Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2013-11-23 03:58 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2013-11-23 03:58 pm
Entry tags:
Morning, Sweetheart.
Yesterday I saw Catching Fire, the second film in the Hunger Games series! I enjoyed it a great deal. It's not a short film, but it never felt padded.
It's odd; in the Hunger Games books I 'ship Katniss with nobody, but in the films I 'ship her with everyone. Peeta, Gale, Johanna, Cinna: bring it all on.
BUT ESPECIALLY HAYMITCH.
I cannot tell you how much I needed Haymitch and Katniss to make out in that film. What a horrible, perfect pairing. I love it.
(I had a revelation, a little while ago, that I find it hard to resist pairing cynics up with the idealists who make them a little less cynical. I might have to expand that to include pairing cynics up with the cynics who make them a little less cynical, because I don't think there's any universe in which Katniss Everdeen can be called an idealist.)
My replay of Final Fantasy VII continues! I think I'm nearing the end of Disc 2; my plot-related thoughts are behind the cut to avoid spoiling anyone.
I finally understand most of the plot of Final Fantasy VII! (I think. Still mildly confused by the part where we persistently foil all of Shinra's attempts to save the world with the Huge Materia.) And it may in fact be one of my favourite storylines in the series. It's essentially the story of a guy who really, really wanted to be cool. I find it rather charming.
When you revisit Cloud's memories of Nibelheim in the Lifestream, Cloud - who's been curled up in a corner, not speaking - walks straight over to his memory of himself and attempts to line himself up with it. I think that's possibly my favourite moment in the game so far. It really shows Cloud's need for something to anchor himself, some sort of concrete sense of identity.
Slightly heartbroken that I don't seem to be able to tell Zack's parents what happened to him. Those poor people.
In addition to appreciating the plot at last, I'm having a lot more fun with the Materia system this time around. Cover and Counter Attack on back-row Yuffie is my favourite combination so far. I also enjoy the fact that sometimes my attacks will turn the enemy into a frog.
Once again, though, just when it seems that Final Fantasy VII and I are going to be friends, it comes up with a moment of absolutely ridiculous hope-you're-psychic game design. In this case, the offender is the search for the Key of the Ancients. All you're told is that this key is somewhere 'even sunlight can't reach'.
So it's in Midgar, right? It's obviously in Midgar. The plate prevents the people of the slums from seeing the sky; Barret was talking about this all the way back at the beginning of the game. Now, as our quest begins to draw to a conclusion, it's time to remember how it all started.
Nope! The Key of the Ancients is actually in a narrow, difficult-to-locate tunnel at the bottom of the ocean.
Sigh.
Despite my complaints, I've actually been enjoying this replay a lot. I'm glad I gave this game another chance! I think I've been unfair to Final Fantasy VII; it's not the perfect game some people make it out to be, but it definitely has many good points.
It's odd; in the Hunger Games books I 'ship Katniss with nobody, but in the films I 'ship her with everyone. Peeta, Gale, Johanna, Cinna: bring it all on.
BUT ESPECIALLY HAYMITCH.
I cannot tell you how much I needed Haymitch and Katniss to make out in that film. What a horrible, perfect pairing. I love it.
(I had a revelation, a little while ago, that I find it hard to resist pairing cynics up with the idealists who make them a little less cynical. I might have to expand that to include pairing cynics up with the cynics who make them a little less cynical, because I don't think there's any universe in which Katniss Everdeen can be called an idealist.)
My replay of Final Fantasy VII continues! I think I'm nearing the end of Disc 2; my plot-related thoughts are behind the cut to avoid spoiling anyone.
I finally understand most of the plot of Final Fantasy VII! (I think. Still mildly confused by the part where we persistently foil all of Shinra's attempts to save the world with the Huge Materia.) And it may in fact be one of my favourite storylines in the series. It's essentially the story of a guy who really, really wanted to be cool. I find it rather charming.
When you revisit Cloud's memories of Nibelheim in the Lifestream, Cloud - who's been curled up in a corner, not speaking - walks straight over to his memory of himself and attempts to line himself up with it. I think that's possibly my favourite moment in the game so far. It really shows Cloud's need for something to anchor himself, some sort of concrete sense of identity.
Slightly heartbroken that I don't seem to be able to tell Zack's parents what happened to him. Those poor people.
In addition to appreciating the plot at last, I'm having a lot more fun with the Materia system this time around. Cover and Counter Attack on back-row Yuffie is my favourite combination so far. I also enjoy the fact that sometimes my attacks will turn the enemy into a frog.
Once again, though, just when it seems that Final Fantasy VII and I are going to be friends, it comes up with a moment of absolutely ridiculous hope-you're-psychic game design. In this case, the offender is the search for the Key of the Ancients. All you're told is that this key is somewhere 'even sunlight can't reach'.
So it's in Midgar, right? It's obviously in Midgar. The plate prevents the people of the slums from seeing the sky; Barret was talking about this all the way back at the beginning of the game. Now, as our quest begins to draw to a conclusion, it's time to remember how it all started.
Nope! The Key of the Ancients is actually in a narrow, difficult-to-locate tunnel at the bottom of the ocean.
Sigh.
Despite my complaints, I've actually been enjoying this replay a lot. I'm glad I gave this game another chance! I think I've been unfair to Final Fantasy VII; it's not the perfect game some people make it out to be, but it definitely has many good points.
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So don't read it if you intend to play the FF7 and haven't yet.)
Still mildly confused by the part where we persistently foil all of Shinra's attempts to save the world with the Huge Materia.
That did bother me, as well!
How I've come to rationalise it is thus: the Huge Materia attacks on Meteor may or may not have destroyed it, but they had almost no chance to save the Planet. Materia is condensed Mako, Mako is the lifeblood of the Planet. So taking some of the most powerful wells of the Planet's lifeblood and shooting them into space is rarely a good thing for the Planet; it's like leeches for influenza TO THE MAXXX.
For a more nakedly political example, if Shinra could take credit for saving the Planet, they could swing public opinion back towards "Resources exist to be consumed. And consumed they will be, if not by this generation then by some future. By what right does this forgotten future seek to deny us our birthright? None, I say! Let us take what is ours, chew and eat our fill." So even if it had worked, it would have made Shinra look good; can't allow that. (Do excuse the fact that half of Advent Children was Shinra employees going "LOOK AT US WE ARE AWESOME")
So, yeah; it was a good plan for Shinra, and it might have worked, but the negative externalities were too great.
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I'm glad despite the vague hints on where you need to be going you are enjoying it regardless. The last time I told myself I was going to pick it up and drill through it, I got to about the part where Cloud (what the hell, I still want to call him Squall for some reason) starts telling everyone while in that one town how he knows Sephiroth and ... oh... what's her- JENOVA. Yeah. Then I was like, "o look other games I need to beat." So I stopped. :<
One day I will beat that game. Maybe.
I heard a lot of good things about Catching Fire. I'm actually looking forward to seeing it myself.
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I hope you enjoy Catching Fire! There are definitely more reasons to enjoy it than creepy pairings, despite my questionable priorities in this entry.
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Hahaha, I actually found your pairings to be quite amusing (and different) which I can appreciate.
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THIS IS THE BEST SUMMARY OF THIS GAME THAT I HAVE EVER READ. WELL DONE RIONA. WELL DONE.
Also, I have a 3ds now, and I'm playing Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days game.
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I'm delighted to hear you're playing Days! How are you finding it? (I can also strongly recommend The World Ends With You and Ghost Trick.)
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There are so many wonderful friendships in the Kingdom Hearts series. It's actually one of my favourite things about those games; strong friendship themes are something I find hard to resist.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on The World Ends With You, if you do pick it up!
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...Ah yes, it's funny how all the gameplay involving finding something of the Ancients sucks. I would never have figured out the location of the Key of the Ancients if I hadn't been (A) an explorer-type gamer and (B) using a walkthrough for some details I didn't want to miss this time through. I had forgotten about it, in fact...XD;;;
Materia is so much fun! I had more fun with it in this playthrough than before, too, though I was so intent on mastering as much materia as I could that I didn't use as many interesting combinations as I could have. Counter--Morph + Mega All + Yuffie + Conformer = one of the most useful combinations for Morphing in the game, btw (normally, Morphing reduces attack damage to 1/8th of what it would have been, but because Conformer deals damage based on level, it completely ignores that Morphing effect and deals full damage).
And yes, this time through, I was also wondering why the hell we were so intent on foiling Shinra's plans to launch Huge Materia at Meteor. o_O I...guess it's because the Huge Materia is ultra-condensed Mako, and launching it at Meteor would have weakened the Planet by sacrificing some of itself? Either that, or Cloud's group just really doesn't trust Shinra to come up with a viable plan, which may actually be the case. XD
**Wolf**
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Yuffie's Conformer is wonderful. I spent ages Morphing all the monsters in the sunken Gelnika into various sources. I generally did a ridiculous amount of preparation for the final boss, because I remembered him killing me to bits on my first playthrough (which I never finished, as I got to the final boss, had the crap thoroughly beaten out of me and then lost my save before I could level up and go in for another try).
So on this playthrough I got to the final boss, One-Winged Angel started playing, I settled myself in for a long and frustrating fight...
...and then I defeated him in about seven attacks.
It's possible that I did too much preparation.
I feel that my appreciation of the ending was slightly impaired by my inability to stop gaping at the screen. WHAT WAS THAT? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
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