Happy backloggiversary!

I was trying to make a shout comment about it last night but just when I clicked, I lost all of it to a maintenance notice. But yeah, I definitely saw the announcement of a new Sakura Wars game.

I did have a nervous reaction to the trailer, I'll admit. I'll blame that on a mindset of me wanting to see one last game, even feeling okay that if it was made and was meant to close the series, I would actually be fine with that. But maybe that was me reaching too far & just worried about what might happened in a different direction. The details out there for it: it's a soft reboot & character designer swapped Kosuke Fujishima out for Tite Kubo (yeah, the guy that does Bleach). Oh, and the character bios & story setting are out there.

I never was invested in Bleach to have any idea if I'll be fond of Kubo's style but the characters don't look too bad (though I'm really going to have to let go that it's not Fujishima). I guess I'm just going to have to wait for more out there. Though even when they play the theme song, I haven't felt like I was at gunpoint being threaten to get a PS4 (yeah, the hyperbole I'm running with). Maybe that's me thinking the cherry blossoms will bloom on PC...even if it's much later.

Though I have been able to chill out since my initial reaction. I still feel excitement about it, just excitement with a dash of nervousness.

Ah, it was just one of those gaming mindset of "Must play more of it!"

I know I've done that before. Haven't caught much of that lately. (I blame my mind getting distracted so much)

Was Star Wars: Republic Commando that short? Considering your last update to the game was hinting that you were that quick to the near end, I actually started to find myself deciding to just have it downloaded on my XB1 (since I acquired it as a freebie) & just play through it there rather than be stubborn for a sale on a PC version. Maybe I find it weird, even for a game I'm not expecting to be long in the first place.

Though I am thinking I could use a short game anyway.

Hell yeah! Super stoked to start it this weekend!

You know: lady's foot is busted; house was rotting from the inside out; furnace was actively trying to kill us both; the usual. How about you?

It's good, I'd say. It can be difficult getting established in the beginning, but once you get a few levels under your belt and make your way to the tower, it goes much more quickly. As with any FDS game, load times are a real bitch and a half, and you have to flip the disk at inopportune times, but it's a pretty short game (finished in fewer than 5 hours), so it doesn't wear too heavily. Think Sword of Hope, but SUPER simplified; the only thing you gain from levels is more max HP, so your attack and defense are completely contingen upon whether or not you've gotten the shield and/or armor and which of the 3 weapons is your most powerful.

Apparently; I've had 4 or 5 different ones in not as many months. I may soon have to deploy a spE-aM-P.

Sorry for the late response, lol I tend to not look at the Backloggery as much as I should

As for Bloodstained, it was pretty fantastic actually, like the prefect evolution of Castlevania III. Honestly, the main Bloodstained game could like suck and I wouldn't care because I feel I got my money's worth with just this game alone. I'm working on getting all the endings, but I enjoy that there are different ways to play through it, pretty cool.

Tell me about it; even now that eye patches on anime characters are en vogue, they're always something dumb, like a heart on weird earloop strings over an eye that isn't even damaged; it's just a mind-boggling fashion choice. They're just porcelain dolls; real women have scars! Lots of them! I- hm... actually, you know, when I focus on the why and how of it all, I'm not entirely sure that I really do exist...

I usually do, too; I have no idea why I played Sion first and Riza last, but I think I somehow got the impression that that was the proper order? Obviously, this isn't the case, since they all take place at the same time. Maybe it was the walkthrough that I was using? Not that that's really to be trusted, either; the boss strategies often complained about unfair bosses that I thrashed without taking much damage at all.

This is my first Yakuza title, and I'm really enjoying it. Kiryu seems like a great guy - maybe even husband material - and I love the self-aware, tongue-in-cheek humor that the game has in JUST the right amount. It's like "Yeah, this is ridiculous; just roll with it" without winking at the camera and shouting "HEY, PLAYER! WASN'T IT SOOOO FUNNY HOW KIRYU GOT ALL SAD THAT HIS TOY CAR FELL OFF THE TRACK LOLZ!!!" Fucking Skyward Sword, man. It's the subtleties, too, like how the little happy guy that shows where you are on the dance map is really angry when Kiryu's dancing. I haven't done enough with Makajima yet to know what kind of person he is or how I feel about his character, but it doesn't matter as much, as long as the combat stays as awesome as it is. I'd always thought that this was a Grand Theft Auto knockoff, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's much closer to something like God of War. I say that, rather than Devil May Cry, because you can't jump in Yakuza. Yeah, Kratos can jump, but it's a real person jump; not a video game jump.

Bloodstained? It was pretty awesome actually, a great evolution on the classic Castlevania III, and if I'm being honest, even if Ritual of the Night fails to impress I feel I got my money's worth from the Kickstarter. It's funny, at first I wasn't really into it, but the more I played it the more it clicked and it really started to stick with me.

I got to dip my toes into the first Goemon JRPG on the NES the other night, and it seems very polished compared to the ones I've been playing as of late, so I think it's going to be pretty high quality. Once I finish Yakuza 0 and Magic of Scheherazade, they'll probably be next, I think.

Riza was probably my favorite... until the ending; I felt like slapping her. While Surlent had my least favorite overworld music of the bunch, his is my absolute favorite boss music, and maybe one of my favorite boss tunes ever. I feel like if anyone ever stormed my farmhouse castle, that's probably the music that'd play while they fought me. Of course, I heal so damn fast, I'd be one of the most infuriating bosses they'd ever faced. Damn kids with their big swords and indomitable spirits... As for Sion, his scenario was good, too, but I was mostly just impressed by his character design; you'd never get away with having a character that not-pretty in today's JRPGs.