Holy shit, WHAT?! Jesus, 2025!!!

I can get most games I want emulated, so my list here is the games I either can't get, which currently run like shit, or which require a ton of hoops to get running that I can't be arsed: 1) Catfight: The Ultimate Female Fighting Game (This game looks so fucking stupid, I wish I could get it to run)

Oh my God, I had forgotten just how PERFECT Ace Combat 04 is. Like, it's one of my all-time favourite games, but even them I forgot just how perfectly-designed the game is. The PS2 era was something else, so many devs putting so much effort into every facet of a game! That story hits SO hard too!

God, I kinda love Esquie.

So for all my DOA posting, I didn't play it in its hey-day. I've never been a regular fighting game player, but the most important growing up for me would be: Smash 64 Godzilla Kaijuu Daikessen Mortal Kombat (SNES) Soulcalibur IV/Broken Destiny Primal Rage

My local game store has had a lovely, complete copy of DOAU1+2 for ages, but it was listed at $999... They finally updated the price this week to something VERY reasonable and you'd better believe I snagged it, if only for those cheap-ass "trading cards", LOL.

Man... you play A LOT more games WAY more often when you get a Steam Deck. Being able to pickup and play it in short bursts makes playing whenever SO easy. I'd struggle to hit a 3 day streak without it, let alone *46*. 😲

Man, I wish Bluesky had a way to schedule posts... Got side-tracked yesterday and forgot to announce that my annual album rankings list was now live. Didn't remember til this morning... at which point I got busy and forgot again lol. Anyway, check it out here: www.ichoosetostand.net/2025/12/rank...

Man... the end of Act I in Clair Obscur blew my fucking mind. Legitimately one of the biggest narrative moments in gaming for me. Then we transition into Act II, where you go from feeling powerless to overpowered as fuck, LOL. My builds are strong enough now that I rarely even need to dodge at all.

My annual year-end article about my favourite movie posters of 2025 is now live, check it out! There's some top-tier entries this year! www.ichoosetostand.net/2025/12/15-b...

Good time to announce that a series of Ace Combat Love/Hate articles are already in progress and will be out sometime in 2026? 👀 Maybe I'm gonna have to time that to coincide with Ace Combat 8's release window...

I think I'm gonna nut.

OMFG the new Street Fighter movie looks INCREDIBLE. youtu.be/Ddn5SYRHzpU

It's year-end at IC2S, so we're kicking off my annual countdown lists with my favourite Magic cards of 2025. :) www.ichoosetostand.net/2025/12/my-f...

That's Final Fantasy X done and dusted. Didn't realize I was so close to the end. ...now I can give Clair Obscur full focus in my free time, lol.

Work just put out an "acceptable use of AI" memo saying the ways we can use AI to make our work better... and, nope, fuck that, Imma continue to use my brain. Let's see how those KPI metrics shake out when all's said and done, because I've always scored high on year-end reviews.

Holy, I did not realize I played this much DOA6 this year, lol. Nioh 2? Yeah, that's a long-ass game, but DOA6? I think this is because I would boot it up for 10-15 minutes on breaks for a while to grind DOA Quest, haven't played in a few months tho. Might need to scratch that itch again soon. :)

SATURDAY NIGHT SLAM MASTERS CAPCOM 1994 SEGA GENESIS

So, updated thoughts on Clair Obscur about 5 hours in: -This is a Bioshock-tier game, a once-in-a-generation timeless classic. The sky-high production values, strong writing, and an incredible amount of imagination and originality are second to none. This game IS as good as people have said! /1

Started Clair Obscur, and it's going about how I expected: -Fantastic writing, direction, and voice acting. Graphics and art design are really good, but it's also got that clear, scrappy, AA-budget charm to it. -I fucking DESPISE the combat system they've built here.

I had to write about Horses for @aftermath.site aftermath.site/horses-indie...

My Ninja Gaiden 4 Love/Hate article is now live! I have LOTS of thoughts on this game, check them out here: www.ichoosetostand.net/2025/12/love...

Working on a parable called The Emperors of Dunning-Kruger Mountain in which a bunch of people rise to positions of power but don’t know and won’t tell each other that they are all in way over their heads so instead they just invite more people up.

Took some screenshots for you, specifically, @hayabusa.love.

Things have been quiet on IC2S for the last couple months (my 9/11 musings notwithstanding), but we'll be picking back up in December. I've got my usual year-end rankings writen and queued up, and I'll probably have at least 1 other article completed before the new year, if not more.

Seeing how much of the right-wing on Twitter is just bot farms, kinda lays bare how much hate and hatred is a project that needs to be constantly maintained, a fire that needs to be fed all the time lest it go out for a moment, so much time, effort, and resources to keep people angry and hateful.

I probably shouldn't have started Ninja Gaiden 4 on Hard mode immediately after coming off of almost 60 hours of Nioh 2, LOL. Not only does that require a total brain rewiring to come to grips with the controls/gameplay loop, but NG4 is *definitely* more of a Platinum game than a Team Ninja one.

There's a new article up on IC2S... this one's MUCH different than modg of my recent output. I've been thinking back on 9/11 a lot recently, & spent a good chunk of the last week reliving that day through the eyes of the people who were there. I have thoughts: www.ichoosetostand.net/2025/11/star...

Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made. Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊

After 59 hours with Nioh 2... I think I'm satisfied. I've technically got the DLCs and a bunch of side content to go if I wanted to, but I've finished the story and I feel good retiring here. The game's every bit as good as the first, and easily the best-playing Soulslike out there, but I've got /1

Ok, I think that my most recent project is more or less complete... a workspace upgrade! I've got TONS more desk space and storage to keep things organized, and the whole thing is more "personal" now. ☺️ Probably gonna tinker a bit more, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out!

OMG. Haven't played any DOA for a couple months, was cleaning and found my 3DS with DOA Dimensions in it. Opened it up to see if it was still in sleep mode and accidentally started a 50 match survival game (which I hadn't cleared before). Figured "fuck it, why not?" to see how far I'd get... 😳

Very useful thread.

Hadn't played Nioh 2 for a couple weeks, but got back into it this evening... damn, I had really missed it. I played well & had a great time! Even re-fought that fucking snake boss who gave me so much trouble a couple months ago and kicked his ass. Long games are exhausting, but Nioh 2 is worth it.

Y'all ever give yourself a hangnail so bad that part of the inside of your finger becomes outside...? 🤢

I feel like I say this every year but I really need people to hear it. Halloween is the best American holiday. Just kids outside welcomed into their world, marching around together, showing off their costumes to the elderly, parents meeting parents, neighbors catching up with neighbors.

It is absolutely fucking insane that Final Fantasy X, a game which came out 24 years ago, looks better than every Pokémon game we've ever gotten and cost five times as much to make. Like... no wonder Pokémon games have looked like utter shite for years, TPC refuse to invest beyond the bare minimum.

So I thought I'd like Final Fantasy X, but I'm BLOWN away by how much I'm liking it so far! Very strong opening hours, I didn't want to stop playing (goddamn work/life schedule)!

@hayabusa.love Excuse me, LOL? XD

Getting very close to the end of FF7: have to finish the return trip to Midgar, get to Sephiroth, and then do the final battle. However... this may be the last time I ever play this game due to how much of a time commitment it asks of you. Do we go the whole nine yards to tackle chocobo breeding /1

Well goddamn, this is a great tribute.

This looks promising! :)

It's been a few hours already and I'm still not entirely sure what to say... He may have been a bit eccentric based on stories we've heard, but he was super passionate about his work and left behind one hell of a legacy. RIP Itagaki. Thank you for giving us DOA & my favorite character of all time.

Tomonobu Itagaki i hope you have found a comfortable place to put down your sword. rip

OMFG, WHAT!? Tomonobu Itagaki was a very controversial game director. The sexual harrassment allegations against him really make it hard to hold him in too much esteem, but he's also largely responsible for the creation of some of my all-time favourite games. A problematic fav for sure, and one /1

FOR. FUCK. SAKES. My fucking computer is fucking up again, the exact same issue. Back to the fucking shop, I guess? Probably going to need to buy a new motherboard at this rate, goddammit...

So, uh, I just found out there's concrete confirmation of a character returning in NG4 and I am legitimately getting hyped to play it now...