No, Wakko, it’s time to go to E3! Or it will be in a few days, anyway. But of course the time leading up to yon departure is always pretty manic. So I hope you’ll forgive me if I take the lazy approach and just drop a bunch of links form work here in lieu of actual blogging. I will also summarize the comments!
I was asked to name some things I want to see in Final Fantasy XIII-2, and came up with this list. Comment results: My desire not to see random battles in the game indicates that I didn’t actually play FFXIII.
I checked out the 3DS eShop and wasn’t entirely impressed. Comment results: My failure to be entirely impressed is final, devastating proof that 1UP hates Nintendo.
We recorded the first portion of a Dragon Quest-themed Retronauts Live podcast. Comment results: None; the only people who listen to Retronauts are the people who call in, and they weren’t able to call due to phone issues.
I listen to Retronauts and have never called in… primarily because I’ve always been busy when you’ve been recording live.
PLEASE tell me a new Retronauts will be out before Monday, I need something to help me get to LA for E3.
Nevermind, my iTunes feed didn’t update. Yay!
I really enjoyed FF13.
Now, to each his own, I still don’t really get the hatred towards random battles. To me any anti-JRPG (gosh, do I hate even writing that term…) sentiment is more trendy than legitimate, so maybe it’s just that bias. But I would honestly like to know what the problem is there.
Not trying to sound nasty, so I apologize if it comes off that way.
Random battles and battle transitions have always felt like necessary evils based on technical limitations so when FFXII did a great job of overlapping exploration and combat, every RPG since then that doesn’t do at least as much has felt like a step backwards.
Thanks! People can be so mean on the internet nowadays, I appreciate the kind reply.
Battle transitions I agree with – unless they’re really, really quick, which almost never happens (if we do go to the battle screen quickly, we have to watch the good guys and bad guys pose/drop one liners or look vicious, respectively)
Chrono Trigger proved that it was quite possible to side-step those limitations with 16-bit hardware, though.
They’re disruptive and intrusive. I often find myself disoriented in a dungeon after being whisked away from exploration to a standalone room and back again. I wouldn’t even mind random battles if they happened on-map as in Parasite Eve. I don’t automatically hate random battles, but they’re rarely done well (see Etrian Odyssey for random battles done well).
You’re not the only one who enjoyed FFXIII. There’s at least two of us. But I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who liked Vanille.
I haven’t gotten too deep in the story (I’m only 10 hours in), but I have no ill will towards Vanille. The only really offensive thing she’s done is treat Sazh like a pedophile when they were camping. Something that just didn’t come off well in English.
I do hate Snow with the passion of a thousand suns though. When he got everyone on the bridge killed only to run off with a smile, I was done with that douche.
For the first time, I’m starting to feel you’re losing the plot a bit with the 3DS. You’re looking at it as an adult hardcore gamer – which is understandable, since it is what you are. You just seem to have forgotten how to smile, when dismissing Nintendo giving its users two free games/toys.
Your criticism would hold some weight if Nintendo gave any indication that the 3DS is intended for a mainstream audience, but the system’s price and lineup suggest it’s still targeting a core market. Certainly they’re not going out of their way to help the eShop hook the casual user. For the time being, the 3DS is targeted squarely at the more sophisticated user, and until that changes I’ll be judging it on those terms (i.e. its own terms).