Of late, there have been a lot of new RPG games released for the PS2 system, (Xenosaga 3, Valkyrie Profile Silmeria, FFXII, Tales of the Abyss, Devil Summoner (SMT series), .Hack//G.U., Phantasy Star Universe and the upcoming Rouge Galaxy, Persona 3 and 2 more of the .Hack installments). My hands are full with the releases and I manage to clear Xeno 3, Tales of the Abyss and Valkryie Profile Silmeria at the moment. These 3 games are great, especially VP. Xeno 3 is a bit of let down though, but the loading time has improved dramatically compared to the first 2 series, which is why i played the game, oh, mind u, i skipped Xeno 2 due to it's awful loading time, and the system sucks big time, why would they change such a good battle system like Xeno 1 into such in Xeno 2? Xeno 3 is turn based, and it's meager, nothing special, but i just go for the story. Tales of the Abyss 3d battle is nothing new, however, they implemented something that makes battling more lively. The FoF (Field of Fon or was it Field of Force, i cant remember, either way, it's the same :P), so, we have to tactfully use this circle of force to unleashed powerful arts, just take this as some sort of combination arts, it works for magic, and i m a mage user, mwhahaa. Nothing new to the story, just about some cloning things, reminds me of what i do now.
I m currently off with Phantasy Star Universe. The screenshots show such promising game, and once i spin the game in my PS2, it is a behemoth let down. The polygones looks so bad. Awww, i wish not to commend this game any further. .Hack/GU is a good game, but i probably will wait for all the games first before playing. I dun feel like waiting and waiting for the upcoming series, so far, 2 more series more to make the game whole.
Ah, enough of the introduction and into the topic. The influence of games? Oh dammit, a lot may think that i m stupid enough to be influenced by games. And yea, the dork is sitting here, writting this blog. Before, i thought games are just games, and it will never influence me. But today, THEY DID INFLUENCE me. To certain extent, due to the sad ending or the plot, especially in Xeno 3 and Tales of the Abyss, i got depressed. Darn. A warning to everyone who is about to play these 2 games. Now i have lost interest in most of the things i ever enjoyed, even playing games, thanks to these 2 games. i m still trying to get on my feet. And hanging and chilling out with frens wont help much. It has been a week + already, since i finished ToA, Xeno 3 did not scar me so deeply. I once commented a fren of mine to not take game too seriously as he was so depressed (well, he was a guild leader in RO and he planned for every guild wars, pretty clear huh). Now i have to take back my words. Awwww, i need some time off from the gaming zone, to exalt my spirit, i hope i can be back to my old self after taking vacation in KL soon. |
At 9:17 AM,
Sigh. Too many games to play. I have VP 2 and have been trying to decide if I should play it, I guess I'll give it a go after I finish FF12 although that will probably be ages from now.
Hey is VP 2 a really long game or can I get through it in about say 40 hours? Whats the time of your save?
I've always like the Xenosaga story. Played through the Episode 2 with cheat because I just could not stand the battle system, it was so slow, annoying and complicated, but I didn't want to miss out on the story so I used my Gameshark *grin*
To be honest I'm a bit worried about FF12. The combat is so SLOOOOOW!!!! Its like the turn based FFX went fasted, click attack, next guy, click attack, next girl, click cast Firaga, Yuna summons Bahamut and pwns all survivors.
FF12 is gorgeous, but so far, I click attack and the dude stands there and waits for the super slow attack bar to charge, when full he swings sword. I mean if the wankers were gonna do this make it real time lah like Devil May Cry (the ONLY reason I'm buying a PS3 cos Dante A/L Sparda pwns everyone!).
I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, maybe it'll get better.
Phantasy Star Online was addictive, but the combat was too jerky. I guess Universe probably works the same. But is it one of those Diablo style games that I can get in and out of quickly without some super grand story and stuff like that. That was what I liked about PStar Online, I could just play for half an hour and then go out with girls after that :D
Ooooh I managed to finish Fatal Frame 3 after wizzing in my pants a few times. Good game, go play it. I also finished Shadow Hearts 3. No Yuri so no good. Its an okay game, but I'd say give it a miss, there's way better RPGs to play, like Grandia 3!!!! It has the bestest combat system evar!!!
At 10:06 AM,
VP2 is good, but the battle is repeatitive. Well, u probably will train few characters only. I like the soul purifying thingy, and for certain characters, the cutscene changes, because they are getting powerful, but lucky thing, we can skip the scene this time, otherwise, it's just too time consuming. The towns and the landscapes are gorgeous. I finished the game plus 4th lv of the Seraphim Gate (total 5 lv) in about 50+ hours. Seraphim gate? have to admit it, i just wan to get Freya at lv 4 gate. Oh, one more thing, there is a big suprise to this game, a real treat.......spoiler, wouldnt wan to reveal it.
I actually started with FFXII for about 20 hours and i only get to the second ruin where the 2nd summon is located, my characters are so weak, no $$$ and no armors and worst of all, no weapons. i need to invest more time in this, and what the heck, a lot of rpgs are lining up beckoning, so i reckon i just leave FFXII there first and started ToA. Honestly, i prefer the old school FF games, not something like this.
I played Fatal Frame 1-3, the games are really good, truely horrible. It was like i m watching Ju On. Damn.......lucky i dun get any nightmares ^^
I always like Grandia, they are the one of the best, Grandia 1 has a good story IMHO, I like the split personality in Grandia 2, Grandia Extreme has this combination moves and Grandia 3 is dropped dead gorgeous.
.Hack/GU is another good game, but i will probably wait for the other 2 releases. I got my 4 series of .Hack/sign together and i was in .Hack/sign marathon for months. the story just keep continueing on, it's better that way.
Shadow Hearts 3, i like Shania ^^ so like FFX-2, but not quite. Yeah, no Yuri is no good. Too bad, Shadow Hearts 1 and 2 are not too bad, except the battle in SH1 is a bit.......erm.....doll-like. They did not continue much from Koudelka in SH1.
How about Disgaea 1 and 2. I just love Etna's voice, lively and s3xy ^3^
Phantasy Star Universe, i reckon it's better if we play it online. I tried open beta for Phantasy Star Blue (er forgot name, basically it's just Phantasy Star Online) and the experience is totally different from offline play. Beating the Huge Dragon in a party is just awesome. With someone to heal and raise u.
At 11:06 AM,
For FF XII , once you get a full party and start putting license points to speed up their attack speed its not so bad.
I got VP2 also but decided to finish FF XII first. Hopefully Neverwinter Nights 2 won't come out so fast.
Playing Disgaea 2 on my computer using emulation. Chapter 11 of 16 .. stopped for FF XII. Okami also play halfway .. Arghhh !!! Too many damn games !!! Nevermind, I shall put FF XII on hold.
One thing I noticed about FF XII is that it is harder and slower to level. Really need to train your characters every opportnity you get. Otherwise end up underpowered and underequipped .. well, going back to kill wolves .. :P
At 12:07 PM,
Damn wolf/hyenas!! They're so lame and I have to pwn them non stop cos the big T-rex (Saurian??) killed my ass in one attack.
I miss regular level ups. I mean even if the stat increase is small it makes me feel like I'm progressing, rather than D&D with its once per year level up crap.
Hey Warlock can you post the name/link of the PS2 emulator you're using? What's the performance like, what kinda specs would I need?
Yeah Adole, FF12 is just not my cup of tea. I feel bad though since I've been an FF junkie for years. Its too slow, FFX was so much better....oh how I miss Bahamut. I mean FF12 has no Bahamut!!! This is WRONG!!! Bahamut the greatest dragon of them all who gives me erections everytime I summon him is not an available esper. Ugh!!!
I guess I might move on to VP 2 instead. Oh man I finished all 4 Hack volumes. Super cool towards the end man. I didn't realise Hack/GU was out. But I guess Hack games might be better if you played them all at once.
Shania was super hot of course and the only reason I played Shadow Hearts 3, but since she didn't go on to have some action with Hilda in the end it was just an okay game. Shadow Hearts 2 was really good, Yuri is kickass, plus his demon forms were cooler than Shania's. I never played any of the earlier installments.
I played Disgaea like a million times, even killed Prinny Baal. I miss Laharl and Etna, even Flonne. Afraid to start Disgaea 2, it would destroy my life.
At 12:20 PM,
FFX whitout Shiva summon is not really a FF game for me >.< i just love Shiva, especially in FFX. FFX-2 has no Shiva as well, that is y i dun really like it that much, but maybe just a bit, cause changing costume was cool, i never skip, i swear!!
God Hand was out also, it's somewhat a cool game by Squareenix, i havent got it yet. Honestly, i m afraid to go to any game stores lately, i will definitely buy at least one game per visit. too many games, too little time.
Ya warlock, what is the emu u use ler? any flaw? does ur pc lag like hell? what spec? i can recommend it to my fren.
Ah, i nvr touched pc game for very long time liao jor, since sibertel era. only play online game. now with SDO. That y i ask if perhaps i can borrow ur dancing mat for a while, but since it is not using usb port, then cant de.
But Cabal was great, waiting for malaysia version.......