More on my progress in Crisis Core FVII on November 19th

I didn’t have the patience that day to advance further in the story by getting lost thousands of times, so I just had Zack complete some side missions to level up and get more items.

I had Zack return to the missions titled “Hojo’s Experiments” and tackled the missions Experiment 107, Exp. 108 and Exp. 109.  Last time, Sephiroth’s Heartless Angel attacks weren’t very nice to Zack, and Sephiroth sliced at Zack before I could get him to use the Cura materia.

All of the materia Zack has equipped was MASTER stage.  I wanted to change some things around, so I went to Materia Fusion and created a Dark Firaga using Firaga and Poison materia.  This fusion works great because not only is it a powerful fire attack, but it causes status ailments on the targets, such as Poison or Silence (can’t use magic).  It makes me feel more in control; lately Zack has been hit multiple times with Stun and Curse.  I switched a couple more materia so that my equipped list goes like this:

• Dark Firaga (lv 2)

• Curaga (lv 3)

• Barrier (MASTER)

• Libra (MASTER)

• Drainra (lv 2)

• Graviga (MASTER)

I added the current levels of the new materia in the list.  I did a few more missions to see if I could level them up somewhat and make them stronger for the next time I get to the game.  I finally equipped the Curaga, even though it might be too early for Zack to equip it in the level he’s in.  Curaga heals about +7,000 HP.  Zack has maybe 5, 600 HP or so.

I always have the Cure materia right after my main Offensive Magic attack, in case I need it right away.

Zack is currently level 49, from 47.   ^8^  

My Dissidia progress updates o.O + My reaction to Dissidia Duodecim news

Here are the current levels of my best heroes (and favorite villain) for Dissidia Final Fantasy:

• Firion is level 35


• Cloud is level 34

• Zidane is level 38

• Kuja is level 20

• Bartz is level 21

• Warrior of Light is level 33

I haven’t started the Shade Impulse Chapters yet. I should. I need to decide which of the characters from the Forces of Cosmos I want to play in Shade Impulse. I am deciding between Cloud and…um…the Warrior of Light.  I believe at this point they are my two best fighters, because of their levels and their attacks.

Now, I found out some time ago on TheLifestream.net that next year there is going to be a sequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy called Dissidia Duodecim (I love the sound of that title, by the way, because it is entirely in Latin). And I am pleased that Lightning is going to be one of the characters added to the roster in the game. But the latest news I read about Dissidia from the website is that Vaan from FFXII is also going to be included as a playable character.  I was overjoyed!  I don’t care if people don’t like him. He is as much a main character/hero of a Final Fantasy game as much as Cloud, Zidane, and Squall (I don’t like Squall, but whutevurh).

http://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-dissidia/6916/ff-dissidia-duodecim-new-character-vaan/
So now I definitely want to get Dissidia Duodecim. Lightning in the game? And Vaan? That’s going to be so cool!

But what is Tifa doing there?  She is not the main hero of FFVII, but I guess there must be some important reason why she was added to the Dissidia Duodecim story. Well, then, in my opinion if the developers do this, then they will have to get Balthier in there somehow. I mean, Tifa doesn’t use swords or lances. She’s a kickboxer, so what gives? Fists against swords? I’m just ranting because I'm not a huge fan of Tifa, but she’s alright, I guess. I’m sure Tifa will grow on me if I give her a chance.

EDIT: I have decided to play as Zidane in the Shade Impulse chapters, but I have to level him up. One of the battles had a fake Squall that kicked Zidane’s li’l monkey butt eight times, and I don’t want to lose Destiny Points or Story Points. So I will be leveling up Zidane some more.

OMG ZIDANE IS DANCING! Also, Bartz and Squall

Crisis Core on November 8th + I hate those darn Anti-Action Missiles

I wasn’t able to play a game in the den like usual (where the PS2, the PS3 and the Wii are) so I had to play a game on the portable unit, which, of course as the title of this post suggests, is the very neglected-by-me Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

I didn’t go further into the story this time. I played the side missions to try to level up Zack. He went from level 46 to only 47.  Fourty-freakin’ seven!  Sigh.  At least he leveled up once.  He got a Curaga materia in one of the missions, and so far it is the only Curaga he has. Unfortunately I had to use a Phoenix Down in one of the missions in order to stay alive and keep that Curaga.  As long as I knew that the particular mission had a Curaga materia in one of its treasure chests, Zack needed a little more help staying on his feet. It was a mission in which Zack had to fight these machine weapons and collect data on them.  But these suckers had Anti-Action Missiles, and when Zack gets hit by one, he gets the Stun effect. I used a phoenix down and didn’t want to, so I reset. Then I went to the exact same mission and the same thing happened. But you know, I had to let that Phoenix Down go, because it gives Zack a chance to continue that mission. He gets his life saved once during this mission, and then he has to keep his butt safe (or at least keep a few HP leftover) before I frantically press the X button for him to cast Cura on himself.

I should use that Curaga.  I usually don’t like to equip a materia unless I have at least two of them.  Oh, but I have my only Graviga equipped now, don’t I? Yeah, I forgot. Oh well. Zack currently has a maximum of 5,406 HP. With help from Aeris Aerith and Angeal, Zack had 9,999/5,406 HP at a couple of instances. But they were very brief, however >.<   The last mission I played for this session was one where Zack had to go into the Shinra Building and fight these degenerating Genesis clones and this other one-winged monster every other time.  That white haired Genesis is a tough one!  Zack almost died in many of those battles.

Anyway, about Zack’s HP, I am guessing I will have to level him up some more if he is going to need a cure material like Curaga to keep him alive and kicking during the battles.

Hey, ever notice that the degenerating Genesis Copy is reminiscent of Dante from the Devil May Cry series? White hair, red clothes?

Crisis Core on November 4th

I finally had some patience to play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII again. I left off last time at Banora, Genesis’ hometown, and Zack Fair entered the Depths of Judgment which is some sort of cave or something. The way it looked, I figured Zack would get lost, and I had played the game for a while, so I went to the first save point I could find and stopped playing. So for this latest session with Crisis Core, I wanted to focus on exploring the area and getting any treats (translation: treasure chests) lying around.

Zack kept being interrupted by these winged monsters and these egg-shaped heads that looked like baby Ike from South Park. Sometimes these guys pop up right after defeated the last bunch of enemies.

I had to use the map a whole lot this time. It’s like a maze in there!  Zack kept getting lost, and when I thought I knew where I was going, I checked the map and Zack would be completely turned around. What gives?! I wanted to go to this area that I thought I didn’t check out yet, and it’s another chamber in the cave with a lake inside.  There were a couple of mako fountains.  I had Zack take the treasure that was near it, and then had him examine the mako. It turns out it was a trigger for a sub-boss fight with this creature that used to be human but isn’t anymore.  This guy had +58,000 HP, and it just was not easy to fight.  I think I had the wrong set of Materia: Thundaga, Cura, Barrier, Libra, and Vital Slash.  I needed another offensive magic materia.  So before I ended up fighting another one of those boogers, I unequipped Vital Slash and equipped Graviga.  It is the only Graviga material that I have, and I didn’t try it yet, so I thought it would be very helpful.

Damn right it was!  I should have had Zack equip the Graviga materia several sessions ago (so like, six months ago).  That thing reduces the enemy’s HP down to one half.  I tried that on the human/beast sucker, and it took off 9,999 HP several times! And this guy had +68,000 HP; I was worried I’d struggle during the entire battle, but the new materia made things so much easier. It really helped that Zack casts Barrier on himself and defends himself constantly until there is an opening for him to attack.  I did that with the first sub-boss there, but it was tedious without Graviga equipped.

I think I have over 12 unused Thunder materia… O___O 

Speaking of Materia, Zack found some funky materia in this place; Light Materia, Heaven Materia, and others.  I couldn’t find them in my materia list, and then realized that they must have been Key Items, and found I was right.  I found the area where I am supposed to gather them together and put them onto this thing that might open the big door ahead. I needed seven; I only had five.  So I had Zack try to find the last two.

I ended up in this jail/prison place where there was a key that is needed to open the gate.  Behind the gate is the Howling Fang, an eventual boss. I examined the gate, and Zack says “I need a key…”

Gosh darnit. I got lost several times, fought loads and loads of interrupting battles (I had Zack escape a couple but had to fight the rest) and after all that and finally getting somewhere he realizes he needs a key. Where can I find that f***ing key?!!!!

Well, there are a couple of rooms with elevators in this general cave area. Maybe I have to check those out. But next time.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Amethyst Anne here, wishing all of you readers to have a very happy Halloween and lots of your favorite candies!

Some favorite things about Vector Man

I've only played this game on the PSP.  I could never get into it while I had the SEGA Genesis and was on a Sonic-only diet in terms of that game console.  After some experience playing it, though, I have some favorite things about the Vector Man video game:

• I like he way I try to make Vector Man go against a wall, and he puts his elbow against the wall and leans against it.  He's looking at the player (me) as if to say, "I can't go through that wall.  You have to make me do something else."  And then he throws some of his orbs up in the air, catches them, and then looks at me again, appearing very annoyed.  Nyaw. (I want to find a picture of that, but it's not so easy.)
• I like how I can make Vector Man shoot right, left, straight upward and even diagonally at his enemies.  It's so fun that way.  It also makes fighting bosses easier.
• I keep thinking he's a robot.  Of course, he is called an "Orb-Bot" according to GiantBomb.com here (as well as what the little in-game story's prelude includes).
• The little cry he makes when he loses a life (it sounds funny).
• Collecting those little white circles is fun!!!
• Why is he green?????  (Idea: he is eco-effective for the ruined planet he is trying to help clean up?)

An old Shadow the Hedgehog sketch

I realize that Shadow is missing his left arm.  Needless to say this drawing is incomplete, but I still want to share it.  I used a reference, obviously...




Drawing by Amethyst Anne, November 24 and December 18, 2001
Shadow the Hedgehog belongs to SEGA.



     2001 was the year that I got the SEGA Dreamcast for the reason that I wanted to play Sonic Adventure 2.  The Sonic the Hedgehog Archie comic book series did a brief thing on SA2 in issue #98.  It is one of my very favorite issues of the comic book.   I ended up getting the Dreamcast with a Sonic Adventure Bundle (SA, Sonic Shuffle, and a demo of SA2).   By December 2001 I was about half done with finishing the game, and even though Shadow was a villian, he was growing on me, probably because he was a hedgehog like Sonic.  So I wanted to draw him.

I drew this picture during winter break from high school.  I'd feel bad drawing him when I'd have homework to do, so winter break was a nice time to do it.  :3  It took a few days; I left it and got back to it again.

Yay Shadow!!!   ^,^ 

An Anniversary (if anyone rembembers...?)

Today is the 16th anniversary of the release of the video game Sonic and Knuckles for the SEGA Genesis.

I remember this date because it was on an ad in a video game magazine my dad used to buy for me when I was in third grade.  Or fourth grade.  One of those.  The Sonic and Knuckles logo was on this black page and it said the release date on it: 10-18-1994.

I'll include a link to a Wikipedia page on the game.  It says that the North American release date was October 17th, but I REMEMBER in the magazine ad it said 10-18.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_&_Knuckles

Dissidia on October 12th

In Dissidia Final Fantasy I just concentrated on leveling up the characters on Bonus Day.

• Zidane ------30

• Bartz---------19

• Onion Knight--------8

I found out by playing that the Onion Knight is probably the best fighter against The Emperor, because the Emperor’s attacks are powerful but slow, and the Onion Knight is fast. Sometimes I call him “the boy who is fast on his feet.” Maybe not quite like Sonic the Hedgehog, but still fast. Also, Onion Knight doesn’t jump very high, but he makes up for it by jumping up to five times in the air, more than the three that Zidane can do.