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December 28, 2003 -
It's like you'd think I forgot about you, or something horrible like that. No no... no... noooooo. I'm just a fucktard. But I have a really good reason! ... Not... you know, really good, but it's, uh... it's acceptable. Christmas was good to Don, and he has been happily spending his each and every day delving deeper and deeper into the Vampiric clutches of Legacy of Kain: Defiance, and living up the fantasy with FF: X-2. Legacy of Kain: Defiance, the last (as far as I know) installment of a truly wonderful series, is undoubtedly the absolute best of the Soul Reaver/Legacy of Kain franchise. Allowing you to play both Kain and Raziel in a chapter-by-chapter switch, the game leads each Vampire toward their ultimate destinies. The fighting is fast, like, really fast. In former games, you'd find one, maybe two, and run like hell if they put you against three enemies. In this game, three is the least you'll encounter. I have, on numerous occasions, been surrounded by more than a dozen Vampire hunters, each with different weapons, magics, and shouting taunts, all with my little frightened Raziel who had no choice but to tear their souls from their bodies... literally. Previously, the person would die, their soul would float, and you'd devour it. Yeah. This time, you pound the fucker to the ground, shove your hand inside of them, tear their screaming soul from their carcass, and feast. The spirit world (Raziel's alternate plain of existence) is pretty fucked up this time, too. Voices are constantly echoing in the background, some calling your name, some screaming for mercy, others crying, others pleading for loved ones. It's enough to make Rob Zombie want to snuggle with a kitten. Kain's portion of the game is pretty awesome as well, and so far pitted 500 years before Raziel's section (I assume they later merge, but I don't know). This is wonderful, because you get to see some of the same regions of Nosgoth, but with time decay. The environments are one of the best touches to this series, and they always have been. It's a wonderful game, and I'd recommend it to anyone who's at least glanced at one of the previous titles. The events of Soul Reaver 2 are relatively important in determining the story of this game, but you'd be able to figure it out by chapter 2 or 3 if you hadn't ever played it before. Final Fantasy X-2 is great, and of course it's great... it's from Square. Square-Enix has yet to disappoint me with this series, and god forbid they ever do. The game is a little disorienting at first. Battle systems are relatively the same, just a little faster, and the job system has returned, allowing you to change (on the status screen or in-battle) to other classes of fighter (warrior, white mage, black mage, thief, gunner, etc). This is a very handy thing, especially when you receive the preferred garment spheres of the character, which essentially act as the new limit breaks. The copy-paste feature has worked very well from Final Fantasy X to X-2, but naturally, it is the same world. Plus, there are a lot of new areas of former known locations to explore, so there's not a touch of boring to be found. Not yet. There's also a giant fucking robot, called Vegnagun, that everyone continues referring to as "this weapon;" in other words, there's a new Weapon monster in this installment, too. It's a lot of fun, and I continue to neglect Kain and Raziel as I play on. I'm so torn. My roommate Andrew responded in orgasms when asked how he liked Prince of Persia. That is all. My girlfriend was a total babe when it came to Christmas presents. She even got me the Red vs Blue DVD! It's hillarious. Chris and I watched it and laughed are freaking asses off. I haven't checked out the special features yet, but the creators managed to flawlessly blend each of their online segments into a continuous movie for the main feature. It's impressive, it's funny, and it's worth it. Support these guys, and look out for Season 2, starting in January. Back on December 10, I mentioned something about an Anime movie called Wonderful Days. It truly is pretty. Very pretty. Story is pretty good, in a simple, down-to-earth sort of way, but it was on a smaller scale than I expected. I wanted mass rebellions, and a fight for the public. I got a few drunken revolutionaries and two people who actually knew what they were doing. You feel the struggle, and the scenes are tense, but it could have been a little better in the actual conflict portion. But, it's still good, nonetheless, especially if you can get one of those $10 copies off Ebay. Check out this puzzle, you might think it's cool. JT also directed me this morning to very cheap Lord of the Rings swords. So, if anyone's looking, there you go. Gandalf, Witch King, Ring Wraiths. Mmm. Swords. My body is shaking, clearly indicating that I haven't played enough PS2 today. For anyone keeping track, my website for my book is purchased, and I'm still in the design process offline, so there's nothing posted there, yet. Ria is planning to get started on the final cover designs for the book tomorrow, as well as the website images, after which time I can post it online. The book won't be ready for sale until mid-to-late January, but the website itself will be a compliment to the book, so you can check it out and see if it will be something you'd enjoy. Until the next update, I hope everyone had a good holiday, and have another good one when New Years rolls up in a few days. Hopefully, I'll talk to you before then. - Don
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Master Biscuit