February 2010 Archives

Squall's Dead seems to be a rather popular topic, so I've decided to add my 2 cents to the discussion.

Theory

Squall's Dead suggests that the events following disc one in Final Fantasy VIII were merely a dream. However, I'd like to suggest that FFVIII as we know it today almost never was.

Development

After the massive success of Final Fantasy VII, Square decided that they wanted to take a break from the series and try something different. Something completely different. After much deliberation, they decided on the high school romance genre. At first they had thought about distancing themselves from the RPG genre, but later determined that would be a bad marketing choice, considering their worldwide reputation for developing epic fantasy RPG's.

So it was decided; they would create a high school romance RPG. The fantastical elements would be kept in to remind players that the game played like an RPG, a format familiar to Square's target audience.

Somehow in the midst of development, talks of Final Fantasy VIII were also commencing. A confused but well-meaning assistant produced a new folder, and labeled it "Final Fantasy VIII". The folder was filled with new files; the initial sketches and blueprints for the new game.

Meanwhile, the game tentatively titled "High School Romance: A Journey of the Heart" was coming along nicely. The game resembled the Final Fantasy world in small ways, but was still different enough that it wouldn't be confused for another Final Fantasy game. Essentially, the game followed the eventual romance of two characters, to be called Yusuke and Miho. At first there seemed to be no hope for this mismatched couple, especially since Miho showed more interest in Yusuke's rival, Kenta. However, this merely a plot device, the romance between Miho and Yusuke grew and blossomed by the end of the epic tale.

Beta Testing

The game was now ready for beta testing. However, positive responses weren't exactly forthcoming. Many testers expressed their distaste for the superfluous tutorials as well as the convoluted and disjointed storyline. Square reasoned that players would require all of the tutorials because of their new "Junction" system, unlike anything seen previously in the Final Fantasy series. However, they did promise improvements to the storyline.

Announcement

And now it was time to announce the upcoming release of "High School Romance: A Journey of the Heart". In the ensuing weeks, the marketing department received a new folder with all of the details concerning the new game. A folder labeled "Final Fantasy VIII" was also submitted for their review, although the game had not entered the development phase yet. One of the files was to be submitted as a press release, and simply stated that Square would begin production of Final Fantasy VIII now that High School Romance was complete.

One early morning, a hapless assistant happened to brush against the files on his way to his cubicle and scattered them across the floor. No one else had arrived at work yet, so he promptly picked up the files and put them back in place. However, the files ended up in the wrong folders!

Although the marketing department had noticed that the High School Romance files were in a folder labeled "Final Fantasy VIII", they rarely questioned the decisions from up high, so they went ahead and released the details of High School Romance, under what they assumed to be its new title: Final Fantasy VIII.

The next day, the creative directors of Square were shocked to find that their new game was being dubbed Final Fantasy VIII. At first they thought that there must be some kind of mistake, but all of their news sources indicated the same. Realizing their error, the whole company went into a flurry of panic, and those responsible for the mistake were promptly fired.

On the up side, the game wasn't released yet, and this gave Square some valuable time to make some corrections. Fortunately, the battle system resembled other Final Fantasy games enough that all they needed to do was rename the characters, the spells, the summon spells, and make some minor adjustments to choice graphics.

Release

The game was of course released as Final Fantasy VIII and although it was not received well by all critics, it still went on to sell incredibly well. Those fired during the clandestine scandal were later offered a generous severance package, the end justifying the means.

Aftermath

The game thus entered into the collective consciousness as Final Fantasy VIII. However, experts questioned its very existence, jokingly citing that most fans were "unable to describe it with any accuracy" and further added that "there were too many inconsistencies between people's testimonials". One sarcastic expert was even quoted as saying "It [Final Fantasy VIII] was probably some kind of fan faction. Sure, I've seen many cosplayers trying to imitate the likeness of Squall, Selphie or Quistis, but that's not proof enough that the game ever existed."

Although mass hallucination is a well documented phenomena, it has been determined that Final Fantasy VIII does indeed exist, and wasn't just a dream, though many of us wish it was.

This movie has its fair share of similarities to Hero. For one thing, it's quite colorful. Both the costumes and the scenery are vibrant, though not to the same degree. Secondly, there is an abundance of martial arts/sword fighting scenes.

The plot, on the other hand, is considerably different. If anything, it reminded me of a Shakespearian tragedy. None of the characters are exactly who they seem to be at first, and several of the main characters wind up dead in the end.

I think I'm going to need to watch this movie a couple more times if I am to process it in its entirety. For one thing, the movie is quite long at 119 minutes (though I prefer my movies to be at least that length), and for another thing, it has its fair share of plot twists. Characters are only gradually revealed to be who they really are, and it's only towards the end of the movie that you can begin to connect the dots.

Regardless, I found it to be an enjoyable film. Not as compelling as Hero, but still a good movie.

After the release of The Matrix, there were many movies that tried to capitalize on the popularity of the film. One can't really blame them for trying, but the 360 rotation shots and bullet-time effects became cultural clichés faster than you can say "Neo". Granted, The Matrix is one of my all-time favorite movies and its impact on filmmaking cannot be denied. With that established, Equilibrium is one movie that still begs (and even welcomes) this comparison.

Take the main character John Preston (played by Christian Bale), for example. He is not unlike the stoic Neo of The Matrix. The only difference being that it's actually written into the story of Equilibrium (more on that in a second). Preston doesn't have sidekick characters as memorable as Morpheus though.

So let's get down to the plot. The movie is about a utopian (but Fascist) future in which it is illegal to feel, and a drug, Prozium, is distributed to every living person. Prozium, of course, has the effect of numbing all emotion. All literature, music, and art are prohibited and thereby eliminated, consequently suppressing humanly emotions. As result, the future world is free of war and conflict.

Cleric Preston enforces the law, helping to weed out extraneous items from people's homes. However, in his many encounters with people who resist the law, he becomes curious. What would it be like to live without Prozium? What he finds is rather extraordinary. Suddenly he cares for so-called criminals, those being executed for their treason, and even animals.

The action scenes in Equilibrium are very reminiscent of The Matrix. In spite of the similarities, all told, this movie still does pretty well at the execution stage. It's entertaining, but it's hard to watch it without thinking of The Matrix.

As for the storyline, I found it to be somewhat similar to Gattaca (another decent film). Gattaca certainly did not have the action elements found here, but it did have similar dramatic impact.

All in all, it's a movie worth watching. I don't know if I would equate it to the Matrix in terms of overall impact, but it's entertaining no less.

So I was at the cinema the other week, and we were trying to decide on a movie to see. Neither my friend nor I had actually seen any recent previews, so that left us with the posters to decide. We settled on Extraordinary Measures, because it depicted a dramatic looking Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford.

We knew we were about to see a drama but we didn't know what kind. I half expected a political thriller, and I guess to a degree that's true, but it was really a story centering on Fraser's character, John Crowley, and his children. Two of his children are affected by a rare but fatal genetic disorder, and Crowley scrambles in search of a researcher who might have a cure. This is how he comes across Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Naturally, Crowley encounters a variety of obstacles in his attempts to save his soon-to-be extinguished children.

All in all, I found the movie to be engaging. The acting was quite good, and I didn't feel there were any issues with suspension of disbelief. Granted, dramas aren't for everyone, and this may not be an instant classic, but it's worth seeing once.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't remember ever seeing a good Jet Li movie. Not that I have anything against the guy, but any movies that I've seen starring Mr. Li tended to be long-winded, predictable, and otherwise just boring.

Enter Hero. Obviously, I had to watch any movie claiming to be a "masterpiece". Someone with half a mind even gave it 5 stars! Granted, that's what the critics had to say, so color me skeptical.

Well, I've watched the film, and I'm here to tell you that it's actually pretty good. Really good, in fact. The visuals are stunning, the costumes are colorful, and the action is quite entertaining.

The story surrounds Nameless (I'm not joking, that's really his name), an assassin hell-bent on killing the King of Qin. Naturally, Nameless has unspoken motives, and they are only revealed gradually.

In fact, Nameless gives a false account of events when he first meets the King, though the King gradually pieces it together. The story is basically comprised of three parts (presented in flashbacks): 1) the lie that Nameless wants the king to believe, 2) the way the King sees it, and 3) the truth.

In fact, the King only summoned Nameless because he assumed he was a good-hearted hero for killing three of his enemies. The story tells otherwise.

Ultimately, Nameless chooses not to assassinate the King, and in turn is killed by the King's army. Nameless is crowned as a hero, but that's a part of Eastern philosophy I don't really get. Maybe I'm dense, but even though I'm familiar with similar stories, I don't really understand the reasoning behind it. I don't get why he didn't kill the King, either. Maybe because he knew that he would be killed too?

In any case, I'm not going to spill anymore. You should see this movie for yourself. Highly recommended.