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Tuesday Gaming Diary: I’m Overwhelmed, so I’ll Play More The Division

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No one wants to look at my deadline calendar right now. For SGR, I’m supposed to be working on three different strategy guides, and for work, I have four different games all with deadlines over the next ten days. Every time I look at my calendar, I want to cry. But crying helps nothing, so I should just pick and choose what I need to work on, based upon deadline, outlet, and priority and move on from there. Instead, what do I do? I skip working out (which makes things worse, by the way) so I can play more of The Division.

Thanks to having anxiety, one symptom I have when faced with being overwhelmed is to shut down and walk away. You’d think that it would just make things worse, as I’ve now cut down even less time to work, but somehow, this usually helps. Of course if you can’t get past it and remain walking away, then that’s all kinds of bad and of course helps nothing. But for me, walking away and taking a breather always helps me focus on the bigger picture instead of getting bogged down with the finer details.

Sometimes it takes me longer than I would like to get out of it, like this past week. I didn’t want to put down The Division. I didn’t want to play Stranger of Sword City, even though that deadline was first and I really enjoyed playing it. All I could think of was that it was for work, and I didn’t want to focus on that. Obviously I eventually did, because I’m not here to bemoan how PlayStation LifeStyle fired me over missing a deadline. And now that I’ve turned it in, I want to start it over and play it for enjoyment.

Oh…wait…no…I have those other things to review. Ah screw it, I’ll just play more The Division…after I return home from a preview event for work. I have so many cell phone recordings to find…

Monday Gaming Diary: Bunch of Slackers

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slackers_unite_shirt-r10885c0fea4c4fc0bf3e0297068120a5_jg4dk_324Neither Chris nor I have gotten much gaming done this weekend or even over the last week. He was actually being productive, traveling and taking photos for his photography business. I, on the other hand, did pretty much nothing but try not to die as I was laid up with a nasty stomach bug most of the week. And then I had a certification training class all weekend long, when I was finally feeling better, so once again, all work and no play made me dull indeed.

I actually did plan to play a bit this weekend, as I have a Vita game to review, but the technology gods continued to reign against me. I came home from class late on Saturday evening, and I was exhausted. I just wanted dinner, play with the kids, get stuff done ahead of time, and then work on a review or even the Doom closed beta. As I was writing an email, the screen on my phone DIED. It would flicker in and out, but it was obvious it wasn’t long for this world. If I didn’t have a full day of class on Sunday, I would have said, oh that sucks and moved on. But I knew if I didn’t have a working phone for the next day, I was inviting a flat tire. So it was off to Best Buy I went at nine o’clock at night.

Fortunately for me, my LG G3 lasted me over 2 years (suck it, Apple) so I was more than eligible for a phone upgrade. Also lucky for me, the LG G5 just released a few days before, which I was wanting. Well, I wanted to research it when I got the time to see if it was worth the upgrade, but my phone decided NOPE, you upgrade NAO. Naturally I was at the store for quite some time as it’s not so simple to purchase a phone and walk out.

So yay for a new shiny toy! Booooo I didn’t get any gaming done. I miss both Twilight Princess and The Division like you wouldn’t believe. Fortunately for me, I don’t have many reviews this month, so I’ll actually get some strategy guide reviews done in a timely fashion!

Also sad to report that Chris and I will not be recording the SGR Coffee Break this week, as he is still traveling. We’re not sure about next week either. He’s one busy, busy boy.

I hope you all got more gaming done than we did. What did you fill your weekend with?

Monday Gaming Diary – Was Twilight Princess always this fun?

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The-Legend-of-Zelda-Twilight-Princess-HD-7

As I have said way too many times, I played Twilight Princess when it first released. I remember having a lot of fun with that first dungeon, even though it took me a long time to get through. Looking back, I know now that I was not skilled enough as a gamer to get through that game, much less on the Wii controls. It took me nearly 6 hours to get through the first dungeon the first time I played. I think I did from the start to the end of the first dungeon in 3, maybe 4 hours.

And now, I can’t stop playing.

I try to play a little bit before I head upstairs to work on my other reviews, as I can play on the Game Pad while the family enjoys TV time. But somehow, when it’s time to put the kids to bed and time for me to go to work, I can’t bring myself to stop. And the next thing I know is that it’s nearly midnight and I haven’t done a thing for work.

I feel really guilty, but at the same time, I kind of don’t care, which is all kinds of confusing.

Was Twilight Princess always this fun? I am I just now discovering how great it is because I’m not as terrible with Zelda games? Because they don’t intimidate me like they used to? Is it because I don’t get as frustrated with failing as I used to? Or is it because I’m using a controller instead of the Wii Remote?

Or all of the above?

If it’s mostly because of the controller, which I think is a good portion of it, then I should have played this on the Game Cube in the first place. I have a copy for the GC, including the GC guide; not sure what stopped me before, if it was time or fear. Probably fear. It’s hard to argue I don’t have time when I stopped everything to finish Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2.
But seriously, the game is far more fun than I remember. Every time I start to work on a review, I instantly think how I’d rather be saving Hyrule. That thought is closely followed by, I wanna save New York. If I could split my time between Twilight Princess and The Division, I’d be the happiest gamer in the world. But even then, I think I’d want to play more Twilight Princess.

Although, no more jousting boss battles. I was so terrible at that. The only reason why I finally defeated that boss is because the game pitied me. There there, you tried so hard to not careen over the bridge; here’s a freebie on us. You did good, oh yes you did! You tried so hard!

Monday Gaming Diary: The Division is Too Distracting

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While yes, I have been rather busy with game reviews for Action Trip, I fully admit that I have been shirking some duties in the name of The Division. I haven’t really played any story missions in awhile, but I am determined to clear out every region I have unlocked before moving on to the next zone. It’s partly because doing so is fun, and also partly because I’m hooked on the phone recordings and evidence folders.

People who say that the story in The Division is shallow didn’t go collectible hunting. The game uses these recordings to shed light on the people of New York, what they are personally battling during this outbreak, why they feel the way the do, and what they do to survive the shut-down of the largest city in the US. Most of these give me fucking chills. And some of the Echos, that show exactly what happened in certain situations, have brought on horror and tears.

Tom Clancy's The Division Echo

If you played BioShock, then you know most of the story of Rapture is found in the tape recordings, which is exactly how The Division runs. Collectible hunting could be the best part of this game, just for the story snippets alone.

That said, I did manage to FINALLY get out The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess over the weekend (and ignored my next game for review). I haven’t played this game since it originally released, which I realize was so very, very green at gaming in general. I didn’t remember much about the beginning of the game, but I remember it took me several hours to get through the exploration of the first village, before Ganon comes through the dark world. What was so hard for me back then, I didn’t bat an eye at this time at all. I’m sure some of it has to do with the fact I’m not using motion controls, but it also has something to do with confidence as a gamer and a bit more experience with The Legend of Zelda games. I was really green with those games and 3D open-world style games to begin with at that point. I couldn’t even hack Wind Waker a few years earlier, so now I’m feeling more confident that I’ll be able to finish both of these games, something I always wanted to do with both.

This week is Spring Break for me, so I have a feeling I’ll have to put The Division down (*sniffle*) for Twilight Princess and work review. It also means no SGR Coffee Break this week, and then again for next week since Chris will be traveling.

In the meantime, remember that no matter what you play, HAVE FUN WITH IT, whether you need or want to use a strategy guide or not. I personally won’t take a step in a Zelda game without one, and I don’t care how “pathetic” that makes me. It’s how I have fun, and everyone should have fun with games.

Monday Gaming Diary: MMO Cherry Has Been Officially Broken

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I’ve pretty much been only playing Tom Clancy’s The Division this entire week and weekend. I’ve gotten in over 24 hours of game time, and I wish I could take off the rest of the week of work to play more. I can honestly say that I’m excited about playing this until the level cap, and then diving into all of the DLC and expansions that will release over the next year. I even jumped into the PvP portion of the game and had a great time.

Tom Clancy's The Division

I’m really not sure why this has struck a chord with me over Destiny. I keep hearing that they’re a lot alike, and yet, Destiny never once grabbed my attention. I’m not sure if it’s the environment or the third-person perspective. I definitely prefer third-person shooters over first-person, but I don’t think that’s entirely it either. One thing I kept hearing about with Destiny was its lack of a story and lore, that players were just set down on the path of shooting aliens with some direction as to why, but not entirely. In The Division, you aren’t exactly given this deep story either, but the setting takes care of the story for you. The setting is a bit post-apocalyptic, with New York on quarantine due to an outbreak of a smallpox-like disease. You know that you’re a last line defense for a generic Division, and your task is to get Manhattan back under control. So it makes perfect sense that you’re setting out on random missions to restore order, cut down on the gangs, and recover research on the virus for a vaccine. It makes sense why there are rioters and looters who are out to overthrow control. At the very least, I am able to tell anyone what the game is about if they ask. Every time I ask someone what Destiny is about, I get a bunch of hemming and hawing as they try to get out some sort of explanation. Usually it ends with, well, you don’t play for the story. I still like to know what’s going oh, yeah? At least I know Mario is trying to save Princess Peach from Bowser half the time.

I half wish there was an official guide and I’m half glad there isn’t. Most of the game will be so different by the end of the year, which would kill a reason for a strategy guide. On the other hand, I’d love help with finding some of the collectibles. I see them on my map, but some of them, I can’t figure out how to reach for the life of me!

Speaking of which, I’m wasting time writing here. New York isn’t going to save itself!

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