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There are three reasons I dropped off the face of the earth during October, three things that ate up all my free time. Well, really, it’s one: Squaresoft/Square-Enix. I’ve logged more hours on my PS2 in the past two months than I have in the last year cumulatively, on three different Squaresoft/Square-Enix games. In chronological order, they are:

• Final Fantasy VI. Everything old is new again. You old-timers may remember this game from the SNES. A few years ago, it was ported and released, along with Final Fantasy V, as a PS1 game. I finally decided to replay it, and had great fun (I got about 60% of the way through it) until I got distracted by the next reason.
• Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. This is one of Square-Enix’s newest RPGs, and is intensely interesting. It’s got a fascinating story, gorgeous graphics, and an intriguing battle system.

  I have a confession to make. I haven’t actually been playing this one. My roommate Matt has, and I’ve been doing some backseat driving/heckling. Our conversations usually consist of the following:

  me: Dude, you better heal your guys before boss X does his special attack and kills them in the next turn.

  Matt: Whatever, man. I can take him. Look how low his hit points are!

  and, finally, one of the two of these:

  me: I told you. How are you going to beat him with one live guy?

  or

  Matt: Ha! You’re going down, punk.

• Last but most of all, Final Fantasy XII. This was my birthday present to myself, and I am as enthralled with this game as I can’t remember being since I got X-Men Legends as a gift last year. This is the second complete overhaul of the game in as many releases, and they got it just about perfect this time.

  The battle system is totally different but fun, the leveling-up system intricate but not excessively so, and most important of all, the story is interesting. Though the game (from some plot points to the visuals) bears an uncanny but not uncomfortable resemblance to Star Wars—from Balthier (Han Solo) and Fran (a sexy version of Chewbacca), to Ashe (Leia) and Vaan (Luke Skywalker’s annoying little brother)—its got enough dimension and high enough production value to remain original. A must-have for any RPG-lover, which I am. Speaking of which, I hear the game calling me; see ya.