Monster Hunter

Update #3: Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

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Things have been rough. My home has been turned into my office and there is no real feeling of “freedom” after I clock out for the day. Being home meant that I could breath and kick back with either playing video games or writing for this blog. It took me way longer than others to finally adjust to this new norm, but I think I am finally at a comfortable place to get back blogging. Writing used to be an escape from school and work when I wanted to write something different than procedures or essays. Now that I am out of school for the summer and not many task at work, I am left with this unknown time that I need to start using. With that, I am going to start focusing on this blog more to provide more content for all of you. My first real goal that I am establishing for my blog is to post at least one post per week. I’ve listed below some of the content that I have planned out.

Gaming Post (Duh)


I have finished more games this year than I did the previous. This is a giant accomplishment since we are not even halfway done with the year (for better or worse). There is a lot to talk about the games I’ve played, but I struggle on where to start. I want to talk about the pros and cons of the rich storytelling in the Legend of Heroes Kiseki trilogy and how you need to commit 200+ hours to get the most of it. Final Fantasy VII Remake was a game I was not excited for, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. I don’t want to talk about Sonic Forces, but I do want to talk about Bloodstained and how it compares to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to me. I have all of these ideas, but it is getting the pen to that paper that I need to connect.

My Older Brother Co-op Tales

This was supposed to be a monthly series. Obviously, I missed last months post. I had two post done, but after rereading them it didn’t feel special. These tales are suppose to talk about gaming with my brother and how he influenced me to be the person I am today. Nothing in those old post told that story and I had to start over. Before the end of this month, I will have two chapters in this series done and then continue the trend until the end of ther series.

The Month of June

June is a special month for me since it is my birth month. I don’t normally do anything special for my birthday, but lately I have been more open to celebrate the occasion. For the month of June, I want to create content around a specific game franchise or topic. I have decided that this year it will be about the world of Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter is one of my favorite series of all time and I generally like talking about it. Six is the magic number and that is the minimal number of post that I have to do. I might even through in some streams if I can convince my friends to join me.

And that’s about it. I wish my writing habits were on point as my gaming right now. I am always on my Twitter and I need to remember that I have an Instagram. I don’t know how to end this post, so keep doing you and drink plenty of water.

Thanks for reading,

DanamesX

January 2020 Gaming Report

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I kicked off the new year with a refreshed mindset and focused goals. 2019 saw me at my lowest point mentally and it affected my habits greatly. But, with the help of this blog and reducing unnecessary work and stress off of me, I feel like my goals are more realistic.

I was very surprised with how much I was able to accomplish this month. As usual, I kept my tradition alive by finishing a game on the first of January to kick off the new year. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel easily became one of my new favorite games and introduced me to a whole new series that I’m interested in playing through. You can read my full thoughts about the game in my review I wrote. On top of that, I finished not one, but two other games this month! That may not sound impressing, but for me that is something I have not been able to do in over a year. I hope that this is a sign a good things to come!

Along with Trails of Cold Steel, I finished Dissidia: Final Fantasy NT, a questionable, yet understanding direction for the fighting series, and Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney; a game that blew my mind with each twist and turn. I plan on writing reviews for each game, but they probably won’t be finished by the time this post goes out. If you are reading this from the future (hello from the past!), links to both reviews will be here (Dissidia) and here (Apollo Justice).

New Additions

I really wasn’t planning on purchasing many games this month. Now that my focus is focusing more on finishing games on my backlog, my desire to buy games I find in stores or online sales have been less enticing. Did that stop me from buying anything though? No.

I decided to try out Puyo Puyo Champions since I enjoyed playing Puyo Puyo Tetris. In my opinion Puyo Tetris is the better game, but if you want to learn how to play Puyo Puyo and keep Tetris out of it, this is an enjoyable game. It normally goes for about $10 USD online, but I got it one sale for $5 USD. While browsing the store to spend some Christmas money, I found a copy of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight. I normally would not be interested in a game like this, but I watched my wife obtain the platinum trophy for Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight in two days and I want to one up her by platinum P3: DM in just one day. One day when I have a few days off I will attempt it.

Other than that, I purchased some games to assist me with the blog and complete some collections. I picked up Tony Hawk’s Underground to capture some images for a future story that I want to talk about. Along with that, I picked up Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 since it was only $9 USD and I have no self control. Both are really good games, so I have no regret purchasing them.

Uno for the Switch I picked up on a whim. I was watching videos of people playing it and it was on sale for $5 USD. I have won several games, but I don’t count it as a game I worked to finish since (in my books) just winning one game counts as beating the game.

The last two pickups were Final Fantasy Tactics and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. I own Tactics on the PSP, but for some reason it never captivated me like everyone else. I want to go back to it, but picked up the original PS version to add to my collection. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology is the only escort Tales game that was released in the west. Adding it to my collection means I can finally say that (kinda) own every Tales game released in the states.

Plans For Next Month

I don’t have an idea what my plans are for February are yet. There are no new releases that I am looking forward to new month, so I can concentrate on my backlog more. I want to continue playing Nier: Automata and I think I can finish it by then. My Monster Hunter burnout is over, so I want to go back and finish Generations Ultimate at my leisure. Other than that, I will keep hammering away at Trails of Cold Steel II since I am also currently hooked on that as well. I’ve also been watching my wife recently trying to platinum Kingdom Hearts 3, and it makes me want to do some achievement hunting. Next update I will include the number of achievements that I earned during the month.

Numbers and Charts

And here are the numbers:

January 2020
Games Finished: 4
Games Added: 7
Finish Total: 190/672

Favorite Game Played: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Most Played Console: A toss up between Switch and PS4

Current Games in Process:
The Legend of Heroes: Trials of Cold Steel II
Nier: Automata
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Thanks for reading!

DanamesX

Advent Gaming Calendar 2019 Day 23: Monster Hunter Tri

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Credit to dahuman’s YouTube Channel

And the award for making me tear up over collected emotions goes to Monster Hunter Tri’s opening. There is something about this intro that just fills me up with many emotions that is hard for me to describe. I would say Monster Hunter is my favorite franchise and it all started with this game.

Nothing special happens in this intro, but it does do something that later games do not. Most intros in the series now focus on a group of hunters working together to take on the game’s featured monster(s). This puts emphasizes that the game revolves around you and your friends hunting down these powerful creatures; which yes of course that is what the game is about. What the others fail to capture is the grand scale of the world you are in. Tri’s opening only features the monsters until the very end. You get to see how the monsters interact with one another and the struggle between predator and prey. You see these powerful herbivores being chased away by these small predators who are then weaklings compared to what lies in the sea. It all accumulates to a standoff between two powerful forces, a Rathalos, the king of the skies, versus a Lagiacrus, the lord of the seas. Immediately you see who is in charge of this world and they do it without showing off the even scarier monsters in the game. The entire focus is on the main characters of the game, the monsters themselves. I never thought of the hunter being the main character of the series since they do not add anything to the world. The monsters are the ones who carry the story and shape the world, so it feels natural that you would want to showcase them and their power.

The track is also powerful to me and I want it to play on any venture I take when walking in the woods.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 24!

DanamesX