D is for Dead? I don’t think so!
As it’s been a while since my last post and there are many things that have happened, I’m just going to start fresh.
I am a fan of System Shock 2. A very big fan. Since I am a fan, I was more than excited when Bioshock was announced. I waited, almost patiently, for the release of what could be the greatest FPS RPG title released since SS2. Upon release, however, as impressed as I was by the game, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was just playing SS2 with a new theme. It was almost as if they had re-skinned the original game, slapped a new prefix to “Shock” and dumbed down the difficulty. I could go on about it but I feel that Zero Punctuation said it perfectly in the following video:
On another note, I want to talk about RPGs. More specifically, Japanese RPGs. Yes, I know, it’s a touchy subject. JRPGs is like the Euro Metal of the gaming world. Everyone had probably played one or two, but only the nerdiest of the nerdy (myself included) really enjoy them on higher level. So if you are not a fan of them, I would say skip on down the post. Anyway, my issue is with the evolving battle systems in the games. More and more are JRPGs going to a real-time battle system and straying from the turn-based style that it was birthed with. I don’t necessarily dislike this trend, it’s simply that the transition has been very rocky. More often than not, I have found myself playing a real-time system that has been not only exceedingly dull, but also very contrived and not even very well executed. Only a few titles have really stood out as having excellent real-time systems or variations thereof (Star Ocean, Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy XII). There has also been a growing pressure on classic turn-based franchises to shed their ways and go to the new style. Series like Dragon Quest, games that have built their popularity on the solid turn-based gameplay, are feeling the pressure from other series who have jumped ship and embraced the new system. This I am not happy with.
I grew up playing turn-based games, and I would rather not see series I have loved change something that drew me into it in the first place. A Dragon Quest title that is not turn-based seems almost blasphemous. I do understand that turn-based systems can be overwhelming or sometimes needlessly convoluted. Games like Magna Carta that featured hybrid systems that were so overly complex that playing the game was no longer fun ruins the image of turn-based titles.
Another nail in the turn-based coffin is the random encounter. So often are old titles associated with this bastardized version of exploration that it becomes synonymous with tedium. Games have been starting to stray from that concept, but it still rears its ugly head every now and then (Rogue Galaxy).
In the end, I feel that Final Fantasy XII has done the best job so far of combining both schools of thought into one extremely coherent and entirely enjoyable game.
MUSIC
As the title implies, today is the day of the D. No, I am not talking about Tenacious D, I am talking about tracks from games who’s name begins with that lovely letter D. Below you will find music from Dragon Quest, Devil May Cry, and Dead Rising. Enjoy.
Koichi Sugiyama - Overture Dragon Quest VIII Sorato Umito Daichito Norowareshi Himegimi Symphonic Suite
Shawn McPherson - Cerberus Battle Devil May Cry 3 Original Soundtrack
Hostile Groove - On a Mission Dead Rising Original Soundtrack