in ur dungeons, lighting ur crystals
We had some terrifically wonderful thunderstorms last night. YAY! Alas, they rendered my intertubes nonfunctional, so I had to find an alternate source of amusement for the evening. Started off with yet more Picross, but eventually decided I wanted to play something that had actual characters, so I fired up Final Fantasy (the first).[1]
Here is FFI in a nutshell: Grinding just outside of town in order to obtain enough Gil to clean the town out of spells, armor, weapons, and items, then traveling to a dungeon where you will get your ass handed to you several times before you even reach the dungeon boss because you've forgotten yet again that fleeing is a perfectly acceptable strategy until you are already halfway down. You'll use up all your healing items on the way in because the game only has Potions (no Hi-Potions! WHUT?!?) and not only that, but they heal a (pitifully small) random amount. Upon finally reaching the boss, you'll be so drained of resources that you chant "please don't let me die please don't let me die please don't let me die" throughout the entire battle, because you sure as heck don't want to do this all again.
The chanting worked last night, as I managed to survive the boss fight and get the Fire Crystal lit. But just barely--two of my party members were deadified, and the other two were just barely hanging onto life (oh yeah, I forgot to mention there's no Phoenix Downs, either. You either have to make your way back to town and visit a Sanctuary to get revived, or use the Life spell, which doesn't help if it's your White Mage that's pining for the fjords).
So yeah, this game has been beating me up so bad I'm surprised I haven't gotten bruises from it (no Hi-potions? SERIOUSLY?). But I'm having tons of fun with it. It kind of reminds me of reading the story treatment and early drafts of Star Wars: it's rough, but a glimmer of its further brilliance is there, and it's quite awesome to see how it develops. There's just this sense of history: This is where it all started. Plus, it's really a thrill to hear all the music I've loved for years in their original setting. Sometimes I just wander around listening to the music. <3
So then I was flipping through the booklet that came with Dawn of Souls (the GBA version of I & II)[3], and there was a listing of items. And guess what? It has Hi-Potions. And X-Potions. And Phoenix Downs. And Ethers. Obviously I picked the wrong version to play. >_< I'm far enough in the game that I'm just going to stumble through it, but it's kind of comforting to know that the GBA version might possibly be easier/less frustrating because it has better items (because I will be playing it eventually.
And now I am off to the Ice Cavern.
[1]I can't call it "the original", because the version I'm playing isn't the original; I'm playing the Origins version (for the Playstation).[2]
[2]Also, everytime I refer to the first Final Fantasy game, I hear Scotty's voice saying, "N-C-C-1-7-0-1. No bloody A - B - C - or D!". Final Fantasy--no bloody numbers!
[3]Yes, I have two versions of the same game. No, I'm not insane. :p Insanity would be seeking out the original NES release, and I'm not that crazy.[4]
[4]Not yet, anyway. But I may be getting there.
Here is FFI in a nutshell: Grinding just outside of town in order to obtain enough Gil to clean the town out of spells, armor, weapons, and items, then traveling to a dungeon where you will get your ass handed to you several times before you even reach the dungeon boss because you've forgotten yet again that fleeing is a perfectly acceptable strategy until you are already halfway down. You'll use up all your healing items on the way in because the game only has Potions (no Hi-Potions! WHUT?!?) and not only that, but they heal a (pitifully small) random amount. Upon finally reaching the boss, you'll be so drained of resources that you chant "please don't let me die please don't let me die please don't let me die" throughout the entire battle, because you sure as heck don't want to do this all again.
The chanting worked last night, as I managed to survive the boss fight and get the Fire Crystal lit. But just barely--two of my party members were deadified, and the other two were just barely hanging onto life (oh yeah, I forgot to mention there's no Phoenix Downs, either. You either have to make your way back to town and visit a Sanctuary to get revived, or use the Life spell, which doesn't help if it's your White Mage that's pining for the fjords).
So yeah, this game has been beating me up so bad I'm surprised I haven't gotten bruises from it (no Hi-potions? SERIOUSLY?). But I'm having tons of fun with it. It kind of reminds me of reading the story treatment and early drafts of Star Wars: it's rough, but a glimmer of its further brilliance is there, and it's quite awesome to see how it develops. There's just this sense of history: This is where it all started. Plus, it's really a thrill to hear all the music I've loved for years in their original setting. Sometimes I just wander around listening to the music. <3
So then I was flipping through the booklet that came with Dawn of Souls (the GBA version of I & II)[3], and there was a listing of items. And guess what? It has Hi-Potions. And X-Potions. And Phoenix Downs. And Ethers. Obviously I picked the wrong version to play. >_< I'm far enough in the game that I'm just going to stumble through it, but it's kind of comforting to know that the GBA version might possibly be easier/less frustrating because it has better items (because I will be playing it eventually.
And now I am off to the Ice Cavern.
[1]I can't call it "the original", because the version I'm playing isn't the original; I'm playing the Origins version (for the Playstation).[2]
[2]Also, everytime I refer to the first Final Fantasy game, I hear Scotty's voice saying, "N-C-C-1-7-0-1. No bloody A - B - C - or D!". Final Fantasy--no bloody numbers!
[3]Yes, I have two versions of the same game. No, I'm not insane. :p Insanity would be seeking out the original NES release, and I'm not that crazy.[4]
[4]Not yet, anyway. But I may be getting there.