Yet another game I picked up from the old dusty stack that is sitting in the corner of my room. ( I assure you , I sneezed a plenty ) Unfortunately , I can't really find any pictures in Photobucket so try to survive in this forest of words :P

Concept :

Essentially , Dragonseeds is something like a breeding game , wait , don't be put off by it. Firstly , you have to choose a combination of words to create a creature from scratch , thenchoose it's species and then raise it. Sounds simple? Hell no.

There is a total of 8 different Species. Saurian ( Which actually does resemble a dragon ) , Beetle ( A..beetle essentially , except that it's front part have a torso of a humanoid ) , Winged ( Look more like avians and birds ) , Wasp ( Like it's name , it resembles a wasp :P ) , Crustacean ( Crabs ) , Natura ( Can't really find the words to describe it :P Either way , they look odd ) , Spirit ( They usually resemble something like a Chimaera , a combination of various animal parts ) and Evil. ( They either resemble coffins or cages ) Each Species have a set Element , Fire , Aqua or Storm. ( Though some have customizable choosings )

Then , you will have to name it and wait for it to hatch in the Nursery before picking it up. Then , you would have to train it... A LOT.

The player doesn't age but the dragon does age. It will die when it reaches a certain age. Here is the Age Direction :

Baby >>> Coccoon >>> Adult >>> Coccoon >>> Senior >>> Coccoon >>> Old or Mutant or Super

This is the annoying part about this game. Depending on your word selections and training methods , it may turn out to be an Old Dragon , which would die anytime soon :P or a Mutant , which would die as well but it is significantly stronger than an Old Dragon ( Not to mention cooler ) or a Super Dragon , which is practically an Immortal unless it dies in combat. Super Dragons are also the coolest Dragons , they resemble humanoids more than the monster they used to look like and each Species have a single strain of Super Dragon. It took me ages to figure out the formula without resorting to guides and I have all 8 Super Dragons in my Saved Data :D ( Though I still do twiddle around with the Dragon genetics sequences :P )

Battle :

Rather than real time combat , you have to choose your commands before the action takes place. For example , if you choose Attack , Defend. When your done choosing , your Dragon would do an Attack on turn 1 and Defend on turn 2. Likewise , your enemy would do the same.

During battle sequences , you can move backwards , move forward , Attack , Special Attack , Defend or Taunt. Taunting dramatically increases the power of your next blow , Special Attacks are Breathe Attacks , where your Dragon would breathe out Elemental attacks depending on the element their affliated with. Defending allows you to send back Special Attacks of your enemy , though like Special Attacks , it only works a few times per game.

You may also Surrender as well , which is a wise choice to save your Dragon from death itself.

Areas :

Clone Lab : This is where you get your second dragon after losing your first one in the Introduction. After going through a sequence of Words Combinations , Species Selection , Elemental Selection and stuff like that , you would create an embryo which would be sent to the Nursery.

Nursery : You have to preset your Dragon's strong points here and wait for it to grow till the Stage where it can be taken with you. After a while , you can take it along with you by re-visiting the Nursery.

Apartment : Where you live. Here , you can set your Dragon's equipment , Save , view your Collection and Rest. Resting is skipping several hours of the day or even the entire day. This is neccessary if your Dragon is in Coccoon mode , since you can't actually do anything else or to increase your Dragon's HP. ( But weight will increase as well , and that is a bad thing actually )

Battle Arena : This is a Tourney basically. This game doesn't actually have a storyline , all there is is a intro and an ending :P You will have to gradually fight your way up to the Champion so the only way to win it all is with a Super Dragon since they won't die by age.

Forest of Memory : This is the resting grounds of Dragons , a release grounds of Dragons and a hunting grounds for Dragons. You can catch developed Wild Dragons here but they cannot be used for the Battle Arena. I have read that the Forest of Memories will make WildDragons depending on the save data you have on your second memory card as well , though I don't think I have any special Wild Dragons to speak of.

BioBank : This is something like a...bank for your dragons. When stored here , their stats , age and everything would be frozen in time. So this is a perfect place to store your dragons if you wanna switch the dragons your using. You can also Clone Dragons here as well. I used this method to "maintain" the life of some of my Mutant Dragons. I have also recently found this out , if you had let your dragon stay in a tube for some time , and took it out and it died in battle , you can recreate your dragon. Though naturally , you would lose it's former equipment.

Shop : The owner , Nancy , would sell you regular Dragon equipments so this is a headstart on getting equipments.

Junk Shop : The owner here , Ishuka ,is a bit cranky but sometimes , rare and powerful equipments may be sold here. Provided that you can afford it of course.

Pablo : Well , you can get involved in bet fights here. This is a good place to rake in the gold if your dragon is powerful but unfortunately , you can't use Super Dragons here. ( Cranky ol' Pub owner *mutters curses miserably* )

Training Center : As it's name suggests , you can train your Dragons here. Doing so will raise their Muscle ( Attack ) , Special ( For special Attacks ) and Speed. There are 3 various training methods here as well.

Well , either way , this game kinda reminds me of Monster Rancher 2 ( Which is another game I have on my PS1 ) , though it's far less irritating and complex in every way. Though I do get annoyed when my Dragon turns into an Old or Mutant rather than the Super Dragon which I intend to make. ( and I probably lost more than 20 dragons due to age or battles :P )

Once again , I have returned to my old stack of PS1 games ( Just to remininsnce a bit ) and I found my good ol' Bushido Blade disc lying amongst the pile of forgotten CDs. Well , I have started playing it again but my skills have rusted to such a state that I keep getting killed at least once per match :P

The gameplay of Bushido Blade is similar to most weapon basedfighting games , except that the concept is a bit different. Such as being able to turn around and run , easy to use control schemes ( Unless your using advanced attacks ) , bigger map etc. etc. There isn't a HP bar either , one good slash and your dead. Though some attacks might simply just cause one of your hands to become handicapped , which makes it impossible to toss or dual wield.

Naturally , since I bought the Japanese version , I don't understand a word about it , though I got used to it fairly quickly. ( I still remember which option = to which ) To challenge myself , I tried the 1st Person View Mode , which looks something like this.

It does make things extremely challenging as you can't exactly be as sure as whether the blade would touch the target as in the side view mode.

Gameplay :

Well , there is a large variety of weapon and characters. Each character have their own weapon specialty which they can use a certain weapon particularly well , but you have to figure it out yourself. There is a large variety of weapon ( I had a rough time remembering which is which ) and there are even guns in this , though you need to unlock it first.

Depending on the weapon you choose , if it is a melee weapon , you can go into a total of 3 stances. Depending on the stance , your attacks would be significantly different. Some characters are able to dual wield katanas as well ( That particular character is my favourite ) .

Depending on the character you choose , they might be able to throw or usedifferent objects , ranging from daggers to guns. Instead of disappearing , they'll land on the ground provided that it's a throwable and your free to pick it up again. Note that the enemy can pick up your own throwable and use it against you. ( There is a Ninja in this...naturally , his throwable weapon is Shurikens , man , I had fun throwing those XD ) Note that if your arm is injured , you can't throw anything.

As a cheap trick , if your area is filled with sand or water , you can send dust or water into their eyes , stunning them temporarily but gives you enough time to deal a fatal blow.

Also , having a pistol or rifle doesn't make you all powerful either , just by running around , you can avoid the bullets , you can even block one or two of them but it'll cause a stun , but that's better than getting killed. I have played against one of my friends before and I blocked one of his shots and threw a katana which resulted in his character's demise :D

In sword fights, you can repel enemy blows by making sure the blade comes across with each other , this causes both characters to be stunned but you can quickly counter back by pressing the right buttons. Though this often results in long sword battles at times :P Also , like Dynasty Warriors , if your blade comes across each other at a specific angle , you will be in a lock of which you have to rapidly press the attack button to push your enemy down. If your enemy is downed , you can press the L1 button to leap up and deal a finish blow on the target. Though this is unlikely as the enemy ought to recover by then and would have dodged it. You can jump over your enemies as well but that is unwise as a high sword blow would kill you :P

Either way , this game is really addictive , unlike most fighting games where HP and plenty of button smashing is involved , even if you don't know about advanced attacks , you can still win in this game. It's really a shame that there isn't a sequel for this in the PS2 and PS3.

Well , I have picked up Spore , a PC game that was long awaited by many people around the world and is somewhat sorely disappointed by it. ( I bought it several years ago )

Here , I would point out the good points and negative points of this notorious game.

Positive Factors :

Infinite possibilites , if your determined and creative :

If your actually good enough , you can create humanoids and God knows what other Anime and video game characters you intend to mimick. It would take some time to get used to but if your good with it , you can create a stylish creature of your own and show your masterpiece off to others. You can construct creatures , buildings , vehicles and your own spaceship.

Variety of GameplayMode :

As the game progresses , you will go through a variety of game modes , from the stimulative gameplay of the Cell Phase to the Intergalatic conquest in Space. So this is like a mixture of various genres in one box.

Sharing your Work :

After creating a certain thing of your own , it would be uploaded to the Spore database and you can automatically download or manually download the works of others , as well as sharing the work of your own. This actually keeps the game fresh as new "species" and "biodiversity" of creatures would be spontaneously replaced and uploaded.

Choose to be a Diplomat , a Religious Nation or a Conqueror :

Depending on your choice and actions , in the game itself , you would have different abilities and in the Space Mode , different beliefs. There is also a variety of equipments in space mode , ranging from peace making equipments such as planting an Embassy to blowing up an entire planet with the infamous Planet Buster. You can also form alliances , trade routes and stuff like that in Space Mode.

Negative Points :

Under-reinforced gameplay :

Despite the variety of modes , each mode and phase lack a strong and reinforced gameplay as well as a variety of features per phase. Each phase also passed by in an unusually fast manner so your likely to get into the Space phase in a matter of one week , even in the hardest difficulty. Space mode is also disappointing in the sense that all the battles are more or less something like a skirmish , there aren't any wide-scale warfares and if the enemy attacks you , you have to be the one to defend it as your own base doesn't seem to have any other weapons other than turrets. You can bring small fleets along , which is composed of your allies' ships but that's still a small platoon none the less. This makes Space Mode extremely tedious since the larger your territory , the harder it is to defend it as your the only ship defending the entire area. You can't get off your ship in Space Mode either... Well , unless you have the expansion pack , but it doesn't really make much of a difference.

Only Tropical Climates are habitable :

This really annoys me. Before buying this game , I had intended to make an underwater habitat , a tundra habitat as well as a volcanic habitat. Much to my disgust , this game only allows living beings to survive in tropical climate settings and on land only. Some of them can glide but none of them can actually fly... how very annoying.

Unable to customize plants :

Well , I'm not too into the eyeball plants that this game have , or the weird ones that are scattered across the game. But I was fustrated since you can't actually create your own vegetation in this game.

Lack of interesting environmental hazards :

Well , there is a Volcano but it doesn't actually erupt. There are also occasional meteor showers in the early phases but their surprisingly easy to dodge ( There isn't even an impact when they land near you ) and there are occasional geysers but that is hardly interesting. Ah well.

Food chain? Pfft :

Well , they claim that there is a food chain of some sort in the early phases , but all I see is me getting chased by other creatures or vice versa. It's not often to see fights between two different creatures unless you prompted it yourself.

Only fundamental Geographic Features :

There are mountains...there are the rivers...seas etc. But as someone who had studied Geography before , I am offended that there isn't any deltas , Ox Bow lakes and the geography of the game itself is a bit haywire even if you didn't change the landscape yourself. Sure , some might say that these are alien planets and all but if there's gravity , water ought to be flowing from mountains to the ocean =.= You can't form caves and waterfalls either and the entire planet shares the same climate and biodiversity.

Everything is supposed to be on land :

Ranging from buildings to creatures alike , everything can only exist on land. Is water and acidic substance that destroys all in it's path or something in the game? You can't build an aerial city either. So much for "creativity" if you can't even do that.

These are the complaints and compliments I have for this game , I'll write up a similar blog on it's expansion pack later.

The power of Tsundere!!

Recently , after watching Chobits ( Thanks for the recommendation!! I would do the review later...or rather , copy my review from another site into my blog :P ) I have stumbled into an Anime called Familiar of Zero. I suppose I have a soft spot for Tsunderes so I continued watching it :P ( This ain't a review! :P )

Introduction :

Louise Francoise , a student at a magical Academy in an alternate world where two moons hang over the night sky , was terrible at casting spells. She have absolutely no chance in casting any form of elemental spells , Fire , Water , Wind and Earth and thus , is known as Louise the Zero. One day , during the Summoning Ritual , when all second years are required to Summon a Familiar to accompany them for life , Louise , who intends on Summoning a majestic Familiar , Summoned a typical teenage Japanese boy from Earth.

Character Sypnosis :

Louise Francoise :

A Tsundere... Come to think of it , her Seiyu is Kugimiya Rie. For those who had read about the Seiyus , Kugimiya is well known in her Seiyu career by performing the roles of loli Tsunderes like Nagi and Shana. Well , either way , she is pretty rough towards Saito , our male lead...in fact , her abusive nature makes her like like a machochist of some sort. I think this will give you an idea of how scary she can get...

*Ahem* Well , despite her abusive nature towards Saito , her "dere" personality can get pretty moe. Also , she is unusually proud and possessive , not to mention violent... *looks at the picture above*

Hiraga Saito :

I feel sorry for him :P He was forcibly Summoned from Japan into a world of magic , forced to act as a slave / dog , gets abusive treatment from his summoner despite doing her chores. Talk about the lack of human rights :P

Either way , Saito tends to get a bit mouthy when he tries to tease his "Master" and since he isn't a regular Familiar, he is not bound by his "Master's" orders and will unlike other Familiars. His a human one way or the other , even though his Master treats him like a slave =.= ( He IS a bit perv , though he wouldn't actually try to do anything bad )

Well , even though the whipping is displayed in a comedic sense , I can't help but feel a bit disturbed :(

Impression :

Well , this Anime is definitely comedic in it's own way... ( Remembers the countless whip scars Saito have on his body and retrieves the words "comedic" ) ... Though a little bit disturbing :P

I haven't finished watching this yet so I can't say much about it , it's storyline is pretty average in my opinon , or rather , somewhere above average. It's also kinda interesting to see a combination of modern weapons and magic as the storyline progresses. ( There is a bazooka in this o.0 )

Oh yeah...let's have a moment of silence as we pray for the safety of Saito.

Chapter 3 : Revival of the Fallen Angel (?)

The old man stared intently at Lucian , as though judging whether he is worthy to know of his identity , here and now.

He coughed and said "Are you very sure?"

Lucian nodded , he felt afraid yet assured at the same time.

The old man's eyes narrowed and said once again "Are you very sure? Your destiny would change from the moment you hear the truth"

"Yes , I am sure" Lucian said firmly , his voice was filled with determination.

"Well..you are a Fallen Angel" The old man said , in a fairly lame fashion

"A what..?" Lucian's eyes brightened as he said it.

"Wait a second , don't be proud about that , it's nothing impressive" the old man added.

"Why?" Lucian asked , feeling confused by his words once more.

"Well...You have owed the Lord of the Heavens a total sum of 10,000,000,000 Gold , 50,602,332 Silver and 5 Bronze after you had broke a vase made by his daughter...well , I'll knock off the 5Bronze for old time's sake." the old man finished this in one breath , as though he was urging to say this for a very long time.

"Hey , old man , are you sure it's just that? With the ten percent interest rate , I'm sure the sum is higher than that." the girl with scarlet hair added.

"Oh right.." the old man said as he trimmed his beard.

Lucian felt as though his body had been petrified. Maybe it would be better if he slipped away now?

"Oh yeah , don't think about running away , I have planted several magical bugs on your body to make sure you can be tracked no matter where you are " the old man said.

" Technology these days...GPF was it? " a girl on Lucian's right said.

" It's theGPS dummy " the scarlet haired girl corrected her.

" Well , to pay us back , you have to work " the old man said " but unfortuantely , your so weak despite being a celestial being , I swore I had seen you getting robbed by some humans before while you flail on the ground like a child... " the old man added maliciously.

Lucian's jaw dropped , his fingers stiff and his eyes wide. After a minute or so , he fell side ways in a rigid manner.

Hopefully this would be a nice twist from what you expected :P Either way , I might continue this if I have the time.

This is a more in-depth description of Gundam Seed : Rengou VS Z.A.F.T's gameplay system. ( Not a review! :P )

Interface :

Boost : This is essentially the Thrust of the Gundam , if it runs out , naturally , you'd land and wait for it to recharge ( Which is a matter of seconds ) However , flying not only makes things faster but it is essential for staying afloat for certain attacks and more imporatantly , dodging.

Fury : If it is full, which can be either due to damage to the enemy or to self , you can enter the fury mode. Your damage will dramatically increase , combos would be easier to perform and generally , your overall performance would become much better for a couple of seconds.

Health : Well , there's no need to explain this.

Weapons : On the bottom right side of the screen , you will have a list of the weapons you have and their remaning ammo or charging time etc. etc.

Controls : ( Default )

Triangle = Melee ( For most Mobile Suits , but others may use range weapons )

Square = Ranged Weapon

Circle = Switch Target

X = Fly Upwards / Thrust ( Require Boost )

Up + Down ( Stimulatively ) = Block ( If applicable )

X + Direction = Fly towards ( Direction ) ( Require Boost )

R1 = Rifle ( Those small rifles on the Mobile Suits , but for some Mobile Suits , it may be a different weapon )

L1 = Sword ( Some may use Ranged Attack )

X + Square = Third Weapon ( If applicable )

Hold onto Square or R1 = Charged Attack ( If applicable )

Minor Notes :

You can choose your pilot and Mobile Suit seperately , so evenKira can use a Providence Gundam in this.

Game Modes :

VS Mode :

In this mode , all usable pilots and Mobile Suits are available. This is essentially a Team Deathmatch , you can set it to be a one or one or 3 on one.

There is also a "Level" bar below each character , increasing it is equivalant to increasing their HP and skill.

Pre-battle options for VS Mode :

You can change the Map , Music , Damage Meter , Boost Limit , Fury Limit and Time Limit.

Arcade Mode :

Not all Pilots and Gundams are applicable. Depending onthe pilotyou choose , you would go through a series of different missions. For example , if you had chosen Cagalia , you would go through the missions she had gone through while using the Strike Rogue Gundam. Though it is extremely brief in terms of storyline standards but those who had watched Gundam Seed ought to find most of the battles familiar.

Campaign Mode :

Unlike Arcade , this is more in-depth into the Gundam Storyline but firstly , you need to choose your side , OMNI / Rengou or Z.A.F.T . Ironically , you won't be using the pilots you see from the Anime but you would be an unknown pilot ( You can name the pilot ) and fight alongside renowned pilots from the Anime. ( It's usually Kira or Ahtrun though )

There is also an EXP system where your Mobile Suits gain experience and Rank Up. They can "evolve" to become other Mobile Suits to be more efficient as well , which is neccessary as your battles will get harder and harder.

Multiplayer Mode :

Well , essentially , in Multiplayer Mode , you can play something like VS Mode but with your friends via AD-Hoc.

Option Settings :

Here , you can change your control scheme , change the Boost Limit , Fury Limit , Difficulty etc. etc.

List of some of the Mobile Suits you can use ( I'm too lazy to list them all ) :

Strike

Strike ( Equipped With Rocket Launcher )

Sword Strike

Aile Strike

Launcher Strike

Aegis

Blitz

Buster

Duel ( A.S Duel )

Strike Rogue

Force Impulse

Sword Impulse

Blaster Impulse

Justice

Infinite Justice

Freedom

Providence

( There are more...including Z.A.K.U etc. etc. )

List of some of the pilots you can use :

Kira ( Student )

Kira ( Pilot )

Kira ( SEED Pilot )

Kira ( Destiny Pilot )

Athrun Zala

Athrun Zala ( Destiny )

Cagalia ( Pilot )

Cagalia

Stella

Rau La...whatever his name was :P

Shinn Asuka

( There are more than these as well )

Trivia :

Interestingly , if you make characters who are related to each other fight against each other , their battle quotes may change. For example . if Student Kira fights against Athrun , after defeating him once , his quote would be "Athrun...Athrun Zala!?" and if it's Pilot Kira , when he gets into Fury Mode , his quote would be "ATHRUUUN!!!!!" ( Lol , you get the idea , if you had watched Gundam Seed ) Likewise , Athrun would scream "KIRRAAAA!!" I swear I am surprised that I haven't turned deaf after watching Gundam Seed.

Either way...

If their team mates , their introduction quote may be different , such as Hawke and Shinn or Cagalia and Kira. ( Though you'd need to be the player of that pilot to see this , as your ally would tend to say " Take care of me! " or " Please do guide me! " or " I am in your care! " )

Should I get it? :

Even though it's in Japanese , the options are fairly easy to remember. Either way , I only recommend getting it if your a hardcore fighting games fan , I assure you , it's a better game compared to Soul Calibur : Broken Destiny and Fate / Unlimited Codes.

If you prefer a wide variety of modes , an in-depth camapaign and stuff like that , you would only be sorely disappointed by this.

I can't do the G quest Guides yet since I'm not done with them ( I'm currently struggling against the G Rank Monsters :P )

So I might as well do a Guide of Felynes... and yeah , I had nearly forgotten about this Monster Hunter Guide which I was supposed to comlete :P

Either way , here is the list...

Felyne Chef - Do and Don'ts

- It may seem trivial , but it is recommended that you eat in your Kitchen every day , the cost is small so I don't see the need to regulate their scheldue.

- Having an eye for food is quite important , otherwise you'd miss a variety of benefits you might get if you stick to the same food everyday. For example ... HeavenBread and Devilshroom... or the typical Meat x Meat , Vegetable x Vegetable combination. The names and type of food may give you a hint on which to combine for an effective meal.

- Go visit your Felyne Chef every day and see if they have any items for you , or request for any form of items. These actually help them increase their XP a little. They may sometimes impart unique information to you once in a while.

- Have a variety of Felyne specialties , for example , if you already have a Meat and Drink specialised Felyne , get a Felyne of another specialty , it'll be a waste to stick to the same one.

- Do not hestitate to sack some Felynes just because their cute. If there is a more efficient Felyne out there , get it!

Felyne Chef : Must Have Abilities

Felyne Chef have 3 sets of abilities of their own , which in turn leads to a chance of which you may gain them after a meal. Here is the set of abilities I find the most useful.

Felyne Great Break ( Particularly useful to Blademasters , increases sharpness )

Felyne Heroics( Increases attack and defence , if you have this , neglect other attack only or defence only skills )

Felyne Strongcat ( Extremely useful for Treasure Hunts , you won't drop your egg due to height or pest assaults )

Felyne Gunpowder ( Dramatically increase bomb damage. If you have a sleep attribute weapon + Lots of Bombs , the enemy is good as dead )

Felyne Exchanger ( Awesome skill that increases your Pokke Points reward )

Felyne Resilience ( Early on it's useless but when you start fighting later monsters , this would be useful , when your getting up , you won't be hitted )

Felyne Knock Out( Particularly useful for Hammer users and Bowgun users , if you have Crag S , easier to cause a K.O )

Felyne Dance ( Sounds stupid and useless but unusually useful. If you have this skill and use the emote dance in the map...well , let's just say you would gain a nice boost )

Felyne Bulldozer ( Useful for Bowgun users )

Crazy Lucky Cat( Especially if your short on money )

Ultra Lucky Cat ( Your rewards would dramatically increase , if there is a Mega Lucky Cat , get that instead )

Felyne Dismantle ( The materials gained from carving a monster will increase...HELL YEAH! )

You can pretty much ignore the other skills , select the skills accordingly to your weapon usage.

Felyne Comrade : Merits and absolutely no demerits

Having a Neko ( Japanese for cat ) friend definitely improves you chances of winning. Sure , they are significantly weaker compared to a human player but their still great aids none the less.

For example , they can distract the monster for you while you flee to heal , sharpen your weapon or reload. They can plant traps for you at times , use flute abilities etc. etc. Provided that they have the skill ofcourse.

If your Felyne is using Melee Weapon , choose a Felyne that uses Hammers rather than swords , Hammer using Felynes can sometimes cause a K.O

Note that Felyne would return everytime their defeated unless their using In A Corner Skill which I don't recommend using.

Here is a list of recommended Felyne Temperaments and skill set :

Brave / Fooly Hardy + Mainly Weapon / Only Weapon :

Skill Set I :

Hyperdrive

Rob 'em Blind

( Skill of Choice )

Function : Steal...steal...and steal..

Skill Set II :

Element Atk Dragon or Status Atk ( Any effects )

Attack Up ( Fall 7x , Get Up 8x is preferable )

Abn Status Atk Up or Element Atk Up

Function : It's preferable that you choose status effects as they help a lot. This felyne would have a lot of damage to dish out...for a felyne anyway.

Bomb-loving + Brave / Fool Hardy :

Skill Set I :

Large Barrel Bomb or Bomb Strength Up

Hyperdrive or Bomb Damage Reduction

Wind Negate or Ear Plugs

Function : Bomb the enemy to hell!~

Cowardly / Peaceloving : ( Weapon usage is of no concern )

Skill Set I :

Flute

Shock Trap

True Health Flute

Function : A perfect Capture aid unit

Skill Set II :

Demon Flute

Armor Flute

True Health Flute

Function : A perfect support unit

These are the skill set combination that I recommend . For the more balanced types...

Skill Set I :

True Health Flute

Bomb Strength Up

Status Atk Paralysis

To be honest , for other types of Felynes , you may want to try your own combination. Try to switch your Felyne accordingly to the Mission you face as well.

Today , I have plenty of time to kill so I have decided to write something up :P

Either way, try not to doze off while reading it :P

Chapter 1 : Prelude to a Fall

" Where am I and where is this place? "

" ...Who am I? "

The man who thought of these things slowly opened his eyes , he noticed that his surroundings were dark as he slowly got to his feet. The floor , if there was one , seems to be made of glass yet it seems as though nothing was there. Who was he? Why was he lying on the floor? Why is he in this place? These questions nagged in the back of his brain yet his memories were of a blur and unclear.

" Are you awake , Lucian? " An echoing voice asked out of the blue

The man named Lucian turned around and spotted an old man wearing sky blue robes and carrying a staff etched with strange symbols and words. He stared sternly at Lucian , who started to feel a bit uncomfortable as he became concious of the fact that he was not wearing any clothes.

" Who are you? " Lucian asked.

" It matters not who I am but who you are is the question which we must clear. " the old man replied.

Slightly fazed by his words , Lucian asked " What do you mean? "

" It is of great importance that you regain your memories , Lucian , but as for now , let us return to the present time." he replied as he raised his staff , Lucian then suddenly felt a violent jerk at his navel and was propelled upwards into the seemingly endless ceiling of this dark space.

Chapter 2 : Old Friends

...Where is he now? His certain his lying on something soft..

" ...are you an idiot old man?! "

" Well...I admit I got a bit carried away in using the teleportation spell... "

.....

" Oh shut up... Your gonna wake him up at this rate. "

Maybe I should get up now...

" Who cares? His already awake. "

" Wha-? "

Lucian rubbed his eyes as he got himself into a sitting position in his bed. He noticed that there were at least eight to ten people huddled around his bed and he felt uncomfortable about this , how long were they staring at him when he was sleeping?

" Err... " Lucian started

They are still staring at him relentlessly , it's starting to get on his nerves...

" Err...Well...Err..What happened earlier? " Lucian asked

The old man from before got up from his armchair and said " That was a teleportation spell - "

" - Which you nearly killed him with " a girl with scarlet waist length hair interrupted.

" Well...yes. " the old man said , appearing a bit embarassed about his failure in the spell he had casted.

" More importantly...his identity " he added.

Upon the words identity , Lucian straightened up in his bed and stared intently at the man , like a child urging for an answer before an adult while trying to fight the urge to ask them directly.

I haven't written anything in a really long time so my grammatical and vocabulary skills have turned to rust :P Well , either way , if I feel like it , I might write more.

After finishing Code Geass several months ago , my Gundam fan instincts rebooted like a faulty old PC and started running again. Like what you would do to update such a PC , I began squirelling around information sites to refresh my memories about the series and started watching Gundam Unicorn.

...and hell , this is my third blog for today XD

I have also started playing Gundam Seed : Rengou vs Z.A.F.T

Firstly , here is my impression of the first episode of Unicorn :

Mobile Suit Gundam UC , probably signifying either Unicorn or the Universal Century ( A term in the Anime ) , started off...in a typical way. Well , it's the usual thing , really , politics , a young lad getting caught up in all with abnormal skills in piloting , got into a high tech Gundam Suit by chance and then got all bad as* on the enemy.

I have to admit I kinda liked the new Gundam designs , though the First Episode was only stuffed with the basic units but I'm not too sure about some of them. For example , a skilled female pilot in the Anime piloted something that look like a basic Z.A.K.U Unit but it is far more armored , with four petal-like wings and it also have the Dragoon System. ( Those who have watched Gundam Seed ought to know what it is like. )

Our hero , on the other hand , pilots a strange Gundam that have a prominent horn on it's head when it's armor mode is inactive so it doesresemble a Unicorn to a certain extent. When Episode 1 is coming to a close , it deflected the laser beams from the Dragoon System and activated it's armor mode , the horn splitted into two and turned somewhat more bulky to a certain extent with red spots over it's body but...it's still mainly white?! Not that I dislike the color white but...hey , that's a bit too plain. Hopefully it changes a bit as the story progresses.

Oh yeah , there are a lot of recurring terms as well , even if they are of a different name , so if your new to Gundam , your likely to be somewhat lost for the first Episode but if your a hardcore Gundam fan , I doubt you would have much difficulties in this.

Secondly , my impression of Gundam Seed : Rengou vs Z.A.F.T Portable:

Got this game in Japanese...well , if I can memorise all the control and option functions in Dissidia which was in Japanese , I suppose this would be a drift in the park...Or so I thought.

The control system makes fighting games like BlazBlue and Soul Calibur look tame , it's COMPLEX , COMPLEX and COMPLEX. You have to be quick about everything , even blocking. ( Press up down extremely quickly ) I got pwned by the AI for like the umpteenth time before I master several combos. Ouch.

There are a total of 3 main game modes , Campaign , Arcade and VS. The first two are pretty obvious so I'll skip 'em but the latter requires some explanation. In VS mode , you can use some Gundams that could not be used in the Arcade Mode and you can also play Ad-Hoc battles...but unfortunately , most of my friends don't have this game :(

You can also change several combat settings , from the amount of Health you have to several other things such as the difficulty , Boost Bar and Fury Mode.

In case your wondering , the Boost Bar allows you to fly , if it runs out , you'd land and wait for it to recharge. However , you may set it to Unlimited in the options and pre-battle settings and hell , enjoy an epic aerial battle :D

Fury Mode is something like the SEED of the Anime , your battle capabilities increases and thus , you whack hell load of damage on your foes. Unfortunately , every one can use it :P

The cast of characters is mainly restricted to the first Season , so are the Gundams and Mobile suits in the game. ( :( I wanna use Strike Freedom ) Well , there is still a large variety of Gundams and characters to choose from anyway. Each Gundam have their own variety of attacks and capabilities as well. Though I do kinda want to have the PS2 version , which have a newer version called Rengou vs Z.A.F.T 2...much to my surprise , you can use...a very bizzare Z.A.K.U Unit...hehe , check it out yourself. It also depicts Gundam Seed Destiny's storyline so Strike Freedom is applicable in the game.

I did 2 blogs today o.0 Well , I'm a weeny bit too lazy to guide you to the previous one vialink , however :P

This blog is an introduction to the general system and concept of Visual Novels.

Settings and Concept :

Visual Novels are essentially decisions and consequences games. In conversation sequences , depending on what you say , or do in certain sequences , may result in a different storyline or what we call "route" or "Arc". It may also result in different endings , usually split up into Bad , Good or True Endings per route. You may also meet dead ends which results in a Game Over and you may save anytime , which is important. Sounds simple? You may not get the desired Ending most of the times. There are also a Day System , every day you have to choose where to go and who to meet , which results in various consequences as well. The "Day" is depleted when a sequence of events had been initiated and completed and when the "Time Limit" is over , you will get to the conclusion of the story.

Most Visual Novels have a minimal of 3 Routes or to even a total of 5 or more routes.

Depending on the game itself , it may have special features like Chaos;Head which you have to choose a bad or good delusion but it , too , leads to various consequences in the storyline. Some Visual Novels might even have a mini-game feature.

Due to the concept of Visual Novels , many Dating SIMs are spawned from it , though not all Visual Novels are Dating SIMs of course.

Graphics :

Most Visual Novels utilise the usage of Anime portraits and backgrounds. There are usually no Animated videos either. Sounds boring , I'm sure , but fans of Visual Novels are usually more focused on the storyline and conversations , though the decent artwork of the portraits does enchance the scene A LOT.

Typical Plotlines :

Usually , Visual Novels tend to end up being a Romance / Slice-of-Life Storyline , maybe with a bit of Fantasy twist to it. Sometimes you may also need to do certain things to view a certain storyline route or ending , such as Fate / Stay Night Realtu Nua Ending , which you must clear all three Arcs to view the secret ending. Another example is Clannad , which you must clear the Nagisa route to continue on to After Story. But some people like mewent after Kyou or Tomoyo instead :P

Either way , Visual Novels are also usually well-known for having depressing and touching plotlines. Often playing a chord in your heart while playing through the game , understanding the characters and going through various branches of the storyline...that's the beauty of Visual Novels.

Often , the character you take control of is a male as well and VERY often , Visual Novels are usually H-Games , but there are always a All Ages version of popular Visual Novels which I prefer :P

Again , I must note that Visual Novels isn't just about dating , dating and dating. There is actually a plotline , which usually involves...

Romance , Fantasy or...Gore. ( Meh...I'm not keen on the last option , School Days made me sick :( The Visual Novel is 2x..no...5x worse )

So whose the main heroine? :

In Visual Novels , the main lead tends to be surrounded by a bunch of gals so who the heck is the main lead anyway? The answer tends to be extremely obvious , just look at the box art. The most prominent girl tends to be the main intended heroine for the plot. Some , like Clannad , have features like After Story which tells the after-math of the main heroine's Arc. However , again , the beauty of Visual Novels is that you can choose whom ever is applicable.

Cast of Characters :

Other than yourself who takes on the role of a main character, there are usually 3-5 main heroines in a Visual Novel. Naturally , their personalities are extremely different from each other , not to mention the character design. Well , in the Visual Novels I have played , I had seen Vampires , students ( Clannad , Chaos;Head...now that I mentioned it , there areplenty of Visual Novels based on students ), Deities ( Tayutama : Kiss on my Deity ), spirits ( If you count Servants of Fate / Stay Night :P ) , shrine maidens...urgh.

Visual Novel to Anime :

Animes can be adapted from video games , Mangas , Light Novels and lastly , Visual Novels. Usually , the Anime would mix all the Arcs of the Visual Novel together and then usually end up being a Harem , which is not seen in the Visual Novel itself. However , some Animes , like Clannad for example , stuck onto it's main heroine's plotline though with a bit of twists here and there.

Anime to Visual Novel :

Now , this is interesting. The only Anime I had seen having an Visual Novel adaptation rather than the other way round is Code Geass. The Visual Novel , Lost Colors , have an extremely flexible storyline , even for a Visual Novel. The interesting thing is that your not using Lelouch , you can choose to be a girl or a guy , you can end up with some of the guys or girls and there are even animated sequences once in a while. Well , I guess I would dig around more to see if there are any other Visual Novels that are based off Animes , rather than the typical standard of which most Animes are adapted from Visual Novels. I heard that there is a Spice and Wolf Visual Novel as well but I still need to do a bit of research on it.

Music and Seiyu :

Quiteoften , Music and Voice Acting were neglected in Visual Novels. Well , if you don't count the Opening Sequence anyway.

So should I try one? :

Visual Novels might prove boring to those who prefer action packed stuff. It's more or less for those who prefer a good storyline , preferably a heart-warming one ( Or even a depressing one ) but there are occasional exceptions. Either way , on the exterior , it's just plain boring but when you actually try it out , it's surprisingly addictive.

Unfortunately , most Visual Novels are in Japanese , but if your buying the PC version , be sure to check whether there are any fan-made English Patches , they help a lot.