My Life is a Mess: April 2014 Update

It's time to say goodbye to my baby. My four-year-old Macbook is dead. The battery refuses to charge reliably. The bottom cover - once sealed with duck tape by yours truly - has pealed off. The hard drive has been replaced and the memory has been upgraded. This monster has been fixed up so many times in the past two years, it's ready to go.

The timing is a bit funny too. The semester is ending in two weeks and I'll get a new computer before I head home. Too bad while I'm studying for finals and finishing up my project for my graphic novels class, I have to back up my data before my computer falls into a permanent coma. Forever.

So that pretty much means my fanfic will be on hold. I need to use my computer for school work more than anything else. In my free time I'll just work on beating Etrian Odyssey Untold and Strange Journey. I apologize, but even my Shin Megami Tensei IV review may be on hold for a few weeks until I get my stuff back together.

This update is shorter than normal. I have to be a bit more conservative with my electronics before I get back into my usual groove. Consisting of laziness. Huh. Nothing new considering my track record, lol.

'Shin Megami Tensei IV' Part I

It feels great having beaten a mainline Shin Megami Tensei game. This may not be the hardest game in the entire franchise - spin-offs included - but the fourth installment is still pretty difficult. It's a fact by this point that Atlus likes torturing gamers as frequently as possible. Beating it means I feel less like casual filth and demon chow and feel more... mediocre. Or a masochist. Or both.

Anywho.

I'll accept this registered quest.

...

Before I begin, just as a very brief note, I will refer to the protagonist as Flynn. You can create a name for him, but I want to simplify this and minimize confusion.

And uh, I hinted at if not outright discussed spoilers in this part. I tried keeping it to a minimum. I apologize in advance.

'Vampire Academy' First Impressions

...

I need a orange Fanta and Spanish sangria cocktail. STAT.

March 2014 Update: Me and Video Game Difficulty

Exams and homework and Spring Break and DDS-Net and Skype stole my attention from this blog. ...My bad. ^_^'

By this point, just assume there will be a month or two per year when I suddenly vanish or provide no content. It doesn't help if I have writer's block. Like I do now. It's not just Rants From a Fangirl; my fanfic hasn't grown much in terms of length. Maybe I'm still burned out from the October 4th subplot ordeal or maybe I'm pretty close to the worst part of the original game: the horrible November-December angst festival of awful pacing.

Anywho.

To combat my everyday laziness and persistent afflictions of writer's block, I've made tons of progress in Shin Megami Tensei IV. My play hours sat at 15 for so many months, but now I've added another 17 or so in the span of a week. It's not a bad game, but the first several hours were just... frustrating to put it mildly.

Either Medusa - or Minotaur depending on your luck - can be a lot harder to fight than this video makes it look. I was not lucky enough to have as many useful skills for my demons. (Plus, my Flynn is more oriented to physical rather than magic attacks.) Then add my unfortunate luck in recruiting and negotiating with demons, often to the point I would run out of items, macca, HP, MP, or all of the above. I died... many times. I lost count. But if I can make a humiliating estimate, I died at least twice per hour. For twenty hours straight.

"FANGIRL, PLS! Y U SUK SO MUCH!!!!"

This game is the reason I can never go back to Persona 4 Golden. This game destroyed whatever faith I had in my already minuscule abilities and skills as a gamer. Shin Megami Tensei IV made me commit to forever starting off at the lowest or second-lowest difficulty setting in a video game. No exceptions.

Whenever I pick up a new game, I used to sometimes start on the easiest difficulty. Now, it will be a mandatory standard.

Feel free to call me a wimp, a weakling, a little girl, and a child crying over a video game that a manly man can handle but I can't. Considering this is how the video game culture can be at times, I'm not shocked anymore. I am well aware that I'm not the most competitive, the strongest, or the brightest tool in the shed, but for me, entertainment and immersion is my preference. If getting get used to a game's mechanics involves asking for help, consulting a guide, or lowering the difficulty, I'm not ashamed to do so. Besides, the guys on DDS-Net have scolded me for my newly cemented approach.

Now that I'm more interested in playing MegaTen games, I've started to notice that many fans in the fanbase have admitted to going online or asking friends for help on boss battles, negotiation techniques, and demon fusion. Sure, there is still some mocking and teasing going about to separate the chosen elitists from the demon chow, but I have not met one MegaTen fan who said, "Oh, yeah! I totally beat the demi-fiend in Digital Devil Saga in one try without any guides!" or "You can't beat Persona 2 Innocent Sin without a guide for persona fusions? You really suck!" If you are such a person, most people would assume you are lying through your teeth.

I once suggested on Skype for someone to play Nocturne on Hard Mode without dying once. One person - who first played Nocturne as a child - nearly started crying. Another told me to stop taking so many crazy pills. The rest said to leave that idea by the curb, run VERY far way, and never look back. Because... need I say anything more than check TV Tropes for the short answer?

Torturously stupid ideas aside, once I scaled down the difficulty of SMTIV, I enjoyed the game so much more. I went through normal mode for twenty hours before finally giving up my masochistic crusade. I sacrificed my pride and vowed to beat the game, even if everyone mocks me over "EASY MODO". So, believe it or not, I may review the game not long after I complete it! From what some friends told me, I'm at the halfway point and coming closer to the alignment lock. Whether I will be Lawful, Chaotic, or Neutral will be revealed soon.

My overall feelings of the game will be saved for once I review it. I don't want to cause a big stink like I did for Persona 4. But I will say that I'm enjoying SMTIV FAR BETTER than P4 overall.

Call me an elitist all you want, but I have more experience in school kids saving the world. Fighting through the demon apocalypse is still pretty new for me. I ain't a full fledged member who's committed to either side of the fence.

Once I'm done this game - and either Strange Journey or SMTI - I may have my answer.

Now excuse me, but I just ran into my archnemesis while wandering around Tokyo. And I'm at level 44.

LET THE BLOODBATH BEGIN!!