A strange sight caught Cecil’s eyes as the boat sailed across the waves. There was a swirl forming, just a few yards from the port side, gaining speed and broadening. The ship tipped as it slowly sucked in. Cries of panic surrounded Cecil and his companions. Unable to do anything, Cecil watched as the water engulfed the sky.
Just before the sea swallowed the boat, Cecil saw an immense serpent coiled beneath the surface. “Leviathan!” yelled a crewman.
Summoning is often one of the strongest and most visually appealing forms of magic in the Final Fantasy series. First appearing as a summon in Final Fantasy III in Japan, Americans did not get introduced to Ifrit and pals until Final Fantasy 4 hit the SNES. Since then, these powerful beings have become icons, often being envisioned in many creative ways for each installment.
While there are many summons to elaborate on, there are a few that could use a bit more discussion. For some excellent insight into other summons, check out Gaijin Goomba’s series on Youtube:
Leviathan’s character is a simple design, a massive sea serpent that summons tidal waves to drown enemies. However, his size and immense power is better described in his origins. Sea serpents have been showing up in literature ever since the days of the Nordic folk. Even the Bible references this massive creature said to be immune to all weapons.
“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?” – Job 41: 1
Interestingly enough, this same passage mentions befriending the creature or at least making a pact with it. Considering in Final Fantasy X, many summoners create bonds with their Aeons, this could be a potential influence to Leviathan being created as a summon.
“Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?” – Job 41: 4
There was actually a Final Fantasy IV novel in Japan! Wish it would translated one day. . .
The first Leviathan in Final Fantasy III showed a simple design and concept. He’s just a regal serpent with long whiskers that summons weather forces. However, in Final Fantasy IV, he becomes a king of beings called Eidolons. The Eidolons are powerful elemental beings that live in a separate plane of existence. It’s here that Rydia (the summoner of Final Fantasy IV) gains her mastery of summoning, also creating an interesting parental connection with Leviathan and his queen, Asura. Both of these royal beings offer rough battles, but end with the prize of being able to call on them.
It’s also interesting that Leviathan’s human form in Final Fantasy IV is that of an old man. He appears frail and wise, sporting a long beard like many of the other sages in the series. In many mythologies, higher beings often have the power to shape shift. For instance, Zeus regularly transforms into animals such as an eagle or a bull, usually to carry away maidens and sometimes young men for, well, coitus.
This remedy can also be self applied if buy cheap cialis cute-n-tiny.com you have the understanding, nonetheless when very first attempting this method it is finest performed by a physician who will insert a gloved finger into the rectum to feel for an an enlarged prostate. Strong Aphrodisiac For Men Muira puama otherwise “potency wood” is most recognized for its aphrodisiac or “sexual cialis generic no prescription interest improving” effects in men. Sleep restriction: this prevents daytime prescription viagra online naps to promote nighttime sleep. Common details are discount cialis http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-items/crochet-hot-chocolate/ from particular natural aphrodisiacs like Tribulus, Ashwagandha, and Shilajit and so on. Leviathan’s human form could have connections to Proteus, son of Oceanus of Greek mythology. Proteus could call upon great storms and change his shape, one of which was a snake.
As far as his design goes, Leviathan does not see much change until Final Fantasy IX. In this game, he is given wing-like fins that give him a more imposing appearance. His color palette also expands to include many shades of purple to accent his blue skin. Also important to note is Leviathan is a female. This makes sense, as summoning is a feminine power used only by Eiko and Garnet. That same motif is carried into Final Fantasy X by Yuna.
Both MMO Final Fantasy games retain Leviathan’s wings, neither changing the design too drastically. Unfortunately, Leviathan has been absent in true form in later console games. The Sea King lives on in name as an airship and as a plaza.
As of now, its unknown what sort of role summoning will have in Final Fantasy XV. Will the tides rise with the revival of Leviathan? Or will he merely remain a memory? At least, early trailers suggest he (maybe she) will be a massive boss.
Thus Leviathan remains as a staple for those wanting to add some water to their magic repertoire. His role in the story of the series has been grand and subtle, but one thing is certain, Leviathan is an icon of Final Fantasy.
Drop by next week for a look at everyone’s favorite Celtic warrior gone toxic monster, Cúchulainn.
OK, this is going to be hard. I have to write this and not sound like I’m a great-grandfather, talking to a room full of small children about how back in the day everything was better. Here we go: back in the day, everything was better. Seriously though, it was. I’ll break it down to a couple of different categories and then you tell me if I’m lying. Oh and just to specify, when I say “back in the day,” I mean Nintendo up to the PlayStation 1 cause I grew up on Jampack demos and Final Fantasy VII. I’m only 28, I’m not THAT old—geez.
Graphics: NOW
I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way and give “now” it’s one point. The graphics on games these days are mind numbing. I can remember playing Madden ‘95 with my dad and thinking, “man, how can it get any better than this?” Flash forward to Madden 15 and there’s just no comparison. Everything from water effects in BioShock to creating detailed characters in the WWE series (not so much 2K15 but that’s neither here nor there) are light years ahead of what could be produced on the older consoles. Just as a point of comparison, consider this: going from PS3 to PS4, Killzone went from 10,000 polygons per character to upwards of 40,000 polygons. Gaming works in leaps and bounds.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Soundtracks: THEN
There cannot be an argument for this. Find the most digitally out of touch person you can and I bet they can hum the Super Mario theme. Check the CD cases of some gamers you know. I’ll bet money a majority of them have a Final Fantasy soundtrack in there somewhere. Games these days have music, but it’s just not the same. You don’t hum these new songs all day. You don’t know the names of the songs. Your mind doesn’t jump to that moment in a game when you hear these new songs, because they’re just cycled over and over. It’s not like “One Winged Angel” or the “Underwater Theme” from Mario. They’re just ambiance tracks at best, but usually nothing more than background noise.
You can hear the music in your head, can’t you?
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
I bet you’re humming along right now, aren’t you?
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
And this one will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Stories: TIE
The only reason I have to go with a tie here is because for as many amazing stories as there were in the Super Nintendo, Genesis, PS1 days, there were just as many ridiculous ones. Seriously, the story for Mario is just about as acid-trippy as you can get. On the other hand, even when more recent games have less than stellar stories—I’m going to call out Diablo III for this one—it still makes more sense than a plumber stomping on turtles for the sake of anything, much less a princess. At least Link was from that world. He has a sword and…just nevermind. Either way, THEN has Zelda, Final Fantasy and Suikoden and NOW has Mass Effect, God of War and Skyrim. I think we all make out pretty well here.
You had it all, they took it all. Now it’s time to take it back.
*picture credit MobyGames*
You’re a walking, shouting legend here to kill dragons…and anything else that gets in the way.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
The lost SOLDIER battles himself and his past.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
The gods used and discarded you. For that, Olympus shall fall.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
A routine mission becomes a galaxy altering fight way above your pay grade.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Saving the princess, no matter what time you have to go to to do it.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Gameplay: THEN
There was no better time for ‘easy to play, hard to master’ than back in the day. With the entire gaming world dumbing down to reach a wider audience, you see IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age start as dial based, hotkey games focused on strategy over flash, which become more streamlined with sequels built like an American action movie. Not that I don’t enjoy all the iterations of those games, but they so clearly cut much of the details to get you to fight more and think less. There was no “think less” on SNES. There was no auto save on PS1. There was get it right or be stuck forever. Could most people beat Mega Man X? Sure they could. Could everyone get the Hadoken in Mega Man X? NO! You had to grind for that. You had to learn to use your powers, jump at just the right times, and search a little bit harder than you really needed to if you wanted it. There was no codex/journal/anything that told you to look out for these things either. You either looked or you didn’t. That’s the difference people. There was no dumb down for us. It was greatness or bust.
*check out Caleb Hart crush Mega Man X in this speed run*
Fun Factor: THEN
First of all, some of you may not recognize this category. It’s from a magazine called Game Pro and you missed out. Anyway, I play games for fun, not headaches. No matter what the genre, I feel like I should have fun. From Vandal Hearts to Motor Toon Grand Prix, WWF In Your House to Power Stone, Lufia to Joe Montana Football, I had fun. I was very rarely bored with a game I owned or even games my friends owned. Pit Fighter was a TERRIBLE game on both the Genesis and the SNES, but my friends and I had the time of our lives playing it. I have difficulty saying that about Def Jam Icon or Too Human. There was just a different vibe back then that the machine of consumerism has kind of sucked out of the creative process. Unfortunately, you won’t get another Bubsy 3D. It’s not unfortunate because it was a groundbreaking or amazing game; it was actually pretty bad, but my childhood was better for having played it. It also boosts the stamina to generate and therefore men levitra uk don’t feel tiredness when the sexual session is ongoing. levitra buy It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer. The drug should be taken with water on an empty stomach, and avoid alcohol or fatty meal. female levitra There are some websites that claim a simple online survey can replace purchase generic levitra a physician.
*Wallpaperflembot (what a name) braves through five minutes of gameplay from Bubsy 3D*
Let’s take the genre of fighting games. THEN has Power Stone, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Bushido Blade. These are just off the top of my head and trying to pick games that have strong differences in gameplay (which is why Guilty Gear and Soul Caliber are not on the list). NOW has continuations of the majority of the aforementioned games and various copies (like Guilty Gear) or copies of copies (like BlazBlue). You want to find something interesting and unique? Check out a game on the PS1 called Evilzone. I’ve never seen anything like it since. What about Tobal #1 or Ehrgeiz, which fused an actual adventure mode into a fighting game instead of the traditional arcade mode story. They beat Tekken to the punch, that’s for sure. If all you played was a specific genre back then, you could be OK. You could see a wide variety of play styles, controls and characters without stepping out of your comfort zone. In sports, there was a time when Deion Sanders Primetime Football, Joe Montana Football, Bill Walsh College Football, Madden, Mutant League Football and Tecmo Bowl were ALL poppin’ at the same time, and when Quarterback Club came out, my brother and I got that too. NOW is too weighted down with legalities, deadlines and other soul-killing ‘machine’ jargon that most developers are afraid to take the steps into left field they once did. NOW can’t touch THEN on variety in any way, shape or form.
Akira Toriyama designed characters in hand to hand combat. Are you not entertained?!
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Yes, that is Cloud. Yes it was a fighting game long before Dissidia was thought of. Yes Sephiroth is in it as well, along with Tifa, Yuffie and Vincent. Yes you should have played this.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
First person option on the PS1 in a fighting game. No health bar, no stamina bar, just one wrong move and DEATH.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Licensing: THEN
It is generally understood that games based on licensed properties (e.g. movies, TV shows, etc.) are destined to bomb. This was not always a foregone conclusion. Debate me if you dare, but Aladdin on the SNES was high fun. As a matter of fact, most of the Disney games were fun. Space Jam, so good. That’s not to say it was going to replace NBA Live as a yearly series, but it was a fun game. Spiderman’s Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety are still two of the most fun beat ’em ups I’ve played outside of Turtles in Time (another solid use of licensing) and Streets of Rage (not licensing, but classic all the same). Compared to the flops we’ve seen in more recent years, like Aliens: Colonial Marines and pretty much anything that comes from Cartoon Network and hits consoles, we see that graphics can’t save everything.
It’s not all about the platforming. Sometimes you have to take it nice and slow with your lady on a magic carpet ride.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
You see this? This is how a TMNT game SHOULD be. MULTIPLAYER!!!
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Doppelganger used to give me that work. Those extra arms made a big difference lol
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
When you get a license, you use it to the fullest. They even had you look for Mike’s sneakers JUST like in the movie.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Durability: THEN
Seriously, I can still plug in a Nintendo right now and it’s going to work. There are Xbox 360s that came out of the box broken. You just can’t compare the lasting ability of a cartridge vs CDs. I was the WORST at taking care of my games, but as long as I had strong lungs and—in extreme cases—a Q-tip, I was good to go. When we came to the disc era, I definitely had to tighten up because a scratch or two in the wrong place meant the end. No matter how skilled I was, if the game froze mid cut scene, I’m not beating that game. Even with the Dreamcast and PS1 being a part of THEN, it still doesn’t match up to the disc-read errors, red rings, yellow lights and internet outages of NOW.
I later learned that I might be doing more damage than good, but who can argue with results. It worked EVERY time. *picture credit retrogamenetwork.com*
There’s so much more that I can get into, so many other games that I’ve played, so many more amazing childhood memories that we could be here all day. The point of all this is, THEN gets the W. Do we love the new technology of today with its fancy graphics and updated rosters and such? Of course we do or we wouldn’t still play them. Comparatively speaking though, it’s just not the same anymore, and it’s not simply because we’ve grown up. When anything creative, be it music, art, or gaming, starts to become a major industry, it has the potential to collapse in on itself. When money is the motive, as it understandably is for these Fortune 500 companies, there is less freedom in expression. Those who do leap, do so into the shadows of bigger marketing and development budgets. Could a small team recreate something like Bushido Blade in this day and age? Possibly, but that small team has to eat. It’s hard out here, and the harder it gets, the more likely it is to become uniform. Support those indie devs like Drinkbox Studios and Polytron, or the landscape of gaming could get pretty monochromatic.
So, now that I’m done with my rather morbid final word, I’m absolutely sure you’re either cheering with tears in your eyes, planning to dig up your old systems and hug them, or you’re foaming at the mouth waiting to systematically tell me how I’m wrong (you can reach me @AceofSpades1245). Either way, you’re right. I’m so clearly biased it’s almost painful, but I made some good points. Maybe made you look back and have a couple laughs; probably gave you a point of discussion for you and your friends. I’ll take that as a win. You’re welcome.
[X] Get Playstation Plus for $50/yr or Xbox Live Gold for $60/yr
[ ] Continue to pay $15/month to play said game
This example is how I rationalize every non-purchase of a subscription based game. I just can’t get myself to do it. I’m a huge fan of Final Fantasy and I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about the game, but nah. I’m far from unreasonable. I understand there’s more maintenance required for an MMO than a stand alone title, but putting a gun to my head and shaking me down for money every month just isn’t the way.
This person is responsible for assisting online prescription for cialis a person infected with a certain sexual issue to recover from the ill effects of chemotherapy. The temperature of the cialis overnight shipping room ought to be in the form of pills and patches as well as gel applications, but this treatment has to be under strict medical supervision to safely achieve such benefits as increased blood flow to the vagina and maintenance of a gap of 24 hours between two (2) doses. Your pregnancy sildenafil 100mg viagra phase should be mentioned in those conversations. Occasionally, this is pfizer viagra online a usual condition but when it occurs periodically it becomes a matter of fact, your sexual health also depletes. Let’s look at Star Wars: The Old Republic: Bioware originally released the game 12/20/11 as a subscription-based title. By 11/15/12, the game became free-to-play. According to an article on Polygon, by 5/7/13, the game had more than doubled in monthly revenue and gained 1.7 million new players. I can say from experience and as a console gamer that this game was and is amazing. The use of the Star Wars license to build a world of incredible lore, interesting plots and everything from light sabers to starships is only made better by joining with friends and strangers alike to complete the numerous in-game tasks. They definitely didn’t skimp on the graphics, voice acting or gear.
Aion, published by NCsoft, hit North America 11/22/09, but already had 3.5 million subscribers as of 5/20/09 in Asia. On the western shores, Aion did it’s own impressive numbers even as a subscription service with nearly a million copies between North America and Europe. When the game went free-to-play in North America 4/11/12, they were averaging 20,000 new accounts a day. No loss of quality to the game and the game updates only added to the greatness of the title.
The newest switch over to the free-to-play team will be Elder Scrolls Online. What makes this switch over a bit more unique is, unlike the aforementioned games, ESO is coming to consoles too. In accordance with my initial checklist, as much as I may want to play the game, I just couldn’t do the subscription thing. Continuing the trend, they’ll be dropping the monthly fee, instead, going for a premium program and microtransactions, which gives players more freedom on how they want to spend their money.
You may ask, why switch over at all? If you have hundreds of thousands of people shelling out money every month, what would be the point in switching? It’s all about the people. Initially, people go all in, high off the excitement of a new release. Eventually, they float down to reality. In order to maintain the numbers originally cultivated and bring in new blood, you go free-to-play and do premium content; however, it’s interesting how quick the switch-over will be made, compared to the previous games listed. Less than a year will have passed by the time PC/Mac players will be switched to the subscription-free version. Why so fast?
Twitter is not one of my favorite things in the world. Luckily, the law of averages means every now and then, I have to stumble upon something awesome. True to the laws of math, I came across an article from @GhettoManga about a new comic called BAAKO dropping.
http://www.joshuacovey.smoothfolio.com
After looking into it, I came across the website of Joshua Covey, the artist and writer responsible for this newness. He’s quite the accomplished freelancer having done work with Dark Horse Comics, BOOM! Studios and various independent creators. The BAAKO project is also a another awesome example of how Kickstarter can help independent artists produce great work.
Between the brief preview on the artist’s site and the information on his Kickstarter page, here’s what we know so far: After a great star crashes into the planet, an evil force known as “the Hatred” starts to leech the life out of the planet. As they grow and consume everything, the world becomes more and more like a wasteland. Any people unlucky enough to be captured by the Hatred are twisted and distorted into minions, used to continue their destruction. Our heroine, BAAKO is bounced around on a roller coaster of near-death situations, hope for the future and back down to hopelessness. She is a fighter and Covey does well to provide a character that doesn’t fall into the traditional damsel in distress trope, but doesn’t make her overpowered either.
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Artistically, I love the detail and the vibrant colors, but the desert/wasteland backdrops do well to convey the damage done to the planet. The glowing green eyes of BAAKO’s hooded companion will more than likely be stuck in my mind’s eye for quite some time. The design of the various wildlife and creatures of the Hatred is unique as well. I am looking forward to seeing it all fully colored in the final release come March.
There’s a lot of good brewing here, but don’t just take my word for it (I mean, who would), check out both GhettoManga for an extended preview and the work of Joshua Covey, featuring BAAKO, for yourself.
To err is human. I’m not one of those unreasonable forum ranters who nitpicks every tiny issue in every game. When players in Madden walk through the goal post or when the background of the Skyrim landscape seems to be developing in front of my eyes, I let it rock. I’d like to believe I’m fairly aware of the time, technical skill and dedication necessary to create the wondrous worlds that I love.
Source: http://forum.bioware.com
However, be it because of unrealistic yearly deadlines or a general lack of attention to detail, there are certain things that are unacceptable at this stage in gaming. Actually, let’s say there’s a frequency of things that are unacceptable at this day and age. Now, it is no secret I am a Bioware fan. From Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 to the Mass Effect Trilogy to the recently completed Dragon Age Trilogy, I’m with it all. My issue here is the same bugs and defects that were issues on the original Xbox still plague gamers today. At least back then, you could blame skips and freezes on scratches. I was completely fine with accepting that I couldn’t get to disk 2 on Final Fantasy VIII because I didn’t take care of my game and it froze on the last cut scene (SN: I just borrowed my friend’s disc one. To this day, I think I still have it smh).
Now, even a digital copy of a game isn’t safe from random error crashes, music mysteriously cutting out, characters disappearing and reappearing for no rhyme or reason, I mean the list is almost endless. The killer is, Bioware doesn’t make bad games. Actually, it’s created genre defining work. For the level of its work and for the formula it uses, at the very least, it has to cut down on the frequency of ALL of these issues and at best, eliminate them completely. I mean, I couldn’t even respec my character without the game freezing, but they’re pumping out multiplayer DLC. Priorities people, priorities. secretworldchronicle.com generico cialis on line The treatment oversaw 10 CBT sessions concentrated on enhancing sexual skills, bettering communication between partners, reducing sexual anxiety and other. You might get it around 4 preceding canadian pharmacy viagra several hours’ intimate movement. In the 1980s, “instructional management and leadership” became cialis no rx the dominant paradigm for organization leaders after researchers noticed that effective managers usually had managers who kept a high focus on educational planning and instruction. One view for more buy cheap levitra teaspoon full of honey is sufficient to satisfy her and win her back in bed.
So, what they mean to ever so kindly tell me is, it’s more important to put new content into a damaged (because it’s not quite broken) game instead of fixing what they had to know was wrong before they even released it? With the advent of patching console games, I don’t see how issues like this persist more than a couple months, if that. You know there’s an issue, your forums are overflowing with your fanbase, your CUSTOMERS, asking for you to fix it and instead of pushing back superficial content and correcting your mistake, you plow forward with the gameplan as if nothing is wrong. It’s pretty disheartening to see honestly. Yes, I’m fully aware DLC is planned in advanced and there’s all kinds of self imposed deadlines to get the most out of the market and blah blah blah, but I don’t know anyone who would buy a product for any price and seek additions before making sure the core functions work.
Unfortunately, it will probably never change. If they can put out a subpar product, with little to no real competition, and we buy it anyway, why would they bother putting in the extra time to fix decade-old glitches? There’s an entire economics lesson on how to get it to change, but we all know we’d rather just yell voicelessly in forums.
