One must find effective ways to mitigate stress in these trying yuletide times, in whatever form that takes.

Violence is never the answer…until it is.

After what started out as a more somber reflection on the introductory moments to Expedition 33 (E33), I then surprised myself with budding thoughts of a bizarrely warm nature, in relation to my explication of continued preponderances related to E33 thereafter. I think one of the reasons I ended up being rather surprised by my initial comforts in likening the game to a genuine rekindlement of the flames that let classic Final Fantasy (FF) burn so brightly, were now the very same fires that allowed E33 to cast a burning amber hue across the virtual landscape.

To comment even more specifically upon the shock of acceptance regarding the genesis of these reactions, was likely more so due to my usually predicated amounts of radical skepticism I hold so near and dear to me, in regard to playing any given title in the realm: just because the masses proclaim that X, Y, or Z game carries (insert descriptor here) quality, does not mean I am liable to accept the same conclusions without an authentic vetting process. Of course, in the grand realm of fair assessment, it is also important to consider why so many within the community would be so willing to, as a collective I mean, to be in willing accordance in granting so many game of the year awards to a given title, unless there was some jarringly obvious truth in the matter. One must not be hypocritical in their expoundments of self-professed truths: I regularly assert gamers are too picky for their own good, the reverse logic should be true. If such a group of individuals I have ordained as gratuitously dismissive of quality based on extraordinarily specific tastes, seeing there after that a singular title is able to bind them, positively so, all together in resounding agreement, it is perhaps worthy of a investigation as to find out as to just why this is.

Since I largely covered the qualities related to the bed of reasoning E33 find itself nestled in with my last article; a comfortable spread in the guise of a blanketed statement of praise covered in allusions to old school Final Fantasy, I will put the matter to bed that this game can rest cozy on the laurels of ideal recreation of nostalgic worth therein. As a minor broadcast of concern (as an aside), in reference to the overall lengthy nature of rpgs, I am hoping I do not run into issues with repetitive ordainments, in just what E33 has to offer, as I am use to being able to deconstruct games that have must shorter run times. This fact alone is why I normally don’t involve myself with too many rpgs, and especially not those of the mmo persuasion, as I find there is usually too much game for me to want to indulge in. As I’ve mentioned before, I have limited time at my disposal, and a want to utilize it appropriately. Given the reality that I also enjoy writing about games, and am currently holding myself to the standard of posting an article everyday, the last thing I need is to be faced with writing about a gratutious amount of repetitive actions day in and day out, enjoying the far greater sense of eclecticism a variety of smaller experiences afford me. Maybe perhaps this share exists as a slightly intrusive thought not totally required to share with you, but since this is a space to share all involved with my creative process, well…there it is.

Digressing back to a more focused matter: even in just the few first hours I’ve enjoyed of E33, the game has a slate of interesting propositions that it brings to the table, and what fascinates me on the matter at hand, relates to the idea that most of what E33 offers up is really nothing world shatteringly new. Speaking mostly to gameplay at least, one of the obvious realities one most face when invoking an old school sensibility, ala classic Final Fantasy, on some level, will negate the idea that one is going to be able to inject a slew of new ideas or have a radically differing foundational standard of gamplay that is too far removed from such established systems, which I bring up as a only a matter of the fact, and not necessarily as a qualitative standard either way. Even though there are many of the old guard who do appreciate the more “arcane way” of doing things where rpgs are concerned, I’m sure fans of more modern day western rpgs, action rpgs in general, or some hybrid system thereafter, are likely positively crippled by the notion of such a direct lack of control of the battles/characters/movements in the matter. When one considers the trend of how much the Soulslike genre has mostly enveloped the landscape, one must get comfortable with the fact as to just why this is. Not as if any soulslike game went out of its way to say: let’s do the complete opposite of what Final Fantasy represents, but it can’t be overstated just how dissimilar the two modalities of design truly are.

Yet, having said all of that, we still are able to view when game recognizes game, and even in E33’s faithful notions of upholding the standards of SquareSoft’s saintly yesteryear, in all of it’s based and blessed boisterousness, E33 still sees value in borrowing design proclivities from those that bear the symbology of terror, in way of re-appropriating a dodge/parry system that came from the very same makers that put Dark Souls on the map. Not to say Dark Souls can lay claim to the invention of such a movement, video games or otherwise (obviously, duh), and plenty of other 3D action games as early as Devil May Cry had such manuevers jn them long before Dark Souls was even a glint in the eye of where FromSoftware’s mad maniac Miyazaki is concerned. but it is undeniable that Sekiro’s ridiculous success helped completely smash the expectations of how gamers would interact with their enemies, master their battlefields, and thusly reinvent the notion of basic interactivity in any action heavy rpg related like system that hit the market….for better or worse. Luckily, in E33’s case, the game greatly benefits from the dodge/parry system, as it does absolute wonders in spicing up the old school formula for people like me, who both loves the traditionalism that comes with the notion of Final Fantasy, but also possesses a compulsion of intimate entanglements with the aggressive stressors that come with Sekiro inspired parrying parroters.

Kind of a ridiculous place to need to leave this line of thought for the day, but time is not on my side this night. Catch you tomorrow.

-Pashford