Best of Miiverse: 12/28

Yes, thank you, Peter.

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Best of Miiverse. Today we take a look at the Final Fantasy community. What sights shall we see when we delve into the minds of those who would pay 500 yen for an RPG released 26 years ago in this very same month? Peter, be a good lad, and fetch the doctor a chestnut.

Our first post comes from Hirotarou:

"Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but in elements like the dramatic scenario, the fact that your party doesn't line up to walk around, that the battle scenes are looked on from above the player's viewpoint, the comparatively somewhat friendly menu screen, and more, I can feel something like FF's obstinate rebellion against DQ, like they were saying, 'Well, one way or another I'm going to bare my teeth at you!' If not for DQ, perhaps FF never would have been born; if not for DQ, perhaps FF would not have become this big of a hit series. I can feel it in my bones, FF is what it is because DQ was there."

And then in his next post: "Putting that aside, the 'Why is it like this?' feel of the menu screen is pretty amazing. Looking at its friendliness, it's at a level that just makes you want to use 'kun' or 'san' or 'tan.' It might be interesting to make it into a character."

And this is the reply:

Menu-kun: "Poison!? Not cool, dude!"

 Moving on, we have this rather delightful specimen from Sho-imo:

I am...Super Monk!

This requires some explanation. I believe in English, Final Fantasy's Black Belt character is known as the Master when he undergoes a class change. In Japanese, he is a Monk and becomes a Super Monk at class change. Yes, that's right, Super Monk.

Not enough anime references for you? Well then, take this, courtesy of Maru:

Galaxy Express came out way before Final Fantasy. An influence?

If you don't know who that is on the left, why he's the captain of Galaxy Express 999! See, take a look:

Hmmm. No similarities at all.

Peter, my pain medication! Ahem, for our final specimen, I give you this excellent observation from Shun:

"Enemies that resemble human beings sure do have a lot of gold!"

Great Scott! I had never considered that before! Sticklers for detail, that rascally Square was!

That's enough for one day. Now Peter, wheel me into the spa, I need to soak.

Tasting the Feast: Excave

A donut fell on my mom and crushed her, so I decided to try a game! This time, I went for Excave, a recently distributed new action RPG on the Japanese e-shop by Mechanic Arms, the lovely people known for the incredibly unique DSiware RPG The Enigmatic Mini-Games, a scrumptious little treat that combined Wario Ware with a dungeon RPG.

The dungeon is getting unruly! The king is restless! Mercenaries seek fame! Off to the dungeons, my lads!

As I set foot in the dungeon, I notice two things: 1) I'm not in 3D, what's up with that? I haven't been a two-dimensional oaf since I used to look down on women, only be interested in sports and pick on gay people! 2) I must have eaten too much of Aunt Harriet's black sugar pumpkin pie because I move like molasses.

Suddenly, a voice echoes from the heavens: "Equip some armor, you blinkin' idiot!" Ah! I see, choosing to equip various things in 3 armor slots from the 16 item slots below that I prepared before I delved inside (did you catch all that?) lets me to choose whether I want to focus on high hit points, high attack or faster movement speed! Interesting! I can also equip one weapon and one item, magic spell or shield to use, though I have to be careful, because the shields and weapons were made amateur blacksmiths and they deteriorate. Furthermore, the bottom screen is used very well to throw away useless items in a trash bin, re-equip different things, and drag potions to your mouth to drink them.

"Do your inventory chores or no successful dungeon exploration for you!" "But ma!" "No buts! I bought you that touch screen to make it easier and more fun, I expect you to use it!"

Whoa nelly! That thunder magic spell was the business! I just let Zeus's lightning rip, and attracted all the slimes to the slaughter as they walked right into a stationary bolt of patented electrical nightmare! It was like cooking Lima beans and green jelly beans using with a mounted taser.

Hmmm, there are lots of keys. All sorts of different colors. This is one of those situations where you have to be careful how much you take, and what you keep, huh? Just then, the voice from the heavens echoes again: "Press and hold the X button in your heart to conjure a magic rune that will transport you back to town." Ah ha! So this is one of those thrift store dungeons where they expect you to go back to town to discard items regularly and manage your inventory that way. That's why my mom named me Excave! It's that whole balancing exploration with escape mechanic!

The voice thunders again, "And read my diary notes, you nincompoop!" Hmm, I do have a lot of pieces of parchment in my inventory. Oh look, they contain hints and directions from the Diary of the Dungeon God, how helpful, yet politely unobtrusive! No tutorials here!

Well, I've only delved into the dungeon for 15 minutes, but already I've traveled multiple floors, accessed a dangerous trap room where I was ambushed by slimes, discovered the satisfying clunk and clash of two distinct types of weapons with their own animations and the need to manage your inventory between two different characters who can equip different things.

I think this dungeon has potential! Let's keep going!