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I have heard that the Deep Dungeon level names reference Apocalypse Now, but the only know I know of are MLAPAN (Napalm backwards) and NOGAIS (anagram of Saigon), which are just Vietnam war references in general. Do any of the other level names have any significance?
Terminate: comes from the CIA phrase 'terminate with extreme prejudice', code words for assassination.
Delta: refers to a river delta, where much of the fighting took place.
Valkyries: refers to 'Ride of the Valkyries', an operatic piece by Wagner that is blared from helicopters as they strafe a village.
Tiger: the boat crew encounters a tiger.
Bridge: The Do Long bridge is an American outpost.
Voyage: the whole movie is a voyage to find Kurtz.
Horror: Kurtz's final words are: 'the horror, the horror'.
End: self-explanitory.
well put BG-57, well put...
i never actually saw "Apocalypse Now" until far after i read "Heart of Darkness," so i obviously drew lots of comparisons when i watched
I guess what baffles me is the inclusion in this game, unless the game makers happened to be fans of that movie.
The whole Reis/Beowulf subplot was cut whole cloth from another movie: Ladyhawke, where the heroic knight and his lady were cursed by a poweful preist and both transformed into animals (he into a wolf, she into a hawk). The sadistic twist is that one transforms at night the other during the day, so they're never together as humans. It's a very enjoyable film, although the keyboard soundtrack really dates it.
I like the original translation better on PSOne/PSN. The Japanese names for things like the Knights are just cooler, and I like the quirky mistranslations/weird sentences because it just has that raw feeling to it.
My recommendation would be the original but I've seen a lot from the PSP version and I would say they both have advantages over the other. You really can't go wrong.
PSP has Luso, which is Ramza with an innate "poach" with his squire class. Everything else aside, this makes the PSP version better end of discussion. You also get Balthier, which is pretty cool though I dont care to use him, and theres several extra things to do like the Beowulf/Reis extra stuff that was mentioned (you can steal SUPER ULTRA MEGA FAT loots from this).
*I also decided to try Reis on my current file only to find out she has the best stat growth in the game so now I am amazed (take that Orlandeau!).