Aria of Sorrow is undisputably the best of the GBA titles by a significant margin. Circle of the Moon is good but it’s an early GBA title and kinda rough. Harmony of Dissonance is the worst IGAvania and you’re not missing much by skipping it.

Of the DS titles, Order of Ecclesia is my fav, though exploration is fairly limited for half the game and it’s the most challenging out of all of these imo. Also Shanoa is my fav protag of the series (and clearly the inspiration for Bloodstained’s Miriam). Portrait of Ruin is pretty close to top for me too, I think it’s a bit underrated. Dawn of Sorrow is okay, it does have some cool stuff but 1) the shoehorned touchscreen seal system is deeply unfun and by far the biggest problem, 2) the castle layout/progression is awkward and has a bad flow, and 3) going from the beautiful and unique character illustrations of Aria to the generic template anime designs of Dawn is quite jarring. But it does have my favorite bonus mode of the series so at least there’s that.

If you have access to Bloodstained, that’s quite good too. It plays like it’s Aria of Sorrow 3.

The Lord of Shadows series is its own thing, more akin to like God of War. Mirror of Fate is a metroidvania but it’s quite mediocre.

You’re making me tear up a little

Thank you, I really appreciate the encouragement

Lots of exciting developments happening lately. I got my FFS surgery officially scheduled and it’s less than a month away now. Electrolysis is going well; my upper lip is almost clear (at least for this growth cycle) and my facial hair is visibly reduced in most areas except chin. I bought and used an epilator for the first time and though I was worried about pain at first, it’s honestly nothing compared to what I’ve been going though every week with electro. I’ll be starting speech therapy for feminization soon. I’ve been more social in 1 month than I was for all of last year, and I’ve already started work on (further) radicalizing my new friends. Oh and I’m like 99% sure I’m going to get the job I really want that I interviewed for recently, mostly because my resume was put forward by the boss and have other recs from inside the org supporting me.

Binding of Isaac can be unfair, and while yeah that’s kinda the point and mastery can overcome most of that, some rooms are laid out in a way that it’s impossible to avoid damage. For example, a closet filled with spikes and a large troll bomb spawning and immediately homing in. This never feels good even if damage is avoided through pure luck (such as flight or explosion immunity).

Also most bosses are fine but they do love to add at least one bullshit boss per version. Rebirth brought us the dreaded Bloat, then in AB they added Hush, a bullet hellish, tanky completion mark boss that can only be attempted if reached within 30 mins or less. That wasn’t bullshit enough, so in AB+ they added Delirium, another mark boss that is hidden somewhere on the largest map in the game among 6 other bosses (which included other end bosses). Before Rep there was only 1 way to guarantee access and that was by killing Hush (2 bs bosses in a row!) Oh and the fight itself is a disorienting chaotic nightmare and honestly never fun.

I don’t think anything added in Rep compares to Delirium, though I’m never happy to see Scourge or Colostomia. Mother is difficult, but honestly getting to that fight is more annoying than the fight itself. Then Rep+ added the most devastating boss of all: barely functional online co-op that can delete your save.

Hope you have better times soon

Massive headache today and I’ve still got a handful of chores to run

thanks

I’ve been touching obscene amounts of grass lately and have been neglecting what’s most important in life - posting in the trans mega

Can anyone who’s already in 2025 tell me how it is? I think I’ll just stay in 2024 if the vibes are off

Approval for the actual surgery part of my FFS went through today, all that’s left now is to schedule it and start counting down. And if that wasn’t amazing enough, I also finally got a refund check I’ve been expecting (but was told it could have come as late as 2028 lol) and it’s more than I thought it was gonna be. Truly a fantastic day.

Zoned out to the entirety of Ok Goodnight’s The Fox and The Bird while watching butterchurnviz

Highly recommended

I can’t remember if we cw weed so I’ll do it just in case

I love concept albums and these sound cool. I’m excited! Too eepy tonight tho. I’ll give you my thoughts tomorrow if you want em

Oooh that defiant glint in your kitty’s eyes

I will check out those albums, thanks!

If you find any lemme know

This is a favorite of mine, I like to headcanon as a trans song

Bolds are my personal favs

• Cellar Darling
• Exploring Birdsong
• The Gathering
• Lesoir
• Magenta
• Ok Goodnight
• Panic Room
• Red Handed Denial
• Reliqa
• Sordid Pink (formerly Destiny Potato)

Also for more retro/retro sounding prog:

• Curved Air
• The Far Meadow
• Rosalie Cunningham

Refreshing my music library like

Prog rock/metal with masc vocalists

Prog rock/metal with fem vocalists