Purpose
December 26th, 2009 @ 5:10 pm by KunoichiZero
So, I’ve been lamenting for a while that this site lacks purpose. No one seems to read it, or care what’s put on here. There are so many blogsites already writing about games, and it’s so easy for a small site like this one to get drowned out in the noise.
Then I saw something that brought things into a little better focus.
A little game came along called Battle Fantasia. It’s a ‘2.5D’ fighter from Arc System Works, the folks who brought us the Guilty Gear series. It was ported from arcade machines to…some crap system, and then finally came out for us North Americans last week as a PlayStation Network download.
Initially I was wary of it, since it had no demo, and really the only true test of whether a game is worth buying is in the demo. So, I checked the aggregate review sites, like a good little consumer. Metacritic and Gamerankings both listed a pretty sad-looking 67% for this title. But, the developer and the appealing art style won me over, and I bought it anyway.
To my surprise, it was quite a lot of fun. The art’s definitely unique – the only thing one could compare it to would be the Final Fantasy Tactics series. The characters are all unique, appealing and well animated, and the battles are tough without feeling impossible. The story’s nicely detailed if a bit silly (but then all fighting game storylines are pretty ridiculous). Overall it felt like a very well-polished game, worth the $20 price. So what, I wondered, did these ‘professional reviewers’ know that I didn’t? Where were the flaws I couldn’t see?
I looked into the individual reviews on those sites and saw the same complaints leveled against it. Among various rather silly complaints, such as its small character roster (12 feels like plenty to me for a $20 game), and some even criticizing the presentation as too cute and too anime, as though no one should ever actually enjoy that sort of thing. Of all the complains leveled against it, “It’s too accessible” was the one that stuck out to me most, and that charge was repeated almost universally across the sites. “Too accessible.” “Focused on accessibility.” “Not hardcore.”
Since when was being accessible a negative thing? Accessibility is what software designers are supposed to strive for, isn’t it? It’s why Apple products sell well despite having less raw power than their competition… So someone tell me why a game, as another piece of software, should not be accessible? Do we really need a giant roster of characters each with their own lengthy and arcane movelists? Is the user interface of a game supposed to be some kind of Gordian Knot? A secret handshake to be done with the controller to ensure that only the most elite can enjoy it? I thought this hobby was about having fun…
And looking deeper, all of these reviewers to be saying the same things, parroting each other and crooning over the same favorites. Even the sites that claim to be outside the industry still pay homage to the same industry favorites. These ‘outsiders’ all look like they’re just trying to get in, like Uncle Tom trying to ingratiate himself to his master in the hopes of being allowed into the house. It’s one big disgusting circle-jerk, and of course always played to the 18-24 male demographic.
And, in resistance to that, I think I’ve found our purpose.
So, Battle Fantasia is worth it. It’s a lot of fun, its gameplay is unique in that it’s structured around timing and strategy rather than massive strings of complex combos, and its a definite pleasure to watch as well as to play.
As for the rest…yeah. Always support the little guys.

