future nostalgia
Feeling a bit better today -- my body managed to sleep soundly (!) for a good long while last night, which helps immensely.
Classes begin next Monday. (Interim ended Tuesday.) Here are my final semester picks:
M/W 9 a.m. - Women's Self-Defense. As a rule, I'm not big on PE courses, but I think this one should be OK. After all, I get to learn how to flip bad guys onto their backs, right? (Well, not really ...)
M/W 10:30 a.m. - Intro to Film. This is my credit filler class. After the film class I took in Japan, I didn't think I'd want to ever take a film class again (...), but I've heard this class is pretty easy and fun -- and I didn't want to take anything too challenging for credit filler. (And there weren't enough interesting English classes that fit into my schedule.)
This one has a lab on Tuesdays, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Not too big a deal, since it will merely involve watching films for the class.
M/W/F 12:30 p.m. - Russian Lit. The book list is intimidating, but I'm looking forward to this one since I've heard such good things about it. (And it was probably the best English class listed.)
T/Th 10:30-11:45 a.m. - Children's Lit. Another of the interesting English classes available. I'm hoping this will turn out better than the rather disappointing YA Lit course I took last semester (that was mostly the professor's fault, though, so I should be fine here).
T/Th 12:45-2:05 p.m. - Modern Japanese Lit. (Erm, so they say.) This is just Japanese class. It's not really a lit course, though we'll be reading short stories once again (one of which I actually saw referenced elsewhere! Very exciting). The downside? It is a very, very small class. I'm not sure how small. Only four people are signed up now, though o.o; (and one of those had spoken of dropping the course to take it in his 5th year ...)
So, a fine schedule all in all, even if I'm really not looking forward to going back to classes. I don't think it will be overly difficult (I hope). (Also, the nearly empty Friday was not a planned thing -- but it makes me very pleased.) I wish there were more electives available -- I would've liked to take creative writing, but unfortunately it was offered at a bad time. (I vowed when I became head copy editor that I would absolutely not, under any circumstances, take a T/Th 8:35 a.m. class again.) But oh, well.
Although I was pretty productive on the previous days of this break, today I spent most of my hours playing Star Ocean: First Departure. YAY!
I'm enjoying it a lot so far. Roddick is a cutie, Ilia is really fun, and Ioshua has WINGS, so of course I like him. I wish Ronyx had a less old man voice so I could have more joy in shipping him with Ilia, but oh well. The only one I really don't like is Millie. She's ... cute (I want a tail like that!) but hella annoying (mostly her voice ...). If I could just tape her mouth shut, things would be perfect ^^
(Can't say much about Mavelle, since I've only just met her. Cyuss, meanwhile, hardly registers, other than when he's with Phia, at which point my shipping radar goes crazy.)
As for the gameplay, it's very nostalgic. I'm not even sure if it reminds me more of SO: Second Story (which has the same combat engine, I think, but which I played a looong time ago) or early Tales games (the original staff worked on Tales of Phantasia just before SO, I believe). (Also, Ilia reminds me of Farah from Tales of Eternia, just a little, which is probably why I took to her character so well.) Either way, it pleases me.
The story so far has a typical Star Ocean feel. I've already forgotten my "ultimate goal" at least once, which is usual for me and SO games. I don't usually forget my current mission; it's just that SO is full of subplots. I don't mind that though -- they're usually character-focused, and I love that kind of thing. (I do so many "Private Actions" -- where the group separates at a town and you as the MC can talk to each of them -- that it's ridiculous ^^;)
Also, skills. SKILLS! I love the skills system as it is here, with each character getting skill points and being able to learn things like cooking, alchemy, etc. (I far prefer this old system to the invention system in SO3, which requires a work place and all that jazz.)
Maybe it's just the nostalgia of old PSONE games hitting me here, but I'm really enjoying it, and I'm sure I'll end up picking up SO: Second Evolution at some point as well ♥
So, yes, that's about all.
(I wonder if my good mood is also a result of two of my roommates leaving for the weekend, leaving me with the apartment almost to myself? I do like my privacy sometimes.)
Classes begin next Monday. (Interim ended Tuesday.) Here are my final semester picks:
M/W 9 a.m. - Women's Self-Defense. As a rule, I'm not big on PE courses, but I think this one should be OK. After all, I get to learn how to flip bad guys onto their backs, right? (Well, not really ...)
M/W 10:30 a.m. - Intro to Film. This is my credit filler class. After the film class I took in Japan, I didn't think I'd want to ever take a film class again (...), but I've heard this class is pretty easy and fun -- and I didn't want to take anything too challenging for credit filler. (And there weren't enough interesting English classes that fit into my schedule.)
This one has a lab on Tuesdays, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Not too big a deal, since it will merely involve watching films for the class.
M/W/F 12:30 p.m. - Russian Lit. The book list is intimidating, but I'm looking forward to this one since I've heard such good things about it. (And it was probably the best English class listed.)
T/Th 10:30-11:45 a.m. - Children's Lit. Another of the interesting English classes available. I'm hoping this will turn out better than the rather disappointing YA Lit course I took last semester (that was mostly the professor's fault, though, so I should be fine here).
T/Th 12:45-2:05 p.m. - Modern Japanese Lit. (Erm, so they say.) This is just Japanese class. It's not really a lit course, though we'll be reading short stories once again (one of which I actually saw referenced elsewhere! Very exciting). The downside? It is a very, very small class. I'm not sure how small. Only four people are signed up now, though o.o; (and one of those had spoken of dropping the course to take it in his 5th year ...)
So, a fine schedule all in all, even if I'm really not looking forward to going back to classes. I don't think it will be overly difficult (I hope). (Also, the nearly empty Friday was not a planned thing -- but it makes me very pleased.) I wish there were more electives available -- I would've liked to take creative writing, but unfortunately it was offered at a bad time. (I vowed when I became head copy editor that I would absolutely not, under any circumstances, take a T/Th 8:35 a.m. class again.) But oh, well.
Although I was pretty productive on the previous days of this break, today I spent most of my hours playing Star Ocean: First Departure. YAY!
I'm enjoying it a lot so far. Roddick is a cutie, Ilia is really fun, and Ioshua has WINGS, so of course I like him. I wish Ronyx had a less old man voice so I could have more joy in shipping him with Ilia, but oh well. The only one I really don't like is Millie. She's ... cute (I want a tail like that!) but hella annoying (mostly her voice ...). If I could just tape her mouth shut, things would be perfect ^^
(Can't say much about Mavelle, since I've only just met her. Cyuss, meanwhile, hardly registers, other than when he's with Phia, at which point my shipping radar goes crazy.)
As for the gameplay, it's very nostalgic. I'm not even sure if it reminds me more of SO: Second Story (which has the same combat engine, I think, but which I played a looong time ago) or early Tales games (the original staff worked on Tales of Phantasia just before SO, I believe). (Also, Ilia reminds me of Farah from Tales of Eternia, just a little, which is probably why I took to her character so well.) Either way, it pleases me.
The story so far has a typical Star Ocean feel. I've already forgotten my "ultimate goal" at least once, which is usual for me and SO games. I don't usually forget my current mission; it's just that SO is full of subplots. I don't mind that though -- they're usually character-focused, and I love that kind of thing. (I do so many "Private Actions" -- where the group separates at a town and you as the MC can talk to each of them -- that it's ridiculous ^^;)
Also, skills. SKILLS! I love the skills system as it is here, with each character getting skill points and being able to learn things like cooking, alchemy, etc. (I far prefer this old system to the invention system in SO3, which requires a work place and all that jazz.)
Maybe it's just the nostalgia of old PSONE games hitting me here, but I'm really enjoying it, and I'm sure I'll end up picking up SO: Second Evolution at some point as well ♥
So, yes, that's about all.
(I wonder if my good mood is also a result of two of my roommates leaving for the weekend, leaving me with the apartment almost to myself? I do like my privacy sometimes.)