u/adamercury

I loaded my almost 6 year old save file of Demon's Souls Remake a while ago, and I have to say that after playing all the Souls and the like games in the past five years, this masterpiece is still at the top for me. I would even say that it's in my top 3 of the most "next gen" games in PS5. Every texture in this game looks high res, the vfx, the spell particles combined with buttery smooth animation is truly a chef's kiss.

This is also the game that made me purchase my PS5 and it's so worth it.

I owned him ever since his first banner, and I can't believe that he's one of the strongest meta character now in Genshin, rivaling even the recent DPS characters.

I admitted before that he's the only character I regret pulling, and I'm definitely taking it back now.

My top 5 games in no particular order:

- Resident Evil 4 / Remake

- The Witcher 3

- Persona 3 / Reload

- Dark Souls 3

- Kingdom Come Deliverance (1/2)

Seriously, the gameplay loop is so addicting! This is my first Splatoon game and in just 2 days, I already logged more than 10 hours.

My C1R1 Wrio and C1R1 Cyno will finally get what they deserved!

Calcs is from TGS: https://youtu.be/BHLQ8ZDHEG8?si=MakrA2OqyMA2224m

Friends came over to play some OG format. The odd one out must play against the King 👑 in WC 2008 while waiting for their turn to play.

Device is AYN Thor.

Notebookcheck just released their review of the Oppo Pad Mini. It achieved 27 hours of battery life in their WiFi browsing test, more than double my RedMagic Astra's 12 hours.

I've already sold my Astra and was planning to get this because it's lighter and has a 3:2 aspect ratio (better for browsing). That massive battery life advantage might finally seal the deal for me. My only concern with the Oppo Pad Mini is the obtrusive punch-hole camera in the middle of the screen.

The RedMagic Astra 2 was also teased this week. It has the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, similar to the Lenovo Legion Tab 5. We'll see the full details at the end of the month.

The table in the image is originally from Notebookcheck. I used AI to edit the battery life column to include the results.

My local game store finally had enough stock, so I was able to snag one just two weeks ago. I’ve actually been waiting for them to restock since December. The reason I kept waiting instead of ordering directly from AYN is because of the local warranty. If something happens to my device, they’ll take care of it, so it’s way less of a headache for me.

Last March, when they announced the second price hike, I told myself I wouldn’t bother anymore since they kept increasing the price. So instead, I bought a Switch 2 during a flash sale for a very cheap price (way cheaper than what I paid for the Thor Pro lol), and it completely made me forget about the Thor until two weeks ago lol.

My impression of it after two weeks has been very positive. I’ve been neglecting the rest of my gaming backlog just to play Fire Emblem and Yu-Gi-Oh! games on NDS/3DS, and it’s been a blast! I also absolutely love watching videos on this thing since it feels like using a much smaller netbook. Genshin Impact runs great too, especially with the built-in controllers.

My only complaint is the screen angle. I wish it could lock somewhere between the second and third positions. The ergonomics can at least be remedied with grips.

The Thor won’t be my EDC since I already have my RG Rotate for that purpose, and I’m also worried that it might break more easily since it has more failure points.

It’s such a shame that they’re increasing the price again in the coming months.

I'm so happy that my Varka team managed to catch up with my Ineffa Flins team at similar investment.

From 127k to 224k (4 cost to 6 cost), an almost 100k increase is insane.

I wasn't really sure if I'm going to spend all my remaining gems on Nicole's C2 since I was able to get Prune's C6 a bit early, but I love her character design so much (the main standout for me in all Nod Krai cast) so I decided to go all in.

My other mains (Clorinde, Chasca, Wanderer) are so happy too. I'm now officially broke but it is so worth it.

Team investments:

• C0R1 Varka, C0 Durin + Jade Cutter, C2 Nicole + TTDS, C6 Prune + Wrio's signature
• C0R1 Flins, C0 Bina + P.Amber, C1R1 Ineffa, C6 Sucrose + TTDS

Just cast Nicole's E, swap to Varka and hold E for super hero landing, proceed to delete the enemies with Nicole's C1 proc and Varka's uninfused basic attacks.

It's fun because I feel so unstoppable with her thick shield and C1 proc (my headcanon is Varka is being blessed by Nicole, letting him unleash a mini-Anemo nuke every 5 seconds).

It's not efficient obviously since Varka can literally delete the enemies with his infused attacks. But sometimes, taking time to process things feels better :D.

I have her at C2R1since her first banner, but I never pulled for Mavuika, don't have Iansan so she she remained in her old Furina-Bennet-Citlali comp (though I never had any issues clearing with this team).

I'm very happy that Chasca keeps proving that she's the most versatile unit since every new support can also make her stronger than ever.

Team:

- C0R1 Varka (Rising Winds) / R5 Serpent Spine

- C0 Durin + Jade Cutter (Rising Winds)

- C1 Nicole + TTDS (New set)

- C6 Prune + Oathsworn (VV)

Rotation: Durin EQE > Prune EQ > Nicole EQ > Varka E N1C N4E N4E 2N1C

The above rotation is optimal to have full uptime on Nicole's TTDS.

So basically, R1 Sig is just 11% better which is not surprising since the BP weapon is really good, especially now with Nicole as a sustain.

If I can go back in time, I won't pull his weapon and save it for Nicole's C2 instead (I lost Nicole's C2 to Tighnari and I don't have remaining primos 😔).

Damage aside, the increased ATK SPD in his Sig is really nice and noticeable, making Varka's combos more smoother.

I finally activated Nicole's C1 and it's a 13% improvement overall. I tried getting her C2 but I lost eventually to Tignari 🥀

Team:

C0R1 Varka (Rising Winds)

C0 Durin + Jade Cutter (Rising Winds)

C1 Nicole + TTDS (New set)

C6 Prune + Oathsworn (VV)

- First team is C0 Varka

-Second team is C0R1 Varka

- Third team is with C0R1 Varka with C0 Nicole (new set) and C6 Prune (VV)

I'm very happy since he's now at 150k even with non fully built supports! I can imagine him reaching at around 160-170k once I maxed Nicole and Prune.

But man, it took me more than 200 pulls just to get Prune's C6. First I lost to Tignari and was able to snagged Nicole's C1 that I haven't activated yet.

Once I'm done building Nicole, I'll test C0 again and compare it with her C1.

I got mine 2 days ago and just finished tinkering with it. I have only installed Retroarch (GB/GBC/GBA) and plan to add Neogenesis Color and SNES too!

It's my first time to play PICO-8 games and I was surprised that a lot of games can be played in small bursts, very easy pickup and then play. I'm an instant fan!

I also added some old-school anime like Yu-Gi-Oh and Naruto (4:3 ratio) since it looks great on the square screen.

This metal device really looks great and feels great to use. It's not heavy since it weighs the same as my phone. I also love how the silver finish and black buttons matches the aesthetic of my MacBook and Fujifim camera!

So far, my only issue is the rotation of the screen. It's not as smooth as I thought when I try to rotate it using one hand. The the top corner is hitting the bottom frame, but this is not an issue when I close it with my other hand.

The D-Pad is also not good. I can move to left and right by pressing the down button (this was mentioned by Wulff Den). This hasn't bothered me yet, we'll see.

This really feels like a mini RG Slide v2 which I also love, but it's too chonky to fit my small sling bag so I sold it.

I'm very looking forward bringing this little device to my upcoming trips! Thanks for reading :)

I know I sound dramatic, but I’ve never preordered a handheld or bought one before full reviews were out, so I’m honestly surprised at myself that out of all the devices in the handheld space, a metal fidget toy from Anbernic would be the one to grab me.

For context, I usually replace my handheld at least once a year because I can never seem to feel fully satisfied. I’m not a collector either, so for me it’s always been buy and sell. Below are the handhelds I’ve owned and sold over the past three years:

- Anbernic RG35XX

- Powkiddy X55

- AYN Odin 2

- Logitech G Cloud

- Lenovo Legion Go

- Anbernic RG34XXSP

- Retroid Pocket Flip 2

- AYN Odin 2 Portal

- Anbernic RG Slide

Last one I sold was the RG Slide because I can't stand anymore how top heavy and bulky it is. I really want to keep it, but it's so heavy and chunky to be my EDC.

Here are the reasons why I'm in love with the RG Rotate:

- It's an Android device (meaning I can do other stuff aside from gaming)

- It's a very compact device (it can easily fit in my 6L bag along with my camera gear)

- It's cheap enough to be an EDC device but still looks very premium.

- It's a fidget toy

- Since it's very compact, I can always bring it out without hesitation = I will get to use it more frequently

- I can play and progress actual games in short bursts instead of doomscrolling YT shorts.

- It really looks beautiful.

Sometimes, I get pressured when I don't use my handheld that much just because I'm not in the mood to game. I'm positive that I will not feel that in this device since I can do other stuff than just gaming. I just really hope that the hinge will last!

I will post again a followup post after 2-3 months to update you guys if this is really the one lol. But I really can't find any fault to this device.

The only device that I almost bought prior to this is the AYN Thor because it looks freaking cool, but I can no longer justify spending $$$ for that when I bought my Switch 2 for $350 which is now my primary device at home.

Anyone else is excited?