Fans of Vagrant Story rejoice; Vagrant Story II is good. I've been playing it since it came out on Halloween. I was able to get it the day it came out. While I'm not that far into the game, I've seen enough to know if it's good or not. Of course, some of you may be confused because the game isn't exactly called Vagrant Story II. It's called Final Fantasy XII.

Back in 2000, Vagrant Story came out for the Playstation One. It was a sleeper hit. It was produced and directed by Yasumi Matsuno. Matsuno directed Final Fantasy XII. Though he did leave the project in 2005 due to health concerns, his fingerprints are all over Final Fantasy XII. The look of the game, so far, has the familiar look of Lea Monde, the town of Vagrant Story. Even the main character Vaan looks like Ashley Riot of Vagrant Story. FFXII also seems to "reuse" some of the very same sounds that were used in Vagrant Story. Even the battle system in FFXII seems like a modified and tweaked out version of the one used in VG.

Of course, FFXII is not a copy of VG or really a sequel in the sense of story. Though, at times, I can't help but to think while playing FFXII that this is what VG would be like if it was a PS2 game instead of a PS1. There is another half to the game; the Final Fantasy half. That means larger than life cinematics, a long and complex story line, and... well, quirkiness. I haven't played the game long enough to get to get to the part of summoning Espers. Espers are FFXII version of FFX's Aeons which are just big monster thingies that help you out. I believe the term Espers was used before in previous Final Fantasy games.

Along with playing Final Fantasy XII, I have been finishing up the game Okami. Okami may be one of the best games ever made. Okami is a cell-shaded game that looks more like a painting. In fact, the screen has the texture of a canvas on it at all times. And everything looks painted on it. There's even a brush feature that allows you to write "magic" and interact with the world and enemies.

The story of Okami is based on Japanese mythology. You play Amaterasu the mother wolf, and she's out to rid the land of curses and eventually fight the big bad boss Orochi. I don't want to give too much of the story away. But I will tell you it took a while to get to Orochi and defeat her. And when it was over, I felt satisfied that I had played a great game and had gotten my money's worth. Then my little companion in the game, Issun, said that this was just the beginning. I thought that was a nice send off, perhaps a nice riding off into the sunset moment looking for more adventure that'll be found in a sequel. I could not be more wrong. After Orochi, there's so much more, even more towns, even more bosses, even more brush "magic" to learn. It's like the makers finished the first part and decided to make a sequel and then mushed the two together. I have already played twice as long in the second than the first. I am at the ending, though I have no idea how long the ending will take. Okami has been lengthy and satisfying game that's been like swimming through art and one of the best games ever made in terms of story and gameplay. And I'm not just saying that because Okami looks like my site either.  ¶ 5:09 PM