Nothing much to report

Wow, May passed by so quickly!  I didn't find the time to work on music or get back into language learning.  I spent all of May editing the last of the videos I had left, finishing my 2nd playthrough of Scarlet Nexus and practicing more Guilty Gear Strive.  I'm on the final boss for Scarlet Nexus and can finish it today if I get around to it.  I plan to get back into Monster Hunter Rise and finish the main story on solo play and get around to playing multiplayer with my friends.  Besides that, I want to play and finish as many console games as I can before the end of June when DNF Duel and Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak releases as I'm sure those two games will definitely occupy all of my time throughout July.  I've really made a lot of progress in Guilty Gear Strive and feel more comfortable learning new things, readjusting mid-match, and having stronger fundamentals overall.  I still struggle against most players online, but I have a better idea of how to absorb the information I receive from fighting them now.  Playing online a bit more often now has helped me figure new stuff out on playing with and against the many characters in the game.  I'm probably going to slow down in June as I shift my focus on other things.

It's nice to see live fighting game tournaments streamed online again with the energy from the crowd, the enthusiastic commentators, and the high level play of the competitors on stage.  I watched a bit of the 3rd and final day for Combo Breaker and really enjoyed watching the matches, something I haven't really enjoyed much of the past 2 years with everything played online.

I really should put in the time for productivity in June as Summer Distractions approaches.  E3 might be canceled this year, but there will still be game reveals and announcements throughout the summer.  Playing DNF Duel, Monster Hunter Sunbreak, and Steam Summer Sales will be the biggest obstacles in July.  And then there's EVO in August.

Already approaching May

Whoops, it looks like I totally forgot to make a post in March.  This year is passing by particularly quickly, and I feel like I’ve barely done anything.  I’ve been focusing on a lot of things these past two months.  I’ve been working out harder during my exercise sessions.  I’ve been still practicing piano when I can in preparation of recording my piano arrangements.  I ruined my sleep schedule about a month ago and had difficulty falling asleep until it was 6AM.  So I’ve been slowly fixing it by waking up a little earlier when I’m able to so that I’d feel sleepier by night time.  It’s been rough since falling asleep is difficult, waking up is difficult, I wake up every 2 hours throughout the night, and I feel sleepy throughout the day.  I’ve gotten close to a 3AM-11AM schedule, but it’s still not consistent.  I’m hoping I can put it back to, at least, a 2AM-10AM schedule.  I did end up making that remix from Phantom Breaker’s Main Menu theme.

 

I’ve been working through more games the past two months, but feel like I’m finishing them too slowly.  At least I was able to finish games like Persona 4 Golden (FINALLY, after so many years!), Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2, Borderlands 3, The King of Fighters XV, Splinter Cell Blacklist and Scarlet Nexus.  Unfortunately, I still have to do a second playthrough of Persona 4 Golden for the true ending and a second playthrough of Scarlet Nexus to see the other half of the story since the game is played through two separate character perspectives.  So those two games, which have already took a lot of time to get through, is going to require even more time before I’m truly finished with them.  In an effort to play better games this year, I’ve been trying to eliminate as many mobile games as I can the past 2 weeks.  There are a few coming out in the near future that I’ll probably play, so that’s more reason why I need to delete the ones I’ve been holding onto for so long or still playing to make time for things I want to do.  But I think the major time sink I’ve had the past 2 months is fighting games again.

Testament’s the 5^th and last DLC character to release for Guilty Gear Strive and my friends have started playing it again since then.  Melty Blood: Type Lumina also released two new characters and I played a bit, trying to learn one of the new characters.  I ended up playing online for Guilty Gear Strive, Melty Blood: Type Lumina, and The King of Fighters XV one week…and got totally destroyed in each of the games.  The amount of people playing GGST is still pretty healthy, so I get matched up to a lot of players much better than me and a few closer to my skill level.  I know I’ve been learning a lot on character match ups, system mechanics, and basic strategies for a lot of characters, but I haven’t been pushing far enough on character familiarity and high level play to really compete with the skill level that players are at right now, including against my friends.  So I’ve been putting the most time into GGST and trying to brush up on execution, creating better game plans, finding and experimenting with new approaches, and just trying to be more consistent with being a threat with the characters that I play.  With KOFXV, I tried playing online way too late (around 5-6 weeks after launch?) as the community is already dwindling.  I couldn’t match up a single ranked match and ended up playing casual matches, which still took a very long time to find an opponent.  I did get matched up to a few players around or below my skill level and got to experience real matches of KOF for once; however, a majority of the matches I got put into are of players waaaaaaay beyond my skill level.  I had a player that was ranked “champion” which is the highest rank (the rank goes from 1-30 and then champion, I’m rank 9), and he didn’t even bother playing a second match with me because of how inexperienced I was.  As demoralizing as it was, it felt nice to play KOF with a human player now that I have a basic understanding of the game.  In MB:TL, matching up with a player was better as I didn’t have to wait too long; however, the connection with the players was REALLY bad with a lot of the matches.  I hear the game suffers from one-sided rollback, so one player is feeling input delays and seeing a teleporting opponent while the other player won’t feel much of a difference.  I played against a lot of high level players and a decent amount of players around my skill level.  The new character I was playing “Mario Gallo Bestino” is a puppet character and was a little tougher to learn and play compared to “Powered Ciel” the other new character.  I went up against a lot of P.Ciel and kept losing to neutral because she reaches half way across the screen with her C button.  As much as I want to improve in MB:TL, my friends losing interest in the game and a dwindling online community isn’t very motivating.  I also ended up going back to a lot of older fighting games I haven’t played in a while and playing them again with new perspective as I’ve learned a lot of new things the past 2 years that has helped in learning new fighting games.  I started seeing and doing new things I didn’t notice before in those games and enjoyed them more than I remember from the last time I played them.  Fighting games were definitely a huge time sink the past two months, but I had fun playing them.

Going back to Persona 4, after I finished the game, I started delving into all the other related things I wanted to do but didn’t yet because I wanted to finish the main game.  I started the story for Persona 4 Arena since Ultimax is now available on Steam PC.  I started and finished Persona 4 The Animation within 3 days as I was super hooked.  They did a great job condensing a 100 hour game into 25 episodes.  I also watched Persona 4 The Golden Animation.  And then I watched a show called Trinity Seven.  I really wanted to get back into watching more animé this year since I wanted to last year but barely watched any.

So despite sounding like I’ve barely done anything these past two months, I’ve been kept busy.  I hope I can get back to working on music and language learning in May and perhaps get around to playing console games again, but I have quite a few things I want to still take care of first.  I’ve got to make some decisions and work hard in May, because Summer distractions are approaching.

Videogames of 2021

I can't believe another year has passed and I'm back to talking about another year of games.  Much has happened this year and a lot went according to plan and not according to plan, but I'll discuss that on a different post.  2021 turned out to be an...okay year for Videogames.  Picking up an Oculus Quest 2 and delving into the world of Virtual Reality games turned out to be the biggest change in my life.  It has done wonders both for my physical health and my mental health.  I had lost around 5 lbs from October 2020 to January 2021 from playing Ring Fit Adventure.  When I got the Quest 2 in January 2021, I played a lot and ended up going from 148 lbs down to 136 lbs!  I haven't been that low since college from 11 years ago!  The stimulation of being in different environments, standing virtually alongside friends, and participating in new experiences in VR has made me happier and a bit closer with my friends that no other videogame has done before.  I played so many VR games this year that I just made a separate list for it.  While I did play some fun games this year, I felt that I played a lot of mediocre games as well.

Like last year, I've added a few games to my top 10 that I haven't actually finished yet and will be marked with a * next to them.

Top 10 games of 2021:

10) Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 [PC] - Improvements to the game are minor, story isn't as long or as funny as the first game (but still pretty funny), and the game technically only adds one new mode.  Still, I managed to squeeze out 99 hours out of the game this year from how much I played it.  I like the new additional characters (old returning characters) and I do think the new mode where you team up with friends to fight a boss is really cool.  I see myself still returning to this game and playing it in the futurer.

9) Battlefield 2042 [PC] - While I had a lot of fun playing BF2042, I can't help but feel somewhat disappointed in it.  I haven't played BF online multiplayer since BF4 which was 8 years ago, and somehow I don't feel any significant changes or improvements to the game since then.  A lot of its new original maps are large, wide open, and kind of boring.  What I really liked is its new mode where it brings back maps, weapons, and units from older games like Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3.  All sorts of new modes and events are cycled each week for something different.  Again, I had a lot of fun playing the game and will probably play more, but I question if it was worth the $90 spent on it, especially compared to:

8) Halo Infinite Multiplayer [PC] - I can't believe they made this free.  Much like Battlefield, I haven't played Halo multiplayer since Halo 3 and the changes to mechanics and weapons are significant, new and interesting to me.  You have gadgets that can improve combat engagement, new weapons that I've never seen before, you can sprint, you can aim down sight with an assault rifle, and a lot of the maps have a lot of dynamics to them.  I'm so impressed by Halo Infinite's multiplayer.

*7) Outriders [PC] - So I'm still in the middle of finishing this game, but I've been having a lot of fun with the 10 or so hours I've spent on it.  It's been criticized for its lack of content, but I haven't gotten far enough to have an opinion on it.  I'm planning to finish playing this soon and hope to play a lot more of it afterwards with a friend who wants to participate in end-game content.

6) Back 4 Blood [PC] - I honestly haven't played nearly enough of this game yet and want to.  I have finished the game twice, but haven't played enough of the harder difficulties.  While it didn't live up to the expectations of a lot of Left 4 Dead fans, I found the experience to be new, exciting and fun if not challenging.  Gunplay feels smooth and polished, and the challenging difficulty makes for a much more engaging multiplayer than most games I've played with friends.  I hope I still play a lot more of this game.

*5) Scarlet Nexus [PC] - I'm almost done...with one character's story.  I'm actually not sure if this game really belongs on the list.  I was extremely excited for this game and I played quite a bit of it in the beginning.  But I kept getting distracted and found it difficult to find the motivation to finish it.  I think combat is solid and fun, I love the graphics and music, and I really enjoy the characters and story.  But I also feel like I'm progressing slowly in that game, even though I'm not.  While I'm really enjoying the game, I can't help but feel that perhaps my expectations were too high.

4) Melty Blood Type Lumina [PC] - I've waited for so many years for a chance that a new Melty Blood would actually be made.  I was extremely excited for this game as well.  I do like it, but I also have some mixed feelings as well.  While the music is pretty good, I feel that it isn't nearly as catchy and memorable as the music from previous iterations.  It's new shield counter mechanic has been met with a lot of controversy of whether it's good, bad, fun, unfair, or random.  I think it's an interesting change to the game, but also unsure if I like it as it makes player interaction messy.  I've put in 53 hours into it and feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what available yet and hope to play more this year.

*3) Resident Evil 4 VR [Quest 2 VR] - I considered putting this as my #1 game played this year.  Despite being a decade and a half old game, the experience in VR is so exceptional that I think I enjoy it more in VR than the original.  A few games were recreated for VR and they often feel awkward and poor imitations of the original game.  But Resident Evil 4 VR's experience feels so natural that it almost feels like the original game was meant for VR.  I'm not quite done with it, but I'm pretty close to finishing it.

*2) Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis [PC] - I've played a lot of this game, and yet made very little progress on it.  I haven't found the time to really move forward in the story, but I've been having so much fun with its gameplay that I spent the majority of my time with it doing daily quests.  It currently lacks content and doesn't quite give the player much to do.  But the core gameplay is really fun and exciting.

1) Guilty Gear Strive [PC] - I had no doubt that Guilty Gear Strive would be my #1 game this year.  Having racked up a record 304 hours into the game (I've never had that many hours into one game within a year), this was the first fighting game where I felt like I had a chance to keep up with others and improve faster.  I'll admit, the story was a bit disappointing to me, its single-player content is severely lacking, but its core gameplay is so simple to pick up and so fun that it makes sense why I accumulated so many hours in such a short amount of time.  The graphics are incredibly beautiful with a somewhat more mature look to its previous game.  The soundtrack was shocking and surprising as lyrics for character themes wasn't something I expected to work so well.  Not to mention that its rollback netcode has been a blessing after years of playing fighting games with delay based netcode.  I've taken a huge break from learning and practicing fighting games and Guilty Gear Strive the past few months to focus on practicing piano, but I'm hoping to get back into it a few weeks from now.

I barely touched my game consoles and handhelds this past year and focused a lot of PC and mobile games.  I've been trying to break away from Genshin Impact and a few other mobile games so I can have more time to play other games, but I've been still mainly playing games on PC.

Honorable mentions: Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth [PC], Blaster Master 3 [PC], Tetris Effect: Connected [PC], Rounds [PC]

Top 10 Games played not released in 2021:

10) Black Future '88 [PC] - This was a very tough Action-Platformer Rogue-like.  I liked the soundtrack and its graphical aesthetics.  But the difficulty made it tough to stick with it after finishing one run after 10 hours of trying.

9) Sunset Overdrive [PC] - The PC port is a bit buggy.  There were times where the game felt frustrating or slow in order for the game to feel somewhat lengthy.  For the most part, I found the game to be pretty entertaining with its various weapons, its method of traversal, and its goofy humor.

8) Uppers [PC] - I've waited for this game to release for so long, but it did take a bit of time before I got around to finishing it.  Some fights and objectives made the game frustrating, but it was mostly straight forward if not a bit shallow.  While it wasn't anything particularly special, I'm glad I finally got to play the game.

7) Katamari Demacy Reroll [PC] - I've wanted to play this game for a very long time and glad I finally got the chance to.  The game is a lot more challenging than I expected it to be, and it made it a little stressful on certain stages.  But I loved the music, the humor, and its colorful presentation.  I finally understand why so many people talk about this game now.

6) Halo CE Remastered [PC] - It's been a while since I've played the original Halo.  While it was nostalgic and fun to revisit the game, I realized some parts of the game didn't age well, such as the copy-pasted rooms used throughout the game.  I know there were fans that didn't like how the remaster made some stages brighter while making enemies darker (and harder to see), but I really enjoyed the remastered look and loved being able to switch between the original graphics with the new one with a press of a button.

5) Senko no Ronde 2 [PC] - While it does remind me a bit of Acceleration of Suguri 2, I found Senko no Ronde 2 to be unique, challenging, and full of content for what it is.  I spent quite a few hours just to get all the story scenes.

4) Torchlight 3 [PC] - I can understand the disappointment people had with this game.  TL3 has less content than TL2, its skill trees and classes don't make enough interesting builds for experimentation, and there isn't a support for user created mods.  For what it was, I enjoy the game.  I ended up playing on the hardest difficult with a friend for better loot and a challenging gameplay.  I died a lot and it ended up being pretty frustrating at a certain point.  I liked the game for the most part.

3) Minoria [PC] - I waited for it to drop back down to the same discount price of its lowest from 2 years ago.  I was a bit worried going into this game as a lot of players that came from the creator's previous game Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight didn't seem to like this one.  The game is tough and everything (including peons) kill you in two hits, but you're capable of parrying everything.  I enjoyed the challenge and played through the game twice before I felt done with it.

2) BPM: Bullets Per Minute [PC] - I had stopped playing this game for a while because my previous laptop just couldn't handle the graphics and it always caused me to lose.  When I finally got a new computer, I started up the game and finally beat it for the first time after a couple of runs and getting that one run with armor, life steal, and high damage.  BPM combines First-Person Shooters, Music-Rhythm games, and Rogue-likes all into one game for a unique experience that's constantly reward as you match up each shot, reload, and dash to the beat of the music.

1) One Step From Eden [PC] - I didn't expect a Mega Man Battle Network Rogue-like to work so well, and yet it does.  I finally got through one run this year and haven't had a chance to go back and play some more.  This is definitely one of the games I had the most fun playing in 2021.

Top 10 VR Games played in 2021 (I'll try to brief with these):

10) Superhot VR - It's simple, visually appealing, and give some freedom to how you want to approach each engagement.

9) Contractors VR - I really like the single-player options this shooter provides over the other shooters.

8) Zero Caliber VR - Call of Duty for VR.  This is still the best game to play for a campaign shooter.

7) Pavlov VR - Counter-Strike for VR.  While single-player isn't the best, it has the best multiplayer.

6) Boneworks - Half-Life for VR.  Probably my favorite VR Shooter as it provides the player with a lot of creative freedom on how you want to play or approach an answer to a problem.

5) Blade & Sorcery - While I really like the feel and look of Hellsplit Arena, Blade & Sorcery definitely has much more content, weapon/enemy/level variety, and creative freedom.

4) VR Chat - VR Chat is a mixed bag of experiences.  You have kids running around shouting expletives, people being uncomfortably creepy, and people being annoying or hateful.  Other times, you run into people have interesting conversations, you meet people all over the world, you can practice different languages with others, and there's a ton of user created worlds, games and avatars that keep the game/application fresh and different each time to hop on.  It's the one game that made me feel closest to my friends when we all got together and karaoke'd, played games, and hung out.

3) Until You Fall - A stylish rogue-like hack-n-slash.  I love the music, the gameplay is challenging, and while I wish there were more content, it has a decent amount of replay value.

2) Beat Saber - Anyone that has a VR headset should buy this game.  It's simple, it's fun, and the amount of user created content is unreal.  This is definitely going to be the one VR game I play the most.

1) Pistol Whip - While I like Beat Saber a lot, I consider Pistol Whip my favorite game.  It's a shooter mixed with a music rhythm game.  While it sounds confusing, it feels incredibly rewarding once you understand it.  Its presentation is unlike any game I've played in VR where every song has a unique theme, stage, and look to it.  I like every song, which is incredibly rare for a music rhythm game.  And even after a whole year of playing it, it's still the one game I really enjoy and get the most workout from playing.

Most of the games I enjoyed the most this year is from VR.  It might be because it's such a new concept and experience.  I hope more VR games with better quality continue to release this year.

Here are all the games released in 2021 that I was interested in.  Ones marked with * means I already bought the game and haven't played through it or at all yet.

Skul: The Hero Slayer

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy

Cyber Shadow

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny

Gal*Gun Returns

Märchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift

Sword of the Necromancer

*The Yakuza Remastered Collection

Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World: The Prophecy of the Throne

*Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

The 25th Ward: The Silver Case

Curse of the Dead Gods

Persona 5 Strikers

*Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos

Cotton Reboot!

Darius Cozmic Revelation

*Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection

Bravely Default 2

*Neptunia Virtual Stars

Loop Hero

Saviors of Sapphire Wings & Stranger of Sword City Revisited

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV

It Takes Two

Poison Control

SaGa Frontier Remastered

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World

Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139...

New Pokémon Snap

Returnal

Resident Evil Village

Miitopia

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers

World's End Club

Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2

Edge of Eternity

Neptunia ReVerse

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

*Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance

The Caligula Effect 2

Legend of Mana Remaster

Samurai Warriors 5

Mario Golf: Super Rush

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed

Cris Tales

Death's Door

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Neo: The World Ends with You

The Ascent

Fuga: Melodies of Steel

Grime

Boyfriend Dungeon

No More Heroes III

F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

Sonic Colors: Ultimate

Tales of Arise

WarioWare: Get It Together!

Deathloop

Eastward

Metallic Child

Skatebird

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

World War Z: Aftermath

*ActRaiser Renaissance

*Castlevania Advance Collection

*Diablo II: Resurrected

Lost Judgment

New World

Far Cry 6

*Metroid Dread

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles

Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars

Call of Duty: Vanguard

Blue Reflection: Second Light

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition

*Shin Megami Tensei V

Ruined King: A League of Legends Story

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

Chorus

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice

Rune Factory 4 Special

Halo Infinite

Praey for the Gods

Fantasian

That's a surprising amount of games I missed out on.

Here are the 5 top mobile games I enjoyed playing in 2021:

World Flipper

Alchemy Stars

Punishing: Gray Raven

Revived Witch

Blue Archive

It's been a good year for older gamers as a lot of games were remastered, remade, and ported to new systems:

Capcom Arcade Stadium

NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection

SNK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium

Castlevania Advance Collection

Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection

Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection

ActRaiser Renaissance

BlazBlue Centralfiction Rollback Update

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania

Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX

Crysis Remastered

Final Fantasy Perfect Pixel Remasters

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139...

And finally, here's a list of games releasing in 2022 that I'm interested in:

Demon Gaze Extra

Monster Hunter Rise (PC)

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction

Windjammers 2

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Dying Light 2 Stay Human

Lost Ark

Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires

The King of Fighters XV

Horizon Forbidden West

Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream

Elden Ring

ELEX II

Babylon's Fall

Triangle Strategy

Phantom Breaker: Omnia

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Rune Factory 5

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl

Forspoken

Starfield

Azure Striker Gunvolt 3

Baldur's Gate III

Bayonetta 3

DNF Duel

Earth Defense Force 6

Echoes of Mana

Evil West

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

River City Girls 2

River City Girls Zero

Shadow Warrior 3

Sol Cresta

Sonic Frontiers

Splatoon 3

Star Ocean: The Divine Force

Trek to Yomi

Much like the previous year, I focused too much on PC even more than last time and really need to find the time to play through some console games and handhelds.  It's going to be a crazy year of games coming out in 2022.

Nearing the end of 2021

Looks like I forgot to post anything in November.  The past two months have been interesting.  My family and I have been going out a lot more often, seeing family and friends.  It started feeling like we have some sense of normalcy back in our lives.  Unfortunately, it seems ANOTHER variant of the COVID-19 virus has been discovered in South Africa and those who possibly contracted it went back to their home countries, possibly spreading it all over the world again.  It seems the dangers of this virus isn't going to go away anytime soon.

I finally got a new computer, with a new monitor, new keyboard and new headset.  I wanted an Ultrawide monitor with a higher resolution, higher refresh rate, and curved to make use of all that extra power I have in my new computer.  Since there were Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, I finally decided to replace my keyboard that I've used for 14 years and headset I've used for 9 years.  It took 2 entire weeks to fully transfer everything from my laptop over to the new computer, check the integrity of my files and save progress of games.  I've pretty much stopped all language learning and practicing fighting games as I've been putting all my time and effort into practicing piano.  I've finally learned all the notes to the piece I'm learning, but still practicing to play it smoothly.

I caved in and ended up buying quite a bit of games.  I realized that I hadn't bought any console games all year (not counting digital) and ended up picking up Metroid Dread for the Nintendo Switch after hearing so many great things about it.  I've only played a few hours when I had the time, but so far it hasn't impressed me as much as I wanted it to.  I also ended up picking up Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars for the PS4 because I've been waiting for this collaboration for nearly a decade so I decided to support it.  It's a bit janky, as expected, but I'm enjoying it.  Then I finally bought my first Oculus Quest 2 game (since I've been only playing everything through SteamVR).  Resident Evil 4 VR sounded way too interesting and I got a 30% off coupon and decided to pick it.  I was thinking it might be gimmicky and a cheap experience, but honestly I think I like it more than the original.  Being able to see the whole world around me in VR, having full aim control, and being able to physically dodge out of danger is just kind of mind blowing out of a game that's over 16 years old.  It might actually be one of the most exciting games I've played this year.

The really big purchase from these past 2 months is Battlefield 2042 Gold Edition.  I got it to play it a week earlier from its base game launch so I could play alongside my friend.  I haven't played Battlefield Online Multiplayer since Battlefield 4 which released back in 2014.  We haven't played THAT much yet (considering how much we spent to pick them up), but it's been fun, nostalgic, but still frustrating.  I've never been that good at Battlefield, and it's always frustrating getting a lot of hits and not getting the kill only to get killed in one to two shots.  Also, this iteration of Battlefield promised a lot, but didn't deliver.  There isn't a campaign this time around, which is fine (I also recently picked up Battlefield 1 and V to play their campaign).  But besides the main multiplayer match, there's also a battle royale mode, and a portal mode which has maps and settings of older Battlefield games that allows for various user made game modes.  Unfortunately, NO ONE is playing any of the other modes or maps.  They're completely empty and I couldn't play them.  The main game's gameplay is solid enough, it feels like a Battlefield game.  But the maps feel like they lack dynamics and areas that create memorable moments like older games had.  So while I'm having fun with Battlefield 2042, I also feel like I'm not getting my money's worth (especially with the various bugs in the game).

Playing Battlefield got me back into playing First-Person Shooters some more, with the online multiplayer side in particular.  I've been rather lukewarm with playing competitive online games with the small exception of Insurgency: Sandstorm over the years.  Playing Battlefield 2042 gave me that itch to play some more again and so I've been playing a bit of Insurgency: Sandstorm again.  I even tried out Halo: Infinite this past weekend and really enjoyed it!  It also helps that I have a computer that can handle playing these sorts of games at a higher frame rate now.  I've been recording and video editing a lot again because of it which has taken quite a bit of time out of my days the past few weeks.

I have a lot I want to accomplish this month.  I definitely want to finish learning the piano piece and perform it for my parents.  I'm hoping to create at least one remix since I didn't make a single one this entire year.  I have an idea for a music cover, but I'm not certain if I want to take the time to do that.  I also have quite a few games I want to prioritize and finish.  I need to finish 12 more games before the end of the month to reach the same amount of games I finished last year (I think I can do it).  It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by.  I still remember planning out how 2021 would play out and what I would be working on, but everything turned out way differently.  I have a lot on my mind on what I want to do in the future, but it's also something I don't want to worry about for maybe the next two months as I take care of some short term goals first.

Let's talk about Sora in Smash Bros.

Wow, I was NOT prepared whatsoever for the last character to be Sora from Kingdom Hearts to be revealed as the last DLC fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.  Though it wasn't a character I was hoping to be in the game, I felt that he has the tools, the history, and the following to make a great addition to the roster; however, I gave zero thought about Sora making it in because he was locked behind Disney copyright gates.  What a magical trailer.  What an absolutely amazing choice for the last DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Here's what I wrote on Facebook:

(3.5 hours before the Stream):

[Pre-Smash Presentation Rant] - Do not read if you don't want any preconceptions or expectations out of the character reveal.

The final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Fighter Presentation will air on October 5th, 7AM PT.  No matter who it is, it'll break the internet.  I'm still hoping for Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden, but I don't think that's a particularly good choice for a last DLC.  A mind blowing reveal would be Master Chief from Halo.  A lot of fans still want Sora, but c'mon, Nintendo would have to deal with Disney.  If Nintendo wants a shocking and meme-worthy reveal, then Waluigi (and the reveal would be him breaking out of the trophy capsule).

...But what if Nintendo went for the marketing route for the last character?  They did put one in Season Pass 1 (Byleth from Fire Emblem Three Houses), but they put two in Season Pass 2 (Min Min from Arms and Pyra/Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2).  Would it be possible that they'd put a third one in, and as the last DLC fighter?  If that's the case, I'd love to see the Howard siblings from Astral Chain in Smash.  Astral Chain's combat is unique that's unlike any other character, leading to a dynamic moveset and playstyle.  Also, I just really loved that game (albeit, I still haven't finished it...).  This was the character I predicted and wanted when Season Pass 2 was announced.  As much as I would like the Howard siblings in Smash, I imagine it would cause a huge uproar within the Smash community (relatively unknown and an obvious market towards Nintendo's games).

Regardless of who Nintendo reveals as their last DLC character, Super Smash Bros. 4 (3DS/Wii U) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate delivered some of the most exciting character reveals in gaming history and I'm happy for all that it has given us.

See you guys on in a few hours!

(Right when Sora was revealed):

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! SAKURAI TRULY IS A MIRACLE WORKER! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!

(After waking up from getting more sleep):

[Post-Presentation Thoughts]

This was the one impossible dream I thought Nintendo and Sakurai could not fulfill as it was locked behind Disney's copyright gates.  Sora from Kingdom Hearts is definitely one of the most requested characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.  I'll admit, upfront, that I am not a fan of Kingdom Hearts.  To reiterate, I WISH I was a fan so I could appreciate the reveal that much more as I've listened through all the music, own every Kingdom Hearts game, BUT I never played through a single one yet...

As the trailer started and the Smash logo blaze withered into a tiny flame, I actually thought it was Demon/Dark Souls which I thought would be a surprising choice.  But when Mario throws the flame and it zooms in on the Mickey head keychain for the keyblade, my heart skipped a beat and I was in disbelief.  Of all the choices for the last character reveal, Nintendo and Sakurai managed to bring the impossible dream come true character.  As that keyhole opened up and Sora drifts into the rest of the Smash Bros. roster, the orchestrated version of Simple and Clean/Hikari plays as I fight back tears (I may not have an attachment to the game or characters yet, but I've listened to that song for half my life by now).  Sora's character model looks absolutely incredible and his moveset looks like so much fun (he is going to be annoying to fight against).  So how did they manage the whole Disney thing?  Seems like Square-Enix, Disney, and Nintendo all agreed that they'll have everything Kingdom Hearts in Smash EXCEPT anything Disney: characters, music, level references, etc.  Sora is truly worthy of the last character reveal and the whole experience (of watching the trailer) was kind of magical.

Aside from that, I was also extremely shocked about Doom Slayer added as a Mii Outfit (I am absolutely buying that).  Also, it was announced by Sakurai that every Kingdom Hearts game is coming to the Nintendo Switch, albeit through cloud streaming.

It was a bit sad seeing everything coming to an end.  The final character reveal, the final smash presentation, and possibly the final game.  Perhaps Nintendo will make more Super Smash Bros. in the future, but it's hard to believe any of them ever matching the sheer amount of content and company collaboration as this one.  I hope Sakurai can take a break and do something he wants to do: work on a non-Smash Bros. related project (a new game), spend time with his family, or maybe finally get some actual rest.

Thank you Nintendo, Sakurai, and all those involved in the making of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.  It's been some of the most exciting moments in gaming history.

(And now some of the best reactions I found in no particular order):

These reaction videos are some of the best ones we've seen throughout the years of Smash character reveals with the sheer amount of joy and overwhelming happiness from the fans.  Man, what a wild ride.  I'm looking forward to playing Sora on October 18th.  I should really get around to playing the Kingdom Hearts series, but man...10 games is kind of intimidating...

Let's talk about Nintendo Direct 9-23-21

Another month has quickly gone by and we're at the last week of September.  My sister was able to come back for a few days to celebrate our mom's birthday together earlier this month, and it's the first time she's been back home for 2.5 years.  I was happy to see her after so long.

I still spent most of this month practicing piano, exercising, and trying to get better at Guilty Gear Strive.  I'm struggling with piano as I'm learning very slowly and not finding enough time in the day to practice as much as I'd like to.  Exercising has been okay, but my weight has been going up and down between 137 lbs to 142 lbs since we're eating out a bit more now that we're vaccinated and also because my sleep schedule has been pushed late again (currently trying to fix it once again).  I often feel tired throughout the day because I can't sleep at night but am still trying to wake up earlier so that I'll feel more tired by night time.  As for Guilty Gear Strive, I think I've made some breakthroughs that I can be proud of, but playing a bit more ranked online recently has proved to me just how inexperienced I am and how much more I have to learn (and yet I've already put in over 270+ hours...).  I think I should focus on more piano and being mindful about my sleep schedule in the month of October.  Trying to do anything else productive might be difficult as Melty Blood Type Lumina releases this Thursday and Back 4 Blood releases next week.

And now, I'd like to talk about the Nintendo Direct as I feel like I haven't been talking about videogames much this year.  It'll be nice to talk about future releases and things I'm looking forward to.  The Nintendo Switch has gotten a lot of great releases that I haven't picked up and played yet (they're rarely on discount and I also don't have enough time for them), but they teased a bunch of new games coming out in the next year that I know I'll be eventually picking up.

Capcom teases a massive expansion to Monster Hunter Rise.  While it's cool to see more content coming to Rise, I'm still waiting for it to release on Steam PC first.  I just hope I have a new PC before then because my current one was barely handling Monster Hunter World.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars is Yoko Taro's newest game.  Keiichi Okabe is also composing the music for this game which is incentive enough for me to pick it up.  While card games are generally a genre I don't look much into, I like the new trend of single-player focused RPG-aspect card games that have been made the past half decade and am willing to try this one out as well.

More content is coming to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but I haven't even picked up the game yet.  There have been so many Zelda games coming out the past few years that I haven't been able to keep up with them.

Chocobo GP looks so cute!  I hope it comes to Steam PC so I can convince my non-Switch owning friends to pick it up as well.

Then they announce that the final Smash Bros. presentation will be streamed two weeks later as to not get people excited and disappointed for the new Kirby game they were about to reveal.  It's unfortunate that it's another early stream (7AM PT on Oct. 5th), but I'll definitely wake up for it.  It makes me a bit nervous on who the last character could possibly be.  By this point, they would have to reveal Master Chief from Halo to get a large positive response from the community.  I'm still hoping Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden gets in, but I also don't see him being entirely well received by the Smash community.  I guess I'll find out in a week.

I wasn't expecting a new Kirby game, and I was certainly not expecting it to be a 3D open-world game set in a post-apocalyptic world of our own modern environment.  It's just so wild and weird, but I like what I see so far.

More content is coming to Mario Golf: Super Rush.  I was interested in picking up the game, but haven't found the right time for it since I've been constantly digging through backlogged games.

Triangle Strategy had a bit more to show this time around and it's looking great.  I still have so many games like it that I haven't gotten around to playing or finishing yet that I'm probably not going to pick it up at launch.

Metroid Dread is looking great and I'm pretty interested in playing it now.  But it's releasing at a time where I'm already spending a lot of money and probably have most of that time occupied already to be able to even play this game.  I'll definitely be playing it one day, but sadly not at launch.

Nintendo Online is finally adding N64 games to play on the Switch as well as Sega Genesis games.  I was excited at first since I haven't played a lot of N64 games, but then I realized it was going to be sold as an expansion pack.  Depending on the price and the timing, I might consider it since I want to try playing through some of those N64 games.

I've been seeing leaks of Castlevania Advance Collection for months now and have been wondering when it'll be out.  I was super happy to find out that it was releasing later that day and on Steam PC.  I never actually beat Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance so I'm keen on picking it up and playing through them again and actually finishing them all the way through.  As mentioned many times, it's out at a poor time and I'm tempted to get it knowing that I may not have enough time to play it.  For now, I'm holding off on purchasing it until I finish some more games.

ActRaiser Renaissance was the highlight of the Direct for me.  When the map zoom of the original appeared, I was already shocked to see ActRaiser in any form and thought it might be porting the original to the Switch.  But when that map transitioned to one with modern looking graphics, I lost my mind.  I started jumping up and down in my seat and screaming from the pure joy and excitement that ActRaiser was getting remade.  Then I saw the gameplay and was a bit turned off by the graphics and animation.  They look like they came from the Playstation 1 era.  What was even more surprising was the game was releasing later that day.  I looked up gameplay and saw that combat was a little different with a bit more depth as well as the God Phase having a tower-defense like gameplay much like  the ActRaiser inspired game SolSeraph had in their game.  I really want to play the game, but perhaps not at $30 and at this time.  So I will have to sadly wait until a later date before I can find the time to play it.

A quick look at upcoming games sped through and it covered a lot of games previously announced.  I'm looking forward to Shin Megami Tensei V and Rune Factory 5.

We've known about the Mario movie for a while now, but they didn't reveal the voice actors until this Direct.  The idea of a Mario movie already has me skeptical, but the surprising and weird cast of celebrities voicing the Mario crew has me even more worried.

Details of Splatoon 3 were shown and while it doesn't make me super excited, I am looking forward to eventually playing it.  I haven't even finished the expansion campaign on 2 yet.

And then finally, after 4 years of waiting, we get a glimpse of Bayonetta 3.  It was already leaked before the Direct that it might have a mention during Nintendo's Direct and that the release date would be in 2022.  Despite that, I didn't know it was the trailer for Bayonetta 3 when it was revealing "the last game of the direct".  It was a good trailer because it kept me guessing.  You have dudes in military gear shooting at a large monster that doesn't look quite angelic in a modern looking city.  Thoughts were swimming in my head: "Viewtiful Joe?  Earth Defense Force?  Xenoblade Chronicles?"  And then I remembered the leak and realized "oh, this is Bayonetta 3!"  But then I saw the dog suit and thought I was being played and it was actually a sequel for Astral Chain.  But then Witch Time happens and you see Bayonetta's reflection on the blade.  Bayonetta looks great and her new abilities are wild!  I still have my pre-order from 4 years ago and am ready to play it whenever it releases next year.

Over all, it was a pretty good Nintendo Direct Presentation and there's a lot to look forward to for the Nintendo Switch.  I'll probably be making another post next week after the Smash Bros. Presentation.

Recollecting myself

 I missed posting anything the past two months, which I don't think has ever happened before two months in a row.  In June, I had planned on talking about playing Guilty Gear Strive, PSO2: New Genesis, Samurai Shodown and Scarlet Nexus as well as all the games announced during that month.  But some stuff happened that felt too personal to post about.  I was emotionally and mentally fatigued.  I was supposed to spend June relaxing and playing games.  And while I was able to play games, they were only a slight distraction from what was happening in my personal life.  I spent July picking myself back up and trying to get back into productivity with language learning and practicing music.  July is kind of a blur for me, but I do remember getting through a lot of games.  August has also been kind of a blur, and I only completed two games.  I spent a lot of August practicing piano, exercising, and trying to get better at Guilty Gear Strive.

Guilty Gear Strive has been a rollercoaster ride of learning something new and getting better, maybe performing more consistently, and then getting beat by everyone I go against and realizing I've already fallen behind.  I am having a lot of fun with Guilty Gear Strive, but I think it also came with some frustration as everyone is getting better faster than me while I tried to improve since I'm really putting the effort this time around to get better at a fighting game.  I think the frustration comes from the fact that no matter how much I try to learn and improve, it never seems to be enough to keep up.  It's ironic because it's also part of what makes it fun since the game keeps evolving and changing so there's always something new to learn or do.  As for all the other games: I played quite a few hours of PSO2: New Genesis, but haven't played much since June.  I played a few rounds of Samurai Shodown on Arcade mode and do enjoy it, but it does feel a bit lonely not being able to play it with anyone.  I played about 10 hours of Scarlet Nexus and haven't continued in a long time, but plan to soon.  The reason for that was I picked up Blaster Master Zero 3 last month and have spent all my free time playing through it in August.  What usually happens is whenever I do have free time, I end up playing Guilty Gear Strive because I have that drive to keep improving.

Aside from that, I got to spend some time with friends in August as my family and I are finally fully vaccinated and I feel less paranoid about seeing people now.  I haven't seen some of them in 2 years and some of them haven't seen each other in over 5 years.  Two of them moved back home, so I have a higher chance of seeing them and hanging out than we have in the past decade.

Over half of the year is already over and I'm just wondering if it's right for me to keep stalling my main objective of finishing my portfolio and applying for jobs or even just working on more audio work.  I keep finding other ways to occupy my time, probably because it's the first time in many years where I'm learning new things and experiencing different activities rather than just constantly focusing on music composition/production.  I'm almost done with all my short term goals that I wanted to do and will continue on my main project soon.

Heavy Distractions, Incoming

I am so behind in everything.  I still haven’t recorded the music cover I’ve been working on, I haven’t learned all that much in my language study sessions, I only finished 2 games this month (maybe a 3rd tonight?), I’ve gained back a little bit of weight because of the few times we went out to eat and missing exercises a few days, and all that effort I made being able to sleep early and wake early has been slowly undone as I struggle to sleep at earlier times.  I finally finished the drawing of the Under Night In-Birth characters, but it took up the first half of the month to complete it.  I’m mostly satisfied with it, but it does have a few problems I noticed after staring at it for so long so I might go back to fix it.  I haven’t recorded the song I’m learning on guitar yet, but I feel like I’ve made a decent amount of progress on practicing it.  My left wrist hurts from practicing on the guitar, so I’m probably going to rest for the weekend.  I’m trying to complete so many things before June hits that I feel like I won’t be able to get anything done.

There’s a lot that’s going to happen in June this year.  Guilty Gear Strive, Samurai Shodown on Steam (FINALLY, AFTER 2 YEARS!), Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, and Scarlet Nexus all release in June.  Multiple game announcements will be made through digital streaming events in place of in-person E3 events.  Steam Summer Sale starts at the end of the month.  There is just so much going on next month; I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it other than possibly dropping everything I’m doing just to enjoy the games that are coming out.  I really want to go back to working on that big project I started back in October, but I know it’ll be a lot of work and won’t be done that quickly.  I suppose I can work little by little on it throughout June.

Setting aside all my worries, I am SO excited for the games next month.  I keep thinking about Guilty Gear Strive these past months that it’s been difficult to focus.  I’ve been watching a lot of clips of beta gameplay, listening to the music, and trying to learn as much as I can about this newest installment in the series.  Depending on how SNK packages Samurai Shodown for Steam and what they price it at, I may or may not pick it up right away.  As excited as I am to play the game, I’m not too keen on spending $110 ($50 for base game; 3 x $20 DLC packs) especially when we’ve waited 2 years after its initial dated release.  I’m also not sure if I’ll have anyone to play it with, whether if the single-player mode will keep me playing for very long, and not to mention the amount of money I need to already spend on all the other games.

I potentially have one more week left for any productivity I want taken care of before I dive deep into playing Guilty Gear Strive, PSO2: New Genesis, and Scarlet Nexus.

What a crazy week

 Let me start off by saying that nothing serious happened.  Nothing truly THAT good or THAT bad happened.  But the ups and downs of this past week has affected me enough where I contemplated on why it did in the first place.

Leading up to the start of last week was the Lunar New Year's sale on Steam and many other platforms.  I've been playing a lot of Virtual Reality games and wanted to pick up some more.  I got a decent amount and was mostly happy with them.  I tried them all out and felt a bit of regret on two of my purchases, of which I couldn't return because I went beyond the 2 hour limit before I got to that conclusion.

Then the week started off with the announcement that SoulWorker was going to close its servers at the end of April.  I was sad to hear the news and figured it wasn't doing too well as time went on anyways.  To my surprise, it had a steady stream of players throughout its run on Steam.  They probably weren't making enough money to make up the difference.  I'm hoping to make some time and play as much as I can of it before it disappears.

On Monday, I was doing my daily logins on my mobile games when Another Eden suddenly kicked me back out to home screen.  I thought it was strange and tried starting it up a couple of times and it still kicked me back out to home screen immediately.  I restarted my phone and to my horror, all my applications were greyed out.  None of my games or applications started up.  I checked my storage and realized that my Micro SD card had corrupted and so I tried to recover the files on my PC.  It seems a majority of the files were lost and the ones recovered weren't important.  While annoying, I wasn't too worried as I had linked all my games to an account that can be recovered.  I tried formatting the Micro SD Card and it didn't work.  It seemed the structural integrity of the memory card was compromised beyond repair, and so I reluctantly ordered a new one.

On Wednesday, Nintendo had a Direct in which they haven't had in over a year.  And the very first thing they started off with was something I didn't expect to happen.  As soon as the stream started and I read "Not actual gameplay footage", heard the music and saw the skyship, I gasped and thought "omg, is Pyra being added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?"  For context, I've wanted Pyra/Mythra (Homura/Hikari) from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in SSBU since its launch and gave up hope that they'd ever make it in after Rex was shown as a Mii Costume and Pyra/Mythra were shown as Spirits in Spirit Mode.  What gave me a glimmer of hope was Min Min's addition to the roster when she was a spirit as well.  When Rex said "One day, Pyra just disappeared...", I started freaking going "OMG, IT'S HAPPENING!"  This character reveal brought me to tears and I didn't think there were any character reveals that could do that anymore.  The last 2 DLC characters have a lot to live up to.  The rest of the direct was okay with most of the announcements being updates on previously announced games and remakes/remasters.

All that good feeling was quickly dashed as I couldn't link my account to get my save file back for Another Eden.  All my other games easily got me back to where I left off, and I couldn't figure out how to do it on Another Eden.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize it until the next day that I had accidentally started a new game and overwrote my save file with it.  I contacted support to see if they could help me, but all the required information were things I didn't know about (user ID number and such).  They weren't able to find my account based on the little information I had, which is understandable considering how many accounts were made for their game.  I was heartbroken and sadden by the loss of 2-3 years of grinding, progression, and collecting characters.  But I was also mad at myself when I realized I could've gotten it back if I hadn't overwrote my save file.  To make matters worse, I found out the day after that there wasn't even a save file found on my account for BangDream (all those Animé and Persona songs I got)!

Then little things started to bug me.  A friend found a good deal for the pre-order of Guilty Gear Strive Deluxe, which I was definitely going to get.  Unfortunately, my payment couldn't go through and I wasted over an hour trying.  I tried the next day and it still didn't work.  By this point, I was feeling emotionally miserable and I couldn't understand why I felt that way.  I tried to tell myself "It's just an online game that's closing down, that happens all the time.  I just lost some mobile games, and while it sucks it's not THAT bad.  Sure, I could've saved $18 with that deal, but if I had to pay full price for a game, I'm glad it's Guilty Gear Strive."  While I didn't quite convince myself that day, I felt much better the next day.

After that, a bunch of fighting game news made its way with Tekken 7 DLC character teased, a guilty gear character teased for Samurai Shodown, Chizuru Kagura making a surprise return to The King of Fighters XV, and Guilty Gear Strive revealing I-No as the last base roster character.

So I had to think to myself "why was I having such an emotional rollercoaster ride this past week?"  In all honesty, all these good and bad things are pretty normal and non-consequential.  I think that's what helped me get over the bad stuff and focus on the good stuff; that I can live and enjoy such frivolities at a time like this is something I won't take for granted.  I'm glad COVID-19 cases are dropping, but the world still feels unsafe with new strains, mutations and other possible virus outbreaks happening overseas.  I hear that Texas has power outages as the temperature continues to drop throughout the country the past 2 weeks.

I am a bit worried about not being productive as I've been playing a lot of VR, but that in itself has been a stepping stone towards self improvement.  I've actually been losing weight from playing VR and I'm down to a weight I haven't been at in nearly a decade.  As I try to move away from mobile games, motivate myself towards working again, and focusing on more things I want to do (get through more console games, reading, learning new languages, practicing more music, etc.), I'm slowing planning out my year and figuring out my priorities.  But yeah, what a crazy week.  I'm so happy Pyra/Mythra are in Smash, I can't wait to play them next month!

My Journey into Virtual Reality

Back around 20 years ago when I was a kid, there was a device at Toys"R"Us claiming to be virtual reality and my head spun with wild imagination of all the possibilities it potentially had.  Growing up, cartoons and shows had plenty of references of what virtual reality would be like and what it was capable of.  I've always been fascinated by the idea and its potential in entertainment with videogames in particular.  I begged my parents to get me that "device" and they bought it to prove a point about how bad it was going to be.  So put on the headset, strapped the two gloves and single leg detector on and turned on this "Virtual Reality" game that had me fighting off ninjas.  To my dismay, I quickly realized how high my expectations were.  I was expecting to be able to punch and see the reaction of the enemy getting hit with at least 16-bit quality graphics.  Instead, I was presented with an LCD game (liquid crystal display that had predetermined images) that had a backlight and the sensors on the gloves and leg only detected any kind of motion.  Still, I tried to play it and remember it very well.  Punching left or right attacked enemies up close, while punching and kicking at the same time threw out a fireball to attack distant enemies.  Enemies hit would flash and disappear if killed.  My parents described my experience playing the game looking like I was having a seizure as I was flailing my hands and leg, wildly (the motion detection wasn't very good).  Disheartened by the disappointment, I asked my parents to return the device after I conceded that they were right about it being lame.  At that time, I held on to the belief that technology would advance enough where it would fulfill my Virtual Reality dreams and allow me more freedom in a better looking virtual environment.

Years go by and get excited about things like the R-Zone, Nintendo's Virtual Boy, and eyewear that allows you to connect to a TV to make it as big as a theater screen.  Each time I mentioned wanting one of those, my parents would always bring back up the Ninja fighting virtual reality toy I got as a kid and admit Virtual Reality still isn't at the level of my expectations yet.  Two decades later, Virtual Reality is talked about a lot and reaching consumers at a mainstream level.  I kept a close eye on it and wondered when I should check it out.  At first, it was a gimmick where we only had the headset and still played with a keyboard and mouse or a gamepad.  It wasn't until they introduced motion sensing controllers that I thought things were getting interesting.  There were still some problems though.  There weren't that many games and the ones available looked awful.  You needed a bit of room to setup the motion sensing towers and to move around in.  You needed a strong computer to be able to process the games and stream it onto the headset.  You needed to setup the cords to hang overhead if you didn't want them wrapping around your legs.  And it was also expensive (most VR sets were $1200+).  So I made some prerequisites to determine whether I should consider looking into VR: Cheap and affordable, wireless without the need for motion sensing towers, and games that I actually want to play.  In the past few months, the Oculus Quest 2 was released and had a lot of people talking about it.  I realized it fulfilled all three of those points.  Christmas passed and my parents told me on Christmas day "we didn't get anything for you because we have no idea what you want."  I told them they didn't need to get me anything, but they asked me quite a few times what I wanted or what I even liked.  I caved in and told them, "well, I'm pretty interested in Virtual Reality recently and think it's the right time for me to check it out."  Immediately, they laughed and brought up the Ninja fighting game again and I laughed with them saying "I promise things for Virtual Reality has certainly changed."  The Oculus Quest 2 was sold out everywhere and I eventually found a special offer and so my parents agreed to pick it up for me.

Three weeks pass by and I'm already prepared to give up on the idea of VR and wait longer.  The package shows up all of a sudden and I'm dumbstruck by the surprise.  So I spend half the day setting it up and figuring out how it works.  After that, I started playing some games.

Initial Reaction

I couldn't stop saying "WOW, THIS IS SO COOL!"  It was one thing to read articles, hear from friends, and watch videos about VR, and a totally different thing to actually experience it.  It was very much what I wanted out of VR two decades ago, but was still very surprised we actually reached that point in technology to actually do it!  The ability to looking around, up and down, and behind and see the entire environment of a game rather than seeing everything on a screen was a wild experience in itself.  Having depth perception and knowing how far something is and the ability to manipulate objects freely rather than pressing a button was both realistic and yet so unreal at the same time.  Being able to convey a realistic sense of darkness, spatial distance, light, is such a different feeling compared to seeing darkness, depth and lighting on a screen.  Needless to say, my mind was blown.

Motion Sickness

A lot of people experience this when playing VR and I thought I'd be immune to it since I play so much videogames already.  I was wrong.  On the 2nd day of playing VR, I decided to ride a virtual roller coaster and my goodness I felt so sick afterwards I thought I was going to throw up.  I was hoping to just have that adrenaline rush of going fast, but from some reason my stomach was doing backflips which is strange because I never had these feelings on a REAL roller coaster.  The sickening feeling stayed with me all night till the next afternoon.  Playing other games and having to move also made me feel queasy.  This continued for nearly a week before I started to adjust to moving around without feeling like I'm going to fall over.  It was an interesting and unpleasant feeling, but it's worth it after getting past it all and being able to play for hours with no problems.  I can even jump off high places in-game or go upstairs without feeling sick anymore.

Fatigue and stamina

Despite an entire year of push-ups, squats, and planking as well as 3 months of Ring Fit Adventure, I got sore and tired very quickly the first 2-4 days of playing VR.  I wasn't playing anything that required too much exertion (yet), but having to stand up for so many hours was wearing down on me (I was playing 6-8 hours per day in the beginning).  I didn't think playing VR would get me tired or even sweat.  But then I played the boxing game Creed and was sweating like crazy after 3 fights.  I soon realized how incredible VR potentially has for building up stamina and strengthen my leg muscles for me.

Physical Health

I've now implemented VR playing into my daily routine of exercise alongside Ring Fit Adventure and still doing push-ups and squats.  Amazingly, I've lost 4 pounds in the past 3 weeks!  I hope I'm able to continue to lower my weight, tone my body and raise my stamina.  Beat Saber and Until You Fall helps with arm movement and tensing the leg muscles.  Pistol Whip helps with my back, sides, and legs.  Creed helps strengthen and tone my arms, core, sides, leg, and definitely stamina.  I'm hoping to pick a few more physical intensive games to work with.

Mental Health

Maybe it's all the exercise.  Maybe it's the abundant amount of sensory stimulation and new experience.  Maybe because it fulfilled a long sought after wish.  Maybe it's how it's connected me to my friends in a different way.  Or maybe I'm just having so much fun playing VR.  I've definitely feel more stimulated, happy, and active these past 3 weeks that I haven't felt for a long time.  It might also be due to the fact I've been home for over a decade and haven't really seen much change in scenery that "traveling" to so many different worlds and environments really got my brain excited.  Not to mention that the pandemic has kept me in the house for the whole year.  VR is doing wonders for my mental health and I hope it continues to do so.

Social Aspects

I was expecting VR to be a bit more isolated and lonely, but I've actually been interacting with my friends a lot playing in VR.  I have 4 other friends with VR headsets and we played some games together.  There's something odd and personal about seeing your friends in VR compared to seeing them in-game on a screen that I can't quite explain, but it feels nice.  Even without a VR headset, we got our other friends to join us in VR Chat as there's a desktop mode which allowed them to join us for playing certain games, have Karaoke night, and play an FPS altogether.  It also reminded me of a project I worked on in College where I wrote up a potential invention where augmented reality would allow people to play online games together and interact or fight one another to promote being active.  That is partially possible now with VR as a lot of online games allows player to sword fight, box, and shoot each other in virtual space.   We're honestly not that far away from augmented reality as it's already been touched upon (such as Pokémon Go).  It's really cool to see real life movements and gestures being able to be transmitted and conveyed to other players online.  I hear VR has really helped people get over the feeling of loneliness and social anxiety over the past year with the lockdown in place.

My Top 3 Games

What I think

Virtual Reality is such a wild experience and I honestly believe this is the future of entertainment and possibly of life.  The potential it possesses in training, studying, working, exploring, learning and connecting with other people has barely scratched the surface.  Virtual Reality has been used in different professions for quite a while now and it can only grow and improve with its reach with the mainstream consumer.  I've been having so much fun playing VR the past three weeks and I'm planning to pick up some more games for it this weekend as the Lunar New Year sale has kicked off for a lot of platforms.

Videogames of 2020

2020 was quite a difficult year for everyone with the major problem being the COVID-19 pandemic that spread throughout the whole world and claiming over a million lives.  With that danger looming over, many events were canceled, production was slowed down, and many other problems occurred.  The Videogame industry and community took hard hits all throughout the year.  E3 was canceled and held a mediocre online version of updates and interviews.  EVO was switched to having an online tournament to being entirely canceled after a number of allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault, coercion and endangering minors against event organizers and players (mostly in the Smash Ultimate community) were brought to light.  It's been a rough year for those involved in videogames.  Despite all that, I think I had a lot of fun with the games that did release this year and games I played in general.

Here are the top 10 games I played that released this past year.  I'm going to cheat a little this time and mention games I haven't finished yet.  Games I haven't completed yet will have an *.

10) Black Mesa [PC] - Black Mesa is a remake of Half-Life 1 that was in Early Access for the longest time.  They finally finished and released it out of Early Access and I can see why the last part of the game took so long.  While the game still feels like the original Half-Life 1 and I still remember so much of the game, it still felt like a new experience playing through the game with a much richer world with modern graphics.  Many argue that the darker and eerie theme of the last part was better in the original, and I do think it certainly left an impression I never forgot; however, the new and recreated world of Xen is so imaginative and beautiful that I can't help but praise the developers for their vision.  I loved the original Half-Life and I definitely think this remake does a good job of staying faithful to the original while still making the experience feel fresh and new.

9) Deep Rock Galactic [PC] - On a whim, my friends and I picked up this 4-player cooperative First-Person Shooter about dwarves gathering resources.  The concept sounded kind of boring to me, but I quickly changed my mind as I played the scout and realized I could zip around everywhere with a grappling hook.  It's an entertaining cooperative experience fighting against bugs together and coordinating objectives.

8) Risk of Rain 2 [PC] - I know I mentioned it in last year's list, but the game is out of Early Access now and all the new characters and content really solidified how awesome of a game Risk of Rain 2 is.  This cooperative, 3rd-Person Action Rogue-like has a striking art style that stands out with some really crazy and convoluted moments that feels so satisfying when you're able to handle everything that's thrown at you.  I will say that the music isn't as memorable or prominent as the first game.

*7) Hades [PC] - Supergiant Games' newest game is definitely a hit.  While there have been plenty of Top-Down, Action Rogue-likes made before this game, none really have such a unique art style, large amount of content, satisfying gameplay, and (most of all) fairness in challenge that Hades brings to the table.  Make no mistake, it's still a challenging game.  But it has this leniency and forgiveness that makes the game a lot more bearable over the dozens of other Rogue-likes that thinks getting insta-killed is fun.  And, my goodness, that music!  The music is soooooo good!  I'll admit that I haven't actually completed a full run yet since I've been distracted by other games, but Hades absolutely deserves recognition for how much of an impression it left me this past year.

6) Streets of Rage 4 [PC] - Honestly, I wasn't going to buy Streets of Rage 4 at launch.  But what happened was I played the original trilogy with a friend a week before its release and changed my mind.  In my mind, I was thinking that even if I may not like the game, I'll at least like the music.  But I DID like the game, A LOT!  While it retains a lot from the original beat-em-up formula, it also implements some new ideas and concepts that make the gameplay just a bit more complex and free-flowing.  And yes, I did like the music.  I liked it so much that it was the first time I actually bought a game's soundtrack that wasn't sold on steam and wasn't on sale.  In fact, I may go as far as saying it was my favorite videogame soundtrack of 2020.  I only got through two and a half playthroughs and want to play more of it, but new games and backlog is preventing me from doing so.

5) Monster Hunter World: Iceborne [PC] - I can't believe I played this in 2020, because it felt like forever ago since I played it.  The Iceborne expansion definitely adds a lot to the original game and made me fall in love with the game all over again.  The biggest change was the ability to grapple hook onto monsters and slamming them against a wall.  It was nice being able to play more Monster Hunter with my friends again and fighting even crazier monsters than before.  There's still a ton of end-game content that I haven't experienced yet that I could play.

4) Trials of Mana (2020) [PC] - This was one of my most anticipated games of 2020 and I was super excited to play it.  I played through the original game right before this released so I could get a comparison.  And while I think the remake addresses all the problems and things I hated about the original and it's better in so many different ways, I couldn't get over how easy the game was.  This was one of the very few times I played a game on the hardest difficulty from the very start.  The game was later updated with an extra difficulty, but I haven't found the time to go back to it.  I meant to play the game 3 times to experience all three story paths, but I only had time to finish one playthrough.  I loved the recreation of the entire game in 3D while going for aesthetic closer to Secret of Mana (the original Trials of Mana was rather dark and muted, possibly for a more realistic art direction), and loved the arranged music.  However, I did not like the English dubbing.  It was rather painful to listen through.  I absolutely loved Trials of Mana (2020) and will definitely go back to it someday to go through the other 2 playthroughs.

3) Granblue Fantasy: Versus [PC] - I was a bit skeptical about the game at first as it looks slower than most Arc System Works fighting games, and had that cooldown system going on.  But Granblue Fantasy: Versus turned out to be one of the most enjoyable games I played in 2020.  RPG Mode was a bit disappointing as most of the playthrough was a monotonous slog through trash mobs until I got to boss fights.  Boss fights were a lot of fun in a casual sense.  The game definitely shines most in the actual fighting game where I played hundreds of matches with my friends.  It helped me become even more experienced and knowledgeable about fighting games.  GBFV has a decent variety of characters, an interesting combat flow with the cooldown system, and a combo system that's easy enough to learn quickly but complex enough for some mastery.  It ended up being the fighting game we played the most this past year.  Unfortunately, the netcode isn't the best and was made even more evident when Guilty Gear XX Accent Core+R was updated with GGPO rollback and we experience just how good online game could potentially be if rollback was used in all fighting games.

*2) Ghost of Tsushima [PS4] - Honestly, this should be #1.  The Open-world, Action-Adventure set in ancient Japan delivers an experience I've wanted in a samurai game since High School and never had until now.  The game has a strong sense of authenticity and cinematic drama that's so potent that I often forget the game wasn't made in Japan.  Combat is slick and satisfying, the environment is lively, and the stories just drew me in.  While I didn't finish the game, I did play quite a few hours (40+ I think?).  It's possible that I've unlocked most of what I can potentially do in combat, so the game might get repetitive at some point.  I got highly distracted and haven't been able to get back to finishing the game yet, but I definitely plan to sometime this year.

1) Phantasy Star Online 2 [PC] - The game that blocked Ghost of Tsushima from my #1 spot is a game I've been waiting 8 years to release, and it's finally here!  Granted, it caused me a lot of grief when it first released.  PSO2 was initially released on the Microsoft Store and it was okay for the first week, and then it broke after a Windows Update.  I spent hours trying to resolve the issue to no avail and eventually gave up in hopes that a Steam release wasn't too far away.  Besides that, it had optimization issues, bugs, crashes, and errors as well as random disconnections in the middle of a mission.  It took three months, but PSO2 was released onto Steam and I was able to link my account up and play on Steam.  A lot of the problems I had before were fixed and I was finally able to play the game.  Despite so many years from its initial release in Japan, PSO2 holds up really well with fast and exciting combat as well as a plethora of content that accumulated the past 8 years.  And while the graphics are somewhat dated, they didn't detract from the experience.  It almost feels like there's always an event going on.  The Urgent missions and live concerts the community involved, even if it's just for a moment.  There's just so much you're free to do!  I've already played over 200 hours of PSO2 and feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what's available to me.  I can see myself playing a lot more PSO2, and Sega has already announced Phantasy Star New Genesis, a completely new game that will work in tandem with PSO2 in the future.  All that waiting was worth it, I love Phantasy Star Online 2!

Honorable mentions:

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 [PC] - A sequel to the spin-off game, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 brings back the classic Castlevania formula with even more characters, pathways, secrets, and extra modes.  The game feels much more challenging than the first game with quite a few modes after each playthrough.  I've only completed one playthrough and haven't found the time to go back and complete the others ones yet, but I plan to.

Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem [PC] - Another steam game that was in Early Access for years was finally released this past year to many people's dismay.  The game was still highly unpolished with bugs, glitches, and problems that left a lot of people dissatisfied with the end result.  My experience was a struggle as the game proved to much more challenging than I anticipated.  The introduction of cinematics, story and character dialogue surprised me as I didn't see any of it during Alpha and Beta testing, and I thought they were really good.....at first.  Near the end of the game, it just betrayed my trust in that the story was going in a good direction only to try to be unexpected in a disappointing fashion.  Character building was interesting as it gave the player a lot of freedom of what they want to create.  The skill tree is somewhat similar to Path of Exile, but a lot smaller.  Abilities can be swapped out freely based on what weapons you wield.  End game is interesting as it has randomly generated maps for the player to run through, as expected of a Diablo-like, as it all works towards a goal of rebuilding the kingdom.  Overall, Wolcen was janky, broken, and unpolished, but I definitely had fun with it as it provided a unique experience with a decent amount of challenge.

Here are my top 10 games I played this past year that wasn't released in 2020:

10) Insurgency: Sandstorm [PC] - I really liked the Insurgency mod back in the days, and so I was definitely excited for a standalone game and I really enjoyed that one, too.  Then I saw Sandstorm with its new engine and I felt drawn to it.  It's kind of crazy how different it feels to the original when they have the same concept and gameplay.  I didn't really play too much (about 15 hours) since I don't feel compelled to play with pubs and none of my friends enjoyed the game as much when we tried it during a free weekend, but I really liked it.  I liked how it looked, how gunplay felt, and the nice looking environment.  My biggest complaint is that single-player is awful compared to the original and is the reason why I still go back to the original sometimes.

9) Blaster Master Zero 2 [PC] - I really liked Blaster Master Zero, but it certainly surprised me that they made a sequel.  While the first game was a remake of the original, this sequel was an entirely new game that ties the story of the original Japanese game with the story of the American version.  The game is more challenging, had more content, and just felt more fun than the first game.  I finished the game once, but plan on playing through it with the other extra characters when I find the time.

8) Acceleration of Suguri 2 [PC] - I played the first original Japanese version of the game a long time ago and found the game frustrating and difficult.  I had played the original again in English and still wasn't crazy about the game.  Acceleration of Suguri 2 never had a big discount with its soundtracks, and I eventually made the plunge and bought the game with all the soundtracks for a much higher price than I wanted.  And again, I played the game and felt lukewarm about the gameplay.  After completing the game with every character, I was about to call it quits.  It wasn't until after I played and finished Sora (a game by the same developer) that I had the urge to want to try to get better at the game and understand it.  After a decent amount of hours of looking up tips and guides on the discord group and practicing a few characters, I was able to beat the CPU at hard difficulty and weave through some pretty crazy attacks.  Suddenly, I saw the game in a whole new light and enjoyed it a lot more!  I wish a had a friend to play it with me, but even against CPU I was having a lot of fun.  I think learning fighting games the past 2 years also influenced me in learning and enjoying AoS2.

7) Lethal League Blaze [PC] - I actually ignored this game for quite a long time and didn't get it much thought.  I played the original game when it was bundled with some other games I wanted and didn't like it as much.  It's best described as dodgeball with Super Smash Bros. controls.  The original didn't have much single-player content and I didn't have anyone to play it with.  What happened was I came across a video that had a song I thought was very catchy.  Then I found out the song was from Lethal League Blaze.  Further more, I found out that Hideki Naganuma of Jet Set Radio fame composed a song for it as well as Bignic.  I decided to give the original another chance and this time around I really tried to play and understand the game.  It was interesting and new.  So I waited for a sale and then picked up Blaze along with its soundtrack and convinced a friend to pick up the game with me to play.  It's so much fun, but can be so difficult at a certain skill level.  The music really is amazing and one of the biggest factors that got me playing the game.  I tried to convince more of my friends to play it, but no one seemed interested.  This game seems difficult to market.

6) Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney [3DS] - I finally got around to playing this one and it's as good as I hoped.  Gameplay wise, it was okay.  What I really liked was its presentation: the art, the music, the characters, the story, etc.  The story was full of surprises, but it took some time to get there.  I would've really liked to get through all the other Professor Layton games, but I don't think I have the patience to get through all those puzzles.

5) Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls [PC] - I've heard countless times that this game should be skipped and only the main three games should be played.  I'm glad I didn't listen to those suggestions because Ultra Despair Girls was an enjoyable game and one heck of a mental trip.  Without going into detail or spoilers, the story touches upon some really messed up subjects and scenarios (I'm honestly shocked it's inside a videogame).  A lot of people hated the Third-Person Shooter aspect, but perhaps this is from people that played on the PS Vita.  I've been lazy about getting around to 2 & 3, but I'm glad I put in the time to get through Ultra Despair Girls.  What a crazy game.

4) The Evil Within 2 [PC] - Okay, I did enjoy the game a lot and it certainly had a unique quality to it that wasn't in the first game, but there are also things about it I didn't like.  There was a lot of needless trekking involved that slowed down the pacing of the game.  The game seemed like it wanted to stop being more of a horror game and tried to be a better action-game.  I did enjoy the game, but I felt like the overall experience wasn't as balanced and captivating as the first game.  I did like how they evolved the story when it seemed like there wasn't anything new they could bring after the first game.

3) Remnant: From the Ashes [PC] - I actually want to play this game some more.  Remnant is a 3rd-Person Shooter Souls-like where you can co-op with 2 other players to fight some really challenging enemies.  Gunplay felt nice, there was a certain degree of character building, and it worked well enough as a co-op game.

2) 100% Orange Juice [PC] - I both love and hate this game as I played it all year long.  100% OJ is a board game where you compete with other players to get a certain amount of victories in battle or collect a certain amount of starts to win.  While there is a tiny bit of skill involve with decision making, a lot of the game revolves around luck.  We started with having a lot of our friends playing together, but everyone started getting sick of how luck-based the game was and how often it screwed you over.  There is also a co-op mode where the players work together to beat an NPC boss.  I just find the game to be very enjoyable without too much effort or thinking.  I still play it with one other friend and we often play now whenever there's an event.  The characters are cute, the music is catchy (considering they're stock music, meaning they aren't original music made for the game and were music they bought license for to use), and the game does have its moments where we just crack up and laugh (even if its at our expense sometimes) like when I roll a one 5 times in a row.

1) River City Girls [PC] - I'm actually kind of surprised I'm placing this as #1 considering I played it at the very beginning of 2020.   River City Girls really surprised me with its bright, colorful and unique art style when all other River City games STILL use the original art style and sprites.  The music is also incredibly unique and fun to listen to.  Despite its huge differences from the series, it still plays and feels like a River City Ransom game.  The humorous animations, RPG character building aspects, and satisfying beat-em-up action resonates with the series in a new light that no other sequel or spin-off has done.  I really enjoyed River City Girls, a lot.

Honorable mentions:

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX [PC] - I was debating whether I should put this game or Blaster Master Zero 2 on the top 10 list, and what it came down to was that BMZ2 was different and unique from the first game while Gunvolt Chronicles was fairly familiar.  I actually meant to play the game some more after finishing the game, but I never got around to it.  I did enjoy the game a lot, and the story kind of caught me off guard because it was WAY darker than I anticipated.  The last boss was also really challenging, which left an impression.  I actually bought the DLC that made it even harder, but still haven't found the time to try it out.  It's been so long since I've played it, I probably have to relearn all the patterns and mechanics before I could even attempt to beat it.  It was a good game and I'm glad they brought to PC so quickly this time around.

The Alliance Alive [3DS] - Omg, I'm not even sure if I should give it an honorable mention.  I've had this game in my 3DS for years before completing it.  It had a unique battle system, I liked the characters, but my goodness the game was so long and slow!  It was pretty fun, but it's not a game I'm going to revisit.

Oninaki [PC] - I was a bit disappointed with Oninaki as it turned out to be a lot clunkier than I wanted it to be.  Despite its rigid combat and somewhat slow pacing, the story was fairly entertaining and killing mobs of enemies was rather cathartic.  I never finished the post-game content and wonder if I should go through with it.  The game left a bit of an impression on me, but I can't help but feel like it could've been a WAY better game.

Looking at my lists, it seems I've been focusing too much on PC and not enough on consoles and handhelds.  I keep buying so many games on Steam that I end up playing a lot of PC games, nowadays.  Hopefully I can get through some more console and handheld games in 2021.