Yes, I know I didn't finish last night. I was tired and had to get some sleep. And I had work in a few hours. Granted, I slept almost completely through work, but hopefully, I won't do that tonight. And besides, my sleepiness was beginning to affect the cohesiveness of my opinions. So, onto the rest . . .
Movies:
Yes, I'm doing this one again. Why? Because I saw Revolutions for a second time tonight. I was able to look at it more critically. And you know what? I liked it even more. I've made up my mind. Revolutions is the better movie. It's tighter, more polished, and more emotionally affecting than Reloaded. There were aspects of both that I liked, but overall, Revolutions had fewer faults than Reloaded. Reloaded needed a little clean-up and polish, that's all. But Revolutions obviously had that. And watching it a second time helped me see all the littlethings included in it that make it such a great film. Little lines from each of the characters just add so much life to the film. Like I said before, the expanded roles of the supporting characters really add a lot to the film, and performances by Hugo Weaving, and whoever plays Merilovingian are amazing. Absolutely brilliant acting. And Keanu actually is believeable during a certain character's death. Go Keanu! You're improving! Oh, and The Kid, is fucking hot. I want to do him. Badly.
But yeah, I also realize just how incredibly open-ended the movie is. Very few questions are answered, and many questions are raised. It would only make sense for another installment to be created. These questions need answered. The Oracle as much as says that Neo is still alive. And the new peace? Exactly what does it entail? Freedom for humans already out of the matrix, and any humans currently trying to get out, but does that mean that some humans will still be slaves? Will freed humans be allowed to encourage others to escape the matrix? Like I said, too many questions. I look forward to the true third installment with much anticipation.
Videogames:
Yes, I'm back to this. Afterall, I do have 4 more FF titles to discuss. So, let's get started, shall we?
Final Fantasy Tactics: This is probably the most different of the Final Fantasy titles. The only thing it really has in common is, well, the developer. The battle system is radically different (It is a stratagy title, after all). And the story is also very different from the typical FF fanfare. The job system makes a spectacular return. Afterall, why not include the most strategic character advancement system in the FF stratagy title? The whole battle system is remarkably well done. Very easy to navigate the menus, and you always have all the info you need to plan and coordinate your attacks. This doesn't mean its not challenging, though. Hell, this is the most difficult FF title I've ever played. Although, unfortunately, the game's final battles are oddly easy. The end of the third chapter is vastly more difficult than the end of the game. That being said, the whole game becomes rather easy once you acquire Orlandu. He's the baddest badass you'll find in any FF game. He could easily take on any boss by himself. It's almost cheap how strong this character is. I ended up not using him just to make the game actually challenging once I had him.
The storyline is very complex and deep, but very different from usual FF's. There's no huge supernatural force tying to destroy the whole world. FFT revolves around political conspiracies. Lots of twists and backstabbing and suspicion, etc. Very intelligently done. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. And at the end of the game, you find out that you may have saved the day, but things still continue on as though nothing had ever happened. People still selfishly pursue their own agendas regardless of anyone else. It's not the most uplifting of endings to find out the accomplishments of the main character are merely forgotten, but it has a sense of realism. Things aren't always the way they should be in the real world.
The main character, Ramza, is decent, but not as well fleshed out as most FF heros. Most of the people comprising your party are generic soldiers you've had with you since the first battle. They really have no impact on the game other than their presence in battles. They have no personalities, and no backstories what-so-ever. Sure, you get characters on your side that actually have personalities, but by the time you do, you've had the generic people for so long that their abilities are vastly ahead of anyone else you get. With the sole exception of Orlandu. This is the main flaw characterwise in the entire game. The supporting cast in this game is huge, and most are pretty well fleshed out. Better than in most games. They are just as fleshed out as Ramza, actually. So, while it is a testament to the depth of the supporting cast, it is also a gripe about the depth of the main character.
An amazing battle system, deep story, and fascinating supporting characters make this hands down one of the better FF's out there.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: By now you've all probably noticed that I'm not going in true chronological order. I've decided to do all the lower system FF's before I get to the next-gen consoles. I'll explain later, but I'm talking about FFTA here.
Surprisingly different from the first FFT. I haven't beaten it yet, but I've logged in more than 50 hours. This game is surprisingly huge for such a small cartridge. The story is much less serious than other FF's. It's not bad, but personally, I like the seriousness of the others. This story is very much geared towards a younger crowd, which I am slightly dissappointed with. It's not bad, just very light-hearted and not as complex as most installments. It's not terribly gripping. The characters are decently portrayed, but also more shallow than other FF's. The main character is annoyingly whiny.
But while the story and characters take a dip in quality, the battle system is just as fun as the first FFT. But also different. They have added different races and each races has different jobs available to them. I found this to be a very interesting aspect. The variety was fun, and made job combinations more complex. One person couldn't do all of them. You had to plan it better. That and the number of jobs increased dramatically. There are so many that I've been training around 10 characters (when you can only use 6 at the most in battle) just to try all the different combinations. The only drawback with the booming number of jobs is that many jobs seem like they are the same, just with different names. The moogle animist, the Nou Mou sage, the Viera Elimentalist, and the human ninja all have very, very similar abilities. And those aren't the only cases. The increased number of jobs would have worked better if they were all truly individualistic. Too much repetition there. But the abiliy learning system is much easier and faster than in FFT where you could go through an entire battle and not even come close to gaining an ability. I prefer the FFTA version much better where equipped items teach you things. It provides incentive to not just use the most powerful weapons and adds an extra element of challenge. Which brings me to another point. This game isn't nearly as challenging as its predecessor. By anymeans. I've only had to start over a total of twice, and those were more due to my own stupid mistakes, while I frequently had to try battles 2 or three times to beat them in the first FFT. One aspect that does provid a challenge is the law system. It makes you think more. But more often than not, it is simply annoying. In one instance, I was fighting monsters, but there was a law that would penalize me for attacking a monster . . . what the fuck? I had to run away from the battle b/c there was no way I could possibly beat it. Things like that are what makes the law system annoying. Yes, there are anti-law cards, but you can only hold so many before you have to start throwing them away. In fact, you can't even carry enough to carry one card of each. The laws are central to the game's plot, but needs tweaking b/c now it's just a big annoyance.
So, while not as immersive as other FF's, the addictive battle system still hooks you. Definietely worth a try. But I'd have to say, it's the weakest FF in terms of story, which is what FF is all about.
FF X: The first FF on a next-gen system, and it certainly shows. This game is absolutely amazing. It is probably the most flawless FF I've ever played. Everything about it is top-notch. The graphics: orgasmic. Simply orgasmic. And in this one they included speech. You don't have to read the dialogue, you listen to it. And it is done exquisitely for the most part. There are only a few instances of truly annoying voice acting. And for the incredibly large amount of dialogue, this is quite a feat.
The story is also amazing. There are all sorts of apperant plot holes in the beginning, but as the story progresses, they are all filled in and the result is truly magical. This is an epic in every sense of the word. It is the only other FF to affect me emotionally other than FF VII. There are countless moments of laughter as well as sadness. It just seems so alive. And despite the incredible length of the game, it seems to fly by. It's so immersive that you really don't notice how much time has past.
The characters in this game truly shine. This is the first FF in which I have loved each and evvery character. Everyone has an interesting personality, each one is deep and complex and really grows throughout their journey. From badass Auron to bubbly Rikku, they are all memorable. And for me to enjoy a bubbly character like Rikku, is truly an amazing feat. What makes this game so great is that the battle system was completely redesigned and you have the ability to use all party members in every battle. You can swtich them in and out at will. In fact, you are encouraged to do so. This aspect alone made battles entertaining. And each character, once again, had their own special niche to fill in the party. Each character had a specific role to fill. So you swap them in, they do their job, and you swap another character in to do their job. It was like teamwork, just how the party would really behave. I mean, how much sense is it if you have 9 characters, but 3 of them do the fighting while the other 6 just sit back and watch? And the sphere grid was also really cool. Granted, it didn't grant much more freedom in character development than other FF's, but it gave you the illusion that it did. And once you got to a certain point in the game, you really did gain that freedom to make Lulu the mage into a badass fighter just like Auron. Simply brilliant. And summons were completely redesigned so that they also were realistic and made sense. You could actually control the summon like it was a member of the party. Hell, it was a member of the party. It didn't just quickly attack and dissappear. And they were actually powerful, unlike in FFIX. There were just so many new ideas implemented in the battle system, and they all actually worked, unlike FF VIII, that the result was very impressive. It was a whole new game and revolutionized the FF series.
And then there were the mini-games. A surprising amount. Even more than VII, and no annoying card game (I really never liked those. There's something about cards that just bores me to tears.). Now, lots of people gripe about blitzball, and I hated it too at first, but once you get the hang of it and actually know what you're doing, it's a blast, and a fun way to get more gil and items. Probably my favorite mini-game so far in the series.
This game is a true masterpiece. The characters are great, the story is great, the battle system is great. Everything is top notch. It's easily the longest FF to date, but also the fastest paced at the same time. There's just so many good things to say about it, I can't put it all into words. Maybe I'll take another stab at it later.
FF XI: Now, I've just recently bought this game, and have just barely scratched the surface. And if you read this blog regularly, I've gone on and on about it already. But, I'm going to analyze it a bit more in depth here.
First of all, this is far from the typical FF in that it is an online only game. What storyline there is, is minimal. It's more like a general backstory as much as anything so far. I think it's supposed to become more, but I haven't experienced it yet. Now, I've never played an MMORPG before. I've never really had the desire to, so I don't know how it compares to others in that particular genre, but I can say that it is strangely addicting. The idea of exploring the world, with no limitations, is very intruiguing. You truly are the character and don't assume another personality. That alone makes the FF XI experience very personal. More so than anyother FF. And the online aspect allows you to play with friends, which is definietely an awesome aspect. And with all these changes, it still has the same feel and atmosphere of Final Fantasy. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's there. You're dropped off in a new FF world and are free to explore it to your heart's content. It's a very free feeling. One I'm not used to, but one I will very much enjoy getting to know. The job system is back, with a few tweaks for the online version. Should be interesting.
That's about all I have to say about that one for now. I can't really say too much more until I beat it. Wait there is: there are a couple issues I have with it. It's freaking expensive. $50 plus another $13 a month seems ridiculously excessive to me. I think $5 a month sounds more apporpriate, but that's just me. I don't have much experience in MMORPGs, as I've said earlier. Also, the neccesity of world passes annoys me greatly, as it does many other people. It makes it a ridiculous hassle to be able to play with your friends, which is the whole point to a MMORPG, isn't it? But those are my only gripes so far for an otherwise really cool game.
And, well, that's it for now. I'm going to attempt to actually get some sleep so I can actually make it to work tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Eric 11/09/2003 02:31:00 AM
