This site has moved!

This site has been integrated with my other blogs, and moved to a hosted site.

View old and new posts at

 http://gamerjan.com/ 

by choosing the "Dear Chlorine" category.

See you there!

The Break 2: All About Moving

Dear Chlorine,

All good things come to an end. Or not.

Two months ago, we moved from our rented place to our would-be permanent home. I prepared two blog posts for this particular break but never got to post any of them (they’re still in my drafts folder, more on these two later).

The past two months had been an eye-opener, and circumstances have led me to revisit some of my past choices and ambitions.

For instance, did you know that I was almost a game developer? When I was a fresh graduate, I applied at different companies and in different fields, too. I got an offer from a local game development company (maybe the biggest in the Philippines) but I had to decline it because it was too far (the commute alone could potentially take up to 3 hours one way).

Being a game developer has always been my dream, ever since I was introduced to BASIC programming back in 2nd grade. And as I breached 30 years of age, I thought to myself, why not. It’s never too late.

In fact, I was quite close to re-igniting this dream a couple of years ago when a couple of your Ninongs an I decided to start a game-developing partnership. It didn’t work out as we had separate jobs and interests at the time, but again, why not revisit it?

Because of this, I’ve decided to launch a new blog, one that’s centered on me and my attempt at game development. Because it is game-related anyway, I will be moving my gameplay videos and pseudo-reviews, including the two posts I have on my drafts, to that blog as well.

All good things come to an end.

Or as I said, not.

I will continue posting to this blog, of course, with rants and stories of our lives, maybe the occasional photo or video (but I’ll leave most of it to Facebook. I will still, of course, post gameplay videos here if it involves you, but otherwise, if you suddenly miss my babbling about the games I’m playing, my new blog is the place to go.

Speaking of which, I’m planning to register a domain for that so it can also serve as my sort of informal portfolio, but for now, this is the URL: http://jkaguja.blogspot.com/

It will be divided into three sections: Game Development, Gameplay Videos, and Short Stories Inspired by my Dreams.

The last one was another blog I did before (I used to write fiction a lot, though I never thought of doing it for a living) that didn’t have a lot of content, but had a constant flow of it. I do have a pretty imaginative dreaming mind.

The Last of Us Remastered: Well Worth the Wait

Dear Chlorine,

When I first saw the trailer for Naughty Dog’s new game, The Last of Us, back in E3 2012, I knew I was going buy it, play it, and love it just as much as I loved the Uncharted Trilogy, which was at the time my favorite game(s) of all time.

Between each installments, Uncharted became better and better, so I also knew Naughty Dog would pleasantly surprise me with this follow-up game, even though it’s not related to the Uncharted series and the gameplay is somewhat different.

The setting is much more appealing, too – a post-apocalyptic world two people (who I initially thought were father and daughter) must survive – the harsh reality taking its toll on the young, innocent 14-year old Ellie, while on the other hand, Joel’s principles are questioned.

Amidst the inevitable action comes an intrinsic form of strategy – Should I shoot that guy or reserve these two bullets for later? Am I sure there’s only one guy left? What type of zombie/infected is that again? I think that’s the blind one so I should be able to pass by quietly in front of it…

It was perfect! I’ve bought games on Day One for far fewer reasons.

Child of Light Gameplay

Dear Chlorine,

Role-Playing Games (RPGs) have evolved and stood the test of time. A successful RPG is built around a strong story, mixed with both tactical and exciting combat, and the ability to entice the players to explore the in-game world.

Combat can further be broken down into three types; as I mentioned, RPGs either have a tactically-inclined turn-based combat style (think Pokemon), purely action-packed hack-and-slash (Diablo or God of War, though one might argue that these should be in a different genre), or a mix of both.

I’m pretty sure that growing up, you’ll only encounter and play these hybrid types. With the exception of Pokemon, purely turn-based RPGs have pretty much died out.

In my opinion and experience, no RPG has been as successful in mixing all these criteria better than Child of Light.

The Break: What Happened the Past Year

Dear Chlorine,

It has been almost a year since my last post. In that time, you’ve had your second birthday, became an expert walker/runner, and learned a few phrases. What have I been doing, you might ask.

I’ll try to quickly narrate my past year, mention the games I’ve played, and give a quick comment or two.

A few months after my last post, I got hooked to biking (i.e. riding a bike). I was still able to play the occasional video games every now and then on my PC, but the hobby itself took a lot of my time. By the time you read this you’d probably have seen a lot of the Facebook pictures I took at our biking destinations.

Guild Wars 2 Super Adventure Box Bauble Farming (VIDEO)

Dear Chlorine,

More than a week ago I posted about an upcoming Guild Wars 2 patch that brings back the old Super Adventure Box, which came out last April 2013. I discussed a lot of the features and told you why it was one of my most anticipated patches. In case you forgot, read about it here.

The patch itself did not disappoint. The introduction of ascended weapons rocked the market, and the new Legendary effects gave my Thief all-new footfalls from my Legendary bow.

The center of attraction, of course, was the return of the well-loved Super Adventure Box. Before anything else, let me tell you a little about this mini-game.

Slender: Another Reaction Video

Dear Chlorine,

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when the game “Slender: The Eight Pages” went viral on YouTube for the many reaction videos people made, your Uncles, Kevin and Jason, decided to make they’re own.

I already posted your Uncle Jason’s first attempt in that post. Now, I’m sure you’ve been waiting for Uncle Kevin’s version, and let me tell you one thing: it sure is worth the wait.

To know more about the game, you know, in case you forgot, please review the said earlier post.

Anyhoo, here’s the promised second reaction video, subbed again for your convenience: