Vicarious Gaming 101: I think I get it now!

This week’s vicarious gaming session was especially awesome for me.  I watched Leah play for about 3 hours and I spent way less time confused and asking questions then ever before!  We played until right after the Djose Temple which means we have ourselves a shiny new Aeon to use in battle.  It can best be described as an awesome Zebracorn.  Yes that’s right, Zebracorn, as in a unicorn with zebra markings.  I should really start keeping a dictionary of all the words I make up…..

After watching about 10 hours of Final Fantasy X I really do feel like I am starting to become competent in the mechanics of the game.  I get the sphere grid now and I understand how you progress through it as well as how you essentially level up and gain abilities in this game.  That makes me particularly warm and fuzzy inside because that was really scary the first few times Leah pulled it up.  It’s just so different from any other leveling and abilities interface I’ve encountered before.  We’ve already established I get scared and confused by things I don’t understand so you can see how I might be terrified of this sphere grid thing.

On top of finally grasping the idea of adding spells and abilities to a character I really am starting to understand the dynamics and which characters are good at what.  I find myself particularly enthralled by Lulu because well, she can kill things with fire.  How could I go wrong there.  I actually had a specific moment of revelation this week related to Lulu.  The relationship between an enemies abilities and what spells will cause maximum damage is totally like Pokemon (not that I play Pokemon or anything….).  Fire and ice go together as do water and thunder.  Yes I realize 10 hours is a particularly long time to figure things like this out but I never said I wasn’t slow.  

To recap this week:  I made up a word, I get the sphere grid, spells are no longer scary, Lulu is awesome.   Finally getting a grasp on all this really makes me feel accomplished.  It also makes me feel like I could reasonably pick up a newer RPG and with some patience be able to actually figure the game out.  Before that happens though I’ll have to acquire some patience.  If anyone out there has any extra lying around send it my way.