Some aspect of my personality drives me to play these, games, even if I never do finish them. There's a common aspect to all of them that initially hooks me, and that keeps me playing for a period of time before setting them aside.
I keep thinking about making my own game. I have the technical know-how to implement something one-quarter decent. But thinking about what sort of game I should make has forced me to consider what it is exactly that I enjoy about them.
The games I love are: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, World of Warcraft, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, and Final Fantasy IV and VI.
One thing I can identify is a progression of capability. You do not start with all the things you need to reach the end. From the hookshot to the grappling beam to the airship, finding each of these things is instantly game-changing, allowing new tactics and access to new areas to explore.
I guess that means a second factor is exploration. I should say meaningful exploration... I appreciated the technical aspects of the randomly generated dungeons in Diablo and Diablo 2, but something about them seemed like the computer was throwing busywork in front of me. While the computer is capable of making locations, it seems that so far only artists and level designers are capable of making interesting and beautiful locations.
Another piece of it is a progression of skill. You can make it further and make things easier, not just because you found a bazooka in a chest, but because dammit you've gotten mighty cunning with those two little revolvers.
I guess those three things are part (but not parcel) of something I want to feel when I play my games: awe. This new doodad I found... it's awesome. This level.... awesome. I am becoming... awesome.
For an interesting read, check out TVTropes: Crowning Moment of Awesome, and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Final Fantasy II
Making good progress, though it's more of a difficult game. I've gotten to the point where I am to mount an assault on the Dreadnought (as opposed to assaulting a mount on the Dreadnought, which is probably a felony in both the Empire and the Rebellion). The difficulty has been of my own devising, since I've neglected to properly level up my magic.
I'm used to being fairly conservative with MP's, afraid that I won't have any for the boss when I get to them. Unfortunately, the only way to increase your pool of MP's is to spend them. So I've been finding myself making two or three trips into a dungeon. The first few trips are to blast all the nameless monsters hiding within so I can practice my magic. The final trip is a speedrun through to the boss so I can blast him with unforgiving eldritch energies (which I've just spent a period of time levelling).
It's working thus far.
I think I'm going to play some Neverwinter Nights 2.
I'm used to being fairly conservative with MP's, afraid that I won't have any for the boss when I get to them. Unfortunately, the only way to increase your pool of MP's is to spend them. So I've been finding myself making two or three trips into a dungeon. The first few trips are to blast all the nameless monsters hiding within so I can practice my magic. The final trip is a speedrun through to the boss so I can blast him with unforgiving eldritch energies (which I've just spent a period of time levelling).
It's working thus far.
I think I'm going to play some Neverwinter Nights 2.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Final Fantasy II
Started the next iPod touch Final Fantasy, which was released the same time as the first one, as part of Square's anniversary celebration.
It's a beautiful port of the game. I've never played the original, though I've seen screenshots. It has a lot of depth for something that's decades old. The themes of empire and war are something that are still being explored in the more modern games.
The skill system is taking a little getting used to. I have to remember to cast magic spells or my magic users will be crap. In FFI I tended to conserve magic until I really needed it. If I do that here, my magic users will be unskilled and kind of worthless.
It's a beautiful port of the game. I've never played the original, though I've seen screenshots. It has a lot of depth for something that's decades old. The themes of empire and war are something that are still being explored in the more modern games.
The skill system is taking a little getting used to. I have to remember to cast magic spells or my magic users will be crap. In FFI I tended to conserve magic until I really needed it. If I do that here, my magic users will be unskilled and kind of worthless.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Final Fantasy - Complete!
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?
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?
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
