Mar 2018: Chocobo Forest
Area of the Month for March 2018 is Chocobo Forest!
A template format for your review is below; click 'edit' at the top of the page, copy-pasta from the ---- to the next ----, and fill in the gaps!
Player: You!(Class/Level)
Review Date(s):
Descriptions: X/10
How does the area's room descriptions(descs) work for you? Do they give you a good idea of the area? Do things that stand out in the desc and NEED explanation GET that, either from flavor text(extra-descs) or NPCs in the room or anything?
What about mobiles(mobs) and their descriptions? Can you get a decent mental image of who or what this NPC/monster is? Do they respond when you talk or interact with them?
Some areas have interact-able objects like fountains. Do they stack up well also?
Balance: X/10 (OR N/A)
(NOTE: combat will be most accurately gauged when your character is in the area's suggested level range.)
If this area has combat, how does it feel? Does anything jump as horribly overpowered and impossible to deal with? What about the flipside, anything far too easy to beat?
Are purchased or rewarded items at the appropriate strength levels? Is the effort required to obtain rewarded items reflected in their usefulness (or uniqueness and fancifulness)
Attractions: X/10
Why would you suggest someone come to this area? Is it just a good place to grind experience(lots of mobs)? Does the area provide a chunk of good gold and loot?
What about the quests? Does this area's quests feel properly done, or is there some part of it that you feel needs work?
For towns, are the shops good? Any other non-combative attraction for the area?
Connections: X/10
How easily and well does this area connect to its nearby areas? Does it make sense thematically to be connected to the areas it is?
Personal
Any comments you'd like to make that you don't feel apply to the other sections can go here!
Player: Kaze (Ninja L50)
Review Date(s): 3/2/2018
Descriptions: 7/10
The general navigation worked to a point. The descriptions were were generally serviceable. The description when you pop the box is one of the better ones, but I don't like that it's a weird special room that teleports you around. (More on that later)
One thing that isn't clear from the descriptions is any sort of progression from place to place. Forest becomes rocky. Go up and you're on a hill or in the sky. It's rather abrupt, really. The layout is probably part of that issue.
The descriptions of the chocobo are pretty good. I can tell which each is, readily. I'm not convinced someone who hadn't played as much FF as I would, but such tend not to stick around that long, so... eh?
Chocobo should either spook and run/fight or react with curiosity when you talk to them. They tend to be portrayed as quite friendly, which doesn't come through. Maybe that's intentional. Dunno.
The nooks are suggested in the descriptions, so that seems fair. The cave is rather vague.
The biggest thing that seemed off, though was the inability to ride Boco or one of the others. What a gyp!
Balance: 7/10 (OR N/A)
The chocobo are pretty straightforward foes. (Some teamwork would ramp up the difficulty tremendously, as would inserting a white one should you do so.)
Attractions: 4/10
Honestly, mostly this zone is accessible exp. While they are giving good experience and you can drop them, the zone is a goldmine. Otherwise, it's not all that great. The gold chocobo feather was less than exciting. Note that part of that is the difficulty in obtaining Float status. If you could snag such things while there was exp to be had, it wouldn't seem so lackluster but you'd have less reason to return. The Sky Armor pet I now have is... interesting, but not very useful.
Now, I say all this knowing that I haven't gotten into the cave, yet. (I was going to experiment with trying to get the red chocobo to cast comet on the boulder, but I haven't come up with a good way to do so.)
Okay: The fact that completing a leg of the quest leads to a special smoky room and then forces you to exit back to the clearing is irritating because that sleep thing. When you wake you can easily abandon a vehicle in the void. It's not too hard to avoid, if you're thinking about it, but I don't like it.
I'd like there to be more quests, honestly. A quest to set up safer spots for nesting might be interesting. If there's going to be a free pet available, why not a chocobo buddy that's one of those fancy ones that levels and, thus, scales? Apparently, there is code in place to do that, so even if not a mount, (which, obviously, would be cool) at least a battle buddy could be a nice touch. A quest one-shot flag would make this something to be very careful of. (opening up the possibility of one or more resurrection quests) I'm seeing this as a difficult quest, though possibly more on the mind than the body. Don't know; kinda spit-balling. Some spirit of the forest could need something done to fix stuff for Big Bird's cousins.
Connections: 4/10
It's not hard to find but it's certainly out of the way. I have no idea what the thematic reason for its placement was. It actually seems like something that might fit better between Viorar and Truce, whether north of the Veldt or more southerly.
Player: Aludra???(Gambler/100)
Review Date(s): 03/04/2018
Descriptions: 8/10
The room descriptions aren't too short, nor are they too long to the point where it's a bother to read them. The different sections of the area are color coded in the short description, which is a nice touch. It really helps to remind you which part of the area you're in at a glance.
The mobs themselves are all described fairly decently except for Mene, the moogle. It isn't badly written so much as it's more backstory than appearance. A little jarring compared to the rest of the zone. The color in his name also makes me spell it wrong constantly. Although this could be contributed to my font as well.
The hidden objects and other looktraps are also quite nice. Plenty of secrets if you know where to look.
Balance: 7/10 (OR N/A)
The combat in the area is fairly engaging. The enemies use a variety of different abilities, which is only natural given the nature of different coloured chocobos. Some of the enemies drop wands that help out. The merchant in the area sells a few goodies as well. Though those are mostly used to access the rest of the zone. Aside from the boss of the zone, the enemies themselves aren't too rough. The only exception to this is the boss, and depending on your level, the Sky Armours. They can be a little mean if you're there kind of early. There's not much aggro to deal with. It's just too bad the zone is lacking in actual mobs. It's kind of deserted.
Attractions: 10/10
The main reason I'd come to this zone is for the quests. They're short, fun, and the rewards are very nice. It's worth a trip just to check them out, even if you're out of range for the forest itself.
The secondary reason? Taming chocobos. They make great pets and each colour offers a different utility - though Red would be my favorite, as it's a berserker with a lot to offer.
Like I mentioned previously, there aren't very many mobs to kill. Maybe ten enemies in the entire area, assuming you can swim and/or fly, and then you have to wait for a repop.
But again, like I mentioned before, the enemies drop some feathers - wands - which prove to be fairly useful if you remember to use them. It's just too bad you can't buy them in the shop.
Connections: 2/10
There's only one place this really connects to, and that's the road outside of Wutai. The plus side, is it's super quick and easy to get to whether you're coming from the pier or walking through Truce Canyon. You don't even have to worry about recall scrolls because it's such a short distance. It's just a shame there isn't an area beyond it.
Personal
Great zone, very iconic. Easily one of my favorite areas when I was a lower level. Just wish it was more populated. Throw out some chocobo eaters and some extra chocobos or something, you know?