Video Games

What I’ve Been Playing – Mobile Edition

One day I will get some sort of actual cadence going on these. I promise 🤞. Anyway, For whatever reason, I kind of dipped in and out of a few mobile card games recently. I came to a universal conclusion, I really don’t care for mobile card games.

Pokemon TCG Live

I don’t know what the actual name for this is, I think it’s rebranded a few times too. I came across some codes for this game that were unredeemed so I loaded it up. After playing the tutorial and playing a few rounds and trying to spiffy up my deck so it wasn’t so shitty, I uninstalled it.

Of the card games I have been playing, I wanted to like this one the most. And I hated it, the most.

I am sorry Pikachu, I tried, I wanted this to be a go-to game. I really love Pokemon in general, as a sort of underlying always there enjoyment. But I hate playing against human opponents and you have to proper vs AI mode.

Magic The Gathering

Like Pokemon, I had some codes to redeem. On Prime Day, I bought an actual set of M:tG cards in a two player starter set. It came with digital versions of both decks.

I enjoyed playing this one probably the most. Especially because it has a way to play vs AI, which I prefer. It’s not souch I dislike playing against people, it’s that I have no desire to play against people who are making out perfect strategies while I am just here being my casual ass self. Like in Pokemon, I had a game where every round my opponent was throwing out like 10+ cards and there was all this in and out of the discord pile and damage counters flying everywhere and I could not even manage to draw any damn energy.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I actually used to vaguely play Magic like, 20 years ago. I thought I hady cards still but a coworker and I were talking about it and I went to find my cards and they don’t seem to be there anymore. I want to say a lot of them were from an early set, maybe even the original sets. Frozen Realms or Forgotten Realms or something. It was “Ice themed”.

Hearthstone

I have tried a few times to get into Hearthstone. I like the multiple minions aspect like Magic has, but I am not sure I like the hero aspects of the way energy/land/resources works.

Part of why I have been playing this one lately is that my Google Play Pass subscription includes a $5 off coupon all the time, so I have been building up a ton of “free currency”. (Roblox has the same thing, and sometimes PokemonGo).

Pokemon Go

I have finally made it to Level 40 in Pokemon Go. This was the original highest level. There is a bunch of task based stuff that is needed to get to level 50, the current highest, but at this point it’s all “end game” style play.

I am kind of considering stopping again. The experience needs feel huge and like most games, I have never been super into End Game Min/Maxing. I kind of got into that for a bit in World of Warcraft ages ago, around Pandaria, but they kicked it all up and I stopped caring.

Anyway, Pokemon Go recently added this Dynamax gimmick, which I guess is from one of the game I never really played. It seemed like a cool idea, you actually fight to capture Pokemon, but it’s not quite a raid, but then battles are stupidly boring. Plus to actually get anywhere on the Dynamax mechanics you need like a zillion candies.

Hard pass.

It seemed cool, it just… Too tedious.

Also, stop spawning Kanto Pokemon damnit. I need Sinnoh Pokemon fory research task.

Sky: CotL

There are like, 3 “events” happening at the moment, and it feels like 2 at any given time. I kind of like that the game is trying to be a bit more actually interactive. For a long while it was just starting to get dull and repetitious. I may or may not have allegedly been using tools to assist with that tedium, but have since stopped because many people were … having “issues” with it.

I never had any “issues” but I figured it’s better to stop while I was ahead and I was at least caught up on a bunch of traveling spirits.

I picked a heck of a time to stop though, one of the current events is the return of the Shattering Season spirits, and they need like 800 candles to finish out. I have decided to accept that I don’t need everything.

There has also been a new event centered around Riddles and the Moon. Usually these are based around holidays, but I am not sure what holiday this one is for. It’s a neat sort of event where you can leave and answer riddles, but it’s not great since, the riddle lanterns never seem to refresh each day, and half of them are not in a language I can read (well enough).

The last event is the regular seasonal event, the Season of Duets. I’ve finished that one off. I have seen a fair amount of people saying the season was lame but I don’t see it. It had several instruments and the music mini game feels like kind of a core part of Sky.

Fortnite Festival

Speaking of music, I have been playing a lot of Fortnite Festival still. The Rhythm game mode that is the spiritual sequel to Guitar Hero/Rock Band. I have backed off on it some since I finished the pass and I don’t super care about the bonus styles for the Keytar.

Fortnite Festival

Aug 29th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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I kind of really rejected Fortnite Festival, the music mode, when it was launched last year. Which feels kind of surprising because I really like Rhythm games and am a huge DDR fan. I never was super into Rock Band though, and Fortnite Festival.is basically the latest iteration of Rock and, it’s just, built into Fortnite. Harmonix, makers of Rock Band, was bought by Epic and folded in to create this game mode.

Anyway, I have decided to give it another try lately and it’s not that bad. It’s not DDR, but it sort of scratches that itch. It doesn’t replace it and I still want to get my dance pad set up again, but maybe Fortnite Festival can spur that along. I know Rock Band is arguably more popular than DDR, but DDR will always be my baseline for rhythm games.

I think a lot of my hang-ups with Festival stem from that baseline too. I really dislike the downward fall of the notes vs the upward push. I hate that there are not arrows, though not too terribly. I have been using the same arrows based key binds I used to use when I did Stepmania on the keyboard, as in using the left, down, up, right, arrow keys, in that order. Even though every lane has a little bar in it, I still have muscle memory of which key is which lane.

Though this throws me way off on expert level songs, which are 5 lanes. Frankly, even if I were a Rock Band pro this would be frustrating, it’s literally like playing an entirely different game. Which is made worse because in theory, working up through difficulty trains you on how to hit note of increasingly more complicated patterns. Adding another lane is like moving from DDR to Pump It Up (which uses diagonal arrows and the center), and expecting to be an instant expert.

Another “it’s not DDR” annoyance, the songs are soooooo long. Most DDR tracks are like, 2 minutes, tops. Probably partly because DDR is a very physical game. Yeah, you can play it with a controller or keyboard, but if you are playing it the proper way, you’re standing and moving. Even if you use instrument controls in Fortnite Festival, you aren’t moving that much. It uses a lot of popular music and it’s always the full track, so some songs can be 5-6 minutes long. Which really starts to drag on a bit when pushing these sometimes repetitive note sequences in.

I also really dislike that there doesn’t seem to be anyway to adjust the fall speed of the notes. Some of them move way too fast and I would much rather slow them down into a bunch so I can pre-read them, or speed them up entirely so it becomes entirely single note reactions. This isn’t help that all the notes are the exact same color. In DDR, half steps, quarter steps, etc, all had slight different colorings, which made them easier to read.

This feels like it’s just turned into a bit of a random about why I never liked Rock Band. DDR is so full of perfect visual queues, and everything here is just so, flat and identical.

Like, as an example, there is this Billie Eilish track, and the notes are very clearly this sort of back and forth between two notes, and a third that is a regular rhythm. Like left, up, left right, left, up, left, right. It would be a fun pattern in DDR. But in this game, because everything is so samey visually, my brain can’t quite process the changes fast enough. Eventually I could probably memorize it, but I really hate playing rhythm games based on memorization. I want to play based on learning skills and techniques so when I recognize a pattern even in a new song I can get it.

Another one in that same song I think, I am pretty sure it’s a standard “front/back/front back” step pattern from DDR, but once again, it’s all visually identical so it just clutters up.

Or maybe I am just out of practice.

Whatever the case, I am really enjoying the mode.

Rocket Racing is still lame though, and I will stand by that forever. The tracks are boring, the cats are boring, everything in it is just, “like other racing games but way worse.”. They should have just stuffed Rocket Racing into Rocket League and it may have helped make RL actually worth playing.

What I’ve Been Playing – Celeste Edition

Aug 25th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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Been a bit busy lately with other games actually. Part of it is that the Overwatch season ended, and I got frustrated with it again, almost immediately, so I blew some Mythic Currency on the Anubis Reaper then uninstalled and moved on.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Apparently over seas, this name.was used a lot, but for this moment, I am referring to the US version, I think maybe also called “Final Fantasy US” in some regions. I have had a vague urge to replay this game for a while off and on, and I finally just started doing it. I am up to the second world, I want to say there are 4 worlds and an end zone, it’s not a super long game.

It has a pretty rocking soundtrack too.

Fortnite

The new Marvel season dropped. I am not really pushing myself on this one and I have not even bought the pass, but will once I get closer to level 100+.

I am also doing all Bot matches like I used to do. It’s a lot more enjoyable that way. The new Marvel weapons are pretty neat, but the War Machine auto turret and Captain America Shield are both broken as fuck and seriously overpowered.

There was also a nice little music event for someone named Karol G. It really reminded me of the old ones they used to do when it felt like they gave a shit about these events.

Celeste

The “big one” as far as time spent. I have been meaning to play this game for a while and finally did.

And I finished it.

It was frustrating a bit because personally, I found the controls to be slightly less responsive and a bit more floaty than I would like, but it was fun and difficult in an “I can tell I am improving” way and not a “Ha ha cheap shots all around” way.

The story is 🤌 very nice as well. I have like 200 screenshots of just snarky dialogue options. So good. A nice little morality tale about dealing with self-doubt etc. All buried in this rather brutal platform game.

Alan Wake Remaster

I bought Alan Wake 2 back around the holidays because it was like half price and included the original remaster and some Fortnite skins. It was a super deal.

But I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the first game, which I have previously completed. So I am replaying it with the remaster. I know it’s a different sort of game, but after loving Control, I am really looking forward to AW2.

It’s surprisingly kind of tough, even on easy mode. I actually also may be stuck where I am at the moment because I am limited to flash-bang weapons only, and I kind of used up a lot of them taking a detour that went nowhere.

Fortnite Mobile

Aug 19th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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I’ve shifted back to Fortnite from Overwatch, Maybe. Probably. Anyway, the newest Fortnite Season is a pretty sweet Marvel themed season with a Marvel BP, which is way more exciting than the upcoming Overwatch BP, which is, kind of hodge-podgey, sort of Ancient Egypt?

Also, no Venture Skin for like 3 more seasons. What the fuck Blizzard?

AnywayI’m not really here to discuss Overwatch or the Marvel season of Fortnite. What also dropped this season is the return of Fortnite Mobile. Currently available in the EU on iPhones and on Android Phones anywhere, through the Epic Launcher. This is key, because you have to go get the Epic Launcher from Epic’s website separate from the Play Store.

The question is, is it worth while to do so?

Frankly, probably not. I will say, I did not play a regular BR match at all. I played a few creative maps to test things out and to get the 100,000 experience needed to complete a few quests for items. I started on one I’ve been using as filler on PC for the daily creative XP, Rainbow Run, which is simply, running in a straight line, collecting coins.

I moved on from here to a regular Deathrun map. I have played a ton of Deathruns on PC, and they are definitely my favorite type of custom games. I will say, I managed to finish the 200 level Deathrun I picked. It was definitely one of the easier DR maps I have played, and didn’t have a lot of the more tricky jumps and traps I’ve encountered across a myriad of maps. But they do require some precision in jumping and moving. I also died way more than I normally do on these, something like 60 times in the 200 level map. For comparison, I usually die like 5 times max, even on maps I have never played, and I am pretty sure I have finished this exact same map on PC in like 20 minutes or less with 0 deaths.

I needed a bit more experience for my 100k after finishing this one and moved on to another Dr map. Pretty much the same experience.

Overall though, it kind of felt pretty weird and janky. Framerates and graphics were fine. The controls left something to be desired, and I wasn’t even trying to shoot anything while moving. I had a lot of deaths because there is a sort of, autorun that seems to randomly trigger, and I would run off the edge into a spiked pit a lot.

I also had an issue where I would randomly open the “ping” menu near the controls, which would interrupt other inputs.

It’s less critical, but the quests menu is opened by clicking the mini map, which wasn’t present on one of the map I played, making the menu inaccessible.

It’s also just weird. I’m not a huge fan of 3rd person or FPS games on mobile at all. I can’t see ever using this again unless they offer more drops, or there is a skin I want to log in and get when I otherwise can’t do.

What I’ve Been Playing – Boring Gamer Edition

Aug 3rd, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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I wish it were more exciting this week, but it’s kind of more of the same. I’m admittedly in a bit of a rut in my gaming lately.

Overwatch

I almost wasn’t playing this anymore, again. It’s starting to reach a point where it’s more frustrating than fun again. Last weekend had a trial round for the upcoming new hero Juno (maybe it was two weekends ago?). Juno seems, a little lame honestly. She is a healer, but it kind of feels like an “easy mode” style healer. She doesn’t need to toggle between healing and damage, so you can just “shoot shoot shoot” But she seems really really weak. Like, her health is too low and her output for damage is super low. I didn’t get any real matches with her though aside from a few No Limits matches, which were almost exclusively 6v6 Juno, because everyone wants to try Juno.

This D.Va has nothing to do with anything, I just didn’t have any other non scoreboard screen shots from recent games.

The real tragedy of Juno’s release will be poor Venture. Venture was the last hero released, an they are a lot of fun to play and I just, generally enjoy them as a character. Juno falls into the same “cute Asian girl” category like D.Va and Kiriko which will make her extremely popular, instantly. Venture is a non binary person in a giant coat who eats dirt and rocks for fun. The point here is, I want more and better skins for Venture, who basically has nothing outside of a few recolors. Juno will probably get like 5 legendary skins right out the gate, because, she will be real popular for that.

Juno aside, I’ve long since finished this round’s base level battle pass. It was all Tokusatsu themed with a mix of Kaiju and Karate Bugman style skins, several for heroes I didn’t have any good skins for (Mauga, Soujorn) which was nice as well. All that is left is the Player Titles, which aren’t anything to cry over if I don’t get them, but the level 200 “Final Boss” title is kind of neat.

Sky: Children of the Light

It feels like the folks at ThatGameCompany has realized they have a popular game, but it needs more variety of activities to keep people interested. We had the Season of Nesting adding player housing, Now we have the Season of Duets with emphasis on the music aspects. I am a bit disappointed, not with Sky, but because I backed a Kickstarter recently for a little bluetooth keyboard deal that is supposed to be Sky compatible. That isn’t the only reason I wanted it, but it was one of them and it hasn’t come in yet. I mean, it hasn’t been very long, so I shouldn’t really be impatient, but it would have been cool to have for the music season of the game.

But also, right now there is an Olympics themed “Days of” style event. I’m not sure the official name. Each player was randomly assigned to one of 4 teams for 4 of the realms, Prairie, Forest, Wasteland, and Valley. Players can do a pair of mini games each day and compete with each other team for points. I don’t think there is an overall prize of any kind, but each day the highest point scoring team wins medals.

I ended up on the Forest Team. Which is fun because well, Forest is dominating the standings. They have won both Gold Medals every day so far. I almost feel bad. Especially because I am super bad at the daily games, i always come in last. It’s still a nice change of pace from the usual Days of Events where you just, go to an area and pick up 4 event currencies. It’s kind of nice to have to actually DO something.

Doom 3

I did branch out slightly, with Doom 3. I played through Quake II recently and have kind of been wanting to play something similar to that. The Doom series kind of felt like a logical place to move to, being the sort of, precursor series to Quake. I have never played Doom 3 so I decided to give it a go.

I’m… not really enjoying it. I’m really not into “Zombie games” and Doom 3 seems to very much be a zombie game. Also, everything is so fucking dark. God it’s so dark, why is it so dark? There is a flashlight, but it has a battery mechanic, which mostly feels meaningless since you can just, turn ti back on. It’s not like you have to find energy cells. It’s like someone realized it was all too dar, and instead of beefing up the lighting, they just added a shitty flashlight.

I played it, I’m not sure I’ll go back to it. Also, these models are kind of ugly.

American Truck Simulator

I’m almost caught up on my mission to visit every city for the DLC that I own. I’ve also started working on some of the other achievements in the game. A while back I started obsessing a bit with 100% completing achievements, and I could definitely see doing that for ATS over time. I’ve been playing it while watching through Star Trek Lower Decks. It’s a good sort of game for that, since it doesn’t require a lot of attention at times. Though sometimes I definitely don’t give it enough attention because I’ve gotten into more than a few accidents because I forgot to watch the traffic.

Something something don’t stream and drive people! Unless it’s a virtual truck, then it really doesn’t matter.