Game Review: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

2D Platformer; Wii U; Nintendo/Retro Studios; 2014

Sorry once again for leaving you with nothing last week. I got lazy last Sunday and then came E3 and I was thinking of writing my thoughts about it, but then Nintendo didn't announce the New Nintendo 3DS and all of my interest in E3 just vanished, consuming my soul with an empty void of disappointment that Nintendo of America STILL doesn't want to give it's consumers one of the most requested products of the year. Seriously, it's been over 4 months since the New 3DS XL was released, and Nintendo of America STILL hasn't address the fact that there is a smaller version of the system available literally EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD! And Nintendo of America STILL hasn't responded to any of my e-mails about for over a month now. Anyway, I need to stop talking about this before I get way too pissed to for the review. I'm talking about Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze today. A game I got off of Club Nintendo for free.

CRES's Thoughts On: Monster Musume Anime

Sorry about my absence last week. It wasn't because I didn't have anything to talk about, but more like I just got incredibly lazy and wanted to just play the video games I got for my Birthday because the weekend is really the only time I have to play a decent amount of games. Anyway, it's now time to talk about something that I have been meaning to relay my thoughts on for a long time. The reason why I haven't talked about it at all was because 1) It didn't really fit the scope of this blog as it was a manga and not a video game or anime (well, not yet), and 2) Talking about this particular item may convey the impression that I am just some weird pervert that gets erections at moments that no normal human should. To address the former, the recent news I'm about to talk about gives a degree of precedence that fits well within the scope of this blog. As for the latter, I already gave Senran Kagura a glowing recommendation, so my reputation as a creepy pervert has probably already been established. Anyway, as I'm sure you can tell from the title, this is going to be about Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou (Translated: Everyday life with Monster Girls), but first a little backstory as I think it's very VERY interesting.

Game Review: Etrian Mystery Dungeon

Dungeon Crawler; 3DS; Atlus/Spike Chunsoft; 2015

Are you having a happy Mermorial Day Weekend? Well, I'm not. Well, kind-of... Okay, here is the deal, we had a wedding to go to on Saturday, and this was the first time in a LONG time that me and ALL of my brothers where together, so the idea was that at some point we would all be playing Smash Bros for god knows how long (the sentiment was to play it until the wee hours of the night). Unfortunately, the brother who came to visit was dead tired after a 5 hour drive on only 3 hours of sleep, and then we had to wake up and leave the apartment to head to the bride and groom's house at around 11 am, so that we can head on over to the church for the wedding at noon, and then be at the reception at 5 pm. We didn't arrive at the church until 12:30, The wedding started at 2 pm, and while most people where at the reception at 5 pm, the proceeding didn't start (nor was any of the food out) until 7. Ultimately, we only got a few matches in during the hour before our brother had to leave again, all because apparently everyone on the bride's side operated on what was known as "Asian" time, which means things will start at some point after 2 hours have passed since the "planned" time.

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy introduction that has nothing to do with the game I'm about to review. It's time for me to review another Etrian Odyssey game.... Oh wait, I'm sorry it's a Mystery Dungeon game that has an Etrian coat of paint. My mistake.

CRES's Thoughts On: Anita Sarkeesian's Positive Female Characters: Jade or Look at Me Look at Me I'm Fighting The Evil Corupt Patriarcy!

I'm not LOOKING for Derp faces from Anita, they just happen.

Wait a minute? Anita Sarkeesian has a new video up? But it hasn't been 3-6 months yet! Yes, apparently sometime last week Anita broke from her usual pace of posting a new video during every solstice, and released the second video in her "Positive Female Characters" series only a little over a month after her last video. And HEY this time it is copyrighted 2015! Anyway, this time she is talking about a character who ACTUALLY has a personality and is recognizable as female: Beyond Good and Evil's Jade. Now, before I begin I should make it clear that I actually have never played Beyond Good and Evil, I've only seen my brothers play it on our Gamecube. It just never clicked with me as it seemed like a poor man's Zelda just with a constant Partner, a camera gimmick, and lots of stealth sections (which isn't my strong suit). So I only know the game though second hand experience, which is probably more than Anita's.

AWESOME Announcement: Bloodstained, Koji "IGA" Igarashi's new "Vania" game

Special Announcement full of AWESOMENESS! Koji Igarashi, the creative force behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the rest of the "Metroidvania" games has finally emerged from the dark recesses of whatever castle he was hiding in to announce his new project. Inspired by Keiji Inafune's success at funding Mighty No. 9 (Inafune's successor to the Mega Man franchise), IGA has hit Kickstarter with his own game: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. A true successor to the Castlevania legacy. Though there isn't much concrete about the game yet outside of story outlines and concept art, it is clear what this game is: The first true Castlevania game since Order of Ecclesia. It's going too be the labyrinthine, 2D Action Adventure with RPG elements, "Explore-Kill-Loot" addictive joyride that we have come to love from the franchise (that is until Lords of Shadow destroyed all hope).

And if that isn't enough to convince you then listen to this: In addition to IGA at the helm, we have Michiru Yamane, composer for several of the Metroidvania games including Symphony of the Night, and Ippo Yamada, composer for several Mega Man titles including the Zero and ZX games as well as Gunvolt, are writing the music, and if Ippo Yamada's involvement didn't tip you off, the game is being developed for Xbox ONE and Playstation 4 (and for PC) by none other than the masters of 2D action: Inti Creates.

I know some are weary about games on Kickstarter, especially since Mighty No. 9 has been pushed back from it's goal due date of April all the way to September (if that game isn't completely awesome then there is no hope for the world), but Bloodstained just looks TOOO awesome not to fulfill all of the promises made. It's already WAY pass it's target goal of $500,000 and is cranking past $1.1 million as of writing this post. If Psycho Mantis told you that "You like Castlevania, don't you?" then you owe it to yourself and the fans all around the world to help this project. And hey, at $60 you get an special backers only Physical Copy of the game. And who says Digital is the way of the future?

Back this project at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iga/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night

Until Next Time.

-CRES, "Publishers of the world told me that gamers no longer care for this style of game, BUT I KNOW THEY ARE WRONG!" -Koji Igarashi.

Anime Review: Love Lab

It must be a miracle, because not only am I writing my new review when I'm suppose to write a review, but I've also seem to have finally figured out a system to allow my 3DS to charge fully regularly. Of course this could have all been made moot if Nintendo would JUST RELEASE THE NEW NINTENDO 3DS IN NORTH AMERICA!! But I digress. Anyway, it's time for a new anime review... because I haven't beaten any of the games I'm currently playing. DAMN YOU EMPLOYMENT FOR TAKING AWAY ALL MY FREE TIME!

Anime Review: Ray the Animation

I'm SO sorry about the delay, Saturdays and Sundays I just want to play video games and forget about the fact that I have to go to work on Monday, which means sometimes this blog just gets pushed to the backburner, and both yesterday and the day before me and my brothers where watching anime until 10 pm which made writing a review afterwards a little tricky to do given I'd like to go to bed at around 11. But that's enough excuses, what anime do I have lined up today.... Ray... DAMMIT!