Final Fantasy XIII: Japan, It's Time for Something New.

For the past 3 weeks I've been playing Final Fantasy 13. Tonight, I finished it. I am a long-time veteran of the series so I was excited going in to this experience. With Square-Enix's long track record of quality and innovation, I was quite surprised to find an uneven and stagnant game that took hours upon hours to get good.

First off I must say, this is the most gorgeous game I have ever seen. It pushes the PS3 to its technological limits. You often can't tell the difference between the pre-rendered and live-action cut scenes. The character animations are flawless and the big set pieces were just jaw-dropping.

But this is a video game, some of that is to be expected. Beauty and technological artistry are simply not enough to make a good game. An RPG, like Final Fantasy, requires a compelling story, likable characters and fun and innovative game play. Sadly, these were lacking.

Let's start with the story. Wait, who is that guy? I think I remember him from 10 hours ago. He looks like a tranny. The story was convoluted to put it lightly. You are thrown into a world with many strange names and customs, I mean really strange. Don't get me wrong, I love a complicated and intricate plot, I just had a difficult time finding concepts to ground to, ways to bring myself into the story. You have long conversations with little comprehension of the topic, and are expected to remember, for example, the difference between a "Fal'Cie" and a "L'Cie", 30 hours after discussing it. The story did make sense by the end, but boy was it a strange journey getting there.

To me, the clearest suffering in the plot was the exclusion of one key device: an antagonist. Ok, that's not fair, there were a couple throughout, but all were completely forgettable. The Big Bad Boss reveals himself eventually, but I had no attachment to him nor did I understand my motivation to defeat him. In fact, it seemed that the best course of action to "save the world" was to do nothing. I guess that's a new one. The story jumps around a lot, and when it did come together in the end, I was indifferent.

Ok, I didn't like the story. What about the game play?

Some aspects of this I liked. I liked the paradigm system and the roles. The leveling mechanic was fine. These, however, were overshadowed by irritating developer choices. The weapon and item leveling system was a mess. The layout of the first half of the game is, as one reviewer described it, "a conveyor belt of enemies." You basically run in a straight line, defeat one group of enemies, watch an often pointless cut scene, and repeat. This is for the first 25 hours(!) of the game! I almost quit many times, but it's Final Fantasy! I HAVE to see this through! Right?

Ugh...

The light at the end of the... conveyor belt. Around hour 25, everything opened up. You could move freely, choose your own party, customize your characters attributes, take on missions and set your own pace. Once I found a good mob to grind (I actually looked FORWARD to grinding at this point), I was a happy camper.

I believe all of this comes down to one larger issue: Japanese game-developers have lost touch with the western gamer. This game felt old. Excluding the battle system, it didn't do anything new. Bioware and Bethesda have innovated the RPG space so thoroughly, it has become a whole new genre. We want choices! We want a clear and, at least, mildly grounded plot structure.

I fear that one of my favorite franchises may have lost a devoted fan for good.

Maybe its me. Maybe games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fallout, Heavy Rain, and Fable have changed how I view RPGs. Am I alone in this view? I hope Japan can learn from these new game styles and bring Final Fantasy back to the forefront of RPG experience and innovation.

Also, what was with all of the sex noises?

Technology doesn't enhance everything?

I just finished "The Eye of the World", a novel by Robert Jordan, and the first in a series of fantasy-style books dubbed "The Wheel of Time". It was recommended to me by a group of like-minded friends that insisted I MUST read this series. Let me start by saying that I did enjoy this book, the world it created and the characters especially. But something hindered my loving of it, as I initially assumed I would.

If there is one they teach us Americans, it is to cram as much as we can in to every possible second of existence. It's called multitasking, and I don't feel like I am truly a good, productive citizen if I am not doing it at all times. Right now I am watching Batman Begins (again) while I type, just to have something else going on in the room. Isn't the typing enough? Or the movie? This was my quite-logical reasoning in approaching this book, the same as approaching anything else.


But books aren't meant to be multitasked. They require focus. They require a dedicated time and place.

So enters the Audio Book. I have enjoyed them in the past, what better way to pass the long hours of a solo drive down I-5? This became my preferred method of ingesting this story, which my friends so dearly loved. "Hmm, I need to build a studio in my off hours, why not listen to that book I keep meaning to get to?" Needless to say, my brain wasn't fully in it.

The Audio Book. Besides the lack of concentration needed to appreciate a story like this, you are forced into the voice actor's interpretation of the names, places, inflection, and emotion. They did a great job, but the reading communicated their feelings about the story, not mine, and it became a much less personal experience.

But hey, look how much shit I got done!

In the end, I feel like I didn't give this story the respect it deserved. Sure it was slow through big sections, some of the characters were grating and transparent, and the plot was derivative at times (I have yet to find a fantasy-style story that isn't), but I cheated myself out of the full enjoyment of a wonderful story. The highs in the story were very high, from Rand's first fight with the Trollocks, to Shadar Logoth, and the final confrontation with Ba'alzamon. I found myself dropping my hammer, sitting down and straining my ears with anticipation.

This is the valuable lesson I have learned: books deserve respect. Respect them enough to take some time from your busy day, quiet all of your racing thoughts and soak it in. I'm looking forward to continuing this series, but from the warm glow of my nightstand light before sleep.

The Finalies

I like most things. Most stories. I love creativity. I love how a good story can pull you in, make you genuinely care about someone or something that, in reality, doesn't even exist. This, to me, exemplifies humanity, sets us apart: the power of our imagination.

The Lost season finale has brought back emotions that I've had a number of times in my life. The feeling of loss, satisfaction, heartbreak and exhilaration of leaving something you have truly loved. When a story holds you so tight for so long, it becomes a part of you, and when it finally lets go, it feels like that part of you is missing.

I'm remembering other stories that have given me this same feeling of loss and humility. As I think of these titles, they seem trite, unimportant and silly. But when their stories intersected with mine, they became a part of my own. Stories like Battlestar Galactica, the first time they found Earth. When Golem takes the Ring back from Frodo on Mt. Doom. When Jim finally tells Pam he loves her. When Han is frozen in carbonite. When Areis dies. When everyone bows to the Hobbits. Our defeat of Yogg-Saron. The Sopranos, Journey. Returning to Galaxies to find a statue dedicated to me. The Story of B.

The first time I played Elgar's Nimrod. The loss of my friendship with Jon. When my son was born and every day since. My first kiss with my wife.

I'm being melodramatic and obviously divulging too much, but it is cathartic. Processing.

The Lost finale went through a similar reflection of itself. The way it showed the best and worst times of the characters lives together on the island, when they finally touched their friends again and remembered their story. Maybe it was cathartic for those involved in Lost too. I guess as viewers, we all were.

I will miss Lost, as I have missed these other great stories, these friends I had the privilege of spending some time with. But I do feel oddly satisfied, as one does at this kind of parting. I look forward to discovering a new story, making a new friend, one that can hold you in only a way that the human imagination can.

Man its hard to find the time...

We have a two-year-old. My wife, Erika, a choir teacher, works days, while I, an engineer, work when she is home in the evenings. Unfortunately, everyone wants to do everything in the evenings. Parties, dinners, birthdays, briss, the list goes on. We're not Jewish.

Taking on the responsibility of raising my son during the days, although very rewarding, really leaves no room for personal ambition. In the evenings, I find myself at the mercy of social and family obligation, and what suffers is my work, my ambition. Time and again it is pushed aside, residing on the botom of our life's list of priorities.

This Friday is "Date Night". We have rescheduled and rescheduled and rescheduled, meanwhile, I am behind on my deadlines. Where do we give? What to we give? I know the answer.

The bottom line is: having a family means diminishing your ambition and settling for "the best you can". Its a cold fish to swallow. Is that a saying?

Maybe all new parents go thru this, maybe I'm just complaining.

Hey I made a BLURRGH!

You know, social media is great and all, but sometimes you just want to break the limitations. I like to type, I like to get my ideas out there, and I don't think everyone should be forced to read them.

The purpose of this BLURRGH, or Blog as some may call it, is to elaborate on those titles posted to Twitter and Facebook, but not to force anyone to read my rants. It's mostly for my own edification, and I doubt anyone will read this with any regularity, but that's fine! I just want to vomit ideas, as this BLURRGH title implies.

My main goal is selfish sure, but I would also like to foster conversation and deeper interaction. I know that I may not have the most insightful or revolutionary ideas, but I do like discussing them, and to hear the ideas of others. I will be honest and transparent, as most of my interests are pretty shallow, and I hope also to entertain more than annoy (lofty goals, I know). So sit back and grab a spoonful of Reverie Vomit!

Ok that's gross. Its supposed to be a metaphor.