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Oh my god its been 3 years

Total blast from the past! I quit posting 3 years ago because I became a full time live-in caregiver and I was too busy, but just recently I started to miss my little diary spot here. It was so nostalgic looking at my old posts, reminds me of being younger, more depressed, and somehow thinner. 

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Lost Kingdoms (2003, FromSoftware)

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The November Report: Game Completions 1

I beat a lot more games this November than I usually do in a month! I think mostly because I took initiative to start working through my steam library (and I sorted a lot of my shorter games into priority completions).

Mass Effect 1! I installed Mass Effect 1 in early October feeling like I could knock it out in 2-3 weeks if I played regularly. It was longer than I remembered, mostly through my own fault in doing all of the assignments and trying to get a perfect paragon save file for ME2. The combat is a little dated and the difficulty settings aren’t as perfectly tuned as ME2, but Mass Effect is still one of the best sci-fi video games ever made.

Broken Age! I had a good time with Broken Age, spending about 13 hours doing everything there is to do in this game. It’s an adventure puzzler with a really nice art style and an interesting story about how the lives of a baker girl in a fantasy land and the young pilot of a futuristic spaceship intertwine. The story itself is fairly short, enough so that there’s an achievement for speedrunning the game in under an hour, but you can spend a LONG time interacting with everything and everyone in the environment.

Another World! I accidentally beat this game in one sitting. While Broken Age is “short” if you know exactly what to do, Another World is short because of hardware limitations. It’s a SNES-Genesis era adventure title by Eric Chahi of “Heart of Darkness” fame and consists mostly of art-panels that the main character runs, jumps, crouches, and shoots through puzzles in. It took about an hour and 40 minutes to do everything there is to do and, while frustrating at points, it’s definitely a fun little Sci-Fantasy adventure.

SUPERHOT! I was crazy about this game a year or two ago and beat the main “campaign” but while going through the optional challenges I got to 23/25 levels without dying before getting blindsided by a bullet and losing. I got really frustrated and put off finishing it for a year. I came back and managed to get through everything in the challenge menu as well as all of the secret achievements. SUPERHOT tells a cryptic and mostly hidden story focused around mind control, bodyswapping, hackers, and control. While I don’t fully understand it, I think it’s definitely worth delving into all of the hidden story and fan theories. Gameplay is fun if a little frustrating at times due to some minor hitbox issues. Highly recommend~

Thomas Was Alone is a 3-4 hour experience that made me care more about the story arcs and feelings of colored boxes than a combined 440 hours in Destiny 1 and 2 did for their trio of main NPCs. It’s a short little platformer puzzler where each colored box has its own strength and you have to use them together to solve different puzzles. There’s only one collectible item (which I’m very thankful for in that it doesn’t force you to go out of your way or do any insane challenge to find) that shows up every few levels.  While the gameplay isn’t anything incredibly special the story, characterization, and soundtrack is where Thomas really shines. Grab it for 5 bucks if you’ve got the time and pocket change for it!

Sinless. I don’t know if I like Sinless. It’s advertised as a Cyberpunk-Adventure-RPG but it only uses the surface of those elements. It’s “cyberpunk” in that there’s a vaguely mentioned disparity between the upper, middle, and lower areas of the city but it doesn’t really experiment or do anything interesting with that. It’s an adventure game in that you get items and use them to go from area to area but I can’t remember a “puzzle” I had to solve that really engaged me. Most of the puzzles were just going from area to area looking for the most obvious thing to interact with. It’s an RPG in that you.. play a role in a game I guess? But I never felt like my own character because the framing of all the plot revolves around stuff that was already set in stone for my character. The old New Vegas vs. Fallout 3 problem, I’m more immersed having my backstory be whatever I want and just being allowed to go do what I want as opposed to being tied down to character that I’m told is important to me but I have almost no interaction with. Also it got a little silly seeing as all media apparently stopped in 2015 and the game is set in like 2200 and people still talk about Dark Souls, Mirrors Edge, and Attack on Titan.

I’m going to end this off for now but I’ll be back to talk about the other 6 games i beat this month!

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the classic gameboy trilogy

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The November Report: Other

I did things other than play games this month, I swear! Unfortunately I didn’t listen to as many albums as I wanted to, but I did finish a few from my list as well as a couple of shows!

I listened through the entirety of the Tempest 2000 OST. Ignoring the rest of the game this soundtrack is fantastic, it’s wild and frenetic and I had a great time listening to it! There were a few moments that reminded me of “Concept of Love” off of Jet Set Radio Future but also some tracks that sounded like they belonged in Rez.

Pure Comedy by Father John Misty. I’m not sure how I feel about this album when I think back about it. I definitely don’t think negatively about it so maybe I just need a second listen but all that really stuck with me after listening were the tracks “Pure Comedy” and “Ballad of the Dying Man”. The album itself a kind of begrudgingly introspective character turned up to 11.

You Wont Get What You Want by Daughters is an uncomfortable listen. I’m not sure if I like it but its unique. The soundscape it paints definitely tries to put you in a certain.. maybe not fearful but paranoid mood? Also deserving of a second listen but it’ll paint an hour or two of your night black. 

Slide by George Clanton is immensely comfortable and easy to listen to and everything on it flows together really well! Though a few songs in the first half kind of blend, the second half is where it really comes into its own. The tracks “Slide”, “Monster”, and “You Got Me There” all work together beautifully.

I watched all of Mindhunter Season 1. I have to split this show into its two plot elements. I think everything having to do with the psychology and interviewing of killers is great and I couldn’t get enough of it. I also think everything having to do with the personal lives of the main characters got really old really quick and I just wanted to get back to Ed Kemper and Jerry Brudos. The final episode leaves of on a half-note and it’s a little weak unfortunately. I feel like they gimped the ending so it could flow into a second season and I would have preferred a more solid ending to look back on while I wait for season 2 than the one we got.

I rewatched Battle Tendency. Still fun to watch, characters were all great, lots of laughs, a couple of tears, Pillar Men theme is amazing, main villain was so overpowered they had to bullshit him out of the plot.

I rewatched Stardust Crusaders as well! Some people have problems with the flow of the show as it gets into “Battle in Egypt” but I really couldn’t get enough the first time I watched and the second brought back so many memories. I love Stardust Crusaders so much.

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The November Report: Games

I haven’t posted much in November because I’ve been busy trying to finish games, albums, and shows instead of doing the same old thing I always do. What did I play in November? Too much probably. These are just games I played, not games I finished. I’ll make a separate post for those since I beat more than I usually do in a month!

I played some Thief Gold early on this month, it was fun but definitely shows signs of its age. Still a very solid classic stealth game!

Admittedly I beat Vanquish last year but it drew me back to play a little more this month. It suffers a little bit depending on what difficulty you play because it wants you to be cool and do slides and bullettime headshots but the overwhelming amount of enemies and gunfire and grenades makes using the boring cover system a safer bet. Still good fun!

Speaking of cover systems I played through the opening of Mass Effect 2! The series is one of my favorite sci-fi settings ever since I beat 1-3 back around late 2015 or so. I’ve been itching to get back into my favorite of the trilogy, ME2.

I’ve been playing a lot (probably too much) Destiny 2. Ever since the Solstice event this summer its been one of my most played games for good and bad reasons. On one hand a lot of its tactics are a little underhanded and appeal to the “I have to log in and get this seasonal item or I’ll never be able to get it again”. On the other hand while I know I’m being manipulated a bit, the gameplay look is incredibly fun and chasing new armor pieces and items is satisfying. It’s only gotten better since Forsaken and I cant wait for the Black Armory mini-expansion to unlock next week!

I don’t know if I regret buying Malebolgia or not. It’s very flagrantly trying to be a soulslike but it suffers because of some aesthetic and gameplay choices. I like the cel-shaded style and the weird story its trying to tell but getting from area to area is a slog for two reasons; Everything in this game is about 33% slower than it should be, and the darkness inside the castle is so overbearing while the hallways look so similar that its easy to get lost and resort to checking your map every 20 seconds. Makes for unintuitive exploration (almost opposite of Dark Souls ironically).

This game is hilarious. Splatter is a top down zombie shooter that looks and feels like a 2010 era flash game, the main character is a “badass” in a leather jacket with a fedora whose acting is simultaneously so hammy and so cheesy that you might as well put it on a sandwich. I don’t know if I’m going to finish it because the gameplay itself is fairly boring, but its a funny ride!

Can you guess what Shrouded in Sanity is inspired by? This game is interesting but, just like Darkmaus, I don’t know how much I like the souls-style combat translated out of a 3D environment. I might just need to put more time into gameplay practice but for now I can only play Shrouded in Sanity in bursts before I get frustrated with it.

Hotline Miami is incredible! The gameplay is fast and dirty but it doesn’t punish you for death because you’re back into it so quickly, and the whole affair oozes this beautiful style. The OST is fantastic and worth a purchase on its own. My only complaint is that some of the challenges/achievements are a bit over the top and the hit detection when someone is close to your character is wonky so you end up swinging ineffectually at each other before they typically win. 

I’ve been having much more fun with Fallout 4 than I expected! I put off buying it until everything was on sale and finally picked it up a few days ago. While the story and dialogue are leaving a lot to be desired, the gameplay and settlement management are good fun and the loop of running around, killing raiders/monsters, and gathering resources to take back home makes for nice relaxation after a stressful day.

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The 8-Bit costume makes every cutscene in this game look like a shitty mod and I can’t get enough of it

https://twitter.com/Bee_Kirby/status/1065711011410337792?s=20

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And pt. 2! No DM button yet just because I ran out of time (wanted these done by A-Kon) but I do plan on making one, I hope you like them all!

(Pt. 1 can be found here) 

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Gameboy Pokemon Terrariums made by Winnie Sumida

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Games On My Radar 4: A New Game

I love the concept of EDF because it’s silly. Millions of giant bugs descend from space and the Earth Defense Force has to fight them off with everything they have, including mechs, superguns, and flying ladies with missile salvos.

Project Firestart is a very very early survival horror game for the Commodore 64 set on board a space station full of alien creatures. I wonder if it was inspired by anything.

I was a big fan of the MonHun-like God Eater Burst on PSP and I’ve been itching to destroy some Aragami lately. Also the bullet customization in GEB was pretty awesome.

Lobotomy Corporation looks like it might spread itself thin, its advertised as a horror roguelite management simulator inspired by the SCP Foundation, Warehouse 13, and Cabin in the Woods. The art looks good and the concept is interesting!

I have a huge soft spot for MGS4 even though it’s kind of a mess story-wise and I’m really hoping there’ll be a remaster soon, even if its on the next generation of hardware. I want to go back to the FUTURISTIC WORLD OF 2014 and mess around in the linear-sandbox that is the first area. Octo-Camo is so cool..

My Hero Academia got a 3D fighter with some fun looking costume options! Also the art style isn’t half bad, though I’ve always had a weakness for the cel-shaded look.

Puyo Puyo Tetris looks nuthouse.

I’ve heard Pyre is overlooked somewhat compared to Bastion and Transistor! I love the worlds that Supergiant Games creates so I’m excited to dig into this.

In my personal perception Rime was steeped in odd technical difficulties at launch and then fell off the radar so I know very little about the game itself. That said it looks like a fun adventure game!

I love all of the art in Valkyrie Profile and the fact that you fly around a 3D World as a giant Valkyrie instead of going to a travel-map like Chrono Trigger is enough to peak my interest.

I’m not itching to play Third Strike so much as just spectate some matches and look at all of the amazing animation.  

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The Darkbeast vs The Hunter  from Bloodborne!  

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The best pumpkin spice product ever made

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Games On My Radar 3: Revenge of the Games

The one where they all sell me on art style alone

Distance is a sci-fi racer with abilities, platforming elements, and a banging neon nights art style.

in EXAPUNKS you learn a bit of real coding so you can pretend to do video game hacking on obligatorily old technology! But really it looks great

I never played Grandia but I’ve been told Grandia 2 is pretty great and I think the art is nice.

The Miskatonic is a short story heavy visual-novel-like game focusing on lovecraftian themes at a lighthearted university. The artist draws lewds on the side I think.

Axiom Verge looks amazing, maybe even enough to get me to finish a Metroidvania!

Conarium is another Lovecraftian story but it’s scary this time.

The Tom Cruise Mummy movie got a “demastered” game from Wayforward and the pixel art is pretty good, very reminiscent of Metal Slug.

Necropolis is like one of those dang old dark souls that all the kids like but with lil cartoon dudes instead of knights. Thats what dark souls is right? Knights?

Return of the Obra Dinn is a mystery I think. I haven’t read much about it because I wanted to keep in the dark since I like everything from this developer. Holy wow the art direction in this!

Okami HD. Okami iirc is a character from Marvel Vs Capcom 3 so it’s really cool that they gave that niche unknown character their own game. But seriously the art in Okami is beautiful.

The Desolate Hope is a game from the FNAF guy but it’s unrelated to FNAF. Everything about it looks weird in a way that I like.

I’ve had a vague idea of what Warhammer 40K is for a long time now and I’ve been aching to explore that universe in a video game that isn’t a strategy title. Inquisitor: Martyr looks interesting in that it’s an ARPG in the style of Path of Exile or Diablo but set in the grimdark future where “Vermin Supreme” actually gets elected president and saves mankind or something and then he’s a skeleton in a chair. 

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I know almost nothing of Demon’s Souls or Dark Souls, or any of the other King’s Field games, but I hear that this moonlit sword appears in each game.

It’s nice to see its origins!

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Games On My Radar 2: Game Harder

Donut County is a cute little puzzle game where you play as a hole that moves around on the ground swallowing up trash and growing progressively bigger.

Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is an RPG inspired by Yume Nikki and Earthbound! You play an 8 year old in a dream world having an adventure with monsters.

TIS-100 is a programming game where you rewrite segments of broken code and repair a “massively parallel computer architecture”.

Atomic Society is a strategy-simulator game where you rebuild society after an apocalypse and deal with all of the uncomfortable themes that come with doing so.

Battle Chef Brigade is a sidescrolling action game where you hunt monsters to harvest their delicious ingredients. Afterwards you return to your kitchen and use those ingredients to create fancy dishes!

Doorways: Holy Mountains of Flesh is a game that sold me entirely with the name. I don’t actually know what its about apart from like.. there’s a small town called El Chacal.. an a man named Juan Torres inheriting a large fortune?

Horizon Chase Turbo is an arcade racer inspired by the simpler racing games of the 90s. It looks colorful and fun! Also it looks like there’s local multiplayer.

Resonance of Fate 4K/HD is a remaster of an Xbox 360 and PS3 title. It’s an RPG where you player as 3 Mercenaries in a Steampunk society on a dying planet. The combat system definitely looks interesting.

Sector Six is a sidescrolling shoot em up where you find loot and customize your ship in a simple but good looking silhouette art style.

In Thumper you play as a little metal beetle that kills the devil by playing a rhythm game. I think.

GioGio’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind is a PS2 action adventure title where you probably play through the plot of Vento Aureo. I watched one of the stand fights and it looked almost puzzle-like which I thought really suited a JoJo fighter!