This Week’s Topics:
This Week’s Topics:
Ever since I started working part-time in 2014, that part time work quickly became full time, or at least close to full time, whenever I happened to have a break from school. Spring break has meant that I work for a full week, winter break rounds out to a full month, excluding holidays and half days, and summer amounts to, well, near full time work for several months, where the projects just keep on coming. I’m not complaining about this, I just find it odd how a “break” to me now means that I wind up working more than I would otherwise.
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Every now and again, I get the desire to play an older game that I really do not have the full capacity to play, and need to undergo several workarounds to get it working. These games are almost exclusively PC games that are not being actively sold any more, and tend to be on the more obscure side. Point is, I’m trying to play Never 7: The End of Infinity, but the original translation group took down all links, and I had to both find the files for this 18 year old game and get it running in English. Which I did, but then I couldn’t get it to play music!
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I do not get to talk about this very often, but I dearly and truly do adore so much about the history of video games, far more than any person ever should, and find one of the most entertaining things I may do with my time is to learn about the industry’s past and the pivotal turning points that have come to define it today. From how the bullheadedness of Sega Japan led to them turning down Sony, Silicon Graphics, and the advice of their American division before releasing the Saturn. Or how Atari wanted to release the 7800 around the launch of the NES, but couldn’t due to unpaid wages and ownership disputes. It has fascinated me for over a decade, and is largely the reason why I felt comfortable enough with the medium to even start this blog in the first place.
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Following the Danganronpa series over the past few years has been a turbulent ride, spanning over two excellent visual novels, a decent third person shooter that I should really revisit, an anime series that I railed on for 7 pages and still feel as if I was being a bit too generous towards, and various fan translated spin-off media that I never really checked out. However, all of that seemingly comes to a close with Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
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For a while now, I’ve been thinking about phasing out my current site in order to establish a new place to host all of my gave reviews, rundowns, and other writings, without the excess baggage that comes with a blog that one has been working with for about five years. I feel that I have become substantially better as a writer, and have a lot of things on this blog that I don’t really want to attach myself to. However, if I do switch over to a new site, I want it to be something very nice and more professional than a free WordPress blog, and feature a higher standard of writing quality than I currently have. So the idea is on the backburner until I am done with school and, presumably, have more time to devote to projects like this. I’d also need a better name for the site. (more…)
So, at GDC this past week, some Nintendo developers showed off Hyrule Wars From The Legend of Zelda, a scrapped concept for Breath of the Wild that had aliens invading the land of Hyrule, also called Legend of Zelda: Invasion. It’s a very peculiar concept to say the least, and featured concept art of what looks to be Ganondorf in a Metallica shirt, and concept sketches of Link in modern clothing riding on a motorcycle. I know people are giving Breath of the Wild all the felacio its bulbous appendage can handle, but I would be far more interested in playing a Zelda game with a differing aesthetic rather than one I am am more likely to hate than love due to mechanical changes that freak me the flip out. (more…)
Upon hearing the news that the overarching story of the Danganronpa series would be concluded in the form of an anime series instead of a third installment, I was more than a little confused, but understanding. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up, and if it were to serve as a conclusion, a third Danganronpa game would probably be constrained if it were presented in the format established in the two mainline entries, and Spike Chunsoft presumably did not want to change the game’s very foundation for a sequel. I previously reviewed Danganronpa 1, Danganronpa 2, and the spin-off Ultra Despair Girls, and will be spoiling all of them, as it is hard not to when talking about the story of a direct sequel.
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I mentioned last week how I’m going to revise some of my earlier novels? Well, I’m still doing that, and I have to say that I’m surprised how happy I still am with Verde’s Doohickey. I did spend a lot of time at it, but I normally hate my work right after I finish it and always think that it can be done better. It’s actually been quite the confidence booster to reread it and edit a few minor elements. Heck, I would officially publish it if I had a cover, and I think I’ll start pursuing that fairly soon. Possibly from the artist who drew this week’s header image (more…)
Well, it’s finally here. After 3.5 years of anticipation, and a second playthrough for both 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors and Virtue’s Last Reward, the conclusionary chapter of the Zero Escape series Zero Time Dilemma is finally here. I already spoke of my love for this series, so without further ado, let’s jump right in. (more…)
Following the initial release of 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, the game failed to capture a sizable market in Japan, with sales failing to surpass 50,000, while in the west it sold enough to justify a second printing. Because of this the game was viewed as a success, and a sequel was put forward, one that would release on two platforms in order to maximize the audience, feature a far larger and more ambitious story, and be rebranded under the moniker of Zero Escape. However, the game failed to perform adequately in Japan, and there was a brief period where it was believed the series would end forever on the cliffhanger of the series. Which would have been a colossal shame, but that isn’t the case as the final chapter is due out in a week. But before that, let’s dig into the middle chapter of this trilogy with Virtue’s Last Reward.
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So, it’s been about four years since I originally reviewed Zero Escape: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, and with the third installment in the series, Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma only a month away, I decided I should refresh myself on a series whose intricacies and strong narratives that acted as a key source of inspiration for me as a writer. …And of course I’m going to review them. I mean, the very idea of investing a lengthy amount of time into a game and not reviewing it would be positively preposterous after doing this for four years. (more…)
Coming off the heels of the overall well received port of the first Danganronpa game on PC, Spike Chunsoft and Abstraction games released Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. I originally reviewed the Vita version in 2014, but I like to think that I’ve grown substantially as a writer since then, and I am always willing to support companies, especially Japanese companies, when they support the PC marketplace with niche titles.
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After many requests from people who don’t own PlayStation Vitas, and an announcement that there were no plans to port the Danganronpa series to a new platform, Spike Chunsoft decided to bring this beloved little visual novel franchise to the PC market. I originally reviewed the Vita version in 2014, but I like to think that I’ve grown substantially as a writer since then, and I am always willing to support companies, especially Japanese companies, when they support the PC marketplace with niche titles. So on with the review!
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Okay, The Malice of Abigale Quinlan has been released, and now I’m pretty lost as to what I should do. I’ve been pretty depressed as of late, with school starting up, my job being incredibly stagnant, and my inability to come out as transgender to my parents is really getting to me. I have insecurities and anxieties, which are two common things that I should learn to live with because they are never going away no matter what I do. Oh, and constantly feeling like a failure when it comes to literally everything I do certainly doesn’t help. (more…)
About a year ago I went through the two mainline Danganronpas, Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair, both of which I thought were fantastic games about deception, murder, hope, despair, and being very dark while also being profusely silly and overall fun. As such, I was quick to order a copy of Ultra Despair Girls, which acted as my one full-priced retail purchase for the year of 2015, and I had high hopes that it would be among my favorite titles of the year, but that’s unfortunately not the case… (more…)
When it comes to writing, for whatever reason my brain feels like an old piece of toast on this faithful day, and I never prepare an introductory bit for Nigmabox Rundowns… So I’ll just get on with it and post the page and a half I’ve been gradually building over the course of the past week. (more…)
Note: I re-reviewed this title in 2016. Please disregard this review.
How long has it been since I cleared Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc? About a month? Well, I certainly did not want to wait very long before diving into its sequel, Super Danganronpa 2: Sayonara Despair… Except it is simply titled Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair because… reasons. Still, this shows how excited I was, and it was helped by hearing a few claim the title was better than the first one, which I loved if you don’t recall. A status the sequel is positioned in as well, but how much is the question I am here to explain to you.. and a bit to myself, I suppose.
An updated 2016 review of this game has been posted here.
Danganronpa’s apparent existence outside of Japan prior to its official release is something that confuses me greatly. Yes, there was an anime adaptation made three years after the first game’s release, but the original PSP title recieved a fan translation which was apparently something of a major hit with a certain subset of kids on Tumblr. Maybe I was just not paying enough attention to a title I never even knew existed until Zero Escape’s Director mentioned how he was buds with the Director of Danganronpa, but I guess that does not matter now, as I had a $20 bill I was willing to place into my Vita for a quirky dark visual novel that I expected to be somewhat similar to Zero Escape, but comparing the two is more than a bit difficult after going through the basic premise. (more…)
