You think?

Square Enix decides 18-hour battles might be a bit much after all.

Casualties

Not long ago, a friend pointed me to a VGCats strip that appears to sum up how a lot of gamers are feeling about the casual gamer revolution.

I have to admit that I don’t mind it quite as much as some others do. Granted, it’s not the greatest thing in the world — I’d love a new Zelda (or six) and maybe, if we’re really really lucky, a return to the old-style FFs, right about now — but I am also horribly addicted to Brain Age (and Brain Age², its hyperactive cousin^*). I will not rest until I’ve beaten my sister at every “event” in Wii Sports.

And I’ve only tried Wii Fit once, but I’ve become a step fiend.

All that said, I do feel an incredible sense of nostalgia for the way things used to be; game series consisted of classics rather than random knockoffs intended as cash grabs. At the same time, that’s probably what people said about Dr. Mario when it was first released.

Nintendo realized long ago that a huge part of keeping its base audience happy is nostalgia — hence all the remakes and ports of old-school games for newer systems. Will it be enough to keep people tuned in in the era of gaming as a casual endeavour? Only time will tell.

^*Mad bonus points if you get the Clone High reference.

Final Fantasy IV DS, part two

Yes, it sure has been a long time since I posted anything here and no, I haven’t been holed up in a closet playing Final Fantasy IV DS the entire time (just most of the time). The game is progressing nicely, though I’ve recently come to everyone’s favourite part: wandering around the Eblan area in a vain attempt to get Edge up to a level that won’t cause him to hinder everyone else. Which he will, anyway.

This, coupled with an impending move, have led me to take a little bit of a break. I’m still gaming, of course, but focused mostly on my daily Brain Age activities (it’s sad, I know).

Nonetheless, I do have thoughts on things up until this point:

• It’s pronounced “Yah-ng?” Seriously? We can name a character something that rhymes with “chlymidia,” but a name that rhymes with “wang” is out of the question?
• Edward’s big moment (trying so very hard not to spoil anything) made more sense when the device was called a “Twin Harp” instead of a “Whisperweed.” Seriously. It’s an actual weed now.
• I think I miss the Dark Elf’s old speech patterns, hard as they were on the eyes.
• The programmers have spoken: it’s a scythe.
• Finally bothered to start using augments, though I’ve missed the boat on some of the better ones (or so my book tells me). Draw attacks + counter = fear me!
• The Underworld looks gorgeous.
• The dolls are scarier than ever.
• The Namingway thing is starting to get a little bizarre — but seriously, why is he suddenly a rabbit rather than some dude with a turban?

Onward we go.

“We’re from way after the day after tomorrow.”

SquEnix announced last month that they will be releasing Chrono Trigger for the DS “this holiday season”. The remake will feature a new dungeon and wireless gameplay capabilities, but the official trailer reveals that unlike its Final Fantasy predecessors, the game will remain in 2-D. Gamespot’s E3 review says that even with the addition of a few touch-screen capabilities on the world map and during battle, the port looks fantastic but still retains the feel of the original.

All the awesomeness of the SNES version and the full-motion videos from the Playstation release in a portable package. As if I needed another reason to invest in a DS.