I am pretty much done here. It is difficult for me to find a board here that can maintain my interest or one that I am comfortable enough to keep coming back to(activity is nice too :P). This is not a Gamespot smells blog, but more so that I feel that this place just is not for me so I will not be posting that much if at all. I will still update my game lists, but that is probably all I will be doing. Take care!

Well...since I have played a few games and watched some things lately, I figured I would do a write-up on some of them to let you all know what I thought of them. First, let me discuss Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Something I have to say before I get into this, I really enjoyed the first movie and my enjoyment has just been steadily going downhill since. I did not think this one would disappoint me as much as At World's End would. After all, this one seemed to focus more on Jack Sparrow. How could it be bad? It is also the shortest of the bunch. Sounds good right? It would if that is actually what it was. Despite this being the shortest of the bunch, the movie still felt like it was 4 hours long. I found the movie to be very dull and unexciting. The opening escape scene of this movie in London seems promising enough, but that is the biggest action sequence you get the entire movie. The rest of the scenes pale in comparison to that. Another thing that bugged me about this movie is that Jack Sparrow felt awfully sidelined in what should have been his own film. This, I do not understand. Even during the final climax, he does more hiding than he does fighting. You would think that the movie would have the protagonist fighting the antagonist, Blackbeard, right? Not at all, Barbossa ends up being the one that fights him. I found it to be highly disappointing. When I found out that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly were not going to be in this one, I jumped out of my seat in joy. Anytime these two were the focus in the other films, they seemed to drag. Unfortunately, this movie replaced them with a cleric and mermaid romance plot and you guessed it, it is just as boring as the other romance was. All in all, I cannot recommend this movie. It is nowhere near as fun as the others and it just drags on and on and you will find yourself wanting to do something else. Next up is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. This was an anime that I do not remember exactly how I found, but after I checked it out on MyAnimeList, I got curious. It was ranked within the top 20 animes and had an R-17 rating. From what I knew, magical girl animes are typically not all that violent and tend to have the friendship thing going a lot so I decided to start watching it. The anime is not perfect(I felt it could have been a little longer and an awful lot of time is spent on Sayaka), but honestly I was pleasantly surprised. The anime twisted what its genre usually encompasses and made it really dark at times. If you are looking for a new anime to look into, check this one out, it is pretty enjoyable. Now we are going to move on to gaming. The two games I played the most since my last update are Ghost Trick and Pangya: Fantasy Golf. Ghost Trick was simply amazing. It is not very often that I finish a game in 2-3 days anymore, but I just could not put this game down at all. The story was fantastic, the character were all interesting and very fun. The game looked superb and sounded great. The game play is also just as good. Basically, your character dies in the beginning of the game and using your powers as a ghost, you have to solve the mystery of who killed you and why. Along the way, you will be saving others from getting killed by using your powers to go back to 4 minutes before their deaths. This is where the game play is focused as you have to use your powers or "ghost tricks" to figure out how to save that person. So in a sense, it is a puzzle adventure game which I seem to be loving more and more as of late as the two I have played so far have excellent stories. I honestly cannot recommend this game enough. Get it now! Finally, Pangya: Fantasy Golf. I personally do not golf myself and do not care for it, but I really enjoy the games, especially ones like this that offer so many customization options. There are so many clubs, balls, and clothing to collect that the game can keep you busy for over 100 hours! The game even has a story mode! That really surprised me since I was not expecting a golf game to have any semblance of a story. Most of the time, it is just go have a match with this person, have fun. That is mostly what this story mode is, but it is really neat getting a sense of who all these characters are and it is great that they all have personalities instead of feeling completely one dimensional. When it comes to the game itself, it is a blast and really plays well. However, playing against the computer can get frustrating whether in matches or in tournaments. I have had occasions where I was doing well in a tournament and one of the other golfers will get a hole in one and an eagle on a par 4. I shake my head and wonder how I am supposed to compete with that. The inconsistent AI gets me sometimes, but other than that, the game is really fun and is a great portable game to have on hand if you are going on a trip. It will keep you busy. :P This is mostly what I have been up to as of late...oh, I almost forget, I turned 23 Saturday. Go me! I am like Dr. Pepper now, I have 23 flavors. :P Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you have a great day! :) ~ Seiryuu

I went to see Thor in 3D Tuesday night since I heard it was doing pretty well and others said it was good so I decided to check it out for myself. Let me get this out of the way before I get into discussing the movie itself, I really did not want to see it in 3D, but I did not really have a choice. Personally, I am sick of this whole 3D craze as I cannot justify paying more money to see the same movie. Sure, it supposedly looks better and enhances the experience, but honestly, if the movie sucks, enhancing the visuals is not going to do anything. If I am going to enjoy a movie, I need more than aesthetics and fancy visuals. Give me more! That said, I am glad we moved beyond the red and blue glasses, but this 3D fad has come and gone so many times, at this point, I still do not really care for it. It just does not do anything for me. As expected...I see a lot of movies that want to take advantage of this forget that they need to have a plot for their movie as well, but to be fair, the whole movie industry itself is full of problems, but that is a topic for another day. This movie opens up with Thor being arrogant and wanting to attain the glory in battle his father, Odin, did in fighting the frost giants. During what would have been Thor's ceremony in becoming king, frost giants break into Asgard(the realm Odin and such live in) and try to take back an artifact that Odin had taken from them in the last war. After this, Thor disobeys his father's wishes and goes with some of his friends and his brother, Loki, to fight the frost giants in their realm. They do well at first but soon realize the odds are against them and try to return to Asgard. As they are about to get overwhelmed, Odin appears and returns them to Asgard. Furious, Odin banishes Thor, after stripping him of all his power, to the Earth realm where he will live as a mortal. Thus where the movie actually starts. I felt that this whole opening part of the movie took a little long since it was a good 30-45 minutes in before we got to the meat of the movie. However, it is a problem I had with most of the movie, the pacing. I felt that it took too long to really get anywhere and once it does, you are already in the final act of the movie and are left with a pretty weak conclusion. With that said, I did enjoy the movie and would certainly recommend it. Is it as good as the first Iron Man movie? No, but I do not think there are going to be many comic book movies that are going to be as good as that one was. One thing I did like about the movie was the person playing Thor. I really enjoyed his portrayal of the character and would certainly like to see him do more. It leaves me looking forward to Captain America and ultimately the Avengers movie. The latter of which I am expecting to have a huge budget...hopefully it can live up to it. :P As per usual: ~ Seiryuu-

Have you ever planned so many things that you want to do within a certain time span but you just do not seem to quite get any of it done? Whether it be due to unexpected circumstances or just downright laziness, I never accomplish as much as I would like to and as such, I find my life just falls into tedium since I just do the same thing day in and out, waste most of my time on the internet doing nothing. To give you an example, I would love to be able to write more reviews and impressions than I do now, but I find myself always putting it off and never really feeling motivated to do so. I typically wait for motivation to hit me but as expected, it never does. So what is one to do in this situation? I find the advice of just sitting down and doing it works at times as just getting started is usually the hardest step, but then again, I will only do a little bit before distracting myself for hours in some meaningless task on the internet or hoping a topic of interest to me will spring up on a forum. Before I know it, it grows too late and I find I barely got anything accomplished leaving me to feel disappointed, bored, and just putting it off for another day. Procrastination is naturally the culprit here, but I find it is more so my lack of concentration on a task and just being easily distracted to be more the problem. Although this brings about another concern as there are times where I can remain completely focused and absorbed into something without anything else really getting in my way, including myself. I suppose this is nothing out of the ordinary as it makes sense that I am more interested in one undertaking more than another, but again referring to writing, it is something I wish I could just become absorbed in. It leads me to wonder whether I should even bother with it as if I cannot maintain an interest in it for long without getting distracted, what hope do I have? However, I do not think this is the case. I think it is more so that it is not something I am used to doing that much as posting blogs such as this is a new thing to me. It is also possible that I just have not found a method that really works for me yet, but that is a problem in and of itself as I put off trying new ways to do it too. These are just some passing thoughts and something that is often on my mind but not quite to the point where I really feel like doing anything about it. I already know the answer if I ask does anybody else have things they want to do but find themselves taking no action to accomplish them so I think the better the question to ask would be, what do you do about it so that you actually get things done without really forcing yourself too much? Passing thoughts aside, I am still playing Dissidia 012 heavily and have put about 120 hours total into it so far. I decided I would check out the semi-new labyrinth mode and I have to say, I do not think I will be playing it that much. They take all your equipment from you and you have to earn equipment while you are in there. If you lose, you lose any equipment you got while you were there. If you try to leave it without being at a designated exit, you lose everything. I do not find it is a mode that is all that fun and I found the previous game's duel colosseum to be much more enjoyable if only because it did not feel as tedious since you could leave it whenever you wanted to. I recently finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and I found it to be a really enjoyable book. It is about solving a decades old murder within a big family but there is something more sinister lurking in the background. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next one(The Girl Who Played with Fire) after I finish Jack London's The Call of the Wild, which I am pleased to say I am enjoying as well. I will probably finish that off tonight as it is a short book, I just cannot believe I never read it sooner. I have not purchased too much since the last update, but I might as well share what I did get. I picked up The Girl Who Played with Fire and Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. The latter is after hearing how good it was and because Siberian recommended it so I figured I might as well check it out, but I am not too sure when I will get around to playing it. I will probably start it up after I get through Darksiders as I have been meaning to start that up since I passed on the game way back when Bayonetta came out. Finally, I have a new sig as always. This one is of Remilia Scarlet, another character from Touhou. At the rate I am going, I am going to have one for every character in the series: Take care! ~ Seiryuu-

I remember way back during the summer when I happened upon a game announcement, one that I thought was quite unexpected. There is no way they would make a sequel(would later find out it would be prequel) to this game this soon, I thought, but lo and behold, there it was, another Dissidia! I had enjoyed the first one so much and put much of my life into it that you might have called me an addict. I eagerly anticipated each new character announcement and any other minor detail that I could absorb until the release date in March. Once it was released, I would once again have many nights where I stayed up far too late in the name of getting in one more round. The story this time around, while still weak, is far better than what was presented in the previous game. It was your typical Final Fantasy fare of getting the crystals and then saving the day. I found that upon completing the story in this game, I felt much more accomplished and it ultimately felt more satisfying compared to the first one since as a prequel, you know what this game's story leads to. Unfortunately, that is not saying much as the story is still not all that great and nothing exciting as it still gets bogged down in the whole "friendship" thing. What I mean by this is that much of the talk is about sticking together and fighting for each other. It is not something I dislike, but having seen it in almost every media outlet in existence, it gets tiresome. The story is simply lackluster and what I thought was surprisingly brief. First, it is very disappointing that you can only play as the new characters in the story. With this game being a prequel, I would have liked to see what everyone else was doing the entire time. I understand the new characters were the focus, but it hardly mentions any of the older characters at all, in fact, they barely get any screen time. Also, what happened to the Chaos storyline? While you can play as the villains in some of the reports you unlock, it is only a fight or two. This really disappointed me as it was one thing I was really looking forward to doing and having the option to play on Chaos's side for a change would have been great. Another issue that bugged me in the first Dissidia that unfortunately, continues here, is characters are often casted into the one role that defines them and they become one dimensional only showing a part of their personality. It works for some characters, but others, their dialogue is just painful. For example, if you played Final Fantasy IV, you know what comes to define Kain. If you know that, you know his character in this game and you can probably guess at his story. It is disappointing because you know that most of they are not defined by just one characteristic and seeing it presented as such gets irritating. It gets even more annoying when the characters just seem flat out wrong like Terra. I never viewed her as a character who was afraid to fight and was completely dependent on others, but that is how she is in this game. I also found it very odd as some characters are nearly spot on, like Kefka and Laguna, which makes me feel like the game had a different direction group for each character. Some got it right and others did not. It is something that I wish had been improved upon, as I think the story would be a tad less predictable and more enjoyable had the characters had better direction. One addition I really enjoyed was for each boss encounter you face, that game's boss music would play. For example, if you are using Lightning and you go to fight say, the Emperor, you will hear Saber's Edge right from Final Fantasy XIII. I also appreciated how before the fight the characters would have dialogue appropriate to what was going on in the story. It is something I wish I could use for quick battle as I like when the characters have some interaction before fighting, but unfortunately, it is not an option. I thought it was a nice touch and really brought back feelings of nostalgia, but, with a game like this, feeling giddy over these moments is bound to happen a lot. One final note on the story mode is the inclusion of a world map and I have to say, I do not really care for it. It just seems completely unnecessary and it feels like it is there to artificially extend the story while you are just running around the landscape, going from gateway to gateway, occasionally fighting enemies, or you are just getting treasure. To be frank, it is boring and in a game that is mostly about fighting, slowing down the pace like this just gets frustrating. If there was more to do on the map, it might not be as bad, but it is quite barren of anything to really accomplish. I do not think it is a waste and I appreciate the fact they chose to put it in, but I cannot say I would miss it if it was not there. While the fighting in Dissidia 012 is mostly the same as its predecessor, the new additions made greatly improve upon what was present and makes it even more complex. The first of these additions is the assist system and while it was something I was skeptical of at first, I found myself using it more and more and once I found that right assist for my characters, it makes the combat even more enjoyable and downright satisfying. No longer do characters who have difficulty connecting with their HP moves have to wait for the precise moment to defeat their foes. All in all, I found it to be a very satisfying addition that, while it takes some getting used to, really rewards you once you get it down. The other big addition is obviously the new characters. I am pleased to say they all blend in with the rest of the cast wonderfully and are all unique since they each have their own gimmicks. For example, Lightning is able to shift between the commando, ravager, and medic paradigms straight out of Final Fantasy XIII. It is important to remember which one you are in and which one best fits your situation requiring you to think a bit while you are fighting. Each of these gimmicks ensures that no two characters play alike and once you understand how they play, you can really bring out their true potential. That being said, it is difficult for me to say which of the new characters I have had the most fun using. Laguna is just a blast to use with all of his guns and just being over-the-top with some of his moves(he calls his ex-burst the greatest attack ever). I was not sure about Yuna, but her summons are very satisfying to use and while they just appear out of magical glyphs, in the heat of combat, it is not something you are going to concern yourself with. I was worried she might be a little slow, but she has her fair share of quick moves to get out of pressure if need be. Admittedly, I have not used Vaan too much since I dislike the character, but from what I did use, I do not like his HP moves too much, but his brave moves are quite fun since he is constantly switching weapons and almost all of them seem to break through guard. Kain is another character that is just plain fun to use. After you connect with a move, his gimmick allows him to dash after the opponent to keep hitting them. The timing can be tricky, but once you figure it out, you will be racking up hits like crazy. Tifa is another character I was unsure about and was even more unsure about how to use her gimmick, which is feints. Basically, you can cancel out of her moves by hitting X before they connect, warp closer to the opponent, and then continue the move if you choose to. As you can imagine, you can really trick your foes with it. However, like Kain, the timing is tricky on some of her feints and takes some getting used to, but my experience with her has been a good one and find myself using her more and more. Finally, there are three hidden characters, I have not unlocked the last one yet, but the other two, Prishe and Gilgamesh, are very welcome additions. Prishe is a brawler like Tifa is, but she combos constantly. She can break opponents very easily, but when it comes to connecting with HP moves, she has a little trouble. That being said, I found myself beating opponents into the wall with nearly every move she has and I cannot deny that I did not smile in satisfaction. Gilgamesh, while I am sad DiMaggio did not do his voice, is incredibly fun to use. His gimmick is that he just pulls one of 8 weapons each time he attacks and as you would expect, some weapons are more effective than others. Some of his moves are very comical like when you use his missile move, he pulls a giant missile out of nowhere(complete with sound effects out of a cartoon) and sends it at the opponent. I have used him a lot and loved it everytime. However, my first experience with him will always be the most memorable as the first time I used his ex-mode, I pulled 8 excalipoors. Fear my 1 barrage! I found myself really enjoying the new stages as well except for Orphan's Cradle, but thankfully, you are not put on that stage too often. I do tend avoid that stage as much as possible kind of like how I always tried to avoid Planet's Core and Ultimecia's Castle in the previous game. These stages are not that much fun to fight on and it is no fun having to fight your opponent and the stage at the same time. That being said, my favorite new stages would have to be Empyreal Paradox, Phantom Train, and Prima Vista. They are not the biggest stages or the most open, but they are quite fun to fight on and besides, smashing the chairs on the train never gets old. However, if there is one thing that still annoys me about this game is the AI. It is not that I find it too hard, but I just find the AI annoying. Any stage that has streams of light, like Planet's Core, your foe seems more content to just surf around the stage the entire time while you get stuck chasing them all over. It seems they think the war between the gods should be settled by surfing. There are other times where I found the AI does incredibly stupid things like making no attempt to dodge some of your moves. I cannot tell you how many times they walked right into a megaflare. I found it does take some challenge out and it can get frustrating at times, but I never found myself getting to the point where I did not want to play anymore. One more tidbit that I found annoying and something that is carried over from the previous game is the camera. Sometimes it cannot focus on your character properly and for lack of better phrasing, it just seems to have a seizure. In the heat of the action, this can get very annoying fast, but fortunately, it does not seem to happen that often. The sound on the other hand, is great. I simply love most of the remixes of some classic Final Fantasy songs. The arrangement of Force Your Way from Final Fantasy VIII is simply fantastic and it is definitely one of my most used songs in a fight. Another one I tend to choose a lot is Esper Battle from Final Fantasy XII. It is amazing what just adding drums to a song can do for it. There are some songs that I am indifferent toward, like the J-E-N-O-V-A arrangement, but I feel that is because I would have loved to have the version from Advent Children in instead as it is my favorite version of it, but alas, I suppose I cannot have everything. When it comes to voice acting, I find it is either hit or miss. You are either going to like the voices or you are not, but some are definitely better than others. Kefka's voice actor is one I really enjoyed and almost all of his lines had me laughing. I really wish he would have showed up in every scene. I was worried about Laguna's voice actor at first as he is one of my favorite characters, but his grew on me and I am satisfied with his, but if there is one that I am still not sure on, it is Kain's. I do not know, but having played Final Fantasy IV, I did not think that would be the voice you would want to go with. It is not that I hate it, but I do not really like it all that much either. One thing I will say though, Keith David as Chaos is easily my favorite voice actor in this game(was in the last too). He really brings the character to life and there is just something about his voice that is alluring. The game is really much of the same as the first one, but there is just so many other things to do in the game, such as making your own stories and the labyrinth mode. It will likely keep you occupied for a very long time if you enjoyed the first one, I know I will likely be putting in over 100 hours into this one as well. It is slow going at first, but as you progress, the game rewards you more and more. I definitely recommend trying it out. - Hiryuu

Greetings everyone! I know it has been awhile since I gave a proper update. I am not quite good at keeping others updated on what I am doing, but I would like to at least try to write more. :P Anyway, I will now tell you all what I have been up to for the past month or so. Gaming I finished and reviewed 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors(which you can find here). I must say, this game was worth every penny and really glad I played it. It was truly an amazing experience and I hope to see more games like this in the future. I highly recommend it. I have also picked up Marvel vs Capcom 3, Okamiden, and Tactics Orge. Sadly, I have only played MvC3, but I intend to get to the others at some point. My impressions of MvC3 are really mixed. The gameplay is top notch and it is really a blast to play, but unless you like playing online heavily or have a group of people to play this with, there is really nothing to do. I find the lack of modes in this game simply astounding. For a $60 game, I expect more than a short arcade mode(with really disappointing endings), mission, and training mode. I have played some multiplayer and my biggest question is, where is the spectator mode? It is really boring being in a lobby with 4+ people and you have to sit there and watch license cards bounce off of each other. I should not have to wait over 10 minutes just to play again. If spectator mode cannot be done, just pair the others up who are not playing so they have something to do. It is just all baffling to me and the whole product just feels...unfinished. Honestly, I often hear that it is a fighting game, so what do you expect, but, it is the year 2011. I think we should expect more from our games. All-in-all, if you are heavily into online or have others to play with frequently, definitely check it out cause it is a blast to play. If not, you may want to wait awhile. I also decided to jump into Tales of Phantasia for the GBA and my biggest problem with it is the random encounter rate. My God is it high. The game uses an action oriented style for its fights so you would think that the encounters would go by quickly, but, this being a port, they do not. I have watched videos of other versions of this game and they go by so much more smoothly compared to this version. They are just so slow and you just get worn down fighting the same 2-3 enemies over and over. That being said, it is not all bad. The battle system is still fun and while I am not enjoying it as much as I have with other games, I wanted to at least give it a chance because I was nearly ready to drop this game. One final note on this game, the translation in this port is terrible. Remember kids, ragnarok = kangaroo. :lol: Finally, I have just picked up Dissidia 012 and I love it so far. So be on the look out for impressions later this week. :) Anime Not much to say in this department except that I have been watching Romeo X Juliet. I have to say, I really like how they put their own twist on things. I do not remember too much from the original story as it has been awhile, but I remember the basics. I also like how they inserted a William Shakespeare character into the anime itself. If you enjoyed the play, at least check this out. I think it is worth the watch. Books I got back into reading books again and so glad I did. I recently finished Naomi Novik's Tongues of Serpents and Sun Tzu's The Art of War. The former...well, let me just say I enjoyed the previous books more. I felt this one was too short and quite frankly, boring compared to the others. That and it just sort of concluded when things were getting interesting and it just felt like an interlude between bigger books. Needless to say, I am eager to see if the next book will be an improvement. The latter was just something I have been meaning to read for a very long time and I finally just sat down to read it. It is not a long book and if you have the time, I would certainly recommend it as it does have useful info in it. Not to mention, it is really interesting to note that a lot of what is in there you can pick up from video games. :P As far as books I have recently purchased goes, I have picked up the following: - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - The Call of the Wild by Jack London - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Norris - The Complete Plays of Sophocles by Sophocles - Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis I picked up the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo because I had watched movie way back in September and I really liked it, so I wanted to read the series of books before I watched the rest. I have just started the book about a week ago and it has completely drawn me in. :P The others I picked up because Amazon was having a three for four sale. I got Call of the Wild because I remember Siberian talking about it and it seemed like an interesting read. A Game of Thrones I bought because it is a series I have heard a lot about, but just never got around to. I guess I will find out what all the buzz is about now. When it comes to historical figures, I like Napoleon and Teddy Roosevelt. Unable to find anything of interest on Napoelon, I went with this book on Teddy. I am really looking forward to that one. Now the next one is just something I enjoy reading. What can I say, I enjoy the tragedies. :P Finally, the last one is another I have been meaning to get for a long time. I am sure I will keep you all updated on how I feel about all of these books when I get around to reading them. :P Sigging Of course, what would one of my blogs be without sigs to show off. :P I am pretty happy with how these came out, especially the Trish one. Check em out: Thanks for reading and see you around! ~ Seiryuu-

When I was a younger lad, I can remember taking a hike on a trail with a friend of mine, his father, and a few of his brothers. I recall having much fun with them; whether it was roasting marshmallows over our fire or simply lighting firecrackers for amusement, we enjoyed ourselves. There was nothing too special about the journey itself and admittedly, I do not remember too much except for bits and pieces of conversation or almost stumbling a few times. Other than that, the memory that sticks with me the most was that it was an enjoyable experience, from beginning to end, and is something I would certainly enjoy doing again. I mention this because I find that I often get in my own way in my own hobbies and activities, often taking them more seriously than I should. I get angry at myself for minor errors and expect the best results. Oftentimes when I finish a piece of writing or a signature, the first things I notice are the errors I have made. I do not even give myself a chance to revel in the success of completing it. I place too much concern on the end result and barely view it as a stepping stone to getting better or really appreciating experience. In relation to the hike we took, what was my original goal? It was to give myself happiness and joy. I was not practicing to be the next person to reach the top of Mt. Everest, but went on the trip due to it sounding interesting and fun. Could you imagine if I had taken this too seriously? The memory that would have stayed with me would not be the experience, but the end result of how I should not have been so tired nor should I have almost fell so many times or the fact I did not have anything interesting to say. Silly criticisms I know, but those would have been the prevailing thoughts if I treated it like I do with my other hobbies. Happiness is the true goal of what you are doing. Results will come with time. Treat it as an experience, not as a means to an end. Much like the times I stumbled, learn from your errors to ensure they do not reoccur too much, if at all. If you find your own criticisms are in your way, treat it like those pieces of conversation, remember the parts that matter and leave the rest go. Do not let it hamper the journey. It is important to remember to do things for you, to have fun, to enjoy the experience, and to not take it too seriously.

This past week...well, was not the best. I finally finished up and have done everything I wanted to in ZHP. I even decided to review it which you can find here! It was truly a great game and never thought I would play it as much as I did. There was just so much to do and enjoy, but you can read about it there. :P After ZHP, I decided to finally start playing 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors. This game was really light on the gameplay side, but it made up for it with a really complex and fantastic story. It always kept you guessing and it kept you feeling paranoid throughout most of the game. The game was just downright chilling at points. I intend on reviewing it at some point so keep your eye out for that. I then decided to pop in Ace Combat Zero. After my first session with it, just something feels off. It just does not have the same feeling 4 or 5 did. However, this is only after one playing, so that may change. One other thing I love and hate is a new mechanic they added in this. It is sort of a morality meter. You can go and destroy civilian targets or you can leave them be. Also, with some enemies you fight, you just simply neutralize them instead of destroying them. They are still alive, but they are just no longer a threat to you. I like the part of targeting civilians or not, but I dislike not being able to destroy all enemies. Granted, I can destroy the neutralized targets, but that is just wasting ammo. It just takes away the satisfaction of shooting down an enemy that has been on your tail half the mission. Overall, still having more fun with this one than I did with 6. It is also great that my wingman actually seems useful. Yay! In the world of sigging, I have made 3 versions of the same sig based off of a similar idea. I thought they all came out alright, but I am not sure which version I like the most. :lol: I also intend on making 4 more for the characters I will likely be using in MvC3 so I should be busy with that for a few days. :P Anyway, here are the sigs: Now for the crappy news. I would rather not get too into this as it is depressing, but...my cat that I had for 15 year died on the 9th. I have been talking to people about it and just trying to keep my mind off of it, however, it only works for so long. It is going to take me awhile to get used to her not being around anymore or having her on my bed almost every night. I miss her dearly, but she gave me 15 fantastic years. R.I.P. Comet. Thank you all for reading! ~Seiryuu-

Just have not felt like giving a proper update in awhile. I hope your 2011 is getting off to a great start and hopefully things stay positive for you all. :) I have been watching a bunch of anime and doing a lot of gaming so let us just dive right into that! When it comes to anime, I have gotten through a bunch lately. I finished Gurren Lagann awhile ago but never said anything about it for some reason. Anyway, when it comes to ridiculous, over-the-top actions, this one is a contender. Some of the fights were insane, but I am not saying this is a bad thing as I quite enjoyed the anime. What made the anime great was the characters. It was good to see how they developed as the series went on and it was just fun to watch. I strongly recommend it. Next up is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. I absolutely loved how dark and cryptic this anime got. Some of the violence is downright gruesome, but honestly, do not let that turn you away from it. There is an excellent plot and lovable characters to be found here. It typically restarts all the events in different arcs, but not much of it will make sense until near the end. However, the next season Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai does a much better job of explaining it all. I would talk about it more, but I do not really want to spoil anything. I have almost finished the last set of OVA's known as Rei, but my absolute favorite out of these would probably be Kai. It was just so enjoyable and the characters were just awesome the whole way through. However, as you would expect, I did come out of the series with a favorite and naturally, I made a sig of her: One finally tidbit on this series, ni and Kai's OP are some of my favorites out there. I can listen to both of them for hours and really reflect both seasons perfectly. Now when it comes to gaming, ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs Darkdeath Evilman officially owns my soul. I have not stopped playing this game since I bought it. I beat the story of the game, but there is still so much to do. I am currently working my way through the mastery dungeons. I have gotten through 2 of them so far without much issue. I also unlocked all the Dengeki characters as well, but I have not switch since I got Horo. :P I got two more mastery dungeons to go and then I will have done everything this game has to offer. I put 100 hours into this game so far. I do not remember the last time a game ate up so much of my life. :lol: In spite of this, I have also purchased a bunch of games as well:

• Ace Combat: Zero
• Darksiders
• Fight Night Round 3(brother wanted it)
• Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
• Resonance of Fate

I am sure I forgot a few, but I got a lot to play in addition to bunch to look forward to this year. The most I am looking forward to right now are Dissidia 012(Kain, Laguna, and Gilgamesh all in the same game!?), Marvel vs Capcom 3, and Okamiden. I am not sure if I will have time or money to play all of them! Finally...still have not found a job, but living in this area kind of hampers that. There is not much in the way of anything past physical labor here. Not that I feel I am above it, but I do not want to come out of college just to end up a janitor. :S I think that is all I got. Hope you have a good Sunday. Take care! :) ~Seiryuu-

Here is my entry! Clue 1: Van Nguyen Clue 2: Jody Robinson Clue 3: Guy Cocker Clue 4: Matthew Gravish Clue 5: Chris Watters Clue 6: Kevin VanOrd Clue 7: Aaron Sampson Clue 8: Alex Sassoon Coby Clue 9: Wernher Goff Clue 10: Jan Heir Clue 11: Randolph Ramsay Clue 12: Andrew Park Clue 13: Mark Walton Clue 14: Justin Calvert Clue 15: Sophia Tong Clue 16: Kurtis Seid Clue 17: Giancarlo Varanini Clue 18: Justin Porter Clue 19: Ryan MacDonald Clue 20: Tyler Winegarner Clue 21: Maxwell McGee Clue 22: James Kozanecki Clue 23: Frank Adams Clue 24: Sarju Shah Clue 25: Shaun McInnis Clue 26: Ricardo Torres Clue 27: Tom Magrino Clue 28: Dan Chiappini Clue 29: Homer Rabara Clue 30: Takeshi Hiraoka Clue 31: Tor Thorsen Clue 32: Jim Maybury Clue 33: Carolyn Petit Clue 34: Tom McShea Clue 35: Dan Mihoerck Clue 36: Jane Douglas Clue 37: Brendan Sinclair Clue 38: Laura Parker