I managed to do a bit of digging, and I wanted to talk about the 'lineage' of Final Fantasy XII. This game has some very interesting roots, and it shows. Yes, there is the obvious Final Fantasy and Ivalice Alliance, but I want to talk about the other, deeper line that started it all: Ogre Battle: March of The Black Queen.
Long ago (by gaming standards) a small studio under the leadership of one Yasumi Matsuno created one of the most unique video games ever encountered. It combined turn-based RPG mechanics with classic real-time strategy machanics against a gritty, medieval fantasy backdrop with links to astrology and tarot fortune-reading all over the place. Ogre Battle also has the interesting twist of letting your actions and tactics influence the story and ultimately the final destiny of you and your faction.
The actual gameplay can be best summed up like this: You lead an army composed of individual squads (much like RPG adventuring parties) that go forth from you base to liberate cities and temples. While you direct where these squads go, and what characters they contain, combat is primarily automated, with a simple list of preset tactics. Micromanagers might be turned off a bit, but there are plenty of things to do for the aspiring fantasy general here.
Fantasy RPG elements are very abundant. You've got classes like knights and wizards alongside things like ninjas and samurai. Interestingly enough, there's also paladins and black knights/evil ones (blackguards), and liches, and you can have them all in your army and even in the same unit! The big 'flavor' classes are the doll mages (casters that use mini-golems and acid clouds in battle), classic-style angels and devils, and the unexpectedly epic princess class. I'm not kidding; princesses are hard to come by, but are both high-end casters and can double their unit's attacks per battle.
You've also got plenty of storyline events and encounters, most of which are tied to the other big mechanic of the game, the reputation system. The short version is that you have an ongoing karma meter that tracks your reputation. High reputation enables heroic events and nets you the characters and items you need for the best ending, while low reputation enables stuff like bandits paying you tribute, evil creatures offering evil stuff, and being spurned by everybody else. There are all sorts of factors that play into the reputation, some random, some not, but the overall best way to maintain a high reputation is to keep liberating towns and temples with high-alignment characters, using your lower-alignment dudes to handle garrison and field combat. It's a bit more intricate than that, but the gist is there.
One other interesting aspect is the tarot card system. Whenever you liberate a location, you have the option to draw a tarot. It's a bit of a gamble, with each card having an effect, from giving little bonuses to the liberating unit, changing the time of day, or raising/lowering you reputation, etc. But even the 'bad' draws can be useful, because tarots also act as the 'summon' spells of the game. They can be very handy, especially in tight spots against bosses. This is one of the more interesting ideas I've seen presented in an sRPG, and I'd like to see it or something similar in other games.
Overall, Ogre Battle is one of the most unique and fun games I've encountered, and if you have the chance to try it, do so, especially if you can hunt down the slightly more common Playstation version, which has better production values, an tweaked script, and much better names for all the items and equipment. It also has the distinction of laying the foundation for Matsuno and company to bigger and better things, eventually resulting in the wonderful Final Fantasy Tactics games, Vagrant Story, and of course Final Fantasy XII. Fight it out!
Monday, November 28, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
From Deep Within The Flow Of Time
Things are going about as well as can be expected. Final Fantasy XII has been proceeding apace when I have time and brainpower to devote to it, and it's still a blast.
When I have neither, however, I've been mostly thinking about how RPGs (especially JRPGs) have changed and evolved. I know the whole process has been beaten to death, subjected to Life2/Arise and then beaten again repeatedly, but the Dork Side demands incessant rehash and regurgitation before one can actually reflect on things like this.
I wandered about the internet, looking at old fansites and such about things like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI and gripes about 'ruinous' stuff that came along with the Playstation 2 forward. I've always accepted the axiom that maturity is for the weak among us nerds, but I rarely encounter such incessant, one-note whining outside of work. There is honest-yet-incisive criticism, and there is bitching. I keep encountering the latter.
I still find it, well, jarring that supposedly more 'casual' and 'bro-tard' fare produces intelligent (profane, troll-bait, but intelligent) discussions while 'hardcore, thinking' games provoke screeds upon screeds of mangled, vapid chat room yammering pretending to be wiki articles and FAQs. It's not that RPGs magically started sucking right before FFVIII hit shelves and have been in some sort of developmental stasis. It's more like the RPG fandom has inexplicably stopped aging at age 12-15 at or around the same time and has been slowly regressing ever since.
Damn, sorry about the soap box; it's made out of cheap pine so we can stand around and warm ourselves later. The point I was trying to make is that RPGs have always been flawed since the beginning, like everything else of mortal existence, but sometime around the aforementioned FFVIII release all we seem to acknowledge is the flaws.
We've forgetten that no game is perfect, and there is some merit to being able to look past problems in our toys and remember that they are toys. They are something to play around have fun with. Yes, a lot of them have some serious flaws, some of them very tragic flaws. Yes, most of the dedicated RPG fandom has aged out of the target demographic. But who the hell cares? The from 16-bit consoles to the PS2, RPGs enjoyed a golden age. Such an age will likely never come again, and we need to remember that, and actually enjoy the geeky bounty we were given. We are nerds, and it is time to actually be nerds for once. Celebrate these gems. Talk about them like we actually know what we're talking about. Update the articles and wikis and FAQs (but archive the old stuff, they're great sources of lulz and catharsis--betcha you never so those words in the same sentence). These are the games we've embraced, and we need to proclaim that again. And stop being so funereal about our favorites.
Okay, its out of my system now.
When I have neither, however, I've been mostly thinking about how RPGs (especially JRPGs) have changed and evolved. I know the whole process has been beaten to death, subjected to Life2/Arise and then beaten again repeatedly, but the Dork Side demands incessant rehash and regurgitation before one can actually reflect on things like this.
I wandered about the internet, looking at old fansites and such about things like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI and gripes about 'ruinous' stuff that came along with the Playstation 2 forward. I've always accepted the axiom that maturity is for the weak among us nerds, but I rarely encounter such incessant, one-note whining outside of work. There is honest-yet-incisive criticism, and there is bitching. I keep encountering the latter.
I still find it, well, jarring that supposedly more 'casual' and 'bro-tard' fare produces intelligent (profane, troll-bait, but intelligent) discussions while 'hardcore, thinking' games provoke screeds upon screeds of mangled, vapid chat room yammering pretending to be wiki articles and FAQs. It's not that RPGs magically started sucking right before FFVIII hit shelves and have been in some sort of developmental stasis. It's more like the RPG fandom has inexplicably stopped aging at age 12-15 at or around the same time and has been slowly regressing ever since.
Damn, sorry about the soap box; it's made out of cheap pine so we can stand around and warm ourselves later. The point I was trying to make is that RPGs have always been flawed since the beginning, like everything else of mortal existence, but sometime around the aforementioned FFVIII release all we seem to acknowledge is the flaws.
We've forgetten that no game is perfect, and there is some merit to being able to look past problems in our toys and remember that they are toys. They are something to play around have fun with. Yes, a lot of them have some serious flaws, some of them very tragic flaws. Yes, most of the dedicated RPG fandom has aged out of the target demographic. But who the hell cares? The from 16-bit consoles to the PS2, RPGs enjoyed a golden age. Such an age will likely never come again, and we need to remember that, and actually enjoy the geeky bounty we were given. We are nerds, and it is time to actually be nerds for once. Celebrate these gems. Talk about them like we actually know what we're talking about. Update the articles and wikis and FAQs (but archive the old stuff, they're great sources of lulz and catharsis--betcha you never so those words in the same sentence). These are the games we've embraced, and we need to proclaim that again. And stop being so funereal about our favorites.
Okay, its out of my system now.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Final Fantasy: The Harvest Edition
I won't mince words; Tales of Symphonia guttered out pretty quickly. It's clearly not a bad game, in fact I can tell Symphonia is a pretty good game overall. But I just couldn't keep playing; I wound up forcing myself just to play a few hours into the second world, and things flat out fizzled.
Maybe it's because I've been oversaturated with Tales-style story subversion and anti-nihilism (four Tales games in a year). Maybe real life events just got me too bummed out to play something in this pretty-but-grimdark style for a while. I know that this game has something of a victory in store for the heroes (hello Dawn of The New World) but somehow I'm tired of a pretty game populated by jackasses of one stripe or another.
After some traditional dithering, I pulled out something that I've put off for far too long: Final Fantasy XII. I've had a copy (Special Edition, no less) sitting in my stack for half of forever, and damn if putting this one off was a mistake. I fired this sucker up and realized that here is what I've been looking for. The opening cutscene can be pretty much summed up as Star Wars with airships and baroque mooks. I've been given to understand that the dev team for FFXII have disavowed any inspiration by/from Star Wars; the devs are full of crap.
Anyway. This sucker is actually pretty fun. This game follows Final Fantasy's trend of desperately avoiding traditional huge cash drops from monsters, and replaced it with the Loot/Bazaar system. You go out and wreck monsters for goods and materials, then sell them at various shops for you much needed cash. The other side of this is an indirect crafting system; after you sell certain amounts of certain loot items, the Bazaar produces items and equipment for you to buy (often at less than straight shop prices). This must be the system Tales of The Abyss took and horribly mangled.
The story is pretty interesting thus far, as well. I would expect nothing less from Ivalice Alliance and Matsuno himself. It takes the usual "empire shows up and wrecks faces for the evulz" and "plucky heroes take up arms for great justice" concepts and gives them gritty realpolitik overtones. While there are references to older Square games aplenty to go with them, and this is still very much Final Fantasy, there are also subtle hints and allusions to the game that made Ivalice Alliance in the first place: Ogre Battle. The biggest one I've pulled out so far is the main character Basch.
Basch is a heroic, high-ranking retainer that has been found guilty of assassinating his liege-lord and allowing the evil Archadians to take over the place, and executed for his crimes. But wait, not is he not a regicidal fanatic, he is alive and is being held by the baddos! Let me tell you about an early, named character in Ogre Battle. He was a heroic, high-ranking retainer found guilty of assassinating his liege-lord and letting the evil Zeteginians (I probably misspelled that) to take over the place, and executed for his crimes. But wait, he's not a regicidal fanatic, he's being kept captive by the baddos! This guy's name: Ash. Think about that for a bit. Then go play Ogre Battle. That game is plan fun. And so is this one.
Now I must go, and Unleash the Harvest upon Ivalice. Give me your shinies!
Maybe it's because I've been oversaturated with Tales-style story subversion and anti-nihilism (four Tales games in a year). Maybe real life events just got me too bummed out to play something in this pretty-but-grimdark style for a while. I know that this game has something of a victory in store for the heroes (hello Dawn of The New World) but somehow I'm tired of a pretty game populated by jackasses of one stripe or another.
After some traditional dithering, I pulled out something that I've put off for far too long: Final Fantasy XII. I've had a copy (Special Edition, no less) sitting in my stack for half of forever, and damn if putting this one off was a mistake. I fired this sucker up and realized that here is what I've been looking for. The opening cutscene can be pretty much summed up as Star Wars with airships and baroque mooks. I've been given to understand that the dev team for FFXII have disavowed any inspiration by/from Star Wars; the devs are full of crap.
Anyway. This sucker is actually pretty fun. This game follows Final Fantasy's trend of desperately avoiding traditional huge cash drops from monsters, and replaced it with the Loot/Bazaar system. You go out and wreck monsters for goods and materials, then sell them at various shops for you much needed cash. The other side of this is an indirect crafting system; after you sell certain amounts of certain loot items, the Bazaar produces items and equipment for you to buy (often at less than straight shop prices). This must be the system Tales of The Abyss took and horribly mangled.
The story is pretty interesting thus far, as well. I would expect nothing less from Ivalice Alliance and Matsuno himself. It takes the usual "empire shows up and wrecks faces for the evulz" and "plucky heroes take up arms for great justice" concepts and gives them gritty realpolitik overtones. While there are references to older Square games aplenty to go with them, and this is still very much Final Fantasy, there are also subtle hints and allusions to the game that made Ivalice Alliance in the first place: Ogre Battle. The biggest one I've pulled out so far is the main character Basch.
Basch is a heroic, high-ranking retainer that has been found guilty of assassinating his liege-lord and allowing the evil Archadians to take over the place, and executed for his crimes. But wait, not is he not a regicidal fanatic, he is alive and is being held by the baddos! Let me tell you about an early, named character in Ogre Battle. He was a heroic, high-ranking retainer found guilty of assassinating his liege-lord and letting the evil Zeteginians (I probably misspelled that) to take over the place, and executed for his crimes. But wait, he's not a regicidal fanatic, he's being kept captive by the baddos! This guy's name: Ash. Think about that for a bit. Then go play Ogre Battle. That game is plan fun. And so is this one.
Now I must go, and Unleash the Harvest upon Ivalice. Give me your shinies!
Monday, November 7, 2016
Regeneration Mechanic
Well, I'm still plodding along in Tales of Symphonia. I still can't claim to have great strides in the game so far. I finally laid the smackdown on the Asgard Human Ranch. Rather than a place for Skyrim vampires to hang out and do bad things to Nords, it's a place where half-elf supremacists hang out and turn people into Soul Stones/Magicite/Cupcakes. Just to make sure you know this place is over-the-top evil, the lunatic running the place (Kvar) is pretty much what you'd get if Grand Moff Tarkin decided to be a DBZ character. I'm not making this up.
I'm still very unclear on how the whole "World Regeneration" quest is supposed to get rid of all these freaks. Even (SPOILER!) with the whole world being split in twain deal going on, I don't see much evidence of regeneration even chasing them off to the other side (end SPOILER). The only thing that makes even the least bit of sense is that they're going to update to Fourth Edition D&D rules, so they're stockpiling grimdark power-ups to take on the hordes of Dragonborn CoDzillas that are about to along. Why play anime Tanis when you can be big badass dragonman?
Oh crap I just had a bad idea. Screw half-elf supremacists, I can do one better.
Kender supremacists! In a world where even JRPG logic gets drunk and passes out in a gutter (next to his buddy cop show logic), kender were merely an irritant. Then it got worse; a foolish group of magic users undertook the impossible task of making kender likable!
Their well-meaning but depraved rituals misfired. None now live that can show the truth of the matter; there are whispers of a potion known as 'Dew of the Mountain Original Formula,' a cartographer known as 'Dora,' and a conclave of dread beings named 'the Gwar.' Perhaps a friendly purple lizard-man, perhaps a collection of used gym socks soaked in bad soy sauce. It does not matter.
It does not matter! These changed kinder have now banded together, unleashing a tide of violence and oppression rarely seen outside of gaming fora. After toppling the seats of government (literally, they stole load-bearing members of relevant castles and suchlike), they subjected leaders and prominent figures to humiliating hoopak-whackings. Those who begged for mercy were named "Squeaky Toys" and herded into ramshackle arenas to fight bizarre plushie golems. The rest of the people are now subject to horrors like drivebys (being kender, just a wagon tearing down the street making racket with hoopaks) and rampant caffeine-driven kleptomania. Artisans and craftsman are now stuck in sweatshops where they are forced to make all manner of random objects. Those who will not or cannot comply are made Squeaky Toys.
Now, a group of brave adventurers must sally forth and infiltrate the kender's mighty treetop fortresses, where none have entered and returned alive with their pants still on. Kender like belt buckles. If these heroes should fail, the Five Grand Cockatiels will lead us all to fates dark and unpleasant, as decreed by the dread being known as Jar-Jar. Seriously, everyone will have embarrassing rashes and be flung into wading pools filled with tapioca.
The heroes will have help. A resistance group formed from disgruntled Firefly fans are seeking the Chosen One, who shall be granted the power of the Ultimate Splatbook, journey to the five remaining good Huddle Houses and gain the power to cover kender in Nyquil.
Are you a bad enough dude to tranq Jar-Jar, defeat the kender hordes, and save pockets and armoires everywhere?
I'm still very unclear on how the whole "World Regeneration" quest is supposed to get rid of all these freaks. Even (SPOILER!) with the whole world being split in twain deal going on, I don't see much evidence of regeneration even chasing them off to the other side (end SPOILER). The only thing that makes even the least bit of sense is that they're going to update to Fourth Edition D&D rules, so they're stockpiling grimdark power-ups to take on the hordes of Dragonborn CoDzillas that are about to along. Why play anime Tanis when you can be big badass dragonman?
Oh crap I just had a bad idea. Screw half-elf supremacists, I can do one better.
Kender supremacists! In a world where even JRPG logic gets drunk and passes out in a gutter (next to his buddy cop show logic), kender were merely an irritant. Then it got worse; a foolish group of magic users undertook the impossible task of making kender likable!
Their well-meaning but depraved rituals misfired. None now live that can show the truth of the matter; there are whispers of a potion known as 'Dew of the Mountain Original Formula,' a cartographer known as 'Dora,' and a conclave of dread beings named 'the Gwar.' Perhaps a friendly purple lizard-man, perhaps a collection of used gym socks soaked in bad soy sauce. It does not matter.
It does not matter! These changed kinder have now banded together, unleashing a tide of violence and oppression rarely seen outside of gaming fora. After toppling the seats of government (literally, they stole load-bearing members of relevant castles and suchlike), they subjected leaders and prominent figures to humiliating hoopak-whackings. Those who begged for mercy were named "Squeaky Toys" and herded into ramshackle arenas to fight bizarre plushie golems. The rest of the people are now subject to horrors like drivebys (being kender, just a wagon tearing down the street making racket with hoopaks) and rampant caffeine-driven kleptomania. Artisans and craftsman are now stuck in sweatshops where they are forced to make all manner of random objects. Those who will not or cannot comply are made Squeaky Toys.
Now, a group of brave adventurers must sally forth and infiltrate the kender's mighty treetop fortresses, where none have entered and returned alive with their pants still on. Kender like belt buckles. If these heroes should fail, the Five Grand Cockatiels will lead us all to fates dark and unpleasant, as decreed by the dread being known as Jar-Jar. Seriously, everyone will have embarrassing rashes and be flung into wading pools filled with tapioca.
The heroes will have help. A resistance group formed from disgruntled Firefly fans are seeking the Chosen One, who shall be granted the power of the Ultimate Splatbook, journey to the five remaining good Huddle Houses and gain the power to cover kender in Nyquil.
Are you a bad enough dude to tranq Jar-Jar, defeat the kender hordes, and save pockets and armoires everywhere?
Thursday, November 3, 2016
When in Doubt, Turbo Ginsu!
Despite some unexpected obstacles, I've managed to start tearing through Tales of Symphonia in earnest. The plot hasn't really thickened up yet, but there have been curveballs throw in here and there to spice things up.
Interestingly enough, Lloyd, the primary protagonist, has already managed to grow up a fair bit so far. The development has not been that drastic yet, but it's clear that the gears in his head are actually clanking along and setting the stage for bigger and better things. Most RPGs don't really get going this early; yet another bit of Tales-style RPG refreshment.
The combat system is also finally taking off. The Unison Attack system is actually fairly useful and flashy one I figured out what I was doing. Think a real-time version of Chrono Trigger's Dual/Triple Tech system, and you get the idea. To wit: you select techniques or spells, and certain combinations trigger a special combined attack with extra flash and bonus damage.
Crafting (including the traditional cooking mechanic) is straightforward and meaningful. An unusual side-note: Materials (at least in the early game so far) are easily farmed and sell for rather high amounts of cash. This is probably the first game I've played for a while where early drop farming is practical and highly profitable, avoiding a lot of the usual resource pitfalls of RPGs. Combined with the well-done combat mechanics and intelligent encounter designs, we have excellent cash flow going on here.
More ought to be forthcoming; The Harvest Never Rests!
Interestingly enough, Lloyd, the primary protagonist, has already managed to grow up a fair bit so far. The development has not been that drastic yet, but it's clear that the gears in his head are actually clanking along and setting the stage for bigger and better things. Most RPGs don't really get going this early; yet another bit of Tales-style RPG refreshment.
The combat system is also finally taking off. The Unison Attack system is actually fairly useful and flashy one I figured out what I was doing. Think a real-time version of Chrono Trigger's Dual/Triple Tech system, and you get the idea. To wit: you select techniques or spells, and certain combinations trigger a special combined attack with extra flash and bonus damage.
Crafting (including the traditional cooking mechanic) is straightforward and meaningful. An unusual side-note: Materials (at least in the early game so far) are easily farmed and sell for rather high amounts of cash. This is probably the first game I've played for a while where early drop farming is practical and highly profitable, avoiding a lot of the usual resource pitfalls of RPGs. Combined with the well-done combat mechanics and intelligent encounter designs, we have excellent cash flow going on here.
More ought to be forthcoming; The Harvest Never Rests!
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Symphonic Harvest
Wow, that title sounds totally metal actually.
Anyway, I've been tearing my way through Tales of Symphonia in fits and spurts. I am happy to report that this game follows (though establishes and codifies might be a better term) the glorious Tales tradition of giving you the feeling of being a walking arsenal of badass flashy moves right out of the gate. It can be quite refreshing sometimes.
The story so far is the same-old save the world formula, but this is Tales, so we know it's a obfuscating veneer, with just enough hints of plot subversion to let you know that the cozy, rosy quest is on the off-ramp to Crazytown. And that guy is totally his father. Duh. Things are probably about to break loose.
The puzzles are a bit of fresh air, too. It's been a while since I've seen a block puzzle that expects you beat the crap out of the blocks before you can...do block things with them. And zapping mooks to complete a circuit is pretty amusing, too. These are very early dungeons, so who knows what sort of insanity is in store? Bats that turn into shuriken to fling at exploding barrels that set off a chain reaction to move pillars around or something. That actually sounds fun, need to remember that.
It's time to move on, and hopefully I'll have something a bit more substantive to natter on about soon. The Harvest Never Rests!
Anyway, I've been tearing my way through Tales of Symphonia in fits and spurts. I am happy to report that this game follows (though establishes and codifies might be a better term) the glorious Tales tradition of giving you the feeling of being a walking arsenal of badass flashy moves right out of the gate. It can be quite refreshing sometimes.
The story so far is the same-old save the world formula, but this is Tales, so we know it's a obfuscating veneer, with just enough hints of plot subversion to let you know that the cozy, rosy quest is on the off-ramp to Crazytown. And that guy is totally his father. Duh. Things are probably about to break loose.
The puzzles are a bit of fresh air, too. It's been a while since I've seen a block puzzle that expects you beat the crap out of the blocks before you can...do block things with them. And zapping mooks to complete a circuit is pretty amusing, too. These are very early dungeons, so who knows what sort of insanity is in store? Bats that turn into shuriken to fling at exploding barrels that set off a chain reaction to move pillars around or something. That actually sounds fun, need to remember that.
It's time to move on, and hopefully I'll have something a bit more substantive to natter on about soon. The Harvest Never Rests!
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