Star Ocean: The Last Hope

I think I put a good 25 - 30 hours into this game. If not, then it sure felt that way lol And while it amused me in the beginning, it never really grabbed me. And then was completely ruined by Edge's reaction to the first major event in the game. People say his reaction was justified by guilt and whatnot, and I'll give them that. But to drag it on for so long, and try to drag his team down into his wallow'y mopiness as well is just childish and irresponsible. He's the captain, he has a position of responsibility and leadership, and he shrugs it all off to go mope in a corner. I've seen lots of Star Trek, the characters in there sometimes make terrible mistakes, or even if they don't and end up making terrible consequences through good intentions. They feel their grief and stuff, but they also realize they have a ship and a crew to lead. They have to put responsibility there first and deal with their feelings in a mature and responsible manner. Edge dealt with them like a 15 year old. Probably because he was a 15 year old (not honestly sure of his age, but considering the Japanese's love of teenage protagonists in ridiculously unbelievable command positions [Squall] he certainly fit the trope and the personality archetype)

And it's really bad when the characters in the game agree with me and consider him unfit for duty and take command away from him. I was extremely happy that happened, but it didn't change his personality. I was wishing he'd either grow up or stop showing up in the cut scenes. But neither happened. And though he eventually got over it, it was way too late. I forced myself to get that far, and I just couldn't take any more

Immature people should not be in positions of responsibility where people's lives are on the line. Lives were lost. His psychological evaluation for the job should have indicated whether he could handle that or not, and he could not

I have to agree with the people who've mentioned Final Fantasy Tactics (any of them, though I have no played Advance 2)

I've given the first one so many tries. But it's just so complex and tedious. And like every other game in the genre outside of Shining Force, it's just battle battle story battle story story battle battle battle

I can't imagine any other type of RPG getting away with this. People give Xenogear's disc 2 trout for being nothing but story and boss fights. Plot development and fighting, when they want to play a game. Well Tactics is nothing, absolutely NOTHING but plot and battle. And people love that game for it? Final Fantasy XIII adds the bonus of hallways, but other than that it's just battles and plot too, and people hate that game for it. Why does Tactics (and every other strategy game that takes the easy route and cuts out the option of an overworld and replaces it with a damn map instead) get a free pass? I haven't managed to play through any of them. And god damn was Fire Emblem: Awakening a great game, but I could not beat it. The pacing just seemed horrible. All battles and story. I loved the character interactions, but they were over so quickly, and came off as rather gimmicky, with just a couple of sentences traded between characters in between battles. And then off to another battle or story point. How I dream of being able to walk around in that world and actually talk with the people in it and actually have longer conversations or hang out with the people I grow to care about in it. I care about that game more than a thousand Final Fantasy Tactics could ever compare to. And this would include Disgaea, La Pucelle, Luminous Arc, Vandal Hearts, Yggdra Union, Gungnir, Tacts Ogre. So much potential to have more than just battles and story and micromanaging. And I've sunk so many hours into them hoping it would pay off, that at least ONE game would have proper pacing and not try to burn everyone out on so many battles. But they're all the same. It's hard to believe Shining Force; probably a 25 year old game by now, is literally the only shining example of a strategy game with the deftly handled pacing of any other RPG on the market. Why has nobody seen the potential there

Yes I had to rant. All these games that could have been magnificent if they had only put a little time and effort into crafting a world instead of just a battle system with a story >.< and so much of my time given to them hoping and praying any of them got it right. And I haven't beaten a single one

(I should probably also note that I am drinking right now.. lol)