Well, This Year is Starting Swimmingly

There's a certain something that's come up and it's left me completely unable to sit down and focus on anything, much less write stuff.  Sorry, folks, but it happens sometimes and goddamn, do I wish this shit would stop happening to me.  Hopefully it'll clear up tomorrow.  Of course, that's what I said yesterday.  Ugh.

here's hoping that I'm just pissed off when it's over

Sort of a Stop-Gap Post

I usually like to start off the new year with a big ol' numbers post or something along those lines, but I'm just really not into it at the moment.  In fact, I'm not really into a whole -lot- right now really.  As I've said before, I'm still getting over being sick and I've gone and re-aggravated my back with a particularly intense fit of coughing, and it's just very unpleasant.  It was worse yesterday, of course, which is the primary reason why no post made it up - it wasn't as if I was off being busy or anything.  After all, where would I be on New Year's Eve?  Nowhere but home, and while that might sound just a bit bitter, I honestly wouldn't prefer to be anywhere else - it's just the circumstances at home that I wish I could change.  Enough of that, though.

I'm going to avoid saying a lot here because I want to save a bunch of it for my proper New Year's post, but I also wanted to post something here because part of my goals for this year is to be less of a damn embarrassment to myself in terms of managing to make posts.  Now don't worry - I make it sound like I'm taking it a little harder than I am, but that's purposefully so because it is something that bugs me.  I didn't even break 300 posts in 2013 which is something that I'm highly annoyed with.  Even though I tell myself the initial goal was always 'Every Other Day' (which means 183 posts, which I did about 100 more than) I -like- that I can produce something called content on the daily and I really want to get back into that.  Really, I want to focus on writing again this year, since it oddly seemed to slip my mind last year.

Regardless, as stated there's just not a whole lot I can get into tonight.  My back is making it hard to write just about anything, as it's really hard to get comfortable in my chair and I've had to take a lot of breaks even writing this, which makes it hard to keep focus.  I'm still plugging along at Terraria's Hard Mode and grumbling loudly because I can't find any goddamn Adamantite now that I have a Mythril Drill and I keep fucking dying to the multitudes of fucking enemies and I've started The Last of Us.  However, the less said about that for now, the better, because goddamn Clickers are the worst.  All in all, I'm more than a little grumbly, and I think that's clearly obvious.  So, you know.

Business as usual.

nice to see 2014 starting out so differently

Yes, Of Course I'm Going to Bitch

As I stated yesterday, I had reached the precipice of Terraria's content where my fore-knowledge ended and the newness of the game's offerings began.  Specifically with the boss named The Wall of Flesh which is then immediately followed by what is rather appropriately called "Hard Mode".  It's not difficult to imagine that I have indeed surpassed the challenge of the Wall of Flesh and entered Hard Mode, and it is so, but it's not exactly...what I was expecting.  Or hoping for.  Which is where I begin to get a little grumbly about it, because of just how the game deigns to earn that 'Hard Mode' descriptor.

Hard Mode is hard because the entire caste of enemies has been upgraded and expanded on to a ridiculous amount - no longer are Zombies your only concern at night, but Werewolves, Armored Skeletons, Skeleton Archers and Phantasms roam the ground, where Demon Eyes have been joined by Wraiths which go straight through walls and ignores all barriers, meaning you cannot simply box yourself in and remain safe.  Below ground is the same deal, with Illuminant Slimes and Bats joining Creepers and Giant Bats and Spectral Swords and Shadow Hammers (both of which similarly ignore barriers like Wraiths) and Mimics.  All of these have inflated health values and defenses that necessitate weapons better than you'll likely have because Hard Mode begins with absolutely no aplomb or changeover, and you're stuck getting right into it.  The Wall of Flesh might leave you a weapon - it left me a Buster Sword, yes like Cloud's - but I don't know that it's guaranteed, and thus you might stand a chance of being thrust into this changed version of your world without the proper tools to protect yourself.

Something that the Wall of Flesh is guaranteed to drop is the Pwnhammer, a hammer that has the ability to destroy Demon Altars, which are scattered through the caverns and corruption of your world.  Goal Number One of Hard Mode is, without a doubt, to find three Demon Altars and destroy them.  Doing so will release new ores into your world and these new ores are powerful as tools and as armor both.  Of course, by 'release new ores into your world', I mean certain blocks in your world will be changed -into- ore blocks which means you get to search your entire world all over again.  While everything wants to, and is more than capable of killing you.  Now, I'm not sure exactly how much of 1.2 is in the Console version of Terraria, so let's make it simple - the first Demon Altar will spawn Cobalt, the second will spawn Mythril and the third and final one will spawn Adamantite.  (If 1.2 was present, there could be a chance of them being Palladium, Orichalcum and Titanium respectively)

You want Cobalt Ore right away.  Cobalt is used to make a Cobalt Drill or Cobalt Pickaxe which is the entry-tier pick/drill that can mine Mythril.  You then need to make a Mythril Pickaxe or Drill to finally mine Adamantite.  It's very padded and drawn-out, and while you make other, important things with these ores as well, it's a little frustrating on its head.  Especially at the start when you're vulnerable, desperately seeking out Cobalt with every monster and its brother bearing down your neck.  Perhaps there are some that find a thrill in that.  Were I not sick, maybe I would too.  I doubt it, but it's possible.  No, all I feel is a slight miff and annoyance, especially when Cobalt is, for some reason, exceedingly difficult to spot while playing the game.  If you'll note the screenshot I used for this post - the sizable blue mass in the bottom right corner is all cobalt.  It was only after taking that shot, uploading it to Flickr and linking it here that I actually saw it which was, of course, a while after I had died and began on my next task of making a proper storage room because my damn backpack fills up far too fast now.

I haven't actually delved too far into it.  I don't even have enough Cobalt for the purposes of making a pick or a drill because of the reasons stated, and the only reason I know what I know is because I did cheat a bit and look up a wiki for it.  Since I found some of all three ores, but couldn't mine a single one of them.  This is because Cobalt requires a Molten Pickaxe which is actually a downgrade from the Nightmare pickaxe despite being of higher 'quality' and that downgrade has expedited my search for Cobalt which has, in turn, made my search more difficult.  It's a vicious cycle, I'm sure you can tell as much.  It also does not do too much to breed 'fun' in a game that I was otherwise enjoying prior to the Wall of Flesh which was, by the by, a pain in the ass as a boss fight because Ranged-Only Boss Fights are almost always terrible as an idea.

Not to say that I'm bitter!  It all just relies on me actually getting the ball rolling so I can get the tools and get the gear and then be at the place where I was at the end of Normal Mode again, where I'm just comfortable building and exploring and enjoying.  It's just that I -was- there and now I'm not, so it's a bit jarring.  The padding of the ores is honestly the only thing that really bothers me as it just seems blatant - you have three new ores, so it's a little...silly to require each one for the next, since that leaves the best as little else than a prize in terms of mining equipment, even when its true desire is thus in armor and weapons.  There should be -something- that only Adamantite can mine, is my point, if just to make it worth it.  Oh well.  I guess the first step is just finding the area from that screenshot again and getting all of that Cobalt!

it's such a nice blue color, how the hell do I miss it so easily?

Oh Lord, I Am Sick

So I got a late Christmas present: I'm sick! Really sick! How thoughtful.
— Mogs (@DarthMogs) December 27, 2013

Coughing so hard that you hurt your back and subsequently hurt it more with every new cough is awful, I do not recommend it.
— Mogs (@DarthMogs) December 27, 2013

It might be fairly obvious, but I can't deny that I'm not really feeling any better since I made those tweets.  My nose is running like a faucet, my coughing has stayed about where it is which is now making my shoulders and upper back hurt, my lower back still has a thrown muscle (at least, that's what I'm guessing) and I'm just very, very achy.  Earlier on, I even had a little spell where I almost fainted due to a lovely bout of vertigo (I'm assuming) which merely had me trip almost into the bathtub completely in the dark bathroom and required a nice little sit down on the bathroom floor for a few minutes in a cold sweat before I could move again.  Though, I do feel quite better since then, in that I'm...you know, back to the -regular- amount of sickness.

As such, not a whole lot has been done.  Yesterday, I spent the entire day laying in bed and watching The Unit since it's marathoning on TV and I literally couldn't muster up the energy to play video games.  As sad as that is to write down, of course.  Today, I've spent the majority curled up in bed with Terraria on my Vita which certainly helps keep the mind off the aches the body has.  I've officially reached the end of my knowledge of things in the world of Terraria where it comes from watching videos about the game or what have you, so that is fairly exciting, since I know there's a whole second phase of the game awaiting me that I have yet to experience in any such way.  I almost dread it, but hell, nothing ventured or whatever.

Regardless, there's really not a whole lot more I can type tonight.  Sorry for the silence, but I'm sure you guys understand.

I never would've figured out how to summon the Wall of Flesh by myself, that shit is wacky

Okay, I Was -Really- Sick This Time

I hate feeling like I am doing just a lot of sick posts, but, well, I can't exactly help it when I am constantly getting into varying states of sickness during these lovely Spring months.  'Lovely' meaning 'terrible', of course.  Because they are.  Terrible.  Very terrible.  The worst.

Anyway, this was a fun weekend and when I say 'fun', I mean 'full of soul-crushing agony' that you will certainly understand if you've had food poisoning and/or a particularly nasty stomach flu in recent times.  I'm leaning more towards the latter, but the point is that my Friday consisted of nasty things that are associated with those two ailments that I'm sure you do not want me to go into detail about, and my Saturday and today have consisted of recovering from said ailment.  Or rather, I should say today, since Saturday I was mostly still in a haze since Friday (the entirety of Friday, it hit around 12:30-1:00 AM) and Saturday sort of...blended in together.  Except the terrible things were mostly on Friday, of course.  Which is why I'm thinking it was some sort of 24-hour bug which is not uncommon!  And I believe two of my co-workers had just recovered from something similar.  Or just recovered from -something- nasty since one of them was still pale Thursday.  You know....the day before I conspicuously got sick.  Hmm.

Unfortunately, the horrors that accompany a sickness that I experienced this weekend sort of preclude one from getting much accomplished.  Being that I was barely able to walk around the house with only minor errors and only such occasions that deemed it necessary like hurried trips to unmentionable places or to get some water or take a pill that I don't know actually accomplished anything, I wasn't exactly in a place for gaming or anything like that either.  Strange, right?  I'm ashamed to say that I actually checked my Twitter on Saturday through my Vita because I am kind of a Twitter whore now, but that's basically been my entire involvement with technology until today.

Today....today was different.  Very different.  Feeling refreshed, even though not 100% better, I was able to plug solid hours into Dragon Fantasy Book I and actually managed to complete the entirety of its offerings.  I hope to have a write-up about it in the next few days but here's a little Spoiler Alert:  It's pretty damn fantastic.  Did you like Dragon Warrior as a kid?  If you said yes, then buy this game.  If you said no then I don't even know what to say, you heathen.  Of course I'm kidding.  Of course I am.  Mostly.  Somewhat.

Anyway, I mostly just wanted to drop in a line and let you folks know what went wrong this time around.  I did post about it on my Twitter a few times, but, again, the damn widget broke and there's not another one I can use and it's annoying as hell.  Since I got into the habit of using it for specifically this type of thing.  Oh well.  Hopefully back to normal...again....starting tomorrow!

I'm seriously not kidding what the hell is wrong with you, not liking Dragon Warrior

Sick Post Because I Am Sick

So, it has been a shit week.  One of the worst in recent memory and recent memory isn't actually too recent which is saying quite a bit.  Fun times are not being had, is my point.

Technically, I'm -not- sick at the moment, but I'm going ahead and saying so because I had a migraine for four hours, and for the last hour of it moving sent a shock of nausea and exploding pain throughout my whole body.  I'm not really over that yet, but I wanted to post something tonight, even if it was just a quick "Hey, this is what's up" thing.  Because that is what I do.

In the meantime while I recover, perhaps you should look into purchasing Guacamelee! because it is pretty good.  I'm not having the amazing "this is awesome, how awesome?  SO awesome" experience with it that a lot of other people seem to be, which might be partly because of my week, but it is a mechanically sound game with a good art style and nice sense of humor.  Being Cross-Buy, Cross-Save, using the Vita Controller functionality, having a full retail trophy list and being on a little sale for PS Plus folks (part of an indie promotion that you all better friggin' support) makes it all the sweeter.

So yeah.  Bear with me, folks.

So, I'm Sick Again

This is me.  I am Yosuke.  Minus the need for a stomach pump.

I have yet another sinus thingy going on, and whether it's a sinus infection or just general wonkiness -with- my sinuses is yet to be established.  Like, drastic temperature/climate changes throwing me off.  It doesn't really make that much of a difference (and honestly, I'm leaning towards the latter since I do not have common infection things) because it is ruining me all the same and that's a shame.  When I'm coughing hard enough to make my back hurt and sniffling five times every twenty seconds, it's pretty much all the same thing no matter the root cause and it sucks pretty direly.    That I don't have a fever and the stuff that I am hacking up in mass quantities is clear is of little solace since I have everything else and it is terrible and I am actively miserable.

Speaking of miserable, I beat Final Fantasy XIII-2 and when I can form entire sentences of vitriol I will review it.  Spoiler:  it is terrible.  I don't want to say a lot about it here because I'll feel like I'm reiterating during the review proper, but that's a thing that's going to happen, so be on the look-out for that sometime this week hopefully.  With any luck, as the weather normalizes over the next couple days, I'll even out and feel less like death warmed over.  Until then, though, I probably won't be able to write a whole lot because even doing just this is kind of a...not a chore, but it is not pleasant since I just sort of feel wooden in my head and I worry that is translating into these words and sentences.  Also I keep losing my train of thought and it keeps getting replaced by new things which is not very good for 'flow', as it were and I like flow.  I like flowing things together.  It is a neat thing.

I'm going to try to at least type -something- on these nights where I feel terrible since it has been happening a lot lately and it's bugging me.  I used to think that a post of mine wasn't a good one unless it was at least four paragraphs, and I realize that it is silly to gauge things by that so I'll stop doing that.  Just going to type until I am done typing.  And I think I am done typing tonight since that's all I really wanted to say, and my brain is already attempting to form things for the mentioned XIII-2 review and it is just not going to happen tonight, nor should it.  But some night. Some night soon.  In the meantime, I finally get to play something else since I am not going to try and platinum it, even out of spite, because there is a goddamn trophy tied to slot machines and the winning at them and that shit just ain't happening.  That -never- happens.  I don't understand why game companies keep doing that.  It just makes people hate you.

Apparently, This is REVENGEANCE'S NA Box Art

That is what Joystiq has told me today and that's...that's pretty cool.  Box art has been kind of a thing lately, what with the Bioshock Infinite situation and such, so I guess it makes sense to make something of a deal about it for a little while until things sort of taper off and we all go back to not really caring one way or another.  More so than just about any other game I can think of, however, REVENGEANCE'S cover will probably be the one that'll cause the last few ripples if only because it is the cover art for the game that I figure will still end up being even more polarizing than your normal Metal Gear game for the simple fact that REVENGEANCE is not your normal Metal Gear game.  I will never get tired of people who complain about things never changing, everything's a sequel, blah blah, and when something different happens, the same people whine because someone is 'ruining' a franchise by doing something different.  It is the height of silliness, to be sure.

That's pretty much where we're at with REVENGEANCE (no, I am not going to not cap it because it is that awesome) and I don't see that changing....well, ever.  That's kind of a good thing, though, I guess?  If nothing else, it'll keep people talking about it since, if there's something the game will need, it'll be exposure and word of mouth.  Metal Gear Rising won't have the full audience that a Metal Gear Solid title can expect because some of that audience is part of the group all in a huff because it's so different and is ruining the sanctity of the entire franchise and blah blah blah.  To top that, the group that will latch on to this game simply because it's from Platinum Games probably won't be enough to bring it back up to how popular it could be -expected- to be.  So really, the box art here is a lot more important than one might assume from just not really paying a lot of attention to box art.  I know I certainly don't unless I just see something that -really- pops and that's not really a concern lately.

I'm trying to be objective about the cover and I just can't tell if I am succeeding or not, because I just think it's really damn cool looking and I am also fighting off a little sinus trouble or a cold that has my mind all muddled.  It conveys the message that had been broadcast loud and clear since the name "REVENGEANCE" got put at the end - this is an action game about cutting shit.  Like, a lot of it.  In awesome ways.  Like a goddamn Ninja.  Which, coincidentally, Raiden -is-.  I mean, I know that I am biased, which is why I can't say for sure that it's a -good- cover, but I know that I like it and despite being the target audience anyway, I would probably pick this up off a shelf if I saw it and knew nothing of the game.  Hopefully that happens, because I want this game to succeed.  It's one of the handful of games I'm already hyped for next year and that's only going to grow and grow as it draws nearer and nearer.  And as I wonder if I'll still be able to switch my pre-order to the Limited Edition with the lamp.  Because goddamnit, I am making money and I am allowed to be a whore.  So whoring it is!

Wait, shit, that didn't come out right.

And Yea, As I Prepare To Gaze Into The Abyss

...I regret nothing.

I'm closing in on the point where I will fully have AssRev in the bag, completely and totally and were I in better health, tonight would be a review for it.  Or a review for Retro City Rampage.  Both of which I -want- to do, but I can't stay focused enough to even attempt.  I need to build up a verve, an energy to really put out something of that length that maintains quality I'm happy with, so I am more than willing to wait for when it'll be right than to attempt it and fail.  Which surprises me, because I would never describe myself as a patient man, but I suppose that sort of thing just comes naturally when you care about what you're doing.  Anyways, melodrama or whatever that is aside, with AssRev out of the way, I'll be heading off to new journeys to get through the backlog that I carelessly add games to at a whim because I am extremely short-sighted or something.  My options are various and tempting, though my eye has been warily trained at Final Fantasy XIII since its release, admittedly merely because of those that came before it, and the polarizing nature of its content has had me even more curious.

I've stated various times that I feel like I am too lenient on most games, most of the time (not all of them, of course, as you'll see with the few Ragequit posts I've made) so a lot of the time, I'll still find a way to speak positively about games that others have panned, probably rightly so.  Of course, there are times where I find that my opinion falls right in with the general consensus out there, and in those cases, it just cannot be helped - you like what you like and you can't really do a whole lot about that.  Still, when I see a game so polarizing, I can't help but want to try it -just- to see which side of the fence I land on - a simple curiosity to sate rather than hoping for an experience or preparing myself for a flop.  My standards are low that way, in that I'm not expecting -anything-, but also -everything-, simply for gathering purposes, that I may come up with an aggregate of my feelings, my own thoughts, of whatever the game is in question.  That's sort of my mindset with Final Fantasy XIII, or as best at it as I can.

I fear that I may already be a little painted in my opinion of FFXIII because of 'Hope Estheim' (Who, for some time, I thought his name was literally Hope Esteem which is disgustingly cheesy and inexcusable) who seems to fill 'that role' as that character you just say "ugh" to for the most of the game before he does a turn for awesome or something and I roll my eyes because I am not swayed so easily.  What I mean is that I already have a little negativity built for the game which is unfortunate and I should know better, but I have been trying to put it aside.  It may be a few days yet before I begin the game, depending on how kind AssRev's MP is to me (and how easily this infection surrenders from my body), so I may be able to 'cleanse' myself of these off thoughts of the game, ready and eager to put it through its paces in my own way

Given my history with Final Fantasy as a series, being that I have only dabbled, never really conquered aside from a handful of games, it's actually a bit of a mystery going in because maybe I just won't beat this one either.  Obviously, you go into any game expecting to beat it, but attention spans fade when it comes to RPGs, and I can already feel the tug of Deus Ex:  Human Revolution, but I think the thing that will inspire me forward is the prospect of playing FFXIII-2, which is apparently, by all accounts, fun.  I -seek- fun, I live for it in games, and I want to always find fun in the games I play.  I expect to find -some- within the confines of FFXIII, but I expect more from the sequel.  And that alone, I believe, will be enough to bring me through the entirety of XIII, if just to be able to experience XIII-2 and try to make sense of its story, which is probably a fool's errand.  Whatever the outcome, I'm sure I'll end up throwing it out here!

Bleeeurgh

I'm not sure if it's been obvious with the last few posts, but I just haven't been feeling all that up to par these last few nights.  I've felt a little sick-ish (which teaches me to never joke about getting sick, even in the comments of one of Chance's posts) and the overall climate is just interfering with my ability to really process things.  Interestingly enough, I looked back a year and found this post this was basically around the same time (a couple weeks earlier, sure) that suggested a situation much the same as my current one.  I'm going to suggest that it simply speaks to my inability to tolerate climate changes initially, since I'm not sure if there's anything else that would follow a schedule and get me all slumpy like this.  Because I am decidedly in a slump of proportions that I dare not consider, lest I make the hole any deeper than it is already.  That's how slumps work, right?  Right?

Anyways, it's a little more than the weather I suspect and I'll not bore you all with the details (mostly because I don't care to share them), but things have been changing around in my life a bit fairly recently which also might have something to do with my day-to-day.  I got a new job of sorts, which means a newer, shinier flow of cash that has afforded me the ability to actually buy games that I would have otherwise passed up on in favor of games that I simply could not do without.  It's a foreign concept to me at this point, seeing as I've been a regular tightwad the last couple years, but the splurging -has- been a bit therapeutic and will only help myself and my blog in the long run.  In the last week, I've picked up copies of Deus Ex:  Human Revolution, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 for the simple fact that FFXIII-2 was on sale for fifteen bucks and I am not about to pass that up since I actually want to play XIII-2.  XIII?  Not so much, but I cannot do things out of order, so I picked it up at the bargain (less bargainy than the sequel) price of twenty dollars at a different store because the one I purchased XIII-2 from was fresh out of copies of the predecessor, much to my chagrin.  And while I was getting XIII, I saw DE: HR and had one of those "Eh, why not?" moments - a literal whim that I have not experienced, or at least not acted on, for months - before grabbing it and throwing down the $40 for the both of them.

I've had my eye on Deus Ex for a while now - probably since before its release on premise and pedigree alone, but I never found the impetus to pull the trigger and I'm not sure why.  It has the aesthetic I crave, it's been touted as a generally pretty good game (aside from a few design flaws) and it offers a level of constrained freedom that I find tantalizing against the more 'actual freedom' design off some of the sandbox games I've been playing as of late.  It is a game that I have wanted, yet I never found the reason to give it that shot.  With any luck, my whim of throwing a twenty dollar bill at it will pay off with dividends and I will be at least half as enthused with it as I was (and remain) over a certain other game that I cannot help but associate with it in my head.  Alpha Protocol was basically -my- Deus Ex in lieu of not being Deus Ex.  The amount of replayability it offered based on making your character different, as most took to doing with Deus Ex thanks to the body mods and such, in the same world to see how it shaped around you was tantamount to wizardry for some back then, just as it remains with Alpha Protocol.

Similarly so with Final Fantasy XIII, I had always intended on picking it up, but I also never really saw a scenario in which I would pick it up for lack of time or desire.  After finding that the shine has, indeed, quickly faded from AssRev, I'm that much more wary of other games that the internet as a whole has similarly disliked, especially FFXIII, as the reasons for its reviled nature are more numerous than several other games combined.  Yet at the same time, those naysayers generally have positive, or at least less damning things to say of XIII-2 which has me intrigued certainly.  Being that I have not actually finished a Final Fantasy aside from 7 and 10 (kind of 6, but it's cheating a little - I played a game from the start of the second half of the game, beat it, and then later started a new game and made it to the point where I picked up my initial play.) and only dabbled in the other titles, who's to say I won't wring some enjoyment out of it?  Aside from common sense and the like.  Yet if I must suffer through XIII to get to its sequel, to the 'fun one', then that's something I'm willing to do.  If I beat Dark Void (well, less beat it and more conquered it with my platinum trophy) for only the sake of spite, than I can muster up enough bluster to soldier through XIII, even if it is a cluster.  (Okay, little forced, but I had to)

With any luck, this little spell I'm stuck in will be gone within the next few days and I can get back into posting things of actual substance.  Seemed to have cleared up last year, at least, so whatever's going on will clear up here as well.  I suspect one of the main problems is my lack of a definite sleep schedule as my job has me getting up and going at times where I would normally be....well, sleeping.  Meaning that I'm sleeping far less overall.  I'm sure I don't have to point out the obvious with that, so add that with the climate change, as well as the thought that I might just have a cold instead of the climate being a thing (or as well as, perhaps) then I suppose it's understandable that I find it difficult to function in the areas that I normally find it fairly easy to function in.  Still, with any luck, I'll get things sorted, but just in case, the next few days might be a little bumpy in terms of what gets posted and when.  Just a heads-up!

Final Fantasy VII Getting a Re-Release Kind Of

So, hey remember when Final Fantasy VII was released for PC?  N....no?  You don't?  Well.....uh....it happened.  It was a thing that existed.  I should know, because I own it....somewhere.  And never got it to work past a certain boss or random encounter that I don't remember because, as we all know, Final Fantasy VII wasn't really, uh, good on PC.  It's a common complaint from that era and continues even now because nobody has realized that you actually have to work on a port to make sure it works on the systems that you obviously didn't really want it to be on, but yet still wanted the money from it.  I'm not grouchy or bitter at all at that whole thing, what are you talking about?  Regardless, Final Fantasy VII, by all accounts (that I've heard of, as well as experienced) was a pretty egregious case on the PC even for the time and the standard.

Obviously, the best idea is to re-release that version with a few tweaks on PC.  Wait, what?  When I say tweaks, I mean added Cloud Saving functionality (hurr hurr), Achievements (Nobody cares about them on PC games!) and a Thing where you can just kind of click to get free HP, MP and money called the "Character Booster".  No, I am not exaggerating.  Yes, it is kind of defeating the purpose of an RPG.  No, I don't expect it to be criticized.  No, it doesn't make any goddamn sense.  Considering all we have to go on is a cached webpage, I'm not saying that's -all- the information we have about it in regards to the tweaks, nor do I expect "Hey, we made it so you can actually play the game now" would be a bullet point, but I -am- saying that I expect it as much as I don't expect it.  Because I anticipate Squeenix doing dumb things, you realize, because they do that a lot.  I mean, I think re-releasing Final Fantasy VII on PC for '£7.99 / €9.99' (no $ listed, but it translates to about $12.50, so expect $9.99-14.99) with -even less work necessary- than most re-releases nowadays is as brilliant as it is terrible, so you kind of see where I'm coming from.

Well, one thing that the site doesn't clear up is just how they plan on distributing the game, which I imagine is likely because it's not really fully in the works yet, what with the no $ thing.  Regardless, if this is even real (which, let's face it, it's like 98% possible) the likely thing would be to suggest integrating the game into Steam for the copy-protection, actually using the Achievements, and having a realistic expectation of the game to actually sell to people who play PC games.  There are other avenues, of course, but considering Squeenix's PC ventures are already on Steam (At least FFXI and XIV which, despite whatever flak you might give them, are legitimate installments for Squeenix and Steam's partnership), I'm not going to suggest them, nor am I going to suggest that Squeenix is dumb enough to attempt their own service, ala Origin.  I mean, they are, but it's not going to happen, thankfully, because I think they're starting to realize that they kind of need to start -making- money soon.  (Which would be a lot easier if you would localize fucking games like Final Fantasy Type-0 you fucks.  I don't even care on what, re-format it for the Vita and localize it for $40, I'll fucking buy it.)

As an idea, this is all pretty inoffensive aside from the Character Booster which I will have to see in action before I acknowledge it as anything but dumb and I would probably buy it if I was into PC gaming and such.  Since Steam Money cards are officially a thing, I could even buy it as more than a theoretical.  It's totally possible now.  But I already have a digital PSOne version of the game bought, and I'm just waiting for the day that it's playable on the Vita (Or I happen across a really cheap PSPGo) to give it another good once through.  It won't have trophies because why would this quick cash-grab extend to anywhere but PC, but it'll be fine enough.  Really, I think this all just came around because, during a meeting, some higher-ups were talking about some quick cash ideas.  Since the next port up is Final Fantasy VI, they were talking about that and the different versions of it out there to see if there was anything else.  And then someone says "Hey, did you guys know we released FFVII on PC?" and everyone looks at each other in wonderment as he says "It was 1998, though.  Also barely playable.  I guess we should just ign-" and then he was promptly assaulted by someone else who said "GET SOME PEOPLE ON IT RIGHT NOW.  FIX IT, ADD A COUPLE THINGS AND CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE!".  It was likely very entertaining and oh god, I really shouldn't be doing things when I'm sick like this.

Still, it's pretty neat that other people will be able to play the game in a way that they likely have not done so before.  At least not legally.  And likely not the PC version because seriously, who else knew it existed?  If you're holding your hand up, first off, stop that because I can't see you and second off, you're lying.  Who knows, if it goes well, maybe we'll see something similar with Final Fantasy VIII because it -also- had a PC release that you didn't know about either.  And it is likely just as ripe for re-jiggering with achievements and other silly things as VII was which was, uh, not all that ripe at all.  I mean, come on, VIII was released on PC 12 years ago likely as an after-thought of gigantic proportions.  At least VIII has Triple Triad, though.  Mmm....maybe they'll add online multi-player with Triple Triad.  They won't, but it's fun to dream.

Sick Still, More Game Talk

So, it seems like I might be a bit on the decline rather than getting less sick but I guess it always gets worse before it gets better or somesuch other rhetoric.  Bottom line is, I'm still sick, there's still no news, I still haven't made enough progress in games to speak of (though this is mostly because my cooling ideas are falling through, meaning little to no real PS3 time) so why don't I just ramble about my card game some more.  I have a whole other facet at least somewhat realized in my head that I haven't brought up in the slightest and while it highlights one of my short-comings (the inability to draw people, hence not having concept pictures of them to share) it also gives a pretty good idea of what all I'm going for with the game itself, even if it might seem a bit scattered and/or more realized in my head at this point yet.

The entire facet that I haven't really gone into on here about is the actual 'Factions' of the game, of which I have sort of realized in my head, but I haven't put them to paper whatsoever for the reasons I've elucidated already.  They are a very rough realization of what I've envisioned so far, obviously, and I haven't worked out mechanics enough to know if they're viable/balanced with the 'perks' I've kind of figured on them having, but it's better than just not having anything at all.  Of course, considering the 'world' I've realized the game in bears an apparent resemblance to Mirror's Edge (that I am trying to figure -against- being since I'd rather try and stay away from 'rip off' comments if possible), I should preface things with a few facts here.  First off, I haven't actually played Mirror's Edge yet, but I've watched an LP of the game that I don't remember too much of despite it being highly entertaining.  (Both because of the game and the LPer)  Secondly, I know one of the factions is pretty much like Mirror's Edge, but I like it so whatever.

I'll go ahead and elaborate on that faction now, as it was the first, will likely be the 'hero' faction of the game (or protagonist faction or similar) and it's the one I've put the most thought into.  Of the four realized, this faction is classified as the "Runner" faction which does exactly what the name implies.  I don't have an official name for any of them as they're just concepts yet, but they all have a sort of descriptive title like that.  The Freerunners do pretty much exactly what you think; some of them actually try to do right by the city the game takes place in by delivering communiques and the like, where the others pretty much are just in it to run from the special army.  Adrenaline junkies, the lot of them, they still can offer a nice distraction for other runners who might be a little more 'professional' or righteous or what have you.  Their strength will be getting from Point A to Point B the fastest out of the groups, which will either be done through adding +1 base move to all their movements or those taken with Faction-specific cards, I haven't decided just yet.  With two movements possible in a turn, 2 extra squares will go quite a long way in the long run.

The second faction is decidedly the 'antagonist' faction, as they are the Special Forces militia put in place by the current head honcho.  I should've elaborated a bit earlier, but this sort of plays into the "I haven't played Mirror's Edge so I don't know if I'm ripping it off" thing.  Quite simply, after being elected into office (of some sort, dunno if he's actually the President or what) this high-up guy starts very slowly sinking his domain into a rigid, fear-based society, turning it from normal every day life to something more like V for Vendetta, what with the curfews, the possibility for random kidnapping, and other such things 'for your protection'.  Official crime is down by a bit (aside from those caused by the Runners and other factions), but at the cost of the bad dudes having free reign to cause problems themselves.  When playing as this Special Forces Militia or 'Gunners', you have the strength in numbers, since you'll be able to field 3 or 4 members of the faction (though they're individually the least impressive of all the factions because of this) at the start, and you -might- be able to call in reinforcements, I haven't decided.

The third is the first of the 'second-tier' factions, so said because I imagine if this were a game proper, this one and the next one would be dropped in favor of simply having the 'heroes' and the 'villains', but I don't operate as such.  The 'Modders' as I have dubbed them is a mainly co-op faction, since they get their strength from pairs.  As in, you field two at a time and one can augment the other, even from a distance, as they are kind of cyborgs.  The idea I'm running with is sort of Borg-ish experimental beings have been made by the head bad guy except two of them escaped with the technology used to make them and are now obsessed with bringing people into their 'order' to try and perfect their own design.  So their cards and the like will probably focus on equippable items mostly and either they can equip to their partner should they choose or they -share- equip slots, I'm not quite sure which.  Again, still not sure on the whole balance of things here.

The last faction is the faction that I'm sure none of you are surprised that I'm including and/or that I made an effort to actually fit this in.  The 'Brawlers' do just what you expect, and are basically just a group of streetfighters who cause problems among themselves and others for all sorts of reasons.  Some are trying to shake 'society' up with their fists to make everyone see that something is wrong, and some just want to punch people.  Regardless of the reason, they are very good at it and as you might expect, their cards/battle style is all about getting up-close and personal.  Because of that, however, in a world where guns exist, it's a dangerous venture, so I've had to think of how to make them equally dangerous.  My idea is, basically, either allowing them to equip up to three attacks (as opposed to two) -or- allowing them to chain attack cards.  Like, using an attack card and chaining that to an equipped attack card to decidedly increase their damage output.  Again, balance is probably going to step in here, but I like it as a base.

I like to think that I have, at least, a very definite cast of characters in the factions themselves, but I've also been thinking about individuals to fill those out.  Specifically, I've got about four people in mind for the Runners, five for the Gunners (which is easy, since you basically just have to pick names for the same base type, though there needs to be -some- variation of course), four Modders (two pairs) and three Brawlers, and while I'm sure it would be terribly interesting to describe designs, I'll save that for another time.  Or for a time when I can show you rather than describe them out.  Much as with the card concepts, at least I can put down something that shows I -have- put a lot of thought into this thing, even if it might not seem it.  With any luck, I'll be able to have more tangible proof sometime soon-ish.

Sick Post Because I'm Sick

Sometimes, Google.  Sometimes you do good.

So, as I have kind of alluded to in recent posts when I have actually posted, I have been fairly sick lately.  Thankfully not in the 'serious' sense, but enough so that I am in something of a haze for the better part of a day, or at least more of a haze than normal, what with it being Summer Spring (for a day yet) and all.  Which pretty much means I'm really in no condition to be writing even though I would love to.  I mean, I have tried the last couple nights, but I've had nothing really to work with and I feel like even if I had a giant two page -thing- about something really interesting, I wouldn't be able to do anything with it because I have just been 'derrrr' for the entirety of my down-time.  I also haven't been gaming all that much despite my recent acquisitions of Lollipop Chainsaw and Gravity Rush which burns me tremendously.  The brief bits of the former that I have played have been brilliant, but you'll hear about that soon enough in a format you might not expect.

I do have two bits of news here that I can talk about to try and get myself out of this little funk I'm in, since I feel like I am possibly on my way out of illness.  With any luck, I'll be back to throwing down posts that veer more verbose than a valiant victor verily vexing villains for a vendetta.  Said time is not tonight, however, so don't be surprised if I can only muster a couple paragraphs here for both bits of information.  Though, to be fair, there's not a whole lot to be said about either, one is pretty uniformly positive, and the other is Sega being Sega which means it is not positive whatsoever except maybe kind of a tiny little bit, but not really.  I should probably save that for the actual talking about it portion instead of here, but eh, I'm feeling all crazy wacky so who cares.

Why don't I just throw down the Goddamnit, Sega so we can have that done and move along, yeah?  Yeah, let's just go ahead and do that.  So, do you guys remember Valkyria Chronicles?  Well it's back!  In pog card form!  Kind of.  Valkyria Duel is a free-to-play, PC Browser-based card game that is, obviously, only available in Japan because shut up.  There's a planned Smartphone version of it as well, but that's not in the cards on the table just yet, though I imagine it will likely be fundamentally the same since it's likely not a very taxing game.  It will be, as some/most Free-to-play games are, supported by micro-transactions that I have no idea how they will play out.  I imagine you can either buy 'boosters' of people, or they'll have a special grouping of cards that are special enough to be paid-only.  I mean, it's a card game, there are not really all that many options here.

I.....well, I really don't know where to start here.  I'm sure you can imagine where I'm coming from before I even say it, but suffice it to be said that there is not enough "Goddamnit Sega" that I can say here.  I could say it til my already raw throat dries up and cracks and it'd still not be enough for everything that is wrong with this picture.  Now, do I personally care that this is a quick cash-grab for a franchise that I happen to enjoy despite every instance of Sega trying to prevent that?  Of course not.  In fact, I encourage it - who knows, if they rake in enough profit from this, maybe they'll feel confident enough in a PSN-only, no-dub version of Valkyria Chronicles 3 for us since, hey, they'd still be making money off of the whole thing from micro-transactions of the card game.  And maybe if they did that, they could release -this- game over here for smartphones/browsers in an attempt at the same, but expanded, cash-grab.  I imagine it kind of hinges on at least having the ability to play all three games, however, since all three games rosters are involved, as you might be able to tell.

The thing that bugs me is that this is Valkyria Chronicles, and it's a card game at the same time.  I kind of have a thing for card games as you have no doubt realized, and I would probably buy into one based on several franchises I love.  I bought into Metal Gear Ac!d -happily- and would buy it all over again if I could play it on my Vita, which I keep mentioning.  It bugs me because it's pretty much a non-zero chance at being able to play this despite what I said above making something resembling sense.  Sega doesn't do sense, apparently, and said lack of sense still gives me reason to wonder at what's going to happen with further instances of series that I enjoy from them, namely Yakuza.  I have said it before, but I will straight up cut a bitch if my only option for Yakuza 5 is downloading it.  Regardless, that's not Valkyria Chronicles, nor Valkyria Duel related (Note:  Would totally buy a Yakuza card game, totally serious), but there's not much else to say.  It's free, it's Japan-only, it's a friggin' Valkyria Card Game and it taunts me something fierce.

Less vexing is the existence of Okami HD as a real thing, which is something I'm sure will make you all happy.  Should make Chance happy at least, so there's something.  As for myself, I am also happy, but in a less-so, I-may-not-buy-this-game-right-off way because it's DD-only which, you know what, I'm not even going to say it again, you know why that takes it off my radar.  Still, I hope it's only my radar that it takes it off of, because I really, really want this game to sell.  If I could buy and play it, I totally would, and if it catches a good Playstation Plus sale, I might even go against common sense and buy it to download it at some unforeseen time in the future when I have non-shit internet and a PS3 that won't explode or at least convinces me that it will not, should I choose to download something more than, oh say, 300 MB in size for the sheer amount of time it will have to remain on in which to do so.

I don't have much of a story with Okami, but I do have -something- of one with it, so I may as well tell it.  Back in the days of GameCrazy, you see, when I was but a teenager, I walked into the store with a desire to buy and the dosh to back it up.  I didn't know what I was looking for, and honestly could've been sold just about anything because I just needed something to play, since the games at home obviously weren't enough.  Being a dumb kid and all.  So, with just me and the cashier girl in the store, I walked right up to her as she asked me "Hey, anything I can help you find today?" and said "Well, I dunno.  I'm just looking for a new game."  Giving me something of a weird look before going into contemplation, she asked me what system I preferred and as she moved out from behind the counter, I said "PS2", prompting her to head that way.  She obviously had something in mind when she grabbed a case as soon as she went to it.

Going back to the counter, she placed Okami down, a game that I had not heard of at that point, and proceeded to extol unto me the virtues of the wonderful art style and direction, as well as the quirky, brush-and-platforming based gameplay.  Sufficiently curious, I informed her I'd take it, she rang my up and the transaction was complete, just that simple.  I took it home, played it and had to admit that the game was absolutely wonderful, while also wondering just how I had not heard of it, or at least not remembered it had I read about it.  I did beat it and had quite a bit of fun with it, and suffice to say that the next time I saw her, I informed her about her good taste.  And it's kind of for that reason that I hope the game does well since it is very underknown, underrated, despite a good portion of the internet not likely giving you that impression, especially now with this news.  So I suppose that means that maybe you should believe the hype.  Or at least buy it to give yourself an excuse to look at some gorgeous visuals, maybe use that Move Wand you bought (though it's not mandatory) and/or just to get some trophies.  Because you can never have enough trophies.

Still Sick, Sega Sucks

So, if you look above, you will see Valkyria Chronicles 3 in Japanese.  Apparently, we'd best get used to that visage, since VC3 is 'officially' not planned for NA or Europe, which means no localization, which means goddamnit Sega, what the hell.  Of course, there were 'no plans' for Yakuza 3 for...what, two years?  And look how that happened.  Anyways, blah blah, NA and PSP don't get along, yadda yadda, VC2 didn't sell well, let's all put on our best surprised faces, so VC3 localization is simply 'not profitable enough'.  Which, I've said it before, on some level I understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, especially since it seemed to take its roots back to a more 'Western' approach, as the first game had (When compared to 2) rather than going full-on Anime-Bullshit like 2.  Again, our best surprised faces at how that possibly could've gone poorly.

Of course, being Sega, they can never give a firm "Nah", so when asked if there was any chance of VC3 being available for the Vita (I guess as an up-port?  The statement is a little vague in the Joystiq article: "Asked if VC3 would be available as a downloadable Vita title,"), the reply was simply "We'll discuss it with Sony", which means "We're too busy working on Daytona USA right now, don't bother us".  They'll ask Sony in due time with however much conviction they really want to show, and that'll determine if we ever get to see VC3 or not.  Let me just say I won't be surprised either way, but I'm sure it's obvious which side of the fence I'm on.

Anyways, I'm still not feeling all that well, so unfortunately this is going to be a bit short.  To any concerned, I just have a cold plus aches plus allergies/sinus problems plus family issues which sounds really bad when I say it like that, but really, I'm pretty okay.  I hope to get back to full capacity soon, and hopefully won't be skipping anymore posts unless I need to.  Of course, I make no guarantee as to quality for a bit.

Update!: Hey, right after they announce this about VC3, they give us a trailer for Daytona USA.  It's like I'm psychic or something.

Somewhat Sick Post

So....I'm not sick.  Not really.  Honestly.  Except I kind of am, thanks to the weather deciding to be the absolute worst.  You may have noticed that I've complained about this before (maybe, I'm noticing my Twitter gadget doesn't always load up and it's getting pretty annoying) and the only reason that I do so is basically because A)  When the weather changes this dramatically as it has, it destroys me with my allergies and sinuses and leaves my brain in a fuzz and B) when it changes for the warmer, it throws my PS3 plans into the air.  I've not played Yakuza 4 for a few days or anything on my PS3 simply because it's been too hot, which is absolutely ridiculous for Fall.  And yes, it is Fall now.

So not only does it eat into potential material for the blog here, but it also hampers my ability to deliver something I really like.  Though it's not like I'm unhappy with my posts, it's more that, writing them and reading them back in the fog my mind is in, I sort of feel like my messages are getting lost in translation and I'm not doing well enough by writing them.  It's likely mostly paranoia, as I haven't heard any notions of a quality drop, but it is a concern that I've wanted to voice if I haven't already.  Which, I forget if I had, being yet another issue brought on by all of this stuff.

Still, it's a bit frustrating having to write this down, but it's about all I can formulate properly.  I'm already properly considering Update 1 of Final Fantasy Tactics since it's all I've been playing lately, but I hate posting about that over and over again, and would like to stretch it out a bit if I could.  Not so much artificially as to ensure I'm doing everything a bit properly, here, if such a thing is 'possible' given the context.  And I don't want to post again and again quickly, and then start playing PS3 again, playing FFT a little less and feeling like I'm dragging on that, then.

Anyways, think of this as one of the "I Hate Spring" posts, since more or less, it feels like it's still Spring.  It's hot for no reason, the weather is shifting about so suddenly that it's ruining my allergies and sinuses and I've been a grumpy mess all weekend at the very least.  I'll have something proper up tomorrow with any luck, so until then, just pretend like I didn't just waste four paragraphs whinging about not feeling great.

Music! Yakuza 4 Edition

So, since I've been playing it tons lately and because I have a pretty bad headache that is preventing me from thinking enough to write something cohesive, I decided to showcase a few songs from Yakuza 4.  Originally, I was a little skeptical of the soundtrack after the intro song, "For Faith" didn't really....call out to me.  But it grew on me, certainly, and I've heard some that are just quite good.  The challenge, of course, is in finding them since Yakuza 4's OST is apparently massive and requires two volumes.  Though I've learned Volume 2 is mostly just the karaoke songs, which.....aren't actually terrible.  But I probably won't feature those.

Now, in Akiyama's chapter, you'll eventually run across a character by the name of Saigoh who appears to be a rather military man and is, in fact, a mercenary-for-hire with no job at the moment.  After witnessing Akiyama's willingness to help innocent bystanders by fighting off their oppressors, he offers Akiyama some training to awaken his 'hidden potentials'.  Through the training, you get, well, some very useful moves, though the other benefit is the song that plays during said training sessions.  It's called, quite simply "Theme of Saigoh" s'far as I can tell.

It's fairly rockin', as they say, and while not being the most inventive track out there, I still get a kick out of it and it really helps one be in the mood to battle.  Which, well, if there's anything the soundtrack to Yakuza 4 (or any of the Yakuza games for that matter) does, it sets the mood for battle quite well with every song that needs to.

Next up is a song that I, unfortunately, forget where I heard it in the game, but it sounds neat regardless and could fit into several different portions of the game, really.  It's called "Rebellions" and carries quite a different sound from the rest of the soundtrack that I've heard so far.

The beginning is very...noir-influenced, I believe and carries a quite nice and distinct personality separate from the in-your-face-and-pumped notes that many of the songs on the soundtrack carry.  While the fact that those songs are as they are isn't a bad thing, some variation like this is quite nice and quite welcome.

And the next song, which is near-mandatory for me to include is, apparently, Goro Majima's theme.  (And that would be why it's near-mandatory for me to include it.)  There's....really not a whole lot to say about it.  Goro Majima is the goddamn man and his theme is equally great.  So, without further ado, this is "Receive and Bite You" which, well, I don't know why that is.  It'd make sense if he had a snake tattoo but he has, I believe, a Japanese Theater-style evil spirit on his back.  But hey, whatever, it sounds good.

I really like the build-up to the breakdown at the start, personally, and then it just goes wild.  Much like Majima himself.  So there, it's fitting.

Sick Post. Also Devil May Cry Re-Releases

While fairly tempted to just type, "I'm sick.  That is all." and move on, you all know that's not how I operate, and that I need to actually sit here and type something, anything to feel alright with what I've done today, so that's what I'm going to endeavor to do.  But the problem, as there always is a problem, is that there's not really anything to talk about at length tonight.  Well, that's what I thought until, mid-way through typing that sentence, I re-checked Joystiq and something had popped up.

Remember back when everyone thought there was going to be a Devil May Cry collection?  Well, Joystiq has a slightly different idea, thanks to a recent finding on the ESRB's website.  Apparently, Devil May Cry 1, 2, and 3, all include "Playstation 3" and "Xbox 360" in their listed platforms and, indeed, if you look for yourself, you can see the same image as the image in the article staring at you in the face.  And it's a potentially unwanted image if I'm correct in thinking the way that I am thinking.

Now, Capcom, as we've established, loves them some ports, but with that image of the ESRB ratings and, well, the way the linked post has turned out so far (for those who don't click, it's a link to the announcement of RE4:HD, and C:V:HD) in that both titles are full, downloadable games only, rather an actual collection disk, I'm fairly filled with a little dread at the thinking that Capcom is just going to go full digital with the DMC releases as well.  And, well, that shit just ain't gonna fly in my airspace.  Indeed, if that's the route they go, rather than giving me a disk, I'll just be 'voting with my wallet' as the cool kids say, and saving my money.

Granted, with the Devil May Cry series, a lot of fans were balking at the thought of buying a disk with Devil May Cry 2 on it, and might actually prefer this method instead, but not I.  I barely remember a thing about DMC2 and would have been willing to give it a shot on a Collection disk.  But I think I've beat the "Do Not Want" point into the ground well enough at this point.  Basically, my point is that rating each game individually like that speaks to the intent, which is previously established, of going completely against the grain with this whole up-porting business, and further cements the point that Capcom just doesn't get it.

Quick Note - Getting Better, Still Rambly

So, I'm finally feeling less dead-like.  Which is good.  I'm not feeling 100% yet, of course and likely won't since it's cooling down just to warm up again later which will likely kill me again, but for now, I'm pretty alright.  Only mildly stuffed up, my throat doesn't hurt, and sneezing doesn't cause my muscles to rip apart from themselves anymore.  This is called progress, and is quite nice.

The other night, I had the bright idea of actually making a backloggery for, y'know, the backlog that I actually have and is quite problematic.  Unfortunately, it seems that they're not taking new registrations currently because they're amidst a site change and the guy running it has run into health problems.  Rather unfortunate, but I guess I don't need it.  After all, I can just meter out my games here for roughly the same effect.

I did manage to make it to the final (at least, I think it is) chapter of Sly 2, but I'll save my verdict for when I actually finish it.  Hopefully I get enough into Sly 3 that I can at least post impressions of that Sunday, but no guarantees.  After Sly 3, it's a bit of a mystery to me what I'll do, since I have far too many games.  I was considering Saint's Row 2, even though I really despise having a gimped version of a game, The Saboteur, since hey more platformer-ish goodness, or finishing up The Lost and Damned so I can finally work on The Ballad of Gay Tony.  But then I remembered my birthday pick-up of Bladestorm, and now I don't even know what to think.  Probably going Sabotuer, TLAD/TBGT, SR2, Bladestorm is the most logical course of action since, I'll be going through rather similar games and then get to put myself into the Hundred Years War without worrying about getting too used to the gameplay and not knowing how to get back to the open-world-y feel.

Of course, in a complete shift in gears I have, as I said, been getting back into Dungeons and Dragons lately, picking my old 3.5 books up and giving them a look over.  Giving me the urge again to 'create', which makes me feel like I should just be playing LBP2 again, which I might still do at odd intervals.  Maybe for my own funsies, I'll make something in D&D (a town, dungeon, whatever layout) and remake it in LBP2 as close as can be to try and get me really into feeling those new tools.  It's an idea, at least.

I hate Spring.

It's not even Spring yet.  But it's close.  And I hate Spring.  I hate Spring so much.  I have allergies.  I have phobias to everything with more legs than me.  Also less legs than me.  I get overheated easily which gives me migraine headaches.  Where I live, Spring doesn't know whether it wants to be hot or not so hot, which means shitty weather.

Spring is pretty much the worst, is what I'm getting at.  I sat here for an hour trying to think of what to blog about, scouring Joystiq for some interesting news (but found nothing I really could make a post about here, or wanted to at least), thought about things going on (friends have been getting back into D&D, giving me the itch to get back in, despite it meaning I will simply build characters and never play a campaign) and really came up with nothing.  Aside from how miserable I am already because my sinuses are getting ready for Spring.

I sneezed so hard earlier my back hurt.  Like, literally.  I sneezed and thought I threw out my back because there was a sudden, sharp, hot pain in my upper back that lingered for about a full minute afterward.  The other day, I bit my tongue during a sneeze and it still is kind of tender.  I have had all sorts of things I dare not speak of here because they are gross and having to deal with my sinuses.

So, y'know, there we go.  I hate doing a post that is concentrated negativity, but it might be therapeutic for me.  Because I really, really, really hate Spring, you see.

This is me doing a sick post.

So, an hour ago, I thought it was 8 o'clock.  Those who see the timestamp will know that this post was made during the 11-ish time range.  So you will know that when it was 10 o'clock, I thought it was 8.

I also thought it was Tuesday.  It is Monday.

My mind is just not with me right now.  So, to compensate for the lack of a nice, happy post, here is a nice, happy J-Pop song.



For those who might have missed it, this is the song that I identified was the one that I heard the last five or so seconds to in my PSP Internet Radio post.  That I have also updated with this song.  But you know what, it's a cool song.  Somehow.