A Moment of Reflection (1)

It's that time of the year again when I look back and ... realise I haven't been blogging as much as I should! The number of entries this year has been the lowest yet (only 54 including this) as I celebrate its fourth anniversary... I guess I just have been quite busy this year (esp October ~ zero entry)! But I'm happy to see this blog is now regularly visited ... by people looking for tips on yoga practice, gaming and (sometimes gadgets). 

And THIS is a bumper entry (in two parts)!!!

Have to say ever since I bought the PS Vita (last March?), I've been gaming A LOT more. Years and years ago (we are talking about Pokemon Ruby Edition here!) I was just a moderate gamer, playing mainly turn-based (card) games like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh (which I still love). Have never been really into hack and slash. Then I started playing the Ultimate Marvel Alliance games (first one still the best) on the PSP before moving onto my first ever (life-changing) Final Fantasy game (by Square Enix). With that game I had to confront my inability to coordinate between, like, my brain and my fingers. It really took a lot of practice for me to learn different sequences of moves, how to execute them and with precise timing (am still crap at that though)... that was followed by Dissidia (played this series for more than two years, I am sure) and Third Birthday (with the notorious bonus shower scene), which was basically a shooters game (not my cuppa) before I moved to PS Vita.

Persona 4

PS Vita has fantastic graphics/screen resolution, which is why I love playing on it so much. In terms of gaming experience, I think my favourite games this year (and last?) will have to be Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Persona 4 the Golden (fantastic OST!) and Final Fantasy Type-0... all of which I played right through to post game, with Type-0 the only one I still have to "complete" (I really cannot grind) ... talk about grinding, Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention was also fun but to grind up to level 9999? Not that crazy (yet). I also had, like, a hack and slash galore with Dynasty Warriors: Next and, similarly, One Piece 2 (latter I'm still playing). But really not my style of gameplay.

So, lately have been itching for a new (great) game to sink my teeth into but they really are hard to come by these days esp for the PS Vita. Thanks to the fact that much gaming has now shifted platform from hand held to, like, *spit* the mobile phone (gee, Angry Birds and Candy Crush and even Injustice?!?!? Come on!!!), the market for the Vita has shrunk so much outside of Japan I think it'll probably die soon. So, while it lasts, I'm hoping they will release Final Fantasy X-HD soon (even though I have a feeling it's going to be an anti-climax) ... the last time I heard it's not gonnabe released until, like, next March (2014). I'll probably have lost interest by then.

In the meantime, I've recently bought (and played) Valhalla Knights 3 (okay but Boring after post game) Y: Memories of Celceta (don't like), Atelier Meruru Plus: the Apprentice of Arland (bit like Holy Sorcery Story but more extensive and have yet to get into it). Surprisingly, I've picked up Final Fantasy IV: the Complete Collection and started to get into it. I've put it off for quite a long time simply because I'm very annoyed I lost the guide I bought for it ... and trust me, to fully enjoy the game, you HAVE TO HAVE this guide (despite what others say on games forums). I already missed a few, er, missables but, okay, it's annoying but no big drama. Nonetheless, it has a great score (really, really good) and I love the gameplay (turn-based!) despite it being a very old game. 

Up next: other passions of life: Phones (not as burning as before) and, of course, Yoga ...