Darn, it seems I’ve missed two weeks of blogs now. My apologies, I’ve been unfortunately busy with school. Midterms are happening so the majority of my projects are due, meaning late nights both at school and back here at home. That said, I do have some stuff to talk about!
Firstly, the PS4 was announced. I don’t have anything to say about it other than what’s already been said but I am pretty excited for it. Sony seems to really have listened to what both developers and consumers loved and hated about the PS3, and are smartly reacting to those comments. Sleep mode and Background tasking are also big things for me. I am unfathomably excited to have both of those be a feature on a console.
That comes out in months, however. LET’S FOCUS ON CONSOLES OF NOW. LIKE THE 3DS. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE DS GAME I’VE BEEN PLAYING ON IT THAT IS TWO YEARS OLD. Through Patrick's comments and the incessant pushes from classmates to play both the original and its sequel, I bought a 3DS XL along with a copy of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.
As it stands right now, I have only one playthrough left. I’ve unlocked 4 out of 6 possible endings and the ending I need to get now, the True ending, will unlock ending 1 & 2 at the same time. I just finished getting the Safe ending and... man. I’d really like to make a spoilerblog or something when I beat the whole thing or like... get on a podcast and talk to dudes about it because holy shit you guys, 999 is really worth playing. It’s puzzles are pretty easy and repeating them in the multiple playthroughs can get a little monotonous but the plot goes in one of the most insane and compelling directions I have ever seen. It unveils this gigantic web of mysteries and somehow explains all of it whilst throwing in a handful of other plot twists and it’s overwhelmingly awesome to let sink in. I can’t wait to finish the True ending tomorrow but even without it, I feel pretty safe saying 999 is one of my favorite games.
EDIT: I wanted to post this yesterday but Giant Bomb was acting weird and was not letting me. Since then, I have gotten the True ending in 999 and have fully beaten the game. I do want to write a full blog about it some time soon, but for now, I leave you with my thoughts on the ending itself.
Oh, yeah, the 3DS! Funny that I don’t actually own and 3DS games for it at the moment. My intention was to pick up a copy of Fire Emblem with it but my chances of finding one in stores right now seem dire. I’ve fortunately got myself on a local game store’s pre-order list for the next shipment of copies but that might still be a while. Regardless, I’ve got a couple demos on it and I quite like it. The giant screens are pretty and the 3D works well when I don’t push the switch all the way. Playing the Monster Hunter 3 demo on it was really fun, despite that demo being stupidly difficult. I’d like to play a full game on it, though, partially so I can actually StreetPass and shit. The 3DS doesn’t let you do any of that nonsense when you’re playing a regular-ass DS game.
Non-game related, three new albums of note came out recently that are all worth talking about. Ken Ishii & Marc Romboy’s Taiyo released on the 8th and, like you’d expect from an album Ken Ishii worked on, it is a blissful collection of minimalist synth and ambience mixed into deep, punchy bass. I’m honestly not too familiar with Marc Romboy so I can’t comment on how present his influence is in the album but if you are a fan of Ishii’s previous work, you’ll find a good amount to like in Taiyo.
The M Machine’s Metropolis Pt. II was second to release in the batch of three and boy, where do I start. If you’ve listened to Metropolis Pt. I, which I named one of my favorite albums of last year, you’ll probably know how much I was looking forward to this release. I’m unsure if I commented on it in my 2012 blog and I am too lazy to check, but I felt like Pt. I was as much a terrific album as it was a promise of great things to come. The focus on atmosphere and immersion over SiCk BeAtS and thrilling synths made for an incredibly pleasant experience and Metropolis Pt. II is no different. If Pt. I was the promise, Pt. II is the delivery in full force. The six-track EP is one of the most captivating listens I’ve had in ages. From start to finish, it refuses to escape the dense, echoing sounds it swims in and does so through one of the most refined progressions I’ve heard in an electronic album. The space in which its atmosphere lives, the aquatic-like nature of its synths, horns, and breaks, and the astonishing vocal work makes Metropolis Pt. II a landmark in recent electronic history. It left me with the distinct feeling that it was the best thing to happen to the genre since Justice’s Cross.
Lastly is Kavinsky’s Outrun, which released... yesterday? Yeah, that sounds right. Sunday night, Kavinsky released his first full-length album and, surprise surprise, it is pretty great. The deliberately 80’s, French electro-ass electro producer put together a really good mix of his newer and older work and it makes for a really fun and easy listen. Provided you can see past how repetitive his older work (Testarossa Autodrive, Grand Canyon) is, you’ll find a lot to like in Outrun. If anything, listen to it for how silly and great the “story” behind his character is.
That’s... pretty much all I have to say? I’d post about schoolwork and art stuff but I’d rather do that when my stuff is actually done as opposed to being almost-but-not really done.
So yeah, sorry for the late update. I’ll try and be on time next week! As usual, thanks for reading!
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