Did I waste 24 bucks?

[Jayel]

I finally got Final Fantasy X. After playing it for an hour, I'm suddenly reminded why I hate Japanese RPGs so much.

what's up with main characters looking like girls, and why are they almost always blonde?

and let's not forget the most commonly used lines of dialogue in Japanese RPGs:

"Huh?"

"Hey!"

[Intrepid Homoludens]

LOL! The Japanese culture and psychology are weird. Simple as that. They tend to fetishize pre-pube schoolgirls (complete in their uniforms), boys that look very feminine (i.e. androgyny), and babies (huge embryonic eyes on 'grownup' characters). Blonde and blue eyed 'asian' characters have this strangely erotic quality to them as well. It's inevitable - and even redundant to say - that these things will make their way into games.

[Wormsie]

I want to play Japanese RPGs.

[Roderick]

I think the most common line in Japanese RPG's is ". . ."

That's not a smily.

[manny_c44]

Once you get over the complete and utter lack of a cohesive story, FF X is a pretty fun game. It is plagued by half-baked concepts and rambling soliloqy (or however you spell it), but the battle system is nice and the production values are admirable. I rather liked the enviornments and most (...ok half) of the characters, overall a good game. I say stick with it for atleast a few hours before giving up on it completely.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

It's soliloquy.

I never did get into the FF series. I hate turn based combat.

[Metalmickey]

I think the most common line in Japanese RPG's is ". . ."

Yeah, definately

Japanese RPG's are definately their own genre, almost always so very different from Western ones, and a bit of an aquired taste for many people.

(Where's Kenty when you need him? This thread would kick him into full turbo mode!)

[MrHoatzin]

I'm playing FFX right now too... I think that lead that looks like Meg Ryan is really hot... if only he had a more feminine voice and some boobs, he would make a perfect lead...

I too am annoyed by the sighing and moaning and exclamations and the like... but ultimately, it don't matter...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I'm playing FFX right now too... I think that lead that looks like Meg Ryan is really hot... if only he had a more feminine voice and some boobs, he would make a perfect lead...

You're into hermaphrodites?

[Jayel]

yeah the voiceovers are awful.

I haven't seen any ". . ."s yet. I remember seeing tonnes of it in FF6.

Maybe they're saving it for the big ending sequence.

Those japaneseses sure are crazy!

[mee Ronn]

I won a grenade from some pirannas. Where exactly does a fish keep something like a grenade? I can also only assume that they were acting as some sort of fish FedEx as they never used it themselves.

I don't expect realism when I play a game like FFX, but I do think that grenade-toting killer fish is just a tad ridiculous.

[Guest]

If it's any consolation, Tidus is considered one of the most annoying leads in Final Fantasy history, right up there with Squall.

And damn...Yuna is awesome! Have a crush on her...LOL

FFX is a great game. Seriously, stick with it. It is one of the few games to make me cry through it's conclusion.

Or maybe I'm just a wuss.

[manny_c44]

Yeah, you're a pussy. FFX is absolutely devoid of emotion. I'd never before seen a game so focused on story and yet completely lacking one. Voice acting was generally piss too.

[Guest]

Yeah, you're a pussy. FFX is absolutely devoid of emotion. I'd never before seen a game so focused on story and yet completely lacking one. Voice acting was generally piss too.

Personally I quite enjoyed what it had to offer. A lot of it had been done before, but even still, I found myself quite drawn to the characters, I didn't even hate Tidus, which is supposedly a hell of an accomplishment. I don't want to spoil the game for people who haven't played it, but I generally like the characters, and was concerned with their welfare, and how their own individual stories evolved.

[MrHoatzin]

All the characters are half-developed.

That Kalamari fellow could hardly have less to him. Motherfucker doesn't talk at all. I barely upgraded him at all once I got Auron in my party. Rikku hints at an analytical mind, but is too weak and perky to do anything with it. Wakka is a freakin' fundamentalist. Yuna moans a lot. Lola or Lala or Lulu or whatever her name is would've been sexier if only she wasn't such a sanctimonious bitch. And Titus is just plain plain.

In addition the whole thing is badly written. Why must I torture myself with this garbage? I keep playing it and saying to myself, at this dramatic moment it would be better if he said that this way...

[manny_c44]

...I hardly think the spoiler tag is necessary, since Final Fantasy characters fit into those molds in every single iteration.

The biggest problem, even worse than the characters or the dialouge, is that Japanese-RPG urge to blow off into a 5 hour tangent for no reason, introduce more meaningless characters, and generally destroy whatever kind of narrative continuity it hoped to achieve at its outset. I can understand the developers excitement at his ability to add a moaning townsperson and complicated cutscenes, but these set-pieces exist only to prove their possibility. There are millions of shiny-eyed final fantasy fans who can blissfully nod along with the Japanese half-wits slapping together this interactive experience, but I would enjoy a cohesive and well written story more than whats there now.

[Seer]

After my brief flirtation with the stress test of WOW I was back in the mmorpg mood again. In a misguided browse at the evil place (yes I went into a PC World but only cos I was passing and was reaaaaalllly far from the nearest good shop) I was desperate for a mmorpg to play and picked up the FF shite.

As I got home with the box, I was gagging for a crap so was reading the box and manual in a bit more detail and looking at the PS2-esque graphics on the back and that feeling of dread settled in ever deeper.

The celophane wrapper was fixable so I pulled up a few reviews on 't'internet.' The "lack of depth", "the lack of anything resembling a storyline", the decidely shite characters and the thought of so many 1337 d00ds wining about manga rip-offs in the forums made up my mind to immediately melt the celophane back around the package and return it posthaste.

Thankfully when I returned home for a second time (at which point I was considering reinstalling Eve Online to devour another 18 months of my life) I had a EQ2 beta acceptance email waiting for me. Absolute devine intervention that was god himself telling me that I had made the right decision. (Since when I am finding that EQ2 is very damn pretty - but if they really release it on 8/11 they are fooking mad cos its about 50% ready content wise!)

[Zing]

I was desperate for a mmorpg to play and picked up the FF shite.

After extensively played several MMORPG's for the past 6 years, I can easily say that FFXI is the most fun, balanced, and complete MMORPG I have ever played. After being trained for years to accept the incomplete, beta quality, buggy, broken quest having, emergency patched, enforced jump through hoops gameplay type of games, FFXI was a complete breath of fresh air. It made me realize that I don't have to put up with the crap that other companies have put out. It is possible to have a finished, polished, and fun MMORPG. Going back to something like EQ2 would be a steel toed kick to the balls.

[guybrush_guy]

After extensively played several MMORPG's for the past 6 years, I can easily say that FFXI is the most fun, balanced, and complete MMORPG I have ever played. After being trained for years to accept the incomplete, beta quality, buggy, broken quest having, emergency patched, enforced jump through hoops gameplay type of games, FFXI was a complete breath of fresh air. It made me realize that I don't have to put up with the crap that other companies have put out. It is possible to have a finished, polished, and fun MMORPG. Going back to something like EQ2 would be a steel toed kick to the balls.

i hated FFXII, i thought it was a complete waste of my money. i found the game to be extremely empty and boring. i raised my character all the way to level 11 (which isn't that high) the games combat is really meant for a party of people not a soloist.

now to get back on topic, i enjoyed FFX. i thought it was very entertaining. the storyline did get annoying once in a wile but other then that it's a fairly good game. it's nothing compared to FFVII though.

[mercatfat]

you know, this is funny, because I feel exactly the same way you guys do about everything except switch around every instance of "american" and "japanese"

Quest for Glory? more like Quest for Boring.

HAH.\

i don't even understand the appeal of any non-Japanese RPG I've ever played. also, just for reference, i hate anime and 90% of all entertainment that comes from the nihon. I understand the culture, however, and even understand why Raiden was a great character in MGS 2, so Japanese RPG "quirks" just seem natural to me. for example, ever wonder why the characters are always blonde? obviously it's an "american" thing, but also Japanese culture considers touching blonde hair to give good luck. those who are naturally blonde, of course, are therefore "extremely lucky". blonde blonde blonde. they also love pale skin. that's me, mr. russia.

all that said, the new bard's tale looks decent.

[Johanna]

In addition the whole thing is badly written. Why must I torture myself with this garbage? I keep playing it and saying to myself, at this dramatic moment it would be better if he said that this way...

I found myself doing that too.

I didn’t have a problem with most of the voices. It was mainly Yuna’s, and that wasn’t so much the voice, as it was the bad acting.

Graphically, the game is pretty sexy. That’s the only good thing I remember.

...and even understand why Raiden was a great character in MGS 2...

So people who hated Raiden just didn’t understand why he was great? I think I must be a moron then.

[manny_c44]

you know, this is funny, because I feel exactly the same way you guys do about everything except switch around every instance of "american" and "japanese"

Quest for Glory? more like Quest for Boring.

HAH.\

i don't even understand the appeal of any non-Japanese RPG I've ever played. also, just for reference, i hate anime and 90% of all entertainment that comes from the nihon. I understand the culture, however, and even understand why Raiden was a great character in MGS 2, so Japanese RPG "quirks" just seem natural to me. for example, ever wonder why the characters are always blonde? obviously it's an "american" thing, but also Japanese culture considers touching blonde hair to give good luck. those who are naturally blonde, of course, are therefore "extremely lucky". blonde blonde blonde. they also love pale skin. that's me, mr. russia.

all that said, the new bard's tale looks decent.

You probably have never played a good US RPG. Try fallout. At first you might be put off by the lack of pompous speechifying and the presence of gameplay, but you'll probably survive the shock.

[AGA]

Fallout was made by Canadians.

[manny_c44]

US styled then. I'm not saying USa RoolZ!!! Im just saying Japan Suxxorz.

[Emotion Magnet]

yes.. FFX is SHIT.. you wasted your money