Okay, I did finish Lord of the Rings: The Third Age as I've promised. But the story of the game got so retarded in the end that even though I had a faulty copy (after beating the final boss, me cannot see the ending), I was too indifferent to care already.
I've started playing Shadow Hearts 2 right after that even though I've never played Shadow Hearts before (it's a direct sequel) because it's getting better reviews than Star Ocean Story 3, and it's seemingly more... different from your generic RPGs (The Third Age really left a bad taste in my mouth, I shit you not). I'm currently loving the game even though I'm just two hours into the game. The hero's a badass dude who can turn into a demon and already I can declare that he's BY FAR the coolest PS2 RPG hero ever. Really, I shit you not. Look at his competitors (just the main male characters in RPGs, not the female ones, so Shion from Xenosaga is excluded):
Tidus: This retard's by far the dumbest, ditziest Final Fantasy protagonist ever. He is the Rinoa of male FF protagonists, he is so dumb that he makes the resident ditz in the FF10 cast, Rikku, look smart. I mean, look at him, he dresses like a freaking plumber!!! Even though Squall of FF8 sucked, at least Squall looked much cooler. Nuf' said.
Sora: The kid's better than Tidus because he hangs out with cool friends like Donald Duck, but overall, he's still an insecure whiny kid. Okay, actually, he IS pretty decent, just not THAT heroic. I can never understand his love for Kairi. Oh well.
Hugo: There are three main characters in Suikoden 3, but I picked him as the Flame Champion (and based on the Suikoden 3 manga, he IS the official Flame Champion instead of Geddoe and Chris) so technically, he's MY hero of Suikoden 3. He's not that bad. But he's a backwater village kid who, er, doesn't look cool enough.
Berethor: Hero of the Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. This bastard is BY FAR the shallowest among the four heroes listed here. In fact, you don't get to know much about him cos' it's good old Gandalf who tells you everything about him in the game. From his background to his thoughts to his dark past and shit. That's all. He does nothing except pining after the elf chick in the party for most of the game, and then, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, declared his undying love for the other chick right before the last battle (the other chick joined in latter stages of the game and had VERY LITTLE interaction with the hero, except for mentioning impassively that he was her long-lost betrothed). Dumb son of a bitch. Fuck it, I can't even find a picture of him.
Now, Yuri of Shadow Hearts 2 is a way different story, man. He's a grumpy, badass, anti-social (in a cranky, world-weary sort of way, and not the 'pouty teenager' Squall Leonhart way) bastard who can turn into a freaking demon and is FAR from a holier-than-thou goody-two-shoe like most of the heroes listed above. And he fights bare-fisted, how much manlier can you get, man? This is the type of hero one as cool and badass as I can relate to!
I've started playing Shadow Hearts 2 right after that even though I've never played Shadow Hearts before (it's a direct sequel) because it's getting better reviews than Star Ocean Story 3, and it's seemingly more... different from your generic RPGs (The Third Age really left a bad taste in my mouth, I shit you not). I'm currently loving the game even though I'm just two hours into the game. The hero's a badass dude who can turn into a demon and already I can declare that he's BY FAR the coolest PS2 RPG hero ever. Really, I shit you not. Look at his competitors (just the main male characters in RPGs, not the female ones, so Shion from Xenosaga is excluded):
Tidus: This retard's by far the dumbest, ditziest Final Fantasy protagonist ever. He is the Rinoa of male FF protagonists, he is so dumb that he makes the resident ditz in the FF10 cast, Rikku, look smart. I mean, look at him, he dresses like a freaking plumber!!! Even though Squall of FF8 sucked, at least Squall looked much cooler. Nuf' said.
Sora: The kid's better than Tidus because he hangs out with cool friends like Donald Duck, but overall, he's still an insecure whiny kid. Okay, actually, he IS pretty decent, just not THAT heroic. I can never understand his love for Kairi. Oh well.
Hugo: There are three main characters in Suikoden 3, but I picked him as the Flame Champion (and based on the Suikoden 3 manga, he IS the official Flame Champion instead of Geddoe and Chris) so technically, he's MY hero of Suikoden 3. He's not that bad. But he's a backwater village kid who, er, doesn't look cool enough.
Berethor: Hero of the Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. This bastard is BY FAR the shallowest among the four heroes listed here. In fact, you don't get to know much about him cos' it's good old Gandalf who tells you everything about him in the game. From his background to his thoughts to his dark past and shit. That's all. He does nothing except pining after the elf chick in the party for most of the game, and then, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, declared his undying love for the other chick right before the last battle (the other chick joined in latter stages of the game and had VERY LITTLE interaction with the hero, except for mentioning impassively that he was her long-lost betrothed). Dumb son of a bitch. Fuck it, I can't even find a picture of him.
Now, Yuri of Shadow Hearts 2 is a way different story, man. He's a grumpy, badass, anti-social (in a cranky, world-weary sort of way, and not the 'pouty teenager' Squall Leonhart way) bastard who can turn into a freaking demon and is FAR from a holier-than-thou goody-two-shoe like most of the heroes listed above. And he fights bare-fisted, how much manlier can you get, man? This is the type of hero one as cool and badass as I can relate to!
