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 ^^

An Update

Wow, it has been a month since last entry ... so a quick update:

In Game Land, am on the final chapter of Summon Night 6: Lost Borders. Despite not having played any previous instalments I still manage to enjoy this game, given the characters are quite fun and well fleshed out (I didn't skip any of the conversations, granted I did skim over some of them). The gameplay is not difficult at all, I breezed through much of the game after the basic eight-member team was unlocked. And here is my latest (thematic) setup: 

Raju + Isuto// Amu + Natsumi // Enysha + Gian Crastof (powerful!) //
The last two I am more flexible, depending on what's required to get brave orders:
Aty + Rexx // Aya + Touya Fukazaki or Hayato // Kyle + Scarrel
I'm waiting to unlock Melgitos ... he should be fun with his special skills. I take it there will be more unlockables in NG+ so will see ...

Elsewhere am still trying to get into Steins;Gate ahead of the release of its sequel Steins;Gate 0 ... but this being a visual novel (and in Japanese with subtitles) it IS hard to get into. Meanwhile am also playing the old Marvel Alliance/X-men games on the old PSP so I'm a bit all over the place. 

In Tech Land, I traded in the Sony Xperia XA (beautiful that it is, battery life is really bad) for the new LG V20 (also in rose gold LOL). It's definitely a super upgrade but the screen (5" 7) is so large I have not been using it much. I did try to install the G5 kaleidoscope live wallpaper onto it but without success :-(  

So my latest lineup is now: Blackberry Priv (which battery life is just getting worse *argh*) + Sony Xperia Z5 Compact + LG V20. The J-Phone and Sidekick are just there as spares .. the latter I won't be able to use unless in the US ...

Kathryn Budig is always so inspiring  

And, finally, in Yoga Land, I am taking a very short break before a three-weekend handstand workshop, which I am really looking forward to attending. I will see if there are tricks that can compensate my lack of strength in the upper arm + shoulder muscles. Think I did too much reversed binding I've injured my right shoulder ... I reckon that will take months to heal ... and am off to Bali end of the year for a retreat ... despite the (long-distance) travel am determined to savour and enjoy every second while there. 

KineMaster

This is the best video editing app EVER! It is quite easy/ intuitive to use -- though you have to fiddle with it a bit to understand how Everything works. Today I finally figured out how to get rid of the "title text goes here" (by actually tapping on those words on the screen -- doh! -- then type in spaces) as well as doing split clips for slowing part(s) of the video down. Will have to do a lot more of these. Really FUN ~  

Summon Night 6 & Steins;Gate

Have two new, but very different, games on the go ... Summon Night 6: Lost Borders is a tactical/ strategy RPG, like a cuter and easier version of Tactics Ogre, and a very odd but fascinating visual novel called Steins;Gate, which has the feel of the Danganronpa series but with a lot less gameplay. The latter, in English, is available on the UK (not Asian) PSN.

I have never played any Summon Night games so this fan service edition feels very fresh (though missing out on all the references obviously) and I just love the cutesy anime, not unlike One Piece (it actually has a pirate character). Looks like the game is divided into bits with different characters in each. Not that keen on this structure since I do do a bit of level grinding and now I've come to the point to switch over to a completely different set of characters (and have to level them up)... but I hope special skills remain unlocked and new characters come with new ways of playing the game. Actually, I don't know how to execute the "assist attacks" yet ... the Chinese explanation isn't that clear. The gameplay is easy enough so far, even on Hard mode. 

Steins;Gate is just a novel and am sure I will be engrossed in this story of parallel universes/ timelines soon enough... more thoughts to come later...