2023 was the worst year of my life. It's not even a contest. Nothing will beat it, but I'm sure the universe will try. I won't go into too many details yet, but my life ended and my future was eradicated. I learned some things. Life is just random. There's no reason, order, or plan to it all. It doesn't matter what anyone wants, needs, or deserves. It's just random. Whatever happens, happens. The only reason and order placed on events is put there by humans. There is no real justice, there is no real karma.  Life isn't just unfair, it's also cruel. Happiness is so fleeting, and sadness ..read more

Since the first part was almost a year removed from the event, I think it would be a good idea to post an update as well.  So far, all four of my immediate family have received both shots of the vaccine. I still advocate getting the vaccine, since it is obviously the smart thing to do at this point in time.  I preface my next part with this because my experience with the vaccine will likely make it sound quite the opposite. The vaccine was offered to employees at my company sooner than most people, thanks to the nature of our industry.  I quickly jumped on the list.  App ..read more

Nearing the anniversary of this, I figure it's time to talk about it.  So, here it goes. 2020.  Wow, that was quite a crappy year.  It would be easy to think the run from 2016 to 2020 wouldn't constantly get worse and worse.  Yet it did, culminating with the utter dumpster fire that was 2020.  While there is a ton of possible things to discuss, I'm going to go with my personal journey through the biggest story of 2020, the corona virus. I was fortunate enough to keep my job through the pandemic.  I was also able to work from home for about 2 months.  Eventu ..read more

An isometric, turn-based RPG with inspirations from Norse mythology? That was enough to get me interested in Rimelands: Hammer of Thor. When I perused the weekly sales and found it ridiculously cheap? That made it an instant buy. What I got was a fun little rpg with some uncommon mechanics. Areas are divided into invisible grids, and each square moved is equivalent to a turn. This wasn't an issue when moving around the few town or cleared areas, but became important when an enemy was nearby. Being turn-based, enemies move or take an action when you do. Depending on speed, units may even get t ..read more

Early in the morning, explosions rip through the lower levels of a research facility.   The safety measures fail to activate, leaving people stranded.  A special rescue squad is mobilized to get those people out.   However, the rescue leader has a different goal, and heads off to execute it.   He is soon struck with amnesia-like symptoms, leaving him, and us, to discover the truth of the incident. In Root Double, first the player is presented with two story choices, "Before" the incident and "After".   Now you know where the game's subtitle comes ..read more

There’s never enough time in the day when you want to play a game but must parent, too.  Thankfully, there’s a bountiful market of indie games that appeal to someone looking for something quick and fun. In a world where artistic platforming indie games are a dime a dozen, Seasons After Fall has appeal if you’re looking for something short.  I was fortunate enough to get it on sale as part of a double pack, and decided it was time to give it a try.  It’s a pretty game, with a distinct art style, a clear plot, and easy play mechanics.  That’s what makes it a good choice fo ..read more

As promised in my tweet last month, I'm reviewing yet another visual novel.  It seems like that and shmups are all I'm doing lately.  Sometimes, it does feel like that's all that I'm playing, too. While I say it a lot, the setting and idea for Raging Loop are great.  It's a visual novel that combines the Werewolf game with the idea of Groundhog Day (the movie).  Werewolf, aka Mafia, takes a group of people, a few of which are killers, and the rest innocent.  During the night phase, the killers agree on a victim, and that person is then out of the game.  During ..read more

Root Letter: Last Answer takes a good idea for a story and, well, turns it into a visual novel.  While in high school 15 years ago, the main character had a pen pal named Aya.  After finding the last of her letters mysteriously delivered to his house, "Max" decides to take a shot at meeting her in person.  As his nickname implies, he doesn't do anything half way. Max travels to Shimane and quickly hits a dead end looking for his old pen pal. Undeterred, he decides to re-read one of her letters, and track down her old friends as a path to finding her.  Trouble is, she nev ..read more

Continuing my visual novel kick, I recently picked up Kotodama: 7 Mysteries of the Fujisawa.  It is a unique blend of a visual novel story with some match-3 types puzzles thrown in for good measure.  While this does give it a bigger replay value than most visual novels, it's definitely not without its faults. The story follows your protagonist after they recently transferred into the Fujisawa Academy.  Oh, and you also have a contract with a demon fox that gives you special powers.  These powers force someone to tell the truth by stripping away the layers of their deceit.  Using your specia ..read more

Complimenting last month's release, NIS America releases Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo, another collection of six retro shoot-em'up games, frequently called "shmups."  Okay, one of them isn't a shmup, but we will get to that.  Last time had the three Strikers games and three others, while this time the collection is mostly centered around Samurai Aces and Gunbird. The first game in the collection is Samurai Aces.  Like most of the games last month, it is a top-down shooter.  Choosing one of six planes, you get an auto shot (fires continuously), a normal shot that can be charged, and a bomb ..read more