RETROspective: Final Fantasy 9

Final Fantasy, what more is there to say? Square Soft has a veritable track record of making amazing installments to this series... except for Final Fantasy 12... and Final Fantasy 10... and Final Fantasy 8... and Final Fantasy 10-2... and Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance... and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core... and Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus...

No one is really sure why Final Fantasy 10 deserved a sequel over, say, Final Fantasy 6

What was I saying again? Oh yeah, Final Fantasy is a series that has constantly plagued it's devoted fanboys, such as myself, by hooking them in with superb games from the past, such as Final Fantasies 4 and 6, then dropping the ball after Seven with the god-awful and idiotically confusing Eight. However, it was apparent, for a time at least, that Square really did care about their fans as was made apparent by the release of Final Fantasy Nine. Nine dropped the whole cyberpunk and pseudo-futuristic settings in lieu of the more traditional Medieval Fantasy mixed with a little steampunk. Nine follows the monkey-tailed thief named Zidane and his traveling opera group / thievery ring, Tantalus. As the game starts up Zidane is treated to a briefing about kidnapping the Princess of Alexandria, Princess Garnet, during one of the groups' plays. However the plan goes awry and the group's airship crash lands in a forest safely outside of Alexandrian territory. From here the player controls the group as it makes it's way around the continent, visiting several colorful and interesting villages, towns, and cities along the way.

While the story of Final Fantasy Nine is pretty basic in it's essence, bad guy wants to destroy the world you want to stop him, it's the characters and the delivery and the subtle details that really makes this game shine, just as it did in Final Fantasy 6. Every character is humorous and likable, without being completely pointless, the depth and complexity of even the least developed of characters, such as Steiner, surpasses that of the main protagonist of some stories, I'm looking at you Squall.

Zidane Tribal, the main protagonist of Final Fantasy 9

But, a great story can only carry you so far right? After all, what good is a story if the game is frustratingly unplayable? Well good news! Final Fantasy Nine eschews all of the drawing magic crap in favor of a simple, yet very effective way of earning your abilities and spells. In FF9 a character has five slots of equipment: A weapon (for attack damage), a hat (for magic defense), an arm item (bracelet or shield for physical evade), a chest item (for physical defense), and an accessory (for spcial effects). As I have illustrated, not only is every slot unique from another, but what I didn't mention is that every piece of equipment you put on grants you abilities to use. For example a Mage Masher for Zidane might teach him Flee-Gil. So long as he has that Mage Masher equipped he will always be able to use that ability. However, while you have items equipped you earn Ability Points and every Ability has a Mastery Level, once you earn enough Ability Points to reach that Mastery Level, you will permanently learn that ability.

However, no game is perfect, and Final Fantasy 9 is FAR from being an exception. The most common complaint is the battle system itself. I am a hardcore turn-based fan so slow gameplay never really makes me irritated or discourage about a game. However, Final Fantasy 9's ATB is so horrendously slow, that a pure turn-based style where-in everyone takes one turn each to the enemies' one turn each would actually SPEED UP the gameplay. There are large patches of combat where no one is doing anything, the boss just sits there, and all of your characters just sit there. This makes the ability "Auto-Haste", an ability which automatically casts haste on the character that equips it, haste causes the ATB to fill twice as fast, almost essential for the later bosses who have equivalents in their list of eternal status effects.

However, the few flaws that can be found in Final Fantasy 9, and the large flaw of the battle system, do not detract enough from it for it to be disqualified as a great game. I give Final Fantasy 9 an 8/10 on my Real Scale, making it a Great Game. If you enjoy RPGs and you own an original PlayStation or the PlayStation2 you must go out and get this game, you will not regret it.

RETROspective: Bushido Blade 2 or The Legacy of Schadenfreude 2

RETROspective, a segment where I take a look back into gaming's glorious past and pluck titles to trigger my own nostalgia.

The Cover Art of Bushido Blade 2

Bushido Blade 2 is a game set in modern times revolving around an ancient feud between two prominent Japanese clans. The player takes control of several characters equipped with one of six weapons ranging from the katana and european long sword, to the nodachi and naginata. The game's real selling point is on the combat realism. There is no health bar, one hit is almost guaranteed to kill you. However, the character automatically parries any incoming attack, provided they are in a realistic situation to do so. The game sounds as though it is simple no? All you need to do is mash a little horizontal vertical horizontal combo and you'll have knocked their weapon into a place they can't guard from right? You are dead wrong. The beauty of Bushido Blade 2 is that with the inclusion of several styles for each character for each weapon comes many different fighting tactics and thus complexity to the system. For example a character with a katana may be able to use the forward, high, and iai stances with their katana. The forward stance would allow you a better guard from slower horizontal and vertical attacks, while opening up quick follow-ups to be used in the event of a successful parry. Meanwhile the iai stance turns your guard off completely, however it makes your attacks lightning fast, able to exploit any minor opening in your opponent's footwork. Regardless of how simple it may seem, this game has depth unseen in games even today... I'm looking at you Street Fighter 4 Super Ultra HD Turbo Remix XD Edition

However, no game is without it's flaws. The first thing you'll realize is: this game is hard. I mean, ball grindingly HARD. Sure you can power through the throw-away ninjas that attack before each duel, do a few warm up counters to nail down your timing. But once you get to another character the game has the tendency to grind to a halt. Without any difficulty setting the game at times feels as though it were designed for masters to play it, especially that cheating teleporting bastard in the shrine. There are times when your character's opening strike will be parried then followed up with an iai quick-draw to the chest, or spear tip to the face, or whatever manner of grisly demise you could conjure up, ending the fight in a matter of seconds. Of course, this makes the game fun. It's not a frustrating sort of difficult, it's enjoyable. You feel so badass playing this game that getting your ass handed to you is so stylish and interesting that you don't even mind. That's a very admirable quality in a game, something games like BlazBlue: Continuum Shift should aspire to achieve... No I will not let the Unlimited Hazama thing go, shut up.

Overall, I'd have to give Bushido Blade 2 a 7/10, above average, for pure style, the controls are a bit wonky and the execution could be better, but the style and feel of the game cannot be matched. I think now would be a good time to explain my grading method. I use the "Real Scale Method" where a 5/10 is average, as 5 is the middle of the road between 10, perfect, and 1, god awful.

Anyway, folks. This has been my first segment of RETROspective. I know it wasn't very good or polished or whatnot, but it's my first try, I'm still working the kinks out of my style.

Cheers,

HappyPariah