2012, Tourism, and Assorted Other Topics

Let's just list the facts:

1. I haven't blogged for about a month.
2. Almost nobody cares about it.
3. The people who DO care are too busy somewhere else to actually notice.
4. If they've noticed, then they're some SERIOUS followers. In fact, if you're reading this, you're probably my Dad.

I've been busy all this time cuz, you know, I got a little something called a LIFE. When I started this blog, I didn't have the weight of a possible future in the US on my shoulders; it was a time when the only things I had to balance were my school, my relationship, and myself (not necessarily in that order)

My point is, I'm in tenth grade, and in my town, tenth grade means Serious McSerious business, and by "business" I mean "manymanymany tourism-and-Honduras-related classes, though mostly tourism". It is, after all, Copan Ruinas.

Copan Ball Court

Speaking of which, I'm aware of the attention this place has gotten due to 2012 and stuff, which, according to my Dad, meant one and only one thing...

...while I was thinking of something else...

Still, even now that I think about it, it's not that bad an idea (especially considering the Y2K nonsense)

YouTuber

Lately I've done my own stuff in YouTube (under the same name) that mostly involves, above all things, video games. My channel, Defensor Caeli (don't even try to deduce that) is all video games and me playing the piano, but 99% video games. It's on YouTube, check it up.

There's an Awesome Video Game Music playlist that as of right now contains 25 songs, as well as a few other vids like a countdown video "Top Ten Boss Battle Sound Tracks" and "Dead Man's Volley Collection", a video based on the best gaming skill ever.

Meanwhile, check out a sneak peek of a new video in the making, a new countdown with an enhanced style. It's a big project for me, so I have not finished it up just yet. What I can show you are the honorable mentions to the Top Ten Most Badass Video Game Characters ever:

See the vid on YT for more info.

Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Play Game Player

Every gamer has the obligation to play at least one MMORPG. I am no exception.

Except that I can't find something like Warhammer on any store in this country. Online-based MMOs only take up space in my PC, and most of them aren't free. Not to mention World of Warcraft, that one hits the hundred-dollar mark even on eBay.

Meh, might as well just stick with this one called AdventureQuest Worlds.

It's not as flashy or fancy as WoW, but AQW is less limited and more familiar. For one, your character already starts up all badass and stuff. No scrappy cloth, you get the eye-catching armor from the start of your character creation.

Ok, now try not to poke an eye out...

That one's Warrior class, one of four starter classes which also include Rogue, Mage, and Healer, nevertheless there is of course an unlimited amount of other classes in-game. One thing's for sure, though: for every class, there are at least 5 Max'd up players online (by Max'd up I mean Highest Level, Highest Rank, Billions of Gold, Etcetera)

Me? I am level 29, primarily a Rogue (rank 10) Other classes I own are Ninja (rank 7) Rustbucket (rank 9) Necromancer (rank 6) and Dragonslayer (rank 7). If you want to see what I'm wearing right now, check out my page on AQW (hint: not shorts)

Detail: my character is named after a Heroes Within character, with a slight typo.

I don't know how to explain the lot of things that happen to me in the game, so I'll leave any of you to explore it by clicking right here.

Gee, I will never talk about myself anymore

Believe me when I say that this blog is better off with video games and stuff. If I were to tell the public everything that happened to me this past 86400 seconds, Monologs would become any other dude-with-a-laptop's life blog, something I never intend to see happen with this blog.

To ensure that, this will probably the last post that will be specifically about me.

As it is with every year, immediately after my birthday (Aug 2) I get to aid either my Dad at work or my Mom at school. This is all two weeks before the first day of school, and since now I'm a Sophomore (GOD, 12 months and this word still bugs me; I misspelled it in a Spelling Bee :P) things are going to be a LOT different from now on, given that most classes will be given online.

Also, again as is custom every year, in a little more than a month the Republic of Honduras will have her 190th birthday, which can only mean: PARADE. I'll reprise my role as the male glockenspiel player in the band, only this time I won't be alone: remember the lady beside me during the parade last year? Her BOYFRIEND wanted in with the glockenspiels right after the event ended, and he was recruited two months later for the Xmas Parade (obviously to impress her) Don't get me wrong, this guy has musical skills (he was the lead drummer) but if glockenspiels are seriously your thing, then you should definitely get a keyboard. Pathways will open to you, my friend.

Period. That's all you'll get of my personal life. Things like Independence Day and Christmas and all that crap won't be overlooked: the rest, forget about it. It'll all be video games or movies or other stuff from now on.

But mostly video games.

Time for a Change

I'll take things down a step and be more generalist on the subject of video games because I've only begun to think that most of you readers are already a bit nauseated by the copious amounts of green usually found in Monologs' last two weeks' worth of blogposts.

You know what else we have in common? We all puke after reading the same stuff over and over for two weeks. - GuyOnShorts reader

As far as I'm concerned, big-budget video games are expected to be great hits, and I'm not saying they usually aren't because they ARE. Well, sometimes.

Have you ever had that feeling that after loyally ordering ONLY pepperoni and cheese, you suddenly look at the menu and find out that there are actually other ingredients you can try out? I felt that way a few days ago when I stopped playing games about a not-at-all-gay elf and instead opted for this game:

Iji is a freeware game (I'll state the obvious and say you can download this game for free) that tells of Iji, a teenager-turned-cyborg by the last humans on Earth following an apparent alien invasion. The aliens, called Tasen, roam about the Earth hunting down humans to the point that when Iji awakens in her cyborg state, the scientists working with her are found brutally massacred beside her.

Instead of totally freaking out like any normal teenager, Iji leaves the room and we are introduced to her brother, Dan (obviously a reference to the game's single designer and programmer) who somehow can talk to her through loudspeakers laid out across five entire blocks of buildings, providing useful information to aid Iji in her struggle to escape.

He also goes through her teenage angst just like any other little brother...

It is revealed that the Tasen are actually escaping from the alien Interpol, a race of far more powerful extraterrestrials called the Komato, while they try to recover their little home - Planet Freaking Earth.

I'll stop right there, 'cuz the story isn't much of a focus in independently-developed games. But, hell, the game itself kicks alien ass. Literally. Even though you're a teenage cyborg, you're still a cyborg, and that fact in-game let's you kick doors open, hack into giant mechas, and wield a friggin nuke like it's a sawed-off shotgun.

Believe me, I wish that were the machine's self-destruct sequence, too.

Seriously, even the music for the game is epic. Listen to this track:

Now imagine listening to that stuff while fighting Optimus Prime. I swear I'm not making this up.

Ok so it's more like Optimus Prime's retarded cousin

Hey, you know what other independently-developed game kicks ass? Castle Crashers. Yeah, THAT Castle Crashers, the one from Xbox LIVE.

This one

The most originally conceived beat-em-up ever, Castle Crashers is another independent game. With this comes the assumption of a not-so-thoroughly concocted story (four knights have to save four princesses from an evil wizard) but nevertheless a great gameplay. Also, the music comes from NewGrounds (that website where apparently anyone can do anything)

Castle Crashers is sort of like Final Fight, only you get four knights instead of two back-street brawlers, the graphics are more cartoon-ish, and it's set in the Middle Freaking Ages. JUST LOOK AT IT.

The main reason as to why I like this game is because it's co-op missions, cartoons, and blood and gore all mixed into a downloadable form.

Just like Team Fortress 2, only that it's exactly like Team Fortress 2.