# 131 - Final Fantasy III Finished

Well I finally finished it and I'm just going to try to keep this is short as possible because I'm quite tired at the moment.

The game was a lot slower passed then the PSP remakes of the first 2 final fantasies. They didn't really add anything to speed up the battles like holding down the button to repeat the last attack. Also at the end of every battle it would go to a victory screen where it would show awarded EXP and GOLD. At first I thought it was slightly interesting but by the second time it was just annoying having to wait while it loaded the separate screen just to tell me what I earned. And while it doesn't seem that bad because its only an extra few seconds those extra seconds add up quickly when you have to go through hundreds upon hundreds of battles. So even from the start I knew it was going to be an unnecessarily long game.

Other then the general slow pace which I wish would have been updated in the remake it was the pretty standard Final Fantasy affair. 4 light warriors that have to save the world from darkness because the light vs. dark balance is out of wack. The stories not bad but like I said before since it felt so slow it was hard to really care I just wanted it to hurry up.

As I said when I started the game I'm playing on kind of a shotty DS so I took advantage of one of the cheats available on my ROM that allowed me to save when ever I want. Usually you can only save on the overworld map and not in dungeons. So I guess I did cheat a little but I still did all the leveling and getting my ass kicked on my own so I don't feel like it was cheating to much. The reason I bring this up is because one of my friends is also playing the game but she does not have the luxury of my being able to save anywhere I like.

Normally in a RPG this is not a problem because the game designers usually understand that being able to save at certain parts of the game so the player does not become so frustrated at not being able to save after walking around a dungeon for a few hours. Also the designers usually allow you to save before a point of no return area. Well apparently the designers for this one decided to stop caring around the last 3rd of the game. And just become completely masochistic for the last dungeon (or this case tower) of the game.

So let me lay this down for you. You get to this tower and your pretty sure that its probably the last area however you don't know how long it is. Since its a tower you got a pretty good feeling that the boss is not just going to be up the elevator and just to the left. And you would be right. You spend your time fighting through waves of enemies as you trudge your war torn party up and up and up and well you get the idea.

During all this time the party hasn't come across a save point, an inn, a 7 eleven, or even so much as a hot dog vendor. When you finally reach the top you get to the portal to hell (well not hell exactly but large amounts of evil await on the other side). By this point you still haven't been able to save since you started the insane journey up the tower. So at this point your thinking, "Well the designers (or even re-designers since this is a remake) wouldn't have me face large amounts of evil without letting me save or at least warning me that I could never return to this wonderful tower of death".

And you would be wrong.

They let you walk right into the evil face first without so much as batting an eye. And its not until you think, "Hmm maybe I should go back outside of this tower of death so I can save and catch a breather" that you find out that there is no going back. So if you were on the verge of death before entering then you are in so many words "Screwed".

No warning no nothing just punch to the nuts screwed.

So from here you fight more evil except now theres more darkness around. And eventually you get to the last boss who is more then happy to kick your ass and send you back to your last save which you made decades ago outside of the tower.

What a fist full of frustration.

And unless you read the gamefaq you probably had no idea this was coming until it was too late and you were throwing your DS out the nearest window (or a nice hard wall).

But thankfully since I knew my DS was going to be shotty and I took precautions I was able to create saves in the tower. Although it kinda backfired a bit because I burned all three save slots in the evil area where I couldn't get out of the tower so I had basically trapped my own ass inside. But it all worked out for the best.

Unfortunately my friend Sara will have to do it the hard way. But I gave her as much of a heads up as I could about the horrors she would have to face. I'm sure she will be done in no time.

I guess I went on longer then I expected. Oh well I guess I was more awake then I thought.

K Out

#59 - Run a Marathon (or possibly die trying)

So I've started training for my Marathon run. I never really stated which marathon I wanted to in but I think in the back of my mind I was planning to do the LA marathon. 26.2 miles, when ever I think about it the distance just seems insane. So most of the time I just focus on one run at a time.

Now when I say I'm in training I mean I bought new running shoes, a few pieces of running gear, and one morning run at 6am this morning where I completely destroyed myself.

I somehow managed to wake up at 6am but apparently I had forgotten to take something into account. Apparently at this time of the year the sun doesn't rise until around 6:40 so when I got up it was pretty much pitch black outside. It was not all I imagined my morning run to be. I expected to be running while the Sun was rising like I had seen in those running commercials. So that was pretty much a bad sign and it didn't get much better.

The run itself started out OK. Maybe because I was all pumped and ready to ran and also at that moment when I was walking out the door a really fast song started playing on my iPod. So at first I was really looking good and that lasted until halfway through my run. Then things started to go badly. My chest and legs started hurting and I still had to get back to where I began. Now at this point I would later learn I should have slowed down and started walking or just stopped for a minute. But I felt that I had to prove to someone (myself) that I could keep going no matter how much it hurt. Bad Idea. Well I did the entire trip with one run and when I got home I was pretty much destroyed.

My chest was hurting, my legs felt like they were still moving even when I stopped and I was pretty dizzy. Pretty much all around a bad time. When I got to work it wasn't to bad. My chest was still hurting but that had actually been a problem for awhile before my self inflicted pain. And interestingly my legs felt pretty good. However, when I got home the pain in my legs finally caught up with me. Since then my legs have felt pretty stiff.

Tomorrow I'm going to rest up which is actually something I read that was good for training. So that means I'm probably going to try to get a morning "run" on Wednesday. This Wednesday I will attempt to go about my training a whole lot smarter.

Also something else I read was that a good way to stay motivated is to have a running partner but I can't imagine anyone that would want to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to run with me. But if anyone feels so incline to also run a marathon or even just get fitter it would be awesome to have someone to run with. I guess it doesn't have to be 6:30 in the morning but thats pretty much the only time I'm always sure to have the time to run what with work.

#99 - Get Fit

I recently started working out again in an attempt to get fit. I think by my count this would be my third attempt at trying this. What I'm really trying to work on is getting rid of my beer belly. Well since I don't drink I guess that would mean that its just a non beer belly belly. Either way its definitely something I could do without.

The last time I attempted to get fit I went all out. I started on the South Beach Diet and bought a whole bunch of food for the diet. I also spent money on a new elliptical machine, some weights and a few other pieces of exercise equipment. And even after all that money spent I still managed to fail. I can't remember the moment it all went wrong but its obvious that I got off track. I tried to stack the odds in my favor but it just wasn't enough.

So this time I'm going to try again. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. This time I'm not going to spend the money on getting food for a new diet. But I'm in luck because all that exercise equipment I bought is paid for so that's some money I don't have to spend in this attempt.

Now that I'm starting out again I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. I'm running on my elliptical and doing push ups and sit ups. I was hoping to do something else to help get in shape. Something like playing a sport. But nothing really came up that seemed to work well for the situation.

Hopefully this time will be successful. This time I also have other reasons for getting fit. Since I have other things on my list that require me to be in better physical condition I guess that makes this goal more of a first step on a longer journey. I just hope I'll be able to remember why im doing this in the first place and remain focused on my ultimate goal to complete my list.

#1 - Go Skydiving

Intense. Thats the word I would use to talk about what its like to skydiving. Today I jumped out of a plane on purpose and it was amazing.

For those of you wondering what an experience like this is like let me explain. When I was looking out of the plane door about to jump out I'm sure I had the same thought that everyone has the first time they jump, "Am I really doing this". And then a second later I was out of the plane.

The first thing I noticed was how very cold and windy it was while falling. I guess I should have expected that what with the high atmosphere and terminal velocity. But where your jumping out of a plane the rational part of your brain pretty much turns itself off. Now I'm sure your all wondering, "So how insane is that freefall". Well actually the feeling of freefalling you get in your stomach lasted only a few seconds then all I really noticed was the cold and the wind. I know it sounds weird but it makes sense. Since there is nothing around you its not really possible for your mind to comprehend how fast your going. Sure the ground is coming at your face at terminal velocity but your so high up that it appears as though your not moving at all. So you really do get that feeling that you are floating in the air.

When we got to a certain altitude the guy I was attached to gave me a signal and I reached behind us and pulled the chute open. A second or two later there was a hit when the chute caught the wind. After the chute deployed he started adjusting things behind my back. For a second I thought he was going to unhook me and I was going to fall to my death. But he was just adjusting the harness so that instead of the pressure being on my crotch region it was moved to under my thighs which is much more comfortable.

So after I was in this new comfortable position he let me control the chute itself. He had me turn us a few times and then we did a few circles. And then finally we landed safe and sound. The whole thing was quite an exciting experience. Now that I know I can survive the experience I would love to do it again hopefully with more people.

And for those of you that maybe afraid of heights let me just say that my girlfriend did it and she is terrified of heights. So I believe if she can do it pretty much anyone can.

Also if you would like to do this yourself you should probably check out Skydive Elsinore. I did a bit of research and they seem to be the best ones. Of course this is only useful if you happen to live near or around Southern California. Otherwise you will have to do your own research.

# 89 - See a Lunar Eclipse

This is the last past entry I need to do to get caught up to the present. I had completely forgotten about actually seeing this one. Also I didn't take the picture located above I just thought it was cool.

The lunar eclipse happened on 02/21/2008 and its the last total lunar eclipse until December 2010. I actually found out about it 3 days before it was going to happen. And it was more a matter of luck then anything else. The list is so long that sometimes I forget that there are items on it that only happen at a certain time. I think when I learned about this I was not really thinking about it. But I happened to be looking at digg.com and thats when I was reminded that I needed to check it out. I'm wasn't much of a digger at that time I just happen to be bored and went to the site. Not I can't stop checking out digg but thats another story.

So the total lunar eclipse took place on a Wednesday and was suppose to start at or around 7pm. I still happened to be at work at the time but this was a once in a 2 year chance. When I went outside at 7 I couldn't see the moon anywhere. As luck would have it the moon was located behind the only freaking cloud in the sky. But I was determined to see it so I stood there and watch the clouds move across the sky.

Eventually I did get to see it but it wasn't a clear view of it. I could see it through a thiner part of the cloud cover. So technically I did see it so I can cross it off my list but hopefully come 2010 I'll be in a position to see it better.

And heres some knowledge about Lunar Eclipses.

# 131 - Final Fantasy III Started

Well now that I finished FF II its on to FF III. And since there are no ports of FF III to the PSP orPS1 I'm forced to play it on the DS. Don't get me wrong I love playing the DS however my DS has been acting rather strangely.

Sometimes when I put it to sleep (close the lid) the system will turn off. Now I'm sure I don't need to say how much this sucks for when I quickly put it away without saving first (well I guess I just did). So now I have to make sure that I save before I sleep it which is a minor inconvenience. But I will persevere so I can move on to the next one. Hopefully this version will not have the same issue as the FF II did.

More likely then not I'll end up losing progress at some point because I forgot to save.

Heres some knowledge about Final Fantasy III and also a video about the game.




This is from the gametrailers.com Final Fantasy retrospective. The Final Fantasy III section is in the second half of the video.

# 131 - Final Fantasy II completed

Well after my ordeal with having to restart the game from scratch I have finally completed it. The last few areas turned out to be a lot harder then I expected.

I had spent quite a few hours leveling up my characters plus they had some kick ass weapons so I was duel wielding 2 Masamunes (kick ass sword) on all the characters and just steam rolling through all the enemies. That is until I got to the "Jade Passage" which is the second to last area in the game. All of sudden my character were getting the crap beat out of them with each hit they took.

At first I was like WTF. How did I go from bad ass to ass kicked so quickly. Well this mainly had to do with the fact that I had not actually put a shield on my characters so I got the swords so it was no wonder I was getting pummeled so badly. When I finally realized my boneheaded mistake I quickly rectified the situation and put a shield on each of them. After that they were still getting hit hard but nothing I couldn't handle.

So eventually I made it to the last boss and I was totally ready to kick his ass with my bad ass swords. I figured the swords had made mincemeat out of everything so far that this should be cake. And since I figured that way I had not spent any time to level up any type of magic. Well I was surely surprised when I gave that boss a sound slash to the face and it appeared to do very little damage.

At this point I'm thinking oh God I don't want to have to spend more time leveling up magic just to beat this bastard. But even though I was doing not as much damage as I was used to I was still doing somewhat decent damage. And also I was able to keep my characters alive (just barely). And after repeated whackings from my sword to his face and cure/life to my characters I was finally able to win the day. Now its on to Final Fantasy III.