Final Fantasy XIII: Random thoughts

Thank god I have finally been able to rest and *just* got back into gaming. I just passed X-COM again, and it was just as fun and aggravating the second time around... I'm pretty sure this is the one game where I am consistently swearing (so I've been told).

As I made my way through X-COM I have been watching a friend play through Final Fantasy XIII on PS3. Honestly, I have been put off Final Fantasy's since I finished IX all those years ago, even though I kept buying the frigging games anyway...

I was rather surprised watching her play the game. The story was a lot better and the characters were not as annoying (with the exception of Hope). After watching a video review of the game a while back on Zero Punctuation, I didn't want to go near my copy of FFXIII with a nine and a half foot pole. After watching someone else play it however, I am debating playing it myself.

I remembered one part of the Zero Punctuation review that stuck with me. It was the gripe that the story didn't really get interesting until about twenty hours in. I then started thinking, "Ok, well when is an acceptable amount of time in which the game starts getting interesting?" and of course, "by whose standards?" It took my friend less than ten hours to become engaged in the Final Fantasy XIII story.

[Different perspective?]
She mentioned to me that she had to change the way that she was playing games, she had to just play and enjoy the game. It was a little different watching her. She usually gets upset while playing and yells about the shortcomings of the game.

Anyway, this sweet spot for length of time I'm sure has a lot to do mainly with game genre and the type of audience, although you want the player engaged as quickly as possible (obviously). I also believe that the franchise also plays a part in how long the player is willing to wait to become engaged.

Either way, maybe I shouldn't watch game reviews until I've tried it myself, although it's hard to get through the numerous "good games" out there as it is :S

Thoughts?


What do you get when you mix a Cloud and a Squall? LIGHTNING! *ba dum dum dum* I'll be here all week people...

Hey all!

I am almost done school in a couple of days. It's crazy to think how quickly three years has passed already!

Anyway, I am in the midst of fixing up a few projects so please be patient but have been able to play Portal start to finish before I play my copy of Portal 2!

Mmm games...

So I gave in to buying more delicious games.

Since my friend and I are going to do a CO-OP gaming night I bought:
Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3)
Rainbow 6: Vegas 1 & 2 (PS3)

And got her Goldeneye for the Wii... I'm pretty sure she won't see my blog and her X-Mas gift... :|

And I might have bought Uncharted 2 and Mirrors Edge... just saying.

Will buy Scott Pilgrim and Castle Crashers soon as well, another friend wants to do more multiplayer :D

Also!

I forgot to mention the crapload of Steam games I bought too... I don't want to list them all because it is pretty ridiculous BUT my collection went from about 20-ish games to about 45... Oh man, if they do another holiday sale I am SCREWED.

In addition, I missed a very important update!

The blogs main focus is going to shift a bit. I am still going to be talking about games and try to do quick reviews but I also am going to try and get a mod going and maybe post my progress here, as well as post some pictures up.

I will concentrate on more of the mechanics and gameplay. Pacing, flow, balancing, basically, all the fun things Level Design is.

I am pretty much a complete beginner so any feedback or constructive criticisms are welcome! :)

Hey y'all I'm alive!!

Hey everyone (if you're still around) I am still alive and making my way through first semester of the third year of my 3D Game Art Program!

It's been a crazy ride, even in the past couple months. I have been working like CRAZY. But, on the upside, learning a LOT.

My jobs and school have really been keeping me on my toes, I think I am pretty much scared and excited everyday... it is a weird feeling. Usually, when I was just doing animation I was just scared. The homework, although plentiful is actually okay to work on (when I have the time).

In recent news, I have bought a PS3 in the hopes of playing all the games I have been missing out on. I still don't have a HD TV but that will hopefully come in time :D

For the meantime, I am just looking forward to playing a system, my 360 recently quit on me, it was fun times...

Games I have purchased (but haven't been able to get around to all of them) are:
Uncharted
Killzone 2
God of War 1 & 2
Heavy Rain
Valkyria Chronicles
Disgaea 3
Little Big Planet
Final Fantasy XIII

On that note, "Distant Worlds" came to Toronto and I was able to go and watch! Despite the busy schedule (and the fact that I bought the tickets in July/August) I only felt a little guilty about going.

It was a great night, the music was fantastic and they played some new music from Final Fantasy XIV. I also bought a t-shirt, both albums and a signed poster. I wish they would have played music from Final Fantasy Tactics.