February Round-Up '24
This year continues to not pull any punches on difficulty, and even now I'm still recovering from some sudden surgery. February wasn't all bad - Chris and I celebrated 7 years of dating, we had a pleasant Valentine's Day, and we got to visit the zoo a couple times to see many creatures - but at the same time I worked extremely hard to be able to survive. Let's get into what I've been making, and a few things I got to enjoy too!
Projects
If you read my previous blog post - Crowned - or keep up with me on social media, then you know the gist of what I've been dealing with for the majority of this month. A sudden crowned tooth to get rid of pain (possibly connected to the previous month's dental endeavors) was an unwelcome surprise. I put together a bunch of ways people could support me, including a special doodle stream and commissions (of which I still have a few open slots for, by the way!), and I'm incredibly humbled and grateful to say that I was able to make the $1K that was necessary for my surgery. I'm just now starting to recover, but I get my final crown placed tomorrow morning so I'll be offline for a little while to heal completely.
I'm VERY ready for this to be over!!
Games
Okay, so this isn't something I specifically played, but it's a game I'm super excited about: Petal Crash 2!!! My friend Ashley's been putting an immense amount of effort and heart into making this game as great as it can be - the perfect petal - and everything about it looks phenomenal. I'd been saving money for months specifically to put toward this project after she told me about it, and I'm looking forward to having the physical merch to display at home and on the go!! I'm ecstatic that the initial goal was met in the first day, and now I'm hoping the stretch goals are met because there are some awesome benefits that come along with them! Please give it a look!
I drew the new character Poppille for Ashley as a congratulations for making the goal!! I had to wait a few days to post it publicly, but I'm so excited to see her out in the open now!
Because I didn't get time actually play it yet in last month's post, I'm going to talk about Like a Dragon 8: Infinite Wealth a little more (without any spoilers). This game is absolutely massive; I spent a good 90 hours without even really touching most of the mini games, and those would easily add plenty more game time. The largest chunk of my experience was probably side quest-related endeavors - such as the "drink links" to level up bonds with your party, or just saying "ALOHA!!" to random people and animals to become their friends - which I enjoyed immensely. The story overall was fantastic, though there were several moments that I wish had either played out a bit differently or had been expanded upon for further emotional depth. That and a lot of level-grinding aside, I adored Infinite Wealth! The new characters were wonderful, the party system was super fun to level up and experiment with, the dual protagonists were the goodest of boys, and the karaoke slapped as always.
IT'S MY RESORT!!!
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure is a game I wish I had growing up because I would've spread the HECK out of it to people who don't know it (and absolutely plan to going forward). Cheeky writing reminiscent of a Saturday morning cartoon, an adorable visual style, rhythm-beat gameplay perks to an absolutely bangin' soundtrack, plenty of great monster designs, and best of all, rewarding you for destruction - how is this NOT a game I would love?? Chris and I picked it up on a great Steam sale and it was worth every penny and more (psst - he also wrote a great blog post about some of the game's nifty gameplay). If you have time you should definitely check out Gurumin, be it playing yourself or watching a playthrough - it's pretty short and an absolute treasure!
This game's art direction is EXCELLENT!!!!
Crusader of Centy was a game Chris randomly checked out on our Switch's Nintendo Online library (via the SEGA Genesis portion) and we both found it to be an immensely cool and creative RPG. If I grew up with this game I would have loved it, especially for its cute visual style and the equippable little animal friends that give you power ups! It truly felt like SEGA's Link to the Past but with even more interesting puzzles and gameplay mechanics that you don't just use in a single area. What a neat find!
Why hello there Mr. Sonic! Fancy seeing you here!
I watched my dear friend Spacey play the spontaneously dropped Penny's Big Breakaway. Coming from the team behind Sonic Mania, I love how they took inspiration from many different platformers to make the game feel like a fresh experience of its own! I've personally always found yo-yo charming, and the team's creativity shined with all the different ways Penny can utilize her 'yo as you progress. The gameplay looks snappy & intuitive - I'd be interested in playing it myself in the future.
So many cool character designs in this game, I liked all the bosses!
Anime
I was very pleased to see that an anime I enjoyed immensely had a sequel movie, and it released this month: Great Pretender Razbliuto. There's just something about the way they combine such an intriguing cast of characters with such gorgeously colorful backgrounds that's very pleasing to me. I also thought the action sequences were well-animated and fun, with tooons of twists in the characters' alliances that keep you on your toes. Definitely give the first series Great Pretender a watch before diving in, though, or you'll be missing some critical information about the characters and how the story sets itself up.
Cocolors has been on my to-see list for awhile, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to watch this beautiful, melancholy movie. The entirety of the film is only 45 minutes, and within that timeframe it builds the world and how it operates to where you get the gist of what's happening without having to to be explicitly told. The limited use of color lends to impactful moments and emotional plot points, and the opening sequence is especially stunning with how it very quickly introduces some core concepts of what's going on with the world itself. I highly recommend it for when you wanna ~feel~ a little!
Because Chris had never seen it, and because I was wanting something that had a little bit of a "romantic theme" for Valentine's Day, Ouran High School Host Club has been gracing our TV screen whenever there's a lull in currently airing anime. Chris has called it "amusing," which is a good way to sum it up if you've never viewed this classic - lots of over-the-top silly moments, with some heart underneath it all. Though I'd call some of the "humor" a bit outdated, the majority of the anime is still very enjoyable to watch!
That's a wrap for February!
I'm really ready for this year to stop tossing so much at me, and thankfully it seems like March is bringing a little more joy with it. Chris' parents are visiting us, I'm going to go to the zoo with one of my sisters, AND Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Rebirth is out now!! I'll be offline for a little bit as I hang out with loved ones and play through the game - as well as finish up healing from dental surgery nonsense - so I'll see you again soon!
Blessings of the Hyrax be with you ~
