Tantai Jin Apologist

100% Bricked!

2025-12-13T23:03:03Z

100% completed Lego Horizon Adventures & got the platinum trophy. Loved it. I think my favourite part was probably Teersa. All the voice actors were clearly having a blast, but her character in HZD was basically a background character who was barely in it & she clearly relished the opportunity to go a little nuts ("TEERSA SMASH!" lol). It did get a little grindy when it came to levelling up all the characters for the final trophy, but that's kind of on me. The intention is probably that you'll unlock it gradually by occasionally dipping in & playing a bit here & there. Even with the restriction that I have less than a month to do this before my PS+ expires (I'll likely buy it properly, but who knows when that will happen) it's doable. But I know me & if I put it down I will get distracted & not pick it back up (case in point: I still have not got around to replaying Horizzon Forbidden West for NG+).

I can particularly see this as a good purchase on the Switch. It'd be perfect for picking up & playing on the go. Fun & engaging, but not something where I'd feel frustrated at being interrupted because my bus arrived or I got called in for my appointment or whatever.

Next up: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

EDIT: Bailed on Ratchet & Clank a few minutes in. This game is just not for me.

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Rian Johnson really doesn't miss

2025-12-01T17:36:52Z

Wake Up Dead Man was so good! A little slow at the start, though that's mostly because I hate religion. And ngl I was still expecting standard film pacing, which is a mistake in a Knives Out film & I really should know better at this point lol. I'm currently chilling in a Tim Hortons afterwards, enjoying a pistachio & white choc latte, & picked up some timbits for later.

I definitely need to rewatch at home to catch everything I totally missed. Though I feel this won't be one I'll watch over & over like the previous two.

First time I've been to the cinema since before covid (last film I saw in the cinema was Rise of Skywalker, which would put anyone off wasting money on cinema tickets, especially considering how much they cost nowadays). To be fair, there's been stuff since that I might have been interested in seeing, but the cost of tickets means I have to be sure I really want to see something, & have money to burn that I'm willing to make a risky bet with. And have the time. This was the first time all those things have applied.

Also today I checked out a vintage kilo sale on my way to the cinema, but didn't see anything that interesting.

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Whispers of Fate (first impressions)

2025-10-28T09:25:19Z

Absolutely loving Whispers of Fate so far. The story is interesting with plenty of twists & turns, the action sequences are epic, stunning visuals, the comedic moments are used sparingly & are actually funny.

That opening theme is bloody awful though.

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When Destiny Brings the Demon - final thoughts

2025-09-04T20:57:57Z

The ending aired on Monday but I put off watching the last few episodes because I couldn't bring myself to let it end. (And because I got into replaying Horizon Zero Dawn again. But mostly about the not being ready thing.)

Ah, so good! But...

HOW DARE THEY PLAY WITH MY EMOTIONS LIKE THAT IN THE LAST FEW MINUTES?! Go to jail for 1,000 years!

That thank you message was pretty cute. :D

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When Destiny Brings the Demon / Mistakenly Saving the Villain

2025-08-23T13:20:24Z

Watching When Destiny Brings the Demon & holy shit it's is amazing! If you're not watching this, I highly recommend it! To entice you, here are some random things that happen:

- A significant portion of the budget has gone on dry ice.

- ML holds FL to him, declaring that she will not die so long as he wishes her to remain alive, his face spattered with the blood of his enemies, as buildings burn around him & epic music plays. She is concerned about whether he's eating enough.

- ML shows up to a sparring display, throws an apple (well, a flower petal) of discord into the ring, & watches everyone biting each other's dicks off.

- FL receives a mysterious letter (that is clearly not from ML) inviting her to a midnight meeting & is like 'nah'. Common sense in a cdrama FL!

- ML needs to feed FL his blood (because it's magic) but she is unconscious & won't open her mouth. Clearly the only thing to do is to suck some of his blood into his own mouth & feed her mouth to mouth. There is simply no other way to achieve this.

- ML turns FL into an otter (because reasons) & is constantly petting her & carries her around everywhere & snuggles with her in bed. You could say the whole thing is... otterly adorable.

These things all happen within the first 10 episodes. It's not quite Till the End of the Moon levels of intense batshit, but damn it's close. I gotta say though, my favourite thing here might just be how it's shot. There's actual thought put into how scenes are blocked out & shots are framed. A couple of particular standouts that spring to mind: A shot where the ML draws a dagger while holding it in front of him, so his face is framed by the blade & his sleeve. And another is a scene where the 2FL is having a talk with the main antagonist & it's blocked & framed in such a way that they spend part of the scene back to back, which absolutely should not work & breaks basic rules of filmmaking, but works perfectly & underlines what is going on in that scene.

I withdraw everything I said about Mistakenly Saving the Villain. Got to about 25% & the story just started spinning its wheels. Main character fell into a coma for a decade so we got a timeskip, but it didn't feel as if anything had really changed aside from his personality disappearing. His drive to do medical research & help the love interest (to the point of torturing the guy who trafficked him & giving his soul to the LI as a birthday gift because death was too good for him!) sort of evaporates & he's just kind of there being useless. It's all so... meh.

I might have pushed through if it was just that but... An Long. He shows up, causes enormous damage breaking into the MC's home & bites a chunk out of the MC(!), who then APOLOGISES TO HIM for making him worry! Even though he wrote to him as soon as he was out of his coma, telling him he was fine & to stop trying to break in. But apparently it's all the MC's fault he did so anyway. Ignoring boundaries is fine! And he & the LI have an awkward rivalry over stuff that happened over the 10 year timeskip, but don't do anything about it for no other reason than to drag out what is almost certainly the most boring reveal in the history of literature when the MC finds out. That's okay though because he's not sticking around, righ- Oh, we're going on an awkward road trip because the MC wants them all to be a squad or something. No thanks. (And the author leaves an author's note reassuring the readers that don't worry he was going to get a good ending! I don't want him to have a good ending - I want him to die immediately.)

Threw in the towel at chapter 42 (33% of the way through).

I would have liked to have immediately leapt into the official translation of My Husband & I Sleep in a Coffin, but no bookshop in the UK is able to get their hands on a copy, it seems.

I've started on The White Cat's Divine Scratching Post. I'm liking what I've read so far, though I've only just started so I've yet to form any real opinion. (I was planning on starting The Beauty's Blade next, as it's next up in the publication order of the novels I'm checking out, but TBH I'll probably take one for the team & buy it regardless, as this is clearly 7S testing the waters regarding baihe.)

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thispatternismine @ 2025-06-28T16:15:00

2025-06-28T15:23:56Z

Holy shit am I going crazy? I restarted my (Windows 11) computer after an update & it played the Windows 7 startup sound at me?!?

(Especially confusing as I have the sound set as my text message notification tone on my phone, so it was like, oh I got a tex- wait hold on the sound isn't coming from the phone?)

Confused but delighted. The Win11 one was boring. I'm on an Insider build so no idea if this will stick around. Fingers crossed it does.

Now if they'd bring the *scrunch* sound when you empty the recycle bin back, that'd be great.

EDIT: Apparently it's a bug & they're planning on 'fixing' it. ;_;

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State of Play

2025-06-04T22:26:25Z

Absolutely down for a new Lumines game! Especially with a Tetris Effect flavour. Also intrigued by Hirogami - its giving me Tearaway vibes. Sword of the Sea aka Totally Not A Journey Sequel Honest got an August 19th release date, & Ghost of Yotei has a gameplay deep dive coming next month. More Astro Bot challenge levels, which I'm sure will be great as soon as the game drops to an affordable price.

Also that official PlayStation fight stick looks cool.

Cool that Myst & Riven are showing up in the classics catalogue but I ain't paying for PS+, when I have them on my damn phone. Though I assume they'll be purchasable separately so that might be cool if they don't overcharge.

Love that Pragmata ended its trailer with a post-it note saying "it's real". They have definitely heard all the people going 'hey remember that trailer for that weird Capcom game that showed up in that one showcase years ago that felt more like a concept than a game, is that even a real game that's happening?'

That was it for me, but it was pretty packed & there were a bunch of games that I know others are excited for, & I'm happy for them. Some really wild concepts in there - wtf is even going on in Romeo is a Dead Man & Sea Remnants (I think - couldn't read the title on that one)? - & it's always nice to see games trying something different.

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State of Play

2025-02-12T23:24:28Z

So that was pretty good, I thought. A whole 45 minutes too.

Highlights were Lost Soul Aside has been on my radar for a while & continues to look good. Excited to get a release date. May 30th - only a few months to wait! :D Onimusha: Way of the Sword is looking very cool, & I'm liking the glimpses we got of the protagonist's personality. Like, that he actually has one. No taciturn lone swordsman here. And the Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny remaster looks fine. Not enthusiastic I know, but I never played this one so there's no nostalgia here for me to get super hyped. Will likely pick it up when it comes out though. Dreams of Another looks super bizarre & interesting. And artistic third person shooter with a painted art style where you create stuff by shooting it? I am intrigued. Tides of Annihilation has a cool mix of fantasy elements & post apocalyptic setting, with maybe a dash of DMC in the gameplay. I'll need to see more before I get fully interested though.

There were a few others showed off that looked interesting, but I get the feeling they won't be for me. Darwin's Paradox looks cute but that is clearly a fiddly platformer that will frustrate me. The Midnight Walk has a cool style but I don't do well with first person games (I know it's in VR also but I don't have a headset anymore & not gonna pick one up just for this sorry lol). Blue Prince, mentioned in the PS+ section, looks like an interesting puzzle game but also first person. Hell is Us has interesting vibes but I'm not sure about anything else.

There was plenty of other stuff there that I'm not into, but I know others are hyped for & I'm happy for them.

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Tape victory!

2024-12-21T14:58:14Z

Wandered down to a local event (basically an artisan/independent market with some entertainment), expecting I'd that I'd just wander round, maybe buy a brownie or two, maybe a lip balm because there was supposed to be a seller there who made them & I need some. The lip balm seller wasn't there, but I got a mug I'd been eyeing up at previous markets for half price (& it was £10 so that was a bargain). And there was a vintage stall in a separate room that I'm not sure was part of the same event that had cassette tapes! There were a few good ones, but at £2 that adds up if you're buying a couple, & most of them were good as in 'I kinda like the artist & it's a decent album I guess but I ain't exactly desperate'. Apparently they have a store, in a town that's not that far away, but I've never had reason to go there, so I'll go after christmas & see what their full selection is like, since I doubt they brought everything. I did buy a Queen greatest hits album, because there's just banger after banger with no dud tracks.

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thispatternismine @ 2024-11-12T09:40:00

2024-11-12T09:41:30Z

LI ZIQI UPDATED?!?!?!?

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thispatternismine @ 2024-04-24T22:23:00

2024-04-24T21:28:41Z

Playing DMC5 on Legendary Dark Knight mode is amazing. Just diving into the middle of a crowd of demons & slaughtering the lot of them with wild abandon. Can't even see what I'm doing a lot of the time, just vibing

5 seconds later: Get rekt, bitches

So much fun!

Except for these fuckers

And these

Absolute bastards. They can go jump in a volcano

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