It's a topic I've been thinking about for quite a while, and with nothing else to really write about tonight, I figure it's as good a time as any to air this out there. Much like my thoughts on how almost anything can be made into a TCG-Based game, I try and think of other genres certain games could be made into and be better off for it. It's not always that easy, of course, and it's not like every game can be switched to something else without losing a lot of what makes it 'good' (MGS as a FPS rather than a TP Stealth game, for example), but some things just.....well, once you start thinking of them in 'this' genre mold, it's hard to think of why the game creators didn't see it your way.
The above pictured game is clearly Dissidia: Final Fantasy (actually, Duodecim, but details, details) which, as you may or may not know, is some sort of weird Fighting Game/RPG hybrid with a higher emphasis on the Fighting game portion. While you might not think it (I certainly didn't) it -does- actually work, and Dissidia provided me many hours of amusement; the fact that I still haven't picked up the sequel (er, Prequel) is more a technicality than anything. Still, even though the fighting game thing works, I look at it, look at the setup, the structure, and yearn for a Tactics-style game. (Like Final Fantasy Tactics. Clearly. Funnily enough, this isn't at all influenced by my upcoming playthrough.)
How could a Tactics game starring every main character and villain from Final Fantasy 1-13 not succeed? With some exceptions, they're all set up with turn-based styles in mind -anyway-, and Cloud has even been in a Tactics-stlyed game already! Granted, it...wasn't the best cameo, but it was a cameo nonetheless, and one they assuredly learned from....well....no, no they probably didn't. But they could've and we're playing a game of 'should of could of' so just go with it. If you look at it, it just makes sense, and in a Tactics environment there could be more characters pulled, surely.
They already have the generic foes in place (which, again, could become more varied in a Tactics setting), the Manikins, who are simply crystallized forms of the heroes and villains, and the overarching goal is in place and ripe for 'dramatic turns and twists' and the likes as one would expect from such a game. Dissidia already has a focus on Equipment like a more classic RPG as well, so that mechanic wouldn't need too much tweaking. I guess you do love a bit of what made Dissidia good, in that you don't get to fly around and slam folks against a wall (Invisible or no) over and over again, but I think the overall experience would be much better in the different genre. At least....better than it'll be as a rhythm game.
There's other games I could use in an example for this (Honestly, the recent announcement of Warriors Orochi 3, which is what it'll be called in America should it head over has me wishing for, again, a tactics version of the game or at least a Romance of the Three Kingdoms-style War Game version) but Dissidia is the one I hold up chiefly. It could honestly work and work well and I always hold onto the hope that Squeenix will see this, and release a Dissidia game with a good cast of characters from each game in the series, with possibly cameos from other games. I guess we'll have to see, but I'm not going to hold me breath; Squeenix make a good decision?
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy is hardly new, but as we know, my reactions to Squeenix things are generally delayed if simply because I choose to ignore most Squeenix news like the plague for a while. Of course, we all know this can horribly backfire if Squeenix puts out something genuinely neat like Type-0, but, hey, that's like a once in a blue moon thing, honestly. The horrible backfiring thing...it ain't happening here with Theatrhythm.
It's hard to decide where to start here, in all honesty. Of course, I'm lying, I know exactly where to start.
The character design is atrocious. Now, I know Chibi style things have a place somewhere (my personal preference places it in the trash can, but 'opinions') but when you do Chibi, you have to do it right. Those things up above? They are not right. They are soulless beings of pure nightmares. Mostly because they're the exact same body dressed up in different outfits to denote the different characters. The outfits are, admittedly, kind of cool, and there is something about it that works....it's just not the characters themselves, which is kind of an important distinction.
It should be noted, if it's not immediately apparent, that Theathrythm takes place in the Dissidia universe. Which is just.....yeah. I guess they just didn't want to make another universe wherein a bunch of Final Fantasy characters got mish-mashed together for....some reason. Why they're fighting monsters instead of Manikins or, you know, each other is quite beyond me, and I'm sure there's a perfectly logical story behind this ga-hahahahahahahahahahahaha, yeah, alright. Clearly, this has to take place in the 12th or earlier cycle of Dissidia, as we can clearly see Lightning above who was only in Duodecim because prequels get more characters for some reason. (I know the reason, but, y'know, spoilers.)
The above pictured Battle Mode features putting four character in a party (dunno if you get to choose or what) and using a Rhythm game to.....fight monsters? I guess. It honestly seems like a handheld (Instrument) Hero/Rock Band game, skinned with nonsensical things for some reason. The premise honestly escapes me completely and I just don't....know where they're going with this at all. I can imagine it being addictive, of course, but I'm not about to expect anything approaching genuine fun unless something different comes about in the coming months.
As far as we know, there's only going to be three songs per game from Final Fantasy 1 to 13, one for each of the Field, Battle and Event stages featured in the game. Rough math indicates that is only 39 songs, which, last I checked, was smaller than 50. Definitely smaller than more than 50 in such a case. Yet, all reports indicate that the game will contain over 50 songs, so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that they're just kinda...holding back for now. Which, hey, whatever works for them. Just.....just saying. I'm sure there's a lot more depth to the game than these early reports point to.
That's about all I cans ay on the game currently, as this heat is destroying me. Stay frosty, folks.
I've never really been the type to actually sit down and think about my purchases other than going, "I want that game, when does it come out? Okay, I will get it then or after." and then, well, doing that. I sort of mentally budget things, sure, but what I'm getting at is that I never really plan these things. So I usually find out the date and then when it's two weeks or so til then, I go, "Oh, wait, that's coming out Already?!" It's pretty good times. So this is me putting down some of the games I'm anticipating buying sometime, or at least considering it, so I have a reference.
Releases: March 22, 2011
It's been well-established here that I am a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series - well, most of KOEI's series...es - so that I'm planning on getting this is not surprising in the least. Or at least, it shouldn't be. I can understand people's complaints about the games: They rarely vary from throwing you on a map to kill hundreds of Chinese soldiers while narrating the same story of an ancient novel based on an even more ancient war. But, well, I like that. The whole of it all is rather interesting if you really get into the story of it, which admittedly is less prominent than most other games would dare, and seeing the different nuances and ways about the same occurrences they take is fun to see.
However, new to the series, is the addition of a whole new kingdom; that of Jin, the kingdom that was the final product of the war that unified China in the 3rd Century. While the games have usually focused more on the infancy of the Three Kingdoms war (The Yellow Turban Revolt, Dong Zhuo's treachery and the fall of the Han, etc.) and then usually tailored the stories ending to whichever kingdom you were fighting for unifying China. However, in reality, it was Wei that ended up winning, but was then turned into Jin when a different family took power from the Caos. That Jin is in the game says more of a focus will be placed on the latter half of the war, the subsequent dividing of the unified Kingdom, and the reunifying of said Kingdom, which should be really interesting.
Releases: March 8, 2011
This one completely surprised me when I looked for the release date, and, considering I'm still a bit iffy on it, I won't be picking it up right away. Down the line, though, when it's cheap? Definitely. You'll notice that this is also a KOEI-Tecmo game, one built by the Dynasty Warriors team (I can only assume), and also a Hack-n-Slash game in the same vein. Of course, it is a bit different, much bloodier and gorier than other Warriors games, and decidedly more character-focused. Instead of picking your character and going about your ways, your character is dictated by chapter, and force, covering different heroes from the Ten Year Trojan War.
The Warriors franchises have grown over quite a few games: Dynasty, Samurai, Bladestorm, Gundam, and Orochi, not to mention injecting a similar style into Fist of the North Star with the game, Ken's Rage. So this is just another attempt to branch out, and honestly I'm all for it. Of course, I am a fan of the gameplay where some aren't; I just can't resist a good brawler or hack-n-slasher, but seeing all these different takes on historical periods (Of course, omitting the Gundam, Orochi and FotNS games with this statement) is always entertaining and serves to lay a groundwork for me personally when I go in and start researching. If it wasn't obvious, I am a bit of a History buff after all. I hope it does well enough to continue encouraging this widening of their horizons.
Releases: June 7, 2011
I loved inFamous. That right there is quite possibly a really large under-statement, but I cannot emphasize it enough. I spent so much time playing the game, and I know I beat it at least 4 times, possibly more. I'm just an absolute sucker for superhero stories, and even more of a sucker for Electricity-themed things; the manipulation of it and the like. So having the origin story of an Electric Superhero as a video game? Yeah, this was made for me, or at least it felt like it, especially while playing it. Even when I was shard-hunting and fighting through the third island with enemies everywhere. And that's just because the game itself was just so good, I could play it and have enough fun that I didn't even care about some of the complaints others had.
Some of those complaints even seem ironed out in the sequel, namely the animations which, admittedly, weren't all that great. They seem a lot better from what I've heard; I've intentionally let myself out of the loop on this game since I want to see how they can surprise me, as I'm understandably expecting big things. I know they'll be able to deliver, of course, but it's fun to have the anticipation and my own notions while going blindly into the game to see where the middle-ground lies.
Releases: March 15, 2011
Do I have to put anything here? I don't think I do.
But just because, here's a video. It's called the Story Trailer for a reason, though, mind, so if you'd rather have no spoilers going in, feel free to skip it. Even though the Narrator's voice rules.
Releases: March 22, 2011
Now, Dissidia was actually a pretty good game, despite it practically saying "Fanwankery" all over the cover, and despite the fact that it was, in essence, a fighting game, where I almost universally dislike fighting games. I guess it's because the fights aren't that drawn out; it's not necessarily about whittling your foe's health bar down, but rather taking the more RPG-ish approach of building your attack and dealing it. Raw numbers reign, as your brave is just how much damage you do. And there's enough other RPG-ish elements in it to make it feel like a rather good blend of the genres. Equipment, items, summons, traveling, the grind, all RPG staples right there in your fighting game, with a few other things thought out nicely for a portable game.
New characters does not a new game make, of course, and even though that's a big focus of Duodecim, there's other new things, including a whole new map system for the story modes. Gone are the barren chess board type maps that you have to run through, replaced by a more decidedly Final Fantasy feeling World Map, at least from the screenshots, that's what I've gleamed. Coming with that is a whole new mechanic of assists, something that will surely add a little more strategy to your play, not to mention a revamping of the gameplay mode that tries to mimic a turn-based game, for those who may not exactly prefer Dissidia's standard playing style. On top of that, the ability exists for everyone with a fanfic to make it into an actual Squeenix game, via the story crafting tools they included.
My god, what have they done?!
I'm sure there might be a couple more games I'm overlooking, and there's games further off on the horizon that I'll have to make a new installment for, a little closer to their release, but this has been a pretty nice look into the pain my wallet is going to feel eventually, as assuredly these games will be part of my library at some time, though not necessarily on the dates listed as their release.
The original Dissidia might be a good place to start. Since, as we know, Dissidia 2: Dissidia Harder, will feature a save import function to retain all your character levels, and a special accessory just for importing. Now, granted, Dissidia 2: Electric Boogaloo (I'll stop that now) might be more fun, we don't know, but it'll be an extra $10, a $10 you can save by playing the first and waiting for the second to shed that!
Should you decide to do that, you'll likely end up looking for an easy way to level up your characters. Trust me, we all went there eventually; and it is fairly easy. And not really that exploitative either, for those of you who might worry about that.
So, what will you need?
Ex-Death unlocked. (Which might be automatic, I forget. It's been a really long time.)
The ability to set your Foe's level in a free battle to 100. (For max results.)
A Manual Magic Pot summon. (You'll be able to tell it's Manual because it won't say Auto)
(Optional) +Exp items (Chocobo feathers, etc.)
(Optional) Bonus Day
Now. Instead of explaining everything at first, I'll give a little visual demonstration of what the Level-up trick entails.
So, watching that at first, you might just be wondering what the balls is going on. So I'll go ahead and explain it a little before getting into the finer details. As you might have noticed, at the start of this battle, Squall is level 1. This was on my Bonus day, and Squall had a Chocobo Feather on, with a Summon Used/Unused combo for a seamless 1.5x effect on his Experience. So, bonuses on top of bonuses is the key.
The overarching goal is to get Ex-Death to hit you with a Brave attack, not an HP attack. It will break you, and put his Brave all the way to 9999. All you have to do after that is avoid being hit even more than you were already. Then, the final goal is to use Magic Pot to get your Brave to 9999, attack him with an HP attack, and that's a One-Hit KO for anybody, even someone who has 99 levels on you.
So, here's what happened in the video. Starting at 0:10, I went poking at Ex-Death; not only because I was testing how apt he was to dodge my attacks, but because I was trying to force him to use his teleport. When he does that, he usually teleports more or less into you, which counts as a Brave attack. (Brave, btw, determines how much damage your HP attacks deal. As in, directly affects; the amount of Brave you have is the damage you deal.) When he'd do that, I'd hit Break status and bam, easy as that. This eventually does happen around 0:33. Afterward, you see I play a little keep away while also running in to grab the EX-Mode item. While not -necessary- to keep your foe away from these, allowing them to go into EX-Mode generally ends poorly for you.
Also vital to note is that I stayed away until my Brave refilled past Break. Always remember this. If you try to use Magic Pot while you're in Break status, it will miss, and you've lost it for that battle. Once you get to that point, Ex-Death has 9999 brave, and you're back from the brink, it's just a matter of picking your spot. Watch him while he moves and wait for a jump if possible; the worst that can happen is he teleports and Breaks you again. Then dash in, and for the optimal chances of not having your Magic Pot wasted, use it as you're executing your HP attack. Sometimes your foe will have summons that cut your Brave or the like and in those cases, you're in for a much longer fight. But they don't always activate instantaneously, so minimizing the window he can use it is key.
As you see, it goes off without a hitch. With one single attack, I gained nearly a million, (Million. With an M.) Exp, and that, coupled with the other few pick-and-prod attacks, one battle gained 65 levels for me. In just over a minute.
So there you are! Hopefully the video coupled with the explanation will help you if you decide to get Dissidia or already have it and are possibly playing it in anticipation of the prequel. (Yes it's a prequel. Why your levels carry over in that case is beyond me.)
