The DeM Newsletter, No.2 July 7, 1999 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feature Articles This Issue: -Thanks to Archive Updaters -Arcana's Really Short Star Ocean 2 review Columns: -DeM Game Events -New Player Approvals and Persona Updates -Deus Ex Machina Page Updates -Deus Ex Machina Players: Web Page Updates -Arcana's working on... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to Archive Updaters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Arcana It's not really a "feature article", but it has to go somewhere. I'd like to thank Anastasius Dumar for helping me (oh so long ago) compile the archives. They look a LOT nicer and more organized because of his hard work. I'd also like to thank our Archiver, Azusa, who's currently working on Archive 1 (but soon enough, I can send her to do Archive 8 on!). Arcana's Really Short Star Ocean 2 Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Arcana I wrote a review on the game a while back when I just beat it, and it turned out to be three pages long. So if I can talk about the game in a paragraph, that's actually PRETTY darn short. Graphics. Beautiful. They're 3D-rendered, the sprites look great against the backgrounds. My only complaint is that the sprites aren't quite as animated as they could have been, but who cares, Rena still looks darn cute running around on my screen ^_^ Music. Awesome. Catchy. Excellent. I love it. The intro theme is great... it's right out of a science fiction film. The Overworld musics are also excellent, and the digital sounds are so well rendered that it's hard to tell some of the sounds (like that flute in the second overworld theme!) Are actually DIGITAL. The game. It has so much value in it... from the fun, innovative real-time battle system to the simple-but-fun Item Creation system, this game never lets you run out of stuff to do. You can create items using skills.. And there are over 800 items in the game that can be created. In battle, you run around, cast spells, and execute fancy special moves that decimate your opponnent. It's very entertaining, and although it's Real time, it's more like a Secret of Mana real time instead of an action game. The battles are really fun and involve more strategy than an average RPG. Lastly, the plot. Lots of twists, lots of turns, and REALLY cool characters. You get to execute optional Private Actions in the game, which are side events that reveal a bit about your party's emotional status toward the other members of your group. Based on their "Emotion Points" toward each other, you'll be able to see a certain sequence at the end of the game... one of eighty-seven endings. Unfortunately, the plot itself is nothing new, and is rather shallow at some points (it's not nearly as complex as Xenogears or Tactics Ogre) but it's not so BAD that you'll not want to play. End verdict? Play the game :) But don't read the instruction booklet. It does a HORRIBLE job of explaining everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------- DeM GAME EVENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nope, I'm NOT caught up, unfortuntely. I'm caught up to about late June. However, some fellow players have requested that I do a summary of recent June-July posts, so that's my current project right now. The summary is on a post-by-post basis and is not very complex, but it will hopefully serve. Here is what I have so far. ~~ Quick Summary (post by post) From June 1st to early July. Year is assumed V-498 unless otherwise stated. -- (Irina-7) Protector July 12 (Solaris) Irina is hazed by the other Solaris pilots, she hits another pilot, and Mina comes in to rescue her. Shooting Stars (Shaina) July 14 (Solaris) Shaina and Irina train, and Irina states that she misses Myaru. --- --- Return to Ethos(Part 1) July 21 (Bledavik) Robin celebrates with his friends, but he feels he is being watched; in fact, his father, Jesse, is waiting for him to reveal his true self. --- Holy Hell (Urban-3) July 5 (Excavation Site) Urban discovers an artificial intelligence, Terranet, in ruins from the Zeboim era. --- A New Friend Pt 1. (Bastet/Ralen) July 18 (Nortune) Bastet finds a demi-human in her room, and begins to take care of her wounds. A New Friend Pt 2. (Bastet/Ralen) July 18 (Nortune) Ralen, a cat-like demi-human, remebers his fight with a battler, and eventually gives Bastet and Halo his name. A New Friend Pt 3. (Bastet/Ralen) July 18 (Nortune) Halo tells Ralen a bit about himself, and Bastet gives the two of them morning baths. A New Friend Pt 4. (Bastet/Ralen) July 18 (Nortune) Ralen, moved by the word "parents", jumps out of the tub and stares out of the window toward A-Block. A New Friend Pt 5. (Bastet/Ralen) July 18 (Nortune) Bastet places Ralen under the care of a demi-human named Neka for the day, and Neka tells Ralen about how the scientists who brought her up were very kind to her. Jade, one of Neka's children, shows Ralen her newly-grown claws and asks what they are for. -- The Great Escape 2 [Rivian/Marien] July ?? (Bledavik) Marien and Rivian disappear from prison by disguising themselves as women, but one of Rivian's grapefruits falls out and blows their cover. -- (this series of posts by Ben is in first person) "Shoes and Perverted Old Men" August 1 (Nisan) Ja'Kal remembers his past life as an assassin. He is now with his girlfriend Molly. On an excursion, a perverted old man, a street vendor, notices how much of a looker she is, and he points out that one day, someone might hit her to get back at him. "The old cliche about blondes, and a perverted old Solarian man." August 1 (Nisan) Ja'Kal recalls how he would concoct poisons. During his day, a girl named Carrie tries to hit on him. The old street vendor comments on how he shouldn't spend his time with tarts, and mentions a "juggling assassin" from the sky who had come to visit Molly. "Waking up Next to a Cat." August 2 (Nisan) Ja'Kal recalls his old bitch of a cat from his childhood, and on his walk, the street vendor mentions a boy who had a bitch of a cat, and that the boy was a little hell spawn. -- "Nisan's Fire, or Fatima's Folly" August 1 (Nisan) Dagar plays a few songs about Fatima, and damns Durant under his breath. -- The Sands of Betrayal Chpter1:Jaeynar in Western Ignas. (Incomplete at this point) ~~ NEW PLAYER APPROVALS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've approved: -Brent Barron's persona, Dario Jinson -Jason's persona, Vekan -Andrew Davis' persona, Xiang Allard -Wes Sievers' persona, Zero Pilaclyse Please say hi to the new players and help them get started in our game! DEUS EX MACHINA PAGE UPDATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Instead of slaving for five boring hours in a row updating, I've been really lazy about it and ended up spreading my update slowly across the last week. I'm not even done yet. Look for: -Amber Michelle's picture, "Shattered Dream" (many of you on the OOG list would have seen this already). -Kamitra's pictures of Margie and Primera -Elizabeth's poems about Shitan; a couple of them are love poems and are quite cute to read! -Based on Emotion: The Zeboim Saga, which is my latest (and likely last) Xenogears fanfic I still have a number of works in the Inbox, such as: -Chad Harger's two pieces, "The Waters of Xelin" and "Second Chances". -David Beach's update of "Guardian Legacy" -Deona Lendholm's update of "A Pair of Angels" -And, as always, I have to run over to Rpgamer and harass all those Xenogears fic writers for their works ^_^ You know what, I actually UPDATED THE ARCHIVES. They're all there on the page, but they're probably littered with the occasional error. If you ever have a wish to edit some part of your post in the archive, send me the corrections. Usually, this is in the form of "dating" errors or similar... I won't accept a total revamp of your post. PLAYER PAGE UPDATES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No one likes submitting updates directly to me when they have the rest of the list, right? ^_^ Well, for those who don't know, here's a link to Deona's Shitan Shrine, which has been changed recently! http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Zone/7620 Amber Michelle also has her "Elly Shrines" up for her page, Guardian Angels. http://www.zenogias.com/Guardian ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arcana's working on... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In my spare time, I'm playing Star Ocean: the Second Story for the SECOND TIME THROUGH. If not that, then I'm either updating my webpage, trying to filter through E-mail, working, doing homework (my finals are in about two weeks... GASP!), learning how to use Linux, or trying to memorize Japanese kana. If you want to write some article, or include some opinions, or whatever, you have simply but to write me E-mail. I'll probably find time to add a link on my "Gun Room" page that'll link to the newsletters so, in the end, it's more than just you guys who'll read it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- END