Crisis Core: FFVII on April 11th

I haven’t played Crisis Core since March 5th, so it was about time to get back to it. In a nutshell, I moved a little further in the story but didn’t finish the game. I left off at Gongaga. Of course I know I am pretty close to the end.

-----SPOILERS, PROBABLY…-------

Zack reached the end of the Nibel Plains. I stopped at a save point and a night of a full moon. Cissnei found Zack and realized he was one of the lost samples. Zack got away, but after returning to Cloud, Cissnei found him again and learned that Cloud is the other sample. I can tell she has really mixed feelings about this. She calls Tseng and says “I lost the target.” I have to say that I liked the way that Zack had his sword ready in front of him and then he lowers it ever so slowly when Cissnei lies. It reflects his surprise in Cissnei’s mercy. I wouldn’t call it a change of heart on Cissnei’s end, though. She wants to do a good job as a Turk, but she used to be friends with Zack in the past.  This gives her a conflict of the heart.

Zack uses a motorbike from Shinra to travel the road. Cloud is in the side cart, like he has a choice in the matter. Awww. Anyway, the red guy…er, Genesis, just has to come back and recite more of that epic poem LOVELESS, and one of the two guys that hold Zack by the arms pull some of his hair out and eats it.

“He…he just ate my hair!”  Hmmm, I wonder what Zack's hair would taste like?  Hair gel...? 0.o

So then Zack has to fight that guy because the hair that he ate transformed him to some kind of mechanical monster. I think. Cissnei in the DMW helped out a lot, since each attack was a critical hit. The battle wasn’t even that hard, considering Zack’s level 42. That boss had 63,000+ hit points.

Zack still thinks about Angeal, that there is a possibility that he is still around. Some time ago before the Nibelheim mission, there was a monster with Angeal’s face that appeared in Aeris Aerith’s church, but he wasn’t a threat. Zack still has faith that Angeal is out there somewhere. “Angeal, where are you? What should I do? Tell me…”

They continue on the road and stop at Gongaga. Before going in I made sure Zack checked those treasure chests that were near the abandoned Mako Reactor. Those treasure chests were trapped behinds gates or barrels, but there was a lone guy standing near them that told Zack he can probably use his sword of his to cut those down. So that’s what Zack did (I mean...that's what I made Zack do, hee hee). Two of those chests, however, were shaking, and out came one Griffin each. One of those Griffins provided Zack with an Osmoga material, which I had Zack equip immediately ^,^. This is why I make it a habit to explore an area thoroughly before moving on.  I love the Osmose materia because rather than using ethers, I can steal MP from a monster or person so that I can keep using Thundaga, my most powerful materia right now.

I looked at the map and there was no save point too close to where Zack was located.  I realized I wasn’t ready to finish the game yet because there is more that will happen first.  Jeez, is it gonna be Zack's whole escape chapter I'll play through?  Huh...anyway there was a next zone symbol on the map, so I followed it after I finished exploring.  Then Zack got email form Kunsel.  He was warning Zack that infantrymen were sent to find him. “Make sure you make it back alive, buddy. Promise me.” Ohhh, Zack can make that promise but I know he won’t---can’t---keep it. It’s so cool that Kunsel still wants to maintain their friendship. Kunsel is on Zack’s side.

I found a save point in Gongaga Outskirts. I played a little after that, but I’ll tell more about that later, maybe on the next Crisis Core post. I decided to just save on another file and then play some side missions.  Blechh, I even played the side mission "Experiment 107", in which the opponent was Sephiroth.  Damn that Heartless Angel attack; I never planned to use up my Phoenix Down on one side mission!   Those life-savers are meant for the story-mode missions.  Stupid Sephiroth...

@,@

MEGA MAN X…Where the Hell is Sigma?!!!!!!

Warning…another long post.

I started playing Mega Man X at 8pm Friday.  The first thing to do was to take out the Armor Armadillo (this was before I realized I can replay the levels without having to defeat the bosses again, having acquired their weapon powers ;] ) I also hoped to find Sigma (second thing) and destroy him, and begin MMX2 (third thing).  Ah heh heh.  Well, I did the first thing, but not the second thing and the third thing. Details below.

So the level wasn’t really difficult, and the song was one of my favorites in the game so far, aside from Zero’s theme growing on me.  I defeated Armor Armadillo me using the Electric Spark first and then the, um, ice weapon. I lost a life and used up the Sub Tank in the process, but I got through it.

Zero: “Finally, we found Sigma’s Fortress! Let’s go and put an end to his war against humans.”

Me: “They’re both blinking! At different times! :3” And then the game takes me to the level-select screen and it shows Sigma. I said, “So that’s what Sigma looks like here? Yikes.”

Zero: “Let’s split up.”

Me: “Nooo, don’t split up, go togetherrrrr!!” (But I knew he had the right idea.)

The level was frustrating at first; there are these moving platforms that X has to jump on and up higher to the next one to go where he needs to, and then these flying enemies keep getting in his way.  I learned on my own that the fire weapon gets those guys the fastest.  Soon I reach where I’d think is the boss, and the Boba-Fett Guy appears.  (I do NOT know his name, so for the time being, I am going to call him Bobafett-Guy because that is who he looks like.)  Then Zero comes in too!! “Stay back X ,” he says. “I’ll take him on!” Yayyy, Zero helps out X again!!!!  Zero and Bobafett Guy go to the next room.  There is nothing else to do around here so I move on.  As X advances on, he (and we) hear Zero’s charge shot and another attack sound.  And then nothing.  Not even music.

“Huh?....There was fighting…The music stopped. I’m scared….!” Sis says, “Me too!” Then we shout NOOOOO because Bobafett Guy has Zero in captivity, immobilized.

Bobafett Guy: “X, do what I tell you or he’s history.”

Zero: “Don’t listen to him, X, just blast him.”

Bobafett Guy line paraphrased: “My armored carrier is more powerful than your ancient weapon.”

Me: “Is that so, you booger?!”  Maybe I was supposed to save my energy thing…

Zero jumps on Bobafett Guy’s armored carrier and charges a point-blank blast…..and that’s when he first becomes Zero the Martyr…>.<  I kinda knew it was gonna happen based on some research I did before buying the series.

I fought the Bobafett Guy with the newly acquired Rolling Shield attack, which was the strongest power against him.  After that, my sister and I have both tried to get passed this level so many times, losing extra lives and weapon energy.  Unhappy thumbs :( .  And when we thought that we’d reach Sigma for sure, it was Boomer Kuwanger who made the appearance instead.  Do you mean to tell me that I HAVE TO FIGHT ALL THE BOSSES AGAIN????

I hope not.  They had better give me extra weapon energy, then.

Crisis Core on Jan. 30th-31st, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the post "Crisis Core on January 30th-31st."  ^,^ <3
    

The second part of the battle against Sephiroth is about to begin. The screen says "If you are driven to the edge, the game is over."

• "The fight with Sephiroth is not quite finished, so I'll see how it goes.  Oh, and 'One-Winged Angel' is playing, too."
• "31,000 HP now!!"
• "Ha ha, you didn't get me!.....How did my DMW go back to normal??"
• "At least he doesn't have to get behind me anymore.......Take that!.......Nooo!... He was getting me with the 'Angel' attack again."
• "Oh, I...I see what's happening!  I have to finish him before he knocks me off the edge.....[gasp!]  NO YOU DON'T, NO YOU DON'T!!" (Sephiroth does his Octoslash attack, and then Zack falls back to the floor).  "Aw that didn't hurt me much."
• "[gasp] NOO! (Must've been his Heartless Angel spell again  ):< ........Tseng, please help me out here!  (Then Blizzaga levels up.)
• (Watches the scene--------Tseng: "Is this the end?"  Zack: "I'm trying, I'm trying!!"  And then I say "I'm really trying heah!"   Tseng attacks Sephiroth and then I say "Yeah, like Sephiroth is in the middle of a desert!"
• (Another Heartless Angel attack) NOOOOoooo! (At least the Cura spell works) "That f***ing saved my life."
• "Oh no, please!........IdontthinkImgonnamakethis........I don't think I'm gonna make this round...Oh no, I did NOT make it."  Zack screams as he falls to his death, and I said "NOOOooo."
• Sephroth is like "I did what I had to do" (and then he walks the same way that he does in the fire)
• In a sad voice: "Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII.  It doesn't say Game Over, it just says the title.  I think I have to fight from the beginning of Sephiroth's battle!"  [fake sob]
• "That look that Sephiroth gives Zack before this second part of the fight says: 'I'm going to enjoy this.'"

So, all of that (plus the ones in Part 1) was what I recorded with my voice recorder.  I'm glad I did, because I said some things I never would have remembered during the gameplay without recording my exclamations. :3

     I did have to replay the Sephiroth battle.  But I did so differently; I unequipped the Blizzaga and the Poison Twist materia, and replaced them with the very powerful Thundaga and Vital Slash materia.  Those helped a bunch...they took a whopping 2000 HP or so out of Sephiroth each use.  And Osmose materia saves Ethers. Yeah!

     So, to summarize the rest of the session, I got passed the part where it was Cloud who finished off Sephiroth, and now, after five years had passed, Zack is helping Cloud escape with him from the Shinra Lab and on their way out of the Shinra Manor, where the save point is on the lower floor.  Zack clears the way before he goes back to Cloud and helps him walk.  Poor Cloud  :( 

      I went crazy when an unconscious Cloud fell into Zack's arms in the Shinra Lab.  I screamed, and I squealed, and the sweater I was wearing was very unnecessary ^,^;;  Zack freed Cloud from the glass pod, and after he caught him he said Cloud's name.  It was like a reunion with an embrace.  I liked that.  It was a touching and bittersweet moment. They are so darling... :3  <3

     Zack is now level 41, up from 40.  After all that fighting, scene-watching and fan-fiction-inducing visuals, I wanted to play just a couple more Easy side missions.  So I did "Fun in the Sun: Vacation Time" and "Mysteries of the World: Kactuar?"

     There are still munnies, leveling up and items to pick up.  I believe there still might be some gameplay involving Zack and Cloud's escape from Hojo and Nibelheim.  Come to think of it, Nibelheim is some ways far from Midgar.  At least I'm closer to finishing the game, but I am closer to crying too.  I have a new poster on my bedroom door (I bought it at Anime Los Angeles 6 con) that has Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud ( :3 ) and now that I have it, well...I hope it won't be too painful to look at after I do finish the game.  Cloud looks sooo saaaad  3:  He needs kisses...

Next for PSP is either Sonic Rivals 2 or Dissidia FF (for Tuesday Feb. 2).  Gosh, I really need to return to my console games, like Jak and Daxter The Lost Frontier and Sonic Unleashed.......and don't forget, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams!

@,@

Crisis Core: FFVII on Jan. 30th-31st...Part 1

After another 2 weeks, I returned to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.  This time though, I finally resumed the story.  Back in December I left off at the point where Zack is running to the Nibelheim Reactor to get to Sephiroth.  He had burned down the town, and Zack is mad.  That time, the battery power was low and within the half hour I was able to find a save point and stop the game.

     So,  my PSP's battery was fully charged last night. I wanted to play at 10pm, but my calico cat Kallie wanted my lap.  I call it her "Kallie Time."  I was nice to her and switched my PSP to sleep mode to give her my lap.  While on my lap, she burped. It was the first time I heard a cat burp.  And no excuse me, LOL.

     Anyway, finally at 10:30pm I warmed up with a couple of Easy side missions for Zack.  Didn't level up, but it's okay.  Then I went into the Nibelheim Reactor, and Zack found Tifa, and then went into the Jenova room.  Gosh, I've never seen Sephiroth so happy before...or is the word "nutty?"  The expression on his face was so unlike him...he never smiled like that ever, not earlier in the game, not in FFVII: AC either.  So it was just weird.

     "Mummyyyyyyyyyy," Sephiroth must be thinking o.0

     So at around 11pm, Zack had to fight against Sephiroth.  Sephiroth had over 46,000 HP for this one battle, and 9,999 MP, it's too much!  I could tell it was going to be an interesting battle, so I recorded myself playing it the first time around.  I was equipped with Blizzaga, Cura, Barrier, Libra, Osmose, and Poison Twist materia.  So here are a lot of my exclamations; they can get funny:

• "You get Blizzaga too!" (Sephiroth hit me with the spell, so I give him one back.)
• "What do those crystals (gems) do anyway?  I think they're like tokens (like in Yu-Gi-Oh!) and act as a shield."
• "No you don't!  Ow.  I didn't guard myself agsinst his Cross Slash.  Guard!  Good boy."
• "Ha ha!  Null physical, there ya go!  Poison Twister attack!!"
• "Whoa!  How did he get behind me? ... He turned around again!  He's gettin' desperate..."
• "None of the slot things (the DMW) has helped me yet.......Owwwwwah! (Zack got hit)"
• "Oh, look who it is, it's Sephiroth on the Deeeeeee, MW....Ah, it's my turn to do the Octoslash.  Taste of your own medicine, buddy!"
• "Nooo!  Now it's Sephiroth's turn to do the Octoslash! .........He's all like floating o.0..."
• "I can't even get behind him!  What is he doing... OOOOOOoooooahh (long gasp), I have only one hit point left, whatever he did!"
• "Sephiroth again, DMW...[laughs after watching the memory of Zack with Sephorith, "Your opponent was too weak.  Try another."
• "No, the Heartless Angel!  That's what he did!! It's the Heartless Angel that took Zack's HP down to 1 (from +4300HP ; Cura saves my ass so many times), so that he can have the pleasure of finishing me off physically (in other, more appropriate words, finish me with a physical attack)."
• "Cissnei, go go go go!  Yay!  Lucky Stars Lv. 1, That's good enough for me!........Critical hits the rest of the battle!"
• "I can kinda tell when he's going to attack.  Just like that, when he like kinda...okay like DUCK, or something!......RUUUUUUUNNah!"
• Aww, puppy Zack (DMW memory trigger).....And Genesis saves the day!"  (As Zack does his Apocolypse limit attack, I say, "Take that, Sephiroth!  You and your shampooed hair are done!"

So I (uh, Zack ^,^;;) won the battle against Sephiroth.  However, that wasn't all of it.  It continued into another separate battle, in which Mr. SilverHair had 31,000 more HP.

     I had to divide this post into two parts.   So this is part 1.

Part 2 is next...

@.@

Crisis Core on Dec. 18th, continued =P

Sorry for the delay, so here it is, Part 2 of Crisis Core on Dec. 18th.

On this post I wanted to focus more on Zack Fair and Cloud Strife.
I reached the part in the game when Zack watched the injured Cloud sleep in the inn.  When Cloud woke up, they had a conversation, and it was so fun to watch!!  Squeeeeeeeeeeeaaalll!  But it was a very important scene.  In fact I fear that it is one of the last conversations Cloud has with Zack before the next major event on the fateful day in Nibelheim.

    Zack watches Cloud sleep in the inn because he's a comrade and he cares about him.  I don't know who else, besides Kunsel and the other guys at SOLDIER, that Zack knows and became close buddies with, but with Cloud, it's a really special relationship.  Some time ago, Cloud e-mailed to Zack about how the SOLDIER Honor pep talk gave him courage.    Both guys are "country boys", as they found out about each other back in the Modeoheim mission.  In fact it was when they both revealed to each other that they were country boys that their buddy bond started.  Nyawww, so cute!  So it's no wonder that they have a kinship.  One even thinks the other's hometown's name sounds funny.  Zack is from Gongaga.  Cloud is from Nibelheim.  Ha ha haha.  Funnnnyyy.
    Players of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII who have played the orignal FFVII know that the Buster Sword will belong to Cloud.  We've always known that Cloud is the one with the Buster Sword, but Zack has it in Crisis Core, and even before Zack, Angeal carried the sword first.  So, again  that is the trinity of men who hold the iconic Buster Sword.
    SPOILERS, probably... Zack gives advice to Cloud in the Nibelheim Inn scene.  "SOLDIER is a den of monsters.  Don't go in there."  Zack says this because he wants to protect Cloud.  He doesn't want him to be caught up in the web that is Shin-Ra and SOLDIER.  Zack learned from his experience in SOLDIER that it's not all it's cracked up to be.  He says, "I'm in SOLDIER, so fightings all I do." But then he starts going into how the whole system of it is corrupted.  It is as if the members of SOLDIER are tools, or muscle hired to do whatever Shin-Ra tells them to do.  He can't get all the answers from that guys at the top.  There are secrets being kept that Zack is frustrated about not knowing, like "who is the enemy," he says.  I am guessing that one thing he might be talking about is Angeal, about which side he was on even if he was a "monster" of a sort.  Angeal's mysteries and reasons for being in SOLDIER still confuse Zack, and he tries to calm himself down and he does that thing that Angeal did with putting his forehead to the Buster Sword.  Nyawww!
     Cloud tells Zack that he never saw him use that sword, and it takes me back to when Angeal was talking about the sword when he possessed it.   I knew that Zack said the same thing to Angeal, so it was absolutely reminiscent of that when Cloud said it too.  A funny line from Angeal: "Your a little more important than my sword.  But, just a little."  And then later Zack told the other members to "always protect their SOLDIER Honor."  He was passing on advice from his personal mentor onto Cloud and the other soldiers.
     So Zack remembered that and felt renewed.  It is as if Cloud helped Zack believe in SOLDIER Honor again...
     [Sigh] I don't want to play past those wonderful moments, but I have to.   -___-

Crisis Core again, back in Dec.18th

 

This post is waaaaay overdue.  Sorta.

Friday night December 18th (and into Saturday morning ^.^;;) I played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII again because I had to. I shouldn't be afraid anymore to getting closer to finishing the game. I might finish the original FFVII before I finish this one, although that is not necessary.

     To sum it up, I finished finding a couple more of the Seven Wonders of Nibelheim, and then I played into the part when Genesis talks to Sephiroth about the Jenova Projects.  My details are below.  Enjoy!!

     I was still stuck on finding out if the girl in the painting was really walking around.  I made another futile search around Nibelheim and found some more gil, killed some more monsters, and stole some yummy items Zack can use...and I think I got another Thunder materia.  I have a few of those, I can sell this one.  I almost gave up on this little side adventure, when I returned to the inn checking the painting again over and over.  The girl is there, the girl is missing, the girl is there.  I went down stairs.  All of the sudden the male clerk at the inn started making his way up the stairs.  I had Zack approach him, and he says something like "Oh, you scared me!  Well, uh...your room is ready, you are welcome to use it."

     Huh.  I wonder what's up with him.   What could he be doing upstairs?

     Later after catching him going upstairs again, I thought about something.  I should wait until he goes into the room himself and see what happens.  So when he walks up the stairs again, I follow him and stay a little farther behind than usual.  The clerk goes into the room.  Of course, Sephiroth is oblivious, staring out the window and brooding, nostalgic ( I remember Sephiroth looking out the window in the original game, so I know where this will lead soon).  After the man enters the room, Zack runs after him and catches him  lifting the painting and reaching his hand into the wall-safe.  The clerk explains that he has a "nest egg"  he keeps hidden from his wife.  He uses the money for gambling and the painting changes depending on his money situation.  If there's money in there, the girl is in the painting.  If it's the opposite, the painting is flipped to the side without the girl.  For finding this out, Zack gets 2,000 gil!!!  Yay!!!!

     The third Wonder was already found: one of those Gold Bombs or something, I might be wrong.  And then the boy told Zack about the fourth wonder, the "Laughing Safe" ( in the Shinra Manor)....ehhh.  Besides the one piece of paper Zack found that had one clue for each digit of the

     So I gave up on that Wonder and went to the save point in the inn, saved my game (since I fought more monsters and got more gil) and went right to Sephiroth.  So yes: Sephiroth says that the "landscape seems so familiar" to him.  In the following scenes, I learn more about Sephiroth because before he became the villain of FFVII, he had his own human emotions.   After he wonders what these monsters are doing in the mako reactor, he wonders if this was also how he was created.  Just watching him look at his hands, as if trying to reassure himself those are human hands, was so interesting to observe.  He asks himself : "Am I a human being?"  Those are the moments when he struggles with his own identity.

     Sephiroth always believed that Jenova was his mother, a human mother.  Well, I don't remember Genesis being in the original game, but in Crisis Core he reveals to Sephiroth that Jenova was an alien life form.  Genesis says, "I don't know what images of her you've conjured up in your head..."  and then I think to myself, Get ready, here it comes...o-0.

     What is ironic when Genesis calls Sephiroth a "perfect monster" is that Sephiroth doesn't look like a monster at all.  LOL.  But the fact that he has a high level of mako in his body and extraordinary fighting abilities makes him a huge question mark.  Even Angeal called himself a perfect monster, which leads me to believe that he realized he wasn't like other SOLDIER members long before Sephiroth did. Unlike Genesis and maybe Angeal, Sephiroth  doesn't "degrade," as Genesis calls it (his own body is degrading, aka deteriorating), and he asks Sephiroth to "share your cells with me."  Uhh... O__O  But he wants to take advantage of Sephiroth's Jenova-infused cells.  I should say "wanted to" cuz it's in the past.  And somehow, Genesis knew about the Jenova Project G and Jenova Project S (the "s" is for Sephiroth I assume) before Sephiroth did.  But maybe Sephiroth wasn't supposed to know about Jenova and the projects.  [Sigh]  Gosh...

     I dunno if I'd call myself a fan of Sephiroth even if he's from Final Fantasy VII.  But it is nice to be reminded that he never started out evil.  :)

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Next is the buddy-bonding of Zack and Cloud ;] )

    

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, Dec. 20th

I finally returned to Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, and I had a lot of fun!!!  ^.^

     I collected 28 more Precursor Orbs (because I had 7, then I got one from an orb hunt, and then many more from the next several tasks and missions that I completed).

• Flying mission Pursue Phoenix
• Brink Island: Look for a way out of Island
• Meet the Castaway
• Retrieve Velonium Mod
• Return to Castaway's Treehouse
• Disable the Phantom Blade
• Confront Captian Phoenix
• Buy More Eco Skills from Keira
• Customize Your Plane

     (SPOILERS, Probably...) At about 7:35pm I started where I left off, sort of: after passing an obstacle course to practice shooting his new blaster gunstaff mod, Jak is supposed to return to Duke Skyheed.  So I had to run from the start of the city all the way to Skyheed's Manor, and get the Eco Seeker to help with finding Eco.  Unfortunately, Captain Phoenix steals it, and as Keira tries to get it back, Phoenix takes her away too!  So since he flies away on his ship, then that means there is going to be another flying mission.  Yay?
     Yay!  It was a very intense but fun flying mission.  It was also the first mission that I tried the "Daxterjack" function, which got frustrating because I often confuse the square button with the circle button.  I made myself remember that the square button is on the left side.  ("Got that memorized?" Yay, Axel! :] )  So that helped make things easier for me, and I was able to complete the mission.  Then Jak had to crash land on the Brink Island.  This area was where I found so many Precursor Orbs.  Ha ha, finding the Precursor Orbs is the main reason why I ordered the strategy guidebook.  I at least want to get all the ones that are in the areas because not all orb hunts are going to be easy right away.  Anyway, Jak got the Eco Amplifier near the beginning of this mission and it's totally helpful.  It's this big orb of red eco light and when he shoots at it it creates an explosion.  Somehow it doesn't hurt Jak, but that's okay ;)
     Then soon he meets the Castaway.  He looks an awful lot like Vin from Jak II and Jak 3.  You know, maybe the character designers at High Impact Games must've liked the character design for Vin; the white hair and the weird glasses (or goggles? for the castaway), scientific knowledge,  and I think this new guy even sounds a bit nutty.  Jak probably thought so too, he just didn't say anything.  So, the Castaway tells Jak to find the Velonium Mod to power up his Hellcat.  Unfortunately that meant a boss fight; this robot called the Uber-bot 888 had the item Jak needed.  It wasn't a frustrating boss fight, once I figured out what to do.  I only glanced at what the strategy guide said to do; I feel better when I figure out things for myself.  There was a lot of jumping, running, and certainly the heavy use of the Eco Amplifier.  Timing is key.
     Oh, I love the Eco Construction ability!  If Jak stands on green Eco crystals and uses Eco Construction, a green crystal platform materializes for a few moments (or less) so Jak can get across to the other side of an area.  It is also useful as a sort of split-second shield, as demonstrated in the boss battle against Uber-bot 888.
     After the two-part boss battle, Jak was able to use his Hellcat again, and the next mission was Disable the Phantom Blade, anothe pirate ship.  This flying mission was a little more difficult because I had to keep shooting at the different assigned targets--the engines, the thrusters, and then the turrets--and I had to watch out for Jak's a** at the same time.  The first two objectives of this mission are timed, and I failed again and again because it was a limited-time mission.  However, the third objective wasn't limited in time, but the Hellcat got destroyed a few times before I (heh, Jak) could finally take out the last of the turrets.  During the third objective I was able to practice the "Daxterjack" function on several of the other flying planes so that it won't be so confusing in the future.
    After the Phantom Blade was disabled, Jak landed his Hellcat inside, and it is sort of another area/city to walk around.  There are people walking around--other pirates.  I had gathered a lot of Eco points or whatever, so I was able to find Keira and trade them in for two more Eco Skills:  Infuse Enemy 1 and Eco Power Regan 1.  Then I had to customize the Hellcat, a task I am not a big fan of.  Customizing...that sort of word reminds me of the combat racing cars in Jak X that every time I changed something about it, the game auto-saved, and one fateful day that caused a problem.  [shudders]  I didn't do too much with this in Jak and Daxter: TLF.  I added the Flak Cannon 1x and the Extra Repairs Mod to the Hellcat.  Maybe I'll customize the other plane too, but I stopped at 10:05pm.  It was enough for then.  I had fun.  ^,^

Crisis Core: FFVII--Why am I not done?

There is a number-one reason why I believed I shouldn't miss out on playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

     Cloud Strife is my #1 favorite video game character (Sonic the Hedgehog being my childhood fave).  I've read previews and reviews about Crisis Core from Playstation the Official Magazine and the now-defunct Electronic Gaming Monthly.  These previews and reviews made me want the game more each time.  I knew already that Cloud wouldn't be a playable character in this game, but because of what I saw and learned in the original Final Fantasy VII and the special anime Last Order: FFVII, I became more curious about Zack Fair too. 
     Zack is as much an important character as Cloud is.  The trinity of characters in Crisis Core--Angeal, Zack and Cloud--all come into contact with this Buster Sword.  In fact I find myself calling this weapon the "Honor Sword."
     As it indicates in my list of Video Games I Have Yet to Finish, Crisis Core is there.  I realize this game was released on March 25, 2008, but I didn't get my PSP until this past late April.  By then, Crisis Core was $19.99.
     So, why am I not done with Crisis Core: FFVII?  It is the same reason I am not done with the original Final Fantasy VII, and that is, I am almost done with it.  For FFVII, I already know, being a fan of Square-Enix too late, that Sephiroth is defeated (for the time being =P).  For Crisis Core, I already know Zack's fate.  And I know I am going to cry.  Before I load the game, the background image has text on it besides the title: "Men cry not for themselves, but for their comrades." 
     (SPOILERS Problably...)  Some time ago I reached the part in the game when Zack had to confront Angeal and then fight him when he merged with a few nearby monsters.  Zack had no choice but to fight, and in a way, it was sort of a test of student versus mentor.  Zack won, of course because he's Zack.  Angeal was defeated, and the following scene was very emotional.  And it started to rain, reminiscent of tears.  I got emotional too.  The music makes me more prone to crying. =''(
     So Zack cried for his comrade.  And I already know what's going to happen to Zack.  I think Cloud will cry for Zack, his own mentor and comrade .  I believe that is what the quotation from the pre-load screen is referring too.  I want to know all the events that lead to the last moments.  Maybe I am savoring the time that I don't see the final scenes in detail.  I wonder what music/song is going to play during then.  The flashback was very short in the original game, but in Crisis Core, Zack and Cloud's relationship is shown in more detail (I mean the conversations they share, and what happens as they escape from Nibelheim).  The trinity of these three characters--Angeal, Zack and Cloud--it's fascinating!  I am enjoying the concept of the line between human being and monster (Angeal's one wing, calling himself a "perfect monster"...I should include Sephiroth's questioning his own existence as well, but I'll get to that later).

     *,*!!!  I'm going to play this game within the next two days.  Stay tuned for more Crisis Core rantings.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 co-op Dec. 8th

On December 8th, I played Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 on the Playstation 2.  It is actually not my video game; it's my sister's.  She's a huge Naruto fan and collected three Naruto video games.   I play them too, but only for versus mode or in co-op mode.
     For this game I played in co-op mode.   Naruto: UC2 is an adventure game, although there is fighting in it, and a versus mode that makes us run right back to the Ultimate Ninja series.  My sis always controls Player 1, and I am Player 2.  I jump in when she needs aid--or I can just go in whenever the hell I want (although it ruins camera angles most of the time ~.~)!
     Episode Event:  We made it through Chapter 8 in the game, and then Chapter 9 was the mission "Destroy the Spirit Orb!"  To fill ya in, the heroes are trying to find a way to destroy the Spirit Orb so that the three main villains in the story won't use it for the evil purpose of squashing the Five Lands.  Or the Five Continents.  Or whatevuhr.  ^,,,,,^ 
    My sister wanted to continue with the game's story because, being a Gaara fan, she thought that maybe if the Sand Ninja are involved, Gaara might be there, maybe even become a playable character finally.  So I agreed and we went right to playing the mission, but not before stocking up on items...and not enough at that.  You'll soon read why... 
     So typically we do extra missions to get more money and level up the characters, but this time we began a second mission in a row, Chapter 9.  Destroy the Spirit Orb.  Okey-dokey.  Naruto starts off alone, so my sister led him to the destination.  And then when some enemies appeared--live puppets--Kankuro appeared and used his Crow puppet to take them out.  Now it's my turn to shine!  I played as Kankuro (my personal favorite Sand Ninja...sis and I mock argue that his hat makes him a cat or a bat.  I say he's a cat o.0).  So then they go to where the castle is (that is where the Spirit Orb is being kept) and see that it's on fire!  So they gotta hurry there.  Of course, besides fire there were live puppets to fight.  Floor after floor after floor is more fire and more puppets.  Yeah, good for collecting the yellow "virtue" orbs(experience points?) and energy/chakra orbs.  But it was using up and healing items.  Soon we decided we'd just try to make it to the top of the castle, just find the stairs and go up.
     Okay, we got that done.  We made it to the room with the Spirit Orb.  Gaara is in there with Sakura, and my Kankuro tells Naruto to be careful, that something is not right here.  They go in.  It turns out that something is up with Sakura...and it soon comes out that she is an imposter.  I think I know who it is, but I forgot her name already, or maybe I don't care.  She's the most annoying of the three villans in the game.  She's such a b****.  Ergh...rant rant.  Anyway, Naruto had to fight the Sakura imposter.  Pretty difficult; I jumped in as Kankuro  a few times.  Sis got to play as Gaara... '__'...and after some time we got through the boss battle.  But that was not all.  The b**** summoned three live wasp puppets (instead of one like earlier before...curses!!) and what followed was a looooong multi-boss battle.  Pretty quickly Naruto was knocked out, and Kankuro and Gaara were left. We found a spot where we can have access to fight the bastards while they were in the air. We had few healing items and I think two revival items.  I know from the past that Kankuro did well fighting those things, and Gaara, well... my sister eventually found out that Gaara was right for the job.  His Sand Drizzle attack was an optimal plan, because in order to really hurt those wasp puppets, they had to be hurt to be knocked onto their backs.  That is when they are the most vulnerable.  Unfortunately, with Naruto or Kankuro, only a few hits made it and then they do a counter attack.  Well, sis made Gaara do his Sand Drizzle, and it works for when the wasp puppets were in the air and on the ground.  Sweet!
     We didn't think we were going to make it, but we kept at it.  Sis had faith in Gaara's endurance/defense and attacks.  Soon Kankuro was knocked out and couldn't be brought back because we needed to save the revival item for emergency if there's anything after the battle.  So Sis's Gaara was our last hope.
     When the battle was finally over, we thought we were done.  But not yet.  The b**** managed to have the Spirit Orb taken away, and on top of that, she's going to make the whole castle collapse.  It's already on fire.  So what next?  We had to get out of there in twelve minutes!!!!  Gaara stood in Naruto's stead, but he had only 48 out of his 380 hit points left, and we were out of healing items completely (except for a revival, which revives plus gives 10 hit points).  The fire was worse than earlier, and there were many more of those live puppets lurking around.  Sis resolved just to totally avoid them, just get to the stairs and go DOWN!!   At least there was some margin of time to get lost.  Naruto got a chance to return, but after losing his one hit point, he was revived with ten, and lost nine.  Then sis stuck to Gaara all the way through, while I occasinally pointed out where she can try to go whenever she got stuck. 
     And after THAT, Naruto had to report back to the Leaf Village.  This means running up the map and facing some more bad guys to fight.  With one lousy hit point.   Ugh.  Gaara and Kankuro weren't there to aid Naruto this time. And like that, the one hit point was gone before Naruto got a chance to attack.  :( 

     We played this game from 6:30pm to 10:15pm (and then we had lentil soup for late dinner ^.^;;).  Jeez, all that "virtue" and time, gone, all gone.  Man, Sis really wanted Gaara to be a playable character.  She was really upset.  I told her not to think of it as a huge loss.  At least now we know what is ahead for next time we play this game again.  That is the number one strategy tip for any game: trial and error.  And we'll get more healing items next time, too.

@,@

Crisis Core November 13

     I finally got back to Crisis Core: FFVII last Friday a little after 9:30pm.  I used my recorder, but I didn't want to record while I was playing.  I put the portable unit in sleep mode because, y'know, battery power.  Plus, if I was recording the audio during gameplay, I'd forget to stop recording and I'd run out of room on the mini-casette.  I can be sooooo into this game ;) ...
    Where do I begin?  The last time I played this game was on October 17th--and that was just a session for Zack to level up.  I also realized that Zack's next mission might be that fateful one in Niebelheim (did I spell that right? Oh, it's Nibelheim... ^.^;;), which of course is Cloud's hometown.  So when I did get back to the game Friday night, I warmed up (refreshed my memory for the controls) with a side mission, one that involved finding remnants of Genesis on this boat.  The final enemies for this mission were two degrading Genesis, uh, guys.  I got a chance to use my newly fused materia the Dark Blizzara, which not only poisoned one of the Genesis bosses, it stuned him as well.  Plus, I (I mean, Zack) got a Lucky Star from Cissnei and the rest of the batttle went smoothly afterwards. 
     (SPOILERS!! Probably...)  So then, Zack talked to Kunsel to let him know he's ready to go on the mission with [gasp!] Sephiroth.  And then, JOY!!!!!  Zack met Cloud again!!  Oh, how wonderful this reunion is!  They will be on the mission together, those buddies  :)    Anyway, in Nibelheim, Zack met this boy who knows about the seven wonders of Nibelheim and tells Zack to look for the red drinking water.  "Is it blood?" the boy asks.  It turned out that there was a red materia in the water, which actually is the Phoenix summon materia.  Sweet!  Then I allowed Zack to talk to Sephiroth (who told him to get plenty of rest...awww, he cares [for now]!)  Cloud was standing right by Zack so I made Zack talk to him.  Squeeaaalll!  Then I explored the town for a short while.
      Unfortunately I will have to skip a lot that happened in the game and say right away that I stopped playing at 10:30pm (an approximate hour and a half).  I meant to do some more exploring when I had Zack talk to Sephiroth when he was looking out the window at the "familiar landscape."  But then ten minutes of cinematics played, which was very nice...but I felt like I didn't do enough exploring in Nibelheim yet.  I did a soft reset and loaded an earlier file, and I ended up at the first save point in Shinra Manor.
     So, I don't mind having to see those scenes again (there is so much revelation within those ten minutes).  I recognize much of it because I played the original Final Fantasy VII.  But of course, Crisis Core: FFVII is the true, complete story of how things happened before the events of the original game.  There is plenty to recall and reflect upon at this point, so I will have to save my feelings about them for another post.  Stay tuned.

Zack Fair Running Around...The Wagon Episode (spoilers?)

Running...running...and running again...
     Today I played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII from 12:45 to 2:30 in the afternoon.  In the story I left off with Zack trying to find two more materials for the "flower wagon" he'd make with Aerith (I thought it was spelled "Aeris", like in the original game.  Now instead of Aeris it's Aerith. It never ends...).  Those materials are the worn tires and the instruction manual for building a wagon.  I thought the tires would have to be in the Shinra Building's Exhibit room, where there are a few vehicles on display.  Where are they, where are they?   Where are those tires?  There wasn't any store selling just tires or materials for a car, right?  I made Zack run all over the place; the Shinra Building, Sector 5 Slums, everywhere there.
     Finally I did find the 'worn tires'; in Loveless in Section 8 this man stands by an old car and seems to be waiting, and I had Zack go up to him, and wouldn't I know it, I came to the right person.  Ha, some items are either lying around or otherwise have to be aqcuired by talking to someone who might know something.  So the man gave Zack the tires, and then the little boy who was helping Zack find the wagon materials comes back and says he has the instructions.  Then he says he doesn't have it, and must have left it somewhere.  Ohh no!
Sigh...more running around for Zack :O
      But Zack is Zack, so he can run during the whole game without stopping if I make him. ^,^   Soon, I kinda figured I'd have to return to the Sector 5 Slums if the boy left the instructions there (and that's his home).  It's less frustrating for me if I know where to go; otherwise I'm making Zack run without aim.  When Zack does find the instructions, he can go back to Aerith and start that wagon.  Then soon, leave it to Sephiroth to spoil Zack's little break.  He's just a phone call away.  Poor Zack...  I won't disclose the details of Sephiroth's call here.  I probably shouldn't.
     Oh well, at least I'm moving along in the game a little more.  Know I know how Aeris Aerith started selling flowers. I might play through a few of the side missions the next time I get to Crisis Core, to level up, get gil, materia, and um...make Zack run.  I dunno what is the highest level Zack can reach in this game, but it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for what may happen later.