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There are times when I sort of miss Final Fantasy XI. I did have some fun playing it.

Then I read about things like a boss that takes over 18 hours to beat and decide that, no, maybe I don't really ever want to play a game like that again.

So I'm playing FFIV DS, which is a remake of the original FFIV. It keeps pretty much the same features. The same damage levels, the same characters, the same abilities.

They increased the HP for the Demon Wall boss from 28,000 to 99,999. (According to online FAQs.) This is a timed fight.

That's more than 3 times more HP. (3.57 times more to be exact.)

I need something to bump that Square Enix blog entry off the top, so it might as well be something related: my initial impressions of the new Final Fantasy IV game for the DS.

Well, it's in 3D. I'm not sure I really like this. As The World Ends With You proved, the DS can do pretty well with a sort of mixed 3D/2D environment. I think I almost would have preferred something like that.

From the Square Enix blog we get this entry, which reads:

And a mandragora visited our booth! How cute!!!

Two more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come see us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Booth #5001!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes!!!!! How Cute!!!!!!!!! And this certainly seems professional!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And not desperate for attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, if they really wanted attention, they'd release more details about Final Fantasy XIII or announce Kingdom Hearts III or something.

System:	Wii
Tentative Score:	3 (OK)

I haven't actually finished the game yet or bought any of the optional addons, so this review might change in the future.

In short, it's a very simple city sim in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles setting. You play as a 10-year old king who uses the power of Architek (the magic to summon buildings) to rebuild a destroyed kingdom.

I do want to start off by saying that I'm not really saying this would be a good idea. But the idea of being able to beat the stupid out of Yoshi with Sephiroth is just too good an idea to pass up.

Descriptions after the jump.

So while picking up my copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass from GameStop (a place I'm beginning to really despise) I noticed the Final Fantasy I and II remakes for PSP. I checked the back of the case and noticed that one of the features was "same great gameplay!"

For those that played the originals, one of the greatest features of the GameBoy Advance remake was that it changed the gameplay into something that can be considered fun today as opposed to when they were released.

Yeah, I loved Final Fantasy when I played it on the original NES, but let's be honest - the gameplay isn't up to today's standards. No, it's not that it's "too hard" as much as it's "too random" and involves too much grinding for levels. Especially Final Fantasy II, if they kept the original growth rates.

So after a total of something like two hours of playing FFXII, I've apparently managed to screw up my save such that it's no longer worth playing the rest of the game.

Yes, that's right.

Within two hours of the game start, it's possible to completely and totally screw up your game to the point it's not worth playing any more.

Remind me again, why would anyone want to put up with this?!

So I finally started playing Final Fantasy XII. (My car has broken down, and I finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, so I really have nothing better to do, sad to say.)

The first thing I noticed was that they managed to screw up the Prelude music. That takes a certain kind of talent. Instead of starting at the beginning of the theme, it just kind of starts in the middle of a phrase in the middle of the theme.

So then it's time to start a new game. Here the Postlude plays. Generally, the Postlude would play at the end of the game. That's why it's called the Postlude.

So I finally got Final Fantasy XII.

So far, I'm up to Episode 3 in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.