8 Diversions Sudoku! Solutions to last issue ee ee) OMN NO CO O1IN © #& ow — Oo — O;B OO PM Ow w|o1 & =20 OO BION — OIN MIG O B/— CO Oo & O1IN NO © OM —|R ®D WiO N o1 — ON & CO © NO 01 WO BR NIG — © oa9 NI © © Sudoku for this issue NO £& Ol ce) (Ce) O) 6 7 O19 6 6 4 2\ 1 8 5 3.4 3) 3 4 NO Andrew’s Awesomely Amazing Cuisine Over the Edge recently received a letter requesting that we include unique cooking recipes amongst our sensational pages. As Halloween is a stones throw away we decided to include a Halloweeny type recipe for all our kitchen savvy readers, This delicious concoction is compliments of Mail Online's Daily Meal Recipe. Enjoy. Asian Chicken and Pumpkin Laksa The stuff you'll need * 500¢ (11b 20z) peeled pumpkin, cut into 3cm (1 1/4in) chunks * 250g (90z) thin rice noodles * Itbsp groundnut or sunflower oil * Atbsp laksa paste * 750ml (1 1/4pints) chicken stock * 400ml can of coconut milk * 2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces * 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced * 100g (3 1/20z) beansprouts * 4 spring onions, finely sliced * Handful of coriander leaves * Handful of mint leaves * 2tbsp chopped peanuts * Red chillies, sliced * 4 lime wedges What to do with the stuff. 1, Steam the pumpkin chunks until tender. Place the rice noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, Drain and keep aside. 2. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the laksa paste and fry for 1 minute. Stir in the stock, bring to the boil, then add the coconut milk. Return to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. 3, Season the chicken pieces with salt and add to the wok, along with the red pepper and pumpkin. Cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring. 4. Divide the noodles and chicken between 4 bowls and top with the beansprouts, spring onion, and the coriander and mint leaves. Spoon the coconut soup over the top and garnish each bowl with chopped peanuts, red chilli slices and a lime wedge. Serve straight away. October 28, 2009 + Over the Edge Final Fantasy Dissidia: What the hell just happened? HAAKON SULLIVAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR I suck at fighting games. That said, I had mixed feelings when I head about Final Fantasy Dissi- dia, I’m a big Final Fantasy fan and will probably buy whatever crap Square Enix releases under the Final Fantasy name (except XI but that’s another story) so I was a bit worried that I would be stuck playing a typical mediocre fighting game getting my ass kicked because I have crappy finger re- flexes. Thankfully, the game design allowed a guy like me — who’ only fighting game experience is getting his ass kicked in Soul Calibur — to be entertained with the PSP’s newest title, First of all, the idea of having all of your favorite Final Fantasy characters enter the ring and beat each other senseless is a con- cept that nearly every fan has dreamed of. You have match ups such as Jecht vs. Sephiroth, Zidane vs. Kefka, and my _ personal favorite, Squall vs. Tidus. I was pissed when my emo character got the piss beaten out of him by that annoying loudmouth. Anyway, the cinematic starts with all opening of the protagonists of the Final Fantasy games standing around looking at each other and soon the antagonists of said games come out of a large blast of lava. Because these two groups hate each other, they go into a flurry of action and you will witness one of the most badass fighting scenes in Final Fantasy history, A bit later on they tell you that these characters are involved in a battle that has lasted eons between harmony and discord. The war has now tipped in discord’s favor and the fight for harmony has become desperate. Let me ask you this Square Enix: WHY!? Five hours into the game, there still has been no mention as to how all of the Final Fantasy char- acters ended up in the same place and fighting a war that most likely won't effect them. I know crossover stories end up having a ton of plot holes in them and generally involve a lot of hand wav- ing, but they at least try. In Dissidia it’s like the writing staff just gave up trying to think up an interesting backstory and ignored explaining it all together, That's cheating! I want my flawed and barely satisfying explanation! The whole explana- tion could have been “dimensional shift” and I would have been more satisfied. Moving on, it seems that each of our heroes must go through a whole slew of enemies and challenges to get to a crystal to save the world. Why? I'm not sure yet and none of the good guys know either because none of them asked. It could be to kill of the multiverse for all we know. But we can all trust a good looking blonde named Cos- mos right? As the story progresses for each character, you get to see them struggling with the situation around them and deal with their nemesis. For example, in Cecil's story you witness him having issues with Golbez who keeps on telling him to ditch his friends (then again, since Cecil insists on hanging out with that whiny ass Tidus...who wouldn't?), The character development is really shallow and sudden since they keep dodging the issues of why they are there and why they are fighting, which is really surprising since Final Fantasy usually does a decent job at character de- velopment. Overall, the story of the game sucks, They put little effort into explaining the setting and the situation and it will leave you scratching your head throughout the game. Seriously, Super Smash Brothers had a better story. The only reason why you should play is game is to see your favorite Final Fantasy characters beat on each other. (If they reveal what the hell is going on at the end, then it makes no difference. I was looking forward to the crossover explanation dammit! I shouldn't have to wait that long!) What saves this game is the gameplay. I have not played that many fighting games, but this one keeps on sucking me in with its fast paced system. Matches can turn around in a split second and best of all, the game doesn't expect you to press an insane number of buttons to do a specific attack! It lets you do crazy combos without insanely fast fe S reflexes and a perfect memory. This is how your basic fight works: you have two basic attacks where one damages HP and the other steals a stat called bravery points, Of course, when you or your opponent runs out of HP, the match is over. Bravery on the other hand, determines how much damage your HP attack does. This means that in order to succeed you have to balance your HP attacks and bravery at- tacks to maximize your damage done and mini- mize your damage taken. Mastering your timing to block and dodge enemy attacks is also a good thing to know, How much damage you do, and from what distance, all depends on the character you're play- ing. They all seem distinct from each other in this regard so it isn’t that hard to find a character that fits your playing style. If you want to fight at a distance, Terra is your lady, Power? Exdeath. Air juggling? Zidane. Speaking of air juggling, there's a lot of this in this game. In fact, you're probably going to be fighting in the air just as much as you are on the ground. When you get knocked in the air there is a chance that you or your enemy can fly up and follow you to knock you around some more. The game then slows down at this point and what be- gins is what I like to call an “anime dogfight”. Im- mediately before your enemy connects with his follow up blow, you can press X to dodge it and then you have an opportunity to counterattack with your opponent having the same opportunity to dodge. This can create an exciting air combat where the slightest slip up in timing can cause your ass to be slammed into the ground and pos- sibly having you lose the match. You also get progress on your EX bar as you pull of combos and when it’s full you can get into EX mode. This mode lets you pull off your characters special ability whose power depends on how well you follow the instructions it gives you. For example, with Jecht’s special ability you need to press X then a cursor is in a certain spot on a bar (exactly like FFX’s overdrive) and with Warrior of Light you need to succeed in pressing a combination of buttons. Things get really interesting in some stages when things heat up since there are many objects that can get destroyed in the chaos. Even more in- teresting is the consequences of messing around with your fully 3D stage. In one of them, if you ~S > | topple a number of pillars you will find the floor littered with debris which slows your movement on the ground drastically. Story mode does things a bit differently from your normal arcade mode style of stringing fights together. You start out as an “action figure” and you move that figure around the board interact- ing with the enemies and treasure that litter the board, After you defeat your enemy in a one to one battle you get experience points which levels up your character and gil which you can use to buy items at the store. This adds another aspect to the gameplay where you have to manage your character's abilities to give you the edge in fights. The stage ends when you get to the end of the board and either defeat the stage boss or break a chaos seal. This game sounds perfect so far, but there are a few prob- lems, First of all, it’s the PSP and I'm a guy with big thumbs. I cant handle that tiny joystick very well and I'm sure that I’m not the only one with that problem. Secondly, the cam- era really sucks, If you want to move the camera at all you need to press the directional buttons above your joystick. This feat is impossible in a heated fight and can easily put you at a dis- advantage. Lastly, the story mode feels repetitive. Battle after battle, they begin to feel the same and it diminishes the entertainment value of the game over time, This games gameplay is innovative and very well done. It seems to be designed to be entertain- ing for anyone to play; fighting game background or not. This game is one that can be enjoyed for years to come. This game is damn beautiful for the PSP. Its graphics seem on par with Crisis Core, the en- vironments are large and detailed, and the attack effects create an awesome atmosphere. I have yet to see any graphical errors which, no matter how small, drop the presentation of the game con- siderably. The voiceovers of this game are top notch but it’s a pity that the voice actors are given some pretty stupid lines most of the time. The music is excellent but only because they took old Final Fantasy tracks and remixed them. If you're look- ing for anything original, then you're going to have a hard time finding it. When it comes to how long you can play it, it offers just as much as any other fighting game. You have your story mode, your arcade mode and your quick battle. You can also play with a friend over an ad hoc network so you can show off your “mad combo skillz’ with Kefka. Even though each character's story only lasts about a half hour, replaying them is still an option to collect treas- ures you couldn't get to before and enemies you couldn't defeat. You will probably be playing this game for a long time if you enjoy it. This game is definitely one that any Final Fan- tasy fans or fans of the fighting game genre to try out. It has fast paced action that gets your ad- renaline pumping and an RPG planning element that keeps the mind sharp. Dont expect too much from the story though. If you want a good cross- over story look somewhere else because there is barely any story here. Premise/Story: 8/20 Gameplay: 36/40 Presentation: 18/20 Replay value: 17/20 Overall: 79/100 Classifieds now available. Got a bike to sell? Got a old couch to get rid of? We would like to help! Our classified ads are available to any student for $2 initially and then $1 for every consectutive issue you want placed. This 50 word ad will get you noticed and help you get rid of that old TV or bookshelf. Email over-the-edge@unbc.ca for more information