AdenSyra

"God's watch from above and wonder what went wrong
The entropy of what once was strong..."
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Journal time! I think I'm missing a cheesy reference by a word, but anyway, time for an update. I just finished a little short comic, which I hate, but it's okay because I learned a lot. Truth is, the story really had no business being anything less than 30 pages, but due to the time I had (20 days), I just had to pick a concept and roll with it, and sadly, I never had a chance to polish out the tale, or even really write it before illustrating. So, it's a rushed, fragmented mess, but hey, I did 15 pages in 18 days, and I'm proud of that. Plus, it was a great learning experience. As for why I had such a short time limit, well, this was all for a magazine called Seqapunch which is being started by and one or two others. Anyway, they're just starting out, wanted some submissions, and I thought it'd be a good idea to try for it, so hey, I did. I just didn't end up with as much time to work on it as I'd like. On the plus side, their next issue is a ways away, and I actually have an idea that could really work well for it, so after a break, maybe I'll get started on that. I'll space it out more, though, no more of this one page a day nonsense. @.@

In other news, I got a 3DS, hurrah! I like the thing, and I didn't have a DS, so I'm also using it to play catch up, heh. Currently though, it's all about Kid Icarus: Uprising, or it would be, if I wasn't working on that comic. Fortunately I finally finished the comic, so now I can sit back, and blast some underworld forces to bits with loads of cheesy dialog.

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Video Game Info:
-Remember to note me if you add.

Wii friend codes:
_________________
Console:5973 1475 3156 2639
Super Smash Brothers Brawl:0344 9480 0301
Mario Kart Wii: 0130 2476 4940
Monster Hunter Tri: Name: Fiore ID Number: DQ5E3K
__________________
PSN ID: AdenSyra
Steam: AdenSyra

Status
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Commission Information.
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"God's watch from above and wonder what went wrong
The entropy of what once was strong..."
_______________________________________

So, it has apparently been since, well, July since I added a journal entry, so I figure it's time for an update. Quite a bit has happened, though little of it art related, unfortunately.

For starters, I wrecked my motorcycle. Yep, lowsided on a sharp turn, entirely my fault, but unpleasant regardless. It wasn't severe, and I rode home after picking the bike up, but such things are never fun. Here's my "always wear your damned gear" bit, as I walked away from that with little more than some mild aches for a couple days. Not a mark on me as I was wearing all my gear, leather jacket, Kevlar lined jeans, boots, gloves, full faced helmet, every bit of it. I had to replace my helmet, as you're always supposed to after any impact, but my gear was pretty much unharmed too. That's the joy of good gear, pricey going in, but lasts forever, and saves your hide, literally. The bike was scratched up, and the handlebar severely bent, so I took it into the shop. Fortunately the insurance covered everything, and they didn't raise my rates, likely as it was my first incident, so now my bike is shiny like new once more. My new helmet is also awesome, it was more expensive than my last one, but it barely weighs anything, has great visibility, and even looks cool, so while it hurt the pockets, it's nice to have. So, that was certainly a trial for a time, but all of it is squared away, my bike is riding beautifully again, and I have a mistake to learn from, which I fully intend to.

In other news, I got to beta test The Old Republic for a couple weekends. Those interested in the MMO scene, I can basically say it's a solid game. The presentation is great, the stories are all interesting, and I enjoyed the little space minigame. The core combat is pretty standard, and the only real way to gain experience is through quests which do get old rather quickly, save for the main story quests. You can try to divert yourself away from the grind with ship missions or group missions, but in reality you can expect a lot of WoW like repetition. Unfortunately for me, that means I can't really get into it past 20 or so levels, and that's a shame cause I really like what they were going for. Sadly, I want more of a "world" or "universe" than a series of linear quest paths, so TOR isn't a game I'll likely buy, but if you enjoy WoW, Aion, or similar MMOs, TOR is likely a game you'll absolutely love.

Obviously, I did nab Dark Souls the very first day. You all should know how much I loved Demon's Souls, and well, Dark Souls is even better in most respects. It's a fantastic game, with a thick atmosphere, delightfully demented art direction, and tactical, engaging combat. The seamless world adds a new level of immersion to the game as well, giving you a long, oppressive journey through hell and back, and many of the environments are just wonderfully sinister. If you're a fan of challenging action-RPGs with a progression similar to that of Castlevania or Metroid then Dark Souls is a must.

Oh, and since I never did update for it, I did get Catherine when it came out. That game was an absolute trip. A Twilight Zone style story, bizarre gameplay blending genres you'd never think to combine, and just a wonderful style to wrap it all together. It was difficult(I played through on Normal), but the puzzles were real brain teasers, even without the time limit, and I really loved the boss battles, excluding one in particular. Catherine is hard game to recommend, though, some people will love it, some will just scratch their head in confusion. It's bizarre, unlike anything you've ever played, and a genuinely good game, but not one for everyone.

Not much else to note at the moment. Hopefully I can get back to being more consistent, I tend to keep vanishing, and I apologize. I also still need to get Skyward Sword, and because I'm elated by the news, I'd like to announce here that, if you haven't heard, Xenoblade Chronicles is finally getting a North American release! Yep, NoA finally announced it, granted I'm pretty sure they just planned to wait until after Skyward Sword from the start, and the fans were jumping the gun, but it's great news for all you Wii owners who didn't import the EU version. So mark your calenders, Xenoblade Chronicles comes out in April here in the US~

____________________________________________

Video Game Info:
-Remember to note me if you add.

Wii friend codes:
_________________
Console:5973 1475 3156 2639
Super Smash Brothers Brawl:0344 9480 0301
Mario Kart Wii: 0130 2476 4940
Monster Hunter Tri: Name: Fiore ID Number: DQ5E3K
__________________
PSN ID: AdenSyra
Steam: AdenSyra

Status
___________
Print information.

Commission Information.
________________________________________

"God's watch from above and wonder what went wrong
The entropy of what once was strong..."
_______________________________________

So, between artsy updates, I figured I'd throw out a new journal. I know, I'm slow with "teh arts" but I'll get on track soon, hopefully. Believe it or not, I have plans, the gears are certainly turning, it's just uncertain as to how long it'll take to realize said plans. I really, really want to do a comic. I have for a long time, and my attempts usually fail, so I'm going into this one with more experimentation, and plotting beforehand, as such, it's a slow, slow start. However, I have some semblance of faith that should this pan out, I have a decent chance of success this time around. I've taken an old story and matured it quite a bit, and while it delves into unfamiliar territory on my part, the result is, while quite dark, a story that's a notch above what I've done in the past. So hopefully I can stop beating around the bush and simply get that underway soon.

In completely unrelated news, Steam Summer Camp! This is way better than the summer camp I had to go to as a kid, they never had massive sales on games! Anyone else partaking in the wonders of huge sales on Steam? I've been pretty stingy, but I finally got the Vietnam DLC for Magicka for a mere dollar, and I picked up Beat Hazard Complete, which I'm absolutely hooked on. So, what are you hoping pops up on a daily list of deals, and what huge discounts have you jumped upon?

If anyone else is blasting through Beat Hazard I'd be up for some co-op or PVP fun. It'd be neat to find someone with similar music taste to roam through The Birthday Massacre, Abney Park, or The Black Mages. Maybe some Sex Machineguns here and there for extra insanity, you know. If you're completely oblivious to the game, it's on sale, on Steam for a mere $6 for the complete pack, and is a twin stick shoot-em-up that changes to your music. Think of it somewhat like, say, Geometry Wars, though I actually find it to more closely resemble that LBP2 game called Blast Radius. Still, the premise is there, and I'm in love with this game. Dancing Mad by The Black Mages has been one of the coolest songs to play through it with so far, the changing pace just gives the gameplay such a unique personality! Just remember, don't play Beat Hazard in the dark, it will make your eyes bleed.

____________________________________________

Video Game Info:
-Remember to note me if you add.

Wii friend codes:
_________________
Console:5973 1475 3156 2639
Super Smash Brothers Brawl:0344 9480 0301
Mario Kart Wii: 0130 2476 4940
Monster Hunter Tri: Name: Fiore ID Number: DQ5E3K
__________________
PSN ID: AdenSyra
Steam: AdenSyra

Status
___________

Print information.

Commission Information.
________________________________________

Laharl: Th, This must be a dream...
Flonne: Etna's acting all serious...
Gordon: Could this be a sign of terrible things to come?
Jennifer: It's the end of the world!
Thursday: END OF THE WORLD - DANGER DANGER DANGER...
Prinny Squad: Dooooood! Everybody, run!!
Etna: ...They're gonna get it.

"God's watch from above and wonder what went wrong
The entropy of what once was strong..."
_______________________________________

I haven't made a journal in a while, so, let's talk video games. I like video games.

Recently, I obtained a pair of imports for my PSP, as PSPs are region free, lovely feature that. The first of which, is Earth Defense Force 2 Portable. If you're unfamiliar with EDF, well, it's a third person shooter that, despite its genre, plays out a bit more similarly to twin stick classics like Robotron 2084 than it does to, say, Gears of War. EDF games plop you into a level, upon which you must battle hordes of alien foes. Most of which come in forms of giant bugs, spiders, UFOs, robots, and a handful of Godzilla look-a-likes. It has a fair number of reskins, but they each behave a bit differently, but EDF isn't really about diversity, technical qualities, or complexity. It's about being an arcade style shooter with a difficulty that starts easy, and gets bloody hard towards the end, complete with a neverending hunt for insane weapons and armor upgrades in the form of dropped pick ups that scatter the battlefield. It's not dramatic, cinematic, or filled with plot, but what it is, is fun. Pure, unrivaled, fun. I dare you, dare you to try EDF, be it EDF2Portable for the PSP, or 2017 for the 360, and not smile, and not laugh, and not have fun. If you can accomplish that, then my friend, I pity you.

Now, if you are an EDF fan, then I can't recommend EDF2P enough. 2017, while fun in its own right, is largely an unfinished game. It has no Pale Wing, nor any of her weapons, and a much smaller cast of giant enemies, and reuses a lot of things from EDF2. In fact, despite being EDF3, 2017 came out more like a remake of the original. So it's safe to say 2 has significantly more content, and personally, I found its final mothership battle to be even more amazing. Pale Wing plays completely different from Storm 1, having a jet pack, and her own unique set of weapons, many of which focus on getting up close and personal for extreme damage, despite her lower HP count. Aside from more enemies, another playable character, and more missions, EDF2 even has another difficulty mode. That's right, a difficulty that comes *after* the dreaded Inferno. It has to be unlocked, but it's known as Impossible, and for good reason. The PSP port of EDF2 suffers from the lack of a second analog stick, but if you switch the control type to Type A, and use the face buttons to aim, it works quite well. The portable variant also adds several new missions, a few new enemies, like the evil Green Ants that shoot massive waves of acid, or the insanely strong Bright Red Ants, that hit for over 400 on Normal, and let's not forget the Spotted Spiders which are even more frightening than the standard ones. It adds the ability to revive fallen allies in Co-op, and Ad-hoc Party lets you co-op online as well. Plus, there's a Versus mode, which while I wouldn't call it balanced, or competitive, it is bloody hilarious. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll reach the US. The PSP is on the out, and D3 America seems to be focusing on Insect Armageddon, which if I may say so, looks awful. Of course, Sandlot is now working on EDF4, so maybe we'll see that when it comes around.


The second import I've obtained is Macross Triangle Frontier. This is a flight combat game based on the Macross universe, and it's a damn good one at that. The game allows you to freely transform between Fighter, Gerwalk, and Battloid modes, each with their own ups and downs, so you'll want to use them all in combat. Each mecha, and there are a ton of them, comes with a primary weapon, usually a gunpod or sniper rifle of sorts, and three sub weapons, generally types of missiles or lasers. You can upgrade the stats of your chosen mech as you gain tune points through missions, and you'll constantly be unlocking new mechs, characters, and missions. Speaking of missions, this game covers almost every single iteration of Macross. Ordered chronologically, you've got:

Macross Zero
Super Dimension Fortress Macross
Macross: Do You Remember Love
Macross Plus
Macross 7
Macross 7 Dynamite
Macross Frontier
Macross Frontier: The False Songstress
Macross II

Yes, even the alternate universe, non-canon Macross II gets a campaign, each campaign ranging from around 8 to 20+ missions. On top of that, the game gives you Extra missions as you progress, of which there are tons, which add new challenges by sending various waves of enemies and bosses at you for a whole new degree of fun. Then you've got Survival Mode, where you pick a campaign, and play through the entirety of it as if it were one mission, only receiving a small bit of health between runs. Combine this with the hundreds of machines to pilot, ranging from the awesome YF-19 from Macross Plus(my personal favorite), to gimicky units like Klan from Macross Frontier running around with a Fast Pack on her back, and you've got a massive list of content(Did I mention it'll even let you pilot a Macross Fortress?). However, if that weren't enough, the game lets you use a ton of pilots from the stories, each with their own stats, and you can set up your wing man to fly with you, a support unit for an extra Command Skill in battle, and an Operator to give you orders, customizing your Macross flavor to your liking. However, that's not all. Nope, it's not all.

Triangle Frontier features a new Academy mode, which, while I'm not too big on it as a whole, is an interesting create-a-character concept. It's a dating sim set on the Macross Frontier, you interact with Frontier characters, and go to class to build up your stats to be used in the campaign mode. I mostly just used a guide, since it's all in Japanese, and went straight for stat grinding, but if you don't plan to use the character in the campaign, you can forgo that in favor of playing it like a traditional dating sim with various endings and the like, but that's not really my thing. I made two characters, the second of which turned out quite nicely, with some very solid stats, and I mostly ignore Academy mode now. It's worth noting that it is the only way to customize your character, if you skip it, you simply pick from preset characters instead. Custom characters are also the only ones with Affection ratings for your fellow pilots, which is a neat touch as their comments towards you in battle change based on how well they like you, so it's certainly worth doing Academy mode for another layer of fun.

That being said, this isn't the first game. Macross Triangle Frontier is built on its predecessor, Macross Ultimate Frontier, which was built upon Macross Ace Frontier. Essentially, they're the same basic game at the core, however each receives some gameplay adjustments to improve the mechanics, and notable content boosts. If you have Ace Frontier, then upgrade, it's totally worth it as it's really lacking in content by comparison. However, if you already have Ultimate Frontier, well, that's a bit more questionable. There is more content in Triangle Frontier, but it isn't as huge a leap as Ultimate was from Ace. It's worth doing some research before deciding, but since this was my first one, Triangle Frontier was totally worth it. The core campaign took me a good 20 hours, and it looks like Extra missions will take at least that long as well, and then there's Survival, and all the unlockables I've yet to get. This game is huge, and addictive as hell. If you're a Macross fan, you *need* this game. If you're not a Macross fan...well, why the hell aren't you!? It's bloody Macross! Do You Remember Love and Macross Plus are just plain awesome.


So, yes, I love my PSP. These are imports, though, so they are in Japanese. That being said, I find both easy to play regardless. There's a translation guide for Triangle Frontier on Gamefaqs to resolve any questions about stats you may have, or to get through Academy mode. For EDF2P, well, it's a simple game, with little plot, so there isn't much to translate. See that bug? Shoot it. That being said, it does have hundreds of weapons, but once you figure out the weapon screen layout, which is dividing by range and type, you can simply use the stat numbers of the highlighted weapon to resolve what it is. This is a bit of a steep learning curve, but one EDF veterans will have no issue with, and one newcomers can easily resolve through a little early trial and error, it becomes second nature before long, and since you start with only a couple weapons and build it up bit by bit, you can learn as you go.

If you're a PSP owner, I'd definitely recommend both of these games for prospective import if they sound even remotely interesting. Japanese games are pricey, but thanks to Harmony Gold trying to lobby for rights they don't have with regards to Robotech(they even tried to sue the new Mechwarrior team, despite not owning any of the IPs for the mech designs in the first place), Macross Triangle Frontier will *never* come to the US, so if you want it, you have to import it. As for EDF2P, there's a slim chance it could happen, what with the spark of EDF popularity, but I fear Insect Armageddon will smother it, despite being what looks like a much worse game.

_____________________________________________
Wii friend codes(Please note me if you add):
Console:5973 1475 3156 2639
Super Smash Brothers Brawl:0344 9480 0301
Mario Kart Wii: 0130 2476 4940
Monster Hunter Tri: Name: Fiore ID Number: DQ5E3K

PSN ID: AdenSyra(Note me if you add)

Status
___________
Print information.

Commission Information.
________________________________________
Laharl: Th, This must be a dream...
Flonne: Etna's acting all serious...
Gordon: Could this be a sign of terrible things to come?
Jennifer: It's the end of the world!
Thursday: END OF THE WORLD - DANGER DANGER DANGER...
Prinny Squad: Dooooood! Everybody, run!!
Etna: ...They're gonna get it.

"God's watch from above and wonder what went wrong
The entropy of what once was strong..."
_______________________________________

Okay, so, it's been a while. A long while. Too long of a while. I was doing this, and that, and a bit of stuff, and things, and possibly contracted some of those. Life's been weird, and as such, I took a bit of a break from DA. That is done now, mostly, and so I have returned, to, uh, do more DA things! Yeah!

So, what have I been up too? Well, some commissions here, some personal things there. My mom actually got a puppy. An adorable little aussie shepherd, and I'll tell ya, that little guy knows how cute he is. Trust me, if you came here, you would pet him. You'd think it was your choice at first, before you realized, it was his doing. Yep, that puppy has your number, he will make you pet him faster than a kitten with a bow. I've actually been taking care of him a bit, since my mom can't be around as often as she'd like for now, and he's a little young for independence. It's been too long since I've had a dog, heh. A lot of work? Perhaps, but so worth it.

Well, I don't have a huge update or anything, but since I'm back, I threw up a new picture I did recently. A while ago I concocted this little b-movie universe, and it may actually become a bit more. I'm thinking of turning into a one shot comic to help perfect my style. I know, I fail at comics, my attention span, and self criticizing ways sabotage me at every turn. However, that's part of what I've been doing in my absence. I've been tweaking, toying, researching, and devising a new style. One with more originality, and personal flair that makes use of what I'm good at. So I'd like to use my little sci-fi story as a test to help define that style into a proper comic book format. So, hopefully that will come about. I've got most of the plot planned out, and it should be a lot of fun. Who doesn't love corny science fiction, eh?

Anyway, expect me to start updating more often again. I really was gone too long, so it'll be good to get back into the DA world.

_____________________________________________
Wii friend codes(Please note me if you add):
Console:5973 1475 3156 2639
Super Smash Brothers Brawl:0344 9480 0301
Mario Kart Wii: 0130 2476 4940
Monster Hunter Tri: Name: Fiore ID Number: DQ5E3K

PSN ID: AdenSyra(Note me if you add)

Status
___________
Print information.

Commission Information.
________________________________________
Laharl: Th, This must be a dream...
Flonne: Etna's acting all serious...
Gordon: Could this be a sign of terrible things to come?
Jennifer: It's the end of the world!
Thursday: END OF THE WORLD - DANGER DANGER DANGER...
Prinny Squad: Dooooood! Everybody, run!!
Etna: ...They're gonna get it.