confidentialmisanthropy

I finished Astro Boy (GBA) this morning, on normal difficulty, which felt less than normal difficulty, especially when Treasure's involved. Difficulty (or lack thereof) aside, the game is smooth as silk. The graphics have a clean anime quality to them and the hit detection is spot on. My only real complaint is in the music department. It's a bit on the annoying side. Oh yeah, Astro Boy can't duck. What up wit' that? I hear Mega Man's coming out of retirement to sue for copyright infringement (how bass ackwards that'd be, eh?). Doesn't change the fact that it's one of the better pure action games on the GBA. Can't say I'm really optimistic 'bout Sonic Team's PS2 Astro game though.

Little analogy for ya': Sonic Team is to 3D as Matt is to swimming.

Four Swords + will bring out the worst in you and your friends. There's a term we use all the time at work: "buddyfucker". It's not a label you want attributed to yourself traditionally, but that's the name of the game in Four Swords +, which is practically in direct contrast to CC's teamwork style. Don't get me wrong, there's some puzzles and such that you'll need the other Links for but other than that it's an every-Link-for-himself buddyfuckin' extravaganza. I guess that makes the game a good gauge of your friends' loyalty, integrity and what-not. If your boy'll throw your Link into a pitfall to get a triforce shard for himself don't leave him alone with your kids.

Apparently, I'm being confused with this Sephiroth cosplayer... Sorry to dissapoint all the fangirls out there, but you got the wrong Matt. However, I do appreciate the flattering comments ;) ...

Four Swords came in t'day... Finally. I really didn't wait that long for it admittedly. I've just turned into an impatient mutherfucker lately, tired of reading impressions of the game all over the web and not being able to form my own. But it's here. And it's good. Here's hoping I can get P'Mo and Mo Pete in on it...



I went to see Dawn of the Dead anoche with Belvin and Ese and it rocked. Funny, 'cause when we showed up we were gonna see Secret Window but changed at the last minute and I'm glad we did. Most fun I've had in a movie theatre in a while...

Belvin, Frosty, Ese, and I wrapped up the US version of Crystal Chronicles this past Tuesday. We were really on our shit. From Mount Vellenge all the way past Raem, we pretty much fought as tightly as we ever have. I guess we were due. But the caravan's been parked for now leaving a major hole in our multiplayer slot. Unbeknownst to them, I imported Four Swords and it should be here as early as Monday. w00t!

On the single player side of things, as much as I was salivating for Ninja Gaiden, it hasn't been getting much PT from me. My roomates on the other hand...

Drakengard is the worst game that's ever had me hooked. If they'd (Cavia) spent as much time on the gameplay as they did the FMV and storyline the game would've been a masterpiece... Instead, I have an action game with an identity crisis.

Time for an update on the n00bs:

Ese: fixed my PS2... ĦEse para el presidente!

J. Harris: from here on out will be reffered to as Belvin, King of the One-Liners.

IT1 Maddox: is asinine...

LT Smiley: This one's still broke. We tried to send it back, and they sent 'im right back with an even more remedial Ensign sidekick in tow.

The following is a review I chalked up for Final Fantasy X-2 for GL back in November, but it never got posted, for whatever reason. Enjoy.

2001's Final Fantasy X was a masterpiece, the reason why I bought a PS2 to begin with. The battle system was deep and strategic, the visuals were revolutionary, the soundtrack - unforgettable. The story of Yuna, the young summoner, her guardians, and their pilgrimage to save a dying world was gripping the whole way through. But it all ended with one of the most moving and perfect conclusions ever and when I heard Square was doing a sequel, my initial fear was that they'd jeopardize that.

Then I saw Nomura's new Yuna. Instant change of heart.

X-2 comes to us two years after it's namesake and almost coincidenatally takes place two years after X. The calm that came after Sin was defeated changed the face of Spira. The collapse of the Yevon faith left everyone in disarray, leaving all kinds of tribes and factions vying for control of Spira, not to mention the fact that the Guado and Ronso are on the brink of war. The three main parties that everyone's gravitating to seem to be the Al Bhed's Machine faction lead by Gippal, The Youth League, who are comprised mostly of ex-Crusaders, led by a war hero by the name of Nooj, and lastly the "New" Yevon, led by their young praetor Baralai. With all three factions running neck and neck their looking to get an egde to pull away from the others and being endorsed by someone famous would hold some serious political weight. Who better to fill that billet that the high summoner who defeated Sin? Enter Yuna.

Evident by her new "liberating" makeover, Yuna's been through some changes while we've been away. (There was actually a video released in Japan that spawned the sequel called "Eternal Calm" that bridges the gap in between X & X-2.) Basically, Yuna wasn't up to much at home in Besaid. Actually she'd been practicing breathing underwater to improve her blitzball skills. Then Rikku shows up with a sphere Kimahri found on Mt. Gagazet. The sphere shows a recording of young man who looks suspiciously like a certain blitzball player near and dear to Yuna. Rikku scoops up Yuna in their airship and they form the sphere-hunting troupe dubbed the Gullwings by Rikku's brother named... Brother. Also along for the ride, an Al-Bhed airship pilot named Buddy, the Gullwings pint-sized intel expert on everything, Shinra, and the odd "man" out that forms one-third of the "YRP" trio, Paine. Paine is an enigmatic young woman with a shady past that she's not sharing with anyone. She's a perfect counter for Yuna's nievete and Rikku's overall ditziness, not to mention she's the muscle of the party. So the quest to find spheres is fueled by Yuna's desire to uncover the origins of the sphere Kimahri found, and ultimately, find Tidus, but in true Final Fantasy fashion, something much bigger is going on behind the scenes, which eventually catches up to our heroine, putting her in familiar territory.

So, other than being the first-direct sequel, X-2 does alot more things uncommon to the series making it come off more like a fan-service spin-off than a sequel. They use the same graphics engine with some improvments. Among them the most notable is the facial animation, which is truly remarkable. The original voice actors from X return and the lip-syncing is spot on and voice acting is still top-notch.

You have access to the Gullwings' souped-up arship Celsius from the outset and after the first introductionary missions can explore all of Spira. X-2 has a central hub mission based structure; the hub being the airship. It makes for a very non-linear experience in the truest sense of the term. Speaking to Buddy on the airship gives you access to a map of Spira where you can either bypass sidequests, non-mandatory story line and the like and basically FFWD the story by hitting the designated "hotspots" if you so choose but all those sidequests count towards your completion percentage. It's nigh impossible to net a 100% completion the first go around so there's a New Game plus option available after completion, which works like in the Chrono series, and allows you to keep skills and inventories that you beat the game with while starting the story over again. X-2 is the first FF with more than one ending so that in itself extends the replay value considerably.

Perhaps the biggest overhaul in the game is the battle system. I'm a big fan of X's CTB (Conditional time Battle) but old school ATB is back in X-2 with a vengeance. Coming from a seasoned FF player, this is the best iteration of ATB yet. It's lightning fast, so much so that some of the shorter battles are in the 5 - 10 sec range. If you've played Grandia II you'll have an idea of how it all works. Distance is a factor. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine and the ememies are all randomly placed on the battlefield at the start of the random battles. Everyone has an action meter and when the meter reaches it's end you're able to act. As fast as things move in X-2 though, you won't want to always act as soon as possible thanks to the new combo chain system. The system awards you with extra damage when you chain attacks, which is really easy with Yuna's "Trigger Happy" attack from the Gunner class and Rikku's speedy "Thief", who hits twice every attack. By attacking (or being attacked) an action will be delayed, which can really come in handy. If you play your cards right, you can actually go a few rounds without being hit at all.

There are thirteen dresspheres in X-2's girl-powered version of the job system. Most of the core FF classes are there with some new ones. You start with Yuna's Gunner, Rikku's Thief, and Paine's Warrior, collecting more spheres along the way. Some are aquired rather easily, like being awarded after boss fights or some just laying in your path. Others require a little digging, like the Dark Knight sphere well hidden in the depths of Bevelle. Art direction is an often understated aspect of game design but not with anything Nomura touches, and I think Final Fantasy X-2 is his best work yet. They just let him go nuts. Each dressphere (outside of the ultimate dresses which are unique to each girl) can be equipped by all three girls yet they look and animate dramatically different on each one. X-2's character models are animated better than anyother game I've seen this year. Only Soul Calibur II's are in the neighborhood. Equip Rikku with the Berserker sphere and watch her do her capioera routine if you think I'm exaggerating. Each time you swap dresspheres in battle there's a Sailor Moon-esque transformation sequence where the girls phase into a new costume, complete with pyro technics, cherry blossoms, and cheesy music. You have an option to turn them off but I can't fathom why you would unless you just don't like presentation. It's all draped in the same engine as FFX which still holds up admirably two years later.

After bashing X-2's soundtrack all summer I have to make a slight retraction. It's not that bad when you're actually playing the game, matter of fact, it really fits the light-hearted demeanor quite nicely, still no stand alone listening quality though. There's some good stuff there, like the piano-laden Besaid Island theme and the opening song but it never seems to reach the heights the series is accustomed to. The game was scored by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi, whose musical credits include Tobal No. 1, Racing Lagoon and The Bouncer.

Overall, X-2 plays like a dream. The "platforming" aspects are really more of an afterthought, some of the missions are just plain silly, and whoever thought up Sphere Break should be shot, but it's a fresh, welcome spin on the FF formula. If you dug X, you owe it to yourself to spend some more time in Spira. If you can check your inhibitions at the door you might enjoy your stay.



Plays like: How Yuna Got Her Groove Back

Oh yeah, and I gave it a 9.5/10, if you're into that sort of thing...

INSURV is finally behind us. Though relieved, I can't help but feel like it was a massive waste of time and effort. (Oh, would you look at that... I've just described my naval career!) It was like one punchline after another while they were on board.

On the first day of the actual inspection, Wraydar and I took a field trip to the Stennis (that is after we dodged like a dozen MAA's MGS style) to borrow friggin' harnesses. Me, Belvin and Mo took 'em back later that evening and the Chief at their quarterdeck asked if we really were on lockdown, as in getting no liberty, to which we responded, "yeah". And he's like,"No, seriously"...

Then he laughed at us.

Even the INSURV inspectors themselves said they'd never seen anything like it.

One day we cleaned Radio from 1700 'til like 2030ish 'cause the "Admiral" was coming to inspect, just so he could come in and glare at a power panel for all of five seconds. It's all a joke. A sick joke, where we ended up being the punchline, which is par for the course for the Carl Prison when I really think about it.

Interestingly enough, I was googling last night and ran accross a livejournal of some guy who happens to be in the Navy and recently had an INSURV experience of his own... J comes up behind me and asks what I'm looking at. When I tell her it's just some guy's livejournal she says,"Why on earth would you put personal things on the internet for people to read?"....

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Meanwhile, my blog's in another window minimized.

My chain of command.

I've up and gone underway armed with nothing but my GBASP and a few good games. Being that it's INURV season I opted to leave all my consoles back home. Better safe than sorry, 'cause I really don't want to be "that guy".



Fantasy Baseball is right around the corner and I vow not to lose to Mo again this year. It is imperative that I at least stay in contention 'til the later part of August. He already dropped his terminal leave chit so it'd really suck to be losing to him and have to listen to shit-talking while I'm still underway and he's going to batting practice.