So I beat "Final Fantasy XIII" a few nights ago. Some of the cutscenes in the last few chapters are positively jaw dropping. There are even some "OMG Sephiroth kille Aeris!!!!" moments during some of the moments sprinkled throughout the game. For those not familiar with that reference, it goes back to "Final Fantasy 7", a game a lot of people argue as the greatest "Fianl Fantasy" game ever created, and Sephiroth killing Aeris was quite a shock at the time, so much so that it brought more then a few people to tears due to the emotional bond they built with the characters. One of the things that I really like about "Final Fantasy XIII" (and no, there aren't any spoilers in what I am about to say) is that even after beating the last boss of the game, it lets you save your game, and you can go back to the point just before fighting the boss, and it allows you to go back and farm up items, or improve on your characters and finish any missions you may have missed or missions that were too hard the first time around. I wish more games did this sort of thing. Too many times, you come to the end of a game, not maximizing your gaming experience, the game ends, you are left asking yourself "now what?". With "Final Fantasy XIII" though, it lets you go back and do a lot of stuff you might have missed, either intentionally or by accident.
So I am still playing "Final Fantasy XIII", but there is some other, rather big, "Final Fantasy" news that has happened recently. If you have read this blog in the past, you know that the reason I started it, was I had just quit playing "Final Fantasy XI" and wanted to share my post-MMO gaming experience with you. Well, let's just say I recently decided to click the heels of my ruby slippers together times, and am planning on going home again. Yeah, I decided to return to "Final Fantasy XI" at some point in the month of April. There were a few things that helped me decide this. First thing, I never stopped listening to the "Final Fantasy XI" related podcasts I enjoy listening to, so every week I would get to hear about "Final Fantasy XI" through listening to "Pet Food Alpha", and "Limit Break Radio" among others. They kinda helped to tide me over I guess you could say. Second thing, with all the new content Square Enix has announced recently for the upcoming year, this got me really excited. While I am still skeptical about the level 99 cap, a lot of the stuff they are planning on introducing to the game sounds quite intriguing.
And the last reason I decided to come back is, simply, I miss it. I miss playing the game, but more importantly, I miss the people I play the game with. The linkshell I am a part of is full of great people......people who I have enjoyed gaming with for many years now. So after a seven month break, I will be making my return to the lands of Vana'diel. I just hope my moogle is still alive.......
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
13 is a good number after all
So as you may imagine, I have been playing a little bit of "Final Fantasy XIII" lately. In all honesty I have been playing a lot of "FFXIII" lately but that is neither here nor there. I think if I remember correctly, I am up to about 27 hours of gameplay and am on Chapter 8 of the game. And I have some thoughts about this game as you may imagine.
First thought is this. This is far and away the most visually stunning game I have ever played. I say that knowing I am not a gamer on the PC, and there are probably some titles on PC that look as good or better then "FFXIII", so I should probably say that it is the most visually stunning console game I have ever played. Some of the areas I have gotten to visit in this game have been truly jaw dropping. There have literally been moments in this game where I have stopped running with whatever character I am controlling at the time, and have looked up, down, and all around at my surroundings just to take in how beautiful this game looks. It isn't just the scenery though that looks amazing. The character models, both your characters and the enemies you fight, look phenomenal. Everything from the hair, to the clothing is gorgeous. In so many games, if you are using a character with longer hair, a longer coat or a cape of some sorts, you always seem to run into some sort of clipping issue where it will seem that it disappears when it comes into contact with objects. Not in this game. It all flows so smoothly its unbelievable. This game is definitely a treat to just sit back and stare at.
The gameplay so far is unlike anything I have played in a "Final Fantasy" in the past. I'm not saying it's necessarily bad, but the combat happens at a much faster pace then most "Final Fantasy" single player games I can remember. The battles happen in real time, which in the "Final Fantasy" games I have played, is a new approach. In past games, battles have always been turn based, so the real time is a nice change of pace. And there is really a strategy involved, especially in some of the boss fights. All fights take place with 1 to 3 characters and you have the ability to set up what are called a "Paradigm". Basically all a "Paradigm" is, is what set of jobs you want your characters to use, and you have 6 to choose from ranging from "Medic" to "Saboteur" to "Commando". The really interesting thing is at any time, and as many times as you need, during any battle you can do what is called a "Paradigm Shift", essentially switching your characters to jobs better suited to your current status. Say for instance you are at the start of a fight and want to take things slow, you can switch your "Paradigm" to a tank, a healer and a support job., but later on you want to finish the fight and switch to all attackers. It is all possible, and it really makes the battles quite fun. It really keeps you on your toes, and makes you have a few different "Paradigm" set up, never knowing what kind of battle is coming up next.
Being a "Final Fantasy" game, everyone knows there is going to be a story and the story so far is actually pretty good to this point. Each character has their own personal demons that they have to deal with, all while trying to combat a bigger threat. I don't want to say too much on the story to keep from giving away any spoilers, but it is a very deep story. One thing they did well in this game is give you an option in the menu to go back and read a synopsis of everything that has happened up to the point of the game you are at, and you can review it at any time, chapter by chapter. You can also read the backstory you have unlocked on each character at any point if you need a refresher. And since it is a "Final Fantasy" game, there are things in every single "Final Fantasy" game made that fans come to expect. With that said, those things are in this game as well. Cid is here (and that's all I will say to avoid spoilers), the airships are here, and perhaps most importantly, the chocobos are here.
Then there is the music. The music is on par with the graphics. I guess I shouldn't just limit to the music as the sound effects during the battles are amazing as well. But the actual soundtrack is unreal. They definitely add to the ambiance and the surroundings with the music in every area of the game.
And it is the music that, for the first time in a really long time, made me kind of miss "Final Fantasy XI". When I got to an area of the "Final Fantasy XIII" last night, and I heard a remixed version of the famous chocobo riding music, I actually had some regret about giving all my gear away. And I was told by more then one person to not give my gear away, since there was always the chance I might come back, which at the time I was certain I'd never be back. Turns out I may have been a bit presumptuous....
First thought is this. This is far and away the most visually stunning game I have ever played. I say that knowing I am not a gamer on the PC, and there are probably some titles on PC that look as good or better then "FFXIII", so I should probably say that it is the most visually stunning console game I have ever played. Some of the areas I have gotten to visit in this game have been truly jaw dropping. There have literally been moments in this game where I have stopped running with whatever character I am controlling at the time, and have looked up, down, and all around at my surroundings just to take in how beautiful this game looks. It isn't just the scenery though that looks amazing. The character models, both your characters and the enemies you fight, look phenomenal. Everything from the hair, to the clothing is gorgeous. In so many games, if you are using a character with longer hair, a longer coat or a cape of some sorts, you always seem to run into some sort of clipping issue where it will seem that it disappears when it comes into contact with objects. Not in this game. It all flows so smoothly its unbelievable. This game is definitely a treat to just sit back and stare at.
The gameplay so far is unlike anything I have played in a "Final Fantasy" in the past. I'm not saying it's necessarily bad, but the combat happens at a much faster pace then most "Final Fantasy" single player games I can remember. The battles happen in real time, which in the "Final Fantasy" games I have played, is a new approach. In past games, battles have always been turn based, so the real time is a nice change of pace. And there is really a strategy involved, especially in some of the boss fights. All fights take place with 1 to 3 characters and you have the ability to set up what are called a "Paradigm". Basically all a "Paradigm" is, is what set of jobs you want your characters to use, and you have 6 to choose from ranging from "Medic" to "Saboteur" to "Commando". The really interesting thing is at any time, and as many times as you need, during any battle you can do what is called a "Paradigm Shift", essentially switching your characters to jobs better suited to your current status. Say for instance you are at the start of a fight and want to take things slow, you can switch your "Paradigm" to a tank, a healer and a support job., but later on you want to finish the fight and switch to all attackers. It is all possible, and it really makes the battles quite fun. It really keeps you on your toes, and makes you have a few different "Paradigm" set up, never knowing what kind of battle is coming up next.
Being a "Final Fantasy" game, everyone knows there is going to be a story and the story so far is actually pretty good to this point. Each character has their own personal demons that they have to deal with, all while trying to combat a bigger threat. I don't want to say too much on the story to keep from giving away any spoilers, but it is a very deep story. One thing they did well in this game is give you an option in the menu to go back and read a synopsis of everything that has happened up to the point of the game you are at, and you can review it at any time, chapter by chapter. You can also read the backstory you have unlocked on each character at any point if you need a refresher. And since it is a "Final Fantasy" game, there are things in every single "Final Fantasy" game made that fans come to expect. With that said, those things are in this game as well. Cid is here (and that's all I will say to avoid spoilers), the airships are here, and perhaps most importantly, the chocobos are here.
Then there is the music. The music is on par with the graphics. I guess I shouldn't just limit to the music as the sound effects during the battles are amazing as well. But the actual soundtrack is unreal. They definitely add to the ambiance and the surroundings with the music in every area of the game.
And it is the music that, for the first time in a really long time, made me kind of miss "Final Fantasy XI". When I got to an area of the "Final Fantasy XIII" last night, and I heard a remixed version of the famous chocobo riding music, I actually had some regret about giving all my gear away. And I was told by more then one person to not give my gear away, since there was always the chance I might come back, which at the time I was certain I'd never be back. Turns out I may have been a bit presumptuous....
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Is it too much?
I mentioned in my last post I was going to talk about the recent news concerning "Final Fantasy XI". I figure now would be the perfect time while I install all 3 discs worth of "Final Fantasy XIII" on my Xbox 360. Recently at VanaFest, which is "Final Fantasy XI" convention held in Tokyo, they announced some huge and truly game-breaking changes to "FFXI". For years, the level cap for a character on an particular job was 75. Now this wasn't always the case. It used to be 50, then got moved to 60, and eventually got moved up to 75, where it stayed.....until VanaFest a few weeks ago. They dropped an absolute bombshell stating that over the course of the next set of game updates, they were raising the level cap for jobs up to an astounding 99. The nostalgic gamer in me loves this boost in the level cap, especially since every single "Final Fantasy" game had characters you could level up to 99, with "FFXI" being the lone exception.
However, nostalgia only gets you so far, and nostalgia won't be as gamebreaking as a BLM99/RDM49. That isn't the only job that would be ridiculous though, just the first one that comes to mind. To their credit, Square Enix has said that jobs and abilities will be adjusted so that jobs won't be overpowered, but it remains to be seen what this will do to the overall balance of the game. Are they going to make certain spells and abilities main job specific? Are they going to raise the level of certain spells and abilities so they still can't be used when you are using these jobs as subjobs? Not only that, but will they adjust the current gear, or introduce a whole lot of new gear reflective of the higher level cap. While everything up to this point is anything but speculation, it will be interesting to see how the landscape of Vana'Diel changes going forward, which brings me to the title of this post. Is this increase in the level cap going to bring more interest to the game, a game that has been out for over 7 years, or is going to overwhelm players and drive them out of "FFXI", especially with "FFXIV" on the horizon.
It definitely remains to be seen how this really shocking announcement shakes up the "FFXI" landscape, and I do give kudos to Square-Enix for trying to infuse this game with some much needed new life. One thing I am curious is how long Square-Enix has been thinking about doing this. My guess is they have been considering this for a few years now, but I really don't know if they have thought about all the possibilities of what this change will mean to the players. Granted, I doubt they have thought of everything, and how could they, but knowing "FFXI" like I do, something will come up that Square-Enix was prepared for that could possibly have a huge effect on the game. Having played this game for almost 5 years, I will always have a special place in my gaming life for "FFXI", and I really hope this isn't a case of Square-Enix changing the game too much and in the end, killing it in the process.
Well, my "FFXIII" installation is finished so I am going to go have some long awaited "Final Fantasy" goodness. The nice thing about that is I'm pretty sure the level cap will already be set at 99.
However, nostalgia only gets you so far, and nostalgia won't be as gamebreaking as a BLM99/RDM49. That isn't the only job that would be ridiculous though, just the first one that comes to mind. To their credit, Square Enix has said that jobs and abilities will be adjusted so that jobs won't be overpowered, but it remains to be seen what this will do to the overall balance of the game. Are they going to make certain spells and abilities main job specific? Are they going to raise the level of certain spells and abilities so they still can't be used when you are using these jobs as subjobs? Not only that, but will they adjust the current gear, or introduce a whole lot of new gear reflective of the higher level cap. While everything up to this point is anything but speculation, it will be interesting to see how the landscape of Vana'Diel changes going forward, which brings me to the title of this post. Is this increase in the level cap going to bring more interest to the game, a game that has been out for over 7 years, or is going to overwhelm players and drive them out of "FFXI", especially with "FFXIV" on the horizon.
It definitely remains to be seen how this really shocking announcement shakes up the "FFXI" landscape, and I do give kudos to Square-Enix for trying to infuse this game with some much needed new life. One thing I am curious is how long Square-Enix has been thinking about doing this. My guess is they have been considering this for a few years now, but I really don't know if they have thought about all the possibilities of what this change will mean to the players. Granted, I doubt they have thought of everything, and how could they, but knowing "FFXI" like I do, something will come up that Square-Enix was prepared for that could possibly have a huge effect on the game. Having played this game for almost 5 years, I will always have a special place in my gaming life for "FFXI", and I really hope this isn't a case of Square-Enix changing the game too much and in the end, killing it in the process.
Well, my "FFXIII" installation is finished so I am going to go have some long awaited "Final Fantasy" goodness. The nice thing about that is I'm pretty sure the level cap will already be set at 99.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Guess who's back. Back again....
After taking a break from my blog, and with March being such a huge month for me gaming wise, I decided to hop back on and jump start the blog. Not only that but Square Enix recently announced a huge bit of news concerning my old stomping grounds of Vana'diel which is unbelievable.
So where hve I been and what have I been doing? Well gaming of course. I'll try to give a quick rundown as to what I've been playing lately. After giving "Fight Night Round 4" a go, which by the way is an excellent game, one of the best games came out at the end of January. Commander Sheperd and company made a triumphant and ass-kicking return in "Mass Effect 2". This game was a noticeable improvement over the first game, which was hard to accomplish seeing as how the first game was so good itself. I won't go into a lot of details, but the end cutscene was jaw-dropping and made me and thousands of other gamers want "Mass Effect 3" NOW!!! On the bright side, "ME3" is being released next January so we won't have long to wait.
After I beat "ME3", I went on a Xbox Live Arcade binge, playing a lot of "Puzzle Quest" and "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix". Both are quite fun and definitely addictive. Then I actually ordered a game, which I don't often do. I ordered the original "Fable: The Lost Chapters" and also bought "Fable II: G.O.T.Y. Edition" with the extra DLC included. I had heard quite a bit about these games from people I know, but never took the jump into Albion. I wish I woulda listened earlier on. Both games are so much fun. The one thing that is surprising me about both games is the humor in each. Since they use all British accents, some of the lines sound like they could be pulled from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I've played and beat "Fable" already and am now in the middle of "Fable II". Somewhere in there I also played the Arcade game "Fable II Pub Games" which had an interesting hook. Any gold you won or lost would affect your actual ingame "Fable II" character, and winning game tournaments in "Pub Games" unlock "Fable II" ingame items. So anyway I unlocked everything there, and fast forward to today, amd back to playing "Fable II".
Now I started off this post talking about this month for gaming. Two of the games I have been waiting a long time for come out later this month within a week of each other. March 9 signals the release of the first single player "Final Fantasy" game on the 360, that being the highly anticipated release of "Final Fantasy XIII". I have been really excited about this game since I saw it first announced at last years E3 and now we are a week away. Then, a week later comes the first full expansion pack for "Dragon Age: Origins", that being "DA: O - Awakenings". From what information I have read, this expansion is gonna be packed so I am looking forward to that as well. There is one problem though. There aren't enough hours in the day to play these games. So for the month of march, I will be giving up sleep.
I also mentioned some "FFXI" news, but since this post is getting a little long, and since I want to hop onto "Fable II", I will be saving that for a later post.
So where hve I been and what have I been doing? Well gaming of course. I'll try to give a quick rundown as to what I've been playing lately. After giving "Fight Night Round 4" a go, which by the way is an excellent game, one of the best games came out at the end of January. Commander Sheperd and company made a triumphant and ass-kicking return in "Mass Effect 2". This game was a noticeable improvement over the first game, which was hard to accomplish seeing as how the first game was so good itself. I won't go into a lot of details, but the end cutscene was jaw-dropping and made me and thousands of other gamers want "Mass Effect 3" NOW!!! On the bright side, "ME3" is being released next January so we won't have long to wait.
After I beat "ME3", I went on a Xbox Live Arcade binge, playing a lot of "Puzzle Quest" and "Puzzle Quest: Galactrix". Both are quite fun and definitely addictive. Then I actually ordered a game, which I don't often do. I ordered the original "Fable: The Lost Chapters" and also bought "Fable II: G.O.T.Y. Edition" with the extra DLC included. I had heard quite a bit about these games from people I know, but never took the jump into Albion. I wish I woulda listened earlier on. Both games are so much fun. The one thing that is surprising me about both games is the humor in each. Since they use all British accents, some of the lines sound like they could be pulled from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I've played and beat "Fable" already and am now in the middle of "Fable II". Somewhere in there I also played the Arcade game "Fable II Pub Games" which had an interesting hook. Any gold you won or lost would affect your actual ingame "Fable II" character, and winning game tournaments in "Pub Games" unlock "Fable II" ingame items. So anyway I unlocked everything there, and fast forward to today, amd back to playing "Fable II".
Now I started off this post talking about this month for gaming. Two of the games I have been waiting a long time for come out later this month within a week of each other. March 9 signals the release of the first single player "Final Fantasy" game on the 360, that being the highly anticipated release of "Final Fantasy XIII". I have been really excited about this game since I saw it first announced at last years E3 and now we are a week away. Then, a week later comes the first full expansion pack for "Dragon Age: Origins", that being "DA: O - Awakenings". From what information I have read, this expansion is gonna be packed so I am looking forward to that as well. There is one problem though. There aren't enough hours in the day to play these games. So for the month of march, I will be giving up sleep.
I also mentioned some "FFXI" news, but since this post is getting a little long, and since I want to hop onto "Fable II", I will be saving that for a later post.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Times, they are a changing
After not updating this blog in forever and a day it seems, I decided to stop the blog. However, I am not quitting updating people on the goings on as far as video games and movies go. I am moving The MMOrning After from a blog format to Twitter. The main reason was an Xbox Live update a little while back that gave Twitter access to Lives users through the Dashboard. That will make things easier for me to post on the internet, and hopefully get updates out to you guys on a more regular basis. So while the blog may be stopping, I am hoping you guys move to Twitter and pick up things with me there!!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Technology is wonderful....when it works.
I apologize for lack of updates this month. With a houseful of people and the laptop still on the fritz, it can be hard to squeeze in time on our desktop PC, which results in the lack of any updates.
We went and saw "2012" about a week ago. I enjoyed it. For those that don't know, it is a story about the end of the world coming in conjunction with the end of the Mayan calender, which is December 21, 2012. While the story itself was alright, it paled in comparison to the special effects. The effects in this movie were phenomenal. Watching Los Angeles or Las Vegas or any of the other well known locations be destroyed by Mother Nature was pretty intense. It is a longer movie, but it doesn't feel like it with everything that is going on onscreen. So if you are looking for a fun movie to go to, I would recommend "2012".
I've been playing a ton of "Dragon Age: Origins" as you may imagine, and in fact, a few days ago, I ended up beating the game. What a game. A lot of the things that happen in the game reminded me a lot of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I am a huge fan of. From the army of evil marching across the countryside destroying everything in its path, to the band of adventurers comprised of men, elves, and dwarves, this game is epic in scale. One thing I would have liked to see is there not be so much linear parts to the game and have it be more of an open world type of game like "Oblivion", but this is BioWare, and this game does indeed borrow a lot from "Mass Effect". It will be interesting to see how much along the same lines "Mass Effect 2" is. And that is a very good thing. Even with the linear nature of a lot of this game, I put in almost 90 hours of gameplay. Not only that but the way you can build relationships with your party members, and with the multitude of job and specialization combos makes for a ton of replayability. Which is why I started another game, this time as a female elvish Rouge. On my first playthrough I was a human Warrior, but this time around I'm looking forward to the different play styles between the two jobs,
Then last night I was on Xbox Live and saw their deal of the week which was 50% off of "Peggle". I've read a lot about this game and it's expansion "Peggle Nights" and they sounded really interesting, so I downloaded and played the demo, and I was hooked. It's an arcade style game kind of like a marriage between pinball and "Arkanoid". Basically you shoot balls at a table full of pegs, and every time your ball hits a peg, it disappears. There are different color pegs on the board, and the object of each board is to eliminate the orange pegs. This is a lot more challenging then it sounds, and a lot more fun. And a lot more addicting.
We went and saw "2012" about a week ago. I enjoyed it. For those that don't know, it is a story about the end of the world coming in conjunction with the end of the Mayan calender, which is December 21, 2012. While the story itself was alright, it paled in comparison to the special effects. The effects in this movie were phenomenal. Watching Los Angeles or Las Vegas or any of the other well known locations be destroyed by Mother Nature was pretty intense. It is a longer movie, but it doesn't feel like it with everything that is going on onscreen. So if you are looking for a fun movie to go to, I would recommend "2012".
I've been playing a ton of "Dragon Age: Origins" as you may imagine, and in fact, a few days ago, I ended up beating the game. What a game. A lot of the things that happen in the game reminded me a lot of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which I am a huge fan of. From the army of evil marching across the countryside destroying everything in its path, to the band of adventurers comprised of men, elves, and dwarves, this game is epic in scale. One thing I would have liked to see is there not be so much linear parts to the game and have it be more of an open world type of game like "Oblivion", but this is BioWare, and this game does indeed borrow a lot from "Mass Effect". It will be interesting to see how much along the same lines "Mass Effect 2" is. And that is a very good thing. Even with the linear nature of a lot of this game, I put in almost 90 hours of gameplay. Not only that but the way you can build relationships with your party members, and with the multitude of job and specialization combos makes for a ton of replayability. Which is why I started another game, this time as a female elvish Rouge. On my first playthrough I was a human Warrior, but this time around I'm looking forward to the different play styles between the two jobs,
Then last night I was on Xbox Live and saw their deal of the week which was 50% off of "Peggle". I've read a lot about this game and it's expansion "Peggle Nights" and they sounded really interesting, so I downloaded and played the demo, and I was hooked. It's an arcade style game kind of like a marriage between pinball and "Arkanoid". Basically you shoot balls at a table full of pegs, and every time your ball hits a peg, it disappears. There are different color pegs on the board, and the object of each board is to eliminate the orange pegs. This is a lot more challenging then it sounds, and a lot more fun. And a lot more addicting.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thirteen is lucky after all
So I was poking around on the Xbox Live Dashboard and saw something pertaining to a special announcement about "Final Fantasy XIII", the next installment in the phenomenal series of RPG games. So I downloaded the video, and they showed some really, really good looking gameplay footage, announced that Leona Lewis has a new song coming out called "My Hands" which was chosen as the "FFXIII" theme song, and last but most importantly not least, they announced the North American release date. So if you are a big fan of the "Final Fantasy" series, mark your calenders for March 9, 2010.
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