RPGs are good - it's like chess!

Seriously, I never thought I'd pick up an RPG game ever. It was around college when I said 'no' to RPGs and joined the FPS (first-person-shooter) genre of gaming, starting with Castle Wolfenstein.

I wanted quick response, deadly action, and instant reaction in games. Didn't care for the time-consuming turn-based games.

Which leads to this irony....the first ever game that really got me hooked into PC gaming? Wasteland. And this was a heavy text-based RPG. And turn-based combat too.

And now, I'm back and loving the RPG-genre of gaming. I like the strategies involved, the cut scenes, and the allowance of time before you 'execute' your moves. Granted, it does take a lot of time to play. No lightning fast level finishes here.

What tuned me back to RPG gaming is Atlus' Persona 3:FES. I got intrigued by the 'controversialities' of this game, which deals with summoning personas (like powerful spirits/deities) to assist you in battle. The way you 'invoke' your persona was actually the one that raised concern over this game. Nevertheless, I liked it and before I knew it, poured over a 100 hours into it (...there goes 100+ hours of my life, hehehe).


Persona 3 by Atlus triggered my jump back to the RPG genre of gaming.

Then I got Tales Of Vesperia, which blew me away with the anime-type graphics and the smoothness of the gameplay. It's not a traditional turn-based RPG, but more of a free-flowing style. You do have a team, but you don't have to wait to move/attack, and that added a sense of speed into the game.


Tales of Vesperia, a free-move style RPG. Awesome animation/graphics and nice storyline.

Have finished Persona 3, which led me to wanting more Persona. Good thing Persona 4 came out Christmas of 2008.


Atlus knew what to do with Persona 4. Persona 3 was a hit, so they kept the basics, and just added more stuff to it without re-doing the architecture. The formula worked!

Maybe this is just an excuse, really, underlying the fact that - I am getting old and the slow pace of the RPG games is more in my 'comfort' zone. :-)

And I still have a couple of RPGs to finish - I'll take my time on those too. ;-)

But hey, I still love FPS games with a passion! Make no mistake on that!

Driving in the rain...

Had some light showers yesterday driving to work - a signal that fall is just around the corner.

It was kinda refreshing though. My 'OCD' for car cleaning has been activated again though...argh. :D

Drive safe in the rain and keep your distance and check your speed!

Drawing 101

Went out last weekend with a friend and his family, and had a very nice day. Weather was perfect and all, and we managed to get a lot of things done too. Time well spent, I must say.

We got back to their place, and my friend's wife told me that their daughter loves to draw - and draw anime characters at that. So their daughter showed me her sketch book. And I was totally, very impressed - made my sketches look like a work of a 5-year old (not that I am any good at all for starters...) :-P.

Manga/Anime sketch I made - character named 'Hikari'

I'm so amazed at the sketches she's made, both fan art and originals - she has definitely got a very good talent here. It's very inspiring actually.

Perhaps one of these days I can collaborate with her to draw some single frame sketches for this light story series I am trying to write up. Or maybe even a 2 or 4 panel comic online perhaps? ;-)

Well, here's a link to my few sketches worth scanning, he he he. I'll forward her this link so she can grade and critique my work. I think I need to take Drawing 101 :-P

Sketches

Cheers!

Nendoroid Comic 00 - "Pando-Rin's Box"

What is a Nendoroid, you ask? Well it is a 'chibified' or 'super deformed' figurine representation of a character from a Japanese anime. It can apply to non-Japanese anime characters as well, but predominantly it is done with the former. I guess we can call it a JDM bobble-head...without the head-bobble feature. Here's Wikipedia's take on it - Nendoroid Wiki.



Nendoroid Rin Kokonoe.


I am an avid anime fan since I was a kid. And I guess I can call myself a mild-otaku. Figure collection is one hobby I've also had since I was a kid and there's just something amazing in seeing 3d renditions of 2d characters. My Nendoroid collection just actually started (no Nendos back then), and to be honest at first I didn't like these short chibi character versions - I found them a bit odd and annoying...that is until I saw one in person and that changed my perspective on these figures. And as you will see in the pictures, 'cute' is definitely a Nendoroid's forte. ;-)

In any case, I'd like to present my very first 'Nendo-comic', entitled 'Pando-Rin's Box'. I used Manga Studio 4.0 Debut software (a nice software for manga/comic creation) to create the panels.
The stars of the show: Kureha (from Shining Tears X Wind), Miku Hatsune, Tsuruya-san, Nagi, and Rin Kokonoe.

Note: Once you click on the the link below to view the comic, select the 'Large' size so that the comic text will be more readable. You only have to do this once and it will apply the size to the rest of the pictures.You can then use your arrow keys to move thru the pictures (4 frames).

Pando-Rin's Box

Job seeker blues

I know a couple of friends who are 'journeymen' when it comes to jobs. They've at least had 4-5 jobs already. Before I thought that it seems to much of a hassle and not worth the trouble.

Now, I'm seeing it in a different light. I actually envy them - because when it comes to work and their careers, they are 'in game'. Say, compare to someone who has been in the same job for at least 8 years. When something comes up and that person now needs to look for a job, it's going to be like the first time looking for one.

But yes, it depends on the individual. Some people stay in shape, not only physically, but mentally and career-wise. Keeping up to date with technology, studying their field while at work. Of course there are the low profile ones to who are content with what is at hand. There's always two sides to a coin, right?

It is nice to keep up with what you know, one way or another. It doesn't mean that you'd be studying every night and seeing what's new out there. But an occasional online training or seminar won't hurt. You'll never know when you'll need a refresher and perhaps new skills. And it doesn't hurt to exercise our brains from time to time. ;-)

Late bloomer?

Why blog now you say? I guess since I have nothing better to do, and want a place online that I can post stuff that I can say 'is in my blog' :-D

But then again, let's see how long I keep this one up - I have my doubts, though. ;-)

Cheers!