RJ Ramblings

I don't have anything specific to ramble about today, so I'll just tell you what little I've been up to, outside of work.

I've been running three times a week for a while now (except for that week that I was sick, I only ran once). Getting faster and building endurance to do more. Would like to do a 5k this year. I've never done anything like that.

I split up with my personal trainer. She was great, but the cost was too much to keep doing it forever and I wanted to try some different things. I'm going to start barbell training today, doing the Stronglifts 5x5 plan. We'll see how that goes. Might take me a little bit to get comfortable with barbells as it's something I've never really done before, but I've watched a lot of videos and am looking forward to the training.

Outside of that, and the normal hanging out with family and friends and cleaning house and everything, I've mostly just been playing video games. I've been really getting back into JRPGs again, after a long hiatus.

I think I talked about playing through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - I loved it. And I played through Ys 8, which was my first real experience with the modern Ys games. I had a lot of fun with that one and found some bits of it very inspiring for my own writing.

I haven't gotten fully invested in another game since then, but have been dabbling about in a few different ones. Here's my quick thoughts right now.

Dragon Quest XI - I've never been big on the Dragon Quest games. My sister loves them, but I've always found them to be a bit dull and I find the music grating. I feel that about this game too, but the gameplay is very fun and the characters are good so far as well. Playing little bits at a time. Sometimes I have to turn the music off and play my own stuff though.

Unicorn Overlord - Loving this one so far. I don't think I've ever played a game quite like it. It's sort of like a real-time-strategy game mixed with Fire Emblem. And the art is wonderful.

Trails in the Sky - Also loving this one so far. I've been wanting to get into this series for a long time. The writing is so good in this one compared to many of the JRPGs I've played. And the combat is fun as well. And the music! So good.

Ys 9: Monstrus Nox - Enjoying it so far. The setting is much less interesting than Ys 8, but it's still super fun to play.

Atelier Ryza - I like the characters and the vibes in this one a lot, but the alchemy stuff (which is what this series is known for) I find very confusing. Hoping that it clicks at some point. Will continue playing it on and off.

And that's about all I've been doing lately, outside of work. Will be going to watch the eclipse today, since I'm basically right in the path of totality. Might as well sit outside for a bit and check it out. Hopefully the weather cooperates. Should be pretty neat.

Hope you all have an amazing week! Love ya!