New Column: Video Game Gripes

Ok, before I begin, I'll admit it - I'm a bit lazy with this site. I said I was going to have the video up the day before, then I say I'll have it up yesterday and still don't. It's summer, pretty much all I want to do is sit around playing video games. But I'm going to try and keep doing this. I'll work on my next "The Meh, The Bad and The Weird" tonight. I was going to the game Justice League Task Force for the Genesis... except I can't find any of the cables for it. I was going to do one for the SNES, but for a while I can't find one of the cables for that either. It's like I've got some little Gnome that's going around, stealing all my cables.

Now, onto the column, "Video Game Gripes". Video Game Gripes is a colum that talks about all the annoying things in games, some of which are pointless today but still are around for one reason or another.

This week, I'll be talking about Random Battles.


Random Battles are pretty much a staple of all JRPGs out there, like Final Fantasy for example. They can be extremely annoying at times. Now, don't get me wrong. I understand the point of them - to level up your character to be able to fight bosses. There's pretty much two kinds of setups for Random Battles out there: the kind where you walk and eventually fight monsters after a short while and the kind where you can actually see the monsters roaming around and avoid them if you're lucky enough (thus gets rid of the whole "Oh God, I hope I don't get attacked. Just a little farther" scenarios). I don't know what excactly to classify Pokemon as, becuase it's one where it only happens in certain areas. Random Battles can occasionally be much more than annoying because there have been times where I've literally taken only two steps and had to go through one. This is even more annoying when you're low on health or mana and need to rush back town, only to encounter a Random Battle that wipes out your whole party.

Yeah, most games that do that let you flee, but besides making you feel like a little coward, a lot of times you can't. You know, the whole "You try to run... but enemies block the way!". I swear sometimes I can hear some evil laughter in the background when that happens.

There are also usually items that temporarily make monsters not attack you, but 1) you have to buy that (thus spend money you could on other stuff, just to make them not attack you) and 2) it usually doesn't last very long.

Random Battles usually result in you facing weak little monsters (like Slimes) that can easilly be killed in one hit, the whole time just spamming the A (or X or whatever) button until you get carpal tunnel.

One last time, I realize the importance of Random Battles. However, it'd just be better (at least in my oppinion) to be able to physically see them and avoid them with some skill.

Next time, I'll be talking about the dreaded Invisible Walls.

Just as a heads up, I won't be posting anything next week. I'll be gone until the 18th, and hopefully this site will be in good hands.