• 24Mar 08

  Square Enix Reunion - The Birth!

  Hi there you all! How are things going?

  I'm here to introduce my new project. Yesterday, Celes,Full_Metal1923, Kryu88 and I (and my Brazilian friend Destroya, and waiting on Oblivion's reply! XD) opened a new union, Square Enix Reunion. Do I need to say what it is about? XD

  First things first, some of you know I had been leader at SEE for quite some time last year until I had to leave for a while for personal reasons. Due to some circumstances, I decided to permanently relinquish my leadership at SEE last week.

  I am very proud of the things I have done to SEE last year, many of them which wouldn't have been able to exist without the help of the wonderful officers I recruited last year. I remember when Fantasy_Gamer invited me to take care of the newly stabilished union; there was hardly anyone posting there due to some events that happened and which made SEE coming into existence. I also remember Fantasy_Gamer giving me my first "duty": to clean up the archives sections!

  This had been my first real experience taking charge of such a big union (at least if only by number of members, but not of activity). And it was a challenge that I had decided to take and see how far could I go. Because deep inside, as a SE fan just like any of you, I knew what was missing there.

  Well, months came by and eventually, we started coming up with many different things that made SEE be what it has become right now; we implemented various activities and the union started to ignite. We went over the 4,000 members count, and more importantly, we grew to know each other better in the process and make friends. It wasn't anymore just about Square Enix games, but the PLAYERS, the COMMUNITY in it. My idea in creating the Character System was to give us a "nudge" to become more informal with each other, to be more friendly. And I believe that at least on that matter, I succeeded.

  At any rate, things happen and now here I am. Last week I gathered some very nice people and asked their help to form a brand new union. We are going to thrive to excel on the same concepts we had in mind for SEE, and of course, add more things to it. Because I believe in always changing. We can't allow things to stagnate, or else they lose their glow. We have always to keep improving, trying to figure out ways to make things better - because the possibilities are endless if you look at the right way and with the right intentions.

  That being said, I invite everyone who reads my blog and who would be interested in a Square Enix community, to join us!

  Square Enix Reunion

  I hope you enjoy it there. We will work hard to make that union have the shape and content we have in mind, and keep the community growing not just in numbers, but in building strong friendships. And on a last note, thank you very much for everyone at SEE who gave me their support during the time I was the leader, and thank you very much also for those supporting it now at Square Enix Reunion! We can make it through!

  Thanks for reading my blog, as always! Oh, and coming up next, my Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion Wars review!

  PS: We had quite a discussion as for the name of the new union.... two options were fought over with all heart and mind - "Reunion" and "Republic". Unfortunately Celes and I were minority with "Republic", thus "Reunion" became the union's name. I am curious as to what you guys would have chosen? Square Enix Republic, or Square Enix Reunion? Please feel free to comment on this!

  • Posted Mar 24, 2008 5:39 pm GMT
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• 1Mar 08

  On Bumper Cars, Some Tactics and Constants.

  

  On My Life as an Amusement Park's Bumper Car.

  Seriously, I don't have luck with cars. Last year, I hit someone's bumper at a construction site just next to my apt (nothing serious, but I did earn a $140 ticket for innatentive driving and I didn't even scratch the ladies' car). Last monday, I was the victim. I was waiting at the Taco Bell drive-in line, when all of a sudden, the car in front of me simply backs up on me and hits me!!! I was ready to get out of the car and pull a Obi Juan Kenobi on the crazy person, when I just noticed it was only a teenager. She explained to me that she backed on me because a car on her side was backing out on hers... Genius! The thing is it messed up my bumper, and I haven't even PAID THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF MY NEWLY FINANCED CAR YET!!! XDDDDD The universe conspiring against my cars, apparently! At any rate, this Monday I'll take it to their insurance place to get photos taken, and they will avaliate how much is the damage. Let's see what's gonna happen.

  On The War of the Lion.

  Final Fantasy Tactics: I finally managed to play it some more, especially after I got me a PSP slim! I just finished chapter 1 and so far I can tell this translation is a lot easier to follow than the PS1's version, which was so full of misunderstanding. I have some grudge with the camera, but all in all, it is the same great SRPG I always liked! Oh yeah, and I love the game's cinematics art, it is so cute, along with the dub. Sorry I don't have much to comment on the game yet; I'd rather wait until I have finished it to review.

  On the Constant of Love.

  Why I love Lost so much? Because it is a very intelligent show (maybe one of the most on the American TV) and that challenges my thoughts, my ideas. I know it may sound a bit emo, but like my favorite Final Fantasy (VI), you have a HUGE cast of characters, and you can't really say that only one of them is the central, main character. Almost every single character has a link and some importance to the storyline. Of course, some shine more than others, but nonetheless they all have more than their 15 minutes in a meaningful way to the series as a whole. I also cannot recall a tv show that agregates so many fields of studies like physics, technology, philosophy, religion - just to cite a few - , only the PS game Xenogears had a similar way of mixing so many together. I remember my former bf was all excited years ago when he was reading about the shallow earth theory, and I was like "yeah, sounds cool", as if it wasn't something brand new to me. And indeed, it wasn't new for me, because watching Lost and also following the boards full of communities with great theories, you get to read and learn about all sorts of things, from quantum theories to time travels and their place in the story. And above all, this week's episodes truly shows why Lost is such a wonderful show: like it is mentioned by the physist Faraday, "every equation needs a constant". And the main constant in life is: love. After watching an episode like "The Constant", it makes really hard not to love Lost, and appreciate the subtleness of Desmond's and Penny's "I love you".

  Wahhh anyway *ahem* we need some mathematicians and physicians around to decypher Faraday's journal! There are a lot of captions taken from the episode, and I'm sure that the creators hid some gems in there regarding our crazy theories, especially all those equations he wrote on the board! Oh well, bring it on the next episode!

  • Posted Mar 1, 2008 4:04 pm GMT
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• 3Feb 08

  Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Videogame Night

  

  So, here I am again with another blog post! How have you guys/gals been? I have been doing great!!! Many wonderful things have happened recently in my life (as well some really annoying ones! lol). Let's start with my Mass Effect afterthoughts. I know it has been a while but since I didn't have the opportunity to write my thoughs on the game, I'm gonna do it right now!

  As many of you know, I was really hyped for this game because it was a scifi RPG. Watching many previews and the likes, I really had my hopes up with this new franchise. Ron (SavoyPrime) definately knew I couldn't wait for this game as I used to comment a lot about Mass Effect. At any rate, I pre-ordered the game and got it right away when it was released. I played the entire game in about 3-4 days (roughly 24 hours of total gameplay). In a long time, a game hadn't surpassed my expectations. ME did it. It was one of those rare games that made me play AND replay it entirely in a short period of time. It is the first game I can remember that I beat even Hardcore mode (and working on Insanity)!

  The gameplay is just great - I believe that because I was learning to play Halo 3, when I got to the action packed ME, I didn't do bad at all (expect one part in which MANY MANY gamers I found out had the same trouble - Matriarch Benezia!!! Argh! What a difficult dang fight was, worse than the final boss!). The gameplay was also deep and interesting enough that I actually took time looking at all my options and learning about different skillsets and such, as well as upgrades (though the upgrade menu is a pain and completely unorganized). From the beginning you can build your own customized character, and that's what I did. Since I "created" her and all, as I played through the game, I was growing really attached to her, and eventually I was like - you know what, that's ME there kicking b&&t! - and that leads me to the storyline part of the game...

  ...which happens to be amazing and one of the best storylines I've ever played in a game, Final Fantasies included. You don't grow attached to your character just because you created her/his physical appearance and skill sets. You have that connection because of the choices you are able to make throuhought the game. For instance, you can choose many answers to dialogues, and some of them are "good", some are "bad", and some are "neutral" in an ethical and moral point of view. The dialogues are so well crafted and interesting that you end up wanting to replay the game again to watch the different outcomes (and believe me, there are some drastic changes in the storyline for when you choose different options). To be frank, I couldn't finish the game the "bad" gal. Some of the choices were just too much for me to handle (but then again, I'm so emo for some things in life... lol).

  The graphics aren't really outstanding for many, but I did enjoy it with the film grain option, which really made the game look like more like a movie than just a game. I wished there had been more options to customize your characters' appearance, but regardless it was a pretty decent pack.

  The soundtrack is pretty good, nothing that I'd consider superb but definately nothing bad. It just flows with the game and helps with the environment.

  Regarding the game content, I believe it was great, though I admit those "sidequests" on the planet explorations were rather boring (it kinda reminded me of Crisis Core's sidequests, which were also terribly boring). Hope are that with new downloadable content from Live will help on this by adding more meaningful sidequests.

  Seeing that it has been planned two more games for Mass Effect, I'm honestly happy I played it and I can't wait for the entire trilogy. It has become my "Star Wars", with the difference that this time I actually had the opportunity to play it when it was released (or watched as I believe Mass Effect is much more than just another "game"). Only once you play, you will understand what I mean by that. And I do hope that we will be able to carry on our first games' character to the second game!

  Anyway, now let's get Lost. Okay, I mean both the TV show and the Odyssey! Some of you may know I L-O-V-E the TV show "Lost", and yes, I am extremely happy the fourth season is up and running now! I'm also counting the days for Lost Odyssey, the reason I got a 360. It seems to be exactly what I want: the traditional RPG I fell in love with. I'll probably feel nostalgic again because of those bunch of CDs - it will definitely reminde me of my FFVII's and FFVIII's days, when you had to insert "disc 2" to continue to play. Ah... those were good old times!

  Now to end this long post (hey, I don't post very often anyway! ), I'm organizing at my local church a Videogame Night. Father already allowed me to use the projector and TVs they have at the church, and the event is scheduled for March 1st. I'd invite you all but I believe none of you live here in Wichita Kansas, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm partially away from Gamespot but still messing around gaming-wise. lol. I really hope this event works out, because then we could meet more times to socialize.

  And speaking of being away from Gamespot, begining May 28, I won't be around anymore for 5 months! And that means anything - MSN, MySpace, Live and etc. So, unless otherwise stated, it isn't because I'm dead or wanted by the FBI (LOL). Some people here already know what's going on for those 5 months, but honestly I'm keeping a low profile, hehehe.

  Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying your favorite games! Oh and as a side note, I got a Wii for my middle brother as a birthday gift! He is loving it!

  • Posted Feb 3, 2008 9:11 pm GMT
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