Finally Dusting Off The DS
By Vanek 8 Comments
I know what you're thinking, "You never really dusted off your DS, did you?"
No, I did not. In actuality I couldn't think of a better title. I doubt dust could reach the depths of the cupboard I eventually found my DS in anyway.
I'll stop wasting time with unnecessary details ...
This was spurred on by a recent lack of motivation to play anything and at the point when the unholy mountain of unplayed/unfinished games literally became intimidating. It was such an intimidating sight that the only solution was to buy even more games. ;_; I don't know what made me think of the DS, but seeing as I haven't touched my DS is quite some time it's nice to finally use it. I only had time to write about one of the games, so here's my thoughts on the first DS purchase ...
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
I knew very little about this game going in other than that it was apparently made as a throwback to a simpler time. This is a simple story of a world of kingdoms and dragons with you being tasked to rescue a princess from a witch for no good reason. It feels like something from my childhood as the locals of the starting town offer you advice about the game mechanics and it gave me that nice fuzzy feeling when I started it.
As you set off on your quest you're very quickly introduced to a party of colourful characters. I say that quite literally as the game boasts a really nice picture book art style that I immediately feel in love with. It really is a joy to explore the various towns as they all look so interesting and even have hidden items to find if you're so inclined.
As far as the combat is concerned the game uses a turn based variation of the job system that employs the use of different "crowns" that grant characters access to different abilities and bonuses to attributes. In battle each action from attacking to using items is given an AP rating and plays out in the usual turn based method. It's simple but all comes together to create a great system that's quite fun and the outfit of each job manages to make the characters look adorable in the process. >.<
It quite clearly feels like a game that could have easily come out a decade or two ago which was exactly the sort of game I wanted, but it also has a tendency of being rather difficult. While each monster and boss has an obvious weakness there just seems to be an expected amount of grinding required that I'm not prepared to do right now. The game also makes its excuses and splits the party up into groups quite quickly which is probably the source of both the difficulty and my frustration.
I've logged a fair amount of hours with the game so far and there really is a lot to love, but then there are the small issues that bring it down. The smaller things like a lack of any sort of map in dungeons are also bizarre and not having a full party is really frustrating. I'd love to hear thoughts from anyone that has the game and if you had any of the same issues as me, as right now I'm unsure if I want to continue playing.
- Thanks for reading and feel free to leave any comments as long as they're civil! -