Summer Events and Short Rant on Fighting Games

Although seemingly monotonous and tired, it's become such a tradition for me to enjoy the Summer events every year now.  I felt so excited leading up to it, relished in it, and now feel a bit sad that it's over.  I don't feel nearly as empty as I do every year (maybe I'm getting used to the feeling), but I can definitely say I enjoyed the Summer events this year: E3, Summer Steam Sales, Summer Games Done Quick, and EVO Championship.  E3 was discussed in last month's post.

To say I "bought some games" would be an understatement.  Between May and now, I've accumulated 50 games.  In early May, I picked up Mass Effect: Andromeda for $35 just to play online multiplayer with a friend since I wasn't quite ready to play the campaign.  Multiplayer is a survival kind of mode and I was a little disappointed.  It's still fun, but there aren't that many levels and enemy types so it can get a bit stale.  Mid-May, I pre-ordered Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada and grabbed Tales of Xillia and XenoBlade Chronicles at check-out.  I didn't get to play much of Samurai Warriors: SoS, but I plan to right after I finish up NieR: Automata.  I was willing to pick up an Early Access game called Dead Cells that is influenced by Metroidvania games.  It's a challenging Rogue-like Action-platformer that's a lot of fun, but is one of those unforgiving games I might never finish.  It's hard to imagine that I had bought Shadow Warrior 2 back in May since it felt like a long time ago that I got together with friends and played it a bunch.  It's a wild game and I had a lot of fun with it.  At the end of May, I was really excited to pick up Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Xrd -Rev 2- and actually played a decent amount of them so far.  I got through all of arcade and story mode for Tekken 7 and have been just enjoying Treasure Battle and trying to improve playing certain characters.  It's been a very long time since I've actually sat down and tried to learn a character in a Tekken game and it felt really nice.  Guilty Gear Xrd -Rev2- I have mostly played multi-player with a few arcade mode so far, so there's actually a LOT more I'm going to get out of playing it.  I had went through GGXrd -SIGN-'s story right before Rev 2 released so that I'd be up-to-date story.  I did the same with BlazBlue Chronophantasma (which I swear took 20-30+ hours to do) before I picked up Central Fiction during the Steam Summer Sales.  I pre-ordered Valkyria Revolution and sadly had to push it back in queue since I'm getting through NieR Automata right now.  For Steam Summer Sales, I picked up a lot of classic type genre games like Fighting games, Shoot-em-Ups, and Platformers.  One particular game to note I picked up was Killing Floor 2.  It's finally out of Early Access and most of my friends had it already.  After picking it up, we've played it together quite a lot and has become the most played game the past month.  I picked up a lot of other multiplayer games to play with friends and it's been kind of wild how much I bought to do so.  Summer Steam Sales was surprisingly great this year.  I was really happy with most of my purchases, if not all, and I've been having a lot of fun getting through them.  Summer Games Done Quick was a bit disappointing this time around.  I saw a lot of games I wasn't interested in seeing run throughout the event, but then I quickly realized that most of them were streamed in the middle of the night.  I skipped a lot of runs throughout the week either because I haven't played through the game yet (preventing spoilers) or I just wasn't interested.  It was still a week I enjoyed relaxing, talking to friends while we watched the streams and played games together.

EVO felt like a mixed experience, but it was overall entertaining and a great way to end the Summer events.  I paid more attention to Anime EVO this year and saw some really fun tournaments for games that I like that generally don't get much attention.  Unfortunately, I don't see any uploads of the tournaments for Anime EVO for this year.  At the end of the first day was the King of Fighters 14 Finals.  It was a pretty good final and that reversal on the very last round was EVO moment material.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2's Grand Finals was okay.  I was sad that there weren't any Millia players in Top 8, but there was a Jack-O player.  Omito's Johnny was fairly consistent throughout his journey through Top 8, so it wasn't too surprising to see the outcome.  Leo can be a tricky character to deal with, so the Grand Finals had some interesting moments.

I didn't really bother watching Injustice 2.  I watched it for a bit and got bored.  I kind of knew that would happen since I didn't particularly enjoy watching Injustice 1 either as it felt slow and kind of clunky.  It was fun playing through Injustice 1, but it's not a game I particularly like watching.  Moreso, a lot of stages in the 2nd game are so dark!

Super Smash Bros. Melee was a bit disappointing.  It was clear that the Smash elites would make it to Top 8 and the three former winners of EVO were fighting hard for another win to their record (Mang0 has won 2 while Armada and HungryBox have won once each).  Armada put Mang0 into losers brackets early in the Top 8 and it was a bit painful to watch as Mang0 was making the same mistakes he made going up against Armada 2 years ago at EVO.  Aside from multiple Self-Destructs (SD), Mang0 tends to get zoned out to the edges of the stage by Armada and easily gets punished whenever Armada waits for him in the middle of the stage.


Mang0 managed to beat HungryBox in losers bracket to make it to Grand Finals and hopefully learn something from the matches he had against Armada earlier.  But as expected, the same mistakes were being made (although lessened) and Armada had complete control over the flow of the fight in too many instances.  Armada earned his 2nd EVO win and he stuck with his Peach pick this time around.  I suppose that's at least better than seeing another Fox mirror match.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was also pretty disappointing in the same exact fashion as Super Smash Bros. Melee.  The finals for UMvC3 was fairly early and would end around 10AM in the morning, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to wake up for that.  The night before, I saw that Justin Wong was still in the tournament and I wondered if he made it to Top 8.  I was going to go back to bed if he wasn't and sadly he was knocked out before then.  But then I saw ChrisG's name on the list and was curious if he was able to win a 2nd time at EVO.


ChrisG was put into loser's bracket by RyanLV's unusual team consisting of Morrigan, Phoenix and Chun-Li.  I don't remember the last time I saw Chun-Li at a tournament.  In fact, I kind of forgot that she was even in the game.  RyanLV would utilize Chun-Li's aerial kicks to stay suspended in mid-air to burn out ChrisG's infamous wall of Morrigan's Soul Fist and then engage after the super wears off.  Climbing back into Grand Finals, ChrisG tried to find an opening in RyanLV's defense as he did his usual combo of Soul Fists and Doom missiles, but RyanLV's tactics and engagements seemed to really confuse ChrisG and RyanLV was able to capitalize on some of the desperation attacks ChrisG put out.  It wasn't exactly a one-sided match, but it really felt as if RyanLV was able to control the match in his favor the entire time.  His team has a high risk, high reward output just from having Phoenix in his team.  Phoenix is the squishiest character in the game, but with one of the scariest damage output when she transforms into Dark Phoenix from a level 5 super meter.  That risk certainly paid off as it was the key to winning the last round for RyanLV.  Although it was a bit boring for a Grand Finals, I have to praise RyanLV for finding an answer to ChrisG's strategy that many competitors couldn't get past for so many years.

BlazBlue: Central Fiction was so exhausting to watch.  It's really scary just how good players can get in this game where even one mistake might cost you the entire match.  A friend and I joked about how glad we were that the Arakune player didn't make it into Grand Finals.  Arakune's main weapon is "curse" where a homing fog follows the enemy player until they touch them which causes bugs to fly all over the screen and either open up the player to an attack or keep them in block-stun while their health is being chipped away.  It's a bit boring and disheartening to see.


Ryusei is quite the character.  I've never seen a pro fighting game player so energetic and happy all the time.  Even when losing he's seen smiling and laughing.  His pressure game with Carl is pretty disgusting and leaves little room to engage.  Fenritti played Jin and relied a lot on resets and poking into hit confirms.  So it was quite a treat to see him fight against such pressure and make some great plays throughout the match.  BlazBlue CF was one of the better Grand Finals we saw this year at EVO.

I felt like I was able to enjoy watching Tekken 7 a lot more this year since I actually got to play the game and understand the mechanics a lot better.

Having actually played the game now, I'm able to see the little details that make this game fun to watch as much as it is to play.  The environments are so beautiful.  The effects and art style makes the game feel more modern but not so realistic that it takes away the magic of it being a videogame.  The slow-motion, camera zoom when both players are close to being knocked out and both pull out an attack really adds to the suspense and excitement.  It was a pretty good Grand Finals, but I have to say that the last game was pretty brutal.

I was rather conflicted on who to root for on Super Smash Bros. Wii U's Grand Finals.  I like ZeRo as a player and would be happy to see him win at EVO a 2nd time.  But at the same time, I like Bayonetta as a character and Salem is one of the few pro players to stick with her after she was nerfed so hard where she fell from top tier down to middle tier.


It was a grueling fight between the two players and it brought them to the last round.  ZeRo with still two stocks left and Salem already up to 101% on his last stock, who would win?  It was definitely an EVO moment right at the end.

Street Fighter V was certainly something else this year.  There were a lot more character variation in Top 8.  New up and coming pro-players made their way to the finals.  And the Grand Finals will certainly be a match fans will talk about years later.

Having reached Top 8 three times in the past 6 years that I've watched EVO, Tokido was quite familiar with the fierce competition that awaited him.  Up and coming pro player Punk has been garnering quite the attention the past half year and got to Grand Finals without losing a single match throughout the EVO event.  The first set, before the bracket reset, was quite nerve wracking.  Both players demonstrated why they reached Grand Finals with careful engagements with little to no error.  It was quite the tug-n-pull between Punk immaculate reactions and execution in defensive play against Tokido's fast and aggressive pressure.  After the bracket reset, Tokido just went super saiyan and went in without hesitation.  It's as if it was an entirely different person playing.  After the match was over and Tokido had a chance to speak to the crowd.  He said something quite simple, but carried so much weight, meaning and sincerity behind it that it left commentator James Chen in tears.

"Fighting Games is something so great." -Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi 2017

It's not a new sight to see James Chen cry as he's a passionate man who cares deeply for the Fighting game scene and the community that supports it.  It was an exciting and emotional end to EVO and I was happy to share the experience with my friends (through voice chat) and even my sister this year.  She got to go to EVO and watch the tournaments on site and we exchanged more text messages with each other talking about it than we normally do from an entire year.  EVO was so much fun to watch this year.


My Short Rant on Fighting Games:

I've talked a lot about fighting games in the past.  I love seeing the different techniques and skills each character has, the story behind each one, the music, the art, the presentation.  Fighting games have so much depth to them.  But there's something else that Fighting games brings to videogames that I don't talk about much, and that's a community.  Fighting games were created just for the pure entertainment like any other game back in days of Arcades.  Many other arcade games have competitions on the highest score, but fighting games are a little different.  Fighting games have players directly compete against one another.  This sort of competition is much more intimate and personal.  You would think that this sort of competitive game would cause animosity between players (and of course it does in some cases), but somehow it has brought many strangers together because of the love they have for a particular game.  Many players would try to prove themselves to be the best at the game that they love playing and soon it became a chain reaction of competitions between cities, states, and now regions.  What was a showcase to show who was the best slowly became a community of fans who get together to meet new people, better themselves against new opponents, and the celebration of the games that they love.  Now we have people who play on a professional level and people who watch who may not even play the games.  Through fighting games fans gather to share their passion and love for the games with others.  Competitors find reason to improve themselves to be able to triumph over others.  I do talk a lot about how videogames bring people together, but fighting games take it one step further as it creates an intimate relationship by nature because it has one player directly in confrontation with another player.  By now, pro players are so used to seeing each other at tournaments that it's like a mini-reunion every time they go compete.  Through fighting games, friends are made, names are cheered, journeys are taken, rivalries are created, and tears are shed because there are so many people willing to invest so much time and energy into these games that they're so passionate about.  It is because of this that Tokido's words hold so much weight behind them.  Fighting games are truly great.

A Sluggish September

September passed by really quickly despite how I've been feeling.  I've been feeling lethargic this past month and I can't quite explain the source of the problem.  I've been still working, still going to the gym, and still playing games at night, and yet I don't quite want to do exactly those things.  That is to say, I want to work on a project that isn't the one I'm doing right now.  I rather be playing ping-pong, tennis or some other sport than run on elliptical and lift weights.  I want to play all the other games and not the ones I'm playing right now.  And then there just some days I don't want to do anything.  My father explains that most people don't want to do anything during this time of year.  It doesn't seem too long ago where I didn't have a choice and I'd be going to school right about now.  And yet, it also feel like a long time ago as I've gone through a lot of changes and learned a lot over the past 5 years.  I'm reminded of how I felt when I was still in college: I didn't want to be there.  I wanted to be working in the industry already so I could learn, grow, and contribute.  Perhaps that's what I'm feeling right now?  Perhaps I'm not satisfied with just doing the projects I'm doing right now?  As much as I would like a job composing and producing music for a videogame, I can't deny that I'm enjoying the experiments and projects I've been doing the past 2 years to expand my knowledge of various musical genres as well as improving my production quality for a cleaner and dynamic sound from my music.  I'm working on the next remix to the Guardian Legend Remix Album, but having difficulties constructing it together.  Just this past week, my sister visited home since Christmas and so I held off on working.  I've been away from my sister for so long now that I miss her more and more each time we part ways.  She's grown so much and matured into such a responsible adult, and yet I still worry about her.  It's obvious she's worried about me as she continues to encourage me to make my breakthrough and move down to SoCal already and start working at a game company.  She wants me closer to my friends down in LA and Irvine as well as closer to her so we can hang out on a frequent basis rather than seeing each other twice a year.  I've been constructing plans and trying different approaches the past 2 years so I can make that a reality.  I just hope that it'll have good results.

I don't know why, but it seems every game I play recently just doesn't seem to spark interest or excitement.  Everything I seem to play either frustrates me, disappoints me or does both.  I began the month playing Ghosts 'n Goblins on NES, a game that I've never beat.  I completed Ghouls 'n Ghosts and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts last year, but I never got around to playing the original.  I was talking about old games with my friends and was reminded of the Angry Videogame Nerd and ended up watching a lot of his videos again as I didn't watch most of them.

I decided to give the game a try myself.  The game feels a lot more difficult in terms of how it's designed.  It's not surprise that it left me frustrated.  I've been having an itch to play a beat-em-up again and saw Double Dragon Neon.  I've heard all the warnings and did my research, but I still caved in when the game was but a mere $2.  The game had great atmosphere and presentation with its 80's themed environment, music, and cheesy dialogues; however, the game was frustrating.  The wanted to keep the game close to its origins with clunky combat and tough enemies.  There were so many things about the game that annoyed me: long invincible frames on enemies, weird hit-boxes, being overwhelmed by projectiles, enemies with high HP and super armor, high damage output from the enemies, and the worst one was having to grind to be able to get strong enough to defeat the last boss.  I eventually had to cheat to finish the last boss just like I had to cheat on the last boss on BloodRayne last month (that was pretty bad, too).  Out There Somewhere is a really short indie game with an interesting teleporting mechanic.  I finished that in about an hour and didn't think much of it.  It was kind of fun, but it was also forgettable.  The most memorable thing about the game, besides its main gameplay mechanic, was the reference to Wing Zero's "They set us up the bomb" dialogue in the beginning of the game.  Shoot Many Robots was a game I bought back in 2011, I believe.  I finally got around to playing through Normal mode and stopped there.  I can say that it was a fun game, but I didn't feel compelled to continue playing it on Hard and Very Hard.  Disgaea Infinite was a funny little visual novel game based in the world of Disgaea.  There wasn't much to it, but it did remind me that I really want to play Disgaea.  I really shouldn't have bought Mutant Mudds Deluxe, but I guess I was too curious as to why it was so highly praised.  It's just so "meh" for an Action-Platformer.  I got bored once I completed the light world and didn't even want to bother with the dark world.  Freedom Planet was a pretty good indie game.  It plays a lot like Sonic the Hedgehog with a mix of other platformer elements like Shantae.  The game had beautiful graphics, pretty good music, and personality, but I kind of felt burnt out after playing one run of the game that I didn't really feel like playing it a second time as the other character.  With getting through Ghosts 'n Goblins, I looked up the series and realized I never played through the Vita one.  At first, it seemed a lot more forgiving with multiple lives, and even a sort of health bar.  Then I quickly realized the game is just as difficult with being knocked into pitfalls to be a frequent threat throughout the game.  I eventually got to the end, but was told I needed all 22 gold rings to be worth to enter and fight the last boss.  I didn't want to go item fetching through the whole game again.  It was sort of fun to see so many new weapons, armors, items, and concepts, but it just left me frustrated once again.  STALKER: Clear Sky was kind of fun, but I enjoyed the first game a lot more for some reason considering the game is very similar to the original.  The ending was disappointing and dumb, but I should have expected seeing how it's a prequel to the original.  No Time to Explain came with the Humble Bundle I bought mainly to get Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds on PC for $1.  I've already finished Phantom Breaker: BG twice on PS Vita, but I felt compelled to get it for PC for a larger screen experience at the price of $1.  No Time to Explain was a short and somewhat entertaining game.  But again, I was frustrated with the boss battles because they were purposely made to last long and felt tedious.  After finishing STALKER: Clear Sky, I was looking for the next FPS to play.  I could have installed any of the dozen of FPS games I've bought on steam, but I decided to buy Deadfall Adventures instead for $4 when it was 90% off on the weekly deals.  The game isn't bad, but I can't say I really like it.  The combat competent, at the very least.  What really killed the experience was the puzzles in the game.  I purposely turned puzzles on Easy difficulty and combat on Normal difficulty.  I had fun with the combat, but the puzzles were tedious, boring, and some of them were cryptic.  Ultimately, I was disappointed with my experience with the game.  I'm starting a new string of games on Steam, so hopefully it'll change things around because I'm not in the mood for frustrating and disappointing.  Getting through Lords of the Fallen is starting to become difficult because it's fun, but it's hard.  That, in turn, sometimes makes it frustrating.

The one game I have hope for is Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson, of which I pre-ordered back in July and finally got this past Saturday.  When I started it up, I was a little worried.  The camera handling can be pretty whacky at times and you can't really control it.  Aside from that, the number of changes the game has gone from its previous two titles have really added a layer of dynamics and fresh perspective on the game.  I have to play differently from how I did from Burst or Shinovi Versus, which is totally okay.  The game is also a lot tougher this time around where I've failed a few missions on the beginning already.  But it doesn't upset me or make me mad.  In fact, it gets me excited to face such a challenge in the game.  I'm always so thankful that I got into the series in the first place because each game has been so entertaining and I've been able to enjoy them with the exception of Bon Appétit, that wasn't a very good game.  Combat has so much more going on now that I can't approach battle as directly as I did before.  It'd probably be easy if I actually played the side-missions and grinded, but I realized that I've enjoyed the series a lot more whenever it was more difficult.  I just want to get over my slump of disappointment and frustration in games and be able to have fun with one.

On an ending note, I ran into a new animé.  It's really cute:

Reflection on Steam Summer Sale & E3 2015

I can't believe the week is already over.  It just blew by like a blur and now that everything has settled down it feel like it never really happened.  It's been a tiring week trying to keep up with Steam Summer Sale AND E3 at the same time.  I wanted to spend the week finishing as many games on Steam as possible so I can move onto new ones, but I only ended up completing one old game and 3 others that I got during the sale.  I pretty much got what I wanted out of the Steam Summer Sale, but not at prices I had hoped for.  As for E3, it wasn't particularly special this year other than the few surprise announcements that really caught everyone off guard.  Let's talk a little bit about it the event:

Note: I might have missed some games, and it's hard knowing what there is when I'm not actually there as I experienced first hand going to E3 once before.  Names marked in BOLD are ones I'm interested in.

New Games (Existing IP)
Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations
ANNO 2205
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Assetto Corsa
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Dark Souls 3
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Dishonored 2
Disney Infinity 3.0
EA Sports FIFA 16
Fallout 4
Fallout Shelter
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Gears of War 4
Gears of War Ultimate Edition
God of War 3 Remastered
Halo 5: Guardians
Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories
Hyrule Warriors - 3DS
Just Dance 2016
Kingdom Hearts: Unchained Key
Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends
Lara Croft Go
LEGO Jurassic World
LEGO Dimensions
Madden NFL 16
Magic Duels: Origins
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
Mass Effect Andromeda
Mega Man Legacy Collection
Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Minions Paradise
NBA Live 16
Need for Speed
NHL 16
NieR (New)
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
Ratchet & Clank Remastered
Rare Replay
Resident Evil 0
Roy McIlroy PGA Tour
Shenmue 3
Skylanders SuperChargers
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Star Fox Zero
The Elder Scrolls Legends
The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes
The Walking Dead: Michonne
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Trackmania Turbo
World of Final Fantasy
WWE 2K16
XCOM 2


New Games (New IP)
Abzu
Ark: Survival Evolved
Ashen
Beyond Eyes
Brave Tank Hero
Dreams
Firewatch
For Honor
Gotcha Racing
Horizon: Zero Dawn
ION
Mad Max
ReCore
Relics of Gods
Rocket League
Sea of Thieves
SOMA
Thumper
Unravel


Follow Up News (Previously Announced)
Adr1ft
Alone With You
Amplitude HD
Batman Arkham Knight
Battleborn
Battlecry
Below
Broforce
Capsule Force
Chasm
Cosmic Star Heroine
Crossing Souls
Cuphead
The Division
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
Doom
Drawn to Death
Dungeon Defenders 2
EarthNight
Enter the Gungeon
Elite Dangerous
Fable Legends
Fat Princess Adventures
Fire Emblem Fates (Formly Fire Emblem IF)
Fortnite
Forza 6
Future Grind
Galak-Z: The Dimensional
Gang Beasts
Gnog
Guitar Hero Live
Guns Up!
Heart Forth, Alicia
Homefront 2: The Revolution
Hollowpoint
I Am Bread
Just Cause 3
Kill Strain
Kingdom Hearts 3
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Mighty No. 9
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst
Moon Hunters
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Ninja Strike
No Man's Sky
Nuclear Throne
Overkill's The Walking Dead
Overwatch
Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Persona 5
Relativity
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rock Band 4
Ronin
Salt and Sanctuary
Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson
Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
Snow
Star Wars Battlefront
Street Fighter V
Super Mario Maker
Superhot
Sword Coast Legends
Teraway: Unfolded
The Banner Saga 2
The Last Guardian
The Tomorrow Children
To Leave
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Until Dawn
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Yoshi's Wooly World



Most Surprising Announcements
Fallout 4 - I can't say I'm a Fallout fan since I've never played the originals and only played Fallout 3 and never even finished it.  But I can say that I enjoyed Fallout 3 a lot and still plan on going back to it and actually trying to finish it.  Seeing Fallout 4 in action was quite a spectacle.  Particularly interesting was all the weapon customization and crafting you can perform in the game.  This is certainly a game to look out for.  Fans of FO3 have been waiting for 7 years for this.

Final Fantasy VII Remake / Shenmue 3 / The Last Guardian - This trio of announcements blew peoples mind, drove the crowd wild, and pretty much won everyone over during the Sony Conference.  The Last Guardian has been on Hiatus for the longest time and didn't even show up in the past few E3 events.  So it was quite an eye opener to see that the game was still being developed and even showed gameplay at the conference.  I finally got around to playing through ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, so I have a better understanding of why people like them so much.  The Last Guardian is a lot like ICO, it seems.  I thought ICO was okay.  It felt a bit slow, tedious, and frustrating.  Shadow of the Colossus was amazing though.

When they got down to talking about Square-Enix and "how they brought a classic to the Playstation 1" and leading up to the reveal, I couldn't really think of anything except Final Fantasy VII.  But I refused to believe it because the fans have been denied of such a thing for ever and ever.  Upon hearing the first heartbeat from the song "Beyond the Wasteland" from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in the trailer they were showing, my own heartbeat sped up a little.  "Was this a new movie?  Another spin-off?"  When the words "Remake" popped up, I was freaking out!  I couldn't believe it was actually happening!  I'm sure there were many others freaking out even more than I was because I never actually played through Final Fantasy VII.  I know a lot about it, I know most of the songs by heart, and I even own the original PS1 game as well as recently buying the Steam version so that I could actually sit down and play through it myself; however, the fact is that I haven't played it yet.  I certainly have an incentive to play through it before the remake comes out now.

I never played Shenmue 1 and 2, but it's a franchise that I constantly hear about.  The fact that Sega is more focused on publishing and mobile games made the hope for a Shenmue 3 a pipe-dream.  And so it took everyone by surprise to see Shenmue 3 announced by the director, Yu Suzuki, himself on the Sony Conference stage asking for support from the fans on Kickstarter.  It fulfilled its funding goal by the end of the day.  To me, Shenmue is the game that brought quick-time events into gaming.  But to many others, it was a special adventure with a story that the fans obviously love enough to want a 3rd game after more than a decade wait.

Horizon: Zero Dawn - Besides "For Glory", this was the only newly announced, new IP game that looked interesting to me.  The rich environment and large scale combat they showed in the trailer looked immersive and engaging.  I was hoping to see more new games like this one announced during E3, but there wasn't.  This is the one new game that wowed me more than any other this year.

Let's Talk About:
Call of Duty Black Ops 3 / Dark Souls 3 - This year's E3 was definitely about sequels.  Both Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and Dark Souls 3 look amazing, but I don't feel very excited.  I'm trying to pull away from Call of Duty because I always end up paying more than I actually play to make it worth it.  I love Call of Duty and I really enjoyed Advanced Warfare from last year (albeit multiplayer breaking for me), but I can't really justify buying it every year only to play 10-20 hours ($60 at full price, $30 at lowest).  I used to play it more before because I didn't play many other games, but now it just seems difficult to find the time to play it.  As for Dark Souls 3, I haven't even played 2 yet.  2 is still under plastic wraps and I kind of know what to expect.  As opposed to CoD:BO3, I'm definitely going to get Dark Souls 3.  I'm just not that excited by the announcement like I was for Bloodborne (probably because Bloodborne is different and new).

Below / Chasm / Cuphead - I've been keeping an eye on these 3 indie games and am really interested in it.  Below looks like a top-down Action-RPG.  Chasm is a Metroidvania, I believe.  And Cuphead is like Megaman with an old-school Disney art style.  These are games I want to play.

Dishonored 2 - I'm actually a bit surprised by this announcement, even though I shouldn't.  I loved Dishonored a lot and felt like it's one of those games to be considered a classic.  To deliver such an extraordinary experience to the Action-Stealth genre in Dishonored seemed to be a one game sort of deal.  So there's a lot of expectation to fulfill in creating a sequel.

The Division - Announced back in E3 2013, we all knew we wouldn't see the game for a while.  Now that it's starting flesh out and getting close to a final product, I'm getting excited.  I've played a lot of open world, survival games and have always been left with a poor impression.  But this game looks promising and has the cooperative gameplay aspect that I'm looking for to play with my friends.  So I'm hoping for the best and keeping an eye out for this game.

Doom - I didn't like Doom 3 that much, so I wasn't too interested in the announcement of the newest Doom last year.  But when they showed gameplay this year, I became interested.  There was a lot of high jumping, fast blasting action that's rather reminiscent of old-school shooters.  I can't say I really like all the gore and blood, but the pacing and action that I saw from the trailers looked exciting.  What's more, it seems like it will come with a level editor of sorts.

Fable Legends - After showing a bit more gameplay this year, the game does look interesting.  But since it's Free-to-Play, I'm kind of wondering what kind of game it is.  Will it be lots of grinding and going to the next level?  Or will it be progression based and then have a hard mode and a harder mode?  I can't say I'm convinced yet, but it's something to look out for.

For Honor - "This is what 'War of the Roses' should've been like" is what I want to say, but I actually haven't seen enough of the game to really pass judgement.  Although it's a new IP, it's a game we've seen before in the market with games like Chivarly, War of the Roses, and on a looser case: Mount & Blade.  Still, the game is looking pretty good and could turn out to be a popular multiplayer game on console.

Horizon: Zero Dawn - As I mentioned above in the surprising announcements, this new game announcement is the only one that really caught my attention that stands out from the rest of the games and makes me want to play it.  It might be a while before we can actually play it, though.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force - I was very sad looking at this game.  Why slap on the name "Metroid" when it doesn't really look, feel, or sound like Metroid?  I guess it kind of has the concept of Metroid Prime's combat mechanics, but it's not Metroid.  Every year, I'm hoping for a new Metroid game, but this is not I asked for and not what the fans want.  There's even a petition people are signing to have all production and development of this game halted.  That's pretty extreme, and I'm wondering how Nintendo will handle this.  They might just ignore the hate and release it anyways.  I can't say I'm too happy with how this game looks.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst - So it seems like the game is called "Catalyst" because it's supposedly a prequel to Mirror's Edge 1.  It seems like fans want to see more of Faith and so there will be more cinematics actually showing her in action rather than keeping everything entirely in a first-person perspective view.  The game's supposedly going to be open-world as well as opposed to its finely crafted linear gameplay of the first one.

NieR (New) - I haven't played (or taken off the plastic wraps) of my copy of NieR since I wanted to get through Drakengard 3 first (a friend told me that NieR was better).  So it was unexpected to see a sequel to the game as it seemed like the first game was actually a spin-off of the Drakengard series.  But what's really exciting about this announcement is that Plantinum Games is going to be the one developing the game this time around.  Could you imagine what the game would be like?  Over-the-top action in an RPG?  I'm excited for this one, but it might be 2-3 years before we get to see it.

Nintendo - Nintendo's Conference was entertaining, but overall underwhelming this year.  There were new games, but nothing that really got the fans excited.  The most exciting news coming from Nintendo was the Nintendo Direct right before E3 which revealed Ryu from Street Fighter as a DLC in Super Smash Bros. as well as the return of Roy of Fire Emblem and Lucas from Earthbound (Mother).  At the very least, they announced Hyrule Warriors for 3DS which made me happy.

Overwatch - It's kind of weird to see a Blizzard game mentioned at E3, but I welcome it.  Overwatch is looking pretty interesting, but how long will it take before we get to play it?  It was a very long wait for StarCraft 2, then Diablo 3, then Heroes of the Storm.  Waiting for Blizzard games is tough.

Playstation Vita - If it weren't for Atlus, the PS Vita would be a very sad system to have right now.  With Persona: Dancing All Night and Lost Dimension, what else is there to look forward to on the PS Vita that you couldn't get on any other platform?  Honestly, all I want and need for PS Vita is Phantasy Star Nova.  Sega, please!

Salt and Sanctuary - Boasting itself to be sort of a 2D Dark Souls, I first got interested in this game when it was announced last year because it's supposed to be like a Metroidvania.  I keep craving for Metroidvania games, but not many seem to satisfy me.  I hope this will be a good game.

Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson - I need to remember to pre-order this next month.  I've already listened to the soundtrack and am really looking forward to playing this game.  Senran Kagura does a very good job of satisfying my craving for Hack-n-Slash / Beat-em-Ups.

Street Fighter V - More characters were shown and the game is looking pretty good.  I wasn't sure how they were going to innovate the game from IV, but the new ability mechanics looks like it will change the pacing and strategies for the game.  I even got excited enough to buy Ultra Street Fighter IV during the Steam Summer Sale.

Super Mario Maker - When they showed it last year, it was kind of a cool idea.  But when they showcased it this year at the Nintendo World Championship 2015 event, they revealed the limitless possibilities for the game.  I'd like to get this game if I ever get a Wii U.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands / Rainbow Six Siege - Rainbow Six Siege was shown last year and I was bit worried because of the competitive nature of the game.  But then they showed cooperative gameplay in scenario based missions and it immediately reminded me of the fun I had playing games like SWAT 4 with my friends.  Now I really want Rainbow Six Siege.  Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a newly announced game and it looks amazing.  It's an open-world, online-multiplayer, cooperative experience like no other game from what they've shown so far.  These are two games I really want and convinced me the most of why I should be excited for their games this year.



Now let's take a look at I wanted and what I actually got during Steam Summer Sale.

What I wanted from Steam Summer Sale as posted 2 posts ago:

Lords of the Fallen - I wanted it below $20 but got it AT $20.  I was very hesitant on picking it up because of the myriad posts on how the game constantly crashes, problems with controls, graphic glitches, and countless other problems.  So far, the only problems I've faced is frame rate dropping, even at lower settings.  The game's not properly optimized, but otherwise it seems to be running fine.  I think I can make the $20 worth it as I'll probably be playing the game more than once.

Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires - I kind of knew it wouldn't drop below $20, so I was hoping it'd at least go down to $25, of which it did.  This was another game I was afraid of picking up because of countless reports of problems with the game, but I've never played the Empires expansion and kind of wanted that sort of depth in a Dynasty Warriors game.  So I bought the game and tried it out for myself.  The graphics is downgraded from the original DW8, I can't play with native resolution, I can't play full screen without the graphics pushed off to the side, and there isn't English voice overs.  Despite all that, I'm still enjoying the game with the plethora of customization, RPG and Strategy-like elements, and new weapons.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - I didn't get this one.  I was expecting to see it for less than $20 since it's been at $20 the last three times it went on sale.  But this time, it was $25.  I found out that they bundled it with the DLCs as GOTY Edition and forced players to get it as the original game was no longer available to buy.  The game's about 14 hours long and I didn't want to pay more than $15 for it, so I skipped this game for now.

Dying Light - As I suspected, the game dropped down to $45.  But the game is fairly new, so it's fair that they're keeping it at a decently high price.

Borderlands Pre-Sequel - This actually had an okay deal with the game around $20 and the Season Pass bundle for $25 (while getting the Season pass separately is $20).  But my friends and I felt like we can wait for a larger discount since we weren't in any rush to play the game.

Divinity: Original Sin - The game only got a $3 discount from its regular sale price.  But I still picked it up around $24 because I wanted to get a game I could co-op with my friend.  We're kind of running out of games to play together.

Hotline Miami 2 - Barely even a $5 discount.  Passing for now because I want to get the soundtrack with it.

Titan Souls - I found out it's only about 3 hours of gameplay.  I didn't want to pay $9 for 3 hours of gameplay.  It looks really interesting though.

Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure - This didn't even have a discount.  Perhaps it's too new.

Broforce - It's not out of Early Access yet and it's still $10.

Freedom Planet - I got it!  I haven't played it yet, but I started it up and found out it has voice acting.  Kind of strange for a 16-bit looking game.

Wings of Vi - This game is hard!  I barely got through the 2nd boss in the game and I've already died 100 times.  But so far the game is really fun!  I like these type of difficult games where it's fun, challenging, and engaging enough to keep going even after dying countless times.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - I have mixed feelings about this remake.  But overall, I think it's a great game.  I'll admit that I miss the music Danny Baranowsky created for the original.

The Shadowcrypt - I bought it and then asked for a refund after 12 minutes of playing it.  I didn't plan on ever asking for a refund on Steam, but the game was so monotonous and boring that I got sick of it after one session of playing it.  I've played plenty of games like it in the past and saw the warning signs.  It's unfortunate, but it's not what I thought it'd be.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - It really did go down to $5!  I immediately bought it and then immediately completed it the next day.  For a 1 hour game, I was thoroughly impressed.  The new engine they're using is highly optimized, making the graphics incredibly beautiful yet run smoothly.  The gameplay is highly refined and is what you'd expect from a MGS game.  Despite being only 1 hour, I accumulated 3 hours.  There was 1 hour of cinematics, 1 hour of listening to audio logs (which were really expensive), and there's also a bunch of side missions I haven't even played yet.  I think for $5, the mini prologue game to the Phantom Pain is well worth it.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R - It's too new, so it didn't go down past its initial launch sale.

Bladestorm: Nightmare - This is also too new and didn't go on sale.

Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim - This was surprisingly cut down to 50% off at $10.  I didn't pick it up yet, though.  I still have Ys Origins and Ys 1 & 2+ to get through before I think of getting Ys VI.

Axiom Verge - It didn't go on sale.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - DA:I did go on sale on Origin like I predicted it would for 50% off at $30.  But since my friends didn't want to get it and play multiplayer, I held off on it.  I'd love to play multiplayer on it, but I don't think I can find anyone to play it with.  So I'm just going to wait for a bigger discount before I pick it up for playing the single-player campaign.


Overall, both Steam Summer Sale and E3 were kind of underwhelming this year.  Steam Sale had all sorts of shady dealings such as game prices being hiked up right before the sale so that even on sale it won't be be as much.  There were bundles created to force players to buy a more expensive version of the game or bundles were taken out so the best deal wasn't readily available.  Games that should have gotten a bigger discount got a lesser discount.  Despite all that, I ended up buying 16 games (and some DLCs, mostly soundtracks) and received 4 games from friends.  I wish I got better discounts on the game I bought, but I at least got the games I mostly wanted from the sale, regardless.  E3 had some interesting announcements, but they're all sequels that we all pretty much expect to get from the game industry.  Even with surprising announcements that blow people's mind like FF7 Remake and Shenmue 3, there wasn't much to offer at this year's E3.  I guess I had a fun week, but I kind of want to continue lazing about until I feel ready to get back to work.  But I guess I'll try to work hard until EVO comes around.

Ready for Steam Summer Sale!

A few days ago, the dates for the Steam Summer Sale seemed to have been leaked on a Russian Social Network post.  Dates for seasonal sales have been getting leaked for the past few years because a developer, publisher, or editorial "accidentally" slips it out.  If the dates are real, then Steam Summer Sale will be between June 11th to June 20th.  As usual, I'm not exactly ready to buy more games when I still have a backlog to get through; however, there are a few games I'd be willing to buy and play right away if they're cheap enough.

[Lords of the Fallen]


I highly doubt it'll get a sale under $20, but this game's on the top of my wishlist as I'm kind of craving for something like the Souls series, but isn't Souls because I'm not quite ready to play it yet (Bought Dark Souls 2 and haven't played it yet).  Lords of the Fallen received mixed reviews of people loving it and people hating it.  It's obvious its influence and inspiration comes from the souls series, so it's not surprising a lot of people compare it to those games.  But I think that is why I'm so interested in the game.  It's designed to be like a Souls game, but what are they offering different to make it stand out on its own?  If anything, this is the one game I kind of want above all the rest this Summer Steam Sale, but I don't know if I'm willing to pay anything over $20.

[Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires]
I never did get to play any of the Empires iteration of the Dynasty Warriors series.  I want to give one a try, but the one for PS3 is digital only (I think) and my PS3 is already stretching thin for Hard Drive Disk Space.  So I was a bit excited to hear it made it onto steam.  The problem now is that a lot of user reviews complain about the port and how poorly it was handled.  So I'm a bit reluctant to spend a bit more on it, if that's the case.  But if I know it'll be a smooth experience, I'm pretty sure I can make even $25 worth while.  I've been having a Hack-n-Slash craving and I think Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires would be a great game to satiate that hunger.  I'm really hoping this gets a good sale.

[Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor]
If Lords of the Fallen doesn't go under $20, I hope this one does.  I've heard so many great things about this game and I've already seen it get discounted down to $20 twice if not three times already.  I saw a lot of comparison it had with the Assassin's Creed series, but it also seems to be more of an Action-RPG of sorts.  I think that's what I'm actually craving for right now: Action-RPGs with a kind of Hack-n-Slash feel.  Because I've been having the urge to play Vindictus again, but haven't since I've been trying to complete games.  I guess I've also been having craving for Metroidvanias, possibly because of the announcement of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.  Out of the three games listed so far, it has the greatest potential for a good sale price.

[Cooperative Multiplayer Games]
I'm trying to look for new multiplayer games I can play with my friends because we kind of burnt out everything we have with multiple games completed several times already.  Dying Light is one game I'm looking out for, but it came out so recently that it doesn't seem like it will go down in price by all that much.  Borderlands: Pre-Sequel also hasn't been getting much of a discount, but I'm not too excited to play it anyways since I still feel kind of burnt out from playing Borderlands 2.  Divinity: Original Sin hasn't been getting much of a discount ever since its launch last June, which I'm kind of happy for the developers because they put a lot of love and passion into this game and it seems like it's doing incredibly well.  It's definitely one of the higher priority multiplayer games I want to get since it has lots of depth and gameplay hour potential that my friend and I could get out of it.

[Indie Games]
There's a bunch of indie games I'm curious about and want to play.  I loved Hotline Miami 2, so I'm keen on playing the sequel.  Titan Souls boasted itself for being a difficult game and I seem to want to play challenging games recently.  Perhaps I've been playing too many games on "Easy".  Among others, there's Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, Broforce (Which still isn't out of Early Access!), Freedom Planet, Wings of Vi, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, and the Shadowcrypt.  Everything else, I feel like I can kind of wait for (though it'd be nice to get Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes for $5).  More recent games like Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, Bladestorm: Nightmare, Ys VI, and Axiom Verge will probably get a small discount if any.  So I'm going to have to wait if I want those for cheaper.

[Dragon Age: Inquisition]
I know this isn't on Steam, but other digital distribution services often have sales alongside Steam Seasonal sales.  Besides playing the main game, I'm also interested in the Online co-op multiplayer mode.  From what I've researched, there are 4 playable maps and 16 unlockable classes to choose from.  If I can find friends to play with, I'd be willing to pay more than $20 for it.  But right now, I'm still kind of on the fence about it.  If I'm just going to be playing the single-player mode, I rather just wait for a heavier discount.


Steam Summer Sale starts next Thursday (if the leaked dates are true) which isn't too long from now.  But anticipating the sales will make these next two weeks drag by.  I need to work hard these next two weeks because I know I'll be heavily distracted once Steam Summer Sales begin.

I feel tired...why am I tired?

I'm feeling rather lethargic recently, but I haven't been working THAT hard this month.  I've been getting my portfolio straightened out and it's finished!  Or so I thought.  I might be applying to a position that involves working with sound effects and not music.  So now I've got to find some of the work I did with sound effects, which makes me nervous.  Sound effects isn't exactly my forte and I enjoy working with music more.  But it's been exactly 3 years as of this month since I've had a real job, so I need to take advantage of the opportunity now that it's available.  On the bright side, my resumé has been updated and looks stronger.  I've also updated my LinkedIn account, though I really need to add a picture to it.  I guess I mainly feel tired whenever I think about having to look for job openings and going through the whole process of applying since I've done it so many times in the past 4 years.  But once I've gone through some job searches, I want to get back into working with some more projects while I wait for a response back.

I finally have a PS Vita!  Yay!  And then a week after, fans complain that the PS Vita is being ignored entirely by Sony during the Gamescom Convention.  I said I'd buy a PS Vita if Phantasy Star Nova or Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus was being released here in America, and the latter was announced for a physical copy release.  It was quite the day when I decided to buy one, because it was apparently sold out EVERYWHERE.  I went around the city to three different GameStops and 2 Targets and picked up Ragnarok Odyssey ACE and Hyperdimension Neptunia PP while a PS Vita slim Bundle was nowhere to be found.  I decided to go home and buy one from Amazon because I still saw it available 2 days prior that day.  I get on Amazon only to find out that they're sold out and the sellers listed were posting it for $250 rather than the original $200.  I looked online in other stores and every store was sold out other than BestBuy.  So I ended up ordering it online from BestBuy while I bought Ys: Memories of Celceta and Persona 4 Golden along with a PS Vita Slim Grip on Amazon.  Amazingly, I got the PS Vita 2 days after and got to play it over that weekend.  I tried Hyperdimension Neptunia PP for about 40 mintues before I switched it back to Ragnarok Odyssey ACE and decided to take it one game at a time.  I've already accumulated 38 hours on RO ACE in the past 3 weeks and love it!
And I love it even more when my grip came in because it's not comfortable holding the PS Vita, just like the PSP.  The grip makes it less portable, but it's a world of difference in ergonomics.  But the device is not without faults.  It took way too long to just set up the system to play.  The device has WAY too many arbitrary functions and makes me wonder if they would have saved more money if they hadn't spent so much on certain things (besides the applications, there's the backside touch sensor that's rarely used).  It's quite evident that Sony isn't making a huge profit out of the Vita because they're not restocking it in stores and they're not promoting it as often as they should.  I also don't like how the battery life is barely 5 hours.  I have to recharge my PS Vita every 1-2 days while I recharged my 3DS every 6-8 days when I first got it (meaning when I was playing it every day).  Despite its shortcomings, I really like my PS Vita and really enjoy Ragnarok Odyssey ACE as my first game for it.  I can't wait to play all the other games I'll be getting for it.

One game I played a whole bunch recently was Dishonored.  I had heard so much about the game but never really looked into it because I had always planned on getting it when it was cheap enough.  I had purchased it back in Steam Winter Sales 2013 but didn't get around to playing it until the summer time.  I finally played through it all in July and loved it!  I played it through two more times just to try out new things.  First time around, I played it entirely stealth.  Second playthrough, I went as aggressive as possible and killed everyone I came across.  On my last run, I tried to get through the game as fast as possible while killing as few people as possible (which ended up being 4-5 people, I think) and finished at around 3 hours when it took me 18 hours the first time to beat it.  The game's a beautiful mix between Action and Stealth and works so well together.  Dishonored was a really good game and I enjoyed playing it enough time to play it 3 times in a row.  And then I played a bunch of games that I thought was okay or boring.  I finally got through ICO and thought it was okay.  The game's solid with its design and concept, but I was only mildly entertained by it.  The Swapper was also okay.  Although the idea behind the game and level designs were great, I got kind of bored after a while.  Platformines started off being really fun, but became really stupid as I finished it.  It's also one of the very few games where I had to mute the music because it was so distracting and annoying that I couldn't keep it on anymore:
I finally got through Arcania: Gothic 4 and Arcania: Fall of Setarrif this week.  I bought those two games back in Steam Summer Sale 2012.  The game was full of graphic glitches, the combat was boring, the voice acting was really off in a lot of parts, and I was always at a loss of where to go next.  Throughout the entire time, I was wishing I was playing Divinity 2 or Two Worlds 2 instead.  I considered quitting the game many times but was stubborn and kept to it.  Arcania wasn't a very good game, yet I kind of had a fulfilling adventure from it.  Traveling around the open world, meeting all sorts of quirky characters, and fighting a bunch of enemies all felt like an adventure from a fantasy novel.  So in a sense, I enjoyed the experience of adventure and didn't enjoy the gameplay so much.  It's hard to describe the game's worth, but I supposed I can say that I don't regret playing through it.  I also understand why people were so upset with Fall of Setarrif after I finished it in 2.3 hours.  It's essentially a more conclusive ending to the original game, but it wasn't that great.

After completing ICO, I've finally started Final Fantasy XIII-2.  The gameplay is the same and so it's not that exciting; however, I find the story of the game to be compelling and interesting compared to the first one.  I'm enjoying it.

In terms of animé, I've been watching Love Live! School Idol Project.

I remember seeing the game on iOS and downloaded it to play it and thought it was only okay.  You get songs really slowly, and the songs aren't as memorable.  But then a friend recommended that I watch the animé and so I did after I finished "Is the Order a Rabbit?"  I really enjoy the show!  I haven't been paying that much attention to animé since it's already hard to enough to keep up with videogames, but there certainly are a lot of shows I want to watch.  I still lean more towards Slice-of-Life and comedy animé, though.  I'm not sure if I can handle watching anymore depressing shows.  Even so, I feel like I should really watch Attack on Titan and Evangelion (both original and new).

I really do feel tired and just want to play games and watch animé all day, though.  But I think it's a really bad time for me to be doing that right now.  I want to stay productive.  Even if I can find a job opening to apply for, I still want to spend the day making more music and working on projects.  The idea of being able to play games freely and enjoy myself at this time does sound very inviting, though.

Don't end just yet, Summer!

Man, what a crazy month! Starting from June, there was the E3 conference to start off the Summer. Following that was the Steam Summer Sales that began a lot sooner than I thought. Despite my efforts, I still ended up spending twice as much as I wanted to for the sales. Then I started playing Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty while watching the playoffs for DotA 2 on the first week of July. Then EVO 2014 streams started that weekend with some of the craziest matches in fighting game history; One being BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma Grand Finals (Starting at 01:40:58) that had 7 match points before Garireo reached the ultimate victory.  That was definitely THE most intense Grand Final of EVO this year.  I also enjoyed the finals for Super Smash Bros. Melee.  There was also the Grand Final for Ultra Street Fighter IV, which wasn't as exciting; however, there was an interesting fact about the winner: He used a Playstation 1 gamepad throughout the tournament.  I don't know how he did it.  That controller used to give me blisters all the time before they introduced the dual analog sticks.  My favorite EVO moment this year was Justin Wong related, just like last year.


Starting at 12:18.  It's the last match with 2 points for both players, and the victor will move onto the Grand Finals.  Justin Wong is down to his Akuma, who can easily be taken out in one combo, and Filipino Champ had brought out his Phoenix with a level 5 meter which transforms her into Dark Phoenix.  At that pivotal moment when Filipino Champ got the hit confirm at 12:26, I immediately thought "it's over, Justin lost..."  But to my surprise, Filipino Champ X-Factored and dove in WITH his support out to hopefully end it right there.  In that crucial moment, Justin Wong was able to react to it with a Messatsu-Goshoryu, (a special Shoryuken/Dragon Punch) which has a good amount of frames of invincibility during start-up, and make contact with both characters of Filipino Champ which finished the match right there.  I kept wondering if it would have been different if Filipino Champ was a bit more patient and stalled those last 20 seconds (Justin Wong used to do that ALL the time!).  Still, it was one of those great moments that makes watching these matches streamed live worth it.  Right after EVO was the DotA 2 International which holds the record for highest reward pot of over $10 Million in e-sports history.  Unfortunately, I've been so worn out from watching so many streams, keeping up with work, and trying to clear games that I didn't follow The International very closely and ended up missing the Grand Finals.  I heard it was pretty decisive and wasn't that fun to watch compared to the lower brackets and early playoffs.

In between all that news following, game buying, and stream watching madness, I managed to get some work done.  I had finished the Ultima Exodus Remix Project I've been working on and successfully uploaded all 10 tracks on Youtube.


All 10 tracks are in that player there.  With the project finally completed, I started finishing up loose ends with projects I was working on before this week.  Right after that, I'm going to need to start looking at job openings again, but this time for Audio rather than Quality Assurance.  It's causing a bit of stress as more time passes and my chances of finding a job becomes slimmer.  But I refuse to give up and work at a job that I won't allow me to get better with music and learn more about game development.  Until I find one, I might continue doing more remix projects, because remix, arranging, and covering videogame music has been something I've been wanting to do all my life and wasn't able to until just recently.

In terms of games, I'd say I've been playing a lot more enjoyable games compared to what I played back in April and May.  I finally got around to finishing Dragon's Crown and was presented with end-game content with a lot more I can do!  It was surprising to see after the credits ended and there was more to the game.  I finally got around to finishing Dead Rising 2 as well, and it was so painful.  There were some aspects I really enjoyed out of the game, but it mostly frustrated me.  There isn't much to say about it.  One of my friends bought me Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae for my Birthday and I played it days after and finished it pretty quickly.  For a Indie developed Hack-n-Slash, I thought it was solid.  It was challenging, had a lot of combo options and skills, a decent amount of unlockables, and a very pretty main character.  Phantasy Star Portable, I've had on my PSP since 2009 and never beat because of how incredibly grindy it got at the end.  I tried one last time as I've played it off and on for the past 4 years after graduating, but I still wasn't able to defeat the final form of the last boss and so I gave up.  I watched the ending cinematics on Youtube and considered the game to be finished under my excel sheet.  Magicite was one of the games I bought during the Steam Summer Sale.  It's an Action-Platformer with crafting aspects and rogue-like elements.  It's like a mix between Terraria and Risk of Rain.  I played the game quite a bit with two of my friends and I managed to finally beat it twice: once solo and the 2nd time with my friends.  I also finished Resident Evil 6 with a friend recently and really enjoyed it a lot!  I can see why a lot of fans are upset with it as it's a lot less about exploration, puzzles, and horror and a bigger focus on Action and cooperative play.  I thought Capcom did a great job making a fun co-op game with long-time favorite characters of the series.  I had bought a lot of 2D platformers during the Steam Summer Sale and ended up being very disappointed in a lot of them.  Inescapable was short, boring, and had a dumb ending.  Oniken had incredible cutscenes that truly felt like a NES game, but took some of the worst aspects of Action-platformers for its game play and design.  Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge, I didn't have much expectations for, but I bought it because Jake "Virt" Kaufman created the music for it.  The game wasn't that great, but the ending credits song by A_Rival is amazing!

Then there were 2D platformers I got that were pretty good or incredible!  1001 Spikes is one of the incredible ones!  There are so many games that want to capture the retro, 8-bit era magic of games but don't quite get it other than mimicking the graphics with some annoying chip-tunes that screams "generic videogame music!"  But 1001 Spikes seems to get it right!  Rather than emulating a game for the NES and saying that it's retro, it has all the concepts of a retro game with a modern mind behind it.  1001 Spikes is a difficult, troll-a-thon, platformer that consists of very short, but very challenging levels that are all intricately designed with a defined concept behind it.  Every jump, every enemy, and every trap are carefully placed for reasons of player reaction, challenge, and opposition.  It's a game where you will die a lot but learn from with each try with a satisfaction of completion at the end of each level.  Memorization is required and so is quick reflexes and reactions.  Much like Dragon's Crown, I thought I had completed the game when it starts playing a cinematic and then presents more gameplay at the end!  Besides the many modes and content available, there's also a ton of extra characters to play as.  Some that are quite familiar from other game franchises.  It's just one surprise after another with this game, and I love it!  The last Hardcore platformer I played that felt this great was Super Meat Boy.  One of the secret characters in 1001 Spikes is Nyx from NyxQuest.  I remembered the game but never got it, and so I did during the Steam Summer Sale.  It was a short 3 hour adventure, but it had some really nice gameplay that utilizes the mouse to move everything around and the keyboard to jump, fly and glide towards safety.  It was a pretty fun game and I only hated one of the levels.  Another 2D platformer I got that I absolutely loved was Abyss Odyssey.  I actually pre-ordered it and didn't even know much about it.  I saw a trailer for it during E3 and said "it looks kinda like Castlevania and I'm craving for a Metroidvania game right now."  There were many surprises in store for me in this game as the combat system is inspired by fighting games, particularly Super Smash Bros.  Fighting is similar to Super Smash Bros. with the ability to skill cancel like in Street Fighter or the game Valdis Story.  The game has some rogue-like elements where the levels, enemies, item placements, shops, and altars are randomly generated.  This game is also very tough, but not in the same way as 1001 Spikes.  Contrary to 1001 Spikes, you CAN'T memorize anything in Abyss Odyssey since everything changes every time you play.  The combat system has a lot of depth to it for being so heavily associated with Super Smash Bros. and it kept me wanting more as I played the game.  The music is great too!

Along with the game, I also get the soundtrack for free for pre-purchasing and I'm glad I did.  I'd say I played Magicite (23 hours) and Abyss Odyssey (25 hours) the most recently.  Others games I've completed recently are: StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty (working on Heart of the Swarm now), Killer is Dead (which I loved), and Sniper Elite V2 (it was sorta fun).

I've got a lot of stuff ahead of me in the next month such as looking for a job in audio, finishing up projects, and clearing more of my backlog.

P.S. I started watching an animé called Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? (Is the Order a Rabbit?) and it's so cute I can't contain myself!

Games are won and things get done!

This month has been tiring and busy with productivity.  A few weeks ago, one of our favorite pet Chickens died from choking on her medicine.  Waffle hasn't been well the past weeks prior to the incident with her excrement being white, her lack of appetite, and being less energetic than usual.  She hasn't laid an egg for over a year and she had problems as a baby chick.  So when she was being fed some medicine to help her expunge whatever was in her system, she choked on it and died.  It was sad to see and it hurt my father the most since he loved her the most out of all our pet chickens.  It was a tense and uncomfortable few weeks following that incident.  When Fuzzy died back when I was still in UC Irvine, my dad was upset back then too and bought 11 baby chicks soon after.  I was shocked and wasn't sure if this was okay.  My dad said this was the last time he'd raise anymore chickens.  But after losing Waffle, he ended up buying two more baby chicks a few days later.  Unfortunately, one of the baby chicks immediately had the same problems that Waffle did when she was brought home and my dad found out that it's a common disease that affects chickens.  Like with Waffle, my parents fed the new baby chick medicine and now it seems to be okay, but the disease doesn't really go away.  I knew losing Hattie or Waffle would be hard for the family, but it turned out a lot more dire in my father's situation than I thought it would.  I really hope he'll be okay.

I've been in overdrive mode again this month and feel really proud of myself for being able to stay focused.  I've started the Ultima Remix album I had planned since back in Jr. College and am making it a reality right now.  I met up with one of my cousins, who I haven't seen in a very long time, for lunch and we were talking about games when he mentioned "Ultima Exodus" for the NES.  I love that game as it was the game that made me very interested in RPGs.  I remember watching my father play the game and loved the music which has stuck with me even now.  Back in Jr. College, I had planned to make simple guitar arrangements for them and I had done so with the town theme.  But my friends were always busy and we ended up not playing that song together.  But when my cousin mentioned the game, I realized that I have the ability to remix and re-imagine the songs the way I want it now.  I felt inspired by the idea of revisiting an old project and making it a reality, and so I've pushed aside all other projects to create the remix album.  I've finished two of them so far and already have the others planned out.  I'm very excited to finishing this project.

I actually watched animé recently!  My friends have been telling me to watch Sword Art Online for over a year now, but I never found the time to watch it.  I started watching it during breakfast and lunch time and I got really into it.  I had finished my 2nd remix on Thursday, so Friday was pretty much free to me and so I spent the whole day watching episodes 11-25 and finished the series.  I loved it!  It had action, romance, drama, humor, and meaning and executed it really well.  That is, the first half of the series was like that.  The premise of the story is that in the future, virtual gaming gets to a point where a player's mind can dive into a system and play online games with 1:1 motion within the mind.  This is similar to old Animés like .Hack Sign.  The whole plot revolves around a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) called "Sword Art Online" where thousands of players bought and played it on the first day of release.  The game was fun and exciting for the players until they find out that they couldn't log out and return to the real world.  All the players were pulled into the main beginning town and was then told that they were stuck in the game and weren't allowed to get out until they completed the game.  The big catch is that if they died in the game, the helmet on their heads in real-life that dives their mind into the game would fry their brain and kill them.  Furthermore, all the players custom looks were taken away and their true faces from the real world were suddenly shown in the game.  No one could hide or escape.  If someone in the real world tried to take of the helmet, it would instantly kill the one wearing it.  The rest of the animé focuses on the character, Kirito, in his quest to finish the game and free everyone from the death game that they were trapped in.  Throughout the story, he grows as a person, affects those around them, and faces difficulties he didn't think he'd have to go through in a game.  It wasn't a game anymore, it was a fight for survival.  And that's how the whole story gets interesting.  All the psychological and sociological inclinations of the players are shown and reflected to those found in real-life.  The interactions between the characters are deep and meaningful.  Aside from that, the graphics style is clean and modern.  But the animations is what really distinguishes itself from other animé shows where motion, effects, and especially character expressions are done so effectively.  I've been watching so many slice of life and comedy animé that it felt a bit weird to watch something so serious around the premise of a game.  Everything felt so grave and meaningful in the story, and that's where everything seems to fall apart in the 2nd half of the series.  I hope I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the remaining players alive escape from Sword Art Online, but some did not and was stuck in another game.  When Kirito returns to the real world, one of the players he became very close to did not come back to reality and was still in the virtual world.  He goes into that game to save that person, but everything was treated as a game there.  People killed wouldn't die in real-life.  There were a lot less characters for Kirito to interact with.  And the whole story was kind of a stereotypical videogame story of saving the princess at the end of the game sort of deal.  The main villain was also very stereotypical and incredibly disgusting.  I still had fun watching it, but the 2nd half didn't feel nearly as exciting, involving or meaningful as the first half.  And then there's the movie which recaps the entire series with little snippets of their life after the incident with one final adventure within the new game before the movie ends.  Supposedly there's a 3rd arch to the story that will release sometime later this year.  By the way, if you do watch Sword Art Online, be prepared to cry a few times.

With Sword Art Online finished, I am a bit lost of what to watch next.  I'm thinking of watching Senran Kagura next because I just finished the game 2 nights ago.  I definitely need to talk about that.

I've completed 7 games so far this month with most of them being First-Person Shooters and games I recently bought.  First-Person Shooters are generally short but they take up a lot of hard drive space.  I'm running really low and decided to play through all my installed Shooters and delete them after completing them.  With this month, I played through Transformers: War for Cybertron.  It's actually a 3rd-person shooter and had some interesting moments.  The game was a bit entertaining and managed to stay pretty consistent with itself.  It never got better or worse, but there were times I thought "wow, this is pretty cool!"  Being able to fly around, switch into car mode and drive really fast and shooting all sorts of weapons kept me interested throughout the playthrough.

Alien Rage, unfortunately was a different case.  I actually really liked the presentation of the game.  The graphics were beautiful, the guns and mechanics with aiming, shooting and moving around "felt" really good, and I liked the story that was told through the audio logs by a character that's never seen and only heard.  Sadly, the actual character was boring and the stereotypical, bald, space-marine.  The game was fun for the first few levels, then it starts suffering from a case of self-identity.  The game boasts itself for being a fast-paced, old-school shooter.  Unfortunately, rushing forward generally got you killed really fast.  In those cases, it seems like it wants the player to play more tactically and carefully.  The problem is that cover is sparse and don't provide very good protection.  Grenade launchers can easily kill the player in one hit, and it can splash beyond cover.  Having to hide behind cover and run back where you came to be in safety really broke the flow of the game and it didn't seem worth it.  A lot of bosses can kill you in one hit, so you have to be consistently moving; however, other enemies and sometimes the boss itself can also shoot bullets and rockets while you're running around and most of the cover are actually explosive and can kill the player in one hit as well.  In simple terms, the game couldn't find a good balance between fast-paced action and slower-paced tactics.  The game ended up irritating me more than entertaining me.  I didn't even get to try multiplayer side since not a single-player was online to play it.  I didn't want to believe it was a bad game, and I don't think it is perse.  I saw what the developers wanted to achieve in having the player experience, but don't feel that it was executed very well.

Painkiller: Hell & Damnation was pretty much a stripped down version of the first Painkiller with better graphics.  There were less levels and the last boss was long and tedious.  It was mildly entertaining, but mostly boring.

Rise of the Triad was a huge disappointment.  Much like Alien Rage, the game was advertised as being a fast-paced shooter with old-school charm.  It started off okay and quickly became disgusting gameplay.  Rather than shooting enemies, the game is filled with traps, poorly designed jump puzzles, and everything that hit you later on causes a really big cloudy explosion that fills the entire screen.  The whole game felt very gimmicky because of all these puzzles and traps and I got no satisfaction from it.  The last boss was so ridiculous that I had to use a cheat code to beat it (essentially, you're surround by lava that hurt you, tiny enemies that dive and blind you constantly, and a boss with an abnormal amount of health and damage that could kill you in two hits.  The whole game just felt so messy and unorganized.  I constantly felt lost as to where to go next as well because of how the levels were designed.  I was more than ready to delete the game after completing it.

I didn't play all bad games this month though.  I saw a game for about $3 that had just released called "One Way Heroics".  I was rather reluctant on getting it because the graphics looked underwhelming and it was considered a "Rogue-like", a word that is thrown around a little too often in the indie game industry nowadays that it seems to have lost its meaning.  Thankfully, the game turned out to be incredibly entertaining.  The game is indeed a rogue-like with randomly generated levels, item spawn, and events for every playthrough.  Unlike Elona, the game is significantly easier to learn how to play, takes a shorter amount of time to play, and still has enough content to keep it interesting.  Essentially, the player chooses a class to play and keeps walking to the right as the dark shroud from the left of the screen consumes everything it comes in contact with while fighting off enemies, grabbing better equipment and getting stronger to fight the demon lord to stop the dark shroud from going any further.  The game can still be unforgiving with enemies that can kill you in one hit, but there is the ability to save between towns and continue from there if killed.  I've already beaten the game about 5 times on easy mode and can still find something to play out of it.

Vanguard Princess finally reach Steam and it was super cheap upon release!  I've played this fighting game for the past 2 years or so already in Japanese and have been waiting for the English version to reach Steam for a while now ever since it was announced that it was put up on Steam Greenlight.  It was really nice to be able to read the text and understand the story, even though there isn't that much depth to it.  Sadly, my fight-stick doesn't work with the game and so I'm forced to use my Logitech Controller which seems to work perfectly fine with it.  I had a lot of fun playing the game and can definitely play it once in a while if I want to play a fighting game really quick.  The combo system is a little too technical which makes it hard to pull off long chains, but the simple combos are really short and are still very effective.  It's amazing that this game was made by one guy (essentially).

Lastly, I want to talk about Senran Kagura Burst.  I wouldn't have imagined that I'd enjoy the game so much and poured so many hours into it.  Senran Kagura Burst is a Beat-em-Up for the 3DS and was heavily advertised in Japan for having incredibly busty female ninjas that lose pieces of their clothing as they fight.  I don't mind fan-service as much anymore after being exposed to it so often in Animé and other Japanese games, but it always puts me on alert when it's used so heavily in a game making me think that the gameplay might not be enough to make the game worth it.  I had changed my mind about Senran Kagura Burst and found interest in it when I saw a footage of the combo system.  I couldn't keep away from it when it released here despite being digitally sold only (I despise getting games digitally on anything other than PC or tablets).  I also didn't like the fact that it was $30 for a digital copy.  Still, I was craving for a good beat-em-Up as I did enjoy Code of Princess but wasn't satisfied.  Well, I got a lot more than I had hoped from Senran Kagura Burst because all I wanted was a decent Beat-em-up I could play for about 7 hours.  I already have 39 hours on it and I still have a lot of extras to play!  For one thing, I didn't expect the game to have a real story or one that was decent, yet a large portion of the game was reading the story for each mission and who the characters were, who they fight, how they've grown, and what their world was about.  This, in turn, made me really like the characters.  Sure, there are a few I don't like as much, but grew rather fond of them.  The game looks so silly and upbeat that I didn't think it would venture into serious topics like death, good and evil, and the meaning of being a shinobi.  I really liked that it did that, because the characters felt more believable.  The whole world around them feels more real and has more meaning to who they are and why they fight when the story is taken a bit more seriously.  Graphics is a bit on and off.  I like the character designs a lot, though I don't think gigantic boobs is really necessary to make than any more attractive or likable.  Seriously, the interactions they have with each other, their back stories, and their personalities shine through and made me care about them more than I thought I would.  Their 3D models are really nice during conversations and special attacks.  But the ones made for walking around in the room is very weird.  Some of them have super thin arms and have odd walking animations when walking in the preparation room.  The graphics in combat is sadly not entirely in 3D in turn to prevent frame skipping or slow-down (a serious problem in Code of Princess), but Specials are still in 3D which looks pretty cool.  The graphics for combat aren't incredibly impressive, but the animation and how the game feels has a slick and flashy flow to the combat which I feel is very important to a beat-em-up.  The AI isn't incredibly smart, but the way they're set-up sometimes is quite devious which is where the game feels challenging.  Just button-mashing can get you so far until certain enemies that don't get fazed or attack from a range interrupts your attacks and deals massive damage.  The game is comparable to Dynasty Warriors in that a lot of enemies are presented to you.  Although a singular enemy may not be a threat, multiple enemies can cause problems if you don't position yourself and perform the correct attack chains to prevent getting flanked or stunned.  I also didn't expect the music to be so good either.  One of the first tracks that really caught my attention and made me appreciate the whole atmosphere it created within the game is Mirai's Theme "To the Worthless!"


The two composers that worked on the soundtrack for the game uses various styles and genres to really capture each characters personality and environment in a unique way.  Mirai is the tiny, gothic lolita character in the back and is described as small but hates being ignored and wants to be treated as a true shinobi.  This song comes across as being somewhat cute with the melodic piano, but also emphasizes how serious and strong Mirai is with a heavy techno beat and guitar riffs.   I loved the song, but hated the character during the first half of the game (Hanzo story side).  But when I played her story and learned more about her in the Hebijo side of the story, she became my favorite character for that side.  That's what the writing of the story did for these characters coupled with the amazing songs for each of them.  Another character I didn't really like but did later is Yomi who has an incredibly catchy theme:


And so I finished the game 2 nights ago with completing the main story.  I felt so satisfied with the game.  I can't say the story is epic or incredible, but the whole journey and learning about the characters and the progression of the story all felt very cohesive and felt so good when put togther: The story, the characters, the graphics, the music, the combat, and the challenge; they're all pretty good but not mind-blowing, yet they all work so well together that I felt it achieved in delivering the experience that the developer sought out to put out.  It's similar to the same satisfaction and happiness I felt when I finish Fortune Summoners, it's just not the same exact kind since Fortune Summoners did drive me up the wall quite a few times.  With all that said, I honestly hope that they bring over Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus and Senran Kagura 2 because Senran Kagura Burst has turned me into a fan of the series.  I'm just sad that the developers feel like the game won't sell unless it's overly sexy when everything else in the game has worked so well for a fun game.  Look at this ridiculous trailer for their new Cooking Rhythm spinoff they're making:

Like I said, I don't mind fan-service; however, fan-service to this degree makes it infinitely harder for publishers to bring it over.  That and it's not even necessary for a fun or even attractive game.  Trying to look past all this, I'd still get all these games if it has the same quality (if not better) in the level of story, characters, game mechanics, music, and graphics that I experienced in Senran Kagura Burst.  I certainly enjoyed it after playing games like Alien Rage, Painkiller, and Rise of the Triad where I felt irritation, boredom and disappointment.

Besides that, I'm still working on Final Fantasy XIII.  But that's a story for another time.

What a nutso November!

So I still have yet to finish my portfolio or get to working on my next music project, but I've acquired quite a bit of games this month.

Remember how I said I wanted to finish Dark Souls, Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2, and Persona 3FES/4 by the end of this year?  I don't see that happening anymore.  Dark Souls is taking longer than I expected to finish, but I am having fun with it.  Besides that, I put Pokémon Y on hold while I started up Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS.  The game isn't Kid Icarus anymore in terms of gameplay, but it still holds the lore and music from the original.  The dialogues all have voice overs and are VERY cheesy, but the amount of humor they pour into it makes for a light-hearted experience.  The game's very challenging and really hard to play without the stand because the 3DS XL is pretty heavy compared to the original, so I get tired from playing it fairly quickly.  Still, it's a lot of fun with lots of action in it.  Among these two games that I'm playing, I also bought 10 games this month. 4 3DS games, 4 PS3 games, and 2 PC games.  Amazon Black Friday Sales have begun this week and Steam Autumn Sales start this Wednesday, so I might be picking up a few more.

Among the 10 that I bought, Senran Kagura Burst for the 3DS was one of them:


I was looking forward to this game when it was announced for a Western release.  When I saw the screen shots for the first game was first revealed, it didn't look that great of a game.  And the amount of fan-service also made me question whether the game itself was good or not.  But when the game finally released, I saw gameplay footages and was amazed by how fluid and fast the combat looked.  I got interested and learned more about it thinking that it wasn't a game that would see an English version.  Burst came out and then eventually XSEED games made an announcement saying that they were going to localize it with the condition that it will be digital only.  I was glad and sad at the same time.  I don't like to buy games digitally on any system other than PC for various reasons, but that was the catch here.  So I finally made my first digital purchase on my 3DS for Senran Kagura Burst and I'd say it was worth it.  The mechanics feel very similar to Dynasty Warriors and all attack link into one another very smoothly.  Sad to say, but in terms of gameplay I think Senran Kagura Burst is even better than Code of Princess, and I really liked Code of Princess.  I've been just blessed with so many awesome beat-em-ups this year and one that I haven't even played yet is Dragon's Crown which I order a few days ago.  I'm just waiting for that to come in the mail.

Besides my ever increasing backlog of games, I've been sucked back into Super Smash Bros. again.  I've been messing around on Smash 64, Melee, and Brawl and then ran into Project M on Youtube just last week.
  It's a mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl to make it play more similar to Melee while changing the characters to be more balanced for a competitive level of play.  One of my favorite character changes is Sonic the Hedgehog and I've just fallen in love with playing him in Smash.  I've uploaded a video demo on my FB page if you want to check out what he's capable of now.  So that's been another lovely distraction for me this month.

Right now, I think I need to focus on finishing my portfolio because I think I want to take a break for December and just relax and enjoy Winter.  My sister is coming home to visit, friend's are coming back for the holidays, and I have a stack of games waiting for me to play them.  Then I go back to turbo working mode in January!