A little personality - February 3rd, 2000 - Drew Cosner
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. Everyone agreed she was beautiful even without her head. Don't say we didn't warn you.
I was really going to open this column up with a bang today. I'd fully intended upon displaying the extent of my rapier wit, providing you as the readers with the smirks and chuckles that I'm certain you come here looking for. That's right, I was going to kick things off with another dose of my wry, slightly off-kilter sense of humor. But then I saw this. And it was apparent that nothing I could muster would even come close. I guess I'll concede defeat to Rare on this round and simply begin the column.
| Note: the word "sugoi" has officially been beaten into the ground. You may discontinue using it at this point. |
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The gods must truely have heard our prayers!! You can now play Chu Chu Rockets over the internet. SEGA gods wa sugoi!!!
-Genji
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That will certainly give the title a bit more staying power, as playing against human opponents is almost always more fun than playing against the computer. Unfortunately, I feel many will discover that compared to its television commercial, the game itself isn't nearly as cool. Sort of like how the ad for Supernova makes the film look like a decent, if uninspired, piece of science fiction when in actuality it's nothing more than an excellent example of what happens when morons get their hands on computer rendering technology.
| Sexy hobbits |
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Well, it's a little trickier, but I think that scrunchy hobbit
characters can convey emotion nearly as well as anyone else. I mean, on
the one hand you've got Wild Arms' Marionette Combat Fetuses of Doom,
but on the other FF6 used really *SMALL* hobbit-type characters and
still managed to convery more emotion with them visually than most other
RPGs had done with teensy little characters. That said, I believe that
the actions and ANIMATION of the characters will be more expressive than
their appearance in FF8, simply because of the style. Maybe we'll even
get to see characters that jump up and spin around in the air. Probably
not. Oh well.
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Actually, I feel that FFIX's characters seemed to display their own unique emotions and personality from the short video clip shown. Even the mage, despite lacking an actual face, had exaggerated movements that made it perfectly clear how he was feeling. Unfortunately, now that I've come out and said this, I have no idea what I'm going to say in response to the rest of these letters concerning the discussion. I'm sure I'll think of something.
| Beware the black mage's icy grasp |
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Hey Drew
I think that SD characters have a different way of expression. While not as
realistic they can still have the same type of effect. Anyway I must say I
am very exited about FFIX after seeing the trailer altho I would really like
to see what a black mage would look like in a more realistic form. By the
way, I forgot to make this comment last time, as you know there seem to be
plenty of FMVs in FFIX. I think that because of this there won't be any
class change system. And you can see the black mage in the trailer in one of
the FMVs, so I really doubt there will be class change unless they are
obligatory at certain parts of the game. The way I see the Black Mage is the
hero's sidekick and he'll remain a black mage through the whole game. There
might be other main characters too that will have different job classes.
Makes sense?
-Phil
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I'm actually not so certain how well trying to create a mage-type character in a realistic style would turn out. It would probably end up looking like Death in a sombrero. But hey, that's just my opinion on the matter.
At any rate, I agree; I don't believe there will be any classes in FFIX. I think we're going to see each character having specific capabilities, as was the case with FFIV. I don't really have an adamant opinion either way, but at least that will shut a few anal retentives up.
| Getting Hammered |
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Drew,
The characters' appearance in FF9 should actually help to heighten their
ability to convey emotion. Take the most emotional moment in any game, ever:
Hammer's death in Xenogears. Would that be the same if some lowly prisoner was
saying how he wanted to be accepted? No. *sniff* The poor guy, I had to get Fei
into ID Mode just so I'd have an excuse for killing him. *sniff*
Anyway, the fact that the main character has a tail and his sidekick is a
faceless midget wizard just shows you how much emotional conveyance will be
going on. We can always count on Square to turn on the melodrama at just the
right time to hook you into the storyline. And I'm glad that they're straying
from the cliché angelic evil villain and getting back to the black-armored
death-knight of yore. FF9 looks to be the best one yet.
-redknight
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Just to address your final remark, It wouldn't surprise me one bit to see the main villain attempt to become some form of god. When dealing with villains, there are essentially two choices: either have a character who finds a way to amass insane amounts of power, or have some random schlup who resurrects/creates an ultimate being of destruction. The latter lacks character development, so Square has been leaning towards the former of late. Well, that and the fact that the dark castle shown in the film had giant angel wings.
| More roman numerals than you can shake a stick at |
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Dear Drew:
Will stylized characters in FFIX not be able to convey the feeling of
previous games? To put it bluntly, certainly not.
Have people forgotten FFIV and FFVI already? Both had stubby little sprites,
and both had characters that were very developed, and people certainly got
attached to them. If people feel that FFVII and FFVIII have better
characters, it's certainly not because of the graphics. I'd say developments
in the story and characters of the latest games are due more to the CD space
than improvements in graphics, and characters looking more realistic.
Developers are able to fit in a lot more game, and spend a lot more time with
each character than on a cart.
In any case, there are plenty of 'stylized' games that have memorable
characters and story, and I'm sure Square will be able to do so here.
-Miaowara Shiro, looking for Persona 2
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Actually, I'd have to say that I enjoy an RPG's story and character development a bit more when the characters moved at least somewhat fluidly and looked human, as was the case with FFVIII. Although FFVI's sprites were all fine and good, somehow seeing them convey all emotions through the use of approximately 6 different 3-frame animations didn't have quite the same impact on me that the space scene in FFVIII did. I'm probably asking for vitriolic letters telling me where I can go for saying so, but that's the way I feel.
Lastly, while we're talking about non-FF games that we'd like to see already, what the hell happened to Earthbound 64? I'm all over that game when it hits the shelves.
| When the Japanese sleep, they blow giant snot bubbles |
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Drew, you witty bastard, imagine I'm greeting you the way you'd like
most. [Dear Drew, that money order for 3.7 million dollars is in the mail.]
The way I see it, I'd have to forget that Square is the company that's
producing FFIX to even consider that the characters wouldn't be able to
convey as much emotion just because they've been super deformed.
(Then again, I might be a tad biased considering the personality they
gave their most realistic creation was...Well... "...whatever." sums up
him nicely. I'm bitching again though, aren't I?)
I think SD characters are better for conveying emotion than 'realistic'
characters, because their motions and emotions have to be a lot more
pronounced and over acted. Frankly I think the whole 'realism fetish' is
a very American thing. Cartoons, toys, and video games aren't for anyone
over twelve years old, which of course isn't true as displayed by just
about Everyone who frequents the GIA. I point to my pile of gaming
consoles, my Darth Maul action figure adorning my monitor, and my
*cough* brothers Pokémon videos as my own personal evidence.
This of course doesn't make me any less excited about FFX. It's Square
with a gaming console that's been classified as a super computer for the
love of all that is holy and pure.
And I'll break my promise and comment on FFXI, (those trailers broke me)
The concept art has me excited. It looks like the world they have in
mind will be big and diverse. I won't go so far as to say I think it
won't get boring and repetitive after awhile like Everquest and Ultima
Online, but even if it's pleasant and enjoyable for more than a month
it'll have something over the competition.
And for a fanboy summation: This is Square we're talking about, when
have they ever done a title, a Final Fantasy one no less, half-assed?
~Ian P.
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Seeing realistic characters making the same facial expressions and body motions that I would in a given situation tends to reach me on a deeper level than a bunch of cartoons with giant sweat blobs forming about their heads in unison whenever something even remotely troubling is said or seen. But that's just me being a cantankerous dork.
Closing Comments:
Tomorrow is Free Topic Friday. This means that I can be a total schmuck and not have to come up with an interesting topic for you to ponder. This also means that my closing comments will be really, really short.
-Drew Cosner, Lord of the Succinct
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