Star Ocean: The Last Hope is a prequel to Star Ocean 1 (for the SNES, or it's remake for the PSP - Star Ocean: First Departure). The game comes in 3 DVDs for the Xbox360, in a very poor case (they are all stacked! I know you gotta cut costs and such, Square Enix. But can't you give us proper packaging at least?). I'm gonna start talking about the things I didn't like in the game first, and save the better for last. First thing - many people had trouble with the game freezing, myself included. The funny thing is that what worked for some, didn't work for others. In my case, I started playing from the DVD until it started freezing on me on the first disc. The game does not have a lot of save points, which means that the game could freeze on you in a long dungeon and thus making you have to redo it all again. My solution then was copying the game to my 360's HD, and after I started playing from the HD, I never had trouble again with this issue.

Another thing that didn't please many was the storyline. It was very superficial, average at best. I cannot chose a "favorite" character in this game, because although some efort was made to develop them through Private Actions, it was very uninspired. The character designs didn't help either; doll-like faces as Lymles' made it hard to make you feel any connection to those characters. In my opinion, the NPCs in the game were far more interesting than the main cast, for whatever reason. At a major plot twist in the middle of the game, many people gets annoyed with a certain character's depressed mode... myself included!

Although the Item Creation part of the game isn't bad (I liked it was very easy to make new items and such, very straightforward), I didn't see much use for it. The best weapons can only be made after you finish the extra bosses, and after you do face them, why bother making those items?! Seriously.... And speaking of extra content, the game does offer quite some. Personally, I liked it especially the extra bosses Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen. The one thing that really ticked me off was the lack of save points at the Wandering Dungeon, in which you face Ethereal Queen. It is ridiculous going through that 5+ dungeon without being able to save, then having your behind handed to you by her and losing all those hours in vain. My blood boils just remembering that (YEAH, I got pwned my first try, and I had taken 7 hours to get to her. UGH!).

Now, into the really good stuff. The music of the game is amazing, as you would expect from Motoi Sakuraba. There are many tunes from previous Star Ocean games, including my favorite battle themes like "Don't Be A Hero" (it is SO EPIC!) and "Stab The Sword of Justice" (from SO2). The game's graphics were outstanding until you'd start a battle. The framerate drops a lot because of the franctic battle system. For me, it didn't matter as much because I was more into the battle system than paying attention to the battle's graphics, but many people didn't like. Oh well! I also liked a lot some of the background designs and such.

The greatest thing in this game though, IS the battle system. It is very fast paced (and to think I'd only play turn-based RPGs a few years ago!), many cool abilities including the awesome Blindside attack, which is pretty much like the slow motion effect in Matrix so to speak - you press a certain button when attacking the opponent, then it will show in slow motion your character going behind the opponent and striking it. So awesome! You also have the Battle Trophies, like in Star Ocean 3, however this time, you have plenty more - 100 for each character. If you don't know, Battle Trophies are like "achievements" (not in the Xbox360 sense) for fufiling a certain requirement in battle - say, Edge needs to do 10 Blindsides.

Overall, it is still an enjoyable game if you are into RPGs and fast-paced battle systems, or of course, if you are a fan of the Star Ocean series. Otherwise, I'm afraid you may not enjoy this game at all, making yourself drag to finish this game. Personally, I liked as an overall product - I just wish the didn't have the ridiculous character design and average storyline. This is a game that could have been so much more and had a lot of potential that went to waste.

Now I'm back again! Who saw another blog post coming, heh? After roughly an year, I have finally decided to make yet another post on this gaming blog. I hope everyone is doing great and have been playing lots of cool games! I myself played many games while I was away (even while I was at "A" School, the Navy training school). As some of you know, last year I had been gone for several months because I joined the US Navy and had gone to boot camp and the training school. As you can see, I made it back alive (lol!). I even managed to get advanced to Petty Officer 3rd c lass because I was among the top 10% on the graduating c lass

There is so much to talk about, but I will refrain from writing a whole new testament for now. I'm gonna talk about some games I've been playing lately, instead. Two days ago, I went out of my way to get a hold of Final Fantasy VII International, which was released on the Japanese PSN. Since I do not own a Japanese credit card, I had to go to Ebay and buy one of those point cards (I got one with 3,000 pts) so that I could use it on my newly created Japanese PSN account.... The game's size is huge (1.7GB) and since my memory stick is only 2GB, I pretty much had to delete all my media and games from the American PSN (glad I can download them back later). I have been playing it since, and you know, it is nice to be able to play FFVII on my PSP instead of having to plug my PS2 and hook it to my monitor in order to play the game. Obviously, I wish the game had English option, but nonetless, it has been the same old fun time I had with this game. Still, I wished they had included some sort of extras, especially for the price (the PSN games cost 600 PSN pts, but FFVII costs 1500 because they know stupid people like me are willing to pay it... yeah, shame on me).

Besides playing FFVII, I finished a few games earlier. The most recent, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, was an amazing journey. It was a very dark game, but the plot was handled well in my opinion. I loved the game's battle system - it combined our beloved VP combat s ystem with strategy concepts - , I love the character designs and of course, the soundtrack by Motoi Sakuraba. I may write a review for this game later on, time permitting! I also finished another tri-Ace game, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, and my opinion is a bit different from VP. True, I liked the game a lot - the battle system is simply addicting and very fast-paced; I got owned by both Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen (the extra bosses) on my first try at them. But the story and the character designs... ugh. The story is average for the most part, but the characters are barely likeable. Chances are that if you play this game, you are gonna get annoyed by Lymle's "kay". lol. As with VP, I might spend some time later on to write my review of the game. Aside from that, another title I played was Street Fighter IV; a few years ago I had written here on my blog an article about the awesome moments I had playing SF II, so I was very pleased and happy playing years later a new and revamped Street Fighter!

Now, games I'm looking forward to. Honestly, right now I'm more interested in playing and finishing my HUGE back log of games, which include a few Suikodens for the PS2, Dragon Quests for the DS and continue playing FFVII International while learning more Japanese. I'm happy that I have finally been getting to play a game finishing it till the end instead of just stopping in the middle of it and then going to play something else. It has given somewhat sense of accomplishment in my gaming life, lol! I hope to going back to participating more around here as I used to, as well as contributing for unions or whatever. We'll see!

Thanks for reading, and again, Happy Easter if you celebrate it; if you don't, I wish you peace and hapiness!

PS: Gamespot HASN'T fixed those c.lass / s.ystem problems YET?! WOW... 1 year and this is still the same! That's insane GS, what a shame!!

Hi there you all! How are things going?

I'm here to introduce my new project. Yesterday, Celes,Full_Metal1923, Kryu88 and I (and my Brazilian friend Destroya, and waiting on Oblivion's reply! XD) opened a new union, Square Enix Reunion. Do I need to say what it is about? XD

First things first, some of you know I had been leader at SEE for quite some time last year until I had to leave for a while for personal reasons. Due to some circumstances, I decided to permanently relinquish my leadership at SEE last week.

I am very proud of the things I have done to SEE last year, many of them which wouldn't have been able to exist without the help of the wonderful officers I recruited last year. I remember when Fantasy_Gamer invited me to take care of the newly stabilished union; there was hardly anyone posting there due to some events that happened and which made SEE coming into existence. I also remember Fantasy_Gamer giving me my first "duty": to clean up the archives sections!

This had been my first real experience taking charge of such a big union (at least if only by number of members, but not of activity). And it was a challenge that I had decided to take and see how far could I go. Because deep inside, as a SE fan just like any of you, I knew what was missing there.

Well, months came by and eventually, we started coming up with many different things that made SEE be what it has become right now; we implemented various activities and the union started to ignite. We went over the 4,000 members count, and more importantly, we grew to know each other better in the process and make friends. It wasn't anymore just about Square Enix games, but the PLAYERS, the COMMUNITY in it. My idea in creating the Character System was to give us a "nudge" to become more informal with each other, to be more friendly. And I believe that at least on that matter, I succeeded.

At any rate, things happen and now here I am. Last week I gathered some very nice people and asked their help to form a brand new union. We are going to thrive to excel on the same concepts we had in mind for SEE, and of course, add more things to it. Because I believe in always changing. We can't allow things to stagnate, or else they lose their glow. We have always to keep improving, trying to figure out ways to make things better - because the possibilities are endless if you look at the right way and with the right intentions.

That being said, I invite everyone who reads my blog and who would be interested in a Square Enix community, to join us!

Square Enix Reunion

I hope you enjoy it there. We will work hard to make that union have the shape and content we have in mind, and keep the community growing not just in numbers, but in building strong friendships. And on a last note, thank you very much for everyone at SEE who gave me their support during the time I was the leader, and thank you very much also for those supporting it now at Square Enix Reunion! We can make it through!

Thanks for reading my blog, as always! Oh, and coming up next, my Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion Wars review!

PS: We had quite a discussion as for the name of the new union.... two options were fought over with all heart and mind - "Reunion" and "Republic". Unfortunately Celes and I were minority with "Republic", thus "Reunion" became the union's name. I am curious as to what you guys would have chosen? Square Enix Republic, or Square Enix Reunion? Please feel free to comment on this!

On My Life as an Amusement Park's Bumper Car.

Seriously, I don't have luck with cars. Last year, I hit someone's bumper at a construction site just next to my apt (nothing serious, but I did earn a $140 ticket for innatentive driving and I didn't even scratch the ladies' car). Last monday, I was the victim. I was waiting at the Taco Bell drive-in line, when all of a sudden, the car in front of me simply backs up on me and hits me!!! I was ready to get out of the car and pull a Obi Juan Kenobi on the crazy person, when I just noticed it was only a teenager. She explained to me that she backed on me because a car on her side was backing out on hers... Genius! The thing is it messed up my bumper, and I haven't even PAID THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF MY NEWLY FINANCED CAR YET!!! XDDDDD The universe conspiring against my cars, apparently! At any rate, this Monday I'll take it to their insurance place to get photos taken, and they will avaliate how much is the damage. Let's see what's gonna happen.

On The War of the Lion.

Final Fantasy Tactics: I finally managed to play it some more, especially after I got me a PSP slim! I just finished chapter 1 and so far I can tell this translation is a lot easier to follow than the PS1's version, which was so full of misunderstanding. I have some grudge with the camera, but all in all, it is the same great SRPG I always liked! Oh yeah, and I love the game's cinematics art, it is so cute, along with the dub. Sorry I don't have much to comment on the game yet; I'd rather wait until I have finished it to review.

On the Constant of Love.

Why I love Lost so much? Because it is a very intelligent show (maybe one of the most on the American TV) and that challenges my thoughts, my ideas. I know it may sound a bit emo, but like my favorite Final Fantasy (VI), you have a HUGE cast of characters, and you can't really say that only one of them is the central, main character. Almost every single character has a link and some importance to the storyline. Of course, some shine more than others, but nonetheless they all have more than their 15 minutes in a meaningful way to the series as a whole. I also cannot recall a tv show that agregates so many fields of studies like physics, technology, philosophy, religion - just to cite a few - , only the PS game Xenogears had a similar way of mixing so many together. I remember my former bf was all excited years ago when he was reading about the shallow earth theory, and I was like "yeah, sounds cool", as if it wasn't something brand new to me. And indeed, it wasn't new for me, because watching Lost and also following the boards full of communities with great theories, you get to read and learn about all sorts of things, from quantum theories to time travels and their place in the story. And above all, this week's episodes truly shows why Lost is such a wonderful show: like it is mentioned by the physist Faraday, "every equation needs a constant". And the main constant in life is: love. After watching an episode like "The Constant", it makes really hard not to love Lost, and appreciate the subtleness of Desmond's and Penny's "I love you".

Wahhh anyway *ahem* we need some mathematicians and physicians around to decypher Faraday's journal! There are a lot of captions taken from the episode, and I'm sure that the creators hid some gems in there regarding our crazy theories, especially all those equations he wrote on the board! Oh well, bring it on the next episode!

So, here I am again with another blog post! How have you guys/gals been? I have been doing great!!! Many wonderful things have happened recently in my life (as well some really annoying ones! lol). Let's start with my Mass Effect afterthoughts. I know it has been a while but since I didn't have the opportunity to write my thoughs on the game, I'm gonna do it right now!

As many of you know, I was really hyped for this game because it was a scifi RPG. Watching many previews and the likes, I really had my hopes up with this new franchise. Ron (SavoyPrime) definately knew I couldn't wait for this game as I used to comment a lot about Mass Effect. At any rate, I pre-ordered the game and got it right away when it was released. I played the entire game in about 3-4 days (roughly 24 hours of total gameplay). In a long time, a game hadn't surpassed my expectations. ME did it. It was one of those rare games that made me play AND replay it entirely in a short period of time. It is the first game I can remember that I beat even Hardcore mode (and working on Insanity)!

The gameplay is just great - I believe that because I was learning to play Halo 3, when I got to the action packed ME, I didn't do bad at all (expect one part in which MANY MANY gamers I found out had the same trouble - Matriarch Benezia!!! Argh! What a difficult dang fight was, worse than the final boss!). The gameplay was also deep and interesting enough that I actually took time looking at all my options and learning about different skillsets and such, as well as upgrades (though the upgrade menu is a pain and completely unorganized). From the beginning you can build your own customized character, and that's what I did. Since I "created" her and all, as I played through the game, I was growing really attached to her, and eventually I was like - you know what, that's ME there kicking b&&t! - and that leads me to the storyline part of the game...

...which happens to be amazing and one of the best storylines I've ever played in a game, Final Fantasies included. You don't grow attached to your character just because you created her/his physical appearance and skill sets. You have that connection because of the choices you are able to make throuhought the game. For instance, you can choose many answers to dialogues, and some of them are "good", some are "bad", and some are "neutral" in an ethical and moral point of view. The dialogues are so well crafted and interesting that you end up wanting to replay the game again to watch the different outcomes (and believe me, there are some drastic changes in the storyline for when you choose different options). To be frank, I couldn't finish the game the "bad" gal. Some of the choices were just too much for me to handle (but then again, I'm so emo for some things in life... lol).

The graphics aren't really outstanding for many, but I did enjoy it with the film grain option, which really made the game look like more like a movie than just a game. I wished there had been more options to customize your characters' appearance, but regardless it was a pretty decent pack.

The soundtrack is pretty good, nothing that I'd consider superb but definately nothing bad. It just flows with the game and helps with the environment.

Regarding the game content, I believe it was great, though I admit those "sidequests" on the planet explorations were rather boring (it kinda reminded me of Crisis Core's sidequests, which were also terribly boring). Hope are that with new downloadable content from Live will help on this by adding more meaningful sidequests.

Seeing that it has been planned two more games for Mass Effect, I'm honestly happy I played it and I can't wait for the entire trilogy. It has become my "Star Wars", with the difference that this time I actually had the opportunity to play it when it was released (or watched as I believe Mass Effect is much more than just another "game"). Only once you play, you will understand what I mean by that. And I do hope that we will be able to carry on our first games' character to the second game!

Anyway, now let's get Lost. Okay, I mean both the TV show and the Odyssey! Some of you may know I L-O-V-E the TV show "Lost", and yes, I am extremely happy the fourth season is up and running now! I'm also counting the days for Lost Odyssey, the reason I got a 360. It seems to be exactly what I want: the traditional RPG I fell in love with. I'll probably feel nostalgic again because of those bunch of CDs - it will definitely reminde me of my FFVII's and FFVIII's days, when you had to insert "disc 2" to continue to play. Ah... those were good old times!

Now to end this long post (hey, I don't post very often anyway! ), I'm organizing at my local church a Videogame Night. Father already allowed me to use the projector and TVs they have at the church, and the event is scheduled for March 1st. I'd invite you all but I believe none of you live here in Wichita Kansas, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm partially away from Gamespot but still messing around gaming-wise. lol. I really hope this event works out, because then we could meet more times to socialize.

And speaking of being away from Gamespot, begining May 28, I won't be around anymore for 5 months! And that means anything - MSN, MySpace, Live and etc. So, unless otherwise stated, it isn't because I'm dead or wanted by the FBI (LOL). Some people here already know what's going on for those 5 months, but honestly I'm keeping a low profile, hehehe.

Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying your favorite games! Oh and as a side note, I got a Wii for my middle brother as a birthday gift! He is loving it!

... The Xbox360!!! A long time after their releases, I finally got a hold of a next-gen console. And as I always told many of my friends, the 360 would be the first, especially due to them also have it and thus, being able to play online with them. I remember that at the beginning of the year, I had a post in which I described some things I wanted to get this year, and finally I get the 360! After a lot of overtime workload, lol! One of our few co-workers went on vacation, and I ended up with so much stuff to do that I had to go to work even on Saturday. But now she has returned, and I'm back to my normal 40 hours... XD

Here is a picture of it. And by the way, that Starbucks bottle has a meaning!! It is a homage to my friend Ursula (queen_valentine) who was just promoted at her Starbucks store. Way to go girl!!!

Anyway, I also got Halo 3 along with the console. (which as you can see, was the Halo edition; I thought that console was just beautiful, even more so than the Elite!) I even put a Gundam that matches... how girlie of me! )
Although I get owned all the time playing online with friends, I enjoy it. At least now there are people actually helping me to play, instead of just leting me to die all the time like my ex and his friends used to on Halo 2...

I obviously got Blue Dragon! Though I haven't played a lot yet (only about 5 hours as of now), I find the game rather interesting and the characters are pretty charismatic. But I'll write more on it once I get more hours into the game.

Besides those two, I also got some Live Arcade games. I got Uno, which I just love to play with my brother (the real thing), and now I can play with many other people on a videogame... I would have never thought of that years ago when I played with my father, lol. I got Castlevania, which was a great PS1 game that now has been placed at Live. But the game I have really been putting some effort on is Puzzle Quest. I had read great reviews about this game that was supposed to be a mix of RPG and Puzzle. I tried finding it for my ex-psp (which I sold to my friend Jason in order to help getting my 360! XD) but I couldn't find at any stores around here. So when I found it at Live, I definitely got it and got addicted to it. It is really neat that you don't have to rely on pure luck with those puzzles, as you can forge new items, gain levels, research new spells that help you with specific tasks and such! There is just so much! The only thing that ticks me off is the random encounters, which get pretty annoying once all you want to do is to go back to places to get your gold and etc. Other than that, it is indeed a really interesting and enjoyable game.

Well, that's it for now. By the way, I sold my PSP but I still have my brother's to use (I got - of course! - Final Fantasy Tactics and I'll post about it later, once I get freed from Puzzle Quest's stronghold! XD ) so don't panic. I also took the pic above showing my PS2 so that it gets some loving as well, LOL! I will never abandon my Playstation! The Fantasy cannot end!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The reason I got a PSP. It was finally released last week, and I just couldn't wait for an English version to be released (which even hasn't been announced yet). And I don't regret any penny I spent on this game.

For those who don't know, this game is a prequel for the original Final Fantasy VII (PS1). The game tells the story of Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER - a military division of ShiRa Electric Power Company, who progresses through the rankings of the military and eventually becomes a SOLDIER 1st C lass. However, this is not only what it is about. It is about the experiments that ShinRa Company does to their soliders and its secrets, projects involving Jenova, an alien life form like which crashed at the Planet about 2000 years ago on the FFVII's storyline. We get to see again what prompted the legendary 1st C lass SOLDIER Sephiroth into the major villain of FFVII and the most memorable in all Final Fantasy history.

Although I don't have that much knowledge of Japanese to actually have a deep understanding of all the events that occured in the game, the CGI's and voiced scenes help a lot, and you can have a decent guess of what is going on, especially when you are already familiar with the storyline before hand. Personally, I loved how it was put together. From the nostalgic intro of him jumping off the train like Cloud does in FFVII, to the eternal scenes of madness of Sephiroth at the Nibel Mako Reactor; the game actually feels like it is a part of the FFVII, like it should. It is actually weird (in a good sense) to see Sephiroth before he became the insane villain. Weird and really cool seeing him a good guy and even treating some people as friends.

What really makes this game special for Final Fantasy VII players and fans, is how much of the little details they kept from the original game. Scenes including the Shinra Mansion, when Sephiroth reads about the truth about himself and the Jenova Project, and stares at the ceiling with disgust - it is like playing FFVII over again - but with great graphics and superb sound. You have that nostalgia feeling that you've played that before, and only now you can clearly see their expressions and gestures full with details. That being said, if you ever watched the anime Last Order (which tell about this Nibel incident), you can rest assured - this time they kept everything in its FFVII original events! I also have to say that I'm amazed at how good looking this PSP game is. I can't say it is the best looking since I don't play many PSP games, but I definitely have the feeling that this is one of the best - something that Square Enix always knows how to achieve somehow.

About the gameplay - turning away from those turn-based battles to an action packed battle system that still keeps that FFVII essence. I really enjoyed it; at first it may feel like a button masher, but as you learn more about the system and play through the missions (there are 300 of them), you not only get a hold of dodging the opponent's attacks, but learns when to attack using your materias like Thundaga from afar and slicing and dicing them with the yellow materias. The Digital Mind Wave system is also something that adds randomness and funny moments to the battles - sometimes you will get hillarious limit breaks like the Chocobo and Moogle ones, or a fancier one imitating Sephiroth's or Genesis' attacks. And of course, the cute ones like when you get the three Aeris faces on the slots - he prays and gets healed!

The score of this game gathers new compositions but, in another act of pure nostalgia, brings back well known themes from the original Final Fantasy VII. I just loved One Winged Angel's new arrangement, and also others like FFVII's Boss Battle Theme, Aeris' Theme, and so on. The new themes are mostly rocky based, and we even have something from the anime Last Oder. Another great addition to the FF music repertoir.

To sum up, this game, at least to me, felt like a mini-remake of Final Fantasy VII, and is was a wonderful experience revisiting those main events and seeing the new content. I'll definitely wait now for the English version, with no regret of spending twice for this game! I guess that, in the end, even I became a FFVII fangirl...

It is amazing sometimes how a certain game can keep you playing for hours and hours, without you realizing how much time you've spent playing it. Jeanne D'arc, the strategic RPG for the PSP is exactly like that with me. I got the game the day it was released, just expecting your average SRPG. Then once I started it, I just kept on playing it and looking forward to the next play (hey, after all, I got a job and a life! ).

The game may be a bit simple regarding the tactics (for example, if you use a Heal spell and the range for this spell covers opponents, it will not heal them, only your own allies), there are many interesting features and many things to do. The game has a synthetizing system of skills, which when you combine two, it produces a new and stronger skill. Although not that deep, the game can be (and will be!) challenging for the most part. There are character transformations in form of gems - you collect them throuhough the game but some are also given due to the storyline, as it is one of the main plots.

Speaking of the story, I thought it was a well done and wonderful one. It grabs your attention and makes you want to go on to the next stage to see what happens next. There are some interesting turns and it is engaging, along with many anime scenes in between many stages. It is also neat how some of the stages require different things - sometimes you will only place a few characters on the battlefield, sometimes you are forced to use those characters you never really used, and the design levels are really great, as some requires more than just move-attack steps.

The graphics are really neat and colorful, specially the scenes. The designs are also wonderful, and the sound, I find it to be just right; nothing really outsdanding, but also nothing really bad.

The game really deserves the nice scores it received from the major gaming reviews; it is a great addition to many people's PSP library.

Speaking a bit of Bioshock now, I had downloaded the demo to see what the hype was about. And now I can see why. The game is just like a piece of art. Not just the graphics and the design overall, but everything that was put together makes the game look extraordinary; the creepy atmosphere, the sounds of the environment, the lightning and color contrasts... I just may end up getting the game sometime to see how's the storyline hold up to the rest. A rather interesting game.

Finally, I went to the anime convention here in my town, the Anime Festival Wichita. It was amazing, as good as last year. I actually got to see more of the events this year, got more stuff and this time even meet some people. I've taken some pictures, but most are all darkened and the like... I really need to learn how to properly take photos...

Here I have the photos (click on them to enlarge):

I thought Selphie cosplayer was one of the best; it really suited her! The dark haired Cloud is my friend Michael. The Vincent trading arts figure I got while at the event, as well the autographed Piano Squall CD! The man in purple outfit is the host of the event, Peter Pixie, a really nice person! There were a bunch of Yuna cosplayers, so I took some photos of them as well. And of course, I found an Aeris so I took her picture as well! Next year I'll try to take more pictures! And HOPEFULLY this time I'LL be cosplaying too!!

Well, that's all for now! Have a great Labor Day (for those around here)!

Hi there! First off, thank you so much for everyone who gave me their support in the past few months. Not just because of the breakup, but the other stuff that went on and that was much worse than that. I deeply appreciate your support. You guys/gals are just amazing. I also apologize for the lack of presence at the unions I'm a member. I look forward to come back full-force, as I have so many plans and ideas for them, especially SEE and The Farthest Land.

Now, I don't want this blog to become a boring place where you guys only read depressing stuff, so I'll refrain from doing it ever again!

Now, onto games!

I have to say that I wasn't all that impressed this E3, probably because there weren't obviously breaking news like a new console and such. But I did enjoy quite a few announcements, like Starcraft 2. Well, at least we still have Tokyo Game Show, and I expect to see many interesting games.

As many of you, I have many games I can't wait for! Here is a list of my most wanted games:

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion Wars - With those great new animated scenes and new additions to this game, there is just no way I could pass this game. I spent a lot of hours on the PSOne version years ago, and I can't wait to spend many more on a portable like the PSP.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - What can I say? Looks amazing each new screen and seems to have a really fun battle system. Not to mention we'll se again Aeris and company! It will be a great addition to the PSP rpg library!

Jeanne D'arc - Another tactical rpg, and it also looks amazing! I would like to see if the storyline is as amazing...

Final Fantasy IV DS - Ah... one of my favorite games, and they will finally remake it and not just port away... I have hopes they will remake VI as well, the way these two games deserve.

Starcraft 2 - I look at the screenshots and, although the graphics aren't like oblivion and such, they are really well done and shinny, if you know what I mean! I can't wait for more information and all the stuff that will be available on the game, as well as a eventual demo...

Hellgate London - I confess I'm counting the days for a pc game as well! It looks amazing, has a really interesting storyline and seems like it has a great gameplay!

Fallout 3 - Playing in a post apocalypt world? Oh yeah! Seems like it will have a great storyline. Another pc game I can't miss!

There are other games I'm looking forward (like the Dragon Quest remakes), but those listed are the ones that come to my mind right now and are just great. Also, I'm looking forward to collect as many RPGs as I can (even though I know it is virtually impossible ). I got lucky and found a copy of Suikoden III at my local Gamestop. At any rate, this is it! I hope you are all doing great, and thanks again for coming by!

Once upon a time, there was a young boy and a young girl. Both had a copy of a special key, a key that opened the Door of Miracles. The girl believed those keys had been given to them by faith, and was really happy with the boy. However, as time went by, her key was somehow lost. Every now and then she would wonder where did she let if fall. Because only half of the door could be opened, things became unclear, and the other person started to feel as if he was caring a burden.

However, that girl tried once again looking for that key, and she thought she had found it. So she got out her work early and tried to open it. She entered through that door, that last chance. For a moment there, she could see that special key shining in her hands. For the first time, she had actually started looking for it and thought she find it. After knocking for a while, the door opened. She just didn't realize though that the reason she went through that door this time in the first place was because the other key had opened it, and that key was thrown away thereafter.

Now the Door of Miracles is permanently closed, and she holds that key in her hands, still wondering why didn't she make it in time. Still wondering where the other key was thrown away and if one day, will they hold each one their special keys again.

Considering the game was supposed to aim at the children age, I'm amazed how many older people are playing it just for the sake of being "Final Fantasy". And I admit it, I'm one of those who played the game mostly because of the various Final Fantasy references, including of course, the sound track. And all I have to say is that, the game is really good. Though I enjoyed Chocobo Racing a lot more (probably because I was able to go through all the races and get all the unlockables), this one also had a lot of funny times. As well as times getting on my nerves! I mean, there are some mini games and micro games that are just a pain to achieve a win on Hard mode... and thus, getting a rare card. Speaking of cards, although not great like Triple Triad in FFVIII, it is still a decent card game.

At any rate, I do recommend this game for any FF fan, especially for those who love seeing other FF references everywhere, or listening the awesome "Fierce Battle" theme in the 'boss battles'. I finished the game in about 12 and a half hours... without getting all the cards of course and not playing wi-fi yet. From what I've read in the game's boards, many people seem to purposedly disconnect when they see they are losing the game... that's shady, but oh well. Ah and at the boards there was a silly person saying that only those who are above 24 years of age could play videogames... and him himself had a DBZ tatoo on his back... do I need to say more about the kind of person says something like that?

Well, now I'll probably get the not so good Children of Mana and play it for the sake of it... at least while I wait for FFXII: Revenant Wings, which I am very hyped about. Every new scan on that game just makes me want to go ahead and get the Japanese version... but I think I'll just wait for the american... we'll see!

As you may have noticed, I finally changed my blog's banner, since the past one still had "Apt #33" on it... and I just chose this time this cool CG of Zack! He just looks awesome. I don't plan on changing this in a while now. As you might expect, Crisis Core: FFVII is another game I'm really looking forward to. And so you don't bash me as SE whore, I'm also looking forward to Odin Sphere, from Atlus!

Anyway, I guess that's it for now! I hope everybody here is playing a lot of cool games! Thanks for reading the blog!

What? You don't know what Death Note is? It is another anime that is keeping me pluged on my monitor (and on my mangas)! I'm not gonna spoil anything so I'll keep quiet. But I may get depressed in the upcoming weeks, lol!
Death Note is another one of those animes that have intelligent plots.As I read though the manga, I was so amazed! It is also so nice how you end up stoping to think what is going to happen next. As for the most recent episode, it finally ends a not-so cool arc, but that was necessary for the real thing to begin. Since I already read the manga, I pretty much know what's gonna happen after that, and honestly, it is something I really didn't like, even though it was a nice plot twist. But I'll keep watching and not lose faith, lol! Let's just see what they are gonna do.

Anyways, I finally got everything right here in my new apartment! OH, yeah! I guess I'll have to change my blog's title, which used to be called Apartment #33! LOL! Now it is Apartment #601! Hahaha.

I'm almost done putting everything in its place; I also made some cool purchases. I finally bought a decent set of speakers, now I have surround sound! Oh yeah! That was so great watching the action-packed Death Note episode #23 using this! I also got me a scanner; now I can scan my art and finalize it on my pc. Oh yeah, the Jdrama I was watching, Hana Yori Dango Returns, just ended las week! It was an awesome ending, I really liked it!

By the way, I'm posting on march 24, and I realised that this was the date I joined Gamespot, in 2005! Cool!
The Square Enix Experience union seems to be doing better now, thanks to our members efforts in bringing up discussions at the boards. Thanks to all!

Anyway, talking about my new job as web graphic designer! It is pretty cool, my co-workers are really funny and great people. I'm really enjoying it there. I'm also learning a lot of new things on my area.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Sorry, no games on this post. I just haven't played much in the past few weeks due to other projects and working on the union... but I'll try to play some this week! See ya!

My, my! I was lucky enough to find a good job as a graphic designer! When I was ready to give up my area and change it to something like international relations... appears a job opportunity exactly on the field I wanted!

My new job is in another town, so I went looking for a new apartment last saturday. Finally I'm moving away from those wooden walls! The new apartment is also remodeled, so I'll be paying a bit more, but won't have any headaches (hopefully) when I move in.

I got a two bedroom, so now my brother doesn't have to stay in the living room! Since he comes only on weekends because of his school, I'll probably make that room my 'office' as well. I can't wait to move in and arrange all my stuff.

My news don't stop right here; I was recently promoved to officer at the former FFU, now Square Enix Experience, and soon after, I became the leader. So far the union is not doing well - I don't know if the people who used to go there have some kind of grudge against it or something - but I hope we can get things going. I'm rearranging everything and trying to put as much content as I can. If you like Square Enix games and would like to stop by, please do!

So I guess that's it for now! I'll be getting very busy on the next few days, hahaha. Oh yeah, just to pretend I had some gaming news on this entry: yes, I'm playing FFVI Advance for the GBA, which was finally released in the US. But you probably already guessed that, haha! See ya!

So, I decided to start the year taking some pictures of my gaming corner (my room), which I totally rearranged. Now everything is in my room! I also took a pic of me (my brother wasn't here today as he had basketball practice) before going to a co-worker's wedding. This time not a tomboyish pic like two years ago, lol!

Gaming Corner: You can see pretty much all my Bemani stuff, videogame, my games and books rack...

PC "Fenrir" and other stuff laying around: Well, at least the monitor is shown here, hahaha.

The PC's case: Meh, when I look at other people's cool case, I feel mine is so boring! Oh well, all I wanted was a blue one! And I got it!

Mangas, Games, books and etc: Heh, that plastic drawer has a bunch of mangas, including some translated into portuguese!

My Wallscroll and Cowboy hat!: I wish I had a Squall's one instead of Cloud's but oh well... And that hat was from a Kansas festival!

And man, I can't forget to start working on my Lady Oscar cosplay; I was going as Aeris, but after last year's convention here in Wichita, I got bored because there were about 4 Aeris cosplayers there! At least I'll most likely be the only one dressed as Lady Oscar there. It
is already 2007! Only half way to the anime convention season start
again! I need to buy a blonde cosplay wig! Oh and yeah, I can't forget to get a red rose and carry on my mouth like her, hahaha. At least I already chose which outfit I'll use, the blue one (Lady Oscar wears a white one, then a red and then, when
in command of the French Guard, the blue one):

Anyway, do you guys/gals have pictures of your gaming place? If so, why don't you share so we can take a peak?

Now, into games... I've been playing Neverwinter Nights 1! I couldn't a few weeks ago because the game was all sloppy, which didn't make sense... but I found out that the reason was because the .ini file had an option not suited for dual processors, so I got that right and now the game is running smoothly! Also, I suspect the reason my Oblivion was exiting to the desktop out of the blue was becase I had Xfire on...

Well, I guess that's it! I hope you have a great gaming year! And if you have pics of your setups you'd like to share, I'll gladly post them here!

So... the end of the year is here. As much as I had many great things happening in 2006, overall I think the year wasn't that nice. But what matters is that we are still here after all huh, never giving up. By the way, I had a really nice Christmas. My brother spent it here at home. My boyfriend gave me a book I wanted, "The World is Flat". So far it is a pretty good reference book.

In terms of games, I believe I played and enjoyed more games than last year though! It is probably the first time I got away from playing only RPGs. This time around I played rhytym games, RTS... and is was awesome. I just wonder why only now I started having a little bit of variety, hahaha. Heck, I even tried MMORPGs (and didn't like of course, hahaha. Just too boring and expensive).

And of course, I watched a bunch of great animes, and the one which is now my favorite of all time, The Rose of Versailles. It is said there will be a new OVA sometime in 2007... I can't wait! Hopefully it will be a decent job done.

I got my new computer (btw I made a signature for it! ), argued a lot with my boyfriend, got good grades in Math... lol, what else could have happened? Lol.

Here's my last batch of new additions for this year:

Beatmania: Good game despite people saying the american version is bad. Worthy for the controller, since the bundle is now on sale since nobody wants it! XD
Starcraft: Here's the second RTS game I played now; a lot easier than Company of Heroes so a better start for me on this genre. I got pawned by my brother playing online... XD
Dawn of War: This game is really fun to play! And in my opinion, easier than Starcraft... I don't know if this is a fact or it is just me. But I'm advancing a lot quicker on this one than Starcraft.

Here's what I'm looking for in 2007 in terms of games and such:

• Get an Xbox360 so I can play Mistwalker games;
• Get another PS2 and a TV (for my brother);
• Getting a better sound card and speakers.

That's what I can think of right now, and I think that's enough!

Anyway... I hope you all have a nice time and a wonderful new year ahead! Lots of fun and games! Next-Gen consoles, DX10... it will be fun to see what happens. Won't be cool for the wallet though! XD

Oh boy, I had a really weird Thanksgiving. I was sick for the most part of it (and still am!). I've been coughing every freaking night, so I couldn't sleep at all. Now I got some medicine so I hope it makes me feel better. Last night I finally slept although it still took me some hours to get sleepy. I hardly ever get sick, but it seems this does happen when I'm not good emotionally (I almost broke up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago). At any rate, on to gaming stuff! I have some fun and great news.


First, off to the funny news. I finally got a hold of this game, Guitar Hero 2! I've never played the first, and for what I've been reading on the net, they said the second one was a little harder for beginners... but I got it anyway. The game is AWESOME with the exception that I'm LEFT-HANDED! HAHAHA, I totally forgot about that as I don't play any instruments. It's been so freaking hilarious learning to play it. So far I've been unlocking at least half of the songs on medium playing with my right hand, but it is starting to get harder and harder since my skilled hand is the left one and it doesn't get tired as quick as the right one does. So now, I'm replaying everything with the guitar controller turned the other way. Which makes almost impossible to hold down and move that whammy bar! I do wonder if they are making any guitars for left-handed people? Doubtful but that would come in handy!

Personally I loved the song list. I read many people saying they prefer by far the songs from the first game, and since I haven't gotten that one yet, I can't opinate on that. But yes I do like a lot the songs, Cherry Pie just makes me play the song with enthusiasm. And boy, this game is really hard; I don't know if it is worse because I'm left-handed or not. I fear the Hard mode of the game, hahaha I guess I'll stay on the Medium for a while!


Now... the masterpiece is here. Oh, sure, it is supposed to be released on November 30, but you know, FFXII leaked one month before! Final Fantasy VI Advance is still the same wonderful game it always was, but I do hope the sound is not weird like it has been on the flash card and I don't know if it just my ears or they really changed some arrangements a bit. Looking at the forums, there are people saying rumors like "you can revive general Leo and Gesthal and they become playable characters". So far, I don't have any of them and it does seem farfetched. There are four new Espers, two from FFV (Leviathan and Gilgamesh) and two from FFVIII (Diablos and Cactuar), along with some new magic and items. Since I don't know japanese, only a few words that help me to go through the game, I'll have to wait till the american version comes out to check and see if they changed dialogues or added some. The graphics doesn't seem a lot changed, but it is because they didn't have to anyway, as the SNES version had made the most of it already. They also put character portraits on the dialogue boxes for the main characters, as it has been done to the previous GBA ports as well. Kefka obviously got his too! =)

It's been really great to play my favorite game again, which I consider to be the best FF ever made so far. FFXII was great but it lacked a lot in terms of storyline, in my opinion.

Long live to FFVI!

Yes, like "everyone else", I'm also playing Final Fantasy XII. Actually, I even took one of my vacation days at work just to play a full day... ^__^ Not only that, but at the union Final Reunion, we are discussing the game as we play it, and that has been a great opportunity for us to know more about the game and about what we think about it. Although it received a perfect score from Famitsu and high scores overall around here, the game has been having quite some criticism from gamers on the forums from what I've read so far.

At any rate, I'm pretty far in the game (by the way, don't worry, there aren't spoilers in here regarding the storyline) and this new FF definately stands out among the previous installments. In my opinion, it's been a better experience than FFX (bear in mind though that I'm not saying FFX was a bad one). So far I've seen a lot of good things and quite some flaws in my point of view, which I'll expose here.

First off, the battle system, the big change in the series, very innovative. This was the element I feared most since I never really liked action, adventure games nor anything that requires a lot of skill using the controller. But was I surprised when after a few minutes I started running around and exploring the scenarios, and even getting side-tracked from the main quest because of those mob hunts. Right from the beggining of the game. I really enjoy the License Board; unlike FFX's Sphere Grid, now you can really develop your characters the way you want. You can finally have a female character dealing heavy physical damage on the enemies. I think that's great. I also like the Gambit System a lot. Better than having me taking my time every battle chosing commands to every single character, I just prepare my strategy beforehand and the AI does it all, not to mention in it does it in a timely fashion, as they instantly use potions when your characters need, for example. Doing that by hand wouldn't be as quick.

This leads me to the element I love most about this game: the freedom. You have pretty much enough freedom at the very beggining and lots to explore. The more you advance the game, the more places you find yourself returning to and finding new options. The freedom you have to fully develop your characters (I mean regarding status, weapons of choice and etc, not personality and the like, of course) and customize them anyway you want, the fullness of options with your equipments although you don't have access to all of the items initially, only the board part. But developing that board helps you define your character and think ahead of what you will want or need.

Honestly, the battle system satisfy me a lot; for the first time I'm not bragging about grinding or leveling up. Actually, speaking of levels, it seems to me more of a consequence of fighting than a must to progress the game. Because as long as you keep a good grasp of your Gambits and plan well your License Board, you can beat the bosses without worrying whether you are at low levels or not.

Maybe the only major thing I would complain about would be about the majority of Gambit not being available from the start. I think it would have been better if that had allowed was to access all of them from the beggining, without having us wait untill they are available or finding them. But then again, that ended up helping out with the another major element of the game, the exploration. But I'll talk about that latter.

My score on the battle system: 9.5 out of 10

Hi you all!!! What's up with everybody? Well, I'm doing great! This past two weeks were pretty nice although I've had my midterms (the Comparative Religion's midterm is called "judgement day" LOL!). I got another "A" on my Math class (did I mention I dislike this subject? Too abstract for me!). After that we had the Fall Break, in which I spent playing some more of Company of Heroes and Valkyrie Profile 2. I also started watching the new anime series, Death Note! I've read the manga (which is fabulous!) and the anime is going pretty well so far. I wanted to watch the live-action movie, which was a tremedous blockbuster in Japan. And of course, right now I'm waiting to watch The Prince of Tennis live-action movie. Noticed my new banners? XD

And now, as for news, I finally got to play tabletop RPG again!! Yay! And it is not only one, but two different games. I'm playing with my brazilian friends at our union Trevo Brasil by some voice-recognition program. On this campaign, I'm playing a Yellow Knight. On the other game, I'm the one actually mastering it, and its been really great as I'm creating my own world because I don't like it when players know those campaign settings like Forgotten Realms. It is also troublesome for me to Dungeon master/Game master in my second language. I'm DMing for my boyfriend and his friends. I hope I don't suck too much at it! My major problem is trying to describe places; my English vocabulary on this matter is fairly short. So I guess I'll have no choice but to start reading those novels from Wizards of the Coast, hahaha. By the way, the system I'm using is the famous Dungeons and Dragons, the 3.5 edition. Interesting enough, I've been searching on the internet for articles on world creation, but they are pretty difficult to find. I guess at some point, I'll try making a page helping people doing this time-consuming job, as so far I haven't seen many in-depth sites about it. If you know some, please pm-me the links or post here please.

Now, I'm also excited these days because it is getting closer and closer the release day of FFXII and Neverwinter Nights 2. I find it funny how those both time-consuming games will be released on the same day. I guess I'll play a bit of each and continue playing whichever draws more my attention. I think it will be FF though... hahaha. I've played a bit of NW1 this week, I felt nostalgic! I remember my very first character (which was a wizard) and I had gone really far in the game with her.
Finally, here are some next-gen games I'm looking forward to see. They will probably be the reason I get a next-gen console, though I'm still waiting for the PS3 and Wii to launch and check them out at Gamestop.
XBOX360: Lost Oddyssey, Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Gears of War

PS3: White Knight, Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo HD, Ridge Racer 7

Wii: Fire Emblem, Red Steel, Sengoku Musou wave

Those are the ones most appealing to me right now, although there are some other games which I have interested. Especially with the Wii, the kind of games I'm most looking forward are those which use the control and its possibilities the most. In the end, I'm looking for a console which will bring the best jrpgs... but it seems to me that even the 360 will have a saying on that this generation, unlike with its first console which had only wrpgs. I hope Mistwalker games end up being great games...

As a final note, I'm going to participate on the contest that Gamespot is holding, "Developer for a Day 5". I invited my boyfriend to help me out on this project, I hope we can at least advance to the second part! I think this contest is really interesting and creative, I just thought they could advertise it more. I actually didn't know we had already 4 of those! So, if you guys don't know what this is about, just click the link above and check it out.

Well I guess that's all for now! As always, thanks for reading my blog!

This week I finally got back to gaming, and the anime Ouran High School Host Club has ended... I'll miss that one! It was a hillarious anime. I've been working on my college classes as well, although they are not my favorites (*dislikes math*)... the only one I'm really enjoying so far is Comparative Religions; there are a lot of things I wasn't aware about other religions. Also, I'm note-taking for this class. It is strange how it gets a brazilian girl to have to do it; nobody wanted to note-take for that class and help whoever is in need of it there. This is the second time; I also did this job for my Sociology class some semesters ago as nobody wanted to do it. Personally, I think it is a shame realizing people don't want to help with such a simple task at this. Obviously, the reason I hadn't offered myself to help with that to begin with, is because english is my second language and I'll probably have mistakes. But I'll make sure all my notes are free of terrible typos!

At any rate, I've been playing a pc game this week, and guess what, it is NOT a rpg! It is Company of Heroes, a rts. At first, I had downloaded the demo at Gamespot and played through the tutorial. I found it really interesting, so I went on playing the two missions available in it. That just blew me away! The sound is so amazing, it feels like you are there, fighting and listening to the stuff blowing. And there are some funny dialogues. I also liked the graphics, there is a lot of detail and everytime you finish a mission, you have some scenes explaining what's going on and what you are going to do next. As for the gameplay, I think it is really neat... going through the tutorial helps a lot more than just reading the manual. I'm not that good though; for some reason my engineers are always the first ones to die, so I end up, most of the time, finishing my missions without them. I've searched Gamefaqs for some guides but there is only one...

The next game I'm playing is Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2). I was hyped about this game mostly because of the graphics, which I think are awfully nice, and more importantly, because Norse Mythology is my favorite one. So far, I'm kinda disapointed. I didn't expect the plataform-ish style of the game; only the battles are not like that and you can move anywhere. It really ticks me off going to the taverns for example, and not being able to walk freely around and talk to everyone. The sound, well, I'm not a huge fan of this compositor, the sound reminds me of Star Ocean (I guess it is the same composer btw, I haven't checked into that yet). Finally, the battle system seemed pretty confusing to me at first, but now I'm getting a hang of it.

Next time I'm gonna post the next-gen games I'm most looking forward to see. Surprisingly, there are a bunch 360 ones.
Just as a matter of curiosity, today we are having elections in Brazil, including for president. I'm not voting though because the brazilian embassy is too far away from where I live, so that means I'm in trouble. It is required to everyone to vote. I would null my vote anyway, as I don't agree any of those corrupt bunch should be ruling Brazil.