We spent most of the day playing Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, which is to say, we spent most of the day learning to play it. As an import genre, bringing an RPG over from Japan is a fool's errand. Plunging into menu trees four deep, and then realizing your adventures have somehow produced a carrot is a unique experience that combines ordinary thought with a sort of contorted brain yoga. It also raises troubling questions about vegetables. However, as I've stated before, even the most rudimentary successes with an alien interface give one the impression that they are a magician.
It was a combination of Gabriel's bottomless affection for the title and Travis from Videogame Depot's timely execution that brought it to us, and I am pleased to say that we can now drop things from our inventory with a very high rate of success. We can also filet a goblin. We can even filet and cook a goblin simultaneously, by combining a "strong attack" and fire magic. Spells and special abilities are targeted in the playfield by a circle that corresponds to the player's color, and two or more players may combine the effects of their action by properly timing their attacks. It works in ways you'd expect, like multiple fire or cure spells creating a more enhanced version of the spell. It also works in ways you don't expect, like combining different attack spells and producing another type of damage altogether. It's fun to experiment, and it's even more fun to land such unstoppable energies on an evil rodent. You can read about a few such combinations in the only GameFAQ available for the game, as those are pretty much the same ones we came up with.
The game is beautiful, and any attempt to capture that here will either fail outright or venture perilously close to poetry. With four races and a handful of outfits for each gender, each character is easy to identify and brims with unique animation. Even just looking at the menu makes me want to sing a song. It really is a jewel for the system, something that shows what the machine is capable of when someone takes it seriously. They're saying February for the US release, I think we might have mentioned that before, presumably for the prodigious volume of localization they need to do. There's a lot of stuff I didn't mention, like how you have to choose your parents' profession or how you can spraypaint moogles. As much as I'd like to shake you by the shoulders and reveal all, I'd rather leave much of the mystery in reserve.
Since we've both beaten Kotor now - with opposite Force polarities, of course - the portion of our history that was dense with comment on the title is (probably) over. By way of a final word on the topic, I just want to say that Bioware has not only outdone themselves with the game, they've probably outdone Lucas. They don't make me regret my nostalgia for the Universe, rather, they reward me for it and remind me why I invested myself so in the first place.
(CW)TB out.
only when i pedal past them
LANWERX
Bellevue, WA
707 112 Ave N.E.
Bellevue, WA 98004
The doors open at 11:00am and will close sometime between 11:00pm and midnight.
From 11:00am to 5:00pm we will have Guilty Gear XX and Soul Calibur 2 running on three or four television sets. These are all free play and it will simply be winner stays.
Around 5 the big events will start.
Halo Tournament, Amateur Level
- 5 PM Start
- No entry fee
- Teams of four (Can sign up individually for walk-ons)
- Team Slayer to 50, Maps TBD
- 32 Team Limit
- Single Elimination
- Prizes TBD
Halo Tournament, Pro Level
- 8:30 PM Start
- $10/Team Entry Fee at the door
- 1st Prize: 65% of Entry Fees
- 2nd Prize: 35% of Entry Fees
- 32 Team Limit
- Single Elimination
- Teams of Four (Can sign up individually for walk-ons)
- Team Slayer to 50, Maps TBD
If you want to register for one of the tournaments Email the following to brad, if it's a team application, just give us a team name and all your handles:
Name
Handle
Email
Type of Entry (Individual Walk-On or Team)
Team Name (if applicable)
Other players on Team? Name/email/handle. (if applicable)
Tournament (Amateur Level, Pro or Both)
Registration is only required if you want to play in one of the tournaments.
Other stuff going on throughout the day:
There will be 64 computers available for your gaming needs. These machines do cost money however so keep that in mind. I know many of you purchased a membership at our last event, which means you'll get a sweet deal this time.
There will be a table set up where you will be able to purchase Penny Arcade posters and a few shirts. The San Diego Comic Con depleted our shirt reserves but we will bring what we have left. We have plenty of the Mr. Period shirt as well as both posters but the other designs will be limited. For those of you that are interested I'll have the first four or five pages of the new Cardboard Tube Samurai comic book "Purity" on hand and available for perusing.
Tycho and I will be hanging out all day. If you need anything signed or blessed or whatever just find us.
Although we will do our best to stop it, there is a good chance Brad will get his hands on the blow horn again. This means two things: Lots of annoying sirens and "Blow Horn Trivia". So brush up on your PA history if you wanna win some stuff.
Bungie will be giving two demonstrations of Halo 2 throughout the day. We aren't sure on the times yet but I'd imagine one will be in the afternoon and the other will be in the evening. This will be a live walkthrough of their E3 demo. They have also hinted that there may be an extra special surprise so keep your fingers crossed.
We may also have Halo PC available for play but that has not been confirmed yet. We are working on it though and I'll let you know as soon as we find out for sure.
This is gonna be a huge event and we are super excited. Be sure and tell your friends, Lanwerx Saturday August 23rd.
-Gabe out
