I'm kinda back

College is over, and now i have time to work again........doesn't mean you can expect anything unless i get really angry, but hey

In other News, i'm reading Monte' Cooks Arcana Evolved, and I think its rather good, I like how interested he is in trying new ideas, however it lacks the self confidence that my favorite third party source books. Scarred lands is one of my favorite 3rd party Games, and that is mostly because they don't spend alot of their time going "AND this is why we are better than WOTC". That being said, I like alot Monte Cooks Arcana Evolved (Seriously, he prints that every single time he mentions the product in the book, he can't just call it Arcana Evolved), though I think the way he handled getting ride of alignment was really silly, because he basically references alignment every time he mentions roleplaying, he is like "well, in my game because we don't have alignment, your characters can have different views on the political make up of the realm. And none of our races are good or evil.....except those guys, they are evil, and they are lawful, and they are good, but not Evil, Lawful, or Good...."
Other than that, and the fact that the game seems utopian, i honestly think its a good product, if you can afford the 50 bucks (I got mine at a sale thank god) i'd recommend it. Don't get arcana unearthed, just go for Arcana Evolved, it apparently has everything the first game has
from
EE

Radiata Stories is more innovative than Dragon Age Orgins

Why are the two most boring characters given the most screen time?

Radiata Stories (NO I don’t know what Radiata stories means)

Normally I don’t explain why I’m reviewing a game, it’s just an arbitrary decision based upon my whims, and so I’m not going to start now. Nah, just kidding, through that would be funny, instead I have I a whimsical story which serves as a forced metaphor for my views on the game rather than just saying them directly (spoilers, its mediocre). I also love self aware narration. Anyways, I got this game right after I bought a PS2 at my Grandparents, basically as a test game to play something cheap before I went home and borrowed (steal) better (slightly less crappy) games from my friends (people whose addresses I know), and I jus saw my younger sister (younger sister) playing it today when I basically remembered its existence, and figured that since I’m playing assassin and I’m hiding inside my house (there everywhere), I might as well write a review on it, because despite the fact I think the name is silly and I really don’t like the art direction other than character creation, I think it had enough potential to be wroth an article. Basically, I don’t really want to write about what the game is, which is as you’ve noted, a mediocre time killer, but more what it had the potential to be. Because unlike almost every other bad game out there, Radiata Stories faults are born not from lack of creativity or ideas, but simply through general incompetence. And I know that this is going to shock people, but Radiata Stories was possibly one of the bravest attempts in gaming in the last decade.

Now as I have made abundantly clear at this point, I don’t really like JRPG (grr, Final Fantasy) so I’m naturally bias against the game, but it did make some attempts to move away from what normally bothers me, it just didn’t do enough. They ditched turn based combat, but I’m still going into another world to fight and its still limited and tedious, just less so. The outfits aren’t as stupid as Final Fantasy’s absurdities, but they still make everybody look gaudy and out of place, and while the system isn’t as obsessive when it comes to all this minute details, its still boring to the point where I don’t really want to actually modify my character in the least. Beyond that the characterization is simplistic, the dialogue lacks any trace of subtly, and everybody has stupid hair. However it is where Radiata Stories tries to do something original that it all goes horribly wrong. Basically the game has the set pieces to be great. The story is about a young noble boy named Jack Russell (I hope that is more subtle in Japanese) who wants to join the nights of his realm. Unable to get past the entrance exam due to his general ineptitude, he is accepted into the knights through blatant nepotism instead. This got the whole game off to a very good start, because it subverts the normal JRPG, instead of my excitable not so smart character overcoming the odds based on the power of his will, he has to deal with the guilt from his lack of actual merit. This built up the expectation that the game would be about my character trying to come to understand how the world really works and being forced to confront his own privileged background, rather than the main character being the underdog. But like almost everything else in this game, all of these small subversions only serve to disappoint me after raising my expectations because the game doesn’t go anywhere with this idea. Jack has a few seconds of “OMG I don’t deserve this” before going off like the typical JRPG hero non the wiser. Sure he will feel guilty once or twice, but it will come completely out of nowhere and feel like an obvious effort to insert angst. Later once the actual game play starts, this happens again, the castle you start out in is HUGE. Its this massive complex full of different people and stuff happening, it could be a whole game in itself. But you can’t actually do anything with the fact that they have this huge castle because all of the rooms are practically the same and the characters are so dull it just feels like your wasting your time. So, contrary to my nature of saving the main quest until absolute last, I ran to do the main quest before I became more hopelessly lost. Yeah, I know that I missed a massive backlog of important information and potential characters/items, but it was just so generic and uninteresting that what could have been a great beginning. Anyways, so I am then introduced to my party, the snotty rich girl, the overly noble knight and…….my least favorite character the southern hillbilly priest. WTF. Why does every character with a southern accent have to be a dumbass hick? I mean I know this is the fault of the dubbers not the game itself, but I’m half southern, my moms from North Carolina, is the game so bad at characterization they have to use an offensive stereotype. I mean imagined if his character was exactly the same but I made his accent Hispanic. Anyways, I planned to resume the plot summery but honestly, I really don’t care at this point, I just want to talk about the game’s main selling point, the immersion. Basically, the main city (and by extension the surrounded towns when you get to visit them) are all populated by 150 NPCs who you can get into your party. All of these characters have their own schedule and personality and you can collect all of them (Between two play through obviously blah) like lawyer collecting clients through a variety of tasks. These vary from simply talking to them, talking to them at a certain level, fighting them, saving them, having a friend of theirs, to having a special item. The game is run in kinda sorta real time, so you have to pretty much stalk these people before getting them into your party. As you can expect, it suffered from all of the problems you would expect from such a system, namely all of the characters being underdeveloped, existing more as an accomplishment than a party member (you don’t even get to talk to them once you get them in your party), many of them being totally unmemorable, and their listed personally traits never actually effecting the game. For example, I don’t remember his name, but one Frankenstein guy was described as being as sociopathic mad scientist, but once I got him to join me, that never came up, he never betrayed me for his own personal gain or tried to actually experiment on somebody it was just an idea that never came to anything. However the idea is pretty much what I want from an ideal RPG game, if we had a game with better funding and writing backing it, this could be the most innovative game since Baldur’s Gate. Instead we get this idea coming from a mediocre JRPG, where it fails horribly, but at least they tried. And I’m rapidly losing interest, here is some basic information (filler) before I come to the stunning conclusion

The Good and the Bad (wait what else would their be?)

• I like that there is a lot going on. People are going into houses, out of houses, regular schedules, and doing their own thing. It makes the society feel alive and people actually having a point. Disturbingly enough, it handled it even better than Oblivion/Morrowind did, by having the characters actually change their reactions when they are in different locations. True is a shallow portrayal that is based entirely upon adding these characters to your friends list, but that’s more than most games can say.
• The races. Despite having their art design ripped off from World of Warcraft, Radiata stories actually are pretty fleshed out. Ok, no they are just shallow stereotypes, but they are new shallow stereotypes. The Light Elves are winged fairy elves who are isolationist and snotty. Ok that’s typical, but they are more fairy elves rather than LOTRS Elves. The Black Elves are the tree loving nature elves who are into physical exertion and are kinda a sporty martial artist race who are kinda all athletes. The Goblins are either Green, who are basically an entire race of trashy hobos, or Black who are all stoners, and the dwarves are all Russian industrialists. Apparently there are two types of orcs too, but I never bothered to recruit them. The downside of course is that they are again, only shallow stereotypes, jut with kind of a nifty idea.
• The weapons are very much hit and miss, but about half of them are pretty cool. The rest are just stupid
• While the NPCs are almost universally shallow representatives of actual characters, they at least have a nifty concept they revolve around. While they lack anything resembling depth, when you first met them they seem pretty interesting. Again, if they actually developed these character you could have bioware styled interesting characters.
• A cool plot. This they almost pulled off perfectly, a almost totally morally grey battle between humans and nonhumans. The latter are slightly more morally justified, but that’s like saying the allies were slightly more justified in WWI, its true but the resulting conflict was way out of proportion, as the humans are more likeable honestly. The fact that for the first two thirds of the game you have been making friends on both sides makes the resulting confrontation between the two sides hammers home the feeling of “Wow, this is a civil war, not a war between good and evil”. Of course then you realize how shallow the characters and cease to care, as well as your allies tendency to respawn, which makes the whole point of a civil war kinda pointless. Also the fact that humans get so much more characterization makes all of your non human allies seem weird (Also why are the purple people considered human? Eh?). The problem is that by the end of the game, the purpose or even conclusion of the war are kinda obscured, due to a mix of shoddy story telling and stupidly long periods doing pointless quests.
• The quests that involve talking to people and fighting unique foes and interaction between characters was cool, all of the rest were a pointless waste of time
• The actual set pieces of the plot were cool, you have these long painful periods of filler intermittently mixed with really good cutscenes that actually make me eager to keep playing (unlike final fantasy games, where I’m just killing time for the whole game). I liked most of the major characters other than jack (see below), the voice acting was good, and while the game didn’t actually make any use of their personalities, they were presented really well in the limited screen time they had. The fact that random NPCs suddenly showed up and made a different was really great, if again, they actually did something with that beyond a few disconnected scenes
• The only thing I really didn’t like was the main Character. Jack is simply put, unappealing. Like his namesake, he is excitable, really stupid, moronically brave (I had to use moronically because I had used stupid already), socially awkward and shallow. Basically, the typical JRPG main character, why does Japan love the stupid brave guy with a good heart motif? His lack of intelligence just makes him unappealing, because the random NPCs are honestly more interesting as characters, because he feels like he should be a random NPC who joins your party, because he has about as much depth. This is a massive personal issue I have with JRPGs, but stupid main characters cripple games that rely upon complex stories, because the character himself is unable to actually understand the complexity, thus forcing the game to dumb itself down to the point where it is patronizing. A stupid main character also forces the minor characters to be more polarized so he (and presumably the audience) can understand the conflict better, the main human villain Lord Cross has to be such a massive ass so Jack can know who to fight to. Also its boring, he doesn’t have anything to say, he just follows around from plot point to plot point. A good protagonist is central to a video game of this design, a distinctive personality is vital for this understanding.

So in conclusion, Radiata stories was a brave, but ultimately futile attempt to make something good out of the JRPG format, and to try out some really inventive new ideas. However its departure from the norm made it unappealing to JRPG fans, while its sticking to old traditions made it useless to WRPG fans. So in conclusion, Radiata Stories is more innovative than Dragon Age Origins. While it isn’t as good as a game by a long run, it does something that Bioware didn’t attempt to do, namely try to depart from a formula that has long since proven stagnant.

From

EE

The Thought Entity, Krimm Blackleaf gets full credit

Gargantuan Outsider (Extraplanar, Psionic)
HD: 32d8+584 (728 hp)
Initiative: +12
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares), fly 100 ft. (perfect), swim 80 ft. (16 squares)
Armor Class: 51 (+8 Dex, -4 size, +17 madness, +20 natural), touch 31, flat-footed 43
Base Attack/Grapple: +32/+53
Attack: Mind-hand manipulation +47 (1d8+25) or tentacle +36 (4d6+8)
Full Attack: 15 mind-hand manipulations +47 (1d8+25) and 10 tentacles +36 (4d6+8)
Space/Reach: 20 ft./20 ft.(50 ft. with tentacles, 420 ft. with mind-hand manipulation)
Special Attacks: Aura of madness, manifesting, mind-hand manipulation, spell-like abilities, will-crushing onslaught
Special Qualities: Alien mind, all-around vision, constructive convergence of principles, cosmic transcendence of good and evil, counter-conceptual interposition, darkvision 60 ft., DR 20/epic and lawful, epic madspawn, immunity to acid, cold, petrification, mind-affecting abilities and transmutation, regeneration 15, resistane to elec 20, fire 20, sonic 20, spell resistance 43, telepathy 1,000 ft., true seeing
Saves: Fort +43, Ref +25, Will +12
Abilities: Str 28, Dex 26, Con 43, Int 41, Wis 1, Cha 30
Skills: Appraise +15(+17 living things), Autohypnosis +17, Bluff +30, Concentration +51, Craft (genesis) +50, Diplomacy +47, Disguise +42, Escape Artist +43, Heal +10, Hide +22, Intimidate +47, Jump +11, Knowledge (arcana) +50, Knowledge (history) +50, Knowledge (psionics) +50, Knowledge (the planes) +50, Listen +25, Move Silently +38, Psicraft +62(+64 to address power stones), Search +38, Sense Motive +30, Sleight of Hand +20, Spellcraft +50(+52 to decipher scrolls), Spot +29, Survival +30(+32 on other planes or following tracks, +34 following tracks on other planes), Swim +47, Tumble +38, Use Magic Device +30, Use Psionic Device +45
Feats: Ability Focus(Aura of Madness), Empower Power, Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Mind Over Body, Psionic Meditation, Quicken Power
Epic Feats: Epic Manifesting, Epic Skill Focus (Psicraft), Epic Toughness(x2)
Environment: The Far Realm
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 30
Treasure: Standard, always horrific
Alignment: None
Advancement: 33+ HD (Gargantuan)
Level Adjustment: --

It appears as a dot in the sky several hundred yards above you. Suddenly your mind grasps the 'shape' of the monster, and it is maddening simply to look upon it. Tentacles and eyes swarm about the shapeless core of it. The next instant the ground at your feet is impacted by countless invisible forces, and cloven by countless invisible blades. At the same time, your brain is berated by madness.

The Thought Entity is a scarcely known Far-Realm entity, and said by several scholars of distant and terrible things to be the cause of many a tragic and horrific event. It has been accused of things from nightmares to entire villages and cities to physical destabilization to many parts of almost every plane. If it is the cause of any of these things is yet to be proven, and can only be speculated on. One that is certain is that anyone that has faced it and lived can claim that it is indeed powerful enough to any of these things-that is if they are sane enough to speak.
In truth, whatever horrific occurances the Thought Entity is responsible, there are many more 'chosen' of this entity who cause more havoc than the Entity does alone. These monsters that were once men have their minds shattered and given some of the abilities of the Entity until they are almost as strong as it is. Many of these chosen are sought out randomly with yet to be figured motives. Because it is a Far-Realm entity, it's motives are likely as big a mystery to itself as it is to anyone who seeks them.

The Thought Entity does not speak coherently through the rims of it's tendril-sockets, but it is capable of getting it's communications across through maddening and semi-coherent telepathy.

It weighs only a couple of tons despite it's size, and keeps itself aloft with effortless psychic force. The core of the Entity is nearly eight meters in diameter and it's tentacles are hard to gauge the length of, due to their retractability.

Like all outsiders, the Thought Entity need only breathe, but it can breathe air, salt water, fresh water, Far Realm viscerae, acid, gamma radiation and fear.

COMBAT
The Thought Entity rarely attacks within close range, allowing it's invisble psychic weapons cleave through it's opposition from afar, and usually after using it's greater invisibility spell-like ability. It's mind-hand manipulation is definitely it's main combat tactic, but it is just as likely to use it's psion-powers and most especially it's epic power. If attacking with it's mind-hand manipulation, it never attacks a single enemy one or twice, even if it has the means to attack it over a dozen times. Only if it is pressed will it attack with it's many many psychic weapons, and if an opponant has brought itself within tentacle-range, it will not hesitate to rain blows from it's tentacles upon them, though it despises the use of it's actual body(the tentacles seem to attack, regardless of the Entity's constant psychic protests).

The Thought Entity's natural weapons and any manufactured weapons it wields through mind-hand manipulation are counted as chaotic and epic for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Alien Mind (Ex): The mind(s?) of the Entity is an infinite labyrinth that can swallow even the most powerful mind. Any creature who attempts to read the thoughts of the Entity or otherwise study it's mind must make a Will save with a DC of 36 or suffer the effects of the insanity spell. This is a Charisma-based save.

All-Around Vision (Ex): The Thought Entity's tentacles and core are dotted with alien eyes, providing a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. The Entity can’t be flanked.

Aura of Madness (Su): As a free action, the Entity can trigger a 40-foot-radius burst of mental chaos centered on itself. Any creature in the area must succeed on a Will save with a DC of 38. If they fail, they are affected as by the insanity spell. Any creature that successfully saves against this ability cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours. This ability is a mind-affecting compulsion effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Constructive Convergence of Principles (Su): The pitiful adamant steadfastness of physical law is something far younger than the Thought Entity or the Far Realm, and such things can easily be overcome. The Thought Entity has the ability to treat all planes it is on as being highly morphic. Additionally, at the cost of 10,000 XP, it may create a single living creature with an effective character level of 20th or lower(usually a unique lesser daelkyr) over the course of 24 hours. This creature is not controlled by the Entity, but is considered loyal to it. In the face of any situation though, it may choose for itself. It is capable of creating more than one creature, but each individual creature has another 10,000 XP cost.

Cosmic Transcendence of Good and Evil (Ex): The essence of morality and ethics are so puny and insignificant in the Far Realm that the creatures there don't even acknowledge it's existence in the rest of the Multiverse. The Entity does not have an alignment to speak of. It's not as simple as being of true neutral alignment, but not having an alignment at all.
Additionally, any attacks it makes with it's Mind-Hand Manipulation ability(be it force-weapons or weapons wielded through telekinesis) gain a +2 to attack rolls and +2d6 to damage rolls with creatures with only one neutral alignment component, and a +4 bonus to attack rolls and +4d6 damage to creatures of an extreme alignment.
The Entity, if it should ever attain more feats or class levels need not comply to alignment restrictions, nor similar restrictions when it comes to magic items.

Counter-Conceptual Interposition (Su): Faced with any physical attack, pure chaos can shift in the Entity's favor. It adds a madness bonus equal to it's base Will save modifier to it's Armor Class(already figured into it's statistics block). Three times per encounter as an immediate, it may also reduce the damage it's taken from any source by half.

Epic Madspawn (Ex): The Entity has a mind(or more) that is completely alien, completely insane by mortal standards. It is immune to confusion or insanity-like effects, and are not affected by Wisdom damage, drain, or burn, or by penalties to Wisdom. Additionally, it is immune to being detected by any non-epic divination spells save ones that meant to detect him within normal visual range, such as true seeing or see invisibility.

Mind-Hand Manipulation (Su): The Thought Entity is not a creature that is so crude that it would even desire to use it's physical body in any task, it is after-all, a creature of thought. The Entity can use telekinesis at will as a supernatural ability, with a caster level of 32nd. However, unlike the normal telekinesis spell, the Entity need not concentrate to maintain the effect and can manipulate 3,200 lb.
It can also create weapons of pure, invisible force. This acts as the spiritual weapon spell, and the Entity can only have 15 such weapons active at once.

Regeneration: The Thought Entity's regeneration can only be overcome by weapons that are both lawful and epic, as well as weapons forged by demigods or gods of greater power with the Lawful subtype against the outer-hull of the very heart of Mechanus.

True Seeing (Su): As the spell, and constantly active. Caster level 20th.

Will-Crushing Onslaught (Su): Of course, the Thought Entity is a creature of thought! Mental force is superior to physical force. Whenever the Entity deals damage with it's Mind-Hand Manipulation ability it automatically deals an additional 20 points of force damage.

Manifesting: The Thought Entity manifests powers as though it were a 25th level psion with a discipline in telepathy. It also knows several psychokinesis-discipline powers, despite the restriction. The save DC's are Intelligence-based.

Psion powers known (543 pp, base save DC 25 + power level):
1st - create sound, disable, inertial armor, psionic charm, synethete
2nd - brain lock, ego whip, psionic suggestion, read thoughts
3rd - body adjustment, crisis of breath, energy cone, false sensory input, time hop
4th - control body, death urge, energy ball, psionic dominate
5th - energy current, mind probe, psionic major creation, shatter mind blank
6th - fuse flesh, mass cloud mind, mind switch, psionic contigency
7th - crisis of life, decerebrate, insanity, reddopsi
8th - bend reality, mind seed, psionic telekinetic sphere, recall death, true metabolism
9th - apopsi, psychic chirurgery, reality revision, tornado blast

11th - madness epidemic

The Entity has an effective pool of 32,000 XP it may use for powers or other abilities, such as Constructive Convergence of Principles. It may replenish this pool by killing creatures and acquiring XP, or spending a material-plane-year in the Far Realm.

Spell-Like Abilities: at will - detect thoughts, etherealness, greater invisibility, greater plane shift, greater teleport, mind fog; 3/day - time stop

Skills: The Thought Entity has a +8 racial bonus on any swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.
The thought entity is also capable of instances of clarity through the chaos of the Far Realm, allowing it the ability to take 20 on any Psicraft check every 3 rounds.

Epic Manifesting [Epic, Psionic]
You are capable of using great and terrible psychic powers, beyond the scope of lesser manifesters of all sorts.
Prerequisites: Knowledge (psionics) 24 ranks, Psicraft 24 ranks, ability to manifest 9th level powers
Benefits: You gain a number of bonus powers points equal to twice your manifester level, which rises along with an increased manifester level as you progress. Additionally, you are capable of using epic powers. Epic powers are treated just as epic spells(using the feanmerc system) except they use Psicraft instead of Spellcraft and instead of using spell slots, they require a number of power points equal to (power level*2)-1. Instead of using normal spells as seeds, it uses psionic powers that the manifester has access to.
Psions are capable of using epic powers if all the power seeds are of their discipline or are not restricted to a discipline, even if they do not know it but they cannot use an epic power if any of the seeds are of a different discipline unless they know each of the seed-powers that are of another discipline.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times, each time it's taken after the first the manifester gains an additional number of power points equal to twice their manifester level.
Note: This is a psionic adaptation of my other feat, Improved Spell Capacity.
Madness Epidemic
Telepathy (Compulsion) [Mind-Affecting]
Level: 11th
Psicraft DC: 45
Display: Mental
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target: Single target; see text
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 21

To Develop: 294,000 gp; 9 days; 11,200 XP. Seed: insanity (DC 25). Factors: virulence (ad hoc +20)

A shocking mental force penetrates your mind like a spike of pure madness being driven through your skull. As if the Far Realm itself has invaded you, your mind begins to tear. Even as you drool and babble, flail madly at the closest thing to you or run as fast as you can in a random direction, you feel the madness trying to escape and spread.

This epic power functions just as the insanity power, with one major exception. Once the original target or targets of this power fail their save, they become permanently confused as normal, but can also spread the madness as if it were a disease.
Whenever one of the targets stays within contact with anyone not immune to mind-affecting abilities or insanity by some means must make a save as well, with a DC equal to the one made by the original target minus 2. If the second target also fails, they are also insane and carry this same virulant madness. Spreading it to more targets along that chain reduces the DC by 2 every time. Once the DC becomes 0 or lower the madness can no longer be spread.

Augment: For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power’s save DC increases by 1, and the power can affect an additional target. Any additional target cannot be more than 15 feet from another target of the power.


Personal comments
I was just reading the D&D Elder Evils book, and while i like some of the fluff, i was struck by how lame the elder evils were as challenges, they were more like particularly tough monsters, not ungodly creatures who are the greatest challenge the game has ever seen. So I really like this.... thing, because it seems like it could legitimately single-handedly wipe out a whole world, and could really be the greatest challenge players would ever face. I wish their was more of an effort to establish it as a threat, because its only scary when you look at its stats and realize its a a powerhouse. So more fluff and more detail, but it seems great as sort of the ultimate cosmic horror faced at the end of a game
from
EE

Tales of Symphonia

It takes a real badass to be a stoic in purple

Now all critics have their own personal beefs, quirks, and biases that they tend to bring into their writing, and if you read enough of anybody’s work you will begin to detect themes in terms of there likes and dislikes. I know all critics try to make the claim of being impartial and not being slaves to popular option, but everybody does have there own personal taste, and a critic’s views will shine through in all of there writing, and I am no exception. Those of you who knows me or have read a lot of my posts will quickly catch onto a trend in my general likes and dislikes, for example, I am a fan of old movies, I dislike over the top violence, I liked conflicts that are very grey vs. grey with fleshed out villains, and I don't like Frank Miller. And building off that, comes the list of “hot topics”, things that I am strongly optioned about and am willing to go into massive rants to back up my fully justified and not at all exaggerated views against everyone else on the internet, who are all entirely wrong and deluded for having the audacity to argue against me.* Even ignoring politics and religion (LINK'S HAT IS GOD) and sticking strictly to more nerdier subjects, some issues that lead to instant polarization for me at least are things like 4th Edition, 300, Vs. threads, and alignment. And now, lets move to the next paragraph, because I’d rather start a new rant after my massive note below, and I’d rather be snarky then think of a better transition, much to the pain of future English teachers.

*for those of you reading this, yes, that was sarcastic, and slightly self mocking. I feel horribly patronizing to have to include this, because almost all of you will easily get my point, even if it is rather heavy handed, and thus might find my explanation insulting to your intellection, but one of the two things I’ve learned about the internet is that there will always be people who simply miss the point when it comes to sarcasm, so I felt the need to include this disclaimer both to protect my image (insecurities ahoy) and to make another heavy handed joke. The other thing I learned about the internet is that it leads to painfully over the top run off sentences, often full of lampshade hangings.

Anyways, painful transition aside, one of the issues which constantly leaves me up at night fighting against people I don’t know via forum, is JRPGs. For those of you who don’t know, within the Video Game world, Role Playing Games (RPG, again being patronizing) are divided roughly into two main categories. Oh there are some sub categories, like “action RPG”, such as Dark Alliance, or Legends of Norath, and of course MMO’s and stratigy games, but within “Pure” RPGs, we are given two vaguely defined and yet totally rigid categories. There are Western RPGS, or WRPGS, through the latter title is rarely heard, as they tend to be known as just “RPGs” and there rival is “JRPGS” or “Japanese RPGS” coming from everybody favorite island with a higher living standard than the US, Japan. Now obviously, this is kinda of an “East vs. West” conflict, which is one of those many cultural conflicts between the radically different cultures, but I feel the need to point out that neither genre is exclusive to either region. For example, western games can and often do follow the “Japanese” model, Lord of the Rings the Third Age is a notable example. And while “JRPGS” is a style, Japan isn’t the only video game maker in Asia, South Korea and China are there, through overshadowed by the video game juggernaut that is Japan. Now, while both are RPGs, they have different conventions. Western RPGs are my favorite style of video game out there, and they tend to focus upon wide open style of playing, where the character effects the world around him and makes up his own personality. For example, in Baldur’s Gate, there is a centralized main plot that the player is forced to follow, but the methods in your doing so is left to the player. You have many side missions that you can do in no particular order, which while never actually changing the main plot, subtly effects it. You can chose your own party members and interact with them, you often will have a “good/Evil” path, through the better ones will give you even more options, and you really make up the personality of the character. In short, Western RPGs are about options, and choices, and while some of the lesser ones (Fable) aren’t as good at this, the giants in the genre can offer a massive amount of choices that shape your character, the idea being that it is the player who makes the story happen. Some of the games, such as Mass Effect and Icewind Dale will even have your character design effect the way the game works, such as a character who focuses upon Charisma and diplomacy will have different dialogue options. Most, through not all Western RPGs will allow you to make your own character, and will almost always allow you to alter his actions, thus making it really a “Role Playing Game”. Western titles include, Baldur’s gate, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Fable, Legacy of Kain, Neverwinter Knights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Overlord, Bard’s Tale, Diablo, Knights of the Old Republic, Might and Magic, and Thief are all examples of this, and the debatable example of Warcraft. Now, you might haven noticed two main patterns among these examples. First off, some of the games on the list are literally the best games ever, no exception, and secondly that most of them are kinda old, because many developers have realized that explosions, gore and cleverage sell better than plot and character devolpment. But almost all of the games on that list are amazing, at least the ones I’ve played (Might and Magic can’t comment) with the exception of Fable of course. Ironically, one WRPG I’ve never played, “Wizardry” is apparently huge in Japan, but we have to bear in mind, neither of these are culturally absolutes.

Now JRPGS tend to focus less upon choices and available options, and more upon story and character development. Instead of making your own character and choosing your own paths, and instead you watch a series of pre-made characters who simply go through the plot. Now, when I say it focuses upon story and characters, I’m not saying that Western RPGs are somehow lacking in terms of plot and characters, just that the story details are left up to the player, while in JRPGs the story is much more linear and the characters are already written for you, so the choices are often more minute and subtle. Final Fantasy is the most famous JRPG out there. Now, I dislike JRPGs. I find them tedious, as you are often simply going through a series of cut scenes and just move the pre existing character around and do the fighting. JRPGS are formulaic, and while the formula can and has worked, the fact that the genre relies so much upon the formula just seems primitive to me. JRPGs also tend to be full of my pet peeves, like people wearing absurdly revealing clothes for no reason (WRGPS aren’t innocent of this either through), people being so absurdly good looking that it feels like the graphics matter more than gameplay and story, crazy hair, absurdly young main characters with hard to tell genders, and turned based combat, not to mentioned lazy world design and absurdly over the top weapons and fights (that you see in cute scenes obviously). And also, because the characters are premade, if you don’t like them, well your screwed then, because they aren’t controlled by you. This can become particularly annoying if you want the character to follow a different path, for example, I’d be actually pretty interested in playing a character who serves the cliché evil empire rather than fighting for my generic and shallow motives.

Now, as much as I dislike JRPGs, and the formula they stick to so rigidly, I can’t in good conscious condemn the entire genre to be nothing more than tedious game play and cliché writing, because there are a few that I like. Even through I dislike most of Final Fantasy and what it stands for especially today, I will admit I like a few of the titles, even through I hated FFXII, FFX, FFVIII, FF X-2 (yes, they made a Final Fantasy Ten 2, don’t ask). I liked Tactics and Tactics Advanced, the Crystal Chronicles, and the first 3 games in the franchise, and I fond FFIX and FF XII to be decent. But all of those are not games I’d really love, as I’d never put them in the “RPGs worth recommending” and I more just had a fun time rather than have a great wonderful time. And while I liked Fire Emblem, I’m not sure if that counts as JRPG, so within the JRGP genre, there aren’t very many “Great” games by my standard. In fact, most of the so call “great” games I found to be really primitive and vastly inferior to the biggest hitters in the Western RPG world. And there are so many just bad JRPGs, Lost Odyssey is still the biggest waste of money I’ve ever seen in a video game. Now to be fair, I don’t play JRPGs often, because I’d rather use my money on RPGs that I can have reasonable expectations for a good game, so there are almost certainly some really good titles I’m missing, but for me, there are only two games that prevent me from simply giving up on the genre as a broken formula. FFVI, and Tales of Symphonia. Now the former I don’t own, and I haven’t been able to play it for years, but lets just say it was awesome, and so, after this truly massive introduction explaining my bias, I think this is a good time to review one of the few stable columns that hold the JRPG formula from proving to be a waste of time.

Right, Tales of Symphonia, lets start, and on an actual new page too . Anyways, I have to admit, I’ve never actually played any of the tales series, which is apparently a “different” approach to JRPGs, and if any of them are like Symphonia, I’ll be quite content honestly. Now, it should be noted, that ToS doesn’t break the JRPG story formula, in fact, follows it as rigidly as they come, with the singular exception of combat, and adding in more options than the average JRPG in terms of story. The combat is far more entertaining than turn based, as you have limited control over your characters in terms of fighting, which I gather is a common element of the Tales franchise. But the general JRPG mannerism is readily apparent, so I have to reluctantly conclude that JRPGs can work without being subverted. However, a good deal of the clichés and overused concept are cleverly subverted throughout the game. For example, like most JRPGs, the main character, Lloyd Irving is an overly enthusiastic moron with a short attention span, who is somehow the most moral person in the group, however in ToS, the fact he is a moron is constantly pointed out, and mocked by other party members. The fact he is a legitimately good person comes from him becoming less stupid and more focused, rather than some strange “Dumb people are good” ethic that seems to be prevalent in JRPGs and bad manga (including an infamous orange ninja). And while he is stupid, he isn’t painfully so, and so is actually quite likable, not to mention how, for all of his ignorance, he is rather mature, especially compared to the rest of the cast. Or the plot is very linear and formulaic (with one notable and amazing exception), but a lot of thought goes into the plot and more importantly the presentation, so it doesn’t feel forced or cliché, but instead actually pretty engaging and enjoyable. Ok, I’m getting ahead of myself, lets actually talk about the game?

Tales of Symphonia at first glance seems like a typical cliché story involving a Chosen one, a long epic quest to unlock the elemental seals in order to seal away evil, and a world full of monsters and magic. And, as you will be able to tell almost right away, this is entirely not true, and the plot is in fact a far longer and more elaborate than that, but I’ll save spoilers for the end. The important thing to know is that ToS has an elaborate story that while it doesn’t invent anything, it is still fascinating and wonderfully presented. So if you don’t want spoilers, which is kinda the only way to explain the plot, then know this, it is a shiny gem among the JRPG mine that encourages people like me who don’t like the genre to keep digging...through slowly. I’d go into more detail about the plot and the characters, but honestly, just play it. I will say through, the game has a remarkable sense of humor, which, along with numerous lampshade hangings, makes even the most cliché plot points seem entertaining.

Now for those of you who played the game, or don’t care about spoilers, then just some of my personal notes concerning the story. One thing that struck me was the moral of the story and how, while still very idealistic, was actually pretty thought out, and not quite the typical platitude seen in most video games. The central concept of the story is that people shouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves for a cause, that a truly good person will find a way to do good without sacrificing others, through it is much harder. And I have to say, I kinda like that. I like that the hero rejects not just the sacrifice of innocents, but even people who try to sacrifice themselves. It is absurdly idealistic of course, but the game does acknowledge that, and the massive obstacles faced by somebody who would follow such a path. I mean, if the main characters had simply accepted the need for sacrifice of a single life to save many, and gone along with the unfair system, the game would have been only 1/8 the length as it had been, and they would have been heroes for the rest of their lives, opposed to a massive journey full of hardship and pain. And honestly, while I think the ethics are rather naïve, I agree with it, that it is better to fight against an unfair system than to accept it. Through there are a few inconsistencies, for all of the talk of racism, not much detail goes into the Designs (Half elf Nazis) and how the main characters do kill them pretty nonchalantly (along with the Papal Knights, who only are doing there jobs). But that aside, I like the message of the game, which is rare for a video game to even have a message worth conveying. I also like the dynamic between the Mithos and Lloyd, the latter’s idealism vs. the formers cynicism. Mithos is interesting both in his status as a hero, which is partly legitimate, and his utter apathy for the world around him. He cares about his sister, and gives half hearted effort to caring about his people, but mostly he simply accepts peoples’ weakness as inevitable, and thus doesn’t bother trying to change people, just keep them in check. He deliberately stagnates society and technology because he is convinced that people can’t use power for good, and he tries to rid the world of racism by taking away free will because he thinks people are fundamentally unable to accept each other and doesn’t bother any other way, he dictates who’s lives are sacrificed and whose lives prosper, because he feels human kind can’t take care of themselves (and if this sounds like an Objectivist rant, I assure you, I would never stoop that low). Mithos simply has no faith in anyone but himself and his sister, which might explain his devotion to the latter. Lloyd in contrast, believes in people and has faith in them, and in there ability to change. While Mithos is ultimately alone, Lloyd has 8 other dudes to help him beat people up, and yes, this is a game where the “friendship speech” actually works, shocking as that may be. The whole concept is faith, not in religion per say (which doesn’t really come up much, in a game about angels) but instead in human nature. Now again, Lloyd has the advantage that he is in a situation where people can have faith, opposed to a more complex issue, like say, real politics, but I digress. There are a few nitpicks when it comes to the game, for example, the levels themselves range from painfully tedious to outright infuriating, the wind valley and the sewers being the most painful examples. And I wish they went more into the characters of the pope and the Cruxis, who are only sketched out. But I am nitpicking, in all, the story is astounding. Finally…Zelos. Who I think is the best character in the game series. The moment he is introduced as a foppish ladies man, the audience knows he is more than that and the playboy look is just a disguise, but instead of the pervert who is in fact a gentlemen, I was honestly shocked when it is revealed that he is in fact just an embittered, selfish, self hating cynic in the end, who, like Mithos has little faith in anything. And the thing is, he honestly hides it quite well. When I played through the game the first time, I had no idea about the true nature of his personality, despite numerous hints. It wasn’t until he second play through when it became apparent, in one of the most shocking/emotional traitor scenes I’ve ever seen, especially since you actually kill him. The character is more multi layered than anybody else in the cast, because he is more subtle, you don’t get a sense of his true personality until later, and so he didn’t become my favorite character until my third play through, when I caught all the hints I’ve missed. Just another example of really good writing

So ToS is an example of a very good JRPG, proving that the formula of the genre isn’t inherently bad. But the second question is, while it does prove the formula workable, does it prove it beneficial. And in that I say, no. While it does an excellent job of telling a good story and being a good game, I still can’ in good honesty say that the game is somehow better because the land map is just one avatar walking around, or that combat takes place in some separate world, or that I can’t choose more than two options. In fact, the best part of the game is when you can choose how to influence a single party member. Honestly, ToS isn’t great because of its formula, but because of its writing. The formula doesn’t seem to actually help the game, the game just used it to tell its own story and show its own characters. So yes, JRPGs in there current form can work, but while ToS is amazing and I recommend it to everybody out there (and I hope to play more tales games) it doesn’t debunk the complaints towards JRPGs, it just averts them
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