Oh, Times; You Is A-Changin' 3

3/23/09

So near the end of disk 1 I find I'm getting a little
bored. The really interesting story beats seemed to have come and gone to set
the stage for the conflict. While it's still interesting, I see the plot
starting to descend into RPG normalcy. Granted, even lame Final Fantasy
games still have good stories compared to their peers, but I'm starting to get
the impression that VII is just a graphically enhanced VI. That
may sound harsh, but the reality of if is that VI was still a really
good game and that the evolution of the genre wasn't really that profound at
this point; merely cosmetic changes as opposed to a massive game system
overhaul. Still, I'm having a good time playing it and I'm still glad I got a
chance to go back to it. For now.



Since I really want to get through it as fast as possible, I'm using various
walkthroughs on the internet. This is kind of a blessing and a curse since I
know there are some things that I would have missed completely without it, but
there isn't much of a sense of discovery. Then again, when I originally played
the game in 1997, I used the Bradygames guide to mosey on by my foes (which may
have been the last time I used one, now that I think about it), so it would be hypocritical
to complain now. In seeing the story unfold quicker than I remember, it seems
to me that my characters left Midgard way too early. Structurally, I think it
would have served the game better to keep me in the city for the first disk and
then open up the world with the second, effectively cutting the game in half.
The affecting, oppressive atmosphere that was a real draw for the beginning of
the game seems totally yanked out from under me when we left the city, and it
makes the rest of the game feel like the above mentioned RPG mediocrity when
you travel an over world and hop from town to town, dungeon to dungeon.



One last thing: I've had almost no trouble so far. Yes, some of the enemies can
gang up on you and one or two of the bosses have some dumb way of fighting it
(if it turns orange use melee attacks, magic if it turns purple), but most
things are a complete push over. Even though I'm doing a little bit of level
grinding here and there (which is a total fucking drag in this game), I didn't
expect to basically crush all incoming trouble. Of course, now that I say this
I'm going to start getting stomped on. My other big fear is that it will end up
like just about all of Tri-Ace's games where the enemies and bosses are a joke
during the game and the last boss is so totally different you have to basically
break the way you've been playing the whole game and get this one certain
item/skill/more levels to beat it. If that happens, you bet your ass that this
game will go unfinished. I just don't have the patience for another Lezard.



More to come