November 2025 wrap up

 

In November 2025 I...

 

Played: Blue Wish Desire (2021), Crisis Wing (2020), Sophstar (2022), Blazend (2022), Virtua Racing (1992, 2019)

Got: Gaiares (1991,2023), , Space Invaders Invincible Collection (2020), Cannon Dancer - Osman (1996, 2023), Virtua Racing (1992, 2019), Zed Blade (1994, 2017)

Favourite: Virtua Racing (1992, 2019)

Read: The Jazz of the Southwest, San Antonio Rose, Sixty Stories (re-read)

Got: Robert Bouchet, Peintre & Luthier

Favourite: Sixty Stories (re-read)

Listened to (new): Charles Bradley - Black Velvet, Porridge Radio - Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong, Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road - For the First Time

Got: Merle Haggard - Live from Austin, TX (1985), Merle Haggard - Live from Austin, TX '78, Guy Clark - Live from Austin, TX, Asleep at the Wheel (feat. Texas Playboys) - Live from Austin, TX, Hank Williams - The Very Best of Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. - Hank Williams Jr's Greatest Hits, Hank Williams Jr - The Very Best of Hank Williams Jr, Billie Marten - Dog Eared, Béla Fleck - My Bluegrass Heart, Jerry Lee Lewis - Killer Country, Charles Bradley - Black Velvet, La LOM - The Los Angeles League of Musicians, Porridge Radio - Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There For Me, Porridge Radio - The Machine Starts to Sing, Alice Phoebe Lou - Oblivion, strongboi - EP 1, strongboi - strongboi, Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong, Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road - For the First Time, Black Country, New Road - Live at Bush Hall, black midi - Schlagenheim, black midi - Hellfire, black midi - Cavalcade.

Favourite (new): Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong, Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road - For the First Time

SINGLES:

Brennen Leigh - Running out of Hope, Arkansas; strongboi - magic; strongboi - special; strongboi - flame; Black Country, New Road - For the Cold Country; Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong; Black Country, New Road - Besties; M. Ward - Too Young to Die; Black Country, New Road - Sunglasses; Black Country, New Road - Basketball Shoes

Final thoughts: As we're nearing December and the year's end it seems we have come full circle. Despite actually getting the most games this month, I actually played very little. On the other hand, it's been all about listening to music, the complete opposite of last January. This is mostly a lack of free time. I still can't seem to juggle everything equally - at the same time I have been neglecting playing music. Yet I still feel there's a lot to avidly listen to. Reading seems to escape this as it's the only activity I can do in bed while trying to sleep. 

This also comes at a time when I have met my second favourite group this year, which is extraordinary. Folk Bitch Trio meet Black Country, New Road. As I mostly listen on the computer, getting records or records themselves are not fully illustrative of my most listened to songs. So this month I've tried listing singles as well. To come up with ten each month might be too much but I'll try to put the most significant. By the year's end wrap up I'll list my top tracks, regardless of number.

As I'll have a few days off in December I hope to get to some games before the end of the year. Still many shmups to go after, but the big goal is to get through Shenmue 2, for the last time. Let's hope I can make it. 

Crisis Wing, Blazend, Sophstar

I have recently been going through a few shooters, and it's being a bit difficult to manage (they're just too many). These three are in the category of modern hommages to the greats. They have their high and low points and the quality is good. But there's just something missing to elevate them to top tier. Especially considering some of the other games include Gradius Origins and Earthion, which are in that top tier.

They're all from western developers although quite rooted in Japanese hommages. Nothing wrong with it, but especially the ones with anime-like styling I have a feeling I have lost my patience for them,. 

 

Crisis Wing (2020): If nothing else, this is a great hommage to the more extreme metalpunk Toaplan games in the vein of Truxton. In fact, comparing this to the iffy-looking Truxton Extreme makes me wonder how much better these fellas would do if they let them have a go at it.

 

While the atmosphere and frustration associated with the relentless assault (the good kind of frustration, I might add) is spot-on, there are however gameplay issues, which add up to the unfairness sort of frustration (the wrong king). In particular, three niggles: 

1) a huge hit-box coupled with huge bullets leads to many cheap deaths where you thought you could squeeze by, 

2) a very phosphorescent palette, which makes enemy bullets quite often hard to see against the background, your own bullets and your ship;

3) unposted enemies coming from below without warning, leading again to cheap deaths, in a way that is not often enough to warrant memorizing as in a Toaplan game.

The game itself is pretty straightforward with 3 types of shots which are changeable and upgradeable via collectible power-ups, and no soft-restarts after death, booting you back through checkpoints earlier in the stage with your weapon just pea shooting.

For the atmosphere it's very good. On the other hand with most Toaplan games readily available these days why not go for the real thing? 

 

Blazend (2022): Crisis Wing nails the Truxton aesthetic, unabashedly so, resulting in easier comparisons. Yet Blazend which aesthetically is blander, although good-looking, reminds me more of the classic Toaplan experience like Slap Fight. Meaning, a lot more memorization and emphasis on shooting rather than evading. Shooting is necessary for crowd control since if you don't shoot them down quickly, the screen gets rather filled rather quick and your chances become quite a bit slimmer.

 

 

Blazend has good presentation and a focus on scoring. The bullets are tiny and so is the hitbox, making weaving through traffic quite exciting. I have a feeling there may be some imprecision in hitbox boundaries as sometimes some deaths are rather unexplained.

Gameplay is quite straightforward, meaning three types of shot, no soft-restarts after death and no upgrades after death. In ways it is both more satisfying than Crisis Wing because its gameplay is purer and more refined, yet in another way presentation is a lot more generic making me wonder if the gameplay itself is worth the hassle as enemy ships and bosses are nothing worth sweating for.

Again, while a very good effort I'm left wondering why not just play the original thing? 

Sophstar (2022): Sophstar is out of the three the most original and also the better and more professional looking. These fellas are working on the new Psyvariar (3) and that alone is reason to sit down and take notice.

 

 

Right away, there' a load of content meaning various fighters which are progressively unlockable, unusual mechanics like warp and decoy and various modes. A regrettable decision is the emphasis on anime-like characters and a story mode which look just too generic and annoying.

Out of the three this one veers a lot more into bullet-hell. Hitbox is tiny making for incredibly satisfying weaving through a lattice of coloured shots. Power-ups are usually luck-based. While the environment is standard sf there's loads of enemy variety and, understandably a nice focus on bosses, making the effort worth fighting for.

What is it missing then? Not much. I would say it lacks a more focused approach as it tries to do too much at once and it would benefit perhaps from a more arcade-style feel (credits, no soft continues) to give it more of a rush. This is still one of the best shmups made from scratch in this decade I would say, not as incredible as DRAINUS (which is one of a kind) but especially as the first effort from this studio makes me wonder how they can improve on Psyvariar Delta.