There ya go Holy! I hope those pics suffice.

I Pm'ed you about shipping arrangements... we can talk further about that.

Lastly I want to make sure you know EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE GETTING!!!! so let me make a few points perfectly clear at the risk of sabatoging a sale here in the interest of honesty...

A.In case you still can't tell, the box IS NOT in good condition. It is acceptable but banged up (not destroyed).
B. I am a HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY smoker. If the scent of smoke bothers you do not purchase my items.
C. All contents of the collectors edition have seen wear and tear due to shelf display. While nothing is in poor condition. It is by no means perfect and is repackaged.

Long story short this is not a pristine copy. If that is a concern DO NOT BUY. It is however a good deal with the extras, so if content outweighs item quality for you then it is something to consider.

I actually died quite a few times during the interlude..... those damned demon doors... *shudder*... totally unfair

That unexpected and sharp 16-bit era difficult spike in battles is part of what I like though. Makes you really feel as though you'd best be prepared by way of your inventory because an any point you can encounter a monster-in-a-box that can and will simultaneously petrify, poison, silence and cast doom on all of your party members. No cure-all type items??? GAME OVER KID!!! LoL

I was really loving Growlanser IV when it came out. I put it down because I was trying to juggle too many games and totally need to give that some proper attention (someday).

Soooooo is anyone here familiar with FF4 The After Years? In particular, chapter progression... finish Ceodore and now I have the option of quite a few characters. Is there a "correct" or "best" order? Does it matter....?

Also just an aside... FF IV TaY officially wins "the best FF character portrait pics ever" award by my standards, as well as 2-d spritework in an FF game. Lovely, just lovely. I will most likely express this multiple times in this journal as I update my progress until someone points it out as annoying.

I have had Skies of Arcadia for the Gamecube on the shelf for over a year now. Every time I finish a game and think about playing it I go "naaahhhh, they are gonna announce the HD re-release any day now, I know it!!".... I'm beginning to think I'm wrong.

I just rewound to two nites ago when I posted about a Zelda, Metroid crossover and had the same feeling... You may have helped light the fuse Aeolus but I made the bomb, so I can't let you shoulder the blame all by your lonesome.

I will now contribute my great and grand wisdom and feelings on all that was discussed.

Samus is still cool to me ( I have never played Other M) as are feminists and I am NOT a stoner!! LoL

Truth be told, even many moons ago, whilst heavily drug addled and knee deep in addiction I didn't like Marijuana. Always made everything feel a lot more difficult then it really was for me.

*Phew* Now that we got that out of the way.....

I completeted Ceodores chapter in FF4 TAY and STILL have the "Tales" itch despite having enjoyed TAY quite a bit. The chapter division of TAY however makes it easy for me to entertain the idea of putting it down and picking it back up and as such, I'm amusing the idea of playing yet another Tales game intsead.

After consulting the official authority on the subject last night (Dice) I'm feeling really compelled to play Eternia or Symphonia. I'm leaning toward eternia but also have the beat on a Symphonia collectors edition that I could possibly have a chance at grabbing. If I get the CE I know I won't be able to contain my excitement and will have to tear into it-LoL

I'm getting sick of paying attention to new releases. They confuse the S**T out of me in  terms of what I really want to play.

In other news. I beat Flame Mammoth in megaman x.... I actually did so about a week ago and can't remember if I announced my joy. Beating mega man bosses is BIG for me.

Wow Dice, that is an awesome and thorough response! Super quick too!!

I would be playing like this http://www.rpgfan.com/boards/index.php?topic=13632.0 (My ultimate PSP experience post) if I chose Eternia.

So it is indeed down to Symphonia or Eternia next for me as far as the Tales games go. I'm really thinking Eternia might be the winner here for me. What you said about the world map REALLY has me intrigued, and I already own it (big plus).

Thank you again for your help. I feel like your tastes are extremely similar to my own and your favoring Eternia as you do makes this all the easier for me.

Just got around to watching the most recent 13 minute preview of the games start. I can't believe how appealing this is becoming to me with absolutely no "South Park love" in my bones... It reminds me of a more perverse Earthbound.

Dice, give it to me straight here.... I need your honest answer, being the tales girl.

While I'm sort of considering going backsies on my "waiting on symphonia" stance, I still know there are way too many tales games i want to get to.

I'm sort of just falling prey to the new release excitement, and as I expressed weeks ago here I really want to get to Eternia, Destiny and Phantasia.

So my question to you specifically, although I would love anyone elses input as well, is which out of those 4 (Eternia, Destiny, Phantasia and Symphonia HD) would you suggest looking into first. I really love old hand drawn art and spritework which is part of the reason I was/am leaning toward Eternia, Destiny or Phantasia but am also feeling REALLY compelled at the moment to just say screw it and check out Symphonia.

I know you (Dice) have mentioned Eternia as your unsuspected favorite and that really sways me. But I am curious how you feel it holds up to or trumps the others.

EDIT: I must say part of the Symphonia appeal to me is superficial. I didn't know you get costumes for having Xilia and Graces save data. I love costumes... this may be a decieving my senses a bit and luring me into the wrong choice...

I am starting to feel like my post yesterday was stupid... I'm becoming more and more tempted to grab this myself. Ugh... temptation... torn.... dag nabbit.

For great grand and wonderful crossover Nintendo could have Samus pick Link up for a space adventure. They could contract Toriyama to write and help direct a script that retcons a Hyrule on planet Zebes. Hell, they can make it multi-player coach co-op Mana style and have Samus, Ganon and Link team up to rescue Zelda from mother brain.

I'd play for sure!!

I feel like you somehow know what game I plan on playing next- LoL... you started Vesperia about a month before I intended on doing so and I totally planned on either jumping into Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon after I do FF IV the After Years.

And on that note, I put in a few more hours in on the after years since yesterday and can safely say I like it. I may love it in fact. The interlude nearly scared me away but thankfully TAY writing seems waaaaaaay better thus far.

THIS!!!

Picking and choosing due to the fact that one just can't play everything has been difficult for me.

All the new releases coupled with the stuff on my shelf that has been burning a hole in my soul has made for some tough choices. I finally realized if I were to try and keep up with all the new releases I would NEVER get to some of the gems from recent years I missed.

As such I elected to play Vesperia, which was entirely new to me, and skip out on Symphonia. I just finished Vesperia and was still considering running out and compulsively buying Symphonia today but with Xilia 2 also coming out later this year I'm just saying NO!! LoL

I love Tales. Truly I do. But too much of a good thing is.... well... bad for me.

Symphonia is actually the easiest "Tales" for me to turn a blind eye to. I played it during a bad period in my life that I don't care to remember, so despite it being a great game I just can't enjoy it like I could something new or from a different point in my life < < < Is that WiErD?? Maybe I'm overtly sensitive... I'm dodging FF X for the same reason. I played both back to back during the same time in my life.

EDIT: When I ask if my inclination to avoid these 2 titles is strange and I say it is due to having played them during a bad period in my life, mind you, by bad I truly mean an absolutely utterly horrific leg of my existence I have all but erased from my concious recollection... just to clarify...

2 was a far worse offender in this respect than 1. I actually love Ar Ton 1. Now as for Quoga... I can't speak on that. I tried it... and while it seemed like I could have learned to love it shaking the controller amongst other things rendered that one literally "unplayable" by my standards. Or at the very least, unenjoyable.


After finishing off Tales of Vesperia and last month Mario 3d World, I have moved on now to some PSP titles I was dying to get to. Why? Well see my "ULTIMATE PSP EXPERIENCE THREAD!!" to witness the splender...

Anyhow, I've finally got around to FFIV the After Years (complete collection) . Gee golly, I love the spritework in this game. I finished the complete collection variety of FFIV last year and already forgot how cool the reimagined 16-bit era title is graphically. I wish more games got re-releases with this type of quality.

I'm not far enough into the After Years to speak on it yet, but I sure hope its more enjoyable than the "Interlude". The interlude, while not bad, certainly wasn't exactly "good" either....

Breaks my heart as well... I tend to think however, given the technology exists, we will see something in the vein of a "Vita TV" in the west eventually. God knows when, but I tend to think something like that is inevitable albeit far-off.

I've mentioned, more then once, that I LOVE the PSP for its ability to be played via "the big screen". However, I feel I have now maximized the potential of the PSP's AV-out capability and wanted to share it with you fine folk for whomever else shares my passion to play some of these classic RPG's in full screen HD glory.

First off, I chose the PSP GO model for one primary reason and that is PS3 Dualshock syncing. That is, you can play using the dualshock 3 controller instead of having to ever tough the PSP with a mess of wires.



Pictured is how I have it set up. You'll notice I use a cradle to hold and charge the PSPGO whilst gaming. This is important because it allows me to charge the system constantly while playing, thus battery life is a non issue. 

FYI the cradle is only 3 dollars used at gamestop right now if you can find one.

Next.....

 

That handy device is a GODSEND. It upscales the tiny sketchy psp screen that is normally displayed on the TV to smooth 720p WITHOUT slowdown, audio hiccups or ANY percievable degradation in gameplay/experience. I was real skeptical about this piece of equipment until I used it

Finally the result.



See (a bad picture) of FFIV The After Years being played in HD, filling my WHOLE SCREEN WITHOUT A ZOOM FUNCTION!!

What you are essentially getting here is a set-up that turns your PSP into a fully functional home console. I know this may not excite some, but for me this set-up is pretty freakin' glorious.