Top 5 – Pinkie's Paradise

Princess Pinkie’s Fantastic Five: Spin-Off Pokémon Games

Hear ye hear ye , Princess Pinkie is here with a new Pokémon Post

Greetings to my Loyal Subjects and Island Guests. As you may or may not know I am kind of into a little franchise called Pokémon. THE game that defined the collectable creature catching genre. However there are so many great Pokémon games that do not follow that formula. This post should go live on the day New Pokémon Snap is launched which is a great example.. but what are some other great Pokémon games to play if you are looking for something besides the 8 generations of goodness?!

Let’s discuss a few games I love to bits! Like a top five.. but without any particular order OR even saying these are THE best.. if you have your own opinion that is fine. You could have had the same opinion as a Unicorn-Duck Princess.. but whatever suits you works as well!

Pokémon XD: Gale Of Darkness

Released in August 2005 a sequel to the game Pokémon Coliseum was launched. Both games were sort of in between the classic Pokémon Stadium Games and the Main Line titles. When I played this game for the first time I was not sure if I liked it. It has some very odd music choices that while great do not always seem fitting. Like using Wild West styled songs for a forest song, while using a desert sounding song for a western town. With some very odd battle themes as well and all in all being a bit clunky. You can not travel the world but use a map system to bounce between several locations that have a few static screens you can interact with. You know those kinds of static backgrounds that they used in Resident Evil and Final Fantasy 7 through 10. Static camera allows you to walk around, interact with a few items and such. It felt slightly cramped and very limited when we compared it to what we were used to. Catching Pokémon was also very limited to so called Shadow Pokémon.. and later a few places where you could place some food.

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness review: Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness - CNET

What makes this game so great however.. and it’s prequel at that is the amazing double Battles. Everything is set around Double Battles and the Shadow Pokémon feature. There are some wild Pokémon you can catch.. but they are nothing compared to the Shadow Pokémon. More powerful versions of pokémon with their heart closed off. You have to steal them from their evil owners and befriend them so you can purify them. The really good Pokémon to use in this game all start out as Shadow Pokémon and are very miserable showing you this game doesn’t mess around! The double battles are a lot harder and really require you to strategise a bit. The story of the game is also pretty fun with some very colourful enemies. Micheal the protagonist isn’t as much of an Edgelord as the guy in Coliseum was which makes him a lot more charming. Seriously the other guy looks like he is about to whip out his Beyblade or something.

Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness Gameplay - YouTube

The Plot of this game revolves around an evil team named Cipher wanting to weaponise Pokémon, and will have you face off against the legendary Shadow Lugia. You really feel like you are on a goal to stop that evil team , rather than on a journey to become the very best. This character has much more tangible goals and while that sometimes does mean competing in a tournament or such, it isn’t the main goal. This time you are liberating shadow pokémon from their cruel owners and trying to nuse them back to health trough double battles and love. Which gives it a nice fresh and more dire tone. This game offers a good challenge, a nice story and is just different enough..but also similar enough to pokémon to be somewhat of a safe choice if you want to play something else.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (Red) Rescue Team (Dx)

For many years now, over 20 we have been able to experience how it was to be a Pokémon Trainer, we dabbled in several forms of this With many trainer variants, sometimes we would just photograph them, while other times we yell at a Pikachu trying to make him listen when we secretly know he won’t. However we have very rarely been given the occasion to BE a Pokémon. Released on my Birthday in 2005 came a game called Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team for GBA.. or Blue Rescue Team for Nintendo DS. By then I did not have a DS yet so I was given a Red Rescue Team. A pokémon game that lets you play as ….a Pokémon, not only that.. this Pokémon is REALLY You.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Release Date, Videos and Reviews

When you start the game you get asked a few questions and that determines which Pokémon you are. For example stuff like what do you like to do when you get home after school, how many friends do you have. Back then I would be a Squirtle, when I replayed it a few years later I was a Cubone and nowadays I am either a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur. Yet there are a few options like Charmander , Pikachu the other Gen 2 and 3 Starters and even Meowth or Psyduck! I haven’t ever gotten it though. In later games I was a Skitty though, so I could not have been far off. Either way based on your personality you get assigned a Pokémon body, now you have to find a way to get your original body back and you do that by helping other pokémon. This can be various tasks like helping a Butterfree Mamma get her baby caterpie, or you explore a dungeon to find Pidgey’s favourite kind of berry.

bol.com | Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Switch | Games

In a top Down zelda-ish looking style you can walk through a dungeon with a buddy (mine was Bulbasaur) bonk some pokémon on the head and learn some special moves to use against them as well. The dungeons are randomly generated and different each time, whatever task you choose to do in the maze determines how many floors there are before you exit, you earn money from rescuing stuff, upgrade your team ranking, upgrade your pokémon and if you are lucky recruit some new friends. The first one just felt so heartwarming and sweet and while the dungeon running can get a bit tedious in later stages it is just a sweet and delightful adventure to embark upon. It is very much worth it. Nowadays the Nintendo Switch has a remake of the game that improves on a few things so the cuteness has not ended! There is also some sequels but to be fair, the emotionally journey of this one is way stronger! It made me cry and the other games did not even get close!

Pokémon Puzzle League

Released for Nintendo 64 in september of 2000 this game is the only one on the list that pretty much has nothing to do with Pokémon..but it’s still REALLY REALLY good! I could have given this spot to games like Pokken or Detective Pikachu or even Pokémon Trading Card Game 2 for Gameboy Colour, but for all of those I have a few gripes, so they wont come further than being honourable mentions here. What put Pokémon Puzzle League ahead of them is that it is the best game of it’s kind on N64. A competitive puzzle game in the style of Poyo Poyo or Tetris Attack… in fact this IS Tetris Attack. The latter game was my favourite puzzle game on SNES and Pokémon Puzzle League is it’s N64 counter part. However instead of vague creatures from the Yoshi universe we get Pokémon. Which makes the backgrounds all the more enjoyable for me.

Pokémon Puzzle League | Video Games & Apps

The story/adventure mode let’s you battle against rivals and gym leaders alike and is the only game the Pokémon anime ever got.. except for a fan game I guess. Here you can just have fun against the classic theme rocket including their theme song, you can puzzle away to reveal screenshots from the show and everyone you face is as faced in the show. As a kid this was great. Gameboy Sabrina was waaaaaaay different from her anime counterpart. Team Rocket lacks Jesse and James and Brock and Misty where they throw away characters. Not here…this game is great to play alone but is even better when you play it with friends and the threshold of this game is zero. You can fire it up, play a match and turn the console off again. Perfect between home(work) and dinner. It’s light cute and very nicely animated with a very cute tranquil music list. It is just Tetris Attack.. but it is my favourite version of a game I already love.. so it earns it’s spot on this list!

Pokémon Pinball

Released on April 14 1999 this is the oldest and perhaps strangest title on my list. A Pinball game? Does it seriously beat out Pokken or even Pokémon Go?! Yes! Quite so! I am not a fan of Pokémon Go persé, I enjoy casually checking Pokémon sometimes but I do not like the business model attached to it. I really dislike how it shines so much less special, I really dislike how it takes up so much box space with all special variants. So no… it won’t be on my list, the game I pick might be a lot more simple and less visually pleasing but boy oh boy does it have some charm. I loved Pokémon Pinball. It was a gameboy colour game with a rumble feature which was totally unique. It allowed you to play two machines, Red and Blue and you could travel across routes , catch pokémon and even evolve them by just flapping some paddles around. It was such a creative take that worked really well.

≥ Pokemon Pinball GameBoy || €9.99 - Games | Nintendo Game Boy - Marktplaats.nl

The idea of using a Pokéball as a Pinball (or is it a Pinball-ball?) already is kinda clever and they get so much mileage out of it. You first play the board to travel to one of the many routes in the game, then make a Pokémon Appear that is indeed living in that route. Then you can hit it five times to create the word Catch, after which hitting it with your Pokéball-Pinball-ball will allow you to capture it. Now you can rinse and repeat OR level up the Pokémon so it can evolve. If you do well you can even make it all the way to catching Mewtwo and beating the game.. but you need some serious pinball skills for that. This does make the game a bit weird to play though.

Pokemon Pinball (GBC) - Gameplay - YouTube

Evolution has to happen in one Pinball Session and a lot of the catches are behind an RNG element like the routes selected, the pokémon that spawns on those routes. This is fine at the beginning and it pleased kid Pinkie very much but when I recently tried it again I felt some deep frustration with it! If you make it further in the game you will need certain pokémon, for example let’s say machop. However instead of machop three other pokémon can spawn as well.. and even IF you find Machop you will need to level it up twice without losing all your pokéball-pinball-balls which means you have to be quite good at Pinball. On a device with limited battery life and visibility., which can be a frustrating task. However if you just play this game a very sessions at a time and consider the Pokémon caught a bonus to your pinball experience rather than something you have to complete in a short amount of time this game is really great and young me spend many many hours on this title that was actually owned by my sister.

Pokémon Ranger Shadows of Almia

To this day I still haven’t found a copy of Pokémon Conquest to play and the DS era of Pokémon was the one I missed out on the most. One title I did get the pleasure of playing was Pokémon Ranger 2: Shadows of Almia and it might be my favourite Pokémon game that is not a main-line Pokémon game. I mean it’s friggin adorable! It’s so good! The graphics are cute , the characters are adorable and it’s one of the few games that does really force you to use your stylus that came with the DS… because Pokémon Ranger was all about drawing loops of friendship around some pokemon. For those who don’t know what that means, this is a game in which the main gameplay has you draw circles around moving objects!

I know that sounds super lame, and to an extent it is kinda lame, especially later in the game, but this game is dressed SOOOO well it doesn’t matter. It is kinda fun to see all the special attacks a Pokémon can take to prevent being wrapped up in a laser lasso that makes it more friendly towards you. This game has elements of the old Pokémon games in that you have a world to explore.. and each time you catch something or get a new mission you open up more of the world. In a way it feels like a puzzle game, because drawing loops is mostly used to get a new friend towards a place where you can use their effect. Draw circles around a magnemite and it can turn on the power, draw circles around a squirtle and it can put out a fire, but you only have so much energy if your Lasso breaks, you lose your job and lose the game. It’s kinda interesting how much milage they get out of drawing circles!

So the gameplay is odd but satisfying but what really makes this one of the greatest Pokémon Products ever is the writing. This game is super funny! Sometimes intended, sometimes less intended. “Touch the Bidoof” is said to the ranger and I am already laughing, or how about the time that the evil team is using an ice pokémon to make snow cones and not knowing what to do with the player character, they offer her a snow cone as well. Your rival failing at everything he does but still keeping his ego up was incredibly funny as well and there is just this great vibe of work ethic in this game that makes it feel wholesome. Everyone is living with their Pokémon and working with them and it offers a very interesting peek into the non battling side of Pokémon. The music is great as well! It lacks the endgame and the “community” that other Pokémon games get but by arceus is this game the gem! Skip out on the first one though that one isn’t half as good! Just play this one you’ll have a great time……and perhaps some stylus burn from drawing so many circles.

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia :: Full Walkthrough

Those are five fantastic games that are very much Pokémon Franchise games that aren’t part of the main line! Of course the original Pokémon snap was amazing as well but I felt that would be such a cheap choice! Soon I will be able to tell you if New Pokémon Snap is any good! Until then tell me which Pokémon “spin-off” games you really like! While you do I will take a nap and wait for my game to arrive, because remember folks. Friendship is Magic, but Dreams are even more Wonderful! Oyasumi!

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rp - Sleeping Dorms - Wattpad

Sunny’s Five (or so) Bestest Video game (or video game adjacent) Writers

Regardless of what you may think, much of the time that you THINK Sunny is just sitting on the beach, holding a fishing pole and gazing at the horizon he is actually THINKING. At least, that’s what he wants you to think.

Sometimes, he’s just thinking – I wonder if I still have any bait on this hook? Or, is that a nibble? He certainly is NOT thinking about putting out every other light at the tiki bar and then hiding the ladder to drive Kuro and Periwinkle crazy. And he knows nothing about that enormous Grouper that was in the pool yesterday.

No, he’s been considering which writers he wants to sing the praises of to answer Periwinkle’s video game writer challenge. Because Sunny can either think of way more than five, or less than two, because he tends towards video games that lack any real story. Mostly. But there are some very notable exceptions, and here they are. Oh, and one writer who is video game adjacent but he really loves this writers work so he’s shoehorning it in here.

For instance, speaking of more than five, there is the cooperative of writers who created Katawa Shoujo all of whom are listed on the link. Katawa Shoujo – which can be downloaded at the same website, is a beautiful, kind, compassionate, understanding and open visual novel about a young man who develops a heart condition, and is transferred to a boarding school that specializes in accommodating young people with disabilities. Of course, he meets a number of beautiful young women each with their own talents and abilities, and oh, a disability as well. Sunny hasn’t dated all of them yet, because he’s fallen madly in love with Lilly Satou and no matter who he sets out to win – he always ends up with Lilly because he can’t resist her.

Npckc is the writer of one night, hot springs, a VN which is also downloadable at the writer/developers website (linked to their name there) or on Steam. It is very short, but very sweet, and very kind. It is focused on Haru, a Japanese transgender woman, who was invited to the hot springs by her old friend Manami to celebrate Manami’s upcoming wedding with all her girl pals. All Haru wants to do is to enjoy being with everyone else, but because she is transgender there are special considerations to be kept in mind. It’s a beautiful story, well written, and thoughtful about situations transgender people deal with every day in every country with grace and forbearance and in this case, with the kind support of her friends.

Choice of Games is a sort of central webhost/developer/sales for a number of people writing text based adventure games. Sunny is super hooked on these games and has played a few of them over and over and over. A special treat has been Night Road, a game written in the Vampire the Masquerade world and even though they haven’t yet added his favorite Malkavian clan for it, he’s sure they’ll get around to it. The writer is Kyle Marquis. He does a fantastic job of holding onto that noir dystopian feeling while still providing plenty of adventure and choice. You can purchase it through Google Play or on Steam along with all later updates adding various clans. You can find out more about them here.

Evan J. Peterson wrote Drag Star! For Choice of Games and it can be found on Google play and probably other places. It’s a quick, fun romp at being a contestant on a game show verrrrrrrry similar to RuPaul’s Drag Race. You can be campy, comedic, avant garde’, or classy or any combination. Be catty and mean or sweet and peace making (Sunny, of course, is always a sweet peace maker – as far as you need to know). This is a short game, but don’t worry, you’ll probably play it more than once. Kudos to the writer for capturing the fun and flair of drag stars! Mr. Peterson has his own website here and does quite a bit of writing in many forms!

Sunny likes fun and humor in his text based games – and Fox Spirit: A Two Tailed Adventure serves plenty of both, with a little dose of Japanese style fairy tale and fantasy setting. Amy Clare Fontaine is the writer and she spins a story you won’t soon forget – and you’ll want to see all the endings. She also writes articles and books, her website is here.

Now for that video adjacent writer – D.Rus writes the Play to LIve series on the Kindle. It is finished, with seven volumes. If you watch Isekai anime, you are familiar with the set-up here. However, the background story is very well thought out science fiction, going into how people end up “perma” in games and the reaction of the world’s governments. Unlike many Isekai, in this series becoming “perma” – that is stuck in a game for good, is often done very much on purpose to escape from some situation in life – like immanent death from a brain tumor. Some governments figure out this is a great way to empty the jails… This story is from a Russian point of view which adds another layer of interest. The game story is also well thought out and thoughtful – not just an overpowered hero hacking and slashing his way to fame and glory. Max (the protagonist) takes quite a different route from Necromancer, to a follower of the Fallen One (an abandoned AI that remained in the game past the developers “removal” of it) and he makes his fortune with a clever use of alchemy to invent something sadly missing in game – cigarettes! It’s fun but also very profound at times. You can find D.Russ author page on Amazon here.

Now, we can get back to fishing and petting sea monsters.

Pinkie’s Fantastic Five: Anime Character I’d want as Staff

Hello my little lights, Irina’s Twitter recently reshared some of her older content.. and I am not sure if it is automated or if she randomly selects posts to retweet herself… but regardless, a post came up that inspired me. Top 5 anime characters I want as personal assistants that one was. Given the hyperlink I put in there I am pretty sure it is an automated response! Anyway.. I have Staff.. but I can never have enough servants..Uhm I mean Staff.. so here are five fantastic picks for new staff members.

A Maid: Tohru

For the Powerful Women tag Irina sniped Tohru as my answer… and Summer’s as well and I ended up picking Rem as a roommate instead.. but in this new list I can finally admit that in hindsight I do like Tohru more then Rem. Points for Irina though for having such a objectively true opinion! She is more fun to hang out with, she is way more openly gay then Rem is/might be and she comes with an adorable baby dragon, that I do not want to lewd but just feed her living things and see them vanish in her gaping maw in one big swoop! That alone could keep me entertained for days.

She can even bring Kobayashi , I do not need to engage with her romantically .. though a dragon and a prin…. I mean the manager would be an interesting couple and I bet we could hit it off.. I am fine either way though as Tohru loves her job and doubles as air transportations. I live on an island but I get seasick very easily but not airsick so this would be a great way to circumvent annoying little troubles. I could play with Kanna, geek out with Fafnir, drink with Kobayashi, Cry with Elma and ignore the other one..but I bet her assets will draw in a whole lot of business to Paradise. All she needs to do is loaf around on the beach!

I do need a maid because my pool boy keeps inviting people to pee in my pool.. I know that “(definitely don’t) Pee in the Pool.. just means Pee in the pool.. but it has been manager proofed. . Sunny while great at his job.. is only great at it when he does it…which is completely random! Cabins might get cleaned, or it might not happen and people get a fish in a bucket as an apology instead. I love them both and the content they provide is swell but I need a backup plan. Besides..I am not very clean myself. I would not get down to the floor and clean it! I am so stiff I probably could not get up! Too much soapy stuff also makes my hands all dry and scaly! .. So better just use a dragon! I don’t think they will complain about dry skin.. Maybe Elma would.. but not Tohru! So she is a great Maid.. an okay mode of transportation and a powerful means to defend the island.

A Singer/Pianist: Maki Nishikino

I got Barry Manilow’s bill for booking him each night and let me tell you.. that guy is NOT cheap! Of course on his day off we have Jimmy Buffet on Paradise but let’s just say that Copacabana is getting old fast for me! I do it because Winstof keeps yelling for encores and Manilow is getting old enough that he forgets he already gave an encore. I know HER NAME was LOLA and I KNOW she was a showgirl.. Now shut the fuge up Mannilow! I am not even paying Jimmy Buffet… he just shows up! Cheeseburger in Paradise.. my touchie! So it may be a great idea to have our own little artist on the fictional payroll. Someone who can just play piano during dinner time or bring us singing entertainment in the evening at the bars. She can also play at my cast…house.. yes A cast house.. is a house thats like a castle.. I totally don’t have a castle! Ignore that! Either way a musician is a great idea to have.

Maki is an ideal pick because she comes with lots of outfits to fit every mood. She has sung in an idol ensemble, solo and in a tinier girl group so she is very experienced in any form of singing, meaning she has great range. She is skilled at playing the piano and is a sing a song writer, which also means she wont be running out of songs and we can innovate our repertoire and even play around with the seasons. Snow halation in winter, Natsuiro Egao de 1,2 jump in summer and a lot of Aishiteru Banzai.. the anthem of Paradise.

Lyrics that roughly translate as “Smile when you’re sad, let all the sadness blow away, because if you can keep smiling, the weather will change, skies will clear, even if you are unsure , the road to happiness will be revealed under blue skies. Some days it might rain, but remember that this water will also nurture the little tree that is our dreams. Cheers for Love! It gives the courage to never give up! Now let’s enjoy the present! Cheers for the love, let’s wave goodbye to yesterday, let’s move forward. Which is a very motivational song! And it’s pretty easy to learn even in Japanese! Cheers for Love! Singer Hired!

A Tailor: Nui Harime

So is it weird I want a homicidal character as Staff?! I am not sure, I mean it’s not my dad Nui killed so do I care?! I don’t think I do.. I mean he was the dad of anime protagonist anyway.. that’s a death sentence either way. So if she had not murdered him it would be a tragic accident, or a mysterious disappearance. She had to do it by a force greater than herself. Nui is very polite to the people who she serves so as the Royal Couturier of Paradise I think I am in the safe zone. Did I say Royal.. I mean grand.. her title will just be Royal to avoid confusion with her function in Revocs! Either way Nui is a person that is very compatible with me.. we both love pink, are kind of childish and are morally slightly more flexible than some of our peers. But hey at least we create our own happiness! If I see the style of outfits she makes for girls, except for that bancho one.. I love them all Nonnon and Ragyo get such cool outfits from here and her own is cute as a button so that is a thing.

Now you may wonder, why would a tropical resort need a tailor! Well do you know how hot it is in a tropical Paradise.. you have one outfit on for your day at the beach and then one for the night life, equalling to two outfits per day. I don’t launder every day so I have to have a lot of outfits on Paradise.. if I am in my moth-form I also tend to have a nervous tick where I chew on my clothes… except… it’s not just chewing, it is also eating my clothes. Besides.. I can’t host a ball at my place and show up in the same dress as before.. it’s all duplicate dresses of each other since I still AM an anime character in a way.. but just know each dress you will see on me is always a different one .. once I employ Nui! To this day I have never ever had my white socks turn pink and I am not about to start.. mostly because I am not sure if Tohru would do all laundry.. so just to be safe a personal tailor could be neat. Tailor Hired!
Who.. could also be a good bodyguard!

A Chef: Alice Nakiri

Those who read my Halloween story know my current chef has a bit of a drinking problem! I blame Irina, but hey she comes here for the cheap cooking wine and shares it with the chef once service is done. Then I have to find whatever bush he has passed out and sober him up. It’s just a hassle so I might as well replace it with a bit of a fancier chef that works well with people of stature. The food of Paradise has to be fancy because competition between resorts is fiercer than ever. Even though Paradise is is only semi fictional still people seem to think they can’t come over to my imaginative island to hang out.

Alice , kind of looks like the original Irina model..or at least the one I knew as the original.. it’s the white haired one at least.. I may be able to use my chef as a marketing tool by trending it is a much more popular blogger than I am AND she is a chemist…which means that even if I cant fool people there is definitely a secondary source of income here! I mean she only has to be a chef at lunch and dinner time.. the drunkard can still fry some eggs.. that means Alice can cook something else in the morning or help me teach a few things about high society! She is so useful!

In terms of character Alice seems to walk a fine line between high standards, yet also prefers it if she has the moral high ground while also not shying away from being selfish or petty if it is in her own best interest. I admire that, Alice is tactical and a shrewd business woman. If you haven’t been able to tell yet, we burn a lot of cash on Paradise and cash management isn’t great on Paradise so far.

We have Periwinkle who burns a lot of money on very bad games, Kuro who tries every pot noodle in existence, I am not sure if Sunny even knows what money is and Nui seems to have expensive taste. So does Alice.. but she comes from money and she isn’t unwilling to share it if it improves her working conditions! She is a good team player that is quirky enough to make her interesting. She is super pretty as well. Which is kind of neat because Alice seems like the chef that really wants to introduce herself to fancy guests at the resort. I need someone like her who can be a bit serious and shape up.. speaking of which this also brings me to my final pick.

An Attendant/Personal Assistant : Marcarita

So any angel from Dragon Ball Super would make for a great personal assistant but I chose the one with the Twin Tails. First of all I could have picked Whis for having the pink uniform but I find him a bit too patronising to his boss. Besides that I feel like someone named after whiskey would become chummy with Indigo! A personal assistant would need to get alone with me.. so that’s why a female angel is a better option. Vados might vocalise her concerns about me to much and makes me more insecure than I need to be. Besides I am not sure if I like Calvados!

Marcarita is based on the Margarita drink.. and that is a pretty girly drink and I like it! Besides that her personality is like hyper formal will make her look very posh! She would treat me like a little princess in my service and always with the utmost respect. She is used to dealing with clowns and she is fairly strict so she can bring some moral fiber to the rest of the staff.. while allowing me to do whatever I want.. because of hierarchy! She will respectfully advise me though which is a good thing!

Why do I need an Attendant?! Well.. uhm… she can take some tasks away from me and let me nap a bit. If Whis and Beerus are the less formal variant iI am sure this angel can pick up the moral slack of the rest of the staff. She can shape them up a bit while I go play weird video games to provide you with some new content! It also is a bit of a status symbol and that means if Karen wants to speak to me I have some emotional leverage. I’ll have you know I am important enough to have an angel as a personal assistant madame, your petty complaints are beneath me!

I could use my assistant to let go of some things,which is good because I am a worrywart! It’s also doesn’t conflict as much as a butler and a maid. Because I can just let Tohru serve me my food while Marcarita can manage my phone for me. You know do all the text messages, help me be more social on Twitter.. do dailies in my mobile games. So much possibilities! Wipping Paradise back into shape while giving me more nap time! This is an angel I really need to hire! Plus I could try some angel pick up lines!

Time for me to take a nap.. after all this work finding people who would work for me! Now with the staff expanded, it will be time for me to upgrade my tropical hut to something a bit more worthy of a person of my stature! So in our next post we will be looking at some amazing video game real estate! Untill then… Shine on my Little lights! Oyasumi!

Pinkie’s Fantastic Five: Video Game Writers

Hello Little Lights, and Periwinkle in particular, today I got tagged in a top five by my pool guy. In Mallow spirit he tagged me in a regular post that isn’t really meant to be a blog tag I think?! But I am not sure.. so at least from me , I won’t be tagging people but I will encourage people to take on this challenge themselves. You see this is an interesting topic for me. Video Game Writers.. neither in anime or video games or even movies for that matter I worry too much about the back office.. I enjoy the bigger product.. as an experience of everyone…in most cases. But who are responsible for some of my favourite works? Today we find out!

_{^{<Disclaimer>
This post is not an official top 5, there is no ranking nor do I claim that these five are my absolute favourites. I do not like ranking people and telling one is better than the other, so these can be put in any order and in no way are meant to invalidate YOUR favourite writers!
<End of Disclaimer>}}

Jonas Kaerlev

So immediately I started with someone who was the subject of some online scrutiny. However, whether those accusations are true or not does not reflect on his work. They say our guy Jonas stole the work of an artist and when they struck back he tried to defame them or something. For some this may be a reason not to buy a game but for me this is something that happens anywhere in the world. It’s up to the people involved to resolve this. So him being a potential meanie-bo-beanie to his staff, doesn’t affect his skill. I would not be able to buy a lot of food if I had to boycott every dickish boss. So.. by now you may wonder, who the heck is this Jonas Kaerlev person?! See I got you interested in him at least?! … Well he is the writer of A Hat in Time and Ceo of Gears for Breakfast. As a lot of you may know: I LOVE A HAT IN TIME SOOOOO MUCH!!!! The writing is ON point.

Lil old Jonas , is a gamer and he has a love for cute cynismsn and that just oozes out of this game. Which gives it such a personality! It is cute as buttons, but it has so much sas. Much like Kazooie from Banjo., but in Kaerlev’s work it feels much more genuine. It fits these characters so much and there is a crude irony that some of these characters discover about themselves near the finale or during the game that makes these things so incredibly fun. A Hat in Time’s characters feel so unique and vibrant and the mission structure tells a story while also keeping this video game whimsy about it. The story is largely irrelevant yet you really get to know these characters and you know what is happening still, feeling both retro and modern and for this writing I adore it.

Yuji Horii

I could have easily fitted this list with just J-RPG writers, but that felt a bit cheap. However mister Horii can not be omitted from this list. He started out as a journalist for something called “magazines” which are like very old fashioned blogs… but offline?! Weird huh! (Yes I am writing this so people in the future may enjoy it as well). A random contest issued by Enix led the man to develop the concept for a game called Love Match Tennis. He won the contest.. among others and this inspired him to start making video games. His game Portopia Serial Murder Case is one of the games that is creditted by Hideo Kojima as the thigns that got HIM into making video games…. see now my post and Perwinkle’s are linked! Sugoi Sugoi! Yuji Horii would then move on to be one of the creative aspirations behind a little franchise called. Dragon Quest…or Dragon Warrior if you are an old school American!
WhileI absolutely adore Dragon Quest, especially part VIII , that is not the reason he is on this list. No Horii is on my list because he is the writer of Chrono Trigger.

When I did the powerful female tag, I put Celes Chere as a woman who has been trough a lot , mentioning she might be one of my favourite JRPG characters of all time.Yet there is one character that comes to mind even stronger and that is Frog from Chrono Trigger. And no his real name is not Frog and he is not just a frog.. there is a huge backstory to that featuring a powerful sword and evil mage and time travel, yet that is not even the main plot of the game, it’s a “side-story” integrated in the bigger picture. Chrono Trigger has so much story it is insane and it is perfectly interwoven into each other, the very monstrous Lavos as a villain is quite different from what we normally see. JRPG villains tend to be , what I like to call “Frieza Variations”. I know he wasn’t the first.. but he is well know. A charismatic ruler, of immense power that will transform a few times as you fight him. Usually very cold hearted and a megalomaniac. Chrono Trigger went a very different route, and our journey was different from what we are used too! And while Horii was not solely responsible.. he started it all!

Tim Schafer

While making this list I wanted to make sure to include people throughout genres and throughout the world, so I was brainstorming on genres in which I really enjoy the story. The idea of horror came up.. but I realised that was not completely true. I wanna be scared. I’ll leave the Deus Ex writer for Indigo if he decides to do this tag so shooters were out and western RPGs are oftenly really generically written. Then it came to me. Old school Point and Click adventures. I often care more about their funny stories than about the puzzles all that much. I love the genre and I love the characters. Yet which game should I pick.. my three favourite point and Click adventure stories are: Day of the Tentacle, the original Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle. So now.. I have to decide which one to pick.. oh nevermind they are all written by the same guy, Tim Schafer.

I do want to Schafer a slap though for the HORRIBLE ending of Monkey Island 2…. seriously, that is one HORRIBLE video game ending, but his sense of humor is sensible in all of his games. Comedy is hard to put into a video game, it rarely worked in anything other than Point and Click adventures but Tim Schafer to me is the king of video game humor. He proved that it can be done outside of the point and click genre with Brütal Legends and Psychonauts (he also wrote the sequel) but to me his greatest achievement will be Grim Fandango. The Film Noir and day of the dead inspired the world is so amazing. The adventures of Manny are beautiful.. and the threat of being killed by a flower never felt more real! It has the perfect balance of comedy, suspense and puzzles that are challenging but feel logical to that world. Also Tim probably imagined most of the concept for Guybrush freaking Threepwood. Praise Tim!

Hironobu Sakaguchi & Yoshinori Kitase

The penultimate slot of this list goes to two people.. and as you may expect by their names, yes they are responsible for a JRPG choice on this list. So why do I chose two people?! Well because they are co-listed as writers of a few video game gems. Such as Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII and of course my all time favourite JRPG, Final Fantasy (ambiguous) VI. I can’t really choose between Sakaguchi and Kitase, because while stories of Final Fantasy games only began to get very good when Kitase showed up (I don’t really care for the story of I through IV) Sakaguchi was the scenario writer for Final Fantasy IX, which might be my second favourite Final Fantasy. So they both made this list. Regardless of what is your favourite Final Fantasy, these two have something to do with it. Kitase himself says he loves VII the most and his favourite character is Cloud Strife. Now imagine how cool it is to say in their context. HIS favourite character is Cloud Strife. These are THEIR characters. Cloud Strife.. one of THE most Iconic video game characters of all time. It becomes even more epic if you think that unlike Mario, Sonic and even Solid Snake’s design.. who originally just ripped off Kyle Reese from Terminator, his origins do not stem from just a cool design.. he was probably written first and designed after. Almost none of the other icons will have that feature.

So that already is a testament of their amazing writing prowess, but to me it is still best embodied in Final Fantasy VI. A SteamPunk game that again breaks with a lot of the video game storytelling traditions?! It created an incredibly complex world with characters that would exist in a world, even if there was no story line. Cecil is an okay character..but without the game there is little to him. The first three games you literally play blank paper sheets or at least their abilities can be traded in. Terra.. without the crown incident would still be interesting, given her heritage. Celes would still feel conflicted about her job without the events that really drive this game. Edgar would still have his conflict with Sabin. Final Fantasy VI is a great example on how to create a world for me.. the way characters get lost in the woods, do something stupid and end up in more trouble then they bargained for.. it was not just a story that was being told it had it’s characters interact with it. It felt dynamic and is to this day one of my favourite video game stories, and most likely it will be until the day I’d need a Phoenix Down!

Suda51

I know I don’t do rankings, but Suda51 is a top candidate for the number 1 spot on this list.. which is also why I made him my final entry. It is no secret that I like weirdness and randomness and Suda51 is the master of weird. So much so that it can feel convoluted at times, maybe weird for weirds sake. However you just need to see two minutes of a Suda51 game and you will know it is a Suda51 game. His style is on everything. This can be said for his colleague David Cage, who was on Periwinkle’s list but I do not like David Cage games, they tend to feel a bit preachy at times, there is a heavy bias to certain plot-threads or ways things unfold. Suda51 doesn’t have that for me. Say a David Cage script gets mixed up with these semi-super drama’s like Izombie or the 100, I am not sure I would be able to pick it out of the pile as his work. If I throw Suda51’s writing into a pile of oddball scripts I would still be able to pick out Suda51.. I’d need to throw it into a creative writing course at an Asylum, not to notice it is him.. and even then.. I’d imagine I’d still be able to do it.

I think it is both Cage’s and Suda51’s strength that among games, you can recognise their work for miles. To each goes their own very specific audience and Suda51’s audience is me! Killer7, Lollipop Chainsaw, Killer is Dead, these all just ooze with flavour and I adore these games. However they do not have Travis Touchdown. No More Heroes is such a unique and strange franchise that really feels like the artists creation. I do not like to do this whole back office thing and look at writers.. but with No More Heroes or Suda51 games, I do not have too. I know. With all due respect to my four other entries you could tell me another name made them and I would believe it… I can not play No More Heroes and deny Gochi Suda had something to do with it. The way a girl commits suicide by biting down on a grenade.. for losing to Travis, the extremely over the top story that gives room for the strange visuals, the overly cool protagonist that still has to do menial jobs, there is a consistent inconsistency in these games. A way these characters talk to each other that feels larger than life. Larger than normal video games, it’s predictably unpredictable. It is goosebumps and a squee-sounds of joy all over. It’s Suda51!

Like I said I will not be tagging people but I do encourage people in the gaming blogosphere to pick this up and try it themselves. I don’t think it’s an official tag post and more of a challenge… so I will keep it at that. Challenge yourself to find five other names that are important to you and let’s talk some more video games! Until then, Shine on Little Lights! Oyasumi!

Periwinkle’s Five Favorite Video Game Writers

Occasionally on my days off from scrubbing the pool floor, changing filters, getting Chlorine in my eyes and falling off ladders trying to replace the festive holiday lights permanently fixed to the tiki bar I get a chance to spend some time on things I actually love.

And I’m not talking about spending hours alone weeping and pulling my hair out questioning poor level design, awful difficulty curves and gigantic plot holes as I play my monthly bad video games that the manager ruthlessly opens the door and tosses at me in my hut.

I’m talking about laying on the beach like an even more drunk TJ Miller sharing raw fish with my best buddy, Cookie and reading back issues of EGM. Reminiscing about Periwinkle in his naive youth. Thumbing through every single page of any gaming magazine I could afford while working minimum wage at a grocery store. Using dial up internet to keep up with his favorite writers in the gaming world. Knowing someday he too would be beloved in Japan and by a small but growing contingent in North America as a masterful script writer for an incredible Action Adventure series.

As you now know – obviously that all happened and now I’m just your typical billionaire that spends his free time in between riding in my personal jet made of platinum and naming Elon Musk’s children after cyborg angels writing for the blog because why not? I just love games.

So I guess I decided to create my own little list. I am going to briefly write about my own top five favorite video game writers. And I’m going to ask my co-conspirators on the site and YOU! (yes, you don’t be shy) to follow suit!

Also I don’t want to hear any belly aching about how, “March isn’t Video Game Writer Month” and “You can only write about your favorite writers in August!!” or any other made up blog rules because I don’t give a shit.

BUT – I do want to hear from you and your favorites! Be it video game writers, anime or book authors. Could be anyone – who cares – let’s rejoice in the people that make us happy. Alright let’s start:

These are in no particular order and this list is obviously not a proclamation of who is “the best” or any of that. Just my personal favorites.

Known for: Grand Theft Auto Series, Red Dead Redemption series, Smuggler’s Run, Max Payne 3, Midnight Club, Bully

My Pick: GTA IV

Despite being one of the most commercially successful writers on this list, Dan Houser has always shied away from the celebrity some of his counterparts bask in. Growing up in England with brother Sam – the Housers ultimately ended up in New York creating the upstart Rockstar Games.

While not being created by the Housers they took over chief writing of the Grand Theft Auto series early on and by the third installation single handily revolutionized open world gameplay. The series has since went on to become one of the most popular video game series of all time (selling over 320 million copies). Grand Theft Auto has always been known for its dark humor, satire of American culture and homage to crime movies but with GTA IV the writing truly evolved into epic storytelling. Matching the updated and realistic graphics the gritty story followed anti-hero, Niko Bellic as an off-the-boat immigrant from the Baltics trying to start a new life in America – only to be forced into the same criminal lifestyle he led back home. It’s a mature and dark take on the American Dream and subsequently became an instant classic.

Known for: Horizon Zero Dawn, Fallout: New Vegas, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Horizon, Dungeon Siege: 3

My Pick: Fallout: New Vegas

Most die hard Fallout fans despite what system they swear allegiance to would tell you that they were giddy after Microsoft acquired Bethesda in September of 2020 because of one thing: Bethesda now being reunited with Obsidian Entertainment.

The last game the two companies worked on together was the near perfect, post apocalyptic masterpiece, Fallout: New Vegas.

The high water mark that some Fallout fans fear will never again be reached. Fallout 4 was good but it wasn’t New Vegas and Fallout 76 is unfortunately a stupid bastard child hated by all. But maybe all fans don’t know that in addition to Obsidian and Bethesda kissing and making up they will also need the help of John Gonzalez, the lead writer of New Vegas. The darkest entry in the violent series, perfectly paced and packed with exciting and interesting dialogue trees and characters, Gonzalez deserves a contract worth all the Nuka-Cola caps in the world to lead the writing team for Fallout 5.

Known For: Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Control

My Pick: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Max Payne was an absolute game changer for me. Revenge. One of the oldest tales ever told reinvented with style, bravado and a smoky verbosity that my friends and I still joke about to this day. The original Max Payne was about guns and Matrix-esque action sequences. In fact, they were on such a tight budget at Remedy that Sam Lake modeled for Max Payne himself, with other programmers lending their likeness for henchman and baddies throughout the game. They even used Sam’s own mom as the main antagonist, Nicole Horne.

But after Max Payne crushed it as a critical and commercial darling – the budget inflated and Lake hung up his modeling cap and turned the storytelling up to 11. The Fall of Max Payne is a masterpiece on several levels, between its submersible baddie dialogue to its expertly crafted Shakespearean-star-crossed-lovers story arc the Fall is not only a PlayStation 2 masterpiece but an achievement in story telling from an underrated modern day master.

Known For: The Nomad Soul, Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy), Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human

My Pick: Beyond: Two Souls

David Cage is a polarizing figure. I will acknowledge that. But thats it. I am only here to discuss writing prowess and even to that end his company, Quantic Dream also draws hard lines in the sand with gamers. You either really love Quantic Dream games or you don’t. There truly doesn’t seem like very much middle ground.

My personal pick probably seems confounding. Beyond: Two Souls was by far Quantic Dream’s least successful release. It was skewered by critics and gamers alike for bad controls. But it was easy to work through these issues with Cage’s script being read by Elliot Page and Willem Dafoe. If this game doesn’t give you the feels than I can’t help you. The acting is elite and Cage’s script keeps up with his talent.

Known for: The Metal Gear Solid Series, Policenauts, Zone of the Enders, Snatcher, Death Stranding

My Pick: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The master. In the opinion of many (including my own) one of the greatest writers of all time. No one has quite mashed pop culture, action adventure cinema and overall gun powdered existentialism quite as smoothly than Mr. Kojima.

Throughout Kojima’s career one could argue no one has ever imposed a more convincing anti-war argument to teens through visual media. He may have created one of the most badass soldiers of all time but like all man made weapons of destruction he runs the film past the script end. Never afraid to challenge his own genre and medium no writer has ever been as bold as Kojima when it comes to challenging his players to look at the world around them and demand, “Why?”

ADULT SWIM HOURS

My two best friends that I constantly harass when writing any of my articles had some writers to add of their own they were mad I omitted. They know my guys. They know what games I love. But they needed the world to know:

Shigeru Miyamoto is number one. You don’t just write Mario/Zelda/Donkey Kong/F-Zero/Pikmin/Star Fox and get ignored on some idiot’s blog about great video game writers. It just can’t happen.

While that is true. A few faithful readers will remember that I’ve already been thrashed by a Twitter badass for my lack of absolute devotion to everything Nintendo as is. So I might as well continue this disturbing and challenging trend.

Also, this guy:

This curly haired fellow? Neil Druckmann? He is solely responsible for one of my closest friends denouncing Xbox and buying a PlayStation 3. After watching a half an hour or so of Uncharted. I’d say that’s a pretty good endorsement.

Alright so… now it’s your turn.

And in addition to all of my favorite writing partners on the site I have a couple specific bloggers I follow as well. Obviously don’t feel obligated to but I’d be interested to read your favorites:

The Gamer With Glasses

Shoot The Rookie

Geeking-By

So there you have it. Who inspires you? Who are your favorites? Join the conversation in the comments below or let me know via social media at: Buffalo Retro

Periwinkle’s Phenomenal Five: Original Movie Soundtracks

Generally when I’m doing my daily tasks like pulling out large clumps of hair from the shower drains near the resort pool or cleaning the perpetually filthy toilets I’m usually deep in thought. Categorizing all of my favorite things in sequential order. Day dreaming of a day someone will finally ask me, “Hey Periwinkle! What are your top five bands?” Or “Hey ultra cool guy. You’re so interesting! What are your top five favorite video games?” Thirty two years and thousands of cleaned toilet bowls later that day has never come. Until…now.

So this is a pretty big moment. I’d like to thank Mallow and Pinkie for the nomination. It’s nice to know that someone, somewhere out there cares enough to ask me, of all people, what my TOP FIVE FAVORITE MOVIE THEMES ARE. I appreciate it. All of this attention is already going directly to my head even as I type.

*NOTE* I’m going to try and limit the amount of Jon Brion soundtracks on here because he pretty much dominates my top ten.

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE

I have to start with this soundtrack because not only is it my favorite soundtrack from my favorite composer/songwriter/film scorer of all time (The man of unlimited musical prowess, Jon Brion) but also because PDL was written and directed by my favorite Writer/Director of all time, P.T. Anderson and thus naturally, Punch Drunk Love is my favorite movie of all time . It’s been that way for a long time and now into my thirties I love it more and more with each passing year. A quirky, fucked up little tale of a lonely loser who will face all of his anxieties and demons to keep the one woman who loves him. I know this movie gets a lot of hate but I will go to the grave defending Adam Sandler’s performance in this film. Probably the best acting of his career (just edging out Reign Over Me and in all fairness I haven’t seen Uncut Gems yet.) But still – a minimalist masterpiece from a legendary director with a charming soundtrack.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

Another top five movie. Another Jon Brion soundtrack. While it’s the antithesis of the raw fury this Power Ranger banger my colleague prefers provides, it not only serves as a theme song to one of the greatest break up stories known to man but a soundtrack I would choose to dub my own thoughts to. A reluctant introspective with a constant sliver of optimism that the answer lay hidden in plain sight all along. Jon Brion masterfully crafts this warm, sad tune that can easily sum up the warmest of sun shower memory.

TRUE ROMANCE

Hands down the greatest Quentin Tarantino movie that QT didn’t direct himself. Even though I guess – from my knowledge that only leaves True Romance superior to Natural Born Killers which in my opinion is misunderstood. Even by me. It’s definitely not a favorite. But this star studded cast effortlessly carries a misfit love story that is a favorite of mine and the wife. I’m sure like many cult-film-lover-couples out there this is “our movie”. And while she never was a prostitute and I was never a quiet, shy and delusional comic book clerk capable of mass murder it doesn’t mean we still haven’t saved one another in our own ways. Hans Zimmer’s lighter than air theme encapsulates Clarence and Alabama Worley’s reckless abandon as two fugitive kids living and loving in the moment. You’re so cool, Hope.

LEON (“The Professional” in the US)

Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and a powerhouse debut by twelve year old Natalie Portman underscore this touching and gorgeous French action film by Luc Besson. From its exploration to adolescence to the solitude and loneliness of a professional hitman, Leon scores across the board for warm, human writing – bad ass action scenes and a gut wrenching finale. Topped off by Eric Serra’s perfectly crafted score and a lovely rendition of, “Shape of My Heart” by Sting this movie and its soundtrack can have your heart racing and aching at the same time. Bonus trivia: This movie inspired the song, “Matilda” by the band Alt-J on their 2012 release, An Awesome Wave.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

I know, I know it’s not the actual theme. But a haunting classic to say the least. And it’s Danny Elfman. Do I really even need to say any more? Fiona Apple (who has a achieved Goddess like status in my book) took a stab at it herself. And it’ll send shivers down your undead-Christmas loving spine.

So there ya have it, folks. Those are the soundtracks that make me tick. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some rats that want me to teach them how to play harmonica. – PW
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Definitely not the reason I do this BUT if anything I write brings you joy and you felt like buying me a cup of coffee and/or grammar lessons I would wholeheartedly appreciate it.

Pinkie’s Fantastic Five: Movie Themes

Hello Little Lights, it is time for another post! Mallow tagged me for something quite awesome! Thanks Mallow! Visit Mallow! He listed some of his favourite Movie Themes. A top four! However 4 is an unlucky number and I am unlucky already..so I decided to make it five! I always feel a bit stressed when making a top 5 as it basically forces me to rank things against each other and maybe other movie themes would get sad! There are so many that are great! So instead of doing top 5, I decided to change this to Fantastic Five! A random grab of five things that are super awesome! Not ranked and maybe not even my favourite 5! Just five I want to talk to you about today!

This post will feature 5 videos and they are best Listened to while reading their respective Paragraphs! So please visit this post on my actual site!

Power Rangers The Movie (1995): Go Go Power Rangers

With a guitar Riff that immediately takes you back to the 90’s you know what is heading your way when you watch this movie! Yet.. these first notes also surprise you.. where is that iconic sound.. of impending thunder and lighting, that guitar roll that is so linked to the show!
It follows soon! In this day and age I think this is the best rendition of the theme because of those few opening notes! Thus qualifying as a movie theme! As the series never had those first few Riffs! I always wanted to be a Power Ranger, and to an extent I would still like to be! Not only is this one of THE best childhood themes out there.. it also also a theme of escapism to me! I’d be able to unwind with Power Rangers.. hoping that one day I might find the strength to stand up to my bullies! That I would morph into a more confident person that can stand up to them.. and that I did! I never expected to grow up as a Pink Moth.. but at least I have a great idea of what my Zord would be! “Mothra Pink Ranger Power”

Dragon Ball Super Broly: Blizzard

So a re-dub of a song that is about a movie.. that once again is a series! However this song really is unique to this movie! The music is so different from what you usually hear! It’s so unique and Megami’s textual interpretation shows how well she knows the source material! I love how she wrote the song from Broly’s perspective. While I prefer subs in anime.. I really like dubbed music so I can understand the lyrics and while there is an orginal english version I have not found it as audible as Megami’s version! That doesn’t stop the music from this track to be pretty amazing though! I really like it. Dragon Ball Super Broly is the most expensive movie I ever went to! By FAR! Not only did I pay top dollar to see it 4D.. which was amazing to have steam going off around you and your chair shaking at powerful punches, but I also travelled half the country to find a theater that ran a 4d version in Japanese. It was a great memory and the song to me reflects that.

Catch me if you Can : Catch me if you Can

If I have a favourite movie, it will probably be this one! Steven Spielberg did a great job of telling the tale of Frank Abignail Junior. The casting was amazing, the atmosphere so fun and it is just an extraordinary tale! The main theme is unique and has this elusive quality! Just when you think you get the melody it slightly shifts! And that is exactly what this movie is about so when I first realised that I was like OH MY ARCEUS! I love this! It might not be a thing I can bob my head to but I can flail it from right to left in a seizure like fashion as I do know this melody quite well by now! It is just a very fascinating theme to me! A;also for some reason I really like movies featuring Tom Hanks and Airports! I am not sure why! I love the Terminal as well! But that one doesn’t have too much of an amazing song! It also misses the best knock knock joke ever!

Children of Dune: Summon the Worms

I am really messing this one up! Not only is this song from a Mini series rather than a movie, I also did not get it from said mini series. I actually know this song from another tv series where it was used as the title sequence. It was a dutch show called Peking Express, which basically is our translation for Orient Express. It was a show very similar to the great race and it involved people having to hitchhike from Moscow to Beijing. With some special challenges along the way. It was a great show with an even better opening. The drums in the song are timed with the beating of some sort of chinese tower at the end of the trip! Would your favourite couple make it to the finish line.. it got you pumped and hyped, and then I watched Children of Dune with a young James McAvoy …It was not what I had expected.
Dune.. to me .. is kinda boring! Not gonna lie! Luckily it will always have this amazing soundtrack! I know it has a lot of fans but it went way too political with me! I just wish my eyes were as blue as Leo Artreides!

The Rock : Hummel gets the Rockets

Golly gosh I love this music Track! It would probably be my favourite Theme of all times. There just so much to unpack! So dynamic, so epic! And once again, I fell in love with this not because of a movie but because of a tv series! In this case it was Expeditie Robinson. A show originally from Sweden that in America got adapted to Survivor. Sixteen people get dropped on an Island and have to survive and determine who is worthy to stay on the island. I loved this show for many many years, but at one point the scheming element got so out of hand that people could get extra votes and negative votes. At one point 8 people were left but 32 votes were cast, to kick the most deserving survivor off because he was too big of a threat. I don’t mind casting out a treat.. but the episode was so convoluted and sucky that I dropped the series after. Luckily the movie is still pretty good so if I want to hear the theme song I can still watch Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery break into Alcatraz to stop some sparkly ball missile treat! That’s the worst kind of missile treat!

Pinkie Ranks: Top 5 N64 Songs/Soundstracks

Welcome back again little lights of my life! Today I will ramble more about gaming! Why?! Because as a Virtual Blogger it is now my task to have factually correct opinions! So to celebrate that I am right I really wanted to do a top 5. I wanted to do a top 5 Kaiju first.. but I realised.. I really have to know them a bit better. Mamma Mothra is considered the mother of monsters so .. maybe Godzilla is like my brother.. I might need to learn more about him before I think he is a bit basic.

So because I was listening to video game music while listening to this post .. how about I review video game music again! From the N64 this time! As I did SNES and NES in the past! Like with them, only one entry per franchise (uhm kind off) ..with an honourable mention in the same game (most of the time) .

_{<Disclaimer> All the Songs Are YouTube Videos, to hear them read this post on my actual website. <End Of Disclaimer>}

Number 5: SS Anubis – Jet Force Gemini

Jet Force Gemini was a great game on the N64 that would have never really been on my radar. Shooting bugs with an anime girl, a guy in space armor and a dog wasn’t something I was particularly interested in at the time.. it looked “kiddy” yet did not play kiddy.. so I kinda found that dumb! So I decided to rent Star Wars Shadows of the Empire instead… man I really disliked that game! The shooting was so awful. I returned the game the same day as I took it out.. even though I rented it for a week.. I did not want Shadows to be my weekend! The Video Game Store Owner recommended me to Jet Force Gemini instead and since I wanted space Violence I reluctantly agreed. My mind was blown. This game was so much better! It also had really great music! Very different from what you expect such a cute looking game. The game played so smooth as well.. so I actually kept renting this until I finished it! …Which meant I would have been better off buying it.. .but oh well.

SS Anubis is a track that has a super foreboding tone, but also something big! It had this explorative.. spy movie like quality that also really worked well for alien stuff. Those were some strange times! It is very loopable.. and non intrusive and easy to put on a loop, by it’s own it might sound a bit boring for those who have never played the game.. but there was a way that these tracks were designed where ingame sound and audio blended together in such a nice cocktail that this always left an impression on me! A second favourite of mine is the fire planet Eschebone! I mean.. there are just so many pretty sources of light there and.. the music is absolutely bone chilling. There is a real sense of danger and evil there.. and even though the level absolutely sucks donkey kong.. with the last K being replaced with a D but it’s theme was amazing. Rare did an amazing job. I could have filled this list with just rare songs alone and it would still be a great list. They are on here a lot.. in fact….. the next entry might be Rare as well!

Honourable Mention: Eschebone

Number 4: Sloprano – Conker’s Bad Fur Day

I love platformer games, yet on Nintendo 64 that love was tested a bit. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Mario 64. It’s a great game don’t get me wrong but there were a lot of stars that aren’t fun to collect. I now.. and always will dislike a game that requires ultra specific , conditions such as entering a level at 12 o clock to stop all the moving parts, or figuring out some super vague secrets. Nowadays I do enjoy playing through it. .but then I was heavily leaning towards Team Rare. Donkey Kong 64 is a game I (as one of the few people) really liked (except for playing the Arcade games) and Banjo Kazooie, in my eyes blows Mario completely out of the water. So when a platformer was said to release with lot of potty humor, violence and Teddy Bears I was on board all the way! I had a lot of fun with the multiplayer but I had even more fun with the campaign.. especially the earlier parts.

Sending bees to a sunflower, so she gets ticklish enough to show her boobs to a horney and hungover king bee… and of course.. fighting a giant turd by the power of conjuring context sensitive toilet paper. I loved this game so much and in part it is because of the Opera Scene.. weirdly I am a sucker for Opera music in video games and this one is no different.. although a bit low brow! It’s a song sung by a baritone piece of poo that flings parts of his body at you and the entire opera is metaphors for the excrement. However the way how tempo in the song is used to ramp up difficulty and the comical and clever text pushed this towards some greater heights. While I would not say this track is “forgotten” I often see it passed over for the DK Rap, which I will cheat with and make my honorable mention here. Conker Had great music troughout the game, I very much love the main theme as well.. but since these are the two most iconic N64 songs with Vocals..both by Rare and the same type of game .. I think it is allowed.. and that way you can compare and agree with me that Sloprano is a more unique song!

Honourable Mention : DK Rap – Donkey Kong 64

Number 3: Gerudo Valley – The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was my first experience with this absolutely amazing franchise, with either this or Windwaker being my favourite installment. The Minish Cap taking a close third. My little sister forced me to call the main character we know as Link Turban8 (Tulband8 in Dutch) or she would reset my game over and over.. so my first Journey with Turban8 was quite unique.. I had never played a game like this before and here it became clear that I was a true gamer and my sister was not. We had to play together but I picked up on the nuances of this game fairly quickly and in the end she abandoned playing this so Turban8 was strictly controlled by me. I loved the music of this game so much, the overworld theme, Zelda’s Lullaby, Saria’s song.. this game blew me away! Music was an actual theme in the game and I would often just try to match the songs that were playing in the background. I learned to do this pretty okay as well.. and I adapted to a new way of Video game thinking.. away from the SNES platformer mentality.

One song impressed me so much more than the others, and that was the song of Gerudo Valley! My oh my did I love that song. The temperament of that song, the punch it packed and the “Bandito” theme really made this an absolute bob! I would often return to Gerudo valley just to hear that amazing song. Song of Storms will be put forward as my honourable mention, it can’t hold a candle to Gerudo Valley for me though! I love this song SO much! I loved it so much it was in my dreams! I once dreamed I got married to a video game character and we had to dance on the music! I just soared like an eagle to Gerudo Valley! Even did the rose/flamenco thing! Hmmm….I watched a lot of cartoons back then! I wasn’t able to beat the game at that age, the temple of Shadow and Spirit proved too tricky for me.. but I kept coming back to this game and falling for the song over and over again. I was so happy it got to be a thing in Smash Bros as well! They also made an absolute amazing Mariachi version of this!

Number 2: Rainbow Road – Mario Kart 64

When I was just a little Pinkie, I had a little friend with a bowl cut, who always invited me to come play Mario Kart on SNES.. I always lost and did not think I would like the sequel.. I hated SNES Rainbow Road to the core! My friend always beat the living daylight out of me! So when I first got Mario Kart 64 I kind of was upset! I didn’t really like that game.. I always played it with my friend because they wanted to play it, not because I liked it.. but I quickly realised how good this game actually is! I loved how this game controlled.. I loved the new weapons and I could actually stay on track and .. since I was not friends with Bowlcut anymore.. I did not really lose to anybody.. except my sister .. but she would punch me if she lost, so I faked losing a lot. Regardless , whenever she was not there I would race the AI on harder cc’s and win! I had so much fun! Then I had to do Rainbow Road.. and it was AMAZING.

Rainbow Road 64 is my favourite Mario Kart Track and Track ever. It really felt like the end of a (short) journey and instead of being punished .. like in the last one you were rewarded with a gorgeous track..which almost took as long to complete as the entire rest of the game. Seeing those character depictions on the sky, the sense of actually driving on a Rainbow.. it did more to me than being just a great track.. and track.. I think my love for Rainbows came from that game.. before that I kinda felt they were overrated but I loved Rainbow Road 64 so much that I even made a Mario Kart Rainbow Road Dungeon in my Digimon campaign. It was super fun! During the game the track almost constantly played and no one was ever annoyed by this music looping. It hits all the right notes of grandeur, space and lightheartedness. This isn’t a final dreadful trial for you to overcome.. this is a reward.. your victory lap! That is to me what Rainbow Road should be. The track before that, should be the final trial. This game got that feeling right, and this track is a perfect accompaniment for it. Oh right.. honourable mention.. Koopa Troopa Beach I get.. cause Island vibes?! It isn’t even in the same ballpark though.. heck.. if Rainbow Road is Yankee stadium.. then Beach isn’t even in America.

“Honourable” Mention: Koopa Troopa Beach

Number 1: The Entire Soundtrack – Banjo-Kazooie

I know , I know, this sounds like yet another cheat.. but you can really take your pick here and pick from anything in this library of this game. Freezy Peaks, Gruntilda’s Lair, Spiral Mountain, the actual main theme, every single track is amazing.. but before we get into that let’s talk a bit about my history with this game. I was reluctant to pick this up as Mario 64 had been a bit of a mid-experience for me. When I say MID I mean that in the softest way possible. I had a great time, but I no where nearly loved this game as much as I loved Super Mario World. I did not love it as much as Super Mario Bros 3 either. It was somewhere around Mario 2 and 1 for me. However because of how much I loved World.. this felt like a disappointment.. I did not care too much about how impressive 3d was. I wanted a fun game I could play with my Sister, I wanted Yoshi, Especially Stompy.. my Yellow Yoshi (my sister claimed the blue one). Then Banjo came and I expected the same experience.. but I was blown away! This game.. was SOOO much better. I am sorry but it just really is. Mario 64 is a great game.. but Banjo… it’s the near perfect collectathon platformer. It is one of those 10/10 games for me.

The gameplay, the humor, the synergy and most of all the music. This music style is SO unique! I am not good with backoffice names.. especially when it comes to music.. or voice actors.. I don’t really care who voices a character as long as I like the voice. I love the voice acting in a Hat in Time .. yet I have no idea who did it.. I love the music in Blast Corps.. I have no idea who did it! When it comes to music I know two names. Nobuo Uematsu, who I still refer to as “that Final Fantasy Guy” and that there is Grant Kirkhope. All respect to Uematsu.. but he just makes amazing music.. Grant Kirkhope’s music is so unique and so is …Kirkhope, I’d almost call it a genre. I can recognise if a song is a Kirkhope and that style feels so catered to the iconic bear and bird. Even if it is used in other games it is as if you can taste that love for this franchise. Whenever I hear a Kirkhope song.. I imagine a Bear and a Bird jamming out to it. There is a love for the characters here.. a LOT of it. After this game .. this type of music and sound design became part of this type of game.. so it simply is just outstanding and I can not pick a favourite. It was the birth of something new.. and I’ll take it as a whole! If I ever would be a VTuber, I would very much would like an Kirkhope style intro! If he’d make one I’d begin streaming the next day!

Thank you for reading trough another of my posts! If you want to support the blog , interact with me in the comments and tell me your favourite N64 song! If you want to support me even more, consider buying me a coffee or becoming a Patreon!

Pinkie ignores the Master Race: My Top 5 Video Game Consoles

With a subpar laptop and a very big lack of competitive spirit .. PC gaming is oftenly not my thing! I use it for point and Click Adventures and I do enjoy some retro platformers on the medium but overall I must say I have always been more of a console and handheld girl! There is just something a bit more magical about these devices for me! They have a charm…but which ones are my favourites?! I see no way this can be taken the wrong way so here is my console top 5.

Console #5: Gamecube

The gamecube was a bit of an odd duck when it came out. It had less power than it’s rivals and it was so oddly shaped. With Luigi’s Mansion being the only “name worthy” Launch TItle Nintendo had to back it up. Sure there was a new Wave Racer and Doshin the Giant but it would take this machine a while to get some steam. Yet what we did not know was how good Eternal Darkness was, we did not know how good this machine would end up being. Yet the game-console that featured a miniature disc to play it’s game had very poor third party support. Almost all hits , with the exception of a very VERY few were all First Party titles. Super Smash Bros on the Gamecube is hailed as THE Best version of the game. The Wind Waker was amazing and many gamers have fond memories of Paper Mario and The Thousand year door. I am STILL waiting for a sequel to the amazing F-Zero GX! Mario Kart Double Dash was a bright pinnacle in the series and nowadays most of us know what a Pikmin is!

Yet no one really played the Gamecube ports of Call of Duty, Prince of Persia or Fifa. We had Super Mario Super Strikers instead! Resident Evil 4 , for a long time was a gamecube exclusive and it was amazing but if I had to think of a third party top 5.. I would struggle. So it was a very static console.. that did offer us some amazing and innovative experiences.. such like Four Swords adventures .. by linking our handhelds to our console! It had two very nice Pokémon titles as well in the form of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness.. in these days the XD is kind of unfortunate but back then we did not juste that emoji yet! It was all about that 🙂 on MSN! The worst thing about the console.. and this is a genuine pet peeve of mine was the fact that it was really hard to get controllers if you did not have the purple variant! I had to buy a black one back in the day because all the purple ones were sold out.. and I ended up with four different colours of controller.. I don’t like that clowney look! It as a console that had too many quirks but strictly based on its library it would easily be a few places higher.

Console #4: Playstation 2

The PlayStation 2 is the only PlayStation I ever liked. I prefered the N64’s soft but grey look over the edgy but more crisp graphics of the original PlayStation, I did not like Crash Bandicoot’s jumping into the depth of the platforms.. I lacked the feedback that Mario 64 gave me! Spyro I liked better.. but the collectables were a bit generic and lacked that level of satisfaction Mario’s one up sounds give you, or Donkey Kong’s soundtrack bestows upon you. I missed out on LSD-Dream Emulator and the amazing Bubsy 3D but overall I never missed the Playstation. PS2 However, I did it right for me! The controls felt more robust, I liked the graphics a lot better and it had better platforming heroes in the form of Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank. While I do not dislike Spyro these had that flavour I was looking for. It also had the nicest controller and a very solid memory card. My gamecube ones kept breaking!

Playstation 2 had Final Fantasy X.. the last Final Fantasy game that I liked (excluding a realm Reborn) ..a game I have never finished.. not because I could not but because I refused. It also had the best Dragon Quest game off all time! In the form of the 8th installment. The cursed King. I really love that one! Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist of the Roses came out on that as well and I had way too much fun with that game.. even if it’s not all that good! There was this “ease” to Playstation 2 games, that kind of felt it was an evolution in some ways of Nintendo.. say if Nintendo was a Pikachu, PlayStation 2 was it’s Raichu.. everything worked just that slight bit better over there.. I do like Pikachu over Raichu most of the time in terms of design, cuteness and how Iconic it is .but Raichu just performs better. It became my defacto game for jRPGs and more mature platformers. I would play it until years after its expiration date.

Console #3: Xbox 360

When the next generation came along however I jumped off the PlayStation bandwagon. Xbox would get Oblivion Sooner, Xbox 360 got Kameo , elements of Power.. a collectable creature adventure Hybrid that really felt like a unique title and one I have always deeply enjoyed. This is the age where I did not really see a benefit in having a very specific console ..besides Nintendo for its titles.. because PlayStation and XBox became a bit more generic to me. If preferred Halo vastly over Killzone and since Microsoft now owned Rare .. I preferred that studio over Naughty Dog so I was pretty confident about my choice.. and while I never got my amazing platformers on the system I never regretted it and to this day it is the console I own most games on. With well over 80 games.. this kind of was my STEAM. Just.. a bit more space consuming and not holding it’s value as much.

I got the red ring of death but I neatly got it replaced so while maybe not as durable I really liked it better in almost every department. I like a white Console over a black one.. I like the flat surface so I can put more stuff on it.. over the weird rounded one of the PS3. I like the controller better and I certain as heck preferred Xbox live over Playstation online. I still feel the difference between a PS3and a Xbox 360 is almost neglectable but Xbox had more exclusive features I liked. Fable, Alan Wake, Halo, Gears of War. Back in the day I also emulated a lot of SNES because and the Xbox 360 Wired USB was by then the best you can get. I could combine both my gaming passions with this device! Plus it was very fun to annoy my friends in Soul Calibur by playing Yoda! Darth Vader wasn’t nearly as broken and not nearly as fun! I never liked Kingdom Hearts..which to me is the stand out reason to buy a PS3. So since I did not feel that compulsion the 360 became my mass gaming device! .. it did help that it had actual video games unlike the Nintendo Wii…which is mostly a pile of shovelware with a few impressive tech demo’s.

Console #2: Nintendo Switch

Number 1 and number 2 are miles apart in terms of favouritism from the rest. I genuinely think the Switch is one of the best consoles of all times, and the handheld to full on console format this device follows makes it unsurpassable. During the N64 era I considered.. should I get a playstation.. There are some cool license games on there. During the next generation I owned all the consoles save for the Dreamcast.. but PS2, Gamecube and the OG Xbox I all played. I always felt a call to the other consoles.. but not this generation. I have no pull yet towards the PS5 and the Series X..The Switch is all I need. It has the games I like more.. by factor a lot, it can be used as a handheld AND a console and it is more fun to play couch co-op. I do not care about the prettiest graphics, I do not care about the competitive online scene. I am here for the most complete and adorable singleplayer The Switch is a unique thing, with unique games and there is no real substitute. Spider-Man Miles Morales is just a very much shorter.. not even a full game.. version of that Other Spiderman game I own. I have A Call of Duty and I don’t like the 2000 extra mechanics they added in later on. Mario Odyssey though is a completely different game from Galaxy and I can play it in a different way. Pokémon might not be that different from previous generations yet the only real other way I get to play that is by playing clone games.

I like the menus on Switch , they are super easy.. I love that I can get Pink Joycons for it (even though I don’t have them because I just moved and they are super expensive) I love that I see it played everywhere around me and it’s not a “I am the biggest COD player” kind of culture. It’s .. “hey do you want to visit my island” .. “Hi do you want to trade this Pokémon”.. There is no T-bagging there not that drive to over-achieve. Sure I occasionally play Super Mario 35..but it’s more a “how long can I last” kind of thing rather than.. let’s humiliate my opponents. There is no flexing like “prestige” or golden Pokéballs if you win a lot in Pokémon online. Mario Party might kill friendships… which can be hilarious but it all feels so much less as measuring your online cyber fallus.. than I get from the other two. It does it’s own little thing and because of it is such a sexy little beast.

My favourite Console: SNES

Little video game consoles have actually shaped me as a person, but I do think the SNES had an amazing impact on me as an individual. Arguably the NES did as well but I was a much more passive participant in that one. I just got games for the NES from my parents and played them and sure Ducktales had a big impact and I fell in love with Mario 3, Megaman 2 made me me a better gamer and all that.. but it all was stuff that was handed to me. On the SNES I chose my games. I actively influenced what I wanted to play. I was much more busy with solving problems in Goof Troop, or finding a way to pass that Moose chase level in Micky Mania then I had ever been with beating Rocksteady in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.. the Arcade Game. Getting my SNES is the point where I start to remember my entire life.. my conscious memories.. it is also in the time I started to slowly lose friends and be bullied. So in a way this console became my safe haven.. my escape from my bad reality!

The games on the system are amazing. Genesis Does what Nintendon’t .. oh Bitcharizard please. The music on SNES was so more Vibrant.. the first Sonic game.. isn’t all that good meanwhile SNES had Super Mario World.. which was amazing. Star Fox showed us what was possible on a console and showed us we could move beyond 2d. Link to the Past is still one of the best Zelda games ever. Maybe it even IS the best Zelda game ever.. it’s a close one for me between that one and Ocarina. When we get Retro Games these days.. they are almost all modeled after what they would have been on SNES. I still love the heck out of that classic controller and holds the best RPGs that ever released. Final Fantasy VI (Or III) Chrono Trigger, Lufia II and Tales of Phantasia. It had some pretty sweet Sailor Moon games (though not available here) and other anime games. It had the Donkey Kong Games which to this day are some of my favourite games of all times.. and it let me feel pride for the first time in a long time. I might not be able to run properly.. I might suck a sports.. but I was the first in class to kill K.Rool! I just want a different direction. On the SNES I became a geek and laid the foundation for the weird amalgamation I am today and that makes it my favourite console! SNES Is part of my soul!.. The european version.. not the american version!

And those are my favourite game consoles! I would have liked to bring you a review of a game instead but my laptop crashed and I lost all my progress in Deponia as I had to restore my laptop to factory defaults being unable to complete it! So this had to make due instead! If you want to help me get a pc instead of a Laptop .. this is my newest Kofi Project so if you want to convince me of the power of such a thing.. please consider some Kofi support! Or just be a pal and leave your favourite console in the comments below!

These are some of my favourite games: Pinkie’s Top 5 Video Game Genres

Greetings once again dear island guests! I tried to have another game finished the week I am writing this, but unfortunately , Pokemon Rejuvenation ate all my gaming time! So instead I decided to dedicate a post on an idea of what type of gamer I am! With my top 5 of game types I like to play! I will use categories in the broadest sense of the word, since I like variation! Per category I will specify how much I like certain sub-genres. Each category will also feature a game I really want to play!

Honorable Mention: Party Games

I love playing games with friends, but since it is more of a social experience than a gaming experience I shall keep this down to an honorable mention. I will include the Lego games into this format because they are hilarious and super casual to play with friends! I have plenty of these games and recently tried playing the Harry Potter ones, which weren’t nearly as good as the Pirates one, my absolute favourite or the Marvel one.. which I think is a tad to big.

My favourite Party Game is Use Your Words, a game I discovered through YouTuber BrentalFloss. It is best compared with Cards against Humanity. Make a funny subtitle for a movie clip, make a newspaper headline or complete the sentence in a funny way. However all the answers are filled in by connecting to the game using your phone. No standard answers just your wit! This does mean however that you can have as clean of a game you want or as insensitive as you can get! You decide what is funny thus avoiding it’s rivals greatest weakness! It’s cleaner and funnier! The game I really want to get in this genre is Overcooked 2! That is great fun to play in a group!

Favourite Genre #5 Point and Click Games

Ever since I was a wee little Pinkie, I had an obsession with the Point and Click Genre. The first one I ever completed was Simon the Sorcerer, but I also played a lot Myst with my parents. All of us had notebooks and explored different worlds and we would compare hints together. It did not take me long to find other games. I adored the Monkey Island Games, I played both Discworld adventures, loving Discworld Noir’s atmosphere! Grim Fandango is one of my favourite games of all times.

I have a lot less love for the hidden object subgenre yet I always raced mom in these! That was still kind of fun! The stories are usually cringily generic but there are actually a few good ones as well… unfortunately the titles are generic as well so I can’t remember those. Another subgenre is the whole telltale games thing! I deeply enjoy those, but nothing beats the charm of Simon hurling at the Swamp Creatures Piece de Resistance.. his swamp stew. In this genre I have been planning to pick up the game Deponia. I played the demo once and loved it.. but back then the game costed way more than I could afford! Now however I will probably pick it up soon.

Favourite Game Genre #4 Horror Games

I am a big horror fan, from games like Little Nightmares, to the Resident Evil games. From Spooky Jumpscare Mansion to Layers of Fear. I consume these games on a regular basis! I loved the Evil Within and my favourite Horror Experience was Alien Isolation in VR! I dont have a VR headset so I can never complete that.. but it was the coolest thing! My actual favourite Horror Game is Dead Space, the first one, there is just something to space horror that works for me. Lust for Darkness was my biggest letdown.. not even sure how I got that one.

Another game that seemed super cool but I could not get into was Darkwood. Top down survival horror is not my thing, nor is the whole, master these boss paterns gameplay of Soulsborne games. Rembering attack paterns in modern games is a big no no for me, I want to be emersed, so it sucks to focus on mechanical parts! This is also why I dislike MMO’s gameplay in general. However even though these things are not for me, I can still have some fun with them. Horror games I really want to play are Evil Within 2 and Soma…and Alien Isolation on a VR headset..but that is a bit out of range right now

Favourite Game Genre #3 Turn Based RPG’s

Taking the third spot is what I think most of you would think its my favourite genre, but no! I do count Pokémon in this genre, and sure collectable creature games is my favourite subgenre. Pokémon Gold being my absolute favourite, yet this genre also comes with a lot of tedious qualities! The gaming high during the great moments may be highest but this genre also comes with a lot more lows. For every great story beat there is a clunky crafting system, for every amazing boss there is a grind! It’s all worth it but it takes more effort. The Tales of series is among my favorites in RPG’s having overtaken Final Fantasy by a fair amount.. the latter peeked at part 6. My favourite RPG however is Chrono Trigger..aside from Pokemon Gold.

I hate the modern final Fantasies, Part XV was horrible for me, pretty, yet it had nothing to do with the series for me anymore. I want to play the VII remake but only once the full story is out and I already hate the counter combat system. Final Fantasy XIII is flat-out one of my worst hated games ever! Don’t get me wrong I think Lightning is an amazing character but the gameplay I found absolutely atrocious. Luckily games like Tales and Dragon Quest don’t try to innovate what I fell in love with. I still need to play Tales of Beseria so that is on my wishlist! However Mallow also warmed me up for Nexomon Extinction so even more to add to my wishlist. Though I never use my Steam Wishlist! I remember what I want .. I just miss out on sales.

Favourite Genre #2 Adventure Games

Darksiders and the Legend of Zelda games are the best examples of this genre to me. Yet my absolute , without a doubt , favourite of the Genre was Beyond Good and Evil. The later Jak and Daxter games also veered a bit into this genre and away from platforming. Another game in the genre I hold very dear is Omikron: The Nomad Soul. There is something about roaming a world freely, experiencing aspects of the world, talking to people, getting items taking quest and the likes. While arguably more and RPG Fable still hit that feeling for me while Skyrim doesn’t.

There is something about having several layers of gameplay that captures me. I love just to go fishing in Ocarina of Time, go to a fighting tournament in Omikron or take pictures as Jade. Getting the good bee in Link to the past feels like an achievement and finally getting bombs in the Wind Waker and going back to your old home to check that mysterious spot feels so good! I love exploring in this way and it offers something more whimsical and variaring than action rpg’s. Games I have my eye out in this genre are Link’s awakening on the Switch but even more so Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy on Steam.

My Favourite Genre: Platform Games

Platforming was my first love and it will forever be my favourite game genre! Even if I can’t rank high in Mario 35 and even if I don’t like the insane difficulty of Super Mario Maker. I love platform games. Ducktales was my first, Donkey Kong Country was the first game I was super proud of beating.. and it’s amazing. Never do I have so much fun as with a platformer. It is one of the few genres where I really like Indie games. I slighty prefer 2D platformers over 3D ones but with games like shovel knight and the sublime “The Messenger”. Can you really blame me? I slight get more thrills from getting from A to B rather then finding all collectables.

That being said I adore 3d platformers as well. Yooka Laylee is so good! Super Mario Sunshine brings sunshine to my life..but my absolute favourite, A Hat in Time! That game is so good it even kicks Banjo Kazooie’s sitting-meat for me! When I play a platformer I blossom. I am not to keen on Kaizo platformers though and I do prefer games without long jump strings, my slight spasms make games like Celeste and Ori and the Blind Forest nearly unplayable for me. I can control the spasmsn or at least predict them enough to hold on a small platform or ledge, but when you have to execute a two minute string of jumps I am bound to misclick, twitch or spasmn just a bit at least once so I prefer trickier single jumps over longer jump challenges. Eagle Island the game is something I want to play but I really really REALLY have my heart set on Yooka-Laylee and the impossible lair! It’s a spiritual successor to Donkey Kong after all!

When The Dog Bites, When the bee stings, when I am feeling sad! I just play some of my favourites games…and I won’t feel bad! Tell me what type of games you love in the comments and do remember, these are just my opinions, if I don’t like your favourite game.. it’s just my opinion.. I just quoted Julie Andrews to close off a post about games! Clearly my judgment isn’t all that!