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Woo-hoo! I’m so completely and totally excited about FF13 having an official NA release date! 3/9/2010! I’ve been waiting for this game forever (basically since FFX since FFXII proved to be such a huge disappointment) and I’m psyched that it’s being released on Xbox360 so I don’t have to shell out for a useless PS3 just yet. For those of you who are gamers and haven’t checked out the Final Fantasy series I’d highly recommend it. I’ve been a fan since I was 13 when a friend introduced me to the then new Final Fantasy VIII. The storylines are epic and aimed at males and females. I’d highly recommend the series (though honestly if you’re an RPG fan and haven’t heard of FF you’ve been living under a rock).

I’m a little weirded out by the new news that came out regarding the game’s theme song. Apparently they decided to go with a song by Leona Lewis (who I admittedly haven’t heard a single song from till yesterday) for the NA and EU releases. I was really surprised by this since they typically try to keep the Japanese songs they use in the game or try to get the singer to translate the song to English. Either way the song kind of grew on me, but I still can’t visualize the song in the game just yet. Unlike a lot of the rabid fanboys/girls I am not throwing rocks and starting drama with Square’s decision to go with this song versus the Japanese theme song. I’m just praying for a better game than what was delivered a few years ago with FF12. *shivers*

Either way here are some videos so you can compare:

Japanese theme song

Leona Lewis’ My Hands

FF13 Game Trailer

Exciting! I miss good RPGs. There are so few these days.

Not really a true update of my life, but I thought any of my readers that are online gamers might want to hear this. I picked up AION Online a week or so ago and it’s quite fun! I’ve been updating my gaming log over at Arrode.com with stories about my in game experiences. If you’re looking for a fun MMO to hold you over till FFXIV is released this just might be it!

Today was a great day of beauty discoveries for me. I found two new things that I really, really like.

First off, I’m a firm believer in using foundations that are liquid-based. I’ve honestly used L’oreal’s Trumatch liquid foundation for years. It works better than most of the higher-end foundations for me since I found the perfect shade for my face. I also have quite large pores on my nose (thank you, acne) and I have dark under-eye circles. It did wonders blending those away and I also used Clinique’s press powder to top it off.

I asked a few people at BoardX what they used in terms of mineral foundation. I had tried it my freshman year of college and it was ok at best. I didn’t think it was any better than liquid foundation and back then I had horrible cystic acne thanks to hormones and disgustingly oily skin (I’ve since had it treated with a round of Accutane). A lot of people suggested Bare Minerals so I went out today and bought the starter kit. I had one of the makeup ladies there figure out I should be using “Fair” which is the palest shade.

I went home and gave it a try and I’m quite pleased so far. I washed my face, put on my own lotion, and then put some powder on. I feel as though I need to heavily conceal under my eyes since I have lovely genetically engineered raccoon eyes. Anyone else used it? Does it help with your acne at all? I have pretty good skin now thanks to Accutane, but I still occasionally get whiteheads and clogged pores. I want to hit the ground running and make sure to take care of my skin as best I can to prevent a resurgence of acne.

The starter kit cost me $60 USD. I’m hoping it was worth the money. I’m guessing if it sucks after a few days of use I could always return it to Ulta.

My other find of the day is finally ponying up the dough and buying a Chi ceramic plate hair iron. I had previously been using a cheapo straightener that I’ve had for a number of years. What a freaking difference the Chi makes. Holyyyy crap. I seriously could style my hair in about 5 minutes versus 15-20 with my old crappy straightening iron. Needless to say the old cheapo one is in the garbage now. I can’t believe I was too cheap to buy a nice iron all these years. The Chi cost about $140 and I’ve read a lot of people have had problems with them breaking after a while so at least I have a one year warranty with it. I got one of the limited edition Chi “In Love” things in aqua cause the pink made me want to vomit. I think pink looks corny.

Oh! I also started playing Star Ocean: The Last Hope for Xbox360. I am impressed by the graphics and fluidity of the game so far, but I do have major gripes about the voice acting. It blows. I also don’t like Reimi (Is that her name?) and her crazy jerky neck motions and crazy hair physics. I’ve never seen a character whip her hair around as much as that girl does. This is my first Star Ocean game so we’ll see how much I like it.

In related Square-Enix gaming news there are new trailers out for Final Fantasy XIII that look great.

Here’s a gameplay trailer that was recently released. The battle system seems to return to ATB ala Final Fantasy 7/8 so that’s cool. I can’t wait for these series of games. I’m just minorly irked that one of them is still PS3 exclusive.

RPGs are becoming too graphics centered.

Don’t get me wrong; I am somewhat of a graphics whore. Video games with awesome graphics make me all tingly on the inside. However, over the past few years I’ve noticed that my favorite genre of game, the RPG (role playing game), has gone straight downhill storyline wise. Honestly all the good RPGs are gone! It’s been a long time since I’ve played an RPG that had such an epic storyline that it motivated me to replay it.

For example SquareEnix SquareSoft (I refuse to think its partnership with Enix did anything good for the company). I was less than impressed with Final Fantasy XII and The Last Remnant. Both are aesthetically beautiful games and both have moderately good battle systems and gameplay. However the storyline in both is lacking. Square seems to have sacrificed character development and storyline for pretty graphics. If characters are immemorial to the point where I couldn’t remember what Vaan’s female side-kick’s name was for the majority of the game something is definitely wrong. The Last Remnant was promising with a decently interesting storyline that took a nosedive with a stupid, un-fulfilling ending and Square’s horrible attempt at a possible sequel alla FFX style with Tidus coming back. >:( I miss the individual storylines of your characters where you get to learn more about your character’s history and the mithos of the fantasy worlds you’re exploring.

Hay guys. I’m useless and you won’t remember me 3 months after you finish this game!

Urgh, the anger! Where are my awesome RPGs with wit, heart moving storylines, and great character development? Dead, I think. Graphics don’t make an awesome game. >_< I wish I could sit in on the storyline development teams for some of these companies and smack the writers upside the head.

Some of my favorite RPGs (notice how very few are from the past 4 years?):

• Lunar: Silver Star/Eternal Blue
• Tales of Phantasia/Eternia/Symphonia/Symphonia2
• Final Fantasy 6/8/10/11
• Kingdom Hearts 1/2
• Shadow Hearts
• Chrono Trigger/Cross
• Valkyrie Profile

I have kind of meh hopes about Final Fantasy XIII. It looks great, but judging by how Square’s storylines have changed I’ll probably hate it. Oh well! Less a reason to spend money on a useless PS3.