Saturday, January 9, 2010

thoughts on final fantasy 13

I'm here to share the wealth with you. In the sense that I'm going to tell you how it's going, not that I'm going to give you my game. Now, I have purposefully been avoiding any kind of media based on FF13, so you might hear some stuff that's been done by other people, but here we go.

Visuals and Sound
All I can say is my jaw was locked in the dropped position for about the first half hour. I am playing on a 32 ich LG 720p 60hrz television, so I'm sure it could look even better, but honestly it is the most intense, amazing thing I've seen this far on either Xbox or PS3. The surround sound is really well handled as well. Most of the time your party members are walking, chatting around you, which is realistically rendered with surround sound.

Battle System
I didn't like FF12. One of the main reasons was because I detested the battle system. Now while I didn't read much, I have seen early vids of FF13 and was a little worried by the notion that I wouldn't be able to control all my characters. After I started playing however, those fears were quelled. FF13 is very fast pace, and utilizes the Active Time Battle system. A new addition to the ATB is that different moves take up different amounts of ATB gauge. As I mentioned before, I like using all my characters, but with how fast-paced the battles are, I have my hands filled just managing one character. Though the original vids resemble FF12's system of running around, don't let it fool you. Characters and enemies do move around a little, but you don't control it, your characters will run up and attack when necessary. The main thing you'll notice about this is that there are some Area of Effect attacks that can be tricky to time. I would highly recommend choosing the option to select enemies from the screen rather than the list.

One thing confused me for the beginning of the game when I didn't really have many options with how to attack was there are two selections available, "Attack" and "Command." "Attack" chooses what the computer determines the best move to do at the moment is and fills up your ATB accordingly. It seems kind of boring and too easy to do it that way. You can choose if your cursor starts on "Attack" or "Command," and there is also an ATB Easy choice in the config menu.

I kind of would have liked to see a party change option like FF10.

Optima Change
The Optima system is basically a job system. You get different stats and attacks based on your job. I don't know yet if all characters can access all jobs, but you can at least access new jobs over time. So far I have unlocked Attacker, Blaster, Jammer, Enhancer, Healer, and Defender. I don't know if there are more or not. You can change your Optima in battle, which changes your party's classes to a another predetermined by you set instantly. I found out after 30 minutes and a few deaths against a very irritating mini boss how important changing classes is.

General Gameplay.
FF13 starts you off in the heat of things. There are tutorials to show you how to play, which basically answer the question "What is that option/status/random thing on the screen?" as soon as you ask yourself it. There are a lot of cutscenes, but I think it's par for the course. I mean, older rpgs have tons of cut scenes too, it's just instead of full amazing animation with voice acting, they were sprites with text. There is no real craziness in the running around part of the game. You run around, fight enemies which appear on the screen instead of random encounters, and occasionally activate little circles which allow you to jump over terrain.

The Crystarium is pretty interesting. You could look at it as a simplified version of FF10's sphere grid. Every battle instead of XP you get Crystal Points(CP) which you can use on your grid towards new abilities or health/strength/magic upgrades. However, where the sphere grid let you do anything with any character, the Crystarium is pretty straight forward. You basically choose which class you want to upgrade and when. I'm not sure which I like better yet. I will say it's tough to not go to the menu and use every CP as soon as I get it.

Well that's about all I thought of that I wanted to talk about. I am really enjoying the game so far. The story is not super creative, but it certainly isn't a copy of any other FF game. The character's personalities are... hmmm... good and bad. Snow and Vanille get really irritating with their almost catch-phrase like use of "I'll protect it!" and "Let's run away :D" respectively. Sazh provides for some good comedic relief, while Hope has the angst zone covered. In short, I really like this game, and highly recommend it for anyone who likes RPGs. The battle system feels pretty fresh, and requires some thought(I'm looking at you tough-to-break enemies). Like I said I'm about 8 hours in and still just scratching the surface. So what are you waiting for?

Another Update

Xbox

Current

Assassin’s Creed

Lost Planet

Shadow Complex



To Play

Bayonetta

Mass Effect

Guilty Gear 2

Assassin’s Creed 2

Tales of Vesperia

Devil May Cry 4

Bioshock



Whenever

Left 4 Dead 2

Dead Rising

Oneechanbara


PS3

Current

FF13


To Play

Uncharted

Ryuu Ga Gotoku Kenzan

Disgaea 3

Cross Edge


DS

Current

Layton 3

Henry Hatsworth

Edgeworth

Chrono Trigger

Trauma Crnter(Last case ><)

Zelda Phantom Hourglass


To Play

Super Robot Wars OG

Bowser’s Inside Story

Mystical Ninja Goemon

Haruhi

Super Robot Wars W

The World Ends With You

Gundam G Generation Cross Drive

Kingdom Hearts

Sakura Note

Advanced Wars, Days of Ruin


Whenever:

Kanji games

Rhythm Heaven

Taiko no Tatsujin

Scribblenauts


Psp

Current

Star Ocean

Parasite Eve

Half Minute Hero

Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman


To Play

Mana Khemia School Alliance

Persona

Crisis Core(started it but I lost the data L

Gundam Vs Gundam Next

Loco Roco 2

Patapon 2

Jeanne D’Arc

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep


Other/Every once and a while

Guilty Gear

Fate Tiger Colosseum

Sunday Vs Magazine

Hatsune Miku Project Diva(lost my data L)

Bleach 5

Gran Turismo

Exit (Lost my save data L)


As you can see, I’ve got a good amount of games I started on DS but haven’t carried through, where I haven’t really started a lot of stuff for PSP

Friday, October 2, 2009

Long time no post

So I don't really have much to say. I've been working a lot. Playing games. Wanted to update both lists and organize a bit.

Currently Playing
DS
Scribblenauts
Chrono Trigger
Either 逆転検事 or Legendary Starfy

PS3
MGS4

PSP

Star Ocean

Exit


DS

Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel

Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure

SMT Devil Survivor

Fire Emblem

Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story

The World Ends with You(whoops kind of dropped the ball on that one)

Dragon Quest Rocket Slime

Gyakuten Kenji

Legendary Starfy

Mario and Luigi Partners in Time


PS2

Persona 3

Virtual On Mars

Sengoku Basara 2

Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi


PS3

Disgaea 3

Killzone 2

Little Big Planet

Mirror's Edge

龍が如く見参


Xbox 360

Oneechanbara

Guilty Gear 2 Overture

Lost Planet

Dead Rising


PSP

Star Ocean

Patapon

FF Tactics

Jeanne D'arc

Crisis Core

Mana Khemia: Student Alliance

I don't know why the formatting is all messed up

Now watching
Maria Holic
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

To watch
G-Gundam(20 eps in)
First Gundam
Z Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Gun X Sword(half watched)
Overman King Gainer
Gundam 08th MS Team
Fafner
Blood +
Macross
Macross Frontier
Soul Eater

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Back From Japan

Games I have that I need to play


DS

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel

Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure

SMT Devil Survivor

Fire Emblem

Chrono Trigger

Various Educational Games


PS2

Persona 3

Virtual On Mars

Sengoku Basara 2


PS3

Metal Gear Solid 4

Disgaea 3

Street Fighter 4

BlazBlue

Killzone 2

Little Big Planet


Xbox 360

Oneechanbara


PSP

Star Ocean

Patapon

FF Tactics

Hammerin Hero(last level)


Games that are out/coming out that I want

Infamous

Final Fantasy 13

Star Ocean 2

Fat Princess


So that's the dilemma I'm facing right now. When I get home I usually just want to play BlazBlue, but I've got all these other sweet games to play too. I usually play my DS at night before bed, but lately I've been watching Genshiken season 2 and Ga Rei Zero instead.


I just got back from Japan. It was awesome. I saw the Gundam. I'll be posting some pictures later, cause now I'm kind of doing this and some other stuff, and I have to go to work soon. But yeah. I'm trying to figure out how to manage all these games. The issue I run into is that 2 of the games are fighting games that my friends play also, and Killzone has excellent multiplayer. I'd really like to play more Little Big Planet, but it's more fun with 2 people. I'll need to get some online going or something. I'd like to try level design too, I'm just trying to think of a theme. I bet I could make the school from K-on lol.


Speaking of Gundam, Unicorn Gundam looks kind of sweet. I may need to rewatch First Gundam and Z. Or at least the First Gundam movies. I like the Zeta series more than the movies. I like the first series too, it's just if I had to choose I think I would watch the movies for First

Saturday, May 23, 2009

I've been meaning to...

So I've been meaning to post about some stuff but I graduated then came home and got really busy. I'm still kind of busy. So here's what's been going on.

I got 214 and 215 of Yakitate!! Japan done, 2 more one-shots (Akazukin Eliza and Home Stay Steady) , another Berserk, and I've been slacking on Usogui. I'm going to get to it. I have the first volume translated and set by next friday.

Going ons...

As soon as I got home, my mom started on me about getting a job. I've applied for 8 part times that could potentially fulltime, and for 1 "real" job. I'm going to go to a job placement agency on Tuesday and hopefully that'll go well.

I've got a ridiculous amount of stuff to watch, and there just seems to be no time to do it all. That plus the translation stuff plus video games, I don't know how I'm supposed to do it all.

Me and Roadside are going to do a mini triathlon. To prepare, I'm going to start going to the gym soon. First I'm going to do some group classes, and then I'm going to get into a real goal oriented practice pattern. I have to look at this book I'm borrowing to plan out exactly what and when and how much and all that stuff. It's going to be fun, and I (should) be getting in shape.

So, I had an amazing moment. It was when I was watching Haruhi Season 2. God damn that was amazing. I guessed what the plot of the ep was going to be because I had read a short synopsis of one of the novels before, but it was still awesome. There is something about that show that to me is just.. amazing.

I went to book off and kinokuniya in New York recently.I got:
Bakuman 1,2
Eyeshield 21 1, 2
Jojo's 4
Saint Young Men 1
Ima ai ni yukimasu(book)
Yakitate!! Japan 25, 26
Detroit Metal City 3
Gintama 23
Air Gear 15
----
So here's what my watching list looks like:
This season
---
Haruhi S2
Dragonball Kai
K-on!

On my harddrive(in no particular order)
G-Gundam
First Gundam
Z Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Toradora
Candyboy
Mariaholic
Black Lagoon
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Ga-rei Zero
Gun X Sword(half watched)
Overman King Gainer
Genshiken
Gundam 08th MS Team
Fafner
Blood +
Macross
Macross Frontier
Soul Eater
Super Robot Wars OG

Stuff I don't have
Gintama

and more on my external that I can't remember off the top of my head

My reading list:
NarutoBleachOnePiece current
Gintama(i don't know where to start because the anime takes like random parts of the manga but there's no filler...)
Saint Young Men
DMC(it kills me that I have the volumes and haven't read much)
Jojo's
Bakuman(i want to get this going ASAP because I'd maybe like to do it as a MA project current
Air gear
Beck(on volume 8)
Eyeshield 21
Ima i ni yukimasu
Haruhi book 1 and 2

And I have a good amount of stuff I want to read in english. I don't know how I'm supposed to do all of this. Hopefully if I get a job I'll be able to get on a good schedule.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Super Robot Wars K, BLUST, and Miracle Attack

First off, Miracle Attack Scans first release is available
 Read Usogui here: 

I also completed the translation for the One Shot "BLUST!!" a little while ago. It's by the writer of Eyeshield 21. I'll post the link when FH finishes the typesetting


So I finally beat Super Robot Wars K recently, and I've been meaning to write my feelings on it, then school got crazy, and I got asked to do Blust.

Right from the start, I'd like to say, I really liked this game. I've played a couple other SRW games before and although it would have been nice to have some voice acting, I'd say this one was really good. Let's start with the series list
  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer 
  • Mazinger Z
  • Haja-Taisei Dangaioh
  • Overman King Gainer
  • Cyber Troopers Virtual On: MARZ
  • Shinkon Gattai Godannar!! 
  • Shinkon Gattai Godannar!! Second Season
  • Fafner of the Azure 
  • Zoids Genesis 
  • Gun X Sword 
  • Gaiking: Legend of Daikuu Maryuu 
  • Steel God Jeeg 


At first I couldn't really get into the series list. Kind of tired of Gundam Seed characters, didn't know a lot of other ones, and no Go Lion. A very serious lack of Go Lion. But as I played along, I started to appreciate the cast more, and then got interested in the actual shows.

So the story starts out with you, Mist Rex, meeting the fine people of Danner Base. He pretends he has amnesia, but they put him to work as a low level mechanic and gopher anyway. For some reason, The Mazinger crew is attending Anna and Go's wedding. Of course it gets attacked. Kouji(Go Danner) and Shizuka roll out, but get defeated in a moment. You fight with Mazinger and stuff and then Mist Rex shows up and saves the day.

So the story is pretty lame. But everything else is really awesome. The animations for the fights are really good. The gameplay itself, while majorly the same is of course fun. One change they made is attack combo works differently. Noe if you have the appropriate level of attack combo, you can attack up to one, two, or three people in the range of the attack(plus their support unit). I do have a few complaints though. 

First, the game can pretty much be played with just Mist Rex, Van, Kira, Gainer, and Shin/Kenji, depending who you level up. I'm actually on my second run through now using only the listed above. 

Second, the levels are a bit too long. Near the end there are 2-4 reinforcement deploys. Also pretty much the last 5 levels are 2 parters, so the fact that the total mission count is lower than the last game is a bit misleading. 

Third, they changed it so that if you press B during an animation, you don't see the battle result. You only see that when you skip the demo. 

Next up, more scans, and Hammerin' Hero!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Gundams... Well Zoids I Guess.. A Reality?

Well.... we're fucked. Haha, no, but holy crap. For those of you who don't speak Japanese, this 60 year old man made this Beetle Robot(dubbed Kabutom MX-03) by himself, over 11 years. 6 people can fit on the inside. He made three other versions. The reason for making it:

"I told my wife about the idea, and she said 'Yeah, go ahead and build it, then you can ride in it and take out the garbage"

Yeah.. Sweet lol

Got up chapter 213 for Yakitate!! Japan. 214 is rough, cause he's explaining about Azuma's bread. Got about 6 pages done so far.

Looks like a new manga started in Shonen Jump. I got the raw for it today. I'll post about it when I'm done reading.

Last level of Super Robot Wars: K, so that'll be coming up soon too