This weekend’s discount heroine: Shantae!

(Quick disclaimer: These are direct links with zero “affiliate” status. e.g. I don’t make a dime of either one)

I hope you like genies, because WayForward’s adorable half-genie is a part of two ridiculous sales this weekend! “Risky’s Revenge”, an awesome platforming adventure that got its start on Nintendo DSi, is on sale for both PC on Steam and iOS on iTunes.

The PC game is a paltry $2.50, a 75% discount! Meanwhile, for those who don’t care about buttons (or overpriced “controllers”), her iOS release is completely free!

Mini-Review:

If you’re used to modern Metroid-like platformer releases (e.g. Mega Man Zero, DS-era Castlevanias, Super Metroid), you might find Shantae a bit “basic” for you needs. Her melee attack has the “Zero” flaw in that she can’t swipe while moving, and the special forms you’ll pick up as the game progresses have incredibly simple movement enhancements. The labyrinths are a smidgen too easy to get lost in (a flaw further amplified by a lack of maps available online for them), but the art is gorgeous and the story is endearing. If you need something to scratch that platforming “itch”, especially with its sequel (Pirate’s Curse) beginning to make the rounds and a fourth game on the horizon (Shantae got its start as a Game Boy Color title), Shantae makes a fine addition to anyone’s platform-adventure library.

Quibbles aside, there’s no good reason not to at least pick up the (FREE!) iOS release.

Big thanks to Wario64 for the tip.

An online game code for Valkyria Chronicles is $10 on Amazon, though I’m not sure for how long (I’ll try to update this post once it expires).

From Amazon’s product description:

During the ensuing war the Federation discovers that the Empire possesses a secret weapon, known as the “Valkyria” – an ancient race with special powers thought to exist only in legends.

It’s a turn-based strategy game with a real-time feel and an over-the-shoulder camera, so basically Gear of War’s play style meets Eternal Sonata’s mechanics.

Full disclosure: Haven’t played this one myself yet, but I have played Project X Zone, which features characters from the series, and the Valkyria race seems to provide more than enough bad-ass capacity for heroine-building.

This goes pretty deep into nerd-o-topia, but if you have a copy of either “Equestria Girls” film in that pony franchise, from either making your own MKV from the original sources or finding, ummm, alternative options, have I got a treat for you!

In case you’re tried of plopping the movie into VLC or Kodi, and then scrubbing to the part you actually care about, I’ve made some handy chapter files!

Right-click each link and go to “save link as” to save it to your desktop.

• Equestria Girls
• Rainbow Rocks

The “Equestria Girls” chapter list is pretty comprehensive, and has a cute title for every major point in the film.

I went a bit overboard on the “Rainbow Rocks” chapter list, including a chapter for pretty much every turning point in the final song.

Installation is pretty straightforward:

1. Save the chapter files above to your desktop.
2. Get MKVToolNix (Windows and Mac options are in there)
3. Run “mkvmerge GUI”
4. Go to the Chapter Editor and load the chapter file:
   
5. Afterwards, click “Save to Matroska file”save it to the MKV file for the appropriate film.Note: THIS WILL SAVE THE CHAPTERS INTO THE FILE. Make a copy of the MKV before saving the chapter if you’re not 100% sure about what you’re doing first.
6. Ta-Da! You now have an updated chapter list in your move! The chapter listing should show up in most major media players, like VLC, Kodi, and even Windows Media Player (with the correct codec pack installed).

While I doubt anyone will use these chapters, they’re quite useful if you watch these movies often, or even if you just like the leave the songs playing in the background while you do other stuff.

Quick Disclosure: None of the external links are affiliate links, so I have no financial incentive on any of this stuff. I tried my best to sanitize the Amazon links.

So Sony’s got a sale going on Playstation games ‘n films until Monday. I guess if this site’s gonna be about heroine addiction, I better come correct on this list. Here’s a quick breakdown of my recommendations/thoughts. I’ve owned and played all of the following:

• Portal 2 – If you haven’t played through both Portal games, barring motion sickness problems, there’s something wrong with you. They’re hella short (you can burn through both in a weekend, or even just a lazy Sunday) ‘n all kinds of amazing. If you like figuring shit out ‘n colorful monologues, you seriously owe it to yourself to take any excuse to play these games. Ummm, like this flash sale!
• Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F (PS3) and f (Vita) – If you’re eyeing these games, you probably have some history with rhythm games in general. DDR, Elite Beat Agents, Samba De Amigo, etc. You’re probably also familiar with anime nonsense, and this game is lousy with it. But, if you’re fiending for a rhythm game, (and if anime nonsense is your thing) it’s a solid enough romp in the genre. Quick word of warning: On the “Depth vs Complexity” discussion, this game weighs heavily on the complexity end. There’s a ton of it, most of it is unnecessary, and the scoring system is a little too… perfectionist. Also, if you’re thinking about picking up both versions: there is a tool to sync up your unlocked stuff between the Vita ‘n PS3 versions, but as of this writing (October 18th, 2014), it only exists in the Japanese versions.
• Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – This game is about a dozen times better than it has any right to be, what with its origins as the European Super Mario Bros. knock-off. It’s a puzzle-platformer that leans frighteningly heavy on the puzzle side. It gets a little repetitive for its own good, and runs out of character mechanics pretty early on, but there’s more than enough fun to fulfill your $3.50 investment.
• Mirror’s Edge – Do you like puzzles? Platforming? Parkour? Throwing your controller and/or mouse? Well has EA got the game for you! If you prefer getting the fuck out of dodge to armed combat, you’re in for a treat, because your player character can run up walls but isn’t particularly handy with the steel, if you know what I mean. It’s got more than a few rough spots, but for $2.25, I’d recommend playing until you get frustrated, and then just putting it away and hoping its planned sequel/reboot comes out a little better.
• Resident Evil 3: Nemesis – It’s a Playstation game. No, there’s no number after “Playstation” there. Yes, it’s probably older than you are. You move around like a surprisingly nimble World War 2 tank (you’re a 5′ 8″ special forces member) and solve puzzles that your mom and/or dad probably thought were a little clever. They weren’t, but your parents were also in high school, so there’s that. If you can put aside the game’s (slightly) antiquated setup, it’s worth the buck fifty on the gimmick alone: You’re being chased by a scarier version of the first game’s last boss, and he can randomly appear in any room you enter. ProTip: There’s a button combination to instantly turn yourself around. You should learn it. It’s cool, you’ll probably have it memorized an hour in.
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica X – If you picked up Nemesis, you probably like Resident Evil. If you also really like Leonardo DiCaprio (not Inception/Shutter Island Leo, but more say, Titanic/Growing Pains Leo), you should probably grab this Dreamcast remake. See, Dreamcast is a console made by Sega. Yes, that Sega. Yes, they used to make game consoles…
• Sanctum 2 – This is my one cheat; I haven’t played Sanctum 2. But I have played the ever loving shit out of Sanctum 1. It’s tower defense with shooter. So yeah, it’s in the first person and it’s heavily puzzle/strategy-oriented. I’d assume by now you’d recognize the pattern in my Miku-less selection. Above all the rest of the games in this list not featuring portals, I will tell you, first and foremost, take this game home. It’s a steal at twenty bucks, so you’d be dumb not to buy at at whatever price it’s at right now.
• Skullgirls Encore – Okay, so here we’ll combine anime nonsense with those really violent drawings that one kid made in your 5th grade class. Remember how cool that kid was? Well, this game’s actually that cool. Remember Mortal Kombat? (humor me and look it up on Youtube) Now imagine all the fatalities, only instead of ending the round, they’re normal moves for like a third of the cast. Oh, and did I mention the old-timey film aesthetic? If you have any idea who Tex Avery is (and if you don’t, again, Youtube), download this game.

I’d recommend trying any of those games out, especially if the screenshot glance on their store page tickles your fancy, but if you miss out on the sale, look for them on Steam, too. Most are controller-friendly, though many are substantially easier with a keyboard ‘n mouse.

Welcome to “Addicted to Heroine”. Not much to see  here at the moment, but who knows where I’ll take this site. For now, a bit of perspective as to the site name. This was my Disney Infinity collection some six months before I ever bought or played the game: