Memorial Weekend '10

Woo!

Haven't been for almost two years!!! I know, ridiculous! Hopefully I can get inspiration while at the Parks and actually get into drawing again. It's been a massive art-block for the past year and a half.

Wish me luck!

Pay Thy Hip Bard

There will always be a lie in believe, an over in lover, an end in friends, an us in trust, and an if in life.

And there's an anagram in Pay Thy Hip Bard (to me)!

:D

Thought on Avatar

It was gorgeous. Best looking film I've ever witnessed. I had to see it on principle for the visuals alone - no shame in admitting that, since you couldn't discuss this flick without the mention. Not quite the end-all for CGI like the hype was trying to aim me towards, but certainly the best I've seen for sheer clarity and consistant detail, specifically in the backgrounds.

Remember a decade back when you saw Episode I and was completely blown away? It was kinda like that. Great experience, so much fun.

Nothing more to say, really. Wasn't a bad film at all, wished I could've seen it in IMAX-3D. Seriously considering that eventual extra-filled BD release.

FFXIII

Took a while to remember I have this, but I might as well use it again as a thought-dump - this time, for another pseudo-review!

Warning: wordiness ahead.

Let's begin with the game that's sucked the majority of my time within this past month:

Lemme say this right now: I love this game. This is by no means a horrible game, as much of the Internet would like you to believe. Then again, the Interwebz happen to specialize in the vocal minority and draws the attention of rabid fanbases.

Being a Final Fantasy, this installment is quite obviously different yet familiar as per the series' tradition of mixing up the gameplay on every main installment. Being different, however, has caused this one to be the target of much scrutiny more-so than the previous recordholders of VIII and XII. But all in due time: I'll start off with the premise.

The premise of the story is fighting fate, which is the namesake of the ominous piece of boss music that accompanies the acting antagonist. Go ahead, give it a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTm6Rt-1SXY Like most installments before it, it follows the exploits of the usual rag-tag group of protagonists as they try going about defying their fate. In fact, it's the lack of a concrete villain that many have issue with the plot. I don't mind as much, since I'm willing to let each installment try something new, and change is what the thirteenth installment excells at.

First and foremost, XIII is ruled by its story. The story follows the archetypical heroes that anyone who's dipped into the JRPG scene will recognize. However, being the first seventh gen Final Fantasy, the presentation is typical Squeenix HD - pain-stakingly breathtaking and a spectacle to behold on a proper HD screen. Using their fantastic artistic skills, the characters are brought to life more-so than any previous installment, with some truly frightening character models. XIII focuses on a smaller group of characters, and that works for the story's benefit. The time spent on each character is evident in their fluid and subtle motions. The voice acting 'quality' from X is no longer an issue, with XIII adopting XII's excellent voicework. Each character was voiced authentically and I never had an issue on the casting choices. I also felt that the Aussie flair to the Pulsian members of the cast was a nice touch.

The playable cast had very defined roles in character and personality and I enjoyed the character-building interactions in the first 20 hours. This is otherwise known as the spoon-fed, linear portion of the title it's so infamous for. The trade-off is a story whose pacing is as quick as the battles that surround it. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, the story's very light in the sense of actually affecting anything as in previous titles. It constantly branches off like a serial as the characters seperate and group up with one another due to their differing motives, forcing you into a restricted and pre-set party for the plot-heavy portion of the first 9 Chapters. Still, I stand by the fun way those initial 20 hours are presented. Sure, the battle system's revealed at a snail's pace - the game feels like teaching you through repetition. Lots and lots of repetition, and this is what will most likely turn off most newcomers or those who do not possess a good 40+ hours to complete the main game, let alone the massively-rewarding-for-completists the end-game present. In my case, however, the interactions between each character and the history of the stage the world presents us with were worth the majority of the plot-centric first half.

I'm sure the dialogue shall be criticized for being a bit too literal at times, since most JRPGs inevitably remain with the remnants of it's Japanese translation showing through a bit at times. Then again, I'm used to such dialogue and it doesn't grate on me nearly as much as it does others. It's not as fancy-shmancy as XII's excellent translation (the dialects were spot-on according to Ivalice's inhabitants' homelands, as well as the Old English terms thrown about for good measure) in terms of voiceovers, but the menus sure make up for it.

These are some of the most - if not the - most gorgeous menus I've ever navigated through. They're clean and precise, with every description, icon, title, and data displayed with pristine crispness; very handy in a menu-driven series. I imagine the localization team had a blast naming every Paradigm, with colorful titles ranging from Bully to Tireless Charge. This also covers the majority of the backstory, mythos, and general history of XIII's universe, which is revealed mostly through the Data Log that automatically adds all relevant information when the story divulges it. It's not necessary to the point that the game's unplayable, but it's necessary for simply understanding the deeper meanings behind the actions and motivations of the cast. So, perhaps it is necessary? Otherwise, you'll need use your perceptive minds to pick apart the numerous cutscenes that throw around terms that aren't initially clarified for hours.

You're thrown into a new world, as in every other installment of Final Fantasy or a new series in general, and it's akin to the first time you step into the Star Wars films. You stand alone with these terms of Jedi, The Force, Tatooine, Ewoks, Chewie, and Lightsabers. Sure, your brain can deconstruct some terms (Lightsaber = sword of light), though you're left to understand the rest when it's presented. Or not, and if that's the case, you can delve right into the Expanded Universe if you're feeling brave. Same thing with XIII; it's setting up the Fabula Nova Crystallis universe with it's talks of l'Cie and fal'Cie. I think of it as the first act, setting up the stage of a grand tale. We don't yet know how Versus or Agito and further un-named titles in the sub-series relate to XIII proper, but we should all just enjoy the ride for the time being.

Call it bad storytelling. I'll just let it go in out the other ear as I've heard all this before, and I frankly don't care. I love how the title approached itself: a fantastic spectacle to all, but most likely a grand set-up for an entire universe.

That said, a Final Fantasy has another aspect aside from the story that is equally if not more important: the gameplay.

XIII is basically divided into two aspects to abide with its yarn: the cutscenes, peppered along pathways, the majority being linear affairs (If that bothers you, then so be it - it worked for X and it works for XIII's focus-driven plot.) and the battle system. There's almost no minigames or any other distractions to be seen, for better or for worse. I don't mind the lack of minigames, particularly due to the series' prior track record on the subject. (Seriously, whoever invented Blitzball as that.. hybrid of awful numbercrunching is prolly laughing their butt off at my utter frustration and lack of understanding of that water polo/soccer mess.) Though without these little time sinks, the game feels like it's missing a magical aspect of a Final Fantasy title. It's not without a distraction, however: I do appreciate the Missions in the end-game, much like XII's Hunts. It's arguably the meat of the game, the proof that you've mastered the battle system, and by extention, the title itself. Seriously, the game has some absolute monstrosities that try your patience with millions of HP (that's right - 1,000,000+ hit points), but it seems many are quick to judge the game before they even try it, to the point that some reviewers didn't even complete the game proper due to the drastic approach the title takes.

Let's focus on the battle system for a bit. XIII features an expansion of X-2's fast-paced Active Time Battle (ATB) system. It's still menu-driven like the previous twelve titles, but the hybrid of real-time and turn-based combat is shrinking, though if you don't like Final Fantasy's input by this point, this prolly won't change your mind. It still wouldn't prevent me from recommending it to those who are Final Fantasy fans, which should try out the title regardless. Don't wuss out due to bad talk online - man up and play the game yourself.

I say this knowing full-well I'll prolly never play XI and XIV, but I have my reasons.

/rant: initiated/

This goes especially if XIV asks for a monthly subscription like its spiritual predecessor - no thanks, I like to play for my games up front. Call me old-fashioned like that, but I miss the days when games were released to you, you know, in a COMPLETE form, not this bullocks of releasing a buggy game to consumers then lazily releasing a patch with speed in accordance to the bitchiness of consumers. Isn't that what the debugging process is for? You couldn't get away with this a decade ago - we'd simply not buy the game in hopes that, to quote Yahtzee, they'd be trampled by the company Brontosaurus. I understand the concept of downloadable content (DLC), but only when it's logically justified. Paying for DLC that unlocks content on the disk?? That's sheer extortion, you lazy gits! DLC should be expansions worth including that couldn't be before, not another way to wring money from us! I was stupid/insane enough to buy each DLC for Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King and My Life As A Darklord simply because that would unlock all the content, regardless of how superfluous it was. I supported WiiWare and Squeenix for keeping up with the Crystal Chronicle series, but it seems nobody else is. But that's a discussion for another time...

/rant: terminated/

I also don't care too much for MMORPGs, being the mindless button-mashing time-sinks that they are. I just never found them worth my time. Played XI waaay back in '05-ish, didn't like the idea of a community-driven Final Fantasy. I still prefer single-player games to multiplayer simply for my enjoyment. Yes, fun can be amplified with friends, but only with the right games. Crystal Chronicles and Tactics Advance are the only two exceptions to this rule in Final Fantasy for me. I'm not against the idea of an MMO, I just wish there was more substance to it for a single player like myself. I'd dabble into the multiplayer scene simply because that's how an MMO ticks, but it's also a Final Fantasy - I should have the option of venturing on this epic quest by my lonesome to prove my stalwart manliness and courageousness. Or at least that feeling you get before you realize you're in way over your head, but I digress... Another time...!

The system, called Command Synergy Battle (CSB) in-game, still uses the Active Time Battle meter seen since V and does away with MP. Instead, actions are worth anywhere from 1-5 points on the ATB meter, with more powerful attacks costing more. HP is also restored after contfrontations, ridding the need for curing after a battle and leaving health-restoring items like Potions to strictly in-battle useage. A big difference that the CSB embraces is that it allows you to control only the lead party member, focusing on the party at large rather than individuals. Luckily, the AI for your party members is pretty outstanding for the most part. The growth system focuses on the Crystarium Grid (think HD Sphere Grid from X), which uses Crystogen Points (CP) gained in fixed amounts from foes. Experience is utilized solely for equipment and accessory upgrades, which seems convoluted at first glance that most won't bother with the system until they either mess with it or look up how it operates. I got through the entire game without messing with my items and only "optimizing" characters depending on my situation.

Each character's actions is ruled by what Role each assumes, called Paradigms. There are six Roles that each character will eventually be allowed to assume, though they specialize in the three initially matched to their personality. These are Commando (Attacker), Ravager (Blaster), Sentinel (Defender), Synergist (Enhancer), Saboteur (Jammer), and Medic (Healer). Commandos are main damage-dealers, Ravagers specialize in magic-damage that builds up the Chain Gauge (more on that below), Sentinels divert all attacks towards them while they use their high defense and HP to survive, Synergists buff your party up, Saboteurs debuff enemies, and Medics keep the party in fighting shape. Paradigms are pre-set combinations (up to six) of these roles that can be switched on the fly during any battle, again like X-2's ATB.

Now the heart of the CSB: the Chain Gauge. Each combatant has a gauge reading 100% with a hidden percentage at the gauge's max. While Ravagers excell at filling the gauge up quickly, it empties just as quickly, requiring Commandos to keep the gauge from depleting quicker than you can build it at the cost of slowly building the meter. When the Chain Gauge hits the second percentage (say, 150.0%), the opponent becomes Staggered, which makes them susceptible to interrupted attacks and being Launched into the air which makes them vulnerable to further attack and constant air-time. It's possible to juggle an enemy in the air indefinitely, raising chain gauge climbs towards the max Chain percentage of 999.9%, at which case you start dealing massive amounts of damage.

This meter is the entire core of the battle system, since even normal enemies carry dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of HP, and Staggering enemies is quite often the key to dispatching enemies quickly and efficiently. In fact, every battle is ranked on a five-star system, with a target time. The quicker the battle, the better the score. It's this juggling of all-out asault and chain-building that XIII shows one of the most engaging and fast-paced battle systems of the entire series, let alone RPGs in general.

The battles are so fast-paced that they grant you an Auto-Battle option that generates attacks based on your situation, proving that considerable care was taken into the AI. The focus, again, is more on the party at large than micromanaging abilities, with Paradigm Shifts being the key to victory. To me, it becomes a sort of puzzle game - the first time you encounter an enemy, you Libra (Scan) a foe to discover their weaknesses, select the correct Paradigms to attack the situation, and juggle your current Paradigms to see if you possess the correct roles for the situation. If not, don't fret: battles can be paused and with a simple selection of Retry, the game sets you outside the fight to rearrange your Paradigms, equipment, or even level up further on the Crystarium to gain the edge. This encourages experimentation instead of an all-out Game Over and resuming from a prior Save point, though they obviously still exist. The battles are so fast-paced that the wrong combination of Paradigms can spell defeat within seconds; alternatively, the correct Paradigms can result in a Battle Result screen in half a minute.

The addition of the Auto-Battle option becomes an invaluable one, though one can argue it takes the majority of the control out of the player's hands in favor of the spectacle. Allow me to fangasm at the glory that is Final Fantasy XIII. The production values of XIII is beyond what most gamers can hope for. After all, this is a Squeenix game, the kings of full-motion video sequences. These are probably the best cutscenes this side of Metal Gear that I've ever seen. The graphics are outstanding and the soundtrack ranks as one of the best ones this generation. Here's the introductory cutscene to demonstrate: http://g4tv.com/videos/44647/Final-Fantasy-XIII-First-15/?quality=hd

Last but definitely not least - the music is also a worthy addition to Final Fantasy's lofty standards. The lack of Uematsu is not an issue, as the title has enough J-Pop, epic orchestrations, character motifs and my favorite battle theme in the series. Bought the imported soundtrack for Squeenix's deal of $40. Give it a listen here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SilvaGunner#grid/user/4E4FCFF11A7B3993 Good stuff, I say.

All in all, it's not a BAD game, and it's certainly not the worst experience you can imagine. While it may not be the best Final Fantasy in my eyes, it's definitely not on the bottom of my list, especially when ranking the main series. It's a refreshing experience of light and sound, of twitch gameplay and quick planning, of trial and error gameplay, and generally a more accessible game for it, being a western-inspired JRPG take of a streamlined role-playing game.

In short, if you're a Final Fantasy fan go play it. And only liking VII doesn't count, you close-minded fanboys. If you're a fan of a series, you don't just like a single installment of a series. It implies you've played more and found merits in other titles, regardless of how much you liked or hated them. If you're new to the series, this is as good a place to start, but you should keep in mind this is very different from the previous installments. This is Final Fantasy in name and spirit, but you'll have to look deep to see the connections. You can do much worse in choosing an RPG for your PS3.

Also, I have nothing against the 360, except that they cut major corners. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy, you may have gotten a PS3 for this title like I did, but if you have no other choice, then go ahead and buy it. But by all means, if you DO have a choice get the PS3 version. It's a single disk and has the game as was originally intended.

And yes, I do love Vanille, aka FFXIII's Kooky Spice, though Sazh is the best character.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Whelp, the fourth installment -fifth if yer picky- of the Kingdom Hearts series has been released. Of course, I refer to the International release (for I like my games to be in English for immersion and clarity, thank you very much). I recently completed it (in that I beat the story and unlocked all the secret characters - 100% completion will be the replay value I work on when I'm bored) and I bring my thoughts after 4 days with Days!

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days may be the newest title after the main trilogy of games (said trilogy being Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II), but it's also the start of a gaiden (side-story) trilogy of sorts. While the main trilogy features titular character Sora, the new trilogy of games involve and star other characters and are meant to tide the fans over until the next "main" installment, of which most assume will be KHIII, but Word of God isn't even sure on that - score another point on the gentle mind-screw that is Kingdom Hearts.

Anyway, Days is the first internationally released gaiden game. While it doesn't introduce new worlds, it reveals some of the inner-workings of Organization XIII, the main antagonists of ReCoM and KHII, and with them insight into their darker secrets. Following the character Roxas, you're presented with his day-to-day life in the Organization, hence some elaboration on the obnoxious title. The story essencially covers the events during the last third of the original Kingdom Hearts after a certain important scene, elaborates the events that occured behind-the-scenes in Re:Chain of Memories, and right into the prologue of Kingdom Hearts II, which take 358 days to unfold.

One thing the series is creative with is how they "restart" the game for logical progression. KH was the first game, so that was understandable. ReCoM had the character's memories basically swiped and played by different rules altogether, so that was interesting. KHII had them awaken from cold storage and had a more evolved version of the combat, showing growth in battle ability, so we let that slide. Now Days has you controlling Roxas, who was the false protagonist controlled during KHII's 2-hour tutorial. Since Day 1 is the character's creation and stated that he is a special being, he starts off with no memories and mannerisms akin to that of a zombie. Just musing on something many think about in series that like to wipe the slate clean for gameplay purposes (Zelda's a great candidate in the direct-sequels and Metroid gets flack up the ying-yang for this).

For a DS game, Days is very impressive. The presentation is typical Squeenix, which means it's top-notch. It looks pretty and sounds as good as a PlayStation-era game like Metal Gear Solid (as in the use of pixels on flat polygons. How one receives the game is dependant on their thoughts on the series as a whole. I've described the game as a "charming button-masher" and that's pretty much my bare-bones feeling of the games. You'll hear comments on how you can pretty much march into a room and mash the attack button, win, and can repeat the process throughout the entire game. In actuality, that's not entirely false - I'd be lying if I said my strategy wasn't rushing into Heartless and causing as much harm with my giant key as I can muster, since I'm not a huge fan of magic due to my conservation of it for health purposes, since using items aren't exactly using your innate gaming skills in my honest opinion. However, I always play the games on Proud mode, which makes a bit of difference.

Proud mode in this case greatly increases the attack power of all the enemies. As such, you have to learn to actually dodge, block, and reflect attacks. KH was Nintendo Hard on Proud, and was notable in some cases for being a tad too difficult for the target audience. That game could serve your ass on a platter of your own pride and make your work for the check. ReCoM was difficult on Proud due to the enemies having waaay more powerful cards, bordering on the unfair at times unless you had lots of 9s and 0s to counter them (clarification: the game was ruled literally by cards, making a real-time mix of action and war) along with the powerful attacks, along with the multitasking required to handle the cards and the enemies. KHII was okay on Proud. There were enemies that required some skill in defense to avoid getting killed by combo/cheap attack, but once you got Explosion and learned to master Reflect, you don't need much else aside from button-mashing ability. KHII was made with the intent on fixing the first game's major annoyances, and one was apparently difficulty, which was disappointing when the game added a Beginner mode (which is really made for those who've never played an action game - EVER - before, since I saw my cousin play it on Beginner; it was... embarassingly easy).

Days addresses the ease of KHII's Proud with it's own, which can be Nintendo Hard if you're not equipped correctly. The ability system in Days, the Panel system, is modeled after Tetris-like panels that fit onto a max of three grids, with different weapons, abilities, items, and magic using up a certain amount of slots. It forces you to think about which abilities and equipment you bring into the missions, due to the limitations on Magic and Items in the assignments. It's a great way to individualize when you go into the multiplayer and try the other unique and eccentric Organization members (plus some secret characters) so that everyone is different, while also allows one way to play as any character without grinding them for multiplayer, which is very fun with a like-minded friend and a big draw for the game.

Of course, the story itself is good. [clarification: I am much more accepting in terms of characters and plot. I grew up on the Nintendo philosophy of storytelling - just enough to get to playing a game is a-okay by me. Save the princess? Got it. Yes, I realize that Kingdom Hearts kinda thrives on its story by this point. In fact, the characters and story is primarily the driving force behind me loving the series. Sure, the combat's addicting and it's satisfying to have an enemy explode into health balls, munny clumps, magic bubbles, EXP gems, and whatever, but it's the characters I love that are behind the gameplay. I realize I'm very forgiving when it comes to plot, which annoys many people, my friends and family included. I'll cling on to one aspect I find redeeming and cling to it and say 'I love it!', much to others' dismay. As such, I shall not be complaining about who are supposedly Mary Sues and the like, because you can find out rants on the subject by other, more passionate people who actually take it all to heart. I accept every character how they are, strengths, faults and all, and it doesn't detract from the overall experience for me. I play KH for the story propelling my Keyblade-smashing experience. If you have a problem with the story, I can see where you're coming from, but it won't stop me from enjoying it. I found the story a simple, sweet and touching tale of a doomed-by-canon friendship. If you disagree, then we agree to disagree. I shall not dwell on this matter any longer.)

As with each new game, the Kingdom Hearts series is developing a very very complex world that could be a bit difficult for newcomers to grasp. Seriously, it will take a PowerPoint presentation to explain the difference about the main antagonist (I actually had to use pieces of food to elaborate on the Big Bad's multiple beings of self, from his Somebody to his Nobody to his Heartless - fans know exactly what I'm talking about) by the time this series runs the villain's complete course. However, the game tries to make itself accessible to even newcomers. While it does a respectable job of trying to do such, it's still a bit much for one game to completely fill in the details of three other games-worth of story, which gets more complex as it progresses. I'd recommend newcomers play through the first trilogy before tackling this behind-the-scenes installment, for the very synopsis of the game obviously spoils the others, particularly ReCoM and KHII. But the choice is yours.

It plays very much like the first game, in which it's more ground-based and less flashy than KHII. Take that comment how you will; I feel the first game had a very good "game" behind it, hence how it was grounded. KHII was an evolution of that, but it's more loose in the fact that I spend over half the combat in the air and the other quarter spamming the Reaction Command, which is a glorified Quicktime Event of sorts, and we all know QTE are not and will never be true gameplay, right? Right. Yes, they're impressive, but they don't take any timing to execute, which would've been a more logical choice on such powerful moves. But again, those be my own comments on the systems. They're all fun to me, just I have them ranked. (BTW, I loved how ReCoM used a card system: actually made you think along with spamming attack.)

All in all, it's not a perfect game, but it's a damn good one. The only real downside to the game has been noted by most everyone: the repetition can get to some. You go about all previously-explored worlds with a few new areas, but they aren't substantial enough nor used nearly as often as they prolly should've, but it made me relieved that they at least attempted to add some different areas to mostly-identical areas. Ironically, the use of the same areas and music draws the sense of familiarity that sets into you a comfort that you're playing a handheld version of a full-fledged KH game in terms of basic gameplay and story, though your mileage will definitely vary on that statement. To it's credit, the monotous nature of the Missions does reinforce the repetitive and simple life Roxas was living. Makes me feel sorry for the kid.

Many are disappointed that we're getting three "side" games instead of KHIII, asking what's taking so long. Many are in a fit over the fact we're getting three handheld titles instead of a console game. Most of these 'fans' are just ignorant of the fact the KH team is working on Final Fantasy Versus XIII (have been since they showed it off almost 5 years ago) and has these three games to keep us happy.

But, as we all know, "fans are clingy, complaining dip-shits who will never, ever be greatful for any consession you make. The sooner you shut out their tremulous voices, the happier you'll be for it."

I kid. Not all fans are crazy, right? Some are like me - we take it as they give it. It's not our series; what they do with Kingdom Hearts is their own decision. If you don't like it, then don't support them by buying them, though many others still will. You also don't have to like everything about a game and instead see the positives that outweigh the negatives, but maybe that's asking too much.

Ah well, I enjoyed it. Good story to tide me over until Birth By Sleep next year.

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Venture Bros. is back next week!

:D