Mathurin47

This is going to be a short entry. I’m typing this up while sitting on the floor staring at a 37″ television serving as my monitor. Neither comfortable, nor pleasant on the eyes. So why am in such a state? That move I mentioned as possible occurred. I’ve got most of the essentials moved over to the apartment, though quite few things including my computer desk remain at my parent’s house. I’m on vacation again in another week, so I plan getting the last few big things moved and work from there. A friend and are taking a trip over to Pittsburgh with side trips to Cleveland and Columbus during the latter half of the week, so I’m not sure how get with my old room. Any guesses to our plans?
I also need to clarify something from last month’s entry. Persona 4: FES was my April Fool’s day joke. With 3 versions of Persona 3 now, it’s something I wouldn’t be surprised to see in the future.

Record of Agarest War

Sakura Wars

Mega Man 10

Glory of Heracles

March Gain +200 – 13 Achievements unlocked

March Gain – Level + 0 Trophies + 0

Backlog increased by 3 in April

Rank 31 on the MyGamercard.net RPG Leaderboard -6

Game spending vs. ‘09: Monthly -58% | Yearly -24%

After a heavy March, things have returned to normal. Only one unplanned purchase, Heracles, but it was the first used copy I’d seen and was at the upper range of what I was willing to pay. I was on the fence with the 360 version of Agarest Senki, especially having purchased the European PS3 version late last year. However, the aptly named Really Naughty Limited Edition was just to Japanese for me to pass up on. Now that I have it in my hands, I’m unsure if I want to display it on the shelf with the rest of my collection or bury it deep in my closet. I’m guessing no one ran the limited edition box past the ESRB…

55:19 | Badges 8 | Pokédex 144
Reached Hall of Fame and made journey to Kanto. Currently moving all Pokémon from Pearl to SoulSilver in preperation for post-game and a run at a full Pokédex.
Feraligatr Lv 49 | Ampharos Lv 47 | Dragonair Lv 46

2:57:06| Antlia/1F
Playing between Pokémon sessions. Pretty good so far, though the first boss caught me by surprise. Hitting level 5 fixed that.
PC Lv 6 | Koppa Tengu Lv 5 | Tangata Manu Lv 4 | Pixie Lv 5

35:15 | Chapter 9
Vashyron Lv52, Zephyr Lv52, Leanne Lv45
Challenging, but it never seems unfairly so. Victory will require near perfection on your part and mistakes always seem to come back to haunt you. Story has been extremely slow to get moving, but the humor has been good. (295/1000)

Debated starting Awakening, but ended up going back to the warrior I had abandoned last year. Having much more fun with her this time around. (835/1375)

While most of what they added was nice, it still feels like a step backwards for the series. (140/1000)

This marks my 3rd trip through a Pokémon game. This particular one is a remake of a 10 year game. I never played the originals, having avoided the series until I was convinced to pick up LeafGreen on the GBA. So I can’t really comment on how much has been changed/updated. Suffice to say, the core game has remained virtually unchanged since Red/Blue. Capture and train a team of Pokémon while visiting eight cities and battling their gym leaders. Along the way you’ll meet and defeat some organization who is up to no good (in between the 7th and 8th city) and eventually work your way to Victory Road, above which await the Elite Four and the current Pokémon Champion.
I continue to be amazed that a game that has changed so little in 15 years manages to remain this fun to play. Now, should I get Pokémon Black or White next year? 8.8/10.

In the distant past, before the days of always-on broadband internet, my music was limited to what I could find on disc at the local stores. Most of the music I bought then was Celtic, Classical, or Renaissance. My favorite among these were perhaps the Dorian recordings of The Baltimore Consort and other early music ensembles. I came across many of these CDs while moving, and though the discs may skip a bit 10+ years later, the music is no less beautiful. I could not decide between these two, so I embedded them both. The top is The Baltimore Consort performing J’ai vû le loup from their album La Rocque ‘n’ Roll. I would have like to have used Ensemble Galilei’s rendition of Cantiga 166 for the 2nd video, but couldn’t find anything on youtube. This version is a little slower paced and places less focus on the cello. One of the oldest pieces of music I’ve come across. The liner notes date it to the court of Alfonso X, circa 1250.

2 Pickups, 2 Additions

Atlus & NIS America

Persona 3 Portable

Others

Alpha Protocol	Arc Rise Fantasia	Super Mario Galaxy 2	Metroid: Other M
DeathSmiles	Fallout: New Vegas

Eye on 2010

Another Idea Factory developed crossover game, likely similar to Cross Edge. Main focus seems to be on Disgaea and Atelier. I’m not expecting anything great, but as long as it’s on par with the mediocre, but oddly enjoyable, Cross Edge I’ll be happy. The use of 3D models is an interesting design choice considering the 2D pedigree of collaborators Gust, Nippon Ichi and Idea Factory (trinity, ha ha). I’m definitely ordering the Rosenqueen special with the artbook, especially after seeing the one they put out with Sakura Wars.