I have been having the time of my life for past week. Really call it the Seventh Heaven or Cloud 9 but those are a few words that describe how I have been feeling. It's not got anything to do with the happenings of my real life actually (everything's fine on that front.Fam On the contrary it's related to my gaming life...a life that has finally met with it's destiny....Gamers old and young constantly await for the day when they feel as if they have finally met with the game that was made "specially for them" *if you get what I mean*.

Sorry for getting a little emotional there but that's what has happened to me ever since I have got "absorbed" (literally!) into a game called Final Fantasy VIII. The Final Fantasy series has always been special to me in more than one ways I could define. It defines me as a gamer. It defines my taste in gaming and as to what I have loved and adored in the twelve years I spent gaming. Sure there have been dry spells between me and FF but when my love for it did get rekindled (after playing Final Fantasy VI) then it was almost that my gamer self had got married to it.

The highpoint of my Final Fantasy fanboyishness was during last year's summer. FFVII dragged me into it's world,made me care for each and every character (including it's foolish protagonist) and all I did for two weeks was eat,sleep and breathe FFVII. I was literally jumping with joy when I kicked Sephiroth's butt for the last time with an Omnislash...gosh sweet memories of then.

However, neither FFVI nor FFVII wasn't "my game". Tbey were awesome,kickass,fantastic and a sheer masterpieces. But those two (despite being one of my all time favorites) weren't "my ideal game". They weren't the game that I felt was made specially for me. I don't know but when I look back at those two games I always find moments where I feel I could have liked it more if it were done this way and that. If I look back at FFVI there were moments especially during the second half of the game that I felt were a little over-stretched ( I am referring to the gathering of the party members after Kefka takes control over the world).

Looking at FFVII I disliked the character development of Cloud and the ending. I have complained often about the "open-ended" ending of FFVII and how poorly a plot as epic and grand as it's was concluded in my FFVII review.

All that criticism aside those two games deserve the top honors by any gamer who has played them for the lone reason that these games are amongst the finest ever created by humans.

Which brings me to FFVIII. The game which I think is made for "ME". The game which can so far do nothing wrong at all. I can't find a single thing to complain about the game's plot,it's characters,the gameplay,battle system,the setting....NOTHING! I can't find any flaw in this game no matter how scrutinous I try to get. Probably, that is because I am so in love with this game. It's just fricking awesome. The best of the best............. *A Paragraph Was Deleted Because of Excess Liking Towards A Game*

So yeah I like completed Disc 2 hours ago and now my mind is completely dizzy with thoughts,questions,emotions,and what not...

Disc 2 Impressions

• It began with a flashback sequence featuring our very own Laguna. I was hoping to know more about him as Laguna's character had got a little attention in the first disc. Turns out to be that this would be the only flashback sequence in the entire Disc 2. But what an awesome sequence it was. Nothing melodramatic,nothing epic. Just plain old sequence related to Laguna's life after the Centra escape. By the end of this short sequence I felt as if I really knew Laguna well.

• Another sequence in the game, the FH Concert was equally memorable and likeable. I liked the idea of getting to form a rock band with our party members and performing on stage to cheer up Squall. I had Selphie on guitar, Quistis on piano, Irvine on violin and Zell on the bass guitar. But what I liked more about the FH Concert was the amusing conversation between Rinoa and Squall. It's like everytime these two begin talking you can be sure that it's going to be one hell-of-an entertaining one. But this one surprisingly didn't have Rinoa teasing Squall or flirting with him. Nor did it have Squall grumbling in his mind....it was a strangely personal scene where I finally came to know the reason of Squall's self-seclusion from the society. Why he likes be with himself more....why he wants to be a loner...

• This for me was the key moment in the game as I feel after that FFVIII switched onto the emotional track.
• The highpoint of Disc 2 easily came in the form of the basketball court scene...I don't know how to say this but in this scene where the five orphans (Squall,Zell,Quistis,Selphie and Irvine) recollect their past memories on a war-torn basketball court moved me onto the verge of tears... I can't say this proudly but I nearly did cry when watching that scene. I was shocked that I was actually getting all emo as I don't remember when I had ever cried in my life while watching a movie,or reading a book,playing a game etc. NEVER! And FFVIII made me do that....

Enough said about FFVIII and it's awesomeness. I must be boring you with all this but please bear with me. This game has already got a special place in my heart halfway through the game and I am wondering that perhaps by the end I will really be crying and laughing both at once.

As I said earlier,FFVIII is a game that struck all right chords for me. It can't do anything wrong. Every disc,every sequence,every scene,every dialogue seems totally perfect and amazingly real. I would definitely call FFVIII in a single nutshell as, "An odyssey of human drama through emotional crescendos...Perfect!"

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General Gaming Stuff...

Couple of games got reviewed by GS a few days ago. Far Cry 2 and Fable II being prime amongst those. I wasn't surprised by either of their scores really. As far as Fable II is concerned, I think this game is definitely looking like a vast improvement from it's mediocre original and I might give this game a try. On the other hand, I liked Far Cry a lot but that was before Crysis came in. Somehow after playing through the sophistication of gameplay design I am not sure I can go back to Far Cry again. They are literally clones but still there is something distinctly different about them.

Bad news...Fallout 3 isn't coming to India. It was recently announced by MS India that they aren't going to release it here due to "sensitivity reasons". This was because the game supposedly has a three headed mutated cow which is called "Brahmin" (a community comprising of religious people in India). Now isn't that plain frustrating. I mean no offense but are Brahmins really going to play a game and that too Fallout 3 and look for a monster called "Brahmin". It's just plain foolishness. I won't forgive MS for this.

So since Fallout 3 isn't coming to India that probably removes it from the equation of a new purchase anyway. So....yeah I am going to get Gears of War 2 as soon as possible.

With the remaining amount of "gift money" (it's festival time here and family gatherings means lots of gift money ) I plan on getting a brand new PSP. Yup! I have finally decided to discard my old PSP whose UMD drive is totally crashed and out of warranty and replace it with another PSP. Don't expect a PSP-Slim or something I might just be able to scrape with a normal one and save enough cash to get Final Fantasy Dissidia and Crisis Core : FFVII .

That's it dudes and dudettes

Until next time.........Whatever!

C ya

Lightwarrior179