I unlocked the Jolly Roger in Rocket League

Been another pretty good week for overall progress as I 100%'d all of Picross e6 (3DS eShop), Ultimate Angler (3DS Streetpass Plaza), Persona Q (3DS), and Never Alone + its DLC story Fox Tales (PS4).

New acquisitions this week include upgrading to the PS4 versions of Child of Light, Strider, and AeternoBlade along with taking advantage of a Square-Enix sale on PSN to buy Elevator Action Deluxe on PS3, and mostly for the reasons that Sayo-chan (or "Pocky" from Pocky and Rocky) and Reika Kirishima (the heroine of Time Gal) are playable characters in it thanks to free DLC, but the game itself is pretty fun so far too.

I'm undecided on when I'll start my next console game, which will likely be Skyward Sword, and have kind of been alternating between Puzzles & Dragons: Super Mario Edition and more Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 during that time.

Can't say I've made a whole lot of progress as I took a break from gaming for a couple of days this week after hitting another milestone on Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3. I've spent the past few days starting and focusing on Ar nosurge Plus: Ode to an Unborn Star on Vita and would say I'm a little more than halfway through it so I'll likely have it finished before the end of this week.

New acquisitions this week include Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal on Vita, 3D Gunstar Heroes off the Nintendo eShop, and a copy of the first Samurai Warriors Chronicles on 3DS that one of my fans gave to me after hearing about how much I was enjoying #3.

Just one week out from the release of Metal Gear Solid V, and things are getting tough. Reviews are out and everyone is saying it's the greatest of all time, and now spoilers abound everywhere I look. At this point I have only a few safe places on the internet.

To hold myself over until the release, I've been playing Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. It's pretty good, I had emulated the PSP version before, but it's nice to play it with an official translation. One thing about it though is that the framerate is locked at 30 fps, and then on top of that, during certain cutscenes and combat, the game will slow down even more to about 20 fps, which makes it a little hard to look at.

For the past week or so, I've been going back to a series I've always meant to play but haven't. Currently I'm in the second case of the second game in the Phoenix Wright series. I was a big fan of point-and-clicks back in the day, so this series always interested me. Having been through one already, I know I'm going to have a good time catching up. The only complaint I have with the series is that investigation days are a little boring at times. Specially when people just appear at what seems to be random times and you have to just jump around from place to place till you find them... and then repeat the process once you've exhausted their dialog. But other than that, the story is amazing and the dialog is extremely clever. There are very few times I would ever call BS on what evidence progresses the trial. But I've been playing these in a hangout with the guys who've already played through it, and they've been really good about being helpful without spoiling anything. It's been a really good experience thus far.

I've very passively been playing Banner Saga as well. I haven't played a good tactical RPG in a grip, so this is filling that hole. Unfortunately, I find the story kind of boring. I end up reading the first few minutes of dialog, and once I get the general idea of what's happening, I just kind of skip the rest. What's neat though is that it's a lot like Oregon Trail with you following a set path with things that happen to your group as you go. Multiple choice questions determine what happens as you proceed. You restock at towns and continue till the next time you are in battle. It's pretty generic tactical RPG combat, but it's still good.

This has been an absolutely crazy week for gaming for me. Rather than list everything in order, it'll be easier to group them like so:

New acquisitions: Grandia II Anniversary Edition and Mighty Switch Force! Academy on Steam, Mega Man Legacy Collection on PS4, Golden Sun 1+2 on WiiU VC, Gargoyle's Quest 1+2 on 3DS VC, and Runbow off the WiiU eShop.

Games beaten: Mega Man 2 (No death run off the Legacy Collection), Mighty Switch Force! Academy, 3D Gunstar Heroes, Runbow (100%), Ar nosurge Plus (100%), Gargoyle's Quest II, Donkey Kong Land (100%).

Currently Playing: Donkey Kong Land 2 and am currently in World 4. Hoping to finish both it and DKL3 before Project Mirai DX comes out next week. Will also probably knock out a couple of quick WiiU eShop games in the process too.

Started my playthrough of MGSV. Six hours in, and I barely started! Woo!

Bought and started playing both Mario Golf 64 and Super Mario 64. I'm unlocking characters and courses in Mario Golf (playing against Sonny right now), and I'm at 38 stars in Mario 64.

Thought my last update was insane? This one's even more so!

New Acquisitions:
Alundra (PS1 Classics), Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (Vita), Gunman Clive HD Collection and VS. Excitebike (WiiU eShop)

Games Beaten:
Mega Man and Mega Man 4 off the Legacy Collection (100%), Donkey Kong Land 2 (100%), Journey (PS4, 100%), Donkey Kong Land III (100%), Mega Man Xtreme 2 (100%), Gunman Clive 1 and 2, Gargoyle's Quest, 3D Streets of Rage (both endings), 3D Streets of Rage 2, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (100% of the original game+a no-death run), Hatsune Miku: Project Diva 2nd, Hatsune Miku: Project Diva extend, Megpoid the Music#, Prinny 2 (Asagi Wars), AeternoBlade, Never Alone (WiiU, 100%), Mega Man 3/5/6 off the Legacy Collection (100%), Bionic Commando: Elite Forces (100%), and Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Overdrive.

Try saying that whole list in one breath. Based on how backloggery counts beating and 100%ing a game as separate accomplishments, I set a record of a 24-game streak without obtaining any new titles not already beaten before. That will end today when I pick up Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX after work. But it's amazing how much can be done while playing along while watching a 70-hour Final Fantasy relay race courtesy of RPG Limit Break. Though if I didn't also have to do laundry and clean house on Saturday I probably would have been able to 100% at least one of the Gunman Clive HD games.

Currently Playing:
Still have AeternoBlade to finish up 100% as a NG+ run is required for the true end. Spending a little more time with Ultimate NES Remix on 3DS to get through today at least since I expect to dive right into Project Mirai DX.

This week was a bit more sane than the last:

* Obtained Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX on Tuesday and have beaten all of the songs on Normal and Hard on Button mode. Despite earning the end credits, there's a lot left to do.
* Due to a PS+ sale and wanting to give the game another chance I obtained Jeanne d'Arc on PSP for $3, though the digital copy filled up the rest of my memory card.
* I've decided to overcome some more demons from my childhood and take on more games I could never beat as a kid, starting with the NES Punch-Out!! and Super Punch-Out!! I managed to beat the former but haven't started the latter yet.
* Also obtained a nice little game from the WiiU eShop titled Star Sky and ended up being drawn into it so much that I not only beat it 100% that night but also recorded a 1-part Let's Play of it the next day.
* Still focused on Project Mirai DX for on-the-go and am making steady progress in NG+ of AeternoBlade as many plot threads are beginning to be resolved as I proceed towards the true end.

Another pretty good week:

* Obtained Senran Kagura 2 (3DS), Super Mario Maker (WiiU), Super Mario Land (3DS VC), Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows DLC (3DS+WiiU), Steins;Gate (PS3), and Braid (Steam).

* Beat AeternoBlade with its true ending, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Maker (in terms of clearing all sample courses and unlocking all stage elements), and Braid.

* Final Fantasy V for Steam is the only new release I plan on getting this week, but as always that's no guarantee.

.... Ugh. Anybody remember this topic?


http://www.rpgmmag.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7062&hilit=star+ocean+2



Yeah, seven years later I decided to resume my play in Star Ocean 2 on universe mode from the point where I was last detained, by the boss in the Mihne Cave. I was all set to spend the rest of the evening leveling up and tackling the cave again, and from there going on to beat the game and the legendary Cave of Trials. .... And I found that somehow, some way, my dex drive backup of Star Ocean 2 save files that had been stewing in the designated folder for all seven of these past years since I left off, were only up to a point way back on disc 1. Level 31, to be exact. The .gme file was dated Oct 19, 2008, so as you can see in the above topic, that would put me a month's behind worth of work in the game. I spoke of my sudden loss in the Mihne Cave on Nov 26.


.... Well, that sucks. Well, you know what? It's high time I gave the PSP version another playthrough, I think. I suppose I can just restart universe mode from there. It was an even better version than the original, after all. That and FFTactics: War of the Lions.


As for games I recently beat, Tactics Ogre on the PSP, despite its battle and leveling system flaws, captivated me from beginning to end, so I beat it in just a few weeks' time, which is certainly a rarity for me when it comes to RPG's in my post-teen years. We should discuss this game sometime on magchat, Myoky.

Been a slow week courtesy of working on long-term games:

* Still making progress on Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX and have all songs cleared on 4 of the 6 difficulty levels and am currently working on Tap Mode Hard songs.

* Have also been divvying out time on Super Mario Maker between making levels, playing user-made levels, and unlocking Mystery Mushroom outfits.

* On Saturday I felt like a change of pace and started up Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate. Ended up playing that all afternoon and for most of yesterday.

* Managed to (mostly) stick with only obtaining Final Fantasy V on Steam as my sole new title, but I also downloaded and played through The Legend of Legacy demo from the 3DS eShop. Since I plan to get the full game, I counted it as a "new" title on backloggery.

* This week will be a good one for new releases as Samurai Warriors 4-II, Persona 4 Dancing All Night, and Megaman Legends PS1 Classic are all out this week; plus a few titles that look worth checking out on PSN.

Another doozy of a week:

New Acquisitions: Samurai Warriors 4-II (PS4), Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Vita), Mega Man Legends (PS1C), Prismatic Solid (PS4), Gem Legends (Vita), Chronus Arc (3DSDL), River City Ransom (WiiUVC), Freedom Planet (WiiUDL)

Beat: Samurai Warriors 4-II (Naomasa Li's story), Prismatic Solid, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate (1st ending), Freedom Planet (Story Mode with Lilac), and Persona 4: Dancing All Night (100% and Platinum trophy).

Currently focusing on Chronus Arc for on-the-go and playing Steins;Gate at home where progress has reached Chapter 4. Also still turning on Super Mario Maker to play around on various levels/modes at least once a day.

This week should be a bit lighter as I plan to get Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (PS3), 3D Sonic 2 (3DSDL), and Chibi Robo: Zip Lash (3DS), but we'll also see what the Tuesday/Thursday PSN/eShop updates also have to offer. Noticed one on PSN that may be worth looking in to but it's also an MMO and I'm not a big fan of 'em.

This is the first game I've played in a long time that I felt the need to talk about. I've finally stated playing Revelations 2 and it's legitimately the best survival horror game I've played since Alan Wake. I've played through both Resident Evil 6 and Evil Within that failed pretty badly at being good survival horror titles.

In fact, as far as survival horror specifically goes, it's the best of the over-the-shoulder shooter the RE franchise has. RE4 through 6 had such a huge emphasis on action where as this one is SO much more about survival. Your partner in the game doesn't even use guns. Enemies don't drop ANYTHING as opposed always dropping money, ammo, or health. Healing requires TIME to apply. Resources are very limited, and the environments are actually 2poopy. I may have only played the first episode, but already I can tell this is going to be good. Upgrading guns is sparse but modular, so you can swap them between guns freely to fit what you are currently dealing with. Enemies are an actual threat. They are fast and can kill you fairly quickly if you aren't on your toes.

Even so much more than Rev 1, the zombies are actually zombie like. There's no Jessica, Keith, or Quint (see this article). In fact, every complaint I had about Rev 1 is completely gone in the sequel. I Should have played this a long time ago.

Had a heavy front load of new games this week: Valkyria Chronicles (Steam), Transformers: Devastation (PS4), Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax (PS3), Onigiri (PS4), 3D Sonic 1+2 (3DS), Samurai Warriors 4 (PS4), Pocky & Rocky with Becky (WiiU VC), and Chibi Robo: Zip Lash.

But, over the weekend I managed to start making headway as I deleted Onigiri (a F2P MMO so it wasn't likely to grab me), beat Dengeki Bunko and Samurai Warriors 4, and 100%'d Steins;Gate.

Still working on Chronus Arc for my on-the-go title but may take a break to play through the 3D Sonic games while I'm working to Platinum Dengeki Bunko tonight (have the 3 Challenge Mode and 10 million damage trophies left, otherwise everything's done).

This week is a gold mine of releases with Legend of Legacy, the Atelier Arland Trilogy, Dragon Quest Heroes, and Yoshi's Woolly World. Back to the Future: The Game 30th Anniversary Edition looks pretty tempting too (even though I've never actually seen 100% of any of the movies).

This has been a bit of a crazy week:

* Marked Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax 100% on Tuesday but didn't get the Platinum until Wednesday. Funny enough it only took about 5 more matches to get the "10 million damage" trophy, followed by the Platinum. Still working on Chronus Arc but took a brief break on that to make progress on Gem Legends for Vita. Approx. halfway through it but I have to go back and 3-star every level so far to advance.

* Picked up The Arland Atelier Trilogy and Legend of Legacy on Tuesday, along with receiving fault milestone one as a gift on Steam. Haven't had much time to touch any of them.

* Dragon Quest Heroes arrived on Wednesday after a huge scare when the tracking information claimed that the package had been marked as Return to Sender courtesy of having moved and left no forwarding address. Played that non-stop of the weekend to clear the main game and take care of most of the original content. Pretty much have just the DLC super bosses and completing the equipment list left to platinum that.

* Also picked up Yoshi's Woolly World on Friday and was hoping to dive into it after finishing DQH's main story, but I've been so hooked on the latter that I only finished 1-1.

* Got Tales of Zestiria and Tri Force Heroes to look forward to this week followed by a 2-week break without any planned release pick-ups.

Was a pretty good week:

* Obtained the PS1C versions of Suikoden and Suikoden II, the 3DS VC version of Lufia: The Legend Returns, the 3DS port of Fairune, TriForce Heroes, and Tales of Zestiria.

* Finished the Platinum for Dragon Quest Heroes, 100%'d Chronus Arc and Fairune, and beat Yoshi's Woolly World.

* Currently focused on 100%ing Woolly World and playing through Atelier Totori Plus.

Played Left 4 Dead on PC with some of the guys here last night. We stuck to custom campaigns and while some were duds, some were amazing (although crazy long!)

Good times.