2024-08-05

Recently played a video game called Kowai Shashin: Shinrei Shashin Kitan.

Some people say it's cursed, that it uses authentic haunted photos and that the bad vibes around it caused all maner of accidents and misfortunes for the developers.

I wasn't around so I can't comment on that. But I can say two things about it: 1) it's not a very good video game and 2) It genuinely gave me one of the biggest scares of my life.

Looking at screenshots, I was expecting an adventure game or maybe visual novel type situation with some puzzles. Instead, I got a rather tough reflex and memorization test.

Basically, you play as Hiori, a medium of some sort who can use pictures showing evil spirits to exorcise them. Finding the ghosts is easy, you just play a little hidden object style game. It's usually pretty obvious were is the haunting. Although, sometimes you need to highlight a very specific area of the picture.

After that, however, you need to fight and then cast some spells to seal the ghost. To do that, you need to press buttons very quickly.

And that's the part that made me ask myself a very scary question. Is this a difficult game or has my reaction time decreased so much? Sure, that's going to happen as I get older but it did left me questioning things and trying all kinds of old rhythm and action games to see if I could still play them.

Still could. For the most part.

So, I'm choosing to believe that this is simply a very tough game that I wouldn't have been able to finish even when I was younger. Maybe that's me still in denial but oh well.

2024-05-04

King's almost there!

But anyway, how long does it take to go on an adventure and save the world?

15 hours and 16 minutes across a couple of weeks. If you're me and you're playing Final Fantasy III.

But how many days is that?

7 days in a week. 14 days in two.

How many in-game days?

Well, the game doesn't have that information (and only twice it mentions that a day has passed) but I was curious and decided to try to keep track.

I saved the world on the 19th day of my adventure.

Basically, everytime the party goes to rest and the good night music plays I would count as a new day. There are no tents so it's just when staying at an inn (and one other location towards the end of the game). There are magical springs that restore HP/MP and revive dead characters, and you don't need to rest at inns to save the game. So that means actually resting and having the rest music play doesn't happen as often.

So yeah, I played Final Fantasy III for the first time. Enjoyed it but I feel is the weakest of the first three games (2>1>3 for anyone curious). All the different jobs are cool, but it lacks the timelessness of the first game and doesn't have the cool leveling system of the second one.

I do have to give a special mention to the final boss. It has a very powerful attack that hits the entire party and it used it every single turn. Because that's fun video gaming.

Not being hyperbolic or anything. It's the only attack it used. Took me a few attempts to finally defeat it.

It made me think, again, about old and new games and newer options making games more accessible and approachable. I played the Pixel Remaster version that has quick saves. Can't imagine having to play the original Famicom version and going through the last dungeon every single time.

But that's in the past now. And I genuinely thought it was a cool game.

2024-04-20

Found a box with old DVDs. They're all concert recordings.

Several years ago, I got an account for dimeadozen.org, a private music tracker focused on ROIOs, or bootlegs. Registration was limited to a few everyday and I remember users on a forum I used to visit would talk great things about the site. So I was excited when I finally managed to register and started downloading stuff.

At first, I would download only audio recordings but eventually got a DVD burner and started getting videos as well. Since the tracker didn't allow any official releases, videos where either shot from the audience or recorded from TV or web broadcasts. That means quality was less than perfect and usually a "for fans only" thing.

Dimeadozen doesn't seem to be as active as it was, these days a lot of what could only be found there is now uploaded to Youtube. Nevertheless, I still check there from time to time. I think it's also the oldest user account I still use on the web.

Other than that, I recently played through the first three Resident Evil games.

First time playing RE1, thought it was a fantastic game. Very rough and not as polished as the sequels but it's got an incredible atmosphere. It's also a game that just makes sense the way it is. Don't mean plot-wise. But everything about it is the way it should be.

RE2 was the first PS1 game I ever saw. Didn't play it until many years later and, at the time, only played through one scenario.

Excellent game, but I didn't like it as much as the first one. Atmosphere wasn't as good and felt a bit more fast paced and more action focused. I did like the Police Station and the way one scenario could influence the other.

And finally, RE3 was.. kind of ok. I don't know, it felt odd. Maybe it's that I played these one after the other or because I didn't quite "got" how to play it until very late into the game. This is the only one I'd played before and was very familiar with it at one point but I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous games.

However, Nemesis remains a great part of the game. Makes playing this a very tense experience.

Speaking of tense, something I noticed was how often I saved the game. Saving the game could only be done manually at specific locations and only a limited amount of times. I think it creates a sense of risk while playing and enhances the tense horror atmosphere. It made me think how modern gaming has lost that element. Newer games now have checkpoints, auto-saves and playing old games on emulators you can use saves states, rewind.

It makes games more approachable and accessible, though. So it's not a bad thing.

Something else on my mind is what to do with this blog page. It's getting kind of long. My initial thought was to wait untill it gets to 20 entries and then put the first 10 on a separate page. But I'm not sure.

There are only 15 entries right now, including this one, and that took a couple of years so it'll be some time before I have to decide.

2024-02-19

Been moving things around, planning some stuff and fixing some minor things with this site.

While doing so, I noticed a few things I've mentioned here once and never addressed again.

So, here are a few updates:

The High Scores page has been a little dead for some time. Started playing Galaga again after a while but it took me some time to actually beat the previous score. Will try some new games soon.

Still have to go through the demo discs I found. They are old, though. Tried a couple and it was kind of annoying to get them to run on a modern system.

The X68000 core on Retroarch is working great but I've mostly been playing MSX stuff when in the mood for old Japanese computer stuff.

Haven't quite figured how I want to display the Phantasy Star maps.

Almost done reading the Agatha Christie novels. Only one left.

That thing about listening to unpopular albums by bands I like isn't goint too well. Listened to Black Sabbath's stuff and it's been hit and miss. A few cool songs but the albums are not great.

Finished Spy x Family. Was awesome.

And that's it for now.

2024-02-10

I made a thing.

Still needs some polishing but I think it looks ok.

While making it, I also realized I should have a page to give credit and source all the sprites and gifs I've been using here.

Other than that, I played another MSX game. Contra!

This version of Contra is not great. It's quite bad actually.

The biggest difference is the lack of scrolling. Game plays a single screen at a time. This is not a huge deal and it's probably for the best when one considers how bad scrolling usually is on MSX games. It also has a life bar rather than being one-hit kill.

The game is also kind of easy. I don't really have a problem with that, but it is unusual to say I finished a Contra game on my second or third attemp.

Those are not big issues. The real problem with this game is all the weird or annoying stuff.

The level design is odd. Like, there seems to be a "propper" way of navigating the level that can be easily avoided. Special mention goes to the couple of vertical stages where you can kind of drop down without having to engage with enemies.

Stages also feel less like advancing and shooting through enemy waves and more like you're just eliminating enough obstacles so you can move to the next screen. At times, it can also be hard to see platforms and hazards.

Enemy placement can be annoying. There are a few targets that you can't shoot either standing or laying down.

Sometimes, during the behind-the-back base levels, targets are too high and can't reach them even while jumping. Have to press up while shooting to hit those.

The thing that annoyed me the most was the fact that you can't shoot if you jump off-screen. It's odd.

So, game's bad. Doesn't run particularly great either. Despite all that, I do think Vicious Space is a great name for a video game stage.

2024-01-05

It happened! It's a new year!

A few other things happened since the last update.

I re-played Final Fantasy II.

Final Fantasy II is often considered the worst one of the mainline series. Mostly because of the way stats level up. Instead of character getting stronger by gaining levels, stats increase (or decrease) based on performing specific actions. It's a fun system and offers a lot of freedom to build each character however you want.

People complain about spending hours grinding against low level goblins to raise stats. But the secret is that there's no need to grind. Also, stats increase faster fighting stronger enemies. So even if you want to grind doing it agains low level enemies makes no sense.

It's a fun and interesting game, it has a surprisingly dark story for an NES game and great music.

I played the Final Fantasy Origins version on the PS1. Apparently newer ports dumbed down some of the mechanics but I can't comment on that.

Been watching Jeff Gerstmann's series ranking NES games. Pretty sure is now among my favourite things ever. I've never heard most of the games he plays but it's still very entertaining. It also made me realize how much of my NES experience was with Japan-only games (and not technically "NES" I suppose). There's a great fan page with the current list of games.

Already started the list of all the albums I've listened for the first time in the year 2024. It has only one album right now. The 2023 list ended at 145. Not bad.

Finally, I've decided on a dumb goal for 2024.

Looking through my Anilist, I've noticed I have a tendency to stopping shows after the first season. Even the ones I like.

So, this year I want to watch a few of my dropped series, all the way to the end. I've picked three:

• Aria
• Chihayafuru
• Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

As a bonus, if I have the time, I'll try Symphogear too.

Doesn't seem too time consuming, but I also don't usually binge watch things. So it takes me a while to watch series, even short ones. Maybe I'll try and make a page here to show how I'm progressing. I could just link my Anilist but that's no fun.

2023-11-28

New Sleepytime Gorilla Museum song! And it's awesome. Looking forward to the album next year.

In other news, I've finished Syphon Filter 2. Game's great but it's dissapointing how the air taser is available on so few missions.

The amount of stealth missions was also kinda surprising. Likely influenced by Metal Gear Solid. They're not bad, though. Only one of them, the Bio lab one, annoyed me.

The other game I played recently is Aleste on the MSX.

It's an odd one. Game's fine, except when it becomes a flickery mess with a lot of slowdown. Which is most of the times.

So I guess it's not "fine" but it is fairly entertaining, generous at giving extra lives and it has infinite continues. I think they're infinite, at least. It's also cool that, unlike some other shooters, you don't feel useless after dying and losing all the power ups.

I still don't know how I feel about the lack of bombs, though. The player ship has a main weapon and a sub-weapon. Both can be upgraded and they can shot enemy bullets. I flip-flopped between thinking it was cool and wishing I could just throw a bomb and clear the screen.

One thing I didn't like is that the game defaults to sub-weapon 1 after you die. I understand downgrading the shot level but wish it kept the weapon I was using at the time.

So it's got some issues but I had a good time with it. And it was only the second MSX game I've played and finish. So it's cool to keep exploring the platform.

I still remain undecided about a media challenge for next year. For now, I've added Kano to the main page.

2023-11-08

It's christmas.

Well, those Hallmark christmas movies are already airing 24/7.

Not much has happened since last update. I did find another old flip phone and I'm still reading Agatha Christie novels. Also came to the realization that I don't like the first Castlevania game.

Bought socks. Not expensive or from any known brand but they feel surprisingly nice. Got a pair of Crocs too.

Been watching Spy x Family. That's fun.

The 100 albums in 2023 goal was reached and I discovered great bands and artists and I need to explore their discographies more closely at some point.

A quick top five albums:

• Outer Reach Intensity-Energy - Sun Ra
• HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock
• Determined to Strike - Sarmat
• Perspective - P-Model
• None So Vile - Cryptopsy

I kind of want to try and write a little about each of the 100 albums. Just a quick comment or something like that. But don't know if it'll happen.

Haven't thought of a goal for next year. Maybe something with anime or just music again. Will decide later.

2023-09-10

Found an old phone. I believe the term is "feature phone". Battery doesn't work anymore and the one charging cable that fits the thing is kinda broken so I have to keep moving and fiddling with it to get it to remain turned on.

Regardless, here's a picture I took with it:

Been playing Tomb Raider 2. Quite good but I don't like the focus on fighting human enemies. Specially because the combat was the worst part of the first one and it's the worst part here.

2023-05-06

For the past couple of months I've been re-reading some old Agatha Christie books. It's been a while since I first read them so I kind of forgotten pretty much everything about the plot or who did what and to whom.

That's been nice and all but the issue is that what I've really been doing is not reading Finnegan's Wake. I bought a copy, I think, around 2013. I remember reading the first two paragraphs, not understanding anything I'd just read and putting it on the shelf, where it's been except for the ocasional attempt every few years that always ends the same way. Maybe one day I'll actually pick it up and read it.

It's not going to be any time soon, though. The Poirot books are interesting and easy to read through.

Other than that, I've decided to start a couple of small project: I want to listen to the full discographies of some bands and artists. Basically, there are many bands that I'm only familiar with the classic era or the more acclaimed releases and I want to delve into the rest of their work, listen to Black Sabbath's non Ozzy or Dio albums, or try Tangerine Dreams stuff from the 90s.

I also want to give another chance to bands and artists I dismissed in my younger years. Give a fair chance to Britney Spears and My Chemical Romance, among many others.

That would also help me with my goal of listening to 100 albums this year. This has slowed down a little lately. Mostly because my free time was dedicated to playing Trails to Azure (Was Awesome!) and catching up on Taskmaster.

2023-02-05

Had some issues with my PC this past week. Had to move some thigs around here and format one of my drives, which is always a bit annoying, but it's a nice opportunity to try a new Linux distro. I'm curious about trying one with Fluxbox but for now I've decided to go with BunsenLabs.

I've also been trying to figure how this website should look. At first, I was going for a more uniform look between the different pages but I'm not entirely convinced with that approach anymore. I'll probably change some things around here soon.

2023-01-06

Finished Phantasy Star! Very cool game, even if the random encounters got annoying at times.

Still undecided on what to play next, maybe continue the Ys series or try something on the PS1. Regardless, I'll be taking a break from making dungeon maps by hand.

Also updated the list of albums. There are five now.

2023-01-02

It's a new year!

I've added a list of all the albums I've listened for the first time this year. Link's on the rolling Raiden above.

I've set myself a goal of listening to 100 new albums for this year.

In other news, I'm still playing through Phantasy Star. I was sick for a couple days and haven't been able to finish it but I'm near the end, I think. Game's cool, but the random encounters are crazy at times. At one point I got into a battle with a White Dragon immediately after fleeing another battle. Also, all those trap chests and monsters dropping Flash can fuck off. Still, I'm having a good time with it and I'll probably make a page here with all the dungeons maps.

2022-12-21

Update!

Recently been cleaning and throwing away some stuff around here and found an old gridded notebook. After seeing it the first thing that popped in my head was that I should play some old dungeon crawlers. So I started playing the first Phantasy Star and doing the dungeon maps by hand.

Also found several demo discs and I want to go through them at some point.

These past few days I've been messing a bit with Retroarch testing some shaders and cores. Specifically the Sharp X68000 PX68K core. I remember trying it before on a different system and could not get it to work, but it does work now.

The main issue now is finding games that can be played without knowing Japanese and are not just arcade ports.

Lastly, I'm still commited to making this into a proper website with a landing page, layout, background and maybe a view counter. But it'll be some other time.

2022-12-03

Updated the high scores page.

• Changed the format of the page. It's now a rather lousy looking table.
• Added new highscore for Exerion.
• Added Devil Crash to the list of games
• Removed Ikki because it's terrible and I'm not interested in playing any more of it.

Currently listening: The Return of Jackie and Judy - The Ramones

2022-11-28

There's now a news section!

I've added a new highscore for Exerion.

Also found this gif that I liked

and this other one.

Old stuff

I kinda made this on a whim, but now I dont know what I should add in here.

For now, I decided to start keeping track of video game high scores. It's not meant to be something serious but I've always wanted to try it and I guess now I have a place to put them.

I'll try building a proper website with a layout and stuff at some point.