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Obviously, I will go into more details about both of these games in the next podcast. I just wanted to let you guys know that I picked up Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions the other day. So far, I’m enjoying it immensely. The job system is very similar to Final Fantasy V’s, which is a very good thing.Now, for clarification’s sake, Tactics has nothing to do with my Final Fantasy quest to beat every game in the series. That quest only entails the main entries (minus XI, because I have a life. Not a very busy one, but still). So I’m not making any promises that I’m going to beat this one. Still, if I keep enjoying it as much as I currently am, I think I just may.

Final Fantasy VIII has yet to really click with me. Part of the problem may be that I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and play a good 3+ hour session with it. There are definitely some impressive things going on, but the pace thus far has been pretty slow. But I’m confident it will pick up soon.

Anyways, we should be recording the podcast later today, and then it should go up on Saturday. I know you’re all waiting anxiously.

-Mike

So tonight I just listened to preview tracks from the Lair Soundtrack available on iTunes. I’m rather amazed. For all the bad press this game got, its music is stunning. It’s composed by John Debney (veteran film composer who worked on The Passion of the Christ and one of my personal favorites, The Emporer’s New Groove). I still have Lair sitting in my Gamefly queue (apparently everyone wants to rent it, just not buy it), but I’m looking a bit more forward to its eventual arrival if not to hear how the music meshes with the game.

– Ajguy

Mike and I have decided to change the show schedule to better accommodate our real life schedules. As such, we’ll be recording on Fridays and posting the show on Saturdays. That means no show today, but you’ll get one tomorrow. Just play Halo 3 for another day and we’ll be there before you know it.

– Ajguy

Well, Tuesday, September 25 has just ended a little while ago. Many of you, like myself, probably spent some portion of the day playing Halo 3. And if you’re like me, 8 hours after you start the game, you may end up finishing the fight as it were. Yes, it was a bit shorter than expected, but it was a pretty good experience. The story wrapped up nicely (though there are still some confusing elements I didn’t quite follow). The gameplay is that same love it or hate it Halo gameplay from the first two, but it has been polished to a high sheen. The graphics are quite gorgeous, the sound excellent, and the presentation is spot on.

And to think I haven’t even dipped into multiplayer, or co-op, or the Forge. There’s still a lot more game in there beyond the single player, which may explain why I am not quite as upset that the single player offering only lasted me 8 hours.

So be sure to look for me online this week. I plan on getting in a good chunk of multiplayer and co-op before this week’s show so I can fully discuss the game. In the mean time, please share your impressions of the game.

– Ajguy

Now that I’ve put a few hours into the game, I shall discuss it a bit. Basically, this game is awesome. The classes are wonderfully balanced. At first, the lack of grenade was troubling, but I now realize that it forces support roles to actually act as support. No more conc jumping medics and grenade spamming.

What’s remarkable is the subtle ways the game encourages teamwork on a smaller scale. The greatest example is the medic’s healing gun. If you heal enough people, you build up your ubercharge meter. When this is full, you can activate ten seconds of invulnerability between yourself and the person you’re healing. The sight of a shielded medic and heavy is a sight to behold.

Every class is insanely fun to play. Even classes that were weak in TFC are not only viable, but downright important. Scouts gain a double jump in lieu of conc jumping, and pyros actually are a threat (especially in small spaces).

I’ll have a lot more to say on this week’s podcast, so be sure to check it out.

– Ajguy

It’s 5:00am and I’ve been playing TF2 for 4 hours straight. I’ll put up some more in-depth stuff (with screens!) tomorrow, but for now, rest assured that this game is awesome.

– Ajguy