If you happen to be waiting in anticipation for the "big changes" to the site I hinted at last time, then prepare to be dissapointed - because this is it. I tend to borrow things from websites whose formats I enjoy, Karmaburn being the latest such victim. No more splash page, no more titled updates, no more visible counter. These changes will hopefully mean you can expect more frequent updates, but that is entirely dependant on how engrossing Silent Hill 3 and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness end up being. As usual, time will tell.

Oh yeah, I turned 20 today.

Yeah, you heard right. A goddamn subway train in Silent Hill 3, of all games. I survive hideous beasts and demon dogs spawned from the very depths of all that is unholy, and I keep dying from a fucking train. I died maybe three times in the original Silent Hill and only once or twice in the sequel. What's the current tally in number three? Six deaths via speeding subway car. And seeing as to how I am otherwise at a complete loss as to what to do in the subway other than walk around on the tracks, I anticipate the Heather body-count to steadily climb for the foreseeable future.

In other news, I did end up scanning some pictures of myself, so as soon as the police find the tortured and disemboweled remains of the incompetent Wittenberg IT people get the internet back running, perhaps I can get busy on that Bio page. Since the prospects for that happening is about as good as the odds I will evade a barreling Silent Hill subway car, I'll probably just end up playing some Disgaea.

Speaking of Silent Hill though, yes, I finally managed to find my way inside one of the subway cars without being smeared all over its windows. Indeed, I am currently exploring the hospital, whose floor plan is identical to the hospital from the second game. I have also come to realize that the game is significantly less scary when you are wandering the halls armed with either an eight-foot maul or a katana. Sure, the nurses wield a pretty mean lead pipe, but when you are capable of going Ginsu on their asses, I found myself considerable less frightened. There are some pretty disturbing things going on sometimes, but overall it is not as bad as the second game.

What a world we live in with such people in it.

While I personally enjoyed the entirely engrossing psychological introspection that was Silent Hill 2 better, I must admit that this iteration had by far the most disturbing imagery ever conceived for a video game. "Twisted" and "sadistic" are too much of an understatement to even bear mentioning as adjectives for describing numerous scenes in SH3. Also while none of the individual songs were able to top ones such as Betrayal, Theme of Laura, and Promise, it needs to be pointed out that - on the whole - the entirety of SH3's soundtrack was way above par for the series instead of being simply hit-or-miss. It was also quite good that they actually included said soundtrack with the game purchase. All in all, it is a fantastically horrifying game with a decent, if not overly campy story, and quite possibly the best graphics of any PS2 game I've played thus far. If one is a fan of the series (especially of the original game), it is definitely worth a purchase - otherwise, go find and play Silent Hill 2 first.

And, now, back to Disgaea...

May they rest in peace.

The fact is, the entire issue of FF7's quality is moot by about six years - regardless of whatever ill-will one wishes upon a popular game, after it sells millions of copies and gives birth to a renaissance of RPG design, there is not much more that can be said. Games do not sell because they are popular; games are popular because they sell. In order to sell, games have to fun. GTA3 was not hugely successful by virtue of its controversy, but rather because it is a blast to play. Similarly, FF7 sold millions of copies precisely because it has genuinely entertaining elements. Whether those elements have been outclassed by recent releases is entirely irrelevant - the fact remains that it is a good game that blew every other RPG on the market away. If it didn't, then RPGs would have remained the niche market they were born into and we would not have a CG movie being produced about a game six years after its release.