Final Fantasy Type-0 (Report 3)

I'm really getting into the game/story now. Yesterday I finished an entire chapter in one sitting. But things are getting quite hairy. And will need to grind a little ... actually, quite a lot since, in the upcoming battle, the dragons defending the enemy camps are quite hard to kill. So will have to start training my top team -- Ace + King + Deuce -- as well as Machina, Rem and Trey ... Luckily I've just unlocked an area where the enemies/ monsters are quite high level so grinding for levels shouldn't be a real issue. I also need to test out Ace's attack more ... I don't think I am using him (and his teleport card) properly. 

This is a pretty challenging game ... not only because it's in Japanese (but that was how I played through FFVII: Crisis Core, which I actually didn't finish) but it does require some strategy thinking ... simply spamming attacks just does NOT work. As mentioned in a previous post, this game is a combination of Crisis Core and The 3rd Birthday ~ but only more fun.

Life on the yoga mat has been pretty quiet (as it should be!) I remember someone telling me that after about three years or so, it takes a long time for the next "breakthrough" ... currently I am still recovering from a tear in the left groin so am taking it easy. Will probably practise a bit more in the running up to the Ashtanga workshop with David Swenson (in April), which I am really looking forward to. 

Hajime Tabata

Without knowing it, I've been playing games created by this same guy from Square Enix: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (my first JRPG experience in Japanese), The 3rd Birthday and, now, Final Fantasy type-0. No wonder I got the hang of type-0 so quickly (and am now addicted to it)... the game mechanism is very similar to 3rd Birthday (especially when I'm using King the shooter). Instead of overdrive, we now have kill sight and just as Aya Brea could dive into different soldiers, I can switch team members ... type-0 is, of course, more fun as this is more than just a shooters game. Each character has a different set of skills etc. 

I began the game with, iirc, Ace, King and Queen (by default). I kept Ace cos he's the protagonist and switched out King and Queen for Machina and Rem (also protagonists), Then I realised I needed a range attacker so started training up King (guns) and Trey (bow). Deuce's magic is just as good as, if not better than, Rem so now I have Ace, King and Deuce in one team, backed by Machina, Rem and Trey as reserves. Perfect!

Think am now half way through Chapter 4 and it's all shooting at the moment (like The 3rd Birthday) ... if only this game is in English or Chinese it'd be more enjoyable ...

PS the Nokia 7280 I bought over ebay has arrived ... WOW, almost new and comes with original box and accessories ... and made in Germany! That was worth waiting for ...

A New Old Phone

Well, it hasn't arrived yet but I've bought a second-hand classic Nokia (7280) on ebay over the weekend -- for old time's sake. This is another so-called fashion phone (like the 7200 that I bought several months ago) that chooses design over functionality. They just don't make these beauties anymore. In fact, the phone market has become so monotonous/boring these days it lacks variety -- in looks and functions. The most popular models in this town are the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S3/Note2. Occasionally you might see someone using a htc ... but they all look the same: touchscreen/tablet form ... *yawn* 

Nokia, Sony (after parting with Ericsson), Motorola and LG have all but disappeared to the maids market. I still like those pre-Window Nokias ... they are unique-looking even though they do are to make and receive calls (hmm, but that's more or less what I need). Maps are useful, I have to admit esp. when you are lost. The phone I use most is still the Blackberry Bold 9900 but it has a hardware flaw that is driving me insane. Trying to use its map a couple of days ago drove me insane.

Deuce ... she kills with a, er, flute

Anyway, while waiting for my new but obsolete phone to arrive, I am shuttling between three games: Persona 4: the Golden, Final Fantasy Type-0 and Uncharted: Fight for Fortune. Having put down Persona for awhile, it's great to just grind levels with a different team setup (but other than getting the individual stats up, there really isn't much left to do there); I'm kinda doing the same for Type-0, just doing a bit more grinding before I continue with the game ~ am in Chapter 3 now but since the game is in Japanese, I just feel I am not getting the most out of it. FFF is the latest I bought (so cheap, only about US$7) and it is a card game ... which is one of my favourite genres! However, I think this game is intended to be played WITH Uncharted: Golden Abyss, which I have no intention to start so I may have to give that up soon. So right now, I am back on Type-0 ...

Yoga practice is going well ... and I'm enjoying the benefits, which are not easy to put into words. I am just less frantic/manic and that having a clam(er) mind helps me with decision-making etc. Gonnabe useful for this year... 

Final Fantasy Type-0 (Report 2)

Okay, the coolest feature of this game is you can level up characters by simply putting the PSVita to sleep for several hours (!) Of course, that means you don't actually get to play the game (doh!) but for someone who has to work during the day and sleep at night, this feature is pretty neat cos it makes level grinding so much more easy ...

But other than that, I'm already a bit bored with it ... mainly cos I don't know what's going on most of the time story-wise (everything is in Japanese). So once the novelty of the gameplay wears off ... that's it. Also, since this game was released on the PSP than PSVita, the controls are really awkward. Maybe time to hunt for a new game or lapse back to Persona 4...

On the tech front, my Blackberry Bold 9900 has been playing up (track pad not responsive); however, I'm pretty stuck with it cos this model has the best keyboard EVER and that is what I need it for... 

Meanwhile, to celebrate the beginning of 2013, this Blog's Fourth Birthday and that the world didn't end, I joined a two-hour yoga class yesterday morning. It was a charity event and the session was led by half a dozen teachers from our studio. The class was divided up in such a way that each instructor would take turn to lead his/her own 10-15-minute sequence (like the sun salutation) so we ended up doing a lot of plank + chaturanga + down dog ... which was totally exhausting. But I felt pretty good afterwards.

Anyway, on with another year ...