Why Privateer is Like a Chicken (August 16, 2008)

[Bandit LOAF]

References to Wing Commander appear in the strangest of places. Here's a review of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (?!) at PopMatters which compares the game to... Privateer?

The new tweaks induce such massive amounts of grinding that the game feels more like work than the epic battles of previous games. It’s a similar problem that the classic game Wing Commander: Privateer suffered. In that game, you didn’t stand a chance on the actual “story mode” until you’d spent hours building the ultimate space ship. Both games featured very clever and addictive game design, but with Final Fantasy Tactics A2 there isn’t really a point at which you can stop grinding and say, “I’m ready to hear the plot now”. It may be a personal qualm of this reviewer, but there comes a point where I’m ready to hear some story instead of doing more grinding. Yet the plot isn’t inhibited from starting because your characters need to be super-strong as in Privateer. Instead, the problem is that the plot missions are completely jumbled with the grinding ones, so that the two actions become confused.

Bonus points for actually remembering the 'Wing Commander' in the name.

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Separated at birth?!​

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Original update published on August 16, 2008

 

[Vyris Tykin]

Actually, that Final Fantasy screen comes from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the DS.

There are plenty of screens on GameSpot if you'd like to replace the one you have.

 

[Eder]

I count four missiles, one hostile, one friendly, one unit of ejected cargo, and a bright green dot (perhaps a space lemon?) in that strangely shaped radar. Whatever that ship is, the cockpit has great visibility, though.

 

[t.c.cgi]

one hostile

Probably one of those pesky Retros.

 

[Vinman]

That's... odd. Good catch.

 

[Max Gene]

I've played Final Fantasy games and I've played games like Freelancer where I had to money grind for quite some time to get the next ship. At least the space sim has grinding that's more interactive than "A button A button A button you won the battle now go for another" as in that stupid RPG series.

 

[Unregistered]

The difference is that "grinding" in Privateer or Freelancer is parallel what you'd have to do in reality if you were a space-faring mercenary; make money to upgrade your equipment for more demanding jobs, and bigger money. Comparing it to a game like Final Fantasy fails because the grinding in those games is expressly game-mechanical; earning experience points to upgrade your characters' skills. Nevermind that fighting the same type of enemy in the same way does nothing to increase your 'knowledge' or fighting talent in any way, you still get points for it and become "Better" at doing the same task.

 

[MannPower]

The difference is that "grinding" in Privateer or Freelancer is parallel to what you'd have to do in reality if you were a space-faring mercenary; make money to upgrade your equipment for more demanding jobs, and bigger money. Comparing it to a game like Final Fantasy fails because the grinding in those games is expressly game-mechanical; earning experience points to upgrade your characters' skills. Nevermind that fighting the same type of enemy in the same way does nothing to increase your 'knowledge' or fighting talent in any way, you still get points for it and become "Better" at doing the same task.

D'oh, that was me. Assumed I was signed in.