On the day I was on my way back home from the weekend trip, I checked on some gaming news and saw that Koji Igarashi had finally launched a Kickstarter for "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night"; the game he was working on. I had no doubt that he would start working on another Metroidvania when he left Konami several months back. What did surprise me was that he asked Michiru Yamane (composed/produced pretty much all the music to Castlevania games from Symphony of the Night to Order of Ecclesia) to join the project to work alongside Ippo Yamada in creating the music. I was ecstatic and couldn't contain myself. In the description, it said that Yamane was "excited to hear the fan's covers, remixes and arrangements of her first song for the game 'Theme of Bloodstained'". I felt unbelievably motivated and worked tirelessly the next 3 days on a remix.
Here's the original:
Here's my Remix:
I had sent a message to both Koji Igarashi and Michiru Yamane on the Bloodstained official Youtube Channel in hopes that they'll hear my remix. But I still haven't gotten confirmation whether they've heard it or not, and I'm not sure if I ever will. We probably won't get to play the game until 2 years later, but I'm excited for it. It's currently at 2.8 Million Dollars and still has 15 days to go.
I knew I would crash in motivation after finishing the remix for Bloodstained, and it was hard to get past. I went back to working on my Guardian Legend Remix project and created probably the least inspiring remix I've done so far. But I got through with it because I wanted to move on and continue working rather than brood over one remix. I did that with the first remix on this project and wasted a lot of time, but I suppose it was worth it. I've already started on the next remix, but I've got some things on my mind that's threatening to impeded on my progress. I haven't looked at available jobs in a while and am thinking it might be a good time to take a look at listings and apply for some. Then there's also the problem with incoming distractions. June and July are my favorite months of the year, right next to December. In these two months, there's Steam Summer Sales, E3 News and Game announcements, my birthday, 4th of July BBQ, and EVO Tournaments to watch. Last year, I heavily invested my time looking through gaming news, buying and playing new games, and watching a bunch of fighting game tournaments and had a LOT of fun. With very little opportunity to go out and have fun, you tend to take the smallest of pleasures and revel in them. I have no doubt I'll be going through the same thing this year which is why I am a little worried. I guess I'll figure it out somehow.
Looking at my backlog progress, I actually completed very few games this month compared to previous ones in the year. The two major games I've completed this month are Dragon's Dogma and Metro: Last Light. I've had Dragon's Dogma for a while now and really made an effort to finish it after I had completed Time and Eternity. After playing so many RPGs, I wanted to play an Action game or Hack-n-Slash on the PS3. I started Drakengard 3 and had mixed feelings about the game. The quality of the graphics are not nearly as nice as the cinematics and the gameplay is slightly on the clunky side. But I think the writing is pretty good, even though it's quite twisted. The game has a really messed up sense of humor that's overtly sexual and violent. For an Action game, it seems longer than most in gameplay time. The levels look much longer later in the game, and I hope it doesn't drag out for the sake of gameplay time. I'm enjoying it so far, though I can understand the negative feedback it's been receiving. I also really like the music:
Here's the arranged version for the boss battle:
Looking at my backlog progress, I actually completed very few games this month compared to previous ones in the year. The two major games I've completed this month are Dragon's Dogma and Metro: Last Light. I've had Dragon's Dogma for a while now and really made an effort to finish it after I had completed Time and Eternity. After playing so many RPGs, I wanted to play an Action game or Hack-n-Slash on the PS3. I started Drakengard 3 and had mixed feelings about the game. The quality of the graphics are not nearly as nice as the cinematics and the gameplay is slightly on the clunky side. But I think the writing is pretty good, even though it's quite twisted. The game has a really messed up sense of humor that's overtly sexual and violent. For an Action game, it seems longer than most in gameplay time. The levels look much longer later in the game, and I hope it doesn't drag out for the sake of gameplay time. I'm enjoying it so far, though I can understand the negative feedback it's been receiving. I also really like the music:
Here's the arranged version for the boss battle:
On 3DS, I'm still working on getting through Bravely Default. I wanted to finish it before seeing my sister so I could return it to her, but I just couldn't finish it in time. On PC, I'm a bit lost on what I'm really focusing on, but I suppose I want to finish Valkyria Chronicles first since I've installed that since February. I kind of have 5-8 games I plan on finishing up before moving on, and it's really hard since Steam Summer Sale is approaching and I'll probably be adding more games to the list. On PS Vita, Hyperdimension Neptunia U just got in the mail this past Sunday. I was rather reluctant on pre-purchasing the game or even getting it. From the gameplay footage I saw, I was afraid of it being too easy. There were players who would stand there to demonstrate that even being hit there was barely a threat of dying. Well, either they changed the game for the US release or those players were incredibly over-leveled because I often lost half my health in one hit or died really quickly. I didn't mind it because I wanted the challenge. I was also afraid the game might be too simplistic. In a way, it kinda is as most missions require the player to kill a certain amount of enemies in a small closed-off arena. There doesn't seem to be enough depth to the game and that kind of saddens me. It seems like the new game they're working on uses the same game engine as HDN:U but with zombie like creatures. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I wouldn't be so bothered by this if I was paying $20 for these spin-offs.
At the very least, I like the humor in HDN:U that the series is known for. But I don't know if I can justify buying anymore HDN games at full price if they're going to spew out so many games at once.
I've been listening to the soundtrack to Senran Kagura Estival Versus today and I'm really liking a lot of the songs. They're a bit different from usual, but perhaps they're all following a theme. In Senran Kagura 2 (which is set to release in the US this Fall), the music sounds a lot heavier and darker. The opening is also darker. But in Estival Versus, the music and game looks and sounds happier and lighter. It looks like the theme is based around the beach, which might explain some of the more happy sounding music. I'm actually a bit disappointed in Ikaruga's theme this time around. It doesn't really stand out like it usually does. Although Murasaki's Theme isn't nearly as good as it was in Shinovi Versus, I still kind of like that powerful opening:
I've been listening to the soundtrack to Senran Kagura Estival Versus today and I'm really liking a lot of the songs. They're a bit different from usual, but perhaps they're all following a theme. In Senran Kagura 2 (which is set to release in the US this Fall), the music sounds a lot heavier and darker. The opening is also darker. But in Estival Versus, the music and game looks and sounds happier and lighter. It looks like the theme is based around the beach, which might explain some of the more happy sounding music. I'm actually a bit disappointed in Ikaruga's theme this time around. It doesn't really stand out like it usually does. Although Murasaki's Theme isn't nearly as good as it was in Shinovi Versus, I still kind of like that powerful opening:
I loved Yomi's themes in Burst, but didn't like it as much in Shinovi Versus. It was a little weird in Senran Kagura 2, but at least I thought it was okay. But this new theme of her's in Estival Versus has some of that flavor that Burst did with an uplifting, bouncy theme. It's sort of fun and carefree and catchy which I like.
I'm also liking the themes for the 5 new characters. Jasmine/Sayuri's theme has an opening that sounds so akin to Dynasty Warriors' music that I would believe it to be from that game just by hearing that one section. Renka's Theme definitely stood out to me. It's like DDR music mixed with Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master). I remember seeing a short footage of Renka's gameplay and how she fights using Bachi sticks and smacks enemies like a Taiko drum. The song is hyper, exciting and catchy. And also, that Taiko playing is so entrancing.
We probably won't see Senran Kagura Estival Versus until next year, but it'll be a game to look forward to.
I'm also liking the themes for the 5 new characters. Jasmine/Sayuri's theme has an opening that sounds so akin to Dynasty Warriors' music that I would believe it to be from that game just by hearing that one section. Renka's Theme definitely stood out to me. It's like DDR music mixed with Taiko no Tatsujin (Taiko Drum Master). I remember seeing a short footage of Renka's gameplay and how she fights using Bachi sticks and smacks enemies like a Taiko drum. The song is hyper, exciting and catchy. And also, that Taiko playing is so entrancing.
We probably won't see Senran Kagura Estival Versus until next year, but it'll be a game to look forward to.
