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For anyone who hasn't played the game, yes those puzzles seem pretty easy. However, when you're playing it for the first time you have to take into account that getting from one side of the house to the other means about three random encounters, all of which wear you down. Well, except that one monster, the blonde dude who's gimmick was falling off a chandelier and reaching for it like someone tipped out of a wheelchair. He was hilarious! It might seem like a breeze, but every second in that drat house can be exhausting for your party making these kid's riddles pretty hard to solve. First time playing it, it was as taxing as singing the alphabet song while being punched hard in the face every five seconds.
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Dec 11, 2011 22:00
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I forgot all about that dude. This section of the game has some really weird and interesting monster designs.
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Dec 11, 2011 22:06
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Ghost of Starman posted:Vincent: This little skit only solidifies my conviction that every Vincent line sounds better if you imagine it delivered by David Hayter. Vincent:  Lucrezia!?
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Dec 11, 2011 22:16
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...really? 
That will certainly make you a more valuable member of the team.
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David Corbett posted:This little skit only solidifies my conviction that every Vincent line sounds better if you imagine it delivered by David Hayter.  Steve Blum makes Vicent sound like a bad David Hayter impression in the various side game stuff...and it does have the Major in it.
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Dec 11, 2011 22:46
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Did anyone else ever play this game thinking her name was supposed to be pronounced "loo-CREESH-uh" instead of "loo-CRED-zee-a..." or was that just me?
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Dec 12, 2011 09:23
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Rampant Dwickery posted:Did anyone else ever play this game thinking her name was supposed to be pronounced "loo-CREESH-uh" instead of "loo-CRED-zee-a..." or was that just me? I read JRPGs like I read russian classics. That is, I mumble the names to myself, ignore mastering the pronounciation and just hope noone asks me to talk aloud about it.
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Dec 12, 2011 09:51
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Nidoking posted:Do status effects happen with Deathblow, or just standard attacks? It's been way too long since I played this game, and I don't think I ever used Deathblow much, let alone combining it with Added Effects. Deathblow-Added Cut might be the most I ever bothered with, pretty literally adding insult to injury. From what I remember they do, as Deathblow essentially just counts as a critical hit, and critical hits still set off status effects. You're probably right though that it's just down to enemy resistances, so in that case Deathblow or critical hits wouldn't really make a difference to how much the status effect does or doesn't kick in
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Dec 12, 2011 10:35
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Taking Barret along when you pick up Vincent yields what are probably the best two lines in the entire game. Can't remember them exactly, but it was something along the lines of: Vincent: Sorry... I cannot speak. Barret: Hey! You lyin' white-faced! [...] Vincent: There was no way to cancel the experiment. I let the one I loved, the one I respected most, face the worst. Barret: So you started sleeping in a box? Gimme a break! Gave me a laugh every time.
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Dec 12, 2011 13:51
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Rampant Dwickery posted:Did anyone else ever play this game thinking her name was supposed to be pronounced "loo-CREESH-uh" instead of "loo-CRED-zee-a..." or was that just me? Wait, that's not how it's pronounced? 
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Dec 12, 2011 15:08
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Rampant Dwickery posted:Did anyone else ever play this game thinking her name was supposed to be pronounced "loo-CREESH-uh" instead of "loo-CRED-zee-a..." or was that just me? I pronounced it how it is pronounced in spanish, Loo-creh-sia.
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Dec 12, 2011 15:31
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eating only apples posted:Wait, that's not how it's pronounced? It is Italian apparently, so it's the "proper"  pronunciation.Reminds me of all the who-ha over how to pronouce Tifa and Yuffie back in the day: "Yuff-e", "You-fay" or "Yu-fee", and "Teefa" or "Tiffa".
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Dec 12, 2011 15:36
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What exactly are the chances of landing a deathblow? When I played through the game, I remember just not being able to land them, but once I spammed some sources, it never missed.
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Dec 12, 2011 17:07
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Yukari posted:What exactly are the chances of landing a deathblow? When I played through the game, I remember just not being able to land them, but once I spammed some sources, it never missed. Half normal accuracy. High accuracy weapons and a good dexterity score naturally would lead to accuracy over 100%.
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Dec 12, 2011 17:13
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Gharbad the Weak posted:Hey, did anyone else ever just get screwed during the battle arena? Like, the first roulette was nothing but "Break all materia", the second was nothing but "break relics", the third was all "break weapon", fourth was ban items, then tiny, then... well, I never got past that.
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Dec 12, 2011 18:48
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Elentor posted:Vincent's Theme - I think it should be mentioned, but this is Vincent's theme, The Nightmare Begins. It fits perfectly. This is actually Vincent's theme huh? I seem to recall it being used at quite a few points in the game that had nothing to do with Vincent, though I suppose that's probably true of most character themes. I always liked Vincent as a kid, though he never really made a party slot. I used him against an upcoming boss and used, I think, his limit break for the first time. He promptly became AI controlled, used an elemental attack and healed the boss I was fighting for a significant portion of damage, and continued to do so every round until the boss killed my whole party. In hindsight I probably should have just took KOed Vincent, oh well. The Lost Number boss fight and the bit leading up to it was the very first thing I ever saw in this game, as I was over at a relatives house while they played that part. I totally forgot that glowing thing to the left was there since I just remembered the safe combination in all my playthroughs of the game. 
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Dec 13, 2011 03:57
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wit posted:For anyone who hasn't played the game, yes those puzzles seem pretty easy. However, when you're playing it for the first time you have to take into account that getting from one side of the house to the other means about three random encounters, all of which wear you down. Yea, the hardest part of the puzzle are the random encounters. I was trying to find Clue #3 by myself (I was so concentrated at it I forgot to take screenshots) and the random encounters were driving me nuts.
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Dec 13, 2011 14:50
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wit posted:For anyone who hasn't played the game, yes those puzzles seem pretty easy. However, when you're playing it for the first time you have to take into account that getting from one side of the house to the other means about three random encounters, all of which wear you down. it's a pretty good point to make. When I do that mansion now I take it for granted that I know the codes and can dive straight to the safe, then moan about how difficult the Lost Number is. It's something I've been thinking about for quite a while, though. I remember when I first played FF7, or Chrono Trigger, or whatever, how awed I used to be by the story and everything, I'd get really absorbed into it. I think over the years I've just become a bit numb to it, and find it hard to see anything past being a game. Even playing Mass Effect for the very first time (something that helped reignite that spark for the "first time" gaming) I found myself instinctively skipping a few bits of dialogue. I'd love to feel like I did ten years ago when I didn't see a game as a game, I saw it as an interactive story. Sorry for that bit of babble, but it's part of why I love this LP and reading the comments on it, because it's seeing it explained as if it's being played for the first time, and it reminds me of the things I used to think and feel back then.
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Dec 13, 2011 20:03
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Phoenix Taichou posted:it's a pretty good point to make. When I do that mansion now I take it for granted that I know the codes and can dive straight to the safe, then moan about how difficult the Lost Number is. It's something I've been thinking about for quite a while, though. I remember when I first played FF7, or Chrono Trigger, or whatever, how awed I used to be by the story and everything, I'd get really absorbed into it. I think over the years I've just become a bit numb to it, and find it hard to see anything past being a game. Even playing Mass Effect for the very first time (something that helped reignite that spark for the "first time" gaming) I found myself instinctively skipping a few bits of dialogue. I'd love to feel like I did ten years ago when I didn't see a game as a game, I saw it as an interactive story. Not sure if this is any help, but I know what you mean. It's because you need to be immersed by the story, and as you grow older, you see more and more of the same. I've had this "unique" feeling in the past few years with Braid, Portal (1&2) and Bastion. These are games that genuinely impressed me and made me feel like I was playing a videogame for the first time. Personally, my patience has been extremely short for games that offer me "more of the same". I realize I'm most likely the exception, but I like games that are effective and offer quality over quantity. When playing Dragon Age 1 I was constantly rolling my eyes because I had already seen everything there somewhere else - the game simply felt (to me) as a dumbed down version of the Baldur's Gate series/Planescape Torment and inferior in every way to these - story, characters, art direction, gameplay. It was still a very enjoyable game, but too generic. I can forgive games for their setting if they offer compelling gameplay. I can't think of any setting more generic than Dungeon Defenders (sometimes offensively so), but it was entertaining, to me at least. The thing is, you're looking for sensations. Specifically, the sensation of awe, of finding something new and being entertained by it. These don't depend on the genre, but as you grow older and experience more things, it's harder to get impressed. Of course, your mileage may vary. Some people never get tired of the same thing over and over again. You should look for games of different genres, or alternative/indie/obscure games. Some have very creative stuff to offer. Final Fantasies were a wildly different beast because of their unique crew up to 10, before everyone jumped off the ship and a cyclic feedback started (other Japanese and Koreans imitating their style and trying hard to copy their formula, becoming mainstream, and Square having to follow their trend and turning formulaic). If everything else fails, you can look into different media. Books. TV Shows from different countries. Or soap operas. Alternatively, you can become a neuroscientist and spend your life trying to find a way to directly inject into your brain something to reproduce that sensation you're looking for. Elentor fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 20:56
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Elentor posted:Not sure if this is any help, but I know what you mean. It's because you need to be immersed by the story, and as you grow older, you see more and more of the same. Xenoblade chronicles managed to hit this note for me. It felt similar to the first time I played ocarina of time and final fantasy 7, when I was 7-8 years old. I had always felt for ages that it was nostalgia driving that feeling and I wouldn't enjoy a game like that again but now I've realised it's only partially that, there are still game out there that can make me feel like I did at christmas 13 years ago! I'm desperately hoping the new Zelda does this too when I finally get my hands on it at christmas. Unfortunately the last few FF games have just been so meh. I kindof have my hopes up for FFXIII-Versus supermelodrama but I'm expecting a let down again. I find it odd I can play the exact same game over ten times (like zelda and FF) but I can't play the same type of game over and over. I'll play FFVII any day but booting up any new clone is just so... meh. I can play Doom and serious sam for hours but newer FPSs feel so meh as well. Just shove a stick of cocaine up your nose, I guess.
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Dec 13, 2011 21:39
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I've always found it funny how people reminisce about growing up with old-school rpgs like chrono trigger and the like. I grew up with Quake and Starcraft. Fun wasn't derived from a story but from destroying the guys next to you and laughing about it later.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:05
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I still get that feeling every time I replay FFXII. It's the only game that never loses its luster for me.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:13
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Brainamp posted:I've always found it funny how people reminisce about growing up with old-school rpgs like chrono trigger and the like. I grew up with Quake and Starcraft. Fun wasn't derived from a story but from destroying the guys next to you and laughing about it later.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:19
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Elentor posted:Not sure if this is any help, but I know what you mean. It's because you need to be immersed by the story, and as you grow older, you see more and more of the same. This. Nicely worded. Yeah, I think it's the same reason I used to write a lot more when I was younger, I felt like I had more inspiration. And it was 7 - 9, even 10 really caught me, I loved it, but everything after that was a little weak. I think I am seeing too many trends in games and stuff, in the same way I can watch a TV show or a film now and deconstruct it, which is the sad thing about studying film, once you know how things work you end up being able to predict things. I think it was the same for me with Dragon Age. Dragon Age is the only game that I have ever in my life, and I've been playing since Atari 8-bit, the only game I've ever returned for a refund. Through all of this reminiscing though, someone made a good point once about how people say music was better in the 80's, or whatever decade they want to choose. Their point was that it's not that that particular decade had all the best hits... it's just that our brains siphon out all the poo poo that we heard in that decade, so we just don't remember it. In regards to trying different mediums though, I've got back into Iain Banks books, and Consider Phlebas pulled me in so quick I used to read it on the walk to uni and back. I don't want to derail things too much though, but it's nice to know I'm not alone in feeling like things don't impress me as much anymore.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:28
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The thing about FF7 for me at least was that battles actually took their toll on the party. Yes you could come back 20 levels later and shrug off the random battles (or break stuff like this lets play shows you how to), but it seemed to make dungeons feel more like marathons than other games. It was never a case of, "oh I can beat that monster now so its never a problem again". For someone who was new to RPGs, the concept of grinding instead of following the plot never entered my head. It really added to the desperation and terror of places like Shinra Mansion when you knew you could take another few battles, but you'd get worn down soon. Next RPG I played was predictably ff8 and it had none of the slogging and desperation feel that FF7 managed to give. TDI just finished an LP of Xenogears which reminded me how a boss rush (it was full of them) just doesn't compare to really having to slog through an area.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:46
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Lethemonster posted:I'm desperately hoping the new Zelda does this too when I finally get my hands on it at christmas. I am slightly biased since I am the world's biggest zelda apologist, and not to hype you up or anything, but Skyward Sword is pretty fantastic.
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Dec 13, 2011 22:51
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Brainamp posted:I've always found it funny how people reminisce about growing up with old-school rpgs like chrono trigger and the like. I grew up with Quake and Starcraft. Fun wasn't derived from a story but from destroying the guys next to you and laughing about it later. These are not mutually exclusive. I played Starcraft and liked the original campaign story. I also liked destroying the guys next to me. This may sound bizarre but I actually like competitive games. Phoenix Taichou posted:This. Nicely worded. Yeah, I think it's the same reason I used to write a lot more when I was younger, I felt like I had more inspiration. And it was 7 - 9, even 10 really caught me, I loved it, but everything after that was a little weak. I think I am seeing too many trends in games and stuff, in the same way I can watch a TV show or a film now and deconstruct it, which is the sad thing about studying film, once you know how things work you end up being able to predict things. Well, there's also something else. We're adults now. We need things that connect to our adult life. Take for example The Little Prince. When I first read it, I hated it. I could only connect with it much later on in my life because I "understood" it. I enjoy games, books and movies that I can connect with. FF7 had a pretty standard story, but there's a lot of adult-themed humor or serious situations. In fact, throughout this thread, a lot of people stated they didn't remember some quotes, because these were things they did not connect with as children/teens. As an adult, you can play the game and these things will make sense to you now. Good entertainment for children should also double as entertainment for adults. This is what you could call "family" entertainment. You can put situations and meanings that look lighthearted (or even dark) to someone who's young, but hold a much deeper meaning to an adult. The Little Prince being a very good example. In fact, for centuries, this was a recipe for success. Teenagers are a whole different beast and are a core market unlike any other. Something that changed is that nowadays, people are taking much longer to mature, and kids are maturing quicker into teenage. People are carrying their 15s taste into their 20s, 25s, 30s and longer. So these things, as subtle as they can be, can go missing if you're looking for them. You can be 20 years old and have matured past the target audience, even if the target audience ranges from 22-30. It's a complicated subject. I could go deeper into it but I'm sure this is enough. Elentor fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Dec 13, 2011 |
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Dec 13, 2011 22:54
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Lethemonster posted:Xenoblade chronicles managed to hit this note for me. It felt similar to the first time I played ocarina of time and final fantasy 7, when I was 7-8 years old. I had always felt for ages that it was nostalgia driving that feeling and I wouldn't enjoy a game like that again but now I've realised it's only partially that, there are still game out there that can make me feel like I did at christmas 13 years ago! I'm desperately hoping the new Zelda does this too when I finally get my hands on it at christmas. Unfortunately the last few FF games have just been so meh. I kindof have my hopes up for FFXIII-Versus supermelodrama but I'm expecting a let down again. Okami kind of does this for me. I mean... yeah it's basically a Zelda clone, yeah the story isn't much to write home about, but playing it just makes me feel happy. Pokemon too. I never get sick of doing the same thing over and over. I hear people talk about Xenoblade a lot. I think I'll have to check it out when it comes stateside in April. Oh, and from what I've played so far of the new Zelda game, you won't be disappointed!
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Dec 13, 2011 22:54
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Other games come and go, but I will never get tired of playing Skies of Arcadia.
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Dec 13, 2011 23:08
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I agree with most of what has been said. Furthermore, one of the great contributors to me learning about enviromentalism during my youth was FF7. Of course, in real life the world isn't literally being drained of some kind of lifeforce, but it has very real paralels to the situation in the world.
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Dec 13, 2011 23:43
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Medieval Medic posted:I agree with most of what has been said. Furthermore, one of the great contributors to me learning about enviromentalism during my youth was FF7. Of course, in real life the world isn't literally being drained of some kind of lifeforce, but it has very real paralels to the situation in the world. Slums, the class divide, nature vs nurture, man vs nature, dwindling fuel resources, the nature of death, mysticism vs science, the ethics of science, the idea of a big brother type power, corruption and There's a surprsing amount of themes in this game.
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Dec 14, 2011 00:07
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Elentor posted:
This post is great and I agree 100%. The Little Prince is one of my favorite books too. As for games with great stories that are in similar "for children, but also for adults" vein, I always felt this way about the Mother series, Majora's Mask and Cave Story. Play those and you'll see some fantastic storytelling. I think FF7, 6, 9 and Chrono Trigger could count too- I played them all as a little kid, not quite a teenager yet, and enjoyed the stories... only later did I understand them fully, but I still loved them. ^ Pesky Splinter. You missed one! Though it's a spoiler: Cid's storyline I always thought was one of my favorite parts of the whole game. It has a surprising amount of depth... I can't pinpoint the themes it uses atm but if I remember, it dissects the nature of sacrifice, dreams, tenacity and aging, all while remaining pretty subtle I thought. Quiet Monsters fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Dec 14, 2011 |
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Dec 14, 2011 00:22
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I don't know how I missed this thread for so long, but I have waited a long time for a FFVII LP. I never played any FF except for IV on the DS so your LP has been very entertaining and informative! It was even entertaining when I blitzed through this thread in 2 days!
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Dec 14, 2011 00:25
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I think another factor is the move away from symbolic graphics in games. Stuff like giant Cloud running around on the world map, or the huge amount of reused animations doesn't jive with today's high standards. Instead of having to use our imaginations and meet the game halfway, everything is laid out for us as literally as possible. While this is a good thing in a lot of ways, there is inarguably something charming about those simple graphics.
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Dec 14, 2011 00:39
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Rockdash posted:I forgot all about that dude. This section of the game has some really weird and interesting monster designs. I disagree, as I thought a lot of the monsters were really something cut and paste from horror cliches (pumpkin heads for faces, possessed mirrors, balances, guillotines, and two-headed vampires of Chinese Taoism fundamentals). ???? is something I rarely use since I like to keep my HP up at all times. I like Vincent if only because he can transform. Despite being the brooding character, I imagine him voice acted in this game and I don't see him moping that much about his grudge, though I don't imagine much going into his actor at all, kind of like he just reads from his script. As for what Microwave casserole said as I type this post, I ignorantly chalk that up to people needing so much attention to detail for realism that they forget to use their own imaginations to have fun with some things. It's kind of perverted to have somebody or something tell you how to imagine things.
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Dec 14, 2011 00:52
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microwave casserole posted:I think another factor is the move away from symbolic graphics in games. Stuff like giant Cloud running around on the world map, or the huge amount of reused animations doesn't jive with today's high standards. Instead of having to use our imaginations and meet the game halfway, everything is laid out for us as literally as possible. While this is a good thing in a lot of ways, there is inarguably something charming about those simple graphics. Oh man, I wrote one too many essays about this for college. Tactless Ogre posted:I disagree, as I thought a lot of the monsters were really something cut and paste from horror cliches (pumpkin heads for faces, possessed mirrors, balances, guillotines, and two-headed vampires of Chinese Taoism fundamentals). ???? is something I rarely use since I like to keep my HP up at all times. Vincent acts much more mature after his introduction, surprisingly. He's not as bad a character as his first dialogue makes it look like. He's still (in my opinion) worse than the others overall though. Of course, whatever redeeming qualities he has go away the moment we touch the EU. Elentor fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Dec 14, 2011 |
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Dec 14, 2011 01:42
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Despite being female and young when I first encountered him in the game - I actually thought of Vincent as being less of a douche. Fangirls seem to frame him as the cliche brooding loner so it's extra special when they melt his heart, but I always remembered him being a bit quiet and thoughtful. A dude with a screwed up past but well adjusted, not a stupid ineffectual whiney bitch. I always thought it was some proto-twilight syndrome, but they were right. I have no idea who I was actually thinking of now. Thank you for ruining one of my favourite characters thread >: |
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Dec 14, 2011 01:44
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Lethemonster posted:Despite being female and young when I first encountered him in the game - I actually thought of Vincent as being less of a douche. Fangirls seem to frame him as the cliche brooding loner so it's extra special when they melt his heart, but I always remembered him being a bit quiet and thoughtful. A dude with a screwed up past but well adjusted, not a stupid ineffectual whiney bitch. I always thought it was some proto-twilight syndrome, but they were right. I have no idea who I was actually thinking of now. The proto-Twilight thing is quite appropriate to bring up considering the amount of Vampire movies made during the 90's, not least Interview with a Vampire, and Bram Stoker's Draula. And then, a few years later comes along Vincent as this brooding soul, tormented by blah blah blah, or at least, that's how people remember it. Out of interest I looked up the FFVII fanfiction page on Fanfiction.net (I'd advise those who haven't played this game not to go there because of any possible spoilers, and I'd advise everyone else, simply not to go there). Here's some numbers for you all: The oldest goes back to 23/07/99 and is some rubbish. The second oldest is features Vicent prominately. Of the 8 oldest, 3 feature Vincent as a major character. Of the 34,929, there are (at the time of writing) 4,701 stories featuring him. Sephiroth, by comparison has only 4,307. Cloud is the most featured with 9,868. All the other party memebers appears less, sometimes by margins of 3 1/2 thousand (Cait Sith). So this means that Vincent is the second most used (and abused) FFVII character. Oh Vincent, what have the fangirls done to you!
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Dec 14, 2011 03:28
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Pesky Splinter posted:Oh Vincent, what have the fangirls done to you! Paid Square lots of money to emasculate him.
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Dec 14, 2011 06:03
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According to the latest Game Informer, Obsidian is working on a South Park RPG, and:GI posted:Players have access to both melee and ranged weapons in most combat situations. As you progress, magic items like the lightning powered Okama Gamesphere become available. In a system Obsidian describes as similar to Final Fantasy VII's materia, your weapons can be augmented to grant various abilities like fire, electricity, and poison. Definitely not the only game to let you equip effects to weapons, but the specific callout to FFVII made me think of you guys.
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Dec 14, 2011 20:02
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I always liked the materia system from FF7 - Everyone gets magic. Everyone. No specific caster only spells - The Materia gains levels, not just the caster. If Cloud has Fire3 materia he can give it to Yuffie and now she can cast Fire3 - The drat things multiply. OK, so it took grinding, but rather than buy a second copy of whatever you had you could just grind away and lo and behold a new materia of that same kind at level 0 appeared. - Linking to ALL. Never playing an RPG before (much less any of the privious FF games) I had no idea that in older games you had to gain spell levels to target multiple enemies. - Where you put it matters. You can cast spells regardless of whether it is in your weapon or armor, but in the armor it can defend against attacks of that type, or attack with elemental damage if you put it on a weapon. Of course I didn't know at the time that you needed the elemental materia for that to work, so I think I never used it properly. Great LP.
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Dec 14, 2011 22:29
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