Thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII, and why it makes me think of Resident Evil 5

Final Fantasy Lite - Making a game more "Cinematic," can sometimes have undesirable results.

As such, games that favor a more story driven, movie-like experience can suffer from a simplified, linear, and watered-down design. Resident Evil 5, and Final Fantasy XIII, are perfect examples of where the old formula wasn't good enough for developers, who redesigned their games to fit into a more hybrid action-oriented category, even if those games already had a successful formula established in previous installments.

Unfortunately for games focusing on cinematic design, players feel restricted to staying on the neatly scripted path, so that story elements and cutscenes can take effect, while moving on a forward progression without much, if any, backtracking. Whether you find this approach effective or not, it is a shame to see games losing the elements that made them appealing in the first place. RE5 and it's lack of horror, mystery, and problem solving. And FFXIII missing RPG adventure, and discovery. It's like tainting, a time-tested formula.

Are Japanese game developers giving into the pressure of keeping up with North American obsession with blockbuster games, or are they merely adapting to the trend (albeit unsuccessfully), and in the process altering their beloved games beyond the point of recognition? With a goal to reach a wider audience, a new generation of gamers unfamiliar with past titles in a franchise, but who desire bigger, bolder, and faster pacing, Square-Enix delivers a streamlined Final Fantasy.

In an excerpt from IGN's Square-Enix Defends Linear Design In Final Fantasy XIII, director Motomu Toriyama explains the linearity of FFXIII, but he fails to see why it could backfire.

"The game system itself actually changes between these two worlds, with the first half of the game taking place in Cocoon being a very story driven experience, whereas the second half in Gran Pulse is an open world design with a more free style of gameplay."

While I agree that Gran Pulse has more exploration involved, there isn't much to discover, nor much of an open-world adventure, since Gran Pulse still exists in a defined area with linear paths, and mob missions.

"In order to allow the player to become absorbed in the drama of the storytelling and the new and exciting world of Cocoon and be drawn to the characters without getting distracted or lost we have deliberately used a linear game design for the introduction sections so they can be enjoyed in the same manner as watching a film."

And I consider that to be the biggest fail with FFXIII, their intent on making a videogame, like a film, and actually subjecting the player to excessive, non-interactive cutscenes. The so-called drama of the storytelling, never absorbed me enough to care for the characters, or their epic fight. I think it is because these characters were never in any danger, with no real struggles, or problems the player has to help them get out of. They just talk too much, whine and pout.

"I make a promise that even if you have never played a Final Fantasy game, or even an RPG before then you will still be able to appreciate FFXIII with no difficulty," he added.

I definitely agree that even those who have never played FF, or an RPG will appreciate FFXIII with no difficulty, because the game was designed for people like that.

A game crossed with Phantasy Star Online, meets Star Wars, meets Japanese animation, I think Square-enix's obsession with style, has reached the point of annoyance. It would be one thing if this were strictly an animated film, but it's not, this is a videogame. Filling a game with cinematics does not make it a good game. Sure these are big budget animations, but I'm watching them, not playing them! So I guess they've succeeded in that respect.

(thank you 'skip' button)

In Square-Enix's efforts to please everyone from the gamers, to the anime fans, to the first time FF players. They might want to reconsider their "focus," if you will.

And while RE5 incorporated interactive action sequences, FFXIII is basically battle/cutscene/battle, with some walking between Point A to Point B. Long gone are the exploration and discovery aspects, the patient, and quiet immersion into a virtual world.

Some consider FFXIII a streamlined game experience. Others consider the game to be a step backwards in terms of battle mechanics to previous games in the series. Neither of those opinions would be off the mark, since the game is all of that.

Having recently played through Final Fantasy XIII (clocking-in 54+ hrs), I'm still conflicted with my game experience. The game looks good, and the battles play well, the lvling system is interesting, but other than that, there's not much else. It's an odd departure from my fond memories of classic Final Fantasy games, and the JRPG design that I was interested in. As a gamer my expectations were high, for my return to playing Final Fantasy, having skipped the entire Playstation FF generations. Waiting and reading little of FFXIII kept me curious to finally play the game upon release on the XBOX 360.

My exceptionally high hopes would be deflated. Being unable to manage each of my party members abilities, had me thinking I was playing RE5 all over again, having to depend on AI. And the focus on pretty cinematics, with overly designed (impractical) character design, amused me. Oh how Final Fantasy has changed since going 3D. It is as if catering to the cosplay obsessed fans, is the only reason they continue to make Final Fantasy games.

And with this game, I simply wasn't prepared for the amount of Final Fantasy-ness that has evolved overtime, and the culture that surrounds FF. Merging animation, J-Pop music, J-drama overkill, cheesy Japanese anime dynamic of a cast of characters, who play more like a team of Power Rangers. FFXIII is 100% Square-Enix, but they seem to have have overdone the style, before the substance.

Resident Evil 5, seemed like the beginning of this trend, a vague memory of what the RE used to be. It's like someone put these games through a filter, and out pops a game with the same brand name, but a "lite" attached to it.

Done with TLAD now ready for Resident Evil 5

I'm done with GTA IV: The Lost and Damned and I'm ready for the arrival of Resident Evil 5.

The first downloadable content for GTA IV was short, and sweet, giving players more of the criminal life in the urban world of Liberty City they've come to expect from the series. And though the cast of characters are new, they are hardly as memorable or as appealing as those in Niko's universe -- Ashley the drugged-out former girlfriend of Johnny, and the other members of the Lost gang, are pretty dull in comparison to GTA IV's main cast, you could even say they were forgettable. If given more time to develop these characters in a longer game or another episode, I'm sure they'd actually have some character development going on, but given TLAD is quite short, there's not much to develop. I LOL'd when Ashley proclaimed "I'm gonna go to Rehab!" on the steps of the safehouse, which was a quick way to put some closure to the annoying Ashley character. They should have just called her Amy Winehouse. Admittedly the cross-overs and cameos of GTV IV characters is what I looked forward to most, and what kept me interested, not so much the 'Lost' drama.

The game itself does have a few improvements over the previous GTV IV's gameplay, a few cool motorcycle missions, and action sequences, but surprisingly in the end the energy of 'The Lost and Damned' seemed to drop off suddenly, coming to a really bland and disappointing concluding mission. "That's it?" I said, when the credits started rolling. No bike stunts? No grabbing on to helicopters?

Aside from the ending, and uninteresting characters, for a smaller GTA game, it's a good step in the episodic direction. I wonder what's next? Asian mafia in Liberty City? Rockstar has to hit up every ethnicity to keep the series going!

In any case, bring it on...

Please stop sending me the Stop Uwe Boll Petition!!

Jumping on the Uwe Boll "hate" bandwagon is so 2006

Just because I interviewed the guy at his Raging Boll Boxing publicity stunt, doesn't mean I actually care for his movies. In fact, I don't give a flying F*ck. I just don't care, to the extent that I don't care for the petition to stop his filmmaking career.

Why do people even care about his movies anyway? He hasn't exactly turned the most popular video games, into horrendous films. Besides, it's not like gamers really cared about the Alone in the Dark, and House of the Dead games.

How many people actually played House of The Dead? How Many people actually played Alone in the Dark?

Sure they have a following, (a cult following which includes me) but they ain't no Halo, in terms of sales, or mainstream pop-cultural acceptance.

These games should never have been made into movies. Even if they were made by a different director, I'm sure they'd be pretty shiotty. Hello! House of the Dead! Anyone who's actually played the series knows it has a pretty campy/cheesy/cliched storyline with awful cinematics and voice over. I wasn't exactly waiting around for someone to make it into a feature film.

It's not like there were many people who remembered Alone in the Dark, either. Most people on the petition probably aren't old enough to remember Alone in the Dark! As for BloodRayne, Dungeon Siege, Postal... never interested me. Yet I can see where the anger comes from. Why make these games into films if people weren't hoping and wishing for movies based on them. Especially given Uwe's reputation, and the way they turned out. We have every right to fear more crappy video game to film abominations.

But everyone needs to realize that there are worse movies out there, and worse directors. Why aren't people bitching about Paul Anderson, and his Resident Evil flicks? He's raped Resident Evil, the Alien/Predator franchise, and now OMG Castlevania with Stomp the Yard director Sylvain White?!! Or what about Xavier Gen and his Hitman filck, that no one saw. Let's not forget Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, Roland Joffé, Dean Semler, all of who had a hand in making Super Mario Bros. the movie. What about DOA: Dead or Alive? or The live-action Street Fighter directed by Steven E. de Souza (who also helped write The Cradle of Life)? Lara Croft: Tomb Raider by Simon West? Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life by Jan de Bont

What about the new Street Fighter? Maybe there should be a petition to end Andrzej Bartkowiak's career... a director who also just so happened to direct Doom... as well as Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave, and other hip hop martial arts cheese??

Gamers shouldn't be angry at solely Uwe Boll. Hollywood is to blame. Developers/Publishers who whore out their properties without much involvement (if any), in it's adaptation and production are to blame. Video game's aren't being treated, or respected as source material, as novels are treated when adapting for film. It's a shame.

I'm not worried about Uwe. I'm more worried about McG doing the next Terminator filck, and Paul Anderson molesting Castlevania. The world is coming to an END.

Signing the petition is like contributing to a marketing survey that shows statistically, 1 million people are aware of Uwe Boll's existence. What an ego booster. If you wanted to hate on someone, ignoring them is worse than acknowledging.