Googleshng:
I noticed that as well. I suppose it's only fair. In the two hours I played for I noticed new renditions of the classic bridge crossing theme, traditional sounding battle music, it's only fair that the new ones get included too. You mean 7 not 8 though I believe.

Googleshng:
FF9 has blissfully simple mechanics. It also has instructions which say on page 1 that you don't need them, and a little pamplet saying you don't need a strategy guide, but if you feel you do, they have one on playonline for free. Hitting select is a handy thing. Anyway though, it's simple. Every piece of equipment has an ability a certain character can use. If they have that equipped, they can use it. Plus, if they were it for a while, you can toss the equipment and still be able to use the ability. Reminds me of FF5's mechanics. Anyway though, to answer your question, whether you've learned a support ability or not, you still have to allocate crystals to it.

1. In FF9, can you get the little coca-cola circle? If so, wouldn't that be amazingly cool? I wonder what kind of damage it'd do. Probably a lot.
2. Which is your favorite character in FF9, eh? EH? How about in Skies of Arcadia (sucky name... shoulda stuck with Eternal Arcadia... means almost the same thing in Japanese anyhoo)
3. Will you marry me, if you're a woman, and be my best bud, if you're a man?
4. Oh yeah... What numbers do you reccomend to start characters off with in stats in RPGMaker... I had mine set to mid 50's and my characters kept killing off the monsters in no time flat?

Googleshng:
I know some odd people. Obviously the answer to the first question is no, and the second, you answered the fourth yourself. As for a favorite character, obviously Vivi. You can't beat a black mage. In SoA... so far I suppose the main character. That's such a spiffy way to wear a monicle.

Googleshng:
The setting of SoA is very interesting for starters. It's like the elemental plane of air from AD&D. Nothing but air with some stuff floating in it. No ground below. People build towns on floating chunks of rock. Towns therefore are quite small on average relative to most modern games. Bigger towns have bridges or ropes slung over to other big rocks. Natural features of the world include constantly present storms, reefs made from countless small floating boulders, and so on. So naturally, airships are the primary form of transportation, and, in keeping with the 1800s level of technology, pirates abound... as do creatures that would be right at home in Larry Niven's Integral Trees. As far as the game mechanics go, there are two kinds of fights. The normal variety work like most RPGs but with a few noteworthy differences. All spells cost just 1 MP. They cost varying amounts of SP however, which comes from a pool shared by all your characters that regenerates a little each round. Characters also have special moves costing no MP, but lots of SP, and it's possible to spend a turn charging the SP meter. Furthermore, each round, you can change the elements of your weapons, which effects monsters based on elemental strengths and weaknesses, and effects what kind of spells you will learn. The other kind of combat is ship to ship, where each character gets an action per round, in whatever order you want, doing things like casting spells on the ship itself, taking evasive manuvers, or firing any of the many many weapons. A few other factors figure in, like making instant choices (for example, manuvering behind the enemy ship), and having rounds start with you in a superior position to attack. Highly strategic. On top of all that, it has some really interesting dungeons. So, in short, BUY IT NOW.

Googleshng:
OK, the stuff everyone knows first: it looks like Jim Henson did the graphics. It has a fantasy setting. 4 characters in your party at a time. The crystals are back. Now for some lesser known features. If you're standing next to, say, a bed with 300 Gil under it, the little hand pointing at your character will turn into an eclaimation point. This makes it much easier to find little objects to obsess over, and I believe can be turned off. The mechanics are an awful lot like FF5's to me. Each character has a different class. Each piece of equipment, aside from normal features, contains some sort of ability. For example, casting fire, counter attacking, etc. Only one character can use each of these abilities. More importantly, while they are equipped, you gain AP. With enough AP, you learn the abilities from your equipment, and then get to keep them after taking it off. Abilities basically fall into two categories. Actions, like spells, and support abilities, like countering. Only a certain number of support abiities can be equipped at a time, by allocating points to them. However, these points go up as you gain levels, so eventually you can get all kinds of snazzy powers, while keeping fixed unique classes. Oh, and it has so much nostalgia crammed in everywhere. The beginning is like the Opera House.

Googleshng:
I think that's just about everything there is to be said on the subject of the seal rating. 8)

The Last Laugh: