Gaming Play It Retro

[Papa Smurf]

[quote name='James][font=arial']On the other hand, Final Fantasy VII is a classic for more reasons than its story alone.[/font][/quote]
Like I've been saying, its impact was due to its presentation. It's a classic largely because of the presentation, not story or characters, especially considering that Final Fantasy VI shats all over it in those areas yet we don't see people flocking to FFVI as much as we do VII, lol. The reason people were attracted to FFVII in the first place was because it was the first true cinematic RPG. It played like a movie, right down to camerawork.

With regards to how the game has aged, it's the complete opposite. The [i]story and characters[/i] haven't aged well, while the presentation still remains impressive. Graphically, the game doesn't look so nice, but the [i]techniques[/i] are still solid. As a film, Final Fantasy VII is still one of the better storyboards in the genre, and probably even in the industry itself. The quality of the graphics is irrelevant to the techniques and composition of the frame.

[Zidargh]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]

In terms of other retro classics, I wonder if Mystical Ninja (Goemon 5) could be included here. I know a few of you are familiar with that game - who else has played it and what are some of your fond memories?[/font][/QUOTE]

To me, this is one of the greatest games ever made. The PAL release was named 'Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon', XD.

I played this when I was young, just like FFVII, and I think one of the reasons I like it so much is it was one of those things that me and my brother could connect through (something that is practically impossible today). We both found the absolute bizarre storyline and fun gameplay amazing.

Now this game was [i]not[/i] a cliche! Who else would've thought that the villainous plot ends up revealing that the world literally has become Shakespearean, 'All the world's a stage'.

I'd love to write an essay about this game but I'd first bring up one of my fondest memories. Actually two: -

1.) The soundtrack. I can sing the introduction and remember many other music tracks to date. I whistle them occasionally, especially the Edo track.

2.)There were these moments throughout the game where I felt at utter peace for some reason. Just before you fight the first Impact battle, or that moment where some Tea girl got kidnapped across a bridge or something and you're just left with utter silence besides the wind and that massive landscape.

Actually, a third one's coming;

3.)The game didn't take itself seriously at all. It was just pure [i]fun[/i]. I loved scaling Mt. Fuji only to jump off again, rinse, wash, repeat. Or how about that random dancing fortune-teller, "PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASMAAAAAAAA!"

The design elements were wonderful. Konami sort of merged very traditional Japan (Edo being the capital during the feudal era) with random modern elements. Like that wooden camera you had to use against the ghosts, or the crane!

...

Ah, memories. I feel I'm getting a tad too excited about this, lol.

Anyway, discuss!

---
Oh, P.S: I'll send the game to you if you'd like me to James. Just get in touch with me via PM or e-mail.

[James]

[QUOTE=Zidargh]
2.)There were these moments throughout the game where I felt at utter peace for some reason. Just before you fight the first Impact battle, or that moment where some Tea girl got kidnapped across a bridge or something and you're just left with utter silence besides the wind and that massive landscape.
[/QUOTE]

[font=arial]Yes! This is something I've always felt and had difficulty describing it.

There is something about Mystical Ninja that makes the game somehow feel alive...it's almost completely intangible.

And I think you've hit the nail on the head there - it's those moments of complete and utter silence. There were times in the game where I had this odd feeling, like the world around me is absolutely massive and full of things that are unrelated to the main game itself. In this sense the game doesn't at all feel linear...in a way it almost feels more open than a game like GTA.

I also really like the surprises. It was a while since I've played, but do you remember that village up in the mountains, where it snows? And the villagers tell you about local legends and give you some history on their town? I found all that stuff really wonderful - every town had its own feel and the game somehow had a very warm and inviting quality to it. It definitely created an emotional response.

I think this is why Mystical Ninja is one of my favourite N64 games; it somehow creates a balance that feels extremely inviting and friendly, without being overtly so. Even now I still have trouble describing that feeling and why it exists.

As for your offer about sending the game, thank you very much...but I haven't yet looked for the game at my parents' house. I'll see if I can find it and if I can't, I might buy your copy from you or something.

Ideally I'd love it if Mystical Ninja were offered on the Wii Virtual Console...that'd [i]really[/i] make me want the system sooner, lol.[/font]

[quote]Like I've been saying, its impact was due to its presentation. It's a classic largely because of the presentation, not story or characters, especially considering that Final Fantasy VI shats all over it in those areas yet we don't see people flocking to FFVI as much as we do VII, lol. The reason people were attracted to FFVII in the first place was because it was the first true cinematic RPG. It played like a movie, right down to camerawork.[/quote]

[font=arial]That's true, though I'd refer back to Charles' post when it comes to characters. His answer is what I would like to have written, haha.

Regardless of the reasons, it was a game that attracted many. It's definitely a classic.[/font]

[silpheedpilot]

[COLOR=DarkSlateGray][SIZE=1]Alright, alright. di.fm here with another 'classic' and my reasoning behind the quotes is that classic usually denotes a serious fan following, many sequels prequels and spin offs, and some age to it but in this sense I'm giving it the classic tag because I claim it is the father of modern shooters.

kill.switch

Yeah, you read that correctly. kill.switch. Name another shooter before it that offered EVERYTHING as cover, blind fire, and a motley assortment of weapons that didn't suck?

Can't do it can you? Neither can I.

Seriously folks. Look at all the games that took some notes. Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter, Gears Of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas...and these are newer titles! Think about it. After 2004 the shooter genre was never the same again. Before that you could only take cover when the developers said it was okay but after kill.switch you get games with notes saying; 'Take cover anywhere!' or 'Different cover will offer different degrees of protection!' and so on so forth.

Now the game wasn't that realistic, and the story was very convoluted, but the graphics were top-notch and the voice acting was terrific. Not to mention the play mechanics, which I most certainly HAVE mentioned.

Either way, this game deserves it's rights as a 'classic' game.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Well if I wanted to go back to some of the very first games I ever played, it?s just not possible. My father worked in the computer department at the university here and as a result we had several apple computers at home with games written by students on the older floppy disks. Most of them resembled arcade games like Pac-man, Tetris and other such games. It didn?t matter that we had a crappy green screen; we spent hours playing those games. And now they are gone as the computers and disks in question gave out years ago.

Then my next phase of geeking out was with the Nintendo NES and the super Mario Brothers games. Even with the lack of a three-dimensional world we had tons of fun playing them.

But the one I remember the most was shortly after I got a SNES and some of the games to go with it. Secret of Mana, Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Evermore and of course the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I still have that system and the games and I occasionally pull them out and play them. Though my power cord for my SNES system has been misplaced so I have to get a new one. >_< I?ve thought about selling them, but I have so many fond memories of those games I can?t bring myself to do so.

The Nintendo 64, other than the Zelda games was a huge disappointment as at that point most of the RPG games I liked were going to either Playstation or to the Game Boy system. I like the DS Lite, but the Game Boy was something I never cared for.

So then when Playstation2 came out I started picking up the older playstation games like Final Fantasy VIII (which is my absolute favorite in the series, though that?s probably because it was the first one in the series I had ever played) And then there were other great games like Chrono Cross & Chrono Trigger. But probably my favorite game other than Zelda is the Lunar series.

I absolutely love Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. Even with it?s older styled graphics, it?s wonderful fun with all the wacky characters. I love how they?ve done the voice acting for it and how they have over an hour of anime cut scenes woven into the overall story. It wasn?t the best storyline, but the characters and the way it was presented just made playing it lots of fun.

I also picked up the Lunar Silver Star Story: Collectors Edition, and it?s just as fun as the other Lunar game. My only regret about that game is that last year my Playstation2 was stolen and the second disk to that game was in the console, so I?ve never gotten to finish it. :animesigh [/COLOR]

[Zidargh]

[QUOTE=James][font=arial]

I also really like the surprises. It was a while since I've played, but do you remember that village up in the mountains, where it snows? And the villagers tell you about local legends and give you some history on their town? I found all that stuff really wonderful - every town had its own feel and the game somehow had a very warm and inviting quality to it. It definitely created an emotional response.
[/font][/QUOTE]


Yeah I loved that town. Was that the one with the witch or something along the lines of that? Where you can use Yan (or whatever her name was) and her mermaid ability.

Oh speaking of abilities. I think the trials you had to do to get these were horrifically difficult, especially the mermaid one. However, once you did do it, it truly paid off.

One place that really sticks out in my mind is this random massive pagoda in the middle of nowhere which wasn't really related but it was a good example of just how massive the game was and how much exploration it allowed you to do. Ah, also, there was that very traditional town near the kid who gave you that dragon flute. You could go inside some place and it was very tranquil. I just found these kinds of towns absolutely beautiful. The game just had so much character.

I truly want to experience that feeling of harmony in the way you described it in a game. Shadow of the Colossus didn't pull it off for me. I wish they could make even a re-make of MN for something like the Wii.

I guess the only other game that came close to offering me a similar experience was Hyrule and the fields on LoZ:OOT. There was a vast landscape that just seemed persistent... Ah, good times.

[James]

[font=arial]I'm hoping Twilight Princess offers those moments. Considering how big the game apparently is and how long it's been in development...I'm certainly hoping for something like that.

I'm also definitely hoping for the game on Virtual Console...that would be great, short of a full remake with new controls (which I doubt would ever happen, but I can dream).

I'd forgotten about that pagoda too, that was great. There were plenty of moments like that, where you feel that the world is at your feet and that so many things are going on that aren't always visible to you.

I believe they made a sequel on N64 but I haven't played it. It looked like some kind of platformer with RPG elements (much like Goemon 5 itself), but it was a kind of 2.5D game I think...has anyone played that one? I'm not sure if it's worth looking into at all.[/font]

[Kenshin DX]

[quote name='James']I believe they made a sequel on N64 but I haven't played it. It looked like some kind of platformer with RPG elements (much like Goemon 5 itself), but it was a kind of 2.5D game I think...has anyone played that one? I'm not sure if it's worth looking into at all.[/font][/quote]

I mentioned this game in my previous post. Truth is you should avoid it.it is a confined game and is a platformer more than an adventure game. WHile it does offer two player coop its extremely diffcult to do the jumping with two players on screen. Its not horrible but it doesnt have the great feeling Mystical Ninja gives you. its not a worthy sequel in the least. Not a horrible game but I wouldnt dish out alot of money on it.And if you do get it don't expect any of the greatness Mystical Ninja had.

[Zidargh]

Yeah I played that game about 3 years after the one we've swooned over and it was a disappointment. Definitely focus on getting your hands on the 'King of N64' as we could have a bit of a nostalgia session together. Actually, if I can find the game somewhere, I'll probably give it a play again and post my thoughts.

OR.

Should I leave it and let nostalgia get the better of me? Maybe memories will be more rewarding than re-playing the game.

[Papa Smurf]

So this past Friday night was a little bit different than what the typical gamers' nights have been like in the past. Instead of hanging out in my basement with a high 30/low 40 inch TV, we headed on down to Rutgers-Camden to play some games on a 40-foot movie screen. Bill, one of my geek friends, is the Assistant tech director at the theatre, so he has all the keys. Extremely useful, those keys are.

Usually the projection equipment/cables would require us to sit right at the stage to play, but we lucked out because the regular projection equipment was broken, and the replacement projector was in the center of the house, pretty much smack dab in the middle of the audience. We sat a healthy distance back and we all had a nice, comfortable view of the screen.

This was the real test for the aging N64 hardware. The lower resolution of the games was going to become very obvious when magnified. Surprisingly, however, apart from some minor pixelization here and there, GoldenEye looked pretty good. The menus weren't totally crisp, and there was some difficulty judging distances every now and again, but generally, I was impressed. Caves was still way too dark, however; paintball mode would have gone a long way there.

But other than those minor quibbles, the game looked good. The characters were no worse-off than they'd look on a normal screen, and I have a feeling the aiming will be even better on the movie screen once we get a handle on it. The sound system at Rutgers is state of the art, plus we had all the video and sound controls right at our fingertips for instant tweaking of the few dozen speakers around us. Mega surround sound with the James Bond theme is good stuff.

All in all, GoldenEye was fun as hell on a movie screen. And Oddjob suddenly became a regular size person!

I tried a bit of Starfox 64 during the tail end of a quick smoke break, and it looked very nice.

After some N64, we hooked up my Xbox (original) for some classic Doom deathmatch, using the Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil options. We started with Ultimate Doom, but the deathmatch in that wasn't quite up to snuff, because we mostly wandered around trying to find each other, and the kill counts never really added up to anything. I hear the XBL version of Doom is far superior, with better weapon placement, so two more controllers might be my next investment.

We proceeded to do Doom II when Doom I was starting to wear thin, and had a much better and more exciting time. Entryway managed to entertain us the entire time. It's a much smaller level than the ones we played in Doom I, with better weapon placement and respawn points. By the end of the match, Charles had a kill count of in the mid 70s, while I was nearing 60. Bill and Hayden were hovering in the 30s range.

What's particularly awesome about Doom II's deathmatch is how no one weapon is truly superior. You may look at the Super Shotgun, BFG-9000, or rocket launcher and think they're obviously superior, but success with those weapons comes more down to player aim and movement rather than weapon strength. Sure, there were plenty of kills scored with those three weapons (I think we heard the SPLLTLLLTLT from someone being liquified by the rocket launcher more than anything), but it wasn't a guaranteed win, even when you picked up all three of them at the same time if you happened to respawn at the very start of the level.

Hell, if you can get a few kills with the chainsaw when your enemies are carrying BFGs or shotguns, you know the game is good!

We switched to Super Smash Bros on N64 to finish out the night, and I was amazed that I'm still such a beast at the game...and that my timing is still as remarkable as it was. Within a minute, I was close to how I used to be with Pikachu in 2001. Usually I have problems playing SSB. I keep trying to do air-grabs, dodges, wavedashes, vertical throws, etc. Though I think that happens if I've been playing SSBM before I try SSB. Makes sense, considering my ease with the controls this past Friday.

This upcoming Friday I figure we're bringing my GCN for Smash Melee, TimeSplitters, Mario Kart Double Dash, Mario Power Tennis...probably a few others, too. Not sure about the Xbox, though Halo 2 has yet to be played on there.

All in all, though, movie screens are good.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Indeed they are. My church moved into an old ten screen movie theater in town, so almost every room still has a screen and a projector to go with it. Every now and then the high school youth group would set up an N64 or GCN and we'd play Smash Bros. or whatever up on the big screen. That's great fun, especially when everyone else is sitting around watching while waiting for their turn.

While playing I'd almost invariably hear, "Who's Pikachu?" (or whatever other character I happened to be playing on) asked from the crowd behind me, as I wiped the floor with people. I think I still have a reputation as the best Smash Bros. player there, though I'm out of the high school group now.

And now that you mention it N64 games did look pretty much just as good up on the big screen. I never really thought about the resolution since they always looked as good as ever.[/color]

[Charles]

My latest retro title is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. I had been anxiously awaiting it since it was announced for the Xbox Live arcade, so I was very happy when it was made available early.

The thing to note with UMK3 is that it actually holds up just as well as the early Street Fighter 2 games. The Mortal Kombat games have always had balancing issues but UMK3 probably has the most balanced cast of characters in the entire series. The balance really comes into play during online matches where you really have to think when picking a proper character to counter your opponent's choice.

The single player game is still pretty much crap though. It's never a good idea to port a Mortal Kombat game over from the arcades and leave it at that because the cheap AI was custom tailored to steal quarters. Once you hit the fourth or fifth fight, the game becomes nearly impossible for several tries. The boss battles are also still incredibly cheap; I usually use a trick to beat Shao Khan, where, playing as Sub Zero, I freeze him before he can get up all the way.

As far as online goes, it's best to play against someone you know. I kicked Tony's *** several times, so that was pretty fun. Especially when I finished him with the classic Scorpion inferno. When I played for my "10 wins" achievement in ranked mode, I was having a good time destroying my competition until I realized I had received some negative feedback for quitting early (which I did not do). So, just like with Street Fighter, it's best to play non-ranked matches online because that is where the cool people are at.

[NashvilleDream]

I've recently revisited my first game: Legend of Legaia.
The only thing that took some re-getting-used-to were the graphics. The blocky graphics of the PS1 just look like compete crap when put next to the PS2 and the next-gen systems
But the storyline makes it continue to be my favorite game, even 11 years after I learned of it's existance :P

Also, I found my dad's old Atari
I wanted to play it but none of the chords fit any of the TVs we have XD

[silpheedpilot]

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DarkSlateGray]So, the other day after playing some Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon (Love it.) I started digging through a stack of un-kempt Playstation games. (Mind you, in my older years I've grown accustomed to treating my games like children.) Anyway, I was diggin' though the stack, and being a big robot fan, I found the title. Thats right. The title.

Gundam Battle Assault 2!

I popped it in.

Within minutes of choosing my robot, it being Burning Gundam because of the limited choices, I started brawling away and too my suprise I found I remembered most, if not all of the standard moves and with a bit more play-time I even quickly re-learned the specials.

It was really quite fun going back and playing some old-school-ish fighters.

That night I also played some Rival Schools which is one of my favorite fighting games of all time, which came out waaaaay back in '98. Thats too far back for some of you younguns.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Magus]

Heh, I guess over the next several months, I'll be doing nothing but playing old games, that is, if the money is flowing right. Anyways, I can't really play any of the old consoles because I got rid of most of them, or they don't work. NES, SNES, Genesis are long gone.

I do have the Sega Saturn along with a few games (Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, and Virtua Cop) in the basement sitting on the shelf somewhere, and chances are that the console itself doesn't work anymore.

I guess if anything, the only oldies I have are FFVII and FFVIII, and then some old games on the PS2, but those aren't staying much longer. (Getting rid of them on Monday)

Honestly, though, I'm playing catch if anything. I started out pretty late with the PS1 and PS2. By the time the PS1 came out I was still playing SNES, and Genesis games. I did ended up getting the PS1 at the same time I got my N64 though. And when the PS2 and Dreamcast was out, I was still playing the N64 and PS1 games. And now the N64 is missing parts, and my ps1 don't even have a lid that can close all the way, so I just use my ps2 for backwards compadability.

Eventually, I ended up getting a Dreamcast as well, but that console is messed up now, and even if the console was still in good condition, the best game for it "coughs Shenmue coughs" was scratched up pretty bad, so there was no more hope in going back to playing that either.

And now that the ps3 and the like are out, I'm still catching up with the PS1 and PS2 games. You would think that I've had all those old games by now. Nope, because of me being narrow / simple minded, all I wanted were fighting and action games.

The games I had for the ps1 were Spiderman, Spiderman 2: Electro, Tekken 3, Tenchu and the Tony Hawk series. I ended up selling those games eventually. The games that I own now and still play every once in a blue moon are FFVII and FFVIII. I do have Chrono Cross coming in the mail soon, and I'm looking into buying Xenogears and Vagrant Story. (Sadly, all I can do is wait for them to stock up.)

[Dagger]

[quote name='Phenom']I do have Chrono Cross coming in the mail soon, and I'm looking into buying Xenogears and Vagrant Story. (Sadly, all I can do is wait for them to stock up.)[/quote]
Wow, are we on the same wavelength or what? I just received Vagrant Story & Xenogears in the mail, and I have Chrono Cross (plus FF Anthology) on order. I'll probably play Vagrant Story first... I've been mad hungry for Xenogears ever since I finished Xenosaga III, but the wait is kind of fun in its own right. :catgirl:

~Dagger~

[Zen]

[color=darkred][size=1]

Oh ho ho, [b]Xenogears[/b] is a thousand times better than its 'prequel', [b]Xenosaga[/b]. Maybe it's because the main characters aren't a robot devoid of personality and the helpless maiden escorting her around. You both made great choices in purchasing that game. I apologize for dissing Xenosaga, but after playing Gears, I just couldn't accept the game's style.


Now on subject. This weekend, me and my friends Corbin and DeQuan played through and beat [b]Captain Commando[/b] on my Capcom Collection game for X-Box. We also shared a couple rounds of [b]Super Street Fighter II: Turbo[/b]. Owned with Sagat, by the way.

A little earlier than that (about two months), we were having epic battles in [b]Street Fighter Alpha 3[/b]. Same two friends, same room, same characters (save for me, I would trade between Sagat and Adon). So it was continously round after round of Ken, Ryu, Adon, Ken, Ryu, Adon over and over. By the time we were done, my thumbs were blistered.

Good times... good times...[/color][/size]

[Magus]

[QUOTE=Dagger]Wow, are we on the same wavelength or what? I just received Vagrant Story & Xenogears in the mail, and I have Chrono Cross (plus FF Anthology) on order. I'll probably play Vagrant Story first... I've been mad hungry for Xenogears ever since I finished Xenosaga III, but the wait is kind of fun in its own right. :catgirl:

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]
Lol. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about Vagrant Story. For quite some time now, I've always wondered why Vagrant Story was so great. I heard it had a similar style of play of a MMORPG or something, and I've never been interested in those types of games, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I've been real skeptical about Xenogears because of my experience with Xenosaga.. I think it was Xenosaga I or something. (Start off fighting in the street I think) I couldn't get into that game what, but I heard a lot of positive feedback on Xenogears.

I've had so many chances to get both Vagrant Story and Xenogears in the past, but around those times, I've hit crossroads... Wondering if I should get Metal Gear Solid 3 and Devil May Cry 3 or Vagrant Story and Xenogears..... And with me not being a big RPG fan, and a vivid action fan, DMC3 and MGS3 won me over.... (And now MGS3 is being sold back.... Go figure. I could've been playing a game that took up a lot more time instead of beating the same game in about 5 hours and getting bored.)

[Zen]

[quote name='Phenom'] (And now MGS3 is being sold back.... Go figure. I could've been playing a game that took up a lot more time instead of beating the same game in about 5 hours and getting bored.)[/quote]
[color=darkred][size=1]

Easy there Chief. That's my game you're talkin' about. MGS3 is a classic for me, and remains one of my top games, haha. Speaking of, I need to get my hands on a copy of Metal Gear Solid and MGS: VR Missions. It's been a while, and I need some old fashioned espionage.[/color][/size]

[Magus]

No need to worry. MGS3 is still a great game. It's just that I have no need for it anymore. (And I like MGS2 over MGS3) I've got everything that I needed, and there isn't no point in keeping it anymore, if you're going to continuosly get bored of it. (I could try it on Extreme, but "shrugs")

I also have the 1st MGS, but can't really play it (no FPV, and it's hard for me to adatp), so I'm gonna get MGS: Twin Snakes for the GC since they have a FPV.

[Goodbye, Face]

[font=arial][size=1]It's good to know that other people are actually picking up Vagrant Story. In my opinion it's one of the best games ever made and it went completely ignored.

I never understood why everyone liked XenoGears either, I borrowed it from my friend and got about 15 hours in and I just didn't like it. Most of the magazines said it was pretty average, too.[/font][/size]

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Comic Sans MS][QUOTE=Dagger]Wow, are we on the same wavelength or what? I just received Vagrant Story & Xenogears in the mail, and I have Chrono Cross (plus FF Anthology) on order. I'll probably play Vagrant Story first... I've been mad hungry for Xenogears ever since I finished Xenosaga III, but the wait is kind of fun in its own right. :catgirl:

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

O_o

What's going on?!?! I just got FF Anthology and Chronicles as well, along with Chrono Cross (which I've beaten before, many years ago, beautiful game...) for after I re-beat Chrono Trigger....

The world's a interesting place sometimes... :D

Rifles, you didn't like Xenogears? D:

I thought it was amazing, though I never got to beat it. I'm actually gonna borrow it from my older brother (it's pretty awesome to have someone related to you working at GameStop. <3).

I never got the chance to get that far in Vagrant Story, as when my brother and I rented it many years ago, the disc was screwed up, and we couldn't get pass this up point. And when we tried to get another copy, they were out, so we had to get a different game...

I gotta get my hands on that. [/FONT][/COLOR] :rolleyes:

[Dagger]

Haha! It took me [i]six hours[/i] to get through the first dungeon in Vagrant Story. I fail so hard. I think I went through the same area at least ten times before realizing that I could use the area map to, you know, find out what these rooms were called. :animeblus

It's still too early for the story to be anything less than opaque to me--all I've managed to pick up is that Sydney is the skankiest male RPG character short of Kuja. But the battle system kept me entertained even during ungodly amounts of backtracking, and the puzzles are fun (they remind me of the calculator game Block Dude). I don't really get the whole weapon-making thing yet... all things with time, I guess.

ETA: Nothing about this game has truly leapt out at me yet (well, except for the super irritating boss battles)... but hot damn is it addictive. And I've gotten a feel for combining stuff, so the weapons/armor system has become less stressful.

~Dagger~