Viva Disgaea! (and other games)

Recently I’ve noticed a new useless habit I’ve developed.  I buy video games, although I haven’t been playing them much lately.  In the last month, my rationalization for such behavior was that with planning the wedding and working on my dress still, I simply had no time to play games, and would get to them when I could.  I have time now, so I’ve decided to start playing some again.

To that effect, I’ve started playing Disgaea 3 once again.  I figure I should probably try and finish a game that I’ve already started before I start on a new one.  At least until the end of next month, when the new Metroid game comes out. I imagine I’m about halfway through the story, but I quickly got stuck on a new map and will either level up to try to beat it, or look up what I should actually be doing to defeat this map.  I don’t really think grinding is the complete solution, although it’ll probably make the maps after this one easier for me to defeat.

As for portables, I finally found my copy of My Japanese Coach after digging around for it for nearly a month.  I know that’s not really “playing” but it also serves as a re-entry into my self-study of Japanese.  I looked into taking classes recently, but unfortunately they’re just too expensive to be an option for me right now.

I think once again I may plug my Playstation handle, look me up if you have a PS3!  My name there is Kaeryo.  I’ll be happy to friend you, and maybe even play a game competitively or cooperatively, although I suck, so you might keep that in mind.  I was pretty startled recently to find that I friended a coworker on PlayStation Network, and we have absolutely NO games in common!  Not a single one!  I have some odd taste in games though, so I’m sure that accounts for most of it.  Plus, I don’t buy most new games until a year or two later when they’re much cheaper.  Pretty much the only games I buy new are either Disgaea or Metroid.

Pac-Man the Eater of Souls

Funimation has been streaming a show on its website that I have really taken to. It’s a long overdue reimagined adaptation of the classic 80’s video game Pac-man, when translated into English is “Eater of Souls”, or more commonly known as, “Soul Eater”.

It follows the adventure of our favorite yellow circle as his girlfriend, Ms Pac-Man (no relation as far as I can tell) is kidnapped and taken into the “Society of Souls”, or “Soul Society” for short. There he evades capture from the spirits, or “ghosts” as they are sometimes called, all while trying to collect all the “Pac-dots” he can eat, and perhaps any fruit or pretzels that might come his way.

At one point he collects one of the four coveted “Power Pellet” and is then able to take on the main four Ghost/Souls, Shadow the Blinky, Bashful the Inky, Pokey the Clyde, and finally the leader, and toughest of the four ghosts, Speedy the Pinky. The problem is this power is limited and he goes back to being the one chased. Fortunately he has three more that he can get that will once again restore him back to being able to take them down.

Now mind you I may have dozed off during a good chunk of the series so I might have a few details wrong. In fact, I might be confusing this whole thing and might not have remembered any of it correctly. Hmm, maybe I should go back and rewatch it while awake.

This is why Ericvonroyer is Evil

Taken from messenger conversation last night

sailorsamus: You should do that. You could use a new game to play. On the other hand, I have games I haven’t even opened o_O

Ericvonroyer: I bet you haven’t even started quest mode in Super Smash Bros.

sailorsamus: uh…. I’ll tell you what I DID start. WiiFit. I’m probably going to regret it tomorrow though.

Ericvonroyer: Nice distraction.

sailorsamus: Besides, you forgot the guide for Twilight Princess again.

Ericvonroyer: I did remember Fight Club though.

sailorsamus: yes you did.

Ericvonroyer: I’d rather you watch that.

sailorsamus: what. But Link is a bastion of manliness.

Ericvonroyer: he wears tights.

sailorsamus: well real manly men wear tights.

Ericvonroyer: And after Twilight New Moon, turning into a wolf and having “twilight” in the title doesn’t help.

sailorsamus:  : o  how dare you! ;^;

Priestess Evolution

The inspiration for this particular post comes from a comment made on my last post, with the pictures of the Disgaea Palm figure.  When I made that post, I realized to my dismay that I hadn’t made a category for Disgaea yet, which was shocking because I will tell anyone that Disgaea is my top game ever.  Although I honestly didn’t mean to buy the DS version, but the bundle was just too good a deal to pass up.

Anyway, one of my favorite features of the entire Disgaea series is the character designs done by Takehito Harada.  What’s even better is that the core group of selectable group members is pretty much the same through all three games with some additions and a few modifications.

Such as the priest.  I’ll admit, she was a pain to keep alive in Disgaea.  It seems the way to level characters was for them to actually kill enemies, and she didn’t spend her time killing.  So she died a lot for me

The next Nippon Ichi game that I own that she shows up in is Makai Kingdom (which I started, but then I paused to finish Disgaea 2 then start Disgaea 3….yeah I need to finish that sometime).  There’s quite a difference in her design, although she’s wearing the same dress.

Yep, her dress is lower cut and she has LOTS of cleavage.  Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you   This trend continues in Disgaea 2.

The fact that the same character types show up in various games and sequels is a big plus for me.  It’s nice to see familiar faces and little sprites starting off a new story.  On the other hand, I also love that the character designs DO change, even if it’s just a little bit, so it’s not just the same thing, but a little bit updated while still being familiar.  That simple fact is the biggest reason I love all 3 Disgaea games so much…the sequels retain characters and settings from previous games.  The priest in particular is at her best in Disgaea 3.  Seems like there’s experience given for using her healing ability, which really helps her not die so often.

Rock Band 2: Franz Ferdinand and Jimmy Eat World

Since I got paid this week, I splurged on a PlayStation card and bought some add-ons for Disgaea, Little Big Planet, and most importantly, Rock Band.

At the moment, what I spend the most money on in the Playstation Store happens to be more tracks for Rock Band.  Not all the tracks I purchased this time around have downloaded yet, but they should be by the end of the week, when I’ll be most able to appreciate playing the game, I hope.  This last week saw me all but exhausted every day, and my job’s not terribly physically demanding, just long and drawn out.

I did get to play two Franz Ferdinand songs, ‘Take Me Out’ and ‘Do You Want To?’ which are both fun, although I found ‘Do You Want To?’ to be challenging enough that I need to practice on it.  I also played Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Sweetness’ which I also found fun.  By the way, I tend to mostly (attempt) to play bass on hard mode.  I can do around 50% of the songs on hard on bass.  I need to play drums some more.

Until next time, I’ll be waiting for those new songs!

Little Big Planet

The last time I got paid, my roomate and I visited Nebraska Furniture Mart to look at possibilities for exercise equipment, which I feel I need, but I also don’t need enough to pay what Wal-Mart wants for theirs.  We had no luck there, since Nebraska Furniture Mart doesn’t sell exercise equipment.  Instead, I bought a workout DVD that I still haven’t unwrapped.  Ehehehe….

We also found that they had a special on PS3 controllers, and since I’m a big fan of cooperative play, I felt the need to pick up two more controllers so I’d have four.  Yay.   I also caved and bought Little Big Planet, which is the cutest game I have played in a while.

There is one aspect of the game that I really love: it’s just supposed to be happy fun.  No blood and guts, no senseless violence, just pure fun.  I do wish there were more games like this widely available.

Before you diss me for my opinion, let me lay down some facts for you: I DO play fighting games, and I DO play some games and watch some movies/television/anime with lots of blood and guts.  But I don’t honestly like that much.  It has it’s place, but I tend to think that it’s much too sensationalized in our media.

So I’ll propose a truce.  You let me have my innocent fun and I’ll let you have your blood and guts.  There’s no reason we can’t all be happy here.

If you play Little Big Planet or are on Playstation Network and would like another buddy, feel free to add me!  My Playstation Network name is: Kaeryo.