Friday! Video games! Let’s talk!
Just a heads up, there will be no Freakin’ Weekend wrap-up next Friday. I’ll be out of town from Thursday until Monday, so if anyone wants to carry the torch please feel free to do so. My reason for going out of town doesn’t relate to the next paragraph, though.
Last week I received some devastating news that one of my high school best friends had died and, as a result, I haven’t been in the mood for much of anything. He was the same best friend I wrote about in my 20th-anniversary post for Final Fantasy VII; one of many games we bonded over as teenagers. Needless to say, it was uncanny that I got the itch to play through Final Fantasy VII again all these years later and finished it the day before finding out about his death. May Cloud9 and Lotahooter live on in my memories forever.
On the gaming front, I’ve been chipping away at the PS4 port of Final Fantasy IX for a few hours here and there, but that’s it.
I had planned to go through Final Fantasy X’s PS4 remaster while juggling Kingdom Hearts but ended up at Final Fantasy IX instead. I’ve made it to the game’s third disc in the past but never finished it entirely. It’s a really good story and I like the pre-rendered backdrops and world design, the throwback to a four-person party, and how each character feels defined by their skills and abilities, rather than the materia you slap on them.
I also think the PS4 remaster (or PC/mobile port) does a great job at scaling up the roster’s character models without losing their identity. A more in-depth look can be found here via YouTube user Cycu1.
I strongly dislike its Tetra Master mini-game (and thankfully it’s only required to play three times) and Zidane’s horny thief gimmick is a bit annoying, but those are my only complaints.
I sold off a few more games (Bloodborne, Ratchet & Clank, and Rayman Legends since I have them digitally through my PS Plus subscription, and Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon because it performs so poorly on Switch) but nothing is tickling my fancy right now aside from God of War. Best Buy had Ni no Kuni 2 nearly 50% off yesterday, but it was an in-store offer only and my closest location is about an hour drive, so that was a big nope.
That about does it for me. What about you, folks? Any big plans this weekend?
Cheap Boss Attack 
I haven’t played Ni no Kuni 2 yet. For my weekend, that would be GOW & FFVIII. Back to basic PS. Sorry about your school friend, memories live on forever.
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Nothing wrong with revisiting the classics! And thanks.
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If I get time, I’ll play some more BATTLETECH because it’s great!
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Keep hearing good things about that one.
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It’s pretty solid, and every encounter feels like a genuine battle as arms break, and weapons get destroyed. It’s a bit too slow paced at times though. They’re going to patch in some options to speed up the combat apparently.
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I’m doing a bunch of postgame stuff in God of War. Even after finishing the story there is a lot to go out and do in that world.
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I do hear it has quite a hefty post-game.
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I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. :( It’s important to always treasure the time we have with people.
I’m 15 hours into Mass Effect 2. Really fun! Needs much moar Liara though. I just did Jack’s loyalty quest thingy. Yikes…
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Yeah, I was bummed that Liara was just a DLC thing in ME2.
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I might have to pick up FFIX for the PS4 port. That looks REALLY good. I think they were trying to recreate what they got right with Triple Triad in Tetra Master, but it just didn’t work out as well. TM is much more random that TT, which is more cerebral and about using your cards and the rules in the proper way. I dislike randomness when a lot is at stake, though apparently there is some rhyme and reason to it according to Tetra Master fans.
Damn…I’m sorry to hear that dude. Like anything video games can dredge up both positive and negative emotions. I know I have my fair share of bittersweet in regards to FFVII. There’s something about the story that fosters that since it does so itself. I’m just NOW finishing up last week’s blog notification emails so I’m seeing this literally a week later.
I hope everything is still going smoothly with moving plans. TTYL!
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The PS4 port is great, both in terms of the upscaling and the cheats. I finished it in 24 hours!
Everything is going well. Thank you =)
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Now that I’m thinking, I might have bought it already when Squeenix was having a $5 a game sale. I never remember what I have lol.
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I hear that, haha. Sometimes I’ll flip through the flash sale stuff and find something I like, only to see “purchased” underneath. Or see an interesting game that’s super cheap, grab it, and realize I already have it on Xbox.
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