But, really... I can't imagine you touching Xenosaga. You knew what Xenogears was like,

Actually, I didn’t. I played Xenosaga before Xenogears.

and withing the first hour or more of the game being on you really only spend 10-15 doing anything other than reading.

I didn’t mind it. The scenes at that point were pretty intriguing and pretty good at introducing the characters.

I couldn't pay attention long enough to know what was going on because I didn't even care.

Well, I could, and ended up caring. Paying attention was never a problem for me. I’ve watched each scene about four or five times and even have them saved on my computer. I don’t like all of them (some of them, like when they were all eating together, were pretty stupid) but on the whole they were pretty cool, especially anything with Albedo (his scenes I’ve probably watched 10+ times…)

At least with gears by the time the action slowed to a crawl you had soem reason to care for the characters...

Unfortunately, for me, I didn’t care about them enough to sit through endless hours of nothing happening. An hour or so, with gameplay in between, is fine by me, but when I have nothing to look forward to after reading the endless stream of text…ugh.

all Xenosaga had going for it in the first hour were a couple of hotties that you knew (or at least hoped) would eventually do somehting.

I dunno, I kind of enjoyed watching the opening. The prologue was especially good and the scenes got less cumbersome after the Woglinde.

I couldn't take it any more, I put in Kingdom Hearts. That too bored me after an hour, but at least I did sometihng in that time.

Damn, insulting yet another of my PS2 favorites.

On a more relevant topic, I still can’t understand why so many people are giving Wind Waker 70% odds. That just seems insane to me. How does its performance against Skies of Arcadia warrant that when FFX performed about equally against Shenmue? I fail to understand how Shenmue is so much less popular than Skies of Arcadia. Heck, considering how popular you gurus had pegged Sonic 2 to be, I’d think you would be even more careful about labeling games you don’t have any data for at all, even from the character contest. I thought Shenmue would be a sixteen seed but I could very well be wrong.

Maybe confidence in FFX will be restored (wrongly) by SFF after its match this round. Seems to have worked fine for Zelda. I'm still waiting for the amusement to come from the Vice City vs. SSBM match...and what amusement it shall be.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 45/46, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VI

42.11% brackets had Shadow beating Wario. Do you think any first round matches this year could have gone lower than that?

I'd bet that SC was lower. Many people, myself included, were not afraid to admit that they picked Halo but voted for SC. With a 1 seed it's just hard to imagine it going down in round 1. I thought, hey, that'd be funny... let's go see what others think. But other than that I didn't take it serious because it was a 1 seed, and there is supposed to be some valid reason for that.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

Yup, Halo v. Starcraft is definitely lower. I can't imagine how many users were fooled by that 1-seed designation.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 47/48, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VII

Sorry. Kingdom Hearts is great, it's just really friggin' boring until you get past the island. I'm sure I didn't even play a full hour, unless I spent more time beating that living crap out of Tidus than I remember. Ah, to have that as only one of the MINOR draws for the game.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

42.11% brackets had Shadow beating Wario. Do you think any first round matches this year could have gone lower than that?

Halo vs Starcraft. According to the BOP, just over a third of the board users choose Starcraft to upset Halo. Considering there was quite a bit pro-Starcraft topics on this board at that time, I would assume this amount is lower outside this board. Even if it isn't, there is a lot of room between 34% and 42%.
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''Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts...''
''All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...''

Sorry. Kingdom Hearts is great, it's just really friggin' boring until you get past the island.

I'll agree with you there. I got tired of being Kairi's *****. I was ready to put the game down by the time Destiny Island was done. I'm glad I resisted the temptation.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 47/48, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VII

Halo/Starcraft was the first thing I thought too. Wonder if that 1-seed unconsciously pushed me to pick it... I dunno what I'd have picked had Starcraft been the 1-seed instead.

And I bet you many people were in the same situation. The big, golden number 1 may just be that comforting.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 043/048 --- Matches: 35/40 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Tomorrow's pick: FF7

I am guessing less than 40% picked Starcraft over Halo. Perfect Dark seems to have messed up a lot of bracket as well. Had Soul Calibur beaten Kingdom Hearts, I am sure less than 30% would have guessed that one correctly.
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Contest Score: 48/192
Next Pick : FF7

SMB3: 40%
Zelda 1: 60%

It's either a Zelda Game or FF7 that's gonna win the tourney. End of the story. Did you see how LoZ eat Donkey Kong for dinner?!

Chrono Trigger: 25%
LTTP: 65%
SMW: 15%

SMW might beat CT. :-)

FF7: 50%
OOT: 50%

Tossup.

Wind Waker: 45%
SSBM: 45%
FFX: 10%

WW and SSBM pwn you.




---
Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

If it was up to me, SSBM would own this contest.

42.11% brackets had Shadow beating Wario. Do you think any first round matches this year could have gone lower than that?

I will honestly be shocked if more than 25% of people for Halo vs Starcraft right. Phantasy Star vs Contra might dip below 42% as well.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

*got it right, damn I can`t type today.
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I would like to take this moment to politely and sincerely orgasm over Ulti's Halo/Starcraft analysis. -smitelf

Phantasy Star vs Contra might dip below 42% as well

Why that match? I would guess 70% got that right.
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Remember to nominate Frog from Chrono Trigger for Summer Contest 2K4!
http://SC2K4.com/frog

This break from the contest really stinks, not that it hasn't already lost much of its momentum considering all the ads and horrible changes across the site.

Oh, and Troy sucks. Just thought I'd save you the money and tell you.
---
Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 47/48, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VII

cyko's Point of View

Match 41

(1) Final Fantasy 7 vs. (9) Xenogears



i used to feel strongly that Same Fanbase Factor didn't apply to games made by the same company. but after yesterday's outcome, i have to retract my previous stand. first SMB3, then Zelda 1, and now LTTP how drew a huge amount of votes from other Nintendo games. i can't fathom any other reasonable explanation of why Super Metroid got so utterly destroyed.

therefore, i believe that Xenogears will get fewer votes against Square's biggest juggernaut than it would against a juggernaut from Nintendo or Konami.

if that does happen, then i completely retract what i said about SFF not being a factor at all.

prediction: Final Fantasy 7 with 84-87%

my bracket: Final Fantasy 7

personal favorite: Final Fantasy 7 - i refer you to Smitelf's comments against Xenogears which agree with my own. that is all.


Slowflake said:

42.11% brackets had Shadow beating Wario. Do you think any first round matches this year could have gone lower than that?

definitely Halo vs. Starcraft. i was completely undecided on that match until the brackets closed for predicting and i had to have something there. i left it as Halo solely because of the top seeding and i figured it would get more bracket voters. if the seeding would have been much closer, like a 7 vs. 10 or a 8 vs. 9 match, i most likely would have picked Starcraft. and if Starcraft would've been seeded higher, i definitely would've picked Starcraft.

---
Current Score: 47/50 (through FF7 vs. Xeno)
cyko's 256 Game Contest: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=14081056

You people are thinking that FFVII will get over 80% against Xenogears sure there's SFF, but I think Xenogears can manage over 20%. If Pikachu can so can Xenogears.
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LUE is a cancer, and if it can't be destroyed, it must be contained. - CjayC
My Score 45/48 FF VII vs. Xenogears

I want to believe, char. I want to believe.
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 47/48, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII managing 74% right now, I can say each time a FF game is up it further boosts my confidence that the Zelda title will beat it. ^_^
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades... Will the hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Final Fantasy VII gets the majority of its anti-votes early in the match (Cloud vs. CATS, anyone?). By the end of the poll, it should be above 80%. I'm not worried.
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Spring Contest 2004: 46/50
Today: (1)Final Fantasy VII over (9)Xenogears

Over 80%? Your looking at a 6%+ increase from the day. I can see it going up and at best a tad over 80% but nothing big.

And considering I was confident in OoT prior to this match, I`m even moreso now.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades... Will the hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Xenogears was never released in Europe. Once this stabilizes tonight, I expect XG to start gaining percentage.

Over 80%? Your looking at a 6%+ increase from the day. I can see it going up and at best a tad over 80% but nothing big.

FF7 gained 5% from the day vote in its match aganst Suikoden2. So 6% is possible.
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''Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts...''
''All dreams are but another reality. Never forget...''

Xenogears is also a more popular game, however, SFF could play a role and give it a boost. Though when he said over 80% I expected more than just 80.42% and thought he`d imply 81% and above but hey misinterpreting by me.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades... Will the hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Okay, over 80% is looking very likely now. FFVII just crossed the 76% mark and is still rising.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades... Will the hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Just wait until the NA people wake up (sleepy heads) because Xenogears wasn't realised in Europe
---
LUE is a cancer, and if it can't be destroyed, it must be contained. - CjayC
My Score 45/48 FF VII vs. Xenogears

You people are thinking that FFVII will get over 80% against Xenogears sure there's SFF, but I think Xenogears can manage over 20%. If Pikachu can so can Xenogears.

Last time I checked, Pokemon wasn't a Square game. What's your point? O_o
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Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

Last time I checked, Pokemon wasn't a Square game. What's your point? O_o

He's talking about Pikachu vs Cloud in 2002.
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This is the alternate account of swirldude.

He's talking about Pikachu vs Cloud in 2002.

Charactes =/= Games. Don't ever forget that. :-)
---
Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

Are ya all ready? Fanboys? Gamers? Elites? Newbies? :) It's time for...the enhanced...

Steve Illumina Speaks

Indeed it is so, the infamous and ever humorous commentary continues, to offer some educated levity, here on this the true beacon of intelligence on this overly fanboy dominated board.

And so it proceeds, with the 1st tough to call match of the 2nd round found here within the "Golden Age" Division

ROUND 2: Match XXXXII

(4)Metal Gear Solid vs (5)Final Fantasy Tactics

Steve's Prediction: Tactics by 51.10
Steve's Bracket: FFT
Newbie's Pick: Snake
Upset Chances: My bracket depends on it. Hear me, fanboys!

Comments: Here we have a nailbiter of sorts...a tough match to call...and one where my defeat is a possibility...as FF Tactics takes on Metal Gear Solid.

FF Tactics is the superior game of the two, I feel. I love this deep game which not only takes the FF universe and throws it in a whole new variant of sorts, but also adds its own original elements, creating a unique and brilliant and respected game. Better still, I adore this game to death. Love it...joygasm over it when I play it even! Get it? Good.

All one needs to do is play it for a few minutes before they get hooked. It is THAT good. I like it more than FF7 even. Hows that for support?

It is obvious the FF loyalists and RPG lovers will support it...but will they be enough? It is a Sunday vote, which may help it draw a bigger turnout on a back to back FF weekend, with FFVII being today on a Saturday. Besides, we got Nintendo and Square in all 9 of the Sweet 16 slots accounted for thus far. Why not make FFT the 10th? Then the last 6 easy to call matches of the round should also fall into the pattern...netting us an all Nintendo and Square Sweet 16. What do my Elite brethren think of this possibility?

Metal Gear Solid is a great game, a genre maker, a Snake in the grass, slithering along and gaining popularity as the years go by. Its series is enjoying great growth with The Twin Snakes remake, Snake Eater on the way and the newly announced Acid for PSP. It is a force to be reckoned with...and most of my fellow Elites here feel it will win. And it very well may...but for my bracket, and my beliefs of what I like and think is better, it must not win!

Snake will pull out every last one of his devotees to avenge his sequel's loss to happy cheery SSBM. He will want to prove Resident Evil was nothing, and that he can take on the world by defeating a beloved RPG. Should he fail...he will cower in his cardboard box alone, munching on rations and smoking cigarettes, another fallen foe to the FF dynasty...

Why FFT Will Win: Voting blocks: FF Fanboys and RPG lovers and peeps who like this sort of battle strategy better than the MGS variety of stealth strategy!

Why MGS Wont Win: All the casuals and Snake supporters will be outnumbered but only by a mere few FF fanboys...but it only takes 1 vote by 1 more FF fanboy than Snake lover to win the match.

Probable Results: Delita as an Archer will shoot his Great Bow, an arrow fired into the heart of the Snake, killing it by the narrowest of margins...low 50's baby!

Best Bosses: FFT: Wiegraf: 1st great battle in the game, it defines this title totally! MGS: Psycho Mantis: Great fight.
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SCK24: 46/50 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

Today looks quite good for FF7's championship bid. We don't know for sure if there's SFF or not (dangit, if there was SFF in every match where it was possible in the second round so far, so much for the one per contest tradition), but the round 3 matches against MGS and Goldeneye, most likely will tell us a LOT.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 043/048 --- Matches: 35/40 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF7

OoT will do the same against SM64. When are you gonna put up your review for FFT/MGS anyways, Slowflake?
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Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

Yeah, I`d say from round three and on will tell us more than the first two rounds.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Way to state the obvious, HM :)
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Engaged to MWIS 04/07/04
Current Sp2K4 Score: 47/48, Next Winner: Final Fantasy VII

Pretty much right away.

Oh yeah, and mucho congrats to me for reaching level 32. What a hassle.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 043/048 --- Matches: 35/40 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF7

So, what are you guys looking at for MGS tomorrow? (assuming your not a rebel in believing FFT will pull one off) =P
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Oh and congrats on becoming a Legend Slow, heh.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

If FFT wins tomorrow, then there is no hope for FFVII losing the contest.
---
Welcome to SpC2k4, where you suck if you presume someone else's opinions.- Tai.

*** COMPARISONS GAME - Match #42 - (5) FINAL FANTASY TACTICS vs. (4) METAL GEAR SOLID ***

Sales

Surprisingly enough, FFT wins in Japan (probably - MGS didn't even appear on the platinum charts), but it's in North America where the battle truly decides, as MGS outsold FFT 3 to 1 over here.

- Advantage MGS.

Franchises

Never, EVER, underestimate the name Final Fantasy. The FFT entry alone can't cut it against Snake's best, but if it somehow pulls off this massive upset, that'll probably be here.

- Advantage FFT.

GameFAQs Status

Number of FAQs: FFT
Number of reviews: FFT
Average review score: MGS
Board activity: FFT

MGS destroys FFT in the review scores, but the FAQs and board are more than enough to compensate. Note how I didn't mention Twin Snakes this time: I'm keeping it for later.

- Advantage FFT.

Board Odds Project

PICKS (out of 102)
Metal Gear Solid - 81
Final Fantasy Tactics - 19
Also picked: Dance Dance Revolution (2)

POINT VALUE
14. Metal Gear Solid - 323
19. Final Fantasy Tactics - 164

Given the wide gap in the picks, it's surprising that FFT isn't doubled in point value... however, the picture gets more accurate if you remove the first round picks.

- Advantage MGS.

Previous Rounds

FFT got a better score by 6 points, however it was against a very unimpressive opponent, while Resident Evil, even if it's unappreciated here, is still well known enough - after all, Jill ranked second in the 2002 South, behind the eventual champion, Link, beating Kirby, Strider and Scorpion for that spot.

- Advantage MGS.

Summer Contests / Polls of the Day

Watch Ramza bomb. Bomb Ramza bomb!

To be fair, FFT is by far the most popular FF "spinoff" on the site. Although it beats competition like FFTA and Mystic Quest there, while FF7 beats FF6 and FF10 by similar margins. Ouch.

- Advantage MGS.

Intangibles

And that's where Twin Snakes enters. Not only is it memory-refreshing and opening the game to a whole new audience, but MGS could have won the "GameFAQs Status" category had I decided to include it this time, with the huge Twin Snakes board and all.

Anyway, I need not elaborate on Twin Snakes' potential effect.

- Advantage MGS.

Conclusion: Sorry Steve, your run ends here.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 043/048 --- Matches: 35/40 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF7

Conclusion: Sorry Steve, your run ends here.

Ouch! I hope not..oh please fanboys come forth this day!!! :) But for real I very likely will lose 2 points to this one tomorrow...but I refuse to give up hope! The mythical leaderboard deserves to be graced with my presence! (and yours as well Slow!)

Congrats on making Legend, Slow, you deserve it. I will join you on July 3rd!!! Go me!
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SCK24: 46/50 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

"I can say each time a FF game is up it further boosts my confidence that the Zelda title will beat it."

And I say unto thee, woe be unto the fools who proclaim division champs before they have sufficient data - Chichiri 5:7
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

Meh, its no fun to just wait and see what happens I love making guarantees like I said last night, LttP will be in the finals I guarantee it. ;)
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

And I say unto thee, woe be unto the fools who proclaim division champs before they have sufficient data - Chichiri 5:7

LOL That needs to be sigged
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SCK24: 46/50 Trivia XIII: Diehards Forever
Steve Illumina: Standing tall against fanboys for over 20 years

Funny that people were proclaiming FF7's performance to be poor before the match even really started. It's only 9:30 now and FF7 nearly has 80%. Like I said when Xenogears beat Pokemon... FF7 is gonna smash Xenogears 80/20. You're too quick to jump on falsehoods, HM, and it's becoming abundantly clear that you're not going to stop. Tis a shame, really, because other than for insatiable inner-fanboy you're a pretty cool guy. Anyway, people, here are the numbers, see them for yourself: FF7 80%. Another real big blowout, and against a game that (at least on this site) is stronger than anything else that's be blown out so far.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

I`m fully aware of what FFVII is doing right now, and I expect it to hit 80%, however, my personal prediction isn`t having FFVII overperform and has it underperforming to be honest. I predicted 82.20% but overall I`m not considering to be underperforming but doing right around what should be expected. Its a good win, and I know that FFVII is no cakewalk by any stretch of the imagination. With OoT and FFVII being virtually on the same level in strength its really just a matter of choosing with your gut or who you think`ll pull through because I doubt numbers are going to favor either side in a number clear enough to produce a favorite but hey they might with this next round.

I`ve been one that hasn`t changed my mind since about... the end of round 1 on where the Zelda games should get to. I could be proven wrong, but at the same note I could be very right but just waiting for it to happen is no fun. =P Calling something and then being totally proven wrong is always fun. ;)
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

Anyway, what are some of you looking at for MGS` percentage tomorrow?
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

I really see Solid taking 60-70%
---
ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

That`s what I was thinking as well.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

I think MGS with around 60%. Gotta up my Oracle prediction a bit, I've been way too conservative this round... wonder why I'm keeping up.

As far as today's match goes, I'm rather impressed by FF7; however, every time a non-Zelda game scored a good win, the Zelda came and wowed us all. Let's see how OoT can do against SM64 - arguably the toughest opponent it could draw in this division outside of FF7.
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SpC2K4 Status --- Points: 043/048 --- Matches: 35/40 --- Rank: ?????/????? --- Today's pick: FF7

It has happened.... FF7 has broken 80.
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ChichiriMuyo is officially the Discussion Guru Encyclopedia - UltimaterializerX
And I'm 23/24 myself. My loss was all part of Alucard's plan. - BigCow

8-20 right now.
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?

80*
---
Nintendo® - We Make Games Worth Playing
But as the light fades will the Hero rise again? Or will darkness reign?