final fantasy XIII post-game thoughts

Aww, I just finished Final Fantasy XIII and I'm feeling really emotional. Like every single damn thing on the face of Earth, there will always be haters. I do not fathom the reason behind people's hatred and if they hate it then why do they still play it? 

Finished the game's main part at 57 hours ++ without touching most side quests unless required and without grinding. I have to admit I've enjoyed every single second spent in game, from the first time I inserted the disc until now. What a fantastic experience it has been. 

My Hands by Leona Lewis is really suitable.  Gotta admit I was skeptical when I first heard that her song will be used but now I've totally changed my mind. It fits the game alright and dear fans should stop being so adamant. Not all western things are bad, stop saying that the song sucks just because it's western and not japanese shit. It's okay that you think it's suck because you don't like the song but you think it sucks just because it's WESTERN? Sounds so silly, no? Yes, I listened to the japanese theme song as well, pretty good. I'd say both are good so please, stop the hate, it's sad. I feel bad for Leona Lewis because of the amount of fans bashing her.

So these are my thoughts after spending 2 weeks, trying to balance out my gaming and study time. Just gonna list down anything that comes to my mind. :

1. This game is totally worth it. Finish the game --complete sidequests for obtaining trophies and so on. High replay value. I'm considering playing it from the start again since it will be easier after learning various strategies and whatnot.

2. Battle system is fun fun fun! Flaws only make battles more challenging, the inflexibility of changing paradigms contribute to the difficulty factor as well. Easily the hardest FF I've ever played.

3. Great character design. From the kick ass ones to those annoying little brats, I love them. Despite how annoying Hope and Vanille were in the beginning of the game, they get better. In fact, annoying traits are the ones that make the characters memorable. Light of course is my favorite among all, followed by Fang. Best female protagonist I've ever come across. From her VA to her costume design, how she fights in battles, she's close to perfect. I like how females are so damn strong in this game.

Best 2 female characters in the game.

4. Grinding is pointless. Even if you max out skills and stats, dying is still easy if you don't strategize. Timing and strategizing have not been this important! 

5. The game has TOWNZ. Stop saying the game has no towns. The bloody towns are everywhere and we're in TOWNZ most of the time. Just because you get attacked in towns, that does not tantamount to no TOWNZ because Nautilus is really a town. So called having no TOWNZ is relevant to the plot because players are considered as the baddies; thus being chased around in townz and no resting, please use common sense.

6. Eidolons are not entirely useless. True potential is revealed when used at the perfect moment in battles and I totally love how tough eidolons battles are because it wouldn't make any sense if we were to obtain them so easily. God, those battles make my blood rush! And the summon scenes are dead gorgeous, never skipped them. There's no reason to skip.

7. Vanille and Fang are lesbians. I officially declare them lesbians. Good friends don't go hugging each other that way. To be more precise, hug while resting your hand on one's breast. And lifting your friend's skirt to see a scar on the thigh? Really? Ending scene utterly convinced me that they are gay. Just because they didn't say "hey, we're lesbians" does not mean they're not lesbians. People can say whatever they want but this is my final stand. Glad SE is taking this approach. *coughs*

 I told you they're gay.
  

8. Music is good. Not mind blowing but still good. I'm satisfied. Yes, I know how all FF fans miss Uematsu. That guy is a genius but please, life goes on, not like he's dead but... give chances to other composers alright? Hamauzu's works ain't that bad and he deserves praise. Overall, the game's soundtrack is really pleasant to the ears and there's actually variety in the ost per se. Though most tunes aren't as memorable as Uematsu's works, Hamauzu's music is still brilliant. It fits FFXIII's world. In fact it's wayyyyyy better than X-2's ost excluding Eternity Memory of Lightwavesblablasomething. The music is so pleasant that I'm actually looking around for the ost, I'm talking about the physical copy. Someone let me know if they see the ost in Malaysia? Because I remember seeing XII's ost sold in Rock Corner. Whether it's bootleg or not, that I do not know but hopefully it's fully original. Worst case scenario, I'll need to find someone to order it online for me.

9. Superb voice acting. Worth noting --- Vanille's voice is so irritating that I can still hear it ringing in my ears. It's as if she's having sex during most parts of the game. Fortunately I do not use her much. Light's VA did a great job, I saw the interview and she actually sounds so different. She managed to deliver a few memorable lines, "Worst birthday ever". All the voice artists managed to bring out the personalities of the characters, which is what makes the game so realistic. Luckily no stupid male voice acting this time. All the guys sound perfectly normal. As the game progresses, characters also have new lines during battles.

10. Game is pretty family-oriented. How Light goes all out to save her sister and her caring gestures, how Sazh wants to save his son, how Hope gets more mature and overcome his fears and troubles after his mom's death and opening up to his dad --- I really like the direction of this game. The only cannon pairing is Snow and Serah. No redundant lovey dovey scenes or stupid lines.

The only cannon pairing. I'm happy they didn't pair Light with Snow. Light and Snow already don't sound nice together, verbally.

11. 10/10 for overall eyecandy.

12. Light doesn't get too much spotlight till she overshadows the other characters. All of them get sufficient coverage. It's just that Light gets a bit more attention and more lines, that's about it. Very balanced I'd say.

 For the 992828171231th time, Light does not look like Cloud and she's not a female version of Cloud, looks and personality-wise. 

Okay, I cried a bit but it wasn't as bad (most probably because my mom was having her lunch beside me) as how I cried during Crisis Core's ending. FFXIII ending can be interpreted as both sad and joyful. Not gonna include spoilers but fortunately the fun-filled journey isn't exactly over, I'll still spend my time finishing sidequests and visiting newly unlocked areas and riding chocobos of course!

Photos from rpgsite.net

say bye

Think you have pretty good eye-sight? Think again.
Spot me if you're able to. Free hugs for those who are able to. Rephrase, free hugs over my dead body.

Never knew my exasperated face actually looks like this.

Approximately 3 weeks left till foundation ends. Can't  be any happier. Would you say I'm a pessimistic person or more of an optimistic person, judging from that statement itself? I'm not sure myself. 

VGL happening for the first time in Malaysia!

Presentations and assignments are finally all done for this final semester so for the time being, zest is in the air! 

One of the reasons why I'm so happy and driven now is because VGL will be happening for the first time in Malaysia! (and all the while I thought of how I'll just die without witnessing the greatness of video games' music live because after all, this is Malaysia) It's certainly shocking that they've decided to include Malaysia in their tour. About time! I know there are many enthusiasts out there, those radical ones especially!

If you're still scratching your head and don't even have a single inkling about VGL, you're really uncool. Scratch that, I know how "many" gamers actually visit my blog or gamer friends. Was just kidding. Just because you do not play video games, it doesn't mean you should miss out this opportunity to attend this amazing concert! 

Who the hell's performing? It's difficult to answer, there are many involved, from the choir to the electronic percussionists, solo performers, etc. Picture the ambience when you witness an orchestra live, then combine it with something electronic, jazzy or rock-ish once in a while. A perfect blend of various genres, making the music come alive right before your eyes. The synchronization coupled together with beautiful visuals such as the lights and video games clips are utterly engaging, to gamers or non-gamers. Anyone who enjoys symphonic tracks or put simply, soundtracks or instrumental stuff will definitely find this a worthwhile + enjoyable experience. If these reasons are still not convincing enough, I'm hoping the price of the tickets will--- from RM 83 to RM 253! That's way fucking cheaper than your Super Junior concert which I think is totally crap. Sorry, my fingers tend to  move on their own sometimes.

I know people will still be hesitant (that is if my dear readers are actually bothered to read all these in the first place). Here are several videos that I got from YT, to exemplify the magnificence of VGL! Bear in mind all these are user-recorded; thus, the quality but they still rock.

One Winged Angel performed in Paris.

FF Medley on Piano performed in Taipei - the word beautiful explains it all.

How often do you get such cool people touring Malaysia anyway? This is totally incredulous. Someone slap me please, HARD. All these envisioning is making me more excited by each second. This is almost like a dream come true for me. Music that will be performed obviously includes those from well-known titles or classical ones. Good examples are Final Fantasy, Chrono Cross, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Mega Man, Warcraft, Super Mario, Kingdom Hearts, Zelda, Dongkey Kong, Castlevania, just to name a few that I know of. 

If anyone's interested in joining, here are some important details of the concert.

Date : 17th April 2010

Time : First session at 2.30 PM , Second session at 8.30 PM

Venue : KL Convention Centre, Plenary Hall

For more information, here's the official website -- Video Games Live. Ticket pricing is available there, as well as ordering of course. 

saving Lightning

After about 1 week of waiting plus the everyday mailbox checking, the long awaited gem has finally arrived!

BEHOLD!

Is it me or the cover appears to be 'glossy'? This boxart is definitely better than the one with only the game title written on it. Yes I know they have some pretty artwork behind FF but Lightning's trademark pose is unbeatable!

The booklet/manual. Let's take a look the first 2 pages because they feature clear shots of Lightning. Yes I have conditional love for those characters but who gives a damn?

That smoking hot BAMF pose again! HAH! Okay okay, I'll try being fair this time and post a shot of the main cast.

Had the chance to play the game for one hour before dinner and damn, the game's such a fine piece of artwork. The graphics will definitely make you go like "holy shit!".

First impressions :

1. Lightning is hot.
2. The cast reminds me of FFX's Al-Bheds, is that how you spell that anyway?
3. Gorgeous setting, looks like there's a lot to be explored.
4. Once again, it feels very much like FFX, feels like home to be. FFX was the first FF game I played on the PS2 and this is the first FF for the PS3.
5. Enjoyable battle system. I really dislike the one that FFXII uses, it doesn't feel like FF to me. ATB turn based battles are back with deadlier moves! I can only control one character? I'm hoping it'll let me control the party later on.
6. Easy to listen to music, the battle theme is kinda stuck in my head already. Hopefully the rest of the soundtrack won't be as annoying or mundane as X-2's or XII.
7. Incredibly cool interface when the menu is brought up, you can see the characters' picture clearly unlike previous FF games.

See, now I'm even more demotivated to go to Leadership Camp which is happening tomorrow. Tch. Speaking of which, I haven't even packed! Alright alright, it's only 3 days long then I'll be able to spend most of my time playing this. *sighs* after all, FFXIII is my raison d'etre for purchasing the Playstation 3.

Take note that yours faithfully will be blogging more often about FFXIII from today onwards. :)

Till then I'll be so called camping in Gopeng, Perak.
And I'm starting to think that phones which are too smart is quite a challenge to use.

geek post

Last weekend was just gone like that. Felt as if it wasn't that laborious but in actual fact it was quite laborious considering how I already got the 5% participation marks for Stats and how I've already finished doing my part for Business research paper. There's only Psychology left for now, I'm pretty confident that I can finish it by tonight, not so sure about the slides though. Then there's the presentation this Thursday and Quiz 2 for Business as well. As if that's not enough to occupy me, there's so called leadership camp on friday till sunday. Very short indeed but there, have you noticed that another weekend has been taken away from me? Tch, I just can't help thinking how much better it would be if the camp was held during semester breaks. Every student can just go there have fun without worries.

Mom is finally back and someone's starting to act weird again. I wonder why, very much perplexed.

During Psychology class today, Ms. Selena was talking about Sigmund Freud and his theories, the structural theory especially. Images of Evangelion kept popping into my mind. Freud, Evangelion, Freud, Evangelion, yes, that anime Evangelion. Clearly Evangelion was created with a lot of Freudian theories in mind, which makes me wanna rewatch the whole series again just to comprehend more about ego, super-ego and id. See how watching animes can be so beneficial at times? It's a matter of picking the right anime and not some shitty one. Shitty ones are just a waste of time. While I was searching for Eva stuff the other day, I came across a Freudian Eva icon, the artist must have been reading Psychology materials.

 This is actually pretty cool.

.Freud
Photo from BBC 

Eva
Photo from tvtropes.org 

Freud. Again.

Eva. Again.
Photo from Retsgip's Anime Blog 

Anyways, my point is, just little things like this can brighten up my day. Little things as in seeing how my interests pertain to serious issues or how they're interrelated. I don't sound like I make sense. Never mind, after all, I can be such a geek at times.

the evangelion impact

 Photo from blog.rage.com.my

I am utterly ecstatic after watching Evangelion 2.0 at Cathay earlier this evening! Due to transportation problems, I had to go there about 1 hour before the movie starts so you can picture how mundane it was for me. Fortunately the particular hall was opened early. Early by 10 minutes if I'm not wrong. Surprisingly I wasn't the earliest one. A few hardcore EVA fans were already inside, sitting in the dark. There were only stationary ads with annoying radio tunes being played. Soon, the crowd came. Mostly teenage guys. There were very few girls. There were also mid age guys. To my surprise, there was this family with a few kids. Very young kids, most probably around 5. Poor kids, I hope they grasped the movie and were able to tolerate the violence. For the record, I sat between 2 late 20s/early 30s guys. Both came alone and of course I went alone as well. Speak of the Eva spirit!

The vexatious ads and previews were distressing. Impatience was obvious and you can't blame us. It has been how many months since the release of Evangelion 2.0 and it took dog years for it to reach our shores but I'm not gonna complain. Honestly, I feel so blessed that this whole thing is actually taking place. To watch Evangelion 2.0 on such a huge screen with brilliant sound effects! 

It was virtually 2 hours long but it felt like nothing. The battle scenes especially were engaging. There were changes in the storyline as compared to the original series. So far I think it's okay. It was very intriguing to see how they replaced Suzuhara with Asuka during the scene where Shinji was compelled to terminate Unit 03. I prefer the original scene more though because it was more emotional, I can still recall how much I cringed on the night when I watched that episode. Amazing like hell. Ayanami Rei has more emotions. Heck, there's even an obvious love triangle between Asuka, Shinji and Rei which I find to be pretty odd. It seemed as if it's too fast for that considering the facts that Asuka actually loathes Shinji and Rei is too robotic and too in love with Shinji's father instead of Shinji himself. Sick.

Since it's a Rebuild, the CG effects are much better. Even though the art style seems a bit outdated for today's anime, their hairstyle especially, I still think it was beautifully done/retouched. Plentiful additional scenes make it easier for Eva fans to understand the enigma of Evangelion but if someone were to just walk in watch it, there's  ahuge possibility that they'll start getting bored, worse, deride the anime. The soundtrack is truly superb. Love the classic songs and incongruous battle themes. The instrumental version of Thanatos really enhanced the impacts of the fights. Not to exaggerate but I had goosebumps all over during a few scenes, heh, "the evangelion impact".

When the movie ended, most viewers left except for me, 2 guys and another group of teenage boys behind me. I guess we're the hardcore ones. Waited for the credits to finish rolling. I'm not gonna lament about the credits because that is the part where Beautiful World by the goddessUtada Hikaru plays. I love both the original and the acoustic rendition of this song. I have no inkling whether they stayed for the ending song or for the preview of Evangelion 3.0 but I reckon it's the latter. The staff must be exasperated, they switched on the lights and our asses were still glued to the chairs waiting for the preview. Haha!

My notion is that the whole Rebuild of Evangelion thing is mostly fanservice but it's okay since Eva geeks are incredibly loyal and fucking enthusiastic so for sure lots of profits will be generated in Japan. As for little countries like Malaysia, it's a blessing that we have the opportunity to watch this. Once again, millions of thank you, hugs and kisses to the fans who petitioned so hard for this to happen. 

I'm so extremely delighted today because of this. :D

And I'm also glad I didn't download the CAM version of this, else it would've spoiled the fun and excitement.

ramenbox's little self indulgence

Friday has been the happiest day of 2010. 2 amazing events took place and these moments are really going into my "Best Moments of 2010" list. Let's start off with the minor one. Behold, the movie, Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 : You Can (Not) Advance is finally being screened in Malaysia! At last! I remember I came across news on how Facebook Evangelion fans petitioned for this. Great job to those ardent fans out there. Too bad I'm an inactive FB-er, else I could have contributed a bit. I missed the first one which was back in 2008 but I'm definitely missing this! Exclusively shown in Cathay or TGV Sunway. The ads in the newspapers are  mere black and white, pretty pathetic, but who gives a damn? I've already bought my ticket in advance and they actually claimed how you can not advance. The irony. Heh. Can't wait for tomorrow evening to come.

The next big but not so big thing, the time I spent drooling over a PS3 has come to an end because yours truly  has finally purchased one for herself. Once again, I'd like to stress how money makes the world goes round. Surveyed the prices in OneU but in the end decided to buy it from Sony Style, The Curve. I'm gratified with my final decision because it came with freebies, not to mention the free Milo and warm service from one of thoseguys there. It was a bit difficult to ask about the availability of certain games though because the guy isn't a gamer. Perhaps they should start assigning staff to appropriate sales sections. Nevertheless he was being as helpful as possible.

 Days of frequent visits to the Sony shop just to caress the PS3 are over.

Freebies - A not-so-stylish oversized windbreaker. I wanted a black but apparently there's no black. And a Sony multi-reader.

 

My first ever original video games. Not new releases but hey, quality matters and no one gets bored of Solid Snake.

Personally I feel that it was a good bargain. At least the freebies are both practical things. In fact, the windbreaker is currently with my mom who has just left for Australia. Hopefully a free windbreaker will be enough for the mild weather. Wanted to get GTAIV instead of MGS4 but in the end went ahead and bought MGS4 because it's a PS3-must-get. Elder Scrolls was also reasonable because it includes the expansion pack together with the initial one. How lovely. can things get? It was difficult to choose my first few games but I settled with these both because 1. Dragon Age is still quite expensive for the time being. 2. Final Fantasy XIII Eng Version isn't out yet so these will be more than enough to keep me busy until mid March.

Yes, it's not the hot version with Lightning's super sexy face on it. I guess it's okay but truth be told, I still dream of that limited edition. *sigh* be grateful with what you have, Crystal. :)

For my mom who must be checking in now, wishing her a safe and wonderful journey. Will be missing her for one week. Who wants to cook for me this week?