*wheeze* *cough* It's sure is spacey when you're stuck in a coffin for too long. Uh, what year is it now? What timeline is this?

2015? Do we now have robot cows, ninja cyborgs, and adaptive camouflage ? What do you mean not yet? I mean it's 2015. This things should've already exist a year ago. So what about PMCs? The Beauty and the Beasts. The world burning in their wake. ISIS? What's that? You mean the Egyptian goddess, right?

Leftmost guy: In the shadows. I move silently.

2nd guy(from left): You have the audacity to post this pic infidel.

3rd guy: I bet no one's gonna catch me sleeping w/ this mask on.

4th guy: Can't believe he just said that.

The Whited One: ..... ( Is he stupid? He look stupid. )

5th guy(from center, to right): Imbecilic infidel.

6th guy: Whuuut? I can't hear what he said.

7th guy: *smirk* I get your humor dood.

Right-winged wallflower extrimista guy: .... ? ..... !

Ok........ But please tell me that at least someone had already invented the Solid Eye.

Hmmm. Close enough.

Anyways... It's been a "while" since I wrote a blog.

And I'm here to talk about....as the blog title suggest....Animal Crossing: New Leaf on the 3ds.

As we all know, video games is a form of entertainment but there are times that it immerse us in deep ways that it feels that we're a part of whatever world the game has put us in. I wouldn't say that about Animal Crossing: New Leaf but it does really had a profound emotional effect on me. And that is guilt. It's been months since I played it. And in that course of time, I've been through Hel, to Vekta, and back. I've revisited Grozny Grad too many times. Reapplied to some mercenary outfit in Costa Rica. Gotten out through some cruise ship named Zenobia. Then traveled through Echo Town. And just when I thought I'm ready to return home to this quaint little town, I'm overwhelmed with guilt. A guilt that's been nagging me for months. I know all I have to do is pick up the game and make amends but I just can't. The painful memory of losing virtual friends in the past keeps refreshing from my mind. And the guilt of neglecting the town I've been given the responsibility to take care of. It's been a while since a game make feel this way. And it was some pet sim called tamagotchi.

I know I kinda sound melodramatic. And I know I'll get over it. I usually do. But when I pick what games to play in my backlog and end up seeing this game even with just a glance, it gets me thinking about it. Part of the reason I wrote this blog right now. And maybe it's (let's just call it) a gamer's sense of duty. Like a senseless but rewarding duty to a 100% game completion or at least 80% tops. The reward is itself, the accomplishment. Or just for the simplest reason to just play a video game. I've spent and wasted a copious amount of time grinding in RPG games and Odin damn it if I'm not going to spend at least 10 minutes(20 mins. maximum) maintaining a town. I've been contemplating in selling this game and erasing my save file just to be done about it but I have not the courage to do so. So right now I'm keeping it. Hidden away. And maybe in the near future nostalgia will give me courage to play this game again. And I'll be able to begin this game just like a new leaf.

Oh god, that sounded cheesy.

Gamespot. Movies. Games. Etc.

It's been a while since I blog and considering that only a few still keep blogging here, I would like to say GS sucks. I know that I'm a bit too late for that but still we are still here. Hoping for the day that GS will get better. *sigh*

So here's a blog anyways. There's nothing to do but to keep blogging even if it is unsignificant now.

About Gamespot. GS has a lot of bugs to fix. The latest that I noticed was the disappearance of the reviews. I would not like to think that this is the last straw but the lack of real improvement on GS so far is certainly discouraging. I signed up on GS so that I could just put up a review but the blogging community made me stay for 4 years here. I know that some of you guys still post blogs and it's good that you're steadfastly still doing it. But it isn’t the same as before. We've lost some of our prominent bloggers here. Some moved on. Some in hiatus. Some, maybe both?

I have a love/hate affair with Unions but now that it's gone, I miss it. Where the hell would I discuss my obsession with MGS to other like-minded individuals - definitely not in the forums. Just no. Not there. They'll stone me to death because they'll think I'm a blind, crazy, stupid Kojima-fan. Although, it's a good place for trolling around.

Anyways, I started signing up to GiantBomb. Same as GS. Blogs, review, the whole works. Can't say that I liked it there. Hate the stacks among other things. Looks like GS patterned theirs from GB. I'm still looking for greener fields.

Movies. Two movies that's been recently on my mind is Snowpiercer and Miracle on Cell 7.

On Snowpiercer. A Chris Evan starrer set in a post-apocalyptic world. Earth has frozen over and the human survivors are living on a train that circumnavigate the world. Sounds ludicrous, right? The title is also somewhat funny, if you know what I mean and if you're humor is as low as mine. But it's kinda decent, almost to the fine line that I would like to call it great. Story is very much straightforward as the cramp setting gives so much little room for a heavy-handed p ot. But the straightforwardness of it all makes it pretty much badass. Snowpiercer, tee-hee :D

On Miracle on Cell 7. There's a full movie on youtube(it's on the link above). It's a Korean movie about a mentally-challenged man wrongfully accused of murder. He is sent to prison while his very young daughter is sent to an orphanage. Not to spoil as much but it's funny and very heart-warming.

Games. Recently been playing hard on the 3ds. One thing I noticed about the RPGs is that there's a lot of freedom to tweak the game's settings nowadays. Perhaps the most noticable is the ability to change difficulty anytime in a single playthrough. Etrian Odyssey, SMT IV, and even Bravely Default has followed suit. Guess it's the new gaming style nowadays. The first three EO titles’ default difficulty was what you expect from normal difficulty ;D. But I gotta admit that I lowered the difficulty on Etrian Odyssey: Untold. Got tired of grinding for the 5th stratum boss. And I felt guilty about it. But it's a pleasure since I'm not stuck and am now on the 6th stratum playing in standard. So, it's sort of a guilty pleasure. Although, I have vowed not to do that again in EO IV. So far, so good in IV.

And with this I would’ve liked to discuss about the nature of games giving too much hands on gamers(too much handholding) but I’ll leave it for now. But here’s the preview:

iamhardcorexpert: why can’t you just NOT change the difficulty and play it like a man? You don’t belong here, you pussy. casual’s that way.

me: the temptation is great.

iamhardcorexpert: weak, gtfo you loser.

me: the temptation is great.

iamhardcorexpert: you disgust me, casualry.

me: the temptation is great.

iamhardcorexpertmerkabah: poor human, sin has tortured you for so long. i’ll grant you salvation with the souls of the dark. here, you’ll understand the life of hardships and what it is meant of your existence.

me: what you mean? no want dark souls. temptation is great. is good. me want to live easy.( reached lvl cap. promptly change the settings to hard)

iamhardcorexpertbadassnamelookscoolbutlameboss: pretender! infidel! burn in the fires of hell!

me: meh

Etc. It is late summer here and it is freaking hot. 34C is already hell on earth.

The setting takes place on some desolate planet in a distant future. No man's land.

An avian scavenger can be seen flying not listlessly as it seems to have found its purpose.

It sees a human hand jutting out of the rock and starts to peck at it.

Then, rather predictably, the hand sprung to life and proceed to choke the life out of the pesky intruder.

Gaak. Gaak. Gaak. Gaak.

Once more. Gaak. Gaak. Gaak.

It was the The Hand. With its new movie called, The Hand From Outer Space.

Just kidding.

.smirk.

It was riddiculously no other than.......Dan Dan Dan Dun.......RIDDICK.

Forgive me as I try to sound like a professional author trying to write a serious novel. It's rather bare and amateurish. But grim and awesomness is the feeling that I get when I watched the new Riddick movie opening scene. That is to say, I like the series.

To sum up the movie without spoiling too much, RIDDICK is very much like PITCH BLACK(the first Riddick movie). The general story is identical. The criminal anti-hero is stuck on a harsh planet with every living being wanting him dead. It's definitely PITCH BLACK v2.0. ******Just some minor spoilers ahead******

But to percieve the film just like that definitely brings it a great disservice. If you look at it this way, Riddick is back in his element as a fugitive. Having just shed his robes off from the last outing, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. Here, he is shown how much a survivalist he is. He is a natural predator. The movie is pretty much lighter than the previous two since Riddick is able to show his soft side. There's more to him than killing people. There's also humor instilled even if it's a little bit sparse. And then, there's the locker scene and the ghost scene. Awesome. That's the word I can say straight through(too lazy to find an elaborate one).

The rest of the cast generally brings something to the plot(which I'm not sure what the hell I'm talking about). While some serve mainly as Riddick's victim or cretin food or worse, as props, there is one that is related to his past. So, a test of a man's true nature abounds. PITCH BLACK, with a twist.

And it wouldn't be a movie of survival, backstabs, and pitch-black esque without a third party. And they're the one living on the planet that Riddick is in. Addind them to the fray is a weak and tired proposition. As if you can't get even pitched more into the black. But hey, whatever makes the movie. There's an intense sequence of them in the early scenes though.

So there, RIDDICK borrows some key aspects from the first movie but hey it's the third one already. And there's definitely more to come. Perhaps, the return of the necromongers. But then again, RIDDICK is set in the whole universe where the center of it is Riddick. So any story could happen. But I may be just dreaming though.

Went to a new video game shop since my old one closed down and guess what? They've been selling GBA games for a very cheap price! Way back then it costs around 10-30 USD which was more than I can afford. I had to save a month's worth of school allowance to be able to purchase a game. And now, I am able to play games I've missed before. Yesss!!! Which reminded me of those years playing in the GBA.

Since I'm posting about my top 5 GBA games, might as well post my top 5 in other gaming platforms. It's not necessarily arranged in order.

Gameboy Advance. Aaarghhh, there are so many but I had to settle with 5 just to be fair.

1. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. My first experience with characters permanently dying and probably my very first strategy game(I can't recall which is truly my first but this is what I remembered so far). A friend lent his copy to me and I fell in love with it.

2. Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Marked the golden age of the Gameboy Advance. Well, probably not. I just like to play with words. Remembered waiting for this sequel to hit in our shores. Obscure class system but a good GBA RPG nevertheless.

3. Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. A little bit on the short side but an adventure game that anyone could possibly enjoy. How can you possibly not like LoZ?

4. SRT: Original Generations 2. I love mechs so it's given. It's an upgraded sequel.

5. FFT Advance. The very first game that made me aware that I could spend more than hundred of hours playing a game. I mean, WTF? Did I really spend that so much time?

Special Mention(hehe): Advance Wars, TO: Knights of Lodis, M&L: Superstar Saga, Harvest Moon: FoMT, SN: Swordcraft Story 2, Castlevania HoD/AoS, Solar Boy Django, Pkmn Emerald, FF6 Advance, FF DoS

NDS.

1. Etrian Odyssey 3. A hard series to beat but watching each of my characters painstakingly get stronger both individually and as a unit is an accomplishment worth more than any game can offer.

2. Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Such a great game. Nintendo needs another one in the 3ds, perhaps? I can't believe they've forgotten this one.

3. Castlevania: Order of Ecclessia. It's an enjoyable platform game. Much better than Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin IMO.

4. Radiant Historia. Time-traveling has been done before in games. And this one is as much as fun. I never get to finish this one though. I got lost in the whole timeline events after stopping to play this for a month.

5. Dragon Quest IX. A great RPG. I swear I'll find time in picking this one up again. Someday. I just got sidetracked.

PSP. <-- Got me sidetracked.

1. MGS: Peacewalker. Gave the PSP a royal treatment. High production value. Thank you, Kojima and everyone behind its development.

2. SMT: P3P. The main character's ulterior motive is to befriend NPCs to unlock powerful Personas for own use. What an evil genius plan. It's totally insidious! :D An enjoyable rpg involving myths, demons, dating, school, and impending doom.

3. Tactics Ogre: LUCT. A wonderful mess. It has an unconventional leveling system but still a good strategy game. Another episode from the Ogre Battle Saga. It's rich in character history(Alphonse Loheur a.k.a Lanselot Tartaros for example) but it definitely needs more titles to the series. Just think of Game of Thrones. It's something like that.

4. GTA: VCS. Presenting GTA in the palm of your hands. 'Nuff said.

5. BlazBlue. I remember when I used to play this kind of games and then had my left thumb skin's peeled off and I called it quits. Years later, this became a welcome re-entry for me in the world of highly insane d-pad sliding and button presses technical fighting games.

PC. When it comes to PC gaming, FPS reigns supreme.

1. Counterstrike. My first entry to the world of FPS. I usually skipped class just to play this one. Source then came and was technically better.

2. Battlefield 2. A great multiplayer experience after Battlefield Vietnam.

3. Halo. Another good FPS multiplayer. Only this time it's sci-fi.

4. CoD: Black Ops. Call me old-fashioned but nothing beats handling a FAL without those reflex/laser sights shenanigan. And man, escaping in Vorkuta sticks close to my heart more than the drama in Modern Warfare. "For you Mason! Not for me...". *sob* Rest in peace...brother.

5. GTA. Complete the story or just ditch it and roam around the city doing apeshit stuffs. Gives you an almost total sense of gaming freedom.

PSOne. I came into the PS very late in 2009. It was a hand-me-down from a cousin of mine. But still, gaming knows no boundaries.

1. Suikoden 2. A good RPG. Doesn't offer something new but there are more than 100 of characters to catch..errr...recruit.

2. Front Mission 3. Mechs and strategy games are two things I love. And this one has both. A good strategy game that offers 2 different paths. There's a lot of customizing mechs, too.

3. Breath of Fire 4. Being a godly dragon is cool.

4. Silent Hill. The stuff of my childhood nightmares. Took long for me and my cousins to complete because somebody would get scared at one point and everybody would start pointing fingers of who's next in the controller.

5. Resident Evil 3. It's frightening enough being chased around by a zombie who mutters "STAAAARRRSSS".

Well, that's about it.

Black Fuse Down. White Fuse Down. Fusefall.

Anyways. New releases on the PSP. Seems Japan keeps churning out games for the handheld and then gets released outside(hurray!!) but I'm still waiting for FF: Type 0.

Here's two of them: Black Rock Shooter and Class of Heroes 2. And here's my first impressions on each one:

BLACK ROCK SHOOTER

I'm just into my first few minutes of playing this game and I foresaw that if I keep playing this game it's gonna get dull soon enough. Here's why: Enemies roam in map. Get near them to commence battle(ala Valhalla Knights style). My biggest problem with the battle is that you cannot move your character. Pressing the circle button will let you sidestep away from attacks. X is for blocking. And that's about as evasive as you can get. Feels more like a rail shooter like House of the Dead except it's in third-person. Graphics are ok but the landscape seems kinda barren. There's nothing to do except fight enemies and pick-up items. Still, it's too early to tell(or so I would say).

CLASS OF HEROES 2

Slightly better than the first but you still can't single out an enemy. Tsk. There are multiple races and classes to choose from. It's a great concept but needs very careful planning and a good online guide. Money is now pooled together, so hurraaayyy!!! But I still like EO way better though.

[post deleted]

Just another senseless thought.

If a person says this: "Trust no one.", should you trust what he/she says?

[post deleted]

Just asking.

Have you played a game and tried to unlock every hard-to-get item/character/extras and in the end when you use it/him/her you felt that the "supposed" reward was not worth having because you've already put a lot of time in the game which used to be fun but now bores the hell out of you?

Ok, sorry for the loooong question. My point is, you unlock a very cool powerful character which seems to be pointless because along the way(while en-route to unlocking this character) your other character(s) level up and is almost/more stronger than the newly unlocked character and you're basically finished with the game. Like, there's nothing left for you to do. I mean, it happens a lot not just in RPGs but also in other genre as well.

Just a thought for the day.

Used to play RE3: Nemesis on PSOne and Deadly Silence on the DS. And I can't help but compare it to RE4. Which made me think about the RE6 review here on GS.

Why 4.5? I never played RE6 but judging from its trailers it looks promising. 3 campaign stories. Leon, Chris, and Wesker's son(forgot his name, never did bother to search). But it received poor ratings here. Numerous flaws where pointed out but I think that why RE6 failed to live up to its reputation to some is because of its departure from the old RE's gameplay.

Let's look at RE3: Nemesis. I could also say something about RE2 too but since I didn't play it then I should base my topic about my experience with RE3. It was a nice action/horror game. They call it survival horror. And it is aptly subtitled Nemesis instead of Jill's Escape because most of the times I'm basically running away(or fighting it just to unlock a weapon) and trying to survive from the horror that Nemesis is. Hmm...they certainly put the horror in survival. If I played it again(considering the cd still works) I won't be as scared anymore because I know where he/it will show up. But damn, the first time I played it I was figuritavely(sure) wetting my pants.

Now at RE4. RE4 introduced us the comeback of the returning famed Leon Kennedy from RE2. It also changes the way RE is played. So no more fixed cameras. And the aiming system was a welcome change for me. I'd never thought they could pull it off in a 3rd-person shooter at that time. I could say it was a very bold move. But it left something behind- the "horror" part. Sure, playing it has often left my heart pounding but not from the fear of some mutated entities trying to kill/eat me but from the fear of screwing up which inevitably results in gameovers. The only time I was scared was being chased down by some freakish mutant-like and Spawn/Bane-like experiment with the ability to disappear. I heard that it's possible to kill it but I never did bother to try. My "Run for your lives!!!" moment.

Now, what would happen if RE4 still retained the gameplay mechanics as that of its predecessors? Hmm..if only we could travel back in time. We could be seeing a lot of possibilities. I know time travel doesn't exist(as of now), I'm just rummenating here.

I gotta admit that I liked RE4's gameplay but it's just one of those games that leaves me hollow. The mercenary mini-game and Ada Wong's adventure is fun but that's just it, a mini-game. Yes, I considered it as a mini-game. Is there any way that RE(post RE6) will still push this kind of gameplay without compromising what it originally has as a "survival horror" game?

I mean, forget about the cinematic action sequence and the hordes of infected to shoot. Show me some tone, that kind of chilly atmosphere that you can get by playing Amnesia or the first Silent Hill. I would like to see this kind in a zombie-themed game.