Tag: video games

Final Fantasy really is going downhill, fast

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Earlier in the week, I was reading this article about the supposed slow dying of the Final Fantasy franchise, and it made me think about my own fandom in the series as I was growing up.  For the most part, I agree that the franchise as a whole is a shell of its former self, and I’m not going to pretend like I was nearly a vested fan to care so much about the writers, producers, directors, or whatever positions people held that made the old games great that when they left or moved on, yeah I guess I should have been concerned about the direction of the future games, but I didn’t.

If I were asked to pinpoint the precise spot where the series began its gradual turn downhill, I would say it was from the moment that Final Fantasy X-2 was conceived.  It was at this point did the series break a two-decade old tradition of never making a direct sequel to any one particular game, despite the potential that any one of them may have had.  Not only did FFX2 break the tradition, it ended up being a pretty shitty game by all popularly reviewed standards.  This commenter seems to have nailed how I thought about it:

But FFX-2 was where it became clear to me that Final Fantasy was dead. It was an insipid, grindy package of fan-service that not only insulted fans of the classic Final Fantasy games, but also fans of the original FFX, completely undercutting the original story by bastardizing its own characters and ruining the (ostensibly) tragic sacrifice of Tidus at the end of FFX. That’s when I really woke up and realized that the series I had fallen in love with was gone, turned into a shambling, undead mockery of itself.

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I haven’t really done this in a while

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Typically whenever I write, it’s at work, and I’m on some variant of downtime.  Currently, I’m actually at home, and the urge to write about something came upon me entirely while I’m on my very own spare time.  This hasn’t really happened to me in quite some time, so I figured out why not write and see what comes out.

I don’t want to say that the last few weekends have sucked by any means, but the truth of the matter is that I haven’t had any time to myself throughout the last three weekends.  That in itself was kind of problematic, and it got to a point where it began affecting my moods very obviously, as I hadn’t really had any time to unwind, decompress, or simply relax.  Given the circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again because that’s what friends do, but I’m also not going to deny that it really was taking its toll on me as well the longer it went on.

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This is actually logically brilliant

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

I don’t like to give credit to the Chinese too often, but from a logic standpoint, I have to say that this father came up with an absolutely brilliant idea: hire ringers to target, harass and deter his deadbeat son from playing an online video game.

I really do believe it’s brilliant.  Kids are such retards these days that any attempt to deter them from doing what they like by methods such as lecture, nagging, or straight up restriction would probably lead to a rebellious reaction to where their desire to do these things just to piss you off in addition to doing what they like.  But in the case of a game addict, by essentially attempting to make the game no fun for him seems to be more of an effective method to breaking the game’s hold over the player; when a game is so difficult to overcome, eventually it will become un-fun to the point where it’s not worth playing anymore.

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Initial thoughts on Resident Evil 6

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

If the portrayal of China in Resident Evil 6 is anything like it is in real life, I’m pretty sure I would never want to go there ever in my life.  I’m just kidding; I’ve seen enough HK cinema to already know that I’d never want to go there ever in my life already.

In spite of the fact that the general consensus on RE6 was less than positive, I know that I don’t give a rat’s ass about game reviews, and decide for myself on whether or not it’s something I like or not.  For the most part, I ignore all reviews whether they were good or bad, but it was hard to not take notice of every time RE6 was subtly mentioned whenever there were year-end articles about failed games or the year’s biggest disappointments.

I got RE6 as a Christmas gift, and I’ve been playing it recently.  I’m four chapters into Leon’s mission, and have not started anyone else’s, and I’ve just entered China.  And my impressions of the game so far?  To be perfectly honest, I’m really not that impressed so far.

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Professional gamers LOL

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

One thing that has been absolutely hilarious to me lately is the raging that people do when it comes to arguing over professional gamers as if they were professional athletes. The story is a little old now, but about a month or so ago, there was a “professional” League of Legends player who was given a one-year ban for being what most 22-year old mouth-breathing internet-dwelling socially inept male virgin gamers are: a dick. In the midst of this all, there’s a pathetic little internet verbal battle royale about how it’s right, how it’s wrong, and then there are the people that just show up to troll for the sake of trolling and other dickish behavior because most of the people involved in these barbs are just like the guy that was banned in the first place: dicks.

Throughout all of this, I can’t help but take some steps back and look at the scenario in context: many people arguing over the banning of a guy who plays video games that managed to go so overboard with his toxic conduct to where someone of authority actually did something about it.

Take a few steps more back: many people are arguing over a kid who plays video games.

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Photos: New Years Partying at Battle & Brew

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

When I was younger, there was always a part of me that felt some anxiety at the notion that New Years Eve parties had to be awesome, that they were supposed to be these big, grandiose shindigs, confetti, streamers, and all that made-for-television nonsense.  Eventually I realized that the best times I had on New Years Eves were always the ones that where the company was modest, but close and quality, and we frankly just enjoyed the time counting down the hours and minutes before midnight.

In spite of the slight hangover, being the studious and dedicated brogger that I am, I’m still prompt when it comes to actually posting pictures I take.

This  year, my friends and I spent our New Years Eve at Battle & Brew, our favorite nerd gaming bar.  We played games, enjoyed conversation, and some of us, like me, drank quite generously.  And I brought out the good camera to attempt to document some of the good times.  Sadly for myself, I felt like I was dressed pretty snazzy on this particular night, but as is often the case being the guy with the camera, there’s no documentation of such.  Que, sera, sera.

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Wouldn’t you know it, Ecco the Dolphin 2 is just as wacked out

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Skip to 3:10 for flying dolphins and floating bodies of water. I couldn’t make this shit up even if I worked for the SyFy Channel.

So after watching some speed runs of the original Ecco the Dolphin, I couldn’t help but notice the suggested videos eventually suggested watching some videos from the sequel to Ecco the Dolphin, Ecco the Dolphin: The Tides of Time. My first thought was: there was a fucking sequel?

I guess there’s really no surprise considering how many crappy games actually get sequels, but regardless, I decided to give it a whirl, to see just what the hell else could go forth with the Ecco storyline.

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