Malik
(4/19/10)
I'm getting near the end of Lunar Silver Star Story Complete. Now
that I've gone some distance in the game, I'm not sure if I've ever
finished this version of the game. It's not feeling all that
familiar. I think I may have given up early in past times playing
the game since the limited spell selection is a bit of a turn off
for me. However, since I'm nearing the end (only a few dungeons
left), I can say this time I'll finish the game.
Being in a nostalgic RPG kick, I'll next pick up Lunar Eternal Blue
Complete since I bought that off of an Amazon seller last week.
However, realizing I have some other games on my plate that I never
fully played, I'm lining up more nostalgic RPGs to play. In
particular, Working Designs PSX games. I have Arc The Lad Trilogy on
the PSX and never fully played any of those games. Maybe it will be
time to try them again after Eternal Blue.
I think I never gave Arc The Lad a full chance before since it has
some rather archaic design elements in it. I mean the battles are a
bit weird on the first (and maybe the second...I forget) game with
some unusual choices for movement of character. However, being in a
Working Designs nostalgia kick, I'm determined to rectify this
error, of not playing the games, of the past.
On a different note, I'm not feeling the sports vibe. It's weird to
say that when MLS and MLB are both up and running. I think it
doesn't help that both Seattle teams are not leaving me all that
excited.
I mean the Mariners may be tied for second in the AL West, but they
are not playing like a team that should have a good amount of
potential. Actually, maybe they are playing a little too much like
expected; the team has some solid pitching (to improve when Cliff
Lee returns), and amazing defense in the field. However, like
expected, the offense is just offensive. The closest to a big bat
that the M's have is from Griffey, who is well past his "big bat"
days. Unless a breakout offensive player emerges, I don't know how
far the M's can get with just fast single hitters.
As for The Sounders FC...wow...I don't even know what is going on
here. The Sounders were a solid team last year, especially for being
an expansion team. This season, so far, they look like a team that
cannot get it's teamwork down. There's a lot of missed chances and
failed execution of plays. I mean the game on Saturday was a perfect
example. It took until two minutes into the final stoppage time for
the team to finally score, and when they did it felt more like a
fluke than an expected outcome. It took a substitute to even get the
game winning (and only) goal. Then, just a few seconds later, while
the team was still in celebration mode, they dropped their defense
and left Keller alone to protect the goal from ten determined
players from the Wizards.
If Keller was not as good at goal tending as he is, Kansas City
would have (and maybe they should have) scored. I'd hate to imagine
the fan reaction in Seattle if this flat of a game had ended with a
quick KC goal in stoppage time. Seattle is not a "riot" type of
city, but if that goal went in, I think there would have been some
strong reactions...starting with Keller choking the first green
jersey that came within arm's reach.
Malik |
Malik
(4/21/10)
I'm nearing the end of
my time with Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete on the PSX. I'm in
the final dungeon and am probably done with the game and moving on
the Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete tonight. At least that's the plan.
With that said, I
don't have much else to say on any given subject, so I'll just blurt
out some random thoughts...
How is this news? I mean is it really newsworthy for major media
outlets, of the non-gaming variety, to mention once every year that
online games are filled with asses? I guess so. Otherwise, why would
this same exact story (but with a different "currently hot game"
named) keep showing year after year? Also, if parents don't realize
that their kids can be exposed to insanely stupid smack talking
online (as the article implies is the case), then it just further
shows my theory to be right; one big reason we have so many idiot
kids in this modern age is because parents tend to view their kids
as pets, not little people that can grow into normal sized people.
Well, that and the other reason these types of idiots can exist is
the simple law of the internet; anonymity, combined with voice chat,
is a gateway to being an ass, even if you would never be one in face
to face interactions.
On another note,
more of a "local flavor"; I'm supposed to be sad that
the
Seahawks will not play any nationally televised games next season?
Really? Why would I be sad about this schedule? From what I can see,
this is the type of schedule perfect for a NFL fan on the west
coast. For one thing, a 1PM game is always better than a 10AM game,
and the Seahawks have only three 10AM (Pacific time) and the rest
are 1PM games (I don't pay attention to "1:05" or "1:15" since it's
still basically 1). I mean a 10AM game means waking up early to make
sure I'm ready to watch, while a 1PM game is a great excuse for
avoiding real life responsibilities in the middle of a Sunday.
As for no
nationally televised games, this is more good news. On one hand,
Thursday games (which are nationally televised) are a pain in the
ass to catch. In fact, except for Thanksgiving, the NFL should just
ban Thursday games already. Football should only be on on three
days; Saturdays for college, and Sunday for most NFL games, with a
single Monday night game. Also, no nationally televised games mean
no 5PM games (which then gets in the way of dinner) and less
humiliation on a large scale when the Seahawks continue their
downward spiral next season.
Lastly, for today,
I was going on a Wikipedia journey recently. That is, I looked up
something I wanted to know on Wikipedia, but then proceeded, via
some unusual twists and turns, to some random subjects. One of which
would be one of my favorite underappreciated game franchises of the
SNES era; Lufia. I haven't followed much relating to Lufia since the
GBA version came out and killed my hopes for the series being reborn
and revitalized. I mean The Legend Returns (the Lufia Gameboy Color
title) and The Ruins of Lore (the DS version) both took a giant shit
on the legacy that was Lufia.
Apparently, even
though I missed any mention of it, Square Enix is making (or
made...can't find any modern information on it)
a remake of Lufia 2 for the DS. This would be awesome news for
me. I mean Lufia 2 is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and
Square Enix has done some awesome remakes of classic RPGs on the DS.
Wait...ohhh...
Actually, Square
Enix games have been remade by outside groups for the DS with great
results. As for Square Enix, they have constantly failed to impress
me in recent years. Then, with a little more reading, it says that
Square Enix wants to have Lufia 2 as an action RPG. That would make
as much sense to me as turning Final Fantasy 1 into an action RPG. A
turn based RPG, especially one with multiple active party members at
play in a single battle, can not and should not be anything but a
turn based RPG. Maybe add an active battle system (ABS)...although
that would be wrong for Lufia.
Since I'm just
writing some quick blurbs and not anything entirely on-topic today,
I'll just end with this one thought; this type of crap is why I just
don't buy Square Enix stuff anymore (beyond maybe Dragon Quest
9...and that's only if DQ9 is really damned good). Square Enix went
from being a developer of amazing RPGs that played well with the
genre to trying to be the genre's innovator...and despite their
belief, Square Enix doesn't know anything about quality innovation.
I mean with how
many weird ideas Square and Sqaure Enix has applied to RPGs in the
last decade, how many new concepts have been used for more than a
single title? Not a damned one. Junctioning (FF8), adding sports
mini-games (FFX), MMORPG game play in an offline single player game
(FF12), licenses instead of actually knowing skills and abilities
(FF12 again), imposing horrible rules for a single battle that only
make a game tedious (FFTA)...I could keep going. I'm also willing to
bet the auto-pilot like battles of FF13 and the removal of all
mini-games will also fade away before FF15 (since FF14 is another
MMORPG). Meanwhile, plenty of unique ideas from their competitors
have become standards of the genre (hidden or visible relationship
meters, adjustable alignments, party AI that is more than just
hugging the enemy until your party is destroyed, character
customization while still keeping all characters unique to
themselves, and so on) at the same time.
So, to just say it
again, like I do whenever I see what movies are soon coming to
theaters, my childhood needs to stop being molested for an easy
buck. Be it Sqaure Enix tarnishing Lufia or Michael Bay trying to
skull f#@$ the memory of Transformers.
Malik |
Malik
(4/23/10)
Yesterday was one of
those days where it felt like life really needed to take a crap, and
sadly I was in it's way. The Sounders FC tied due to a pretty
dubious call (which is the nice way of saying the penalty kick that
Dallas was given at the end of stoppage time was complete bullshit),
my iPod decided that the play/pause button was no longer needed, and
I couldn't start playing Lunar Eternal Blue Complete (PSX).
First things
first, it's fun getting angry at a breaking iPod. I ended up prying
the click wheel off of the unit (it's a 5th generation iPod Classic)
and saw some of the controls. Then I needed a replacement part, so I
took apart the click wheel on my 3rd generation iPod Classic (which
was dead with a bad HDD). Then I learned that the 5th generation has
a more friendly of click wheel for taking apart since that 3rd
generation one will never be reassembled. In the end, I fixed my 5th
generation for the cost of $0. I doubt Apple would have been so nice
with repairs.
As for playing
Lunar 2...I got the game, used, last week. I finally finished Lunar
1, and felt like starting Lunar 2 last night to blow off some
stress. Well, it only added to my stress when the game froze right
after the opening movie. It froze on the PS3, the PS2, and it would
probably freeze on my PSX, but my PSX has finally killed itself.
I would be angry,
but I got the game for only about $50. Then you add in that I got
the entire collection of swag that came with the game (Lucia's
pendant, the standees, the map, the soundtrack, the making of disk,
the hardbound manual, and the box), most in new condition, and you
cannot feel to ripped off. Plus, I found another used copy online
that I ordered, this one only consisting of the game disks and for a
lot cheaper. Put them together and I will have only paid $80 for a
used game that goes for closer to $140 used.
Still, the loss of
time I could be using right now playing Lunar 2 is a sad thing.
Maybe this is a sign that I should play some Rock Band again...
As for beating
Lunar SSSC (PSX); I forgot how bitchy the final few fights can be in
that game. I mean you are basically put in a position of either
having a ton of Silverlights (full MP restorative items) or being
killed. If you don't have a huge supply (enough to outfit each party
member with about four or so), you will be stuck in the final part
of the game with no way to escape and no way to win. Yes, you can
try to level more before the final boss, but since bosses scale with
your level, leveling up would be for naught.
It doesn't help
that there's two other hard boss fights earlier in this same dungeon
that you can never escape from (a point of no return, so to speak).
Each one may cause a player to think about gulping down Silverlights
without realizing that failure could be in their future.
Anyway, I just
wish I could continue my Lunar playing now with Lunar 2. However,
the one sad truth of the internet for retail is that instant
gratification (a big part of the internet) is absent from this one
aspect of the net. No matter how quickly you can find the object you
wish to buy, you still must be patient and wait for delivery.
Malik |
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