tutuboy95

Guess what? I finally bought a Playstation 3. Came in the mail today. It's a 60 GB refurbished one, so I can play PS2 games no problemo.

I really like these suggestions. I'm looking good and hard at the ICO collection, as well as saving money for stuff on PSN to buy.

I'm a high school student, and boy dreading college applications. Then, I'll be a college student. Hopefully, I'd be able to go to New York City, and work while I'm in college.

(Note: I hope to make several entries of my playthrough of this game in the near future)

I always wanted to play through Kingdom Hearts. No, not the copy that I play at my friend's house where he leveled up fully and I hack 'n' slash in Olympus Coliseum, but one copy that I could call my own, that I could play through on my own times. I got my wish. Through the fantastic internet, I could buy a refurbished 60 GB PS3 (a model that IS backwards compatible with PS2 games) as well as brand-new copies of Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II.

It's not that I'm not familiar with how Kingdom Hearts, and its story, works. I have played Chain of Memories, 358/2 Days, and Dream Drop Distance, and with some Wikis to help me along, I'm relatively well versed in KH lore, despite not playing the two main games nor Birth by Sleep, which are definitely the most important games of the series, story-wise. So, I knew what I was gonna see, but I wanted to experience this game for myself.

So far, I feel like I've gotten slapped in the face. Not that I dislike it, I suppose.

After being forced to watch an opening movie where the odd Dive to the Heart scene is made all the more bizarre by the completely inappropriate-to-Kingdom Hearts "Simple and Clean" is playing, I realized I could not skip cutscenes. I never want to skip cutscenes on the first run-through, but with the latter two games, I took that freedom for granted. Admittedly, this is Square-Enix before it became that... progressive, let's say, so I'm not surprised.

Neither am I surprised by the tutorial segment. I know how to play Kingdom Hearts, and I re-learned it. It's just as well, since 358 and 3D are different in the sense that the X button (where the B is on the (3)DS) and the O button (where the A is on the (3)DS) are inverted, making jumps and attacks performed with different buttons. It's very hard for me to break a force of habit, but I make do. More jarring for me is the right analog stick, which I usually have used for camera use. My hundreds of hours with such games, especially Xenoblade Chronicles, where such controls helped stay aware of what was going on in battle. Finding that I move my cursor up the command menu is a bit jarring, to say the least, although that's a minor quip.

In my two hours that I spent today with the game, I was mostly immersed in fetch quests to build a raft or watching cutscenes. Once again, guess I'm spoiled in getting the ability to jump straight into the action. But I made do.

The most jarring realization that I made was that Kingdom Hearts is no walk in the park. I wouldn't go comparing this to Critical mode, but this is tough, albeit in a different way. For example, you lack the simple ability of Guarding at the outset of the game, which I found incredibly bizarre, having that skill at the outset of the latter two I've played. I seriously took that for granted. (Admittedly, I made it harder than myself by choosing the Dream Sword and sacrificing the Shield, boosting attack, lowering defense, and postponing my learning of Guard until I'm level 36. I'm level 4. And I'm not going to watch those cutscenes or do those fetch quests this soon a second time). I hope I get Dodge Roll soon.

Despite my complaints, I do have high hopes for Kingdom Hearts. I want to play this game, and I made it tough on myself. Cool. I like tough. I kinda stalled with exploration and looking for those damned mushrooms, but I really just wanted to explore Disney Worlds. And there're Final Fantasy elements. That's really cool enough for me, no matter how many times I have to repeat cutscenes because I lost to a boss because I didn't choose the Shield or the Staff and didn't get Guard. Knowing me, that's bound to happen in the near future.

This all hinges on the assumption that I will find a woman who loves me and who I love that I can settle down with. If I found this out, I guess I would be pretty disappointed.

But you have to always consider the small probability that I will have a harem in the future. Small. But it exists. I guess.

@Hunter5024 said:

@tutuboy95 said:

@Hailinel: Indeed, Lightning's cool. Actually, so are Snow and Sazh. I think one of the reasons I never really picked up XIII-2 is because they don't give me access to the characters that I grew attached to over the course of the first game.

Well they definitely show up. That was one of the main reasons I wasn't so interested in 13-2 as well, but I think I ended up coming away from that game with more respect for Noel and Caius than any of the characters in 13.

I am aware they do, but Feral Links and gambling with Sazh really didn't really draw me in as much as it could/should have.

@Hailinel: Indeed, Lightning's cool. Actually, so are Snow and Sazh. I think one of the reasons I never really picked up XIII-2 is because they don't give me access to the characters that I grew attached to over the course of the first game.

For those of you who missed Square-Enix's XIII announcement, due September 1st, it doesn't seem to be one related to Versus XIII. IGN reports that Square-Enix has released a teaser site, hinting at Lightning's next adventure.

Final Fantasy XIII garners a lot of hatred from many members of not only the RPG community, but the Final Fantasy community and even the gaming community as a whole. I understand that. But personally, I liked Final Fantasy XIII. The story, while not fantastic, was pretty good, the graphics were downright amazing (which, in my opinion, should not be a major factor, but when done as well as XIII it's hard not to notice), and the battle system was fun, deep (if auto-battle isn't mashed) and flashy. I disliked, however, the linearity of the game and the length and frequency of many of the battles, which could have been fun if the game didn't restrict you at every turn. While I myself didn't purchase XIII-2 (I keep telling myself that I'll do it, but too no avail), I hear that the general opinion is that the gameplay improved leaps and bounds while all but throwing the story in the gutter.

I dunno about you guys, but I found my main 3 motivations to play most Final Fantasy games are a great story, challenging and fast gameplay (slow is fine too, I guess), and fantastic presentation. While, in my opinion, XIII delivered, the continuation is way too much. XIII's ending was satisfactory, but from what I heard, XIII-2 kinda left little closure. Though they did set themselves up for a third installment, the XIII series, in my opinion, does not warrant such a continuation.

Admittedly, I understand Square-Enix's position on this. Lucratively churn out games with a fully made (and good) engine that will sell millions of copies. Low production costs, especially compared to new games, with high profit. They are a corporation. That still doesn't stop my dwindling respect of Square-Enix (and Tetsuya Nomura, but that's a wholly different story). Thoughts?

The original PSP has never held much appeal for me outside maybe 10 or so games. The Vita is looking to be even less, and I've seen it's battery power at work first-hand - it's no better than the 3DS. It seems worse, actually.

It's horsepower is the real deal, though. It can run games fairly smoothly with graphics that rival the PS3, which is impressive enough. I don't think the Vita will beat out the 3DS. I do think, like its PS3 brother, it will gain a ton of steam in the middle to late stages of its life and, while it won't defeat the 3DS, it will come much closer to it than the original PSP did to the DS, which is a pretty big accomplishment.

@Village_Guy said:

@schman42 said:

I gotta go with Luigi's Mansion Luigi. That guy was clearly scared of everything but kept on going.

This is clearly the right answer, he was scared but he kept going anyway. Sure Master Chief, Kratos, Nathan Drake, Shepard, Captain Price and Isaac all went through worse shit than Luigi, but they never seemed really scared.

Luigi all the way. Plus, don't forget his role in the Mario and Luigi series. He was a pretty big crybaby there too. But he kept going to save the Mushroom Kingdom. That's courage.

@aurahack said:

@Fallen189 said:

Maybe because it's another generic JRPG?

Careful saying that round these parts. People will get upset no matter the validity.

Depends on your view of generic. I don't see it that way, but hey, that's me.

@TheHBK said:

Last Story ----- Final Fantasy.

They didn't put much effort into the title, what makes you think the game would be any different?

The fact that the combat system resembles a cover shooter more than a turn-based RPG is my take.

And in any case, people do have a right to have their opinions. I don't agree with a lot of stuff Destructoid or Game Informer dish out, because I feel that they, rather than fabricating reasons, focus on the bad part on the game rather than the good part, giving the score a skew it doesn't deserve. If people are on the fence, there is no reason to not look at Reviews for guidance. But if you think the game is lookin' good, buy it, and no reason to rage at reviewers who think otherwise.