Ixi! Ixi! Ixi! - February 1st, 2000 - Fritz Fraundorf
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not neccessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Sexy dwarves naked and petrified!!! Don't say we didn't warn you.
Let's cut to the chase:
See Drew.
See Drew write.
See Drew write Double Agent.
Write, Drew, write.
See Drew.
See Drew get sick.
See Drew get sick and go to sleep.
Sleep, Drew, sleep.
See Fritz.
See Fritz write.
See Fritz write Double Agent.
Write, Fritz, write.
| The little guys |
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A question to put up to the combined might of the GIA's Double Agent column:
What the heck happened to Enix? I mean, here we have two almost identically
sized companies duking it out with their megahits (FF and Dragon Quest) and
then suddenly, Enix turns off the lights. They sit around their candles,
and think about how to make a game.
Meanwhile, Square quadruples in size, produces more than a dozen game
titles, and seems powerful enough to look EA in the eye.
Has Enix done anything in that time? Anything at all? Or did they decide
to program DQ Monsters using paper?
Richard "KZ" Knight
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After the end of the 16-bit era, Enix and Square went their separate ways. Square grew exponentially and hired more and more staff to churn out more and more big-budget games, while Enix decided to remain small and labor over each title to make the best it can be before shipping it. While it's hard to argue that either philosophy is wrong -- neither is -- it does offer an explanation as to why Final Fantasy 11 has been announced before Dragon Quest 7 is out.
Either that, or the shame of making King Arthur And His Knights of Justice
was simply too great for Enix to bear.
| YOU SUCK! |
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You guys said NO possesed voodoo dolls in Grandia II? Boy, after
Chrono Cross it's THE most important part of a game! On a related note,
who'd win in a fight, Gilgamesh (whom we've been praising very little
lately) or Lucky Dan? My votes going to the new holder of the title,
"THE MAN", Lucky Dan!
-Solidus
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Everyone knows Mr. Monkey would win, fool.
| I know when you're sleeping; I know when you're awake |
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Hey
What if everyone on the site really is thinking about Evolution for the NGPC and is too scared to admit it. Think about that? Huh? Well, I'm interested at least.
bottomfeeder
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I bet you're all closet Brandish fans too.
| Linearity |
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This isn't really specific to the "old style" of FFIX and is more something I would like to see in an RPG in general, but it would still be cool. A truly nonlinear game, not just letting you do what you want with you ending up doing the same stuff in the end. Of course a completely non-linear single player game is impossible, but I want different endings that are really different endings instead of different stages of completion of the original goal. Imagine if you really had the choice in FFVI if you wanted to join the Returners. If you said no you could join the empire and then later choose between Kefka and the Emperor. Of course you would always choose the loosing side or it would be no fun. If you go with the returners, what would have changed if you failed at the opera and didn't get to try again. Setzer may need a different introduction or maybe wouldn't be in the game at all. The story of FFVI doesn't lend itself very well to this idea because it was originally linear, but you could start the story like Xenogears with niether side having such a dominant advantage. That game could have gone a million different ways from the start. The only drawback is the effort it would take to make a game like this, but an hour of FMA takes effort too, and that seems to be in every RPG these days. FFXI has the possibility to be a truly non-linear game, but it would take too much of a commitment to keep up. If they could make it work with a couple of hours of playing per week, that would be awesome, but I don't see it happening.
-Gargen
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As cool as a completely non-linear game sounds, it raises a lot of issues. The most important one, of course, is how to keep the game entertaining. If you can wander anywhere and do anything, how will you be able to ensure you're doing something entertaining? Keeping a game "on rails" might not sound as impressive as making it non-linear, but it enables the developers to pace the obstacles appropriately, allowing the game to either build up in storyline or difficulty (or both) and ensuring that gamers see all the game has to offer.
Multiple "paths" through a game are one solution to the problem, but their flaw is that they require a player to complete the game several time in order to see everything. And if any of the paths is "better" than the other, you can bet that it's the one almost all players will choose -- let's face it, how many people deliberately played the evil path their first time through Tactics Ogre?
| Mustadio Party |
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I wonder if Final Fantasy XI will have party's.
~Cloud-VII
(Sethiroth)
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Parties? Of course Final Fantasy XI will have parties. With an
entire virtual world of people at your fingertips, you can be sure
to find plenty of geomancers, samurai, and mediators hanging out with
all the coolest people in town, with live music provided by The Spoony
Bards.
Final Fantasy XI: It's like there's a party in my PlayStation and
everyone's invited!
| Chocotubbies |
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you,
The only thing that I found interesting about the FFIX screen shots was
the absence of text in all of the pics. Does this mean that FFIX will
have no plot?
opul
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Yes. Square has seen the writing on the wall, and has decided to follow
in the footsteps of Shen Mue by eliminating dialogue completely and having
the characters communicate entirely through pantomime and sock puppet
theater. Fear not, as the characters will still break into nonsensical song
and exclaim "Eh-oh!" at key points of the game.
(At this time, the GIA is still unable to confirm reports that the black mage is
gay and carries a magic handbag.)
Closing Comments (SUIKODEN II SPOILER WARNING):
I want to do what's right
No time to pause
To beat Luca Blight
Yeah, that's my cause
Kinnison, Connell, Gijimu, Sheena
Gabocha, Stallion, Lo Wen, Nina
Georg, Sierra, Gilbert, Taki
Viktor, Pesmerga, Anita, Viki
Find 'em, find 'em, gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all!
Suikoden!
I'll search from March 'til June
Look far and wide
Release from my rune
The magic that's inside
Sasuke, Luc, Tessei, Killey
Alberto, Yoshino, Annallee
Gordan, Raura, Bob, Gengen
Gadget, Gantestu, Sid, Bolgan
At least 108 Stars or more to see
I'm a Suikómon master, a Star of Destiny
Suikoden!
Camus, Maximillian, Hix
Mazus, Vincent, Clive, Jess, Alex
Yuzu, Humphrey, Hoi, Hanna
Hauser, Teresa, Kahn, Rina
Gotta find 'em all! Gotta find 'em all! Yeah!
Gotta find 'em all! Gotta find 'em all! Yeah!
Gotta find 'em all! Suikoden!
Ayda, Shiro, Klaus, Shu, Millie
Leona, Feather, Marlowe, Ailie
Zamza, Futch, Miklotov, Badeaux
Barbara, Shin, Emilia, Mondo
Viktor: Woo! We're at the halfway point! Doing great so far!
Star Dragon Sword: We? What's all this we stuff? I'm doing all the work!
Gadget, Fitcher, Clive, Wakaba
Flik, Mukumuku, Jude, Kiba
Simone, Tenkou, Genshu, Nanami
Rikimaru, Apple, Huan, Kasumi
Viktor: Wow! Catch your breath, man! Shake out those limbs!
Star Dragon Sword: It's downhill from here! Just 31 more to go!
Viktor: Now it gets tricky, so listen real good!
Karen, Lebrante, Koyu, Adlai
Tuta, Richmond, Sigfried, Tsai! Suikoden!
Ridley, Tetsu, Tengaar, Hilda
Tony, Templton, Jeane, Amada! Suikoden!
We're almost home!
Gotta find 'em all! Gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all! Gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all! Suikoden!
Yeahhhh....
Pico, Lorelai, Meg, Hai Yo
Leona, L.C. Chan, Tai Ho
Oulan, Flik, Freed, Chaco
Shilo, Yam Koo, Hans, Tomo
That's all folks!
Find 'em, find 'em, gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all... Suikoden...
Find 'em, find 'em, gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all... Suikoden...
Find 'em, find 'em, gotta find 'em all!
Gotta find 'em all... Suikoden...
Gotta find 'em all! Suikoden!
Thank you, and good night.
- Fritz Fraundorf, master Suikómon Trainer
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