* Reached Gongaga. I'll be taking a break and waiting for the next update

Trial 3: Turnabout Samurai done
Whew finally. Dee Vasquez is great. Let's move on to the next one

Corel Prison
DYYYYNNNEEEEE!!! I hope Rebirth makes it hurt more but I have no confidence as Remake's death scenes are really bad IMO

King Darius done! Wow he's essentially a Dark Souls boss fight and it's super cool

**Spent an entire hour finishing a platforming section but kept failing and I dropped the game out of rage. I stand by the score of 4.5/5 though because this game is AMAZING

Pride & Joy done!

Hard Mode: Chapter 2 done

Weiss done!

Platinum Trophy achieved!

That's a wrap. Can't wait for Rebirth!

-- Finished it. It felt like a big wet fart IMO. Ebina/Bryce were disappointing as villains and final bosses, the Saeko confession didn't resolve at all it was turned into a joke, THERE'S NO REUNION SCENE WTF... I felt nothing outside of the "avengers" moment. Felt like it was rushed. I dunno. Can't form sentences. Just, disappointed.

* Everything else is a 10/10 though so I'll give it a high 4.5/5. I spent 117 hours and the entire time I was having fun, outside of story after Kiryu separated with Ichi.

Session #5
Death Count: 11

* Found a village full of weird scary and crazy cult people. It's the most stressful I've been because it's too creepy.
* Fought a witch and it's the easiest fight ever thank God. If those roaming enemies were aggressive then I'd probably just quit.

* Currently just waiting for my main game (Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth) to come out so I decided to get the Platinum Trophy for Spirit Hunter NG!

Normal Ending
* Damn RIP Rose. That was brutal and a bit gut-wrenching. Wish she had more screen time tho to maximize the effect.
* Man it's good to hear the final boss OST again. Shit has no reason to go hard.
* Got the Normal Ending! It's super quick with a guide wtf. Also damn, the death scenes are so brutal. Hazuki's morphed body was hilarious tho

Bad Ending
* Urashima Woman destroyed. Jesus that was sad af. Also RIP Hazuki. That's payback for the Normal Ending.
----- btw... THE FUCKING FINAL SEQUENCE WHERE KAKUYA TRIES TO BREAK YOU BY SHOWING YOU A GENJUTSU OF YOUR FRIENDS' DEATH SPOILED THE DEATH SCENES IN THE BAD ENDING! THAT SUCKS
* ngl on replay it's more hilarious than scary like the pregnant Urashima Woman hauling ass chasing you underwater etc. What a different but fun experience.
* Kubitarou of Kintoki DESTROYED by a train.
* Amanome ded. I picked Hazuki as a partner on my blind playthrough then reloaded an old save for the normal ending so Amanome got the short end of the stick
* Screaming Author DESTROYED. Again a reminder of why this game is great despite its many flaws.
* Damn Rose gets the worst deaths in this game.
* Ban just got fillet-ed holy shit that was brutal. The deaths in this game are amazing.
* Kakuya SEALED. Well, it's a bit different at least. Let's see this bad ending.
* YOOO IT'S HIM (I forgot his name lmao) but wait, if this is connecting to Death Mark or the sequel... then this is the canon ending? That's fucking sad if so because everybody died except for Ooe

Run #4 - Died to Hades. A couple of runs and improvements might give me a chance. Temple of Styx is too hard for me. The poison is annoying af.

Run #6 - Finally beat Hades! Can't wait to get the gauntlets. That's my main in my first playthrough.

Run #8 - Fists Heat lvl2 run. Easiest run of my life.

Run #11 - Heat lvl10 run. Slowly losing steam ngl. I already had my fill of the gameplay loop so I might continue at a later time.

* NG+ Plasma Only and Secret Ending run is done! I tried to get Wishbone trophy but I can't. Oh well. Next time on Impossible difficulty run.

* Got to the fire sacrifice thing. Bro Kratos' redemption in Valhalla was such a good payoff for this scene.
* Pandora's Box done. Kinda hate how there's no clear indication where to go sometimes not because I get lost but I missed out on some optional paths because I accidentally went the right one (The one with giant flaming rocks).
* Armored Minotaur boss was sick af
* Damn Kratos' backstory is tragic and amazing
* Got to hell. Damn this game is longer than I thought
* Ares beaten. What a game. Kratos is pretty layered, which surprised me. When God of War (2018) came out, one of the biggest takeaway from most people was "Kratos has a deep character now. He's not just angry man" and that stuck I guess. I didn't remember or expect the layers he had in this game alone. Can't wait to play the rest!




Best

Character: Kratos/Boat Captain. One is deeply layered and well-written, the other is funny af.

Weapon: Blades of Chaos. Iconic and was fun from start to finish.

Ability: Poseidon's Rage/Army of Hades. Both helped me out so much in many situations. Also AOE rules.

Enemy: Cerberus. Been a fan of Cerberus in any greek myth games. Its not hard but I like fighting it.

Boss Fight: Armored Minotaur. While it took a while to figure out there's stairs at the back, it was everything a God of War boss needs to be. Awesome spectacle, puzzle elements, and a gruesome finish. Great all around.

Moment: Gameplay-wise the intro with the Hydra. Story-wise it's Kratos' past being revealed and his grief/suffering through it.

Worst

Character: None. They're all great or at least serviceable. If I have to pick one, maybe that lady who runs from you and fell the balcony.

Weapon: Well there's only 2 so I guess the Blade of Artemis (It's fun at the start tho)

Ability: Medusa's Gaze. Barely used it and when I do use it, enemies just doesn't stay frozen for long. Killing them is faster.

Enemy: Gold-armored undead soldiers. Not difficult since their attacks are easily telegraphed but waaay too aggressive and annoying. Not fun to fight.

Boss Fight: Medusa. Just unmemorable.

Moment: That one section in the intro where you have to push a box while a legion of archers rain arrows down on you. Took me 30 minutes to get through. NOT FUN AT ALL.

* Blind-ish Run
Think I played about an hour of it a year or two ago. Wasn't in the mood at the time, just randomly playing stuff and dropped it. Well, I'm getting the craving for that Resident Evil formula so here we go!
-- Train Complete
Ohhhh man I don't know where to start... Maybe it's just me but it's kinda hard. Enemies are bullet sponges, they barely stagger, they seem to respawn?, and it fights against the "stop and shoot" nature of the combat. What makes it worse is there's seemingly NO ITEM BOX WTF. So I have to drop precious ammo or even weapons to get a key item, return to it while also taking a lot of damage, then come back, while also taking a lot of damage... at least the puzzle and switching mechanics are fun but again, the item management fights against the fun mechanics... I don't know if I'll continue but we'll see this next section. I get why 0 is barely talked about. I'm a casual RE fan and I barely hear about this game. Whew

* I didn't realize I got the 100% yesterday. There's no Platinum and there are only 12 trophies lol
* Played a bunch anyway because it's THAT GOOD. 10/10

Chapter 10 ROUND 2
Wasn't too bad once you get to the checkpoint. Just wish you can save your progress and skip long scenes not just dialog.

Chapter 11
+ Opening the trunk was fun
* Was I spoiled by the background option in the menu? Kamila has a core and there's a black cat IIRC in the background so that may be our 2nd ghost? This is getting interesting. Wonder how much that ghost has been meddling in the bg...
- wtf was that lol. Kamilla is smart enough to set up an elaborate contraption and didn't factor in the VERY SUSPICIOUS rope leading to the gun and "accidentally" killed her mom?! Dude I'll let it play out but that was random as hell
* Theory: Alright I'm starting to get it. This Ghost #2 dude is using his powers to kill or something. I'm guessing its the guy Jowd shot to save Lynne and that explains why the contraption became an accident. It could be Lamp guy and he's lying about the "time limit" of ghosts. Bro the finale is gonna be INSANE
* Theory: Ok this is getting into fanfic territory but why is Jowd painting a picture of Sissel? I'm still factoring my previous theory of the protagonist just borrowing Sissel's appearance because of the murky rules in the ghost world so taking that into account... maybe Sissel was the killer after all? He does look suspiciously like one of those blue guys... but then who is the MC? Tho now that I think about it, the memory loss debunks that theory.

Done! Beat the Young Master with just Peppermill Blow and it was very appropriate and hilarious. English dub was awesome. Ready for Infinite Wealth!

Pseudo-NG+, English Dub, Professional Difficulty Run is done!
Nothing much to add except the final boss is infinitely better with lower strength on Professional difficulty. It sucks so hard that there's no Legend difficulty on such a great boss fight. Also last phase could use 2 more health bars. Too short.

English Dub
So I saw Yong's performance on the finale. It was his best performance throughout Gaiden. I didn't cry tho so it doesn't hit as hard as Kuroda's performance (and it's not because I saw it already. I cried again when watching others' playthrough) but props for a decent VA befitting Kiryu. Overall, I think the English Dub as a collective is fine for me on a replay. I'll never play it on a blind playthrough tho.

Bosses Beaten: Gigas, Marbol, Dragoon, Ifrit, Jill, Tiamat, Fafnir, Chirada
- Prologue done. Man, in hindsight it's sad that the demo portion was the best part of the entire game at least for me.

Areas Explored: Yagyu Village (Revisit), Fog Valley
Bosses Beaten:

- Gave Oyu a fork... and she liked it
- Felt a disconnect with the Takajo scene. Dunno why.
- I was chaining parries since the first hour but all of a sudden I can't anymore. The timing seemingly got tighter? Dunno what happened there.
- Played as Kotaro. Damn he plays and controls better than Jubei

Areas Explored: Catacombs, Rue Vermillion
Bosses Beaten: Lizardmen, Golem, Dragon

- Found the blacksmith. Combined some gear.
- Getting the hang of it. Timing's too tight.
- Got some magic. Combat is less stressful and more fun now.

Finished for a 3rd time on Ultimate mode to get the final Honor/Achievement.

Bosses Beaten: Dark Aeons, Penance, Jecht, Yuna's Summons, Yu Yevon

S U F F E R I N G (part 2)
- Almost done with sphere grids. Don't care about max stats I'm just filling things up with random stats just to be done w/ it.
- Monster Arena done. Will try Dark Aeons or move on.
- Finished everything. Penance can suck it.
- Teared up at ending. 10/10 game minus the optional stuff.

Areas Explored: Underground Base
Bosses Beaten: METAL GEAR REX, Liquid Snake
Dog Tags: 29

- PAL code bs sucks. I hate it
- THAT OTACON ENDING RULES

Game: COMPLETED

Level: 18
Deaths: 9
Bosses:
- Zhuyan (3 tries)
- Feng Shi (1st try)
- Zhang Bao (1st try)

# of Dog Tags: 65
Dog Tags Remaining: 2

- Plant Done!
- Didn't realize I went past the point of no return
- Raiden threw the dog tags away anyway at the end T_T
- Surprisingly a good experience compared to 3. No crashes and bugs. Still had to apply HD textures tho.

- Current Party: RODDICK/ILIA/ASHLAY/IOSHUA/ERYS/RONYX/MILLIE/WELCH
- Current Level: 158

- Cave of the Seven Stars DONE! (ugh)
- Final Boss DONE! (Forgot his name)