A couple of weeks ago I purchased Square Enix’s “Song Summoner” iPod game, thinking that the combination of listening to music (I do it all the time) and and an RPG (I used to play them all the time) in a portable format would keep me occupied during commutes and waiting periods. Since the initial purchase, I haven’t completed a single battle, proving that the convergence of two great things does not necessarily a result of proportionate greatness. I thought it would be perfect for me, since I stopped playing RPGs because of the required investment of time in “levelling up” one’s characters. In Song Summoner, you create characters from songs on your iPod and listening to them frequently gives more strength. Sounds effortless, no? But the thing is, playing this game involves a lot of learning and adjustment, especially learning how to use the clickwheel to control gameplay.
In contrast, I’ve acquired Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS and am relishing the nostalgia. I don’t mind doing repetitive things because I want to see the treatment in the remake. It originally came out in 1991 (as Final Fantasy II), and as a nine-year old I had a lot of emotional involvement in this video game. Not only was it a game that caused tears (Palom and Porom’s sacrifice) but it brings back weekends with my brothers and cousins at my grandparents’ house and sacrificing watching Ducktales in the morning at the babysitter’s to play. I would draw the characters as I saw them in my mind during summer holidays. In the grade following, I would watch my brother continue to play even as there were newer games available. Now, as I play again I experience inward glee towards minutia like the how the placement of non-playable characters strikes familiarity. I look forward to seeing the old characters again as if it were a reuinion of friends. Yes, it’s very nerdy to say, but I’m shameless.
This is a very self-indulgent blog entry as there are really no lessons to learn from this and nothing to really teach other people. Maybe that the pleasure of reminiscing is very marketable nowadays? Maybe that if the iPod is great for listening to music and the Nintendo DS is great for playing games, a combination of the two (even in its genius) might not be appropriate?
In any case, I conclude this entry with a YouTube video. When my brother showed it to me I watched it four times straight.
“Rose, Tim, Andrew… supper time!”
“Not yet, I need to find a save point!”
P.S. If you’re playing Final Fantasy IV for Nintendo DS using an R4 card and get a white screen, you will have to update your kernel.
It's tough to think of a blurb for myself when I'm also on 