Archive for the 'Gaming' Category

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Because I’m a Bad Person

Published on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 in Gaming and Musings. 2 Comments

I finished Fallout 3 last night. If you know my gaming tastes this should blow your mind. That’s right, I played an open ended RPG to completion. Okay, I didn’t do all of the side quests and probably won’t be buying all of the expansions but this is still a first for me. I’ve played a large number of Bethesda’s games but I’ve never completed one of them. But the reason I bought Fallout 3 and played it isn’t because I was interested in any of the gameplay or company history. In fact, why I played it sort of makes me feel guilty.

I played it because I got the feeling to play it after visiting Hiroshima.
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These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 11/08/2009

Published on Monday, November 9, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

saga2
Late again!

Made some solid progress in SaGa 2 DS and uh. Whuh? Where did my week go? The more days in a week I have off the less I actually get done. Such is the awesomeness of some time principle that I don’t fully understand. More things to work on in life.

Anyway.

The SaGa 2 DS remake is just awesome. It really is. I’m sure a lot of people won’t like it because it is even more SaGa than it originally was, leading it down the path to be like the later SaGa games that most people really hate. That’s to say it’s not as simple as it used to be. But a lot of that stuff is extra and from what I can see can be ignored. The challenge is pretty rough, but I’m really enjoying it.

Now let’s see if I can’t get some gaming done this week.

These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 11/01/2009

Published on Sunday, November 1, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

1101

So, November has begun. Looking back on my “I beat a game today, yay!” calendar, I see I completed four games in October. Not bad considering how busy I have become. None were completed this week but I did get to play a good bit of two games in particular.

Arcana is a pretty fun, yet tough, dungeon crawler. The music, although, is outstanding. I finished the first two chapters and want to get onto the third but the game is pretty intimidating. Battles can be pretty rough and there are lots of them. I’m one unfortunate loss away from not wanting to continue the game. I guess I’ll just have to progress slowly yet carefully.

Fallout 3 has been the other game taking up my time as of late and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Mucking around in the open world is fun, but it never really seems to satisfy me. I’ve been tackling the main quest hoping to get some sort of feeling of accomplishment but I’ve yet to get any sense of it. I’m not so sure what it is about games like this that feel so empty to me but I’m working my ay through this one to see if I can’t figure it out.

These are the Weeks (Months?) of Our Games – 10/25/2009

Published on Monday, October 26, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

Three weeks late. Maybe I’m pregnant.

These have been a fairly progressive set of weeks though. Finally completed the  main story line in Yugioh 2009. Beat Ys III for the umpteenth time for whatever reason1.  I also started and played Super Metroid to completion. Yeah, I had never beaten it before. I know, I know. I rectified that.
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  1. There is no reason! I just like the game! [↩]

Heart of the Cards!

Published on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 in Gaming and Musings. 1 Comment

So, as of late I’ve been playing the Yugioh Original Card Game. Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. Shush.

But man, whenever I get into something, I really get into it hardcore. Then it eventually fades a bit but may linger around as something I do whenever I have the chance. This game has been my longest recent stretch of something that I’ve been this into for quite some time. Hopefully it will soon go into “hobby mode” instead of the “obsession” that I’m at right now. But it really is scratching an itch I’ve had for a long time. Basically, it’s good to be back into a card game.

Anyway, a few days back John and I went to my “local” store which is about a 30 minute drive away in Gose, the next town over. This “local” store is about one quarter Yugioh cards, one fourth video games and around fifty percent pornography. The awkwardness of going to play a card game in a pornography store was not lost on me until I saw some children looking at the video games. Just like eating in a country with questionable food vendors, if it is good enough for the parents then it is good enough for me. I mean, who’s been harmed by some naked breasts other than the entire viewership of Janet Jackson’s nip slip?

But I digest. So we get there earlier than usual and to my surprise there are actually other three people there playing. I’ve run into this before but usually only as they are packing up and going home. Not one to pass on an opportunity to play a game, I quickly ask the one guy watching the other two if he’s up for a game. He seemed a bit shocked to see my white self spurt out some Japanese but he agreed to sit down to a game.

The awkward stage of “Wait, he can really speak Japanese? I thought he just knew a few words!” was entered once I start playing cards that are all in Japanese as opposed to English. A few turns later when my opponent laid down a few English cards I couldn’t help but laugh and point out the situation. I got a laugh in return that I can only assume was pity for my poor observational joke. The game went on for quite some time with my opponent saying simple things in English such as numbers, but everything else was full on Japanese, which I responded to in Japanese. Weird? Maybe, but I can only assume it was meant to be friendly. I mean I’m making my best effort to speak his language so him throwing back some English my way isn’t anything to find insulting in my book. The game continue on for quite some time and I eventually won.

So as dude is leaving he says “Present” in English and hands over a card. It’s an English card, and it’s a piece of poo as far as I can tell. But if I’ve learned anything from the hilarious terribad television show used to market the game, putting this card in my deck will help me some day when I need it the most. Because I’ve made a friend through the game and this is reflected through the happiness of the world or some such.

As touching as that may be, I think I’ll pass.

These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 10/04/2009

Published on Monday, October 5, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 1 Comment

I’ve thought about changing this weekly “Sunday” article to a Monday one but then that’d mean I’d probably get it out on Tuesday. So “Sunday” it remains.

Anyway, lots more Yugioh. It’s really nice to be back in the “scene” of a game that isn’t video. I’ve never been down with competitive video games that much for whatever reason. Maybe because the most you can get is the online variation which, without that face to face interaction something is just missing.

Other than that it’s been studying Japanese. But, Alex and I got into Ninja Crusaders which is a bizarre little Ninja Gaiden like game that has two player simultaneous ninjaing. And apparently turning into scorpions which I fucking missed out on in the play. What the hell was that. Going to have to visit that game again. We did manage to beat it though even if the final stage took us almost two hours of trying. Anyway, despite being all “this feels like it is trying to be something else instead of its own thing”, and who really wants to check release dates to validate opinions, it was a solid play that I’d rather not consider trying without the perks of not having to restart the stage every death due to the multiplayer. I think it is a solid Famicom game, that I will say.

This week sees yet another DS game I want to get, whose name I shall not mention as I”m trying to ignore that it is coming out so that I can finish some of these other freaking games I’ve been playing. So much to play, so little time.

These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 9/27/2009

Published on Monday, September 28, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

It sure has been a while, and I’m not sure why.

Most of my gaming has still be with the Yugioh 2009 World Championship as my playing has also transitioned a good portion to the physical cards. It’s really nice to be back into that world of card gaming as an adult because I have the time to spend on it without much guilt of neglecting other responsibilities. The best part is how it is tying in with my Japanese studies. I spent yesterday playing the card game in some shops and the change to talk in Japanese and get explanations in Japanese was really good. I’ve always had trouble finding a social activity I can enjoy in Japan that didn’t involve drinking or sports but I think I finally found it.

Other than that it has been me poking at the Saga 2 remake which I really want to sit down and dig into one night but with everything going as it has lately I just haven’t the time. Real shame as the game is gorgeous and the music is outstandingly awesome.

Finally getting back into the swing of things this week so hopefully I’ll be more on schedule. Posting Sunday’s thing on Monday isn’t a good start but I’ll take what I can get.

Happy Birthday, Dreamcast! (Plus, my DC top 8!)

Published on Thursday, September 10, 2009 in Gaming and Musings. 0 Comments

It's Sleeping

In honor of the Dreamcast I will write about it today. Today being one day past the tenth anniversary but that is the kind of respect Sega deserves.1

Man, I remember the day the Dreamcast came out clearly. And it has already been ten years ago, wow. I sat heavy with anticipation all day during school. Hardly being able to pay attention during class my mind drifted into the wonders that I would soon be experiencing. The final bell of the day rang. I was lucky2 to be at the same school my father taught at. I ran down to the car and my father drove me up to the mall. I dashed to Electronics Boutique, paid for my copy of Final Fantasy 8 and ran back to the car.

Hey, I had no idea the Dreamcast was released, but hell if I don’t remember that day!
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  1. I kid, I kid. Or do I? [↩]
  2. In some ways. [↩]

These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 09/06/2009

Published on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

Whoopsies! To say I’ve been busy is a bit of a half lie.

I wish I could say I’ve booted up Dragon Quest 9 but I haven’t. I wanted to be finished with the main quest by next week1 but alas I have been drawn into the bosom of a harsh mistress who will not let me free. A grasp that is not entirely unfamiliar but one that brings much shame just as well.

I’m hooked on Yu-Gi-Oh, dude.
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  1. SaGa 2 remake, bay-bee! [↩]

These Are The Weeks of Our Games – 08/30/2009

Published on Monday, August 31, 2009 in Weeks of Our Games. 0 Comments

It’s been quite some time since I got a chance to write one of these. That would partially be due to my game time being drastically cut as of late. First being in the States for a while made it hard to game and then just getting back and getting organized for the new semester of school amongst other things1.

I did manage to finish one game this summer and it wasn’t Dragon Quest 9. I had started playing Mario & Luigi RPG back in February – actually the day after I met Eriko. It got shuffled aside somehow but I picked it up again a few days ago and made my way to the end. Ridiculous final boss aside, it wasn’t exactly packing difficulty but enough of a challenge to constantly be fun. I hear the sequel Partners in Time isn’t as good but I hope to find the time to dig into it anyway.

Plenty of time has been spent on DQ9 but not much in the actual progression of the game. There is so much to do in this game and I’m afraid to do the main story to completion because I always have trouble doing post game content in games. My characters are getting to crazy levels in all sorts of classes and I sure am having a blast at least.

The other thing I did, which I am mildly ashamed of, is get into Yugioh. I have the newest DS game and collecting and building decks is as addictive as ever. Playing the game in Japanese is getting me a good bit of reading even if some of the card rulings are confusing to me at times due to my language skills. Still, good fun and good practice.

School starts up again this week and I have the odd feeling I might have more time to play now that I’m going to be back on a schedule. Too much free time for me is a bad thing, I have found. I find it too easy to get lost in something else that isn’t one of the main things I’d like to be doing. Gotta save up money for the upcoming holiday so a few nights at home shouldn’t be a bad thing for neither my wallet nor my backlog.

  1. Like cutting off the tip of my pinky finger. [↩]