This page looks like Poo because It's supposed to. This is my rant section. Black Text, white bg, and lots of words.. or a few, depending on the subject of the rant. Actually... a rant page is kind of constricting... Maybe I should call it something else... but I don't really care. The point is, THIS RANT is about... That.. GAME... that EVIL game... that everyone seems to like. Final Fantasy!!
Yes.. I know you like it. I think I'm the only person who doesn't, actually. On earth. I jsut can't stand it. It's so... LONG and repetative, and dull. Ohh.. I guss I'd better to better than that. My first real complaint is the system it's on. PSX... I was never good with controllers with more than 6 buttons (SNES) and the PSX has 8, if you get a usual controller. even more special doo-dads if you shell out your bucks for something else. So there's the controll system... God I hate having to memorize all those buttons, Which you have to do. I mean, on the NES, god.. if you pressed the wrong button, then your character ran instead of jumped.. if you were playing Mario, he'd shoot a fireball, instead of jump (if you got the fire-flower) On the genesis, you had 3 buttons, one of which you would NEVER use... at all. AT least, in all the games I ever played, I never once tapped C. Then the SNES came out, and I got good at cames like Mario, Metroid 3, and Chrono Trigger. However.. with the introduction of the trigger button on the N64, and the dual top buttons on the PSX, every time I played a game, I'd find myself dying because I had to remember what the hell Triangle+L2 meant... Get it? Some games don't use those buttons, and I do okay at those.. and like on the N64.. I suck at Mario, cuz you have to use the accursed Z button. But cruising world, I'm okay at. So there's my problem... at least, with the PSX.. The controller.
Next is the game itself... It's so dark at first, and the game starts off (i'm talking about 7... I'm sure 8 and 9 are the same, what with the "tried and true" methong SS has taken with a 9 GAME LONG SERIES) practically in the middle of the story.. It's like "come on, lets go.. what are you doing?" And you had to go do something.. I was like.. "what? Damnit.. buildup a little suspense, don't make me have to create it myself!" So the story really got on my nerves, starting off in the middle of a story-line. PLUS! There's the fact that the series isn't linear... making it not a series, but a bunch of games sharing the same name just to sell more. What good is buying a game with a similar name, only to find that all the characters you worked so hard with, are not even mentioned? Bla. How crummy.
NOW, I get to the guts.. the games setup itself.. did I tell you I don't like RPGs that much.. at all, really.. with the exception of a couple... For one Reason... No story I've ever read, written, or watched, has a figh every three minutes, and keeps viewers/readers watching/reading with anticipation as a group of skeletons with X hp and y MP cast a spell using.. you get the point. It's too damn repetative. Final Fantasy is the ultimate dick over, though, because you can't SEE the bastards taht are going to attack you, untill the screen blurs (in a way that looks like someone poured water in the back of your tv set) and you're in a fight with the same looking thing you killed 20 seconds ago. Not only that, but you have to actually fight or else you'll die. Yes, I know, building up your character is important in an RPG... but damn, from what I hear, if you skimp out just a LITTLE in FF, you have to go fight for HOURS just to be able to scratch the final boss. The RPGs I like, you can skip the fights if you want, and bosses power you up all you need. As for powering your characters up, there's usually a guy you can go fight over and over, who gives you all sorts of goodies, as well as experience points. PLus, you can SEE the damn things you have to fight, and can usually avoid them. I mean, in Chrono Trigger, there were a few parts you HAD to fight.. like the Elevator in the undersea palace, or Magus' castle.. (actually, I heard you don't have to.. I'll have to look into that.) But other than that, dodge the wide open spaces, and stay away from the little evil looking characters, and you'll be problem free. ANd you can beat the game with good time, as opposed to 40+ hours... which is too long to spend on one game one time through.
Another thing I hate.. ONE ending. What kind of replay value is that!? New Game+ is what really got me hooked on The Chrono Series (series, not games, their storyline is Linear.. AND though provoking.) lets you start over with all the stats from your last game.. meaning it's really easy to kick the ass of earlier bad guys, and stilll fun to find the Multiple endings. MULTIPLE endings.. not ONE stupid movie... Nice how Square put the credits in the way of the movies, too. That, and the realism of the movies that the characters never had. At least the people who drew the New cut-scenes for CT PSX kept them looking cartoonish.
Anyways.. that's my Rant this time. Come back again as I criticize.. something else...
-Kyle