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neoyi · 3 years

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I don’t think I’ll ever get to humorously commentate on KH2 piece-by-piece as I tried to do for the first two games (and god knows if I’ll wrap up Re:chain of Memories with the writing method I was doing, but I digress.) I like talking about this endearingly dumb series and replaying this game is a nice opportunity to revisit how I feel now versus how I felt back when I was a fresh-out-of-high-school Neo playing this game for the first time back in 2005.

So I’m going to surmise my current play session (this collects my thoughts up to the Hercules world) with easily containable bullet points.

*I kind of want to make a separate post about the infamous prologue and discuss how people felt Back in the Days (an understatement, let me tell ya), and ultimately what I feel it does for the game and whether I personally liked it, so I'm going to leave that in the back burner for the time.

I will say Twilight Town sounds like a nice, quiet place to live. I love the concept of a city that's always perpetually sunset. It's a beautiful place and like Traverse Town, sports an amazingly cozy soundtrack.

*I'm sure there's some bullshit reason why, but I don't get why Sora's one year absence meant some of the people he's met just....forgot him. Like why? What purpose does this serve? This especially affected Kairi, but it’s ultimately negligible because she regains her memories of him during the beginning portions of the game.

Was this Namine's doing? Was it to protect Sora from the bad guys or something? Why hasn't Riku forgotten him? Was Namine just selective on who she erased Sora's existence from? Did Kairi forget just because she’s connected to Namine? Or Sora? What purpose does this narrative serve? What was the point?

*Speaking of, I forgot, did they ever explain why Riku disguised himself as Ansem? I don’t remember if they ever explained it when I played through this game, but also I haven’t touched KHII in six thousand years, so I don’t remember a lot of the more convoluted parts of the plot.

*It is comical to see Setzer of Final Fantasy VI fame turn from a risky, gambling sky pirate who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the empire, only cares for the freedom of the skies, and enduring survival’s guilt over a tragic loss of someone dear to him into a...

Whiffle Bat Champion.

*My sheer excitement and obsession when they first announced Vivi as one of the FF cameo was astronomical. I remember keeping a DeviantArt journal detailing any news and screencaps of the little guy pre-release. Still my favorite character from the whole franchise.

Even if he suffers the same fate as Donald and has a zipper on his mage hat for absolutely no reason other than this game existing during Nomura’s Belt-and-Zippers phase.

*Someone’s going to get sued one day because these damn kids keeps sitting atop the clock tower that has yet to be grafted with bars to prevent their inevitable deaths when one of them slips and falls.

*I swear I could play a six degrees of Kingdom Hearts with all the voice actors in this game. Or at least a "Whozit" and "Whatzit" they've done in other media (like Yuffie who is voiced by Mae "Katara" Whitman here. Pre-Avatar, even.)

Also I’m sorry, Will Friedle, you’re a fine voice actor, but you’re...Terry McGinnis. Batman told me he “totally owned all you lamers.”

*I love the Nobody enemy designs. The sheer creepiness and uncanny valley of them all lends credit to their existence as, well, non-existences. The Dusk enemy design alone is inspired with its unsettling belts wrapped around its fingers, or terrifyingly sharp teeth subtly hidden inside of its mouth. I can imagine the creature unzipping its mouth to reveal a set of flesh-eating teeth and the fear is real.

I love the way it flies and circles around its victim, almost like it’s trying to wrap itself around you, but I’m especially fond of that one attack where it essentially kicks you as while it sashays over to you upside down.

The Samurai Dusk also has my favorite reaction command. It’s just unspeakably badass.

*I never liked Squall in FF8 back then (don't know how I'd feel now if I ever replay FF8) and he was just okay in the first Kingdom Hearts, but I remember I really endeared myself to his reappearance in KHII. Squall in this game is what happens when he grew up, found good friends and family, and got some therapy for his issues. He’s stoic, but always a team player, and supportive of Sora and the people around him. KHII Squall is what FF8 Squall has the potential to be once he reaches adulthood and it’s nice to see that here.

*I really love the little changes the developers inputted for Sora, Kairi, and Riku's models to accommodate for their physical growth. Riku's is the most obvious (boy clearly ate his vegetables), but I like that you can tell Sora grew not just through story observations (Yen Sid points out how he outgrew his old garbs) but by comparing his height in relation to Goofy. Sora was shorter than him in the first game, but has since outgrown him in KH2.

Along with his better skill set during combat, this is a really nice way to visually shown how far Sora has come and how much time has passed.

This also goes in the opposite direction with Namine whom I think had to redo her mod when they remastered Chain of Memories for 3D. I notice she looks younger in that game than in KHII which would make sense at the time since it takes place a full year ago.

...Well, maybe. Can Nobodies age???

*Damn it, game, don’t give me a pouch containing 5,000 munny and treat it as an in-game key item that I can’t use even though munny is literally the currency I use to buy things.

*The retooling and emphasis on battle mechanics means the platforming element of the first really suffers and that’s a damn shame. I wasn’t particularly in love with exploring the Disney Worlds in the first KH, but I appreciate the effort put into so Sora could not easily get from Point A to Point B.

Even finding treasure chests is comical and if not for sake of posterity for anyone going for 100%, I wonder why Jiminy bothers to keep track of how many you find. There were literally like three out in plain view the minute I entered the Mulan world.

*Speaking of level designs, yeesh, the layout is not optimal for the skateboarding minigame.

*Trying to design a gummi ship in this game requires a masters degree in gummiology and metaphysical engineering, as well as the ability to tap into the 4th dimensional. The 45,000 page instructional manual they give you, the odd grid map used to piece together your ship (fair, the latter was also in the first game), and finicky button controller layout means it took me a while to fully grasp what I was suppose to do and I’m still not sure I got a full handle of it just yet.

*I don’t understand why Sora had to use a physical object as a conduit in each world to open up a metaphysical gate to the next world. He never had to use an in-between to close it. What’s the exception outside of unnecessary symbolic tie-in to the individual worlds he’s in?

*Props to the developers for recreating the ballroom. It’s actually kind of majestic to look at the beautiful ceiling and chandelier design from Sora’s perspective.

*There are a couple of random gameplay elements I forgot completely existed and seemingly there for arbitrary purposes. I just find it unusual that Mulan’s world forces you to collect literal manifestation of morale. It’s like the developers decided they wanted to reuse the Struggle minigames’ balls into a repurposed Morale Ball because well shit, someone programmed these things they’re damn well going to put it to good use.

I guess if Sora and pals don’t literally collect morale, all the soldiers will be, I don’t know, sad and die in battle or something.

*I’m aware Disney villains using the Heartless as their personal army is the norm, but it’s tonally weird when it’s Shan-Yu of all characters doing it. The infamous Charge-In-The-Snowy-Mountain scene doesn’t quite have the leg up in terms of threat when his army consist of adorable Heartless bumblebees.

*You know what pointless shit I am obsessed with? The stupid puzzle pieces scattered throughout the game. This is the first time I’m playing the Final Mix game and I’m just seething at the lack of abilities I currently do not have that prevents me from reaching certain pieces.

*Auron was instantaneously my favorite character when I first played FFX twenty years ago, and his return in KH2 sent me in fangirlish squeals. How could I not? Look at this handsome bastard. He’s calm, collected, badass with a cool sword, has rugged good looks (he doesn’t have it here, but he rocks some killer shades), and a good dad. That’s prime DILF quality right there. Of course I can’t get enough of him.

Square Enix knows we can’t get enough of him; dude be all “fuck off hades” and gives the god the middle fingers and fucks off elsewhere. Auron is King Shit.

*Oh man, do I still have my old Sora figurine? I think I got him in Katsucon way back in 2009.

*So who’s done a drinking game every time the game introduces Sora, Donald, and Goofy individually to every character they meet?

*Hey, so I noticed Square Enix is finally moving their asses and bringing the Ultimania books to the US. I doubt they’re going to bring the older KH Ultimanias overseas (my kingdom for an officially translated FFIX one), but ya know. I kinda think that yeah, I might want the KHIII Ultimania.

...Just saying.

*GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!

GET UP ON THE HYDRA’S BACK!

#kingdom hearts #neoyi talks #kingdom hearts II

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cosmiciaria · 5 years

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In defense of Final Fantasy XIII-2 (long post - mild spoilers ahead!)

Disclaimer: Sorry for the pics bad quality. I don't own a ps3, my friend lent me one, and I don't really know how to take screenshots, so I did my best to make my photos look visible. Just don't mind them much.

SO, I'll start by saying that this game IS BAD and it's part of a badly executed and hated trilogy. To be honest, I don't appreciate Final Fantasy XIII much: the first time I played it I was blinded by (light – sorry pun) the visuals and the crystals and everything was shining and whatever. But then I replayed it, and started seeing all the things people were complaining about. As I skipped some scenes to make my second playthrough smoother and faster, I noticed one thing: I was bored. I wasn't enjoying the gameplay, I didn't understand the story in its entirety even if it was my second time playing it. It was one of the first videogames I played in English (hello from Argentina) so I thought that maybe my limitations with the language were dampening my experience, but I asked a friend about the plot and she told me she didn't understand it either.

At any rate, I only played FFXIII because I wanted to play FFXIII-2. I didn't know why, or what, but something in the sequel (cof cof Noel cof) gave me the urge to try and see it for myself. Like I mentioned before, I don't own a ps3, so I had to wait until in 2015 they released the PC ports. I was so happy with this, that I decided to complete the game 100% and see everything it had to offer.

And it has so much to offer! Yes, I won't deny it, the plot is all over the place, and this is where the trilogy goes to hell with its story. But, let's just say we are all aboard the suspension of disbelief train – if we do it, we'll find there's a great story behind all the time gates.

What I enjoyed the most about this sequel was the characters. In XIII I spent HOURS complaining about how annoying everyone was (except for Fang, she's perfect). I couldn't relate to or stand anyone: Lightning became obnoxious with her monotone, Hope was a crybaby with a pretentious revenge plot that didn't work out well, Sahz is just kinda there not contributing anything to the plot, Vanille just has that oh-please-kill-me squeaky voice and Snow is… I hate Snow. I just hate him. The little fondness I have for him stems from my love for Troy Baker's performances, but oh my Etro, Snow is just like a shonen hero in the body of a 21-year-old man. It's just not right, it defies the laws of anime and videogames. Please eradicate him. I hate Square Enix for creating a character like him and forcing me to play as him and use him as a Sentinel because he's just that good in that role, damn him!

But in FFXIII-2? Suddenly, I found myself rooting for Noel and Serah. We get to learn about Noel's backstory, his sad present, his depressing lifestyle. The inexorability of his tale, the imminence of his decaying world. And he becomes such an endearing partner! He's always there to catch Serah if she falls, he's always asking her if she's feeling well. He's proficient, he's efficient, and he's not complaining about stupid stuff. He even doesn't want to talk about his past because he doesn't want to bother Serah – PLEASE Hope just learn something from this man!

And what about Serah? She's not the best character, I give it to you, but she goes from damsel in distress to a badass time traveler in a blink of an eye, and I can certainly get behind that! She's selfless, she faces everything head on, even though she's scared. Her journey began with the search of her sister, but slowly she found herself surrounded by things she couldn't quite comprehend, only to learn that she was more entangled with the fate of the world than she'd anticipated.

And if you do some optional stuff, you can learn things about Mog as well – not only his features are useful (and funny), but he's also the comic relief, adding extra spice to some of the conversations. His exaggerated expressions and his cute voice make up for a good companion.

And I cannot NOT mention Caius (Liam O'Brien I stan). Say whatever about him, but I love his characterization. He's well made. Yes, he wants the same as countless others villains from the FF franchise, but this time I can understand his motives. I feel pity for him. I want to help him. He's cursed beyond redemption. And he's got the best theme song ever.

I can understand these characters. The game spends enough time on everyone so we can learn to care for them, they show us how their relationship nurtures, their dynamics. And I care! This is something XIII-2 made right and XIII did not: I don't care about Lightning, or Hope, or Snow, but I do care that Noel and Serah succeed in their task. I don't care about Barthandelus or the Pulse Fal'Cie, but I do care about Caius getting what he wants. XIII had so many characters but spent too little time in developing (properly, at least) their strengths and weaknesses, but most of all, their relationships. The only real relationship that feels genuine is the one between Fang and Vanille, but that's because they know each other from before the events of the game; whereas the rest of the team feels like… badly placed pieces of puzzle trying to fit.

I know you're gonna say, hey, other FF put together characters that had nothing to do and it worked (yeah, I can mention FFXII and to a certain extent, because Penelo and Vaan were just there for the lulz I guess). In XIII it just didn't work for me: I couldn't root for any of them, and when the game was finished, I was kinda relieved.

That doesn't happen in XIII-2. Maybe they got it, maybe it was out of luck, I don't know, but characters here are better fleshed out, and we can learn to care and root for them, so we want to see it through to the end by their side.

That's just one thing that XIII-2 did better.

Gameplay was enhanced: now it's faster, more strategic, it doesn't bullshit you like when the leader died in XIII. I'm not going to delve deeper into the Pokémon thing, but yes, you can catch them all, and it adds a lot to the stakes because there's one more thing to gain besides the battle: the monster you're fighting. The game added so many features, it blows me away: the time travelling, opening new paths, closing some; the fragments, which give you experience points and insights in some of the lore; the fragment skills, additional things you can earn or do if certain requirements are met; the f*cking casino that has chocobo races, something that was lacking in the previous game; you can add ADORNMENTS to the monsters you tame to get the ultimate fashion experience. I don't know, there's so much to do, too many timelines to visit. There are too many sidequests, but all of them are linked to the main plot, so you feel like you're still learning things from the main story. Yes, I know, they reuse the same map over and over (Yaschas Massif and Oerba, I'm looking at you), but they compensate with some brand new maps, like Academia 4XX AF which must be my favorite location, so full of life and futuristic style, and the Archylte Steppe, with its weather changing feature.

Sometimes the lack of gameplay slaps you in the face but in the good sense, for instance in Academia 400 AF, where you have a forced battle every two seconds. The sense of urgency and danger is well conveyed through the use of random encounters with enemies. Or when you visit the Void Beyond with Serah, that you're alone, and you have a ghastly Mog following you around, with some of his features blocked. They used everything they had at their disposal, and they used it well. Gone are the days with the endless hallway that we complained so much about in XIII (as if FFX wasn't linear as hell too, but we don't complain about that one – don't dare because it's my favorite FF I warn you): now you can choose how to play, when to play, face that monster or go for an alternative ending. They listened to our whining and gave us this sequel, yes, that nobody asked for, but yet, they did.

There's a huge world-building surrounding all the time travelling thing: in the future, time travel becomes something of an everyday topic, so when you walk around in Academia 4XX you can hear kids playing "let's go and destroy those evil paradox monsters". They built a world around the idea that you can time travel, and that's how Hope gets to live and see every era, monitoring his work that will take centuries to be fulfilled. This is how we should take the time travel in this game, not as doomsday-serious as in Terminator or Back to the Future, but with a more light-hearted approach. I think that's what they tried to do, and it works well that way.

However light-hearted this game tries to be, it has some sad and depressing bits, mostly around Noel and his way of life. Whenever his theme song kicks-in, you can understand all his character without a word. And that takes me to another thing this game excels at: soundtrack. Now, I won't say it's better than XIII, because the first game has some awesome music as well, but I'll be damned if I don't give enough credit to this game's songs. Yeul's Theme, Noel's Theme, Wishes – you learn everything of these characters by just listening to these beautiful vocals. And I also love that the music took risks, like the Crazy Chocobo theme – I swear that thing is both the best and worst thing out of this game.

Confession time: I can't stop shipping Serah and Noel. I'm just so angry that Snow exists because it forbids this ship in the canon. I have one major complain about it, though: I can't help but notice that both Caius and Noel are infatuated by a fifteen-year-old. I can't discern how much of it is "loyalty beyond boundaries" or "I love her, I truly love her, like I'm in love with her" kind of love, but still, it bugs me a bit. Caius and Yeul's relationship feels more natural, given that he's her guardian, and he acts upon this role the whole game, until the end, where Noel clearly states that Yeul always came back because she wanted to stay by Caius's side. So it leaves me wondering. And Lightning Returns pretty much confirmed to us that Noel was in love with Yeul, which of COURSE I don't LIKE at ALL but I'll roll with it. I'm just glad that we got XIII-2 ending where Jason Marsden's voice breaks when he yells Serah's name. They gave me enough content for a thousand fics. Let's pretend that Noel's attitude in LR doesn't happen, ok?

You can hate this game. I can't blame you for it. Nobody wanted it, it doesn't connect well to its predecessor unless you read two novellas, and it forcefully leads us to Lightning Returns where, I can safely say, the plot goes to hell, almost literally. But this game exists, and it doesn't deserve half the hate it receives. If you play it it's because you enjoyed XIII (I highly doubt that you'll make yourself go through this suffering if you didn't like the first one – if you do, I just don't know why you hate yourself so much), and if you did, there's no way you're not going to see all the good things they added in this one. Enjoy it for what it is, and not for what it's not, or for what it could've been.

I sometimes wonder what could've happened if this game didn't have "Final Fantasy" on its cover. Because the time travel is intelligent and fun to play, the world-building around the Farseers and this bleak future is interesting and well made – the problem with this game is that it's a Final Fantasy and that it's a sequel to an already quite finished story. It feels like they forced a sequel, and maybe they did. But I, for once, am glad they did.

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traumahound · 4 years

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[INTERVIEW] A CASUAL CHAT WITH JONATHAN JACQUES-BELLETÊTE

The art director for Deus Ex: Human Revolution shares insight on cyberpunk and texturing furniture. Originally published April 1, 2011 on Totalplaystation.com

In early March, PAX East attendees were given a live gameplay demonstration of Deus Ex: Human Revolution by Eidos Montreal personnel, including Game Director Jean-François Dugas, Art Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, and Community Manager Kyle Stallock. The demonstration consisted of around 20 minutes of an early level in which the protagonist, Adam Jensen, infiltrated a warehouse using a combination of stealth, computer hacking, sharp implements, and bullets. Following the demonstration, I had the opportunity to sit down with J.J.B. and ask a few questions.

Though footage of the demonstration is not officially available, there is a walkthrough of the same portion of the game floating around on YouTube.

So, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. First of all, tell me what you do.

I’m the art director, so I’m trying to make it look pretty.

All right—

Really hard.

Managing a lot of people?

Yeah, I am managing a lot of people, definitely. I mean, there’s a structure. There are artists; there are leads on everything that have their units and whatnot. Overall, we must have close to 60 artists on this game, not counting outsourcing; we’ve had some people doing concept art and modeling outside, but in the studio, we must have a good 60 artists.

Speaking of outsourcing, the pre-rendered cutscenes are, I assume, done by another—

Yeah, all the trailers—in the game, it’s all in-game cutscenes, but the marketing stuff, all the big CGI, the E3 trailer, the extended trailer that you guys saw, that was all done by Visual Works, which is the cinematics department at Square Enix. You can’t ask for better than this. It’s like, “What!?” It’s so weird: one day, you wake up and suddenly your company is owned by Square Enix, and then two months later, you learn that you’re going to work with them on a trailer.

Is it a little intimidating knowing that now people have that in their minds, the look in those trailers, and now you have to sort of, in real-time, try to meet those expectations in the game?

Totally a legitimate question, and you’re absolutely right, but the way that it happened is that we had already set the style of the game’s visuals before we did those CGI trailers. At the same time, as an art director, I’m highly influenced by—I love anime and Japanese video games; we concede, and I say openly that there’s a strong Metal Gear influence on the game, and stuff like that. When Square Enix took our material to do the trailer, it was like we already spoke the same language. The way that I treat the textures in the game, there is no photographic material, just like the Japanese also almost never do that. Everything is done by hand or procedurally, so everything already seemed well-prepared for them to deal with it. So, yeah, you watch the trailers, and then you watch the in-game, and obviously there’s a huge gap, but it still seems to be a part of the same style; the aesthetic essence is exactly the same. I’m actually quite proud of that, really.

How did you arrive at the game’s particular style? It has a unique look: the color palette, I notice a lot of hexagons—

A lot of triangles.

Did you go through other styles on the way to find what you ended up with?

Yes and no. I knew straight from the get-go that I wanted to have a stylized game, that I wanted to have something that has its own signature. As an art director, I’m not into photorealism; it’s really not something that interests me all that much, because I find that credibility—photorealism and credibility are two different things. You can have a game where they put all their efforts into trying to make it photorealistic, but the game doesn’t feel credible at all. I’m not even talking about the “uncanny valley,” I don’t want to get into that, but the credibility of the game itself is not even there. You can have a Disney Movie, like The Beauty and the Beast, where you have a teapot and a cup talking to one another, and it’s totally credible, right? So there’s something there: why is it that when we strive for photorealism it doesn’t work, and something as low-fi as that works? So, anyway, let’s just say that I knew that I wanted to go stylized; I knew that I wanted a specific signature, and now, the hard thing was to figure out what that recipe would be. I knew that I wanted low—not low intensity, but (what is it, fuck,) often I find that in games, textures are too noisy, there’s just too much shit everywhere.

Right, as we gain the technology to add more and more detail to everything—

Right, it becomes a fest of just “pile some more stuff.”

—bump-mapping and making everything gritty.

[Points to nearby black leather couch four feet away.] If I just look at that couch from here, I don’t see texture in that couch. If I get closer I’ll see it, but not from here. In games, a lot of the Unreal 3 Engine games, from here it would look like it was grated or something, so that’s what I wanted to get away from. It looks maybe slicker, in that sense, but then we have fairly advanced shaders, so when you get close to an object, it’ll have really precise detail still. Yeah, the hard thing was mostly to figure out what the recipe was.

Is it intimidating at all working on this franchise? We’ve already seen what happens when someone makes a sequel to Deus Ex and it doesn’t meet expectations. Fans are going to hold it to a very high standard, maybe unrealistically high. If you go back and play Deus Ex now—

They almost have a distorted memory of it, yes.

It was kind of weird, because we also had to start a studio at the same time. Most of the early people, we all came from Ubisoft Montreal, and there were two things: to do a new Deus Ex, and it was also to put the studio together. We were renting offices, at first; we had nothing, barely any equipment, there was no team, the technology wasn’t chosen yet, there was no art bank. You know, for example, when we were at Ubisoft, we start a new project and for the first six months, just to get your thing going, you’ll be taking stuff from other games.

Like for placeholders?

Right, and we had no such things—I don’t know, maybe somehow because of that, it dampened the fear we should have had from having to make a new Deus Ex, you know what I mean?

Because you had so much stuff to deal with, you just had to get to work.

There we go, I couldn’t have said it better. Obviously, we knew how big it was, and we were all big fans ourselves. We knew about the pedigree, we knew about the fans, but we had to do it; we wanted to do it; it’s kind of like this make or break thing. You know, it’s the studio’s first game... maybe it wasn’t such a good idea! No no no, it was a great idea to attract people, actually. We just jumped in head-first, and put all of our eggs in the same basket. I think it’s looking alright; it’s not up to me to say how good it is.

The original game has some celebrity developers attached to it: Harvey Smith, Warren Spector; have they seen the game that you know of? Did you get any reactions from them?

Yeah, Harvey hasn’t seen it, but Warren has seen it, and he likes what he saw. I don’t want to hype it too much or under-hype it, because I don’t want to get into trouble, but I will say that he liked it.

This is kind of a small thing, but can you talk about the “item glint” system that you’re using? [The walkthrough demonstrated a yellow outlining effect to highlight interactive objects.] It seems like it would be hard to find a balance between making it obvious what you can interact with and avoiding something overly obtrusive.

It’s not so bad. One of my main art direction pillars was clutter. I wanted to have lots of props, lots of shit piled on top of everything. We realized was that, going through playtesting, it was a little confusing. That’s when we decided to go with that outline stuff, and like J.F. was explaining in the questions, I think it’s properly managed. It’s not like you open the door to a big room and everything lights up; you need to get into a proper distance, and there’s a rather small threshold in which it becomes highlighted, and it disappears as soon as you move away. Some people, it might not be their cup of tea, but in today’s market, if you make it too subtle, some people will just get discouraged. It has to be accessible.

Hey, you’re an augmented guy with crazy vision implants, so—

That’s our rationale behind it.

Speaking of which, cyberpunk as a genre has kind of fallen out of fashion, with the Internet becoming a mundane, everyday thing—

My feeling is that cyberpunk is what we live today.

How do you try to make it feel relevant today?

The way that we thought about it starting mostly, for me—we asked ourselves the question as artists: can we reproduce the visuals of Blade Runner on today’s consoles? The answer would probably be yes. But then, what would it say about the studio’s capacity for creativity? So, we wanted to bring something new. As you say, it’s not that fashionable; it’s kind of dormant, so that’s when this whole idea of the cyber-renaissance thing, which is not something that you saw much of in today’s demo, but it’s such a big game with so many areas that sometimes you feel it, sometimes you don’t, sometimes it’s omnipresent. That’s part of the idea to bring back cyberpunk, but with a twist to it.

The other thing is, when we started the first focus group for the game, kind of early on, maybe within the first year, testing out the early ideas and everything, we realized that here in the States, and in Europe, because we tested in both continents: kids nowadays? They don’t even know what cyberpunk is. Really, we could not believe it. You never would have thought, if you take a random chunk of 20 kids who all play games—even the hardcore ones—they’re like “Cyberwhat?” We thought, we cannot use that word! Nobody knows what it is. And, you know, we’re using it, but it really was a huge eye-opener for us.

[Gesturing to J.J.B.’s prominent tattoos] I can see that you’re a fan of Warhammer, you know, tabletop games. Have you played roleplaying games at all?

I played when I was younger.

Ever play Cyberpunk 2020?

The only roleplaying game I really played was Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

An awesome game; lots of limbs getting chopped off.

Lots of limbs getting chopped off, yeah, inverting those numbers [a reference to the operation of the critical hit tables]. Yeah, as someone who was creative and wanting to make games, I would buy tons of roleplaying rulebooks, just to read them, and so I had all the Cyberpunk and all those things, and it was the same thing for Warhammer. Warhammer 40,000 is probably my most favorite universe ever, but I own all the rulebooks and all the codices, and I’ve never played the game. Never fucking played the game. I’ve painted the figurines. I haven’t painted in, maybe, six or seven years, because I just don’t have time, but I got to a really high level, where maybe I could start doing those competitions, like the Golden Daemon and shit, but then I just started running out of time. So, I got really into painting the figurines, really into the universe, to the point that—these tattoos are old; I was eighteen when I got them, but still, my passion for that universe hasn’t gone away ever. It’s just kind of weird that I’ve never played the game.

I have a bunch of miniatures, I’ve painted a lot, and I have a ton of the books, and I’ve never played it—

I have all the novels, all the rulebooks, and I love reading them, love the computer games. Alright, cool man, you’re like the first guy I’ve ever met who’s like me. I love to get into that universe, but I don’t really feel like playing the game that much.

Tell me about designing Adam Jensen.

It was tough. It was rough. It took a good two years to nail him down. We kinda knew the overarching design straight from the beginning. We wanted, obviously, not a big brute, there are enough of those in this cycle of consoles. We wanted him to have hair.

You’re crazy. Nobody is going to buy that.

There was this sentence that we coined at the beginning: “He can kick your ass, then he goes home and reads a good book.” We had this idea of, you know the French actor, Vincent Cassel?

No.

Have you seen Black Swan?

No.

He’s French, but he does a lot of movies here. Anyway, he’s a regular build, but there’s just something about his face, about his attitude. You think, “I would never fuck with that guy.” It’s just something that he emanates. And that’s kinda what we wanted. But, because we wanted the mechanical augmentations to be at the forefront of the game and of the visuals—that’s why often you see Adam from third-person, so you can see his arms—J.F. wanted his arms to be visible at all times. And, you know, he’s the creative director, so he’s my boss, but also, we wanted him to look like an agent who could be sent behind enemy lines, and at the same time walk into a high-end restaurant to interrogate someone.

It was a really hard equation to solve: he has to look like Solid Snake, and he has to look like James Bond, and you need to see his mechanical arms all at the same time. So we gave him a vest, and he looked like a douchebag all the time, like a biker or something. Every one of my concept artists had a go at it, where they would pool their energy to try to improve him, and it never quite worked. One day, Jim Murray, one of my concept artists, approached me, and—as simple as it sounds—says, “Let’s just make him two outfits.” One is kind of his battle gear, where you see his arms, and one is kind of his urban gear, because such a big part of the game is being in the city hubs, investigating and talking to people, going into rich places, inserting yourself into an apartment or whatever, and that’s when he’s gonna have his cyberpunky trench coat, and you’re not going to see his arms.

Again, as simple as it sounds, like holy shit. But then, we still had to run it by J.F. and the writer. Often, people don’t realize how a simple choice can be very complex to implement in the game, so we had a few meetings about it, and we decided to go with it. After that, within two months, Jim had nailed them; we had the jacket, which I loved. Also, the challenge was that when he has the jacket, he still has to be able to use the same augmentations. So, he has the claymore, the typhoon, where all those beads eject from his arms, so how do you do this when you have a jacket? Or when your blade extends backward? So we designed those slits in his jacket, and he has ports on it that kind of magnetize to the holes on his arms to let go of the beads and everything, so we kind of worked out how it works.

Yeah, so two months later, Adam was born, and the little pointy beard was kind of the Don Quixote thing, kind of the renaissance/baroque thing.

In the Icarus dream sequence in the trailer, you can see that the facial hair works in both settings. [This sequence features Adam surrounded by men in Renaissance-era garb.]

The Icarus thing was such a great find, in the sense that it was such a great metaphor for augmentations, because that’s what happens, right? Daedalus, his dad, gives him the wings so he can escape the maze, basically having wings is augmenting yourself. The feathers are glued with wax, so he says, “Don’t fly too close to the sun, or the wings will melt,” but he has so much fun with the wings that that’s what he does, and then he dies. That’s a bit like what it is with augmentation; if you overdo it, like with anything in life, you might burn yourself. We though it was such a great analogy for that.

Do you personally have a strong opinion on transhumanism?

Strong? Not necessarily, I wouldn’t say strong. I’m not intensely passionate about the pros and cons, but I think it’s inevitable. I think it’s one of those things that we’ll need to have laws, and we’ll need to have ways to control what will happen. There are going to be big mistakes, like with everything. There are mistakes made all the time in medicine, the military makes mistakes all the time, but I think it’s inevitable. If we try to stop it, there will be underground, illegal shit, and stuff like that. I’m quite convinced that in the next, maybe, 40 years, we’ll be immensely transformed. From all the stuff I’ve read, the specialists we’ve met, I think we’re going to see some crazy shit in the next 30 years.

Globe-trotting was a big component of the first Deus Ex; you cover a lot of mileage. Do you do that a lot in this one?

Yes, there’s definitely a lot of variety, yup.

One thing that the first game kind of failed at was giving the impression that you’re in a larger world. The city areas felt a bit constrained. How did you approach that problem?

It’s funny, as the cycles of consoles and technologies evolve, the constraints somehow always remain the same. OK, Grand Theft Auto, it’s immense or whatever; it never seems to end, but, for example, what you do with the NPCs is very limited compared to Deus Ex. Anyway, you add all this stuff that you can do in Deus Ex, and suddenly you don’t have the power to do a city that big, so we had the same constraints. Don’t get me wrong, the city hubs are quite big; many, many streets; tons of alleyways and buildings to get into, sewers to get into, rooftops... all that shit. At the same time—at some point you can’t go further, and you need to find tricks to convey that there’s a sprawling city around you, and why that path is blocked when it seems like it should be open. It’s a very common game design problem.

I remember on Splinter Cell at Ubisoft, it was the same thing. “This street is blocked, why?” And I would be, like, “Maybe some guy is moving out,” so there’s a big truck, and stuff like that blocking the street. It’s very common. But honestly, I think we manage rather well in Deus Ex. And then, there are compounds that you go into, like office buildings and secret laboratories where those limitations aren’t as important anymore, because you are in a confined area, but for the city hubs, I think we get away with it quite well.

A big feature of the game is having multiple approaches to every situation. Is that frustrating, especially being involved in the art side, because there may be significant chunks of the game that a lot of players won’t see?

Frustrating? No. I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating, because, obviously, we try to make the coolest stuff in the critical path. Now, that being said, it doesn’t mean that side-quests or whatever don’t have their own things, but you can manage; you just try to make everything look cool. I don’t know if we succeeded. I have a really hard time saying, “Oh, this doesn’t need to look as cool,” or whatever; I try to put just as much energy into everything.

I guess your question is more—if some people don’t see some of the cool stuff we’ve made... It is going to happen, but to some degree it’s kind of cool. They’ll be talking to their friends and they will have seen it, even if you haven’t, and I think it’s all part of the trip, really. But it’s cool, because I’ve worked at companies before where they never would have allowed us to do that.

It seems like a waste of resources.

Exactly. Some companies are so into every penny you spend, the player has to see it. Which is very rational when you think about it; it makes total sense, but sometimes making a game that gives you a specific feeling, that gives you that flavor so that once you’ve turned off your computer and when you go to bed you’re still thinking about it, it’s also a game that has all these things that are not just thrown in your face like that. But, that is quite expensive to do.

So, I’m guessing you can’t say anything about Thief 4.

No.

I figured.

That would be the death of me. No, it’s gonna rock your socks off; there we go.

Just how awesome is it?

Super awesome. Super-duper awesome.

No, it’s a great team honestly; tons of my friends are there. The art director is a great friend of mine, and uh... I’m not even sure I’m allowed to say that, so I’ll stop there.

It seems like a similarly ambitious sequel to make. Like with Deus Ex, fan expectations are off the charts.

It’s the same thing, exactly. I think it was really... that’s what we wanted to do with that studio. If we open another goddamn studio in that city? We do it strong or we don’t do it.

**In the first game, J.C. Denton is kind of inept in the beginning. It’s surprising that he’s supposed to be this super-spy, but he can barely fire a gun straight. I assume that Adam Jensen is a bit more capable right off the bat. **

Big time, yeah. Also, the shooting is something that right from the get-go, me and J.F. agreed that the shooting skill of Adam Jensen is going to be the player’s shooting skills. In terms of that, it’s a full-fledged first-person shooter. You know the crosshairs there? That’s where the bullet’s gonna go. You can still augment him in some ways to be a better shooter, like for recoil, or stuff like that. All the weapons are fully upgradeable, so that aspect of RPGness is still there, but where you shoot is where you shoot.

I’ll admit that I cheated to max out my skills in Deus Ex and found it a lot more fun that way.

The skills—that system was quite punitive.

You do have an upgrade system in this, where you earn your Praxis Points and unlock augmentations—are those scarce enough that you can’t get every upgrade by the end of the game?

You can’t max everything in a play-through. You can become the jack of all trades if you want, but you won’t be an expert at everything, or you can really invest in a branch.

If somebody specializes very much in, say, stealth, and therefore tends to use that to get through every encounter, do you think that can become monotonous and discourage people from experimenting with the other techniques?

Hmm, that’s a good question. It’s never been asked to me that way, specifically. I hope not. I don’t think it is—the way we’ve designed the challenges is that they’re never molded for one style of gameplay. It’s not like you get to an environment where it’s like, “Here you have to play stealth.” We’ve shown a quick example of that in the demo: if you wouldn’t have been able to disable the turret, there was that passage on the side. Usually most challenges are set up that way, but not as obvious as that; it’s built quite like the first one in that regard.

Are you absolutely sure there are no blue laser swords in the game? [A reference to a question asked during audience Q&A]

As of right now, this time, today: absolutely sure.

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

It was awesome, man. Great questions, thanks.

#deus ex #deus ex human revolution

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angel-with-a-pipette · 5 years

Text

Title: Just a copy

Summary: Saving Ven meant adding another Guardian of Light to the heroes' roster. It also meant heartache, dug up deep rooted insecurities and made Sora question his sense of self.

Rating: General

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Disney/Square Enix. This has been written for the @kh3countdownchallenge , prompt 27: Loss. Included Pairing: Sokai (duh).

Also available on: ao3

Please enjoy!

“He was the one who kept my heart safe,” Ven concluded his tale, his eye scanning every person in the room until they fell upon the boy he was talking about. A smile spread over his lips.

“Thank you, Sora.”

Only a few hours ago, Ven had still been asleep. It was thanks to Aqua, Lea and Sora that he was now sitting among them, still a little weak from being out of commission for such a long time, but otherwise upbeat.

And that was thanks to Sora, Ven had explained, by sheltering his wounded heart not once, but twice, and Kairi stared at Sora in awe. Of course, she knew about Roxas’s heart resting inside of Sora’s and two years ago, she herself had been seeking refuge inside his heart. But none of it compared to protecting Ven’s heart for nearly –

“Twelve years,” she repeated and looked back at Ven. It was hard to believe when Ven himself barely looked sixteen years old.

“Twelve years,” he confirmed, but curled his hand against his chin as he grew pensive for a moment. “Well, before that, he already reached out to me when Xehanort split my heart in two.” He slowly started to count with his fingers. “And that was–”

“Four years earlier,” Aqua added. She was sitting next to Ven, occasionally petting his head as if she made sure he was really there. She reminded Kairi of Sora's mother; she, too, had showered her son with affection when he had finally returned after missing for 18 months.

Kairi's smile waned. And now, the poor woman was waiting for her son to return once again.

“Yes! Four years.” A grin spread on Ven’s lips and he threw his hands up to cross his arms behind his head. “So our hearts have been connected for roughly sixteen years, give or take.”

A giggle escaped Kairi.

“I can tell.” When Ven threw her an inquisitive glance, she pointed at his arms.

“Your body language is similar! Sora does this thing where he crosses his arms behind his head all the time. No wonder he does when you've been a part of his heart nearly all of his life. Right, So-?”

His name died on her lips when she heard the scraping of wood against the wooden floor. Kairi quickly turned to her side to look at him, having to crane her neck because he had gotten up.

“Sora?”

“Sorry,” he replied a little sheepishly without meeting her eye.“I just have to check up on something. I’ll be back, soon, okay?”

Upon his words, a heavy feeling spread in the pit of Kairi's stomach, and she lowered her eyes, noticing the plate in front of him. He had barely touched his piece of cake.

“Okay,” she replied anyway and without a single glance back, Sora left the room and Kairi couldn't wait for him to return again.

Except he didn't, even after nearly an hour had passed. By now, it had gotten late and the impromptu party they had thrown together in celebration of Ven’s rescue slowly grew to a close. Aqua escorted Ven to his new room, helping his weak limbs to stay upright, Leon and Yuffie were clearing off the table while Aerith started to fill the dishwasher and Lea hadn’t attended the get-together at all, claiming to feel tired after the rescue.

Kairi grabbed the barely-touched plate of cake Sora had left behind and looked around guiltily. She didn’t want to leave without helping the others, but Aerith waved her off before she could even say something.

“Go, find him. We’ve got this under control.”

Giving her an appreciative smile, Kairi left the kitchen cake in hand as she walked up to the guestroom Sora currently occupied and knocked on the door.

“Sora?”

No answer. She quietly opened the door and peeked inside. The lights were turned off and the bed was still made – he had only entered the room shortly to drop off his backpack. She placed the left-over cake on his desk and left his room again to check on the bathrooms.

They were empty as well.

Great.

It was already dark when Kairi stepped outside into the cold night. She suppressed a shudder and rubbed her upper arms a few times with her hands before heading out to search for Sora.

She shouldn’t have left him alone.

It was rare for Sora to be upset and even rarer for him to run away to be alone. On Destiny Islands, Kairi knew exactly where to find him because it was the same place she visited when she was feeling upset: the secret place.

But Radiant Garden was huge and Sora could be hiding anywhere – searching for him might take all night and that was assuming he didn't wander around. Frustrated, Kairi balled her fist and held it over her heart, scrunching her eyes shut.

But what if – ?

Her eyes flew open again and flickered up to the outer wall of the city across from her.

If both of them sought out the same place of comfort on Destiny Islands, maybe there was a chance that her favorite place here comforted Sora, too?

It was as good of a lead as any and Kairi quickly rushed down the street and scaled the steps that led up to the wall two at a time. She finally arrived at the top of them, her breathing labored as she turned her head left and right, scanning the illuminated wall for any kind of shadow.

She saw nobody.

Her shoulders slumped in discontentment and she was ready to continue her search down the Bailey when she heard a quiet noise that made her whip her head around.

There! On top of a crane used for the restoration of the city Sora sat, curled up on himself with his head buried in his arms as his form shook slightly

Kairi felt her heart breaking.

As quickly as possible, she climbed up the crane and smoothed her skirt down before she sat next to Sora. She felt him wince upon contact and saw him furiously rub his face against his arm before he looked up at her with a forced grin and puffy eyes.

“Hey Kairi.”

“Oh Sora...” she muttered and reached for one of his hands. He squeezed back tightly. “You didn't finish your cake.”

A chuckle broke out of the boy and his shoulders shook gently as Kairi scooted closer to him.

“Talk to me, please. What's wrong?”

He stayed silent for a moment before answering.

“What if I'm not me?”

“I... don't understand?”

Sora sighed and started to absentmindedly caress Kairi's fingers with his thumb.

“The moment Ven's heart left my chest, there was an emptiness that spread inside of me. I started to feel hollow and I still do. And I know that it makes sense, Ven was part of my heart for basically all of my life, but that's the problem. He joined me when I was just a few days old. And don't get me wrong, I am glad he did! It gave him another chance in life and I would never regret that. But what does our connection mean for me?”

Sora turned his head towards Kairi and she saw new, unshed tears shine in Sora's eyes.

“You said it yourself, our body language is similar. From everything I've heard about Ven, we might be brothers, twins even. So what if I'm not actually me? What if I'm just Ven's copy?”

“Sora, every single person in our life influences us. I wouldn't be the same person I am now had I grown up in Traverse Town instead of Destiny Islands. You and Riku influenced me, you shaped me into the person I am today, and the same happened with you and Ven. He was close to your heart, of course you might have picked up some of your mannerisms, but that doesn't mean that you're his copy. You're still you.”

“You saw Roxas. What does he look like?”

Kairi knitted her eyebrows together in confusion, but decided to indulge Sora for a moment.

“He has your facial structure. Blue eyes. Blond hair, wind-swept...” She gasped.

Of course. That explained why Lea had opted to stay out of the festivities; Ven's appearance reminded him too much of his missing friend. Kairi filed this revelation away for tomorrow though, now, Sora needed her.

“Exactly,” Sora agreed and shuddered. “Roxas, my body and soul. He doesn't look like me the way Lea and Axel look the same. Instead, he looks exactly like Ven.”

“Sora-” Kairi started, but Sora interrupted her, his voice growing more solemn.

“Xemnas alluded to it before. He asked me if I can say for sure that I'm not just someone else's copy. And I honestly can't anymore.”

“You can't trust Xemnas! He wants you to doubt yourself, he wants you to give up! He'd tell you anything to make you use the Darkness!”

“That's another thing that troubles me,” Sora confessed and let his head loll against the crane behind their backs.

“You heard Ven's tale, how his heart is full of Light because Xehanort split off the Darkness in his heart, Vanitas?” Kairi nodded. “Ven has a pure heart of Light – and he was inside of me. And everyone trusts me to have a strong Light that keeps the Darkness at bay, a Light that is so much brighter than other people's Light – but what if that's not the case? What if it was Ven's Light all along that shone so brightly from inside of me? And then Xehanort went and tempted my Darkness and now that Ven's gone, my Light is weak? What if Ven's light was the only reason Xehanort couldn't get to me? What if my Darkness proves to be too much for me to handle and I'll disappoint everyone? What if-”

“Then you can have my light!”

Sora fell silent immediately and Kairi felt heat rise up her cheeks and quickly lowered her head.

“I... what?”

“Sora, I know your Light is strong enough,” Kairi clarified as she peeked up at him from under her lashes, “but if you're in doubt, I'll happily share my Light with you – and only you. Not Ven, not Roxas, not anybody else. Just you.”

There it was. Slowly but surely, a true smile started to tug on the corners of Sora's lips and spread over his face as his eyes softened. Without warning, he pulled her into a hug and buried his head into her shoulder.

“Please,” he begged her, “please do. And please… keep believing in me.”

“Always,” she breathed in reply, wrapping her hands around him tightly.

#Sora #Kairi #Sokai #KH #KH fanfiction #Alja's fanfictions #I wanted to keep this strictly platonic and yet the dorks go and make it all about their romance #I mean I know I put on a heavy layer there on the beginning but I honestly can't make myself care enough to change it again #Sorry not sorry #Let them and me indulge a little even if it's ooc

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jolienjoyswriting · 5 years

Text

Mortem In Contumeliam FFVI, Ch. I

Chapter 1 of "Mortem In Contumeliam Final Fantasy VI," a Final Fantasy VI fan fiction story.

Did'ja like the recap of the events leading into this chapter? I thought that'd be a good way to open it, considering how much of the game's plot the story actually skips. Plus, you get some idea of how the soldiers are! Hee hee.

That said, here's where the plot truly begins.

Word count: 3,257 – Character count: 19,017 Originally written: July 15th, 2019

Following a failed mission, Wedge and Biggs find themselves in hot water with their commanding officer only to be rescued by a timely intervention by an unexpected source.

Final Fantasy VI, Wedge, Biggs, and related characters, scenarios, and properties created by Square Soft, Inc. and © Square Enix Co, Ltd.

[ ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → ]

“How’s the soup treating you, now, partner?” “You shut the he– blargh!!” Biggs grinned to himself. “Serves you right for gorging yourself on good will.”

Two Imperal soldiers, Wedge and Biggs, had been assigned to a mission in Narshe. After failing their mission – and, somehow, losing their armor and equipment – they found their way to the House of New Beginnings and scrounged together some simple clothing, such as jackets and slacks. Once they’d left the snowy plains, they trekked across the neighboring desert, made their way through a cave that cuts through the mountains, and found themselves in South Figaro. In that small port town, Wedge unsuccessfully attempted to strongarm a ship’s captain to ferry them to Alburg… only for his more sensible partner to intervene and ask if any shipments were heading there. A week later, a cargo freighter headed out to sea, the two soldiers working as part of its crew.

“I’ll have you know…” Wedge paused to groan, then straightened up after emptying his stomach’s contents over the ship’s rail. “I’ll have you know,” he started again, “that it wasn’t the soup. I’m just seasick.” “Yeah, and you probably wouldn’t be as seasick if you hadn’t eaten twice your weight in gysahl green soup.” “Ugh, don’t remind– ah… hwargh!!” Biggs crossed his arms, scowling as his partner tossed his cookies overboard, again. “Nice, Wedge… Real nice.” “Hey, Biggs… got somethin’ for ya.” The taller of the two men narrowed his eyes. Wedge had reached into his coat pocket. “If it’s what I assume it is…” The shorter man grinned… then, pulled his hand out, making a rude gesture at Biggs. “Yeah… keep that to yourself.” “Heh… hoo-hoo-nooo– gwaugh!!”

Wedge and Biggs worked hard for the ship’s captain, helping to move cargo, fix leaks in the holds of the cargo ship, and even managed to parlay for some extra supplies with a ship going the other way. Despite his seasickness, Wedge made sure to work the hardest, not wanting to let “some dumb thing like an upset stomach” keep him from earning his way. Ironically, he did manage to get his sea legs… though, only an hour before the ship arrived at Alburg.

After docking, every member of the ship’s crew helped unload the cargo. When a pair of Magitek Armor units came in with a large wagon, the two soldiers-in-disguise decided they should take their leave. “Well, boys… I was skeptical, but you two really proved your worth, and then some!” The ship’s captain stroked his beard, smiling at the two as they clambered into the wagon. “It’s a shame you two have somewhere to be! I could use some reliable seamen like you on every trip!” “Yeah, well…” Wedge chuckled with a laugh.

“If we’re ever in need of ferry back to Figaro and happen to cross paths,” Biggs told the captain, “we’ll be happy to help, again.” “I’ll keep that in mind!” the captain laughed. He grinned at Wedge, then, as he said, “Remember, salty crackers are good for a queazy stomach, mate.” “Yeah, yeah…” the shorter man said with a wave of his hand and a grin of his own. “Well… I have to get back to my crew and I imagine you two have your own business, here. Take care, gents!” “See ya, Captain! Thanks for having us!” “Until the wind brings us seaward, once more,” Biggs added. With that, the captain returned to the dock.

“Boy… the commander is gonna be thrilled to see you two.” At the sound of a new voice, both Biggs and Wedge leaned out from inside the wagon. Standing at the back was a soldier wearing the green armor denoting the rank of “cadet.” “Pierre,” Biggs greeted. “Pierre? Pierre!” Wedge brightly smiled. “What a coincidence! You’re a courier, now, huh? Man, I didn’t think you could get demoted any harder!” Pierre scowled at the two… which just made Wedge smirk. “You know, I’d normally tell you what to shove and where, but…” The cadet smugly smiled. “I’m in a puh-retty good mood, today.” “Is that so?” “Yup. As I said, the commander is going to be thrilled to see you two. Out-of-uniform. Two weeks late to report back. No Magitek Armor. No Eidolon. No witch.” “Hold on…” Biggs leaned down wearing a look of genuine interest. “‘Eidolon?’ ‘Witch?’” “Oh, don’t play dumb! It’s all over the Imperial Castle! You blew it!” “What’d we do?” Wedge casually asked, much to Pierre’s continued frustration. “You two idiots were assigned to a simple task: go to Narshe… retrieve the reported Eidolon from wherever it was… come back. It was a mission that even you two couldn’t screw up – or, so we thought! Kind’a wonder why they gave you that fire witch to play with, though…”

“We were supposed to retrieve an Eidolon from Narshe…?” Biggs asked, sounding genuinely confused. “What did I just say?” was Pierre’s short response. “Hey, Biggs…” The soldier looked to his companion. “I think… yeah, I remember something about some… magic thingy… Didn’t we find some sort of ugly turkey frozen in ice?” “‘Ugly turkey…?’” Biggs paused… then, he asked, “Wait, are you talking about Valigarmanda, the Bird of Disaster?” “I have no damn idea what you’re talking about, partner,” Wedge chuckled. “All I remember was some ugly bird… then, I think… a bright light? Next thing I know, we were tied up and left-for-dead in some gods-forsaken mineshaft!” “Sounds like the witch gave you the slip… So much for that Slave Crown! Hah!”

Both Biggs and Wedge turned their attention back to Pierre. He had his arms crossed over his chest and wore another smirk. “What do you mean, ‘Slave Crown?’” the former asked. “Oh, hey! That’s right!” He blinked as Wedge suddenly spoke up, then looked right at him. “That girl that supposedly toasted fifty cadets riding Magitek Armor… She was with us! And, she was wearing a Slave Crown!” “‘Slave Crown…’” Biggs repeated before asking, “Do you two mean the ‘Puppeteer’s Wheel’ that General Palazzo had Doctor Marquez make?” “Yeah,” his partner replied. “Most of us just call it a ‘Slave Crown,’ though, ‘cause–” “Because, it makes the wearer your slave,” his partner finished. “Except, this time…” Pierre interjected, drawing their attention back his way, “it didn’t work and she gave you the slip!” The cadet grinned from-ear-to-ear, wringing his hands together. “I can’t wait to see what the commander has to say about this!”

Before either soldier could respond, they felt the wagon lurch, its cargo shift, and the whole unit begin to move. It wasn’t long before the familiar clank of metallic feet on rocky dirt and green grass could be heard echoing in their ears. They were on the move. As they left the town, the soldiers noticed Pierre giving them a farewell wave… or, making a certain gesture – they weren’t quite sure but, either way, it didn’t matter. After hearing that he had to say… they had quite a few other things to think about.

“We were sent to Narshe…” Biggs said from a seated position on a random box of weapons, “and… we were supposed to retrieve that Eidolon.” “If… it was there,” Wedge added as he watched the countryside roll by, backward. “I remember, now: we were there to investigate, first, and reclaim, if it was actually there.” The taller soldier crossed his arms and hummed… “Do you really think the Puppeteer’s Wheel failed and that… witch… attacked us?” “Seems pretty unlikely, partner,” Wedge replied. “Before we left, I did some reading on the Slave Crown and, from what I understand, it not only blocks thought, emotion, and memory… but, it’s been known to actually erase the wearer’s mind if they wear it for too long!” “So, what you’re saying is… that witch could never have turned against us.” “Pretty much!” He turned around, leaning against the wagon’s tailgate. “Even if the Crown broke, she would’ve been too dazed-and-confused to attack. Hell, even if she did…” He grinned, then he ran his thumb across his throat with a gurgling croak.

“So, then…” The other soldier looked up with a worried expression. “What was that light? And… how did she get away from us? Where did our powered armor go? Where did our equipment go, for that matter?” “I guess it’s possible that we didn’t kill that big-ass slug thing… Maybe, it woke up and zapped us, good? That much electricity could’ve blown up our Magitek Armor…” “I… do remember hearing some sort of explosion, now that you mention it…” Both soldiers looked down at the metallic floor of the wagon and hummed. “This… is going to be hard to explain to the commander.” –––––

“Boobs! Idiots! Clods!!”

Not long after the wagon arrived at Vector, the two errant soldiers made their way to the barracks. Before they could even think of slipping back into the standard-issue brown armor of their rank… they found themselves confronted by a very angry, somewhat-round man wearing black commander’s armor.

“I should have you court marshaled…” he ranted as the two soldiers stood at attention. “I should have you strung up! I should have you shot out of a cannon and into the sun!!” “Doc Cid finally made that ‘Sun Cannon,’ eh…?” “Siiiiilence!!” Wedge jolted with a “yip.” The commander was right in his face… so close that he could smell the tuna salad he’d been eating for lunch. After a minute of intense staring, though, he leaned back and returned to pacing in front of them.

“How-the-hell did you two imbeciles manage to bungle this mission up so badly…?” “We… don’t know, sir,” Biggs cautiously told him. “What? What?!” Just like before, the commander was pressing his face up against his soldier’s face. “What do you mean, ‘we don’t know?’” he asked in a mocking tone. “Explain!!” “Well, sir…” Wedge started, getting another faceful of the black helmet and fish-and-onion smell as he spoke, “the thing of it is… we were ambushed!” “Great, just great!” the round man shouted and he stepped away. “Two highly-trained soldiers, equipped with the most state-of-the-art weapons in the world, got ‘ambushed…’ and, they don’t remember how or by who! Furthermore…!” For no apparent reason, he got back in Biggs’ face. “Where. The hell. Is the witch you were assigned?!” “We… uh… don’t know, sir,” Biggs answered. “You don’t– heh… Heh-heh. Ha ha hah! Oooh, good golly, Miss Molly…” Both soldiers blinked, glancing at each other as their C.O. stepped back and started laughing. Before long, it became awkwardly infectious. However… “Stooooop laughing!!” Biggs and Wedge straightened up, going stiff as boards! The commander had drawn his blade and was threateningly waving it at them. His face was red and, even with the helmet hiding his eyes, the two could tell that he was boiling over with rage!

“You two…! Do you have any idea what General Palazzo is going to do to you once he hears you lost his pet project?!” The commander paused… then, he started rubbing his neck before nervously asking, “D-do you know what he’s going to do to me…?” “No, but I’m always open to suggestion!” “What? Oh… sh–”

Suddenly, all color left the commander’s face. Both he and the soldiers had heard the familiar, shrill voice of someone that none of them wanted to cross… much less, interact with. Unfortunately… the owner of that voice was walking right toward them.

By all rights… the tall, slender man looked like a cross between a nobleman and a clown. From his unusual, white face with black eyeshadow and red circling his mouth, to the garish, striped collar hanging around his shoulders over his puffy, crimson tunic, and the pointy, oddly-colored boots he wore that matched the sun-colored cloak on his back, he really didn’t seem like someone you'd expect to see in the military. Even the way he acted, always laughing and smiling in a most-deranged way, made it seem like he should have been a performer… or, as some thought, locked away. But, all three enlisted men… in fact, the entire Gestahlian Empire… knew that this man… General Kefka Palazzo… was no laughing matter.

“Gr-r-r-reetings, peons!” the clown-like figure trilled. “What’s new?” “G-G-G-General Palazzo!” The man in the black armor spun around, immediately kneeling before his superior officer. Both Biggs and Wedge followed suit. “W-w-what a surprise to see you in the barracks!!” he continued. “I-I-I– what brings you down from your tower…?!” “What brings me down? Bad news, mostly!” Kefka told him as he took ginger, almost-feminine steps in a circle around the man. “I certainly do hate bad news! Why… anytime someone brings me bad news, I just come apart at the seams!” He squeezed his arms, hugging himself tight and giving a little whimper. “You would never give me any bad news…” Kefka had leaned down, his mouth right next to the other man’s covered ear and his body practically pressing against his black armor. A second later, he whispered… “Would you…?” “I… I… I…” “Good!”

All-at-once, Kefka spun away… once… twice… three times, before coming to a stop and putting his hands behind his back. He took a simple standing position, looking ready to take things seriously, then.

“Sooo…?” He offered a friendly smile to the commander. “Rise, Commander, and tell… did your men find anything of worth in that block of ice on the Figaro region?” The commander gave a hard swallow as he got to his feet. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he said… “M-m-my men can tell you what they found, Sir!” Neither Wedge not Biggs looked forward to that, and the former was especially annoyed at being thrown under the carriage like that. However… “I’d much rather hear it from yooou…” Kefka batted his eyes and continued to smile at the commander, which just made him feel even more uncomfortable. “Th… they haven’t told me everything,” the unnerved officer admitted. “But–” “Then, just tell me what you know, so far! If there are any gaps…” He narrowed his eyes and flashed a wicked grin. “We’ll make a bridge to cross them.” From anyone else… that wouldn’t have sounded like a threat.

“W-well, Sir…” the commander started. “A-according to my men – who are two weeks overdue, by the way!!” Biggs and Wedge jolted on their feet. “Narshe did, indeed, have a frozen Eidolon. A–” “Spleeendid!!” the general said with a smile and a clap of his hands. “Go on, go on!” “A… and, Sir… they, uh… failed to capture it?” “Oh?” Kefka relaxed his stature, then casually walked over to the commander. “What happened?” he asked in an innocent tone while leaning in. “Tell me, tell me!” “They… uh… were… ambushed, according to their report?” “Oh, dear!!” The man with the white face suddenly whipped back, clasping his open hands against his cheeks and looking aghast! “What happened, next?!” “Y… yes, well,” the commander continued, “this is where things get a little… gap-y.” Kefka crossed his arms, though raised a hand under his chin as he nodded. “A-after they were ambushed… they, uh… woke up without any of their gear, nor their Magitek Armor… A-and…” “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm? Go on?” He paused to take a deep breath… then, he quietly confessed, “Th-the witch was gone.” “Crafty she-devil!”

The brightly-dressed man hopped away, then he pulled his arms around his back before pacing along the alleyway between rows of beds. “Clearly, something went wrong with the Slave Crown!” he surmised aloud. “See, even General Kefka calls it that!” Wedge whispered to his companion. Biggs just flustered and hushed him before looking tense. “Ooh, I knew Cid wasn’t up to the task, the buffoon! Although…” Kefka spun around, looking at the commander with his head on one hand, again. “The device worked fine when I made her kill all those soldiers…” The one soldier went wide-eyed. “So, it is true…!” he whispered. “Sh-shut up, Wedge…!” his companion excitedly murmured. “Then, when I was teaching her how to operate the Magitek Armor,” the general continued, “she seemed to catch on, lickety-split! Maybe, the crown was damaged in combat?” He brought a hand down, slapping his fist into it and wearing a wide-eyed expression. “Yes, yes, that must be what happened!” Suddenly, he did a forward-flip and landed right in front of the commander, startling him. “I know a thing or two about ‘broken crowns,’” he said, unironically, “and, if that toy Doctor Cid cooked up did, indeed, break… then…” He gestured at the two soldiers, causing them to wince. “She could have attacked these poor, unfortunate souls and left them behind! Kefka clasped his hands together, resting them next to his tilted head and giving the soldiers a sympathetic look. “So sad!”

“S… so, uh, General Palazzo…?” Slowly… much too slowly… Kefka turned his attention back to the commander… There was an unsettling look on the general’s face… one that was almost murderous… “E’yeeeees…?” he said as his expression dramatically brightened. “What… uh… what do we do? I mean, where do we go from here, Sir?” “Well!” Kefka took a step back, then adjusted his cloak. “Li’l ol’ me is going to go tell the big boss what happened, then I guess he’ll start a search for our little toy where you idiots lost her! But, as for you?” The wicked grin from earlier found its way back onto his face. “I have plans, my dear commander… such marvelous plans, indeed!” After saying that, Kefka just stood there, not moving and not saying a word for the longest time. The enlisted men wanted to say something… but, not-a-one of them dared to.

“Well?!” Everyone jumped as Kefka suddenly stomped his feet and threw his arms out. “Aren’t any of you morons curious about my wonderful plans?!” “I-I kind of am…” Wedge said before Biggs could stop him. And, just like that… “You! What’s your name?!” Biggs, to his complete shock, found his view obscured by a face with a huge smile.

“Sir!” he alertly called. “Biggs Da–” “‘Sir Biggsda,’ my lad!” He winced as Kefka quickly pulled him into a one-armed side-hug. “How would you like to be known as…” He waved a hand in front of them. “‘The Soldier Who Conquered Doma?!’” “I… Th-that’s…” Biggs stiffly said with a stammer. “I-it would be an honor, S-Sir…?” “Perfect! Commander!!” As Kefka left him to walk back over to his C.O, Biggs practically deflated with relief… “Get all the troops you can! Eight, twelve, twenty – whatever! Tell ‘em, tonight…” He shimmied with excitement. “We’re gonna paint the castle red! Red with the blood of those Doma dopes, that is!” “Er… uh… yeh– yes, Sir!” the commander responded with a salute. “Good, good!” He rubbed his hands together. Then, suddenly… “Well, it’s been fun!” He spun around, then casually walked out of the barracks. “But, I’ve got to fly, boys…” he told the trio. “Ready the troops, then wait for my word! I’ve got plans – oh, yes, such plans – plans the likes of which you wouldn’t even believe! Ooh, just thinking about it makes me tingle! Hee-hee… ha-ha-haaah!!” With that… he was gone.

“W… well?! You heard him!!” Wedge and Biggs both jolted. Just like that, the commander was back to his confident, blustering, temperamental self. “Get your asses in gear – literally – and, round up some troops! Tonight… we attack Doma Castle! I guess? Hell, I don’t know – j-just get everyone ready!” And, before long… the two were left alone in the barracks.

#fan fiction #Final Fantasy VI #Mortem In Contumeliam #commercial characters #Imperial Soldier #Wedge #Biggs #Imperial Cadet #Pierre #Imperial Commander #Kefka Palazzo #fantasy #slice of life

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mysterious-prophetess · 5 years

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Opinion Piece: Where Adaptation Original Content can fall flat or be seen as something creative

This is a personal opinion Essay. That means what follows will be all from my perspective and reflective of my tastes. Don’t like it? Fine. Because it’s just an opinion from one person.

So, now for the essay:

Adaptation Extension: Where it’s failed and where it’s succeeded and why.

There’s no avoiding it sometimes whenever a hot new intellectual property takes the world by storm and there is a clamoring to get it adapted into another form ASAP. Only there’s one problem: they don’t have enough material from the source to go for as long as they need it, which leaves those adapting it with one choice: time to make up their own stories. This used to happen a lot with manga-into-anime adaptations hastily commissioned after a manga sudden boomed into popularity with, usually, awful results. It’s happened with western materials from time to time as well. In this instance I will be comparing two cases where there was a very solid base but the speed of publishing and the speed of adaptation varied. One is the Fullmetal Alchemist series from 2003, and the other is the current HBO smash hit Game of Thrones. Both are adaptations of a source material that was still in progress when they started and both ended before their sources ever wrapped but and both changed and omitted things as they were forced to grow without the guidance of the source. Yet one of these will definitely be more fondly remembered by its fans than the other in the long run and that all comes down to the execution of the alterations to the adaptation and consistency of the characters within both.

Fullmetal Alchemist the manga ran in Square Enix’s Monthly Shōnen Gangan from around 2001-2010. This slow long run was partly due to it being a monthly manga, and therefore didn’t update as frequently as the weekly stories. It was popular enough that an anime was commissioned very shortly into its run. This anime, called Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 by those who are fans of the series, was very faithful at first. It was whenever they wanted to drag out the first act by a lot that they began to add filler and then would go back to the main story. Yet they diverged with a pivotal moment: the death of Maes Hughes. From then on out, the stories had the same characters in the same country but they could have not been in more different stories. The manga had a deeply analytical and dark political intrigue story with themes around power, knowledge, and humanity. The anime instead went almost faustian with its take on the world of Amestris and leaned into more supernatural elements and brought in the idea of other worlds and questions of what is means to be human, but not too deep into that. The plot with Dante and Hoenheim of Light is very faustian to my eyes, full of strange magic, regrets over a loved one dying because of their hubris, and the desire to have more power. Yet despite it being vastly different from the manga, whose ending was more coherent than the anime, that first anime is still looked at fondly. Yes, it deviated a lot and yes, it went down many strange rabbit holes before it was all through, but they kept the characters at the core of it all consistent. The Elric Brothers were still the Elric Brothers, their values were still the same and they still acted like themselves no matter what. It was also wildly creative with its new material in a way that was actually enjoyable as well to those who like harder science fiction stories.

Then there’s HBO’s Game of Thrones. This is a case where they had a lot of source material but they burned through it faster than GRR Martin was able to write the sixth book and came to the point with the end of season five where they now had to make their own way forwards without Martin’s expert storytelling guiding them. Season 6, as far as that was concerned, was actually somewhat competent. It had a lot of Season 5’s threads to draw from and help guide their hands but there were still several missteps that they made in the eyes of the fans in how that was all handled. Seasons 7 and 8 are by far where their lack of skill is most evident. Characters who were known as smart are suddenly losing several IQ points and making blunders in such ways that is seems out of character for them to be caught up so easily. Some of it is the fact that humans are fallible but the moves they had them make were not only questionable but at times, highly controversial. While FMA 2003 kept the tone and characters similar to its source, HBO’s GoT seems to now favor flash to substance. Spectacle to careful plotting. Nowhere is this more evident than with Episode 3 of Season 8. “The Battle of Winterfell.” Firstly, the battle plans themselves were asinine. That is NOT how you mount a castle defense. You lace the ground with traps and pits and shit and keep the troops WITHIN your walls and have your best archers manning the walls and several vats of flammable shit ready to go to dump down and make an undead inferno. Civilians in the crypts still but maybe with a few more armed people.

Elite soldiers are to act as the vanguard and those less experienced at fighting in the rear guard. More people should have been on Bran. Jon should have had Rhaegal PARKED on the walls next to the God’s Wood and Dany should have been in the air if they needed someone in the skies lighting stuff up. Also, actual targeting of the white walkers. Jon knew canonically that a walker’s death would spell the death of any wights it reanimated. Instead we get a barely visible (at times) spectacle that keeps your so tense you can’t notice how terrible this battle strategy is until later. Then there’s the twist they decided to put in as of their writing of season seven: Arya gets to kill the Night King. I’m not actually against this idea. It was just executed so poorly that it takes away any impact it might have had and because of her lack of role in later episodes, it just gave Arya a premature high-point to her character arc that cannot be matched by the rest of her arc (should one call it that) for season 8. Bran for all his prophesizing, is just a lump. He’s not even trying to do anything beyond those ravens his sends up once. The books are building up to a prophecy. The show mentioned it but in the end the show runners decided to shove it for a “gotcha” moment and make all the threads from the books they’d actually maintained through the prior seasons just fall loose and flat. They did their own thing and in this case they robbed characters of moments they maybe needed or should have had as character development. They also cut a lot out of the books as they burned through them, which meant characters were cut. In one instance they cut a somewhat important character and that is now biting them in their asses as they’ve seemingly grafted his plot lines onto two other characters: Jon Snow and Danaerys Targaryen. It’s making both act somewhat out of character at times—Danaerys more than Jon—and making things just feel out of sync with the previous characterizations.

And that’s where FMA 2003 succeeds as having people still liking it despite its far meanderings away from the canon of the manga and people are disgusted with how far off course Game of Thrones is from A Song of Ice and Fire: Consistency of characterization with the intentioned situations, and an understanding of the world they are playing in. The show runners and writers for the HBO show seem to lack these things without a book telling them explicitly. The writers had an unenviable task of attempting to live up to GRR’s skill level and fell woefully short. By no means is all of Game of Thrones’s book free run awful: Season 6 is remarkably close to competent and parts of season 7 are alright, it’s whenever we get to the final season their strain and stretching can be seen on full display and compared to the tightly plotted first five seasons, it’s glaringly obvious they were not up the task of imitating Martin. He gave them a broad outline and the writers were unable to flesh it out as complexly as he will. It does mean a few things will happen as a result. One, people will now read Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring just to see how badly fracked the show-runners made GoT and two, it’ll lead to a redo since it is a very popular franchise.

#game of thrones #fma 2003 #got spoilers #opinion #personal opinion don't @ me

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kidkytes · 5 years

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thank you for calling out the KH fandom for basically gatekeeping people when it comes to Kingdom Hearts 3.

I don’t want to say in that I’m calling out, pointing fingers and saying to these people that “You’re wrong!/Shut up!/Do as I say”. I certainly don’t want to come across as some raging fanboy, but throughout the years I have noticed an ever increasing mindset amongst the KH fanbase which is sad to see. It’s why I kinda started stepping out of the fanbase, then Steven Universe came along and swallowed me whole but I already knew that fanbase was a cesspit so I stayed outta that. Anyway I’m rambling so I’ll stop that.

To the point, yes there is a problem in the KH fanbase in that they can be very intense on making sure that people are up to date with either playing all the games or having read game summaries and…I get it. I understand why. I know what they are meaning when they say that. This is an over arching storyline, naturally you want people to experience it that way so that way they will have the absolute best time playing Kingdom Hearts 3 and appreciate it even more in that they can get the best closure from the game.

There is a big problem in what Square Enix, Disney and Tetsuya Nomura have done with Kingdom Hearts as a whole. First off, this is a numbered series. When you have a numbered series it is natural to the consumer that if you stick to the main numbered games, you’ll be fine to jump from them to the next. Unfortunately due to Square Enix being Square Enix (FF15 I’m looking at you) since KH3 was delayed going into production for years we got a lot of spin offs. The natural meaning of a spin off is usually to take something that was hinted at or referenced in the original product and expand and explore on it, if you wanted to. So if you were interested by it, what it lore it might be expanding then that’s great. If you weren’t, that’s fine because just stick to the numbered games and you’ll be fine. Unfortunately due to FF15′s decade of development (that can be a whole trilogy of books on it’s own) Nomura decided to put a lot of story content in order to make these appealing to the consumer rather than just release hollow games due to Disney’s requests for more games.

So that creates the whole problem in that there is some significant story elements in these games (especially Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance) that it can be very hard to understand a lot of the things that have come after KH2. Looking back on it we’ve had NINE games (I’m counting re:Chain of Memories, Re:coded, Unchained X and 0.8 in that as seperate games because they are from their original versions and 0.8 is essentially a game) before Kingdom Hearts III, that’s absolutely ridiculous and TONS of story content to go through.

So yes, I get why people want others to know as much as possible going into KH3 so that they will have the complete experience and enjoy it like that. Unfortunately will it does not represent the KH community as a whole, there is a number of vocal people who really come down on those who haven’t played all of the games and/or haven’t read game summaries. Which sadly is an issue in that there seems to be a mindset of, “Well you don’t get to complain if the story doesn’t make sense or call it bad writing”, that’s what I really don’t like about it.

People seem to be coming at from a view of “This is the final chapter” which in a way it is but it also isn’t. I view KH3 more as the final book in a saga because each KH game has it’s own individual story that it focuses on. While yes it would be beneficial to know everything about the series before going into KH3 but that doesn’t mean it’s not okay to only know a handful or even start with KH3.

To use an example if the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is an over arching storyline but every movie has it’s own storyline, it’s own characters and themes that are unique to it. I haven’t watched all of the Marvel movies but it’s fine for me to watch new ones without having to have seen or read summaries about the ones I haven’t seen. Because, I simply have no interest in watching them. It applies to KH as well, not everyone needs to have played or read summaries about the other games if they aren’t interested. A comment in a discord I’m a part of summarised this feeling perfectly for me (sorry I use white mode in discord and twitch):

Some people simply aren’t interested, they have read summaries of the games and are still confused or simply haven’t found them appealing. Which is fine, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t allowed to give their opinion on the story of KH3 and how it felt to them.

Also when it comes down to the “bad writing” part…maybe people just think it’s bad writing in general and it’s not bad writing because they don’t understand something? Personally I think Chain of Memories, 359/2 Days and coded is bad writing because I really didn’t like the stories and most of the characters, the bizarre dialogue didn’t help that either. Dream Drop Distance…all I have to say on that is even though I enjoyed it’s gameplay, I have no idea what the hell Nomura was smoking, snorting and eating when he was writing that haha. I don’t really like Organisation XIII, I find most of the characters to be boring, the black coat designs to be bland and uninspiring. I LOVE Xehanort as a villain though, who is essentially a scientist wanting to understand the building blocks of the past and life, that’s hella interesting to me! Oh gawd I said hella, thanks Life is Strange. But yeah, if someone says it’s bad writing then maybe they just think it’s bad.

To add on a final thing I have seen from a streaming perspective. I stream on twitch, I watch other streamers on twitch. I replayed KH1 and KH2 and did my first playthroughs of BBS and DDD on stream. Now I’m not a big streamer, I would usually have an average of 10 viewers during my stream but regularly I would have people come in and the first thing they would always ask is, “Have you played insert title?”. I haven’t finished Chain of Memories, I haven’t played coded, I have no intention of playing them because I’m simply not interested. These people would then make their viewpoint known in that I was ruining my experience of the series and that I shouldn’t even bother to play KH3. These were all indivudal people, not the same person, now can you imagine that on a bigger scale with streamers with a larger platform? Unfortunately you get this happening:

That was just with someone play Kingdom Hearts 2 and people getting visibly annoyed with the streamer for not having played Chain of Memories. I was there for all of the streams until they stopped and there was multiple people coming in being rather abrasive in it was wrong in that they hadn’t played Chain of Memories. That’s sadly where it’s becoming an ever increasing problem in that there seems to be a view of “Thou must play each game or read all of the summaries or thou shall not play Kingdom Hearts 3!”.

I’d like to add on a final thing going back to the “You’re not allowed to complain if the story doesn’t make sense.” mindset, Kingdom Hearts and Tetsuya Nomura doesn’t pay your bills. Some people just outright don’t like something, their opinion can change over time or not and that shouldn’t affect you. Kingdom Hearts 3 is going to be your own experience and you’ll have your own opinion on it once it’s finished, no matter how you’ve come to play the game. Don’t let those people get to you! I know if it’s something you love and seeing people talk about it negatively when they don’t have the full picture, but that doesn’t do anything for your journey with this bonkers and crazy series we all love.

As much as I have spoken of some of the problems the KH fanbase I would like to say that this is very much a minority. They are just very vocal, there is so much more people out there who a loving, kind, positive and beautiful. All of the cosplay, the fanart, the fanfiction, the graphic creators and editors, even the people who just display their passion for KH, you’re all so inspiring to me and others. It’s why I still love seeing everyone talk about this series, it’s inspiring!

There’s been some who have said they went into the series completely blind, started on KH2 or another game and it made them want to play the rest of the series because they fell in love with it! We’re going to get so much more people who will become KH fans because KH3 was their first game and that’s so amazing! It would be great if they had played/watched/read summaries about the rest but don’t come down on them for that. There will obviously be some people who will gain a negative view of KH3 because they don’t know what most things are but we’re going to gain so much more people who love and will want to know more about the story and characters and that’s wonderful!

So whether you’re going into KH3 knowing everything, knowing bits here and there like me or taking that deep dive in KH3 as a new player, this is going to be a fantastic and wonderful adventure that I can’t wait to tell you all about in February. Not January because I won’t have finished it until February haha. I’ve typed way too long on this and there’s probably a whole bunch of spelling mistakes and grammar errors but I’m too lazy to go back and check everything so have it worts and all. So in the words of one of my video game idols, WELL BYE Lady from Shenmue I say to you all…WELL BYE!!!

#kidkytes #Kingdom Hearts #KH3 #Kingdom Hearts 3 #KH #oh that took a while #but yes we're gonna have so much more fans and people who love this series #more people we can share stories and experiences with #that will be so amazing #please be kind to each other #that's the final thing I'm going to say on the whole KH3 discourse #Anonymous

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thomasroach · 5 years

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Oninaki Preview – A Soulful Adventure

The post Oninaki Preview – A Soulful Adventure appeared first on Fextralife.

Oninaki is the upcoming action JRPG from Tokyo RPG Factory. This sombre tale follows the story of a Watcher as he tries to guide lost souls to a peaceful passing, as those who remain trapped by their own torment, can cause monsters to swarm endangering the living. I tried out the demo to see how this story about the beyond pairs up with it’s unique Daemon combat, and whether it’s worth the venture past the introduction.

Oninaki Preview – A Soulful Adventure

Genre: action-RPG. JRPG, hack ‘n’ slash Developed by: Tokyo RPG Factory Published by: Square Enix Release date: August 22nd Platforms: PC, Playstation 4 (Demo Preview Platform), Nintendo Switch Website: https://oninaki.square-enix-games.com/en-us

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Story & Setting

The story Oninaki is quite sad, but honestly it’s more intriguing than depressing. The story follows a newly orphaned Kagachi who struggles with the passing of his parents. His friend’s father consoles him but also explains that he shouldn’t grieve as his parent’s spirits will not be able to move onto their next life. While you might be kind of surprised that children in this universe are given such a serious explanation, the world of Oninaki doesn’t shy away from the afterlife, in fact, death and what happens next is well known.

But the adventure begins with a now grown up Kagachi who has become a Watcher, a role which helps guide lost souls to continue onto their next life. Kagachi must contact souls in the Beyond and help them cross over by finding out what unfinished business keeps them in the Living World. But there is also danger that ensues as their anguish seems to attract monsters.

As much as I want to go into more scenes that were experienced in the demo, as there were some really touching and also dark beautifully animated moments, I don’t want to spoil too much.

Gameplay

There are two modes in Oninaki, Story Mode and Battle Mode. Story Mode offers the full story, quests, exploration and combat. While Battle Mode puts you right into the action, letting you face off against monsters, one after the other.

Story Mode

The demo allows you to experience a portion of the story, and it’s quite a bit, which was surprising. I maybe played for 30 minutes in Normal difficulty, watching the story unfold and getting to grips with the Daemon system as well exploring the world. This game doesn’t follow the usual RPG structure where you level your character’s stats directly, but rather let’s you choose different Daemons to put your points into. This creates a lot of room for flexibility, as each Daemon features their own weapon type and a number of moves that you can choose to learn from their Skill Tree.

Daemons

Since the demo only allowed you to try out two Daemons in Story Mode, I tested out Aisha and Zaav. These two have very different movements, Aisha can move quite speedily, zipping forward at a moment’s notice and can perform some fancy sword moves. While Zaav is more slow paced, but with a two-handed spear that deals some mighty damage. He does have a movement skill but it’s much slower with his jumps. I found this method of abilities to be really different, swapping out Daemons depending on how you want to deal with enemies. It’s quite fun not having a settle on just close range or long range, but having the best of both worlds.

While combat provided some fun abilities with each different Daemon choice, the standard attack is pretty much all you have as you wait for abilities to cool down. You don’t have resources such as stamina or mana to determine how many abilities you can use, but rather you have to watch a cool down bar to find out when you can make your next move. This was a little annoying at times, it made combat feel a little slow, however there are nodes on the skill tree that can help increase speed of abilities reoccurring. As you level you will gain more abilities for your Daemons, which you can then work into fights.

That being said, combat felt quite slow in places, it’s not quite as fast as I was expecting it to be. There are three levels of difficulty for each mode, and Battle Mode is suppose be much more fast paced but we’ll get into that next. Don’t expect any block or parrying, it’s straight up slack ‘n’ slash from what was shown in the demo. Killing enemies at times only respawns more enemies, it was a bit repetitive at times. There is an Affinity meter which when it hits 100%, can unleash a sort of rage mode with Manifest which reminded me of Kingdom Hearts 3, you have higher damage as you take out enemies while Manifest is active.

Enemies

There are number of enemies known as the Fallen, each have their own attacks which include abilities to slow you down. There are also bosses that are a lot larger and possess powerful moves which you will need to counter, these ranged from quick smash down movements to firing projectiles. As you battle them they get added to your Memories which will give you a breakdown of their strengths.

Battle Mode

This mode is completely void of story, if you just want to go beat up some enemies and test out your combat prowess with up to four chosen Daemons, this is where you do it. Providing an onslaught of foes to fight, you can see how far you can make your way through the map. The area you explore is similar to places you visit as you travel from area to area in Story Mode.

As I said before, killing enemies causes new enemies to spawn, and this also happens in Battle Mode. So you will find you will need to kill a bunch of foes in one spot before you can move on. You can even create more of a challenge for yourself by choosing Manic difficulty which sets to provide harder hitting enemies but better loot. It’s suppose to be faster paced, but found it not that different from normal difficulty in Story Mode.

You can switch between Daemons mid-battle if you decide to try a different tactic, this makes fights quite versatile as you can suddenly switch from close range to long range if you wish. Is does take a few seconds to switch, which feels a little slow in my opinion but this could be to stop you spamming Daemon abilities and use more strategy for your fights.

The Living and The Beyond

This core concept of being to able to travel through the living world and the spirit world is really what makes this title stand out. Not only are you given some beautiful surrounding, but the Beyond provides inverse colours, making it seem otherworldly.

Sometimes you will need to venture to the Beyond to track down a lost soul or to simply be able to move from one place to another, when there are gaps in the living world. This creates almost a puzzle challenge in some places and I hope this carries on throughout the whole game.

Each world holds their benefits, the Living world you can interact with barrels and other breakable items, while I didn’t come across any items in the demo, hopefully these will give players something to loot in the full game. You will find monsters lurking in both dimensions, which gives you plenty to fight.

Audio & Visuals

The art style of this game is done in an anime style and it also reminded me a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild but with a simpler design. The cel shaded characters are cute which really contrasts the serious subject matter. The surroundings while not overly detailed, the city is pretty to look at and has plenty of NPCs to interact with. I really liked that the Beyond is done in inverse colours, which helps to show contrast between the planes.

The soundtrack is quite laidback in places as you venture through the town or world, but the battles against bosses are more upbeat and are just as enjoyable.

Voice acting is in Japanese with English subtitles, cinematics are voiced, but you’ll notice later interactions with NPCs will only have a few words voiced and then remaining are just grunts or sighs. I don’t think this takes anything away from the experience and just kind of adds to the charm.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, what made Oninaki shine is it’s story mode, the whole concept is really intriguing and the characters you meet are heartfelt. I can tell there are going to be some moments that really hit you in the feels in this one, as one particular scene stood out during the demo, which you just have to experience for yourself. The story is bleak as it deals with death and the passing of loved ones, but it’s really different how it deals with grief.

The Battle Mode however felt a little lacklustre, but I should mention the demo was limited in the abilities you could choose for Daemons so maybe there are some extra features that are available in the full game. In my opinion, story mode is where it’s at, but I could see Battle Mode as a good way to blow off steam with just taking down enemy after enemy.

If you enjoy an interesting storyline, enjoy a title with some cute visuals and just want to kick enemy butt with a number of fun abilities to choose from, this could be a game for you. This demo really has me curious of where they will take this story and to find out what other abilities other Daemons will possess.

Oninaki releases on PC, Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 on August 22nd. You can pick up the demo on all platforms.

For more previews be sure to read next Remnant From The Ashes Preview: Sci-Fi Cooperative Mayhem and Night Call Preview – A Gritty Noir Murder Mystery. You can also find out what other titles are arriving this August in Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of August 2019 (Remnant, WoW Classic, Black Desert And More!).

The post Oninaki Preview – A Soulful Adventure appeared first on Fextralife.

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thegraytalon-blog · 5 years

Text

Kingdom Hearts III

Alas, The Gray Talon chooses his targets wisely as the hunter considers his prey!

With that being stated, today we are going to discuss, pick apart and review the 14 year old game in the making, Kingdom Hearts III seeing as though I have just finished the story last night. First off as always I may slip and include a spoiler here any there so if you don’t want anything ruined you may want to click or look away before we go any further. However, if you don’t mind a mild spoiler or two, let’s jump right in and get started!

Overview:

Square-Enix in association with Yensid, er, I mean Disney, has brought us at long last a true sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. A game that was originally released in Japan in late 2005 and in NA/Europe in spring of 2006. The genre of this title is an action/RPG, with heavy emphasis on the action and a light to moderate notion to the RPG aspect. We will be looking at an array of features in this game ranging from graphics to gameplay and dissecting the story and overall seeing in the end if it’s truly worth your time!

Graphics:

In terms of visual style and representation of the polish, I can say without hesitation that here is one of the few key areas where KH3 shines. And I mean literally shines. By using the Unreal 4 Engine, the shiny and robust environments, textures and landscapes are truly a feast for the eyes. Even the cinematic cutscenes will have your jaw agape in awe that they are using in-engine graphics to undertake those scenes. The transitions from cutscenes to in game action are near flawless as well, allowing you to jump back into the action after a scene plays out without having to wait for a loading screen or any type of fade to black scene to transpire. There is an extremely noticeable difference from past KH titles to KH3. You’ll begin to notice little nuances such as Sora’s hair flowing in the wind as he’s jumping in the air to Donald and Goofy’s clothing swaying as they’re running around. I was playing this on my PS4 Pro and it seems to have an output of 1440p overall and does not include an option for HDR on either versions of the game, which is a little disappointing, but does not hinder the core experience. There is an option for framerate to either be locked at 30FPS or an free flowing framerate mode, which is defaulted from the start. I cannot stress enough that you should just leave the default settings as is because the game runs much, much better without locking up the framerate. The framerate, in fact, on free flow mode is almost consistently over 50FPS, nearing 60, which is impressive considering I was playing the game on the PS4 Pro and not the Xbox 1X, which tends to be more of a powerhouse in terms of hardware. Overall the graphics are pristine and what you would expect from taking a large chunk of an advantage of the Unreal 4 Engine.

Gameplay and Control:

The hack and slash action returns ten-fold in KH3 and honestly more so than I would have liked or expected. Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay works and overtime at that. There’s numerous moments when you’re struggling to keep up with the fast paced mayhem transpiring on screen as you keep mashing X, while waiting for that inevitable Triangle action command to prompt to go into a little mini-game mode with yourself, Donald, Goofy or whichever 4th party member you have from whichever world you are presently in. In my opinion there is just too much relying on mashing 1 or 2 buttons here and in the beginning when you’re in the honeymoon phase with KH3, you will rejoice and possibly say this is the best action game you ever played. However, when you’re 3 or 4 worlds in and doing the exact same carousel or water slide mini-game you’ll begin to feel burnt out from the tediousness that never seems to differ. One of the biggest problems of KH3, besides it’s overly convoluted story, (which don’t worry, we will get to shortly), is it’s over saturated use of relying on 1 or 2 buttons to kill an enemy with the same move over and over again with a teeny weeny hint of magic here and there and washing, rinsing and repeating until the very final moments of the game. The combat honestly feels like it’s just been slightly enhanced from other KH titles and does not do anything to evolve the core fighting mechanics as time goes on. You mash a button or two until something dies, use cure or a potion here and there when need be, and keep on repeating until the credits roll. The controls feel tight, slick and responsive as you move Sora around the map and by the simple press of a button can instantly send him wherever you want to go in whichever fashion you like. The camera works with you too as opposed to against you. The free camera control is always a welcomed sight and the only time the camera almost got in my way was during the final boss fight when it switched to an overhead view to better scope out your surroundings but it was a minor hiccup in the end. But you would think after over a decade in development, Tetsuya Nomura would focus more on the combat aspect instead of just tossing in a mere handful of random action sequences that replay more than a sitcom does reruns in the summer. But no, Nomura-san decided to invest all of his time and energy into providing us with one of the most complex storylines known to man that can even rival trying to figure out the proper timeline in The Legend of Zelda series, only much, much more nonsensical.

Story/Narrative/Campaign:

Now herein lies the Achilles’ heel to not only KH3, but the plethora of all KH games to date, leading back to KH2 when the overly complicated cast of Kool-Aid cultists known as the Organization XIII were introduced, killed out, reintroduced, renamed and resurrected into different bodies. It’s just plain old unwarranted for a game that revolves around Disney and Final Fantasy characters. Oh, and speaking of Final Fantasy characters, or should I say lack thereof, KH3 shifts the focus to solely Disney and no, delete delete, Pixar characters in it’s entirety. If you have the smallest expectation to see Cloud, Squall, Auron or any of the other beloved FF cast then you best not ever even dare to dream about picking up and playing KH3 for the sheer amount of disappointment that will ensue. There is maybe 1 or 2 references to the FF characters but they are nowhere to be found here in KH3. There is only Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, the Organization XIII wackos and the 4 new Pixar worlds they added in total of 6 worlds in KH3 because a 10 year developmental period only allows for a handful of new worlds to be created. The returning worlds are Olympus Colosseum, which opens up the prologue of the game with (and my personal favorite in the entire game because you fight a ton of titans and Hades with a reprising James Woods doing his role) and for some daft reason Pirates of the Caribbean, because why not? The Pirates of the Caribbean story is also as complicated as a monkey trying to solve Chinese algebra so why not marry it to the conundrum that is the KH storyline? It makes sense right? Yeah, as much sense as strapping your nuts to a car battery because you like the way it feels. Now moving along, besides the lack of FF characters, the story and plot itself is very loosely explained. Sure there are some subtexts you can find and revisit in the main menu, but it rarely does justice as Square and Tetsa Nomura-San really wanted to you play either all 10 of the other KH games prior or by spending full price on the Story So Far PS4 title and watching the 17 hours of cutscenes so you are all caught up, because why else do we exist on this planet, if not to uncover the intricate meanings of a game about why there’s an organization trying to steal people’s hearts who also have a nobody and unversed counterparts with Disney characters somewhere mixed in? And excuse me, because after reading that sentence back to myself I think I just gave myself Syphilis stage 3. But this is not the sole issue of the KH story. In KH3 especially, there is no focus on the plot, even as complicated as it may be. The vast majority of the game you are trying to get Sora to find the power of waking and from the opening prologue (which I kid you not as you enter Olympus the words spew across the screen Kingdom Hearts 2.9, you sleazy rat bastards) once it is mentioned and as you begin to traverse the worlds, Sora and pals tend to forget what their goal is and what they are doing, other than visiting worlds and getting intertwined with their own unique dramas. In the final act of the game, the story picks back up in tidbits only to try it’s best to close out the supposed final chapter in what has already been a painstakingly long and drawn out franchise. Lastly, if you think the story is over after KH3, hilariously the way the game ends makes it feel like The Dark Knight Rises, where you can create your own ending and definition to the fate of Sora. Only if you manage to collect all Mickey emblems can you see the “true” ending, which again doesn’t even make sense like the rest of this game. Sora and Riku are on some kind of Final Fantasy Versus like world on another adventure insinuating a KH4. Right. KH4, coming in the year 2099 after all the nuke’s finish dumping on the world and all that’s left is KH4 and a handful of mutants. If I had to rate KH3 on it’s narrative alone it would get a C- but luckily the slick gameplay and amazing musical score helps balance out the awkwardness of it’s plot.

Sound, Voice and Music:

Another saving grace in KH3 is in it’s musical opus. When it wants to, the score is reminiscent to that of a grand orchestra, that can damn near rival the likes of such famed composers as Hans Zimmer, Harry-Gregson Williams, Bill Conti and even John Williams at times. Some very familiar tunes return from previous games and the final battle music is a delight to the ears to behold and take in. The copulas sounds of a beautifully integrated choir with a robust orchestra really bring the world around you to life. The voice acting holds up well too for the most part, when they aren’t talking complete gibberish about the plot. Disney characters sound as you imagine they would in their respective films. Although Tom Hanks and Tim Allen couldn’t reprise their roles as Woody and Buzz Lightyear, their stand-ins do just fine to make you feel like you’re playing a side tale of Toy Story. Meanwhile, the return of almost the entire cast of Frozen made you feel like you were watching Frozen 2.0. And lastly, the sound effects in terms of inanimate objects and clashing in the world sounds crisp and clean. There are some stale voice acting, though from time to time. Such as whenever some Organization XIII members try to explain the plot and they sound like they’re reading off of a bad script from an Uwe Boll or Paul W.S. Anderson movie. At the end of the day, the music is exemplary and the voice acting is solid on an average scale.

Replay Value:

At best, it all depends on how big of a fan you are at the end of the day. In the 30 hours I spent with KH3, for me, I am a moderate fan of the series so once I saw those credits roll, I was satisfied. I felt no further need to return to a previous save and collect all of the ingredients for the Ultima Keyblade and/or go around hunting down those fat pieces of flan goo taking pictures of them along with those Mickey emblems for a trophy and a secret/true ending. The amount of tedium present in KH3 is heavy in terms of combat that doesn’t escalate beyond pressing 1 or 2 key buttons and a narration that runs circles around itself providing little to no answers or logical sense. It’s a solid action game at it’s core with lots of flash and little in terms of substance and depth unless you count the ridiculously deep never ending rabbit hole of it’s complex plot.

Overall Score/Worth Your Time?:

When all is said and done and the smoke and pixie Disney dust has settled I cannot help but give KH3 a 7 out of 10. It upsets and pains me in a sense to have to say this, but after waiting oh so very dearly long (and dearly beloved) for this game to come out, something very, very wrong happened in it’s prolonged and obtuse production and development and it’s really hard to pinpoint exactly where as in a nutshell the game is a bit of a mess all around in most areas. While the gameplay and controls are tight and fluid, it suffers from overusing the same stale combat over and over again in tandem with a story that is just too damn hard to put time and energy into figuring out. The musical score is probably the only area of KH3 where I can safely say it’s flawless. The rest of the game is up in shambles, endlessly clashing with itself and can’t figure out what direction it wanted to go in for the majority of it’s campaign. And that’s not just present in KH3, it’s now present in most of the other KH games after KH1 as well. It seems that Tetsu Nomura bit off more than he can chew when in reality a cute and cozy video game about Disney and Final Fantasy characters should have simply been about crossing over the 2 franchises and not trying to engross the masses in a plot that would make Interstellar, The Matrix and Inception look like Cool Runnings or Encino Man. (Remember Encino Man? Yeah, I liked Brenan Fraser in the 90′s...) But I digress, is Kingdom Hearts 3 worth your time at the end of the day? And in all honesty, unless you’re a super nerd and have played all 10+ games in their entirety and took a course to understand the intricate workings of the story, then no, it is not worth the 30 hours of your life. Go play Resident Evil 2 remake instead, which I beat twice and is simply glorious.

PRO’S:

Beautifully rendered worlds and graphics with stable framerates.

A simply magical musical score that is a delight to hear.

Tight and responsive controls.

CON’S:

Tedious combat that does not evolve and challenge the player.

Overly saturated and convoluted plot that does not warrant meaning to casual and even some avid gamers.

Absence of all of the beloved Final Fantasy characters.

Only a handful of new worlds to visit (about 4 in total) mostly from the Pixar universe.

Repetitive encounters and battle commands that hinder the excitement.

#kingdom hearts #video games

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oveliagirlhaditright · 4 years

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I've noticed there are at least 15 main installments of Final Fantasy, but the only ones I see people mention are Final Fantasy 7, 8, 10, and 15. Is there a reason the other game aren't as popular?

Buckle in, honey. Because I’m probably going to go overboard with this. I’m sorry. But it’s the best I can think of to explain it all.

So… full disclosure. I have not played I-VI. All I know about them is from the Dissidia games–where the main characters of those games show up and talk about their games some–and what I’ve read on Wikipedia. I also know a bit more about VI because of cultural osmosis, as that’s one of the more popular Final Fantasy games (and I have watched a teeny bit of VI online). And one day, I do hope to go back and play them all. But any information I get wrong about those ones–though I hopefully won’t–is because of this. And I apologize for it in advance.

Also, you should know that the Final Fantasy fandom is very vocal. And since every game pretty much reinvents the wheel–and everyone has a different game where they started and that is their favorite–everyone has their own idea about what a Final Fantasy “is” and “should be”. And if they get a Final Fantasy game that doesn’t meet that criteria for them, they usually hate it–and will tell anyone and everyone–and think that it “doesn’t feel like a true Final Fantasy”… Like, for years now… pretty much with any new game since X, or maybe even back as far as IX, people hate on it for years… only to years later realize that maybe it wasn’t “so bad, after all, because really the new thing is that bad”. Rinse and repeat.

Okay, so a little history here: Sakaguchi is the father of Final Fantasy, and was involved with I-X (though not as much on X, because I believe he was also working on the “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” movie at the time. More on that in a minute), back when the company was “Squaresoft” and not “Square Enix”. Around the time they were making X, Sakaguchi decided to try and make a fully 3D Final Fantasy movie–and to release it in theaters (The Spirits Within)–and that movie bombed hard. It’s actually one of the biggest financial failures in cinema history, sadly. And Squaresoft would have gone under because of it, if rival company Enix–mainly known for the Dragon Quest series–hadn’t agreed to merge with Squaresoft, thus turning the company into “Square Enix” as we know it today. And even though it wasn’t all his fault (if any of it? Because surely there were bigger studio heads who okayed everything and maybe even pushed for it themselves), Sakaguchi ended up having to take the wrap for the whole Spirits Within disaster and left the company, if I recall correctly, but really he had to leave, I think. I’m sure he was really fired, under the corporate niceties and stage show.

But you definitely have your purists, who only like I-X (or sometimes only I-IX) and think that Final Fantasy died when Squaresoft became Square Enix and when Sakaguchi left the company.

Speaking of which, I-VI, Final Fantasy VI is an extremely popular game. And that might actually be most people’s favorite after VII (some even like it more than VII). And people are clamoring for a remake for it, too. Like, the heroine Terra is an amazing character who goes through more than any other Final Fantasy heroine, apparently (as she was used as a weapon–as she’s super powerful–by the games’ villain for most of her life until she finally rises up against him). And she’s also the first technical female lead in a Final Fantasy game. People also love the villain, Kefka (and if you go on “What Final Fantasy Bosses do You Want in Kingdom Hearts?” threads, he’s always the one who gets the most votes), who’s this pure evil clown, who loves being bad and just wants to watch the world burn. The Joker, essentially. And he’s the only Final Fantasy villain to succeed: he actually does destroy the world, and you’re then playing in a post-apocalyptic place for half of the game. The character Celes even tries to kill herself over this… I think people like this game because it’s super dark (though not without light moments and humorous things, of course) like VII is.

Final Fantasy IV is also well-loved, but I don’t know enough to rank it in people’s eyes. I through III were pretty bare bones, it seems like (maybe moreso I and II) and with black and white morality. IV was the first game to go away from that, somewhat. As your main character, Cecil, who starts the game as a paladin turns into a dark knight(?). And while at first he’s despairing about this, he then realizes he can still be a hero and use his powers for good? And people adore the Cecil/Rosa ship, that perhaps started there being Final Fantasy romances. This is also a tragic tale about two brothers pitted against each other… There’s also the character Kain, that Riku’s character is probably based on and ideas from this game in general? Or maybe it’s Cecil that Riku’s based on. I forget.

VII is probably, hands-down, the most popular Final Fantasy game (though sometimes the people who love VI–and even IX–can really debate with the VII people. So they’re probably close to being tied). And I think this is because VII was the first to do a lot of things: The first to use 3D graphics (that were something to behold at the time), the first to be on Playstation, the first one that really got people in America interested in Final Fantasy and RPGs in general (largely because of the commercial for it, I’m told? That made people go “What?! There can be an actual story in a video game?! Let’s check this out!”), and certainly because of the Aerith thing. Aerith was not the first character to die in Final Fantasy. But since VII was a lot of people’s first FF–and you couldn’t bring her back; and the developers made a conscious decision to keep it that way for many reasons–this really hit gamers. And is why Aerith’s death is probably the most iconic thing in video game history. The game also did a good job of making her mean everything to you and then feel her absence, since she was your best healer and no one could really take her place after that. This game meant a lot to Sakaguchi, because he wrote it after his mother died–as he was trying to understand life and death… and why it all happens the way it does, and to find some closure there–and I think that you can feel that in the game, which is why it’s so special to so many other people, too. If you’re interested, Super Eyepatch Wolf does a great job of explaining why Final Fantasy VII is such a big deal in this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V68GCZ61Rc

I actually don’t hear that much about VIII anymore? I’m not sure it’s as big as a fan-favorite as it used to be, but I could be wrong.VIII is starting to turn into a black sheep of the franchise in some people’s eyes, it would seem. Mainly because the Junction battle system… is broken (though this was really no one’s fault. As I understand it, the designer behind it fell ill before the game came out and never got to finish it properly). And since some don’t like that this game is a romance between Squall and Rinoa more than anything else (some also don’t like Rinoa and think she’s a major damsel in distress in their opinion), and that Ultimecia is evil and wants time compression… for reasons? But to be fair, a lot of early Final Fantasy villains were evil just to be evil. And apparently this game is the anti-VII in some ways? As Sakaguchi or Kitase (I forget which one) said they got a lot of criticism about FFVII when it first released (which is weird to think of now, since now everyone sees FFVII as the greatest thing ever), so they decided to address those criticisms in VIII and made it the opposite of VII in many ways. But there are definitely many who are still all about VIII. Don’t get me wrong. And a lot of Kingdom Hearts fans, trying out FF for the first time, probably go to the ones with characters they know first (I know I did). So VIII is still probably touched for that reason, if not for many others as well. People still wonder if Cloud or Squall is stronger, etc. And for a while, VIII was my favorite. It’s not anymore, but it once was.

IX is the dark horse in this series that might actually win a lot of things. Most people who have played it seem to love IX–I know I do–though not everyone played it, because many were turned off by the cutesy art style at first (IX was sort of a return to basics, as it was a celebration of all the Final Fantasy games that came before it since this was the last Playstation 1 game). But this story’s a lot darker than some give it credit for… One of the darker ones, maybe. Most people who played IX actually list it as their favorite–in fact, IX was voted as the most popular FF game to Japan’s players recently–and many want this game remade, too. This is also Sakaguchi’s favorite in the series, and what he thinks Final Fantasy should be. And there’s just so much heart, fun, and love in this story (Zidane and Garnet might even be my favorite FF couple for how well they’re written). If Sakaghuchi had to leave the company, it’s probably at least nice that he left it on this note (because he was involved in X, but not as much as with this).

I think X is so popular, because this was also a “first” for many people. It was my first Final Fantasy game, in fact (and a lot of people’s in that generation). But it was the first for Playstation 2… the first with voice acting, the first where you could switch party members in battle, the first that had a direct sequel to it, etc. And many believe Tidus and Yuna is the best written romance in all of Final Fantasy, and there’s a good chance that it is. It also has one of the most tragic endings ever, that makes everyone sob when they get to it. Hey. But Final Fantasy X is just a great game, all-around (story, theme, and gameplay-wise. X, like VII, revolves around life and death and cycles). It really is. Though you still have people who hate it (as there are those who hate every single game), usually because they despise Tidus or just look at things like the laughing scene out of context. X might be my favorite Final Fantasy. A lot of the time, the first FF you played ends up being your favorite, though not always (I like it, IX, VII… and XIII and XV, God help me). Edit: And Yuna is everything good in this world. She’s always a favorite Final Fantasy heroine to everyone, for sure. And I think she actually is Japan’s favorite Final Fantasy heroine.

I can’t really talk about XI or XIV, as they’re MMOs and I don’t play those… so these are actually the FFs I know the least about, probably? But I know some think think they’re the best. Well, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, that is. The first version of XIV was a fucking disaster and had to be completely reworked.

Final Fantasy XII is dismissed a lot of the time (though there are those who think it’s the best example of transitioning FF to modern times, doing things that XIII and XV just didn’t think to do or even seem to think to do). Final Fantasy XII is very political, and I think that’s why it’s not talked about much: as there’s a good chance it just went over your head when you played it. I know it did for me, originally. There also really isn’t romance in it (at least not much, and you definitely see the slight romance that is there moreso in the sequel). But they definitely tried something new with this one, and if that paid off or not is up to you. But if you can understand it, the writing in this game is actually pretty genius. Final Fantasy XII was plagued with the issue that VIII had, though, where one of the key people behind it got sick at the time, so all of their ideas didn’t come to fruition. Like, originally Vaan and Penelo were supposed to be much more fleshed out than they were… that didn’t happen in FFXII itself, but did in its sequel “Revenant Wings” (which is so underrated, and the best sequel in all of FF, imo).

XIII… XIII is the black sheep of the franchise, for some reason. And I have no idea why. I loved this game and thought it was fine. More than fine, really. I swear this game wouldn’t be as hated as it is, if the Internet didn’t exist, tbh. But people despise it because it’s linear… when every Final Fantasy game before it was also linear? You were just tricked into thinking they weren’t. And sure XIII could have hidden its linearity better, but meh. People also aren’t big on there being no towns and side quests, even though story-wise it makes sense: you’re the enemy of the goddamn world, so of course you’re avoiding towns and people. People also think the game’s convoluted, but I think most FFs are. Look at FFVII, for goodness sake! And people just don’t like the characters, because they base it on how they are at the start of the game. And they’re all awful and hate each other at first, but that’s the point: because they all develop and grow into better characters, and are a family at the end of it. There are also those who despise the battle system… I’ve heard many say that if you look at this game as its own thing, it’s fantastic. But that if you look at it as a Final Fantasy game, it’s terrible… which I guess could make sense? But I also, personally, don’t see it that way? I guess I’ve just never been one of those “A Final Fantasy game has to be this way, and if it’s not then it’s not a Final Fantasy game to me and I hate it” kind of people. Because I know FF is always about reinventing itself, but whatever. But like with any Final Fantasy, there are also those who adore this one. There are always those who love one, and those who hate it. XIII was also littered with a lot of problems across development–like XV–and probably would have been even better than it was, if that hadn’t happened. Like, I think Nojima wrote the script for part of this game–or at least helped with it–but not all of it. And he’s credited for writing the scripts of most fan-favorite FF games. He also wrote the script for the end of KHI, all of KHII, and part of KHIII, apparently (many think that if Nojima came back for KH, that would fix things there, too–which I could see and maybe mostly agree with, but even he’s not perfect... He also wrote the script for Versus XIII, but not XV, which probably explains a lot. And he came back and wrote the script for FFVII again with the Remake, which is probably why it’s so great).

XV is the game that started its life as Final Fantasy Versus XIII–originally directed by Tetsuya Nomura–but soon after it became FFXV, Nomura was kicked off the project and Hajime Tabata became its new director. And Tabata, it would seem, made a lot of changes to the story (which is why Nomura’s so pissed off about it, and now trying to put his Versus XIII ideas into Kingdom Hearts). But it wasn’t really his fault. The company was breathing down his neck that this had to be the game that “saved Final Fantasy and console gaming in Japan”. And Versus XII was, apparently, the darkest game in the entire Final Fantasy franchise (and it was going to be rated “M”, as opposed to FF games usually being rated “T”), which is why it wasn’t a numbered title originally. So I can get why Tabata probably thought he had to change it to make it moreso appeal to the masses, or was probably even told to do so. I think FFXV is a good game. I do (as do many. XV was actually a lot of Nomura lovers’ first FF game, for obvious reasons). It’s still one of my favorites… for some reason. But the main issue with this game–especially at launch; it’s somewhat better now–is that it was not a complete story, and there were so many holes in it. And you can just tell that this story was rewritten again and again and again. And important plot things are just not told to the player… probably because the developers thought the player knew, because they surely had told them in earlier drafts. But I can still feel what this game was going for, and the heart of it, which is why I like it, I guess. It’s actually a pretty hot debate–of which game is better in people’s eyes: this one or XIII–and I can get both sides of the argument. I like both. And as I’ve said above… as there’s always a camp that loves and hates every Final Fantasy game, there are those who despise XV: for they see how messy its story was… or don’t like the gameplay (as it probably is the most removed from how FF games usually play) or the setting… and some even weren’t big on how dark this game still was, and didn’t think it felt like a FF to them for that reason.

Yep.

And if you actually got to this point, I thank you… and I’m also sorry for all of this.

Edit: I should also probably mention that originally, most Final Fantasy games had medieval settings (and for this reason, there are those who think all FF games should be this). But they sort of moved away from that with VII and VIII. And since VII is the majority’s favorite, there are those who are more than okay with FF not being medieval. So to keep both camps happy, these days you usually have a few games that are medieval (back to basics) and then a few that aren’t. Rinse and repeat. Since XIII and XV weren’t medieval, that probably means XVI will be. And if the “Agni’s Philosophy” trailers are secretly FFXVI, like some think, that definitely looks medieval. And there was maybe some FFXVI artwork leaked recently, that looks medieval. And many are thinking the director of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will be directing XVI–he’s said he’d be willing to do it–and I know he’s said he’d want to turn Final Fantasy to medieval, if he were to do a XVI. So, yeah…

Edit 2: And back to the “FF died when Squaresoft became Square Enix and Sakaguchi left the company” camp, another reason some feel this way is Uematsu. If I recall correctly, he composed all the music for I-IX–and I think did the “To Zanarkand” track for X–but I think he also left the company after IX. So his departure is another reason some think the series truly died then. -shrugs-

#and I think most people are just meh about I ii iii and iv. at least that I've seen #I mean I'm sure you'll find SOME who think they're the best ones. but most people don't seem to feel that way

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advocatewrites-blog · 7 years

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Simple/Clean Chapter 4

Simple/Clean: An Original Character’s Story

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (1, with mentions of other installments)

Synopsis: There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One Sky, one Destiny. And when that destiny is threatened, the universe calls on one hero to save the day. Or, more like, five. When the Earth is consumed into Darkness, Danielle Scott and her friends are given the Keys between light and darkness. If they are going to save the worlds and find her brother, they are going to have to go on a multiverse-wide road trip to find the Door to Light. If only they had a better weapon than keys.

Rated: +K for violence and occasional language

Disclaimer: The Kingdom Hearts series was created by Tetsuya Nomura and owned by Square Enix. The Final Fantasy series was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix. The films depicted were created by the Walt Disney Animation Studios and owned by the Walt Disney Company. Any other work mentioned or homaged are property of their respective owners. This is a non-profit fan-based work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the official releases.

Chapter 4 of 12

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Chapter 4: I Need a Hero

“Wow, this place is most tranquil.”

“Yes. It reminds me of the cover to House of the Holy.”

“Dust,”

“Wind,”

“Quit quoting your 80’s movies and come on!” Nadine snapped.

Katie and Dani pouted.

There was only one building on Olympus Coliseum as far as they could see, so that’s where they headed. Despite how grand it looked on the outside, the interior was small and dim, only decorated by a few pedestals and cups that looked like trophies. The only figure in it was a minotaur, perched precariously on one of the pedestals and tinkering around with a scorecard.

“Good timin'.” The minotaur said without looking up. “Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there.”

The seven looked at each other. Eventually, Sora decided to take the bait and leaned on the pedestal. He pushed, pushed, and pushed some more. Hanna would be generous to say it move a micrometer.

“THIS THING IS WAY TOO HEAVY!” Sora said.

That caught the minotaur's attention. “What! Too heavy! Herc, since when have you been such a little--”

The minotaur spun, and actually realized who he was talking to. “Huh. Wrong guy. Well, whyever you’re here, I’m busy! The Pegasus Cup’s right around the corner, and I don’t got time to deal with a buncha pipsqueaks!”

“Taller than you.” Hanna said despite herself.

“You're nothin'. Ya can't even move a pedestal!”

As if to prove his point, the minotaur jumped from the pedestal he was perched on and walked over to the other. He pushed, and pushed, and pushed. Hanna didn't think it could actually make negative damage, but it seemed to be going in that direction.

“That's about what I was expecting.” Nadine said.

“LISTEN HERE!” The minotaur snapped. “THIS HERE'S THE WORLD-FAMOUS COLOSSEUM! HEROES ONLY!”

“We're heroes!” Katie said defensively.

“I mean, we've fought two giant monsters and lost a little girl.” Nadine said. “I'm not sure how heroic that is.”

“Yeah? Well, if you don't got an entry pass, then scram!” The minotaur said.

The minotaur jumped back onto his pedestal and ignored them. Dani looked like she was about to start a fight, but Hanna quickly defused it by placing a hand on her shoulder. It didn't stop her from slamming the door behind her.

“What's that goat's big idea!” Sora shouted. “Treating me like a child!”

“Yeah!” Donald said. “We're genuine heroes, chosen by the Keyblade!”

“You tell 'em, Donald!” Dani joined in.

“I thought we were supposed to be keeping that a secret.” Nadine said. Goofy shrugged in response.

“Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say? Ignoring such up-and-coming challengers like you?”

The seven spun around. A figure approached them from the south gates. It looked definitively male, but also had blue skin and a flame for hair.

“Certainly, Hercules is a prized pupil.” He went on. His voice was smooth and silky, and had the exact same amount of charm that jerks who presented themselves as nice guys had. “But what's he going to do when the Jerk is gone?”

Nobody quite had an answer to that, because nobody was quite sure what he was getting at.

“And just who are you?” Donald asked, trepidation in his voice.

“Whoa there fuzzball. No need to get defensive.” The man held his hands out in front of him teasingly. “You want to prove it to them, right? Well, get a load of this.”

He held out his hand. Though Hanna was pretty sure there was nothing in it before, now there was a shining golden ticket.

“What’s this?” Sora asked.

“An entry pass for one team to the Pegasus Cup!” The man said. “And consider this one on the house.”

The man got close, too close for comfort, to Hanna. She held her breath and tried to calm down her heart-rate.

“You have the eyes of a hero.”

“No way...how did you get a hold on this pass?” The minotaur asked.

“It doesn't matter!” Dani said. “We have a pass, so let us fight!”

The minotaur looked torn. “Come on kid, a wimp like you who can't even move a pedestal's gonna get ripped to shreds in the ring. And you four!”

The four women in the room stared him down.

“Go on.” Hanna said. “I dare you.”

The minotaur swallowed and thought better of it. “Do you have any experience that he doesn't?”

The four women shrugged in acceptance and murmured a chorus of “you've got a point”.

“To be honest, it can't be that hard to move the pedestal.” Katie said. “I mean, if we all team together...”

The minotaur paced around the lobby, lost in thought. He slowed and snapped his fingers as he reached a decision.

“Alright. Here's what we'll do.” He said. “You'll get the special hero's training, all on me!”

“Huh?” Sora asked.

“We'll see what you can do! Do you have what it takes?”

“Ooh!” Katie said. “Are we gonna have a training montage like Rocky?”

“These are boxes.” Dani pointed out.

“Destroy every box in the ring before the time runs out.” Phil said. “I've got plenty of formations planned out, so best get movin'!”

“Okay, what does destroying boxes teach us about--” Nadine started.

“Timer starts now!”

“How convenient that the kids with the Keyblades are here.”

The voice was filled with accusation, and he was pretty sure that that kind of attitude wasn't allowed in his contract.

“They'll be entering the tournament. Don't blow it.” He said.

“You want me to fight them? Sorry, but my contract says--”

“Yes, yes, I know what the contract says! But to get to Hercules, you're gonna have to get through them first. What's a few casualties along the way?”

He didn't say anything, and Hades only noticed he was gone once the door closed behind him.

“Geeze. Stiffer than the stiffs back home.” Hades shrugged off.

Suckers like that were hard to come by.

Katie collapsed onto the coliseum bleachers. “How long have we been at this again?”

“Two and a half hours.” Hanna said. She sounded as exhausted as Katie felt.

“Why?” Nadine panted. “Why does he have so many boxes?”

“You ain't heroes yet, but you're getting' better.” Phil said. “Bein' strong ain't the only thing that makes a hero.”

“THEN WHY ARE WE DOING THIS!” Nadine snapped.

Phil continued regardless. “Ya need heart, kids. Ya need to be strong in both muscle and heart!”

“The heart is composed of cardiac muscle.” Nadine said. She was ignored.

“How do we get a strong heart, then?” Sora asked.

“If you have to ask, you're not a hero yet!”

All heads snapped towards the new voice. A figure stood in the doorway. In terms of dress he looked a little odd, apron over short tunic and bandana over his rather long hair. Considering his biceps were bigger than her head, she decided not to question it.

“Hey Phil.” He greeted. “Finished cleaning the toilets.”

“Ah perfect!” Phil exclaimed. “Let me introduce ya to my prized pupil! The strongest, kindest, and most handsome hero, Hercules!”

“AND HE'S THE ONLY THING STANDING IN MY WAY!”

It took Hades a few seconds to calm down his flames. He picked up a few of the chess pieces off of the ground and realigned them.

“But why worry? The pieces are all falling into place...”

“Hades, I--”

Hades scrambled to hide all of his pieces. “Did they not teach you to KNOCK in wherever you came from?”

The boy ignored him. Typical. “I had a question about the kid.”

“Well, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, but KNOCK NEXT TIME!”

Silence.

“You didn't see anything, right?” Hades asked.

“No Lord Hades, I definitely didn't see you playing with your dolls again.” The boy said.

Hades slicked back the flames on his head in an effort to control his flames again. “What's your question again?”

“There are five of them. Which one do you want me to take out?”

“Does it matter? Any one! All of them! As soon as I get my hands on that Keyblade, I'll be able to release the seal of the Titans!”

The boy let out a breath in something that probably was supposed to be a scoff. Hades didn't care. That was probably the most emotion he'd shown since they met.

“Wha...cleaning toilets?” Phil asked.

“Yeah. That's what you signed me up to do.” The hero said.

“Herc, why would I assign ya to clean toilets so close to the tournament!”

“Well, you did want us to move furniture around earlier.” Nadine said.

“That's different! That thing was mucking around with my feng shui!”

“But while I was cleaning, I went over the entry list.” Hercules said. “Lot of weird first timers. Not sure what that's about.”

Nadine did. Heartless. “So maybe there was a reason for all of this.” She muttered under her breath.

Donald gave her a look and pulled her in closer. The others followed.

“Why do you think Heartless are entering the tournament?” Sora asked. His whispering voice wasn't exactly what Nadine would call whispering, but at least he was trying.

“Isn't it obvious?” Nadine asked. “They want hearts, people have hearts, a fighting tournament's the perfect place to kill people without raising suspicion.”

“What are you guys whisperin' about?” Phil said, voice thick with suspicion.

“Let's focus our efforts.” Nadine said. “We'll go take a look around for anything suspicious. You focus on the tournament.”

“Right!” Donald's whisper voice was even worse than Sora's.

“Yeah! How hard can it be?”

Sora was tossed backwards. His back collided with the ground, and it took him a second to see straight again. He tried to get back up, but the second he stirred he was met with a sword bigger than he was directly pointed at his neck.

“What was Hades thinking, sending me to fight you?” The stranger mumbled. “You're not match for me.”

“Sora!” He heard Donald squawk.

“Kid!” He heard Phil shout. “Hang on, I'll see if I can't find those girls of yours!”

The stranger's eyes darted away from Sora. “I assume that's the Keyblade?”

Sora decided now was a bad time to nod.

Something Sora couldn't recognize flickered in the stranger's eyes. His sword drifted upwards, just enough that Sora felt safe to breathe again. “There's no need to take you out. Just hand me the Keyblade.”

“WHAT THE ME IS HE DOING!”

It took Pain and Panic to calm down the flames this time. Hades would be more embarrassed by it if he wasn't absolutely livid.

“Why can't a pawn just listen to its master?” He sighed.

He rearranged the pieces.

The sword was removed from his neck completely. Sora would have been relieved if he it wasn't pointed at something else now. From his viewpoint, Sora couldn't quite make it out. He could tell that big and black and scary looking.

He scrambled to his feet and grabbed the Keyblade. Three heads lowered to look him in the eye and growled at him.

“PUPPY!” He heard Katie exclaim.

“Kids, I got two words for ya!” Phil shouted from the sidelines. “ATTACK!”

Sora was about to shout back how wrong that statement was but he was distracted as the dog lunged for him. He jumped out of the way, nearly tripping on his feet as he did.

Dani jumped inbetween them, tossing her Keyblade. It landed in the middle dog’s mouth, prying its jaws open. The dog shook its head wildly, and the Keybade went flying.

“That was my only good idea, run away!”

Sora jumped out of the way again. No, but that was a good idea! They just needed to have better control. He scanned the battlefield. There. He had a plan.

Fireballs cascaded from the sky. Sora ran. He tripped. He rolled. If there wasn’t so much going on already, he probably would have found it very impressive. He somersaulted straight into the exact person he needed to talk to.

“Hey! Can you give me a boost onto the dog’s back?”

The warrior knocked back a group of fireballs with his sword. “Can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Can’t fly.”

“But what about that wing on your back?”

The man looked conflicted. “It represents my inner turmoil. But you might have an idea there.”

He pulled off his scarf and handed it to Sora. Before Sora could ask any further, he ran off, sword raised.

Sora needed another plan.

“Goofy, duck!” He ordered.

“Donald!” Donald snapped.

“No, duck!”

“Oh! Got it!” Goofy bent over. Sora charged and jumped on his back. As he rose, he just managed to grab Donald by his wing and hoist him onto his shoulders.

Donald seemed to get the idea. As soon as they were steady, he jumped onto the dog’s back. He reached for Sora. The back would have already been unstable even without the two other dog heads angrily snapping at him. He moved as quickly as he could and wrapped the scarf around the dog’s necks.

“Alright.” Sora said. “Now let’s get you back to where you’re from, alright?”

Cerberus went for a walkie.

“‘And thus I hereby dub thee Junior Heroes—”

“Junior?” Donald snapped.

Phil looked up from the decree. “I can’t just throw around the title willy-nilly! You’ve got a long way to go before you can be considered bona-fide heroes! Now, ‘Junior Heroes, and do confer the rights to participate in the games. Furthermore’—hey where’s that blonde friend of yours?”

Nadine shrugged. “She’s so proud of figuring out how to move the pedestal that she’s now trying to nail Jello to a tree. Don’t know what’s she’s expecting, we haven’t seen a single tree since we got here…”

“Hey Mr. Moody Pants!”

The warrior barely acknowledged her presence. “Strife.”

“Huh?”

“Mr. Strife. But if you have to call me anything, call me Cloud.” He said.

“Good lord that cannot be your actual name.” Katie stopped that train of thought when she realized just how moody Mr. Moody Pants looked. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve lost something important.” Cloud said. “I thought if I worked with Hades I could find it. But instead I just fell further into Darkness.”

Katie joined him on the steps. “I’m sorry. Hey, would you like some Jello?”

Cloud let out a breath of air that may or may not have been a laugh. “I think I’ll pass. You’re looking for something to, aren’t you?”

“In a sense.” Katie said. “That’s more Dani, Hanna and Sora’s motus. I just want everything to be better.”

“That might be harder to find.” He stood. “Let me give you some advice: Whatever you do, don’t lose sight of your Light.”

Author’s Note: I really don’t have any strong feelings about Hercules. It’s fine. Don’t think I’ve actually seen it all the way through in one sitting though. But Olympus Coliseum as a world is baffling to me. On the one hand, I absolutely get the tournament arc theme (and I think it works a lot better as an introduction world than Wonderland); but on the other, why is this the world that we see the Final Fantasy characters in their Final Fantasy roles? And why is there no follow up to it?

The beginning part was based on Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Yes they were talking about ancient Greece and not Rome where Olympus Coliseum is supposed to take place, but let’s face it: Hercules’ internal mythology is a mess.

#Fic #OCS #Simple/Clean #Dani Scott #Katie Williams #Nadine Anderson #Hanna Scott #Sora #Donald Duck #Goofy #Cloud Strife #Kingdom Hearts

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viralhottopics · 7 years

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Why developers struggle to make video game cameras that don’t annoy you

Image: vicky leta/mashable

Final Fantasy XV was in development for 10 years. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people across six different game development studios helped created it. Yet its camera a fundamental part of the way players interact with the games world is severely flawed.

The weight on the games metaphorical shoulders was enormous not just for the future of Final Fantasy as a game series, but possibly for the entire future of game consoles in Japan, according to game director Hajime Tabata. And it delivered on its enormous promise in many ways. How is it possible that a game into which so much was invested can have such a seemingly simplistic flaw?

SEE ALSO: The painstaking process behind making strategy guides, from the guy whos spent his life doing it

The camera is the interactive window through which we experience video games; the term describes not just our perspective and view of a digital space, but the freedom of or restrictions on how we as players control that viewpoint.

The camera is the interactive window through which we experience video games.

You can see and feel camera problems in games whenever the view is obstructed by a tree during a crucial moment, or when the perspective flips around the wrong way to show you the opposite of what youre trying to look at, or when the camera just wont do what you want no matter how you poke and prod at your controller.

These are the problems that have plagued third-person action games games in which the camera hovers outside the characters body rather than peering through the characters own perspective since Super Mario 64 popularized 3D games 20 years ago. How is it these issues havent been ironed out over the last two decades? Whats really going on in games that have camera problems? Why is it apparently so difficult to make video game cameras just work?

We reached out to the developers behind third-person games with their own unique camera challenges including Final Fantasy XV, Gravity Rush 2, Abzu, Hitman, and A Hat in Time to find out.

The common answer: its harder than youd think to make a great video game camera.

The underwater problem

Many developers run into problems making their cameras work in games that involve simply running around on the ground a 2D plane within a 3D space. Developer Giant Squids underwater exploration game Abzu adds another axis to that equation and a totally different set of control challenges problems that few developers of games with underwater controls have ever been able to solve.

Its an interesting problem doing a camera in an underwater game because you have this unique environment where the character can swim in all three dimensions of the space, said Matt Nava, Giant Squids founder and Abzus director.

The developers looked at every other underwater game they could get their hands on, and Nava said the most common solution in the past has been for developers to restrict player movement by not letting the characters vertical pitch extend too far up or down preventing them from doing a vertical flip, basically.

One of the first things we did in Abzu was decide, you know what, were going to try and solve this problem. Were going to let the player do full loops, because thats super fun and graceful, Nava said. We had to solve: what happens when youre upside-down?

We had to solve: what happens when youre upside-down? – Matt Nava, Giant Squid

What indeed? If the camera followed the character like it normally would, the camera would turn upside-down with the character, which would be nauseatingly disorienting. Instead, the game tracks multiple factors to detect when the player is attempting to do a loop or turn-around and automatically zooms the camera out to show the full arc. It tracks the characters movement speed and the speed at which the characters pitch is changing to determine how big the loop will be, and how far out the camera should move

Meanwhile, if the player steers the character in a half loop, leaving the character facing the opposite direction and upside-down, the camera automatically sets itself back behind the character while the character flips over on its own. During this animation the game also briefly wrests camera control away from the player often a cardinal sin in action games, but a necessary one here.

We got it just right, so people didnt really notice that there are moments in the game where steering doesnt do anything, Nava said.

Balancing for two types of players

Taking camera control away momentarily isnt a perfect solution, though. More experienced players tend to move the camera manually more often than inexperienced ones who are less accustomed to steering characters through three-dimensional space. The veteran player wants full camera control, while the noob needs the camera to move automatically without them constantly adjusting it. Balancing between the two can be a massive headache.

Many games solution is to let players adjust the camera but impose a timer that automatically resets it behind the character again if the game doesnt detect any input from the player for a set amount of time.

Issues can arise when that timer is too short or too long, especially in games where you move at high speeds, like driving games. If the camera takes too long to reset, inexperienced players might struggle with the controls. But if it resets too quickly, experienced players get annoyed feeling like they dont have control over it. Thats one problem that plagued the late 2016 release The Last Guardian, a long-in-development game with lots of strengths but undeniably outdated controls and camera mechanics.

I think that probably the most common thing that [developers] do wrong with the camera is they try to auto-correct it at the wrong time they do it when you really want it to let you control it yourself, Nava said.

Its sometimes really, really hard to guess what the player actually wants to look at. – Jesper Hylling, IO Interactive

Square Enixs 2016 Hitman game does the exact opposite, to its great credit. We are fairly atypical in the way that we actually allow the player to walk toward the camera, said IO Interactives Jesper Hylling, Hitmans lead game designer. Its much easier to control the character if you just look at his back all the time, and typically the direction you want to move is the direction you want to look. Except in Hitman, thats not always the case.

Often in Hitman you need to observe a target while assassin Agent 47 faces the other direction to seem nonchalant, or flee from pursuers while keeping an eye on them. So having a camera that tries to reset itself behind the shoulders of the main character wouldnt really work for our game, Hylling said. Also you get to do these cool moments where you walk away from explosions.

That also makes it the level designers responsibility to direct players attention towards timed, scripted events in subtle ways without having to yank the camera controls away from them. For example, in the games Paris mission the main target is first spotted descending a staircase in the mansions lavish entrance hall just as players walk in. Hes hard to miss, and thats deliberate, Hylling said.

The drawback, he conceded, is that some players especially less experienced gamers struggle with the controls because theyre used to cameras that correct themselves. But its sometimes really, really hard to guess what the player actually wants to look at, he said. So we try to do that as little as possible.

Camera controls as gameplay

The developers of Gravity Rush 2 faced a similar obstacle, compounded by the games unique premise. The early 2017 PS4 games gravity-shifting gameplay lets you totally alter the main characters perspective at any time and hurtle through the air at great speeds in any direction. No rule of physics or game design is sacred even the horizon can flip this way and that, proving disorienting for many players.

With the games totally unfettered range of movement, it would have been impossible for the developers to design a system that could predict where players wanted to look to move the camera there automatically. So they didnt try. Instead, they left the camera controls entirely to the player.

There were a lot of other challenges during game development, but designing the camera controls for this game is perhaps the challenge I remember most of all, the games lead designer, Sony Computer Entertainments Junya Okura, said through a translator.

For this game, we made the decision to enable free-flowing travel and complete autonomy over camera control these two principles superseded all else, the games lead player action programmer, Toshitake Tsuchikura, explained. If we programed the camera to move automatically, the unique gameplay experience we crafted for players would suffer significantly. Although newer players might find it hard to get used to, he said, they thought this totally free system would satisfy our biggest fans and that players would feel a sense of progression from mastering the camera controls over time.

No rule of physics or game design is sacred.

Even so, Okura said their main objective in designing the camera was to prevent a feeling among action game players who usually dont have to think about controlling the camera from a feeling of being forced to do something that theyre not used to. Tsuchikura added that they wanted the camera to follow players intentions faithfully.

In other words, they wanted control over the camera to feel natural, even for people who arent used to doing so in a game that leaves it entirely up to the player. To help accomplish that they made Kat, the games lovable protagonist, the cameras focal point at all times she never leaves the center of the screen.

Motion controls are another factor. By default, players can make fine camera adjustments by rotating the PS4s DualShock controller, which Tsuchikura said provides players with a feeling of true motion and a floating sensation.

Free swirling with an unfixed horizontal line sometimes gives you strong motion sickness, he said. On the other hand, a sense of naturally swinging movements as if youre floating in the air in this game is achieved through the motion sensor detecting the hands movement. Its essential for the floating experience that Gravity Rush 2 is pursuing.

Designing the cameras behavior during Gravity Rush 2s chaotic combat was its own challenge. Because enemies can appear all around Kat at any point, which the developers call omnidirectional battles, it remained important to let players retain full camera control during combat. But that also makes it difficult to track enemy locations, and more than one player has wondered why the game doesnt provide a way to lock onto enemies.

Okura said they considered adding a lock-on mechanic during the early phases of development on the original Gravity Rush, which launched on the portable PS Vita system in 2012. There were two sides to that internal debate, he said: on one hand, adding lock-on could make battles easier to manage, which would appeal to more players; but on the other hand, it would destroy the camera controls, the freedom of which is a core part of the series design. The idea of trusting our players with autonomy matched with our design philosophy, he explained.

This idea may be old fashioned, but I believe that its one of the important elements of action games to experience the joy of overcoming some difficulty or stress and to be proud of the improvement of your skill, Tsuchikura added. Please dont be prejudiced against the right stick. Its one of the powerful weapons for action gamers!

Breaking the line of sight

Even a comparatively simpler game like the in-development A Hat in Time faces these problems. As a 3D platformer in the tradition of games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, AHiT wrestles with the same questions those pioneering games dealt with in the 90s.

Even though the game has an idea of the things the player thinks are interesting, it can be wrong, said Jonas Kaerlev, CEO of small Danish studio Gears for Breakfast. Thats why, if at any time in A Hat in Time the player moves the thumbstick, the game just says, OK, well chill out for a moment to let you do your thing, and then once weve figured out if youre done with your thing, well take over again.

Even though the game has an idea of the things the player thinks are interesting, it can be wrong. – Jonas Kaerlev, Gears for Breakfast

The game reacts differently to varying amounts of input on the camera controls, including trying to detect accidental inputs in order to ignore them. But thats an extremely resource-intensive process and can be taxing on the games overall systems, which Kaerlev said is why many modern platformers, like Super Mario 3D World, choose a fixed perspective rather than more traditional 3D camera controls.

Sometimes you just want to focus on the basics and always keep the camera on whats interesting, he said. Plus, that lets you avoid breaking what he said is one of the golden rules of game cameras: never break line of sight. In other words, the player always needs to be able to see the character theyre controlling, which can be difficult to accomplish when players have full movement and camera control.

Traditional solutions for this vary. In Super Mario 64 the camera moves automatically to attempt to keep Mario in view, one of the many factors that made the 1997 classics pioneering 3D controls infamously wonky. The new The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, handles obstacles like tree foliage by making them transparent if they would otherwise obscure your view of the hero, Link.

But Kaerlev said that can suck a games processing resources dry, especially as game graphics have become exponentially more complex over the years which is is why newer games (Breath of the Wild being an exception) tend to find other solutions.

“I quickly found out that players dont want full control.” – Kaerlev

A Hat in Time uses a novel two-pronged approach. Whenever we know the player is definitely, unquestionably going to have the camera be blocked by this thing, we put in the extra power [to turn the object transparent], Kaerlev said. Other times, though, they simply draw the player character, Hat Kid, on top of the object as a silhouette, which accomplishes the same goal letting the player see the character at all times while using far less computing power.

Gears for Breakfast is a small studio, and Kaerlev is relatively inexperienced. But throughout development hes been struck by the fact that developers of all sizes and backgrounds have wrestled with these issues throughout the history of video games but theyve also all managed to come up with elegant solutions.

When I started development on A Hat in Time I had no idea how to make the camera, Kaerlev said. I just gave the player full control and said OK, whatever, do your thing. But I quickly found out that players dont want full control. So Ive sort of had to learn, as Ive developed the game, that these kind of rules make a lot of sense. Its kind of beautiful, in a way, that a lot of developers with very different backgrounds come to the same conclusions.

Putting the camera back in players hands

The problems with Final Fantasy XVs camera werent due to inattention. Hidemi Mizoguchi, the very engineer responsible for the games camera system, made obvious the staggering consideration that went into its development at every step.

Yet FFXVs camera is plagued by all the issues that many game developers strive to avoid from objects in the game obscuring your view of the camera to control being yanked away by the game.

Mizoguchi said (through a translator) that some of their challenges stemmed from the games wildly varying scenarios. Youre not just running around as main character Noctis. The game has to keep track of four characters plus multiple enemies of different sizes during combat. Or you could be driving the Regalia down the highway, or riding chocobos through the forest. One of the developers goals was to create a camera system that would guarantee quality in any situation, which even in a far simpler game is a tall order.

Part of that involved tweaking the environment design to better accommodate the camera. To get rid of any element that might have caused difficulty in exploration and battles, we adjusted background modeling and camera collision countless times while staff worked on the environment, he said. Even if props and background elements looked good as a part of a landscape, we adjusted and changed placements of any object without hesitation if it created stress during battle. That type of deliberate, manual attention is important, he noted.

The camera is designed upon the premise that, at its basis, it belongs to the player. – Hidemi Mizoguchi, Square Enix

FFXV straddles a weird line between an action and a role-playing game. You have full control during some battles. Other times the game moves the camera for you, often to showcase some gargantuan enemy. Mizoguchi said they knew the camera would have to be flexible, so they created basic, core camera code on top of which they could layer whatever additional functionality they needed for a given situation.

By having this common functionality, the camera could receive control input by the player and control collision determination, while also making it possible to create cinematic framing for both still and dynamic moments and even blend the two together, he said. The camera is designed upon the premise that, at its basis, it belongs to the player.

For all the games strengths, and for all this attention to detail, its camera is frequently cited as one of the games most problematic elements, by fans on places like Reddit and GameFAQs, as well as by critics on sites like IGN, Polygon, Kotaku, Glixel, and countless others. The developers even attempted to address the camera issues in a day one patch, with debatable results.

The problems in this case seem to come down to sheer scope. Its not just the size of the game, though, its any of the issues that developers face in fine-tuning the dozens of invisible factors that can affect the camera at any given point.

Getting the battle system in FFXV into its current shape required a long process of trial and error, Mizoguchi said. Even after we established a stylish battle in which the player can freely move around in the air, it still took time to adjust the camera so that it would not hinder the action as the places and situations changed. We continued to adjust right up to the time we submitted the master build.

This is all so much more complex than any casual player might guess. And thats by design. As Mizoguchi put it, With a well-adjusted camera, players are able to comfortably play a game without noticing that a camera exists. All the developers interviewed agreed that this is the number one identifier of a great video game camera.

It doesnt take much to throw the camera out of whack a fact that, if nothing else, should make us all appreciate the great video game cameras in our lives all the more.

Mike Rougeau is a freelance journalist who lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend and two dogs.

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