Sidetracked Training and Emblems

Remember yesterday how I said the Internet claims my project time? Well, it did it again. As I loaded up Blogger and got myself in the mindset to type out an entry, I got sidetracked yet again. Through a combination of various activities such as:

• Imgur links found on Facebook
• an hour's worth of ambient music playing while I mindlessly surfed TV Tropes and Wikipedia
• some insight into myself
• and the dawning realization that today is in fact Sunday*

I was able to come up with an entry for y'all to read... despite the fact that it was far from the original idea I had when I first logged on. Sometimes my inability to stay focused on things ends up paving the road better than the best-laid plans I could ever conceive.

* = I could've sworn that yesterday was somehow this Wednesday, which caused great confusion last night when I attempted to refresh some of my favorite webcomics and was left wondering why they weren't updating. Of course, I was all the more sad when I found out it wasn't Wednesday - I want my Oracle of Ages / Seasons on the 3DS eShop already! =O

I feel like this sometimes when I'm attempting to focus on work. Sometimes it works out... sometimes it doesn't.

Anyway, enough bantering. Let's read before I get distracted by somethi- oh, hey, Blackadder is on!





CURRENT MUSIC:
Device - "Close My Eyes Forever (f. Lzzy Hale)" (Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne Cover)
Device

What does this song have in common with me? Aside from metaphorically highlighting my trust issues and childhood trauma, I've seen both performers live years ago - in a time when Disturbed wasn't on hiatus and Halestorm was emerging on the scene. So when I heard that David Draiman's new project "Device" was going to feature the beautiful vocals of Halestorm's Lzzy Hale, I knew I had to pay attention to the finished product.

Having listened to the album, I can safely say that I wasn't disappointed with the end result.

Now, I know a good portion of the metal community that's heard both the original Lita & Ozzy version and the Device cover prefer the former. If you don't believe me, just look up the original on Youtube and browse the comments - odds are you'll see strings of words such as "the Device version sucks," that Device "butchered it," and an occasional remark criticizing (the necessity of) the drumwork.

While I somewhat agree with the latter quip (even as a high-quality FLAC file, the bass and drums seem a tiny bit scratchy during the chorus), I have to oppose the others. The original "Close My Eyes Forever" possessed a subtle but still-present (glam) metal ambiance to the instruments. Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne conveyed this subtlety even further by singing with softer vocals (or softer than I'm usually used to hearing from either of them).

Device's cover of "Close My Eyes Forever" created its own tone that bears a striking (dis)similarity to the original's. It can be said that the song (in the words of David Draiman,) "took on its own unique identity." Yes, it sounds different than the original - and that's because industrial metal has a different sound and style to traditional metal. Of course the guitars and drums are going to be played up more.

If anyone is still reading this in an attempt to figure out my stance on which is better: neither is. Each version possesses their own strengths and faults that anyone can nitpick or praise. In the end, music is music. I've come to the conclusion that each presents the song in their own eras - Lita and Ozzy's '80s version with the subtle-yet-haunting meaning behind the song, and David and Lzzy's modern take of the song with their dynamic vocals.


Hitoshi Sakimoto - "Valkyria Chronicles III Main Theme"
Valkyria Chronicles III Original Soundtrack

It's no secret that I love Valkyria Chronicles. An excellent World War II-esque story with lush graphics and a fun hybrid turn-based/real-time strategy system? The only thing that could make it better would be an epic soundtrack that fits the game (and then some). Hitoshi Sakimoto definitely delivered with the score, and that's why I still cite Valkyria Chronicles as a must-own title for the PlayStation 3.

Critical note must be taken for III's main theme. Sakimoto took the main theme from the first game, reworked it to fit the stories of Valkyria Chronicles II and III, and somehow was able to turn an already excellent piece into something better each time. However, it didn't stop there - III's theme became aural epicness condensed to three minutes and forty-two seconds.

Readers who've been on my blog enough should know the basic plot of the first Valkyria Chronicles by now. For those that don't: Valkyria Chronicles is set in an alternate Earth during the year 1935. The story focuses on the tiny neutral principality of Gallia, a country wedged between two grand factions involved in a great and terrible war. When one faction, the Autocratic East Europan Imperial Alliance, decides to take Gallia's vast deposits of ragnite (their world's version of oil) by force, the neutral country scrambles to war and drafts every able-bodied person they can. The game follows the military campaign of the Squad 7 Militia and its soldiers as they fight to defend their homeland. (Yes, this paragraph should sound 90% familiar to you.)

Now, why did I give you that seemingly out-of-place paragraph? Story-wise, Valkyria Chronicles III runs parallel to the events that happen in the first game. Instead of following the famed Squad 7, the game focuses on Gallia's Squad 422, a penal military unit whose soldiers are referred to only by number (thus earning the squad nickname "The Nameless").

Like the penal military units that existed in real life, The Nameless were usually given the dirtiest and most dangerous tasks of the war - stuff that would probably make Gallia look terrible in comparison to its plight. Despite this, The Nameless were always willing to take the job...

...and that's where the "Valkyria Chronicles III Main Theme" comes in. I picture Squad 422 as flawless cowboys - outlaws who ate nails for breakfast, took bullets and ridicule in the face as a hobby, and were snubbed by their own allies. And like the anti-heroes they were, there was a badassedness to their duty and to their character. Hitoshi Sakimoto must have thought in a similar style, because the way this theme was composed screams that. The brass constantly possess the fanfare fit for unknown war heroes and the drums remind us that while they may not have been the most honorable of men and women, they still performed their duties in an admirable fashion.

And don't even get me started on how amazing that guitar is. The first time I heard this piece, I got goosebumps. The track as a whole was amazing, but I dare say that the stringed instrument makes this track.

It's audio tracks like these that make me wary of the modern gamer, because they're too focused on easy-to-play cash cow franchises with little-to-no depth in their gameplay (*cough* Call of Duty amongst others *hack*). The reason why most of y'all haven't heard of Valkyria Chronicles III was because it was a PlayStation Portable exclusive - and even then it was only released in Japan. I just wish the game (along with II could be brought to the PlayStation 3 in the United States, just so people can see how amazing the games, the story, and the music are.





Okay, enough of all that music talk. I'm here to figure out what I'm doing with myself. I figured out two things today, and I must say I'm somewhat proud and ashamed at the same time for both of them - mostly because it took me hours to write what should've taken minutes. But I digress...

Hard to believe I typed all of this up in one session. Really. I'm serious; I did. I only got up twice to use the restroom. I just spent most of the time browsing through image sites and what not, looking at funny pictures in an attempt to find image accompaniments to my original blog post.

The sad part is that I don't remember what I was going to write at all, so instead we'll just focus on two things I kinda mulled over as I was looking at all the countless pictures the Internet has to offer.





Coming Out of Retirement
(Maybe I'll get the next-gen Pokémon game?)

I didn't really announce it on here, but I retired from the world of Pokémon games a while ago. It was sometime after I got a hold of White Version and passed the seventh gym. For some reason, I couldn't myself into the game - it wasn't as fun as the previous four generations were.

Most of my friends were shocked - they had grown accustomed to me being the Pokémon guy of the group. (My love for the games has led the workers at my local GameStop to believe I would pre-order a Pokémon game the moment it was announced - and I did.) My knowledge was encyclopedic compared to theirs, and it only seemed natural for me to have some kind of Pokémon game in my Game Boy / DS at almost all times. But with my apparent apathy for the fifth generation, it was only inevitable that I would announce my retirement from one of my favorite franchises. It's not that I hated the fifth generation; it's just that it somehow left me feeling without ambition and excitement.

Of course, shortly afterwards, they announced the upcoming sixth-generation games X & Y for the 3DS... and after my friends questioned my return to the series, I responded with a "meh." Sure, it might be fun, but Black & White left a blank taste in my mouth. I was mildly disappointed when I played my copy, and as such it's received the dubious "honor" of being the one mainstay Pokémon game I've yet to complete. (I know Black & White 2 were much better, but I was still a little sad with the first games.)

Sometimes the Internet has some wise ideas.

Fast forward to today, where I spotted the above image. After looking at it, I thought it was an excellent idea. Afterwards, I realized something: my retirement was unwillingly imposed on myself in a discreet manner. That doesn't make sense, but let me explain myself.

For the first four generations, I entered the games (mostly) blind. With the first two generations, the Internet was barely functioning as a world of gaming self-enlightenment, so the primary way we learned about Pokémon and the games was by television and word-of-mouth. Think about it - anyone who played the original Red & Blue Versions usually had Pokémon like Pidgeot, Nidoking, Onix, and Poliwrath nestled in their teams. We chose them because we thought they looked cool/powerful/awesome/whatever adjective here. We explored the lands, wondering where to go to catch elusive Pokémon such as Farfetch'd, Chansey, and Dratini - often informing our friends the moment we caught one.

We soon learned of every Pokémon species' maximum potential stats, and we began to realize that some species were superior to others when it came to competitive battling. We began to write off certain species as fodder while we regaled others as tournament gods. By the third- and fourth- generation, we knew what each region's starting Pokémon and commonplace "Rattata-esque" species would be. With that, we also learned of their stats, locations, move pools - virtually everything the competitive player wanted. While that made the game easier in terms of gameplay, it slowly began to not feel as fun as opposed to when we first began in Professor Oak's lab (at least that's how I felt).

When I looked back at why I wasn't feeling up to completing the fifth generation games, I soon realized that it was because I looked up virtually everything beforehand. I knew what the starters were, what species would show up, and which ones were likely to be the fast, hard hitters I desired in my team when I faced off against the Elite Four. By doing this, I had written off the joy of discovering everything about the game - and with it, my potential to have fun playing White Version.

I have therefore decided not to let that happen again. As such, I'm going to give the beloved franchise another shot by going out of retirement and buying a sixth-generation game when they're released. (Don't ask which one I'm going for yet - this is still a fresh decision.)

So... which starter is it going to be, Josh?
(Left to right: Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie.)

I can only say that this is an interesting idea. I've already told myself that I'll be entering X & Y Version blind - that is, I won't be doing any research on the two upcoming games aside from the few things I already know of. Who knows - this might prove to make this even more fun than it already will be...?





Rescuing the Rarity and the Kid
(Or: going to rescue Maribelle and Ricken in Awakening.)

I think I've been doing enough training in Fire Emblem Awakening. As indicated by the first part of The Lunatic Diaries, I took a break from the main storyline to level-grind the entire party. This is so I don't get raped as badly as I was back in Chapters 1 and 2.

Next up for me is Chapter 5, where I'll be rescuing/recruiting the classy Maribelle and the aspiring child-mage Ricken from the clutches of Plegia. I think I've trained my current team to be capable of tackling the foes that'll be present, but I need to take caution - this is Lunatic mode. If enemies with a critical rate of 1% are somehow able to crit time and time again (as they usually do in Fire Emblem games set to high difficulties), then maybe even my beefed-up guys should be wary.

...although it seems like Ricken's gonna be able to handle this. We'll see about that, little guy - your tricks better get at least one Plegian to foam up in the mouth. (And before I forget: credit for these images goes to one "dragonbladerx" from Tumblr, who credits this funny scene from Avatar: The Last Airbender.)

Anyway, we ride! Go forth, Shepherds, and make it so I don't freak out on the second part of The Lunatic Diaries!





Well, that's it for today. If you'll excuse me, I've an appointment with people who can tell time and remind me that today is indeed Sunday. Until the 'morrow, everypony!