While I was listening to some of the Suikoden 2 songs, I thought 'bout one thing: Shu was a damn strategist, huh? If you think about it, who was in Luca's side? Jowy and Luca himself were great strategists, but if you consider Suikoden 1, Leon was at Mathiu's side. In Suikoden 2, Leon was in Luca's side and yet Shu somehow managed to beat him! I mean, after all it was Leon's plan, but if he wanted he could easily beat Shu in only one move.

I'm not underrating Mahtiu, by the contrary, I think if it weren't for Mathiu the battle would've never be won. Still, even if Leon didn't really help in the strategic battles, he was still at Tir's side. But imagine that you are against one of the greatest war strategists in the whole world. Wouldn't you give merits to yourself if you managed to survive without a big amount of casualties and losses? Wow. I clap my hands to those who were able to get away safely while fighting against Leon's awesome strategies.

I didn't play Suikoden 3 and 4 yet (I mean, I did play the 4th game a little bit, but it was so damn awful and boring that I didn't manage to finish it), so I don't know how are the other strategist, I only know that they're from the Silverberg family (god bless the Silverberg family, what a damn bunch of war strategists!!!). However, Lucretia Merces from Suikoden V was also an excelent strategist, even if she didn't belong to the Silverbergs. The only thing I didn't really like in her is that she "previewed" everything without showing how she got to that conclusion. For and instance, soon in the beggining of the game, in the first battle against the New Armes, she simply knew the Armes were hidden in the forest!!! But... how come? No one ever told he that.
Another one: while you're visiting the other cities to ask them to join your cause, she seems to be doing "something else" and no matter how many times you ask her what she's doing, she'll never tell. This is somehow irritating, even if you end up victorious from the battle. Isn't it incredible the way she never commits mistakes? I mean, Mathiu, who's a Silverberg, commited one mistake once (I just don't remeber when). Shu... well, he managed to survive to all of Leon's attempts to attack him, didn't he?

One thing I simply don't understand is why the heck Riou and Jowy didn't get to an agreement when Luca died. They just kept fighting over and over. They could've just reached to an agreement and the war would be over... or maybe I just didn't understand the real reason why they ended up like that. I guess I'll have to play Suikoden 2 again...

Man... it's quite tough to get some time to play/update Gamespot's blog/write a review, whatever. Classes haven't even started and I barely have time to breath! But, anyway, while having lunch I'll try to write a fast update here (even though I doubt anyone will ever read this).

Well, I put Shadow of the Colossus at my "Now Playing" games, but I didn't really start it. I mean, I bought it, but I can't start a new game if I don't finish the one I was playing before (that would be Suikoden). Still, I'm almost finishing Suikoden. I've just completed the Neclord events and now I'm heading for Dragon Fortress. There are still a few stars missing, like Crowley (who joins you only after your castle gets to the biggest size), Clive (I can't seem to find him anywhere), Leon (one of the last characters to join), Jabba (where the hell are the ?urns???????), Chandler (wasn't he supposed to be at Pannu Yakuta???), Pesmerga (I think he can join me when I revisit Neclord's castle) and a few more which I don't remember now. Some of them may be acquired during the story events, so I don't worry 'bout them.

I probably won't be able to play this weekend. You know, small cousins visiting you, unfinished projects and stuff.... It's hard to grow up...

Man, it's getting tough to find some time to play! I used to play only before going to sleep, but now I can't do even that! That's... sad!

Well, anyway, yesterday somehow I managed to play Suikoden for an hour. I went through the part in Milich's castle and stopped a little while after beating Teo using Pahn. I never remember the names of the cities... at least not as much as I remember the cities' names from Suikoden V (which is definitely my favorite RPG ever).

Still in the mood to play Shadow of the Colossus... *laughs* Remember that a little while ago it was ICO? Those kinds of games are damn annoying, but after you finish them you feel some sort of emptiness inside you. But unless I finish my business in the weekends, I don't plan to play SotC too soon. In fact, if I don't get free time real soon, perhaps I'll play SotC only when I finish Suikoden (and I still have a long way to go).

Classes start at February 12th, I guess that means I won't have vacations this year... again.

Well, if I get lucky enough, maybe in the end of the year I'll have my Wii.

Yai, Gamespot's blog seems to be back. It may not look like it, but it makes difference to me when it isn't online, since majority of my subjects is gaming (even so, whenever I feel like writing something 'bout my personal life, I do it at my own blog).

Lately I hasn't been in the mood to play anything. I must've already said this, but I played Disgaea... Monday, I think. If I were to play tactical games, I'd play FF Tactics or Suikoden Tactics.

Speaking 'bout tactical games, I heard there's gonna be a remake for Final Fantasy Tactics... I don't know for certain if it's gonna be a remake or a second chapter. The name is "Lion of I-don't-know-what" (how clearing am I??). It seems quite interesting and Balthier from FFXII will be there either. Still, Square-Enix is making quite some disppointing games since a few good members left for Mistwalker. I hope I'm not mistaken, but it DOES look like the Final Fantasy series is losing its charm.

Whenever I finish a game, I feel somehow lost 'bout what to play next. I don't like games that are not... addicting, let's say. I'm not the biggest fan of "casual gaming", I'd rather play something that catches your attention since the beggining 'til the end of the game. I tried play Disgaea yesterday, but I thought the game was kinda boring. I don't really like tactical RPGs.

Monday I played a little bit of Soul Calibur 2 and 3 again. I like them both, but they're still not enough addicting. I think I miss action games like .hack and Kingdom Hearts. Why don't I play .hack 'til I complete the 1000 Book? Well, you see, I don't think it is fun to play only to level up and find additional itens. I like to follow a storyline and to be anxious to what will happen next.

I'm thinking 'bout going back to the old Playstation games while I don't have money to buy a new console (speaking of buying something, I may need to buy a new Memory Card as well). Too bad there are no new titles for the old consoles, what I like the most in the Sony consoles is that there as plenty of good titles to be chosen.

I think I'm gonna finish Suikoden, restart playing FFXII (even though I hated that game), meanwhile I'll play Chrono Cross or FFIX.

FINALLY, I've just finished ICO. Since I'm already logged at Gamespot, I thought it would be useful to write a review 'bout it, which I already did. Damn, I always forget to mention something whenever I write a review. That might happen 'cause, like I already said, English is not my native language, so I always have some difficulties to express myself. I hate writing anything commiting serious grammar mistakes...

Anyway, what I forgot to mention in my review (and I truly doubt someone's gonna read this) is that Ico has one of the best scenaries I've ever seen. Like Shadow of the Colossus, the game is damn astonishing... and gigantic too. It has lots and lots of tiny details, like birds flying over or smoke getting of the floor... there's also the Lens Flare effect, which makes the scenary somehow scary.

I'm also thinking 'bout playing Shadow of the Colossus again, but not that early. I'm through with games which gameplay sux (I love this game, but the controls are one of the worst I've ever seen).

**Attention! From this part on, you'll find ICO spoilers!**
Oh, man... ICO's ending is damn good... You feel somehow sorry for not being able to help Yorda. Specifically in the part where the bridge is divided and Ico jumps in the direction of Yorda, then she tries to grab his hand but he falls anyway... Too bad I don't have the European version of the game, I still don't know what she speaks when Ico falls.

The ending is somehow cute, Yorda carries Ico in her arms to the boat and pushes him while the castle falls apart. Man, I love that part.

Actually, there are a lot of parts that I like in ICO. I think it would be a lot better if there weren't the shadows following Yorda everywhere she goes, they consume too much of our time.

The last time I played ICO, it took me 'bout 2 hours and 15 minutes to the main gate (in the final part), but this time I took 2 hours and 23 minutes. To complete the game, I took more than 3 hours, since I kept falling in the parte where you have to jump the cages. I lost too much time in the part where you have to jump in the watermill, I never got to jump in the right timing...

**End of ICO's spoilers**

Another game that I was playing is SuikoGaiden, a text-adventure game which isn't even in Gamespot. It's release was limited to the japanese version, so there's no translation. Too bad, I have awful japanese language skills (maybe worse than my english skills), so I couldn't understand what was happening in the game. Well, at least I can appreciate the beautiful artwork and the cool soundtrack. Majority of SuikoGaiden's songs are from Suikoden 1 and 2. SuikoGaiden tell us the story of Sierra Mikain and Nash Latkje, from Suikoden 2 and 3, respectivelly, and their search for the Black Moon Rune (is it Black or Blue?? I never remember that detail...).

What am I going to play now..? Guess I'll steak with Suikoden for a while... again.

Oh, man, I've just bought Shadow Hearts, but I felt like playing something more... classic, let's say, and ended up playing Suikoden again. I guess I'll stick with it 'till I finish it again.

Besides, I'm thinking 'bout playing some text RPGs for PSOne.

*sorry 'bout the sort post, I'm not really in the mood to write today*

FINALLY finished .hack//gu. The ending was... well, nice. I mean, it was kind of obvious, since there are two more chapters, but ended up just like chapter 15 of the anime. Well, I can't say I'm not anxious to play the next game and I honestly hope that it keeps the same gameplay.

The last boss... man THAT was annoying! I think I spent half an hour bashing buttons like crazy to hit the guy/escape his crazy berserker attacks... but in a second thought, it was kinda fun.

I finished the game a little bit earlier than I expected, so I tried to play Suikoden, but my CD didn't want to cooperate with me, so I ended up playing 'bout 10 or 15 minutos of Suikoden V. I was thinking 'bout levelling everybody's weapons 'til the last level, but I don't think I'll have enough patience to do so, so I think I'll just finish it (do you think 3 or 4 times is enough?) for once. I should finish games that I didn't play seriously yet, like  Radiata Stories, Dark Cloud 2 or Grandia 3, but after playing Suikoden series and .hack//gu I don't really think I'll have patience to play any other game.

Maybe I should go back to the fighting games...

**Attention, there are a lot of spoilers of .hack//gu in this post!**

Guess what? I could've finished .hack yesterday, but lost to Tri-Edge's avatar!!! I also defeated Endrance (obviously if I got to Tri Edge I must defeat Endrance) and... man, that part of the game is damn annoying. Tri Edge is kinda hard, but the battle is rather cool and there is always a chance that you can avoid his attacks (which wasn't my case, since I was kinda sleepy). Even though your attacks aren't very strong, the battle is very intense. Now Endrance is what you can call a "Kadaj wannabe". His battle pretty mux sux, since his regular attacks in the arena causes status (POISON, iirc) and when you get the chance to confront his avatar, there are certain attacks which are unavoidable (and I'm not talking 'bout Data Drain). Besides, he stops the battle in every 3 minutes to say something totally unuseful in that irritating slow way of speaking. I swear I almost skipped all his lines, but didn't do so 'cause I wanted to see if Endrance was really Elk from .hack//fragment, as some may have said.

Soon after the events of the arena, I went to the "coronation cerimony" and went through all the scenes with Atoli, which imo is the best dialog in the game. She kept screaming and complaining to Haseo that he only did care 'bout Shino, that Atoli was always trying to be close to him 'cause she trully cared 'bout him but he could only see Shino's character and stuff. Honestly, I don't disagree with Haseo. When there's someone you already like, you may end um blind for it.

In a second thought, I also saw the anime, so I got intrigued 'bout what trully happened to Shino. I played the entire game supposing that it was gonna show what was going to happen do Shino, if she was gonna wake up from her comma and stuff, but it seems I may take a little while to find it out.

Man... this game is damn good, too bad it is soo short (I believe I'm at the end of the game and I have barely played for 10 hours). In the other hand, FFXII may have something between 150 and 180 hours of the gameplay... without the quests! Man, how can someone handle this much? Ok, it's an RPG, but it's still quite a long time! Should games last this long? Yeah, maybe a good game should have at least 'bout 50 hours, more than this makes the game annoying, unless the game system is VERY nice and addictive.

I wonder what I'll play as soon as I finish it... I think I'll go back to Suikoden and try to make a nice and clean save data so I can load it on Suikoden 2... and then I'll start Suikoden 2 over again. As I already said, I finished the 2 first Suikodens and the fifth one, but not yet the others, since they didn't really caught my attention, but I'll see if I can finish them all this year. I believe it won't be hard since there aren't any great games for PS2 coming out this year. Besides, it may take a while so I can buy consoles from the next generation. They're too expensive and I don't earn much money.

I don't think of buying any new games for now. I already have lots of games do finish and lots of games I want to play again.

**Attention! This post may contain spoilers for the game .hack//gu!!**

I may already be finishing .hack//gu... finally! Not that the game isn't good, but I can't wait to see the ending! I wonder where I can find vol. 2...

Seriously, all my colleagues already said this, but I'm gonna say it again: the battle against Kuhn is quite fun, specially the part where you have to fight his avatar.

And, seriously, the fight with avatars is fabulous. I already liked the part where Pi showed you how to use avatars. I thought the idea of using a robot to fight like in classic games like Xenogears is awesome. At least it's better than the part with the Gummi Ship in Kingdom Hearts series. In .hack//gu, you feel as you really were riding a mecha. Too bad there are only few occasions where you can use them. I hope there are more of it in vol. 2. I wonder when will the English version be released...