The Legend That Was Ended

Legend of Dragoon  PS/PSP
That feels amazing to say that.

I have finally completed Legend of Dragoon!!!  YAY!!!

12 years and ~70 hours later I am done.

I don't know why but it feels as if a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders.  A giant sigh of relief that I have checked off a game that has almost been a cornerstone to this blog and my backlog.

Legend of Dragoon.

Wow.

Ok.  I am done now just blabbering about how wicked cool it is that I have completed it.  I will do a celebratory dance later.  On to business.

Some time has passed since I completed LoD (Legend of Dragoon).  This was in my master plan.  I wanted to make sure that I had time to breathe, process all that had happened properly, and then compare my memories from years ago to now.  I wanted to make sure that my thoughts are properly projected onto this medium.

I loved LoD when I was young.  Around the age of 15 I was into FF games and anything Square made.  Besides Nintendo (which at that time was my first big developer that I liked) I had learned that Square games were things that I would always go out and directly buy.  No questions asked.  I would be at the store no release day and be buying the game.  Or I would have a preorder in so that I would get the games on release day when I was in college.  I would get upset when I wouldn't receive the game on release day.  I have luckily grown since then, and I have learned how to relax and wait for a good deal.  Yet I still find myself buying main FF games sometimes at midnight release.

So I was young and so attached to this company that made games that enlightened my mind and led me on journeys across far off realms, allowing me to escape my own tortures.  So I see this game, LoD, and I figure that it has to be good.  So I buy it (or I got one of my parents too.  I can't remember).  I buy it and take it home.  4 discs.  "Man", I thought, "if it has 4 discs then it has to be amazing.  Cause FFVII was 3 discs, FFVIII was 4, so the more discs the better". 

I popped the game into my Playstation and started to play the game.  And I loved it.

I can't remember exactly all my thoughts and emotions from then, but I do know that I greatly enjoyed LoD.  I thought the graphics were great.  OH LORD there was voice acting in it (something new to me in console games), you could transform into a Dragoon and summon a Dragon and cast magic.  I can see myself now sitting on the carpetted floor of my father's bedroom playing this game with wide eyes trying to absorb everything that flowed out from the TV.

I do remember things that I didn't understand or care for at the time.  I didn't like how you were limited to 32 items in your inventory, that you had to use the addition system.  I didn't have enough hand-eye coordination to master that.  I didn't like how you had to plan things.  I love RPG's, but as a kid I wasn't that good at thinking ahead and planning that well.  I sometimes found myself just charging forward into battle and trying to make it work.  Thats how I ended up stuck at the final boss and not able to defeat him cause I was unable to plan ahead and overlevel, and have enough healing items to keep me alive.

Stuck.  For almost 12 years.  Now we come to today.  We come to a time in which I am older and am able to plan and strategize better.  I know not to always rush into battles without thinking of the setup.

I respect the limitation of 32 items.  It makes me plan and think.  I like it.
I like the addition system.  In fact, its one of my favorite parts of the game with regards to fighting.   I have written about it in the past and I still respect those views.  It beats a lot of the bad things.

Bad things you say???
Yes.  There are some things that I have issues with.

First, translation.  Maybe things have just improved over the last decade, but the wording for things on LoD is horrible.  Sometimes it is hard to make connections with things since the dialog makes you want to rip your eyes out and boil them.  It made the story hurt me sometimes because I couldn't keep up with things.

The bad translation also lead to problems with story flow.  I talked about this earlier some, so I won't expand too much on things.  I think though that translation issues partially led to sudden, random points to the plot that were added with no back story to them.  I understand sidequests and small diversions to the main story, but that didn't happen here.  You had to suddenly do these things that took you way off from the main flow of the plot.  Along with this was the fact that certain elements to the game were not explained or brought to light, however they served a purpose.  The Sacred Sisters of Mille Seseau should have been explained more.  Tell me what their importance is to the story.  Make me care more about them.  Damnit, that is all I want.

Well, that and more.


In the end I feel like the love of this game that I had built up when I was young was partially burst.  I am glad I replayed it and completed it.  Its a small personal goal that I was able to check off.  Would I play through LoD again?  I think probably not since I gained all I needed from the game.  I do think that it needs a sequel since it would be another revenue stream that SE could use, and many fans would cheer it on.  You could almost do anything you wanted with a sequel since so much time has passed since LoD came out.  I would definitely play that for sure.  For those who haven't played it yet, if you like classic games from the PS era then you should give it a shot.  On the PSP its a good play.  However, I think thought for now my time with Legend of Dragoon is done.  Good game Square, good game.

Dragoon Power Bitches

If any of this seems redundant its because I am not checking my earlier posts to see if I have talked at all about things.

Why you ask?

I am lazy.  The idea of combing through many posts of information makes me want to hurl right now.

Look.  I had a long day yesterday.  Had to spend about 10 hours on a bus travelling for work.  It surely was a blast.

Time Travel Forward.

Found at http://www.lightspeed.cx/

I started this post on 10/24.  I just started back on this on 11/1.  Why?

Well.  I blame it on a bitch name Sandy.

AP/Weather Underground - NOAA satellite image 10/28/2012

Hurricane Sandy to be specific.

On October 26th, my birthday, my wife and I flew to DC so that she could run in the Marine Corps Marathon with her father.  The race was on the 28th.  We knew before heading up that Sandy was coming, however we knew the marathon had to go on.  We were to leave to come back to Savannah on the evening of the 29th.  All planned out and good to go.

On the 27th we started to get word that maybe we should move our plane back to after the race, but we wanted to spend time in DC with friends and family, and we thought we would be good on Monday evening.  Mostly cause our brains were telling us that DC wasn't the direct target.  I mean I have been through a couple of these things before and I know how to call a hurricane target.

So Sunday, October 28th arrives.  My wife and her father wake up and they head out on the metro.  They start the marathon at 7:55 and proceed to kick some ass.  I met up with many friends, including we$$, and we went all over DC and VA on the metro and by foot to catch them at different points.  It was so exciting to cheer them on.  The adventure of tracking them and catching the right metro was great.  I still remember the face my wife gave when she saw us around mile marker 22-23.  She just had this surprised look like she didn't know we were going to be there.  Then she smiled and we cheered her on.  We met her at the final hill at the finish line and I even jogged with her some (I am sooo out of shape) to help her get through that last part.  She finished around 5:50 and is officially a marathoner.

YAY!!!!!!!

I really am proud of my wife for completing her first marathon.  She is a marathoner.  Thats so damn cool.  I think I am more proud of her than I would be of anything else.  Even completing this damn list.  GO MARATHON WIFE!!!

If any of you would like to follow her blog you can check her out here.  Its a great blog for people who like running, or want to know more about it.


Back to the matter at hand.  Se we get back to the hotel and discover that OUR PLANES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED!!!.

NOOOOO.  That cannot be.  We had plans.  We were going back.  Alas, all the airports from DC and north of were shutdown starting Sunday night.  We were stuck in DC until Thursday at the soonest.  November 1st.

So after I got things squared away with work, and we found out we could stay in the hotel (2 bed/2 bath/ with a kitchen so it rocked), we settled down and decided to make the best of things.  It was around this point that I realized that I was glad I brought Legend of Dragoon with me.

I started at this point during the downtime to really point some work into LoD.  We would get trophies and spend time with we$$ in DC, but during the downtime when the wife and her father were resting or napping cause they were exhausted from the marathon, I would game like mad.  I think I got a good solid 9 hours extra in on things.  Which helped me to get pretty far.  I have really kicked ass with the additions system and Dragoon levels.

Wait a second.  What are the additions?  Well, its something nifty that Square put in.  Instead of most RPG fighting where you just click attack and your character does that, you are presented with a closing square that you have to hit the X button just in time to score an additional hit (ahhhhh see where addition comes from??).  Additions don't just give you more SP that allows you to transform into a Dragoon, nor just causing a hell of a lot more damage, but it also breaks up the monotony of things.  Yeah you can get through fights by just hitting the same button over and over and over again and not pay attention, but I have found that this can get old.  Having to time things so you can get extra damage, plus have to level up your individual additions adds an extra uniqueness to things that keeps me interested.  Your character don't gain that much when they level up like other games.  Instead the real determining factor is how proficient one is with using additions.  That is where you get your true strength from in the game.  Even with Dragoon transformations, because you are so limited with what you can do when transformed you have more power with the use of additions.

So I find myself now on Disc 4, with almost all of the side stuff done.  Like most RPG games grinding is what I am doing now.  It can be draining on one though.  Doing the same things over and over and over again is so BLAH at times.  The additions system helps some, but I think I am going to finish the last side quest soon then head on to complete the game.

I loved this kid when I was a kid.  It was amazing and I blew it up in my mind that this was the end all Square game that needed more advertisement than it actually got.  I still think that Square could build a lot with the Dragoon series, but there are a lot of flaws in this game that I wouldn't have picked up as a wee lad.  The translation for the game is kind of hard for me to get through.  I don't know if it is that or something else but the storyline just seems to happen without any transitions.  Things just happen and you have to go with it, no explanations at all.  It can be a little disconcerting cause you have to just go with it.  Blah.  It can ruin the flow of things.  I am doing one thing with the storyline and then suddenly I have to do something else just cause I was told to abruptly.  I NEED BACK STORY PEOPLE!!!

I will keep people updated on things.  I am hopping to have this game completed soon so I can get done with Battlestar: Galactica on Netflix.  Then I can watch the new series online and read the books.

AHHH!!

I have way too much on my to do lists

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.

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.

DISC CHANGE!!!

The disc change screen.  It can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on the game and the person you are.  After getting the disc change screen in PE, I remembered my past with them.  Some games will have you save at the screen while others won't (PE is not one of those, at least on the PSP).  These screens though are great for you to see where you are.  Well...sometimes.

I am about 8.5 hours into PE when I get the screen when I am near the bridge. YAY  I should be halfway.  Right??  Cause I am enjoying the game, but part of me feels like I have been trudging along and its been a battle to get closer and closer to the end.  So I decide to look on www.gamefaqs.com to check where I am?  It seems that I am almost 3/4 of the way done.

Yes I should be excited to be past halfway, but part of me thinks that I should have gotten this screen earlier.  But then under closer examination I start to think that if I am past halfway now, then this crazy story needed maybe a little more length and depth to it.  Yes, it is a great game and plot, but maybe a little bit more.  I could be proved wrong though and everything will happen at the end, which sometimes happens with a Squaresoft game.

P.S.  It could also be blamed that the tech at the time of the PS was not large enough to hold all the data needed on a disc to make half of it on one disc and another half on the other.  Which is cool however sometimes ports of games onto another platform should be improved with no disc change if it were warranted.