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Anti-Objectivist video games

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Zoso

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I don't know if this belongs in here and I don't know if there are enough young people in here to know what I'm talking about. However, now that I'm on Christmas break, I've gone into a video game playing binge. I've been playing some of my all-time favorite games, like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII. I haven't played them in years and, now that I'm more educated, I'm starting to see how incredibly anti-Capitalist they are. It kinda pisses me off, because I love these games and it bothers me to see how offensive they are to my world view. Has anyone else noticed any games like this? Are there any games which seem to promote individualism?

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I don't know if this belongs in here and I don't know if there are enough young people in here to know what I'm talking about.  However, now that I'm on Christmas break, I've gone into a video game playing binge.  I've been playing some of my all-time favorite games, like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII.  I haven't played them in years and, now that I'm more educated, I'm starting to see how incredibly anti-Capitalist they are.  It kinda pisses me off, because I love these games and it bothers me to see how offensive they are to my world view.  Has anyone else noticed any games like this?  Are there any games which seem to promote individualism?

There are plenty of video games which are philisophically bankrupt. I'm not familiar with any off hand that I would consider good philisophically.

However, there is still value in many video games: aesthetic value. Something can be horrible philisophically but wonderfull aesthetically. As I recall, many RPGs, including the Final Fantasy series, promote causality and the heroic concept, even if the philosophy isn't so good.

P.S. This is why I suggested in your introduction post you should read The Romantic Manifesto. :huh:

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The Final Fantasy series definitely has the hero archetype, but FFVII in particular seems rather liberal. The first third, or so, of the game is all about defeating an evil corporation who is destroying the environment. Chrono Trigger is all a Biblical allegory. And the part in Zeal, there seems to be a rather anti-Capitalist message, in which the Earthbound ones represent the proletariat and the Enlightened ones represent the bourgousie (sp?). I may be reading too much into it, but I tend to do that anyway.

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The Final Fantasy series definitely has the hero archetype, but FFVII in particular seems rather liberal.  The first third, or so, of the game is all about defeating an evil corporation who is destroying the environment.  Chrono Trigger is all a Biblical allegory.  And the part in Zeal, there seems to be a rather anti-Capitalist message, in which the Earthbound ones represent the proletariat and the Enlightened ones represent the bourgousie (sp?).  I may be reading too much into it, but I tend to do that anyway.

Like I said above, even a work of art which is lacking or evil philisophically can still have some value aesthiectically if it is made right.

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Think about it like this though, Shin-Ra (the corporation in FF7) had seized power by coercive force. By the start of the game, they had already subdued Wutai, usurped the government of Midgard, and forcefully kidnapped ancients to study them. Think about it as if you were fighting Halliburton :D It's decidedly anti-coercion, but I agree that there is a strong enviromentalist streak within it.

yeah, now that I think about it, Chrono Trigger did have some rather anti-objectivist motifs and themes. One that stands out is the robot city in the future, whose leader wants to exterminate humans and establish a domain built on pure logic and reason. Though Chrono Trigger really didn't promote anything anti-objectivist so much as they fought against what could be construed as Objectivist

Final Fantasy 10 is my favorite, the philosophy is beautifully individualist and the characters have excellent depth. I'm an old school RPGer whose first RPGs were Final Fantasy 1 and Dragon Warrior, and FF10 stands as one of my favorites of all times.

Jak 2 and 3 were good games philosophically. It featured an anti-hero who fought for himself and his own values, the main villain of the second one was a despotic dictator whose propaganda machines kept going on about how the citizens need to sacrifice for their city. Jak never fought unless it was in his interests, which were protecting his friends, taking revenge on the Baron, and procuring some heavy duty firepower.

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Think about it like this though, Shin-Ra (the corporation in FF7) had seized power by coercive force. By the start of the game, they had already subdued Wutai, usurped the government of Midgard, and forcefully kidnapped ancients to study them. Think about it as if you were fighting Halliburton :D It's decidedly anti-coercion, but I agree that there is a strong enviromentalist streak within it.

yeah, now that I think about it, Chrono Trigger did have some rather anti-objectivist motifs and themes. One that stands out is the robot city in the future, whose leader wants to exterminate humans and establish a domain built on pure logic and reason. Though Chrono Trigger really didn't promote anything anti-objectivist so much as they fought against what could be construed as Objectivist

Final Fantasy 10 is my favorite, the philosophy is beautifully individualist and the characters have excellent depth. I'm an old school RPGer whose first RPGs were Final Fantasy 1 and Dragon Warrior, and FF10 stands as one of my favorites of all times.

The thing about Chrono Trigger that caught my eye was the struggle between the Earthbound and Enlightened. Plus, the theme is a very obvious biblical allegory. I could launch into a full explanation if prompted. I agree that the corporation in FF7 really was evil and I have no problem with that...it's just the whole environmental stuff that gets me. I only played through FF10 once...explain the philosophy that you think lies behind it.

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I'm a game programmer. My last project was NBA Ballers for PS2 and Xbox.

The press was all over our game, attacking it because you earn money for playing basketball well, and because you can use that game money to buy things that are a part of the baller lifestyle -- houses, jewelry, cars, etc. The press went so far as to interview several NBA players, asking whether they thought this game sent the wrong message, and to the last man the answer was yes. Not one player seemed able to admit that money was even a part of his reason for playing.

I wonder whether anyone would have even noticed if we hadn't put the dollar sign in front of the score.

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FFVII is a really interesting example. Kind of interesting you brought that one up.

I LOVED that game when I was in the 7th grade (when it came out) and it was one of my fav games of all time.

I recently bought it again about 2 months ago and have totally beaten everything in it (including the Weapons and all the side quests).

I was kind of disappointed with some of the philosophy for a while, but then I started really thinking about it.

Here are my conclusions:

1) Shin-Ra was a horrible corporation that exploits a resource stupidly.

Think of loggers in the North West that used to clear cut. It isn't in your rational self-interest to clear cut in the long term because it kills the whole industry and you don't have anything left for long periods of time. Conservation makes MUCH more sense if you really have a mind for profit.

The James Taggarts of the world do that kind of crap to make a temporary profit and then they have nothing to show for it once they have parasitically sucked all of the life out of the industry. It takes a LOT more genius to sustain things like Ellis Wyat and his shale-oil.

Look at these factors of Shin-Ra:

-Hojo did bio-experiments on people just for the fun of it kind of like some of the Nazi scientists.

-President Shin-Ra ordered the destruction of an entire 8th of the city to try and kill people that were rebelling against what they were doing.

- Rufus makes the point in his speech with Cloud (when you fight him at the Shin-Ra building) that he will govern using fear instead of just using wealth to dominate people

- There is a man named HEIDEGGER in Shin-Ra....do you really need anything else? (I'm just joking on this one) :D

-They have no problem using coercion and force (look at Wutai and Corel as examples of that).

Another thing is the WAY that the fictional planet operated with the life-stream and reincarnation. If that was a metaphysical FACT that was a given (which it IS in that game) it would be morally wrong to intentially destroy the glue that literally holds your planet together.

Remember when Bugenhagen shows what happens when the lifestream is totally sucked away? The planet crumbles and disappears.

That makes Shin-Ra pretty damn anti-life.

2) When Cloud comes back from the lifestream after coming to terms with his pyschological fears and problems, he makes an amazing speech.

He basically says that he is fighting for his OWN reasons and he sends everyone off for a couple of days to find out what their own reasons are.

-Barrett is fighting for Marlene

- Nanaki (Red XIII) is fighting for honor and for his grandfather

-Vincent is fighting to right a wrong (the fact that he couldn't stop Hojo from injecting the woman he loved (Lucrecia) with Jenova cells which ended up creating Sephiroth.

- Yuffie is fighting for materia and for her town's glory.

-Cait Sith is atoning for Shin-Ra's crime and to save the world

-Tifa is fighting for a future with Cloud

3) Cid.

Cid has a dream to go into outter space and has done everything in his power to make that dream happen when Shin-Ra breaks off the space program. He fought for his dream and it finally came true (sort of by accident when they are trying to get the Huge Materia). He is "the captain" and is a science buff who believes in the superiority of science and reason. That is pretty damn cool in my book.

4) Cloud.

This game makes it VERY clear that faking reality is a BIG no-no psychologically speaking. Look what happens to Cloud when he perpetuates the lie that he made SOLDIER. He cannot integrate himself into the reality of what he just couldn't do (achieve his dream of being in SOLDIER like Sephiroth).

When he finally DOES deal with his issues, he is a whole person.

Cloud also has some very good traits.

He ran after Tifa when they were young so he could try and defend her when she went questing to find her mom at Mt. Nibel. He also really came to her defense when he managed to toss Sephiroth into the lifestream and wound him badly after Sephiroth attacked Tifa and Zach.

Cloud fights for his values and for himself and he makes that really clear from the beginning.

As he says in the beginning...he isn't fighting for the planet, Avalance, of anything but himself. That never changes at all. He just develops himself into a true hero and identifies what he really wants to gain from his fight.

5) Sephiroth.

Sephiroth wants to become a god and dominate over everyone. He kills a whole town, awakens the weapons, summons a giant meteor, kills Zack, and attacks Tifa. He is pure evil. The presence of such a villian shows what one should try and fight against. This game isn't done in terms of "shades of gray". This is good versus evil...plain and simple.

6) Barrett realizes that Avalanche's way of doing things (blowing up mako reactors) wasn't the right way of doing things, though he has his reasons (including the fact that Shin-Ra burned down his whole hometown which killed his wife). He redeems himself by helping to save the world.

Any thoughts?

Edited by Tryptonique
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Has anyone played Phantasy Star IV for the Sega Genesis?

If you want to play it nowadays, just go get an emulator (I recommend Gens 2.0) and download the ROM and enjoy.

That is one of my favorite RPG's.

As far as games that promote individualism...I would say that is definitely one of them.

FFX is also awesome. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful games of all time in terms of music, depth, graphics, and story. All of the characters are individuals in that game:).

I love Diablo II as well.

Do you play on Battle.net?

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I only played through FF10 once...explain the philosophy that you think lies behind it.

********SPOILER WARNING - do not read this if you haven't played FF10 and have any intention of doing so. ***********

some definitions for those who do not have intentions of playing the game but do want to know a good objectivist story

Aeons - Spirits that a special person can summon and command in battle. These people are called Summoners, and the world religion revolves around the use of these Aeons. In order to collect the final aeon, the most powerful spirit, the summoner must make a pilgrimage and have the support of all the other Aeons. Aeons reside in temples, and the summoner can call upon the Aeons after praying within the temple of that specific Aeon. The Aeons are: Valefor, Ifrit, Shiva, Ixion, and Bahamut. The three hidden Aeons are Anima, Yojimbo, and the Magus sisters

followers of Yu Yevon - people who adhere to the doctines of the world church. This includes a ban on all non-church santioned technology and a hero worship of summoners. The most powerful members of the church are called Maesters, whose power is regional. A head Maester reigns over all of them and is the most powerful man in Spira. The church is also resposible for maintaining the temples of the Aeons.

Al Bhed - a people who have a fondness for technology. They do not recognize the domain of the church, but lack the man power to oppose it directly. Throughout the game they are ruthlessly hunted, and are forced to a lifestyle of raiders and nomads, living in old military bases deep inside the desert or onboard giant skimmer boats.

The pilgrimage - a journey a summoner must take on their way to collect the final Aeon and kill sin. It starts in geographically the southernmost region of Spira and slowly works it's way to the Northernmost region, eventually coming to a stop at the ruins of the great city Zanarkand.

The story in a nutshel

FF10 is about the summoner Yuna, and her band of compatriots as they make the pilgrimage across Spira, with the hopes of collecting the final Aeon and defeating Sin, giving the people of Spira a calm. Calms typically do not last more than 10 years or so. The dirty secret of completing the final summoning is that the summoner dies in the process, and while summoning it he or she must nominate one person to act as the catalyst for the process, which turns the person themself into the final Aeon. The final Aeon kills sin, but is possessed and goes into hybernation, and begins the process of transforming into a new sin, a process which I will describe later.

The heroes come to discover that the church is hopelessly corrupt, as not only do they make extensive use of technology themselves, they ruthlessly hunt down the only people who feel that using technology is acceptable (the Al Bhed) and blaim the presence of sin on the decadent ways of the ancient ones who wallowed in high technology. The philosophy of the church is similar to fascism, that individuals are not important to the whole, and the church (which also acts as the state) has the right to their life.Though they claim their motives are noble (saying the calms give the people hope) whether through malice or ignorance are forcing an eternity of stagnant death and hardship on the people of Spira, and silences any opposition (such as exterminating the Al Bhed and sending Yuna and her compatriots to the purgatorium under Bevelle to die after she defies the church.)

Soon enough in the game, you come face to face with your villian, Maester Seymore. Seymore, in case you couldn't notice, was a die-hard Nihilist, who wanted to grant the people of spira peace by sentencing everyone of them to death. He wants to subvert Yuna, take her against her own will and marry her, then force her to use him as the final summoning, so he can become sin and destroy the world.

compare those philosophies to the philosophy of the party. The party members are optimistic, cheerful, and have a firm love of life.

-Yuna is the summoner who, despite her altruist tendencies (more than likely the result of years surrounded by the church) lives by a strong set of principles and firmly asserts them even in the face of being declared a heretic by the church. This is physically symbolized by the fact that she is part Al Bhed. Her love of life and her friends overcome her desire for altruism in the end.

-Tidus in particular is this way, as he is always questioning the sanity of the church, and is questioning whether or not the spiral of death is acceptable, and is cheery to the point where it bothers many people. He falls in love with Yuna and is willing to fight for her and her values to the point where it costs him his own life in the end.

-A character with a similar personality to Tidus is Rikku, who is an Al Bhed. Cheery and optimistic, she goes so far as to physically kidnap summoners to keep them from sacrificing themselves needlessly. After being bested by the team in combat (she was in a giant mech so the party did not realize it was her) she joins with the intention of convincing Yuna (who later turns out to be her cousin) to voluntarily stop her from sacrificing herself. Cid, Rikku's father, also shares this sentiment, though in a more unrefined way, as he seeks old military technology to use, both for defense against the church and to fight Sin.

-Wakka also shares this strong individualist streak, though he is the product of a life of religious subversion, so he doesn't know any better. By the end of the story however, he rejects the religious Dogma and supports the rest of the party all the way.

-Khimari is a strong represenative of a person who is born into low standards but rises to greatness through his own hard work. He is a Ronso (large tribal catlike creature that walks upright) who is by ronso standards a runt. He is constantly being held down by his superiors, even to the point where they break his horn, but Khimari never stops trying to achieve, and in the end earns his place in the tribe when he takes on the two Ronso who have been bullying him his whole life and best them in single combat. By FF10-2 he has risen to become chieftan of his tribe.

-Lulu, despite having a stoic attitude and a gothic appearance, is fiercly protective of her own values and spends the entire game fighting for them, choosing Yuna and her philosophy over the destructive philosophy of the state.

-Auron is an older man who never bought the philosophy of the state. As a young man we see an indignant monk who hates the idea of sacrifice. His best friend, high summoner Braska (the father of Yuna and last summoner to initiate a calm, ten year ago) was a hopeless Altruist, who in the end dies for only a few years of peace. Despite having friends in the church, it is clear that Auron never supports it, and remains steadfastly at Yuna's side when she breaks away from the church.

Conclusion - It turns out that Tidus's father, Jecht (who was rather uncaring of him as a youth) is Sin, as he was the man Braska selected to be the final Aeon. This makes Tidus's decision harder as he realizes that killing sin will be killing his own father. Furthermore it is clear that Sin[Jecht] does not want Tidus and Yuna to sacrifice themselves needlessly, so he never kills them despite having the chance to do so multiple times. When they finally make their way to the location of the temple of the final Aeon they find the first summoner Yunalesca (who has existed for a 1000 years in a state of undeath.) At the last moment Yuna rejects altruism and tells Yunalesca that she doesn't want the final Aeon and will look for another way to kill Sin. Yunalesca, being a nihilist, tries to kill the party to prevent them from getting their hopes destroyed, but the party triumphs and kills her.

When they journey back to Bevelle, the capital of the church, the Leaders of the church commit suicide when they find out about Yunalesca's death, knowing that their seat of power has forevermore been overthrown. With the aid of Cid's high technology, the party confronts Sin and defeats it. They discover an alternate diminsion inside of sin, because Sin is a magical construct, rather than an actual living creature. Inside here they confront Seymore for the last time, who is desperatly trying to stop the party from destroying Sin permenatly. Deeper inside, they find the essense of Jecht, and are forced to kill him.

Tidus has to come to terms with his own reason, and puts emotion behind him and is able to kill Jecht and stop sin. However, when he does the party realize the ultimate truth of the church. Yu Yevon, the deity of Spira, is in fact a malevolent spirit who created sin with the purpose of subverting the world to his rule. He was the husband of Yunalesca, and together they hatched the plot of the spiral, where a summoner kills sin with his Final Aeon, only to have that summoner's final Aeon become sin and keep Yu Yevon in power. This gives people enough hope to perpetuate this process but enough fear to where they won't want to try other methods of defeating Sin. Without any final Aeon or Sin to inhabit, he desperatly tries to inhabit Yuna's Aeons, forcing her to destroy her faithful servants. After the last Aeon is killed, Yu Yevon cannot sustain himself and is destroyed. In the process of this, Tidus dies (complicated story, though isn't essential to this explaination of philosophy) and Yuna becomes filled with a new sense of life, having forever freed Spira of it's oppressive trio of tyrants; Yu Yevon, Yunalesca, and the church.

I left out alot of the backround (haven't even gotten into the nature of Tidus's existence) but for what is pertinent to the underlying philosophy.

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Another thing is the WAY that the fictional planet operated with the life-stream and reincarnation. If that was a metaphysical FACT that was a given (which it IS in that game) it would be morally wrong to intentially destroy the glue that literally holds your planet together.

Remember when Bugenhagen shows what happens when the lifestream is totally sucked away? The planet crumbles and disappears.

Thats a good way to look at it. Because this fictional planet had a spirit of its own, and therefor a volitional presence (as seen in the final cutscene of the game) then Shin-Ra have no right to leech it's power for their own gain. I guess it's not completely enviromentalist because Barrett, the leader of the terrorist groupa against Shin-Ra, wass actually a coal miner before Shin-Ra physically destroyed the coal industry to establish a power monopoly in the world.

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*grin.*

I LOVE the way you described FFX. Such a wonderful game isn't it?

Do you like the soundtracks? I own the FFVII, FFVII, and FFX soundtracks.

What do you think of Metal Gear Solid and how Snake falls in love and fights for Meryl? I think that story is one of individualism in the face of technology that seeks to control your identity (the genome soldiers and the Les Enfant Terrible project). Snake is a badass hero if I do say so myself.

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I was obsessed with Diablo II in 8th/9th grade. I remember writing out detailed plans for my characters during English class, always seeking to make the perfect setup. I succeeded to a certain extent with my barb, who was unstoppable. Then I attempted to reach the same success with a sorc. My end goal was to build up an account of ultra-powerful players and sell them on eBay.

But I never did. I quit after some asshole hacked me and stole months of my work.

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long post about FFVII

Hmm...it's been a while since I've played it, but these are some good points. I think I'll start up a new game, at some point during my break. I'd like to play FFX again, but it's so damn long...just don't know if I have the time. FFVII is tied with FFVI as my all-time favorite game. Although, I don't really think FFVI has much philosophy behind it. Well...maybe...it has an element of discovering your true self (Terra), but that isn't necessarily individualist in nature. Buddhists have the same idea...but you don't wanna get me started on Buddhism.

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Thats a good way to look at it. Because this fictional planet had a spirit of its own, and therefor a volitional presence (as seen in the final cutscene of the game) then Shin-Ra have no right to leech it's power for their own gain. I guess it's not completely enviromentalist because Barrett, the leader of the terrorist groupa against Shin-Ra, wass actually a coal miner before Shin-Ra physically destroyed the coal industry to establish a power monopoly in the world.

But it still irks me a little bit, because it's almost as if they're suggesting that Earth has its own volition. I agree that, if Earth were a volitional being, it would be wrong to use its resources. But, the fact is that planets are not alive...it almost seems like they were arguing for it.

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*grin.*

I LOVE the way you described FFX. Such a wonderful game isn't it?

Do you like the soundtracks? I own the FFVII, FFVII, and FFX soundtracks.

Nobou Uematsu is the name of the man who has done the musical score for every single Final Fantasy since the first one, I agree he is a magnificent composer. There have been times when I have put the controller down and just listened. My three favorites are Celtic moon (FF4's overworld theme), the FF7 overworld theme, and FF10's Zanarkand theme (the one that is playing while you are walking through the ruins on the way to the final temple.)

What do you think of Metal Gear Solid and how Snake falls in love and fights for Meryl? I think that story is one of individualism in the face of technology that seeks to control your identity (the genome soldiers and the Les Enfant Terrible project). Snake is a badass hero if I do say so myself.
my opinion of Metal Gear is pending at the moment because I am about to go home and play MGS3:Snake Eater, supposedly there are some pretty deep revelations in that game. As for MGS1, my favorite part was the conflict between Liquid and Solid. If you beat the game and get the ending where Meryl dies, there is a conversation at the end between Ocelot and the president where Ocelot says that Solid in fact, was the inferior one, and Liquid was the one with superior genes. It basically said that hard work and dedication are more important than heritance. I found that rather lucid.

Liquid oddly enough reminded me of James Taggart, a man born with all the right stuff, yet was consumed by defeatism. Solid reminded me of Hank Reardin, a dedicated talented man who has a character flaw that he can't quite identify until the end.

Now that I think about it MGS has some rather strong pro-individualist themes, though after that monster I wrote on FFX I don't think I have another one in me.

But it still irks me a little bit, because it's almost as if they're suggesting that Earth has its own volition. I agree that, if Earth were a volitional being, it would be wrong to use its resources. But, the fact is that planets are not alive...it almost seems like they were arguing for it.

right, it can be construed that way. Thats why I am rather cautious about calling FF7 pro-objectivism simply by virtue of the fact that it can be metaphysically construed in a number of ways

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But it still irks me a little bit, because it's almost as if they're suggesting that Earth has its own volition. I agree that, if Earth were a volitional being, it would be wrong to use its resources. But, the fact is that planets are not alive...it almost seems like they were arguing for it.
I can definitely understand that as being a sticking point. I think that is definitely valid as well.

Nobou Uematsu is the name of the man who has done the musical score for every single Final Fantasy since the first one, I agree he is a magnificent composer. There have been times when I have put the controller down and just listened. My three favorites are Celtic moon (FF4's overworld theme), the FF7 overworld theme, and FF10's Zanarkand theme (the one that is playing while you are walking through the ruins on the way to the final temple.)

Yup. Have you heard the Parasite Eve soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura? It is definitely really cool. Have you ever played Parasite Eve?

As far as my fav FF songs:

-FFVII Overworld Theme :D

- Aeris's theme

- One Winged Angel

- Kuja's Theme

- Beatrix's Theme

-The Great Calm (from FFX)

- Maybe I'm a Lion (FFVIII)

- Lunatic Pandora (FFVIII)

:D

I'm so glad I finally met an Objectivist who enjoys FF music. :) :) :)

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I've not played the first Parasite Eve, but I played the second one. I rented it, got really far, got stuck, returned it, and never picked it up again, and have little motivation to (not that it's necessarily a bad game, actually I liked it alot, I just try to look to the future of good games rather than look to the past. I had the distinct pleasure of picking up video games right at the dawn of their ascent, starting with Mario Bros. 1, so I don't feel like I have missed much.)

as for non-FF music, The music to Chrono Trigger was marvelous, as was the music to Secret of Mana, one of Square's lesser known adventure RPGs.

Uematsu writes very powerful pieces, there is nothing half-assed or re-hashed about his work. He's a modern day Richard Halley.

Oh yeah and for some reason, I didn't find that incident which happened to Aeris all that tragic. Some people I talked to online take it like that was the most tragic thing they've ever seen, but I just simply did not like Aeris very much, neither in the story or in combat.

My favorite part in FF7 was when Red 13 found out the truth about Seto, his father. Everything about that scene was so awesome, it is the only time a video game nearly drove me to tears. The way Red went from a defeatist shamed pup to a proud warrior, the way he reasserted his virtues, the way his concept of self reverted into an egoist, the way the statue of Seto shed tears of pride. the music, the atmosphere, everything came together so well that stands out in my mind as one of the great events in any video game.

My second favorite part was the dream sequence in which Tifa helps Cloud come to terms with reality. I literally had no idea what was about to happen, the game had been very ambiguous about it up until that point. My jaw was dropped the entire time.

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I agree 100%. The Seto part of the game was great. Bugenhagen just kinda floats along when you are going through the cave of the Gi tribe. I wasn't sure what to expect and then you find out the truth about Seto. Truly brilliant. Especially how Red XIII howls mournfully as his father cries. VERY VERY emotionally moving.

Parasite Eve was a MUCH better game than PE2. I highly recommend it.

I'm also a big fan of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (I also own that soundtrack too).

I also love retro gaming as in Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. My Game Boy Advance is one of my favorite systems.

I think Sony's new handheld (The Sony PSP) that is going to come out first quarter of 2005 looks really cool. What do you guys think about it?

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I just noticed this at the top.

Has anyone played Phantasy Star IV for the Sega Genesis?

the game of my youth was Phantasy Star II, in fact. I never realized it, but going back and playing it, it is HARD. But in a more irrational way. Why is the Bio-factory shaped like a Maze? Never could figure that out.

I got Phantasy Star IV on an emulator because I am convinced that I shall never see it in cartrige form. It strikes me as being one of those games that you need to sink your teeth into before it gets good, kind of like Atlas Shrugged. I for some reason have not been able to muster up that motivation. :)

I have like, a core of old games that I always have copy of somewhere. Ogre Battle, Secret of Mana (I managed to get Secret of Mana 2 on an emulator, outstanding game, one of the best for the supernintendo. Ranks up there with FF6 and Chrono Trigger) etc.

The PSP is going to blow nintendo's dominance on the handheld market away. Sony is just so much more innovative than nintendo is. Nintendo's deal is that they get real lucky every now and then and that carries them to incredible legnths. I'm thinking of the Pokemon craze here.

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