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Gaming Diary: Back to the Stack of Shame

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fetch quest memeAt the start of every year I always have such grandiose notions that this is the year I’ll get through my stack of shame. This year, I still want to do so, but I’m tackling it a different way. After every recent game I finish, whether it’s in the stack or not, I’ll go back to an older title. After I finished Star Ocean: The Last Hope, it was time to keep good to my promise. I started Dragon Age Inquisition. Again. Yes, this is the third time. No, I haven’t rolled a completely new character. Yes, I have problems.

I tried starting my second run of the game, my first on the PS4, and I was so lost. I had no idea why we were where or what decisions I needed to make. It’s a bummer to lose all that progress, but I’m so glad I decided to start fresh.

I am going to take things a little differently this time, especially when it comes to the Hinterlands. In the past, I let myself get bogged down with sidequests. I spent 3-4 hours in the Hinterlands before I started on my first story-progression quest with previous playthroughs. This time, I’ve done what I’m supposed to do and completed any sidequests I happen to find on the way. This way, I hope to deal with Hinterlands sidequesting each time I go back there. There are several opportunities to go back to that part of Ferelden, something I didn’t know the first time I played. The Hinterlands is also the worst when it comes to getting a fetch quest in the middle of your fetch quest that is required to finish the original fetch quest. Paring this area down isn’t only a wise strategy, it makes for a sane player.

I’m also finally hunkering down to finish A Link to the Past. Thanks to the Keysanity Randomizer Tournament, I’ve gotten the itch to finish that game. Over the weekend, I knocked out both Ice Palace and Misery Mire. I’m dreading Turtle Rock just because every speedrunner complains about it. However, they also complain about Swamp Palace, which I loved. They love Skull Woods, which I hated. So who knows. Regardless, I look forward to finally getting this one out of my stack.

Gaming Diary: And the First Game Finished in 2018 is…

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Thanks to the miracle that is remote play, I finally finished Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD & 4K Remaster. It took some time to get used to the rear touchpad for the L2/R2 buttons, but once I did, things were rolling.

Star Ocean The Last Hope

I can now say I have finished my very first Star Ocean game. This one was not very good. The only reason I finished it was because I had already invested so much time, I might as well see it through the end. I’m not so sure it was worth it. I unlocked all of the endings except for two, and I don’t care enough to try to unlock them. It had a good message, but I’ve played a game very similar to this and it was called Mass Effect. Earthlings going to the stars, befriending aliens, and saving the universe from an ancient power that wants to reboot it? All that was missing was romance options. Not to mention, the writers had to suddenly explain why Earth had all this technology in SD 12, yet they just now have this tech three hundred years later in the first Star Ocean game. Honestly, the reason why was lame and so is the fact that they didn’t have this tech for centuries after leaving Earth. Seriously, no one wondered in the first couple of generations how they left Earth? I suppose if the story of their origin was not passed down through the generations, they wouldn’t have a clue where they came from. The only way I suppose I could find out would be to either read the plot summary on Wikipedia, play the PSP game (which means I need to replace my PSP battery), or wait for another remaster. Square Enix likes their remasters, so it’s possible.

Pokemon Pearl should be the second completed game of 2018. I just cleared Victory Road, so there is just the Elite Four and the Champion left. I’m not sure if my team is powered up enough, but I’ll try at where they are. Worst case, I have to do them all over again, but I get to keep all the experience earned, so that’s a better grind than going back into Victory Road. I can’t take any more Golbats.

So what’s next? On the PS4, I promised a friend I would finish Dragon Age Inquisition. It’s a bit ridiculous that it’s taken me this long to sit down and finish it, when just a couple of years ago, I burned through Dragon Age: Origins Awakening and Dragon Age 2 plus its DLC in a matter of weeks. As for my handheld, I’m not getting the next Pokemon game. Instead, I’ll finish one of my Legend of Zelda games, most likely A Link to the Past first. I’ve gotten addicted to these randomizer runs, and that urge to finish ALTTP is back. I’m only three crystals away from Ganon’s Tower. I can do this. Right?

Gaming Diary: Pokemon Pearl and Randomizer Races

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ALTTP randomizer racesThanks to Awesome Games Done Quick 2018, I’ve gotten back into watching speedrun races on SpeedGaming‘s various Twitch channels. Every day last week I watched some A Link to the Past randomizer race or Legend of Zelda randomizer race. When I first got into watching these randomizer races, there was only one version of a randomizer. Now ALTTP has four versions, and LoZ has a couple. They are fascinating to watch.

SpeedGaming has daily races for ALTTP each day, and they aren’t all the same version. There is still the original one, but now they have these three:

  • Open World randomizer – Starts players in random locations (instead of at the beginning of the game) and the world is their oyster.
  • Enemizer – Also starts players in random locations, but now they have no idea which enemies (including bosses) will show up where.
  • Keysanity – Again, players start in random locations, but chests now have specific keys for specific dungeons. These races really test runners’ mettle, knowledge of the dungeons, and routing techniques. These races also take the longest.

I’m not a huge fan of the Enemizer seeds, but I really enjoy the other three. Keysanity makes me want to rage quit on behalf of the players at times. I usually get a bigger kick out of seeing where items will show up instead, but Keysanity is still a good time.

During these races, I’m either working or I’m playing Pokemon Pearl. I’m nearly done with the game—on Victory Road now—and it’s the last Pokemon title I have in my arsenal. I have two strategy guides for this game that I picked up at a Half Price Books, and I think I’m going to do a comparison video of them. The differences between them are rather astounding, and yet, neither has all of the information I need.

I’d also LOVE to finish Star Ocean: Last Hope this week. I have so many other PS4 games that need my attention last month!

Gaming Diary – From Xenoblades to Pokemons

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After I finished Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, I thought it might be best to put down the Pokeymans for some of my other unfinished 3DS games. Since Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is out, maybe it’s the best time to finally play Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. After playing it for about 8 hours, I have the following thoughts:

  • WOOF the graphics are bad. Like they’re so pixelated, it’s really hard to distinguish faces and enemies from backgrounds. I never played this game when it released on the Wii, but I have a very hard time believing it looked this bad on the big screen. Final Fantasy VII has outdated graphics, but at least the faces and enemies are discernible on the small screen. During an early boss fight with a spider, I gave up figuring out what to hit and just swung madly at the purple blob on my screen.
  • Why are there zero interesting side quests? Thus far, it’s only fetch quests as far as the eye can see. And when I do complete a fetch quest, would it have killed the devs to include map markers for the quest givers? It’s not a joy running around the town over and over again trying to find this one boy.
  • This is an action-RPG, but I want to use that term loosely. It’s an action-RPG/turn-based RPG hybrid. You can move around on the screen and aim for specific places to hit like an action-RPG. However, the characters and enemies on the screen attack in some sort of an ATB system. Either make it an ATB system or don’t.
  • Are you telling me this is yet another post-apocalyptic setting in a neverending war between man and machine? Wow. That’s totally NEVER been done before.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D

Part of me wants to push through a little further, but another part of me is all, NOPE, nobody got time for that. I’m going to research the sequel a bit more before moving on. If the combat is exactly like this one, then it will get a hard pass. I’ll just go back to Xenoblade Chronicles X, because that game was fun.

After feeling defeated with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, I decided to pick up a game that has a completely original idea and game format: Pokemon Pearl. (If your sarcasm senses aren’t tingling, please slap yourself.) Even though the Pokemon games are literally all the same, I still have fun playing them. They’re easy to pick up and play, and it’s a bit of an RPG-lite, which is nice for a handheld.

Is anyone watching Awesome Games Done Quick? It’s a blast as always, although it was a little disheartening to see a runner blaze through Splatoon 2 in the same amount of time it took me to beat one level.

Happy 2018!

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happy new year 2018

Happy New Year 2018, beloved readers and YouTube viewers!

I’m not going to lie; 2017 was a slow year for strategy guides. Either there weren’t any published, or Chris and I couldn’t get our acts together to review them. I took on reviewing too much stuff again, and as a result, my stack of shame is more embarrassing than ever. I’m not making gaming resolutions to get better about playing games with strategy guides or finishing games. We all know how those resolutions go—the same way most resolutions go (down the toilet).

The only resolution I’m going to make is to manage my plate. I cut out taking second helpings of food as part of my diet and I lost 30 pounds after April 2016. I need also to stop taking second helpings on my life plate and potentially lose 30 pounds of excess stress that I put on myself. It’s not just with clients, extra curricular activities, or kid activities; it’s also with books, comics, and yes, video games. I’m not going to review books in 2018. I’m not going to review every comic book issue I read. And I’m not reviewing video games. It’s time I make my hobbies fun again, especially when it comes to writing, which is another hobby as well as a job.

And that is what I wish for all of you. Shed those extra 30 pounds wherever you find them, whether it’s on your body, in your heart, or on your plate. Enjoy what you love, and love what you do.

As for me, I love writing, yoga, video games, reading, and strategy guides.

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