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VN Talk: Piofiore: Fated Memories - Part 7: Finale
As you finish every best ending in the game, an old timey film plays with a countdown starting at 5 and counting down as each ending is achieved, with 0 heralding the finale. I was expecting a brand...
View ArticleTime Flies and the End of 2023 is Careening Towards Me
I often joke about how at the rate time moves my life will be over before I know it. It's hard to believe it's October already, so we're in the final quarter of 2023. Most people probably save their...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 1: Overview
In which I talk (write) about visual novels from a storytelling perspective...Platform: SwitchRelease: 2023Radiant Tale came to my attention for its bright fantasy setting, even though I was less keen...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 2: Zafora
I caught what seems to have been a cold that knocked me out on Sunday last week, which ordinarily would have been the day I prepared my post, so this is coming a little late. I'm definitely feeling...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 2: Ion
Since I already had a save set up with Ion's first solo scene complete, it was easy to resume his route, and I already knew his was going to be the darkest of the initial four. How dark? Well, dark...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 3: Paschalia
Paschalia ended up being my third route by virtue of being leftover after Zafora and Ion's stories snagged my initial interest, Vilio being locked as the final route, and Radie being recommended for...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 4: Radie
Sometimes to get a jump on the blog writing I'll start a post before I'm done with a route. It's usually to get some initial thoughts down or to make sure I don't forget something important. It might...
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VN Talk: Radiant Tale - Part 5: Vilio
Vilio was the character whose route I most wanted to play. I don't always like the poster boys, but Vilio is such an unabashed ray of sunshine that he's actually billed in-universe as your friendly...
View ArticleCatching Up on an Online Story as a New or Lapsed Player
I used to play World of Warcraft like a lot of fantasy fans, and while I gradually became disenchanted with it over the years, what finally killed it for me was the one-two punch of my stomach cancer...
View ArticleMerry Christmas!
Normally I schedule my blog posts to go on up Mondays, and since this Monday is Christmas it seems a bit weird not to acknowledge it. So, I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas if you celebrate,...
View ArticleMy Favorite Anime of 2023
Normally I'd start off with my year's favorite books, but I somehow managed to not finish any last year, and I wanted to wait a week on the video games since there are some extras I still need to play...
View ArticleMy Favorite Games of 2023
Last year feels rather strange to me in that I didn't complete any RPGs and I'm not entirely sure how that happened, since I usually manage at least one of them. That said, it felt like such a good...
View ArticleMy Top 5 Blog Posts of 2023
Though I expect most of my blog visitors are here to read about the various games I've played, oftentimes which one rises to the top in a given year is a bit of a surprise. Most of the posts are...
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Ghost Trick: An Underrated Gem
Platform: Switch (also on DS, PS4, XB1, Windows, iOS)Release: 2010 (DS), 2012 (iOS), 2023 (Switch, PS4, XB1, Windows)Ghost Trick is a stand alone project helmed by Shu Takumi of Ace Attorney fame that...
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Ten Trials of Babel: The Doppelganger Maze
Platform: Windows (also on Mac)Release: 2023 Most otome that finds its way into English is of the visual novel genre. Otome itself is more of a story/demographic categorization, involving female...
View Articleeven if Tempest is a Fabulous Mystery Game
I love mystery games, as you may have noticed if you've spent any time reading here. My introduction to visual novels was the Ace Attorney series and since then I've enjoyed titles such as Danganronpa,...
View ArticleX-Men '97: Morph is Back!
I watched the 90s X-Men: The Animated Series back when I was in school with no knowledge of the comic books. While I haven't rewatched it so I can't vouch for how it has aged, I remember that at the...
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Half a Year Later and I Need to Rethink Radiant Tale
I usually don't spend much time thinking about a game after I'm done blogging about it. The writing itself is a way to let all my thoughts and feelings out, and even the things I didn't say usually...
View ArticleWhy Unpacking Didn't Work for Me
I finished Unpacking recently. It was an indie and critical darling, wearing so many awards on its Steam page it'd rival a military general. I'd wanted to play it for a while, but found the list price...
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VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 1: Overview
In which I talk (write) about visual novels from a storytelling perspective...Platform: SwitchRelease: 2022 I was originally skeptical about playing even if Tempest because writer/director Ayane Ushio...
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VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 2: Crius
I struggled over how best to write my Crius entry since I knew I wanted to discuss him as a character without making it specifically about his route. Part of it is because of how his route ends. I was...
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VN Talk: even if Tempest - Part 3: Tyril
I probably should be glad I'm writing this two years after release instead of immediately after, because I'm sorry Tyril fans, he just didn't work for me. When I first got the game I thought he might,...
View ArticleMy Favorite Books of 2024
I didn't end up reading much in 2024 for reasons I'll eventually post about at some point, but suffice to say there's a reason I stopped posting on my blog for months and the only reason these 2024...
View ArticleMy Favorite Games of 2024
I didn't mean to take another month between posts, but as I alluded to in January I'm having life issues that has made regularly posting difficult and I'll make a post about it eventually, probably...
View ArticleMy Favorite Anime of 2024
As with the books, my life got impacted so I only watched one series this year, but I liked it enough that I still want to draw some attention to it. Just as with the books, there will be no asterisk...
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