[x-posted from Livejournal this time]

Every year or two, there is a surprise game - a game I get or play not expecting anything great, but just fishing for greatness. One year it was Ace Combat 4. This year it was....Final Fantasy VIII.

Now, one would think that a game I'd already played 1 and 3/4 times wouldn't exactly be a big surprise. But I played in back in 99/2000. I was different then. After playing FFX and various other console-style RPGs on the Playstation, I came to the conclusion that I had grown out of the genre, and couldn't take the derivative filler repetition anymore.

I was wrong. Sorta.

Because I decided to replay FF VIII, and I love it. So much, that I was logging 10 hours a day, a couple times playing till 2:30 at night. For the record, I don't think I've EVER played a game that late before. It's fantastic. I've written a lot about all the flaws of the game - and there are a lot - but while playing it they just don't seem to matter. It's more than the sum of its parts, and what's more important, it's FRESH - more fresh than it was when it came out, because at that point the genre was still exploring what it could do with 3D. Now, its been stuck in a rut for the better part of a decade, and going back to a game that did everything different makes me realize there IS hope for the genre. I could write about why I like FF8, but I'm not gonna. Everyone reading this

A. Has played the game, and already has formed opinions on it
B. Hasn't played the game, and doesn't give a damn
C. Hasn't played the game but might be interested in my ramblings anyway.

Unfortunately, said ramblings might involve spoilers (when I get to the plot), and for gameplay mechanisms, well, there are plenty of other analysis (analyses? Analysises? How do you say that in plural?) out there. Mine would be different...but eh, I feel like debating FF8 is like debating the Iraq war - at this point, people are very unlikely to change their minds and there isn't a lot of point.

Anyway, played that at Whidbey. Came home. Got Front Mission 4 in the mail. Got Paranoia Agent Disc 2, and the first few episodes of Deadwood to watch. Just met with a friend. Have bowling and movie nights to schedule. Gotta finish my book. And on Monday, I can call Blue Highway Games and *hopefully* get a job or at least some volunteer work there.

Hooray!

To make a potentially super-long entry into something short:

Instead of making any progress in God of War, I opted to play the other scenario of Front Mission 3. When that got boring, I decided to replay FF VIII - despite the number of serious problems with it (I pretty much agree with Gamespot's review of the PC version), it has a lot of heart/soul, and so I'm excited about replaying it, even if it would make more sense to replay something else - or make progress in God of War. But honestly, just like the similiarly titled Gears of War, I'm finding it quite boring. Kill stuff, kill more stuff, mash button mash button...I dunno, I guess there's just something that bothers me about brutal violence, and I get no rush from it.

So I'm at Whidbey. EB/Gamestop had a good deal on used games, so I get 2. One (God of War, which I'm finally playing despite major reservations) does not run on my PS2, as it is all scratched to hell. Maybe it will run on a brand-new PS2, but not mine. Which wouldn't be their fault, except they sold the faulty used PS2 to my mom in the first place, so it is. So, back it goes, and hopefully they'll be nice enough to give me a relatively clean copy (they had 5 used copies - ONE of them should be in decent condition). Honestly, what are people doing, using the discs as a nail file?

Other game I got was Bully. It's good. Not great. Not bad. About what I expected. It's one of those games where I one could write a perfectly legitimate review that gave it a **** score for its various faults. Gameplay recycled from GTA + storyline/characters that resolve entirely around stereotypes and such easy jokes at various cliques that it can barely be called satire. "RICH PEOPLE ARE SNOBBY AND INBRED HAHAHA", stuff like that. But it's fun in spite of itself.

But my main addiction is Front Mission 3. I was 49 hours into it when I stopped like, 5-6 years ago. So of course I completely forgot what was going on. But there are two scenarios, so I just started with the other scenario. It has plenty of faults, but instead of listing them, I'll just say that it's maddeningly addictive. If the battle sequences were skippable (as they apparently are in Front Mission 4) it would be that much better, but it's still good.

Apparently, while Front Mission 4 is regarded as the black sheep of the series, as it retains the basic gameplay while only adding a single new feature, and yet strips out a few others, has a storyline riddled with plot holes, and completely retarded AI. Front Mission 5, however, seems to be considered by many to be the best yet - it ties all the stories together, adds many new features while at the same time streamlining things and reducing unneeded complexity and crazy-menu-overload. No more "90 separate menus for customizing your Wanzers" apparently. But Squeenix decided that instead of bothering to translate it and release it in the US, they'd focus their efforts on driving other established series into the ground (see: Dawn of Mana). JACKASSES. I'm sure FM5 wouldn't be a super-hit, but it almost certainly would have made a profit given that the game is already done, so the expenditure wouldn't be that much. Plus, the series has a hard core fanbase that will guarantee a minimum number of sales, and good reviews could help introduce new people. But NOOO.

Addendum 1: Finished FM3, Alisa scenario. Wooo.

Addendum 2: Coming up next: Why are modern GOTYs all violent, heavilly-scripted action games?

Avatar Story:

This little dude, appearing next to my comments and (I think) these posts, is the Master Chief. Some of you may have heard of him.

A long time ago, in a physical location very close but in a mental state far away, I worked on a little Halo fan site, called The Cole Protocol. This was before Halo Fever had set in - I worked on it in the post-launch period, so Halo certainly wasn't an obscure game or anything, but it was yet to become a cultural phenomenon - few people owned an Xbox in 2001, hence few people actually played Halo, despite the press.

The art dude for the site created a good 70 halo avatars or so. I licked this one, and used it as my avatar.

Eventually, the site folded, as fan sites based upon a single thing are wont to do. I kept the avatar.

As time passed, Halo became more and more prominent. People stopped thinking it was of some guy from Quake 3 and started recognizing it as the Master Chief. This presented a problem.

I had been using the avatar for so long, that I had long stopped identifying it as anything other than "my avatar".

I'm currently at a crossroads - get a new avatar? And if so, what? I love the little guy, but honestly I'm not much of a Halo fan these days and it feels kind of awkward advertising myself thus.

This post was brought to you by sleep-deprivation and the letter C.

Should I:

1. Collect some game posts from the last year or so that are in my LiveJournal, and paste them here, to give a foundation, or

2. Start fresh.