ForceStealer
Double Growth
I often feel like I'm the only person on Earth to have enjoyed Dirge of Cerberus. (I'm pretty sure even Raynne didn't finish it, and if the biggest Vincent/Lucrecia fan in the world didn't....) But from talking to people around here, I know everyone didn't hate it. And even those that did could cite some things it did right, or was on the right track about.
Naturally as part of going over the game you may address the things you don't like about it, but try to keep the focus on things it got right.
Me first, of course, in no particular order:
Deepground (at least in concept)
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what mark they missed with Deepground, as every time I try to writeup a description, it sounds pretty cool. And it is, former SOLDIER hospital-turned-experiment lab. The FOXHOUNDish Tsviets weren't bad either.
Its size and scope were a bit inflated, how many injured SOLDIERs were there? I didn't think there were that many normal SOLDIERs...And though it makes sense that there would be a Reactor 0 that they used when constructing Midgar, I'm not sure why there was a whole town down there. Still it was kinda neat. Just absolutely ridiculous that we didn't get the online Deepground backstory. They gave us forty extra challenge missions, why couldn't they have put the online story in there?! lazy bums.
Atmosphere
I know I may take some flak for this one, as its easy to see that the game doesn't really fit with FF7 stuff stylistically. It uses a notably different color palette from the other entries. But the prevailing colors (red and black) are Vincent's colors. AC's blue and gray didn't necessarily "fit" either. And Shelke's feet are far too big to be outside Kingdom Hearts, but from the moment Reeve started talking about Heidegger and Scarlet, I knew I was in one of my favorite worlds. I was downright giddy when I saw the Nibelheim Mansion, and going through the Train Graveyard was also awesome. All the mentions of the goings-on on the Planet, I eagerly talked to every single person on the Shera just to hear stuff. I love what they did with Kalm (the discussion in MOG's topic is was spurred this, actually).
Also, just due to what it is, it really is our best supplier of information about the status of the world post-FF7. (Well, On the Way to a Smile might edge it out, not sure) as AC being unable to be especially informative about the world.
And hey, the game made me care, even a little bit, about Cait Sith, and that's no small feat.
Cloud's back!
I don't mean physically back, but back to being himself. He didn't get much screentime at all, and we would all have liked to have seen more of his fight with Rosso (if indeed there was anymore), but there are a few good indications that Cloud is back to the dorky-but-badass character we remember from the latter half of FF7 which wasn't really present in Advent Children (apart from the incredibly epic "I'm back." -Yes Cloud, that would be why Marlene said 'welcome back').
That phone call with Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Vincent seriously is in the running for my favorite part of the game. Apart from the absolute badassery of not seeing, but hearing Cloud, Barret, and Tifa fighting as a 3-person party again in Midgar (not to mention kicking ass), Cloud's cocky "What do you think?" was a little unexpected and awesome. Also, even though when I played FF7, I wasn't all that interested in Vincent, I always liked Cloud's and his relationship. Cloud always seemed slightly wary of him and Vincent didn't care about a lot of what they were doing, but they had a good amount in common. Not to mention they're the two most powerful Avalanche members.
Cid's back!
Hell yeah Cid. Though him snapping at Barret was funny in AC, DC is the closest we've seen him to form since FF7. From absent-mindedly releasing the helm of the Shera when he sees Vincent, to his "pep-talk" before the Midgar battle ("If any of you die, I'll drag you back from hell and kill ya again!!"), to other great FF7-referencing lines ("So about Cait-I mean Reeve, when the hell did he get so important?" and "Shera's been worried about ya, and you know how she gets") he is in top form and even lit up at the end. Say what you want about his southern accent, I had some doubts myself when Advent Children first came out, but Dirge completely sold me on it. He was awesome.
That's all for now, I might write more if I think of them, as I even liked the gameplay, but I don't feel like getting stoned to death for that just yet. Really I think its biggest problems were pacing and Yuffie. Freaking Yuffie. I didn't like her in FF7, and "That Cloud's a royal pain in the ass...like always" almost redeemed her for me in AC, but then in DoC they more than made up for it. Why is she so annoying?
More importantly, why is she so klutzy? She's a freaking ninja! Look at her fighting Bahamut in AC. She runs up the side of a building! Then proceeds to land on Bahamuts arm, bounces to a railing, pushes up like a story off of her arms and catches her shuriken. And then in DC she can't get out a sentence without making herself look like an ass.
But anyway, I'm breaking my own parameters, so what do you guys think. Is there anything you liked about it?
Naturally as part of going over the game you may address the things you don't like about it, but try to keep the focus on things it got right.
Me first, of course, in no particular order:
Deepground (at least in concept)
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what mark they missed with Deepground, as every time I try to writeup a description, it sounds pretty cool. And it is, former SOLDIER hospital-turned-experiment lab. The FOXHOUNDish Tsviets weren't bad either.
Its size and scope were a bit inflated, how many injured SOLDIERs were there? I didn't think there were that many normal SOLDIERs...And though it makes sense that there would be a Reactor 0 that they used when constructing Midgar, I'm not sure why there was a whole town down there. Still it was kinda neat. Just absolutely ridiculous that we didn't get the online Deepground backstory. They gave us forty extra challenge missions, why couldn't they have put the online story in there?! lazy bums.
Atmosphere
I know I may take some flak for this one, as its easy to see that the game doesn't really fit with FF7 stuff stylistically. It uses a notably different color palette from the other entries. But the prevailing colors (red and black) are Vincent's colors. AC's blue and gray didn't necessarily "fit" either. And Shelke's feet are far too big to be outside Kingdom Hearts, but from the moment Reeve started talking about Heidegger and Scarlet, I knew I was in one of my favorite worlds. I was downright giddy when I saw the Nibelheim Mansion, and going through the Train Graveyard was also awesome. All the mentions of the goings-on on the Planet, I eagerly talked to every single person on the Shera just to hear stuff. I love what they did with Kalm (the discussion in MOG's topic is was spurred this, actually).
Also, just due to what it is, it really is our best supplier of information about the status of the world post-FF7. (Well, On the Way to a Smile might edge it out, not sure) as AC being unable to be especially informative about the world.
And hey, the game made me care, even a little bit, about Cait Sith, and that's no small feat.
Cloud's back!
I don't mean physically back, but back to being himself. He didn't get much screentime at all, and we would all have liked to have seen more of his fight with Rosso (if indeed there was anymore), but there are a few good indications that Cloud is back to the dorky-but-badass character we remember from the latter half of FF7 which wasn't really present in Advent Children (apart from the incredibly epic "I'm back." -Yes Cloud, that would be why Marlene said 'welcome back').
That phone call with Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Vincent seriously is in the running for my favorite part of the game. Apart from the absolute badassery of not seeing, but hearing Cloud, Barret, and Tifa fighting as a 3-person party again in Midgar (not to mention kicking ass), Cloud's cocky "What do you think?" was a little unexpected and awesome. Also, even though when I played FF7, I wasn't all that interested in Vincent, I always liked Cloud's and his relationship. Cloud always seemed slightly wary of him and Vincent didn't care about a lot of what they were doing, but they had a good amount in common. Not to mention they're the two most powerful Avalanche members.
Cid's back!
Hell yeah Cid. Though him snapping at Barret was funny in AC, DC is the closest we've seen him to form since FF7. From absent-mindedly releasing the helm of the Shera when he sees Vincent, to his "pep-talk" before the Midgar battle ("If any of you die, I'll drag you back from hell and kill ya again!!"), to other great FF7-referencing lines ("So about Cait-I mean Reeve, when the hell did he get so important?" and "Shera's been worried about ya, and you know how she gets") he is in top form and even lit up at the end. Say what you want about his southern accent, I had some doubts myself when Advent Children first came out, but Dirge completely sold me on it. He was awesome.
That's all for now, I might write more if I think of them, as I even liked the gameplay, but I don't feel like getting stoned to death for that just yet. Really I think its biggest problems were pacing and Yuffie. Freaking Yuffie. I didn't like her in FF7, and "That Cloud's a royal pain in the ass...like always" almost redeemed her for me in AC, but then in DoC they more than made up for it. Why is she so annoying?
More importantly, why is she so klutzy? She's a freaking ninja! Look at her fighting Bahamut in AC. She runs up the side of a building! Then proceeds to land on Bahamuts arm, bounces to a railing, pushes up like a story off of her arms and catches her shuriken. And then in DC she can't get out a sentence without making herself look like an ass.
But anyway, I'm breaking my own parameters, so what do you guys think. Is there anything you liked about it?
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