So its like, 4:00 AM, all my roommates are asleep, and I've got nothing better to do. So its blog time. Couldn't think of a topic so I'll just go off on whatever is on my mind right now.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

So on sort of a whim I picked this game up about a week and a half ago and dug out my PSP. I had played a few hours of the first one before losing interest. I don't know what it is about 012 that has gained my interest more than the first one did, as I've already invested a solid 35 hours and all other games I had been playing were thrown to the side. Which is really weird considering that its basically the same game with more content added in. 

I always thought that the general gameplay ideas were really cool, but even now I still feel like theres a lot that could be better about the systems. The movement capabilities the game tries to create is really cool, but some things about it seem kind of clunky, though in some cases its obviously for balancing reasons. Only two attack buttons, each one being for a different type of attack also feels limiting. I feel like the game concepts could be expanded on so much more given the capabilities and expanded control options that a console offers. Its about as much of a fighting game as Smash Bros is, but it could be so much more if it were on a legit platform.

Theres certainly plenty of single player options though, with the "story" mode being the main draw. I use the word story loosely because the story is pretty bad, and at some moments its dropped to bad internet fanfic levels (words cannot describe my thoughts when the game suggested a certain..."crossover" between a character from the NES era and once of the more recent FF protagonists). The voice acting is largely on point though, its just that most of the script is horrible, though the comedy is certainly there thanks to Laguna and Kefka's dialogue. Theres nothing too hard to follow about the "story", but the writers seem so hellbent on fanservice to attempt anything decent. Do we really need to have the Cloud vs Sephiroth moment...twice in the same game!? Must we spend time on Cloud/Tifa, and Tidus/Yuna when we already know that shit? Then again, attempting an actual story might not have worked so well either. 

The RPG aspects of the game have definitely been key in holding my interest though, the more time you put into a character the more enjoyable they become, as you start to unlock what each character is really capable of. That's probably the biggest intro hurdle with Dissidia, since low level combat is pretty dull. Once you get comfortable with the controls and systems, and start to get into the higher levels is when the game really kicks into gear. And I still haven't tried half the cast yet, since the villains aren't playable in the "story" mode.

The music is a mix of some original tracks, with a lot of music from all of the older main series games. Some are left untouched, including some of my favorite FF tracks like "Man with the Machine Gun", "Seymour Battle", "Dancing Mad", and "Saber's Edge". Others are remixed, with mixed result: some sound pretty good, others make me cringe.

Thinking I've still got a lot more time with the game ahead of me, and I might write my first review on this site, depending upon whether or not I feel like writing a ton about the game.

Video games need more good voice actors

Speaking of Dissidia, that game is fucking stacked in the voice acting department. All of the characters who have had voice acting in the past get the same actors/actresses, while all the older characters get voice acting now. In the cases of old characters, hearing familiar voices has pretty much prevented the "story" and its attempt at actually turning characters such as Garland (you know, the guy you fight in the first 10 minutes of FF1, and has like, a handful of text lines) into actual characters. All that goes through my mind when I hear the voice of Christopher Sabat coming out of Garland is "LOL its the voice of Piccolo!" The problem with games that stack their voice cast is that I'm starting to simply hear the actors, and I'm not really identifying the voice as part of the character. Dissidia is probably the most recent game where its become irritating to me. 

Though I have to say that Keith David as the voice of Chaos, final boss of the first Final Fantasy, and the God of Discord, is strangely fitting, and awesome.

Also, I think there's something about the voice of Lightning (Ali Hillis) that I seem to find strangely attractive. I honestly can't figure out why I don't completely hate Lightning as a character, and it would also explain my odd choice of Liara as my Shepard's love interest in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.

This is getting slightly creepy, and a little bit sad. Moving on...

The Value of Having Someone to "Vent" to

I'm sure most of you (whoever is actually reading this anyway, if anyone at all, not a fan of putting my blogs on the forums unless for quests) have one friend who usually willing to listen to whatever you feel like talking about. And they'll just sit there, and listen. They might not have anything to offer, but they'll sit through whatever bullshit you feel like talking about, and you'll go as deep as you feel like, because you know this person isn't going to be a jackass about whatever deep, personal shit you need to get off your chest. And no matter how stupid it sounds, they won't laugh at it or make fun of you (at least not out loud). The fact that someone is willing to sit there, and listen to you ramble on about stupid bullshit is good enough, because even if he/she can't give you any sort of advice, the fact that you got whatever has been stressing you out or just pissing you off out of your personal realm, and now into the mind of someone else, seems to put you at ease, even if only short term.

This is something that I haven't really noticed how much it mattered to me until recently. I live in an apartment with three friends of mine whom I met in the last three or so years. One is consistently busy thanks to the heavy workload his classes provide him, another is a overly laid back and rarely serious kind of person, and the third doesn't even feel like a roommate, as hes out and about, in his room with the door shut, or asleep 99% of the time. I realized just the other day how I really missed having "that person", who for me was a close friend in my last two years of high school, and in recent years I've fallen out of frequent contact with. 

Yes, this is starting to sound depressing, but it was only then that I started to realize the value of having that one friend who will sit through your whining and moaning, whether it be about something important or not, so that maybe when your done complaining you might somehow feel better because you got it off your chest.

Now for a bullet point list of brief thoughts to close out this blog

• I fucking hate technology. My PS3's system breaking error is apparently incredibly rare, and I can't figure out for the life of me what happened, nor is there any practical DIY fix. Meanwhile I've still got my perfectly working N64 from 1996 in the other room.
• Alfred Hitchcock is a goddamn genius. I've watched a few of his films in the last few weeks (Vertigo, North by Northwest, Rear Window, and Shadow of a Doubt) and it makes me depressed about the quality of films in today's age. Probably going to watch Psycho at some point this week if I get the time.
• Why is Arksys selling that ridiculous collector's edition of GGAC? Bring that game to PSN and XBL!
• Evil Ryu's SSF4 theme is pretty lame. If Oni's is anything like the trailer, then so is his. But man, the new versions of "Crowded Street" are pretty solid.
• Do all Apple products come with cracked screens out of the box? Or does everyone who buys one not know how to take care of their shit?

That's about it. Thanks for reading (if anyone did), feel free to tell me how weird I am in the comments.