Some Final Fantasy IV DS info

A little late to post this, but fuck it. Here's some intriguing localisation news regarding the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV. These info comes from Tomoya Asano, producer of FF III and FF IV DS remakes as well as Takashi Tokita, lead game designer and scenario writer of the original FF IV as well as co-director of Chrono Trigger and director of this remake.

The story has not been tinkered much, so as not to upset picky fanboys. This despite the original game being only 25% of what they intended. Some of these discarded scripts were reworked into the remake in the form of flashbacks.

FF IV DS will have new story scenes that will flesh out Golbez's character.

Problems that plagued Final Fantasy III DS will be addressed. This includes improved loading, character development, more abilities, elaborate summoning cut scenes etc. I am not too sure whether I would welcome a more elaborate summoning sequences. Hope they are skipable.

In FF III DS, one of the screen is switched off during dungeon crawling and combat, but in FF IV DS, the lower screen will be used to display enemy info, status conditions etc. during battle. Nice.

As I mentioned in my impression of the Japanese version, the lower screen contains a map percentage feature where if you explore 100% of the dungeon you will get a reward.

The Augment Ability System (Decant ability) replaces the system in FF IV Advance where the characters that were temporary in the original version are playable again later on. They didn't like it because it messes with the story.

The Augment system will allow characters to permanently learn new abilities. This was originally meant to allow leaving characters to transfer their skills, but is now expanded out to allow you to learn new abilities by furthering story sub plots.

The weird creature that was with Rydia will be called Whytkin. Which doesn't sound as cute as Pochika...

Some of Edward's abilities which were near useless in the original game will be made more useful. Thank god.

It was acknowledge that they didn't want to lower the difficulty to appease to casual gamers. Makes sense, but I remember even hardcore gamers were complaining about FF III DS's difficulty. Man up people! Stop complaining that we need save points just before boss fights!

This is important. FF IV DS won't be an easytype. Instead difficulty is increased as bosses were rebalanced to stop people from memorising boss strategies from earlier versions. I hope we will get a Hard mode like the none-Japanese version of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, but right now nothing has been confirmed.

Auto battle mode similar to gambit where you assign a single action for each character. In the Japanese version this can be turned off during battle if you wish.

The bonus Lunar Ruins from FF IV Advance won't be making it here. Nothing was mentioned about the new dungeon on Mt. Ruins.

Instead we will getting New Game+. ^_^

Summons are called Eidolons for IX fanboys. I have no idea why they would do that...

Totally ripped-off from GAF

The English version of Final Fantasy IV DS remake will arrive 22nd July this year. Take advantage of the low dollar and import.

Some none news

Quote of the day

"But don't worry. I'm not about to create Wii Fit. As for Snake, though... that's it. It's over."

Hideo Kojima (EDGE 188), assuring his admirers that despite MGS4 being his last Metal Gear game as a director, he won't be making none-games just yet. It gives me great hope that we will one day see Zone of the Enders 3.

Also...


A poll by parents to find out what kind of material they find offensive in video games revealed some not too surprising results. Perhaps as an affirmation on their religious values or merely current taboos, 37% responded stating that they find scenes of heterosexuals having sex to be offensive and 27% who hated the idea of two men kissing, compared to the 26% who would squirm at the sight of a severed human head. Can't say I am surprised though. The date might read 2008, but many are still living in their own little Victorian paradise.

via Wired

Miles Edgeworth to star in spin-off title

Miles Edgeworth the prosecutor extraordinary of the Gyakuten Saiban series, is finally getting his own spin-off game. About time! Gyakuten Kenji (codenamed as New Gyakuten, Not Saiban)will apparently be a law adventure game and so far the two main characters confirmed are Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe. Gumshoe as our bumbling sidekick? Even more awesome. The game will feature a sprite-based third person gameplay with a new point & click search and deduction system.

(spoilers for GS3-less Europeans - just import the damn game)

That is great news. Ever since we were given the chance to play as Edgeworth in GS3, I have been itching for Capcom to create a game that solely revolves around him.

(spoiler ends)

Hell, back when I first played the first Ace Attorney I've already started hoping for an Edgeworth spin-off. Now if only Capcom get of their arses and confirm Franziska von Karma and Godot's own spin-offs. Especially von Karma. Because playing as a hot prosecutor with her own whip is made of win.

via GAF

Updated with scans!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII review

Despite the millions of gamers who adores it, I have always found Final Fantasy VII to be a decent but ultimately average title. But for many, Final Fantasy VII was the first Japanese RPG they ever played. And for many others, the only! It is difficult to dismiss the title's significance in introducing a once obscure genre to the mainstream, and for that alone I tip my hat to Final Fantasy VII.


Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is the latest instalment in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series of Square-Enix quick cash-in of taking advantage of desperate buyers. Surprisingly and more importantly, luckily, it is one of the better spin-off titles in Square-Enix's Final Fantasy VII portfolio (Advent Children being an incredibly forgetful experience, and Dirge of Cerberus apparently a turd - I haven't tried it but YouTube videos advised me not to). One reason being is that Crisis Core isn't really a spin-off, but a direct prequel to Final Fantasy VII, which explains among other things why Cloud is so mind fucked in Final Fantasy VII. So shocking as it is, you do get a glimpse of a happier laughing Cloud before he started brooding 99.99% of the time. Spoilers ahoy throughout!


Crisis Core evolves around Zack Fair, a 2nd class SOLDIER under the employment of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a multi-conglomerate dictator. Cocky as he usually is, his ambition is to become a 1st class SOLDIER and to be a hero of Midgar - to live his dreams so to speak. The game begins with Zack and his mentor Angeal sent to infiltrate and destroy enemies in Wutai., only to be attacked by clones of a missing 1st class SOLDIER Genesis. Saved by Sephiroth, Zack later learns that Angeal has gone renegade joining ranks with Genesis. Throughout the game (which spans a couple of years), Zack retains his belief to guide Angeal back to the right path. We also get to see Zack's first meeting Aerith, as well as their eventual romancing; and becoming best friends with Shinra infantryman Cloud. There are a couple of story arcs in Crisis Core, one that surrounds the main antagonist Genesis, as well as the infamous Nibelheim incident where Sephiroth went insane.


A couple of supporting characters from the previous (sequel) game is here, all connected through Zack's interaction with them. The human side of Sephiroth is of particular interest here as he showed himself to be a kind and funny fellow, and of someone who once recognised friendship above all. It is interesting as I've always thought him of a two dimensional villain, so I was thankful that we finally get to visit a side of him when he was sane and smiling before his mental breakdown. Yuffie also makes an appearance, constantly stalking Zack via e-mail; as well as Tifa, who appears as a guide to Zack and Sephiroth while in Nibelheim. There are quite a number of boss battles to be dealt with, but none were particularly difficult or memorable, especially those 'mid-bosses'. Sadly, the final boss was a joke, but this is Genesis we are talking about. His constant citing of LOVELESS poetries is truly video gaming irritation on a huge scale.


While the story begins excruciatingly slowly, the plot eventually did gradually built up. To be honest, I found the multiple story arcs here far more enjoyable than the one in Final Fantasy VII. It must have something to do with playing with what seems to be a very likeable and funny protagonist, unlike what Cloud came to be in Final Fantasy VII and its subsequent sequel Advent Children. Seriously, Zack is now one of my favourite Final Fantasy characters next to Balthier (Final Fantasy XII) and Rydia & Kain (Final Fantasy IV), though it did take a couple of chapters before his do-gooder personality rises. It is sad that the manner of his death was so tragic, but if you are really into Final Fantasy VII lore, you would have known of it by now (I did, but not the manner). Basically, Zack Fair is a genuine Mr. Nice Guy whose optimism is a rarity among modern Final Fantasy characters these days. For all intent and purpose, I believe that Square-Enix succeeded in creating an extremely likeable centre character.


Unlike most Final Fantasy games, there is no world map for the player to traverse. Instead the player is automatically transported to each location through cut scenes. It does suit the portable nature of the game so I won't complain of the lack of airships and Chocobo riding, though it does make the main mission a very linear experience. Even side missions are only accessible through the menu when Zack is standing on a save spot, which I found to be extremely weird but useful for quick missions. Later on when Zack is escaping the Shinra forces, you can still access missions of Zack working for Shinra, which I found to be rather silly.


Unlike its predecessor, Crisis Core is an Action RPG title featuring a real time combat system not too dissimilar to those found in tri-Ace's Star Ocean and Level-5's Rogue Galaxy. Battles are still random (annoyingly sometimes every 3-5 seconds) but only in open areas, and though there is no transition to a new battle screen you will still have to wait as Zack readies his sword. When in combat mode, the bottom left displays the HP, MP and AP stats and the top left features a slot machine-like spinning reel. This is called the Digital Mind Wave that randomly giving the player helpful boost (such as the limit break-like Power Surge!), levelling up equipped Materias. The DMW also sometimes shows unseen cut scenes revolving around Zack, which is fortunately skip able (it does repeat these cut scenes rather a lot). Summons are also evoked through the DMW.


The player controls Zack using the analogue pad and cycles through the equipped commands using the shoulder 'L' and 'R' trigger. Pressing 'X' will confirm Zack's action, though you can also evade and defend using the other face buttons. If you can run or dodge around to the back of the enemy and attack, you will earn a critical hit. Bizarrely the EXP counter is not visible in any portion of the game, and you will only level-up if the DMW reel shows 7-7-7. Personally while I feel that the DMW is a welcomed addition to the game, it does become monotonous after a while - particularly when you can't skip the Power Surge attack animations. But it was used brilliantly in Zack's final battle. The learning curve is easy.


Visually Crisis Core is a very pretty PSP game. But it isn't as close to the new high benchmark set by God of War: Chains of Olympus game. Environments aren't as detailed as it could have been and the geometries are very simple. Pathways are wide to accommodate the real time gameplay, giving the player room to manoeuvre, but are unsightly. Some locations are downright awful with constant grey walls or brown deserts. It gets boring awfully quickly, which is why I tend to skip most side missions. Texture quality is good and the cut scenes are told in both pre-rendered videos of varying quality and in-game cut scene engine. Facial animations (in both pre-rendered and real time cut scenes) are excellent - far better than most games I have seen and equal to that of Final Fantasy XII on the PS2. Loading is quick too, though no where near as seamless as Chains of Olympus. Overall, environments are a bit meh, but character and enemy models were brilliant.


The soundtrack mainly consists of 'remixed' versions of those in Final Fantasy VII, which consists of tracks that I enjoyed and hated. The "heavy metal" piece during certain fights were bloody annoying back then, and is equally annoying here. I am normally a fan of all sorts of heavy metal (bar nu), but the pseudo-metal soundtrack does not suit the game at all. Having said that, the majority of the soundtrack was particularly memorable, especially the western-style string. Voice acting was okay. When I first listed my pros and cons for this review, I did dislike the English voice acting at first, but towards the end I found that I eventually did warmed up to them. Sound quality is excellent.


Crisis Core is rather light on its content. The main campaign I reckon could be completed in around 15-20 hours. I myself took around 23 hours to complete the main game with around 20% of the side quests done, most of which were done during my daily tube commutes. Most of the hundreds of available side missions are pretty standard repetitive fillers with no plot sense, though they do give the player an opportunity to harvest rare Materia. Grinding isn't a requirement though, as the game is pretty easy. Some enemies are capable of instantly killing you, though if you have the status Raise (you can get it for free in the Shinra lobby or from a dash of Phoenix Down) you will automatically be revived. Not all side missions are fillers though, as some do advance the back story of certain characters like Yuffie. There are also optional quests like building Aerith better flower wagons and helping out a hapless 3rd class SOLDIER.


The Materia Fusion mentioned earlier is similar to Alchemy in Dragon Quest VIII and Skill Binding in Jeanne d'Arc, where you can combine different Materias to either attach stat boosts to it or to create new Materias. The amount of Materia that can be equipped is limited. For example, rather than wasting two slots by equipping Firaga and a HP boost Materia, you can combine both to create Firaga + (HP+). Playing around with the Materia allows you to achieve very high stats earlier in the game instead of relying on levelling-up. By the time I reached the quarter of the game, my Zack already had his HP boosted from 3000 to 9999, even when his level was around 30. The same applies to boosting MP and AP, as well as boosting Zack's attributes like his physical attacks and magic defence.


Overall I am surprised to have found myself genuinely enjoying Crisis Core. I avoided the hype, and at the end my expectations were more or less met. It doesn't matter if you, like me, didn't like Final Fantasy VII or Advent Children; Crisis Core is still worthy of a title in its own right. So forget about your love or hatred about the original sourced title, Crisis Core deserved to be played despite its well documented short comings.

Things I like about Crisis Core:

• Story is engrossing.
• Portable friendly bite-sized missions, with well spaced save points.
  
• Character model are detailed, with good facial and body animations.
  
• Real time combat with menu based element is intuitive, though not as polished as Final Fantasy XII's.
  
• High production value and polished presentation.
  
• Quick loading.
  
• Plenty of side quests, some which provides back story.
  
• Random battles happens without transition screen.
  
• Material Fusion.
  
• New Game+ (finally!), and hard mode included.
  
• Zack is a likeable protagonist.
  

Things I dislike about Crisis Core:

• LOVELESS.
  
• Hidden EXP counter.
  
• Normal mode is too easy.
  
• I don't mind random battles, but having one every 3-5 seconds is taking the cake.
  
• Very linear storyline, no world map.
  
• Lack of challenging puzzles.
• DMW gets too repetitive.
  
• Dull environments.
  
• "Heavy metal" battle theme.
  

8/10

You can preorder the Euro exclusive special edition from Amazon UK. Or get them from Amazon.com.

Happy Snowy April

Everybody's Golf: my new favourite everyday game

I can't believe that I have missed out on Sony's Everybody's Golf (Minna no Golf) series for so long, but after reading tons of good impressions on the new PS3 version I decided it was time to check it out. Obviously since I do not have a PS3 yet, the next best option would be the PS2 or PSP - so I got the PSP version instead, since golf + portable = obvious fun. And I am indeed having so much fun with it, so much so I have been ignoring some 'main games' lately. ^_^

We get it, you still hate video games

The Times, continuing their assault on video games, has invited guest columnist Giles Whittell to post a rant listing his reasons on why he hates video games. This after The Times lied about video games box receiving health warning labels and whose two other hacks have no will to be responsible for their children's actions. His main reason: that video gaming is a waste of time.

I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.

This was written by a book author. What do authors do? Suck real people into fake worlds. I see no difference from people who take comfort in immersing themselves in films, books, music, musicals or indeed video gaming. To single out a medium specifically for his attack says a lot of this hypocritical old man, whose books are no where near as influential as those by authors like J.R.R. Tolkein, Terry Pratchet and J.K. Rowling.

This is not because of anything wrong or bad about video games or heroin or teenage parents. It's not even because of game-induced homicide or web-grooming of little girls by perverts - serious problems, but statistically low-risk. It's because, compared with everything else on offer in a kid's life, video games and heroin and teenage pregnancy are a colossal waste of time.

Silly argument. What do we do in this world that isn't a waste of time? Sudoku? Fishing? Hiking? Reading travel books written by the same hack who posted the above diatribe? All these are equally a waste of time. Writing the article itself for all intent and purpose was ultimately a waste of time, as was writing this reply. I know what isn't a waste of time. Giving birth to a beautiful baby, even if it was the result of teen pregnancy.

Dr Byron says a third of ten-year-olds in England spend more than three hours per school day playing video games. In England, maybe. In my house, only when I'm dead. Meanwhile, I want my kids to overdose on wind, rain, mud, gravy, tents, mountains and overcooked bacon. (Oh, and do their homework.) Why is that suddenly so weird?

I see you also enjoy time wasting. What is the difference of wasting time standing under the rain to wasting time playing video games or reading proper books? Is it because you are a bitter technophobic? Whose inability to connect with young people makes you angry? At the end of the day eating overcooked bacon or playing video games still results in the same thing - wasting time. But at least I had fun playing games. Overcooked bacons are not that great.

You could do worse than wasting your time with video gaming fun. You could be a Times reader.

Witchblade anime review

It took some time, but I finally got through my backlog of Witchblade anime. Now I have heard awful stuff about the anime, mainly from fans of the original American comic who decried the Anime-sation of their favourite comic. I can't blame them, the art direction for one is completely different - being anime and all. But one pet complaint I heard from them is pretty unsubstantiated, that being that the anime series somehow borders on softcore. Which is all bollocks if they actually watched the anime in the first place. Sure, fan service do occur plenty, but I would consider Witchblade to be pretty mild. At most I would compare Witchblade's ecchi level to that of a censored Ghost in the Shell. And it isn't like the American Witchblade had no boobies. Regardless, what is it with people who hates skins but loves violence?


The anime does start out rather slowly. We are introduced to Masane Amaha and her daughter Rihoku, who are running away from a child welfare organisation who are seeking to remove Rihoku from Masane's custody because she does not have the capabilities to raise a daughter. Eventually succeeding in keeping her daughter, Masane is hired by Reiji Takayama of Douji Group Industries, a weapons manufacture, to combat malfunctioned 'Ex-cons', a group of weapons made of human corpse. This is because she has the power of the Witchblade, whom she came to possess some six years earlier when an earthquake destroyed Tokyo. The Wicthblade has the power to provide the bearer with superhuman abilities, and Masane's reappearance has ignited a rivalry between the Douji Group and NSFW, an origination researching into creating Witchblade clones dubbed the Cloneblades wielder.


A number of important characters were established early on, but their back story weren't explained much. Many came off as two-dimensional particularly Yuusuke Tozawa, a freelance photographer, whom initially came off as someone who would do anything for a scoop, including exposing the Witchblade project. As the series progress eventually he is shown to have a deeper understanding with Masane and her daughter. The producers of the series seems to realise that the time spent working on Masane's relationship with secondary characters would do well and even dedicated an entire episode for the purpose when Masane gets a day off. Masane's relationship with her daughter is also tested when Rihoku is proven to be not her biological son and that her real mother was revealed to be a rival Cloneblade.


Disappointing to a series like this however are the action sequences themselves. Typically of any Japanese anime, these are bland and as a result we are not accustomed to seeing fast action. Fortunately fight scenes rarely occur, and even then those that do occur brief. Most of the time, the anime focuses on a number of storyline like Masane's relationship with Rihoku, Douji's internal office politics and NSFW's research into human cloning. This is why I actually continued watching Witchblade because the story keeps getting better as back story of important characters are explored further and new plotlines emerging. Towards the end it would be challenging not to feel sorry for some of the main characters. Even Masane's enemies are often portrayed in a kindly way and their deaths are usually a form of release from a terrible burden.


The quality of the animations isn't the best. I would rate it as pretty average, certainly no where near on par with The Melancholy of Haruhi Suziyama or Nana. But as a TV anime, I would say it is good enough to enjoy, though no where near the details of Top Cow's Witchblade comics and Witchblade Takeru mangas. Voice over are another matter though with the cast of Japanese voice actors giving their absolute finest here.

You can preorder a limited edition Witchblade boxset here or get the first volume here.