Waiting in line for 2022

This month’s update is going to be a quick one since the next blog post is going to be my comprehensive retrospective of 2021 as a whole. Still, I want to leave you with something interesting to chew on and maybe share a story that may strike a chord with some.

I have recommended Defunctland a few times already here on my site, and for good reason. The content they do in regards to theme parks is astounding, and a much more balanced view on the whole circus that is the entire industry. For those of you who are new here, I do have an interest in theme parks on a very personal level. The long and short of it is that as a child, I personally never got to experience them as I wanted to due to circumstances out of my control. As I grew up over the years, I made a vow to return to them one day and do all the things I wasn’t able to as a kid. And as you can imagine, the entire process was much different than what I had expected it to be. The “mystery and magic” of my first experiences were gone, only to be replaced with the cynicism that comes with age. And ironically, I kind of miss the days where I wasn’t able to do everything I wanted to do as a kid, since I still had a sense of wonder and amazement of the entire experience. The above video by Defunctland shows the intricate science behind the harsh reality that plagues all theme parks today; and that’s waiting in line. If you never thought in your life, you would watch something so intricately detailed on the science of standing around for something; you’re in luck! As always, I recommend you check out their other videos on various topics as well, since it’s always usually well done and often times a good look into the absurdity that is the theme park entertainment business.

For my 2021 retrospective, I’m going to add some new content this year by looking back at games I find worth mentioning. The three games are going to fall into categories of “best new game, most unique, and most disappointing” in that order. Although there’s an entire month left before 2021 comes to a close, there’s a really good chance that Atery Gear Fusion (JP) is going to be my best gacha game for this year. I was thinking about doing a community video on the game sometime in December, but the holiday month is rather busy and I may save that content for a video next year in January. None the less if you haven’t visited my community tab on my YouTube channel (I highly suggest you do so by the way), it’s definitely been my jam for the last few weeks. The EN community for the game is steadily growing in terms of content and translation work ever since the JP release, so if you’ve been on the fence playing this game up until this point, now is a good time to jump in while the server opening goodies are still up for grabs. The above video and channel respectively (TimaeuSS) are a wealth of good information on the game and I’ve been following all of his content up until this point so far. As a bonus, I’m going to include some BANGING tracks from the game, since it has an excellent high energy techno / dub step soundtrack very similar to Tekken. The full OST can be found in the Artery Gear Fusion JP discord.

In-Game Artwork From Developer “Access!” CN

Short and sweet for this update, I’ll see you all next time for the very lengthy 2021 retrospective! Take care of yourselves until then.

Shin Megami Tensei V

My most anticipated game of 2021 is out now for the Nintendo Switch. By the time you’re reading this, I’m probably beyond balls deep in this game; possibly fusing my atoms into it. So we’ll call it atoms deep? Whatever the case, you get my point. Last official trailer linked below.

Just a side note about the Nintendo Switch situation; I ultimately ended up with the Nintendo Switch Lite since the OLED model was impossible to get here in SoCal. As a first-time owner of a Nintendo Switch console (in any form) I was quite surprised at the build quality for a “kid’s device”. Granted the entire thing is plastic and scratches up the moment you look at it wrong; it’s still impressive for a $200 price tag. Hope you all check out the game and I’ll see you in a few weeks for December!

Artist is nuezou (@ZoneUu) / Twitter

Chill Out Before You Pig Out

This month’s update is all over the place with a heavy dose of 80’s nostalgia. More importantly it’s a giant reminder to take a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life to appreciate the things that once were so we can see clearer where we’re going.

I’ve said this ad nauseum at this point, but I’m an older gentlemen. I was born kicking and screaming into this world back in the 80’s. I remember growing up with VHS and cassette tapes strewn about my shared room with my older brother. I remember the single Playboy magazine me and my friends were able to buy off a teenager cashier at the local run down convenience store in an obscure strip mall. I remember heading off to the food court looking at film posters for movies I possibly couldn’t afford a ticket to watch. All of these collective experiences makeup my childhood and formative years. The best I can do is try and illustrate these experiences to a much younger audience that you all probably are. I say these things now because one day you will be ultimately in the same position I am. You will reminisce about these prehistoric rudimentary devices called “cell phones” and the absurdity of it all that you had to physically bring it up to your ear to communicate with other folks!

Although music is a very personal thing, I do believe there are some touchstones along the way. For starters, I think we can all agree certain songs put us in a different mood. For me, I’ve always enjoyed the more laid back atmosphere of electronic melodic tunes. More importantly, it’s a certain type of genre that harps back to my formative years in the way of familiar beats and instruments that I recognized growing up. As my generation grows older, we naturally try to recreate what we grew up with, and hence the genre of “Synthwave” was born in the modern era. I won’t go into some detailed music history lesson about it, I rather you just sit back and take a listen! For those really young folks still in university, the song “Blinding Lights” from The Weekend falls exactly into this genre.

Everyone seems to have their favorite pocket film critic, and I am no different. It’s the way they present their observations, arguments, facts and various other things that somehow strikes a cord with us. For me Oliver Harper is the best of the bunch, because he likes looking at older films with a pop culture filter. More importantly he doesn’t fall into the hipster trappings of focusing too much on grindhouse films or the overly obscure. It’s the films the public mostly knew about for better or worse, and I’ve watched practically as many movies as he has talked about. In any case I see it only fitting to show you his retro review above of The Matrix since it’s getting a pseudo sequel and reboot soon which you can watch the trailer for right after!

We’re going to transition from one form of movie into another, but this time it’s in the video game medium. I’ve always had a soft spot for games that have a really dramatic story arc to them. Moreover, games do allow us to build a more personal connection to the characters we see on the screen over time simply due to the length of exposure we have with them. I can’t stress enough that some of the better stories in video game history often times include a lot of gameplay that may be a turn off for some folks. It is this reason why a lot of modern games have a “story mode” difficulty since people transitioning into the medium need the handicap in their favor. I know it’s easy for us jaded gamers playing over 2 (if not 3) decades of the hobby to scoff at this gesture, but we were all new once sometime in our lives. I remember this every time I write a guide for example for a new game I am excited to talk about in detail. It is amazing to see even the most experienced of gamers (at least they claim to be anyway) flounder about like helpless newborn puppies in a new foreign environment. In any case, cut the “newbies” some slack is what I’m getting at! On that note, JRPGFanatic puts in a ton of effort to splice together certain video game footage so that you can watch the story in its entirety without pressing a single button on a controller or keyboard. Please check out his channel for other video game movie compilations as well.

Artist SteveChopz

My plans to get a Nintendo Switch OLED model before November 12th is not going well. For those not aware, Shin Megami Tensei V is scheduled to be released on that day, and I plan to dive right into it hell or high water. I’ll make an entire separate post about it when the day arrives since it is my most highly anticipated game for 2021. In either case enjoy more Nintendo Lewdness above and I try not to silently panic. See you in a few days for the mini blog!

Love Your Last Origin Wiki Staff

Friendly reminder that the hard working folks over at the Last Origin Wiki put in a lot of effort day in and day out to keep the content updated. Please send them gratitude whenever you can; as most can be found on the Discord. It’s a lot of hard work to create content, and even more so to maintain it. We are fortunate to have such an active and supportive community for a game I’ve been playing 24/7 since I made my first video on it. And although numerous games have come and gone over the years; I’m still active in this one.

Some of you may ask “Why do I keep playing Last Origin?”. Well this picture below pretty much speaks for itself. It also doesn’t hurt that the game is extremely F2P friendly and allows you to switch between censored and uncensored versions as you see fit. If you want to get started, read the wiki guide here.

Artist SNOWBALL