It’s –us Gloop!

So, that was my attempt at being witty, and if you still don’t get it, what’s wrong with you?

July has come to a close and all the sunny sunny-ish not too bad rain and thunderstorms type weather has been hammering us throughout in the UK. As I usually do, I look ahead to the month and let you know what I have planned for it.

Moving all about

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen that I had to kick out an non-contributing (didn’t pay rent or anything) flatmate who also happened to be a family member. At first I was concerned, but after finding out she owed over £1,500 within the last year for late rent payment, I wasn’t bothered. She went back to live with her parents, and it’s now mostly resolved.

However, this now means that my best mate, @benjirino will be moving in, which makes a whole ton of sense really as we spend a vast amount of time together playing games and watching DVDs and obsessing over Lost.

Duck soup! Duck what?

I’ve also been playing Final Fantasy X-2 a lot, trying to get 100% on the first run through. I’ve accomplished it before, but have had to use New Game Plus to do so. I’m just trying to beat Shinra at Sphere Break at the moment.

It’s not Final Fantasy!

Let me level with you. Final Fantasy XII. It’s not a Final Fantasy game, none of the right elements are there and the story bores me to death. 

I’ve tried multiple times to play, but as soon as Ben is moved in we’re going to try a simultaneous play through of Final Fantasy XII when we both have some time off to at least try and finish it. It will not be easy.

Dungeons and Discourse

Dungeons & Dragons will be occurring round my place some time this month. Got a group of four/five people interested. It will be a basic character creating session, with the first few bits of an adventure I have planned out. It’ll be fun.

That’s all I really have planned for this month, a nice easy month.

Final Fantasy VII Review – PSN Store

Yes, this game is now 12 years old, a decade younger than myself. Yet with it’s recent port on to the PSN store, and the ability to play it on my Final Fantasy VII PSP is great for me. I will try and make this review as unbiased as I can, but I’m making no guarantees.

Story

The story starts off with you being Cloud, an ex First Class SOLDIER *cough* with some sevre memory and head problems. Eventually the plot to take down an evil company along with a bunch of misfits, turns in to an epic task to save the planet. Aerith’s death scene is very memorable to any gamer, and was a shocking and saddening moment when first seen. The story starts a mite slow, but advances quickly and starts getting complex. Getting the two secret characters helps to add to more story plot, as does finding out all about Zack (which is all optional by the way).

Gameplay

Being the first Final Fantasy game, and indeed first RPG I’d played, this may be where bias plays in. The ATB system was used in this game for battles, and worked very well. The Limit system would lay the ground work for greater improvements, such as in Final Fantasy X, where one could change how Limits were built up, rather than just by being hit. The world map wandering is good in either landscape or top-down view.

Graphics

Reviewing this 12 years down the line means that the graphics take a serious knock. Back then, it was all state-of-the-art, “more real than real” stuff, yet now they’re blocky, things are slightly off. I’m adding a score in brackets for this one for if I had reviewed it 12 years ago, but at my current intelligence.

Soundtrack

The music however remains undeterred by a gap of more than ten years. I still listen to it these days and enjoy the memories it brings forth.

Replayability

Hmmm…this is difficult. On the one hand, I could play this endlessly. On the other hand, I have already played this enough to get all I ever could out of it. Yet I come back and play it each time. This wouldn’t be the same for everyone though. If you haven’t done ALL the optional stuff, replay it and get it. If you have, replay it for fun. See what happens when the train crashes, or play along with Don Corneo. You can’t not replay it.

Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 6.2 (8)/10
Soundtrack: 8.3/10
Replayability: 7.4/10

74.80% (79.40%)

• 0 – 19% Unplayable - why the hell did I even buy this?
• 20 – 49% Poor – Certain elements of the game hold it back
• 50 – 69% Average – More good than bad, but you might need to be a fan to really get in to it.
• 70 – 84% Good – A nice franchise or single game, that just misses out on being great because of a few flaws.
• 85 – 89% Excellent – You could play this for ages and be happy
• 90 – 100% Fucking Excellent – You should have this game and play it every single day.

Want me to review a game? Comment and let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Square Enix E3 Predictions

Square Enix mentioned that the company will reveal three previously unannounced titles at E3 2009. Rumour reported that two of the which will be sequels to their bigger franchises.

That’s from the website The Magic Box and you’ve probably seen it in various places. A few days after this blog goes up, we might know more, but I’m going to offer up a few predictions, let me know what you think.

Kingdom Hearts III

KH Insider had their April Fool’s joke be that there was a Kingdom Hearts III announced, and it would have been a good joke, but it was spoilt. Nonetheless, the slew of spin-off Kingdom Hearts games for DS, PSP & mobile phones will all have been released soon, and fans are waiting for another ‘main’ game so announcing it at E3 and seeing some cool video for the next Kingdom Hearts game would be good.

Chrono Series Game/Mana Series Game

Though I’ve never played the Chrono series, it’s DS rerelease seemed to go well and I know people that have got enjoyment out of it, and Europe had never really seen it before this release so it gave European users a new experience. To not carry on with the series would be foolish.

The Mana series could also do with a new game as well, perhaps something on the PSP rather than sticking to Nintendo’s console to mix it up.

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy fans have wanted a remake of the game for some time, and were taunted by the technical demo above to show off the PS3’s power, and then taunted by an updated opening after the end of Crisis Core, and it would be a cash cow for Square Enix. I will be shocked if this isn’t announced. The other two are more wishes than predictions. What do you think?

Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII- Review - PSP

Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII- is the PSP prequel to Final Fantasy for the PS1, where you take control of the rarely seen but often discussed Zack Fair as a starting 2nd Class SOLDIER, and see where it all started to go wrong.

Story

A new enemy in the form of Genesis is introduced at the start of the game, as Sephiroth has yet to begin his descent in to madness, and it deals well with setting him as a questionable villain and uses the play, LOVELESS, seen briefly in Final Fantasy VII well. Familiar faces such as Cloud & Yuffie are seen and new faces such as Cissnei are blended in well. By the end of the game, you don’t care about Cloud anymore in Final Fantasy VII and wish that he had died instead of Zack. Great story, even knowing the ending already.

Gameplay

That’s an example of a battle above, there are random encounters as usual and then battle flows by choosing your next attack from the materia you have equipped. Crisis Core allows you to break all the usual Damage & HP Limits, meaning you can deal 99,999 in a single hit later in the game with the right materia (Costly Punch). Outside of battle, you are usually wandering an area with a certain objective, there is no free-roaming world as you’re shipped off to certain locations by ShinRa. The DMW Limit system is great. The more people you meet in game, or items you collect, the more faces fill up. The reels roll each time and if three match up Zack unleashes a limit related to that character.

Graphics

The summons kick up some astounding FMV, even though the first time you see them, you know some great pain is coming your way. The other cutscenes are up to PSP-specs, but I don’t think it uses anywhere near all of the PSP’s power, which would have been nice to see, but I’m always harsh on graphics.

Soundtrack

The Crisis Core soundtrack has some great tunes and uses some variants of Final Fantasy VII tunes, which is in no means a bad thing as I think VII has a good soundtrack, and even has a theme song named “Why”. The best thing to do though, is make a playlist of all songs titled “Theme Of Crisis Core” and listen to them all.

Replayability

The “missions” section allows you to play about 300 missions of varying difficulties. Very Hard in these missions means, if you don’t have Phoenix Downs and Costly Punch, you will die. Crisis Core keeps up the Final Fantasy tradition of having a superboss, in this case, Minerva who has 10,000,000 HP on Normal mode and 20,000,000 on Hard. New Game Plus is also an option, where you will keep all items obtained, and also your level, if the missions were too tough for you the first time through.

Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 8.5/10
Soundtrack: 8.7/10
Replayability: 6.7/10

84.5%

• 0 – 19% Unplayable - why the hell did I even buy this?
• 20 – 49% Poor – Certain elements of the game hold it back
• 50 – 69% Average – More good than bad, but you might need to be a fan to really get in to it.
• 70 – 84% Good – A nice franchise or single game, that just misses out on being great because of a few flaws.
• 85 – 89% Excellent – You could play this for ages and be happy
• 90 – 100% Fucking Excellent – You should have this game and play it every single day.

Want me to review a game? Comment and let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Joe’s CD II

So, earlier today I found a CD marked “Joe’s CD II”, which is how I used to mark my CD’s of music. This would mean that it was the 2nd CD I ever burned on a computer.

Despite some tracks not working I’ll start off a post about them
(Ha, ha, screw you CD. I’ll make them work)

This CD was a bit of a goldmine for myself. Here’s the track listing.

1. This track didn’t want to work and would “crash” any CD program, and make the rest of the tracks silent, so I kind of skipped this one.
   
   Okay, by process of elimination, this song must be:
   Andrew WK – We Want Fun, as it’s marked on the front of the CD, and it’s the only Andrew WK song that comes to mind.
   
   He’s a bit of a twat really isn’t he.
   
2. blink-182 – What’s My Age Again
   Holy crap. When I first listened to this song, 23 seemed an age that was far from me, and now I’ll be 23 next year. In 2010. :-( Oh well, at least I never act my age.
   
3. David Bowie – Magic Dance
   Okay, it’s no secret to the people that know me that Labyrinth is perhaps my favourite film, with David Bowie and a young Jennifer Connelly in a magical world where can you go wrong? Now that I know David Bowie makes all the baby noises, it makes the song even more funny to me.
   
4. Dragonball GT Japanese Theme Song
   What? I remember being interested in Dragonball Z, then fading out in GT, so why in the heck is there the Japanese song on here?
   
5. Evanescence – Bring Me To Life
   Obviously I’m going to have their big hit on here if the CD states Evanescence on it. I do really like this song and it’s Amy Lee too. She looks better in the My Immortal video though. I wonder if this version has the bloke who’s name I can’t recall at the moment singing the extra bits of it.
   
   Okay, it’s at this point in our story that iTunes decided it didn’t want to finish ripping the previous song, and just crashed instead. It was going so well. Let’s try again. Nope. Eject. No. Eject. Oh, there we go.
   
6. Faye Wong – Eyes On Me
   Makes sense. Final Fantasy VIII was a pretty good game for me and I’m a sucker for an asian girl with a good singing voice. Not as good as Ms. Hikaru, but she’s still good.
   
7. The Rembrandts – I’ll Be There For You
   Friends theme song, first getting in to downloading music and stuff, I guess I downloaded a few theme songs I recognized.
   
8. Good Charlotte – Emotionaless
   I remember being quite acquainted with this song, because I think it was around the time of my parents break up. Not that I really care these days, but I think I did back then.
   
9. Good Charlotte – Girls & Boys
   I seem to remember that I had this song because I really laughed at the old woman Avril Lavigne in the music video (which now seems to be missing whenever I see it on TV)
   
10. Good Charlotte – The Motivation Proclamation
    Why so much Good Charlotte? I don’t even like this song very much.
    
11. ???? – ????
    midomi doesn’t know what it is, so no help there. It starts off “I was raised…to believe…” but I have no idea.
    
12. Good Charlotte – Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous
    More Good Charlotte? Go away! It’s a good song, but I really don’t remember being that in to them.
    
13. Jimmy Eat World – The Middle
    Hey, don’t write yourself off yet. I do like Jimmy Eat World and The Middle is almost my favourite song by them (it’s Work by the way) but this song is certainly very good and I remember listening to this song a lot back in my youth.
    
14. Linkin Park – Somewhere I Belong
    This song must have recently come out. I didn’t really “dig” Meteora, the album this was on but have since come to like it a little more. I’ll still always like Hybrid Theory/Reanimation more though.
    
15. Linkin Park – Step Up
    I’m sure when I downloaded this it was marked as “secret unreleased song” and I was glad to have it to rub in people’s faces as a kid. “Have you heard Linkin Park’s Step Up?” “No?” *scoffs* Actually I’m not sure I scoffed a lot then. This is still a good song to me now, and perhaps the gem of this ancient CD.
    
16. Powerman 5000 – When Worlds Collide
    I’m thinking this was influenced by Little Nicky, when the surviving brother starts to rise up on the throne of Hell to Earth. That image certainly comes to the forefront of my mind when I’m listening to the song.
    
    Actually, this was on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 as well. I feel I had the soundtrack at some point.
    
17. Simple Plan – I’d Do Anything
    How Simple Plan have grown up. Looking at this song they seem like kids, but when listening to their latest single When I’m Gone or hearing them at Download 2008 they seem to have matured in to better musicians.
    
18. Tatu – All The Things She Said
    Underage lesbian schoolgirls kissing in the rain anyone? I’m sure they were fifteen when they filmed the music video for this, which was the shocking video to old people, the video you had to see as a kid and the video that parents gasped at, at the time. In regards to the song, eh, it’s not bad. I can’t remember whether it’s “taTu” instead though.
    
19. The Androids – I Wanna Do It With Madonna
    My brother and @AimlessAmy get props for remembering this funny novelty song that I thought was long forgotten. I wonder if The Androids actually made any more songs, or were just a one-hit wonder? This song does make me laugh a lot.
    
20. The Calling – Wherever You Will Go
    Now, why do I have this song? Oh yes, the girl I had the hots for really liked The Calling, so I was trying to get in to them in order to try and break the ice. As I can’t even remember her name, so I’m going to call that one a critical failure. The Calling…they’re not good really.
    
21. Dub Pistols – Cyclone
    I know exactly why this is on here. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. It was on the soundtrack and eventually became the only song I had on when I skated about busting mad 360 Ollie twists. I couldn’t remember the artist for this song at all, but midomi provided it.
    
22. Violent Delight – I Wish I Was A Girl
    There’d be certain advantages, and guys are lying if they said they haven’t thought about and it’s certainly another funny song. I wonder if Violent Delight (oxymoronic, I get it!) are still together.

Hope you enjoyed a glance in to ghosts of music past with me. If I ever manage to find “Joe’s CD”, I’m pretty sure it’ll just be full of porn.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Review - GBA

  
I contemplated as to whether to review a six year old game, but I have been playing it a lot again of late, so figured it might be time for a review, as that’s what a lot of these posts seem to be.

This is an old game, by gaming standards, released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

Story
You take on the role of Marche, who is transported to a mysterious world, wherein he greets his friends but finds that the world has changed them all. He tries to correct it by destroying “World” Crystals, but is met with indifference from his former companions and your usual Final Fantasy monsters.



Gameplay
You garter yourself a crew (which is comprised of other species whom featured more prominently in Final Fantasy XII), otherwise known as a Clan and engage in turn-based tile-based tactical battles from the missions you take on. You make your own world map by placing locations where you like, so if you want to make Sprohm (the city with the prison) kind of like Alcatraz, like I did, there’s a small island to place it on.

Prison you ask? Yes, the world of Ivalice has a law system, whereby certain actions can’t be performed in battle and punishable by being sent to jail for a certain amount of battles.

Multiplayer also comes in with this via GBA link cable for either vs. battles or trading goods & characters.

Graphics
Graphics are never really too important to me in any game, but this is something that’s needed in reviews.

The graphics in FFTA aren’t bad for GBA graphics, but I wouldn’t have minded a cut scene or two for important events.



Soundtrack
The music in this game is not done by Square-Enix’s usually well-known musician, Nobuo Uematsu, but by Hitoshi Sakimoto and the sounds soon become familiar such as when starting a battle or entering a usual location.

There’s no memorable songs to me, but certainly not a bad soundtrack.

Replayability
There’s over 300 missions to do, and you can carry on after the main story has ended, there’s lots of missions to do, and plenty of job classes to keep you happy.

However, I couldn’t bring myself to restart the game and go through the main story mode again, but with all the missions to do and the quick dive-in gameplay style, you’ll find it hard to put down.

I do have to note, this game was damn near impossible to find even a year after it’s release, so you may not have much luck at all now.

Quick scores follow next in most reviews in case you’re too lazy to have read what I have spent my time writing.

Story: 4.5/10
Gameplay: 6.5/10
Graphics: 5/10
Soundtrack: 5.5/10
Replayability: 6/10

55%

• 0 – 19% Unplayable - why the hell did I even buy this?
• 20 – 49% Poor – Certain elements of the game hold it back
• 50 – 69% Average – More good than bad, but you might need to be a fan to really get in to it.
• 70 – 84% Good – A nice franchise or single game, that just misses out on being great because of a few flaws.
• 85 – 89% Excellent – You could play this for ages and be happy
• 90 – 100% Fucking Excellent – You should have this game and play it every single day.

Want me to review a game? Comment and let me know and I’ll see what I can do.