Monday, October 29, 2007
Chocobo Tales
Yes, in case you didn't get it, I'm telling you to buy one. Go! Buy one! Yes! I'll wait here!

*Ahem* In any case, one of the games that I've been playing recently is Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. It's pretty good! It's like your usual FF, except the "battles" are either in the form of minigames or a collectible card game. At first, I wasn't impressed by the idea of a minigame RPG the first time I heard of it. Then I played it and I was impressed. Graphics are quite good too.

The minigames can be a bit frustrating here and there, mostly because I have generally poor hand-eye coordination (too many books and not enough vidyagames when I was a kid, heh). If a particularly difficult minigame was in the way of the story, I'd have to bang my head against the wall until I could solve it and allow the RPG to continue. It's a bit stunning to realize that the average ten-year old is probably better than me at this kind of thing. Despite the difficulty issue though, this game is (surprisingly) a must play.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
DS, Redux
I'll get one once I've figured out what I'm actually supposed to be doing at work, apart from just dicking around on the internet. ^_^

Edit: Posts need pics! Here's a screenshot of FF3 for the DS. (Not FF6, which was released in the states as FF3 as well)
Stormcrow
Sunday, April 15, 2007
WoW, redux

How are the rules? You can find a good flash tutorial at the official site. Alternately, I could just tell you that it's so similar to Magic that I'm surprised they don't get sued. Untap, upkeep, draw and all that. Instead, I'll look at what's different:
- You (the player) are represented by a Hero card, revealed at the start of the game. It sets your starting life, gives you abilities, and defines your race, class and traits (ie, decktype, like a L5R stronghold).
- You can only play cards that share a trait with your Hero (ie, only Horde cards or Rouge cards if your Hero is a Horde-aligned Rouge)
- All costs are colorless (like L5R). You can play ANY card as a land by playing it face down (like VS). Quests are lands, but with extra abilites.
- Damage to creatures is cummulative; it doesn't fade at the end of the turn. Damage tokens are suggested (like pokemon).
- Weapons and Armor are just like artifacts with "1, T: Your Hero has +3/+0" or "T: Prevent the next 2 damage to your Hero". (numbers vary)
List of card correspondences:
Creature -> Ally
Land -> Quests (or any card)
Artifact -> Weapon, Armor, Item
Sorcery -> Ability
Instant -> Instant Ability
Enchantment -> Ability with Ongoing trait

So... anyone else want to try this?
Stormcrow
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Back to the grind
Two years ago, I played La Pucelle Tactics. It's an old school, turn based tactical RPG with cute art and a good story. After 65 hours of gametime, I was one dungeon away from the last boss. Then I stopped. Burned out from too much levelling.

La Pucelle has an insanely complex and addictive XP system. Each character has a base level, and ten more attributes that level separately based on your equipment. Skills level only when you use them. Equipment levels too, during a minigame that you play parallel to combat. You can also fuse items and train monsters.

Last weeked, I played it again, and it's really good! Maybe it's because I can only play a few hours each day, so I'm less bothered by repetition. I really love this kind of classic combat system, and the characters are well made and adorable. I'm looking forward to more from Nippon Ichi. I wonder I can still get Disgaea I.
Stormcrow
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Long Weekend Post

My interest in superhero comic books has also been rekindled recently. The best thing I've read recently would be Marvel's Civil War, a well executed crossover. The main draw is the classic conflict between freedom and security; heroes fight each other, split along ideological lines. The ending is meh, but it's though provoking and worth recommending, something I thought I'd never say again about serialized comics.

The dark M&Ms dark chocolate name-that-dark-movie game. Seriously, this is a fun game! Play this one with your friends and family. Dark.

The Balls are Inert: A YouTube fan-splice of Dragonball Z. Um. Don't watch this one with your friends and family.
Urban Ninja on YouTube. For Narutards. Very cool.
Finally, two articles to chew on: The End of Console Games and 10 ways MMORPGs will change the world.
Stormcrow
Labels: books, games, links, toys
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Any port' in a storm
My initial impression was that the PSP is for the hardcore gamer, while the DS is more for the casual gamer. The fact that I know a bunch of serious gamers in on the DS is starting to change that though.
So anyway, I head over to gamefaqs, and take a look at their "top 50 FAQ pages" to see how the DS and PSP compare, selection wise. Here's what's on the rankings:
For the DS:
Final Fantasy III
Pokemon Diamond
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Spirit Caller
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All
For the PSP:
Monster Hunter Freedom
Huh?
Stormcrow
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Last Bleach Post
So, here are the links to the printable, "half 3R", jpgs with bonus rulebook:
EDIT: leave a comment if you're interested in playing! ;D

In the future, if I find time to further refine my card game, (and assuming I don't design an entirely new game from scratch), I'd probably go through a different anime and use screencaps from that. Like, say Visionaries?

Or, on the other hand, if you know any artists who'd want to let their art and characters be used for a card game, link 'em over here. Although, it would be for free, or at best for a percentage.
Stormcrow
Monday, January 22, 2007
Pre Release

So anyway, I arrived at Galleria at around 10:15 AM. I got in line for registration at Neutral grounds. Met Jem, who had preregistered. Got in line again, because apparently I was in the wrong line. Finally got to pay my 1k, received a ticket for flight "J", which I was informed would start at 4:30 PM. ... What!?!
I spent the next few hours drifting in and out of the tournament area, killing time by watching other people play. Unexpectedy, I found Ruben in a Starbucks, sketching on his laptop. We watched an episode of Dethklok, an animated band which is reminiscent of Gorillaz. Or perhaps Beavis and Butthead. After a while, Hiyas came and I decided to get back to the tournament area.

Wandering the tournament zone, I also managed to find Manchester Sy, a friend who I haven't seen since high school. I chatted with him a little, found out that he had just returned to the Philippines less than a week ago (apparently for good). I got his number; it's always good to have another friend, particularly one that plays magic.
Eventually, the call for flight J players got sent out. While the organization of the registration was kind of poor, things went smoothly once we actually sat down and got our cards. I was pleasantly surprised that there were enough copies of the special prerelease card to go around.

Looking at my sealed pool, there were a couple of great bomb rares in red and white, but the colors were otherwise shallow. Blue and Black, on the other hand, had a surplus of solid commons. There was also a Red-White-Blue dragon. I could have gone for such a three color build, but I chose to make a rareless Blue-Black deck instead, valuing consistency and removal over splashy bombs.
This isn't a tourney report, so I'll cut to the chase. At around 10:15 PM, it was the middle of the fourth round. My record was two wins and a loss. Right before the deciding game, the janitors start turning off the lights, and my opponent offers to just split the last pack by color instead of playing for it. We agree that I would get Green, Black and Artifact/Land. So we go over to the judges and I claim my two prize packs of Planar Chaos, plus a third one to split. We open it, and my share is... three green commons. What!?!
Jem watches as I open my two remaining packs... to reveal the chase card of the set.

Stormcrow
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
All Hollow's Eve
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PART II: COMBAT CARDS (continued).
There are two types of Combat cards: Events and Wounds. These differ in the length of time they stay in play. After an Event is played, it produces its effect and immediately goes to the discard pile. After a Wound is played, it must attach to a target Hunter.
You can quickly distinguish Events and Wounds by looking at the top left corner of the card. Wounds have a damage box but Events do not. In addition, the type will be declared in the first line of the text box.
There are three traits which are associated with Wounds: Shallow, Light, and Heavy. A Shallow Wound automatically goes to the discard pile at the end of any player's turn . Light Wounds and Heavy Wounds will both stay attached indefinitely. However, Light Wounds can be healed naturally over time, during the end of the turn (see below).
A Combat card that has the trait "Action" in the first line of its text box will require and consume your current Action. On the other hand, "Reaction" cards do not consume Actions; they can be played only in response to certain conditions, as stated on the card.
----------
PART III: Starting the Game
You need:
1. A Group of HUNTERS
2. A COMBAT deck
3. An opponent who also has #1 and #2
You start the game by choosing your Hunters. Your Hunters must have a total Renown less than or equal to 40 points. You will not be able to recruit new Hunters for the rest of the game.
Your Combat deck must have at least 40 Combat cards. Shuffle it up and draw 4 cards.

Once everyone is ready, players take their turns one at a time. The player with the most number of Hunters goes first. Play proceeds by each player taking turns alternately.
The game begins on the first player's first turn.
----------
PART IV: The Turn Structure
Let us look at the structure of your turn. After this turn is completed, your opponent will then take a turn. After that, you take another turn and so on.
Pre Combat
At the start of your turn, assign one of your Hunters to attack, and another Hunter (not yours) to defend. You can only assign one of each, though you could choose not to attack at all. These Hunters enter combat opposing each other. Combat now starts.
Combat
The defending player and attacking player may take Actions alternately. The defending player gets the first Action. These Actions can be spent to play Combat cards with the "Action" trait. Combat cards must be performed by a Hunter in combat, and can only target a Hunter who is in combat. A Hunter can only perform Combat cards with a Skill requirement less than or equal to their own Skill level.
You can also spend your Actions on abilities on cards in play in combat. If you have a Hunter (or Item) with an ability that reads "Action: [effect]" then you may spend an Action to perform the effect. Activated abilities on cards not in combat have no effect unless otherwise specified.
Each attacking Hunter has the ability "Action: Withdraw from combat." This ability may be used any time it is his turn to play an Action. If a player withdraws (using this method or a card effect) then combat ends, ALL Hunters go home and neither player can play additional Actions.
If a Hunter has no Health left, she is KO'd and immediately leaves play. KO'd Hunters are placed in their opponent's Victory Pile.
Post Combat
You may heal one "Light Wound" from each of your Hunters (only if it is your turn). All "Shallow Wounds" are healed, including those on your opponent's Hunters. BOTH players draw cards up to the maximum hand size of four (or discard down to four). Your turn now ends.
Winning and Losing
A player is eliminated when he has no more Hunters in play. At the end of your turn, you win if all other players have been eliminated, or if you have 40 or more Renown in your Victory Pile.
----------
PART V: ITEMS
Items are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
An Item card is designed to attach to a Hunter. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar. Sometimes they will have Health or Skill bonuses, found at the top of the title bar.

When a Hunter is KO'd, Items on that Hunter will also be KO'd. KO'd Items go to their opponent's Victory Pile.
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PART VI: PREY
Prey are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
Prey cards are similar to Hunters. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar, and a Health value at the top of the title bar. They do not have a Skill value; Prey do not use Combat cards.

At the start of your turn, instead of choosing another player to be the defender, you may choose to attack Prey instead. If you do, choose one Prey to enter combat as the defender. Other players do not receive Actions, and their Hunters cannot be targeted or enter combat. You may attack Prey owned by any player.
In combat, Prey have the ability "Action: Attach a -2H Wound Token on the opposing Hunter with least health." Prey automatically use this ability when they receive an Action.
When a Prey is KO'd during your turn, put it into your Victory Pile. Prey also have a Victory Pile where you put Hunters that they KO, but they cannot win the game.
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Now I remember why I stopped posting these... they're too long!
Stormcrow
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Googly!
I'm writing this post from Googe's Docs & Spreadsheets feature, which comes for free when you have a Google Account. This feature also allows you to upload most types of document files and spreadsheets, and get to work on them online as well. So far I have only been using the Docs part, and it is pretty convenient since I don't have to cart around files in cds or flash disks as long as there is an internet access. Especially since flash disks are not allowed in my workplace. T_T
Speaking of workplace, I'm now working in a nearby call center as tech support and been here for nearly two months (although the first month of that had been training). It turns out okay, although the night shift takes getting used to. And I miss Tesla, as I've used to spend the entire day with her. Now I only get to see her maybe a few hours a day. T_T But so far I'm enjoying the work, and I feel much much better now that I'm employed again.
Now what else is up? Chico and I bought some new PS2 cds, and right now I'm on Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. It still incorporates the same elements as the old VP: 2D dungeon and town exploration, the battle system, and the style of speech. The new features include a strategic addition to the battle system (you now have to move the team before attacking enemies), and the art is so much better. Of course the characters' costumes rock, and the voice actors are superb. As I haven't yet finished the first dungeon, I cannot yet comment about the plot, but so far it appears to be interesting.
Source: www.videogamesplus.ca
I'm also now back to playing Ragnarok, as they have opened a new server. Thor promises to have an advanced security feature that would keep out third party programs (aka BOTS) and thus ensure that all characters in game are being played by actual humans. As far as I can tell, this is so far true, but of course all things can be bypassed. Already, there seems to be auto-buy Bots in the towns, buying specified items from players at a specified price. I wouldn't be too surprised if there would be levelling bots in the field eventually. While there isn't, I'll be enjoying myself with a bot-free environment. ^_^
Raven
Friday, August 18, 2006
TLDR
2. I got a job.
3. Tesla is now five months old. She likes exploring and reaching for things with her hands. And putting them in her mouth. ^ ^;
4. Paperwork is so annoying. NBI, BIR, gyaaah!
5. Currently playing on PS2: Harvest Moon (wtf??!)
Currently playing on PC: DotA (as usual) and Flyff
Currently reading (well, sort of): Wheel of Time, just finished Path of Daggers, about to start on the next one

Random Tesla pic
Raven
Labels: books, games, photos, tesla, work
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wow
Friday, July 07, 2006
Fly for fun!
If you have a fast connection, you can download the installer at the Flyff Philippines website and start playing from there.

Stormcrow
Labels: games
Thursday, June 08, 2006
League of Extraordinary Magic Cards
Me being the inferior player, I get an initial set of six Ninth booster packs while he gets only four. I got a good amount of removal from black and burn from red, dictating the form of my first deck. I faced Stormcrow's initial black-green deck, and the play went on from there.
League play is very immersing, spanning nearly two months and around thirty matches of constantly evolving decks. Inevitably it turned into meta-gaming, where I found myself changing my deck to counter specific elements of his then current deck. After a notable match when he fielded both COP:Black and COP:Red, I changed into white-green (which was weak for me) and eventually went back to my stronger black, but with anti-enchantments.
His deck evolved into a huge monster deck, mostly blue-black with Shielding Plaxes, so I countered with an all-color deck filled with removals (Putrefy, Mortify, Brainspoil, DarkBan) and anti-enchantments with finishers such as Lava Axe, Blaze, and swampwalkers. At the end, though, it became rather boring. I prefer seeing creature interactions, which apparently is mainly absent in Constructed, which our decks were starting to resemble.
Hence we decided to end the League in what is basically a tie game, with me finishing with 46 points and Stormcrow with 44. We are now reshuffling the playsets to begin another League play with some variations, adding more Ninth at first and later giving a free choice of what Expansion pack to earn.
Raven
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Limited Gains
Now, the thing about tournament players is that they value commons and uncommons very little, so generally they're happy to sell them away. In contrast, as a Limited enthusiast, I have no need of rares. Thus, it's profitable for both of us to have an asymmetric split. They get 36 rares, while I get 108 uncommons and 396 commons. Also, they're quite happy to pay for the larger part of the cost.
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Either way, when you decide to open a booster box you put yourself at the mercy of random processess. You just have to draw and hope that you get good cards.
Stormcrow
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Bleach Card Game (part II)

Hunters have 3 stats. Let's look at Hinamori. The name of the card is the large font on the side, "Hinamori Momo". Hunter cards will also have a subtitle; in this case, Hinamori's subtitle is "Death God in Training". We can also see in her text box, that she has the "Ranged" trait, which is followed by some explainatory text.
She also has some numbers on the left side. Descending, we find that she has 10 Health, 4 Skill Level, and 6 Renown.
Health is the amount of damage she can take before she is KO'd. The higher the health, the longer she can fight.
Skill Level indicates what Combat cards she is allowed to play. In this indirect manner, this determines how much damage she can do. The higher her Skill Level, the greater her options in combat.
Renown is the cost of putting her into play. You start the game with only a fixed amount of hunters. Large Renown costs means you can have only a few Hunters.
----
Now let's look at a Combat card. The name of the combat card is at the top of the card; in this case, the card's name is "Basic Strike". The card's text box has a few traits: "Light Wound Action".

Combat cards have 2 stats. Damage and Skill Cost. The Damage box on the top left corresponds to the Health Slot on Hunter cards. In this case, Basic Strike deals three damage when attached.
The Skill Cost is on the top right and is a restriction on which Hunters are allowed to use the card. For Basic Strike, only Hunters with a Skill Level of 4 or higher can use this card.
"Wound" means that after this card is played, it attaches immediately to a target Hunter. "Action" means that it costs an Action to perform. "Light" means it can (sometimes) be healed at the end of your turn.
----
Game structure next week!
Stormcrow
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Run, it's a Magic post!

What I like about Limited is the way it levels the pre-game playing field. The biggest problem for tournament-level Constructed formats is the way the most expensive cards dominate the less luxurious decks. On the other hand, for casual "fun" play, it is unusual to find a situation where two players bring decks on the same level of seriousness. In Limited, having similar card pools puts players on the same starting point, which is great; most fun is had out of even matches.
"But", you ask, "wouldn't buying six boosters, per player, every time you play, be really really expensive?" Yeah, so you don't really do that. Instead, you buy a large pile of commons and uncommons when an expansion comes out, shuffle them up, and repack them. Whenever you run out of packs, you just shuffle and repack again. You can play an indefinite amount of Sealed with only the initial investment.

The second best way to get all those commons and uncommons is to buy a booster box and put the rares in your trade binder. The best way? I'll tell you next week.
Stormcrow
Monday, March 20, 2006
Rebirth
In a way, not a lot has really happened. I'm still living with the Castros, still doing the teaching and MS thing. Still waiting for the baby to appear. Still supposed to be writing my thesis. It's damn hard to concentrate!
---------------
For some reason I put all my creative energies in things other than doing what I'm supposed to do. Sometime before Xmas I looked at all the card games I had and decided to see if I could do better. For some reason my effort at a ruleset looked like it was made of 80% Rage and 20% L5R. Actually, it also reminds me strongly of Pokemon but that might be because Pokemon (looking back on it) is 50% Rage and 50% Magic. Or Ani-mayhem, which is 60% Rage and 40% Middle Earth.
So, being a resourceful guy, I cooked up a cardset on my beat-up old laptop and printed out the cards at a local photo-shop (I mean, a shop that does photographs). After a couple of runs, I realized that I had a game that ran pretty smoothly and could possibly be considered fun.
However, I also realized, somewhat belatedly, that my choice of Art Direction wouldn't be ideal for public consumption. I also thought up several ways to improve the layout and card designs. So I went back to the drawing board for a month and redid everything. In the end, Alekos' Xmas gift inspired me and I decided to theme the game after Bleach.


(to be continued...)
(no, really)
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
Friday, September 09, 2005
Keep Moving
So it struck me as kinda funny when I read this from The King of Fatties.
I was going to try to make some sense of that, but with the dollar conversion and standard of living adjustments, I got lost. Also, damn the americans and their non-metric system!
* * * * *
I've really gotten back into Magic over the past month.
First, Raven was able to find me a copy of the old Magic: Shandalar game, the one by microprose. Apparently it's so old, it's already free. Now, despite the sucky graphics and akward interface, there's something very addictive about seeing the old art of Hypnotic Specter and Dark Ritual. Let's not beat around the bush. Magic is insanely addictive. Particularly when you don't have to pay any money to build a mox-fast deck that does third turn kills. Too bad that only took me a week.

(to be continued...)
* * * * *
Dried mangoes are pretty damn addictive too. It's just my sweet tooth, I'm sure, but all that fiber must be good for something.
Stormcrow
Friday, July 08, 2005
... in a handful of sand
-----
Have been playing Sand King heavily. Burrowstrike is just that good, Impale and Blink in one. So much that I don't really mind putting points into attributes, because his two other skills suck. Finally got a quad kill from Epicenter this week, (though it just said triple kill twice). Sweet, but as my opponents get better (and more trained) the BS-Epi combo goes off less and less. Kinda like how they started playing around Nerubian... Should find a different character to abuse. Maybe try for Beatdown Furion.
Stormcrow
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