It's already the end of February... I have so many drafts it's driving me nuts.  The past two months I finished: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, NieR: Automata, Star Ocean V, and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, but I had no time to put up a review or any retrospective piece on any of these because homework.

Final Fantasies

Last month I finished three Final Fantasies.

I didn't start any of them, I merely continued my old save file from years ago, and thanks to the Final Fantasy wiki, I was able to trace my way back into the story, kind of.  There was no way that I was going to let all my grinding go to waste.  Anyways, these are my opinions of these games, Final Fantasy V,  Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy XII. 

I was a bit over 20 hours into Final Fantasy V when I continued it (FF Anthology on the Playstation edition).  I left off at the start of "the other world..." My last save was in 2002.   

Of all Final Fantasies I've played, this is the most difficult.  I do not think I would be motivated to finish this game if it hadn't been backlogged all these years or if I did not have the Bradygames strategy guide.  I would say that the difficulty of this game is frustrating.

If you do not have the right classes mastered or the right abilities equiped, there is no way for you to win certain battles.  I know I would have died a lot if it wasn't for the strategy guide. It doesn't matter how much you grind in this game, it all comes down to having the right abilities and jobs for certain boss fights.  For instance, there's a boss in which all of your characters would have to spam lightning damage or the boss uses this special missle thing that wipes out your party within a set amount of time.  Normally I would have each character a different class, but certain circumstances forces you to make all your characters the same class spamming the same ability.

Anyways, that is my only problem with that game.  Other than that, the ending was solid, as the ending featured sprites never seen during the playthrough.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Also, I think Butz is the first character who had sort of a rebellious personality, plus having three close friends, who were all female! 

So overall, I think it's a good game for its time.

I stopped FFVIII probably around 2010.  I stopped at the final dungeon, and I do not remember my adventure at all.  I probably stopped because I did not understand the junction system. 

But after a few internet searches and experiments, I finally understood that the game is just a standard FF, it's just that grinding is different.  It's all about Drawing. I was told to keep my characters at a low level, and so I did, which was why the final boss was a bit easy for me.  I did a ton of preparation, just drawing all the best spells towards the end. I don't have that much to say about this game because all I did was beat the final boss, and that was that.  I couldn't see the ending though, my Playstation kept freezing towards the end, so I had to watch the ending on Youtube.  

FINAL FANTASY XII

Honestly, my favorite one of the three.   I continued my 40+ hour playthrough but this time, my approach is treating it as an Open World game and it changes so much.  I stopped playing before because I was stuck at this Bomb King boss, but it wasn't until later that I found out that it was an optional boss. 

Story-wise, I forgot what happened.  Throughout the game, I was thinking "who are you?"

Yeah... who are you?!?!

Who's this guy?

Are you that guy's cousin?

I tend to like political stories and that's what this game was supposed to be.  But about almost two months later, I recall absolutely nothing.  I heard there was some shady backscrene stuff going on in its production process, and because of that, to support the real people involved I bought Last Story and Mad World (original writer for FFXII) for the Wii, because I feel kinda bad for liking it as much as I have. 

I knew it would have been SO MUCH better if the producers allowed Yasumi Matsuno to do whatever he wants.  So, Final Fantasy XII joins Tales of Phantasia and Xenosaga Episode I in a pile of games that could have been great if it kept its original writers.

Anyways, Final Fantasy XII, I only remember it being a fun open world game, one month later. It was all about gameplay for me.

I also couldn't see the ending of the game, my game froze for this ending too!  So I had to watch it on Youtube.  My disc also has a problem starting up, and for that reason, I am not going back to do any of the sidequests.

This year's Christmas was one of the best in a long long time.

Keyakizaka46 Appreciation Post

This post is long overdue...

Well, I haven't finished Final Fantasy V yet.  I stopped playing it because of pyramid. And then I got distracted.  Well, not really distracted, I just found a gold mine, because I came across a website that had all of Keyakizaka46 videos subbed in english.  I've been a fan of them for a little over a year now, and I want to say this, that Keyakizaka46 is my favorite music group EVER.

When people asked me who my favorite band is or whatever, I would have normally answered ZONE, but Keyakizaka46 does it all, at least, everything that I want in a music group.  They are not your typical idols who's songs center around happy love smile joy (ZONE didn't either), their songs are about deep societal conflict cool something something hiphopdance move cool!

First, I want to commend their MANAGEMENT.  They are doing a fantastic job.  They really do contrast with AKB48, where during Senbatsu Sousenkyo you can feel the tense atmosphere, members may dispise one another, and members would do anything they can to be on top.  Anyways, this is a Keyakizaka46 post, so I will not talk about AKB48.  Since their 1st single debut in 2016, to their fifth single, they always kept the same Senbatsu line-up.  Sure, they switch member's places and stuff but it all works as all members experience the front row.  Management does a great job in keeping Keyakizaka46's image as an idol family and not a silly competition.  Also, another reason why I love Keyakizaka46's management is their treatment to Imaizumi Yui.  She had health problems, I think the fame got to her and she wanted to rest, she was probably mentally exhausted and missed her family.  Well, management allowed her to do so, and even included her solo song in their album while she was away.  And they also did not drop her from Senbatsu.  Big props to Keyakizaka46's management!!

*Puts on glasses* Ah yes, I can see that Keyakizaka46's management is totally awesome!!

Next, their songs are the best.  They have a variety of songs, their debut single was basically about dejecting the establishment, fourth single, about strength and being yourself, blah blah blah, it is too subjective to force my music onto you poor people, but yeah, their songs are relatable to me. Not only that though but I love the ballad songs as well.  I sing along Imaizuimi Yui's Himawari song from time to time especially when I just want to sing something really loud when I am by myself.  I am glad they did not release their songs ten years ago, especially Otona wa Shinjite Kuranai otherwise I would have surely killed myself during those years.

And of course, their choreography to go along with the songs iare the best. I never seen an idol group with choreo that surpasses everything I've seen in America's Best Dance Crew.  My favorite ones are of course, from most favorite, are Otona wa Shinjite Kurani (stage version, not MV version),  Dare no Koto wo Ichiban Aishiteru (A SakamichiAKB song actually), Fukyouwaon, Silent Majority, Kaze ni Fukarete, Hiraishin, Kataru Nara Mirai wo, Gensuyoubi no Asa Skirt, and Eccentric. They are all choreographed by the same person, swag master TAKAHIRO, who did dance training in New York.

I like to call myself a Keyakizaka46 DD, but if I were to choose an oshi, it would be TAKAHIRO.  Just kidding.  It would probably be Imaizumi Yui, because I feel like I know her the most.  Another thing I love about Keyakizaka46 are the members.  If you want to learn more about them, definitely watch Keyakitte Kakenai (Tsuchida and Sawabe are the best idol group MCs that I ever seen).  What I love about them the most... is I think how they all interact with each other, how they are all friends.  I can feel the love the members have for one another, unlike AKB48.  It is not all business.  Not just that though, they really inspire me to not give up sometimes.. I look up to these young members, like the strength of Moriya Akane, the creativity of Nagasawa Nanako, the coolness and Pokemon playing Shida Manaka.  I think of Oda Nana often and how she makes time for herself to read, and blah blah blah I can go on and on.  Yone-san, and Harada Aoi's study habits, Sugai's words of wisdom, tsundere Risa, resilient Rika.  They inspire me to be a better person, a better citizen in a self-interest society.

So yeah, I love Keyakizaka46!!!!!

Ew Nature

At first, I was thinking that it would be a great idea to just live outdoors, like in a tent in my backyard.  If you live in California's Bay Area you would think of earthquakes often.  And it is not the earthquake that kills people, its the buildings... well, I guess if the earth really cracks and you fall in, that's a different story, but really, its the buildings that fall on you.  Anyways, I thought it was a good idea.  When I think of tents, I think of nature, and blah blah the beauty of nature and how we're supposed to be one with the earth and that it's supposedly our natural habitat...

(but if it's natural, why are we not living there at this moment?  Because we're aliens and we do not belong in this world! We have to create our own habitat because we're not suited for this planet's main habitat!)

But, something else confirmed my thoughts, about nature.  I was in the kitchen and I saw the neighbor's cat in my backyard.  Usually I would think awwww kitty! Nope, not this time, for the first time ever, I saw that it was chasing something, and I knew that it was a small cute mouse.

It was the first time I ever saw something like it.  I just stared in panic out the window, the cat even took the mouse in its mouth and let it go, and kept chasing it, swiping its claws at it.  I know they could have been playing, but at the same time, the cat could easily just step on the poor guy.

This poor guy could have been Hanpan...

Or even Munchie.

I decided to go out and try to chase the cat away, while doing my best to avert my gaze from the mouse.  I did not want to see the mouse, though I did see the mouse.  The first time I ever saw a walking mouse.  It had those round ears like Mickey Mouse.

Well, I went out, chased the cat away from the mouse... and went back in the house and watched TV, because I did not want to be reminded of how disgusting it could have been.

It is so disgusting.  Animals eating each other... nature is sick.

Then I think again...  burgers, meatloaf, chicken... how I eat a lot of animals everyday... I am more sick than nature...

So I'll stay inside, and hope the buildings collapse on me, as repentance.

Finished XENOGEARS

I finished Xenogears.  I started it five years ago, and I got probably ... nine hours in.  I continued it again, probably a year ago but could not get into it.  Then a few weeks ago, I told myself to finish all games that I started, and so far it's been Wild Arms, Dragon Quest VIII, Pokemon TCG 2 repro, Grandia, and now, Xenogears.  I still have to finish Final Fantasy V (my file got corrupted, first time it ever happened to me and it was on an official Sony memory card, back in 2002), FFVIII (40 hours in), and XII (also around 40 hours in).

Anyways, is it one of my favorite games?  
It is not.  But the story, the world, and the concept of everything may be my favorite.  There are so many ridiculous concepts in this world, and it explores so much.  There are moments and characters that will be truly memorable to me.  It is probably my favorite love story concept in a game.  Certainly better than a few novels that try to make a complicated love story (like IQ84).  Way better in concept and excecution, I think. You may think that with all the convoluted philosophical stuff (it's better than Xenosaga III's vision, cheesey "reset the eternal recurrence!") and slow paced beginning and awkward translations that Xenogears might have execute its story poorly, but it does not!  Not at all.

But before that, I would like to get into issues I had with the game... because of course, I want to end this post in a happy note.

NAVIGATING THE WORLD
I was constantly comparing this game to Grandia.  Grandia is the older game, I think.  I admit, I am very dumb, but the maps in Grandia were easier to navigate, and I like it when games makes it easy for the player to nagivate around towns and dungeons.  The compass is confusing enough, and with this game being newer, the analog stick doesn't function... and there is no "Select" function where users are able to see the entire town map in a bird's eye view sort of way.  Another thing to add to the confusion and frustration was the jumping.  There was a lot of platforming instances where I missed the landing just because of camera angles. Speaking of camera angles, sometimes the terrain of the area blocks your sight so you cannot see your character at all.  So bleh, I did not like the controls and the map.

Also, when shopping for Gear Tune-Ups, I did not understand in the beginning, which part would increase my stats, as there is no indicator.  It turns out, after searching online, that a higher number next to the part means an increase in stat.  There are a lot of things like this in this game where you have to search outside to understand things.. I guess it is the lack of a tutorial that I have problems with... which brings me to this...

BATTLE SYSTEM
I did not like the battle system either. Mainly the speed and the music.  I did not like the battle music.  It was just boring, and does not get me pumped up like the main battle theme in Wild Arms, and it lacks the funness in Grandia.  But overall, the training and grinding was fun.  There was more to grind for than just "levels" which the game does not explain to you!

STORY

It's extremely memorable, and I will not spoil it.  But little notes to look back on that I will undersatnd: LIMITER, not wanting the painting to end, CAPTAIN OF THE SEA, Elly not wanting to love someone in desperation and being one practical mofo, "fighting yourself's willpower" (could mean that our enemy is our own Will To Power motive), "the coward".

This is my favorite scene in the game... I won't explain it. 

I do have something to say about the ending... I did not like the ending only because of all the naked people. If you are finishing the game, finish it in a room, alone, by yourself (unless the people around you are open-minded individuals).

Overall, really really loved this game.

It is merely just a WILL.  It does not have to be done.

Next up, going to finish up FFV.

I do not watch movies that much...

Usually when I watch a movie, I cannot watch it all the way through.  Ten minutes, even five minutes in, I usually pause it, do something else, and come back to it.  Sometimes it takes me years to finish a movie...

But not this one.

This is the best romance movie I ever watched.  I'm not kidding.  I even waited a week to write this.. and yes, this is the best.  No question.  The best movie, I watched... at least, for a long time.  So good, I logged in Facebook to like a fanpage of this movie.

But I heard it is based on a novel, so if you can read Japanese, just read the novels because novels are always better for this kind of stuff...

Anyways, the concept of the movie was unbelievable.  It's magical, like a Banana Yoshimoto novel, or an extremely complicated love story that breaks the boundaries of space and time like Xenogears or the Your Name movie, or even the Angel Beats! anime.  It's crazy, it's bonkers, and it's... so cool and I like it a lot, and yeah, you should totally watch it (I'm talking to myself...) but yeah, again!  Because I watched it twice already.  Watch it again, me. Or whoever reads this.

I do have problems with it, but it's after deep thoughts after watching the movie, in retrospect.  I did not have any problems in the journey.  And these problems are minor, like plotholes that do not need to be filled up.  Yeah, plotholes that do not matter.

The ending is the best part. But to understand the ending, you must watch it without any distractions from the beginning.  The secret can be spotted in the beginning if you pay attention!  So watch with 100% attention... if you plan to watch it... though you should watch it...

I just remembered something sad...

Crazy movie.  It's going to make you appreciate each moment in your life... like Heidegger's philosophy. I'M NOT GOING TO SPOIL IT!! But... everyone...  yeah.  Watch it.

At the same time though, it conflicts with my takeaway from Grandia!! Specifically the being able to handle goodbyes part.  And yeah, I finished it!!  I liked it a lot... Guido is one of my favorite characters as well... it's like he embodies Aristotle's philosophy, like get rich, make a lot of money, and it's only the rich people who can help "the poor."  So yeah, the purpose of getting rich is to give back... it's supposed to be like that, in an ideal whatever.  But I dye grass.

Summer of 2004

Yeah... I got a computer in my room that summer, and neglected to finish Grandia.  If I never got a computer... well actually, if I never got into Golden Sun that led me to be addicted to Gamefaqs, I probably could have finished Grandia...

But maybe it's only now that certain lines of dialogue struck me, like rereading a book, you see things you do not see the first time you read them... I was still a little kid back then, so I probably wouldn't have thought about it too much as I am now...

The part of Grandia I am referring to, that I missed when I was still a kid, but could have saved me so much from life's troubles is the quotes of mutherflippin GADWIN.

First of all, he's 38!  Yes!! Older than me!!!  His work ethic inspires me...

And of course, my two new favorite lines of Grandia:

"Justin... you've grown a lot as a result of your work in overcoming obstacles.  Now you've succeeded at the toughest challenge, which is to leave your friends behind."

I like the next one better though... it goes:

"Yeah well... a man must learn to handle good-byes.  When you can handle hard stuff like that, then you're a real man."

Real man... but... I... I'm a fake man!  Nah, I'm a man, manly man man.  Anyways, I'm on disc 2 now.