arts // no. 8

  

Stull searching for a challenge

> ‘Final Fantasy Explorers’ review

Lauren Paulsen
Senior Columnist

 

QOOOS

was excited when I heard about

Final Fantasy Explorers for
the Nintendo 3DS. Although I
haven't played a lot of the Final
Fantasy games, this one looked
different than the typical turn-
based combat typically found
in the retro games, and I was
excited to try it. Although the
game can be enjoyable, it was a
bit of a letdown because it ended
up being nothing new for me.

The aim of the game is to

explore various regions and
complete quests. The plot

involves the player, as an Explorer,
going through uncharted
territory in the hopes of finding
crystals. Unlike the other recent
Final Fantasy games, the game
quest driven rather than narrative
driven. Unfortunately, this means
the plot itself is pretty weak.

Players are able to choose
from 21 job classes, which you
unlock as you go. They are mostly
the typical classes found in
other roleplaying games, such as
Ranger, Paladin, or Thief. Each
job class also uses the typical
weapons for that class, such as
bows for Rangers—although it
does seem odd that Monks use
brass knuckles.

The only different element
here is the customization options.

You are able to upgrade each
weapon and piece of clothing
with extra stats such as Accuracy,
Attack, and Recovery, using
items found in the world. After
collecting enough items, you can
completely max out every item’s
stats. Items can also be imbued
with monster souls that will add
traits, such as health boosts.
Another interesting element
of customization has to do with
the skills players can learn. When
in battle, “Crystal Surges” can
grant temporary perks. While
under the effects of the Crystal
Surge, compatible skills have a
chance of mutating. This can
add extra effects to the skills
when used, such as Paralysis,
Poison, Magic Attack bonus, or

HP Recovery. Skills can hold up
to nine different mutations, or
you can stack mutations to make
them stronger.

Unfortunately, this game is
extremely easy. Even moderately
high level players will manage
to annihilate pretty much
everything. Even Eidolon,
which are rare bosses that, once
defeated, can be summoned, can
be defeated rather quickly if the
player is prepared. The difficulty
can be increased by adding
challenges to the quests, such as
restricted use of healing items.
This adds an extra star to the
quest’s difficulty. However, even
five-star quests don’t provide that
much more challenge.

There are a few things to like

theotherpress.ca

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Image via www.eshopcodes.com

about Final Fantasy Explorers,
the main thing being the
multiplayer. When I play quests
with my brother, they are actually
harder to complete. All of the
foes have higher stats and take
more time to defeat. Depending
on your class, this could make the
game very challenging. A Ranger
deals little damage compared to a
Knight, so the time limit may be
more restrictive for some player
classes.

Final Fantasy Explorers can
be enjoyable when playing with
a partner, but it doesn’t manage
to offer anything too new or
interesting. If you really like these
kinds of roleplaying games, go for
it, but don’t expect it to have any
“wow” factor.

Chairman of the Board: ‘A spy by any other name’

> ‘Codenames’ board game review

Ed Appleby
Illustrator

 

Codename is a party game for
two or more players designed

by Vlaada Chvatil and published
by Czech Games Edition (CGE)
in 2015. The players split into two
teams, each lead by a “spymaster.”
Cards with codenames are laid
out ina five by five grid, and the
spymasters must give clues to
their team as to which codenames
belong to their “contacts.” Once

a team uncovers all of their
team’s contacts—or accidentally
uncovers the “assassin’—the
session ends and the team with
the most contacts wins.

The gameplay of Codenames
is as fast as it is hard. Several
games can be played within a
short period of time, and the

spymasters are governed by strict
rules as to what they can use as
clues. Each clue can only consist
of one word and one number,
the word being the clue to the
code name and the number
representing how many of the
contacts the clue describes. The
spymaster can say no more than
that, and the team only has as
many guesses as the spymasters’
number, plus one. If a team
guesses wrong, the play moves to
the other team.

Codenames is ranked as the
no. 1 party game in the top 20 list
on boardgamegeek.com, and is
widely regarded as the breakout
hit of 2015. The game is simple to
learn, yet extremely challenging,
requiring lateral thinking and
creative strategy to win. I would
recommend it to anyone.

 

Illustration by Ed Appleby