Desbreko

[color=indigo]When I think of a "hardcore gamer," the idea that comes to mind is that of someone who plays a lot of games, doesn't just look for the big name licensed games or big franchise names when buying, and one who does actually know a decent amount about the industry and keeps up with the news. He or she may not be totally immersed in every little detail of what's going on in the industry, but if the person is really that interested in games, they're most likely going to be interested in what's behind them; interested in the companies that make them, and so on. Someone who doesn't just look at the games themselves, but also beyond them. So you have a point, Azure, about there being a difference between a hardcore gamer and just a smart shopper. But a gamer that's [i]really[/i] into games will also be more likely to read about them and find out about them before they buy, so as to get some info on which to judge whether or not they'll like the game. So those two also kind of go hand in hand. Anyone who just walks into a shop without any foreknowledge and picks out a game not knowing much about it is, in my opinion, doing something quite stupid. Like Tony said, impulse buying can really get you burned. And besides, even from actually playing the game, how can you tell what's really good and what's bad? You can tell if you yourself like the game, and you can find good points and bad points, but that's what [i]you[/i] think of the game. Another person could step up next and think the exact opposite of you, and who's to say who's right? Sure, there are some games that almost everyone will agree about being good or bad, but that kind of makes it a moot point since everyone can tell it's good or bad, not just the hardcore gamers. So I don't really see how this could be a measure of how hardcore someone really is. In my mind, the distinguishing split between the "average" and "hardcore" gamer is mainly one of interest. Someone may play a lot of games and be really into gaming, but do they look past those games and find out what's behind them? Where they came from? What the company that made the game is like? In other words, do they really care about the gaming industry, or just about playing games? And if they are interested in the industry, where are they going to find out about it? Usually, online or from magazines. But there can be two different reasons for reading about games. One, as you said, is to find previews and reviews and whatnot, to aid in the decision of what games to buy; the other is for the purpose of actually gaining knowledge about gaming as a whole, not just the individual games. And, like I said, it's usually only the hardcore gamers that will be interested enough in the industry to actually go out and read up on that stuff -- to find out what's going on in the gaming world besides just what new games will be coming out when. It's those people that I consider to be real hardcore gamers.[/color]

[color=indigo]Yeah, I thought that was cool too. Absolutely no slowdown or anything with all those guards not only running about getting killed by the four Links, but the smoke animation that they made when they died, like enemies in The Wind Waker. Even if it isn't in 3D, still...dang that looks awesome. Oh, and I found some commercials on the [url=http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/g4sj/index.html][u]Japanese Four Swords Adventures page[/u][/url], the three of which show some more gameplay. Click the left button with the little "New!" text that's flashing on it, up towards the right corner of the page, and it'll open a pop-up window with links to three commercials. Seeing the Fire Rod burn through a big field of grass in mere seconds. . . . Can't wait to play this game and do that myself, heh. And yeah, the zooming is also shown in the commercials, though mainly in the first, biggest one. I'm glad they did that, so that they didn't have to make it so you'd have to switch to the GBA screen just from going a little ways away from the main group. Also, how the connectivity works between the GCN/GBA is shown, for entering buildings and such. Looks pretty cool. Like in one part showing Shadow Battle, one Link went inside a cave on the GBA screen and started hitting a Cucco with his sword, and then it switched to the GCN view outside where a swarm of Cuccos were mercilessly beating the other three Links. I can't wait to see all the different little intricacies of how the connectivity is used. It looks like it'll be put to even better use than for FF Crystal Chronicles.[/color]

[color=indigo]Heheheh...the bit with Arcadia, Miimi, and me was great. Exposed nads are not a good thing in the presence of Desbreko. :demon: And the part with the Zelda forum being destroyed....there really needs to be a cry of anguish from me right after that. Because I actually did, right after I read that. The quote for me is perfect, though. ^_^[/color]

[color=indigo]June, June...I must make sure that I have $50 available by then. And that box art is possibly the best box yet for a Zelda game -- if that is what's going to be used for the final release, anyway. It's perfect for Four Swords, and it's more than just a gold background and the logo, heh. (Though TWW got away from that a bit, along with MM being purple-ish). It even sort of fits my personalities for the Links. Green's looking to bust through with a grand charge, Red has that look of "come on, try me," Blue's gritting his teeth with a look of desperation, and Purple is on guard and prepared, looking determined to win. . . . Or maybe I'm just taking this a little too far. :toothy: Either way, I love it, and the guards surrounding the Links also look really cool. Anyone else notice that they kept the same basic design as the guards from A Link to the Past, though? Besides just the armor/shield, the green and blue ones have swords while the red ones have tridents. I just hope that the entire game can live up to A Link to the Past...and maybe even surpass it as my favorite Zelda game. I have very high hopes for this game.[/color] [b]Edit:[/b] [color=seagreen]Wow...I just found a site with some official art and some screen shots, and I have to agree with you James. The graphics are a huge step up from A Link to the Past, but they also use elements from LTP, so it looks sort of like a cross between LTP and TWW. And the new official art, I love it. Especially the first one of the page. Which also, coincidentally (or is it?), fits with my personalities. Red Link is such a backstabber, heh. Official art and screen shots [url=http://www.z64planet.com/news/news.php?page=newsjan04#01282004][u]here[/u][/url], brought to you by Zelda Planet ([url=http://www.z64planet.com][u]www.z64planet.com[/u][/url]).[/color]

[color=indigo]Hmm, that's kind of a shame, if NOA really isn't going to include Navi Trackers. I mean, I don't really see any reason why they should take it out. It's on the same disc, so it's not like they'd be trying to sell something extra that people wouldn't buy. Even if it isn't all that great, it can't really detract from the other two games on the disc. And if Hyrule Adventure can take 20 hours to complete, I'm going to be in heaven when I get the game. That's exactly what I was hoping for; I nice, big, [i]long[/i] 2D Zelda game. And then there's multi-player to even further extend the gameplay. From the sound of it so far, I think I'd pay the full $50 even if only Hyrule Adventure were on the disc.[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, so I checked out N-Sider.com just now, and what did I find? An interview with some of the game's developers about The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords +, that's what! You can find the article [url=http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=276][u]here[/u][/url] on N-Sider.com, and though I'll also be quoting bits farther down, you'll definitely want to read the entire article if you're interested in the game. Pretty much all the info I'll be posting, I got from that article. (I love N-Sider. ^_^) First off, Four Swords + will actually be three games in one. That's right, not just two, but now a third game is being included. These games are Hyrule Adventure, Navi Trackers, and Shadow Battle, and I'll talk about each seperately. [b]Hyrule Adventure[/b] This would be the "main game," it seems, and according to Toshiaki Suzuki, the director of Hyrule Adventure and Shadow Battle, "The Hyrule Adventure alone is a full scale 2D Zelda!" This is something that I'd been hoping for ever since I heard that a GameCube version of Four Swords was in development. I dreamed of a Zelda quest with an overworld, dungeons, and a full-fledged story, only with the ability to have multiple people all cooperating/competing like in the GBA Four Swords. So, I'm extremely happy about this, and my excitement and anticipation for the game just went up yet another notch. Another thing, Suzuki also says that, "We were sure not to make the game multiplayer only either." This is another thing I was hoping for because, as a sort of side game, Four Swords on the GBA being multi-player only was okay since A Link to the Past was there as a singleplayer mode, but not being able to play the game at all single-player would be very annoying. I'm kind of wondering how save files will be handled for multi-player, though. In the GBA Four Swords each person had their own game with their own file, but doing that with memory cards could get rather cumbersome if each person has their file on a different card. This issue, from the start, has actually been my biggest concern about a Four Swords GCN game. If each person is going through in single-player mode by themselves, and then they get together to play multi-player together, will they be able to use their own save file with all their upgrades and whatnot? Finally, Suzuki also says that, "For many reasons, we spent a lot of time making the Hyrule Adventure huge." This adds further weight to the quote about Hyrule Adventure being a full scale 2D Zelda, and I'm hoping that the game truely will be huge. They could do a lot of cool stuff with a 2D game on the GCN; they've got a lot more room on a GCN disc than a GBA cartridge, so I doubt space will be a limiting factor. So far, The Wind Waker seems to be the longest Zelda game released, and I'm hoping that Hyrule Adventure will be able to top it. I'm expecting this to be the next full, original 2D Zelda game that I've been waiting for ever since the porting of A Link to the Past to the GBA. . . . And from what I've heard so far, I think it's going to be, with multi-player thrown in to boot. I can't wait to play this game; I'm looking forward to it even more than the sequel to The Wind Waker. [b]Navi Trackers[/b] From the sound of it, not a whole lot besides the name (formerly Tetra's Trackers) has changed since this game was shown at the last E3. It still appears that the game revolves around searching out and collecting pirate medals (formerly stamps, though I don't see that it matters a whole lot what the things are) on your GBA screen while Tetra, on the TV screen, gives you hints and clues as to their whereabouts. Sounds like it could be amusing, but it also sounds like it could get old really fast. Apparently, though, Navi Trackers is based on a game that was developed for the Satellaview add-on to the Super Famicom (Japanese Super NES) eight years ago. Eiji Aonuma says, "We developed a game called Marvelous which used the Satella View almost eight years ago. In that game, we had a quest where you would collect stamps while listening to a radio which gave you clues. We took that idea and reproduced it by using connectivity instead." Personally, I find it a bit odd that they'd just decide to take an eight year old game, slap Zelda on it, and release it, but I dunno. It seems like not a whole lot has actually been said about the game, so there could be more too it than I know. I'm sure hoping there is. [b]Shadow Battle[/b] This would be the third game that's going to be included in the package, one which I previously hadn't heard about. Suzuki says, "The game is a straight forward single screen set-up where all the Links duke it out. However, we thought we needed to add something extra. So there are several clever GBA connectivity elements within it," while Aonuma also says, "It's not only a battle game, but part hide and sneek." So obviously it's going to be a sort of 'Zelda deathmatch' thing, but what I'm wondering is just how they're going to pull it off. I could possibly see 3D Link vs. Link fighting, with combat adapted from The Wind Waker engine maybe, but how they're going to make it work well in 2D is beyond me. The only thing that even comes close to that so far is the boss of the Palace of the Four Sword in the A Link to the Past remake, where you fight the four color Links, and they had some special moves, but I can't see that really being all that fun for player vs. player. For now, like with Navi Trackers, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they do with the game. I'm hoping that a good amount of info will be released at E3 this year about all three of these games. A release date would also be nice.[/color]

[color=indigo]Nope, there's more than seven. The four color Yoshis in Super Mario World have the following abilities: Green - Varied abilities depending on shell color. Red - Spit fireballs with any color shell. Blue - Fly with any color shell. Yellow - Ground stomp with any color shell.[/color]

[color=indigo]Well, the real answer to Jokopoko's question is that a hat was both easier to draw and easier to see than hair on a sprite as small as it was. The same thing goes for him having a mustache -- it was easier than a mouth. For the answer to Paines_Revenge's question, Shadow Mario is actually [spoiler]Bowser Jr.[/spoiler] [b]Question:[/b] In Super Mario 64, how many Castle Secret Stars are there?[/color]

[quote name='dark_serena][SIZE=1][COLOR=Purple]Not to mention the song "1000 Words" blew chunks bigger than my head. The singer's voice (don't care who sings it) was [i]too[/i] loud and prominent, and didn't "flow" well. It didn't blend in with the music at all. It sounded forced. Seriously. [spoiler]That song, in my opinion, ruined the ending for me.[/spoiler][/color'][/size][/quote] [color=indigo]Well, I never thought I'd actually be replying to this thread with a comment on the game -- since I've never actually played it -- but here I am. Odd how things like that work, heh. Anyway, is the song dubbed? If so, that may be the reason for your comments on 1000 Words. Myself, I downloaded the OST for FFX-2, and I thought the song (the orchestral version anyway) was easily the best song on the OST. Pretty much just the opposite of your comments. But, I've got the Japanese version, and if they dubbed the song I suspect it lost something in the translation. I really like the Japanese singer, and I think the lyrics (even if I can't understand them) flow well with the music. So yeah, if it's a dubbed version that you dislike, I'd recommend trying to find the original Japanese version.[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, Paines_Revenge and Wave_of_Death, will you [i]please[/i] try and stay on the topic dungeons, not bosses and the Biggoron's Sword. Also, please try and improve the quality of your posts, as all of the ones that I just deleted had very little reason behind the likes and dislikes of certain dungeons. You need to go into more detail than, "the Water Temple is confusing, so I don't like it," and such if you want to post in favorite threads.[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, I just deleted about 15 posts. If you don't know the answer, please don't just guess. And if no one knows, the person asking should just ask a different question. Anyway, if you're refering to the key holes at the entrance to the dungeon, there are three. One for the Silver Key Quest, one for the Gold Key Quest, and one for the Hero Key Quest. If you mean actual key doors/blocks in the dungeon itself, it can vary, since the dungeons are made up of random pieces. [b]Question:[/b] In A Link to the Past, why is the "fat fairy" in the Pyramid of Power fat?[/color]

[color=indigo]Heh, I'm in the same situation as Shinmaru here; I can't even afford all the games that I want for the two systems I do own (GameCube and Game Boy Advance/SP), so while I'd love to have a PS2, I just can't afford it. ... At least not yet. Come Christmas, I plan on getting one, but we shall see just how many GCN/GBA titles are above a PS2 on my "most wanted list." Really, I can't say from actual experience which console I like the most since I haven't had all that much experience with the PS2 and almost none at all for X-Box. However, what I can go off of is how much the games for those consoles interest me when I read about them and what they're like, so that's what I do. And since I've always liked most of Nintendo's games, I chose the GameCube when it came time to pick which new console I would get, and I haven't regretted that choice one bit. Really, though, I actually like the GBA more than the GCN, and I'd say it's my favorite system. (And not just out of the current four, either; out of all of them that I've played). The main reason for this is just the sheer ammount of fun that I get out of the GBA games that I've bought. Almost every one I've either played through multiple times or played for a long, long time. Heck, I'm up to 182 hours on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and I still enjoy playing it. That's the most time I've ever put into a single game. Ever. Other examples are The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords. I've beaten LTP five times, and I've played Four Swords a [i]lot[/i] with my friends. Also, Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World; I've beaten that game six times, even though I'd already beaten the original SNES version six times. (That's a dozen times playing through it -- my record for any one game). Metroid Fusion, I've played through twice, and Metroid Zero Mission three times. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Mario Kart: Super Circuit I've both played for hours and hours, certainly for at least as long as their GCN sequels. Really, the only game I own for the GBA that I haven't played to death is the first Super Mario Advance. The only game I at all regret buying for the GBA. So, not having a lot of money, being able to get a lot of play time out of my games is very important to me. It also means that when I buy a game, I want to be absolutely sure I'm going to enjoy it. Otherwise, I've just wasted $30 or $50, and it's going to take me another month or a month and a half to save up that much again. I want to make sure that I get the maximum ammount of enjoyment out of my games. And that leads into the main reason why I chose the GameCube over the PS2 or X-Box. I grew up playing Nintendo games on the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy/Color, so I knew there would be games such as Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Mario Kart, F-Zero, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and others that I would enjoy. For PS2, I knew that there would be Final Fantasy and other RPGs that I would enjoy, but beyond that, not a whole lot interested me. Sure, a few platformers and maybe a racing game, but beyond that I didn't know at all what to expect. The X-Box looked even worse to me; I wasn't interested in a single game for the system at launch or for a good while after its release. Now there are certainly some games for it that interest me, but it seems like most of them I could just get on the PC instead. Heck, I'll be getting Knights of the Old Republic from my brother pretty soon, so right there, one of the biggest incentives for me to get an X-Box -- at least right now -- is gone. In the end, it really wasn't even a hard decision. I knew I'd like a good number of games for the GCN, while I didn't know for PS2 or X-Box, so I chose GameCube. So while I do want a PS2, I still don't even have a whole lot of incentive to get one. I mean, really, I want RPGs? I have still yet to get Skies of Arcadia Legends on the GCN or either of the Golden Sun games on the GBA, all three being highly acclaimed RPGs, as well as others. The bottom line (quite literally, heh) is that I simply can't afford all the games I want for the GBA and GCN, so I don't see a whole lot of reason to spend $180 on a PS2 when that could get me two GCN games and a GBA game or [i]six[/i] GBA games. Now, moving onto an entirely different aspect of my preference for one console over others...the much argued subject of controllers. I've read a lot of different arguments for both the GCN and PS2 controllers, and I think they both have a lot of good points. (I'm not going to say anything about the X-Box controller, as I've barely used it at all, except that the normal one is way too big for my hands). And personally, now that I really think about it, I only like the GCN controller by a small margin. I have my likes and dislikes for both, and I really can't find too much fault in either. The biggest thing, for me, that the GCN controller has over the PS2's is the analog sticks. That is, I really do not like them on the PS2 controller, and I always prefer using the control pad whenever I don't need analog control. The sticks seem to be placed really badly, and my hands hurt after a while of using them, plus they just don't feel as intuitive as the GCN sticks. I find it's easy to accidentally slide my thumb off a stick when I'm pressing it over to the left or right all the way, a problem I don't really have with the GCN's sticks because either there's ridges on the left one, or the top of the C stick is small enough that my thumb fits over the entire surface. Another thing, though less noticable, are the grooves around the edges of the GCN's analog sticks as someone mentioned earlier. I actually use those all the time when I need precise movement, such as in platformers or even in Metroid Prime while in the Morph Ball on narrow ledges. As for the cons of the GCN pad, I do have a few. One is the lack of a fourth shoulder button (like a Z button on the left side), which I've thought would be helpful in some games. The biggest situation where I thought this would be helpful was when I was playing Mario Kart: Double Dash and having to press the R/L buttons in all the way until they clicked in order to do a power slide. If there had been two digital shoulder buttons, they could have used the left one to swap your characters and the right one as a substitute for using R or L which I would have really prefered in some situations where I needed to perform a series of quick power slides one after another. (Read: while doing tons of mini-turbos in time trial mode). Another thing is the D-pad on the GCN controller. While it is small, though, I don't think it's as big a deal as most people make it out to be -- at least not for me. I barely ever had any problems with it while playing through The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the Collector's Edition disc, and I used the control cross the entire time for both games. Also for the original Metroid on Metroid Prime. It's not really much worse than the original GBA's control cross, and I never heard people complaining about that. It is a bit uncomfortable after a couple hours of playing, but not overly uncomfortable. Now, if anyone tries to psychologically analyze my post, I'm going to recommend that they be banned. ;)[/color]

[color=indigo]Heh, I actually didn't find F-Zero GX to be very frustrating. Expert Class was only moderately difficult, and even Master Class wasn't exactly what I'd call frustratingly difficult. It never really took me more than three tries to get first place in the cups on Master Class. You just have to start on the Novice Class and work your way up to Expert in order to have enough practice and be familiar enough with the tracks. F-Zero GX really isn't any harder than F-Zero: Maximum Velocity on the GBA, and I never heard anything about that game being overly difficult like I did with F-Zero GX. A few of the later Story Mode levels were a bit frustrating, though. Like on the last one, there's this really narrow, tight turn that's sloped just right so that you can't really see ahead of your machine at all, so you have to memorize exactly how far and how long to drift turn -- through trial and error -- or else you'll fall off the track. Just getting so I could do that consistantly enough to make it through three laps was the hardest and most frustrating part of the game for me. Ironically, just staying on the track was harder than actually beating my opponent. :rolleyes:[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, I have another frustrating moment that I just remembered. This is from the original Metroid, the port of which I've been playing on Metroid Zero Mission. In Ridley's lair, there's this one Missile Tank that can only be reached from one room. And the path to that room has this one jump -- [i]one jump[/i] -- that really pissed me off. The problem is that you have to time the jump just perfectly, and if you miss, you fall down this shaft that you can't climb back up. So you have to hike over to the right, up a long shaft, [i]all the way to the other side of Ridley's lair,[/i] down a bit, then back to the right again just to get back to that one jump. All this takes about five minutes, maybe a little more, each time you miss. And I missed three times before I finally made it on my fourth attempt. It's things like that that make me thing the developers just had to have been sitting around one day doing nothing but thinking of ways to piss off the players.[/color]

[color=indigo]Bleh, Star Fox Adventures was a big disappointment for me; looking back, I'm really glad I didn't buy it when it came out. Too much of the game is just collecting random crap that, once you get it...let's you go collect some other random crap. Exciting. And the other part of the gameplay, the combat, sucked to no end. Enemies only attack one at a time, and you've basically got two useful attacks; you're staff, and a projectile shot from your staff, either fire or ice. You rarely need the projectiles, since most enemies can be beaten simply by waiting for the right time to attack with your staff and then mashing on the A button until it dies. Because, of course, enemies can't attack or dodge while being hit, and you can attack quick enough that they can't move. All the while, the other enemies just stand around and watch their friend get beaten, literally, into the ground before another ventures out to try its luck. Oh, and if you think that was frustrating with Super Metroid, Shin, I have a story to tell about when my brother rented the game. He played and played and played until he had to return it, and he got a good ways. So he decided to renew it for four more days, and he played a bunch more. He got all the way up to the save point [i]just before[/i] Mother Brain...and then he had to leave to return it. And at the place he was renting it from, you could only renew a rental once. He had played through pretty much the whole game, but he never even got to set foot in the Mother Brain chamber. Only years later, when I got Super Metroid as a Christmas present, was he finally able to complete the game. I imagine that had to have been really aggravating.[/color]

[color=indigo]Oh, don't get me wrong, I understand that you knew what you were getting into when you bought the game. I'm just saying that you don't really have much reason to complain about the game being unlike other FF games. Like James said, if you knew what the game was like before you bought it, how can you complain about it being different? If you really did know what the game was like beforehand, you should've known not to expect a lot of story. Also, yes, you can compare any two games, but that doesn't mean the comparisons will be useful. You could compare a racing game with a platformer if you wanted to; they're both very action-oriented games, and they both require quick reflexes, but when it comes to the actual gameplay, they don't have much in common. So in a very broad sense, yes, you can compare any two games, but when it comes to the more specific parts of the actual gameplay, you cannot always compare just any two games. (At least not at all well, anyway). Hence, comparing the gameplay of Crystal Chronicles and a main series FF game doesn't work too well, since they use different game engines. You can like one more than the other, but it's hard to say that one is actually better than the other. And like James said, you can't just brush the gameplay aside -- that's what makes it a [i]game.[/i] If all you want is a good story, you might as well just read a book or watch a movie. I know from personal experience that there are a lot of books out there with better stories than the Final Fantasy games have. Though story can be a big part of a game, usually if it isn't also fun to play, most people aren't going to think it's all that great. This leads me to your comment of, "If playing with friends is enough to sell the game, then thats a sad state of videogaming." From that, it sounds to me like you're simply dismissing any game that relies heavily on being multi-player. The thing is, multi-player oriented games are very successful; Super Smash Bros. Melee is frequently in the top ten selling GCN games each month, and it's been over two years since its release. I don't see how you can dismiss Crystal Chronicles simply because it focuses on multi-player instead of single-player. Myself, I went into Crystal Chronicles expecting exactly what I ended up getting from it. As I said in some other post (on myOtaku, I think it was), Crystal Chronicles lived up to all my expectations, because I read up on the game before playing it and I wasn't expecting it to be at all like the main series FF games. So I did have certain expectations when I first played the game, but those expectations were based off what I'd heard about the game, not on my experience with other Final Fantasy games. If you assume that a game is going to be a certain way just by looking at others bearing the same name, you are invariably going to end up being disappointed at some time or another. Games change; if every game in a series followed the same formula every time, people would get bored of that series pretty quick. That's why there are the spin-off FF games, such as Tactics and Crystal Chronicles. These games go off in different directions than that of the main series while still retaining some of the feel that the main series has (art style, setting, those infamous little Moogles, etc.) so that people can feel comfortable and familiar with the game while still experiencing something new.[/color]

[color=indigo]If you bought the game thinking it would be like the games in the main series, it's only because you didn't actually look into what the game was like. Crystal Chronicles was never marketed as being like the main series games; just the opposite, in fact. The main focus of the marketing was on the multi-player aspect of the game through GBA connectivity. And actually, this is playing out just like I imagined it would. Before the game's release, I remember saying something about how a lot of people would probably blindly buy the game thinking it was like the ones in the main series, and then say it sucks because it's not what they expected. So no offense, but if you're annoyed, you have only yourself to be annoyed at. And no, just because it has the Final Fantasy name doesn't mean that you can compare it to other Final Fantasy games. I mean, think about it: Can you compare Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics, even though they're both called Final Fantasy? No, you can't; they both have different types of gameplay. The same thing applies to Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. They're both FF games, but one is in the main series and the other is an off-shoot game, just like FFVII and FFT, and they both use different gameplay engines. Comparing any off-shoot FF game to the ones in the main series just doesn't work, because they're different types of games -- that's [i]why[/i] they're off-shoot games.[/color]

[color=indigo]James is right; you really can't compare Crystal Chronicles to the games in the main series. The whole game works in a fundamentally different way, so of course if you come in expecting something like you'd get from the main series, you're going to go away disappointed. FFCC is real time, while the others are turn-based. The game isn't story-oriented, it focuses on the actual gameplay and being able to play together with friends. The game doesn't have a lot of character development, but that's because it lets you create your own personal character and customize him or her however you want. Really, Crystal Chronicles is about as far away as you can get from the main FF series while still being in the RPG genre -- and even that's being stretched, since CC is more of an "action RPG."[/color]

[color=indigo]The ending of Zelda: A Link to the Past. That's right; 2D graphics, baby. Seeing peace return to all of Hyrule's citizens with that awesome music playing, and then watching as Link returns the Master Sword to its pedestal in the Lost Woods. I'll never forget the words "And the Master Sword sleeps again . . . forever!" (Even though it doesn't, heh). And then as the credits are rolling, you see the three pieces of the Trifoce slowly rotating in this cool pattern, with the Dark World landscape in the background as it's restored to the Golden Land. That's definitely the most memorable game cinematic for me. Another one that I really liked was the opening movie in Metroid Prime -- it sets the mood perfectly for pretty much all of the rest of the game: You see Tallon IV high up from space with some meteorites floating around...and then the derelict space frigate comes into view as this cool and almost spooky music plays. You see it floating seemingly lifeless around the planet, and then Samus' ship flies into view as the music switches to a dramatic remix of part of the opening theme from Super Metroid as Samus comes up out of the hatch and does a somersault off her ship, landing in a crouch. She looks around cautiously, Arm Cannon at the ready, and then slowly stands up as the view pans around behind her and enters her helmet, changing flawlessly into gameplay. From then on, you [i]are[/i] Samus, until the game is complete and you watch her fly away from Tallon IV.[/color]

[color=indigo]Bitmaps? They should all be in GIF format. Maybe you could try changing the file extension to .gif if they save with the .bmp extension. I've had things like that happen before. Or, if that doesn't work, I could just send them to you over AIM some time.[/color]

[color=indigo]My favorite death sequence would also have to be from Zelda: Majora's Mask, where the Moon falls at the end of the three days. It's not just the sequence itself that makes it what it is, though. It's also that feeling of desperation beforehand where you're racing against time to finish something and you don't quite make it. ... And then it's all over -- everything's gone. My favorite death [i]scene,[/i] though, would have to be from Chrono Trigger, [spoiler]when Crono dies. That was a truly gut-wrenching experience for me. I was basically thinking, "No...no, this can't happen. He's my main character. He can't die. Everything's been riding on him for the whole game." Yet, he did, and was gone. ... Though not for too long, thankfully.[/spoiler][/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, I seriously think I am going to have to get one of these. There've been a lot of times that I've wished I could back up save files so that other people could have their own file, such as when I lend out my games to my friends. Also, this'd let me trade save files with my friends if we both have the same game, which I've wished I could do on a few occasions. And I looked on eBay, and it appears that you can get an 8 Mb stick for $12, including shipping, which isn't any more than a GCN memory card. I think that's pretty good, considering how many save files you'll be able to fit on the thing. As soon as I get some money transfered to my Paypal acount I'll have to order one.[/color]

[color=indigo]I think another thing should also be noted, pertaining to the graphics. First off, FFCC is real time, whereas FFX is totally turnbased. Now, myself, I don't want a big, flashy spell effect in a real time RPG. I want it short and sweet, so it doesn't obscure your vision of what's going on around you. In a turnbased RPG, having big, complex animations for magic is fine, because you've got as long as you want to sit there and watch it. That's not the case in FFCC; you want to be able to cast the spell, have it do its job, and then be gone so that you can move on quickly.[/color]

The streets had a slightly damp feel, a fog of low level cloud wisps wreathing about the tall buildings of the plate. Beyond the fog it was overcast, and light rain showers were expected over the city through the next day. It all came together to form a cold, depressing atmosphere in the back alleys through which Rude now walked, heading towards his small, one bedroom apartment in Sector 5. He didn't mind, though. He had his coat to protect himself from the dank nature of the air, and the rain was not expected to begin for a good four or five hours. Stepping through the door of his residence and walking through the sparsely furnished and bare-walled living room, he shed his coat and hung it in the small bedroom's closet. Leaning his shotgun against the wall, still in its holster, near the head of his bed, he removed his brass knuckles from his pockets and walked into the bathroom connected directly to the bedroom. Taking a rag and polish from the medicine cabinet, he began polishing the day's wear from them until they shone as new. He had had the same pair since he joined the Turks, and each day that they were used, he ended that day by giving back the golden-brown sheen which he had taken during their employment. The job done, he replaced the rag and polish, fitting the knuckles through his fingers and staring down at his warped reflection in the curving metal that seemed to mold to his hands. The reflection showed a slight smirk of satisfaction until the knuckles were once more slipped with ease from Rude's dexterous fingers and placed neatly on the nightstand next to the bed, ready for use at a moment's notice. Tossing his clothes over the chair resting in front of a small desk, the only other pieces of furniture in the room, he flipped off the lights and retired for the night.

Exiting the Turks' headquarters, Reno and Rude walked side by side down the Sector 5 streets, following the familiar route that they had taken many times during the rebuilding of Midgar. The pair had spent long hours in the King Behemoth, a slightly shady bar in a more classy part of the Sector 5 plate, discussing whatever problems the Turks happened to face at the moment and venting their frustrations. Anymore, they were well known among the bar's other patrons, and as such were afforded a wide birth whenever they entered. "Long island iced tea," Reno said to the barkeeper, sitting down on a stool at one end of the bar. "Brandy," Rude added in turn, taking a seat beside Reno. As the barkeeper hurried off to get their drinks, Reno sighed. "Damn that was close, Rude. We're going to have to be a helluva lot more careful from now on." Rude nodded agreement, picking up his glass of liquor as the barkeeper returned, only to hurry off again. He rolled the auburn liquid around the inside of the glass, watching the light bend as it pierced and continued on through, before taking a swallow. "We've become over-confident. It's been too long since we've had real competition." Reno snorted, then took a sip of his own drink. "You mean Cloud and them?" "Who else?" "I got so damn tired of dealing with that spiky-haired son of a *****." "By which you mean getting your *** handed to you time and time again?" Reno glared, and Rude smirked. That whole ordeal still stung Reno's pride. As for Rude . . . Rude just didn't give a damn anymore. "You're one to talk," Reno scoffed. "That Tifa chick could kick your *** any day." "True," Rude admitted. "A shame we never got to fight one-on-one." Reno raised an eyebrow in question, but Rude just took another swallow of brandy without answer. Sighing once more, Reno turned his attention back to the alcohol in front of him, and both were silent for a long moment. . . . "So what are we going to do about this SENTINEL group?" Rude asked at length.