“But Mint,” you say, scoffing. “You’re unemployed, isn’t every day a vacation for you?” Technically true, but my [[2026-09-06 - On Vacation|time in Jersey & New York]] was me getting to not have a job and not feel bad about it for a while. Anyways in that time off I barely wrote, and I don’t feel like adding every individual game I played to the site, at least not yet. So here’s some brief blurbs on everything worth talking about. --- ## Onimusha: Way of the Sword Okay so technically these first two games I played *after* I got back from Joisey, but I’ve had a horrible sinus infection so I didn’t feel like doing anything productive. So every minute I spent fighting a boss in Onimusha it was the greatest game I played this year. Every minute I spent running around in whack-ass, fuck-ass, boring-ass shit-ass eastern kyoto doing stupid fetch quests Onimusha it quickly became the absolute worst game I played this year. Ultimately the boss fights win out, with the final boss being the best thing since [[Nine Sols]] or **Sekiro**, but I wish the game wasn't so scared of just being a full on **Furi**-style boss rush. The padding is totally unnecessary and the time making that could have been spent on making the linear levels even better or add more enemy variety. But the combat really is so good that the minute I was in a battle I completely forgot all my qualms with the game. I hope the sequel works on that particular aspect because it'll be a perfect game. As such that brings the game down from a 6/7 to a 5/7 for me. ## Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve **AC8** is likely the best game in the series. It makes sense. Project ACEs wasn’t anticipating how popular **Ace Combat 7** would be, so this follow-up was their chance to go again but with more of a budget. No png dogs this time around. Beyond the budget though, **Wings of Theve** is still a highlight as far narrative moments and characterization in **Ace Combat** as a series. I plan to write about the way these games make you feel like a legend, but I’m glad I waited to play this game first. You’ll see why. Regardless, the more shocking thing is that this game likely has the best *soundtrack* of any **Ace Combat**. I do mean that. There have never been so many bangers in one **AC** game, in my humble ~~but correct~~ opinion. Overall just a phenomenal game, and easily one of the best of the year. ## Guided Fate Paradox And now for some shit you’ve never heard of. This is the spiritual sequel to **Z.H.P Unlosing Ranger vs Dark Death Evilman**, a videogame that you’ve also never heard of. They’re made by Nippon Ichi, and thus are basically **Mystery Dungeon** by way of **Disgaea**. Dying means little in these games, because any level ups you gain in a dungeon are added to your “Total Level,” which, if you know anything about Nippon Ichi, will hit the millions once you really dig into the game. I actually liked **ZHP** more than Disgaea, because the pacing matches the growth mechanics better, at least for me. This was my first time playing **Guided Fate Paradox**, which is stuck on the **PlayStation 3** still to this day, as of this writing. There are a myriad of quality of life changes to its [[PlayStation Portable]] predecessor that I really appreciate. The meta-progression is even more satisfying than **ZHP** too. Using weapons until they max out in “BURST” mode, which provides you attribute upgrades you can place on a grid, makes for an extremely addictive loop of dungeon crawling to get stronger. However, this game has an actual plot. It’s not as bad as I would have thought — you play as a teenager tasked with becoming God and granting people’s wishes alongside your Angel companions. The teenager in question is actually pretty likable: he thinks through things before acting, has a generally logical outlook, and while he has a crush, he isn’t an annoyingly insatiable horndog, which was truly an issue in this era of gaming. However! However. There is a cutscene between *every. Single. Floor. Of a dungeon.* This really grinds the game’s pacing to a halt in a way that I hated. It’s antithetical to the grind that **NIS** is known for. I still plan on finishing it, but damn it’s wordy in a visual novel sort of way. ## Summon Night Sword Craft Story 3 The English fan-translation for this unreleased [[Game Boy Advance]] sequel finally came out after more than a decade — completely AI-free. For the unfamiliar, the **Sword Craft** games are adorable little dungeon crawlers where, as a Craft Knight, you build your own weapons to fight enemies alongside your companion summon. The crafting is engaging without being overly complex. Maxing out a weapon before you dissemble it lets you carry its stats over, letting you build stronger and stronger weapons. The game feels a lot smoother than both **Sword Craft 1** and **2**, with a more even difficulty curve. I dunno how I survived weapon grinding though: maxing a weapon out requires you to hit enemies 255 times, and if you want stat increases, you gotta lock-in and do it. I dunno if there are ways to make it go faster later on, but as of now I don’t really do the “crafting” part of **Sword Craft 3** unless I hit a boss wall. As for the fan-translation itself, it’s honestly pitch-perfect. It feels exactly as if it were localized alongside the other games by the same translation team. Hats off to the team for their incredibly hard work. ## Rengoku II: the Stairway to H.E.A.V.E.N I dunno man. I feel like I’ve played every videogame at this point so sometimes I gotta dig real deep, okay? Anyways, **Rengoku II** is fucking awesome. I avoided it because of its terrible reviews, but of course everyone is wrong about it. It’s basically **Armored Core**, but instead of a giant robot you’re kitting out a seasoned veteran trapped in the body of a battle android, named Gram. He fights his way up The Tower of Purgatory, with each floor named after the seven deadly sins. It’s metal and noisy as fuck. There are 300 items in **Rengoku II**, all of which you use to customize Gram and climb the tower. You can put a weapon on each face button, corresponding with your arms, head and legs. You can only hit each face button once to do a combo, and figuring out the right combo based on the weapons you’re using will help maximize damage, thus netting you even more items. You also have shields and other utility items to consider as well. This is a straight-up dungeon crawler, so one person’s “repetitive” will become another’s — and by another’s I mean “my” — “meditative number go up game.” It also reminds me of **Phantasy Star Online** in a way, and we all know what a freak I am for [[Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity|that]] [[Phantasy Star Online - Return to Ragol|series]]. ## Ragnarok Odyssey Ace Speaking of **PSO**, this game, based on the **Ragnarok Online** MMO[^1], feels like it wasn’t sure if it should be **PSO** or **Monster Hunter**. As such it’s slightly worse than both of those series, but I’m so starved for **PSO** content at this point that I’ve accepted it gladly. The pacing is akin to **PSO2PI** specifically — very flashy, with combos and air-launchers and what-have you. Would I recommend this game? Not particularly. Does it have the option to let your main character dress up as **Kat Gravity Rush**? Yes. Subsequently it is easily one of the greatest games I’ve played this year. I actually have no idea how far you can get playing the game solo given the **PlayStation 3** servers are down, so I might check back with y’all to talk about this game some more. --- Okay that’s everything. It feels good to write *something* again, to be honest. I have more to share so look out for it IsA. Thanks for reading. [^1]: Wow, you remember that? Make sure to take your meds, old-timer!