What I’m Playing

What I’ve Been Playing

Lets mix things up a bit here shall we?

Beatstar

So, Beatstar is a mobile rhythm game. Its not new, there have been like 40 some odd seasons of its pass which seem to last around a month or so. So, some 3+ years, at least.

Thats not important, its new to me.

I have made no secret that I enjoy music and rhythm games, and so I have been really enjoying this one. Its a bit different in feel than DDR or Fortnite Festival. There are only 3 lanes, so you can play with your thumbs. You also can’t miss a note, or you fail the song.

Its hard to take screen shots for a rhythm game in action…

I don’t super mind this, except there is a “pay to continue” mechanic that is annoying. I have managed to sprt of train myself to just “tap tap tap” down the countdown timer as soon as I fail. Its almost never worth spending gems to continue with one exception. There are these occasional events where you earn special points for prizes. You only get the points if you actually finish the song, so if you are doing well, and near the end especially, its worth paying the gems. You are basically spending nothing in gems to potentially unlock more tracks. On the scale of spending for songs, its literally the best value possible.

And the game does really try to get you to spend for songs. Its possibly going to be my downfall with this one. I like playing ot, but I am around level 10 (out of 27) and I am increasingly hitting slowdowns and roadblocks on new content.

Basically, I am going to get bored of this and playing the same songs over and over.

I have like 70 songs now, and I did spend a bit of money (one song pack and the current season pass).

You still get a lot of songs for free though just by playing. As you play you unlock cards through various means, collect enough cards in a particular genre and you unlock a song of that genre. The problem is, the more you unlock, the more cards you need. Initially it took like, 5 cards to unlock a box. Now, in some cases, it takes like 40.

The pass seems to work the same way, which is super discouraging for buying anymore passes, because I am not sure I can complete it and unlock all 10 songs. Tier 1 was like 10 Pass Points, I am currently at I think 50 needed.

Anyway, for the game itself I am pretty good, which is to be expected a bit. A lot of my common song fails seem to come from the occasional input lag, especially on swipe notes. And the songs I score low at are ones with a lot of dense notes. Hitting the notes is not the problem, but I find I start to slowly move up in temp during dense clumps, which leads to early hits which breaks the score multiplier combo.

Throne and Liberty

I started a new MMO, and its new to everyone, not just me. Someone I know was playing it. I actually have some potential posts about it written up but I am not sure I want to bother.

A lot of what has drawn me to this one is just how nice the visuals are. Its really nice looking and everything runs incredibly smoothly. It kind of reminds me a bit of Black Desert in that aspect. I have only been vaguely following the storyline, something about some sort of purple energy and an evil lady with a giant evil knight dude.

I am enjoying it so far, though having read into it a bit more it sounds like end game is a bit more PVP focused than I would care for so I am not sure I will go much beyond running through the main storyline and finishing out the base world.

Mirrors Egde

I mostly want to mention this one because its not the first time I tried to play it, and I really really WANT to like this game, but there is just something that keeps me from getting into it.

Super Mario Special

I found out about this game that I never knew existed recently, and decided to play it, via ROM hack. Apparently there was a sprt of, PC version of Super Mario Brothers put out by Hudson Soft in the 80s. It was on various platforms.

Its basically just, SMB with similar but different levels and some new enemies (well, old crab and fly enemies from Mario Bros) and power ups. Turns out the P Wing in Super Mario Brothers 3, was not the first time Mario had flying wings as a power up.

Sky: Children of the Light

I already wrote about the new season. I mostly wanted to mention that I apparently get a fair amount of search traffic related to this game and so I have started gathering some notes to maybe update some of those old guide posts I made a while back.

What I’ve Been Playing – Mobile Edition

Sep 25th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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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.

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.

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.

What I’ve Been Playing – Cruisn’ the USA Edition

Jul 13th, 2024

by Ramen Junkie.

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It’s been a while since I posted about “What I’m Playing”. I’ve done a few specific game posts but no generic ones. Mostly it’s been Overwatch. Because I stopped playing Fortnite and apparently I hate myself because I can’t NOT play a grindy shooter game. I’m probably not going to really talk about Overwatch. I’ve finished the base Ultrawatch Pass already, helped out because I bought the Ultimate pass like a sucker because it had Kaiju skins, but it had 20-level tier skips. I still have titles to try for, which is another 100 levels. I also spent my Mythic Coins on the base Rita Repulsa Ashe skin. I probably won’t bother with the upgrades, and I have a ton of Mythic currency still because I skipped the Evil Mercy.

I have plenty of good Mercy Skins.

I said I wasn’t going to talk Overwatch, yet, here I am.

American Truck Simulator

In an effort to not play so much Overwatch, I’ve gone back to the American Truck Simulator Well. I tried the Elite Dangerous (Space Trucking Simulator) route but I have forgotten all the controls. I’ll get there. Instead, I’ve been actively working to visit every city in all the DLC I have. Also other achievements. I often use this time to watch some TV my wife isn’t interested in as well, or Youtube videos. It’s just generally a very chill game.

I have a LOT of the state DLCs too. I will eventually get them all, but I decided I should actually travel around the ones I have before buying more. What I really want is my own home state of Illinois. And they are getting close. I think Iowa and/or Missouri are next. I can’t see them pushing Illinois after that though. Probably it will be Minnesota or the Dakotas. I actually wouldn’t mind if they took the “American: part more seriously and added Canadian Provinces and Mexico at some point.

I really want Illinoi though. If only to get a feel for just how much it “feels right” to get an idea of how much the rest of the game “would feel right”. All of the states so far are west of the Mississippi river. I’ve been to almost every state East of the Mississippi, and a few West, but none that have been released so far.

I need some context man!

Anyway, I mix between long and short trips depending on my free time. I’ve gotten good enough at parking I almost always take the “hard parking” option for the bonus XP.

I did recently disable traffic fines in the options. I still drive safely, because it’s more enjoyable. But sometimes the red lights are just a little too long and you can’t make right turns on red at all without triggering a fine. Plus I can be a little more floaty with my speed without worrying about a speeding ticket for 2 MPH over. Basically, I still play the “right way”, but I don’t have to stress about it.

Also sometimes, just for fun, I can now just, absolutely blast if at full speed and barrel down the shoulder and blast through cars at the intersection. Which is sometimes fun.

X-Box 360

This is a bit of a blanket category. I’ve been playing a few X-Box 360 games. Off the top of my head, 1942: join Strike, Wing Commander Arena, a few others. I’ve been picking up some titles cheap because the 360 marketplace is closing at the end of the month. Another round of sales drops in a few weeks just before closing. I’m hoping the Saints Row 1 and 2 games go cheap, but I may pick them up anyway.

So far I’ve picked up, but not necessarily played:

Mighty No 9 – Made by the Mega Man creator, though I hear it’s meh
1942: Joint Strike – A lot of neat shooters on the 360 right now for like $1.
Bionic Commando Re:armed – I have this on PC but the platformer seemed good for 360. I want to get the sequel but the store keeps bugging on me.
Frogger Hyper Arcade – Seeing a trend yet, it’s all mostly cheap arcade titles, because i have most everything else on PC.
Wing Commander Arena – An arena based space shooter that is 360 exclusive in a favored franchaise.
Geon – a neat looking puzzle game
Kane and Lynch: Dead Men – I think this one is 360 exclusive maybe, but it was cheap
Star Raiders – Another shooter
Ziet^2 – Another shooter
Yar’s Revenge – An update of the classic Atari title
War World – It looked neat and was cheap
Dogfight 1942 – Another shooter

I still want to get a few more, Saints Row 1 and 2 hopefully. I keep hoping the 360 version of Minecraft goes on sale. I have a wish list of maybes. This also fits nicely in my recent push to update my console set up and use it more as well.