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Silver Lining
So, while lying sick-as-a-dog from cold or flu or something (no, not bird flu) in my hostel bed in Nanjing, I've been taking the opportunity to replay some of the old videogames from my youth on emulation, trying to beat them this time and finally vindicate myself.
I am beginning to form the opinion that late-NES (FF3j) and mid-game boy (FFL, FFL2, FFA) is the point in which Squaresoft really hit its peak as a company. Now, I realize that there's a lot to be said for the SNES period (FF4-6 + FFL3), and that there are at least two die-hard FF7 fans reading this. I used to think more highly of FF4-6 myself. But, on replaying, a lot of the depth, grandeur and theme of the other games is done, and done better, by the earlier games, in particular FF3 and FFL, ironically some of the last games that actually let you name your party members without defaults. My hunch is that the lack of characterization of the protagonists was actually a very productive creative constraint in terms of video game design.
I think that the only game of comparable quality, at least in terms of narrative, that Squaresoft has produced (discounting the excellent FF9 disc one), was FFTactics, which I'm given to understand was actually not designed in-house at all, but was a last minute retooling of a half-way finished Russian game. (Man, what I would give to see that design team actually finish a game, given full time and resources.)
Not coincidentally, FFL and FF3 are some of the first games I know of to address, in any way, the video-game nature of the medium itself. Later attempts are generally only fourth-wall breaking for comedic value (lots of games), hopelessly pretentious wankering by computer programmers (Metal Gear Solid 2), or both.
Of course, I'm not finished with FF3 yet, so it still has time to crash, but it already has the best moment ever in a Squaresoft game, possibly any videogame I've ever played.
They'll be longer essays and arguments about why I think that these are good games, possibly here but probably on This Is My Blog. I only want to post one place, but if people here are interested I'll do a notification when the essays start.
I am beginning to form the opinion that late-NES (FF3j) and mid-game boy (FFL, FFL2, FFA) is the point in which Squaresoft really hit its peak as a company. Now, I realize that there's a lot to be said for the SNES period (FF4-6 + FFL3), and that there are at least two die-hard FF7 fans reading this. I used to think more highly of FF4-6 myself. But, on replaying, a lot of the depth, grandeur and theme of the other games is done, and done better, by the earlier games, in particular FF3 and FFL, ironically some of the last games that actually let you name your party members without defaults. My hunch is that the lack of characterization of the protagonists was actually a very productive creative constraint in terms of video game design.
I think that the only game of comparable quality, at least in terms of narrative, that Squaresoft has produced (discounting the excellent FF9 disc one), was FFTactics, which I'm given to understand was actually not designed in-house at all, but was a last minute retooling of a half-way finished Russian game. (Man, what I would give to see that design team actually finish a game, given full time and resources.)
Not coincidentally, FFL and FF3 are some of the first games I know of to address, in any way, the video-game nature of the medium itself. Later attempts are generally only fourth-wall breaking for comedic value (lots of games), hopelessly pretentious wankering by computer programmers (Metal Gear Solid 2), or both.
Of course, I'm not finished with FF3 yet, so it still has time to crash, but it already has the best moment ever in a Squaresoft game, possibly any videogame I've ever played.
They'll be longer essays and arguments about why I think that these are good games, possibly here but probably on This Is My Blog. I only want to post one place, but if people here are interested I'll do a notification when the essays start.
no subject
I thought that one of the most interesting things about the game was the interaction between a great number of people, all of whom are doing the right thing, and are therefore forced to shove long steel pointy objects into each other. This is why the mostly-grafted on demon plotline doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as the political scene that it is slowly corrupting.
The very fact that Ramza, in the end, refuses to morally engage with the situation outside of the personal (I'm just trying to find my sister!) perhaps makes him the least heroic of the bunch. Although that's a position I'm sure I'll have trouble supporting textually.
:-) I love talking about Tactics.
2) It's difficult to compare the games I'm talking about to the modern form of the "Video RPG" at all. It's sort of like, I don't know, comparing a theatrical production to a modern hollywood blockbuster. The modern Video RPG is, essentially, a very long-form movie with some interactive bits over varying quality. The games that I am discussing are so far from that it's strange to talk about them in the same breath.
3) On nameable characters: In FF1, FF3j, FFL, and FFL2, unlike all future games in the genre, you are not given a default name at all. You are forced to name the characters yourself, without guidance. I think that's key.
yrs--
--Ben
no subject
But you're right, it's much more nuanced than that, and it's indicative that Delita (and by extension the plots he's involved in - the _political_ stuff - is orders of magnitude more interesting than the whole demonic nonsense. I think FFT hit a lot of the same buttons that keep me hooked on Game of Thrones.
I'm a little torn on the topic of the modern game. On one hand, newer ones definitely feel more like a story on rails, but I'm not convinced that the long-form movie is _replacing_ anything. A lot of older games were similarly restrictive - the story stuff seems to mostly be there to make that go down more smoothly, and I;m not sure that's a bad thing.
And Ah! now I see what you mean about naming. Hmm. I admit, that must have made it harder to talk about the characters with other people.