Finished playing Xenogears

Finished playing Xenogears (1998, SquareSoft, PlayStation) on 06/13/2017.
Hours: 115

Well versed in both the martial- and fine-arts, Fei Fong Wong is a young man who has lost his memory of everything before he was taken in by the peaceful village of Lahan. On his way back from the mountains one night, where his wise friend, Citan lives with his family, Fei watches as giant, humanoid battle-machines called Gears turn Lahan into their battleground. When one of the machines' pilot falls in battle, Fei decides to take control of that Gear in hopes of fighting the other ones off the village. But as he watches his friends and neighbors die, something in Fei's mind triggers and the Gear malfunctions decimating the village in the process. Without a home and shunned by the few survivors, Fei is advised by Citan to leave the village with his new Gear in search of answers.

Playing Xenogears has been the most intriguing experience I've ever had as a gamer and I feel like my usual, short "Finished Review" would not be enough for this game. Soooo, without further ado... it's story time...

    It all began with my wife's obsession with her first contact with the Xeno franchise - Xenoblade Chronicles. Then came Xenoblade Chronicles X. She really enjoyed both and would sometimes tease me to get into them. Eventually she mentioned Xenogears and how she should give it a try because of all the great reviews it had received.
    Then, one day, at a small anime con in NJ, there it was. For $30. I took it without hesitation. At first I didn't plan on playing it. It was just a gift for my wife. I didn't want to get into another game franchise, I already have too many games backlogged as it is. But months passed and she had not touched it. When I finished FFVII I had decided to just get a small taste of Xenogears. Only a few months later would I have found how ironic that decision had been considering the game I had just finished playing. And how naive I had been, thinking I wouldn't get hooked.
    A few weeks later I had found myself on eBay spending money I don't have on the Xenosaga trilogy. I had peeked over the Xeno well and it had sucked me right in without mercy. I knew nothing about Xenogears (or anything really about the franchise) when I watched the words "You shall be as gods" repeating itself on the screen in front of me. But there I was, enjoying every minute of it.
    I found the combat system to be very unique and interesting. The soundtrack was very enjoyable and the characters were believable and entertaining. The anime scenes were nice. It was interesting to find out Production I.G. was behind it. Although the English voice acting left something to be desired.
    Anyways, the concept of 2D sprite characters on a 3D world had also grabbed my attention. I mean, it's nothing I hadn't seen before as Final Fantasy Tactics had done just that, although I have to give props to Xenogears for the amount of frames their sprites have in comparison. But it was different for sure. However, I was forgetting the fact that Xenogears was doing exactly the opposite of what Final Fantasy VII had done in terms of character models and backgrounds, and honestly I think Cloud and company would've looked pretty cool as sprites instead, at least in overworld mode. Not sure how weird the transition to 3D models in fights and cutscenes would've been. Either way I just wish the sprites in Xenogears had been a bit more detailed so as not to look so jagged on camera zoom-ins, for example.
    But I was enjoying Xenogears as I played along, in fact I was even thinking how a remake of the game would be amazing! And so I pressed on with Disc 1. The plot thickened, and became more complex... but the pacing had gradually slowed. I didn't think much of it at first. But the more I progressed the more apparent it became, to the point that playing the game became a bit of a chore. I was 80 hours in and still on the first disc. I began to wonder what Disc 2 contained. 80 hours more? Or maybe just 10? And the soundtrack... it seemed lacking now. No, more like it was becoming repetitive.
    Then, as those of you who have read many reviews on the game before, or even just played the whole thing already know, came the mess that is Disc 2. Suddenly the game had almost lost what makes it a game. Fei sat on a chair as a cross-shaped pendant swung back and forth on the screen, rotating on itself. There, I climbed through walls of text as the story was narrated to me by the characters I had once controlled through menacing caves and towns bustling with life. What was happening? I thought to myself. What was I witnessing? I had never experienced such a gap in production value in a video game before.
    For me, going through this game for the first time without knowing a single thing about it, I was dumbfounded. What had happened to the game? I had to know. This needed to be researched. But not until I finished it. And when I did finish it I was left with a turmoil of mixed emotions I couldn't sort through. I felt frustrated and very confused. I didn't want to review this game without knowing better. I knew it wouldn't be fair.
    And so the next day the research had begun. That's when I came across a man of my age who had put every single thing I was feeling about the game into words. And I felt saved. Dan had played the game a year or so prior to me also for the first time, and as he played he sort of chronicled his experience in three discussion videos before he made a review video. I'll link the videos here:

Xenogears Discussion Part 1

Xenogears Discussion Part 2 (a bit longer)

Xenogears Discussion Part 3 (very long/optional)

Xenogears - Retrospective Review and Analysis

8/10 - Xenogears is an unfinished project that certainly deserved more support from Squaresoft and better management from its director. But I understand how hard it is to take on such a big project on your own, specially when you're so attached to something that is basically your child. So I have to keep all that in mind when giving Xenogears my final rating. That said... I refuse to die until I play a faithful Xenogears remake that will give the story the proper managing and direction it deserved. I also want to play the original game again. I feel like the experience will be drastically different the second time around, so that's something I'll be looking forward to.

WEEKS LATER: Hahahah! The lasting effects of Xenogears. I had started listening to the soundtrack more and more as the days passed. It's so good. I've especially grown fond of a track called "June Mermaid". I've listened to the Myth album as well. And the more I keep listening the more the game keeps calling me back. I will play it again without a doubt. And the experience will be so different from the first time, it's probably going to feel like a different game. Why? Because I'll know what happened. Past, present and future. Real and fictional.

Finished playing Megaman X5

Finished playing Megaman X5 (2001, Capcom, PS) on 12/7/2016.
My second playthrough.
Hours: 42~

Months after the events of Megaman X4, Sigma is resurrected and challenges the Maverick Hunters X and Zero with the intention of losing to spread a Reploid-infecting virus that turns them into Mavericks. Sigma also employs a Reploid mercenary named Dynamo to collide the space-colony Eurasia with Earth. X and Zero must then use the Enigma laser canon to destroy the space-colony before it collides. But will it work?

7/10 - This game is interesting with its couple of alternate endings. I can't remember what ending I got last time I played but I was lucky to get the best ending on my first try this time around. Yes, lucky, because certain timeline deviations are left up to chance more than the player's actions in this game. Not sure if previous X games implemented that same system or not. It's been a while. The game isn't terribly difficult either aside from maybe one of the last few bosses and the final boss himself.
The soundtrack is alright, nothing to write home about expect for maybe one or two good tracks. The main theme and the track for the level where you fight all eight bosses again were my favorite ones.
I also found the Squid Adler level very interesting and amusingly challenging with the bike section. I also like how you can stock up on 1Ups in that level too. But I never did find out what those V blocks were for. Maybe next time.

I have a hate/love relationship with the Megaman series. Why, because even though I've played every main installment before that preceded this one, I never really understood how to play Megaman games. I had actually given up on the series after I first played X5 a few years ago because I couldn't handle the immense frustrations I always experienced with the games. But I've always loved Zero and his own game installments very much, so I decided to give X another chance, even though I don't really find him very agreeable. So this time around I went in with an open mind. Megaman games are very challenging, but not without reason. These are games you're supposed to play over and over until you learn things like level design and enemy patterns. So with that in mind and without getting upset every time I lost, I pressed on over and over and over again until I was breezing through levels and bosses with flying colors... except for maybe Sigma... and Yellow Devil incarnates... ugh. And I think that's how you're supposed to play Megaman games. So here I go, onto the next one.

Finished playing Final Fantasy VI

Finished playing Final Fantasy VI (1994, Square, SNES) on 11/20/2016.
Hours: 85

A mysterious young sorceress named Terra finds herself under the mind-control of an Empire that rules over the land with Magitek, a technology that combines the power of magic and machines. After escaping the Empire's mind-control, Terra is rescued by and joins forces with the Returners, a rebel group seeking to put a stop to the Empire's dictatorship.

Quite possibly the most ambitious game of its time, Final Fantasy VI still stands today as one of the greatest RPGs in history. This being my third time playing this amazing game only reminded me how true that really is.
I really have no complaints about this game. The characters are great, their story is deep and well written and the music is exceptionally beautiful. The game even features an opera show with just as much emotion as the game's own story. Of course the gameplay is just as great as well with so many sidequests and hidden little things that will keep you playing and replaying for hours on end.

10/10 - Ten atta ten! This game is avaialble for dirt cheap on the iTunes store, Google Play store and Steam, so if you ever want to play an old FF game this would be it and there's no reason why you can't get it.

Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy

Finished watching .hack//G.U. Trilogy (2008, Bandai, 1hr 33min) on 10/28/2016.

After leveling up his virtual character in an MMORPG called The World, Haseo butts heads with Tri-Edge, a powerful virus character who deleted Haseo friend's character effectively putting her in a real coma. Haseo is also defeated and but instead of a coma, all the progress he's made so far in the game disappears. That's when a group called TaN picks him up and promises to awaken a fearsome power within him.

7.5/10 - Trilogy is a CGI movie, and the graphics are appealing and smooth with attractive colors. The only thing that threw me off was the facial animations, specially with characters speaking. Often times the shape of the mouths didn't match the words or would open and only move slightly for each word before closing awkwardly slowly. Although I do have to give it to them for really showing Haseo's emotions with his crazy eyes and stuff. What I did enjoy the most was the fight scenes, they were very powerful!
The story got a bit dull at times though, and I found myself almost falling asleep or my eyes wandering off the screen. Also, I think the movie is an adaptation of the final moments in the games, which is pretty cool. I'd like to try reading the manga adaptation of all the games though.
But overall it was a good movie. Like I said before, the fight scenes I think hold the movie together pretty well and despite it getting dull at times the plot is interesting, albeit a little predictable too. I also liked to see the voice actors reprising their roles from .hack//roots.

Finished playing Final Fantasy V

Finished playing Final Fantasy V (1992, Square, SNES) on 9/09/2016.
Hours: 70

The four elemental crystals that keep the planet's forces in harmony are in danger after one of them was destroyed. And so four heroes are brought together by faith – Bartz, Galuf, Lenna and Faris team up to save the remainder of the crystals from meeting the same fate.

I've played this game before quite a few years ago but I've forgotten how good it is. There is just so much comedy in this title as opposed to past installments, and I've enjoyed every bit of it. And characters show so much more emotion through a couple new sprite animations that previous Final Fantasies did not have.
Also there's the great character job system coming back from the first game with many more options and improvements, such as being able to change to whatever job you want, whenever you want so as to master all of them and ultimately be able to mix and match abilities. This type of customization allowed for numerous strategies against bosses that would otherwise be nearly impossible to defeat. I'm lookin at you, Omega.
The soundtrack is great as well, quite lively compared to previous ones.
I just wish this game had a fat Chocobo. Item storage is a very helpful thing.

8/10 - A very good game with a lively cast of characters. I really think Square was trying to stay away from the usual seriousness that previous Final Fantasy games had with their characters and you can really see this with Bartz personality. But that's not to say that these are not complex characters just because they're interactions tend to be comical half the time.

Finished playing Final Fantasy IV

Finished playing Final Fantasy IV (2011, Square Enix, PlayStation Portable) on 3/8/2016.
Gameplay Hours: ~60

A mysterious man named Golbez is wreaking havoc throughout the land, trying to obtain all the elemental crystals of the world for power. After having his kingdom fallen to the hands of Golbez, Cecil abandons his position as captain of the Red Wings to search for answers. Along the way he teams up with all sorts of people, also victims of Golbez's deeds and together they fight to bring him down.

7.5/10 – I've played different ports of Final Fantasy IV before and this is my second favorite. But although all the sprites were beautifully updated, I've found it odd that the overworld's sprites didn't match the battle ones or even some of the character's menu pictures, but I guess that's just a pet peeve. I love, love, love the fact that this port lets you play with either the original soundtrack or the arranged Nintendo DS one. And of course, let's not forget the updated translation, always a good thing. The post-game Lunar Ruins were really, quite the challenge with powered-up bosses sporting insane strategies that can be quite difficult to figure out. Thankfully the game gives you save points just before those battles, but I don't think I want to experience dungeon rooms like Edge's Trial ever again. Eesh! This port features some slightly cheap, rather short prerendered cutscenes, which I welcome any day over just the sprite ones, with an honorable mention going to the Giant of Babil one.

Finished playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Finished playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011, Grezzo, Nintendo EAD, Nintendo 3DS) on 2/10/2016.
Gameplay Hours: ~50

The Deku Tree senses a disturbance upon the land of Hyrule and summons a fairy named Navi to join a young Kokiri Village boy named Link in his mission to stop the impending evil. When Zelda, the land's princess flees her castle from the evil clutches of Ganondorf, she slings her magical ocarina to Link, entrusting him with the power to travel to the future and join forces with the six sages to stop Ganondorf's reign over the land.

8.5/10 – First of all. I have a lot of questions about all the time traveling in this game. But I'm just gonna take it all for granted and review this game as it is. And what a game! I'm really happy with the graphical improvements of this remake. Like, they're really good! And being able to look around and aim using the gyroscopic feature of the 3DS is just amazing. The touch screen of course adds a nice level of item accessibility that the console version could not provide. My only disappointment is that the soundtrack was kept the same. If it had been improved upon I would've given this game a higher rating.

Finished playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Finished playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006, Nintendo EAD, Nintendo Wii) on 2/9/2016.
Gameplay Hours: 54

Link's blissful country life is suddenly interrupted when the village children get kidnapped. In his attempt to chase after them he also gets kidnapped by strange, dark creatures that bring him into their parallel world of darkness that suddenly turns Link into a wolf. To his rescue comes a small imp named Midna who teams up with him in order to save the kidnapped children, but in return Link must aid Midna with her own agenda.

9/10 – I actually played the Gamecube version of this game quite a few years ago, thankfully with time I forgot about some of it. I say thankfully because this made the game sort of a new experience for me, and also because the mirrored aspect of the Wii version didn't bother me as much this way if at all. I should also point out that this is one of the first three games I've played in 2016 and that the timing of me playing this game has nothing to do with the announcement of the Wii U HD one coming out soon. I simply got to the game in my long video game bucket list... Along with Ocarina of Time 3D. This coincidence might've been a blessing to me from the Goddesses, but it provided me with an interesting experience. Since I started playing these two games at the same time and kept playing them at relatively the same pace, I began noticing the similarities or references that TP took from OoT. The temples, the locations, the music and even Skull Kid! I had completely forgotten that Skull Kid was in this game, and that was pretty exciting for me! But let's get to the point. This game, in my opinion is like an immensely improved version of OoT with lots of extra stuff and, of course, a different storyline. The visuals of the game are stunning, and the character design is amazing. Even the NPCs look interesting! I often found myself staring at a character's model for minutes, studying each and every detail *coughtelmacough*. Same goes for the stunning environments in the game. Namely the Temple of Time. One time I spent like ten minutes in there sneakin' up on birds as wolf Link as Midna yawned countless times beggin' me to move on. Oh, and don't get me started on the kitties and their toys. And doggies. The soundtrack is beautiful as well. Not one track I didn't hate. Let me do a little plug-in here for ZREO's Twilight Princess soundtrack. You can download it for free on their website. They did an amazing job at reorchestrating the vast majority of the tracks in this game. But truly, this game is everything a Zelda game should be and more. My only complain is Midna's impatience. She nagged me way too much, specially at times when I need to just sit there and carefully study a puzzle.

Finished playing Ivy the Kiwi

Finished playing Ivy the Kiwi? (2010, Prope, Nintendo DS) on 1/4/2016.
Hours: ~10

Ivy hatches (partially) from her egg but her mother is nowhere to be seen. Because of her red color and her egg fashion the other animals shun her and tease her. Lonely, she sets off to find her mother with the help of vines and a trail of red feathers.

7/10 – Look at this game! It's so cute! The sepia storybook aesthetics are so cozy! And Ivy! Look at that cute lil' girl birdie! The game does have a learning curve with the vines where you have to draw them out for Ivy to walk on or even push her along, but once you learn the ropes and get used to them, you're off on your way to a fun, short little game. The levels are actually pretty easy, and there's no enemies around. But what about those mean looking rats and crows I see on the cover art? Oh! A few levels in, there they are! ...Along with spikes! ...And barricades. ...And one-hit KO water droplets. Y'see where I'm going with this? 25 levels in and sh*t was gettin' real. The last few levels? Forget about it! This wasn't Ivy the Kiwi? anymore, this was the trial of Gods. But I did it, I beat all the levels. Huh? Bonus mode unlocked? ...Fine! I'll take the challenge! I'm not a pansy! .........F*****CK!!!!! That was a mistake! Abort! Abort! All of a sudden I felt like Rooster Teeth's LtMkilla playing the Impossible Game. I was ready to impale my nice Pokémon DSi with its own stylus! After losing much of my sanity for the rest of my life, I was finally able to beat the damn bonus mode. I just don't know when to quit and this game has taught me that more than anything. In conclusion, I love this game for its innovation. For how cute it looks. But I hate how difficult it is. I can't imagine playing the Wii version. Eesh! That would be even more frustrating. But at least it's a short game. Very short. And I'm finally free from the vines that bound me to it.

Finished playing Kirby Super Star Ultra

Finished playing Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, HAL Laboratory, NDS) on 12/31/2015.
Gameplay Hours: ~35

Kirby tackles multiple new and old adventures and challenges in this remake of SNES' Kirby Super Star. With updated graphics, a new storyline, added content and fully rendered cutscenes it will be hard to put this game down!

8/10 – I read a couple of reviews and opinions on this game and a lot of them mentioned how disappointed they were with how easy this game was. First of all, it's Kirby. It's meant to be easy because it's target audience are beginner-level gamers, right? Second of all, it's not THAT easy. Sure, the first few adventures presented to you are not frustrating or that much challenging, they're easy and fun! But unlock the hidden games and you've got yourself quite a few challenges ahead of you. All I'm gonna say is... True Arena. That sh*t drove me to tears. No regrets though. This game was easy, fun and challenging with lots of content. The only thing that bugged me was the quality of the cutscenes. They were full of "JPEG artifacts".

Finished playing Jeanne d'Arc

Finished playing Jeanne d'Arc (2007, Level-5, PlayStation Portable) on 12/27/2015.
Gameplay Hours: 75

After losing her home village to a fire set by the English, Jeanne and her friends set out on a journey to take revenge upon them and drive them out of France with the help of mysterious armlets that don their wearers with divine armor and abilities.

8/10 – Jeanne d'Arc is a good tactical RPG that much resembles Final Fantasy Tactics, although with many interesting battle mechanics of its own. The game's aesthetics also remind me of FFT specially since the main character is blonde and has a sort of "rebellious" strand of hair that has been a staple to FFT main characters. The divine armlets that some characters wield in the game can be compared to Pokemon's Mega Evolution mechanics. The game's cutscenes are decent anime sequences and the voice acting is... hmm, alright. It's just a little awkward cuz they're all trying to do a French accent. The animation is good though. It's important to note that this game is very loosely based on the official Jeanne d'Arc tale, but I like how they stayed true to Jeanne's brash and reckless personality.

Finished playing Kirby: Squeak Squad

Finished playing Kirby: Squeak Squad (2006, HAL Laboratory, Flagship, Natsume, Nintendo DS) on 11/7/2015.

Hours: ~15

Kirby is happily about to scarf down a mouth-watering strawberry cheesecake slice when it is suddenly snatched from him by a gang of treasure-hunting mice known as the Squeak Squad. Kirby then chases after his delicious desert only to find himself in another grand adventure with evil lurking in the shadows.

7/10 – This game was short and sweet. The only gripe I have with it is that it mind numbingly easy. I mean, it's a Kirby game, but this is a bit too much for a Kirby game. Specially with the last boss, I expected another, stronger final form out of the thing. But don't get me wrong, it was still fun. What I really enjoy about these last few Kirby games I played is the hidden collectibles, specially the spray cans that allow you to change Kirby's colors. Although most color options are an eyesore (with neon green and cherry being some of the worst), a few are more gentle to the eyes and I found that my favorite one is chocolate Kirby. Oh, I also missed the Smash power from the Amazing Mirror game, but instead I got the Ghost power that allows you to possess most enemies and control them however you please. Another thing I really enjoy are the level backgrounds, some even look like Bob Ross paintings. It's great.

All for a slice of cheesecake. Oh, Kirby...

Finished playing Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

Finished playing Kirby and the Amazing Mirror (2004, Flagship, Dimps, HAL Laboratory, Game Boy Advance) on 10/15/2015.

Gameplay Hours: ~30

The Mirror World above Dreamland has been invaded by something malicious. Meta Knight tries to save the Mirror World but… something caused a change in Meta Knight’s heart as he comes to attack Kirby and divide him into four, different-colored Kirby copies. Curious they jump on a star and follow after Meta Knight into the Mirror World.

7/10 – This game was good. Not much different from the last one I played... Nightmare in Dreamland, I think. But at the same time, it was different. Levels aren't linear. Each level has a map of rooms which adds an exploration feature to the game. Finishing Level 1 doesn't exactly mean you go straight to Level 2. Depending on the paths you take you might end up in Level 5 or 9. I think what really sets the game apart is what its advertised for – multiplayer. If I had played with other friends the experience would've been very different. Perhaps more exciting. I think what I enjoyed the most in this game is the ability to change Kirby into various colors by using spray cans you find by exploring levels and finding treasure chests.

Finished playing Sonic Battle

Finished playing Sonic Battle (2003, Sonic Team, Game Boy Advance) on 10/3/2015.

Play Time: 13hrs 35mins (Skills: 39%)

An ancient robot weapon called Gizoid is discovered by Doctor Eggman but his attempts at controlling it seem futile. Frustrated with this he abandons the robot in Emerald Beach where he is then found by Sonic who friends Gizoid and teaches him fighting moves. After learning about the robot’s ability to use the Emeralds’ power, he gives Gizoid the name Emerl, as he doesn't seem to know his own name, and introduces Emerl to Tails and company. Emerl decides to search for more Emeralds as he continues to learn more fighting moves from his new-found friends… and enemies.

7/10 – This was an interesting little action-RPG game. It had a somewhat deep story despite its shortness, but I really got into the battle skills system which I left at 39% just because I'd like to move on to other games. Even so, I'd like to come back one day and collect all the skills for Emerl. The combat itself can be a little wonky at first, because of unfamiliar camera angles and movement. It can also be tricky to try lining up your character with your opponent before you unleash it on them, but at the same time I found that I quickly adjusted to the game’s mechanics.

Finished playing Sonic Advance 3

Finished playing Sonic Advance 3 (2004, Dimps, Sonic Team, Game Boy Advance) on 9/25/2015.

Gameplay Hours: ~20 …maybe?

Doctor Eggman has partnered up with his most powerful robot, Gemerl and divided Earth into seven distinct chunks where he plans to build seven separate empires on each one of them. Of course, this means it’s up to Sonic and friends to stop Eggman in his tracks.

7.5/10 – This game was fun. Not as great as the first one, but a big improvement from SA2. Lemme tell you why:

1. All main playable characters are easily unlocked by just beating certain levels.

2. You can team up any two characters and each combination gives you different abilities and moves. Combining Amy with Sonic for example, gives Sonic his own hammer.

4. Special combinations are even appropriately titled. Sonic & Tails for example shows as "The Unbreakeable Bond". Sonic & Amy, "The Cute Couple".

5. Certain combinations even have their own different sprites. For example, when you pair Sonic and Knuckles, they appear annoyed at eachother.

6. You don't have to defeat every single of Dr. Robotnik's boss machines in a row to get to the final boss. This however, is available as a Time Attack feature after collecting all the Bronze, Silver and Golden Special Rings from every single stage (not a frustrating task).

7. Most importantly, Chaos Emerald collecting isn't as frustrating as SA2 was. You do still have to explore the levels however, hunting for lost Chao critters, but once you find them you don't have to go look for them again. You simply have to search the levels in that Zone for a Special Key, which isn't hard at all to find. That one-use key will allow you access to the Special Zone.

8. The Special Zone is similar to Sonic 2 or SA1 in terms of gameplay but even though the difficulty goes up with each new zone, it's not at all frustrating to get all the Emeralds in your grubby little hedgehog hands.

9. This unlocks the Final Zone where you play as Super Sonic and team up with Dr. Eggdoodles to defeat his little robot invention-gone-berserk. This too, although a bit difficult is not a highly frustrating level.

I enjoyed this game and I'm happy I was able to collect everything it has to offer without losing sleep over it.

Balanced difficulty. Little frustration.

Finished watching Persona 4: The Animation

Finished watching Persona 4: The Animation (2011, AIC A.S.T.A., 25 epi.) on 8/16/2015.

Narukami Yu has just transferred to a rural Japanese town where soon enough he gets caught up investigating strange, local murders with his new classmates Yosuke and Chie. The rumor on the street is that victims are seen appearing on a TV channel known as the Midnight Channel before they get murdered. The three friends eventually find a TV screen portal into the strange world of the Midnight Channel where strange creatures known as Shadows attack them. But they’re not defenseless as they discover their power to summon Personas to aid them in their fight.

8/10 – I had listened to my brother play the game everyone now and then as I minded my own business, and the story and dialogues had tickled my fancy. But just like that, Satonaka Chie, the upbeat, kung-fu fighter girl had grown on me enough to plant a seed of "waifu" status in my heart. When I had heard of this 25-episode anime, I had been wanting to jump on it like a cheetah on an antelope. Well, took me a while to get on it, but I finally did. And I enjoyed it very much. I had some really good laughs with it too. The ending though, well... I couldn't really care for it. I really enjoyed just watching the characters trying to figure out the mystery and just living their slice-of-life while fighting baddies inside the TV world. They could've done it endlessly and I still would've watch them. But like I always say, good anime should always stick to 25-episode seasons, cuz otherwise the art quality goes down. Or at least, that’s what I’ve noticed.

Finished playing Final Fantasy III

Finished my second playthrough of Final Fantasy III (2006, Square Enix, Nintendo DS) on 8/16/2015.

Gameplay Hours: ~85

Four youths are entrusted with light from four legendary crystals. With this light they hold the power to defeat the darkness that plagues the land. But is that enough power to fight the darkness?

8/10 – This is a great remake of Final Fantasy III, a game that was not released outside of Japan until this version came out in the US in 2006. Along with drastically improved graphics, the main characters were given actual names and distinguished personalities, along with individual character designs that also reflect in their job changes. The story of the game was also improved upon, especially the dialogue. A lot of detail was also put into the wardrobe of each job. With the exception of a few jobs, not one Black Mage character, for example will look exactly the same as the other. There's always some detail about the clothes that differ from character to character. I really enjoyed that too. And of course, there’s the soundtrack, I wouldn’t consider it a full remake if the soundtrack hadn’t be rearranged *coughocarinaoftime3Dcough* and I’m happy to say that it was and it sounds… well, pretty good. I guess the DS does have its limitations.

Finished playing Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix HD Remix

Finished playing Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix HD Remix (2014, Square Enix, PlayStation 3, 2014) on 6/26/2015.

Hours: ~100

After defeating Ansem and Marluxia, Sora, Donald and Goofy must now face off against the rest of Organization XIII as they invade countless other worlds. Along the way Sora makes new friends, reunites with old ones and meets someone who might be closer than he thinks.

9/10 – Absolutely amazing game with a colorful cast of characters and a complex, deep storyline that is just deliciously right up my Alley to Between. Sorry...

Although this is the first time I play KH2 Final Mix, it is also technically my second KH2 playthrough. So this time around I noticed something called Bonus Levels. Not sure if it's a Final Mix feature or not, but apparently every time you defeat a boss that level goes up instead of you gaining experience points. An interesting concept. And although I was only able to reach Bonus Level 59, apparently it caps at 60.

Now, having played in Critical Mode however, I found myself struggling to unlock the secret ending known as "Birth by Sleep", as defeating the Organization XIII members' data is quite the challenge. After spending a tiresome amount of time defeating Vexen and Xigbar, Zexion finally managed to deplete any motivation I had left to continue the task. And with Lingering Will breathing on my neck every step of the way, I felt even less motivated. But hey, doing the Mushroom Organization minigames was fun!

Finished playing Sonic Advance 2

Finished playing Sonic Advance 2 (2002, Dimps, Sonic Team, Game Boy Advance) on 5/27/2015.

Gameplay Hours: About 30... maybe.

Dr. Eggman is at it again! Capturing animals and trapping them into robots to build his empire. This time it looks like even Tails and Knuckles were victims too. It's up to Sonic to foil Eggman's plans!

6/10 – The levels weren't the best but they're alright. I think Sonic levels work best when they're linear. The problem is, in this game, and this is where the game gets tedious and difficult, to collect all the emeralds you must first explore the levels looking for seven special rings which will bring you to difficult Special Stages with tight controls. To accommodate this exploration idea, the levels were designed with multiple paths, almost like a labyrinth. Thankfully the game lets you turn off the Time Up feature so you have time to do all the exploring you want. Even so, some special rings were almost impossible to find and I had to use a video walkthrough for about 5 of them.

But does getting all the emeralds unlock the final Super Sonic stage right away? No. It doesn't. You have to finish all the levels with the other four characters. Ugh...

So I finally unlock and beat the Super Sonic level, but something feels... odd. I start thinking there was something I was looking forward to in this game. Oh, yeah! Amy Rose! Apparently you have to collect all the emeralds with all the characters to unlock her............

LOL NOPE. Not me. I'll see you around, Sonic Advance 2!

This game is a little more frustrating than it is fun.

Finished playing Pokémon Omega Ruby

Finished playing Pokemon Omega Ruby Version (2014, Gamefreak, Nintendo 3DS) on 5/17/2015.

Gameplay Hours: 130

Young Pokémon trainers set out of their hometown of Littleroot to journey the region of Hoenn training their very first Pokémon and meeting new ones along the way as they battle through hordes of many other trainers with the ultimate goal to prove themselves champions against the Elite Four challenge. But the journey is not so easy as a group of evildoers known as Team Magma plan to awaken a legendary Pokémon to dry up the seas of the planet. However, our heroes are not alone in the fight as Team Aqua teams up with them to stop Team Magma's plans.

8.5/10 – OMG DEXNAV ADDICTION!!!

That was the first thing I got addicted to right away with this game. I couldn't put the DexNav down until I found that perfect, three star Seedot for my party! The DexNav alone goes a long way for me as it makes it easier to find wild Pokémon with good IVs. Cuz, y'know, what's a shiny Pokémon without good IVs, amirite? #shinyponytavideo

And here's the funny thing. The original games weren't really my favorite and I didn't really care much for Secret Bases or Contests back then. But the added storyline for ORAS got me interested. The Contests were fun and had their challenge. But I really enjoyed the Secret Bases and I really want to get to 1000 Flags captured. I found myself spending several minutes redecorating and redecorating my base until I achieved perfection - a Strip Club Secret Base by the name of Lusty Busty. Ridden with Beauty Trainers and complete with Smoochum mascot. If you ever StreetPass me, you're in for a good laugh.

Lastly, I just wanna say that I changed my playing style with this game as I decided to go through "story mode" with a main team of three Pokémon and two HM slaves. Because apparently it's what everybody does. I've been playing with a full team of six my whole life (as a trainer). But this time it was only three, and, as I expected, it cut grinding by half and got me through the game much quicker and easier. Just a thought.

I've gone and made this review too long, the game was great! #toomuchlava