Starred for Shadow Hearts. Honestly, if there’s an RPG series that deserves a remaster, that’s SH. It was a roller-coaster of a JRPG, really, both dark and fun, and the judgement ring was the best gameplay mechanic to ever grace such a game (I sometimes fantasise over a combo Persona + judgement ring...).

Fully agreed. There was something deeply satisfying with the pace of the fights of DOA2, where you could actually feel when the time was right to parry, or move on with the combo. I came back to DOA with DOA5, and boy, did it feel like a speed contest. Or I just suck at faster fighting games (I do!).

Thanks for adding some extra meaning to the title of Kim Ki-duk’s film, 섬 (or The Isle)!

Thanks for the tip!

I started playing with a Magnavox Odyssey² (a.k.a. a Philips Videopac, here). And no, it was not called retrogaming back then. Feeling better now?

We’ve had a modern version on the PS3... Alas.

You are oh so right. Guns don’t kill people, that’s a fact.

I also have fond memories of Yakuza 2. One of two years after I played it, I went to Osaka for the very first time, and it just felt like I had already been there.

Yakuza 3 was quite good, imho, and I can’t see why it’s considered the worst installment in the series.

Nanomachines.

The Space Force is coming along nicely, Mr President.

Being French, saying that cheese is popular in Japan (I wont’ speak for the rest of Asia) is a little exaggerated, but in every convenience store, you can find a small section that always feature so-called ‘camembert’, some plastic slices (OK, that’s cheese, technically), packed in individual sleeves, some…

As far as I can tell, camembert sold in Japan is not proper camembert. It’s cheese, industrially-produced cheese (I even bought some in tin cans),made with pasteurised milk, sure, but camembert? That being said the “laiterie Yuge” in Kobe produces some satisfying enough stuff.

Must be a global trend, then...

As a former veterinarian, I give you all the stars!

I don’t think that you could borrow the games and bring them home, really. You could play them on-site, and it was not even a disguised rental affair, for the drinks were not more expensive than in other bars in Kyoto. And from the online reviews, it was a rather chill bar...

Thanks for the reply! Right, no Yamaoka, but the vibe is still there! ;) Which means that I look forward to the rest of the score.

Is the original music by Akira Yamaoka? That would be some news, to me!
 He was not mentioned in the credits, but I got a strange Yamaoka-esque vibe at some point.

If only it could be a marketing ploy for the announcement of a new Steins;Gate (on the Vita, please), I would sign with both hands!

So, while they’re at it, can they tell us how the Dear Leaders’ summit went? Is a new Homefront planned?