Bank for savings

I just saved myself a few bucks. After hearing that Final Fantasy IX was being "ported" over to PSN as a downloadable Game Archive, I went digging through the crate where I keep all my PSX games, and gave it a spin via the PS3. I guess I wanted to do this for a long time, since after two straight weeks, I finished up the game last night. I picked it up at launch, and played through it originally back in 2000, 10 years ago for those of you keeping score. I was surprised how much of the game I remembered. Although it was maybe less due to my retention of the places and events of the game, and more to do with how derivative it was to begin with. This installment is held in pretty high regard by nerds who hold these things in regard to begin with. It was recently voted "Best RPG ever" or something by someone. I think it's a decent game, but nowhere near "best anything ever" status.

FF IX, for those of you who may not be old enough to remember, was the last Playstation Final Fantasy released. It also had the (mis)fortune of following Final Fantasy VIII. Back then, just like now, FF VIII is a highly polarizing game. You either love it, or hate it. Square must have felt this sort of response was not what Final Fantasy needed, and instructed the producers (Hironou Sakaguchi et. al.) to come up with something to please everybody. That's a pretty tall order, especially when dealing with hordes of recently-internet-enabled nerds. How does one go about creating something all fans would instantly like? Heap on the fanservice, and throw in everything short of the kitchen sink. The problem with implementing as many features and ideas as possible, is that it all adds up to a formless gray mass, instead of a unique experience.

For FF IX the producers decided to throw out everything they've built up with the previous two games (Final Fantasies VII and VIII, surprise!), and instead went for a remake of Final Fantasy VI of sorts. No more Materia (yes!), no more Junctions (boo~!), no more Limit Breaks (sorta). Characters are given unique, preset "jobs," without having to resort to recycling that specific system as well (meh). A lancer stays a lancer until the end, no class changes for you. The designers thankfully decided to expand upon the basic formula they were copying, if only a little. All skills, instead of just magic, can now be learned through different equipment, instead of only Magicite shards. If you want your "thief" main character to know how to "mug," give him a dagger with that skill embedded, and kill enough critters to earn the points necessary to retain that skill. Simple, effective, derivative. This system has a unique side effect of forcing the player, who wants to have as many skills as possible, to switch character's equipment load-outs manually, instead of relying on the "optimize" shortcut on the equipment screen. It also encourages hoarding, as the basic equipment you started the game with may help a character you don't get until disc three to learn a few skills. As well as picking up any and all equipment from stores along the way, regardless of whether it's stronger than the current gear. Not bad, but not exactly ground breaking. If anything, Final Fantasy IX is the most polished Final Fantasy experience to date.

One facet that did surprise me was the audio department, specifically the music. Handled here by the series' mainstay, Nobuo Uematsu. Back when I played this game originally, I was not big into game music. In fact I would often turn the game audio completely off, and instead listen to my personal music CD's. (Back when music came on physical pieces of shiny plastic, you whipper snappers!) Hence, to this day, every time I listen to Fear Factory's album Demanufacture, I'm reminded of Final Fantasy VIII. Thanks to this (bad) habit I can claim that I fully heard Final Fantasy IX for the first time only recently, through a set of 5.1 headphones no less. I'm vary glad I did. While I consider most of Uematsu's work uninteresting, background music in every sense of the word, some pieces on the FF IX score are simply brilliant. A new personal favorite of mine is 'Loss Of Me,' which is used a pseudo theme for the antagonist General Beatrix. My heretofore favorite character, now also claims my favorite music of the entire game, and possibly series. 'Protecting My Devotion,' featured during the brief time the player spends controlling her is another stunner. Qu's March is another inspired piece, completely thrown away on a side area that can be mostly skipped, save for a brief, one-way trek through it on the way to the real destination. One reason why I never noticed Uematsu's talent previously is his often painfully basic instrumentation (which I noticed very early). He has pretty much used the same collection of sounds for the entire body of his work. It's all synthesizer, bells, and the occasional "whoop!" with this guy. I was especially disappointed by this in Final Fantasy VII, the first optical media-based game in the series. I was expecting to be blown away by an incredible symphonic, CD-quality score, instead I got the same unembellished synth I've always heard, only this time pumped out by the PSX's (terrible) MIDI synth, instead of the outstanding SNES hardware (both Sony parts, ironically). As such, I'm always drawn to the pieces when Uematsu throws "convention" to the wind, and decides to spice things up with a new instrument or two. 'You're Not Alone' is such a track, incorporating electric guitar riffing along with the keyboard and drum beat. A foreshadowing to his rock-and-roll experimentation in Final Fantasy X and Blue Dragon. The "last" boss battle theme, 'Dark Messenger,' is similarly styled, and awesome. Nobuo Uematsu rocks! \m/

In the end, Final Fantasy IX does a lot of things right. In fact, it's sole purpose for existing is to "fix" all the little rough spots of previous entries. It begins aboard an airship, for starters. But seeing how little it brings to the table of its own, I can't shower it with praise. I've recently came to the realization that the dings, dents, and rough edges are what make games memorable. An age old art trick we should be utilizing if we ever want these video game things be considered "art" by people who consider such things.

The legend of the valkyries

No More Heroes 2 was a miserable failure, but thankfully we have a new contender for GOTY 2010, Sting's Blaze Union. Not only is Princess Yggdra seen in the intro, possibly hinting at a cameo, but now we have confirmation that the Valkyrie knight Aegina, and her twin sister, are both featured in the story. Hopefully this means we get some more insight into their pasts. Good stuff.

Something for everyone

The US gets Nier and Super Street Fighter IV this week. Japan follows a few days later with SSFIV of their own, and Ikkitousen Xross Impact. I actually have the Japanese Super Limited Edition on pre-order, but I might just say fuck it, and get the US version for half the price. At this point it almost seems counter-productive to import these games anymore. The times, they are a changing. Ikkitousen is a sure import lock, though. There were apparently plans to bring over the PS2 version back in the day, but the publisher bailed after the game got a 'M' rating from the ESRB. Can't get by on boobs alone? Someone forgot to tell Aksys games.

Fo' eyephon!?

I should come up with a tag that can accumulate all these old-ass games getting ported to cellphones and other inappropriate things. With this latest example we have arguably one of the best technical representations of the game of pinball, stuck onto a device that couldn't be more removed from the tactile feedback necessary to even begin to understand it. Last Gladiators on the iPhone, ladies and gentlemen. That's akin to playing Street Fighter on a touchscreen... oh wait.

Choice words

If you don't like any of the current big name import retailers, you now have a new option. Long-time Japanese stuff seller, CDJapan has finally started selling games. This is not the sort of place you go for bargains, but you can be sure of what you 're buying, as they ship exclusively from Japan. No Hong Kong or California middlemen. Since operations just started, only a few most current titles are available for each platform, and you can forget about anything older than 2006. More choice is always welcome, and I like the idea of more import retailers in the market, if only to help keep each other honest.

Shoot first

After Burner Climax (PSN), Ketsui X(360), Knights In the Nightmare (PSP), Nier (PS360). Out of those, I'd only consider Ketsui a must-have. Shooting fans have been slobbering over that one since 2003 or thereabouts. This one is going to fly off the shelves with the quickness, so unless you'd want to pay $200 for it next year, grab it now. I frankly think that's the M.O. of most people who buy these games from Play-Asia or NCSX. They buy 10 copies, and flip 'em on eBay in a couple years. In this context, it's nice to see downloadables putting a dent in that habit. They'll never go out of print, and never get marked up to high heaven for no reason.

Protect 'cha neck

This was on Japanese blogs a few weeks ago. Now it's on BBC, so it must be true. A porn game manufacturer spread a fake copy of their own game onto file sharing sites, in order to catch dudes downloading their shit. The fake looks like a legit installer, asks for personal info, then takes a screengrab and logs the IP address and uploads them to a public website. The joke is that it explains what it's about to do in the EULA. I would hope this would teach a few assholes a good lesson, and cure the just-click-next Windows mentality the majority of computer users have. Smarter users make for a more pleasant internet experience for everybody.

The story to reach my wallet, has begun

In typical low-key, but predictable, Sting fashion, they've released a new trailer for Blaze Union. It shows a lot of the anime opening, introduces some of the characters, and their voice cast, and explains a bit about the game system to those who may not have played Yggdra Union. At the end it plugs a few currently available and upcoming Sting titles. That actually turns out to be the most important bit. In all previous Sting "Dept. Heaven" games you could unlock hidden stuff by importing data or inserting prequels into available slots. Blaze Union will allow for Yggdra' data import, which probably means cameos and playable units from the older game. (Please be someone cool, not Pamella again....) It also mentions the upcoming Knights In the Nightmare PSP port. I was overtly lukewarm to it, since the original didn't do anything for me (except made me resent the DS' gimmickry all over again), but if it's needed for unlocking something in Blaze', that alone justifies a purchase.

(Updated the Flash widget to the right to show off my support.)

The waiting game

A port of a three-year-old game, and a port of a 20-year-old(!!) game are the only things we have to look forward to this week. Also, I generally like the Grand Theft Auto series, but jumped off the band wagon halfway through GTA4, and have been lazy about getting the downloadable episodes, which supposedly fixed a lot of the original game's problems. I was considering picking up the expansion pack bundle which was released on disc last year for 360, but got lazy about it, and never did. This week I get a couple more shots at it, as Episodes From Liberty City are being released on the PS3 and PC . My biggest hurdle is price, frankly, so I'll probably wind up picking up the cheapest one. I'm betting on the PC version getting cleared out for $20 within a month. As most of my previous GTA experiences were via the PC, it's only fitting.

Next week we get a four-year-old port, a seven-year-old port, a two-year-old port, and the only new game so far. A vintage spread.

Divide-by-zero

I don't know if I should be happy about this or not. ZOOM's Zero Divide is going up on PSN game archives. Zero Divide was a C-grade fighter back in the day when Toshinden was considered A-grade. BUT! It included a port of ZOOM's Phalanx as a hidden minigame. ¥600 for Phalanx... hmm... decisions, decisions. I always wanted to give Zero Divide 2 a try, though. I'd "pick up" that one in a heartbeat. Also, do Criticom next.

Switching gears

Round 2. After having Super Street Fighter snatched from under their noses, Hori isn't mucking around with BlazBlue. The Official BlazBlue Continuum Shift sticks are both the latest RAP V-editions (V3, & VX), styled after the Taito Viewlix cabinet. (Personally I think that layout sucks, but that's neither here nor there.) Not only are we getting a fighting game renaissance, it's now turning into the arcade stick boom. Thanks to this latest trend, combined with the ever waining popularity of traditional arcade games, it may not be too far fetched to see Seimitsu and Sanwa jump into the home console peripheral market themselves. Good news for us, not so good for arcade ops.

Opera king

I think it may be time to take the rehash crown away from Capcom, and award it to SNK instead. They've just announced that they will be releasing a "Tougeki Version" of KOF 2002 UM on June 24th, for ¥2,940. Tougeki is the premier fighting game tournament in Japan, and having your game pass the smell test and be included in the line-up is a big deal. (see KOF XIII) It usually ensures a long and healthy life in the arcades (UM received an arcade version in mid-'09), even long after a home version hits shelves. The original KOF 98 lived in the Top 10 Arcadia rankings for over a decade, until the Ultimate Match revision hit. This would be the third edition of KOF 2002, following the original home ports to every console under the sun, and the original Unlimited Match. The only change seems to be game balance. While I normally love buying the same game over and over again, how about a Wii port this time, SNK? I got a nice stick that doesn't have nearly enough uses.

I wonder

Once upon a time, there was a system called the N64 that no one wanted. Despite that, or maybe because of it, a company called Enix published a game called Wonder Project J2 in Japan. I don't know a damn thing about it, other than what I just mentioned. It was the only import N64 game I remember seeing in those black-an-white ads in the back of EGM. I guess maybe enough people bought it, because the game's current parent company, Squre Enix, decided it would be cool to put it out on cellphones. Maybe it is, I sure as hell don't know, but I just like to see old, familiar things get new leases on life in this soulless digital era.

WHD Impact

Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is still on vacation this week. Even the US PC market, which usually doesn't have any sort of scheduling clusterfucks at the end of the fiscal year. They're very laid back, and just put out stuff whenever, if you want to buy 'em, that's cool, if not, meh. Next week looks pretty decent, though, with Final Fight Double Impact hitting the console downloadable services. Final Fight is actually a terrible game, so I'm not holding my breath, but the Double Impact means it comes bundled with something else, which happens to be Magic Sword. Magic Sword was like the first SNES game I ever played, and it blew my mind. It's also available on the Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2, but that disc is a pain to get running, so a digital copy might be nice to have, provided whoever did the port didn't fuck it up beyond all recognition. I remain hopeful. In addition, Japan gets the HD port of No More Heroes. Marvelous has been complaining about the sales of their Wii titles pretty much since day one, so hopefully this one will sell similarly miserably, and they'll realize that their titles are just too hardcore for Japan. Do Michigan Wii-make next.

Another one bites the dust

I'll admit I was a little surprised to find a piece like this from a high-brow outfit like Gamasutra. I guess the feeling of disenfranchisement is universal, and deep. I haven't even picked up Final Fantasy XIII, since I can't bring myself to summon up even an ounce of interest towards it anymore. It seems however, that this will be the game when everyone else realizes they're not 13 anymore. I had the misfortune of discovering this feeling during its spiritual predecessor, FFVII. I can only pray that Hironobu Sakaguchi understands it as well. Deliver us from dreck Gooch!

Official review

Oh snap! Looks like MSY/MadCatz are releasing official Super Street Fighter IV sticks for the PS3 in Japan as well. Hori just lost the Street Fighter license? Now that's big news. Congratulations MadCatz. This was some David and Goliath type shit.