Mal

Got two games at home that I will be working on... not sure if I should go handle these two in small chunks or find time to sink me teeth into them. Trails of Cold Steel 3 I just got to Chapter 3 and decided that it will be a good point to stop for next time when I am able to play. Part of me want to stop and go through the Crossbell games so I can understand completely what is going on. Like, sure, the Crossbell games aren't required, even Rean and company are scratching their heads to what I assume to be concepts introduced in the Crossbell games but they would help out quite a bit. I'd argue they would help far more than the Sky games since Crossbell and CS are far more linked together than say Sky and CS/Crossbell. One thing for certain though, things are all coming together. As for CS3 itself, I actually do like it better than the first two games. Having a more concise core cast helps a ton with character development. Combat concepts introduced (early or late game) in CS1/2 are far more fleshed out in CS3 making it a more fulfilling experience. Structurally, CS3 isn't that different from its predecessors but Rean's role helps spice up the school based roundup, I think. Overall, I think this is a good sequel. Not sure if it required two games before this to get to this point. I do like the first two games but they have their issues like with pacing and character development. CS3 is in some ways a recovery from those two games' weaknesses. Gravity Rush This game had me with poking the apple. I'm like the main character, Kat, I don't even know what is going on. I'm just going with the flow, saving an ungrateful kid in a strange land while floating all over the place. I was hoping for no combat but it's actually kind of fun when you can float around and do flying kicks.

About half way into CS3 Chapter 2 is when knowing what went down in Crossbell becomes highly relevant. I'm basically poor old Rean as he looks at some of the Crossbell cast in confusion since they know something he don't.

Chapter 1 took me like 40 hours so they're for sure like Acts in previous games. And honestly, it takes a bit to get back into the groove for any long RPG like this. It doesn't help that played Fire Emblem Three Houses not too long before CS3 dropped. I'm not kidding when I compared Three Houses and Cold Steel in the GOTY thread. They're pretty similar in layout so I got kind of got burned out on going through a school setting again.

I finally got through Chapter 1. Oh boy, that second half gets you thinking... As for the Crossbell links, it's quite thick but not as much as Liberl. The connections are very apparent now, even considering what was in CS2. You are missing context to major things and characters. There's dots that you cannae connect because you dinnae know they are there. For Chapter 1, I say it isn't insurmountable but it'll probably be by the end. With regards to Liberl though, you need those games already. I have some crackpot theories I want to let loose from dots I connected but I'll be talking to myself...

I forgot to post that I beat River City Girls, kinda a week or three ago. I still need to do the extra stuff. It's actually pretty decent but to me lacks something to make it great. I'm not sure what.

High above the mucky-muck, castle made of clouds, Mr. GOH! seems to have misunderstood that I was his Secret Santa... Thank you sir!

Seem like if Ethan keep believing his dreams will come to life.

Reading all these posts... what a god damn mess. I'm staying in PT and OT territories, thank you very much. CAST THE ST TO LEGENDS!

EARTH DEFEN- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Mirroring DMC5 in a lot of way, a mainline AC game was not released for 12 years. Sure, there's Infinity but that was pure multiplayer and not really comprehensive in the AC experience. We also don't talk about the misguided Assault Horizon. AC7, while not perfect due to troubled development, was a return to form that I have been waited for for so long. It delivered. The chilly glee you get from piloting a fighter jet and doing insane maneuvers to a fantastic soundtrack (try listening to this while driving) cannot be understated. I guess I should give Three Houses honorable mentions since I did play it a bunch (gameplay is on-point) but as a whole never quite resonated with me like say Xenoblade 2 did (and I HATED XB2 initially). Make no mistake, I like the characters (Golden Deer for life!) but the story... eh. Also, I like to say that Three Houses is basically Trails of Cold Steel games and what I sense Trails of Hajimari to be, crammed into one game. Re: DMC5

We all will be able to judge if Hellblade is really being milked without getting the Xsex (NOT XBOX).

So Saint Ethan understands the concept of the holidays. Basically JSRF in all but name. After this though... Yomawari (and its sequels) has been a game I always wanted to try out since it looks so adorably creepy. I hope I don't regret this... As for Death's Gambit... well, I'm going to die a lot. Very holiday like. Thank you!

Rise of Skywalker must really suck if everyone and their moms aren't liking it.

Well judging by the name... Hajimari no Kiseki (Trails of Origins/Beginnings), it could be a prequel of sorts which ties into all the games. I also hear that character from all games should make an appearances. I honestly think it might need to involve some sort of prequel. Anyhow, this game is for sure after Sen IV so this is the game you're thinking about. Re:XSEED I can roll with what you posted but yeah... management... if done poorly they can sink ships or at least just barely float along. Hell, NISA situation is all about bad management. They have the resources to be great (it's what made me so mad). I'm glad Falcom is keeping an eye on NISA and at least have some standard. Truth be told, it's amazing how well the Sky games and CSI/II turned out. Praise be to the people that localized them (really what I really cared most about). Hopefully the folks who are doing other things now (e.g., Hatsuu, who seems to have finally landed on her feet. For a while she was in a bad place) get a chance to come back in some official, permanent capacity. And also, I will also include the fine folks who are fan localizing Zero. They're putting their all into it and I believe they should have the chance to do it in an official capacity as well.

New Kiseki game has been announced during the Falcom shareholders' meeting. I WOULD look at the screens but they're spoiler filled (CS IV)... have the title screen though. DO NOT CLICK THE TWEET. Hajimari no Kiseki planned for Summer 2020. Also have the Kai versions of the Crossbell games incoming. We might have a chance for them to crossover the seas... dunno. Not sure if NISA is up for not making money by localizing these two old games... and it seems like the sort of thing they would half ass. SO WITH ALL THAT SAID... If NISA shoots off CS IV next year (PC 6 months after... maybe) then maybe we might get lucky and have Hajimari come over in 2021 at the soonest. Like shit NISA, if this is not part of why Falcom chose you moving forward (quick to release), I dunno what Falcom was thinking...

Umm, no. I don't think we'll just call it Xbox.

From what I've seen from art streams, lot of them don't shy away from resizing (less so), rotating and moving parts of what they have drawn. For lines/strokes at an odd angle, it might help to rotate the canvas to make it a bit easier to do (it helps to have this rotating function as a hotkey or two so it's quick to do).

Edit: Formatting madness. I got tired of carrying around a standard monitor around so I decided to try this portable version out. Basically just tear off the screen portion of a standard monitor. So now everything work related with regards to electronics fits in my backpack. It also might even fit in together with my personal laptop in my laptop bag. I'll probably also get a compact wireless keyboard and mouse too (looking for one now actually... most have really lousy arrow keys) to seal the deal (my current one sticks out of my backpack...). Anyhow... An air purifier for my room/house. Note this isn't that small. I'm really sick and tired of all the dust in my room clinging to everything so I'm hoping it'll knock it down somewhat. From what I can tell (based on my desk), so far so good. It seems to work nice after a vacuum session too. Actually, one thing I didn't count on is that it mixes the air in my room really well, to the point that there's no upper hot air mass from my desktop if I shut the window (as I often do over the winter) and door. It can impart a gentle breeze in my room that I really like. This also will be really nice if/when the wildfire comes roaring back. I'm debating of getting another model like the much raved for cheapish Honeywell or I might get an expensive Dyson one that can also act as a fan (wildfire sometimes comes in tandem with heatwaves...).

I think I have floated the idea of an incremental upgradable console on here before or at least had drafted up a post that I never submitted. It'd be neat if it were a thing... again? I know in the past there were things kind of like that for the NES/SNES and the like. Hell, what would you call the Playstation in its earliest concept?

A few trailers are dropping so I'll be updating. First off... Cool but narratively, I'm not sure if this was needed? Why are we back with Senua? Why is this a franchise? New cast of character in line of how Final Fantasy did it. With this coming, I expect the first two games to make the move too... god, so many games on the Switch...

It's literally a box. I feel like we have come full circle somehow... Ditto, Harada, ditto... BUT YEAH, PS5 and The Box is going to be out holiday 2020.

Am I silly for transferring most of my media files to an external HDD and trusting it to last? It was the easiest option since I wouldn't have to fiddle with SATA ports (I used all of mines) but I wonder... it would be a bummer to lose everything. I guess I need to join the last decade and look into setting up a NAS with RAID... 0? Other than that, I freed up space on my internal HDDs.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3DNHW2ckMRr3v0f7JF3HcR?si=2P6R064hR0uqKD6xxDDUyQ Hmm, I know these used to embed...