Dorothy was right after all

So I beat "Final Fantasy XIII" a few nights ago.  Some of the cutscenes in the last few chapters are positively jaw dropping.  There are even some "OMG Sephiroth kille Aeris!!!!" moments during some of the moments sprinkled throughout the game.  For those not familiar with that reference, it goes back to "Final Fantasy 7", a game a lot of people argue as the greatest "Fianl Fantasy" game ever created, and Sephiroth killing Aeris was quite a shock at the time, so much so that it brought more then a few people to tears due to the emotional bond they built with the characters.  One of the things that I really like about "Final Fantasy XIII" (and no, there aren't any spoilers in what I am about to say) is that even after beating the last boss of the game, it lets you save your game, and you can go back to the point just before fighting the boss, and it allows you to go back and farm up items, or improve on your characters and finish any missions you may have missed or missions that were too hard the first time around.  I wish more games did this sort of thing.  Too many times, you come to the end of a game, not maximizing your gaming experience, the game ends, you are left asking yourself "now what?".  With "Final Fantasy XIII" though, it lets you go back and do a lot of stuff you might have missed, either intentionally or by accident.

So I am still playing "Final Fantasy XIII", but there is some other, rather big, "Final Fantasy" news that has happened recently.  If you have read this blog in the past, you know that the reason I started it, was I had just quit playing "Final Fantasy XI" and wanted to share my post-MMO gaming experience with you. Well, let's just say I recently decided to click the heels of my ruby slippers together times, and am planning on going home again.  Yeah, I decided to return to "Final Fantasy XI" at some point in the month of April.  There were a few things that helped me decide this.  First thing, I never stopped listening to the "Final Fantasy XI" related podcasts I enjoy listening to, so every week I would get to hear about "Final Fantasy XI" through listening to "Pet Food Alpha", and "Limit Break Radio" among others.  They kinda helped to tide me over I guess you could say.  Second thing, with all the new content Square Enix has announced recently for the upcoming year, this got me really excited.  While I am still skeptical about the level 99 cap, a lot of the stuff they are planning on introducing to the game sounds quite intriguing.

And the last reason I decided to come back is, simply, I miss it.  I miss playing the game, but more importantly, I miss the people I play the game with.  The linkshell I am a part of is full of great people......people who I have enjoyed gaming with for many years now.  So after a seven month break, I will be making my return to the lands of Vana'diel.  I just hope my moogle is still alive.......