In which E apologizes for her lies
So I lied. A lot.
First of all, I lied when I promised myself I would finish Final Fantasy 12 before moving on to another game. Ultimately, I just didn't feel motivated to play the thing anymore, because I'd run out of gil from buying new spells (literally, I had 5 gil) and knew that the whole game would be filled with this disjointed gameplay that I didn't really enjoy.
Secondly, I lied when I said in comments that I was strongly considering playing Skies of Arcadia Legends next. While there were compelling arguments for it, unfortunately, divineline mentioned that Tales of Legendia has mothingfucking DANCING OTTERS, and I simply had to see how incredibly what-the-christ-worthy that was. It turns out that the dancing otters were just the tip of the iceberg, and I haven't decided if that's good or bad yet.
The first what-the-christ moment I had in the game was when I first went to the fountain in the town with the dumb name, and this guy and girl jump out and start singing. SINGING. I fucking kid you not, they had a back-up chorus and everything. I couldn't decide whether to cringe, laugh, or cry, so I just watched the whole thing in this kind of abject horror. The best/worst part is that these characters are recurring; they're kind of like the Dark Wings of this game. Except with singing.
The second what-the-christ moment was, of course, those dancing otters. They scarred me for life.
Additionally, I don't really care much for any of the characters at this point besides "Oh that character design is cool" or "Oh her voice is kinda cute" or "FUCK YES Chloe has Lloyd's moves! New player character!" Senel is a whiny bitchman of epic proportions with a one-track mind and a sister complex. Shirley is the token JRPG heroine who cannot fucking take care of herself and is always getting kidnapped because she's SPECIAL. Will is almost exactly like Raine from Symphonia except he's a guy and also has better attack magic (also his AI kind of blows and he constantly lets people die because he's too busy casting LIGHTNING to care that I only have 10 hp). Chloe is mysterious and out for revenge and yawn boring. And Norma, while kind of cute as comic relief and voiced by one of my favorite VAs, is a dumb whore who only likes money and treasure; she's like Anise from Abyss if Anise were also a fucking moron and kind of a slut.
The story is pretty yawn-worthy and generic at this point; I'll admit that most of the Tales games have fairly generic JRPG stories but this one really takes the cake. The battle system isn't annoying me as much as I had feared; I miss Free Run but I haven't gotten stuck behind other characters too badly yet. The AI is pretty bland, and isn't as customizable as I would like (again mentioning how Will just lets me DIE constantly). The gameplay does have some neat elements added in; I do like the Chaotic Zones, which are big blobby areas on the map that have stronger enemies inside, which you usually have to pass through to get to nice chests and whatnot. Still, the game really shows as having not been developed by the same team as the other Tales games.
Even despite all this, when it comes right down to it, I'm having more fun playing Legendia than I was playing FF12. Maybe because this is a game that I actually get to PLAY more than just pressing some buttons every once in a while and running around on the map.
No matter what game I'm playing though, my gaming just got about 15 times better today. Today, my dad switched TVs with me, so I'm going from playing on a 15-year-old 13 inch TV on its last legs to a 3-year-old 20 inch TV with a crystal clear picture and actual stereo sound. Now I can hear the dancing otters sing their annoying Ors song in glorious stereo! Just what I always wanted!
First of all, I lied when I promised myself I would finish Final Fantasy 12 before moving on to another game. Ultimately, I just didn't feel motivated to play the thing anymore, because I'd run out of gil from buying new spells (literally, I had 5 gil) and knew that the whole game would be filled with this disjointed gameplay that I didn't really enjoy.
Secondly, I lied when I said in comments that I was strongly considering playing Skies of Arcadia Legends next. While there were compelling arguments for it, unfortunately, divineline mentioned that Tales of Legendia has mothingfucking DANCING OTTERS, and I simply had to see how incredibly what-the-christ-worthy that was. It turns out that the dancing otters were just the tip of the iceberg, and I haven't decided if that's good or bad yet.
The first what-the-christ moment I had in the game was when I first went to the fountain in the town with the dumb name, and this guy and girl jump out and start singing. SINGING. I fucking kid you not, they had a back-up chorus and everything. I couldn't decide whether to cringe, laugh, or cry, so I just watched the whole thing in this kind of abject horror. The best/worst part is that these characters are recurring; they're kind of like the Dark Wings of this game. Except with singing.
The second what-the-christ moment was, of course, those dancing otters. They scarred me for life.
Additionally, I don't really care much for any of the characters at this point besides "Oh that character design is cool" or "Oh her voice is kinda cute" or "FUCK YES Chloe has Lloyd's moves! New player character!" Senel is a whiny bitchman of epic proportions with a one-track mind and a sister complex. Shirley is the token JRPG heroine who cannot fucking take care of herself and is always getting kidnapped because she's SPECIAL. Will is almost exactly like Raine from Symphonia except he's a guy and also has better attack magic (also his AI kind of blows and he constantly lets people die because he's too busy casting LIGHTNING to care that I only have 10 hp). Chloe is mysterious and out for revenge and yawn boring. And Norma, while kind of cute as comic relief and voiced by one of my favorite VAs, is a dumb whore who only likes money and treasure; she's like Anise from Abyss if Anise were also a fucking moron and kind of a slut.
The story is pretty yawn-worthy and generic at this point; I'll admit that most of the Tales games have fairly generic JRPG stories but this one really takes the cake. The battle system isn't annoying me as much as I had feared; I miss Free Run but I haven't gotten stuck behind other characters too badly yet. The AI is pretty bland, and isn't as customizable as I would like (again mentioning how Will just lets me DIE constantly). The gameplay does have some neat elements added in; I do like the Chaotic Zones, which are big blobby areas on the map that have stronger enemies inside, which you usually have to pass through to get to nice chests and whatnot. Still, the game really shows as having not been developed by the same team as the other Tales games.
Even despite all this, when it comes right down to it, I'm having more fun playing Legendia than I was playing FF12. Maybe because this is a game that I actually get to PLAY more than just pressing some buttons every once in a while and running around on the map.
No matter what game I'm playing though, my gaming just got about 15 times better today. Today, my dad switched TVs with me, so I'm going from playing on a 15-year-old 13 inch TV on its last legs to a 3-year-old 20 inch TV with a crystal clear picture and actual stereo sound. Now I can hear the dancing otters sing their annoying Ors song in glorious stereo! Just what I always wanted!