Category: Uncategorized

For the first time since we began, I find my random game of the week to be one I have absolutely no connection to what-so-ever. Rather, it is in my collection on the hard drive of an old 360, collected because my brothers gave me Xbox Live Gold for a few years as b-day gifts, and when I let it run out, the system actually let me keep the games.

So what is the Raven about? Well, you play the roll of a constable in the Swiss police who is on duty riding the Orient Express with a legendary detective who made his name shooting the infamous thief: The Raven. But a successor has made his way into the world and has proven much more dangerous, and just as important, he too is on this train!

I found myself enjoying this point and click adventure, but with a very mixed feeling. It’s a very slow burn and our time was spent really just starting the adventure as we tried to take care of a dutchess who lost her purse (she never loses anything) and a professor who was locked out of his room, ending with the thief making their move and attempting to blow up the cops trying to catch him!

It is very logical and will be a fun puzzle to figure out, but the controls here are going to do it no favors, as the constable tends to turn on very wide arcs, making moving him around to interact with the world very clunky. Thankfully the does not seem to have time restraints so this isn’t a huge deal so much as a little bit of an annoyance on what is overall looking to be a very interesting adventure that I barely scratched the surface of.

Am I looking forward to it? Well, yes and no. I would like to continue this adventure and see where it goes, but I do feel like this is the lesser version and maybe if I was playing with a mouse it might be far smoother.

Day 23/100: Fallout New Vegas

Today I will venture into playing Fallout New Vegas for my Throwback Thursday stream. I have recently been swapping between Fallout 4 and Fallout 3 lately and everyone is always like “Fallout New Vegas was the best!!!” and blah blah  blah. To set the record straight….I love all the Fallouts for different reason, but lets give the viewers what they want…and here is Fallout New Vegas.

I like Fallout New Vegas because it was very faction driven, you had to pick a side, and whoever you picked changed your gameplay all together, the companions were way more dynamic and had stories and all of the randomness in the game was solid and made the game so much fun to play. I enjoyed the game greatly. I mean I did my first time around have over 16 days of gameplay in it…maybe more…

 

You should totally read the title in your best Ricky Ricardo voice instead of it be “Lucy you have some explain to do….” is “Kelari you have some catchin up to do…”

Day 18/100: Atlas Reactor

Every Saturday or every other, depending on me, I do a Saturday Suggestion Stream, and this is what this Saturday was or now past Saturday, did a poll of twitter people voted and Atlas Reactor was the game I played.

Day 19/100: Fallout 4

I spend this lovely day working on Railroad missions, and trying to save the Synths of the Common Wealth and heck did a mission where I saw this cool light house and was like “lets go there!” all optimistic, up there was a switch…pulled it, cause if you had a big red button in front of you, you would be tempted too…and it made a LOUD sound and attracted a death claw and Alpha death claw….which made me cry. Soooo had to kill the death claw… and the Alpha went missing…and it is still missing…so I will only be paranoid for a month now or until I find its dead body.

Day 20/100: Neverwinter

This Monday I did MMO madness, where I play a variety of different games in the MMO genre. I played two games to be exact but spend most my time on Neverwinter, played a new character, a cleric and played with my friend, introduced him to the Neverwinter world. This game is offered on Xbox and PC, its from the Dungeons and Dragon universe, and has several ways to play, there is PVP, PVE, world events, constant campaigns going on, and then roleplay missions created by members of the game.

Day 21/100: Elder Scrolls Online

ESO is a great game, first off Bethesda makes it, its from the Elder Scrolls series, and its massive, and beautiful and there is SOOO much to do. You have the base game story, the Morrowwind story, the guild stories, Fighters guild, Mage guild, and the Undaunted, you can buy the DLC and get the Thieves guild and Dark Brotherhood. There is PVP, dungeons, just random exploration, I have yet to see all the world….now the Argonians may…creep you out always tell you to stay…moist…. shudders

Day 22/100: Heroes of the Storm

Now we are on yesterday, which every Wednesday is Wreck it Wednesday for me. I play PVP style games, and this day we did play unranked matches and we won one, the second one got wrecked, then headed into Brawl missions where we had to push the payload, actually keep the other team from pushing there payload.

Day 17/100: Rift

Today with Rift I will share my Vostigar Peaks/ Celestial Storm contest submissions. So a fellow Trion Creator like myself Seshatar, is running a Celestial Storm contest, that came out with the newest patch. There was three different categories you could enter in and I submitted to all three, and want to share my submissions here, and then share what I did on Friday as well. I will share each category, describe a little about them and then my submission.

Category One: Vostigar Peaks Postcard

So the new patch brought out a new zone, called Vostigar Peaks, a snowy colorful wasteland filled with war between Anhket army and Crucia’s Storm Legion. The zone looks very like Pelladane, and Iron Pine Peak mated with a box of crayons…very nice and colorful, bright pops of yellow and red and green in snow. Love the color choices of the new zone. This category show cased the new area.

Category Two: Summerfest

The new patch brought out Summerfest as well, so all the scavenger hunts, Corgi fashion shows, getting your bikini body ready, and more. You could of went my approach and use how one of my characters celebrates Summerfest, and my dwarf use it with an entourage of shirtless dudes.

Category Three: Vostigar Peaks Video

This was another zone related category, and I showed my favorite part of the world, and also displayed what I do mostly out in this new zone, lots of running, so much running….so much. Everything is out to kill you. Everything is like a little raid boss, might as well be. So this is my dedication to Vostigar Peaks.

https://clips.twitch.tv/VibrantSpineyMoonSpicyBoy

Day 15/100: Atlas Reactor

THE NEW CHAPTER MISSIONS ARE OUT! So naturally…had to dedicate a day to doing those chapter missions. The new missions also bring a new type of game mode (have not gotten to play yet, but can at least tell you about it.)

The new chapter missions are:

• Gain 5 season levels
• Play as each type of lancer type. The three lancer types are firepower (damage) frontliner (tank) support (healer/ barrier buddies) play five rounds as each type.
• Win 5 matches in a trust skin. A trust skin is the type of corporations that exist in Atlas Reactor: Hyperbotics, Evos, Omni and Helio Corps. Since they have daily missions where you can earn Hyperbotics skins, it is easy to go after this mission, you just have to make sure you win the 5 matches.
• 50 takedowns, this one is easy, just take down 50 peoples.
• 3 non death match games

The new chapter brought out the new game mode Lights Out. The map is completely in the dark and you have to play ULTIMATE TACTICS and guess where people are hiding at in the dark.

Day 16/100: Fallout 4

I always try to challenge myself when I play this game….the challenge is called the No Scream Stream….try to play without screaming….now I typically always fail this challenge, but this time I was doing SOOOOO GOOD, ran into Mirelurkers and did not even Scream.

AND MIRELURKERS LIAM NESSOM ME CONSTANTLY. They dont know who I am but they love to find me and kill me. I even jumped a little when unlocking a door and a Glowing One Feral Ghoul slapped me silly and killed me by running over a landmine. I even did good with the countless gunners, and robots and super mutants and bugs and dogs chewing me up and spitting me out into irradiated gum….

So where am I going with this? Oh right…where did I fail in my almost perfect challenge where I did not scream? Well….I was sent to get a file in a hospital…filled with Raiders. Nothing to scream over right? Mean one was even using a rocket launcher inside the building, which was only mildly annoying….I got the file. And went downstairs and saw a switch and all I could see was…hey switch, means goodies right! So went down to flip it, turned around and greeted with a charging DEATHCLAW! I screamed sooooo loudly! My husband came out the back room thinking something was wrong with me.

I failed the No Scream Stream challenge again….one day.

Today for the backlog event of the week, we go to a franchise I both wanted to see and dreaded. There was a time in my much younger days when the arcades had almost died out, but got a second wind on the backs of almost exclusively new fighting games trying to capture the excitement created by the likes of Marvel vs Capcom and the new 3D arrivals. Among these games was one of the few to hold my attention: the original Killer Instinct.

I was never very good at this game, but then I was a young kid who was more excited at the awesome robots and aliens in the lineup. And when I played, the big feature I loved was the fact that how you did in one round carried over to the next, as it was the first fighter I had ever seen where your life did not refill between rounds. I loved the idea and I loved the game. I even played it’s sequel in the arcades.

But that was a long time ago and the last time I touched the series was the rather weak port on the SNES which I rented exactly once. And I let the N64 buy without getting one, preventing me from even trying the only other version of the game to release anyone would see until this current F2P Xbox One/WIndows 10 version. And I will be honest, I expected to get my ass kicked repeatedly and wander off to do something else for the second half of the hour I was giving Xbox One games.

That did not happen. I opened up the main menu, I found the usual features I expected (single player and multiplayer like a fighting arcade game would have), but in addition, the first option was the Shadow Lords, something I was looking at without any explanation. Well, hell, let’s choose that….

….and I found myself in “Baby’s first Fighter” with literally the first several fights being used to teach the core mechanics and attack button layout of the game. Some will find it annoying, but for someone like me who has literally been away from fighters for well over a decade, it was nice to have the game take the time to show you the ropes before destroying you in battle, which the first actual fight damn near did I might add, so you can at least grasp how the controls work, especially as they break away from the standards I personally remember from the SNES era.

But in addition to that, this mode adds adventure/RPG elements into the mix, as you have player levels and your team levels up as you play. You will gain items you can equip to give yourself a small edge in combat, and when you finish, your performance in game will effect the condition of your fighters afterwards. (Such as health in the next fighter and so on…. if you don’t use healing items on them.) And this all comes with a plot-line that seems to sequel the main game. I do not know as I never got to the single player, much less beat it… this mode took up the whole session. The gist of this story is Gorgos, an evil god from the series trying to open portals to earth and conquer it Mortal Kombat style. You play a small team who’s job is to delay the inevitable so you can become powerful enough to defeat him when he finally succeeds. You read that right: you can not stop Gorgos from showing up. All you can do is hold him back long enough get stronger before he does.

Honestly I found this mode interesting and pretty fun, which again. surprised the hell out of me. I expected to walk into this, get my ass kicked for the audience, and move on to something more my speed. Instead, I found something that I am looking forward to making it to be one of my main games, something I don’t say about many fighters at all! Nicely done, Microsoft

Day 13/100: Mass Effect Andromeda

I love love love the mass effect series, Bioware knows how to make action roleplay games well. Played all the other games, so far loving this game. Have not beaten it yet so no one ruin it for me pwease. This game does not follow the Shepard stories, but the same universe, as in your game you can select what gender the Shepard was. But you start as one of the Rhyder twins, whether it be a male or female, you can create what the pair look like as well, and based off that, your father Alec will adjust accordingly, think its based off the presets to be honest. Unlike previous installments in the Mass Effect series, where players begin each new game by choosing from six different character classes that each have their own unique set of skills, players instead have free rein to assign any skills, so you can do what I am doing and be a vanguard solider with a few biotic powers….BEAST MODE.

You still have to explore and gather things to make more things, and you still need to chat up with everyone on the crew of the Tempest to open up character stories and missions. The combat is real time with the abilities of dodging with your suits jetpacks, like a dash.

But the only piece of lore I will give is, somewhere between ME 2 and ME3 the races of the series started to build this project Andromeda, mean for good reasons, they had reapers crawling all over them and it was a good idea to think of the future just in case this did not pan out well for them. Sending vessels filled with each race into deep space. 20k people of each race, 600 years into the future.

The rest you have to find out by playing it.

Day 14/ 100: Rift

Today I venture into classic leveling in Rift, I will explore two old world zones with one of my characters a cute patooot dwarf (dworf). I have ONLY been leveling her the classic way, no speed through dungeon runs, no IAs, no power leveling of any sort, she has leveled the old fashion way, through the storyline, and the only way I go into dungeons is if were all the same level.

I want to see how far questing can get you, currently leveling in Shimmersand, hoping to finish there today and move into Stillmoor, very very close to end game stuff on the original game of Rift. How excited, and it has been fun revisiting all the old lore.

Day 11/100: Tera

Yesterday was a Tera day, another MMO, shocking for me I know. Tera is I will say new generation of MMO, not your standard interface, while in WoW you are stationary for the most part, minimal running at best, this requires a lot of running, your WASD keys, hot keys and your mouse, can be very tricky to navigate your first time out the door. Basically non targeting combat, you have a trigger hair instead hitting tab to target things in most other MMOs. The combat is real time and third person viewed. The game offers a variety of things, questing, dungeons and pvp. The game has seven races, and twelve classes, some of those classes are gender restricted and race restricted.

Yesterday I partook in leveling, and two matches of PVP, and doing some Vanguard missions. The PVP I did was called Kuma Royale, where a team of baby kuma’s have to protect momma, but kill the other momma from the other team. Its completely random but a great way to farm gold and experience. I won one around and lost one round, in my win I went from lvl 20 to lvl 24, and then got 30 gold, so you can see how that helped me a lot.

Day 12/100: Rift

As you can see on my list of days, I play Rift a lot, but today I explored another side of Rift, roleplaying/ dimension building. Dimensions are pretty much character housing, you can create all kinds of things, homes, bases, forts, taverns, the options are endless. I myself create character homes and event dimensions for roleplaying events.

The roleplaying events I do on Rift are like Table Top games, we brought Dungeons and Dragons to Rift but using the lore of the game, and stories we create as friends. We have a HUGE weekend coming up and had to build build build dimensions.

Day 10/100: Rift

Today in my Rift stream I explored the brand new content, Vostigar Peaks. The recent patch 4.2 brought out Summerfest and Vostigar Peaks, which is a level 70 area, great new content great many ways to get ganked and died. Like fighting little raid bosses it seems. The quest…is rather interesting so far. Like very interesting.

I dont want to give away too many spoilers, but this is what is given about the game, Anhket and Crucia showdown, yes Crucia is back, Storm Legion is back, and Anhket has technology that Storm Queen wants, so your stuck in the middle of them trying to kill one another. I say we just let one pick the other off and then take care of the one left standing, but of course that would not be fun right?

Thing that is blowing my mind right now is the lost souls occupying one body, so while you attack these mobs they shape shift into different beings in the game. Its soooo crazy! But a cool concept. Now the cons with the new area is that it is a huge grind fest, and can be tedious, but at least vostigar does offer new content for people, and now the first tier of raid gear so the end gamers are happy.

I have not finished the story quest, but it is well worth doing, as there are some cross overs finishing it. If you finish the story quest in Vostigar Peaks you get Asha sword wardrobe in game, and a Asha costume for Atlas Reactor.

There is also a Trove to Rift cross over as well. And on top of that with Vostigar Peaks, a fellow Trion Creator Seshatar is hosting three contest right now, where you can win 30 Days of Patron and a mount, by submitting a post card of Vostigar Peaks, Summerfest picture and a video show casing Vostigar, so three ways to win patron pass! So…join Rift today!

Well it’s Friday, and in addition to being a good reason to get some whiskey (or whatever you choose), to cap off the night, it also means tonight the game for the 100 Days of Gaming would be a new-comer to try to finish. Since Last week came from my collection of physical media, tonight would come from the digital realms of the Wii and WiiU… and I will admit, I was excited to see Contra: Rebirth selected. After all, it was supposedly modeled after Contra III: The Alien Wars which was one of the games that sold me on getting an SNES back in the 1990s.

But it didn’t take long for something to show itself to be amiss… starting with the ability to use both weapons at once when flipping. I tried various ways to dual wield, but could find nothing. And then I started to play and the game was ridiculously hard. I mean, yeah, Contra is known as a challenging series of games, but it’s also a generally clean series that allows you to see what’s going on. I could not claim that in this case, as my first death came hidden behind enough explosions to hide entire enemies as well as the bullet they shot. LIterally, I only saw the enemy on my second try.

Figuring I just sucked at the game for not having played a shoot’em-up of this type for many years, I turned down the difficulty after a few more failures to get through the first level, which did help, but level two would only enforce the game’s reliance on cheap deaths by spawning enemies inches in front of your character’s face and shooting, all but ensuring anyone who didnt know in advance that enemy would be there to lose a life in classic Contra one-hit kill style. This is annoying but not as damning as the boss to complete this level, as it has an NRG pattern that can force you to die by punch to the face (it is a 2 story tall robot).

Now I won’t say I was very good at the game by any means, but I’m not sure it’s worth the time to get good either. Comparing it to my memories of the original trilogy, it felt cluttered and like it was only half-way implementing everything what features were available, all the while trying to use those games (especially the third one) to remind you of how awesome they were and ride on that rather then just being another great game in the series itself. It’s available on the WIi store (yeah, the original, but you CAN access it on the WIiU), but I don’t think I would recommend it based on this introduction.

Still, the introduction was only half-an-hour, so I owed you guys a little more. I had the WiiU running so.. screw it! Let the dice roll for the next game on it! And… the dice punished me… hard. The next game was one I knew sucked already as I had tried to play it long ago…. Blaster Master Overdrive. Like Contra Rebirth, I picked this one up immediately wanting more of the awesome I remembered from the NES original…. this one was the game that finally taught me better.

RIght off the bat, the game hints at how bad it’s going to be by requiring you to use the Wiimote only. The lack of support for even the classic controller just shows the level of care that went into this “sequel/reboot.” Once you actually start playing the tank feels slow and clunky, even compared to the original game. And it does not help that the camera lets you get close enough to the edge of the screen you are going to that you can easily run into any enemy if you dont take your time.  But the ground at least feels better and more like the original game, but it cant save this title.

But at least tonight was entertaining as we broke the game by dying and reloading, causing weapon upgrades to re appear and build all my weapons to max power, seeing this for the first time

As with Contra, this game is simply not worth your money. Although in this case, you have a much better remake available if the itch for new Blaster Master hits you… Blaster Master Zero. Go play that one.