Psycho666Soldier

I feel like a few manga where competitions are held have had the protagonists lose. Maybe it's mostly Showha Shoten I'm thinking of, but that feeling alone makes me want to see Akane pull this off. Sakamoto Days has been awesome the last few chapters, too. Excited to see how this all resolves, and it was cool to see the origins of The Order. I wonder if we'll get to see how the newer members joined? Or that super old guy. I've also been following Tenmaku Cinema and been enjoying that so far. Haven't really read any of the other new series, though, and not sure they particularly interest me. I definitely don't have high hopes for Nue's Exorcist considering it's the same creator as Bone Collector, and that was pretty crap. Elusive Samurai Ichinose Family

Ep. 5

Anyone been watching Dr. Stone? It's been getting me hype reliving this arc so far. This portion is one of my favorite bits of the manga.

Chapter 78 was really fun. It felt like the old side stories where it would be closer to a full chapter size but be purely focused on character development. It's nice to slowly get more and more looks at The Handler's personality. It's a bummer this week's chapter was a short side story, but it was really enjoyable for as short as it was. Also loved the color spread.

1. Pokemon Violet 2. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 3. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage 4. Octopath Traveler 5. Metroid II: Return of Samus 6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee 7. God of War (2018) Finally 100%'d this and got the platinum trophy. I was originally gonna try and take on the Valkyries on Give Me God of War mode, but I opted not to for the sake of time and sanity. Glad I did because Sigrun, the final Valkyrie, fucked my day so many times. Then I just had to polish off the second set of Muspelheim trials and find a missing jotnar shrine, and now I can finally move on. It was an awesome game. Really carried the spirit of the original, and though Niflheim felt pretty tedious and annoying, most of the other challenges were enjoyable, and felt like an accomplishment when you finished. Beating Sigrun was such a cathartic moment. Probably gonna focus on FF7 Remaster and whatever other small things that sound fun when not playing Spyro/Oddworld. Then I'm either gonna move on to Ragnarok or Tears of the Kingdom.

1. Pokemon Violet 2. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 3. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage 4. Octopath Traveler 5. Metroid II: Return of Samus 6. :ps1: Oddworld: Abe's Oddyssee Beat these in the last couple weeks. I started dabbling with Metroid II when the Gameboy games were released for Switch Online, and since I had some days where the TV was being used, I started digging deeper into that. First time actually playing it, and it's a really fun adventure. The "gameboy-ness" fades after you get into it a bit more. A little less exploration than normal, but introducing a lot of series staples(including the Spider Ball which I always thought was a Prime innovation) and just making a generally enjoyable adventure with better control and not as punishing health respawning and such makes this a really fun playthrough. Could see myself wanting to speedrun it at some point. And finally beat Oddworld for the first time ever. 100% completion, very minimal walkthrough help(some of the early ones are tricky and I used it as a double check to see how many mudokons were in each area). I definitely still love this game, even if the controls aren't the best. I get the feeling emulating on the PS3 meant the where was an input delay that probably made it worse, but having started Abe's Exoddus, I can tell they actively made it control a bit tighter. Also, the save/checkpoint system is brutal, especially with some of the challenges/puzzles you're expected to gruel your way through. But for me personally, the satisfaction of getting it done right always overrode any frustration in my attempts. Overall, I think puzzle and level design is fantastic, and it's no surprise to me that this game has stood in ny conscious for so long even if I never beat it as a child. Also, the ending is hella satisfying. Another moment where all the annoying struggling that came before felt justified. Most people would probably recommend New 'n Tasty, but I think if you can get over aging, the original PS1 release is still an amazing game that tried something different than what a lot of the competition was doing. Abe's Exoddus has already been started and it's basically improved everything that needed to be improved, the quiksave function in particular is crucial.

Imagine if Tanjiro was given One For All. It's about the same the way he's fucking broken in 100 pieces after every fight

Appreciate it y'all. It's a pretty tame on but I got to go to a place that has a shit ton of arcade cabinets on Saturday and I'm getting cake later today, so all is good.

Happy Birthday wab

It was a birthday gift in 2021 which is part of why I had a physical cartridge. And also why I feel even worse about losing it. I'm hoping at some point I at least find it whenever we move from here or something. The last I remember is putting it inside a pouch in my backpack. I fear that it accidentally fell out when I was reaching for something else or something like that. Holy shit, I found it! It was in a duffle bag that was in my girlfriend's closet. I literally checked every other bag and coat I owned and finally asked her about any time she remembered me using one of her bags. All is good

I want to get Bravely Default II also. I wanted to wait until I finished the first one, but I can't find my 3DS cartridge anymore -_-

1. Pokemon Violet 2. :snes: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 3. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage 4. Octopath Traveler I FINALLY DID IT! I 100%'d the whole game. Beat all the side stories, beat all the main stories, and went to the Gate of Finis and whooped Galdera's ass. Not after he fucked me up two times prior. I loved this game so damn much. It has just about everything I would ever ask for in a JRPG. Multiple characters, can start as any of them, they're not necessarily mandatory, and all the secret optional stuff to find. Optional dungeons and bosses, hidden equipment, engaging stories and characters, a real difficulty curve that is only easy if you learn how to break the game - which is kind of the reward. By the time I was strong enough to beat the first Chapter 4, the rest of the final bosses were relatively easy (Simeon sucked, though), but that also gave me more incentive to swap up my team a bit. I also loved the job system. It's a bit annoying not being able to double up with the secret jobs, and I would love if you could add one command from the other jobs(ala FFV), but it forces you to think more carefully about your setup, and keeps the 8 characters more unique. Only Alfyn can concoct, and while that was annoying to me because I really wanted Tressa to be my Alfyn, it made me develop them into their own personalities that could even work in conjunction with each other. I started with Therion because I love thieves and wanted to be able to steal and open up all the chests from the get-go. If I ever do a replay, I feel I'd struggle to pick a different character, but it would probably be Ophilia, because she's a monster. My primary party was basically Therion, Olberic, Ophilia, and Alfyn, though I also liked swapping Olberic with H'aanit and liked the cut of Tressa's jib. Part of me wishes I gave more attention to Primrose early, but after a bit of grinding, she was pretty essential in the final boss. An ultimately minor, but should-be-addressed complaint is the formulaic structure of the stories and the fact that the stories aren't really interwoven. There are small connections that have huge implications in the final boss story, but the lack of important interactions between the characters hindered the immersion for me a bit. The Travel Banter and especially the Tavern Banter was a novel way to include, but the lack of voice-acting and actual scenes makes it feel more tacked on than profound, which is a shame since most of these characters have interesting backstories and personalities that deserve more of a highlight. Some of the dialogue during the banters only confirms this. The formulaic feel can also be said for the dungeons, which very few felt notable or significant from the others. The ones in the forest or inside a building were always the most engaging, but the myriad caves all blurred together. And the shape of them all gives little but "find the boss fight and get the loot, maybe a cutscene." I think something like that could be at least masked by putting some of the dungeons in your way. There is no actual dungeon you have to go through to reach a town or settlement, and I think having some areas like that - where the area has a transient, but significant plot connection - would help in making the chapter-locked dungeons feel less repetitive. I don't know if this specific idea has been implemented, but from what I've heard, the sequel does a lot to fix the formulaic feel and the lack of real party interaction. The last complaint I have is the final dungeon, which I guess I'll put in spoilers just in case. I also ramble a lot here about my specific strategy, so you know, if ya wanna skip: So yes, the final dungeon is annoying, but I kind of liked that it forced me to really take my setups more seriously. I know there are ways I could have cheesed even more damage, but it involved strategies I didn't want to take the risk on or do the research to figure out how to safeguard them. I do think it's a big ask for people who don't want to get into math and hyper analyzing your setup, and I'm sure some would be upset that the one unifying element of the stories is locked into a boss like that, but then again, those who are looking for the optional dungeons are probably willing to put in that work anyway. Fantastic game. I can't wait to buy the second one. It only took me 4 years to beat it, but it happened.

Ichinose Family #18

Based on vibes, how much more does this feel like Diablo in comparison to Diablo 3? I only played a small bit of D3 as local co-op, but it didn't have the same feels as D1 and D2. So I guess I'm wondering if D4 does anything different that might appeal to someone who's gut reaction to D3 was lukewarm?

I just read that chapter this morning. I figured we were getting into the movie now, which I still haven't seen, so I'm happy to just go through it blind and then see the movie later. I dig the way they're setting up the Red Ribbon revival though. Also, #16 being Gero's son is 100% canon now!

I'm finally caught up on everything and this week was a strong round of chapters. Sakamoto Days #111 Ichinose Family #17 I'm blanking on specific things to say about the rest other than the Spy x Family chapter was a bit underwhelming, but overall I enjoyed reading everything this week.

Watched this last night myself. Just incredible start to finish.

Happy birthday!

The new Ousama Ranking is just a special that is non-canon. But it'll still be great to see. I've now successfully gotten both of my partners hooked on it.

Ditto on all that Beat & Motion stuff. It has a special heart behind it. I'm also super intrigued by how the relationship between the two builds up as she flips between drunkenness and sobriety, and how much of that she actually remembers. And yeah, I liked Chainsaw Man this week. Feels like we're getting ready to ramp back up. Gokurakugai is almost purely an art/aesthetic thing for me. Best & Motion has the more interesting/personally relevant narrative and characters, but there's a lot of style dripping from Gokurakugai that makes me want to see where it goes. I still haven't read past the first chapter, though I think I'm gonna drop Jiangshi X. I haven't read the last two weeks, and it just doesn't really hook me. It's just your basis Shonen with a premise that's niche enough to not 100% feel cliche, but it's still like 95% cliche. It probably won't last long anyway.

Ichinose is in a good groove right now. It feels like we don't get a lot with only so many pages per chapter, but there's been a hook and push over the last few chapters that has me hyped for whatever comes next. Last 3 chapters of Elusive Samurai have been good, too Chainsaw Man still has me hooked into the characters and what's gonna happen, but cutting things down to 15-17 pages a chapter has made a few chapters feel like they're lacking and like I don't get enough. I enjoy the smaller moments with the characters before all the brutal action, but it just feels like not enough character stuff is really happening either. Akane-banashi #52 I also really dug the new Show-ha Shoten. The wait is never short enough for the next chapter.

Chapter 76

So wild, so crazy

Happy Birthday, dude!

This looks better in motion than I imagined from the concept stills