Dark Souls III Review
As the age of darkness begins, the age of Dark Souls concludes… Maybe.
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Rundown (1/22-1/28) Natalie Is a Finicky Young Woman
So, I listen to a lot of gaming related things in a given week. I have my Super Best Friendcast, my Podquisition, and my Up At Noon. I enjoy all of these shows quite a lot, but lately whenever any of the hosts say anything inaccurate, I tend to fidget about in frustration, as I am unable to correct a blatant mistake I noticed. I’ve actually stopped watching certain episodes of these shows because of an off-handed inaccurate statement, like saying that the Wii version of Twilight Princess was better and more definitive than the GameCube version. Which is objectively wrong and anyone who disagrees does not deserve to be listened to. (more…)
Rundown (12/04-12/10) A Mostly Two Tone Rundown
Seeing as how Final Fantasy XV has released to high praise from critics and fans alike, I got to thinking, when was the last time a Final Fantasy game was universally beloved and saw wondrous success? Well, the answer I came to is Final Fantasy X, a game originally released in 2001, 15 years ago. Since then, the series never had a wholly beloved mainline release, and modern entries steadily fell into mediocrity and mockery after experiencing the height of its popularity. (more…)
Rundown (9/13-9/19) TGS 2015: Darkest Despair!
I’m not sure how often I’ve brought this up, but I think that Free to Play games were among the worst things to happen to the industry in recent years, and there have been a lot since I got in this industry’s intestines, mostly the large one, where poop is dried out, around 2006. But after reading this little piece by somebody who has been getting neck deep in whale blood as his employers tried to manipulate individuals with mental problems for the sexiest thing in the mortal world, Kentucky granola, also known as USD, I feel I have an opportunity that I shall not waste, if only because I love the line and it is mostly true. Free to play games were a mistake; they’re nothing but trash. I hope they are outlawed by 2033, when the Great African War begins and half of it is destroyed by a nuclear explosion. Buy War Bonds in preparation of the war to end all wars! (more…)
Rundown (9/06-9/12) Chronologically Correct Sonic OSTs
I am surprised that Sega has not tried to shut down Sonic World, as it is basically a refined and reworked best-of compilation of Sonic Adventure 1, 2, and Heroes, all games I grew up with and love in a way, even if they don’t play very well. But seeing that combined with enough care and autistic fan devotion to add in every possible playable character from Heavy and Bomb to Fang the Sniper makes me jitter in sheer disbelief that this is real. True, I only played two levels of the game as Knuckles before I realized that this game was definitely still in an alpha or pre-alpha state and put it down, but if it is ever completed, this fan-game may very well be the best Sonic game. (more…)
Rundown (8/08-8/15) Verde’s Doohickey Is an Act Of Plagiarism… I Think
After seventeen years in the making, not really but it felt like it, I am finally done with Verde’s Doohickey, my novel for 2015, although I may put another one out on Christmas of New Years. Depends on how quickly I can write this far simpler story and how easily the dynamic between the two main characters flows, because I have been struggling to get the everyman and asshole dynamic right for years… Man, it’s only been a day and I’m already talking about my next thing. (more…)
Rundown (8/02-8/08) I Would Like Some Friends…
So, Comiket 88 was held in Japan this week, the week of Gamescom, and it naturally had a very spiffy showcase of Doujin games, some very meh looking, others on par with content the lower to mid tier Japanese developers put out. However, I will not be able to play most of them because the world is still greatly divided by languages, when this shit should have been figured out years ago. I’m not saying that English should be the default for the world, as English is a pretty poor language in my book, but I feel that everybody in a developed part of the world should be able to speak a global language as a second language, while most media would be produced in that language to maximize the audience size, and slowly weed out old languages. Now, some people say that a wide variety of languages helps encourage differences in the world and allow people to think differently. I say that while there may be some truth there, some things need to be sacrificed in order for the world to progress and become more understanding. I mean, it could actually help global understanding of others quite a bit if you design the language properly and based on the pros and cons of other languages. (more…)
Rundown (6/15) E3 2015: I’m a Stealthy Little Office Lady!
Okay, so, I am working full time this summer, for those who do not know, or just stumbled onto this post, and that means I cannot spend all day in E3 mode. It makes my nights very hectic, as I try to pick up the piece right after getting home, but I went through Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony’s press conferences, amounting to over five hours of footage, while writing up some quick thoughts on the opinions on the video games, as I have been doing since 2012. Without further ado, I’ll just get right to it. (more…)
Rundown (5/31-6/06) The Japanese Localization Building-School
In my dumb brain, companies like Idea Factory International, NIS America, Atlus, Aksys, XSEED, Sekai Project, MangaGamer, JAST USA, Carpe Fulgar, and anybody I’m forgetting all work in the same building located somewhere in California. The building is based off of the one blueprint that was used to build every high school in Japan circa 1950, and it is a complete mess. With random unlocalized games everywhere, old bootleg VHS tapes of “the hottest Japanimation”, a locker full of PSPs, this one incredibly disturbing classroom filled with full scale figures and body pillows, and dirty laundry that piles up every week until Jimmy clean up their blankets and graphic tees over the weekend. Then there’s Nana, who is just sad after spending three thousand hours a year playing everything this company produces, and is flat out disgusted by the tropes at this point. (more…)