Nick Hyral

I"m speachless.. not sure for what reasons yet.. but just.. wow.. erm.. The song was cool till it got to the vocals =/ Definately interesting for lack of better words to describe it.. But I guess I just can't relate to it.. Making a music video for someone you love in a game just is beyond my grasp.. I'll just continue to let the ones I love live when they're horde and I'm on the alliance..

Happy birthday DJP, you're a great remixer, excellent host.. and a very tasty salty snack that goes great with mustard.

Well then.. that makes me kind of wonder what all the descendants of Chinese Emperors and historical figures we've placed in games would think. Games are not just entertainment. Gaming has been proved to be an efficient learning tool. Chess for example is enjoyable.. but it's also making one think ahead and focus.. That is teaching something.. War games are used to teach strategy. I could go on and on with that point. But anyway, I myself haven't played the game.. I looked at the trailer, screen shots. Read some of the responses about it all and honestly.. He took a bold step with this one.. Ofcourse not all of society will view it the same. But I feel from what I've read, it served it's purpose, and was well done. I enjoyed it was put together using the "evil gaming" tool that was blamed for it all. But it needed to be done I think.

Well to be fair most of my gripes aren't really all about the "difficulty" Here are some comparisons on what I classify as underwhelming. The battle with Lezard Valeth in Valkyrie Profile 2. He can be made tough or easy depending on how you abuse the system.. But it was by all means epic. He was pissed, you were serious.. It was game on. His power was immense.. his special moves left me in awe of his power.. just as he did in the original Valkyrie Profile.. That.. was a fantastic boss. Twilight Princess.. my gripe.. is it just doesn't feel strong enough.. the whole struggle of "Good and Evil" just hasn't been portrayed with enough power.. In the cut scene where Gannondorf gets ahold of the triforce of power and rips that light sword out of his chest and goes into his murderous rage.. That was fantastic... The hatred and insanity inside him.. You don't see it when he fights Link at the end. The very light he abhors so much stands before him and he just thinks it will be a breeze so he doesn't sweat it. A wild beast? Gannon was too calm to be the "wild boar" his transformation implies. And for crying out loud.. Gannondorf was a king of deadly assassins.. A trained, skilled killer.. a ruthless warrior.. I see no skill in his fighting.. He fights so wreckless for a cold , cruel, tactical master.. I mean just watch the way he fights.. he swings a sword.. he blocks.. he punches you.. runs in like an idiot.. I could step out of the way and trip him like they do in the cartoons and laugh as he falls on his face.. Everything that builds up this character for a raw.. epic battle.. It falls through.. Where is that insanity? That hatred for the light? Where is that cold, calculating, ruthless killer? I mean just look at any other Zelda game.. Majora's Mask.. that's my biggest problem.. The Mask of Majora.. Posessed by an evil entity that brings the destruction down upon themselves and those around them.. Such unimaginable evil and power in that mask.. such darkness.. It moon walks around the room when you fight him.. it dances.. it screams like a six year old girl at a Hanson concert.. Anything about the entity that pumped you up for that epic battle went out the window. This is a boss who knows the meaning of hatred.. the meaning of insanity.. This is the attitude of an epic boss who doesn't disappoint. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z50feD9SPi0&mode=related&search=

Need I mention super powered Indalecio in Star Ocean 2? *cough* Or any of the latter bosses in Valkyrie Profile 2. =P A few other huge disappointments though.. like Zenon from Disgaea 2. The end boss of Quest 64.. he was a joke... I beat him with the pimp cane your character has. Honestly any Resident Evil boss has been underwhelming... and mostly downright annoying. Tyrant? *yawn* Mr. X going Tyrant.. *double yawn* Nemesis.. overly annoying as he just kept coming back and he never was much of a challenge.. We went over Saddler. The Mana Beast in Secret of Mana was also underwhelming.. I figured there would be something far more nefarious than a mana beast as a boss if it was sapping all the mana from the world. On the note of Necron.. Yeah.. he got on my nerves.. it kinda killed FFIX for me.. You go through all that for some random guy to show up.. "Woe mortals! I'm here to ruin your shit! Ya'll okay with that?" My jaw dropped... I just shook my head and put the control down for a moment. @Injin You made me think on that one.. So true.. though in FFI I wouldn't wholely agree. I thought the whole concept of Chaos being Gariland was kinda mediocre.. and FFIV.. well.. Zeromus was.. eh.. dunno how to put that one.. But yeah, in the other games atleast you get a little something out of your villans. I mean Kefka was on your ass most of FFVI, as was Exdeath in FFV.. I have no clue what is up with Square and all these endbosses who are like old man Oz behind the curtain. Ultimacia.. Yu Yevon.. Necron.. *cough* Oh! Now I want a "Most disappointing ending in a game" thread.. I'd vote Breath of Fire III if you give up your powers.

It's not even hard if you don't use those. I first pummeled him by using level 3 charged spear attacks.. then later I found a glitch where if you run to the upper let hand corner and turn to face the south end of the screen.. when he hits you he'll knock you back into a tile you can't move from.. he can't hit you.. but you can hit him all you want and he'll just sit infront of you and jump up and down.

Just curious.. Has Gannon really been a challenge in any Zelda game? I think the hardest time I ever had in a Zelda game was the Thunder Guardian and Shadow from Zelda II, or the spider queen in Oracle of Ages and Seasons. =/ And yeah.. was debating Yevon myself.. but I figured he was a given.

My top 3... Tales of Symphonia - Mythos It was total rape when I fought him. Secret of Evermore - Karltron Twilight Princess - Yes.. Gannon was terribly underwhelming.. my first attempt took less than 3 minutes to finish the entire battle.. That made me cry.

Refrain from any singing of Yankee Doodle Dandy please D:

@Bahamut lmfao I love you. Best laugh I've had all night. And Happy Birthday Geoffrey Taucer.

Funny.. my father and I were just talking about something similar to this.. and when I brought it up to him he's getting a good laugh. Gaming as an addiction is a bit far fetched.. the argument I still stand by is it isn't a case of "addiction" It's more the fact we as people just don't know when to stop. As I explained to my father, he grew up in a household of himself, his parents, and 4 brothers and a sister. To make ends meet, they spent their free time during the day working in their family garden growing food for them all to eat, and then the fall canning everything. They had little free time to sit down and turn on the TV for more than an hour or so tops. Now comparing his generation to ours, things have become far easier. Higher paying jobs make it easier to get by, and as such we have extra time. Some prefer to kill that time through video games, others TV.. and then you have those who prefer to work out and such.. or even use religion to fill that time slot. And when you get people who do any of these things, quite a few of them go too far with it. I wouldn't call this an addiction honestly, what ends up happening.. as people is that we over indulge ourselves. We don't know when to stop. For example, the big fight over obesity here in the US. People aren't content with just one hamburger, or one plate of food. We enjoy our, "All you can eat" deals, or three double cheeseburgers from the 99 cent menu.. We have to have our steak thick and juicy. But that's how we have to have everything. Someone else here also mentioned kids who play games instead of doing homework as lack of discipline.. I agree with you whole heartedly. Those who shirk responsibility like that have on their own free will chosen their priorities of gaming first, and work of any kind second. I'm a huge gamer.. I love it. I honestly spend my free time after work playing games like WoW, Ragnarok Online. Or just some random console game. I remember my summers off when I got ahold of games like Final Fantasy X, where I stayed up for two straight nights playing the game. It was my choice, the game didn't stick a knife to my back and tell me to do it or pay the price. I willingly continued to play as the game was stimulating my mind. I wanted to know what happened next in the story, I wanted to learn that nice new skill on my sphere grid, and in my mind I chose my priorities of the game first, sleep second. Bringing up MMO's yeah I was heavily involved to WoW, Diablo 2, Everquest, and a slew of other games. (I'm aware Diablo 2 was an online multiplayer, not an MMO.) Through each that I've spent countless hours playing, WoW for example, went 5 days no sleep by choice. I did however keep myself fed, bathed, and well hydrated. Those were my chosen priorities, others however put the thrill of the game, and what it had to offer before their own basic needs. If anything I'd honestly say the fact they neglect they need the basics of food, water, and rest more a disorder than the "addiction of gaming." But yeah.. that's my rant.. With technology giving us more and more free time, we spend it as we choose. Some of us prioritize our facination of gaming within reason, just like we do with our food, our TV time and such.. We're reasonable. And then you have others who blindly disregard their responsibility, and the safety of their lives to over indulge. But that's my two cents.

Someone else might have covered the Malon theme.. But I'm too lazy to read anything.. how about instead of it being OoT.. Give Majora's Mask a bit of love and use the song for that. =P

It's been a few years ago now but in Dayton, Ohio a high crime neighbourhood was chosen for a study, in that study they brought in an arcade where for the week it was there the gaming was free. During that week of study. tjeu saw a drastic decline in the usual figures that were recorded on a weekly basis of teenage crime. I don't believe that games themselves produce or promote crime, but when a person who has alot of troubles or problems in their lives has another outlet.. something to do like game, it keeps them brooding so much on a topic that could lead to potential violence.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that? But yeah.. beaten the game, hidden dungeon etc. Now working to maxing out my party as I'm cool like that.. but a few other things I noticed.. stats mean a bit more.. Locke was fast enough that he would get two or three turns before everyone else got one in the SNES version, but his speed values have been toned down, as has need for strength, I'd train strength with espers up to about 60 str and with equipment I'd deal 9,999 damage without need of more strength.. that's been changed, took about 75ish str to hit those figures. On the note of Genji and offering not being as useful as gem box and economizer.. you need to play the game again. Locke with Illumina + Ultima weapon = 8x 9,999 damage.. which will kill Kefka your first round. Difficulty sadly was still the same.. if not a bit easier than the old SNES version.. I ran straight through it living off the levels I gained to even get to the end and had no problems at all. And yeah.. the translations were cool.. best line in the game by far... "Fools! There is a reason why dispose rhymes with oppose! Kill them all!" Game is definately worth the cash, I'll say that much. There is a game out there like that.. It's called "Star Ocean: The Second Story" on Universal mode.. Try it.. It's frikkin brutal.

Point taken.. yet if you remember Zelda threw the Ocarina to Link as she fled Hyrule Castle.. if Link was not there, is it not safe to say it's possible Ganon did get ahold of her? I mean we are assuming here that the events of Link coming to Princess Zelda never came to pass... For all we know, Ganon starved the Spirit stone of fire from the Goron, took the spirit stone from the great Deku tree and the Zora and opened it himself.. But then again as another point was well made, things like this were intended when the game was created.. to make us speculate.

I agree as well.. but you still can't help but think some of them do link into each other.. Perfect example was Zelda I and Zelda II. Kill Ganon in the first, a follower puts a spell on Zelda so Link begins a journey to save her and Hyrule. All the while they waited for some of Link's blood to spill so they could spread it on Ganon's ashes to revive him. But what gets me is I feel Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker are the ones who follow a time line.. why you might ask? After Link defeats Ganon in OoT, he is sent back to his childhood and leaves Hyrule to search for Navi.. Enter Majora's Mask. Link leaves Hyrule.. Without Link in Hyrule at the end of the seven years where he was to wield the Master Sword against Ganon, Windwaker happens... Ganon obtains power and the people without the hero of Legend that the Royal Kingdom safeguards, the God's flood Hyrule. This is just me ofcourse...

Hardest boss in gaming.. hmm.. Star Ocean: The Second Story on universal difficulty... and then break Indalecio's Limiter. A full lvl 255 party with the highest attackers in the game will die to his first attack... even if you DO manage to kill him it turned for me into a solid three hour fight for my life.. that was the victory battle.. I spent weeks of six or more hours a day fighting him.. it gave me nightmares.

The problem with WoW anymore is people make it a way of living. You now have farmers that ruin the economy.(Come on.. low end rares costing 180 gold) Not to mention your pvp whores who mod like mad.. I've seen players that the only thing they do is run and jump around in combat as their programs read off commands and use the skills it finds appropriate, he just uses his other UI's to swap equipment as he sees fit while the UI does the rest. I'm a 30 rogue on Alexstreza and my guild doesn't care one way or another either. I was first full combat dual sword, and then I've switched to dagger and sword.. then full sword.. and at 20 I was a full assassination build. Yet they didn't roll their eyes at me and complain. Seeing modders anymore makes me want to quit the game entirely.. especially after running Deadmines with a priest who was just running UI's set it on auto follow and went to get himself something to eat.