Rexikat XVI

Well, I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm about halfway through (I think o_0), so I'll make my comments. #1. The graphics are amazing, and so is the soundtrack. Square Enix did a good job on that front. There are also a lot of cutscenes, which makes it more interactive, I guess. And the fighting system is good, a lot like Final Fantasy, but different enough for it to be a new experience. #2. During the cutscenes, sometimes the characters' lips are obviously not in sync with what they're saying, or their movements seem a little awkward. Not really a big deal, I guess, but it does get annoying. And some of the areas are huge and easy to get disoriented in. #3. It's really impossible to have a "best set of characters" for your main party because different characters have different abilities, and depending on the situation, you might need a certain character's abilities over another, and then sometimes the situation forces you to have certain people in your main party and others in your secondary. #4. Personally, I really like the game. I think it's worth the time and money. It's a two disc game, and after I finished the first disc, I couldn't wait to start the second. The plot is engaging; simple enough to understand, but with enough twists and catches that it doesn't bore you. The actual dialouge is fairly amusing as well, with subtle relationships and enmity going on. I'd say go for it!

I believe in a balance of energy in the universe--for everything that goes wrong, something must go right. I'm big on karma and yin and yang. I believe in loyalty above all else, especially to one's self. I believe in following one's instincts. And I believe in magick.

I love the music from Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and XIII. Then again, pretty much everything Nobuo Uematsu composes rivals perfection. I also love the different styles of music in The World Ends With You, and the different themes from Infinite Undiscovery.

[COLOR="Red"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Ever since I was younger, I've always had this love of faeries. I always believed (and still do!) that magyck exists in the world, even if I couldn't explain it. As I grew older, my fantasies turned into stories, and I started writing them down. Within the last three or four years, I started blending my love of science with my love of magyck to create a world where most magyck could be explained by some "scientific discovery." I started writing this world down, creating several characters and scenarios, until I found one I really liked. This is pretty much a prologue of a refined version of my sci-fi magyck adventure world and its characters.[/COLOR] [U]Prologue[/U] The mission specs are simple enough: infiltrate the enemy camp and liberate the five hostages. The fighting between rebel factions and the current government in Saudi Arabia has died down in recent years, but lately, little pockets of violence are sprouting up around the cities. A rebel group has managed to take captive five civilians; it is their job to free them. They, six elite agents of the Federation for Unworldly Reconnaissance, Investigation, and Endangerment Suppression, are the ones people turn to in their direst hour. In light of the recent world events, the agency has been forced to come out of the secrecy they so very much coveted. Though they were first secretly commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the agency has existed since ancient times. In a futuristic society where magyck beings coexist with mortals, they are the necessary link that keeps relative peace. With the discovery of the existence of faeries, living among humans, no less, and the subsequent uncovering of the rest of the [I]Lain Dunia[/I] (Other Realm) species in the year 2030, the world was thrown into mass chaos. It took several years of reassurance to placate the mortal population and remind them how long these beings had been living among them in peace. By 2043, most of the terrorist groups trying to capture Fae, Vampyr, and Werefolk, as well as other species, for either scientific research or simple elimination had been dismantled. In 2045, the government began a massive project to combine [I]Lain Dunia[/I] technologies with existing mortal equipment to enhance the country?s various abilities. As well as America, other countries developed highly advanced combinations of the two worlds. The result was a massive technological leap that threw the world into a new age of transportation, environmental conservation, and weaponry, among other things. Despite the progress, there are still incidents of violence and discrimination against [I]Lain Dunia [/I]beings, even almost eighty years later. In the year 2124, FURIES?s job is to protect and to serve, especially where immortal beings are involved. Made up of various immortals, the agency is extensive in its capabilities, ranging from high security to advanced reconnaissance, biochemical warfare to old-fashioned assassinations. Their agents are trained above and beyond any other protective corporation, beginning during their early teenage years, a regimen lasting nearly ten years. Of these many agents, Team Discordia-1 has been chosen to deal with the recent uprising in Saudi Arabia. The six of them easily and successfully break past the outer security and incapacitate the immediate guards. Everything falls silent, save the whimpers of the captives and the gunfights outside. Agent AAC-039?Camrin Cristal?enters the cramped cell first. As the team?s medic, she wants to assess the medical damage as soon as possible. Despite her initial concerns, however, none of the Fae captives are seriously injured. Another agent enters the cell, Agent AAL-046, Lex Rhodes, and helps her untie the hostages. Two others stay directly outside the cell; the remaining two stand at the end of the hallway keeping watch. Agent AAK-016, Kimi Jaye, glances into the cell as the first two hostages exit and race down the hallway. Camrin and Lex help the other three escape, nodding in affirmation. Agent AAC-008, Corinth Saunders, helps the three hostages down the hallway to meet up with Agents AAN-013 and AAJ-023?Nathaniel de Lovelle, a Vampyr, and Jonathan Connelly, respectively. As the agents silently travel down the hallway, the only notice that they were there at all is the trail of death they leave behind? [/FONT]

It sounds really promising! I'd love to read more of it!

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][B]Vicky[/B]: It was a little confusing. I had to reread it twice to figure out whether the point of view was male or female (male, I think?). But the story's construction was very well played out and kept my interest throughout. [B]Mr. Blonde[/B]: I've read suicide note stories before, and this one just didn't really interest me. It felt more like a philosophy on suicide rather than a suicide note. There was a lot of opportunity for creativity, and I didn't feel like you utilized all of it here. My vote goes to [B]Vicky[/B]! [/FONT]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][B]Shy[/B]: Your story was real, believable, and presented a situation that many are familiar with, only with an unusual twist. The ending was different yet somewhat predictable, but flowed well with the story. You did well with the limited point of view and word count. [B]pfisland[/B]: When I read the first line, the first thing I thought of was, "Oh, a story where someone doesn't belong or doesn't fit in with their peers, and they make fun of him/her." Then I found out that a teacher had said that line, and it just didn't fit. I think it could have been a really great story, but the way you presented the protagonist's problem through the comment of a teacher, and one that wasn't believable, ruined it. Maybe if you changed the last line, which also seems out of place, and changed the character of the teacher, the story would flow better. :animesmil I vote for [B]Shy[/B]![/FONT]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]I voted for DeathNote, because I think that it's relatively undiscussed when compared to more well-known anime like Naruto or Bleach, and that it has a lot of discussion potential. That, and I personally would love to see a DeathNote forum. I love Naruto and all, but there are so many different forums for it, it's almost over discussed. Just my opinion! :animesmil ~Rex[/FONT]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"] Even standing there with the evidence right in front of him, he still couldn?t believe it was true. He sank to his knees, paralyzed with shock. [I]I?m?I?m the only one left,[/I] he thought incredulously. [I]Jonathan, Camrin, Nate, Lex?[/I] He couldn?t bring himself to even think of her name. It hurt too much. She couldn?t be, it just wasn?t supposed to happen this way. ?She?s fine,? he said shakily to himself. ?They?re all fine. I?m just panicking. They?re all fine.? But deep inside, he couldn?t deny the truth, could he. He knew the truth, as much as he wished he didn?t. Rising to his feet and stumbling blindly forward, the building crumbled around him as he searched for his friends and fellow soldiers, echoing the destruction he felt inside. ?JONATHAN! NATE!? He shouted, his voice reverberating emptily against the ruined structure. He fell against a partial wall, weakened from his many injuries, yet still possessing the strength to go on, spurred by the smallest bit of hope that someone had survived. Around him, as if mocking his mindless optimism, rested the broken bodies of the dead in cold eternal sleep. Outside the building, the battlefield was silent, the remaining forces on both sides having agreed to a ceasefire in light of so many casualties. Everyone heard the desperate, ragged cries of the sole soldier inside, searching for the rest of his squadron. ?CAMRIN!? His voice was growing hoarse, and hot, salty tears mixed with drying blood blurred his vision. Ripping off his helmet and the fifty pounds of gear on his back to lessen the strain on his body, he viciously tore through the charred wood and plaster. ?LEX!? Stumbling to the ground yet again, he couldn?t find the will to get up, and lay there crying for all that could have been, should have been. He sobbed broken-heartedly, a man who had lost everything and anything that ever meant anything to him. ?Kimi,? he whispered, reaching out to the mangled torso that lay beside him. ?I?m sorry. I couldn?t protect you. I?m sorry,? he cried. ?I love you.? The only sound that followed the soldier?s hopeless cries was that of a single gunshot.[/FONT]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Hm. Fable II, Infinite Undiscovery, Ninja Gaiden II, Kingdom Hearts Re: CoM, a new perfume (Can Can, by Paris Hilton), a Coach pocketbook, 2 sets of pajamas, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Limited Edition Collector's Set), Barnes and Noble giftcards, a subscription to Game Informer magazine, and Tinkerbelle, that movie about...Tinkerbelle... I almost can't believe my mother got me all of those games. She's usually the one telling me to quit staying up all night playing video games and interact with other human beings. But, hey, I'm not complaining. :animeswea[/FONT]

Happy New Year's, everybody! :animesmil I'm spending my New Year's with my aunt and her two daughters (her husband and two sons are up in north Jersey with his mother), my sister, my father, and my dog. One of my resolutions is to quit procrastinating so much on my writing. My other is to discover the secret to life (:p). Have a great New Year's Day! ~Rex

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]My name is Kimberly, but most people call me Kimi or just Kim. I'm a writer, a musician, a gamer, and a scientist. If Barnes and Noble, Game Stop, a biological research lab, and a ramen shop all decided to collaborate on a single store, I would live there for the rest of my natural life and be in pure bliss. For now, I live in Jersey. My 14 y/o sister calls me a freak on a daily basis. Derive what you want from that, but I try not to let what people call me get to me. I'm sixteen and in eleventh grade. I've gone to Catholic school all my life, but as far as I know, fit none of the stereotypes. I have one best friend whom I've known since I was four years old. I love her to death. She is my reading and writing buddy, a hopeful author herself. I have one friend whom I met in high school. I also love her to death, as she is my wifey. She is my gaming, manga, and anime buddy, the one who started me on my manga trip. I have another friend who is an artist. She threw me onto deviantArt and made me confront my self-consciousness about people reading what I write. She is soft and pink and fluffy like a bunny. She, along with a few other of my friends, have yet to figure out that I often experience drastic mood changes, and sometimes need to be left alone. Some Favorites: Genre of Music: Classical, neo-classical, rock, reggaeton Song: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, One-Winged Angel Artist(s): Bond, Clint Mansell, The Used, Ludwig van Beethoven, John Williams, Black Violin, Muse, t.A.T.u. Game: Kingdom Hearts Gaming Platform: Xbox 360, PS2 Character(s): Train Heartnet (Black Cat), Ludwig Kakumei (Ludwig Kakumei), L and Light (DeathNote), Axel and Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kakashi-sensei (Naruto), Curious George Book: [U]Crime and Punishment[/U], Fyodor Dostoevsky Manga: Black Cat Color(s): Black, red, pink Food: BBQ chicken Dessert: rum raisin ice cream Fruit: watermelon Animal: felines I'm shy and don't like giving oral presentations, but I'm getting over it. I have a bit of a perfection complex, but I'm the biggest procrastinator in the universe. I can't stand people who don't have common sense. Even more than that, I can't stand people who [U]act[/U] like they don't have common sense. I learn things quickly. I think that's one of my better traits. Getting straight A's in school doesn't make me a genius, as many people say to me. It just means I have a strong desire to learn. I have a tendency to hide my emotions. I don't like to talk about them, but they end up being expressed in whatever I'm writing at the moment. I used to write a lot of stuff about death and murder, but lately, it's been a ton of comedy. A sign of the times, I hope. I love biology. Best subject ever. Second is creative writing. I have a tendency to spend periods of time holding mental conversations with characters in my head. I don't know if that's healthy, but it hasn't hurt me so far. I lead an extremely rich fantasy life. My fantasy life is probably richer than Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates combined. It's what gets me by, though. I have a crippling fear of eternity. Once, I almost had a panic attack during a practice SAT because there was a whole section on black holes, and I started thinking about what happens after death. I love ramen. I love apple pie. I love monkeys. This is rather long. :animeswea The End.[/FONT]

[FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Sounds like fun. I'm interested. [/FONT]

I've recently started reading Black Cat, and I absolutely love it! The character interaction is hilarious and real, and the plot contains several elements but remains easy to follow. It's a good manga for people who've never read manga before, especially since it's set in modern times. I've never seen the anime, though.

Death Note. I caught my friend reading it in the hallway, peeked over her shoulder, caught the words "FBI," and "killings," and was like, "Oh mi gosh! You are letting me read this right NAO!" ...not seriously, but I was pretty excited. I finished that series, then I borrowed Buso Renkin, Rurouni Kenshin (still reading it), and a bit of Samurai Champloo from her. I just started my own collection with Black Cat. Six books in two days. I'm addicted.:animesmil