Mathurin47

After a hectic August, September was a nice break. Actually, as I look back and try to reflect upon it I realize I can barely recall it.

I signed up for the Tour de Troit, a 30 mile bike ride through Detroit which drew 3200 cyclists this year. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the night off and it was a night I was in charge. Not the best night to come in dead tired, or even worse, oversleep. Disappointing, as I was really looking forward to this. Next year, then.

Atelier Rorona

Uncharted 2

Etrian Odyssey III

101-in-1 Sports Megamix

August Gain +500 – 15 Achievements unlocked

March Gain – Level + 0 Trophies + 0

Backlog increased by 2 in June

Rank 38 on the MyGamercard.net RPG Leaderboard +4

Game spending vs. ‘09: Monthly -39% | Yearly -22%

The fall is typically where I spend most of my money as all of the big name RPGs tend to release then. Except, where are they? Such a quiet year. Atelier Rorona with its artbook and soundtrack and Etrian Odyssey III were my big purchases for September. I enjoyed the first Uncharted, so I’m looking forward to popping in Uncharted 2 soon. Who knows what Atlus was thinking with 101-in-1? Cheap license, maybe? Next month is the big one, Fallout: New Vegas. Oh, and Fable III. But I’m not buying it just yet.

111:44| 25 December
Battle Party Level 60-63,69
Tartarus: Floor 214
I’m really enjoying Persona 3 this time around. Pretty much everything I didn’t like about it has been made more like Persona 4 and makes for a much more enjoyable experience. The last section of Tartarus will be opening in a few game days. The end game is definitely in sight.

Current Party – 15Hoplite/15Gladiator/15Princess/15Monk/15Farmer
Low-level areas of the first 4 floors is primarily complete. Next objective is the boss of the first stratum, Narmer, but my first attempt failed. I’ll have to grind out a few levels and give it another shot. B2 FOE is killable, perhaps I’ll see if I can take out the hippo FOE on B3. Steep learning curve, but not as bad as some dungeon crawlers.

55:07
Character Quest Chapter 3: Chloe
Battle Party Lv 59-61
Some slight forward progress. Don’t think I’ll finish it this month, but possibly in November. Wait…Fallout in a week and a half… Make that December.

Only Darkspawn Chronicles and Golems of Amgarrak remain for DLC. Awakening is finished and reviewed below. (1285/1750)

Made some progress through the Fifth Ark. Will probably clear Chapter 10 next time I play. (230/1000)

Treasures 82/102
Stage 8-4
A cute little platformer that is probably meant for a younger audience. Solid, but not spectacular. The story focuses on the power of friendship. Aside from the post-game Chapter 10, which I’m struggling to beat, the game is incredibly easy. My only game overs came during boss fights. While I would not recommend to adults (unless they enjoyed fun cute little platformers), I would not hesitate to recommend it to a youngster looking for something beyond New Super Mario Bros.

Dragon Age was my GOTY last year. Needless to say, I am all to happy to have a full-fledged expansion as opposed to the DLC they’ve been trickling out. Awakening adds about 10 levels to the soft cap of 20 (My mage is currently 35 with 1 DLC to go), quite a few new skills to go with the higher levels, 5 new PCs and 1 carry-over, and quite a few quests to keep you busy. It took me about 25 hours to clear the game. The story was actually pretty nice, with some of it coming rather unexpectedly. If you played and enjoyed Dragon Age, Awakening is more of the same with no complaints from me.

I wasn’t sure what to post here this month. Then I found this track buried deep in my Touhou folder. I don’t really listen to much rock, but I definitely recognized the song that serves as the core of this piece.

The first set of Vesperia figures I pre-ordered back in the spring has finally arrived. Though random, I was able to put 3 full sets together with an extra Estelle. One is for myself, one I’m giving a friend a good deal on, and the remaining six figures are going on ebay. I won’t break even, but I should only be out about 40 bucks, which is less than it would have cost me to buy the set through a 2nd party. I expect the second set to cost a similar amount, though with the way the dollar is sinking against the yen…

2 Pickups, 1 Additions

Atlus & NIS America

Ys: The Oath in Felghana

Others

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Fallout: New Vegas

Eyes on the Future

The 3DS has been in news for a few months now. I have yet to comment on it because nothing has caught my eye just yet. I still can’t see 3D as anything other than a fad. However, it was brought to my attention that Namco Bandai is working on a 3D version of Tales of the Abyss. How interesting. Still not enough to sell me on a new 3DS next spring. But definitely a game I will purchase when I do finally decide to get one. Considering they’ve already translated and dubbed it (skits excluded), there is a good chance they would bring it over. Of course, given their track record of late (Vesperia PS3, Graces Wii, PS3 pending, Innocence DS, Hearts DS, Tempest DS, Radiant Mythology 2 PSP, Versus PSP), there is just as much of a chance, if not more, that it stays in Japan.