What the hell are you waiting for?
Also, easily the worst airship theme in the series
Your guess is as good as mine with Adel, the Ultimania is just a glorified strategy guide for the most part with some information and in VIII's case, barring an extra story about the myth of Hyne which never amounts to anything in the game proper, most of the meaty new info the guide provides is for the various vehicles you see in the game. There is a lso little tidbit stuff like Sorceress' having normal lifespan and Angelo's gender, but nothing the game doesn't tell you proper. Even the 20th/25th guides don't really reveal anything you couldn't figure out by playing the game proper.
The problem with the Orphanage twist for me is that A) It's so subtly hidden in the game that it is incredibly easy to miss most of the foreshadowing for it, so it always feels like it comes out of nowhere. None of this is helped by the fact that a good chunk of the events/info is hidden in optional stuff you can do in the early section of the game and probably ignored to get the plot rolling. B) The revelation never comes into play again. It's just used for the silly shock value and to set up the idea of a personal connection with Edea, yet the concept itself is really cool but poorly utilized, it would have been more interesting to deal with the ramifications of using amnesia inducing spirits than drop into the equally poorly explained time travel nonsense that is Ellone and Ultimecia. It's kind of the hallmark of Nojima's writing where he comes up with these bizarre plot hole inducing ideas for the sole sake of getting a shallow shock out of the player, but he never stops to really think about the ramifications of the idea. It's why I always compare him to M. Night Shamalyan (sp?).
Also, the Ragnarok may not have my least favorite airship theme, but it is easily my least favorite airship, it's so damn slow and clunky to use which is a real shame when you compare it to how fast and smooth the Blackjack/Falcon and Highwind were in the previous games.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
Agreed on the airship. And the writing, honestly. Of course the orphanage sequence isn't handled well (though this twist can be handled well, as evidenced by Persona 2) but I still think it's not really that bad, now that I play these in order. We've had to stomach bulltrout all this time you guys. In V and VI and VII too. I just think that we were all a bit older by the time VIII came out which is why it bothered us more. The whole "not thinking about all the ramifications" really brings back that whole huge material fiasco again...
The series has never had excellent writing but for VIII, I kind of feel the issue was that they had three different story scenarios to work with and instead of just choosing one and making the most of it, they just haphazardly threw it all in and made a muddled mess. It has too many ideas and no one to prune it down and leave only the best. IX has a similar problem but I felt it did a better job making it not feel quite as disjointed.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that I have the ultimate weapons for my main three and have obtained Bahamut. I also got a bunch of Energy Crystals from Elnoyle and stacked everyone's HP with Holy. Squall now has 9999 HP and 255 Str. I am now on my way to face Ultima Weapon.
The bad news is that because it took a lot of effort to look for all those things, Squall's level is now 65![]()
Oh, it turns out I can apparently get infinite stat boosting items now that I have call shop and all the refinement abilities. I guess that'll help a bunch!
I mean, honestly, I still think this is only an option for the very patient. I still don't know if I'll actually have enough of that to really go through with it. Plus, there might really not be a need for it.
Well now
Discussions of the VIII soundtrack have been a total trainwreck so far![]()
Speaking of total trainwrecks, I like 'The Mission' and wish they used it more.
I mean no trains actually got wrecked in that mission but you were on a train so it's mostly relevant.
Also IMO "The Stage is Set" is so good it makes up for any other deficiencies in the soundtrack (not that I believe there are many but, you know, devil's advocate and all that)
They were okay, but really, I think there are a lot of tracks that serve the same purpose that came before and later that just do it much better.
Remember, guys, I still like this soundtrack. Anything with FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC is pretty good, tbh. It's just that throughout most of the game it's the bland tracks that play. And all those baffling instrument choices...![]()
Haha yeah no. It's insanely tedious. If you do ever feel like stat-maxing for some reason, play the PC version and use Chocobo World. Otherwise just get some good junctions going and you won't need it. With your stats you shouldn't have any trouble against anything besides Omega Weapon and Ultimecia anyways (maybe Ultima Weapon if you don't kill it fast).
Ah man. Refresh my memory. Why do I have to beat Ultima Weapon fast?