Saturday, April 3, 2004

*streches*

Today's OCRemix: "Terra in Black" Final Fantasy 3(6) OCRemix by Ailsean. This remix is quite something, let me tell you. Ailsean's hard work is evident in this beautiful work of Terra's theme song, and some critics call it the best piece of work on OCR of it's kind. The intro is slow and cool, and eventually breaks out into some wicked electric guitar later on. If you liked FF3, specifically, its music, you won't want to miss this. Whew, My site has been going through some more morphing lately, and I meant to update yesterday, but I was busy putting up the buttons and such, and then it was nearly midnight so I had to go to bed so I could go to tennis practice this morning...bleh. Anyway, our tennis coaches announced that after a grand total of three practices (only one of which was actually spent handling the racket and balls) they are going to start making cuts. Seems a little unfair, if you ask me, but I guess I wouldn't worry too much, after all, I wasn't too bad this time around...I think. Gah, even if I get cut I'll just have to run off and do some other sport...or maybe take after-school classes instead. Apparently, that is an option for those who get cut from sports teams. In any case, I'll figure out what happens when I go to school Monday, since that is when they update the team lists. In the meantime, I have been posting in RPGs again, which is becoming even more of a rarity these days. Oddly enough, when my time is occupied with homework or studying and whatnot, I find it is the best time to start writing again. Not neccessarily procrastinating, mind you, but after I get some good work done...I take a break by writing some more. That ever happen to anybody else? Taking a break from your work with...more work? Well, my search for Legend of Mana in my town has come up with nothing so far, so after I check the last second-hand place in my area, I'll go off and buy it from the internet or convince the video rental place to sell it to me. LoM is a weird game indeed, views on this game from the critics/game fans are polar opposites: they either really love it or really hate it...like a Tarantino movie or something. Personally, I really like it, and the reasons for that are numerous, and those reasons are the same reasons others would hate them. FOr one thing, LoM is nothing at all like the other Mana games (Secret of Mana/Evermore, Seiken Dentetsu 3.) It has a different battle system, menu and commands, new item list/magic and weapons useage system, and so on. If you were a huge fan of the original Mana games, don't expect any of the same from LoM. If you bought it because you expected anything like the originals, prepare for a shock. For one thing, there is no storyline. Well, at least that's a matter of opinion. The general idea is guy wakes up one morning to realize he knows nothing about his existence, and goes out on an adventure to help him understand the world. On the way, he meets people who give him "artifacts" that allow him to unlock new areas in the world. Eventually coming to the climax when he finds the fables Mana Tree. Now, this may not seem to be much of a storyline, but I found it interesting because you aren't really sure what is happening. You wake up one morning unsure of your place in the universe, questioning your very existence. No one else in the game seems to act like that, but you meet creatures called "sproutlings", who believe that the world is created by your imagination. In a way, that's true, since you use artifacts to open up new areas, but in terms of a game, reading it like a story, it doesn't really make sense, as others believe that their world exists all along, and don't ever think about the fact that reality is nothing like what they percieve. A lot of this game's story is about perception of reality, and you have to use your imagination to really create a story for this game. I liked it for that reason, but people expected the story to be fed to them a little more, like any normal book, and didn't like it, saying it had no story whatsoever. I don't agree with that. Secondly, the new battle/items system. Secret of Mana had this system done differently, breaking from the mold tht other RPG's created, instead of demanding a menu for items and spells, (where, in a live-action game, that would be inconvenient), the spellcasting system was almost instantaneous, using smaller drop-down menus to cast spells and use items. LoM has it very differently. It uses a similar live-action system to that in SoM, but instead of using items and spells by drop-down menus, they are wired instantaneously to your controller, so you would use a button to cast a spell/ability, making combat much faster. On the other hand, this limits the combat options themselves, so your basic abilities range from normal attacks to spells to unique skills, that's it. Items are not for combat use, and there is no MP gauge or anything, and HP recovery in battle is automatic regeneration. It's not the most glamourous of RPG fighing systems, as you need only to master a few buttons to cast powerful magics, but the game really shines outside of the battlefield. Good characters and events are always the cornerstone of any RPG story, In SoM, this was not a problem, as the characters had their own personality styles and traits. In my opinion, LoM improved on that, creating even more characters with their own perceptions on reality, and used beautiful watercolor 2D backdrops for each of the areas. However, some fans complained that this new look for the game was too childlike, resembling Pokemon or a pop-up book or something of the like. This, I find, is completely off the wall. The characters vary greatly in appearance and personality, but nothing can really justify a comparison like that. The 2D backdrops are great artwork, and "too childlike" is definitely not an appropriate description. They just take a step forward in the presence of color, using brighter tones and borders to create a real fantasy-world feeling. Sure, it resembles a storybook world at times, but its one of the points that I found very appealing, unlike what others might think. The other innovations in this game, including "world creation", blacksmithing, and capturing/raising monsters were not exactly the games strongest points, but sure gave it a lot of replay value. Most people blasted the world creation system, saying it had no impact on actual gameplay just by placing artifacts around your area to open new towns/dungeons. This is untrue, as some people are not attentive enough to percieve. Depending on where you place your areas, items acquired in towns or monsters and treasure found in dungeons can vary. If you place a town in a certain area at a certain time, you might find better items for sale, and if you place dungeons in different places, then the monsters inside may be stronger/weaker, and the treasures inside may be different too. The blacksmithing areas include crafting/altering weapons and armor, and creating musical instruments (method of casting magic) and mechanical allies. Blacksmithing is a very hard and tedious procedure, also costing a lot of money, but it's the only way players can get the strongest items in the game (treasure chests in dungeons do not contain weapons, only metals or other tempering agents.) Depending on how you craft your items, they can be incredibly strong or very weak. Smithing only requires a little research (game trial and error or internet, lol), and a whole lot of money and patience. Musical instrument creation is a bit simpler than smithing, as all you need are metals and elemental coins to give your instrument the magical power it needs. Afterwards, equip the instrument as an ability, and use it in battle to cast magic. Very easy. Golem creation is a lot like smithing, except for the fact that you need weapons and armor to create an animated ally. Just use higher-quality goods to create your metallic friend, and use items inside it to give it abilities and a "personality" in battle. Finally, monster raising was blasted by most reviewers, as it was said to resemble Pokemon and was, you know, unappealing. Monster raising in LoM is a very fine procedure, much like blacksmithing, and requires time and patience. First, you go out and capture a monster in the field by luring it out with food. Second, you get some seeds from a dungeon/store, and grow crops in your backyard to feed to your new pets. Third, you research your crops to see what effect they might have on your monster's personality/stats. Fourth, take your pet out into battle and it'll give you a hand as though it were an ally. As I said before, not the greatest points in the game, but just one more reason it has excellent replay value. Lastly, there is the music. Music in LoM is one of it's best points, as it's cinematic intro/outro sequences also feature live music with lyrics in Swedish, and the music overall is excellent, ranging from louder and more driving in the dungeons, to more peaceful at home, to busy in a town, and breaking out into all-out carnage in the boss battles, LoM's music is just one good reason why one would really like this game (or just buy the soundtrack.) Whew, I have some serious gaming on the brain, here. I'm going to go have something to eat now. -Won-daa-shot

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