Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Why I Love Strategy RPGs

For several years now, I've been a devoted fan of the Fire Emblem series. Like many others, I started with the first title ever released in America. I was dimly aware at the time that it was only the latest in a long-running series, but I don't think I would have guessed that despite its unadorned title (simply Fire Emblem) that it was the seventh entry. Criminally, Nintendo of America had been depriving the English-speaking world for years of an amazing series of games and it certainly wasn't the first or last time. Strategy RPGs have traditionally not been bestsellers outside of Japan but the relative success of Final Fantasy Tactics way back in 1998 proved the genre could be successful here. However, strategy RPGs are released pretty infrequently compared to their more traditional counterparts; even during the PS2 era when JRPGs were a dime a dozen, strategy RPGs were sparse.

I wasn't new to the genre even then. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of my favorite games of all time to this day. Despite its glaring flaws, I found it to be an infinitely playable game. The plot was compelling even when marred by a subpar translation, and the customization involved in creating your party and characters was immense. Initially a very difficult game, the system could be pretty easily broken with a little game knowledge. For this reason the hardcore community developed a series of challenges that made the game a lot tougher. Most of these challenges involved sticking to one character class with no secondary abilities, while the more strict trials required the use of Ramza only. It was even completely possible to complete the game with solely Ramza in one class for the entirety of the game. This was possible for almost every class with a little preparation.

Even though Final Fantasy Tactics becomes quite easy with game knowledge, that knowledge only comes from a lot of experience or a lot of research. For a first time player, the game can be extremely tough! I know I'm not the only one that had to restart after being unable to take on Wiegraf 1v1 with Ramza. My Ramza was a Knight and didn't have much in the way of secondary abilities. Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing what was coming up so I got stomped over and over. I didn't keep an alternate save file so that was that.

I figured out what I had done wrong and tried again. The next time I went through, Ramza was a Geomancer and had high movement. I attacked Wiegraf from extreme range and stayed out of his danger zone. With the use of potions I was able to slowly whittle him down. It was an effective strategy, but far from optimal. As I acquired more game knowledge, I came to realize that I could devise a setup that could kill Wiegraf nearly instantly. Even though there was a "best" strategy to take Wiegraf out as quickly as possible, there are dozens of ways to go about it. That's what I found so addictive about Final Fantasy Tactics and a big part of why I love the strategy RPG genre. You have options. There isn't just one way to go about things. You tailor your units, your team, your characters to your specific playstyle.

There are varying degrees of complexity when it comes to strategy RPGs. Fire Emblem definitely falls on the simpler end of the spectrum as far as gameplay goes. Customization is light, especially in older games of the series. What keeps me so enthralled with the series is character. Each main-series entry has an enormous cast of characters to choose from. In fact, there are orders of magnitude more characters typically available to you than you would be able to field in a single mission. This forces you to choose which characters fit your playstyle and that is the main aspect of customization in the series. What's more, each playable character has its own unique artwork and at least some semblance of a personality. And they interact with each other! They have conversations. This is exactly the kind of thing that I love to see in video games. I've always been more of a fan of interaction between characters than the "big picture" aspect of the plot--in video games and any other storytelling media. Fire Emblem gels perfectly with my sensibilities in that regard.

Fire Emblem hasn't always gotten it exactly right. A lot of characters in these games are left underdeveloped, their stories not explored to the extent I would like--but they're getting better and better. The there most recent entries in the series (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Awakening) take a great deal of care in exploring the feelings and histories of each and every playable character. I think that's admirable and so enriches the experience for me. Not only do I have an attachment to these characters' statistical growth, but in the growth of their relationships as well.

These aren't the only strategy RPGs I've played (not by a longshot), but they're definitely some of the best. Any game of the genre I end up discussing will invariably be compared to FF Tactics because it's the first one I ever played and serves as the benchmark by which I measure everything else. In the future, I'll try to get into my feelings on the Ogre Battle series, Disgaea, Front Mission, and anything else I can think of. But I'll leave it at this for now.

Unraveling

I'm in a slump. I'm not always unhappy, but what joy I do experience is transient. I'm putting things off in a big way. Important things that very likely could get me out of this slump, even. But I'm experiencing some pretty crippling apathy, an all too common problem of mine. Jobless, single, living at home again. I have aspirations but an unwillingness to pursue them out of fear of failure. Out of fear of trying, even. There is a thin layer of panic in there somewhere but its buried by numbness.

Still, I find ways to occupy my time. I've been finding a LOT of meaningless things to do to pass the time as I sit here in the miserable heat of this room. I've played (and finished) a lot of video games recently. I played a couple of NES RPGs and one for Super Nintendo. It's interesting to play through these games and think about their value in the context of when they were released. I love to see how things are designed. Games have always been really compelling to me because they blend so many different media. Music, sound effects, story, gameplay. Its all there, even if most games emphasize certain elements much more than others. Music in older games is simple, melodic. They didn't have much to work with in 8-bit sound so they had to make it count. Much of this music is very memorable. To this day I still recall Mario, Zelda, and Mega Man tunes that I only heard a handful of times (although let's be honest, I've heard them a lot by now).

Even more interesting is playing a game that hasn't stood the test of time. Some games aren't popular for a reason. Crystalis is an example of an underrated gem but Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger is not. Both tackle similar tropes, but Crystalis wins by far in execution. Neither are perfect games, but Crystalis is infinitely more playable and cleverly designed. Although I'm a big Final Fantasy fan, I enjoyed Crystalis more than the original Final Fantasy--or Dragon Quest for that matter. These two games are infinitely more popular and spawned dozens of sequels. Why is this? Marketing must surely play a part. Sometimes it's not enough to just make a good game, I guess.

I've written a few (currently unpublished) reviews for these games and I think they're reasonably well-written. I've experimented with hosting them online and even spent an entire evening boning up on my CSS to make my own webpage. I long for some sort of creative outlet but despite being relatively pleased with my work I can't help but think that there's no audience for it. I understand that's not the point but I'm at a time in my life where I feel I desperately need validation. It's a little disingenuous to only produce something when you know you're going to get something out of it, but I can't really help the way I feel. It's probably true that I just need to write and create without worrying about whether or not my work will be appreciated. In the end, it's more for me than for anyone else. I'm not performing an invaluable service--yet so much of what I do seems pointless and completely without meaning that it would be nice to be appreciated for something I've done for once.

Every time I've created something people approve of (even if it's just an upvoted post on Reddit), it brings me immense satisfaction. I crave that feeling. Even so, I know instinctively that I can't let that be my primary motivator. I'm extraordinarily narcissistic and I accept that. What I need to learn is how to create things just for my own fulfillment. There's no reason not to share my creations, but I can't let it get me down if no one really cares about what I do. I want to write articles that I find interesting. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not other people find the subject of discussion boring. I would love to stimulate discussions but if I can't do that then so be it.