Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) get a bit philosophical and theoretical as they attempt to answer the question of what is a masterpiece in terms of video games. We talk about our criteria, how we differentiate masterpieces from our favorite games, the difficulties with answering a question such as this, and look at a list of “best games” and give our opinions on if those games are masterpieces or not.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) talk about idols and yakuza in this action packed episode. We begin the episode by talking about the great Love Live! School Idol Festival mobile game and why we enjoy it so much for a gacha style game. Afterward, Jared dives deep into Yakuza Kiwami 2 and its wacky and serious nature.

Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) and Jared breakdown a couple of items including the launch of Nintendo Switch Online and its new NES library with online play. AL gives a detailed breakdown of the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC expansion pack, its story, and how much time she put it into it.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see how Aqours handles Chika learning a very hard dance routine that the third years originally attempted to do but failed. Too bad Chika doesn’t understand the meaning of too hard.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see how the unlikely duo of Yoshiko and Riko handle having a dog come into and out of their lives.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) finally get to one of the more interesting episodes of the season where Dia has to figure out a way to get close to the younger members, but how does that change from Japanese to English?

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see how Aqours deals with the dilemma of having to perform in two places on the same day. Do they split up, prioritize one or the other, or attempt to pull off performing twice at full strength?

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see that Aqours now have a deadline to get prospective students and they split up into two groups to try and come up with two different songs for the forthcoming Love Live competitions.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) are ready to shine again with the season two premiere of Love Live! Sunshine!!. We see what happened with Aqours' performance in the last Love Live and how the group has to come together to try to save the school.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) reach the final episode of season one and see how the group does at the Love Live regionals. We are also given a strange recap of the entire season and learn that Love Live is basically a sports anime. Al gives her thoughts of what she is expecting out of season two. 

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) reach the penultimate episode of season one where Aqours heads back to Tokyo to meet up with Saint Snow and try to figure out why they want to win while also visiting Otonokizaka High School.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) say YOUSORO as we watch You have to go through some issues of confidence and friendship as Aqours prepares to perform for the first time without Riko.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) take a break from all the drama and chill out with a somewhat filler episode where Aqours works at a beachside food stall and Chika learns of a piano recital that Riko has been invited to.

Ayano Hanesaki has been through the ringer during her journey in HANEBADO!, but how does her journey end? Does the match with Nagisa end up helping or hurting her in the long run? Will she finally break free of her mother’s chains or does the show fumble that encounter? Clickthrough to see exactly what I thought about how HANEBADO! wraps up.

The debate between subs and dubs will rage on until we are long gone. In reality, it is an absolutely silly fight as you should watch which version you are more comfortable with and will enjoy better. When I decided to get back into anime in 2013, one show I constantly saw gifs of on Tumblr was of the 2009-2010 series, K-ON!. For whatever reason, I decided upon the Sentai Filmworks English dub of the series (not to be confused with the other English dub that preceded Sentai) and breezed through both seasons and the movie. The performances of the cast are good on their own and accentuated the show for me in many ways. Looking at the cast of the dub today, it is clear that the K-ON! dub should be viewed as an all-star cast and perhaps one of the best dubs of the 2010s.

Boy, 2017 sure was bad. Video games were one of the few bright spots of the year. As per previous years, there will be supplemental awards first before we dive into the Top 10. There will be spoilers so please beware as you read.

It’s no secret there is a divide within the entirety of the Persona franchise. A large and vocal majority came with the releases of Persona 3 and Persona 4, with even more coming in after the recent release of Persona 5. Of course, as the names of those games suggest, they are not the beginning of the series. For that, you have to go back all the way to September and November of 1996 to the release of Revelations: Persona in different regions. Both versions of Persona 2 would come even later with Innocent Sin coming in June 1999 for Japan and Eternal Punishment in June and December 2000 for Japan and America. One of the big reasons that people have a hard time going back to the first three games is that they are different than the games that would come later. The battles, demon negotiating, dungeons, and lack of social links make the split in the series a large divide. If you were like me and somewhat disappointed with Persona 5, perhaps now is the time to take a look back and see exactly what makes up the earlier games and in particular, Persona 2 Eternal Punishment.

Back on the Seasonal Anime Checkup OVA Episode #18, I mentioned how Persona 5 was currently my least favorite game in the series. That statement might lessen when I decide to attempt a second English (third overall if we’re counting the Japanese version) playthrough, but as of now, and with other facets surrounding the game, it remains that I am disappointed with the game. The game does have good aspects, like revamping the battle mechanics and a good majority of the cooperation/confidant social link characters are great and some of the best in the series. However, Persona 5 is by no means perfect or the greatest game ever made. It may in fact be your game of the year for 2017 and I cannot dispute that as opinions are subjective, but the game is not infallible to criticism like some people might think it is.