Finally met Yuna in the game, and I'm starting to feel alil torn between Rikku and Yuna. Sporty, feisty and cute or sweet, demure girl-next-door? hmmm...

Ok, Yuna wins by a small margin.

Hmm, after spending 1 and a half days of frenzied, addicted FFX game play, just wanna comment on it. It isn't as addictive as FFTA or FF8, but the appeal is still there. The main character, Tidas, isn't your typical hero anymore. Well, he's still wielding a sword, but like FF9 the main character isn't the all-rounder powerhouse like how RPGs like to make them to be. In fact, combat in FFX is somewhat more linear. The strengths and weaknesses of each monster are even more accentuated than any other RPGs, and coupled with how character customization (ability-wise) is somewhat limited, the means of defeating monsters are very much set in cast. The gameplay too, is very linear, very guided, and the plot is very, very dominant. There is almost no free time of your own; what would be placed as overland map movement in other RPGs is represented in FFX as new areas. Like moving from an area to another, its simply linked up with an area of its own, with its random encounters. Having said all that, I wanna say that I've only played abit of the game, so that's the impression I'm getting, and secondly, none of those are complaints, just comments. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't allow me to change the controls. I prefer the Japanese control system, with Circle as the confirmation button, not the US one.

Woah, just had my first puff in 4 days... I didn't smoke while I was ill and recovering from it, so wow. The effect is immediate, I feel so awake now. Back to my, ew, review of FFX so far.

The graphics are breathtaking, I especially like the water and the reflection in the game, I think its very well done. The water's got to be good, I think, after all, there's supposed to be alot of water in the game. Seas and blitzball spheres and stuff like that. And the love theme is great, even better than FF8. Its like, the buildup is just really fantastic, and you know that its gonna happen sooner or later. Alot of emphasis is put into it, and you really wanna know how things will develop. Its like, you just keep telling either Tidus or Yuna to do something already. Make a move, drop a hint. Haha, and it doesn't hurt that both the lead characters are so good-looking. Lastly, the humor is the best I've seen in any game. Witty one-liners, funny remarks, every character has its own contribution to the scenes which makes you laugh. Really, its like watching a movie, since the game is so focused on the story, and I laugh with it often. Good job with the character development, the voices help alot, and you can really predict how each character would react in each situation. All in all, I'm addicted to it not so much because I wanna get the best equipment, the best spells, but more for the plot development. The equipment isn't much, only weapon and armor, and there aren't alot of cool abilities to be pursuing. Yet. Oh, and the summons are beautiful, just like previous FF summons still play a major role in the game, perhaps more major than previous installments.

Ok, that's all I gotta say for now. Portsmouth really should have beat Charlton. Right up till the 77th min I thought I was gonna be cashing in on the 20 bucks bet I made on Portsmouth, and secure my 4th winning gamble in a row. Until Charlton equalized, and went on to win. Brrrr. But I'm still safely above my capital line, so I'll look at the matches tomorrow and see where to go from there. Newcastle got their first league win, which is great. I watched the second half of the Newcastle Saints match, and they were unlucky not to score another goal. But a win is a win, and hopefully they'll go on to achieve more from now on.

And hopefully they are not involved in the rape case. Rumors are pointing at them, but I'll only believe the official word.

Bed now.

Didn't bet on Sunday's matches. Just didn't have a good feeling on them, and anyhow, Chelsea only won 2-1, and the odds for a Chelsea win isn't that great, so nothing much lost.

Finally, Tidus and Yuna are together. Woohoo, that's like a milestone in the game reached. The scene where they got together was really, really beautifully done, but I've seen it before, a long time ago. Still, its a very rewarding feeling. Also, there was a part in the game where it was really, really emotional. Got really close to tears there. That's why those who don't play RPGs, especially girls, don't understand. Sure, they understand that the story is good, but they don't get how a mere game can invoke such powerful feelings in the player. Well, bah to them. If they played the game as it should, I bet they'll be crying. But of course, I don't think they'll bear with the long hours that hafta be put in just to get to the nice story bits. So too bad. Playing a great RPG like FF is just like that. The gameplay's good, you have fun playing the game, and you enjoy the story too, which can put alot of serials to shame.

Ok, enough about FFX for a while. I've got a day left before I gotta go back to camp, and I know I'm gonna be missing FFX like hell in there. But I wouldn't expect to finish it, even if I started right at the start of my off and played it all the way. Unless I play it everyday like how I play it today, from dawn to dusk. Then, maybe, just maybe, I'll finish it. But that's a big endurance test.

And I'm not that addicted to it.

Its gonna be standby week this week, and right after that, there's gonna be some ship-to-shore exercise, which involves the air force and navy as well, so I expect the tempo would be picked up. But given the long rest, I guess its expected.

I'm exhausted, and its 3am now. I'm going on the cig I had, and I wanna finish this entry before I surrender to the oblivion of sleep. I wanna talk about my eldest uncle, on my mother's side. My mother just visited him. My uncle is one of the 2 skeletons in my mother's family closet, the other being my real grandmother. But I don't really care if people know about it or not. See, my grandparents and other uncles and aunt haven't been in contact with that uncle for a long time, nearly 5 years or so already. They probably wouldn't know if he died, until the police call them up. They no longer see him as part of the family; he's as good as disowned or something. That's because my uncle isn't exactly mentally sound. He used to be severely depressed to the extent of requiring psychiatric attention. Bordering on needing to be warded in Woodbridge, or whatever the new fancy new for Woodbridge is, I can't recall cause I'm tired. Years ago, a decade or more, my uncle was about to be married to someone. I remember that incident relatively vividly, cause, well, even though I was a kid, I remember having to sit through boring long hours of all the discussion and stuff. A few days before that wedding, his fiancee simply called it off. Didn't wanna go on with the wedding. I remember how we had to go to her house and talk things over with the fiancee. I didn't go, I was in the car, but I remember being so bored I feel asleep in it. My uncle was devastated, and he started on a swift descent to depression. Somehow or rather, I don't exaclty know the details, but I do know that his fiance wasn't too confident about spending the rest of the life with my uncle. Of course, nowadays, nobody is confident about spending the rest of their lives with anyone else, after all, how else would the divorce lawyers be making good money?

With his self-esteem crushed, no thanks to some really severe remarks from his fiancee, my uncle just gave up. On life. He didn't exactly suicide, but if he did attempt, I probably didn't know about it. I bet he probably did attempt. But he just gave up living, and at the peak of his depression, he was seeing things that weren't there and hearing things that don't exist. He gave up his job, and just never moved on. Up till today. Of course, everyone tried to help him. Talked to him, persuaded him, scolded him. My mother brought him to church, in the hope that it'll do something. My other uncle and my grandfather offered him a job to work at my grandfather's company, cause he sold his house and lived from day to day. Sent him to get some professional couselling, but it just didn't help. Nothing seemed to help. Then everyone gave up on him, just gave up, and said that he was someone with no backbone after all. I mean, whatever that can happen to make someone give up on everything so totally. And any amounts of lecturing, or insulting, or anything to make him feel indignant, and to make him wanna prove us wrong, prove something and move on, has no effect. So he's as good as a stranger now, and he just bummed around everyday, up to this day. Work odd jobs, sell his flat and buy another one, live day to day, nobody knows, or cares about what he's doing anymore. My mother was the last to give up on him, and that was a good 5 years back, so, its been 5 years since I've heard from him.

He's younger than my mum, so he's probably late thirties, pushing forty. And my mother visited him today, probably to see if things have gotten better, even a little. Guess not. She called back, and let him talk to me and my brother for a little bit.

When I was younger, I used to think that I had a heartless family, who cared more for their image than for one of their own. That was when I was young, partially due to my relative immaturity, and also because my real grandmother is also suffering the same fate. But now, I guess it really isn't anyone's fault. Maybe if I knew the full details I might be able to pass judgment, but I don't. So, well, it just seems that he's gonna continue like that till God knows when. Maybe next time, I might be able to help him out too, when I'm independent. I would really love to.

I used to think that he became like that because of love. Although now I'm not so sure anymore, I mean, I can guess that he probably hates that fiancee now, but hmmm. What's the moral of the story? Just like Shinqi always says: don't get married. Or don't try to get married. Cause there's a real-life case study I could use to prove the detrimental effects of marriage. Haha, but everyone else just got married anyway, my youngest uncle just this year, and my aunt last year. Aunt even gave me a baby girl for a cousin. So they are married now, happily for the moment, but who knows what can happen in the future? Maybe they'll all end up like my mother.

The real grandmother skeleton is probably more scandalous. I keep saying real grandmother, because my grandmother now is actually my step-grandmother. Maybe I'll talk about it another time, when I have the time and am not hooked on FFX. Ok, just right, fatigue's setting in, and I'll be making full use of tomorrow to do finish all the stuff I gotta do then squeeze all the time I can get from FFX.

Its Monday morning, and I'm nearly done with almost everything. Just gotta pay my Diaryland subscription, which is a problem since my Paypal account is limited, and Diaryland only accepts Paypal. I have a plan in mind, so once I get on my butt to doing it I'm done. Bought all the stuff I need for camp, packed and ready to go. And my diary entry is nearly done. Nothing much else to write.

Just one last thing. I've been obsession over Yuna and Rikku, but there's a 3rd female character called Lulu. Didn't really talk about her. She's not a typical RPG female character, cause usually they only have the sweet, feminine one and the funny, cute one. Actually, in FF8, Rinoa = Yuna, Quistis = Lulu and Selphie = Rikku. Except that Selphie is dead ugly and annoyingly childish. Anyway, Lulu is the mature, stylish one, and although I don't have a problem with that, I do have a problem with the game's focus on her admitting ample bosom. After every battle she'll just bend over and show off her generous chest, and her attire's pretty revealing too. I think Square is upping the sex factor in their games. I mean, in the game, alot of the normal characters, the passerbys and stuff, unimportant characters wear absurd looking attires, even skimpier than bikinis, and pass them off for normal daily attire. Hmm, sure means that FFX is a mature game, and with Yuna looking like that in FFX-2, it just gets even hotter. I don't know if I could even go back to FF9 or not already. I did FF8 before FF7, but both were on PS, so the difference in graphics wasn't too much. FFX is on PS2, and FF9 is on PS, so the disparity in the appearance of the game is pretty obvious. Plus FF9 is a back to the basics, kiddish style. Well, I'll worry about that after FFX and FFX-2 and Xenogears then Xenosaga Episode 1. Then, if Xenosaga Episode 2 isn't out by then, or if I'm unable to play FFXI, then I'll touch FF9. I'll probably be in Australia by then.

Ok, back to Spira, then back to camp.