Jecca Mehlota (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jecca_mehlota) wrote2011-05-01 03:46 am
jecca_mehlota) wrote2011-05-01 03:46 am
Not much to say.
I would like for things to just be better. I am not even sure what I mean by that. I am tired, and I am tired of being tired.
30 Days of Video Games
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
(S'up, guys, I've been trying to type this entry for the last five and a half hours. I know my answer/s, but I am not one with the making English make sense thing today. So I am giving up and posting it half-assed. If things seem to drop out mid-thought or don't make a lot of sense, that is why.)
Oooh… This is hard, because my emotional reaction is completely different from my more reasoned reaction. (That goes for every question on this thing that asks what the best "anything" is, by the way.)
Also, this meme is making me painfully aware of just how few video games I actually play (I'm familiar with a lot more than I've played, since I've watched other people play through, but I have thus far only answered with games I've tackled myself). Or maybe I just like SE (especially the Square side) too much, they've been responsible for most of the answers thus far. I'm getting self conscious, I guess.
Anyway, best story. I'm going to answer this one twice, but I do actually have a top choice. Just, no one will have any idea what I'm on about, so I'll mention something others might have a better chance of relating to (and because it does deserve a shout out). See, 'cause, the game I've played that I think has the best story (and I have been giving this a lot of thought, okay) is one that I know absolutely none of you have any experience with. (To be fair, one of you gave it a shot, but then dropped out before actually getting anywhere.) And I realise, of course, that it is at something of an advantage, being ongoing and all, but the overall story can be - has been - broken down into segments that mostly stand on their own, and even those bits are impressive. Final Fantasy XI. What do you want? It's got it. You want an epic story of saving the world? Okay! You want a smaller scale political drama? Sure, we got quite a few of those! You just want some stories that will tug on your heartstrings? Right over here (or other there, or other there), if you please. Funny stories, sad stories. Mysteries that drag you farther and farther in before finally, the big reveal that leaves you a bit stunned (and yet never do they seem overly contrived). Vana'diel is alive in a truly amazing way.
Take the Shadow Lord, for example. That story starts well before the present day. There was an entire war based around him (and his armies) that you play absolutely no part in. (The opening video actually depicts an important battle from then.) But in the present day, word is spreading that he is somehow returning, and - well, I mean. Look, Galkas can reincarnate. Of course the guy's coming back. (And of all the ones to kill in an act of betrayal, the idiot Hume would go for the one holding the shared memories the all Galka - Galka, by the way, have had about the worst existence ever of all the five races. Chased from their homeland, turned into slaves, treated as lower citizens - and of course he'd do it on top of one of the Mothercrystals, which would sense the rage and hate and pain and react to it, and of course that would attract Odin's attention.) Magicite is being gathered in the north... shit's going down. So a few notable NPCs venture out and, shit, the Shadow Lord really is back - but, luckily, still weak. And we defeat him and prevent a second Crystal War! Hooray! (So, there's the original game in a nutshell.)
... Exceeeept his whole revival (and defeat!) were orchestrated by others (who had been awakened by the Shadow Lord's first birth), who needed the spirit of the Shadow Lord to return to the mothercrystal so that they might use the energy flow between the five crystals to... well, that's a whole other (amazing and epic) thing (which spans two other expansion sets, even).
...Also, there's a bit of his soul trapped in a dreamland called Dynamis (which, as it's part of the dreamworld, is actually ruled over by Diabolos, who's one of the five terrestrial avatars in XI), which is also another (smaller) story, which finally brings a close to the whole 30 year saga by allowing those directly involved in the Multinational Expedition to finally find peace, of a sort.
But that is just a very brief summary of a small fragment of the story of XI. (I am glad SE is making these missions more accessible now. I am pretty sure I could solo my way through the original game, ie Ranks 1-5, at this point, since they've been lifting level caps on the older stuff.)
There are, obviously, other things, too, but you are probably tired of me talking about this game now. Basically, the scope of this story is huge, and the way they've interconnected so much of it just amazes me. Also, they're just good stories. (Also, haha, I like to think it means something that at least one guy over at SE calls XI "most Final Fantasy of all the installments".)
My second choice, which I guess I'll mark as my real answer (despite only taking second), is Final Fantasy X. I had a devil of a time choosing between VII and X, honestly, but I feel X's story is a little more, mm, coherent? And while both games had a few things that took me completely by surprise, I... don't actually know where this sentence is going, actually, I'm not thinking well today. I should've typed this entry up before work, when my words were around. I like the cast of VII better. The ending of X affected me a whole lot more (I had no idea people thought the ending of VII was THE LIFESTREAM KILLS EVERYONE until after I'd been poking around the internet. I always saw it as a positive, happy ending. ... I also never thought Aeris was actually going to come back, and always thought that the movement of the Lifestream against Meteor was largely her doing - hence the clip of her face in the green, which was apparently also not a common idea for a while. I have spoken to manymany people who have said one of the biggest problems with VII was that there was this whole build-up with Aeris and then she died and NOTHING EVER EVER EVER CAME FROM IT, and I have always been confused and a bit annoyed by that. Meanwhile, while the ending of X is also a positive one, ultimately, it is also hugely depressing - so is the entire game, really, geez, no wonder they made Tidus such an upbeat guy - and still breaks my heart and makes me cry every time even now that I have X-2 to make me feel better). I am not sure how this has turned into such a VII vs. X paragraph. Basically, I think X's story and world are put together very well and coherently, and things seemed to flow in a manner that made sense. Sure, there were surprises, but then, once you thought about them, well, they made sense. And, man, just. The story. I was going to go on about it, but, uh. Words. I did really like that we started with a protagonist who knew exactly as much as we did (nothing), and that the story unfolded around that. (Also, I was completely convinced for a while that they were actually going to just go through with it and have Yuna die. Didn't help that I heard the ending scenes song at some point, which, uh, sounds remarkably like it could be played over some sort of funeral procession scene, go figure.)
Got a few days off in a row next week. One is occupied with a few appointments (back to the doctor again, plus a few other minor things), but hopefully after that I'll finally be able to get the rest of the kitchen in order. I'm really sick of that box just sitting there.
30 Days of Video Games
Day 21 - Game with the best story.
(S'up, guys, I've been trying to type this entry for the last five and a half hours. I know my answer/s, but I am not one with the making English make sense thing today. So I am giving up and posting it half-assed. If things seem to drop out mid-thought or don't make a lot of sense, that is why.)
Oooh… This is hard, because my emotional reaction is completely different from my more reasoned reaction. (That goes for every question on this thing that asks what the best "anything" is, by the way.)
Also, this meme is making me painfully aware of just how few video games I actually play (I'm familiar with a lot more than I've played, since I've watched other people play through, but I have thus far only answered with games I've tackled myself). Or maybe I just like SE (especially the Square side) too much, they've been responsible for most of the answers thus far. I'm getting self conscious, I guess.
Anyway, best story. I'm going to answer this one twice, but I do actually have a top choice. Just, no one will have any idea what I'm on about, so I'll mention something others might have a better chance of relating to (and because it does deserve a shout out). See, 'cause, the game I've played that I think has the best story (and I have been giving this a lot of thought, okay) is one that I know absolutely none of you have any experience with. (To be fair, one of you gave it a shot, but then dropped out before actually getting anywhere.) And I realise, of course, that it is at something of an advantage, being ongoing and all, but the overall story can be - has been - broken down into segments that mostly stand on their own, and even those bits are impressive. Final Fantasy XI. What do you want? It's got it. You want an epic story of saving the world? Okay! You want a smaller scale political drama? Sure, we got quite a few of those! You just want some stories that will tug on your heartstrings? Right over here (or other there, or other there), if you please. Funny stories, sad stories. Mysteries that drag you farther and farther in before finally, the big reveal that leaves you a bit stunned (and yet never do they seem overly contrived). Vana'diel is alive in a truly amazing way.
Take the Shadow Lord, for example. That story starts well before the present day. There was an entire war based around him (and his armies) that you play absolutely no part in. (The opening video actually depicts an important battle from then.) But in the present day, word is spreading that he is somehow returning, and - well, I mean. Look, Galkas can reincarnate. Of course the guy's coming back. (And of all the ones to kill in an act of betrayal, the idiot Hume would go for the one holding the shared memories the all Galka - Galka, by the way, have had about the worst existence ever of all the five races. Chased from their homeland, turned into slaves, treated as lower citizens - and of course he'd do it on top of one of the Mothercrystals, which would sense the rage and hate and pain and react to it, and of course that would attract Odin's attention.) Magicite is being gathered in the north... shit's going down. So a few notable NPCs venture out and, shit, the Shadow Lord really is back - but, luckily, still weak. And we defeat him and prevent a second Crystal War! Hooray! (So, there's the original game in a nutshell.)
... Exceeeept his whole revival (and defeat!) were orchestrated by others (who had been awakened by the Shadow Lord's first birth), who needed the spirit of the Shadow Lord to return to the mothercrystal so that they might use the energy flow between the five crystals to... well, that's a whole other (amazing and epic) thing (which spans two other expansion sets, even).
...Also, there's a bit of his soul trapped in a dreamland called Dynamis (which, as it's part of the dreamworld, is actually ruled over by Diabolos, who's one of the five terrestrial avatars in XI), which is also another (smaller) story, which finally brings a close to the whole 30 year saga by allowing those directly involved in the Multinational Expedition to finally find peace, of a sort.
But that is just a very brief summary of a small fragment of the story of XI. (I am glad SE is making these missions more accessible now. I am pretty sure I could solo my way through the original game, ie Ranks 1-5, at this point, since they've been lifting level caps on the older stuff.)
There are, obviously, other things, too, but you are probably tired of me talking about this game now. Basically, the scope of this story is huge, and the way they've interconnected so much of it just amazes me. Also, they're just good stories. (Also, haha, I like to think it means something that at least one guy over at SE calls XI "most Final Fantasy of all the installments".)
My second choice, which I guess I'll mark as my real answer (despite only taking second), is Final Fantasy X. I had a devil of a time choosing between VII and X, honestly, but I feel X's story is a little more, mm, coherent? And while both games had a few things that took me completely by surprise, I... don't actually know where this sentence is going, actually, I'm not thinking well today. I should've typed this entry up before work, when my words were around. I like the cast of VII better. The ending of X affected me a whole lot more (I had no idea people thought the ending of VII was THE LIFESTREAM KILLS EVERYONE until after I'd been poking around the internet. I always saw it as a positive, happy ending. ... I also never thought Aeris was actually going to come back, and always thought that the movement of the Lifestream against Meteor was largely her doing - hence the clip of her face in the green, which was apparently also not a common idea for a while. I have spoken to manymany people who have said one of the biggest problems with VII was that there was this whole build-up with Aeris and then she died and NOTHING EVER EVER EVER CAME FROM IT, and I have always been confused and a bit annoyed by that. Meanwhile, while the ending of X is also a positive one, ultimately, it is also hugely depressing - so is the entire game, really, geez, no wonder they made Tidus such an upbeat guy - and still breaks my heart and makes me cry every time even now that I have X-2 to make me feel better). I am not sure how this has turned into such a VII vs. X paragraph. Basically, I think X's story and world are put together very well and coherently, and things seemed to flow in a manner that made sense. Sure, there were surprises, but then, once you thought about them, well, they made sense. And, man, just. The story. I was going to go on about it, but, uh. Words. I did really like that we started with a protagonist who knew exactly as much as we did (nothing), and that the story unfolded around that. (Also, I was completely convinced for a while that they were actually going to just go through with it and have Yuna die. Didn't help that I heard the ending scenes song at some point, which, uh, sounds remarkably like it could be played over some sort of funeral procession scene, go figure.)
Got a few days off in a row next week. One is occupied with a few appointments (back to the doctor again, plus a few other minor things), but hopefully after that I'll finally be able to get the rest of the kitchen in order. I'm really sick of that box just sitting there.