iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

i havent sung enough praises of cotton rockwithyou. a rare type of game where its a direct sequel that flat out improves on everything the first game had. im not exaggerating in saying that its one of my favorite shmups of all time. its a pretty easy clear but being a score gremlin is TOO fun

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

i elaborated on what i liked and disliked a bit in a super long twitter thread, i usually just copy the text but theres too many posts for me to copy so im just going to screenshot them for here. mostly praise because a lot of my gripes are major spoilers. still loved the VN, highly recommend

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

full metal daemon muramasa - all routes FINISHED for the past 3 hours ive been sitting here just mulling over the experience - i can certainly say i adored it but i also have so many minor gripes and issues that im not going to be like Zenith Fiction Its So Peak 10/10 so. 9/10

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

i lamped the IIDX zinrai launch songs last night!!!! both hard clear and AA lamp, im really proud of how my accuracy has improved. this style is immediately one of my favs, i always love when iidx goes for a more Cool style. long thread gushing over the launch songs i liked:

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

i understand that theres only so much that people can do for free in their spare times but. Man this really sucks. And also the pace he slams out chapters (THESE ARE 50-70 PAGE CHAPTERS) just implies that they put the bare minumum amount of thought or work into the TL. like man what are we doing

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

my solution for actually playing the game in a semi-comfortable position before i get the correct crimpers in the mail: lap pcb

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

after like months of procrastinating i finally got a controller assembled for my arcade mahjong harness. except i cant crimp JST XH wires right now so i just stole the really short ones inside my voltex controller for now. witness the mostly-final form of my beautiful home mahjong harness

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

BATTLE GAREGGA 1CC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (WILD SNAIL, SATURN PORT) ive been working on this clear on and off for over a YEAR i am SO SO SO SO happy i finally secured it. (AND DOING FINAL BOSSES NOHIT????) fantastic game once you learn the ins and outs theres truly nothing else like it, shmups or otherwise

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

i was relistening to dancemania christmas speed last night and it feels like this

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

LOOKING AT THE QUOTE FINDER SHE REALLY ONLY HAS 22 LINES IN ALL OF PHASE 1.... SO FUCKED UP..... AND A LOT OF THEM ARE JUST ABOUT DOING THE GROUP LOVE TRIANGLE BIT WITH CARIO SQUAD WHICH I LOVE BUT ALSO I NEED MORE FROM THAT WHOLE TEAMMMMMM. the curse of 34 characters introduced in rapid succession

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

also now that i've finished every single mainline when they cry arc released heres a tierlist ranking them all~~ i dont dislike ANY of them they were all awesome i also surprised myself on how much i adored ciconia but the more i stew on it the more it deserves to be that high for me

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

FINISHED CICONIA PHASE 1 MAIN STORY TONIGHT I AM. LOSING IT. I AM LOSING MY MIND. THIS WAS UNREAL FANTASTIC. LIKE TOP 5 WHEN THEY CRY CHAPTERS FULL HONESTY I AM SO GLAD I READ THIS. BUT ALSO THIS CLIFFHANGER. DUDE. HOW DID PEOPLE SURVIVE FOR 7 YEARS WITH THIS. DUDE. IM LOSING IT. ITS SO PEAK

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

//SPLATOON RAIDERS SPOILER shoutout to shiver's top tier ojousama ass evil cackle additional special shoutout to the mechanic's immediate reaction of pure bewilderment

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

higurashi no naku koro ni kai - FINISHED loved this dearly. i can confidently say i adored umineko more but this was still a fantastic story. unimaginably immersive, hilarious and bright, yet builds dread and fear beautifully. i really need everyone i know to read when they cry.

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

its still not perfectly stable on shin sakura taisen (particle vertex explosions, some random shader corruption, particle z-fighting, texture overlap crashes between loads that mightve actually just been solved in the latest nightly) but when it works it feels magical. this rules i love emulation

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH ITS OVDRRRRRRRR ITS OVERRRRRRR IM FREEEEEEE FIRST SPICY GAUGE CLEAR IN POPN MUSIC LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

also i ALMOST got my first spicy gauge clear. if you arent aware of what this entails its "wouldnt it be funny if the clear gauge was forced to be twice as hard if a chart has too many notes" this is the only lv47 spicy chart. it isnt any easier than other 47s even without spicy gauge. hell on earth

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

i hit god class in popn music high cheers!!! despite it being called "god" it only just feels like im breaking into the true meat of the game. still, i'm very very happy to get this!!!!

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

silly me making this post and not attaching a photo of my Sticker Objects. i love them dearly

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

i hope the new zinrai soflan mitigation features dont save scores. it only gives A-CLEAR rn but i dont even want scores saved. i dont want to lose the deranged insane strategies invented for the cruelest speed changes in the game. its a memorization skillset but its MY memo skillset damnit.

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

KETSUI 1-ALL!!!!! (tiger) top top TOP tier STG. lives up to all the hype. a nonstop maximum thrill gauntlet front to back. encourages you to be as risky as possible in the best way. so happy i got the 1-ALL, i made a lot of REALLY stupid dodges this run but it all worked out. truly fantastic game

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

ketsui 1cc soon. its so doable

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

DIDNT REALIZE THE GRAVE MISTAKE I MADE PICKING A VN FOR THE PS1 THAT RUNS AT 240P. THE FONT IS AT LEAST MORE READABLE THAN THE SNES ORIGINAL BUT I CANNOTTTTTTT PARSE A LOT OF THIS KANJI LOL. FUCK IT I AM STICKING WITH THIS TIL THE END I BELIEVE IN MYSELF

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

ive challenged myself to commit to learning japanese starting with daily anki (kaishi 1.5k, 10 new cards per day) and ive surprised myself by actually sticking to it every day for the past month!!! now im going to jump into trying to read, starting with chunsoft's kamaitachi no yoru, i'm excited!!!!

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

FEW MORE PICTURES BECAUSE I LOVE HER SOOOOOOO MUYCHCHHHHHHHH

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

LOOK AT MY XIV LIZARD!!!!!!! SHES SO CUTGUTUTUEUEEEEEEEE CUTIEEEEEEEE CUTIEPIEEEEEEE I LOVE HER SO MCUHGIUHGIUHFJ SHES SO ADORABLEEEEEEEEEEEE

xiv character looking SOOOOOO CUTREEEEEEE under her really pretty umbrella

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

worlds most scuffed and dangerous """mahjong harness""" with no controls or sound wired up but despite everything it WORKS and it works GREAT. time to make a controller and wire up sound and then im going to arcade jong like ive never jonged before

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

M3 haul!!!! im so excited to dig in to all of these, i went a little overboard this time but considering how much i adore doujin music it was so worth it... i didnt realize the tanocstore novelty freebie item this time around was a fly swatter. it prob singlehandedly doubled shipping cost lol

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

getting consistent in battle garegga feels TERRIFYING. stage 6 even after i got a good feel for the game felt like a complete black box of chaos and mayhem but now im getting CONSISTENT on getting through it deathless. how the hell???????? 1cc close but not quite. got the 2cc today but. 1cc soon.

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

it took a little while but deathsmiles is REALLY hitting good for me now. had to go all in on level 3 rank for the whole game and its SO much fun, especially when it swaps to death mode. revenge bullets you neutralize with option is a rlly amazing dynamic. still need to improve but im loving it now

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

love love love love shmups

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

DODONPACHI DAIOUJOU BLACK LABEL 1-ALL!!!!! (A-L) AND MY FIRST CAVE 1-ALL it took a minute for the game to click but once it did i really fell in love, stage 4 and 5 are FANTASTIC i spammed bombs out of my mind in stage 5 but i earned it, my run was so clean in the early parts up to stage 4 midboss

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

dodonpachi daioujou stage 4 is such a banger stage. i dont think the shmup will be my favorite shmup in the end but stage 4 might end up being my favorite individual shmup stage. playing aggressive and cleanly executing the hard parts is FANTASTIC

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

thats the hard part!!! any fun category i can think of that could be more storytelling oriented could easily be re-contextualized into an action by the person filling it out (other way around with how i put sakura taisen 2 into beautiful structure when it was likely action-intended) (cont. in image)

my category spitballs + my individual problems with them:
 "Miserable Gameplay But Trust Me On This One" (realizing this is a slightly more specific duplicate of "sucks to play but rocks". ignore)
"Would Probably Be Better As A Book/Movie" (too specific? plus near all ADV/VNs are GREATLY benefited by their format so i dont like it much. also a really flashy action game with no substance could go here, like FF16 or smth)
"Made Me Cry Real Tears" (action games can be just as good at making people feel emotion. NG2 MN gigadeath made me cry)
"Atrocious Pacing But Somehow Still Fantastic" (i notice a lot of fantastic game stories i hold dear to my heart do NOT know how to pace themselves reasonably, but maybe thats just my preferences. and there are some action games that run on too long that can go here, like sin & punishment star successor)
"Caused Me To Hit The 'Absolute Cinema' Pose IRL" (could be interpreted the exact same way as "put it in the lourve". and radiant silvergun applies here for me just like it did for put it in the lourve)
"Game Would Be A Lot Better If I Didn't Have To Play It" (ALSO a duplicate variant of "sucks to play but rocks," yet one thats more cynical)
making engaging categories that actively try to push in a direction for a chart like this is hard!!

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

THIS GRID FORMAT WAS REALLY FUN TO FILL OUT every category really racked my brain either in terms of interpretation or in terms of What Do I Pick only shame is how there arent many suitable slots for ADV games i enjoy primarily for the story but still great format happy to explain any of my picks~

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

finished umineko when they cry last night i came in with unreasonably high expectations and somehow they were still exceeded. this VN is beyond special to me and i adored every single moment of it from beginning to end. i dont think this story will ever leave my head. highest recommendation

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

dodonpachi DOJ switch port get!! surprisingly, i didnt like this game much when i first played it but once i got the hang of the hyper system and how to build it quick i fell in love with the game completely. HOPEFULLY i can score a 1-all soon-ish, so far i can make it to mid-stage 4 in 1 credit

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

NINJA GAIDEN 2 XBOX 360 MASTER NINJA !!!!!!!CLEARED!!!!!!! hardest game i have played in my life. i still can barely quantify my feelings toward the game. the peaks of MN is the peak of videogames but the bad parts are inhuman torture. 10/10 game i'd recommend to nobody except complete sickos

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

started reading umineko. the big one. the one and only. i'm ~5 hours in so far and even though its majority exposition its all fantastic, i cannot WAIT for things to truly start going down but i'm relishing in these cute slice of life scenes and moments of interpersonal tension before things explode

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

PLAY SHUTEN ORDER!!!! THIS GAME RULES!!!!!! tookyo's games hit like crack for me at this point. the way characters are written is so insane but so compelling and engaging. just finished the ministry of health route and man this was just outstanding. but i'm biased since i love death game stories

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

sakura wars 4 complete. ogami saga finished. best 4 game run i have played in my life. genuinely outstanding front to back even though i can't read japanese. thank you kayama for the translation guides hardest ive cried to a game in a long long long while. thank you so much sega

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

beat ninja gaiden 2 on path of the warrior!!!!! anyways. no intention of stopping anytime soon, its path of the mentor time

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

yeah (i got this achievement on stage 6, on 9 now)

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

iidx sparkle shower is great hard cleared every song, really strong launch songlist

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

i think im a little obsessed with sakura wars

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

anyways let it be known i called their relation before this reveal. alicemetix was active while he was employed at bemani which was why i was questioning if he actually WAS zaquva but i guess posting on your personal alias while being a bemani sound team member is grounds to get fired it seems

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

ZERORANGER 1CC!!!!! (C-II-III-V) peak game. a lot of fun to learn the stages for Real rather than stumbling to the end. my scoring was surprisingly quite good! some polishing up i could Maybe push for the 102% but not right now highly recommend the +tek FM arrange, it enhances the ost SO much

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coolgu @colgate.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

final size of the stack of translated script that i printed out just because with PSP for scale me printing out a full novel's worth of a paper just so i could play my 25 year old weebshit the old fashioned way

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