magic > firaga > cast > the video game thread

[Yaksha]

But have you noticed in trend in later Final Fantasy games by making the main protagonist not the main character in the story? Final Fantasy X the main character is Yuna. The whole story is about her pilgrimage and how she will eventually sacrifice herself for the entire world. Yeah Tidus does contribute to the story with the whole Sin/Jecht issue, but it just seems like he isn't the focal point of the story. It's Yuna. Same with Final Fantasy XII. Vaan and Penello are put in front when it should have been Ashe and Balthier. Their story with Ashe trying to get her kingdom back and Balthier running away from his past as a former Judge was way more interesting than Vaan wanting to be a sky pirate. Balthier was a sky pirate. And he did say many times he was the leading man. It just seems they got the 2 main protagonists mixed up

[OchrisO]

That's sort of the way the big storyline Final Fantasy games have always been. Final Fantasy VII is really the story of Sephiroth and Aerith's attempts to stop him.You don't even get to play Sephiroth. The Cloud/Zack storyline is akin to the Tidus/Jecht storyline in X. Squall isn't the main character of Final Fantasy VIII, even though he is the focus. Final Fantasy VIII is Rinoa's story. Final Fantasy IX is the exception, because it actual is Zidane and Kuja's story. It starts out making you think it might be Princess Garnet's story. though.

[Yaksha]

It just annoys me somewhat. Make the main character the main protagonist. It is not that hard to make a main protagonist. Just don't do an whiny emo git like Squall, or a whiny bitch with daddy issues like Tidus. Now Cecil. There was a main character. A flawed man haunted by the deeds he had done searching for redemption with he finds by rejecting his Dark Knight persona and becoming a Paladin. Or even Cloud. A man experimented on and so traumatized that he absorbed the memories and skills of his best friend and took on his persona in order to cope with what had been done to him. Or Terra. Or Bartz. Hell I will even throw Vaan in as a good main character even though he isn't. His search for what happened to his brother and him wanting to escape from his life as a thief to become a sky pirate is more interesting that Tidus or Squall. Just saying

[OchrisO]

Of all of the stories I have liked the FFIII(US)/VI(JP) story of Terra the best. That is by far my favorite game and I still go back and play it pretty regularly. I would rather them do a modern remake of III/VI than nay of the stuff they have put out the past few years. Could you imagine that initial assault on Narshe in the beginning with modern graphics? Or Kefka standing atop the city with that evil laugh after he has poisoned the water at Doma Castle?


I think most of them have had good stories, though. I guess I am fairly easy to please as far as Final Fantasy goes. I have far more technical and game play issues with Square-Enix than storyline issues.

[Yaksha]

Oh that would be epic. Can you imagine the opera scene in HD with voices? Worth it

[fernandito]

Quite frankly I've never played a FF game I didn't like. They each have their flaws but at the end of the day the games are much more than the sum of their individual parts. Final Fantasy IX is not only my favorite FF, it's one of my favorite games of all time period.

Here's my ranking

1. IX
2. VI
3. XII
4. VII
5. VIII
6. X
7. XIII-2
8. XIII

[mystima]

I liked XIII-2 story wise, but I didn't like the ending...lets just say it pissed me off....lol...and usually I like to do all of the extra stuff in the games like finding all the different times but one of them I just couldn't find the key to...then I found out later that you could get it after you finished the game....arrrr...i put it away and never went back to it.

[fernandito]

My only complaint with XIII-2 is that it blatantly sets up XIII-3 (which was just teased by Square Enix this week btw). Games like FF should always have a self contained story, regardless of whether they're going to continue down that path or not.

[mystima]

Ah i see...I thought the "to be continued" stuff was for the DLC they were going to bring out not another sequel...grrr

[Brice]

I haven't met a FF game i didn't like. Some i like more than others, of course. I think 10 was the last one I've played though.

[Tatts4Life]

Back when FF VII came out I played the crap out of that game. I got so far I was up to some of the last boss battles. Well one day I put the game in and my save was gone. I was so pissed I didn't touch the game for years. Only recently when it was released on the psp/ps3 did I pick it back up.

[fernandito]

put my gamer profile banner in my sig

[fernandito]

I never really was that amazed by Final Fantasy VII. I know it was groundbreaking and so beautiful and all that shit when it was new, but it always just felt so fucking dull.

Nostalgia definitely plays a part. I respect it for the game changer that it was, but it definitely hasn't aged well. It's hard to be emotionally invested in blocky game characters with no facial expressions.

In other news, is anybody else anticipating Dishonored?

YES. It strikes me as a hybrid of Bioshock and Fallout 3. And I'm biased towards anything with Bethesda's name on it.

In other other news, Dark Souls got a PC release yesterday. I can't afford it right now, but is it worth getting?

Depends - how high is your threshold for difficult games? This series is known for being unforgivingly difficult. People swear by it's amazing atmosphere and gameplay, but apparently it's not uncommon to lose HALF YOUR LIFE BAR after dying during the game. Google impressions so you can see what I'm talking about.

[Yaksha]

Been heavily immersed in Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2 this past couple of weeks. I can't stop replaying these games. The storylines are amazing the soundtrack is stunning and I don't hate a single thing about them

[fernandito]

Gaming update :

If all goes according to plan, I should be grabbing my Darksiders 2 platinum before the weekend is out. I just need the 'clear 100 waves of enemies without dying or restarting' trophy which should prove to be a royal pain in the ass, but like a Saiyan I look forward to the challenge!

I have the Devil May Cry and Ratchet & Clank HD collections to keep me busy for a while until Resident Evil 6 is out next month.

[mystima]

for you Zelda fans.....

The Skyward Sword

[Odetta]

for you Zelda fans.....

The Skyward Sword

[Brice]

[fernandito]

That's awesome!

Got my Darksiders 2 platinum! Brought my grand total up to 8.

Is anyone else planning on picking up Bethesda's Dishonored?

[fernandito]

Haha, yeah it's a tight Q4 2012 but Dishonored is definitely a title that begs to be picked up day one.

The games that I'm anticipating / will most likely pick up for the remainder of 2012

Assassin's Creed III
Resident Evil 6
Black Ops II
Dishonored

I never played Borderlands 1 so I'm not sure if I should chance it and pick up part II. Does it matter if I haven't played part 1 yet?

[fernandito]

Well, I think this is the first time I'm actually glad to hear that a current gen game is light on story

Also, how's the open world component? Is it comparable to, let's say ... Fallout 3? In my mind I'm picturing a Fallout-esque world map with cel-shaded graphics.

[mystima]

NCsoft has kicked themselves in the foot. will not be getting anything from them ever!!!!!!!!!!

Farewell, from all of us at Paragon Studios
It's not that they shut the game down, it's the way they did it.

" By now, we've all been given this news internally, but to anyone who may be reading this message after the fact; know that your hard work and dedication has not gone unappreciated or unnoticed. To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won't regret it. " I read this and was WTF!?

They basically fired the whole staff at Paragon studios over the Labor Day weekend and said pack your stuff and GTFO.

[OchrisO]

That's not exactly what they did. They plan to keep the game going until what they expect to be the end of November(http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/...FMIPZ0.twitter). Honestly, that is bigger notice that a lot of job terminations get. It sucks a lot when I company decided to shut down an MMO, but in the end, it is a business and if a game isn't generating enough income to justify the game's continued life, they have to shut it down. The Paragon management and players of the game has also been organizing stuff to try to save the game(http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09...save-the-game/), including an in game protest(http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09...at-atlas-park/) and community organization efforts(http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index....ard,134.0.html).

I doubt NCsoft is likely to keep the game around without a lot of users spending a lot of money in game currency, though and I am not even sure if the store is still enabled. NCsoft has always been a company whose primary focus is making money and COH/V has never been a money maker. It certainly wasn't in the longer term for Cryptic Studios and the sold it to NCsoft as a result. NCsoft didn't make money form it either and made it free to play with micro transactions in an effort to make it worth keeping. I guess it didn't work in their eyes. Any time an MMO goes free to play, it is because it isn't making enough money with the subscription model. PLayers should always assume that if a decent part of the player base isn't buying a lot of stuff from the item shops, on the level of at or near a subscription fee's worth each month(usually around $15), then the game's days are numbered. From everything I have seen, COH's days have been numbered for a while. It sucks, but it happens and I would say an over two month notice is a fairly decently length termination notice for the employees. Some coders may be released before then, because there is no more development being done, but they probably get contract severance packages or something anyway. Areanet is on fire right now with Guild Wars 2(which is the best MMO I have played in a LOOONG time) and will probably pick up some of the developers since they are a subsidiary of NCsoft.

[Empath of the White]

I'm getting the Jak and Daxter and DMC HD collections for Christmas. Is Rachet and Clank a pretty good series?

edit: Can't unsee that 6 now. Thanks razz.

[mystima]

Fighting the End of the World with Social Networking and Virtual Capes

I didn't realize that it would get this much attention after i posted earlier...it has reached CNN news. One of the supporters of the game is none other than Neil Gaiman.