Exceedingly hard puzzle game about changing the rules of the puzzle to win, getting harder and more compicated as you go. Truly, Baba is Me.
There's so many things that I've yet to do, make, and see, so here's a list of everything I really really want to get to. You can click the title of each item to get to a website with more information on it (in most cases). A list of things that I have completed can be found here!
Exceedingly hard puzzle game about changing the rules of the puzzle to win, getting harder and more compicated as you go. Truly, Baba is Me.
This JRPG fascinates me. It's got such an interesting premise (magic has been mostly forgotten by the world) and it seems like it's setting up to have a powerful message about power and war. The characters feel so distinctive, both in characterization and in playstyle, and the battle system makes sure things stay tactical throughout (for the most part).
Action-adventure game about a government organization managing anomalies that go against the laws of baseline reality. It seems to be heavily inspired by the SCP Foundation, a writing project/collective that I absolutely love! Even if it isn't, I'm sure the immersion I get in that game will have the same feel as the immersion I get when reading a good SCP article.
RPG about a detective who has lost his memory. Got it in a great sale, and I've seen some very funny screenshots of it on r/196 a bunch, so I feel like I'll like it.
A terminal-based simulation game, where you get to uncover and solve a digital conspiracy, using the actual UNIX terminal commands you would use to hack into a computer system.
This one's an action-rhythm game, about... well, just shapes and beats. The beats are genuinely very well made, both in the story and in the soundtrack. It's hard, and I'm not all that good at bullet hells and the like, but I'm glad I got it.
Free indie RPG from the guy who co-created Fable. I hope its got that old school RPG feel that made me love games like "Chrono Trigger" and "Final Fantasy VI Advance" so much, even if it fits more into the classic 'rogue' genre.
An action-RPG recommended to me by an old coworker, which I only bought because it was being sold for $12, from $80. How could I resist such a sale? It seems like it has an interesting premise, and it looks like it'll scratch that button-mashing action itch that I sometimes get.
This one was on sale, and it actually looked really interesting and fun. Seems to be an action-RPG like games in 'The Legend of Zelda' series tend to be, and it came out rather recently too, so I'm expecting great things! The combat looks pretty fun, but I hope these promised "social aspects" are actually fleshed out and not just talking to NPCs purely for the sake of assigning quests.
A deckbuilding roguelike that's based on "Yohane the Parhelion: SUNSHINE in the MIRROR," the fantasy AU spinoff of "Love Live! Sunshine!!" How could I not play it? I've already beaten the main story, but the achievements they gave to this game are very grindy, so it may take awhile.
A metroidvania, also based on "Yohane the Parhelion: SUNSHINE in the MIRROR," the fantasy AU spinoff of "Love Live! Sunshine!!" Again, how could I not? I have not yet beaten the main story, because the final boss is stupid hard (or maybe it is just a "skill issue" on my part, as the kids say nowadays). There might be some postgame to it, but given the track record of games in the "Love Live!" franchise recently, I'm not holding my breath.
An adventure game which has to do with linguistics! I honestly wasn't too interested in this, but given my time abroad and also some of my more recent conversations with my friend in Linguistics, and the good reviews, I figured that I'd try it!
This one's an RPG for the DS, and its main story revolves around alternate timelines. I absolutely loved the classic JRPG "Chrono Trigger," which had a plot focused around time travel, so I'm very sure that I'm going to love this one.
Another RPG, this one showing up on my radar because I was looking for good RPGs to play on the DS. I have no clue why so many acclaimed RPGs were on the DS, but I'm not complaining.
This compilation of visual novel-adventure games has always been something on my radar, but I've avoided watching too many videos or reading too much about it so that I could experience it fresh. I'm expecting to say "he/she just like me fr fr" many times throughout my playthrough.
Whenever people ask me which Fire Emblem tactical-RPG I like the most, I answer with Fates because I love its main theme, "Lost in Thoughts All Alone." However, I've never actually played a Fire Emblem game, but I feel like that's something a lot of Fire Emblem fans could say too.
I've been told this action-adventure game is one of the best out of the series that aren't on the Switch, and to be honest, I really wouldn't know. The premise of it seems really cool, and I'm a little familiar with some of its themes (in both the musical and literary senses), so we'll see how it goes.
OK, so you know how people will say "oh let's play Minecraft" and "we'll beat the final boss for sure" and then you get through 3 play sessions and put it down forever? My goal is to finally be able to say that I actually beat that final boss, and I'm also going for all advancements. I've played a bit of it here and there, on multiple consoles, but I've never even gone to the Nether, so that should tell you all about my prior experience.
This one's an action platformer I got in a bundle. While I am no good with 2D platformers, this one apparently has a time-travel story linked in it, so I will give it my best shot.
This RPG was released very recently, just as recent as 2023, but just by looking at the visuals and the screenshots of the battle system, I could tell that I would enjoy it. It seems so reminiscent of 'Chrono Trigger' and other SNES/GBA RPGs, but since it was released in such a recent time, I'm sure that it will be an even smoother experience. I'm really excited to sink 40 hours (or more) into this one.
Deltarune is not yet complete, with only 2 chapters out currently. I do like the world, the combat system, and most of all the characters, and I know that with its developer, it will end up as quite a good game. Really excited to play the next chapters (please come out soon I need this).
I quite like deckbulidng roguelikes now (well, it's more of a love-hate relationship), and I believe that 'Slay the Spire' is one of the best examples of that. Since 'Slay the Spire 2' is coming out soon, I thought I'd just do that instead of the frist game, to take advantage of (what I hope will exist) improved game mechanics.
Like mentioned in bloghan 4, I think it would be really funny if I played this one because I am so sure that so many people in the fandom have not actually played it for themselves. I've seen some close friends play it before and their reactions to the trials and the details that come up in them seemed really funny. The setting and premise are really interesting too! Plus, I don't think I've ever played a visual novel before, so it'll be a new experience.
I constantly tease one of my friends about how a character named Nagito is perfect for them (romantically). I have no idea who Nagito is, except for his obsession with hope and despair, his white frizzy hair, his most common ship being Sans from Undertale, details about his status as alive or dead after the end of the game, the existence of a gif where he's yelling out the name of an American rapper, and that he once did the dance to 'START:DASH!!' (my favourite song from the 'Love Live!' franchise) with Sans from Undertale and someone else in an SFM short. Oh and that he's from this game. I want to know what the fandom sees in him, for him to rise to such levels of blorbofication.
Putting this on here just in case I become obsessed with the series after playing through the first two games and I become desperate for a conclusion.
There's a bundle where I get this with Danganronpas 1/2/V3 for a discount, so how could I not? Also, one of the Steam reviews says "it has nagito," so how could I not?
I really love "Love Live! Sunshine!!" It's basically tied for first with my favourite anime. There's this artist I follow on Tumblr who makes tons of 'Love Live!' and 'Love Live! Sunshine!!' art in the Walfas style, and when I found out that they were making a fighitng game, I had to check it out. I'm usually bad at platform fighters but this game is just good "sit down and mess around when you have nothing better to do" fun. The game is still unfinished, since Ruby Kurosawa isn't playable yet, and it seems like the creator will be adding Saint Snow and a secret 12th character. not to mention more stages and potentially more modes. My favourite part is the sneaking in of so many sound effects from the old rhythm games, but even with all the 'Love Live!' references, it makes me want to play platform fighters (but only this one becuase 'Love Live!'). And yes, I am a You Watanabe main. Currently, I can beat the newest character on the normal bot difficulty, so I think I'm doing alright.
I like 'Rhythm Heaven' (never played it but still a fan) but there's not many rhythm games that are like that. Most of them involve doing some sort of central gameplay mechanic across every single song, while the minigame style of 'Rhythm Heaven' keeps it fresh. Apparently, this game on Steam has that style, and combined with the art style and the more laid back music, I am excited to play it.
A puzzle platformer, with a mysterious setting that sort of has an 'SCP Foundation' vibe. Seemed interesting, so I picked it up. I'm not quite sure what the gimmick of the game is, usually these types of games have those, but there's a good chance it's only platforming that is used for the puzzles.
A successor to 'Jet Set Radio' and 'Jet Set Radio Future' (games which I have not played, but have heard of extensively, and I also love the music), this game just looks like a lot of fun. One of those that has a story, but you're really just there to see "big number go up" from the application of your skill, just for plain fun and hype. No DRM is also nice for a title of this quality.
I remember always seeing this one Tumblr post floating around on Reddit and, well, Tumblr, describing someone's concept for a game which starts out as a normal fishing game, but slowly reveals the horrors living in the lake, and forcing the player to start to question parts of the premise that one might assume at first are "just part of the background" (where is everyone? what's with this huge amount of fish?). Eventually, something Lovecraftian would be revealed, and people went crazy over that idea. Well, I don't know if 'Dredge' was created because of that post, but when I saw its premise, I knew that I wanted to play it, just as I knew that I wanted to play the game idea featured in that post.
This escape room simulator was recommended to me by a coworker, and hey! I like puzzles, so maybe I'll like this one. When I get to it.
One of my friends saw how obsessed I had become about the game above, and as a cruelty inflicted this game onto my Steeam account as well. I already know that as soon as I start this one, it will become my new obsession. This is how it ends... isn't it?
This is a physics-based fighter game that is the prime casual "turn your brain off and mess around with friends" game, in my opinion. It's so easy to just get sucked into cycling through all the maps with your friends, spending way too much time without even realizing it. It's not really a game I care too much about getting 100% achievements, but it is one that I am down to play whenever, as long as I don't have anything I really need to take care of that night.
Those who know me well enough know just how obssesed I am with "Love Live! School idol project" and "Love Live! Sunshine!!" Niji is the third installment in the franchise, and this will be my third summer since discovering said franchise, so now it's time to watch it.
To be honest, I don't remember where I heard about this one. But, it was already on my pre-existing "to watch" list, so I guess I will!
I've heard so many stories and seen so many clips of just how callous the dub of this show is. And now? I want to see it for myself, in its entirety.
I've watched Breaking Bad and El Camino, so naturally this is next! I've heard it's the best of the three, and listening to the theme song makes me believe it.
A romance film from the 1940s that I've had my eye on because of the song "As Time Goes By," which I've come to really appreciate these last couple months.
Back when I was still writing ENGG Week movie parodies for ZOO, this one was on my list of Bond films to watch, for inspiration on what would eventually become "I Expect ZOO to Die," but I never ended up watching it. So, now's as good of a time as any!
I watched Season 1 of this a month or so after it came out and I loved every bit of it. I might be easy to please, but it really does do things right and in the right amount. I'm excited to watch Season 2, but I might need to do a rewatch of Season 1 first, since it's been quite a bit.
This one was recommended to me by a close friend from high school, and as far as I'm aware, it involves itself heavily with things like time travel and parallel universes, which I am a big fan of. The watch order of everything seems really confusing, so the first challenge is figuring that out.
I found out about this because of Tumblr, becuase for some reason, there was a good two months where its algorithm decided that I was a very intense fan of this anime?? Even now, I will ocassionally stumble upon it on my "for you" tab there. I decided I'll check it out, to see if Tubmlr's algorithm truly is as broken as every long-time user claims it is.
I've been told that it's a good thing that I'm a "Love Live!" fan and not a "K-On!" fan, so I put this on the list to figure out why I was told that. On first glance, it doesn't seem so bad, but I've seen some... very interesting tweets during my time here on Earth, and many of them were posted by people with "K-On!" profile pics.
This was one that started as a joke and then very quickly became not a joke, similar to the 'catboy allegations' I went through a while back. I have nothing else to say on this one.
Every episode of 'House' is the same formula, but to me, it's somehow funny every time. This is a comedy, disguised as a medical drama, that also seems to poke fun at medical dramas. Given some of the jokes and rhetoric that Dr. House spews, it surprises me this is a show from 2004.
The humour of one my close high school friends and I can be described by many as "brainrot" or "LOL so random," but I would personally say that there's a bit more to it than that (not much). It's a humour defined by longstanding bits that essentially become "lore," and a consistency that can hit hard when it's been set up for a long enough time, and revealed at an apt time. Anyways, 'My Deer Friend Nokotan' fits our humour perfectly well, and it's already added to my repertoire of bits.
Most of the books on this list have been sitting on my bookshelf for a bit, as I've been very busy with school and summer is my prime time for reading. This book was bought because of my cursed affliction: I can't walk into an Indigo without buying something for myself, no matter how much I do or do not want to do that. This one, like the Iliad below, is an epic poem that I thought I'd give a try!
Same as above, though I'm not sure which epic poem comes first between this and Odyssey. Once I figure that out, then I can get started!
Another one, bought on sale. I really quite enjoyed another dystopian novel with a similar premise (1984 by George Orwell), so I'm excited to try this one out.
While I don't usually vibe with post-apocalyptic novels (some give me nightmares, thanks a lot overactive imagination), I'm willing to give this one a shot, because I got it on sale (noticing a common thread here?).
Yet another book bought on sale, this time science fiction! I'm a pretty big fan of the science fiction and horror seen in some of the projects written for the SCP Foundation, and I've heard the stories of the panic caused by the radio broadcast of this book, so I'm sure I'll like it.
Back when I was in high school, I got a copy of this book as they were getting rid of books they no longer used in the English curriculum there. A bit of a shame, honestly, but great for me. I've heard a bunch about it, and also have read a bit of Bradbury through "The Veldt," and the dystopian aspect of it seems mild enough.
The first James Bond book, which I meant to read before writing "I Expect ZOO to Die" for ENGG Week 2024. Spy fiction is another genre I like, although Bond gets a bit flashy at times, and the portrayal of certain sexes and nationalities is... interesting. Hopefully, the setting and the intrigue make up for it.
To be honest, this one is only on the list because I bought it on sale, as part of a 3 for $10 deal: the other two I bought with it were books I was already interested in, so this one will be a bit of a surprise for sure.
This book was gifted to me recently. I do quite enjoy Tom Clancy books, with "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Sum of All Fears" and "Without Remorse" being some of my favourite books. I'm not sure if I'll like this one very much since it does not make use of the main characters seen in the Jack Ryan continuity of Clancy's, but I'll give it a chance.
A comedy by Shakespeare, revolving around romance. My main draw to it is not the main couple of Claudio and Hero, but around Benedick and Beatrice, who constantly insult and belittle each other and fall in love becuase of it. It's probably my favourite Shakespeare play, but I've never actually felt like I've taken the time to really get into it and read it with intention.
I've seen talk on Tumblr about "Dracula Daily," which made me want to read it on my own first before participating. The epistolary nature of the novel seems really intruiging, and while I was sufficiently creeped out by other books about vampires ("The Strain," for one), I think this one's age will help it stay a bit toned down.
A more philosophical novel, one that has been on my list of classics that I've been meaning to read since junior high. I'm already a bit used to the setting from Arthur Conan Doyle's works, so I'm curious to see how Wilde differs, given that both wrote these stories for a magazine, and were offered to do so at the same meeting.
Another science fiction book, also a Wyndham classic, this one obtained from that same high school book giveaway. I'm not too sure what it entails, but it's on that same list of classics I've had since junior high.
I once read romance a lot, but I stopped a while ago, mostly because reading it made me really sad. However, a friend of mine really wanted someone to talk to about this book, so I went ahead and bought it. However... I got a bit busy and that ended up not happening. So now, I'll try to make amends and read it, so that I can talk about it with her the next time I see her.
This one is a sci-fi book that was recommended to me by a good friend. He's a huge fan of it, to the point where he was complaining about the direction that the Netflix series took, so I knew I had to check it out. It is originally in Chinese, but English translations exist.
A book about a 2D world and what happens when a 3D shape visits it. I had heard about this book before and it seemed funny, but after hearing a former Olympic speed skater speak about it for a bit, I thought that maybe I should finally get around to checking it out.
A book written by a Canadian author, about a troubled student living in Ontario getting into writing. This book resurfaced within my brain recently, and I feel like its because of my upcoming move, but I don't actually remember where I first heard about this book. Maybe in junior high?
Similar to "Puella Magi Madoka Magica," the Tumblr algorithm also seems to think that I really love this series too. It's about a group of dungeon delving adventureres on a quest to save their leader's sister, sustaining themselves with meals cooked from the dungeon's monsters. It's a pleasure to read, but it also makes me hungry. Some will be surprised to hear that Izutsumi is quite actually not just like me for real.
Initially, I told myself that I would only read this once it was completed. Then I realized, with how popular this series is, as soon as the One Piece is revealed, I am immediately going to get spoiled on what it is. I'd much rather reach that final island at the same time as the rest of the community. When I first started it, I thought it seemed like a lot of the chapters for the kind of story that was being told, but now I can easily go through whole 100+ chapter arcs and still want to keep reading. There's a unique attachment to each character that the author has created, and I'm surprised at how much I'm enojying it.
I got this book in Europe. I was trying to find my way to somewhere on Google Maps, and I was looking around the street for a road I was trying to turn onto, when I noticed that I had stopped right next to a staircase leading downwards, with the door at the bottom open. Following this staircase, I found myself in this little bookstore filled with used books. And it was filled, packed, there were so many books they had them piling on the floor. I got this book because it genuinely seemed interesting, and was one of the very few books in English.
I know, I know. 'Homestuck' is outdated, completely unhinged, relies on a technology completely phased out by modern web browsers, and has some very "problematic" parts. However. Long works of fiction, where everything is cohesive? Part of the inspiration behind one of my most anticipated games of all time? An explanation of songs like 'Penumbra Phantasm' and 'Doctor,' songs that I keep hearing about? Let me tell you about 'Homestuck...'
I have a coworker who pushes me hard to read 'One Piece,' so just to annoy him, everytime he asks me to, I read another issue of the new 'Sonic the Hedgehog' comic that IDW publishes. Apparently, the comics are also canon to the games universe, so I do want to read them to get a fuller picture of in-game events and such. I do like the kinds of stories it tells, though it does suffer from the distinct boon of having "Ian Flynn writing," or writing that gets the response "oh, they said the thing" multiple times from the reader in a five minute period. Peak to some, not so much to others.
When I wanted to learn the programming language Rust back in the summer of 2023, I wanted to do it through completing the prior year's Advent of Code. I got through 15 days out of 25 before I got too busy that summer to complete it, and a lot of my competency with Rust has also been lost since I have not touched it since then. The goal is to complete the rest of the calendar in the coming months.
At work, most people use Python for scripting, but you can use Tcl as well. I do want to get better at Tcl so that I can justify its presence on my resume, and also because my workplace search history shows how woefully ignorant I am of the language.
While the base HTML and CSS is pretty much done, there's still more work to be done. I want to eventually improve the layout of this page, and also fully realize Bloghan. Not to mention whatever lies beyond the door which I'm still trying to remove.
July 11, 2024 - bloghan is as fully realized as I want it to be!
July 25, 2024 - to-do is as fully realized as I want it to be!
September 28, 2024 - random thoughts is as fully realized as I want it to be!
There's a bunch of little devices I want to try and make, just because I have some of the materials already. My ideas include:
Whatever I make, I hope to design and order it as a PCB.
I attended a seminar recently where I learned how Rust could be used to program an ESP32 as a temperature sensor linked to your phone. The speaker gave me the materials to actually replicate this on my own. Eventually, I want to actually do so, instead of holding on to all the stuff.
I write nearly all my documents with LaTeX, and it's completely ruined Google Docs and Word for me. I'm very used to using Overleaf to manage all my LaTeX projects, but the thing is that it's an online subscription service run by a company. At any time, they could change their subscription tiers so that the amount of project or compile time I enjoy on the free tier is no longer free, and I could lose a lot of functionality with that. So, I'm going to install TeX Live (a free distribution that I can use to produce LaTeX documents) on a USB, and include some portable TeX editors so I can use it on both Windows and Linux, and have as much compile time as I want. Maybe I'll password protect the drive too...