[その他] ういす！ また生きとるやで！ （その２だったっけ？）

Here we are again with another sign of life post.

With all the funky stuff that life just throws everyday, it's always a problem of motivation. When I'm done with all the necessary evils, I usually just hit up Nico to watch some game commentary vids, drown myself in gaming and occasionally hassle a certain someone else's blog.

I started reviewing for the sake of my self-satisfaction, though nowadays the satisfaction doesn't come up. Even so, I'm not abandoning my solitary spot on the web just because of that pathetic excuse. This may be far from be my usual fare, but for the sake of finally getting another update in, I'm gonna post a little "gaming progress report" of my own.

First off, Shin Megami Tensei IV. This game is the main reason I even own a 3DS. I purchased the download version though because I'd like to be able to switch between it and Moe Moe Daisensou 3D in a wink.

In another whacked depiction of Tokyo's possible future, you play a young man who grew up in a sort of Western medieval world (albeit with Japanese location names) as a peasant, but fate leads him to become a "Samurai", which is in a sense a government-sponsored Devil Buster.

Like with the prior games, the main character is given the power to directly influence the direction this world takes despite not being of royal blood nor having the necessary "connections". That's just how it is. You don't ask why.

As of this writing, I've already done 3 cycles for Law, Chaos and Void endings. The Neutral Ending is the hardest to get, so I had to consult a wiki for the necessary info. That's where I'm headed at the moment.

I like how the battle system switched back to the old first-person view with static frames complimented by funky effects. Only the dungeon crawl is done third-person. A lot of people say that it's a huge step backwards from PS2's Nocturne, but let's face it, we're talking about a handheld that emphasizes 3D viewing more than hardware power and memory. The number of demons would have to be significantly reduced if everything was done with animated models. 

Next is Kami Jigen Idol Neptune PP for the Vita. Despite being a total Neptune fan, I'll admit that I'm a bit wary of formally starting this game because I've never touched anything that resembles Idolm@ster before (unless you count Lucky Star: Net Idol Meister, but that's more a quiz game than anything else). I own the physical software but still went through the trouble to DL the demo version. Glanced though it a bit, but I'll give the actual game a whirl soon.

For the PS3, I recently finished collecting all the single-player trophies for Gundam Musou 3. It seems like there's no one playing this game anymore in Japan (since there's already Battle Operation, EXVS and Gundam Breaker), so the online Co-op stuff may not be obtainable anymore.

The final challenge mission in Musou 3 is hateful. It's about as bad as that Newtype Trial in EXVS where you have to fight 2 pairs of high-tier characters on just one life bar.

The rival ace characters are numerous (you only have one ally for your side) and can down you almost instantly with a well-placed hit even if your MS is tuned to astronomical proportions. If they get your base before you seize the MS Factory, the resource bar empties on the spot. Without it, the chances of winning will be close to nil. Plus there's that one-sided missile base. Capturing it will only stop the opposing side from getting free lunch (instant territory caps), you aren't granted the same luxury.

Despite these complaints, I eventually cleared the damn thing with Ple Two (piloting Knight Gundam), Athrun Zala (Striker) and Anavel Gato (the solitary AI Ally in a grunt suit, specifically a Geara Doga... he's too damn cool to be piloting anything other than the GP02A Physalis, IMO).

I'll try hosting a room this weekend, but if there's really no one on it anymore, I'll just give up the ghost and leave the thing at 90%, which isn't a bad number, really.

Now if I can only decide which one of my backlogs to do next...

On a short but unrelated note, 360 is a mixed bag. When I don't feel like dancing in Love Tore, I just grind in PB Battle Grounds or Oneechanbara Z Kagura. Got Rumble Roses XX secondhand a few months ago but I haven't touched it yet.