My thoughts on games, internet users in general, and any number of other random subjects.

• 14Jun 08

  Check out my review of Shaiya: Light and Darkness

  You can find it here:

  http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/shaiyalightanddarkness/player_review.html?id=582017

  Its a great game worth checking out. Let me know what you think!

  • Posted Jun 14, 2008 6:32 pm GMT
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• 22Apr 08

  Action Figures and "Plushies" are for little kids

  If you're over the age of 10, and you still collect these things, its time you did a little growing up. That is all.
  • Posted Apr 22, 2008 10:15 am GMT
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• 26Jan 08

  "What do you like about FFXII?"

  Those who hated, disliked, or simply found too many faults with Final Fantasy XII seem to love asking this question. They are so wrapped up in their own opinions about the game that they just can't fathom what someone else might enjoy about the game. So here it is, the list of things that I liked about Final Fantasy XII:

  I enjoy the large immersive world, beautiful vistas, and the ability to actually spend time exploring due to the sheer size of areas throughout the game. Since the beginning of the series, the world design has given each game the feeling of being on rails for the majority. XII remedies this by allowing large scale exploration almost from the beginning.

  I enjoy the gambit system, both for its highly customizable nature, and for the fact that the entire system is completely optional. That's right, you can turn gambits off and still play (pretty amazing, huh?). Furthermore, despite what the detractors like to claim, you can simply use gambits in moderation (automating healing, manually using offensive commands, among other things).

  I enjoy the much more grounded and realistic cast, as opposed to anime cliches of the past several games. From VII to X the games have felt like playable animes, which is nothing short of dull. Even the SNES felt a bit anime, though the sprite graphics helped to water down this effect. XII remedies this by delivering characters that feel as if they belong in literature.

  I enjoy the storyline for feeling like a mix between Tactics, FF6, and Vagrant Story: a mix of politics and fantasy. I hated the over-the-top internal struggle storylines of the PS1 era. X's was ok, but XII finally gave us something a bit more interesting.

  I enjoy the extremely creative, well designed summons as being some of the best in the series, and welcomed the change from massively overpowered to they'll only work for you if you're smart enough to use them properly. Lets face it, summons have been broken since FFVII's introduction of Knights of the Round. During the SNES era they were useful, without being broken. X was the pinnacle of broken summons, with mega-damage available with most of the summons in the game. XII brings it back down to a level where you actually have to plan out your summon use and put some effort and thought into making them useful.

  I enjoyed the cities, towns, and dungeons for their attention to detail and their feel of being much more alive than in past games. You need only spend a little time looking around at structures such as the Rabanastre Palace, Necrohol of Nabudis, or Tomb of Raithwall to appreciate how well crafted these things are.

  I enjoyed having a villain that you were meant to sympathize with his point of view, rather than simply hate him because he's the ultimate evil. This is closely tied to the anime cliche bit mentioned above, but super villains such as Kuja and Sephiroth are dull. Villains that feel both human and dangerous (as opposed to feeling like demi-gods) are a much more interesting angle

  I enjoyed the fact that archaic features such as random battles and explorable "world maps" were eliminated. Let's face it. These features are nothing more than antiquated relics of the past. They were brought into use due to limits of technology in past consoles. There is enough storage and processing power in present day consoles, that we no longer have need of such things. The only reason that people refuse to let go is for the nostalgic value that the system holds. There are no legitimate reasons for it.

  • Posted Jan 26, 2008 3:25 am GMT
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