I'm at it again

[helioseclipsed]

(Quick note: This is my first post here at the Mutant Reviewer forums, and while I'm not sure if it's weird to start in the video game section of a movie dedicated site, I liked the topic, so here I go. Please don't anyone savage me to make an example to others)

I have probably replayed way too many games way too often to be very socially healthy, but if there was someone keeping tabs, I think the front runner would be the newer Castlevania series, with Symphony of the Night leading the pack by a good number of wasted summer afternoons. I think I actually could play and finish SotN while sleeping, and I have done it while half asleep a couple times. I find that SotN, and all the 2D entries in the series since then provide a great mix of almost-Final-Fantasy-like character development (in terms of gameplay, not story) with actual reflexive gameplay challenges. Close contenders would be any of the old Mario games, the Mega Man X series, and probably the original Metal Gear Solid and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Those last two are very much examples for no longer needing a brain to finish.

Also, it's a strange mix of pride and shame to know that if I were ever to be sucked Tron-style into the Legacy of Kain's realm of Nosgoth (any entry in the series), I would need no map to traverse its twisted terrain. I do, on occasion, need a draw a graph to work out all the plotlines, though.

And since I (and others) mentioned it, the FF series is very great, and while I've certainly sunk a lot of time into them, I play through them less often, mostly because I get kind of bipolar about straight RPGs (think of Gollum arguing to himself, squeaking excitedly about the characters, stories, and puzzles, while occasionally grunting harshly, "Repitition! STAT-Crunching! WASTED MONTHS OF YOUR LIFE TO COMPLETE!!"). While I sometimes get an RPG bug, it will often leave me before I can finish the game, and I end up putting it down before finishing, so I try to pick my moments carefully.

For instance, I too restarted FF X recently, but the bug left and I put it down again. Then it swung around and now I'm playing through FF Tactics: War of the Lions on the PSP. For those who haven't checked it out, it has cutscenes that look like they're made of parchment, and a script (with occasional, excellent voice acting) that actually sounds legitimately medieval, while still sounding comprehensible to modern ears.

This might have been overlong, but it was all on topic, and I like to rant on. You're like to see more of it in time to come, if I settle here comfortably (it's certainly a nicer place than the IMDB forums).

'Til later then.

[Hucklebubba]

I'll see your head on a pike!

Er, that is to say, welcome to the forums. . .(ponders an appropriate screenname shorthand). . .Lips. Always a pleasure to encounter another gamer who walks the fine line between Enthusiastic and Frightening.

Let us give the Borderline Shut-in Salute!

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!!!

Oh. This is...my topic. Well, then. Thanks for finding my topic interesting enough to start posting in! We're glad to have you, Lips!

And now, thanks to you, I'll probably waste away my Saturday by getting back to my FFX game.

[helioseclipsed]

This "Lips" thing... I'm going to have to reconsider my screen name, aren't I? I've had it for a while, and I drafted it over from the IMDB boards, but until now it hasn't been reduced to a suggestive body part.

Hmmm...

My actual name is Joe, if it helps.

I'll think on this for later.

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Oct 18, 2008 13:38:09 GMT -5 helioseclipsed said:

My actual name is Joe, if it helps.

Joe the Plumber?

[helioseclipsed]

Whoa. How topical.

Alas, I have never plumbed. Nor met either candidate, nor publicly expressed my views on the election, nor had my "15 minutes of fame" as the media keeps calling it. Though much of that is probably a good thing.

Joe is still my actual name, or Joseph, if you like syllables. I think it's better than "Lips," either way (as much as I like the Rolling Stones, it's not a fit for me).

No "Joey" please, though. I take exception to that.

...This is the best way to start a forum rep, isn't it? Setting demands on what people can call me?

Let's please get back to the games.

[Hucklebubba]

Joe it is.

Am I to assume by your avatar that you are an anime fan as well? Another plus, even though I can't say as I feel any great love for Cowboy Bebop. (Yes, I know, heresy. I don't hate it by any means, it just happens to be on a short list of apparently-unassailable anime franchises toward which I feel rather lukewarm.)

[PoolMan]

Aw... Huckle made a friend.

(Joe, if he tries to hold your hand, let one of us know, okay?)

[helioseclipsed]

Thanks for the warning, Poolman. I'll keep my whistle at the ready.

I'm not exactly an anime fan, though I am a fan of some anime. It's kind of the same way that you can say "I love movies" while still hating a good 50+% of what gets released in a given year. I'm always open to new, good shows, but I find a lot of them, despite at first seeming very unique, actually cover VERY similar ground, and soon you can tell when one of them seems kind of "familiar" in that sense.

Bebop was the first one I had extensive exposure to (unless you count my childhood love of Voltron, since your pic reminded me of it, Huckle), and I think it happens to be a really good show with great character arcs and dialogue. The story is sometimes accused of being kind of light (especially for an anime) since it doesn't have a constantly developing story. But I like that it's developed only at several points in the show, and left fairly mysterious. I don't think the lack of a 4 episode denouement or the presence of a majority of standalone episodes (though few truly count as filler) make it any less worthy, though I'm willing to accept that it may not be everyone's cup of tea (though no one that I personally know that has actually sat down and watched all of it has had anything less to say than "Wow, that was great." So far, at least). For my money, though, while there are other anime movies and shows that I love just as much if not equally, none that I have found have surpassed it in my view. We can exchange favorites lists some other time, if you like.

Not to complain, but I've completely derailed the topic at this point. I just felt more comfortable trying to seque into a conversation that making a post all about ME, as though my arrival was foretold by the Mutants of Old, of one who might lead the forum community either to enlightened philosophical discourse or condemn them to petty squabbles about geeky things.

I think, in all fairness, that the latter was probably thriving quite well long before I got here. No offense intended; it's why I came to this party. Just saying.

I'll see what I can't do about the discourses, though. No promises, but I'll try to keep my options open.

Oh, and Cat, sorry if I pushed you back over the FF X edge. I know it can be a hard urge to ignore. If you need an intervention, I think we could arrange one. Lord knows I've been there. At the very least, try to make the most of it and enjoy it.

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Oct 19, 2008 2:33:30 GMT -5 helioseclipsed said:

Oh, and Cat, sorry if I pushed you back over the FF X edge. I know it can be a hard urge to ignore. If you need an intervention, I think we could arrange one. Lord knows I've been there. At the very least, try to make the most of it and enjoy it.

Ah well the thing about addiction is that sooner or later something was bound to trigger it. If it wasn't you then it would be the guy in the SUV next to me at the traffic light with a Wakka hairdo. No, really...my friend and I saw one of those last week. Dude had a humongous white headband and his hair spiking up from it. I looked over at my friend and remarked "Wow. Way to rock a handband, ya?"

If blank stares could kill...

[helioseclipsed]

Wow, I've never seen anyone actually pull of a decent FF hairdo when they're really trying, much less when they're not even aware of the game. I guess Wakka is based on the stereotype beach bum type (with an overabundance of hair gel), and those guys are actually out there, but it's still a bold claim.

Also, blank stares from John Q. Public are stock and trade among gamers. You haven't played enough if you haven't gained some odd looks from passersby who have no idea what you're talking about. Wear them like a badge of honor; albeit a socially outcast badge that merits you nothing but the sneers of "finer folks" but there's... honor... in that...

This group seems to be fairly FF happy. Dare I to ask people their faves in the series? Personally, I hold VI and VII to be about tied for the pinnacles of the series (I know, it's blasphemous to like both the Nintendo and Sony forms of the series equally, but I'm a rebel), and I liked XII quite a lot, in both story (though I admit it feels a bit truncated, I think they had to cut some things for want of space) and the new gameplay. Going back to random encounters since playing it has been tough. Very honourable mentions go to IX and X, which I like despite some issues, and, if I'm feeling generous, IV (I'm for difficulty, but experience walls are never cool, especially in the final battle).

This is slightly off topic, but then, these are still titles that I've played a number of times, so I think it's fair game.

[BlackCatWhiteCat]

Not just the guy's hairdo (which, I live in San Diego so the beach bum theory isn't far fetched), but everything about him looked like Wakka. Minus that weird, half-pant leg thing everyone had going on.

As for my favorite it's hard to say. My first ever FF was VIII, about 7 years ago. I loved that one and never played another FF until X: 2 about 2 years ago. I disliked a lot about it but I played it anyway. I heard X was terrific and eventually got it as a gift about 2 months ago. Point being it's hard to say. I loved VIII so much, but maybe that' because it was my first ever RPG and first FF ever. Also, being 7 years since I last played it it's hard for me to decide if I like it better than X (which I enjoy muchly).

[Hucklebubba]

Oct 20, 2008 16:36:12 GMT -5 BlackCatWhiteCat said:

. . .but maybe that' because it was my first ever RPG and first FF ever.

I certainly hope so, because otherwise you and I are going to have to have a choreographed, musical-style knife-fight. With snapping and everything.

As for my fave FF; VI all the way. It also fits in with this thread, because I have played it up one side and down the other, leaving nary a cranny unexplored, and yet I can still pick it up now and have it not be any less awesome than the first time I played it.

[helioseclipsed]

Oct 20, 2008 16:36:12 GMT -5 BlackCatWhiteCat said:

I loved that one and never played another FF until X: 2 about 2 years ago. I disliked a lot about it but I played it anyway.

I had to laugh, because I think that's how everyone I know who has played it describes their experience with X-2 as well. I got five minutes in and turned it off, with naught but a quick "There went twenty perfectly good bucks." Would have sold it, but the game store offered me $1.50 (apparently no one else wanted it either), which I decided would not give me as much value as using the disc as a coaster/frisbee/pooper-scooper.

I personally have a long list of issues with VIII, but I can certainly understand liking the game for nostalgia/first time reasons, and I do acknowledge that a part of my distaste for the game is that there are a number of really good things in there that (I feel) get smothered by the flaws. And yet when I look at the cover (the art style is one of the game's strengths, btw) I still have a voice inside that says "Maybe it's really good and you're wrong and you should play through it again because Final Fantasy games on the Playstation were awesome it says so in the Bible." It's a problem I should probably seek help for, but I refuse to admit to a paid professional that I play games.

If you like it, though, I recommend anything in the series from VI on up. Everything but VII is easily available (check Amazon) on the Playstation in one form or another, and VII is likely to be remade in the near future.

Huckle, I'm almost with you about VI, but I think VII was equally good in a lot of ways and surpassed it in others. Before you whip out the switchblade, though, I acknowledge that VI has some superior qualities as well, notably the range and depth of the cast. VII's smaller team was a little bit of a letdown after the sheer amount of great characters in VI that (mostly) all got the AAA treatment. So in the end I hold the two as equal but different and both stand the test of being exactly what I think of when someone says "Final Fantasy." Seriously, both merge in my head as one awesome entity.

I'll end by expressing relief that the half-pant-leg thing that X's characters had is not catching on in our much more tangible reality. I'm not a great mind on fashion, but I think that would signal the end of the world. I was always pretty sure that was what Sin was pissed about anyway.

[TheLuckyOne]

Oct 20, 2008 22:54:03 GMT -5 Hucklebubba said:

As for my fave FF; VI all the way. It also fits in with this thread, because I have played it up one side and down the other, leaving nary a cranny unexplored, and yet I can still pick it up now and have it not be any less awesome than the first time I played it.

Everything he said. Kaleb and I have talked this to death in past threads, but VI is definitely my favorite as well. I do agree with helio that there are some things that VII did better, largely due to the Playstation's increased hardware. But I also contend that if VI and VII had been released for the same system with similar graphics and music, there would be no debate among fans... VI would be acknowledged as the best, period. It's got a more epic (and understandable) story, more fleshed-out characters, and a better bad guy. (Blasphemy, I know, but Sephiroth was whiny; Kefka reveled in evil. Much more fun.)

-D