Sanctuary

Changed the lyrics. It's none other than Sanctuary by Utada Hikaru, used in the game Kingdom Hearts II.

Oh yeah, about the game, I finally completed it last week. Seriously though, I could've dragged on for two or more weeks, but I forced myself to just see the ending at least once before going back to complete all the optional stuff. Just a while back, I was finishing up on all the GummiShip routes. And thanks to the "doughnut ship", was able to defeat the final boss of "Assault of the Dreadnought" without much trouble.

Sephiroth is so much easier than in KH, at least for me. His defense has seemingly dropped. At least, Fenrir was worth it. Might I add, hooray for his clear pronounciation. Descend, Heartless Angel!

And I guess, in a way, I've decided not to entirely quit FFXI. It's not really because of the expansion, but more of a personal choice. Feels kind of wasteful to put it down now, even though it may be just as stupid to continue. Whatever.

Well, it's not long before the expansion is released. *Starts another countdown*

K for Kingdom, H for Hearts

Finally got the game four days after its original release date. I'm currently at the part before the 1000 heartless battle. Ah, 1000... that's a shitload, I must say. Still, with the nifty Reaction Commands, it'll make it faster.

Also, I got the guidebook today. Feels kinda like a waste of money, seeing how I managed to get this far without one. But, I just had to have it. The guidebook's extremely thick. I think it even surpasses Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.

The final thing to mention is that I finally watched V for Vendetta. Heh, it's a nice movie. Just look at that whole building go KABOOM while Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture(is it?) plays in the background.

Well, too tired to talk about anything else.

POTION

Ah, at last. I've finally decided to try out the new Final Fantasy XII POTION drink. According to some website, it's supposed to taste like Royal Jelly with some other herbs. Personally I've never taken Royal Jelly, so I don't know for sure. Though what it tasted like for me, was a "honey orangy lime" taste. (Ugh, don't really know how to say it, but meh whatever.) And yeah, there's a slight herbal taste to it. It's a little sour and bitter at first, but the aftertaste is kinda sweet. I guess the more important thing is the sweet, refreshing aftertaste, so the initial strange taste doesn't seem so bad after all.

Well, that was how it tasted, at least, for me. Unless my tastebuds are failing me or something.

Hope they'll sell the normal bottle here soon. Can't wait to drink more of it, heh.

5 more hours to the release date of Kingdom hearts 2! (Ignore the fact that shops don't open at midnight.) I don't think I can sleep tonight...

Shadow Hearts: From the New World

Ugh, stupid Purgatory. There I was at floor B6 preparing for the last boss before Envious Jealousy. Unequipped the Warning Device right before heading into the boss's room, and the moment I got out of the menu screen, boom, got an encounter - surrounded by the enemy. Naturally, the damn mobs double-comboed me to death. 3 hours worth of playtime gone just like that. Sigh, should've known better.

Oh well. 2 more days to Kingdom Hearts 2...

Dead Fingers Talk

Yes, the battle theme for the first half of Shadow Hearts: From the New World. I hated it when I first heard it while watching some gameplay videos. But out of the game, on its own, it's really good. Definitely something which surpassed the last two games.

Final Fantasy XII actually got a perfect review score by Weekly Famitsu. Hmm... so it really is that good. Well, 6 more days to its release, so I'll wait till then.

18 more days... (I don't need to say what it's for anymore...)

Ah, finally. It's the weekend. Well, sort of. A mere week of pathetic holidays...

Time to hit the sack.

Keep Tryin' - Utada Hikaru

Nothing much has been going on lately. I wouldn't consider school as part of the "something new", I mean, it's the same routine everyday. For me, at least.

Okay, well, I changed the lyrics. This time it's the ending song of the main storyline in Tales of Legendia. Some people hate it. Sure it may be the typical love ballad found in RPGs, but I like it.
I just started on the Character Quests part of the game. Nerifes was really difficult. ><>< Oh well.

Oh, Final Fantasy XII will be released next Thusday. (Japanese one, duh) Frankly, I'm not that interested. I don't really like the new battle system, and it's not that I'm not used to it. Everyone could cast magic in the demo version. Where's the "every character is unique" factor? Seems like there would be weapon skills, but I prefer limit breaks or just a unique battle command. Hopefully it isn't like that in the game itself. Can't form any conclusions when the game hasn't even been released. I'm guessing that the story is a good one.

Sigh... Where's my Kingdom Hearts II... Argh, 21 more days!

Waiting , waiting...

What!? Final Fantasy XII is going to be the last of the series? Someone posted that in a forum... is it for real?

I doubt that, though...

Oh, and 27 more days to the release of Kingdom Hearts 2!

Blah blah blah

Approximately 31 days until the release of Kingdom Hearts II.

Grandia III seems nice, but I know I won't have time to complete it by the time KH2 is released.

Sigh. School is so hectic, nothing to say about it. Except maybe our class play, which turned out much better than I thought. Okay, well, looking at the script, it was quite okay, but the acting part is a totally different story. As in it was really good.

Right. I'm running out of things to say, so goodbye.

Tales of Legendia

Bought it last night.

So far, 10 hours into the game, it's not too bad. Overall story progression is okay, though some parts of the dialougue seem a little slow. Battle system is rather interesting, considering this is the first "Tales of" series for me.

And well, my cold developed (developed!?) into a fever for the weekend. Head's been heavy all day and nose is almost always blocked. Haha... And I could still play games in the state I was in...

Well anyway, now that I'm okay, I better start on the shitload of homework. Else I'm boned.

5 stars, maybe...

I Not Stupid Too is a really great movie.

It is something that us teenagers can relate to so much. Or should I say, Singaporean teenagers. The movie has its fair share of touching and funny moments. It's placed in a way like this - just when are you on the edge of tears, they throw in a funny part. And it happens in reverse. Still, they're quite well blended.

It's a movie with lots of lessons and positive-thinking values. Having a rotten people doesn't mean you have to throw it away; cut off the rotten part and it's still edible. (Well, something along the lines of that... It's not exactly how they said it.) There's also something about finding the key to the locked door in your life. It remains locked unless you bother to make an effort to find the key. And find more chances to look at the good side of a person, not always pinpointing the bad points. After all, no one in this world is wholly good or wholly bad.

I would recommend everyone to watch it; more so if you're a teacher or parent. (Heh heh...)

See red yet?

Yesterday and today are rather boring, I must say.

Second day of Chinese New Year was spent at my grandparents' place, and uncle's actually. Well they live just a few houses apart. So there was this lion dance troupe that they invited, and I sat so close to it that after it ended I was partially deaf. Yeah I was being stupid. And I didn't really know my cousins well, never really talked to them in my life, so I just sat in a corner. Under the sun, might I add, while they were in the house.

Rest of the morning and late afternoon was dedicated to TV-watching. MTV Asia, AXN, StarWorld. I was constantly switching between them and pausing when something was of interest.

Well for today I rounded up my money and set off for the game shop. I just had to buy something. Stared at the japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 2, priced at s$102! The shopkeeper reccomended the new Dragon Quest, but I didn't like the characters in there, so I averted my view towards Tales of Legendia for awhile, but dang, it's japanese too. Finally I set my mind on Final Fantasy IV Advance. It's definitely not the best among those, but well, I haven't even played it before, it wouldn't hurt.

Maybe I should have waited a little longer. Within the next few months, it'll be the arrival of a whole bunch of games... Ugh, I almost forgot I'm still paying for FFXI. It's driving me bankrupt.

Gonna have "Chinese New Year withdrawal syndrome", as termed by a friend of mine. XD

Corsair

Ah, it's Chinese New Year's Eve.

SquareEnix has revealed another job in the new expansion, Treasures of Aht Urhgan. It's the Corsair, who wields a "6-barrel gun" and apparantly has luck-based abilities. Looks cool, but I'm still more interested in the Blue Mage. Don't know if I'll still be playing when that time comes, though...

Temporarily out of games at home... So damn bored.

Oh well, looking forward to the dinner tonight.

Just Another Rambling

The Math test didn't turn out so bad. At least I didn't fail.

Flag day was... Bad. I mean, after all these events involving NKF, who would want to donate? People avoided, pretended to be on the phone, fumbling with their bags, or looked away entirely, like I wasn't there. I can't blame them though, but, sigh... Us students were made to do it. It's not like we had a choice.

Yet there were still exceptionally generous people on that day. I remember the Caucasian who winded down his car window to pass me $4 while stopping at the traffic light. No, don't get me wrong, I did NOT go tapping at cars, asking for donations. Rather, he did it voluntarily. There, a perfect example of a kind heart. I couldn't help but smile as I placed the notes into my seemingly empty tin. The two notes were all that were needed to make the tin heavy, heavy enough.

Naturally, with it being so light, it was sure to be rejected. I told them I had already tried my best, as should every other student tell them that. Well as long as you really have, and you know it, who cares? Of course I said that there were notes in there. She greatly doubted me, and asked another helper to check with the torchlight.

Yet, even with the notes, she still asked me to go for another round. I had had enough. This isn't supposed to be forced voluntarism or donations for that matter. I said, "If you all really need the money, I'll whip up $10", looking straight into her eyes. For a moment there, she seemed stunned, but then again, they couldn't possibly accept my money at that time, I guess. She gave a slight nod, signaling approval of the tin. Booya!

Of course they would want more money in the tins... they earn more commision, don't they? I'm not exactly sure, correct me if I'm wrong. And donations... it's entirely up to the person whether they want to donate, you can't force them or anything.

I guess the worst part of it was when my friend came across two elderly women, who walked right past him without donating, and said loudly in Hokkien, "Cheat people one lah". Oh well...

This is how the society is. If it was perfect, there would be no need for this; people would come forward by themselves to donate. Welcome to the real world. Hmph.

A 15 Minute Ride

Bro spent 7 days in the hospital.

Mom stayed with him, all the while. Day and night.

House was managed by me, kinda. I didn't do much, but I won't say I didn't do anything either.

To the hospital and back from it - everyday. Pains me to see someone as young as him in this state.

And now, my 'rents are sick.

You ask me why I failed my math test - how could I possibly concentrate?

You don't understand the current situation.

Can't study for the test. House is in a mess.

Is a life or a test more important?

Don't blame me if I fail. I'm not sacrificing a life for high marks in a mere test.

Heartless fools. People are sick here, and there you complain, criticize. Aggravate the matter; add on the pressure.

Say you don't know me. Don't fucking care if I die. Become non-existant. Invisible, ignored.

Fine. I'll mark your words.

And the source of all problems is back.

Can't possibly go on like this...

Rainwater

Finally plucking up some courage, I've decided to log back on FFXI after like, a month. Or rather, it's a risk or letting myself being bored to death.

I've kinda lost touch with playing bard already. Has anything changed? I don't know. I don't have any friends playing as bard, either. It's more like they ask me instead. So I think I will refrain from getting into any parties for the time being, though I know that won't help. Anyway, there's a whole horde of new bards all rising in levels into the mid 60s to 70s range, it's rather difficult getting a party at "peak" hours.

Well I don't want to affect other people if I don't know what I'm doing. I didn't play bard in hopes of getting a dynamis or HNM LS easily, and it definitely wasn't because of the large number of invites. I play it because I like how a bard works in the party, not physically attacking monsters, but rather buffing allies and debuffing mobs. Sure it gets repetitive, but I like it. Heh. And I would say that I'm just an average bard; I'm always short on gil. I spend more time PLing friends, and when I myself need one, they all disappear. XD

When it's time for me to quit, I wonder who to give all my stuff to. An old friend? Or maybe a random person down the streets of Lower Jeuno? Split it up and roughly divide it with the LS peeps? Or decide that "My stuff is going down with me!"? Still contemplating...

Hmm... Kingdom Hearts 2, I'm still waiting. Maybe I'll just buy the Japanese version and spoil all the fun.

Oh, and I can't believe AMK Central's McDonalds actually ran out of curry sauce last night! Ahaha. But it's fine, I could make do without it.

Yeah well, peace out.

"New" Year?

First week of school was okay, to say the least. But well, the word "okay" is being abused by us, kinda. It seems like an acceptable response to most questions, although in this sense "most" isn't really as much as it seems. Duh.

I guess I'm all alright for the change in teachers. They don't affect me much, but there are exceptions, however.

Had quite a shock and a rather pleasant surprise this afternoon. Stepping out of the class, I saw someone dressed in casual wear heading towards our classrooms. Well yeah, it's obviously a visitor, or so it seems. But I found her hair strikingly familiar, and asked myself, is that Alev? Yup, right on.

Sigh, how I wished I could have stayed on longer to chat with her, but due to Biology Practical lessons after school, it didn't allow me to. Dang. It turns out that she's currently here on holiday. She did say that life in Canada is much better than here, and about how she's getting high grades for Math there (like 90+), and only a mere pass when she used to live here (A mere 52, according to her). And yeah, I remember that quite well. I kinda trudged my way down for lunch after the short meeting. Oh, and yes, she did remember me. Eh heh, that's nice to know.

Well I thought I should talk about it here, cause I just had a sudden urge. It's unique to me, in a sense. It's not everyday that this happens. Yeah, like duh, again. Oh well...

I finally got down to completing Suikoden IV after a month or so. Well the ending wasn't too shabby, but not the greatest I've seen. And I played through the Dot Hack games again, out of boredom or whatever. Maybe because the new trilogy is within a month of its release date. Ah yes, that and Kingdom Hearts 2. Though the latter is sometime in March. It should be worth the wait, I hope.

Well I've said what I wanted to say. So have a good day. Or night.

The End is Near...

End of the year, that is.

While Japanese players get to enjoy and go crazy over Kingdom Hearts 2, every other person who didn't get it imported will have to wait for another 3 months or so. Sigh.

Finally done getting 100% completion in Final Fantasy X-2. It was during my second playthrough that I realized that I had forgotten to watch the scenes at the Chocobo Ranch via the CommSphere.

Not been up to anything lately in FFXI. At most, I was on only twice during the past month. Well thrice, if I count in today.

Argh.

Time flies, indeed.

Been a while.

But well, there's nothing much to talk about. I've been sick for like, 2 weeks and for the most part, was plenty bored.

And so I went ahead to max out stats in FFX, and oversouled every fiend through Via Infinito in FFx-2. And ugh, I'm at 99% completion. Where's the freaking 1% I missed!

Now, with less than 2 weeks left until school reopens, I wonder if I should get some work done. But the sight of books... Ugh.

My left ear is apparently "blocked". You know how sometimes it happens, and when you yawn and "pop", it clears itself. But it isn't working for me this time. It's been four days now, and I still can't hear things clearly.

Anyway, time for breakfast.

Later.

Hail to the Thief...

Steini quit FFXI today, once again.

Sigh...

And it seemed like just yesterday that we were all having fun partying.

Axl vanished without a trace. Martind, don't know where the heck he is now. Shadowwolf has most likely quit. Dikar, well, I don't know either. Finnh, rarely see him nowadays. Who's next?



Well let's not think too much, it's just a game after all. The real person is still there.

On to other things, Radiata Stories is rather difficult, I must say. With time progression according to a clock, featuring day and night, which affect the appearances of NPCs, it makes it hard to be able to recruit people within the so called given time, and to do some other things. Makes it feel that I'm rushing to the station for the very last train of the month.

The battle system is very similar to Star Ocean: Till the end of Time, which was really good. Certain things have been slightly altered, though. You can press X to guard in battle. Other stuff like side stepping is somewhat in there, but you can only jump back this time. Assigning of different attacks to form combos make it so that you actually button-mash for the most part of battle. And it's really frustrating to hear the characters keep shouting "All right!" during battle and post battle. I think I've heard it more than a hundred times already.

Featuring lots of characters to recruit, like Suikoden, is not neccessarily a good thing. Most of the characters are junk, lousy to use in battle, and you "don't actually need them". Coupled with the day and night system, it gets really frustrating to attempt to even hunt down all of them.

Well I shall play on to see how it goes, and hopefully, it goes on the right path. It shouldn't be too bad.

Suikoden IV

That's the game I have been playing within the past week.

It's an awesome game. I completely changed my view about Suikoden once I played this. The bad impression I had gotten was from the previous game in this series, Suikoden III, because in my opinion, it was bad. I regretted buying it.

Now, with 108 characters you can recruit, one can't complain about the lack of characters. (Although, in actual fact, only about 56 can be used in battle.) The only probelm with having so many characters, is that it's hard to make everyone fit well into the story. Some join because someone else they know is on board the ship. Still, I think that's quite a minor problem.

Story wise, it's okay. Nothing too simple or complicated. Gameplay is good. You're sure to be kept busy if you're trying to level them all to 99. Most characters join by just talking to them through the course of the game, while you fight bosses and need to meet certain requirements for others. This, overall, balances out so you won't find recruiting characters boring or a chore. But then again, you only need to use a few of the lot to successfully complete the game.

Definitely one of the better RPGs I've played so far. Planing on trying out Radiata Stories next. Hopefully it'll be good.