"Now that we've gathered our bearings..."

It’s been over a month now since I finished the main storyline of Final Fantasy XV. Boy oh boy was that ending a doozy. As per usual, my entire playthrough was such an emotional experience — so much that the week that followed after I finished the game was filled with a lot of post-video game blues, emotional trauma, bittersweet nostalgia, and crying.

Lots and lots and lots of crying. Nothing new with me, it seems.

FFXV tells the tale of Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum — a.k.a. Noct, a.k.a. my precious darling SON WHO MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS — as he travels across the nation with his three buddies: Prompto (my sweet sunshine of a Chocobae), Ignis (resident Cooking Mama and all-around housewife), and Gladiolus (Papa Lion Daddy who does not need to keep his shirt on, thank you very much). Collectively, the fandom (myself included) refers to these four as the beloved Chocobros.

So the Chocobros are making their way to Altissia because Noct is set to marry his childhood friend, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret (former princess of Tenebrae and is also the ~*~Oracle~*~), as part of the negotiations regarding a peace treaty between Noct’s homeland, Lucis, and its nemesis, Niflheim.

Long story short, FFXV is all a glorified road trip about a bunch of bros and you think it’s all fun and games until the story progresses and all the feels start to come out and so when it all ends your soul is just ripped out from your body and-

A n y w a y, let’s talk about some of the pros and cons of FFXV, because there’s just so much I need to get off my chest before I finally combust from all the feelings and frustrations and everything in between.

YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND

IN A WORLD WE MUST DEFEND. POKEMON!!!

In celebration of the latest Pokemon game (which at this point shouldn’t surprise anyone that there's a new Pokemon game) Ultra Sun and Moon, Ina and I have decided to comb through our knowledge of Pokemon, and try to imagine our own Pokemon teams. shhhh Ina and I did not miss Sun and Moon at all

I mean if an 11 year old kid can form a team and save the world, then we can too.

(somewhere in here is a pokemon revive joke about this blog that's just way too real)

Is This Real Life, Or Is It Danganronpa V3?

Of course this was going to happen. Of course. Considering my history with the Danganronpa franchise — and how much I’ve talked about it on this blog — it should come as no surprise that I am here, yet again, to blab on and on about the latest entry in the series: Danganronpa V3.

Having finished the game some weeks ago, I’ve allowed myself to bask in the V3 afterglow and to simply let That Ending™ simmer as I slowly processed it all. I have a LOT to say about V3 (then again, when do I not have so much to say when it comes to Danganronpa?), but I’ll keep more spoiler-y sections of my fangirling separate with a warning.

My Regrets Begin and End with Pre-Sequel

Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands Pre-Sequel.

Apparently major gaming companies can’t count to 3, go figure.

I Believe I Can Fly... With A Headache

This is a long overdue post (because clearly I am bad at this arcadexpoints thing) but hey, what better way to slither my way back into the blog than with a post about an old game in light of its sequel’s trailer being released at this year’s E3?

Basically: Gravity Rush.

Of Monsters and Cracked Skulls

Never have I hated the Bird Wyvern monsters more until I met the Velocidrome and the Gendrome. 

Congrats On Your Face

Yes. Ina and I will be talking about video game crushes. Which is very appropriate for a Valentines Post.

And by 'talking about video game crushes,' we mean 'mindless fangirling.' You have been warned.

Introductions Are In Order

Alex: Intro songs, or even better OSTs (hint hint), have a special place in many people’s hearts. I mean really, who doesn’t know the start up song of Zelda, or that jaunty little tune of Mario from the old game boy? It’s either a trip down memory lane, or it pumps you up to play. So Ina and I thought of another collab post about our favourite intro songs! I’ll start it, and in no particular order, here we go.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls -- Or: "I Knew There Was A Reason Why I Didn't Like Kids"

Judging by the lack of activity on this blog, it almost seems like Alex and I disappeared from the face of the Earth. (Spoiler alert: we probably did.) In my absence, I've actually managed to finish a couple of games (Surprise, surprise!), and one of them is Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.

At this point, my love for the Danganronpa franchise is practically public knowledge. So, when news of a spinoff featuring Makoto's younger sister Komaru -- accompanied by Toko a.k.a. Genocide Jill of all people -- came out, I pretty much lost all chill. The fact that gameplay heavily relied on shooting didn't hinder me either, because IT'S DANGANRONPA OKAY.

Mood: Dragon Age Hell

So.

I initially wanted to do a sort of comparison post between Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2, you know, really get into the whole how rushing a game affects more than the pacing the story, but really? That's not going to happen. 

Glam Games | (Five Nights At Freddy's) Puppet Inspired Makeup

Glam Games: where we produce makeup looks inspired by video games, 'cause makeup and video games are two of some of our favorite things. For this first instalment, we decided to go with a very popular entry in the horror genre: Five Nights At Freddy's. In particular, we went with the puppet because of its IN-YOUR-FACE-GTFO-JUMPSCARES.

I wasn't in the mood to do the makeup on myself AND keep tabs on filming simultaneously, so I Alex my guinea pig instead. As this is only an inspired look, I wanted to make this wearable -- 'wearable' in a sense that it was nothing too theatrical and literal from the actual character.

Taking cues from the puppet's seemingly empty eye sockets, I went for a smokey eye with an accent of purple as the embodiment of its 'tear tracks.' A touch of white was added to the outer section -- tracing the eyeliner -- as an ode to the puppet's overall white face. The falsies were just an added touch to pseudo-mimic the winged angle of the puppet's eyes. I used a light hand with a red blush as I didn't want the look to come off as too 'clowny,' As for the lips, I opted out of going all out doll-pout in favor of a gradient approach instead.

Here's a more 'artistic' photo of the look where we tried to embody the puppet's abrupt springing at you with its jumpscare. Alex and I plan on making more of these in the future, and if you've got any ideas for video game inspired makeup looks, hit us up with your suggestions!

Fun in the Sun... Until Somebody Dies

Taking off from my previous post (which was, lol, over three months ago), this time I’d like to discuss the second game in the Danganronpa franchise: Goodbye Despair. 

The cover design may mislead you with its bright colors and tropical theme, but I can assure you, the despair in this game says anything BUT goodbye.

Next Stop: Idol Hell

Kick back, relax, read the premise of the Love Live! School Idol mobile game, and then find yourself on a one way ticket down to Idol Hell without realising that you bought the a ticket in the first place.

Welcome.

It’s been a while since our last post, but Ina and I have been very busy for our own reasons. But we’re alive! And hopefully back to our semi-regular posting.

Taking 'I Hate School' to a New Level

Q: What do you get when you put Koushun Takami's Battle Royale with the Ace Attorney video game series into the PS Vita?

A: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, that's what.

It's an Animal Crossing Parade!

Single island, animal occupants, new human neighbour that somehow becomes the mayor of the town-island. In hindsight, kind of sounds like a horror movie in the making.

All images taken from Google (as per usual).

I'm on a roll with games that I have played and, personally, find have very little replay value. And next on this list happens to be Animal Crossing: A New Leaf.

Game Shots: Space Channel 5 Part 2

Game Shots is a new segment on our YouTube where we play video games and take shots as a consequence for whenever we mess up. It was also a pre-requisite that we play this already slightly buzzed, so I pre-gamed with a few shots prior to playing. I don't usually drink with shots, but I ended up downing several shots consecutively the night we shot these. Regret manifested in the form of a really bad hangover the next day. Needless to say, we won't be doing another episode of Game Shots for a while.

I'm Used To Boss Fights

What a lie.

The Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is a series that I love enough that I'm willing enough to spend over 100+ hours into gameplay on reaching level 10 affection with a cow, in order to win a Cow Festival, milk Golden Milk from it, and use said milk in various other contests and gifts.

As redundant as it may become, I'm still convinced to buy the newer games.

Top 10 Video Games According to Arcadexpoints

Further disclaimer: all images were taken from Google Images/YouTube/fandom wikias, as per usual. Please don't sue us! We don't own anything!

Hello everyone!

Alex here.

So tagging people on lists in Facebook have been a recent trend (Ina obnoxiously interjects here to state that this post was drafted sometime in 2014 but never saw the light of day because I, Ina, wanted to join in on this Top 10 video games shenanigan but always withheld working on my part of the blog post, thus pushing the publication of this further and further back -- TLDR; INA SUXXX) and honestly, it's a trend that I could live without. However, one particular Top 10 list was interesting enough for me to think about (but not really to post + tag people on Facebook) and that's the Top 10 video games. Ina and I, however, thought that it would be a cool post here on Arcadexpoints!

GTA V, or: How Video Games Affect Real Life

Ah, Grand Theft Auto. That one video game franchise I made a conscious effort to stay away from because I knew — oh, I knew — I’d get in deep trouble with the higher ups (i.e. my parents) had I been spotted indulging in such a… decadent culture, so to speak. GTA has had this reputation for being violent and crude, which still stands to this day, so it was clear that it was something I couldn’t be caught playing as I grew up. ’Tis a shame GTA was nonexistent in my life during its PS2 era, because that was when the series really rose to fame.

Also because I totally missed out on snagging pirated copies for cheap, especially in this day and age.