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tenshinoakuma) wrote2011-06-04 02:14 pm
tenshinoakuma) wrote2011-06-04 02:14 pm
Okay I lied. This is the REAL last Dissidia post.
Oh. I apparently now have unlimited storage on photobucket. That's um. surprising!
I've been picking through the internet for Dissidia fanfiction, but good Dissidia fanfiction has been rather slim pickings, sadly. I did find something I couldn't help but laugh at, though:
I Never - "What is Cosmos to do when she inherits Jecht's hidden stash of booze? Start the drinking games, of course! An affectionate pastiche of the first ten Final Fantasy games."
A lot of my thoughts on the subject of Dissidia are pretty incoherent, world building wise. So I'm thinking that the way it works is something like this:
There really should be 13 worlds depicted there.
Something that really bugged me while I was playing Dissidia (and watching the cutscenes of 012) was the way Chaos is seen as a bad thing. That Order should be restored and the implication that order is the 'ideal' state the world(s) should be in. You could argue that the Chaos represented in the game is extreme chaos, rather than chaos in general, but nevertheless, in general it goes that Cosmos, and thus, order, is good.
I've never really been a big fan of black and white distinctions when it comes to world building.
So, let me propose an idea. Note: I'm primarily working off the original Dissidia, seeing as I don't have 012 yet.
Something that struck me as interesting about the Order's Sanctuary is how still it is. There's not a lot in Order's Sanctuary, nothing to break, the scenery barely moves. The ground looks a little bit like water, but it doesn't ripple; it simply drifts. There are... broken things sticking out of the ground, but they are a pure, unblemished white with no sign of weathering. The scenery seems to be a shade of grey-blue white, and when I look at it, Order's Sanctuary looks very cold, even in the concept art and the world map of it, where there are cliffs and stuff.
In short, Order's Sanctuary looks cold, dead, and still.
Flipping through Dissidia's TVTropes page, there was this interesting mention: "Initial trailers of the game showed plot-elements that never appeared in the game, such as a scene with the Emperor, Garland, Kuja and Ultimecia telling Squall and Firion about Cosmos' true nature being the one of a Goddess of Death, suggesting that Light Is Not Good."
I thought that was a rather interesting mention, because, in a way, it makes sense in a less literal meaning of death. Absolute or extreme order is the metaphorical death of life. Absolute order doesn't allow for change, because change itself disrupts order, and without change, there's nothing new, there's no evolution, there's no advancement. Everything stagnates.
In Dissidia, Order and Chaos are presented as two sides fighting against each other, but the true state of the world is that Order and Chaos should be working together. And I think that's what the path to obtaining the crystals (sort of) shows; without the forces of chaos inciting change within the forces of order, the Warriors of Cosmos wouldn't have been able to gain the strength they did. And I think, in the past, Chaos and Cosmos worked together before the cycles began? I'm not sure though; I haven't done all the reading for Dissidia just yet. Anyway, I'll probably wait until I've done more reading before I expand further, but honestly I think Silkscreen Requiem has demonstrated most of what I've said here anyway.
So after clearing Shade Impulse with Onion Knight, I went on to do the Destiny Odysseys and ended up having to level some to beat Shantotto's storyline (tangent, but Onion Knight's AI can be surprisingly difficult to fend off). I got to the second stage of Gabranth's but kind of stopped there because I was getting a bit tired of clawing my way to victory for so long. So I went back to clear Shade Impulse with Zidane.
Can I say that I found it a lot easier with Zidane than with Onion Knight?
I'm not sure if it's because I've got better gear or I've just gotten better or I'm just better at using Zidane than Onion Knight or a combination of these reasons. But I've taken to Zidane's fighting really well it seems, reaching Chaos underlevel. I haven't actually beat him yet because by that time I was tired and ready to go to bed.
I think it might be because I feel Zidane has a lot more to work with than Onion Knight. I mean, with Onion Knight, you mostly have just a hammer to work with, depending on your range (close/far) from the enemy. It's not necessarily a bad thing, because it works well.
I play a melee Zidane (he's for a few ranged attacks, but I prefer to get up close and personal, so I forgo all the range attacks except Shift Break, and that's more for luring than killing) and ha ha ha Zidane is such a rude character to play with, man; his aerials are ridiculous. I can't decide if I want to have Vortex (his upwards spinning slash) or not. On the one hand, it's really nice to have a move that hits upwards, but on the other hand, I'll have to sacrifice either aerial Swift Attack (close range, inflicts Chase) or Storm Impulse (mid range, Wall Rush). And it's not too often that I'm below the enemy, but when it happens it's a pain in the ass.
The main reason I'm so loath to replace Swift Attack and Storm Impulse is because those two + Tempest are like a holy trinity of attacks. Swift Attack is... swift, and Storm Impulse is slightly delayed but has a bit more range. And Tempest is the most delayed of the three, which, with a bit of good timing, passes blocks. Also hits people Quickmoving up cliffs ha ha.
I think one of the hardest things for me with Zidane is remembering that Free Energy has a surprisingly large blind spot close to Zidane (as does Stallar Circle 5), so often I miss, not because the enemy is too far, but because they're too close. (OH BUT I SEE HE LEARNS BRAVERY TO HP ATTACKS?? NOW THAT'S KIND OF RUDE).
I've been picking through the internet for Dissidia fanfiction, but good Dissidia fanfiction has been rather slim pickings, sadly. I did find something I couldn't help but laugh at, though:
I Never - "What is Cosmos to do when she inherits Jecht's hidden stash of booze? Start the drinking games, of course! An affectionate pastiche of the first ten Final Fantasy games."
A lot of my thoughts on the subject of Dissidia are pretty incoherent, world building wise. So I'm thinking that the way it works is something like this:
There really should be 13 worlds depicted there.
Something that really bugged me while I was playing Dissidia (and watching the cutscenes of 012) was the way Chaos is seen as a bad thing. That Order should be restored and the implication that order is the 'ideal' state the world(s) should be in. You could argue that the Chaos represented in the game is extreme chaos, rather than chaos in general, but nevertheless, in general it goes that Cosmos, and thus, order, is good.
I've never really been a big fan of black and white distinctions when it comes to world building.
So, let me propose an idea. Note: I'm primarily working off the original Dissidia, seeing as I don't have 012 yet.
Something that struck me as interesting about the Order's Sanctuary is how still it is. There's not a lot in Order's Sanctuary, nothing to break, the scenery barely moves. The ground looks a little bit like water, but it doesn't ripple; it simply drifts. There are... broken things sticking out of the ground, but they are a pure, unblemished white with no sign of weathering. The scenery seems to be a shade of grey-blue white, and when I look at it, Order's Sanctuary looks very cold, even in the concept art and the world map of it, where there are cliffs and stuff.
In short, Order's Sanctuary looks cold, dead, and still.
Flipping through Dissidia's TVTropes page, there was this interesting mention: "Initial trailers of the game showed plot-elements that never appeared in the game, such as a scene with the Emperor, Garland, Kuja and Ultimecia telling Squall and Firion about Cosmos' true nature being the one of a Goddess of Death, suggesting that Light Is Not Good."
I thought that was a rather interesting mention, because, in a way, it makes sense in a less literal meaning of death. Absolute or extreme order is the metaphorical death of life. Absolute order doesn't allow for change, because change itself disrupts order, and without change, there's nothing new, there's no evolution, there's no advancement. Everything stagnates.
In Dissidia, Order and Chaos are presented as two sides fighting against each other, but the true state of the world is that Order and Chaos should be working together. And I think that's what the path to obtaining the crystals (sort of) shows; without the forces of chaos inciting change within the forces of order, the Warriors of Cosmos wouldn't have been able to gain the strength they did. And I think, in the past, Chaos and Cosmos worked together before the cycles began? I'm not sure though; I haven't done all the reading for Dissidia just yet. Anyway, I'll probably wait until I've done more reading before I expand further, but honestly I think Silkscreen Requiem has demonstrated most of what I've said here anyway.
So after clearing Shade Impulse with Onion Knight, I went on to do the Destiny Odysseys and ended up having to level some to beat Shantotto's storyline (tangent, but Onion Knight's AI can be surprisingly difficult to fend off). I got to the second stage of Gabranth's but kind of stopped there because I was getting a bit tired of clawing my way to victory for so long. So I went back to clear Shade Impulse with Zidane.
Can I say that I found it a lot easier with Zidane than with Onion Knight?
I'm not sure if it's because I've got better gear or I've just gotten better or I'm just better at using Zidane than Onion Knight or a combination of these reasons. But I've taken to Zidane's fighting really well it seems, reaching Chaos underlevel. I haven't actually beat him yet because by that time I was tired and ready to go to bed.
I think it might be because I feel Zidane has a lot more to work with than Onion Knight. I mean, with Onion Knight, you mostly have just a hammer to work with, depending on your range (close/far) from the enemy. It's not necessarily a bad thing, because it works well.
I play a melee Zidane (he's for a few ranged attacks, but I prefer to get up close and personal, so I forgo all the range attacks except Shift Break, and that's more for luring than killing) and ha ha ha Zidane is such a rude character to play with, man; his aerials are ridiculous. I can't decide if I want to have Vortex (his upwards spinning slash) or not. On the one hand, it's really nice to have a move that hits upwards, but on the other hand, I'll have to sacrifice either aerial Swift Attack (close range, inflicts Chase) or Storm Impulse (mid range, Wall Rush). And it's not too often that I'm below the enemy, but when it happens it's a pain in the ass.
The main reason I'm so loath to replace Swift Attack and Storm Impulse is because those two + Tempest are like a holy trinity of attacks. Swift Attack is... swift, and Storm Impulse is slightly delayed but has a bit more range. And Tempest is the most delayed of the three, which, with a bit of good timing, passes blocks. Also hits people Quickmoving up cliffs ha ha.
I think one of the hardest things for me with Zidane is remembering that Free Energy has a surprisingly large blind spot close to Zidane (as does Stallar Circle 5), so often I miss, not because the enemy is too far, but because they're too close. (OH BUT I SEE HE LEARNS BRAVERY TO HP ATTACKS?? NOW THAT'S KIND OF RUDE).