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.

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!

Don’t fret! He Frag, She Frag will be back next week with more posts. Stay tuned.

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.

We had a discussion wherein I basically told him of the atrocities following Final Fantasy VIII. Was that a bit harsh? Mayhap, but my point still remains: instead of going a more adult route, Square Enix decided to do something….well, different; and by different I mean horrible. I am not a fan of numbers 9 and 10. The characters in both games were horrendously static and wooden. I never played number 11 simply because it was a MMO, and I despise having to pay more for something that I won’t be able to play regularly. Number 12, well, I guess I outgrew my love of the series by the time that one came along.

I won’t go into more detail, as the point of this entry is about the game at hand. Perhaps another time.

Moving on, I’ve read some player reviews. Most are good, though some are bad. Badly written, badly misspelled and very, very bad grammar, if any at all. The common theme seems to be that those who do not like the genre of JRPG’s do not like Lost Odyssey. I find this amusing in that some people can just be stupid enough to not know what they’re getting into. I have no sympathy for you if you buy a game simply because you want something else to play or you saw a cool ad for it and the graphics looked “awsum1″. The main complaints so far have been fairly trivial: too many cut scenes, turn based fights, linear storyline, ridiculous looking characters, a non-innovative game.

I chuckle to myself at these reviewers. Every flaw that they have so carefully pointed out is simply what makes up a JRPG. There is nothing innovative about the genre. In fact, every game within that genre has been recycled for the last 20 years. Just because it’s on the 360 does not mean it’s going to be groundbreaking! I cannot stress that enough.

That being said, I find the game enjoyable. Like any songs I love to listen to repeatedly, I can play recycled games into oblivion. It’s just what I do. Mike doesn’t agree, but then, he doesn’t have to play either. The turn based system they have is fairly refreshing. They tweaked it enough that it’s a bit different without having to relearn everything.

The graphics are beautiful and the voice acting is surprisingly well done. The characters are all stereotypical Japanese characters. The main character, Kaim, is the icy stoic figure as only main characters can be. He is an immortal and has lived for a thousand years, but has no memories of anything. Throughout the game you will come across his memories that you recount. They are all textual based and can become a bit tedious after a while. The random battles are surprisingly not as annoying as other previous JRPG’s. You can actually walk 10 steps without encountering a monster! There are only fixed save points, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.

Lost Odyssey is a good game, but not a great one. It sucks me in just enough, but it doesn’t blow my mind. Nor did I expect it to. I say if you’re a fan of JRPG’s and/or the Final Fantasy series, pick it up. It can be an enjoyable experience, if you let it be.

UPDATE: Played for a while tonight and I just want to say that my biggest frustration with this game right now is the boss fights and lack of encountering items.  The boss fights do not need to be so freaking hard! Also, couldn’t there have been more places to buy items? I’m half-way through Disc 1 and there’s only been one place to buy things! Pain in my ass.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

That’s when I found Mr. Campbell’s review. I’m reluctant to post it because of my lovely wife’s love for the game, but he makes some points about it that I’ve been trying to express. I happen to be an avid gamer from way-back, so FF7 wasn’t my first foray into a “deep and long” experience. I can’t help but draw comparisons to games prior to it that I feel did a better job in all the aspects people praise it for. All that aside, here’s the review…

Yes, the above is right, I found Final Fantasy 7, one of the most highly accoladed games of all time, below average. Oh sure, it has great graphics (Mike: I disagree with this, maybe because the version I played way-back was on the PC and not the Playstation.) and amazing cut scenes (Mike: Again, I disagree for the same reason), but the game itself is tedious and uninspiring.The gameplay is extremely typical RPG fare, with the wonderful but underdeveloped materia system being the only redeemable game mechanic.The plot is frankly boring, starting with a battle of “the little guys” against “the big bad corporation” and progressing with lots of ludicrous twists and holes and bland attempts at characterization. The battles end up being nothing more than repeatedly pressing one button, not to mention the fact that all the hit point and magic point numbers were unnecessarily increased by a factor of 10 (what was that all about? To make us think we were more powerful?).

The game was strictly railroaded from the start, at a time when a more branching RPG experience was expected. It was so bad in that aspect, in fact, that I felt more like I was watching a movie than playing a game, and there’s a reason movies aren’t 40 hours long.The materia system, mentioned above, is about the only thing I liked about the gameplay. It was an interesting, though unnecessary way to spice up the ordinary RPG magic system. Every weapon and piece of armor has a certain number of slots for materia, which look like small colorful spheres. The way in which materia is combined has much to do with its effects, giving the system a bit of depth. In addition, some weapons or armor, while statistically superior to others, may have fewer materia slots making the decision of what equipment to use a tradeoff.

The battles, the heart of any RPG, are active turned-based fights, meaning that each character and enemy has to wait their turn, but other characters or enemies may be acting in the meantime. It’s a little more exciting than the standard, purely turn-based battle, and as mentioned earlier devolves into simple button-mashing with little of the careful planning that typically marks RPG’s. The battles are also random, and in many places quite frequent, so every few steps on the overworld you’ll have to wait for the battle screen to load.The cut-scene graphics were mind-blowing when it was released (Mike: Hardly; even Wing Commander 3 was out on the Playstation at this time, whose cutscenes were better from what I had seen – Diablo’s surpassed it, as well), setting such an entirely new standard for gaming graphics that games were being compared to it for years after and few were suceeding (No way. Play more games from this era, Bennett). The overworld graphics, with deformed, blocky, polygonal characters are a bit rough but bearable, and the rest of the graphics, especially for some of the more powerful spells, make up for it. However, graphics do not a game make.

There’s really nothing original about Final Fantasy VII, and in fact many RPG’s on the previous Genesis and SNES platforms had better stories and gameplay. It’s slightly interesting that you’re thrown into the middle of the main character’s life (as a sidenote, the best entertainment I got from this game was the dialogue resulting from renaming Cloud, the main character, to ‘Moron’), but the minutes-long flashbacks and resulting lack of understanding quite what the goal is get tedious and downright annoying. Basically, other than the graphics, this is an underdeveloped version of a typical role-playing game. Really, Square should have spent more than 2% of their obviously large budget on something other than graphics.The minigames are a rare high point. After a few hours in, you’ll come to a casino-like area where you can play some minigames such as chocobo racing (chocobos are kind of like big chickens that people ride around on., and I’ve heard they taste like chicken too). However, there’s little the way of rewards other than a few special items, so eventually you must move on through the boring plot.

Many people state that the emotional ties that develop between the player and the characters are a large part of the enjoyment of the game. I suppose that would be a valid point if the characters or story were interesting or believable. All of the characters are one-dimensional and wooden, and the story plods on and on, only being tolerated because you’re forced to watch it in order to continue playing. The game would probably be more enjoyable if it were just about stats, materia, and chocobo racing, with the painfully boring story removed.For all the reasons stated above, there is little reason to replay this game. Throughout most of the game there are several characters to choose from, so theoretically one could enjoy replay the game with a different party. And, theoretically, we can earn money at Epinions but I think we all know how that goes. There are ‘best’ characters to use in all situations, but I’m not sure what kind of masochist would want to replay this boring game and make it more challenging the second time through. The game is also so linear that there’s no difference in the course of events on a replay, and there’s no reason anyone should have to live through those cut scenes again. Using the movie analogy again, who would see a 40 hour movie — twice?

Okay, so I’ve said my peice. I hated it. In fact, it’s hard for me to hate anything as much as I hate FF7. I’m sure part of that is the fact that it was blown totally out of proportion by hordes of 13 year olds who ate, slept, and drank FF7 for months, and the fact that if it weren’t marketed so aggressively and didn’t have the words ‘Final Fantasy’ in the title, it would have barely made a cent, and, that it directly influenced years of insufferably boring RPG’s, and well, you get the picture. In my book, this game isn’t ‘Final Fantasy VII’, it’s ‘Overrated Game That Sucked MMMLXVIII’.

I’m not quite so harsh on it, but I think my main annoyance with the game is the phenomena surrounding it. Clearly, many of these gamers had little frame of reference or experience in gaming when they broke into Final Fantasy VII.

I recall playing the demo when the PC version was on the verge of release and being appalled by the quality of the music alone. I also remember thinking that the characters looked like legos. If this game was as technologically groundbreaking as people seem to mis-remember, I would have been a lot more impressed by it. It would have left its mark on me, but I distinctly recall dismissing it. Quake came out a year prior, Wing Commander Prophecy was doing wonderful things with graphics, and Quake 2 was under a year away. FF7 was a technological black sheep in this climate, and I had deeper characters and stories suck me in years prior in 1992.

So yes; I think if this was one of your first substantial games, you’d look back on it fondly. For me, it just doesn’t compete with games I played before and after it. For that reason, It’s the most overrated game of all time.

Use reason when you look back on this game, people, not your nostalgia. The game, itself, doesn’t stand up. If someone is a fan because they really liked the game, that’s one thing – but to imagine groundbreaking design that was never there is something totally different.

Any game can be someone’s favorite. Just keep this one off the top of the ‘Greatest Games of All Time” lists, because it isn’t one.