Oh, btw, about what I did in Japan...
... (among all other things):
I played Final fantasy XIII.
And it was gorgeous.
Now, first of all, I knew very little of the game, so there were hardly any expectations on my side. Second, my Japanese is still very, very not excellent, so I have a rather fuzzy understanding of what was going on (the visuals helped, though. The tiiiiny font and not exactly a HD-ready TV that I played it one, did not. A summary on TV Tropes cleared up few things for me, though.) And third, by "gorgeous" I mean -wait for it- the battle system. It was fun! :D I haven't played FF12, so I can't say much in terms of comparition, but I've heard once someone comparing it to Xenogears battle system, and, well, there are some few borrowed things there. Of course, due to the aforementioned language difficulties, it took me more time than probably necessary to figure out the finer points of combat, but I'm sure that I've made it through a good chunk of the game/story (most likely, the first half).
Now what I did get in terms of what's going on, is not really all that revolutinary. But come on, it is Final Fantasy -fucking- Thirteen. By now the series is such a staple of world wide popculture, it has to have cliches'n stuff! Also, I'm so old and have seen so much stuff (movies, anime), have played some many games of almost all genres, it is hard to surprise anyone of my age and level of popculture emergence anyway.
But being able to juggle an enemy into the air, blasting through all his defences that way, and keep juggling him with subsequent attacks, is still very, very satisfying (add a "Burn mutherfukka!" for double fun. :D I did and it felt good! XD )
What was also very much to my liking, the music. The cheesy j-pop ballad is cheesy, but all the variations of it are very nice, and kinda catchy. There are also some nice rocky "Serious ass-kicking time!"-tunes. And finally that phantastic chocobo theme.<3
And actually, knowing the old/previous Final Fantasies made XIII definetly a tad more enjoyable, because it is, indeed, a game that took the best of them all. The whole game is full with deja vu or easter eggs, but to me it was in a very nice experience, to recognize or discover them. So, long story short:
I am glad that it won't be released in the West till my paper is submitted! ;D
P.S.:"Hope" is still an abysmal name for a character, and it always inclined me to burst out into some seriously silly puns.
I played Final fantasy XIII.
And it was gorgeous.
Now, first of all, I knew very little of the game, so there were hardly any expectations on my side. Second, my Japanese is still very, very not excellent, so I have a rather fuzzy understanding of what was going on (the visuals helped, though. The tiiiiny font and not exactly a HD-ready TV that I played it one, did not. A summary on TV Tropes cleared up few things for me, though.) And third, by "gorgeous" I mean -wait for it- the battle system. It was fun! :D I haven't played FF12, so I can't say much in terms of comparition, but I've heard once someone comparing it to Xenogears battle system, and, well, there are some few borrowed things there. Of course, due to the aforementioned language difficulties, it took me more time than probably necessary to figure out the finer points of combat, but I'm sure that I've made it through a good chunk of the game/story (most likely, the first half).
Now what I did get in terms of what's going on, is not really all that revolutinary. But come on, it is Final Fantasy -fucking- Thirteen. By now the series is such a staple of world wide popculture, it has to have cliches'n stuff! Also, I'm so old and have seen so much stuff (movies, anime), have played some many games of almost all genres, it is hard to surprise anyone of my age and level of popculture emergence anyway.
But being able to juggle an enemy into the air, blasting through all his defences that way, and keep juggling him with subsequent attacks, is still very, very satisfying (add a "Burn mutherfukka!" for double fun. :D I did and it felt good! XD )
What was also very much to my liking, the music. The cheesy j-pop ballad is cheesy, but all the variations of it are very nice, and kinda catchy. There are also some nice rocky "Serious ass-kicking time!"-tunes. And finally that phantastic chocobo theme.<3
And actually, knowing the old/previous Final Fantasies made XIII definetly a tad more enjoyable, because it is, indeed, a game that took the best of them all. The whole game is full with deja vu or easter eggs, but to me it was in a very nice experience, to recognize or discover them. So, long story short:
I am glad that it won't be released in the West till my paper is submitted! ;D
P.S.:"Hope" is still an abysmal name for a character, and it always inclined me to burst out into some seriously silly puns.