~ Potpourri Discussion ~
 

Yes, it's a discussion about smelly things.


No, not really.

I noticed in a previous thread, that shall remain unmentioned, that I started to ramble off and wander in my posts from the subject. And that others were doing it too...as though we wanted to just talk about whatever was on our minds.

Thus I have created this thread.

Here there is no specific theme beyond one thing:
THIS THREAD INVOLVES ONLY GAMES AND GAME-RELATED RUMINATIONS

If you want to wonder about the political state of Texas go elsewhere.
If you want to talk about that one time a while back when you first checked out Pokemon and you thought it was pretty awesome, post here.

If you want to just pop in here and comment on a game you saw in passing, once again: post here.



Let me try to get the ball rolling by muttering about the Final Fantasy series.

I didn't like FF1 all that much, and I didn't care for FFX(beyond it being sparkly...oh so sparkly).

Yet the FF1/2 remakes for the Advance really entertained me...yet I also noticed the distinct lack of direction, the hideous lack of depth in the combat system, et cetera..

And it made me wonder what made FF so great at the start...aside from the music. I lurve the FF music...

So it's like Off Topic for games?

... I swear the first person to post a sprite version of yoda dog or some shit gets kicked in the balls.

And you know that someone is now working on one even as we speak.

Anyway. I think what makes FF so popular from the start is the same thing that turns a movie, or any other game into a hit. The stars and planets have to be aligned, and for some reason, it's a hit. (it seems like that for a lot of different things)

Maybe it was because the first FF was one of the first RPG, and people saw, and they liked. I really wasn't old enough to appreciate the first FF in it's full glory (being when the NES was the most advanced system ever), but I remember my oldest brother (who is 9 years older than I am) ate up the first FF like it was candy. And that's what caused us to be like "Hey look, Final Fantasy 3(6)" when we got the SNES, then FF2(4)(yeah, we went backwards) and that's really what started my love for the series.

i remember the days of old ninja gaiden on the NES. not really any complaints but just reminiscing. i think that was my first official understanding of what ninjas were.

I could never beat the original Ninja Gaiden..or the other two...I tended to miss my jumps way too often.

I just picked up my old blue version of pokemon again and leveled my Zapdos to 98. I've also got an Articuno at 96. I love those birds.

I don't know what made FF so great. The later ones with the generic MP system instead of the spells/level/rest system made things easier. FF3(6) was the first one I played to completion. Then I played it again. And again. That was a great game.

Y'know, whenever I get a (semi) new game, that I like, which is already part of a standing series (in this case, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin), I always get this compulsive urge to go and find out as much as I can about the previous games.

This has happened with many game series, including but not limited to:

Megaman (The original series and the first couple X games, at least)
Final Fantasy (My first was Mystic Quest, albeit very briefly, and the series thereafter remained untouched until FFTA much later. Imagine that?)
Command and Conquer,
and
All of the Blizzard titles (Except Lost Vikings).

I'm really starting to hate MMOs. i've only been playing them for five years (currently not playing one), but its getting to the point where the games are just insulting to the players and demeaning to games as an artform.

i guess i could start a whole thread about it, but i just felt like mentioning that.

i just found out that my dad found my old NES in our garage. i'm stoked. soons as i get a chance i'm gonna see if its still working, and what games we still have for it. then i'm gonna sell it.

Videogame potpourri? Man, I could go on almost forever. Playing games and writing about them is what I live for!

-If you are wandering why I have Sparkster for my avatar, and why I requested my handle to be changed to Sparkster, it's because I recently became a born again Rocket Knight Adventures fan. Having played RKA for my Genesis emulator and Sparkster for my SNES emulator has made me realize, this is a franchise that shouldn't remain obscure! I'd rather see a new Rocket Knight Adventures game than a new Mario or Sonic game anyday!

-I have never played Chrono Cross, but I did recently listen to the soundtrack of the game off the internet. That game's got good music. The second half of the soundtrack sounded boring, but the first half was great. I like Chrono Trigger's soundtrack more, but if you bought CC just for the music, I'll consider that a valid reason for buying the game.

-I recently played through Final Fantasy 10 again. I still think it's the best game in the franchise, but I noticed something now that I hadn't noticed during my first playthrough; Yuna has very nice eyes. How could I have not noticed that before!? Her eyes are beautifully shaped, and, as you probably guessed, I had a very hard time taking my own eyes off of hers. Of course, no digitally rendered female could ever be as lovely as Rinoa from FF8, but I now have something else to admire about the graphics of FF10 besides the environments and the aeon animations.

-Ninja Gaiden, huh? I played Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox way back in the day. It was way too fucking hard. That's right; it's not just too hard, it's too fucking hard!!!! That's too bad, everything about that is game is great, except for the staggering difficulty level. Never played Ninja Gaiden Black, nor the NES Ninja Gaidens, though.

-I recently beat Odin Sphere. The ending was kind of disappointing, but it's still a good game. Not great, but good. At least it's nice to know game makers haven't abandoned 2D games entirely.

-I plan to buy a Wii in the future. When that is, I don't know exactly. I'm a little short on cash right now. But some day, I'm getting a Wii.

And that's just a small sampling of my videogame potpourri. Tip of the iceberg, if you will.

Ah, the Xbox Ninja Gaiden. That game really is great. Guess obscenely hard games never really got to me in the sanity department (DMC3, for example, never really phased me). I still have to finish that game on Hard that I started...

Oh, and speaking of DMC3, that game is awesome. I know it's popular around here with some people (Mirai, Krylo, and Mauve I think are the most vocal about it, but that's just off the top of my head), but it just bears mentioning. Why? It's DMC3, that's why.

Also, the Metroid series. God, I freaking love Metroid. Can't wait for Prime 3 to come out. Just one more month...