Grinding and... card battles

I don't know why it is that i always find myself writing new entries at night.
This particular entry was supposed to be written about a week ago. Unfortunately, it was last on my to do list. However, 'late' is better than 'never'. Or so they say.

In these few days, i've played FF III DS some more (not very much though; i'll tell you the reason later). And yes, here comes more complaining about unbalanced (or rather hard and unforgiving) gameplay and excessive grinding.
You see, i learned my lesson (or so i thought) and before taking on some bosses, i had an extended grinding session, complete with the best equipment the game had to offer in that moment. And i kicked ass. Once, at least. The first boss fell easy. However the second... It kicked my ass. Even after another grinding session i was still under-levelled: my weakest character, Arc, was lvl 17 while the rest were lvl 19. I finally managed to beat it ( no strategy required; just attack with the best you have and heal), but the repetitive play sessions turned me away from the game. That and...

...and now, for the real reason as to why i didn't play FF II DS very very much? No not every-day life..what's that, anyways?
The reason would be Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
Being a fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, as i am, and having finished the first KH some months ago, as i did, i couldn't pass KH: CoM for the GBA (or the DS, since i don't have a GBA), as i didn't.

At first the whole card based mechanics seemed stupid. So i pushed myself to play it for the story. But it's gotten better. A whole lot better and i found myself enjoying KH: CoM even more than FF III DS.
So far the story is intriguing, the art is great (it's Nomura... need i say more?) and once you understand the mechanics of the game, the battles can become fun.
But the funny part is... KH: CoM is a game that doesn't require grinding. Levels don't count that much in this game; of course you need to have a reasonable amount of HP, but after that you need only to invest in CP - card points that allow you to have a larger deck of cards. Which is nice, but you don't need grinding to achieve it. So... i found myself grinding. Yep, i don't enter a boss room without 'cleaning' the other rooms of heartless. And i'm not grinding because i have to, but because i like to. The mindless button-mashing battle system featured in the original KH can be found in KH: CoM too, with a twist involving cards. I was surprised to actually have fun grinding in a card-based battle system. Action-RPGs FTW

Now, i'm early in the game and found a boss (Parasite Cage) that beat me a few times before i realised what strategy to use (basically the same i used in the first KH to beat it lol). And even though many people had complaints about its card-based mechanics, i enjoy KH: CoM so far and i hope the battle system woun't get broken later in the game.

I must sleep now, so don't forget: Kingdom Hearts...is light! :P

Final Fantasy III DS, play session 1

This post contains mild spoilers for Final Fantasy III DS. You have been warned.

I beat today the fourth boss of FF III DS, Medusa. When i faced her, i think i was maybe a bit under-levelled, since my weakest character (Arc) was lvl 13 while my strongest (Luneth and Ingus) were lvl 15. Nevertheless, i managed to beat this boss quite easily.

I thought she'd be tougher, since the previous boss, the rat, kicked my ass about 3 or 4 times in a row, until i decided it's time to level-up a bit. Even after a lvl-up session, i still found it a bit difficult to beat it. The problem with the rat boss is that you have to fight it while being 'mini'. So that leaves you relying on magic. Which my characters didn't quite mastered.

The whole preceding paragraph, brings me to another point. FF III DS is incredibly...old school. As in hard. Level up or, as a friend used to say, "walk, find boss.. die painfully". I wouldn't say it's unbalanced (though maybe it is), but i would say it relies on grinding a little bit too much. Old school gameplay: lvl-up to be able to beat boss. I got too used to FF X where i had to use a strategy for every boss. Some may argue that a strategic element is present in FF III DS too (point in case, boss fight no.3 - the rat - where you need to make use of magic in order to win), but the way i see it, unless you level-up a few hours no strategy can help you. And that's just wrong... it's for a Nintendo handheld. I'm sure kids will play it but i'm not sure if they'll put up with the grinding. I know two people that gave up on it because it requires grinding even in the beginning of the game. On the other hand, Final Fantasy veterans that grew up with FF IV hard type, will probably enjoy this grinding feast.

That being said, this first article is over. Happy grinding, everyone!