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This started out as a reply to a reply in one of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kjorteo's recent entries, but grew so far beyond what I was initially thinking that I felt I had to make it into its own post. Why? Because I'm about to what some gamers would consider a mortal sin and complain about one of the most famous RPGs of all time...Chrono Trigger.
Specifically, I'm gonna spend the next few minutes explaining why the final battle damn near ruined the game for me.
Mentality 99% of the game: I'm fighting a gigantic planetary parasite-god that is devouring the life force of the whole world. This is going to be EPIC.
Mentality for the last 1%, after defeating the parasite-god: ...Wait, you mean its mouth was just a door? This thing's just a spaceship for some Frieza knock-off? ...And that's not even him? The final boss is just some off-center mutated peach!? I'VE BEEN CHEATED! D:
I mean, honestly, I can accept the idea of a final boss having 1 or 2 extra forms, but they did it completely wrong in Lavos' case.
The Lavos Spawn you fought on Death Mountain and in the Black Dream (aka Black Omen, depending on translation choice) make no sense with the way the final battles play out; I mean, what, is there some micro-mutated peach inside of a bio-spacesuit inside of another suit of bio-armor, all about the side of a football, inside of them or something?
Also, if Lavos' "true being" was actually inside the shell, why didn't Schala get merged with that to form the Dream/Time Devourer?
My biggest problem, though, was the sequence just before the very last battle. Lavos turning out to actually just be a mutated peach aside, the speech-y stuff right before the fight was just extra ridiculous, especially Magus' "Lavos controlled evolution blah blah blah" stuff...it's like they were trying to force-feed the player some sort of reason for Lavos' actions.
IT'S A GIGANTIC PLANETARY PARASITE-GOD. IT DOESN'T NEED A FUCKING REASON FOR DEVOURING A PLANET. YOU AND YOUR WHOLE PLANET ARE GOING TO BE ITS LUNCH. THAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR BEATING IT THE WHOLE GAME.
Honestly, here's how I think it should have gone:
1) The ENTIRE final battle sequence should have been outside of Lavos.
2) Let the outer shell mutate and grow into some huge, draconic monstrosity for a Final final battle. I'm talking "screen has to scroll up when you want to target some part of him for an attack" huge. I'm talking "dwarfs the Black Dream" (or Black Omen, your pick on name translation) huge. I'm talking "half of its body is buried miles into the earth, still sucking the life out of it" huge. Said mutation, or the one afterwards if you want a 3-stage final boss, should have been where its core got exposed for you to destroy, perhaps only being vulnerable when on the verge of unleashing some "annihilate the planet, deal insane and possibly party-wiping damage" attack.
3) If you go the "ram Lavos with Epoch" route, have the team crash it into him face-first, dive out at the last second, let them think they've killed it, then instigate the One-Winged Angel transformation mentioned in item 2.
THAT would have been much better than what we got. I'd have felt much better destroying a multi-screen huge, draconic planetary parasite-god than I did squashing a mutated peach. :[
kjorteo's recent entries, but grew so far beyond what I was initially thinking that I felt I had to make it into its own post. Why? Because I'm about to what some gamers would consider a mortal sin and complain about one of the most famous RPGs of all time...Chrono Trigger.Specifically, I'm gonna spend the next few minutes explaining why the final battle damn near ruined the game for me.
Mentality 99% of the game: I'm fighting a gigantic planetary parasite-god that is devouring the life force of the whole world. This is going to be EPIC.
Mentality for the last 1%, after defeating the parasite-god: ...Wait, you mean its mouth was just a door? This thing's just a spaceship for some Frieza knock-off? ...And that's not even him? The final boss is just some off-center mutated peach!? I'VE BEEN CHEATED! D:
I mean, honestly, I can accept the idea of a final boss having 1 or 2 extra forms, but they did it completely wrong in Lavos' case.
The Lavos Spawn you fought on Death Mountain and in the Black Dream (aka Black Omen, depending on translation choice) make no sense with the way the final battles play out; I mean, what, is there some micro-mutated peach inside of a bio-spacesuit inside of another suit of bio-armor, all about the side of a football, inside of them or something?
Also, if Lavos' "true being" was actually inside the shell, why didn't Schala get merged with that to form the Dream/Time Devourer?
My biggest problem, though, was the sequence just before the very last battle. Lavos turning out to actually just be a mutated peach aside, the speech-y stuff right before the fight was just extra ridiculous, especially Magus' "Lavos controlled evolution blah blah blah" stuff...it's like they were trying to force-feed the player some sort of reason for Lavos' actions.
IT'S A GIGANTIC PLANETARY PARASITE-GOD. IT DOESN'T NEED A FUCKING REASON FOR DEVOURING A PLANET. YOU AND YOUR WHOLE PLANET ARE GOING TO BE ITS LUNCH. THAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR BEATING IT THE WHOLE GAME.
Honestly, here's how I think it should have gone:
1) The ENTIRE final battle sequence should have been outside of Lavos.
2) Let the outer shell mutate and grow into some huge, draconic monstrosity for a Final final battle. I'm talking "screen has to scroll up when you want to target some part of him for an attack" huge. I'm talking "dwarfs the Black Dream" (or Black Omen, your pick on name translation) huge. I'm talking "half of its body is buried miles into the earth, still sucking the life out of it" huge. Said mutation, or the one afterwards if you want a 3-stage final boss, should have been where its core got exposed for you to destroy, perhaps only being vulnerable when on the verge of unleashing some "annihilate the planet, deal insane and possibly party-wiping damage" attack.
3) If you go the "ram Lavos with Epoch" route, have the team crash it into him face-first, dive out at the last second, let them think they've killed it, then instigate the One-Winged Angel transformation mentioned in item 2.
THAT would have been much better than what we got. I'd have felt much better destroying a multi-screen huge, draconic planetary parasite-god than I did squashing a mutated peach. :[