Final Fantasy VIII had a lot against it at the time of its release. Of course, the most significant thing was that it was put in the unenviable position of following the blockbuster that was FFVII. Worst still, the game took the series in a new direction, eschewing the epic story of its predecessor and focusing on the relationship between two central characters.

As it said on the back of the box, the main theme of FFVIII is love. Something that, even today, is not very common. This led many would-be fans to view the game as pretentious, which is an arguable point. But, pretension aside, it attempted to broach something the few games had before, and did so in a compelling way. The blossoming relationship between Squall and Rinoa was a beautiful thing to witness, from their first awkward dance through the end of the game. And because the story takes place over dozens of hours, we get to see all of the different aspects of their courtship. Basically, FFVIII is an RPG for the sappy gamer, as it is filled with all kinds of heartwrenchingly romantic cut-scenes.

That’s not to say that there is no action. In fact, FFVIII features one of the greatest opening sequences ever, starting off the game on a truly epic note. From the crashing waves that start kick things off, to the chilling Latin chants and vicious battle sequence between Squall and Seifer, the opening does an incredible job of setting the tone for the game. While the focus of the game is the relationship between Squall and Rinoa, it also tells an intriguing political tale. Nations are waging war, and Squall and his friends are caught directly in the middle.

Of course, since this isn’t the main focus, it isn’t as well fleshed out as it could have been. The same goes for the supporting cast of characters. The likes of Zell and Selphie are pretty one-dimensional, occupying the role of a specific archetype, but not much else. They have little in the way of backstory or emotional depth, especially when compared to the two leads. The one exception is Laguna, who is both interesting and very mysterious. But the what the cast really lacks is a true villain. Seifer does a good job of occupying this role in the beginning, but when Edea assumes that position, things take a turn for the worse. Her intentions are never really clear and she just doesn’t seem all that threatening. Definitely a step back from FFVII’s Sephiroth.

But where the game does receive a good deal of deserved criticism is in the actual game mechanics. The junction/draw system is overly complicated, and actually punishes you for using certain items and magic spells. The same goes for the weapon customization. Even some of the more interesting additions, such as earning money at pre-determined intervals, don’t actually translate well into the game. The one great addition to FFVIII though, are the guardian forces. These were like a combination between a summon and a Pokemon, and added a lot of strategy to an otherwise straightforward battle system. Of course, even these had their drawbacks, most notably their excruciatingly long animations.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention one of my favorite parts of the game: Triple Triad. This collectable card mini-game was remarkably deep, and provided hours of gameplay outside of the main storyline. There were tons of cards to collect, and building the perfect deck required a great deal of strategy and patience. Sadly, a this idea was carried over to FFIX, but the rules were changed resulting in a pretty terrible CCG. Still, Triple Triad represents possibly the best side-quest/mini-game in any RPG. Or, at least, my personal favorite.

So it’s true that FFVIII had a lot of problems, but this was mostly a result of its ambitious nature. The game tried to tell a more mature, emotional story, and for the most part, succeeded. The love story was deep and engaging, but as a result, the rest of the game felt uninspired and much less fleshed out. But if you take the game for what it is, and don’t judge it based on its FF heritage, you have one of the most influential games of the 32-bit era.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Replay: Final Fantasy VIII

When I first got my PSOne, I had two games with it: Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Ridge Racer Revolution. And while SFA2 was a terrific game that occupied a lot of my time, Ridge Racer was the reason I purchased the console in the first place. Here I was, in my own home, playing a 3D racing game. It was incredible.

For better of worse, RRR wore its arcade racing roots on its sleeve. On the bad side, this led to a sever lack of depth. The game featured just four vehicles, 3 courses, and no real single player mode. Worst of all is that in reality there is just one course, which consists of a sprawling city, that is broken up into three tracks, each aimed at different skill levels. This arcade style of gameplay gave RRR little in the way of lasting appeal, aside from some good old fashioned competitive multiplayer.

But man, in 1996, did that game look impressive. Though it looks like a pixelated mess by todays standards, the complete three-dimensional city in RRR was incredible to explore. This was further enhanced by the varying terrain found in the city, which moved from a beach side villa to mountainous roads, before reaching the modern looking urban areas. This constant change in scenery helped provide some much needed variety. There were also a number of cool, at least at the time, features that made the game feel more realistic. This included constantly changing time effects, in which the sky shifted from dusk, to night, and back to day again all within the time of just one race.

Of course, the games arcade roots could also be found in the driving physics. In a word, RRR feels floaty. Cars bounce of walls with only minimal penalty, and jockeying for position boils down to a swarm of cars bouncing off each other. In fact, smacking other cars around is an important strategy, as it allows you to easily pass opponents who are foolish enough to get too close.

Like most games that are released early in a console generation, RRR hasn’t aged well. The visuals don’t hold up (to the point that they are actually a tad dizzying), the gameplay is very shallow, and the lack of variety really mars the experience. However, at the time, the game was impressive just for the fact that it was a 3D racer on a home console. Much like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is today, RRR served as an early showpiece for the PlayStation showing just what the little grey console could handle. Of course it was soon surpassed by more realistic sims like the GT franchise, but RRR will always hold a special place in my gaming heart.

Next week we’re back aboard the JRPG train, this time looking at the dark child of the FF series, Final Fantasy VIII.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Replay: Ridge Racer Revolution

There really was little in the way of true horror games before the release of Resident Evil in 1996. Though it was cheesy, and didn’t age particularly well, it introduced horror gaming to the 3D generation and created the sub-genre of survival horror titles. However, while it was new for games, RE was pretty standard stuff by horror standards. A strange virus creates a town full of undead zombies, blah, blah, blah. Three years later Capcom decided to change things up a bit, and blended the gameplay style of the RE series with a Jurassic Park style dinosaur story.

This change in enemy made a huge difference. Instead of slow shuffling zombies, players now how had to deal with fast, ferocious dinosaurs. The most common enemy was the velociraptor, who were very quick but only required a few shots to kill. They are essentially the replacement for the bog-standard zombies and dogs from RE. In fact, near the beginning of the game the raptors even imitate a scene from the first RE game, jumping through a glass window and scaring the crap out of you as you walk down a deserted hallway.

There are, of course, other dinosaurs in the game, but for the most part you are battling raptors and the tiny scavenger compy’s. But for the major threat, the game shares a lot in common with RE3. Whereas that title had the ultra-powerful Nemesis who chased you throughout the game providing a constant threat, DC had a tyrannosaurus rex. This massive dino would pop out at the most unexpected moments, and because the game didn’t use pre-rendered backgrounds, was able to smash through walls and buildings to get to you. This created an extra layer of tension in an already tense game.

These battles with dinosaurs weren’t all that common though. Walking through the abandoned building was a quiet and lonely experience, so the infrequent skirmishes were perfect punctuation marks. You never knew when they would come, so when they did, they were jump-in-your-seat scary. They may have been cheap scares, but at the time they were really all we had.

Like the RE games though, Dino Crisis wasn’t all that great when it came to the plot. As a member of a infiltration unit sent to save a research scientist previously thought dead, you are sent to a remote facility that is teeming with dinosaurs. There are virtually no humans left alive, except of course for the mysterious scientist. While researching energy alternatives, Dr. Kirk accidentally opens up a time portal, taking the prehistoric lizards from their time and transporting them to ours.

It might not even be B-movie material, but it served its purpose, creating an environment where you are forced into constant conflict with dinosaurs. Sure, it was pretty much a Resident Evil game without the zombies–complete with similar puzzles and inventory management–but in many ways this made it better. The new threat was much more terrifying then a mob of the undead, and nowhere near as cliche. Sadly, the worst part of Dino Crisis has to be its sequels, which essentially killed the franchise for good.

Coming up next week, we take a look at one of the early PSOne racers, Ridge Racer Revolution.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Replay: Dino Crisis

One of the trappings of earlier role playing games is that the majority of them are set in cliche medieval fantasy worlds. Even the few that break from the norm, such as the vague steampunk aesthetic of Final Fantasy VII, still go back to the swords and magic we’re all used to. This is what made me so excited to play Star Ocean: The Second Story back in 1999. I’ve always been more of a sci-fi kind of guy, which made the setting of the game very appealing. So it’s unfortunate that the setting is abandoned after the credits finish rolling.

The Second Story opens up incredibly cinematic. The camera slowly pans across a field of stars, before moving on to a crashing meteor, and finally showing off an incredibly detailed space station. This CG intro helped create the expectation of an epic science fiction tale. But as said before, this feeling didn’t last long. The game gives you a choice of two different main characters to play as, but no matter who you choose, the setting quickly moves to an underdeveloped planet. And, of course, this planet is packed full of monsters, swords, and scorcery.

Now this deceptive opening would be forgivable if the fantasy setting was still great, but it’s not. Instead, it is very generic, with a bland plot and paint-by-numbers translation. What the game did have, is a very unique attention to detail. Like pretty much every 32 bit RPG, The Second Story featured static pre-rendered backgrounds. But as opposed to blocky polygonal characters, the game had well-animated 2D sprites. This gave the game a very interesting style, keeping it somewhat in tune with the 16 bit RPGs of years past. But it was the small details that helped make this visual style work. For example, when walking past a stream you would see the reflection of your character. Very impressive for a game of the generation.

Like most tri-ace developed games, The Second Story has an action-based combat system, as opposed to the more traditional turn based style featured in most RPGs. This involved a lot of running around and mashing buttons, featuring very little strategy. Enemies were also very easy to defeat. And while the game featured three different options, each of which allowed for a different level of control over your character in battle. Unfortunately, none of these made the combat any more compelling. But the worst part of the combat system was the horrid digitized voice clips the littered the fight. Very annoying.

That’s not to say that the entire game in unenjoyable. Despite the twist at the very beginning, the game did hold my interest for a number of hours. The mysteries of the undiscovered planet and the Sorcery Globe that was corrupting it kept me briefly captivated. But after a while, the grating dialogue and bland setting wore on me, forcing me to abandon the game. This is especially disappointing because I was looking forward to playing through the game a second time, seeing the story from each characters perspective.

During the PlayStation era I had an insatiable hunger for JRPGs. I devoured them as fast as I could, eventually realizing that a good number were not all that great. The catalyst for this was, unfortunately, this game. I know it has a dedicated fanbase (one that must be excited to see the remake hitting the PSP), but for me, the game just never clicked. I disliked the combat, and the story was enough to push me through the world.

Coming up next week, what do you get when you cross Resident Evil with dinosaurs? Why, Dino Crisis of course!

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Replay: Star Ocean – The Second Story

For a lot of people in North America, Final Fantasy VII marked their introduction to the RPG genre. Sure, many claim that the SNES era was the Golden Age for RPG’s, but none had the impact of FFVII. The game combined an epic story, flashy visuals, and some great CG cut scenes into the first huge JRPG in North America. And despite a pair of follow ups, and a number of imitators, none matched the same scope and fanfare as the adventures of Cloud and company. One such imitator was created by none other than Sony itself. The Legend of Dragoon was released near the end of the PSOne’s life cycle in 2000, after three long years in development.

As an attempt to compete with the massive success of the FF series, there is little about Dragoon that isn’t ambitious. The game featured arguably the most stunning cut scenes of the entire generation. In fact, even today, 8 years later, the level of detail is still impressive, even if the animation isn’t. The game also boasted a feature that none of the PSone era FF games did: voice acting. Sure, it wasn’t of the best quality, but it was still impressive at  the time to actually hear your characters speaking some of the time, instead of reading text during cut-scenes.

So with all of these positives, just what went wrong with LoD? Well, it wasn’t a bad game exactly. More like uninspired. Whereas FFVII sported an epic storyline complete with a cast of memorable characters, LoD was rather bland. The plot was fairly generic, and the characters quite forgettable. In fact, more than one of the cast members felt like it could have been ripped straight out of an FF game, only with a little less personality. Dart, the main character, was especially generic, with his spiky blonde hair and angsty motivations. The epic nature of the game was also diminished by the linear world map. Instead of the big open fields common to JRPGs, players were forced along a pre-determined path with little choice of where to go or when to go there.

That being said, the game did introduce a number of interesting battle elements. While the game still featured random battles, a warning system helped players know when they would be seeing that battle screen load. When out in the field, or any other location lurking with enemies, a tiny arrow appears over Darts head. This arrow would slowly change color, and when it turned red, that meant a battle was imminent. This helped to eliminate some of the frustrations random encounters can cause.

Dragoon also attempted to make the battles more interesting with a more action-based focus. This involved the implementation of timed button presses. Similar to the battles in games like the Mario & Luigi series, attacks were made all the more powerful if the player hit the attack button at just the right time. The only problem was that it required some very precise timing. With prolonged play sessions it was possible to fall into a rhythm, but when you fell out of it, man was it frustrating. 

The titular dragoons also played a role in combat, though not as big of one as some might hope. Throughout the game, each character eventually comes to possess a dragon soul giving them all kinds of unique powers. While this sounds cool on paper, and even seems impressive the first few times you use it, the new powers really do little to help. In fact, they are somewhat of a hindrance. Essentially it boils down to your character only having the ability to attack or use magic, but doing so with moderately increased stats. The pros didn’t always outweigh the cons, and often you would be wishing that you could just use a potion already. But still, the dragoons sure looked cool.

In the end, The Legend of Dragoon is notable for its ambitions. Technically it was incredibly impressive, and it even attempted to freshen up the stagnant RPG battle system. But despite all of this, the game was missing one very important element: heart. At no point do you really care or sympathize with any of the characters, despite the game’s frequent attempts to make you do just that. It ends up feeling like a Final Fantasy game without all of the things that make that franchise what it is. It sure is pretty though. At least it was, 8 years ago.

 Coming up next week: Star Ocean – The Second Story

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Replay: The Legend of Dragoon