Oh God, Not an Essay on Linearity

With February being the prime month for gaming on the PS3, the releases of Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII in particular, is it any wounder why I haven't made a post for a month? I thought not. But lets kid ourselves here and say since the last post I've been in the mountains of Tibet training intensely on some secret martial art? OK, maybe that ain't true but it's not far from the truth and besides sounds much cooler than saying I've played nothing but FFXIII isn't it? OK now that we've explained the inexplicable absence of posts (cough), let me get straight to an enigma that has been bugging me for sometime now: Why does Final Fantasy XIII feel so linear?

Why So Linear?

Now I know what your thinking, it's because the game is! But calm down. I'm not going to make some hopeless attempt to prove otherwise, with all the relentless cries of disappointment from many fans for the past six months, only a fool would try take up such a rebuttal. And while it is blatantly obvious that the linearity is owed to many reasons, from the rpg-on-rail level layout and leveling system to the many cut scenes butting in on your game time, I'm still confused. Haven't these elements always been part of a Final Fantasy game? So why do I still have this strong feeling that I've been cheated out of "true" and "instant hit" FF when I'm controlling sexy ass Lightening, or annoying Vanille? (Sorry I couldn't resist).

Was I wrong back in 2001 to fully enjoy FFX with it's linear level design? Why was it more enjoyable being forced along a linear path to Zanarkand back then? Granted there were more open areas in X, but when you think about it, is it all that different from XIII? I mean it wasn't until the end of the game, like XIII, that we got to then choose to re-vist previous destinations. Though I guess it didn't help that we were always forced to two or three characters in XIII and weren't given the choice of who to select in our party. Yet why was it enjoyable or at least tolerable in VIII? OK maybe we didn't have to wait to the end of the game like in XIII. And yeah, we did have a lot more stats for our characters (why did they take all of those useless stats, I missed those). I also missed the linear, yet great, leveling system that was seen in FFX or in all pre-FFX games where there was only XP.

OK so I am being cynical here. The matter of fact is FFXIII is or at least seems too scripted, with actually leveling removed and new levels of growth only being made available when the game allows. With everything from the leveling to where you walk being either scripted or directed by events, FFXIII is indeed too linear for a third generation RPG.

Why is Linear so Linear?

FFXIII is not a JRPG or a RPG for that matter. Since FFVII, or FFXII, the definition of an RPG has revolutionized so much by giant sandbox games like World of Warcraft, EVE and Fallout III. So much so that we now expect an RPG to be synonymous to sandbox game play and endless customization. Now I'm not saying that many of these elements weren't around back in 2002 or prior, far from so. My point being is that where it was OK for scripted events to dictate the story for a second or first gen RPG, nowadays were expecting more when it comes to game play or evens story telling (winks at Heavy Rain). Though linear isn't bad. When wielded correctly it can create an immersive and interactive story line. But when it comes to game play these days you have to use linearity ingeniously, or face a march or angry boy and girl fans.

But its here that we end up a small positive about FFXIII, the Storyline. I know many out there despise the story that is FFXIII and I fail to see why. With the odd exceptions like Vanille, the voice actors to the narrative of FFXIII has been enthralling. FFXIII is a more of a mature story than previous FF and in that sense is more to my liking. Appealing to older audiences the latest installment touches upon issues in the real world today, going as far as being a satire on terrorism and government propaganda. It cant be helped but be noticed the slight correlation of the universal fear of pulse l'cie to something in todays world. Some how a nation that rules its people by the words of a supreme being doesn't seem that different to some religious states today? Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, but to the point, FFXIII's story is told superbly and isn't afraid drift into gritty realism (I mean for starters theres finally more black people in the whole universe of FF).

A Sacrifice to the God of Linearity

While supposedly FFXIII's has sacrificed its RPG element to a story driven gaming, one wonders if there had to be a sacrifice at all with gleaming examples out there that counter that argument. Things get especially infuriating with statements from Square Enix stating that it would be an impossible work load to create a fully HD RPG game that is not linear. It does then beg the question why they bother focusing on three FFXIII related titles instead of one if they are finding under staffed or without time to make a fully HD game. With statements such as that it makes later statements less believable that FFXIII will be the last of its kind. Especially when Square Enix's credibility is burnt by insisting that the inferior Xbox360 version is the same as the PS3's.

Indeed Square Enix needs to up its game if it wishes to compete, as while western games such as Uncharted 2 and God of War III begin to break technical and story telling grounds, FF is still left struggling on what retro elements to keep and what news ones to make.

But I'm a hypocrite, a biased one at that, as I still love the game that is FFXIII. As after all, it is Final Fantasy.

Juggernauts and Verbal Diarrhea

Never Blow One's Own Trumpet.

Ok ok I know I should never have announced it, guess the podcast and joint post were really doomed as soon as I mentioned them. Yeah Major Sheppard and I were kind of busy during Christmas, no really we were, we spent most of our time trying to get all the stars in Modern Warfare 2's cooperative mode. Pitifully we only managed to get 3, brought me to tears at least. Can someone give me an actual scientific basis for how a Juggernaut can survive 5 mines? Seriously, its like facing Arnold Schwarzenegger on crack or something. That said the juggernaut has defiantly moved up my list of "people who you do not want to piss off". I think its the music when they appear that does it.

I'm Sorry, say what?

So not a lot has been happening here and to be frank I want to move away from talking about my life. Though before I do that I've just got to link you to my latest favorite song. That sentence doesn't do any justice to the amount of shame I'm feeling about it though. More interesting however is the little bit of anime news about a new season of Code Geass, especially considering the ending of the second which rapped up the story to a closed ending. It leaves many to speculate on whether an alternative storyline is in the works or an expansion of the main storyline as a continuation. Either way fans may expect to find out more as early as this year. On the same note, I think many of us are looking forward to the next few months, well at least those who have money, for the explosion of the most anticipated games. Personally I have high hopes for Heavy Rain and with its success I hope we find many more games putting empathises on story driven gaming.

Video Killed the Video Game

Though it has to be said that there certainly has to be a balance between the actual game play and cinematography, glares at Final Fantasy XIII. Seems like another game that has fallen into the fiery pits with a bad case of verbal diarrhea, now glares at Metal Gear Solid 4. Is it just me or is there a pattern forming here? Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to start a war, I am all up for the integration of movie scenes and scripts into gaming. Far gone are the days when the stereotypical programming did everything in the gaming production, thank god. We all know this, however gone too are the days when the video game creators or story writers direct the script. I think its now important to start hiring the pros and experts from the film industry to direct those complex scenes. This is defiantly where the Japanese Gaming Industry is failing, in the western world at least. But that said I still believe it was Metal Gear Solid 2 that revolutionized this movement with its balance of game play and movie-like-scenes. Never the less, do Square Enix really need to consider producing the Final Fantasy series abroad? Maybe I'm a hypocrite but surely they realize that Final Fantasy is as quintessentially Japanese as Cherry Blossoms (ok, I seriously couldn't think of anything else, it 5 in the morning, its the best I can do!).

Crap from the Internet.

Anyway I shall hopefully be posting again soon, but until then I leave you with the crap from the internet section. Oh, just in case the petrol I lay down eariler didn't catch fire maybe this will help; I saw Avatar and I loved it, so much so I saw it for a second time. See ya!

To commemorate Major Sheppard's and I's completion of RE5 after 1 year of playing (I asuure you people were not bad gamers).

When Country's Don't have British Health and Safety.

Its Been Quite Awhile

So, it’s been quite awhile, and in fact it’s a new year, many things have happened, although they're nothing that big. First up, Christmas 09, went very well, had some lovely things, including the White Edition of Assassins Creed 2, it comes with a figure of Ezio, the main character. Assassins Creed 2 is truly a brilliant game, it builds upon, and improves from the original Assassins Creed, showing more of the rather interesting storyline and ending in a similar manner to the original, making it very obvious that there will be a third instalment to the series.

I would imagine that many of you, like myself, watched the rather heart wrenching two parter of Doctor Who, the first at Christmas and the second at the New Year. I am rather sad to see David Tennant leave; he was definitely one of the best Doctors to have graced the show. I won’t give away any parts of it, just encase some of you haven’t seen it yet (why not!?), but I was quite surprised by who it turned out to be... ‘He will knock four times’. But I always knew they were bringing back the Master.

I will be starting my last semester of my second year soon, it should be quite interesting, including making our own game, more of which I will be writing about on the next post. This will probably be a very busy semester, although the work isn’t too big, it will prove to be quite challenging.

Well that’s all for this week, I know it wasn’t long but this year should prove to be a rather good year for Blank Mind!

Breaking the Symmetry

Late, But Not Too Late.

So I've had this post sitting as a draft for the better of two months, waiting just for someone to push the publish button. It's been so long in fact, that I've had to rewrite the thing because of the Halloween theme, which seems kind of inappropriate now. So much for that idea. But, better late than never, no? Its also with that idea that Major Sheppard and I are attempting to restart the Podcast this Christmas, and yes, be published in the same time frame. Though I'm starting to believe that it is a bad idea me announcing such dedications as we hardly ever follow through on them. So, maybe its an even worse idea to be also announcing "another" joint post. I use the term "another" loosely, as it seems like another when in fact its our, or will be, our very first joint post if we follow up on it. Talk about dedication.

Sadly this isn't going to be a full post. Its been a busy few months and there is certainly a lot to wrap up before the beginning of the new year, yet at the moment holiday days have just offically started and I defiantly have to get as much COD:MW2 as quickly as I can. Just thought I would make a post however, so to not onlt break the nice pattern of two posts of mine against Major Sheppard's, but also to let you know were alive, that you cared of course. Anyway, hope you all have a festive holiday, whatever that means.