Final Fantasy XIII Impressions

I don't know why but I've been pretty excited for this game. I really haven't liked any of the past Final Fantasy games since VII. X was a good game but I wasn't really into the character design. Famitsu, a Japanese game magazine, gave it a 39 out of 40. Which I think is really good. I might try to post a review but I think I should beat the game first before I give it a review. Beating this game might take me a while for two reason. It's a 40+ hour game and plus I'm reading it in another language. I'll rant about that a little more later. I'll try not to write any spoilers but be warned.

Story: So far the story has me interested in it enough to want to keep playing. The way the story unfolds I think is very similar to FFXII. You don't follow the lead character, Lighting, around the first part of the story. Instead like in the demo packed with FFVII: Advent Children Blu Ray, you switch between Lighting and Snow once you reach a certain point to each characters story. I still haven't decided if I love or hate the way they're telling the story. Interesting approach to say the least.

Game play: The game seems to be really linear right now. That of course might change like most FF games after the first major boss battle. The save points have a new function that I'm not sure was in FFXII. There's a shop available at each save point which is kind of convenient. I haven't bought anything yet but I'm sure this will come in handy later in the game.
Interactions with non-playable characters, NPC, are different now. Instead of walking up to them and pressing action button to talk with them. Now when you get close enough to them, the NPC's line will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. I like this a lot better.
In this game like FFXII you control only one character and you have support members. While walking around with the support members you  have small converstations with them. Kind of helps develop the characters a little bit I think. Just by playing as Lighting for 5 minutes you realize that she's a very strong woman and kind of has a lone wolf attitude to her. Kind of fun to hear them rant to each other.
The new battle system, which I love, is very similar to "Legend of Legia"'s battle system. (I probably should have taken notes when I played last night.) You an action gauge that fills up over time during the battle. As you level this gauge gets larger and larger. Before or after the gauge gets full you can assign action to the bar. Right now, Lighting only has attack(1 bar) and special spin attack(2bars). You have two options to choose your actions, you can either press the auto button or manually choose what combo you want. Right now I'm at a low level so there really isn't any combo outside of two attacks right now. Your non-playable member, NPM, attacks and supports you through out the battle. What's really cool is that using a potion now heals all members and it doesn't take up any of your action gauge so you can have Lighting attack the enemy right away. Which brings me to why I like the new battle system, it's fast compared to most RPGs. The game awards you for being fast. Some normal attacks can even attack multiple enemies at the same time which I think is just awesome. Always disliked how a super move with high destructive power on seemed to hit your target opponent. Haven't unlocked magic yet so maybe I'll explain that and summoning later.

Dislikes: This really hasn't changed from most FF games but I wish there was a little blood. There are some scenes in the game where I am wondering why this character isn't bleeding. There doesn't have to be a lot of blood just enough for me to believe they're are somewhat humanoid. Really a small complaint. I mean young children do play this game but the two people I was waiting in line with to buy the game didn't seem like they had children. They also looked a little older than me.

This is just for me, but when I pause cut scenes to try and catch that one kanji, Japanese character, that I couldn't read the whole screen grows blurry. Which makes it hard to look up. I haven't had too many instances like that one but I'm sure there will be more in the future. So far I'm keeping up with the story and I can understand each of the tutorials they throw at me.

I feel like this game is really fun and I'm sure the story won't disappoint. Looking forward to winter break so I can hopefully get through a big chunk of the game.

Final Fantasy XIII

I just went to Sendai after work to buy this game. I kind of skipped XII but who cares. The game is also in all Japanese. Crazy right? Should be good listening and reading practice. I'll leave my impressions maybe tomorrow morning my time. Will this be a good investment or waste of money???? (> <)

A Merry ガキ Christmas

Just now I had the worst class ever. I've never been so upset or disappointed. How can you ruin an easy fun Christmas class? I don't know but my freshmen English class seemed to do a good job of it. ガキ in English means brat. I mean like most of these kids I was a brat in high school. I feel for them. I hated taking my French classes back in high school. However, when Ms. L brought out the Christmas songs and fun activities, I sure as hell participated with the class. Well I demonstrated my authority to the class today by making the kid that spoke through the whole Christmas Carol come in front of the class and read the each line of the song aloud. He was really embarrassed and put his head down. Serves him right the little bastard. Better his head down than the kid chatting the whole class.
Last year I loved teaching my first year students. It was a lot of fun. This year these kids make me regret staying another year at this high school. They've been testing my patients recently so if they pull something like this again, I'll show them how boring and not fun my class can be. I can't believe I get away with the fun activities I do with these kids.

役に立ちたい！

One thing I dislike the most in my life is seeing the people I care about feel sad. Whats even more annoying is knowing I am powerless to do nothing. I have a friend at work and I wish I could her feel better but the differenece in culture and language has created a barrier between us. The above Japanese means ," I wish I could can be helpful."
I'm not great at everything but I like to think that the things I can put effort into I tend to be good or decent at it. However, when it comes to people the more I try the bigger the wall I create between me and that person. I wish I was more helpful.

What to Blog?

One of the hardest things to do when it comes to a blog is write about something interesting. I've had this blog for over a year now and I haven't blogged about anything for over the past year. One thing that will make this blogging easier (I hope) is the fact I have an iPhone. I can send a quick e-mail with a picture from my phone and update you guys on my recent life. Plus, how do you talk about your personal life on the internet without revealing too much about yourself? It's not like many people read this blog in the first place, right?

Well there are three things I really like talking about: love, games, and music. So, I guess when one of those things attacks my world in a major way I should whip out the iPhone and make a blog. If you're lucky I'll attach a nice little picture to destroy your imagination.

Oh one last thing! If you're reading this, by all means please leave a message so I feel like people are reading this. I think one of the main reasons I stopped before is because no one but a two people wrote comments. I need comments to make this blog feel alive. Alright let's do this!!!!

If I was Reborn What Type of Insect Would I Bee?

I recenlty went out with a nice Japanese girl a few weeks ago. During this "date" she asked me the above question. I've never really consider that before. I decided that a butterfly would be cool because I think flying is awesome. She told me she wanted to be ant because they work hard. I changed my mind and said bee because they can fly, work hard, and have honey. Oh sweet sweet honey.
What would you bee?