Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Crystal Bearers: Two Hours In...

So I am currently two hours into Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, and although I'm not completely blown away, I am pleasantly surprised. I think a lot of the negative press the game has gotten has been due to unrealistic (and incorrect) expectations about how the game would actually play.

We knew from early announcements that FFCC: TCB was going to be a single player story-driven game, but S-E never stated that it would be a traditional RPG. In fact, we were kept in the dark completely up until the game was due to be released. Upon release in Japan, it got decent (but not great) reviews, with complaints lodged mostly at the controls.

Reviewers here in the States have blasted it as a minigame collection in disguise, which I believe is an unfair assessment. Basically, here's what you have in this psuedo-action-RPG-casual-hybrid game:

* Graphics with a wonderful Square-Enix art style and technology/effects that hold up against some of their later PS2 releases. Sadly, this is a HUGE compliment when you compare the graphics of this game against Chocobo's Dungeon and Dragon Quest Swords. Against Nintendo's finest, the graphics are still competent. Let's see more of this on Wii.

* Varied gameplay. Within the first 2 hours I've had no less than 5 minigames with different sets of controls. Admittedly some are more fun than others. This game was most certainly aimed at Final Fantasy n00bz that may or may not be familiar with the series. They try to use the Wiimote in many different ways, and not all of them work well.

* Battles themselves are...interesting. Those who have played Dawn of Mana will feel at home here, since all battles revolve around grabbing stuff and hurling it at enemies. Because you have to control the camera manually and you can't lock onto enemies while you're holding an object, this creates some serious problems with more difficult battles.

* The physics engine, however, leaves a bit to be desired. Dawn of Mana used HAVOK, which gave objects a sense of weight and mass. All objects in FFCC:TCB react the same when tossed around, which is disappointing. There was a lot of potential here for physics hijinks that is totally unrealized.

* The story is action-packed and there's an open world and tons of sidequests to undertake. I'm just afraid of running up against a minigame or battle that just proves too unfairly frustrating with the controls...

So, overall, not bad. I wouldn't have paid $50 for it, but it's definitely a decent rental. A step in the right direction for S-E development on Wii. Not great - but not terrible either.



If I compare this game against Nintendo's first-party lineup, it holds up graphically but falters with the use of the Wiimote - which is passable but definitely not intuitive and can also be unresponsive at times.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Lucky [FF] 13...



FFXIII's first day sales numbers are in, and they are unsurprisingly limit-breaking.

Over 1 million people bought the game. In other words, 1 out of every 120 people IN THE ENTIRE NATION OF JAPAN went out and bought the game. For 8300 Yen ($90+). On the FIRST DAY of release. With an installed base of slightly over 4 million, that means one out of every four PS3 owners came out for the festivities and returned home with a copy of FFXIII.

What is more surprising, however, is the lack of PS3 shortages and the lack of Lightning Bundle shortages. Apparently over 100,000 Lightning Bundles were sold - but compared to the massive amount of games sold separately, that's a drop in the bucket. I actually expected the game to move more PS3s on the first day of release, and significantly so. The PlayStation 1 didn't have a strong presence in Japan prior to FFVII launching, and immediately afterwards became THE console to own.

This gaming market is a bit more complicated these days than it was back then, particularly in Japan. In Japan, although the PS3 installed base is 75% larger than the 360's installed base, it's still comparatively tiny compared to the installed base of EITHER console in the States and in Europe. Going to Akihabara and trying to find new HD games to buy for either console is a sad, sad affair - most of the shelves filled with either localized Western ports or crappy text-based adventure games. It seems that most Japanese developers are terrified of making games for either HD console, and I had (and still have) high hopes for Final Fantasy XIII to turn that around, even if it did prop up the PS3 as the worldwide first-choice console for Japanese software.

Like most problems these days, I blame the economy.

I already ranted about this last time, but the fact that the majority of well-known series dropping to portables for sequels is an alarming trend. Everything from fighting games to RPGs - both genres that are arguably the LEAST comfortable to play on portable systems - are making the jump. Japanese companies, most of them anyway, remain convinced that the portable market (PSP and DSi ) is the only way to guarantee profit from a release, and as such the big-budget franchises are taking huge risks by changing platform. Don't believe for a second that there wasn't a bunch of Japanese nerd rage when Dragon Quest IX was announced as a DS exclusive. That didn't stop half the country of Japan from buying it, with some people buying multiple copies to have more than one save slot (sadly, the creator of the game actually suggested this in an interview as a solution for the lack of multiple slots).

The lack of Lightning Bundle shortages in Japan ties into marketing. The import shops around the world sent out emails last week stating that the stock was less than expected, and hiked the price of the bundles to a cool $800. For something retailing for less than $400 in Japan proper. The funniest part: nobody EVER said this was a LIMITED edition. And actually it would be a bad move to make it a limited edition, because that would make less people able to buy the game/PS3 bundle, the availability of which is a win-win for Sony and Square Enix. The import shops are certainly taking advantage of the "oversight" and are riding the hype wave. The speed of XIII's localization speaks volumes not only on the new significance of the Western market in terms of console penetration compared to portables, but also of the importance of this title for Square Enix, a company notorious for treating its overseas customers like second-class citizens.

Put simply: we like our portables in the West, but they are NOT a valid replacement for console gaming. And we like our HD games. Final Fantasy XIII is going to do well not only as a FF game, but as a top-tier HD JP console game. There aren't many on the market right now, particularly for the PS3. "MAKE IT RAINNNNNNNNN!"

Another surprising news article that came out over the last few days... "core" game sales are up, and "casual" game sales are down. Some people argue that the "industry darling of the moment" soccer moms and grandmas are moving on past the Wii fad. I say it's more of a difference in how they play games. For us core gamers, gaming is a part of our daily lives. For most people, the Wii won't be used except for special occasions, like board games for example. The 'Fit' line of stuff is a trap, but it's a trap that sells really, really well and gives the casuals an excuse to use their wii more often (before they get lazy and let the Wii Balance Board gather dust in the closet).

All I have to say to game companies: "Remember who's going to keep you in business when the casuals lose interest. Better start learning how to please both audiences at once."

I wanted to come up with a funny personification with the video game industry playing the part of a ditzy high school girl trying to choose between the shallow jock (casual) and her plainer, but more loyal, best friend (core). I just don't have the creativity at the moment to make that happen...

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Cheater, Cheater, Sushi Eater!!!

So, for those that were wondering what happened to us this weekend, we made a brief trip to Chicago. The reasoning was twofold:

1.) Celebrate Christmas early with my immediate family and grandparents (freeing Christmas Eve up for the significant other's family), and...

2.) Take the JLPT.

What's the JLPT? JLPT stands for Japanese Language Proficiency Test, the passing of which may assist with overseas assignments down the line. I signed up for Level 3 - basic conversational level, but after finding some sample tests online I found that studying my textbooks from college - even 300 level ones - left me grossly underprepared. So I hit the books hard this week, after returning from Japan I spent a good deal of time both during the day and at night devoted to reviewing grammar points and learning Kanji.

I studied so much that aside from a brief dinner with my best buddy and a brief visit with my grandparents, the vast majority of my time was spent exiled in a room away from my parents and girlfriend, building up my J-vocabulary. I really, really wanted to pass this thing, and found myself more and more nervous as the test approached.

So finally Sunday - the day of the test - comes. My parents drive me down into ghetto Lincoln Park (not to be confused with the angsty punk rock band with the different spelling) to take the test. There was a big sign for the JLPT on the outside of the building, so the location was fairly obvious. Once inside, I spent a little bit of time chatting with another Level 3 examinee and his girlfriend, who both drove up from southern Indiana to take the test. Like myself, they lamented the fact that Chicago is the only midwest test site - it was either drive to Chicago or fly out to San Fran, Seattle, New York, DC, or Atlanta. Since I have family in Chicago it really wasn't a big deal...but still. In any case, he was just as nervous as I was. We went up to our separate rooms for the exam and took our seats. Each room had two proctors: One that knew no Japanese, and a fluent speaker to answer questions (like they'd tell you anything anyways).

So the test starts - Vocab and Kanji was the first part. I started into the test and marked a few answers before noticing unusual movement. I looked up, and the guy in the row in front of me and to my right had placed (what appeared to be) a CHEAT SHEET LOADED WITH KANJI on the floor in front of him. I wasn't close enough to see exactly what was on it, but it appeared to me that he had written a bunch of information on the back of his test voucher/admission ticket. The proctor, completely oblivious continued to sit and look over something completely unrelated to the test. I couldn't have been the only one to see this.

Now normally, if I was in a college class - or a test with a bell curve where it would have actually mattered to have someone gaining an unfair advantage against me - I would have totally reported this guy right away, but I figured it was pointless. First of all, reporting him would cost ME a couple of minutes of test time on this first section - and secondly, getting him kicked out does nothing for my score. Everyone is graded individually and the score to pass is an even 60%. So really, I had nothing to gain by reporting Mr. Kanji Voucher Ninja.

After the first section of the test ends, he appears to scribble more stuff down on his cheat sheet, this time on the front - yep, it was his entrance voucher. Still too far away to see exactly what he was doing, but it was definitely not kosher. In any case, the next part of the test was the Listening portion, and I was hoping it would go better than the previous section - during which I was both distracted and also confused about a few of the questions.

Luckily, last week's vacation in Tokyo listening to tons of real-life speakers going super-speed turbocharged my Nihongo listening skills. I was a Super Saiyan 4 comprehension wizard, and probably only missed a question or two on that entire section. Mr. Ninja was still writing away on his voucher, probably preparing some hints for the next section of the test. I still couldn't believe neither the English nor Japanese proctor could see this guy. He was in the FRONT ROW. And his cheat sheet was placed diagonally in front of him where he could look at it. I mean, COME ON.

The Grammar section was the hardest part of the sample tests, and the real thing was no different. Yet again, down goes the voucher, in plain view of both proctors. Yet again, nobody notices. I plow through, hopefully getting enough answers I need in order to be certified. They collect the test booklets and the test sheets, and tell us it's OK to leave... when one of the proctors goes to the door and proceeds to request all our entry vouchers. HAHAHAHA...busted. So I gather my stuff and head to the door - and who should be in front of me but Voucher Ninja himself, completely oblivious as he hands over his cheat sheet - which I could now plainly see was loaded with test material. Unbelievable. The proctor, shocked, told him he'd have to stay behind, and let the rest of us go. Since my parents were waiting outside the building to pick me up from the test site, I couldn't stay to watch the carnage. But I'm fairly sure he got his entire test voided and wasted an entire afternoon. 残念ですね。

I'm not sure I passed - there seemed to be a lot of tricks, but I know I got a lot of questions right as well. In any case, I'm glad Mr. Kanji Voucher Ninja got what was coming to him...