No Lives Left

I swore to myself that I wouldn't fall into the Wii U trap and buy a system at launch ever again, but I have to admit that I really  wanted to play Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch at launch. But I held fast in my resolution and did not camp out for this system nor did I make a effort to search for it. E3 wasn't the greatest, but it peaked my interest in the Nintendo Switch. Mario X Rabbids went from a laughable crossover to another strategy RPG I am dying to get my hands on. And just the tease of a new Metroid and a new Pokemon had me feeling like Nintendo was listening to their fans. Lo and behold, due to a beautiful person in my life, I was able to get a Nintendo Switch just a few months ago. And while I am extremely excited to have one, I'm still waiting for more games to come out. Since I already played Zelda on the Wii U, I saw no need to buy it again. A single-player experience doesn't necessarily need to be experienced again in slightly better ...

*Takes a deep breath* *Exhales* Ever had those summers in high school or middle school where you'd spend every day outside or at a friend's house without any responsibilities? You'd make plans to go on trips, you'd go to the beach, go camping, have bonfires, play video games, and watch movies. You'd bond with your friends on a daily basis, you'd spend most of your other free time getting better at sports or learning new things. There'd be that crush you'd oh so desperately wanted to get closer to, but just never got the chance (or maybe you did for some of you). I know I'm missing a lot of stuff, but what I listed is pretty much the ideal summer  vacation. And while most of us never got to do all  of those things, I'm sure most of us could relate to some of the things listed. But summer vacation (according to my nostalgia) was always a bittersweet feeling. You got the freedom to really do whatever you wanted, but the calendar was your en...

Anxiety. Despite all the praise that I can muster up for Persona 5, the game keeps me coming back to this one word. Even with the ever-so-slick style, the way all the game mechanics mesh with each other, and even the way the characters are written, I can't shake this feeling. There's just too much to do in Persona 5. Persona 5 comes from a long running Atlus RPG series: Shin Megami Tensei. While there are many mainline SMT games, Persona was an offshoot that focused on a modern and realistic Japanese setting with teenage slice-of-life mixed in. However, even the Persona series delved into worlds of fantasy. There are always two worlds you switched between: the real world, where you go to school and investigate the weird events going on around town, and the "other" world which housed the dungeons and combat. The general idea is to build relationships with people and friends in the real world to make your team stronger so that you can fight enemies in the ...

I've recently got around to watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. While I don't think the Harry Potter  series needs anymore world building than its already eight book long series, I had to find out what an American version of Harry Potter would be. But after watching, I couldn't help but think about how easily this could have been more of a Pokemon Origins type of film. Short(-ish) Review Fantastic Beasts, in my opinion, is not a good movie. It's maybe a fun spin-off, but in no way does it effectively establish a prequel universe of the beloved Harry Potter series. The main characters intention and goal is never fully realized or even really discussed until half way through the movie. The plot is clunky and doesn't really gel together. The plots dwells too long on the fact the damn suitcase gone missing. " Yes, Newt Scamander (the main character) has the exact same briefcase as this other dude trying to get a loan at the bank. ( Fight Club ...

If there is any franchise that I've talked more about on this blog besides Batman, it would be FromSoft's Dark Soul series. In fact, if FromSoft somehow acquired the rights to use Batman's likeness in Souls game, I would claim that to be the best game ever made before even playing it. Sadly, with the release of the newest DLC for Dark Souls 3, "The Ringed City," the franchise seems to be at a end. It doesn't look like the same team will be  working on a new one for some time.  And while I love the Dark Souls series (even the spiritual successor that got lost with time, Demon's Souls), I can't help but be glad that it's over. This may seem like a weird thing to say from a self-proclaimed rabid fan but hear me out. When Dark Souls came out, it redefined a genre by taking gaming back to its roots. Nothing was clear cut when it came to progressing through the game, and while it did cause some frustration to the uninitiated, the game co...

I've been hacking away at Breath of a Wild for about two weeks and three weekends now, so forgive the slight inaccuracy of the title. I think I'm nearing the halfway point of the game. There is still a good chunk of the world map waiting for me to explore plus many areas I need to go back to. Hyrule is too huge of a world for me to uncover every rock and find every shrine (it's definitely possible, but I don't think I will). The small annoyances in the game have started to affect my enjoyment of the game. I'm getting more frustrated with the inventory system rather than the weapon durability system. It's alright that weapons break frequently; the need for improvisation is great and keeps me engaged in combat. It's the constriction of weapon, bow, and shield slots that gets me. Increasing inventory space requires "Korok seeds" which you find by seeking Koroks in out of the way areas and by solving small puzzles in the overworld. The game giv...

It's been raining a lot in Southern California. For the past few months, it seemed like every weekend was subjected to some amount of rainfall. The rain was sorely needed because of the drought that California had been facing for the past decade. And man, did it show. The barren hills drank up every drop given to them, and the color green has been brought back into the palette of this semi-arid desert. Something about the way the sun hits the San Diego hills in the morning just makes driving through the meandering highways hard . And I don't mean it in a bad way like potholes and tourists who don't know how to use turn signals. I mean that every new turn brings another small wonder that begs for attention. Hills that used to be brown have changed color almost over night. It's like driving through a completely different city. Concentration on road becomes difficult when new life is everywhere around you. The roads and houses now seem out of place -- clashing with ...