Equal Opportunity for PCs

by Grant Roberts 

Concerning Carl Batchelor's editorial on the unequivocable superiority of console RPGs:

Horse-hockey.

I have been playing video games since I was five years old, when my father stood me up on a crate to play Galaga. Since then, I have loved all manner of games. Except for racing games. And Myst. And real-time strategy games. Okay. Maybe not all manner of games.

But nothing drew me in and held me the way Ultima IV did.

Comparing the Ultima series and the Final Fantasy series is like comparing apples and tires--there's really no comparison whatsoever.

And let me preface this by saying that there really aren't any other RPGs on the PC that warrant a mention--Diablo is NOT an RPG, despite what people say, and Daggerfall is just worthless.

Ahem. Anyway.

There are several reasons why neither consoles nor the PC have the edge.

1. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Watching Locke, Cloud, Ash, Rudy, and (whatever the main character's name from Suikoden) develop from whelps into world-savers is one of the most gratifying things for an RPG fan there is. While it does get to be predictable after a while, it's like watching an action movie--you know Dennis Hopper is going to get beheaded, but you watch anyway, and you have fun watching.

This is taken to new, soaring heights in FF7, with at least two hours devoted to finding out about Cloud's past, and 90 minutes devoted to Red XIII's past.

But none of these characters can compare to the growth the Avatar has gone through in his nine adventures. From an unheralded farmer to savior of the world in Ultima IV; discovering that not all those who are evil have evil in their hearts in Ultima V; conquering a race that didn't need conquering, and having to live with their destruction in Ultima VI; realizing that what's good for the common people isn't necessarily good in Ultima VII; destroying a planet's way of life for the sake of saving another in Ultima VIII.

You could make a case for either side here, but again, what's the point?

2. STORY

You can't beat the plots in the Final Fantasy series (well, VI and VII, at least). While I won't perpetuate any more spoilers than already exist, suffice it to say that no novel has ever gripped me the way FF7's story has.

(And by the way, the stories in Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, and all of the Phantasy Star games are rather weak. Aside from one major plot twist in each of them, they've all been the standard form-a-party-then-save-the-world variety.

And also by the way, that's really what FF7's plot is, if you get right down to it, but that doesn't stop it from being the greatest video game of all time)

At this point, I must take issue with Colin Holter's assessment of the plots of the Ultima series. I actually took his description as a personal affront, being as big a fan of the Ultima series as I am:

"No matter how much people praise the Ultima games, all you do is find the stupid lord. Then you go find the other eleven stupid lords."

I'm certainly glad I didn't play this game. Oh, wait, I've played all the Ultimas, including Akalabeth. So WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Ahem. See #1.

3. COMBAT

Final Fantasy is the only console series to feature any form of innovation in combat. With each installment, something new (and inevitably cool) is added. Vandal Hearts was done better in Shining Force. Phantasy Star III and IV's systems were a step backward from II. And Suikoden, apart from the ability to counterattack and be counterattacked, was barely noteworthy, and very frustrating at times.

By contrast, the Ultima series has advanced greatly with each game, although I'll be the first to admit that Ultima VIII's click-on-the-monster-until-it's-horizontal style was a bit lame. But the ability to surround enemies in VII, adjust your party members' fighting styles, etc was, and still is, the best system out there.

4. TRADEOFFS

• Music

  Consoles have PC's beat hands down here, for one reason : Uematsu. Well, more than one reason : No one seems to care about music for PC games.

• Length

  While consoles are catching up (FF7 took me forty-eight hours to finish on my first try, three of which was spent breeding chocobos), PC RPGs still usually take at least forty hours to complete. Now _that_ is worth $49.99. Arc the Lad, anyone? *shudder*

• Replayability

  I have played through FF6 fourteen times, FF4 eleven, and FF7 once (only because I just finished it yesterday). The only PC RPG I've played more than once (besides the Bard's Tale series) is Ultima VII Part Two. Consoles have the edge here.

• Graphics

  While, again, FF7 is leveling the playing field here, the sheer capacity and power of PCs enables developers to do things a double-speed CD-ROM drive just isn't capable of. PCs.

A message to prospective PC RPG developers--do NOT make all PC RPGs like console RPGs. I'll sell my PC and buy an Atari 800 ST.

While I could go on for hours about this, my point is that console RPGs and PC RPGs are two distinct types of games. It's really like comparing racing games with fighting games. And don't get me started on fighting games.