Oops, I totally missed making a post in October. I can't say I was particularly busy last month as progress for work was slow (finished one audio project) and so was progress on finishing games (finished 5 on record, but 3 of them were extremely short). I don't see myself fulfilling much of my New Year's Resolution, but I'm still working hard to get as close to it as possible. Much of October was mis-management of time, being distracted, and creating lots of characters in Soul Calibur VI. I've barely played single-player in SC6 as most of my time is spent in character creation and playing online with friends.
Besides that, I've started making plans to go on a trip to Japan three months from now. One of the things I really wanted to do out of High School or College was study abroad in Japan, learn the language, learn the culture, and change while I was there (hopefully to become more independent and responsible for myself). That never happened and I often wondered if I still want to do it. It definitely wouldn't be the same anymore as I've changed and so has Japan. So at the very least, I want to visit Japan and experience a tiny bit of it before Olympics 2020 Japan as I'm sure the country is bound to change after the event. Hopefully plans go smoothly and I'll finally get to experience Japan first hand.
Nintendo finally aired their last Smash Direct this past Thursday. Near the end of October, I was hungry for more information on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I wanted to know who the last characters were and what that mysterious mode that was blurred out is supposed to be. Before Nintendo even had a chance to announce a Direct, news reports were blowing up on a supposed "leak" that revealed the last characters being added to Smash Bros. Ultimate. In retrospect, I should've known the leak was fake considering how perfect it seemed. The "leak" was a snapchat picture of all the characters, but it was blurry. Based on that blurry picture, fans speculated that the remaining characters joining the roster were:
-Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
-Banjo-Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie)
-Isaac (Golden Sun) "WHY COULDN'T THIS ONE BEEN REAL, DANG IT?!"
-Ken (Street Fighter) "This was the only real one"
-Mach Rider (Mach Rider)
-Geno (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)
-Chorus Kids (Rhythm Heaven)
-KOS-MOS (Xenosaga)
Aside from Mach Rider and Chorus Kids (and maybe even KOS-MOS), all of these characters were highly requested characters by fans during the Smash ballot back on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. I would've been pretty excited and happy for all of these characters. Alas, this was not the case and it caused quite the drama.
So the Direct started out really strong by revealing two new characters: Ken Masters from Street Fighter (an Echo Fighter of Ryu), and Incineroar from Pokémon. The inclusion of Incineroar hinted strongly that the leak was fake. It caused quite a sinking feeling for me and many others when Sakurai said that these were "the last two fighters to join the roster". "Surely, there has to be more?" was going through many people's minds. It went on to talk about Amiibos and then led up to talking about the mysterious mode "spirits" where a large number of characters from many different games act like "equipment" from SSB4 for the player's character to use in Spirit mode.
I liked the idea of seeing so many different characters show up. As the direct explained the gameplay, I thought to myself "this sounds like a mobile game". It sounded potentially fun, but possibly grindy as well. Spirits can be caught, trained, fed, sent out to find treasure, etc. Its main gameplay is essentially a glorified events mode where the player must fight opponents with specific conditions and scenarios and references the spirits. What I like about all of this is all the RPG aspects that gives the player a sense of progression by collecting and getting their characters stronger.
I have mixed feelings about how Online gameplay is handled. Online will allow more flexibility on specific rules the player wants to be matched up with, but it'll also make finding matches potentially more difficult. The ranking system will be universal all around rather than having a specific "ranked" mode (which was For Glory in SSB4). Match making will prioritize making matches closer to where you are to minimize lag. Overall, the changes give the player more control over what kind of match they want to play online.
And then Assist Trophies showed up with the first one being Shadow the Hedgehog, which means he won't be a playable character. They show cased new assist trophies such as Yuri from Fatal Frame from Wii U. And then immediately after that they showed Isaac from Golden Sun, a character I was really hoping on being playable for once. They showed some other cool ones like Guile from Street Fighter, Dr. Wily from Mega Man, and Tiki from Fire Emblem.
The direct talked a bit more about different modes, options, gallery, and Mii Fighter customization and costumes. Then it revealed that they already planned on 5 DLC packs, with each one containing a new character, a new stage, and additional music tracks to go along with it. Unfortunately, they're not going to tell us who are what they are. So it's like every other fighting game where they ask you to put down money on content we don't know anything about. ($5.99 each or $24.99 for all five). If you do buy the season pass, you get Rex's costume for Mii Fighters, additional music from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and characters from it show up as spirits. This made me sad that Rex/Pyra didn't make the cut as playable characters.
So when it got to the part where Sakurai mentioned working on something that isn't completed yet but will be free for those who purchase the game before the end of January, I didn't know what to expect. Many people expected/hoped that it was another character with some individuals believing that it was going to be Geno. I normally watch reaction videos for Smash directs to see other people get excited for the same things I'm excited for. But this time around, I went to see how others felt about the reveal of Piranha Plant as a character. For me, I was only mildy disappointed and confused. But man, were some people upset. The common reactions I saw from watching reaction videos were:
-Incessantly screaming "WHAT?!"
-Being very angry and screaming "WTF?!"
-So shocked/confused that they just stare with a blank expression
-Laughing hysterically
-And the rare one was seeing some of them cry
Here are some of my favorite reactions to various parts of the direct:
Shadow and Isaac deconfirmed
Rex/Pyra deconfirmed
Piranha Plant
Rex/Pyra deconfirmed
Piranha Plant
Piranha Plant
Piranha Plant
Poor Jacob.....
Arnold one of the very few people happy to see Piranha Plant
At the very least, the ended with a high note at the end showing a cinematic from Spirits' Story mode, gameplay footage of it, and the reveal that the main theme has lyrics. Despite some mild disappointments from this last direct, I am so excited to play this game and to see what the future holds for it.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Picking myself back up
It's been a crazy month and a half worth of productivity and videogames. I started working on new original material to build a new portfolio to use in applying for a job and I got two done with a 3rd one started. In between, I was inspired to do a remix.
All the while, I was playing games like: Monster Hunter World, Overcooked 2, Touhou Luna Nights, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, Blade Strangers, and The Messenger. Everything seemed great and I felt happy, albeit a bit pressured by my own expectations.
My sister had come home to visit two weeks ago. Due to past events from last year and pressure from work, my sister has been stressed and upset expressed from the conversations we've had each time she has come home. In one of the conversations we had on the night of September 15th, she said something that had triggered something within me. Slowly, all thoughts of struggle, difficulty, disappointments, fears, anger, resentment and everything in-between throughout my whole life started flooding my mind and tormented me all night long for 7.5 hours before I manged to fall asleep. I tried so hard to just sleep and forget everything and just move on with my life. But after just a mere 3 hours of sleep, I had woken up and felt like I had a clear head, and then it the thoughts came back. After lying in bed for another 3 hours, I decided to just get out of bed. When I got downstairs I knew I couldn't hide anything as I was already at a breaking point and felt like I was going crazy. You could say I went through a nervous breakdown or mental meltdown. I spent the next 5 hours of the day yelling and crying, trying to express all of my anger, doubts, disappointments, frustrations, fears; just everything that came to mind to my parents and sister. I do not wish to explain any of it as they're all to personal for me to post in a blog. It was an arduous process. I had some closure to some of my fears and doubts and I was hoping I'd maybe feel better after getting everything off my chest, but I felt miserable. At the very least, my head felt more clear and my heart less heavy. I was exhausted, numb, and I just felt so empty. I didn't feel good about myself or my life for the next week. I didn't feel like myself, as if my soul was removed from my body. I tried playing videogames Monday night and I couldn't even enjoy what I was playing. I spent the following week playing music, trying to find myself in it. I also spent the week trying to get through Metal Gear Solid 1 which I had bought that Saturday before my outburst. It's strange, but the message the game conveyed felt like it helped me get through some of the difficulties in my mind.
It's been a little over a week now and I'm starting to feel more like my usual self. Over the weekend, I still felt empty like I lost direction in my life. But I came to a decision I felt would help me: I'm going to try to fulfill as many of my New Year's Resolution as I possibly can. I always set really difficult resolutions that I could never finish in hopes that I'd try harder and be more productive that year, but I rarely fulfill them because of it. As we approach the end of September, I felt I didn't have much time to actually fulfill them, but deciding to focus on them fills me with renewed purpose and drive. My mind feels clear once again and my heart is once again excited. I obviously have a lot to sort out in my mind and in my life, but it's going to take time.
All the while, I was playing games like: Monster Hunter World, Overcooked 2, Touhou Luna Nights, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, Blade Strangers, and The Messenger. Everything seemed great and I felt happy, albeit a bit pressured by my own expectations.
My sister had come home to visit two weeks ago. Due to past events from last year and pressure from work, my sister has been stressed and upset expressed from the conversations we've had each time she has come home. In one of the conversations we had on the night of September 15th, she said something that had triggered something within me. Slowly, all thoughts of struggle, difficulty, disappointments, fears, anger, resentment and everything in-between throughout my whole life started flooding my mind and tormented me all night long for 7.5 hours before I manged to fall asleep. I tried so hard to just sleep and forget everything and just move on with my life. But after just a mere 3 hours of sleep, I had woken up and felt like I had a clear head, and then it the thoughts came back. After lying in bed for another 3 hours, I decided to just get out of bed. When I got downstairs I knew I couldn't hide anything as I was already at a breaking point and felt like I was going crazy. You could say I went through a nervous breakdown or mental meltdown. I spent the next 5 hours of the day yelling and crying, trying to express all of my anger, doubts, disappointments, frustrations, fears; just everything that came to mind to my parents and sister. I do not wish to explain any of it as they're all to personal for me to post in a blog. It was an arduous process. I had some closure to some of my fears and doubts and I was hoping I'd maybe feel better after getting everything off my chest, but I felt miserable. At the very least, my head felt more clear and my heart less heavy. I was exhausted, numb, and I just felt so empty. I didn't feel good about myself or my life for the next week. I didn't feel like myself, as if my soul was removed from my body. I tried playing videogames Monday night and I couldn't even enjoy what I was playing. I spent the following week playing music, trying to find myself in it. I also spent the week trying to get through Metal Gear Solid 1 which I had bought that Saturday before my outburst. It's strange, but the message the game conveyed felt like it helped me get through some of the difficulties in my mind.
It's been a little over a week now and I'm starting to feel more like my usual self. Over the weekend, I still felt empty like I lost direction in my life. But I came to a decision I felt would help me: I'm going to try to fulfill as many of my New Year's Resolution as I possibly can. I always set really difficult resolutions that I could never finish in hopes that I'd try harder and be more productive that year, but I rarely fulfill them because of it. As we approach the end of September, I felt I didn't have much time to actually fulfill them, but deciding to focus on them fills me with renewed purpose and drive. My mind feels clear once again and my heart is once again excited. I obviously have a lot to sort out in my mind and in my life, but it's going to take time.
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