I guess I should post something (aka Livejournal Cliche #7)
So now I'm playing FFXIII.
THE GOOD: They actually got AI right. How long has it been? 20 years of AI partners that burn up all their consumables casting spells on enemies that are immune to them, or worse, healed by them? How hard can it be to have the computer simply always do whatever deals out the most damage to the enemy the leader is attacking with the least time and material consumed? It's not like the computer even has to think about tactical maneuvering or setting up supply depots in most JRPGs. Friends are in one line, enemies are in another line, and supplies are pulled from the Indestructible Bag Of Holding 99 Of Each Item. All the AI has to think about is a discrete set of commands and a discrete set of targets, and perform a cost vs. reward calculation that is ridiculously simple compared to the effort it takes to draw a single pixel on a TV screen. It's not rocket science, it's spreadsheet technology, and if the AI won't do it because "it's not fair" then the player will turn off the AI and do the micromanagement themselves (no matter how painful the design team tries to make it), or simply play another game that isn't written by douchebags that care more about their own little digital world than they do about the real world people who would like to spend real world money being entertained instead of annoyed.
Actually, you know what's even better than an AI that always does the right thing when it needs to? An AI that always does the right thing, but only after it knows what the right thing is. In FFXIII, the AI starts out not knowing anything about most of the critters you fight (as do the players who don't use GameFAQs). So what does it do? It goes through each action it can perform, and actually makes notes of which ones do the most damage or trigger specific weaknesses. You can even read these notes in the Datalog as they are made; it's like having GameFAQs installed with the game, and without the thirty pages of empty legal threats attached to every file. So, now the "Scan" (or "Libra" in emospeak) spell has flipped from useless to vital once again, since it dumps a whole pile of enemy data straight into the Datalog for your teammates to hack and slash with. I don't even mind the fact that it costs TP (think "overdrives") to cast now, or that it only reveals about 10 bits of unknown data with each cast (so with opponents having LOTS of special attacks and weaknesses you may have to cast it multiple times). It's like experience points for your AI, gathered on a per-enemy basis.
THE BAD: The plot is pretty much the same mix of angst and emo every FF game since VII has been. What is it about polygons that makes game designers always want to build Orwellian sci-fi dystopias covered with glitter and laden with bitter self-pity?
THE UGLY: Yeah, the plot gets another mention for the low point it hits. Note to the FFXIV design team: it's not a good idea to bring back The Main Character Who Suddenly Dies At The Halfway Point in a way that actually makes the players want to kill the character themselves. YOU MADE ME GRIEVE FOR A F*CKING CHAIR YOU ASSHOLE
THE GOOD: They actually got AI right. How long has it been? 20 years of AI partners that burn up all their consumables casting spells on enemies that are immune to them, or worse, healed by them? How hard can it be to have the computer simply always do whatever deals out the most damage to the enemy the leader is attacking with the least time and material consumed? It's not like the computer even has to think about tactical maneuvering or setting up supply depots in most JRPGs. Friends are in one line, enemies are in another line, and supplies are pulled from the Indestructible Bag Of Holding 99 Of Each Item. All the AI has to think about is a discrete set of commands and a discrete set of targets, and perform a cost vs. reward calculation that is ridiculously simple compared to the effort it takes to draw a single pixel on a TV screen. It's not rocket science, it's spreadsheet technology, and if the AI won't do it because "it's not fair" then the player will turn off the AI and do the micromanagement themselves (no matter how painful the design team tries to make it), or simply play another game that isn't written by douchebags that care more about their own little digital world than they do about the real world people who would like to spend real world money being entertained instead of annoyed.
Actually, you know what's even better than an AI that always does the right thing when it needs to? An AI that always does the right thing, but only after it knows what the right thing is. In FFXIII, the AI starts out not knowing anything about most of the critters you fight (as do the players who don't use GameFAQs). So what does it do? It goes through each action it can perform, and actually makes notes of which ones do the most damage or trigger specific weaknesses. You can even read these notes in the Datalog as they are made; it's like having GameFAQs installed with the game, and without the thirty pages of empty legal threats attached to every file. So, now the "Scan" (or "Libra" in emospeak) spell has flipped from useless to vital once again, since it dumps a whole pile of enemy data straight into the Datalog for your teammates to hack and slash with. I don't even mind the fact that it costs TP (think "overdrives") to cast now, or that it only reveals about 10 bits of unknown data with each cast (so with opponents having LOTS of special attacks and weaknesses you may have to cast it multiple times). It's like experience points for your AI, gathered on a per-enemy basis.
THE BAD: The plot is pretty much the same mix of angst and emo every FF game since VII has been. What is it about polygons that makes game designers always want to build Orwellian sci-fi dystopias covered with glitter and laden with bitter self-pity?
THE UGLY: Yeah, the plot gets another mention for the low point it hits. Note to the FFXIV design team: it's not a good idea to bring back The Main Character Who Suddenly Dies At The Halfway Point in a way that actually makes the players want to kill the character themselves. YOU MADE ME GRIEVE FOR A F*CKING CHAIR YOU ASSHOLE