Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (20)

Aside from the fact that here Claude sounds like an old guy rambling about, I'm always surprised by how he seems to feel right on his home planet even when he's clearly not: of course neither Rena nor Celine have anything to say about Claude's remarks, which shows how similar Expel and Earth are at that time... or how it was easier for the writer to make it like that.

Our friends are a bit tired from walking around while the ship takes forever to load, so they walk towards the benches in the town square. Suddenly Claude gets run over by a small kid with blue hair (damn, blue-haired people sure are annoying), and his wallet goes missing: where could it be?

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Now that's rude! Claude simply walks up to a kidonly to be greeted with a 'Cheapskate!', and nothing else. I'm also pretty positive he isn't referring to anyone else (and accidentally facing Claude, as it happened in that scene I showed you some posts ago).

Claude couldn't get to the toilet (see previous post), so he thought of the port, but there are sailors and annoying kids around, so he's given up. Note: this whole toilet business isn't actually part of the plot, just in case you couldn't tell I was joking.

If you activate a Private Action in this town you'll have the chance to meet Philia, a woman who claims disaster will soon strike the place and begging the townspeople to take refuge before it's too late. After incredulous folk walk away brushing off the lady as probably being 'mentally ill', you can add injury to insult by stealing from her (remember, it's a special ability for your characters): the item you can get from her will make new items randomly appear in your inventory every now and then, which is pretty wicked, but I've never wanted to do that.

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What does that mean? I honestly don't know. There are many lines of diaolgue in this game I don't understand, mostly because they're slang or something. Probably it's not a proper Funny Bit, but I'll leave that to you to judge.

Claude & co. journey to the port town of Herlie, which is a long way from Cross Castle, filled with monster encounters. Since the ship sailing to the continent of El (where the Sorcery Globe is) is still being loaded, our heroes have a stroll about town. Claude seems to be needing the toilet, but today isn't his lucky day. And not just because of that; more on this next time.

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Claude's mind-reading abilities always amaze me; Rena hardly even spoke in this scene. I would be tempted to assume Claude's behaviour was influenced by Celine's... uhm, presence, if it weren't for the fact that the exact same dialogue happens if you choose Rena as the main character, only with reversed roles.

The party finally gets out of this cave with the treasure, but Claude and Rena show some disappointment because they couldn't find any clues about the Sorcery Globe, thus revealing their true objective to Celine. Before parting ways, Claude suddenly asks Celine 'Why don't you go with us Celine?', and your chance to recruit her opens up. Celine is the best spellcaster in the game (among only 4, and one of them is Rena, the healer), which is too good for me to pass up. Experts may say that fighter characters are way better in general, but I just prefer not having to worry about AI-controlled characters when the AI itself sucks, and dislike switching controls too often.

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Claude seems to be a little emphatic here, don't you think? Really, it must have been such a letdown to him. But wait, maybe he's actually a fast-thinker: he knows every single chest they've found so far contained something, so when he saw an empty one he immediately thought it was a trap! Claude's so smart! ...But even then, he could have said something better than 'OH NO!'; in my head it always sounds like what you would hear in Neo Turf Masters after scoring a Bogey.

Ok, the party's looting the remaining treasure, but apparently one of the chests was rigged: two devil-like yellow monsters appear and fly down towards our heroes. They look quite ugly and vicious, and they can bite your characters continuously (I think you can even see blood being spilt); if you manage to evade/parry the first bite, though, their animation won't stop, which is both useful (they'll be open to attacks) and funny, as they keep biting air.

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So the party has found a secret room of the Cross Cave with treasures, among which there are some 'Ancient Writings'; none of them can decipher what's written on there, so Celine says she should show these writing to the elder of his village. Claude then follows up with a rather smart-assy comment, at least in my opinion, probably since he was on a roll after noticing that strange mark on the map which allowed them to discover this room. However, how in the world does Claude know there are linguistic scholars on this planet!? There's only one place on Expel where you can find scholars, and it's on another continent; Claude may not even have heard of it, and even if he has, what are the chances of such a specific qualification exists here? Regardless, Celine immediately replies to Claude by saying 'Indeed...': I always imagined that she said that with some spite.

Well, we've found the secret treasure, time to get back... But not before opening all the other chests! On an unrelated note, in this game there's no easy way to get out of a cave, dungeon and the like, which is usually the case with most JRPGs: most notably, all episodes of Dragon Quest and most of Final Fantasy games feature a magic spell or an item which will instantly teleport the entire party outside. I really missed such a commodity in Star Ocean 2; fortunately, there's actually one item that does that, but it's very rare and it can only be used on the Cave of Trials (I'm saying this here because I won't go to that cave, since it's optional and uneventful).

Freeware Games

As most of you already know, there are lots of videogames you can play for free: either they're old games whose authors have decided to give away, or they're games being distributed for free from the start, usually by independent developers or amateurs. Often freeware developers accept free donations from players as a support for their effort and expenses.

Freeware games have been around for a long time, but thanks to the Internet they've obtained enhanced visibility; moreover, developers may easily share their work online or combine their efforts towards more complex games. With the advent of online communities, many other possibilities have opened up regariding game advertising, discussion, design, code sharing, and the quality of such games has benefited from it.

Let's not forget about technological support: making games today is a lot simpler than it was before, thanks to the evolution of entirely free development libraries, as well as game development frameworks, which help people who don't know programming languages.

Personally, I've never tried the newer ones (Multimedia Fusion, Game Maker and so on), but years ago I tried using Klik&Play, which is basically the ancestor of Multimedia Fusion. I think frameworks like that really help concentrate more on level design and art without having to bother too much on the technical aspects of programming, such as fine-management of resources, compatibility and text languages themselves. I do believe though that the loss of flexibility can be heavy: the risk is that of people simply making clones of other games, using only tried-and-true game mechanics, experimenting only on appearance and design. That said, there's still ample room for variety and innovation with these frameworks, and they're apparently miles away in terms of flexibility when compared with what I used some 15 years ago.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (14)

Unfortunately I haven't captured the entire scene in one picture (that would have been one long GIF), but it's simple to explain: the party is exploring the Cross Cave and comes to a dead end, Celine seems disheartened, but suddenly changes topic (see above). Rena is briefly asked about her healing powers, as Celine knows no Heraldry spells like that exist; finally, Celine abruptly cuts the short discussion saying something like 'What a BORE! It was such an expensive map...'. Take it as you will...

As I said, Claude, Rena and Celine have set foot into the Cross Cave: notice how in the game you cannot actually view the map, you just have to explore the whole cave in order to find the treasure room. It's not that bad though, since you can find lots of treasure chests lying around (some bandits must have chosen this cave as their lair, although I haven't met any); on the other hand there's also plenty of monsters around. You can have Celine showcase some of their spells during battles, too bad she only knows three very weak spells, and the first one she gets while leveling-up isn't much stronger (but it's cast against all enemies on screen and looks quite cool).

Videogame Music

I used not to care too much about music when playing videogames: as long as it didn't sound annoying or irritating, it was perfectly fine by me. Now I can understand how good music can make a difference in games when it's aptly used, by helping create the right atmosphere, alter pacing, set the mood, and by giving a game a more distinctive appearance.

Moreover, music is something that is easily memorized and quick to recall, so that by simply listening to some tunes, memories of playing the game can readily be brought back up: it's a bit of a nostalgic feeling what one may experience when listening to a soundtrack: maybe you'll remember how much fun you were having, or how emotionally involved you were when playing a certain sequence of the game. Or, more generally, you'll suddenly remember what you were like back then, how you felt on a particular day or during the period you were playing the game.

Nah... I can't really come up with anything interesting today.

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... but first, let's explore town some more! This screenshot was taken at an inn, and might be wrongly interpreted, since I'm pretty sure she was talking to her newlywed husband in a green cape, not to Claude: it's a common thing for characters in older JRPGs to look at the protagonist when you try talking to them, and it makes some dialogues look wrong on some occasions. Still, it looks funny when it happens.

We're still in Cross, going around town to gather more information, items and weapons. You can also learn new skills (you simply "buy" a set of skills at certain shops), on which, once acquired, you can spend your skill points gained in battle; although it baffles me that fighting monsters can help you get a better Esthetic Sense. Each character can develop different skills, which raise their statistics and, by combining some of them, they can use item-creation abilities (i.e. the ability to refine certain items into more useful ones): it's in some ways similar to the refinement system found in Final Fantasy VIII, but there's a random factor and probably a larger variety.

Have I mentioned that you can enter other people's houses freely, like most other JRPGs? To this game's defence, I have to admit that there are very few private places in which you shouldn't normally be able to enter, since most buildings in towns are either shops, inns or taverns. There's also a surprising variety of shops, depending on which town you're visiting: it makes shopping a little more confusing, but it pays off in atmosphere and consistency.

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First of all, the thing you can see on the ground in the centre is a treasure map; but the first time I saw it I thought it was something like a brown kitten. Secondly, why do you have to put the map down if you want to look at it? How can you see clearly enought what's on it if you look at it from so far away; Expellians must have quite a sight (spoiler: although the only actual Expellian here is Celine). And finally, I thought it was weird that to reach the Cross Cave, which had apparently been explored before, Celine had to look at the map.

After Celine has taken care of that unpolite Heraldry Wizard (by swiftly casting a fireball), she nonetheless shows her appreciation for Claude's pathetic intervention in the quarrel. Claude and Rena learn that she spied on them when they got the audience with the King, and asks whether they would be interested in exploring the Cross Cave for hidden treasure. I'm not sure you can skip this sidetrip, but since I planned to take her along in the Sorcery Globe quest I didn't try to turn her down. Celine surely has her charms, but if you get her in your party you'll soon discover that she isn't as 'fair' as she looks (I don't mean it appearance-wise). Now, on to Cross Cave!...

Of terminology

If you're into videogames and often read about them, you might have noticed the recent trends and buzz-words. What I want to talk about here is a bunch of terms being used very frequently: 'hardcore', 'core' and 'casual'.

The first one is a pretty common word, and within the videogames world it has been used for a while: 'hardcore gamers' generally refers to people who have a passion for videogames and have been playing them a lot for a long time. 'Hardcore games' is also widely used to define videogames that might be too hard to get into unless you have a good experience with the genre they belong to.

I think the word 'core' is of much more recent inception (in the videogame industry) than 'hardcore', and may be a derivative of it. By my understanding, a 'core gamer' is a softer 'hardcore gamer', not as passionate and as experienced, but still into games; another interpretation could be that 'core gamers' are those who enjoy 'core games', i.e. games with traditional mechanics and concepts, possibly belonging to a well defined and consolidated genre. If you ask me, these terms don't make much sense, but I can't find a better definition for the term.

Lastly, there's a word which has apparently reached its top popularity today: the word 'casual', when attached to a gamer, means that the person doesn't play games very often, certainly isn't passionate about them, nor is knowledgeable of the videogame industry, but still contributes to the overall market. The jump from 'casual gamers' to 'casual games' is relatively short, as I understand that games may be named so when they're enjoyed mostly by 'casual gamers', and minimally by other types of gamers. Those who have been following the industry in the last few years might draw a parallel with the terms 'non-gamers' and 'non-games'.

What do all these terms have in common, aside from videogames? The Wii console, which has brought them all together in a lot of videogame discussions among the members of the game world (developers, publishers, reviewers and fans alike). Well, 'hardcore' used to be thrown around a lot more a couple of years ago, not as much today since it seems to have been gradually replaced with 'core'. Why did it happen? Surely because of how said console has been marketed since its launch; I'm not saying the term 'casual games' was invented along with the Wii (reports of its use fall back to at least year 2000, if I remember correctly... how's that?), but it's certainly been growing in popularity since then.

The matter of 'casual games' is still a relevant one: as the world faces a financial crisis, game developers and publishers need to understand market trends the best they can. I know I couldn't handle it well.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (11)

Claude gets into an argument to defend a scantily clad lady: he doesn't really do anything but say a couple of cringe-worthy sentences, and then Celine, the lady you see here, seems to take care of herself pretty well. The animation of the Heraldic Wizard is practically non-existant, but him charging a spell which makes the earth tremble is quite cool: too bad you can't see it actually being cast.

Celine is a treasure hunter, a powerful magician and quite beautiful as well, and you can have her in your party for the low, low price of a stroll to Cross cave! Kidding aside, she's the first character you can add to your group of adventurers. You can recruit up to 6 members in addition to Claude and Rena, all of which are optional (you can finish the game with just the initial two), but once you get one s/he will stay with you till the end. Also, recruiting some characters will make it impossible for you to get some other ones (that's not the case with Celine). More on party managing later on.

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Found what?! There was this kid hidden behind that wall: you can't normally see him, but by wandering back there and pushing the 'action' button (just like when you talk to people), you'll make him jump and shout this. It might be a reference to another game, I don't know, you can't find out more about it: if you try to 'talk' to him again you'll get the same result.

After passing through the mining town Salva, Claude and Rena arrive to the castle town of Cross, which is just in front of a crossroad (the only one in the world), in order to gather information from the King about the Sorcery Globe. There's to note that the sun (or whatever star they have here on Expel) sets as soon as you approach the town, which is unique in the game, since you always happen to travel through the 'map' at daytime but in this occasion; and Cross isn't that far from Salva anyway.

Now that I think about it, I have yet to show a screen of the 'map': it's a typical 3D rendering of the world you explore, very different from the towns in appearance. I'll post one screen sooner or later, but it probably won't be funny. I'll eventually post a battle screen and the menu screen as well (so many screens, if you're not used to JRPGs you might find this complicated, it's not).

Videogames are a complex thing...

What are videogames? Surely a form of entertainment, but how do they compare to other forms of entertainment?

For the most part, games have been always seen as little more than toys: things for kids and possibly nostalgic adults, which you play for some time, then get bored, or find a new toy, and forget about them.

Certain games also get elevated from the toy status and become something more serious; because of the strict rules they can impose to players, competitive games with a good balance in challenge may gather enough interest from the public to be used in tournaments, just like 'sports' (or rather board games like chess and Bridge, but even so games may require good reflexes). Professional videogamers exist, which proves that games are not only fun to play, but can be fun to watch too.

There are also games which incorporate a large number of artistically significant elements, which, depending on the quality of content, could compete with entertainment media such as books or movies.

Videogames are a very complex thing: because of their flexibility it's not really possible to lump them all into a single category.

I'm currently waiting for Dragon Quest V DS to come out. Yes, it's off topic, but I don't know what to write anymore.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (9)

Why is it difficult? I've never really understood why she says that; maybe it's because of the mine, but you can't find anyone complaining about it.

Ok, we've fast-forwarded a bit, because after the scene I've talked about in the previous post there was one of the longest unskippable sequences without saving in a game ever. Final Fantasy VII had a couple of comparable length too, but at least they were interesting, this one is just boring. You learn that Rena was adopted and wants to search for her parents, so when the elder of the village requests Claude to go investigate the source of all the recent disasters occurring on the planet, the "Sorcery Globe", Rena offers to accompany you. After this, your adventure begins for real, in the sense that you can travel basically anywhere you want, except where disasters and kingly permissions won't allow.

What you may see in this screenshot is a "Private Action": before entering a town, you may want the party to split up and let Claude wander around by himself, only to meet up with the others when exiting. While you cannot advance the plot in this case, Private Actions" have various purposes: Claude can talk to other party members to learn more about them, possibly triggering scenes which might alter his kind of relationship with them; he may also have access to some scenes with other NPCs, through which he may obtain useful items; finally, he may want to steal something from NPCs without your party members knowing, therefore not altering your relationship level. Yes, stealing is wrong, but you're the Warrior of Light!

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Here's Rena! And she shouts "MR. Claude"! I really found the capitalized 'MR' funny, because it makes it sound completely different from how you would expect she says that. A fully capitalized line would have been better, but since you can change Claude's name it may not have been possible. Oh, and the guy behind the altar, Alen-Tax, doesn't make the situation better, since he doesn't move at all for the entire sequence. This scene is so anti-climatic...

Here we are, Claude finally finds Rena and rescues her, but then Alen-Tax turns into a monster and you have to slay him. After the battle he turns back to normal, and Rena heals him with her mysterious magic powers (you'll eventually find out that, while magic is well known here, healing spells don't exist). Rena is certainly an unusual girl, and not just because she dresses weird...

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Aside from the mild humour one might find in this scene when taken out of context, the reason I posted it was because the first thing that character (who is apparently in pain) mentioned that Rena was taken in the back, and then Claude proceeded to ask, not once but twice, something like "You said in the back?", while the poor man replies with a confirmation and additional information about the situation. That's basically all Claude says in the conversation, which made it sound really off.

Claude goes to the mining town and blasts off the locked door of the manor in which Rena is probably held captive: once he's in, he finds a classic secret passage which leads to this corridor, and to the mine. It's worth mentioning that from here on, Claude must count on his strength (and sword) only, because his Phase Gun is drained of power and "will take a while to recharge" (read: the whole game!). It's also worth mentioning that the owner of the manor, and Rena's kidnapper, is Alen-Tax. We'll see him with Rena in the next post.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (6)

Always learning new English words, like 'ritaliation'... Wait!
Well aside from the typo, the whole scene represented here is full of awfully 'formal' speech, it sounded almost unnatural to me.

Briefly, when Claude gets back from his short exploration of the mining town, he finds out Rena has been kidnapped (or carried off, whichever you prefer) by an influential man of said mining town, despite him being her friend. Claude offers to help (probably because he felt stupid by not seeing the kidnapper pass by on his way back to the village), and goes to the rescue. I'll say it right here: Claude's awesome Phase Gun will suddenly stop working during an event before you rescue Rena (no, you can't opt for not saving her), so hell'have to use a sword the elder of the village has lent him. How Claude, a modern, Phase-Gun-wielding Earthling can also be proficient with a sword is anyone's guess.

Some more Final Fantasy VIII hate (4)

The Triple Triad minigame was met with mixed reactions: deeply appreciated for its complex mechanics or toroughly hated because of its pervasiveness. You could have a match with most of the Non-Playing Characters in the whole game, and succeeding was a must for completionists and card collectionists. Card pictures other than monsters include Guardian Forces and Characters, which I think are unique in the game.

Around the beginning of the game you get a deck of cards, each representing a monster found in the game; each card has specific statistics, which give it what you would call an 'attack power' depending on where you put it on the playing board, a 3x3 grid. You and your opponent take turns placing your cards, and each time a card is played, cards placed near it may be 'flipped' (netting you a point each) depending on the attack power balance of adjacent cards.

It's a lot more complicated than this: because of various and ever-changing rules, matches can require different strategies, or even be almost entirely luck-based. At the end of a match, you may win and/or lose cards, according to the current rules.

The good part about this minigame is that, thanks to some Guardian Force abilities, you can turn the cards you win into useful items and spells, therefore making the drawing process less important, if not entirely optional, for maxing out your characters' statistics. The bad parts are: it's still relatively time-consuming to get the best cards, so if you don't like the game (I bought FFVIII because I wanted to play a JRPG, not a card game) you're better off not playing it, because it requires practice, and one mistake could cost you one of your rare cards (i.e. a reload of your last save).

Final Fantasy VII already had its share of minigames, but they were just mindless pastimes compared to this, and you could play all of them in one place (except you had to go around catching Chocobos for the race game). As you may have guessed, I really didn't like Triple Triad, so I was stuck with drawing spells and killing monsters to sate my lust for stat-maxing (in retrospect, it served me right...).

I'll just take one more paragraph to add something to the growth system of the game: every time you defeat an enemy, your characters gain experience (except for 'bosses'), and eventually get to higher levels, which means getting stronger. In this game your enemies level-up with you though, so gaining experience is either useless, or it makes the game harder, because enemies may get stronger with the same amount of levels as your characters. So you have to balance things out by getting spells and junctioning them to get better statistics and survive.