Strife's Sanctum

This week's anime review is simple, fun, and lighthearted. An overworked salaryman comes home to find a demigod fox who changes his life, teaching him the benefits of letting go of stress and worry. While yes, some of the criticisms COULD be seen if you have a certain political or social leaning, I would like to stress this show is just mindless fun and has a positive message. Just let the wor...

This week's game review is a new title from the makers of the Danganronpa series. Taking the meat of those games and trying a new style in a new setting, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE crafts an intriguing set of circumstances to ply their trade. Much like Somnium Files, it feels similar enough to the series that spawned them, but with enough differences to chart its own journey into the...

This week's anime review is a quirky gothic comedy drama staring one hell of a butler and a vengeful noble. While the comedy can sometimes overwhelm the revenge narrative, there's enough dark stuff in the margins that it maintains a solid balance. Add in a rarely used Victorian London setting (for anime anyway), and you have an enduring show that will get even more stuff next year. Upcomin...

Decided to change it up by reviewing a movie I loved as a kid. This was my biggest exposure to the TMNT franchise, even more than the animated series and some of the early games. I am happy to say it still holds up as a solid 80s/90s film. The endless one-liners of the turtles can sometimes detract from the darker moments, but between the middle sequence on the farm and Shredder's fight, the m...

This week's anime review is about a show that much like Spice and Wolf, is a slow going, yet pleasant story that has some deeper moments when it counts. A girl thrown into another world tries to use her past knowledge to create books and other novelty items in a medieval setting, but quickly learns there's magic, religion, political intrigue, and her own family and well-being at stake. Upc...

This week's game review continues the journey of weirdness that is Hideo Kojima. Following the success of MGS1, Sons of Liberty improves the gameplay and visuals to a profound degree. However, the second game also introduces a few weird characters and...strange story choices. Game: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Year: 2001 Developer/Publisher: Konami *Community Tab for this channel is now...

This week's anime review takes us all the way back to 2002. A gothic sci-fi procedural drama, Witch Hunter Robin won't be anyone's perfect anime, but it has a striking style for its time, interesting power sets (both good and bad) for its witches, and a decent enough story to keep it a strong show. Anime: Witch Hunter Robin Year: 2002 Studio/License: Sunrise/Crunchyroll *Community Tab...

One of the more subdued yet intense shows I've ever seen, Magus' Bride takes the concept of magic and throws it on its head. Fey creatures, dragons, crazy alchemic and scientific experimentation, curses; all centered around a special girl and the "person" who took her as her bride. The show is currently in its second season, so I give a rundown of my thoughts to this point. Anime...

The majority of the playthrough is done, so I felt this worked as a good review of how things worked with Dragon Quest XI. DQ is comfort food personified. XI manages to keep the traditions alive, while exploring the margins of what the game franchise can be. It is up there with my favorites in the franchise (V and VIII). Part of it has to do with the strongest set of characters seen in the franchi...

First was a solo review of Kingdom Hearts, and now that Leigh has become a regular contributor to playthroughs and podcasts, it's time to get her side of the story, since she played it for Youtube. We look back on our playthrough, and I express a more favorable opinion of the franchise as a whole. What a difference a year makes. October 14th: Dragon Quest XI October 21st: Ancient Magus Bride O...

This week's anime caught me by surprise. A show with an understated romantic element bubbling underneath a racial/social commentary, plus some unique visual flair. This ended up becoming a sudden Top 10 anime for me, and I wouldn't have said that a few episodes in. However, it sticks the landing hard by sticking to its guns for the entire runtime. Podcast Schedule (Based on Saturday Upload...

Time to dig back into my childhood and talk about random stuff. This time, it's Sega's turn in the spotlight. Streets of Rage, Mutant League, Road Rash, god knows what else. I just talk and talk about the Genesis, the console that does what Nintendon't. Podcast Schedule (Based on Saturday Upload Dates) September 30th: A Lull In the Sea October 7th: Kingdom Hearts w/LeighClipse October...

I rarely talk about romance shows and harems. While I did have a fondness when starting my anime fandom (Tenchi Muyo and Love Hina), the genre tends to suffer mightly from formula and inappropriate jokes that get old from time to time. Rarely do I find things hold up to my satisfaction. So, color me shocked that watching this rekindled a fascination with the property that started with the manga a...

Time for more girl power. A few years ago, WayForward (makers of Shantae) developed a follow up to the River City/Kunio-kun franchise of beat em ups. This time, they turned the focus to female characters Misako and Kyoko, amped up the Japanese aesthetic, and added an amazing music style. Two games on, this franchise has emerged as a cult favorite of mine, and I want to talk about it. Podcast Sched...

Another nice anime here. With a title like this, they could have messed up big time. However, with a more educational/thought provoking idea concerning how monsters/monster girls/demihumans work in society, this provides a wholesome attitude for a fun time. Podcast Schedule (Based on Saturday Upload Dates) September 9th: River City Girls 1&2 September 16th: The Quintessential Quintuplets Septe...

Finishing off the original Ace Attorney Trilogy, Trials and Tribulations brings together the best of all three games, with a story that ties together everything in an amazing three final cases. Add in some levity in two other smaller scale cases, and you have what is widely considered the best Phoenix Wright game by a wide margin. Podcast Schedule (Based on Saturday Upload Dates) September 2nd: In...

I reviewed the original Trigun a few months back. If you haven't listened to the review yet, go here first: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/citizen-strife/episodes/Strifes-Sanctum-Podcast-84-Trigun-e1vtcej It seems only fitting that now the (first?) season of Stampede is done, that this gets reviewed as well. What started as a sort of stiff, belabored reimagining turned into a unique,...

You're not seeing double: after doing a version of this on my own, Leigh contacted me and asked talk about her own experiences with FF7's litany of minigames...so she did. Podcast Schedule (Based on Saturday Upload Dates) August 19th: Trigun Stampede August 26th: Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations September 2nd: Interviews With Monster Girls September 9th: River City Girls 1&2 Sep...

I've played FF7, I've done a podcast on FF7, but there's still tons more to be mined from one of the biggest games of all time. This week's podcast is a more thorough examination of something FF7 did maybe a little too much of: sidequesty bullcrap. This game is littered with sidequests and minigames big and small. Some are awesome (G-Bike/Mog House/Chocobo Breeding), some are not (...

This week's anime review is a show about half mobster drama, half monster killing spree. While it still holds up after 20 years, a lot of the things I remember liking and disliking have still held true. The mob/yakuza family dynamic isn't anything you haven't seen before, but the characters make for a compelling story in most cases. The issues arise when taking the action sequences out...

This game was a love letter to old school Final Fantasy. It maybe a little too much follows tradition, all while trying to do a rug pull that is a cool idea, but terrible execution. However, the gameplay is a revitalization of the job system, adding synchronicity between party members and turn order to make a cool all-around game that turn-based fans would love. Podcast Schedule (Based on Sunday U...

It's been two years since I began doing podcast reviews. I enjoy doing it, and it's a change of pace from all the gaming stuff, and an outlet to talk about what I've done (or what Leigh and I have done together). It'll be nice to reflect on things as well. The games that worked, didn't work, and things I learned from them. Podcast Schedule (Based on Sunday Upload Dates) July 30...

This week's anime review takes us back to Remnant. RWBY has seen it's up and downs, but it went in a totally different direction this season. Going for a more "Alice in Wonderland" approach, RWBY spent time dealing with the main four again, which was a nice change from other seasons. Alongside strong character worth with Jaune and Neo, Volume 9 went back to basics with success. P...

Before hitting it big with Xenoblade, Monolith Soft was an independent company led by former Squaresoft veterans. They wanted to take their Xenogears game and spin it off into a intense multi-part space opera game franchise. While Xenosaga didn't reach either the game amount nor critical or commercial success, it is hard to deny its place in JRPG history. It was a tentpole franchise for me in...

An anime that flew under the radar for me, Yamato is a remake of a 1970s space opera classic. While the "fighting aliens and terra forming Earth" stuff isn't a new concept, this show succeeds by taking time to learn about the individual characters on both sides. It is an appreciated detail that goes a long way to turn this into a must watch. Podcast Schedule (Based on Sunday Upload D...