I don't know what my deal has been lately, but I've been bouncing from game to game. I'll get a game, play it for a bit, and then suddenly get the urge to play a different game, play that for a bit, and then start to want to play another game and so on and so forth. I've bought several games in the past couple months that I haven't even come close to beating, but I have this desire to play other games, even games I've already played through.
Never before have I been so . . . ADD about games. It's crazy. Let's see . . . I still have Radiata Stories, Digital Devil Saga, Devil May Cry, Zone of the Enders 2(wow, I've had that one for a LONG time now) and . . . holy shit! I still haven't beaten Xenosaga II! Good lord!
I believe the only game I've bought within the last 6 months and actually played all the way through is Resident Evil 4, and there's STILL a ton to do in that game after beating it.
But yeah, those are all very good games, but upon reflection, there are some valid reasons that may have lead to my attention being diverted . . .
Xenosaga II is an amazing RPG. The story is one of the best I've ever seen. However, it suffers from a flaw I see in a LOT of RPG's. They all have amazing, fast paced storylines that really draw you in. And then, right at the end of the game . . . THAT'S where all the optional side quests are. So, if you want to experience everything there is to do in the game, you end up distancing yourself from the really cool story to go do the side quests. And, for the most part, the side quests have little to nothing to do with the main story. So you get out of touch with what's really going on, thus making it harder to get back into the game. And then there's the fact that going through all the optional side quests has made your characters so incredibly powerful that the final part of the game is so stupidly easy, it's rather anti-climactic. Thus is the case with Xenosaga II. It also didn't help that when I got to that point in the game, it was also crazy-hurry-your-ass-up-and-graduate time at Dana. And I haven't had a chance to go back and finish it. I really should, though.
Digital Devil Saga is by the game developer Atlus. Now, I'm a pretty big fan of Atlus's work. They have lots of original ideas and some pretty cool games. One thing that crosses my mind every time I play a game by Atlus though, is that it doesn't seem finished. Their games just don't have the polish in presentation that Square or Capcom, or other companies do. Everything seems rough around the edges, like they didn't have enough time to clean everything up. Well, this sums up Digital Devil Saga. It's a really cool idea, but the finished game needs a good coat of polish. That and I have issues with the battle system. It's not bad . . . but it's very much a trial and error kind of thing to get through the dungeons, which is unneccesarily frustrating. Thus, while I was growing increasingly frustrated about this game, out comes . . .
Devil May Cry 3. One of the things I liked about the first game is that it was challenging. I love to be challenged in games. Games that are too easy bore me to death. The original Devil May Cry had a perfect learning curve. The 2nd Devil May Cry was one of those stupid easy games, and I lost interest after half an hour. Seriously, when you just hold down one button and everything dies, there's no point to playing. Well, apperantly lots of people wanted the DMC series to go back to the fun challenge of the original. So Capcom (the developer) gave people what they asked for . . . and more. Devil May Cry 3 has got to be the most brutal game I have ever played in my entire life. It's challenging, but not in a good way. It took me nearly 30 attempts to complete mission 3, and I'm a veteran gamer. The thing is that you can go 99% of the way through the mission, and one mistake and BAM, you start all the way at the beginning. And in a game where the lowliest enemy can kill you in 2-3 hits, this is just plain unfair. Even if you purchase a continue orb, you still have to re-do stuff in the mission. It's maddening. My fingers would literally ache after an hour of playing this game. It's really cool, yes, but the difficulty is unforgiving to anyone who plays it. And this is on Normal Difficulty. I would literally cuss the game out and get so pissed off, I had to go do something else. A few weeks later, I read an article about a new Square game . . .
Radiata Stories. The article boasted a goofy, light hearted fantasy adventure with two seperate storylines to play through and an active batte system similar to that of Star Ocean. I played Star Ocean 2 on my PS, and it has my all-time favorite battle system, so I was really intrigued by Radiata Stories. So, I got it, and started playing and it was pretty cool. It was funny and the whole art style was pretty cool. After the obligatory opening sequence though, the storyline just dragged on and on. There are stretches of the game where you are given no direction and just wander around until something happens. Indeed, one of the point of the game is that you recruit many many possible party members in the town. So you have to follow them around and talk to them at different times of the day to see if they'll join you. It's kind of interesting, but, well, I hate wasting time. I want to see more story. And it doesn't give me any indication as to what I'm supposed to DO in the story, and the whole thing gets boring real fast. That and the battle system, while similar to Star Ocean, isn't quite as fun. You control the main character and only the main character. That's it. And you have to fumble your way through 10 hours of that before you get a chance to even issue commands to other people in your party. That and the fact that you recruit so many different characters and you have to level them ALL seperately so they're useful to you as you progress through the game, all make this more of a hassle than entertainment. Granted, maybe the battle system picks up as you SLOWLY unlock differnt things you can do, and I'm sure the storyline picks up at some point . . . but when does this game actually become immersive?
So around that time I was listening to some FF music I have, and I realized just how amazing FFVIII's soundtrack is, so I decided to play through it again. And FFVIII is much better than I remember it being. The characters seem so much more realistic. It's really quite a cool game. The Junction system is a bit of a hassle, but I just had my characters use the "half encounter" ability so I didn't have to fight so many random battles and I could just continue through the storyline, which is what's so good. But, well, when you only fight HALF the battles . . . your characters are HALF as powerful. So I got to a point where a boss I had to fight was absurdly difficult, and I'm afraid that if I continue, that'll just be the case more and more, meaning I'll have to just wander around fighting random monsters which will draw me out of the storyline, making it difficult to get back into it. Well, around this time is when . . .
Resident Evil 4 came out. Now this is an amazing game. It's another one of those games that's challenging, but in a good way. Granted, it's pretty brutal in the beginning, but once you learn enough to get past the first few stages, you're pretty set for the rest of the game. Yes, it gets more difficult, but not MONSTROUSLY more difficult. You always seem to find ammo/healing items JUST when you need it. And by the time I finished the game, I'd gotten good enough that I didn't have to use most of the ammo and healing items I found. Of course the mini-games used to unlock special weapons aren't so good-challenging. After playing through the mini-game a couple times I realized that it was going to be another bout with insanity. Besides, I got a cool enough weapon by beating Ada's side of the story. Of course, a machine gun with infinite ammo makes the game MUCH easier. After experiencing the adrenaline rush the initial challenge gives you, the ease of mowing down the hoardes of not-quite-zombies by holding down the trigger just doesn't have the same excitement. Of course there IS the hard mode, which unlocks the lazer gun thingy, which is something I'd REALLY like to play around with. Unfortunately, ammo seemd to be JUST plentiful enough to make it through the normal mode. In the hard mode, enemies are MORE resistant to damage, thus requiring MORE ammo to put down. Just the thought of playing through the barricaded cabin with HARDER to kill not-quite-zombies makes me squirm in discomfort. Then again, maybe it'll be the same learning curve of the regular mode, just,well, higher, I guess.
But yeah, so now I'm back to FFXI. I really want to do more missions because that's where the storyline in FFXI is at, which is WHY I play the game in the first place, but my Linkshell(group of people I play with) aren't interested in doing them. So I just sit around and do a lot of nothing. Plus, my brother isn't ever online when I am, so I can't continue to level my main job to the point where I could do OTHER storyline stuff. I guess I'll just make some money so I have plenty when Kelly is home for winter break, and then we can get a bunch of stuff done then. Of course, the whole earning virtual money thing is another area where it seems more like work than entertainment . . .
So, right now I have a HUGE craving for playing FFX. But, you see, Leigh, a guy I was in choir at Dana with, borrowed the game last year and hasn't returned it yet, despite numerous reminders from myself and Joe, and other people at Dana. Frankly, it's a bit annoying. He's had the game for a LONG time. He's been done with it for a LONG time. He's right in Blair. It's just a simple matter of him bringing it with him to choir and giving it to Joe, whom I see on a semi-regular basis. Hell, it looks like I'm going to have to go all the way out to Blair and hunt Leigh down just to get my damn game back. I'm to the point where I'm ready to just go out and buy another copy. But then, Leigh has the strategy guide as well.
So yeah, not happy about that. Of course a kid named Chris has had my copy of Chrono Cross for about 4 years now. I don't think I'll see that kid ever again. And I think that when I leant Jenni FFVIII, I leant her the strategy guide too, because I can't find the guide anywhere, which is kinda annoying. So yeah, I'm ready to have an official recall on anything I've ever leant anyone. So, Steve, I know you have Vagrant Story and Xenogears, both of which I'll be REAL pissed if I don't get back at some point. I think I also leant you a memory card so you could actually save while you played those games. And did I lend you Kingdom Hearts? I don't remember, but I can't find mine, and I can't think of anyone else I'd have leant it to. I know Jason returned my Silent Hill games to me, so that's taken care of. I think that's it, actually.
Maybe I'll take a bunch of the games I don't play anymore/don't plan to play anymore and trade them in at Gamestop for new games. I think I'd be willing to part with enough for decent christmas presents for my brothers, freeing up money I could definitely use elsewhere.
As far as grad apps go, I've got Dr. Kaufman to do my 2nd letter of recommendation, and I'll prolly ask Scott(Hamlet) or Kathy (who directed Hamlet) to do the 3rd for any schools that require it. Also I'm going to limit myself to applying to 4-5 schools, that way I can actually afford app fees. I e-mailed the photographer Emily recommended about setting up a shoot, but I haven't heard anything yet. And I have a few apps printed out (thanks to Emily), but I need to get a few more yet. Trouble is, that I don't know exactly what schools I WANT to apply to. All I have to go on is people's recommendations b/c I can't actually go to the schools myself and take a look around. It feels really awkward to apply to places I don't feel like I know a whole lot about. I guess it'll just be part of the adventure, though.
Hmm . . . I think I've blogged myself sleepy now, so I'll head to bed.
Eric 11/26/2005 02:38:00 AM
