Final Fantasy XIII

I heard a lot about this game before I played it. I saw very good previews and lots of material promoting its release, but I didn't buy it when it was first released. I always planned to and I was embarrassingly quoted in the Official Playstation Magazine (OPM) declaring my excitement on Facebook... I can't remember the exact phrasing but it included a reference to me wetting myself. Anyway, I didn't buy it, because I was busy and penniless and there were other games etc. This turned out to be a good thing. I heard so many negative comments about the game that I was quickly beginning to lose interest in the game. I knew that I would get around to it eventually, but the horrible things people had told me about it gave me no reason whatsoever to rush.

I had heard that the story was ridiculous and unengaging, the characters were stupid and weird (look at what you're buying people, its Square Enix!), the battle system was a step in the wrong direction and most frequently I was told that the game was linear. Obviously all of these points escaped the mind of the OPM reviewer, but how was I to know who to listen to? Usually I find that the reviews I read are accurate, but the previews are extremely unreliable. I don't think that previews are deliberately misleading, but more naively hopeful in regards to a game's potential. One game springs to mind... AVATAR!!! Amazing ideas, amazing previews, amazing story to work from and what did we end up with?! It was like going downstairs on Christmas day, pulling the ribbon from a gigantic, shiny, colourful gift box, opening the box and.... seeing another box, slightly less pristine, more weathered. Inside this one there's another shabby box... Several smaller, dirtier boxes later you end up with a tiny greasy matchbox in your hand.. you clutch it, knowing that this is the last box and your long awaited gift will finally be revealed. You slide back the outer sleeve of the box to reveal.... a little crusty gerbil turd. Introducing Avatar the Game.

Ok. Back to Final Fantasy XIII. The dilemma I had (very lengthily dramatized above) was that the previews had been very flashy and exciting, which is what geared me up for the release. This was all fine, but as soon as I heard negative things about the game from others, I was immediately doubtful. The ugly, dysfunctional, mentally ill ghost of Avatar hung over me as a reminder that I'd been betrayed once before. Long story short, I never got around to buying the game, but someone else did that for me. Thank you Emily. A good 50+ hours of gameplay later, here I am with my verdict.

'Misfits' is putting it gently

It's true, it's true, the first 6-8 hours of the game are prescriptive and you can't choose your team or your direction. This is obviously what caused people to brand the game as linear. It is. If the last Square Enix (previously Squaresoft) game you played was Final Fantasy VII then you won't find a similar open ended, world map experience. You might get a bit of de ja vu including a blonde soldier, a black gunman and a train, but you won't get a world map. The story line is much the same as always, a group of misfits brought together by fate and forced to go on a journey to save the world. However, the fact that 99% of the dialogue in this game is actually dialogue and not a blue text box means that it is possible to follow the cutscenes and conversations without needing laser eye surgery afterwards. The story is confusing and the twists and turns don't always make much sense, but to me that felt like part of the game- your characters had no idea why they were fighting, but they just went with what felt right. When new information was revealed, a new course of action began, which made the sidebars in the story crucial to the main plot. All in all, the story is enough, I think, to get you through to the end.

Next on the agenda is the way this game looks. This part is going to be very short, because frankly, it is immense. The cutscenes are beautiful and dynamic, the locations are varied and colourful, the characters have finally been successfully lip-synced to English dialogue and the monsters and enemies are visible before you enter battle, looking just as exceptional before as they do during battle. I cannot complain about the visuals in this game. Along with the soundtrack, sound effects and dialogue, the flawlessness of the graphics makes this game unbelievably immersive and actually breathtaking. (I know how cliched that sounds, but play the game, go to Pulse and stand on the edge of a cliff- you will be back here commenting on how much you agree.)

Pulse- This doesn't even do it justice

The gameplay, in terms of battles and clearing different areas can be repetetive, but by the time you've spent an hour or so playing, you'll know how you feel about that. I think that because of the new battle system and the ranking system based on time, the pressure to kill quickly and efficiently means you are always thinking and engaged, rather than leaning a lamp on the X button while you make a cup of tea. The linear nature of the game, while being a shock to the system, does fit perfectly with how the story unfolds. Your character has no idea how long they have left before they fail their quest, so it always feels like a race against time. This understandably means that pratting around with sidequests is not high up in the priority list. The treasure hunting and sidequests do open up after the main portion of the game is finished, so any die hard Final Fantasy perfectionists can still master everything (and will have to if they want all the trophies/achievements.)

I feel as though I've been a bit defensive in this post. I love this game and I would recommend that any Final Fantasy fan or avid gamer at least give it a try. I heard many negative opinions about various aspects of the game, but none of them stuck with me after playing it. The most detestable opinion I encountered was that the Leona Lewis song 'My Hands' didn't fit with the feel of the game and its conclusion. I denounce this opinion to the ends of the earth and hold you nay sayers in utter comtempt... you know who you are! I love almost everything about it and my only regret is that I don't have enough time to finish all of the side quests. There is one feature that irritated me beyond belief however... the death of the player character means Game Over, even if the others survive. Oh and another rubbish feature of the game... Sazh.

DannyDarko

Also if you want to check out some of the negative points I talked about... watch the review by Zero Punctuation: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1569-Final-Fantasy-XIII

Digimon World... it's Marmite

By Jyggalag






With my lack of funds preventing me from purchasing the much coveted Dragon Age 2 and PokeMon White, I have instead sought to satisfy myself elsewhere until such a time comes when I can get my greasy mitts on the aforementioned games. Thus came along Digimon World for the PS1 as recommended to me by Mr Darko (I'm sure anyone giving a shit enough to read this knows who he is). Now, he first recommended this game to me when discussing my little nostalgia piece and I argued that the only reason he wanted to play the game again was because of his nostalgic feelings towards it. Yadda yadda. Mr Darko searched the web until he found a cheap copy of the game from a respectable seller and then waited frantically at the letterbox (I'm being quite literal here) until his coveted game arrived. Didn't see much of him for the next few days after that, except for whenever I went to make a cup of tea. Eventually I caved and decided to play the game as well.

Now, we all know what Digimon is. We all watched the cartoon as a kid... well at least most of us did. There was always a big argument at the table during school dinner times as to which was better, PokeMon or Digimon. So even if you didn't watch it because you were "too cool" (but of course back then it WAS cool, so don't try denying it you dirty little liars) or you're a backwards hick raised in the middle of nowhere, you'll certainly know what Digimon is.
My first thoughts of the game were lukewarm, to say the least. I'll admit to being a bit of technology whore and if a game ain't flashy, it rarely impresses me. Now released in 1999 I wasn't expecting anything fancy but to be quite honest, there was a certain charm to it that only Japanese game developers can pull off.

I didn't pay much attention to the game's opening. For some reason a tiny child is dragged into the Digital World. Rather conveniently his mother has "nipped out" and left this small child home alone, so at least she doesn't have to get into a panic about her missing boy. But you know... plot devices and all that. Anyway, all a manner of crazy shit is going off in the Digital World and its up to the small boy to help rebuild and repopulate File City. With the help of a wise old creature named Jijimon the young boy is partnered with his first Digimon (I got Gabumon, which was always my favourite) and sets out on his adventure.

Gabumon: What's not to like?

For an old game, the game world is pretty expansive with dozens of large areas to explore, littered with quests, tasks and monsters to battle. The game is pretty much an RPG, you have to raise and "level up" your Digimon's stats in order to get them to Digivolve and depending on their stats depends on what they Digivolve into. Unlike PokeMon however, the evolution of your monster is much more complex. Whilst the game encompasses all the basic functions of an RPG, it also serves as a sort of... tamagotchi-like game. Your Digimon need to eat and if you train them too much they become exhausted. They need to sleep, they age and even die and if you don't take care of them properly their life expectancy will shorten. They also shite an abhorrent amount (or "go potty" as the game itself puts it). How you take care of your Digimon effects what they Digivolve into. The game tried to reinforce the idea that taking care of your Digimon is the best thing to do... however to get some of the best Digivolutions you have to have certain conditions, and some of the conditions include "care mistakes" where you purposely mistreat your Digimon. So naturally, I wanted these much better Digimon and rather cruelly unfed my partner and let it shite all over the floor to its heart content.

Don't treat your Digimon right and you'll end up with this turd-eating beauty

Now, for a game that is obviously trying to tell kids to take care of animals, this sends a somewhat mixed message. Each Digimon has a Happiness and Discipline bar and depending on your actions these change. After my Digimon had taken the last dump it needed to be unhappy enough to Digivolve I actually began to feel awful. I just looked at the Happiness bar (which now had a little red angry face next to it) and was half expecting some Digi-equivalent of the RSPCA to turn up and take my Digimon from me. But they didn't.

After a few more hours of playing and finally getting my Digimon to reach Ultimate Form, much to the contradiction of Mr Darko, I had become completely obsessed. I must have only explored three or four areas and I was determined to see more. I'd recruited several Digimon to work in File City and my Digimon was at last was happy with me. Everything was going great and I could see why Mr Darko had waited so eagerly for this game. But then the worst happened. My Digimon died. He had reached the grand old age of 20 (in-game 20 days, which is only a few hours in real time). After moving some dirt from a tunnel for some giant furry testicle with a horn on its head my Andromon just laid on the floor and died. I was gutted. I'd worked the little sod from when he was just a rookie into the big, metal monster he was then and he just died... just like that. But apparently 20 is a good age for your first Digimon so at least I could take comfort in that.

Now, Digimon world only sold around 250,000 copies in Japan which isn't great (at least by today's standards) and the game was only ever given an average rating by most critics. Apparently it's a game for certain types of people. If you loved the Digimon cartoon then Digimon World is just for you, if not, then you'll hate it. The game's greatest strength is probably its greatest weakness. It is such a deep game, but that's the problem. Unless you're following a guide you won't know what the hell you're doing. Now I'm one for exploration and to learn by yourself, but some people don't like that. Some people just want to know what to do straight away. That's why games like Call of Duty are so popular. You shoot people. That's all there is to it and its such a great and fun game.

Digimon World is game that requires a lot of effort and is probably why it never really took off in the first place. Sure there are plenty of people who love the game and Digimon World has become very popular amongst file sharing. It's pretty much the only reason anyone downloads a PS1 emulator these days. But that is where it ends. The Digital World isn't big enough to impress anymore.

Pokemon White

Yes. Another post about Pokemon. I decided two days was long enough to wait after release and bought Pokemon White. Every one of the Pokemon games has had more than one version and each time one has been much more successful than the other for some reason or another. This time it is White that wins. Not sure why, but it sold 13000 more copies than Black. Maybe because the black pokemon on the front looks stronger (it's a dual type dragon/skinhead by the look of it.) Anyway, the figures are in and in one day 1.08million copies sold altogether in the US, which I think we can all agree is crazy!! Enough said about numbers... let's get to my reaction!

Very wary of the changes to the look and the new pokemon, I prepared myself to be disappointed, but I couldn't help but hope my gut feeling was right. I might be alone on this but when I played Pokemon Blue when I was 8 I couldn't stop playing. My friend Paul and I would sit together in his garden, playing side by side (when we played at home we organised specific checkpoints which we'd reach in preparation for the next session.) The feeling of wonder and total absorption in the game is something I haven't felt since then. I didn't think I could recapture that kind of immersion without revisiting old titles like Pokemon Blue, Monster Rancher or Digimon World (All adventures with Paul!)

Well, I didn't look quite this bad... but very close

What am I banging on about? My point is that this is the feeling I'm getting with Gamefreaks newest offering! I actually caught everything I saw because it was cute or interesting or looked strong. Knowing nothing about the new world and the new monsters makes me as inexperienced and full of wonder as the 8 year old me obsessively raising my Pidgey on my original Gameboy back on Paul's garden swing.

I imagine that this game might appeal to newcomers a lot more than the previous versions have, but for me it's all about the nostalgia. The pixellated close up of your pokemon's rear is quite dissapointing and I feel like the pace of battles is a little slower than I would have liked, but overall I can't really complain. There are plenty of new pokemon to get to grips with and the story is much more engaging (so far.) The Team Rocket/Magma/Aqua/Galactic equivalent- Team Plasma- seem to be less of a joke and the issue of animal rights has finally been brought up like the giant Donphan in the room! (Looks like an elephant.. No? Give me a break, I'm tired)

Ok so they LOOK ridiculous

I do apologize for raving on about it like a giddy 8 year old, but honestly, that's how the game makes me feel. It's horrifying to write that because it makes me sound like a grade A loser and general freak, but I can't help being taken back to my first encounter with the pokemon games when I play Pokemon White. I do take comfort in the fact that at least one person will share this feeling of childish joy with me and refrain from discretely deleting me from Facebook. Thanks Neil.

And in case you were wondering... Snivy

DannyDarko