GOT 'IM - Okami

The tenth game on my 2012 was a fun romp indeed.  I beat it over three weeks ago, but I guess it's better late than never when it comes to playing and blogging about PS2 games from six years ago.  Welcome to the super-Japanese-open-action-adventure styles of Okami. 

GOT 'IM - Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana

Another month, another game, another review.  This time it's my first-ever Gust game - Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana

GOT 'IM - Rogue Galaxy

It's that time again!  I beat another game on my list and wrote another review.  This time it's the PS2 cult classic Rogue Galaxy. 

GOT 'IM - Torchlight II

I finished this game weeks ago, and I'm still playing it.  I'm checking guides, I'm making spreadsheets, and I'm even editing wikis.  Not sure it will catch up to Persona 3 FES in my Obsession of the Year race, but it's gaining ground.  One of my most anticipated games of 2012, Torchlight II. 

GOT 'IM - Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi

This entry is a game that I *technically* finished several years ago, but without unlocking enough secrets to see the real ending.  That simply wouldn't do, so 6 years later I decided to remedy that.  Today's review: Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi.

Sollosi's Top Five Favorite Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series

Batman: The Animated Series is my favorite cartoon of all time. Batman: TAS, more than any other show, game, or comic made me the superhero super-fan I am today. In this post, I'll identify my five favorite episodes of the show, along with several other episodes mentioned in less detail.

GOT 'IM - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

It's been five short months since my last Zelda experience, but it's been a Zelda kind of year, I guess. My latest completed target game is none other than The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

BREAKDOWN - Shohoku vs. Seirin

This is my nerdiest post yet, combining basketball, Japanese manga meta-analysis, and Bill Simmons. After the jump, I try and pick a winner of a hypothetical match between two fictional basketball teams: Shohoku High School (Slam Dunk) and Seirin High School (Kuroko's Basketball).

GOT 'IM - Super Mario Galaxy

I began this game while house-sitting in December of last year. It was shelved for awhile, but I decided to revisit it now that I have my own place and a Wii set up. Super Mario Galaxy, after the jump.

GOT 'IM - DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue

If this seems like an incredibly short time to post a review after the big FF XII piece, then, well, I finished this game an incredibly short time after beating FF XII. It's my fourth HotHead game in two years, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue.

GOT 'IM - Final Fantasy XII

This game project took longer to finish than planned, thanks to surprise acquisitions Dissidia 012 and Civilization V. Neither of those two is ready for a review, but one of my 2012 target games finally is: Final Fantasy XII.

GOT 'IM - Persona 3 FES

OK, new frontrunner for the Sollosi's Obsession of the Year award. Dragon Age: Origins was the clear victor in 2011; not even a contest. Back in '10 it was a tougher call, with Dragon Quest IX, Dissidia Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite all hitting obsession-level numbers. I'm inclined to give it to Dragon Quest IX since I probably logged in the most hours into that one and Unite's real obsession peak was in 2009, where Unite's biggest competition was probably Torchlight.

But enough of the past. I was dead to the world for much of June 2012, and there is exactly one culprit: Persona 3. Another target game crossed off my list, and I hope to God my other planned runs don't take up so much time. Sweet Moses I hope I can keep this post under 2000 words.

GOT 'IM - Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3

Oh damn, it's been over a month and I am so very behind on blog posts. This is one of four that I'll hopefully roll out before I leave town for a wedding this weekend, so I have a lot of writing in my immediate future. For now, let's review the long-winded Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3.

EDIT: I totally only finished this one post before leaving for the wedding. Damn.

GOT 'IM - Red Dead Redemption

Another month down, another target complete. This is probably my favorite backlogged game I've finished this year - I was always impressed when I saw Jon or miki_sei playing it, and I finally got around to it on my own: Red Dead Redemption.

GOT 'IM - Star Ocean: Second Evolution

This is a game I've owned in some form or another for over a decade, and have bought, sold, and re-bought. The original version is one of the all-time favorite games of my good buddy Jon (formerly Heavy Jon). The second (remade) game in a cult favorite series, Star Ocean: Second Evolution.

Doubting the PlayStation Vita

This is going to be an unstructured, disorganized, mostly-off-the-cuff blogpost composed while my non-functioning Verizon box fails to show the Community mega-finale. And it (the post) is about two of the biggest question marks in gaming today: the PlayStation Portable and the PlayStation Vita.

Top Ten 50 in '11

Last year I endeavored to finish 50 games in 2011, and I did so, with relatively few asterisks and cop-outs on the list. In January of this year I thought about ranking all 50 in order of subjective quality, but ultimately decided against it. Now that 2012 is one-third over, I've decided to make part of that list into a top ten.

Sequential Art - March & April 2012

Hey, remember this? I'm going to condense the format of this Sequential Art post, only reviewing my three comics subscriptions, no more than three weekly manga, and whatever volumes I've read in the review period. Since this covers two months, it's a little longer than I'd prefer. Let's see how this goes:

GOT 'IM - Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

My first completed game of April is also the first mobile device game I've ever finished. Well, the first mobile device game I've ever finished that's the kind of game you're supposed to finish. Sorry if that was confusing, but so is this game's name: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.

GOT 'IM - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

This one has been a project for some time, and I'm happy to finally cross it off my list. My second conquest of modern Zelda, my third completed target of the year, Wind Waker.

GOT 'IM - Journey

Well, that was fast. It took me right around two hours in one sitting to finish the new release from PSN superstars thatgamecompany. Heeeeere's Journey.

GOT 'IM - Mass Effect 3

I'm behind on my 2012 gaming goals. My original plan was to finish one of my target games each month and finish with all twelve completed on the year (probably manageable). Well, it's only March, and those plans have been derailed thanks to the continued (final?) adventures of one Commander Shepard. A review of the unusually controversial Mass Effect 3 lies ahead.

Sollosi's Top Five Most Anticipated Films of 2012

I love movies, I love listing things, and 2012 has my wallet primed for losing money at the theatre this year. Late spring through the summer is the time most of the Hollywood blockbusters roll out, so of course I'll make a list of movies I'm keeping an eye on. Ranked in order of interest / hype.

GOT 'IM - Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two

This will be the easiest review I ever write. Because it's Penny Arcade Adventures 2, which is almost identical to Penny Arcade Adventures 1.

Sequential Art - February 23rd, 2012

This will be my last weekly Sequential Art post; sorry it's a full week late. Long story short, I will be taking on a mortgage later this year, and my $35-40 spent each month on comics is a necessary cut. I'm going to drop 10 or 11 of the 13 monthly series I follow, but I haven't 100% decided which ones yet. But hey, I've had fun, I've done a lot of blogging (which was my goal from the start), and it's not exactly 100% over. Just significantly cut back. And I have one last weekly entry to do, so let's go.

Wii Games I'm Getting

I own a Wii and two games for it. Enjoying it quite a bit so far, if mostly for Super Mario Galaxy (which is great); I'd like a few more titles on my shelf, but not too many. And whenever I'm trying to categorize or break something down, I make a list. You see where this is going.

GOT 'IM - Grandia II

This is a review of a Dreamcast classic ported to the PS2, and the sequel to a fan-favorite PS1 game. It's also on my list of 2012 targets, so I'm extra glad about this one. Introducing Grandia the second.

GOT 'IM - Breath of Death VII: The Beginning (Hard mode)

This entry to the list would normally count as a replay and a cop-out, but I did it on Hard difficulty and sweet Moses it was quite a bit more challenging as a result. Let's revisit Breath of Death VII: The Beginning.

Sequential Art - February 16th, 2012

Passing on comics volumes this week, because I couldn't find either of the two I wanted at Phoenix Comics the other day. And I'm sorry I'm a day late, some shit happened.

Top Five Weirdest RPG Party Members

I love me some videogames, and my favorite genre of game is probably the RPG. Defining an RPG is tricky, but it usually involves directing a team of characters to accomplish objectives; swords are involved more often than not. Over the years, RPGs have developed traditional character archetypes, and several times down the line game designers have introduced characters who exist to defy those archetypes. Here are five of the crazier ones.

Sequential Art - February 9th, 2012

Decent slate this week, [oh shit I forgot to write the rest of this intro, and I don't want to be a tool and try to cover up the mistake]

GOT 'IM - Mass Effect 2

I can't believe I used to think that Jade Empire was better than Mass Effect. Now I can't believe that I took so long to get into this series. Because Mass Effect 2 is a stunning RPG.

5 Mass Effect 3 Predictions

My January has been all about Mass Effect. Since finally giving the series a chance in late December, I've beaten the first game twice and am starting up my second play of ME2. As a result, I am looking forward to Mass Effect 3 real hard and I'm making an internet list about it.

Sequential Art - February 2nd, 2012

Not bad this week. None of my suite of regular comics or manga did anything to consider me dropping them, and Irredeemable was its usual impressive self. A few double chapters this week - my guess is that scans were playing catch-up from having a few weeks off around the holidays.

Games I'm Buying in 2012

This isn't a "you should buy these games!" post. It's a "I really ought not to buy more than these games for my wallet's sake" post. It's a brief, mostly-chronological guide as to how much videogame stuff I'm buying this year. List is right after the jump (I always wanted to say that...). OK, not one list. Several.

Sequential Art - January 26th, 2012

Eh, this week seemed a little weak to be honest. A few story wraps and setup chapters, but not exactly shite. First-time MVP as well.

Five Oscar-Nominated Films I Need to See

Oscar nominations are out! This year, perhaps more than in previous years, I’m way behind on movie viewing. Most of the films I saw this year were of the popcorn / superhero variety, and the less mainstream movies that I watched and really liked weren’t nominated for anything at all - 50/50 and Young Adult immediately come to mind; both were fantastic. So here’s a brief list of a few 2011 movies that I haven’t seen yet, but want to before the Oscars air.

Sequential Art - January 19th, 2012

Good turnout this week both in numbers and in quality. I'm still blown away by this week's MVP.

DC Comics Replacing Six of the New 52

So, six books in the New 52 were officially canceled last week: Men of War, Blackhawks, Hawk and Dove, O.M.A.C., Mister Terriffic, and Static Shock. All six will be over after their 8th issue. These are among the least-popular of the relaunch, and I only bought issues in two of those series and decided not to follow through with them in October.

GOT 'IM - Mass Effect

This is my first "target" game I'm crossing off on my gaming goals list, and it's turned me into a series fanboy. BioWare does that to me, I guess. Massive Mass Effect ramblereview ahead.

Sequential Art - January 12th, 2012

I was surprised this week. I had a few comics volumes to read and expected the return of the early Shounen Jump releases, but I wasn't counting on getting two WatXM comics or two paperback volumes early. I also found a new comic starting a new arc and decided to try it out before I got those surprises in my pull list. As a result, I didn't read every single new comic I own this week, and next week will be even more crowded than my usual third week of the month.

GOT 'IM - Radiant Historia

This game is a playthrough that was about half-finished in 2011, and then wrapped up in the first two weeks of 2012 (that last part should be obvious). Readers, meet Radiant Historia.

GOT 'IM - Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins

Another year, another list of beaten games. I have no specific grand total I want to achieve this year, but in December I identified twelve games that I want included on the list. My first game of 2012 isn't one of those twelve, though. It's a 20-year-old Game Boy game that goes by Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

Best and Worst of MAGFest X

The one gaming / anime / nerd convention I attend every year is the Music And Gaming Festival, or MAGFest. It's owned/run by an old friend from Charlottesville, and it does everything it can to deliver an awesome weekend of gaming, partying, and intellectualizing to anyone willing to make the trip to Virginia or Maryland. I had an awesome time overall and I've composed two brief top-five lists to convey my thoughts on the convention.

Sequential Art - January 5th, 2012

Much less manga than usual today, thanks to Jump skipping a few weeks in December and January. I'm making up for it with some comics volumes I bought with Christmas money.