WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

Interestingly, if you add Aeris back into your party using an Action Replay, there is dialogue programmed into the game for her in the Icicle Inn area and slightly later on. No idea why, perhaps there was initially a way of accessing this area prior to her death? You can read more about it here. I'm sure there's a definitive answer out there as to why this exists, but I've not been able to find it. 

It might be that during development they changed up the order that you were going to be able to access certain areas - maybe doing Icicle Inn and the glacier before the Forbidden City - but it's probably just as likely that it's a generic line of dialogue for a party member in that slot, or that the team working on that scene didn't yet know where it fit in the story. Games, especially from that era, are full of junk data and weirdness left over from earlier versions.

I think there's other bits of the game where, if you have her in your party on disc 2 or 3, she'll say something, but it's always generic dialogue given to any party member. Conversely, there's plenty of areas where having her in your party will cause glitches and break scenes, because the game's looking for dialogue or animations that don't exist.

I've seen it suggested that her being killed off was a late decision in development, or that it was originally meant to happen later in the game, and that's why she has late game dialogue, but it doesn't really add up. I'm not aware of any confirmation from Square that she was ever intended to die later in the game, and one or two lines of dialogue aren't evidence that she was intended to survive later - the far more telling thing is that there's no weapons for her available after her death, nor does there appear to be any suggestion of weapons that would have been available later but were removed from the game. Nothing like that is accessible through mods, editors, trainers, etc.

There's another argument I saw back in the day that when you face Sephiroth in the Crater, your party is shown split into three, but there's two groups of three and one of two, which obviously means there was meant to be an extra character there. But in reality, it's because there's already two extra characters - you could have made it that far without finding Yuffie and Vincent, who were both "secret" unlockable characters. The fact that the two "secret" characters get full bios in the game's manual also works against the suggestion that Zack, or anyone else, is a "secret" character.

The more important point is that the plot needs Aeris to die. The story doesn't function otherwise. People thinking that there must be (or must once have been) a way to revive her are approaching it with clumsy video game logic, rather than with what would best serve the story.

 

1 hour ago, seph said:

She well knows what her fate was supposed to be, and the only one who knew from the start...

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Except Sephiroth. It's not clear if he managed to manipulate the Canon Plot Enforcement Squad ghost things into attacking the team or it was just happenstance that they got involved, but bloody hell did he benefit - for all intents the classic canon is invalid and he has a clean slate to wreak havoc on the world... and ReMake it in his own image.

 

It's a weird one where it's kind of simultaneously a sequel and a remake - I don't think the reason Aeris "knows" is because it's happened before, I think it's something that was always supposed to be the case in the original story that she was kind of aware that her destiny was to sacrifice herself for the good of the planet, it's just more clear in Remake because there's more extensive dialogue, less prone to clumsy localisation or the constraints of text boxes.

It's smart game design to make it clear it's a new timeline, because it means those of us who played the original to death will still be surprised by it, but the developers have said that it will still more or less follow the same overall arc. I do think it suffers from having Sephiroth show up so early in Cloud's visions and flashbacks and so on, because the realisation that you're seeing clones of Sephiroth shouldn't really come until later in the plot, and it robs you of the awe of his first few non-appearances; the trails of blood in Shinra HQ, and the dead Midgar Zolom. But at the same time, they probably couldn't get away with releasing a Final Fantasy 7 game without Sephiroth in it!

I don't think the point is that the events have already happened, but that they are destined to happen. Aeris, Sephiroth and Cloud all must behave in a certain way at certain times to fulfill the Planet's destiny. The ghost things try and enforce that every time there's a suggestion that things might go differently. 

[Keith Houchen]

The latest from Kool Keith joins the NBA. I recorded a music track and now have to win over fashionistas by doing poncey dances with a young girl. I thought the NBA was American, not Japanese?

[Jazzy G]

They must love that basugetebaru in Japan. Have you played any basketball yet? 

[Keith Houchen]

11 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

They must love that basugetebaru in Japan. Have you played any basketball yet? 

I have! Was getting the best scores and stats but some analytics dweeb (probably called Tony) told the coach I’d be better on the bench. So to raise my brand and all that bollocks, I have to do shite missions. Hopefully when it’s over I can stick to actually playing basketball!!

[FLips]

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom

I'm going to start off with a huge concession, that despite my previous opinions on this game when I first started and the opinions I still hold on Breath of The Wild, this is a proper Zelda game.

I dread to think of how many hours we've been playing this since launch. Almost non-stop every day is a close estimate. We've done the four main "dungeons" and a little bit after that, explored most of the overworld at least to the extent it's fully revealed, and maybe only half of the skies and depths.
Unlike BoTW where the main draw was the open world, after sinking my teeth into this more since launch the opposite could almost be said of ToTK. The exploration and creation are huge parts, but the game completely and utterly shines in the expansions that have been made to the towns and hub areas, the side missions that reflect older Zelda games like collecting Cuccos or long linked fetch and trade quests. The side characters now instead of simply being avatars there to point you in the right direction feel properly fleshed out and memorable.
I'll spoiler it in case people haven't played as much as me, but without going into specifics it regards the Water Temple, Wind Temple and one of the overworld Villages.

Spoiler

This game has the best Water Temple in any Zelda with a genuinely fun and unique gimmick that doesn't once involve putting boots on or swimming. The Wind Temple has my favourite boss in any Zelda and my favourite boss music in any Zelda, especially as a huge fan of Wind Waker.
Hateno Village is my favourite village in any Zelda too and the Mayoral Election quest is a brilliant bit of fun.

Are there things in it I'm still not 100% sold on? Sure. Weapons breaking, crafting, sluggish cooking. The positives in this game as so far and beyond any negatives though they almost mean nothing. It's still not my favourite Zelda, but I'm willing to call it a proper Zelda and it's in my Top 5 easily.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

I’ve only done the Wind Temple so far, but it was a lot of fun. I keep getting distracted by something interesting off in the distance and abandoning the main quest. I really disliked the weapons breaking in the short amount of time I spent playing BotW, but I don’t mind it so much here. Possibly because my weapons have a boulder or a mine cart fused to them to make them last a bit longer. I find it a little overwhelming at times, with too much to do. But that’s a minor thing. It’s going to take over my life like Elden Ring. I welcome it.

[Merzbow]

Zelda can get fucked, I kill a boss and die later on yet the game sends me back to before I fought that boss making me do it again? Not even Dark Souls is that shitty to the player.

[FLips]

6 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Zelda can get fucked, I kill a boss and die later on yet the game sends me back to before I fought that boss making me do it again? Not even Dark Souls is that shitty to the player.

There is an autosave and a manual save. It should autosave after you do anything significant. What boss did you beat?

[Merzbow]

Just some Stalnox which was piss easy but it means I have to dig the bastard out of the rocks for ten minutes again, I don't think the drops were worth it knowing that they'll break in seconds anyway.

[CAREBEAR LUVVA]

22 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Just some Stalnox which was piss easy but it means I have to dig the bastard out of the rocks for ten minutes again, I don't think the drops were worth it knowing that they'll break in seconds anyway.

This is the thing that spoils the game for me (and did for Breath of the Wild, too). There rarely seems any point in making the effort to do anything that might be even slightly tricky, because you know you'll only get the benefit of whatever reward you get for a few minutes before it's gone.

Having said that, I'm enjoying Tears more than BOTW. The world seems brighter, the characters are better, the quests feel a bit more involved, and I've not once slipped off a cliff because it started raining when I've almost reached the top. The sky and depths add a bit of variety which I always felt BOTW was lacking, too. It's a 7 out of 10 compared to BOTW's 6.

Edited May 24, 2023 by CAREBEAR LUVVA

[FLips]

I was indifferent to the enemy drops and for early game stuff they’re minimal difference makers. Mid-late game though when you get the black and silver horns they’re real difference makers in tight spots if you get caught off guard.

[Dr. Alan Grant]

Watched the PlayStation showcase yesterday. Spider-Man 2 looks fantastic of course. I’m a big fan of Metal Gear 3, so looking forward to the remake. Plus, re-releases of MGS 1-3. I’ve never played the fourth game, so hopefully that’ll find its way onto PS5 at some point. 
 

Phantom Blade could be a new Soulsborne game, it looks spectacular. And a new game from the people who made Journey too. Not that any of it matters, I’ll most likely still be playing Zelda for the next 4 years.

[Jesse]

Dragon's Dogma 2 was the pop for me, I adore that first game and I'm excited to see where they go with a second.

[Merzbow]

Fuck Konami.

I'm not touching that remake with a ten foot python.

[RedRooster]

31 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Watched the PlayStation showcase yesterday. Spider-Man 2 looks fantastic of course. 

So...I have mixed feelings. It looks like a prettier version of the last game, and while more of the same isn't necessarily a bad thing, I didn't really like what they did with Kraven. He's supposed to be a hunter, and Spider-Man is his prey. Fair enough. But why does he have so many goons? If he's trying to hunt Spider-Man because he's bored, why is he getting so much assistance?

I know why, because they need minor enemies for you to beat-up along the way. But surely there's a smarter way of doing that? I'm a little bit over the superhero game formula, in which the main (or a main) villain has an army of followers that you need to take out. It all started with the Arkham games, and it really worked there. It worked in Infamous, and it worked in the Sony Spider-Man games. But for me at least, it's starting to get stale. It makes all of the villains feel very similar and even somewhat interchangeable.