Rather than neon lights, this is the sort of thing that usually comes to mind first when thinking of Japan.

I'm not really sure why. I must have seen some cherry blossoms in something that really left an impression on me. Must be really neat to see them in full bloom in person.

I bought SwapMagic just so that I could play the English patched IZJS on my actual PlayStation 2.
_
I hope they do an HD version of Final Fantasy XII IZJS for PlayStation 3 and Vita, like they're doing with Final Fantasy X (which I also hope ends up being the International version, since North America never got that).

#speakup

Draw and paint on occasion, but I'm not very good at all. I've been trying my hand at digital arts with a graphics tablet, but progress was slow and I think I'll leave that for a bit to brush up my skills with traditional media.
_
My deviantArt page, some things being slightly less awful than the others. #speakup
I don't like wonky camera controls, but I do like the defenseless part. Regardless of how hard they try to add in horror elements, carrying an entire army's worth of firepower goes a long way in destroying the tense atmosphere.
_
Why should I be worried about anything they throw at me when I can simply hold down the right trigger for as long as it takes to dispatch the threat?
Wellp, Final Fantasy II is no longer my least favorite game in the series (X-2, XIII and XIII-2 now battle for that title). The 20th Anniversary PSP version (and presumably Dawn of Souls on GBA) have ironed out pretty much every issue I had with the game's North American debut in Final Fantasy Origins.

Character stats seem to level at a really nice pace, making the whole "level what you use" mechanic enjoyable rather than feeling like a massive downgrade from traditional EXP-based character levels.

Really glad I decided to give the game another shot. Where I'll rank it overall remains to be seen, but right now it's probably 10th or 11th.

#speakup
#doeshetalk
#aboutanything
#besidesFinalFantasy

Resonance of Fate's combat depended largely on how you approached fights, but there were a ton of challenging battles even with the right strategy. Heck, halfway through the game my first time I hit a wall where normal enemies on the world map were just destroying me. I eventually resorted to downloading a save game file online and restarting via New Game Plus with level 300 characters and all the best equipment just to get through for the story.

I went back and beat it the right way after I had a better grasp of the combat, but that game was brutal at times.

#speakup

I think they look spiffy. Well, some of them. I'd like to think I'm not a hipster, and I'm certainly no hooligan.

I also wouldn't wear one because I couldn't pull it off, so I suppose it doesn't really matter!

Ah, 2005. Despite playing/owning a ton of games on pretty much every major system up to that point, I'd just begun paying serious attention to gaming news and the industry itself. I was naive, looking forward to the PlayStation 3 repeating the success of its predecessor and ushering in yet another era of wonderful JRPGs, action games and so on.

Now I'm a slightly jaded geezer trapped in a 22-year-old's body, talking about the good old days as I watch the companies and genres I love fade from the mainstream's minds, deemed irrelevant.

If anyone needs me, I'll be crying in the corner.

Mentioning anything Ghost Rider related is not the way to get me interested in your film.

Then again, he didn't work on the first and I have no clue how Spirit of Vengeance will turn out.

It's sad that Wii games look WAY better under emulation than they ever did on the console they were made for.
_
That will be the case for any system we're able to emulate. PSone, PS2, Wii, etc. at higher native resolutions and running some AA. Heck, just look at the PC versions of pretty much any multiplatform game to get an idea of how "bad" console games look at 720p with low-res textures and little to no AA/AF.
We must have very different definitions of "awful" and "god awful".

It looked just fine on Wii (really, it looks no different than I'd expect from a Tales game on Wii) and while it's certainly not the nicest looking PlayStation 3 game, it's not exactly hard on the eyes either.

A new trailer for The Last Story showing off some character customization and combat.

#tips
#speakup

I followed and enjoyed Final Fantasy XI's story; the original game and all of its expansions that I was around to see. It was actually pretty good.

Star Wars Galaxies, not so much. There really wasn't much in the way of story, though I did pay attention to what little the theme parks offered.

#speakup

I just get a very good feeling whenever I think of Final Fantasy XV. Story aside, XIII-2 shows that they at least acknowledged fans' complaints and Versus XIII shows a tremendous amount of promise, being designed from the onset with pretty much everything that people wanted from XIII in mind.

If the rumors about XII's team handling XV are true then I'm all the more hopeful. The franchise has certainly seen much, much better days, but I don't think there are any hurdles that can't be overcome on the path to restoring faith in the series.

#speakup

Technically only need three right now, and if they can get HDmakes of Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II and Birth by Sleep on PlayStation 3 and/or Vita, could knock that down to two! :P #speakup
My brother's girlfriend got me a Spider-Man chocolate once. I was faced with the very difficult decision to either eat this work of art or collect a piece of candy.

The latter seemed kind of strange even for me, so I ate it. I felt kinda bad afterward.

An exciting new Kingdom Hearts 3D trailer!

Argh, the time between now and its TBA North American release will be unbearable.

#tips
#speakup

Love it. I've never been one to try this sort of stuff myself, but I can lose hours to watching others' efforts.

Now I'm in the mood for some GameCenter CX.

Sort of off-topic: I just realized you're writing for Kotaku now, Richard! Not sure how I missed that in the Kotaku East announcement. Really enjoyed your YouTube videos (The Last Story review making the two week wait all the more painful).

Nice review, looking forward to your future articles.

The Gamer's Guide
More Stories…