A Crossroads

Is it worth it to do the level and skill grind so common in RPG's?  I know that usually with a game you should be able to just play straight through and have at most moderate problems.  Some people, like me, are those that tend to do extra leg work so I can get all the cool things as well as get through the boss battles easier.

Thats the conundrum I am currently in when it comes to FFV.  I have a decent level currently, and the gil is pretty decent where it will just build on itself.  However I have a chance to work on my job skill.  My job skill affects what spells I can use as well as learning abilities.  There are a multitude of jobs that a character can be, however it would take an ungodly amount of hours for one to master each job for all 4 characters.  I want to level things so I can have an easier time with the later monsters plus get all the good spells and abilities.  I could also make an interesting combination with the freelancer job.
\


I just don't know if I should since I am at a pretty good location to solely work on job levels, or if I wanted to I could just continue on.  I know it sounds a little silly to have some level of concern over this, yet a lot of times I stop playing games because of this very reason.  I lose this need...or better choice of words, desire to keep doing what I am doing.  This antidesire emotion that progresses to the whole game and I find myself drifting to something new.

Maybe thats it.  Maybe I need to bite the bullet and either give up on the grind and continue on with the story, or keep my current course and reap the benefits that will follow.  Honestly, there really is no bad decision in an RPG, except the one that leads to GAMEOVER!

An Expansion, but not that theory for the Universe

Downloadable Content (DLC) is something of a conundrum I feel.  I only own a handful of DLC since a lot of games I have are so long that DLC would be beat a dead horse.  However you don't want to make the main plot really short and then have to get DLC to see what happens.  Yes this will make money for the companies, and there are people who will buy packages as well.  Yet it does make the game look bad.  To me its as if they released the game unfinished and the DLC is some lame excuse to make up for it.

DLC should be like its ancestor, the expansion pack.  It adds to the story by providing a mini sequel and placing add-ons without having to do a completely new things.  Example: Diablo II.  AMAZING!  Plain and simple.  Keeping with my list, I think of them Fallout 3 has some very good DLC for it.  I only have Broken Steel which opens up an extension to the main plot, plus open up your character to level 30.  The other DLC/add-ons for Fallout 3 allow you to battle in other places and open up an entirely new story that wraps around the main plot.  Like the famous Anchorage battle, on searching out the aliens.  I love those ideas.  Really new and exciting.

Another look is at Assassins Creed: Brotherhood.  I stopped Fallout 3 for now and decided to work on the DLC The Da Vinci Disappearance since I recognized I have many games that will take a lot of man hours to get through and that I had some that won't take much time at all.  The Da Vinci Disappearance is a quickie.

Just to go over Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, the AC series is graphically beautifully, the plot is rich, and the experience sucks you in completely.  I never played the first Assassins Creed, but I did play Assassin's Creed II.  ACII was a lengthy story.  However I feel AC:B was a lot shorter.  The story just seemed to be over by the time it started.  Plus there was not a lot of development with the overall arc of the main character, which is and will be spanning multiple titles.  So when I started to play the Da Vinci Disappearance add-on I felt this may have been better as a side quest arc in the game,  It has no real advancement to the main plot, nor does it bring a lot in terms of new abilities and all.  I just feel it could have been added in the game with its initial release and all would be have been fine.  I guess Ubisoft needed to make some extra Florins.

Is it worth it to get that guide??

I have always been a fan of strategy guides.


Well...lets change that.  I have been a fan of them since I got one for Final Fantasy VII.  I don't like cheat codes.  Never have really been a fan of them cause that is purely cheating.  Guides just help to show you the way to go when you happen to be lost, or want to know how the hell to get that mythical, magical, unicorn shaped, blinking, necromancer boots which never make it into the conversation of the game and thus you would have gone by them completely if not for the game.

I don't get one for every game that I play or have.  I do have some constants, like I get them usually for a FF game or really any RPG.  I used to get them for multiplayer online games, however those change so much that the guide is usually useless after 1 or 2 version updates.  What sucks is these things are expensive, so thats usually like 20 to 30 bucks down the hole.  (The beauty of wikia sites and IGN.com to provide information is nice for these).

If you think of it though after you get through the game you are not really going to go through the guide again like if it were a book.  Yes I know you could replay the game and all, but I am not always someone who replays and replays games (unless it is FFVIII, that is a crazy story of forgetfulness).  If you write in the damn things then you can't really sell them back for much.  Plus if you are desperate enough to by a used guide, then hit yourself in the head and look up info on the sites.

Wish updates to the DS were able

One of the joys of my quick 10 minute drive to work when the traffic is crap is that I could pull out my PSP and play it while I waited for the light to turn.  Some of you might think that that is horrible and I could be placing other people in danger with this, however there are far more issues with driving that this that occur in my town.

My beef is this.  I am currently working on FFV and possibly looking at doing a long haul on the DSlite with some other games.  Now FFV Advance is a GBA game and it works on my DS, however since it is not a DS game I can't just close the screen and it will freeze it where I am and allow me to start back off immediately, as well as not burn the battery down.  That is what I loved about my PSP.  I could put it on standby, and then when I knew I could slip in a couple of minutes I would just fire up the machine and have no problems.  However with having to start the DS, select the game, click start at the start screen, skip the little montage at the beginning, click to load my game, and begin time has passed.  Precious time.  Time that I could have been playing the game and forget about the monotony of this damn left turn light.  Or even worse, the traffic light on Paulson.  That is a complete cluster if I have ever seen one.

Simply put, I just want to have a quick start and end from and to standby.  If not then I feel like this might be a little long to get through things.

Slight adjustment

So after looking over the list and the Fiancée talking to me at the Best Buy when I was looking kind of longingly at Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, there is going to be a change in the main rule of the blog: I cannot purchase a new game until 2-3 games have been completed and taken off the list.

The adjustment is going to be 5-6 games for a new one.  That way with ~60 items on the list, I would add only 10 total once going through the whole list instead of 20.  Good idea you think??


I think something else I might look into is adding any new purchases to the list, however not starting them until maybe I have gone through at least 1 more game.  That or I do a purchase at 5-6 games completed, and if I just do 5 I have to wait.  If I complete 6 though I will be able to immediately begin on the game.  Your thoughts??

Bring on the 16-bit madness!!

So, I have finally decided to delve past the time of the Playstation. Before the the DS.

It is time to go to the era of 16-bit, and the first Final Fantasy game that I will talk about on here (I have completed many other ff games, however this is the first one blogged about for me).

Let me get this off my chest. Plain and simple, I am a fan of Final Fantasy games.  Maybe I should rephrase that.  I love Final Fantasy games.  The first one I can remember playing was Final Fantasy III on SNES, which was actually FFVI.  If you want to know more about that weird change up then look it up.

I remember renting FFIII on SNES as a lad.  I remembered Terra and Lock and so on.  Squaresoft/SquareEnix has always done well with a story, especially in the beginning of the series when they were still trying to prove things.  The graphics and gameplay have always pushed the envelope as well, and this is what sucks the player into the coding of the game.

This entry is not about the Final Fantasy series though.  I could write about it, however that may come on a down day.  The center stage belongs to Final Fantasy V, or in this case Final Fantasy V Advance for the Gameboy Advance.  The background for this FF game as with the previous games is the crystals.  The foundation of the world (cause it is not Earth is the game) is maintained and balanced by these crystals.  Usually 4 crystals, earth, wind, water, and fire, but I do believe that sometimes changes.

I think the enjoyment of this classic game comes because it was original and during a time when the series was still working on its rise to fame.  The class system in FFV is so enthralling because of the combinations available, but as well the customization and strategy available to play the game.  It's this to me that makes a good RPG.

Now I know I said that I would be restarting each game I play, but this is one that since I did remember the story, I decided to continue off where I was.  Plus, I am pretty far in the story now and I really really did not want to restart after hours of grinding to get up in level.

SPOILER!!!


I am at the point in the story where I have just gotten the power of the meteorites to send me to the other world, and Exdeath almost got me.  But being the total badass that Bartz and company are they escaped.  I found this idea of going to other worlds kind of repeating in some of the FF games, however it is entertaining cause there is a purpose behind it and not just some excuse to go to some other planet.

It is exciting to me to be playing these classic games again.  It just seems to be very refreshing and exciting to have these games, even though they are soo different from the modern batch of stuff coming out today.

I have not disappeared

Sorry to those who have decided to actually read this thing for not posting. I have just been busy with work and have not had the chance to actually sit down and type out an entry.

Don't worry though. I have been writing my thoughts down as I have been playing and it should be pretty good. With the playing of Fallout 3, we also will have Final Fantasy V on gba, and maybe some other additions.

Until then, stay tuned!!

The Parasite has been contained aka 1 down

Parasite Eve


Its so refreshing to have to done.  Finally, I have completed one game.  I knew this would help me to get motivated to get through these games.

So it took me 3 game overs and 1 bitch of a final boss.  SPOILER!!!


The damn thing had 4 different forms, all bitchier than the last.  Then you have to run away from it.  For the love of God, do not allow it to touch you.  I did and BAM  Game over.  BAHHHH



Anyways, I write this after beating Parasite Eve, and the credits are still rolling.  Total time for completion was: 11:23:28.  Maybe I should make a total of all the playing time that I go through to get through this list.

But yeah.  I don't know why I ever stopped playing this game.  It is very straightforward and goes through quick (~11.5 hours is pretty quick in terms of a RPG/action game.  Especially back in the PSOne days).  Once you get past the opera scene and central park things just start to roll. 


Its a fun game and something thats nice to have on a mobile system when you just want to putz around.  I don't think that I will start in on Parasite Eve 2 yet.  I think that I need a little down time from the series.  However it will be nice to see what they did with the reboot (its kind of a reboot if you see the end of Parasite Eve.  Totally crazy).



Oh, you may have noticed that I have added some games to the list.  I will do this whenever I find a game that I have not completed and was not accounted for.

Options, Options: Radiated Water or Dirty Water?

I love a open games.  Not that whole open source, anyone can change whatever (thats a whole different beast), but the idea of a game that does not have to follow a linear path, but can diverge and go on in different areas.

This means side quests.  It means side quests that you have to work for.  That take almost an hour of sweat and blood (and not your own, but the character.  Please do not cut your self for a game.  Thats a little...well...crazy).

Its side quests that take you off the linear into the surrounding world and have you almost forgot why you were playing the game to get to the ending.  Quests that have you sitting in one spot for forever just to catch some random beast and hope that they drop an item that has a 4% chance of dropping each time you kill it.

And thus we begin talking about Fallout 3

I blame my friend Wes for getting me addicted to the Fallout series.  It started out as a PC series for Fallout and Fallout 2.  There was also another one after those but I never played that game.  Underlying story though is that there was a great war with China and nukes were launched.  Years later you are in America.  Devastation from the bombs is still there, with radiation everywhere.  Usually you play a Vault dweller who has to leave the vault to get something for everyone to survive.  There are multiple things that can occur that make you have to go out into the big bad wasteland.

Thats where this post picks up.  I find myself maybe past halfway in the game's main plot, but I am in the middle of some quest that has me in a dark, wet, scary place where crab like things are attacking me.  That is the beauty of Fallout 3.

The fun and rewards of all these side quests are things that make me keep going off course, and probably going to be the reason why it may take me a little bit of time to complete the game.  This is one of the reasons why I decided to split the DLC for the game into separate games because then it would just take me FOREVER to complete this.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh