate, rather than having it possible to always do the additional damage with each successive button press. Or in quite a few cases, multiple times. Theoretically, the best attacks would go to infinite amounts of damage, assuming you are clearly save-scumming after each and every success in action command, making some games basically impossible to lose if you are a massive cheater. Then again, that's pretty much nobody anyways.
The term Action Command actually stems from Paper Mario, where a key item actually grants the usage of one. It's quite silly how it started with that, but it makes sense and the tutorial for it thankfully is not ridiculously hard to follow. Basically, the best way to do damage, whether it's by Mario jumping twice, or doing the most damage with a hammer, is to follow the prompts, which isn't gonna be too difficult. Your partners in-game also have them. It's when you get to the other abilities that it becomes somewhat difficult, especially for emulator users who are playing via keyboard and are using the commands that involve the control stick (in other words pressing left on the control stick repeatedly, which doesn't work sometimes). Hell, even defending via action command can be hard to predict, which is also a reason I'm not a fan of the defending action command in Paper Mario anyways.
And of course, action commands become prevalent in the Mario & Luigi games, where they are considerably much easier to utilize. Again, the tutorials, while largely unnecessary for veterans of the series, explain things well enough. And then you get used to it quickly enough that it's second nature. The ability to dodge via action command is much better than defending, since you can completely mitigate damage as opposed to potentially halfing it at the very worst. Some enemies, of course, make this not a possibility in some circumstances, but overall, even a not-so-skilled player gets the hang of just about anything in the Mario & Luigi games to not have major issues in the long run.
And then we get into the non-Mario games that use the action command, and they are pretty mixed. Not a whole lot of these games utilize it, but many do so in different ways. Squall in FF8 naturally has one with his physical attacks with the gunblade, where eventually most players get the hang of pushing R1 pretty well to always hit critically, as opposed to every other character. Pretty neat. Vagrant Story seems to do the commands alright for an action RPG, depending on which chains you use naturally, and the defense actions are unique for once. Again not too shabby. Heck, even Breath of Fire 2 has action commands, this time for spells, and it's something that even some veteran players don't even know about. It's hard to pick up of course, since there's only a few that know about these commands, but they DO work, that's what I know, and the best damage dealing spells can incur even more with them. The next two Breath of Fire games have one in the Super Combo ability, where again, it goes on for as long as you keep the action command up, and while hard, this one thankfully isn't a necessity for either game, unlike another game I'm about to rant about.
At the low end of the spectrum? The Legend of Dragoon. This has simultaneously the most annoying and the most boring action command system, utilizing the most damage out of attacks via additions. That includes Dragoon abilities, by the way. The only other really decent method of damage dealing in that game are throwing damage items, which involving button-mashing like crazy. Somehow it's a lot more reliable than the additions, because the timing for each one tends to be iffy. Also these additions level up, so you pretty much HAVE to use them to get the most of the damage. Also these additions gain more potential hits, which basically means having to time X even more times. Also they end as soon as you screw up, including the Dragoon additions, meaning whatever you were hoping for is moot upon one slip up. Also the inclusion of enemies countering additions is even more aggravating in so many ways, since you have to switch to circle, and sometimes the counter comes straight out of nowhere. It doesn't help that the game makes you focus on that square in the middle and the rotating one coming in to it, rather than the nice-looking additions that you honestly should be focusing on. The fact that this game has the most annoying use out of the action command is almost entirely the reason why I hate the mechanic, since it's pretty much the best way to deal damage in that game. As opposed to Breath of Fire's Super Combo skill, the Mario RPGs, or even Vagrant Story, this game pretty much entails you to utilize action command timing if you really are gonna go anywhere, as opposed to the aforementioned games in which they are just a faster way to go about things but not entirely as necessary.
The term Action Command actually stems from Paper Mario, where a key item actually grants the usage of one. It's quite silly how it started with that, but it makes sense and the tutorial for it thankfully is not ridiculously hard to follow. Basically, the best way to do damage, whether it's by Mario jumping twice, or doing the most damage with a hammer, is to follow the prompts, which isn't gonna be too difficult. Your partners in-game also have them. It's when you get to the other abilities that it becomes somewhat difficult, especially for emulator users who are playing via keyboard and are using the commands that involve the control stick (in other words pressing left on the control stick repeatedly, which doesn't work sometimes). Hell, even defending via action command can be hard to predict, which is also a reason I'm not a fan of the defending action command in Paper Mario anyways.
And of course, action commands become prevalent in the Mario & Luigi games, where they are considerably much easier to utilize. Again, the tutorials, while largely unnecessary for veterans of the series, explain things well enough. And then you get used to it quickly enough that it's second nature. The ability to dodge via action command is much better than defending, since you can completely mitigate damage as opposed to potentially halfing it at the very worst. Some enemies, of course, make this not a possibility in some circumstances, but overall, even a not-so-skilled player gets the hang of just about anything in the Mario & Luigi games to not have major issues in the long run.
And then we get into the non-Mario games that use the action command, and they are pretty mixed. Not a whole lot of these games utilize it, but many do so in different ways. Squall in FF8 naturally has one with his physical attacks with the gunblade, where eventually most players get the hang of pushing R1 pretty well to always hit critically, as opposed to every other character. Pretty neat. Vagrant Story seems to do the commands alright for an action RPG, depending on which chains you use naturally, and the defense actions are unique for once. Again not too shabby. Heck, even Breath of Fire 2 has action commands, this time for spells, and it's something that even some veteran players don't even know about. It's hard to pick up of course, since there's only a few that know about these commands, but they DO work, that's what I know, and the best damage dealing spells can incur even more with them. The next two Breath of Fire games have one in the Super Combo ability, where again, it goes on for as long as you keep the action command up, and while hard, this one thankfully isn't a necessity for either game, unlike another game I'm about to rant about.
At the low end of the spectrum? The Legend of Dragoon. This has simultaneously the most annoying and the most boring action command system, utilizing the most damage out of attacks via additions. That includes Dragoon abilities, by the way. The only other really decent method of damage dealing in that game are throwing damage items, which involving button-mashing like crazy. Somehow it's a lot more reliable than the additions, because the timing for each one tends to be iffy. Also these additions level up, so you pretty much HAVE to use them to get the most of the damage. Also these additions gain more potential hits, which basically means having to time X even more times. Also they end as soon as you screw up, including the Dragoon additions, meaning whatever you were hoping for is moot upon one slip up. Also the inclusion of enemies countering additions is even more aggravating in so many ways, since you have to switch to circle, and sometimes the counter comes straight out of nowhere. It doesn't help that the game makes you focus on that square in the middle and the rotating one coming in to it, rather than the nice-looking additions that you honestly should be focusing on. The fact that this game has the most annoying use out of the action command is almost entirely the reason why I hate the mechanic, since it's pretty much the best way to deal damage in that game. As opposed to Breath of Fire's Super Combo skill, the Mario RPGs, or even Vagrant Story, this game pretty much entails you to utilize action command timing if you really are gonna go anywhere, as opposed to the aforementioned games in which they are just a faster way to go about things but not entirely as necessary.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
RPGs and the improbable age of characters
I'm bored. Let's talk about how young RPG protagonists tend to be. According to the cliche, they are usually young, and by young they mean teenagers, usually around 15 but not really older than 20. It doesn't even matter what gender, either. The protagonists tend to be super skilled in a lot of traits, like just about any hero ends up being, yet remains young. And apparently in contrast, older characters tend to consider themselves too old for battlefield stuff anyways, well, those who are NPCs anyways. Older party members end up not staying long in comparison, and are somehow less skilled, possibly due to losing it along the way or perhaps by other means.
Honestly I'm fine with most protagonists anyways, so the whole teenage thing doesn't bother me too much. But it does if the characters honestly look older than they ought to be most of the time. I mean, Dart from Legend of Dragoon, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, and most Phantasy Star protagonists actually look like they could be in their early-20s as far as what they look like. These characters, well, they act between the ages of 18 and 20, Squall is just committed to his job for instance, ending up lovestruck later on, but that's usually normal for him, if a tad into the teenage angst sort of deal. Dart also does the same thing except he was already lovestruck, but again this isn't necessarily a problem. Other protagonists tend to actually be teens in some way where they are slightly less smart at most and generally decent heroes overall. Or just silent, whichever is first. Silent ones tend to not have a lot going for them.
To get further into why Final Fantasy VIII is pretty bad on the Logan's Run rule, the oldest permanent party member is Quistis, who is eighteen. She looks like she's 30, honestly she does. Seifer, Irvine, and Squall all look like they are at least 20 years of age but younger than 30, while Rinoa looks less older and Zell and Selphie are the youngest-looking and acting ones overall. Yet as I have stated before, Quistis is 18, while Seifer is also 18, putting them even. Squall, Irvine, Rinoa, Zell, AND Selphie are all 17 years of age. Holy crap. And Laguna is 27, at least out of flashbacks, which is odd considering he's only ten years older than his son. It's just amazing how despite the fact that pretty much every character looks like young adults rather than teenagers, their actual ages are that of teenagers. It just simply makes little sense.
I can't name a whole lot of examples off the top of my head that completely avoid Logan's Run Rule altogether, except The 7th Saga maybe which has several different characters, all adults. But eh, it's not a cliche to get too worked up about as long as the characters actually look and act like teenagers. Man, I'm still not done ripping on Final Fantasy VIII am I?
Honestly I'm fine with most protagonists anyways, so the whole teenage thing doesn't bother me too much. But it does if the characters honestly look older than they ought to be most of the time. I mean, Dart from Legend of Dragoon, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, and most Phantasy Star protagonists actually look like they could be in their early-20s as far as what they look like. These characters, well, they act between the ages of 18 and 20, Squall is just committed to his job for instance, ending up lovestruck later on, but that's usually normal for him, if a tad into the teenage angst sort of deal. Dart also does the same thing except he was already lovestruck, but again this isn't necessarily a problem. Other protagonists tend to actually be teens in some way where they are slightly less smart at most and generally decent heroes overall. Or just silent, whichever is first. Silent ones tend to not have a lot going for them.
To get further into why Final Fantasy VIII is pretty bad on the Logan's Run rule, the oldest permanent party member is Quistis, who is eighteen. She looks like she's 30, honestly she does. Seifer, Irvine, and Squall all look like they are at least 20 years of age but younger than 30, while Rinoa looks less older and Zell and Selphie are the youngest-looking and acting ones overall. Yet as I have stated before, Quistis is 18, while Seifer is also 18, putting them even. Squall, Irvine, Rinoa, Zell, AND Selphie are all 17 years of age. Holy crap. And Laguna is 27, at least out of flashbacks, which is odd considering he's only ten years older than his son. It's just amazing how despite the fact that pretty much every character looks like young adults rather than teenagers, their actual ages are that of teenagers. It just simply makes little sense.
I can't name a whole lot of examples off the top of my head that completely avoid Logan's Run Rule altogether, except The 7th Saga maybe which has several different characters, all adults. But eh, it's not a cliche to get too worked up about as long as the characters actually look and act like teenagers. Man, I'm still not done ripping on Final Fantasy VIII am I?
Saturday, August 18, 2018
A look back at: Final Fantasy VIII
Now that I've finally reviewed this monster of a game, let's look back at it. This will be sort of like my Suikoden IV review, where I just sort of keel over and talk about what I liked, disliked, and other ambiguities. Using + for what I liked, - for what I disliked, and * for the ambiguous stuff which has things I like and dislike. Also this game is 125th hardest for the Playstation, out of 162, forgot to mention that. It's apparently considered the easiest of the Playstation Final Fantasy titles.
+Junctioning magic and GFs really does help with stats in this game a lot, and the magic system is kind of cool. Drawing magic from enemies and draw points is a neat little gimmick.
+Triple Triad. Wow, this was a fantastic minigame, and honestly should've been the only one in there. The rules being able to be changed and all is fancy as well. Not to mention all the card values are things in-game as well.
+There's some nice side-stuff at Balamb Garden, usually you just listen to side conversations or boot up your computer or something to see them.
+I like the weapon crafting a lot, it still costs you, but it's worth it in the long run as usual. Farming for items from enemies is somewhat more of a hassle.
+While I didn't use them much, the idea of GFs as summons is interesting in itself, providing a meatshield in case your character in question could die easily. Plus they level up and gain abilities, further making the game more broken.
+Refining items of course, again really breaking the game open quite easily.
+Other GF abilities are fantastic, like the Call Shop one as well. Optional content that really pays off. Not to mention combining the shop, refining, bam, infinite money.
+Well, having to fight GFs to obtain them isn't entirely new, but then again, the fights against them tend to actually be pretty decent anyways. And in Ifrit's case, funny if you decide to use Shiva, just for some dialogue. Tonberry is an exception here.
+One thing I hate about most JRPG vehicles is their lack of reverse buttons. Every usable vehicle here has one, which is nice.
+Splitting up party members for certain quests is always fun.
+Squall's character at the beginning is alright. He's basically not in the mood for petty drama, and is nonchalant enough during the final exam while Zell and Seifer are less so. I like that. He's devoted to the job.
+Wedge and Biggs are pretty funny, as are Fujin and Raijin at times. Zone and Watts are also somewhat endearing at times.
+Quistis, upon figuring out Rinoa is the better girl for Squall, takes the loss in stride and doesn't end up in jealousy.
+At the end of Disc 3 Fujin drops her stupid speech pattern which I thought was cool.
+Heck, the disc ending cliff-hangers and the epic parts just before the disc changes are all done real well.
+Cactuar grinding is always lots of fun, especially once you get 100 Triples to junction onto Hit%.
+The Propagators on the Ragnarok were a pretty interesting puzzle boss gimmick.
+Thank god there's no worries about having to lose equipment overall in this game. The switching mechanic here doesn't always involve switching characters, it can involve just switching junctions and magic, which is a very nice anti-frustration feature.
+This one contradicts the one above, but when you finally fight Ultimecia, having to randomize your party is a neat gimmick and can screw an unprepared player. But if you aren't intending to use a character, you can kill them off in the hopes that someone else can take their place then.
-These tutorials offer a lot of information but it's really a lot more confusing than what you actually will end up doing.
-TIMED MISSIONS. Seriously these are horrific, especially due to this game's long screen transitions as well as the long spell animations.
-The RNG to change rules in Triple Triad is ridiculous to manipulate. Furthermore, the Direct trade rule SUCKS. As for actual rules, you want to avoid Random and get Open, and that's what I managed to do overall.
-The Queen of Cards sidequest is dumb, and let's not forget that she either takes her cards and goes off elsewhere and you have to regain the cards from her son, or again, manipulating the RNG so that you can get her to move to certain locations.
-Argh, can I please not have Squall always in my party? It really does suck that ever since Final Fantasy 7, the whole "not dropping the main character from the active party except in certain circumstances" is in full effect. I actually had to kill Squall myself in order to get him to stop gaining levels all the time and being so far ahead of the other two party members.
-Squall goes from being nonchalant and devoted to being more sappy and lovestruck with Rinoa by Disc 3. It just comes out of the blue.
-I know I considered Laguna to be an idiot hero, but somehow, Rinoa ended up being worse in hindsight. Her plans backfire a whole lot and she ends up being captured often. I keep Laguna on that list mostly since his actions didn't have anyone backing him up.
-Hell, I didn't even have Rinoa in my party at the end of Disc 2. I rarely even bother to use her and yet she still ends up being important in all the scenes.
-Seifer's whole motives on being "a sorceress's knight" in his dreams are pretty darn dumb.
-Hell, the fact that the three characters you see on the cover end up being the most annoying shows how bad some of the characterization is on the main cast. You don't see a whole lot of it on other playable characters here. Quistis is good. Selphie's okay apart from the stupid "booyaka" thing and just being overly cheerful, which isn't entirely that bad. Zell's annoyance in general also isn't entirely that bad since that's basically his whole character and he doesn't change for the worst. Irvine doesn't even get much development.
-Of course Laguna just dropping his comrades into the ocean is a really REALLY dumb moment.
-I'm generally a fan of gender-breaking characters, but Adel seriously looks nothing like a sorceress. She is jacked like some huge guy who came from a six-hour weightlifting workout.
-NORG is a character basically made to be hated, just because. The whole "Bujurururu" thing doesn't really help.
-The Obel lake sidequest is a waste of time and pixel-hunting
-Most magic in this game that isn't Meltdown, Triple, Aura, or some high-level spell isn't worth it, not even for attack weaknesses.
-The rest of the game's minigames aren't really that fun. The train mission seems hard, but it isn't. The whole "health bar" minigames, one with the clash of the gardens and Squall fighting the paratrooper, the second being Laguna vs. the Ruby Dragon, are real iffy on the controls and the reactions and are real frustrating to deal with.
-Chocobos don't really get a whole lot of love here. They don't need it, but I'm pretty sure no one even bothered to pick up a Pocketstation and do the Chocobo World thing because quite frankly, there's not much to go for it. I didn't even know a Pocketstation existed until I played this game.
-This game really does like to lag at a few inopportune spots. Examples include being at Esthar most of the time (including the shops!), and many boss battles (problematic if I intend to use Squall's attack or Renzokuken).
-The sidequest to get Tonberry King's GF was insanely boring, having to run circles around one screen of Centra Ruins to get into battles with Tonberries, which are high-health enemies capable of killing outright (assuming you killed lots of enemies with your characters already), and only appear one at a time. I challenged myself to do it while the clock was running and had to leave several times because of Odin. Maybe I should've got Odin beforehand, but I'd rather keep him instead of Gilgamesh later on in the game so that's why I saved him for Disc 4.
-Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon are the bonus bosses that are uber hard, but neither are really worth it anyways. Ultima Weapon isn't really worth it due to the fact that killing him removes fixed encounters that have very good drops. Sure you get an A SeeD ranking as well as the Eden GF early, but bleh. Omega Weapon because the fight against it is even more boring due to following a completely set pattern and the reward being a measly Three Stars item plus Proof of Omega. It's all bragging rights.
-I really am not too keen on the whole Laguna being Squall's father thing. It's not really done to death, which is actually for the better, but it's pretty odd how it ended up being. Laguna just ended up being a stepdad to Ellone, because apparently Raine's tombstone at the end shows the name Loire, which implies that she decided to marry Laguna or something. Meanwhile, Squall was likely at the orphanage while Laguna took care of Ellone. But still, there's not much to go around out of it all.
-I can't help but think Odine and Ultimecia's dialogue is done by Chrono Cross's Accent System. I think Raijin's also the same way as well.
*The idea of the SeeD ranking for their final exam is pretty strange in itself. It's quite an accomplishment getting the best possible score by being fast, blunt (not talking to people and not running away a lot), and killing enough opponents. Getting a bonus from actually killing the stupid robot thing on the bridge is worthwhile too.
*And then there's the matter of SeeD salary, which is surprisingly the only way to get paid in-game. Rank increases upon doing plot stuff and killing things, and decreases with stupid actions at the garden, not killing or running from enemies and the like. While cool, ultimately I find no real use for this sort of mechanic. I've never really had any trouble with money in the Final Fantasy games anyways.
*Getting into the dream sequences is pretty odd, so Ellone's whole character is pretty strange overall in this game. I don't hate her though.
*Well, I'm not too keen on character deaths, and it seems that no one important actually died aside from President Deling, and even he was minor anyways. As well as Ultimecia at the end of course. But there's nothing extremely climactic overall.
*Why is it that every town in the game ends up having enemies at some point or another. It's quite interesting that it happens, except that it's always the foot soldiers you fight, which are the most boring enemy archetype in the game anyways.
*The whole Shumi Tribe thing was ambiguous as all hell. It's got the showmanship of respecting elders, but you can't really consider the Shumi Elder all that good for what he does to his attendant, even if he does do the job eventually.
*The idea to move Balamb Garden is interesting in itself but it's really slow. Also why are the train tracks connecting Galbadia to Esthar spanning the entire middle section of the world map?
*Limit breaks, in their return, are basically desperation attacks. Here's the main problem, they seem to be random on how to trigger them and you need to be at a crisis level (have a status effect and/or remain at low HP/have Aura status). Sure, there are some great ones like Irvine's Shot and Renzokuken, but trying to trigger them is quite the trouble.
*I almost want to consider everyone being related by orphanage as a negative, but it's not entirely so. Irvine, the guy who reveals that everyone except Rinoa and including Seifer were all kids at the same orphanage, also reveals that Edea was the matron. This fact is the reason why Irvine was hesitant about shooting Edea in Disc 1.
*Odin in general. Nice if you don't feel like fighting, but why bother when you can level up Diablos to get the Enc-None ability and use that instead? Odin's basically a random "get free experience" card. Gilgamesh functions the same way, and only really is just there so you don't have to really fight Seifer if you don't want to at the end of Disc 1.
*For that matter, Angelo as well. Some of her abilities tend to show up even when you aren't using limit breaks. I can imagine Angelo Search being potentially the most useful, but I never really bothered with it.
*There's really not much to the final disc apart from fighting Ultimecia. Then again, there's not much to the final disc in Final Fantasy 7 so okay.
*Moombas aren't bad, but they're not all that interesting.
*Fisherman's Horizon is a nice little breather area, with not a whole lot of fighting as well as some other events, like reuniting with other party members from the missile mission, the Master Fisherman, the antics of the boy fisher and the shopkeep he nearly chokes, and Galbadian idiots in general. It does have a moron as its leader, one who's so pacifist he doesn't realize how ruthless Galbadia was gonna be. Also moving around in this area is a hassle, considering it takes a very long time to get from Balamb Garden docking point to the rest of the area.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Thousand Arms' Minigames
Here we go, a game where you're more likely to enjoy the minigames more than the actual plot, due to the whole dating mechanics involved. Well, you don't have to do this, but a whole chunk of the game is much harder unless you date the ladies, since you lose out of weapon power and magic skills. There's several ways to do this, by actually dating, giving presents, and finally, the minigames, oh yes.
Cooking Attack
Sodina's minigame is a simple Simon Says, up to 10 different combinations which start at 2 button presses, then go up by one after every two combinations is finished, up to 6. It's super easy and honestly quite boring but better than some of the games on here.
Hammer Strikes
A whack-a-mole game involving the Playstation's direction buttons and actual buttons, basically hit the corresponding button when a Damashi pops up but don't hit Wyna. There's a few set patterns, so this one is actually save-scummable to get the perfect score. One pattern actually opens every single door at once, with seven Damashi to hit accurately. Not save-scumming this one could make this one of the harder games.
BJ King
This is honestly self-explanatory enough for those who know how to play Blackjack and I'm not gonna say much about it. Except that it's one of two luck-based minigames and that's all there is to it.
Hit Damashi
The worst mini-game. You have to protect Nelsha from Damashi which show up around the screen by shooting at them with a crosshair, but not shooting her or letting them hit her. Problems with this game include the slow crosshair speed, the high amounts of Damashi that pop up before the timer runs out, and the awful hitboxes of these characters. I think this game actually is scored based on how many Damashi you actually kill, but it's hard to remember when you have to protect Nelsha too. The fact that this skill-based game is more annoying than the two luck-based minigames really shows.
Sweeper Blues
This is the best mini-game. Palma has it, and it's a nice puzzle involving cleaning up every single square on the 5x5 board and it's got the nice puzzle element that has some nice thought to it. This one is graded by time but is still surprisingly easy and worth it.
Shell Joint
Kyoka's minigame is a memory game where you have to pick which face is the one that she wants. This is actually the easiest minigame, due to it only being three patterns. Once you memorize those patterns, you can just do it blindfolded. I'm not even joking. They don't even bother to really change locations of the faces here.
Super Rock Paper Scissors
And then we go to possibly the worst luck-based minigame I have ever seen. Yes, it's a RPS game, but you'll notice that the opponent either wins or loses against you, never ties. And then the second round is basically guess which way the robot will turn, one of four cardinal directions, or if you lost the first round you have to avoid it guessing you. Both rounds need to be won in order to gain a point, no partial credit. It's save-scummable, yes, but not fun, and Marion's voice really is grating. Making matters worse is this game is actually required for one quest!
Brain Teasers
This is an easy addition/subtraction of shapes. It's timed but still rather easy and shouldn't even be possible to lose unless you are deliberately trying to lose intimacy
Palace of Knowledge
A trivia game. Save the answers to these ones and you win every time.
So yeah, Thousand Arms has some pretty easy games to figure out. It's actually the most fun thing to do in this game, because this game's battle system although unique isn't really all that fun to get the hang of. And the dating questions are often trick questions, so I often leave actual dating out of the question. Basically, these games are the best ways to go.
Monday, August 13, 2018
Suikoden Minigames: Part 4
So here we are, the final (for now) look at Suikoden's minigames. I of course haven't started Suikoden V yet, and Tactics didn't actually have any minigames so it's automatically out. Oddly enough, Suikoden IV didn't do that badly with its minigames, given that only two are required to recruit characters and the rest are completely optional. So let's see here.
Tops
This minigame can be played with Basil before being exiled from Razril or after you recruit the guy, but thankfully you don't have to play it to recruit him. I hate this game if it isn't obvious, but that may be because I played it via keyboard. Think of this one game as something to do with Beyblades or whatever kids in the 2000's played that involved spinning things, except done with a Playstation 2. It's awkward. The goal is to put spinning tops on a table, you have up to three, and you need to ensure you have the last spinning top standing in order to win. Which is harder than it sounds because you can lose even when you have tops in reserve, and you also gotta ensure that the tops don't either fly off the table or lose their spin. Apparently, it is possible to get a valuable Treasure map for another minigame, but only after twenty consecutive wins. I played this game once and decided not to do it again. Hey, maybe having a PS2 controller would help.
Chinchirorin
Yep, it's back, although Gunter (the guy who has it) calls it Triple Toss. It's entirely the same deal as before, completely luck-based, very save-scummable (hey, they didn't find some way to tinker the RNG this time). Only real difference is three 1's, which quintuples winnings instead of losing triple. Also there's this "Down to One" game, but no one played that, seriously. Gunter is an annoying recruit, but not actually because of this minigame, you don't even have to play him in order to actually recruit him. It's just he has to be seen in a few towns before he actually becomes recruitable.
Ritapon
Well, here's the big one. I STILL have no idea how this game is supposed to be played, and the bad news is that you not only need to play it to recruit Rita, but also have to earn a set score, apparently such thing has to exist for this very complex game. It's save-scummable still, but it's complicated nature is really bothersome. What you are supposed to do is get 3 sets of 3 identical coloured tiles, or the 1-2-3 combo ordeal. It's also got these rune tiles which are liable to be used right away to help you or hinder your opponent. My biggest issue is that Rita immediately uses one the moment she gets one, and these things often turn the advantage to her. Not helping is the terminology. I often confuse Ron (a winning condition) with Pon (not actually a winning condition). I can probably picture a few people thinking it's fun, but only after getting into it a lot. I couldn't figure out a lot of it and it was pretty much luck for me.
Cards
I don't know what this game is called, but Noah plays it, pre-recruitment and post-recruitment. But it's not necessary to recruit her by playing this minigame. It's sort of like Blackjack, except the target value is 51 and you can go over, also you alternate turns. There's combos with elements and all that. The prizes for this minigame are really not worth it and this game isn't all that fun. Thankfully it's optional.
Fishing
Well there's two kinds, the net-fishing with Shiramine, which isn't a minigame, and the regular rod one with Ugetsu. This is the more minigame one is and exactly what you expect.
Treasure hunting
This almost doesn't count as a minigame, but it's actually the most rewarding thing I can think of in this game. Basically after recruiting Rene, she can be controlled on some islands, and the treasure maps help in finding the treasures in places. It's nice and free stuff too, high-level runes and equipment are good to get. Only problem is random encounters, which is why I don't necessarily consider this that much of a minigame. Still, the rewards are excellent.
Coin-tossing
Once you recruit Igor this one becomes available. It's also simplistic to a fault due to just guessing which side to land on or to get more heads than Igor (or all tails for some reason). The prizes are not worth it. There's again no need to play this to recruit him.
Mice-catching
This is the other required minigame, for Nalkul and Champo. It's super silly and actually fun, because you are Champo catching the mice in the building and putting them into a cage. Sometimes when chasing mice some will try to free the caged ones, which is easy to tangle with, and it's somewhat funny watching the cat bang into the wall. Afterwards, I think you need to have Champo in the party to redo the minigame, and there are a few good prizes.
Mushroom/Mint wars
The procedures for getting to do this are lame, but like Chinchirorin, it's a purely nostalgic game. A throwback to the original war battle system in Suikoden. Something so fun to see for once, even if it's completely silly. Obviously, it functions exactly how fans would expect, with only marginal differences. No real rewards besides maybe the mushroom/mint, and no real penalties either.
So yeah, only two minigames are required, while the rest are either not fun and not required or pretty good overall and also not required. I didn't include the naval battle system, even though it could count, it's pretty integral as part of the storyline overall (despite being lame). I also don't include the Training Hall or the Confession Booth. One's not an actual minigame while the other, you are really supposed to forgive people anyways, since not forgiving them is actually gonna hurt the chances for Suikoden IV's best ending.
Tops
This minigame can be played with Basil before being exiled from Razril or after you recruit the guy, but thankfully you don't have to play it to recruit him. I hate this game if it isn't obvious, but that may be because I played it via keyboard. Think of this one game as something to do with Beyblades or whatever kids in the 2000's played that involved spinning things, except done with a Playstation 2. It's awkward. The goal is to put spinning tops on a table, you have up to three, and you need to ensure you have the last spinning top standing in order to win. Which is harder than it sounds because you can lose even when you have tops in reserve, and you also gotta ensure that the tops don't either fly off the table or lose their spin. Apparently, it is possible to get a valuable Treasure map for another minigame, but only after twenty consecutive wins. I played this game once and decided not to do it again. Hey, maybe having a PS2 controller would help.
Chinchirorin
Yep, it's back, although Gunter (the guy who has it) calls it Triple Toss. It's entirely the same deal as before, completely luck-based, very save-scummable (hey, they didn't find some way to tinker the RNG this time). Only real difference is three 1's, which quintuples winnings instead of losing triple. Also there's this "Down to One" game, but no one played that, seriously. Gunter is an annoying recruit, but not actually because of this minigame, you don't even have to play him in order to actually recruit him. It's just he has to be seen in a few towns before he actually becomes recruitable.
Ritapon
Well, here's the big one. I STILL have no idea how this game is supposed to be played, and the bad news is that you not only need to play it to recruit Rita, but also have to earn a set score, apparently such thing has to exist for this very complex game. It's save-scummable still, but it's complicated nature is really bothersome. What you are supposed to do is get 3 sets of 3 identical coloured tiles, or the 1-2-3 combo ordeal. It's also got these rune tiles which are liable to be used right away to help you or hinder your opponent. My biggest issue is that Rita immediately uses one the moment she gets one, and these things often turn the advantage to her. Not helping is the terminology. I often confuse Ron (a winning condition) with Pon (not actually a winning condition). I can probably picture a few people thinking it's fun, but only after getting into it a lot. I couldn't figure out a lot of it and it was pretty much luck for me.
Cards
I don't know what this game is called, but Noah plays it, pre-recruitment and post-recruitment. But it's not necessary to recruit her by playing this minigame. It's sort of like Blackjack, except the target value is 51 and you can go over, also you alternate turns. There's combos with elements and all that. The prizes for this minigame are really not worth it and this game isn't all that fun. Thankfully it's optional.
Fishing
Well there's two kinds, the net-fishing with Shiramine, which isn't a minigame, and the regular rod one with Ugetsu. This is the more minigame one is and exactly what you expect.
Treasure hunting
This almost doesn't count as a minigame, but it's actually the most rewarding thing I can think of in this game. Basically after recruiting Rene, she can be controlled on some islands, and the treasure maps help in finding the treasures in places. It's nice and free stuff too, high-level runes and equipment are good to get. Only problem is random encounters, which is why I don't necessarily consider this that much of a minigame. Still, the rewards are excellent.
Coin-tossing
Once you recruit Igor this one becomes available. It's also simplistic to a fault due to just guessing which side to land on or to get more heads than Igor (or all tails for some reason). The prizes are not worth it. There's again no need to play this to recruit him.
Mice-catching
This is the other required minigame, for Nalkul and Champo. It's super silly and actually fun, because you are Champo catching the mice in the building and putting them into a cage. Sometimes when chasing mice some will try to free the caged ones, which is easy to tangle with, and it's somewhat funny watching the cat bang into the wall. Afterwards, I think you need to have Champo in the party to redo the minigame, and there are a few good prizes.
Mushroom/Mint wars
The procedures for getting to do this are lame, but like Chinchirorin, it's a purely nostalgic game. A throwback to the original war battle system in Suikoden. Something so fun to see for once, even if it's completely silly. Obviously, it functions exactly how fans would expect, with only marginal differences. No real rewards besides maybe the mushroom/mint, and no real penalties either.
So yeah, only two minigames are required, while the rest are either not fun and not required or pretty good overall and also not required. I didn't include the naval battle system, even though it could count, it's pretty integral as part of the storyline overall (despite being lame). I also don't include the Training Hall or the Confession Booth. One's not an actual minigame while the other, you are really supposed to forgive people anyways, since not forgiving them is actually gonna hurt the chances for Suikoden IV's best ending.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
RPGs: The classic Doomsday MacGuffin and mysterious character archetypes.
We are gonna go here right away due to the connection with the previous cliche. "The aforementioned mysterious girl will be wearing a pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it".
Again, I don't like this one, due to it actually being less common than what it implies. It's been awhile since I played the first two Lunar games, but I don't think either Luna or Lucia even had all-important pendants, they were just important female characters when it came to plot-wise. Lucia just wishes to destroy Zophar and find Althena, who of course was simply Luna from the first game. Lufia from Lufia I is Erim, but had no real pendants to speak of. Shana from Legend of Dragoon is the same way also. Arieta from Growlanser 2 is just simply mysterious, and possessed, as well. Final Fantasy 6's Terra also counts, as does Langrisser 2's Liana. Of course, I initially made this post in August of 2018, so afterwards I found even more ladies with mysterious pendants, those being Skies of Arcadia's Fina, Final Fantasy IX's Dagger, and Star Ocean 2's Rena.
So who usually has the pendants or Macguffins that the villains usually go after? Why, the heroes of course! How exactly did Cless lose his hometown again in Tales of Phantasia? Because the enemy was after his pendant, the one he received from his parents. You would think Mint, the actual female lead, would have one, but not really. Justin from Grandia also has what's known as a Spirit Stone, something you would think Feena would actually possess. These are definitely plot-relevant items, but the heroes have them, not the heroines.
I guess one good example, that unfortunately has a girl who isn't mysterious using it, is Wild Arm's Tear Drop, an apparently family heirloom the demons are after to take over the world. But Cecilia definitely doesn't strike anyone as mysterious overall. The only other female character who has a good example is Sailor Moon, but it's already established in the anime and Usagi herself is definitely not mysterious either.
So yeah, maybe I haven't played enough games which I can easily remember both parts of this cliche actually happening, since most of the time, when this actually happens, it's usually from a non-mysterious female or an actual male who has the world-changing device. The actual mysterious girls are just mysterious by themselves. If there's anything to know about pendants, or other fancy jewelry in RPGs, you're more likely to see them used as accessories for stats and other things, but not necessarily plot-relevant ones.
Again, I don't like this one, due to it actually being less common than what it implies. It's been awhile since I played the first two Lunar games, but I don't think either Luna or Lucia even had all-important pendants, they were just important female characters when it came to plot-wise. Lucia just wishes to destroy Zophar and find Althena, who of course was simply Luna from the first game. Lufia from Lufia I is Erim, but had no real pendants to speak of. Shana from Legend of Dragoon is the same way also. Arieta from Growlanser 2 is just simply mysterious, and possessed, as well. Final Fantasy 6's Terra also counts, as does Langrisser 2's Liana. Of course, I initially made this post in August of 2018, so afterwards I found even more ladies with mysterious pendants, those being Skies of Arcadia's Fina, Final Fantasy IX's Dagger, and Star Ocean 2's Rena.
So who usually has the pendants or Macguffins that the villains usually go after? Why, the heroes of course! How exactly did Cless lose his hometown again in Tales of Phantasia? Because the enemy was after his pendant, the one he received from his parents. You would think Mint, the actual female lead, would have one, but not really. Justin from Grandia also has what's known as a Spirit Stone, something you would think Feena would actually possess. These are definitely plot-relevant items, but the heroes have them, not the heroines.
I guess one good example, that unfortunately has a girl who isn't mysterious using it, is Wild Arm's Tear Drop, an apparently family heirloom the demons are after to take over the world. But Cecilia definitely doesn't strike anyone as mysterious overall. The only other female character who has a good example is Sailor Moon, but it's already established in the anime and Usagi herself is definitely not mysterious either.
So yeah, maybe I haven't played enough games which I can easily remember both parts of this cliche actually happening, since most of the time, when this actually happens, it's usually from a non-mysterious female or an actual male who has the world-changing device. The actual mysterious girls are just mysterious by themselves. If there's anything to know about pendants, or other fancy jewelry in RPGs, you're more likely to see them used as accessories for stats and other things, but not necessarily plot-relevant ones.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
RPGs: Heroes being blatant with heroism
So let's keep going with this third one. "No matter what she's accused of doing or how mysterious her origins are, the hero will always be ready to fight to the death for any girl he met three seconds ago."
This is a cliche that actually makes me hate cliches in general because really, not only is it not as common as it should be, it's also somehow a reason why people tend to hate RPGs, or any other game with the "save the princess" mantra which this cliche actually stems from. Not every RPG female is a mysterious sort of character, and not every male lead is energetic enough to gut-bust his way through opposition just to either save her at some point, or to prove how strong he is.
This rule is also apparently called the Hiro rule, after Lunar 2's Hiro, who of course would do this for Lucia. It's not TOO obvious, especially in the beginning since Lucia is clearly stronger than Hiro while being just as mysterious. Luna and Alex from Lunar 1 are actually better examples of this, as Alex's determination is in all honesty much better than Hiro's.
There's not a whole lot of other examples outside Lunar I can think of with mysterious girls and steadfast heroes. Langrisser II has one with Erwin and Liana, while Growlanser II has one with Wein and Arieta, although in that case it seems like the two knew each other before hand and the circumstances involving the latter actually end up being a lot more dire. Dart and Shana in The Legend of Dragoon is probably a direct case of this rule too, as is the titular Lufia in her game given the main hero's desire to do what he can for her. Not to forget Wain and Seena in Lufia 3.
An even harder case to pull out is Final Fantasy VIII, which again, I'm still playing as of this writing, but Squall sure as hell didn't feel super-heroic when Rinoa was in trouble in the first disc. Yet somehow, it's at the third disc where his inward personality reveals he is in fact fighting for her, which honestly just sort of came out of the blue. This is a case of the girl being mysterious (I think, haven't really played enough of this game to fully see if its true) but the hero not really feeling like fighting for her.
But in most cases, there's not much in the way of a mysterious girl most of the time that the hero actually fights for. It's usually a girl who's a commonplace female character without any mysterious backgrounds to speak of. Feena in Grandia sure is adventurous and popular, but not necessarily as mysterious. You can say the same for Elena in Grandia II as well, as she's a commonplace priest. Can't say the same for Millenia naturally, but she's a completely different character altogether. And Tia and Selan in Lufia II don't strike as mysterious. Iris does, but you don't see Maxim fighting for that character. Cecilia and Lilka in the first two Wild Arms games are sorceresses, but neither are mysterious, while Kanon and Marivel in Wild Arms 2 are significantly more mysterious but neither are characters Ashley fights for. In Romancing SaGa 3, Sara's the only really mysterious one out of the main females, but nobody really fights for her all the time until probably the very end of the game anyways. Sharl and Muse are examples of this though, although Sharl's not a main character so it doesn't apply to the cliche fully. A gender-inverted version is in Rhapsody, where Cornet, the would-be princess, fights to reclaim Prince Ferdinand, yet neither character is mysterious in the slightest. Even Thousand Arms, which manages to imply Sodina as the main female lead, just pulls the "hero" part of the cliche, since Meis decides (and fails hilariously) to fight to prove his worth to her. Nobody would know that Sodina is mysterious until later though.
So yeah, I don't like this rule. Who does? It's basically "save the princess" except said princess is usually someone moreso tied in with your average JRPG plot than just being a static princess/love interest/whatever. And only a few games, and even fewer franchises, pull it often.
This is a cliche that actually makes me hate cliches in general because really, not only is it not as common as it should be, it's also somehow a reason why people tend to hate RPGs, or any other game with the "save the princess" mantra which this cliche actually stems from. Not every RPG female is a mysterious sort of character, and not every male lead is energetic enough to gut-bust his way through opposition just to either save her at some point, or to prove how strong he is.
This rule is also apparently called the Hiro rule, after Lunar 2's Hiro, who of course would do this for Lucia. It's not TOO obvious, especially in the beginning since Lucia is clearly stronger than Hiro while being just as mysterious. Luna and Alex from Lunar 1 are actually better examples of this, as Alex's determination is in all honesty much better than Hiro's.
There's not a whole lot of other examples outside Lunar I can think of with mysterious girls and steadfast heroes. Langrisser II has one with Erwin and Liana, while Growlanser II has one with Wein and Arieta, although in that case it seems like the two knew each other before hand and the circumstances involving the latter actually end up being a lot more dire. Dart and Shana in The Legend of Dragoon is probably a direct case of this rule too, as is the titular Lufia in her game given the main hero's desire to do what he can for her. Not to forget Wain and Seena in Lufia 3.
An even harder case to pull out is Final Fantasy VIII, which again, I'm still playing as of this writing, but Squall sure as hell didn't feel super-heroic when Rinoa was in trouble in the first disc. Yet somehow, it's at the third disc where his inward personality reveals he is in fact fighting for her, which honestly just sort of came out of the blue. This is a case of the girl being mysterious (I think, haven't really played enough of this game to fully see if its true) but the hero not really feeling like fighting for her.
But in most cases, there's not much in the way of a mysterious girl most of the time that the hero actually fights for. It's usually a girl who's a commonplace female character without any mysterious backgrounds to speak of. Feena in Grandia sure is adventurous and popular, but not necessarily as mysterious. You can say the same for Elena in Grandia II as well, as she's a commonplace priest. Can't say the same for Millenia naturally, but she's a completely different character altogether. And Tia and Selan in Lufia II don't strike as mysterious. Iris does, but you don't see Maxim fighting for that character. Cecilia and Lilka in the first two Wild Arms games are sorceresses, but neither are mysterious, while Kanon and Marivel in Wild Arms 2 are significantly more mysterious but neither are characters Ashley fights for. In Romancing SaGa 3, Sara's the only really mysterious one out of the main females, but nobody really fights for her all the time until probably the very end of the game anyways. Sharl and Muse are examples of this though, although Sharl's not a main character so it doesn't apply to the cliche fully. A gender-inverted version is in Rhapsody, where Cornet, the would-be princess, fights to reclaim Prince Ferdinand, yet neither character is mysterious in the slightest. Even Thousand Arms, which manages to imply Sodina as the main female lead, just pulls the "hero" part of the cliche, since Meis decides (and fails hilariously) to fight to prove his worth to her. Nobody would know that Sodina is mysterious until later though.
So yeah, I don't like this rule. Who does? It's basically "save the princess" except said princess is usually someone moreso tied in with your average JRPG plot than just being a static princess/love interest/whatever. And only a few games, and even fewer franchises, pull it often.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Suikoden Minigames: Part 3
Yep, I am still doing this for some reason. Anyways, Suikoden 3 didn't have a whole lot of minigames, which is both good and bad since I don't generally like minigames but Suikoden tends to be decent overall when it comes to them.
First things first, Chinchirorin is out. I guess this little dice-in-a-cup game didn't catch on in the Grasslands region. Whatever. If you want a luck-based minigame, play the lottery. It's just as save-scummable, although it's liable to take a lot longer. But do it as early as your first few chapters and you'll end up not worrying about money for the rest of the game, or at least until you start spending all your cash on smithing the weapons, since those will take up more than eight times the cash cap.
So yes, there still are recruits that require minigame-winning to get, but not a whole lot of them. Two recruits, Mike and Billy, have card games, which yes you have to beat them once. The game Kabu, which Mike plays, is a little like Blackjack, and, well, it plays like it. I don't remember if there were any prizes to win after beating him the first time and challenging him again. But I do know that Guppo, the game Billy plays, does have prizes. Of course, he has to be beaten the first time, and the game is essentially a High/Low card game. Some of the prizes are unique, but not really game-changing, but hey, that's all fine and dandy.
There's apparently a horse-racing minigame which you can do if you really want. Again, there are prizes for winning. But also you don't even need to do it to recruit the one who hosts it, Kathy. That's great. As a result, this game is completely optional.
There's not a whole lot of things I can actually constitute as minigames. The way to recruit Kathy is by counting horses in the field, made somewhat annoying since you do it in a place with random encounters. Recruiting Kidd involves a lame detective story but you aren't really being challenged to do anything. Ernie just offers a trivia game. And the rest of the optional recruits, of which there are far fewer in Suikoden III, usually just require an item, another recruit, or something like doing a duel which isn't much of a minigame given how it's a Suikoden mainstay.
Perhaps the most unique one may also not count as a minigame, but I feel the need to mention it because it is unique. Yep, the theater. It's quite interesting, you get to pick a play, and pick from your own stars of destiny for the cast. And then you see how it's done, with many characters doing either well or terribly, a lot of humor value can come from these things. And regardless, you still earn money. It's a very nice touch overall.
So yeah, this was the low point when it came to actual minigames, as Suikoden III is considerably more plot-oriented. Not that it's that bad though.
First things first, Chinchirorin is out. I guess this little dice-in-a-cup game didn't catch on in the Grasslands region. Whatever. If you want a luck-based minigame, play the lottery. It's just as save-scummable, although it's liable to take a lot longer. But do it as early as your first few chapters and you'll end up not worrying about money for the rest of the game, or at least until you start spending all your cash on smithing the weapons, since those will take up more than eight times the cash cap.
So yes, there still are recruits that require minigame-winning to get, but not a whole lot of them. Two recruits, Mike and Billy, have card games, which yes you have to beat them once. The game Kabu, which Mike plays, is a little like Blackjack, and, well, it plays like it. I don't remember if there were any prizes to win after beating him the first time and challenging him again. But I do know that Guppo, the game Billy plays, does have prizes. Of course, he has to be beaten the first time, and the game is essentially a High/Low card game. Some of the prizes are unique, but not really game-changing, but hey, that's all fine and dandy.
There's apparently a horse-racing minigame which you can do if you really want. Again, there are prizes for winning. But also you don't even need to do it to recruit the one who hosts it, Kathy. That's great. As a result, this game is completely optional.
There's not a whole lot of things I can actually constitute as minigames. The way to recruit Kathy is by counting horses in the field, made somewhat annoying since you do it in a place with random encounters. Recruiting Kidd involves a lame detective story but you aren't really being challenged to do anything. Ernie just offers a trivia game. And the rest of the optional recruits, of which there are far fewer in Suikoden III, usually just require an item, another recruit, or something like doing a duel which isn't much of a minigame given how it's a Suikoden mainstay.
Perhaps the most unique one may also not count as a minigame, but I feel the need to mention it because it is unique. Yep, the theater. It's quite interesting, you get to pick a play, and pick from your own stars of destiny for the cast. And then you see how it's done, with many characters doing either well or terribly, a lot of humor value can come from these things. And regardless, you still earn money. It's a very nice touch overall.
So yeah, this was the low point when it came to actual minigames, as Suikoden III is considerably more plot-oriented. Not that it's that bad though.
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Top 5 Stupidest RPG Heroes
Yep, another Top 5. Isn't it strange how RPG heroes tend to be the most dynamic individuals? You watch them do things in-game that makes you think, hmm, maybe that wasn't a good idea in hindsight, although it gets the job done and alleviating overall party and world anxiety. Some heroes are pretty dumb though. This list will count down heroes that I found to be the most idiotic, as even though they are heroic in a sense, they are easily ratted out by party members or others who pretty much are smarter, party members who despite their loyalty, know that these heroes can do much better.
This list was pretty tough to put together. For one, silent protagonists pretty much don't count. I also decide to use characters that aren't the main character, because they try in their heroism or what not but fail in the end. And just so you know, quite a few notable characters don't make the cut. Justin from Grandia isn't the brightest kid at all, his lust for adventure tends to get him in trouble, but he at least is competent enough to be more heroic than idiotic. Meis from Thousand Arms is another one, showcasing idiocy when trying to look awesome in front of a girl in the beginning, but you don't see much of that later in the game for it to qualify. And Sailor Moon? Surprisingly Sailor Moon: Another Story shows the title character at her most heroic, moreso than any other form of media featuring her.
5. Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII)
This serves as a slight spoiler for me, but I am actually in the middle of playing Final Fantasy 8 while typing this. So I don't know literally everything there is to know about Laguna, but from what I have seen of this guy, he belongs here. How he managed to get into the Galbadian army amazes me giving his overall attitude, falling head over heels over this woman, and naturally failing at expressing his feelings. And even before that, he causes a traffic jam. He's pretty much the butt of jokes from Kiros and Ward, but his real stupid moment comes from the second time you control him. Okay cool, let's trigger some traps for enemy soldiers to fall into, then eventually you still have to fight a few, which wound the hell out of Kiros and Ward. So Laguna, who presumably also gets injured roughly but not as bad as his comrades, reaches a cliffside. His comrades are in considerably worse shape, then Laguna spots a window of opportunity below. What does he do? Plunge his friends down the cliffside into the water while they are nearly dead. Of course, he jumps off too. But you should never do that to your friends. It's absolutely miraculous how all three of them survive, but Christ, this guy really doesn't have the ability to be decent.
*UPDATE* Laguna isn't entirely that idiotic. Naturally, he's an "at heart" person who doesn't really use his brain all that much, and after he had quit the military he ended up being a rather fatherly-like kind of guy to Ellone. In other words, he's fully light-hearted, and somehow manages to come up with a brilliant, albeit somewhat still stupid, strategy to liberate Esthar from Adel, then becoming the president of the land and managing to rule it surprisingly well enough. Because of this, he and Stahn switch places on the list, but what he did during the Lunatic Pandora dream sequence cannot be unaccounted for, so he still remains an idiotic hero.
4. Stahn (Tales of Destiny)
For some reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, Stahn is considered to be the token idiot hero as far as JRPGs are concerned. Though I don't really think he should be the prime case of an idiot hero, he still counts as one. Since Cless wasn't an idiot in the first Tales game, they decided to make Stahn the guy who gets the abuse from party members, or to be more specific, his talking sword, which he just finds and somehow the two are mutually bonded. Some of the other party members do rat out his stupidity at times, but none so much as that sword of his. But they do make fun of his heritage a lot, angering Stahn just because he's a country boy. I say who cares. Stahn's not really too idiotic, but when it comes time for a heroic stand, you shouldn't spend most of your time sleeping. This is why he's on the list, due to the fact that he's such a heavy sleeper, apparently you have to rudely wake the guy up. Real slow, pal.
3. Snowe (Suikoden IV)
It's hard to judge Snowe. On one hand, he stands opposed to the main hero of the game completely after the events involving the Rune of Punishment, almost as an anti-hero sort of character who you end up fighting due to being on opposite sides. On the other hand, he's under the belief that what he does is the right thing entirely, no matter what it is. Then when the pushing turns to shoving, he's all cowardly because he doesn't want to stand defeated against powerful foes. Now, it's quite amazing, because Snowe certainly shows he wants to be a fighter, as seen in the opening of Suikoden Tactics and the first few parts of Suikoden IV. But he's got no strategy. Diving headlong into a battle isn't gonna do wonders, neither is the aforementioned faking of an injury. Once the main hero is exiled, Snowe is somehow put into command, and naturally his attempt of heroism by selling Razril out to Kooluk fails when the townsfolk all want him out. All this because he believed this was the right thing to do. Then again, maybe that wasn't entirely as bad a move as his other ones, since other options would have been far worse in that case. Again, a very hard character to judge. He's doing what he thinks is best, but no one else thinks its heroic at all.
2. Danette (Soul Nomad & The World Eaters)
I really wanted to put someone in between Danette and my #1 pick, but I couldn't find any worthwhile idiots, so Danette is #2. You think going up against a big bad World Eater is gonna earn you a lot of brownie points? Well, you'll need a lot more power to beat one, Danette. And besides, you're not the one with the cool evil guy inside you. The same guy who calls you a stupid cow* because you don't understand situations you're in and are pretty much inconsiderate. Amazing, Gig can backlash this lass and not get killed, since that would kill the main character too. And threatening to snap peoples necks really wears off after a while. Fun fact: Danette never snaps a single person's neck in-game. Her dive into the one-way portal leading to Drazil with the hero defines how wrong she makes things, so much that later on the main hero has decided to call her "Dumbette" due to her ineptitude at keeping hidden. It's just amazing how she's somehow got a terrible backstory with her parents and Crimson Tears that you sort of feel sorry for her, yet she still does some dumb things in-game.
1. Wain (Lufia 3)
Oh man oh man, I really don't want to say it, but people really do need to understand sarcasm. Repeatedly, Wain is not a character that does. Not helping is the fact that his first companion is the one to call him stupid all the time. Seena's not the only one, but she does it repeatedly, even upon meeting just about every new character that joins up. Heck, when Dei is first met, this is how Wain loses sight of him, by being called stupid. Perhaps before that, we have another really stupid moment, by insulting Gades. Now, you shouldn't insult a Sinistral in the Lufia world, and even Seena does this too, it's amazing how the two manage to survive against the big guy afterwards. And then, of course, falling for Seena's obvious trick very late in the game, how she was bad all along, one last "You really are stupid" coming in from her. In a surprising twist though, despite all the stupidity and the betrayal that came upon him, Wain's victory ends up with him and Seena being happy together. I find this amazing, mostly because unlike Lufia in Lufia 1, Seena was pretty much a full-on snark character, especially one who knew about her past and everything. Tricking Wain might just be another thing on her mind even after the game is over.
*Another fun fact: Danette is of the Sepp race, which is a hybrid of a human and a cow. The insult makes complete sense.
This list was pretty tough to put together. For one, silent protagonists pretty much don't count. I also decide to use characters that aren't the main character, because they try in their heroism or what not but fail in the end. And just so you know, quite a few notable characters don't make the cut. Justin from Grandia isn't the brightest kid at all, his lust for adventure tends to get him in trouble, but he at least is competent enough to be more heroic than idiotic. Meis from Thousand Arms is another one, showcasing idiocy when trying to look awesome in front of a girl in the beginning, but you don't see much of that later in the game for it to qualify. And Sailor Moon? Surprisingly Sailor Moon: Another Story shows the title character at her most heroic, moreso than any other form of media featuring her.
5. Laguna (Final Fantasy VIII)
This serves as a slight spoiler for me, but I am actually in the middle of playing Final Fantasy 8 while typing this. So I don't know literally everything there is to know about Laguna, but from what I have seen of this guy, he belongs here. How he managed to get into the Galbadian army amazes me giving his overall attitude, falling head over heels over this woman, and naturally failing at expressing his feelings. And even before that, he causes a traffic jam. He's pretty much the butt of jokes from Kiros and Ward, but his real stupid moment comes from the second time you control him. Okay cool, let's trigger some traps for enemy soldiers to fall into, then eventually you still have to fight a few, which wound the hell out of Kiros and Ward. So Laguna, who presumably also gets injured roughly but not as bad as his comrades, reaches a cliffside. His comrades are in considerably worse shape, then Laguna spots a window of opportunity below. What does he do? Plunge his friends down the cliffside into the water while they are nearly dead. Of course, he jumps off too. But you should never do that to your friends. It's absolutely miraculous how all three of them survive, but Christ, this guy really doesn't have the ability to be decent.
*UPDATE* Laguna isn't entirely that idiotic. Naturally, he's an "at heart" person who doesn't really use his brain all that much, and after he had quit the military he ended up being a rather fatherly-like kind of guy to Ellone. In other words, he's fully light-hearted, and somehow manages to come up with a brilliant, albeit somewhat still stupid, strategy to liberate Esthar from Adel, then becoming the president of the land and managing to rule it surprisingly well enough. Because of this, he and Stahn switch places on the list, but what he did during the Lunatic Pandora dream sequence cannot be unaccounted for, so he still remains an idiotic hero.
4. Stahn (Tales of Destiny)
For some reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, Stahn is considered to be the token idiot hero as far as JRPGs are concerned. Though I don't really think he should be the prime case of an idiot hero, he still counts as one. Since Cless wasn't an idiot in the first Tales game, they decided to make Stahn the guy who gets the abuse from party members, or to be more specific, his talking sword, which he just finds and somehow the two are mutually bonded. Some of the other party members do rat out his stupidity at times, but none so much as that sword of his. But they do make fun of his heritage a lot, angering Stahn just because he's a country boy. I say who cares. Stahn's not really too idiotic, but when it comes time for a heroic stand, you shouldn't spend most of your time sleeping. This is why he's on the list, due to the fact that he's such a heavy sleeper, apparently you have to rudely wake the guy up. Real slow, pal.
3. Snowe (Suikoden IV)
It's hard to judge Snowe. On one hand, he stands opposed to the main hero of the game completely after the events involving the Rune of Punishment, almost as an anti-hero sort of character who you end up fighting due to being on opposite sides. On the other hand, he's under the belief that what he does is the right thing entirely, no matter what it is. Then when the pushing turns to shoving, he's all cowardly because he doesn't want to stand defeated against powerful foes. Now, it's quite amazing, because Snowe certainly shows he wants to be a fighter, as seen in the opening of Suikoden Tactics and the first few parts of Suikoden IV. But he's got no strategy. Diving headlong into a battle isn't gonna do wonders, neither is the aforementioned faking of an injury. Once the main hero is exiled, Snowe is somehow put into command, and naturally his attempt of heroism by selling Razril out to Kooluk fails when the townsfolk all want him out. All this because he believed this was the right thing to do. Then again, maybe that wasn't entirely as bad a move as his other ones, since other options would have been far worse in that case. Again, a very hard character to judge. He's doing what he thinks is best, but no one else thinks its heroic at all.
2. Danette (Soul Nomad & The World Eaters)
I really wanted to put someone in between Danette and my #1 pick, but I couldn't find any worthwhile idiots, so Danette is #2. You think going up against a big bad World Eater is gonna earn you a lot of brownie points? Well, you'll need a lot more power to beat one, Danette. And besides, you're not the one with the cool evil guy inside you. The same guy who calls you a stupid cow* because you don't understand situations you're in and are pretty much inconsiderate. Amazing, Gig can backlash this lass and not get killed, since that would kill the main character too. And threatening to snap peoples necks really wears off after a while. Fun fact: Danette never snaps a single person's neck in-game. Her dive into the one-way portal leading to Drazil with the hero defines how wrong she makes things, so much that later on the main hero has decided to call her "Dumbette" due to her ineptitude at keeping hidden. It's just amazing how she's somehow got a terrible backstory with her parents and Crimson Tears that you sort of feel sorry for her, yet she still does some dumb things in-game.
1. Wain (Lufia 3)
Oh man oh man, I really don't want to say it, but people really do need to understand sarcasm. Repeatedly, Wain is not a character that does. Not helping is the fact that his first companion is the one to call him stupid all the time. Seena's not the only one, but she does it repeatedly, even upon meeting just about every new character that joins up. Heck, when Dei is first met, this is how Wain loses sight of him, by being called stupid. Perhaps before that, we have another really stupid moment, by insulting Gades. Now, you shouldn't insult a Sinistral in the Lufia world, and even Seena does this too, it's amazing how the two manage to survive against the big guy afterwards. And then, of course, falling for Seena's obvious trick very late in the game, how she was bad all along, one last "You really are stupid" coming in from her. In a surprising twist though, despite all the stupidity and the betrayal that came upon him, Wain's victory ends up with him and Seena being happy together. I find this amazing, mostly because unlike Lufia in Lufia 1, Seena was pretty much a full-on snark character, especially one who knew about her past and everything. Tricking Wain might just be another thing on her mind even after the game is over.
*Another fun fact: Danette is of the Sepp race, which is a hybrid of a human and a cow. The insult makes complete sense.
Friday, August 3, 2018
All the aggravating things about: The 7th Saga
Hey look, something different for once. I decided to make this on the account of watching some videos where I won't name exactly who made them but it's inspirational enough for me to nitpick exclusively on things. So I decided to pick an RPG at random and decided on The 7th Saga. This little post is gonna involve me stating all the things that I found wrong with The 7th Saga in an a list format.
1. Hey look, The 7th Saga, wait a minute, this title is misleading. The game is a standalone RPG with no prequel to speak of. Somehow it spawned a sequel in Mystic Ark, which is another Japan-only game. Boo.
2. Cool, pick from one of seven characters, and get seven rules, not bad. Then again, you're stuck with that character and one other one, and sometimes, those combinations don't work out. Wilme and Lux? Not gonna be a good combination due to both being mostly physical fighters and both not being able to equip really good armor.
3. Speaking of which, mage armor to mage characters entirely, fighter armor to fighter characters entirely. Wonderful. I think Lejes is an aversion of this, but I haven't used him.
4. So let's look at these characters. Hmm...Kamil is the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. Meaning he sucks in the late game completely.
5. Olvan is basically Kamil with less magic ability and speed and more physical power. Eh.
6. Esuna is fast and evasive but a squishy glass cannon mage. Not to mention the only female protagonist.
7. Wilme is completely ineffective at magic despite being able to use it, and has the crappiest armor choices. He's one to use if you really want to torture yourself.
8. Lux actually has the worst armor choices, I take that back. He also has this super annoying walking noise. Okay, he's pretty good physically and has unique magic. Somehow, people like him. OH AND HE TALKS IN ALL CAPS.
9. Valsu is the token white mage, who completely sucks in the beginning but has a completely broken spell if you level him to get the Elixir spell.
10. Finally Lejes, the token black mage, and for some reason the guy no one likes because he actually is a demon.
11. Well the premise is good, but you don't see anything majorly storyline-related as soon as Lemele sends everyone to the runes. I want to see some character development dammit.
12. Hey look, the battles in this game are REAL HARD. Yep, especially if you pick someone super squishy as your main character like Esuna or Valsu, the first encounters can one-shot your character.
13. The dodging animations are just silly, How come Esuna's the only really good character when it comes to dodging attacks?
14. Well the level curve is decent enough, although I have to grind excessively. Which is nasty considering the enemies I'm gonna be fighting.
15. Sometimes it takes me several different spells to take down just one enemy, and the experience isn't really worth the trouble for some of them.
16. The Petrify spell doesn't do exactly what is expected. It actually encases the target in some random rock and leaves them defenseless to more attacks. Surprisingly it works well on enemies, but it just looks DUMB. Also they will break from the shell anyways.
17. Vacuum2 has the WORST NOISE EVER.
18. The encounter system is actually unique in that you can just stand in place until a dot comes by and gets you into an encounter. If you're not grinding though, trying to avoid the dots while trying to navigate is a hassle.
19. Oh great, CHEST MONSTERS
20. Bosses are somehow not interesting, not even the Pison guy.
21. Those Sage enemies annoyed me quite a bit considering their magic defense. I usually never use a physical attack when using a mage anyways.
22. Hey look I'm bout ready to kill this guy OH HE RUNS AWAY. This is actually the single biggest headache as far as grinding goes, not really dying unless you are up against something that is strong, but watching one enemy run away. It makes grinding longer than it should be.
23. Getting a partner in the form of another apprentice is dumb luck entirely. You go to a town and talk to other apprentices, they may ask to fight you, they may ask to join you, they may just straight up fight you.
24. And if they fight? Guess what? There's no way they will join you ever again for the rest of the game. Next time you meet them, they fight you, no questions asked.
25. Speaking of, the battles against the apprentices are the toughest in the ENTIRE GAME, although of course it depends on who's being fought, Lejes is the only one you'd want to fight, as long as you have the Star Rune, because his first move is always to lower your defense, and the Star Rune is a free defense boost.
26. The real annoyance with fighting the apprentices is that they always heal themselves whenever they get to about half health.
27. Oh of course, the possibility of an apprentice stabbing you in the back once you get a rune, forcing you to never use them again. Apparently Esuna and Lux are the only two exempt from doing this.
28. And as far as battling apprentices go, there are two instances where they WILL have runes, not counting losing to other fights with them and them taking runes.
29. The first is when one goes crazy and enslaves a town called Patrof, you wouldn't know who it is, but upon beating them, they are dead forever. The other instance happens later, and you just simply take the rune from them when you win.
30. Did I forget to mention that the apprentices do in fact gain more as you gain more? With the exception of the insane one that is.
31. Again Esuna and Lux cannot be that one insane apprentice at Patrof. It's like the game wants you to use either of these characters.
32. DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH DADADADA DADADADADA, it's in my head forever due to all the battles I fight.
33. I'm actually surprised, this predates Chrono Trigger in terms of time travel. But it's done so much better there anyways.
34. Some subplots are pretty odd. Olvan apparently gets to go through two dungeons if he is either the main character, or if the main character is dead and Olvan is in the party. Thanks for forcing it upon others to use the guy, oh wait these dungeons aren't that cool anyways.
35. The layout of the town of Bone is really retarded.
36. The town of Bilthem is a complete troll of a place upon first visit. Everyone worships the king Doros like crazy. Oh, turns out it's pretty much mind screw.
37. Whee, a glider...oh, crash-landed already?
38. You know what's awful for a mage character? Losing the ability to lose magic. For a good portion of the ice lands, all the magic you have cannot be accessed. And it's all because some sage curses you because he thinks you're a threat. What a twat.
39. You fight Gariso beforehand. An ANAGRAM of the main villain's name. Also having to use some special item to cause the boss to be visible isn't really new either.
40. Like I didn't see the fact that Lemele is evil, oh wait he was dead anyways and is known as Gorsia. That's not a really intimidating villain name. Oh yeah, you lose the runes you had too.
41. Finally, the 7th Saga has THE WORST ending I have ever seen in an RPG ever. Great, you beat Gorsia, oh wait he kills your main character! And then your main character gets resurrected as Lemele!? Wait, I had a partner with me! What happened to him?!
1. Hey look, The 7th Saga, wait a minute, this title is misleading. The game is a standalone RPG with no prequel to speak of. Somehow it spawned a sequel in Mystic Ark, which is another Japan-only game. Boo.
2. Cool, pick from one of seven characters, and get seven rules, not bad. Then again, you're stuck with that character and one other one, and sometimes, those combinations don't work out. Wilme and Lux? Not gonna be a good combination due to both being mostly physical fighters and both not being able to equip really good armor.
3. Speaking of which, mage armor to mage characters entirely, fighter armor to fighter characters entirely. Wonderful. I think Lejes is an aversion of this, but I haven't used him.
4. So let's look at these characters. Hmm...Kamil is the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. Meaning he sucks in the late game completely.
5. Olvan is basically Kamil with less magic ability and speed and more physical power. Eh.
6. Esuna is fast and evasive but a squishy glass cannon mage. Not to mention the only female protagonist.
7. Wilme is completely ineffective at magic despite being able to use it, and has the crappiest armor choices. He's one to use if you really want to torture yourself.
8. Lux actually has the worst armor choices, I take that back. He also has this super annoying walking noise. Okay, he's pretty good physically and has unique magic. Somehow, people like him. OH AND HE TALKS IN ALL CAPS.
9. Valsu is the token white mage, who completely sucks in the beginning but has a completely broken spell if you level him to get the Elixir spell.
10. Finally Lejes, the token black mage, and for some reason the guy no one likes because he actually is a demon.
11. Well the premise is good, but you don't see anything majorly storyline-related as soon as Lemele sends everyone to the runes. I want to see some character development dammit.
12. Hey look, the battles in this game are REAL HARD. Yep, especially if you pick someone super squishy as your main character like Esuna or Valsu, the first encounters can one-shot your character.
13. The dodging animations are just silly, How come Esuna's the only really good character when it comes to dodging attacks?
14. Well the level curve is decent enough, although I have to grind excessively. Which is nasty considering the enemies I'm gonna be fighting.
15. Sometimes it takes me several different spells to take down just one enemy, and the experience isn't really worth the trouble for some of them.
16. The Petrify spell doesn't do exactly what is expected. It actually encases the target in some random rock and leaves them defenseless to more attacks. Surprisingly it works well on enemies, but it just looks DUMB. Also they will break from the shell anyways.
17. Vacuum2 has the WORST NOISE EVER.
18. The encounter system is actually unique in that you can just stand in place until a dot comes by and gets you into an encounter. If you're not grinding though, trying to avoid the dots while trying to navigate is a hassle.
19. Oh great, CHEST MONSTERS
20. Bosses are somehow not interesting, not even the Pison guy.
21. Those Sage enemies annoyed me quite a bit considering their magic defense. I usually never use a physical attack when using a mage anyways.
22. Hey look I'm bout ready to kill this guy OH HE RUNS AWAY. This is actually the single biggest headache as far as grinding goes, not really dying unless you are up against something that is strong, but watching one enemy run away. It makes grinding longer than it should be.
23. Getting a partner in the form of another apprentice is dumb luck entirely. You go to a town and talk to other apprentices, they may ask to fight you, they may ask to join you, they may just straight up fight you.
24. And if they fight? Guess what? There's no way they will join you ever again for the rest of the game. Next time you meet them, they fight you, no questions asked.
25. Speaking of, the battles against the apprentices are the toughest in the ENTIRE GAME, although of course it depends on who's being fought, Lejes is the only one you'd want to fight, as long as you have the Star Rune, because his first move is always to lower your defense, and the Star Rune is a free defense boost.
26. The real annoyance with fighting the apprentices is that they always heal themselves whenever they get to about half health.
27. Oh of course, the possibility of an apprentice stabbing you in the back once you get a rune, forcing you to never use them again. Apparently Esuna and Lux are the only two exempt from doing this.
28. And as far as battling apprentices go, there are two instances where they WILL have runes, not counting losing to other fights with them and them taking runes.
29. The first is when one goes crazy and enslaves a town called Patrof, you wouldn't know who it is, but upon beating them, they are dead forever. The other instance happens later, and you just simply take the rune from them when you win.
30. Did I forget to mention that the apprentices do in fact gain more as you gain more? With the exception of the insane one that is.
31. Again Esuna and Lux cannot be that one insane apprentice at Patrof. It's like the game wants you to use either of these characters.
32. DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH DADADADA DADADADADA, it's in my head forever due to all the battles I fight.
33. I'm actually surprised, this predates Chrono Trigger in terms of time travel. But it's done so much better there anyways.
34. Some subplots are pretty odd. Olvan apparently gets to go through two dungeons if he is either the main character, or if the main character is dead and Olvan is in the party. Thanks for forcing it upon others to use the guy, oh wait these dungeons aren't that cool anyways.
35. The layout of the town of Bone is really retarded.
36. The town of Bilthem is a complete troll of a place upon first visit. Everyone worships the king Doros like crazy. Oh, turns out it's pretty much mind screw.
37. Whee, a glider...oh, crash-landed already?
38. You know what's awful for a mage character? Losing the ability to lose magic. For a good portion of the ice lands, all the magic you have cannot be accessed. And it's all because some sage curses you because he thinks you're a threat. What a twat.
39. You fight Gariso beforehand. An ANAGRAM of the main villain's name. Also having to use some special item to cause the boss to be visible isn't really new either.
40. Like I didn't see the fact that Lemele is evil, oh wait he was dead anyways and is known as Gorsia. That's not a really intimidating villain name. Oh yeah, you lose the runes you had too.
41. Finally, the 7th Saga has THE WORST ending I have ever seen in an RPG ever. Great, you beat Gorsia, oh wait he kills your main character! And then your main character gets resurrected as Lemele!? Wait, I had a partner with me! What happened to him?!
Thursday, August 2, 2018
The Legend of Zelda: An RPG series or not?
If there is one game series that Nintendo has that seems to egregiously overrated by fans, I'm talking NOT about Pokemon, NOT about Mario, but Zelda. This series is loved so much by avid gamers, and I'll admit I like the series, but not to abnormal levels. Every time I get bored and look on GameFAQs to see whatever competition is going on, I look at the final results eventually, and hey look Link won the character battle, oh wait is that Majora's Mask winning the best game of all time award? Yeah, I don't get the extreme hype the Zelda series gets. That's really not the overall gist of this blog post though. I want to discuss whether or not Zelda is an RPG series.
The short answer is no, as it is more of action-adventure. The long answer is that every game that isn't Zelda II is action-adventure.
See action-adventure can easily be determined by looking at the first game in the series. It's top-down, you have enemies roaming a screen, can kill them at will, they leave stuff behind when they die, and you have several tools of the trade to do all sorts of things. Also a health bar which is easy to figure out, don't touch enemies or attacks to avoid them, get powerups to get things in ship-shape. And the overall puzzle aspect of things tends to take precedence a lot.
Now an action-RPG, which is what I consider Zelda II to be, has some action-adventure aspects, especially the puzzle kind. But more importantly, it utilizes RPG-like stats, gains, experience, and the gameplay isn't turn-based or something you would usually see in a typical JRPG. Zelda II ends up having a level system, so you kill enemies in your spare time and eventually you level up. That's when you can decide a stat gain, for attack power, magic, or life points. Heck, this predates the Mario RPGs on how you want to tweak your stats upon level up. Now Zelda II has a much different perspective than the other Zelda games pre-3D era, but the bottom line is, it did the action-RPG pretty well. Other games also do this formula quite well, the Soul Blazer series, Threads of Fate, Brave Fencer Musashi, even Hydlide, all of which have action-oriented gameplay but allowed for level or stat gains. The other Zelda games, or The Guardian Legend, or Startropics, are action-adventure, in that the overall gains come from pickups and there's no real level-up system.
Does this make me like Zelda II any more than the other games? No, because it is quite challenging and can not be fun at times, as opposed to other games in the series. But I'm not gonna deny the fact that when I look for RPGs, Zelda II qualifies as one.
The short answer is no, as it is more of action-adventure. The long answer is that every game that isn't Zelda II is action-adventure.
See action-adventure can easily be determined by looking at the first game in the series. It's top-down, you have enemies roaming a screen, can kill them at will, they leave stuff behind when they die, and you have several tools of the trade to do all sorts of things. Also a health bar which is easy to figure out, don't touch enemies or attacks to avoid them, get powerups to get things in ship-shape. And the overall puzzle aspect of things tends to take precedence a lot.
Now an action-RPG, which is what I consider Zelda II to be, has some action-adventure aspects, especially the puzzle kind. But more importantly, it utilizes RPG-like stats, gains, experience, and the gameplay isn't turn-based or something you would usually see in a typical JRPG. Zelda II ends up having a level system, so you kill enemies in your spare time and eventually you level up. That's when you can decide a stat gain, for attack power, magic, or life points. Heck, this predates the Mario RPGs on how you want to tweak your stats upon level up. Now Zelda II has a much different perspective than the other Zelda games pre-3D era, but the bottom line is, it did the action-RPG pretty well. Other games also do this formula quite well, the Soul Blazer series, Threads of Fate, Brave Fencer Musashi, even Hydlide, all of which have action-oriented gameplay but allowed for level or stat gains. The other Zelda games, or The Guardian Legend, or Startropics, are action-adventure, in that the overall gains come from pickups and there's no real level-up system.
Does this make me like Zelda II any more than the other games? No, because it is quite challenging and can not be fun at times, as opposed to other games in the series. But I'm not gonna deny the fact that when I look for RPGs, Zelda II qualifies as one.
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