Project Terminus

I was planning to finish Final Fantasy VIII tonight. After work and school I got home and made tacos. I sat down with my roommate and watched some Arrested Development, and ate said tacos. When the show ended, I picked up the PS2 controller and announced "Tonight's the night!". I would not guess that I have more than two or three hours left in the game, I am about halfway through inside of Ultimecia's Castle. I felt a bit tired but soldiered onward to the next boss fight. It was a simple fight, or would have been. My characters didn't take enough damage from this boss to require regular healing, and so my role was essentially to hold the X button down until healing was required. I woke up about twenty minutes ago to a game over screen. I can only assume I fell asleep in the middle of this fight. That or something strange was in the tacos tonight. I certainly hope it wasn't a 'forget me now'.

Despite the ever present distractions of the season I was able to reserve some time to continue my quest through Final Fantasy VIII. The second disc is complete and only two remain. I'm excited about the prospect of actually marking this game off of my list, and while it has taken longer than I had expected, playing the game on a semi casual basis has brought me quite a lot more enjoyment out of it. I can't help but wonder if we'll ever see an RPG style game delivered to us episodically like Sam and Max. I for one think the idea would work, as say, an eight hour chunk delivered weekly or biweekly would be a lot easier to digest than forty hours all delivered at once.

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I can't stress this enough. Always save. Always. Nothing can describe the frustration that comes with having to replay a half hour of game again, especially a dialogue heavy portion of a game like Final Fantasy. I had escaped a missile launch site after shutting it down, beaten a boss, had a long talk with my party about who should do what, and then died to a monster that I just wasn't paying attention to. I got distracted while drawing and let the whole party die. Luckily I hadn't won any rare cards or drawn any truly important spells, so I pick back up tomorrow where I left off tonight without too much trouble. In the days of the integrated hard drive, I just don't think about saving as much as I used to. I never seem to have these moments on the 360.

Speaking of the 360, Xbox Live is of course, celebrating its fifth birthday in a whole bunch of cool ways. Since I am not one of the noble few who signed up for live back in ought-two, I didn't get free Microsoft points, but I did get a free copy of Carcassone. The game the second German board game, after Settlers of Catan, to be brought to the XBLA, and has already endeared itself to me greatly. It has a very simple play style that can lead to some very complex games. Apparently based on a history of the walled French trading city of the same name, Carcassone is primarily about the placement of tiles, and claiming the cities, farms, roads, and monasteries that are formed by the tiles. After all the tiles are placed, the points are tallied, and the highest score, of course, wins. I love seeing niche titles like this come out on Xbox Live, it gives me hope to one day see a version of Milles Bournes.

Of course I mustn’t fail to mention Halo 3, responsible for a serious hand cramp that made my Saturday morning a bit uncomfortable. While I have not yet completed the campaign mode due to an issue with either my Xbox or my copy of the game, I have put a large amount of hours into the rich multiplayer. Matchmaking in this game is fantastic, and it is very rare for me to play in blowout games. This weekend I ventured for the first time into the Team Doubles play list and I have to say, it’s rapidly becoming my favorite. The game becomes much more about strategy, weapon choice is much more important, and I felt that as I played, I learned a lot more by what the other teams would do. While shooting a rocket into a swarm of people in Big Team Battle is fun, nothing beats the feeling of anticipation I have as I stand in Active Camo with the Gravity Hammer while my partner lures the team into my room, or the feeling of victory having crushed their skulls for the win.

Seifer has turned on me, The Sorceress has escaped, and Squall had a shard of ice through his body. Despite the tragedy, there is a smile on my face. After switching from a Playstation to a Playstation 2 to avoid some issues with videos freezing, I completed the first disc of Final Fantasy VIII.

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Today marks the first day of my journey back through the Final Fantasy series, starting with the long unbeaten Final Fantasy VIII. Taking a break from my current addictions, World of Warcraft, Halo 3, and Puzzle Quest, I delve into this game, trying to absorb every piece of character development, story, and the amazing music. Thus far it is going well. I went through the beginning section, which is half mission, half tutorial, and I'm having a lot of fun. My perspective has changed significantly in the eight years since I initially played this game, and I'm finding the things that drove me to hate it to be less bothersome.

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