On the last Friday of the month, I like to take some time to geek out about my favorite video game franchise, Final Fantasy.
I'm replaying FFIX, and I just passed the point where Garland, the overseer of Terra tells his beta-doll Kuja that he created him with a time limit until MC Zidane grew strong enough to carry out the mission to make Gaia habitable for the Terrans (through war and destruction). As if Kuja wasn't already mad that Garland created Zidane (he threw him off the ship on their way to Gaia, so Zidane didn't have any memory of his origin or mission), so when he heard that he was going to die, he SNAPPED and destroyed Terra in a matter of seconds.
So this brings me to the topic today: creating a villain. Many of the villains in the Final Fantasy games were created by the people around them. Kuja was already pretty bad, but in his case he was literally created to be. Learning there was a caveat just made it worse, and in the end, he redeemed himself.
FFVII had Sephiroth, who was actually pretty chill until he thought humans destroyed his people. That's when he snapped and destroyed Nibelheim. Had he not thought he was an Ancient, his story would've been totally different. Crazy enough, he might've been a main character in what would be a totally different game! We saw a little of that in Crisis Core with Genesis as the main villain. He wasn't as powerful as Sephiroth, and that irked him.
FFVIII has Ultimecia, and going off of the Ultimecia is Rinoa theory I shared during 2016's A to Z Challenge, Ultimecia wouldn't have existed had SEED not killed Squall in the future. Rinoa never would have become Ultimecia and tried to kill all SEED. She wanted revenge.
Though I didn't talk about Seymour in FFX during that challenge and while he wasn't the main villain, he was trying to reach that because of the bullying he experienced being half human and half Guado. He never felt good enough, and so he strove to be better than everyone else and show them up with force.
Most recently was Ardyn from FFXV, who was supposed to be King of Lucis in his time, but they used his soul to absorb demons, so he became corrupted and was cast out for it. Of all of the villains, I think he was the most justified in his reasoning to destroy Lucis. Like Kuja, you can't use people as test dummies and not expect them to snap when you try to discard them.
I could play with "What if" scenarios all day with these five games. Just imagine the possibilities! I'm actually imagining an FFVII with Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud as a team, and that would've been really interesting. Or an FFIX where Kuja, you know, didn't throw Zidane off the ship, and Dagger as the main character trying to stop them.
Sounds like I should work on some Alternate Universe stories, huh? ... Hm...
February ended before I could do my monthly Final Fantasy Friday (and I didn't feel like posting one on the same week as Tuesday Tales), so this is a special First Friday Final Fantasy post.
And funny enough, I'm not sure how much more I can talk about Final Fantasy, especially when no new games are out, and I'm not playing anything new. I do have a Final Fantasy Type-0 awaiting my gameplay, and I did just download a Final Fantasy Dissidia on my phone that I haven't touched yet, so we'll see. I'm going to stretch it out for as long as I can.
If you aren't already aware, most of the Final Fantasy games are single-player role-playing games (RPGs). FFXI and FFXIV were massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), and with the PS4, the FFXV team had the chance to make the game this HUGE endeavor with the main single-player game, a PC game they just released, a mobile game, playable side games, etc. One of the side games is Comrades: A Multiplayer Expansion, so I threw away my lack of care for MMORPGs and am trying this out (mainly because it's a world I'm already familiar with. I did the same with FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus, which is a third-person shooter).
The great thing about this game is that you can create your own avatar, so I get to put myself in the game! If you follow me on Twitter, you know my greatest "argh" about Final Fantasy games is the lack of black women in the franchise. There are over 15 games, and so far, only X and XV have given us black women as non-playable side-characters (Dona and Sania). I'd love to see a black woman MC in the next installment. For now, I will enjoy literally seeing myself in the MMORPG.
Final thoughts: If I do end up changing my Friday posts, they will remain Fantasy Fridays, so I'd ultimately either need to share what I'm reading (which is hopefully fantasy) or highlight some fantasy I have read. Which means Wednesday Words would strictly be for what I've been writing, so excerpts, draft changes, things like that.
On the last Friday of the month, I geek out about anything Final Fantasy. If you don't already know, my YA fantasy project Fractured Princess is an homage to the franchise, and I use influences from the games in my story. One such is Princess Garnet, aka Dagger from Final Fantasy IX.
My main character Jonnie is based on Dagger. I was playing FFIX when I started writing FP. Dagger was a very proper, very naïve princess who wanted to figure out what was up with her mother who had basically lost her mind and was attacking other kingdoms. It was hard for Dagger to fit into the general public because she spoke so properly, so there were many moments where she practiced speaking like her laid-back, sarcastic co-MC Zidane, an actor/hired thief.
Still, she often got herself into more trouble than she could handle because she'd been shut up in the castle all of her life and didn't understand the world.
This is one of the first concept drawings I had for Jonnie, back before I changed the color of the Crystal Bearers. When I first wrote Jonnie, she spoke super properly. When I think about it now, I cringe. I was trying really hard to go for that Euro-medieval dialect, and it was terrible. She was also very sheltered and child-like, but unlike Dagger, Jonnie was a very reactionary character, only acting when things happened to her. Dagger had a solid motivation before we even knew what it was: she was going to escape the castle to get help for her mother (what she didn't know was that her uncle Cid had hired Zidane's crew to kidnap/rescue her, but it worked out perfectly).
I had to get Jonnie to that point of being proactive, find out what she wanted before all hell broke loose and how it would fuel her motivation once everything went left. In the last couple of revisions, I decided that instead of just wanting to survive (because that's super basic), Jonnie would want to learn to fight off danger alongside her Watchmen. Subconsciously, I continued to model her after Dagger, who refused to sit by the sidelines as the world around her fell apart. Both girls have an overbearing protector over them, though Steiner is FAR more annoying than Cyan, but they're not afraid to butt heads with them to reach their goal, and that makes for interesting princesses and much rounder stories.
So, I forgot to post Wednesday Words this week, but I'm also not reading anything, so why not mess up the rest of the month!?
More importantly, Episode Ignis came out this weeeek! Ignis was my favorite FFXV character, and I've been waiting impatiently for his episode! So much so that I bought it before I went to work yesterday morning!
A little backstory: during the main game, there is a major battle against the Imperial Army and Noctis's guard while he's going off to win over Leviathan. His fiancée is killed in this struggle, and somehow Ignis loses his sight.
This episode lets us see what happened, but first, this opening (and Noctis's little face!):
Ignis has been with Noctis for the longest, I believe, and to be honest, he spoils him all through the main game. I was devastated to hear he was blinded in this scuffle.
Playing the game straight through only took an hour. You have the option to venture off and reclaim districts in Altissia, but I was trying to get a handle on Ignis's battle system and also getting up on the roofs without falling back into the water all through the city.
But also, Ignis is a BEAST! I was taking out Imperials with hardly any need for a potion until I had to fight Ravus and then Ardyn. I also didn't realize Ravus had a prosthetic arm, but he thought he was chosen to fight off the darkness and tried to wield the One Ring--oh, sorry, wrong...well anyway the Ring of the Lucii. The past kings of Lucis said, "Nah, fam," and his arm burned away! So, when Ignis picked up the ring to fight Ardyn, I knew he would live, but didn't have any details. He called on the kings to give him power to fight Ardyn, and they said, "Sure, but now you're blind." We were able to fight him off long enough for Gladio and Prompto to find us, and then Ignis collapses from exhaustion.
Rewind: while Ignis and Ravus battle through Altissia to get to Noct and Luna, we run into Pryna, one of Luna's husky-German shepard mixes (no idea what these puppies are), and she either dies or collapses but not before giving Ignis a gift of foresight, so he sees everything that is going to happen to Noctis. This helps to explain in the main game why sometimes it's like Ignis can see after this battle: he's already seen the future happen!
So, as the credits roll and take us through the rest of the game, it ends on a moment at their last campfire where Noctis is telling Ignis that even if Ignis isn't there in the end, he's there in Noct's heart. And then...well watch for yourself. I almost lost to tears:
It's the last Friday of the month, and that means it's time to geek out about my favorite game franchise: Final Fantasy!
A few weeks back, I realized there was an update to FFXV, so I downloaded and decided to see what it was. Over the summer, they do a Carnival in Altissia. This time, they did an Assassin's Festival in Lestallum. Here's a preview.
Apparently, Noct and Prompto are huge Assassin's Creed fans, but if you know me, you know I'm not a first-person gamer. It gives me a lot of anxiety, especially when enemies are chasing me (one of the reasons I hated FFXII). That's why I gravitate to RPGs. I did try to play this festival a little bit, but the moment the Magitek soldiers started chasing me and I couldn't get away, I knew I wouldn't be able to go on. Others enjoyed it, though, so good. I'll be awaiting the next DLC, which should be Ignis's story!
It's the last Friday of the month, and that means it's time to geek out for a minute. Final Fantasy XV developers continue to crank out content for this game. It's becoming it's own franchise! While a mobile Game of War-style game was created for the game (and is trash), there will be a PC, pocket, and real multi-player version of this game out by early 2018! Extra content is being downloaded periodically, so I need to get back into the game to see what's available. The expansion they're doing for this game is proof to me that this will be the last major Final Fantasy game, especially as they're doing the MMO version (FFXI and FFXIV were MMORPGs). It's the end of an era (unofficially, because they haven't said anything of the sort).
I hope you all have a great weekend. I leave you with a trailer for the expansion project!
Me on Monday: I should schedule my post.
Me on Tuesday: I should start my post. Friday will be here before I know it.
Me on Wedensday: I should write my post tomorrow.
Me on Thursday: ....
Me on Friday: Oh, crap, my post!
So, I'm bad at this. haha This is usually the week I share what I'm reading with you, but I hadn't picked up The Handmaid's Tale for about two weeks, so I needed to finish that (thank God, I finished it. It was blah), BUT last Saturday, I took the time to finish Final Fantasy XV which, because I was Level 72, took me about an hour, less time than it took me to fight the adamantoise (which took me close to 3 hours).
As I explained in my post about the homages in this game (CLICK), Noctis is told he has to sacrifice himself to get light back into the world. That takes 10 years, so he comes out looking like a cleaner version of this. We had just fought Ifrit here, so he's a little covered in smoke and ash. He's telling his friends to walk tall (though they also don't make it, which I didn't realize until I read someone's explanation of the ending), and he goes inside to fight the darkness, Ardyn Izunia, formerly known as Ardyn Lucis Caelum, Noct's millions-great-grandfather or uncle, something close.
Long story short, Ardyn was supposed to be king thousands of years ago, but he was used to destroy daemons by sucking them into his soul, and because he was corrupted, he was basically banished. So, obviously, he wants vengeance on the kingdom of Lucis, which he successfully starts at the beginning of the game by having King Regis killed.
I'm awesome, so I defeated Ardyn with no problems and a nod to Cloud's Omnislash limit break. But dear God, the end sequences. With a nod to FFVII's Knights of the Round, the past kings, Noct, Luna, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis all band together in the afterlife to get rid of Ardyn for good, and the World of Ruin (another nod to FFVI) finally ends after 10 years. The credits roll, and we get a conversation around the campfire that brings me to tears. Of course, it's the first time Noct has seen his friends in 10 years, and then, they're on their last mission together before they all go off to die.
Even with the hundreds of side quests, I give this game a 10. Not an FFX 10, but a solid 10 nonetheless lol. The graphics were gorgeous, the music was awesome. I loved the bond the guys had (seeing them do special link attacks together made me so giddy), and because there are so many other things attached to this game (Kingsglaive, Carnival, Episodes), I love the versatility. I even liked the battle system, and I'm very pro-turn based fighting.
I could see a sequel coming from this, but God, I hope they don't do it. Maybe another movie, where we know what happens now that there is no king anymore. I want to know how the world can go on. I could see them worshiping Noct and Luna, and they have the ability to appear at will. Mainly because of the last video clip they gave us to send off the end of the game. Screenshot here:
They finally get to be together. My heart. Be still.
I can also see this being the last game of the franchise. They did so many homages and CDs we could listen to of the old games. It was epic, and I don't think they would be able to top this one with another game. It's the best one since X. I'll play again eventually. Not for a few years, though. It took a toll on my spirit. lol
Once you finish, you get an updated logo on the main screen, where it used to just be the girl, you realize after the above sequence, that it's Luna. Then, Noct's little sleepy body appears, and Fin. *sigh* Such a good game. I'm going to play the end again just because. :)
In my next Final Fantasy Friday, I should have played Episode Gladiolus and at least started Episode Prompto, so I'll let you know how those turned out.
UPDATE 8/31/17: The episodes weren't really worth another post. Gladio's was boring, and while Prompto's wasn't as boring, I didn't need it. I know other fans probably loved them. I'm ready for Ignis's episode, though! Ignis was my favorite of the three, and the story is going to center around how he was blinded during the Imperial attack on Altissia. HERE FOR IT!
It is the 5th Friday, but the 4th Friday after IWSG, so that means it is time for Final Fantasy Friday!
As you know, I've been playing Final Fantasy XV, a very intricate game for new and old fans. I'm finally at a point where I have no choice but to stop and do side quests to level up because I am on the final chapter of the game, which was actually the beginning of the game, so now I understand what the heck was happening.
So at this juncture, I have to stop and talk about a few of the homages to the other games that blew my mind. FFIX had homages, too (the crystal returned, skill-based mages designated by colors, etc.), but there was one in particular in FFXV that I didn't realize until I was saying it out loud (it's coming up in a few). So let's go through a few.
1) Light vs. Dark
I think a few of the early Final Fantasy games always dealt with a time where Warriors of the Light had to be called to battle away the overwhelming darkness. FFIII and FFIV are the ones that come to mind most. FFXV is a huge battle of light vs. dark. Noctis (night) from the kingdom of Lucis (light). lol Night Light. OOH, or Knight of Light! I just caught that play on words. Everything in this game revolves around keeping the lights on because if you don't, daemons emerge, and they're quite scary.
2) FFXV Prompto / FFVII Cloud
The top one is Prompto Argentum, super goofy friend of Noctis who has a dark creation story (he was genetically engineered like all of the imperial troopers we've been fighting the entire game, see Homage 4). The parallel is obvious if you know anything about FFVII. Cloud Strife (on the bottom) was a genetically enhanced trooper. Visually, they're that waify blue-eyed figure with the weird spiky blond hair and the permanent pout.
3) Keycard Access
Still looking at FFVII, as I said in the last Final Fantasy Friday, I was in this creepy dark town Gralea trying to save Prompto. I end up in a lab, Zegnatus Keep, where I need keycards to get to the next floor. In the first disc of FFVII (wow, anyone remember where you bought 3-4 disc video games? lol), I take Cloud through Shinra Lab, and I need to fight soldiers all through the place and find the one with the keycard to the next floor. It was very reminiscent of the first time I played FFVII. I really appreciated it.
4) The monsters are people.
In Zegnatus Keep, there are reports all over the lab. Whenever I'm out in the dark and while I was walking all through this God-forsaken place, I learned the empire was growing magitek (the imperial troopers) by infecting humans with a daemon pathogen (WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG). The side-effect was a lot of people turned into full out daemons. In FFVII, in a flashback with Cloud and Sephiroth, we go to Nibelheim to fix a leak in a reactor. The leak was causing monsters to sprout around town. Sephiroth tells Cloud to look into one of the pods sitting in the reactor. There's a monster in there. (Run-on alert) Not only is it a monster, it's a human injected with alien cells to make it a superhuman not knowing the result could be an alien, because it's actually Jenova alien juice that is coming through the reactor, because the stupid Shinra empire thought Jenova was an Ancient and wanted to create more Ancients and ended up with Sephiroth! So they thought they could make more.
5) Bahamut ruins your life.
I actually posted the first video somewhere, most likely last year's A-to-Z. In my favorite Final Fantasy game, FFX, the group reaches a wall filled with people, fayth, who the team thinks are being used to summon something huge. When Tidus touches it, he faints and meets the fayth who became Bahamut (top). He tells Tidus the fayth are actually people and summoners from the old machina war. They became fayth to keep the dream of Zanarkand alive. Now they're tired, and because Tidus is from the dream world and touched Sin, the monster created by the bad guy in the game, he will be able to defeat the whole thing so the fayth can all rest. Of course, that means, they'll stop dreaming, so Tidus, as part of that dream, will also disappear. FFX has the most heartbreaking game ending I've ever had to sit through (FFVII Crisis Core was the most traumatizing, if you're a fan who happened to stumble here via hashtag).
In FFXV, at the heart of the Zegnatus Keep is a crystal, which Noct gets sucks into. There he meets Bahamut, who tells a wonderful story about how one of Noct's ancestors, who is currently roaming the world infected by daemon juice, can only be destroyed by Noct, and by doing so, Noct must gain "Providence" which entails giving up his life. So he must die to save the world. I'm pretty sure the devs did that as a nod to FFX. Bahamut, wielder of flare magic and bearer of bad news. Of course, I haven't gotten to the end yet, so I don't know how this plays out (and don't tell me!). But I will say this is also reminiscent of FFX in that both games have you take this journey to gain more power to defeat the enemy by way of sacrificing yourself! That's what the summoners did in FFX.
6) FFX "Suteki da Ne" / FFXV "Somnus"
This one you have to hear to understand, so just push play. ;)
Push it again.
The quintessential song from FFX is "Suteki da Ne" (Isn't it Wonderful). It's a beautiful song, and very light in its sound and singer. An instrumental version of "Somnus"(Sleep) is the first thing you hear when you turn on FFXV, and if you can't hear the similarity, I worry for you. But what you should also notice is the difference in the tone of the song. It's darker, much sadder. The singer is a rich alto vs. SDN's tinny soprano. I also like how FFXV is almost telling FFX to sleep, which is really what the fayth are doing in FFX!
All right, geek out over. I was very excited to see these nods to earlier Final Fantasy games, and I can't wait to finish and see if the ending wrecks my soul or makes me incredibly happy and excited to play the Gladio and Prompto DLCs. Be sure I'll let you know.
I won't see you before IWSG, so have a great weekend, and enjoy your 4th of July!
It is the last Friday of May already, so that means I am bringing you some Final Fantasy obsessions.
So, the thing they tell you about Final Fantasy XV is that it's a game about friendship and brotherhood. Yada yada yada. What they DO NOT tell you is how fricking depressing it is!
I'm two chapters away from the end (tired of doing side quests, so I'm just gunning it until I'm not strong enough to beat something and have to go do a couple side quests), and here is a list of things that have happened to me: Noctis, Prince of Lucis.
My father, the king, is assassinated (I knew this already because Sean Bean is the English voice actor, and he dies in everything, but still).
Our country is taken over.
I find this all out by reading a newspaper that says my father, my fiance, and I have all died, so when I call home, they're like, "Well, your dad is dead."
When I finally get up with my fiance, she gets stabbed, and the Hydrean Leviathan drowns her! (See R.I.P. My Fiance for the graphics.)
My guardian/chef is blinded in battle.
My guardian/trainer acts like I'm being a spoiled brat and not manning up. (Bitch, my dad and my fiance have died in the span of like, a week!)
My best friend gets kidnapped by the man who killed my fiance (oh, and he also kills my fiance's brother!).
I can't imagine what else happens! And this chapter I'm currently in trying to save Prompto (my best friend), it's SO dark and scary! Rogue robots are jumping out and grabbing me, then exploding, daemons are popping up, and the murderer is taunting me over a loud speaker every few minutes.
I can't take it!
But anyway, here are some screenshots I took. lol
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! Hug a soldier, think of those who died for freedom. <3
It's the last Friday of the month, which means it's time for Final Fantasy Friday!
Also, I enjoyed my vacation but got hit with my allergies and a cold, so I need another vacation where I can sleep through the night without not being able to breathe. I wanted to play a little more of FFXV before I left and didn't get to, but I did get to spend some time on it when I got home.
Most people who run out and by these games spend the weekend or a whole week or so playing it. I have a some semblance of a life, so I don't have that luxury. Thus, the portion of the game I finally got to play was spoiled for me by fans weeks ago: my (Noctis's) fiance, Lunafreya, dies helping me retrieve Leviathan, long story short a summon. The papers say Luna died drowning, but I witnessed her get stabbed by a shady NPC we'd run into a few times! My sister, who was watching, was just as shocked as I was!
First off, Leviathan had an attitude. I guess because she was asleep and Luna woke her, but I needed her to chill. The battle was quite scary, as she kept diving in and out of the water and coming straight for me with her mouth agape! I actually screamed and then laughed at myself.
Secondly, the visuals in this game are just everything. Here is the saddest cutscene since Tidus's death/disappearance in FFX. Notice the different shifts, first the atmosphere, then Noct's shift from young Noct to current Noct. It's so wild! The scene is also very reminiscent of Aeris's death in FFVII. The homages!
I have a few more chapters before I finish the game. I might be done with side quests for now, lol. That's where most of my hours have been spent! I just want to get to the end, so I can play the DLC for Gladio!
It's the last Friday in February, and so that means it is time for:
This is the day I have set aside to shoot the breeze about blog memes, when available, and my Final Fantasy obsession. As you know, this year I have started playing Final Fantasy XV. This game is an experience. I'm almost sure I'm not even halfway done, and part of that is because of the ability to do side quests immediately, a first in the whole franchise, and also partly because at the end of January, a DLC (additional downloadable content) was added known as the Moogle Chocobo Carnival!
Think of it as a state fair. One of the cities in the game received a huge festival makeover, and you could do everything from fishing, to playing games, to helping little kids retrieve their balloons. Each night at about 8pm fireworks started going off for hours (probably about 20 minutes IRL), and if you racked up enough coins, you could buy a voucher to spend a night in the hotel and get a front row seat to the fireworks show. I took a lot of pictures but forgot to share them, so I can't access them right now.
Here are a few of pictures I shared on Twitter of Noctis and his dream guide Carbuncle riding the gondola through town.
You could change Noctis's clothes, so here he is being casual.
Look at the detail!
You could skip the scenic route, but sometimes, I just liked to look around.
Items you acquired through the carnival rolled over to your regular game, so I tried to get as many items as I could. I had a lot of fun, and now that the carnival is gone, I need to dive back into the real game. People are dropping spoilers on Instagram! *sigh* The price of not having the luxury of playing all day anymore.
It's a beautiful day in Delaware, so I hope the same goes for wherever you are! Get outside and have a good weekend!
On the last Friday of the year, I finally get to say that I've started playing Final Fantasy XV!
If you could hear the music! Anyway, I'm probably only 10 minutes into the actual storyline, lol. Unlike the other FF games, you can do side quests right out the gate in this one, so I've been doing those to level up my characters.
The game opens with a highly perilous looking encounter in the future. Noctis, the main character, looks to be in his 50s, and Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto are still by his side protecting him. Then, it lurches to the present, where Noctis's dad King Regis is sending him off to get married. I need to know how we get to that highly perilous scene!
But I'm nowhere near there yet, lol.
If you've ever played a Need for Speed game, that's the vibe I'm getting from this installment. The first screen that comes up states FFXV is for new and old fans, and I didn't play the first Need for Speed Underground to have to play the 2nd. There's a storyline, but you can basically do whatever you want until you're ready to follow it. I like that freedom. I need to make sure I keep looking at the tutorial and training for the fighting techniques, though. I don't want to forget while I'm dilly-dallying.
Here is a clip of me sneaking past something...big.
I really hope I don't have to fight this thing in the future. Did you see its TAIL!?
While 2016 remains to be a garbage rollercoaster (anyone else shocked and heartbroken by Alan Thicke, because he was one of my TV dads!), I received notification on the 13th that my package arrived containing the Day One Edition of Final Fantasy XV!
I'm extremely excited and doing my best to not buy a PS4 right away, but there's a deal on Gamestop right now for an Uncharted 4 Bundle AND a $25 e-gift card, and that's SO tempting, so by the time this posts, I'll probably have bought it. I'm not even sure what Uncharted is and am not the biggest fan of first person shooters, but the premise looks cool.
Now, my cousin says that FFXV is better than FFX, which is my favorite game in the franchise, so I will certainly be the judge of that.
Yes, indeed! Final Fantasy XV comes out today, and despite Conan's hate of the game, I still love him and pre-ordered the game last night so I can also acquire a bonus weapon and a prequel game!
I'm so ready for this weekend. I have a bit of a busy one again, but God is still good. I'm still loving my new blogging schedule because I'm so ready to get to another day where I can post, especially a Friday post! And today, I get to return to Final Fantasy Friday!
Last night, my cousin brought over his laptop, and I was finally able to watch Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. This is a prequel to the highly awaited game which should be coming out next month. The trailer is below.
(SPOILER ALERT: Sean Bean is the English voice actor for King Lucis. If you understand Sean Bean characters, you'll know why this is a spoiler alert.)
In this movie, we follow Nyx, a highly respected soldier in the King's army as betrayal and sabotage destroy the kingdom. Half of the time, I was just in awe of how real some of the people looked! At one point, I almost said, "That monster looks so fake," but then remembered I was watching a fully animated movie! It's so beautifully done, and Square thinks they're slick, but I totally saw a nod to some of the older games, a few being:
Ardyn Izunia's one super-long sleeve resembling Sephiroth's one wing
Niflheim's demon looking like a very specific FFVII Weapon
ULTROS!
YOJIMBO!
It looks like I'm just speaking gibberish at this point, but I'm not. lol Anyway, I can't wait for this game to come out! I hope it's amazing! All this prep work for it, it just needs to be.
And now: a couple of this month's Fast Five questions from the Cover Girls, Dani and Jackie! Join in if you like. This is a particularly good one, for Halloween!
Oct. 7th - 5 horror movies you love to watch this time of year
Scream
The Shining
Carrie
The Haunting
Poltergeist
Oct 21st - Name 5 sci-fi/horror books/movies that scared the crap out of you
Dead Silence
Orphan
Final Destination
Scream 2
Insidious
I used to read a whole bunch of Christopher Pike when I was a teenager, but I don't think any ever scared me, and the Stephen King's books I've read so far horrified me more than scared me, lol.
I have to do this quickly. I was supposed to do it last night and plum forgot, but have to leave early today as well! This is brought to us by Dani and Jackie, the Cover Girls (links to come later), and this week they ask:
Name something you are looking forward to this Summer.
Tomorrow, I am going to Baltimore to listen to the FINAL SYMPHONY! That is the music of Final Fantasy, and it will be the music of FF VI, VII, and X, which had some of the best scores in the history of gaming! I love Nobuo Uematsu. I can't wait to hear this live!
Have a good weekend! What are you looking forward to this Summer?
I watched the 2nd episode of Final Fantasy XV yesterday, and it focused on a little bit of backstory for the supporting character Prompto (God, I hope I can change his name). They're driving away from a blockade, and an injured pup is in the road. Prompto pulls over and goes to care for it, sending us into his thoughts for a flashback of an overweight teen Prompto who cares for an injured puppy. He learns it belongs to a girl who knows Prince Noctis (the MC), and he gets up the nerve to speak to Noctis. Everyone's scared to talk to him. Prompto is clumsy and awkward, so he trips over a barrier. Noctis, who goes to help him up, tells him he's heavy, so Prompto worked to lose weight so he could talk to Noctis again (awkward logic). Secretly, you could tell Noctis wanted Prompto to talk to him whenever he saw him, because literally NO ONE else would.
I say this to say I found one of these nostalgic moments in my own story the other day, and it felt good to see the parallel. Make those parallels where you can. They're fun.
*This post occurred before I changed the WIP title.*
When I started writing The Crystal Bearer way back in 2004 (goodness grief), I was in the middle of playing Final Fantasy IX for the first time. I absolutely adore that game, might play it for a third time. I moved onto X shortly after, and I noticed recurring themes that often took place in these games, some of which I incorporated into my story.
Orphans - I feel like only one game explained why there are so many orphans in the games, and that was FFVIII. The Sorceress War took out several parents. Many moms died during childbirth. Sadly, both happen in real life.
Separation - Whether in the beginning or somewhere in the middle of the story, in many of the FF games, all of the characters get separated somehow. Whether it be Cloud falling into the Lifestream or Yuna's guardians being jailed in a maze-like prison, and you have to find each other to get out alive, FF characters aren't allowed to remain together 100% of the time.
Airships - Though I've always seen them as more steampunk, only one of the FF games had a steampunk feel in the technology of its world, and that was FFIX. Medieval royalty with steam-powered machines and vehicles made for whimsical scenery. Many of the games were more fantasy, and sci-fi only came into play a little more once FFVII was released. Be that as it may, all of the games have airships in them, either the traditional design or more modern/futuristic ones.
Fantastical creatures - Chocobos, moogles, very memorable creatures that can get you from one place to another safely. They also come with fun sounds. Kupo! The monsters the FF characters come across on a regular basis also ranged from the normal to the bizarre. A green seal with glowing eyes and a butcher knife? RUN. A floating ball of fire? Kill it before it explodes! As there are a million games, these creatures have evolved over the years and remain fan favorites.
Unrequited love - Someone's almost always already dead before a character can tell them they're in love with them. In FFVI, Locke's girlfriend was in a coma and preserved for eternity by a crazy scientist (might I also add that crazy scientists are a recurring theme, too). Let's not forget Cloud and Aeris in FFVII *sniff*.
Actually, I don't think that's one of themes I use, but it's still a given in FF games.
Last but not least, epic battles before the epic battle - There was almost always a hard boss to fight before the final boss. Sometimes, like with Ultima Weapon in FFVIII and Ozma in FFIX, they're optional and harder to fight than the final boss, so you have to decide if you're going to be that fan. With VIII, I was. With IX, I didn't care anymore.
Writers: do you have themes you like to incorporate into your writing?
Readers/gamers: what have been your favorite themes in books or video games?
I didn't want to go another week without posting on Friday! This has been a long, fulfilling week! I hope everyone had a great one.
We're drawing nearer and nearer to the release of Final Fantasy XV, and I'm so excited! I thought I would share the trailer to at least get my Friday posts rolling again. So, enjoy!
I'm sitting at my desk fangirling so hard inside. On that backdrop you can see the summon Leviathan, the amazing graphics for the summon Titan, a behemoth, and an iron giant (my favorite FF monster of all time)! You also get to see the prince and his men just being guys at a pinball game, which will be the first Final Fantasy game within a game that you will be able to play outside of the game! And I absolutely love pinball computer games, so I am HERE. FOR. IT!
Visit the media to see all the cool features of this game. I will be saving up to get a PS4 so I can play this game! I must continue my habit! lol
I'm going to watch it again. You guys have a great weekend, and a Happy Mother's Day! :-D
