(no subject)

Last time I was in LA, I kept being taken to Gamestop and Fry's and... okay, two places, but whatever, lots of games, and I kept longingly cuddling things I wanted - the Lunar game for the DS, Wild Arms 4, Wild Arms Alter Code F, Fire Emblem for the Gamecube - and the boyfriend kept saying "Don't you think you should put them back? You're too addicted to the Sims right now to play much else." And sure enough, I got Suikoden V about two weeks ago and I've played about an hour and a half of it. It looks promising, despite the fact I want to kick Lymsleia repeatedly in the face, and despite the fact that three characters introduced so far sound like they're taking hits of helium between lines. (Lyon, Lymsleia or whatever her name is - the hero's sister - and the sister's bodyguard.) The hero's inevitable "I need to rebel against the country I grew up in, that's governed by MY MOM" decision is getting way better development than McDohl's comparable decision did, and I like that they changed his aunt's behavior in translation. She's obviously one of those women who puts her hand by her mouth and does the "O ho ho ho ho ho ho!" laugh - you know, like Megumi from RK and Nanami from Utena, and Kodachi Kuno - and I HATE that kind of woman (except Kodachi, who is made of awesome) so the fact they cut the laughter makes the game infinitely better for me. The voices are pretty decent except for the Helium Posse. The intro is underwhelming, but except for the Gaidens and SIII, all the intros have been underwhelming.

But the really important thing? You don't have to stare at the hero's ass. I mean, I gather Suikoden IV had other, more significant problems, like with the storyline, and the ship navigation was certainly un-fun and would get worse the more you did it, but the hero's mall-walker gait and granny shorts were the real reasons I couldn't play that game.

In other news, I've been watching Princess Tutu, finally. I don't know what took me so long, but perhaps I can blame Merc, who neglected to mention that Fakir would soon be dressing all in black and chanting things in German and attacking people with swords and being hot. Oh, and practicing ballet to express his angst. Normally, I don't find angsty, armed, bemulleted fourteen-year-old ballet dancers hot, but Fakir's special.