Final Fantasy Record Keeper

For people who grew up playing Final Fantasy games on their SNES, Final Fantasy Record Keeper will be a nostalgic experience. I remember when I first played Final Fantasy VI - where characters like Locke, Terra, Celes, Sabin, Edgar, Cyan, Gau, Mog, and Shadow became the topic of conversation among friends. It was this series, in my opinion, that made the FF franchise a gamer brand. And with the recent drought of FF games, perhaps Record Keeper is Square Enix's way of trying to prevent the brand from fading from gamer's minds.

Record Keeper brings back characters from FF IV, V, VI, VII, and X (so far - and although their ads show Squall from FF VIII, I've yet to encounter any characters from that game). Come to think of it, I haven't encountered a FF VI character either. The main character, Tyro, looks like Strago's granddaughter - Merle. He's  a hybrid between a warrior and a mage - which is what makes him special. Other characters are either warriors only or mage only. Aside from him, what I have right now are Cloud and Tifa of FF VII and Tidus and Wakka of FF X. Not really a fan of FF IV, and FF V characters are more of roles (Ranger, Bard, Warrior, etc). Some of these characters will become important in certain stages because of their abilities - for example, a stage in the Shinra building where I'm trying to acquire Sephiroth (yes, the FF VII bad guy) has a boss that can only be hit using range attacks. So Cloud and Tifa - the members of my party which I've been using most of the time, become useless for that stage, and I have to rely on Wakka, the Bard, and the Ranger for offense. The Priest becomes the only FF V character that is staple in my party since it is the only one with mass healing capabilities at the current level I am in. Game play is similar to FF VI - but limited in that you can only have two abilities or spells equipped during any battle. So you have to swap out abilities depending on the battle scenario - which means your party has to die and you'll have to repeat the process with the new abilities to win. From a developer standpoint - this is smart, since it ensures that players will be playing this game for a long time. (As if leveling up multiple characters wasn't enough of repeat playability).

FF Record Keeper is the only free FF game on Google Play. The intro was pretty awesome, but the lack of depth in the story line is uncharacteristic of an FF title. There isn't even a villain - or an explanation for the fading records (or paintings in this case) except maybe, that the gamers are forgetting about the FF titles due to an abundance of other great games out there.

So what will keep this game going? If you love collecting equipment and party members and leveling up characters, then those would be the reasons for you to keep on playing. But mission wise, you save all of the paintings in probably three days of continuous play. (And with most games having stamina as a way of limiting gamer play time - that really says a lot about the length of this game. I remember the 90 plus hours I invested in FF VI - now that was a really long game with all those quests). Square Enix developers should still invest in the story. I think that the stories of the characters were the reasons I wanted to collect them when I was playing FF VI.

Still, if you just want to reminisce and can't afford a PS4 for the latest FF game, then try out Record Keeper. At least you'll get to see Cid and Mog. Kupo!

Finishing Final Fantasy XIII-2

I wanted to finish the game at least once before writing my thoughts about it. I was hoping FF 13-2 would be one of the best games of 2012. The developers seem to have meshed some of the best elements of past RPG classics. Capture monsters and have them fight other monsters is Pokemon inspired. Travel back and forth through time is Chrono Trigger inspired. Even the paradigm formations have their names based on Chrono Trigger party formations.

Have only three members in a party permanently was probably provoked by Secret of Mana (although I might be stretching here a bit) and is good for character development. (What I mean by this is that in most RPGs, you rarely even use the 5th to Nth additional available characters since you usually have your favorite 3 or 4 who rotate in your party). Bring back Mog as a party member (although technically, he is a weapon) has been enkindled by FF 6. So combine everything that was good about past RPGs and hope that you come up with another classic. This was probably the thought in the developers minds.

But they have also removed some of the better elements of FF13-1 such as item / accessory /weapon creation based on the Star Ocean series. Another element removed is the summoning of guardian forces or espers or eidolons or whatever you want to call them, that have been a final fantasy trademark if you will for a long time. And while having only 3 members in your party, and at that only 2 are characters, it can get a bit stale after just playing with the same members whose crystarium points have been maxed out. Perhaps if there were 10 characters whose crystarium points needed to be maxed out, then that would add to the game's replay value.

I actually think that the battle engine of FF 12 was the best among a lot of FF games. (Sure, it literally became auto-battle for non-boss battles if you have programmed it right). FF 13-2 also lacked an addictive side game like FF8's card battle. Sure, bring back the chocobo races. After a few laps, it just becomes boring.

And when will players ever get to control an air ship (or a space ship) and explore the world? (But since this is a time travel game, it might not be necessary, but they also used portals in FF XIII so I'm thinking developers are just lazy).

Now for the part of the game has me currently pissed off. And if you want to avoid me spoiling your fun, you should stop reading. Again I say stop reading this post. Don't say I didn't warn you. This is the first Final Fantasy game that ends with TO BE CONTINUED....

Are you kidding me? This idea was probably borrowed from Xenosaga, but in that game, players expected a 3-part series even before they purchased the game. I don't recall any other FF game ever ending with TO BE CONTINUED... and as an FF fan, I never want any game to end that way.

"We just want to make more money by making you buy half a game" was probably the thought in the minds of the business managers at Square Enix. "And we might not even release the 3rd installment on the PS3, but wait for the PS4". I have played FF since 6 and the skipped a few games such as 9 and 10-2. There hasn't been an FF game in a long time so I decided to pick up XIII-2. And if not for the story, perhaps its major redeeming quality, I would have skipped this game too.

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