This weekend, I'm mostly giving my gaming time to chewing through the rest of Strider. The 2014 version, not the Genesis original that I incorrectly assumed it was a remake/modernization of. Stylistically, it's an interesting pastiche. The robo-communists and bright anime villains are screamingly 80s in a cloying but…

The "correct" boss order bit is particularly visible in Mega Man X, as there is a very clear starting point when you know the game. The boss himself is easy as pie, and the level features a key upgrade part just sitting in the middle of the road, rather than tucked behind secrets like all the others. And yet… there's…

Oh, short games, how I've missed you! I finished up Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim last weekend, and it did not disappoint with its earnest silliness. Seriously, this music is trying SO hard. I love it. It's like someone listened to the Mega Man X soundtrack and said "Hm, can we make this 300% more radical?"

But can man truly ever go anywhere?

It's also like 2 hours long. (Assuming the phase of the moon is appropriate, which is both terrible and amazing.) There were elements that I didn't love, but that's a weird one to burn out on in my eyes.

I do like Above and Below, but it has a weird "theme gap" in how the events are written. They provide a setup and decision to make, but there's no description of any kind to the resolution you actually go with. It's really odd to start with an evocative description of encountering a wizard, then to just end up with…

the film sends her away on a nasty joke, positing that she left gymnastics after getting impregnated by Lance (Sebastian Stan), the asshole jock coach who, in a much earlier era, took Hope’s virginity.

So did we. And at a Catholic high school, no less!

Agreed, though I will say that Treasure and Tinker Knights' levels get arguably better revamps for the Specter Knight campaign.

On the plus side, the airship gets one of the best songs in the game, so at least you've got some good jams while you die repeatedly.

Yeah, Grenadiers are a bit weird in that there are 2 clear archetypes but still unambiguous "winners" at a lot of the levels regardless of what build you're going for.

That was the very end of 3. 4 is the one with "No, Kinzie. It's power armor."

RIP Shovel Knight, you were pretty rad. The Specter Knight campaign was delightful, but I wrapped that up earlier this week and churned through all of the non-Plague Knight challenge maps as well, so it's time to once again set it to the side.

Dancers are actually one of the most important units to have. Not necessarily for using them on the regular, but Grand Hero Battles (challenge maps that come out every few weeks) seem to invariable involve a horrendous deathtrap chokepoint, and bringing a dancer makes it much easier to burst through and cut the…

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment came out! I'm playing a current game, like a real boy!

Fire Emblem for GBA is a nice entry point. It's the 7th game in the series but fully self contained, so lack of familiarity isn't an issue. (Technically, it's a prequel to FE6, but most of FE7's cast doesn't appear in 6 or dies immediately, so again, no lore entanglement/spoilers/etc.). Systems wise, it's very…

Wait, WHAT? Nintendo is bringing Payday 2, a game in which levels routinely involve mowing down literally hundreds of uniformed police officers, to the Switch? A game in which you break into multiple FBI facilities for murder and sabotage-related activities? A game in which you gleefully massacre drug dealers to steal…

I think what kills me most isn't the stinginess of the draw rates themselves, but that the banner rate is exactly the same as the off-banner rate. That can't be standard in gacha games, can it? My only point of reference is Final Fantasy Record Keeper, which has something like a 12% chance of getting a featured item…

Best of all is the reveal at the end of the first movie, when two members of of the drug-dealing motorcycle gang turn out to be none other than Penhall and Hanson themselves, still working as undercover operatives, now for the DEA. As they die in the ensuing shootout, their final words are that they’re glad that they…

I'm mostly hoping for more "actual content". I've all of my 5* units at level 40 and a healthy suite of 4* units there as well, which means there isn't really much to do with my stamina since the Training Tower provides no fungible benefit. I've gotten a kick out of the Grand Hero Battles, but there's like one every…