Can't do an open world? I'm not buying it

[erikramza]

San Andreas the RPG? Id play it.

[Jiro]

There is something greatly entertaining about erikramza's 7 word post after the essays posted above.

[Fynn]

I like how they can derail a thread and get away with it

[Wolf Kanno]

[QUOTE=Bolivar;3030831]

Also (SPOILER)was Ramsus supposed to join the game as a late addition to the party? It kinda seemed like they were going to pull a Magus with him when Citan gives him the old-friend pep talk, which in itself makes me wonder if given more time they were going to have branching plot lines and alternate endings.[/spoiler]

You know, I honestly don't know, as far as I've read, I don't think there was any dummied out data of him, but I agree I felt they were setting it up for him to join. Would have been awesome come to think of it cause I really did like him.

What plotholes does Tidus' nature create? Also I do think there was foreshadowing because he was from a place he couldn't possibly have been from.

If they can make thought/dream into physical reality, why not just create a Sin like being to destroy Sin, instead of his half-ass backwards generation ploy? It's not like Yevon can possess Tidus or Jecht, so it doesn't seem like they are susceptible to possession by Yevon without becoming an Aeon, so wouldn't it make more logical sense to just create a Dream Sin to destroy Sin and the other Aeons? It's not like Yevon has much of a mind left to thwart the Fayeth in doing this.

It just seems like it would make more sense. There are also some philosophical quandaries I don't care for either concerning this, but that is irrelevant to the story.

I guess Fei did deserve a break. It's not like they didn't lose comrades and loved ones along the way (SPOILER)(HAMMER!!!! ). But with everything going on with Elly late in the game, the truth that gets revealed about everyone, including the fact that (SPOILER)all humans on that planet (except Abel) were artificially created. It was a little bit of a let down for everything to end so predictably. So yeah, I still feel FFX had a much more adult ending than Xenogears.

I may agree FFX had a more mature ending (it is actually the ending I wanted for IX) I don't think it makes up for the rest of the game, as I said, I kind of feel some bad writing was used to get it to that point, so I don't find the ending as deeply moving as some of the other FFs. I felt Xenogears held onto the more mature storyline for most of its game and having a happy ending never really felt like a cop-out when you consider the state of the world at the end. It was a happy victory for the cast, but I felt they really earned it. Course we could also just talk about FFTactics or Vagrant story that would appease us both by having a matuure main story and a thought provoking ending.

As for Krelian's wrap-up, I can see why people like it, but I think it asks too much from the player, and gets away with it only because of how crazy the rest of the ride was up to that point

(SPOILER)I don't really feel it asks too much from the player, of anything it basically serves as an example of the paradox of divine forgiveness and divine retribution, which is really more of an issue in western religions like Christianity and Islam. The player wants to see Krelian punished but instead he asks for forgiveness and receives it, though by a being who probably doesn't give a rat's ass. This is one of those things that never sits well with views of Jude-Christian thought. Seriously, ask a pastor or an openly religious person about their view of the scenario of whether Hitler can go to heaven as long as he repents.You will get some interesting answers. I feel Krelian kind of falls into this category, but he's also helped by his rather sympathetic backstory.

[ReloadPsi]

It's a little of both, see unlike you, I never found Spira interesting, and I do partially blame it on the map design making the world feel like the yellow brick road of Oz, so while it is certainly uninspired in its over-simplicity and lack of imagination, I also feel the map design leads to the game not inspiring a sense of being in a "living world" and drawing the player in. So I'll agree with you that it was uninspired design but I also stand that it was uninspiring as well.

I know, right? I could not fathom Spira's geography. Walk down a dusty road, suddenly in Antarctica. What's with that?

[VeloZer0]

I always found it cool that the whole world was built around one road and you could traverse it in under an hour.

[Flying Arrow]

I always found it cool that the whole world was built around one road and you could traverse it in under an hour.

Oh, FFX.

Somewhat related question: Does the camera turn around to face the opposite direction if the player is running back from where he came (say you want to go back to Besaid from some later point on the map). Do you just have to watch Tidus running at you as the camera pans back or does the game change perspective? My immediate memory says that it doesn't.

[VeloZer0]

It does not. It is a pre-set camera path, albeit with and extremely uninspired placement.

[Wolf Kanno]

I always found it cool that the whole world was built around one road and you could traverse it in under an hour.

I'd rather play a side-scroller/action game if I wanted this kind of nonsense

I always found it cool that the whole world was built around one road and you could traverse it in under an hour.

Oh, FFX.

Somewhat related question: Does the camera turn around to face the opposite direction if the player is running back from where he came (say you want to go back to Besaid from some later point on the map). Do you just have to watch Tidus running at you as the camera pans back or does the game change perspective? My immediate memory says that it doesn't.

It mostly doesn't but I believe there are a few exceptions, namely Besaid, where the camera will reverse around for some parts. Mostly its stuck in one place like the PSX FF titles.

They were originally going to make the game full 3D with movable camera but they ran into some internal technical conflicts and dropped the whole idea. On a side note, FFX was also suppose to have eliminated random encounters and had enemies viewable on the map interacting with each other, but they realized the idea was too ambitious and they didn't have the know how of the PS2 to implement it within a timely manner. It's kind of amusing how many of the dropped technical ideas from FFX made it into FFXII instead.