PSNP Interviews: ExHaseo.

[Wavergray]

Hello and welcome to PSNP Interviews. Today's interviewee is @ExHaseo

 

Stock Questions

• How did you come up with your PSN name?

That's a fun story, it's actually a reference to two different things. 
Then the Ex part is technically a once removed reference to Exdeath from Final Fantasy V. I played Ragnarok Online for a long time on a private server throughout middle school and high school, and my guild leader's main character was Exdeath. He made a ton of alts and each one had "Ex" at the start of it. He was a really great guy and helped me through a lot growing up, as well as just being a great guild leader. For almost as long as I played, we had the biggest guild on the server, to the point where the admins had to remove items because we were the only one able to get them, and it made us even stronger, haha. Anyway, I use "Ex" at the start of any name I use as a sort of tribute to him.

Then Haseo is from the main character in .hack//GU. When I played the game I was still in high school, and I was a lot like him. As the series progressed, he grew as a character, and I felt like my own growth coincided with it. So I've had a really strong connection to the character.

So when it came time to make a gamertag, I used ExHaseo.

 

• What games convinced you get your PlayStation 3, Playstation Vita, and PlayStation 4?

I got my PS3 for Street Fighter IV. I had always loved fighting games, and I had to get a PS3 so I could play with my friends who were getting it for PS3.

Ironically, I got my Vita for Monster Hunter, because me and my friends were all super into Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on the PSP, and we all assumed we'd be getting the next game on Vita. But it was never released in the US.

I guess technically I got my PS4 for Bloodborne. There were plenty of games I wanted that were coming, and plenty that I wanted that had been out for a while, but after seeing the Game Grumps play Bloodborne I just had to try it for myself.

 

• What are your top 5 game series and why? 

1. Kingdom Hearts - When I first saw this game, I thought it was the stupidest idea I had ever heard, but the day it released I happened to be spending the night at a friend's house, and he was insistent on renting it. So, he picked it up, and we took turns playing it all night. It was a truly magical experience. The whole series is well done, with almost every game worth playing. Each game mixes things up enough that the experience feels unique, but still familiar enough that it feels like a Kingdom Hearts game. The tone of the game is also mature enough to be interesting, but still very friendly end light hearted. It just seems to do everything perfectly.
2. Final Fantasy -  I haven't even played the entire series, but I've enjoyed so many of the ones I have played, that I have to put it on the list. There are very few bad games in the franchise, and even at their worst, they aren't completely unplayable or anything. Even the spinoffs for Final Fantasy are generally good. Most of my favorite games in the series are spinoffs. Like World of Final Fantasy and Lightning Returns. I have to give props to a series that not only set the standard for RPGs multiple times through the years, but has pretty consistently puts out great experiences.
3. Marvel vs. Capcom - I firmly believe that the MvC series is the pinnacle of fighting games, especially MvC2. It's one series I've never gotten tired of playing. It's honestly so good, I don't have a whole lot to say about it, haha.
4. Ys - The Ys series is easily one of the best action RPG series out there. With the exception of 1 and 2, they're all fantastic games. The stories are generally whatever, the gameplay is always the focus, and the gameplay is amazing. Fast paced and fluid, with excellent bosses, and a rocking soundtrack. Every game is just so much fun.
5. Mega Man - When I say Mega Man, I mean all of them. The originals, X, Zero, ZX, Battle Network, all of them. I've enjoyed every Mega Man game I've played, and I've played a lot of them. Even when they shake things up, they almost always end up making a fun game. I only say almost because X7 exists. Even the weirder side games, like the arcade Mega Battle games are fun.

 

• What are your top 5 games and why?

This question is always hard, because I don't really have a top 5. It kind of changes too much depending on what kind of game I'm playing at the time. I'm also just old and have been gaming for as long as I can remember, so I've played thousands of games across every console since the NES. So, the top 5 list I make now, may not be the same list I make a month from now, and the order is pretty interchangeable. I'll list them all below, but I'll talk about a few.

1. .hack//G.U. - Like mentioned above I have a really strong connection to Haseo. In addition to to that, the gameplay is really fun, it does a good job emulating an MMO without it feeling like a huge grind, the characters are all interesting, the story is well done, and the character development in the game is incredibly well done. There are few series that can match it. I consider all 3 games to be one game, but if you really wanted me to choose which Vol was the best, I'd have to say Vol 2. 1 is basically just the intro and tutorial, and 3 was great, but the guns felt a bit overpowered. I also love anything that uses a Scythe as a weapon, and the Scythe was introduced in Vol 2.
2. Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix - I love this game. I love this game so much. It's so much fun. I can't think of a single thing wrong with this game. The gameplay is incredible with the amount of stuff you can do and the different styles with the drive forms, there's a ridiculous amount of content without it ever feeling like a drag, the characters are all interesting and full of personality, and it's just fun being able to visit Disney worlds.
3. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - As a casual player who is absolute garbage and can't do stuff like infinites, this is the best fighting game ever made. The roster is so big it's insane, there's a ton of fun and interesting characters that lead to some truly bonkers fights, and the flow of the game is just spot on for ridiculousness and fun. Even 15 years after it's release I can still play this anytime, especially with friends.
4. Final Fantasy X - People say that your first FF game is always your favorite, and I'm no exception. FFX was my first FF game, and I absolutely love it. For two key reasons, the battle system and the sphere grid. X just feels smooth and quick without feeling like battles are moving too fast or too slow. Every battle is fun, and being able to freely switch characters mid-battle made battles more interesting than being stuck with whoever you had before the fight started. And then the sphere grid made it so anyone can be anything and everything. Want Rikku to be your heavy hitter? Go for it, why not? Want Auron to be your healer? Sure! It just made leveling a lot of fun. Not to mention all the extra content is great. Except dodging lightning bolts. I hate dodging lightning bolts.
5. Jet Set Radio Future - This game doesn't get the credit it deserves. The original Jet Set Radio was a neat idea, but it is just full of horrible flaws. Like the awkward controls and having to stop what you're doing to move the control stick to spray graffiti. JSRF fixed everything wrong with the first game, made it better, made the game longer, added more characters, and fleshed out the story quite a bit. It's really sad that this game has never gotten a re-release, and it's even sadder that you have to have an original Xbox to play it. It can technically be played on the 360, but it runs terribly. It has all kinds of slowdown and framerate issues. If I had to choose one game to remaster, it would be this one hands down.
6. I'll include the rest of the list, but I won't go into detail because otherwise there would be no space. If you're curious why a game is on here, feel free to ask me. These are all games that I wholeheartedly would recommend: Tales of Symphonia, Horizon Zero Dawn, Star Ocean Till the End of Time, Star Ocean First Departure, DJ Max Portable Fever, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Terranigma, Super Mario World, Harvest Moon 64, Mega Man X, Mega Man X4, Mega Man X5, Mega Man ZX, Final Fantasy X-2, Lightning Returns, FFVII, FFXIV, Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap, Majora's Mask, Tekken 6, Persona 3, Tales of Vesperia, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, Ragnarok Online, Crisis Core, Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Ultimate Dead or Alive 2, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry 4, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Kirby Super Star, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Saints Row The Third, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, Shenmue, Cannon Spike, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Bioshock Infinite, Rogue Legacy, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories GBA, Kingdom Hearts 3D, Kingdom Hearts 0.2, Zone of the Enders 2nd Runner, Hyrule Warriors, Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, Ys Origin, Ys The Oath in Felghana, Ys Seven, Ys Memories of Celceta, Lollipop Chainsaw, Eternal Sonata, Steins;Gate, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Mega Man 3, Mega Man and Bass, and DC Universe Online.

 

• Top 5 TV shows, Movies, and/or anime, why, and would you recommend them to people?

1. How I Met Your Mother - My favorite show of all time, and a show I highly recommend to anyone who is at least in their 20s. Anyone still in high school probably won't enjoy it much, but I thought it captured what it was like being a 20 something better and more realistically than any other show. It regularly shows bad things happen and shows the characters fail, and that's more that can be said of most any other sitcom.
2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Easily the best show currently on the air. It's ridiculous and hilarious and everyone should watch it.
3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - This is the smartest stupid show of all time. It follows a group of just truly terrible people getting involved in all kinds of ridiculous stuff, and they tackle issues in such a way that a lot of people don't even realize it, which I think is amazing. It's definitely worth watching if you want something really dumb to watch.
4. Code Geass - Anyone who likes anime needs to watch this series. I don't want to talk too much about it, because the mystery is what really carries the story. I'll just say that the characters are great, the story is amazing, and everyone who likes anime should watch it. Even people who don't watch anime will get some enjoyment out of it.
5. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - This series is the perfect amount of over the top/ridiculous, and serious. The story is good and the battles are awesome. It's another classic that anyone who likes anime needs to watch.

 

• Top 5 favorite music bands/group/artist?

1. Ninja Sex Party - While technically a comedy band, they've put out a couple of really great cover albums as well. If you like dick jokes and unicorns, then you can't get much better than NSP. It always puts me in a good mood listening to their comedy albums, and when I'm not feeling the comedy side, I tend to listen to their cover albums. Their covers of "Take on Me" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" are especially good. 
2. Skyhill - I'm kind of cheating with this, but whatever. Skyhill was the project of the singer in NSP before he did NSP. It's serious music, and I just really like it. They only put out one album, but I listen to it all the time.
3. Alkaline Trio - I discovered Alkaline Trio when I got out of high school, and I've loved them ever since. They've got a sort of pop punk sound, without all the ridiculousness that comes along with it. They sing about some pretty dark stuff, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm a devil worshipper when they hear me singing their songs in the shower.
4. Yoko Shimomura - Video game composers count right? Of course they do. Yoko Shimomura has created a ridiculous number of amazing songs. From Kingdom Hearts, to Street Fighter II, and even Super Mario RPG. Whenever I want to listen to video game music, she's usually at the top of the list.
5. SoundTEMP - This is the name used by the people who made all of the music for Ragnarok Online for the first few years it was out. Even now, I still listen to RO music, even though I don't play the game anymore. It's just too good not to.

 

• Your favorite platinum?

That's a really hard one. I'll have to go with Tales of Symphonia though. It's one of my favorite games of all time, and I feel really accomplished not only getting the plat, but writing the guide too. It was a very fulfilling experience.

 

• Your least favorite platinum?

Hands down. Young Justice Legacy. I got the game because I'm a big fan of the series, and the game was supposed to help bridge the gap between the two seasons. But it is just a terrible game. After playing through a couple of levels, I just started skipping as much as possible. I didn't want to feel like I just wasted money on that hunk of garbage, so I got the plat to make myself feel like it was worth something. It's the only plat I've ever gotten where I can say that I truly hated the experience.

 

• Have you ever been tempted to switch over to the Xbox/Nintendo/PC gaming ecosystems?

I've never really thought I belonged to a specific ecosystem. If there's a game I want to play, then I play it. Whether it be on PC or a Nintendo console, or whatever else. I have moved away from Xbox, and even sold my X1 a couple years ago, but that was just because there was nothing I wanted to play on it. I'm not really die hard into one console. If there's a game I want to play, then I will play it.

 

• If you could have one game from any gaming generation be remade or rereleased what would it be?

Like I said in my favorite games, Jet Set Radio Future. It really deserves one.

 

• How far are you willing to go for a platinum?

Not as far as a lot of people. I'll go for a plat, but only until I stop having fun. If a game feels like too much work, or if it stops being enjoyable, I just stop. I've got plenty of other games to play, and forcing myself to do something that I don't want to do for a plat just never made much sense to me. That's why I've got so many unfinished games on my profile, and why a lot of them are probably considered easy games.

 

PSNP Community Questions

 

• The Fayt Leingod avatar. I don't think I've seen your profile with a different one. So why did you chose it? 

I love Star Ocean 3. It's one of my favorite games and one of the biggest reasons is because I like Fayt. I'm also lazy and just haven't wanted to go out and find/make a new avatar, haha.

 

• What was the most difficult platinum you earned?

A lot of them have been pretty difficult, but I have to go with Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Anyone who was around when it was released may remember my insane rage-filled status updates/rants. When the game first game out, the drop rate was obscenely low. Combined with my already terrible luck, and it ended up taking me over 250 hours to get everything, with over 200 of that grinding for only a handful of the abilities I needed. It was so dumb. I vowed never again would I put myself through that kind of hell and took a month off of trophy hunting after doing it.

 

• What other hobbies do you enjoy?

Honestly, I probably have too many hobbies, haha. I like to draw or even just digitally color, I sometimes make terrible animations, I sometimes make 3D models, and I watch a lot of TV shows. Then of course I spend time with my girlfriend and kiddo.

 

• What would you say the best game is that you feel like only you have played?

That's a good question. I'd have to say Terranigma. An old SNES game that never came out in the US, and since I'm in the US, no one has ever heard of it. It's one of my favorite SNES games though, and was made by the people who made Illusion of Gaia. And it's pretty similar to it, just a bit better imo.

 

• Who's going to win the world cup?

...Brazil? I honestly have no idea. I don't follow sports.

 

• Also, favourite food?

Stuff crust chicken and mushroom pizza. I could live off of that stuff.

 

• Oh... Well, why your name is "ex"haseo? something to do with .Hack/G.U I suppose, btw which .Hack game is your favorite?

Since I answered all that in the first question, I'll just answer the second part. I like G.U. way better than the original. The originals had a good story, but they're pretty painful to play, especially now. If I had to pick a specific vol of G.U., I'd have to say Vol 2.

 

• Who is your favorite Nintendo video game character and your favorite PlayStation video game character and which of the two would win in a 1 vs 1 fight?

Asking the tough questions, haha. That's really hard. I like a lot of characters. I guess for Nintendo I'd have to say Rosalina, and for Playstation I'd have to go with Haseo. Rosalina would totally win if you had Haseo as his real self. Haseo would win if it was his online avatar though.

 

• If you could revive any dead game series, what would it be and what do you wish it was like?

Since it's probably pretty obvious that I'd want Jet Set Radio, I'll go with something else, haha. 
I'll have to go with Radiata Stories. It was a truly amazing game on the PS2 that gave you the ability to recruit pretty much anyone you could talk to. The gameplay was fun, and the universe it created was interesting too. One of my favorite parts was the day-to-day system too. Everyone had their routines and you had to know when someone would be at a certain place in order to recruit them or finish quests. A lot like Majora's Mask, but without the time limit. It would be great if it were to come back with an improved battle system, something like the Tales series, and otherwise just use the same concept with a different story. Where you can recruit basically everyone and have that day-to-day system. I really feel like that's a weirdly passed over gaming mechanic that gets almost no love. The only games I can think of that really have them are Majora's Mask, Lightning Returns, the Harvest Moon series, and Radiata Stories. And it's just a shame, because the system makes games feel incredibly alive.

 

• If you were to give one piece of life advice what would it be?

tl;dr Never give up on your dreams. It's much better to live your life pursing what you love and failing miserably, than to give up and live your life full of regret.

Long version. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a character designer and/or comic book artist. That's evolved more into game design and writing, along with design, but it's something I pursued for years. About 5 years ago, I finally gave up on my dreams and tried to start a "backup" career. Something I could do to make money in the meantime. For a few years I lived comfortably, but I can't say I ever felt especially fulfilled. I never had much time or energy to pursue what I wanted. Maybe once a week I'd put aside a couple of hours, but not much ever got done, because I was always working. Then about a year ago, I lost that job. It was devastating, and I was so mad, because I put that before my dreams, and didn't really get anywhere with either of them. Because of that fun experience, I realized that no matter how many backup plans you have, there's never any guarantee they will work out. So it's better to pursue what you actually want. In the time since I've gotten closer to my dreams than ever before. I was hired to do some design work for a tabletop game and have made a lot of progress on a different project I can't talk about. Despite having way less money, and living less comfortably, I'm much happier than when I was working my "backup" career.

 

• Which guide that you wrote are you most proud of?

Tales of Symphonia. It took me over 10 hours to write that guide, and I made sure it was as in-depth as a trophy guide as possible.

 

• What game would you love to write a guide for but never have?

I actually hate writing guides now, haha. It's thanks to my Symphonia guide. Despite all the work I put into it, the fact that I've 100% the game on both Gamecube and the PS3, and despite the fact that it's the most comprehensive Symphonia guide out there, people still constantly try to tell me I'm wrong about things, how I need to add things, or that their method is somehow better, and it also only has 4 stars. All while my incomplete BBS guide that I never meant to publish has 5 stars and was praised even though it was completely half-assed and unfinished. BlindMango and Dragon-Archon have definitely improved it, but looking at it now, not a whole lot was changed or added. So, I don't really see the reason to put in so much work into making a guide, when the people I'm making it for are just going to whine and tell me I'm wrong.

 

• Since you're hiding one trophy, what game is it for?

That's a "fun" story. My account got hacked a few years ago, and someone decided to buy Fifa 14 along with about $100 of in-game currency with my credit card (I no longer have my credit card saved on my account because of it). Sony gave me my money back pretty quickly, and I got my account back within a day, but they had booted the game up and gotten a single trophy. I eventually got Fifa 14 to try and at least get the easy trophies so it wouldn't be dragging my completion down, but it was just aggressively unfun to me. I don't like sports, and I don't like sports games. So, after years of it sitting on my profile, I decided to hide it. Because it's not something I earned, and not something I ever wanted on there.

 

• Which game would you like to be made into a movie?

I don't think gaming is a very good media to adapt to film. So much of the experience is because of the gameplay, and the connection you make to the characters through journeying with them for hours and hours. It just never translates well to film, or even TV. So I don't really want any game to be made into a movie.

 

• What game world would you like to live in?

Pokemon for sure. It's one of the few gaming worlds that anyone can have a fun experience in, instead of like most games where just the magical chosen one get special powers and goes on adventures, while everyone else has to deal with horrible things going on, like the world blowing up or being ruled by a crazy dictator.

 

• Which game character would you most like to run a small business making and selling children’s toys out of discarded items with?

Fayt Leingod from Star Ocean 3. He has amazing engineering skills and would able to make some cool stuff.

 

• Which game character would you trust to watch your back during a small-town gas-station robbery, that you don’t really want to go through with, but you need to, for reasons?

Does The Flash count? We'd be in and out so fast it wouldn't even matter, haha. Seriously though, I guess Dante from Devil May Cry. He's basically invincible, and doesn't really care about messing people up who get in his way, if needed, but isn't a huge dick and won't screw me over or kill anyone.

 

• What are your thoughts on Tales of Symphonia compared to the rest of the series and who is your favorite character here?

Oh boy, this is going to be a big one. Symphonia is my favorite in the series. The story was one of the first games to really take me by surprise and give me that, "OH SHIT, WHHHAAAATTT!??" reaction. I also love almost all of the characters. In addition to great story and great characters, it also had a metric shit ton of extras, which is something I always like to see in games. There's a ton of stuff to do both during the main game and after. Entire storylines are played out through extras. And most importantly, it feels like you're properly rewarded for the effort you put into them. You get some exclusive weapons and items, you get to see more of your characters interacting with the world, and a lot of them give you cosmetic outfits.
Anyway, compared to the rest of the series, there aren't any that are on the same level as Symphonia in terms of story, characters, or content. The closest ones would be Abyss and Vesperia, but even then, they're a little lacking by comparison. The older games aren't anywhere close, but they are enjoyable for what they are. But I will say that they haven't aged well. And for the newer games... They're largely disappointments. Especially Xillia. Xillia's story feels like it's trying to be Symphonia, but is executed poorly, and there's basically nothing to do except the story. They also tried to do the whole two stories gimmick, but both stories are essentially the same, and they both explain what happened in the other one for the short time it did split, so there's no real point in having two. Zestiria and Berseria were a little better, but still largely lacking in content. All the new games rely on objective based grinding trophies to keep you playing, instead of actual content. The one thing that did improve with each game is the battle system. I don't think there's anything wrong with the older ones, like in Symphonia and Vesperia, but they do take some getting used to. You have to really understand and play the way it's meant to be played to enjoy it. The new ones are a lot easier to get a grasp of, and are just a lot easier overall.
And as for favorite character in Symphonia, that's really hard. I really like everyone, except Regal and Presea. But I guess if I absolutely had to choose one, I'd have to say Lloyd. Although I will say that my favorite character in the entire series is Yuri.
Oh, and the only reason I didn't put Symphonia as one of my favorite games, is because I wanted to talk about some other games instead. I've already talked about how much I love Symphonia a lot in the time I've been here, and made the guide, so I thought it was pretty obvious it was one of my favorites, haha

 

• I see you also went through Star Ocean: The Last Hope International on PS3. Seeing that you have played a number of other SO games, how do you think this entry compares to the rest of the series? Who was your favorite character here and why was it Meracle?

I really enjoyed it. I've played every game in the series, and I honestly don't see why it gets so much hate. Except for the plat. Fuck that. I went for it at one point, but about 100 hours of grinding in for BTs and materials to make all of the items, I noticed that I missed a recipe and would have to start over. I was so mad at myself. I have considered going back and attempting it again though, but I don't know. I do want to play through it again though. I feel like I'll have an even greater appreciation for it now that I've experienced 5.
Anyway, I think 4 has the best battle system in the series, at least in the console games. The blindside system is super fun and keeps battles feeling fast paced and interesting. The story isn't the best, but I don't see anything terribly wrong with it, and I thought it was pretty cool that they explored the idea of multiple realities.
As for favorite character, I am sad to say that while Meracle is up there, my favorite is Arumat. I've got a thing for any character that uses Scythes as a weapon, and I really liked Arumat's design and no fucks given attitude

 

 

Thank you again @ExHaseo for being a interviewee in the PSNP Interviews series.

 

The next interviewee will be revealed soon. 

 

 

People who asked questions:

Spoiler

@BakkerJ @PermaFox @breakingthegreen @A-Brawl3r @AlchemistWer @Beyondthegrave07 @mecharobot @SonicMTD @HailHale81 @DrBloodmoney @Honor_Hand 

 

@Parker or @BlindMango can this be moved to the Member Interviews section? 

Edited July 28, 2018 by soultaker655

[Walt the Dog]

12 minutes ago, soultaker655 said:

DJ Max Portable Fever

 

Since you listed this, have you ever heard of and/or thought of getting DJMax Respect? I've been playing it since around the end of March and it's had me hooked. The 100% is hard as hell now, but it's pretty much the definitive DJMax game, with every song from Portable 1 and Portable 2 as well as plenty of Respect originals in the base game alone (for reference, Fever was a mix of songs from P1 and P2).

 

@ExHaseo

[ExHaseo]

Just now, Walt the Dog said:

 

Since you listed this, have you ever heard of and/or thought of getting DJMax Respect? I've been playing it since around the end of March and it's had me hooked. The 100% is hard as hell now, but it's pretty much the definitive DJMax game, with every song from Portable 1 and Portable 2 as well as plenty of Respect originals in the base game alone (for reference, Fever was a mix of songs from P1 and P2).

 

@ExHaseo

I hadn't thought about it much. I picked up Technika Tune and wasn't really into the new style of gameplay(which I guess is like the arcade version with the touchscreen), and I only liked a couple of the songs. So when I heard about Respect, I assumed it was going to be like Technika. I didn't realize it was a return to the Portable style gameplay! Just knowing it has all of the Portable 1 and 2 songs means it's an instant buy for me. I love a ton of the songs from Fever. I'm definitely going to pick it up as soon as I can.

[Beyondthegrave07]

Rosalina is your favorite Nintendo character... I was honestly expecting a Pokemon! Haha.

 

That sucks about having that single trophy hidden though. I would've never guessed it was from being hacked! On the other hand, it also shows why people shouldn't take hidden trophies so seriously either. Stuff happens.

[Paleblood]

@ExHaseo

How could I miss your interview??  Now I can never legally ask you all the thing I wanted to know...

[Honor_Hand]

@ExHaseo

Excellent. This was a pretty interesting read for me. Many thanks for answering my questions ^^

 

Yes, I also really liked the twists and turns in Symphonia's story back in the day when I first played it. Besides the unique battle system, wanting to see if the party was gonna succeed in their world regeneration journey is what kept me coming back to play the game time after time

 

Now, I actually love Xillia. I haven't really played much of the rest of the series but the dark tone of this installment and the character's personalities were what really draw me into it. I have to agree though, that there are very little diversions to keep you occupied once you finish the story and that the 2nd playthrough with the other character doesn't really add to much to the experience.

 

Aye! Lloyd was also my favorite character in the game. 2nd favorite would be a tie between Presea and Colette. Kratos was pretty cool as well. My least favorite characters were Regal and Raine.

 

SO4 is the only Star Ocean game I have played to date and I absolutely love the superb battle system there. It is so dynamic and fluid, really the best active not-turn-based system I have ever seen. I thought the story was good enough. Not mind-boggling but reasonably interesting as to come back to it, I really don't get why the cast gets so much hate >.< The Platinum requirements are insane though. I haven't really attempted playing the game again in fear that I could potentially end up hating it after going for those battle trophies >.>

 

I do want to play it again on a harder difficulty just for fun, so I may just give in and go for the trophies at some point ?

 

Arumat, eh? Cool guy, 2nd favorite character to me. He could have been my fave but, for me, catgirls triumph everything, so I obviously ended up loving Meracle lol

[Lava_Yuki]

@ExHaseo

Totally agree with FF and Kingdom Hearts, and am very happy to see FFX in your top 5 list! FFX was my first FF and made me fall in love with the series!

Also I'm a fan of almost all the games you mentioned in the last point as a fellow JRPG fan  

 

I also really enjoyed reading your story on life advice and career. I used to always want to be a character designer and spent my entire childhood and teenage years drawing my favourite anime and gaming characters, that i have 3 portfolio books of them (mostly characters from FF, tales, yugioh series, kingdom hearts, the world ends with you etc). I also did my high school final exam art project on it. But unfortunately I ended up giving up on it in fear of not being able to secure employment or struggle to find a secure job, so I ended up going to medical school and becoming a doctor instead and enjoy it. But I still keep my drawing as a hobby, but I find it really cool when people can make a career out of it. One of my friends is a game designer in Japan and I remember when she first told me I got really excited being a gamer!