PixlBit

I watched some Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and MSG SEED on youtube. I only found a few episodes dubbed into English, most are with subtitles, which I like to avoid. It's a neat show. I'm constantly reminded of US IPs like Halo and Pacific Rim while watching it. GUNDAM just basically means the neural interface with a robotic battle suit, like with Master Chief and Cortana or the piltos and Jaegers of Pacific Rim. Seems this show, just like the hair styles, like their robots all spikey. Fun stuff, and complex. The stories in MSGW are deep in polical intrigue, Earth vs. Rebels, not unlike the colonial uprisings in the Halo universe. I enjoyed it in between lots of gaming that happened during Labor Day weekend as outlined below. 

Retro: 

Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1+2 (PS2): I enjoyed the vertically scrolling shooters: Exed Exes, Vulgus and Varth. Three Wonders was an interesting triple game. You choose between an action/platformer, a side scrolling shooter and a puzzle game all on one arcade cabinet. They all have a great art style and play really well. My favorite though was Quiz & Dragons, which is, very simply, a board and trivia game with a sword and sorcery story. You fight by answering trivia questions. Lose three and you die. You can heal up at an inn, if the dice rolls allow it. There is also a bonus version on the disc that has only Capcom trivia questions. It's simple, but I really like it and would like a new one. 

Culcept (PS2): I really love this mix of fantasy card battling and monopoly board game all in one. Trouble is, the AI stinks. When one lands on the same high rent spot four or five times in a row, something is rotten in Denmark. You can play against a friend though, which is the best way to play it. 

Dark Cloud 2 (PS2): I finally got to this. I like it, but not that much. The real-time battle system is okay, but not great. The visuals of this game, for its time, are great though. The story reminded me strongly of the film Box Trolls - mayor of a Dickensian period town manipulated by a carnival clown is opposed by an underground movement of diminuative rebels. I liked it, but I wish it was a turn-based battle system or at most an active-time battle system. If the controls aren't smooth as silk in action games, I'd rather play strategically. 

Dragon Quest VIII (PS2): Discovered this and the whole series around its 2005 release. My last save was 91 hours, and I didn't finish it. My friend Mad Krammer did though at somewhat over 100 hours. This time I played sudden death style and was surprised to die in the very first mission. Apparently you can't use Chimera Wings to escape underground. Even a modest quest needs a lot of healing items apparently. Anyway, I love this game and will make a long play stab at it one day. 

God Hand (PS2): After Mad Krammer and I discovered this game was rare and in demand, we sold most of our copies. However I still have an only slightly cracked, but operable, disc and replayed it until I failed on the boss Elvis, a corpulent latino variant of real Elvis. This game is definitley not politcially correct these days, but it is fun nevertheless. The fight system is really fun, and the special fighting moves mix wrestling with martial arts in humerous ways. My only gripe is the way the character moves in the world. Turning is very slow compared to the fighting moves, making it easy to loose sight of a foe. You can whip around 360 with a button press but it doesn't always help. I wished for faster movement for a better fighting experience, but what zany fun this game is! It's the only game that made me want a tattoo, the God Hand design that main character Gene has on one arm. I'll never get a real one, but I'd take a temporary one for a con, for sure. 

Game Pass: 

Human Fall Flat (XSS): Another 30 feet of climbing for a reward, again. This is an interesting game though. You solve puzzles with a character that seems to be made of wet clay or some sort of gel. You have limited means to move him and his arms to grab things and climb. It's kind of cool, but I have little patience for puzzle games most of the time. I sovled a few levels until I had climbed enough and was out. 

Starfield (XSS): This dropped on Tuesday and I played it. So far it's very engrossing. The world, and space, is enormous and detailed, full of dialog and side quests and interesting things to interact with. Space battles are fun and fighting is very smooth and satisfying, the parts I was most worried about. I joined the Celestials (I think) which is the group that specializes in exploration. You can choose different paths based on the choices you make for your character, and there are a lot of them. Be a soldier, or a diplomat, or any number of science and mercenary roles and get a different story line to follow and other organziations to join up with. It's great. My thing is scanning and documenting, so I made myself a Zeobiologist and will be playing that role throughout. I can't wait to get more time with this next week. 

Social:

Earth Defense Force 2025 (XSS): Mad Krammer got the Inferno completion achievement by playing online a lot with pro players. I'm working on the same, but I like to rotate characters around so I get to play all four. Each day I play I choose a different character and work on its completion. I'm at 66% overall completion, and when I get to 70% and unlock armor/weapon limits, Mad Krammer and I are going to have a lot of fun tearing up the lesser difficulties we don't have yet. It's super fun to go into a level OP because the disaster created is epic. I can't wait to get to that point. 

Casual:

Microsoft Suduku, Mahjong and Wordament (Android): Grinding away at the daily challenges for the month of September. I'll stop at Gold medals and then try other achievements. The end for all is neigh though. What will I do next? 

That's a very full holiday weekend. Hope you had fun. What did you play? Or did you forgo the studio tan and get outside for once, you gamer you. Haha.