Playing Final Fantasy VI Part 4

I honestly forgot where exactly I was supposed to be going. The village where I parked my airship had nothing. So I wondered to another town.

Whiiiitee giiirrrrrl waaasteeeeed!

Um...No?

I got to the town I needed to go to, but I looked away when the town name came up. So I have no idea what’s going on. Some guy wants me to go behind this crate with him...at least buy me a drink first.

You're just so cute with your vibrant clothes and evil laugh!

Squee, Kefka.

  

Oh no, Celes!

I don’t remember this from the last time I played. Apparently she is an imp? How did I not ever see this status before?

I don’t remember this at all, honestly. Which is a good thing, because I’m experiencing this again “for the first time.”

And then this asshole tried to kill me. What if I was looking for the bathroom? What if I just wanted to know if he had a moment to talk about the Invisible Pink Unicorn?

Speaking of unicorns...

It’s the laaaasstt uniiiiiicooorn!

Whoa, plot!

 Da da duuuun!

Cool it on the graphics.

 Graphics!

Then I became badass. I should look like this all the time.

I wish I hit the screenshot button a few seconds before. Two sparkles dance and fly together, and then – that’s how a baby is made!

And this is where I called it quits. I played way longer than I wanted to.

Setzer’s Slots ability in battle is fun to use. It hasn’t failed me yet, though I am sure one day it will. I was lazy and forgot to rearrange my party, so it's still Edgar, Locke, and Setzer, and I'll be too lazy to fix it tomorrow too.

Playing Final Fantasy VI Part 3

You know that feeling when you start a game, knowing that you saved right before story progression? You're like, I get to jump right in to new and exciting story development!

Story progress, DENIED.

Well, fuck you, buddy.

It’s a good thing you have good music here, because I’d burn this place down to the ground otherwise.

I KNOW. I played past this point of the game more than a decade ago. Apparently I'm not identical enough to be let into the opera house, though. At this point, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing.

 Locke is the "spitting image of Maria".

Huh. If you say so. 

The hunt for progress began. I rented a chocobo because I wanted to go fast, but this camera view is a bit annoying. I’m not sure why the creators thought this camera angle was a good idea. If there are mountain passes or caves I'm supposed to go into, I'm not going to see it. I get that it’s cool for a SNES to do this, but to me, previous and later FFs had it right. 

It took me a while, but I found Zozo. And this sketchy asshole, laying face first on the ground in the rain, tells me to trust everyone here. Sketchy as fuck. It’s like those drunk creeps who tell you they’re trustworthy and can walk you home from the bar. Nope, fuck you. 

At first, I was like fine, don’t talk to me. But after speaking to the guy above, I like this guy. At least this asshole isn’t trying to lie to me. 

The image of what appears to be a woman on the ground was surprising to me. You can infer from this man that she had tried to jump between the buildings and failed. What’s all that red between her hair? I hear a lot that final fantasy XII was the first installment to have blood, but I don’t see how you can say the redness in her hair is anything but blood. Am I just looking at this wrong?

Moving on…

This sounds like bullshit to me. Ramuh is trying to get me to free his esper friends. Maybe it’s just the cynic in me. But it would be hilarious if they freed the espers and they just flew away silently without making eye contact with the MCs. 

And he killed himself. Guess he’s totally legit. 

Too bad I don’t give a shit about this flat character.

So, I figure it out, and I go to the theatre.

Now that’s cute. I hate boys (or girls) who are torn between two people, but this little bit is adorable and there’s character development going on, though it feels a bit pulled out of the butt. But I'll take it.

Which her? Because yes.

I still hear people who say that this play is heart wrenching and romantic and their favourite part of the game. I don’t get it. It was fun to remember the lines and do the actions. Sad? No. Romantic? No. I did scratch my head at the notion of the octopus fighting out of water and making splashes on the stage.

Ah why is Edgar blushing!

And here is where I left it. I spent way too much time being lost and wondering around. I love RPGs, but this aspect deters me. However, new RPGs (like FFXIII) are too linear. There’s a fine line, and I haven’t spent too much time in FFVI hopelessly lost, so I will continue on and post again.

One last tidbit that I came across: this is the original design of chocobos by Yoshitaka Amano. This huge pink pterodactyl without wings is slightly terrifying. Like this has the capacity to chase you through the streets trying to peck you from above. So glad we got the cute bundle of yellow feathers!

Playing Final Fantasy VI

Today, on playing Final Fantasy VI...

Totally not my screenshot, I just cropped it.

I'm torn between Kefka's battle graphic. He's so cute as a sprite but he makes for one colourful and confusing monster that is three times their size. I also found out that his sprite had to be switched for the full graphic because the game could only handle 3 sprites on the screen. Interesting. 

Look at the emotion here. Riveting.

I like how certain scenes go into the horizontal battle view. This perspective gives more depth than the standard view IMO. One thing I do have a problem with regarding this game is that the characters have a difficult job expressing emotions and developing character. Some are standing out more than others, like Locke, Gau, Cyan, and Sabin (to a degree). Terra and Celese are bland and thus far, I couldn't really give you character points for either one.  

Spooky blackness is spooky.

Shadow's dream sequences are neat, and I do recall looking forward to them. Spooky music played and then...

WTF get back here!

...Shadow, the biggest tool ever, left. I paid $3300 for that dream you had, asshole!

I don't know why every RPG playing boy in my high school was obsessed with him. Yeah, he has a cool outfit. Thus far, he's real busy being a douche.

In the future I will steal that Elixir you hid in the clock...
Shhh...you don't need it anyway.

Locke's story with Rachel is interesting enough that I want to wake her up. However, a story really can't have everyone losing their memories. This overused plot device is like a serial on-line dater...overused and unwanted.

And here is where I left off, right before the opera house. So, this is the part where everyone catches on fire, right? 

Btw, this is the iOS version of FFVI. I don't own this version, but damn, it looks good! I can't justifying forking over more money for a game I already own, and I am morally opposed to companies milking their fan base. But Kefka does look cute! 

Final Fantasy VI

I know I haven't been posting here since last November. There just isn't a lot of time anymore, especially for video games.

I managed to start playing Final Fantasy VI yesterday, though. About 11 years ago, I tried to play it. I got about half way and lost interest. It's going better this time, but with all the characters, I am having a difficult time becoming attached to anyone in the large cast. Kefka was always interesting to me, so I'm glad I'm revisiting the title.

Other notes include:

What is that?! It's green, looks kinda like a duck, and it has something on its head. BUT WHAT IS IT?

I would live here, with the Moogles. Screw everyone else and their politics and wars. I'm still puzzled as to why the Moogles decided to help Locke and Terra. They were just doing their Moogle business down here and...heard the commotion and decided to investigate, and they decided to help...because...Moogle?

This is where I left off, just before the battle at Narshe. Banon is like, are you ready? I'm like, What am I doing switching characters I have no idea...!

On another note, I re-watched Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind today. I think I bought that film about three years after I tried to play FFVI, and I probably never watched the whole thing again. I was packing up my belongings (because what else do I do?) and watched it at the same time. I appreciated it much more this time around. The environmentalist themes used to be preachy to me, and the whole "giant warrior" stuff made me roll my eyes.

I didn't know that Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind inspired Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and it influenced Chocobos. I thought about it, as a teen and now, that the horseclaws do look like Chocobos, but I never thought that it really did inspire him.

I totally didn't make this GIF, btw. I packed my DVD before I figured I'd write about horseclaws.

This movie is pretty awesome, btw. If you like fantasy stories, especially one that has inspired Final Fantasy on many levels, you should check it out.

And...anyone want to address the sucky state of RPGs? Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns? No. Just no. Who thought these stories through and thought they were good ideas? I'm looking forward to FFXV, though the Fabula Nova Crystallis story doesn't interest me much. I hope FFXV can breathe life into RPG stories again.

In a nutshell, other recent RPGs have the same clone characteristics. Variants of the same story, the same tropes, the same cliches, the same predictable plot twists. Can we get something that doesn't suck, pretty please? Or, anyone who reads this, comment or email me with some new (or newish) RPG titles for me to check out. Which console doesn't matter, though I'd rather stay away from PC only titles.

New Persona Games!

Atlus has revealed 4 new Persona games, and none of them are on the next-gen consoles. Keeping them on established consoles is awesome, since I'm not buying either new console until I see a decent variety of games I want to play released on them.

What we got so far is:

Persona 5

There isn't anything in this trailer regarding characters, only hints of a vague story idea. Still, I can't wait! It will be released on the PS3 in Japan in the winter of 2014.

Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth

It's a crossover between Persona 3 and 4, and it's being released for the Nintendo 3DS. I don't have one, but I'll pick one up for cheap when this is eventually released over here. This actually looks pretty cute, so I'm looking forward to this one. In Japan, the release date is set for June, 2014.

Persona 4 Dancing All Night

A rhythm dancing game starring the P4 characters. This is for the PsVita and honestly I have zero interest in it. It will be released in Japan in the autumn of 2014.

Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold

A sequel to the P4 Arena game. It's for the Ps3, which I like. But another Arena installment? I wonder why they don't just release DLC for the Arena game they already have. Arena is a decent game...but as is the way with fighting games, they'll milk it till they just can't any more. I have read that Adachi is making a return, and that's intriguing, at least. Release date for Japan set for summer 2014.

So, I'm basically only interested in Persona 5 and Persona Q. Regardless, this is huge news! I haven't been interested in any new games for a while. I miss this feeling!

What Does The Fox Say? *Spoilers!*

It says *yip*. Now get over it. I'm tired of teenagers asking what does the fox say. IT SAYS *yip*. Teens these days.

Just in case you don't know what I'm taking about, this song is a new passing craze. Strange as all hell, annoying as all hell.

Twin Peaks Heart Break

No, no, no. Hoe, get away from Agent Cooper.

This is Agent Cooper's...mistake. Not to be taken seriously.

Remember this lady? If Cooper can't be with me because he's a fictional character, than at least be with Audrey! She's awesome! And he's losing her to the pilot. 

Can't Windom Earle or any other homicidal resident of the town just murder her? She works at the Double R Diner-go get her!