I’m tending to a sick cat while cramming in a major art essay that’s due tomorrow, so let’s just jump right in to it, shall we? What are you folks up to this weekend?
Although I have my eye on Horizon: Zero Dawn, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, all of which I’m eager to play through, I’m waiting until I have time to give them their due attention. I also cancelled my Nintendo Switch pre-order and I’d rather wait to play Breath of the Wild over there, instead of on Wii U.
If my Twitter feed this morning is anything to go by, I’m certainly glad I waited.
Many people, including prominent games media staff (example 1, example 2), are reporting issues with the left Joy-Con unsynching at random intervals, along with the Joy-Con clips becoming worn down rather quickly (due to repeated sliding on and off), which causes latching issues. Others are uploading images of their Switch’s screen obtaining scratches just from simply docking and un-docking it to play at home and on the go–which is the entire selling point of the console.
Other issues include console damage due to the adhesive from third-party skins, the region-free eShop not taking American credit cards to pay for products in other regions, and locking microSD cards purchased to expand user storage to the unit in which it was used first (unless you delete your Switch user data from the card itself).
That’s a shame, really. Hopefully Nintendo addresses the issues sooner rather than later.
Between one of my cats getting hurt, my truck being in and out of the shop, and juggling the everyday stresses of life alongside a full load of college classes, I just can’t focus on anything with a story right now. So most likely I’ll spend what little free time I have this weekend chipping away at Neverwinter on PS4.
As it stands, my Teifling Control Wizard is level 61 of 70 and she’s finishing up the last of the quests in the final core zone of the Underdark. I’m excited to check out the expansion zones afterwards, since they released on Xbox One immediately after I stopped playing over there.
I did manage to finish The Bunker on PS4 earlier this week, which was… okay. It’s a horror adventure game where everything is FMV (think live-action cut-scenes instead of 3D rendering). You play as John, the only survivor living deep in an underground bunker. Nuclear warfare has left the world above uninhabitable for the next 20-30 years, and throughout the course of the game you learn why you’re the sole survivor, though it’s fairly anticlimactic.
It’s an interesting concept, but even by point-and-click adventure standards there’s just not a lot to do. It does the absolute minimum, both in terms of interactivity and puzzles, and the cash out at the end (both of them) are abrupt and uneventful.
Outside of playing games, I’m sure I’ll stay up to date on Christopher Odd’s playthrough of Nioh on PS4 and Hungry Goriya’s runthrough of Ys on Sega Master System.
What about you folks? What are you getting in to this weekend?
Cheap Boss Attack 
Hmmmm…think I’ll venture back to Lunar Silver Star Story and some Yoshi’s Woolly World.
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Yoshi’s Woolly World is still on my short list of Wii U backlog games, along with both Zelda remasters, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (and Eternal Blue) is one of my favorites from the PSX era. I never got around to the original release.
Have fun!
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Played some of the PVP mode, Last Stand, in The Division. It’s probably the best PVP has been in the game since it is a dedicated mode and has some balancing. I really want to do a long run with Horizon since I haven’t even booted the game yet. The fact that I have obligations for work this weekend does not favor me playing games at all.
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Glad to hear you’re enjoying The Division still, despite its ups and downs. What are your thoughts on the recent Destiny 2 news, where Bungie is seemingly abandoning their “10 year plan” and starting characters from scratch? I’m fine with it, really, but you’ve invested far more time in the game than I have. I *am* looking forward to Destiny 2 though.
I’m in the same boat with Horizon. I want to play it pretty badly, but I don’t want to spread it out over multiple 30-minute sessions. I want a week or so where I can put in multiple hours per day.
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Bungie hasn’t been clear about much yet and I don’t expect them too at this point. I’m keeping an open mind about Destiny 2 but I can’t see myself investing into it like I did the original. The storytelling.is still a sad mess and needs to be greatly improved.
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Hopefully that’s something they improve on. Well, that and a steady flow of new content to avoid such long gaps of having nothing to do. Raid matchmaking would be fucking nice too, since it’s 2017.
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I attempted some more FFX but given I had about three hours sleep last night that went about as well as expected. Might try again later once I’ve had some sleep.
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Unless it’s a mindless grinding session, RPGs are the absolute worst to play on little sleep lol. Better luck next time!
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Yeah, bad judgement calls abound and KO’s are frequent. It kind of just makes the whole thing pointless and eventually giving up is all you can do until you can think again.
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For me lots and lots of Zelda, maybe with a side of Zelda
Hope your cat gets better
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Thanks Imtiaz! Enjoy Breath of the Wild!
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Aw! I’m sorry to hear about your cat :( I hope your little one feels better soon.
It is always smart to wait when new consoles launch! That being said, I’m not smart when it come to Nintendo things. I haven’t had any issues with my Switch yet (I got a screen protector because I feared scratching while docking), and I’m loving how the joy cons feel. I’m trying to juggle Horizon and Zelda at once, and I’m hilariously confused since the control schemes for both games are kind of the opposite. Aloy and Link have fallen to their deaths several times because I keep hitting the wrong jump button, haha. I’m having loads of fun with both games though :)
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I usually don’t buy consoles at launch, with the last being the original Xbox. I waited a month for my Xbox One and grabbed a PS4 a few months later. I think I waited 6-8 months for my Wii U, a year for my 3DS, and just got my Vita a little over a year ago. I don’t *mind* waiting, but I love Nintendo. I just don’t have the time to warrant the investment right now. Soon though!
Thanks for the kitty well wishes! I’m glad to ear (and see via Twitter) that you’re enjoying Horizon so much!
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Sorry to hear about your pet. Hope he heals up okay.
I’ll be playing the new Zelda on my Wii U, and drinking some Back To The Future themed craft beer. So far it’s lived up to the hype. I haven’t done any main quests, there is just so much you can find wandering around, and exploring. I’ve only had a couple of hours in, but I can already tell this is going to appeal to more than the hardcore Zelda fan. There are a lot of sandbox cues here. I may also get some time in with R6Siege, Overwatch, and Chivalry if enough area friends tear me away from Zelda. Other than gaming, I have some errands to run, and I’m sure I’ll catch up on some other stuff.
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I’m sure she’ll be fine if we can keep her from diving off the couch or zooming like the Flash up and down the hallway, haha.
How are you finding Zelda on Wii U from a technical standpoint? I watched someone play the Switch version for about an hour (spoiler-free open world wandering) and they kept saying the framerate felt inconsistent and chuggy and found it distracting.
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I’ve seen Switch footage, Honestly it isn’t that far off on Wii U. The first major area sometimes suffers from frame drops. But not that much worse than in the Switch footage. In both versions supposedly the first area is the only area that this happens in regularly. The textures are a lower quality. Again, not too much lower but you can notice it. The Wii U version also has a tad bit of pop in, as it takes longer for the textures to load from the disc into memory. It might be a little bit less of an issue if you were to buy the game as a digital download. Really the Wii U’s most noticeable hurdles are the pop in, and load times. Other than that I can’t complain too much, and in the grand scheme of things they’re almost nit picks.
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Yeah, pop in can be distracting enough to pull me out of an experience, but something like sharper textures and marginally better load times aren’t defining features. Seems like folks opting for the Wii U version will be just fine!
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I agree with waiting for the Switch, but I looked at the pic of the person that damaged their Switch and I don’t think it’s a widespread issue. You would have to be pretty rough with your console to damage it like that just by taking it out of the dock.
I started playing For Honor again today since Ubisoft seems to have fixed their shitty servers. I’m also working on my second ESO character. I have a Orc mage that I use when I don’t feel like playing as my Dragon Knight.
I do want to get back into The Division at some point, but not for the new expansion. I don’t like the pvp in The Division and having the final year 1 DLC be about pvp doesn’t appeal to me or my wife. I would prefer more pve content because all we have right now is the Underground and that got old months ago.
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That’s kind of what happened with Destiny; they either released PVP or PVE content, which only appeals to one crowd or the other. Those long waits during the PVP content updates were agonizing.
I’ve been playing Neverwinter more than ESO lately since I’ve only had 30-45 minutes and I like paying attention to the ESO lore and quests. NW I’ve already leveled through three times, so I’m just mindlessly slogging through the quest chains. Can’t wait to get back to ESO though.
I’ve seen two people on Twitter talk about scratching their screen just from basic docking, not necessarily jamming it in there. Seems like the docks are a little snug, but that issue seems to be the least reported.
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ESO isn’t a game you can play for 30 minutes and quit. Some times a single quest can take up to an hour to finish in that game.
It sucks that those two people scratched their Switch on day 1, but at least it’s not on the screen :). I just want to use the Switch like my 3DS. Don’t really care about using it on TV.
It’s hard to be a Division fan right now. The lack of pve content is pushing a good chunk of the playerbase away. The last 2 DLCs has been about pvp.
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It definitely isn’t, haha.
The Switch scratches would drive me nuts, since I hate defects on my consoles and handhelds, even though the scratches aren’t on the display itself. Still a weird design flaw.
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This is one of the reasons I usually wait on new consoles. There’s always some issue that needs to be worked out, though I will say that some of the happier pictures of Merry Switchmas were quite heartwarming lol.
I hope kitty gets better soon :( The one Twitter picture was adorable and sad. Poor baby.
Yeah, I don’t blame you for not delving into anything too convoluted right now. I just woke up from a four hour, er, nap. It’s now 1 in the morning. Thank God today it’s Saturday and the only thing I have to do is go to brunch with my brother at noon.
I want to start FFV this weekend, since I keep talking about it. I need to do some level grinding in WOFF in order to beat an optional boss and level up the new Mirages I obtained. My husband just bought and downloaded the Mass Effect Trilogy (thanks to your PSN recommendations that I passed on), and he was talking about replacing the laser in the PS3 since I’ve been toying with the idea of buying another one. I still might so I have one of my own, but I’d kind of rather either save or spend my money on another console, since I still need a Vita and 2 or 3DS.
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Fixing the laser certainly seems like the cheaper option, especially if you’re still interested in grabbing a Wii U, Vita, or 2/3DS. I understand wanting your own console though. My GF and I eventually caved and bought a 2nd Xbox so we could play Diablo, Halo, Neverwinter, ESO, and Destiny with our online friends… though we no longer do that since we grew bored of the games, our friends had games we didn’t, and none of us wanted to keep paying for Xbox Live just to play together one day a week lol.
Thanks for the well wishes! She should be okay if we can keep her from running and jumping off of EVERYTHING in the house. Fingers crossed.
Enjoy brunch!
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Ah I have to add the Wii U to my list! I may have an in on that one though. An old friend told me she’s never even touched hers, and she seems okay on giving it away. I had another friend offer to give me his in exchange for my Game Cube (which still works). Right now I think we’re going to go with fixing the laser. I don’t want to spend our tax return frivolously, and I have a LOT of bills I could be paying. Ugh adulthood. Who needs it?
Cats usually land on their feet and are pretty springy! She must’ve jumped/fallen from a pretty serious height.
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Wii U is definitely a worthy console to have around if you’re in to Nintendo’s games. There’s even a few odds and ends outside of those worth checking out. Fixing the PS3 laser seems like the best option right now, for sure.
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I think you’re the one who told me Xenosaga is only on that system! It’s similar to Bravely Default and the 3DS. I have no problem buying a system for one game like I did with the PlayStation (FFVII) and the PSP (FFVII: Crisis Core). It seems fitting that it be Squeenix games that get me to buy a whole system :p
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RPG-wise, the Wii U only has Xenoblade Chronicles X and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Those, along with both Zelda remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, should have you set for quite some time!
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I’d love to play Torment too, but the time commitment is huge for any game of that style. Maybe later in the year.
Not meaning to sound like a broken record, but I’m playing Nioh. Still. 40 hours so far…
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Yeah, I never got around to finishing Wasteland 2 or Divinity because they were so fucking long.
I’m just waiting for Best Buy to offer Nioh at a discount so I can snag it with my gift card!
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I planned on waiting for a discount, but I think I’ve got my money’s worth out of it, even at full price. Good on you for having more willpower than me though!
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I’ve been holding true to my new year’s resolution so far, haha. No new games at launch, and only buying games that are on deep discounts has been incredibly tough as someone who wants to play new and exciting things. But that’s going out the window for Persona 5 and most likely Mass Effect. Almost caved for Horizon and nearly picked up Zelda on Wii U instead of waiting, but I really want the Zelda experience on the Switch instead.
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Willpower update: I just found the special edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at a low-population Wal-mart and brought it home with me. So much for resolutions, huh?
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I noticed on Twitter! Have you bought a Switch to go with it yet? ;)
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Noooooope, haha. This was definitely an impulse purchase. If I see a neon Switch out in the wild though, I’ll buy it. But only if it’s the ugly neon one.
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I refused to start exploring Hyrule until finishing FFX and I finally did it – at 10pm last night. So I didn’t get to starting my ‘planned’ weekend game session till then, which is Breath of the Wild. I’m also playing Doom 2016 when I need a break for some bloody insanity, and occasionally trying to remember to eat. In terms of pure gaming time, this is going to be a weekend for the record books.
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Haha, well don’t forget to take care of yourself! Doom was excellent. Loved the campaign, the visceral and fluid combat, the soundtrack, the level design, and how deviously smart the monster AI was. Congrats on toppling FFX and enjoy Zelda!
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Finishing Witcher 3 so I can get to Zelda. Bad timing by me…
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Yeah, I had to muscle through Dragon Age: Inquisition and all three of its DLC packs, haha. Oops?
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I’m hoping your kitty is healing up nicely. She is truly a sweet, adorable ball of fur and needs to return to her regular exploratory behaviour as soon as possible.
I can relate to not wanting to play things with a story when you’re immersed in school. I made the mistake of starting FFXII in grad school and didn’t get anything done for two weeks straight. Best to stick to things that have an “end point” of sorts that’s attainable on a regular basis! I hope you are enjoying Neverwinter. It certainly sounds like you are :)
I hope you enjoy the Ys playthrough. I’m still working on getting some videos edited between my day job, trying to write stuff for the games I’ve found lately and trying to stream a little more regularly. I should be able to get about 1-2 videos out each week week, so I apologize in advance if it’s a bit slow on my end.
For this weekend, I started up Phantasy Star last night and had a great time of it. Knowing me, I’ll start recording my LP for that game soon as well! I’m hoping to stream more of it this evening if I can get some of my work done this afternoon. We are trying to get our bathroom renovated in my spare time, which is practically nonexistent!
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Yeah, I saw you went live on Twitch last night with Phantasy Star, but I was stuck in homework hell for a major art essay that was due at midnight. I’ve just been incredibly swamped with school work and life stresses. Our cat seems to be doing significantly better since taking the prescribed medication. She still has a slight limp, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was pre-meds and she’s already taken to playing and pouncing on the other cats.
I’m definitely enjoying my time in Neverwinter. I played the MMO for a few months back when it launched on Xbox One, but this was before any of the expansions made their way from PC to console. Starting over on PS4 was a wise decision, haha. Learning the ropes all over again, digesting the various technical changes at a less chaotic pace, and still getting to play through something with a bit of familiarity has been helpful in relieving a bit of the stress. For being an MMO set in the Forgotten Realms universe, the lore is surprisingly light in the early goings. Not being met with walls of text with each quest turn in is quite nice.
Best of luck renovating your bathroom! I know how hard it is to try and expand your gaming hobby with writing and videos, so you have my sympathies lol. You do great work, though, so don’t worry about releasing content faster than you’re able to. We all understand!
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I hope your essay submission was timely and everything you wanted it to be! I can certainly sympathize with school deadlines. I went to school for a long while and don’t really miss those kinds of imposed stresses. I hope you get some relief from all the stress soon. Self care days sound like a necessity!
I can relate to your feeling of starting Neverwinter again on PS4. Whenever I am in a blind playthrough of a game when I’m streaming it’s always really stressful, but when I get to recording an LP with some familiarity of the game and its story/mechanics, I’m golden.
And thanks for the good luck with the bathroom. I sanded down all the drywall patches tonight and we are hoping to paint sometime this week in anticipation of our new vanity arriving in the next little while. I need to split myself in two for the next few weeks until things die down!
D’awww, thanks for the support in all my endeavours. It really means the world :D
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I think the essay turned out fairly well, but we’ll see how it’s graded lol. My brain is mush from all of this writing and trigonometry. I fucking loathe math, and taking the class online makes it significantly worse since nothing is explained very well and the lecture videos are from 2004 >.>.
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My fingers are crossed for you!
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Well found Dragons Dogma:Dark Arisen on sale at gamergate.com for $12 on friday. Here it is Sunday morning and I’ve spent about 10hrs in it already. Reminds me a lot of Dragons Age:Inquisition, which is to say good action combat/character customization/decent story and fun gear upgrade/loot hunt, not too open worldy so as to get lost ADHD style (love me some Skyrim ‘now on to the tower of evil….ooo flowers!’). And of course after scouring the Nexus mods, got into how to configure Sweetfx, via a great YouTube video by TheadiposeTV. So been a great single game filled weekend! Hope yours is too!
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I love Dragon’s Dogma SO MUCH. It had a nice bite-sized open world, so it still felt adventurous without the sense of dread that comes with being overwhelmed in other, bigger games. The combat is excellent. The story is quite a bit deeper than it leads on, since the cutscenes are few and far between and there’s a lot of guesswork on behalf of the player, but I loved it. Enjoy!
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