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This is my attempt to contributing to the PS2 homebrew scene by making an ESR compatibility list. The purpose is to allow everyone to update and edit it freely. I’m currently in the middle of adding all PS2 game titles to it, but the letter categories that are already filled can be freely edited. For more information on ESR, check out the Official ESR Forum at psx-scene.com.

ESR Compatibility List Wiki

I bought this for the Trial version of FFXIII, and was kind of disappointed with the amount you get to play, however from what I played I want to play more. The battle system is pretty easy to understand. It’s interesting that if you chain attacks at an enemy and they die mid-chain, the rest of the attacks hit nothing. Also, as far as the demo is concerned, switching between characters to use their commands isn’t possible. There wasn’t a main menu available which I would have loved to have seen. It was also a bit pointless for there to be treasure “chests” available that offer Gil when you can’t even use it yet. But, if this is all the beginning of the game, I just want to know what happens next. To initiate battles, the enemies are on the “overworld” where your character runs around, and it is possible to avoid entering into combat. However, the area in the demo was often narrow pathways, so I was only able to avoid acouple of the battles. The end of battle screen gives you a rating on how well you completed the battle and would award TP based on that. You get to play as “Lightning” and “Snow” through the demo at least.

The added scenes to Advent Children don’t disappoint. I won’t spoil any of the scenes that they added because it’s fun to point out the differences when you spot them. The highway chase scene was given a bit more comedic value and the Cloud vs. Sephiroth battle was made a bit more epic. Also, it’s interesting that they changed it from being bloodless to having some blood. Most of the scenes have to do with Denzel’s part of the story, since in the original, the origin of Denzel isn’t explained. The added OVA, “On the Way to a Smile -Episode Denzel- Final Fantasy VII,” much like Advent Children’s original extra OVA “Last Order,” gives the backstory of Denzel pretty much in its entirety. The Japanese release has English dub as well as the Japanese, but only Japanese subtitles. The OVA has no subtitles or English. I was able to understand it easy enough though. If you don’t feel like getting the Japanese release, just remember that its release in other countries may not include the OVA or the FFXIII Trial. Which is what disappointed me of the US release of the original, that “Last Order” wasn’t included.

Here are some pictures since I don’t have a scanner at the moment.

I just got back from purchasing this wonderful piece of merchandise from the local Animate. I have classes still, so I can’t get to playing it just yet, however I plan on playing the Trial and watching the extra scenes added to Advent Children along with the other extras on the Blu-ray.

As a late Christmas present for Jess and me, we went halvsies on a PS3. What’s awesome about it is that it’s not just a Japanese one (all PS3s can play all region games so I can play English games too), but it’s Ceramic White (which you can’t find anywhere but Japan). So it’s really cool. I’ll put a picture up sometime of it.

This is a bit early but, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Years is a pretty big event in Japan. Here, people don’t get Christmas off, but they do get about 4-ish days off from work (from the 31st to the 3rd?) for New Years. The biggest thing to do on New Years Day is to go to a temple and wish for a good year and see what kind of luck you have. Although you can do these things any day of the year, everyone packs into temples on New Years Day.

One of the latest developments in the PS2 homebrew scene is this awesome exploit that is a step-up from the independence exploit and also more beneficial to you slim PS2 owners if coupled with the ESR homebrew. Check the thread here at psx-scene for the latest on this great exploit.