"I Am Setsuna" ανασκόπηση

   Το "I Am Setsuna" ("Είμαι η Setsuna") είναι ένα νέο Ιαπωνικό παιχνίδι ρόλων (JRPG), με δημιουργούς το νεοσύστατο στούντιο Tokyo RPG και εκδότρια την Square Enix. Το παιχνίδι είναι αφιερωμένο σε όλους τους οπαδούς των παλιών στυλ JRPG μιας και συνδυάζει πολλά στοιχεία από εκείνα τα παιχνίδια, όπως το σύστημα μάχης ενεργού χρόνου (ΑΤΒ) και τους σιωπηλούς πρωταγωνιστές.
   Η ιστορία παίρνει μέρος σε ένα χιονισμένο χωριό και ο παίκτης παίρνει τον έλεγχο ενός πληρωμένου δολοφόνου ονόματι Endir. Του δίνεται μία αποστολή να ταξιδέψει στο χωριό Nive και να εκτελέσει την "θυσία". Ο Endir, όντας ο σιωπηλός πρωταγωνιστής που είναι, δέχεται την αποστολή χωρίς πολλές ερωτήσεις. Ωστόσο, μόλις φτάνει στο χωριό Nive και γνωρίζει τον στόχο του, τη Setsuna ( και την προστάτιδά της, Aeterna, της οποίας η παρουσία αποδεικνύεται καθοριστική για την εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης), ανακαλύπτει πως ούτως ή άλλως θα δώσει τη ζωή της για να διατηρηθεί η ειρήνη του πλανήτη, εξ ου και ο τίτλος "θυσία". Οπότε αποφασίζει να την ακολουθήσει στο ταξίδι που θα κάνει μέχρι τα "Χαμένα Εδάφη" ("Lost Lands") όπου θα θυσιαστεί, για να φροντίσει να ολοκληρώσει την αποστολή του. Στο δρόμο, γνωρίζουν περισσότερους χαρακτήρες, ορισμένοι από τους οποίους θα ταξιδέψουν μαζί τους. Υπάρχει ποικιλία στους ρόλους (μέχρι το τέλος του παιχνιδιού η ομάδα θα αποτελείται από 7 χαρακτήρες), ωστόσο οι περισσότεροι είναι μονοδιάστατοι. Η υπόθεση έχει μερικές επιπλοκές, ειδικά προς το τέλος, όχι όμως τίποτα που δεν θα το περίμενε κανείς.
   Το σύστημα μάχης είναι παραδοσιακό ΑΤΒ, ωστόσο προσφέρει τη δική του αίσθηση ποικιλίας. Ο παίκτης μπορεί να εξοπλίσει τους χαρακτήρες του (3 στην ομάδα, χωρίς εναλλαγές κατά τη διάρκεια της μάχης) με ορισμένα talisman (φυλαχτά). και πάνω σε αυτά τα talisman μπορούν να τοποθετηθούν ορισμένοι λίθοι με όνομα spiritnite. Υπάρχουν 2 ειδών spiritnite: command και support. Τα command spiritnite δίνουν στους χαρακτήρες τη δυνατότητα να χρησιμοποιήσουν ορισμένες τεχνικές ("techs") κατά τη διάρκεια της μάχης (μαγεία, skills, κ.ά.). Τα support spiritnite δίνουν υποστηρικτικές ικανότητες στους χαρακτήρες, π.χ. ανεβάζουν τους πόντους ζωής (ΗΡ), ανεβάζουν την άμυνα ή την επίθεση, προστατεύουν εναντίον επιθέσεις ενός στοιχείου (φωτιά) ή στις αλλαγές του status. Ανάλογα με το ποιο spiritnite χρησιμοποιούν 2 ή 3 χαρακτήρες (και αν αυτοί οι χαρακτήρες βρίσκονται στην ενεργή ομάδα μάχης), ο παίκτης μπορεί να εξαπολύσει ορισμένες συνδυασμένες επιθέσεις. Ωστόσο, για να μπορέσει να τις χρησιμοποιήσει, ο παίκτης θα πρέπει να περιμένει να γεμίσουν οι μπάρες ΑΤΒ και των δύο (ή τριών) χαρακτήρων. Μόλις οι παίκτες αρχίσουν να συνηθίζουν το σύστημα μάχης, μπορούν να αρχίσουν να το εκμεταλλεύονται, κάνοντας τις μάχες πολύ εύκολες από πολύ νωρίς. Κι έτσι έρχεται το πρόβλημα της επαναληπτικότητας, κάτι από το οποίο υπέφεραν πολλά παλιά JRPG. Ωστόσο οι μάχες με τα boss είναι έντονα προκλητικές και πολύ διασκεδαστικές.
   Η μουσική είναι απίθανη και ταιριάζει απόλυτα με το στυλ του παιχνιδιού! Κατά τη διάρκεια όλου του παιχνιδιού ακούγεται ένας απλός ήχος πιάνου, ωστόσο η απλότητά του και ορισμένες φορές η γαλήνη του είναι μια διαρκής υπενθύμιση για το τι υπόθεση έχει αυτό το παιχνίδι: την ιστορία μιας θυσίας. Τα γραφικά σε καμία περίπτωση δεν είναι άξια θαυμασμού και υπάρχει και το θέμα με το διαρκές χιόνι. Υπάρχει λευκό σχεδόν παντού εκτός από τον περιστασιακό πύργο, με αποτέλεσμα να καταντά κουραστικό.
   Εν κατακλείδι, αυτό το παιχνίδι είχε ενδιαφέρουσα υπόθεση και ωραία μουσική και... αυτά! Μιας και είναι ένα RPG που εκδίδεται από την Square Enix, έχω να σημειώσω πως με βοήθησε να δω πόσο σωστή κίνηση κάνουν που εγκαταλείπουν αυτό το στυλ συστήματος μάχης με το επερχόμενο παιχνίδι της σημαντικότερης σειράς τους, το Final Fantasy XV. Μερικές μάχες ήταν τόσο βαρετές που με έκαναν να θέλω να τις αποφύγω εντελώς αλλά ήξερα πως αν το έκανα αυτό οι χαρακτήρες μου δεν θα ήταν στο απαραίτητο level για να αντιμετωπίσουν το επόμενο boss. Οπότε αναγκάστηκα. Κι έτσι λειτουργούσαν τα παλιά RPG. Καιρός να πάμε παρακάτω...

"I Am Setsuna" review

   "I Am Setsuna" is a new Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG), developed by newly-founded studio Tokyo RPG and published by Square Enix. The game is a love-letter to all fans of old-style RPG's as it combines many elements of those games, most notably the Active Time Battle (ATB) system and the silent characters.
   The story takes place in a snowy village and the player is in charge of a hitman of sorts named Endir. He is given a mission to travel to Nive Village and murder the "sacrifice". Endir, as the silent protagonist that he is, accepts this mission without much question. However, once he arrives at Nive Village and meets with his target, Setsuna (and her guardian, Aeterna, who's presence proves pivotal to the story), he finds out that she is to be killed anyway in order to maintain the world's peace, thus the title "sacrifice". So he decides to tag along on her pilgrimage to the "Lost Lands" where she is to give up her life, so that he can see his mission through. On the way, they meet more characters, some of which decide to join the ride. There is some variety in the main cast (by the time the game is over it consists of 7 characters), however most seem one-dimensional. The story itself has a few twists, especially towards the end, but nothing too unexpected.
   The battle system is traditional ATB, yet offers its own sense of variety. The player can equip his characters (3 per party, not replacable during battle) with certain talismans (think accessories) and on those talismans certain stones known as spiritnites can be placed. There are 2 types of spiritnite: command and support. Command spiritnite gives the characters the ability to use certain "techs" in battle (abilities, magic, etc) and support spiritnite does exactly what the word implies. It can raise max HP, raise attack power, raise defense, protect against a specific element/status condition, etc. Depending on which spiritnite which 2 or 3 characters are wearing (and if those characters are in the active party), the player can execute certain combination attacks. However, in order to use them, the player must wait for both those characters' ATB bars to be full. Once players get the hang of the battle system, they can begin to exploit it, making battles very easy from very early on. Thus comes the problem of repetitiveness, something a lot of old-style RPG's used to suffer from. The boss battles are highly challenging and entertaining though.
   The music is incredible and it suits the style of the game completely! There is a simple piano sound heard throughout the game, but it's simplicity and sometimes serenity is a constant reminder of what this game is all about: a tale of sacrifice. The graphics are really nothing to marvel at and there is the matter of the constant snow. There's white pretty much everywhere apart from the occasional tower exploration. It does get pretty tiresome.
   Overall, this game had an interesting story and nice music and that's about it. Since it's an RPG being published by Square Enix, I have to say it helped me to see how much of a great move they are making abandoning this type of battle system with their flagship series' upcoming title, Final Fantasy XV. Some of the battles were so boring they made me want to just skip them but I knew that if I would, my characters would be underleveled for the next boss fights. So I was kinda forced into it. And that's how old RPG's worked. Time to move on...

World War III... is now!

   (That title might seem a little bit creepy, I know.) Today was a relatively good day. Nothing negative has been posted on the news websites about people dying anywhere in the world, so we don't need to take to Twitter to put up a "#Prayfor..." status, in order to feel like we're making a contribution and that we're not empty, hollow shells of people (which we totally are, but that's a converstation for a different time). But, hang on, what am I even talking about? I need to re-read that sentence... "Today has been a relatively good day."? Why? Because people aren't killing each other? Have we really become so accustomed to this type of thing happening on a daily basis?
   Something like that is easy to happen once someone takes a look at the current global events: failed coup d'etat in Turkey, truck driver running over people at a parade in Nice during Bastille Day celebrations, constant shootings in the U.S., people out in the streets rioting in Greece, Venezuela and Brazil, terrorist attacks in Paris, Belgium, Germany, Sydney, financial humiliation for people in Europe and Latin America, Syrian refugee crisis, ISIL attacks in the middle-east, people starving to death or dying from diseases in central Africa, constant war in the Gaza and Egypt, financial problems in Brazil due to the Olympic Games, and that's just the icing on the cake. I remembered these WITHOUT looking at any news websites. They've been written into my memory.
   One might take a look at the world and say "what is wrong with us..?" in a sigh of exhaustion. Well, the first thing to remember is that this is a "dog eat dog" world. Those with more power will inevitably attempt to use that power in order to dominate those that stand beneath them, whether it's financially, politically or even religiously (though that last one stands to one's own beliefs really). And this comes from a primal instinct that is within all living creatures as they fight to dominate one another and prove who is leader of the pack. For a prime example, you need not look much further than a group of male, heterosexual friends accompanying a nice young girl on a night out. The weaker ones may sit quietly and not speak much as the rest of the group tries to dominate the situation so as to show themselves off as the "pack leader" to the potential mate. And that's pretty much how the world works. Ever heard of the phrase "dogs of war"?
   Another thing to keep in mind is that, the world has never exactly been entirely "out of war". Maybe a long, long time ago, but not anytime recently. The only thing that changes is the opponents and/or the intensity of the wars themselves. There will always be war, no matter the era. However humanity itself probably knows when they cross a certain line (see Hiroshima/Nagasaki) so that they can stop themselves before it's too late for the planet.
   In our day and age, however, wars are fought a little bit differently and with different opponents than they used to. It's not exactly nations that are at war against each other (that would actually make things a lot simpler!), but religions and social poistions. The war against religious extremists is delicate because a) you don't want to offend anybody by telling them "Hey! My God's better than yours!" (when none of them even exist but again, that's another story) and b) you don't even know where they're gonna hit you from. We're talking about people that have been trained (brainwashed) from a very young age to sacrifice their life for (what they believe is) a just cause in order to punish the evil that is the rest of the world (in their eyes). And in doing this (they believe that) they will be rewarded in the after-life. It is incredibly hard to even argue with these people, let alone stop them from their "righteous cause". All they're doing is killing themselves to serve someone else's cause. Their deaths are meaningless. But it's easy to see how they would be easily brainwashed after the difficult life they have. They grab on to any single piece of hope that they can so, what they're doing, it's understandable.
   The war between social positions, on the other hand is NOT understandable at all. It's a war fought, not with guns, but with dirty, greedy money. Back in the late 2000's, there used to be a middle class between the rich and those earning average money, but making ends meet. Ever since the financial crisis began, that gap just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger... This is mainly due to the fact that the wealthy are mercilessly taking advantage of the inability of the middle class to make ends meet with what little they earn. The people in charge (politicians, bankers, corporate heads) impose unbelievable taxes to the small and middle classes (rather than taking it from the upper clasees which, surprisingly, are rarely affected), to the point of there not even being a middle class anymore! It's just those struggling to survive and those that don't know what to do with their money! Imagine this for example: you live in a household in which the average monthly income is $1300. Up until that point your expenses would come up to $800, and the rest would be put to the side (which is still too little to survive a whole month, but anyway). Then the government and corporate heads come and put extra taxes on your head, reduce your incomes by $100, so now you have $1200 and have to dish out $1000 of that, which means you're practically living to pay bills. Meanwhile people with properties are just getting richer, personnel is getting cheaper, the market is also getting cheaper because most people don't even have money to shop so that means the upper classes just get more and more money. And that's how the gap widens and how financial warfare is waged. It is without doubt, the most sickening form of modern warfare.
   There's really nothing to do about the global situation. As I've previously stated many times in this blog, this planet is sufferring from a disease called the "human race" and it's just a matter of time to see whether the planet itself develops antibodies to get rid of us (i.e. earthquakes, volcano eruptions, tsunamies, etc) or whether we eventually kill it off along with ourselves. However, for us peace-loving, out-of-the-pack wolves, we can only live our lives like we normally do and just stay away from any news whatsoever. Because, as I said, wars have been going on forever. it's the fact that we're getting constantly bombarded with all these reports about said wars that make us feel "responsible", like we have to "change the world". The world's been like this for centuries. Nothing's ever gonna change. Just live.