Ys Memoire: The Oath of Felghana Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

The Ys (pronounced "Yee-s") series of RPGs is not as famous as say Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but it is a long-running series in its own right. Developed by Japanese game company Nihon Falcom, the first game in the series, Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, was originally released in 1987 for the NEC PC-8801, a computer primarily sold in Japan. The Ys series tells the tale of a young man named Adol and his adventures in the games' titular land. Over the years, Ys I would get many sequels that would be released on various computers and video game consoles. My first exposure to the series was the eighth mainline game: Lacrimosa of Dana. 

Ys Memoire: The Oath of Felghana is actually not a brand new game. It's a remake of the third Ys game, originally released in 1989: Wanderers from Ys. Oath of Felghana was originally released for Windows in 2005 in Japan, 2012 in the rest of the world. It would get ported to the PlayStation Portable and released for that handheld in 2010 in Japan and North America, and the rest of the world in 2011. This release for the Nintendo Switch (alongside PlayStations 4 and 5) is a remaster of that. Yeah, a remaster of a remake. Let's look at the trailer!

Is that a glove? I thought that was a glove. I had this great joke about the Infinity Gauntlet being fed up with Thanos's obsession with it. Now I don't get to use it. Darn.

You know, you don't need to do that with the spears, pal. You could just say that you can't welcome guests right now. This hotel sucks for that. I mean, the spears are pretty metal, but...yeah. Not for a hotel.

Adol was thinking "They really need to make repairs to this freaky palace."

C-C-C-COMBO!

A robot centaur with machine guns. Now that is a security system! 😀 

"You are a very bad doggy!"

Adol is a warrior, not a gardener!

For heaven's sake, Adol! Give those fairy...harpy...things their money! They just want their money!

The things Adol has to do just to visit a neighbor.

What would a palace need all those gears for? Does the owner have a thing for clocks?

Adol used Fire Punch! It's super effective!

That robot dragon looks like it came out of a Mega Man/Mega Man X game.

"Dude, I'm just here to find a bathroom!"

"That's nice. Where's the bathroom?"

Eh, the view really ain't worth coming all this way for after all. 1 out of 10, do not recommend. 

Well, this looks like fun. I enjoyed Lacrimosa of Dana, so I think I'll give this one a shot sometime. Hope it has a demo. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Old Rock Day

Happy Old Rock Day!

"What is Old Rock Day", you may be asking? Well, since you all asked so nicely, I'm going to tell you! Old Rock Day is a day for celebrating geology, and geologists. The word "geology" comes from Ancient Greece, and it basically means "study of the earth". A person who studies geology is known as a geologist. Geologists study the rocks of the Earth and other worlds, as well as how they change over time. This branch of science overlaps with other Earth sciences due to, well, everything living on Earth.

Humanity's interest in the Earth and its rocks stretches as far back as antiquity. For example, in 540 BC, Greek poet and philosopher Xenophanes would describe the fossils of fish and shells he would find out in the mountains. The more famous Aristotle would make observations of how the Earth changed, with his Lyceum successor Theophrastus that would make the biggest leaps in geological study with his work On Stones. And no, it was not about being stoned. Either the punishment or being high. Although getting an Ancient Greek philosopher high sounds hilarious.

Interest and research would continue on. In the Middle Ages, Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni wrote one of the earliest works on the geology of India, theorizing it was once a sea. Persian physician Ibn Sina and Chinese statesman Shen Kuo would also contribute greatly to the understanding of the Earth's geology during this time.

The first usage of the word 'geology' is credited to Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603. The first large-scale geological maps would go on to be made by British geologist William Smith based on his studies of fossil records in the late 1700s. This would cause him to be regarded as the "Father of English Geology". In 1785, Scottish physician and agriculturalist James Hutton wrote a paper called "The Theory of the Earth", which he presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Studying the geology of his native Scotland, he theorized that rocks could be used to figure out the natural history of the Earth. As such, he became known as the father of modern geology. 

In 1809, Scottish geographer and cartographer William Maclure became 'The Father of American Geology' when he produced the first geographical map of the USA. And from there, many more men and women worked to find the secrets of our world's history through its rocks and fossils. 

So, yeah. Geology has been quite important to help the world's inhabitants understand this big ol' ball of rock and magma we live on. Just something to think on. Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!

National Bird Day

 

National Bird Day!

Happy National Bird Day, everyone!

This day is for celebrating the wildly diverse species of bird throughout the world, from the pigeon to the ostrich. The heron to the eagle. The flamingo to the owl.

This day was created in 2002 by the Avian Welfare Coalition as a way to raise awareness of the importance of birds. You see, birds are a way of indicating the health of an ecosystem. If the birds are doing well, the rest of the ecosystem may be doing well. Birds are also living history, as they are the descendants of the dinosaurs. 

It's believed that there are 1,150 species of birds native to the United States alone. The largest known bird is the common ostrich of Africa, with males standing at over six feet tall and can weigh nearly 300 pounds. Common ostriches can't fly, but they are the fastest species of bird on land, able to briefly run at speeds of 40 mph. The smallest is a Caribbean bird called the bee hummingbird, which only is about 2 inches long and weighs less than an ounce. 

I wanted to write this short little blog entry commemorating this day because, well...I think birds are kind of neat, and I hope you do, too. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Perihelion Day!

 Today is Perihelion Day!

What is Perihelion Day, you may ask? Well, this is the day when the Earth is closest to its Sun. You see, the Earth's orbit is not circular, it's elliptical. As such, it's not at a constant distance from the sun in its orbit. The term "perihelion" was coined by German astronomer Johannes Kepler, using the Greek prefix "peri", meaning "near", and the Greek word for the sun: "helios". In Greek mythology, Helios is also a personification/god of the sun. The word literally means "Near Sun".

The Earth's orbit generally reaches the perihelion in January. Next year, the Earth will reach the perihelion on the 3rd. It doesn't have any effect on seasons, as that's caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis. 

So, yeah. Just something neat to write about today. At least, I think it is. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Iron Man #235 (October 1988)

The thing about evil is that it is very good at hiding itself. It can slither, it can slide, it can worm its way into people's hearts, minds, and souls. It can disguise itself as something perfectly innocent and harmless. The same is true in a superhero universe. What seems normal and harmless can actually be quite insidious. It's just made a bit more over the top thanks to things like superpowers being added to the mix. 

The comic we're looking at here is an example of that phenomenon. So, for my first review of 2025, this is Iron Man #235!

The cover is a Bob Layton and Jackson Guice piece. It's pretty neat. It gives me the vibe of a Silver Age-era Marvel cover. Naturally, you have Iron Man front and center. It is his book, after all. The comic promises an assault on Stark Enterprises, with Jim Rhodes ready for war, and Marcy Pearson in a typical "damsel-in-distress" pose, which...doesn't really fit her. And there's the strange brunet man in the blue suit, the cover revealing his name is Paul St. Pierre, and there is a mystery around him. Read this book to find out! 

"Epitaph in Grey" 
Writers: David Michelinie, Bob Layton
Penciler: Jackson Guice
Inker: Bob Layton
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with a date. But not just any date. Tony Stark doesn't have some random debutante on his arm. Instead, the man who is going out is James "Rhodey" Rhodes, aka the War Machine. Who's he out on a date with? The lovely Marcy Pearson, of course!

Pearson first appeared in Iron Man #217 (January 1987), and at this time, she worked at Tony Stark's California-based company Stark Enterprises as its Public Relations Chief. The two had just seen a statue created by a French sculptor named Paul St. Pierre. Marcy is in awe of the statue, how realistic it is and all that. Rhodes is more...uninterested for lack of a better word. He's not anti-art nor is he a hater of it or anything like that. It's just he feels life should be lived, not taken pictures of. I can imagine Rhodes not keeping scrapbooks.

Anyway, Rhodes has to go fly Tony Stark to a party in San Diego tomorrow night. He wants to invite Marcy. She's happy to come along, as it turns out that San Diego was her old hometown. She grew up there, even got her first work as a reporter there. She then notices another of St. Pierre's statues, and it gives her the chills.

Why? Well, it greatly resembled an old friend of hers named Cinda Kendrick. The look of horror on the statue's face did not help.

"I call it 'Scared Stiff'! Get it?"

Elsewhere, another one of St. Pierre's creations has gotten into the home of Rae LaCoste. First appearing in Iron Man #223 (July 1987), she was a hairdresser that was Tony's main squeeze at the time. Fun fact, David Michelinie and Bob Layton had originally planned for her to take of the villainous mantle of Madame Masque, as well as be revealed to be the ex-wife of Scott Lang/Ant-Man.

LaCoste has become a bit of a fan of St. Pierre's work, having several of his statues in her home. Tony Stark is also there. He finds St. Pierre's choice of subject matter a bit disturbing, even though he does respect the man's talent. LaCoste wants to attend a party St. Pierre is throwing, and she wants Tony to be her plus one. He's all for it. Rhodes comes by in a helicopter to pick him up. As the two fly off, Tony checks in on his business. His secretary, Bami Arbogast, fills him in on some messages. One notable one is from a Ms. Kathleen Dare. Stark had dinner with her the night before, and she's been calling. Six times, in fact. Yeah, that's not creepy. 

They arrive at his home, and Kathy has driven up. She is real happy to see Tony.

"Nobody ever kisses me like that, Tony."

I'm with Rhodes on this. A present arrives for Tony. 

"He called this one 'Scared Stiff', too!"

Kathy is not happy to learn that LaCoste gave Tony this statue. She storms out, Rhodes thinking she needs a spanking. I think she needs psychotherapy, but that's just me. Night falls over Southern California. At her home, the gears in Marcy Pearson's brain are still working. She still has her old reporter's instincts, and they're telling her that there was more to that statue than meets the eye. She had been calling Cinda but never got any answer from her. She calls her old workplace, and she's told Cinda vanished some weeks ago. This was strange for her.

The next day, Tony is at work...well, both as Tony Stark and as Iron Man. He's helping test out his company's defenses. He manages to overcome these new defenses, but he's still impressed. He wanted them beefed up after the company was attacked in Iron Man #223, and boy were they beefed up. He heads up to the penthouse and finds Rhodes there, looking worried. Marcy's taken emergency leave. Tony thinks she has her reasons. After all, even in a superhero universe, family emergencies are a thing.

In actuality, Marcy's headed to San Diego to look for her friend Cinda. She finds Cinda's bungalow empty. She then notices a tape of Julio Iglesias's music on a shelf. Marcy finds it strange as Cinda couldn't stand his music.

A suspicious Marcy plays the tape, revealing that it was actually Cinda citing her notes on St. Pierre. She was investigating the man, believing he was connected to a string of disappearances. A dozen young women had vanished over the last few weeks, and St. Pierre's statues matched their faces perfectly, like he had terrorized them and murdered them to get inspiration for his art. Cinda herself vanished after planning to set herself up with him to get proof. 

That night, the party at St. Pierre's place is on.

You know, I wonder if REO Speedwagon will be there. They're a bunch of party animals, if Jesse "The Body" Ventura's claim is accurate.

Stark and LaCoste have arrived and so has Cindy. She sneaks towards the studio outside St. Pierre's home and finds something shocking.

"Oh God, this place is FILTHY!"

The studio has nothing in it. No modeling stand, no clay, no tools, nothing to indicate he ever sculpted anything. In fact, the amount of dust indicates that this place has not been used in years.

She ends up being caught by St. Pierre himself. He starts to remove his glove, revealing that it's gray, the flesh being more...like stone.

The Power of Prayer, indeed.

To her horror, the man approaches her, his skin also becoming like gray stone. Yup, Mr. Pierre is in secret an old villain, one who has tangled with Tony's Avenger buddy Thor as well as helped siege the Avengers Mansion recently. Paul St. Pierre is really Paul Pierre Duval, the French villain known...as the Grey Gargoyle, and he intends to make Marcy into his latest stone masterpiece.

This comic was really good. But then again, I think the 80s were a rather underrated era for Iron Man's book. Duval's scheme sounds like something out of a horror movie, a crazed madman turning terrified women into stone. What I especially liked about this issue is that it explored a bit of Marcy Pearson's past. It helps make her more of a three-dimensional character and not just someone for Jim Rhodes or Tony Stark to talk to. And it manages to underline that the Grey Gargoyle can be a terrifying and monstrous villain. 

An underrated era of a book also has, in my opinion, an underrated art team. Guice and Layton turn in some fantastic work for this one. It has great storytelling and is very detailed. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2022 trade paperback Iron Man Epic Collection Vol. 14: Return of the Ghost. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

National Science Fiction Day

 Happy National Science Fiction Day, everyone!

"Why is this day Science Fiction Day", you may ask? Well, it's because on this day in 1920, Isaac Asimov was born. Well, Asimov himself considered this day his birthday, his actual birthdate is unknown. For those not in the know, Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was a very prolific author in the genre, having penned and edited over 400 books in his lifetime. While he's most famous for science fiction, he's also written in the mystery and fantasy genres. Asimov would be regarded as one of the great sci-fi authors, most known for his Foundation, Galactic Empire, and Robot series. In fact, he coined the word "robotics". 

I myself happen to be a bit of a fan of science fiction. Mainly thanks to Star Trek. As a kid, I was obsessed with space. I loved spaceships. My dad and I would watch Star Trek together, and it really helped mold me as a person. I own several Star Trek novels, my favorite one being Strike Zone from 1989. I must have read that one like, four times. I bought it at my local library. Dollar well-spent. 

Science fiction has been a big part of my life, and I hope you spend some time enjoying some, whether it's watching a movie or TV show, or reading a book/comic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I hope that 2025 is an excellent year for you all! I hope it brings you joy, happiness, and something resembling peace. 

In this time of year, it's a tradition to make resolutions. One of mine is to read more books. I love reading books. And I admit, I haven't been doing as much novel-reading as I wanted to, so I want to change that this year.