Andrew
@ajreiffdesign
Theme park industry professional. Gaming / anime / fandom geek. Photographer. Disgruntled liberal American millennial. Opinions are my own. Hate has no place here. Theme Park Zero > @themeparkzero.com
Additionally, the US releases of my favorites pretty much all fall under one of three categories: - Licensed by CR itself - Licensed by Kadokawa - Licensed by Aniplex So if I want a set, I’m kind of stuck on their system, which is unfortunate. [2]
My take on the Crunchyroll store shenanigans: I'm someone who has spent more on physicals and box sets across video games and animation than I'd like to admit. Western, anime, you name it. So I am, unfortunately, -exactly- the demographic that Sony and CR want to extort with their new scheme. [1]
Forest Ruins: Easily my favorite dungeon so far. Just the right amount of “puzzle box-ing” and brain busting. Got railed by the boss though, will have to come back.
Happy 20th to one of the games that changed EVERYTHING. Is it my favorite personally? No. But I cannot deny just how much impact Persona 3 had on JRPGs as a genre. Bonus physical media photo because, well, you know.
There's a reason why parodies like KonoSuba and 100 Girlfriends are my favorites. It's because they are so unequivocally, hilariously stupid in the absolute best way possible.
Nooooo. I wonder what red-colored door that the red-colored key we just got from a red-colored chest literally steps from a red-colored door unlocks!
Adventures of Elliot impressions! Incredibly competent, but a little “vanilla”. Combat is simple but has nice “oomph”. Dungeons are interesting but don’t yet hit the same way a “1 of 8” Zelda dungeon does. Not yet ready to make a determination on the “companion chatter”.
Yee-ep, the new Ghost in the Shell anime is, as expected, pretty freaking good.
Next on deck: The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales! My first Square-Enix HD-2D game! I’m hoping it scratches my “top-down 2D Zelda” itch.
Dungeon Meshi Season 2 gets its date (October 2027) AND Imaishi and Nakashima are working on a new project together? Plus Edgerunners S2? Studio Trigger fans are eating well this week. Myself included.
Oh dear, they're really leaning into the Yu x Rise ship in Persona 4 Revival, aren't they? Not that I'm complaining, to be clear.
Game #12 of 2026 completed: Star Fox! If you ever wanted to write and direct your own big-budget 100-minute space opera film, this is the game that lets you do it. It is absolutely bonkers that Nintendo and Velan went through the ordeal of making every route a player could take near-seamless. [1]
Yes, actually, it’s been volcanically warm where I live for the past three days!
Next on deck: Star Fox! I realize everyone just posts the smash cut title card, but I’m part of everyone too!
The exception being CEs and LEs that are the only way to get a particular game as physical media in the region you live in, such as with Type-Moon’s recent remasters.
So I guess a collector's edition for Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave went up and it's already sold out everywhere? Yeah, I made the right decision to stop pursuing CEs. I won't cancel any of the ones I've already snagged pre-orders for, but still. Don't need to be a part of this anymore.
Not even my local grocery store is safe from generative AI slop, it seems…
Mio: Memories in Orbit impressions! Art direction and ambience: Excellent. Combat: Good but can be a little clunky. But my favorite: The “brittle bosses” accessibility option. It is incredibly fair in execution and I wish that every combat-focused Metroidvania had it. Pressing onward!
I’ve played a few games with this art style and honestly, I think it might be the best execution of the bunch. It’s SO well dialed-in.
So purely out of coincidence, Mio: Memories in Orbit was next on deck for me. Hits a little harder now that everything has gone down with the developer and publisher. Let’s see how it plays!
328 bots. All done! Holy wow, what a wild ride. I already expressed my thoughts about Astro Bot earlier, but what a bookend. Not as butt-kicking as SMG2’s Perfect Run, but pretty freaking close.