Ektris

I've voiced complaints about Nendoroids often enough elsewhere that I find it a little weird at times to think of how I've started getting some and keeping track of a few future releases. But there are just now some where the aesthetic absolutely works for me, and Kirby is deifnitely one of them. I don't even look at this and see a chibi superderformed abomination they make too many of. It's just... Kirby! And that's why he's awesome. Plus his limbs are magnetic, making him very fun to play with. Couldn't resist taking some pictures right after getting him. ~|ET|~

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia (Digital download) Rise of the Tomb Raider Huh. Well that certainly looks like quite the light month, although it's not what I expected. Already shared my thoughts on ACC: Russia, so go ahead and check that out if you're interested. And Tomb Raider I just got yesterday, but the two hours I got in so far were pretty fun. So yeah... Totally thought I'd have a lot more. One of my pre-orders at BBTS didn't come in stock yet, which I'm a little mad about, so that means I haven't shipped what I have there yet. And my monthly AmiAmi order didn't have everything come in stock until a few days ago so it's just not gotten here yet. So I guess things will be reversed and next month will be the big 'un. ~|ET|~

As soon as I saw it had finally released, I downloaded it right away. Played through the first few levels so far. Not too difficult and decent enough for passing a little time. ~|ET|~

Last set I've got for now. Imagine when I get in everything I'm supposed to this month I'll be doing a whole new wave of shoots. I did have fun doing these ones. Darth Maul Obi-Wan ~|ET|~

At last I am done with this trilogy! (Mostly.) And in my opinion, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia was a pretty good ending. Once again, nothing too new mechanically here to report. You have guns now replacing your knives from past games, and you can electrocute people. That was fun. What does set this one apart from its predecessors is the presence of a deuteragonist. I was not expecting that at all, let alone it being an actual historical figure. When you weren't running around as the grizzled Nikolai Orelov, you got to be Anastasia Romanov. Since she wasn't a trained assassin, it did require a different playstyle more heavily relying on stealth that broke things up nicely. Once again we do have a new art style. I wasn't a big fan. This game was gray and red. Very, very red. Gee, I wonder why... One interesting thing is we were finally able to put all of those codes that have been hidden throughout the three games to unlock a modern day cut scene. That was cool. I'm going to go back to China now to get the missing Achievement there, which I consider the hardest in the trilogy. I actually finished Russia 100% this time before posting this entry, not just my first run through the campaign. It was definitely the easiest one. But by and large, I'm done with Chronicles. I can say my skills improved as I moved to each new one, improving my enjoyment and opinion of the games as well. So yeah, I'm thinking a little more positively of them now. Still not must-plays though. ~|ET|~

I'm not feeling it. I love the art, and the short character teasers did their job of getting me excited and interested. However, this trailer has rather dashed that interest. Obviously I am no longer in the target demographic (I still enjoy plenty of things where I'm not though), but it's almost like what they're aiming for here is even lower than what I expected it to be. The voice work also leaves much to be desired; Umarak's in particular could not be more ill-fitting. I'll still be giving it a shot. One may call my take silly for such a short trailer, but their purpose is to give you a sense of what a program will be like and I don't know if I'll like it so much from this. Just not as hopeful for it now as I had been. ~|ET|~

They're so big and scary it took me a year after buying it to start reading the third book. ;_;

It's a relatively new development for Champ - having literally been inflicted with the curse only a few days ago. But I think he'll cope with it just fine. He always overcomes the odds.

Around this time last year I think, my friends roped me in to playing Dungeons & Dragons. I hadn't played for about 6 years, and even when I did previously I never got too into it nor really understood what I was doing. So it was more or less a new experience for me. Especially since it's all done over Skype. Anywho, here's the guys I've played since then: Rhikorin - A tiefling cleric of Trithereon, he is a stubborn ex-soldier intent on meting out his own sense of retribution after years of mistreatment by those he saved in the line of duty. Criton - This noble Illuskan monk tries to help all those in need, sending those willing to his monastery to study under his master. Unbeknownst to him, Criton is in fact the top recruiter of a reverse pyramid scheme that requires all of its students to relinquish their gold and trains them to loathe material possessions. J'hon Cinah - Half orc, half wood elf, half shark, all muscle. J'hon Cinah is the top competitor at (and a slave of) the traveling gladiatorial troupe World Warrior Entertainment. Adept with the longsword and trident, the current champion has never been felled in battle and never gives up. ~|ET|~

I would assume that a "grail" is the same as a "holy grail," an item valued and wanted by many and owned by few or one. They're generally subjective, as everyone wants something different; but generally, I would assume misprinted, mint, or exclusive items would count as such. Yep, your personal holy grail. The thing you want most. Just kind of a second level of "want." Seen here because the general template formula I mimicked originally used them heh. ~|ET|~

The lighter one. ~|ET|~

Kylo Ren Until yesterday I'd say this was the best Toys Kylo Ren in this scale out there, but with the MAFEX revealed (and coming with a Driver head and melted Vader helmet..) I'm not too sure now. Though that's not coming out until the end of the year so for now it's still at the top in my opinion. But yeah I love this guy. First Order Stormtrooper Probably should have removed the window before taking these, but didn't realize how funky they were turning out until I was done and at that point I didn't feel like doing it all over again heh. Yes I got lazy. Probably because it was the last of a large group I did that today. ~|ET|~

I wanted to get everything, but that fell apart rather quickly last summer when other interests (and lack of in the skeletons) just got in the way. So for now it's just what I think is cool, though that completionist urge is a-tickling always. ~|ET|~

This one was kind of just an excuse to mess around with the new hips Kakashi is using. ~|ET|~

Felt like getting back into taking pictures of my stuff lately. Got a bit of a backlog of things to post even haha. From back in December, here is... One really awesome Figuart and a pretty okay one. Battle Droid Still love this thing. By far one of the best 6" figures I have. Clone Trooper Meh... And I'm still finding it hard to get this guy to look good in shooting poses. ~|ET|~

Hmm. Yeah, don't know what to expect at all with them. But still looking forward to it. ~|ET|~

It's not been long since I last posted and I already beat my next game, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India. Maybe it was because China adjusted me to the mechanics, but I did not find this game nearly as difficult. The only real difficulty was self-inflicted, as I chose to make my first run be an attempt at beating the game without killing (because Achievements). I wasn't wholly successful, but it did mean going a little slower at times and being a lot more methodical. It was almost fun heh. Plus it was just a different way of playing for me. This really was just a re-skin of China, though, which is a shame. I still liked the visuals, maybe a bit more even. India is a lot brighter than China, so that's probably contributing to that feeling some. It's just... literally the exact same game. Although I still wish it had been announced sooner, as I had mentioned in my last haul post, I wonder now if the three-pack physical release of China, India, and Russia would be a good way to experience these games. I should have seen it coming. *sigh* I'm still a guy who like his physical media... But anyways, playing all of them back-to-back would basically be 30 levels of the exact same content and I can actually see that becoming stale fast. So this spacing has probably helped me enjoy India at least just a little bit more. I'm still playing this game to unlock the rest of the Achievements. So that means I'm in store for a whole lot of grinding and killing. Since I didn't do any during my first run. D'oh! But seriously, that grinding... Ugh so many are grinds. One is to beat in Plus Hard Mode without being seen once. I've already beat two levels that way, and now that I'm fine with killing as well (man I can't imagine trying to combine these two), I don't honestly see it being that hard. Just have to be patient. Just like its predecessor, I don't feel that Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India is a horrible game, it can just be a little frustrating at times. ~|ET|~

BIONICLE Villain Pack Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India (Digital download) S.H. Figuarts Obi-Wan Kenobi (Episode I) Funko Legacy Dovahkiin Funko Legacy Daedric Warrior S.H. Figuarts Hatake Kakashi LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Cyberman Fun Pack I sort of got back into getting BIONICLE this month. Thanks to a tip on the BZP Facebook page, found a pretty good deal on eBay so decided not to pass it up and got the villain pack. I kind of want... a lot now. Just for that base. It's cool displaying the masks on it, although yeah the stand itself is bad. Very pretty mask too. Still don't know when I'll get into my 2015 backlog and start 2016... March is looking to be a light month in regards to my pre-orders hmm.. Still haven't gotten any of the big games I've been wanting, but I realized there's nothing coming out for a good long while that I do want. So now I'm in no rush and just going to enjoy what I have first. Which is why I spent all month playing Majora's Mask. And now the next installment of Assassin's Creed Chronicles. I sure wish they had announced there would be a physical release when China was released, because I honestly would have waited until then. But since I already have China and don't want to just re-buy that (since it's literally the price of all three, no discount for waiting or getting them bundled, which is pretty lame), I figured I'd just get the rest downloaded to. Meh. Finally got the Funko Legacy Skyrim figures I'd been putting off. Still can't believe it took this long to get action figures based off of Skyrim. Everything I've read about the Funko Legacy line of toys is... not great. At all. Particularly their Game of Thrones toys. The Skyrim ones are generally acknowledged as an improvement and so far I don't have issues with them falling apart or breaking. My Dovahkiin did come out of the package with a warped leg that really bugs me though I'm hesitant to fix, having not done that before and not wanting to screw it up. But they look great, have decent ranges of articulation, and I just think they're pretty cool. Bandai's continuing to pump out prequel Figuarts and I love it. Obi-Wan's pretty good. Nothing exceptional I feel (though how they handled the robes is pretty cool... so many parts of it move) but nothing bad either. Just need a Gui-Gon now. Kakashi may be the best Naruto release yet if only for accessories. Still think the face options could be improved, but it's a lot better than the dismal amount we got with Sasuke. And they're using a new style of hips on him that is alright. Does allow a good range of movement. Oh and I couldn't pass on the sale last week on the Dimensions Fun Packs. So of course I got the Doctor Who one. Love the Cyberman minifig and honestly think it's pretty cool to have a couple different builds of a Dalek now. Still no plans to get the game, but in terms of toys-to-life they're pretty great in the toy department. Which makes sense. Since they're LEGO. ~|ET|~

I thought the eyes were kind of a weird thing. I think Gyorg is the one I had the most difficulty with just because I couldn't figure out the second phase for a bit. And even when I did, kept screwing up so it was just becoming frustrating. On Anju and Kafei, having to do it twice to get all items was a drag. It was certainly the most interesting side quest at least. Oh, and I did like all of the ones at Romani's Ranch.

Going to try and cover the games as I play them this year. No clue how long that will last haha. But first up in 2016 is The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, the first game I played this year and the first one I beat. I've now played four games in The Legend of Zelda! While the previous three were all very different, this one did feel like more of the same. Which it obviously should have, being a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time. That's not a bad thing in the least, though. In fact it made getting into the game very easy, since there wasn't a whole lot unfamiliar. Except, of course, the masks. Those were an interesting mechanic. A few were just a pain to acquire - I did do a 100% run - while some were just plain useless. Besides the transformations, I used the Bunny Hood and Blast Mask the most. The Bunny Hood was just great. Loved being able to move faster once I acquired it. The transformations were really fun to use too. Now that was an exciting change. Rolling around as a Goron was a blast. I like that each didn't feel totally useless after you completed their corresponding jungles. It all just depended on how you wanted to play and where you wanted to explore, which was cool. Unfortunately, I do have to admit that I absolutely required a guide. I don't think I could have completed the game 100% without one. Certainly beat it in time (which reminds me I should go try and beat Majora without using Fierce Deity because that was too easy), but not fully. I don't know how much easier the remake was compared to the original; there were parts, notably boss battles, where I felt it might have been too simple. But I'm not sure. I got through the swamp and mountain, including getting most things in those areas, on my own. But before I went to the ocean I decided to go back and get the dungeon faeries and it was just all downhill from there... Used a guide probably too much. I tried to do the puzzles on my own, but was still constantly referencing for hidden items. Plus all those side quests for masks... Like Anju and Kafei ugh... I still liked the game. The time crunch was very annoying at times, but I know it's part of what made the game different and don't hate it. After learning the inverted song of time it was hardly an issue anyway. I just can't help but feel a little guilty about how I ended up playing it. Totally another solid game in the series and has me looking forward to more. I'll be playing Twilight Princess next, but who knows what others I might end up checking out this year. ~|ET|~

Oh good, there is some printing on Ekimu's chest there. It does helpt a little bit. The blended masks coming with the beasts this year just don't seem as interesting to me as last year's. The lime green just doesn't look good to me. It's kind of okay with the Mask of Earth, but the red and white with Fire and Ice... Meh. The blended Hunter Mask looks wicked though. The beasts look decent. I like having the traps be seemingly a part of their anatomy (wonder if they aren't mutated traps...). ~|ET|~

Also that. There's too much of that across all of them in my opinion. Would it hurt to use, say, transparent yellow? ~|ET|~

I sure do hope there's some printing on the final set, because all of that transparent blue on Ekimu isn't that appealing to me. Umarak the Destroyer looks fantastic though. ~|ET|~

I have to say, I like what they're teasing. It's looking good and has me looking forward to the show. ~|ET|~

And bought the Doctor Who pack. Wanted that Cyberman anyway heh. Appreciate the heads up. ~|ET|~