Street Fighter V: The Misadventures of Scrub Necalli!

Ha! More content in less than a year!

Breakin' records out here.

...


Anywho!

I picked up Street Fighter V on release, and I've been bashing my head against ranked mode ever since trying to stubborn my way to the Gold League so I can feel dope about myself for however long that lasts.

It has not been working.

Finally tired of getting frustrated trying to make it work with my homie Ryu, I've decided a new approach is in order.

Time to learn a new character.

The way I figure it, if I have to learn a new character from the ground up, I'll have to learn things about the game and shit, and eventually, after much winning and losing and losing and winning and replay watching, I'll actually get better, and then achieve my goal!

So.

In a bid to knock out two birds with one stone (namely getting better at Street Fighter AND providing more content here) I've decided to record my scrubtastic struggles for enjoyment for all! The character of choice is Necalli, because if you've seen me, then you know that Necalli is somewhere on the spectrum towards my final form, so this is damn near an obligation.

Join me in my grand adventure to both get good AND make it to gold!

The first match!

The runback!

Yeah!

Continuing undeath!

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Despite beliefs and rumors to the contrary (and a solid year+ of inactivity) the eternal engine that is Stuffimus Maximus soldiers on!

The theory is that this time I will be able to finally get it together and start making content on a semi regular basis again. Now, true, I've been a liar many times before, and there is little assurance that this time will be any different. But I figure as long as I keep trying, something's gotta give somewhere, right?

Right!

So, let's make with some updates!

• Beat Dark Souls II and Bloodborne. Had great fun with both, and have cemented my eternal fandom to the souls series
• On a related note, Dark Souls 3 is nearing release, and is supposed to be the end of the Dark Souls saga. It looks amazing, the beta was hella fun, and y'know, stuff. I need it. Totally pre-ordered the collector's edition, and I really want the collector's edition strategy guide cause it comes with an Estus Flask! But I can't justify paying 130 for that...
• I never did get around to playing the DmC reboot. So much for that.
• Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition lived up to many expectations and fell short of some, but what that all comes down to is Vergil's awesomeness has not decreased in the slightest. Like, not even a little bit.
• I... As I write this, I remember now that I completely forgot about Winter-Een-Mas. I am a failure. Blarghl...
• In less depressing news, Pokemon Sun and Moon were just announced, and I have no idea which one I'm gonna pick! I generally always pick the "Blue" version game, but... Praise the Sun... WHAT DO?!
• Beat Uncharted 1 and 2, getting ready to work on 3
• Recording most of my Street Fighter V games, so I might start uploading those to el U-Toob channel.
• Have been playing Phantasy Star Online 2 like a madman, and may need admittance to some sort of center for rehabilitation for my addiction. Possibly. Maybe.
• My Holy Game Trinity of Sonic the Hedgehog, Ryu and Cloud Strife have all made it into Smash Bros. My life may be on the verge of completion.

That about covers the important stuff that I can remember (It has been a year...)

So  on to the continuing saga of Final Fantasy.

FFX: FFX may be one of the best games I've ever played. All of my feels, feels everywhere. While the undying fanboy within will not let me have the game as my favorite FF, it is certainly the best as far as I'm concerned. 9.5/10

FFXI: I finally made a character!

FFXII: I'm trying to slog through this. I really am. The lore is cool, and I like the world itself. But Ebony Jesus Cristo, this game is boring as watching paint dry. No score for now, but I don't have high hopes.

And with those out of the way, the most important piece of FF news is that XV will have its release date revealed at the end of this month...

I am not ready. I don't think I can be ready. But I will be in LA to see the reveal with my own two eyes. May God have mercy on my soul.

At some point in the near future, I'll be posting about my plans with StuffMax going forward, but as far as reviews go, my next planned review will be Dark Souls 3! Plenty of time for me to gear up to actually commit and do it!

Let's hope this works out!

Can't count on nobody for nothin' these days...

And by nobody and nothing, I am indeed referring to myself and my steadfast lies. Cause clearly, I ain't update a damn thing, and the video stuff didn't happen either.

But!

As usual, I am planning to come back, and say I'm going to do things, and likely fail at doing them, but with much gusto!

This time, my plan is to begin reviewing games again once I play one as it comes out, as opposed to reviewing a game long after it's past it's due date and such.

So yeah. That oughtta be fun. In theory.

So let's make with the relevant updates, and things that mattered to me, I suppose!

• Was gonna beat Dark Souls 2. Did not because Scholar of the First Sin got announced, and I want to play the more definitive version.
• Speaking of definitive versions, Devil may Cry has a definitive edition coming out, and now that time has passed, my hate has subsided, and they've chosen to include a lock-on function, I'm kinda inclined to consider giving it a shot. Admittedly, they made the idea way easier with the second DMC based announcement:
• Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition! For the PS4 and Xbox One! With a very teasing image and voice clip of my main homie Vergil! Dear god, the excitement.
• Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire was rather... Whelming. It did very little with the opportunity it had, and honestly, I think Nintendo kinda just phoned this one in, particularly compare to the phenominal Fire Red/Leaf Green or Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Not to say OR/AS is bad, just... It's nothing crazy.
• Winter-Een-Mas has come and gone. My goal was to beat 2 Final Fantasy games. I unfortunately failed. Poor time management lead to me making it to the end of the second game, but not quite finishing it in time. Much to my dismay. But I did get to go to:
• Distant Worlds, the Final Fantasy orchestral concert! It was great. And I met Nobuo Uematsu. So I am rather happy.
• Took a trip to MagFest in Maryland. Great convention, Met Smooth McGroove, chilled at a Death Battle panel, had a great time overall.
• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is on the cusp of release, and it looks amazing. And a special edition New 3DS is confirmed to release here in America. My money...
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has been out for some time... But I'm finally playing it!

That should cover general news type things. There are a few others (Got a Vita, started pushing through uncharted series, grabbed a PS4 and an X1) but they're less important.

And for some quickie reviews/FF series progress!

FFV: Everything I loved about FFIII, but with a better story, and far better characterization. 7/10

FFVI: The first FF in the series to convey its story and characters with such strength, despite its sprite-based graphics. By this point in time, the overarching story isn't massively original, but the fleshed out cast and cool scenes are much appreciated. 7.5/10

FFVIII: Squall is one of the most strongly developed characters, perhaps of all time, especially in the area of developing as the story goes along. Zell amuses me, Seifer has a cool coat. Laguna's kinda cool. The rest of the cast sucks, and the story was very meh and unnecessarily complicated after maybe halfway into the second disc. Junction system is fun, and Triple Triad is one of the most addicting games I've ever played. 6.5/10

FFIX: This game feels like what the first 3 Final Fantasies well and truly wanted to be, but couldn't because of technological restrictions. Fun, whimsical, but not particularly gripping. There was for sure a plight, but I didn't find myself feeling the weight of it, or caring about it until near the end of the game. 7/10

FFXIV (part 2): I'm at level 50 and playing the endgame content. At this point, I feel whatever MMO you play is sort of just a skin for the genre, there isn't a massive amount of differentiation, so it comes down to what aesthetic you like best. That said, I still love FFXIV, The references to the rest of the series don't stop, and I enjoy them in all of their forms. It's also a far more story driven MMO than I usually get my hands on, so that's fun. The downside to all of it is things like the finial fight in the game are restricted to 8 man parties, so if you want to enjoy the story and watch the cutscenes at your leisure, you're gonna want to do those dungeons with people who are willing to wait, which is uncommon this late in the game. It's mostly people doing speed-runs at this point. But a good time all the same. Main story was fun, and I beat it, so I'm at 11 FFs defeated so far. Feeling good. 3 to go. 8.5/10

After going through bits of VII again, I'm gonna amend that score to an 8.5, and I'm considering a 9, but I'm staying away from it, because fanboying is not how one should write reviews.


That covers everything for now. Gonna try and update more! Will talk about future plans soon. Don't quote me on that.

Video Stuff Review Thing!

So, it's about time I finally expand beyond game reviews. I couldn't decide if the next step was movies or TV. So I just decided video style things would just be mashed into one category.

Inventive! Ingenious!

Or just lazy.

All possible!

Anyway, I don't have a review system in place yet for this kind of thing, so I figure I'll just rant, and throw a score on the end, and everything will work out.

Good plan.

And just in time for me to get on reviewing the web series I've been anticipating to nearly the exclusion of all else; Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist.

Expect it soon!

More Poke-musings!

So, filler material until I finish the next review.

Within recent times, Nintendo was kind enough to finally grace me with the news of the remakes of my favorite Pokemon Generations: Gen III.

The ever wonderful Hoenn, home of Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald are set to be remade in glorious 3D in the forms of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

My excite level is off the charts.

Anyway, shortly after the announcements, rumors and theories ran rampant, due to the new look presented for the game's mascots; Groudon and Kyogre, in addition to Nintendo's choice of words regarding the presentation of the remake, specifically: ""

My own particular points of interest lie less so in the choice of words for Nintendo, as I have no doubt, and as far as I am aware, it has been confirmed that this is a straightforward remake. Sure, there will be some minor differences and stuff, graphic bueno-ness and some new features, mayhaps some storyline changes, but in all, I imagine the core of the game will retain what I loved about Hoenn in the first place.

No, I'm interested in the new glowy designs for both Kyogre and Groudon. Aside from the new Tron-like lines carving huge swathes across both legendary poke's bodies, both Pokemon now seem to have symbols on their body representing Omega (Groudon) and Alpha (Kyogre). I really wanna know what kind of significance this has on the game itself. Are these things representative of new forms and powers? And if so, are they only for the legendaries? Or are they some new spin off of the Mega Evolution? And what does that mean for the ever-awesome third member of the legend trio, Rayquaza?

Or perhaps it's all just fun new designs for the covers? Who knows? All musings. Anywho, that's what's on my mind right now. That, and the ever-present spectre of Final Fantasy XV. It haunts my dreams.

But that's a tale for another time.

Yep.

Return of the Dragon!

Okie dokie. I clearly am the suck at keeping up with this thing. But I'm making yet another comeback. The idea this time is to just keep trying until I catch a rhythm. Any who, next up, super late, is Sonic Generations. Soon after, I plan to review the Souls series in order to prepare for Dark Souls 2.

Here's hoping I can stick to it!

Winter-Een-Mas results, and other stuff.

Okay. So, 1: I completed Dark Souls on the 7th day of the Winter-Een-Mas celebration. Success!

2: Got an AMV just waiting to be uploaded to youtube.

3: Working on a few top 10 lists to fill up the gaps between things like the lack of reviews.

Yep.