Final Fantasy XIII - Revenge of the Rant

Ah, Sith-day the perfect day to be angry and say stuff like, I really, really hate this game!

You know, I think I get it now, what really drives me apeshit-crazy over this game. I recently picked up Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remix, and I just have to say that it made me get why I hate Final Fantasy XIII so much. The writing of it all, I just don't get how bad it gets. I mean, I played through FFX and even though Yuna is an unoriginal shygirl that always needs to be rescued, and Tidus is way too annoying for me to think he's an appealing character, I still feel for them. They are still characters, and (SPOILER) when they have to part ways at the end I seriously started to tear up a bit, (but not really because I am a man!) and that's with the worst characters in the game, (well except Rikku). The point is, the story and the writing has me invested, even with the annoying characters. Annoying  doesn't make them bad characters. And I mean, both Khimari, Lulu and especially Auron are awesome badass characters. But Final Fantasy XIII has no sympathetic characters at all, constantly makes me ask one simple question over and over and over, the question all writers fear to hear about their work: WHO IN ALL THE WORLD TALK LIKE THIS?!

I mean, there is cryptic, and then there's pulling shit out of you ass! I played the demo for Lightning returns and even though they have improved some things gameplay-wise, I still don't think that Square-Enix gets why people hated Final Fantasy XIII in the first place. It's not the battle-system, it's not even the linear world (but yeah, it's that too), it is the piss-poor characters, the story with more plot holes than a Michael Bay-film, and it's a script that is nowhere near believable. 

And I'm not saying that other Final Fantasy-games had stories without plot holes, they did, especially FFX, but the thing is that Final Fantasy X still is a good game, with a good story, because it knows how to distract us from the flaws, because there is always going to be flaws. But they are just so easy to see in Final Fantasy XIII. I think much of that is the script being as bad as it is.

I realize that I have contradicted myself in my first rants, where in one I hated that the characters weren't more similar, and in the other I said I wish they were less alike. The thing is, I want to be able to evolve my character in a path not usually their way, like when I made Yuna a badass warrior who did 99 999 damage way before my Auron ever could. But not all "jobs" are available for every character at the start, and when they do become available, they're really expensive. This means that a very specific set of characters are the preferred team, and choosing another team might make the game way too hard. There's no reason to play again, I'm just going to pick the same team that time again. But I still do want it to be a change in what characters I use, but there are no individual attacks or the like, no Limit Breaks or Overdrives. You got the Ecle-whatever Summon-thing, that I guess are different, but the sure felt the same, and I never used them much anyway so the feel pointless. The problem is that this just adds to the blandness of the characters. The Limit Breaks added character in for example Final Fantasy VII. Only Cloud could do the awesome and devastating Omnislash, only Tifa could stack her Limit's on top of each other. Only Cid could call a missile strike from the Highwind, or light a dynamite on fire with his cigarette, because it makes sense, and it builds character.

Yeah, I think I'm done. Well, not really, I never did get to finishing the thing, never got past the last boss, and I do feel that I have to, but just not right now, not for a while, and I'm done ranting, if you did like the game, could get into the characters and so on, fine, good for you, I just really couldn't, and I know many agree with me. But yeah, it hurts seeing a series I love so much get this kind of treatment. I am psyched to see the next instalment, and Final Fantasy XV does look really good. But then again, I have been wrong before.

Zelda Playthrough diary entry #1

Okay, I finally got my hands on The Legend of Zelda for the NES, my long planed playthrough of all the games on their original consoles can begin!

I'm going to write here, every day I play, kind of like a diary, share my thoughts, what still holds up, what doesn't hold up? How has the series progressed until now, how has it evolved. I will therefore play as much as I can of the game, trying to get all the things you can get, for the ultimate Zelda-experience.

I don't currently own all game though. I am missing a Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, The Oracle of Seasons and the Minish Cap. I do have The Wind Waker, but only the HD version on the Wii U, so I will have to get that one as well. 

On top of all this, I am only doing the main Nintendo-games, meaning no CD-i, no Crossbow-training and I will not do the four swords adventure. 

In any case, I started playing The Legend of Zelda today, and had an approach to it much like Skyrim, a childish-"you can't tell me what to do" kind of thing. So after the introductory level 1, I started exploring, and realized how much I remember from playing this game over and over as a kid. Where to blow a hole, where to burn a bush. So by the time I got ro level 3 (which I did before level 2, because I couldn't find it.)

I had acquired some sweet new gear in from of a sword and a ring that somehow changes my clothes, reducing my damage. Still, the game is a but challenging at times but gets easier a my gear becomes more awesome. Not sure if that's bad yet...

I don't really mind the controller, at times I get a sore thumb from the steering cross, but it's fun to play the old NES again. 

What strikes me the most though is how fast you're able to advance. I got through the first four castles plus some exploring in about 2 hours, That's almost half the game. It strikes me as a completely different experience that the games of today, giving more of a replay value because it's just that fun. And it gives you more time for exploring.

It's no wonder that the first game became the ultra-hit it was, I get it. It holds up, it's different than the games of today, but I might get in to that more later, for now, this is me giving my two cents on this day of playing. Stay tuned, as this long series of posts (and hopefully a revival of the blog) is far from over.