I understand that House of the Dead Overkill developers Headstrong Games were going for that “grindhouse” feel when creating their new on-rails zombie shooter.

I understand the exploitation films that served as reference materials for the developers often, if not always, contained copious amounts of gratuitous profanity and adult themes.

I can appreciate a development team choosing a theme and using that theme to tie the game together. (Valve did the same with excellent results in Team Fortress 2.) The adult themes are part of the game; I get that.

But knowing all that, I still can’t stand House of the Dead Overkill. I stopped playing the game after the first level and won’t pick it back up. I can not, in good conscience, recommend this game to anyone.

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Wow.

I finished Persona 4 earlier today with 85 hours and 55 minutes logged on my new cycle save data. (The “new cycle” mechanism allows players to carry over the main character’s stats, money, Persona Compendium, and items from maxed Social Links for a second play through.)

I doubt I’ll return for a second play through any time soon, though. Persona 4, which boasts a score of 92 on Metacritic, is easily one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played, but now it’s time to go back and finish Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Okami.

Having now played all the way through Persona 4, I regret not buying the Persona 4: Amazon.com Exclusive Social Link Expansion Pack when I had the chance. I should have known Persona 4 would live up to and exceed my expectations, just as Persona 3 did.

If you still have questions, go back to the food court. Sometimes you have to take a moment to think and say, “I’m not finished yet.”

You’ll understand when the time comes.

If you don’t complete quests 38 and 40 before Nov. 20, you won’t be able to for the remainder of the game.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way.

The same deadline applies to quests 17, 18, 28, and 29, but you should be able to complete those quests well before Nov. 20.

Before you set foot in the Mystery Manor, make sure you rescue all 13 villagers. If you haven’t rescued all 13 villagers yet, visit Wygol Village, make a list of the villagers you have rescued, then use maps (available at GameFAQs and created by Darth Nemesis) to figure out who you missed and where they are.

If you defeat the Mystery Manor area boss without having first saved all 13 villagers, you’ll get the “bad ending” (i.e. Game Over) when you return to Ecclesia. I learned this the hard way and had to beat the boss twice. Troublesome indeed.

According to Zoel Giradel, who wrote an excellent Persona 4 FAQ hosted on GameFAQs, “Fuuma Bundou” roughly translates to “Wind Demon’s Claw.” This weapon has an attack rating of 190 and an accuracy rating of 94. It does not have any special features (e.g. Chance to Confuse, Chance to Enrage, etc.).

Now when September 11 rolls around, you can make an informed decision.

Again, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, please disregard.

When September 25 rolls around and you’re watching Tanaka’s Amazing Commodities and you’re thinking about buying that Death Scudetto, don’t. Sure, the thing has an attack rating of 260, but the hit rate is only 50 (meaning Kanji will only connect with the enemy about half the time). There, I just saved you 27,800 yen.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, please disregard.

The male platypus has poisonous claws.

Thank you, Atlus, for inspiring me to look up factoids completely irrelevant to everyday life.

When recently playing through Chrono Trigger for the 4th time (this time on the Nintendo DS), I was presented with a difficult in-game choice. (For role-playing game fans, I’ll say that I was presented with the choice at North Cape and leave it as that.) A quick online search to discover the consequences of each possible choice led me to the final in a series of articles exploring the subtext of one of the greatest video games of all time.

I’ve compiled the following list of links for my own convenience, but I also hope they might inspire more people to give K. Newton’s thoughtful articles a read.

• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part I)
• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part II)
• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part III)
• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part IV)
• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part V)
• Chrono Trigger: An Existentialist Reading (Part VI)

Protagonist: Daisuke NAMIKAWA

Yosuke Hanamura: Showtaro MORIKUBO

Chie Satonaka: Yui HORIE

Yukiko Amagi: Ami KOSHIMIZU

Kanji Tatsumi: Tomokazu SEKI

Rise Kujikawa: Rie KUGIMIYA

Naoto Shirogane: Romi PAKU

Teddie: Kappei YAMAGUCHI

Igor: Isamu TANONAKA

Margaret: Sayaka OHARA

Ryotaro Dojima: Unshou ISHIZUKA

Nanako Dojima: Akemi KANDA

Tōru Adachi: Mitsuaki MADONO

Chihiro Fushimi: Ai MAEDA