Malik
(7/7/09)
Just when I thought my
time of posting too few times per week was behind me, I find the
perfect excuse to not post regularly; triple digit fever coupled
with minor hallucinations. Just when I'm finally feeling healthy
again, someone had to give me the flu. The only thing worse than
getting sick right after recovering from something else is to do so
when it's summer and you cannot enjoy the good weather.
Anyway, I was feeling
healthy enough yesterday to try some of the new Final Fantasy 4: The
After Years chapters/tales. Yesterday saw the release of the tales
for Yang, Palom, and Edge. Of which, I downloaded (well, downloaded
a several kb unlock key) all of them. The one advantage of being
sick is that I had nowhere important to be, so I even proceeded to
play through the Yang and Palom tales and the bonus dungeon for
Rydia's tale.
First off, I did the
challenge dungeon for Rydia and that left me with a strong
conclusion; I'm not doing any more challenge dungeons. After wasting
too much time getting too damned frustrated as annoying dungeon
layouts and almost random treasures, I finish and get nothing worth
the hassle of the damned random encounters in that place. To top it
off, the random encounters are far more challenging, at the end,
than the boss fight. Add in the level cap you get for each
chapter/tale of The After Years, and you're left with just a large
dish of frustration with nothing worth it to show as a reward. Maybe
I'll do some more challenge dungeon runs in the future, but not to
beat the damned things...I'll just do it so each party is around the
same level for when the final chapter comes out in September and you
can merge the saved games (including levels) so I don't have Rydia
and Luca at level 40 (their cap) while Yang is at level 23.
Anyway, as for the new
tales, I'm enjoying them so far. Yang's tale felt a bit short
compared to Rydia. I mean it consisted of one town (Fabul) and three
abrupt dungeons. The plot wasn't too bad, but since it primarily
revolved around one of the less interesting characters of FF4 (Yang)
and his daughter (Ursula; both new and equally uninteresting), I'd
be lying if I said it was full of excitement. To make matters worse,
half of the plot basically mirrored the Fabul section of the
original FF4 (invasion of Baron troops, boat ride afterwards, and
even the same conclusion to the boat voyage). I mean the added fun
of the character development was ok, but overall this was a pretty
cut-and-paste style of story.
Palom's tale was also
quite short compared to Rydia's tale, but it didn't seem to matter
as much. The shortness, in terms of play time to completion, is
pretty well handled by the majority of the tale being based around
being chased. It's a fast play, but it's also a fast paced story. It
starts with a short, but controlled tutorial section. As this is the
first time in the game that you control only a party made entirely
of magic users, this tutorial is greatly needed. Your party for this
entire tale is a black mage and a white mage with some limited black
magic. In other words, you'll need to get used to a whole new idea
of playing without heavy hitters, high HP and defense tanks, and a
time when phases of the moon literally are life or death scenarios.
For example, if you play much when the mood is in a bonus for
physical hits, your party will die...and quickly.
After this opening
tutorial dungeon, you are in a constant race against enemies. While
there is no true time requirement as a player, you will no longer be
able to go to town. You will also no longer be able to count on
using an inn to heal. All healing will be done via expensive tents
or very expensive cabins, but you'll also use multiple tents since
your MP will always be low if you stick with a single tent.
Anyway, despite how
stressful this sounds, it's actually good fun...in a "difficult, but
not quite frustrating" way. Plus, the plot really brings out some
personality in Palom, who always seemed one dimensional in the
original FF4.
Anyway, Palom's tale is
good fun. I'll end abruptly with that since I think I'm going to be
sick about now, and I want to keep any nasty stuff off my keyboard.
I hate being sick...
Malik |
Malik
(7/9/09)
Well, I am still sicker
than I'd like to be. Sadly, due to different factors (mainly how
little time off I have from work right now), I have no choice but to
keep on going on with my daily life. So, while I'm probably still in
the grip of a nasty flu (maybe even the dreaded swine flu...wait
that's insensitive to Jewish and Islamic people...the dreaded
Mexican flu...no that's insensitive to Mexicans...the dreaded
American flu...no, that's insensitive to the uninvolved
Canadians...), I must keep working. At least I now have most of my
cognitive abilities. In other words, I think I'm done with
hallucinations.
I played through a
good deal of Edge's Tale on FF4: The after Years. I didn't beat the
tale yet, since it's a very fun one that required me to take my time
and fully enjoy it.
Edge's Tale is
more like five different chapters in one. He has four ninja
apprentices who each has a solo mission to fulfill. Unlike other
missions in The After Years, a game over screen is not common. Yes,
you can die fairly easily, but if any of the four apprentices die on
their mission, you just continue with the next mission...with the
possibility of never playing as that failed ninja again as he or she
will be permanently killed. So, if you want the best outcome, you
will need to think through your actions quite carefully. This is
easier for some apprentices than others since some face mini-bosses,
and one never has a town to visit to buy supplies.
I managed to beat
all four apprentice missions. I did fail one originally, but
reloaded so I could keep the party whole later on. Each mission was
pretty fun since each ninja apprentice has the usual ninjitsu (ninja
magic), item and attack commands. However, they each have one unique
ability that ranges from stealing to a funny take on Kain's jump
command. Also, each one uses different weapons (beyond the standard
ninja swords and boomerangs), and each is focused on a different
small set of ninjitsu spells. Luckily, unlike the original FF4, a
healing spell or two is now in the list for most of the ninjas,
including Edge.
I am now at Edge's
part of the chapter, which eventually involves him being joined by
each of his apprentices (assuming you kept them alive) to make a fun
party of five ninjas to take on the final dungeon. While I may have
said, previously, that I don't think I'll do anymore challenge
dungeons after the annoyance that was Rydia's challenge dungeon, I
may change my mind. With this party of five ninjas, with some
awesome band attacks, I think I want to keep this party going as
long as possible.
Malik |