I reallyreallyreally wanted to use spectacled!Izy icon, cause it amuses me greatly. So I write this half-assed gaming post to give me a reason to do so. Well that and I was just full of randomness, and what I really needed was an excuse to make a half-assed gaming post.


Silent Hill 5 - You are Alex Shepherd, a war veteran returning home from an overseas tour of duty to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his younger brother, Joshua.

Haha. And Silent Hill delivers what Fatal Frame refused to. Brothers! :P


Also, seen while reading my clan's message boards in Kingdom of Loathing:

I've done a bit of reading about the new chefstaves and, holy wow, they look awesome! The second tier staves are just amazing, and they're all one-handed. I'm looking forward to upgrading my MP regeneration gear sometime in the future, if I end up ascending again.

I haven't really been playing KoL for a couple of months now, and I just LOLed when reading that, because it sounds so much like something someone in WoW would say. (Never mind that tier 2 gear in WoW is now dung.)

KoL has added so much new continent since the last time I played it's a bit intimidating to start again. Each ascension became so routine before, but I'll have to familiarize myself with the new stuff this time around. It will be fun, just wtfwhatisdis for me. ;P


Aion: Tower of Eternity: New Aion video footage released at this year's E3. The graphics surely doesn't disappoint. While I've always intended to play Aion once it becomes available (in English), I've been of the mind that I'd try it out, not like it very much and then stop playing it. At the moment though, I'd be willing to level a character just so I can travel around the world and go sight-seeing. I kid you not. We get a floating city in the sky! Tell me which race in L2 gives you that! :P

Though NCSoft, LRN2MAC. Because Athene cannot play otherwise. :(

Final Fantasy Tactics PSP trailer asla;sdlkdfkajs;dlfkasjd!!!!!!!!!!! ♥

So, I thought I should post at least once before the new year came around, but I haven't really heard anything that I thought post worthy until this. (I tend to just fangirl to people on IM see.) But since Ari (who left me the link) is currently not online, and neither is Mich or Chris (who get the blunt of my gaming fangirl squees), then I now have reason to post! Yey?

Since it was released during the Jump Festa, which I believe was held a week ago, this is probably old news. But I have been stuck under a rock playing Lineage 2 and Final Fantasy 12, so you'll excuse me if I fangirl belatedly.

I still think the character in FF13 Versus is hot, but FFT is my greatest Final Fantasy love. One of the reasons why I was looking forward to FF12 before its release was because it was set in Ivalice (even if it was going to be entirely separate from FFT), though I now like FF12 for very different reasons. The game has just given me yet another reason why I will go a;sdlfkasdj over any new game they release that they deem worthy to set in Ivalice.

But anywaaaay, even if it's just a remake (WHERE IS OUR SEQUEL??? FFT Advance does not count. >:EEEE) I still want to play. Time to buy a PSP. D:

In Final Fantasy 12 news, I am almost done with the game. I had expected the Ridorana Cataract to be the second to the last dungeon, and it apparently is. Since the last dungeon won't allow me to leave once I enter it, I'm trying to finish all my hunts and gather the optional espers before entering. Except my party is level 59 and one of the rare games in the deeper reaches of the Lhusu mines nearly wiped out my party. I only realized after I'd ran away and exited the mines, that I completely forgot to change battle tactics while taking it on. (The game is so unbelievably easy most of the time that I tend to not bother outside of the normal attacking, buffing, healing, etc.). Must go back and take revenge! >:E

A more detailed game blog once I finish it I guess. I'm looking to finish the game before 2007, since I'll be busy in January and I'd hate to leave it hanging.

1. E-mail address. Recently moved webhosts and I've not gotten around to setting up certain e-mail addresses. So for the meantime, I've reactivated my livejournal address (and it's been spam free so far, so I'll probably keep it activated) so people no longer have to wonder which email address I'm currently using.


2. Tokyo Game Show 2006. Ganked from maiki. [Some of the rumored PS3 game titles set to show at this year's TGS.] A sequel to Shadow of the Colossus. SO THERE. And, and Fatal Frame 4. May dalawang magkapatid na lalaki. The end. *is killed by embai, bathala, kitsune_jade and cugami* Okay, I understand nobody will get that unless 1) You speak Tagalog and 2) You know what my UBERDETAILEDFAILPROOFPLOT for Fatal Frame 3 was when we were discussing possible sequels after we played FF2. Since MY STORY DID NOT HAPPEN in FF3, I give it another chance! Srsly.

I am not translating that, because I do not need to prove further to my flist what a perverted dork I am.

Also included in the rumor mill is Kingdom Hearts 3. Note that none of these have been confirmed, but the possibility of a Colossus sequel ♥! And yaoicesty pr0n goodness Fatal Frame 4! And Silent Hill 5! And who would not die for new footage of Assassin's Creed and DMC4. Here's to hoping that there is new footage/trailers.


3. Bastardisation of the English language, ie. internet lingo. I have seen the term 'Srsly' used for a long time now, and for some reason, I always used to read this as 'surely' until I realized just a month or so ago that hoh look, there's a stray S in the middle. So I have obviously been reading this all wrong, and while I never really knew what it was supposed to mean, I just assumed that it meant 'seriously', because I am a genius mofo like that. I saw it again while browsing my flist earlier and decided I should not count on my genius deductions and look it up, or more to the point, to find out where the hell it came from. So in case you are like me and did not know what the term 'Srsly' meant until a few minutes ago, here's a link to Encyclopedia Dramatica's enlightening entry to the term. [SRSLY].

Jen wanted the higher resolution trailers from IGN's coverage of E3 for a few game titles, so had to upload them to my server. Thought I might as well share to anyone on the flist who'd be interested, since my bandwidth is not being used at all.

.hack//GU (PS2) (gameplay footage) [download] [link]
Gameplay seems much improved from the original .hack series, thank god! I'm still stuck on the third installment for that, I should probably get around to finishing it already. I still like Haseo, and I love his chainsaw sword, so I'd want to play if only just for that. Besides, I still want to know what was up with Kite in that game preview they released last year. =/ I hope, hope, hope, the battle system is much improved. I couldn't really tell by much how it goes from the footage.

Assassin's Creed (PS3) [download] [link]
*___* If there was one game slated for the PS3 that I REALLYREALLYREALLY want to play and which I'll be crying over the most when it comes out and I don't have a PS3. Then this would be it. Instead of using pure stealth to reach your target, kill and get away. You instead have to use your environment to your advantage. From blending into the crowd and not calling too much attention to yourself (ie. if you shove people out of the way, they'll react accordingly, and the more attention you call to yourself the less likely that the guards will notice you), to getting the job done and running for your life after the kill. You're also able to interact with some of the citizens and help them in some way, and if you do, they may later on help conceal you after a job is done, or if you don't help, give you trouble afterwards.

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) [download] [link]
Well, who hasn't heard of this already. Not much to say on this game. We already knew it was going to be pretty.

Heavently Sword (PS3) [download] [link]
IGN likened it to God of War. (Which is a good thing!) Wasn't really interested enough to read the articles on it.

Ninety-Nine Nights (Xbox 360) [download] [link]
The graphics are stunning, I'll give it that. Hack and slash taken to a whole new level. My eyes actually hurt a bit after watching this movie. Which is utterly pathetic, I'm not sure why my eyes started hurting with fast-paced gaming. It brought my Dynasty Warriors gaming to a halt. =/

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) [download] [link]
Either you love it or you don't. :P Raiden! ♥ Though I will not be looking forward to this game until I actually finish MGS3, which has been in the backburner since forever.

Rogue Galaxy (PS2) [download] [link]
Might be my pleasant surprise of the year, it may not. Don't really have opinions on this game, so I'll see once it actually gets released and I find the time to play it.

Tekken 6 (PS3) [download] [link]
Where there's Jin, there has to be Hwoarang~.

WarDevil (PS3) [download] [link]
One of the few games running on the PS3's full 1080p res.

I WANT MY [OKAMI]. ;____; US release date so far away.

I finally finished the billboard design from hell, so I celebrate by puttering about and posting Zera caps for those who wanted to see how it looked in-game. I had over 100 screencaps, I trimmed it down to 12. XD Most of it was me capping like crazy on the dance emotes anyway, or trying to get a good battle cap.


The only time you see him smile is when he dances. XD

I would have flooded this post with caps trying to get all the nice shots of their dance emotes, as Zera has the best dance emotes I've seen yet in any MMORPG (though my exposure is limited). Well the male characters have funny dances, the females aren't as amusing to watch. Anyhow, since screencaps don't do the dances justice anyway, I went and took lousy footage of the dances with the digicam. Video quality is lacking, but you can see the dance clearly enough.

I swear it's worth downloading and watching. They're like 10 seconds of sheer entertainment each. Each file range from 3-5mb in size, so they're not that big. *prods you all to download and watch* The male mage dance remains to be my favorite. XD

Downloads:
Male: warrior | summoner | ranger | mage
Female: warrior | summoner | ranger | mage
Extra: female ranger taunt emote, cause I thought it was cute

( On to in-game screencaps. The game itself is just as pretty. )

So, you know how there are tons of things you'd love to make an LJ post for but which you're much too lazy you can't decide what to talk about first? I have that problem constantly, so I solve it by not posting at all. And I smite you if you say I'm just being lazy. Even if it's true. Anyway, I promised Bhex I'd eventually share the prettiness of Zera to the flist. This isn't exactly an attempt to pimp something, since the game is currently only available in Korean open beta, and I don't think a lot of people would be interested in coping with a game where they can't even read the login screen.

Although before anything else, SUIKODEN V MAKES ME HAPPY. Gameblog some other day.


But first I bring you the prettiness that is [Zera].
For the curious, that's the mage/summoner/ranger/warrior respectively.
[Go here] for more concept art.

Downloads:
[Zera Gstar Playmovie ]
[Zera CG movie]

Worth downloading and watching just for the eyecandy? Hell yes. (And good music.) Screencaps behind the cut are taken from the two movies linked above. Will post in-game caps another time.

Full gallery [here].
I also posted two batches of Lineage 2 caps [here] and [here] that I just never bothered to link.

( I flood you with eyecandy because I can't be bothered to write a proper post. )

Back to playing SuikoV for me.

GIP. Bucky is the greatest thing ever!

Kingdom Hearts 2 ending screencaps. Obviously spoilerific, but strangely enough, I find the ending to be the most spoiler-free FMV of everything in the game. Kingdom Hearts isn't a game I feel strongly enough about to care about spoilers though, so those who really don't want any kinds of spoilers probably shouldn't look at this. Though that goes without saying. XD

I took too many caps, so I'm only posting a select few here. Also, I was laughing more than I probably should have while taking caps for this. I dub the KHII ending as Square Enix managing to be as ghei as they normally are right under Disney's nose.
Full gallery: 106 screencaps

Downloads:
Opening video
Ending video (full ending, without credits, no audio)
Full secret ending (no audio)
Edited ending video (includes scenes from the secret ending)
Links for the opening video and the edited ending taken from younger.

( Wherein Square Enix shows the truth about Disney characters! )

I would have added screencaps from the secret ending, but really need to work on a deadline now. You can see parts of it from the edited ending included above though.

1. Would anyone happen to know how to fix your styles so that when looking at your tags list it doesn't use this fugly style? It seems this should be automatic with S2 styles, but I edited my S2 style layers before the tags were put into place, maybe I just have to redo everything.

2. So after two months of not really watching anything, have decided to slowly catch up with old series' I'm behind in. Watched until episode 20 of Honey and Clover and upto 18 of Eyeshield 21 (though I skipped a few eps in ES21, I did catch up with the manga). I don't want to watch anymore HnC until the last 2 episodes are out and subbed. BTW, can anyone tell me whether the HachiKuro manga is finished at 8 volumes or whether it's still ongoing?

I might decide to finish watching FMA once and for all, since someone has been nagging me to finish watching it and I don't really have a lot of space left on my HD to be going on a download spree. I need to buy a dvd-writer so bad. >.> Extreme download spree once I get one! <3 (My priorities of things I should buy keep changing.)

3. I started re-playing FF7 a week or two ago, then I abandoned it to finish Shadow Hearts: Covenant and now that I was going to play FF7 again the disc hangs before the game even loads... Someone up there doesn't want me to watch AC. ;P That aside, I've started playing Wild Arms, since I never played it, and cugami's Wild Arms 1 & 2 games happen to be with me. Yey for pixelized art. Cecilia's sprite dances after every battle, I find it really cute so I end up watching it a lot. XD

Playing old games make me realize just how much the analog stick has spoiled me. I can never play for too long because I feel like I'm straining my hand when using the directional buttons. This almost makes me consider replaying Chrono Trigger on the SNES sim instead of playing the PS1 version on the console.

4. Has anyone seen the newest trailer for Xenosaga III? I wasn't really that excited about the game before, but omfgabel. ;_; Now I want it very badly.

5. There's a group actually subbing [Tonde Boorin] (Or Tonde Buurin? Heck, I know it as Super Boink! lol. :P). <3 I never saw the ending of this series, now I can! I hope they finish subbing it.

6. I never have the patience to sit down and actually write a long post about a particular topic, so what happens is that during the course of a week (or more), whenever something comes up that I actually want to talk about, I'll open my semagic client and write it down. If the post is too short, I won't post it and then I'll wait for the next time I have something else I want to say. Sometimes, I will delete the entire thing and not post at all, sometimes, like right now, I will decide to post it. Hence, this post actually took me a week and a half to write. XD

This post was started last weekend, then never finished, but I figured it would be a waste to just delete. Added a bit more + media links at the bottom for new trailers from the Tokyo Game Show. I didn't bother with additional info on XenoIII or SuikoV, as I assume anyone interested would be up to date on that by now.

01. We've always wanted a remake of Suikoden 1 & 2, Konami decides that they'd meet that wish halfway and [rerelease it for the PSP instead]. This will at least solve the problem of Suikoden 1 & 2 going for about $100-200 nowadays. If not the problem of having to buy a PSP to be able to play it. ;D

02. And speaking of remakes, talk about feeding the fire of the fans' desire to see a [Final Fantasy VII remake]. Care to note the 'almost impossible' line though, so as not to get your hopes up. But seriously, it's not like they've not already over-marketed the title.

03. The Rhapsodia cards are the pretty.

04. Hullo! New Phantasy Star Universe trailer! Oh how I've missed thee! *so excited* It's been so long since I've played anything from the Phantasy Star series and I was never too keen on the online version, so knowing that they concentrated on the offline aspect of PSU. XDDD I really wasn't expecting to be this ecstatic over this. I should stop, I might end up being disappointed when it comes out. Not to say I am not wary, but I can be happy until then.

Now please give me more Shenmue and I'll be very happy. *_* P.S. The Puyo Puyo they have on the lobby is cute. Lol. I never got very far in that game...

05. [.hack//G.U.] looks more interesting than the original .hack game series, which is bad, because now I am actually interested enough to play it and will have to pick up the original series again (I stopped after finishing the 2nd installment), especially since [save games from .hack is still loadable] for .hack//G.U. P.S. Is that an extremely powered up Kite in the trailer? Hot damn. Why didn't he kick that much ass when you were playing him? WOE. Love the twin blades he has on him. ♥ Love Haseo's weapon as well. A chainsaw sword? Who wouldn't. :P I hope they have a better battle system. >.>

06. New Okami game footages are love. <3 I cannot wait for this game to release.

07. Did not realize [Genji] was getting released stateside (I've been under a rock that long). I'll get it if only for the stunning graphics if nothing else as reviews for it don't seem to be very good.

08. Oh! And selfaro~! [Shadow Hearts: From a New World] officially announced for a stateside release. XDD

09. Minagawa Junko was in the Konami TGS booth for Suikoden V? Can anyone tell me if she's voicing the hero? Sorry if this has been mentioned before, my catching up with my flist is still sporadic.

Downloads:
♠ Suikoden V Japanese trailer
♠ .hack//G.U. trailer
♠ Phantasy Star Universe trailer
♠ Shin Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams trailer
♠ Xenosaga III TGS 2005 trailer

Revolution Controller
Right now, I am wishing like hell that the Revolution has a crappy, crappy game lineup. Because, that controller alone is so tempting. *_* But hey, if by some chance they release the Shenmue series (including a remake of Shenmue 1 & 2) for the Revolution, I will consider getting it justified. I got the Dreamcast for this game alone (and Skies of Arcadia).

Xenosaga III screencaps | Official site launched
I am curious about the new battle system. Techs are back, so I suppose it would resemble the first game's battle system better. I liked Xeno2's battle system, although most people I see in forums/boards don't seem to like it (I don't know why). =/ I am relieved to see Jin no longer in a kimono. Man leg flashing us when you use Jin as your on-screen character was disturbing. :P

Random babble. I'm still wondering what kind of connection the Xenosaga series has with the Xenogears episode timeline. It's completely different from the episode list that was included in the Xenogears Perfect Works. But that brief glimpse we're given of Abel (or Cain) at the ending of Xenosaga (1 or 2? I forget) was like saying 'There's a connection, we're just not telling you right now'. ;_; Dying to know how they conclude it.

I recall Xenosaga was first intended to be a six-part epic when the first game was announced. I wonder if that's changed because of the change of scenario writers, or if they merely meant conclusion of the current Xenosaga storyline. Geh.

No additional news for Suikoden V yet I think.