Dreams Of Noise

Unfortunately, I got hit with the "limited edition" bait-and-switch again...there's a collector's set of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children coming out today.

In all honesty, they did really pull out the stops, including any number of features previously Japan-release-only...a short anime-style (as opposed to CG, as the main film is) video which is part of the backstory, plus translations of the short stories.

It's still a bait-and-switch, though. Thankfully I had some DVDs I was ready to trade in...ended up with enough store credit to get the set and have $20 left over. Woo.

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Seriously? Jeez, I literally had that in my hand yesterday. The earlier edition, that is. Thanks so much for the heads-up.

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Thanks so much for the heads-up.

No problem. I only found out thanks to a random website; amazingly, no one at Katsucon of all places (where I spent most of the weekend) mentioned it.

I didn't know you liked FFVII.

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I have been a computer RPGer since before Zork. We're talkin' Tunnels of Doom on a TI 99/4A, Telengard and of course Ultima 4 on my Commodore 64/128, and the fun little Ultima knockoff by Sierra, Wrath of Denethenor. Ultima 4 was my favorite RPG of all time until I played FFVII on the PlayStation. (It's since been supplanted by The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. I haven't played Oblivion enough for that to knock out Morrowind yet.)

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Oh, I know you were an old-school gamer. I just don't remember you ever mentioning feelings about the FF series one way or another...or my memory could just be screwed up today, you never know.

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Don't know that I ever said anything. I thought the game was pretty cool, a lot of fun, interesting concept... and then, one day, I summoned Odin, and got the decapitation FMV. Oh my god. Hooked for life.

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*grin*

Though I am a bit curious...what do you mean by "interesting concept"? The story, or the gameplay system? (World map, battle screen, etc.)

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All of it. The Materia was pretty cool, I liked the fighting and magic systems, and I loved just travelling over the world. And the constantly twisting plot. Just a cool, cool game.

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Thought you might have meant that...which leads me to this. Did you play its precursors? The SNES-era Final Fantasy games?

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Nope. Used to make jokes about 'em -- "Okay, we now have the fourth Final Fantasy. Do they even know what the word 'final' means?"

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*grin* Yeah, we made those jokes too.

In your Copious Free Time, you might want to track them down. (They're mostly ported to Playstation by now.) A lot of the interesting stuff in VII started with those...the ATB system (the time bars), the party size, the world-exploring, different and interesting magic systems...and also, fantastic stories. Again, multiple twists and, more impressively, all you had for visuals were 16-bit sprites. But you still cared.

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per_solo

I still think the story in FFIII (VI, actually) was what sold me. I loved 2, but 3 just kept going on, and on, and all the disasters and apocalypse and Espers (think that's right, it's been a long time, and my SNES died a while ago). Locke, Terra, Shadow, Sabin.

And, characterization and..gah, too much to remember with it.

Though, the Chocobo Breeding in VII was awesome.

Unfortunately, I stopped at 9, haven't been able to afford any of the newer systems since, thought that PS2 price is starting to look really nice.

FFIII is one I recommend to anyone, at anytime. Yeah, the play-style is outdated now, but the storyline alone is still worth it.

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Hmmm...should I admit here that I'm a complete Morrowind geek too? Love whipping out my Daedric Dai-Katana and laying the smackdown on random monsters...lets out a lot of aggression, LOL!

Back when I had a Playstation, I also did the FFVII thing; dunno why, but I liked racing the damn Chocobos. :-)

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Roger that. In my case, it's a Glass Katana. I tend to like the lighter armor and weapons. Although getting a Daedric bow and some Daedric arrows really kicks ass....

After I finished FFVII, I found out I'd missed a good number of assorted hidden spells and power-ups (http://www.cheatscodesguides.com/playstation-cheats/final-fantasy-vii/), most notably the Knights of the Round Table. First game I'd ever encountered that had really hidden stuff like that.

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Ah, KOTR. That, plus fighting the WEAPONS, was a sure-fire way to lose a week.

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I didn't have that much trouble with Emerald Weapon, actually...but Ruby Weapon...grrr, that's the one part of FFVII I never managed to beat.

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Most of my armor was glass, including a Glass Helm that I enchanted with Night-Eye constant effect. Quite handy, that...and the only way I found some of the FFVII stuff was flipping through a borrowed strategy guide. Gotta love the Knights...though when you paired it with W-Summons, it would take forever to end the turn...

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I often use the Lights 300 mod, which makes the lighting much more realistic, i.e., tends to make the whole game darker. Eventually, I got magically powerful enough to make an exquisite silk shirt with a permanent Night Eye 30 on it. I really, really felt as if I had earned that sucker. One of my most satisfying gaming moments.

And, yeah, the only problem I had with FFVII was that there was no way to get around the FMV for the summonses. I know they were trying to make the experience more cinematic, but I could only sit there and watch the same things for so long....

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per_solo

You mean that One summon of KOTR wasn't enought for most things?

Damn Damn...I'm starting to miss these games now.

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I'm finally getting caught up on CSI: Las Vegas season 6...The Departed and Hollywoodland are next up on the must see list...and I do want to see Prestige, Babel, and Flushed Away.

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poltr1

I'm still watching and groovin' on the Animusic DVD. One of these days -- maybe tonight -- I'll watch Animusic 2.

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poltr1

I almost forgot. After this Lent thing is over, it's time for Dyngus Day! (Just thing spring thing for a Polish Buffalonian like me.)

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sdelmonte

Nothing on my list just yet (though we do need to see The Prestige).

But I can recommend Flushed Away. It's not as good as the previous Aardman films in terms of story, but it's lots of fun, has some really good voicework, and the conversion of the Aardman style to CGI is a success.

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capplor.livejournal.com

I was too busy to catch it the first time, and my brother gave me the complete set for Christmas. (Well, other than seasons 1 & 2, which convinced me I wanted it).

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drzarron.livejournal.com

XYZZY

A Hollow Voice Says "PLUGH"

You are in a series of twisty turny passages all alike.

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Don't make me Hunt the Wumpus.

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wildcard9.livejournal.com

Forget about the Wumpus, beware of the Grue!

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hms42

Which maze? I have a Commodore Pet Basic programs book that has 2 versions... Standard maze and a 6 different shape version. I did convert it to PC DOS Basic (dropped a few lines) and combined the program into a 7 maze version...

I can even locate that and make it available (along with a copy of basic that runs on XP!) if wanted.

I just dug up a basic program that produced a dot matrix calendar of Snoopy that I think I last ran in aprox 1990 or so... (Calendar is at work next to the fax machine.)

Harold

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allisona.livejournal.com

The Prisoner :). I'm blitzing through the entire series for the first time and I'm enjoying it hugely! Curious to see if any of the major mysteries are revealed by the final episode. We'll see...

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