Another week and yet another Bonus Stage has gone by. What's that? You missed it? Pay attention before I have to send you to detention for goofing off in class. You can find the comic and thoughts post by clicking on the colored words...ahh, the magic of hyperlinks. What makes them hyper anyways? Too much sugar I'm guessing.

So in the critically acclaimed Odin Sphere, we find our heroine Gwendolyn is quite resourceful when it comes to multitasking; not only can she fend off any bevy of baddies with ease, but she can also do so while farming. You see, the most efficient way to recover health is when she grows her own food from any number of seeds she finds in battle. Peculiarly enough, one such seed harvests a completely unexpected entity. Perhaps not quite as cute as the one in our comic, but hey, we need to exercise a little creative freedom, right?

As far as the game itself, it truly is a magical gem bestowed onto the gamer community. It is a flawless execution of visuals, music...and probably more! I say that because, sadly, I've not been able to play it. I can speak to its visuals and music and was so excited about the game that Pie and I grabbed a second copy to preserve, unopened and cherished as the gift to mankind that it is. Why don't more companies make 2D games like this?! It's so sad that so many amazing "gamers games" don't enjoy greater financial success - probably because of all those casuals. Sorry, didn't mean to cuss there.

Making this comic makes me want to visit the Hyperbolic Chamber so I could make time to play it. I really do need one if I Pie and I plan to keep making awesome comics for you all to enjoy if I still want to retain my gamer status! Of course, gaming is all well and good, but making these comics is the most fun and rewarding thing I've done with my life. I really want us to keep getting better so you LiA can reach bigger heights...I think we have something special here that I want to see continue to thrive.

Speaking of thriving, since we are doing well with Bonus Stages so far, be sure to check back Wednesday for another installment.

Again, thank you immensely for your support. Even if you can't support us monetarily (I know - the shop has been "coming soon" for forever now), the emotional support so far is huge. Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and you will be notified immediately through there when content hits. It's a great way to help spread the word and it also makes Pie and I feel really... creamy inside. Or something!

Odin Sphere is another game we've had for a while that I've never gotten around to finish playing. Like many other people, I was captivated by its beautiful visuals and music right from the get go! It really shows that 2D games can still be really awesome in this day and age when 3D and polygons seem to be the route almost all console games go nowadays. I think it's such a shame that there aren't more studios trying to make 2D games that push modern day home console hardware to their limits; it's like a dying breed accompanied by side-scrolling action platformers and shooters. We only seem to get these types of games if they're made by indie developers and sometimes games made for portable systems. It's not like these types of games aren't popular, so why don't big companies want to invest in them?

Anyways, yes, Odin Sphere is awesome! Like I said, I haven't actually passed it, but I've clocked in enough play hours to get a really good feeling of its flow and mechanics. The only thing I'm kinda disappointed with along with the development studio Vanillaware's next big hit Muramasa the Demonblade is that it'd be really nice if there were more environments to explore.