GaGaGame Journal #5

[Ragnarok-Sabin]

Um..I have a Q about ToTA, if I may. I don't have the manual for the game and didn't find anything in any FAQ's but is there any signifigance during battle sequences when there's a "ring" on the field after someone does a special attack? Am I supposed to do anything with the character i'm in control of at that time. It only stays for a short duration but it has me concerned:P

Btw: I've just finished Cheagle forest.

You get a tutorial on those a little later. For now, I believe they're useless to you. I'd give you my own explanation on them, but I haven't touched that game in forever. Never grabbed my attention all that well.

Alright, well, haven't played much recently. Popped in Radiata Stories, gained Gil a level to hit 99 with him. Beat the final boss of Kingdom Hearts II again just for the hell of it. Beat Kurt Zisa in KH, because I was well over the level needed and just never bothered before.

After that, I finally beat the last Gym Leader in Diamond, and took a shot at the Elite Four, well aware my highest level was a good 10 levels lower than some of the higher tiered enemies'. Managed to pound through the first three of them with brute force alone and then was swept by the fourth. My Kadabra, which is essentially my trump there, just doesn't have the HP to handle it yet. Oh well. Now, I'm just running the first three of them over and over to get my levels up.

Oh, and by the way, anyone who needs any starters from any generation, or Eevee's, PM me or whatever with what you need and your friend codes. I've opened a bit of a breeding business now that I've got a hold of a Ditto. Not looking for anything in particular, and for you guys would do it more or less free anyway, but if you've got something... :p

Anyway, thinking about building a competitive battling team after I finish of the E4. Dunno though, seems like a lot of work for a Pokemon game.

[everluck]

Stranger's Wrath.

I like it the more I play. With the introduction of

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Steef

the game became a little bit more interesting. Very predictable, but the difference it makes is pretty fun.

[GrimReality]

I beat FFXII last night. It only took me 108 hours spread out over 5 months!
I really did enjoy the game. The story was a bit lacking, but the characters were very endearing, especially Basch.

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NOBODY dies? WTF? I thought either Fran or Balthier would get killed off, but the last scenes indicate otherwise.
As for the final bosses, I didn't really have any trouble until the very last cliche-esque Angel-demon thing. Arise on everyone saved my ass big time.

Now I recover for a day or two, then FINALLY get into Zelda: TP.

[Prime Mover]

Um..I have a Q about ToTA, if I may.  I don't have the manual for the game and didn't find anything in any FAQ's but is there any signifigance during battle sequences when there's a "ring" on the field after someone does a special attack? Am I supposed to do anything with the character i'm in control of at that time. It only stays for a short duration but it has me concerned:P

You'll see a little tutorial on it in just a bit. Honestly, they're pretty useless... not one of the better gameplay elements added in. So many variables have to be in line for them to be useful:

They have to be colored (the plain white ones don't do anything), you have to perform a special attack or spell of the SAME element (and elemental attacks are fairly rare for some characters), and you have to do it in the 5 seconds, or so, that they're around. When all those things happen, you get a special attack that's about twice as poweful as the normal attack... but you can't possibly use it strategically, because it's so random/rare.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the TotA battle system (especially the running around in 3D part), but the FoFs (the rings on the field), are downright ignorable.

[Lord Scottish]

Shining Force Neo.

I know it made many of your heads explode, but I'm actually having quite a bit of fun with it.

[Dincrest]

5-6 hours of Xenosaga was surprisingly enough to cure my love adventure burnout after spending ridiculous amounts of time playing two Memories Off titles in a row, multiple times over.  

So I started Suigetsu Mayoi Gokoro for Dreamcast.  The beginning is painfully slow, but the story is starting to open up now.  

In Xenosaga, I'm at the part where Ziggurat 8 has to infiltrate Margulis' ship to recover MOMO.  

Xeno's on hold again.  It's love adventure time again, baby, yeah!

Still,

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I'm a tad miffed that they killed off fucking Virgil in Xenosaga.  He was such an awesome character.  I'm upset that they killed him and left me saddled with that useless whore Shion.  This is almost as bad as Earthbound where the uber-cool and ultra powerful bee alien is killed by Pokey's mom and you're stuck saddled with a completely useless annoying fat kid.  

Ugh, Shion makes Rinoa look badass... and I hated Rinoa, damn whiny ass simpering spoilt brat weenie chick.

[Sketch]

I think I'm done with Final Fantasy III.
I mean, I didn't beat it or anything, but when the final boss is able to do four attacks in a row, and kill you almost instantaniously after completing a rather grueling two hour, save-less grindfest through the final dungeon, I lose interest. I can handle hard bosses, but don't make me waste two hours of my life before allowing me the displeasure of getting my ass handed to me and expect me to do it all over again.

Ridiculous.

[Fadedsun]

I think I'm done with Final Fantasy III.
I mean, I didn't beat it or anything, but when the final boss is able to do four attacks in a row, and kill you almost instantaniously after completing a rather grueling two hour, save-less grindfest through the final dungeon, I lose interest. I can handle hard bosses, but don't make me waste two hours of my life before allowing me the displeasure of getting my ass handed to me and expect me to do it all over again.

Ridiculous.

Wow. That's terrible. There's not one save point before the final boss? Can't you quick save?

[Dice]

I think I'm done with Final Fantasy III.
I mean, I didn't beat it or anything, but when the final boss is able to do four attacks in a row, and kill you almost instantaniously after completing a rather grueling two hour, save-less grindfest through the final dungeon, I lose interest. I can handle hard bosses, but don't make me waste two hours of my life before allowing me the displeasure of getting my ass handed to me and expect me to do it all over again.

Ridiculous.

If it helps, the olde classic games never really had much on an ending anyways.  Can't say the dialogue and story-telling of FFIII are ground-breaking either.

[Dade]

5-6 hours of Xenosaga was surprisingly enough to cure my love adventure burnout...

For some reason, Neal...that was the funniest thing I have read here in a few weeks. Cause seriously....i did the same with it and World of Warcraft a month ago.

[Prime Mover]

Dade, I must say, I love the olde "Badge o' Faggotry", brings a smile to my face... but I must admit that your posts are getting rediculously vertical. Is there a way you could fix that?

[Dade]

Talk to DR, he's the one that does it.

[everluck]

Finished Stranger's Wrath. Good fun game, but had a weird ending. It seemed like a twist just for the sake of having a twist... really didn't impact anything. Not like the narrative was that great to begin with, anyway. Still, was fun.

Restarting Vagrant Story now. I have hated this game for so long. I've put over ten hours into it and never got further than the first dungeon. It's ridiculous. I'm trying now for the last time to figure out why was so critically acclaimed during its release. The no-music and no-tutorial mentality really irks me.

[Sketch]

Wow. That's terrible. There's not one save point before the final boss? Can't you quick save?

Basically, you can only save on the world map. Once you set foot into a dungeon, you're not going to see another save until you fight your way to the end, and/or knock off a boss or two.
Now, the final dungeon is pretty devilishly long, and comes complete with, like, six bosses (four of which are optional, but for every one you kill, it weakens the final boss). Maybe I took my time, maybe not, but I was sure pissed when I got slaughtered so quickly. :P

@Dice - Yeah, that's pretty much a given since the beginning of the game, isn't it? :P
I don't know. I'd just like to finish it, I guess, regardless of the lackluster story. It's been sitting on my shelf for so long now that I'd feel bad if I didn't give it some attention (and for me, that means beating it, which...I may never do).

[Dice]

Odin Sphere: fuck this game is wicked!!  I haven't been this glued to a game in ages.  Aside from the occasional slow-down and repetitiveness, I am eager tokick more ass till the end.

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Something I liked about Gwendo's story, maybe its because I'm a girl who likes those sort of things, but the lack-of beating-around-the-bush when it came to her feelings for Oswald.  Gave a real fairy-tale feel, IMO.  Of course it could also be because theres only 6 chapters to tell a whole story.

A stylish game all in the end, gorgeous in every aspect.  I am in love.