Laboratory of Mathematics and Writing

Songs That Take Me Back Vol. 5 I feel like taking another trip back to the ’90s. I recently hung out with some childhood friends and watched the 1986 Transformers movie with them. One of my friends moved back from out of state, and it was the first time I’d seen him since he left. I also took a trip to see Anthrax, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden with my budding metalhead friend. We’re all getting older, and some of us have even sprouted a few gray hairs. To combat aging, we reminisced about the good old days when we were young and carefree. System of a Down - Sugar This was the first System of a Down song I heard. As a little kid, I was mystified by the wild face paint, the thunderous volume, the absurd lyrics, and the general craziness of it all. I used to watch it in the living room of my old house on The Box channel. I bought this album along with Toxicity some time later and became hooked on SOAD. While I was in graduate...

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Remember when I said I’d cave in to the hype of The price is right? Well, I got this game for free. I bought a new graphics card, and the game came as a free bonus with it. My luck has been good lately, too. I found an open-box CPU and GPU for $100 less each. So I was able to significantly upgrade my PC at a sizable discount and get a free game on top of that. The prices of components are crazy nowadays, so any reduction in price helps. Hype After making my purchase, I discovered that Onimusha had been hyped to the heavens. Everyone is talking about how great it is and how it’s a glorious return for the franchise. I don’t see it. The game is good, but it’s not that good. It’s definitely a game I’ll play once, have some fun with, and probably never touch again. Then again, the combat is so good that I might replay it just for that alone. Master Swordsman You play as Musashi, a skilled samur...

Resident Evil: Requiem I was going to play Resident Evil 3, but I ended up succumbing to hype. Requiem has an overwhelmingly positive reception on Steam, and reviewers routinely award it high marks. I acquired a discount code that brought the price down to 47 dollars instead the normal sticker price of $70. So, I figured, "why not?" and made my purchase. I guess I succumb to hype whenever the price is right. I definitely don't regret my purchase. Indeed, Requiem is a very well done game. However, even though it's not fair, I can't help but compare it to the old school Resident Evil games I just played. I must say, I think I preferred Resident Evil 2 over Requiem. There are really only a small handful of reasons why, but either way, Requiem is absolutely worth playing and about as good as everyone says it is. Leon The events of Requiem take place nearly three decades after those of RE2. Leon is a different...

Conversation View Terranigma Gets a Proper Re-Release Terranigma will be re-release via GOG, Steam, Xbox, Playstation, and Switch. For those in the Western Hemisphere, it will be the first time it's ever been officially released. Prior to this, you could only obtain Terranigma either through reproduction cartridges or ROM files. I myself have both. And I also have a Japanese Super Famicom cartridge. Overall, I'm quite pleased. It's easy to complain that it should have been much more that being a simple port with some minor enhancements. Indeed, it really should have expanded the 4:3 aspect ration to a modern 16:9. It looks like it will ship with a decorative border. It would have been awesome for this to have enhanced audio. There's ROM hacks out there with it. Some where clamoring for an HD-2D remake/remaster ala Dragon Quest. Others still where hoping for a full on modern remake. Alas, it appears as though it's goi...

Denshattack! There's a YouTuber that goes by the name DreamcastEnjoyer. He coined the phrase "big Dreamcast energy" to describe games that are clearly inspired by the type of games that can be found on Sega's final console. I feel confident in categorizing Denshattack! as a game with big Dreamcast energy. There is no question that it would have been perfectly in place among that console's library of games. It definitely has the arcade feel where the game is easy to learn, but once it sinks its hooks into you, you'll spend many hours trying to truly master it. I myself spent such time mastering Denshattack!'s tracks and had an absolute blast. Xtreme Train Racing You play as Emi. She makes her living as delivery driver. Except, she doesn't drive a car or a truck or a bicycle. She drives a train. She lives in a fictional Japan where a climate catastrophe has affected ecosystems and people general...

Resident Evil - Code: Veronica I'm following up my playthrough of Resident Evil 2 with Code:Veronica instead of the RE3. I was inspired by Capcom's recent announcement of a Code: Veronica remake. So, I decided to jump right in before it gets released. Naturally, I'm going to compare Code: Veronica to RE2 quite a lot throughout this review. They're both great games and it just so happens that I played them on the same console: the Sega Dreamcast. Improvements The graphics are better than RE2. The zombies and monsters themselves are more detailed and gruesome. The human characters are more refined and, dare I say, prettier. The environments are completely rendered in the 3D engine this time around. Some might prefer the pre-rendered environments of the previous entries, but I believe they look better in Code: Veronica. Maybe it's just me, but it seems the lighting is more enhanced. Moreover, I think the character m...