[FFIV Complete] [PSP] A Review ~!
And, while I am talking about games, here you go: Sev's Review of FFIV OGC and the FFIV Interlude (and) First Thoughts on The After Years from FFIV Complete Collection for the PSP.
You might be asking: Sev, when the everloving holy fuck have you had time to play and beat FFIV in the past few months? WELL. Let me just throw this out: I have played this game on SNES, on PS1, via emulator (multiple versions!), on GBA, on DS, and now on PSP. When you know a game this well, it isn't hard to crank through it in 15-20 minute increments before bed. (Also helpful is that you don't have to be at a save point on the PSP, you can just flash it off and then flash back on again, which makes this particular game easier to run through too.) So, as such, I am mostly concerned with how this particular version racks up against the others, rather than reviewing the game as a whole. If you don't know my feelings on the basic game, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh >.>
Enjoyable things about the PSP version:
- The new animations for spells and skills were really pretty, and made the same old battles marginally interesting, as you watched to see what Firaga would look like this time. Especially the summons: I really, really enjoyed all of those animations.
- The new sprites and menu screen pics for characters were really pretty. Basically, visually, this game is a treat, especially for old hat players like myself.
- Script is enjoyable: it isn't anything significantly different and doesn't add anything new like the DS version did, but it's a healthy readable script/translation that's fair to the original while still being, you know, understandable XD
- It's still a damn good game.
Not so enjoyable things about the PSP version:
- ENCOUNTER RATE. The random encounter rate in this game is balls high. Unenjoyably high. Annoyingly high. Walking through a dungeon and getting in a battle and then getting in another one seriously two steps away high. I'll put it this way, look at how many times I have played this game, and then consider that it was so high I started running away from battles because I couldn't fucking take it. Definite negative points here.
- Difficulty. Mostly because it was... erratic. Most bosses were easy, and to be honest, I think the encounter rate played a role here: because of all the GD encounters your party's usually at a high level like you've been grinding (even if you haven't) so the bosses come out seeming pretty easy. And then every now and then there's a boss who comes out and just flattens the crap out of you. See for reference: freaking Lunar Subterrane and the bosses and battles therein. Hard as frig, except for the ones that are pieces of cake. Now, I enjoy a good challenging game, and that's part of why I play, so having the difficulty all over the place is distracting and weird.
Overall... being a diehard fan, I am glad I played it. I'm not sure how I rank it mentally vs the GBA version - it's much prettier to play, which is a big part of its draw, and I think it's similar otherwise, but I don't remember the GBA having such an annoying encounter rate. The DS version is still just... different, in a class of its own, with so many new things (visually, gameplay-wise, story-wise) that I still recommend playing the DS version AND another to get the full experience.
As for the Interlude...
Why. What. Was the point. Now, look, I'm spoiled enough for the After Years that I get why they put the Interlude together, to anchor some of the things that happen in TAY, but... What the fuck? First of all, it wasn't explained. Second, so it happened and then everybody (including Rydia?) sat on their asses for 14 fucking years or whatever until shit kicked off again? Really? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh Squeenix your fanfiction is inconsistent with canon.
ALSO: HEY CECIL BE THE GODFATHER OF THIS KID... AND ALSO NAME HER. *URSULA*, FIRST NAME PULLED OUT OF YOUR ASS? YEAH THAT'S GREAT! What the fuck.
Also, who didn't see Rosa being pregnant in this? Like THAT was the BIG SURPRISE at the end, IT WASN'T OBVIOUS AT ALL, christ.
I am finding The After Years way more well-written than the Interlude. And more enjoyable - the Interlude suffered from the same crappy encounter rate, plus no new skills or anything and the same bad guys we fought in FFIV. It was kind of a waste of time. Poorly written, nonsensical, and just kind of strange.
As for The After Years (minor spoilers?)
Overall, I am actually liking The After Years! I like the way the story is being told in flashbacks and present time, with use of the old/new sprites to let me know what's what, and while I thought the moon phase thing was kind of dumb at first it is really growing on me in terms of gameplay and strategy. The storytelling is a little bit all over the place, just because of the way the optional storylines come in and out, but I am noticing the way that they link them all together, referring from one to the next. Again, I'm playing this game in 15-minute blurbs before bedtime.
I've played Ceodore's Tale and I am partway through Rydia's Tale. I am a little confused, because I'm pretty sure when we played the first chapter of TAY drunk off our butts last year, more things happened than I got to in Ceodore's Tale -- I think the PSP has split it up differently. All I know is that it told me Ceodore's Tale was over, I went into the stories to see what was next, and Rydia's Tale was next - where the eff did Kain's Tale go...? I am so confused by the setup of this game, oh well. I am playing Rydia's Tale in a different save but seriously, how the fuck do I get back to the rest of Ceodore and Kain's story?
Overall the game is... a little hard, actually, in places. I'm finding I had to grind a lot for money in Rydia's Tale, mostly because that party doesn't have a consistent White Mage and Luca's the only physical powerhouse (have I mentioned that Luca RULES?) - it's a quirky party and this is where I am definitely finding the phase of the moon thing to come into play, mainly because it's a weirdly unbalanced party. It's a nice changeup from the perfectly-balanced FFIV Final Party, really; I'm enjoying the quirky challenge of it, even if it is frustrating to be depending on black magic and wrenches and dancing dolls.
It seems like a huge story, too, so I am hoping that the 15-minute chunks are enough that I can remember what the heck is going on. Oh well. No promises that I'll still like it as I continue on, but for now it's good enough to keep playing...
This entry was originally posted at http://seventhe.dreamwidth.org/272021.html, which has
comments. Comment there (with OpenID) or here, it's all good.
You might be asking: Sev, when the everloving holy fuck have you had time to play and beat FFIV in the past few months? WELL. Let me just throw this out: I have played this game on SNES, on PS1, via emulator (multiple versions!), on GBA, on DS, and now on PSP. When you know a game this well, it isn't hard to crank through it in 15-20 minute increments before bed. (Also helpful is that you don't have to be at a save point on the PSP, you can just flash it off and then flash back on again, which makes this particular game easier to run through too.) So, as such, I am mostly concerned with how this particular version racks up against the others, rather than reviewing the game as a whole. If you don't know my feelings on the basic game, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh >.>
Enjoyable things about the PSP version:
- The new animations for spells and skills were really pretty, and made the same old battles marginally interesting, as you watched to see what Firaga would look like this time. Especially the summons: I really, really enjoyed all of those animations.
- The new sprites and menu screen pics for characters were really pretty. Basically, visually, this game is a treat, especially for old hat players like myself.
- Script is enjoyable: it isn't anything significantly different and doesn't add anything new like the DS version did, but it's a healthy readable script/translation that's fair to the original while still being, you know, understandable XD
- It's still a damn good game.
Not so enjoyable things about the PSP version:
- ENCOUNTER RATE. The random encounter rate in this game is balls high. Unenjoyably high. Annoyingly high. Walking through a dungeon and getting in a battle and then getting in another one seriously two steps away high. I'll put it this way, look at how many times I have played this game, and then consider that it was so high I started running away from battles because I couldn't fucking take it. Definite negative points here.
- Difficulty. Mostly because it was... erratic. Most bosses were easy, and to be honest, I think the encounter rate played a role here: because of all the GD encounters your party's usually at a high level like you've been grinding (even if you haven't) so the bosses come out seeming pretty easy. And then every now and then there's a boss who comes out and just flattens the crap out of you. See for reference: freaking Lunar Subterrane and the bosses and battles therein. Hard as frig, except for the ones that are pieces of cake. Now, I enjoy a good challenging game, and that's part of why I play, so having the difficulty all over the place is distracting and weird.
Overall... being a diehard fan, I am glad I played it. I'm not sure how I rank it mentally vs the GBA version - it's much prettier to play, which is a big part of its draw, and I think it's similar otherwise, but I don't remember the GBA having such an annoying encounter rate. The DS version is still just... different, in a class of its own, with so many new things (visually, gameplay-wise, story-wise) that I still recommend playing the DS version AND another to get the full experience.
As for the Interlude...
Why. What. Was the point. Now, look, I'm spoiled enough for the After Years that I get why they put the Interlude together, to anchor some of the things that happen in TAY, but... What the fuck? First of all, it wasn't explained. Second, so it happened and then everybody (including Rydia?) sat on their asses for 14 fucking years or whatever until shit kicked off again? Really? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh Squeenix your fanfiction is inconsistent with canon.
ALSO: HEY CECIL BE THE GODFATHER OF THIS KID... AND ALSO NAME HER. *URSULA*, FIRST NAME PULLED OUT OF YOUR ASS? YEAH THAT'S GREAT! What the fuck.
Also, who didn't see Rosa being pregnant in this? Like THAT was the BIG SURPRISE at the end, IT WASN'T OBVIOUS AT ALL, christ.
I am finding The After Years way more well-written than the Interlude. And more enjoyable - the Interlude suffered from the same crappy encounter rate, plus no new skills or anything and the same bad guys we fought in FFIV. It was kind of a waste of time. Poorly written, nonsensical, and just kind of strange.
As for The After Years (minor spoilers?)
Overall, I am actually liking The After Years! I like the way the story is being told in flashbacks and present time, with use of the old/new sprites to let me know what's what, and while I thought the moon phase thing was kind of dumb at first it is really growing on me in terms of gameplay and strategy. The storytelling is a little bit all over the place, just because of the way the optional storylines come in and out, but I am noticing the way that they link them all together, referring from one to the next. Again, I'm playing this game in 15-minute blurbs before bedtime.
I've played Ceodore's Tale and I am partway through Rydia's Tale. I am a little confused, because I'm pretty sure when we played the first chapter of TAY drunk off our butts last year, more things happened than I got to in Ceodore's Tale -- I think the PSP has split it up differently. All I know is that it told me Ceodore's Tale was over, I went into the stories to see what was next, and Rydia's Tale was next - where the eff did Kain's Tale go...? I am so confused by the setup of this game, oh well. I am playing Rydia's Tale in a different save but seriously, how the fuck do I get back to the rest of Ceodore and Kain's story?
Overall the game is... a little hard, actually, in places. I'm finding I had to grind a lot for money in Rydia's Tale, mostly because that party doesn't have a consistent White Mage and Luca's the only physical powerhouse (have I mentioned that Luca RULES?) - it's a quirky party and this is where I am definitely finding the phase of the moon thing to come into play, mainly because it's a weirdly unbalanced party. It's a nice changeup from the perfectly-balanced FFIV Final Party, really; I'm enjoying the quirky challenge of it, even if it is frustrating to be depending on black magic and wrenches and dancing dolls.
It seems like a huge story, too, so I am hoping that the 15-minute chunks are enough that I can remember what the heck is going on. Oh well. No promises that I'll still like it as I continue on, but for now it's good enough to keep playing...
This entry was originally posted at http://seventhe.dreamwidth.org/272021.html, which has
comments. Comment there (with OpenID) or here, it's all good.