Graduation Celebration

 I am now a college graduate everyone. Since I have a little bit more time on my hands with that section of life behind me, I thought I would try to write about games a bit more. So I will do my usual and write about what I am currently playing. As always, leave a comment if you have thoughts or opinions. Final Fantasy XIV is having the Christmas celebration dubbed, "The Starlight Festival". 

Candy "Cane"

This year has you doing a set of daily quests answering children's letters put under a tree. Depending on the color of the tree you get a colored fallen star which you can use to cash in for festive items. There is a lot of furniture and a minion of "Hoary the Snowman". I still haven't purchased any housing so I'm only in it for the snowman. I'm doing my best to not let the events distract me from clearing content and raising my item level.

Klonoa 2 still looks pretty good to me

The other primary gaming focus I have is Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil. Klonoa is a charming 2D (maybe 2.5D?) platformer. I'm only on the third level but it already the game has plenty of color and some interesting design. Since the game focuses on 2D platforming there is not a lot of room for exploration. You move in and out of the depth of field through cannons, similar to Donkey Kong Country, and occasionally you have to throw an enemy that way too. In order to double jump you have to hold an enemy, which means when you kill an enemy it automatically respawns. The game seems pretty simple but it is interesting to me because it is out of my wheelhouse. For a 2D platformer I think it holds up very well.

That's all for now

-Chemystery

Review: .Hack//Infection

Today's date is February 17, 2014. Had this been 10 years ago, I would have a much different number for .Hack//Infection. I like history, I have a very high respect for where the world has been and where we have come from. As much as I hate to think that age impacts things negatively, some things just don't age well. This game is one of them.

Right from your first log in to "The World" the game starts to show its age. An early PS2 game does not hold

Not very easy on the eyes.

up well graphically in this day and age. Models are all polygonal and jagged while the textures are muddy and dark. The graphics are ugly but perfectly serviceable though. You are capable of seeing everything you need to see, so this is merely a cosmetic issue. Be aware that you if go down this road you  are playing an old game and this is how it will look.

Unfortunately, the menus handle as poorly as they look. Equipping party members requires at least 3 menus, more if you want to see the stats of their items before you swap them out. You have to do this a lot too. For an active combat RPG you will be spending a very large portion of your time in menus. Attacks are selected through menus, group tactics are selected through menus, if it needs done, it has a menu. This interface is ridiculous to have when most of the buttons on the controller aren't really mapped to anything. Clunky and boring are not a good combination for a game going for fast paced combat.

I'm sleuthing

The concept of the game should be praised for its uniqueness. Playing a character who is playing an MMO to solve the mystery of his comatose friend makes for an amusing story. Over the course of .Hack you will be using email and forum boards to discover your next clue, make friends by questing, and trade with players in HUB towns just like a real MMO. Combat takes place in "fields" that you create by entering three random code words. Each word provides it's own attributes to the field so you can mix and match to your content. This randomly generated world has a field area where you start and a single dungeon that you enter and explore. Every dungeon ends with a treasure chest that gives you loot better than what you would normally see. This style of play is fun for a little bit, but you quickly find out that going through basically the same dungeons re-skinned is not the most fun.

There is not much of a sense of character progression as skills are tied to your equipment and not your character's level. Often you will be choosing between having helpful skills or have better stats. The same goes for your party members that you keep equipped as you play. At most it's a lot to consider, at least it is a nuisance to see your most used skill lost to progression.

You can always sell your extra items which you will be doing a lot of since that is the primary monster drop. This money doesn't really have a use besides buying healing items in the game. You will need a lot of money to keep your party stocked up with these since everyone in your party can carry up to 99 of each. You need to personally trade these items to your NPC party members too and good luck trying to figure out how many each of them already have.

To the game's credit the story is engrossing. The characters you play with seem real and you will be bringing people into your group just to continue their email dialog. For a series that spans four discs you can tell that this game is merely building the foundation of the game world but it even does that in an interesting way. I went the whole way through the game for the purpose of seeing the story to the end. It is a powerful goal and you will feel accomplished for getting through the 25 hour game.

I love these guys.

.Hack//Infection has been left in the dust by video game evolution. It is an interesting game with a genuine concept but the execution was I suspect mediocre in its time and even worse now. If you are a true fan of the series or JRPGs it may be worth going back for. Otherwise do not come back for this one. Your time is better spent elsewhere.

-Chemystery

More .Hackin' and Questin'

As another semester begins I continue my trek into .hack Infection and Final Fantasy VI. I expect my play times to be more infrequent so I've started writing down what I was doing and what was going on after each time I play. Hopefully these games will be wrapped up sooner rather than later.

I'm about 15 hours through .hack Infection and I'm really warming up to it. I was pretty upset with the visuals to begin with but I've moved past that and found a lot of mechanics that I enjoy. Most notably, I've never once been lost in the game. Despite the fact that you have to manage information inside The World and from your desktop, the game is paced and designed perfectly so you are always progressing if you want to. It shows some real skill in pacing and story management that I just have to stop and admire.

Your in game desktop

Another great little tidbit are the books of Ryu. These books track your in game stats, like chests open and amount of money spent. The best part is that while you increase your numbers you unlock items outside of The World like wallpapers for your desktop or menu music. It's not a huge deal but it is nice to see.

With any luck it will be a while until I hit the grind wall. So far it seems like there are enough things to pursue that it will be a non-issue.

I'm looking less favorably on Final Fantasy VI though. The game is really jarring to me story wise. I just finished Sabin's segment and now everyone is together preparing for the epic battle. At first I thought the concept of the group splitting up was interesting but the more I played it the more I disliked it. The segments difference in length felt awkward, like the developers had clear favorite characters. The other story part I don't understand is the random narration. Kappas tell you game mechanics, moogles select what segment you want to play, and then random words show up to tell you what is going on in the story. It feels clunky and takes me away from the story.

Why do you exist!?

The pieces are there, I guess I can understand how this would be someones favorite entry of the series, but not for me. I enjoy the characters but everyone's favorite villain Kefka seems dumb to me. Like is...it...supposed to be a clown? Also is it pure evil or humorous? If this is someone's favorite villain let me know what the point is. Actually, explain to me why this entire game is great. Right now it is missing the mark with me.

Have a good week.

                                                                                                                                                                   -Chemystery