Game Review :: Final Fantasy III (DS)

Somehow amid a confusion of roman numerals, Square-Enix overlooked the fact that this Final Fantasy III (being different to the Final Fantasy III that was released in the West which was actually Final Fantasy VI), and, where were we, oh yes, this Final Fantasy III was never released in English before the year 2006. I can’t fathom why they would release Final Fantasy (the first one which doesn’t have a roman numeral) on roughly seven different platforms and counting and not put the third installment on at least two. Happily, they have now rectified this oversight by releasing a full remake on the DS.

JRPG 101

Final Fantasy III falls squarely (and enixly too) into the camp of old-school Japanese Role Playing Games. Whether this is because Final Fantasy defined the genre or was simply following the formula established in Dragon Quest is debatable, but Final Fantasy III is about as by-the-book as they come. The first main character of your adventuring party is Luneth, an orphan who is apparently around 18 or so. After discovering a crystal which informs him of his chosenness as a “Warrior of the Light,” he sets out to find the other three Warriors (who are naturally also teenaged and also orphans) who must help him to find the other three crystals and use them to restore balance to the world. When venturing out of a town into the beautiful overland map, your party will encounter many beasts of all description bent on destroying you, at which point the game swaps to a battle view where you command each character in your party in a turn-based system. Depending on the character (and their current job), they will be able to use melee weapons, ranged weapons, spells, summons and a variety of other attacks to overcome the foe. Once you’ve commanded all the characters the attacks are carried out. At the end of a battle your party is awarded experience points and these will allow them to become more powerful over time.

Jobs for all to do

If the plot is merely a skeleton to hang the meat of the game on, then the meat of this game is most certainly the job system. It feels like it’s been designed for fans who are not satisfied to just grind their characters to ridiculous levels of hit points, but must also make them the best ninja there is, or the best dragoon or white mage, or all three. The job idea is simple – characters in the game don’t have a set class, instead they can be assigned a job at any time, complete with a cute change of wardrobe. The different jobs allow them to perform different actions during a battle (such as cast a spell or summon), to wear different armor and to wield different weapons. As the characters fight their experience goes up and so do their job levels. All of this helps game play by allowing a variety of configurations for your party so that you don’t get too bored killing your 10000th goblin because you can do it with different animations.


As you gain the other crystals more jobs become available, and this is where the job system is not all that perfect – earlier jobs are simply not up to the task of defeating enemies because the better equipment is only usable by certain jobs. So, unless you grind, your options are more limited than they appear. (Note: grinding is the act of fighting hundreds of unnecessary battles to improve your stats.) Another problem with the jobs is that if I have, by simply playing and fighting many battles, got a character’s job to level 50 or so it becomes quite difficult for him to swap to another job without becoming severely weaker (unless the new job has superior equipment), so I found myself mostly sticking to certain jobs. Nevertheless, the job system adds some sorely-needed variety to the battles.
Thankfully Square-Enix has allowed us to save at any time on the overworld map, and have also made traveling that map not-so-tedious by supplying various forms of transport. Although it is not possible to save inside the dungeons and continue playing, you can save and quit which means you don’t have to fight your way out of a dungeon to be able to stop playing without losing your progress. Add to that the suspend ability of the DS and the “on-the-go” capabilities of the game are solid. I mean, what better way to spend those few minutes waiting for the kettle to boil than grinding?

Read More :: www.el33tonline.com

Game News :: Nintendo Wii set to become consumers’ choice for next-gen console

A recent BrandIntel report has revealed that the Nintendo Wii is poised to become the consumers’ choice for next-gen gaming. BrandIntel analysed online consumer-generated content to determine that the Wii recorded the highest purchase intent scores, largely because it appeals to the casual gaming audience that was mostly untouched before Nintendo launched the Wii. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 came in second with Sony’s PS3 in third.

The report, titled Top Video Game Console Report: Consumer Insight Monitor, analysed consumer sentiment regarding the three next-gen consoles. The report found that although the Xbox 360 is currently the top choice with hard-core gamers, it is the Wii that has the highest intent to purchase scores, appealing to a broader consumer base due to its price, ease of use and innovation.


Value and fun lead the way

Potential Wii buyers are attracted to the console because of the value and the fun games while potential PS3 buyers are looking at its future potential because they don’t believe it has any earthmoving titles at the moment. Potential Xbox 360 buyers are keen on the large amount of games available and the upcoming Halo 3. Although Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been dogged by quality concerns, the report states that this has had little impact on purchase intent. The launch of the highly anticipated Halo 3 is also expected to drive the purchase intent for the Xbox 360 up.

Most analysts believe that purchase intent is driven by price alone but in the Wii’s case highly anticipated upcoming games such as Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros, combined with a competitive price, are also creating a positive purchase intent.

Below are some key findings from the report, which analysed data (from approximately 17 000 records) from the 1st of January 2007 to the 24th of July 2007:

“The Nintendo Wii generated very positive levels of appeal and brand image and came highly recommended by consumers.
While it generated the least discussion due to its relative maturity, the Xbox 360 received positive sentiment stemming mostly from an impressive game lineup, making it the choice console for gaming enthusiasts.
The PS3 generated high levels of discussion regarding its processing power and hard drive, but was perceived more negatively than the Wii and Xbox 360 due in part to its high cost and lack of attractive games.”


Console wars

The report seeks to track industry trends and influences as well as outline consumer usage behaviour. It also illustrates which consoles and manufacturers are positively discussed in online communities including blogs, forums and media sites. Last year’s report found that most online discussion centered around the Nintendo Wii.

“As the console war heats up again for the holiday season, Nintendo has been able to successfully target a new audience of casual gamers which has opened up new marketing and revenue opportunities for the company,” said Alan Dean, V.P. of Business Innovation at BrandIntel. “As the Nintendo Wii moves beyond the hype, consumers are looking for games that can compete with the bigger name titles produced by their competitors.”

Read More :: www.el33tonline.com

Game News :: Crysis DirectX 9 & 10 MP Performance

DX9 vs. DX10 – The endless question
To shed some light into one of the most discussed topics regarding Crysis multiplayer I would like to explain you the differences between Crysis MP DX9 and DX10.

As for the DX9 version we won’t have physics and day and night cycle in-game. That means you won’t be able to shoot down trees and/or alter any other objects than vehicles on the map. Additionally the time of day setting doesn’t change dynamically. This is caused due to the tremendous server load such physics might cause on crowded gaming servers. Still you will be able to experience maps with different time of day settings since the maps can be altered in the Sandbox2 Editor.

Rather than providing the community partially working features we limit this for the DX10 version only. Due to the strong hardware available with DX10, server load is less and performance is increased. This ensures the pure physics and day and night cycle experience without any limitation.

Gamers with a DX10 card are able to play on DX9 servers, but with the limitation of the respective server. Vice versa it is not possible for gamers with DX9 cards to play on DX10 servers due to the limited features.

Read More :: www.gametab.com