Level Up! Seize the Experience!

IGN is hosting a slew of demos and trailers on their site. If you’re frothing at the mouth while waiting for Final Fantasy XIII, you don’t want to miss these. I enjoyed watching what is yet to come for me in 2010, even though the demos don’t really show me anything I don’t already expect. I expect the gorgeous graphics. I expect the turn-based play. I expect the incredible fighting moves from Lightning.

However, the demos also seem to show that the battles won’t exactly be random encounters. It’s more like Eternal Sonata, where enemies are running around on the field and battles (except for bosses) are triggered by encountering these enemies. That kind of goes against the normal Final Fantasy formula, but I guess it can’t hurt to shake things up a little bit.

The other big FF13 news this week was Squenix’s announcement that it would be released in Japan in Winter 2009, earlier than previously planned. Does this mean that we’ll see it sooner in the US? One can only hope!

…IN JAPAN. ONLY.

So disappointed.  You know what makes me even more disappointed? Square Enix has made ZERO plans for it to release in the US. The only thing that is keeping me undaunted is the fact that the exact same thing happened with Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. It was released for the PS2 in Japan with no inkling at all that it was coming to the US. About nine months later, it was announced. Same thing with Crisis Core.

So there is hope, albeit a small one since none of the other FF series released for the PSN store has made their ways to our shores. I’m really wanting to play this game on my PSP. I’ve gotten so used to modern graphics, that I’m just having too hard of a time playing this game on the big screen. I think it would make a huge difference on the smaller screen.

So for all interested, stay tuned. You know I’ll be keeping my eyes on this like a HAWK.

I went to Seattle this past weekend for Sakura Con (which by the way, had a cosplayer dressed up as cross-dressing Cloud! Best costume ever!!) and I brought along my DS for the four hour flight and for any downtime I had at the con. Good thing I did it pack it, because I sat in lines far more often than I thought I would. I know I’m in the middle of Phantom Hourglass, but I wasn’t in a Zelda mood. It’s also difficult at times to just simply stop playing Zelda. If I’m in a dungeon and I save and quit, I’ll be kicked back to the beginning.

So I tried out Final Fantasy III, which kind of breaks one of my New Year’s resolutions, but that’s a blog for a different post. For starters, the quick save feature makes the game far more interruption friendly. If anyone is looking for a good game to play while waiting in lines, this one is it.

I’m only three hours into the game, but I’m liking it so much better than any Final Fantasy game I’ve played before. 1) My spikey protagonist doesn’t get stuck. 2) The NPCs actually give decent hints as to where you’re supposed to go next. 3) I’m starting to really dig traditional turn-based combat, which this game happens to feature. I think the graphics style looks a bit like the Tactics branch games, and I’m not that fond of the cutesy style. But so far, that’s all I have to complain about.

But like I said, I’m only 3 hours in, and I have at least ten times that to go.

Kombo has reported that PlayStation is planning to add a “steady stream” of PSP game downloads to the PSN store. Some will be new, but PlayStation One classics were also mentioned. And the above referenced picture was offered. It’s a little difficult to pick out Cloud rushing with the Buster Sword in the background, but that’s undeniably Tifa and Red XIII in formation. They didn’t mention Final Fantasy VII per se in Kombo’s article or in PlayStation’s press release, but this picture pretty much says it all.

I’m guessing that this is as close to a “remake” of the game as we’ll ever get. The end credits from Crisis Core really hinted that a PS3 remake was in the works, but maybe Square Enix really has no desire to ever remake that game. If this is all we get, I’ll still be happy. I just hope that my ancient PSP can download these games just fine and I won’t have to spend the money on a PSP upgrade. I know it’s probably worth it, but if I don’t have to spend the money, I’d rather not.

Now my next question is whether we can use the analog stick in the PSP download. If so, I may shelve the PSOne version until this PSP release.

I’m starting down that road I always go down and never recover from. I’m thinking of stopping one game so I can play another. I fully intend to finish that first game someday, but right now I’m feeling the need to play something else.

I do this all the time. And the sad thing is, I rarely go back and finish the first game. I always mean to. But I keep putting it off for other games. And then it gets to the point when I know I’ll have to start over just so I can remember how to play. That’s when all motivation to finish it shoots out the window.

So what am I thinking about pausing for another adventure? Final Fantasy VII. I can’t seem to find the motivation to play it. I think that will change when I finish Lost Odyssey — which please God please happen in the next twenty hours — but lately I’ve been thinking about picking up Final Fantasy X. I don’t know if it’s the allure of the better graphics, different turn-based system, or the fact that seeing Tidus in Dissidia has made me long for the annoying blonde emo. (I guess that means I’ll be trading out one spikey haired blonde emo for another?)

I’m trying to resist. I’m at least postponing the decision until I see the end credits roll in Lost Odyssey.

I must be strong. I must be strong. I must finish what I start. I must finish what I start.

One issue about being a copy editor for a gaming site is that sometimes I gloss over articles instead of read them. I’m looking for spelling errors, punctuation errors, poor sentence structure, as well as coherence, cohesion and general sense of the article. Most of the time after I proofread and edit, I have no idea what the article was about. And then someone always asks me what new games are coming out, and I have to look it up on the site’s front page, because I have no idea what I just read. It’s sometimes a necessary quality to be a good copy editor, but it’s a bad one when it comes to being a gaming fan.

So I have known about Dissidia: Final Fantasy for some time, and at the same time, I hardly knew anything. I thought it was another branch game, like Crystal Chronicles or Tactics, but I was so, so incredibly wrong.

I visited the Square Enix blog today and they posted a new trailer for Square Enix members only. I’m sure it will be on YouTube eventually, but it’s not yet. When I saw Squall and Tidus amongst the mix, I was sold instantly. I’ve already visited Amazon and put in my preorder. Now I know what the conundrum has been about this game and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days releasing on the same day. I’ll definitely be torn between which game to play first.

Well I guess it’s official. I’m walking down the dark side.

Since I’ve just recently gotten into the realm of Final Fantasy, suddenly the branch games of the franchise are popping up in my head and are hitting my radar when I read gaming news. Dissidia has recently been suggested to me, since it’s going to be an action-RPG for the PSP and therefore I’ll more than likely find more time to play it. If I go that route, what about the other Final Fantasy branch games?

I did a search on PlayStation.com and Nintendo.com for a list of other Final Fantasy games and the list is overwhelming. Do I really want to delve into this strange land? Haven’t I ventured into the dark side enough with accepting turn-based games? Or by just purchasing a Final Fantasy game? Have I mentioned that I bought Ehrgeiz off of ebay? When will the madness end?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

I have to admit, some of the games do look appealing, such as Final Fantasy Fables and Dissidia. I do have a stack of handheld games I have to finish first, so maybe by then this mania will leave my body and soul in one piece.

But probably not.

I’m a sucker.

Word has it that the entire story of Final Fantasy XIII is complete along with 80% of the graphics. The development team’s current task is to refine the battle system. This means that more than likely the trailers littered across the internet are from older schematics, and so the graphic levels and gameplay are far more advanced than what we have seen so far.

This makes me happy for two reasons. One, it looks like the game will actually be on schedule. Japan will definitely receive the game this fall or early winter, and that will ensure that the US gets the release in spring of 2010 as currently predicted. At least, it’s supposed to ensure that, but we all know how these things go, unfortunately. I’m also ecstatic about this news, because it looks like we’ll be in for a real treat graphics-wise. I was already frothing about the graphics from the trailers released earlier this year, but if those are from older builds, then I can’t wait to see the high levels of detail and gorgeous Final Fantasy graphics we’ve come to expect and love.

I’m still disappointed that it’s not coming out this year in the United States, but I also need to let that go.