I'm rather picky when it comes to video games. I generally don't enjoy first-person shooters, MMORPGs, or sports games. I've come to realize that there are a few important things I look for in a game that many other people probably don't really care about.
MUSIC
In order for me to fully enjoy a video game, it should have an appropriate soundtrack that goes far beyond background music and actually contributes to the mood of the game. Be this mood horror, sorrow, thrilling suspense, or pure unadulterated epicness, a game's soundtrack should fully complement the action that's taking place. My favorite movies tend to have excellent soundtracks as well. I guess being that music tends to consume my life (in a good way!), it's not surprising that video game music, of all things, would be so important to me.
GAMEPLAY
Probably a big ol' DUH. At least it should be. But people tend to buy those stupid Madden games every year. When it's essentially the same game. With slightly different teams. And nowadays not even slightly improved graphics. EA Sports has suckered in so many stupid, rich bros into buying sports games every year, so good for them, I guess? In any case, the game just needs to be FUN to play. It shouldn't be too much of a labor, or merely addicting, or anything like that. That's why I can't get into as many Western RPGs and MMOs; once you get down to it, the gameplay is really boring. You press attack, and then stand there. Sometimes you cast a spell. Then you run to the next guy, hoping to get a good random drop from each fight. Booooring. At least in something like Shadow of the Colossus, where you're running from fight to fight, the way to the fight is actually REALLY PRETTY and interesting, and then the fights themselves are epic as all hell. I'm also a big fan of interesting and inventive gameplay, ala Heavy Rain, Katamari, and Flower. A game should, in some way, entertain me.
STORYLINE
Sometimes this isn't so important, but games with interesting, emotional storylines tend to be my favorites. I'll often play video games for the same reason that people read and watch Harry Potter. I want to be sucked into a world with real characters making real decisions, having real effects on the world around them. This is why I love Final Fantasy. On top of the fantastic music that I already showcased, Final Fantasy has great storylines. It's not Shakespeare; there are sometimes gaping plot holes and completely undeveloped characters and shoddy writing in general, but the game is big enough that you can ignore the little things and focus on the big, epic picture. Even if the storyline is only implied through visuals, like in Flower, it can make or break a game. On the other hand, I can forgive games like Katamari, Fat Princess, and LittleBigPlanet for having outright stupid storylines, because those light-hearted games would suffer if they had some kind of immense story with heavy character development and such. But even games like Silent Hill or Metal Gear Solid need good stories to push them from "decent game" into "great game" territory.
~ * ~
That's, uh... that's it.
--Jon
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Final Fantasy XIII: Awesome, but... (a game review)
Boy oh boy, was I excited for this game. This summer I played through Final Fantasy X, and it was an amazing experience. I attempted to play through XII, and was extremely disappointed. But after years of footage and images and news stories piling up and showing that this game might be a new favorite, I started getting more than a little STOKED. Overall, I'd definitely have to say that excitement paid off, but not without a few cringes and eye-rolls.
I'll start off with the things that I loved about this game. First of all and easiest to agree on and talk about, the graphics. Wow. The transition between CG and in-game graphics is getting close to being seamless, and the world presented is totally gorgeous. Look here for an example (just skip to about 4 minutes in; that would be the opening of the game, which throws you right into the action).
The gameplay is rather awesome; arguably one of the best battle systems that the series has seen, aside from Final Fantasy X. I'm quite glad they did away with the boring MMORPG-like shittiness of XII and decided to bake up a fresh take on the ATB system that's both exciting and strategic. The crystarium system, the new vehicle of character growth, is also great; it's a bit similar to the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X, but a little easier to work with. Many people have expressed strong dislike of the linearity of the game, but I didn't mind so much; I'd say it's largely a reflection of the nature of the storyline (being fugitives constantly on the run doesn't give you much time to wander around cities where everyone wants you dead). I think people have just been spoiled by Western RPGs like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Dragon Age, which I would argue lack any kind of focus. Personally, I enjoyed the streamlined gameplay; it makes the storyline, IMO the most important part of the game, more up-front, and makes it all make sense.
Now, what I really want to talk about: the plot [SPOILER ALERT]. The plot started out being among my favorites in the series. The game's primary setting is Cocoon, an enormous Death Star-like world (but even BIGGER) that floats above Pulse, a more naturey world seen by Cocoon citizens as Hellish; anyone that comes into contact with anything from Pulse is seen as a virus and immediate threat to society that needs to be wiped out on the spot. Both worlds are run by gods known as fal'Cie that tend to the humans like pets. Long ago, Pulse and Cocoon warred, with no particular winner.
After the game's opening, six characters are thrown together via some sort of chance happenings and bound to the same fates; they have been marked by Pulse fal'Cie and made into tools of their home's destruction (l'Cie). Now all of them are on the run, trying to figure out how to get loved ones back, avoid their pursuers, stay alive, and figure out how to get rid of their marks, lest time runs out and their turn into monstrous, mindless, zombie-like beings (Cie'th). In their journey across their home of Cocoon, we are shown flashbacks of the thirteen days before the game's opening, which shed light on present events. Namely, two of the six characters are revealed to be from the lower-world of Pulse, having awoken from a several-hundred-year-crystal-sleep and caused the characters to be in the bind they're now all in. It's a very emotional journey, with some pretty prominent and tough themes (destiny, loyalty, government/religion-led fear-mongering, forgiveness). The pacing of it is just right, and kept me on the edge of my seat, even if we were just wandering through a junk-heap or a manufactured forest/bioweapon-production lab.
However, about halfway through the game, everything is shattered by a crazy plot-twist: the characters were being guided and kept alive by a rogue Cocoon fal'Cie that wants to destroy its world as a sacrifice to bring back its super-God Maker, which created the world and left it in disarray. This is all revealed right after he kills the only primary villain up to that point. At this point, despite some of the most epic boss battle music ever, the game really loses some of its focus. The characters end up on Pulse (which is a bit less hellish than the government would have liked its citizens to know) and wander around aimlessly for awhile (ironically, this is when most people seem to think the game gets better). Eventually they end up at two of the characters' former homes, now overrun by monsters, Cie'th, and a mysterious, light crystal snow (which, unfortunately never is explained). This part is probably the best since that goofy plot twist. After another encounter with the aforementioned rogue fal'Cie, Barthandalus, the characters go back up to Cocoon to stop its destruction.
The invasion scene that accompanies this is completely ridiculous and anime-like, having probably been done by the same people that made the similarly ridiculous Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Anyways, the characters make it through the city, all epic-like, and the game picks up and starts being good again. Then, suddenly, it seems like the writers of the game got to crunch time and started running out of ideas, so they killed off a really awesome character without even a shred of emotion, and then threw everyone into a tedious labyrinth to the final boss. Amidst that fight, things get REALLY ridiculous and confusing... and then they get even MORE ridiculous and confusing... until the ending movie of the game, which made me throw my palm to into my face. Suddenly, boom, EVERYTHING IS HAPPY. Even though the characters kind of fucked up by almost fulfilling their literally-god-given-duty of destroying their home-world... they and their world is saved by what they call a "miracle," and what I call "bad writing," and/or "bad planning." That super-God "Maker" guy I talked about? Never even shows up. They could have really done something with that if he had, and accentuated some of the themes of the game. They could have done a lot of stuff that would have made the game more awesome than it was. Instead, it's just kind of awesome. Fortunately, they're thinking of doing a direct sequel to this game, which hopefully will be better than Final Fantasy X-2, and could tie up some very, very loose ends.
Another complaint I have about this plot is the lack of depth at some points. How did Lightning and Serah's parents die? How did that affect them? How did Snow meet Serah? How did Sazh's wife die? How did that affect them? What happened to Vanille and Fang's hometown? Does the Maker actually exist, or is it just some myth that the fal'Cie made up? Or is that question meant to go unanswered? Whatever happened to Hope's father? Where WERE Serah and Dajh when they were in crystal suspension? What happened to the rest of NORA (I did like that they at least appeared in the final chapters of the game, but...)? It's these sorts of unanswered questions that frustrated me the most. [SPOILER ALERT OVER]
Despite all the negative stuff about the plot, I still loved most of it. My eyes almost got watery at a couple of points, and I found my heart beating fast and my hands clenched at the controller at some of the more poignant points in the story. The game was incredibly fun to play. The soundtrack was AMAZING. I wouldn't have wanted anyone other than Masashi Hamauzu to take over the series' music (except maybe Yasunori Mitsuda); I really admired his work on Final Fantasy X. He does even better on this soundtrack. His adaptations of the chocobo theme are ingenious, and unlike the music to XII (man, it really seems like I'm hating on that game... probably rightfully so), he manages to make epic, blood-pumping music that is really enjoyable to listen to. He also did a phenomenal job with his usage of leitmotifs throughout the game.
I think I've talked enough about the game. It was good! Go play it!
FINAL SCORE: +3.7 (on a scale of -5 to +5)
--Jon
I'll start off with the things that I loved about this game. First of all and easiest to agree on and talk about, the graphics. Wow. The transition between CG and in-game graphics is getting close to being seamless, and the world presented is totally gorgeous. Look here for an example (just skip to about 4 minutes in; that would be the opening of the game, which throws you right into the action).
The gameplay is rather awesome; arguably one of the best battle systems that the series has seen, aside from Final Fantasy X. I'm quite glad they did away with the boring MMORPG-like shittiness of XII and decided to bake up a fresh take on the ATB system that's both exciting and strategic. The crystarium system, the new vehicle of character growth, is also great; it's a bit similar to the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X, but a little easier to work with. Many people have expressed strong dislike of the linearity of the game, but I didn't mind so much; I'd say it's largely a reflection of the nature of the storyline (being fugitives constantly on the run doesn't give you much time to wander around cities where everyone wants you dead). I think people have just been spoiled by Western RPGs like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and Dragon Age, which I would argue lack any kind of focus. Personally, I enjoyed the streamlined gameplay; it makes the storyline, IMO the most important part of the game, more up-front, and makes it all make sense.
Now, what I really want to talk about: the plot [SPOILER ALERT]. The plot started out being among my favorites in the series. The game's primary setting is Cocoon, an enormous Death Star-like world (but even BIGGER) that floats above Pulse, a more naturey world seen by Cocoon citizens as Hellish; anyone that comes into contact with anything from Pulse is seen as a virus and immediate threat to society that needs to be wiped out on the spot. Both worlds are run by gods known as fal'Cie that tend to the humans like pets. Long ago, Pulse and Cocoon warred, with no particular winner.
After the game's opening, six characters are thrown together via some sort of chance happenings and bound to the same fates; they have been marked by Pulse fal'Cie and made into tools of their home's destruction (l'Cie). Now all of them are on the run, trying to figure out how to get loved ones back, avoid their pursuers, stay alive, and figure out how to get rid of their marks, lest time runs out and their turn into monstrous, mindless, zombie-like beings (Cie'th). In their journey across their home of Cocoon, we are shown flashbacks of the thirteen days before the game's opening, which shed light on present events. Namely, two of the six characters are revealed to be from the lower-world of Pulse, having awoken from a several-hundred-year-crystal-sleep and caused the characters to be in the bind they're now all in. It's a very emotional journey, with some pretty prominent and tough themes (destiny, loyalty, government/religion-led fear-mongering, forgiveness). The pacing of it is just right, and kept me on the edge of my seat, even if we were just wandering through a junk-heap or a manufactured forest/bioweapon-production lab.
However, about halfway through the game, everything is shattered by a crazy plot-twist: the characters were being guided and kept alive by a rogue Cocoon fal'Cie that wants to destroy its world as a sacrifice to bring back its super-God Maker, which created the world and left it in disarray. This is all revealed right after he kills the only primary villain up to that point. At this point, despite some of the most epic boss battle music ever, the game really loses some of its focus. The characters end up on Pulse (which is a bit less hellish than the government would have liked its citizens to know) and wander around aimlessly for awhile (ironically, this is when most people seem to think the game gets better). Eventually they end up at two of the characters' former homes, now overrun by monsters, Cie'th, and a mysterious, light crystal snow (which, unfortunately never is explained). This part is probably the best since that goofy plot twist. After another encounter with the aforementioned rogue fal'Cie, Barthandalus, the characters go back up to Cocoon to stop its destruction.
The invasion scene that accompanies this is completely ridiculous and anime-like, having probably been done by the same people that made the similarly ridiculous Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Anyways, the characters make it through the city, all epic-like, and the game picks up and starts being good again. Then, suddenly, it seems like the writers of the game got to crunch time and started running out of ideas, so they killed off a really awesome character without even a shred of emotion, and then threw everyone into a tedious labyrinth to the final boss. Amidst that fight, things get REALLY ridiculous and confusing... and then they get even MORE ridiculous and confusing... until the ending movie of the game, which made me throw my palm to into my face. Suddenly, boom, EVERYTHING IS HAPPY. Even though the characters kind of fucked up by almost fulfilling their literally-god-given-duty of destroying their home-world... they and their world is saved by what they call a "miracle," and what I call "bad writing," and/or "bad planning." That super-God "Maker" guy I talked about? Never even shows up. They could have really done something with that if he had, and accentuated some of the themes of the game. They could have done a lot of stuff that would have made the game more awesome than it was. Instead, it's just kind of awesome. Fortunately, they're thinking of doing a direct sequel to this game, which hopefully will be better than Final Fantasy X-2, and could tie up some very, very loose ends.
Another complaint I have about this plot is the lack of depth at some points. How did Lightning and Serah's parents die? How did that affect them? How did Snow meet Serah? How did Sazh's wife die? How did that affect them? What happened to Vanille and Fang's hometown? Does the Maker actually exist, or is it just some myth that the fal'Cie made up? Or is that question meant to go unanswered? Whatever happened to Hope's father? Where WERE Serah and Dajh when they were in crystal suspension? What happened to the rest of NORA (I did like that they at least appeared in the final chapters of the game, but...)? It's these sorts of unanswered questions that frustrated me the most. [SPOILER ALERT OVER]
Despite all the negative stuff about the plot, I still loved most of it. My eyes almost got watery at a couple of points, and I found my heart beating fast and my hands clenched at the controller at some of the more poignant points in the story. The game was incredibly fun to play. The soundtrack was AMAZING. I wouldn't have wanted anyone other than Masashi Hamauzu to take over the series' music (except maybe Yasunori Mitsuda); I really admired his work on Final Fantasy X. He does even better on this soundtrack. His adaptations of the chocobo theme are ingenious, and unlike the music to XII (man, it really seems like I'm hating on that game... probably rightfully so), he manages to make epic, blood-pumping music that is really enjoyable to listen to. He also did a phenomenal job with his usage of leitmotifs throughout the game.
I think I've talked enough about the game. It was good! Go play it!
FINAL SCORE: +3.7 (on a scale of -5 to +5)
--Jon
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Craziest Week Ever!
It's not even Finals Week yet, and I have a final every day this week except Monday. On top of THOSE finals, I have to finish two 800 word lecture reviews that I procrastinate on, prepare for finals and juries next week, prepare a radio show for this weekend, prepare for practically-sight-reading with the orchestra this weekend, entertain my parents when they visit me this weekend, band concert this weekend, band concert I just finished, attend the last club meetings of the quarter, and on top of that all I figured out the next four years of my life last night, and it looks like I'll be in college for a total of 5.6 years. And beside all of this, I bought Final Fantasy XIII. It's fantastic. But I have no time to play it because of all of this stuff going on! BLAARGH! This is madness!
...Madness...?
THIS.
IS.
COLLEGE.
--Jon
p.s., on a side-note, I'm in the Wind Symphony next quarter, we're playing an awesome epic piece, and the composer will be in residence! Huzzah! AND. Bianco will have the biggest Mahler hammer ever. :D
...Madness...?
THIS.
IS.
COLLEGE.
--Jon
p.s., on a side-note, I'm in the Wind Symphony next quarter, we're playing an awesome epic piece, and the composer will be in residence! Huzzah! AND. Bianco will have the biggest Mahler hammer ever. :D
Saturday, September 12, 2009
RPGs Need a New Name
Video games labeled as "role-playing games" aren't usually "role-playing games" in the sense that lots of people tend to think. It's not just pretending you're someone you're not and living a second life. Hell, the games Second Life or The Sims are a lot closer to "role-playing games" than, say, Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. The difference is the latter games have their roots in old pencil-and-paper "role-playing games" like Dungeons and Dragons. In these games, you would construct a character that you would play as, "playing" their "role" at all times in the game. This character would grow and gain skills, maybe even a personality, making them more real, and since this character was the player's creation, they would grow very attached to them. This character is essentially an extension of the self. The same goes for Second Life and The Sims and similar games, but these games aren't called RPGs.
In contrast, Final Fantasy and similar games have preset characters, preset abilities, a preset storyline, preset everything. For me, playing Final Fantasy games are more like reading an interactive book, where I can change the events in very slight ways, and, although only virtually, experience the events. While I suppose you still are fulfilling the role of these characters, it's no different from any 1st-person shooter, 3rd-person shooter, side-scrolling, or any other sort of game featuring identifiable characters. It's sort of arbitrary, but I was driving back from Kingston today, and I thought about it... so I decided to post this.
--Jon
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
"Final Fantasy VII" Needs a Remake
I just watched Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. This is essentially a CGI movie sequel to Final Fantasy VII, one of the most critically acclaimed video games of all time. While I would summarize a review of Advent Children with "Meh" (to elaborate: far too much Dragonball Z-ish fighting, a rather contrived and unrewarding storyline, empty character cameos), it made me realize, more than ever, that the original truly does need to be remade.
When Final Fantasy VII was released for the Sony PlayStation in 1997, it was praised for its (for the time) breathtaking graphics, grasping story, dynamic characters, and enrapturing gameplay, among other factors. It also brought role-playing games, a genre that was relatively unpopular outside of Japan, to a worldwide audience. Unfortunately, the game also had many downfalls that are often overlooked by hardcore fans.
While some scattered visuals have aged rather well, the majority of the in-game graphics are ridiculously boxy and dated-looking. All of the basic designs from the original game could probably be kept if they wanted to be lazy, while just updating the graphics to the level seen in the PS3 tech demo that was made out of the intro to FF7. Of course, some of the major designs (Midgar's basic landscape, the Highwind, etc.) should be kept the same without a doubt, but other aspects of the original ("dungeons" (inside of mako reactors, caves, etc.), minor characters, towns, etc.) could be completely overhauled to be made more interesting for veterans and newcomers alike. In fact, that in and of itself should be a major point of a remake; making things more interesting. Some of the areas' layouts in the original game really didn't make too much sense, or were just overly weird; I think a lot of this came from trying to get Square, who was used to making games in 2 dimensions, to adapt to a 3-dimensional world. Obviously, they've adapted by now, and could do a lot with a FF7 remake. A lot of the original was rather visually bland, and this could be totally fixed with an update of graphics and of layouts and designs.
Translation and script issues were also a major problem in the game. The storyline, which is quite complex, was made even more confusing due to bad translations that often made for awkward dialogue and gaping plotholes. This would be the easiest fix in a remake. However, rather than just updating the dialogue, Square Enix could also make the storyline more seamless, in terms of itself and of the various games that have been made that connect to the original game.
One of the best things about Advent Children is that they were able to take the characters of the game and give them natural voices. They would, of course, have to carry this over to a remake. I'm sure they could get many of the same voice-actors, not that that matters too much. Making realistic spoken dialogue is important, though.
Final Fantasy VII was full of mini-games and side-quests, and all of these could be updated and expanded upon, but they could even add more. The battle system could also be updated; especially after the release of Final Fantasy XIII, gamers won't want to play a traditional turn-based RPG. In fact, the FF13 battle system could easily be adapted to FF7.
What I find by far to be FF7 fans' most ignored flaw of the original are some of the deep themes that are only briefly touched upon in the game. Corporate corruption, genetic engineering, the limits of science, spirituality, and, most directly, environmentalism are all manifested in various ways in the game, and these themes are still just as (if not more) relevant today as they were in 1997. Were they to remake the game, I'm sure they could use the aforementioned revisions to really put in some social commentary that was so often hinted at in the original game.
In short, Square-Enix is looking at a gold-mine with a remake of Final Fantasy VII. It was enormously popular when it was originally released, and it would be made more popular in this day and age with all the mystique that surrounds it. If gamers still play the original, chock-full of gross graphics and horrid dialogue, imagine how many would play a remake, especially if it had a multi-platform release and all the features I've mentioned here, as well as less obvious and subtle improvements. Square-Enix is STUPID if they ignore an opportunity like this. They already have made a fortune, and they could make another fortune if they remake it.
When Final Fantasy VII was released for the Sony PlayStation in 1997, it was praised for its (for the time) breathtaking graphics, grasping story, dynamic characters, and enrapturing gameplay, among other factors. It also brought role-playing games, a genre that was relatively unpopular outside of Japan, to a worldwide audience. Unfortunately, the game also had many downfalls that are often overlooked by hardcore fans.
While some scattered visuals have aged rather well, the majority of the in-game graphics are ridiculously boxy and dated-looking. All of the basic designs from the original game could probably be kept if they wanted to be lazy, while just updating the graphics to the level seen in the PS3 tech demo that was made out of the intro to FF7. Of course, some of the major designs (Midgar's basic landscape, the Highwind, etc.) should be kept the same without a doubt, but other aspects of the original ("dungeons" (inside of mako reactors, caves, etc.), minor characters, towns, etc.) could be completely overhauled to be made more interesting for veterans and newcomers alike. In fact, that in and of itself should be a major point of a remake; making things more interesting. Some of the areas' layouts in the original game really didn't make too much sense, or were just overly weird; I think a lot of this came from trying to get Square, who was used to making games in 2 dimensions, to adapt to a 3-dimensional world. Obviously, they've adapted by now, and could do a lot with a FF7 remake. A lot of the original was rather visually bland, and this could be totally fixed with an update of graphics and of layouts and designs.
Translation and script issues were also a major problem in the game. The storyline, which is quite complex, was made even more confusing due to bad translations that often made for awkward dialogue and gaping plotholes. This would be the easiest fix in a remake. However, rather than just updating the dialogue, Square Enix could also make the storyline more seamless, in terms of itself and of the various games that have been made that connect to the original game.
One of the best things about Advent Children is that they were able to take the characters of the game and give them natural voices. They would, of course, have to carry this over to a remake. I'm sure they could get many of the same voice-actors, not that that matters too much. Making realistic spoken dialogue is important, though.
Final Fantasy VII was full of mini-games and side-quests, and all of these could be updated and expanded upon, but they could even add more. The battle system could also be updated; especially after the release of Final Fantasy XIII, gamers won't want to play a traditional turn-based RPG. In fact, the FF13 battle system could easily be adapted to FF7.
What I find by far to be FF7 fans' most ignored flaw of the original are some of the deep themes that are only briefly touched upon in the game. Corporate corruption, genetic engineering, the limits of science, spirituality, and, most directly, environmentalism are all manifested in various ways in the game, and these themes are still just as (if not more) relevant today as they were in 1997. Were they to remake the game, I'm sure they could use the aforementioned revisions to really put in some social commentary that was so often hinted at in the original game.
In short, Square-Enix is looking at a gold-mine with a remake of Final Fantasy VII. It was enormously popular when it was originally released, and it would be made more popular in this day and age with all the mystique that surrounds it. If gamers still play the original, chock-full of gross graphics and horrid dialogue, imagine how many would play a remake, especially if it had a multi-platform release and all the features I've mentioned here, as well as less obvious and subtle improvements. Square-Enix is STUPID if they ignore an opportunity like this. They already have made a fortune, and they could make another fortune if they remake it.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
BRAAAAZIIIIIIILLLL!!!!
Two more weeks at school left. One more actual week. I get a five day weekend next week. :D Kind of. I'll probably be packing and studying and practicing and such still. The finals shouldn't be terribly difficult. Uhh... nothing too exciting to report, just thought I'd post a blog because I haven't in awhile. I feel like I'm missing something, like there's something terribly exciting to report... my dad came up and took a bunch of my stuff home for me so I don't have as much to take back when I'm all done at the end of finals week. Watched Brazil last night with Elie. Weird. Fuckin'. Movie. But I liked it a lot! Directed and co-written by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame, who I discovered also directed 12 Monkeys. That surprised me. That's another good movie, although it's far less buffoon-ish. Both movies are very dark, but Brazil had a much more comic quality to it. 12 Monkeys was just all dark, with a couple of comedic moments. I'm going to miss Elie very much when I go home. : (
Uhhh... that's all I have to say... about that...
WAIT. Breaking news. I have decided, after taking a look at Final Fantasy XIII, that when the Playstation 3's price drops again, probably to $300, I am going to buy one. Most likely it will be a used one, hopefully for around $200. Then I can play Metal Gear Solid 4 and various other games as well! But seriously looking at screenshots and videos and reading previews about FF13... it just looks amazing. Period. The female lead looks like she could totally kick the Jesus out of everyone/thing. And it's all futuristic! And dystopian! And it looks quite epic. This is the game I am going to be addicted to next Spring. Someone is going to have to save me from it. Elie, I'm looking at you...
--Jon
p.s., JUST LOOK AT HER. She's totally about to open up an enormous can of whoop-ass with that weird sword thing.
Uhhh... that's all I have to say... about that...
WAIT. Breaking news. I have decided, after taking a look at Final Fantasy XIII, that when the Playstation 3's price drops again, probably to $300, I am going to buy one. Most likely it will be a used one, hopefully for around $200. Then I can play Metal Gear Solid 4 and various other games as well! But seriously looking at screenshots and videos and reading previews about FF13... it just looks amazing. Period. The female lead looks like she could totally kick the Jesus out of everyone/thing. And it's all futuristic! And dystopian! And it looks quite epic. This is the game I am going to be addicted to next Spring. Someone is going to have to save me from it. Elie, I'm looking at you...
--Jon
p.s., JUST LOOK AT HER. She's totally about to open up an enormous can of whoop-ass with that weird sword thing.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Music Program Audition Results
Let's beat around the bush a little, shall we?
Last night I was discussing video games with my friend Hillary; specifically Final Fantasy games and their literary qualities, our favorite scenes, etc. She also gave me a bunch of music from FFVIII and a song about Mario Kart that I really want to play at open mic sometime. Then she told me about a game called Shadow of the Colossus that I'd heard of before. When she described it to me, I was very intrigued, and I'm definitely going to try to pick it up at Gamestop this summer sometime. Look it up. Play it if you can.
This morning I put in my application for an apartment at Villa Bonita. The apartments are kinda old, but very nice and pretty cheap (about $700 a month for 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, each bedroom basically the same size. Deck! No laundry in the unit, but there's a coin-operated laundry room in each building. If Christian and I get, I'll be neighbors with Elie! :D It'll be quite convenient. Squirrel Baggers will be truly united! We can catch buses together and such since we'll be taking a lot of the same classes. Because...
I GOT INTO THE MUSIC PROGRAM.
That's right folks! I'm officially a Music pre-Major! I'm so excited! It hasn't really hit me yet! I'm not terribly surprised, because I knew I was ready, but... this is like a defining moment of my life! MAY 21ST SHALL GO DOWN IN HISTORY. Not really. But you know.
SWEA Spring Conference today. Might be a little boring and I don't know if I'll retain what I learn... but hopefully I will. My mind will probably be other places.
HUZZAH. I WILL RULE THE WORLD WITH THE MUSICAL SKILLS THAT I GAIN FROM WWU.
--Jon
p.s., Thank you so much for supporting me as much as you have, Elie. Less than three. :D
Last night I was discussing video games with my friend Hillary; specifically Final Fantasy games and their literary qualities, our favorite scenes, etc. She also gave me a bunch of music from FFVIII and a song about Mario Kart that I really want to play at open mic sometime. Then she told me about a game called Shadow of the Colossus that I'd heard of before. When she described it to me, I was very intrigued, and I'm definitely going to try to pick it up at Gamestop this summer sometime. Look it up. Play it if you can.
This morning I put in my application for an apartment at Villa Bonita. The apartments are kinda old, but very nice and pretty cheap (about $700 a month for 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, each bedroom basically the same size. Deck! No laundry in the unit, but there's a coin-operated laundry room in each building. If Christian and I get, I'll be neighbors with Elie! :D It'll be quite convenient. Squirrel Baggers will be truly united! We can catch buses together and such since we'll be taking a lot of the same classes. Because...
I GOT INTO THE MUSIC PROGRAM.
That's right folks! I'm officially a Music pre-Major! I'm so excited! It hasn't really hit me yet! I'm not terribly surprised, because I knew I was ready, but... this is like a defining moment of my life! MAY 21ST SHALL GO DOWN IN HISTORY. Not really. But you know.
SWEA Spring Conference today. Might be a little boring and I don't know if I'll retain what I learn... but hopefully I will. My mind will probably be other places.
HUZZAH. I WILL RULE THE WORLD WITH THE MUSICAL SKILLS THAT I GAIN FROM WWU.
--Jon
p.s., Thank you so much for supporting me as much as you have, Elie. Less than three. :D
Monday, May 11, 2009
Video Games and Stuff, or The Longest Post Yet, or A Total Summary of Final Fantasy VIII
I've been playing way, way too much Final Fantasy VIII. Therefore, I've decided that I'm going to stop playing video games until Summer. But before I do so, I'd like to a. show what a nerd I am, b. give me a place to work off of when I return to the game when school ends, c. show that the game is actually very rich in terms of literary quality (i.e., character development, plot development/complexity, etc.), d. procrastinate on my homework, and e. just get this all out of my system. I intend to do this by... *dun dun dun* ...summarizing the events of the game thus far. I'm almost at the end!
~*~
The game starts off with the primary protagonist (initially named "Squall," which is pretty lame, so you can change it to whatever you want) recovering from a "training" fight with Seifer, a fellow classmate at Balamb Garden which is essentially a military training academy for mercenaries called SeeDs (ha, get it, seeds, garden...). Squall is rather introverted and cares pretty much only for his own well-being, preferring not to rely on others, but he's also among the best in his class. Seifer is pretty much a delinquent trouble-maker. Unfortunately, they have to recover from their injuries quickly for their final exam; a field exam which is essentially a first mission for the potential mercenaries. While recovering, a girl Squall does not recognize visits Squall briefly, and then walks away.
So Squall, much to his dismay, ends up in a group with Seifer, the squad leader, and Zell, another classmate who is overly enthusiastic, talkative, excitable, and impulsive, often responding strongly to Seifer's teasing and warranting a "Zell, calm down" from Squall. This is Seifer's third or so time doing this field exam. So they go to Dollet across the sea, which has been invaded by the Galbadian army nearby; they're not sure why. Squall's squad secures the town center and then they wait for a long time. Eventually Seifer gets bored and they decide to follow some soldiers into the nearby mountains, where they discover the soldiers turning on the radio broadcast tower which has been offline for 17 years. They stop the soldiers just before a messenger, Selphie, from another squad delivers the order to retreat, and they narrowly escape to the beach from a giant robot spider thing, just in time to make it back to Garden.
Seifer is disciplined for disobeying orders, but Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate and are made SeeDs. They attend a formal banquet that night, and Squall is convinced by a mysterious girl (not the same one that visited him in the infirmary at the beginning of the story) to dance. Then his instructor, Quistis, not much older than him and able to read Squall and his "...Whatever"'s more easily than most, tells him his first mission is coming up, and that she's been fired as an instructor and is going to be a regular SeeD.
Headmaster Cid of the Garden gives Squall [now the squad leader], Zell, and Selphie the orders to head to Timber and assist the resistance movement against Galbadia there. On the train on the way, they all suddenly fall asleep and have the same dream; Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Ward, and Kiros flee from pursuit (from who we aren't told) to their hometown of Deling City, the capital of the Galbadian Empire. There, Laguna finally speaks to the love [at first sight *cue eye rolls*] of his life, a hotel pub piano player named Julia, but they are forced to leave due to new orders after a long conversation; Laguna promises to return.
Squall and co. wake up and are puzzled when they realize they had the same dream, but have no time to think about it, because they arrive at Timber. They meet up with the resistance force, which includes the mysterious girl Squall danced with, Rinoa (who can also be renamed). This resistance force seeks to liberate Timber from Galbadian occupation. The SeeDs assist the resistance group in a kidnap/interrogation/assassination attempt of the President of Galbadia, who is making a visit to Timber, but the person they kidnap is a decoy. They then discover that the President is coming to make a broadcast to the world, which is why the Dollet communications tower was turned on. After Squall gives Rinoa a lecture about how unprofessional their group is, they all make their way to the TV station and watch the beginning of the broadcast on a huge screen nearby. The president announces an appointment of a worldwide "ambassador," Sorceress Edea, just before Seifer busts in and take the President hostage, with Quistis at his tail attempting to stop him. The group runs to the station and watch as the Sorceress shows up and convinces Seifer to come with her. The president runs away, and Edea and Seifer disappear.
Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa decide it's best to leave town, so, as per Garden procedure, they head to the nearest Garden; Galbadia Garden, which trains soldiers for the Galbadian military. Before getting there, they suddenly fall asleep again and dream about Laguna, Ward, and Kiros again. They are patrolling a curious area in Centra, the deserted ruins of an ancient civilization, being excavated by Esthar, a huge technologically advanced nation to the east led by a sorceress, which Galbadia are at war at in this dream world. They are chased through the excavation site by Esthar soldiers, and are eventually badly injured; Ward loses his voice, and they are forced to jump into the ocean to escape. At this point, Squall and co. wake up from the dream, are confused, but continue on.
At Galbadia Garden, it is revealed that Seifer was tried and executed, Rinoa and Seifer had some sort of summer fling (which is why he busted out of Balamb Garden and busted into the station; to help Rinoa), and Squall doesn't want to fade away as a mere memory in people's minds like Seifer has, and he kinda freaks out. Afterwards, the group receives new orders, as a collaboration between the two Gardens; to head to Deling City and assassinate the sorceress, Edea. A sniper, Irvine, is provided to them to assist them. And to shamelessly hit on the females in the group.
They meet up with Galbadian General Caraway, revealed to be Rinoa's father, who locks her in her room to keep her safe, out of trouble, and uninvolved (they don't get along very well, and her mother died in a car accident when she was a little girl), and the rest of them discuss the assassination plan. Caraway explains that this sorceress doesn't intend to be an ambassador, but to strike fear into the hearts of the people of the world and conquer it. To make a long story short, Rinoa breaks out, is almost killed by the sorceress, and meets up with Squall and Irvine. She clings onto Squall, saying that she was "So... so scared..." right after being told that she wasn't mature enough to participate in this serious combat. As Edea is being introduced by the President, she publicly executes him, and the parade commences as normal otherwise. Quistis, Selphie, and Zell are accidentally locked in Caraway's house, but they break out and manage to set a trap for sorceress Edea, who somehow has Seifer at her side, alive and well, as her "Sorceress' Knight." Irvine, after a bout of self-doubt (ha, rhyme), takes a shot at the sorceress, but the shot is deflected. Squall takes on Seifer head-on, defeats him, and then takes on the sorceress with the help of Rinoa and Irvine. They lose the battle and are taken prisoner.
CUE CHANGE TO DISC 2!
Squall dreams of Laguna again, this time recovering from his injuries at Centra in the town of Winhill and serving as a town hunter, keeping monsters out of the city limits, and protecting Ellone, a girl whose parents were killed by Esthar soldiers looking for an heir to the sorceress' powers (they resorted to kidnapping kids) (a sorceress must give up her powers to someone else when she dies) and adopted by Raine, who looked after Laguna in his recovery. Laguna meets Kiros for the first time in years and hears that Ward is working unhappily as a janitor in a prison. He also hears that Julia, his former love, became a famous singer like she dreamed and wrote a song about a love that went off to war and never came back, so she married a Galbadian General named Carraway and had a daughter. Raine and Laguna obviously have kind of a thing going on.
Squall wakes up in a prison, and is interrogated/tortured by Seifer, who questions him on the "true" mission and meaning of SeeD. Meanwhile, Zell wakes up in a different cell, with Selphie and Quistis. He dreamt that Ward was working unhappily in a Galbadian prison, and quickly realizes that it's the very prison they are trapped in. They break out and attempt to find Squall, who they realize is on the top floor. Irvine and Rinoa show up and assist them in breaking out of the prison. Irvine apparently was given orders by General Carraway to get Rinoa out; the prison cooperated, but he left with Rinoa, who convinced him to turn around and help Squall, Zell, Selphie, and Quistis get out, too. Irvine and Rinoa tell the crew that, in retaliation for the assassination attempt (and probably to assert its dominance in general), Galbadia intends to fire long-range missiles at Balamb Garden and Trabia Garden, where Selphie transferred from. The missile base is nearby, so just as they watch from a distance the first missiles being fired at Trabia, they agree to split up, half going to the missile base to stop the missiles, and half going to Balamb Garden to warn them.
At the missile base, Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine disguise themselves as Galbadian soldiers. They are unable to stop the missiles from being fired, but after shutting down the power, setting the self-destruct mechanism for the base, and disabling a huge tank-like monstrosity of a machine that attempts to take them out as they escape, they are trapped inside with self-destruction imminent...
Meanwhile, Balamb Garden is in the midst of a chaotic internal power struggle between the factions of the mysterious Garden Master and the Headmaster. After the released monsters from the training center are killed, Squall, Zell, and Quistis report to the Headmaster on the possibility of incoming missiles. Headmaster Cid reveals that the Garden was built around an ancient Centra bomb shelter, which may still be functional. The group makes its way to the lowest level of the Garden and activates some strange device, which causes the Garden to take off from its stationary spot, narrowly avoiding being hit by the Galbadian missiles, and move along the continent and in the ocean.
[edit: the next paragraph is one I forgot the first time around, but it's important]
Once they start drifting around, a white ship approaches the Garden and requests an audience. Squall meets with them, and they say that they have come to take "Ellone" with them, because they do not believe the Garden to be safe anymore. They identify themselves as SeeDs; however, they distinguish themselves as "Edea's SeeDs." Squall is confused, but goes to find this girl Ellone, and finds her in the library; the same girl who visited him in the infirmary at the beginning of the game, and the same girl that Laguna was looking after in the dream world [although much older now]. She seems to know Squall well, and is saddened that Squall doesn't remember her. She explains to him that she, using a special power that only she has, is responsible for sending him and his companions to the dream world. Squall demands to know what it's all about, and she tells him that he is witnessing the past; 20-16 years ago, about; she wants to see if it is possible to change the past. Squall wants it all to stop, for her to not rely on him to help her, but she calls him her "only hope," and leaves rather prematurely aboard the white SeeD ship.
After some drifting trying to figure out the controls, Squall and co. is called by the Garden Master, a blobby-ish giant yellow guy, who reveals that Headmaster Cid is married to Edea, and, in a craze, accuses him of attempting to take power away from the Garden Master. However, after a fight, the Garden Master agrees to calm down and GTFO, along with his little cronies. After more drifting and wondering what happened to Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine, Headmaster Cid reveals that SeeD and Garden were made to fight Sorceresses when they show up and threaten the state of the world. He is indeed married to Sorceress Edea, but it's pretty complicated or something, apparently. I guess she didn't use to be such a big ol' jerk. In any case, they accidently crash into this hippie city in the middle of the ocean, Fisherman's Horizon (or FH), and they disembark. The very handy people of FH, connected to both Galbadia and Esthar continents by a trans-ocean railroad, agree to repair Balamb Garden if the Garden agrees to leave as soon as repairs are finished (they're not fond of military-affiliated organizations and such, because they're not fond of conflict). But then, a small Galbadian force arrives! Dun dun dun...
TO BE CONTINUED. GOOD GOD THIS IS TAKING A LOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD.
~*~
[EDIT: 6:56 PM]
~*~
So, where were we... Balamb Garden at FH, Galbadian forces arrive, right. So, Galbadian forces arrive, and the mayor of FH, being the hippie he is, decides to try to negotiate. The Galbadians demand to know where Ellone is, and of course the mayor has no idea who they're talking about. When they beat up the poor mayor and threaten to burn the city to the ground, Squall, Zell, and Quistis intervene and take on the Galbadians. Suddenly, a huge tank-like monstrosity of a machine emerges and begins attacking the group, then falls back into the water. From the water emerges... Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine! Squall tries to hide excitement and finally seeing his friends/comrades again. He and Rinoa have a short conversation regarding him actually showing his emotions for once, and seeming so happy for a change.
As the repairs finish, Cid appoints Squall as commander of the Garden; Squall is reluctant to take on such responsibilities, since he's not fond of having so many people be reliant on him, but he eventually accepts. In celebration, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, and Irvine put on a concert for Squall (also a scheme on Irvine's part to cheer up Selphie, who is down after the attack on Trabia, and to get Rinoa and Squall closer), while Rinoa dresses up all fancy-like and talks to him about how she and the rest of the group want him to show how he's feeling more often instead of standing there and thinking to himself.
The repairs are finished, so Balamb Garden leaves FH. They decide to check out Trabia Garden and the damage there. Selphie runs into the place, which is in total shambles. Fortunately, there are many survivors. After surveying the place, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Zell all meet on an abandoned and ruined basketball court outside the Garden. Rinoa was deeply affected by both the peacefulness of Fisherman's Horizon and the total destruction of Trabia Garden, and asks if there's some way they can continue on without fighting. Squall asks her how she can say that when she and her resistance group were the only ones that took action against Galbadia. Irvine explains that Edea must be stopped for all this madness to end, and violence is the only answer to that.
Irvine then drops a bombshell of sorts; although he seems to be the only one that remembers, he, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Seifer, and Ellone all grew up together in an orphanage. He didn't bring it up until now because no one else seemed to remember and they were on an official mission. Slowly, starting with Selphie, the others start to remember. Squall and Seifer's rivalry stemmed from their fighting in the orphanage. Why don't they remember? Apparently, their most vital resource in battle, the Guardian Forces (GFs) that provide them with para-magic and other means of strength have side-effects of memory loss. Irvine remembers because Balamb Garden is the only Garden that uses GFs. Selphie only started using them when she transferred, so she remembered before the others. Apparently, Ellone disappeared from the orphanage when Squall was little, and this deeply affected him, for he had begun to know her as "Sis" and was very attached to her. They then remember who ran the orphanage; Sorceress Edea, who they knew back then as Matron, a kind and benevolent woman. They were confused as to how she could become such a terrifying being, but knew that they had to fight her, and Irvine wanted to make clear that if they killed Edea, they would be killing Matron, and this is a future they had to face. They decided to try to find the orphanage, if they could remember where it was.
As sort of a sidenote, at the Garden, on the way to the orphanage, Zell asks Squall if he can borrow his sweet ring. When Squall reluctantly agrees, Zell says something like "Rinoa will be so happy!" and Squall is slightly confused. Zell, without Squall knowing, gives it to Rinoa to hold onto on a chain around her neck, and Zell is going to, at some point, make a copy of it for her; Rinoa just thinks the ring is really, really cool. Who wouldn't, it has a sweet lion on it!
As they come across the ruins of what they think may be the old orphanage, Galbadia Garden, which has been taken over by the Galbadian Army, headed by Edea and Seifer, approaches them. Squall realizes that a battle is inevitable, and so prepares for the attack and defense. A huge and epic battle takes place; Rinoa almost falls from the Garden in the attack, but Squall saves her. After saving her, he realizes she has his ring, but he has her continue holding onto it. In the chaos of the battle taking place outside the Gardens, Squall, Rinoa, and Irvine sneak into the Garden and find Seifer and Edea, who identifies Squall as the "legendary SeeD destined to face me." The group does battle; Seifer is defeated, and Edea casts the "pathetic" excuse for a knight aside. She is defeated and a rather strange event occurs; everyone is enveloped in a giant aura, and Rinoa approaches the fallen Seifer in a zombie-like manner, says something to him, and then falls unconscious as Seifer escapes yet again. Edea awakens as Zell, Quistis, and Selphie arrive, and is totally different in character; she tells the group that she is very proud of how they've done and how they've grown up. Needless to say, they're confused as all hell.
CUE CHANGE TO DISC 3!
Rinoa is still comatose, and no one can figure out why, and Squall is deeply saddened, just wanting to hear her voice and see her be her exuberant self again. Squall and co. decide to visit Edea at the old orphanage, which is actually Cid and Edea's house. Cid hid out here during the battle, for fear of losing his wife or losing the Garden. Edea explains that she was being possessed by a sorceress from the future named Ultimecia. Ultimecia intends to resurrect Sorceress Adel, who reigned over the Esthar Empire 17 years ago before the country went into seclusion and ended the Sorceress War with Galbadia. Ultimecia also seeks out Ellone for reasons unknown, probably something to do with her special power. Edea doesn't know why Rinoa is in a coma. She explains that she and Cid made SeeD in case she or any other sorceress ever became a threat again; the white SeeD ship was made to protect Ellone from Edea, and was essentially an extension of the orphanage. Squall leaves and visits the unconscious Rinoa and falls asleep at her side.
Squall dreams of Laguna, Kiros, and Ward again; this time they are starring in a cheesy b-movie to make some money so that they can continue on their journey to find Ellone. After the set is ruined by an attack by wild beasts, Laguna and co. make a run for it, coming across an enormous, monolith-like UFO which captures them.
Squall wakes up and realizes that maybe Ellone can use her power to send him into the past and stop whatever happened to Rinoa. He seeks out the white SeeD ship, but once he finds it, they inform him that Ellone left with an Esthar ship when a Galbadian fleet attacked. At this point, Squall is very withdrawn and, caring only about Rinoa, docks Balamb Garden at Fisherman Horizon, and because the trains are down, walks all the way along the track to the Esthar continent, carrying the still comatose Rinoa on his back. Along the way, he stops and talks to unconscious girl, "revealing" to her that he misses her a hell of a lot and was only rude and such on the outside because he is insecure and hides the fact that he cares about what people think of him.
When he gets to the Esthar continent, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, and Edea are waiting for him; they want to accompany him to Esthar to help Rinoa, and Edea wants to see if there is a way to seal her sorceress powers for the sake of the world, in case Ultimecia attempts to possess her again. They walk across a dry salt lake looking for the country of Esthar, which is supposed to be huge and stand out like a sore thumb in its futuristic technologicalness. They then realize that at the edge of the dry salt lake is an enormous screen that hides Esthar and makes it look as though there is just more dry lake. They are received by machines which take them to the capitol, and on the way they are drawn into the dream world once again.
Laguna, Ward, and Kiros have been captured by Esthar (keep in mind this is 17 years ago) and are being forced to work in a laboratory. They manage to beat up their guards and sneak out, befriending a couple of members of an anti-Adel movement out to overthrow the Sorceress in power; they think Laguna, in his optimism and scheming, is fit to be the leader of the movement. Laguna then proceeds to find Ellone.
At this point, Squall and his compadres wake up and are taken by floating car through the utopia-like futuristic city to the Presidential Palace by a Presidential aide, who isn't surprised to see them. Edea requests to have her powers taken away, and Dr. Odine, a genius and the head scientist of Esthar who invented the use of Guardian Forces and various other awesome stuff (probably the floating cars), says that will be easy. Odine agrees to let Squall see Ellone, who is on the Lunar Base is space, if he will let the doctor examine Rinoa; Squall reluctantly agrees.
Rinoa is taken by Dr. Odine and then to the Lunar Gate, where Squall and co. soon arrive. Edea must stay on the planet, and Zell wants to stay with her, so Squall takes Quistis with him into space, and they are launched up to the space station. Soon after the launch, Zell, Edea, Irvine, and Selphie look outside and see the same giant UFO thing that captured Laguna and co. in the dream world. They go back to Dr. Odine, who identifies it as Lunatic Pandora, apparently excavated by the Galbadians after it was sunk in the ocean by Esthar. Zell is impatient and Odine doesn't have a chance to explain much else, but the 3 mile tall, 1.5 mile wide flying box is flying toward Tear's Point.
In space, Rinoa is kept in stasis in the medical bay, and Squall and Quistis observe the President of Esthar personally investigating the seal on Sorceress Adel's "tomb," where she and her powers were indefinitely sealed at the end of the Sorceress War 17 years ago. The scientists onboard the station then explain that the monsters on the planet's surface come from the moon, a hellish world inhabited by monsters. Once every few hundred years or so, the "Lunar Cry" occurs, during which monsters fall to the earth in a giant tear drop of sorts when the moon becomes saturated with monsters. These monsters then breed with and mutate the animals on the planet; the current monsters on the planet are results of these mutations for the most part; only the strongest are straight from the moon. Around a hundred years ago, the Centra civilization was demolished by the Lunar Cry. Adel's imprisonment, which requires a lot of magical/radio/etc. energy and a perfect balance of gravity between the moon and the Earth, is the cause of the past 17 years of radio interference/silence on the planet.
Squall is then taken to Ellone, who explains that she no longer believes the past can be changed, but seeing Laguna's past made her deeply appreciate it; because Laguna came after Ellone, he was not able to be there for Raine in Winhill when she died in childbirth with his child. Ellone was sent home shortly before this happened, and was sent to the orphanage afterwards.
Without notice, an alarm sounds; Elie suddenly awakens and, in a trance-like, zombie-ish state, heads towards the control room of the space station, while the scientists onboard are merely repelled from her like puppets when they try to stop her. She unseals the first seal of Adel's tomb, and then heads out into space (yes, with a spacesuit) to release the second and final seal, which would release Adel. Meanwhile, the Lunar Cry is about to happen on the moon; the Lunatic Pandora, when aligned with Tear's Point on Earth, artificially causes this to happen. Because the space station and tomb are between the moon and the planet, both will be engulfed by it. Rinoa releases the second seal, and then is flung off into space. Squall, Quistis, Ellone, the President of Esthar, and the crew all evacuate aboard escape pods as the station and Adel are swept away in a tide of monsters amid the Lunar Cry. Squall convinces Ellone to send him to Rinoa's past so he can know what happened to her.
Ellone first accidentally sends him too far, and Squall sees Rinoa convincing Irvine, who she says is being totally ridiculous, to go back and rescue Squall and everyone else from the prison. He sees a couple of other scenes where she is talking about Squall, and finally sees the moment they defeated Edea and she first went into the strange, trance-like state. He sees the form of a strange sorceress controlling Rinoa and talking to Seifer through her. She identifies herself as Ultimecia and commands him to find Lunatic Pandora and take it to Tear's Point, saying that his rewards will be immense and all that good stuff.
Ellone is sorry that she can't help him change the past, and Squall is ridiculously upset. Ellone decides to send him to Rinoa's "past that's closest to the present" (i.e., pretty much the present). Squall sees Rinoa floating in space near the moon, no longer possessed by Ultimecia, just about giving up, silently saying goodbye to everything she knew and loved, knowing that there's no way she can make it, with her life support running out. Squall calls out to her from his dream-state, and she calls out to him, hopelessly. In what she thinks is her moment of death, she sees Squall's ring on the chain, remembers an emergency oxygen supply (>_<), and lives on a little longer... Squall wakes up and decides to put on a space suit and go and find her on a suicide mission. Somehow, miraculously, he sees her, and uses the little mini-jetpack to get to her. They grasp each other through the space suits and float aimlessly for a little while, not sure of what the hell they're going to do now that they're both stuck in space. But they're happy to finally be together, perhaps one last time, even if it means they die together. ...But sure enough, after a couple of minutes, they come across a mysterious red spaceship. They make it aboard and take off their space suits, ready to figure out how to pilot the ship home. Unfortunately, some alien monstrosities have devoured the crew and turned the ship into a mini-colony, so Squall and Rinoa are forced to exterminate the terrifying things before getting to the pilot's seat. There, Rinoa embraces Squall, happy to be alive. When they do finally get there, Esthar contacts them via radio, identifying the spaceship as "Ragnarok," and tells Squall they will guide the ship to Esthar. Much lovey-dovey romantic dialogue happens, although no undying love is admitted; then Esthar calls again and tells Squall to keep "the sorceress" Rinoa there. Rinoa admits that Edea, no longer a sorceress, unknowingly passed on her sorceress powers to Rinoa when she was defeated in Galbadia Garden. This was the first moment Ultimecia possessed Rinoa. Rinoa is scared shitless and doesn't want to go back to Esthar (she'll be sealed away like Adel was), but knows she has to do it. When they land on Earth, Rinoa is taken by Esthar voluntarily, and Squall lets her go after one last ever-so-romantic embrace. When Squall meets up with Selphie, Quistis, Zell, and Irvine, they are super-upset with him and make him go get Rinoa back. He realizes that he risked his life and went on that insane suicide mission to get her back in the first place because he wanted to be with her, and now he was just going to give her up. So they break into the place and get her out, and head back to Esthar's Presidential Palace after they are called there by a man named Kiros. Quistis reveals that Ellone was not present in the escape pod when they woke up after it crashed on Earth, and assumes she was kidnapped by Galbadians and is now aboard the Lunatic Pandora. Esthar is in chaos with the raining moon monsters. When they get to the palace, they are surprised to see the identity of the president: Laguna from the dream world! He became President after, as the leader of the anti-Adel movement during the Sorceress War, he helped take down the Sorceress and imprison her, and Kiros and Ward became his aids. He sent Ellone to an orphanage after she was rescued so that she would be safe. Odine then explains that Ultimecia intends to use Ellone to "compress time," making the past, present, and future all one. From here she will absorb the powers of all sorceresses and, essentially, become a God-like entity. The only way to stop her is to allow the time compression to take place and then to fight her in the future. Dr. Odine thinks up some ridiculously complex way to accomplish this without everything going horribly wrong, and I can't quite remember it, because it's kind of insane. First of all, they need to get to Lunatic Pandora and kill Adel before she fully awakens, and defeat Seifer, who has become a proud, spiteful shadow of his former self, once and for all. Before they embark on this dangerous quest, the gang meets at the orphange one last time; the place of love, memories, friendship, and fondness that they'll all have to focus on in order to make it out of the time compression alive. Rinoa and Squall talk more, and Rinoa tells of a dream she had where she was going to go out somewhere with Squall, and got all dressed up, but then couldn't remember where they were supposed to meet; she searched all over the world but couldn't find him. Then, Squall decides that the flower field near the orphanage will be where they meet should they ever lose each other again. Rinoa is afraid that Squall will, as a SeeD, have to kill her if she is possessed by evil again, but Squall refuses to accept this, saying that he'll be her knight forever, and find a way to release her from evil no matter what. The group, Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine, make their way toward Lunatic Pandora, WHERE THEIR DESINTY AWAITS THEM... ~*~ SUMMARY ENDS HERE; IF YOU WANTED TO SKIP IT YOU CAN START READING AGAIN NOW.
That's where I am. If you read that, imagine how long it took to play it! There are a bunch of allusions in the game, too! For example, "Ragnarok" is the Viking apocalypse where the gods and fallen soldiers take on the forces of evil. The Guardian Forces in the game are pretty much all named after gods and deities and other-worldly beings and such from various cultures' myths (Norse, Celtic, Judaic, etc.). The idea that monsters come from the moon is somewhat symbolic and obvious even in Western culture (werewolves and such). A sort of creation story of the game's story tells of a being Hyne that came to Earth and created the first sorceresses; this is somewhat similar to Eve and the story of original sin in the GARDEN of Eden in the Old Testament.
Radio show tonight. Tutoring tomorrow. New Faces coming to Bellingham this weekend, I just remembered. Yesss.
--Jon
~*~
The game starts off with the primary protagonist (initially named "Squall," which is pretty lame, so you can change it to whatever you want) recovering from a "training" fight with Seifer, a fellow classmate at Balamb Garden which is essentially a military training academy for mercenaries called SeeDs (ha, get it, seeds, garden...). Squall is rather introverted and cares pretty much only for his own well-being, preferring not to rely on others, but he's also among the best in his class. Seifer is pretty much a delinquent trouble-maker. Unfortunately, they have to recover from their injuries quickly for their final exam; a field exam which is essentially a first mission for the potential mercenaries. While recovering, a girl Squall does not recognize visits Squall briefly, and then walks away.
So Squall, much to his dismay, ends up in a group with Seifer, the squad leader, and Zell, another classmate who is overly enthusiastic, talkative, excitable, and impulsive, often responding strongly to Seifer's teasing and warranting a "Zell, calm down" from Squall. This is Seifer's third or so time doing this field exam. So they go to Dollet across the sea, which has been invaded by the Galbadian army nearby; they're not sure why. Squall's squad secures the town center and then they wait for a long time. Eventually Seifer gets bored and they decide to follow some soldiers into the nearby mountains, where they discover the soldiers turning on the radio broadcast tower which has been offline for 17 years. They stop the soldiers just before a messenger, Selphie, from another squad delivers the order to retreat, and they narrowly escape to the beach from a giant robot spider thing, just in time to make it back to Garden.
Seifer is disciplined for disobeying orders, but Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate and are made SeeDs. They attend a formal banquet that night, and Squall is convinced by a mysterious girl (not the same one that visited him in the infirmary at the beginning of the story) to dance. Then his instructor, Quistis, not much older than him and able to read Squall and his "...Whatever"'s more easily than most, tells him his first mission is coming up, and that she's been fired as an instructor and is going to be a regular SeeD.
Headmaster Cid of the Garden gives Squall [now the squad leader], Zell, and Selphie the orders to head to Timber and assist the resistance movement against Galbadia there. On the train on the way, they all suddenly fall asleep and have the same dream; Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Ward, and Kiros flee from pursuit (from who we aren't told) to their hometown of Deling City, the capital of the Galbadian Empire. There, Laguna finally speaks to the love [at first sight *cue eye rolls*] of his life, a hotel pub piano player named Julia, but they are forced to leave due to new orders after a long conversation; Laguna promises to return.
Squall and co. wake up and are puzzled when they realize they had the same dream, but have no time to think about it, because they arrive at Timber. They meet up with the resistance force, which includes the mysterious girl Squall danced with, Rinoa (who can also be renamed). This resistance force seeks to liberate Timber from Galbadian occupation. The SeeDs assist the resistance group in a kidnap/interrogation/assassination attempt of the President of Galbadia, who is making a visit to Timber, but the person they kidnap is a decoy. They then discover that the President is coming to make a broadcast to the world, which is why the Dollet communications tower was turned on. After Squall gives Rinoa a lecture about how unprofessional their group is, they all make their way to the TV station and watch the beginning of the broadcast on a huge screen nearby. The president announces an appointment of a worldwide "ambassador," Sorceress Edea, just before Seifer busts in and take the President hostage, with Quistis at his tail attempting to stop him. The group runs to the station and watch as the Sorceress shows up and convinces Seifer to come with her. The president runs away, and Edea and Seifer disappear.
Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa decide it's best to leave town, so, as per Garden procedure, they head to the nearest Garden; Galbadia Garden, which trains soldiers for the Galbadian military. Before getting there, they suddenly fall asleep again and dream about Laguna, Ward, and Kiros again. They are patrolling a curious area in Centra, the deserted ruins of an ancient civilization, being excavated by Esthar, a huge technologically advanced nation to the east led by a sorceress, which Galbadia are at war at in this dream world. They are chased through the excavation site by Esthar soldiers, and are eventually badly injured; Ward loses his voice, and they are forced to jump into the ocean to escape. At this point, Squall and co. wake up from the dream, are confused, but continue on.
At Galbadia Garden, it is revealed that Seifer was tried and executed, Rinoa and Seifer had some sort of summer fling (which is why he busted out of Balamb Garden and busted into the station; to help Rinoa), and Squall doesn't want to fade away as a mere memory in people's minds like Seifer has, and he kinda freaks out. Afterwards, the group receives new orders, as a collaboration between the two Gardens; to head to Deling City and assassinate the sorceress, Edea. A sniper, Irvine, is provided to them to assist them. And to shamelessly hit on the females in the group.
They meet up with Galbadian General Caraway, revealed to be Rinoa's father, who locks her in her room to keep her safe, out of trouble, and uninvolved (they don't get along very well, and her mother died in a car accident when she was a little girl), and the rest of them discuss the assassination plan. Caraway explains that this sorceress doesn't intend to be an ambassador, but to strike fear into the hearts of the people of the world and conquer it. To make a long story short, Rinoa breaks out, is almost killed by the sorceress, and meets up with Squall and Irvine. She clings onto Squall, saying that she was "So... so scared..." right after being told that she wasn't mature enough to participate in this serious combat. As Edea is being introduced by the President, she publicly executes him, and the parade commences as normal otherwise. Quistis, Selphie, and Zell are accidentally locked in Caraway's house, but they break out and manage to set a trap for sorceress Edea, who somehow has Seifer at her side, alive and well, as her "Sorceress' Knight." Irvine, after a bout of self-doubt (ha, rhyme), takes a shot at the sorceress, but the shot is deflected. Squall takes on Seifer head-on, defeats him, and then takes on the sorceress with the help of Rinoa and Irvine. They lose the battle and are taken prisoner.
CUE CHANGE TO DISC 2!
Squall dreams of Laguna again, this time recovering from his injuries at Centra in the town of Winhill and serving as a town hunter, keeping monsters out of the city limits, and protecting Ellone, a girl whose parents were killed by Esthar soldiers looking for an heir to the sorceress' powers (they resorted to kidnapping kids) (a sorceress must give up her powers to someone else when she dies) and adopted by Raine, who looked after Laguna in his recovery. Laguna meets Kiros for the first time in years and hears that Ward is working unhappily as a janitor in a prison. He also hears that Julia, his former love, became a famous singer like she dreamed and wrote a song about a love that went off to war and never came back, so she married a Galbadian General named Carraway and had a daughter. Raine and Laguna obviously have kind of a thing going on.
Squall wakes up in a prison, and is interrogated/tortured by Seifer, who questions him on the "true" mission and meaning of SeeD. Meanwhile, Zell wakes up in a different cell, with Selphie and Quistis. He dreamt that Ward was working unhappily in a Galbadian prison, and quickly realizes that it's the very prison they are trapped in. They break out and attempt to find Squall, who they realize is on the top floor. Irvine and Rinoa show up and assist them in breaking out of the prison. Irvine apparently was given orders by General Carraway to get Rinoa out; the prison cooperated, but he left with Rinoa, who convinced him to turn around and help Squall, Zell, Selphie, and Quistis get out, too. Irvine and Rinoa tell the crew that, in retaliation for the assassination attempt (and probably to assert its dominance in general), Galbadia intends to fire long-range missiles at Balamb Garden and Trabia Garden, where Selphie transferred from. The missile base is nearby, so just as they watch from a distance the first missiles being fired at Trabia, they agree to split up, half going to the missile base to stop the missiles, and half going to Balamb Garden to warn them.
At the missile base, Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine disguise themselves as Galbadian soldiers. They are unable to stop the missiles from being fired, but after shutting down the power, setting the self-destruct mechanism for the base, and disabling a huge tank-like monstrosity of a machine that attempts to take them out as they escape, they are trapped inside with self-destruction imminent...
Meanwhile, Balamb Garden is in the midst of a chaotic internal power struggle between the factions of the mysterious Garden Master and the Headmaster. After the released monsters from the training center are killed, Squall, Zell, and Quistis report to the Headmaster on the possibility of incoming missiles. Headmaster Cid reveals that the Garden was built around an ancient Centra bomb shelter, which may still be functional. The group makes its way to the lowest level of the Garden and activates some strange device, which causes the Garden to take off from its stationary spot, narrowly avoiding being hit by the Galbadian missiles, and move along the continent and in the ocean.
[edit: the next paragraph is one I forgot the first time around, but it's important]
Once they start drifting around, a white ship approaches the Garden and requests an audience. Squall meets with them, and they say that they have come to take "Ellone" with them, because they do not believe the Garden to be safe anymore. They identify themselves as SeeDs; however, they distinguish themselves as "Edea's SeeDs." Squall is confused, but goes to find this girl Ellone, and finds her in the library; the same girl who visited him in the infirmary at the beginning of the game, and the same girl that Laguna was looking after in the dream world [although much older now]. She seems to know Squall well, and is saddened that Squall doesn't remember her. She explains to him that she, using a special power that only she has, is responsible for sending him and his companions to the dream world. Squall demands to know what it's all about, and she tells him that he is witnessing the past; 20-16 years ago, about; she wants to see if it is possible to change the past. Squall wants it all to stop, for her to not rely on him to help her, but she calls him her "only hope," and leaves rather prematurely aboard the white SeeD ship.
After some drifting trying to figure out the controls, Squall and co. is called by the Garden Master, a blobby-ish giant yellow guy, who reveals that Headmaster Cid is married to Edea, and, in a craze, accuses him of attempting to take power away from the Garden Master. However, after a fight, the Garden Master agrees to calm down and GTFO, along with his little cronies. After more drifting and wondering what happened to Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine, Headmaster Cid reveals that SeeD and Garden were made to fight Sorceresses when they show up and threaten the state of the world. He is indeed married to Sorceress Edea, but it's pretty complicated or something, apparently. I guess she didn't use to be such a big ol' jerk. In any case, they accidently crash into this hippie city in the middle of the ocean, Fisherman's Horizon (or FH), and they disembark. The very handy people of FH, connected to both Galbadia and Esthar continents by a trans-ocean railroad, agree to repair Balamb Garden if the Garden agrees to leave as soon as repairs are finished (they're not fond of military-affiliated organizations and such, because they're not fond of conflict). But then, a small Galbadian force arrives! Dun dun dun...
TO BE CONTINUED. GOOD GOD THIS IS TAKING A LOT LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD.
~*~
[EDIT: 6:56 PM]
~*~
So, where were we... Balamb Garden at FH, Galbadian forces arrive, right. So, Galbadian forces arrive, and the mayor of FH, being the hippie he is, decides to try to negotiate. The Galbadians demand to know where Ellone is, and of course the mayor has no idea who they're talking about. When they beat up the poor mayor and threaten to burn the city to the ground, Squall, Zell, and Quistis intervene and take on the Galbadians. Suddenly, a huge tank-like monstrosity of a machine emerges and begins attacking the group, then falls back into the water. From the water emerges... Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine! Squall tries to hide excitement and finally seeing his friends/comrades again. He and Rinoa have a short conversation regarding him actually showing his emotions for once, and seeming so happy for a change.
As the repairs finish, Cid appoints Squall as commander of the Garden; Squall is reluctant to take on such responsibilities, since he's not fond of having so many people be reliant on him, but he eventually accepts. In celebration, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, and Irvine put on a concert for Squall (also a scheme on Irvine's part to cheer up Selphie, who is down after the attack on Trabia, and to get Rinoa and Squall closer), while Rinoa dresses up all fancy-like and talks to him about how she and the rest of the group want him to show how he's feeling more often instead of standing there and thinking to himself.
The repairs are finished, so Balamb Garden leaves FH. They decide to check out Trabia Garden and the damage there. Selphie runs into the place, which is in total shambles. Fortunately, there are many survivors. After surveying the place, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, and Zell all meet on an abandoned and ruined basketball court outside the Garden. Rinoa was deeply affected by both the peacefulness of Fisherman's Horizon and the total destruction of Trabia Garden, and asks if there's some way they can continue on without fighting. Squall asks her how she can say that when she and her resistance group were the only ones that took action against Galbadia. Irvine explains that Edea must be stopped for all this madness to end, and violence is the only answer to that.
Irvine then drops a bombshell of sorts; although he seems to be the only one that remembers, he, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Seifer, and Ellone all grew up together in an orphanage. He didn't bring it up until now because no one else seemed to remember and they were on an official mission. Slowly, starting with Selphie, the others start to remember. Squall and Seifer's rivalry stemmed from their fighting in the orphanage. Why don't they remember? Apparently, their most vital resource in battle, the Guardian Forces (GFs) that provide them with para-magic and other means of strength have side-effects of memory loss. Irvine remembers because Balamb Garden is the only Garden that uses GFs. Selphie only started using them when she transferred, so she remembered before the others. Apparently, Ellone disappeared from the orphanage when Squall was little, and this deeply affected him, for he had begun to know her as "Sis" and was very attached to her. They then remember who ran the orphanage; Sorceress Edea, who they knew back then as Matron, a kind and benevolent woman. They were confused as to how she could become such a terrifying being, but knew that they had to fight her, and Irvine wanted to make clear that if they killed Edea, they would be killing Matron, and this is a future they had to face. They decided to try to find the orphanage, if they could remember where it was.
As sort of a sidenote, at the Garden, on the way to the orphanage, Zell asks Squall if he can borrow his sweet ring. When Squall reluctantly agrees, Zell says something like "Rinoa will be so happy!" and Squall is slightly confused. Zell, without Squall knowing, gives it to Rinoa to hold onto on a chain around her neck, and Zell is going to, at some point, make a copy of it for her; Rinoa just thinks the ring is really, really cool. Who wouldn't, it has a sweet lion on it!
As they come across the ruins of what they think may be the old orphanage, Galbadia Garden, which has been taken over by the Galbadian Army, headed by Edea and Seifer, approaches them. Squall realizes that a battle is inevitable, and so prepares for the attack and defense. A huge and epic battle takes place; Rinoa almost falls from the Garden in the attack, but Squall saves her. After saving her, he realizes she has his ring, but he has her continue holding onto it. In the chaos of the battle taking place outside the Gardens, Squall, Rinoa, and Irvine sneak into the Garden and find Seifer and Edea, who identifies Squall as the "legendary SeeD destined to face me." The group does battle; Seifer is defeated, and Edea casts the "pathetic" excuse for a knight aside. She is defeated and a rather strange event occurs; everyone is enveloped in a giant aura, and Rinoa approaches the fallen Seifer in a zombie-like manner, says something to him, and then falls unconscious as Seifer escapes yet again. Edea awakens as Zell, Quistis, and Selphie arrive, and is totally different in character; she tells the group that she is very proud of how they've done and how they've grown up. Needless to say, they're confused as all hell.
CUE CHANGE TO DISC 3!
Rinoa is still comatose, and no one can figure out why, and Squall is deeply saddened, just wanting to hear her voice and see her be her exuberant self again. Squall and co. decide to visit Edea at the old orphanage, which is actually Cid and Edea's house. Cid hid out here during the battle, for fear of losing his wife or losing the Garden. Edea explains that she was being possessed by a sorceress from the future named Ultimecia. Ultimecia intends to resurrect Sorceress Adel, who reigned over the Esthar Empire 17 years ago before the country went into seclusion and ended the Sorceress War with Galbadia. Ultimecia also seeks out Ellone for reasons unknown, probably something to do with her special power. Edea doesn't know why Rinoa is in a coma. She explains that she and Cid made SeeD in case she or any other sorceress ever became a threat again; the white SeeD ship was made to protect Ellone from Edea, and was essentially an extension of the orphanage. Squall leaves and visits the unconscious Rinoa and falls asleep at her side.
Squall dreams of Laguna, Kiros, and Ward again; this time they are starring in a cheesy b-movie to make some money so that they can continue on their journey to find Ellone. After the set is ruined by an attack by wild beasts, Laguna and co. make a run for it, coming across an enormous, monolith-like UFO which captures them.
Squall wakes up and realizes that maybe Ellone can use her power to send him into the past and stop whatever happened to Rinoa. He seeks out the white SeeD ship, but once he finds it, they inform him that Ellone left with an Esthar ship when a Galbadian fleet attacked. At this point, Squall is very withdrawn and, caring only about Rinoa, docks Balamb Garden at Fisherman Horizon, and because the trains are down, walks all the way along the track to the Esthar continent, carrying the still comatose Rinoa on his back. Along the way, he stops and talks to unconscious girl, "revealing" to her that he misses her a hell of a lot and was only rude and such on the outside because he is insecure and hides the fact that he cares about what people think of him.
When he gets to the Esthar continent, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, and Edea are waiting for him; they want to accompany him to Esthar to help Rinoa, and Edea wants to see if there is a way to seal her sorceress powers for the sake of the world, in case Ultimecia attempts to possess her again. They walk across a dry salt lake looking for the country of Esthar, which is supposed to be huge and stand out like a sore thumb in its futuristic technologicalness. They then realize that at the edge of the dry salt lake is an enormous screen that hides Esthar and makes it look as though there is just more dry lake. They are received by machines which take them to the capitol, and on the way they are drawn into the dream world once again.
Laguna, Ward, and Kiros have been captured by Esthar (keep in mind this is 17 years ago) and are being forced to work in a laboratory. They manage to beat up their guards and sneak out, befriending a couple of members of an anti-Adel movement out to overthrow the Sorceress in power; they think Laguna, in his optimism and scheming, is fit to be the leader of the movement. Laguna then proceeds to find Ellone.
At this point, Squall and his compadres wake up and are taken by floating car through the utopia-like futuristic city to the Presidential Palace by a Presidential aide, who isn't surprised to see them. Edea requests to have her powers taken away, and Dr. Odine, a genius and the head scientist of Esthar who invented the use of Guardian Forces and various other awesome stuff (probably the floating cars), says that will be easy. Odine agrees to let Squall see Ellone, who is on the Lunar Base is space, if he will let the doctor examine Rinoa; Squall reluctantly agrees.
Rinoa is taken by Dr. Odine and then to the Lunar Gate, where Squall and co. soon arrive. Edea must stay on the planet, and Zell wants to stay with her, so Squall takes Quistis with him into space, and they are launched up to the space station. Soon after the launch, Zell, Edea, Irvine, and Selphie look outside and see the same giant UFO thing that captured Laguna and co. in the dream world. They go back to Dr. Odine, who identifies it as Lunatic Pandora, apparently excavated by the Galbadians after it was sunk in the ocean by Esthar. Zell is impatient and Odine doesn't have a chance to explain much else, but the 3 mile tall, 1.5 mile wide flying box is flying toward Tear's Point.
In space, Rinoa is kept in stasis in the medical bay, and Squall and Quistis observe the President of Esthar personally investigating the seal on Sorceress Adel's "tomb," where she and her powers were indefinitely sealed at the end of the Sorceress War 17 years ago. The scientists onboard the station then explain that the monsters on the planet's surface come from the moon, a hellish world inhabited by monsters. Once every few hundred years or so, the "Lunar Cry" occurs, during which monsters fall to the earth in a giant tear drop of sorts when the moon becomes saturated with monsters. These monsters then breed with and mutate the animals on the planet; the current monsters on the planet are results of these mutations for the most part; only the strongest are straight from the moon. Around a hundred years ago, the Centra civilization was demolished by the Lunar Cry. Adel's imprisonment, which requires a lot of magical/radio/etc. energy and a perfect balance of gravity between the moon and the Earth, is the cause of the past 17 years of radio interference/silence on the planet.
Squall is then taken to Ellone, who explains that she no longer believes the past can be changed, but seeing Laguna's past made her deeply appreciate it; because Laguna came after Ellone, he was not able to be there for Raine in Winhill when she died in childbirth with his child. Ellone was sent home shortly before this happened, and was sent to the orphanage afterwards.
Without notice, an alarm sounds; Elie suddenly awakens and, in a trance-like, zombie-ish state, heads towards the control room of the space station, while the scientists onboard are merely repelled from her like puppets when they try to stop her. She unseals the first seal of Adel's tomb, and then heads out into space (yes, with a spacesuit) to release the second and final seal, which would release Adel. Meanwhile, the Lunar Cry is about to happen on the moon; the Lunatic Pandora, when aligned with Tear's Point on Earth, artificially causes this to happen. Because the space station and tomb are between the moon and the planet, both will be engulfed by it. Rinoa releases the second seal, and then is flung off into space. Squall, Quistis, Ellone, the President of Esthar, and the crew all evacuate aboard escape pods as the station and Adel are swept away in a tide of monsters amid the Lunar Cry. Squall convinces Ellone to send him to Rinoa's past so he can know what happened to her.
Ellone first accidentally sends him too far, and Squall sees Rinoa convincing Irvine, who she says is being totally ridiculous, to go back and rescue Squall and everyone else from the prison. He sees a couple of other scenes where she is talking about Squall, and finally sees the moment they defeated Edea and she first went into the strange, trance-like state. He sees the form of a strange sorceress controlling Rinoa and talking to Seifer through her. She identifies herself as Ultimecia and commands him to find Lunatic Pandora and take it to Tear's Point, saying that his rewards will be immense and all that good stuff.
Ellone is sorry that she can't help him change the past, and Squall is ridiculously upset. Ellone decides to send him to Rinoa's "past that's closest to the present" (i.e., pretty much the present). Squall sees Rinoa floating in space near the moon, no longer possessed by Ultimecia, just about giving up, silently saying goodbye to everything she knew and loved, knowing that there's no way she can make it, with her life support running out. Squall calls out to her from his dream-state, and she calls out to him, hopelessly. In what she thinks is her moment of death, she sees Squall's ring on the chain, remembers an emergency oxygen supply (>_<), and lives on a little longer... Squall wakes up and decides to put on a space suit and go and find her on a suicide mission. Somehow, miraculously, he sees her, and uses the little mini-jetpack to get to her. They grasp each other through the space suits and float aimlessly for a little while, not sure of what the hell they're going to do now that they're both stuck in space. But they're happy to finally be together, perhaps one last time, even if it means they die together. ...But sure enough, after a couple of minutes, they come across a mysterious red spaceship. They make it aboard and take off their space suits, ready to figure out how to pilot the ship home. Unfortunately, some alien monstrosities have devoured the crew and turned the ship into a mini-colony, so Squall and Rinoa are forced to exterminate the terrifying things before getting to the pilot's seat. There, Rinoa embraces Squall, happy to be alive. When they do finally get there, Esthar contacts them via radio, identifying the spaceship as "Ragnarok," and tells Squall they will guide the ship to Esthar. Much lovey-dovey romantic dialogue happens, although no undying love is admitted; then Esthar calls again and tells Squall to keep "the sorceress" Rinoa there. Rinoa admits that Edea, no longer a sorceress, unknowingly passed on her sorceress powers to Rinoa when she was defeated in Galbadia Garden. This was the first moment Ultimecia possessed Rinoa. Rinoa is scared shitless and doesn't want to go back to Esthar (she'll be sealed away like Adel was), but knows she has to do it. When they land on Earth, Rinoa is taken by Esthar voluntarily, and Squall lets her go after one last ever-so-romantic embrace. When Squall meets up with Selphie, Quistis, Zell, and Irvine, they are super-upset with him and make him go get Rinoa back. He realizes that he risked his life and went on that insane suicide mission to get her back in the first place because he wanted to be with her, and now he was just going to give her up. So they break into the place and get her out, and head back to Esthar's Presidential Palace after they are called there by a man named Kiros. Quistis reveals that Ellone was not present in the escape pod when they woke up after it crashed on Earth, and assumes she was kidnapped by Galbadians and is now aboard the Lunatic Pandora. Esthar is in chaos with the raining moon monsters. When they get to the palace, they are surprised to see the identity of the president: Laguna from the dream world! He became President after, as the leader of the anti-Adel movement during the Sorceress War, he helped take down the Sorceress and imprison her, and Kiros and Ward became his aids. He sent Ellone to an orphanage after she was rescued so that she would be safe. Odine then explains that Ultimecia intends to use Ellone to "compress time," making the past, present, and future all one. From here she will absorb the powers of all sorceresses and, essentially, become a God-like entity. The only way to stop her is to allow the time compression to take place and then to fight her in the future. Dr. Odine thinks up some ridiculously complex way to accomplish this without everything going horribly wrong, and I can't quite remember it, because it's kind of insane. First of all, they need to get to Lunatic Pandora and kill Adel before she fully awakens, and defeat Seifer, who has become a proud, spiteful shadow of his former self, once and for all. Before they embark on this dangerous quest, the gang meets at the orphange one last time; the place of love, memories, friendship, and fondness that they'll all have to focus on in order to make it out of the time compression alive. Rinoa and Squall talk more, and Rinoa tells of a dream she had where she was going to go out somewhere with Squall, and got all dressed up, but then couldn't remember where they were supposed to meet; she searched all over the world but couldn't find him. Then, Squall decides that the flower field near the orphanage will be where they meet should they ever lose each other again. Rinoa is afraid that Squall will, as a SeeD, have to kill her if she is possessed by evil again, but Squall refuses to accept this, saying that he'll be her knight forever, and find a way to release her from evil no matter what. The group, Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine, make their way toward Lunatic Pandora, WHERE THEIR DESINTY AWAITS THEM... ~*~ SUMMARY ENDS HERE; IF YOU WANTED TO SKIP IT YOU CAN START READING AGAIN NOW.
That's where I am. If you read that, imagine how long it took to play it! There are a bunch of allusions in the game, too! For example, "Ragnarok" is the Viking apocalypse where the gods and fallen soldiers take on the forces of evil. The Guardian Forces in the game are pretty much all named after gods and deities and other-worldly beings and such from various cultures' myths (Norse, Celtic, Judaic, etc.). The idea that monsters come from the moon is somewhat symbolic and obvious even in Western culture (werewolves and such). A sort of creation story of the game's story tells of a being Hyne that came to Earth and created the first sorceresses; this is somewhat similar to Eve and the story of original sin in the GARDEN of Eden in the Old Testament.
Radio show tonight. Tutoring tomorrow. New Faces coming to Bellingham this weekend, I just remembered. Yesss.
--Jon
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Note to Self: Games to Remember
Spore
Intelligent Qube
Resident Evil (1, 2, and 3)
Jet Moto
Twisted Metal 2
Nuclear Strike
Ape Escape
Metal Gear Solid
Vagrant Story
Megaman Legends
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Crash Bandicoot
Parasite Eve
Shadow of the Colossus
Probably more!
Good god, I'm a nerd, and if I play all of these, I will get nothing done this summer.
--Jon
Intelligent Qube
Resident Evil (1, 2, and 3)
Jet Moto
Twisted Metal 2
Nuclear Strike
Ape Escape
Metal Gear Solid
Vagrant Story
Megaman Legends
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Crash Bandicoot
Parasite Eve
Shadow of the Colossus
Probably more!
Good god, I'm a nerd, and if I play all of these, I will get nothing done this summer.
--Jon
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