Time, Money & Gaming | Resource Management Versus Hobby Upkeep

There's a lot of us these days who cannot afford to buy the latest releases. We're bending over backwards trying to pay the bills as earning a living grows more difficult by the second. In fact, between time and the pursuit of money there's a lot of limitations imposed upon us in life. Thus, as consumers, we have to be selective about what we spend our time an money on. Lest we end up regretting it later. 

As a gamer and film fanatic I, myself, have found that I've reduced the time spent on my favorite hobbies by a huge margin in my adult life. I only commit to short sessions of gameplay outside of review work, and spend the rest of the time trying to stay relevant in my review career. Connecting on my socials, and interacting with my audience to keep people interested, and up to date. My job, and life comes first in a lot of instances, as it should. 

QUOTE: Of Knowledge & Truth

 "The greatest lie that was ever told is that anyone alive today knows the truth. We none know the truth, and are kept from knowing that truth by learning from knowledge passed down to us. What we know for certain from that gained knowledge obscures what we don't know, and not one individual knows everything."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Photo by RDNE Stock project

Rhapsody: Marl Kingdom Chronicles

This latest Rhapsody bundle release is not entirely new, but it brings with it two updated and upgraded JRPG adventures from the PS1 era that have never before been seen on Western shores. This includes both Rhapsody II, and Rhapsody III in their entirety. Each entry comes complete with the full experience plus bonus features, screen filters, and voice-overs for the English speaking audience.

Through magic, melody, and mischief you'll follow along as you play as a young princess seeking her prince, or as destined royalty facing off against rival kingdoms and an ancient evil. There's laughs aplenty, and enough song and dance to pull at your heartstrings. As serious as it can be at times these two games harbor a charm that is sometimes comedic by design. Something for nearly all ages looking for a lighthearted JRPG experience centered around turn-based strategy, creature combat, and party management.

Gord | PS5 Review

Steeped in mythology, and presented in a character driven campaign Team17's "Gord" turns this civilization sim experience into a micro-management heavy undertaking centered around the morals, faith, and sanity of a people under the leadership of the king's second in command. As fate would have it the Tribe of the Dawn has bent the knee to the powers that be, doing their bidding in exchange for any mercy that might be bestowed upon them for their allegiance. An allegiance to a conquering King whose aim is to mine the riches and resources of the surrounding areas while controlling the lives of it's native inhabitants.

Through a miserly old sage, and the small in stature second hand man to the King we find a story rich in survival, conquest, and magic. Putting to use the native population, their abilities, and the incantations of a rogue witch. Ultimately facing off against the darkness of wilds, and the darkness of those using others to feed their insatiable greed. 

QUOTE: Truth Or Lies?

"Censorship of information, and the lack of access to all points of view leaves a person susceptible to being fooled by liars. Moreover the censorship, alone, tells you all you need to know about those controlling the flow of information. That they think you are too ignorant to know the truth. Beyond that, that they can lie to you and you'll never know it."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Photo by Amine Nur Güleşen

Dust & Neon | PS5 Review

Mary Shelley's vision of Frankenstein isn't lost on this cyberpunk meets western roguelike. Much like Mary's tale of re-animating the dead, Dr. Finkel of "Dust & Neon" does the same, but to a different end and at a different point in time. It seems the Wild West of the future is being overtaken by sentient robots, and the mad Dr. Finkel aims to be rid of them all. 

In a last ditch effort to bring to fruition the end to the meddlesome machines Dr. Finkel takes the remains of a long dead gunslinger, and melds him with modern technology. Creating a machine murdering monster that can never truly die. This horrific highwayman's role of course is the total extermination of robot kind, and through the offerings and arsenal provided by the mad doctor this unnamed and undead gun toting terminator will set out to do just that. Ultimately venturing out onto the open prairies, dust filled deserts, and tumbleweed infested towns with murder on his mind, and six shooter in his hand.

QUOTE: The American Dream

"We truly were born into slavery. A debt system that keeps us from being free. We never achieve the things we dream, because we are slaves to said system of debt based oppression. Constantly owing, but never owning."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Photo by Gül Işık

Zombie Soup | PS5 Review

Seems Ricky has done caught that train to Busan!!! Ricky, the hero of Astrolabe Games' latest top down twin stick shooter, definitely ended up on the wrong side of town, El Prospero Town. After a long train ride, and having missed his intended stop Ricky ends up in El Prospero, unexpectedly. A high school graduated backpacker out to see the world in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

At this current stop, a Mexican themed ghost town that harbors a dark presence, Ricky finds an adventure of a lifetime beckoning as well as a damsel in distress for the saving. The remaining residents of El Prospero each hiding inside due to a zombie outbreak brought on by an odd harbinger of death known as MC Skull. In a chance meeting with a local girl named Ashley at the initial train exit, Ricky sets off a series of events in which rescuing the survivors is his key focus. Armed with whatever weapons he finds, a sense of humor, and a liking for burritos Ricky sets forth facing the impending zombie apocalypse.

ADORE | PS5 Review

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie it's ADORE!!! Just kidding, lol! Adore is a very serious matter. It's a bold and brazen Brazilian indie in which the developers at Cadabra Games implemented their own take on the staple monster capture gimmick often times associated with gameplay experiences like those featured in Pokemon. It went from being a roguelike initially to being a story driven action RPG with monster mastering mechanics. Set in a world with two warring Gods, and a people known simply as Adorers, Adore aims to capture the gamers' heart. 

As with all storied adventures, Adore begins with a backstory. Caught up in the aftermath of the downfall of their adored God Draknar at the hands of Ixer, a lone individual among the tribe of Adorers is blessed with the last divine essence, unknowingly. Destined to be Draknar's host body, and eventual means with which to end Ixer's usurped reign. A role not to be taken lightly. Thankfully, as the chosen Adorer Lukha has the innate power to tame and use creatures to fight for him. Cannon fodder of the creature kind.

Creepy Tale: Ingrid Penance | PS5

Welcome to Hell, or should I say welcome Ingrid to Hell!!!

This Creepy Brothers creation that is, "Creepy Tale: Ingrid Penance" introduces us to a truly vile little girl destined for damnation. This little girl known as Ingrid is prideful, and selfish. Hateful to her mother, and disrespectful to her grandmother. So full of herself that she'd rather stare at her reflection in a hand mirror than pay a visit to her elders. 

As with most stories with a moral this particular tale has the wayward Ingrid facing the consequences of her actions. Her sins, if you will. After tossing what was to be her grandmother's requested order of bread into a muddied trap Ingrid falls into Hell where she is promptly greeted by the very imp who saw that she got there. Through a puzzling gauntlet of traps Ingrid must prove her worth or lack thereof to this playful imp named Molek. 

Astro Flame: Starfighter | PS5

Coming from indie publisher SometimesYou, "Astro Flame: Starfighter" brings to the paying player a streamlined top-down vertical shmup that is both polished enough for the new generation of consoles, and minimalist by design. It is a campaign driven 15 stage space shooter with an implied story that is never fully fleshed out a cinematic intro. Leaving a lot to the imagination, but enough to let you know you are in a battle against a space armada. 

Filled with lucrative farming opportunities for green resources that can be spent on ship upgrades you will deck out your destroyer as you grind to perfection each stage according to a three star rating that takes in account the percentage of enemy ships you down in a given playthrough. As you fight fire with fire the soundtrack rocks in sync with the PS5 controller's haptic feedback feature. Creating an immersive experience that isn't too taxing on the nerves despite the bullet hell nature of the game.

MWII 2023 | The Content Evolution

Call of Duty's most recent release has been met with a lot of criticism. For a lot of players it fell short of what was promised, and what was expected. Balancing issues were hardly ever resolved, and most efforts from the development team seemed to go towards the monetization efforts, and adding new quality of life features that should have been there from the start. 

For me, the journey from start to this near finish has been bittersweet. I initially got my kicks camping unsuspecting players to death in multiplayer as I so often do, but found the late game to be lacking in said fun. I spent a majority of my efforts on maintaining a positive k/d, and grinding away at battle pass after battle pass. Sometimes this was satisfying, and other times it was infuriating. The anti-cheat that was supposed to counter cheating, and punish cheaters never worked. Not once did I see it work, especially in multiplayer. This alone was enough to ruin the experience for me, in the end.

QUOTE: Guilty By Association

"We all, in our lifetime, have been a friend or acquaintance to a person who did bad things. Sometimes we were caught in the crossfire for those bad things. Deemed guilty by association. The truth is we are not accountable for what other people do. We should never have to answer for their actions, or lack thereof. The same can be said for being collectively blamed for superficial reasons. Be it over race or gender. No one person is responsible for what others do. Unless the individual in question knew of, and participated in the bad deeds of the other person/s they should not be blamed."

- Brad C. (OtakuDante)

Photo by Yan Krukau

Gaining An Audience | The High Cost For Success In 2023 Business ...

As a seasoned entertainment reviewer I've tried all the tricks of the trade when it comes to gaining and earning a growing audience. I've stooped so low at one point as to apply clickbait tactics in my articles, and videos in response to other more user friendly methodologies failing. I've tried various time zone related social media link sharing tricks, and have even paid attention to what my metrics/analytics tell me about my audience, among other things. Also applying keywords, labels, and tags as a consistent go to SEO tactic. Something that has been met, like everything else, with results contrary to what leading industry analysts would tell you. 

Amidst all this tinkering and toying I've had my ups and downs, my growth and lack thereof. Never once though has one of my efforts shown a telltale sign outside of what I've observed in regards to the impact that certain topics of discussion and debate have on one's online business.

Metrics | Manipulation & Bias

Whether you want to believe it or not facts are facts, and I can prove everything I'm about to say beyond a shadow of a doubt. Ever since politics became the end all be all of all conversations online, the measure of one's worth in society, it has been leveraged unfairly by those in power. By those powerful elite who would use it to persuade their audience and supporters to rally for the their continued seat in power. Online this manipulation is broad and sweeping, wholly unavoidable. It covers everything from search engine priority to visibility of social sites for anyone conducting business. 

If you say something the powers that be don't like you are effectively buried in the algorithm, in the search engine, and on social media. The bad thing is that the main search engines have a monopoly on the flow of information, and have chosen to gate access to that information often times outright censoring that which they do not agree with. Creating a bias that favors their vocal minority, and casts the majority of fact based links completely out of view. They want to be the literal Ministry of Truth while stopping the spread of truth in it's tracks.