Oh my, it's been a while.

Oh my, it's been a while. It was only until a couple of days ago, while I talked to a friend of mine about his blog, that I remembered that I had a blog waiting for an update. Of course, for all of my fans -- yep, the hoards of 'em -- the wait should be worth it. Or so I say.

But there's really not much to say, other than I will definitely give this blog an update and try to turn it around a bit. While it was focused on videogames and to a certain extent entertainment, I'll start posting more of my personal stuff. For instance, I'll post a random quote and then post how it can be applied to my life, or how it has been applied to my life without me even knowing about the quote beforehand.

In other words, I'll turn my boredom into text and post it. Isn't that what bloggin' is all about, anyway? Of course, when I get more in touch with my videogaming, I will be posting more updates related to that, but in the meantime... with no videogame console to accompany my loneliness, I'll stick with the basics.

Whether it is good news or bad, I am back. And oh hell yeah, I'll try to stick around.

A Wii Bit of Fire Emblem

So it turns out that the flames of war will ignite on Nintendo's next-generation console, after all.

Even though Nintendo is heavily promoting new types of gameplay with its Wii console, the company has not forgotten about hardcore gamers who still love classic-styled gameplay. An example of this is the brief (but oh so tasty!) footage of Fire Emblem for Wii.

Though there were no specific details, the clip gave us a glimpse of two characters -- a thief and a sage -- as they battle against their enemies, showcasing some of the most beautiful and artistic FMV we've ever seen. The thief looks remarkably similar to Sothe -- a character from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance -- which suggests that the upcoming Wii version may be in fact, a direct sequel to the GameCube title, and that this underdeveloped character will be the protagonist of the upcoming adventure.

No other details have surfaced, but at least we know that the Fire Emblem franchise is indeed coming to Nintendo’s next-generation console, and guess what? We couldn’t be happier.

Radiant Writing

So here I am, waiting for Nintendo to unveil many secrets on its press conference tomorrow morning (mind you, some are "secrets" for ordinary people, not us -- the cool press who know all, tee-hee!) and the only thing on my mind is: "Will Nintendo have a Fire Emblem game at the show?". I know, sad, and kind of expected, but I'd love to see the next-gen (or dual-screened) iteration of the fantastic franchise.

Anyway, I also figured out that I never go to post my wonderful Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance coverage -- yeah, the one I did back when the game was released. I figured: "So what?" and decided that I was going to post it, so that anyone who doesn't have the game (and why the heck don't you!?) will know why I am so infatuated by it.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance -- Hands On Impressions



Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance -- Full Review



Go now, click. You're not interested in seeing the press conference anyway, right?

Are You Kidding? Wii Are Not!

So here's the deal.

To be honest, I was very relieved when the name was announced. I don't know, it has something to do with me not liking consoles sticking to their code-names (no Dolphin, DS, or Revolution for me, thanks -- though I kind of liked Ultra 64). Besides, am I the only one who thought the Revolution name was a bit too obnoxious?. But yes, I was definitely surprised to see such a negative reaction from the gaming community -- mind you, I come from a place where "Wii" isn't a word related to body parts or potty visits -- but I can honestly say that I inmediately related the new name to the iPod brand.



Sure, it will take a while, but I'm positive that the name will stick around, and people will learn to love it. That's what happened with several other brands that didn't seem to "make sense" when they were first introduced. I certainly think that in the end -- and this may sound like a lame and overused excuse -- the name will not matter, because what gamers will really remember is the gameplay (if it's good and revolutionary). Personally, after almost two years, I can't say I'm fond of the Nintendo DS name, but why should I care when the system has amazing games like Advance Wars: Dual Strike on it?

I do think that Nintendo may have a bit of trouble marketing the name (although they are trying to get girl gamers to play, so having a "Wii" may work in the end, right? -- I KID!), but we'll see. Though Yahoo! turned out pretty well, don't you think?

It's-a-me, Animiggy!

Here's my anime portrait!



Thanks to the talent of Tailzo (forum member at Advanced Media Network's forums), I now have my very own Anime Portrait. Though in the underworld they are called Happiness Avatars (created to stop forum war), I call them portraits to accentuate the quality of the drawings. They are amazing! If you want to see more (though after seeing mine, why would you?) Check them out here.

(If you're not part of the AMN forums, why aren't you?!)

The Blazing Sword -- Top 5 Units

So I finally beat Intelligent Systems' masterpiece, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword (known in the common world as simply Fire Emblem), and I've gotta say that it's my favorite of the series (considering that we have only played three of them -- I mean people who live in the American continent, of course).

The story is magnificent, and I still can't believe that it was done in Game Boy Advance hardware. From the pseudo-cinematic opening to its entire presentation (the artwork is fantastic, and the photo stills in key moments of the story were very well done), Fire Emblem fans who, like me, didn't bother trying out the first game in the series, and started with The Sacred Stones, or even Path of Radiance, should not hesitate to go back and play the one that started it all in the US.



In conmemoration (and because I will be posting again when I finish my second playthrough), I'll post my top 5 units based on both quality (as battle units) and storywise:

5) Florina: Heh, what could be considered as a closeted lesbian (I swear these are not my words, but rather what many people in the forums call her), turns out to be one of the sweetest characters in the entire game. She may be super-shy around men, but this girl is 100% heart, and in the world of Fire Emblem, that's a good thing! She also capped many stats, including skill and speed. You go girl!



4) Serra: So okay, she didn't end up being in my strongest characters, but her personality rocks! She's annoying, self-centered, and her view of life is just fantastic. This girl will probably not know what being depressed is, and for that, kudos. She wasn't as good as Priscilla when it comes to joining in the battlefield, but now that I'm on my second playthrough, I'll see if she can kick some behind when promoted.



3) Lyn: Yeah, I know, safe pick. But when you look at what she accomplished during the entire adventure, you'll learn to love our noble Lady of Caelin. She's also the one who rescued the tactician Miguel from a probable death. On the battlefield she may be quick (and when promoted, deadly), but her heart is golden, and her will is stronger than Hawkeye's arm.



2) Canas: This is the first time I've ever wanted to focus on leveling up a Druid, and that's because Canas is a super cool dude! He's very knowleadgeable about the Fire Emblem world, and the ending -- his ending -- was totally unexpected (and a bit sad, too), but pretty much defined what Canas is: someone who cares. On the battlefield, he's a force to be reckoned with, especially when you consider that he's one of the VERY FEW that can actually hurt the end boss.



1) Hector: Heh, another safe choice, but if you have played the game, you'll see why Hector is a fan-favorite. His personality is strong, but when it comes to his feelings, he has a heart of gold. He is fighthing for his best friend, risking his life so that Eliwood can be happy once again. Sometimes he is the only one who can stand up to the enemy, even if it may not be the most intelligent choice, but he will never forget what he promised -- he will find Eliwood's father. On the battlefield, Hector is a MONSTER. You will notice right from the start that his superior stats (and growth percentage, too!) make him the lord of choice.



Honorable Mentions:

Raven/Lucius/Priscilla: For the weird love triangle they have, lozlozl.
Ninian: Beautiful, and with a heart of gold as well.
Eliwood: Very good character. His interaction with Ninian was my favorite part of the game.
Sain: For being a ladies man, lol.


Now back to the game!

Phantomastic! (Okay, So It Doesn't Always Work...)

As you probably know (not by the looks of my Fire Emblem-esque blog, mind you), I am a huge Zelda fan. Actually, I'd go as far as to call myself a Zelda whore (then again, the AMN peeps always call me a whore -- but that's another blog entry). In fact, most of my emails, messenger handles, and overall everything has to do with Zelda. (I IZ NO GEEK I SWUR!)

From that, you can naturally deduce (if you are smart, unlike Jeff), that I'm totally hyped for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass -- Nintendo's next entry in the Zelda series. Well, make that next handheld entry, because we're still waiting for Twilight Princess (at least I am, and if you are not, shame on you).

Anyway, I think this game has the potential to become one of the best Nintendo DS games, simply because it has so many things that we've wanted to see in other videogames and well... haven't. The first thing that I thought was brilliant was the map, and the fact that you can write down little notes in it so that you won't get lost (or if you're that bad, and still get lost, you have no excuse). It also includes several other touch-screen elements; some that are awesomely awesome, and some that just don't cut it for me yet, but probably will in the end.

Graphically, the game looks amazing -- taking in consideration the limits of the system's power. No, that's not a diss, if you read our Metroid Prime: Hunters review (I'm too lazy to link at the moment), you'll see that the DS is still very capable to do 3D graphics, it just needs developers that actually want to develop great looking games. Well, Nintendo is one of them, and when you see the Phantom Hourglass in motion, you'll begin to understand why I'm so excited.

Anyway, I've already said a lot. Get a Nintendo DS for this game if you don't have one already. And if you do have one, simply pre-order this game. And if you don't want to pre-order it, you can just read my review when I play the heck out of it. Either way, I win. :)

By the way, you should definitely check this out. You'll see that it's not just me who's excited.

Phantastic?

So I haven't updated my blog for a while, but that's only because I didn't have anything to say (I mean, you can't expect me to talk about my awesomeness all the time, that would be rude).

But I finally have something to say. I reviewed Tales of Phantasia for AMN, and I can definitely say that it's old-school. Very old-school. So old-school in fact, that instead of igniting the nostalgia in me (well, it did, just not as much as other games), it got to the point where I just wanted to finish it. It's still a great effort, but it could have been better. Read my final verdict here.