Zeusthecat

Well, I ended up beating this last week and really enjoyed it! After my last post here I put a whole bunch of time in and methodically made my way through each area while taking a few breaks here and there to grind out levels and upgrade weapons. Getting the lava bow was a godsend and things got much more manageable with that weapon by my side. Additionally, I picked up the Uchigatana and got it upgraded to Quality 4 which resulted in crazy amounts of damage since I was balancing my Strength and Dexterity stats. So between that and the lava bow I was able to handle pretty much everything that the game threw at me without much issue. I still died a ton and had to resort to some cheap tricks here and there (notably on the 3-2 boss, one on one those guys are cake but when they are both out they just both pursued me relentlessly every time), but it wasn't so bad and I finally started to learn how to play most effectively with my specific build, focusing on blocking and backing up rather than trying to parry or roll around an enemy. Learning all of the different enemies and how they attack and what their weaknesses were was my favorite part of this game. I loved the sensation of struggling to get through an area and then once you have it figured out, running back through and steamrolling everyone with your newly refined skills. Immediately after finishing the game I started new game plus and beat 1-1 again. I've put it down at this point and probably won't pick it up again unless someone wants to run co-op in new game plus or if I get through my other games and feel like putting some more time in. I'll definitely be moving on to Dark Souls in the near future. These games rock.

I beat Heavy Rain last week and quite enjoyed it. This game had some issues with both the story and the controls and through a good portion of the game, I thought I had it all figured out. But they were just smart enough with the story and the different characters that I still ended up being surprised by some of the twists. By the time the credits rolled, I was quite satisfied with the game I had played and was even tempted to start over and make some different choices. I did at least replay the last chapter to get a different ending which was just as satisfying as the ending I originally got.

I'm still mostly playing games from previous years so if we're only counting games that officially released in 2015, then my top (and only) 4 are: Kerbal Space Program Destiny: The Taken King Rocket League Super Mario Maker My most hated game: Borderlands: The Presequel

I saw this and loved it. I think the original Star Wars movies were some of the first movies I ever watched as a kid and I've watched them countless times since so I am squarely in the 'lifelong Star Wars fan' camp. I appreciated all the callbacks and retreads quite a bit in this one actually because for me, those are defining elements of Star Wars. Big Death Star weapon, young person discovering the force, escaping from a miserable life on a desert planet, etc. Seeing those things just set me at ease and made me feel much more comfortable about where these movies are going relative to what happened with the prequel trilogy. I know a lot of people wanted a different kind of movie that took more risks and wasn't as Star Wars-y but I'm glad they played it pretty safe with this one. With all the super high expectations going in, it would have been pretty easy to fuck this up but I thought it ended up holding together pretty nicely. I think what ultimately made it work for me though were all of the little details and plot points that were subverted within that familiar framewrok. I was actually really impressed by the big surprise that Rey was the force sensitive person. Every trailer leading up to the movie and the freaking movie poster itself shows Finn with Luke's lightsaber and from their marketing I was so convinced that that was a foregone conclusion that it wasn't until she actually started figuring out how to use the force that I realized that maybe I had been had by their marketing. I also really liked that she was able to start figuring out how to do some of these things without a Jedi master to guide her. That was actually a pretty big risk to take with this movie considering how strictly The Formula mandates always needing a master to teach someone the ways of the force (and ironically, one of the few risks they do take with The Formula is one that a lot of people seem to be bothered by because it doesn't stick to The Formula). It makes her special compared to all the Jedi we've seen before and I hope they do some more interesting things with that. Like maybe she is capable of siphoning off people's force powers (could explain how she was able to beat Kylo Ren) or is just so combat proficient already (she was pretty badass with that bo staff) that any further enhancement from the force just makes her unstoppable. And I freaking love that it is only after she discovered her powers and beat the shit out of Kylo that she finds Luke and then the movie just ends without him saying a word. As much as it stuck to The Formula, it feels like they deviated in some pretty key ways that leaves a lot of doors open for some new unexpected stuff. I have my fingers crossed that Finn and Rey turn out to be brother and sister (everyone is expecting it to be Kylo and Rey but given certain expectations that have been subverted so far, I don't think it would be a stretch that Finn and Rey are actually siblings and were separated at birth with Finn going to Stormtrooper school and Rey getting abandoned on Jakku) but it is actually the sister that has super force powers this time. There were parts of this movie that weren't great and could have been better and I think a lot of the criticisms are fair. Parts of it are corny and don't make much sense and a lot of the bad guys are kind of goofy but that's pretty par for the course with Star Wars. I think this movie did exactly what it needed to do and they effortlessly passed the baton to the new cast. I was actually surprised that, aside from Han Solo and Chewie, the rest of the original cast were barely even shown.

My wife picked up a pot brownie at the dispensary the other day along with the standard stuff we usually get. I just ate my portion and am hoping it enhances the rest of my Heavy Rain playthrough tonight. I've never had the best luck with pot brownies in the past and usually don't end up feeling anything. But I've also never had one that was quite this potent before.

Maybe the ARG is just a giant distraction. It just seems too intricate and too all over the place and too obvious. I would love it if they kept dragging this out and then randomly one day, just announced the actual game to no fanfare. That seems to be the one thing nobody expects. But then in a twist, Frog Fractions 1.5 is secretly the sequel to Frog Fractions 2.

They finally put the season 2 episodes of Steven Universe on Hulu. I still have a few left to go but just wow. I did not expect this show to be quite this good. I've also been making my way through Adventure Time and am mostly through season 3 now. It is also the best. Tree Trunks is one of the most brilliant characters I've ever seen and I love her to death.

Yeah, sounds like it would be most enjoyable to just play the game in a straightforward way and ignore all that World Tendency stuff. I am really enjoying all the messages and ghosts and stuff and I would hate to have to turn that off and jump through all those hoops. I'll also keep an eye out for those lizards. I don't recall noticing any of them yet but now that I know they are important I'll keep an eye out.

Funny, my co-worker who has been trying to get me to play these games for the last couple years has said the same thing about 3-1 being one of his favorite video game environments ever. I did notice those little fire lizards in 2-1 that hang out on the walls and drop down when you get close. Are those the crystal lizards you're talking about? I think I remember them giving me the material I needed to upgrade my 'Quality' weapons. I figured I could just run back and farm them as much as I want but if they only respawn after a single boss kill in that area I guess maybe I need to be more picky in which items I choose to upgrade with those materials (assuming there aren't other enemies that drop them too). I'm not averse to using a guide for certain things since they aren't very well explained in this game and failure can mean a lot of very frustrating back-tracking. I am generally enjoying just going into each new area blind and learning the new enemies and getting familiar with things naturally. But when it comes to leveling and upgrading, I have started consulting my co-worker to make sure I don't do anything too stupid with my stats and weapons. That is not a type of trial and error I find too fun and beyond randomly picking a few stats to focus on when I started and experimenting with the first few areas, I do want to make sure I have at least a somewhat competent build as I progress forward. So as I get further in and more familiar with all the stats and mechanics, I'll probably resort more and more to guides to make sure I'm not making dumb choices that end up wasting my time and causing frustration. Also, for the 2-1 boss, I watched a walkthrough before attempting it. I was pretty low on herbs and had no arrows going in and the thought of going in blind and learning the mechanics by trial and error sounded absolutely horrid, given the amount of backtracking I would need to do after each failure. But 1-1 boss was right near the entrance so I did that one naturally. It may not be the 'purest' approach but if failing on a boss means having to go through almost the entire level again (the 2-1 shortcuts still required navigating through the bulk of the level each time), there is just nothing fun about that. I hear it's much better in Dark Souls. I guess I'm technically playing online because I'm seeing all the messages and blood spots but I haven't experienced any PVP or seen any other real people. My co-worker says he might level a new character over the next couple days and see if we can summon each other since there should be a fairly small pool of people playing. That will probably be the extent of my online play. And unless this game blows me away I was planning to just do a single playthrough and save any deep dives for Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2. Sorry for the multiple long-ish posts... this game just started to grab me and I'm excited to talk about it.

NEVER!!! Okay, maybe eventually if I just can't make it work. But I think it is starting to work for me and I kind of like the idea of beating this game with a non-ideal build. It seems to be in the spirit of these games to do so. I'll keep an open mind but I'm pretty determined to make this work and I'm fine with putting up with a lot of frustration if need be.

Dead thread redemption!! (I hope this is the "right" Demon's Souls thread) I finally started really digging into this last night. I've been really intrigued by everyone's love for Dark Souls and the like but I always prefer to start from the beginning of beloved franchises to experience their evolution over iterations and to gain a better appreciation and understanding of what makes a given franchise special. Up until last night, it had been pretty rough going in this game. I went in blind and beat 1-1 fairly easily but then stalled for about a dozen hours after that. I experimented with several other areas, worked on grinding experience, and eventually cleared 2-1 but was till lukewarm on the game. I've come to also learn that I've apparently stacked the odds against myself a bit by going with Dex and Strength as my primary stats instead of something magic based or single stat based and I've mostly ignored my bow since I never bothered buying any arrows. So I've basically just been bumbling around like an idiot, dying a whole bunch, and learning through painful trial and error. But I decided to bring this one to the front of my rotation and put a solid three hours in last night. I think things are finally starting to come together. I've been grinding 4-1 with those rolling skeletons to stock up on herbs and arrows and level a few stats and items up and through that process I think I'm finally starting to get the proper rhythm down. I found that I could upgrade my battle axe and rapier to a 'Quality' version that balances Strength and Dex so my stat makeup is finally starting to bear some fruit, I put enough points into faith to get the basic healing spell as a fallback if I run out of herbs, and I've just generally started getting better at recognizing the various attack animations and how I should react. So I went from getting wrecked by those rolling skeletons to totally steam rolling them every time by the end of the night. After leveling and stocking up to a satisfactory level, I decided to take a stab at 3-1. So far so good. But those magic slinging guys that suck you in with their tentacles scare the shit out of me.

I honestly think Ewan Mcgregor's performance as Obi Wan is my favorite part of the prequel trilogy. There are so many problems with those movies obviously, but for me, Obi Wan was the one character that was done decently. I can't put my finger on exactly why, he just really worked for me.

For what it's worth, I feel the same way as you Twig. I mean, we have things like football, Thanksgiving, Hollywood movie star crap, and whatever other things one might typically identify as "American culture". I participate in some of it and find a lot of it dumb and pointless. But none of it has any meaning to me beyond "a thing that caught on at some point because a sizable portion of people propped it up as something important". Every now and again, even though I hate sports, I will watch the Super Bowl and we'll make some snacks or something. I guess that might be a good example of participating in American culture but to me it feels more like playing pretend (i.e. pretending a football game has any real importance and getting invested into it) and it could totally cease to be a thing in our country and I wouldn't care one bit. Maybe if I didn't loathe so many things about our country and what it deems important (seriously, almost everything I see associated as "American" is just immediately off-putting), I might find more of a sense of belonging and understand what it means to be part of a culture and for it to feel meaningful and important.

I just read that and kind of agree with the assessment. I'm still waiting patiently to see what kind of additional content they end up putting out as a result of switching to this whole "use microtransactions to fund additional content" model. So I'm trying to hold off any judgment until we actually get some of that. But yeah, some strange decisions here to be sure.

We have one of those water dispensers on our fridge with the filter but Arizona water is still hot garbage. So I just put lemon juice in every glass of water. I also get a lot of kidney stones partially because of our shitty water (according to my urologist). So yeah, fuck Arizona water. I try to go exclusively Kirkland Signature when I can.

I know, I can't stop staring at it! There is absolutely no way a thing like that gets through all that QA and into my wife's hands (ahem) unintentionally. It's kind of beautiful actually.

My wife just showed me this lovely new underarm deodorant she just got... ...and the directions on the back.

Yeah Blambo, I thought it was a good post and I always like hearing your perspective on things.

Do you have solar panels attached to your ship? If you are regularly having trouble running out of electricity, I recommend putting a material bay on your ship with a few batteries and all of your science instruments contained within. Then just strap a bunch of solar panels on and you should never have an issue with running out of electricity. I never turn SAS off unless I am in the process of docking two ships and I need them to lock together (SAS can make it wobble so turning it off allows the docking port magnetism to just snap everything into place). The only other thing to keep in mind is that if you don't have the extendable solar panels yet, you might need to angle your ship so your panels are facing the sun so you can get a full charge before going to the dark side of whatever body you are orbiting. And I say go for the Duna landing! It is such a rush. Just accept that that first one will likely be a one way trip. If you have the parts to make a rover, strap a bunch of science instruments to that and land that on Duna so you can explore and collect science from multiple biomes. Just make sure to include batteries, solar panels, and an antenna to transmit everything back.

I would definitely go pre-built if the price were comparable. But man, I just checked some pre-builts and there is one about equivalent to the PC I am about to build for about $2600. My grand total after I get my graphic card (assuming I have to buy it full price) will be about $1600. So basically, I completely agree with you.

I've lived in Arizona most of my life and have always been a huge fan of chile relleno. It is probably my favorite Mexican dish. But of all of the dozens of Mexican restaurants I've been to throughout my life, I have never seen two chile relleno dishes served exactly the same way. Which is frustrating because I've eaten a lot of chile relleno and have no idea if I've ever had "true" chile relleno. I've been told that the only way I can ever say I've had true Mexican food is if I go to an authentic restaurant in Mexico because things change ever so slightly when they are brought over here.

We've been watching Star Wars a bunch over the last few months and for whatever reason, we tend to always turn subtitles on. On one of my more recent viewings, I noticed something that hadn't caught my eye or ear before. At the end when everyone is celebrating, George Lucas had added all of those celebration scenes from various planets and in one of the re-re-releases he added a Naboo celebration scene: I couldn't find an image with the actual subtitle and it's not really noticeable without since all the celebration noises garble what they are shouting, but if you watch that scene with subtitles on, the Gungans are apparently shouting "Wesa free!" I've been seeing a lot of lists lately of the worst changes made to the original movies and I can't believe that isn't right near the top.

Wait, is there such a thing as a white man trigger? If there is, I don't mean to downplay it but the thought of it makes me giggle.

I'll be honest, I was so confused by that scene that to this day, I assumed he did it because it was the future and somehow things were futuristic enough that people didn't fall off cliffs any more.