Video Game ramblings (mostly Tales with a bit of .Hack)
HAI GAIZ IMMMA GON RAMBLE BOUT TALES NAO
Seriously, I need to get this off of my chest now because otherwise my pent up excitement will leak into my conversations with everyone else...And I'm sure everyone's sick of my sudden obssession with the Tales of series--especially Tales of the Abyss.
I don't own a PS3. They're hella expensive. But damn it, I will save up for and eventually buy one if PS3!Vesperia is localized. I'd much rather own a PS3 than a 360. More intriguing games on the former, plus a blu-ray player, if memory serves. Plus, PS3!Vesperia, for those who don't know, has a new costumes, a new character, and a less temporary character. 8D Anyway, among the new costumes are the Tales costumes~ Estelle looks so cute with Tear's outfit and haircut...I personally prefer Tear with that look, but that's because Tear is love, as is most of ToA. (Wow. Karma just came on my iTunes playlist. 8D) Aaanyway, I'm a bit surprised that Yuri has Asch's clothes. They dressed MFCs like MFCs, so you'd think the same would be done with the MMCs. Nope. Flynn dresses like Luke instead. And that outfit looks much better on Luke, if you ask me. >>;; Then again, I'm not so sure anyone from Vesperia could pull off that outfit as well--from what I've seen, that is. Yuri included.
Though I'm not complaining. I always liked Asch's costume (though it took me a while to get used to his slicked back hair--now I don't mind it as much, but I personally prefer his hair down...) but I guess the decision was that they didn't want Yuri to look like a seventeen year old...Anyway, then Karol has Lloyd's costume (didn't Colette already get that in PS2!Symphonia?) and Judith has Rutee's clothes. No clue about any other costumes. I'm guessing Patty would get Chat's costume, and...No clue about Rita. I'm still wondering why Flynn is dressed as Luke and not Guy. I mean, he's supposedly Yuri's childhood friend, right? Then wouldn't Guy be the right choice? I guess they realized that the two look too similar as it is. When they leaked the pictures, everyone would have thought Guy was randomly making a cameo. XD Still, Guy has the snappy pirate clothes. And since they look good on Guy, they'd definitely look good on Flynn.
I'm also excited for Tales of VS. Not quite as much as I was for RM2 since I prefer RPGs to fighting games...but I am kind of excited. It sounds like Namdai did give a plot and setting. Plus, it has a fair amount of Abyss characters. 8D And Symphonia. (I swear I'll play some of the other games soon--I started Phantasia and Destiny already, and I've watched some Rebirth footage for Shaorune...may try to obtain the PSP version once I'm a little more fluent in Japanese, since it's probably going to be a little more difficult to understand than was RM2)
Also, for anyone who follows Tales, what do you think of Graces? I used to think the lead male protagonist (Asbel or something) looked kind of cool, but then someone pointed out that he looked a bit like an Elvis impersonator. Now I can't take him very seriously. Also, he already has a harem...In fact, as much as I like .Hack, Asbel/Graces is reminding me a lot of Haseo/.Hack//GU. What with the power to protect people (not that such a concept is unique to .Hack//) and a protagonist with a flat out harem of women/girls following him around. Okay, Luke had the same thing at the start of Abyss, but Anise just wanted his money, Natalia didn't seem to have one specific interest--but did show a lot of affection toward Asch, and Tear was being responsible at first...Then she fell in love with him (and vice-versa, I'd think) after the magical haircult of changes. Still, while I am looking forward to a Tales of game for the Wii (DotNW was alright, but vastly inferior to it's prequel, even with the Pokemon-esque monster raising aspect) I'm not quite yet getting hyped up about Graces. Part of this might be the limited information--I mean, they have given very light introductions of the characters, so they're bound to seem a bit one-dimensional at first, since they each received a few sentences of descriptions that revealed no spoilers. Anyway, I like most of the costumes so far...Well, I'm not a huge fan of Sophie's outfit,and I'm still kind of wondering if Cheria's going to become the obligatory fanservice. I think she's a maid (well, it say's she's the daughter of Asbel's butler), plus she has a miniskirt. I hope this doesn't turn into a "What will you have me do, Lord Asbel" sort of male fantasy. >>;; I don't care about minute amounts of fanservice, but I get a bit annoyed with blatant and excessive shots. For example, in Code Geass, when Lulu and CC were talking about something serious, and then there was this close-up of CC's ass, I had a hard time taking the scene seriously. Same thing with a scene in RM2--Chloe was probably showing some sort of interesting character development, but the game designers decided to show off her skin-tight outfit. Thinking, "Really, now?" turns serious scenes into comedy for me...and not that I mind laughing, but still. >>;;
Anyway, tangent. So, I have mixed feelings about Graces. I have a feeling that I'd really like it once I got to play it, and since it might have already shown up in overseas game publications, I think its chances of localization are decent. So I'll give it a try if/when it's available here.
Holy crap, I was just rereading my two Abyss doujinshi anthologies, and I remembered how much I love them. There's a great deal of hilarity, plus Luke/Tear goodness. Of course, it's general, so it's all fluff, but I prefer fluff with that couple anyway. I mean, Luke is adorkable, and Tear has a soft spot for cute things, so they're perfect together! 8DD Anyway, there's this one chapter in which the two are in a haunted house. Basically, all of their friends decide to be assholes and scare them. There's also one in which Tear gets very jealous of Luke's obsession with Van. Then on a non-Tear/Luke note, there's a short in which Mieu wards off Asch with his cute looks. (As in, Asch backs off a little, blushing and muttering 'Kawaii...' before leaving in a hurry.) I kind of want to scan them and share them, but that would require ruining the binding on them, which I really don't want to do. Besides, those anthologies are fairly popular (and common?) so I wouldn't be that surprised if someone already scanlated them. There's also Luke crossdressing in an attempt to escape the manor. Oh, and the one where Tear and Luke knock Asch unconscious and smuggle him into the manor...It ends with some nice Asch/Nat dialogue.
Oh, and on a non-"Tales of" note, there's another .Hack game coming out, but this time, it's for PSP. It's going to feature a lot of the old characters, which makes me think that it's going to be like the ToW series...but this sounds like it's supposed to be a mothership title, not a spin-off/fangame. But Haseo, Ovan, Tsukasa, and a few other interesting characters are supposed to be in it. Plus, I've always loved .Hack...It's probably the fandom I've stuck with the longest. While I'm not hooked at every given moment, I've been following the series since the first quadrilogy back around...2003, I think. Anyway, I heard this might be the last game, so I'll have to pick it up...The .Hack// has a decent niche overseas too--or at least, it's name is fairly well known within the anime community, so I'd think it would have a decent chance of localization. However, it is for PSP, so I don't have to worry about whether or not it will be released over here. Still, I'm not excited that the main protagonist is a ghost from my childhood--He looks like Taichi from Digimon. D: I didn't like that kid very much at all when I was in elementary school, and I have a feeling I'll like his clone (REPLICAAAAAAAAAA) even less now. As much as I like aviator goggles on some anime/game characters, I do not approve of poofy-haired brunettes wearing them, especially if they're going to be cheesy protagonists. >>;; Yeah, it's harsh not to give him a chance first, especially since I'll probably obtain a copy of the game at some point, but I'm mostly doing it for Haseo, Atoli, Ovan, Tsukasa, and Subaru. I'm really worried that this game might kill my love for .Hack// since it doesn't impress me as of yet--then again, I wasn't that impressed by GU, and I ended up loving it more than IMOQ. Still, the choice of handheld over console, especially given how .Hack// has always been for PS2 (probably can't do that anymore, what with the PS3...unfortunately) which is a console, seems odd, like they downsized the project. I mean, when you think about it, PSP tends to have ports and spin-offs. (I still like PSP and so far am glad that I picked it over DS, mind you) It just seems like not even Namdai is expecting as much from it. Plus, it looks more like a fangame, hence the comparison to the ToW spin-offs. Well, hopefully it will be as successful as was RM2, which was a top seller in Japan for a while after it came out. I've always loved the plots of the .Hack// games, even if the dungeons were sometimes a bit redundant, so I'm hoping this one doesn't fall short of its predecessors.
Okay, I'm done now. 8D This is a bit of a wasteful post--maybe I should join a video game forum, but I really don't want to be yelled at by elitists, so I tend to avoid those sites. >>;;
Seriously, I need to get this off of my chest now because otherwise my pent up excitement will leak into my conversations with everyone else...And I'm sure everyone's sick of my sudden obssession with the Tales of series--especially Tales of the Abyss.
I don't own a PS3. They're hella expensive. But damn it, I will save up for and eventually buy one if PS3!Vesperia is localized. I'd much rather own a PS3 than a 360. More intriguing games on the former, plus a blu-ray player, if memory serves. Plus, PS3!Vesperia, for those who don't know, has a new costumes, a new character, and a less temporary character. 8D Anyway, among the new costumes are the Tales costumes~ Estelle looks so cute with Tear's outfit and haircut...I personally prefer Tear with that look, but that's because Tear is love, as is most of ToA. (Wow. Karma just came on my iTunes playlist. 8D) Aaanyway, I'm a bit surprised that Yuri has Asch's clothes. They dressed MFCs like MFCs, so you'd think the same would be done with the MMCs. Nope. Flynn dresses like Luke instead. And that outfit looks much better on Luke, if you ask me. >>;; Then again, I'm not so sure anyone from Vesperia could pull off that outfit as well--from what I've seen, that is. Yuri included.
Though I'm not complaining. I always liked Asch's costume (though it took me a while to get used to his slicked back hair--now I don't mind it as much, but I personally prefer his hair down...) but I guess the decision was that they didn't want Yuri to look like a seventeen year old...Anyway, then Karol has Lloyd's costume (didn't Colette already get that in PS2!Symphonia?) and Judith has Rutee's clothes. No clue about any other costumes. I'm guessing Patty would get Chat's costume, and...No clue about Rita. I'm still wondering why Flynn is dressed as Luke and not Guy. I mean, he's supposedly Yuri's childhood friend, right? Then wouldn't Guy be the right choice? I guess they realized that the two look too similar as it is. When they leaked the pictures, everyone would have thought Guy was randomly making a cameo. XD Still, Guy has the snappy pirate clothes. And since they look good on Guy, they'd definitely look good on Flynn.
I'm also excited for Tales of VS. Not quite as much as I was for RM2 since I prefer RPGs to fighting games...but I am kind of excited. It sounds like Namdai did give a plot and setting. Plus, it has a fair amount of Abyss characters. 8D And Symphonia. (I swear I'll play some of the other games soon--I started Phantasia and Destiny already, and I've watched some Rebirth footage for Shaorune...may try to obtain the PSP version once I'm a little more fluent in Japanese, since it's probably going to be a little more difficult to understand than was RM2)
Also, for anyone who follows Tales, what do you think of Graces? I used to think the lead male protagonist (Asbel or something) looked kind of cool, but then someone pointed out that he looked a bit like an Elvis impersonator. Now I can't take him very seriously. Also, he already has a harem...In fact, as much as I like .Hack, Asbel/Graces is reminding me a lot of Haseo/.Hack//GU. What with the power to protect people (not that such a concept is unique to .Hack//) and a protagonist with a flat out harem of women/girls following him around. Okay, Luke had the same thing at the start of Abyss, but Anise just wanted his money, Natalia didn't seem to have one specific interest--but did show a lot of affection toward Asch, and Tear was being responsible at first...Then she fell in love with him (and vice-versa, I'd think) after the magical haircult of changes. Still, while I am looking forward to a Tales of game for the Wii (DotNW was alright, but vastly inferior to it's prequel, even with the Pokemon-esque monster raising aspect) I'm not quite yet getting hyped up about Graces. Part of this might be the limited information--I mean, they have given very light introductions of the characters, so they're bound to seem a bit one-dimensional at first, since they each received a few sentences of descriptions that revealed no spoilers. Anyway, I like most of the costumes so far...Well, I'm not a huge fan of Sophie's outfit,and I'm still kind of wondering if Cheria's going to become the obligatory fanservice. I think she's a maid (well, it say's she's the daughter of Asbel's butler), plus she has a miniskirt. I hope this doesn't turn into a "What will you have me do, Lord Asbel" sort of male fantasy. >>;; I don't care about minute amounts of fanservice, but I get a bit annoyed with blatant and excessive shots. For example, in Code Geass, when Lulu and CC were talking about something serious, and then there was this close-up of CC's ass, I had a hard time taking the scene seriously. Same thing with a scene in RM2--Chloe was probably showing some sort of interesting character development, but the game designers decided to show off her skin-tight outfit. Thinking, "Really, now?" turns serious scenes into comedy for me...and not that I mind laughing, but still. >>;;
Anyway, tangent. So, I have mixed feelings about Graces. I have a feeling that I'd really like it once I got to play it, and since it might have already shown up in overseas game publications, I think its chances of localization are decent. So I'll give it a try if/when it's available here.
Holy crap, I was just rereading my two Abyss doujinshi anthologies, and I remembered how much I love them. There's a great deal of hilarity, plus Luke/Tear goodness. Of course, it's general, so it's all fluff, but I prefer fluff with that couple anyway. I mean, Luke is adorkable, and Tear has a soft spot for cute things, so they're perfect together! 8DD Anyway, there's this one chapter in which the two are in a haunted house. Basically, all of their friends decide to be assholes and scare them. There's also one in which Tear gets very jealous of Luke's obsession with Van. Then on a non-Tear/Luke note, there's a short in which Mieu wards off Asch with his cute looks. (As in, Asch backs off a little, blushing and muttering 'Kawaii...' before leaving in a hurry.) I kind of want to scan them and share them, but that would require ruining the binding on them, which I really don't want to do. Besides, those anthologies are fairly popular (and common?) so I wouldn't be that surprised if someone already scanlated them. There's also Luke crossdressing in an attempt to escape the manor. Oh, and the one where Tear and Luke knock Asch unconscious and smuggle him into the manor...It ends with some nice Asch/Nat dialogue.
Oh, and on a non-"Tales of" note, there's another .Hack game coming out, but this time, it's for PSP. It's going to feature a lot of the old characters, which makes me think that it's going to be like the ToW series...but this sounds like it's supposed to be a mothership title, not a spin-off/fangame. But Haseo, Ovan, Tsukasa, and a few other interesting characters are supposed to be in it. Plus, I've always loved .Hack...It's probably the fandom I've stuck with the longest. While I'm not hooked at every given moment, I've been following the series since the first quadrilogy back around...2003, I think. Anyway, I heard this might be the last game, so I'll have to pick it up...The .Hack// has a decent niche overseas too--or at least, it's name is fairly well known within the anime community, so I'd think it would have a decent chance of localization. However, it is for PSP, so I don't have to worry about whether or not it will be released over here. Still, I'm not excited that the main protagonist is a ghost from my childhood--He looks like Taichi from Digimon. D: I didn't like that kid very much at all when I was in elementary school, and I have a feeling I'll like his clone (REPLICAAAAAAAAAA) even less now. As much as I like aviator goggles on some anime/game characters, I do not approve of poofy-haired brunettes wearing them, especially if they're going to be cheesy protagonists. >>;; Yeah, it's harsh not to give him a chance first, especially since I'll probably obtain a copy of the game at some point, but I'm mostly doing it for Haseo, Atoli, Ovan, Tsukasa, and Subaru. I'm really worried that this game might kill my love for .Hack// since it doesn't impress me as of yet--then again, I wasn't that impressed by GU, and I ended up loving it more than IMOQ. Still, the choice of handheld over console, especially given how .Hack// has always been for PS2 (probably can't do that anymore, what with the PS3...unfortunately) which is a console, seems odd, like they downsized the project. I mean, when you think about it, PSP tends to have ports and spin-offs. (I still like PSP and so far am glad that I picked it over DS, mind you) It just seems like not even Namdai is expecting as much from it. Plus, it looks more like a fangame, hence the comparison to the ToW spin-offs. Well, hopefully it will be as successful as was RM2, which was a top seller in Japan for a while after it came out. I've always loved the plots of the .Hack// games, even if the dungeons were sometimes a bit redundant, so I'm hoping this one doesn't fall short of its predecessors.
Okay, I'm done now. 8D This is a bit of a wasteful post--maybe I should join a video game forum, but I really don't want to be yelled at by elitists, so I tend to avoid those sites. >>;;