Filed under: Games & Gaming, Jasmine's Rambling, Reviews, Role-Playing | Tags: Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7, Nobuo Uematsu, Super Nintendo
Well now, my fellow followers of He Frag, She Frag…it’s been a while hasn’t it? So here I am to satisfy you of your naughty little voyeuristic habit. As many of you may know, I am a fan of the Final Fantasy series. I don’t tout I’m a supreme expert, but I have played a number of them over the years. Though, one that eluded me was Final Fantasy 6. Although in my defense I will say it’s because I never owned a Super Nintendo.
Moving on, I’ve been having problems with playing my version of Final Fantasy 7 and it had been causing me some distress lately. Mike, being the wonderful husband he is, set off on a quest roaming the internet for anything that might help my dilemma. However, he came across some fan boys arguing over the greatest debate ever: which Final Fantasy is the best? Each installment has their own fan base, though these particular individuals were arguing that Final Fantasy 6 was perhaps the best game of the series.
After the evening rush and rituals involved in taking care of our family, he sat me down and explained to me very gently that he wanted me to try it, since I was visibly upset in not having any games to play. I scoffed at first, but decided I’d give it a try. He went through all that trouble, after all.
It turned out I am pretty much obsessed with the game. Even in all its 16-bit glory, I find it calling out to me in the middle of the night, wherein I awake in a cold sweat to find a glowing beacon by my side. I pat it reassuringly, murmuring promises of the night forthcoming.
Er..that is, I really enjoy the game.
One of the most compelling things about the game is the music. I love Nobuo Uematsu. I know, I am that much of a dork, but this game has a much better quality and diversity of MIDI’s. Yes, MIDI’s they are, but I find myself humming tunes from the games at odd times, and belting out the fan fare after I have done something triumphant. Which happens frequently throughout my day.
The story, obviously, is the biggest selling point. It’s set in an alternate steampunk universe where magic abilities are rare. It’s a rebellious time, as it always is. An evil Empire has fostered a most devious man who wants all power for himself. A patchwork of different rogue’s gallery types develop a mismatched alliance set out to take down the evil once and for all, whilst learning more about themselves in the process. The characters are well thought out and you can sympathize with them, most of the time. The combat system is just as you would expect a game of the series to be. The only drawback, as with any JRPG, is there are way too many random encounters. A minor setback, but always a very annoying one.
Bearing in mind its age, I still think this game stands the test of time. It could possibly become one of those games I play religiously every year from now on.
Hello, followers of He Frag, She Frag! I’m writing to tell you why things have been so slow here lately, and to keep you tuned in because frankly, we don’t want to lose the two of you that actually read this. Now I know I said three weeks ago that there’d be something substantial for you to read. Well, again, I was wrong; and again, you are wrong for trusting in me.
No, I’m not being serious. But there have been some honest technical difficulties going on behind the scenes here, namely a) our 360 decided to throw us the 3 Rings of Death recently and b) we haven’t had any money to buy any new games. Not that we could play any new ones since our 360 died, but it’ll be about a month or so before we get it back. Sooo…in the meantime, what shall we entertain you with? Something news related? Maybe even throw in some nostalgia? That’ll probably have to keep you sustained until further notice.
So that about wraps it up, kids. We haven’t abandoned you. Now I’m going to sit in a remote corner, convulse and foam from the mouth because of my 360 withdrawal syndrome.
Catch you on the flip side, boooiiiieee!
Filed under: News
Sorry for the break between updates. We’ve had an extremely busy month so far! Between all the doctor’s appointments, our son taking off walking all by himself and being on vacation, we haven’t had much time for gaming ( at least I haven’t).
Don’t fret! He Frag, She Frag will be back next week with more posts. Stay tuned.
Filed under: Games & Gaming, News, Reviews | Tags: Army of Two, Final Fantasy, Gary Gygax, JRPG, Lost Odyssey, MMO
I guess it has been quite a few days since I last posted. Sorry for the wait, guys. You’d think a stay at home mother would have nothing better to do than to blog all day, but that’s where you are wrong, my friend!
First off is some news, and I want say RIP to Gary Gygax. You will be sorely missed.
Yesterday we picked up Lost Odyssey in favor over Army of Two mainly because I’d been anxiously awaiting a JRPG for the 360. Currently I am about 4 hours into the game and have hopeful expectations for where it can go from here. I must say, it’s been a pleasurable experience so far. I think this game is where the Final Fantasy series should have gone after Final Fantasy VIII. Saying thus, it might leave you wondering, “Just what the hell do you mean?”. Indeed, I said this to Mike and he had a similar reaction. (more…)
Hey, Japan, we’ve had soundcards for almost two decades now – use them!
I was watching Jasmine play Lost Odyssey last night – a spiritual successor to the Final Fantasy games on the 360 – and I was [somewhat] shocked to see reels and reels of exposition done completely in text. Text! Text! How about flipping your four DVD’s worth of boring, emptily-rendered cinematics into some useful voice-acting so you don’t have to read the equivalent of two novels between each battle?
Someone tell me this, too; why does a game need to be 40+ hours long? Do you do anything diverse in those hours? No. You do line-up-and-whack-off grinds for a couple days between each asinine cinematic, which is followed up by – in Lost Odyssey’s case – pages and pages of textual storytelling. Apparently the main character, Kaim – an amnesiatic immortal – only has text-based memories, because each recollection he has is done in 5,000 words or less. That you have to read.
I have no problem with reading, don’t get me wrong. If the game were made in 1993, it’d be fine – but it drives me crazy when these JRPG’s – heralded as epics – get ported over here with polished creature designs, and nothing more. I don’t feel immersed in a cinematic expierence when the camera is fixated on the pages of a damn paperback for 15 minutes at a time. The ‘memory’ sequences don’t even have any stimulating visuals to accompany them.
This goes for you too, Nintendo. Make your damn Zelda games talk. It’s 2008.
Mass Effect did a fabulous job of blending movie with game. Japanese developers need to start appreciating the fact that video games are something we westerners do better, and improve their tired old RehashCraft.
Let’s face it, I’m a blurber. If I don’t have the motivation to chime in at length about something, I’ll just throw up an interesting link.
Which is what is happening now! Actually, I’ll have a good article about my proven XBox 360 Life-Extender tecnhique this week – I just felt the urge to make this post because of a newsletter I just received from The Escapist. They posted this article about the ‘accidental success’ of the first X-Com game, which I found pretty interesting. It was more than a sleeper hit than anything, but is universally acclaimed by anybody who knows anything about the history of video games.
For those not in “the know,” X-Com: UFO Defense was a squad-based tactical strategy game with equal parts economic planning and resource management. You’d oversee the construction of X-Com’s bases, hire recruits, research and produce new equipment, and vie for financial support by aiding the countries of the world with their UFO problems.
They kind of give the sequel, Terror from the Deep, a bad wrap – but I enjoyed it. Yeah, it was basically the same game as the first with new graphics, but I totally dug the Lovecraftian allusions.
The first game served only to perpetuate my fear of aliens and alien abductions – a popular media topic in the US at the time, what with shows like Sightings and the X-Files being popular - and so I regard it with equal parts love and discomfort.
With 2K Games’ purchase of the X-Com franchise, this may not be the end of this classic name in the news.
Filed under: Games & Gaming, Interesting Links, Multiplayer, Role-Playing | Tags: fantasy, pen & paper, Role-Playing
Sorry for the delay, it certainly has been a few days longer than I would have liked. I was actually expecting Jasmine to blog about one of the items on her topic list before I got to my next post, but I guess I win!
I have a few things to blog about over the next couple days, but I’ll start from the to top: Fantasy Grounds. Chances are you haven’t heard of it, but it’s essentially a virtual tabletop for Pencil and Paper role-playing games, and all that the concept implies. Roll virtual dice, draw on virtual maps, host games and play as Non-Player Characters and even use mood lighting to accentuate your scenario’s location and various expositions. It’s the whole freakin’ package, and it’s customizable; don’t like a particular rule-set? Fine, create your own (a feature that has me drooling over this thing) – inject your own map graphics, character portraits, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
The full version, of course, costs money – but it’s affordable, and comes in two flavors; ‘Full’ and ‘Lite’ – the former offering the ‘game master’ system and customization tools, and the latter being the player’s edition, allowing them to log into the game master’s ‘room’ and play their characters.
If you’re a fan of role-playing, or simply were too shy to try it, this is your chance. There’s nothing more comforting (and annoying) than the anonymity of the internet – but at least you can have hearty creative sessions over the distance with close friends.
Definitely good stuff.
UPDATE: It’s too much of a coincidence that I made this post on the same day that Gary Gygax passed away. RIP Gary, and thank you for all your contributions to evolving modern gaming. Your work inspired Ultima, which makes me eternally grateful.
For you shooter fans out there who prefer playing with a buddy (and using equal parts brains and brawn), I have a good cooperative-gameplay opportunity for you; EA’s Army of Two.
Slated for release on March 4th (next Tuesday!), Army of Two focuses on 2-player teamwork – necessitating the help of either your AI partner or human co-player (maybe your significant other?) to complete the story campaign.
What I find to be the coolest aspect of this title are the various maneuvers you and your teamie can partake in; one can pull a door off a car and hold it in front of themselves while you follow behind, firing over their shoulder – or even drag your wounded friend to safety, while they continue to fire on pursuing enemies. Heck, you can even give them them a ten-finger upsy-daisy; all of which are just the tip of the iceberg.
I’ll spare you all the details and let a preview do that for me, if you’re interested. Jaz and I are excited about this one, and will definitely be checking it out – and blogging about in its wake.
It’s be available on the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3.
Filed under: Articles, Games & Gaming, Jasmine's Rambling, Nostalgia | Tags: amiga 500, gaming, men, nintendo, she-ra, super mario brothers, women, world of warcraft
Now hang on there, buckaroo. I know what you’re thinking: you’re going to run home to the wife and proclaim, “See, honey? I told you so!” and engage in an all night World of Warcraft orgy fest, feeling smug in your assertion. Does this sound like you? Yes, I thought it would. Well, cowboy, here’s where I will layeth the smacketh downeth on you.
At first glance, reading the article made sense to me. Men are typically more aggressive than women are. I’m ok with that, really. However, I thought the study was horribly inaccurate due to one minuscule detail: there were only 22 test subjects. What’s more, is that we don’t know the backgrounds of each person. Were the men already addicted to gaming before the test? Did the women have an aversion to gaming or have they played games since their childhood? I believe environmental factors before the test was performed could slant the test either way.
Many men will argue that their addiction to gaming is simply an outlet for their fantasies. Men want to be the superhero that saves the day, kisses the girl and flies off into the sunset. It’s the ultimate fantasy for a man. Why isn’t it that way for women, too? In a nutshell: it is. I think some men feel a tad emasculated when a woman crashes their daydream, so women in gaming typically tend to go more underground. Being an avid gamer, a geek, a wife and a mother, I know this to be true.
I was raised by my father to be a geek. I don’t think he consciously thought, “I’m going to make Jasmine a geek”, but he laid the foundation for it. The first time I remember being on a computer was my dad’s Amiga 500. I was 3 at the time, and he bought me a dinosaur coloring game which I loved. After the Amiga he bought the Nintendo Entertainment System where we really bonded over countless hours of playing Super Mario Bros. Though my geekery was not limited to video games, it also fell over into the 80′s pop culture cartoons. To this day I still feel the urge to wear a blond wig at the grocery store, hold aloft my sword and declare, “For the Honor of Grey Skull! I am She-Ra!”.
Like men, I too want to be the super hero; albeit a scantily clad super hero with large breasts that can kick your ass. I’m competitive, I’m merciless, I will hump your dead body and above all: I am a woman.
Filed under: Games & Gaming, Mike's Rambling, Role-Playing | Tags: Final Fantasy 7
Jaz’s post last night reminded me of a blog entry I made elsewhere on September 5th of last year. Rather than paraphrasing it, I decided to re-post it here – so it’d finally get an actual audience. Unfortunately, I no longer know the location of the quotes I used – I believe they were user comments on some b-list game review site. I apologize in advance if any of my actual words (and not those of the review I quoted) seem venomous; it was written at a moment of weakness…
September 5th, 2007:
Bennett Campbell, you’re just some guy who posted a reader review of a game back in 2005 that I happened to find today, but you are my champion. With the exception of one general statement you’ve made, you have managed to express a frustration of mine I feel I’ve been alone to hold and cherish like a Knight Templar and his oath.
Let me back-track before I trudge on; today I was surfing the web, and stumbled upon the blog of Warren Spector while reminiscing about Deus Ex – one of my favorite games. While reading his various posts, I came to realize (again) just how good Deus Ex was – and, more specifically, what made it good.
While on this high, I saw a fanboy remark about Final Fantasy 7. Yes, the usual one; “OMFG FFVII IS SUCH A BETTAR RPG.” Mismatched genres aside, it angered me – and so I set out to find someone besides myself who was less than impressed by this confusing – yet somehow beloved – Japanese Role-Playing Game.
