As we speak, my DVD’s, games, and the consoles that run each are in boxes on the other side of town. Normally I really only touch the systems in moderation- any more most of my home time is spent writing and trashing drafts of articles or scribbling furiously. But as soon as those things were put out of reach, I have a burning itch to play NeoGeo Battle Colosseum or Smash Bros. Brawl to excess. That said, I was smart/addicted enough to not pack my portables, and though my PSP is sitting there, nice, shiny, and full of Disgaea Portable, it’s FFTA-2 that’s got me by the hair. Seriously. I played last night before bed until I started to nod off and lose my grip on the handheld, then woke up and wheedled about two hours away in bed.

That said, comic and content updates will resume soon, and with better regularity. I’ll have some dead time over the next couple of days in which to catch up. Thanks for bearin’ with me.

It seems like A-2 has pretty much improved on everything that was cludgy and awkward the first time around, and among the improvements seems to be the enemies you fight. Advance seemed to throw nothing but factory-default classed characters your way, with bosses or bounty marks being about the only characters who ‘multiclassed’ their abilities. Now, though, we’re seeing double attacking thieves with the archers’ crippling shots to back them up, and I’m maybe 10 hours in? The business of crafting items is pretty bull for this game, though- you learn your skills from items, a system I was never wild about, only now you must harvest and trade Loot for the right to buy the damn items in the first place, then proceed to equip and gain the experience needed to memorize the skill. Annoying, but it helps that AP is given to the whole clan instead of just those who battled, so you can put all of the god damned Moogles on the sideline and let them mature like wine into higher classes.

I’m not very far into my goal of re-creating my Advance Bunny Squad though. In fact I only have one Viera. Got Bangaas and Moogles out the wazoo though. >_< Good thing there seem to be about a fucktillion Gun classes now.