Great Backlog Pile

As awesome as the finale of this year's sales go on Steam, I've been trying to cut down on purchases, mostly because I'm already loaded up on games at the moment. >_< Since I stopped doing that video game progress thing, I haven't really had a list of games that I'm working on for quite a while, and realized how big my backlog has become. I need to work on games I've started and finish them before I start playing new games now, even though I totally just started a bunch on Christmas...

Wishlist - November 2011

So I've been trying to get myself in the habit of posting once a day, but I wasn't able to keep it up with the sudden demand of my time popped up yesterday. My plans for today has been kind of a mess as well because of it and some other stuff having to crawl itself into my life. Really though, when someone else just dumps their responsibilities onto you in a worse situation then they had started with, it's a rather stressful experience. Everyone should know that, but I'm afraid the person who's doing this just doesn't understand until it's too late.

But I'm going to decide NOT to talk about that, and instead, do another wishlist. This time of some game software that I am interested in. I was contemplating whether to just do this in the other wishlist I had, but it just didn't seem to fit well, especially with the wishlist ending up with a bunch of video games in there with some random things like LED lights for Firion, a sweatband, and a sword thrown in the mix. Also, I'd like to not let this be a monthly thing, especially since I really don't find too many things that I'm really interested enough to buy anyway. I wouldn't have anything to put in these wishlists for a while anyway.

1. Fortune Street / Itadaki Street Wii

Glad this game got announced in the US. I'm playing the one on the DS in Japanese right now, and I find it to be more fun than Mario Party, mostly because winning in it is not-so reliant on luck-based minigames like Mario Party is, but rather economic strategy. In a nutshell, it's basically Monopoly with the stock market thrown into the mix. The stocks you buy are of the area that you buy properties of like in Monopoly. With more stocks bought in the area, or if the properties/buildings/stores in that area are worth more, the price of the stocks go up, and vice versa if people sell stocks, property value drops, etc. Having a solid economic strategy is the key to winning, which makes it more fun for me. If the game ran mostly on luck, then might as well play Russian Roulette. The game decides who wins; not the players. Sure, there are some skill-based minigames in Mario Party, but it just feels like the more the game gets a new iteration, the more the minigames are reliant on luck than skill. Can't remember which Mario Party I've really played much of last though. I know I owned 1-3, but I've played others at a friend's house I believe.

2. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Zelda has always been a huge series among Nintendo, and ... well, to put it bluntly, graphically, it looks better than Twilight Princess. I'm not saying Twilight Princess looked bad in particular, but Skyward Sword is so much more colorful. Leave the shades of gray and brown to maybe the dark world or something, but when majority of Hyrule looks like that, it just doesn't have the same appeal otherwise. As for gameplay, it looks like Skyward Sword is utilizing the Wii Motion Plus well, which is good. I just hope that they'll fill the game with plenty of content, and not end up rushed like Twilight Princess was. Not to mention this game gets released right on my birthday. >_> Coincidence much?


3. Kirby's Return to Dreamland

So ever since I was a little kid, I was into video games. The games I grew up with mostly consisted of Mario, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest when I was as early as 5 to 9 years old. But after that, I learned about Kirby, and found that its games are pretty fun and awesome. Among them, Kirby's Dreamland 2, Kirby SuperStar, and a few others really stuck out as great games to me, and ever since SuperStar, I always wanted another Kirby game just like that, but didn't quite happen for a while until Amazing Mirror brought back the way how abilities had multiple moves and stuff. Well, what I've seen of this game looks pretty promising to fulfill that desire to play another Kirby game that plays similarly, if not better. Also looking forward to the multiplayer aspects of this game.

4. Gyakuten Kenji 2 / Miles Edgeworth: Ace Investigations 2

Well, I'm one of the many that are disappointed that this game never got released in the US. =( Being that I'm Japanese though, I could technically play the game in Japanese, but I really like Capcom's localization team. They do a really great job at writing the scripts for the series, and I'm also concerned about having to import the game to play it. Importing is expensive, and it was something I wanted to avoid. Well, that's probably the only reason why I haven't played this game yet. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it much like the rest of the series.

5. Professor Layton VS Gyakuten Saiban

I don't have a 3DS yet, and this game isn't out yet, but hell. I'm excited about this game. The trailer has put a lot of hype for the game within the fans, and many of us are desperately hoping that this game will be released in the US. I'm still playing through Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box right now, but I'm hoping I'll be caught up with Professor Layton games by the time this game comes out in the US.

6. Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 (PS3)

I've always wanted to get Marvel VS Capcom 2. Never got the opportunity to get the game though. Then MvC3 came out, and thought it was finally my chance to own a fun, kickass fighting game. Never did get it though because this house never got a PS3, as described in my previous wishlist. @_@ But who knew that they would release an Ultimate MvC3 as soon as they did? Well, I feel bad for the people who had bought MvC3 and now have to buy the game again to be up-to-date, since I've been through that myself with a few SquareEnix games. Well, UMvC3 is even more appealing because of.. well, it's obvious by now. Phoenix Wright is a playable character in it. XD

7. Good People Die / Gyokugen Dasshutsu ADV: Zennin Shiboudesu

After having enjoyed 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, hearing that a sequel is in the works for the 3DS certainly has got my interest. Apparently it hasn't been announced whether if it would be released in the US yet though. Here's to hoping that it will be released in the US too. Leave a comment to show support for this game! ... Assuming they'll see this blog. >_> Regardless, talk about the series and let the marketing team in Aksys Games know that the public wants this game.

8. Pokemon Rumble Blast

Well, I played Pokemon Rumble, and I feel like I could say that it's a casually appealing game. Great for single player and multiplayer. I'd definitely like to pick this game up if my other friends will be getting this. I was disappointed with the first Pokemon Rumble on the WiiWare because it didn't have Pokemon from all 4 generations, but only the first and fourth gen in it, but Blast is supposedly going to have all 5 generations. Sounds great to me.

Well, it's also been a while since I've really talked about the games I've been playing too. I might have to go ahead and do that once I've reached a good point to do so.

Reminiscence

It's about time I start things off with what I used to do with my journals on Gaia Online. I missed keeping a log of all my progresses, as short as they are, to help me keep track of what I'm working on at the moment.

So lately, I've been playing PC games a lot more than anything else. Mostly things on Steam, and a few that aren't on Steam. Might as well start with the things on Steam first.

Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2: Beat'em. Skipped out on achievement whoring though. Was kind of in a rush to uninstall them to make room for other games on my C: drive. It was fun though. Good thing I have plenty of other games to keep me occupied while I wait for Episode 3. >_>

Frozen Synapse: I got this game for free thanks to Gamer who sent his extra copy to me. I finished the first two chapters with a few retries... I sort of got the hang of the game, but knowing the reaction times of certain units like how much faster the Shotgun user is compared to the Sniper, and the maximum range at which the Shotgun user would actually shoot at instead of just staring at the enemy while he shoots at him and stuff. @_@ Until I get used to him, I might just use him to camp doorways or something.

Gratuitous Space Battles: I got the Galactic Conquest DLC and it sure makes the game a lot more interesting. Having a campaign mode with limited resources and what not certainly adds a whole new element to the game as opposed to the main game where you are supplied enough resources for the whole fleet right before you go into combat. I mean, that's good that you get to send out a fully armed fleet and watch them kick ass, but a little build-up towards that isn't too bad IMO. ... Just a little. As long as it isn't too grindy.

League of Legends: Well, speaking of grindy.. LoL. It's nice that in-game, your Champions level up quickly and able to reach the max level of 18 in like 20 minutes. Challenging RTS with teamwork being a key factor. Now on the other hand, your Summoner level .. well, it isn't necessarily the worst case of grinding, but it's beginning to feel like I need to level up to the max level of 30 ASAP to gain advantage of some stat increases that I can get with runes and masteries. Well, I'm level 26 right now, so it shouldn't be too long before I hit level 30. Just that you need to dedicate half an hour to possibly a whole hour to play a game with no pauses nor interference.. >_<
 Getting more into detail, just recently bought Akali and I am enjoying how she plays for sure. Been building her rune page as well so that the runes and the masteries will activate her passive skill for having 10 Attack Damage, giving her Spell Vamp, since the way I play her, I don't bother too much with getting items that increase her AD. I focus more on rushing Rylai's Scepter for the slow effect, maybe the Hextech Gunblade for more Spell Vamp and Life Steal while the active skill is pretty nice with the built-in exhaust. After that, Lich's Bane seems pretty good for increasing the burst damage she does, and by then, having an increased movement speed sure helps a lot too. Anyway, I'm still looking for more people to play with since Solo Queue can screw you over with leavers leaving your team in mid-game, and... what not.

Guild Wars: So I started playing Guild Wars again. o_o I really missed the game from several years back when I first got the first game. On top of that, I was able to get the Complete Collection with all 3 campaigns with the Eye of the North bonus campaign as well for .. well, $30 was it? Something like that, at Walmart. It was the only place that had a copy of it, and I'm not sure if they were supposed to be selling this either, since all the other places were trying to sell EotN separately, costing a lot more for the whole bundle, even on Steam. I'm content with the amount of money I saved by doing this. >_> I mean, even Amazon didn't have this in stock at the time.
So anyway, I have 8 characters now. Profecies characters are E/Me, Me/N, W/R.. I think?, and R/Mo in pre-searing for the Defender of Ascalon title. Factions characters are A/D and a Rt/N I think. Haven't played the Ritualist very much yet. And for Night Fall, a D/W, and a ... Paragon. I don't even know what secondary class I chose for that char. ._.'
What I've been doing most of the time is just doing the Daily Quest on my pre-searing Ranger/Monk, trying to get to max level 20 for that title. I'm level 14 now with Phoenik who's also going for the Defender of Ascalon title. Other than that, I'm just working on going through the campaign on more characters, mostly my Elementalist for some reason. Currently going through Night Fall, then plan on completing Eye of the North after that. I need to work on filling up my Hall of Monuments for Guild Wars 2 quickly. I still only have like 5 points since I haven't done much on EotN yet.

Just Cause 2: Holy crap, such a huge world with so many things to collect and destroy. @_@ Took me... 42 hours? To get 30% of the game done on Normal difficulty. It's definitely a fun game, and personally, it's my sandbox game of choice over Grand Theft Auto anyway. Senseless destruction FTW.

Magicka: In the middle of campaign with Phoenik and his friends. Haven't finished any campaigns yet, so.. it's still a new and learning experience for me. Also, playing solo sure can be hard for a newb. >_<

Mass Effect: Damn, I haven't touched this game in a while. Mostly because I don't want to expose Vicki to any spoilers, I guess, but still. I ... forget what mission I was on, in fact. I think I'm either on, or finished the 3 initial missions that you were given. Did a lot of side quests for some probably unneeded EXP and equips, since I am cruising through most of the combats anyway. Forgot what class I chose now though. The one with Combat and Biotics, I believe. This is a game that I really need to get back to whenever possible.. especially since I have Mass Effect 2 waiting in my Steam account. >_<

Portal 2: Whoo, great single player. o_o Valve sure knows how to tell stories in their FPS games. I think I got all the achievements in the single player as well. I just need to play the Co-op mode, but I've been waiting for Vicki to finish single player first. D= And that has been taking forever as it is. I can't even mention anything in the latter half of the game without spoiling her, and I really don't want to do that. @_@ I might go ahead and play Co-op with either Taco or Cranky Crab though.

Recettear: Well, I finished the campaign. Kinda wanted to check out all the dungeons and all the characters you can get in it, but I haven't really bothered to do much in them lately. Maybe I'll get around to it one day.

Spiral Knights: Played it. A bit too simple for my tastes. Sort of fun with friends, but when you get to building 3 star equips, forget it. D= You need to buy energy with cash to alchemize the stuff. Otherwise, you'd have to buy 3 star + equips from the marketplace for lots of crowns, and grinding for cash without getting any EXP for your already maxed out equips isn't fun. So.. I'm probably not gonna touch this anymore unless Steam does another Treasure Hunt/Summer Camp event with an achievement for this or something.

Team Fortress 2: o_o It's fun. Got some stuff. Need more stuff. Hats hats hats. <3

Terraria: So I got this game when Terraria was in version 1.04, and managed to get most stuff during then. Max health, molten equips and drops, etc. Then 1.05 came. Decided to make a new world more focused on building things, so I did. Started off with an apartment building that was off the floor so that I don't have to hear zombies knocking on the door every night. Basement includes obsidian generator, mushroom and herb gardens, and a Hellevator. To the west is a crappy Dirt Tower I made with the excess dirt I had, which is used to AFK farm Harpies using lava and stuff. Too bad the version 1.06 update changed the Harpies' AI so they don't go in the lava as easily as they did before. ._. At least the AFK farm for sharks at the ocean still works. And my current project in this world is a Castle in the Sky, on a floating island. It's a lot of work and resources, but it's a long-term project so I just do whatever I can when I have the time. Turning out okay so far. I'm sure I'll post screenshots here in the future.

Man, this is like... over a year's worth of updates from my last Gaia journal entry. I guess I can take a look at that once more to see if there's any updates I've missed. *Checks*

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume: Wow, I haven't touched this in a while either, but I finished my second run of the game. Started my 3rd to get the third ending, as well as the bad one, while I'm at it, I guess. But who knows when I'll get to that now with all that I'm juggling right now. >_<

The World Ends With You: I mentioned an added ending.. ? I don't think I ever got around to checking that out, really.. Been using a guide to help me get some pins that I missed out on, mostly due to the weird ways of evolving them, I guess. I also need to fight that ridiculous bonus boss as well, and with my Japanese version not having the Hollowed Leg, it's such a pain raising my stats with the fullness system getting in the way. >_<

Pokemon Platinum: I think Taco pushed me to finishing it. And by finishing it, the most I did was beat the Elite 4. I was disappointed by that crazy world. There wasn't much done with it other than flat exploration of a small area.

Pokemon Soul Silver: What gym am I in?

Pokemon White: What gym am I in? Oh, I JUST got to that huge city. And when Vicki was playing, she kept her DS on while she did other stuff in that city, and that repetitive BGM got... a bit annoying, and when I finally got there, I was just.. -_- Bleh. I'dno. I guess the BGM composers are running out of musical ideas for these new games.. D= They're just not very memorable compared to the first and second generation songs. Speaking of which, I have a VERY kickass medley of in mp3. I'd post it on here, but I think the filesize may me too big for me to host for everyone to listen to here. I guess just ask me if you're interested, I guess.

Mario Kart Wii: ... Well, being that I'm currently in Vicki's house, her save file could use some more stuff in Mario Kart Wii, since I don't have access to my save file at the moment anyway. Except no one seems to be interested anymore. D= Kinda disappointed considering how it has the best Wi-Fi experience the Wii has.

Resident Evil 4: So yeah. Gave up on playing through the series before I try this one out. And it's a lot more fun and action-y than the survival and puzzle aspect in the first game, which I also enjoy. Just that I don't enjoy having limited saves with the damned ink cartridges for the type writers. @_@ RE1 is yet another game where I have to dedicate several hours to to get the most out of my damned ink cartridges. Thankfully, not the case with RE4. I'm in Chapter 3 or 4 or something, I think. But then Taco was all, "Don't play RE4 until you play through RE: Darkside Chronicles!" and whatever. I don't care much for the suggestion since the game should explain itself well enough as I play through. Otherwise, I'd be spoiled of any surprises in the plot or something, probably. I've no clue. I just want to enjoy the damned game. ... But yeah. I haven't played since then since I haven't touched the Wii in a while other than for group parties and stuff. Taco's suggestion would be something to consider if I OWNED Darkside Chronicles too. >.> Which I don't.

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles: Instead, I have this game. I want to collect all the files first, but it's hard. I was thinking of using a guide to find them all, but haven't gotten around to it. Maybe I'd play the Wii more often if there weren't kittens all over the place distracting me and it smelling like shit out there. Ugh. No wonder I don't bother playing the Wii around here much, which explains why I'm playing so many more PC games./offtopic

Infinite Space: Finished the main story. Haven't bothered too much with the bonus stuff. Gameplay got stale after a while, but the game's best selling point is the story anyway. I'd suggest it for anyone who likes Sci-Fi novels.

Oy. That covers what I left off of on Gaia.. and I'm STILL not done. @_@ I'm getting hungry now..
Anyway, I also got a PSP from Vicki last Christmas. Been playing that a lot more than my DS, which was to be expected, I guess. So here are some of the games I'm working on now.

Disgaea: I'm in Chapter 8. Just leveling stuff in the item worlds right now so that I can cruise through the story levels. Laharl is like.. level 27 now? Still a long way to go, I guess.

Patapon 1: Beat it.
Patapon 2: Beat it. Might collect some more ka-ching before I move onto Patapon 3.

Breath of Fire III: Got distracted from it with some other games. I'm still in McNeil's mansion, so I'm not very far in yet.

Dissidia Duodecim: Working on getting more equips and mastering abilities. Everyone's level 100 already, but.. ugh, the end-game stuff are just annoying more than anything, really. ._.; I'll only bother with this on my Bonus Day now.

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core: Beat it, 100% missions, not.. much else left to do, really..

I have some other games, but they're just there for fun. Like Castlevania, Soul Calibur, Gradius, etc.

And... finishing off with some Kingdom of Loathing.

Wow. I got in some VERY ascendy-mood lately, so I've been doing lots of Hardcore runs to get lots of skills now. Got quite a bit of skills, having ascended 57 times now. The Valhalla Revamp sure does help with permanenting more skills too. So I've been getting a lot more stronger on there, and I was thinking of doing some more challenging stuff eventually, like Clan Dungeon challenges. I need some help for those though, and our clan has been pretty much dead aside from Taco and a few others.. Too bad I'm the one who ascended the most in our clan, I think. D= It just seems like ascending is the best way for me to play now since if I have EVERYTHING that I've gotten so far on KoL in aftercore, I get waaaaay too many adventures that it takes up a bit too much of my time, it feels like. So I keep ascending so that it's something that I can manage while making progress. Heck, I'm doing Hardcore Oxygenarian runs now. @_@ At least I'm getting the Plexiglass equipments now which is great.

Whew, glad that's done with. A year or two's worth of updates sure can get huge... I'm relieved to think that the next few that I'll do won't be as huge. In the meantime, I might find something else to talk about as well. Just wanted to get this done with.