Inadequacies of an Everyman

Mostly this blog is about my video game collecting, with heavy emphasis on the PS Vita. Here and there, there's collection updates if I find MLP stuff that interests me (although that interest has waned), or my thoughts on anime I might have watched recently. I'd originally planned on incorporating my written music into the blog, but I've come to realize I lack the drive to record my new works on any set schedule. If you're curious on what my previous band Sin for Sin had to offer, we recorded an album called The End of the Fall. It's up on YouTube The End of the Fall and SoundCloud The End of the Fall I still work on music, but it's been slow lately. There's a collaborative project with some room mates that's a mix of EDM and industrial as well as my solo work that ranges from acoustic rock to black metal.

[raximkoron]

The Lost Child - Switch title from NISA. I originally preordered the PS4 version, then they announced the Switch version which was the same price and releasing on the same day. Wrote to them and asked if my order could be switched. Lo and behold, they were fine with it. Comes with their sturdier box, hardcover art book and a soundtrack selection.

Reverie - Another Eastasiasoft release. This guy comes with the numbered post card, a map, soundtrack with spine card, sticker and color manual. I have to admit that I'm kinda biased against Unity engine due to so much shovelware that uses it. I know there's good stuff out there as well and hope for the best with this.

Penny-Punching Princess - Switch title from NISA. Gotta say, I'm super underwhelmed with the packaging on this one. I get what they were going for, it looks like a gold bar, but… the box is pretty flimsy and all of the stuff doesn't fit very well inside. Came with some pins, a large key chain and a USB card that contains the sound track (at least they're in .wav's rather than some un-optimal compressed format). I haven't played a lot of it yet, but it seems like a lower budget version of Witch and the Hundred Knight.

Bunny Must Die - From Strictly Limited games. Interesting that the game case is individually numbered so collectors can tout this without breaking the seal. Obviously I don't care much about that. Mine's 552 it seems. I also snagged the sound track and one of the aluminum art plates 'cause why not.

Rainbow Moon - Alright, hear me out. I already have this from LRG, but this is a limited edition rather than the game itself. That and it wasn't super expensive. Came with the numbered post card, sound track, game map, "Book of Wisdom" which is basically an information guide for all the items in the game, and a manual. The outside of the manual is color, but the inside is not.

Rainbow Skies - Got this at the same time as Rainbow Moon as they released on the same day. It's very similar in contents. "Book of Knowledge" which is the same concept as the Book of Wisdom, numbered post card, sound track, game map and manual.

Thimbleweed Park - This was a fun limited edition from LRG. Made to mimic PC old school games (including the sticker on the front stating what the game's for from when games would release on many different systems with the same box). Comes with a newspaper with relevant game things, a poster that has advertisements and whatnot also from the game, TimblePages… literally a phone book. Speck of Dust Post-It notes and 3 stickers. It's a little older-school than I'm used to as I grew up with SCUMM games and this is older like Maniac Mansion.

LRG games - Organ Trail, Revenant Saga, Factotum 90, Home and Siralim. A good amount of these I have digitally elsewhere, so I'm happy to have them, but may or may not open them up to play them in the future.

Others - Picked up Moe Chronicle from Play-Asia since it was on a pretty good sale. I have Moero Chronicle on Steam as well. The other is Gun Gun Pixies that I found for a decent price on eBay. It's not translated so I have to fumble through menus a bit, but the gameplay itself is alright to pick up.

As usual, I have other stuff on order waiting for release. Looks like NISA is releasing The Caligula Effect on Switch, so I ordered that. I have it for the Vita digitally already, but physical makes me happy too. I should watch the anime that was just released for this as well. Also have Read Only Memories 2064, VA-11 HALL-A and Xenon Valkyrie+, Super Hydorah, Antiquia Lost, Cosmic Star Heroine, Owlboy, Musynx and probably others I'm not remembering at the moment.

[raximkoron]

Man, I've apparently been lazy recently. A lot of these I've had for quite a while but haven't tossed up here. Enough that this will have to be split into 2 pieces.

The Longest 5 Minutes - Switch game. It's using NISA's more robust box construction which is great. Also comes with some pins of the characters and the soundtrack.  It's in my backlog, so I can't really speak to the game that much.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 - Woohoo, the first game was pretty fun. This also, uses the more robust box from NISA. This came with a hardcover art book, soundtrack, 2 sets of pins. Also comes with a Hundred Knight stress foam ball externally, and I got the rubber strap set that was sold separately. Yet again, this is in my backlog, so I haven't played much yet.

Oddword: Munch's Odyssey - Another LRG release. This guy has a very interesting box that opens from the middle. The can isn't pictured as I honestly can't figure out how to get it out without damaging the container box. Anyway, it comes with said can, soundtrack, poster, art cards and the LRG card.

Gal*Gun 2 - I was looking forward to this game… having to order it from the UK made it fairly expensive, but at least it exists. Comes with an artbook, soundtrack, set of pins, Mr. Happiness plush and… I think it's a cloth case for the Switch if I remember right. Sadly, I'm not having a ton of fun with this one. I liked the rail-shooter nature of the first one. This one is almost always stationary. I'll probably get through it, but I've picked it up a couple times and haven't continued yet. Yet again, Rice screwed up something with the printing. This time, it wasn't quite as egregious as labeling it E for Everyone, but the inside print accidentally used the inside asset for Wild Guns from Natsume.

Megadimension Neptunia VIIR - I've put off playing this since I did play through VII on PS4 and PC. I know it adds some things (and I do have a PSVR for those waifu scenes) but I can't bring myself to play through it again yet. Probably because I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Re;Birth 1-3. Anyway, comes with a hardback artbook, a case insert, skin for a DS4 controller and a Nepgeardam plush.

Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero UE - I already own this and all the DLC on the Vita. It's a fantastic game, but wanted it for the Switch as well. It also comes with the artbook which I thought was initially only intended for Kickstarter backers (which I wasn't one of). The artbook's great, I didn't bother to open the soundtrack as it's identical to the Vita version I already have, and an instruction manual case insert.

Nurse Love Addiction - Another LRG release for the Vita. It's a VN and by the artwork, I'm guessing it's Yuri, unless it's all first person. I'm perfectly OK with that. The box is fairly robust and has a magnet latch to keep it closed (like Summon Night 6 and Fate/Extella). Inside contains the soundtrack, art cards, sheet of stickers and 5 printed band-aids. Eventually I'll get around to playing a lot of these VNs.

Sir Eats-a-Lot - Another Eastasiasoft release through Play-Asia. The box is in their normal size with the cellophane dust cover (I wish ALL LE's came with something like that. It's dusty here in CO). This comes with an artbook, soundtrack, numbered card (matches number on box), sticker and has a sticker book as a case insert. I've played a bit of this and it's not bad, but feel like the touchscreen additions are mayhaps a bit tacked on or unnecessary… and makes some jumps quite difficult.

Muv-Luv Complete - Well, I did expect this to be a bit more than it was. It's essentially both games (Muv-Luv & Muv-Luv Alternative) with 6 art cards and a cardstock box that (barely) fits the 2 games together and nowhere for the art cards. Glad to have the games, but man, this was damned expensive to have shipped state-side when I could have just got the games domestically.

[raximkoron]

It's been a while, but not for lack of effort. Here's what I currently have to report on.

Windjammers - Interesting packaging, as it's a bi-fold. One side houses the Wham-O Frisbee. The other houses the poster, the game, soundtrack and card. Holds together in a slipcase

The Count Lucanor - Hey, another Signature Edition Game. Came with the game, soundtrack, card and art book. I preordered it so it also came with the preorder coin which I've placed in the box for safe keeping.

UnEpic - Sadly, this is just the base game and not the LE. They apparently only made 500 of them, Play-Asia's notification assistant didn't tell me when it went live and they sold out stupid quickly. Still, it comes with a manual, slip cover and sticker, so I still get some goodies.

99 Vidas - Glad I got this as well as they made astonishingly few LE's of this as well (either 500 or 800). However, it's Strictly Limited Games' first LE, and like most other company's first attempt, some things weren't planned out well enough. The important contents aren't hurt, but they're all held in a card stock tray that got mangled in shipping from Germany (which most people won't know as I think most of these will remain sealed 'cause collectors be cray cray). The other gripe I have, is with one of the silly extras, the Genesis/Megadrive cart. The mold they used was a bootleg rather than being more official. As such, the imprinted text on the back has a typo ("plastis." rather than "plastic").

One More Dungeon - Eastasiasoft knocks it out of the park again. I like that their LE's are consistent in size as well as comes packaged in a dust sleeve (makes my life easy here in super-dry Colorado). As usual, comes with the game, soundtrack, sticker and numbered card (that matches the holographic sticker on the box). Also comes with a funny-looking snail keychain.

Atelier Lydie & Suelle - Maybe I'm not the only one who's bitched about LE's boxes being too flimsy. This box is sturdy af! Feels super premium, like I want out of something expensive, since this wasn't cheap. Came with the game, 2-disc soundtrack, DLC code, cloth poster and the main characters as large pins. I like Gust's art style with these games, and I'm trying to play, but I'm afraid these games will give me a cavity or diabetes from playing them.

Ni no Kuni II - No, I didn't drop several hundy-sticks on the LE of this. Not super interested in the large electronic figure that I'm sure was the bulk of the cost. This still comes with some stuff though. The diorama (I hear it's difficult to assemble. I haven't tried yet), Steelbook with a soundtrack sampler (Seriously, 4 short tracks, less than 20 minutes of music) and the game with a DLC code. I've only played an hour or so and it seems like I'll enjoy it.

Vita games - Yahari Ore 1 & 2. Not sure why I even bought these; they weren't cheap and they're visual novels completely in Japanese. Still, I like the franchise, so whatever. Breach & Clear and Retro City Rampage DX - AHHHHHH! Didn't think I'd ever own either of these. No they weren't cheap. Not by a long shot. But I have 'em now. Buy once, cry once right? By getting Breach & Clear, I can now have a full set of Limited Run Games Vita games, as it's the only one I was missing thus far. Velocity 2X Critical Mass Edition - Fairly fun game, I'm most of the way through the main campaign now. This had multiple release delays, but finally came out. Croixelur Sigma, Sky Force Anniversary & Fallen Legion - more LRG releases of course. I played through Sky Force Anniversary and it's a lot of fun. Croixelur Sigma kinda suffers from some wonky controls, but I was expecting that as I owned it on Steam already. I haven't tried Fallen Legion yet, but it seems as though an instruction booklet came with it, but wasn't included inside the case. When I open it up, I put it in there.

Looking forward

As always, I have a TON still coming to me. Muv-Luv Trilogy from Rice Digital, Bunny Must Die! from Strictly Limited Games, Sir Eats-a-Lot from Eastasiasoft. Also Factotum 90, Home, Revenant Saga, Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey, Organ Trail and Nurse Love Addiction from Limited Run Games.

There's been a few physical games announced by Aksys that I'm not going to pick up. I'm really not interested in otome games, so I'll leave them behind like sports games, unless I find them at a great deal later.

[raximkoron]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: The outer box is super flimsy, but otherwise has good stuff inside. Holographic coating on the front box, a large proper hard cover art book, soundtrack sampler and a steel case for the cartridge. I still haven't got too far in it, the combat I hear opens up, but right now it plays out as lifeless as MMO combat.

Cursed Castilla EX: Another Eastasiasoft title. Came with an art book, limited number card, sound track and a full color manual. Play Asia also included a sticker seen at the top right.

La Mulana EX: a Limited Run Games LE. Comes with a poster, manual and 4 (!) CD's of soundtrack. I got the silver card. I've left the game sealed as I already have it digitally... If I remember right, the jumping felt awkward to me in the game, but I haven't played it for quite a few years.

Bubsy - The Woolies Strike Back: Look, I had zero intention of getting this. I have some fond memories of the first Bubsy game back in the day, but I'd be hard pressed to call it good. This was so dirt cheap on Amazon on one of their lightning deals though, I think it was $9 or $10. I'll fux wit dat. Came with a soundtrack disc, a post card and a business card.

Games: Picked up Freedom Wars and Touch My Katamari. Freedom Wars I had digitally, and my copy of Katamari didn't have a case, so now I do. Later on, grabbed Putty Squad and finally found Supremacy MMA at a decent price. Already had Putty Squad, but it was cart only, so it's an upgrade.

LRG: Another stack of these. Steamworld Heist & Dig, Rock Boshers DX and the developers variant of Mecho Tales (came with both card variants).

Upcoming: I have some more games on the way in the future. Windjammers LE, Claire Extended Cut, The Count Lucanor LE, Skullgirls 2nd Encore LE, UnEpic (not the LE due to Play Asia not notifying me when it went up for sale), and Skull Pirates LE (not 'til at least October though). Also, Rainbow Moon & Rainbow Skies LE's (already have the LRG variant of Rainbow Moon). Plan on picking up Sky Force Anniversary and Croixleur Sigma when they're made available this week. Oh, and Velocity 2X FINALLY has a set release date of March 6th. I have other stuff ordered, but it's not Vita related so I don't feel like documenting it here ahead of time.

I'm alive and doing decent. We're treating my stuff as panic attacks, so I'm on prozac. Hasn't altered my mental state (I'm still me) and I'm able to work and sleep and everything. I moved back into my bedroom a while ago.

I still occasionally feel some craziness in my stomach, so whatever's going on is still happening, but the prozac seems to keep it easy enough to work with. If it gets bad at any point, I still have some Klonopin, but haven't really had to take it for many weeks and hope that keeps up. The nausea is doing much better as well, but still rears it's ugly head from time to time. Mostly when I'm traveling, but not very often.

My diet has changed quite a bit in trying to deal with high cholesterol. Breakfast is now some form of oatmeal or muesli with yogurt. Lunch is fairly similar to what I was eating before, but using more chicken breast instead of thighs, replacing a bag of chips with an apple and not drinking a can of soda. Dinner most nights is a tortilla, a slice or two of good sandwich meat and a fat pile of salad greens with a drizzle of a vinaigrette and a couple of small mandarin/oranges. As far as soda, I've found that I like the fizzy feeling, but don't really care about the flavor all that much. When I want one, I have a La Croix or other sparkling water. Also started drinking a lot of tea as a replacement for coffee in the morning. Mostly earl grey, but I have a lot of different types to keep it interesting.

Still haven't done a ton of exercise. My back still doesn't let me do much of that outside of my normal daily functions, but hopefully I can start getting a bit more active. I've started trying to do more manual grocery shopping rather than taking deliveries; mostly due to salad greens and tangerines being eaten faster than other things that don't need replenishing very often. I've dropped a little over 55 lbs since I started this health thing and I'd like that to continue.

[raximkoron]

Part 3 (final) of recent pickups.

Ittle Dew 2+: I pretty much consider Nicalis' releases on the Switch to be LE's, since they usually come with extras. This one came with an artwork piece and instruction manual. Also had a creature sticker on the outside mentioning stuff being inside, so I kept that.

Semispheres - Blue Cover: I like blue more than orange and think it fits more with the Vita's aesthetic, so I got the blue variant. This is the 2nd Eastasiasoft LE release and cool like Tachyon Project. Comes with the same dust cover, numbered card, soundtrack and instruction manual. Play-Asia also included a sticker of it as well.

Axiom Verge - Multiverse Edition: I like all the stuff this came with, but the packaging is super cheap. There's some spacers inside to hold everything in the right place, and they were collapsed inside. Otherwise though, it's pretty sweet. The poster has the full game map on the other side, the artbook is nice and I haven't watched the DVD yet, but it looks like it has hours of content on it, including a play through as well as the making of.

I do have more stuff on the way as well. for Vita I have Skullgirls, The Count Lucanor, Cursed Castilla EX, La Mulana EX, Velocity 2X and plan to get Windjammers and Claire Extended when they're released. There's more to be released I'm sure, but we'll have to see.

Also have some other LE's ordered, The Lost Child, The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2, Penny-Punching Princess, The Longest 5 Minutes, Atelier Lidie and Suelle, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 & Tokyo Xanadu eX+.

As far as my health goes, it's not super good. I've lost close to 40 pounds recently and I have a theory on some of that. We think what's happening is I'm suffering from the physical manifestations of panic attacks but I don't have any mental anguish to go along with it, nor do I have any idea what triggers it. My days can either be great, fairly bad or downright terrible. If it gets terrible, I have Clonazepam that seems to put me in a better state for a while. I'm assuming that I've lost a lot of weight due to adrenaline keeping my metabolism way up even though I'm stuck on the couch most of the time.

I've changed my diet up quite a bit though. Cut out soda outside of sparkling water (I like the feel of carbonation much more than the taste). Also been eating oats almost every morning for breakfast. Makes me eat less for my other meals, which I've also been eating a lot more greens with. Mostly to try to lower my cholesterol which has been high. My old diet wasn't anywhere near as bad as some people, but it still needed to be better. We'll see how that helps in a month when I get another test... if that doesn't keep it in line, then my diet isn't the problem, it'd be my weight and liver.

Who knows. I'm alive and have been sleeping on a couch for the last couple months as my bed isn't comfortable to me for whatever reason. I'm surviving but some days are total crap. I keep waiting for things to just go away like they did back in 2013 and I'm sure they will eventually. Still, having well over $6,000 in medical bills is really rough.

[raximkoron]

Part 2 of pickups:

Cyberdimension Neptunia - 4 Goddesses Online: Nice pretty box with the 4 CPU's in their white outfits. Comes with a hardcover artbook, a large round stand pin, a Neptune rubber keychain, a Soundtrack CD, and a reprint of the disc inside the soundtrack (original pressing's CD had some washed out colors). Also had a strange "getting started" card in the game case about normal PS4 functions. I tried to play this a little, but still haven't felt up to playing a lot of console games lately due to my health stuff.

Caladrius Blaze: When I heard this was from some of the members from Seibu Kaihatsu, I wanted to snag this (as I said, I'm a fan of Raiden). One of the few titles I picked up from LRG for PS4. Came with a poster inside.

Ys Origin: Super happy to have this. DotEmu released it rather than Xseed which does make me a bit sad, but I'm still happy to have this fantastic game physically. Unlike Xseed though, DotEmu doesn't have any control customization available, and the default has some issues. You attack with square, jump with X and have to use O to charge/use skills. On PC, I changed the skill button to be R so I could constantly charge up a skill without affecting my ability to attack. Came with a card with artwork, a poster of Darm tower and the game. Also, I got the silver Yunica card with my game., DotEmu doesn't hav, DotEmu doesn't have any control customization available, and the default has some issues. You attack with square, jump with X and have to use O to charge/use skills. On PC, I changed the skill button to be R so I could constantly charge up a skill without affecting my ability to attack. Came with a card with artwork, a poster of Darm tower and the game. Also, I got the silver Yunica card with my game.

Mary Skelter Nightmares: Kind of a strange dungeon crawler (in the vein of Etrian Oddysey). Alien things have enslaved most of Earth and torture people. A couple are broken out of captivity and join a resistance to fight back. Came with a hardback artbook, softback book of short stories the game was based on and a cloth poster.

Summon Night 6 - Wonderful Edition: Holy crap this thing is huge. The box is incredibly high quality and has printing all on the outside as well as the inside. It also came with Summon Night 6 tissue paper wrapping the box with a bespoke sticker to seal it all together (not pictured but kept). The box is held closed with magnets a bit like the Fate/Extella box. Inside is an enormous hardcover artbook of this and all previous games in the series, a large poster, a plush, a soundtrack, a set of drink coasters, and the game comes with an instruction manual.

Tokyo Tattoo Girls: I don't know a whole lot about this game at the moment. Believe it's a strategy game with a lot of fanservice. Kind of a budget title from NISA as I think this LE was $35 or $40. Comes with the game, soundtrack CD and softcover artbook.

Yomawari Midnight Shadows: It's neat to get another one of these titles. Came with a cloth poster and a set of cellphone charms.

Nights of Azure 2: I played a little bit of the first one of these and will probably get back to it, so I figured I'd get the second one. I do like picking up games for the Switch, but since I got the first one on PS4, I continued that trend. Comes with a cloth poster, soundtrack and softcover artbook.

Demon Gaze II: Heard this is a major improvement over the first one. Comes with a hardcover artbook and soundtrack CD. Not much more to add other than I like the packaging more than the first one that held the contents like a slip cover for VHS tapes.

Pile of Games: A good chunk of these are Limited Run Games like Asdivine Hearts, Bard's Gold, Plague Road and Oceanhorn. The others were either newish (Chaos:child, Drive Girls & The Nonary Games) or something I was missing physically like P4G and Ben10.

[raximkoron]

Yep, it's been a while. Medical issues and laziness are the major reasons. Anyway, this is part 1 of 3 of my recent pickups.

Tachyon Project: This is the first of the Eastasiasoft limited editions that I've picked up, although it's probably their first. Its packaging is slick and I love that it contains a dust sleeve for it. It contains a holographic sticker on the back that's numbered (1859 just like the card included). Also contains the soundtrack CD, the game itself with an English manual and a sticker that wasn't in the box but included in the shipment so I assume Play-Asia printed them for it. Nice tiny package overall. The game reminds me a bit of Tempest with different geometric shapes for enemies and you.

Utawarerumono - Mask of Truth: Like the last one, this isn't much of a limited edition… more like the physical version, oh, and it comes with a waifu pillow case. Either way, I'm happy to have it, but I haven't finished the first one yet, so haven't tried it. Heard it does improve on the first game though.

Ys 8 - Lacrimosa of Dana: Well, this has strong contention to being my game of the year. While I haven't quite beat it yet, I'm quite close and love the combat and most of the bosses. Mixes a lot of old and new. Uses the same battle mechanics as 7 and Celceta with skills and ultimate moves, but doesn't have a set camera angle. Gives you jumping back and allows flash guarding to be pulled off more easily (which is good as it's quite integral to playing the game above Normal difficulty). Apparently a lot of people complained about the localization so NISA's overhauling it at the moment. Never felt that it was "bad"… just thought of it more of a translation than a localization. Either way, This is out for PS4 (pictured), Vita (which I also have) and will be out on Steam probably in January. The box is an interesting pillar design. When open, one side (pictured) has Adol, the other side has Dana. The thing is choc-full of goodies. A pair of bookends of Adol and Dana, a hardback art book, a hardback recreation of all of Adol's notes from the game, an incredible cloth poster, a steelbook case, a CD selection as well as the game itself containing a softcover art booklet and different CD sampler. I got the two sets of pins as well, however they weren't included, they were a separate purchase.

Danganronpa V3: Certainly one that came with a lot more than I remember reading about when I preordered it. Whole thing came in the school's bookbag that's not bad quality. Inside is a pair of branded headphones (of course they're terrible), a hat, and the LE game box that includes the game, a hardback artbook made to look like the journal in game, the soundtrack as well as a sampler of tracks from previous games. As with Ys 8, I got the pin sets that weren't included, but were heavily discounted if the game was preordered.

Metroid 2 - Return of Samus: I've been waiting forever for a new 2D Metroid title. This one wasn't developed by Nintendo but Platinum Games if I recall correctly. The Limited Edition came with the game and a CD sampler of remixed Metroid tunes as well as the outer slip cover. Since I got it from GameStop, it also came with a Samus pixelart rubber keychain. I love the fact that the reverse sleeve of the 3DS case is the original art for Metroid 2. While the game didn't live up to my wildest fantasies, it's pretty decent.

Senran Kagura - Peach Beach Splash: Ah yes, more from the gratuitous fanservice series. This was a lot more compact than I imagined it'd be. Came with the game, an artbook, soundtrack and a Blu-Ray of the openings and other stuff from the series up to this point.

Undertale: Woohoo, wanted this physically for a long time. Fangamer did a great job with this, like they did with Shovel Knight. Comes with a locket necklace, the game alongside an art booklet with gold foil binding, the soundtrack along with a sheet music booklet for a few songs. Another very sturdy box which I appreciate.

Raiden 5: This is a Limited Edition in a pretty loose sense. Just comes with a soundtrack CD inside, otherwise it's just the game. I've loved the Raiden series throughout the years. This one's a bit weird with the cheer system, but still a fun time.

[raximkoron]

I have new things to post here pretty soon. I’m waiting for a couple to show up before I throw them all up.

In the meantime, I’m doing my best to survive as I’ve been having more issues that I thought was my heart. Went to the ER and got admitted to the hospital for a day where they put me through the gauntlet of tests and EVERYTHING came back negative for heart problems. Just like back in 2013 when this happened last time.

My best guess, especially with having butterflies in my stomach quite frequently right now, is anxiety/panic attacks. I don’t have any conscious stressors, but still, it’s possible. My doctor told me to try breathing exercises. All of this Saturday (from 11AM to 2AM) I had butterflies in my stomach, as well as chest pain and a knot in my back. Tried breathing exercises for hours and even some meditation to no avail. Sent a request to my normal doctor for a trial/sample prescription to something for panic/anxiety attacks so when this happens again, which I assume it will, I can try them to see if that alleviates things... if not, then it’s gotta be something else. No clue what else it might be though.

We’ll see if they oblige and give me a small prescription to something. If not, I need to stress that I’m not willing to wait this out anymore, I need to know what’s causing this

[raximkoron]

Woohoo, here’s the new Limited Editions.

Psycho-Pass: Well, I ended up spending more than I anticipated on this overall. I found a stupid cheap version on eBay, but it was mislabeled as Vita when it was the PS4 version. It was stupid cheap due to what looked like a dog or wolverine eating much of the outer packaging (also not stated in pictures or description). I ended up ordering the Vita version from Amazon as I wanted it and the limited edition wasn’t too much more than the standard, so... the Vita version remains sealed and all the contents in the picture are from the PS4. Came with an art book, art prints, an ad for the Blu-ray, cleaning cloth, soundtrack selection and game.

Tokyo Xanadu: I’m looking forward to playing this as it’s a Falcom title. It comes with an art book, soundtrack selection, a deck of Blade cards (really neat, but what are the odds I’d find someone else who has one to play against?) and a plush.

Muramasa Rebirth: This is one I don’t see many people show off, so when I saw it for a decent enough price, I had to snag it (It’s Vanillaware afterall). Comes with a Vita skin, Vita case shell, art print in an envelope, soundtrack selection and bag. It also came with a paper fan for it, but it wasn’t part of the LE, I think it came from E3 or some other promotional event.

Slain Signature Edition: My first purchase from Signature Edition Games, and my first EU/UK game (I got God Eater 2 later on). I will say, it coming from the UK in a bubble envelope wasn’t quite enough to fully protect it. One of the top corners of the box got a little flattened. Not the end of the world, but a prime example of why a box is necessary to send things like this, especially over long distances. Anyway, comes with a postcard with the contents, a NES-esque art book, full soundtrack and a pressed coin.

Utawarerumono Mask of Deception: Alright, this one is pretty light for being considered a LE... more like a first edition. It comes with the game and art book. Haven’t gotten around to trying it out yet, but I might as well wait as another one is coming out in December I think.

God Wars Future Past: This came with a hard cover art book, an enormous cloth print (couldn’t find a good way to photograph it unfurled), soundtrack selection and a mirror trinket that I’m assuming is important to the story in some way.

Disgaea 5: Yeah, so this is a Switch title. I still don’t personally own a Switch, but Disgaea as a franchise seems to hold it’s value over the years and I’d like something to play on it when I finally find one. I did lick the cart and didn’t notice any bitterant on it, so I wonder if that’s only Nintendo titles that opt for it? Oh well. It came with a hardcover art book, 2 large posters, a set of pins, a Prinny keychain and a soundtrack.

As always, I have a ton of stuff still on the way. Skull Girls will come out EVENTUALLY (for fucks sake), Summon Night 6, Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana, Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony, Undertale, Demon Gaze II, Yomawari Midnight Shadows, Tokyo Tattoo Girls and Bard’s Gold.

[raximkoron]

So, here’s all the standard games I’ve picked up lately. As far as standard games I’m still looking for, it’s only a handful really. Breach & Clear (holy grail item), Amazing Spiderman, Epic Mickey 2 and Need for Speed... I might be missing one or two from the list that I don’t remember off the top of my head... and a couple that I bought digitally long time ago, like Persona 4 Golden and Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate.

There’ll be another post here in a moment covering my new Limited Editions, as together they’d be more than 10 photos, so I had to split them up.

[raximkoron]

Just a quick one as I don’t have a ton of new stuff.

New laptop’s pretty great. It’s an ROG Strix with a GTX 1060. I also replaced the original PCIE 128GB SSD with a Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVME drive... figured since the thing’s capable of running modern games, it might as well have room for Steam games, but I didn’t want to sacrifice any space on my other SSD drive. Migration wasn’t possible due to software and hardware limitation, so after trying that for several hours, I just installed Win10 from scratch and all was well.

Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy - Well, this box is enormous. It’s the same form factor and packaging that Stranger of Sword City uses which isn’t my favorite for sure, but it makes sense with the size of the art book included. It also comes with a poster and soundtrack CD. As a bonus, NISA throws in a file folder for some unknown reason, and, it’s even larger than the artbook, so of course it doesn’t fit inside.

A Rose in the Twilight - Yeah, this did release last month. But I preordered it along with Operation Babel for free shipping. This comes in the much more standard NISA box with the game, soundtrack and soft cover artbook. This one also had a keychain and giant foam plushie that... smells like chocolate for some reason; I’m sure it’s not intentional. I was able to hide the keychain in the box which is nice, I much prefer to have things all together when they can be.

Persona 5: Take Your Heart edition - So, I’m still playing this, about 90 hours in. The box is quite big, but it does harbor a lot of extras. Its box is held closed with a slip cover, and a magnet, much like the Fate/Extella box which is great. So, first off, this thing comes with a book bag with the high school’s insignia on it. A nice touch I found was that the lining of the bag is the pattern of the pants from the school uniform. It also comes with a plushie of Morgana (about as annoying as Teddie IMO, I hope if/when more Persona games come out they don’t continue these character trends). It also comes with an artbook; certainly not a full one as the full one is about to go on sale for about $30 on its own, but it gets the job done. It comes with a soundtrack sampler (basically, the first disc of the OST. Has some great tracks, but releasing incomplete soundtracks are frustrating to me). Finally, it comes with the game in a Steelbook. I honestly don’t know why they didn’t use a double-disc liner for the Steelbook to put the soundtrack disc in it as well as its bespoke to the Take Your Heart edition to my knowledge, but whatever.

I have some more LRG games but didn’t get pictures of ‘em yet, as I still have some more incoming, so I’ll throw those up at a later date.

I still have other stuff coming as well. Skull Girls 2nd encore, Slain Signature Edition, Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception (not an LE, but comes with an artbook for preorders), Disgaea 5, then further out I have God Wars: Future Past, Summon Night 6, Tokyo Xanadu, Ys8 (PS4 and Vita) and Danganronpa V3

[raximkoron]

jWee, it’s been a long time. I’m using a new laptop now as my HP had some fan failures that made it sound like a garbage disposal at all times. I have a heatsink fan assembly coming to attempt to fix it up, but I wasn’t 1000% confident I could get it all back together correctly afterward (I had previously given up when seeing if I could replace the DVD drive that went bad in it years ago).

The thing’s a beast, Intel Core i7 7700HQ, nVidia GTX 1060 6GB and a G-sync screen. After some tweaking for a couple weeks, the only thing that I can’t seem to remedy is the keyboard back light which turns off after a minute of non-physical interaction. I’d like to keep it on all the time and turn it off when I want to like my previous one, or at least have a proximity sensor, but it’s not too bad otherwise.

Anyway, on with the games

Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero: Fantastic game, great controls, great character designs (I especially like the mermaid queen and of course ya boy Squid Baron). This was the physical release that came with the soundtrack which is quality, just like the rest in the series.

Danganronpa 1/2 Reload: So, this is a collection of the first 2 games for the PS4. Yes, I already own the first two on Vita, but seeing as how the value of Danganronpa stuff doesn’t seem to drop, I figured it was in my best interest to pick this up. Came with a dual-disc soundtrack, Art book, sticker, coin and a pair of cheap-ass sun glasses.

Atelier Shallie Plus: Hey, another Atelier game that got a physical release on Vita, I’m all about that. It’ll probably be just as impossible to find as Escha and Logy is, so I gladly ordered it. Came with a soft cover art book, sound track CD and a cleaning cloth.

Touhou Genso Wanderer & Double Focus: Went out on a limb with this one. I’m not super knowledgeable with Touhou games, knowing they started out as bullet hell shooters. The games look interesting enough, and I’ve always liked the character designs of the series. This came with an enormous amount of stuff. Hard cover art book for Genso Wanderer, soft cover art book for Double Focus, 4-disc soundtrack for Genso Wanderer, 2-disc soundtrack for Double Focus, a guidebook and plastic standee.

NepNep PC: So, I already own all 3 of these games, and their DLC... on PC AND Vita. But I couldn’t resist NepNep, especially when this collection got cheap on Amazon. Came with a soft cover art book for Re;Birth 3, a soundtrack selection CD from Re;Birth 2 and a Trilogy Pack card with Re;Birth 1 artwork. The card also has the Steam keys on the back of it. Mayhaps I’ll give them out to someone to entice them into the NepNep franchise in the future.

Limited Run Games: More of these. Aqua Kitty DX, Curses & Chaos, The Swapper and The Swindle. They also finally released the card decks for Oddworld Strangers Wrath HD. This was the variant I received.

I still have a ton of stuff on the way, but outside of Summon Night 6, it’ll all take several months to get here. Really excited about Ys 8... maybe too excited, I ordered the LE for both Vita and PS4.

[raximkoron]

There hasn’t been much MLP merch that I’ve been interested in coming out. This is what I’ve got outside of IDW stuff. There’s a DJ-PON3 fan series releasing around the corner that I’ll probably get, but that’s about it from what I”m interested in that’s been announced. Queen Chrysalis: Don’t really like to mix collections in a post, but I have no where else to post about it, as I think it’ll be the only thing I snag for quite some time. Unless the DJ-PON3 gets in stock. It looks pretty good. She looks vicious rather than wryly confident like she does in other figures. Most likely due to it being considered a collectors figurine rather than a child’s toy. Anyway, the thing’s huge like the rest of the fan series, and I have absolutely nowhere to put it right now, so I’ll keep it in the box ‘til I can properly display it. Power Ponies Funko Minis: Yeah, I snagged the case. They’re kinda neat. I like Maneiac’s figure. Still salty that they’re not going to finish series 3, but still put these out instead. Glad they’re only minis though, I don’t think these deserve to be full size outside of Maneiac and maybe Flutterhulk

[raximkoron]

Pins-a-plenty. I still thought I had more for some reason. Oh well, here’s a set from Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls, a set from Criminal Girls 2, 2 sets from The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition, A set from Grand Kingdom, and a couple from Legend of Heroes (One from Trails in the Sky, the other from Trails of Cold Steel).

[raximkoron]

Well, here we go; I haven’t taken many pictures lately. I did get pics of my pins like I mentioned, but there wasn’t nearly as many as I thought I had, so I got lazy with it.

Fate/EXTELLA: As far as the limited edition box goes, it’s fantastic. It’s made out of very sturdy material with a nice holofoil underneath the printing. Not quite as thick as the Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Lionheart Edition’s was, but properly sturdy. It has a ribbon dead-center on the right so you can easily release the 2 magnets that hold it closed. Inside the box, you get an artwork cloth, a set of 16 plastic cards, the game box and below that, a very well put together artbook. No soundtrack that I’ve been used to receiving with LE’s, but the Fate series is fairly popular, so it probably had something to do with licensing for the music being disputed or too expensive. Maybe I’m wrong as I’m not familiar with the Fate series, but I kind of doubt the lack of soundtrack will bother me. Standard games: These are the standard edition games I’ve snagged recently. Stealth Inc., Oddworld: Strangers Wrath HD & Lone Survivor from Limited Run Games (Oddworld came with a little paper map that’s unfolded in the pic) and Shovel Knight from FanGamer (pulled the instruction booklet out to show that it’s included). The instruction booklet is actually in color regardless of what the front cover depicts. Curiously Missing: Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero. I have the Risky Beats edition but completely spaced getting pictures of it. I’ll have to get pics for a future post. I’ve played through the game with Shantae so far, and it’s damned fun. It’s shortish, but the rest of their games are as well. I liked the design of the mermaid queen. Atelier Shallie Plus: If I was paying attention, I would have received this today along with Fate/EXTELLA. I, however, combined my preorder with another game, so... I won’t receive this ‘til mid March. Happy that I’ll get it though, seeing as how expensive Escha & Logy is. I have more Vita games coming. I have GOD WARS, Skullgirls 2nd Encore, Summon Night 6, A Rose in the Twilight and Operation Babel: New Tokyo City preordered. I’d also like to get Stein’s Gate 0 and Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X, but I’m iffy on them, so I’m looking for them to drop below $20 if at all possible. There’s also more games coming out that I haven’t thrown down money for yet, like Mary Skelter, Period: Cube, Akiba’s Beat, and Zero Escape: The Nonary Games.

[raximkoron]

Well, here’s a couple games I never thought I’d snag a LE for, but they popped up in NISA’s holiday sale, and I purchased ‘em before I had a chance to think.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival: I’ve played a bit of this game now, and it’s full of charm. The soundtrack was one of the reasons I was excited to get ahold of it. It’s whimsical and dark... think a mix between The Nightmare Before Christmas meets Loco Roco. This version of the LE came with 2 sets of pins and a Nendroid figure as well as the hardcover art book and 2-disc soundtrack. The game plays a bit like a Diablo-style dungeon crawler... I need to play further.

Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls, Another Episode: Another game I’m upgrading from standard to LE for. I mostly snagged this as it was a decent price, and I see how the aftermarket price of Danganronpa merch skyrockets. I’ve played a bit of the first game, but haven’t gotten around to 2 or this yet. If I remember right, this is much more action-oriented than the first two that are kind of glorified visual novels. It comes with a soft-cover art book which isn’t very impressive, a soundtrack disc, a necktie and a super chintzy eye patch. This version of the LE also came with a set of character pins and a box with some large insignias.

I have a ton more stuff on the way, but most of it is still several months out from release. I have a ton of pins, maybe I’ll try to wrangle them altogether at some point. Think I have some from Ys, Legend of Heroes, Grand Kingdom, The Witch and the Hundred Knight, Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls, Criminal Girls 2 and others that I can’t quite remember, like maybe Strangers of Sword City or something.

[raximkoron]

Turkey and cornbread pudding. I made chipotle sweet potatoes with bacon and a cheesecake as well, but... sweet potatoes aren't very photogenic. The cheesecake was, before I de-panned it, but didn't get a pic. After de-panning and slicing, it's ugly. Think I need to up the amount of egg and cut back on the sour cream to get it to set firmer. This was my first year not making our family's "green death" (lime jello salad with pineapple, cottage cheese and horseradish... it's a 50's thing I guess). Just didn't have the willpower to make 5 items for Thanksgiving, especially as I knew I was spending it alone. Room mates all visiting family and whatnot. My back is killing me, but I've basically got everything cleaned up from the day. The carcass has been picked clean and is currently simmering to make stock, all the food is packed up and put away and I think the last of the dishes are done. I still have the brining tub sitting in my bathtub to finish cleaning before it gets put away. It's a lot of work, but I like to do it every year to keep the skill set up, regardless of if people will be there to enjoy it or not. Who knows? In the future, I may have a family to provide it for, and I don't wanna be one of those dada that do nothing but watch "the game" on the day.