What’s this? another review from Spartan? That’s right folks, here’s part 2 of my Haunt the House series, this time we’re tackling Terror Town. This is a game that I’m not familiar with, as I wasn’t able to play it on Armor Games or any other free flash game website. But thankfully, the collection allows me to play it whenever I please. As always I’ll be going for the best possible rank with no deaths, but if you saw my previous review, you’ll know that it isn’t easy to do that.
Every journey has a destination, and what one would encounter on the way is entirely up to chance. When I started this set of trades with Mr. Cosmia, I did so with noble (albeit) selfish reasons. Back then, I wasn’t as connected with people who shared my interests as I am now, and just wanted to share what I thought was a good game series. And on some level, I believe Mr. Cosmia thought the same. But then FromSoft games started getting into the mix, beginning with Bloodborne.
Full disclosure for those expecting a lighthearted review that will praise this game and the developers who made it a reality: you are going to be sorely disappointed for I have made it no secret of my animus towards these types of games. Dark Souls was the progenitor of the souls-like genre, games that put you in a world with little resources and expect you to conquer enemies that can shred your health bar in seconds if you’re not careful, and bosses with often very cheap tactics that can kill you even faster. They are the definition of “Get gud” games, where you are expected to win by learning patterns, adapting to situations and overcoming obstacles after several attempts. Occassionally, you are thrown a bone by the developers, be it new weapons, upgrades to your limited healing item or other things to “help” you. Often, the games employ alternate paths (a closed gate for example) near where you enter the enemy infested area. Pulling a switch on the other side of the gate will open it, and allow you to avoid the enemies you had to get through to get to it. But make no mistake, for you’re still feeble enough that the random dog can take you out if you’re not careful.
These games are a popular pastime for those who enjoy a hard challenge, but I am not one of those people. If I wanted Mr. Cosmia to try a lengthy game, 5/10 times a FromSoftware game was going to be given in exchange and many days of suffering would endure. But ultimately, I prevailed thanks to the leniency of Mr. Cosmia, who didn’t expect me to platinum them and get every ending. “Just get to the end” was the aim of the game, and that’s the bar that I set out for. But I then began to realize that FromSoftware is just going to keep pumping out harder and harder games that I’d inevitably have to play in the trade. So I did what I always do, I bargained. I’d play whatever FromSoftware game of Mr. Cosmia’s choosing, and that would be the final one eligible for the trade. After I finished it following the traditional checklist and required bosses, that would remove any souls-like game from being elligible in the future of the trade. It was down to either Elden Ring or Sekiro, and I ultimately went down the latter option. So here we go, the one for all the marbles. This round of the game trade I will be taking on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for the PS4.
Hello folks, as 2024 comes to a close I’d like to take some time to reflect on this year and give you guys a taste of where this blog’s headed next year. And uhhhhh… that sure was a year alright. Remember Aaron Bushnell, the guy who self-immolated in protest of the war on Gaza? That was 10 months ago, and the killing continues indefinitely. Soon we’ll get a new guy in the White House who will find innovative new ways to make it worse. Exciting stuff all around.
I could offer plenty of excuses and explanations for why that happened. Y’all don’t need to hear them. But let it be known, I have not forgotten about this. I may prioritize certain things over this blog most of the time, but I miss it when I do. There’s a lot of things I want to write about. Because I haven’t published much they stack up and increase in number, and I want to let more of that out next year. Here’s a preview of what I intend to write about next year.
Let me know if there’s anything you’re particularly interested in reading my thoughts on. It’ll be more likely to happen if you do. But hell, even if I never wrote another blog post again I’m pretty happy with how this site has panned out. It has helped me rediscover my love for writing, and I have people all over the world visiting here. Mostly for my Blue Lock post, hot damn that series gets a lot of love. A genuine worldwide phenomenon. To everyone who took some time out of their life to read my thoughts on the internet, thank you, seriously. I hope you got something worthwhile out of the experience. Either way, I’m going to keep going.
By the way, if there’s anything I’ve learned this year, it’s that plants are amazing. This is officially a pro plant blog, even though I probably won’t talk about them much on here. My world became noticeably more lively when I brought more plants into it. It could do the same for you as well.
Aaron Bushnell lit himself on fire and then shouted, “Free Palestine!” until he no longer could. At the time of this blog post’s release it has been a month since it happened. He went ablaze and subsequently died on February 25th, 2024. Since then plenty of people have came to their own conclusions about what to make of it. Is he just a crazy dude whose actions should be ignored, lest some other unfortunate soul tries to replicate him? Is he a hero who put his life on the line to protest atrocities? Is he a secret third thing?
Regardless of the answer, it’s worth noting that he is far from the first person to die in this manner. He almost certainly won’t be the last. Self-immolation is one of if not the most painful ways to die possible, yet it keeps on happening. How do we make sense of that? This blog post is dedicated to pondering the significance of Aaron Bushnell’s final act and other similar incidents. In my view self-immolation is neither exclusively a political act nor merely a reflection of poor mental health. By the end of this post we’ll come closer to figuring out what concoction of factors that secret third thing contains.
Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you’re having a good day wherever you are, whenever you’re reading this. There are fun times to be had in the spooky season if you look in the right place. Unfortunately, for those living in the wrong place such happiness is harder to find. As I type this from the comfort of this room more children die in Gaza. Earlier today Israel hit a refugee camp with an airstrike because they thought some big shot commander was there. Is his death worth all the others killed in the blast? I don’t think so, and it’s not completely clear if they even got him. Similar atrocities happen elsewhere in places we pay less attention to. By sheer luck of birth I get to watch from the sidelines instead of being directly involved in the vast violence humanity is capable of. Is it even okay to be happy under these circumstances? I guess it kind of has to be. If it is not okay to be happy when so much in the world is not, then when can we?
We shouldn’t look away from what’s happening. Doing so helps enable its continuation. But we don’t need to add even more suffering to the pool. We don’t need to make their unhappiness our own. The pain we experience watching will never match the pain of actually being there. So if you find something positive in your life, I don’t think it’s wrong to embrace it.
Such are my idle ruminations. This is not the post I planned to end this month with. Far from it. But since that one needs more time in the oven this is what you’ll get for now. I’m not going to rush a post just to meet some deadline I made up. It’s my fault, but I’m not going to make you readers suffer a worse post because of it. I assure you I haven’t forgotten this blog in the slightest. There’s a lot of stuff stuck in the drafts at the moment. Some of it will stay there. But I like to think the ones that make it out will be of good quality. A lot of it will be niche, but to be fair that’s pretty much my whole blog any way. So I hope you look forward to it. For the record, there’s more than just posts on the horizon from me. But there’s also posts.
Hello everyone, welcome to my website. Essentially, this is going to be a blog where I write about what I feel like writing about. For example I will likely write a lot about various media I enjoy (or maybe hate enough to rant about). I particularly take interest in anime, manga, video games, light novels, music, and movies. If your interests have any overlap with mine then you just might have come to the right place. I will not limit this site to media commentary however. I will write whatever I feel like writing on here. I may also post some content that is not writing.
Now I figure I should introduce myself. You all can call me Cosmia. As of the time of me writing this I am a guy in his early twenties trying to figure his life out. I am currently in grad school for computer science yet I’m setting up a WordPress blog from a default template instead of designing the website myself. I am perfectly capable of building a website from scratch if I put my mind to it, but that takes time to do and I feel like writing right away. I’ll probably modify this website’s looks and layout later though. There are many things I like about computer science, and if I stay on this path I will likely end up with a pretty well paying job. But it is far from the only thing I’m interested in, hence why I made this.
I am an avid media consumer, an animal lover, and a left wing individual that is concerned about what’s happening in my country. On that note, if you’re a transphobe or anything like that you can fuck right off.
Cosmia 