Hi, everyone. As I write this, I’m sick with a mild cold. Don’t be concerned, though. You can be concerned the next time I or anyone else in America talks about being any kind of sick, though.
Professional & Public
I have a Blue Sky account now. There’s been a link in the footer, but that can be hard to notice. I post about my progress with media, drive-by opinions, and sometimes I even attempt to make jokes. If you want up-to-date site news, definitely follow me there.
I’ve been hard at work building my portfolio. It’s technically site work, as I host it here, but it’s unavailable to people without a password. Sorry!
That’s not to say I don’t have some content to share. I’ve imported a significant number of old reviews to the film and music categories, so please check those out.
I’ve also been rewriting some old video game reviews. I would recommend them! Here’s a list of what’s new:
My review for the first Castlevania on NES has been taken down for revision. I intended for a similarly scaled touch-up, but I ended up pivoting towards an editorial about unconventional controls in video games. I like what I have, but it needs a bit more work. It will be published as new content when it’s done.
Lastly, there is a new F.A.Q. and Commissions page. First one is self-explanatory. Second one is to have a landing page for those looking to hire me. It won’t be relevant to most of my audience, but it can’t hurt to have.
Personal
I’ve been playing a ton of Advance Wars games. This always happens. Every few years, I return to the franchise, get super addicted, then eventually move on again. My major accomplishment to report is that I obtained S-ranks for every campaign and trial map in Days of Ruin. It was extremely fun. I love the mechanics of that game. It’s so sad that it’s lacking in single-player content.
All that remains for me is to obtain all Medals, which is just a grind, and to have all maps highlighted in Free Battle mode, which is… just a grind. The multiplayer replay value rhetoric falls flat now that it’s all offline. It’s just too bad. Great game. I’m trying to squeeze as much playtime as I can out of the game. I can’t even go for the game’s equivalent of 300 point S-ranks, as the revised scoring system makes optimal score thresholds unclear.
After those S-ranks were obtained, I shifted my focus to other entries. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Dual Strike, a game with an absolutely absurd amount of content in exchange for the most imbalanced mechanics. Nonetheless, it’s a very fun game. Despite being an easier game on the whole, Dual Strike is much more difficult to obtain S-ranks in than DoR. At least, it feels like it to me. I’m still generally doing well, but I slip into A-ranks infrequently, and perfect score S-ranks are very rare. I’ll work on it.
For DS, I’m focusing on simply completing things I have yet to do. Unranked War Room maps, Campaign wallpapers, and especially Survival mode. What a cool mode! I had only beaten Turn Survival up to this point, but beat Money Survival for the first time a few days ago using Hachi and Javier. It was a close call. Since then, I’ve attempted Time once but lost on the semi-final map. I’m really going to need to hustle for that one.
Last and certainly least is Re-Boot Camp. Boy, do I have some things to say about that game. One day I’ll gather all of those thoughts. To make a long story short, I think it’s a massive misfire on every level. But it’s still Advance Wars on Switch, and it’s “new”. I finished every mission in AW1’s normal campaign, including Rivals. AW2 normal is almost done too. One thing the game does right is allowing free replaying of campaign maps, and I’ve had fun returning to old ones and attempting 300 point S-ranks. Some of those requirements are wack. I’m struggling as early as mission 2 in AW1. Brutal. But I love cracking the puzzles.
Other than Advance Wars, my time has gone to Yu-Gi-Oh! games. I’m playing White Forest/Azamina on ladder in Master Duel, and Melodious in the Legacy event. In Duel Links, I’m climbing the KC with Dragonmaid. If it weren’t for the games, I’d prefer to play entirely Rush duels. I don’t know why, though. The format is dreadful. Skills are overtuned to the point of making multiple OTK decks completely consistent. It’s impossible for anything else to keep up due to brickier hands, and the once-per-turn clauses on skills means meta decks are never punished for mistakes. It’s so annoying.
Anyway, I played around with a Warriors pile again—an old favorite. Eventually I got frustrated and switched to a more meta-friendly deck. First was CAN:D, but I dislike how its monsters can’t survive normal attacks from any other meta decks, so I’m trying Dragiastar. It hurts my soul to play Dragons given how much Konami spoils them, but this is the game.
That’s all for now. Take care of yourselves the best you can. Much love to my supportive partner!
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