The BBEG

To begin, we must define the concept of the BBEG. This is the Big Bad Evil Guy/Girl. We know them. We hate them. We want to end them. A good one makes us want to destroy them outright, but we know we can't do that yet. We need to build our strength first. What makes a good one, though?

Firstly, you need to get the jibblies about them at the very beginning of the game if you encounter them early on. For example, in the original game of Suikoden, I felt incredibly creeped out by Windy, the Big Bad Evil Girl. She started hitting on my main character a little bit. It visibly bothered me. Another good example is Ghetsis from Pokémon Black and White. When he gave his initial speech on Pokémon Liberation, I was incredibly disturbed. You know they aren't all they seem to be, and it bothers you.

Also, you must be horrified by the plans that the BBEG has, as well as their motives for these plans. I will make a reference now to the campaign for the Final Fantasy RPG that I am currently playing. Mother, the current name for the person I think is the BBEG, plans on destroying the world and everything in it, so there is only silence. This "Mother" is tired of hearing people's cries for change and wants to end "suffering" by ending the world. In another Pokémon example, in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Cyrus wants to create a new world where there is no emotion because of the world's conflicts. He also wishes to become a god by summoning the beings of time and space to distort the world and end all life other than him.

Finally, we must look at how the BBEG is defeated. It must take a tremendous amount of ability/force to defeat the BBEG. For example, Ghetsis is defeated by taking out his team in the most difficult Pokémon battle in the series other than beating the Champion a second time in any game that has a level spike. The BBEG will have things they aren't supposed to be able to have, such as monsters that exist when they shouldn't, overly powerful magic or overwhelming numbers.

So, that's what makes a BBEG have any impact. Now, let me list some that are effective in games that I have played.

1. Windy from Suikoden.
2. Cyrus from Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum.
3. Ghetsis from Pokémon Black and White.
4. Corvus from Dragon Quest IX.
5. Murdaw from Dragon Quest VI. I mean, come on, his name even sounds like murder.

Suikoden Tierkreis: The Review

Okay, this is a game that bugs me. Like, seriously bugs me.

This game is intended to be an alternate universe version of the general Suikoden series. This is all well and good, but they screwed it up badly.

Firstly, they tried to revamp the magic system. Here's how the old magics worked in EVERY other Suikoden RPG (this includes Tactics).

1. Runes give you a set of spells.
2. Spells can only be used a certain amount of times between heals.
3. You get four levels of spells, each being allowed to be used less and less.
4. Fourth level spells are amazing.

Here's how they did the magic system in Tierkreis.

1. Magic is unlocked by plot. (getting new Marks of the Stars)
2. You get one pool for magic points.
3. You must spend magic points for spells.
4. You can change what spells you can use: they aren't locked in at later points. (using a Mark of the Stars gives you the magics)
5. There are no real epic spells.

Now, I like that bit about changing things up, but that's it. I don't like the fact that you have to do spells like you would in, say, Final Fantasy. Suikoden games are supposed to be a little different than that.

Secondly, in the original games, you character had a signature weapon that they used through the whole game. They could upgrade/sharpen the weapon if they so chose. That's not how things work in Tierkreis! You have to buy weapons, and they're expensive! In addition, most characters can equip most weapons, so there's no uniqueness in weapon choices! Not even the later Final Fantasy games did that. You see Cloud over there? You see how he carries around that gigantic sword? That's HIS sword. No one else's. It's a signature thing, and taking that away from characters is not very effective for engaging you in a game.

Thirdly, and this irked me from the very beginning: the voice acting and scripting is horrible. The main character begins as a complete spaz. There are typos throughout the game. And, to give an example of this nonsense...there's a character by the name of Rizwan in this game. They pronounce her name "Lizlan". We're not in Japan, there's no need for Engrish.

Finally, we get to the elephant in the room. The plot. The plot doesn't work. It doesn't engage you. It just makes you want to get the characters to stop talking. It's so bad that I don't even want to talk about the plot. Combine that with the bad mechanics of combat and you get a generally horrible game. Don't do it.

Purpose of this Blog

This...is a review blog.

I will review games that I've played. I will not let my fangirlism get in the way of how the game actually is. I will not let my troperdom get the better of me. I will, however, be honest about my viewpoints as I go.

I note: this is a GAME review blog. It's not necessarily about video games, it's about general games. I don't want to be restricted just to video games, although that will be a good portion of what I review here. I roleplay, so I'll review the systems I've worked with as I go, too.

So, without further ado, enjoy the show!