เริ่มเกมส์เราจะตกหลุมมาอยู่ในถ้ำแรก จะต้องปะทะกับก็อบลินก่อน จากนั้นเดินต่อไปจะพบทางกั้น ให้สำรวจที่หินก็จะผ่านไปได้ เดินต่อไปเรื่อย ๆ จนพบห้องคริสตัล แต่จะมีบอส(เต่า) เฝ้าอยู่ เอาชนะให้ได้สำรวจที่คริสตัลจะบอกถึงความลับของคริสตัลและชะตากรรมของตัวเอก และจะได้อาชีพเพิ่มขึ้นมาอีก 5 อาชีพ คือ นักรบ มองค์ พ่อมดดำ พ่อมดขาว และพ่อมดแดง จากนั้นให้เดินเข้าทางวาร์ปออกมา

เมื่อออกมาหน้าถ้ำแล้วเดินลงมาจะพบกันหมู่บ้านอูล ด้านหลังหมู่บ้านจะมีบ้านเดี่ยว ๆ อยู่หลังนึง ข้างในให้สำรวจเทียนเล่มขวาสุดจะมีทางลับไปเก็บไอเทมได้ ขากลับจะเห็นว่ากำแพงปิดอยู่ก็ให้หันหน้าขึ้นด้านบนแล้วกดสำรวจ ภายในหมุ่บ้านยังมีของซ่อนอยู่มากมายตามไหหรือพงหญ้า เมื่อเตรียมตัวพร้อมแล้วก็ออกจากหมู่บ้าน

เดินลงมาทางใต้จะพบหมู่บ้านที่อยู่ติดกับทะเลทราย เมื่อเข้าไปจะพบว่า ผู้คนกลายเป็นมนุษย์ล่องหนกันหมด ให้เข้าไปใน INN คุยกับคนที่ยืนนิ่ง ๆ อยู่ข้างตู้ เค้าก็คือ ซิด คุยจบเค้าจะให้เรือเหาะแก่เรา แต่เราต้องเดินออกไปข้างนอกหมู่บ้านแล้วเข้าไปที่ทะเลทรายก็จะพบกับเรือเหาะที่ซ่อนอยู่ ( ถ้าในหมู่บ้านยังไม่มีอะไรต้องเคลียร์ถ้ำทางเหนือก่อน แล้วเข้ามาสำรวจกำแพงด้านบน จะพบทางลับไปเก็บดาบมิสทริล )

จากนั้นขับเรือเหาะไปยังปราสาทซาซูน ข้างในผู้คนก็จะเป็นมนุษย์ล่องหนเหมือนกัน ในนี้มีสมบัติซ่อนอยู่หลายแห่ง และหอคอยซ้ายขวาก็มีไอเทมอยู่เช่นกัน โดยเฉพาะหอคอยทางซ้ายจะมีดาบของพ่อมดแดงอยู่แต่จะมีกริฟฟินเฝ้าเอาไว้อยู่ จากนั้นให้ออกจากปราสาทขับเรือเหาะมุ่งหน้าไปเข้าถ้ำทางเหนือที่มีแม่น้ำกั้นอยู่

บุกเข้าไปในถ้ำ ที่ชั้น 2 ให้สำรวจกองกระดูกด้านซ้ายบน จะพบทางลับไปเจอเจ้าหญิงซาร่า แห่งเมืองซาซูนได้ และจะได้เธอเป็นเพื่อนร่วมทาง จากนั้นบุกเข้าไปต่อ จะพบกันตัวการที่ทำให้ผู้คนต้องคำสาป และจะต้องสู้กับจิน เมื่อชนะแล้วเราจะวาร์ปกลับสู่ปราสาทซาซูน เจ้าหญิงซาร่าจะนำลูกแก้วที่ได้จากการกำจัดจินโยนไปในบ่อน้ำ ทำให้คำสาปหายไป จากนั้นให้เราขึ้นไปที่ห้องพระราชา จะได้เรือแคนนูมาใช้

เดินทางไปที่หน้าถ้ำเดิมเพื่อข้ามแม่น้ำไปนำเรือเหาะกลับมา จากนั้นกลับไปที่หมู่บ้านคาซุส จะได้พบกับซิดและได้เป็นเพื่อนร่วมเดินทาง จากนั้นเข้าไปในหมู่บ้าน ไปคุยกับชายแก่ในบ้านหลังบน เค้าจะดัดแปลงติดตั้งระเบิดให้กับเรือเหาะของเรา เมื่อเสร็จแล้วก็ให้ออกจากหมู่บ้าน ขับเรือเหาะไปชนหินทางด้านซ้าย ก็จะระเบิดไปพร้อมกับเรือเหาะ ทำให้เราสามารถออกมาโลกกว้างได้แล้ว

เดินลงมาทางใต้จะพบหมู่บ้านคานาน เข้าไปด้านในซิดจะขอตัวแยกกลับไปที่บ้าน ให้ขึ้นไปทางเหนือหมู่บ้านเดินลงน้ำมาเรื่อย ๆ จะพบทางขึ้นไปในพงหญ้า สำรวจจะได้ เอริกเซอร์ จากนั้นให้ไปที่บ้านซิด ใช้ เอริกเซอร์กับภรรยาซิดที่ป่วยอยู่ แล้วซิดจะขอบคุณเรา และจะให้ไอเทมเป็นการตอบแทน เราต้องสำรวจที่เทียนจึงจะมีทางลับออก เมื่อเรียบร้อยแล้วก็ให้ออกจากหมู่บ้านและขึ้นภูเขาที่อยู่ข้าง ๆ หมู่บ้านนี้

ก่อนทางขึ้นจะเห็นบาฮามุตบินมา เมื่อเราขึ้นไปจนสุดจะพบรังของบาฮามุต สำรวจที่พุ่มด้านบนจะพบกับชายคนนึงมีชื่อว่า แดช สักพัก บาฮามุตจะมาโจมตีเรา ให้เราหนีอย่างเดียว เพราะสู้ไม่ได้ เมื่อเราหนีได้แล้วเราจะกระโดดลงมาที่ป่าคนแคระ ในตอนนี้เราจะได้ไอเทม เวทมนตร์มินิมัม ทำให้ตัวเล็กมาจากแดชในตอนที่ก่อนจะโดดลงมา ให้สวมใส่ให้กับพ่อมดขาวซะ แล้วจึงใช้แปลงร่างให้พวกเราเป็นตัวเล็ก จากนั้นออกจากป่า แล้วเดินตรงลงมาเลย เข้าไปในป่าจะพบกับหมู่บ้านคนแคระ ให้ไปที่บ้านซ้ายบนสุด จะเจอคนป่วยอยู่ให้ใช้ ยาถอนพิษ กับเค้า แล้วเค้าจะเปิดทางลับให้เราเข้าไป ให้เราผ่านในถ้ำไปเรื่อย ๆ จะพบกับทางออก…

เราจะอยู่ที่หน้าถ้ำของพวกโจรสลัด จะรู้ว่าตอนนี้มีมังกรมาขวางอยู๋ปากอ่าว ทำให้พวกโจรสลัดไม่สามารถออกไปทำงานได้ ถ้าเราใช้เรือออกทะเล จะพบกับมังกรเทพเนปต์ เฝ้าอยู่ ไม่มีทางชนะได้ ในถ้ำนี้มีเวทมนตร์ดำระดับ 3 ซ่อนอยู่ จากนั้นให้ออกจากถ้ำทางด้านบน จะพบกับวิหารแห่งเนปต์ ให้เราแปลงร่างเป็นคนแคระแล้วเข้าไปที่หัวมังกร จะเข้าไปในตามังกรได้ ด้านในสุดจะพบกับบอสเป็นหนู เมื่อชนะมันได้จะได้ตามังกรกลับคืนมา ให้เราเดินออกมา แล้วกดใชักับหัวมังกร จะทำให้มังกรเทพเนปต์หายไป และจะได้ เขี้ยววารี มาด้วย จากนั้นก็นำเรือออกสู่ทะเลได้แล้ว

ให้ใช้เรือเดินทางไปทางเหนือจะพบหอคอย แต่ยังไม่ต้องเข้า ให้ไปทางซ้าย ขึ้นแผ่นดิน แล้วเดินต่อไปทางซ้าย จะพบถ้ำอยู่ใกล้ ๆ กับแม่น้ำที่มี ลิไวอาซัน ว่ายอยู่ เข้าไปจะพบกับพวกนักบวชกูลกัน คุยแล้วจะได้เวทมนตร์โทโด้ มา จากนั้นก็ไปที่หอคอย เข้าไปตรงกลางจะพบหลุมน้ำ ต้องใช้เวทมนตร์โทโด้แปลงเป็นกบ จึงจะขึ้นไปได้ เมื่อขึ้นมาแล้วให้แปลงร่างกลับเป็นปกติเหมือนเดิม แล้วจึงบุกต่อ หอคอยนี้มี 10 ชั้น เมื่อไปถึงชึ้นที่ 5 จะเป็นทางตัน ให้สำรวจเฟืองอันที่ 7 จากขวา ก็จะผ่านไปได้ เมื่อขึ้นไปถึงชั้นบนสุดจะพบกับบอสเมดูซ่า กำจัดแล้ว แดชจะจำความได้ จึงโดดลงไปในไฟเพื่อรักษาหอคอยนี้ไว้ เสร็จแล้วเราจะวาร์ปออกมาข้างนอก โดยน้ำวนหน้าหอคอยจะหายไปแล้ว

ให้แล่นเรือออกมาแล้วไปทางซ้ายจะพบถ้ำพวกโนม(ดวาร์ฟ) จะพบว่า เขามังกร ของที่นี่ถูกขโมยไป ให้เราลงไปในแอ่งน้ำในถ้ำแห่งนี้ ต้องแปลงร่างเป็นกบก่อน เมื่อลงไปแล้วค่อยแปลงร่างคืน ด้านในจะพบตัวการที่ขโมยเขาไป ชนะได้แล้ว ให้กลับออกมา นำเขามังกรไปวางไว้ที่แท่นบูชา จากนั้นเจ้าเงาที่ตามเรามาจะปรากฏเป็นเจ้าหัวขโมยนั้น ทีนี้มันจะเอาไปทั้งสองอันเลย ให้เราออกจากถ้ำแห่งนี้ แล้วเดินทางไปถ้ำด้านเหนือ

เหนือถ้ำพวกโนม จะเป็นถ้ำไฟ บุกเข้าไปเรื่อย ๆ ในสุดจะพบเจ้าหัวขโมยซึ่งจะแปลงร่างเป็นซาลาแมนเดอร์ ให้กำจัดซะ จากนั้นสำรวจคริสตัล จะได้อาชีพมาเพิ่มอีก 4 อาชีพ คือ นายพราน ขโมย อัศวิน และนักศึกษา เมื่อเรียบร้อยแล้วให้วาร์ปออกจากถ้ำและกลับไปที่ถ้ำพวกโนม จะเห็นว่าเขามังกรกลับมาแล้ว ให้คุยกับโนมที่อยู่ด้านล่าง เขาจะเปิดทางให้เราไปเก็บไอเทมได้

เมื่อเสร็จแล้วให้เราเดินเรือ เข้าไปด้านล่างของหอคอย ไปที่หมู่บ้านใกล้ ๆ กับ วิหารแห่งเนปต์ จะพบหมู่บ้านท็อดกูล ซึ่งได้รับความเสียหาย เมื่อเข้าไปเราจะเจอพวกทหารมาจับเรา ไปที่ตันไม้ลอยฟ้า จะพบกับพระราชาจากปราสาทอากัส ถูกจับอยู่ทีนี้ ให้เราเดินไปทางซ้ายจะมีทางลับอยู่ และให้แปลงร่างลอดผ่านรูปไป อย่าลืมแปลงกลับด้วย บุกเข้าไปจนถึงด้านในสุดจะพบกับ จอมคาถาไฮน์ ให้กำจัดซะ แล้วเราจะวาร์ปมาที่ป่านางฟ้า จากนั้นให้ออกมา เดินทางไปที่ปราสาทอากัสคุยกับพระราชาจะได้ฟันเฟืองกาลเวลามา จากนั้นให้เรากลับไปที่หมู่บ้านคานานไปหาซิด แล้วเค้าจะดัดแปลงเรือของเราให้กลายเป็นเรือเหาะเอ็นเตอร์ไพรส์

ให้ขับเรือเหาะไปเรื่อย ๆ จะพบว่า เราออกมาจากเกาะลอยฟ้าแห่งนี้แล้ว ให้เราบินค้นหาเกาะเล็ก ๆ ที่มีเรืออัปปางอยู่ อาจใช้ไอเทมเปิดแผนที่เพื่อความสะดวกขึ้น เมื่อพบแล้วเขาไปข้างในจะพบหญิงสาวนอนป่วยอยู่ให้เราใช้โพชั่นหรือยาแก้พิษกับเธอ จะได้เอเรียเป็นเพื่อนร่วมทาง จากนั้นให้เราบินหาเกาะที่มีวิหารแห่งน้ำอยู่ เข้าไปเอเรียจะเก็บคริสตัลมา จากนั้นเข้าไปถ้ำหลังวิหาร ในสุดเอเรียจะนำคริสตัลไปวาง แต่จะถูกคราเค้น ทำร้ายจนต้องตาย ให้เรากำจัดคราเค้นซะ แล้วสำรวจคริสตัล เราจะได้อาชีพมาใหม่อีก 7 อาชีพ จากนั้นแผ่นดินก็จะโผล่ขึ้นมา…

เราจะตื่นขึ้นมาในหมู่บ้าน อามูล เมื่อออกมาจากหมู่บ้านจะพบว่าเรือเราถูกโซ่ล่ามอยู่ ผู้ทำเรื่องนี้อาศัยอยู่ที่ปราสาททอง ทางขวาของหมู่บ้าน แต่เรายังไม่สามารถเข้าไปได้เพราะมีหลุมดำขวางอยู่ ให้กลับมาที่หมู่บ้านอามูล มาที่ทางลงน้ำ จะพบว่าลงไม่ได้ให้ไปคุยกับชายแก่ในบ้านหลังบน จะเปิดทางให้ลงไปได้ ให้เข้าไปในทางระบายน้ำ ลุยเข้าไปเรื่อย ๆ จะพบชายแก่ทั้ง 4 ถูกก๊อบลินล้อมอยู่ให้เข้าไปช่วย จากนั้นไปต่อจนสุดจะพบกับ แม่มดเดไลร่า เราจะขอรองเท้าวิเศษแต่ครั้งแรกจะให้ของปลอมมา ต่อมาชายแก่ทั้ง 4 จะเข้ามาช่วยขอด้วย ทำให้เราได้รับของแท้มา จากนั้นเราจะวาร์ปออกมา ให้เรามุ่งหน้าไปยังปราสาททองคำ

ในปราสาทนี้เราต้องใช้กุญแจในการเปิดประตู ทางที่ถูกต้องจะอยู่ห้องทางขวาที่ 2 นับจากล่าง เข้าไปในสุดจะพบกับ ตัวการที่ล่ามเรือเราไว้ ให้กำจัดซะ มันจะทำลายคริสตัลทิ้ง จากนั้นให้เราออกมา แล้วกลับไปที่เรือ ให้บินไปทางซ้ายของแผนที่ จะพบกับปราสาทใหญ่ที่มีเมืองอยู่ 4 เมือง เมื่อเข้าไปใกล้ เรือเหาะของเราจะถูกพวกปืนใหญ่ยิงจนตก…

เมื่อตกลงมาแล้ว จะพบว่าเมืองนี้กำลังทำสงครามกันอยู่ ให้เราออกมา แล้วไปที่เมืองเล็กทางซ้ายล่าง เข้าไปบ้านบนสุด จะพบเจ้าชายถูกอันธพาลรังแกอยู่ให้เข้าไปช่วย จะได้เจ้าชายอารุส มาร่วมเดินทาง จากนั้นให้กลับไปยังปราสาท เข้าไปทหารจะให้เราพักผ่อนรอ สักพัก พระราชาที่ถูกกิลก้าเมซควบคุมอยู่จะมาลอบฆ่าอารุส แต่จิตสำนึกฟื้นพอดี แล้วเจ้ากิลกาเมซจะเข้ามาให้เรากำจัดมันซะ เมื่อชนะแล้วพระราชาจะสวรรคต แล้วเจ้าชายอารุสจะได้ครองราชย์แทน จากนั้นให้เราไปหาพวกบัณฑิต ในปราสาทแห่งนี้ พวกเค้าจะสร้างเรือเหาะให้กับเรา ชื่อ นอดิลุส ซึ่งมีความเร็วสูง

จากนั้นให้เดินทางไปตำหนักโดก้า ซึ่งทางเข้าจะเป็นภูเขาและจะมีแหลมยื่นออกมา เมื่อเรือเหาะเราบินในหุบเขานั้นจะเจอศัตรูด้วย ให้บินไปเรื่อย ๆ จะพบตำหนักโดก้า เข้าไปจะพบกับโดก้าและได้เป็นเพื่อนร่วมทาง ในสุดของตำหนักจะพบรู ให้แปลงร่างเป็นคนแคระแล้วบุกเข้าไป ด้านในสุดจะพบห้องวาร์ป ซึ่งโดก้าจะแปลงเรือเหาะนอดิลุส ของเราให้ดำน้ำได้ เมื่อวาร์ปออกมาเสร็จแล้ว ให้เรากลับไปปราสาทซาโรเนีย (ปราสาทใหญ่ของเจ้าชายอารุส) ให้บินเลาะลงมาเรื่อย ๆ จะพบกับอ่าว ให้ดำน้ำลงไป จะพบวิหารใต้ทะเล ให้บุกเข้าไปจนด้านใจสุดจะได้ ขลุ่ยแห่งโนอา..

จากนั้นให้เราออกมา แล้วบินไปทางเหนือสักเล็กน้อยจะพบทางเข้าไปทางซ้าย และจะพบกับถ้ำตรงกลาง ด้านในจะพบอูเน่ หลับอยู่ ให้ใช้ขลุ่ยโนอา จะทำให้อูเน่ ตื่นขึ้นมา และได้เป็นเพื่อนร่วมทางพร้อมกับเขี้ยวอัคคี จากนั้นให้กลับไปยังปราสาทซาโรเนีย แล้วบินไปทางซ้ายเลาะไปตามแม่น้ำด้านบน จะพบกับถ้ำ ด้านในจะมีหินขวางอยู่ แต่ถ้ามีอูเน่ จะสามารถผ่านไปได้ เข้าจนด้านในสุดจะพบเรือเหาะยักษ์ อินริซิเบิ้ล จากนั้นอูเน่ ก็จะจากไป ให้เราใช้เรือเหาะอินริซิเบิ้ล บินไปยังหมู่บ้านอามูล แล้วบินขึ้นเหนือ จะพบกับภูเขาที่เป็นช่อง ๆ ให้เรากระโดดข้ามไปเรื่อย ๆ จนเข้าไปยังถ้ำตรงกลางได้

ให้เราบุกเข้าไปในถ้ำ ศัตรูในถ้ำแห่งนี้ถ้าฆ่าทีเดียวไม่ตายจะแยกร่างออกมาอีก แต่ไม่เป็นผลกับเวทมนตร์และดาบดำ ให้เราบุกเข้าไปจนสุดจะพบกับบอส เมื่อชนะแล้วจะได้เขี้ยวพสุธาอันสุดท้ายมา จากนั้นก็ให้ออกมาจากถ้ำ แล้วขึ้นเรือเหาะกระโดดกลับออกมายังจุดเริ่ม กลับไปขึ้นเรือเหาะนอดิลุส เพื่อจะกลับไปยังตำหนักโดก้าอีกครั้ง

เมื่อเข้าไปยังตำหนักโดก้า จะถูกวาร์ปไปยังที่แห่งหนึ่ง ให้เราบุกเข้าไปเรื่อย ๆ ด้านในจะต้องสู้กับโดก้าและอูเน่ เมื่อชนะทั้งสองจะได้กุญแจเปิดวังผลึก กับ โลกยูเรก้า ได้ จากนั้นกลับไปขึ้นเรือเหาะอินริซิเบิ้ล ที่เหนือหมู่บ้านอูล จะพบกับรูปปั้นอยู่ 8 ตัว ให้เราเดินลงไป เราจะใช้เขี้ยวทั้งหมดทำลายเวทมนตร์จากรูปปั้นพวกนี้ให้หมดไป จากนั้นขึ้นเรือเหาะเดินทางต่อ ข้ามเขาไปทีนึง แล้วไปทางขวาต่อ จะพบกับวังผลึก แต่ต้องผ่านป้อมรอบนอกก่อน เมื่อเข้าไปจะพบห้องให้เข้าไปจะเจอบอสเฝ้าคริสตัลอยู่ เมื่อกำจัดแล้วให้สำรวจคริสตัล จะได้อาชีพมาอีก 3 อาชีพ จากนั้นให้บุกเข้าไปต่อจนออกมาอยู่หน้าวังผลึกหรือซิลค์ทาวเวอร์

เมื่อเราเข้าไปจะพบห้องที่จะนำไปสู่โลกยูเรก้า ให้กดใช้กุญแจเปิดยูเรก้า ในนี้จะพบกับอาวุธสุดยอดมากมาย และในชั้นสุดท้าย จะได้อาชีพมาอีก 2 อาชีพ คือ นักปราชญ์ กับนินจา จากนั้นให้กลับออกมา แล้วบุกขึ้นวังผลึกไปเรื่อย ๆ จนถึงห้องที่มีมังกรอยู่ แต่เราจะได้เพื่อน ๆ ของพวกเรามาช่วยผนึกพลังของมังกรเอาไว้ และนำเราไปสู่กับหัวหน้าใหญ่ ซังเด ให้เราเอาชนะให้ได้ จากนั้นเราจะพบกับจอมปีศาจที่ซังเดปลุกขึ้นมา เราจะสู้ไม่ได้เลย แต่พวกเพื่อนของเราจะมาช่วยให้พลังเราอีกครั้ง ให้เราเข้าทางวาร์ปไป ยังโลกปีศาจ…

เมื่อมาถึงให้เราไปตามทางแยกทั้ง 4 ซะก่อน อย่าเพิ่งขึ้นไปทางบน ทั้ง 4 ทางจะพบกับบอสที่เฝ้าคริสตัลไว้อยู่ ให้กำจัดให้หมดเพื่อคลายมนตร์สะกดของอัศวินซะ จากนั้นจึงมาทางตรงกลางที่เป็นทางขึ้นไป และจะพบกับบอสใหญ่อีกครั้ง อัศวินที่เราได้ช่วยเหลือจะมาช่วยกันทำลายพลังของปีศาจร้าย ทีนี้เราก็จะสามารถสู้กับบอสใหญ่ได้แล้ว เมื่อชนะได้แล้วเราก็จะกลับหมู่บ้านเกิด และฉลองให้กับสันติสุข…

by …Zande

On Halloween night, people have gathered in mass at Salle Pollack to ruin thousands of children’s Halloween night in favor of watching a concert in tribute to Final Fantasy. Yes, instead of staying home and waiting for the good old door bell and kids going ‘Trick-or-Treat’ before handing them candy, people went to watch an amazing performance done by l’Orchestre de Jeux Videos…

I, unfortunately, did not bring my camera so I do not have any pictures to put up here. However, someone kindly took some videos of the concert and have posted them up on Youtube. And of course, as last time’s concert, the encore was once again the Final Fantasy VI medley!!

And of course, they have also told us that of their next upcoming concert being held at Cegep Marie-Victorin. Tickets are 10$ for students and 12$ regular and can be reserved by calling 514 325-1050 (extension: 2668). Another concert by the OJV on the 18th of November 2009, a must watch!!!

Final Fantasy III for the DS…. Memories, memories. I got this game on launch day and it took me almost over a year to beat it. So this is a good RPG for the DS if you like your old school RPG’s. This game has a job system, a unique Magic system and turn based battles. So you could play this game or pull out your NES and play Final Fantasy I.
The magic system in this game is just like the old FFI magic system. You have a certain amount of time you can cast your spells before you have to rest at an Inn to “regain” the 6 times I can cast Cure. But unlike the battle system in FFI when you select an Enemy with more then one Character and that enemy dies in turn causing the other characters that selected that enemy not to attack, that no longer happens the character just attacks the next enemy. Your options for your attack menu are Attack, Magic, *Job’s special skill*, Item, Defend, Flee.

The main battle screen

Antes de mais nada, é um jogo para fãs. Você não é fã mas gosta de jogos de estratégia? E de jogos de luta? Então vai curtir Dissidia: Final Fantasy. O jogo trás todos os 12 personagens principais e seus respectivos inimigos em um mega crossover para aqueles que acompanham a franquia (porque diferente do que muitos ainda pensam, os 12 Final Fantasy lançados até hoje não tem ligação. Cada edição do jogo é uma história fechada). A lista de personagens é a seguinte:

Final Fantasy I: Warrior of Light / Garland
Final Fantasy II: Firion / The Emperor
Final Fantasy III: Onion Knight / Cloud of Darkness
Final Fantasy IV: Cecil Harvey / Golbez
Final Fantasy V: Bartz Klauzer / Exdeath
Final Fantasy VI: Terra Branford / Kefka Palazzo
Final Fantasy VII: Cloud Strife / Sephiroth
Final Fantasy VIII: Squall Leonheart / Ultimecia
Final Fantasy IX: Zidane Tribal / Kuja
Final Fantasy X: Tidus / Jecht
Final Fantasy XI: Shantoto
Final Fantasy XII:  Garbranth
Dissidia: Final Fantasy: Cosmos
Dissidia: Final Fantasy: Chaos

A lista é grande e você pode jogar com quase todos eles. Para quem acompanha a franquia é no mínimo interessante controlar o Tidus numa luta contra Sephiroth, ou controlar Golbez em uma luta contra Squall. Curto muito crossovers (e mashups) e alguns fanfics  que pipocam pela internet com diversos personagens de jogos e histórias diferentes se encontrando. Então sim, Dissidia: Final Fantasy agrada e muito esse público. Porém com uma história muito fraca. A princípio você fica empolgado para finalizar com cada um dos doze heróis porque as histórias de cada um completam a grande história do jogo, o porque de eles terem sido retirados de suas dimensões pela deusa Cosmos que está em uma luta há eras contra Chaos, que quer lançar os mundos no caos (RÁ!). Depois que você termina o primeiro arco da história tudo fica igual, sem muita emoção, infelizmente. É também lamentável que tenham usado o mais básico dos traços de personalidade de cada personagem, o que dá a impressão de terem escrito o plot do jogo de qualquer jeito e os motivos deles para lutar e ajudar a deusa. Exemplos? A dúvida de Cloud sobre viver e ser a sombra de Sephiroth, Squall e sua solidão, Tidus e sua alegria irritante, e por aí vai. Uma pena pois quando ouvimos o nome Final Fantasy imaginamos aventuras épicas, profundas e envolventes. Infelizmente não é a realidade de Dissidia. Mas ok, né, é um jogo de luta, e nisso Dissidia se dá super bem.

Ao iniciar a aventura com um dos personagens você será jogado em um tabuleiro com vários inimigos e itens. Ao se movimentar no tabuleiro você perde Destiny Points, que podem ser recuperados cumprindo certos requisitos, como ganhar do inimigo em 10 segundos. Para ganhar a luta você deve atacar os Brave Points de seu oponente, que vão pra você. A qualquer momento você pode fazer um ataque direto no HP do oponente, que irá causar dano equivalente ao seu número de Brave Points. Complicado? Nem um pouco. No jogo o entendimento é automático e combina bastante com a proposta da luta ser decidida antes de entrar no campo de batalha, com a estratégia. Se você nunca se deu bem com “bolão pra trás+soco forte” fique tranquilo, Todos os movimentos são programados para serem efetuados com um simples “esquerda+bolinha”, “cima+bolinha+quadrado”. Nada muito complexo, até porque executar movimentos complicados no PSP é horrível. Estratégia é a palavra chave desse jogo. O que ninguém pode reclamar é dos itens disponíveis para se montar uma estratégia infalível. Existe uma infinidade de armas e escudos com outra infinidade de acessórios com diversas propriedades para você se dar bem contra seus inimigos, além de uma lista enorme de summons que te oferecem vantagens e alguns que brincam com a sua sorte na batalha. E você vai precisar disso para se dar bem nos outros modos de jogo que Dissidia: Final Fantasy te oferece.

Não pense que matou-chefão-cabô-jogo. Quando você der cabo de qualquer chefe, você receberá PPs, que são os pontos para você gastar na comprando de itens que foram liberados na PP Store, que vão desde roupas secundárias para seus heróis, liberar os inimigos como personagens jogáveis, comprar roupas secundárias para os inimigos, novos campos de batalha, novos modos de jogo e mais um monte de coisa. Sobre os modos de jogo um ponto negativo não haver um modo on line. Mesmo havendo a possibilidade de lutar contra seus amigos usando o ad hoc, e mesmo depois da luta você pode lutar contra os “fantasmas” dos personagens utilizados por eles, eu queria um modo de jogo on line. Tudo bem que ainda existem o modo Hard, o Arcade, o Duel Colosseum com mais quatro modos de jogo, os desafios para criar itens no campo de batalha além do desafio de conseguir os itens no próprio “tabuleiro” do jogo através dos Destiny Points. É, pode parecer que estou reclamando de barriga cheia, mas não, eu queria um modo on line =(

E o que falar dos gráficos desse jogo? Nunca estive tão feliz com a capacidade gráfica do meu PSP! Os campos de batalha são enormes e poucas (mas elas existem) vezes a câmera se perde na frenética atuação de golpes. E como os personagens se movimentam belamente nesse jogo! Não é de estranhar que exista a possibilidade de salvar o vídeo da batalha e editá-lo ao seu gosto para assistir depois ou no PSP ou no PC.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy é um jogo para fãs? Sim, mas você que gosta de jogos de estratégia também vai se divertir por meses com ele. Veja o trailer do jogo e divirta-se!

Clique na imagem para melhor visualização.

Dia das crianças, 12 de outubro. Quando eu era um pirralho, essa era a minha data favorita depois do meu aniversário: nada de escola, presentes, a família unida, presentes, o que mais uma criança podia querer? É engraçado que essa data não tenha mais nenhum significado para mim, é apenas um feriado normal como qualquer outro. Realmente, crescer é um saco.

Por sorte, existem alguns games que, não importa o quão velho estamos, nos fazem relembrar o que era ser criança, alguns games que, no momento em que você começa a jogar, te levam de volta a uma das melhores épocas da sua vida, na qual não havia muitas responsabilidades, os problemas do mundo não importavam nem um pouco, e o mais importante de tudo, a TV Manchete existia para alegrar os nossos dias.

Estes posts são um oferecimento de Peter Pan, que aproveita o dia das crianças todo ano. Sortudo...

Pensando nisso, decidi falar sobre os games que me fazem sentir como uma criança; games que, como alguns adultos, não envelhecem por dentro, tendo sempre aquele espírito inocente e divertido das nossas infâncias. E o primeiro game de que vou falar é…

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (Nintendo DS)

Quando eu ouvi falar desse game pela primeira vez, confesso que imaginei que era um jogo feito apenas para ganhar dinheiro em cima do nome Final Fantasy. Um jogo no qual o personagem principal é um chocobo? Fala sério, que besteira! Felizmente eu estava enganado, pois esse game é tão bom que não consegui parar de jogá-lo (algo que nem mesmo os remakes de FF III e IV para o DS conseguiram fazer…); o ditado “não julgue um livro pela capa” não poderia ser mais apropriado nesse caso.

A história começa com a maga branca Shirma e o mago negro Croma, que vivem em uma ilha com muitos chocobos, protegida pelos cristais dos quatro elementos. Croma voltou de sua última jornada trazendo um livro misterioso, e ao abri-lo, ele liberta o mal supremo do mundo que estava selado no livro: o mestre da trevas Bebuzzu, que suga todos os seus amigos chocobos no livro. Bebuzzu ainda está fraco, e para restaurar seu poder, deve destruir os quatro cristais. Cabe a você, o único chocobo que restou, salvar a ilha e o mundo.

A história não é grande coisa, mas a intenção é exatamente essa: o game sabe disso ao ponto de tirar sarro em momentos dramáticos do jogo. Em uma determinada parte, um dos personagens diz algo como “essa história está chata, a gente precisa de uma mudança no enredo!” Mas o que realmente diverte nesse game é sua jogabilidade. Para avançar no jogo, é preciso entrar em diversos livros de contos de fadas, que perderam os seus finais por causa do poder maligno de Bebuzzo, e restaurá-los ao que eram antes.

Revivendo a infância no estilo Final Fantasy!

Esses contos de fadas são conhecidos de todo mundo, mas tem o charme da série Final Fantasy: prepare-se para participar da corrida entre a tartaruga e a lebre, digo, entre o adamantoise e cactuar, ou desça rapidamente do pé de feijão após roubar o Titan. Cada um desses contos é um minigame diferente, no estilo Mario Party, que contam geralmente com dois modos: Time Trial e competição contra os chocobos malignos. Sempre que um desses modos é concluído, você é recompensado com cards de monstros, que são usados em batalhas estilo Yu-Gi-Oh! para derrotar os chefes do jogo, e o conto de fadas ganha um final diferente. Cada conto tem até três finais diferentes, um mais divertido do que o outro!

Com uma história que tem o intuito de apenas divertir, minigames que utilizam muito bem as capacidades do DS, um sistema de batalhas por cards divertido e intrigante (é possível duelar online contra outros jogadores) e muitos contos de fadas que fizeram parte da infância de todo mundo, Chocobo Tales é um título mágico, que faz jus ao “Fantasy” no nome. Apesar do visual infantil e de parecer “bobinho”, esse jogo com certeza agrada muito marmanjo que sente saudades de sua infância.

Marmanjo após jogar Chocobo Tales

Amanhã tem mais, se preparem para as aventuras do menino amarelo mais querido do mundo!

Would-be videogame critics plough their way through mountains of bad games, studiously chattering away at their keyboards; squinting and crying like kitchenhands dicing onions with dull blades, in the faint hope that by being faithful in the little things, they will one day land The Big One, or at the very least, the Good Game By Accident (as those assigned to reviewing Mini-Ninjas recently can no doubt appreciate).  Be careful what you wish for, Constant Reviewer; there is always someone waiting in the wings to hang, draw and quarter you for crimes against ‘their’ game.  One need look no further than last year for examples of this.  Grand Theft Auto IV got a perfect 10.0 from IGN, which was furore enough (I too, would argue that a 100-point scale is sufficient scope to adequately express less-than-perfection in a videogame), but the real pain came when Metal Gear Solid 4 received its 9.9 (I don’t know why game developers didn’t just pack it in and call it a day by this stage; perfection had just been achieved – TWICE, nearly – and where do you go from perfection?!), which Playstation 3 owners for some ridiculous reason took as a slight against ‘their’ system. In between spamming cries of ‘teh biased!’, did you ever stop to think how fortunate you were to have two ‘near-perfect’ videogames instead of one?  This is the kind of stupidity you’re up against when time comes for you to review a potentially great videogame.  And so it is with great trepidation that I come to this review of Nintendo’s classic game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Watch out for the guards - they'll getcha!

There is no perfect introduction to this great work of art (yes, I just went there, and I don’t regret it in the slightest) that has ignited so many imaginations; a game that has danced in the minds of young children with magic and possibility. I know this because I rehearsed them all in my head a hundred times before I could even muster the curry to sit down and write this, and each one of them – in the nicest possible way – failed to encapsulate the full gamut of what this game represents to Gaming as a whole.  How do you review something that you know will outlive you? How do you review…a Legend?

Well, you can start by slinging a few tired cliches. Let’s call them ‘adages’ for legitimacy’s sake.  There are two adages that spring to mind when playing A Link to the Past:

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

AND

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Zelda games are 3-D now, but graphical updates aside, scant little of them have strayed from the indelible watermark set by this game.  It may as well be set in stone: the multi-level dungeons, the hookshot we all take forgranted, the Pegasus Boots, the MASTER SWORD, the Spin Attack, HYRULE CASTLE – THE HUB OF THE ENTIRE SERIES, Nintendo’s now-infamous Light World/Dark World theme (or in broader terms, travelling between two parallel worlds) – all emerged for the first time right here.  Even the fan-favourite Ocarina has its origins here, though the English translation yielded only the word ‘flute’ (presumably the Western gaming world was not yet ready for the word ‘ocarina’). Zelda’s musical landscape as you now know it – “Zelda’s Lullaby” (Princess Zelda’s Theme), “Ganondorf’s Theme”, “Hyrule Castle”, “Kakariko Village”, “Fairy Cave” (better known as THE SELECT SCREEN SONG) – was brought into being by Koji Kondo for this game. Even Link’s wide sword swing had its genesis in – you guessed it – A Link to the Past. So little has changed because so little needed changing. If any Zelda game or game *period* deserved a dubious 10.0, it was this one.

Speaking of dubious 10s, The Ocarina of Time is a sacred cow that I take great pleasure in sacrificing on a regular basis. Those familiar with this particular habit of mine; feel free to roll your eyes knowingly at this point.  But when the two games sit right next to each other on my Virtual Console, comparisons are going to be made.  Ocarina of Time is, for all intents and purposes, A Link to the Past in 3-D.  It was not the revolutionary trend-setter 19-year-old Nintendophiles claim it to be.  It’s barely evolutionary, and its ‘innovations’ – context-sensitive buttons; NAVI, YOUR HELPFUL FAIRY GUIDE – loathe as you may be to admit it, could well be the reason you have to sit through a compulsory three-minute tutorial before you can play Wii Sports Resort. The introduction of one of Gaming’s most irritating support characters was the first of many steps towards Nintendo’s long-term stupefication of the gaming population. Z-Targeting meant a lot to 3-D games, but only insofar as it made what was already a simple task in 2-D games tolerable on an additional axis. Like the fifth generation consoles themselves, the shift to 3-D was completely arbitrary. I don’t know what flavour Kool-Aid we were drinking, but all of a sudden we were willing to lay down Super Street Fighter II for Battle Arena Toshinden, Sonic 3 for Crash Bandicoot, Tetris for Tetrisphere.

And Link to the Past for Ocarina of Time.

Never mind the fact that these mechanics work better in two dimensions; never mind the garish, jagged, polygonal puppet show before you; it’s in 3-D, kids! I often wonder what might have been if Sega stuck to their 2-D guns instead of panicking and cramming a second CPU in there (alternate realities are the Last Bastion of Hope for the Displaced Sega Fan). Did we ever reach the pinnacle of 2-D game design? Allow that question to fill the air and let it breathe for a while.

Why do I feel the need to tear strips off Ocarina of Time – a great videogame adored by thousands (millions even?) – for a Link to the Past review?  Think of me as the critical Robin Hood, robbing the rich to feed the poor. Earlier I alluded to a very vocal segment of the gaming population, the circa-19-year-old gamer whose first videogame console was the Nintendo 64, to whom Ocarina of Time represents the dearest experience one can have with a controller (albeit an absolutely terrible one). To those people, please understand that it is not my desire to stomp all over your childhood memories, I merely seek to contextualise the pedestal you place them on. The fifth console generation coincided with the rise of the internet, and so unanimously lauded franchise entries reached critical mass very, very quickly. Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario 64, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – all new entries to long-standing franchises; all made relatively successful transitions to the third dimension; all were the first of their respective series to appear on the fifth generation of consoles; all were hyped like hell on a worldwide scale by online and print media – all received unanimous critical praise, and all have been claimants to the title of “Greatest Game of All Time”. Gamers today are no strangers to “Sequel Syndrome”, nor its dark brother “sequelitis”, and so I’m sure you can appreciate the powerful effect this had when unleashed on the international consciousness for the first time. Again, that’s not to belittle the achievements of these great titles, but the fifth generation of console owners had found their international voice for the first time, and that voice was saying “[Franchise Sequel X] is the Greatest Game of All Time” on a semi-regular basis. Those that had experienced previous console generations and earlier iterations may have perceived Franchise Sequel X in a different light, instead approaching it in the wider context of their place in the series as a whole.  Had the internet reached critical mass in say, the late 80s, we might have proclaimed “Final Fantasy III/Metal Gear 2/Super Mario Bros. 3/The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the Greatest Game of All Time” upon release.  And we may have been right.  But that’s not the point – the point is that the current Loudmouths of Gaming first owned a Nintendo 64 and their favourite game is Ocarina of Time.  I disagree.  I put my own bias under scrutiny, however, with the admission that I reached the “golden age” for gaming (that’s eight years old) during the 16-bit era and my first console was the Sega Megadrive.  And so this could easily be [mis]interpreted as generational walking-stick-waving at good-fer-nuthin’ whippersnappers who don’t know no better.  “In my day we played real games with real difficulty, no tutorials, and graphics that don’t look ugly as fuck in retrospect, and we walked barefoot eight miles to school every day in the blistering snow” and so on and so forth. I can hardly be accused of enshrining those experiences, though, given the vast majority of my output on this website (playful jab: besides, I wasn’t nearly as starved for games as N64 owners were! ).

Now, whenever I ask [goad/provoke/whip into a frenzy] OOT fans just what it is that makes the game worthy of ‘Greatest Game of All Time’ status, they are happy to provide me with a laundry list of reasons.  However, it wasn’t until I played A Link to the Past for EveryGame that it occurred to me: a vast majority of the things they loved about Ocarina were present in the series before Ocarina. To be precise, most of the things they loved about Ocarina of Time were introduced in A Link to the Past.  The rest centred around nostalgia or something else unquantifiable like watching a Hyrulian sunrise for the first time (which, by the way, sounds like a great name for a drink). None of these things are enough to melt this cold, cold heart.  Now, if someone was to craft a compelling argument citing OOT’s contributions to the development of Hyrulian anthropology, that is something I could get behind (after all, the game introduced and developed the Kokiri, the Deku, the Gerudo and Goron tribes).  It’s all unquantifiable of course, but in pure gaming terms, I’d have to award my “Best of Series” to A Link to the Past.  Now falls to me the thankless task of convincing you.

Let’s begin by revisiting one of my earlier statements:

‘[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is] a great work of art  that has ignited so many imaginations…’

Recently I likened creative genius to a bag of Pop Rocks, buzzing and crackling with ideas and potential – it’s a strange feeling, to be sure, but damn if it doesn’t feel great.  Now, Miyamoto is credited with most of these – it’s difficult to tell with the Japanese – certainly he was [and is, and probably always will be] ‘the fall guy’, taking responsibility for the team’s collective brilliance and blunders.  Regardless, Link to the Past bursts at the seams with all the vitality of an art form that’s never been done before.  There’s a sense that these guys are creating their own rules; their own language; and quite frankly, it’s exciting.  Those who travel to the Dark World without the aid of the Moon Pearl transform into a creature befitting of their nature, in Link’s case, a pink rabbit.  The Book of Mudora can be used to translate ancient Hylian runes.  A curse that threatens to ‘halve’ your magic bar actually doubles it.  What kind of topsy-turvy wall is this? At this point I was willing to accept that the helpful sage, Sahasrahla, might communicate his cryptic clues via wall-intercom; though others seem to put this down to telepathy; or even something as unremarkable as wall plaques (spoilsports!).

"...and User of Intercoms!"

Returning to the rest of that sentence:

‘[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is] a game that has danced in the minds of young children with magic and possibility.’

I’ll make that more specific for you: Link to the Past is the quintessential boy’s game.  It’s packed with the things that boys love to do.  One need only look as far as Link’s inventory screen to realise this: a sword, a shield, a bow and arrow, a mallet, a boomerang, a grappling hook, BOMBS, and a BUG-CATCHING NET. Let’s focus for a second on the bug-catching net.  Nothing appeals to my boyish mischief more than catching a fairy in my bug-catching net and being asked by the game:

“you have caught a faerie!  Would you like to:
→ Keep it in a bottle
→ Set it free?”

What kind of boy wouldn’t take the first choice? A fairy boy, that’s what! I chuckle evilly as I stuff the helpless creature in its glass prison. It tries to get out, but I knock it back in and press the lid down tight. I shake it up a little to let it know who’s boss. I put breathing holes in the lid of course! Then I stuff the jar in my rucksack. My childhood was filled with stuff like this – I have a fairly amusing story of a boomerang that flew into a tree and disappeared (a MAGIC BOOMERANG, if you will) – and who here hasn’t fashioned a sword, or bow and arrow out of wood to fight with their brothers? Who hasn’t tied a stick to a length of rope and swung it onto the roof? Who hasn’t – with their friends – pooled together resources from their fathers’ garages to make a bomb and set it off in the park?

…

Oh.

Never mind that last one. Link to the Past lets you do all of these things and more without fear of reprisal from disapproving and fun-hating adults – mischief is encouraged! Where do I sign?! A Link to the Past is A Link to Your Past; it taps into your boyhood fantasies* and imaginary play, and coming at this game for the first time as a full-grown man (debatable, I know), I can say that its effect is profound. It doesn’t rely on nostalgia, it evokes nostalgia.

* Sorry ladies, how about, um…Animal Crossing?

ALTTP reminds me of another ‘toy’: Rubik’s Cube. The entire game is a puzzle, from the Hyrulian overworld to the deepest dungeon. You can view the puzzle holistically (from a ‘helicopter view’, if you will), then by working away at a particular section, the puzzle begins to open up to you. And when you discover the secrets of a dungeon or a map, it feels as though they’re opening only to you. It’s all a clever ruse, of course, as they’re often necessary to completing the game, but this is a feeling distinctly missing from all subsequent Zelda titles. The Navis and the Midnas of the 3D Zeldas robbed me of any cleverness I might have had, and for the most part secrets have now been relegated to ancillary discoveries. In A Link to the Past, the dungeons themselves are the puzzles. And while the game does bottleneck at points (most notably at its beginning and end) – like Rubik’s Cube, there’s no ‘correct’ order of completion. The design encourages a particular dungeon order, but it does not force one, which is, you know, kinda nice. Multiple routes means you can skirt most of the overworld from the start, despite not being able to access it in its entirety. It’s not a case of “what are you doing here?! You’re not allowed in this area yet!” More like, “I wonder how I can get over there…” As you gain new items on your dungeon crawl, new paths begin to open up in your mind, and you begin to see how the Rubik’s Cube fits together. Then you start getting real clever, when you can exploit the subtle differences between the Light World and its Dark World counterpart, switching between the two at will.

Light World, Dark World, Light World, Dark World...

The Hyrule of Link to the Past is the perfect size: open enough to explore from the very beginning, but dense enough so as to prevent getting lost or bored, with enough *just* beyond your grasp to keep things intriguing. The place is a veritable hive of activity, where stuff actually happens. Guards are constantly scouring the streets and forests for you, thieves are trying to rob you, and the villagers are trying to run from you. The landmarks are distinct and memorable, and it ranks as the only incarnation of Hyrule I’ve ever memorised incidentally. By comparison, Ocarina of Time (et. al) may as well be a barren wasteland (the original Hyrule was intentionally a wasteland, in line with its narrative**).

Hyrule will never be the same again.

While we’re on the boredom score, what other Zelda game throws you headlong into its main dramatic situation from the outset? None, that’s what! **The original game didn’t have a dramatic situation at all per sé, instead motivating players through its over-arching narrative of survival and exploration, and power to it – but every other Zelda game opens with a whimper that can only come from performing menial tasks for village idiots. Link to the Past opens with a telepathic distress call from the titular princess. You receive your sword immediately from your dying uncle, and head directly to Hyrule Castle for the rescue. There are, of course, other forces at work, lest the game be finished within its first half-hour, but no time is wasted on Navi-coddling (“hey, listen!”) or training (welcome to Link’s Crossbow Training – who’d've thunk they’d ever make a full game out of it?).

Like most elements of this game, the combat is nuanced enough to be satisfying, but simple enough to keep things in perspective. There’s less dicking around in the item-switching department, for one.  Power gloves and flippers kick in at will when required, while boomerangs, arrows, bombs or hooks can be fired in tandem with sword-swinging without overtaking your primary aim (compare this to say, Twilight Princess, where the world virtually stops for you to take the shot). That’s not to say it’s a cakewalk, either – indeed, if you’re not on your A-game, you can find yourself in a very tight spot, scrounging for hearts wherever you can.  The combat is never drawn out; rather it’s a vehicle for further puzzling. In this way it’s similar to one of the truly great 2-D-to-3-D migrations, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – combat is a pace-changer but not a pace-breaker. Unlike those 3-D adventures, however, Link to the Past’s combat isn’t lumbered with an invisible tractor beam in the field of battle. Z-targeting was Ocarina’s ’solution’ to its own camera-wrangling problem, praised for its ‘innovation’ – what it *was* was a sufficient stop-gap, not a praiseworthy one. Would you praise a biochemist for providing the cure to the flesh-eating virus of his own creation? Would you thank a snake for biting you and then slipping you the anti-venom vial? No, you’d be relieved perhaps, if not slightly annoyed at the inconvenience, before you dust yourself off and be on your way. And so it is with a mixture of relief and annoyance that I approach the Past and ask the snake [Nintendo], why bite in the first place if you’re not going to make a meal of it? Why create a flesh-eating virus if not to wipe out millions?

If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Greetings all. So a couple weeks ago I made the investment in a Nintendo DS Lite, which has now allowed me to begin Final Fantasy III. I’m currently about 10 hours into the game (am about to go into an underground pond to help the Dwarves recover some sort of item…), and am very impressed with this remake/version of the game. Having never really played a significant amount of time on a portable gaming system (beyond a foray into Pokemon back in the day), I also have to say how impressed I am with how far portable gaming has come since the days of black and white Tetris. The intro CG video to FF3 looks as good as most PS1 and PS2-era videos, and I am constantly impressed by the capabilities of the system.

FFIII is another game I hadn’t played before this challenge, so I don’t really have benchmark memories of the NES version to compare it to, but it is obvious how much time and effort Square Enix put into creating a gaming experience that doesn’t feel a decade old.

Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone briefly to my status. With FFIII being played on the DS, and looking ahead in the Challenge, I am also debating starting (possibly) FFIV and (probably) FFXI before their sequential order. I feel like it would let me mix it up a bit (I seem to find it harder to put hours into a marathon gaming session on the DS), and also with FFXI ensure I have an adequate amount of time to progress in the game before the year is up. I will keep you all posted!

One of the great things about the emulation community is that it allows you to play many great games that were never released in your region.  Thanks to the efforts of devoted translation groups, you can even play games that were only produced in Japanese.

This is especially handy in the world of RPGs.  To date, the ONLY versions of Final Fantasy III, Dragon Quest V, and Dragon Quest VI that have been released in the west are 3D remakes for the DS.  Thanks to the emulator nerds, you can play the original versions wherever you are.  Of somewhat more interest are games that are STILL unreleased here, like Seiken Densetsu 3 (the direct sequel to Secret of Mana) or Terranigma (the third chapter in the Soul Blazer trilogy).

There are also tons of ROMs out there for games that were finished but, for one reason or another, never released.  These range from unreleased Pac-Man versions for ColecoVision all the way up to full-blown Super NES games.  There are currently two games in this category that interest me at the moment.  If you’re familiar with the SNES cult hit EarthBound you may may be aware the game’s Japan-only, NES predecessor, Mother.  What I didn’t know until recently is that this game was fully translated by Nintendo of America and was set to be named “Earthbound”, like its successor.  The game was delayed and delayed until it was cancelled but years later the OFFICIAL, translated ROM leaked onto the internet, available to English-speaking nerds everywhere.

Another awesome entry in this category is the little-known StarFox 2.  This game was announced in 1994 for the Super NES and, although nearly completed, was never released to save hype for the later release StarFox 64.  Again, years later, the ROM leaked, in Japanese and containing some programming notes.  Leave it to the nerds, who actually FINISHED THE DEBUGGING, translated the game, and now it’s out there for all of us!

I’m currently playing the NES Earthbound which is pretty decent so far.  I fired up StarFox 2 just to check it out.  It’s pretty interesting as it actually contains many of the strategic elements that turned up later in the DS release, StarFox Command.

The End.

After a long bout of frustration, I finally finished Final Fantasy III on DS. I know this isn’t much of a real informative post or anything but that game has been a total asshole and I’ve been struggling with it for a long time now. I managed to finally beat the final boss last night and I slept much better because of it. Will I ever play this game ever again? No, probably not. It wasn’t very much fun, especially by the end of it and it really isn’t a very balanced RPG. Either way, I’m done with it, and life is that much better for it.

I’ve since started on Final Fantasy IV, which even just an hour in is already a much better game. I’m looking forward to getting through FFIV so I can move onto FFV which I haven’t played all that much. It is kind of an ongoing quest but progress is certainly being made.

I’m doing a little tinkering with some things on here, trying to mess around with the comments a bit because I’ve seen that people have tried to post comments and the spam filter is blocking them. I may disable that for the time being and see what happens since it looks like most of the comments are legit. Other than that, I’ve got some things to post. I’ve got part 2 of the Mother feature going up either today or tomorrow and I’ve got another games post or two coming within the next couple days, so content is coming.

Por Alexei Barros

Nos posts. Nos comentários. Sempre faço questão de enaltecer os períodos 8 e 16-bits de Nobuo Uematsu na série Final Fantasy, que corresponde aos episódios I a VI. Porém, geralmente menciono as músicas do Super Nintendo. As composições de FFII e III são ainda mais ignoradas, talvez pelo fato de que os jogos saíram originalmente apenas para Famicom.

Por isso, a lembrança de faixas dos dois capítulos só poderia vir mesmo do Japão. Prossegue. A Ensemble Game Classica, desta vez com  violino e violoncelo, selecionou quatro (uma de FFII e três de FFIII) em performance irretocável, homenageando a época em que Uematsu não se aventurava no pop, mas abraçava o erudito (talvez para acompanhar Koichi Sugiyama em Dragon Quest?), comprovando a sua genialidade ao tecer músicas tão boas com tantas restrições.

Não é exatamente um medley, já que a EGC não se deu ao trabalho de fazer as transições – assim fica mais fácil de identificar as músicas listadas abaixo. Todas caíram bem por serem mais serenas, agora a última, “The Requiem” (a partir de 3:23), é o ápice. Melancólica ao extremo.

“Final Fantasy II & III Medley”

“Town Theme” (Final Fantasy II) ~ “Town of Water” ~ “Castle of Hain” ~ “The Requiem” (Final Fantasy III)

Prepare-se, pois lá vem batalhas aleatórias contra monstros, em 8 bits!!!

Seguindo a linha de matérias sobre a franquia Final Fantasy, desta vez o foco é o ultimo titulo lançado para o NES, Final Fantasy III, que foi lançado recentemente para o Nintendo DS. Provavelmente muitas pessoas pensarão que já jogaram este jogo, porem friso que estou levando em conta a contagem original japonesa, logo este não é o Final Fantasy VI do Super Nintendo, certo?!

Final Fantasy III foi lançado em abril de 1990 somente no Japão, num período bem conturbado, já que no começo da década de 90, o Super Nintendo estava chegando com tudo, logo não sendo lançado no ocidente por enquanto. E novamente o trio Hironobu Sakaguchi, Yoshitaka Amano e Nobuo Uematsu faz parte desta empreitada.

"Seu chifrudo!"

Começamos o jogo, e vimos que podemos nomear seus personagens, assim como o primeiro jogo, e começamos controlando 4 Onion Knights que estão indo explorar a caverna perto do vilarejo de Ur, que surgiu depois de um tremor de terra. Explorando a caverna, se deparam com o Cristal do Vento, que concede parte do seu poder aos jovens e explica que eles tem a missão de restaurar o equilíbrio do mundo. Vendo que eles são peças importantes para esta missão, eles informam o chefe do vilarejo sobre o ocorrido e decidem seguir a sua jornada.

"Eu vou, eu vou, pra casa agora eu vou..."

Quando o cristal cedeu os seus poderes aos jovens, eles ganharam a habilidade de trocar de classes. Enquanto no FFI você escolhia previamente as classes, e no FFII elas estavam enraizadas os personagens, você ia ganhando as classes no decorrer do jogo e podia trocar de classe, aproveitando cada uma de suas habilidades. Alem das classes mais comuns, como Warrior, Thief, Black Mages, White Mage e outras, temos a adição de Conjurer e Summoner, capaz de invocar monstros pela primeira vez na série. Monstros que ficarão conhecidos dos fans, como Shiva, Ramuh, Ifrit, Odin, Leviathan e Bahamuth poderiam ser adquiridos comprando eles nas lojas ou derrotando os mesmos. Também é o primeiro que colocou habilidades especiais, como Steal e Jump de acordo com as suas classes.

Classes iniciais

Vendo que o sistema de evolução dos personagens não foi aceito, foi incorporado o sistema de evolução do primeiro jogo. A tela de batalha é a mais limpa das três mostradas no NES, pois temos os dois quadrados abaixo mostrando o nome do inimigo, os atributos dos personagens, e acima deles está a tela de batalha, sem divisórias entre o inimigo e os personagens. No decorrer do jogo, somos apresentados a personagens que irão nos ajudar em algumas missões, mas ao contrário do FFII que o ajudante participar até das batalhas, aqui ele fica acompanhando você no mapa, e é representado no canto inferior direito do menu, como Cid, Desh, Princesa Sarah e outros.

O personagem em questão é o Desh

Como é tradição apresentar elementos novos nos jogos, somos apresentados aos Moogles, um bichinho branco, com asas vermelhas e um pequeno Pom-Pom em sua cabeça e que fala “Kupo” o tempo todo. No jogo, eles são guarda-costas do sábio Doga. E um outro elemento, que foi introduzido para cadenciar os espaços de itens é o Fat Chocobo. Como o nome sugere, é um chocobo gordo que pode ser chamado nas florestas de Chocobos usando um Carrot (ou Gysahl Green na versão do DS) para guardar os seus itens. Hum, isso me lembra algo.

moogle

Apesar de ser o ultimo jogo do NES, as musicas não deixam a desejar. Novamente começamos o jogo com o tema “The Prelude”, que já é característica da série. Temos uma melhoria no tema dos Chocobos, alem da adição do tema do Fat Chocobo. Mas para mim a melhor mudança foi no tema de batalha, que eu não canso de ouvir, mesmo com as limitações do console. Abaixo links de algumas citações para serem ouvidas da versão para NES, somente algumas pois são muitas musicas e todas são boas:

- “Cristal Cave”

- “Battle 1 – Fanfare”

- “Opening Theme”

- “Eternal Wind”

- “The Dungeon”

- “Chocobos!”

- “Big Chocobo!”

- “Let Me Know the Truth”

- “The Dark Cristals” – Minha favorita XD!

- “This is the Last Battle”

- “The Everlasting Battle”

Como bem sabemos, uma versão para o DS foi lançada recentemente, trazendo ao publico este titulo até então desconhecido pro muitos. Entre as mudanças, a mais notória é que os quatro protagonistas agora tem nome e sexo definidos, bem como uma historinha própria. São eles Luneth, Arc, Ingus e Refia (a única mulher). Ao invés de começarem como Onion Kinght, esta classe se tornou uma classe à parte, começando desta vez como Freelancer. Sem contar que o jogo inteiro é em 3D, com musicas remasterizadas, o que tornou o jogo extremamente atrativo aos que nunca viram este episódio da franquia.

Imagens:

A meu ver, a versão para o NES é a mais equilibrada dos três, já que não é difícil como o primeiro, mas é bem mais amigável do que o segundo, e tem a maior história até agora, com inúmeros personagens com quem interagimos no decorrer da trama. Conversando com Tio Bruno, meu amigo gamer e mais novo colaborador do NoReset, percebi que o fato de não ter disponibilizado a versão de NES para o ocidente deixou mais sombrio este titulo, sendo que existem Roms traduzidas por fans, porem difíceis de serem achadas.

De longe, Final Fantasy III é o meu favorito da geração 8 bits, que se encerra agora. A próxima matéria será desbravando a geração fantástica de 16 bits, com o primeiro titulo da franquia lançado para esta geração, que é Final Fantasy IV. Aguardem qe vem coisa boa pro ai. Ou não, dependem de vocês.

O Michael achou bom o post

]]> http://sodabomb.net/2009/06/29/rant-final-fantasy-iii-ds/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:57 +0000 Brandon http://sodabomb.net/2009/06/29/rant-final-fantasy-iii-ds/

I’ve been playing a lot of this game lately, if only to finish it and to progress further in my quest to beat the rest of the Final Fantasy games I haven’t beat, which involves a healthy chunk of games. I’ve also just been playing all of them in order in hopes of finishing FFXII around the time that FFXIII comes out. Considering how long that’s gonna be, I can generally just take my time.

When I first started playing Final Fantasy III, I really liked it. It was a breath of fresh air after FFII which was downright masochistic with its oddball leveling system, courtesy of Akitoshi Kawazu. The more of it I have played, the less I seem to be enjoying it. The story is barely existent. The parts that were present were cool and I was genuinely surprised at some of the things that happened, but for the most part, the story is pretty lame. The gameplay itself and the first appearance of the job system are pretty fun, though I can’t exactly agree with how it is presented. What bothers me the most about it is that by the time you get the endgame job classes, your characters have already become these tiny little gods who do an insane amount of damage. Then if you switch to a different class, you have to start that class at level 1. It just doesn’t provide a real logical reason to upgrade.

The job system also tends to make parts of the game a little bit grind-y. I don’t really mind this all that much when I’m hanging out with other people and just roaming, but when I’m on my own, I can’t say I really care for it. Some of the bosses have an awful jump in difficulty unless you switch to a different class, in which case you absolutely slaughter them. The problem is getting to that point considering most of the classes are useless at level 1, so grinding a little bit becomes essential. It also becomes a bit tedious and it quits being fun. At this point I’ve put in about 18 hours into this game, and I’m not really sure how much of that has been grinding. I really don’t mind grinding all that much, but I’d prefer not to have to do it.

I’m used to most of the newer Final Fantasy games being a bit easy, and I can imagine anyone going and playing this now finding the difficulty a bit staggering. Final Fantasy I&II in the “Dawn of Souls” compilation for GBA were piss easy and one could generally beat FFI in just by holding down the A button. Even two with its irritating gameplay mechanics wasn’t that bad and it actually made me appreciate the game. Those versions of the game were dumbed down in difficulty, though I hear the PS1 Final Fantasy Origins compilation maintains their original difficulty.

The game is only slightly dumbed down in its first US release and the changes made to it were certainly for the better. I can’t imagine playing the game in its original form, let alone anyone actually completing it. Certain things were added that make the game a little bit more fair. After a boss fight, the bosses refill your HP/MP which is a nice touch. Also, they added in the warp spell. In the original after fighting through a long terrible dungeon, you would have to fight your way back out. I had to do that for a chunk of FFII and not having the warp spell because I was stupid made the game that much harder. Another big thing is that you can only save on the overworld, which means if you go into a dungeon, you better fucking do it right. Thankfully, the dungeons were ported almost directly from the NES version and they are fairly short.

I don’t hate this game that much and I’m really glad it finally got a US release a couple years back. I just don’t feel like it’s one of the best entries in the series. I’m looking forward to completing it, if only so I no longer have to deal with it. For purists, I do really recommend playing it, and it does contain a certain difficulty absent from some of the newer games which I really appreciate. For a much better implementation of the job system, I really insist you play Final Fantasy V instead.

Square’s epic role-playing adventure Final Fantasy III is heading to the Wii Virtual Console in July.

The game which originally appeared on the Famicom, and then later ported over to the Nintendo DS, is sure to be another welcomed addition to Nintendo’s ever growing Virtual Console back-catalogue for Nintendo Wii.

Source

DOWNLOAD HERE

We’re on time! Woo! We’re also back to the full crew! … Well, for the first segment at least. George “had” to leave ’cause he wanted to play Pokémon. The man certainly has his priorities straight…

Anywho, we talk about what we’ve been playing which is the DS for just about everybody and we move onto the news to discuss games coming to the PS3, Blizzard being awesome and Valkyria Chronicles having really nice… “assets”.

Short description this week. Hm. Uh… hey. It’s like, sunny outside.

Leave a comment, as usual, on either the blog, at autosavemail@gmail.com or on any of the podcast’s members’ Facebook pages!

One of IGN’s latest features is to revisit videogame classics and ask whether or not they are overrated. The most recent game to be discussed (full article) is Square’s epitome of JRPG goodness, Final Fantasy VII (FF7).

See what I did there? I instantly qualified FF7 as the best JRPG ever, the quintessential example of the genre, before even getting started. Levi Buchanan’s article is flawed from the get-go because he places FF7 on the same pedestal.

He presupposes that FF7 is considered to be the best RPG of all-time. The problem with writing an article that starts with that position is that I don’t believe it’s an assessment that most serious RPG gamers would give. I have had the best RPG debate quite a few times and it doesn’t usually come up as a candidate. Some of the usual suspects are Chrono Trigger, Baldur’s Gate (pick one), and Final Fantasy III (I know it’s really FFVI but I played it as III so it will always be III to me). FF3 is my favorite game of all-time so that shows you where I stand.

So, I’m interested to know how he came to the opinion that FF7 is considered the greatest RPG ever. Is this his opinion? Have RPG gamers around the IGN office told him that? Judging from the comments of his coworkers in the article, they appeared split in their opinions of the game. A game this hotly disputed can hardly be called the best ever if there’s not some semblance of agreement as to its status in the first place.

Maybe it’s the best because it has sold better than all others? If that was a valid argument then Wii Play would be one of the greatest sports games in history. What I’m getting at here is that it’s terrible to begin a discussion of whether something is overrated or not by crowning it as the best ever. That issue is really a separate discussion from determining if something is overrated.

Let’s take a real world comparison. Is Johnny Unitas an overrated quarterback? A lot of older folks would say he was the best QB ever. Knowing this, I could easily surmise that he is the best and begin the evaluation from there. However, looking at the facts, Joe Montana had better stats, more championships, playoff wins, etc. Many people would say that Joe is the best QB ever but that’s not really important. What matters is that the point is disputed enough that you can’t definitively say that Unitas is the best ever. Nor Montana. So, if you’re writing an article discussing whether or not Johnny Unitas is overrated and you’re beginning with the opinion that he is considered the best QB ever, then you’re probably going to determine that he’s overrated. I don’t think there is a single person who really knows football that would say Unitas was overrated.

This same line of thought needs to be applied to FF7. If you are starting with the presupposition that it is the best RPG ever then yes, it’s probably overrated. I don’t think it’s right to start from that point when, clearly, a lot of people vehemently disagree. So, the discussion of whether or not FF7 is overrated should begin with the idea that it is great but not the quintessential RPG.

Let’s start from there then. Is FF7 overrated if you are evaluating it as being absolutely awesome but not necessarily the greatest RPG of all time? In my opinion, hell no! FF7 is a fantastic game. It broke new ground with graphics in the genre, had an awesome story that kept you guessing at every turn, featured wonderful characters, a fresh take on magic using Materia, stunning summons, and, most importantly, was downright fun to play. That’s all that really matters. The game was a blast to play. If you didn’t have fun playing FF7 then you aren’t going to have fun playing any RPG. You can argue that many RPG’s have superior stories or better battle systems but you simply cannot say that the game is not fun.

If you consider FF7 to be the best RPG ever then, in that light, it is probably overrated. However, if you consider it to be anything less than that I’d have to say it lives up to the lofty accolades that are placed upon it.

What do you think? Is FF7 actually the greatest RPG ever and I don’t know anything? Does anyone care if it’s overrated if it’s fun to play?

Final Fantasy III
I finally beat Doga and Unei a few days ago and have gotten the last jobs (not including bonus job Onion Knight). Here’s my party as it now stands:

Luneth: Knight to Ninja
Refia: White Mage to Devout
Arc: Black Mage to Magus
Ingus: Monk to Black Belt

I made it as far as the Cloud of Darkness right after defeating Xande, but decided I need to level up more before going on.

Final Fantasy IV
Nothing much to say here. Saved Rosa from certain death by obtaining the sand pearl from antlion.

Final Fantasy III Update

I am in the ginormous city/state of Saronia. It took forever to explore all four regions but I found Prince Alus and made my way to the castle, only to get my ass kicked by Gigameth — twice.

Purely by luck, I went back to the southeastern region/town to find that I had totally missed the Dragon Spire. After finding various dragoon equipment, I felt that the game was telling me something … something about dragoons.

As such, Luneth became a dragoon and I beat Gigameth, with a little help from Arc casting Blizzaga. Half my party was wiped out, so no experience points for the fallen. It doesn’t matter much, because now I have the Nautilus and all the closed weapon and magic shops in Saronia are now open.

Final Fantasy News

Joystiq and Kombo have reported that the release of Final Fantasy XIII “may be influenced” by the delay of Dragon Quest IX. That doesn’t sound too promising

Final Fantasy III Updates

Last night:

Restored light to the fire crytsal. Got the Enterprise converted into an airship, thanks to everyone’s favorite airship engineer, Cid.

Today:

Beat Kraken on the second try and restored the water crystal, but not before he/it killed Aria. Now, there’s this whole new world to explore.

I can’t find blizzaga (or firaga or thundaga for that matter), so I’m going to turn Luneth from a warrior to a black mage so he can use blizzara and blizzard, keep Refia as a white mage, keep Arc as a black mage, and turn Ingus from a thief to a monk so he can utilize the claws I found in the cave. Maybe now I’ll be able to beat Gutsco.

Well, I just got my ass handed to me by Gutsco in his fire dragon form. Must find blizzaga for my black mage, Arc.

Yesterday:

Beat Medusa, which was much easier after I had attained fira, thundara and blizzara from the Village of the Ancients and had leveled up around the Castle Argus.

Today:

Made it to the village of Gysahl. Now I know where the term “Gysahl Greens” comes from.

Also beat that Ice Horn-stealing guy, but he ran off to the north.

More Final Fantasy III thoughts, both good and bad:

• The graphics are decent, especially for the DS. I was impressed by the animated backgrounds in some of the battle scenes.

• I thought Square-Enix would have replaced magic charges with the normal MP/ether system found in almost every other Final Fantasy game. It was not to be, I suppose.

• Speaking of ether, I have not come across any and I’m already at the Tower of Owen. I’m guessing the only way to recharge MP is by staying at an inn or drinking from a pond that restores HP and MP.

• Not having tents or cottages is a real pain in the butt.

• I find it somewhat surprising that Square-Enix would go through all the trouble of “3-Ding” a very old game and beefing up the storyline only to not address such issues as ether and tents. I’m still addicted, though.

• I got my first chocobo, huzzah!

Goal for tomorrow: beating Medusa in the Tower of Owen.

Day One of playing this great game on the DS has yielded the following observations:

• I don’t like how the game only starts with one of the warriors of light, who isn’t even dressed in onion knight garb.

• I do like the addition of background stories for the main characters. It makes them seem more real.

• I think Final Fantasy III has the most underrated battle music and boss music in the series.

• This game is much more addictive than its predecessor, Final Fantasy II on the PSP.

• The characters really need to dance during the victory fanfare, and not just when they level up.

• Ingus doesn’t look much like his Dissidia self.

• So far, this game has been a good buy.

More to come tomorrow.

My PSP has company now.

I bought a Nintendo DS last night so I could play the Final Fantasy games that aren’t available for the PSP. I also didn’t want to further damage my eyes from playing Final Fantasy V on my dimly lit GBA anymore. The difference in display brightness is huge, although the DS isn’t as bright as my PSP. It’s also nice to have more than one audio speaker. In short, my new DS is a vast improvement over my GBA.

More than anything else, I’m looking forward to seeing what Square-Enix has done to Final Fantasy III and I’m a little more than curious as to how Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time pans out when it’s released this spring in North America.

For those of you who don’t know what an onion knight is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_III#Gameplay

Welcome to my blog. Let’s see if I can keep this thing going.

It is almost to the end of January and I am proud to say (and relieved) that I am still enjoying my little DS. It is a very small little game box, and some of the games I have tried fell flat. Overall, however, I am happy with buying it.

I am presently at the beginning stages of Final Fantasy III with Pidge, Jonni, Kimmi and Timmy. Those are my characters — funny little guys but they do like to fight!

I also received in the mail, through GameFly, a copy of Age of Empires: Mythologies. I haven’t put the card into my DS yet because of all the other stuff going on in my life. Perhaps this weekend — the Stupor Bowl is this Sunday and spending it at the inlaws “watching” the game. Woots for the DS.

I have also started podcasting again. Anyone interested in the show, head over to www.virginworlds.com and check out my show, The Travels with Troy. It can also be found on Itunes.

I am also back to playing Everquest (the original game) and have been having allot of fun at it — too much fun, I think. The ol’ motto still stands true – EverCrack. I am spending so much time playing my characters, that I have pushed my show at least two days forward. I have also not watched my Netflix video or played my GameFly game because of it. And of course I am two boxing again — so its even double the trouble.

Soon it will be February, one month down and 11 more to go in this year. I better get crackin’ to get at least some of my New Year’s Resolutions done.