Helpful References

Ever since I started working on this blog, I've been a lot more productive in creating things like images and such. So naturally, I have been using some tutorials on certain skills for Photoshop that I find online. This one being a very basic brush that you could download anywhere, probably, but teaches you how to make a sparkle-effect brush anyway.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/ps_sparkletrail.shtml

Again, another basic tutorial, and one that's very easy and quick to do to add rays of light shining down (or up, if you want, I suppose?) in your image. I like the amount of versatility these photoshop tricks and stuff have in making images, so it's very helpful to have.

http://bartelme.at/journal/archive/rays_of_light

Next, this isn't a Photoshop tutorial, but another site that I had recently used to get some references on some HTML and Javascript codes to use on this blog. They're some simple stuff, and some of them only work for Internet Explorer, which sort of disappoints me as as FireFox user, but I managed to find some codes that were worth noting.

http://www.htmlfreecodes.com/

It would also be great if I can find some tutorials that I've used in the past, back on my previous laptop, Lappy, which I don't have the .psd files for anymore. When I do, perhaps I'll post them here on this blog so that photoshoppers like myself can look at the hand-selected tutorials I've picked out to add neat ways to enhance their photoshopping skills. ... I say skills, but these are mostly beginner stuff, I guess. ._. Perhaps I'll eventually get to the point where I can do a lot more technical photo manipulations and some sketching using the mouse or something in the future. But until then, these tutorials will do.

Halloween Events 2011

I said in the previous post that I was only going to talk about one game per post now, but this post is more-so about what all the games I play seem to be doing for their Halloween event, and my thoughts about them for this year.

Kingdom of Loathing - This year's Halloween event is much like last year's Crimbo (Christmas) event, where it's in the clan dungeons, making it a more social, community cooperation event to get all the items for everyone participating. This time, it's a completely new dungeon instead of it being a part of Hobopolis like Elf Alley was. It takes place in the Haunted Sorority House. The girls of the sorority Sigma Lamda Upsilon Tau are all dressed up in sexy costumes... I guess.. ? but they all seem to be upset... and undead. They are all either one of the following: Zombie, Skeleton, Ghost, Werewolf, or Vampire. Defeating them can get you some unique items from them if the haunted house is spooky enough via closing the blackened windows, turning up the boombox that plays an assortment of spooky sound effects, and turning up the fog machine as well. Doing so will make them stronger, but by making them stronger, it unlocks more items for them to drop when defeated. Among them are some (awesome) grade booze, a potion that gives an effect that changes your avatar appearance into one of the 5 undeads, unique, high leveled equipments, and some others. Once all of the sexy, undead sorority girls have been slain, you can fight the Necbromancer, the boss, who will drop outfit pieces, a chef staff, the Necbronomicon skill book, and some consumables like most clan dungeon bosses.

I nearly missed out on all this content had I not found another clan to join, since our clan was .. also undead in that most people were inactive, and our leader was an automated bot that would farm every day, but not really be active either. Without the leader's authority to open the clan dungeon, there was no way to open this in our own clan, unfortunately. Thankfully though, Robot Porn invited me to participate in his clan dungeon, which allowed me to get all the items from this event. o_o And fairly quickly too, thanks to all the help he got from people with the vampire fangs from the Mr. Store.

Ragnarok Online - Well, our server has an event, but their event tends to cater more towards higher leveled characters it seems. I was able to do it, but it felt annoying doing it even with my level 94/50 Rogue. It didn't feel like it was particularly fun, unfortunately, but at least I did get a special backpack and wings from the quest. Not much else to say about it though, other than that the rates are currently 7/7/3 at the moment, apparently. Kind of doubtful I'd bother with RO during other Halloween events are going on.

Guild Wars - ... Honestly, I don't know if there's any special quests are going on right now. I haven't even really bothered to check. ._. I did notice that I was getting Trick or Treat bags from monster drops however. Apparently I've also been missing out on Festival Hats too, but.. not sure if I have the storage space for these things. But it IS a free hat, I guess.

League of Legends - I'm... not sure if this is a Halloween Event thing, or if it's because it's League of Legend's 2nd anniversary, but I seem to have some IP Boost active for 10 games. Also, Festive Fiddlesticks looks awesome IMO, and it's a Legendary skin, which is cool. But... yeah. I doubt I'd be buying any Riot Points until I get a job or something. D=

Team Fortress 2 - Well now, free items just for logging on, previous Halloween activities with the Horseless Headless Horseman, and a new one too? Feels like so much is going on, and I really need to get in on the action here. There's even a new comic to boot. I fought Monoculus briefly, but the eyes it shoots out have some pretty good splash damage. It's killed me quite easily, even though I've avoided any direct hits from it. ._. Also, the free items I got were the Seal Mask, and Imp Wings for the Pyro.

I haven't really gotten enough time to check out what other events there are going on, but I have a feeling this is all I'm going to get to experience this year, since I have been working on these feathered wings that I agreed to make for Vicki's costume. ._. Once they're done, I plan to post some pictures here, even though I don't think it's as good as I had hoped it would turn out.

A Change of Pace

As many of you have realized, I have started updating the blog with more posts the past couple of days. I have decided to change the way how I post my usual game progress posts by splitting them up by each game now so that I can focus on putting more details in each game rather than having a nutshell summary of each. I have also been working on adding more features on the side, although it's looking a bit disorderly at the moment. The latest additions being links to other sites that I frequent (mostly browser game sites at the moment), and a vertical banner for the blog featuring Clarine and a Golden Phoenix logo. I made the image in the common vertical banner size of 160 x 600 pixels, but then I realized that the ad I have on the side was wider than that. x_o; Go figure. I COULD change the ad to the same dimension, but then I'm afraid it would extend a bit too far down the side bar; at least for for a single post on a page anyway. I'd like to fix up how the side bar looks with a layout overhaul one day.

It's great that I'm on a roll now with getting more posts up on here, but I could use a little help in deciding what I should post next each day. That's what the poll was there for originally, but I decided to work on each of those to some extent. Instead, I think it would be better to simply leave a comment on my blog posts. It will help me get an idea of what you're interested in, and find ways for me to improve my writing. In fact, you could request things you'd like me to blog about, and I'll see if it's something I can talk enough about. Or maybe you could send me something interesting (and original) that you'd like to have featured on my blog.

Either way, I greatly appreciate your support, and I'm looking forward to seeing more comments in the future. o_o

Wishlist - October 2011

Just a quick list of things that I am looking into buying at the moment. Of course, knowing me, these things will sit in my wishlist for the next half a year or more

1. Marina Micro LED Lights, Light Set, & Hub

Firion needs more light. Read previous post for more details.


2. Nintendo 3DS

I mean, really. If this wasn't in the list here, what's wrong with me?

3. Plain Head Sweatband (Blue)

This is kind of an impulse listing, since I really don't have much NEED for a sweatband, but was wondering how effective it would be in keeping my long hair in place. Figured it's better than a girly headband, and always wearing it in a ponytail is kind of boring, but there are no other alternative way of wearing my hair that isn't stupid looking for me. If not, I was also wondering whether if it could double as an eye mask at night. >_>; ... Not its intended purpose, but I'm just a resourceful kind of guy who makes use of whatever I have available to use in a way that would get more things done, without harming anything... unless the item is just disposable or something.

4. Sony Playstation 3

This isn't really for me so much as it is for my girlfriend. Partially because my dad has a PS3 back at my house in New Jersey, and partially because the DVD player here is so crappy, it barely even plays DVDs. -_- What use does a DVD player have if it doesn't play DVDs properly? So I thought a PS3 would be a great replacement for that, as well as allowing me to play my copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope - International - finally, which I had bought like... over a year ago. I believe I got it some time in February 2010, which was soon after I came down here to Florida. No one else we know seems to have a working PS3 around, and all this time, despite how badly I wanted to play the game, I haven't been able to play it. @_@

Okay, so maybe the PS3 IS partially for me, but it will be for my girlfriend to keep. I would have bought this a long time ago had I found a job like I had planned since I came here. =/ Even before fixing the economy, the corruption in Florida needs to be ironed out because things are quite messed up over here. Not going into politics though. Not my favorite topic, and neither is it for most of my readers anyway.

I'm trying to find more things that would go on this list, but I'm drawing a blank right now. Maybe there just isn't too much that I really want.. or that maybe I won't have much to want until I reach the door of playing more games with the 3DS and PS3 first. >_> Cause I could list the games that I want for them, but.. that'll have to wait until when I get the consoles, I guess.

Edit: After thinking some more, I realized there were two things that I've also had in mind.

5. Car

Don't care what brand, the features, and other luxury details. As long as it gets me to places safely, the cheapest car will do. Transportation is one of the things that are keeping me from getting a job right now, since the bus stops around here are ... stupidly lacking. The closest bus stop for me will probably be well over a mile or two, and waking up early enough to even fast walk over a mile to get to a BUS STOP to get to a job seems ridiculous to me. Maybe I'm spoiled to think that, but having my own car will definitely help increase my chances of landing a job. The only problem this isn't on top of the list though is because of auto insurance that I obviously can't afford to pay right now, even though my driving record is absolutely clean. Not even being stopped by a police officer for speeding and such. The roads in Florida are just.. ridiculous to me. The many drivers on the road don't communicate with the other drivers very much, the traffic lights are designed to CAUSE an accident with a $200+ fine hovering over each intersection with their red-light-runner capture cameras and their ridiculously short yellow lights, and tailgators everywhere. @_@ Second, there's no room in the driveway here for another car, unfortunately. I'm not sure where I would park my car if I were to get one at this house.

6.  Sword

Well, this has been on my mind since I picked up the way of the Sword Named Truth. But at the same time, it's been hard finding a good sword that matched my basic, standard image of the Sword. Generally, a long sword or a claymore would work well, as long as it is a double-edged sword, because many truths have two sides that can harm both the target and the user if not used correctly. This whole symbolism has had a strong impact on me, and I thought it would be nice to have as an ornament, as well as to pose with for pictures or something. Heck, if I ever do get a sword, I will post pictures of myself with the sword on here. Perhaps with the sweatband and some other stuff too. >_> Cause there's plenty of cool characters in video games that wear some type of headband.

Vincent from Final Fantasy VII

Dart from Legend of Dragoon

Sol from Guilty Gear

Although Sol's isn't really a sweatband, but it's still a band he wears on his head. ... Also, why are they all red.. ? >_> I can't think of any characters that wear blue headbands for some reason..

Feesh! - Firion 1

 It was on my birthday last year, when I got my own pet again. It's been several years since I've had my 4 goldfish; 2 of which I had won from a carnival that lived for about a decade, the other two from petstores after that, which only lived for about 5 to 7 years at most. I was rather young, unoriginal, and not-as-creative with names at the time, so I ended up naming them Gold and Silver, due to them being colored that way when I won them from the ping pong toss game. I hadn't given the game much thought at the time either. I just tossed the balls at the jars, and out of three balls, two of them somehow fell in the same jar after bouncing off the rims of many in the middle. When I got the two, little goldfish in the plastic bags, I was in awe of what I had happened to win. They were sleek and simple looking fish, but gave me the impression that they were fast swimmers. As I watched them swim around in the water in the plastic bags, they sparkled with their bright, shiny scales as the sunlight brightly lit their colors.

After getting home, we put them in a traditional fishbowl that we had after keeping several other fish I had, although they didn't live for very long. At the time, I hadn't really understood why. After several days, they would be floating at the top, lifeless, which even now makes me sad to think about them. =( But when we learned that they needed oxygen in their water, we decided to get them an air pump, then a bigger fish tank, then decorations. We eventually had a fairly complete set of an aquarium and was happy to see that Gold and Silver were living healthy in the tank. Feeding them every day brought a smile on my face as they swam up to eat the flakes that I would drop in the water.

After a few years, my parents decided to get some more fish for the aquarium, and brought home two goldfish, of different variety. I can't name what type of fish they were at the moment, but they were definitely fatter. One was large, bulky, and had a big head. The other was one of those goldfish that have bulging eyes. I ended up naming them Platinum and Copper, just because it went together with Gold and Silver to some extent. >_> Mom was worried that Gold and Silver might fight with them since they were in the tank longer and such, but they never did anything of the sort. They all went about with their fishy business and kept to themselves, which is good.

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about Firion, my current pet, which also happens to be my first betta fish. After thinking about all that what my parents have done and said about my goldfish though, I guess they were thinking more about betta fish than goldfish, since bettas don't need oxygenated water, fight each other, and thus better kept in a traditional fishbowl.

Two of my friends I met through Vicki, Rachel and Nebby, came to my birthday party, although I hadn't planned any sort of fun event aside from getting together and having fun playing video games, it was what worked best for most of us, especially me. I don't care much for rides and attractions as much as more interactive activities like bowling and video games. However, I'm still unemployed, and so are several others around me. Even if some people do have some form of income, some are rather hesitant about spending money at events as well, much like myself. I hate being as stingy as I am, but without income, what can I say? Just because I have some cash on me at the time, doesn't mean that it's money that I can mindlessly spend immediately without considering the consequences in the future. I constantly wait for sales and other money saving opportunities for anything I spend on. Even now, I'm waiting for a LED light to light up your fishbowl to go on sale at PetSmart so that I can see Firion better, as well as take better photos of him.

Firion lit by a flashlight

Anyway, back to my birthday, Rachel and Nebby arrived with the capped, plastic cup with a Crowntail Betta inside. Now, he's staring at me from inside his dark fishbowl. ._. A slightly crowded fishbowl with a floating, hollow log for him to sit in, a plastic plant, a thermometer, and a rock inside. Good thing the light that I plan on getting for him can be placed outside of the bowl to light it up.

It's also nearing my 25th birthday as well as the first anniversary since Firion and I became buddies. o_o I'll be posting more about him another time, I'm sure. Maybe I'll have the light for him by then.

Review - 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

So I was recommended this game by my little brother a while back, as mentioned in some previous posts. He claimed it was the "GREATEST" DS game, and such a praise just had to be checked. Also as mentioned before, my first impressions of this visual novel game were definitely great. The story writing in the narration is very effective and captivating, while doing a great job at putting you in place of Junpei, the main character. Finding himself trapped in a strange ship filled with puzzles set up by Zero, the man who had kidnapped Junpei and 8 others to play the Nonary Game, quickly learns that this is a serious matter of life or death. In order to escape the ship alive, he would have to win the Nonary Game by solving the puzzles placed in the ship and find the door labeled with a 9.

The graphics look good in that it portrays the story well, especially in the survival/horror aspect (and I don't mean that just because of the opening of doors. You know what I mean if you've played enough of the earlier Resident Evil games), and the animated sprites of the characters are full of color and character. The many main characters in the game have varying personalities that plays out very well in the story's settings, adding humor, mystery, and strong messages. Accompanying each situation in the game are great soundtracks that reflects the mood very well, also making use of silence as well when appropriate.

That briefly covers four major topics of Story, Character, Graphics, and Sound. What's left is the Gameplay. It isn't particularly a difficult game. At least, once you've grasped the general flow of the game. Majority of the game's content is in the story telling and dialogue. As for the rest, you will be placed in a room with multiple puzzles to solve in order to escape, or move on to the next area. In terms of difficulty of these puzzles, they are not too bad. Professor Layton games will have harder puzzles than what you will encounter in 999, at least those that are worth around 35~50 picarats. Even if you aren't good at solving puzzles, the game will give you several hints and clues as well, and are fairly straightforward, which is a good thing. The puzzles are fairly relevant to each situation in each room, and fit the context of escaping the room well.

Aside from Escape Mode, the only other important element are the choices you must make in the game. Multiple branching paths in the choices you make throughout the game will take you down different paths, and get you one of six different endings. Three of which are bad endings, one dummy ending, and two important endings. The sense of mystery you get from the bad endings are quite intriguing, and I felt that the True Ending was quite satisfying.

So, is this game the greatest DS game? It's hard to say. There have been quite a few DS games that I've really enjoyed, like The World Ends With You from the top of my head. However, I could definitely say that this was a DS game that gave a strong impact, especially as a visual novel game in a single title. I greatly appreciate good, original stories, and the impact it had on me was as strong as the epic Phoenix Wright trilogy, and that's saying something. >_>

Also, I should also mention that the game is rated M, and for a good reason. Graphic deaths and swearing is common here, and there's also suggestive sexual themes and an alcohol reference in there somewhere as well. NOT something I would recommend to little, innocent kids. However, for all other, mature audiences, this is a great title to pick up for your DS library.

Finally, I am still deciding on what to do about spoiler topics in the blog. I am wondering whether if a separate page could work, or if the initial idea of bringing over a collapsing text box with a button would be best for hiding spoilers in my posts. There are some things that I would like to comment on that are spoilers, but a review post is definitely not the place to do it at. x_o;

The Escape - and the Failures

Wow, been playing a lot more 999. LOTS of stuff to talk about in the game, especially the spoilerific endings, but I still haven't heard from my readers whether if they care about spoilers or not. Maybe the next poll I put up will be about whether if you guys care to see spoilers on this blog or not.

Also, I'm considering adding more content on here, even if it's mundane like... how I want Pepsi to go on sale at the grocery stores cause I want some Pepsi, damnit. >_< And maybe mini-reviews of stuff, like games, hardware, even restaurants, and.. some other stuff. Whatever I feel like writing about, or just simply have comments about, I guess. But yeah, the current poll will help me get an idea of what type of stuff I could perhaps focus on. Feel free to leave a comment if the poll doesn't have a choice you're most interested in as well. But for now...

Kingdom of Loathing - Just finished my second Hardcore Fisting run, this time as a Turtle Tamer. I'm sure Accordion Thief is the more popular of the choices due to starting off with the accordion, especially for those that are very dependent on AT buffs. But I feel that I also have some dependency on TT buffs as well, particularly those for my familiar. I switch around my familiars around a lot in-run, so they need the weight boost from Empathy, and growth from Curiosity of Br'er Tarrypin. This... certainly does cost a lot of MP to keep active, along with all the AT buffs, as well as Leash of Linguini and other buffs when appropriate, but I also use Jingle Bells and get MP back from the Rogue Program, Stocking Mimic, and the Mini-Hipster often enough. If not, the Slimeling helps too, but Jingle doesn't work on it, so he's like my fallback source of MP. >_>

I'm currently in aftercore, preparing to enter the new clan dungeon for this Halloween. Apparently you can go through it faster if you have this month's Item of the Month, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm interested enough in being a vampire. There are perks, but it isn't anything I'm terribly in need for, especially not in Hardcore. Anyway, the clan dungeon hasn't been opened yet at our clan, so all I can do is prepare by leveling, I suppose.

Guild Wars - Finally got my pre-searing Ranger to level 20, getting the Legendary Defender of Ascalon title. I'm still hanging around in pre-searing, but whenever I'm ready, I intend on leaving pre-searing to play with Phoenik and Cranky Crab, cruising through Prophecies with our already-level-20 chars. Until then, I'm working on the Elementalist again, playing through Night Fall. Some of the missions are quite brutal and hard, especially if you play by yourself with only Heroes. ._. I'd like to get done with it quickly so I can work on Eye of the North already..

 

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors - So yeah. Here are the endings that I got in order.
Coffin, Submarine, Axe, Knife, so far. I feel kind of spoiled in that I got Coffin first, and with what little knowledge of the game at the time, it sort of became an expectancy. Can't say anymore than that without spoiling too much, I suppose. Maybe I'll look into one of those boxes where the text can be hidden until you toggle it, for those who don't care about spoilers.

Ragnarok Online - The server I play on is having its 6th Birthday event right now, so I figured I should drop by and claim what easy prizes there are to have from it. Honestly, I haven't really been interested in RO due to how grindy the game can be, and how desperately I need zeny on there to get some decent equips to get some decent leveling done to begin with. @_@ I mean, seriously, my main character was my Crusader, until I found the Hill Winds area where I farm lots of drops for money now. And somehow, my Rogue hit level 94 yesterday, simply from farming in that area. My Crusader is still in the 80s I think.. Not sure what to say about it.

Other than these games, I haven't been playing much else, lately. Partially because I've been trying to work more on making this blog look better, I guess. I'm sure you've noticed some new features on the site like the poll on the side, or the RSS feed button. In the long run, I'd like to have a complete overhaul of the site's layout using completely HTML instead of relying on these templates offered by Blogger. I like how it looks and all, but I'd like to make my own site eventually.

Growing Nostalgia - Crescent Legends

 
Ah, Crescent Legends. My first attempt at making a traditional JRPG game. Of course, it was never completed, like most people's grand scale projects like this, especially when you're still in school. Despite that however, it was a project that I had put quite a lot of thought and effort into at the time. Eventually, however, it went from a game to a Role Play, much like how Vanguardian Axis went, although it didn't gain much momentum as Vanguardian Axis did, due to the lack of flexibility and openness that made Vanguardian Axis so popular. That aside, I'd really like to finish this project as a game whenever I feel like I have enough time to spend on learning and working on RPG Maker, perhaps.

The story begins in two worlds. Two sister planets that orbits around a dark, lifeless moon, dancing together as they move around their sun. The bigger of the two sister planets, Sedule Ramios, is the home of many kingdoms that still live in a medieval, feudal era. Among them is the Kingdom of Faylite, where the adventure begins. A more prosperous kingdom, and one that is not at war at the moment due to the military power that they hold. The Light of Loreicia, a trait passed down generations through blood that blesses them with powerful healing magic which has been proven a powerful asset during war as the wounded soldiers were rejuvenated back to health by the next battle. Now, the Lirshell family, who are blessed with the Light of Loreicia, teaches those who are interested in the art of healing magic, along with their daughters, Florencia and Clarine.

Clarine F. Lirshell

The other planet, Farule Levios, is more technologically advanced than that of Sedule Ramios. In the world where many forms of air transportation and other sciences are common, they still study the legends tied to their moon left by ancient civilizations. The researchers fear that the legends that foretells of the evil that threatened the worlds centuries ago would be true - and if so, such threat would once again befall upon them as the planets align as they did then.

To be continued, if I feel that spoilers aren't an issue on the blog. If it is an issue, I'll just continue with more details on Clarine and perhaps the other characters in the cast, I guess.

Slight Improvements

Yay, finally got around to slapping on a half-assed banner for the blog. o_o Too bad it doesn't really blend as well with the background as I had hoped. Whatever, just gonna take my small steps for now. I'm trying to work up some more pictures and details for the next few posts, but looks like I'm going to have to play around more with taking screenshots and toying around with Photoshop some more.

I'm just glad I had some old pictures stored in my oooold Photobucket accounts, since I don't have a lot of my old pictures and photoshop projects from years ago. Maybe once I fix up Lappy or at least gain access to the contents of the harddrive or something, I'll be able to recover some more old stuff I made then. Until then, I'll just have to re-make some new images to work with. 

Anyway, back to the usual programming for the time being.

Kingdom of Loathing - Finished my 6th Hardcore Oxygenarian run, completing my plexiglass equipment set.
Flashy. ... In... many ways, I guess. On top of that, I went ahead and grabbed three more trophies I had skipped out on. The Septuple Platinum from the Accordion Thief Nemesis Quest, the Hustling one where you beat Scratch Rackonteur at pool 23 times, and the Trophy Fish. I was going to try going down Fernswarthy's Basement to get another telescope upgrade, but being an Accordion Thief, and I was starting to need buffs at around 100 floors, I gave up for the time being since it looked like it would have either taken a bit too long and costly to pull off at the time. That, and I really wanted to get in as many Way of the Surprising Fist runs as I can before they move on to the next seasonal run. So that's what I did. Started my Way of the Surprising Fist run in Hardcore as an Accordion Thief again, since most people are saying it is cheaper, thus easier to do as an Accordion Thief. And cheaper is GOOD. D= It's so hard getting meat in this run; you only get 10-12 meat per combat usually. Or... at least I am, with my passive meat gain bonuses. I'm already level 10, but I need meat for the abridged dictionary to get to the Orc Chasm still. I may try to squeeze in at least one more Hardcore Fisting run after this one before Halloween.

Disgaea - Supposedly the final chapter of Etna mode. Enemy levels are around upper 100s, lower 200s now, so I'm working a bit more on getting better equips through item world. I miss having Laharl. >_>

Guild Wars - My pre-searing Ranger is now level 19, and halfway towards becoming level 20. Also been making some decent progress in Night Fall with my Elementalist. This campaign is longer than I expected it to be.. Been polishing up my skill build as well, getting the Searing Flames elite skill, after dying like a dozen times, ruining my Survivor title efforts. ._.;; Sucks, but.. my focus is to just finish these campaigns first. Also planning on working on my Paragon a bit to get more Paragon skills for my Heroes. Not sure when I'll get around to doing that though.

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors - Taco claimed that this game was the "GREATEST" DS game and insisted that I play it right away, so.. I'm holding Disgaea off for now to check this game out. So far, it does a great job at keeping my interest, mostly with the story. In fact, 75% of the game is the story. You're reading the narration and dialogue more than interacting in the "escape" portions of the game. Nicely done "escape the room" type scenarios and puzzles. Definitely beats the crap out of playing those flash or iPhone app games where you escape the bathroom and stuff. I've only played a few hours of it so far, but I would recommend this game if you don't mind reading a lot. .. And if you don't mind grim, dark, survival type games. Oh, gotta appreciate how they're not afraid to outright swear in the dialogue too. .. A lot. Especially from Santa (Not Santa Clause, mind you. Santa Clause swearing all over the place can only be funny from some bad mall Santas. >_>). We'll see which ending I get on my first few tries.