Thursday, December 29, 2011

Update to the List

I have added the following 3 games to the List page:

Diablo PC
Diablo II PC
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction PC

The joys of eBay

I know I have been a little off topic in terms of writing about video games on the list, but I promise this is my last planned post that will be that way.

I have started to sell things around our place and things that my mother has on the internet to help raise some funds for my comp build.  It is soo damn addicting.  I sold two old blackberries that my mother had for just under 180 total for two separate phones.  I then have my old blackberry that I have up for around 40 bucks.

My hopes are that I can raise about 120-130 by this method in the next week or so.  Splitting the proceeds with my mother on her stuff has helped me get past halfway, however I still need to get more things sold.  With $130 I can get a motherboard or a PSU.

My amazing mother helped me greatly with the CPU and Santa came by and dropped off the case as well.  This will allow me to actually have a place to store things as I do the build.  The remaining total though that I need for the parts minus s/h is around $830.  I think that if the wife and I can agree on a little bit of our budget could go to the build and some discounts on the internetz I might be able to get this done hopefully by April if all goes well.

With a new computer on my mind and my old desktop now working I have decided to go through games that I might like.  This also sends me back to the games that I need to complete.  I have a few for the PC that need to be done so I am going to update the list to reflect those as well.

Will this ever end?????

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Building a system

I have decided that I am going to build a PC.

I have no formal training in this act, and I only have so much knowledge from reading things online. From all of this though I believe that I could build something that will compete with other builds people make for 1000's of dollars.

I just need a good computer for myself, but also for ffxi and other games. Here's hoping it won't take long.

Friday, December 16, 2011

List Update

I updated The List page today.  I added numbers to the side to give a firm number.

I also added the following games to the list:

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Wii
Assassin's Creed: Revelations PS3
Assassin's Creed PS3


I learned how to swim (Spoiler Alert!!)

Let me tell you something.

My damn shoulder is killing me.  Even though I be chopping things left and right in Zelda, it has taken its toll.

Since I got back from my honeymoon on Sunday, I have been playing Zelda every night trying to make some progress.  Don't get me wrong.  I love it.

Let me rephrase that.  I LOVE IT.  To me there is nothing like a good Zelda story to warm the cackles of a gamer's heart.  Its a classic.  Yes it might be a retold story over and over again, yet Nintendo has a way of coming up with ways to make it exciting.  However I got FFXI working on my old beat up PC and I want to start fiddling with that some.  I also got AC:Revelations too.  Sooooo I need to get to work on my lists.  You might be thinking "what about FFV dumbass???"  Don't worry, I have not forgotten about it.  I have been slowly working on that game as well.  There will be updates soon.  I swear

SPOILER!!!!!

I just got through the first 3 dungeons and I am now working on making the Goddess Sword better.  I just ran around in some spiritual plane (which I will give a tip of my hat to Nintendo.  I liked this aspect of running around without weapons and dodging things.  Luckily I did not have to bust out my mad Metal Gear Solid skills to get past it) to gather orbs.

Now I have one of the best and most important items in any Zelda game besides the Boomerang (if you want to debate on whether the bomb is more important I will have a post about that).

I have the Dragon Scale which allows me to swim under water.  YAY!!!!!!!!!

Its just swimming right?  No.  Its more than that.  You start off only barely crossing substances that have a liquid consistency.  Can't dive, can't even swim that fast.  Just mosey dog paddle across a small puddle.  Then you get the Dragon Scale and life is much better. You can swim better.  You can dive underwater and explore.  And that open up so much of the new world as well as the parts that you have already explored.



Now that I think about it, that means that I have to go back and re-explore those areas???

FUUUCK   I can't deal with that.   FFXI is looking a little better now.  

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Sword is back

Hey all.  Sorry about my little hiatus that I took.  I have been slammed at work and I had what the insurance companies call a "Life Changing Event".

I got married.

YAY!!!!!

Now in no way am I saying that because I got married I have not been able to play games.  First, I got married on the 11th, and if you understand the Gregorian Calendar and can understand basic math you would realize that I have been away since before then.

Second, my wonderful wife did research on two games that I had as possibility to buy from a list I had made.  She did it without my asking, understanding that she married a dork.  That's one of the reasons why I love her.

Aside from the mushy stuff, she found from asking people that Zelda: Skyward Sword (Zelda) would be the best option between that and Assassins Creed: Revelations.  I had been interested in Zelda because it was a Zelda game.  Being someone who grew up with the green tunic wearing, sword wielding hero, I knew I had to try it.

I am about 2.5 hours tops into the game.  I spent a lot of time getting used to the flying and the fact that I did not pay attention to the tutorial in which you have to flap your arms like a goober to gain altitude.  My wife sitting behind me laughing her ass off with her drink almost shooting out her nose as I "fly" around the living room.  Word of advice: Have enough room to wheel about like a moron.

The sword fighting is fun.  It move with the 8 points of a compass.  Its no 1:1 ratio but its still really damn fun.  I will admit though that when lots of monsters attack me I tend to just fling my arm around like a moron and yell "DIE DIE DIE".


I think the game has a lot of potential, and the story is rather fun.  I was going to write about where I feel this game falls in the timeline, however I will hold off on that till I get back from my honeymoon and I have some more time to play the game more.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

So many choices to choose

I have been working continuously on Fallout 3 and FFV yet things just keep getting in the way.  I get distracted with Netflix, or can't decide if I want to watch TV (which is an issue because most of my games are on the PS3 platform so I have to usually use a TV.  I do have a computer monitor hooked up through a Jam box but the monitor is not that large so the display sucks big time for games that require a much larger screen).

Fallout 3 is a great game.  It just takes a lot of work to get into things and then want to continue the storyline quests for it.  I just wish to explore everything and complete all the quests, while at the same time get all the damn trophies that the game offers.  And when you deal with a game that's main content with no DLC content takes a 600 page game guide to cover in detail, sometimes too much is not a good thing.

I think that is a downfall of Fallout 3 in some cases.  It is big.  It is huge.  And that's not just what she said.
The game has a massive world to it where almost anything is possible.  I know that many games say that anything is possible, yet when Fallout 3 says it, it is true.

It is so overwhelming at the immense data that is available in the game that I found myself getting lead astray by external factors, being TV, Netflix, FFXI, etc.  Things that would normally not drag me away from the screen since I would be sooooo into this playable universe.  Maybe its the choices.  Maybe having way to many choices is not always a good thing.

Think about it.  Sometimes it can be so stressful in real life to have to make a decision on what to do and when to do it and then if that was the right thing.  So why bring that into a video game.  Yes we all want them to be as close to reality as possible however we don't want all that reality and life has to offer.  Give me an open world game that sucks me in.  Something that I am given choices however the limits are still there I just can't see them.

Then I turn to FFXI.  With the new level cap increase to 95 I have been working on getting my character stronger, yet I also want to work on my lower level stuff and I find problems with what to do and when.  In FFXI there are a lot of choices, however not as many as you would think.  That is because the user population has shifted things over to a world in which you have to do this to succeed.  Yes there is a demographic in the game that gets by lvling in other areas, however the missions and quests which draw people to the game I feel are almost ignored by the major populace which frustrates me.  My best friend is now playing more which is great cause I had a buddy to adventure with.  However I wish the choices were not as limited with that.

Hmmmm  what to do what to do.

I find myself resorting to Gran Turismo 5.  Its a good game, however I never understand why I keep buying GT games.  I am just not a big car person.  Nor do I know a damn thing about tuning them and racing.  Its nice to drone out to some mind numbing racing requiring me to hold down the X button and steer.  Yes, its realistic physics.  Yes the graphics are in my opinion some of the best for a car racing game out there.  Yes, there are hours upon hours of playtime and its a great game.  I just don't see it as a fit for me.  Maybe that will change as I continue on with my list.  I might use it as a reliever game of some sort between titles that I complete.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Couple Down

I have been away for a bit. It's easy to blame it on me not having a laptop, but it's cause blogging with an iPad is a bitch and I have gotten distracted with work. The time I have been away has not been a waste though. I have 2 games down. Yes, 2 whole games completed in the time that I have been away.  WOW!!  GOING BIG HERE.

Haha.  Yeah, I know.  Maybe I should have gotten more done, but I couldn't get going on FFV, so I slacked on things.  Don't kill me.

The two games that are now off the list are....
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood DLC, and Infamous.

What is funny is I was only 30 minutes from completing the DLC for ACB, so I chuckled at that.
One thing that I can do is go back and work on getting all the trophies, especially for Infamous.  I can do a complete replay and probably end up getting a complete game trophy list, however I might put that on the back burner for now.


My sights are now set on FFV.  I have gotten on a roll and I am ready to kick some ass with that game.  Then I might take a FF break.  Its hard doing back to back to back RPG's.  Especially when you play FFXI a lot as well.  Can you say overkill????



overkill



I will update this later once I get more things in order.  I am finishing up right now at work and can't wait to sit down when I have time to put some pictures on here, and also get to know the new interface blogger seems to have.  Don't know if I am a fan yet.

Monday, July 11, 2011

There is an update. Would you like to continue?

July 11th, 2011.

Its free Slurpee day at your local 7-11, so hop on that NOW.  Wish I could partake however it seems that in Savannah we don't have a "real" 7-11.  We just have a 7-11 minit shop, and a 8-11 (which is really sketchy if you want my opinion).

This day is about something else though.  I mean come on, this is not a blog about 7-11 nor Slurpees (however if you would like to look at a Slurpee blog, check this one out: http://slurpeesurprise.blogspot.com/.  It seems to be dead, however it was the best I could do finding a Slurpee blog).

No, today is update day for Final Fantasy XI.  They try to do an update once a month, and then about once every quarter one BIG update.

I hate updates.  I love the new features and things they bring.  I despise the time it takes to get online and start the update; the time it takes to check files, download files, and install them; how many error messages you get because you pay for your own internet and can only afford the 6mbps package and the damn 13 year old whose parents can afford the 50 mbps package keeps getting in front of you in line and dropping you off the server.    DAMN THEM

I have had updates that take upwards 2 hours to get everything downloaded and installed (this does not include when I fresh install the game or get back on after awhile and it is an overnighter.)  These 2 hour updates however take forever however cause you keep getting booted from the server and have to restart, and then restart, and then restart, and then restart...BAM

Today though was not that long.  Got home after work, some shopping, helping the family in time for the update to just have finished.  Its barely 5pm, so I get on and get the update done in about 45 minutes (I switched to another input to watch some TV so I wouldn't pass out from the docile music being played).  Get on, put some things on the auction house to make some cold hard gil and then log off.

So where am I going with this??  I decide to maybe get back on later tonight cause a lot of my pals on the game will probably be busy going to the premieres of Harry Potter on Thursday (tixs confirmed for Friday night HELL YEAH) and when I check the website I see this.

Server Status

It is emergency maintenance.  Well break out the champagne and celebrate defeat.  What does this mean?  Well, some dweebs over at SE screwed up and something was crashing.

I hope this means I won't have to completely delete and install FFXI all over again on my PS3.  It takes about a day.

I guess I will turn to Final Fantasy V and try to work on that.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Hunt for Gold Trophies

Rewards.  Medals.  Achievements.

TROPHIES.


Ahh.  The amazingly simple but addicting thing of earning trophies by playing a game.  It is crazy how one can think that they don't need them, but once you get your first bronze trophy for just doing the tutorial you are hooked.  Next thing you know you are trying to collect all 692 pieces of whatever for a silver one.  Trying to travel 50km in the game for a gold one (which is a pain in the ass if I may say so since you can't figure out what the ratio of what the screen is displaying to actual size is supposed to be.)

So what do you get from all these wonderful trophies??  What pray tell.

You get a trophy level.  Which you can compare to your PSN friends.  To brag in their ear that you traveled 50 km in the game while they only completed it.  HA HA  In your FACE!!!

Yeah.  Pretty amazing isn't it??   I like the trophies cause it helps keep you playing the game.  Makes little benchmarks for you to clear which all the while lead you closer and closer to the goal of completing the game.

Now only if they were on older games.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The everlasting enjoyment of the move

Currently in the slow process of packing things up for the big move that is coming up.  Finally getting our asses out of this God forsaken dump and moving to a much better place only about 5 minutes away.  Then after the pack and the move comes the unpack and set things up stage which sometimes feels as if it never ends.  ARGH

So what does this have to do with the list.  Well I asked my Fiance to not pack all the games up since there will be some down time in which there is nothing to do.  So I decided to keep Fallout 3 out.  Everything else is going to be packed for the PS3.  No other games.  Nothing.  Null.  Natta

Why?

Cause I need to force myself to finish it.  I have had the damn thing sitting on my shelf for almost 3 years now.  And I am half way through.  HALFWAY.  Cue another ARGHHH


It just is soooo much of a game.  That is only taking the main title into consideration.  The expansion packs are added dread in terms of trying to get things done.  Luckily for now I only have one installed so it won't cause too much harm for me.  I can do this.  I can do it.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Slowly I will crawl off the floor...just let me rest

Been down to one post a week and I hate that.  I say I am going to post the next day and I fail.  There is a reason though.  I swear.

Well, an excuse.  But excuses are acceptable.  Right?? :)

Recently I got back into doing EA Sports Active 2 on the Cardio Kickstart Program.

I am sore all the time it feels.  I haven't really worked out in forever and I can feel it.  I needed to get myself in order though for the wedding that is upcoming in less than 5 months, but I also felt that I needed to be somewhat fit for my job and my health.  So all my efforts really have been on EA Active and I have let FFV go by the wayside.

Don't fret though to those who read.  I will continue playing.  My last day of the cardio program is tomorrow and then I will probably do a session every other day or so to keep in shape.  I will pick up my DS and continue the long trudge through FFV.  My very very long trudge.

Sorry, I have to be honest.  I should have probably picked something else to go to than a Final Fantasy game.  Something short and quick.  This is the new me though and I will not quit.  I will keep going and take this to the end.  I will stop playing Infamous as much as I do and go to FFV.

Damn you Infamous.  Damn you and the amazingness of a free game.  Not to say that I may be downloading LittleBigPlanet for free right now as well as KillZone:Liberation for the PSP.

Why do I do this.  No.  I place the blame squarely on Sony.  Being all tempting with your free shwag.  You won't get me to download the 2nd free PSP game.  You can't make me......unless you twist my arm.....


I hate you Sony.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

E x 0 + 9 / 3 = freaking awesome!!

I was thinking that I should talk a little about a very big gaming even for the world. Well, at least for America.

E3

Every summer I look forward to this event in California. I have never been (I wish I could go yet I am no developer nor real reporter, nor have I won any contest to go (I am willing to take bribes to go :) )) and it's a wish of mine to always go and to take in the great experience. I mean it has to be so exciting to experience things before they are released. The demos and the trailers and announcements are so exciting. It truly is one of those bucket list things that I would so enjoy.

Now if you have yet to guess I am a Sony fan. I love Nintendo too and I grew up on the consoles that have come through the years. Pretty sure my youth was a guest in many Super Nintendo games and game boy. I may not be a Wii fanatic, but I respect Nintendo and enjoy what they put out (I do own a Wii and do play it).

The Xbox though can go kiss my ass


I am excited for the hardware that is coming out for Sony. I do love the Vita idea and I will definitely be demoing one and probably saving my pennies to get one when it comes out. If it will support my multitude of PSone games that I need to complete for this blog then I am there. My PSP also seems to be slowly dying on me.

The Wii U controller though is something that seems peculiar in my eyes. The console itself has an HD upgrade and some other advancements but from an article that I read there are not a lot of big things with the machine itself. The main draw is the controller.

The controller is unique and interesting. However it kind of reminds me of the gba and gamecube interface that you could do with a special connection. Also makes me think of the possibilities seen with the PSP/PSVita and the PS3. The way you can have a screen in your hands that shows the same thing as what's on the tv or a different view is an idea that I experienced with the GBA and Gamecube playing The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. I think though things might be a little more advances now. At least I hope they are.

I know I usually don't like to critique things on here like I have with this post, but I just felt the need to do so. Will be back tomorrow with a new entry. Been a little off track with the game list but it will continue.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Damn you welcome back program

So I must admit that I may have jumped off the list. It's not entirely my fault though. No. I blame it in the PSN hackers.

See what happened was the hackers attacked the servers. Sony takes down PSN for over a month. Then when they bring it back they have the welcome back program. And they offer for free Infamous which is a game that I have been looking at getting for awhile. Thus it is the hackers fault why I bought it and have been playing.

Does it sound like I have a problem??


It lives up to what I thought the game would be. It is soo damn addictive. And sooo damn good. I am a fan of a karma system and Infamous definitely has one. Sometimes it can be a little bit of a pain in the ass to not hit bystanders when fighting, yet it adds complexity to the game.

It reminds me of grand theft auto actually. A really good one though, without all the crime. Just lightning shooting from your hands. Thats normal right???



So now I need to select other games to get for free. Any thoughts on little big planet or on super stardust hd for PS3?

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Moore and more forest

Currently walking through the great Forest if Moore. Halt. There it is. One really big ass tree. What's inside you ask? Oh, nothing major. Well, except for those four crystals that attack you till spill your blood so you don't destroy them to let loose massive evil.

Yeah. Oh joy for myself in fighting them. The complexities in the plot. The crystals are for good you think, and they are. Yet you are to destroy them. I get so confused on what to do.

Luckily by looking ahead in my trusty guide I realize that I am maybe at the half way point now.

Halfway. I have about 26 hours playtime. More than one Earth day has been played on this game by myself and I am halfway.

.........

I can't wait to get through this.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy FFV. It's a great game. I am just in a mood where I feel things are dragging right now. I have a couple jobs for each character mastered which places me in a good position, but I need something crazy to happen. Just one little really crazy thing.








Please?

Friday, June 3, 2011

MMOOOOOORPG!!!

So for the faithful people (friends and family) who read this, it is time to cover the big ticket item on the list.  The elephant in the room.  Final Fantasy XI (FFXI).  An epic MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) created by Square Enix (SE) that was released for the PC, PS2, and XBOX360.  I first started playing FFXI in March of 2004, and I have been playing on and off since.  I consider FFXI one of the greatest FF games created by SE in a long time because of the complexity that it offers (it is on the same level in my opinion as some of the great single player FF games).  The story just draws you in and battling in the game does take you off your schedule easily.

I have eerily been sucked into the game and when I have to go to the restroom or get food I realize it is 3am and I have been playing since 10pm.  It just has this ability to distort time and space without you knowing.  My belief on why it is able to do this is 1 game day is 1 real life hour give or take.  Days in the game seem to progress real quick so it is easy to lose track of time.

I have been in the past pushed away from the game because of the need to have a party of people to get some of the more exciting things accomplished and no one wants to help you out.  It can be very disheartening to have that happen day after day and it took a toll.  With so many expansions and updates the list kept growing of what you could do, but I always felt jilted with no help after hours of trying to get it.  Tie this in with the fact that I kept going to periods of time with no real internet connection I ended up getting a little behind on things.

After getting back into the game I have seen that there has been changes to the system and game that make the game easier for solo play and leveling.  It also is easier to do missions and quests with the level cap at 90 and soon to be raised to 99 (like all true FF games should be).  Yet still there are certain missions I need help with.  This could be partially due to the fact that I am a Warrior and that makes me the job of a frontline melee.  Because of this I usually find myself in need of a hearty backup to keep me alive.  I am trying to raise my level on other jobs to maybe get a particular Wings of the Goddess expansion quest done.  I should go and probably call for help for it, but then I run into the problem of trying to form a party to do it and finding the time for it.  It is truly time consuming and my own life has a tendency to interfere, or is it the other way around.

Its crazy to me that I have spent so much time on one game and have not accomplished that much.  So many end game things to do and Bosses to fight that I have not even started and it makes me feel that I may never get much done.  There is so much information that has been added and it seems so crazy for one person to comprehend everything there is for this one game to offer.  Before all this new information I used to be quite knowledgeable about what was occurring, yet now I have problems with basic stat information that I should know.  FFXI is the game of INSANITY it seems.    But I will keep working on it and maybe over the summer I can get a lot of progress done on things.

Well, here is hoping.

AHHHHHHHH

Sorry for the lack of an update.  I have been working on an entry off and on lately and my intention was to post last week.  We had company though come in and I never got a good chance to sit down and hammer it out though.

Thus I will get you an entry today, tomorrow, and Sunday.  I promise.

Until then, play on

Thursday, May 19, 2011

A Crossroads

Is it worth it to do the level and skill grind so common in RPG's?  I know that usually with a game you should be able to just play straight through and have at most moderate problems.  Some people, like me, are those that tend to do extra leg work so I can get all the cool things as well as get through the boss battles easier.

Thats the conundrum I am currently in when it comes to FFV.  I have a decent level currently, and the gil is pretty decent where it will just build on itself.  However I have a chance to work on my job skill.  My job skill affects what spells I can use as well as learning abilities.  There are a multitude of jobs that a character can be, however it would take an ungodly amount of hours for one to master each job for all 4 characters.  I want to level things so I can have an easier time with the later monsters plus get all the good spells and abilities.  I could also make an interesting combination with the freelancer job.
\


I just don't know if I should since I am at a pretty good location to solely work on job levels, or if I wanted to I could just continue on.  I know it sounds a little silly to have some level of concern over this, yet a lot of times I stop playing games because of this very reason.  I lose this need...or better choice of words, desire to keep doing what I am doing.  This antidesire emotion that progresses to the whole game and I find myself drifting to something new.

Maybe thats it.  Maybe I need to bite the bullet and either give up on the grind and continue on with the story, or keep my current course and reap the benefits that will follow.  Honestly, there really is no bad decision in an RPG, except the one that leads to GAMEOVER!

Monday, May 16, 2011

An Expansion, but not that theory for the Universe

Downloadable Content (DLC) is something of a conundrum I feel.  I only own a handful of DLC since a lot of games I have are so long that DLC would be beat a dead horse.  However you don't want to make the main plot really short and then have to get DLC to see what happens.  Yes this will make money for the companies, and there are people who will buy packages as well.  Yet it does make the game look bad.  To me its as if they released the game unfinished and the DLC is some lame excuse to make up for it.

DLC should be like its ancestor, the expansion pack.  It adds to the story by providing a mini sequel and placing add-ons without having to do a completely new things.  Example: Diablo II.  AMAZING!  Plain and simple.  Keeping with my list, I think of them Fallout 3 has some very good DLC for it.  I only have Broken Steel which opens up an extension to the main plot, plus open up your character to level 30.  The other DLC/add-ons for Fallout 3 allow you to battle in other places and open up an entirely new story that wraps around the main plot.  Like the famous Anchorage battle, on searching out the aliens.  I love those ideas.  Really new and exciting.

Another look is at Assassins Creed: Brotherhood.  I stopped Fallout 3 for now and decided to work on the DLC The Da Vinci Disappearance since I recognized I have many games that will take a lot of man hours to get through and that I had some that won't take much time at all.  The Da Vinci Disappearance is a quickie.

Just to go over Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, the AC series is graphically beautifully, the plot is rich, and the experience sucks you in completely.  I never played the first Assassins Creed, but I did play Assassin's Creed II.  ACII was a lengthy story.  However I feel AC:B was a lot shorter.  The story just seemed to be over by the time it started.  Plus there was not a lot of development with the overall arc of the main character, which is and will be spanning multiple titles.  So when I started to play the Da Vinci Disappearance add-on I felt this may have been better as a side quest arc in the game,  It has no real advancement to the main plot, nor does it bring a lot in terms of new abilities and all.  I just feel it could have been added in the game with its initial release and all would be have been fine.  I guess Ubisoft needed to make some extra Florins.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Is it worth it to get that guide??

I have always been a fan of strategy guides.


Well...lets change that.  I have been a fan of them since I got one for Final Fantasy VII.  I don't like cheat codes.  Never have really been a fan of them cause that is purely cheating.  Guides just help to show you the way to go when you happen to be lost, or want to know how the hell to get that mythical, magical, unicorn shaped, blinking, necromancer boots which never make it into the conversation of the game and thus you would have gone by them completely if not for the game.

I don't get one for every game that I play or have.  I do have some constants, like I get them usually for a FF game or really any RPG.  I used to get them for multiplayer online games, however those change so much that the guide is usually useless after 1 or 2 version updates.  What sucks is these things are expensive, so thats usually like 20 to 30 bucks down the hole.  (The beauty of wikia sites and IGN.com to provide information is nice for these).

If you think of it though after you get through the game you are not really going to go through the guide again like if it were a book.  Yes I know you could replay the game and all, but I am not always someone who replays and replays games (unless it is FFVIII, that is a crazy story of forgetfulness).  If you write in the damn things then you can't really sell them back for much.  Plus if you are desperate enough to by a used guide, then hit yourself in the head and look up info on the sites.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Wish updates to the DS were able

One of the joys of my quick 10 minute drive to work when the traffic is crap is that I could pull out my PSP and play it while I waited for the light to turn.  Some of you might think that that is horrible and I could be placing other people in danger with this, however there are far more issues with driving that this that occur in my town.

My beef is this.  I am currently working on FFV and possibly looking at doing a long haul on the DSlite with some other games.  Now FFV Advance is a GBA game and it works on my DS, however since it is not a DS game I can't just close the screen and it will freeze it where I am and allow me to start back off immediately, as well as not burn the battery down.  That is what I loved about my PSP.  I could put it on standby, and then when I knew I could slip in a couple of minutes I would just fire up the machine and have no problems.  However with having to start the DS, select the game, click start at the start screen, skip the little montage at the beginning, click to load my game, and begin time has passed.  Precious time.  Time that I could have been playing the game and forget about the monotony of this damn left turn light.  Or even worse, the traffic light on Paulson.  That is a complete cluster if I have ever seen one.

Simply put, I just want to have a quick start and end from and to standby.  If not then I feel like this might be a little long to get through things.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Slight adjustment

So after looking over the list and the Fiancée talking to me at the Best Buy when I was looking kind of longingly at Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, there is going to be a change in the main rule of the blog: I cannot purchase a new game until 2-3 games have been completed and taken off the list.

The adjustment is going to be 5-6 games for a new one.  That way with ~60 items on the list, I would add only 10 total once going through the whole list instead of 20.  Good idea you think??


I think something else I might look into is adding any new purchases to the list, however not starting them until maybe I have gone through at least 1 more game.  That or I do a purchase at 5-6 games completed, and if I just do 5 I have to wait.  If I complete 6 though I will be able to immediately begin on the game.  Your thoughts??

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Bring on the 16-bit madness!!

So, I have finally decided to delve past the time of the Playstation. Before the the DS.

It is time to go to the era of 16-bit, and the first Final Fantasy game that I will talk about on here (I have completed many other ff games, however this is the first one blogged about for me).

Let me get this off my chest. Plain and simple, I am a fan of Final Fantasy games.  Maybe I should rephrase that.  I love Final Fantasy games.  The first one I can remember playing was Final Fantasy III on SNES, which was actually FFVI.  If you want to know more about that weird change up then look it up.

I remember renting FFIII on SNES as a lad.  I remembered Terra and Lock and so on.  Squaresoft/SquareEnix has always done well with a story, especially in the beginning of the series when they were still trying to prove things.  The graphics and gameplay have always pushed the envelope as well, and this is what sucks the player into the coding of the game.

This entry is not about the Final Fantasy series though.  I could write about it, however that may come on a down day.  The center stage belongs to Final Fantasy V, or in this case Final Fantasy V Advance for the Gameboy Advance.  The background for this FF game as with the previous games is the crystals.  The foundation of the world (cause it is not Earth is the game) is maintained and balanced by these crystals.  Usually 4 crystals, earth, wind, water, and fire, but I do believe that sometimes changes.

I think the enjoyment of this classic game comes because it was original and during a time when the series was still working on its rise to fame.  The class system in FFV is so enthralling because of the combinations available, but as well the customization and strategy available to play the game.  It's this to me that makes a good RPG.

Now I know I said that I would be restarting each game I play, but this is one that since I did remember the story, I decided to continue off where I was.  Plus, I am pretty far in the story now and I really really did not want to restart after hours of grinding to get up in level.

SPOILER!!!


I am at the point in the story where I have just gotten the power of the meteorites to send me to the other world, and Exdeath almost got me.  But being the total badass that Bartz and company are they escaped.  I found this idea of going to other worlds kind of repeating in some of the FF games, however it is entertaining cause there is a purpose behind it and not just some excuse to go to some other planet.

It is exciting to me to be playing these classic games again.  It just seems to be very refreshing and exciting to have these games, even though they are soo different from the modern batch of stuff coming out today.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

I have not disappeared

Sorry to those who have decided to actually read this thing for not posting. I have just been busy with work and have not had the chance to actually sit down and type out an entry.

Don't worry though. I have been writing my thoughts down as I have been playing and it should be pretty good. With the playing of Fallout 3, we also will have Final Fantasy V on gba, and maybe some other additions.

Until then, stay tuned!!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Parasite has been contained aka 1 down

Parasite Eve


Its so refreshing to have to done.  Finally, I have completed one game.  I knew this would help me to get motivated to get through these games.

So it took me 3 game overs and 1 bitch of a final boss.  SPOILER!!!


The damn thing had 4 different forms, all bitchier than the last.  Then you have to run away from it.  For the love of God, do not allow it to touch you.  I did and BAM  Game over.  BAHHHH



Anyways, I write this after beating Parasite Eve, and the credits are still rolling.  Total time for completion was: 11:23:28.  Maybe I should make a total of all the playing time that I go through to get through this list.

But yeah.  I don't know why I ever stopped playing this game.  It is very straightforward and goes through quick (~11.5 hours is pretty quick in terms of a RPG/action game.  Especially back in the PSOne days).  Once you get past the opera scene and central park things just start to roll. 


Its a fun game and something thats nice to have on a mobile system when you just want to putz around.  I don't think that I will start in on Parasite Eve 2 yet.  I think that I need a little down time from the series.  However it will be nice to see what they did with the reboot (its kind of a reboot if you see the end of Parasite Eve.  Totally crazy).



Oh, you may have noticed that I have added some games to the list.  I will do this whenever I find a game that I have not completed and was not accounted for.

Options, Options: Radiated Water or Dirty Water?

I love a open games.  Not that whole open source, anyone can change whatever (thats a whole different beast), but the idea of a game that does not have to follow a linear path, but can diverge and go on in different areas.

This means side quests.  It means side quests that you have to work for.  That take almost an hour of sweat and blood (and not your own, but the character.  Please do not cut your self for a game.  Thats a little...well...crazy).

Its side quests that take you off the linear into the surrounding world and have you almost forgot why you were playing the game to get to the ending.  Quests that have you sitting in one spot for forever just to catch some random beast and hope that they drop an item that has a 4% chance of dropping each time you kill it.

And thus we begin talking about Fallout 3

I blame my friend Wes for getting me addicted to the Fallout series.  It started out as a PC series for Fallout and Fallout 2.  There was also another one after those but I never played that game.  Underlying story though is that there was a great war with China and nukes were launched.  Years later you are in America.  Devastation from the bombs is still there, with radiation everywhere.  Usually you play a Vault dweller who has to leave the vault to get something for everyone to survive.  There are multiple things that can occur that make you have to go out into the big bad wasteland.

Thats where this post picks up.  I find myself maybe past halfway in the game's main plot, but I am in the middle of some quest that has me in a dark, wet, scary place where crab like things are attacking me.  That is the beauty of Fallout 3.

The fun and rewards of all these side quests are things that make me keep going off course, and probably going to be the reason why it may take me a little bit of time to complete the game.  This is one of the reasons why I decided to split the DLC for the game into separate games because then it would just take me FOREVER to complete this.  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sunday, April 24, 2011

DISC CHANGE!!!

The disc change screen.  It can either be a blessing or a curse, depending on the game and the person you are.  After getting the disc change screen in PE, I remembered my past with them.  Some games will have you save at the screen while others won't (PE is not one of those, at least on the PSP).  These screens though are great for you to see where you are.  Well...sometimes.

I am about 8.5 hours into PE when I get the screen when I am near the bridge. YAY  I should be halfway.  Right??  Cause I am enjoying the game, but part of me feels like I have been trudging along and its been a battle to get closer and closer to the end.  So I decide to look on www.gamefaqs.com to check where I am?  It seems that I am almost 3/4 of the way done.

Yes I should be excited to be past halfway, but part of me thinks that I should have gotten this screen earlier.  But then under closer examination I start to think that if I am past halfway now, then this crazy story needed maybe a little more length and depth to it.  Yes, it is a great game and plot, but maybe a little bit more.  I could be proved wrong though and everything will happen at the end, which sometimes happens with a Squaresoft game.

P.S.  It could also be blamed that the tech at the time of the PS was not large enough to hold all the data needed on a disc to make half of it on one disc and another half on the other.  Which is cool however sometimes ports of games onto another platform should be improved with no disc change if it were warranted.

OH NO!!!! Its Mitochondria!!!

Oh the glories of a classic PS game.  How great it is to be able to play this on the PSP.  Makes it soo much more enjoyable.  I honestly believe that they should put all Playstation games on the PSP, but thats for another day.

This game combines elements of RPG, Action, and some Adventure.  It follows the story of Aya, a NYPD officer who investigates horrible murders and deaths that are at the hand of this being calling herself Eve.  I won't get too much into detail, but its a game that people who enjoy the classics and the old days of Squaresoft, they should give it a shot.

Before I continue, let me say that there will be at times a Spoiler in the blog.  Its something that I won't try to help against.  I feel that it is a waste of your time if I sit here and say "Well, this happened here and this thing jumped out and I was like WHOA this thing is crazy looking etc."  But to be kind, I will try to put SPOILER!! before I get into things that could compromise your experience of the game.

SPOILER!!


So I am currently at the part in Chinatown when you have to run around the sewers shooting bats and snakes.  Now, being a RPG player I immediately believe that there is some specific path you have to take to unlock the proper route through the sewers.  Well, running around like an idiot in pretty much a circle for about 25 minutes I take a right and discover there was no mystery.  Yeah.  It was that moment that I put the game down and decided to stop for a bit.  After cruising the internet I found myself looking at the Gamefaqs.com website (which honestly, if you need some help on a game, this is usually the first place you should look).

So I have myself right before a boss and decided to just type up some notes on the subject.  I loved how I felt that this was cutting edge graphics and story back during the PSone days.  Now I notice the monotony in trying to use an Analog stick when it was meant for a D-pad.  Yet, you get by and you enjoy it.

One of the things though that annoys me on this game is the inventory limit.  I know as someone who truly loves a good RPG concept that inventory space limitation would add to the experience, but I hate having to take an extra 20 minutes to haul my stuff to the damn police HQ so I can't get the good weapon that drops from the boss that I am soon going to face.  Maybe this will change for PE2 (I should know since I started to play it a looong time ago, however I have forgotten).


Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Beginning

So the story is this.  After many times of trying to figure out which game to play on my days off, I sat down and made a list of all the games that I had collected in the past 11-12 years for the Playstation consoles.  It was a lot.  I seemed to have collected and collected, and when I played them I had stopped one game to start playing another.  Hell, I found that a lot of times I would be close to beating a game and just stop on it.  BLAH

To stop myself from continuing this constant never beat a game but buy more I promised myself and my fiance that I would hold off on buying any new game or Downloadable Content (DLC) until I have removed 2-3 games from my list.  Thats the main rule.  The other rules are as follow:


  • I will start all games on the list from the beginning.  This is to allow me to relearn the story and enjoy the game in full.
  • I will not play more than 2 games at a time (one on a console, and one on a mobile platform i.e. PSP, DS.
  • I will try to provide a write up of each game that I play as I play it on this blog.
  • Last, when it comes to FFXI and other MMORPG, even though there is no real end to the game, I will try my best to complete the storylines that are available, but may play this game at any time.  I must however go back to the console game that I was playing before I started FFXI.
These rules are finite and can only be added to if needed, however I may not take off any of them.

Now with that done lets get the list up:

FFXIII PS3 Completed on 4/16/11
FFXIII: Aftergame missions     PS3 
FFXII PS2
FFIV DS
FFXI PS2  Ongoing
FFVI GBA
FFV GBA
FFIII DS/iOS
Crisis Core PSP
Final Fantasy Tactics PSP
Fallout 3 PS3
Fallout 3: Broken Steel  PS3
Fallout: New Vegas PS3
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood PS3  Completed
Assassins Creed: Brotherhood: The Da Vinci Disappearence PS3  DLC
Grand Theft Auto 4 PS3
Grand Theft Auto 3 PS2
GTA: Vice City PS2
GTA: San Andreas PS2
Parasite Eve PS/PSP
Parasite Eve 2 PS
BoF IV PS
Vagrant Stories PS/PSP
Wild Arms PS/PSP
Wild Arms 2 PS/PSP
Star Ocean PSP
Star Ocean 2 PS
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time PS2
Radiata Stories PS2
Shadow Hearts PS2
Shadow Hearts: Covenant PS2
Azure Dreams PS
.Hack//GU Vol. 1 Rebirth PS2
White Knight Chronicles PS3
Gran Turismo 5 PS3
Legend of Dragoon PS
Chrono Trigger PS
Chrono Cross PS
Monster Rancher PS
Monster Seed PS
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits PS2
Dark Cloud PS2
Dark Cload 2 PS2
Draken: The Ancient Gates PS2
Gran Turismo 4 PS2
Jade Cocoon 2 PS2
Legaia 2: Duel Saga PS2
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery PS2
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny PS2
Samurai Legend: Musashi PS2
Shinobi PS2
Suikoden III PS2
Suikoden IV PS2
Summoner 2 PS2
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven PS2
Unlimited Saga PS2
Wild Arms 3 PS2
Wild Arms Alter Code: F PS2
Xenosaga II PS2
Ys: Ark of Naphishtia PS2
Xenogears PS/PSP
Pokemon Platinum DS
Pokemon Diamond DS

As you can tell I have already completed two on the list and there are many more to go.  Currently I am working on Fallout 3 on PS3 and Parasite Eve on the PSP.  I will talk about these games though in another post.  For now, enjoy!!