Nasir Gebelli: Programming God

Nasir Gebelli; programming God

There is never much talk of programmers these days - instead, gamers tend to bring up topics concerning industry giants like Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, or even Hironobu Sakaguchi. Today, I would like to go over a brief history of someone who is considered a programming legend in the video game world: Nasir Gebelli. Nasir? To you Final Fantasy fans, does it ring a bell? Take a look at the picture below and then you will know how Gebelli is a part of Final Fantasy history.

 Nasir Gebelli is an Iranian-American programmer who began his career in the era of the Apple II, and eventually went on to program a handful of games for SquareSoft. Gebelli is legendary because his games were fun, unique, and tended to push the graphics of a system's hardware. Gebelli could be considered much like a Michelangelo of games; able to paint games with such artistry while being limited by present technology.

 Gebelli began his career down the programming path when he moved to the United States to study computer science. After receiving his education, he started a game programming company called Sirius Software in 1980. As co-founder alongside Jerry Jewell, Gebelli began producing games at a fast pace - with one year yielding twelve games! Gebelli was known for his rapid production probably due to his method of programming - anything he planned for a game he would memorize in his head, so Gebelli would have to finish his work as fast as possible. During his time at Sirius, Gebelli programmed games such as Space Eggs and Gorgon, the latter becoming the best selling Apple II computer game at the time. It was also during his time at Sirius that Gebelli founded Gebelli Software, although this company closed its doors in 1984. It was shortly after this that Gebelli took a break from his work and travelled around the world.

Gebelli's 'Gorgon' proved to be one of the most popular Apple II games.

 In 1986, Gebelli returned from his vacation and visited a friend of his: Doug Carlston, owner of Broderbund. Gebelli was interested in working again as a programmer and asked Carlston where he should begin. Carlston pointed Gebelli in the direction of Japan - specifically at two video game companies, Nintendo and SquareSoft. Then, Gebelli flew to Japan with Carlston and he was introduced to both Nintendo and the development team at SquareSoft. Although Nintendo did not show much interest in him, Sakaguchi knew of Gebelli's work and it was then that Gebelli was added to Square. Nasir Gebelli was now a part of the Square A-Team, which also consisted of Hironobu Sakaguchi, Nobuo Uematsu, and Yoshitaka Amano.

Rad Racer

 In the early days of Square, Gebelli programmed both 3D World Runner and Rad Racer. Although 3D World Runner was considered a flop, Rad Racer did show some success in North America on the NES. Even Square translator Ted Woolsey recognized Gebelli's work in Rad Racer, with its beautiful graphics and "disappearing horizon-lines". But when Square was experiencing financial troubles, Sakaguchi came up with the idea of a role-playing video game to feed on Dragon Quest's success: Final Fantasy. Although Final Fantasy is one of the most popular video games on the NES, programming an RPG proved somewhat difficult for Nasir. According to Sakaguchi, "it was the first time he had programmed anything like an RPG". Gebelli did not fully understand what an RPG was and how the battle system for such a game should work. I believe that Final Fantasy may have suffered from so many bugs and glitches due to Gebelli's understanding of RPGs. Nevertheless, Final Fantasy is still a fantastic game and Gebelli did not cease to amaze. Players were in awe at the battle system that Nasir programmed; being able to use four characters at once, the turn-based combat, and especially the spells and their glorious 8-bit animations.

An RPG proved difficult for Nasir to program.

 After the success of Final Fantasy, Square proceeded to work on both Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III. The programming was even better in these sequels, especially since Final Fantasy III added 'auto-targeting'. However, there were some hiccups during the development of these games. Gebelli's work visa for Japan expired and he was forced to move back to Sacramento, California. Despite that, Square proved their diligence by moving the development staff temporarily to California with Gebelli, where both Final Fantasy games had their programming completed. After Final Fantasy III, Gebelli began working on a new project with Square which was to be a title for the supposed CD based add-on for the Super Nintendo. The game, Secret of Mana, proved to be one of the most legendary RPGs on the system, meaning that Gebelli had done it once again.

 After his work with Square, Gebelli retired with Square royalties to travel the world. It was at this time that Gebelli was finished with the world of programming. It wasn't until August 8, 1998 that Gebelli re-surfaced again, this time at John Romero's Apple II Reunion Party. Romero had an interview with Gebelli, as they recounted on their early days of programming. Gebelli proved not only to be quite humorous, but very humble as well.

 Nasir Gebelli currently lives in California and both he and Sakaguchi remain good friends.

References
Nasir Gebelli interview at Apple II Reunion Party
Interview snippit: Nasir and Secret of Mana
Nasir Gebelli on MobyGames
Nasir Gebelli article on Moofgroup
Wikipedia article on Nasir Gebelli

XIII-2 demo: My thoughts

 This is probably the tardiest post I've written, but it's better than a sharp stick in the eye! Welcome to the Grove, folks! I am your gardener, The Onion Knight, and today I want to give my thoughts on the XIII-2 demo that was released about two weeks ago.

 By 'tardiest post', I meant that this is something I should have documented when I first played the demo, (I just haven't had the time, I apologize!). Final Fantasy XIII-2 was released nearly two weeks ago on January 31. I haven't played it yet, but I've heard multiple good things about it. Of course, many people were upset with Final Fantasy XIII and Square, hoping to heal the fan's broken spirits, made many changes to its sequel to satisfy gamer's tastes. I'll talk more about the full game itself after I've played it, since I plan to review it eventually. For the time being though, I'll talk about the demo.

 Once you start the demo and play past the title menu, the player is treated to a cutscene with Lighting's narration thrown in. I didn't really pay much attention since I would be seeing this again anyways. Immediately, you're thrown into a boss battle. It's a pretty easy one, and during the battle you'll perform these actions called 'active cutscenes', where you have to time button commands in order to deal damage, (and get a better reward with victory). After the battle, you can walk around the Bresha Ruins, talk to some NPCs, fight monsters, collect items - typical Final Fantasy fare. For a demo, XIII-2 was fairly customization-oriented. You can change your party leader, capture monsters for your party, gain and change equipment, level up your characters freely, and change many options - which, to my knowledge, isn't seen in many video game demos. The battle system is essentially the same as its predecessor, XIII, except now you can command monsters and change your party leader during battle, which is a nice touch.

 The element of this demo I liked the most was the atmosphere of the game. Although I could only explore Bresha Ruins, it was a great setting to begin with. The rain droplets falling into your tv screen, the serene music, and the overall mood - it was like something out of a Metroid game!

 Overall, I enjoyed the demo and I know that what I'm getting will be a great title. I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition a while ago on Amazon and I also hope to pick up some DLC for the game. If you liked XIII, I'm quite certain you'll like the sequel and if you didn't enjoy it - well, why not give it a try?

This is the Onion Knight signing off. Have a good day!

Sheep in a world of wolves; Ad #8

It's been a few days folks, but I am back once again! Today is our eighth commercial and while our look at Final Fantasy V commercials were somewhat lacking, the next three commercials for Final Fantasy VI are quite unique. The commercial I have for you today is another personal favorite of mine, and I'm glad to finally talk about this one. So what are we waiting for? Let's delve right in!

Wow, now that's what I call a commercial! Beautiful actress possibly portraying Terra (Tina in Japanese)? Check. Gameplay footage? Check. Classic Final Fantasy nostalgia? Major check! This commercial really hit all the chords for me. From the music to the editing of gameplay and appropriate Tina actress, it's quite well done. So what's the commercial about? Well, it just seems to be Tina standing in the wind, (maybe she's thinking about her adventure?), as scenes from the video game itself play in and out during the advertisement.  Is the game represented well? I think so! The game is advertised well, since not only do we have gameplay but Tina is prominently displayed. Her expressions are important, as well as the dreary setting of the commercial. Tina looks sad in this video; maybe even depressed, which I think is symbolized by the background, (grey clouds; a moody, stormy atmosphere). Final Fantasy VI is not a 'cheery' game, (it does have its comical moments, though), and in fact, many scenes are quite despondent and tragic.

 The music is very fitting, I think. The title of the song is "Roaming Sheep" and it's actually from Final Fantasy III. The title is very appropriate for the game, because it effectively describes the characters and the setting in two words. The characters in the party of FFVI could be viewed as 'roaming sheep', because many times throughout the story, the characters are constantly separated and re-grouped, usually making them vulnerable in a dangerous and dark world - similar to a herd of sheep in a world of wolves.

NOTE: The video below is the track played in the commercial, "Roaming Sheep", which is from Final Fantasy III on the Famicom.

Overall, I really like this commercial! It fits the game quite well and it gives me the energy to want to play Final Fantasy VI again. Great commercial for a great game. I give this one an 8/10.

This is the Onion Knight signing off. Have a good day!

Are these gems? Or just rocks?

Greetings readers! This is your adventurous writer, the Onion Knight! This is the seventh installment in our look at Final Fantasy commercials. Today's post is going to be a little special because not only will we be looking at two commercials, I also had to dig deep into the depths of "YouTube Hell" to find these hidden gems.

 These commercials, like the previous post, centre around a chocobo. The exuberant bird runs around a hole  placed in the ground as monsters, (presumably from FF V), jump out of the hole; monsters such as Iron Giants and Bombs. Nothing else can be described since that is all that happens.

 Do both of these commercials represent the product well? They certainly represent the series, but the commercials themselves are not very interesting nor exciting. In fact, these commercials remind me of those cheesy toy or children's show advertisements you would normally find on a Saturday morning. Still, the commercials do present the game as a Final Fantasy game; a statement that holds weight when compared to earlier commercials we've looked at thus far.

I don't really have much to say on these two, since not much happens and there's not enough substance to really dig into. At least, not from what I can see. Overall, these commercials are mediocre and slightly hint in the beginning that the game being advertised is specifically Final Fantasy V. The only connection I can make is the chocobo - since chocobos (Remember Bartz's pet chocobo, Boco?) are prominent in FF V more so than any other Final Fantasy title before it.

 So here is my question: why are both of these commercials so similar and how are they different?

Of Chocobos and Ostriches - Ad #6

 Welcome to the Grove folks! I am your illustrious writer, the Onion Knight, and today is our sixth commercial. Last time, we travelled to Europe and discovered that, sometimes, a Final Fantasy commercial is actually a Zelda commercial. Now we have left our European friends and return to the land of Japan. Today, we'll be looking at a Japanese commercial for Final Fantasy IV on the Super Famicom. If you thought the English ad for Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo was weird, this next commercial blows the competition out of the water - in terms of strangeness.

 The first thing you'll notice (I hope you notice) is that the commercial has the chocobo theme playing in the background. Nice! It's such a classic theme and it fits the outlandish mood perfectly. Next, an ostrich, (an ostrich?! NOW I've seen everything), runs along a beach while a person laughs in the background. Wait, what?

What... just happened?

Why is the chocobo theme... ostrich... choco- OH! I see what Square did there. Clever!

The chocobo, of course, is an animal in the Final Fantasy world based upon a real bird: the ostrich. So they used an ostrich to represent the chocobo in the commercial, thus the theme. Well, the theme makes more sense than ever!

This is what a typical chocobo looks like in FFIV.

 Overall, the commercial is good and I personally like this one. It's something only Final Fantasy fans will understand, while others will become perplexed, which usually leads to interest of the game - advertised as Final Fantasy IV for the Super Famicom.

 I still don't understand why someone's laughing.

This has been the Onion Knight. Have a good day!

Nein! Nein! Nein! NEIN! - Ad #5

Hello readers! Welcome back to the Final Fantasy Grove. I am your writer, the Onion Knight, and today we are looking at our fifth commercial! Gee, is it really day #5 already? Time just flies, doesn't it? Any German speakers in the house? I've managed to find an interesting television snippet that comes from the far-off land of Germany! This is a commercial for the Game Boy game, Mystic Quest. This is not to be confused with the Super Nintendo game of the same title. The Mystic Quest seen here is actually Final Fantasy Adventure; the game was simply re-named in Europe. Although, everything is not all that looks, and today's post will discuss an element of controversy.

 Of course, the commercial has German audio, not English. The ad starts with a scruffy, curly-haired man, (Richard Simmons?!), climbing a cliff face. When he reaches the top, he runs toward a sword as lighting rains all around him. He pulls out the sword and lifts it into the air, and the commercial cuts to that of the Game Boy, and the title, Mystic Quest, is displayed. So where does the controversy come into play here?

 After viewing the ad, I began reading the YouTube comments. Even though they were all in German, (a language I do not understand very well), one comment caught my interest:

 "OMG! Das Schwert ist aus Zelda! Wie peinlich :-)
Aber das SPiel ist trotzdem eines meiner Lieblingen"

Final Fantasy Adventure in Europe

Notice that I highlighted the word Zelda. Being a video game commercial, I immediately thought of the Legend of Zelda franchise. I was a little confused, so I replayed the commercial and that's when I noticed it - the sword. What's so special about it? I knew I had seen the sword somewhere before, because it's the exact same sword seen on the cover of Zelda: Link's Awakening. To throw further in further speculation, the Triforce symbol (an important icon in the Zelda series) is on the sword. Readers, do you know what this means? It means that this commercial was originally an ad for a Zelda game, not a Final Fantasy game. Therefore, the game is (somewhat) falsely advertised. The only 'relatable' Final Fantasy element is the sword, which is false itself since it's clearly a sword from the Zelda series.

 I don't really have much else to say about this one. It's not actually a Final Fantasy commercial, so the only thing discussable is the illegitimacy. Tomorrow, we'll have a true Final Fantasy commercial for sure.

This has been the Onion Knight. Have a good day!

Dark Clouds and Atmosphere; Ad #3

 Hey guys, how's it goin'? Onion Knight here and this is the third day in our commercial extravaganza! Yesterday, we looked at an odd (and unexciting) advertisement for Final Fantasy II. Today, we'll talk about a Japanese commercial for Final Fantasy III. This will be the last 8-bit commercial I'll be looking at, which saddens me because I love talking about the older Final Fantasy's. O, but alas, thou must move on.

 This commercial for Final Fantasy III is interesting, although I can think of one word that effectively summarizes this ad: nice. Why do I say that? That's really all it is. It's nice, but let's move on, pick this commercial into pieces, and see if we can find anything in the deep.

FFIII art cover of the box

 The advertisement starts off with a somewhat spooky, but mostly mysterious atmosphere. What the viewers, us, see are rock pillars jutting out above dark clouds, (I would say that could be a reference to the Cloud of Darkness but I'm just looking too much into it). Next, what looks like TV screens manifest onto the rock faces while bolts of lightning shower the pillars. Well, this is something! Certainly a lot better than the FFII commercial we looked at yesterday. "Okay commercial, you've got my interest!" Then, a crystal forms from the lighting storm among the clouds in the sky and another television screen begins to emerge from said crystal. The TV screen separates from the crystal and it then begins to... rotate? Yeah, the crystal TV (Crystal TV? Now I've seen everything) is actually a cube formed of multiple television screens, each showing a different gameplay element from Final Fantasy III. Well that's awesome!

 The atmosphere is really nice. As I mentioned earlier, the setting is quite mysterious and keep in mind the clouds - as clouds were a very important element in the setting of the game. Now that I think about it, the clouds probably represent the dark cloud cover that enveloped most of the world, which is discovered after the characters have left the Floating Continent.


 Once again, like previous posts, I want to comment on the music. Here, they use the Prelude theme. This theme is great, and once again it's the arranged version! It's also the only piece that plays in the commercial, unlike the first commercial we looked at where the prelude theme was cut short by the Main theme. Well done!

Artwork of FFIII; Yoshitaka Amano. Note the prominence of clouds.

 Overall, the commercial is good and caught my interest from the beginning. I really like this one, although not as much as the FF I&II ad. Speaking of which, at the end our extravaganza, I'll probably list my top 3 commercials and I'll explain why I chose them.

 I hope you liked today's commercial! Have a good day!
 Onion Knight out.

Coders are celebrities too!

New day, new commercial! Welcome back to the Grove folks. I am your exuberant host, The Onion Knight, and today we are looking at our second commercial in this advertisement fiesta. Last time, we looked at a commercial for Final Fantasy I & II, and since I couldn't find any ads for the first Final Fantasy, we'll be analyzing a somewhat different and unique commercial for the second title.

 Final Fantasy II was released in 1988 and this was probably the first TV ad for a Final Fantasy. Keep in mind that the quality of the YouTube video is very low, (perhaps suggesting just how rare and old this ad is), and that the real purpose is to analyze the commercial itself.

 Of course, it's all about Final Fantasy II. But what does the commercial tell us about this game? The first thing we see are Square employees coding the game. This is such a strange way of advertising the game, and it might not be an effective strategy marketing idea in today's world. Showing the developers themselves coding and creating the game? Weird, different, and unique is all I can really say about that. Advertising the names of the people who were behind these games was apparently a popular thing to do during this time, however, this method must have been cut short since I haven't see this kind of stuff after Final Fantasy III.

Look at the bottom of the box here. Notice that the creators' names are presented, even the programmer.

So is there anything about this commercial that speaks Final Fantasy? Well, we have the battle theme from the game playing throughout the commercial, and some of Amano's artwork is even shown throughout; the first being Leon, the next Minwu, then Maria, a boss character(whose name I'm forgetting at the moment), and finally Firion. So we've got developers, artwork, and music, but what's my opinion?

 Although the commercial is different from anything I've seen, it's anything but exciting and not much information is given in the commercial. Although the developers are shown, we don't know their names or who they are, and nothing is explained about the game at all. All I can gather is that it's for the Famicom, it has artwork, music, and people are making it. That being said, the commercial is still a rare find and something worth noting.

Tomorrow, we'll finish up the last commercial for an 8-bit Final Fantasy, (unless if I come across any more for the Famicom/NES, or any for the Game Boy FFs).

Have a good day, folks!

Aerith's True Murderer

It was Sephiroth with the katana in the Dining Room. BAM

So I just have to give a shoutout to a fresh, gaming celebrity on the interwebs - MatPat. This guy is known for creating the well-received series, Game Theory; a show analyzing mysteries and hypothesis' within the gaming world - a video game version of Mythbusters, if you will. One of his earlier videos looked at a moment that rocked the gaming world since 1997 - the murder of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII.

 MatPat takes a look at a different game in each video and much to my enjoyment, he deeply analyzed a scene (albeit a sad one) from a Final Fantasy game. All of us know that in Final Fantasy VII, Aerith (or Aeris, a mistranslation) was impaled by Sephiroth's incredibly long katana, but MatPat proposes another killer of the Ancient, which is how he ends all of his videos; that is, by proposing a theory.

 MatPat looks at the scene of Aerith's death very analytically; dissecting it in a true scholarly fashion. I suggest you watch the video to see how it plays out, because Mat's findings just might shock you.

MatPat's page on The Punk Effect

The most mature Final Fantasy yet

I meant to blog about this a while back, but I've been extremely busy as of late. For you FF fans out there, you may have had this game on your radar for the past while: Final Fantasy Type-0, which was previously known as Agito. It's an upcoming title for the PSP and there's one word that comes to mind- blood.

 The game is the most violent yet, (one of the bloodiest games I have ever laid my eyes on), and is sure to be one of the more mature games for the PSP. Besides the extreme violence (a chocobo dies!), Type-0 seems to be heavily laced with dark themes and a mature plot revolving around war and politics.

 I haven't followed this game very much - in fact, this trailer is the first I've seen of this game, and the sheer violence and moodiness caught me off guard. Come to think of it, even though violence is a huge part of the Final Fantasy series, blood isn't a typical visual element. VII introduced blood while VIII used blood in one cutscene, but Type-0 has brought violence for the series to a whole new scale. Type-0 is sure to be the first Final Fantasy to receive an M rating, (at least in North America). That's my prediction.

And to top off this post, here's the aforementioned trailer in Japanese. Sorry, no Ingles yet!

Type-0 article on the FF wiki

A New Final Fantasy XIV

Some of you probably remember the disappointing release of Final Fantasy XIV. After it's release, many reviews scored the game very poorly, received a bad reputation, and worst of all, angered many fans of the franchise. During the previous weekend, CEO of SquareEnix, Yoichi Wada, announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be ending it's subscription before the end of the year and heading into a strong development period that will completely change the game.

 After the failed release of Final Fantasy XIV, many members on the development team that made the game either resigned or were switched with another employee. They had been re-working the game since, but only in small pieces. Soon, the game will be entering a very strong development period, as shown in the development chart in the link at the bottom. Many aspects of the game, such as the graphics, menu systems, communications, and many more will be revamped until everything is '2.0'. By 2013, Final Fantasy XIV will be quite different (and better, I hope) and the PS3 version will be released as 2.0.

 I've never played Final Fantasy XIV, nor it's father, Final Fantasy XI. Both are MMOs, and although I'm not particularly fond of the genre, I'm more than willing to try something that has Final Fantasy in the title. So once the PS3 version is released in 2013, I'll be sure to document what the game is like. Here's to hoping it'll be good!





Press release from Yoichi Wada on the Lodestone
FFXIV development roadmap

The Fantim Menace

See what I did there? With the title? No? Well, you will in a minute - as if you could read. Final Fantim is one person, (or possibly many - I'm watching you), who has taken up the task of  re-mastering the Final Fantasy VII OST. Of course, the collection is finished and available for download from the artist him/herself, (I'll provide a link at the bottom of this post). This re-mastering is very well done, with most pieces being recreated to not just sound like it's original version but to sound even better. And best of all, the whole thing is FREE.

 So what's the catch? "There is none". I don't believe you. "Just like you didn't believe that George Lucas would f*** up the Star Wars blu-ray trilogy?" Touche.

 Final Fantim has also remastered some tracks from Final Fantasy VI as well as one track from Final Fantasy IX. I have listened to all of his/her work many times over and it is, by far, the best re-mastering of the Final Fantasy VII OST out on the web, to my knowledge - and I know everything. "Really? Then what boxers am I wearing?" Clowns. "Creepy."

 The dude/dudette has really poured their heart and soul into this project. Similar to how I just spilled my coffee all over myself and my bedsheets. I LIKE TO TYPE AND DRINK IN BED, OKAY?!

Final Fantim's download page

Cute Cloud with a Gun

Remember Stephen Hiscock, the artist who submitted some artwork? Yeah, the one with the OMFGDATISDASHIZ sketch of Bartz and his chocobo pal, Boco. Well, Steve is back with another sketch, and this time he drew a portrait of the Cloud Strife figure I showed off in the previous post. Steve decided to try a simpler approach to this sketch instead of a gritty one. Very well done Steve! Bravo! I can only hope to see more in the future.

Click image for a larger version.

 If any of you readers out there would like to see some of your fanwork up here, whether it be art, music, or writing, I'd be more than happy to give a shout-out to you in this blog. Just send your work to sukotto.w@gmail.com. And if you want to see Stephen Hiscock's photography, click the link at the bottom of the entry for his Flickr page.

Stephen Hiscock's Flickr

Un-boxing some Collectibles

 The other day, a friend of mine gave me two Final Fantasy figurines as gifts. The first figurine I show off is that of Terra from FFVI fame and the second Cloud Strife from the FFVII prequel, Crisis Core. Both of these collectibles are very nice and I'm quite happy to have these two entering my collection.

 Pretty much all of the details are in the video above, as well as the un-boxing of Terra and Cloud. Both were made by Trading/Play arts under Square Enix supervision and the production is pretty good, even more so for the Cloud figure. 

 The Terra statue cost about $20 and the Cloud figure was about $30, the latter being a great price considering Play Art figures generally cost somewhere between $45-$70.

 I usually don't end up getting many collectibles of this nature, so there won't be too many posts about figurines in the near future. 

 

 Enjoy this video and if you have questions or comments, post in the 'comments' section down below and I'll be sure to reply as quickly as possible!

So this is Dissidia...

If you're a personal friend of mine, you may have heard me mention this game or have seen me play it. This is Dissidia Final Fantasy and it's a very good anthology of the series, so to speak. The characters (and villains) you know and love from Final Fantasy have clashed in this title of epic proportions. Currently, there are two iterations in this 'spin-off' series, but I'll be talking about the first one.

 In this video, I briefly talk about what the game is like and the battle that is taking place in the video. Here, I'll write a little more detail on Dissidia.

 Dissidia is an action-RPG-fighting game. The player can choose from a multitude of characters - a hero and villain representing each game in the series up to FFX. Yes, that means you can create battles between Cloud and Sephiroth, Terra and Jecht, and many more. Even though it's a fighter, it's actually very heavy with RPG elements - with the exception of exploration since there's no world to explore. There are at least a few modes included such as Story mode, Arcade, Versus, Duel Colosseum, and extras like the Museum which allows you to view information of characters. You can also watch and edit replays, which the outcome has spawned many fan videos on the internet. There's also a mode that allows you to battle wirelessly with your friends. I've only had the chance to experience this mode once but it was very fun!

 I remember when this game was first being launched, there was a lot of advertising for Dissidia. I saw many posters decorating game stores, TV commercials scanned into my eyeballs, and Square even released figurines of Dissidia as well as potion cans; each character having their face planted on said cans.

Well, that's really all I have to say about Dissidia. All that is left are the fond memories I have of playing this game. It piqued my interest in the Final Fantasy world as a whole, so the game is quite important to me. As I said in the video, it's a very addicting and entertaining game; I've played at least 100 hours. Dissidia has even served as a great way to blow off steam, whether it be taking a break from heavy work or taking a break from stress in general.

 If you have a PSP but have never tried Dissidia, I very much recommend it. It's a great entry in the series and it deserves my Seal of Approval.

The First of Many to Come

 Fighting plays an important role in every Final Fantasy game, whether it be fighting the armies of a totalitarian empire or a protagonist fighting conflicting emotions. Nearly each entry in the main series begins headfirst into a scripted battle (read: not randomized), and this 'first battle' may or may not have some significance to the plot. I'll be looking over and commenting on the first encounter of each Final Fantasy, so grab your swords, shields, and gunblades as we look at the first steps of each journey.

"I will knock you all down!"

 In the first Final Fantasy, there really wasn't a 'first battle' that threw the player into the action right away. No, instead you'd have the choice of entering the city of Cornelia for the first time or surveying the surrounding landscape, (but the prior choice is a smart one). One could argue that the first battle is either a random encounter (most likely with IMPS) or the first encounter with Garland in the Temple of Chaos. I like to think it's the latter since it's more significant and the actions the player makes before fighting Garland (exploring Cornelia, buying equipment, grinding, etc.) act as a buildup to that moment. This beginning contrasts to later entries in the series; buildups to the first encounter are instead evoked through opening cut-scenes.

Where's the suicide option?!

 Final Fantasy II is one of the least played Final Fantasy games, so I'll go over the premise. The main characters of FFII are Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon, all of whom are friends and live in a peaceful village. One day, the village is overrun by the Empire's forces and the four young ones are forced to flee. As they were making their way to the forest, they were ambushed by four knights, and this is where the first encounter (and the first scripted battle in the series, to my knowledge) comes in. The player controls all four characters and can choose what to do, although running from the battle is hopeless. Even more hopeless, though, is winning the battle. One is forced to do battle against Knights from the Empire, who are late game enemies, using four very weak characters. The first battle creates a sense of hopelessness that is evoked many times throughout the game by characters such as Princess Hilda and Gordon. It also depicts just how evil and powerful the Empire is; even killing innocents to take power.

 Final Fantasy III is one of the most magical in the series, in my opinion. The player takes control of four kids who are playing 'onion knight' in a cave just outside their home village of Ur. Out of nowhere, an earthquake shatters the ground beneath their feet and they fall further into the cave. This is where the game begins; putting the player into their first battle against three goblins. This was actually a little different in the DS version of FFIII, since the four party members were given their own names, plots, and character attributes. The player starts with one character, Luneth, and is forced to face off against a single goblin. Or was it three?

 We now exit the 8-bit era and enter glorious 16-bitness. Final Fantasy IV was the first in the Super Famicom trilogy, (and was what launched Nobuo Uematsu's career to stardom, arguably). The first battle in FFIV is a scripted one, similar to the first in FFII but this time you don't have to die! No, in fact, the player will always win. The battle is actually a set of encounters; the first being a battle against three Arimans, and the second against a Zu. Like I said, they're scripted so there's no control for the player but thinking back to 1991, these battles were probably meant to emphasize the graphical capabilities of the Super Nintendo.

 Final Fantasy V holds a special place for me, although it's one of the least played titles in the series. After a cutscene or two, we see the hero of the game, Bartz, for the first time. He's camping out in a forest with his chocobo pal, Boco, when they hear a meteor crash-land nearby. When they check it out, they see a pair of goblins ready to take away another party member, Lenna. Bartz heroically jumps in to chase the goblins down, prompting the first battle of the game. Once the battle is won, Lenna is saved and so begins the journey of a world... maybe three.

 Final Fantasy VI (although some of you older folk may remember this classic as FFIII on the Super Nintendo) is nostalgic game for many people. If you were an advent Super Nintendo gamer, you may remember the opening scene; an unnamed, minted-hair girl accompanied by two soldiers who are all using mech-suits called Magitek armor. With these suits in possession, they storm the village of Narshe. The first battle shows '???',(aka Terra/Tina), being ambushed by two Resistance fighters, although the battle is actually against two wolves. This opening scene plays an important role in setting the tone and atmosphere of the game.

 Well, we got through the first six Final Fantasies. In a later post, I'll talk about the other games in the series, up until XIII. 

From The Other Side of The World

NOTE: For some of you, the video may be looking very 'shaky', where even the text is moving around. This may have been because I clicked the 'stabilize' option for the video. Click the link for a more static video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoEnH1O3dQg&feature=player_embedded#!

Hey folks! Onion Knight here and I'm bringing you a little vlog I did for the Grove. Although I'm not sure if I can call it a vlog. Maybe an educational video?

 I decided the other night, (after many cups of coffee and being deprived of much needed sleep), that I wanted to show off my Final Fantasy collection. Unfortunately, I don't have much technology to work with. The video was recorded with my camera phone (5.0 Megapixels), so the volume of my voice didn't come out very loud, (you may need to turn up the volume).Once I can get access to a better camera, I'll hook up another vlog.

 In this first vlog, I show three Final Fantasy games that were released for the Super Famicom (that's Japanese for Super Nintendo): Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI. I also show off the console for a bit, too.

So, watch the video and just enjoy! Remember to leave any comments on the page, and follow and share my blog too!

Remember: It may say Final in the title, but this Fantasy is never over.

Music from the fans

 Music is an important part of every person's life - we hear it, feel it, want it and need it. Music is a language that tells many stories; a language so beautiful that sometimes it can't be expressed in words. Final Fantasy games tell great stories and parts of those stories are written by the composer's music. Nobuo Uematsu is the musician behind most of the franchise's tracks and his work has become some of the most recognized in the world.

 This is my first post about the music of Final Fantasy and I'm glad to be bringing up this specific topic: piano covers. With access to Youtube, Final Fantasy fans all over the world can share their renditions of musical pieces and enjoy another's. I have listened to many renditions and today, I'm sharing what I think are some the best piano covers on Youtube.

 

 This is the Theme of Love from Final Fantasy IV. This is actually a cover of the Piano Collections, (more on that in a bit), and it's a peice that has made Uematsu pretty famous, since this particular song is taught to school children in Japan as part of their music curricula. The Theme of Love plays in IV during the scenes that involve Cecil and Rosa; lovers who are separated and reunited many times throughout the game. 

 

 This a good cover of "The Coin Song", although this piece is also known as Edgar's theme. Edgar, the twin brother of Sabin and prince of his own kingdom, is a man who places his fate on the toss of a coin. Edgar is also a character with a sad side, probably as a result to his recklessness of 'fate-tossing'. Maybe that's why it's usually called the coin song.

 Here's a piece that's a little more exciting. Like the previous tune, this one has two names. "Clash on the Bridge", (although I've also heard "Battle on the Big Bridge"), and Gilgamesh's Theme. To my knowledge, this song plays during the attack on a bridge that leads to Exdeath's castle in Final Fantasy V.

 For those of you who don't know, Gilgamesh is a recurring character throughout the Final Fantasy series. V is his first appearance, and he acted as Exdeath's 'righthand man' while defending the Big Bridge.

 Okay, admit it. This person is amazing when it comes to playing the piano. Wait, person? More like God! I don't think I've seen hands as fast as those! (That's what she said). Anyways, this is the battle theme from Final Fantasy VII and once again, it's from the piano collections. In my opinion, this is (still) one of the best battle themes in the series, and this pianist plays it marvelously. 

 Once again, another fine example of a great piano cover. This one is You're Not Alone from Final Fantasy IX. The ninth game is still one of the most underrated games in the series, and this piece strengthens what I'm saying. I can't exactly remember when this song played in the game but I'm sure it had something to do with Zidane... or maybe it was Amarant?

 I lazed on the next three songs, because they're all from Final Fantasy X! To Zanarkand is just one of best songs I've ever listened to. Seriously, listen to it. Bring a tissue with you too. For most people, this one hits where it hurts, (the tear ducts). The song is a story about a young man and woman; both learning the values of sacrifice through love and loss. So please, listen to this story...

 This is a great piece. Seriously Nobuo, what's your secret? How does the man do it?! Well, maybe if I keep sending him enough letters every week, he'll tell me once he's become annoyed. But for now, I'll just bask in his creation. This particular song plays when Yuna and the gang become trapped within the Via Purifico. Too bad you only hear it once in the game.

The final one I'm presenting is a personal favorite of mine: Besaid Island. This song plays when Tidus and Wakka are running around Besaid Island. I listen to this tune all the time. The young lady playing the piano also puts off a spectacular performance. Bravo! 

I forgot to mention, these last three pieces are from the piano collections as well. The piano collections are Final Fantasy tunes re-imagined for the piano; most have added parts to them and the songs themselves become longer and more complex to play. Nearly all of the collections were arranged by Uematsu himself, but I believe Masashi Hamauzu has also had a hand.

Well I'm glad you read today's entry, and I hope you enjoyed the music! Sayounara!

The mythical FEOK

 If you've never played the original version of Final Fantasy III, then you're probably scratching your head as to what this acronym stands for. It is considered the worst, yet the best job (read: class) in the game. FEOK stands for Fully Equipped Onion Knight. 

 If you've played the DS version of Final Fantasy III, then you may have seen the secret class known as the Onion Knight. In that version of the game, it is the best job, albeit the difficulty to obtain it and level it up. But this is not an FEOK. Fully Equipped Onion Knights only appear in the NES/Famicom version of the game due to how the Onion Knight is presented. You begin the adventure immediately with four nameless Onion Knights. If you were to compare stats of the Onion Knight to other classes, it's the worst and training this job can be very difficult and tedious. 

 The difference between an FEOK and a regular Onion Knight are their equipment. If you equip the Onion Knight with a specific set, called the Onion equipment, then it will become an FEOK, as the FF community has coined it. This FEOK is godly powerful and will destroy anything in its path without difficulty. In my experience, I've used only one FEOK and I managed to defeat the final boss with just that one character... at level 45... in three rounds! It's certainly impressive but the downside is the method to obtain the set.

 In the final dungeon, the Crystal Tower, there are these dragons that randomly appear. Killing them may sometimes reward you with a piece of the Onion equipment. This is really hard to do as the chances of finding the dragons are rare but even rarer are the dragons dropping the items you want. There is another method, however. A glitch was found (no, not the one with the Old Man and using surf along the shore of some island) which, when activated, would upgrade the item in a specific position in your inventory. For example, say I put an iron sword in x spot in my inventory, and then activated the glitch, the sword would upgrade to steel. Same goes for armor and even items, such as potions and gyshal greens. I won't go into specifics since I'll just leave the gamefaqs guide at the bottom, but this process, although seems easy enough, can take many hours to get a full set of Onion equipment. I believe it took me about 8 hours to get one full set, so if I wanted to get all 4 sets, then that would have taken 4 times as long! "Hey! This isn't first-grade math class!"

 So if you ever get your hands on this game and decide to go through but don't want any difficulty, or you want to totally obliterate everything, then try this out!

Have a drink!

FEOK Final Fantasy III guide

Son of a Submariner!

Welcome to the Final Fantasy Grove! This is your writer, The Onion Knight, and this is my first post on this blog. Assuming you've read the title elsewhere before, (that's right, you've guessed it), today's article will be in honor of none other than the infamous Square translator, Ted Woolsey.

 For those of you who don't know, Ted Woolsey is currently the Director of First Party Publishing for the XBOX Live Arcade service but Final Fantasy fans will know him better as the guy who translated and localized many of Square's games during the 16-bit era. He translated titles such as Final Fantasy III (FF VI in Japan), Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and many more. Ted is also credited with working with companies such as Craveyard and RealNetworks online gaming service.

 So how did Mr. Woolsey become so famous in the Square community? After the mangled translation of Final Fantasy II on the SNES, Woolsey's translation of Final Fantasy VI was a masterpiece in comparison. He wrote colorful, and often witty, dialogue that really colored the characters differently than their Japanese versions. Although his translations of many games are sometimes not well-received by many fans in the RPG community, I for one very much enjoy his work, often referred to as 'Woolseyisms".


 So how did it all start for Ted? Well, according to an interview with Ted Woolsey done by the Player One Podcast, (a podcast hosted by writers of former EGM), Ted had just earned his masters degree in Japanese Literature at the University of Washington and was looking for work in the Redmond area. He was quickly hired by Squaresoft and his first assignment was to play through the English version of Final Fantasy II on the SNES, so he could learn from what mistakes were made. Soon, Ted got to work on his first game, which was Final Fantasy Legends III on the Game Boy. Eventually, he would go on to translate Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (a game that Ted himself got to direct and script), Secret of Mana, and a bunch more I can't remember right now.

 Ted was usually given around 30 days to translate a game (on average, he would have to translate about 1500 pages of text), while being flown into Japan to work on the game there so he could have direct contact with his employers. This was just one of the few challenges Ted had to face as a translator. During that time in Japan, games were really seen as a kid's toy, but Ted saw otherwise. He realized these kinds of games were really artful objects meant for adults, and it was this understanding that fueled Ted to localize Square's games in an interesting and colorful fashion; one that would bring the quality of localization to a whole new level.

 Ted would eventually leave Square just before the localization of Final Fantasy VII, since Square was moving their headquarters in North America from Washington to Los Angeles. Ted then signed up with games-developer Big Rain, which then was bought-out by Craveyard entertainment. There, Woolsey worked on one game - an RPG called Shadow Madness for the PlayStation, (more on that in a future article). Ted soon left the bankrupt company and then signed up for RealNetworks gaming where he would work for a handful of years, until he was hired by Microsoft.

 Ted Woolsey is without a doubt a legend in the FF community and a pioneer of video game localization. He wrote scripts that were cherished and became memorable, and at the same time brought different perspectives onto the video games he translated.

Here is the podcast interview done by Player One podcast.
Ted Woolsey's brief bio on the FF Wiki