Final Fantasy XV - Notes

Notes I've been collecting while playing the game.

1. How is a quick travel spot determined? Some Parking Spots are quick travel destinations while some are not. Same for settlements.
2. Did somebody actually think it is a good idea to follow these guys drive around for minutes, if not quarter hours at a time ad nauseum? It is NOT a good sign if I have to pull up my phone or computer to be entertained while "playing" a game. I am writing this while Regalia slowly creeps to its destination.
3. Music on these trips is awesome though.
4. I can understand only one quest is tracked at the time, but it would be really nice and is rather standard today that multiple quests are visible on the map at once.
5. Come to think of it, the map feels really clunky!
6. Why doesn't the manual map marker disappear once close to it?
7. 18 hours in... when does the story kick in? Then again, I've been doing nothing but side quests, so blame is partly on me, BUT main story isn't sucking me in at all. From the trailers, I expected something epic and amazing. First 3 chapters are really "meh".
8. It would be nice if somebody explained as early as possible, that if you release the sprint button just before stamina runs out, you'll get a second wind and it'll boost your speed for a second and fill your stamina bar.
9. Come to think of it, why the hell is the sprint button mapped to the same button as attack?
10. And why can't I climb shoulder high obstacles?
11. Watching Noctis fill up the gas tank for the hundredth time is boring; I want an option to skip that cinematic.
12. Why must I always return to Regalia first, before I can quick travel? There IS an option to return to car, but it  goes through a loading screen.
13. Which by the way take WAY TOO LONG.
14. Until you reach level 35 or so, nights force you to stop questing.
15. Summons are awesome, badass and totally worth it.
16. Would like to have more options in battle skills-wise.
17. Being able to select all one wants to buy in a store and checkout only once would be nice. Instead, now you need to select an item, select how many you want and then checkout; repeat for every item you want.
18. Ignis saying "I've come up with a new recipe!" is pretty funny every time. It's in the intonation.
19. Justice Monsters V is a funny mini-game (and mobile app too)! I wish we could play King's Knight as well,
20. How and where do I add filters to the pictures Prompto takes? It is found in Menu -> Archives -> Photos.
21. Unlike older Final Fantasies, Elixirs and Mega-Elixirs are common in this game!
22. You can't be moving if you want to activate stuff with the X-button, like picking up items, mounting a chocobo or getting in the Regalia. If you keep hitting X, Noctis will just jump in place. Cease all movement before something happens. Small thing, but annoying in the long run.
23. Draw distance! There's pop in with assets and shadows. Becomes glaringly obvious when moving fast through the terrain.
24. Why in the bloody hell is the Imperium helping out the Prince and his entourage? They are enemies, for fuck's sake! This is JRPG writing at its worst.
25. Why, oh why, did Gladiolus just leave the party? "Oh, I gotta do some stuff and I gotta do it on my own." And then he is gone. Some kings guard he is.

Wife plays: Dark Souls 2

(This piece is a draft I found lying around from June 2014)

I've been trying to get my wife into Souls -series ever since Demons' Souls. Maybe I've been too pushy at times and that might've put her off or maybe it was the fact that for the past 5 years she was really concentrating on her PhD thesis?

Whatever the case, imagine my surprise when one evening I come back downstairs to find her actually rolling DS2 character. Before I went to put our daughter to bed I jokingly said "well, maybe you could play Dark Souls, dear" after she complained that she didn't know what to do for entertainment that evening.

She has seen me play DS2 (and those that came before it), but mostly only when I've died and she's lifted head or peeked i to the room to see what all that cursing was about. As such, she knows what the game is about. Never the less, she decided to roll deprived: a class that in effect is not a class but more of a blank slate. She did spend good deal of time customizing her character in other aspects though and seemed very pleased. I stepped into living room just after opening cinematics and she hadn't yet gotten a chance to actually play.

"What the heck man! I haven't even been able to play yet and I am 15 minutes in!"

Don't you worry: that'll be the most exposition you will ever get in the game. Rest you have to scrape together yourself. I love that aspect of Souls -series: nothing is handed to you and you piece it together yourself. Another great thing is the atmosphere. But actuaöly both are usually love it or leave it type of deals. We'll see how she likes it.

I tried to protest against using deprived, but she was adamant about it. Fair enough...

After leaving the firekeepers hut, she went through all tutorial fog gates without too much of a problem. Jumping tutorial was her first (and thus far only) death. Pretty damn well for a deprived that has only a dagger! Although she left all 3 cyclops well alone (and thus missed 3k souls and Stone Ring). I have vowed that I would not interfere with her playing unless she asks for help. Let her find out everything herself. That's the beauty of a Souls game.

One thing must be mentioned though: she though well until first bonfire in Forest of Fallen Giants that she needs to hold R3 to lock on. Her camera suddenly wasn't jumping all over the place after I released that tidbit of information.

But so far: very nice! 

Notes about 'Remember Me' (PS3)

(I originally put this draft together in June 2014. I'm publishing it now just because.)

So I just finished Remember Me on PS3. Here are a few notes I took while going through it.

• Getting all the collectibles is a total pain in the ass since game locks you out from going back very frequently.
• Tampering with memories is a great idea in theory and actually in practice (gameplay wise).
• There's only set amount of these instances; you can't go poking around everyone's head which is a real shame.
• Memory alteration can have multiple different results depending on what you do, which is interesting.
• Story was pretty good even though game was tad short and apart from memory alteration sequences, gameplay was nothing to write home about. Not bad in any sense, but nothing great either.
• I am hoping for a sequel with much more open world and ability to dive into anyone's head; imagine breaking into somewhere and a guard catches you, you quickly dive into his memories and erase that particular instance from his memory or replace it with something else.

Retrospect: Lightning Returns - Final Fantasy XIII

I have to say I quite enjoyed Lightning Returns. Even though the paradigm shift -style battle system is still there, it suits 1 main character story much, much better. Story also gave Lightning some character and personality, finally, and collecting different outfits, weapons and trinkets to customise the schemata she is using in battles was interesting and kept rewarding diligent play. I am emphasising diligent play because in Lightning Returns time flows ever forward. You only have a set number of in-game days to complete your objectives and after which you're thrust into the final battle. This keeps tension and pasing up fantastically! There's pressure to complete battles well because that rewards you with more time units to spend on abilities which in turn help you complete quests easier.

Hope is unfortunately there, but he is by some miracle not an insufferable tool like he was in previous two games.

It is previous console generation game, but that also means you can get it cheap nowadays and I highly recommend anyone who is least bit interested in gorgeous, well made and polished JRPGs. It is a JRPG at heart and it shows through NPC interactions and wild, wild, balls-to-the-wall insane story, but is also a Square-Enix game that epitomises their ability to create solid gameplay experiences.

Musing about Dark Souls 2 - part 3

Any of you struggling to defeat the Ancient Dragon? That bastard that can most likely one shot you even in NG+ with his Rain of Fire attack. Well, if you're on NG+, just use Gower's Ring of Protection, which will completely negate his Rain of Fire attack if you have your back towards him. When he flies up in the air, just run away from him, or more precisely, away from the center of the fire blast. If you're on your first playthrough though, dual-wield upgraded Gyrm Greatshield +5 (or more) with at least about 20 stamina, and you can survive his flame attack. You WILL take 2 hits that will drain your stamina completely, but you'll have ample time to regain it and maybe even land a few hits. Or just regain stamina and wait/bait him to use his Fire Breath attack.

I downed him with two AI phantoms (that died in under 30 seconds into the battle) using Gower's Ring of Protection in NG+ this evening. Before that, I wiped many, many times. As my means of attack, I used Soul Geyser and Crystal Soul Spear with items that restocked my spell uses. Last hit was delivered with my trusty Lightning Halberd +10 because I had just ran out of spells and he had one lick of HP left.

On another note, also cleared the whole game again tonight. I didn't go into NG++ yet, because I want to wrap things up before that. Like killing Darklurker, buying necessary upgrades and using boss souls. Only goal on my third playthrough for my main character is to get to Drangleic Castle to buy 3 spells that will allow me to get two trophies I am still missing: Master of Pyromancy and Master of Miracles. 

One NEEDS to grind Bell Keepers ranks up to 2 to get Hidden Weapon spell for the Master of Sorcery trophy. Lucky there's a way to do it offline if one is not up to online PvP. Check it out here.

Final Fantasies

Good thing about living in the U.S. is getting one's hands on games earlier than in Europe. Well, usually at least: Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora's Tower needed some petitioning before they got those published here.

I've been playing FFX/FFX-2 HD Remaster lately. I've actually liked FFX-2 more, even though it is at times very, very girly and just exudes that "grrrrrl powah!" theme.But maybe because it is so upbeat, fast-paced and brimming with tons of extra stuff that I've come to like it more. Don't get me wrong, FFX has a lot of extra stuff, but all that becomes available after tens of hours of gameplay. After buying the game on Amazon and getting it delivered to my front door on launch day, I went -to quote Mika- "full potato" and bought the Bradygames official guide as well. That strikes me as a nice and easy way for them to capitalize on HD remastering an old game: just take the old guides, slap them together, update the year it was published and rake in the cash from idiots like me who have bought those same guides already in 2002 and 2004.

I've reassessed my disposition towards FF games after this HD remaster combo and my new top 5 is as follows:

1. Final Fantasy VII - The Best. Always.
2. Final Fantasy XII - I am still hoping for an HD remake. Love the battle system, well crafted world and mature story in this one. 
3. Final Fantasy X-2 - Girl power has it's own charm. And more of Rikku? In HD? Yes, please!
4. Final Fantasy X - Story goes full potato in it's last leg, but damned if it isn't a nice ride there. Turn-based battle system is great and lots to do in end-game.
5. Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy - Despite it's ridiculous name, the game itself is brilliant. This one is most likely the best brawler I've ever played. I know it jumps out of the 1-15 line of FF games and RPG genre in general, but there are elements from FF-series, RPGs and fighting games mixed in so wonderfully, that I can't help but love it.

FFXIV:ARR and FFVI get honorable mentions.

Musing about Dark Souls 2 - part 2

I've killed every boss except the last one. Mainly because I don't want the game to end, but on the other hand there is New Game + waiting, which means new enemy placements and additional loot and enemies. During my first playthrough I even managed to kill Darklurker alone on my first try! Getting to it was harder than what the boss was, but then again, I had Soul Geyser spell with me (with 6 casts, but only needed 3). That awesome albeit a little game breaking spell can be easily farmed at Aldia's Keep, near the second bonfire: area boss is super easy even solo, so after killing it yet again just burn another Bonfire Ascetic and you can loot Soul Geyser again. Stupidly powerful spell, but requires 64 INT unless you use Simpleton's Spice.

I've still been engaging in jolly co-operation a lot. Makes some of those hard to kill bosses much easier except for one tough cookie: the Ancient Dragon. You must meet him, but you don't have to fight him unless you want to. And I wanted. And then I regretted that decision: that s.o.b. can kill any character with one hit, I kid you not. It is the first boss in DS2 I've had serious trouble with (had to respec from STR build to INT build and farm Soul Geyser because of him) and he feels like the first really, really cheap boss in the Souls series. Of course, he is an ancient dragon the size of a few apartment buildings, but still. Took me 28 tries, countless hapless phantoms, a respec and a shit-ton of souls for repairs for Ring of Soul Protection.