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Reflections on: Tokyo Xanadu eX+

Honestly, I knew about halfway through this game that this was going to get a dedicated blogpost, much like the one I gave Yakuza 5 earlier in the year. In retrospect, it might’ve been cool to give this the full journal treatment… but considering how far I’ve fallen behind on posting the one for Cold Steel III, it’s probably for the best that the thought didn’t cross my mind until it was far too…

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Reflections on: Steam Next Fest – October 2024

You know what they say about “assuming”? That it makes an ass out of u and me? That definitely applies to this latest Steam Next Fest. I was laid off right before it happened, so I assumed that I’d have all the time in the world to check out the 2,700+ demos that were showcased during this month’s event. Alas, my sister’s big move this week took up way more time than either of us were expecting……

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Speculation on: Falcom, circa Summer 2024

Well, I think it’s safe to say that I can restrain myself when I want to. I’m going to level with you: my original plan for this post has not only gone out the window, I’ve essentially had to drag it behind a shed and put several bullets in its brain. But the weirdest part about that is that I’m actually totally fine with it. My original intention for Summer was to essentially come up with three…

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Beggars Can't Be Losers

Now that I’ve got a total of 15 PC port wishlists under my belt, I can’t help feeling wistful about this tradition’s humble beginnings. Of course, if I had nothing to show for it, I’d probably feel a lot differently about that milestone. But as it stands, a lot of my requests have come true in one way or another. Whether or not these lists had anything to do with that remains to be seen… but I’d…

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Metal Flash Roads – Volume III: The Empire Strikes Out

Preface Well, if first is the worst and second is the best, I suppose that makes this the one with the hairy chest. I just wish it could talk. Fun fact: I actually used one of the rejected titles from the previous journal on this one – and frankly, it works a lot better for the third entry of the Cold Steel tetralogy, if only because the pun feels way more fitting here. It’s weird, but for some…

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Reflections on: Yakuza 5

Okay, so this blogpost might seem a bit unprompted, especially considering that I have yet to add Yakuza 5 to my gaming journal for the year. While I’ve already cleared the story, I don’t tend to consider Yakuza games “done” until I wrap up the substories. Still, I’ve got a lot I want to get off my chest about this game… and since my thoughts are going to be chockful of spoilers, it seems smart…

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Speculation on: Falcom ~ Anime Expo 2024 Special

Okay, so I know I made a biiiiiig deal last time about holding off on another one of these articles until we’re well into summer. Sadly, things didn’t work out quite the way I wanted them to. I was originally hoping that I could fold this into the upcoming CS3 journal… but that’s going to make its debut later than I originally intended. That being said, given just how much has changed since…

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Reflections on: Steam Next Fest – June 2024

I’m not going to lie: this Next Fest was pretty rough on me… which is a bit demoralizing, given just how much planning I dedicated to make sure that I could get everything done. But as per usual, unforeseen circumstances ended up getting in my way. I lost Monday night to downloading all of the demos that caught my eye, if only because I had to contend with an ever-shifting limit on just how many…

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Think Inside the Box: A PC Gamer's Vague Recollection of the Pre-Digital Landscape

Originally, I had planned on finally tackling the subject of the emerging “handheld gaming PC” market this year. While it’s certainly become more established since last year, there are still far too many rumors and unknowns at play for me to feel confident about making any sort of salient point regarding the Steam Deck and the challengers to its throne. After all, either Valve’s long-teased…

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Speculation on: Falcom, circa Spring 2024

Well, this one’s coming a bit later than expected. Usually, it takes every ounce of willpower I have to avoid posting one of these Falcom speculation blogs at the start of each season. Fortunately, I had something to hold me back this time around — and considering how much news piled up while I was waiting, I’d say everything ended up working out for the best. Before we get started with the news…

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Top 10 Games I Want Ported FROM PC IX: Bitter Flesh

At this point, I think I’ve started to think of my contribution to those yearly “Top 10 Most Anticipated Games” articles as my first Retronaissance post for the year. I know that I usually like to make a point of putting out at least one post every two months on here. But given my current work schedule and various other projects elsewhere, I just can’t really spare the time to do anything more…

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This is the money Marge. Reblog for good fortune

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Metal Flash Roads - Volume II: The Kids Are All Fight

Preface It’s funny, really. I was worried that this title would’ve been too clunky, but it ended up being a hit with one of my editors. Granted, I guess I always try to hold myself to such high standards when naming things… mainly because I’m not really that good at it. Like, occasionally, something perfect will just randomly pop into my head. Otherwise, I have a tendency of relying on online…

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Reflections on: Steam Next Fest – February 2024

To be completely honest, I’ve actually come to dread the Steam Next Fests almost as much as I anticipate them. Granted, getting my hands on a bunch of promising demos still manages to win out overall, but there are two problems that weigh heavily on my head. Given just how time-limited these events are, I pretty much have to dedicate every single moment of free time to trying out the literal…

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Speculation on: Falcom, circa Winter 2023/2024

Well, I didn’t end up doing another one of these in autumn, like I originally intended. I’d love to blame it on the fact that I was knee-deep in another Trails game at the time. But the truth is, my original idea was to discuss a topic that was rendered null and void by mid-November. And while there was “other news” to discuss in the meantime, it wasn’t really anything that anyone with two…

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Six Dozen Candles

Well, that’s another year down. I don’t really feel much different from 35, aside from the oncoming dread that I’m inching ever closer towards 40. Hopefully, I’m just being as much of a big baby about getting older as I was when I dreaded hitting 30 during my late-20s… but something tells me it’s not going to be quite as smooth sailing. Still, getting some birthday wishes and a few presents…

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My 2024 in Gaming

January 1, 2024 Here we go again… I have to say, these gaming journals have definitely been a huge motivator for me to go full tilt into this hobby of mine. 2021 felt like awakening from a long coma, 2022 was a major coup that put 70 games under my belt and I managed to find time to hit my major goal this past year despite a significant loss of free time and a major project eating up a…