Rogue Galaxy session 4

I finally got around to looking up the location of the stupid Factory Key I needed to continue, and guess what?  It was in the same goddamn room as the place where it needed to be used.  Great.

Anyway, with that bullshit behind me, I progressed on and got up to Jupis, who summons a giant robot and pilots it in a boss battle.  He's got this annoying shield that blocks all your attacks, and the worst part is you just have to uselessly wail on it until Dr. Pocacchio comes and saves your ass by giving you a subweapon for Jaster that can break through the shield.

Partway through the battle Jupis gets pissed and puts the robot into deluxe mode, which makes it turn red and shoot fire.  It also becomes a lot more powerful, capable of one-shotting the entire party.  As it did to me.  Four times.  I don't think I ever mentioned before how fucking long it takes to get back into the game after a game over.  Yes, game, I get it.  I died.  Let me resume immediately instead of taking me back to the logos and the title screen and making me load my save.  Srsly.

Anyway, I did eventually defeat the stupid thing, and now I have access to this factory thing.  They pretty much immediately went "we have this awesome magical smelter, but it's not working...", so I went to all the trouble of making them one and the NPC dialogue didn't change.  "Fuck you guys, I'm going on with the story." is what I said.

...or so I thought.  The puzzle nature of the factory thing pulled me in just long enough that I made everything I possibly could.  Which was only three items, two of which were factory parts.  "So NOW I'm going on with the story..."

So I finally got what I came to this accursed planet for accomplished, and I'm going to set sail for some other, possibly less annoying place.  Which is a shame because I have these hunter coins from challenge battles that the game's help system says to exchange them for licenses at Galaxy Corporation, but I can't find where exactly I need to go within Galaxy Corporation to exchange them for licenses.  Oh well, on with the story I guess.

FarmRich frozen snack foods

I don't know why I didn't notice this stuff on the frozen aisle sooner.  Essentially, what you get is a bag full of snack-size food.  Perfect, right?

Well, yes.  Yes it is.

There's too many varieties for me to remember, but I don't really need to comment on every single one.  Everything I've had so far (that Giant stocks, and a bit of what I can only get at Wal-Mart) is awesome.  However, I will mention specific things that are notable.

I mentioned the Mini Bacon Cheeseburgers in a previous post, so go read that.

The Mozzarella Cheese Bites are one of the best varieties, in the opinions of both me and a friend of mine.  If you need bite-size snacks, these will do quite nicely.

I will say that the meatball varieties really, really, really need a slow cooker.  They're okay baked in an oven, but you're going to get the most out of them when you put them in a slow cooker with some sauce of whatever variety you like best.  That might be a bit more effort than you want to exert for a snack, but it makes it better for parties and other large gatherings.  If you still plan on baking them in your oven, make sure you use a pan with actual sides, like a 13x9 brownie pan, because they do have a fair amount of oil and fire has an uncanny ability to ruin your day.

The stuffed pretzel cheese bites were a lot better than the previous ones I reviewed, in the same post as the Mini Bacon Cheeseburgers.  No weird texture or aftertaste, and the cooking directions work without modification.

If you wonder just how large of a snack you're getting, well, look at the package.  Some varieties have upwards of 40 or 50 of whichever they are in the package.  Anything other than the meatballs has directions for half the package as well as the full package.

Overall, you can't go wrong.

Raybern New York Deli Style Sandwiches

Saw these in the freezer case with a little "NEW!" sticker and a $2.50 price tag and figured I'd try them out.

At Giant I have four varieties of these sandwiches to pick from.  I don't know if there's more or not.  I have the Chicken Bacon Ranch, Ham and Cheddar, Philly Cheesesteak, and Roast Beef Cheddar Melt.  They're intended solely for the microwave, and thus have all the problems that microwaved frozen snacks have.  From time to time they will also obey the law of frozen burritos, which is "No matter how long you microwave it, it will always have a cold spot".

The microwave directions for each are all slightly different, but regardless it doesn't take more than three minutes.  A common complaint would be that the bottom piece of bread tends to harden and crispify.  They also have directions for if the sandwich is thawed, so if you have the foresight to say "I'm going to want a snack several hours from now", then pop one in the fridge to thaw it out in advance.  They do turn out better if you thaw them before heating them.

Now, about each variety I have access to:

• Chicken Bacon Ranch - Bacon is barely detectable, the rest is good.
• Ham and Cheddar - If that's actually real cheddar, it's some of the mildest cheddar ever.
• Philly Cheesesteak - It doesn't feel like a real Philly Cheesesteak to me.  It's nowhere near as greasy, nor does it have detectable onions.  The meat looks like thinly sliced roast beef, rather than actual steak.
• Roast Beef Cheddar Melt - Basically the Philly Cheesesteak, but with cheddar cheese instead of American.

Overall, for $2.50 each, they're fairly decent.  I think if they made them any better they'd have to charge more.

An Era Has Ended

Negima chapter 355 has been released, and a story that took nine years to unfold has come to its conclusion.

Still, we don't know who Negi ends up with, and maybe it's better that way.

I really don't know what to say.  I enjoyed every page of every chapter.  From the serious moments, to the action, to the comedy and ecchi, it was all good.  All I can think of now is a simple question: What's next for Akamatsu Ken?

Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be awesome.  Since the Twitter widget over there won't show the tweet forever, I'll go ahead and immortalize its words here:  "Kind of sad to see it go, but I knew it couldn't continue much longer once Magic World ended."

Now I just have to finish buying all the American releases of the manga volumes.  I'll admit I fell behind...

Negima Anime Final thoughts

SPOILERS.  Also no pictures.  Deal with it.

That was derpishly easy

After all the trouble I went through trying to figure out how to defeat Cthulhu at the end of Magicka: The Stars Are Left, and even went back and got the achievement for beating the chapter without dying, I found a YouTube video of someone using a single Magick to defeat him in under a minute.  At first I was like "O RLY?" But then I was like "derp".

I tried it, and indeed it works.

The magick in question is Propp's Party Plasma.  The key to spamming it and killing Cthulhu is that it seems to interrupt Cthulhu's attack pattern.  So basically you can stand in the tentacles' blind spot and spam it (FFQS spacebar over and over), and he'll just die.  He won't even summon the winged demon at 33% health.

Since so many people miss this Magick when playing through The Stars Are Left, here's how to get it.

In Chapter 2, you'll come to the village where Gram's Workshop is.  There's a guy standing by the fire.  Talk to him repeatedly.  Eventually he'll say something to the effect of "I'll give you a tome for free".  Stop talking to him at this point and head over to the shop at the far right.  Talk to the shopkeep and you'll get it.  If you keep talking to the guy at the fire for too long, he will rescind his offer.

I knew that pretty much every fight in Magicka has a method of making it derpishly easy, but this is just ridiculous.  I'd have to rate the next most derpishly easy fight as Khan, who can be defeated with this simple sequence: spray him with water (Q staff cast), spray him with frost (E staff cast), and then steam lightning beam (QFQFASA staff cast).

Songs that have gone through my head since I woke up

I woke up at 4 PM, and this isn't in any sort of order.  I may or may not have air guitarred to one or more of these in the shower.

Metallica - Enter Sandman

Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls

Galneryus - Shriek of the Vengeance

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird

Foo Fighters - Best of You

Buckethead - Jordan