Chapter 27, Draft 4: COMPLETE.

The hour is shortened;

the minutes finite;

the panic of;

One last breath.

Okay, here’s what I changed between drafts. First I’ll tell you about the previous draft’s problem, then I’ll list the solutions I came up with.

Draft 3 problem: Too many characters were present during the finale. And I invented weird ways to keep them occupied within the same location so that they don’t all overlap with each other to confuse the reader. Kim thought it was all convoluted and confusing. I agreed.

Draft 4 solution: So I killed all the characters! Ha,ha, no I didn’t do that. I think I went over this before, but I sent certain characters off on their own mini-missions for a couple chapters. In various locals, of course. In this chapter I decided to have one group comes back now that the finale is established. Thank goodness for hex doors, right?

Actually, I don’t use hex doors in this instance. Look forward to the interesting mode of transportation I came up with. 😅

Draft 3 problem: Kim told me that the main antagonist’s dialog sounds too cartoony. That it was hard to take them seriously.

Draft 4 solution: Maybe the dialog WAS a bit too hammy. I removed the more over-the-top lines. I also took the opportunity to add some needed exposition. (Since Kim also thought the villain needed some extra motivation.)

Okay, that’s enough about the chapter for now. So let’s do a review. This month it’s:

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth –

My brother saw this on my Steam wishlist and decided to gift it for my birthday. I just got around to playing it this month, because I was playing the PREVIOUS ‘Like a Dragon‘ game in May. (My friend Matt gave me THAT one on a previous birthday.)

Infinite Wealth is a direct sequel, and both games are JRPGs. You level up, fight through dungeons and bosses, and watch cutscenes. The previous game was good, but it had BIG flaws. And the biggest flaw was that it crammed all the stuff I listed up there together in a massive three-hour chunk with NO WAY to save your game.

Yes, you read correctly. The final ending sequence of that previous game took me over THREE HOURS from dungeon start to ending credits. No checkpoints. No breaks. I mean, I trucked through it, but I’m single with no kids. I have no idea how parents with limited time could beat this game.

Now the sequel fixes this flaw by—get this—putting save points in the dungeons! AND before most bosses. It should be basic game design by now, but hey at least they learned.

Now let’s list off the good and bad things:

GOOD –

• Fun battle system. It’s turn-based, but now you can move around the battlefield in a limited area before you perform an action. If you position yourself well, you can smack an enemy and send him flying into another one. Or knock them into your other party members, triggering an extra attack from their waiting fists.
• Classes – This game uses the ‘job’ system: become a samurai, housekeeper, or even a desperado. Skills you learn from one job can me transferred into another, but you have a limited amount of slots. This is a BIG improvement from the previous game that only let you use pre-determined skills when you switched jobs. And they were always the worst ones. Now… the POWER IS YOURS!
• Mini games – Wow, I hope you like mini games. Maybe that term doesn’t quite cover it, though. Maxi-games is more like it. On on hand you’ve got the little stuff like screwing around with a dating sim or swinging at balls in batting cages; on the other you’ve got an entire Pokèmon collecting/battling system in game. And yes, it has its own quest line where you battle the ‘Discreet Four’ over a series of gym battles.

There’s an even better ‘mini-game’ that I got lost in for days. I won’t spoil it for you, since I was blown away when I found it.

BAD –

• The story. It’s not bad, it’s just nothing special. I was glad to see some continuity from the previous game carry over into this one though. And they did one weird thing with the party that I’m not sure helped. Read on if you want to be spoiled for it. If not, I’ll see you next time!
• The party – At a certain point in the game you alternate control between TWO parties. And they will be separate for the ENTIRE game. I’m torn on this. I did enjoy leveling up two different sets of characters. And having separate finales. But there was SO MUCH stuff to do. And a lot of the side quests’ enjoyment relied too much on knowledge of the countless other games in this series that I HAVEN’T played.

But I still beat it. Very cool song at the end. I’d recommend this game if you have time, no kids, and no spouse. You can have a pet, maybe. And a book to write, ha,ha. I’ll see you next time!