The Final Fantasy Project: Final Fantasy III, part 4
Artwork from a sketch by Yoshitaka Amano
Let me tell you something, ladies and gentlemen: I’m in some real trouble here. I kind of expected that by this point in the project I’d be halfway-ish through the game, like I was with Final Fantasy II, but darn if there isn’t a lot of good stuff going on here and if we’re not even at the second of four crystals. This is not going to be a shorter jaunt, it seems. I’d be much more upset about this if Final Fantasy III weren’t a joy to play.
Albeit one with some reservations. I mean, we’re up to the Tower of Owen now, and this dungeon pulls in a lot of stuff that really could have remained by the wayside. Sure, it was cute when you had me turn my entire party into miniature versions of ourselves for about a year, but now you’re asking me to turn the group into a bunch of toads. Toads! Go home, designers, you’re drunk. At least it’s not something you need to keep up for the whole dungeon.
Hard Project: Magic: the Gathering
Some splices are doomed to die on the operating table.
I’ve had Magic: the Gathering in my life in one form or another since I was eleven. The Revised edition came out in 1994, and that’s when I started playing, scrounging up enough spare cash to pick up a couple of booster packs by mowing lawns (and occasionally bugging my parents for an allowance). It wasn’t the most efficient way to assemble a deck, and in fact was downright bad for making something functional, but the point is that I did it and I somehow even managed to win on occasion. To this day, I have no idea how.
Of course, for a game that’s survived this long it’s had a few video games, but for years there was nothing except a PlayStation game that was widely reviled as a biotoxin. Now we’ve got the annual Duels of the Planeswalkers games – which are just limited versions of the card game – and Magic Online, which is exactly like the card game right down to you spending money to buy virtual booster packs that include no actual cards. Why are we here with a game that’s been out for years with no games based upon the worlds and art and characters, just a series of digital recreations of tabletop games?
Demo Driver 8: Magical Drop V (#218)
This isn’t how I remember it, but I’m not sure whose fault that is.
I’m going to be totally honest with you, folks; when I saw the title of this demo come up, I was excited. Magical Drop and I have some history.
When I was a younger man going through a rather dark time in my life which I like to refer to as “the end of college,” I was first exposed to Magical Drop, specifically the second game in the franchise and specifically its Super Famicom release. Was it the most original title? of course not. But it was large, colorful, and very Japanese in the way that a puzzle game featuring anime drawings of the various tarot cards can be. It was a charming experience.
So I was sincerely bolstered by the thought of playing the game again in a new incarnation, because who wouldn’t be? Like any franchise, it’s nice to see the original developers still making new versions of…
Oh. Oh, it’s a new developer. Oh dear. Oh dear.
Spoiled on Star Trek
If I had to guess “what series would end off the run chronologically” I really would not have guessed Voyager.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Star Trek lately. All right, that’s not fair; I’m frequently thinking about Star Trek. But I’ve been thinking about it more than usual. About the backlash against the new films, backlash that in many cases seems to amount to lashing out against these films because they’re so different from the original takes, rather than being upset at some legitimate flaws in the structure.
Seriously, there are loads of reasons to dislike Star Trek Into Darkness, but none of them have to do with the fact that it’s not Star Trek enough.
But there’s more going on here, and as I watch through Voyager I’m struck by something I’ve always been aware of but never really thought about. For a really long time, Star Trek had a very steady pattern going, and the new films represent the same sort of paradigm shift that The Next Generation introduced. We, as fans, shouldn’t be all too unhappy with the new films, even if we don’t like them – because this has happened before, and to be honest, we’re kind of at fault here.
The Final Fantasy Project: Final Fantasy II, part 7
Artwork from a sketch by Yoshitaka Amano
Finally, the endgame. It’s refreshing, in a way. There are no more plot holes to nitpick, no more fetch quests to be sent on, nothing but several floors of dungeon between the main characters and the final boss. Through the Jade Passage, into Pandaemonium, and then up against the Emperor.
Again. I mean, I killed him once, so it doesn’t seem like he’d be able to get harder this time around based on the fact that he couldn’t stop me while he was alive, but I guess Hell was waiting for him or something? I suppose we can mark him under the long line of Final Fantasy bosses with plot armor and plot skill absorption.
Of course, the game is going to do its level best to go out like it came in: with thunderously irritating and ill-conceived mechanics. First, the Jade Passage, which is one of only two things that you actually travel to via the airship. Once inside, you’re in the endgame for good. There’s no getting out, so you’d better have everything you need on hand.
Recent Work
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Chocobo Dash
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Eliot Lefebvre 