The thinkings/opinions of a bizarre, quiet girl

Saturday, 4 June 2022

REVIEW/THOUGHTS [VIDEO GAME] -- King's Bounty: The Legend

Playthrough Status: Beat the game on Easy difficulty. I explored every inch of the map, beat up everything I found, and did every quest I came across
Approx. Length: 110+ hours
Language: English
Played on: PC
Type of Game: Turn-based tactical adventure, RPG
Overall Impression: A very addictive time sink if you enjoy games like these (which I do)

NOTE ON SPOILERS!!

Just like with my past reviews, I'll keep a non-spoiler section (the section you're at right now), and a "Spoiler Talk" section at the end to go into more detail on certain things and to let loose with any extra thoughts.

INTRO: A LITTLE STORY

So... I started playing King's Bounty: The Legend (which I'll refer to as King's Bounty for the rest of this review) wayyyyy back in April 2013. After playing it for several days I had to force myself to take a break. It was not because of the usual "I got distracted by another game" or "Life got busy" reason. It was because I realized that the game was way -- too -- addictive!

Sure -- there have been many times where I'd intentionally set aside a whole day to play a video game. There have also been times when I'd look at the clock and say, "I'll play this for a bit longer." It's rare for me to play a video game and completely lose track of time... When I would think, 'Okay, I'll play this game for just a couple hours', and then half the day is already gone.

King's Bounty had that power over me... so I forced myself to take a break. Fast forward to this year where I have no New Year's resolutions to worry about. If there was a time to lose myself to a video game, this would be it. So... during one of my vacations this year, I continued King's Bounty... got lost every single day... until I finally finished it. :)

WHAT IS KING'S BOUNTY?

In a nutshell, King's Bounty is a turn-based tactical adventure RPG. You control a character who rides around on a horse and you do various quests for your king and for other characters. You also recruit troops and do turn-based strategy battles. You also gain experience and level up your character and learn spells and skills.

I guess it sounds generic so far, but... if it could draw me in the way that it does, there's a bit more to it. I haven't mentioned the intricacies like troop / item morale, troop variety, spell variety, multiple skill trees. Not all of these were drawing factors, but it does tell me King's Bounty has some complexity. And I like a fair amount of complexity.

I also haven't mentioned that gold, some recruitable troops, and other resources are finite. If you aren't careful with your spending and troop management, you could end up in a situation where you have insufficient troops and gold to progress the game. I don't know about you -- but that kind of challenge is thrilling for me.

My character going around the town on his horse.
You can have your own opinion on the graphics.
I think they are decent for being a 2008 game.

The profile screen for my character. The female portrait at the top is my character's wife and their kids. Yes, you can get married in King's Bounty -- and have kids!

WHAT DREW ME IN

I don't even know myself all the factors that got me so addicted to King's Bounty, but here are some:

Exploration: This is probably one of my favourite things to do in a video game, provided that the environment is really nice and... purposeful. I love exploring and making discoveries, and King's Bounty has a lot of that. Strewn all over the world are gold piles, buried treasure chests, and skill runes. Whenever I reach a new area, all I want to do is grab everything in sight.

Choices: I like that King's Bounty often gives you choices and they usually have some impact, whether it's affecting the outcome or rewards of a sidequest or changing what you do in a sidequest (I don't remember if choices affect the main story).

I recall one time making a choice which failed one of my sidequests (I reloaded soon after). I also recall another time defeating some NPCs who would have given me a sidequest if they were alive (I reloaded soon after that as well). I can definitely respect a game that offers varying outcomes like that. To me, it makes the experience more personal to each player.

The Battles: Something that I really enjoy in games is devising a strategy / plan, and trying to pull it off successfully. The battles in King's Bounty give me that chance. While some battles can be as quick as maybe five minutes, other battles really require thinking and could take much longer. Fighting against dragons always made me a little nervous for my troops.

To summarize the battle system, it's turn-based combat that involves moving your troops across a field to attack. During your turn, you are also able to cast spells or summon a spirit. While sometimes it could feel repetitive, the different enemy troop compositions will usually call for different strategies. Changing up your own troops from time to time can also change your strategy.

How the battlefield is generally laid out. My troops are on the left (yes, I have unicorns).
The layout would be slightly different if I was battling at a castle entrance.

Witty Writing: King's Bounty has a lot of lore. Almost every NPC has some off-topic thing you can ask about. If it was written as a massive one-note story / information dump, it'd be very boring. Thankfully, the writing has flavour and a good amount of sarcastic humour. I would often choose those off-topic things just to see how the dialogue would go. Kudos to the writers. *tips my hat*

Beautiful Music: I think the music fits very well. There are a couple main tracks used for exploration, but they are so fitting that I don't mind it looping endlessly. It sounds epic. That's the kind of music I'd like to have playing if I was ever exploring a place on horseback or on boat (yes, you can sail around in this game).

Below is one of my favourite tracks.

"Under the Shadow of the Oak".

I wish I knew what the lyrics meant.

It sounds very beautiful.

WHAT DIDN'T DRAW ME IN

Here are some things that could have used some improvements.

Story: While the writing has personality, the main story itself didn't grab me as much as the desire to explore, interact with objects, talk to NPCs, and loot. Often I would advance the main story if I ran out of other things to do.

Fetching Sidequests: A lot of the sidequests (not all of them) were fetch quests (i.e. go collect something from point B, then return), which aren't the most exciting things. To me, they feel like tasks to just pad your game time if you've already explored those areas.

THE DISCLAIMERS (IF ANY)

This is where I list any things that could make you think twice about trying the game out with family or friends (depends on what they are okay with, I guess). They're not exactly bad per se, but more for your own awareness of it (and so you don't blame me for not saying anything!). I can experience these elements in a video game and get through more or less unscathed, but your mileage may vary, so I figure I should mention them.

-Some of the female troops are skimpily dressed. That's all I can think of.

MY RATING

I almost want to say that King's Bounty is a guilty pleasure game for me. But -- I feel no guilt over any pleasure I get. I just have to admit that I am powerless to its time-sucking capabilities and keep my schedule open the next time I want to delve into this game, or its sequels (which I intend to do in the future).

If this sounds like a game you'd enjoy, go for it! It's decently priced on Steam, at least in Canada. Just be careful of losing track of your time like I did. :)

Rating: 85 / 100

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions / comments about anything, leave a comment or send via the Contact Form.

So I'll do the scrolly thing and the "Spoiler Talk" section will appear after that. Then I'll add some more scrolly things after the "Spoiler Talk" section in case anybody wants to comment, but not see the spoilers.

Take care and until next time! :)

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SPOILER TALK

So this is a section for me to unload any extra thoughts about King's Bounty that I consider possibly spoiler-ish.

MY PLAYTHROUGH OF KING'S BOUNTY

I went in blind (as usual). I chose the mage class, and loaded myself up with troops from the starting castle. When I got thorn hunters, I switched the peasants out. To me, my ranged troops were most important so I always tried to keep them well stocked.

As I found other interesting troops, all my starting troops (except my archers) got swapped out. Through most of my playthrough, my main troops were:

-Archers (ranged troop)

-Thorn Hunters (also ranged troop)

-Royal Snakes

-Hyenas

-Ancient Bears

When I reached Ellinia and had access to elvish troops, I made the tough choice to use only elvish troops (it was hard saying good bye to my archers and thorn hunters, lol). For endgame, my troops were:

-Unicorns

-Black Unicorns

-Dryads

-Elves (ranged troop)

-Hunters (also ranged troop)

When it came to casting spells, I would usually either do blizzard or fireball (forgive me if I'm messing up the spell names). Before I had those spells, I would often cast traps to make the enemy troops lose their turn.

When I got Reaper and unlocked the Time Back ability, I abused it with the sacrifice spell (a tip I found online). It was my way of building up a very healthy reserve of black unicorns and dryads. For those unsure of what I'm talking about, I would cast the sacrifice spell that would sacrifice a percentage of a low-ranking troop to add numbers to another troops. Then I would cast the Time Back ability to restore that sacrificed troop back to its previous state (before I casted sacrifice).

For my wife, I didn't really choose Leonara... if I recall correctly, the option to marry was there and I was curious what would happen if I chose it. I didn't have the heart to divorce so I just kept her. Luckily her boosts were beneficial for my class. As for the kids, I just said yes whenever she asked if I wanted one.

I just want to mention here that I beat that super hard challenge where you're battling a mirror of yourself with lots more units. It took me over an hour and I cheesed it by having dryads, peasants, and other low ranked troops (a strategy I found online), but I beat it... I beat it, lol.

MISCELLANEOUS SCREENSHOTS

Here are a few screenshots I couldn't fit in the main review.

There is a Records section which seems to list the top scores.
Somehow, I am in Rank 4, for a game that's been out for almost 14 years.

I will check back in about a year and see where I am then. XD

My combat statistics. I went through a lot of black unicorns and thorn hunters.

I am bullying this orc, hahaha.

If you read this section, thank for reading! Now to finish with more scrolly things. Feel free to comment if you wish :D

Sunday, 29 May 2022

BLOG -- Recap of May

May was stressful and mostly uneventful. I hope I can get another break soon.

"Outings" / Events in May:

- Had a LINE voice chat with my friends. It was fun as usual! :)

- I ordered via UberEats for the first time (I was given a gift card at work).

- I had a sad day (May 22). No more details here.

- I shareplayed with a friend on the PS4 for a few hours to celebrate their birthday. It was a lot of fun! :)

- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn achievements / news:
-I haven't logged in this month. orz

Exposures:

- (Phone game): Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage -- I enjoy rhythm games so trying this out made sense. I enjoy it so far, but I'm going at it very casually (these fingers aren't as good as they used to be). I really hope they add "Romio & Cinderella" and "1/6 - Out of the Gravity".

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): King Kong (2005 version) -- Good beginning, and okay ending. The middle was a bit too long.

- (Movie): Jupiter Ascending -- Pretty cringy.

- (Movie): Resident Evil: The Final Chapter -- I sure hope this was the final chapter. I think the least offensive was the first Resident Evil movie. One day I'll be brave and play through the video games.

- (Movie): Layer Cake -- This was interesting.

- (Movie): Charlie's Angels (2000 version) -- Aside from one very entertaining scene, the rest was meh. Too much fluff for my liking.

- (Movie): Compulsion (2016) -- Not good.

- (Movie): Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) -- It was okay. I liked Black Canary more than Harley.

- (Movie): Anna (2019) -- Pretty entertaining. Always nice to see Helen Mirren in a movie.

- (Movie): Good Will Hunting -- It was interesting.

- (Movie): Meet Joe Black -- It was long and just okay.

- (Movie): Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) -- It was okay.

- (Movie): Schindler's List -- It was very well done. It's kinda amazing that it was based off real events.

Playing:

- (PS4): The Ramen Sensei -- This can be addictive at times.

Reading:

- (Manga) School Judgement: Gakkyu Hotel by Nobuaki Enoki, Takeshi Obata -- I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was done in a high school or university setting or if the clothing was different. Seeing elementary school kids wearing... mature-ish clothing, and babies looking like grown men make me question things about the series way more than I should need to. >_>

Currently...

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS4): Dark Cloud 2

- (PS4): Skyrim
- (PS4): Yakuza 5 Remastered
- (PS4): Trine 2 (co-oping this only, lol)
- (PS4): Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered
- (PS4): Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PSP): Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure

- (3DS): Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies
- (GBA): The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
- (Wii): Fortune Street
- (PC): UnEpic
- (PC): Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)

Watching:

- (TV Show): The Walking Dead (Season 9)
- (TV Show): Criminal Minds (Season 15)
- (TV Show): The Strain (Season 3)
- (TV Show): The Office (Season 8)
- (TV Show): The Goldbergs (Season 5)
- (TV Show): Huff (Season 1 - Episode 10)
- (TV Show): Stranger Things (Season 4 - Episode 2)
- (Anime): Log Horizon (Season 4)
- (Anime): Attack on Titan (Season 4)
- (Anime): Pyscho-Pass (Season 4?)
- (Anime): Kakegurui (Season 3?)
- (Anime): Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (Episode 2)

- (Anime): Gintama (Episode 13)
- (Anime): Way of the Househusband (Episode 4)
- (Anime): GTO - The Animation (Episode 21)
- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 1058)

Reading:

- (Manga): One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volume ?? -- Chapter 1036)
- (Manga): Berserk by Kentaro Miura (Volume 2)

That's it for May. Here are pics / screenshots I took this month plus a YouTube video.

My UberEats order. I realllllly missed sushi and sushi pizza.

I want morrrrre... (>'...')>

A comic book anthology I supported on Kickstarter finally arrived (on the right).

Woohoo, I maxed out Merlin's bond level! xD

A screenshot from Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage.
I got full combo for a song (on Normal difficulty). :)

We did pretty well during this month's GC.

"A beginners guide to Gamer Girls" by Josh Strife Says.

This makes me laugh and feel triggered at the same time, hahaha.

I still need to play Elden Ring someday... even though I am totally a girl, lol

Thanks for reading!

As usual, if you have any questions / comments about anything, feel free.

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)

Sunday, 22 May 2022

THOUGHTS [SHOW] -- Stranger Things Season 1-3 SPOILERS

Many, many years ago, a good friend recommended I watch Stranger Things. Having no access to Netflix at the time, I said I'll keep it in mind. Now here we are :)

This is probably one of many entries out there praising the series. But I will still blog about it and I will still praise it. What can I say -- I like talking about things I enjoy.

From this point on, I'll be talking spoilers for all the seasons, so if you haven't watched Stranger Things, please stop here! If you have Netflix, please give the series a shot. That's my recommendation to you.

Thanks for reading, take care, and until next time! :)

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Now... Stranger Things. There are lots to love about this series, at least for me. I love the mystery and how it unravels at a good pace. I love the characters. I love the acting. I love the humour. I love the emotion. I love the nostalgia (do you remember the days when the only way to connect with a person was via a landline phone, a walkie talkie, writing a letter, or meeting in-person? I do). If I talk about everything in detail, this blog would be super long -- and I'd probably be repeating myself a lot, saying this thing is awesome and that thing is awesome -- so I'll talk about some specifics. Just know that overall I really enjoyed all 3 seasons of Stranger Things. It started off strong and stayed at that level. I can't wait for season 4!

SOME THINGS I REALLY APPRECIATE

The opening theme -- It's perfect to set the overall mood and mysterious, eerie atmosphere.

Opening theme.
I will never skip this intro.

How each season wraps up the main focus -- While the end of each season had hints that things weren't completely over, I never had to agonize between them. Will is found in season 1. El closes the portal in season 2. That machine that re-opened the portal was destroyed in season 3. For somebody who doesn't like cliffhangers very much, I appreciated this a lot.

Details aren't forgotten -- I really liked that part of season 2 focused on Nancy trying to find closure for Barb's parents. I kept wondering how Barb's parents were doing throughout season 1.

Integrating Dungeons and Dragons -- I've never played Dungeons and Dragons (though I'd like to one day), but I can always appreciate nerdy things <3

THE ACTING

In short, the acting is spectacular. That's all I need to say. :)

THE CHARACTERS

So many of the characters are likeable in Stranger Things. It's definitely a good way to keep me watching. I wanna see how these characters grow. I wanna "be there" to share their joys and pains. Here are some extra thoughts for specific characters.

Joyce -- It was hard seeing her suffer so much in season 1, but I admire the lengths she'll go to find Will and protect her family. She is a great mom.

Will -- I feel so sorry for Will. He went missing in season 1, and then got possessed in season 2. And then had to deal with and accept Mike, Lucas, and Dustin growing away from Dungeons and Dragons in season 3. I really hope that season 4 will be kinder to him.

Jonathan -- He's cute. And my kind of guy, hahaha. I love that he's fine being his own person and that he gives support to those he cares about.

Nancy -- I respect her fighting spirit.

Hopper -- He is probably one of my favourite characters. He is flawed, being too rigid sometimes and not always open with his emotions and drinking too much, but his core desire to protect -- his drive to keep going despite the odds -- I can't help but admire him and want happiness for him. It broke my heart when he left in season 3.

Mike and El -- I love the way they care about each other. I especially love Mike's patience in explaining things to El and his always thinking about her well-being. I hope they stay together to the end.

Steve -- Steve was a pleasant surprise. He started off as a jerk and then developed into a really cool guy. He owned up on his love for Nancy and let that change him. He stayed open to change and developed a friendship with Dustin. In my eyes, Steve became a truer version of himself, finding and working on what's really important to him instead of caring about superficial gains. Also, he is really cool for accepting Robin as she is.

THE HUMOUR

For a series as dark and emotionally charged as this, having some moments of lightness is very welcomed.

THE DEATHS

The second Bob was introduced as Joyce's love interest, I knew he would die. It was sad to see him go, but... I want Joyce and Hopper to get together.

Billy's death was sad. At the same time, though, I think it was the best way for him to go -- fighting that Mind Flayer and trying to redeem himself.

Hopper -- I tear up just thinking about it...

Rest in peace for all those who got flayed.

And of course -- will never forget about Barb.

Do I have any thoughts about the upcoming season 4? Nope. Since I prefer jumping into media blind, I haven't watched or read anything relating to it. I just hope it will continue to stay strong. Part of me really hopes that Hopper will come back (somehow), but at the same time it would ruin his emotional departure in season 3.

That's it for this blog.

If you read to the end, thanks for reading!!

If you have any questions / comments, feel free.

To anybody having Monday off due to Victoria's Day (that includes me), enjoy the lonnng weekend. I will be lazing about, either playing video games or watching something or... doing something else. ;)

Take care, stay safe, and until next time.

Saturday, 14 May 2022

BLOG - My Typical Schedule (These Days)

So... I want to blog more. I've been feeling this for a long, long time. So I'm going to try harder. That could mean there could be more irrelevant blogs... so please only check out what interests you. :)

I'm going to try blogging shorter entries, though reviews could still be very lengthy. They'll be whatever length they need to be.

Okay. Now to the actual blog, hahaha.

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Since working from home due to the pandemic, my schedule / routine has changed in big and subtle ways. The biggest change was eliminating the commuting time to and from work, which allowed me to wake up just a bit later (yayyy). Subtle changes would involve checking my personal e-mail, Facebook, doing any online ordering. If you're wondering why working from home resulted in those subtle changes, it's because of my set up at home...

In my room, I have only one desk. And on that desk, there is my home computer, my work computer, one mouse, one keyboard, and two monitors (one monitor is set up vertically due to lack of space). Both home and work computers are hooked up to the monitors but the mouse and keyboard can only be hooked up to one computer at a time. To minimize the frequency of switching (and as a way to keep work and home separate), I decided to keep the mouse and keyboard hooked to the work computer on work days and to switch to the home computer on other days. Now... if you're still wondering why this would affect me checking my personal e-mail, Facebook, etc.: there's just no way I would do any of those on the work computer. And I'm too lazy to do those things consistently on my phone. ^^;

Having said all that, here's how my schedule looks like these days.

MONDAY - FRIDAY (When I'm working)

7 AM: Wake up (if I wake up earlier I do my stuffs earlier and then laze about until work)

7 - 8 AM: Morning stuffs + phone games (brush teeth, shower, exercise, playing SINoALICE and Fate/Grand Order)

8 - 9 AM: Genshin Impact + free time + breakfast (If I do have any free time after Genshin, I may switch games or continue playing)

9 - 5 PM: Work + lunch (5 PM is the ideal end time for work but the reality is that often I finish much later... between 7 - 10 PM)

5 - 10 PM: Genshin Impact + free time + dinner (I'd only go on Genshin a second time if I'm working on the battle pass or if there's an event going on)

10 - 10:20 PM: SINoALICE Colo (phone game)

10:20 - 11 PM: Getting ready for sleeping (brush teeth, playing SINoALICE and Fate/Grand Order)

Sometime between 11 PM to midnight: Sleep!

With the free time, I usually end up playing video games on my consoles / handhelds, but sometimes I also read, watch YouTube videos / Twitch streams, sing, or clean up my room a bit.

Once a week (usually on Thursday), I like to use the Toronto Public Library's streaming service (currently Hoopla) and watch a movie.

SATURDAY

7 AM: Wake up

7 - 8 AM: Morning stuffs + phone games

8 AM - 10 PM: Genshin + checking e-mails, Facebook, gaming news, etc + free time + breakfast, lunch, dinner

10 - 10:20 PM: SINoALICE Colo (phone game)

10:20 - 11 PM: Getting ready for sleeping

Sometime between 11 PM to 1 AM: Sleep!

SUNDAY

Sometime between 7 - 8 AM: Wake up

8 - 9 AM: Morning stuffs + phone games

9 - 2:30 AM: Free time + breakfast, lunch

2:30 - 8-ish PM: Co-oping something with my sister + watching something on Netflix (We usually co-op Genshin if we're working on the battle pass or if there's an event that's co-op-able)

8-ish - 10 PM: Free time + dinner

10 - 10:20 PM: SINoALICE Colo (phone game)

10:20 - 11 PM: Getting ready for sleeping

Sometime between 11 PM to midnight: Sleep!

On the weekends, my free time is often used in the following order / priority:

-watching shows my LINE friends are watching (currently Masked Singer and Dominos Master)

-watching 1-3 movies / shows on My List that will be leaving Netflix soon. If nothing is leaving, then watching 2 movies or a few episodes of a show

-watching 2-4 episodes of something on Crunchyroll

-blogging (I'll make this a priority, lol)

Once I feel I've satisfied the above, I can use my free time for other things like playing video games on the computer, playing around with Ren'py or RPG Maker (very rare but I do get urges from time to time), or other random things. Before the pandemic, I would sometimes hang out with friends or go out shopping / watching a movie.

Sometimes co-oping with my sister could be moved to Saturday or to a later time, depending on each other's schedule.

Once a month, I try to have a voice chat with my LINE friends.

Somewhere in my schedule, I am also doing these everyday:

-playing Wordle and Quordle (if I remember)

-logging into Dx2 SMT: Liberation and doing the daily missions

-using up my AP for SINoALICE

-using up my AP for Fate / Grand Order (when there's an event or I feel like using the AP)

Annnnd that's it.

Please don't get the idea that I'm a person who needs rigid schedules, because that isn't true. I do tend to list out things to do on the weekend, but I'm very fluid on when I do them, if I do them at all.

To anybody who actually read this, thanks for reading! :)

As always, feel free to comment if you like. What kind of schedule do you have, if you have one? :)

This was meant to be a warm-up to blogging again. I was intending this to be short, but it got long-ish, hahaha ^^;

Take care and stay safe. Until next time! :)

Saturday, 30 April 2022

BLOG -- Recap of April

April was full of Netflix-watching (I noticed a bunch of movies / shows on my list were leaving Netflix in April), video game-playing, some relaxation, and a bittersweet good-bye.

"Outings" / Events in April:

- Had a LINE voice chat with my friends. We talked about various things and did a Quordle together. It was fun as usual! :)

- I had a week-long vacation. My sister stayed over during that time so I was a very busy potato, hahaha.

- I ordered some macarons for my sister for her birthday.

- It was my team-mate's last day yesterday. I spent a day creating a good-bye card and then I had a lunch with the team in person the next day. That person will be missed! ;_;

- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn achievements / news:
-I logged on briefly for a week, and haven't been back on since. orz

Exposures:

- (YouTuber): Callum Upton -- I got exposed to him through some of Josh's videos and Twitch streams. Callum is a really funny and interesting person. I enjoy his curious nature. His videos tend to cover MMO scams, buggy issues with certain games, random news, and development logs of an MMO he is currently developing with a team (so cool). I'll be keeping an eye on him, hahaha :)

- (Improv D&D group): Session 0 -- This is an improv D&D group recently formed involving Josh, Callum, and two others. I caught their first session on Twitch last week and was thoroughly entertained.

Below is a Twitch link to the first session if you're curious to check it out:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1461920553.

Finished...

Watching:

- (Movie): Burning -- This was a really sloooow burn. It felt like a 3-hour movie. Despite that, it's a good movie and I still think about it from time to time. You just gotta have the patience.

- (Movie): Drag Me To Hell -- Gross, horrific, and comedic at the same time.

- (Movie): Young and Beautiful -- I would have liked this to be longer -- to get a better understanding of the main character.

- (Movie): Shrek the Third -- This was okay.

- (Movie): Shrek Forever After -- Same with this.

- (Movie): Deep Impact -- I've wanted to watch this for the longest time... but I kept getting the title mixed up with other movies. I enjoyed it.

- (Movie): Nightcrawler -- Well done, but I hated it. I wanted to punch the main character the whole time.

- (Movie): The Foreigner -- Decent.

- (Movie): The Bourne Supremacy -- It would have been better without all the shaky cam. Overall, it's a good movie.

- (Movie): The Bourne Ultimatum -- Same as the above.

- (Movie): The Bourne Legacy -- Not as good as the original trilogy.

- (Movie): Death Race -- An interesting premise but it was just okay.

- (Movie): Martyrs (2008 version) -- I thought Antichrist was the most disturbing movie I've watched. This is a strong contender. Not for the faint of heart.

- (Show): Boys Over Flowers -- This is the Korean drama. Despite some issues I had, I enjoyed a lot of this series. I may blog about it in the future. The music is great. If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose... my soulmate :)

- (Show): Is It Cake? -- I watched this with my sister. It's amazing how detailed cakes can look.

- (Anime): Log Horizon -- I'm sure there will be a Season 4 one day (*prays*), but I'll say that I really like how it explores the getting-trapped-in-a-video-game genre. It feels very unique and boundary-breaking. I'm looking forward to seeing how this series ends.

Playing:

- (PS4): Cat Quest -- This was really cute and fun.

- (PS4): Cat Quest II -- I played this with my sister. Just as cute and fun as Cat Quest.

- (PS4): Katamari Damacy Reroll -- I played the original version on the PS2. There's just something relaxing about rolling up random things.

- (PS4): March to a Million -- Not as good nor addictive as Cafeteria Nipponica.

Reading:

- (Book) Rust and Water by Justin Currie, GMB Chomichuk -- It was pleasant.

Currently...

Playing (not all at once):

- (PS4): Dark Cloud 2

- (PS4): Skyrim
- (PS4): Yakuza 5 Remastered
- (PS4): Trine 2 (co-oping this only, lol)
- (PS4): Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered
- (PS4): The Ramen Sensei
- (PS3): Borderlands 2
- (PSP): Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure

Watching:

- (TV Show): The Walking Dead (Season 8 - Episode 8)
- (TV Show): Criminal Minds (Season 15)
- (TV Show): The Strain (Season 3)
- (TV Show): The Office (Season 8)
- (TV Show): The Goldbergs (Season 5)
- (TV Show): Huff (Season 1 - Episode 10)
- (TV Show): Stranger Things (Season 3 - Episode 3)
- (Anime): Log Horizon (Season 4)
- (Anime): Attack on Titan (Season 4)
- (Anime): Pyscho-Pass (Season 4?)
- (Anime): Kakegurui (Season 3?)
- (Anime): Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls (Episode 2)

- (Anime): Gintama (Episode 13)
- (Anime): Way of the Househusband (Episode 4)
- (Anime): GTO - The Animation (Episode 4)
- (YouTube): StephenVlogs (Day 1058)

Reading:

- (Manga): One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volume ?? -- Chapter 1036)
- (Manga): Berserk by Kentaro Miura (Volume 2)

That's it for April. Here are pics / screenshots I took this month plus a couple YouTube videos.

The macarons I ordered for my sister.
My box is on the left. Her box is on the right.
My favourite was the limited Coffee Crisp flavour.

What I had at my team-mate's good-bye lunch.
I haven't had ramen for over 2 years.

I took a sidetrip to Japan after that good-bye lunch.
I'm just kidding, hahahaha.
These cream buns are great, though!

The Quordle I solved with my LINE friends. For those who don't know, Quordle is like Wordle but you are trying to solve 4 words at the same time.

The front of the good-bye card for my team-mate.
I drew something on the back, too, but I'm keeping that to myself. :)

One of my pulls from the Kakegurui collaboration in SINO.
I got all the classes.

All my SRs after spending almost 20,000 TC.

Part 2 of the above. One might think, 'So many weapons -- she must be so lucky!' In reality, I have so many weapons because I was unlucky with getting the weapon I really wanted u_u'