After a breaking from games for a while, I've felt like playing something. Not sure what, if anything, I want to commit to, so I've been briefly revisiting some old favorites I've had on my mind, and trying out some titles I've been interested in, through demos or...other means

Microsoft Rewards wanted three achievements from me so I dove into my casual stuff to get them. I only got two achievements because I'm somewhat far along in the games I played today which means achievements take longer to get. As I get to the last few achievements in a casual game, I just play it for a short time to make some progress and move along. Today, I got really into Lego Batman and never did get to my Game Pass stuff or my main game, Torchlight III. Sometime later this weekend I'll get to them I suppose. So here's a breakdown. 

I managed to get to 8 different games today. Fun stuff. Here's some details.

Note: This is my second attempt to post this blog. My first attempt, the site ate everything after the introduction to Xanadu. 

A rather ugly year for me as my work changed management and made me feel totally unimportant. I managed to hang in there that year, but everyone else I had worked with for 8 years left, to be replaced by people I didn't know. Very stressful and not fun. But these bits of media below were fun. Check 'em out. 

Now that FF 14 is going free... up to level 60 and including Heavensward DLC-- which is like two JRPGs back to back-- and a very good FF game IMO.

Oh baby, yeah, library additions. How much more navel gazing can I do? Well, a lot apparently, and you all have to put up with it, or not. Believe me, I will go if asked. 

I think we can all agree that 2020 is one of the worst years in recent history.  It certain has been for me, and probably for most others, what with everything going on!  I feel like I need a vacation on a desert island.  And luckily, I kind of got that with Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  I am so thankful that it came out when it did.  It gave me a sense of normalcy and saneness during these times.  You see, the Animal Crossing game series is very special to me because it’s a game I’ve loved playing with my friends and family over the years.  And it’s not the first time an Animal Crossing game helped me cope with a rough patch in my life.  So in this blog, I thought I’d go over the other times an Animal Crossing game helped me get through tough times, and I’ll briefly talk about the other games in the series as well.

 Welcome, welcome, welcome, to the annual Nerds Without Pants music special! We’re coming back from hiatus very soon, but before that we have an AMAZING guest to talk about some of our favorite video game music with: none other than Megan McDuffee, the composer and singer of the River City Girls soundtrack!

Good day pixlbiters.

Last month was a great month for gaming. Seriously. It was better than some years of gaming. I went on a buying spree I haven't been on since I was a young adult buying PS1 games.

Can you believe the Nintendo 3DS was released 8 years ago in 2011?  I don’t like calling a game system ‘dead,’ because I feel a game console in only dead if you don’t play it.  But the 3DS is certainly at the end of its retail life cycle, as Nintendo isn’t making any more games for it, focusing solely on the Switch now.  So when a game console or handheld reaches that point in its life, I like to write a blog or two highlighting the best games for it (or at least the ones I really liked).  So here are some blogs about the best games on the 3DS!  There were SO many that I had to split it into two parts.  The first part we’re going to go over my favorite downloadable games, along with some other features of the 3DS I really liked.

Problem is, I'm broke. But if it appears on Game Pass for Xbox One, I'm golden. Or, if my library gets it, I can rent it. Otherwise, I'll be waiting for sales to appear probably six months from now. So here's the list whether I get to play them or not. 

My Hype for E3 is Over 9000!!!

I was waiting to get a few newer gaming experiences under my belt before making a new blog post.

So it's been 90s week on my Switch this week. I got Turok a little over a week ago, and then I've also been playing a certain little known PS1 RPG that somehow just found its way onto a Nintendo console over 20 years later. And that got me thinking about the N64.

August of this year will mark the 20th anniversary since Dragon Quest was introduced in the US. With 10 core sequels and many spin-offs since then, you’d think an RPG fan such as myself would be well-versed in the series by now. But in reality, my Dragon Quest knowledge over the years has only been cursory at best. I got started about eight years ago when I completed Dragon Warrior (the series’ name in the US until 2005), and I’m currently nearly halfway through the massive adventure that is Dragon Quest XI. My depth of familiarity with the series pretty much ends there. Or at least it did until I recently finished Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride- a Nintendo DS remake of the beloved Super Famicom original.

Finally finished a rough draft of my video review of GRIS, which has been posted to YouTube, but I'll share a link once the final draft is done and on this website. Then I'll review Iris.Fall and then it'll be on to Life is Strange 2 Seasons 2-5, which I still need to buy (still pissed you can't buy episodes individually). 

One of the first things that drew me into Persona 3 when I picked it up on a whim years ago, was its music. J-Pop has always been a guilty pleasure and Shoji Meguro did it incredibly well in Persona 3. That said, not all of it was J-Pop, Persona 3 featured all sorts of incredible tracks that seemed to perfectly match or even set the mood. So you can only imagine my excitement when I realized Atlus was finally giving the Dancing rhythm game treatment to Persona 3. Like a match made in heaven, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight delivers excellent rhythm gameplay that allows you to both spend more time with the beloved cast and enjoy all of the excellent tunes.

Hey, we’re back right away, so I guess the hiatus is really over. Huzzah! On this episode of Nerds Without Pants, it’s another all Consumption Junction edition with Julian and Patrick. But tune in next time for the return of Stage Select, as well as a special guest!

I didn't buy anything on the Spring Sale today. Most of the games I wanted were stuff I'd like to have as physical copies, so even though they were at bargain bin prices, I'll wait to get hard copies later. I looked at the trailer to Thimbleweed Park hoping it was like The Cave, made by some of the same people, but it is a straight up point-and-click adventure. That's cool, but not my bread-and-butter. The puzzle/platformer that was The Cave was more my interest. 

To celebrate the recent release of Kirby Star Allies for Nintendo Switch, let’s look at another Kirby game that came out earlier this year that I just now got around to playing.  It’s Kirby Battle Royale, a 3DS game featuring four player battle style mini-games with Kirby and his different copy abilities.  There are ten different types of arenas to battle in, and they’re all pretty interesting enough to be deemed ‘blog-worthy’ by me, so let’s take a look at them!  Also be sure to stick around to the end, as I’ve got some news about HAL Laboratory (creators of Kirby), and their first new mobile game!

Welcome back to another jam-packed edition of Nerds Without Pants! Technical difficulties can’t keep us down, and we’ve got a lot of fun shenanigans all set up for you, including the introduction of the Mega Buster of Destiny ™, some of Patrick’s worst jokes ever, and more!

I will admit to consulting a guide on Clossus #3 in Shadow of the Colossus. This one I felt kinda bad about, because the answer was fairly obvious, but I got tired of the hints constantly saying to knock off the guy's armor and me saying, "I GOT IT! I HEARD YOU! I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW I DO THAT!" I learned later you can shut those hints off, which, thank God.