I finally beat Lost Odyssey yesterday evening! \o/

I enjoyed it, but the end part of the game leaves a lot to be desired. Not because it's bad as such - some of the gameplay is frustrating. For example, three separate times you think you're at the point of no return, and it's only on the third that that's true. The other twice, yeah, you can't back out of the dungeon once you're in there, but they're short dungeons, and you're still free to return to wherever once you're done.

The other thing I take issue with is a certain thing that is literally not mentioned at any other point in the game apart from the very end - the place where the villain wants to be so he can accrue all the power ever. You do see said place in flashbacks, but you're never told where it is. So it feels a little like a Big Lipped Alligator Moment.

But those are my only gripes. It's a good game, and I'd definitely recommend it to a friend :)

Now I don't know whether to finish another game I haven't (like FFXIII-2), or play an entirely new one (e.g. NieR).

~

Questions 16 - 20 from the music meme, AKA CHOOSING IS HARD OK (all the questions)

Read more... )

(no subject)

Aug. 8th, 2015 11:57 am
muladhara: (music)
I am at the final boss of Lost Odyssey!

I was going to beat him, and then he cheated and petrified everyone all at once and I got a bloody game over. I don't know when I will get another chance to try to beat him, but I need to remember to equip anti-petrify (I know there's an item you can get that annuls all negative status effects, but I don't have it, and I'm not going to find it).

WHATEVER MAN. I've nearly finished this game! FINALLY!

~

I know you want more music meme ;) , so here it is! (all the questions)

Read more... )

(no subject)

Jul. 8th, 2015 09:46 pm
muladhara: (brb gaming)
I went to Burnley on Monday, and am now a proud owner of second hand copies of First Class and Days of Future Past. If the good Wolverine film had been available, I would've got that, too. So now my X-Men DVD collection is almost complete! (Ideally, I'd like the 90's cartoon series, too, because augh my teenagerdom).

(Reading the old comics - I'm in the late nineties at the moment - make me realise that I don't like Chris Bachalo's art any more (I used to think he was the biz, back when I was younger). Also that boy a loooot of artists in those days had similar styles and they're all vaguely manga-esque because oh crap remember when that was cool? I like that I can now see how badly drawn some of the art is*, and how much focus there is on boobs and arses (and that annoys me). I know I can do better than this).

~

I am this close to the end of Lost Odyssey, I think? I finally decided to stop putting off finishing it (because I hated where I was stuck), so I went back, levelled as much as the most recent dungeon would allow**, which wasn't very much. And then I went to do the following boss fight. Which was awful. It's timed, although there's a trick to it (casting sleep on some of the bosses), but getting it done correctly is a pain in the arse. UGH *shakes tiny fists of rage*

I'm determined to finish it, though. I want to play one of my new games! (But I'm determined to finish some that need finishing first!) I'd like to play Lightning Returns, but I'll need to finish FFXIII-2 first (which would knock another game off the list \o/ )

~

I posted this on twitter, but: I am SO tempted to make a business card that says my business is "fine dwarven crafts".

~

*Some of it really is. I make a point of noting this from time to time, as I was once told pointedly that, if I wanted to draw comics, I was really going to have to know how to draw well (implying that I couldn't right then) and. Yeah.

**The way levelling works is really interesting, there's not exactly a cap per dungeon, but there's a point where you don't earn as much XP as you were doing (I think it literally goes down to three or four XP per fight, where you could've been earning hundreds previously). Anyone who's below this level will hit it speedily, meaning that anyone who's under-levelled should catch up fairly quickly.
~ Using this icon because why the hell not.

~ I made an intro post (of sorts) here, so if you haven't seen it, you can go and look (if you want).

But essentially, hello new people! *waves*

~ I am aware that some people decided to add me because I said I was writing at the moment. This is totally true! I'm just not very disciplined. If you want to check out some of what I have, there's an excerpt here, and even though that post's a million years old, you're welcome to comment on it if you want to.

~ I made the lunatic decision to walk to town yesterday! It's three miles and I'm out of practice! As a result, I'm now very sore in the oddest places (I know people say this, but seriously, it's like the right side of my arse, and the inside of my left knee that hurt the most?)

That said, if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have seen my BFF drive past (in the opposite direction) in her car, and then seen her partner outside the pub by the park. I stopped to talk to him for a bit, and we mostly talked about conventions and comics. It was all good!

(Though I was lazy and caught the bus back home, but I'd planned to do that anyway. It's all uphill going back).

~ Also we have a new TV now! It feels weird, because I'd kind of got used to not having one. I played some Lost Odyssey, and am stuck where I was stuck before (pretty much the Eastern Air Spirit Temple), and that sucks.

I did do the boss battle for that part, but I'm failing hardcore at the next part because it's timed and OMFG if there's one thing I hate, it's timed sections. THEY ARE NOT FUN. WHY DOES ANYONE THINK THEY ARE. This is not even the first one in this game! I think I'm going to have to go back and grind for a bit, because a couple of the characters are lower levels than they should be, and obviously the higher level I am, the harder I can hit things, and the quicker they will die.

That said, the game looks amazing on the new TV. Everything is so crisp! And legible! And the TV itself is so light! (I can lift it with no hassle - I'm not a weakling, but I'm not like, the world's strongest man, either. OBVIOUSLY). And it looks waaaay smaller than the old one, but it's got less surround, and does not have two massive speakers on either side. It reminds me a lot of one of the monitors from my previous job (and it's got a VGA port, so it totally could be!)

~ Jaws of Hakkon is out of XBLA finally! And it's cheaper than I was expecting! Which is good, means I don't have to find as much cash for the credit :D
The TV broke on Monday afternoon. While I was in the middle of a boss fight in Lost Odyssey. The picture just went, but there was still sound, and that's how it's been ever since. So mum has had to get a new TV, but the one she decided on isn't in stock for at least two weeks. It could be up to four, depending.

It's like the universe just doesn't want me to finish Lost Odyssey ;)

(I could, of course, use my TV upstairs, but I've got so used to the huge screen that my square CRT will be a huge let down).

(I thought I ought to feel bad about the TV breaking, and I kind of do, but it wasn't even my fault. It had just come to the end of its natural life. And apparently the screen going is a common fault with the brand of TV that we own. Also we got longer out of it than most people on who owned one, so we can't really complain).

It's very quiet without a TV but honestly, I don't mind that.

~

Did you know that my secret is that I am really into the shoujo aesthetic? Like 70s/80s style with tons of detail and so on.

Seriously.

But, as I said on twitter, I like stuff with copious detail anyway. Not that you can tell from anything I ever draw, because I get bored easily and so don't even try to commit to that level of detail.

On Tuesday evening, I was feeling really shitty. Sometimes, when I feel that bad, I look stuff up on google image search to cheer me up, and it generally works (obviously I have to know what I want to look for). Last time it was jellyfish. I decided to look for shoujo stuff this time. And it really worked!
(I think I might go in again and look for specific series or time frames, because there's a specific look I really like).

It worked so well I went back again yesterday (and also because I was feeling shitty again. I've had it hit me a few times in the afternoon recently, like boom out of nowhere. Also with the feeling like I can't draw*, and I hate that, as drawing is one of my most favourite things).

I also dug out some of the manga I own, because I wanted to read it (I don't own a lot, and the only complete series I have is Fushigi Yuugi). I started with Mars (Fuyumi Soryo) because man, I love that story a lot (I had forgotten how much I love it. I had also forgotten I owned six volumes of it** - that's more than I thought).

I also have most of Eternal Sabbath (also by Fuyumi Soryo), and three of however many volumes it is of Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden (Yu Watase; I like this better than the original, although I like the original OK. APPARENTLY, she is now writing and publishing a story about Byakko, but I don't know much about that, apart from the blindingly obvious).

I think I know what I'm going to read next, after Mars. Probably High School Debut, because I like the sound of the heroine (she's hot-blooded, into sports, and generally a bit oblivious to stuff). There was something else as well, but I've forgotten what it was. OH WELL.

READ ALL THE COMICS. (I suppose I ought to amalgamate all my comics tags under comics, then divide as comics, comics: manga, and comics: webcomics but *shrugs* IDK or really care right now? I just like reading comics and want to make it maybe easier for other people who like comics to check out stuff I've said?? (this is why I don't separate out anime from other tv stuff any more, aside from the fact that I don't really watch much anime). IDK, IDK).

~

*It's not so much that I feel like I can't draw, more that I feel my skill level isn't appropriate for my age? Like I feel as though I should be drawing better, because I've been drawing since I was small, and I like to draw a lot? It's ridiculous, I know, but there we are.

**Sadly, Tokyopop don't exactly publish much these days***, so I'm going to have to look for the other ten volumes second-hand.

***They mostly do ebooks, which is fair enough, but I thought they were doing pretty well. Apparently not! Well, maybe they were the last time I bought manga, but given that was nearly ten years ago...
On the fourth disc of Lost Odyssey. I swear the puzzle temples/areas are there to sort of string the game out a bit. I'd actually like an HD remake with an expansion on the story, but knowing my luck, it'd be on the XBone.

~

I made some stuff I've never made before!

I made banana chips, and I cooked them for too long, and they're horribly burnt (and taste kind of gross, but I sort of feel like I have to eat them now). I think part of it is down to our oven running too hot sometimes, and the bananas being very over ripe. I had to put some in the recycling because it was mush and wouldn't have held together. So next time I need less ripe bananas, and less time in the oven.

I also made tomato chutney! Because I had a glut of tomatoes (and I've still got a million left, so I'll have to make some more). I had to find a really simple one, because pretty much all the ones I looked at required things I didn't have, and that couldn't be bought at a corner shop. And I winged it on which spices to use because the recipe I used said put chilli in, and I don't like them so NOPE. In the end, I used cardamom, ginger, and garlic. So if it tastes awful, at least it smelt nice while it was cooking.

So at least that's one thing off my goals for this year, even if it wasn't onion chutney (it had onions in it, though).

~

Also I went out and was sociable!

I don't know who remembers (or if I even really said what we were up to) but, at one point last year, me and some friends were getting together once a week and doing craft stuff. We stopped around December time because the place where were meeting suddenly weren't happy about it, and because some friends had Xmas commitments (they sing in a choir and there was an Xmas concert). And then we didn't restart again after because winter and also I fell into a Dragon Age shaped hole (which they don't know about, lolololol. I mean, they know I play video games, but they don't need me nerding to them about my mage boyfriend. THAT'S WHAT YOU GUYS ARE FOR ;D ).

Anyway, I was talking to Jackie a while ago, and said that I missed us getting together. She said she did too, so we ought to start again. Only we didn't, because video games, and also Jackie has three kids and herself to look after so it just didn't happen.

Until we got a slightly more organised friend involved. So now we're meeting once a week at her house, and that's what I was doing when being sociable. Or, what I was supposed to be doing.

Because she was having a ukelele lesson when I got there (it overran, I think). Hence the post last night. ALTHOUGH. Her playing the uke is making me want to practice guitar again, so I suppose that's a good thing - I tuned my guitar for the first time in years a bit since and hearing it be in tune was amazing. Then I futzed about on it because lovely sounds. So that's good (though it doesn't help with learning to play the piano...)

Also I am working on a commission for said organised friend, which is great because that means I (temporarily) get some money! Unlike the last couple of commissions I had, I might actually remember to take photos for posterity (and showing off purposes ;) ) this time.

P.S. if interested in a commission, please check here (btw one thing I meant to mention on there was that payment plans are available to all, no matter how much you are paying me)
Lost Odyssey!

I decided to install the fourth disc as the internets say that, as long as it can access the disc OK, once it's installed, there should be no problems playing. I don't think I'm anywhere near disc four yet - probably about halfway through disc three? But I thought I'd install it before I got there, because you only get the opportunity while playing the game to swap discs, not install. So.

It went OK, and installed fine! I checked the disc and it seemed all right, gave it a clean just to be sure, and then put it in. It was doing fine, and then went a little hairy at forty percent, and I thought it was going to stall, but it didn't! \o/

things I think are spoilers, including a biggie )

~

I may not understand the glut of dystopian YA SF, but I am totally into the story that's being told on [twitter.com profile] dystopianYA

(I think I might make a list of daft twitters I follow. Because they are certainly daft).

~

Meme I nicked from [personal profile] halley:

q&a under here )
Still playing Lost Odyssey. On the start of disc three now. When I played before, I got part of the way through this disc, and then stopped for whatever reason, and never came back to it :(

I do know one thing that put me off ever finishing, which is that some of the EU disc fours are borked (turns out NA discs, too! Only the JP/AU discs are OK - because of storage. Ours are in paper disc holders, the JP/AU ones not. YAY!) I mean, there are fixes, and I could just get another copy and hope for the best, but I really just hope mine is OK. I'd like to finish this game, it's not long, and I'm really enjoying it.

Jansen has definitely improved. Kaim, it turns out, is a soppy ball of feels. Seth continues to be awesome. (I have no thoughts about Ming, and I only just got Sarah, so can't really say anything about her yet). I have only died once, and that was because I got a non-standard game over, because I failed to understand that when the characters said I had to knock someone out, they did not mean reduce their HP to zero; they meant put them to sleep.

Listening to the German dub track is improving my language skills, I think! Maybe next up is improving my German reading skills *sideyes Inquisition*

~

BOOKS! I have all the books to read!

I am still making slowish progress with The Drawing of the Three. I seem to whip through Detta's parts, and then it slows down when I get to Eddie and Roland, because Eddie is still constantly whinging about heroin withdrawal (I get that he's just gone through the coldest of cold turkeys, but I have little to no patience for addicts). I'm finding him less annoying than I did, but right now he just makes me want to kick him.

Other stuff I have to read:

- Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, which is the sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I started reading it last night because I've been so impatient to get it, but I was so tired it annoyed me, and that made me feel sad :(

- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, which [profile] kotetsu inadvertently reminded me about.

- The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which I have previously rejected in the past (because Shiver did my nut), but [personal profile] musesfool has read this and the sequels, and fallen in love with them, and I am kind of curious to see why. (I would like to register eyerolling that the main character is called Blue, there is someone else called Gansey and I did want to say WHO THE HELL CALLS THEIR CHILD PERSEPHONE. Er, except that I know someone who did).

(I dislike this trend of picking out ~SUPER~SPECIAL~ names for characters in YA stories because...I don't know about you guys, but reading about someone with the same or similar name as me was always kind of a pull? Also giving your characters daft names wasn't a thing when I was a teenager and thus reading YA books constantly. Or if it was, I have blocked it from my memory).

- Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, which is not fiction at all, but a book about the author's experiences with depression. It's supposed to be really good, or something.

(Not that I'm feeling suicidal, but I like reading about other people's experiences with mental illness because I find it interesting).

- And I requested Divergent by Veronica Roth, so I can see what the fuss is about?? Wonder why dystopian futures are such a thing right now? (I don't understand the attraction myself. Also I suppose I've had my fill of dystopian sci-fi already *aged sigh*)

(I didn't want The Hunger Games, and there seems to have been less flailing about Divergent (apart OMG THE MOVIE WRECKED IT! Apparently?) so ultimately, I don't know???)

~

Also, I don't write fanfic any more, but I saw a post on tumblr a while back where someone imagined an AU for Inquisition in which Anders was the Inquistor (I can't see it myself, but I have reasons for that), and the following popped into my head, and refuses to leave:

behind a cut as it gives away a spoiler for the start of the game )

(no subject)

May. 6th, 2015 10:30 pm
muladhara: (mass effect)
I may as well be playing Lost Odyssey for the first time because I remember next to nothing about it (as it's four years since I looked at it last). Well. I remembered a thing I've now forgotten, and I remembered the boss fight in the ghost town, because I had to do it several times through the first time I played.

I had forgotten how much I love Seth. I had also forgotten what a pile of tropes that I hate about Japanese media that Jensen is*. I think he improves, but I really can't remember? Kaim is stoic and awesome and ♥

*That said: I still do love that your first acquired mage is male instead of automatically female because lol tropes, or whatever.

I had entirely forgotten that the game has other language dubs than the English and Japanese. I had it on Japanese originally, because nothing beats the entire cast saying GURANDO STAFFU! in as hammy tones as is possible. I now have it on the German dub because I need more practice listening. I understand more spoken words than I thought, so yay WINNING. And it must have been a thing across all the dubs because they're just as bad when saying Grand Staff, too (sorry, would write in German, but didn't catch what the second word was).

~

In other news, I've been extracting the sound from Awakening, because I wanted a certain thing Nate says for a message notification (hey, if I can have Cassandra sounding disgusted every time someone tweets me, I can sure as hell have someone else telling me a thing for something else - email, in this case).

Three things about it:

~ it's too much fun (and WAY easier than I thought it would be).

~ Oghren tells Velanna that baby dwarves are rocks that have to be placed in lava to hatch. And she believes him.
(I have never heard this before, because I don't let Velanna join, and I never take Oghren out).

~ I think Greg Ellis had trouble losing his actual (Lancs) accent when he did Anders' battle shouts, and that makes me giggle a lot.
(Also I did not realise that Anders yells "I'll show you why mages are feared!" in Awakening? I hear him say it A LOT in DAII because only healer, but never noticed it previously. Clearly, I fail at everything).
(I'm going to put a few together and upload it because. Well. Because I can).

I want a PC copy of DAII so I can extract the sound from that (and DAI, but used prices for that are still ridiculous, because it's only what? six months old?) Also I dunno, I just like listening to people? Voices, man, they are totally my poison.
I have not gamed for several days, because I haven't felt like it.

Except that today I was feeling sorry for myself because I've been achy all week, and then I had bad stomach ache today (cripplingly so until about twenty minutes before I started writing this post). So because I've been feeling sorry for myself, I've been thinking about games that are easy to play and make me happy. Outside of Mass Effect/Dragon Age II/DA:I, that list is small. And I am trying to give myself a break from Bioware, damnit! (Though let's be honest, the lure of Dorian is WAY too strong, and the possibility that this is an Inquisition spoiler? )

(Oh yeah, talking of DA:I, I was saving up remainders of birthday money/gift money for when Jaws of Hakkon finally drops on Xbox 360 (I don't think it has yet? - release date is apparently 26th May) - well anyway, mum saw a Queen t-shirt and asked if I wanted it. Hahahahaha. I said she should get it, and I'd pay her back with my saved up cash. Now. She may renege on this in the future, but all in all, she's pretty good at getting me gifts, and it's not an expensive t-shirt, so I don't mind offering to pay for it??

Long, confusing story short: yes t-shirt, no dlc)

Anyway, I had also been discussing games I haven't finished/beaten and games I own but haven't played with a couple of friends. My list of unbeaten games is horrendous. My list of never played? Not as bad as I imagined. In a pile of 46 games, I had only not played a mere six of them. That's not even my entire game collection. That's just my Xbox/PS2/DS games (and it's not even all my PS2 games). I am actually pretty pleased with myself.

*smug mode*

I'd said to a friend I'd try to finish my FFIX replay (because it's a non beaten game, and it's cute, and I've been talking about it a lot on twitter. I haven't. I've also been thinking a lot about Lost Odyssey, so I decided today it was down to that, or try to complete The Last Remnant. The Random Number God in The Last Remnant doesn't like me very much, so Lost Odyssey it was.

I had forgotten how much I love Seth. She is awesome. Also I am much in love Kaim's impractical, kidney-exposing armour (I know he can't die, but that's no excuse! On the other hand, it's about as practical as some ladies' armour in some fantasy games so...whatever).

~

Also I started an overambitious Art Thing™ and I will maybe talk about it when I post a pic, which will hopefully be within the next few days. So then I can show you how I accidentally the Gameboy palette on it.
So when I made those scrap monsters, the first one I made, I fell in love with. Well, he's not for sale, but I've been doing some photos with him, and I'm now pleased to announce that he has his own blog - [personal profile] fimbleton

If you've ever read My Milk Toof, it's kind of like that, except not (because, while I probably had that in the back of my mind when I started thinking what to do with the photos, the last thing I want to do is rip off Inhae, because I respect the enormous amount of work she puts into those posts).

So I'd really like it if you took a look (although maybe not now, since there's only one picture right now, and it isn't very exciting), and let me know what you think?

I'm going to try to update once a week, if I can, maybe a little bit longer apart, I don't know. All I know is I don't want to burn myself out with it right now, because I'm having a ball with it :D

~*~

Ugh [insert complaints about chronic pain/really short menstrual cycles here].

Although I suppose the best thing about being self-employed is I can take a lie down when I need to (although it's not helping with clearing the kitchen for workspace right now).

~*~

Hng. Going to go and beat up some more monsters on the Xbox, I think.

(And I think next up, actually, is a replay and actual finish of Lost Odyssey. Although maybe without reading Kaim's memories this time, as they're so. fucking. depressing).

(no subject)

May. 13th, 2011 10:22 pm
muladhara: (neo)
~ I need to scan some more stuff tomorrow, otherwise I am going to run out of stuff for the sketchblog. (I wrote this yesterday originally, and it's still valid now, because I totally fail at scanning).

~ I am now onto disc three of Lost Odyssey. I wish I could say I was surprised by the plot but, er, I read spoilers and remembered them and...there's several plot holes to begin with (the characters learn stuff, but don't share some of it with the player, ever). I'm going to stick with it, though. It has item crafting (with the weirdest items ever!*) and learning abilities from items. Which is kind of pretty much all I need to keep me happy in a game.

Plus I kind of want to be Seth when I grow up :3

~ I am actually going to dig out the record player and listen to my actual vinyl records at some point in the very near future. The only problem will be finding somewhere to put it where the cat will not try to catch the records as they revolve.

~ Now feeling guilty about not being a good moderator (i.e. not posting stuff, trying to get people to join, etc). Oh, who am I kidding, this is why I've never offered to moderate anything ever before. (And also because I thought I might get trigger happy with the ban hammer).

~ Also feeling guilty about not making art. I guess it might help if I actually knew what I wanted to do, and didn't feel so bad about colouring stuff on the computer.

~ Time to stop procrastinating and post this thing before it sits here for yet another night.

~*~

*No, seriously. A lot of them involve sticky tape, and I just imagine Kaim sitting there with a roll of sellotape, joining things together, and getting annoyed when the tape sticks to itself.

(no subject)

May. 6th, 2011 08:36 pm
muladhara: (yume nikki)
I bought Lost Odyssey the day before yesterday.

I don't have too many opinions yet, but I like all the characters so far (well, Jansen's got to grow on me yet*). I hope Seth will be seriously kick-ass. Got the Japanese voice track on, and that's cool (still immune to voice cues ;) Cooke is going to have a squeaky voice, though, isn't she?)

Awesome soundtrack is awesome *g* and I like the visuals. Kaim's memories are as heart-breaking as promised, however.

(I am disappointed to see that Ming has the most common superpower).

I have totally fallen in love with the concept art, and I googled the artist in question - Takehiko Inoue (he did a manga called Slam Dunk, which I know I'll never read) - and OMG HIS ART IS AMAZING. I THINK I AM IN LOVE.

(Also I totally wish I could draw/paint like that. BRB BEING ENVIOUS).

~*~

I keep thinking I have other stuff to say, but I don't really. Been mostly gaming, thinking about arting, and in the process of making a long list of chores that need doing in the house (first up is sorting out the airing cupboard; very glamorous, I know, but it needs doing).

~*~

*I do approve of our resident mage (at the moment**) being male. And still squishy as mages should be. Hee.

**We're about to pick up another one. Sadly, she conforms to the stereotype in every single way. SIGH.

Profile

muladhara: (Default)
well-informed doorstop

June 2025

S M T W T F S
1 234 567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 12th, 2025 08:21 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios