Well, I had been wanting a banner with Harle from Chrono Cross for the longest time, even before I had beaten Chrono Cross. And now i do. This one took me a while to make, but with work and patience i finally nailed it (i think). Please let me know what you think and try to rate it.

In other news, I just ordered the first two parts in the dot Hack series for PS2, along with Final Fantasy Chronicles just for Chrono Trigger. So those should keep me busy for a while after Xenosaga Episode 1. How have you guys been, what have you been up to and how's the gaming?

You know- One faces many difrent emotions and feelings when playing a game. Frustration, bordome, anger, excitement, over-joy, and remorse- these are just a handful of what I have gone through when experiencing a game. I cannot even begin to describe a lot of moods of chronic and sharp feelings that have occured to me in the past. People, I have just beaten Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Lemme tell you somethin- it's one heck of a game to remember. It's definately a pleaser- but ends up holding it's own ground, with a story of it's own worth remembering. To be honest, without spoiling too much, at the end of the game i didnt think the end would phase me- but it did. Tears of sadness started to slowly stream down my face- but soon after what i thought was sorrow had turned into a joy I had not experienced in a long time.This excitement, this blissfullness I had experienced had turned everything around and recapped the game into one excelent apparatus. I'm not the crying type- in fact, the only other games I have ever shed a tear of any kind in were in Final Fantasy VII and in Final Fantasy X- and now Crisis Core. lol I'm making myself sound like some 12-piece shrimp basket order from Landry's. At any rate- Crisis Core is one extraordinaire of a game. Please play it, some how- so we can share this ecstasy together.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus, and take it to the sky- Even if the morrow is barren of promises, Nothing shall forestall my return."

Best regards,
MonkeyStew

You know it. Big news. turns out, I managed to borrow a PSP along with Crisis Core for just about a week, so I'll FINALLY HAVE THE CHANCE TO PLAY THE PREQUAL TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE GAMES!!!! also, I wont have to buy a PSP now- becuase the whole point in my wanting to buy a PSP was to play Crisis Core. So, right now I'll have to put Xenosaga on hold and play CC like mad. I've got one week to beat it, and i hear it's a 20-30 hour game so I shouldnt have a problem with passing it. wish me luck :D

how've you guys been?

You know it. 500 POSTS! alright folks bear with me; you and I both know there are people here who post 500 everyday and...I'm not one of them. But that's still no reason not to celebrate this "milestone" of mine is it?

at another note, Xenosaga is coming along quite well. I'm definately liking it, in fact, I'm loving it. I think Xenosaga is the answer i've been looking for for soo long. So that's another thing to be happy about: I'm out of my state of mediocrity and finally have found my holy grail.

This is all too sudden. turns out, i'm now an officer at the Square Enix Nation!! And to tell you the truth, I gotta thank Latte428 for the promotion becuase I owe it all to her. This is my first union to be an officer in, so i do hope i wont screw things up a bit. Either way i wish the best for this union.

as for the gaming, I've been re-playing some Final Fantasy VII lately; it's a good game and i figure i can pick up Crisis Core by the time i finish this go-around. Lately i've been told Xenosaga: Episode One is an exceptional game by a few friends of mine, so i'll have to new game that one pretty soon if things dont get too overwhelming. How've you guys been?

well, when i opened up photo shop to make the quality of my older banner better so i could put it up at my profile in the condition it was meant to be in, i decided to change the whole thing up. and this is how it turned out. let me know what you think.

regards,
MonkeyStew

here's my first banner so you can compare and contrast.

well- i made my first banner with Adobe Photoshop CS2. not exactly the best thing in the world, but i tried :) and also, what does not add to the shine is how i have to degrade the quality in order for it to fit within the gs regulations. but i guess if i do, so does everyone else. anyways. i'm not expecting high scores or anything, but i'd appreciate it if you could tell me what you think.

**MY TOP 30!**
This list is a count down- starting from my least- favorite [favorite] and ending with my absolute favorite. enjoy :)

30. Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne (PC)
-- Arthras was never meant to be a baddie :(

29. Star Craft: Brood War (PC)
-- I hate Zerg

28. Warcraft 3 (PC)
-- An OK RTS but...

27. Soul Calibur 2 (GC)
-- Practically the only Arcade- ****fighting game I enjoy

26. Lord of The Rings: The Third Age of Middle Earth (XBOX)
-- Good in-game turn based combat, yet the movie spoofness killed everything.

25. Resident Evil 2 (PS)
-- Good horror, frustrating controls

24. Golden Sun (GBA)
-- good puzzles; lacks story

23. Golden Sun 2 (GBA)
-- harder puzzles yet still lacks story (an awesome one that is)

22. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
-- Striking visuals, "innovative" gameplay, yet story lacks depth.

21. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)
-- I really do like the gameplay; but I'm sick of playing Barbie Dress- Up. Plus it killed probably my favorite game ending (in FFX)

20. Final Fantasy VIII (PS)
-- Excellent story, although I'm not feeling the Junction system.

19. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
-- One of my first videogames to ever play on a console. This racer was The Bomb!

18. Jade Empire (XBOX)
-- a good hearty BioWare game.

17. Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic II (XBOX)
-- Obsidian screwed everything up :cry:

16. James Bond 007: Golden Eye (N64)
-- My first ever FPS The Bomb!

15. Starcraft (PC)
-- My favorite RTS

14. Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
-- Fun gameplay; yet I feel [something] is missing.

13. Resident Evil 4 (PS2)
-- Goodness I love this game.

12. Drakengard (PS2)
-- I really like all the alternate endings; and the game really compliments its sequal.

11. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (PS2)
-- Fun combat; awesome ending. I just wish Farah was more involved :(

10. Star Fox 64 (N64)
-- One of my favorites "back in the day".

9. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
-- This game is so fun....I still play it every six months or so.

8. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (XBOX)
-- Awesome gameplay, awesome puzzles, awesome story.

7. Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
-- Such an awesome game....It is also my first game to own and beat on the PS2.
"You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt. Kingdom Hearts... is LIGHT!" - Sora

6. Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
-- Just read the review for my opinion...

5. Chrono Cross (PS)
-- The characters are great, the story is amazing, and the gameplay is ingenious.

4. Final Fantasy VII (PS)
-- Everything about this game i love: story, characters, gameplay....*sigh*

3. FF X (PS2)
-- My first FF to beat, and also my favorite. I may not dub this the best FF, but damn it is so awesome. It's the story that makes this game so incredibly sound in my book.

2. Drakengard 2 (PS2)
-- Oh man, this game can be so hard to take in at times. The story is so awesome and makes up for the tacky hack-n-slash gameplay.

1. **Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic** (XBOX)
-- BioWare at its best. The dialogue options, plots & twists, and addictive gameplay is what got SW:KOTOR to #1. If you dont have it, get it. If you don't have an Xbox, I'll lend you mine until you'll buy yourself one. If you can't buy an Xbox, I'll just give you mine. At any rate you GOTTA PLAY SW:KOTOR! IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

Note: This list is my "All- Time", meaning from my roots in video games 'till now. THIS IS NOT MY CURRENT FAVORITE LIST. Meaning now I wouldnt care to play Star Fox 64 or Super Mario Kart, but I did then . Meaning I liked* super mario kart more then than I like other games now. I hope I'm making sense.

I hope you enjoyed it! :D

I'm sorry folks for not being very active at gs lately, things have just been very caotic- especially during the past week. it turned out that my grandparents decided to move to city about 400 miles (idk maybe around 700 kilometers) away from their past location so i was led to go on a sudden, long, and 21 hour trip up to Texas , which is where they live, and help them pack up their old house and un- pack the new one. Haha so what-do-you-know my spring break turned out to be quite diffrent this year. instead of spending the whole week on my butt playing FF XII and DQ VIII i got helping my grandparents move. In a nut shell I'm glad i came to help becuase they really needed it, and i can always just catch up playing FF later on in the weekends to come. Besides, i was able to pick up Golden Sun and a GBA while I was up here as well (yes!).

well, things have been going pretty well lately (especially now that i have quarter exams out of the way). Recently i've felt definately a lot more motivated to do things (must be becuase it's spring break >__>). at any rate though, things have been going well.

to kick off spring break, i went to this one water park with my good 'ol buddy Fireemblems, the trip was very fun; except for the fact that we are red- heads and were the only pale- skinned people there (meaning we attracted a lot of un-wanted attention [we're in mexico]). so that sums that up.

also, i just finished my replay in Drakengard 2, which may i add that it is such an incredibly amazing game...
So i assume the proper question is "now what?", well, i was lended* Odin Sphere for about 2 weeks, so that should keep me busy (i'm about half way through), or i can start up FF XII. eventually i believe it will all boil down to playing both games at the same time, keeping in mind that it is spring break.

also, i finally finished my chrono cross review, check it out if you're up for it; this one took me a while to write.

best regards,
MonkeyStew