Popular Post Dreggit Posted May 22, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 22, 2021 (edited) Welcome all back to the Member Interviews! Our ever punctual @eigen-space has prepared their answers to your most wanted questions ahead of schedule! Please join me in welcoming our first of the May interviewee's! Eigen-space Standard Questions How did you come up with your PSN name? So I mentioned before that one of my majors in college was mathematics. I wanted to have something that sounded math-y, so I decided on eigen-space, which is a concept from linear algebra. What games convinced you get your PlayStation 3, Playstation Vita, PlayStation 4 and Playstation 5? I’m not lucky enough to have a PS5 yet, but I’m looking! I refuse to buy one from scalpers on principle. There’s no game in particular that has me wanting to get one, but I do want to get the PS5 Collector’s Edition of Tales of Arise instead of the one for PS4. For the PlayStation 3, I wanted to play Final Fantasy XIII my little sister lived with me for a while and played her PS3 (which my parents got her for Christmas… lucky). When she moved out, I got one of my own. My Vita was a Christmas gift from my parents and they had gotten me a couple games to go along with it (Tearaway and Stranger of Sword City, I believe). However, the first game I actually played on it was Terraria. For PS4, it was Tales of Zestiria. Despite that it was also released for the PS3, I wanted the Collector’s Edition, which was only for the PS4. I bought my PS4 the same week I put in my pre-order for Zestiria. However, I needed something to play while waiting for Zestiria, so I got Final Fantasy Type-0. What are your top 5 game series and why? In no particular order… Final Fantasy – This was probably the biggest influence on my gaming tastes. I started playing the series when I was maybe 9-10 years old, starting with Final Fantasy VIII. I think the games are always very well thought-out in terms of plot and characters, and they always seem to have fun battle systems as well. The music and graphics have also been top notch (at least for when they were released). My top two Final Fantasy games are Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX. Tales of – Played my first Tales of game in 2013 and was hooked. Like Final Fantasy, I find the stories to be compelling and the characters even more so. I also really enjoy the art style, especially the anime-type skits that they have in the games; the skits also tend to be rather hilarious. The battle system was my first introduction to a non-turn-based battle style in a JRPG, which I though was pretty fun and innovative. My favorite Tales game is Tales of Berseria Atelier – I love these games because the alchemy is a really interesting puzzle. You can seriously break the battle system in this game if you can craft the best possible items and gear. I was also a fan of the characters and plots in the Arland trilogy, with Atelier Rorona being my favorite game in the entire series; they were very realistic for being young girls, and there wasn’t the trope of “teenagers saving the world” like there are in many JRPGs. The newer games have more weight-y plots, but the characters still act like young girls. Zero Escape – This is the only game series that I have used “sick days” at work so I could play through the night and not have to worry about waking up the next day. I love the various escape room situations and the puzzles you must do to solve them. I feel like the games ease you into the puzzles by starting you off with some easy ones and then they ramp up the difficulty as you go along. The entire universe is also very intriguing and has a strong plot that weaves itself through all three games. I love the macabre feeling of the life-or-death scenarios as well. I really hope they make more of these games, and at least one more in the same universe as the original 3 games to tie up some of the loose ends. Spyro – Who doesn’t love a purple dragon? I love these games for the sense of adventure that you get when going around all of the different lands. They have some really great level design in these games, and I was very happy to see how beautiful they made them in the remaster. They are also just the right balance between fun and challenging, and the trophies were all easy enough to get (except for the flying levels… no thanks). This is another series where I hope they make more games or remaster some of the other old ones. What are your top 5 games and why? Because most of my top games are part of the series I mentioned above, I will instead name my top 5 games that aren’t part of those series. I’m also limiting to games that are on the PS3-4-Vita because no one wants to hear about my love of Princess Tomato from the NES days lol SaGa Frontier – I have probably logged more hours on this game than maybe any other game due to how much I used to play it as a kid. It definitely solidified JRPGs as my #1 gaming genre. Though a lot of people didn’t like it because it wasn’t super plot-driven, I kind of enjoyed having the ability to explore almost anywhere in the game at almost any time. I used to be one of those gamers that explored every corner of the game, and this game offered a lot of places to be able to do that. Having multiple characters to play as was also fun; I kind of thought of it as having several different games in one. This game was my #1 pick to have a remake/remaster, and I’m so glad we finally got it! I’ll be using it as a milestone. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – This was a lovely game. I very much enjoyed the Ghibli artwork in this game. The battle system was also rather fun with the use of the monsters; I was a Pokemon fan when I was a child, so this was a bit reminiscent of that, except in real-time battle rather than turn-based. I initially thought this game would be for a younger audience because of the art style, but it seemed appropriate to play as a twenty-something adult because the plot did get slightly dark at times. The Sexy Brutale – This is one of my favorite games because of how unique it is with the gameplay. Basically, you get to “rewind time” in order to follow the different characters in this game to see what actions lead to their deaths, and subsequently take actions to stop them from dying. The act of preventing their deaths also has an interesting mechanism in that the other characters are not allowed to see you, so you must listen through doors or hide in order to figure out what they’re doing and take your actions while they aren’t watching. The story is a very sad one in the end… literally made me rage at how sad it was; I was hoping for a much happier ending. But I suppose games that can bring out that kind of emotion are really good games. Cat Quest – Such a purrrrfect game! I can’t say that this game was super innovative or complex, but it’s exactly what is needed when you’re just looking for a fun and slightly challenging gaming experience. I enjoyed the hack-and-slash + magic mechanics; very simply yet very effective. Going through the dungeons and figuring out the small puzzles that were in some of them was also pretty fun. Not to mention all of the cat puns throughout the game! I hope they make more of these games; I was very excited when Cat Quest 2 got the release. NERO – There really isn’t much to say about this game to be honest, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t amazing. There really isn’t much that can be said about the gameplay of walking sims… you walk around, explore the scenery, and play some puzzles. The artwork in this game is beautiful; I use an image from one of the scenes as my PSN avatar (the glowing jellyfish). But where this game really shines is the story, and it’s a very sad story that unfolds in such an amazing way. I think I really like games with sad stories because they leave a huge impression at the conclusion... guess I like catharsis or something like that. Which unreleased game(s) are you looking forward to the most and why? I’m obviously looking forward to Tales of Arise. It’s been a while since we’ve had a new Tales game, so I’m excited to see what’s in store for us. Speaking of Bandai Namco, I’m also interested in Scarlet Nexus, and I have it preordered. Sci-fi type stuff usually isn’t my jam, but a lot of the same people that work on the Tales games are working on this one so it has to be good! I also read that there’s a planned sequel to Blue Reflection that doesn’t have a release date yet. I’m pretty hyped for that because Blue Reflection had such beautiful artwork (I’m a sucker for pretty and shiny things). Chicory is another game that I’m interested in. I read the synopsis that they had in the PlayStation blog and it sounds like such a relaxing, fun experience. Do you have any other hobbies outside of gaming? Pre-baby and pre-grad school, I had a multitude of hobbies. The most important ones that got the axe were martial arts and sword fighting because I had to go somewhere at specific times to do them. Hopefully, once grad school is done, I can pick them up again; I used to swordfight in competitions, which was really fun. The hobbies I still do because they have more freedom are jigsaw puzzles, rollerblading, and Just Dance. I’ll do jigsaw puzzles when my husband or child are commandeering the television, and sometimes I do them to procrastinate on homework (I have a rule that I can’t play video games to procrastinate). I also try to get out and rollerblade a couple times a month; I used to go daily, but I don’t have time for that kind of regularity anymore. And, yes, Just Dance is a video game, but I use it more as a fitness thing; I play for about an hour almost every day and have a thread with the songs I’ve done well on. Probably my biggest hobby is finding inexpensive, yet good quality, dresses and shoes. I watch certain sites for good deals or go to thrift stores to find my outfits. I try to get dressed up nicely every day and post pictures on my Instagram (username kcgrace20). Top 5 TV shows, Movies, and/or anime, why, and would you recommend them to people? TV Shows The Mentalist – I love the character of Patrick Jane as well as the shenanigans that he is always up to in the name of solving a case while having a bit of fun. His rivalry with Red John is excellent, and I was sad during the last couple seasons where Red John was no longer the focus. Grey’s Anatomy – I am a bit obsessed with all of the insanity that goes on in Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t wait to see which characters they kill off in what ridiculous ways each season. You shouldn’t expect a medical drama to have so many unrealistic deaths, but here we are. I’ve probably rewatched all the seasons at least 4 times. Supernatural – I haven’t seen the last 3ish seasons, but I’m currently rewatching this from the beginning so that I remember everything that goes on before watching the last couple seasons. I really enjoy all the situations that the brothers find themselves in and watching how they grow as characters. Game of Thrones – Yes, I’m a huge GoT fan. I even liked the final season, though The Bells was as awful as everyone says it is. I think the story and characters are so complex and well-written that it’s very difficult to not enjoy the show. I think anyone that says they didn’t like it didn’t actually give it a chance. Impractical Jokers – I remember the first time I watched this show… I was laughing my ass off at all of their pranks. It still remains funny even after so many seasons; you’d think it would grow old, but it doesn’t. Movies I’m not really much of a movie person so I won’t go into detail about these, but five that I can think of off the top of my head are: Stardust Perfume: Story of a Murderer Away We Go 500 Days of Summer I Love You Man Anime Haven’t really watched anime during my adult years, with a few exceptions, so my tops are mostly old-school. Sailor Moon – Of course, the quintessential pre-teen girl anime. I have been rewatching it on Hulu over the past couple months as background noise. I’ve been meaning to watch Sailor Moon Crystal as I have a feeling that’s more “grown up” than the original, but I feel like I would want to actually pay attention to it. Revolutionary Girl Utena – I seriously wanted to be Utena when I was a young girl. She was just the coolest tomboy ever. I thought this was a really weird anime when I was a child because I didn’t understand the various imagery. I need to rewatch it as an adult to see if I pick up on things now. Fushigi Yugi – My first introduction to watching shows with subtitles. My parents balked at the $150 price tag for the box set for HALF the series, so we got some bootleg copy that had subtitles. The story of Miaka and her seven celestial warriors is a very compelling story that at times tugs at the heartstrings. Berserk – So this is definitely a departure from my shoujo anime, probably because I watched it as a post-college adult instead of during my teen years. I watched the original anime as well as the newer “movies” and really liked how true to the original they stayed. I love watching all the fighting sequences in this show and thought that Griffith’s character was particularly interesting. I still need to see the newest episodes. Attack on Titan – So remember how I said all my anime would be old? I lied. I’ve seen the first two seasons of Attack on Titan and love it. The story, the characters, the action! Such a great series, and I will probably finish it after part 2 of season 4 comes out (I hate being left with an unfinished series so I’d rather wait to watch it). Top 5 favorite music bands/group/artists/composers/ost? Eric Hutchinson – This is one of those artists you’ve probably never heard of but have actually heard his music a lot. I’ve heard it on various tv shows, commercials, and CONSTANTLY in grocery stores. He writes and performs his own music, knowing how to play both piano and guitar, and puts on great shows. I’ve seen him in concert now 4 times, with the last time being right before COVID lockdown. Spoiler BTS – Yes, I’m an ARMY. Yes, I have a favorite—it’s RM. I read the translated lyrics (no, I’m not going to learn Korean) and think that they have such great messages for everyone. I listen to Dynamite almost every day and daydream about being able to do the dance choreography haha. I hope Dynamite is the first of a trend to release more music in English (though I’ll still listen to their Korean songs regardless). Spoiler Josh Groban – He has such a unique voice and I kind of like the almost operatic quality of his songs. I also appreciate that he sings in multiple languages and especially love it when he sings in Italian. Spoiler Eurovision – So this is more of a category than a particular artist, but I love Eurovision! I get so excited for the contest every year and have some very strong opinions about the music. I think the year that has more favorite songs than any other year is 2010. Spoiler Hair Metal (Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Van Halen, etc) – Again, a category of music rather than simply an artist, but it’s so hard to pick from all of these great rock legends! They have fantastic music to just jam out to, and I’m especially fond of them when rollerblading. Spoiler Your favorite platinum and why? I’d have to say Tales of Berseria. Berseria was just an outstanding game—probably my #1 game of all time—and I think part of the reason why was because of the trophies. The trophies required you to play ALL of the game in order to get them, making exploration and completion key. I’m one of those people that loves to do everything in a game, so this really suited my playstyle. Some people think the trophy list is tedious, and the ~5% rarity reflects this, but I didn’t have to “grind” too much to finish it off because it already reflected the way I play games to begin with. Your least favorite platinum and why? Hands down, Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God. What a piece of crap game. It had zero redeeming qualities. I’ve actually never heard anyone say they enjoyed this game. The biggest frustration was filling out the info book. For the info book you had to get every piece of equipment, all of which are semi-random, and then having to grind them to level them into new weapons. The thing that sucks about this is that dungeon chickens can eat your weapons if you drop them, sorcerers can turn them into onions, etc. Have you ever been tempted to switch over to the Xbox/Nintendo/PC gaming ecosystems? Not really. I have 400-ish games in my backlog so I have more than enough to keep me busy on PlayStation for years. PlayStation as a brand would have to do something REALLY bad to get me to leave (and, no, closing the PS3/Vita store would not have been enough). There are a couple Nintendo Switch games that I would have liked to try out—namely Octopath Traveler and Animal Crossing—but I’m not too fussed about it. If you could have one game from any gaming generation be remade or re-released, which one would it be and why? I kind of already got my wish with the recent SaGa Frontier remaster, but now I get to pick something else? I guess it would have to be Super Mario RPG from SNES. This was my first foray into JRPG-style games, and I think it would be great to play on a modern console. There is a glimmer of hope that a remaster COULD get a PlayStation release since it was Squaresoft, but I doubt it because Nintendo would probably never allow Mario outside of their products. How far are you willing to go for a platinum? I mean, I’m a completionist so I will try my hardest to get platinums. Some games have gotten me so frustrated because the skill needed is far beyond me (I’m looking at you, Gravity Rush), but I preserve and get through it. However, if I’m really not enjoying a game and it’s a longer one, I won’t force myself to finish it (*cough cough* Okami). Most of the incompletes on my profile are due to DLC that I haven’t bothered finishing just yet, or they are games that I fully intend to go back to… someday. If you could give Sony direct feedback of business decisions in the last year, and the latest console generation, what would you tell them? Allow for sales on Vita and PS3 games again. I think it’s pretty silly not to be able to give reduced prices of older games. Also, they should really have a preferential system for buying PS5s. Spent a lot of money this last year in the PlayStation store? You get first access to the PS5. Spent thousands of hours logged in to your PlayStation? You get first access to the PS5. I’m sure there would be a way to do this by using your PSN ID. Obviously this wouldn’t apply to third-party vendors. What is your favorite thing about PSNP? The thing that brought me to PSNP was the guides. I think they have great UI and most are of really good quality. The guide team does an excellent job making sure guides are well-formatted, informative, and junk-free! What is your least favorite thing about PSNP? The dispute threads. Posts that are helpful toward the dispute are few and far between; mostly people just jumping on the “give this person shit” train rather than providing actual insight. I’m glad to see when people chime in with helpful information that leads to a dispute resolution. Is there anyone in the PSNP Community you would like to give a shout out too and if so why? Can I give a shoutout to everyone I’ve ever interacted with? There are so many fantastic people in this site that I couldn’t possibly name them all. I’ll just name the few that have grown into good friends that I talk with outside PSNP (somehow I convinced people to give me their phone numbers and/or Facebook accounts). @Jens for being my #1 bestie. @Spacey Dweeb for being a great person to talk to about all sorts of things, and for making badges for my events when I don’t want to haha @AffectatiousDonk for being a constant source of amusement. He also runs a great podcast called Push2Plat which he’s been mad enough to invite me on twice now! PSNP Community Questions If you could have a newly discovered species of animal named after you, what type of animal would you want it to be? Wouldn’t it be badass to have unicorns finally be discovered and then have them be named after me? I mean, their common name would still be “unicorn” but to have the taxonomic species contain my name would be pretty awesome. Your Gaming by Numbers event (as well as all the other events you've hosted) have always been super fun to me. Do you have any inspiration as to how you come up with them? And what made you pick Gaming by Numbers every year? Many of my events have been collaborations with other players. Usually I’ll come up with an idea and then talk with someone about how to make it into a cool event, and then I’ll message a couple different people with category ideas to see if they are fair/fun before posting the event. However, when I made the “10 Things I Hate About Games” event, I was just being mean. I was playing a game with time trials, which I hate, and thought, “How can I get everyone else to join in my misery?” As far as why GBN gets revisited every year, it’s because everyone seems to have a good time with it, and people message me asking if I’ll do it again. Can’t say no to my adoring fans! Also, because of the randomness of the game numbers and having literally thousands of options for every category, it’s very easy for people to find things to play without much trouble. Out of all the Disney princesses, which dress would you say you like the most and why? Would you wear it? If we’re talking about the fancy dresses, I’d be most likely to wear Cinderella’s ballgown with the main reason being that it’s pretty much the only Disney princess dress that has straps; all the other ones are off-the-shoulder sleeves or entirely strapless. I feel weird when I’m not wearing something with straps on my shoulders. However, I’m not very likely to wear a fancy dress unless there’s some event to wear it to. Your life seems to have a big focus on education. How important is this in your life? Right now, education comes second after family. When I was an undergrad, it came first. Right now I see it being very important to advance my career in the direction that I want it to go, so it has to be a priority. When I was younger (24ish), I was in a different graduate program but quit it because my priority at the time was to have fun with my hobbies, dating, and just generally being an unencumbered young adult. So while education is important, it doesn’t always have to be the most important thing for me. What is the significance or pattern of the trophies in your trophy cabinet? Many people probably won’t see this, but it actually spells out my username. I saw someone else do that and thought it was a neat idea. I basically picked trophies from the games I really enjoyed. If I did my trophy cabinet differently, I’d probably use the trophies that I found most challenging. You have an impressive profile and completion percentage, as well as four dogs, a 2-year-old child, and working on a Master’s degree. How do you manage being such a badass?! Hahaha, thanks for the compliment! Let’s just say my days are very full, and I’m always taking advantage of “free time”. Like at work, when I’m waiting for a program to run, I’ll work on schoolwork instead of having that time just idling. I also tend to forego a little sleep in order to play games, but don’t we all? What breeds are your dogs and what are their names? Also, can you tell them that they are all very good puppers! I will be sure to pass along the message and give them all a treat for you! I like big dogs, so all of them are large breeds. My oldest dog—coming up on 12 years—is Geo, a Great Pyrenees-Gold Retriever mix. Jazz the Great Pyrenees is about 5 years old. Eiger is a Bernese Mountain Dog, and Monster is a Great Dane, and they are both about 3 years old. Here’s a picture of them, along with my parents’ two small dogs and cat. Spoiler What, if any, upcoming game are you looking forward to being released? Already answered for stock questions. Heads or Tails? Tales… I mean Tails. What has been your favourite JRPG that you’ve played? Tales of Berseria is hands down my favorite JRPG and possibly favorite game of all-time. Everything about that game was excellent. The story was fantastic (especially when bringing in the Zestiria lore as well), the characters were great, and the trophy list was super fun. It’s the game I recommend to just about anyone who has a PlayStation system. You say you have been dabbling in short indie games lately. Have you played anything recently that has really stood out that you would recommend to others? Ghost Parade was really great. One of the things I really like about indie games is that they tend to have surprisingly good artwork, and that was a standout thing about this game. It also had really fun gameplay and some challenging parts that felt good to finish. Other short ones that deserve a shout out are Candle, The Missing: JJ Macfield and the Island of Memories, Donut County, Gris, Degrees of Separation, Valthirian Arc, Cat Quest, The Sexy Brutale, Shaq Fu, and Machinarium. With gamergate and a lot of toxicity in online communities, have you ever experienced misogyny directed at you while gaming? And if so, how did you handle it? I’ll answer this in a more general sense because my education and work are male-dominated fields as well as some other hobbies. I often shy away from this question because I feel that my experience doesn’t fit the narrative that people want to write about this topic. I haven’t experienced detrimental misogyny. If anything, the fact that I’m female has worked to my advantage. I’ve gotten college scholarships because they were for women in math, I got my first job in my industry partially because the director of the department thought I was pretty (he was later investigated for sexual harassment, but I personally never felt victimized by him), and I got to participate in double events for swordfighting because they had female-only competitions and allowed women to participate in everything else (there were no male-only categories). I do understand that some women experience harassment or negative effects of misogyny, so I’m not going to say it doesn’t happen (there’s plenty of prominent evidence that it does), but it’s not my experience. I personally don’t have a lot of negative interactions with people, and when I do, I don’t feel like they’re because of my gender. If I did happen to run into problems on PSNP about my gender, I’d probably just message a mod about it and let them deal with it (shoutout to our really awesome mods). If it happened in real life, that person better hope I’m in a mood to just roll my eyes, because I can really lay into people when I feel like it. If you could pick any genre and instantly become very good in it / improve even more in, which one would it be? And adding to that, which single game would you pick to be super good in / easily get the platinum while having fun with it? I would probably say platformers. I can do some basic platforming but struggle when it comes to anything that’s super complex. Like, I’d consider the time trials in Gravity Rush to be platforming, and I raged at those because they were very difficult for me. So that’s the kind of stuff I’d like to be good at. For a single game, I guess it would be awesome to be really good at Just Dance games, but I guess that would be me fulfilling my lifelong dream of becoming a good dancer lol (I kind of dance like a baby giraffe). I’ve watched some people recreate the Just Dance choreographies on YouTube and think it’s awesome. If you could ignore your current busy life for a few months, or let's say stop time for two months, which super long game would you like to start right away in that case? That’s a hard choice. It would be between Persona 5, Tales of Vesperia, Skyrim, and The Witcher 3. It would probably be Skyrim because that’s the one I’m most iffy about enjoying, but if it’s essentially 2 months of extra time, it’s not like I would have wasted real time on it if I didn’t enjoy it. What is your usual process when picking a new game to play from your gargantuan backlog and how long does it usually take? Mostly interested in your thoughts when time is not as limited as it currently is (more options to choose from in that case). So I don’t really have a hard and fast system for what to play next. Sometimes I immediately want to play 2-3 games that I just picked up from a sale. Other times I feel like going back to something that’s incomplete on my profile. Sometimes I think I’ve been ignoring my physical games for too long so I must play a physical game next. Other times I feel like I bought something years ago so should get around to playing it now. Sometimes I feel like cleaning out the PS Plus backlog. Sometimes I’m really excited to play something I pre-ordered so I play it right away. I also used to participate in a lot of site events, so I’d often have category limitations for what I could play next, which was kind of nice because it took some of the choice overload out of what to play next. Are there games you disliked so much that you would like to delete them from your profile? Maybe even some completed ones? I don’t think I’d want them removed from my profile because I like the idea of my profile being comprehensive of what I’ve played, and I haven't actually played any game that had zero redeeming qualities. However, I have removed a couple games that were at 0% because they were so bad that I didn’t understand what I was doing in the game even after 15-20 minutes of playing it and another because it made me motion sick almost immediately. Totally unrelated to anything in the future, I swear! But what's your stance on white chocolate? I enjoy white chocolate. It isn’t as good as milk chocolate, but it is still pretty awesome… unlike dark chocolate, which is just far too bitter for my liking. What would you say is the most under appreciated game you've played? I think it’s Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn. Every moment of that game was extremely fun for me even though it was pretty much just a mindless beat-em-up game. It got such horrible reviews and not a lot of people have played it, but I think it’s a hidden gem. Do you have any party tricks outside of games? I have taken tons of martial arts classes, seminars, weekend intensives, etc, so I can do some pretty fun stuff with that; one time a guy asked me how those sorts of things could help me, so I grabbed his pen out of his pocket, put him in a chokehold, and held is pen to his throat all in half a second. I’ve also practiced Italian-style sword fighting, so I’ve challenged people to broomstick fights before (people are more than willing to do this when they’re drunk). I can also pick locks. Which guide that you've written was the toughest for what ever reason, whether that reason be boredom or difficulty? There’s a reason Walden doesn’t have a guide, and that’s because I can’t be bothered to complete the one I’ve started haha. I had someone ask me about how to get certain trophies and wrote up some of the details and thought, “I should just write a guide.” I like to put a lot of detail in my guides instead of vague descriptions, so I would have needed to replay the game to get all the details right. There are also claims that one of the trophies could be obtained in a way completely different than how I played for it, which would require me to play on a different account the ENTIRE way through the game to see if the trophy pops. This would be fine because I’ve replayed games to write guides before, but this game is just so boring that I don’t want to do it again. However, if anyone wants to play the game, I have 80% of the guide done with details about the additional information I’d need for a quality guide, I can make you a co-author! Maybe we’ll win an award for Niche Game Guide! What martial arts disciplines do you practice? The most prominent one was Hung Fa Yi Kung Fu. I started that in 2011. The school that has those classes also invites in other disciplines, so I’ve taken classes in krav maga, systema, and aikido. And though they’re not really disciplines, I’ve also done several seminars in weapons defense (disarming knives, guns, etc), improvised weapons (favorite is using a credit card as a weapon), and other forms of self-defense. I also studied HEMA (historical European martial arts), but that was mainly swordfighting in the Italian style (a little bit of Germanic style peppered in). I used to participate in tournaments and ranked pretty decently in them. Peach cobbler or banana pudding? I only like “fake peach” flavors, like flavored waters and that sort of thing, so I’d have to go with banana pudding. With a wardrobe full of skirts and dresses, do you have particular favorites? Also how do you decide what to wear each day? Though I don’t have a specific favorite dress, I think we could go with this as a week's worth of favorite skirts and dresses (there are up-close images of the prints on my Instagram: kcgrace20): Spoiler Similar to how we have events on this site, I’m part of Facebook groups that have outfit challenges, so I try to dress to those themes when they're happening. If I’m not partaking in a challenge, I try to wear something that I haven’t reached for in a while. Also, I’m really bad at doing laundry… like literally won’t do laundry for a month or two (I do laundry when I run out of clean underwear lol), so I won’t even have the option of wearing something in back-to-back weeks. What has been your favorite and least favorite Eurovision entries of all time? I only began watching Eurovision in 2009 and have only seen “iconic” performances from before then, so my “all time” favorites and least favorites are from 2009 and on. Favorites would be: Allez Ola Ole (France 2010), Never Alone (Netherlands 2011), Made of Stars (Israel 2016), Occidentalis Karma (Italy 2017), Running on Air (Austria 2017), Nobody But You (Austria 2018), Mall (Albania 2018) Least Favorites: Beautiful Song (Latvia 2012), Samo Shapioni (Bulgaria 2013), Mother (Belgium 2014), Still In Love With You (UK 2015), I Can’t Go On (Sweden 2017), Toy (Israel 2018) If you could swordfight any videogame character, who would it be and why? I’d probably say Laura from Trails of Cold Steel. The main reason is that the stance she uses and the way her moves play out are actually how you would swordfight in real life. It isn’t made to “look cool” for cinematic purposes. Who is your favorite comic? I don’t really read comics, but I love The Oatmeal, like this one: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe And they're not comics, but I also really love infographics (like the nerd I am). One of my favorite sites for them: https://informationisbeautiful.net/ What is the best concert you've ever been to? I haven’t been to very many concerts. Just a couple for some local bands and several Eric Hutchinson concerts. I’d have to say probably the third Eric Hutchinson concert. I got kind of drunk and had an awesome time dancing and acting foolish during that show. Out of all of the anime series that you have watched over the years, which one was the most disappointing to you and why? So let’s keep in mind that I’ve probably only watched ~30 different anime, and a lot of them weren’t watched fully. I’d have to say Seven Deadly Sins. The first season was really great, but then I watched maybe the first 3-4 episodes of the second season and felt that it was really flat. Perhaps it got better later on in the season, but it just didn’t keep up the hype of the first season. If you were given the chance to take an anime that was awful/lackluster and fix it so it didn't suck, which anime would it be and how would you go about fixing it (what changes would you make) in order to make it into a good (or even great) anime? It’s one of my favorite anime, but I wish that Sailor Moon didn’t have so much filler. I read the manga and thought it was a fantastic manga, but the television show just had so much fluff to it. I haven’t seen Crystal yet, so maybe they did a bit better about staying true to the manga. If you could do the same for a manga that was awful/lackluster, which one would it be and how would you go about fixing it (what changes would you make) in order to make it into a good (or even great) manga? I’ve only read two full manga series (Sailor Moon, Clover) and partials of a couple others (Fruits Basket, Fushigi Yuugi, Utena) and I thought all of those were pretty great. Let's pretend that you won the lottery (in this scenario, at least $10 million dollars) and headed off to Japan to pitch your idea to a anime studio or manga publisher for what could be the next big anime or manga franchise: What kind of genre would your anime or manga be? Would it be action/adventure, mystery, romance, horror, slice of life, comedy, ecchi/fanservice, fighting, supernatural, sci-fi/fantasy, etc? I’d probably want to do something high-fantasy, like Slayers for example. Lots of magic and swordplay throughout. I’d want my characters to be older… twenties or thirties; I think the whole cliché of teenagers trying to save the world is an overplayed stereotype. I like the idea of having a male main character that’s a hired sword; I’ve also been partial to the playboy-type characters so perhaps he’d also have that trait. Or, better yet, a secondary woman character with that type of personality. It’s been a while since I’ve done any sort of creative writing so that’s about all I can come up with. If you ever were fortunate enough to win the lottery (for this example, let's say more than $10 million dollars), what would be the coolest thing that you might purchase and why? I have had this dream of owning alpacas. I used to live in the middle of nowhere and had the land to have them, but I didn’t want to live in the middle of nowhere anymore, so we moved back to the city where you can’t get a lot of land unless you pay LOTS of money for it. So I’d buy a house on a decent-sized chunk of land (maybe 1.5-2 acres) and then get a pair of alpacas. What are your thoughts on the revival of the Member Interview Project and were you surprised you were chosen? I think the member interviews are really cool, so I’m glad to see that they’re getting more attention and have become more frequent. I always like hearing the backstories of the people I interact with because it makes them feel more like friends! Yes, I consider you all my friends haha I was quite surprised to be chosen. I completely forgot that I had even signed up! Which event did you enjoy hosting the most on PSNP and why? I would probably have to pick my Eurovision 2019 giveaway just because of the topic. The winner of the 2018 Eurovision contest was “Toy” by Netta, which featured a chicken dance, so I had people play games that had some reference to chickens. It was interesting seeing what people came up with since it’s such a strange qualifier. What video game character resembles your personality the most? That’s a tough one. If this were in my high school years, I’d definitely have to say Squall from Final Fantasy VIII because I was kind of a standoffish loner type but also was a leader of several different clubs. I’m a much more friendly person now, so that description doesn’t fit me anymore. Perhaps if we combined a couple characters from Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, we’d have a good depiction of me: Peko because she’s an awesome swordfighter, Sonia because she dresses cute and is friendly, and Chiaki because she’s a gamer and loves to take naps. It looks like you are pretty familiar with the Danganronpa series so let me ask you this: As you know there are several "ultimates" throughout the series, if you were to give yourself the title of "Ultimate," what would it be for and why? Right now I feel like “Ultimate Procrastinator” fits me very well. The longer I go in my grad school program, the more I am starting to put off homework assignments. I used to have very strict rules about when I’d complete my assignments and what I was allowed to do for hobbies when I first started—I’d start my assignments immediately and didn’t allow myself to play video games at all. Now that I’m about halfway done with the program, I’ve been waiting until 1-2 days before the assignments are due to start them but haven’t run into any problems finishing them in time… yet. What video game world would you want to live in the most and which video game world would you want to live in the least and why? What would the world look like if you took these two worlds and combined them? Is it liveable? I think I kind of like the idea of living in the world of Gravity Rush. For the most part, the monsters there don’t really attack the towns (until the very end) and everyone seemed to be happy and normal there. The towns were also very pretty and had nice ambiance. For a world that I wouldn’t want to live in, it would be Marvel’s Spider-Man. There were just way too many street crimes happening in that game. I wouldn’t feel safe walking down the street to get something from a convenience store. I think if you merged the worlds of Gravity Rush and Spider-man, you would get a pretty livable world. They’re both very similar, I think, in that they are large-ish cities with lots of people; the style of them is just different. Regarding the Tales of Xillia saga specifically, why is Teepo the best character in that saga? And if not, who do you think is the most likable character from that particular series? Among all the characters in the Tales games, I think Teepo BY FAR gives the most comic relief. He is definitely one of the most interesting characters in the game. As far as the most likable character goes… the one I like the most is Alvin because he has the best character growth out of any of the characters in that series. He starts off only looking out for himself and being a big fat liar and conman, but then towards the end of the first game he becomes a trustworthy companion. He also tries to redeem himself further in the second game by becoming an honest businessman. Seeing him grow like this made him one of the most likeable characters for me, though I have a major crush on Ludger. We all know Felicia is the #1 catgirl of video games but, if you were to choose a catgirl-type character from another game, anime, or media as a favorite, which character would you choose and why? Looking back at all the games I’ve played, I haven’t actually found a game with a catgirl in it! Neptunia had a doggirl CC2, Escha has a fox tail in Atelier Escha & Logy, Final Fantasy IX had ratgirl Freya, and Final Fantasy XII had bunnygirl Fran. I don’t believe I’ve watched any television or other media with catgirls either. Of those, though, I’d have to say Fran is the best because she’s just a badass. Top-notch archer and loyal companion to the leading man, Balthier! Can’t get any better than that. _______________________________________________________________ Secret Twist of the Month Chosen in two parts by @Stardroid and @Yuna4353 Quote Take a photograph that reminds you of Japan(format: photography | theme: Japan) My collectibles (only about half are pictured) remind me of Japan because a large majority are JRPGs or other games made by Japanese studios. If this were me in my teenage years, I'd have Japanese dictionaries, various things with kanji on them, kimonos, etc because I used to be obsessed with Japan. My CollectionBy @eigen-space Please look forward to next months surprise twist activity that will be privately chosen by May's interviewee's _______________________________________________________________ Let us give thanks to all that participated in asking questions to our interviewee Spoiler @Rally-Vincent--- @Beyondthegrave07 @Honor_Hand @SpaceCoresDad @Stardroid @Neocarleen @Jens @breakingthegreen @Helyx @Mesopithecus @Briste @MossyOakRcn42 Edited May 23, 2021 by Dreggit 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyondthegrave07 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 I don't think "Ultimate Procrastinator" would get you into Hope's Peak... ? Fantastic interview though. Really enjoyed reading about how you could totally kick someone's ass! Haha. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helyx Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 'Nanner pudding and Viera. ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honor_Hand Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Great interview. I agree. Teepo does provide the best comic relief moments in the game by far. All of the skits in which he appeared interacting with the other characters always brought a laugh out of me. Good pick on Alvin. He was my favorite male character in the game as well mostly due to how he develops during the story. Although, overall, I'd say he was my second favorite character in the game only behind Elize: I always liked her more not only because of her cuteness but also because of how she was written and how she's directly related to Teepo as well. I really enjoyed what the developers did with those two. I haven't played Tales of Xillia 2 yet but I'm certainly planning to do so just to check what happened next with the story. Also, many thanks for that lovely selection of kemonomimi female characters you mentioned there. I really love girls with any sort of animal traits on them, and those you mentioned there are perfect for my list. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceCoresDad Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Ayyyy I got my question answered! This was a really comprehensive Q&A! I had no idea someone could be so well-traveled AND be an accomplished trophy hunter, haha. As I said before, your events are always so fun, and partially what inspired me to run so many of my own. Good luck out there with your academic pursuits as well as everything else! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 On 22.5.2021 at 10:27 PM, Dreggit said: @Jens for being my #1 bestie. Nothing to add there, #1 besties for life dude! Entertaining read, just as I expected. Always knocking it out of the park! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuber6969 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 (edited) Great read! After reading this, I'm interested in playing Atelier. I love JRPGs but I'm tired of playing as a teenage cast all the time. Edited May 28, 2021 by yuber1234 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AffectatiousDonk Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 The wonderful @eigen-space, I didn't realise you were up. I would have thrown you a curly question or 2 for sure. I am looking forward to reading this later in the week, a wonderful surprise. A beautiful person, great gamer and wonderful asset to the community. Hopefully everyone gets to have a conversation with this lovely lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now