So at the very end of their E3 2008 conference, Microsoft and Square Enix dropped a bomb on the Sony fanbase - an unforseen MEGATON! That bomb was Final Fantasy XIII for the 360. But you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't know that.

I'm torn. I'm a little upset not because I'm a Sony fanboy (god no) but because this means Square Enix can't keep their word. It's not about the exclusivity so much as they said repeatedly that DS/Wii/PS3 were their main platforms, and game after game is being announced for the 360. They're not really trustworthy after all when it comes to their direction for the future.

On the other hand I'm delighted that the game is coming to the 360 - it means I don't have to buy a PS3. I was going to get a 360 for Star Ocean 4, Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery and more but FFXIII is just icing on the cake. From a financial standpoint it didn't make much sense to keep it PS3 exclusive.

But I do feel a little bad for Sony and the Sony fanboys. It's like the Nintendo burn with FFVII all over again.

Just making a brief update to let everyone know that I'm not dead. Classes are out for the summer and I'm spending my free time writing and catching up on beating old games. Right now I'm playing through the Mega Man Anniversary Collection because of the hype behind MEGA MAN 9!!111 (DAY ONE!)

I'm looking forward to E3 and will be posting on GameSpot's E3 forum. I'll probably update again with a summary of what I thought about the show and each presentation. Right now I'm looking forward to what Nintendo has to show the most because they've been completely quiet. There's also no doubt that they're collaborating with a few 3rd parties as well.

Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is the little known and often ignored side game in the Star Ocean series for the Gameboy Color, released in 2001 only in Japan. I decided it deserved some attention, and here's a video of me playing through the intro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeCYG12hMHs

SOBS takes place 2 years after Star Ocean: The Second Story and features the return of all 12 main characters. When Ernest and Opera crash land on the mysterious Planet Edifice, Precis rounds up the gang in her spaceship and heads there to save them.

Star Ocean on a handheld may sound strange, but tri-Ace made it work, producing the most impressive game on the GBC. The battle system has been turned 2D, making it more similar to the Tales series than ever before. The game is semi-realtime, and the combat relies on combos to damage enemies, who now have health bars for their body parts.

Other gameplay devices include revamped Item Creation, where you play minigames to determine the item you'll get, and Field Actions where you can interact on the field map.

Spending as much time on the boards as I do, the rampant stupidity on the FFXIII boards are hard to ignore. A botched attempt at a Final Fantasy XIII fanfic in this thread lead me to hijack it for my own parody FFXIII fic, because the original one in that thread completely sucked.

And now, I present to you...the first and last entry of the Fabula Nova Clauddis saga, and hopefully the first and last story I write for a game that isn't out yet...

Final Fantasy Claude XIII

With not a lot of money to spend on games for the past few months, I've been having to go back and play older games in the meantime. Most of my recent purchases, after FF Crystal Chronicles and Wild Arms 4, have been for the DS. Now that I've cleared both Star Fox Command and Megaman ZX out of the way, I needed something else to play...Final Fantasy VII.

It's ironic. I've had this game for years, gotten into arguments with countless of its fanboys, and even played it when it first came out...but I never beat it. Actually, my progress stopped near the end of the first disc, so I've taken it upon myself to finally finish FFVII. It's a good way to tide me over until I buy some new games (Valkyrie Profile 2 and Children of Mana), and until I get my hands on other games in the FFVII compilation.

If there was one thing I always liked about this game, it was the Materia system. The customization is fun (though the best materia is always sparse), and finding new Materia is always something to look forward to. I've been playing quite a bit from where I left off, and right now I've just escaped from Junon and gotten access to the Highwind. I'm picking up things I missed (like the Titan summon materia) and gaining some enemy skills for more ownage. I'll probably update if anything else signifcant occurs while I'm playing.

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UPDATE: 10/14/06
I've just completed the Huge Materia quest. Right now I'm trying to collect all the party members Level 4 Limit manuals, with Cloud next. However, monsters in the Battle Square have picked a few key critical moments near the end of each challenge to pull off some cheap moves.

So, I've gone back and decided to power up some of the more useful Materia, and have gone to the Gelnika for Hades and Double Cut materia.With Cid's triple growth weapon, leveling Double Cut for 4x Cut may be a bit long and tedious but it should definitely pay off, and much faster than it would have too. I've also slapped some double growth equipment on Cloud and am currently using the Mideel area to level, where monsters are known to give up 320 AP a battle. One powerful spell or enemy skill can end the fight quickly, and MP can be replenished quick and freely from Mideel itself.

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UPDATE: 12/2/06
I haven't updated progress on my FFVII plythrough in awhile, because I put the game down once again a few weeks ago, getting caught up in Dark Cloud 2, Dragon Quest VIII, Children of Mana, and in a short amount of time...Zelda and the Wii. I stopped right before the Midgar raid on Disc 2, and have no idea when I'll be able to pick the game back up again (which will be no time soon, with finals creeping up).

I bought Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GCN) and Wild Arms 4 (PS2) for $31.

After playing FFCC for awhile, I can see why all the "ninnies" (as the Sony/Microsoft fanboys refer to Nintendo fanboys as) ***** and scream at this game. It's the exact opposite of the main line of playstation Final Fantasies: it lacks long, cinematic cutscenes or an overly ambitious plotline, and focuses mainly on gameplay, as you spend the majority trekking dungeons. That doesn't make it a bad game at all - quite the opposite. It's just a shame that the "ninnies" are so desperate for FF rehashes/ports that they can't recognize a good thing when they get one. With some more polish and less retrictions, FFCC could grow to be better than its main line brethrens in the gameplay department. I only hoep that the DS and Wii sequels are a little more user-friendly when ti comes to multiplayer, because at the moment, it's nearly impossible for some peopel to get a multiplayer game of FFCC going.

As for Wild Arms 4, I had planned on buying Alter Code F first (which I couldn't find in the store), but couldn't turn up a bargain on WA4. I didn't get to play it today as time flew by, and maybe I'll wait until I get and beat ACF to try WA4, but I doubt I can resist the temptation...