#196 - Soul Summon
Press [Effort]
Run Wiley Run, where have we gone now? Walking tipsy in the dim sallow light, striding for chance, breathing for the sake of it, not the taste of sweet fresh air? What’s worthwhile?
Beowulf was a waste of CPU cycles and the so-lauded talent that participated in its creation. Why? Simply because the thought, as usual, was not complete. The original material was not honoured. Fight, Buster, fight yes, but give us the respect of intelligence!
Of what recent fantasy lore can you recall that is so beloved as to wholly surpass its medium and inspire its translators and converters to utter fidelity? To my mind comes naught but the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Seriously, what else? While imperfect, it has faithfully survived reproduction in many forms - and the linked Wiki shall provide you a list (not thee… “you” is proper Ye Olde English plural).
By contrast, Square/Enix has produced highly successful fantasy RPGs with technologically limited consoles. Compare Final Fantasy 4 to XII and ask, is 4 still not a wonderful tale? For a certainty it is! It is a sore day that belittles the wonder of letters upon a page, dear sir! Now ponder, where would we be had they said:
“But the characters will be too small, and no one will play it. We won’t make it.”
Yes the characters were small, but I remember as powerful an emotional reaction as any I have had reading, when Golbez trapses off with Rosa. “You bastard! I’ll get her back!” Y’damn straight! I didn’t care for a split second about the complexity of the graphics, the realism, or how many polygons the SNES couldn’t push.
The emotional content was my Mercedes.
It is the same now - I judge games on the story they tell. How fearless are they in grasping for the heart strings, for the high drama? Cecil may be a whiny ponce, but he’s not afraid to fight Zeromus, no sir! That’s right Kain, we’ll forgive you for being a self righteous traitor - let’s crush that jerk!
You know what I mean, don’t you. Enabling - being the one who builds up those levels so you can have the happy ending. Or, in the case of Chrono Cross and its ilk, the ending of your selection. Giving it what-for and having a great time!
Now the point of all this is that if you don’t try… if Square never gave us that Final Fantasy, that last investment of hope and faith… I’d really rather not imagine it. So much positive comes from that medium of storytelling.
PFA, folks - give the bike a spin and when you fall over learn from it! Think about how you want to travel, and do it with respect to traffic… your spectators and competition. For freaksake, stop getting all weepy and emo in your cokes and show your skill!
Enjoy it - life, that is!
