One Last Entry in 2016

Wow, so I beat the SuperBoss in Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core before this year is out (hence I now have the Divine Slayer accessory) and above is more or less my endgame setup, bar SPR Up++; I don't really need maxed SPR now so I've swapped in Zantetsuken just to make the gameplay more fun (you just need to have one decent summon in a Final Fantasy game, right?)

The battle with Minerva wasn't as bad as people made it out to be... it is just very... long (cos she has, like, huge HP) ... so it was, like, chipping that away slowly while keeping Zack alive. I stole 99 phoenix downs off her in my second attempt (to keep reviving Zack after those OHKO attacks - Judgement Arrow and Ultima) ... and won! Turns out you do need to max both VIT and SPR (defence against physical and magical attacks, respectively) but not MAG since most of the time I just spammed potion than use Curaga. And my ingenious decision ^^ to include Lucky Stars really paid off. Whenever Zack was in grave danger, the Modulating Phase popped up and good old Cissnei was there to lend a helping hand and got the DMW up to "heavenly" as well as healed Zack etc. And she kept popping up (love her). Equipping it just made the long and tedious battle more, well, fun. 

Now I just need to complete all the other (easy) missions and 100% the DMW (I only need one more scene for Cloud) and I'm done with this game. Am not sure I wanna jump into NG+ right now but I'll definitely return to Crisis Core time and time again. I think this is more fun than FF X-2 (or FF4 or even type-0!!)  

I'm ready for the New Year and More good video games !!!

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII ~ Revisited (3)

Final Setup ?

Believe you me, even having equipped both Lucky Stars and Moogle Power, it was NOT -- repeat NOT -- easy to get the Moogle DMW! Insane. I had to grind for about half an hour to max both the Quake and Moogle Power materia *argh*

But it's done now. Am ready to face The Ultimate Boss ><

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII ~ Revisited (2)

Oh My, this game is getting seriously fun -- am only, like, three dungeons away from the ultimate bada** mission boss Minerva >< and I find the final leg very challenging, though not impossible.

Hardcore stats

This morning I finally max-ed out on the HP stats, without which I found it was not possible to survive the last dungeons (when enemies inflict huge damages and can cast invincible on themselves -- like, wtf! TOTALLY broken ... but just beat that Malboro....) So with 99,999 HP, there is no need for Darkness (to make Costly Punch work) and I've swapped Quake in (even though it's not mastered ... I'm only after its HP stat boost). I will have it mastered at some stage (might throw the Moogle materia in just for fun)... Quake should also be fun when doing Mission 1-1-6 LOL 

I have a choice between using Lucky Stars and Zantetsuken, the latter gives MAG a boost, meaning Curaga can heal more per cast. Since I have just got the Genji Gloves (critical every hit), I don't really need Lucky Stars that much (other than to get more Cissnei on the DMW, which I love LOL). I read that there are only two important stats that really matter for the final boss: VIT and SPR and I've maxed both, thanks to the Ziedrich accessory. So am good to go!

The Limited Edition of this game is really, really nice. A real collector's item so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't die quick (please please please) but it IS already a decade old (even though the one I bought on eBay is supposed to be "brand new"or unused...)  

Much on the Go...

The week in Bali simply flew by! Did lots of yoga (of course) and made some real progress in my handstand practice ... now I can stack my hips over my shoulders (and shoulders over wrists) quite easily without flipping over, especially when I go up in scissor-legs (check out my IG @ https://websta.me/n/kevinkwong11)  If I keep practising this, one day I will/ should be able to squeeze my straight legs together and do a "proper" handstand :-)

Bali has changed much since the last time I visited (about six years ago ... according to this blog anyway ...) Well, the traffic is now pretty bad. Basically it took much longer to get to the resort (from the airport) this time, practically stopping every few minutes on the road. But the airport is now very modern (it was renovated) and airport tax is now included in the ticket (so need to worry about that when leaving the country).

My stay @ the Desa Seni resort was mostly hit, with only a couple of small misses. First I couldn't find the driver when I arrived ... there were just too many people at the arrivals hall holding up big cards (with guest names on them) and it was a scene of confusion. When one picked me up, I called the resort but both listed numbers weren't working. Luckily I had my BlackBerry and could email them (and they, luckily, saw and responded to my email) so crisis averted. Secondly, there are just too many mosquitoes!!! Unlike last time, most of the nights I had mozzies actually INSIDE the nets that were supposed to keep them out!! You can imagine the nightmare. They need more geckos and lizards to feast on them (even though I already saw quite a few, of different sizes, running around).  

One thing I really love about Desa Seni is their staff. They are super friendly and super helpful! Always smiling and hospitable. I really miss them ~ 

In the end, I took Steins;Gate with me to Bali and it is getting quite engrossing. I love the characterisation of the crazy cast as well as the humour. Which means I now have three games on the go simultaneously!

I came home to find limited edition of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core already arrived (yeah!) Hope this one doesn't break down (touch wood) like the last one I bought >< It really is a wonderful edition. I've just unlocked Lucky Stars ... but it hasn't been bringing me much luck so far :-( Where is Cissinei? (I've grown to love this character!!!) 

Elsewhere am still trying to figure out that "creature creation" feature in Final Fantasy X-2. I think the trick is to keep level of the main characters as low as possible cos I can level up the creatures quickly (such is the mechanics). But the prospect of having to play those compulsory missions AGAIN is a major put off esp my game is in Japanese... 

Just One Game to Take with Me...

So, am off to Bali tomorrow and which game should I take with me?

I 99%-ed Final Fantasy X-2 last night (I mean, just how very annoying is that? Which was the 1% that I missed and, ultimately, costed me the Perfect Ending?) Anyway, I was going to take this one with me (esp the Vita shares the same charging lead as my Xperia Z5 compact), together with a guide, but the game is just too fiddly ... and for some reason am getting my a*** kicked in beginning of second playthrough even though I have top gear and accessories ... what's going on (perhaps cos we start from Level 1 again...) 

Happy Ending ... 

Just how annoying is that?

So I'm settling for Steins;Gate because it is lighter and I'm gradually being drawn into this very slow/ sluggish yet gripping narrative. 

Though I may change my mind ...   

Final Fantasy

Alright then, one more post for 2016!

Now that Final Fantasy XV (the latest in the popular JRPG franchise) is finally released, I'm once again gone a bit FF-obsessed (i,e, digging up old FF games that I have/ haven't finished yet ...) But first, thanks to YouTube, I was able to watched the cut-scene movie of FFXV and it looks v good. I know gamers complained about the story (lack of which) but I think it's okay... it's a game after all (!) and the gameplay is what really matters and that looks cool enough. And I've been playing its OST (also thanks to YouTube) ... Without too many spoilers, I was surprised to see how Noctis (the protagonist) changes towards the end of the game (like, from bad-hair brat to ... model!)

Anyway, I dusted off both Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy X-2 - both games I unlocked all the top accessories/ gears but haven't finished (cos I know finishing them won't be difficult) and made some progress.

In FF:CC, I managed to do some more missions and have beat the hardest one (almost by fluke!) It's the one with the cactaurs and I managed to beat three of them using just one phoenix. There are, like, four more missions to go before I confront the ultimate mission boss Minerva but will do the easier missions first (which I unlocked after having progressed further with the story). Now, the story bosses are just piece of cake now and I OHKO-ed Sephiroth, like, twice in what is supposed to the most challenge battle in the game itself. Oh well, too bad. I never liked Sephiroth anyway. I've also decided to get a new FF:CC PSP limited edition since the one I got has fallen into pieces ... hope the new one is ... better built (having it shipped from Italy). So when the new machine arrives I will play more missions ... 

Meanwhile, I've also picked up where I left off with FFX-2. I think I will not be able to unlock more side missions until NG+ since I messed up the beast capturing (there are three special "cups" in the fiend arena I have yet to unlock). So I have made more progress (today) and now only have the final dungeon to beat. Miraculously I think I might be able to 100% this game in my first playthrough (after missed out several, err, missables including the "Invincible" accessory!!) Just left a question in the forum to see whether it's possible to unlock what I need without having to play the whole game again ... that'd be very tedious esp the version I have is Japanese.

So it's back to the grind (so to speak!) and I may be able to finally complete both FF:CC and FFX-2 this holiday. That means I only have FFIV to complete (again, am near the end in that ... I tend to lose interest after I've unlocked all the rare items...) Other FF games I'd completed are Dissidia and Dissidia Duo Duodecim as well as Type-0. 

Now... here is the FFXV OST ... fantastic stuff...

One More Post...

... possibly before end of 2016! 

First, just posted below in a game forum...

UK PSN:

VLR & ZTD (loved them both)

Uncharted: Fight for Fortune (finally finished, great value!) 

Stranger in Sword City (unfinished)

World of Final Fantasy Demo (unfinished)

Steins; Gate (playing, v good)

Steins; Gate 0 (bought, in the queue)

Psycho Pass (bought, in the queue)

ASIA PSN:

Trail of Cold Steel 2 (carried over from 2015, fantastic game) 

Ao no Kiseki (old game but best JRPG I played this year)

Super Robot Wars ZIII (epic but unfinished) 

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (unfinished)

Digimon World - Next Order (unfinished)

Atelier Escha & Logy (unfinished)

Infinita Strada Hana (unfinished)

Summon Night 6 (playing) 

Nobunaga's Ambition Sphere of Influence Ascension (playing)

SD Gundam G Generation Genesis (playing) 

Also bought Crisis Core PSP edition on eBay, Fantastic game!!!

Did I really play all these games this year? One good thing about this blog (do people still blog?) is that it's a great record of all the games I played (might have missed out just one or two) ... sometimes I just lose track ... So it looks like game of the year for me is Ao no Kiseki, which I might pick up again next year since there are all these extra bosses I haven't fought yet (they are only available in second playthrough). But first, such a backlog to clear now! Still have Steins;Gate x 2 to finish, as well as Psycho Pass, Ascension and Gundam G Generation Genesis. Those titles will take me to end of first quarter of 2017 I reckon. 

Steins;Gate is very slow-paced (it's a VN, visual novel, after all) but the story and writing/translation is pretty good so will persevere. Then will play its "sequel" (mid-quel, whatever you call it), Steins;Gate 0, after that. I really love this time travel/ alternate timeline stuff. The Nobunaga game is another one I just like to go back to time and time again. Empire building is really not my thing but it's not one of those games you can play and play in a sitting ... so, in between bursts of Steins;Gate will play Gundam, which is a genre (turn-based tactics/strategy) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Hopefully I won't have to buy a new game till mid next year ... still waiting for the much-anticipated release of Trail of Cold Steel (Sen no Kiseki) III. I think that will be totally AWESOME and EPIC! And I hope it will be released on the Vita and not an PS4 exclusive!!!

Elsewhere, will be heading off to Bali for a yoga retreat next week. It's going to be on Yin yoga but I just wannabe away and staying at somewhere quiet and nice ... and have lots of massage >< Will practise and practise my handstand and take lots of IGs LOL ... so that is my simple Christmas vacation plan for this year.

So will take my Sony Xperia Z5 Compact with me to Bali ... still an excellent camera phone and it works very well with the htc RE camera.

I'm not sure about the LG V20... it's a beautiful phone (Made in S Korea!) but it's just TOO BIG to use (I just realised I cannot stand phablets)... so maybe will box it for now (than buy another phone to replace it...) I mean, if Samung releases a new colour for its Galaxy S7, maybe I'll think of replacing the V20 but otherwise, I think will just wait until 2017 and see that the new year will bring ^^