The Monochromicon

Audio

Tue, 18 May 2010 23:30:15 -0600

Turn Off Your Mac's Display

Wed, 12 May 2010 22:04:23 -0600

⇧ + ctrl + ⏏

Honestly, this almost made me jump in excitement…...

Mon, 10 May 2010 17:03:00 -0600

Honestly, this almost made me jump in excitement… It’s LittleBigPlanet2!!!

Oh, and if someone wondered what’s the song used (I know I do), it’s Sleepyhead by Passion Pit.

She… may be the love that cannot hope to last,may come to...

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:43:44 -0600

She… may be the love that cannot hope to last,
may come to me from shadows of the past that I remember till the day I die…

Somehow this song always made it’s way through my mind lately…

Dear Spring, please come back…

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:50:04 -0600

Dear Spring, please come back…

"When prayers turn to promises, not even fate can stand in their way."

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:15:00 -0600

“When prayers turn to promises, not even fate can stand in their way.”

- Oerba Yun Fang — Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:52:00 -0600

—Review Score: 9/10—

Final Fantasy XIII is a long awaited continuation of the most popular Japanese RPG franchise outside Japan. And dare I say this is nothing like any Final Fantasy you’ve played before. FF XIII breaks away from the mold of Final Fantasy is, with lots of omission of the usual elements. But somehow Square Enix manage to keep the basic elements compelling with both superb gameplay (especially the battle system) and enjoyable story, Final Fantasy XIII is worthy the name of Final Fantasy.

On to the difference of this iteration to the series. Gone are Final Fantasy Theme and Prelude which always prevalent in the series. There are also no proper cities where you can talk to and gather information from the NPCs. As for replenishing supplies normally done via store in the cities, well it’s online shopping altogether in FF XIII, through save points! In other word, FF XIII lose the feeling of traditional J-RPG and replace it with more action-oriented series of events and battles. This might turn off some players since the sense of linearity and on-rail progress is more imminent in this kind of narration. However, this also leads to a more focused storytelling and more action-packed sequence altogether.

Story-wise, FF XIII goes back to the theme of grandiose save-the-world cliché. The protagonists are bound together by an event that leads to the destruction of the world, and they are actually the one to destroy it. But being the protagonists and all, they choose to save the world instead and that’s exactly what the story is about, defying fate. The story is great with lots likable cast and strong character development portion. If there is anything lacking, it’s the lack of true antagonist. Just like FF XII, the antagonists in FF XIII are all have their own reason and belief. It’s just because their wills clashed with the protagonists’ that the story narrates them as the antagonists.

FF XIII features a strong-willed female lead protagonist, Lightning. It’s been a while since Final Fantasy game features a lead female (Final Fantasy VI, if I’m not mistaken is the only other game in the series), and more so that Lightning is a strong-willed and not your usual Japanese female character stereotype. Other characters are also great; there are hero-syndromic Snow, down-to-earth Sazh, despaired Hope, happy-go-lucky Vanille, and hard-headed Fang. All of them have their own story to tell, and all of them underwent a development throughout the game. This the thing that I enjoy most of the game, good story complemented with great character development.

As I said earlier, gameplay in this iteration is great. You’ve got the Paradigm system, where you create a set of roles (behaving like jobs in previous Final Fantasies) for battle. The roles are: Commando, main attacker of the party; Ravager, support attacker, useful to drive the chain gauge (more on this later); Sentinel, defender role to absorb damage; Saboteur, placing various debuffs on the enemies; Synergist, placing various buffs on the party; and finally Medic, your staple healer. You can create up to 6 Paradigm decks (a combination of role for each character) at any given time, and you need to use the Paradigm Shift to change role mid-battle, which is pretty much mandatory on most battles. The battle in FF XIII is complex yet fun, for starters the enemies are considerably have tons of hit points and normal attacks only chip a fraction of it. The key is chain gauge on each enemy, the higher the percentage number is means all the attack will be multiplied by that percentage (it can goes up to 999.9% at which point each attack will do 10X damage). Basically each and every battle is revolving around increasing the chain gauge and deal higher damage as soon as possible. I won’t delve deeper to the battle system in this review though, because it can go into another in-depth analysis. But it’s suffice to say that the battle can be unforgiving if you’re not planning your way through it. There’s no random encounter, instead FF XIII uses a Chrono Trigger system, you touch an enemy on the field map and then it turns into a battle screen. The leveling system is more like FF X with it’s sphere grid (it’s called Crystarium in here, though), but with different grid for each character. In a sense, there’s no normal concept of level as in other J-RPGs.

Now for the graphics quality, being a Final Fantasy game this is one thing all fans should expect (since FF VII anyway). And I’m glad to report that the graphics are gorgeous. From the colourful and modern Cocoon to the lush green and naturey (borrowing Vanille’s Australian accent) Pulse, FF XIII is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Every cutscene is highly detailed, up to the lips movement of each character following the actual line. They even change the lips movement for the full CG (computer generated) scenes to match the English dialogue. Now that’s what I called an attention to detail. Background music is mostly great, but Final Fantasy fans might not happy with the omission of the Victory Fanfare, Prelude, and Final Fantasy theme. I personally love the battle music, because it’s uplifting yet so unconventional at the same time, and also partially because I heard it so many time during the battle.

All things considered, Final Fantasy XIII might looks unappealing to the fans of the series because of the omission it has. But this also means that FF XIII tried to turn a new leaf on the series. Final Fantasy series have been thought as a J-RPG for the non-Japanese, and this game shows that Square Enix is serious on that by incorporating new elements that might appeal non-Japanese gamers more. In that point of view, I dare say that this is a success. I enjoyed the difference, the way they put all the core story in a cohesive narrative and leave all the side-tracking at the player’s convenience. I enjoyed the punishing and strategic battle system instead of multiple simple battles only to increase your level. And most importantly, I enjoyed the whole game experience. This is truly a Final Fantasy.

(Picture Credit: Final Fantasy XIII Official Site)

"When I couldn’t see a future, and I was afraid… …when the future was clear, and it..."

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:24:13 -0600

“When I couldn’t see a future, and I was afraid…
…when the future was clear, and it hurt to see…
…I’d just close my eyes, and lose myself in happier days.”

- Oerba Dia Vanille — Final Fantasy XIII

Fragility

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:12:00 -0600

It has been struck me the realization on how fragile life is, human life. We may took it for granted, live our life without any purpose, without any meaning. But it only took a shot from a stranger in an armed robbery; it only took a hit from a drunk driver in a truck on the other direction of the road; hell, it even only took a clog in your heart artery to make it all ends.

Human life is fragile. It is because of this fragility that to me it’s not how long we can live, but how good our life is. That’s why we need to make the most of it. Be grateful for every breath you can take in this very world, for every second your heart beats and your brain thinks. Life is all about making choices, and accepting the consequences. That’s why we need to think before we act, to contemplate before we choose. Never overlook small choices we made every day, for they are the ones which shape the life we lived, and the life we will lead.

Now let me ask you one thing, if you depart this world tomorrow have you lived a good life? I know I haven’t, but I’m trying to do so…

Transmutation recipe, check! (reblog from Palahniuk &...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:27:22 -0700

Transmutation recipe, check! (reblog from Palahniuk & Chocolate)

Cocoon, here I come!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:19:42 -0700

Cocoon, here I come!

A slice of spring…

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:53:00 -0700

open road

open road redux

the sun peeking

gateway

wind farm

A slice of spring…

This is my favourite song so far from James Morrison…...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:12:00 -0700

This is my favourite song so far from James Morrison… It’s really easy on the ears.

Taken on a snowy day.

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:10:00 -0700

withered

wintery

serene

frosted

winter sun

Taken on a snowy day.

MacHeist nanoBundle 2

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:15:00 -0700

MacHeist nanoBundle 2:

Another MacHeist bundle, this time it’s USD20… To be honest, I wanted Tales of Monkey Island only. But so far after trying out the apps, Flow and Tracks worked well for me. All in all, it’s 10 apps (3 for free if you participate in the twitter shoutout) for 20 bucks, pretty good deal!

tumblr

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:11:00 -0700

So here I am, introducing the tumblr-powered version of my blog. Just finished setting up and all. Now it’s up and running, and probably a bit of waiting for my domain name to clear up… Then I can use my custom domain as my tumblr address.

This Is The One

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:34:00 -0600

—Review Score: 9/10—

The second English album of Utada Hikaru is here, it’s called This Is The One. The overall feel of the album is solid and it’s clearly targeted to the current mainstream Western music taste, with R&B influence all over the tracks. It’s also worth noting that Utada’s cunning rhyming is imminent in this album. How often do you hear the words “Photoshop”, “MySpace”, “Blackberry”, and “JPEG” in a song?

The first single of the album, Come Back To Me, is a good and yet mellow ballad song showcasing Utada’s excellent vocal. Another great sad song in this album is This One (Crying Like A Child), the first time you hear the vocal in this track, you’ll know that this is Hikki. Departing from the ballads, the rest of the album is pretty much upbeat R&B-styled. In true Utada style, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI takes a classical melody into a twisting high energy song. Apple and Cinnamon and Automatic Part II are also interesting songs with the intelligent rhyming only known from Hikki, she even acknowledge her own clever rhyming as a lyrics in the latter song.

The flow of this album is actually enjoyable. The first single Come Back To Me starts the listening experience, and then Me Muero a medium beat song to continue. Things started to get interesting with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI and Apple and Cinnamon, both feature an upbeat rhythm with enjoyable lyrics. And then Taking My Money Back sets the beat back to showcase This One (Crying Like A Child) sad and mellow tune, which is, in my opinion, the best song in this album. But starting with Automatic Part II, suddenly the album becomes monotone with Dirty Desire, Poppin’, and On and On all three have an upbeat R&B tune. Too bad the final stretch is not as enjoyable as the first half of the album.

Overall, this is a really great album. There are several weird lyrics to my taste, but they don’t distract you that much from actually enjoying the whole listening experience. And although this album is more mainstream than other Utada’s albums, she still has her touch in this album, clearly this is Utada.

(Picture Credit: Utada Official Site)

LeftRightLeftRightLeft

Fri, 01 May 2009 10:36:00 -0600

LeftRightLeftRightLeft:

Coldplay fans rejoice! Coldplay will give away free live album, you heard it right, it’s free. The live album will be called LeftRightLeftRightLeft, and will feature 9 tracks, which won’t be available anywhere else. So flock in to the Coldplay official site on May 15th, lads and lasses!

Track Listing:

Glass of Water
42
Clocks
Strawberry Swing
The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away
Viva La Vida
Death Will Never Conquer
Fix You
Death and All His Friends

"You hide behind your intelligence, and you make jokes because you’re afraid to take anything..."

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:47:00 -0600

“

You hide behind your intelligence, and you make jokes because you’re afraid to take anything seriously. Because if you take things seriously, they matter. And if they matter…

…when things go wrong I get hurt. I’m not tough, I’m vulnerable

”

- House, Season 1 Episode 5, Damned If You Do

Heroes - Volume 4: Fugitives

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:04:00 -0600

—Review Score: 5/10—

I sincerely wish that the fourth volume (a.k.a. the second half of season 3) of Heroes will bring back the Heroes that I liked before. But however I look at it, it is a worse disappointment. Maybe it’s just another iteration and milking of a once famous franchise, or maybe I’m just too bored with Heroes already.

The first episode wasn’t even as exciting as the season premiere. Granted, it gave you the shock factor and plenty of action. But the action sequences are nowhere as engaging as the previous volumes. Fugitives may fix the constant side changes in Villains, but it still left the plot felt a bit short.

Plot-wise, Volume 4 dug deeper in the character development department. More of the character’s past were shown, especially with Sylar. But that also accompanied with some nerfs of several familiar powers, such as Peter’s and Hiro’s. Is Heroes started to become like a video game? Because the power nerfs are a bit disappointing to my taste… And as in Volume 3, this season ends with uncertainty. Sure, it looks like the story will keep on progressing. But it has become a forced story with unnecessary plot twist and outcome.

With the third season’s over and that particular season finale, I don’t think I will watch the fourth season of Heroes. It’s better to stop right now before you get more disappointment. Since the story changed so radically, Heroes has become very different from the stellar first season. I sincerely don’t recommend to watch Heroes past this point.

(Picture Credit: Heroes Wiki)