James Mason's Blog -or- The Journal of Contemporary Lunacy

I'm only playing with a fairly modest setup, but even a slightly toned down modlist makes for a very pretty world - especially considering the age of the game.  

Suikoden II - 108 Stars of Destiny and Nanami/Jowy ending PSX  I'd been at the end of Suikoden II for a year on my latest play-through but couldn't bring myself to finish it. I've finished it so many times before that this time I was more focused on building my ideal party(-ies), in particular optimizing the rune users. I also wanted to experiment with some characters I'd not used much in the past.  In the end, safe in the knowledge that I could always return, I took my party of battle hardened rune masters to the end game. Sierra, Rina, Nina, and Tengaar provided the magic power; (Hero) is, of course, a bit special and handles magic and physical stuff; and Victor rounded out the party as a bit of a traditional tank. Han bet the farm on a good old fashioned one-on-one duel. It didn't go well for him... Culgan and Seed were jerks until the end. They form a pretty potent combination, with some nasty magical attacks (they attack twice each per turn as well). After a qu...

Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System) マリアちゃんゲットだぜ！ I've always been fairly rubbish at Dracula X/Castlevania games, so the first order of business in Rondo of Blood was to unlock Maria, who serves as the "easy mode" character. She's hidden behind a locked door midway through the second level but, once unlocked, can be used anywhere. She has a projectile attack (two doves... sure, why not?) and a very handy double jump, which makes avoiding enemies and getting out of tricky situations that much easier. She's also much faster than Richter. The level design is familiar to anyone who's played a Castlevania game before but it seems a little prettier or more vibrant than the SNES or Mega Drive releases.

With an approximately 50 minute drive ahead of me, I left nice and early to arrive at Minyon Falls before too many people turned up - which ended up being a good idea as it was becoming quite crowded (relatively speaking) by the time I wad done and heading out. The road in involved a lot of back country roads, all sealed apart from the final stretch to the carpark, but rough and narrow in places. Arriving at the Minyon Falls lookout, I took in the sight of the top of the falls from the viewing platform that juts out over the cliff before setting off counter-clockwise on the Minyon Loop - starting at the lookout, then slowly descending through the rainforest to the base of the falls, 100 meters below. The last part of the track to the base is a slightly tricky scramble over some rocky terrain but, with that cleared, the falls emerge in a nice open section as they cascade down to the pool below. The top actually overhangs slightly, rather than being merely sheer, so the water drops strai...

 What a difference 24 hours makes! Cool, gray, and rainy conditions for my second mountain peak in two days - Mount Exmouth. I do prefer the cooler weather and, unlike the previous day, I only saw a single person on the walk and that was on my way back. The major downside to this 17km walk is that the first 6km (so 12km out of the return distance) is along a maintenance trail and is really quite boring. There’s not much to look at apart from the forest immediately on each side of the road and it becomes tedious quite quickly. The persistent rain also made it a little muddy underfoot, particularly on the return leg. It is a significant relief to hit the turnoff for Mount Exmouth - immediately, the track is more interesting and some good views appear within the first few hundred meters. The track is only steep in a few places but it is a steady uphill climb the whole way (approximately 2.6km). The flora along the way is very varied and pretty and good views present themselves a numbe...

A glorious day for my first hike in Warrumbungle National Park - I wasn’t expecting 22 degrees and clear, sunny skies in the middle of August. The conditions made for some great viewing from the lookouts and peaks along the way. I undertook the Breadknife and Grand High Tops loop walk with a bonus detour to the peak of Bluff Mountain - it only added 3km but over quite a steep track. The views from the peak made the extra effort of the side trip well worthwhile. This “up” part of the loop is quite an accessible walk - the first half even features section of brick pavement and some comfortably wide stairs. It’s not until after Breadknife that it begins to feel like a “real” hike, with the trail becoming narrower, more winding, and rockier underfoot. It was busier than I expected, with a few groups as well as singles and doubles out on the path. I dislike encountering large groups on a trail, as they move slowly as a rule, are often loud, and can be a pain to pass. There were certainly so...