Rude awakening

For awhile, my cat had a habit of poking around in my closet at night when she got bored. There’s no door on it, just a curtain that she can easily get through, and she sometimes makes a lot of noise, messing around with the stuff I have stashed there. So, I recently stacked some boxes in front, to keep her out, which worked…for awhile. The other night, she somehow clambered her way over them, and woke me up. I get up, turn on the light in there, and as soon as she saw me, she seemed to know she’d done something wrong and tried to get out…and got stuck between one of the boxes and the doorframe. When I reached over to shift the box, she panicked, and in her flailing of paws, she tore several large gashes in my leg. Which brings us to today’s word.

laceration, noun – a rough cut or tear with ragged edges

Learned from: Half-Life (PC, Mac, Playstation 2)

Developed by Valve

Published by Sierra Studios (1998, PS2 version in 2001)

Remember back when Valve made games? Pepperidge Farms remembers. And honestly, Half-Life and Diablo were the main titles that got me into PC gaming back in the ’90s. While the roguelike nature of Diablo scratched my itch for fantasy, Half-Life just looked so much better than anything else in its genre. I’d played Wolfenstein 3D a little at a friend’s house, and Doom on my 32X (arguably the worst way to play it, since it wasn’t even the whole game), and they were fun, but Half-Life looked to be doing something different; it actually wanted to tell a story, with characters, and set pieces, and weapons located in places that made sense, rather than just floating around in the air.

I devoured every article and preview of this game I could get my hands on, leading up to its release, and when I finally got my hands on it, I wasn’t disappointed. From the opening, in-game credit sequence, to the unfortunate amount of platforming during the climax in Xen, I was engaged, making my way through hallways filled with hostile soldiers and three-armed aliens that shoot lightning. And all the while, my constant companion was the voice in my HEV (Hazardous Environment) suit, giving me constant updates on just how badly beaten up I was, from suffering minor lacerations to being dosed with high levels of radiation. Sure, in the end it all added up to how much health I had left, but it felt so much more immersive.

And after that early morning run-in with my cat, I can confidently say she’d give any headcrab zombie a run for its money.

This is Anji. Don’t let her coyness fool you; she is sharp.

Rwise fwom your gwave!

I really need to stop drifting away from this blog every so often. But, since this is the season associated with things coming back from the dead, I thought this was as good a time as any to get back to it. Happy Halloween, everyone!

necrolatry, noun – the worship of the dead

Learned from: Xenosaga: Episode 1 (Playstation 2, mobile, Nintendo DS, Wii)

Developed by Monolith Soft

Published by Namco Bandai (2002)

This is a strange name for a strange skill. I think only one type of enemy in the entire game uses it against you, and then only in tandem with another specific type of enemy. Necrolatry reverses how healing and damage work, on whichever character it targets, so healing skills hurt them, and attacks heal them. At first, this may seem rather pointless, until you realize the cleric-type enemies have no problem targeting your party with their healing skills, but it’s pretty hard for you to do damage to your own people, or try to cast healing on the enemy. It’s a neat trick–most certainly not a treat–and one I don’t think I’ve seen used in another RPG since.

Even KOS-MOS agrees that the fact that this series hasn’t gotten a remaster is the cruelest trick of all.

Back from the dead

A lot has happened since my last post–most of it work-related. We’ve had a couple people leave, others have been out sick, so I’ve been picking up extra shifts and training in new hires as a result. It’s not over yet, but things have slowed down for the moment–enough that I was able to get my first round of the Moderna vaccine today. Which brings us to today’s word.

ampoule, noun – a small, hermetically sealed glass or plastic vessel used to store solutions for hypodermic injection

Learned from: Silent Hill 2 (Playstation 2, PC, XBox, Playstation 3, XBox 360)

Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

Published by Konami (2001)

Silent Hill‘s equivalent of the first aid spray from Resident Evil, ampoules would bring you back to pretty much full health, no matter how close to death you were. Though, I really don’t know how any of the protagonists actually got the stuff inside into their systems, since you never pick up any syringes. Maybe they just drink it? Seems about as sanitary as anything else in Silent Hill: the town where you can get eye tetanus just by reading the street signs.

On the subject of the COVID vaccine though, it was painless. I got it about an hour and a half ago, and the worst side-effect I have so far is a tiny bit of an ache in my arm. So far, it’s not even as rough as the flu vaccine, which is great. Though, seeing just how many people showed up to get their doses this morning made me almost pine for the deserted streets of Silent Hill. A year of isolation hasn’t exactly helped my social anxiety.

Still, it feels good to be back posting here, so it won’t be long until the next one. Cheers, and sign up to get the vaccine if you haven’t already–it really isn’t bad at all.

We really are living in the end times

One of my favorite games of all time is Dokapon Kingdom: sort of like Mario Party crossed with an RPG. Billed as “the friendship destroying game,” it was released in 2008, and in the 12 years since, I’ve yet to introduce someone to it who hasn’t had a great time. And given that it’s been so long, I never thought we’d see a sequel…I was wrong, and I can only imagine that’s another sign that the world’s ending.

Last week, Dokapon UP! was announced for the PS4 and Switch, with a release date of December 10th in Japan (no Western release date yet, but I’ll import this game if I have to). For some reason, it’s a crossover title with Utawarerumono, a series I have virtually no knowledge of, but I’ll get acquainted, because I love Dokapon that much. So to celebrate, I wanted to go with one of the words that game has taught me.

kiviak, noun – a traditional food of the Inuits in Greenland, made from auks fermented in sealskin

Learned from: Dokapon Kingdom (Playstation 2, Wii)

Developed by Sting

Published by Sting, Atlus (2008)

Dokapon Kingdom is a game about earning as much wealth as you an, while screwing everyone else over. So, Monopoly, but actually fun. And like Monopoly, wealth isn’t just measured by raw money; property plays a big role, but so do things like side quests, and favors to the king. One of those types of favors is sending him food that you think he’d like–and the king hates kiviak. As luck would have it though, you can send gifts in the name of another player, meaning you can offload all the unpalatable tripe you want, and tank someone else’s value in the king’s eyes. The game is full of mechanics like that, but it’s all part of the fun. It’s no exaggeration when I saw Dokapon UP! is one of my most anticipated games, because this series deserves to continue.

Dokapon-UP_08-05-20

I have no idea who these characters from Utawarerumono are, but I’ll be spending the next few months learning.

The Truman Show

So, after digging through one of my notebooks, I realized I was wrong about two things in my last post: First, I did learn a word from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Second, I’d already posted about the word “druthers.” Oops. So, to remedy both of those things, here’s today’s word:

capote, noun – a long, hooded coat or cloak. Particularly one used by a matador during a bullfight

Learned from: Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Playstation 2, and soon to be on the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch)

Developed by Atlus

Published by Atlus, Ghostlight Studios (in Europe) (2003)

A running joke among the MegaTen community is that the Matador fight is where most newcomers to the series will throw up their hands and quit. I’ve never been entirely sure just why the series has had a skeletal bullfighter as a recurring (and iconic) enemy, but it’s just part of the charm.

But in all honesty, Nocturne (like many Megaten games) is not easy. I suppose that’s fitting, for a game that begins with the end of the world, and your character getting turned into a half-human, half-fiend hybrid, who has to survive all alone in the post-apocalyptic hellscape that follows. I could offer advice to make the journey easier–including the fight against the Matador–but A) I don’t want to spoil the experience for when the remaster comes out (because you really should play it), and B) I don’t know what Atlus is going to add/change. Because they always seem to tweak things to some extent when they re-release one of these.

capote

Go ahead and laugh. We’ll see if you’re still laughing after he’s wiped the floor with you for the tenth time, next year. The real Nocturne begins here.

Finally a little good news

Apologies for being away for so long. With my country apparently thinking COVID will go away if we pretend it doesn’t exist, unexpected home repairs, and oh yeah, my government throwing people into unmarked vans in a major city, I haven’t felt like I could be particularly entertaining lately. But today, Nintendo and Atlus dropped an update on Shin Megami Tensei V, and announced a remaster of SMT III: Nocturne, and as this is some of the only good news I’ve heard in awhile, I wanted to celebrate with getting back to this project. And while Nocturne itself didn’t teach me any words, other Shin Megami Tensei games did. So…

druthers, noun – one’s preferences or leanings regarding a subject

Learned from: Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (Playstation 2)

Developed by Atlus

Published by Atlus (2008)

Nocturne is great, but my own personal druthers are that I’d prefer another entry in the Devil Summoner side series. Apart from titles that are a mouthful and a half, the games in this branch of the MegaTen universe are noteworthy for being action RPGs, and for their unique settings. If “druthers” sounds like it hasn’t been used much in the past century, then it’s somewhat fitting that these games are set in 1920s Japan. To the best of my knowledge, that’s a time and place that hasn’t really been explored by other games–especially not with the trademark occult/supernatural spin that the MegaTen games are known for. Exploring late Taisho-/early Showa-era Japan as what boils down to a paranormal cop, investigating a race of underground bug people, with a talking cat who used to be your human partner will either instantly tell you why Atlus is one of my favorite developers out there, or it will leave you very, very confused.

Maybe we’ll get lucky, and get remasters of these games somewhere down the line too. Because if you want to track down the original PS2 releases, be ready to shell out over $100 apiece. I hope the remaster of Nocturne sells well enough for Atlus to give the Devil Summoner titles another lease on life, because they really were great games.

I’ve been living life, like I play Risk

You may have noticed that I dropped off the face of the Earth, recently, after the spate of live tweets I did for E3 (and I never did get to the Nintendo Direct, or PC Gaming Show). In the time since, I’ve found myself pulled in all sorts of directions at once, both at work and at home. They’re not all bad by any means, and a sizable portion of them, I brought upon myself, but between contemplating going for a promotion at work, learning an unfamiliar tabletop RPG so I could join a game a friend was setting up, trying to get people together for my own game I want to run, diving headfirst into my backlog of books and games, and finding a surprising number of evening events, I’ve spread myself thin. Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to today’s word.

druthers, noun – One’s leanings or preferences toward a subject.

Learned from: Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (Playstation 2)

Developed by Atlus

Published by Atlus (2008)

First off, yes, that’s the full title of the game. Whereas most of the Shin Megami Tensei (MegaTen for short) titles have turn-based combat, the Devil Summoner series set itself apart by being more action-oriented. It takes some getting used to, trying to manage the demons you’ve summoned on the battlefield, while keeping your own character alive, but it really grew on me, the more I played this series. And the action isn’t all that set it apart from its contemporaries.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen another RPG set in 1920s Japan, let alone one whose story features underground insect people, a talking cat who used to be your human partner, demons, and a spunky female reporter who gets caught up in the middle of it all. Throw in an amazing soundtrack, and a plot that tackles surprisingly deep subjects such as tradition vs. modernity, sacrifice, and self-preservation and you’ll start to understand why Atlus is one of my favorite game developers of all time.

As for the word of the day, at one point the protagonist gets asked what his druthers are, regarding one of the plot points. Choices matter in this game, and depending on how you approach things, you’ll get different endings–another hallmark of the MegaTen franchise as a whole. And to tie this all in to the intro, I need to consider what my druthers are, and narrow my focus regarding all the stuff I have going on. Because I know from (extensive) experience what happens when I keep myself spread too thin for too long, in Risk. But hey, realization is the first step and all that, right? See you next time!

devil_summoner_2

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a holiday about family, friends, and togetherness, but say the word, and the first thing that comes to mind for most people is probably food. So, it made sense to me to kick this whole project off with a food-based word.

coulis (noun) – Fruit or vegetables, pureed into a thick sauce, and used as a garnish

Learned from: Odin Sphere (PS2, PS4, Vita)

Developed by: Vanillaware

Published by: Atlus (2007)

George Kamitami seems to love two things in life, above all else: food and women. And he draws both subjects in exquisite detail. Playing a Vanillaware game is a feast for the eyes, as each one features jaw-dropping spritework, fluid animations, and character designs that are somewhat exaggerated, but very distinctive. Most of them also involve an emphasis on cooking.

Odin Sphere has several locations where your characters can rest and order food, all of which are run by Pookas (rabbit-like critters). One such place specializes in desserts, where you can order (among other things), ice cream with coulis, if you’ve collected the right ingredients on your travels. These regenerated your health, raised your stats, and if memory serves, most were drawn well enough that they looked like things you might actually want to eat in the real world.

I’ve yet to try a dessert with a coulis sauce, but it’s on my bucket list.