I spent a little bit of time playing FFIX this evening, but as my head has been a ball of pain for 2 days now, and aching for days before that... I had to stop. I will say, from what I have played, that the game is way prettier than I thought it would be given its age. Pretty as in graphics-wise I mean. Queen Brahne is far from pretty. Eeesh.
I'm enjoying the little mini-games that have been thrown in here and there, but some of them are really tough on the hands! Vivi played jump rope with the little girls in the square and managed to hit 74 jumps before my index finger gave up the ghost. I think it would probably be easier with a remote as you would be using your thumbs for that kind of thing. I read up on it a bit, and apparently there's a reward for reaching 1000 jumps. I can't even imagine. There's no way. I'm going to need strength training for my right index finger. That's insanity.
The second mini-game (I guess?) that I've come across is the staged battle scene between Zidane and Blank where they're meant to impress the royals and Queen Brahne. It took me a few tries but I managed to get a perfect score from 100 of 100 royals, which netted me 10000 gil, and the approval of the queen, which SHOULD have earned me a Moonstone but... apparently I'm dumb because I had to talk to her in order to get it and I didn't know that bit. *shrugs* I do have a save file which may still allow me to do that BUT I don't know if it's worth restarting from that point just for the Moonstone. If anyone has input on that, please let me know. I guess that's the good thing about game paranoia and multiple save files - I can always pick up from earlier points if I need to.
I'm enjoying the banter between the various characters. Blank is probably one of my favourites, which is sad because when I last saw him he was a stone statue in a petrified forest. Zidane is... teenage-boy-girl-crazy, and Garnet hasn't said enough for me to actually pinpoint what her personality is really like. She seems mischievous and playful, but also really sad. I guess I'll find out why as I progress through the story line. Vivi is cute and quiet - probably because he's unsure about the strength of his own powers - and I love that he dances/sways during the combat scenes! Friggin' adorable. Finally, Steiner. He's actually surprisingly strong in combat when paired with Vivi to use Magic Weapon (Fire), but what a bumbling dumbass the rest of the time. It's surprising that Princess Garnet hasn't escaped before now because everything slips past this guy's nose. How did he ever make it to head of the guard?
I basically stopped playing right after hitting the open map, so I don't have much more to write about at this point. It's proving a fun game, and I'm excited to see where the story goes. I already have a few questions, like what happened to Ruby (since they left her behind in town), and are the Tantalus crew REALLY going to just take off without Zidane and Blank? Also, what's the story behind Zorn and Thorn because those two are super creepy? Already so many questions. I guess I'll have to play more, and earn my answers. ;)
For now - screenshots. Enjoy!
Last one... what's up with these guard outfits? XD Wow.
And after I logged out of FFIX, I hopped into Shellshock for a little bit and got stuck on this:
Basically every level gets worse, which I guess is expected, but holy crap. I've done this 5 times and I always miss at least one of the tanks. Help! At least I'm playing solo because I think the people who would wind up with me on their team would curse me out. I'm going to give it a couple more tries and then I'm going to bed. It feels like someone is stabbing me in the right side of the head, and my knees are aching again. I need food, or sleep. At this point, it's going to be be sleep. Good night peeps.
