Hoo, another episode comin’ in hot!
I’m editing it as I type these words, in fact. I was really trying to get it done earlier this time, finished about half of it earlier this week, but since then I’ve been to busy, what with the holidays and all. Had a lovely thanksgiving this year, up in Seattle, probably the best turkey I’ve ever had in my life. Or at least second to the deep-fried bird I had as a kid, one time.
Anyway, this week we get into another little side plot, which really could’ve used a bit more room to breathe. The pacing in this game is a bit… odd, after a certain point. I think they were a bit hamstrung by a) how fast game production was back then and b) how short the power curve ended up being. The more advanced jobs simply aren’t that hard to get!
It’s tough, because I certainly don’t think they should’ve made it harder to unlock ninja or summoner or whatever, but also I think they needed something else to reach for. I don’t like what the PSP version did, adding a couple of jobs with extreme unlock requirements that weren’t even that good, but something else.
As always, it just comes down to wanting there to be more of this game, I suppose. That’s always my primary criticism of games I really like: that they end, eventually. It’s no wonder I’m such a sucker for nostalgia, it’s a chance to relive something old as if it were new!
Anyway, Rapha and Marak’s ability sucks out loud. It made me realize that I really have a huge bias against any ability in an RPG that is excessively unreliable. It doesn’t feel like it’s worth the hassle, or the stress of wondering if it’s gonna go off or not. Some people love that gamble, but to me one of the goals of these games is working to remove as much uncertainty as possible.
An ability that has a chance to either do incredible damage or do nothing is basically never worth it, in my estimation. This is a strategy RPG! I’m trying to strategize! It’s hard to do that when you don’t know what’s going to happen. You can’t know what enemies are going to do, but there’s no reason to make it harder on yourself by adding more uncertainty into the mix.
The Beige Moth 