I recently picked up this PSP port of the old Playstation game, and they've changed a few things. First of all, the entire game has been retranslated, as they have often done with new games. It's a good thing when you consider that up until recently translations weren't exactly top notch. FF8 is the first game I can recall that did a truly excellent job of translation.
Anyway, the first thing they seem to have changed is remaking all the FMVs in the game, on top of outright replacing certain in-game cutscenes with FMV versions (this is as opposed to Chrono Trigger's remake where they play back both the new FMV of certain scenes and the in-game cutscene version). Whereas the FMVs in the original Tactics weren't exactly very high quality, save perhaps art direction, these ones look great. They are done in an interesting style of cel shading that reflects the art style of the character illustrations. Everything has a "sketchy" look to it as well. Further, the FMVs have voice acting, and the voice acting is pretty decent. Apparently the Japanese version had no voice acting at all so there's no way someone can criticize it by saying the US voice acting is "worse" than the Japanese version.
They've added a lot of new side missions, many of them seeming to focus on Delita, so you sort of switch perspectives in the story now. Also, a host of new unlockable characters, namely that cool guy from FFXII Balthier, further since XII is actually set in the same world as Tactics (and Vagrant Story) he actually fits. Cloud's still there, and he makes as little sense as he ever has being in this game (alternate reality machine my foot).
The gameplay has been changed up a bit. More characters can be in your party at once now, which could make things easier but it's a matter of choice anyway if you use that new capacity. However, just as in the original you make your movement choice and then your action choice, and even if you haven't locked your character's action yet your movement choice can't be undone, so pick your moves well as this isn't FFTA. Dark Knights are now available, for everyone, and so are "Onion Knights".
One thing I noticed pretty quick is there seem to be sound issues. That big ol' dark knight in the first mission? His health sucker doesn't seem to have it's full impact of sound effectism when he uses it... For the most part the sound is still good though. Also, if you are wondering, it seems to have the same delays and load time issues as the original, so they didn't really get rid of that problem. All in all, on a technical level I think they should have delayed the game for a while in order to work out these issues. There's really no excuse for them, especially the sound thing.
Back to the retranslation, the script for the original was fairly stylized as it was, but this time they REALLY went with it, fitting with the stylization of FFXII and Vagrant Story's scripts. Unlike the standard Final Fantasy game in which the dialog is more of a "realistic conversation" style, this is a lot more of a classicly trained drama style of dialog.
As an example of it, here's one line for ya.
Original:
Delita: If you must blame someone, blame yourself or god.
Remake:
Delita: Tis your birth and faith that curse you, not I.
That line in particular isn't just highly stylized though, it gives a bit of a different meaning and attitude to what he's saying. There's more of the same and it is hard for me to decide which one "works" better. I'd have an easier time deciding if I knew more of the original Japanese script. I get the feeling that the Japanese script for this game is highly stylized itself.
Oh yes, the Zodiac part of Zodiac Brave Story has more of an impact in battle. I haven't really played long enough to figure out what new effects it has though.
Among the rest there's a new multiplayer mode where you can take your team and fight another team. Unlike Fire Emblem's pitiful multiplayer, this is the real thing. Take your party and put it against another on a map and there are even new "traps" that can be set. When in this mode, everyone's units are colored either red or blue to make them easy to distinguish. Further, and a mode I found one of the best things they added to FFTA, there's a cooperative mission mode, where you and a friend go on special missions that require teamwork.
If I do end up having some issue with the new script or gameplay, it isn't something I can't do anything about. I still have the original version, and I can always rip it to play it on my PSP as well.
This does bring up one thing though. I really wish they had brought FFXII international to the states... That remake apparently really adds a lot of new things to the combat system.
Quoting Wikipedia:
Quote:An international version of the game called Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System (ファイナルファンタジーXII インターナショナル ゾディアックジョブシステム, Fainaru Fantajī Tuerubu Intānashonaru Zodiakku Jobu Shisutemu?) was released in Japan on August 9, 2007 as part of both Final Fantasy 20th anniversary and Ivalice Alliance.[124] The game includes twelve License Boards available (instead of the original one), each corresponding to a different Zodiac sign and job. The battle system as a whole has been tweaked; guest characters and summons are controllable by the player, and pressing the L1 button accelerates the game's speed. Additionally, the game features the English voices and the widescreen 16:9 ratio support of the North American version, as well as a bonus disc based on the one initially released with the North American version. Other new features such as new licenses, new spells and new gambits have been shown as well. There is also a "New Game+" option, as well as a new "Trial Mode" which allows the player to hunt monsters in 100 different maps to gain items and money.[3][125][126][127]
Those "international" versions sure are adding more and more stuff... It really makes me want those editions to actually BE international.
The weirdest thing about these international versions is how they keep using the English voice acting in their versions, because apparently they like the english voices. One would think they'd at least put two DVDs in there, one with the Japanese voice acting and one with the English. If it's a special edition sold at full price that is the sort of extra I'd think they could splurge on. Oh well, it's not really my problem I guess.
Here's a game I'm looking forward to. While I have some disagreements with certain opinions of this guy, you can't say he doesn't think pretty deeply about the whole mythos here.
The guy goes on about a storyline explanation of the CANDLES in the game. That's pretty interesting. So, souls stolen by Dracula (and Death) eh?
He can't seem to figure out the meat, but for me that's the easy one. Dracula is kinda famous for inviting people to his castle (so he can manipulate them before, say, plaguing the entire world), so you'd think he would want to have a feast prepaired for them. Even if he doesn't invite people to his castle any more, he still has hordes of monsters, some of which might actually need to eat meat. For example, werewolves.
Let me just break down my confusion...
1. a ipod can not surf the web.
2. a ipod can not play video games.
3. a ipod is not able to play wma, divx, or read word documents, and rss feeds.
4. It cant play flash moves. It cant take pictures, and does not have a hi def screen with a hot sexy gooie.
5. It cant make this post. Is missing manny more feaures I neglected to mention. And it now costs $150 more to even come close.
So it's being ported to the Wii, and it'll basically be the exact same game except for the one thing that you just KNOW would work awesome, the brush controls are now controlled via Wii remote pointing.
I thought this game was always meant for the Wii from the start, and here it is! Even with just this ONE change, I feel I simply MUST obtain this version.
So they now sell their games which I thought was a major improvement, but not ALL their games are up for sale and Icewind Dale and it's sequel are STILL locked away in their "monthly fee" service. Very annoying... I don't want to rent, I want to own! This is a game, not a house! I think I can cover the bill here!
I can get over the "take over your screen" slow to load interface for loading games. I can get over the "in your face" MTV generation interface that looks like a bag of ranch flavored potato chips. I can get over the insulting advertising. All that does is prove to me that such stupid advertising methods really are utterly worthless considering Steam totally owns them every single day and it goes for a much more subdued "here's a game we have up now" advertising and simplistic, functional interface. However, I'd really like to actually buy the games I might actually be interested in from them.
So last weekend my friend and I tried to fix my old laptop. The power cord wouldn't charge unless I forced it into a 45º angle, which obviously wasn't good for it. So after some soldering we tried to turn the computer back on and only heard the faint sound of the harddrive attempting to start. RIP PowerBook G3. It was 5 years old, though, which isn't a bad age for a laptop. Anyway, I know there aren't any Mac people here, but I have to show off my new baby:
Relevant Stats:
2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 Ram
160 GB Hard Drive (Not much, but my media files are stored on external drives)
Built-In Video Camera (It took the picture)
The keyboard glows in low-light situations to make it easier to see
Multi-touch trackpad. Dragging two fingers horizontally or vertically simulates a scroll wheel.
The best part is I can finally play computer games again! I have to get myself an XP install disc so I can play the PC games that weren't released for the Mac. Yet another gaming platform I own and will have no time to play!
In one of those really weird marketting decisions, Bethesda is releasing a free content pack for Oblivion containing a fighter-based castle to obtain. I just thought I'd let GR know he'd better download it off of XBox Live because it's only free for like a week.
Mostly not Nintendo, but close enough. Some potentially great stuff here.
New announcements...
Street Fighter 4 - ?
Dark Void - ?
Bionic Commando - PS3/X360/PC (from GRIN, trailer available)
Lost Planet - PS3 (port)
Commando 3 - XBLA/PSN (sequel to the old arcade/NES/Genesis games Commando and MERCS)
Wii Love Golf - Wii (from the Hot Shots Golf developers I think)
And re-confirmations on
Apollo Justice - Ace Attourney (Phoenix Wright 4 with a new main character) - DS
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD - XBLA
![[Image: macbookpro.jpg]](http://www.derekmiller.us/images/macbookpro.jpg)
