The DeM Newsletter, No.5, September 5 1999 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feature Articles This Issue: -Final Fantasy VIII Review -Bluffing? Me? Columns: -DeM Game Events -New Player Approvals and Persona Updates -Deus Ex Machina Page Updates -Deus Ex Machina Players: Web Page Updates -Arcana's working on... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Final Fantasy VIII Review By Arcana ------------------------- Anyone else bitten by Final Fantasy VIII fever? In addition to having excellent characters, the game also boasts some marvellous graphics, beautiful cinematic sequences, and more of the good old classic Final Fantasy gameplay. Okay, be warned, there are mini-spoilers in this article, mainly dealing with the mechanics of the game and some story sequences in Disk 1. The most impressive part of the game by far is its animated FMV sequences. Remember, when you first hit "New Game", be SURE you crank the volume on your stereo system. The introduction begins with an absolutely beautiful shoreline, with the sea lapping at the beach. Among the crash of the waves, the now- famous "Liberi Fatali" song begins with its haunting chanting. From there, we cut into the most dramatic portion of the introduction movie. We see the feather fly up into the air, then, in a flash of lightning, the trademark weapon of the hero, the Gunblade, flies down and strikes the ground with a heavy 'clank'. And then it begins. At first, when I heard about a totally CG Final Fantasy Movie, I had my doubts, but now, after viewing the choreography of the introduction, I'm excited. I won't spoil this part for you. Watch it yourself. Another great movie is the Landing Movie, which I believe was shown in the demo. I've never played the demo, so I wouldn't know! The graphics are also marvellous. They use polygonal characters on 3D rendered backgrounds in this game, and although many people state that the result is awkward, I think it looks rather good. The realistic proportions of the characters makes the game feel more like one of the classic Sierra Adventure games such as Gabriel Knight when you're wandering in towns. For those who have played the demo, though, you understand the various game mechanics that are involved. Characters use the new and improved version of magicite, materia, and summon spells, this time called "Guardian Forces". By equipping them, you can give your characters various abilities and commands, in addition to bonuses to their stats. Guardian Forces themselves can raise levels like characters and have ability points that can be assigned to learn various skills that improve the character you equip them on. Magic is cast by "cards" in this game. You draw magic spells from your opponents to cast magic, and so you are limited only by the number of spells you draw. The weapon upgrade system is based off of collecting various tidbits from monsters and treasure chests, such as iron bolts, lead pipes, and magic stones. If you have a required number of these items, you can see a blacksmith who can upgrade your weapons for you. Armour and accesories, though, is nonexistent in the game, making the equipment system significantly simpler than the previous Final Fantasy games. The battles are very similar to the other Final Fantasy games. It's very swift, visual, and relies a lot on managing elemental powers. It's more of the good-old classic stuff that is simple, but fast enough not to be boring. There are, of course, drawbacks. The graphics, although good by Playstation standards, are by no means excellent in the entire gaming department; the Playstation is aging hardware and many people have seen superior graphics on computer games and on the upcoming Dreamcast. The gameplay is nothing innovative either, and if you are easily bored with Final Fantasy's battles, you're not going to be redeemed here. But none of that matters, right? We want the STORY! STORY, damn it! Luckily for you, the story (so far, since I haven't beaten the game) is quite good. There's nothing extremely dramatic, so it's a very realistic, plausible storyline. The game has almost destroyed all traces of fantasy in it, but not to negative result; the towns are detailed and exciting and visuals such as cars driving by, computer terminals beeping in the background, and railway systems add to the fun. The characters aren't anything very fresh and new... for instance, Squall is a typical Squaresoft hero who's quiet, apathetic, and wary of strangers... Seifer is a hot-shot arrogant guy who loves to fight, Sephie is a typical hyper teenager... but their relations with each other and their reactions to the situations they are thrown in give the game a good breath of fresh air. Many people avoided the hype of the game in fear of being overly disappointed, but unless you were expecting God's Gift (and we weren't, I mean, although the screenshots looked good, who was actually REALLY impressed with the battle sequences?), this game won't be a disappointment. It's more of an evolutionary step in the Final Fantasy series rather than a new leap, but if you liked the other games (especially VII, which this game most resembles), then you'll have plenty of hours of fun with VIII. Bluffing? Me? By Arcana -------------- I don't bluff. I'm sure some of you will find that out the hard way when they look at the Persona Page and realise that their characters are missing. The deadline was this Sunday, I said three weeks ago. I also posted three reminders after the initial one. The funny thing is, that when I posted the reminder, the first people to reply were the ones who gave me a response to the original message about taking a persona census! Some of you are lucky, however, because I've created the new "Inactive Persona List", where I move people who've written before or expressed interest in writing but didn't leave me a mail telling me that everything is all right; I understand that not everyone can check mail and read it (through three weeks I feel is ample time). However, if you've never written a post, then more than likely I've deleted your character. Also, on this topic, please realise that if you decide to quit the game and you leave your characters as NPC's, I will likely consider putting them up for adoption by the other players; this is especially true for active persona whose players suddenly have to depart. If you do not wish for your persona to be played by another player, please state this specifically in your letter of resignation. Thank you very much. Remember, if I ask for a persona census, be sure you reply as soon as you can! ----------------------------------------------------------------- DeM GAME EVENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've been lax in this department in favour of large-scale Persona Organization. I have 17 unread stories in my mailbox. ~~ NEW PLAYER APPROVALS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia Draken by Lyta. Celestia is a historian who is hired by the Ethos. She is working wiht Urban. Aluna by Id. Aluna is a very spooky biomechanical engineer. Chui by Psychotica. Chui is a Chu-chu who gets delusions of grandeur and likes to attempt to make differences, often with no avail. Reijin by DY. DY has written a fantastic sheet here, and I give my crongratulations to him. Reijin is a Nisan-born citizen who was employed by Solaris. Now, he is a part of the Nisan Militia but he longs for his love, Mina Rhinehart. Lilakahn by Symphony. Likakahn is a mute musician who likes to drift and wander with the winds. Cindy by Cheetah. Cindy is a Nisan Nun in training who is also trying to deal with her father's departure from her life. Thank you to everyone who applied for their interest in DeM! I hope everyone here will find a way to involve these new players. ~~ DEUS EX MACHINA PAGE UPDATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Three fanfictions: one of them is an update. A story named "Shinonome" by Amber, "The True Ruler of Solaris" by T.Avery, and and update to "Genesis" by Miho. Also, there's a momentary cameo on my page... the supposed cool link of the week is a Final Fantasy VIII fanfiction! ~~ PLAYER PAGE UPDATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ None. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arcana's working on... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm still working on my Web Server. Right now, I'm attempting to grab a copy of Windows NT 4.0 so I can get some networking up a little easier than I can with a Linux system. However, a very detailed document called the Linux Network Administrator's Guide has popped into my life and it is a great source of information for anyone looking into TCP/IP networking. So I'm trying to grab a copy of Windows NT, I'm upgrading my second machine, and I'm also hoping for a Cable Modem connection with which I can host my future web server off of! Other than that, I'm mentally preparing myself for school. My semester is heavy, but not as heavy as I've anticipated, so I might be around more often that I thought I would have been. Well, then, good luck to you all! ----------------------------------------------------------------- END