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Video Games
Dragonvale Tips and Tricks
Oct 17th
Recently, I’ve been playing Dragonvale, a dragon-farming game from Backflip Studios. While it’s far from perfect, I’ve found it to be a lot of fun, and I’ve had some decent success with it. So…I thought I’d share some tips and tricks.
Get Some Friends!I’m putting this one first, simply because it’s critical to so many of the other suggestions I’ll make :). Having friends in Dragonvale is the key to two really important things: getting gems, and getting money.
You can, of course, pay *real* cash to get gems and money, but that’s stoopid. It’s better to make friends in Dragonvale, and help each other out.
So for example, you are able to visit your friend’s islands whenever you want. Once a day, you’ll receive 3 free bonuses of money from each friend, and the amount you receive increases as you level up. For example, at level 15, I’m currently pulling in about $7,500 per day, per friend.
Unfortunately, Dragonvale’s current friend management is AWFUL, so I don’t visit each friend every day. However, when you need some cash, it’s an easy way to score some pretty signifiant dough–if you’re willing to invest the time.
So…how do you get friends? Well, you can do More >
More Random Thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII
Jul 12th
A few days ago, I shared my *official* thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII.
Not having touched it since then, here are some additional random thoughts, in no particular order or meaningfulness 🙂
- Final Battle Blues: The final battle (was it 3 or 4 obligatory boss forms?) was WAYYYYY too easy. It could be that I simply leveled up too much in my aborted attempt to complete all of the beast “marks,” but I took out the final baddie (Orphan) without breaking a sweat. In fact, besides the necessarily non-lethal “Judgement” strike in the next-to-last form, all my character’s HP stayed well above half. Of course, that means that I had much more time for slicing and dicing, making quick work of him. Even the dreaded “doom” that was cast on my party in Orphan’s final form was no big deal whatsoever. I annihilated him so quickly that I didn’t even have to think about trying to get around certain death. Pathetic.
- The End of Big Hair?: A hallmark of FF games is big, spiky, crazy hair. From Cloud’s lethal spikes to Wakka’s cone-dome, big, flashy hair has been a certainty. And yes, although we all realize that such hair is, on the basis More >
Final Fantasy XIII Review
Jul 7th
Final Fantasy XIII was one of my most anticipated games in a long time. Heck, I more or less bought an Xbox 360 so I could play it (well, and Left 4 Dead 2, of course!).
For those who know me, it is well understood that I am a big fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. With the exception of a few spin-offs for the various hand-held devices (and XI, which doesn’t count), I’ve played every Final Fantasy to date. I’ve reveled in the unparalleled awesomeness of VII and VIII, vigorously defended IX as a GOOD game, and even suffered through others like X-2 (remember that one?). I’ve watched both movies, and have trudged through spin-offs of the franchise like Dirge of Cerberus. My love of Final Fantasy, of course, guided me infallibly to Kingdom Hearts which, although probably consistently better than FF games, rings in at a close second.
Given my history, then, I feel I am an adequate judge of the games. So without further introduction, here’s my breakdown of Final Fantasy XIII.
StoryFFXIII is the story of six otherwise unlikely comrades bound together by a common curse which has transformed them into L’cie, the hated and feared subordinates of the Fal’cie More >
Another Notch in the Belt: Final Fantasy XII
Aug 10th
Well, it’s done. I stayed up until 1:00 this morning and finally put Final Fantasy XII to rest. Total gamplay hours: 72:32.
On the whole, I enjoyed this installment in my favorite video game series. At first, I HATED the battle system, but as I progressed in the game, it became pretty interesting and became a formidable weapon in my hands as I cut through the pathetically weak enemies which I encountered.
The plot was not as good as some, and at times I felt as if I had missed gigantic sequences of storyline as characters, events and other random factoids were presented as if already well-established. One interesting aspect of the storyline is that it was not as single-protagonist-focused as other FF games. Although the player begins with Vaan, the story quickly transforms into an epic about another character (the Lady Ashe), while still drawing into the narrative the lives of several others. Although the storyline felt rushed at many times, it was engaging and satisfying on the whole.
Typically, I finish most FF games in about 30-35 hours. The reason for the over two-fold increase on this installment is multifaceted. First, with most games, finishing the game is my only goal. More >
