Tuesday, March 20, 2018

What I've been playing . . .

Just to give you an idea of what I've been playing recently (some recorded, some not).  In no particular order.

Lego Batman (Xbox 360)
Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 (Xbox 360)
Voodoo Vince Remastered (Xbox One)
Final Fantasy IX (PS[on my PS3])
Gems of War (Xbox One and PS4)
Skyrim (Xbox 360)
Band of Bugs (Xbox 360)
Back to the Future (Xbox One)
Zombi (Xbox One)

Some of the games pending (which is a polite way to say I need to continue playing them again) are:

Dark Cloud (PS2)
Summoner (PS2)
Psychonauts (PS)
Halo Combat Evolved (Xbox 360 and Xbox One [part of Master Chief Collection])
Dark Souls (Xbox 360)
Rayman Origins (Xbox 360)

And the games that I can't figure out how to record them again:

Final Fantasy X-2 (PS3)
Prototype 2 (PS3)

I started playing the Lego Batman game before I thought about recording it.  I generally play a level as a warm up especially if I haven't played anything in a while.

I'm obsessed with Final Fantasy IX.  I think it's my favorite Final Fantasy game.  I follow the game on Twitch and I'm constantly watching streams of it.  I had to do that because my game disk has an error on it and won't let me get through the first 5 minutes of the game (I think I blogged about that).  So I bought a digital copy through my PS3 so I could play it.  Unfortunately I still can't figure out how to record from my PS3 so I'm just playing it for fun.  I love that game.

I started playing Band of Bugs because I missed playing a tactical RPG game.  I've loved getting back in to this genre even if the game is not that exciting (I'll have a review up once I've finished all the DLC).  There's something about having to plan your move AND your attack that intrigues me.

Back to the Future and Zombi have interesting reasons why I'm playing them.  I'm going to do another blog post about that specifically.  Can you figure out what they have in common?

Skyrim is a very interesting choice for me.  There wasn't any particular reason that I wanted to play that game specifically just that I wanted to play an intense RPG game to scratch a Dungeons & Dragons itch that I have.

Since December I've had a really strong desire/need to learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons.  I bought the Starter Kit, Player's Manual, dice (lots and lots of dice), miniatures and the paint the make them pretty (or at least colorful since I'm just learning how to paint them).  I talked with my brother dain and he said he was interested too.  We even got together and went through the first section of the starter campaign.  Since then, every time I try to get with him to play again, he blows me off.  You want to clean room instead of play D&D with me?  That's like a girl saying "I have to wash my hair" so she doesn't have to go out with you.

Since I wasn't getting my fix in real life I thought I would turn to my digital life to find the equivalent.  I was thinking Elder's Scrolls Online, Neverwinter, Oblivion or Skyrim as good choices.  With Neverwinter or Elder's Scrolls Online I felt like I had to be able to invest several hours of game time to it each time I played.  I wanted something I could pick up for a hour or just 20 minutes.  I've probably got about 10 hours in to Oblivion but I think I would be so lost if I tried to pick up where I had left off.  I wanted to start fresh and new.  So Skyrim it was.  The choice then became: on what system?

I have the original on the Xbox 360 and the remastered on the Xbox One.  I've played about an hour of it previously on the Xbox 360 and had 2 achievements (from 2013).  I could have played the remastered one but then would I be able to go back and play it again on the earlier (uglier) version?  I figured I would start over and play it again on the Xbox 360 and just take my time and enjoy it.  Once I've completed it there I might play again but on the remastered version and record that playthrough to post on YouTube.  At least I'll know what I'm doing and won't be fumbling around so much.

The other games that are pending and I need to play I'm just stuck in or frustrated with.  That's what happens when I play games.  I hit a block and stop playing.  Posting videos to YouTube is suppose to help me keep playing them when I do get blocked.  I think I need to work on that.

For those that I'm recording you can check my progress on my YouTube channel.  For those that I'm not recording you can check my achievement lists to see how I'm doing.  For those that don't have achievements I guess I could start tweeting about my progress.  I need to do more of that too.  You can find me at @PengwennGamer.  Is there any one of those games that you'd like to see me play more than the others?  Let me know in the comments.

2 comments:

Zenra Nukenin said...

Band of Bugs?! I remember that, and I seem to remember enjoying it.

I totally get what you're saying about Dungeons & Dragons. I also bought a lot of the books (both Standard and Advanced, and some pre-made campaigns), figures, paint and lots of polyhedral dice. I painted twenty-ish of the figures, and even had a complex plan to make Kim Stanley Robinson's A Short, Sharp Shock into a campaign... then I never played. For me, this period was in the early 90's (like '91?) because I had enjoyed the Final Fantasy games on the NES.

Speaking of The Elder Scrolls though; once I played Morrowind, I could never play another JRPG.

It's funny that you mention Psychonauts and Halo: CE, because I was thinking about both of them just yesterday.

I was listening to the What's Good Games podcast, and (their guest) Sydney Goodman was praising Halo, which made me nostalgic for it, thinking how I'd like to play Combat Evolved again.
BTW: I loved your video of The Silent Cartographer level, but I think I mentioned that in the video's comment section.

I was thinking of Psychonauts because there was a quip in the game that I thought was hilarious when I played it in 2005, but not so funny when I replayed it last year. For whatever reason, this popped into my head yesterday and I was thinking that I could check your YouTube channel and possibly see the joke again without having to replay the game. Have you played/posted the black velvet matador level?

Pengwenn said...

I'm stuck on the matador bass battle. You have to beat him by using Telekenisis to pull the spears out of your bull and throw to him because your bull gets killed. I never used Telekensis before that so I'm not good at it and can't hit the boss with them. That level is turning out to be the level I hate the most.

I tried playing Morrowind back on the original Xbox but I never paid attention to stealth and kept getting arrested for stealing things. I stopped playing and turned it in. I later rebought it after playing a bit of Oblivion and learned about sneaking. Why did it turn you off to JRPGs?

I play a level on the original Halo game and then play it to record from the Master Chief collection. That way I'm a little familiar with the level and don't look like a complete goof while playing. For the Silent Cartographer I spent too much time between those play throughs that I had a hard time figuring out where to go and what to do. My memory isn't what it use to be. I'm a little stuck in the next level I have to play as once I ditch the tank and go inside I can't figure out what to do.