Game Break

May was for Anime Central, June was preparing for Anime Expo, July was for Otakon, and now that it's August? It's time to prep for PAX Prime! Though...*yawn*...I'm feeling pretty exhausted from the past three cons. -_- Makes me want to play games I shouldn't be playing, and you know, blog when I should be working.

Dragon Quest IX
Shortly after Dragon Quest IX was released, I went to Best Buy and picked it up. I am not to far in the game (only at level 16) and I've spent most of the clock canvassing for guests. For those of you who don't have Dragon Quest IX or haven't gotten around to this option yet, you can set your wi-fi signal on your DS to search for other Dragon Quest IX players. While sitting at my artist alley table at Otakon, I was able to just keep my DS on and search for others. Unfortunately, the maximum amount you can search for at a time is three guests. I just kept my DS open and every time I saw it reach three (which was frequent), I had to empty them into lounge. It's fun to see other people's characters, since they are so customizable. I also like how everyone can put in their own little greeting. (I wrote redstarcostumes.com as mine, a little shameless self promotion there.)

As far as the actual gameplay goes, it is a solid, basic JRPG. I dislike that you can't just explore anywhere (passages are blocked off until you get past a certain point in the game). I also miss traveling with actual characters with little stories and personalities. Now everyone in your party is "hero." Though, I realize this was to enable multi-player and that makes Dragon Quest IX a great activity with friends and loved ones. It is difficult to enjoy a single player game with multiple people (though, I try anyway). Level 5 was successful in making the basic JRPG into more of a social experience. Standard battle was kept, and we don't have to pass the controller around. I am enjoying it. Even though it completely drawn me in yet, I play almost every night before bed.

Final Fantasy XIII
I pre-ordered Final Fantasy XIII. After it was delivered, I played it for an hour, wasn't interested and didn't pick it up again until a few days ago. I went to the Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds concert at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia. It made me feel nostalgic and I wanted to play a Final Fantasy. I played the Limbo demo. It was great, and right when I was about to "unlock the full game" I realized there were a slew of games I bought recently, but haven't' opened or barely touched. (Current stack includes: Pokemon HeartGold, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, Dragon Quest IX, Final Fantasy XII, and GameFly sent over Sakura Wars.) Before I went nuts and added to my pile of games I recently obtained, I gave FFXIII another shot.

Most of the characters are unlikeable and I have no attachment to them. Hope is the biggest emo pussy I have ever seen in a Final Fantasy (also, he has a girl's name). Vanille is your standard cute girl. Don't know much about Sazh, but that baby chocobo makes me squeal every time I see it. I cannot stand Snow; he has got to be the biggest douchebag. If Ed Hardy existed in the FF universe, he would be wearing his t-shirts. Oh and Lightning? (Who, by the way, has my namesake). She is totally bad ass. Bad-ass women don't exist in games. Usually, they are sex objects who can kick ass. Lightning is pretty, but she is definitely a rare character in games.

I am still early in the game (only about three hours), and I am already tired of the tutorials. It feels like Square picked up X and XII's gameplay, combined them and somehow made it significantly inferior. The Crystariumis like the Sphere Grid in X and choosing the character's AI via roles (magic or physical attacks) and behaviour (offensive or defensive) reminds me of the gambit system. It sort of looked like they had given XIII a basic battle system (which would have been great), but decided it wasn't fancy or complicated enough. So, they had to throw in this extra bullshit that is making me go through tutorials that apparently last up to twenty hours into the game.

Being not so attached to the characters in a mediocre story line also makes surf the internet while cut scenes occur. Yet, I am still playing it. I want to give it a chance, but I think I may tire of it soon and just buy that copy of Limbo.

PAX Prime
PAX East: It just started, so it doesn't have everything together just yet. It is moving venues, so it will definitely not have everything together. It's in a cold place. It is not before the major release season. It is closer to me than Seattle is, but I think it might be a while until I start going to PAX East instead of PAX Prime. I've got my 3-day badge, my plane ticket to Seattle, and a hotel reservation. This is the best con out there, and I am very much looking forward to it.