Been playing more Rogue Galaxy and stuff. It’s still fun.
Main reason for this post, though, is that I recorded some combat to show a bit of what it’s like. It’s here.
This one won’t try and play in Quicktime, though, and it won’t be such an odd format (unless wmv counts as odd).
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve updated the FFL2 FAQ I’ve been working on through World 8. Now it contains most of what I’ve discovered algorithm-wise (which, sadly, isn’t much) and the more interesting parts of the original game that were changed in the official translation.
I know I promised some Japanese bath stories, but it’s actually kind of late so I’ll have to save that for a time when I’m not so busy. Rest assured I’ll post them… sometime.
I picked up a copy of Level 5’s Rogue Galaxy. So far I’m impressed. Just about every aspect of the game is better than Final Fantasy XII – the last “new” RPG I played. The main character has a personality, graphics are shiny and impressive, and it’s corny, but humorously so. I never played Dark Cloud, so I can’t say what resemblance it bears, but I can’t decide whether the battle system is awkward or simply “unbreakable”. It’s a bit like Kingdom Hearts in the camera-issue department, but I think that’s because of my play style rather than anything else.
Partly because of Rogue Galaxy, I’ve pretty much given up on Disgaea. It just had too many numbers and too much grinding to keep my interest. I’m not sure what appeal there is to others, but come to think of it nearly everyone I know that liked it had played World of Warcraft as well. Coincidence? Perhaps not.
During my free time away from the room, I’ve been picking away at Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. I can say with confidence that this game is a wonder both in style and in translation. First, the characters are varied and interesting. Second, every single one of them is portrayed with the same style I would expect of a game originally written in English. It’s a joy to play and the main reason I haven’t finished it yet is because I’m trying to pace myself with it.
Sadly, I seem to have picked up a cold, along with a substantial (re: unhealthy) amount of homework, presentations, et cetera. Just two more weeks and I’ll be home for a spell. One more week and I’ll be done with almost all homework. Ganbaranakute ha ikenaindesune.
/edit: I ripped a short video displaying the Revelation system in RG. Take a look.
So yesterday there was a campus-wide Smash Bros. Melee tournament. I mentioned something along these lines earlier.
We ended up having 18 teams with a pretty good diversity of pairings. The only duplicate team was Marth-Roy; there were two of those. Other good teams were Marth-Ness and Sheik-Falco. I played Peach and was teamed with my roommate, who played Fox or Jigglypuff and switched up a couple times. My other roommates played Sheik and Sheik (actually worked surprisingly well).
This time it was more competetive than the previous tournaments. This time ’round, several players were pretty darn good. I was surprised that we managed to beat everyone that we did.
We managed to beat all comers in the first bit of the tournament and then played against our roommates for champion of the undefeated bracket. We lost, with their last life at 120%.
So then we played our way through the losers’ bracket. By this point, almost every other match had been played already, so we had to play 4 matches back-to-back. There were a couple close calls, but we clawed our way back to the top somehow.
Then, naturally, we had to face our roommates again. No change of strategy, but this time we managed to win by a fair amount – 3 lives total. Of course, that meant that we had each lost once, so we still had a final match.
All I can say is that it was incredibly intense. I was the first one out, as John – the best in our room – has managed to get beating me down to a science, and made sure I wasn’t around to survive and throw turnips.
This left my teammate in the ring, with 60%. As Jigglypuff against two Sheiks, who had a combined 3 lives. Although I thought he didn’t stand a chance, I cheered him on.
He took out one with a nice edge-guard, took out John’s last life with a lucky well-timed kick, and then Jiggly-slept to win the match at 130% damage. If they’d have hit him, he’d have been toast.
That may have been the most intense game-playing experience of my life. It was lots of fun, and I really hope there’s another tournament before I graduate.