April 20th 2025

There is no way in the world I can operate a “pop culture” website and not address all the adjacent news in the past week. I have a policy of not talking about drama related stuff, so I’ll absolutely do my best to condense it as much as possible. But the long and short of it is that one of the biggest vtubers is “moving on”, 4chan gets exposed, and absolutely everyone has no idea what is going on with the tariff situation in regard to pricing of any products. The above video is related to a talking point I have even though it’s a bit older, featuring SmugAlana. More details in the audio portion, but it’s been a handful to say the least.

In an ever-growing escalation of YouTube trying to be the most annoying platform out there, they’ve recently stepped-up measures to block 3rd party apps or other methods of saving videos or watching videos privately. It’s always a cat-and-mouse game with them, and at the moment there are few options available without using a throw-away google account. Cobalt-Tools is a very ambitious (but amazingly awesome) site that allows you to privately save videos off YouTube if you need to. Feel free to donate to the cause if you use the website a lot, as it helps.

Came across this track amongst the chaotic week, and it had enough of a chilled vibe to make it to my recommendations list. The song is quite dynamic, with the first half of the song being very different from the 2nd half, which is cool in itself. And personally, the 2nd half is kind of fire, and I wish the whole song had that vibe from the start. Credit to 2NATURAL, Lama, Wendy Wang. By the way, if you’re trying to save songs offline via YouTube, you need to use the full link and not embedded links (like what you see above). Just a heads up if you get an error using a site like Colbalt Tools.

I know it’s strange for my regulars to put gacha gaming news at the end of the update, but this news isn’t really a “new” thing, as it’s an update to a game I’ve mentioned here before. Horizon Walker is implementing a “very requested” feature that a lot of fans have been looking for, and I’m just here to say I applaud the developers for understanding their demographic. This is a good example of business minded folks who understand the concept of reading the room. This skill has apparently been lost in the AAA gaming industry as of late. Also, as much as I love monster waifus, the recently released chubby nerd waifu “Berga” has me thinking of starting the game back up again.

Artist is Honkibooty

Artist of the week is Honkibooty bringing us a fitting tribute to the graduating Gawr Gura. Naturally I’ve never been a fan of petit characters in general, so I’m glad Honkibooty agrees with me and puts his interpretation of Gawr in a much more mature form. Support the artist on their Patreon, or at least send them a nice word on their social.

April 13th 2025

Lots of drama in the news as always, so I thought I would lighten up the mood a bit with some historical shenanigans. Back in high school, I remember my history teacher regaling to me the story of Timothy Dexter. There are a lot of philosophical lessons to be drawn from his life, the most important being success is not tied to hard work. There’s also a parallel to be made from a business perspective, that those who are fearless (but not careless) with their money tend to grow it the most. More nuance in the audio portion of the blog.

I recently upgraded my phone and being the stingy bastard that I am, I wanted to see what was out there that I could save a few dollars on. To my surprise, digital image stabilization has become so much better than it used to be, I kind of question the need of gimbals for anything other than actual professional or enthusiast work. Agree or disagree feel free to let me know in the comments.

Got a song recommendation this week that comes from a “strange place”. I say this because I can’t distinguish whether or not the vocals used in the track are human (tuned) or a vocaloid. Whatever it is, it sounds good and thought I would share. Blaine Hunter is an indie artist (as far as I can tell) and you can find them on various platforms.

Artist is Ara / Aranee

I mentioned vocaloid, so it’s my civic duty to post Brazilian Hatsune Miku because of it. And one fine example of such is done by the talented Ara / Aranee. Feel free to support them on Patreon or visit their pixiv page for more works done by them.

April 6th 2025

News is picking up this week but it’s still a bit complicated getting something coherent together. A recent beta Silver & Blood was showcased, and you can all make your own conclusions whether or not this game interests you. I swear the style of the gameplay looks familiar, but I can’t really put my finger on it. Not a global release as far as I can tell, so there’s a little bit of hoop jumping if you want to try it.

This video scratches a lot of nerdy itches I have in the modern era of video gaming. I really care not what technology can do “at its best”, but what can it do with minimum resources or requirements. With typical games now requiring the likes of “15 GB patches”, I think we’ve all lost the plot collectively in terms of efficiency and optimization. 4K 240hz gaming looks amazing on a standard PC, but 30FPS DOOM played on your refrigerator screen is just funny and amazing. More stuff on the very interesting Budget Builds Official channel.

There was a time a few years back when everyone apparently on YouTube decided to move into a Van and show you how awesome it was. Once the fad died out, you were left with those who do it out of necessity and those like Ryan Twomey who do it just because. Excellent chill vibes content creator, I promise you he’s 100% douche free and rant free. Can’t be said for most van lifers unfortunately.

Artist is AnimA

Artist of the week is the talented AnimA gracing us with one of his OC characters. Make no mistake, the classic elven bombshell waifu is very much appreciated by me even if am always looking for the more obscure waifu types out there. If you want more (and there’s a ton of it) head on over to their Pixiv. Support them, if possible, even if it’s just a kind word of appreciation. I promise you it means a lot to them.

March 30th 2025

Whang! this week brings us a compilation of stories so random; he had a hard time putting them together into a themed compilation. Side-note YouTube is being an absolute bitch again with ads, so a quick elegant web-based way of bypassing them is using Skipvids and entering the video link there. It’s annoying having to paste the link for each video you want to watch, but at least they’ll be ad-free. You can also do an entire channel if you know their “@” handle, which will then show you all the latest uploads by them. Recommended for desktop users or those on wi-fi as the site pre-loads a lot videos at once.

Stix put together a list recently of games he’s currently playing and his rationale behind them. I generally like these types of videos because I always want perspective behind what people are doing on a daily basis in terms of gacha. I would like (if possible) for any of you to share your current lists with me even without context. In other words, dropping the name off is good enough. I go over what I’m still playing in the audio blog, but it isn’t anything new from the retrospective if you saw / read that.

Came acro this random chill song that became an earwig very quickly. Apparently, it’s from an Indie artist Luli Lee and she’s from South Korea. Considering a lot of the more cultured games right now are from South Korea, I thought it would be fitting to throw a recommendation. Not my usual genre of music, but something haunting about it hooked me.

Artist is Shexyo

Artist is Twisting Toxic

Got a couple of artists this week for the abrupt news cycle. First one is a newcomer (I think?) in the way of Shexyo and their lovely Frieren. Second artist is a multiple returning guest Twisting Toxic with an even more returning guest Muffet from Undertale looking all lovely. Links to both artist’s good stuff is under their respective pictures.

March 23rd 2025

This week is a bag of memes cause the well of content is still dry. I promise all of you I’m not in full panic mode thinking of what to talk about for next month’s blog (I am), but at least we can all find comfort in Your Mother. Similar to a previous game I talked about called Your Wife, this is a desktop companion. It’s slightly better than the former due it having “some” voices and has workshop support for… content. Check out both and reevaluate your life choices afterward.

Is the wave of robot waifus finally coming? Probably not, but at least this figure exists, and we can all enjoy it for various reasons. I randomly linked you a place to buy it if you’re so inclined, but I have no affiliation with the store.

This came across my feed last week right as I uploaded the previous blog, so I didn’t get to add it. It’s an interview with a gacha gaming “whale” and goes into detail (from his perspective) on why he spends / spent so much on these games. It’s an interesting look behind the veil, and a welcome one since a lot of similar interviews are text only and tend to lose the minutiae. Credit goes to the content creator himself (2hu) over on his YouTube channel.

Artist is Tohirokonno

Can’t end the week seriously, so might as well go all the way with a “meme” waifu image, courtesy of the talented Tohirokonno. This artist is a full blown NSFW content creator, and although they have a pixiv page for you to check out, always be aware it’s going to go into the deep end of the lewd spectrum unapologetically. You have been warned!

March 16th 2025

Absolutely nothing to report this week, due to a few factors. Chiefly, the pop-culture space is full of nothing to report of note (non-drama). More importantly, people are just busy. That’s a good thing, because being busy with stuff to do means not being “bitchy” about stuff in general. I’ve been putting in hours with Elin as you can see above, and hopefully you’ve been busy too with stuff you like. Monster Hunter Wilds modding community going ham by the way and I’m all for it.

This week has been hard to find anything to scrape together, so I’m digging through the archives again until something new arrives. Nexpo has the creepy stuff typically saved for October, but it’s always a good time to revisit even in March. He also recently launched a new podcast if you’re so inclined.

Dead malls, dead buildings, dead ideas. Cryptically fascinating for a nerd like me, and a history lesson for those who care enough. I absolutely love watching the hubris of people who have a lot of money, but not a lot of common sense. Expedition Theme Park has been a long-time recommendation on the site, just bringing him back into the spotlight it’s been a while.

Artist is Enmanuelart

Artist of the week is Enmanuelart bringing us lovely Zenless Zone Zero waifus. I don’t play the game, but it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the concept. Head on over to Enmanuelart’s Pixiv for more images, or support them on Patreon for the super hidden stuff.

March 9th 2025

I can’t afford a dozen eggs at the supermarket anymore but apparently; I can afford a waifu figurine that’s of decent quality. Not much news this week per usual, so I’m just going to send you a heads up that stuff like this exists and you can grab one if you like from stores like HLJ if you so desire. As always ff you want figure news, EXkurogane Studio is your man.

I want to be clear that I was aware of this game (Anchor Panic / 锚点降临) for quite some time now but also knew that it was never really intended to be a “globally” available game outside of SEA / KR / JP. It’s hard enough to get folks to play a game in a different language, let alone get them to jump through a lot of hoops to just even launch it. This game is about a year old now and if you like what you see in the video courtesy of Scion Storm, feel free to check it out. Be forewarned you will run into hiccups along the way.

Familiar face LGR has a recently out of character video reviewing some extremely modern tech. Those who have similar interests like me who mostly play non-modern AAA tittles but everything else under the sun might find this small form PC interesting. I’ve read other sources by the way that the maximum power draw for this unit hovers around 130W, which is absolutely insane given the fact realistically it uses under 75W for moderate loads. Those who wanted a detailed written review can check out Nascompares writeup which is very detailed.

Artist is Gurimjang

Slow news week means super talented artist. Gurimjang has a draw dropping portfolio over on their Artstation page which you check out at your leisure. Sign up for an account if you want the spicier stuff. See you all next week with (hopefully) something new.

March 2nd 2025

We’re starting off March with some pragmatism. I have a few app updates and suggestions to recommend, starting with Bluestacks 13 being recently released. This is actually good news considering a lot of modern games and apps are being “muscled” into requiring later versions of Android to function properly. Keep in mind Bluestacks is a bloated whale of an emulator, but it is the most “above board” emulator out there in which you can trace all the bloat in the code. Everything else out there is “here be dragons” when it comes to what it’s doing, but I’ll leave it up to you what to use. I have no horse in the race, just bringing the news.

Chances are if you’ve been watching YouTube as of late, you’ve probably come across a lot of ads again. More confounding for some of you who remember installing various ad-blockers. The game of “cat and mouse” with Google is always evolving, so finding programs to bypass the ads is going to continue long after I’m dead. None the less finding alternatives that are also user friendly is hard, but I find FreeTube to be the easiest to use and recommend to non-tech minded folks.

One of the biggest fighting game tournaments of the year will be held this week spanning a couple of days. That tournament is Capcom Cup 11, and the grand prize is a life changing $1,000,000. There’s a lot of spectacle and production with these types of events, so if you would rather have a more streamlined experience; wait until the tournament finishes and watch the vod. Since the tournament concludes on Sunday in Japan, most of my site visitors will be able to watch the vod the same day due to time zone differences.

Artist is Rubee

Lovely waifu of the week is Alcyone from LO, courtesy of artist of the week Rubee. There’s a mix of styles that’s pleasing to the eye yet unique about this artist, so check out their pixiv for more of their work.

February 23rd 2025

Beginning this week with an actual mainstream gaming recommendation, it’s going to come in the form of a recent Yakuza game called Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii. I don’t need to go over the finer details as my man ACG does so in his review I’ve linked above. ACG is one of the few people I go to for mainstream reviews anymore, so maybe check out his other videos to gauge whether or not he aligns with your style.

Videogame tournament this weekend, it’s the long running and established Mastercup series for Tekken. The format of this tournament is more exciting than single participants, as it focuses on 5v5 teams which adds to the “story” if you will of the competitors involved. Please visit the YouTube channel to see the live stream or vod for the Tekken 8 Mastercup when it finishes. If you don’t mind Twitch, you can also watch MajinObama vod in English here.

Slow news means song recommendations, and this one just sounds fitting considering I recommended you all a Tekken tournament to watch. Heylu has nothing to do with the series, but this song easily could fit into one of their soundtracks. Naturally if you like the vocals or the sound, check out Heylu’s other tracks on their channel. VPN if the above video is blocked in your area.

Artist is Huffslove

My need to post monster girls or I die shows itself this week with long time site familiar Huffslove. He likes goblin waifus; I like goblin waifus - we walk the same holy path. You know the drill at this point, support the artist at their Patreon so the world may be a better, greener place.

February 16th 2025

Some interesting gacha gaming news this week in the form of Last Origin finally coming to a global market via EroLabs. Not sure what to feel about this news, as the emotions are a bit mixed. I have a lot to say in the audio blog with the announcement, but I’ll be brief here and point out it’s good to see the game finally reach a wider audience in one form or another. Can the game survive on its art alone in 2025 is the real question down the road.

The only other topic this week, I tend to be upbeat and happy go luck on the site. However, sometimes I feel the interesting non-ficition stuff warrants watching even if it’s a bit of a downer at times. Scary Interesting has a ton of stories for you to binge of actual historical and recent tragedies. Good stuff to balance you out if you’ve been surrounded by too much sugary stuff and need a hit of “reality”.

The last story was kind of “metal”, so it’s only fitting I recommend a song this week fitting the theme. I feel like Dancewiththedead doesn’t need an introduction as they’ve been quite popular in the video game / pop culture circles for their great music. But if you haven’t heard them before, you have a lot of potential songs to add to a playlist. Their style is definitely more energetic + metal, so maybe save them for the odd FPS session or two.

I love waifus of all type, and one of the rarest breeds is the furry waifu in 3D form. This lovely girl was in development for years and sold out immediately on her first batch in 2023. A re-release is currently being held and selling out quickly, so I suggest if you like what you see head on over to Sakura-Gear (official store) and pick her up now while you can.

Artist is Hyulla

We talked about Last Origin, so it’s only fitting we put in my OG waifu Labiata from the OG lewd artist Hyulla. Keep in mind Hyulla is old school and still employed by various companies, so a lot of his art is going to be locked away into physical formats and copyright walls. You’ll have to scour the internet pretty hard to find archives of his recent works, but they’re there.

February 9th 2025

Playing off the “old is new again” theme from the monthly update, I just wanted to share this repository of excellent replays of older games. The channel is Replay Burners and their extension channel RB Video Library. My older audience might get some nostalgia, while the younger ones might laugh at what we all played back in the day.

You don’t need to understand or play a game to enjoy content from it. It’s one of those things I try to educate nerdy folks I come across to broaden their horizons. Ambiguousamphibian has been doing playthrough of games I’ve never touched (except Kenshi). That doesn’t stop me from enjoying his story telling of absolutely absurd situations for eclectic games. It also helps he’s genuinely hilarious, and one of the best dry humor creators out there.

There’s a particular genre of music that fits well with relaxing and grinding. At least to me anyway. As someone who has put in about 140 hours into Elin since I bought it, I definitely need something to play in the background while I do what I need to do. Cannons has a particular sound I’m found of when I need to do my dailies, so hopefully you might pick up on some of the same vibes I do.

Artist is Aoi Nagisa

Artist of the week is the legendary (I mean that) Aoi Nagisa. Although he’s still very active with modern projects, he doesn’t have a lot of online presence due to his old school nature. Out of respect, I’ve linked his only publicly known contact source, and you can branch out from there to appreciate or see more of his work.

February 2nd 2025

Small life update in terms of California not being on fire so much anymore. A needed day of rain came and went in LA county where I reside and saturated enough of the area to help get things under control. It also provided precious restocking of our “laughably” dry ground water reserves. This is only the beginning of the “repair and taxes” phase, so I’ll definitely make a bookmark on how things have changed in my neck of the woods in the retrospective for 2025. Thanks for all the kind words as well.

As I’ve been knee deep in other stuff recently, this gacha game slipped under my radar. It’s called Lost Swords Tales of Britannia. It has a lot of fan service (which is why I noticed it), but it also is an auto-battler. I have nothing against the genre, but I was recently heavily burned by another game in the same category (check my weekly retrospective for 2024). If any of you try out this game, let me know if you went deep. I’m tired of being a canary in a coal mine and rather have someone else take point this time around and shot first.

Piggybacking off of the monthly update, some folks might have missed this video checking out all the other great content on Majin’s channel. The reason why this video struck a chord with me has nothing to do with Street Fighter (I don’t even play it), but the talking points about communities and “missing the point”. I go into detail in the audio blog, but the jest of it is that newer gaming communities need to adapt to a way of doing things that isn’t like what “we” older folks did that worked. It worked because it was the only option we had.

Artist is OlchaS

Artist of the week is OlchaS, bringing us this lovely unamed FGO waifu. Literally I was looking for themed waifus for this update (Snake year and all that) and this was what first popped up. In any case, check out their Patreon if you like their work.

January 26th 2025

Some gaming news to start off this week, but it isn’t necessarily Gacha gaming related. As a matter of fact, none of it is! But hopefully you’ll consider them anyway cause they all definitely go into the “weird but strangely good” side of the road. Let’s start off with NunHoly - a recent Steam release game that got a lot of attention for its… well Nuns. It’s a bare bones Hades clone with a much prettier protagonist roster. Feel free to hunt down the heretics if you’re so inclined.

Next game we’re looking at is Elin, a direct sequel (technically prequel) to the absurdly underground indie game Elona. Make no mistake, these games fill a very particular genre (farming sim / rogue-lite), but they do it extremely well and are highly addictive to those who get caught in the moment. Technically there’s a mobile version of Elona, but it’s more of a stand-alone spin-off with a different vibe.

Going into a bit of a personal struggle story here, but I can’t for the life of me find a physical wireless (non-BT) volume control knob for my PC. There are many 2-in-1 solutions (like wireless keypads with a knob) or wireless keyboards with the knob built in, but no knob by itself wirelessly (without BT). It’s strange I know, but something I eventually came to terms with and found a temporary alternative. That alternative is Volumouse from NirSoft. Pretty self-explanatory, but it’s a freeware software that allows you to reprogram anything to control your volume - even your mouse wheel.

Artist is Edemevas

I needed to post a monster waifu this week, so here she is courtesy of the talented Edemevas. I was looking for a fire themed waifu due to recent events for comedic relief, and a fire dragon waifu fits that bill just fine.

January 19th 2025

Nothing has changed since last week in terms of interesting stuff to talk about, so we’re going sideways a bit with spookier (but fun) stuff and randomness. Qxir makes a reappearance on my site because he’s absolutely hilarious and covers darker topics in the funniest way possible. I only wish most historical drama out there was talked about by him.

I actually like theme parks quite a bit growing up but unfortunately never had the means to go to them even when I became a young adult. I am fascinated by all stories throughout the decades of what I missed, am missing, and current drama related to them in some way. It’s kind of like those folks you knew in high school who were really good at something but never made it a career. In any case, MonoMania brings us all along for the ride (ha!) of serious incidents in various parks around the world.

It’s been a while since I talked about fighting game tournaments, so I’ll mentioning one you might want to watch this week. It’s the GBVS grand finals for 2024 (held in 2025). Keep in mind I don’t play this game at all, but it’s extremely pretty to look at and easy to follow as a spectator not familiar with fighting games.

Artist is MOcase (AI Generated / Assisted)

Artist of the week is MOcase (AI) who has a very lovely picture of Elegg from Nikke. I go on a long tangent in the audio portion of the blog about various things AI. For the written only viewers - enjoy all the chubby glory and visit the Pixiv page for more work from the artist. Take care!

January 12th 2025

Long time visitors to the site will acknowledge the fact that I reside near Los Angeles County. And yes, it’s been burning quite a bit in my neck of the woods. Thankfully I am not in a directly impacted area, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get reminded every day on the news or by local authorities that things can go south pretty quickly. At the moment I’m fine, and if anything, I’m more worried about the longer-term impact of taxes and fees going up to recoup the staggering amount of estimated damage going on. All in all, I’m fine and just wanted to say that fires in California have been a lot more problematic than earthquakes in the last decade for sure.

It’s been a slow news week in general, so I often bring out the paranormal stuff to fill the gaps. Connor’s Curiosities has been mentioned only once in the past, so it’s fitting to bring him back in the spotlight with one of his more recent videos. It is rather ironic for me (considering the circumstances) how larger current events can go overlooked quite quickly once they’ve finished, while tiny mysteries from 20 years ago can still linger on in the minds of many.

Not joking that this song was recommended to me because I was watching paranormal stuff on YouTube. It’s actually catchy and kind of what I normally listen to; albeit slightly more rock focused. Still good stuff, and something to potentially listen to while doing your dailies. Essenger & Skybreak are the artists.

If you listened to the audio portion of the blog, you would know that I got pretty philosophical for a moment. But the point I was trying to make was that very real “ordinary” people are able to make some extra ordinary stuff with dedication and effort. In any case, Time Rift Arcade is worth a visit in 2025 for anyone who plans to make a visit to Texas. You can also check out their YouTube channel for some fun restoration videos.

Artist is Queasy_S

Artist of the week can easily be artist of the month. I’m only posting the talented Queasy_S this week since I made a vow to “amp up” the artist recommendation for slower news weeks. Make no mistake, they’re the type of artist AI copies off of, and extremely talented in my opinion. They also have a Pixiv, so check them out there as well. Remember a kind word goes a long way, so even if you can’t join their Patreon, at least thank them for the effort.

January 5th 2025

Starting off the year with some retro tunes, courtesy of Porter Robinson circa 2014. I believe 10 years is the universally agreed upon length to be considered retro right? If so, I guess that makes me 4x plus retro going into 2025 and my body feels as much. Hope you all had a fun holiday season; it’s time to restart the grind and get back into the flow of things.

If the previous year taught us anything, there’s a lot of valiant attempts to bring the old into the new. Some of them are quite disastrous, while others are much better. I came across something in the “hopeful” category called Desktop Survivors 98. It’s based off of the popular “survivor” genre and looks quirky enough to stand out from the crowd. To further highlight my dinosaur status, I agree with the dissenters in the comments of the game using Windows XP default as a background choice (although technically the photo was taken in January 1998). That operating system was 2001. They could have used the same design motif of 98 with the title of their game as the logo, without stepping on any infringements. Us old folks are picky.

I don’t have the same tastes as Pseychie does, but I do appreciate his thoroughness in how he analyzes stuff. The video is a good introduction to a bunch of stuff releasing in 2025. If you want to share, let me know what upcoming game in 2025 you’re looking forward to, gacha or not.

Artist is Umigarasu

Soft normie landing after a holiday season, we have some lovely art of Fulcre from LO courtesy of Umigarasu / ウミガラス. I am of the belief that if LO ever dies, the fan-art of its characters will probably live another 5 years autonomously before fading completely in memory. I can only hope all of us have the same residual impact on the world!

December 29th 2024

The final weekly update will be my gacha games of the year in various categories. This entire list is lighthearted and for fun, don’t take anything too seriously. So, starting off with my first award for “Bread & Butter Gacha Game of 2024” is Nikke. If I have literally only 1 hour to dedicate to myself for the entire day, it’s going to be to this game and its dailies. Still holding up well in 2024 and going strong into 2025.

I recently got back into Brown Dust 2 and after a bumpy reacclimating period, I’ve started to settle in. And it’s quite surprising how much this game has improved from when I played it in CBT to launch. Although I think the game needs a more central community hub, I have little else to say bad about it. Therefore, it wins my “Best Necromancy 2nd Chance Gacha Game” of 2024.

You ever have that game where you absolutely love to play but no one else on the planet is playing? That’s Star Force in a nutshell and wins my award for “I’m All Alone & Don’t Care Gacha Game” of 2024. Pure nostalgia is what motivates me about this Shmup, not only for the ones I grew up with in the arcades, but similar phone games I use to play back in 2014. Speaking of which, it feels like it was developed 10 years ago too and frankly adds to the charm of it.

Sometimes you stay awake at night wondering how the world works. Because a lot of things don’t make sense, and yet they exist. Dragon Blaze is a game that’s still somehow alive to this day and age, and yes I did play it once a VERY LONG TIME ago. All things considered; no other game deserves the “I Can’t Freaking Believe It’s Still Running Gacha Game” of 2024. Take a well deserved bow Dragon Blaze!

I talked about this Kusoge a few months back and it’s still deserving of that title. Like all games past and present in this category, there’s enough awful about it to make it likeable and frustrating at the same time. You end up with something you kind of want to play but also can’t really recommend whole heartily. So Otherworlld Mercenary Corps gets my “This Is Crap Yet I Hope They Get Better Somehow Gacha Game” of 2024.

There are crimes against property, then people, and then humanity as a whole. Daiblos Core is one of those crimes in which it is horrendously underrated due to skill issue. I even crawled out of my cave for two seconds to talk about it in a recent video and this secret one. In any case, Daiblos Core wins the obvious “Most Overlooked & Misunderstood Gacha Game” of 2024. You deserve better baby girl.

We’re closing off the awards with Horizon Walker which came out globally this year. I’ll be frank, this game was kind of deflating. I expected a bit more from the original dev team of Last Origin, and there have been some rumors (I have to stress that point, rumors) of the current team not necessarily being the best of the original bunch. Still, it’s fun enough and I’m doing my dailies. For all of that, Horizon Walker gets my “Most Hard For Then Sort Of Limp Afterward Gacha Game” of 2024. Stop being a tease and release the freaky waifus already.

Artist is Amorphant

Artist of the week is certainly an interesting fellow. I consider myself “rank and file” weird. Amorphant is definitely the more advanced tier of weird. But I do appreciate their message and their work - a lot. Support them with a kind word or a Patreon sub.

December 22nd 2024

For this holiday week, I thought I would just make a video for fun regarding my current Gacha gaming ramblings. It’s a longer watch, but it mainly pertains to the game Daiblos Core and sort of Brown Dust 2. I put a bunch of links in the video, so here they are in no particular order.

Daiblos Core Google Document

Daiblos Core Modern Guide

Haze Reverb Low Tier Units

Balancing out the update with some cool non-gaming stuff, the ever-awesome Defunctland dropped a new video pertaining to animatronics. It’s those fascinating (possibly nightmare fuel) things you saw singing to you as a child at the theme park. An excellent documentary from start to finish, and a wholesome family orientated content you can share during the holiday week.

Artist is Surin / すうりん

Closing off the week with Surin and a festive waifu in a Santa hat. I actually wanted to post a picture of their latest work involving Pulchra from Zenless Zone Zero, but you can click the link to see it yourself! I never actually tried ZZZ and was interested maybe to give it a dip once the announcement for Pulchra dropped but later found out she’s just a mere NPC. Shame.

December 15th 2024

This week we’re focusing on podcasts and “background” stories. Everything I do on a day-to-day basis; I always try to have some type of narrative story in the background playing on a speaker. I would like to assume that I’m learning something passively at all times whenever people are speaking indirectly to me. It’s also a good way to not let your brain rot while doing your Gacha gaming dailies; and believe me I have quite a few of them to go through. If you can do me a favor, if you happen to have a podcast or series of videos you think we all can enjoy - share them. Comment section below or even send me an e-mail.

I didn’t even need to introduce Mr. Ballen in the previous video because he’s already legendary. Who I do need to introduce is Wartime Stories - a series on YouTube that talks about strange occurrences from servicemen around the world. The narration is spot on and extremely well done. It also occupies a niche that isn’t really exploited in popular media, giving a unique perspective on the stories being told. I use to listen to them before they got picked up by Mr. Ballen’s production company, and now they’re even more prolific because of it. If you like the above episode (it’s one of my favorites), you’ll have a lot to enjoy with the rest.

I’ve mentioned Nexpo here on my site once before, but he’s worth repeating. This is a well-done video on an extremely popular story from Japan regarding hikers and a SOS sign. The details are a lot more complex than meets the eye, especially as you dive deeper into the mystery. Naturally Nexpo does extremely detailed videos on other mysteries, so give his channel a look if you haven’t already or just plain forgot about it the last time I brought it up!

Artist is Ryuukusnpaiart

I needed to end this weekly update with a goblin waifu. Ryuuku answered the call. I suggest you check out their work on their Pixiv. They also have spicier stuff on their Fanbox. All is well with the world once more. See you all next week, and don’t forget to let me know any suggestions for podcasts or YouTube series in the comment section below (or anywhere you can reach me).

December 8th 2024

Pretty straightforward week let’s get on with it. Girls Frontline 2 Global has launched and is now ready to play on multiple platforms. If you’re a re-roll hound this game makes it a bit of a struggle but not impossible, so follow the video guide above to get situated. As I’m oversaturated with things to play at the moment, I’m going to take a “wait and see” approach to GFL2 or keep in on reserve a year down the road. If you all tried it and think it’s GOAT of 2024, let me know via the comments.

I’m going to be frank; I haven’t been back to Brown Dust 2 in ages. I dropped the game quickly near launch due to it seemingly being a time intensive game. I recently went back to the Reddit for it and saw a lot of opinions on why the game isn’t as popular as it “should” be. Recently looking at some NSFW in-game content of it, I’m also surprised it’s not as popular. My biggest issue with BD2 was the seemingly unfriendly time constraints it demanded (not sure how it is now). Also, it has husbando fodder during pulling which hurts. Let me all know if you still play BD2 or just enjoy the video above.

The above picture is Your Wife on my third computer monitor looking at cheese on my desktop. This program is a steam “game” that creates a giant waifu live 2D that follows your mouse pointer. It does nothing else other than look at the direction of your mouse. She has no customization, makes no noises or reacts in any other way. She can only be moved and resized. She’s also $0.79 and is a good prototype for future expansion of the concept.

Artist is Rapscallion

The lack of monster girls in my recent updates is disturbing, so Rapscallion is here to rectify that issue quickly. Very talented artist with an art style that is losing popularity in an ever increasingly “stable diffusion” world. Show them some love over on their Patreon if you like what you see. Very cultured artist by the way, if you look at online galleries of their work, make sure you get ready for the tidal wave of NSFW lewdness.