WillyFourEyes/Waltzoid's Journal

With Sonic Superstars now out in the world, I went and bought it along with Sonic Origins Plus because it contains all of the Game Gear Sonic titles (including some I don't think were released on the 3DS eShop before it closed down earlier this year), including Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble, the game that introduced Fang the Hunter, known back then as Nack the Weasel and later Fang the Sniper.
( Musing on the nature of music in classic Sonic the Hedgehog games )

I read some advice from a few Fire Emblem Engage players that it's better to use Master Seals on your units as soon as they hit level 10 in their base class rather than waiting until they reach the level 20 cap, citing that the early power boost will pay dividends in the long run. I'm on my second run on Normal mode, and I tested my first Master Seal on Female Alear after completing Anna's paralogue, and...she only has slightly better stats than Vander, who comes in as a pre-promoted Paladin and one of the first characters you get in the game. Plus, the reduced experience point gain due to the vast level difference (promoted units are counted as base level + 20 for comparison purposes) would lead to them falling behind and having to rely on others until they catch up. Not only that, the units you receive in some of the middle chapters have levels in the 10-20 range. Things might be different on Hard or Maddening, but I wouldn't personally recommend that strategy if you're just starting out.

Another winter, another Nintendo Direct to give the once-over and watch Twitter and Reddit melt down over still no new information on Metroid Prime 4.

( What's new in the first half of this (fiscal) year? )

I started just a day behind the rest of the world, but I still managed to get through a 12-hour blitz of Fire Emblem Engage in just three days and work my way up to Chapter 7.

All jokes about Alear's character design aside (and I think even a few of them are made in the game itself), I don't really mind them (I started out with the male version since the female one arrived first in Heroes). Robin's still my favorite "Avatar"-type character, though. As for the others: Yunaka's in the lead so far, with no clear second-place candidate. I'm still barely out of the first part of the game, so I'm sure I'll find others to fawn over as the game progresses.

I also like that the newer Fire Emblem games are allowing for greater flexibility with combat options - first with Three Houses and Three Hopes' "any character can have almost any job and switch freely between them" system, and this game allowing any character to equip any Emblem ring - so you could stick with the expected option of having cavalry units like Alfred or Vander fuse with Sigurd for double-digit mobility, or go crazy and, say, make armored knight Louis a secondary healer with Micaiah's ring (which allows its wielder to use staves while Engaged when they normally can't).

As someone who's only been playing the series since 2003 with the release of Blazing Blade (oddly only titled "Fire Emblem" here in the U.S.), I still put Three Houses as my personal "gold standard" for the series, but so far, Engage is solidly in the "polished silver" tier alongside Awakening. I did take a bunch of screenshots, but I'll only be able to post the best ones on my recently-revived Tumblr blog (unless there's another hassle-free image host anyone else can recommend).

I was this close to getting swept in my first Pokémon Violet Gym Challenge last night. (Or, to paraphrase an infamous Hulk Hogan tweet from eight years ago, I almost "worked myself into a shoot.")

For the first step on my journey to rule all of Paldea, I went for Brassius' Grass-type gym in Artazon, hoping my Growlithe and Fletchinder would carry the day...and they almost did - Growlithe rolled over his Petilil and Smoliv with Flame Wheel spam. But then the dramatic music swells up and he pulls out a...Sudowoodo? "But wait! Sudowoodo's a Rock-type! Don't these Gym leaders all use same-type Pokémon?"

A few Rock Throws later, my Growlithe and Fletchinder are sprawled out on the floor (along with my Quaxwell, which I foolishly Terastallized thinking Sudowoodo's natural Rock Type would even out its Tera Grass type and allow Quaxy to deal normal damage [spoiler alert: it doesn't]), leaving me to rely on Drowzee's Hypnosis Confusion, and a few well-placed Headbutts to keep me from leaving the gym with my tail tucked between my legs.

With my first Badge in the bag, I wonder where I should go next... Do I take on the Stony Cliff Titan since I actually have Pokemon able to handle Rock Types? Or go after Mela and her Fire-type crew? Or head back home and go west to scoop up some badges in that direction? Decisions, decisions...
 

The Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes hype train has been running full steam over the last two weeks.

Nintendo has confirmed in a series of weekly videos that everyone from the Blue Lions, Black Eagles, and Golden Deer will be returning as playable characters from Three Houses. All of them seem to be sporting new appearances that land somewhere between their pre-timeskip and post-timeskip looks. As a testament to the dedication of the Fire Emblem fan art community, pictures of the tweener-look Officers Academy students graced Twitter within minutes of each trailer launch. The general consensus seems to be that Annette (Lions), Linhardt and/or Petra (Eagles), and Marianne (Deer) received the best makeovers. Although a lot of people make fun of him, I think Caspar's "rugged forehead scar" and "shonen hero hair" make perfect sense for a guy of his personality. Raphael's pro wrestler headband (almost as if Bass Armstrong was a Dynasty Warriors and/or Fire Emblem character) earns a few coolness points in my book, too.

As for who looks the most fun to play? I'll go with Felix, Dorothea, Bernadetta, Petra, Ignatz (homing paintball arrows for the win), and Marianne (Dorte, I choose you!).

Arrgh! Four more weeks is too far away for me for this game!

One thing I never really paid attention to when playing Castlevania: Circle of the Moon was the fact that enemies dropped multiple copies of armor and equipment, but there's no currency system or shops to be found anywhere in this incarnation of Dracula's castle. Sure, I can understand there being multiple monsters dropping potions and antidotes (things that have been strangely absent on my current playthrough), but what the hell is Nathan going to do with ten suits of leather armor?