Well ladies and gentleman, I apologize for my absence, but I assure you, it has not been without reason.  I have so much to talk about, I don’t even know where to start, so maybe I’ll do it Krellion’s way, and just do snippets of all the madness s I’ve been up to!

What I’ve read: So I finished Anne Bishop’s The Black Jewels Trilogy. Amazingly, I did this about 4 years ahead of schedule, considering I only bought the book a few months ago, and it’s over 700 pages long. Like I said, it’s a trilogy, all neatly combined into one fat book. It’s very dark, very sexy, but is unfortunately marred by a slow plot and at time, eye-rolling characters.  If you’re fresh off of Twilight and you’re thinking, “Damn, I wish this was made for people about 10 years past their teen angst stage,” this one’s for you. Full review to come.

What I finished playing: Over the weekend I finished the retro classic, Legacy of Ys, the oft-overlooked bastard child born in the age of Zelda. Brought up to date while maintaining its retro feel, Ys doesn’t disappoint for the mass of gamers who inevitably missed this gem in their youths because of poor Japanese timing on poor-selling American consoles. While not the most intuitive of games, it’s great to see the roots of the action RPG, brought to life with some really cool CG work that opens up both titles: Books 1 & 2. If you are among those who missed it, or you just want to relive the nostalgia, Legacy of YS: Books 1 &2 is still available in stores, and comes packed with a neat soundtrack CD.

I also finished playing Final Fantasy IV: The After , or at least, the first installment for Wiiware. I couldn’t begin to tell you how many people my age have a place in their heart for Final Fantasy IV, many of us having played at least one of the 3 remakes since its original debut on the SNES as Final Fantasy II, over 15 years ago. But 15 years have passed in the world of crystals too, and you can relive the glory days as you take control of Cecil’s son, Ceodore, in a brand new adventure that doesn’t skip a beat, not even on its SNES era graphics.

 If you’re like me, and you’ve kept the SNES warm for the day FF2 got a sequel,  you OWE it to yourself to play this, even if it is a slightly overpriced installment package. The moon phases and “Band” system add some fresh spice to the mix, but what you’re really in it for is the fact that it feels DAMN good to walk into Mysidia, 15 years after Cecil returned to it as a Paladin. You’ll see what has become of Kain, easily one of the most iconic characters of the game, and without spoiling anything, Ceodore isn’t the only character who steps up to the plate. Dramatic, kind of hard, and nostalgia driven, like I said, it’s a must play if you were ever originally drawn into the kingdom of Baron’s strife.  If I had to complain about something, it would be the sheer number of monster encounters. But you’ll need the levels.

What I started playing: Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume. After a considerable absence, VP returns, condensed into a nice little package for the Nintendo DS. While the game appears to blow its technological load with the intro movie, the sprite based gameplay isn’t bad, and for series veterans, the mainstay of VP style, button-assigning real-time combat is still present amidst a strategy RPG grid. It’s a strange hybrid, but it works.

What VP has always done well, is forced the player to make difficult choices about their party. Not many games ask you to sacrifice party members, and CotP takes it the next level. The mechanic is the plume itself: Use it on one your characters to turn him into a juggernauting one-hit-killer party monster for an entire battle. But when the battle ends… he’s dead. Permanently. And you get the heart-wrenching death scene afterward, as you realize you’ve doomed that character, all for your own main character’s quest for revenge. It’s an interestingly dark concept, one that I’m not sure I’ll really come to terms with as I continue the game. Full review when I complete it.

What I watched: I finally caught the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, starring Christian “Oh good for you!” Bale, and Russel l “I’ll throw my telephone at your face” Crowe. It must have been a hell of a set.  Am I the only person who hadn’t seen this one yet? I’m not sure, but on the assumption that you haven’t, I won’t spoil anything.

Bale plays Dan Evans, a down-and-out rancher whose fate intersects with the most notorious outlaw in the land, Ben Wade, (Crowe.) Evans is tasked with escorting Wade across the desert to the prisoner train headed for Yuma, all while Wade’s posse is out for blood, and Wade himself begins to slowly kill off the rest of the escort party.

The movie is a man’s man’s western, one in the vein of No Country For Old Men, (which I haven’t seen) and recent Clint Eastwood flicks, that don’t bother romanticizing the west  as some kind of Bonanza or Maverick like romp. No sir, this is guns, blood, dust, and betrayal, some key elements that founded America right there. But it’s also about honor – and that’s why I liked it.

I’m a total sucker for movies that make a question of morality. What defines good or evil? What changes a man from one side to the other? The movie dances around this issue until the very end, which, in all honesty, is still kinda making me scratch my head, and judging from internet reviews, didn’t sit well with critics either. But I thought it was fitting, despite the questions it raised, and it answered those questions well.

So as you can see, I’ve been busy! And I’ve not even begun! Still to come!

Full reviews for the Blood Trilogy and Valkyrie Profile DS!

Anime Expo 2009! It’s this week! It’s epic! It’s awesome! GO GO GO! I’ll have a con-report whenever I can muster it, as I’ll be spending all four days in beautiful (read: hot) LA.

Distant Worlds: Final Fantasy! Yes, I’m goin’ bitches! Performed by the San Francisco symphony orchestra, I’m flying up there for the sole purpose of seeing this show! I’ll let you know how amazing it inevitably will be!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 2:20 am and is filed under Scott Strichart, art, events, games, movies. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.