Calm Before the Storm

Well it has been a pretty quiet month so far. Don't Starve! has been pretty fun thus far, though I haven't put as much time into it as I would like. However, next month things are going to get pretty busy. Bravely Default hits at the beginning of the month and is looking like a classic jrpg that I can sink my teeth into. Later in the month Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze comes out and I am looking forward to having my platforming skills tested once again. It is a bit disappointing that Retro just made a new Donkey Kong instead of a Metroid Prime, but hopefully that means that they'll move onto that next. Also, Thief comes out for most systems next month too, but I really want to try it on PS4. I loved those games on PC and they are some of the few games I really enjoyed on the PC, so a new entry into the franchise is something I can't wait for. February is a busy month, but then finally in March inFamous: Second Son is released and that is one that I can't wait to dig into.

So much gaming. Seriously, I can't wait to dig into some of these titles.

Also, news broke today that Microsoft has bought all the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic, and Black Tusk Studios here in Vancouver is making the new Gears game for Xbox One. This is pretty great as I love the Gears games and do look forward to seeing how the new games turn out. Plus, Capcom announced that next year Monster Hunter 4G will be released worldwide, which is also fantastic news. New Gears, new Monster Hunter, yes indeed, lots of great new things happening.

Bravely Default Demo

Well I have finally finished the demo for Bravely Default and I have enjoyed it quite a bit. By that, I mean I can't wait to get my hands on the full game in less than a month. Although I have found out that more than a few people have complained about the demo on other blogs and such, but I found it to be quite enjoyable and really I only wished that you could access more jobs and more skills past what I had maxed out on.

The battle system as mentioned before I really enjoyed. Basically it comes down to the use of Brave and Default actions for the systems battle points. Most battles start you off at 0 BP's and you can do one attack and your BP will refill for the next round of combat. However, you can use the Brave function to add an extra action, but if you do that then it will take extra rounds to refill your BP's so you can attack, which can leave you open. You can also choose to Default which will increase your defence and give you extra BP's so the more you do that the more you can unleash without worry of taking too much damage. The risk/reward focus of the battle system is great and a nice throwback to turn-based battles of old jrpg's and part of why I have enjoyed it so much.

As well this uses a job system much like games like Final Fantasy V or even Final Fantasy Tactics and you can add support abilities based on the jobs you have already levelled up. Having great support skills like the Performers combined with a solid defender like the Knight makes for a great pairing for one of your four adventurers. The characters as well seem likeable enough, although not much is really shown story-wise in the demo. Regardless, I am sure that the game will have a lengthy and well developed story and I'm excited to check it out.

After a solid 6 plus hours on the demo I have sunk my teeth into it about as much as I can and I am definitely looking forward to the finished product. I highly recommend checking this out, especially if you love classic jrpg's like Final Fantasy as much as I do.

Ode to Final Fantasy

I’ve been playing quite a bit of the demo for the upcoming Bravely Default game, which is essentially a new Final Fantasy game, and it got me thinking back on my history with the series. It’s one that is near and dear to me, as I grew up on Tolkien and the wonderful Dragonlance series and the fantasy settings of the early games are probably some of my most favorite settings of any sort of fiction.

            Growing up we had a Commodore 64 as our first computer and also gaming system. The C64 was probably used more for gaming in our house than typing letters and the like, and we had quite the assortment of games. Probably my most favorite though were the Ultima games that we had. I loved creating my hero and then seeing how far I could get in the world before ultimately biting the big one thanks to some lowly skeleton (I was 7 or 8, give me a break). Once the NES came out I had more and more friends that had them and I loved the games on it, especially Legend of Zelda. However, we were over at some friends of the family and the oldest son had a game called Final Fantasy, and he had a big map open of the game world and was sludging his way through it. I watched him play for a bit and I was hooked. When we finally got our NES, Final Fantasy was the first game that I had wanted for it.

I played FFI quite a lot actually, and enjoyed how I could fine-tune my party and especially thought that the magic in it was amazing. I played that game so much, that even when we went away to our cousins I would bring it with me so I could play it there while on holidays. I loved the epic battles with Kraken and Tiamat, though I am still ashamed to admit that I could never beat Chaos. It is probably the thing in gaming I am most ashamed of, though I always swear that I will go back and beat it.

            While I never did finish FFI, FFII on the Super Nintendo was one that I ate up and did not stop playing until I finished it. I remember borrowing it from my friend Jason and sinking hour upon hour into it, and thinking that Kain was one of the coolest characters in a videogame ever. FFI was definitely light on story, but I loved FFII for it’s epic tale, it’s wonderful characters, it’s heart-rending tragedies and of course, the summon spells. FFII was one of the first games that I played and played until I beat it, but it is FFIII that is far more important to me.

            When I first heard that there would be a new Final Fantasy coming out for the SNES I was overwhelmed with a ton of emotions. At this point thanks to some gaming magazines I was aware of the Japanese numbering and knew that FFII was actually FFIV and that FFV had been released in Japan, but not in North America. That was a total downer for me, but when FFVI started to show up in magazines and there started to be articles for FFIII, I couldn’t wait; I wanted that game.

            I read everything that I could in preparation for FFIII and was already entranced by the world and the characters. I loved the cast of FFII but I knew that Terra, Sabin, Locke and the rest would become my new best friends. The day the game came out I had it reserved at Movie Madness, which was the videostore that I rented from, and went there on my lunch break from school. After I got home from school I remember making a sandwich and then retreating to my room and put the cartridge in my SNES and started the game.

            Man was it ever epic.

            I remember playing it and skipping dinner the first day, and playing until after midnight, then finally going to bed. Got up the next day, went to school, and then came home, ate, and started playing again. I am pretty sure I made it to the World of Ruin before I had to return the game. I hated that I didn’t get to beat it, but thankfully for Christmas that year, just a couple months later, my parents got me the game. Pretty sure it was the only present I got that year, as cartridges were super expensive, but it didn’t matter. I played that game excessively, searched out every little nook and cranny, and was caught up in the characters that lived in this realm. I still remember after I beat it for the first time, how blown away I was by the ending, where most games at the time had pretty short ending scenes, this one wrapped up everything for every character and at once seemed to last a lifetime but also was over too fast. FFIII is still my all-time favorite game and it probably always will be, and that is a fact.

            You see, at this point in my life I was pretty depressed. Sure most teenagers are depressed but this was actual, clinical depression. I was pretty overweight and had never been quite active and didn’t like to do too much. I had really good friends, but I was generally content to stay in quite often. Plus, living in the prairies, winters in general are pretty brutal. But I had always loved great stories and liked getting caught up in them, and FFIII was a form of escapist literature that I had control over, that I was a part of, and I loved it. It made my day and even when I was sad after beating it, I had always hoped they would do some sort of sequel or additional content. I even wrote scenarios and created new areas for a secondary part to FFIII, that even though they would never get used, it still brought some joy to me in creating something like that. Again, it was a pretty rough time in my life but as long as I had some great adventures to take part in, I was all right.

            Following the SNES, I had gotten myself a PlayStation as it seemed that there was going to be a lot of RPG’s on the system, and once they announced FFVII I knew I made the right choice. I remember the first time seeing screenshots for the game and getting insanely excited for it. I even got the horrible Tobal No. 1 just so I could get the demo for FFVII, but I definitely played that thing enough to warrant the purchase.  When it finally came out I picked it up in the city, and then came home and played it, and played it, and played it some more. In total I think I put about 27 hours straight into my first sitting of FFVII. I just couldn’t get over how amazing the graphics were, the cut scenes, the story, everything. After finally sleeping and then going to work though, I came home to play and found out that my 3^rd party memory card was corrupted, and all my saves were gone. That was pretty much the worst, so after buying an official Sony memory card (which I still have) I started back up again.

            I played FFVII quite a bit, but it wasn’t until I had moved into the city that I finally beat it. It was kind of a rough point in my life, but I was glad to have Cloud and the gang with me to keep me company. I did so much grinding in that game, but after the 10 plus hours with chocobos and getting Knights of the Round, and beating the weapons, it was worth it. After beating that though anoter Final Fantasy came out, which was Tactics, and while not being a traditional game I knew I needed to play it. You see, for the Genesis the only games I really liked were the Shining Force games, so I liked turn-based strategy games. Well, this game had it in spades. I think to this day Final Fantasy Tactics is the game that I have played the most, having beaten it 6 times and putting hundreds upon hundreds of hours into it over the years.

            Tactics I should note came out at a rough time in my life, where I was living in my first little apartment in the big city and didn’t really know too many people yet. I was pretty new and dealing with a lot of craziness in my life, but it was always nice to settle down with a battle or two in Tactics, and often I would come up with ideal party combinations and see which ended up being best for battles. Other than FFIII I don’t think I have spent as much time just writing down with pen and paper ideas for a game or strategies for it. Tactics consumed a lot of my time and I miss having a quality game that would enable me to do that.

            While I played a lot of FF Tactics, FFVIII had come out and it has always been the one in the series that I really didn’t like. It just never jelled with me. I kind of liked the battle system in it, and how you get spells, but the characters just never won me over, and it always seemed too much like a soap opera for me. Hence, I played it and beat it, but I remember nothing of that one. Perhaps when I can stream things on Playstation Now I may give it another go. FFIX however, that is a different story.

            I remember being excited for that one as it looked like it was going back to more traditional fantasy roots and I desperately wanted to give it a go. I remember at that time money was really tight and I wondered if I could justify the purchase, but I went to a Zellers to pick it up, and they had entered it in wrong, and had priced it as a greatest hits title. Perfect! Brand new Final Fantasy for half the price, I was ecstatic and quickly went home and jumped into the colorful new world that Square Enix had whipped up. While the characters weren’t as “realistic” as the ones in FFXIII I found them to be far more enjoyable, tender, tragic and altogether have so much more depth than the characters in FFXIII. In fact, I would still say that FFIX is my second-favorite Final Fantasy after FFIII.

            When the PlayStation 2 was coming out I was going back and forth a lot between it and the GameCube. I love Nintendo, but it seemed like once again the best RPG’s were going to be on the PS2, and once word of FFX started to leak out, I knew that I needed a PS2. When I first picked up FFX I was overjoyed with how crisp everything looked, but more so the inclusion of voice acting. I have always enjoyed the stories, but with the phenomenal voice acting that was utilized there was definitely a greater connection with the characters and the story. Although, this has led to one of the most infamous scenes in games it seems, the Tidus and Yuna laughing scene. It’s so incredibly awkward now, and maybe a bit when I first saw it, but it still adds a great deal of human touch to the characters. I enjoyed FFX and although I have always wanted sequels to the Final Fantasy games, when FFX-2 came out, well I wasn’t completely sold. Again, I played through it but something seemed to be missing. With some of these other sequels though I have enjoyed them though a lot more.

            Most recently I have enjoyed the FFXIII games, although I think I like XIII-2 more than the first and that is just because I enjoyed the combat system a great deal better. My complaint for the first part was similar to most peoples, where it was too linear and that by the time you got to where you could adventure more you were almost done the game. That being said I did love the characters and following the saga of Lightning, her sister and company through XIII-2 was great, and like I said the combat system and the almost Pokemon style of catching monsters and training them and building up their stats. With Lightning Returns almost out, it’s looking like I may have to pull the Xbox out of storage and give that one a go, and I really can’t wait till XV comes out, whenever that may be.

            It’s been about 25 years since I first played FFI and if you couldn’t tell by now, I really love the Final Fantasy series. The characters and stories have been some of my all-time favorites in gaming, or any entertainment form for that matter, and whether it be Kain, Terra, Cloud or Vivi, these characters and stories will probably stick with me for a very long time. I always loved reading things like The Hobbit as I mentioned before, but these games have given me the chance to actively participate in the story that was being told and that is what I love and respect about the Final Fantasy games. While there have been some lows, there have been plenty of highs, and while the Mass Effect series has occupied more of my gameplay time in recent years, I look forward to Bravely Default, FFXV and beyond, because really, there will probably be no actual Final, Final Fantasy, and I am ok with that.  

Most Anticipated Games of 2014

I figured that I would give a little rundown of what I am most excited to play this year. Firstly I am really excited to see what else the PS4 has coming out this year. As far as big things go we really only know about inFamous: Second Son coming out and then The Order 1886 in the fall, plus multi-platform games like Watch Dogs and Destiny. I have a feeling that at E3 they will show off some actual gameplay for Uncharted and maybe we will finally see what Sony Santa Monica has been working on.

As for Nintendo, well really there's Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze coming out next month, followed by Mario Kart 8 more than likely in April, and Super Smash Bros in September I would guess. As for the others, well Bayonetta 2 will also be a summer release I am guessing, and I am hoping that X ends up coming out next fall but who knows right now. Here are the games that I am most excited for this year.

Bravely Default - 3DS

I have been putting a bit of time into this demo and I am hooked, and apparently the game is much better than the demo is. If that is the case, then I am sold. I love classic JRPGs and as this is for all intents and purposes a new Final Fantasy game,  then Square have completely sold me. A month to go till this is in my hands. 

inFamous: Second Son - PS4

I love the inFamous games on the PS3 and this is one of the main reasons that I wanted to get a PS4 at launch. I also love Seattle so the fact that I get to adventure as Delsin in a reinterpretation of one of my most favourite cities also has me extremely excited. This game looks gorgeous just from the videos that I have seen and apparently in person it's even better. End of March is too far away.

Mario Kart 8 - Wii U

There's something so satisfying about getting together with some friends and playing some Mario Kart, and this looks to add to the games long legacy. I remember playing Mario Kart on my SNES with a ton of friends for my birthday 20 years ago and it was a total blast, and really that is what Nintendo does best. Create great gaming experiences with friends and family in your own house, and that is why I can't wait to play this one.

The Order: 1886 - PS4

When I saw the first trailer for this game, I thought that it could be kind of cool. Looks to be Sony's own squad-based shooter, kind of similar to Gears of War (that's what I think based on the number of people in the party, I could be wrong though). I didn't think that it could really look as sweet as the first trailer showed, but then more screenshots and videos keep popping up. Ready at Dawn have made some sweet games so gameplay wise I am hoping this holds up, but if it is as good as these videos show it, this will be a great game this fall.

X - Wii U

I can't count how many times I go back and watch the X trailer, it's honestly pretty excessive. I tried a bit of Xenoblade Chronicles (can't afford to buy, it's too pricy) and really enjoyed it. This game looks to blow that out of the water and looks to be one of the best looking games on the Wii U and hopefully will show that the system is no slouch. I have no idea when this will come out but I am hoping that it's sooner than later.

Those are a few of the games I am excited for, anyone else?