FFXI: January 29, 2013 (JST) Version Update

January 29, 2013 (JST) Version Update

Event-related

• Meeble Burrows Additions and Adjustments
  
  • New expeditions have been added. (Where you kill fuzzier rabbits!)
    
    The new expeditions are issued by the Burrow Researcher in Batallia Downs (J-8).
    *The expeditions in Batallia Downs are independent from those in Sauromugue Champaign.
  • "The Batallia Downs caverns" has been added as a location to which the Burrow Investigator in Upper Jeuno (I-8) may transport you.
    
  • A new NPC named Sokrov, with whom you can exchange wizened worms for reward items, has been introduced in Batallia Downs (J-8).
    *Sokrov serves the same function as Utrig does in Sauromugue Champaign (J-7).
  • New wizened worm exchange items have been added.

• Trades with the following NPCs involving ancient currencies may now only be completed if the currency amount matches the amount needed to purchase items. (I feel good enough to say I never made the mistake of giving him the wrong amount of currency. Now that I admitted that, I feel good for not saying it earlier and accidental cursing myself!) 

  Haggleblix: Beadeaux (E-7)
  Lootblox: Davoi (J-7)
  Antiqix Castle Oztroja (F-8)

Item-related

• New items have been added.
  

Possibly the coolest looking weapons to date. It's a shame that most Samurai and Warriors already use either relics or empy weapons.

System-related

• When trading with other players, information regarding the number of items you possess will now display while the trade window is open. (Thank you for this one SE, but honestly: Who has that few items on them?)
  

Resolved Issues

• The following issues have been rectified:
  • The issue wherein the Spinet furnishing would not play certain songs even when placed in one's Mog House.
  • The issue wherein the damage bonus based on dexterity for the thief ability Sneak Attack would activate even when thief was set as a support job.
  • The issue wherein changing the number of character models displayed under "Misc." in the Config menu would also change the cursor position for the Icon Type setting.

Known Issues

• Receiving the effects of Warp II, Teleport, or Retrace during a cutscene in a town occasionally skips the cutscene.
• The item Vihuela cannot yet be delivered to characters belonging to different accounts.
• Using the black magic spell Kaustra does not properly count towards completing "dark-based status ailment" objectives in Trial of the Magians.
• The Abyssea-Tahrongi NM Cuelebre can become the target of melee attacks at all times under certain conditions.
• The rate at which participants in Ballista and Brenner competitions receive temporary items remains unintentionally high under certain circumstances.
• Absorbing the effect of a song while under the effect of a Phantom Roll occasionally negates the Phantom Roll effect.

Coming To America: Project X Zone & One Piece Pirate Warriors 2

We knew the next entry in Koei's brawl-em-all would eventually hit our shores over here in N. America, but here we go again.. One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 be only available for the PS3 via Playstation Network. I actually really would love a physical release so I could play it at my friends house. Hell, I still have to review the first game. >.> This second entry in the series brings back everything you know and love from the first game and includes new versions of Luffy and his crew as well as characters missing from the first game such as Eneru and the Skypiea Arc. Hopefully it either got rid of or vastly improved the phoned-in platforming of the first game. Sorry Vita owners, if you want to play the Vita version you need to import it. Warrior game release dates are pretty predictable, so expect this game to be download-ready sometime past October 2013.

Still wish they would give us a physical release..

Another great Japanese game is hitting the USA. One that I honestly did not think would make it here. Project X Zone for the 3DS is a RPG that crosses generations of characters from Namco/Bandai, Sega, and Capcom. Like games such as Super Robot Wars and Shonen Jump Superstars that had issues making it outside Japan, Projectt X Zone brings over 50 characters from the three companies together in a fight against some random darkness that probably won't be as memorable as the characters that you get to see. This game looks great despite the fact that it did not sell to expectations. I look forward to a nice 3DS RPG that will star characters from games that may never come to America. Looking at you VC3. -.-;

The 'X' is read as "cross." I guess we should call it Project Cross Zone, which would make more sense.

Final Fantasy - XIII-3's new character & the offical announcement for "All the Bravest!"

There is nothing like being trolled by one of your favorite video game companies. Our good friends at SquareEnix just may of trolled us three times. Not once, not twice, but potentially thrice. We start today with the announcement found in this week's Weekly Shonen Jump!

Warning - Just had some dental work done. I may be a little more grumpy then usual. 

It looks like Lightning not only has 13 days and 13 nights to save the world in FFXIII-3, but now has a new character to deal with. No one can say if this new character will be assisting Lightning or if she will be a problem for our heroin, but I can say this: She is either really familiar looking or Nomura no longer has original ideas for characters. Her name is Lumina and she will be heavily cosplayed as by March. First potential troll goes to Mr. Noruma for leaving us with this tease of a "new" character. We'll see when the game comes out this year.

Next up is a double-combo troll for some fans. Some of you may of been paying attention to the teaser site the SquareEnix posted the other day. It showed off some 16-bit silhouettes of a couple of Behemoths from FFVI as well as some familiar sprites that look like they were from V or VI. Here we are hoping for a re-release of V or VI. Maybe on the iPhone, Maybe on the 3DS (PLEASE!!) Alas, today SE announced Final Fantasy: All the Bravest. It's a mobile game for iOS that SE is selling as a "touch-action" RPG. Looks a lot like Theatrythem where they replaced the rhythm game with a rapid-ATB battle system. That explains the title! ATB means active-time battle AND All the Bravest!

Final Fantasy: All The Bravest details commence!:

• The Active Time Battle is back with the largest parties in Final Fantasy history!
Final Fantasy: All the Bravest is a touch-action RPG in which you continuously battle enemies to advance through the game's many stages. Defeating foes earns you the experience points you need to level up, which in turns grants you character slots to add more and more members to your party. Combat is based on the classic Active Time Battle (ATB) system of the Final Fantasy series. Every character possesses an ATB gauge that displays the time remaining until that character can execute an action. When the gauge is full, simply tap or drag your finger over the character to attack. Touch multiple characters in quick succession to experience exhilarating and fast-paced battle unlike anything you've ever played before! Once every three hours, the Fever option will appear. Once activated, you will be able to attack without waiting for ATB gauges to refill as long as the chocobo-themed music is playing. Deal as much damage as you can before the battle fever ends!
• Characters, enemies, and music from throughout the Final Fantasy series!
Progress through the game to unlock over 20 different classic jobs, including warrior, monk, red mage, and more! Each job brings its own special abilities to the battleground, where you will encounter timeless Final Fantasy foes such as behemoths, bombs, and cactuars. At the end of each stage waits a harrowing encounter with a fiendish Final Fantasy boss!
The game's musical library comes packed with over 30 songs from the series, the majority of which are themes from battle. The perfect soundtrack to listen to as your crush your enemies and see them driven before you!
• Track your collection of every character, enemy, and item with in-game catalogs!
The game's three catalogs will keep a record of every character that joins your ranks, every enemy you encounter, and every item you obtain. Collect them all and open the catalogs to flip through the nostalgia whenever you like!

• Take part in leader-boards and social networking features!
Global leader-boards will rank players based on stats such as the amount of damage dealt in the course of a single Fever. You will also be able to track progress and other feats using the game's achievement system. Social networking features allow you to post directly to Facebook and Twitter, and reward you for doing so by granting additional member slots. Post and tweet away to increase the size of your party for battle!
• Purchase premium characters and new game worlds!
The in-game shop offers access to 35 famous characters from a number of FINAL FANTASY titles. Each purchase ensures you will receive a new, random character. Which powerful favorites will you have join your party? You are also able to purchase additional game stages from FFVI, X, and XIII. (Bullshit, where's IX, XI, and XII?!) Board airships bound for new worlds where further adventures await!

 Sounds like a neat game, I just wish they would expand their mobile market passed apple's devices. Wondering where that third potential troll went? Well, fans have known that SE reserved the rights for "All The Bravest" not to long ago. We we expecting this to be the English title for the current JRPG hit, Bravely Default. Oh well. /wrist.

Maybe one day I'll get to spend some time with you...

Model Kit Review: PSO RAcaseal "Whitill Ver."

Phantasy Star Online was my first online love. From the day my best friend and I picked it up at Best Buy to the day the servers were shut down, PSO was an every day occurrence. When I heard that Kotobukiya had started releasing 5.5" RAcaseal model kits I was absolutely hyped to get my hands on one. Thanks to my father for this one. As I've practically grown up building Bandai kits I was a little nervous building a kit from a company I had never bought from before. This nervous feeling also had a nice amount of excitement as I popped open the box to explore the wonders inside!

Out of the Box

Being the first Kotobukiya kit I had ever opened it was still surprisingly simple by design. Instructions were easy enough to understand, much like Bandai's kits. The plastic itself is different then a Gundam though. I'm not quite sure how to explain it in detail. It's a "softer" plastic that feels a little more brittle then a Bandai kit. There were also alot of pieces for a 5.5" figure. I counted a little more then 200 pieces. These include the entire RAcaseal, 3 weapons, and 2 different MAGs. She also came with extra pieces that would of been included in other kits in the same line. I've mentioned before that Bandai does this as well. The cost of giving you a few useless pieces (or custom-pieces if you think the glass if half-full) does not seem to out weigh the cost of creating specific molds for each kit. This did become a little confusing during the build though, as many of the extra pieces share the same tree number. There was a moment where I was giving her human-like thighs but a black chest. 4/5

Coloring/Detail

I'll give Kotobukiya one major prop right here - this is the least amount of detail I had ever wanted to do on a model kit. All the colors of the kit matched the character and few detail lines were needed to make her look great. I can't say to much else about it though. A great kit for someone who doesn't like to detail.. unless you like detail on your weapons. Her MAGs and weapons come in one simple color and require a little painting. At the time of this review I had only painted one MAG. I didn't paint either large weapon yet as I did not have the colors I wanted.  4/5

Stability/Movement

30 points of articulation makes her as flexible as a RG Bandai kit. From awesome battle-ready positions to sexy poses this kit it ready for whatever pose you want. Keep in mind that family members may look at you strange, but if you're like me, you are used to the glares and shakes of disappointment. One of my favorite things about this kit is the fact that she comes with two large weapons (A Death Scythe & a large Spread-like gun) that she can actually hold without being a complete bitch. I'm looking at you MG Zeta Gundam. I did end up breaking two pieces during the build unfortunately. One was a black upper-chest piece (That I replaced with a white piece that I happily painted over) and the other was the extremely thin neck-join. Yep, I broke her neck. Yes, it happened exactly like it did in "The Mice In Men." >.> 3/5 Damn weak joint/Damn Monkey-strength.

Overall: Being different is not a bad thing. This kit was something of an adventure. Despite her weak neck joint the rest of her was sturdy and ready to go on the attack. Going thru memory lane as I played the PSO soundtrack during the build helped keep the mood that this kit put me in. Hopefully soon I will obtain one of the other 3 RAcaseal kits so I can give it another go - this time without shattering the poor girl's neck. 3.7/5 - Average.