A Gaming Diary
DS
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
No, okay, this laws stuff is really, really annoying me now. Last three fights.
A clan trial, not allowed to target enemies two or more spaces away. Target an enemy diagonally next to me. Law broken.
A clan trial, not allowed to perform actions that use MP. I use Moogle Lance, which, er, doesn’t use any MP and am told I’ve broken the law. What? Huh?
A straight fight, not allowed to do more than fifty points damage in a single hit. I use a normal attack, get some amazing critical hit that does twice normal damage and – oh no! – I’ve broken the law.
I’m sorry. It’s just broken. Especially the second one.
I don’t mind the laws being there and making you change your tactics, but when they’re unclear, down to luck or just plain broken it’s really, really rubbish.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 9th
A few more hours last night and I decide I like this. I understand the job system well enough now to deal with the interface and I’m just living with the fact that sometimes I’ll break the law through no fault of my own.
A couple of notable things happened last night.
The first was that I got a new party member, a thief. I’m not going to change her job, despite the fact that she’s mastered all her current thief abilities, because I want to find one more thief ability for her and then turn her into a ninja. I would give her some other abilities while I waited for a piece of equipment with a thief ability on it to appear, but it’s warning me that if she changes jobs from thief she won’t be able to go back until she has the correct prerequisites to do so. Not knowing what those are, I think it’s easier just to keep her as a thief for now.
The other thing was that I did my first clan trial, which gives me an extra choice of bonus at the start of a battle and gives my clan a new title. I had to defeat an enemy, which turned out to be easy. My fencer got the first action of the game and ran up to the enemy and stared it down until it ran away. Fair enough. Clan Lando now have the title of Scouts, which is nice.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 8th
I’m not sure I like this. I did play it for about three hours last night, which would suggest that I do like it, but it annoyed it me a fair bit.
I don’t think I like the jobs and abilities system. Rather someone having a class, you learn skills from bits of equipment, but only if you’ve currently got the correct job set. So everyone changes jobs every couple of fights. My main character was a soldier, but is now an archer. My black mage became a white mage, then a beastmaster. My thief was an animist, but is now a moogle knight. That’s confusing enough on its own, trying to remember during a fight who’s meant to be doing what. But it’s made more confusing by the menus. It’s far too easy to end up forgetting to put abilities and equipment back after a job change – and it’s a pain when you do remember. Especially when you have to fiddle about in the Unit Info menu, then pop off to the shop for a bit, then go back and fiddle some more. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out I was spending more time on micromanagement than on fighting. I long for a step-by-step series of screens that would lead me through the process more easily.
Also, the law system is completely unfair. It’s one thing not to be able to perform certain actions – but when your characters are taken over by the enemy then you still get penalised if they use the forbidden actions. So my archer last night was charmed by some horrible monster and attacked a friendly unit, using his bow. Which was forbidden. Law broken. Gah!
So, yeah, I don’t like those bits. But there’s still something compulsive about it. I need even more time with it to decide on a final verdict.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)
Jul 7th
Played for about an hour and a half. The actual fighting seems incredibly simple and easy so far, but everything outside the fights seems incredibly complicated and bewildering. I have no idea how jobs and abilities work as yet. I think that your job dictates which abilities you can learn, along with your current equipment, but I’m not sure. And there seem to P,R and A abilities, or something. My main character has an ability I can put in an A slot, which lets him use a shield, but he seems to be able to use a shield anyway without it being there. Maybe because of his current job, I’m not sure.
Anyway, I’ll play it a bit more and if I don’t get a handle on it all within another couple of hours I think I’ll go back to Disgaea, which was the original plan anyway.
Top Trumps: Doctor Who (DS)
May 22nd
Oh, how I sneered when this was announced! A cheap, lazy cash in that only children, idiots and the kind of fans who grab any old tat with a Dalek sticker on it would buy! Haw haw haw!
My wife, however, insisted we get it. And, as I’m also a Doctor Who fan who’ll grab any old tat with a Dalek sticker on it, I needed only minimal persuasion.
You want to know the shocking truth?
It’s actually really good fun. I went to bed late last night because we were playing so much multiplayer. (It only needs a single cart to play two player games, excellently.) There is a classic Top Trumps mode, but it’s not nearly as fun as using Adventure rules, where you get special powers to use, which really spice up the game. Turns Top Trumps from a “timewaster” game into “must… play… more…” game.
So, that’s me told.
Is it worth £20 more than a pack of cards, though? Well, I’ve not really investigated single player, but from my wife’s progress it seems to be addictive but short. The multiplayer is certainly far more fun than just a deck of cards. However, there only seems to be one deck in the game. It’s a very good deck and much more balanced than some other Top Trumps decks (the Angel one springs to mind as being completely unplayable), but for the money I’d expect at least three or four decks to choose from. It really does seem like a wasted opportunity in that respect.
So, yes, it’s far more fun than I ever expected it to be, but twenty-five quid is a little off. At a tenner, though, it would be great value for any Doctor-loving household with a couple of DS consoles.
Mr Driller: Drill Spirits (DS)
Apr 27th
Some terrible performances which are probably best forgotten, Suffice to say that I managed to die before reaching 500m on all the attempts.
Nurikabe (DS)
Apr 27th
What can I possibly say? I solved four or five grid-based number puzzles and had fun doing so, though I got stuck on one for a few minutes.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS)
Apr 26th
Utterly infuriating, far too much text, unskippable repetitive cut scenes, yet somehow still charming. One of those “turn off in disgust and come back to ten minutes later” games.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS)
Apr 24th
…I’m sure there are odder game concepts than “roguelike Pokemon bounty hunter”, but few spring readily to mind.
Nurikabe (DS)
Apr 24th
First game I’ve played in ages and there’s nothing to say about it.
I started it up, I did three puzzles, I stopped.
I think I’m just waiting for GTA IV before getting back to the gaming, though hopefully I’ll get some Mario Kart time soon.
