RE: God of War (2018)

If you want to know what I think of the latest God of War (and I’m not sure why you would), then let me say this to start: I’m not a God of War fan.  I touched the first game once, and never did again.  I skipped the second.  Watched chunks of the third -- and probably 75% of the first, at a bare minimum.  Skipped all the handheld games.  Forgot Kratos showed up in fighting games as a guest character.  Never used Kratos in PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (jeez, remember that game?)  Touched Ascension once, and never did again.  

Generally swore off the series after that.

So if nothing else?  Congratulations to God of War (2018) for being the first and only game in the franchise so far to make me want to go back to it again.  For real this time.

I’m on Discord, I Think!

Title says it all.  But since this is me we’re talking about, I’ve got to make use of this virtual space somehow.  Luckily, I’ve got more to talk about than just Discord (however briefly).  So let’s get to it -- featuring a game that’s bound to make it straight to the top of several GOTY 2018 lists.  What is it?  Read on to find out.

It’s not Dragon Ball FighterZ, though.  Which isn’t an indictment of that game; it’s just that I’ve already posted on it multiple times, and I don’t need to do it again right now.  On the other hand, base form Vegeta is on the way, so maybe I’ll have to revisit it again at some point.  I wouldn’t mind firing off a Galick Gun or two.  And in tandem, finding out what a “Galick” is supposed to be.

See?  I’m good at filling virtual space.

RE: Octopath Traveler

I’ll start this off by saying that I picked Ophilia as my main character in Octopath Traveler -- in the demo, which carried over to the full game.  I’m not regretting my choice.  The plan was to do a little revisionist history for Final Fantasy X, I.e. having Yuna and the pilgrimage be front and center instead of Tidus and…everything else.  For sure, the idea of playing as a cleric out on a sacred quest to perform a ritual in her family’s stead is an interesting one you don’t see very often in games, and I wanted to experience that for myself.

Imagine my surprise, then, when -- within a 10-hour span of real-world time -- my innocent, noble cleric has befriended a hunter who sics her giant snow leopard on feeble townsfolk, abetted a thief in his trespassing and attempt at grand larceny, and stood idly by while a merchant spiked a band of pirates’ wine with drugs -- which could have gone south real fast if she’d used poison instead of sleeping herbs.  Also, she’s friends with a not-quite-but-close-enough-to-it stripper, who went on to kill her boss.

This game is kind of amazing.

The 900th Post: My Hero Academia (?!)

Hello, and welcome once again to Cross-Up, your one stop shop for dozens of Kingdom Hearts posts all sorts of posts on video games, movies, TV shows, and more.  And in this case, “more” happens to include anime.  And manga, by extension.  So let’s not delay any longer.  My Hero Academia has been making waves for a while now, and it’s time I use this milestone celebration -- the 900^th post here on this blog -- to take a closer look.

Here we go.  These are The Top 5 Best Girls of My Hero Academia.

…Oh, wait.  No it isn’t.  Never mind.  Continuing on.

Do it for Her, or Whatever -- ACT II

Hey, how’s it going?  Let’s talk about female characters again -- up to and including female character designs.

Let’s get to it.  Right after I whack this beehive with a hockey stick, slap a bear across the face, give that police officer over there a wedgie, and then bathe in gasoline so I can justify carrying this lit match around.

Things might get a little dicey, is what I’m trying to say here.  Leave your sensibilities at the door.

Kingdom Hearts III NEEDS A Goofy Movie World (Part 3)

Would it be too untoward of me to use the meme of the month…okay, last month…ish…to summarize the mission of this series of posts as well as artificially generate hype through an easily-repeatable phrase?  Yes, inevitably.  On the other hand, it’s still pretty funny.  So let’s go once more.

Kingdom Hearts III.

A Goofy Movie.

CAN’T ESCAPE FROM CROSSING FATE

Do it for Her, or Whatever -- ACT I

Alternate post title: Do it for Her, Even if it’s the Stupidest Thing Ever

Kingdom Hearts III NEEDS A Goofy Movie World (Part 2)

Akihiko, you wanna take this one?

*hurriedly links to relevant video*

Ah, yes.  That’ll do.

It's been a while since the first post on the subject, so let’s not delay any longer.  I don’t expect there to be a world based on A Goofy Movie in Kingdom Hearts III, even if it gave Squeenix the “justification” to pack in some extra DLC.  So barring some miracle shot out of a cannon from Mount Olympus, getting that world is nothing but a fever dream.  But since we’re dealing with hypotheticals, the question remains: how do you do it?  How do you squeeze that world in?

Luckily, I have an answer.  Here’s how I would handle it if someone was brave enough…crazy enough…?  Well, something enough to toss me the keys.  Let’s get in there.

RE: Mario Tennis Aces

So Mario Tennis Aces has forced me to endure one of the greatest existential crises I’ve had in a while: it made me realize I’m really bad at tennis.