On the mend, but not quite mended

[dorchadas]

Haven't posted in a bit because there's not that much to report.

My recovery continues--I went to see the surgeon who did my appendectomy last Friday and the visit lasted approximately two minutes, which is a good sign. He talked to me a bit and took a look at my wounds, which are healing pretty well, and told me that I should probably avoid heavy lifting for another couple weeks just to be absolutely sure. The med who spoke to me briefly before the surgeon said they'd be able to take my glue off, but that didn't happen. Not that it bothers me that much--one of the three wounds has already lost all of its glue, and its peeling off the main injury near my belly button too. I have one more doctor's appointment today, which includes another look at my injuries and a general physical too, and then I guess I'll be done until I'm fully healed! Hopefully it's soon, since it's sashagee needs a lot of help and it's been very hard for her to try to do everything. A couple days ago we went to the grocery store and I carried most of the groceries! It's been weeks! I helped her get off the couch a couple days ago! That's a victory.

That guy who was commenting on my seven-year-old post seems to have gone away. Thanks to tcpip for citing the specific section of the German criminal code banning the display of Nazi symbols.

I've started playing Final Fantasy VIII along with two podcasts I listen to, Axe of the Blood God and Square Roots. I tried to do a bunch of graphical mods for it, akin to the Moguri Mod for FFIX, but it turns out that none of those mods work if the game is set to Japanese text, so I'm playing with highly-detailed player models and original-scale backgrounds. It's pretty jarring, to be honest, but I can handle it. The part that I can't handle is how sluggish everything feels. Did controlling Squall always feel like you were steering a garbage scow? The game doesn't even have tank controls and I feel like I can only rarely get the party where I want them. Ugh.

I'm still pretty close to the beginning, since now that I know the game is level-scaled I'm planning to use Card to break the game, but I've already noticed that Squall isn't as emo as the English translation made him feel. The bit where Quistis says she's joking around with him during the Fire Cavern test:

Quistis: "You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them. I guess my charm makes them nervous."
Squall: (...Whatever.)

in Japanese is:

キスティス: 私とここに来ると、いつもの実力を出せない生徒、多いのよね。私の魅力ってやつかしら。
スコール: なんて教師だ
Quisitis: "There are a lot of students who can't hack it when they come here with me. Maybe it's because of my charms."
Squall: (...what kind of teacher is this?) or more figuratively, (...this is teaching?)

Right from the start he's not as dismissive. I think I'll like him better this time around even if it takes me more time to get into the game due to engaging with Triple Triad earlier. I forgot that NPCs take your cards if you lose! Ugh.

I'm still playing Suikoden on and off, but I admit that I can't really get into it. Even when I was playing it in 2019, that was true. Maybe I just need to play more...but I'm over halfway through the game, so where's the hook? Suikoden II is the one that everyone loves, though, so I'm trying to power through so I can get to that one day.

Alright, back to work. I had to get up much earlier today since my doctor's appointment is at 4:15 and it wasn't worth taking a whole day off for that, but that means I'm kind of sleepwalking through my day. It's a good thing I don't actually have anything important to do today!

Comments

[renegadefolkhero]

I'm glad you're recovering. I don't know what it's like to have an appendectomy but I do know how frustrating/annoying it can be to not have one's usual mobility during a recovery process.

I played FFVIII on release and remember feeling very put-off by Squall in general (and subsequently liking Zidane in FFIX because he had such a different temperament). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one, should you post them.

Suikoden! Soooo.... the "hook" of this one, for me, was simply being able to recruit a bajillion people, haha. I honestly don't remember anything about the story or if I finished it, but I dug the recruitment aspect.

[dorchadas]

On the one hand, the characters are more likeable and understandable in Japanese. On the other hand, they're more obviously anime. I still haven't met Rinoa or Irvine, so I'm really curious how the romance plays out.

I think I'd like the recruiting aspect more if more of the characters had some personality. As it is, a lot of them are just items on a checklist for me--"This person is the dice guy, go get him for a dice shop."

Though I did notice last time you can bring way more people into battle than I thought. The cook, some of the advisors...not just the core crew. Maybe I should do that.

[faram]

glad to hear that you're feeling better! hopefully that continues. that's interesting about squall's translation. now i wish i was proficient enough in japanese to play viii that way. i definitely prefer zidane and almost any protagonist over him but this translation could change my view. i also wish there was a longer period to play as laguna since he's my favorite character.

[dorchadas]

As I've sometimes said, live in Japan for years and study the language for a decade and you too can get slightly less annoyed at video games!