For the early Final Fantasies, what they lacked in processing power they made up in creativity and silliness.
For example, in the middle of Final Fantsay VI you have to act in a full 12 minutes opera on the SNES until a purple octopus tries to get revenge by dropping an anvil on you.
No, I'm not joking.
As it was on the SNES, it was revolutionary and amazing for the time, but everyone has at least some idea what an opera should sound like, so there was always the knowledge that - as amazing as this scene is- it fell flat.
Several years ago, Nobou Uemetsu started a traveling orchestra. He recomposed the songs so they could be played with a full orchestra and we could finally get a sense of what he was trying to make all those years ago.
"Maria and Draco" is ripe for that kind of remake. It had a few lines added to finish up the opera (in the original version, all the actors are knocked out and Locke adlibs until Setzer interrupts the performance) and we get a beautiful, operatic, video game music and how it should have been played all those years ago.
I've talked about DLC before. When I did, I mentioned that SE had basically just found out DLC existed. The previous DLC content (not including their MMO's) consisted of alternate costumes for Dissidia. When Final Fantasy XIII-2 was announced, they also announced there would be some DLC for the game.
Alright, so the game is released, people unlock all the endings and.... it ends on a To Be Continued. I'll note that they did register a XIII-3 trademark a few months before the game was released, and they claimed it was to pre empt any filings, but it's easy to assume they were lying after that ending. But there is one thing that really bugs me.
Like I said, they just found out about DLC. Their first foray into DLC was in Dissidia 012. The DLC consisted of extra costumes and songs on top of their already expanded in game content. However, the newest costumes and songs were only available if you paid. A large number was released in Japan, a lesser amount was brought over to the US (I don't know why, some of those would have been great! Look!)
And that is fair enough. The original game only had 2 sets of costumes, default and alternate. While it was annoying some of it was tied into preorders and so on over here (I only got KH Cloud, which is fine. I love that outfit) it was hard to get all of it before, and then SE just stopped bringing the costumes over even though they had already been made.
Then we get to XIII-2. It ends on a complete cliffhanger, In fact, we see Lightning turn to Crystal on Valhalla, Serah dies, and it's all confusion (even more so for me since I haven't played the game, but I have heard about this) Now, before the game was released they did talk a bit about DLC. There would be costumes (Pre order based. I HATE those.) and then they talked about a Sazh episode. Now, that makes sort of sense for me. It would probably be a minor or pointless side story. Don't get me wrong, I love Sazh I'm annoyed it wasn't in the full release, but it could have been cut but instead it's DLC. Unless Sazh ended up actively involved with the plot and changed it due to him being there then DLC works. It fills us in with some minor details, some fanservice, but won't cause alot of headaches if we miss it. There is another DLC, the coliseum battles between Serah, Noel and various monsters so that you can catch the monsters and use them later. Okay, I can see how that could be used. I would like to have it in there already, but it works.
It's the last piece of DLC that I've heard about that makes me mad. LIGHTNING'S STORY is going to be DLC. I don't know if it will cover her side of what happened in XIII-2 or it will be a continuation of the game, but that is a MAJOR part of the plot and it SHOULD have been put in the game. Other games switch players around all the time. In fact, Final Fantasy has done it before!
So, why did this have to be DLC? If it's a side story, it's probably going to explain a HECK of a lot. If it's a continuation of the story, then that SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FINAL RELEASE. And then they're going to do it again with Theathrythm, it's getting some Day 1 DLC of songs that could probably have actually been on the cart. Unless they are giving it away for free, it's a complete rip off.
Game companies, clean up your act. It's not just Square Enix who does this.
DLC can be a VERY wonderful thing, as long as you are NOT cutting things out of the actual release and/or restricting it only to people who buy it new. I'm sure it brings in a lot of money now, but people are getting sick of it. Sooner or later, that revenue stream will dry up, and people will stop buying the games.
Please, just give us the whole game. You may have to delay it, but I'd rather pay sixty for it later then pay 100 dollars in installments for something I'm not even sure I own.
Today is the first day of Winter, so I wanted to showcase one of the best winter levels.
The Final Fantasy VI opening
I know, I know, you don't play there. But it's a simply beautiful level to look at with the music playing. the side view is generally unheard of in the game's context, and the level doesn't actually loop. Instead you get closer and closer to the goal of the city (which you can see twinkling in the distance).
It doesn't seem so now, but in the age of the SNES, this was VERY impressive. It's impressive now, in our age of CG and orchestrated sounds. This was, and still is, very amazing.
And, visually, it's done very simply. It's a simple perspective change that pulls us into the story, gives us back story, introduces us to our heroine, introduces or villain (No, really, Kefka shows up briefly) and really pulls us into the world.
It makes you care about this world, one that I hope Square revisits at some point.
Since Final Fantasy VI debuted on the PSN today, I thought I would analyze Terra (spoilers ahead) I should also note, she's not my favorite character, Cyan is. But, I'm saving Cyan for my birthday or something.
Well, Terra is (arguably) the lead character. And she's half human. I know she doesn't look like it, but she's half esper.
This is actually not only critical to the plot but to her personality. Esper's have great control over magic, but in doing so have very little emotions. While Terra can feel emotions, if she does so it is at the expense of her magic. Well, at least initially. Eventually she finds out that emotional disturbances end up disrupting her magic. Like making it ceasing to work.
Or turning her into this:
Which is why the Empire put her in a slave crown at the beginning of the game. She has immense power, but she's also very kind and can not work properly when under stress (like in battle).
So, if she doesn't like battle, why does she fight?
Because she has a reason. She wants to find out who she is, and she knows the empire doesn't want to share it. So, she joins up with Locke to find out... plus now that she's free she realized the Empire is in the wrong. But, she doesn't realize that anything is particularly odd with her, until she uses Magic in front of Edgar. Upon finding out that she is different, she looks to find out what she can do to "fix" her...
But instead, finds out that she can't understand love. She has no idea what it is, or how she should recognize it.
This search is a key part of her character. To quote her, "I want to know what love is NOW!" She wants to know how she's different, she wants to know why, she wants to fall in love.
And she does, but in a wonderful twist, it's not with a person...
Not any one person.
Instead, once they fail utterly and Kefka destroys the world, she takes over a small village and takes care of the kids. It is there she finds love. Not in one person, but in a village of children that would not have survived if she hadn't stepped in. And she couldn't use her magic until she realized that she loved her kids and she wanted to protect them.
It is also what allows her to survive after the end too.
Love motivates many of the characters in Final Fantasy VI. But, you'll have to play it to find out everyone else's love. (And don't forget to sleep in inns with Shadow)
This is one of my favorite games, and I really can't do an analysis of Terra well enough. She's a very confused young woman who, for all intents and purposes, woke up and had no idea who she is. She spends parts of the game trying to figure it out, only to find out she's not human, and, eventually, does find her purpose. In her new family in the town, and her friends who traipsed across an entire world to make sure no one would have to go through what she did ever again.
