Weekly Geeks #5 — alternate forms of storytelling
Weekly Geeks #5 — or, what I do when I am not working or reading. This week is about other forms of storytelling!
I like playing role-playing games. Oh, I love playing RPGs. Most of the games I play are RPGs. The first RPG I remember playing was one of the Might and Magic games for the PC — it was Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven (little brother: “Sis, what does ‘mandate’ mean?” — see, it’s educational), and it was sufficiently a long enough time ago to have pixelated graphics and really bad sound effects. Oh goblins ambushing me by the bridge going “rawrrrrr”, how could I ever forget you?
RPGs are a valid form of storytelling: I insist on this! Anyone who doesn’t agree hasn’t played enough RPGs, that’s what I think. The games tell a story, except it’s on screen and you control the characters. It’s just like reading books except there are characters moving across the screen and, uh, probably cutting up monsters or enemies with swords. Or staves. Or maybe magic. Or really cool moves. Sometimes I get so frustrated when I can’t get past a boss fight because then the story won’t go on (at least not until I’ve levelled up enough) and I am stuck there wondering what’s going to happen next. Pretty much like when you read a book, isn’t that, dying to know what happens next and patiently plodding through (or rushing; it’s really your choice) towards the ending.
Games, story-wise, that I love most are Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, mostly because of the characters. I liked most of the Final Fantasy games I’ve played. I’ve played VII and onwards, but not including Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core and whatever else FFVII has spawned; also haven’t played XI (because it’s online), and Tactics Advance (because I don’t have a Gameboy Advance) and the various tie-ins to XII (can’t keep track of them). I got irreversibly sucked into fanfiction by FFVIII, so I’ll always love it a little more than any other game. (Renay talks about fanfic, and also about FFVIII, here. One day, I’ll talk about fanfic. Maybe when I review Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars.)
What made we start playing the Final Fantasy VIII, though, was not the pretty opening sequence, but listening to my brother complaining about the “Junction” system the game uses. I rather liked the system — it was different than the other games I had played. Though I swear, the only thing worse than “Boost” was Vagrant Story’s “Chaining” system. I never finished the latter because of that. FFVIII also has one of the most addictive mini games ever, Triple Triad. It’s a card game, with somewhat math-based rules to it, and I couldn’t stop playing the game until I won all the cards. My brother never really understood my obsession with it, I think, XD.
Out of all the games, I especially liked FFX’s story, and the graphics are lovely — I’ve always been partial to the sea, and in Final Fantasy X the world is nothing but islands and the sea is never far away — and there’s a sweetness about first love in the game that makes me really fond of it. I think FFX-2 is cool, too, despite popular opinions.
Another series that I’ve enjoyed playing is the Xenosaga series. You want a long, complicated, detailed science fiction storyline? Then Xenosaga is the one for you. It has three games — Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse and Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra (yes, all references to Friedrich Nietzsche’s works). A lot of interesting characters — Allen Ridgeley is my favourite sidekick ever, seriously — and backstories that will leave your head whirling. In a good way. The bad thing is, even after I finished all three games, I still can’t make head or tails of some of the things that happened. One day I will try to play them all again. One day. Some of the puzzle games in this one drove me up the wall, though.
The game I like playing most is a tactical RPG called Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Yes, tactical — basically there’s a grid and moves are limited according to character class, etc, and you move your characters around and try to outmanoeuvre the enemy. Almost like chess. See how everyone is lined up in the screenshot there, all ready to vanquish the enemy. The plot is rather cute, really — Prince Laharl of the Netherworld (he’s a demon, by the way) is woken up by his vassal Etna and he realises he’s been asleep for two years, and that his father is dead. He doesn’t seem to care much about this. Enter Flonne, an angel from Celestia, sent to assassinate Laharl’s father, only to discover that the king’s already dead. She then feels sorry for Laharl, and decides to follow him and Etna around, trying to prove that demons were capable of love. I like this game a lot because it’s really fun and cheeky, and there are multiple endings, depending on what you do in the game.
I’m currently playing Odin Sphere. See the pretty trailer here. And am still stuck at Cornelius’s story, because he keeps getting sucked into a dragon and I don’t have enough potions. Pfft.
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Other other forms of storytelling I enjoy (and a recommendation each):
- Manga: Bleach by Kubo Tite — a boy who can see spirits and a girl from the afterworld! Together, they fight crime! A lot kick-ass fighting going on! Also, very funny.
- Anime: Princess Tutu — a duck who’s a girl who’s a princess who’s a duck tries to find the pieces of the heart of a prince. I swear that that makes sense.
- TV shows: . . . I haven’t watched much TV lately, but Eureka has been interesting, and I had enjoyed Arrested Development while it lasted.
- Cartoons: this totally counts! Even though I guess it’s a TV show too! I love Danny Phantom . . . I was sad when I realised that it only ran for two seasons.
