Sorry for taking so long man. I’ve had like, the worst weekend (and two days of the week) in ages. I’ve been sick, then wife got sick, so while still sick I had to take care of every single thing around the house and keep Julian happy despite the fact mommy could t hug or feed him. But somehow, by some stretch of a miracle, I kept it all together. It was beautiful. But yeah, needless to say, didn’t really have time to write in like, five days. Still working on those shorts for the anthology though. I’m thinking I might send you the first story even when it’s still at its draft zero stage. We’ll see. I think you might find it interesting since it’s based on an idea I’ve shared with you in the past. Other than that, I’ve been making my way through the Earthsea books and am now on book 3. It’s been really great. The books are a breeze to get through because Le Guin’s prose flows very well and the novels are short. It’s a very refreshing take on fantasy that I really appreciate and reading what has been done to this world through adaptations, it just boggles my mind how they ducked things up so hard. I’ve also noticed a lot of commonalities between the world I set up for my novel and this world, along with touching on many of the same themes that I’m honestly really surprised I hadn’t discovered this sooner. It really resonates with me. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them. Also, played some PQ, finished the second dungeon and still having a blast. Sticking to one party for now so dungeons go by much faster. I’ll tell you right off the bat that Naoto is the single most broken character here due to how incredibly effective Hama and Mudo skills are. She basically trivializes grinding. It’s insane. RS2 is currently on hold due to lack of time but I’ll get back to it, for sure. It’s been good and I just kinda dropped it for now because I got a craving for PQ. Sounds like you’re rounding things up in KHII and in the end it doesn’t seem like the difference between vanilla and Final Mix has been that substantial for you. If I were you, I’d just leave the fight with the LW for later and move on to what you really want to play - unless you know you won’t come back to it and will regret not beating it. There’s really no one right way to go about it. Really sucks to hear about your story being riadblocked. But since it’s the story you’re really excited about right now, why not continue developing it, even if it doesn’t have a chance at being published yet? You’ll have a fun project and can focus on the details of how to get it out later.
So in KHII news, I've reached the Roxas fight and he's a bit of a doozy for a story boss. I love how Sora's Valor form can't block, but that doesn't stop Roxas from doing so. Between him and Marluxia, I'm stuck with doing content stuff, I especially need to beat Roxas because I'm reaching the point where I seriously need Glide to get anything done anymore. The majority of the puzzle pieces I'm missing pretty much require Glide. I could try going after the Mushroom XIII I guess, but I'm feeling particularly lazy about them. I'm split, because part of me wants to move on from KH2 but the other part of me really wants to face Lingering Will and that's going to require doing the Data Org fights. In writing news, I'm in a bit of a standstill. I just learned that I really can't start work on the Elly story of a snag due to some recent revelations about how the comic industry works. So she is going to have to be shelved indefinitely until I get more writing clout. I had another comic book story I was going to write, but the story just doesn't grab me like Elly did, largely because the work is more of an anthology piece than a cohesive whole at the moment. Other than that, I'm kind of in limbo on what to write, been spending most of my time catching up on some of my movie/tv collection instead. How are you doing?
You know, every time I start thinking I'm being too hard on KHII's plot, I reach a point that reminds me why it's kind of bad. I'm pretty much at the end of the game, just reached The World that Never Was. The party was acting like we jumped right from the Hollow Bastion segment to this part, except I actually slammed dunked like five Disney Worlds to get to this point which is kind of jarring to me. This game has no real buildup to the climax which is probably why I always forget the second half of the plot. Even stranger is how the Twilight crew get surprisingly super competent and almost omniscient so they can lead Sora to the virtual Twilight Town, which also just feels like a weird thing to bring back up. I've taken down all of the initial optional Org. XIII fights except for Marluxia because he is an asshole and he's the first battle where not having Glide is a real problem. His gimmick is interesting though. He curses you and a number based on your level appears over your head, every time he hits you the number goes down and if it reaches zero he wins, regardless of your health. There is a reaction command to restore you number though.
That's pretty adorable. I love the twins.
I played enough of the P4 Arena titles to expect some heavy flanderization, and I know the plot really revolves around the two new characters more, much like Arena did, so I'm probably safe from that level of disappointment. I was also curious to see how the new Velvet Twins would work with the other Velvet Room attendees. Of anything, I'll be happy to see them again because they rank as high as Elizabeth and the old P2 crew for me for Velvet Room casts. I'm currently revisiting Front Mission 3 for my handheld needs when I'm not grinding in Union X. Really need to get back to KH2FM though.
Yeah, you probably will, but I feel expectations play a big part. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much the first time as I am now, because now I know that I’m not supposed to expect the characters to be nearly as complex as they were and should instead just enjoy this far more comedic take for what it is. As for Elizabeth, I used to prefer Margaret but honestly, in this game Liz really shines. But overall, the Velvet siblings get a lot of screentime and interactions with one another and it’s all very fun to watch. I’m curious how they handled adding Caroline and Justine to the bunch. I know Margaret, Liz and Theo were all canonically siblings and I do know Caroline and Justine aren’t exactly what they appear, so I’m curious if they’ll address or lack thereof in Q2
Well I adore Elizabeth, so that's good news. Yeah I know it's more of an Etrian Odyssey style game, but I'm sure I'll like it.
It’s... well, honestly, I don’t think you’d be happy with it when in a MegaTen mood. It’s really its own thing. Probably best if you’re looking for something more lighthearted or a first person dungeon crawler. Or just want to watch Elizabeth troll everyone.
You know, I've still haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I've had it since it came out and I still keep getting distracted from playing it. Doesn't help I haven't been in a MegaTen mood lately.
