As if 2016 couldn’t possibly get any worse, after having lost my father back in May, we just had to put our family’s 12-year old Rottweiler to sleep after a 5 month battle with a combination of cancer and a slipped disc. Rest in peace, buddy.
Since then, my girlfriend and I have migrated our belongings and are now sharing the house with my mother. It feels like a family again, which is bittersweet given the circumstances. We have three cats, which now, in turn, have a house to wander around in instead of a studio apartment, so it’s not all bad news. Having them around seems to be helping my mom cope with having her entire world turned upside down in the span of six months. Animals are, indeed, magnificent creatures.
I’ve been fairly busy with the mini-move and I have a few exams this week, but hopefully I’ll find a little time to get some much needed gaming therapy in.
Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on PS4 has been my primary game as of late. I’ll be freelancing a review for it over at The Buttonsmashers, which will hopefully be finished at some point after the weekend. My goal is to start scripting it later today, then editing and recording voice narration over the weekend between exams.
As a fan of the anime I’m having a great time with it. It’s a typical action RPG, presenting nothing admirable aside from its fanservice, but I adore the source material and like how it builds upon that foundation by introducing new characters and fleshing out its existing roster. I’m also thoroughly enjoying the match-making raids against boss monsters as a way to farm XP, loot, and weapon skills. There’s quite a bit wrong with the game, which I’ll go over in greater detail in my review, but I will say that had it not been a Sword Art game I’m not sure I’d still be playing it.
I’m nearing the end of Hollow Realization, so until the DLC comes out I’m going to redirect my focus back to Fire Emblem: Awakening in hopes of finishing that up before Final Fantasy XV releases. I was hoping to get through World of Final Fantasy before FFXV, but SAO:HR presented a worthy distraction.
I haven’t been playing much else, but I did pick up a few digital games during the PSN 10th Anniversary sale. I already have them physically on PS2, but I grabbed Persona 3 FES, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, and both Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga games to have them readily available on my PS3. I also picked up God Hand, since I never got around to picking it up in 2006.
Since my Vita has become a beastly PSone Classics to-go machine, I grabbed Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Wild Arms 2, and Legend of Mana from the sale as well.
Not a bad haul for less than $30! I was tempted to grab Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, Tomba!, and Mega Man Legends 1 & 2, but I’m sure they’ll be on sale again soon. Or at least again before I have any intention of playing them.
Outside of gaming I did manage to read through the first three volumes of Outcast. It’s a slow-forming Exorcist type of story written by Robert Kirkman, whom you may know as the creator of The Walking Dead and the writer behind Marvel Zombies.
The central focus of the story is Kyle, a man dubbed “Outcast” by demons that seemingly inhabit the bodies of those around him. It’s mostly about his internal struggles concerning his power and the events that drove his family apart, as well as his unlikely friendship with the local reverend, who works with Kyle to help out the families of those affected.
On deck is volumes 3-5 of Saga, then I’ll be moving on to the first three volumes of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, volume one of Birthright, and then buckling down to read the first six volumes of Sweet Tooth that I rented from the library a few weeks back.
What about you folks? What are you getting in to this weekend?
Cheap Boss Attack 
For me, tonight I will probably play either fighting games or try to finish Ashes of Ariandel with a friend. Then tomorrow I have a SFV and KOFXIV tournament to attend in Fresno. The rest of my gaming for the weekend will probably be either Watch Dogs 2 or Dishonored 2 focused, as I just got both of those. I may also try to go back to Deus Ex or DBXV2 at some point. As for reading, more catching up on Civil War 2 most likely, maybe a little DC catch up as well, with Nightwing and Hal Jordan. Then Monday, which is still part of my weekend for one more week, I will be participating in most likely my last Salty Mondays stream with TZN Gaming. Last week we played some Super SF2 Turbo and SF3 3rd Strike on a nostalgia kick. Not sure what we will be up to this week. Check that out if you have time and are so inclined.
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Ashes of Ariandel looked like great DLC, particularly the main boss encounter. I watched someone play through it pretty thoroughly and can’t wait to give it a go myself at some point.
I really want Watch Dogs 2. Seems like a fun open-world game and a significant improvement over the original. I really wanted to get in to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but it was just a rental and felt a bit overwhelming. It’s on my wishlist waiting for the $20 range.
Best of luck on your tourny run, dude! Feel free to drop a link to the stream here in the comments!
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Ashes is really cool so far, I haven’t even seen the last boss yet so I am looking forward to that. I have only barely started Watch Dogs 2 so I don’t have much to go on yet in terms of impressions, but it seems improved in a lot of ways over the first already. The hacking has been fleshed out and streamlined quite a bit right off the bat, and the shooting feels a bit better. I haven’t taken any vehicles for a spin yet, but I hear the driving is vastly improved as well.
Thanks for the luck wishes on the tourney, I hope to do decently, lol. As for the stream link, we stream from twitch.tv/TZN_Gaming
We typically go live around 5pm for Salty Mondays, but we may go up earlier this week, I will be tweeting out updates about it on Monday.
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Started on Warriors Orochi 3, god knows why but I’ll see how much fun I get out of it. Finished reading Assassination Classroom, starting on Kingsman with Saga to follow.
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I typically enjoy the mindless musou stuff, but the Orochi spin-off and Empires have always been my least favorites. Hope you enjoy that one a bit more than I did!
I hear good things about Assassination Classroom, so I’ll have to add to my my to-read list. Should be starting volume 3 of Saga here myself in the next day or so.
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Nice purchases. The ending credits song of God Hand is awesome, so you have something cool to look forward to.
I recently watched the Deadpool movie and loved it so I bought the video game at a discount. Will probably play that this weekend.
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I loved the Deadpool film but found the game’s humor to be a bit forced. Not sure why they felt so different, but I just could not get in to the game at all.
Let me know what you think once you get around to it.
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Power Dolls and probably more Power Dolls.
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What the hell is with this year? It seems to suck on both a personal and universal level for everyone. I saw some of your later tweets about your Rottie and how your cats now have the run of the house. I’m sure the kitties are rejoicing, but that’s too high of a cost. My thoughts are with you ;_;
Gaming therapy seems like a great choice. I’m going to continue playing WOFF, which I’m really excited to jump back into. I’m trying to find the rest of the Mirages in the Nether Nebula and the Watchlands. I’ve actually had to store some of the ones I had since I ran out of room. I really want to get Shiva since she’s the one I beat in the NN, but she’s not available at the coliseum yet and the moogles riding chocobos totally handed me my ass the first time I fought them so I need to level up. I also want to find enough of those Arma gems to do something with the Girl Who Forgot Her Name. So many sidequests!
I may also crack open Dawn of Souls this weekend. I still have the GBA version of FFIV in my DS. but I haven’t played much this week. And I’m still plugging away at the FFIV review. Over 10k words. God, I need to shut up :p
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Thanks =). It’s definitely hard for all of us here and it’s been an incredibly shitty six months.
I was hoping to get back to WoFF before FFXV but I don’t think that’s doable. I hear WoFF is fairly lighthearted and not too grind intensive, so I may go ahead and juggle both at the same time. Wouldn’t be the first (or last) time I’ve juggled two RPGs lol.
That’s going to be one beefy review of FFIV! Looking forward to it! I even dusted off my PSP just in case reading it gives me the urge to replay it again, haha. We’re all bad influences on each other.
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Here’s hoping 2017 is better at least on individual level. I feel like we’re slowly watching the world slip into an abyss, but as long as there are good games, books, and movies for distraction, we can endure.
Nope! Not too grind heavy from what I can see. I’ve been trying to collect all of the Mirages, which is the only grinding I’ve really been doing, because you have to find the ones you don’t have, but you might be able to juggle it. I’m playing Dawn of Souls now on my GBA in addition to running through FFIV on there.
The review is done! I just need to edit it. It’s currently at 15k words, but that might be lessened once I edit it. I should have it up for Final Fantasy Friday hehe, especially since this is a holiday weekend (thank God).
Best kind of bad influences!
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I’m sorry this year has been so rough for you, and your family. Hope it gets better soon.
This will be another weekend I don’t get much game time in. I haven’t gotten much all week which is why I don’t have an article up this week. I spent my free time trying to get most of the holiday shopping out of the way. Really don’t like crowds.
If I get any time this weekend I’ll try to get in some time with Gyruss, since my cartridge finally came in the mail last night. That’s a great game on any platform so if anyone hasn’t played it, check it out.
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Yeah, it certainly hasn’t been easy. Thanks dude! I don’t like crowds either, so I try to do as much shopping online near the holidays.
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My Rottie just turned 11 this month, so am very sorry for your loss : ( Such an intelligent and wonderful breed. He is mixed with something (blond roots) and found him on the streets when he was just 16lbs. Anyways so sorry for your loss.
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Thank you =). You did a great thing taking care of him!
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My cat died at 18 years old. My other cat died at 13, and my dog died at 4. I don’t have any pets right now. After my cat died I told myself I wouldn’t get another cat, but I’ve been feeding a stray cat that comes by my house every few days and she’s taken a liking to me too. Pets are family too dude and it hurts when they leave. Especially if you’ve had them for a long time. I can’t imagine what your mother is going through this year so I won’t pretend to, but I hope it gets better for all of you.
As far as gaming goes I just finished Rise of The Tomb Raider about an hour ago and it was fantastic. Story was a little weak when compared to the rest of the game, but I still enjoyed it. I’m moving on to Monster Hunter, but I doubt I’ll be playing anything once my Pokemon game gets here in a few days. It’s a hard wait.
Warriors Orochi, and Empires are awesome games by the way. I love some Dynasty Warriors. Can’t wait for the next installment too.
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Animals are definitely family. It’s always hard. I lost my cat the day after Thanksgiving in 2008, and then the day after Thanksgiving in 2012 a little kitten showed up at my doorstep freezing and hungry. I let her in, fed her, and we ended up keeping her after a vet trip and getting her fixed. Just odd that the same day I lost a cat years prior, I gained a new one and it gets along with both of my other cats just fine. I’m still not over the cat’s death though. It’s tough. This was the first time I had to witness an animal get put to sleep and man it was tragic. All I can do is be there for my mother, and my three cats have been spending a lot of time with her which is helping her cope.
I really loved playing Rise of the Tomb Raider. I think it’s one of the best action games I’ve ever played. I just wish the recent TR games had better characters and writing. The world and level design is incredible, I just couldn’t care less about Lara’s character, her friends, or the ridiculous story. And I think that’s where Uncharted excels.
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When my cats died it felt like losing a family member. When you have a pet for as long as I had my cats you bond with them. And losing them hurts like losing a person.
On a side note I hope you get into Dark Souls 3 soon. I can’t wait to see what you think of that game :). And it’s not as hard as previous games in my opinion.
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I’m looking to get in to Bloodborne or DS3 during winter break. Was aiming more for Bloodborne, since I grabbed The Old Hunters DLC during the PSN sale, but who knows. One or the other for sure.
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I’ve, sadly, never played Bloodborne so let me know if you like it when/if you ever get to it.
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Oh I love it. I rented it and played it a bunch before returning it, I’ve just yet to finish the campaign. It’s incredible. Gothic architecture, H.P. Lovecraft enemy designs, massive labyrinthine world… it’s a brilliant game.
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You’re making me regret not having a console. I’ll most likely have a PS4 Pro by the end of next year. I want Bloodborne, Nioh, Horizon, and some other games that I’ve seen. I’m just waiting to see if NIoh will go to PC and for some more titles that I want to be released before I commit.
That… and the Switch appeals to me more at the moment.
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