All Activity
This stream auto-updates
- Earlier
-
My top #5 in 2025. No surprise that it’s all series that I started from the beginning and binge read. Not sure why Blue Exorcist didn't make the cut. I binged to current on that over the last few weeks. Those monthly titles (Seraph, Twin Stars, Blue Exorcist) have some beefy chapters! Both Seraph of the End and Blue Exorcist seem to be nearing the endings. Could be several months before they actually finish though.
-
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages 2. 📱 Balatro 3. Diablo IV 4. Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred 5. Donkey Kong Bananza 6. Control 7. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound 8. (Famicom Disk System) The Legend of Zelda 9. / Hades 2 (first time) 10. (Famicom Disk System) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 11. (Famicom Disk System) Metroid 12. Dispatch 13. Metroid Prime 4 Going into the game, the only review I had heard was from Giant Bomb, and their reviewer gave the game a 5/5. This game is not that. It's AT BEST a 4/5. The Metacritic rating has it about 80%, and I think that's around where I fall as well. It was an enjoyable game, absolutely gorgeous, running at 4K/60 docked, and 720p/120hz in handheld mode. It's a bit too linear for my tastes. Without getting into story spoilers, there's an "open world" desert area that connects the other main areas. The game funnels you through two of them at first without giving you choice, and then after that the game says "okay, now you can go anywhere!" Except that you can't. I tried to go to one area that I saw off in the distance, and the character you can call to give hints (or get hints whether you want them or not, and as of this current version, you CAN'T turn his help off), would tell me to go to a completely different area. After going to that area, you can only go so far before you have to get an item from there, take it back to another area on the complete opposite side of the map so that he can install it into your gun, and then go to a completely different area to use that item. There's no fast travel, and there's just about nothing to do in the main open world area. There are a few "shrines", a few powerup areas, and then a ton of green crystals. One of the things the Giant Bomb reviewer mentioned was that you should try to grab as many of the green crystals you could as you went through the game. So I did just that. You need the green crystals to unlock something that will help you get to the final area (an area you can't get to without it), but the game itself never tells you that it's absolutely REQUIRED to do. You have to get an INSANE amount of these. Every time I came across one in the hub world, I grabbed it, and it STILL wasn't enough. It's not a terrible game by any means, it does just fine as a reintroduction to the series to people who haven't played it before. Not being able to turn off the helper character is a crazy choice to make (hopefully a patch puts the option in, because there are times when he just will not shut the fuck up). The other real complaint about the gameplay is the button to jump outside of morph ball is B, but inside the morph ball it's X for some weird reason. There's a way to change it, but I learned that with about 2 hours left in the game. Like I said, it's a beautiful game, the bosses are interesting and fun to fight, but there's a lot of it that just isn't really worth it, IMO.
-
17.) Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 After the years of rocky development, I wasn't expecting anything particularly stand out, so it met my expectations in most places, and exceeded it in others so I'm happy with the result overall. There's a lot of solid stuff going on in this game, but it reminds me of Dragon Age: Veil Guard in the sense that you can practically FEEL the seams in it where they had to quickly stitch stuff together because they had at best half the time they should have to make the game. Truly a "mixed bag" when it comes to the good and the bad. Story was solid most the way through, but kind of fell flat at the end a little. Gameplay was fun enough but not a lot of variety to the combat outside of the powers you can get though I still enjoyed it well enough. Side quests were pretty throw away filler until the very last set of them. Overall game was fine. It's not going to win any awards, but I had fun. 18.) A Plague Tale: Innocence This is one I had been wanting to play for a long time but never quite got around to. At this point I have both titles free via Playstation+ (along with a plethora of other games) and as I'm going to let my subscription lapse finally after having years of stored up time since Sony are being giant assholes about their subscription stuff, I have until March to burn through as many of the free games as I can before I can't play them anymore and I started here. Glad I did too as it was a great game. Fantastic stealth and environmental puzzle stuff, the story was really interesting and pretty unique, and it was a great experience all around. Only real complaint is that it suffers from the usual curse of stealth games: when you end up in combat (or are forced into it for certain boss fights and such), everything falls apart a bit as the controls and systems are not very good for it and it makes things awkward as hell. There were a couple sections at the end that were downright aggravating due to this but it's a relatively small blemish on an otherwise genuinely good experience. Will probably jump right into the 2nd one once I wrap up the few trophies I have left to get.
-
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Shang Tsung in the first Mortal Kombat movie) at age 75
-
Seriously enjoying the Mei Semones LP "Animaru". Highly recommend you folks give it a spin
-
I got turned on to this artist Mei Semones and wow she and her band are a talented bunch Fun mix of jazz, indie, bossa, among other influences. The style and range of her vocals may not be to the liking of some, but even if you don't like her singing you've gotta appreciate her skills on the guitar. Born in the year 2000...! I feel old AF Also I've been playing guitar since before she was born and she could play circles around me. I've gotta practice more. Here's a set they did on KEXP.
-
Lots of good stuff this week in Jump I don't have comments on everything, but a few thoughts popped into my head... Spy Fam #125 Bill is officially one of my favourite dudes now. Tonitrus Bolt is no big deal, we gotta help Mr. Henderson! Then taking out the gym coach as a 6 year old Elusive Samurai #228 It's really going to end soon Seems like we skipped a chunk of time here from the previous chapter to this one. Interesting turn for Takauji after they drove the evil spirit from his body. What will the final encounter between him and Tokiyuki be like..? Akane-banashi # 184 That last page... Master Issho seems like such an evil bastard Surely it will all be explained later in the story as some grand plan of his to ultimately benefit rakugo, but his methods seem to be rather suspect. Someone Hertz #11 I just love the vibe of this one. The two main characters are so darn likeable. Kagurabachi #102 I feel like the battle that's about to start is going to be epic. Very hyped. Could be the beginning of the end of the story. I am curious to see what happens.
-
I know, what a cliffhanger! Things really escalated fast in this chapter of Kurimizawa. And it’s on a two week release schedule now so we gotta wait for the next one to drop Does he wriggle his way out of this situation somehow or does it all come crumbling down??? I love the style and an athletics of Gonron Egg too. Something about the looks of it grabbed me right away. There’s a bit of rawness to it that I like. Not everything needs to be super polished. The story and dialogue are quite simple. I assume it has to get deeper at some point if it doesn’t get axed early. We’ll see.
-
If you want something a bit more upbeat: “She Bangs the Drums” or “This is the One” Something a bit more psychedelic: “Waterfall” Moodier and a bit heavier: “I Wanna Be Adored” and “Made of Stone” If you like some of these tracks then you’ll probably enjoy the whole album. Their style was a mix of indie rock, 60s-esque pop and psychedelia, and dance-y vibes. I don’t enjoy their second record as much, and unfortunately they never did anything after that, but the self-titled album is IMHO a masterpiece that I never get tired of.
-
What Stone Roses tracks would you recommend? I remember some Primal Scream, but don't think I ever actually listened to Stone Roses
-
Finally read the first chapter of Gonron Egg today and I already love it. Incredible art style and paneling, unique character design, and a fine enough plot to follow, though I expect that to get a bit deeper as the chapters move on Also, the new Kurumizawa?! Hoo boy, can't wait to see what happens next
-
I actually did end up fully 100%'ing the game outside of getting the trophies for doing New Game+ on Mega+ Difficulty and fully rounding out the Field Guide. That'll be for whenever I'm ready to start over again
-
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages 2. 📱 Balatro 3. Diablo IV 4. Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred 5. Donkey Kong Bananza 6. Control 7. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound 8. (Famicom Disk System) The Legend of Zelda 9. / Hades 2 (first time) 10. (Famicom Disk System) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 11. (Famicom Disk System) Metroid 12. Dispatch A pretty good adventure game that tells a really fun story, with great characters. If you like Telltale stuff, I think you'll like this. The actual gameplay part of it (where you send out heroes to save the day and such) isn't crazy fun, and it took me a little bit to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong. At the beginning of the game, it gives you a choice between quick time events during the cutscenes, or you can just let them go as they do. I did the QTE option and kinda wish I didn't. There were really only two, hit A at the right time, or hold the right trigger and move the right stick in a direction, so not a lot of variety there. I'm super confused about one thing, and a lot of people I saw on reddit were confused about the same thing is how
-
Anya will set things straight for Mr. Henderson even if he decides to call it quits in the end 😤 Ditto on Elusive Samurai. I love this series. Have you checked out Gonron Egg or Mage Next Door? They’re both pretty decent so far.
-
Mani, bass player of The Stone Roses and later Primal Scream, died His bass lines were such a big part of my favourite Stone Roses tracks. Have to listen to this one tonight, really loud, through my best headphones
-
Spy x Family #124 I love that this is somehow connected to the Haunted Schoolhouse chapter instead of just being random. It's a great way to make a one-off, short, seemingly contained story into something that feels like a deeper part of the world. Definitely rooting for Anya and Henderson, though part of me kind of feels like he might stay retired after this? Elusive Samurai Happy to see Kojiro get the girl finally(even though it was obvious to happen quite a long time ago). And goddamn, 226 was a highlight when it comes to the graphic violence. Just seeing Kojiro and homeboy literally slicing everyone and everything in half, up that final panel when he ALMOST killed Takauji. I also was touched by seeing Yoritsugu fully embrace Tokiyuki in the most recent chapter. Ready and not ready for the end
-
1. Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2. Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice (7) 3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (9.5) 4. Tomba! (100%) (7.5) 5. :ps1: Heart of Darkness (6.5) 6. Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies (8) 7. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (8.5) 8. We Heart Katamari (8.5) 9. :steam: Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum (7) 10. :steam: Little Goody Two Shoes (8) 11. Death Stranding 2 (8.75) 12. :steam: Lacuna (7.5) 13. Hitman: World of Assassination (8.5) 14. Digimon Story: Time Stranger (9.5) Well, it's been a minute. Had a lot of games I completed but I wanted to post them when I had the energy to do a write up like usual. Welp, now it's piled up, so I'm just gonna update the list and attempt to post my writeups over the next week or so. But I'm gonna start with Time Stranger because that's the one I JUST finished: As a quick addendum, I also played a shitload of UFO 50 and have beaten/cherry'd a decent handful of games, but it doesn't feel right saying I've BEATEN it until I've at least got every gold disk. I dunno, I might start talking about individual games. Anyway, ONTO Digimon Story: Time Stranger! So yeah, Time Stranger was an excellent game that, while not wholly original, took Digimon into darker and deeper territory than ever before, with an addicting gameplay loop and a compelling story to follow, with some incredible environments, setting, and characters to carry you along the way. If you're a Digimon or a JRPG fan, I would recommend. 9.5/10 Also, here's my KOTOR writeup I actually posted on another
-
Witch Watch #225 Whoa, I did not see that coming!!! Part #3 starts now. It’s serious. The Elusive Samurai #227 It’s going to end soon
-
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages 2. 📱 Balatro 3. Diablo IV 4. Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred 5. Donkey Kong Bananza 6. Control 7. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound 8. (Famicom Disk System) The Legend of Zelda 9. / Hades 2 (first time) 10. (Famicom Disk System) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 11. (Famicom Disk System) Metroid
-
Spy Fam #124 I'm enjoying this little story arc. This guy who did Mr. Henderson dirty better get caught. Anya to the rescue! The Elusive Samurai #226 Kojiro is a certified badass Sooooooo close. But the important thing is he got out of there alive. Phew! I enjoyed all the other new stuff this week but I guess I don't have much else that jumped out at me to comment on. Still think Gonron Egg is cool after three chapters. And the first two chapters of The Mage Next Door were better than I expected them to be. I like how Osoegawa is this sort of super-mage, but his magic is all about random stuff to make life more convenient, and yet he can use it in clever ways to out-wit and overpower other mages. It's sort of similar to Sakamoto in the sense that Sakamoto is very strong and skilled, but he also uses pens or whatever else is around him to win a fit instead of the stereotypically OP weapons like guns, etc. Finally, Someone Hertz is rapidly becoming one of my most-looked-forward-to new chapters every week. I love the art style and the subtle humour. It's very charming.
-
1. DOOM: The Dark Ages 2. 📱 Balatro 3. Diablo IV 4. Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred 5. Donkey Kong Bananza 6. Control 7. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound 8. (Famicom Disk System) The Legend of Zelda 9. / Hades 2 (first time) 10. (Famicom Disk System) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link I've beaten a final boss in Hades 2 a few times now, and am going for the other final boss at the moment, haven't gotten to them yet, but I do believe i'm in the last area? But yeah, don't feel like posting every time I beat the one final boss. I booted up Zelda II a while back, thinking I would just fuck around and not actually try and beat it. The only times i've beaten it were with save states, never on original hardware or without save scumming. Ended up getting addicted and felt the urge to see it through, which I finally did. I had to grind a bit to get the last couple experience levels in all my skills, but got them all maxed out with two palaces left to go. Funnily enough I had a harder time in the second to last palace than I did the last. I think I took maybe two hits from both of the final bosses? Getting TO the last palace is more of a headache than the palace itself, even if that is no cakewalk. I ended up not getting any of the 1-ups until I was on my way to the final palace, so going into it I had I think 5 lives in total? I think I died twice on the way to the final palace, but i'm not 100% sure.
-
I would have laughed so hard (and also kinda hated it) if the umps had overturned that call. Smith's foot did appear to come off the plate for a moment just as the runner was sliding into the plate. Can't decide the World Series on a stupid challenge review though. It was extremely close, but Out was the correct call. As a mega Jays fan, it's hard for me to be objective, but I do genuinely feel like they were the better team for a good portion of the World Series. A shame they didn't find a way to win it. At the very least, this year the Jays won the division, knocked the Yankees out of the postseason (an absolute knockout!), won the ALCS, and were plenty good enough to have won the WS. The Yankees didn't make the Dodgers work nearly that hard in the 2024 WS, for whatever little that's worth
-
So looking at how close IKF was from scoring the game winner I wonder if he didn't try to slide if he would have been safe. I didn't notice at first, but it was a force play so I don't think sliding was the best choice...at least foot first. Although I expect it was probably instinct, but damn it sucks it just seems a lot went wrong for the Jays and right for the Dodgers in a lot of instances.
-
Yamamoto is a very good pitcher indeed. Bummer.
-
Elusive Samurai #225 Kojiro is smooth AF Him and Nagao better come back alive! Witch Watch #224 Awwwwww they’re adorable I like how quickly the story is getting going in Gonron Egg. I’ll keep reading it. Not an incredibly original story premise but it’s interesting anyhow. Another new one this week, The Mage Next Door. I didn’t read it yet.
