The Dwarf King Babbles about Babel.
Posted by Mike Blitz on December 30th, 2007
Back in the throne room, the Dwarf King seems unfazed by both our amazing failure rate, and by the uncanny coincidence that as soon as we show up somewhere a crystal gets stolen. He happily enlists our aid in obtaining the last remaining crystal, which apparently Golbez is on the way to get from a cave that lies to the southwest.
The King, however, changes track and comes up with the idea of sneaking into Golbez’s tower, the Tower of Babel, and stealing Golbez’s other seven crystals while he is away trying to get the last one. We blissfully agree, but before we set out, we take a walk around the dwarf’s castle. The massive structure actually has some shops filled with armor and weapon upgrades for our party. Unfortunately, we have nowhere near the gil needed to buy the stuff.
Before we head out on our plan to infiltrate the Tower of Babel, we’ll do a bit of grinding for cash and improved gear. I have a sense we’ll need upgrades for the upcoming battles.
Status: Grinding
December 30th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Do you know how long your total game time is?
December 30th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Big D,
I’m about 20 and a half hours now, but at this point I think I was about 19 hours, give or take some.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
What is your overall opinion of the game?
December 31st, 2007 at 11:41 am
Big D,
Once I get my head more completely back into the flow of the game, I think I’ll make an “impressions to date” post, but so far I really like the complexity of the story. It’s so much richer than that of the previous games in the series.
The combat system and character development seems to have taken a step backwards, though, and I’m not the greatest fan of the real-time combat engine.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ah, that’s a shame, cos the ATB battle system (Active Time Battle) continues in FF4-FFIX.
December 31st, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Chocobo,
The ATB system isn’t that big of a deal, though. Although I’d prefer a turn-based system, I’m getting used to the ATB system.
It’s been tough the past few days, because my Japanese isn’t as fast as it was in August. I’ve been trying to read the basic commands while getting my brains beat in. But last night that wasn’t a problem, as I think I’ve got all the normal commands down pat once again. Plus, the combat pauses when you’ve really got to read, which is during the spell-casting and summoning. Also, last night—after 20 hours with the game—I randomly stumbled onto the “pause” button for combat, which is pretty handy as well.
What disappoints me more about this game is the relative simplicity of the combat system and character development, however. With jobs and party-building choices, FF3 was so rich compared to FF4.
But all this is still offset by the awesome story in FF4. This game has great velocity so far. It’s like riding a rollercoaster. I’m really loving this element of the game. It makes me want to get right back and play, as I want to see what’s going to happen next. Great stuff.
December 31st, 2007 at 5:41 pm
If you liked the job system in 3, then you’ll love 5 since it uses a much more expansive version of 3’s system.
January 1st, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Big D,
Ah, that is great news! Looking forward to it!