Happy New Year! I'm glad that 2017 is over with, to be honest. Here's hoping 2018 is an all-around better year. So far, it's been alright.

Most of my free time this week has been dedicated to playing Persona 5, which I talk about more below. Spoiler alert: It's SO GOOD. Aside from that, I've been catching up on The Adventure Zone, since I was a few episodes behind. I've also been eagerly awaiting the start of the new anime season, even though there are very few new series that looked interesting. Hopefully I'm proven wrong.

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Undertale - React: Let's Plays

I absolutely adore Undertale. While I haven't played it myself, I watched Jacksepticeye play it back in 2015 and it was just so fun to watch. Now, a couple years after the game was released, some of the teen and young adult reactors over on the REACT channel are playing it and, while only six parts have been released, seeing everyone's different paths and reactions to characters is a whole new experience. Whether or not you've played or watched someone else play Undertale, checking out the REACT version is definitely advised.

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化身の獣 (Keshin no Kemono) - Do As Infinity

So this is actually the ending song for Juuni Taisen, an anime that aired during the Fall 2017 season. The show was a little disappointing, to say the least, but the ED was absolutely stunning. The song is powerful, but not overbearing, making it the perfect match for the show's concept. It actually goes along well with the neon watercolor-esque visuals that it's matched with for the ending. The song is just really fun to listen to on its own, though.

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Persona 5

I've been debating whether or not I wanted to play Persona 5 for the past few months. It was highly acclaimed, but RPGs are extremely hit-or-miss for me. But, when I saw it was $30 for a new disc at Gamestop during their Winter Sale, I decided to give it a try. I started playing it Saturday night and I'm now over 25 hours in. The style and music is amazing, and the turn-based strategy aspects make battles a lot more tactical and not hack-and-slashy like other RPGs. This is my first Persona game, but the mixture of daily life tasks like developing friendships and working part-time jobs mixed in with the dungeon-style adventuring makes the game feel so balanced and awesome. It's really a unique experience, and while I'm only about 1/4 of the way through, I definitely understand why it was a major contestant in the Game of the Year talks in 2017.

HQ Trivia

HQ Trivia is a live trivia show that anyone can participate in. There's at least one match a day and playing is super simple. There are 12 questions in each game, and you get 10 seconds to answer each question. The catch? If you answer even one question wrong, you're out. Whoever makes it through all the questions gets an equal share in the prize money, which is specified at the beginning of each match. This app technically launched back in August 2017, but it was only available for iPhones. However, with the turn of the new year, the HQ Trivia team launched an Android version, which is currently in beta.