This is a different version, though,
and it's kind of a lead-in to one of those posts I've been meaning to
get to for awhile now.
That said, at its core, this is still
the same base game that I've done full text plays for here twice that
I can remember. There's no need to do it a third time for what is
pretty much a port with a better translation and an items list that's
closer to what it was in the game that originally came out for the
Super Famicom in Japan.
One thing I'll give this version credit
for is that in a lot of ways, the translation really is better than
the Nintendo of America/Wolsey translation that came out here in
North America in 1991. The characters “sound” more natural, and
the wording isn't quite as wonky as it was.
Another is that the items list is more
like what we got in the games tha have come out since, which fits
with the rest of the series. The downside there is that I'm going to
have to learn what they all do as I go, but that's where some of the
fun will be.
All that said, I think I'll still
prefer the SNES version that I grew up with, because it's been my
favorite video game for, well, for all intents and purposes, 30 years
now. This will still be a good game, though, because I'm pretty sure
of what I'm getting myself into, both because of the other version
I've played and previous attempts at this one.
What I'll be doing here is putting
multiple sessions of this game into what I'm hoping will be slightly
longer issues than what I've been doing lately and talking about what
changes I notice and which version I prefer and why. That should
hopefully keep this a little more interesting.
At the end of the first session for
this issue, I'd played through to just past the first boss, the Mist
Dragon. I've got some new items to figure out right away. The one I
got the most of is something called the HrGlass. I think these
things cast Slow or Stop on one enemy, but I can't remember from last
time, and I didn't use one yet this time.
As for the translation, I think I'm
liking this one better in general, because it may very well be closer
to what the original authors may have been going for, and even if
not, it does a somewhat better job of telling the story because it
seems a little darker, more mature overall. One thing I think I
liked better in the SNES version is how the mission to Mist is
presented. In that version, the king tells Cecil and Kain that
they're taking an ominously named “Package” to Mist, and after
all this time, it's still a bit of a surprise when the monsters burst
out and set the town on fire. In this one, the king kind of tips his
hand by straight up telling Cecil to his face that the item he's
being given is called the Bomb Ring.
From there, it was a matter of making
time for the second session to see how the actual delivery plays out
this time.
About a week later, I spent about 45
minutes or so, I'd say, moving along with the story. When Cecil and
Kain enter Mist, the ring glows where the Package burst open to burn
the town. The whole cutscene is a good deal more clear about what's
going on than the version I've been playing all these years. The
little summoner we find seems truly scared and upset because of all
that's going on. Also, I suppose I knew Kain's loyalties were
divided when I was doing the playthroughs of the SNES version, but
it's made more clear in this translation, where he was hoping he
wouldn't have to choose between Baron and Cecil but can't turn his
back on Cecil, and that he isn't thinking so much of Cecil when he
wants to rescue their friend Rosa.
After Rydia, the summoner, causes the
valley to collapse, I think they added a line to clarify that Cecil
hopes Kain is safe, since he's MIA right now. Also, when we get to
Kaipo, the next town, I think the people doing this translation added
a bit where an NPC tells us to put Rydia in the back row for this.
Another change I like is that the whole sequence of finding Rosa in
town is less clunky, too. The guy who tells us she's there says they
found her just outside the walls with Desert Fever, rather than
saying that she was “falling down.”
Getting Tellah is also a good deal more
clear, too. When we first get to him, he calls Edward a WICKED BARD,
which is a nice change. I think they keep the whole “spoony”
part when we get to the castle. The explanation of Tellah's
backstory is better, too.
I guess it's been awhile since I did
this game, though. I know the items in the chests are different in
this version, but until I got them, I'd forgotten that Cecil doesn't
get most of his weapon and armor upgrades until just before the next
boss fight. I decided I'd get to that in a third session, though,
because it was getting late and I had things to do later on in the
morning I wrote this.
Far as the first upgrades for Cecil's
equipment go, they were all called “Darkness” in the SNES
version, but now it's the Dark sword and everything else seems to be
called Hades. Also, the item names are different because there's
more specialized potions and the like.
I played through the Antilon Cave to
get the Sand Ruby in the third session. Everything pretty much plays
through the same as it did in the original, it's just that the
dialong has been cleaned up so it's not so screwy. And they did keep
the “spoony bard” part, too. I guess even by 2001, it was part
of gaming culture and not so easy to get rid of
But, like I said, I did the Antlion
Cave, and have the Sand Ruby now, so I'll be picking up back in Kaipo
next time. I'll probably do some grinding here and there, too,
simply because having my levels a little higher than I usually do in
the SNES version is something that seems to come in handy in this
one. That's something I learned the hard way the firs time I tried
to play this version of it. I eventually gave up on it because the
challenge got to be a little too much.
So anyway, I'm going to end this here.
I'll have more of this and everything else soon. Until then, stay
safe, have fun, keep gaming, and DFTBA.
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