Saturday, May 6

Cruising for Bruising



Last night, I got to watch Mission Impossible III on the way home after a hard week of work. What I got was a pleasantly entertaining, action-packed and romance-laden romp care of Tom "Ethan Hunt" Cruise and director J.J. "Alias" Abrams.
It's been several years after the end of the last MI film, and maverick IMF agent Ethan Hunt has largely retired from active duty, working now mostly behind a desk to train the next crop of spies. Moreover, he's gotten a winsome fiancee named Julia (Michelle Monaghan) who's madly in love with him. Unfortunately, Ethan's plans for martial bliss and a happy home life are disturbed when a colleague (Billy Crudup) comes to him with alarming news; one of their agents, played by Keri Russell, has been captured while investigating the activities of an infamous black market dealer, Owen Davian (Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman). Since Ethan trained the missing agent himself, he can't help but go active once more to get her out. What happens next is a series of snowballing events as Ethan's hidden life soon begins to endanger his future and, in particular, the woman he wishes to share it with.

I've read in an article that MI3 is, in many ways, a remake of True Lies (that classic spy action comedy with Ah-nuld and Jamie Lee Curtis). And it's true- MI3 has the super spy, the ignorant love interest and a vile villain ready to spoil everything. However, MI3 seems more focused on the people, rather than the crisis, which makes it probably the most personal battle Ethan Hunt has faced. Like in most of JJ Abram's spy flicks (including his Alias series), the thing in the case, the McGuffin being chased after, really isn't the point. It's about the spies and what they go through to get it. That said, MI3 is still full to the brim with gunfights, car stunts, chases, suspenseful heists and high-level intrigue which viewers have come to expect from the series.

Tom Cruise is once again in top form as Ethan Hunt- he's a bit older and domesticated now, instead of the invincible super agent with the mad motorcycling skillz and the taste for suicidal mountaineering he had in part two. Still, he's got that hero thing down pat and that makes for great, enjoyable action. Back as well is the only other MI fixture, Ving Rhames as Hunt's right hand Luther Stickel. Stickel isn't as talkative or as comedic as Tom Arnold was in True Lies, but he provides the laughs just the same.
Debuting as new IMF agents in MI3 are dynamite-looking Hong Kong superstar Maggie Q and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a femme fatale and a man of a dozen faces, respectively. They don't get that much screen time, but you like them instantly so that's great. Also new to MI3 is the Man, Morpheus himself, Laurence Fishburne as IMF Commander Brassel, and Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg as Benji, IMF's answer to Q.

As for MI3's trailer-boy Owen Davian, yeah, he's a despicable villain, and having Philip Seymour Hoffman's genial, soft looks (I really see him like an older, more respectable Jack Black) works. Unfortunately, his best scene really IS that exact scene where he gives the threat about hurting Hunt's wife or girlfriend... and we've all seen it already. There sadly isn't enough of him as there was of baddies in previous MI films. Oh well, he's good while he's there.

On the whole, MI3 is a thrill ride- from the intriguing and unusual opening to the tons of action-packed sequences that pepper the film throughout, this is a great popcorn movie if I ever saw one... certainly the best in the trilogy, in my opinion. Great action and drama, humor and Tom Cruise doing his thing. Worst part of it? That I saw a big plot twist a MILE away. Oh well. At least, there are no overdramatic uses of doves. Heh.

Mission IMpossible III is now showing in Manila theaters. Watch it!

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PLDT Sucks: The Finale

Okay, the DSL guys FINALLY arrived and installed the stuff.

I tried it, and darn, it's fast... a lot faster than dial-up.

I have DSL!!! FINALLY!!!

But... as of right now, I'm typing this with a dial-up connection.

That's cause... the PLDT server seems to have gone down...

Oh well.

At least I have DSL... just not right now...

Sigh.
Crisis ends, War begins

This week in comics, DC's Infinite Crisis finally came to an end, while on the other side of the gutter, Marvel kicked off it's own universe-shaking event, Civil War.
I thoroughly enjoyed DC's renovation, though I have to admit that I wasn't as attached or emotionally into the characters as much as I was in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. IC was a pretty awesome ride, but I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed; certainly while they did hype up Alex Luthor and Superboy Prime as huge villains, my opinion is that the original universe-killing baddie The Anti-Monitor still rules as the despicable villain to end all villains. Still, great stuff, and it's gotten me curious about 52.

As for Civil War, I'm intrigued at the story and the art is simply incredible. My only gripe is that they had to sacrifice the New Warriors to kick off the event, which sucks. The Warriors were hardly new anymore, and after 60+ issues of their own series back in the nineties, this shouldn NOT have happened to them. Darn it. I'm gonna miss Namorita... it always saddens me when super-powered bikini babes get killed off. But then again this is Marvel. No one really stays dead...

Thursday, May 4

Super

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the new Superman Returns trailer. I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of the Man of Steel. I liked him years ago, but really lost touch of him during the whole 'Death of Superman' thing. I doubly don't like him recently due to all the stuff that's been happening to him- getting controlled by Max Lord, becoming a government go-fer, etcetera, etcetera. I especially didn't like the squeaky clean caped boy scout from the movies.
However, the new movie, thanks to the trailer, has gotten me excited. The film looks cool, and it looks like a lot of real actiont his time, as opposed to the boring disaster movie the first one was, the ultimately corny but still the best of the lot 2nd movie, and the horrible sequels later.

I'm certainly intrigued at Kevin Spacey's performance as Lex Luthor; hopefully it will be unique from Gene Hackman's wheeler-dealer in the old movies. He seems to be a mix of genius, megalomaniac and psycho, which is cool... hey, who better to play Luthor than Keyser Soze? WOOHOO!!!

Superman Returns flies in this Summer. Keep your eyes on the sky till then.

Wednesday, May 3

Oh-oh Seven

Just saw the teaser trailer for Casino Royale, the latest James Bond flick with the latest Bond, Daniel Craig.

The action looks good. The Bond girl looks hot.

But darn. I have to say that Craig just doesn't look like James Bond. I've been quite vocal about giving the guy a chance, and I will indeed watch the film once it comes out... but darn... he just looks more like a villain than a Bond. Or he looks kinda old to be playing a younger Bond.

What the heck. He's there already. Let's hope it works. Or we could have another George Lazenby on our hands. Oh well.

Tuesday, May 2

Tekken 6

... is gonna debut at this year's May E3 Expo for the PS3. The first trace of the next chapter in the Iron Fist Tournament was first revealed months ago, via a short (make that very short) video of a super-detailed and hyper-realistic Jin Kazama getting ready for combat. Now, that could have been just CG, so just how the actual game will look like and what new stuff will be in store aside from nosehair-detailed character models should be revealed very soon.
With Tekken 6 confirmed to be a PS3 game and the lovely Virtua Fighter 5 also rumoured to be on Sony's uber-system, it seems pretty destined that I'll be getting one... the console arrives hopefully this November. Gotta start saving then.

Monday, May 1

New Toy



Okay, it’s not really a toy, but that didn’t make me feel any less like a kid when I got my new digital camera yesterday. I finally decided on the Canon Digital Ixus 60 (which coincidentally is being reviewed in the latest T3 magazine). The Ixus 60’s a 6 megapixel mighty mite with a ton of features that can make photography as simple or as complex as you want. It’s also smaller than most cellphones, which makes it pretty easy to bring around anywhere. I’ve already started snapping away pics and it’s quite an amazing gadget. Well, amazing to someone who’s been used to low quality photos from cellphone cameras all this time.

In any case, I’m thoroughly enjoying my new device… and I should since it cost me quite a bit (gonna have to eat crackers and luke water for a while… heheh). At the very least, from now on, you can all expect sharper, nicer pics on the blog and the phlog from now on. WOOHOO!
Fabulous Buffy Boys

I love spooky stuff, so it was natural for me to be excited about the new series Supernatural on AXN. It’s a creepy adventure series which pits two brothers against the world of sinister urban legends and occult monsters. I’m so interested in it, I actually couldn’t wait for the series to premiere on cable- I’ve already gotten myself dvds of the first season. Anyway, the pilot episode was pretty cool, and has succeeded in getting me stoked for the rest of the series.
It’s a little bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the guys actually make it their point to fight the creatures they come across) minus an over-reliance on martial arts and magic, a whole lot of X-Files, a little bit Kolchak the Nightstalker and dashes of road movie/family drama. And since the series is directed by McG, the man behind the Charlie’s Angels movies, there’s quite a bit of the director’s trademark zippy camera trickery which actually suit the look and feel of the series quite well. The show has a great sense of spookery which I find quite good.

Supernatural’s overall plot aside from the Monster/Myth-of-the-week is the brothers’ search for their missing father, and perhaps closure and revenge on the so far unknown force that caused a tragedy in the family many years ago.

Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. The series is set to debut this week on Thursdays at 10pm on AXN. Watch it with the lights off for the most fun. Heh.
The Sentinel

No, this isn't a review of the Michael Douglas action-thriller that's showing right now in theaters. I'm talking a different kind of sentinel. You know... the kind comic fans know. Big, purple, mutant-hunting robots. Remember how we all wished there were sentinels in the past X-men movies? Well, there weren't before but that has apparently changed. Apparently, there will be big robot enemies in the upcoming X3: The Last Stand.

Yeah, this is probably a bit of a spoiler thing, but hey- teaser footage has appeared in earlier trailers for the movie (where did you think those lazer bolts were coming from?), and it just seems to be natural that the government would turn to the Sentinels to strike at Magneto's new Brotherhood Army. And heck- Hugh Jackman already spilled the beans on a recent episode of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, so what the heck. They showed a clip with Wolvering (Jackman) doing the famous "Fastball Special" with Colossus to attack an oncoming, gigantic attacker. No, we don't actually see much of the Sentinel- just a silhouette of a giant figure with headlights for eyes. Wolvering flies up, and something- a severed giant robot head- comes crashing down.
Yeah, the scene is cool in a way, but also seems a bit of a cop-out that screams LOW BUDGET! On the other hand, it's probably just a teaser for real scenes showing off the big mechanical mutant hunters which seem to be part of the third X-men film's climactic final battle.

Well, anyway, it just gets me a little bit more excited for this already controversial film- controversial in that it has many fans of the comics and previous films already condemning it long before opening day. Well, I'm willing to give it a good ol' college try. Who knows, it might actually be the best one.

X3 is set to make it's last stand this May.

Sunday, April 30

Click-Itch

Lately I've been hankering to get another gadget. No, it's not another gaming console... the PS3's not due out until the end of the year, and I'm still not totally sold on the PSP. I'm not thinking about getting a new mobile phone, either... while I do love the designs of the lastest Sony Ericsson mobiles and stuff from Nokia, they still can't tear me away from the multi-faceted loveliness of my O2 Mini. However, the new multi-megapixel phones have gotten me interested in a camera.
Yeah, the latest mobile phones are sporting 2 megapixel snappers up... there are even new cellphones with 3 or more megapixels coming very soon. It has just gotten me totally conscious of the fact that my Mini's own 1.3 Megapixel cam is woefully bad. Yeah, it's adequate for the occasional video or snap- but in low light, it's pretty useless, and the pics just aren't as sharp or detailed as I would like. Great for blogging and stuff, but if you need the pictures to be worth anything more, the cam just won't cut it.
To be honest, my brother did leave me with a nice digital camera- it's a 2-megapixel snapper which unfortunately is slightly damaged so fixing up the settings is a bit iffy... and it's a bit bulky, so it's not something I can carry around without a bag.

And so, I am thinking of getting a proper, pocketable digicam. Something small and compact but packing the power to make hi-res pics. I've already more or less gotten an idea of what I may be getting- something from Canon, perhaps the Digital Ixus series- and I'll probably be going off to look at my options tomorrow or so.

Which is good since there may be an occasion or two where a nice camera may be of great use, very soon. We'll see. My hands are itching already.

Thursday, April 27

Tidings of War

It's begun. The countdown to Marvel's Civil War comic. Probably gonna get this. Yeah, they probably kill of the New Warriors which sucks, but what can you do? Anyway, the art looks good and the storyline intriguing. Will it be as big as DC's Infinite Crisis? Probably. Maybe. We'll see.






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Silent Thrill



I finally got to watch the Silent Hill movie. Based on the hit survival-horror videogames by Konami, this is all about the story of a mother's search for her daughter as they both get trapped in the mysterious, haunted town of Silent Hill. Far more visceral and twisted than the more conventional monster and mutant-infested Resident Evil series, Silent Hill is all about curses, demonic dimensions and nightmares made real, and spirits that are anything but silent.

On the good points, the movie at least gets the look and feel of the games right. The titular town... a bleak, ruined, ash-covered and seemingly deserted (at first) array of endless shops and facades, is a character in itself. The various creatures- some CG, some not- are pretty impressive, twisted depravities that seem ripped from the actual game... or from someone's hideous nightmare. There are a lot of homages to the games which fans will surely recognize and appreciate, though the script takes a lot of liberties with the movie version. As for the music, a lot seems straight from the game, and the sounds... darn, you'll learn to dread the sound of sirens after you watch this movie. Creepy.

As for characters, I'm glad they put in the character of lady cop Cybil Bennett (Laurie Holden) into the story, although I'm not at all happy with how she ends up. Not totally sold on the replacement of original SH main character Harry Mason with a new female hero, young mother Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell). Sean Bean plays Rose's husband, Chris, who had the better sense to check the websites before foolishly driving off to find some mysterious town to cure their adopted daughter's sleepwalking malady.

Some bad points too... the character of Rose is a bit irritating; yeah, she's a mom and we're supposed to care for her as she goes on her search... but she's darn difficult. Sometimes you can't help but feel "YOU IDIOT!!!! YOU BROUGHT THAT ON YOURSELF!!!" Heheh. There are also some weird dialogue choices or sudden changes in character that seem... off. Like, right after a particularly fierce monster attack on the two lead heroines, Rose (who was screaming her head off the whole time) then turns to a creeped-out Cybil and calmly says "We're going to be okay." Really? On the whole, the script could have been better written and the performances less chilling. But what the hey. We're expecting scares, not Oscar performances here.

The movie is also a bit on the long side- not terribly dragging but you do feel the length... which you'd probably expect from director Christophe Gans, who also megged Brotherhood of the Wolf, which also could have done with about a half hour chopped off. And while for the sake of clarity, a lot of things are explained ala exposition in the movie, perhaps some things shouldn't have been said, just implied. It kinda takes away the mystique and the secrecy of what's really going on in the story... something that the games themselves always maintained.

I have to say that on the whole I appreciated the movie for what it was at best- a very close translation of the game's mood, imagery and storyline into a motion picture. But while I appreciated it, I can't say I really enjoyed this that much. Perhaps because maybe going into it I kinda expected more of a scary adventure film... what Silent Hill turns out to be is more of a straight horror movie, and I'm not really a horror buff. Not the sort of thing I'd watch again and again, but I'm glad, as a fan of the games, to have seen it.

Silent Hill is now showing at cinemas all around the Metro. Get caught up in it, if you dare.

Wednesday, April 26

PLDT Sucks, Part Tres

It's been almost two months and STILL no DSL. No word from PLDT.

I've given up calling them up. I've decided to try out Sky Cable DSL. Trouble is, they'll have to see first if it's available in my parts, which I can probably find out in, oh, a couple of weeks. Gah. On the upside, their service seems worlds better than the fucking PLDT, which leads you like a mouse through a maze just to get to a damn operator. I hope I get Sky DSL. Damn PLDT DSL to Hell. FEH...
Getting Drawn into the Web

There have been some developments in the local comic scene lately (as from my previous post) that I guess made a bit of a hullaballoo here, and people have been nicely chiming in some solutions. One of the more popular ideas is going the way of the web through Internet-based webcomics or downloadable pages.
Certainly this isn't the first time that I have been in a situation where going webcomic is a possibility. Prior to doing Angel Ace Next, I certainly did think of just continuing the Angel Ace series online. Eventually though, the lack of a webmaster/website designer made me just do what I knew (more or less) to do- just do it in print. Yeah, if I knew then what I knew now about how Angel Next would pan out (sales of Next were the worst), I'd have just gone web straight from there.

Anyway, that was then and this is now. If it's just about doing comics and getting stories out, I can either find a webmaster who can make me a site where I can feature ongoing titles- perhaps in the vein of Homanga which is certainly a smashing site for comics. Failing in that, I can just do a blog-type of format and update as I go... that's at least something I can do on my own I guess.
If I do something like this, I'd probably feature several titles- not just stuff that's already been seen like Kunoichi Boy and K.I.A. (though certainly these two titles would be there at the very least). I would also probably try out some new ideas I've been mulling over... It sounds like fun. We'll see, I guess.

That all said, I am still pushing for a published Last Angel book, and more K.I.A. releases. Thankfully, both books may have a built-in solution for getting out there on shelves, including space in Comic Quest. And so the good fight continues.

More on this as it happens. Thanks for all your inputs, people!

Tuesday, April 25

Indie Ka na Pwede (Translation, "Indies no longer allowed")

I just found out yesterday via El's blog that Comic Quest is no longer accepting consignments from local publishers unless they can furnish official receipts. This seems to be a heavy blow especially to the makers of xerox-copy or 'indie' comics, which probably don't have ORs. Apparently this was all caused by the BIR's recent crackdown (which got Comic Quest involved) on shops and retailers. One more reason to hate the fricking government, people. One of BILLIONS.

How does this affect me? I don't yet know for sure. Surely, Comic Quest is a major outlet for getting to comic lovers, and it simply will not do to just abandon it. The only way is to have an Official Receipt, or to be distributed by a recognized publisher/distributer with ORs. This may already be in place for at least K.I.A. and the upcoming Last Angel story, though I still have to get confirmations.

This pretty much kills Kunoichi Boy AGAIN. Back into hiding, Jin. Oh well.

Whatever. Adversity is the local independent comic creator's bread and butter. We'll survive. Stories always find a way to break out, somehow. FEH.

Sunday, April 23

End of the Road

I finally finished Suikoden V the first time yesterday. I got the 'True Ending', which means I was able to gather all 108 Stars of Destiny and choose a particular option. The ending was suitably satisfying and leaves a nice, warm feeling in the tummy. Easily the best ending of the Suikoden series (If Suikoden II had more animation or stuff shown, that would tie with this) yet.

BUT that doesn't end my time with the game. I'll be playing to watch the other 'Good' Ending, and I'll also probably try to see the Not-so-Good Endings as well. It's this kind of replayability that makes these games so great.

After that, who knows... maybe I'll try to play Suikoden III again...
Delay

As a note to my previous post about Silent Hill the movie, apparently the opening was pushed back from last week to this week. I'll try to catch my ticket for the town of Silent Hill within the week, or over the weekend. Reviews are trickling in at Ain't It Cool News. Mixed stuff, but the general sentiment is that it kicks the crap out of previous videogame-to-movie translations. Well, I do consider myself a Silent Hill fan so I'll be seeing it when I'm able.

Thursday, April 20

Silent Hill

Silent Hill the movie is NOW SHOWING locally! Incredibly enough, this creepy gem snuck into local theaters without my knowing it. I guess there really isn't too much hype about it, but I'm pretty sure Playstation gamers will be lining up to see this.

I've been excited about the Silent Hill movie adaptation ever since I first heard that this classic survival horror game was getting the movie treatment. Seeing the awesome trailer has just fueled the flame of my enthusiasm. If it IS showing, I'm making it a point to get caught up in the haunted small town over the weekend. Review to follow, of course.

Directed by Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and starring Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden and Sean Bean, the Silent Hill movie is all about a mother's search for her missing child after they are both sucked into the town of Silent Hill, a place which seems to exist in another, parallel, demonic dimension. The movie is based on a best-selling series of videogames by Konami of Japan.

Wednesday, April 19

Return to Grand Adventure


The Prince: Silent but deadly with the ladies.

It's been awhile since I've played a good, long, old-school RPG. Not only because I've been pretty busy at The Salt Mines in recent months... there just haven't been any games worth spending too much time on recently. Take the Suikoden series from Konami. I LOVE the series, to be sure. I really liked the first game and totally ADORED the second (which is still for me the all-time best of the series). The third game was the last chapter that I liked, though honestly I wasn't able to finish it (I want to, someday). The last two instalments in the Suikoden franchise, Suikoden Tactics and Suikoden IV just didn't call out to me. Tactics wasn't an RPG, while IV was... just didn't feel like a Suikoden. Set in the high seas with little character to the look and feel of the game (even the opening cinema was more 'Under the Sea' than Suikoden), I just let it slip like a... well, like a ship in the night.
But for some reason, Suikoden V called out to me. I read several reviews, noting the general consensus that indeed, Suikoden V was a return to form for the series. And so, I got a copy (actually several copies... so many were buggy) and resolved to see for myself if all the rumors were true.

Damn right they're true. I've been playing this game since the middle of the Holy Week, and it's still got it's claws into me. Darn, it's amazing.

Suikoden V puts you in the shoes of The Prince of Falena, the handsome and kind eldest son of the reigning Queen. Since Falena is a Queendom, male sons of the Queen don't have much political clout. In fact, the next in line for the throne is your younger sister. But just the same, when the machinations and ambitions of two powerful noble houses threaten the peace and freedom of the land, the duty of bringing together and leading the forces of good and truth falls on your narrow shoulders. So now, The Prince has to range the land, fighting battles and righting wrongs as he tries to unite the 108 Stars of Destiny to once again bring peace to the Queendom.


It takes a while to start up, but Suikoden V's long and detailed narrative does wonders in making you genuinely care for the fates of the many videogame characters you meet.

What makes Suikoden V so great are two things- Story and Characters. Suikoden V's narrative starts out pretty leisurely (some would even say 'slow') in the first several hours, but once the pace quickens it hardly quits and sustains the gripping quest to the end. All the groundwork and introductions at the start pay off with you having more of an emotional tie with the varying cast of warriors, knights, peasants, mercenaries, lords, wizards and scoundrels you meet in the course of the game. And what a cast it is- Konami worked hard to give many of the characters a great deal more personality and depth compared to before, and it pays off in spades. There's also lots of attempts to turn usual cliches on their heads, which make for more interesting sidestories and plots for you to chew on.


The lovely Lyon: A loyal bodyguard with a dark past.

Complementing the story as well is the excellent presentation. While most of the story is presented through dialogue in text boxes, at crucial points, the story is shown in fully-animated and seamless cut scenes that feature exceptionally good voice acting. These frequent cinematics give the extra flash and drive home the right emotion when the story demands for it, and I have to admit I found myself gasping at the revelations of more than one scene. It's really well done and adds greatly to the enjoyment of the game and highly dramatic story.
A special mention as well has to be given to how The Hero is presented as well in Suikoden V. Once again a voiceless, silent hero, you choose literally dozens of dialogue choices through the game which may affect the course of the story. As the Prince reacts to the events around him, you can easily see the emotion he feels in his facial expressions and body language, whether smiling to comfort an ally or openly embracing a defeated friend-turned-foe, the Prince has all the right moves and it's great to have such a cool avatar to represent you in the game. If only he didn't look or dress like he just jumped out of the pages of a Yaoi manga...

For the rest of the game, Suikoden V is generally fast and easy to play; there is tons of combat (as always) as well as lots of customization options from assigning battle skills to the formations your party takes during battles. The one-on-one duels and occasional large scale army combat battles give variety to gameplay and adds to the game's overall epic feel. In general, gamplay is close to Suikoden II and III, so the game really plays easily enough. And yes, collecting the many Stars for your party (crucial to getting the best of the game's many endings) is as addictive as ever.


Different formations add strategy to party battles. 'True Men' here lets everyone get in on the action in the frontlines.

Are there any flaws? Well, Suikoden V has lots of loading. TONS of it, in fact. There are loading screens every time you enter a new area, after every random encounter or before cinemas. They're very frequent but at least brief (2-5 seconds). Not enough to really make you tear your hair out, but it will get you impatient as you're waiting for the next jaw-dropping reveal or dramatic moment.

Suikoden V is a MUST for fans of the franchise and old school RPGs. The story and characters alone are worth the price of admission, as well as the little homages and attention to detail throughout the game. ,The lovely 3-D graphics and smooth gameplay should make for a good, long and satisfying old-school RPG exprience... perhaps the last great RPG for the PS2. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Don't wait to meet a ditzy teleport mage before heading off to the gamestores for this gem of an RPG. Get it. NOW.

By the By, for Suikofans out there... so what do I think is better, Suikoden II or Suikoden V? Suikoden II still rules as the best in terms of overall gameplay, story and characters and music. if Suikoden II had the anime cinematics (shown in the later Suikodgaiden games) attached to it and showing dramatic moments in the story, it would be just as immersive and involving as Suikoden V's presentation was. In any case, Suikoden V is a close second to II, which is no mean feat. I would be just as happy with a PS2 3-D remake of Suikoden II in any case... please Konami!!! Hehe.

Monday, April 17

Post Holiday Funk

Break's over and it's back to work. Well, kinda. The crew at The Salt Mines are having an out-of-office brainstorming, so it's kinda-sorta work but not too constrained to the usual setting, which I guess is a great way to ease into the daily grind. I'm still a bit woozy from my daily Suikoden V marathons (review to follow) and being virtually having Pepsi Max fed to me intravenously.
Funny enough, I managed to write not one but THREE versions of the Last Angel script/storyline, of which one I'm kinda-sorta-pretty much going for, but not 100 percent into. We'll see when I finally get down to drawing the actual pages, hopefully within the week or so.

Yesterday, I went with Cams and the old Quest Gang to attend Vin and Andrew's housewarming over in Ortigas. It was literally a housewarming since all of us were sweating like actors in the movie A Time To Kill. Definitely an air conditioner would be a welcome addition to their nest. Anyway, we had delicious pancit malabon and the usual KFC to sate our hunger along with the night's conversations and intriguing Q&A's. Cool stuff.

Sigh. I need a vacation again. Oh well.