The (other) day after - July 7, 2000 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of
the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There
is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. See, this one's an FFIX ref,
so it's different. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Well, FFIX is out in Japan, and many thousands of miles away hundreds of thousands of
people are developing their own opinions on Square's latest opus.
But for the first time in a long, long time, I'm not particularly obsessed with the
Japanese release of a Final Fantasy game. I credit this to the superb job Square's done
with it's American releases this year - there's far too much out over here for me to have
time to worry about FF over there. No doubt once Chrono Cross is out of the way FF9 will
dominate my horizon from one end to the other, but for now, it's enough that it exists and
hasn't caused immediate revulsion in early reviews.
Onward.
| In the beginning |
| Chris, Sorry this is way off topic, but something has been of interest
to me lately. All this talk about nostalgia has gotten me to thinking about my own when it
comes to games, and specifically probably the most nostalgic game of all time Final
Fantasy 1. One thing that always struck me as odd was that who ever did the box art seems
to have purposely omitted any names, specifically the name Square. For the longest time I
had thought Nintendo was the creator of the game. Not only that, Hironobu Sakaguchi's name
is not mentioned in the opening credits. This seems odd, because, well, he is the person
who created the concept known as Final Fantasy (he thought up the idea for the game
because it was supposed to be his final game with Square). But the names who are mentioned
are Square A-team, Yoshitaka Amano, and a Kenji Mino..... (can't remember his last name
anymore!) Now it makes since for Yoshitaka's name to be put up there (because he never
really was a Square employee), but who this Kenji guy is, is beyond me (I don't think he
works on any other FF games). Not only that, but is says "programming done by
NASIR." Though that probably means the programming for the game was subbed out to a
company called NASIR. Maybe the names were all in the final credits, can't remember,
haven't beaten the game in over a decade.
Genji |
The exact opening credits are:
PROGRAMMED BY NASIR
CHARACTER DESIGN YOSHITAKA AMANO
SCENARIO BY KENJI TERADA
PRODUCTION BY SQUARE A-TEAM
As for how it breaks down, Nasir was a single programmer who actually coded FFI and
IIj. I believe Square A-Team (including Sakaguchi, etc.) came up with the content that
went in the game (dialog, images, etc.) but I'm not real clear on what Terada did.
As for why Square's name didn't appear too much on the packaging, that's because it was
published in the US by Nintendo, and the big N tended to take a lot of credit for itself
back in the day. As it happens, this was arguably a good thing, since Square was a
complete unknown and the association with Nintendo (essentially gods on earth, at the
time) could only help the game's sales.
| And let's not forget stealing from houses |
| Here's a thought on what makes an RPG: towns. One of the major things in
RPG's is the chance to not have battles and just go rest or something like that. One of
the peeves i have with Vagrant Story (and one of the reason i don't think it's an RPG,
though still a good game and not worth arguing the point) is that you never really have
the chance fo just sit back, buy weapons and items, talk to worhtless townies, stay at an
inn (very important for the catharsis; i feel physically better after a stay at an inn)
and whatnot. Off course, this isn't an argument or anything. After all, who cares?
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow somthing sucky could happen,
Sunn |
In the context of the game, not having towns in Vagrant Story makes a lot of sense.
After all, the game is quite literally one big, monster haunted, town.
That said, I agree with you on this one. Just being able to run around for a while
without anything pressing to do is a great pressure release mechanism. True, towns get old
after a while, but they're a nice change from constant battle. In other words, towns (and
the associated plot points they contain) are like the chocolate chunks in the otherwise
bland vanilla ice cream of Cherry Garcia. (Man I'm hungry.)
| Geeks after dark |
| Hey, Chris. Just a thought; wouldn't it be cool thing to do in D.A. if
for a week or a day (or however long) the entire column focused on everything BUT
videogames? It seems to me, from reading the column, that there is a very definate group
of people who always read and write to the column, and it might be neat to see the
"people behind the geeks". Topics could be anything except videogames, anime,
Star Wars...stuff like that. In the words of one Joel Robinson; "Whaddaya,
think?"
-Aaron L.
spoonybard.net/12days |
Bad Aaron! Any fool knows that quote is "Waddaya think, sirs?"! I cast you
into outer darkness until Chrono Cross is gone from stores and you can no longer purchase
a copy!
Your shameful ignorance aside, I'd think we're mostly a homogenous enough bunch that
such a thing is unnecessary - besides, many would argue that there's enough off topic
stuff in here already (and stuff bought in as references and comparisons) that we already
have a good idea of what the column readership's likes and dislikes are. Nice try, tho.
| More crow eaten here |
| Dude, I think your FAQ is wrong. AK started writing Q&AK in March
1998, not in 1996. Kaxon |
You're quite right, AK did start his column in 1998, not 1996. I remember reading the
UOSSHP way back in '96, but his column wasn't until later. I guess my memories got
confused on this point.
In other screwups, I said I'd be playing SoM this weekend, when of course I meant LoM,
and someone said I used a double negative, but I couldn't not care no less about that.
On the plus side I was able to confirm that FF9 does support Dolby Surround, so make
sure those rear speakers are fully functional, folks.
| You tell me that it's evolution, well, you
know... |
| Know what gameplay really is? It's a crutch for nay-sayers, and people
who just dislike a game to place their vague, shadowy doubts upon. It's true. Listen to
many "old-schoolers" complain about the gameplay in FF7 or FF8. I personally
greatly enjoyed these games, but many people (mostly old schoolers) claim to hate them
more than hell. These people who, as Dr. Uzuki said, wish the genere had gone their way,
seem to place their dislike for the game upon the shifty, undefinable surface of gamplay.
Why? I don't presume to know, but I can guess. Dr. Uzuki pretty much summed it up, these
people are bitter and angry that the genere didn't head their way. Don't think I hate
old schoolers for this. In a way I kind of wish RPGs had gone the way of 2-D, myself. But
I gave 3-D a chance, and guess what, I liked it better than 2-D. I really enjoyed FFII,
FFIV, and FFVI (but I think FFVII was better, but not VIII). Yet, three dimensional was
the next step, and life must move on. We all must evolve or die (cheap Vagrant Story
rip-off, I know). There will always be people who are stuck in the past, but the flow of
life (and games) moves forward. Austin Powers was stuck in the 60's, so maybe old
schoolers are stuck in the early 90's. Who can say? I remember when I first saw the
screenshots for FF7. I was disgusted, and outraged. Where are the beautiful hand-drawn
sprites!?!? I cursed and moaned, but feeling I should at least give square another chance,
I bought it. Now FFVII is my favorite RPG (Yes, better than FF6). The graphics added to
the gamplay, they didn't subtract from it.
Gamplay is not only the interface to a game it is your window into a character's life.
It allows you to see unimaginable events transpire before your eyes. It is the soul of the
game. Without gamplay the game is condemned to the hell of low sales and obscurity. When
gamers first peered into the life of Cloud, most people either trumpeted the praises of
Darwin's evolution, or cursed the blasphemer to hell. I was of the latter, but slowly I
was converted. And now I am a firm believer that square made the right choice. They
evolved I didn't.
I now say to Kaptin Chris, and all people who read the DA letter column, EVOLVE!!!! Old
schoolers, please try to see, the next-gen RPGs are the future. Open your eyes and realize
this. It won't go back, so stop crying over spilt milk, and hop on the train. 'Cause it's
leavin' the station and we don't want you getting left behind.
Rayeth
P.S. Yes,I believe humans evolved from apes, but that's beside the point. |
Works for me. The sad fact is, any game you can name (with the possible exception of
the ageless Tetris) will someday seem as dated and pathetic as Pong. Someday games will
likely be so lifelike that you'll smell the flowers in Rinoa's field, and feel the rumble
of Bahamut being summoned under your feet. In that context debating 2D vs. 3D is gonna
look pretty stupid.
On the other hand, what do I know? Vagrant Story ranked me as Game Designer, the lowest
evolutionary step possible. My shame knows no bounds.
| The day after the day after The Day... ah,
heck with it |
| I saw the ending half of it myself, and thought it was on target. I mean,
everyone you know is dead, you're going to die, are you going to be optimistic about it or
be apathetic and not care? Finally, an addendum to the disclaimer: It said that the movie
you saw last night greatly understated the effects of a full nuclear strike on America.
Remember, this had to be accepted by the 1980s media, censors and all, while still getting
the message "this could happen to us" across. All in all, a great movie.
Whaddaya know, seventeen years later, here we are, working with Russia and the other
superpowers to dismantle and disband our nuclear stockpiles. And, as a parting thought,
remember that we actually put people through that hell. Twice. Still contemplating life
and its consequences,
Aleks Bomis |
I'm pretty sure the disclaimer said the movie exaggerated instead of downplayed the
effects. I was so surprised to read that I double checked to make sure. But I could still
be wrong, and in either case, it doesn't matter. The movie definitely wasn't accurate -
for those who think otherwise, I point you to Matt Groening's classic Life In Hell strip
showing the "realistic" version of The Day After, which consists of multiple
panels, the first showing Binky mowing his yard, the next showing a mushroom cloud, the
rest showing nothing but black. Gosh, I miss that pessimistic age.
And we put people through many types of hell - the Tokyo and Dresden bombings are
generally considered to be at least as immediately destructive as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I won't go into justifications or lack thereof, but war is hell, as much fun as FFT may
be. Don't ever forget it.
| Nothin' but bosses |
| Your idea of an RPG consisting of mostly boss encounters with a few
regular fights thrown in isn't entirely a new idea - it's one I've been daydreaming about
for some time. There's an obscure game by Treasure for the Sega MegaDrive called
"Alien Storm" - I've never played it, but the concept sounds intriguing. The
game is effectively a platform game that is made almost entirely of boss battle with a
very few minor cannon-fodder type thrown in for grins. The potential of an RPG like
that is, in my eyes, very high. When people mention what they dislike the most about RPGs,
they generally cite random encounters and meaningless battles. I mean, look at the Final
Fantasy games - most minor enemies hit you for a whopping 5-10% of your HP when you first
meet them, and you only get stronger as you go along. Very few battles in RPGs are a true
threat (although the Lunar remakes change this - normal battles in those games can be
HARD), and the ones that are challenging frequently become annoying or tedious because
they seem so cheap or gimmicky compared to the standard encounters. The sad thing is that
most people seem to accept that - I've even seen publishers say "Well, no one plays
RPGs for combat, they're just there to give you something to do while you advance the
story." Yuck, what a horrid attitude. Can you imagine Miyamoto saying, "No one
likes platform-hopping in Mario games, it's just there to slow you down"? Of course
not; he's samrt enough to realize that the best impediments to progress are integral to
the game, not just tacked-on nuisances. The trend toward non-random encounters is good,
but I'd like to a developer actually wake up and say, "Hey... console RPGs are
gradually breaking away from their roots... maybe we don't have to shovel on loads of
boring, stupid battles to pad the gameplay anymore! Maybe... maybe games are ready for
more sophistication than Dragon Quest I."
Strategy RPGs work something along these lines - every battle is well-thought-out, and
your brave bold warriors aren't using NUKE to fight a swarm of insects hitting them for 1%
of their HP. But that genre also tends to cut out the "role playing" aspect of
exploration and interaction.
What I would absolutely love to see is an RPG which contained about 250-300 battles
total, each with a unique, powerful enemy requiring varied strategies and careful
planning, lasting 5-10 minutes apiece. Rather than fighting every step of the way, you'd
engage in a few major fights per area, with the freedom to backtrack and save as needed.
Consumable items could be tuned sufficiently so they're inexpensive and effective outside
battle, but limited during actual combat to force the player to use actual caution while
fighting. There's the question of leveling up and such, of course, but maybe characters
don't need to fight to gain EXP... maybe performing alternate tasks, or simply exploring
the world and finding items could add experience to their constitutions. Or there could be
training dojos where characters could engage in training battles at their discretion.
Whatever the case, I doubt RPG Maker has that sort of flexibility, but if it does... I
know how I plan to use it.
Well, that's what I'd like to see, anyway. Of course, I'm American, so I probably
couldn't make a worthwhile console RPG in the first place...
J. Parish |
The insightful Mr. Parish has once more nailed the subject perfectly, leaving me with
little to say. I only caution him against such strong rhetoric as "more
sophistication than Dragon Quest I", lest he gain a reputation as a wild-eyed menu
hating new schooler.
I'd also like to touch on the lack of exploration and interaction in strategy RPGs - it
ticks me off. I went through the tutorial of FFT before I played the actual game, since
the instruction manual looked fairly complex, and one of the first things I fell in love
with was the environments and how the characters moved through them. The demos showed
castles with stairways, arches, and gaps, and in my mind I was already putting together
view of the game where certain locations could only be explored once your character had
leveled his jump stats to a certain point. The Orbonne Monastery intro had me drooling to
wander around the building and inside the church.
But of course, there was no opportunity to do so. FFT more than made up for it in other
areas, and FM3 gave you the ability to go to numerous locations in a city, and talk to
specific people all you liked. But even so, it wasn't the same as being able to actually
move a character around on screen in real time. I suppose this is my anti-menu peeve
showing up again, but I don't see any reason why a strategy RPG shouldn't give you the
ability to move around at will. Some few, such as Koudelka, do offer this, but there's no
reason it shouldn't be fully integrated into the game engine. Battles could start directly
from exploration actions - Ramza walks down a hall with his party in tow, and enemies pop
up if he hits certain tiles. Positioning in non-combat situations could lead to tactical
advantages or disadvantages. Plus an entire world consisting of the isometric locales
shown in FFT battlefields would just be cool.
Are you listening, Matsuno? Now get to work on FFT2!
| In the future, there are no dye jobs |
| This is just a small thought that came to my mind. I noticed that the
Final Fantasy games after FF6 didn't have characters with weird hair color anymore
(Y'know, Terra had green, Faris had purple.. etc.). They don't have weird hair color in
FF7's main characters (no, Red XIII doesn't count, he's a.. mammal-thing), or FF8, or FF9
from the charcters I've seen. They have weird hair shape, sure, but I miss the hair color.
I'd just like to know why they excluded this neat detail in the recent FF games.
-Queen Godzilla |
Ironically enough, both of the characters you mention have different hair colors in
Amano's sketches - both are blonde. But you're right, Rydia had green hair in both the
sketches and the game, and there has been no green (or purple, or blue) hair in 7 or 8. The queen certainly has a
bizarre appearance in 9, but her hair color seems normal, if nothing else. My guess is
that as Square wanted to emphasize realism in their games starting with FF7, since that's
what the PSX provided them with, so they restricted hair color to natural shades.
Personally I think a nice purple tint is kinda cute, but that's just me.
| Same old, same old |
| What ever happened to the creativity? I remember when new generes were
appearing overnight. Well, not overnight, but it at least it happened. Where has the
creativity gone? Is every company so devoid of ideas that endless fighter clones must be
made? This even applies to RPGs, though somewhat less. The same story lines,
"confused boy meets shy girl and they embark on a quest to save the realm!" or
"timid girl learns leadership and fights for justice" is it getting old yet? Now
don't get me wrong if executed well even the most conceited and boring plot can be
playable. Lo, do I hear cries of sadness, cries of torment at the pain of overused
storylines? Do I? I believe I do. The truth is nothing is original anymore, even movies
rip off each other. WHERE HAS ORIGINALITY FLED TO?!?!?!?!? Vagrant Story is a ray of
hope.........oh wait even VS took most of its battle system from Parasite Eve. Please
someone, everyone be original. -Rayeth |
According to some, there are only 5 stories which get told over and over again with a
few names and dates changed around. I don't buy this theory, but I'd suggest generic plots
are a limitation of any new medium, especially one initially targeted toward kids. Comics
had the same problem once upon a time.
There are those who're trying to do something about this - SF2's multi-generational
plotlines tell more of a history than a single story, FFT was far more cynical than most
"save the kingdom" tales. On the other hand, as many gamers have pointed out
people don't always want new stories when old ones will do just as well.
| Of candles and roast beef |
| To The Double Agent; It has come to my attention that today is a 'free
topic' day. Being the evil mastermind that I am, I have decided to take advantage of this
situation and completely mess with your head.
Now then. I have some questions concerning the whole 'Castlevania' series. I've played
each and every Castlevania game ever made, I have seen Dracula die and come back and die
again more times than should be concievably possible. Skeletons, zombies, minotaurs,
cyclopses (cyclopsi?), werewolves, etc...I've whipped 'em all. And I've whipped 'em good.
But one question still nags me: how in the name of Mario's greasy mustache can you
possibly recieve powerups from candles??
I mean, the leap of logic that ReinHardt or Belmont or any of the other umpteen main
characters in these games must perform is astounding. "Hmm. I seem to be dying. I
know! I'll take a pot shot at that lantern over there with my whip! That way the humongous
side of beef hiding in the lantern will fall down and I will thus be healed by a fatty
piece of meat! I'm a genius!"
Indeed you are, Senior Belmont. I've honestly never thought about light sources as a
viable solution for starvation. Or wealth, for that matter. Or weaponry. Or 'powerups'.
Sorry, Konami, but you're stretching reality here. I can get into the whole 'undead
vampire' thing, I can suspend my disbeleif when you throw giant monster zombies in front
of me, but sides of beef - BEEF, which comes from Very Big Cows - hidden in a candle or a
lantern? No. Sorry. Not buying it. I've even tested this theory myself. I must have gone
through at least 25 lightbulbs, and not one of them had a hundred dollar bill or stick of
beef jerky in it. (If anybody has found these items in a lightbulb, though, please tell me
the brand name, so I may go out and purchase as many lightbulbs as my scrawny arms may
carry.)
Any theories on how these items get into the candles would be sincerely appreciated, oh
Double Agent. Share your wisdom. I DARE you.
Until next time, Gadget. Next time.
- Doctor Mayhem, the man who knows what your cats are thinking when you're not home. |
As it happens, there are not one, but two competing theories on this issue. First off,
there's the classic hidden compartment theory, which states that behind every candle lies
a secret compartment that Dracula considerately placed various weapons and power-ups
inside. This may sound strange at first, until you consider what nice people vampires
really are. Think about it - how many times have you seen a vampire movie where the
bloodsucker was routed by a conveniently placed stake mounted on the wall, or by someone
tearing down a curtain that faced the rising sun dead on? Dracula merely wants a fair
fight, and makes sure there are fresh sides of energy restoring beef located throughout
the castle for hungry would-be vampire slayers.
A second, more recent theory, comes out of the game Symphony of the Night, and revolves
around the fact that items do not appear until Alucard acquires the Cube of Zoe. Rather
than there being actual items hidden inside candles, the Cube of Zoe allows the user to
transmute the freed energy of an extinguished candle (or sometimes, a killed enemy) to
useful items, such as weapons and money. The "hearts" you see are merely
representations of the potential energy Alucard builds up inside himself when he destroys
a candle, which also explains how hearts can become knives one minute and boomerangs the
next.
Of course, there's also the third theory that the candles/hearts/side of beef thing is
just more bizzaro game design from the country that gave us giant mushrooms and Chu Chu
Rocket, but that's really too silly a conjecture to be taken seriously.
Closing Comments:
Behold, AK comes! Be excellent unto him, and maybe he'll take you to a water park. See
you Monday.
-Chris Jones, wants a tail |
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