Niahak's Place

This doesn’t really fit anywhere (in fact it could fit in all three of my major categories – books, games, and japan stuff) but here it is anyway.

(I’m too lazy to edit the image again – the strip is titled “Take and Run” and it’s by (probably – name renderings are odd) Chikusa Hiroko.

It took me about half an hour to do this, because I’m not very good with image editors. The fact that I only took a half an hour shows, and I apologize.  If anyone else knos how better to do all the image modification stuff, I’d love to translate.  I just don’t have the expertise.

To extrapolate more on the source; this is from a 4-koma manga (4-koma being a style- Azumanga Daioh is probably the most famous one in the US – similar to a standard throwaway comic strip). More specifically, if you can’t tell, this is from a 4-koma manga about Wild Arms: Alter Code F. I’ve had 5 full strips (and a few very blurry others) on my hard drive since I took a few minutes with a scanner to grab them about 5 or 6 months ago.

I’m actually really happy with the manga itself, as it pokes fun at dozens of RPG cliches as well as at the ACF plot itself from time to time. It has a variety of artists/authors, some of which I really like too.  And it wasn’t too expensive either.

If anyone wants to see the originals, let me know. I’ve been meaning to talk about these for a while.

I’ve pretty much given up on Suikoden Tactics.

Which is kind of weird.  I want to find out what happens in the plot.  It’s well-done, just a little bit of suspense here and there.  The problem is the huge number of non plot-related battles.  You get ambushed by fish-people here, bandits there – I mean, you’d think they wouldn’t attack a camp of 40+ seasoned warriors.  I’d go for merchants, myself.  It’s like Darwin’s off on vacation.

The game gets really tedious.  Especially when you’re like me and you keep putting Pablo in your team when you should know better.  The last time the guy died, it was 25 minutes into a battle.  So of course I didn’t want to keep going.  I turned it off and haven’t played the game since.

So if you haven’t heard, a translation patch was released a few weeks ago for the oft-overlooked game Der Langrisser.  DL is my one of my favorite SNES games,  about even with  Earthbound and Chrono Trigger.  Branching paths and an enjoyable battle system, fun plot and now a good translation.  For more info, look at my vl blog because I’m too lazy to write more here.

I have also gotten further in Genso Sangokushi 2 / Fantasy Sango 2.  Believe it or not, I’m still playing it – it’s a good long game.  So far I still more or less understand the plot, and the battle system, plot, and graphical style are growing on me.  The music is excellent, too – I’m glad I got the soundtracks with the game.  Usually not very fast-paced, but perfectly themed for the game.

I started Suikoden Tactics and am about 10 hours into the game.  I already have 25-ish characters.  The most I’ve been able to use in battle is 8, so this seems a bit much like overkill.   One thing I don’t get, though – story characters can’t die.  Non-story characters can (and in fact every time I’ve had one beaten, they have died).  I wouldn’t mind this as much if the enemy didn’t seem to target my killable characters, get a critical hit, and kill them without me being able to do anything about it.  I’ve now stopped playing for the third time just because that happened halfway through a battle.

Besides, Pablo  should be a story character, damn it.  Kika is one, and she’s had less to do with the story and has shown no reason to research rune cannons specifically.  Pablo has a vested interest, seeing as he was the only apprentice to the only rune cannon maker ever, and still doesn’t know how the damn things work.  I would think academic curiosity alone would’ve made Pablo a story character, but nooo…

Otherwise, the story has so far been pretty good for the beginning being depressing and Yohn being depressing.  And the fact that the game said “resting makes your characters talk to each other”  but so far it’s “resting makes Kyril sit by a fire while Yohn sits there being depressing”.

…barely. Driving from WA to Indianapolis took about 3 days, and now I’m all moved into my apartment and (nearly) everything is put in its place. I get to start work tomorrow, lucky me! At least then I will know some people around here. But for now I shall briefly mention Lords of the Realm 3 and some books.

So now I’m all graduated.  Doesn’t feel a whole lot different yet, but I’m guessing it will once I start working.

So, I’m going to reflect a bit on my illustrious alma mater in the nerdiest way possible (therefore, in true tribute).

First off, Rose-Hulman is obscure but still a good school.  I love obscure things (particularly if they are also good); it’s like the game you see in the corner of the store, unloved.  You buy it, take it home, and thoroughly enjoy it.  You feel like you experienced something few have.  Obscurity alone isn’t a good reason to love a game, but it does add some charm.  More entertaining is the look people give you when you say Rose has been top-ranked for several years.  Still, nobody knows about it.  It’s the game everyone enjoys, but never got many sales.

Second, Rose is utilitarian.  It’s no-nonsense, no unnecessarily fluffy graphics or amazing new features that don’t pan out.  It makes the most of recent technology, but doesn’t go into the experimental stuff.  It’s like a game that is stylized, but it’s clear more attention was paid to gameplay (learning) than graphics (campus looking nice).  The math department is the most extreme example: a solid brick building with no windows at all.  Sturdy, but not pleasant to look at (or be in, really).  I wish I had been there when the power went out and a professor nonchalantly went back to his office, grabbed a flashlight, and resumed teaching.

It it also hardcore.  I can’t help but smile at writing that, but Rose is an engineering school.  Sophomore year there were several weeks where we didn’t get nearly enough sleep – a trend that would continue.  I recall one day where we woke up at 5:00 AM to start video recording of a presentation for class, and skipping the last half of our first class to edit and subtitle it, managing to turn it in an hour late.  After that year, there was always at least one class that would keep me up late doing homework, studying, or in a panic about the next exam or some proof I needed to finish.  Sometimes two.  And I wasn’t even an engineering student; they’re the ones that had to work hard.   I see this as being a game that is properly challenging; there is a winning strategy but that you have to work to get there!  Something like Persona.   I love a challenge, so I can’t easily pass that kind of thing up.

Finally, Rose has variety.  The humanities department is great for an engineering school,  and I picked up two minors just for the enjoyment of taking the classes involved.  It’s not nearly as crazy variety as Mario Party, but something like the difference between Suikoden and its strategic sub-games.  The strategy battles keep you entertained and refresh you for the regular fights.

Oh yeah, and in the (sometimes brief) time between homework, meals, and sleeping, I got to enjoy playing games with several fellow students who have the same tastes as I do.