I knowwww D: Olivia and Maribelle would be cute too (tho we all know Maribelle loves Lissa the most)

Ugh, flow. Idk what thatgamecompany's love affair with the Sixaxis controls is all about, but I'm glad they ditched em for Journey at least. Couldn't get into flow because of it and Flower was definitely a lesser game as a result IMO as well. Apart from the 5th level though, I really enjoyed Flower. It almost makes Journey seem too "game-y" in retrospect.

This is my first Persona game and sort of my first SMT (I started Devil Survivor Overclocked last year but never finished) so I'm excited. I really dig the setting so far, but I just reached the point where I can start deciding what to do after school and I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. Any advice for a first timer on what sorts of activities are good to pursue or how I should prioritize my schedule?

Yeah Valkyria queers! I always meant to write a post for TBH about sexuality in VC, but it's been so long now I'd probably have to go back and replay the game to do it properly. The game totally relies on stereotypes but I feel like they really did a lot right regardless. Esp. w/Ted and the guy who calls him "Teddy Bear."

Yeah, my next few weeks are probably just going to be a lot of turtle farming. I really want a Platinum trophy for XIII and there's pretty much nothing else for me to do except rack up gil for upgrades. I still love it though!

Yeah! Do it! QFG!! *peer pressure*

Totally agree. I am tentatively excited for The Last of Us because it does look really beautiful and I love love LOVE survival post- apocalypse stories but I did have a similar reaction to you: another white dude protagonist? Yawn. I mean, sure. We don't actually which one is the player character (if not both) but the trailer made it seem like Joel is the leader in their partnership and it just would have been so much more interesting to see a different type of dynamic. Come on Naughty Dog, be more creative please.

I wonder if The Last of Us means that Naughty Dog might be shifting their focus away from Uncharted? Seems unlikely since their studio is large enough to handle concurrent development of two AAA titles and Uncharted is such a big money maker for Sony, but they do have a history of launching hugely successful franchises and then passing them off to new developers after a few installments (and they've already started to let other studios play in their Uncharted sandbox w/Golden Abyss).

Tbh, if the next Uncharted game after Golden Abyss doesn't star someone other than Drake, I think I'll be close to done w/the series. I'm just kind of bored with him by now (since he was never terribly interesting to start with) and would much rather see some of the side characters fleshed out a bit. A game starring Chloe would be oh so sweet, but it's probably just wishful thinking. Naughty Dog seems to be real pleased with the generic everyman they came up with. /rolls eyes

Do you mean "realizing it wasn't going to be a trilogy" because of Golden Abyss? Or have they already started to talk about post-Uncharted 3 plans for the series on the PS3?

Ugh, that Ezio costume. Do not want. I don't mind the current "milking a game for all it's worth" trend with DLC these days, but I don't want cross-series promotions tainting what I play. Including a reference to Assassin's Creed in Final Fantasy just breaks immersion for me and cheapens the experience as a whole. I guess I can just try and turn a blind eye since I don't have to download the costume, but its mere existence kind of offends my sensibilities, hahaha. Oh well.

I listed most of my criticisms/complaints in the comments section for the game on my page, but basically I felt like it didn't do enough to distinguish itself from Among Thieves and that the game spent too much time controlling me, rather than the other way around. I am also particularly peeved that the final battle was against Talbot instead of Marlowe and think it's a shame that the marketing for the game focused so much on the game's big set pieces (burning chateau, sinking cruise ship, plane crash in the desert) that when I finally reached these areas in the game, I wasn't impressed anymore. I still enjoyed the game a lot but my enthusiasm for the series as a whole has taken a hit. Will definitely play Golden Abyss, but idk if will still be a system seller for me when the Vita launches.

Catherine, on the other hand, is sort of like FF XIII for me: I can definitely understand why someone wouldn't like it, but I thought it was completely brilliant and am really looking forward to seeing what they do next with the series (though it's definitely not perfect of course; Catherine is a very flawed game but it was just so fresh and the puzzles so addicting that I'm willing to overlook where they could've done better for the most part).

We just finished Uncharted 3 last night and my verdict is: not super impressed. I enjoyed it but I think its the weakest installment in the series.

Bummer that Catherine didn't grab you!

Faris in Theatrhythm! [Link]

Oooo Catherine! I kinda want to do a second playthrough but feel like I can't justify it when my PS3 time is so limited and I have Uncharted 3, ICO/SoTC/ FF XIII postgame and XIII-2 to get through. I absolutely loved the block puzzles though, so much fun!

I don't want to think of it as canon either, though I don't think there's any reason it couldn't be. I'm assuming that after they return to their own worlds, they lose all memories of the cycles.

Unless this eventually ends up being a huge army of FF characters tackling everything from poor dancing to bad dialog.

I mean, that just sounds so glorious right there.

I wouldn't say that I have been completely drawn away from Dissidia, but I've become untethered enough to squeeze in some other games here and there. Regina was here last weekend and brought me a pile of games that she picked up for me in the UK/our local import shop in Seattle, so I've been fiddling around with those a bit. Also finally remembered to download the Picross 3D DLC and that is doing a good job of stealing away all of my time (Picross puzzles are ridiculously addicting).

Still working on the Labyrinth though and getting close to 100% exploring it. Sort of dreading going back to Storymode where I won't have all of the Labyrinth's awesome equipment. Have you beaten 000 then? I accidentally encountered Feral Chaos in the Labyrinth and was thoroughly demolished. I hear Labyrinth!Feral Chaos is severely debuffed compared to 000!Feral Chaos, so I am somewhat intimidated about venturing into 000.

I am also super excited about the 3DS Final Fantasy rhythm game and can't really imagine how they are thinking of branching the Dissidia franchise outside of the fighting genre. The story is....terrible. Random thought: I wonder if the Dissidia storyline is supposed to be canon for all of the FF games?

Oh, I forgot about all that stuff in the PP Catalog. Since I transferred data from the first Dissidia, most of the catalog was unlocked for me at the outset, so I never bothered to look and see what was in there still.

Came across an old news story where Nomura said that the future of the Dissidia series would not be in fighting games. Idk how I missed it the first time around and I can't really imagine what that means but it makes me a a little bummed. [Link]

The closed in levels have the most frustrating camera sometimes. Can't even count the number of times I've been broken in Kefka's Tower after an HP attack because I couldn't tell which way I needed to dodge. And the new Phantom Train stage.../shudder. Ultimecia's Castle/Pandemonium Omega are definitely my least favorite in that regard though. I much prefer the big open stages, like Order's Sanctuary and Sky Fortress Bahamut. Aesthetically, I love Dream's End, the Theater Ship and Orphan's Cradle.

Prishe is a lot of fun! Been working on her in the Labyrinth for a bit now. I don't know any of the villains *that* well yet (except Gabranth), and several of them, like CoD, I have barely played around with at all yet. The villains just have such a different feel to them, which I haven't liked for the most part so far. I'm planning to get around to them after I finish up with the Cosmos characters though.

How are you finding Inward Chaos? I'm holding off on 000 for a while yet. I think I want to do another run through 012 and 013 to gather better equipment first and that probably won't happen until I 100% explore the Labyrinth.

"No plans for PS2 emulation"...ha! Just like Nintendo has no plans to add GBA titles to the 3DS VC outside of the Ambassador Program.

I'm working on both Tifa and Prishe right now in the Labyrinth. So far Prishe > Tifa but they're both growing on me. Really though, there are few characters in Dissidia that I don't enjoy playing to some extent after I've spent some time with them. I've avoided using leveling tricks cause it's more fun to learn how to use each character by leveling the slow way.

I'm not sure how I'd feel about a PS3 Dissidia. On the one hand, you're right: they'd have room to add so much more with the PS3 hardware; OTOH, I just don't have that much time for games that require me to park myself in front of a TV. I think I'd prefer Dissidia to stay portable so I can keep playing in the car, in bed, etc. but I certainly wouldn't say no to a new installment in the series, regardless of the system.

Out of curiosity, which stages to you like/dislike?

The "maybe no PS1 Classics on the Vita" thing just made me shake my head. Sony has an uncanny knack for making stupid business decisions. Maybe an announcement that the Vita is configured to be a PS2 emulator will smooth things over.

Yeah, I transferred my Dissidia data. I spent way to much time leveling, AP grinding and unlocking the PP Catalog to do it all over again from scratch. After spending a ton of time in the Labyrinth, I think the difficulty of acquiring new equipment thing might be because it's a nonissue in there. Taking high level characters into the Labyrinth is actually ideal, since it's easy to get well equipped and enemies appear to acquire equipment at the same rate as you, so it's far more balanced than in Quick Battle, etc. Is there a specific ability that makes enemies drop their equipment? I thought it was just a matter of your luck and any possibly accessory enhancements. Anyway, the Labyrinth has grown on me quite a bit, though there are still some minor annoyances. The more time you spend in there, the harder it is to leave (having to rebuild your Party/Assists each time obvs has to happen, but it still annoying). And getting a Game Over after amassing tons of items seriously sucks!

I wouldn't mind Vanille as a playable character too much, just because her attack style with that rod thing could be interesting, only it would mean we wouldn't get a playable Fang and that is clearly unacceptable. One thing that would be cool is if SE included more Assist-only characters in a sequel but also incorporated them into the story. Aerith and Light tend to be my Assist-mains. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Dissidia save data is compatible for all regions, maybe just swap your Euro copy of the game for NA when you get back? Wouldn't have to worry about using the Euro PSN then.

I like how goofy Gilgamesh is. Even though the original FFV Gilgamesh is the last one I got to know (VIII and XII came first for me), that's just the iconic Gilgamesh for me now and I can't picture him as anything other than a bumbling idiot. Which is odd because I used to think of him as menacing. How is Prishe? I think she might be the next character I focus on after I finish up with Vaan.

Ha, Terra was always my least favorite Cosmos character to play. I just like hitting things with swords. ;-) If you come to PAX East, it'll be fun to get a few battles together!

Well, whaddya know: [Link]