Eluvianii

Rolled credits on Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, which I guess isn't the same as finishing the game. But a feast was had, the names of everyone involved were shown, and a vocal ending theme was sung, that's enough of a milestone. This is such a fun game, what I thought about Rise goes double for Sunbreak, I think this is the most fun the combat has been, can't get enough of it. The new monsters I've liked a lot, and that final boss has gotta be one of the most intense fights I've had in an action game. Took a little under 134 hours to get here, though I have to stick around a little longer. Gotta farm some master ranks and I think I'll be in endgame boss rush territory. I know Amatsu is somewhere in there and I'm gonna fight it.

I remember it dialing down a bit but not completely back to black. He gets like this part white part black hair for the remainder of the game. Can't recall the eyes tho.

I can only say there is good payoff for that mindblow at the end of act 3. It's just that the soldat ain't it.

Omg, I totally forgot about that father-daughter duo. I genuinely don't remember if they ever got any resolution.

The ending to Rean's Act 3 is so good.

On the bright side, we have two Nord themes now! New one is not as good but sill really good imo.

Been drowning in games lately. Sure, what a problem to have, right? Still, I've been stuck thanks to so many distractions, so I wanted to at least wrap up Chapter 3 already. I've been having short sessions there for so long it feels like the whole game has been set on the desert. Anyway, I did that, Chapter 3 done.

Finished Resident Evil 3 Remake. This is uh, a really short game. RE2 gets a pass because at least you play 2 routes, 4 if you really wanna see everything. But not only is this a single route, but the route in question is actually way shorter than a single one of RE2's. 4 hours and 40 minutes in my case. I knew this game didn't have all the backing from Capcom but... damn. Still, I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit, it's not like I paid anywhere even close to full price for it anyway. What's there is good, Carlos is great, and Hunter Gammas are cute. I want one. I wonder if there are any plushies of them. It's nice that it's so mindless. There's some ammo management, but not nearly as much as RE2. Game expects you to kill everything you come across, and gives you the tools for it. Infinite knife is a blessing too. I can't help to wonder what they cut exactly. Gonna have to play the original one of these days. I'm really not fan of the og Nemesis concept, let me solve my puzzles in peace thank you, running away 5 rooms is a waste of time. But I want to see what's there.

Watched a couple episodes of Sakamoto Days and I can't believe I'm 5 weeks late to this. The show is hilarious and I was kinda tearing up on episode 2. It's wholesome, dumb, and has mindless violence in spades, it's great. Like a happy comedy version of John Wick. I also finally watched Psycho Pass: Providence and it was a pretty good watch. Boy did I miss Akane. Season 3 was pretty good and all, and I really liked First Inspector, but for me the thing that carries the show is its original protagonist. And having her back for this movie was really worth the wait.

Oh that's one of the best parts. And I think it'll be fine. I had similar concerns about Liberl's gang at the end of Sky. Then they showed up again like 10 minutes later.

It's like its own game in there. I'm still impressed how the game has the triple goal of being another Sky the 3rd, being the third Crossbell game, and serving as an epilogue for almost every character up to that point. That would normally be overreaching. Normally.

Vantage Masters is kinda brutal in this one. Didn't beat the last few characters.

Honestly, that's one of the things I like about those. The "just have fun" events are one of my favorite parts, and typically I'll squeeze them for every drop of dialogue I can get, which in some cases can take several hours, but they're also largely optional. I spent like 7 hours at the park in CS4, but a less interested person could just as easily spent 3 tickets and advanced the story. There for those who want it, skippable for those who don't. This one I liked enough to see all the events and try my hand at the mini games, but not quite enough to farm tickets throughout the game to come back and see all the girls' scenes.

Just finished Shadow of the Colossus, PS4 version, at around 6 hours and 40 minutes. That was, awe inspiring I guess would be the term? Everything about it was beautiful from beginning to end. The environment, the music, the locales, and obviously, the colossi. They're not even like boss fights, bringing them down is just busywork designed to showcase how awesome the creatures are. And honestly I'm all for that. Gameplay is terribly frustrating though. Sometimes it has small details like how uncomfortable it is to control Agro. Others it's the fights themselves. Some of these are really hard to hold on to. Some attack so fast you're allowed a single step after getting up before being hit again (and the fact that the protagonist takes so long to get up doesn't help). Sometimes you have to make an unpredictable jump that will set you back several minutes if you fail. I adore everything this game showed me but if it was any longer I would probably have dropped it on account of the gameplay alone. Still, I'd say the struggle is worth it, and that ending forced me to warm up to the game even more than I already had. So yeah. Cool game. Kinda glad it's over but I look forward to a second run waaay in the future, when I've had time to forget my grievances with it.

Oh right. I thought you couldn't go there in CS, but now that I think about it there's a few important scenes there huh. Can't say I remember him showing up though. If he did I guess it'd be harder to notice since none of the people who know him were in the party.

The janitor in the hospital? Hadn't appeared since Azure I believe. He was in the government, did some shady stuff. Among the chaos of those games it went wrong, he ended up as a refugee in Armorica. His son and his wife (who have been around since Sky FC btw) found him to introduce him to his daughter in law and grandson. Felt moved, decided to fix his life, and that's how he came to be the janitor.

If you mean Gaius I'm pretty sure the Japanese voice is the same. So if there were any changes it would be the English one. But I honestly wouldn't know. Corridor is pretty cool. So many mini games, so many books... Man, I miss books.

I actually enjoy the history lesson that comes with subs when it comes to Japanese jokes or references. That's actually one of the best features of the Steins;Gate VN, it has quite the glossary explaining every little thing they mention. Both what the joke is supposed to be, and what irl thing they're a copyright-free version of. Though this view itself is personal preference. It actually annoys me when they change something like that because instead of enjoying the piece of dialogue I'm just left wondering what it said originally.

Started a few of the shows coming out this season and they're actually pretty promising. Honey Lemon Soda is a little too sweet but I'm always up for another painfully relatable socially anxious protag. Hana wa Saku, being a show about reciting stuff specifically, has some really cool visuals to accompany the texts they read. Got chills with that poem reciting at the end. I swear, if this ends up being the thing that finally makes me appreciate poetry... Then there's Tasokare Hotel. Pretty cool concept, potentially heavy themes (it will be weirder if it doesn't get heavy tbh), but it doesn't look like it'll be as emotionally charged as, say, Angel Beats. Still got hooked tho. I really need to catch up on Apothecary Diaries.

I wasn't too sure about him either but they absolutely knew what they were doing. He steals the spotlight in all the good ways.

Just finished Final Fantasy XV at around 41 hours plus, I don't know, about 6 hours of DLCs. That was a thoroughly enjoyable experience that may have tried to do too many things at once but was still a great game. It's a bit of an everyone pleaser. Like story focused linear experiences that go straight to the point? Got you covered. Like open ended games with lots to do where you advance at your own pace? Got you covered. And that duality doesn't always work in its favor, it's kinda jarring really, but I think this is a best case scenario. Game was plenty long but I still wish there was more of it. Not more quests or anything, got plenty of those and plenty more I didn't even do. But I finished this feeling I know a lot about the main 4 characters plus a couple others, and not nearly enough as I'd like about everyone else. Still think it's a best case scenario, the DLCs are wonderful to flesh out certain characters, and the written works do their part too. But it still ended up feeling like a rather small world where people don't do much when you're not looking at them. Ending is, a thing. A good thing mind, it just Combat is weird. Fun but weird. My HP was constantly dropping to 0 because I didn't dodge an attack that I couldn't even see an animation for. But this is balanced by the fact that it's really hard to die. Like, unless you get hit so hard that it depletes both your HP and your max HP in a single hit, you'll live. So you don't need to understand how it works to finish the game without issue, but it does get frustrating. Music was freaking amazing. Easily one of the best parts of the game and there were entire sequences that were only as good as they were because of the soundtrack. Particularly chapter 9 boss, which is incidentally one of the coolest sequences I've played in a game. I'm mostly satisfied with my time with this game, but I hear there's an "Official Alternate Ending", and the implication alone gives me some expectations. It's apparently only 4 short novellas though, one that I already read and another that the game already covered, so that brings it down to 2. Still, I wanna see what that is all about. Now if you'll excuse me I'll be crying on the corner.

Alright, Trails Radiant orders go. Estelle is a Windrunner. Easy. Joshua would probably be a Lightweaver. His character arc deals a lot with how mistaken he is about himself and the people he loves. Lies. Renne could also be a Lightweaver, trying to find the truth about herself, but I wanna say she might fit as a Dustbringer too? Girl has destructive abilities most people on Zemuria don't, and she had to learn to use those abilities for good instead of harm. And that's a journey, last I checked, she's still on. Schera would fit as a Willshaper I feel. Olivier is as much of an Elsecaller as he is a Willshaper and if someone is dual wielding spren it's him. Tita could be an Edgedancer, as she's caring, or a Stoneward, as she's dependable, or a Truthwatcher, as she's a scholar, or a Dustbringer, as she's one of the biggest tinkerers around. All orders want Tita. Kloe is an Elsecaller. Chosen as a leader and having to better herself in order to fit the role. Zin is a Stoneward. He's the big brother of the team. Same with Agate, though he's there for a very specific someone. Kevin is a Lightweaver. The explanation for this is the entirety of Sky the 3rd. Richard is a Skybreaker. That stunt he pulled required a very strong moral code. As do the things he does post FC. Josette might be a Willshaper. Cassius is another Elsecaller, for similar reasons as Kloe I think. Ries is an Edgedancer. Lechter seems like would make a good Willshaper if he sorted out some issues, he seems like such a free spirit on the outside. His skillset is that of a Lightweaver though. Anelace seems like a standard Windrunner. Blueblanc is so much of a Lightweaver it hurts. I will admit I don't remember enough about Luciola and Walter to place them. Weissman is a Truthwatcher gone wrong. That about covers Sky I think?

Hi. So, each year I like to compile a list of all the music I liked that year, and then try to condense it into smaller lists to find the absolute best of everything I listened to. There's no particular reason for this other than the fact that it's fun. I like making lists for some reason, and at some point I decided to share that tradition with the Shard, and invite everyone who wishes to to do the same. So here's the invitation this year. What did you listen to? You have a favorite song? A favorite album? Did you discover any new artists? A particular soundtrack from a movie that stayed with you? It can be anything you want, and as short or as long as you want. Only thing that matters is that you liked it. With all that said, here's my list this year, and I look forward to see yours. Songs I discovered in 2024. This is a list of songs that did not come out in 2024, but I found them this year. 1. Aura - GHOST 2. Geki! Teikoku-Kagekidan - Chisa Yokoyama 3. Raindrop - Indigo Jam Unit 4. Watercolor - Indigo Jam Unit 5. Nemurasareta Lineage - Junna 6. Quiet Choir - Akira Yamamoto 7. Nai Nai - ReoNa 8. Good Night - Hikaru Utada 9. Wine and Wheat - Madds Buckley 10. Remember Me - Leslie Parrish Honorable mention to Koi Geba by Atarashii Gakko because you made me look, @Use the Falchion. Now I'll have to look for more. Songs that came out in 2024. Self explanatory, my favorite songs among the ones that did come out this year. 1. Che Sia Vita o Morte - Keygen Church Also my overall favorite song of the year. It's so, so good 2. Kimi to ×××× Shitai dake - Phantom Siita 3. Zezezezettai Seiiki - ano, Lilas Ikuta 4. Blouse - Gohobi 5. Burning - Hitsujibungaku 6. Life We Sow - Mili 7. RAM - Master Boot Record 8. Protect You - Band-Maid 9. Queen - LiSA 10. Sekai-Rinne - Unlucky Morpheus Soundtracks. So, the format for this portion I change all the time according to needs. And the needs this year demand that I divide it into individual soundtracks because I played so many games with good music this year. I feel like I'm in my golden age as a gamer, finding all the gems all at once. With good music to match. Persona 5 Royal. Played most of this game last year, but finished the last stretch this year. Dragon's Dogma. A surprise this one. Wanted a simple action rpg to mess around mindlessly. Got a bit more than that. Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Culmination of 2 years of reading. One of the best stories I've ever encountered, if not the best, with one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard to match. Picked a few highlights from the last two episodes because that's what I played this year, but all 208 pieces should be on this list by right. Simply amazing. Persona 3 Reload. Just started. Great remake so far. Final Fantasy XV. Another surprise. I don't know why I was under the impression that this game wasn't liked much. That was apparently incorrect and good thing too because it has been stellar so far. I'm close to the end and the game is great. And the music, well, Yoko Shimomura is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers. The House in Fata Morgana. I'm not very far in, but I can tell this is something special. And its music is so... unique. At all times it can pull me into whatever year the author wants me to be in. The Great Ace Attorney Adventures. This is well on the way to become my favorite Ace Attorney, both game and OST. Metaphor ReFantazio. Don't think a lot needs to be said about how this came to be on the list. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak. This series will keep getting a spot on these lists until it's over. Which might be another 10 years or so. Miscellaneous. And that about does it for songs. Albums are worth mentioning this year because it's like most of my favorite artists decided to drop one at the same time. One of them dropped two. So here they are. what is DEATH? - Unholy Orpheus Which is like the third pseudonym already for Unlucky Morpheus. Epic Narratives - Band-Maid Hardwarez - Master Boot Record Nel Nome Del Codice - Keygen Church Another name for Master Boot Record when he uses a different style. Girlhood Memories - Phantom Siita And since they just popped up on that list, I have to mention Phantom Siita as best discovery. They're the first idol group I'm interested in and so far their music has been really good. They have this horror theme going on that I enjoy a lot. And that would be all my lists this year. If you read the thing you'll notice that I just use whatever format fits for whatever I'm doing at the moment. So go crazy, make one more organized, make one less organized. The fun is in enjoying the process of learning about yourself by thinking about what kind of music you really like. With any luck you'll get a fun time out of it. Well, that was all. If I convinced you to make one of these I hope you had fun doing so, and that you'll share it. And I wish you another year full of music.

After a year of putting it off I finally decided to watch the last season of Shingeki no Kyojin. Good thing I did, part 1 can get really sour, but it's just a setup for the amazing story it becomes later, and the ending was perfect. Overall a great show from beginning to end.

The wisdom to know laughing would offend them in this scenario.