1533: Motto

As a suitable means of switching my brain off when I need it (which is quite frequently at the moment) I’ve been continuing to watch To Love-Ru and am now onto the second series, Motto To Love-Ru.

I was interested to discover that this second series is structured rather differently to the conventionally episodic first season, instead adopting the same approach as Ika Musume (aka Squid Girl) by making each individual episode up out of three short stories rather than one large story that kind of sort of ties into the overall narrative. That said, narrative coherence is not a huge priority in To Love-Ru, since there are a couple of points throughout the series where things just evidently happen “between episodes” without explanation — or perhaps they just happened where I didn’t notice. (Or, more likely, in the original manga, since it’s not at all unusual for anime adaptations of popular manga to simply skip over chapters at a time for brevity’s sake.)

The series remains enjoyably fluffy, however, despite the predictability of the protagonist Rito falling over at least once per episode either face-first into someone’s crotch or with his hands on someone’s boobs. Despite the occasional bout of fanservicey smuttiness — which gradually increases in frequency between the first series and the first set of OVAs, and then again between the OVAs and the Motto second season — the show remains consistently good-natured, with it generally being Rito as the one who is ridiculed and made to look an idiot rather than the rapidly expanding female side of the cast, most of whom tend to come off pretty well out of their various misadventures.

And as clichéd and tropey as a lot of those female cast members are, they all have their own appeal elements and twists on the usual formula. The stern, harsh class president Kotegawa, as you might expect, has her deredere side to go with all the tsuntsun, and predictably, it’s adorable. Meanwhile, teen idol Run-chan’s twist is that she turns into a boy when she sneezes — a side-effect of being an alien, naturally — while Oshizu is a ghost whose spirit has a tendency to evacuate her artificial body whenever she gets scared, such as when she sees a dog. (Naturally, one of the other characters has a dog, so this situation comes up quite a bit.) And then there’s Yami-chan, aka Golden Darkness, who is all the things I loved about Ell from My Girlfriend is the President and then some. Also, she has hair that can turn into weapons and punch people. Hnnnnng, as they say.

I’m not even going to pretend that To Love-Ru is anything more than fanservicey, switch-your-brain-off fluffy nonsense that is designed for pure entertainment value rather than attempting to say anything big or meaningful. It doesn’t have the clever Lovecraftian references of the rather similar (but later) Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, nor does it have the clever self-awareness of other comedy anime. It’s simple, it is, at times, sexy, and it is, at times, utterly stupid. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need from a piece of entertainment. And thus I make absolutely no apologies whatsoever for enjoying it; it’s a delightful accompaniment to my brain’s boot-up sequence while I’m having breakfast of a morning, and it’s likewise a pleasant accompaniment for the shutdown sequence of an evening before I go to bed.

Anyway. Once I’m done with To Love-Ru (the rest of Motto, followed by some OVAs, followed by the third and, currently, final season To Love-Ru Darkness) I will watch something a bit more intelligent, I promise. Maybe. Possibly.

Come on, I survived Clannad. I deserve this! 🙂

1532: Get It Done

Oh, for the ability to extend days as long as necessary so you can fit everything in. Oh, for the ability to call up motivation on demand and just get things done with time to spare.

There are lots of things I want to get done at the moment. You may recall quite some time ago that I was working on a game project with RPG Maker and that I was very excited about it. I am still very excited about it, and yet I haven’t done a whole lot on it recently. Why? I can’t really explain that, other than the fact I just feel like there hasn’t been a whole lot of time to do so recently.

I’m not sure whether or not that is actually true or whether it is just the perception in my mind, but that’s certainly the way it’s been feeling recently. I get up, I do work, I flop down in the evening, I relax, I go to bed, I repeat the process throughout the week and then take the weekend to recover.

I could, of course, use my time more efficiently. I could get up earlier in the morning and do stuff, and in fact I had been intending to get into some good routines having rejoined the gym/swimming pool complex in town, but unfortunately getting horribly, revoltingly ill put paid to those plans almost as soon as I had put them into motion. As soon as I shake off the last remnants of whatever plagues have been filtering through my systems, I will get back on that.

In the meantime, though, there’s nothing stopping me getting up early and, instead of going to the swimming pool or the gym, working on my game instead. Tomorrow morning I will at least make an attempt to do that, though it will depend on how I feel when I wake up.

I also need to do the same with my Japanese studies, since I now have a month off from classes and don’t want all the things I’ve learned to fall out of my head.

I think I am probably going to have to make myself some sort of schedule to try and stick to, though the mistake I often make with this sort of thing is making it too strict and consequently not wanting to stick to it. I think if I can set myself aside a few hours in the morning before I start work — I start late — to do something productive, be it game development, Japanese revision or going to the gym/pool, then that will get me into good habits and good routines, and thereby get some things done. When the evening comes, then, I can settle down and relax without guilt and do what I want to do. Maybe.

This is all fine and good until I get a bunch of lengthy, time-consuming games to play through for review and as luck would have it, several of those are on the way now. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it; for now, let’s try and get into some good habits and get shit done!

1531: Zodiac Brave

Final Fantasy XIV’s second major patch is brilliant stuff, bringing with it an absolute shit-ton of things to do for those who have reached the level cap.

I used to be a little disappointed to hear that MMO expansions and major patches tended to favour endgame players over those working their way up through the levels, but now that I am an endgame player, I completely understand the logic. There’s already a bunch of stuff there designed to get people from level 1 to level 50; but the people who have reached level 50 need a constant, continual stream of New Things to Do otherwise they’ll simply jump ship and go off to play something else. In a subscription-based game such as Final Fantasy XIV, this is exactly what Square Enix does not want to happen.

Patch 2.1 added a decent amount of new content for endgame players to work through, primarily in the form of new dungeons and Trials (complex boss battles) to play through. Patch 2.2, the most recent one, initially appears to be somewhat similar, but there’s a bunch of more subtle tweaks here and there that are designed to keep people invested in the game in the long term rather than simply racing through the new content as quickly as possible, then taking to the forums to whinge that there’s not enough to do.

Chief among this time-consuming stuff is the Zodiac Weapons quest. One of the first things you’ll want to do upon reaching the level cap in Final Fantasy XIV is complete the “A Relic Reborn” quest, which outfits you with a good weapon for your class that can subsequently be upgraded. The quest is a lengthy affair that demands you work through some of the toughest battles in the game and then participate in enough endgame content to earn the special currency required to purchase some items. Once it’s done, it’s done, though, and for each class there was previously only really one weapon better than the Relic available, and that was extremely difficult to obtain due to it being secreted in what was formerly the hardest dungeon in the whole game.

Now, though, your Relic can be upgraded further through the new Zodiac Weapons quest. After maxing out your relic, you’re then tasked with going on the hunt for twelve “Atmas” — mysterious items that are required to buff up your Relic weapon into something new and shiny. In order to obtain the Atmas, you have to participate in the “FATE” events around Eorzea — little mini-quests that pop up around the world map that anyone in the area can jump in and help out with. For each FATE that you attain a gold medal in, there’s about a 5% chance that the Atma for that area will drop, and you need to obtain twelve Atmas in total, so I’m sure you can see how this will take a while.

A grind it may be, but it’s had the side-effect of making FATEs relevant again, which is a good thing, since they’re a lot of fun and had fallen somewhat into disuse after the rewards from dungeon-crawling became significantly better. Now, though, there’s always bands of wandering adventurers crawling around the various areas and stomping through the FATEs, and due to the game’s level-sync mechanic, no-one will ever come along and simply overpower them, making it no fun.

Once you’ve obtained the twelve Atmas, there’s then a selection of books to work through, each of which have their own challenges to complete and each of which buff up the Zodiac weapon’s stats by a particular amount when you complete them. And then you can do this for each class.

In other words, it’s going to take a while to accomplish. Despite the fact it’s a fairly unsubtle move to keep endgame players invested in the game in the long-term, having a long-term goal like this is actually rather enjoyable because it brings a wonderful sense of achievement when you do finally accomplish it. I have no doubt that I’ll put in the hours required to get a Zodiac weapon for my Black Mage class, and I will probably do it for the other classes I get to 50, too. I’m in this game for the long run, and I’m really enjoying the flow of new challenges that appear every few months.

1530: 50 BC

Over the intervening years since leaving home, I’ve either discarded or left behind a lot of the trappings of childhood. But one of the things that has constantly travelled with me is my modest collection of Asterix books — by no means complete, not by a long shot, but consisting of a number of adventures I occasionally like to revisit.

For those unfamiliar with Asterix — I’m not sure how well known it is these days — it was (is?) a series of full-length comic book stories based in the era of the Roman occupation of Gaul, circa 50 BC. Originally composed by French duo Goscinny and Uderzo and subsequently translated into a variety of different languages around the world, the stories combine a certain degree of real-life ancient history with material that is played purely for laughs to ridiculous effect. Central to all the stories are the eponymous protagonist Asterix, a cunning Gaul who is usually entrusted with his village’s most important matters, and his overweight, somewhat dim friend Obelix who fell into a cauldron of magic potion as a baby and was consequently blessed with permanent superhuman strength.

The books range from relatively small-scale adventures in which Asterix and his friends defend the village from the Roman encampments that surround them to grand adventures that see the indomitable Gauls heading off to places such as India and the Middle East. Elements of sci-fi and fantasy — usually in the form of magic — are incorporated into some of the later books, but the emphasis is always on vaguely plausible but ridiculous situations that poke fun at modern society through the lens of ancient Roman times.

A particularly identifiable characteristic of the English translations — I can’t speak for the other languages — is the sheer number of utterly cringeworthy puns used throughout, usually in the form of character names. Asterix and Obelix are pretty self-explanatory, but they’re joined by village chief Vitalstatistix, druid Getafix, blacksmith Fulliautomatix, fishmonger Unhygienix, bard Cacofonix and numerous others. The female Gaulish characters have similarly unsubtle names — Vitalstatistix’s wife is called Impedimenta, for example — as do the Romans, who usually have amusing Latin names of some description. One story features a centurion called Cumulo Nimbus, for example, while another features an athletic legionary called Gluteus Maximus.

The books are filled with visual gags, too, not just in the panels’ artwork, but in elements such as typesetting and fonts, too. An Egyptian adventure in which Asterix and friends visit Cleopatra, for example, features a number of sequences in which Egyptian characters “speak” in hieroglyphics, for example, while in Asterix and the Great Crossing, which sees Asterix and Obelix initially accidentally discovering America and subsequently coming into contact with some Viking explorers on the way home, the language barrier between the Gauls and the Vikings is represented by the latter adding stereotypically “Scandinavian” punctuation to the things they’re saying. It’s a visual equivalent of the TV series Allo Allo representing characters speaking in different languages through different accents, essentially.

What I’ve been most surprised about on this most recent revisiting of the few Asterix books I do own is the fact that they hold up very well despite, in some cases, dating back to the 1960s. Not all humour ages terribly well and indeed there are certain elements of the Asterix books that clearly come from a, shall we say, somewhat unenlightened age, particularly when it comes to depictions of people of non-white races, but to be honest, there’s a certain appeal to the fact that the early books in particular just don’t give a toss about political correctness and end up being often darkly hilarious as a result.

I’ve never got around to expanding my collection since leaving home, but I’ve now read the few Asterix books I do own so many times to know them pretty much inside out. Perhaps I should look into getting some of the ones I’ve never read — if these ones hold up well enough, then it’d be a pleasure to read some completely new ones that I don’t know at all.

1529: The Whorleater

I imagine only a few of you reading this will give a toss, but Final Fantasy XIV version 2.2, aka Through the Maelstrom is out today. I haven’t had a lot of time to play with it so far, what with having to do pesky work and then go out to Japanese class this evening, but after we’ve had dinner I’m going to spend some time with it tonight.

I have had the opportunity to at least unlock the Glamour system I talked about a few posts ago, and from there begin assembling my own custom outfits for my high-level classes. So far I’ve put together some rather fetching ensembles for my Black Mage and White Mage classes — Black Mage looks rather classy in a figure-hugging black skirt, white thigh-highs, black velveteen gloves and a low-cut black coatee with a lacy white collar; White Mage, meanwhile, is clad in what I can only describe as a slightly slutty tennis player’s outfit, eschewing the usual frumpy robe of level 50 white mages in favour of a snug-fitting, bone white hempen camise up top and the borderline-indecent Cleric’s Culottes (aka the tiniest miniskirt in the world) down below.

I followed my unlocking of the Glamour system with the unlocking of the new dance animations — I know where my priorities are, huh? — and after dinner I’ll be delving into some of the more meaty new content. For now, it’s time for dinner; I’ll update this post with some pics and additional thoughts later.

—

Okay, I forgot to take any pics, but I’ve done the three new dungeons, and they’re a lot of fun. One of the best things about much of Final Fantasy XIV’s multiplayer content is how most of it eschews the straight “tank and spank” approach seen in many MMOs. It’s a very movement-heavy game, and success in boss battles is dependent on knowing any special mechanics that might be in play along with having the ability to avoid incoming attacks.

A particular highlight was one of the bosses in the new Hard Mode version of the Brayflox’s Longstop dungeon. Initially appearing to be a rather simple fight against a tough goblin, it’s not long before the fight becomes highly chaotic, with exploding mines dropping into the battlefield and criss-crossing the arena with Bomberman-style cross-shaped explosions. Alongside all this, the boss is hurling stuff at you and summoning additional enemies, each of whom lock their attention on an individual party member, necessitating a quick takedown. You really have to stay on your toes and pay attention.

Another particular highlight was the final boss of the same dungeon, which had several different phases: hurling damage at it, staying out of its way as it careened around the outside of the arena, and using area-effect skills to push back swarms of bombs to create a safe zone in the middle of the area. Again, it’s another fight where you really need to pay attention to what’s going on around you rather than simply going through the motions of triggering the same skills over and over again.

It’s the skill-based part of Final Fantasy XIV that, for me, distinguishes it from other MMOs where you might have a bit more character customisation. Everyone at level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV has the same abilities and probably very similar stats, too; the main distinguishing factors between individual players are pure skill and the equipment they’re wearing. A skilled player in slightly lower-level gear will pretty much always beat a well-equipped player that is not very observant or not very good at dodging. We’re not talking the level of dexterity and timing required by something like Dark Souls, for example, but it’s pretty close in some fights — the challenging battles against Titan being probably the best examples.

So far I’ve barely scratched the surface of the new content. The three new dungeons were great fun and I can see myself running them lots of times, particularly as the rewards on offer are pretty good. Tomorrow and over the weekend, it’s onto the main story content and the long-awaited continuation of the hilarious and bizarre Hildibrand quests, which have proven to be a highlight of the new content in both updates so far.

In case it wasn’t clear, I continue to be super-impressed by Final Fantasy XIV. The fresh injections of content, the constant improvements to the game experience in response to player feedback and the great community of players I’m lucky enough to be able to enjoy the game with — it all adds up to one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I’ve had for years. For those of you thinking of joining the fray when the PlayStation 4 version arrives in April, I look forward to showing you around Eorzea!

1528: Oi, Hyakkihei

Now I’ve actually written my review for it over on USgamer, I can talk a little more about The Witch and the Hundred Knight, the game I’ve been playing most recently.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it initially. It’s one of those games where there was a fair amount of negative buzz surrounding it quite early on, led by an early review from IGN that wasn’t altogether kind. But if my experiences with Time and Eternity were anything to go by, I knew very well that “popular” opinion was something I was unlikely to mesh with, and thus I went in to The Witch and the Hundred Knight with an open mind.

I was very pleasantly surprised. What we have here is a very unconventional Japanese RPG in every respect. It’s not turn-based, it’s not party-based, it’s not overly moe or ecchi, it’s not a comedy. Instead, it’s an action RPG with a surprisingly dark, deep storyline, and one of the most interesting main characters I’ve had the pleasure to hang out with virtually in quite some time.

Metallia, the eponymous Witch, is a horrible person. Or at least she initially puts herself across as one. She’s foul-mouthed, she’s quick to anger and she’s aggressive. She appears to have no qualms about inflicting bloody revenge on those she feels to have wronged her, and she seems utterly miserable and bitter about everything.

Over the course of the game, we learn about her. We get to see her gradually letting new people into her life, and starting to seemingly trust them. We get some hints about where all that bitterness and rage has come from. And, quite early on, we also learn that Metallia is not long for this world — though not why immediately.

We observe all this through the eyes of the Hundred Knight, a supposedly mythical figure that Metallia summons at the outset of the game to do her bidding. The Hundred Knight is the player avatar, though, so you have a certain degree of autonomy from Metallia’s wishes, and indeed can express your opinions non-verbally at various points throughout the game. You’re still bound to Metallia, so progress in the overall plot is largely determined by eventually fulfilling her wishes of destroying the “Pillars of Temperance” and spreading her swamp around the world, but between those predictable story beats, the Hundred Knight gets involved in a number of distinct adventures, each of which forms itself into a neatly contained episode of the overall narrative.

A particularly effective episode is the seventh chapter in the game. I won’t spoil the details for those who are planning on playing the game for themselves, but suffice to say that it tells a complete, surprising and interesting self-contained story with a surprisingly emotional payoff. It explores both Metallia and the other members of the cast who have joined by this point, and blends both humour and pathos to a surprisingly effective degree.

The pathos aspect is what I think I’ve found most surprising about The Witch and the Hundred Knight so far. Developer Nippon Ichi is typically known for relatively light-hearted fare, though in some cases (ZHP is a good example) there’s often a more thought-provoking core underneath the exterior fluff. The Witch and the Hundred Knight is, I think, the first Nippon Ichi game where the “dark” aspect has been very much pushed to the forefront, with any comedic moments being somewhat incidental rather than the other way around. The narrative is bleak and, at times, genuinely sad without resorting to being overly “gritty”. It’s a stark contrast to what I wrote about a short while ago with regard to triple-A games; compared to Thief, which wants desperately to be treated as an 18-rated movie, The Witch and the Hundred Knight never feels like it’s trying too hard and, consequently, ends up coming across as far more genuinely mature than Thief ever did despite being considerably more colourful and stuffed full of stylised, bizarre characters.

Anyway. As I noted in my review for The Witch and the Hundred Knight, I’m sure not everyone will be into the particularly abrasive personality of Metallia and her adventures, but if you’re after an interesting action RPG with a compelling, unusual story and some satisfying, challenging game systems, you could certainly do far worse, so check it out if you have the chance.

1527: Trope-ical Crush

The word “tropes” has taken on something of a pejorative meaning in recent years, but I find something oddly comforting about the use of common, established, recognisable tropes — particularly when it comes to Japanese entertainment. I also find it interesting that Japanese entertainment — both games and anime — is a lot more willing to fully embrace the idea of tropes as part of the medium’s language rather than attempting to hide what it’s doing.

Take the common character tropes, for example. In a typical “harem” situation (usually a male protagonist surrounded by female characters, one of whom is typically positioned as the “main” love interest, but the others of whom are optionally also either interested in the protagonist or the objects of the protagonist’s affections) you tend to have your tsundere, your kuudere, your childhood friend, your “princess” type, your genki girl and, depending on how many characters are involved, numerous others. And yet the predictability of this type of cast makeup, for me, doesn’t prove to be tiresome; quite the opposite, in fact. I enjoy being able to point to the various characters and say “well, she’s clearly… and she’s clearly…” because it provides a recognisable, established starting point for these characters that can then subsequently be built on over the course of the rest of the work.

Exactly how — or if — these tropes are built upon by the work depends entirely on the work in question. Some works embrace the established tropes wholeheartedly and make the characters into textbook examples of the character types they initially appear to be: a valid approach. Conversely, some works deliberately work to subvert the tropes they establish in their early hours with some surprising twists and turns for the characters: also a valid approach. And, for some archetypes, subversion of expectations is part of the trope itself: witness the tsundere, for example — usually frowning, overly defensive and, at times, somewhat aggressive — and how her character arc typically involves her “softening” and showing her deredere side. Or the yandere — quiet and meek, but with something seriously unpleasant festering inside that demure exterior. Knowing that at some point she’s going to strike doesn’t diminish the impact when it happens; if she’s a particularly well-disguised yandere, it’s even more shocking and surprising.

I’m a fan of tropes, then; I enjoy that feeling of comforting familiarity that comes about when I come across a new character and recognise their traits. And everyone has their favourites, too; for me, I must confess to having a soft spot for tsunderes, but I do also like a kuudere and there’s always something heartwarming about a nice childhood friends romance. And the older sister “nee-chan” type. And a cutie imouto. And… Oh dear. (Essentially, I think I’m saying that my ideal anime harem would be made up of the cast of My Girlfriend is the President.)

If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to bed to read TVTropes. (Warning if you’re at work: settling down for a “quick read” of that site is a good way to lose a few hours.)

1526: Skirting Shadows

I “finished” Senran Kagura Burst last night. Well, more accurately, I finished Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, also known as the Hanzou Academy side of the game’s two-part story. On that side of things, there’s still a bunch of bonus levels to complete, plus attempting to A-Rank everything and complete everything in Frantic mode, and then there’s the same for the Hebijo girls, too, so optimistically I should be looking at at least 40 hours of gameplay in total. Not bad at all.

I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve played so far, and I’m a particular fan of how well the package as a whole caters to different play styles. If you have a few minutes, you can pick up and play a level or two without worrying about plot; each level takes no more than a minute or two to play, and is a lot of fun, particularly with how different all the characters play from one another. If you have a longer period of time available, however, you can play through the story levels you haven’t touched (with accompanying, lengthy visual novel sequences), or concentrate on trying to perfect a particular level for an A Rank, or levelling up a favourite character until you have her best moves.

I was impressed with the story, which was enjoyably mundane throughout despite being about two clans of warring ninjas. The most interesting moments were the ones where the characters were just hanging out eating sushi or chatting among themselves; the most meaningful moments as the “good” shinobi of the Hanzou Academy come to realise that their “evil” counterparts from Hebijo perhaps aren’t as different from them as they all once thought.

Perhaps most notable, though, and I’m aware I’ve touched on this before, is the fact that throughout the story, the characters are treated with the utmost respect by the scenario writers. The game may be notorious for its gelatinous breasts and panty shots and it may be true that beating the story allows you to blow into the 3DS microphone in an attempt to peek up the girls’ skirts, but as characters, Asuka, Katsuragi, Ikaruga, Yagyuu and Hibari are well-defined individuals, each in possession of a decent character arc (particularly so in the case of Hibari) and each designed to “feel” very much like a real person. There’s a few recognisable tropes in there — Ikaruga’s class president and Katsuragi’s perverted older sister nature spring immediately to mind — but the game is set up in such a way that they all feel like much more than just eye candy or pure fanservice. I have no doubt that the Hebijo story path will be much the same when I come to it.

I’m looking forward to the possibility of the other games in the series making it to Western territories, and very much hope that they do. There’s a strong cast of loveable characters here, and it would be great to see them explored further. Whether or not that happens will presumably depend on sales of the first, but the fact that Xseed localised it in the first place (and Marvelous AQL Europe brought it to Europe in physical format) gives me a considerable degree of hope. As “niche interest” as games like Senran Kagura Burst are, they fulfil an important role in the industry and give people like me that pleasant feeling of “yes, this is a game for me” rather than the dumbed-down, lowest-common-denominator nature of a lot of mainstream titles.

Now I’m feeling a bit shitty (yes, still) so I’m off to bed to snuggle up with the ample bosoms of Hanzou Academy, and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop me!

1525: Through the Maelstrom

Final Fantasy XIV gets its second major “big patch” next week, and my Free Company and I are looking forward to it a great deal. Like the previous big update A Realm Awoken, Through the Maelstrom, as it’s known, not only adds a bunch of new content, but also some tweaks, refinements and additions to the game system as a whole.

Top of the priority list for many players is not any of this new content, however; it’s a simple addition known as Glamours, otherwise known as the game’s long-awaited vanity system.

For those unfamiliar, a vanity system in an MMO is pretty much what it sounds like: it’s the opportunity to customise your character’s appearance however you see fit rather than being restricted to the default appearance of the equipment you’re wearing. There are pros and cons to both approaches: having gear with distinct appearances means that you can quickly and easily judge at a glance roughly what level (and class) a particular player is at, for example, but it does mean that everyone has something of a tendency to look the same, particularly at high level. Conversely, a vanity system allows players to look however they want at the expense of that visual shorthand that says “yes, I am an average item level 80 Black Mage ready for some hot Binding Coil of Bahamut action”.

On balance, in a socially-centred game such as an MMO, the opportunity for players to express themselves as they see fit is probably the best in the long run. After all, an MMO character is an extension of yourself, your avatar in the virtual space, and something you’ve worked hard to develop over the course of many weeks and months — so why the hell shouldn’t they look and dress how you’d like them to? There’s nothing stopping you wearing the distinctive “uniform” of your class if you still want to, of course, but with the presence of a vanity system you can take that step away from the herd, too.

I haven’t fully decided on the outfits for my various classes as yet, though my rough “theme” is that I want my character to look more feminine. (She is a lady, after all.) Mage gear in particular isn’t terribly flattering, being all baggy robes, hoods and silly hats, so I’m contemplating a new black mage ensemble for her in the form of a slinky, sexy black dress (or, more accurately, skirt and top combo that looks a bit like a slinky, sexy black dress) and some dainty gloves, set off by a nice pair of shoes that don’t look too ridiculous. I’m keeping an eye out for items that might fit the bill as I’m playing, and I have a feeling that the cloth “All Classes” items typically worn by crafters as they’re levelling may just fit the bill nicely — though I’ll probably stop short of the high-level ones that incorporate a garter belt on the outside of the incredibly snug skirt. Sexy, yes; impractical, uh, yes.

In short, yes, I have been thinking about Amarysse’s new Eorzea Spring Collection far more than I perhaps should have been. And later in the week I’ll be able to implement it, take her out into the dungeons and rack up the Player Commendations for my fetching ensembles. That or get a torrent of questions from people asking why I’m wearing crafting gear as a black mage. We’ll see!

1524: I Love DIVA

I was editing some Dark Souls 2 walkthroughs the other day, thinking to myself that the idea of spider enemies that cause instant death if they fall on you didn’t sound like very much fun at all, and that I didn’t really want to play Dark Souls 2. Then I contemplated what I have been playing recently — and, more notably, how I’ve been playing it — and realised that perhaps I’m not quite so different from the Dark Souls nutcases.

I am referring to the Vita version of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f, a quite astonishingly excellent rhythm game starring the eponymous Vocaloid voice synthesiser personification and her similarly artificial friends. It’s a game that encompasses a broad spectrum of electronic music, and has one of the best feelings of getting “into” the music that I’ve felt since plastic instrument-wielding games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Project Diva f is a rhythm game in the Japanese mould, in contrast to Rock Band and its ilk, however. This means that there is a strong focus on attaining absolute perfection, and then improving on it some more if at all possible. Specifically, there are two scoring systems at play: a “Grade” bar that goes from 0 to 100 per cent as you accurately tap or hold notes with the correct buttons or flicks of the touchscreen, and a more conventional numerical score that increases according to whether your taps, holds and flicks are “Cool” or “Good” (or, heaven forbid, “Safe”, “Bad” or “Awful”). In order to get a “Perfect” rating on a track, you have to hit every single note with a “Cool” or “Good” rating, including nailing two challenging “Technical Zone” sections as well as an additional “Chance Time” section which is also used to trigger bonus events in the background music video of a track.

I got reasonably into the PS3 version of Project Diva F (the PS3 version has a capital F for some reason) but the usual music game audio-visual latency issues rear their head at times, making it an occasionally frustrating experience. You can manually calibrate the latency, but without an easy test function a la Rock Band it can be difficult to judge. This problem is not at all present on Vita — plus there’s something a whole lot more satisfying about having the music right there in the palm of your hand. Consequently, I’ve got a lot more into the Vita version than the PS3 incarnation.

How much more? Well, I’m currently systematically working my way through the Normal difficulty and attempting to attain a Perfect rating on all the tracks. And I’m doing pretty well so far — though some of the later tracks are going to give me some grief, I can feel it. The challenge is something I relish, though; I enjoy the music, and the feeling of absolutely nailing a difficult track utterly flawlessly is hard to beat. Similarly, missing an easy note with a “Safe” is disappointing and a cue for an immediate restart. Yes, I’m being one of those players. But I’m having a blast — and this constant repetition, practice and improvement is just the same sort of thing that Dark Souls players are presently indulging in, albeit with more slobbering monsters rather than doe-eyed anime-style characters.

Once Normal mode is done with, it’s onto Hard mode, and possibly Extreme if I’m feeling very brave. These two modes are significantly more difficult than the already challenging Normal mode, but I’m looking forward to taking them on; unlike the seemingly impossible harder difficulties of Rock Band et al, I feel that Project Diva f’s harder difficulties are well and truly within reach — and that mastering them will be a gaming accomplishment to be proud of.