The Chat Thread

[DavidW]

I completely agree with you there. That's why I like the battle system of something like FF 12, where you actually see the monster and fight (or run away) in real time with a menu.
Just about every other JRPG has random encounters, though, and I don't like it at all.

I still want to play FF 12 just for that reason, haven't yet though and now there is a new one out!  I wonder if it has random encounters...

[greg]

I still want to play FF 12 just for that reason, haven't yet though and now there is a new one out!  I wonder if it has random encounters...

If you're in it for the gameplay, I'd really recommend FF12. I actually didn't mind chilling out in a field with lower-level monsters, hacking away. It was actually relaxing.
But... you'll miss out on the story. It just sucks. I can't even remember what it was about.

As for 13, it looks like it has random encounters (talk about a step backwards).  Not only that, but I hear it is "too linear" for a very long time. I bet the story sucks, too.

[Lethevich]

I still want to play FF 12 just for that reason [visible enemies]

If you can put up with bad Graphics, Grandia was one of the first to use the "visible monsters" thing, although generally it's hard to avoid them in this kind of game because the areas are tight, but it at least offers some choice.

I suggest Grandia in particular because it has quite a fun plot, G2 is also a very good game, but with slightly more annoying characters. It has a PS2 port, but sadly this one wasn't as stable as the Dreamcast original, but still more than adequate.

[greg]

Maybe they should make a JRPG with no battles, just minigames...
although I'm not sure if that would be good, or the most spectacular failure ever.

[greg]

My desktop is a picture of the band members of Meshuggah and my web browser has a K-On theme. I feel disoriented every time I go on the computer now. 

[Renfield]

Man, JRPGs are the only genre I can think of that turns a regular game into a work of art! 

Not at all, IMO, even though they do often look very pretty.


For my admittedly rather 'busy' view of art as a creative interplay of content and presentation, there are more games from Western developers than Japanese ones that have made me feel like following a good film, or delving into the visual world of a good painting.

Compared to the work done by the best of these - *cough*BlackIsleBiowareTroikaGames*cough* - Japanese offerings are very pretty, but often noticeably shallower - with notable exceptions like Earthbound.

Especially compared to the levels of nuance one can comfortably expect from the best specimens of modern anime.


Heck, even Bethesda. Fallout 3 has a lot of rough edges, but its capacity to conjure the sights, sounds and stories of a 'world after the end' by simply placing you there with no way out is as arresting as any elegy.

Or Bioshock? Screw Ayn Rand: the feeling the city of Rapture gives you, that constantly oppressive ambience, the madness in the streets, the tragedy of the Big Daddies, the sadness of the Little Sisters: it's powerful.


But I'll grant that it's easier to view the JRPGs from an artistic standpoint, given the way their visual elements are presented - i.e. as lengthy cutscenes and animations during idle moments of combat, for instance during summoning.

[greg]

I'm not familiar with those games, so I couldn't say anything about them.
(I guess I'm not familiar with much, anyways- mainly just Playstation-based stuff and old Sega Genesis games.) 

I was thinking about storyline and stuff... and I did get to play a bit of Earthbound, since Corey recommended it. Pretty cool, except I got stuck around the beginning and stopped playing.


Heh........ I'm thinking I should make a top ten list of favorite games. I feel another top ten coming on... 

[PaulR]

I just want to say......now that I have graduated, I don't want to enter the real world.  There's still graduate school to look forward to....

[greg]

I just want to say......now that I have graduated, I don't want to enter the real world.  There's still graduate school to look forward to....

Lol, I could understand that. I'd rather stay in school, too. The real world sucks.
What was it that you were majoring in, btw?

[Opus106]

I just want to say......now that I have graduated, I don't want to enter the real world.  There's still graduate school to look forward to....

Lol, I could understand that. I'd rather stay in school, too. The real world sucks.

The two of you should follow this comic strip -- if you don't already!
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php

[PaulR]

Lol, I could understand that. I'd rather stay in school, too. The real world sucks.
What was it that you were majoring in, btw?

Music Education.  For grad school, hopefully musicology.

[Lethevich]

Bloody hell it's warm. Why can't we get some of that nice Mediterranean dry heat - it's only 26 degrees but it feels like 40

[knight66]

Only a week ago it was 13, I know which I prefer.

Mike

[Elgarian]

Bloody hell it's warm. Why can't we get some of that nice Mediterranean dry heat - it's only 26 degrees but it feels like 40

Yes. The problem is - it's so debilitating. If I set off on a walk, within minutes I'm dripping with perspiration, and the walk becomes an endurance exercise. The only thing to do is sit quietly in the shade reading or listening to music. Now of course these are fine things, and I often choose to do them. But I don't want to be forced to do them, exclusively, by circumstance. I want a life beyond them.

So on the whole, I prefer last week's 13.

[Elgarian]

On the other hand ...

Yesterday found me lounging for a couple of hours at the riverbank, with a CD player, headphones, and a couple of Vaughan Williams CDs. I can't do that when it's 13 degrees.

Life is so full of contradictions and things.

[DavidW]

I can't do that when it's 13 degrees.

I know that you're talking about Celsius, but it's just hilarious to take your remark as Fahrenheit!   It would be like "no kidding!"

[Renfield]

I think my years in Greece have put me off warm weather for life.

Nowadays, though I enjoy the occasional walk outside in warm weather (which I am sufficiently heat-adapted not to mind), especially at night, I almost invariably stay inside and wait until things cool down.

My mother still asks herself who I got these Northern genes from!

[Elgarian]

I know that you're talking about Celsius, but it's just hilarious to take your remark as Fahrenheit!   It would be like "no kidding!"

Good way to listen to Sinfonia Antartica though.

Brrrrr.

[drogulus]

      How are we all doing?

      Let's chat about the weather, shall we?

      Damn! I'm not ready for the summer.

      But who is, the way it sneaks up on you?

      Or even:

      Is it hot enough for you?

      Really, I don't like hot weather. In New England the combination of heat and humidity is oppressive, and I don't have air conditioning. I'm far more comfortable when it's too cold than too hot. And the good side of New England is that it's not Fargo. The temperature rarely goes below 0 degrees F.

      That about does it for me, I'm afraid.

[greg]

Today was about 94 F and I worked outside for 5 hours... yay... 
It's only going to get hotter this summer, too...