John Zeitler

Good morning, everyone. I realize that I’d said there were going to be regular posts again soon, and I still stand by that statement… all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Anyway, it’s been sort of an FF4-like week around me. Well, that’s a poor description– I did not suddenly discover that I had a brother who was a dark lord, nor did I decide to randomly turn evil or anything like that. No, I suppose I should have said that I’ve been in an FF4-like mood, but the damage is done now, and if that means I have to start learning how to play the harp, so be it.

It started, really, with picking up FF4: The After Years while I was sick. Overall, I like it. I’m playing through it sequentially, which means I’m still in Ceodore’s story for the time being; but clearly, while the graphical upgrades make it look like FF6, it’s still its “father’s” game after all, which means it’s punishingly hard at times and laughably easy at others. There seems to be a pronounced difficulty spike around the time that Ceodore gets out of the Mist Cave. Also, the plot seems to be lifting itself almost directly from FF4, but is taking some liberties with how things play out that make it a very worthwhile run. Like I said, I like it, probably enough to go through the “whole thing” bit by bit (which makes me very glad for its episodic nature).

And it ended last night; weary from a rough day of trying to get pizza (long story), I came home to discover that OC Remix’s most recent project was completed: a massive re-scoring of Final Fantasy IV’s soundtrack. It’s available here. I have yet to listen to any of it– I just got it loaded onto the phone, and will queue it up once the podcasts are done for the week– but it’s easily the largest project the collective has undertaken, and arguably one of the more interesting ones to me. FF4′s soundtrack has always had a fond place in my heart, so I’m eager to hear how it’s been handled.

Finally, BlazBlue… I came into Guilty Gear looking for an interesting, “alternative” fighting game just about seven years ago– I think around when GGX2 was coming out for the PS2. The character design and artwork had attracted me, but mostly because it had been a while since I’d seen a good, “new” 2-D fighter, and I wanted to get back into those. Well, it worked. I was interested in BlazBlue for much the same reason, though the drought aspect was a bit mitigated (Street Fighter IV did just come out last year, after all). In all honesty, BlazBlue is just an evolution of Guilty Gear, but it’s a well-needed one. Beyond just the superficial improvements such as HD-level artwork and everything voiced in English (and I do mean everything), the game’s main draw is that each character’s “gimmick” is distinctly unique and makes switching from one to another more than just a matter of remembering different moves. For example, Jin’s specials rely on his speed and agility, with his Drive being a temporary short-range freeze. On the other hand, Carl’s specials rely on his doll partner, making him effectively like the goth-shota version of the Ice Climbers. I highly recommend the game to anyone looking for a challenge and a few laughs with their button mashing.

Also, and I just noticed this, but one of the Achievement icons is the Gaijin 4-koma guys. Memery goes meta.

Catch you folks… probably tomorrow.