GOT 'IM - Ys Origin

Here we are: the review of my final game in my late-2013 Ys binge.  Ys Origin.  It's the last Ys game I played in 2013, but I'll be starting on another later this week.  Haven't quite kicked the obsession yet. 

GOT 'IM - Ys Vanished Omen: The Final Chapter

Right, the title says "The Final Chapter" but really it's just Ys II.  Part of the Ys Chronicles+ collection on Steam.  Review ahead. 

GOT 'IM - Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness

Taking a break from my Ys binge (plenty more of those later) to review the latest Disgaea game, Disgaea D2.  Mostly. 

GOT 'IM - Ancient Ys Vanished: Omen

Oh look at that, more Ys.  Here's a review of the PC update of the PSP remake of the first Ys game, Ancient Ys Vanished: Omen.  Yeah, weird choice for a title. In the body of this review I'll just call it Ys I. 

GOT 'IM - Ys: The Oath in Felghana

OK, it's time to talk about Ys, people.  I hope you're ready.  There's going to be a lot of that in the rest of December.  Here's a review of my first major Ys foray, Ys: The Oath in Felghana. 

GOT 'IM - Diablo III

This review is the culmination of a former early 2000s curiosity turned mid-2000s obsession turned full year of resistance turned giving up and giving in.  I bought Diablo III on impulse and beat Normal Mode a few days later.  Here's the review.

GOT 'IM - Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga

My obsession for the first half of 2013 was Persona.  Well, in the latter half of 2013 it's probably Ys.  Six months ago I owned zero Ys games.  Now I own seven.  This is the first one I finished: Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga.  Wow.  Totally not-awkward title. 

GOT 'IM - DuckTales: Remastered

I'm spending too much time on these blog posts and not enough playing the games that allow me to write more blog posts.  Sort of.  The bigger problem is my probably-diagnosable addiction to surfing the internet, but that's a topic for another time.  Maybe never.  Whatever.  Here's some DuckTales. 

GOT 'IM - Donkey Kong Country Returns

Still embarrassingly behind on my 2013 gaming goals, but at least I got some Wii time in last summer.  Yeah, this is a game I beat in late August; I'm behind in writing these.  Donkey Kong Country Returns after the break. 

GOT 'IM - Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis

Finally a sixth game of my 13 in '13 quest completed.  Well, I beat it around a month ago, but I'm finally getting around to reviewing it.  The nifty little strategy RPG Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis. 

Sollosi's Favorite Ratchet & Clank Weapons

I don't think anyone asked for this, but I'mma do it anyway.  The Ratchet & Clank franchise hit its 10th anniversary in late 2012, and I'm going to celebrate by talking about the best part of the series: its ridiculous arsenal of weapons. You know, for the 11th anniversary.  I thought of this too late last year, okay?

Sollosi's Top Ten Favorite WWE Wrestlers Under Age 30

So, wrestling.  One year ago, I didn't give two shits about wrestling.  However, living with my roommate of 16+ months Kevin changed all that.  Kevin is a wrestling lifer; he hosts a wrestling podcast, he writes wrestling articles, he reviews wrestling DVDs, and he watches at LEAST seven to ten hours of wrestling programming each week.  The dude's into wrestling.  And around January of this year, I had seen enough wrestling vicariously to change my opinion.  Wrestling is soap opera for dudes.  And it's pretty awesome. 

Persona 3 - Meet the Cast

 Well damn. My 13 in '13 project was derailed for all of February and most of March thanks to Persona.  In my infinite wisdom, I decided to replay both Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 in New Game+ and spend well over 120 hours doing so.  I won't write new reviews of either game like normal, but instead post some informative retrospective entries on each.  This is the first, in which I analyze the cast of Persona 3.  If you think this sounds a lot like the Final Fantasy VI Meet the Cast post I made a few months ago, you'd be right. 

GOT 'IM - inFamous 2

Hey, it's a game I beat in 2011!  Well, I beat it again, and I still love it dearly.  inFamous 2 review incoming. 

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Final Episode

Welp, I got it half wrong.  Final recap after the jump.

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 8

OK, so we don't *officially* know who died in this episode, but it's strongly hinted that it was a certain brunette with either scars or burn marks on her face.  Right.  Penultimate episode reaction up ahead for The Mole in Small Town X er, Whodunnit?. 

GOT 'IM - Final Fantasy VI Advance

It took me several years since buying it, but I finally decided to fire up the latest version of one of my all-time favorite games: Final Fantasy VI Advance. Review ahead.

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 7

For a little change of pace, I'm going to post this reaction ON TIME only a few hours after the original airing.  The puzzle was pretty neat in this episode, but one guest got it so hilariously wrong that there was NO OTHER OPTION for the next victim.  Really. 

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 6

Sorry this is late, but I missed the first airing and had to resort to Hulu a few days ago.  Also, I decided to finish my Final Fantasy VI post first.  Whatever.  New Whodunnit, new reactions. 

Final Fantasy VI - Meet the Cast

And now for something completely different.  Let's talk about the characters in Final Fantasy VI. 

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 5

A little surprised by the results of Whodunnit? tonight. Not the winner, but the victim. Make that victims. Episode 6 is going to be the creepiest yet, I think. But on to Episode 5. 

GOT 'IM - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Hoo boy. Skyrim.  That's right.  I played Skyrim. 

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 4

Another episode of Whodunnit, another roster recap.  We're down to five victims and eight remaining guests by episode's end, and it's clearer than ever that finding that Killer's Clue is the key to victory.  Onward to Whodunnit? talk. 

Whodunnit? Reaction + Handicap - Episode 3

I'll post another one of these Whodunnit? deals, but this time cutting it short - only going over the remaining cast members and trying to get a better handle on who's running things. 

Whodunnit? Recap + Reaction - Episode 1 & 2

Today I try something totally different - recapping a reality show.  Because I've found a new guilty pleasure and I want to write about it.  It's called Whodunnit? and it was a recent 9-episode order from the ABC network.  More after the jump. 

GOT 'IM - Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4

Here's a review of a game I finished last weekend within 48 hours of obtaining it.  I was that hooked, and it was that good.  Let's talk about Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4. 

Full Synopses of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 and Episode 2

 I haven't written a review yet, but Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 is one of the best games I've played this year and one of the best RPGs in recent memory.  It's excellent.  But when I hear about it, one question always comes up:

Do I have to play the first three before I play this one?

The short answer is: probably not.  Rain-Slick 4 briefly recaps the first three games and then drops you in the Underhell to get on with your adventure.  But in case you're a gamer who prefers a thorough understanding of a series before you jump into a sequel (sometimes I'm that guy), Monsoon is here for you. I'll recap the events of the first TWO Penny Arcade Adventures games so you can get on with the third and fourth titles, which represent a change in direction and in presentation for the series. Sure, you could always check Wikipedia, but I'm doing this for me. Not just you.  

GOT 'IM - Guacamelee!

A Metrovania-style game with a portmanteau like that right in the title? I couldn't resist. Guacamelee! review up ahead.

GOT 'IM - Tales of Vesperia

It's been a long time since I played through a Tales Of RPG, but I managed to do so in the last days of April.  Here's a review for the XBox 360's Tales of Vesperia.  It's my fourth completed target of 13 in '13. 

GOT 'IM - Psychonauts

I finally finished a third game in my quest for 13 in '13!  I'm only eight years late to the party!  This is Double Fine's cult classic platformer, Psychonauts. 

Sollosi's Top Five Ignored Video Game series

Video games are my main hobby and probably one of the defining parts of me.  To many of my friends, I'm "the nerdy friend that likes video games" or "the guy that knows everything about games" or even "the video game guy that surprisingly is into a lot of other stuff too."  Now, most of those are fair descriptions, but my video game knowledge base is far from complete.  In fact, there are several major pieces of video game history that I've totally skipped.  So of course I made a list of them.

GOT 'IM - Hexyz Force

It's been a long time since I've had a real update in this space.  This is a review of an RPG I've played on and off for about a year: the generic-but-charming Hexyz Force. 

GOT 'IM - Persona 4 Arena

I played this game at my buddy @miki_sei's Superb Owl party and bought it a few days later.  I was that hooked.  Here's a review for my newest fighting game experiment: Persona 4 Arena. 

GOT 'IM - 10,000,000

This was a nice little four dollar investment on Steam.  Review for 10,000,000 up ahead. 

4 in February 2013

Two writers from popular game blogs Kotaku and Joystiq came up with an idea that fits in perfectly with my recent game quests for 2011, 2012, and 2013.  After the jump I'll talk about my plans for 4 in February.

GOT 'IM - Pokemon White Version 2

I'm still messing around in the post-game, but I've technically had it beaten for several days now.  The latest Pokemon joint as well as one of my 2013 targets, White Version 2. 

GOT 'IM - Persona 4

  Welcome, readers, to my first review of 2013.  I have more than one reader, right?  Well, I've been no-lifing it for the past few weeks.  Persona 4 continues my obsession from where Persona 3 left off. 

Top Twelve of the 12 in '12

Oh man, that post title is confusing.  I love it.

Gaming Goals of 2013

Well, I guess I can't win 'em all. Let me break down my (failed) 2012 gaming goals and then move on to my new ones for 2013. 

GOT 'IM - Valkyria Chronicles

This is the final game of my 2012 quest.  I didn't beat it until the evening January 1st, but I'm giving myself a pass because of my extremely hectic December, full of overtime work and culminating in my best friend's wedding.  The final completed game on my 2012 list, the venerable Valkyria Chronicles. 

GOT 'IM - Civilization V: Gods & Kings

I haven't *completed* this new game for my list, but I have *beaten* it.  Several times.  It's not exactly a game that you *beat* per se, but I've put so much time into it the past few months that I feel justified in reviewing it.  Let's talk Civilization V.