Where have you been all my life Final Fantasy XIII? [ March 11th, 2010 ] Posted in » Xbox 360, gaming

I love RPG’s.  They are far and away my favorite genre of games.  To me they are the closest we get to telling a true story in a video game.  That’s why I eagerly look forward to each release of the Final Fantasy series, which are quite possibly the flagship RPG titles.

Well about 5 hours into Final Fantasy XIII I can say that it hasn’t disappointed at all.  In fact, it’s jaw droppingly amazing in many of the same ways that Final Fantasy VII was.

Because Final Fantasy VII has taken on such an epic place in gaming lore, people have been in backlash to it for some time.  But they forget (or never played it when it launched) just how epic a game it was.  Final Fantasy VII changed everything about RPG’s.

Characters became important.  Personalities mattered.  Story telling took a huge leap forward.  We actually cared about those characters in ways that very few games before (or since) have captured.  I will never forget walking into my apartment in college seeing my roommates playing Final Fantasy and being blown away by the graphics.

Why do I tell you all this?  Because Final Fantasy XIII is the first game in the FF series that captures that feel.

The characters are laugh out loud funny.  They each have their own personalities, motives, and attitudes.  They aren’t just cookie cutter characters – they are characters to care about.  Even though I’ve only spent a few hours with them, I like them already.  And in the age of “whiney boy turned manly hero” that’s saying something.

Of course it’s not just characters.  The graphics are astounding.  I’m playing on the 360, so I can only imagine that the PS3 version is even more amazing.  I have never played a game where it’s hard to tell the difference between FMV’s and game play.  Maybe they are out there, but it’s not on my radar.  The only game that really captured that same seamless feeling was Half Life.  Another brilliant game.

I don’t know if Final Fantasy XIII will be as awesome 50 hours in, as it is at 5 hours.  But something tells me I won’t be disappointed.



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Console Wars

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Final Fantasy is my favorite gaming franchise.  To me its bigger than Civilization, Half Life, Dragon Quest, and yes, even Diablo.  It’s also the only video game franchise that I would buy a console just to play.  (Actually that’s what I did with the PS2). 

So when it was announced that Final Fantasy would appear on the Xbox I think that’s pretty bad news for Sony.  This move takes away the one thing that made me think about buying a PS3.  Now the last card Sony has to play is the Blu-Ray angle.  Unfortunately for them, I watch very few regular movies at home, so the chances of me wanting to watch HD movies is slim to none.  

Which means I’m only buying a console to play video games.   

Both Microsoft and Sony are in trouble right now (even with Microsoft’s recent price cut).  As much as I hate to admit it, the Wii is dominating both of them.  But I’m a PC gamer first and foremost.  Which means that I’m not really in the market to buy more than one console.   That means I have a tough decision.  I haven’t wanted to buy the 360 because of it’s manufacturing issues.  The PS3 is just really expensive.  And the Wii doesn’t have many games I’m interested in playing.

Apparently my inability to choose sides in this console war makes me Switzerland. 

That’s why Sony losing an exclusive Final Fantasy game is bad for them, but good for me.  I’ll probably end up with a 360.  I’ll take that price cut, the better game library, a more robust online experience and my Final Fantasy.  But that means I’ll probably lose out on the Wii “experience”. 

Who knew staying neutral was such a pain?

 

September 11th, 2008 | 2 Comments

One more for the backlist

 

 

 

The RPG, a favorite gaming genre, is stacking up recently as the bane of this busy gamer.  I haven’t had time to play through Oblivion, GTA IV, or Final Fantasy XII but I can’t stop myself from picking up each latest and greatest offering to the role playing gods.  These great games sit on my shelf and mock me with their dozens of hours of gameplay, sidequests, unlockable characters and gaming escape. 

The most recent game to insult me so is Final Fantasy IV DS, the latest in a long series of remakes of the game first released in the US as Final Fantasy II for the SNES.  I spent some time with the game yesterday, to get a feel for the remake and torture myself with guilt and frustration that I won’t be able to give this little gem the hours it deserves.  Here are some initial observations:

1)  The opening cinematics are excellent and well-matched with the Uematsu soundtrack.  Characters retain the look of the cinematics in the Playstation releases, and Cecil and Kain both look imposing in their armor.

2)  There are in-game cutscenes which do a nicer job of presenting the story than just dialog boxes did.  I really like an early scene where Cecil in a contemplative mood is shown with the moon framed through his tower window. 

3)  The 3D models look pretty good, almost PS1 quality, but obviously don’t compare favorably to non-portable final fantasy titles released in the last five years.  The effort at the armor for Cecil and Kain ends up looking cartoon-y, in contrast to the cutscenes where it looks intimidating.  Still, the game pulls a lot of horsepower out of the DS and it’s fun to see familiar sprite-based locations, characters, and enemies get the 3D treatment.

4)   It would be nice if battles moved more quickly.  You’ll want to go into the menus and turn up the battle speed dial as far as it will go.  They should have made it go to 11. 

I haven’t played far enough to get a feel for the difficulty or the amount of grinding that will be necessary to experience this re-telling of a great story.   I’d give even odds that I never will (or at least will have to push off the time when I can get to it until something like “retirement”) but if you’re a lucky gamer with more time than I, I’d certainly recommend giving this game a try.

 

 

 

 

 

August 22nd, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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