Of course the Region A-only Symphogear season 1 Bluray went up for (a surprisingly cheap) pre-order around my birthday. It's like they're mocking me. I just wanna buy the thing, capitalism, is it really too much to ask?!

Was a pretty chill birthday. Got Blasphemous and a much-needed 4TB portable drive with a book on the way. I'm frankly more excited about my physiotherapy appointment on Friday. Gonna bring me that much closer to playing games again.

Week 4 of no video games: That's a month done and I suppose my hands have recovered decently. Not enough for full use though, so I'm gonna contact a doctor for some physiotherapy. I'll be damned if I can't review some horror games come October!

Guys, I think I've figured out why game publishers fear the Summer. They know that controllers get stupidly sweaty and that movie theaters have AC. They just can't compete! As an aside, anyone know some good cleaning tips beyond wet-wipes?

So not only does Tiger Mask W feature revelations to learn moves and a move called Tiger Drop, just like in Yakuza, but it also has one of the NJPW wrestlers that you can recruit in Yakuza 6! What a cool show. Japanese cross-overs are bonkers.

Yo, Tiger Mask W is legit. It's like watching wrestling through a wrestling fan's eyes without needing to be one. Gives me some mighty Fist of the Northstar vibes.

Week 3 of no video games: My hands aren't really swollen now, but they still feel off. Got sick to boot, which I doubt helped. I watched Yuyushiki, which was some really dumb fun. I'm at the point where I'm just frustrated over how long this is taking.

I have now successfully dragged a friend of mine through 50+ hours of Trails in the Sky FC, thus ensuring his soul belongs to Falcom for the foreseeable future. And to think, there is so much of Estelle's antics left to go. Gonna be a great time.

2nd week of no games or writing: Hands are healing decently. Been watching more anime in 2 weeks than I thought possible. Game streams keep me going, but I still crave survival-horror. Not to mention that I was in the middle of Tales of Xillia 2 before.

I've been watching an RE4 stream and I somehow learned new things! You can shoot the church bell to summon extra Ganados and there's a skull full of money after the mine cart ride. It's amazing how many secrets and tricks there are in RE4.

I completed the archival of my demo discs and found a few more neat trailers and demos. I'm tempted to track down more of these, they're really fun. Also, I really like the music they use in the menus, which someone has been nice enough to rip.

Since I'm taking a gaming break, I decided to finally rip my old demo discs and categorize their content. I found some interesting stuff, like trailers with unique music, save games, previews and even a review of BMX XXX that included the strip dancing!

A second summer sale has passed and I still haven't bought anything for myself. Maybe I have enough video games. But I am glad that others have chosen to purchase Falcom games in my stead. You have my gratitude. Now let us pray for Nayuta no Kiseki on PC.

Welp, consider me impressed with, baffled at and disgusted with whatever the hell Epic has been up to for the last 3 years. I'm curious how much longer they can keep this up given their momentum. There are only so many devs to crunch in the world though.

Ever wanted to listen to the author of The Paleblood Hunt and the creator of I Wanna Be The Guy talk about From Software level design? Now you can. The Snack Covenant sure is a magical podcast, at least when they're not talking about werewolf erotica.

Nothing I have played could have prepared me for the mental fortitude required to play Overcooked with two friends. My brain only ever goes through this kind of strain during hours of heavy-duty programming and the game got me there almost immediately!

With my internship complete (and a job hopefully secured in the future), I'm gonna take a break from programming, writing and gaming and rest. I've suffered various levels of wrist strain these last three months and I can't take it anymore. Time to sleep!

I got a referral/recommendation from my internship. I've never seen someone (nevermind a CEO) be so positive about my work. Now if they could only offer me a job at the end of the Summer and I'll be set.

People, I need your help to ensure that I get more Falcom games localized and ported to PC in the future. Your wallets may not appreciate it, but I will.

If anyone's curious about how 3D audio could improve games (especially horror games), then give this a listen. If that Silent Hill rumor is legit, our pants are doomed.

I finally had a chance to try VR. I played Beat Saber on a HTC Vive for a little bit. It was really cool and I wish it was less expensive. Maybe in 5 revisions or so it'll be actually affordable.

My socks have been rocked and I'm sold on next-gen. I'm so pumped for DeS, R&C and Horizon 2: Forbidden West. A bunch of those indies also look neat. No clue when I'll make the jump, but there'll be a bunch of cool games waiting for me when I do!

While there are some great potential reveals rumoured for today (Silent Hill, HZD2 RE8, Bluepoint's Demon's Souls, a Bloodborne port), what I want above all else is for Sony to rock my socks off and really sell me on next-gen. Microsoft sure didn't.

I finally got to play Klonoa 2 after having played the demo a bunch almost two decades ago. The game was more or less worth the wait. It was easier than the first game, but the platforming mechanics still hold water. A shame the series sort of died.

I finally gave VA-11 Hall-A enough attention to beat it. I now understand why y'all are so infatuated with Dorothy. While VNs aren't usually my thing, I really liked the work done to modernise cyberpunk. Games usually don't feel this current.

I have finally managed to complete the Crossbell Trails games! And with that, my love for the series has been reinvigorated. There is simply no other series like it and Ao no Kiseki is probably my new favorite. Thank you, Falcom.

Dan Videogames of GigaBoots talking about next-gen gives me life. I've never seen someone so excited about the standardization of SSDs and the thought of new CPUs. His coverage of Mark Cerny's PS5 presentation is also a good watch.

I finally watched the Persona 3 movies. They're really good! They add a bunch of scenes that complement the game, make the bosses into huge spectacles and even give the MC a decent arc. I recommend them just for all the cool/goofy stuff Aigis does.

Matthew Shezmen finally completed his animated Sekiro parody. It's as funny as his usual stuff, but he really went above and beyond animation-wise this time. I highly recommend this and his Dark Souls 3 animations.

It's been over 2 years (jesus christ) since I last played a Trails game and now after navigating a Japanese doujin site and installing the Geofront translation patch for Trails From Zero, I finally get to play another one. I'm fucking stoked.