First entry in a while, not sure exactly what to start with. Happy Holidays I suppose.
Neocities
Really don't have anything to say in regards to my plans for this site and my overall neocities presence. I have been pretty distanced from making this site for a while now and I don't see that changing anytime soon. When something major comes up for me, creatively, maybe I'll need to make some form of update here, but I have not been doing a whole lot recently.
Click here to skip the Xenogears portion.
Xenogears
My primary motivation for making this blog entry was specifically to discuss the game I have finished most recently, which is Xenogears. For anyone unfamiliar, Xenogears is the first game directed by Tetsuya Takahashi. It was published by Square Enix in 1998 for the Playstation. Tetsuya Takahashi would later go on to work on such games as Xenoblade Chronicles with Monolithsoft.
Xenogears is an absolute one of a kind JRPG with deep themes, compelling characters, and remarkable presentation. The narrative is one of the strongest in any game I have ever played, and MIND BLOWING for the Playstation. The character design, music, setpieces, sense of scale, and pacing are all things I would describe as exemplary of a masterpiece.
My experience with the game
I played the game over the course of a few weeks. As it is a jrpg, it is decently lengthy. How long exactly, I won't spoil, as I do think going in without knowing how long a game is can help keep things surprising and engaging the whole runtime. My time with Xenogears was exactly that, surprising and engaging. I knew litte about it going in, aside from the Xenoblade connection and that people speak very highly of this game. As such, I will largely leave my description of the game vague so those of you who haven't played it do not get even the smallest portion of the experience stolen from you.
It is not often that I play a game that gets added to the highest echelons of my catalogue, but Xenogears for sure makes the cut of top 50, maybe even top 30. It joins the ranks of Chrono Trigger and Pandora's Tower as games I simply missed out on, but am so glad I got around to eventually.
I recommend Xenogears to anyone who:
if any of these apply to you, I think you should play Xenogears
I have a ton more to say about Xenogears but do not want to spoil the game for anyone, so if you have played it and want to talk about it, email me! sponduliocity@gmail.com
Gaming
In addition to Xenogears, I also played the first few games in the Cotton series. Cotton is a series of shmups with a ton of personality and very cool art direction. I played up to Cotton Boomerang, so the next one I will be playing is the one for the Dreamcast. Of these games, Cotton 2 was the one I enjoyed the most, as the magic system and ability to throw enemies was very novel to me.
I am currently playing through a Pikmin 2 romhack called Power Cut: Blackout. It has been rather pleasant so far, with no signs of that changing. A while ago, I played through Mystical Ninja starring Goemon, a fantastic game for the Nintendo 64. If you have not played it and enjoy action adventure games, I highly recommend it.
Bits & Bops is a fantastic Rhythm Heaven inspired rhythm game that released recently. It is an amazing game. If you like rhythm games at all, ESPECIALLY Rhythm Heaven, for sure check it out. I finished it in just a few hours, but will be going back to it to play some custom charts eventually, as those are supported in the game directly.
Misc
I had been meaning, for quite a long time, to try my hand at making a YTP, as I have been a fan of the medium for a long time. Coincidentally, I have also been watching King of the Hill for the first time. This happens to be one of the most legenary pieces of material in the YTP space, with the likes of Spongebob and Zelda CDI games. As such, it happened to be the right time to finally sit down and make one* of my one. *I made two. Despite being YTPs, I have not uploaded them to Youtube, as I am not entirely certain how good they actually are. As such, I have them on Google Drive and will embed them here so you can watch if you are interested. Let me know if you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.
Elbow Grease
A Real Orange
Wrapping Up
Thank you for reading this far to anyone who has. This site, to my surprise has still been getting rather consistent viewership, despite my serial negligence, and for that I am grateful. I love the idea that this site serves as a sort of ark for all that I am and all that I create, even if it amounts to little more than some self portraits and rugrats music. I hope that through this site and my personal expression that I have made any sort of impact, no matter how small, on even one person. I know winter and the holidays especially can be tough for some people, so if that's you, I hope you get through it as painlessly as possible.
And with that, I think that's all I have for you for today.
-Jake Spondulio