Final Fantasy XIII: Random thoughts

Thank god I have finally been able to rest and *just* got back into gaming. I just passed X-COM again, and it was just as fun and aggravating the second time around... I'm pretty sure this is the one game where I am consistently swearing (so I've been told).

As I made my way through X-COM I have been watching a friend play through Final Fantasy XIII on PS3. Honestly, I have been put off Final Fantasy's since I finished IX all those years ago, even though I kept buying the frigging games anyway...

I was rather surprised watching her play the game. The story was a lot better and the characters were not as annoying (with the exception of Hope). After watching a video review of the game a while back on Zero Punctuation, I didn't want to go near my copy of FFXIII with a nine and a half foot pole. After watching someone else play it however, I am debating playing it myself.

I remembered one part of the Zero Punctuation review that stuck with me. It was the gripe that the story didn't really get interesting until about twenty hours in. I then started thinking, "Ok, well when is an acceptable amount of time in which the game starts getting interesting?" and of course, "by whose standards?" It took my friend less than ten hours to become engaged in the Final Fantasy XIII story.

[Different perspective?]
She mentioned to me that she had to change the way that she was playing games, she had to just play and enjoy the game. It was a little different watching her. She usually gets upset while playing and yells about the shortcomings of the game.

Anyway, this sweet spot for length of time I'm sure has a lot to do mainly with game genre and the type of audience, although you want the player engaged as quickly as possible (obviously). I also believe that the franchise also plays a part in how long the player is willing to wait to become engaged.

Either way, maybe I shouldn't watch game reviews until I've tried it myself, although it's hard to get through the numerous "good games" out there as it is :S

Thoughts?


What do you get when you mix a Cloud and a Squall? LIGHTNING! *ba dum dum dum* I'll be here all week people...

Hey all!

I am almost done school in a couple of days. It's crazy to think how quickly three years has passed already!

Anyway, I am in the midst of fixing up a few projects so please be patient but have been able to play Portal start to finish before I play my copy of Portal 2!

Mmm games...

So I gave in to buying more delicious games.

Since my friend and I are going to do a CO-OP gaming night I bought:
Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3)
Rainbow 6: Vegas 1 & 2 (PS3)

And got her Goldeneye for the Wii... I'm pretty sure she won't see my blog and her X-Mas gift... :|

And I might have bought Uncharted 2 and Mirrors Edge... just saying.

Will buy Scott Pilgrim and Castle Crashers soon as well, another friend wants to do more multiplayer :D

Also!

I forgot to mention the crapload of Steam games I bought too... I don't want to list them all because it is pretty ridiculous BUT my collection went from about 20-ish games to about 45... Oh man, if they do another holiday sale I am SCREWED.

In addition, I missed a very important update!

The blogs main focus is going to shift a bit. I am still going to be talking about games and try to do quick reviews but I also am going to try and get a mod going and maybe post my progress here, as well as post some pictures up.

I will concentrate on more of the mechanics and gameplay. Pacing, flow, balancing, basically, all the fun things Level Design is.

I am pretty much a complete beginner so any feedback or constructive criticisms are welcome! :)

Hey y'all I'm alive!!

Hey everyone (if you're still around) I am still alive and making my way through first semester of the third year of my 3D Game Art Program!

It's been a crazy ride, even in the past couple months. I have been working like CRAZY. But, on the upside, learning a LOT.

My jobs and school have really been keeping me on my toes, I think I am pretty much scared and excited everyday... it is a weird feeling. Usually, when I was just doing animation I was just scared. The homework, although plentiful is actually okay to work on (when I have the time).

In recent news, I have bought a PS3 in the hopes of playing all the games I have been missing out on. I still don't have a HD TV but that will hopefully come in time :D

For the meantime, I am just looking forward to playing a system, my 360 recently quit on me, it was fun times...

Games I have purchased (but haven't been able to get around to all of them) are:
Uncharted
Killzone 2
God of War 1 & 2
Heavy Rain
Valkyria Chronicles
Disgaea 3
Little Big Planet
Final Fantasy XIII

On that note, "Distant Worlds" came to Toronto and I was able to go and watch! Despite the busy schedule (and the fact that I bought the tickets in July/August) I only felt a little guilty about going.

It was a great night, the music was fantastic and they played some new music from Final Fantasy XIV. I also bought a t-shirt, both albums and a signed poster. I wish they would have played music from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Need to gaaammmmeee

So hey people!

I just posted my Contra failed speedrun that turned into a no death run! It was fun, but I think people want to see my speed run so I'll post one when I get something I like, or something I'm proud of, so stay tuned.

Here is part one and two of it for people to see.

Part 1

Part 2

In the gaming realm, I haven't been able to game very much, but I did get to go to a IGDA meeting which was a cool experience. I need to go to another social gaming event, it was pretty neat to see new and old industry people there mingling :)

I recently bought Record of Agarest War, which was the special edition (yes, the naughty one) because mainly I couldn't just find a regular one. I'm sure you all don't believe me, but it's true. Although, I am not complaining since the mouse pad is pretty good, and I am using the pillow case hahaha I doubt it was for the creators intended purpose though... oh you marketing people... good times.

I have caved and bought a Alex Ross "KINGDOM COME" Justice League set (well onely for of the characters) and it was pretty sweet. I got Wonder Women, Batman, Superman and Green Lantern. I will be cosplaying as the Green Lantern come August FanExpo.

I also bought a new Evangelion. It is Asuka's one and it is sooooo badass. It is the RevolTECH guys, so you can imagine how many different parts, weapons and alternate heads it has. I am gonna put this up at my desk, it needs to be displayed.

I went to some comic stores around the area and they happened to finally be open when I arrived!

Back...LOGGED! D:

Tasty TF2 Goodness pic from the TF2 blog!

Oh harrow there!

For those of you who are actually still checking this site out, anyway...

It has been a huge hiatus, I do apologize, March 2009 is ridiculously ridiculous for a last post, but I shall try and keep up to date on the gaming shenanigans.

SO ANYWAY. In recent news, there is a very awesome (and dangerous) Steam sale going on and of course I gave into deliciousness and bought some games!

I FINALLY got Team Fortress 2 (I know, right?), Supreme Commander 2, X-Com and X-Com: Terror from the Deep, and Zeno Clash.

I have yet to play TF2 as my crappy internet connection JUST finished downloading it from Steam, but I did manage to play through a tutorial on Supreme Commander 2 and it isn't bad. It's been a while since I played an RTS and I had to get used to the interface as well. The option to scale back and see your units from a 'map view' was interesting but also frustrating when I didn't want to scroll that far. I guess I'll have to adjust my mouse sensitivity...

As for the 2 X-Coms, I have been playing TFTD for practically two days, and remember it being as ridiculously hard as I played it when I was younger, albeit, I understand more than my 10-year old brain could with strategy, but for those who remember the X-Com franchise, it is still the strugglefest I remember... so I guess that makes me a masochist!

Zeno Clash I have no idea about. It was recommended by a friend and I have yet to even download it from the Steam server. Soooo, it'll be a while until I get to that, and I've been pretty lazy in even Googling it either.

Also! Some of the games that I have been playing or have played include:
Left for Dead 2 (PC)
Left for Dead (360)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
The New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (360)
No More Heroes (Wii)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (360)
Alan Wake (360)
Street Fighter 4 (360)
Dantes Inferno (360)
Dead Space (360)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS)
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) - repeat
Prince of Persia 3 (360)
Fallout 3 (360)
Sayuki: Journey West (PS1)
Bust-A-Groove 1 & 2 (PS1) - repeat
Koudelka (PS1)

Uhhhh and I think that's all I can remember.

I will post mini-reviews of the one's that I find the most interesting. Probably the most recent too.

Also, debating to maybe do some video blog reviews, will decide if that's feasible as it takes time to edit and post a vid, but seems more interesting than text! We'll see! Stay tuned!

AHH!

I have also been slacking here in my little gaming space! Suffice to say for me there were a few big things for me gaming wise.

I recently purchased an Xbox 360, and have played a few games already, I also bought many games but can't remember all the purchases so honestly I'm not going to try right now. I also am thinking/debating getting the new DSi this April 5th! Ahh! So yeah, not sure yet... but I can't believe I didn't play the new Fire Emblem game for the DS!! FOR SHAAAMMMEEE!!!

Anyhoo, getting back on the whole writing/drawing thing again, also been working out and traveling more, so doing things that are good for me now. Big changes people! Thanks for being patient if you're still here lol

Whaaaahappaannn??

Hey everyone!

I've been seriously lacking in both the gaming and the writing... obviously. I have been pretty busy and a lot of things came up that I had to attend to (I know that sounds pretty general).

I did manage to play some games, Mario Kart, Mario Party 8, Okami and Wiifit. I'm sure there were others but I can't remember at this moment. I do want to do a full review on the Wiifit though.

Recently I bought some games, Every Extend Extra,, Warioware; Twisted, Megaman X4, Megaman X5, Megaman X6, and others I think...

Anyhoo, back to work! Later days.

I'm a survivor!!

...much thanks to my guildmate Sora though! I got my Survivor title on Guild Wars!



LMAO, sorry I had to xD

Don't do as Acro Circus does.

Well, I'm embarrassed.

I did what about 90% of my customers did, I didn't check the system requirements for the games I bought! And now I'm stuck with them. Who knew how much my video card sucks :S I can't replace just the card since newer video cards require a better motherboard/cpu, sooooo I'm gonna have to hold on for a bit and stick with my Guild Wars... and stare at the boxes of the games I can't install...

I've never tried this site, but it sounds pretty helpful for those (like me, apparently) who don't know what they have.

And this has been another episode of Don't do as Acro Circus does.

In other gaming news for me, I rediscovered my Gameboy Micro and therefore also rediscovered that it gives me a wicked hand cramp every time I play it... I had a chance to replay River City Ransom Ex for GBA it wasn't as bad as I remembered it. Probably because they changed a good part of the original that I was caught off guard and blocked it from my memory. $300 for Acro Circus?? I realize they're trying to extend the gameplay but geeeezz....

Getting back on track

Wow, so I have been living under a rock for the past few months (a rock named school *cough*) Anyway, I've been able to read the May issue of Nintendo Power and realized how many things I didn't know about. Yay?



Image from IGN

First off I want to express how awesome the Guitar Hero game looks for the DS, I guess I'm just a fan of cool peripherals but I think it's a pretty innovative way to play the game on a hand held. I mean, it'd be kind of awkward jamming on the subway with a mini guitar... what sucks though is the missing orange button (not that I was able to play on hard mode but the option would have been nice...)

On Tour will contain a line-up of more than 20 licensed songs from bands as Nirvana, OK Go, and No Doubt; Activision will most certainly reveal the full list of bands and songs as we get closer to the game's summer release date. Players will be able to pick from six different guitarists to represent them in-game -- while four guitarists have been in Guitar Hero before, two of the characters have been designed exclusively for the Nintendo DS game. As they get through career mode, they'll unlock venues as well as outfits to deck out their chosen persona.

Excerpt from IGN.com

Next, are the re-releases, Disgaea for the DS?! Aghhh noooo, so much of my life has been lost to that game and the item world... but I will probably get this game anyway... lol, just like I do whenever they release another Final Fantasy... Oh, they're doing that again? Great. Despite all my griping, it does look awesome. I just wonder if I'll be spending all summer replaying games or if I'll manage to play some new ones...

When did this happen? There are two cheerleading video games for the Wii? I don't know whether or not I'll buy it, (Although All Star Cheer Squad is choreographed by the same guy who did Bring it On... and I do love me some spirit fingers XD) it's nice to see developers trying to create games for girls...? When are they gonna make some games for women?

As far as I can tell, the difference between the games is ASCS uses the balance board from Wii Fit.

...And somehow I'm still alive

Nope I didn't draw this, it's from the Etrian Odyssey website, someday... *_*

Hey all,

Let me just say, wow, the first year of animation school has finally finished. I'm really caught off guard by that, and as cliché as it sounds, it feels like it was yesterday.

I know I've improved my drawing skills, I just hope it gets to the level I want over the summer.

In gaming news for me, I haven't been really playing anything lol, over the school year I have been occasionally picking up Etrian Odyssey for the DS in the past week however, I have been able to replay Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance again. It was so much easier and quicker this time around, I forgot how to recruit some of the characters and it resulted in many resets haha. I swear, games like these are like crack, I *have* to collect all the characters, just like Suikoden, or hell, Pokémon. Yeah, I said it.

I have leveled up nicely and am now playing Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the Wii, haven't played too much of it because I have one more assignment looming over my head, so that's why I'm here! Muahaha...

I played a bit of Guild Wars too, and I can proudly say that I have the memory of a goldfish because I forgot all the hotkeys............................ fun times. It was super fun being slaughtered by all the little red dots on the map too, at least I didn't run into them and still knew what they were... *cough*Choops*cough*.

I bought a few games so maybe I'll be able to do quick reviews or *gasp* even a real review! I got Sonic and the Secret Rings for Wii, Gunpey for the DS, Marvel vc Capcom for the PS, and RPG Maker for the PS, which I bought *again* since I didn't realize I had it already...

I have to mention later in another post, my trip to Japan! But the guilt from my homework is overwhelming me.

D'oh well, see ya soon kiddies!

Wow! Happy New Years everyone!

It's been a while huh? I've finally finished my first semester of Animation school and have had my first day yesterday (still feels like today since I didn't sleep yet). So far so good, I wish I did better (not that I did badly) but improvement is always something everyone strives for :)

I have been able to play some games over the holidays. I've played and finished Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for Gamecube, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the Wii and Guild Wars: Eye of the North for PC.

As well as played a bit of Guitar Hero 1, 2, and 3, Taiko Drum Master, Mario Party 8, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, WarioWare, WiiPlay, blah blah blah... the usual party games lol

I've also had a chance to watch some Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. The Mario isn't mine and I didn't really feel like playing it at that moment, but it looked amazing, the graphics, the gameplay, this is definitely on the summer list (if I get to do all the drawing things I've wanted to do!). I didn't play Resident Evil 4 because 1) I'm not very good with 3rd person controls on a console and 2) Ever since the first Silent Hill I've never liked playing survival/horror on my own (I'm sure playing it at midnight with 5.1 surround sound didn't help either lol). But, it was fun giving my friend advice as he slashed and shot through villagers, as well as keep him company, we were both pretty freaked lol

I'm pretty sure I've already talked about all the party games, so I'll skip over that...

I've bought Gears of War for PC, Black and White 2 and the Expansion, Age of Empires 3 and the Expansion and Tabula Rasa as well as bought some Game Boy games to be sent overseas for a friend. I bought Tabula Rasa because it was cheap, there was a sale at EB and I picked it up in the hopes to check it out later since there's a free month included. Gears, B&W and AOE were 40% off so that's pretty self-explanatory I think... luckily I convinced myself not to get the World of Warcraft battle chest for $20... I would have failed school for SURE.

Ok, so on to the games that I did play for a few days. I finally got through Guild Wars: EOTN, and the verdict was... it was alright. I had no urge to boot up my comp and log in like I did with Factions or Prophecies. The story wasn't the most engaging, but I did enjoy most of the missions. If you're thinking about getting it and aren't sure, I'd either get one of the other campaigns or wait for Guild Wars 2. I realize that this was the only expansion, but it didn't really keep my interest like I thought it would.

Fire Emblem for GC was one of the titles I kept looking at my shelf but put off playing because of god knows what. I finally played it and it was great. Same old Fire Emblem (with obvious graphics upgrades). I find the battle animations tedious and turned them off, doing that really speeds up the game (especially if you're like me and reset the system everytime one of your guys dies). I think there is definite replay value in this game, and I'll probably do that in the summer too.

The Fire Emblem for Wii was a delightful surprise! I didn't realize it was a direct sequel to the Gamecube version so when I popped in the disc sad that I'd never see Ike, Lucia, Nephanee, etc. again, there they were! And older and cooler looking too! :D Schweet! I liked the little tweeks in the game play, the option to add all the enemy attack areas together was awesome. However, I noticed a huge difference in difficulty with Normal mode in the Gamecube version and Normal mode in the Wii version... Wii version felt way more difficult, but maybe that's because all the guys you start off with get killed in 1-2 hits. Needless to say, I had to play it on easy to beat it as quickly as possible before my break ended. Oh, the controls on the Wiimote were awkward to get used to, especially after I played the GC version. But, it's a small learning curve.

I definitely want to do write ups on these games, but not sure with time constraints so I hope you guys don't mind casual banter like this. If you have specific questions, I can answer them in the comment section.

Cheers!

pic from IGN

Hey all!

FYI,I've been pretty busy with school and it is the primary reason why I haven't been blogging about games lately :(

BUT in gaming related news, I'm mostly playing Brain Age 2, the most I've been able to do is watch classmates play the Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament demos *drool*.

I want to play Portal badly but I'll have to wait until the holidays. That and I miss Guild Wars a lot.

Good gawd!

OMG I almost had a heart attack when I saw this. It's only been on my mind since FOREVER!!!! YESSSSHHH, get it together Capcom! XD

Watch the Vid!

I have to get a 360 now :S

It would be wicked if this game came out for Wii. I can dream can't I?

If you're reading this still and don't know what I'm talking about for SHAME!!! Go NOW! (or you can always look at the label post, cheater!)

Finally!

(Fire Emblem pic from ign.com)
Hey all!

Lately since school, I haven't been able to get my hands on any games... until a couple days ago (see how long that lasted?) Anyway, I was able to play some DK: Jungle Climber, Taiko Drum (Japanese release) and Drawn to Life for the DS. I was also able to clock a couple of hours on the new GW expansion Eye of the North. I hope to at least provide quick reviews of a couple of them, very very quick reviews since I have to get to school to do my animations.

DK: Jungle Beat - (Game play time 15 min)
To sum it up, there is little difference between this version and the version for GBA (I haven't encountered any use for the stylus yet). The premise of this game is to be able to jump and swing your way through using hand holds and special jumps. Timing is key in this game as you rotate around hand holds aiming for various items and enemies.

Taiko Drum - (Game play time 25 min)
I love music games, and for a hand held version of the PS2 one I've played it's pretty addicting. You use two styluses and hit the picture of the drum on the touch screen. It plays like the one to the PS2, hit in the middle for the red circles and hit the sides for the blue ones. There are also classic 8-bit themes as well that you can play, but the other songs are all in Japanese because it's an import.

Drawn to Life - (Game play time 25 min)
A very innovative game that really utilizes the stylus and touch screen! I was pretty involved drawing all the little aspects of my world. You can draw what your character looks like, what the objects he/she interacts with and the background and people involved. So far so good! Hopefully this will lead to a full review!

Guild Wars: Eye of the North - (Game play time about 10+hrs)
So far I'm enjoying the expansion, there are a lot of little things that they've added like sound clips to some of the characters (which freaked me out at first because it was pretty loud) so it reminds me a little of Warcraft. Obviously they've added more skills and armor, they also have a hall of monuments, which is alright... I think I have to play this one a bit more or write reviews on the other ones....

Oh and in other game news, Fire Emblem for Wii looks awesome, gotta get around to finishing the one for GC O_o;;

Bye for now!

Windsor McCay and Little Nemo: The Dream Master

So, the first week of school has come and gone and the work is starting to pile up! I actually just came home from school about half an hour ago, yeeesh. Anyway, it's fun times still (even though it's a lot of work) and I enjoy one class in particular, Animation history class!

Now I know, w-t-f, history? (No not Work Time Fun, lol) But it's more interesting than regular history, hell, it's more interesting than a lot of non-history things too! We learned about the father of Animation, Windsor McCay. He is responsible for making Animation what it is today. Just watching his animations made me want to animate and get better.

Winsor McCay (September 26, 1867(?) – July 26, 1934) was a prolific artist and pioneer in the art of comic strips and animation. His comic strip work has influenced generations of artists, including creators such as Moebius, Chris Ware, William Joyce, and Maurice Sendak. His early animated films far outshone the work of his contemporaries, and set the model to be followed by Walt Disney and others. His two best-known creations are the newspaper comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, which ran from 1905 to 1914, and the animated cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur, which he created in 1914.

I was surprised to find that he made Nemo in Slumberland! Why, you ask? Well, back in 1990 Capcom released a game called Little Nemo: The Dream Master for the NES. I remember playing that game and thinking how awesome the gameplay and storyline were so I was excited to find out the connection. Anyway, just being geeky, I thought that connection was pretty cool (well the game is based off the movie, based off the comic), now I want to get the old Nemo comics.

Oh, and in case you've never played the NES game, click here to see a video.

First week of school ZOMG!

So I've just had my first taste of Animation school and let me tell you, it is SO much work!!!! Aghhhh, but I'm having way more fun than when I was in Design! I don't know how much game playing I can do but I did manage to convince one of the other guys to bring in his PS2 and guitar hero! :D I gotta try the 80's version still but yeah, it was a nice icebreaker, the 2nd years came in and played :)

Anyhoo, still getting adjusted, it's been a year since I was in school and I anticipate a lot of work >.< so please be patient with me please!

Also, as mentioned before I might post some stuff about animation as well so just a heads up again :P

Later all!

Yay for Guild Wars!

So I recently picked up my copy of the new Guild Wars expansion! As soon as I got home I installed it (and uninstalled Tabula Rasa because it won't work for me). I haven't been able to get too far into it just because it's the long weekend and my last chance to fully hang out with friends before I feel guilty about it because of school lol.

I also had a games night on Friday and played Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, Mario Party 8, Guitar Heroes 1 & 2 and Taiko Drum. Big Brain was pretty fun but for some reason the multiplayer wasn't working how we thought it would (maybe we were doing something wrong) so we quit and played Mario Party 8.

I was also able to get Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, just because I haven't tried the Gamecube version (I know, I know, for shame) and I've heard very good things about it, although I'm wondering how much time I'll have when school starts...

Anyway, I have to go to work soon, apparently since my Manager left and I was thinking of transferring, the Assistant Manager went crazy and canceled all my upcoming shifts... so yeah, that's fun times... Suffice to say I am going to transfer, especially after that, yeeesh.