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Merry Christmas and happy new year to all, especially the ones who greeted me.  Sorry if all I sent back are one-liners or nothing at all…it’s just that I didn’t want to make Globe richer…I mean, there’s Multiply, right? =P

Anyhoo, another reason why I seemed pre-occupied…well, two reasons actually: (1) Front Mission: The First; and (2) Confessor, the final novel in Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series.  Remind me to finish one book or game before starting another. I pretty darned well ended up dreaming about Sword of Truth AND Front Mission at the same time.  My mind didn’t even question the logic of sci-fi robot wanzers in a fantasy-filled world of sword and sorcery!

Front Mission: The First
I could not remember a recent time that I had enjoyed a game this much.  I thought I had become too old for video games, but as it turns out, I just love old school games more than the soul-less ones available in the market today.  While the plot tends to get absurd sometimes (I ended up laughing about what happened to the protagonist’s girlfriend instead of sympathizing), one can’t really say that it lacks originality.  And the gameplay may not be as complex as Front Mission III’s, since this is an older installation, but it was riveting. I could not put it down. Despite my qualms about rifles being wrongly categorized as short-ranged weapons, I didn’t really care.  Shotguns were my favorite in FM3 but rifles and machine guns in FM1 rock!

It just sucks that I had no one to talk to when three of my best pilots left the team. I had no one to share my relief with when they thankfully did not bring my ace pilot with them.  No one else in my vicinity is playing Front Mission!! Argh.  I’d usually talk about my current games with my sister and cousins, but right now my sis is hooked on Cake Mania and my cousins are too much of Sony Playstation enthusiasts to even try the Nintendo DS! So yeah…I’m pretty much all alone in my geekery here…

I’ve finished Royd’s campaign and I do plan to take on the second branch.  I also loved the final battle…I got to use all of my pilots. Even the weak ones, which I had intended to use as meat shields, seemed tough.  As for the next campaign, I had only figured out how to properly use the supply truck at the last three battles so I’m confident that I don’t really need it.

Confessor
I left the book in BF when I was already in the middle of it.  I kinda wish I had just brought it with me so I have something to read when I go Batangas tomorrow.  Like Terry Goodkind’s last six novels, I’m seeing somewhat of a disappointment.  It’s all talk (much like that darned movie The Golden Compass). And every chapter contains conversations about the same topic — by different characters!  That’s really annoying.

So far, the only thing I like about it is when the author was describing the violence in this rugby-like sport.  I don’t know but there was something really exciting about broken necks and limbs in a sport that has loose rules. Other than that, I’m not seeing anything more of substance.

It’s a shame, really.  Mr. Goodkind’s female characters are very interesting.  Heck, even the dragon Scarlet was hell of an intriguing mythical beast. Unfortunately, the last time I read about Scarlet was in the first (and arguably the best) book.  I don’t know if she’ll reappear in Confessor, though.  My other favorites are Cara the Mord-Sith (if you’re an S&M queen, you’ll probably love her), Nicci the powerful sorceress, the kid Rachel (I’m not fond of kiddie characters but Rachel is one of those that made my heart race during her misadventures), and of course, Richard’s wife Kahlan.  Kahlan is the Mother Confessor and she holds the title of this final volume.  Alas! They do nothing but talk in the book.   It’s a sad, sad thing.

Anyhoo, I’ll have to wait till I finish it before I even write a decent review.  As for Front Mission: The First?  I’d have to finish the second campaign first before I release a full-blown review.

Now, back to my hermitage…