Suikoden III : Between the Manga and the Game

I spent the last 10 days in Jakarta, Indonesia in purpose to take brief vacation before start working permanently. The Ramadhan in Jakarta feels so real and apparent as one can easily find religious program in almost all TV stations everyday, especially right before breaking the fast or during the sahur time. I sense emptiness eversince I went back to Singapore, as I couldn’t find similar things in here.

My one of the best RPG in Playstation 2

I waste my time to replay my Suikoden III and choose Hugo as my ‘Flame Champion’ (previously it was Geddoe that I picked) as the review somewhere on the net has stated that the different Flame Champion chosen will change our entire perception toward the storyline. And it surprisingly true.

The manga, simply wonderful and detailed

The thing is, I also read the Suikoden III manga by Aki Shimizu (which made me broke since the books are quite expensive *_*), and I noticed quite major differences amidst the plot. Honestly speaking I fancy the manga more than the game in terms of storyline. Below are some differences that I managed to take note:

1) In the manga, Zexen Knights led by Salome has committed coup’d’etat in Zexen Federation and arrested the Council while in the game, out of nowhere the Zexen Federation joins forces with Grasslanders and never mentions the corrupted Council anymore.

2) In the manga, the Great Hollow of the Lizard Clan was finally fallen to Holy Harmonia Army while in the game, the place is safe and sound.

3) In the manga, Caesar Silverberg even flooded the Duck Village in order to slow the Holy Harmonia Army and make the ways for refugees from Grassland, while in the game, the place is still safe and sound.

4) In the manga, Albert Silverberg is the strategist of Bishop Sasarai, before he deceives Sasarai in the end and joins forces with the masked bishop, while in the game Albert sides with the masked bishop since the beginning.

5) In the manga, Bishop Sasarai is truly powerless and nearly dies after he lost the True Earth Rune. He’s almost killed by Yuber before Nash Clovis comes and rescues him. The whole army of Holy Harmonia is taken from him by the order of Hikusaak, while in the game, it makes no differences that Sasarai lost his Rune or not, since he is still fresh and powerful as ever and leads the whole army of Holy Harmonia.

6) In the manga, Luc replaces Sasarai as Bishop and takes his whole army unit by the order of Lord Hikusaak (in order words, he controls Harmonian Army!) while in the game he goes quartet with Yuber, Albert and Sarah without Harmonian Army.

7) In the manga, Franz is accused for being traitor and facing death sentence by making contact with Geddoe Cs, while in the game, Franz salvages the whole Le Buque people by informing the Fire Bringer and Flame Champion to help him.

8) And so on and so forth (I couldn’t remember because it is too many)

Overall, I enjoy both as they complement each other. And my all time favorite Military Genius in Suikoden Universe is Caesar Silverberg (felt sorry for Lucretia Merces or Shu).

Suikoden II ending that breaks my heart ;_;

Nevertheless, this game didn’t succeed to make me cry a night and day as I did on its previous predecessors, Suikoden I and II. Though the fact that Luc is becoming a bad ass hurts me, since he was my favorite mage in the previous installments. I shocked so badly when getting the bad ending of Suikoden II, especially when Jowy dies! (FYI my email id Camus of Matilda is derived from the finest gentleman in Suikoden II *grin*).

Gorgeous FF XII with worst dungeon system *_*

And I prefer to replay my Suikoden III instead of continuing my Final Fantasy XII just because it is getting draggy and too long! I even have forgotten my main mission throughout the game since I was too busy doing Hunting to collect money, and the dungeon is super long *bleh*. I must admit that I was enchanted by the beginning of the game but after painful long walk from one dungeon to another, I feel sick *_*. But I promised myself to finish this, since I never ever managed to complete Final Fantasy series (it is always stuck in the last Boss Battle, mentioned Kuja or Sephiroth).

In conclusion…

Sometimes I questioned myself of being overly attached with fictional characters. And my conclusion is because their character is so strong, and the development is very well, quite sometimes it is impossible for a normal human being to behave like that. Most of the time they become reflections of ideal self made by human being; a selfless hero, a tragic antagonist or a miserable anti hero. And the more strong the character, the more I feel like knowing them since so long.

And I deny the assumption that gamers are childish; as it is horrendous stereotype made by circumstances around. RPGamers, to be more exact are mostly the thoughtful and tactful type since they are used to any kind of wars, conflict of the throne, tactical battle, and any other type of combat resulting countless of victims (so let’s think to minimize the casualties in every case we’ve encountered in our life!). I always respect the responsible gamers, who are able to balance their time to play as well as to socialize in the society. I hope that someday gaming as hobby is as prideful as playing golf as a hobby.

Not a First Mover

Recently addicted with X tv-series. Okay, I was outdated, it is a 2001-2002 anime series. I followed X and the rest of Clamp’s creations since I was on Junior High, so my era was already over. But after finding out the animes online and downloading them, now I was hooked once more!

I noticed a high resemblance between Kamui and Lelouch, not just the character design but also the personalities as well, afterall they are both Clamp’s twisted characters : lunatic, wicked, hideous, what’s more can we expect?

Suddenly my right hemisphere works hard to capture inspiration, then I draw and draw and draw (using conventional watercolour pencil since I have no scanner anymore). I concluded that my artistic ability isn’t as wretched as I thought. Now I am more passionate to join the art courses, yessh!

My 'Fusion of Lelouch and Kamui' *lol*

Weekly Events

Contemplative or Suicidal? You decide :P

First weekly event, went to Bukit Timah Reservoir to do a lunatic hiking. The valley was lethal to be climbed! I thought I was dead of exhaustion upon the outing ended. It seems that I am too old (and no longer considered youth) since I was often out of stamina.

Majestic IAF 2007

Secondly, went for Indonesian Art Festival 2007. It’s a crystal clear that only Tari Piring and Tari Saman that attract me the most, but in fact I was wrong. Everything was super pretty and splendid, especially that super hilarious ‘Extravaganza’ as fillers, kudos to him and him and him as some of the main casts.

Pretty Ushers of IAF feat. Apratz

In the end I was not able to catch a picture with the performers, since they urged to go back to campus immediately as the bus was waiting impatiently. It was saddening, but I managed to meet and greet some old friend (and seniors) that I’ve never seen for so long.

Alumni of SMA X :P

Oh, and I wrote the IAF booklet, particularly the description for each performance. I created them so hastily that I wasn’t yet satisfy with the results.

Playstation 3 booth

Lastly, I went for Asian Game Convention in Suntec City Singapore! Some people said that it was disappointing, since people are more willing to explore the developers’ booth instead of the consoles’ (but everything there was only the consoles’). There’re lots of Online Gaming booths there, though the graphic was super awesome, I am not into Online gaming.

Mascot of Asian Game Convention 2007

The Playstation 3 booth had nothing much that I noticed except the gorgeous Tekken 5. I want to know more about the next dazzling installment of Suikoden or Final Fantasy (or Chrono series or Tales series and so on and so forth), but I couldn’t find any info with regards to those.

Backdrop of Ragnarok Online

Tired yet happy weekends! I wish I have more time to sleep and enjoy myself at home =D.

Human Beings are Awesome, Nothing is Impossible

Feels like centuries not updating my blog, well, as stated previously, I am dead busy. Having finished my temporary research work in US Consulting firm, I will be working permanently in a UK Market Research firm as Research Associate starting from early October.

I used to be a weak thinker eversince, especially when it comes to numbers. Admittedly, my whatsoever psychological tests always show that my right brain is dominant. Right hemisphere often interprets information through creative and visual cues. It is true that I am suck at Maths, and Sciences (as portrayed in my devastating grades back then).

However, I’ve encountered many number crunching activities lately, especially when working on the research issue. I saw numbers, a lot of them, when investigating about derivatives product, tax, mutual funds, stock exchange and those banking-finance terms. Moreover, I was dare to apply for a research position in every company that I applied. Afterwards, I took the brain-test again to check what my hemisphere favors the best, and voila, now I am the left-brained!

Apret, you are Left-brained

Most left-brained people like you feel at ease in situations requiring verbal ability, attention to detail, and linear, analytical ability. Whether you know it or not, you are a much stronger written communicator than many, able to get your ideas across better than others.

It's also likely that you are methodical and efficient at many things that you do. You could also be good at math, particularly algebra, which is based on very strict rules that make sense to your logical mind.

*

That’s not so me *vomiting blood*. Lookie, the sun will arise from the west if this happens!

Anyhow, I realized that human beings have impressive ability to adapt toward their environment, as I experienced recently. Nothing is impossible for human beings because we are the superiors, the most favorable creation of God Almighty. Everything changes, and the only thing stagnants is the change itself. Now I wonder whether I will become a bookworm, introverted, silent thinker in the near future. I will know soon enough >.<.

Marhaban Yaa Ramadhan,

Selamat Menunaikan Ibadah Puasa Ramadhan.

Semoga menjadikan kita insan yang lebih bertaqwa.

Mohon maaf atas segala kesalahan dan kekhilafan saya selama ini =).

I was drawn to take this test upon finding it in Bro Fertob's. It was a bit exaggerating -i guess. Nevertheless it boosts my willpower and passion to face the future in bravery! Frankly speaking, I once vowed to master Tarot Card before I graduate, but that's just a pain in the ass kind of wish *giggles*.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

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Anyway, my sincerest apology for no longer being actively involved in blogging activities (and not regularly visiting blogs in my friendlist. The truth is, I really want to keep myself abreast of all your journal and writings. Some friends even have deleted mine from their friendlist, due to only few clicks I made to visit them. I am dead-busy, I hope that I have 48 hours in a day!

On Being a (manga) artist

Recently I am too busy in involving myself in peculiar yet challenging money business activities. I was doing test and assessment for Research Analyst position in a US-based consulting firm, afterwards doing presentation, analytical and numerical test as well as interview for Research Associate position in a UK-based market research firm, and lastly immersing myself acutely as Temporary Research Assistant in an intergrated research about islamic banking.

I guess I am making myself further away out of the field I delighted.

Do I still have a chance of being an artist? *daydreaming*

I need to go home and think, hopefully ASAP. *crestfallen*