Final Fantasy X Review!

Since the release of Final Fantasy XII in 2006, Square Enix's games, especially the Final Fantasy series, have fallen short of the typically high standards fans have come to expect from them. This review is taking a look back at the golden years when Square could do no wrong. Final Fantasy X was released in 2001. It was the first Final Fantasy game I played, and it is my favorite game in the series. You start out as a sports star in the city of Zanarkand who is thrust into the unfamiliar world of Spira that follows the teachings of Yevon. Yevon is essentially God for these people. The teachings of Yevon state that when the world atones for its sins, using machina (machines) to eliminate all strenous labor, they will be able to eliminate the monster Sin that causes destruction all over. At the current time, the only relief the people can obtain from Sin is when a summoner completes their pilgrimage and starts a period of time known as "the Calm". Sin can only be "defeated" through the calling of the "final Aeon". The problem this presents, is that summoners are killed when they call the final Aeon. As the game develops holes start to appear in the story you were told about Spira's past and Yevon's teachings. The main character, Tidus, travels with the summoner Yuna and her guardians. Her guardians originally consist of just Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri, but soon grow to include the legendary guardian Auron and the Al-Bhed ("heathen") Rikku. As Yuna travels on her pilgramige to the temples all over Spira in order to eventually get the "final Aeon" in Zanarkand. Throughout the story Tidus believes that he will somehow be able to get to his home from this world's Zanarkand. When the party finally reaches Zanarkand, having bonded through their journey, they are informed by Lady Yunalesca that one of the guardians must be sacrificed to form the final Aeon. It is also revealed that the final Aeon defeats Sin, but is taken over by Yu Yevon who turns it into the new Sin. This is the cycle of death that has enveloped Spira for hundreds of years. Yuna refuses to sacrifice one of her guardians. She says, "I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more! The Final Summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away." Upon hearing this, Lady Yunalesca, believing Yuna is speaking out of a hopelessness for the future attacks the party to end their suffering. Auron rallies the team saying, "Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!". After defeating Lady Yunalesca the party decides to find another way to vanquish Sin. Eventually the plan to land inside Sin and defeat Yu Yevon is formed. The party lands in Sin, fights to Tidus's father, Jecht, who sacrificed himself to become Braska's final Aeon and start the last Calm. Jecht and Tidus share a moment before the party is thrust into battle against Braska's final Aeon which is under the control of Yu Yevon. After the party defeats Jecht and grants him peace, they defeat Yu Yevon and end the cycle of death that had encompassed Spira for so long. *SPOILER ALERT* Auron, it is revealed, was dead the entire time he was fighting with you, and he is finally at peace and can rest at the end of the game. Tidus was a dream of the Aeon's, and he vanishes as they awaken.
Scores:
Character development: 10/10
Story: 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Replayability: 9/10
Side quests: 10/10
-Immersive side quests add hours of gameplay to a game that is already easily 30+ hours of entertainment
Overall: 10/10

Liverpool after Carragher, better?

Liverpool are the best attacking side in the English Premier League this season. They have scored more goals than any other team. The strike partnership of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge has helped produce a staggering 82 goals already this season with 8 games to go. You may ask how Liverpool are not top of the league already with the goals coming so freely for them? The simple answer is defensive failures. Last season, when Liverpool finished 7th in the league they conceded 43 goals. Liverpool have already conceded 38 goals this season with 8 games left to play. Liverpool average goals conceded per game last year, when they finished 7th, was 1.13 goals per game. This season the average goals conceded per game is 1.26 goals per game. The only real changes to Liverpool's defense are the Simon Mignolet becoming first choice goalkeeper ahead of Pepe Reina and the loss of Jamie Carragher to retirement. Simon Mignolet established himself as a top quality goalkeeper during his time at Sunderland last season. Pepe Reina has been losing his edge gradually over the years as he has not had a real challenger for the top spot. He has been head and shoulders above the rest of his competition for too long. Simon Mignolet has been improving constantly and has been more than an adequate replacement for Reina. That only leaves the loss of Jamie Carragher to explain the increase in goals conceded. It is only an increase of 3.9 goals so far this season. That isn't too bad, right? If we use that as 3 goals that didn't need to be conceded that could be 6 more points that Liverpool would have. The 3 goals could have stopped Swansea from drawing 2-2 with Liverpool on September 16th, Newcastle from drawing 2-2 on October 19th, and Everton from drawing 3-3 on November 23rd. It would also prevent at least 1 more goal over the course of the whole season at this rate, which could have earned another 2 points against Aston Villa on January 18. That would put Liverpool 8 points better off. That would put Liverpool in 1st in the Premier League at 73 points, 4 ahead of nearest challenger Chelsea. This is just looking at the statistics. It does not account for the mentality that Carragher has always brought to the team. If you look at the big games Carragher has been involved with it becomes obvious that he inspires the team to greater heights with his passion and desire to win. Jamie Carragher is one player you could never accuse of hiding or of not wearing his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Liverpool. Liverpool may be in the best position they have been in quite a while, but they still need to find a replacement for Jamie Carragher. The only key that Brendan Rodgers seems to be missing in his current team is that defender that puts his point across with no room for false interpretation. If Liverpool build on what they have, and manage to find another Jamie Carragher, they could build a dynasty to match Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly and make Anfield the greatest place in the world to be, especially on a European night.

On my top 3 games in The Legend of Zelda series!

I have not played all the Legend of Zelda games. I have played quite a few of them though. This is my list of the top 3 best Legend of Zelda games.

1) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask:
I chose Majora's Mask as my favorite Legend of Zelda game because I feel that it captures the dark ominous feeling it was trying to convey perfectly. It has much more replayability than some other Zelda games. I enjoy the temples in this game more than I have in any other Zelda game. I thought that they were interesting because you had to effectively switch between the Human, Deku, Zora, and Goron forms to get through the temples. It was a pleasant change from the same old thing that most games seem to have. I didn't like Majora's Mask the first time I played through it. I didn't really like it much until I started going through it the second time. I realized that the puzzles were more challenging and more things actually require skill than a lot of games that seem to walk you through it.

2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
This may very well be technically the best Zelda game of all time. It is not my favorite though. It was my favorite for quite a few years though. This game was an instant classic and you fell in love with it as soon as you picked it up and started playing. It had a light, happy atmosphere with moments of real darkness that would set the serious tone of the entire game. The music played such an important part even when you didn't think it would be very important. The world was huge. You wanted to explore everything and it would take hours upon hours to finish the game, but if you were so inclined you could put even more time and effort into it to try to collect all the heart pieces, items, and finish all the side quests. This was the first video game I ever completed and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

3) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
This is the second Zelda game I have played on a portable system. It is a new Zelda game, but I really like it. It has quite a few interesting new changes that I really liked. It also had a few things I didn't like, but I'll get to that later. Instead of finding the item needed to beat a dungeon in that dungeon, the game implemented an item rental technique. You rent your items from the store for a few rupees. It doesn't cost much, but the drawback is that if you die, you have to rent the items all over again. You still found chests in the various dungeons, but they had other things like ore to upgrade your sword or damage reduction armor in them. I really liked this new design as it allowed the player to focus more on beating the dungeons than on trying to find that one item that would allow you to beat the dungeon. At the start of this game, you aren't really given much direction. The "tutorial" level is just you bumbling around trying to figure out how to get to where you have to go. This was a fun game that, once I started, I couldn't put down until I had beaten it. It provided me with at least 8 hours of gameplay and I am more than satisfied with it.

Some of you may be wondering why this Zelda game or that Zelda game were not included on my list, but it could be that I just liked these more, or it could be that I haven't played it yet. Here is a list of all the Zelda games I have played:
-The Legend of Zelda
-Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link
-The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
-The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
-The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
-The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker
-The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
-The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

On the blog assignment!

When I first hard about this assignment I thought it would be a complete waste of time that I would do, but never feel involved in at all. After thinking about it over the weekend, I realized that this could be something really great for me. A blog is only limited by the writer. I can make this as great, or as horrible, as I choose. This assignment is more than just some form of busy work so we have more grades in the class. This will show how we write when we don't have somebody looking over our shoulders telling us we aren't doing something correctly. It is a chance to truly express ourselves, and I will definitely take it. This blog will be whatever I think of or want to comment on at any particular time. There may be no rhyme or reason for some of the things, but others could be deeply held beliefs and things I feel strongly on.