Well, I've finished it. The difficulty ramps up significantly for the final boss "Chaos". Every fight before that point was at most three or four rounds. This one took about 10 or maybe twelve. I'm not sure. I lost count.
It's happy to have finally finished this landmark game.
Problem is, I don't really feel a sense of accomplishment. I wonder why I'm doing this. Is there something wrong with me?
Showing posts with label final fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label final fantasy. Show all posts
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Final Fantasy
I'm seriously over-leveled. And out-geared. And over-magicked.
Mount Gulug was a piece of cake, as was Mirage Tower and the Flying Fortress. That means I've defeated Marilith and Tiamat, and lit up the fire and wind crystals. I've retrieved the Adamant ore and gotten the dwarves to forge Excalibur for my knight.
Now naught but Chaos and Oblivion awaits me.
It's really strange seeing how Final Fantasy has evolved over the years. Playing this one, I'm noticing a lot of resonance with Dungeons & Dragons. A lot of the monsters are the same, even some of the items. And they layout of how you learn things. A circle of sages in the woods tells you of the fiend of fire residing in the volcano. The brother of a man in Melmond is an expert in the Lufenian language. A fairy gives you a bottle of fluid that lets you breath under water. It has a very D&D feel to it, and I love it.
And yet, Square still put their own stamp onto it. Clerics weren't armored warriors, they were white wizards. Typical D&D wizards were Final Fantasy black wizards. Warriors become Paladins, and magic progresses evenly from Fire 1 to Fire 3.
Looking back at this game, it's becoming clearer that Square achieved something unique. And I think that they've lost their way since. The games they create now... I'm not certain how to put it. They lack wizards. They've replaced heroism with bad-assery. They've replaced "wandering around trying to talk to the random person who drops a hint about what I should do next" with "this is what you do next".
Let me be more clear on the "they lack wizards" point, because it really does matter to me. Part of my ability to identify with a character is not just the character's personality, but their capabilities too. Vivi (FFIX) was a black mage. That's what he did. It's who he was, and it defined his actions both in and out of combat. Of course, FFIX black mages had a bit more depth than FFI black mages, but it still made the character meaningful.
The other Final Fantasies? Well, the job system games meant that any character could take any job. Same with paragons, or materia, or sphere grids. Admittedly some were better at them than others, but it still felt like that important bit of evidence about a character's past, a hint about who they are and why they do what they do, was lost.
I'm not going to suggest the games are worse for it, but it simply doesn't pluck the same strings in my heart.
Mount Gulug was a piece of cake, as was Mirage Tower and the Flying Fortress. That means I've defeated Marilith and Tiamat, and lit up the fire and wind crystals. I've retrieved the Adamant ore and gotten the dwarves to forge Excalibur for my knight.
Now naught but Chaos and Oblivion awaits me.
It's really strange seeing how Final Fantasy has evolved over the years. Playing this one, I'm noticing a lot of resonance with Dungeons & Dragons. A lot of the monsters are the same, even some of the items. And they layout of how you learn things. A circle of sages in the woods tells you of the fiend of fire residing in the volcano. The brother of a man in Melmond is an expert in the Lufenian language. A fairy gives you a bottle of fluid that lets you breath under water. It has a very D&D feel to it, and I love it.
And yet, Square still put their own stamp onto it. Clerics weren't armored warriors, they were white wizards. Typical D&D wizards were Final Fantasy black wizards. Warriors become Paladins, and magic progresses evenly from Fire 1 to Fire 3.
Looking back at this game, it's becoming clearer that Square achieved something unique. And I think that they've lost their way since. The games they create now... I'm not certain how to put it. They lack wizards. They've replaced heroism with bad-assery. They've replaced "wandering around trying to talk to the random person who drops a hint about what I should do next" with "this is what you do next".
Let me be more clear on the "they lack wizards" point, because it really does matter to me. Part of my ability to identify with a character is not just the character's personality, but their capabilities too. Vivi (FFIX) was a black mage. That's what he did. It's who he was, and it defined his actions both in and out of combat. Of course, FFIX black mages had a bit more depth than FFI black mages, but it still made the character meaningful.
The other Final Fantasies? Well, the job system games meant that any character could take any job. Same with paragons, or materia, or sphere grids. Admittedly some were better at them than others, but it still felt like that important bit of evidence about a character's past, a hint about who they are and why they do what they do, was lost.
I'm not going to suggest the games are worse for it, but it simply doesn't pluck the same strings in my heart.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Final Fantasy
Finished the Ice Cave, and got my airship!
This is the defining moment for any Final Fantasy game.
This is the defining moment for any Final Fantasy game.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Final Fantasy
I've cleaned out the Earth Cave, and killed the lich. Y'know, for an undead of nearly unlimited magical power, he spent an awful lot of time attempting to beat my fighter to death with his fists. I was prepared for a lot of things, but shit tactics wasn't one of them.
I beat him like a rented mule, of course.
Reading the faq on the game (from gamefaqs.com), it's pretty clear to me that I'm higher level than they recommend, so the games quite a bit easier than I reme mber it. Of course, there's things like "being able to save anywhere" and "being able to buy more than one potion at a time" that have improved the experience, but I'm wondering if they just made the game easier, at some basic statistical level.
Haven't had a lot of time to play NWN2 lately. When I'm not being a father, I'm playing World of Warcraft. I've only been playing Final Fantasy because it's on my iPod, and I can play it during the two hours of commuting I have to and from work.
It's strange... I have something that I love (gaming), but my life essentially has to be empty in order for me to pursue it. It's either living or gaming it seems. I mean, the choice is obviously living, but it's pretty telling about a) the size of the void in one's life that exists in order to be 'hardcore', and b) that gaming does a pretty good job at filling it.
I don't know if this is some sort of truth or not.
I beat him like a rented mule, of course.
Reading the faq on the game (from gamefaqs.com), it's pretty clear to me that I'm higher level than they recommend, so the games quite a bit easier than I reme mber it. Of course, there's things like "being able to save anywhere" and "being able to buy more than one potion at a time" that have improved the experience, but I'm wondering if they just made the game easier, at some basic statistical level.
Haven't had a lot of time to play NWN2 lately. When I'm not being a father, I'm playing World of Warcraft. I've only been playing Final Fantasy because it's on my iPod, and I can play it during the two hours of commuting I have to and from work.
It's strange... I have something that I love (gaming), but my life essentially has to be empty in order for me to pursue it. It's either living or gaming it seems. I mean, the choice is obviously living, but it's pretty telling about a) the size of the void in one's life that exists in order to be 'hardcore', and b) that gaming does a pretty good job at filling it.
I don't know if this is some sort of truth or not.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Final Fantasy
Canal opened, on to Melmond and the Earth cave.
Found an excellent place to level up. There's three chests in the castle to the Northwest of Elfheim. In front of each chest is a guaranteed battle that nets around 200 - 300xp and 900 - 1500 gil. As a result of this, I'm level 20 (nearly 21) before heading into the Earth Cave.
I had 50,000 gil when I got to Melmond. I felt badass. Then I saw that the Knight's Armor was 36,000 gil. And the mage spells are 4,000 each.
I'm broke again.
Oh well, 'tis the destiny of adventurers to be poor. Otherwise they'd have less incentive to adventure. I remember reading the Conan D20 sourcebooks. They actually say that most barbarians spend a good portion (or all) their money whoring and boozing in between adventures. That suits me just fine.
Part of me cringes, though... shouldn't they be putting it into an retirement savings plan of some description? But then agian, y'know, whores.
Found an excellent place to level up. There's three chests in the castle to the Northwest of Elfheim. In front of each chest is a guaranteed battle that nets around 200 - 300xp and 900 - 1500 gil. As a result of this, I'm level 20 (nearly 21) before heading into the Earth Cave.
I had 50,000 gil when I got to Melmond. I felt badass. Then I saw that the Knight's Armor was 36,000 gil. And the mage spells are 4,000 each.
I'm broke again.
Oh well, 'tis the destiny of adventurers to be poor. Otherwise they'd have less incentive to adventure. I remember reading the Conan D20 sourcebooks. They actually say that most barbarians spend a good portion (or all) their money whoring and boozing in between adventures. That suits me just fine.
Part of me cringes, though... shouldn't they be putting it into an retirement savings plan of some description? But then agian, y'know, whores.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Final Fantasy
No posts for a while. No real reason, other than I haven't been doing a lot of gaming.
Still playing Final Fantasy on my train ride to / from work though. I'm looking for Matoya's cave. Perhaps I've missed something, but I can't find the bloody thing. It's actually pretty interesting going from a game like this to Final Fantasy XIII, where they give you a helpful reminder of what you've been doing and where you're supposed to be going. I guess that's the advantage of a more linear flow... it's a lot easier for the developers to point out what you should be doing next.
Tonight is raid night in World of Warcraft. I think we're supposed to be poking our heads into the Coliseum again to kill Lord Jaraxxus.
Still playing Final Fantasy on my train ride to / from work though. I'm looking for Matoya's cave. Perhaps I've missed something, but I can't find the bloody thing. It's actually pretty interesting going from a game like this to Final Fantasy XIII, where they give you a helpful reminder of what you've been doing and where you're supposed to be going. I guess that's the advantage of a more linear flow... it's a lot easier for the developers to point out what you should be doing next.
Tonight is raid night in World of Warcraft. I think we're supposed to be poking our heads into the Coliseum again to kill Lord Jaraxxus.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Final Fantasy
SquareEnix has re-released Final Fantasy 1 for the iPod. I bought it almost immediately off the Apple AppStore. It was only $9 (which is about the same price as a novel on the kindle, so not bad). I've been playing it on the train to and from work, lost in a happy cloud of nostalgia and awesome.
I've been playing the Final Fantasy games since the first one was released for the NES. I fired it up on a friends machine, and played through to the fight with Garland.
Which, was a bit of a mistake.
You see, the original Final Fantasy on the NES had one save slot. One. And starting a new game effectively blew the old one away. My friend was pretty mad at me, needless to say, and I was banished from his NES for a period of time. I forgot about the game.
Final Fantasy II (North America) came out for the Super Nintendo. I knew about it because I read about it in Nintendo Power magazine (remember that?). There was something different about the game that appealed to me. There was a story, and characters that grew and changed over the course of the game. There was a huge world, and a stupendous amount of things to see and stuff to get. I begged my Dad to pick it up for me next time he was in The City (I lived on a farm, you see). And, miracle of miracles, he did. I missed the bus to school the first day I played it. I laughed at Edward the bard. I cried when Tellah cast Meteo. And I actually got to the moon on the Big Whale and finished the game.
Yeah, one of the few games I've finished.
Ever since, I've made an honest job of trying to finish all the other Final Fantasy games as they come out. Sometimes I've succeeded (VII,X), sometimes I've come close and suffered the loss of a save game with 80+ hours on it (III). Othertimes, I just grew bored with the mechanics (VIII, IX, X-2, Tactics). Regardless, it's always held a special place in my heart.
A few months ago, I went to see a symphony perform the Prelude and One Winged Angel.
I cried during it.
I've been playing the Final Fantasy games since the first one was released for the NES. I fired it up on a friends machine, and played through to the fight with Garland.
Which, was a bit of a mistake.
You see, the original Final Fantasy on the NES had one save slot. One. And starting a new game effectively blew the old one away. My friend was pretty mad at me, needless to say, and I was banished from his NES for a period of time. I forgot about the game.
Final Fantasy II (North America) came out for the Super Nintendo. I knew about it because I read about it in Nintendo Power magazine (remember that?). There was something different about the game that appealed to me. There was a story, and characters that grew and changed over the course of the game. There was a huge world, and a stupendous amount of things to see and stuff to get. I begged my Dad to pick it up for me next time he was in The City (I lived on a farm, you see). And, miracle of miracles, he did. I missed the bus to school the first day I played it. I laughed at Edward the bard. I cried when Tellah cast Meteo. And I actually got to the moon on the Big Whale and finished the game.
Yeah, one of the few games I've finished.
Ever since, I've made an honest job of trying to finish all the other Final Fantasy games as they come out. Sometimes I've succeeded (VII,X), sometimes I've come close and suffered the loss of a save game with 80+ hours on it (III). Othertimes, I just grew bored with the mechanics (VIII, IX, X-2, Tactics). Regardless, it's always held a special place in my heart.
A few months ago, I went to see a symphony perform the Prelude and One Winged Angel.
I cried during it.
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