Showing posts with label Agarest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agarest. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2012

Week in Review - 8/17/2012

I'm post dating this to yesterday for my Friday column. My life has been a bit chaotic lately. Lots of things changing have made it difficult to sit down and write out a good, quality article in a while. I have a lot of things on my mind that I want to share with the world, but really just lack the time and peace of mind to sit down and write about them.

Just a brief taste of the things that have changed in the past few weeks, at 9:50AM on 8/17/2012 my third child, and second son, was born. We're still working out the details of his name, but he's real cute. I am home now with my other two kids for a few hours and I miss that little guy like crazy.

Anyway, I did get a chance to play a few games over the week while preparing for the big day.



PC
  • Final Fantasy XIV
Shai with Cid & Merlwyb
I haven’t had a lot of time to play XIV this week, but I’m working on finishing up the quests and missions that sum up all the story of “Version 1” which will be ending soon. The evil Empire has summoned one of the world’s moons to come crashing down into the land we protect in order to wipe out the Primals who oppose their dominance. It’s something like that. I haven’t sorted out all the details. I’m now a Chief Storm Sergeant of the Maelstrom and working on getting my commission to 2nd Lieutenant. I’ve also unlocked all jobs except Paladin and Dragoon. It’s been fun so far. 

  •  Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
My family was watching TV so I popped on something quick, fun and easy by the name of Recettear. The game is about a girl who wakes up to find herself in serious debt and turns her home into an item shop to make ends meet. You have an ever-growing quota of money to pay to your loan shark partner. I made it to the final week, but couldn’t come up with the 500,000 pix to finally pay off my loan. I only came up with 250,000. I’m now in a New Game + where I kept all my items and merchant skills. It’s much easier to make ends meet.

  •  The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Arch-Mage Neeka the First
Determined to actually accomplish something worth note in this game, I decided to dive back into Skyrim. I haven’t come up with the money to buy “Dawnguard” yet but it’s on my Wishlist. I decided to make a new character that is focused on Illusion, Stealth, and a touch of Destruction. I’ve never played such a true mage before and I’m delighted to find that it’s extremely fun. My sneaky Khajit has already amounted to Arch-Mage of the College at Winterhold, and marks the first faction I’ve actually completed!


Playstation 3
  • Cross Edge
This game has vexed me for a few years now. It’s possibly the hardest role-playing game I’ve ever tried to conquer and I’m constantly finding myself hitting brick walls where I’m left with the option to grind (age old solution to RPG difficulties) or change my tactics drastically. It’s safe to say that I’ve spent enough time in the last week (thanks to some Record of Agarest failures) getting to know and understand the basics of the combat system (which they share). So I decided to give it another go, and on Hard mode! I find myself farther than I’ve ever made it before and still going strong.




 
  • The Walking Dead - "Episode 1: Brand New Day"
FYI: I love cel-shaded graphics.
I decided to sink some money into the Playstation Plus program in order to get access to some free games for a nominal cost. In fact, just when I signed up for $50, there was over $250 worth of games available to download and play for free. Not games I’d necessarily buy, but they tide me over. As such I decided to give The Walking Dead a try and found the term “video game” not necessarily accurate. I’d call it an “interactive graphic novel” but as such it was extremely fun and interesting. I hope the rest end up being free to play for PS+ members, because I like where it’s going.
 

Friday, July 27, 2012

Week in Review - 7/27/2012

3DS
Lightning with a Moogle
Progress in Theatrhythm remains slow and steady. I’ve been able to complete a handful of songs on Ultimate difficulty which is no easy task for me. Cecil, Zidane, Bartz and Shantotto are all Level 99 now. I’m going to work on leveling Rydia. I recently unlocked Minwu and Yuna. I’m really trying to get Prishe unlocked, but her Purple shards are far and few between at the moment. I think I need to reorganize my skills to be more efficient at killing bosses than I am currently. 

I’m a big fan of the “Shin Megami Tensei” series that I’ve played. Honestly, I’ve only really ever gotten completely absorbed into Nocturne and Persona 3. I haven’t set aside time in my life to give the others the attention they deserve. I picked up Devil Survivor Overclocked with the 3DS and it’s not what I expected. I’m enjoying it, but I’m not absorbed like I was with Nocturne and Persona 3. I play it in small doses, because I find the action a little slow and awkward. Tactical game with turn based combat just seems awkward. I think it will grow on me.  



 DS
I did get Kenshin his Mewtwo partner. Keiji ended his episode with Terakionn. I’ve started Hideyoshi’s chapter and solidified control of the rear end of Arceus – I mean, Ransei. Now I plan to just solidify my power and level up my Pokémon and hunt down some more perfect links for my current army. Now that I have control of a defensible position, I should be good to build up my forces indefinitely. I do need to get control of Shingen in order to evolve him, since I beat Kenshin’s episode a long while ago.


PC
Finishing up my Archer Quests
My computer died last November and the one I replaced it with couldn’t run Final Fantasy XIV. December, they changed a few things that really upset me so I wasn’t too broken up about leaving. I didn’t want to spend $200 for a new video card and a monthly subscription to play a game that was now upsetting to me, so I walked away. I thought I’d be back for Version 2.0 (A Realm Reborn) and when they announced their Legacy program, I felt I earned it and it was time to put my money where my mouth was. So far, I’m enjoying it, but I still lament those changes back in December.

I’ve never played an “Ys” game, but it seems like something I would enjoy. Two titles went on sale during the Steam Summer Sale, so I picked them up for a good price. I popped on Ys Origin to see what kind of game it really was and if I’d enjoy it. I didn’t get too far, but it seemed like a faster paced Zelda-style game with a more comprehensive story. I’m not sure if all the ”Ys” games are like this, but I think I could really get into Ys Origin, but first I want to head back to Recettear and finish what I started there. 


 Playstation 3
I do like the linking in battle.
I was interested in Recordof Agarest War when it came out, but I passed it up for a while. Then when Zero launched (and was a prequel story) I decided to buy it and play it. That was sometime last year and I was not really entertained. I saw it on the shelf this week and decided to pop it in and give it another chance. I’m surprised to find out I’m really enjoying it. I’m not sure what turned me off to it previously, but I’m having a great time with the battle system (which I found awkward and clunky before.


-TOP
@TOPGamingBlog