Jeez, when I was a kid, I would’na thought that I’d still be playing Final Fantasy games more than 15 years later. Improved graphics aside, what really changes? Sadly, not a whole lot. Until now. I’m addicted to this new one, largely in part due to the new battle system. Instead of stopping action for random, turn-based battles, FFXII opts for a more Diablo/Phantasy Star Online-like combat system, where enemies are encountered and fought in real time. Character actions are “turn-based,” in that there’s a limit on how fast actions can be performed, but on the whole it makes for much more fluid gameplay. The voice actors are also quite a bit better than the ones in the previous two PS2 games. I keep wanting to get some serious game time in, but have been seriously hampered as of late. Frustration! Perhaps a full review will come after a while.
Why do I have the desire to obtain more junk? Some innate sense that my life will somehow be better once possessing a thing, I guess. Aside from a MacBook Pro and new shoes, I’m also looking at a Sega CDX. I actually don’t own a Genesis or Sega CD, so I would try to justify this purchase with the excuse that I need both systems, and it’s a smaller form factor than buying both separately. But here’s where common sense comes into play: I haven’t yet finished the game I rented more than a month ago, my preordered copy of Final Fantasy XII comes in tomorrow, and the Nintendo Wii is out later this month. When am I going to have time to play a CDX? The only possible rationale is from a collector’s standpoint, but the last thing I need is more stuff. Perhaps if I can get one cheaply enough…
I’ve been playing this game off and on for a while now, and have already beaten it once on the ‘easy’ setting. I command you all to download it; it’s probably one of the most inspired games I’ve played in a while. While the level of intricacy doesn’t compare to most modern games, it has a ‘good feel’ to it; obviously a lot of time and care went into it’s creation. The game’s story is actually rather interesting and compelling, as well. Playing through a second time is rewarding, because certain plot elements (which are vague the first time through) become clearer once you know the whole story. In addition, there are a lot of secrets and hidden stuff, most of which you’re unlikely to find on the first go.
I found out about this game because of a post on Kotaku saying that an official port is being developed for the PSP. That blows me away: a one-man game is being taken commercial. Yes, it’s that good. I really resonate with this scenario, since it’s a throwback to the cowboy days of game design, where most games were made entirely by just a few people. Even though I never invested much time in game programming myself, it was always discouraging to feel that I could never produce anything worthwhile by myself. Obviously, Pixel, the creator of Cave Story, proves this wrong. It took him five years, but he created something that I felt actually compelled to play… and that’s not something that happens a whole lot these days.
Long time no post. I’ve been somewhat busy with the work; plus I destroyed my right wrist when I fell off my bike about a month ago. The resulting pain makes it hard to play games. I was almost finished with Okami, but then I had this accident, which meant that the gaming was put on hold for a while.
I’m not in the loop when it comes to the indie game scene, which is probably a mistake on my part. Anyway, I missed this little number: Cave Story. It’s a side-scroller reminicent of Metroid and Castlevania: SotN. The graphics are a beautiful, nostalgic throwback to the days of DOS (ironically, my family didn’t own a PC in that era, but I still like the graphical style).
Anyway, download the game and check it out. I hooked up my Sega gamepad for the first time in ages, and it plays great. By the way, comments are working again, so have at it, if you will.
One of the problems with portable consoles in the past has been the inability to rent games for them. Whereas the common gamer could try out any game for his Playstation or Nintendo 64, he had to buy his Game Boy Advance games on pure faith — faith in his videogame reviewer of choice. At least for me, this usually meant that I only bought first-party games for my (Nintendo) portables, since Nintendo’s quality of development was (and still is) so high. Of course, I’d sometimes stray from the path I’d voluntarily chosen, but more than likely I’d be disappointed with my purchase.
With the power and game quality of newer portable consoles like the Playstation Portable and Nintendo DS, this is starting to change. The game rental service I recently subscribed to, Gamefly, rents games for both these portable systems. This means that I can try out many of the games that looked moderately interesting in the past, but not interesting enough to shell out $35 for. One such game that was on my list was Metroid Prime: Hunters.
Even though I had heard that the play control for this iteration of Metroid was far superior to its’ predecessor, I didn’t feel compelled in the slightest to try it. If you’re unfamiliar with my opinion of the first Metroid Prime, feel free to take a look. The gist of my problem was this: the control system was horrible, and wasn’t able to be changed. Therefore, I didn’t have high hopes for any sequels.
Hunters, however, surprised me. Not only was the default control system totally intuitive, but it also could be changed: both my points against the first Prime were removed instantly.
The default system works by using the D-pad to control the horizontal/vertical movement of the player, while moving the stylus on the touch screen controls the pitch and yaw (i.e. causes the player to look around). The L trigger fires the selected weapon, while tapping the touch screen twice causes the player to jump. The optional system substitutes the A, B, X and Y buttons for the stylus — A turns you right, X looks up, etc., while the R trigger is used to jump. Since the default control style is very similar to a standard PC FPS setup (with keyboard and mouse), I was able to feel comfortable very quickly.
Hunters almost feels too much like a traditional PC FPS in many ways. It has a strong online component, while the single player game feels stunted and tacked on. In my old age, I don’t feel too strongly about competing against random people over the internet; inevitably, they’re all much better than me, since I don’t take the time to become extremely good at one game anymore. Therefore my playing was mostly limited to the single player game.
The multiplayer interface is well-thought out, allowing the use of Nintendo’s infamous “Friend Codes.” In addition, players can play random games against people with a similar ranking. This “deathmatch” mode allows each player to play as one of many different bounty hunter characters, and shoot the hell out of each other. Great if you like that sort of thing, but it gets old rather fast.
The single player game is all about Samus Aran, the heroine in the Metroid series, searching through various planets for a “super power,” some arcane, alien artifact, the purpose of which is unknown. We do know, however, that if nasties get hold of it, bad things can happen. That’s why Samus has to find this power first. To obtain it, she must first collect a number of alien crystals, which will apparently unlock some sort of mystic portal that leads to the power. These crystals have been hidden away by the long-defunct alien race, and are only accessible through their own teleporters, which are activated by three other alien alien artifacts. If this is starting to sound a bit tedious to you, then you’d be correct. Samus must travel to four different locations to find these crystals, along with the various other power-ups and artifacts you’ve come to expect from the Metroid series.
The main problem with the single-player game in Hunters is what I mentioned in the previous paragraph: tediousness. The first time through each area is interesting, but the inane “collection” of pointless game objects (the alien crystals) requires returning multiple times, usually after a special weapon is obtained. Forcing the player to return to an area he has already played is bad design and (in this era of almost limitless data capacity for games) simply lazy. Super Metroid for the SNES, the game by which all others in the series are judged, usually didn’t require the forced revisiting of an area. It was up to the player to decide whether or not he wanted to explore. Basically, in this respect, Hunters is the worst possible combination of linearity and “exploration”-based game design.
As a result of this, I quit playing about half-way through. The game simply wasn’t challenging or fun enough for me to want to continue. Finishing would have been merely an exercise in patience, and when I have a long list of other games waiting to be sent to me, it’s hard to justify playing through a rather boring game. Does this illustrate one of my innate character flaws? The inability to finish what I start? Personally, I think it’s probably silly to assign such importance to finishing a videogame, and perhaps can actually chalk this up as a victory over OCD behavior! Hey, Nintendo! Give me a reason to catch ‘em all!