Yeah. But not in the solo ones, where you fight against AI in the Bronze/Silver/Gold class.

C-A

---

I've been playing Pokemon X non-stop due to wanting to battle my friends online. I'm not really into the competitive scene that much but I seem to be doing good at raising my pokemon. I do plan on playing some Company of Heroes mods soon though.

---

Started with Grandia. I've played the second game (which I love), but first time I play this one. While the story-type is quite different, there's definitely the same, colorful world and comedic tone (similar to Lunar, also by Game Arts). And the battle system is still awesome! There are few things so satisfying as hitting an opponent out of his attack animation and pushing him back on the action meter.

---

A week or so ago, I played through Life is Strange in just a few days because it was was SO awesome. It's super amazing how they combine a story like from a movie with a big, fat amount of free will. And the music! And the pictures! And now I'm playing Portal, mostly because I wanted to know whether it's as good as the short film "Portal - No Escape" I found online and what I've seen so far is pretty nice. But I guess the next time someone tries to bribe me with cake, I will scream and search for the closest exit.

Really? I found Life is Strange to be... eh, disappointing. Not bad, but it felt like it tried to do something, but only went halfway and went off somewhere else, leaving both parts to be absolutely... mediocre.

I'm thinking of playing FF III. Kinda wish it had been released on SNES, but the DS version should be fine, too... 'cept I read you can only get Onion Knight via wireless and... yeah.

C-A

---

Speaking (Typing?) of Life is Strange, anyone have any recommendations for other games with a similar part-tv series part-decision making format? I know of Telltales's The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, but I'm not really interested in those. Also, I think I already spoiled myself on both of those.

I'm playing the original Deus Ex. And I've finally motivated myself to play more than just Liberty Island.

---

Well Telltale has pretty much cornered the market in games that are all story in episodes. I hear their "The Wolf Among Us" one is pretty good but if you want to get in on the fresh ground they are also doing their own take on Batman.

All things considered Walking Dead is still a strong entry too.


I hear the new Kings Quest game is pretty nice though and involves a lot of convo-decision making and is episodic but more puzzle heavy than a Telltale game....also more comedic and lighthearted from what I played.

Hell if you want something a bit more Gameplay intensive I'd take Dragon Age 1., plenty of awesome decisions there and the map basically breaks up the game into "arcs". Like you'll have the elf arc and the mage tower arc etc.

---

Well, the people who made the Walking Dead one recently released Firewatch. Most of your choices, though, don't really make much of a difference (mostly just alter the current dialogue or a minor difference on how the beginning introduction plays out in words)... and, given the spoilers I read, I personally would find the game... unnecessary to play... but the idea and aspects of it are pretty neat.

C-A

---

I'll look into those. King's Quest Episode 1 is free on Steam, so I'll check that out.

---

Sonic The Hedgehog I'm playing it for the 25th anniversary! So excited for Sonic Mania and that other Sonic game.

Since it's Miku's 9th birthday I'll be playing an unhealthy amount of Project Mirai DX, Diva F, and Diva F2nd today

I'd play Project Diva X but I got the PS4 version and don't have a PS4 yet

---

I quite liked it, but the fandom has taken way off and I was especially surprised to see the lack of criticism towards it on NeoGAF where people make it sound like it's one of the greatest video game narratives of all time.

Again, I liked it, but I was not far into episode 1 before I realized what kind of writers were behind this one. It reeks of amateur and writers not really knowing their craft like a musician who writes songs despite having near zero knowledge of theory (which is ironically me). It's just everywhere the golden rules of writing are broken. Show don't tell, rhethorical technique, cohesiveness of plot, consistent characterization etc.

Everything in this game from scene to scene is exactly what the writers felt like creating in that moment. It had a plan and an arc for sure, but there's only very loose logical thinking applied to this, especially the big denoument which comes across as extremely vague and lacks any hint of actual causality. It tries to tug at heartstrings when there is no context to make you care or even find it believable, but despite this it's all quite honest even if it is amateur. The writers clearly believed in what they were making here, and that's where the game shines. There's a lot of love applied to it and therefore it had many scenes that actually worked. Something as simple as Chloe's relationship to Max is something I liked. Sure, Chloe is as bipolar as everyone else in the story, but you can tell whenever the plot is forcing her to stray from what her intended character is, and I found a dozen of good scenes where it's just Max and Chloe or some other friend.

The worst thing that always stood out about the writing though is the language, and I don't mean profanity. The argument goes back and forth on every board I've seen. Someone says "This isn't how teenagers talk!" and someone think they know better and say "Have you ever heard teens talk? This is exactly what it sounds like?" to which I interject a remark and say "You're wrong, this is how a middle-aged french man think american teenagers talk, and he is not replicating it very well at all". I'm hella absolutely fucking sure about this, like, wowsers, mega much, cool, CA-CHINGG! I have a little-sister at Max's age and I'm pretty sure she never talks like that, and she's a really hip among her peers.

Mechanically, I found myself face-palming over the idea of making a "reverse time" mechanic in a game where "choices matter" because it creates a slew of story/game segregation where you have to wonder "why can't Max, storywise, go back and reverse this, just because I moved on to the next scene?". It also created a ton of situations where when the stakes rise Max can't use her abilities out of sheer contrivance, and it's in those moments I especially felt dumbfounded because that had been my concern right from the second it was introduced.

All in all, I would say Life Is Strange is worth it especially because it's cheap. It's dumb but written with passion and despite that it is written by writers who can't really write well at all, they believed in their work and it shows, which makes it charming and likeable.

As for what I'm playing right now: NOTHING! But I just got my paycheck and started downloading Deus Ex Mankind Divided. I'm not holding my breath for a stunning main story, but Human Revolution had the best Action/RPG game design I've seen and the optional content blows anything else away IMHO, and I've heard this is where MD excells as well, so I'm really stoked, and now I have something to latch onto if SoJ doesn't end up tickling my fancy.

---

They try way too hard to make the player care about Chloe. I mean, reconnecting with a friend after years of no contact - that should give you a somewhat tug at your heart, as you say. It seems a realistic situation, very possible to happen to people and many do lose contact with older friends. But Chloe is... she chews Max out for not contacting her while she was away or when she moved back; except Chloe never seemed to bother to attempt to contact us, either. She has a completely foul mouth, does things that no sane friend would actually tolerate their bestie to do (making the options to assist her in, say, stealing the handicapped access funds seem pretty pointless) and overall does not come across as a very likeable character.

And then there's my personal beef of how they tried way too hard to push ChloexMax as a romantic option, too. I have nothing against same-sex options in videogames, but it is still under the same rules as the typical hetero couple: try too hard, it'll become annoying. Try not enough and it'll be unbelieveable. It almost feels like they made it an optional thing to go more romantic with her, just to have it there. Just so people can say, "Oh, you can have a homosexual protagonist! So edgey and progressive and up-to-date!"



C-A

---

Mostly Crusader Kings II these days. I started a new playthrough as the Sheikh of Esfahan after The Reaper's Due was released.

My first character, Sheikh Aron of the Yohannanids received the title of Emir from the Caliph (Esfahan being a part of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 769 start), eventually seizing the Sheikhdom of Ahvaz, a de jure vassal under his new title. In 790, a successful Shia uprising in the Levant took Jerusalem out of the Abbasid Caliphate's hands. The new ruler of Jerusalem, a mere boy at the time, was seen by his supporters as the rightful successor to Muhammad. A mere four years later, the Abbasids were ousted by the Abdulids. Emir Aron died from stress during the uprising.

My second character, Fariborz Aronzade, chose to remain part of the Caliphate despite the new Caliph's dubious claim to the title. He further expanded Esfahani influence, establishing his capital as a major center of trade along the Silk Road. Fariborz's reign was a rather short one, however, as he died from the Pox at the relatively young age of thirty-five.

My third character, Aron Fariborzzade, ascended to the throne at the age of fourteen. His reign saw Esfahan gain control of the coastal Fars region. He miraculously survived both the Pox and cancer, but was left infertile and horribly disfigured by the ordeal--though he thankfully had a son to succeed him by then. The Abdulids' hold on the Caliphate was broken by another rebel family, the Pellids. Aron took advantage of the instability the rebellion caused and declared independence in 844. Though the Pellids would continue to hold on to the nominal title of Caliph, their authority over the Ummah would never match that of their predecessors. Aron II reigned for forty-five years, succumbing to dysentery in the forty-sixth year of his reign.

My fourth character, Hossein Aronzade, continued expanding Esfahan, bringing part of the Kerman region under his control and completing his father's conquest of the Fars region. He forged valuable alliances with other rulers who broke off from the Caliphate, even going to war with the Caliph himself on occasion. He outlived his father by a year, dying as an indirect result of gout at the age of sixty-one.

My fifth character, Fereedun Hosseinzade, furthered Esfahan's expansion. Despite being a brilliant strategist and a courageous warrior, his military prowess saw more use fighting for his allies than fighting to expand his own realm. His time leading armies came to an unfortunate end when he contracted leprosy, ultimately dying from it at the age of forty-two.

My sixth character, Rostam Fereedunzade, expanded the realm northward and westward into the Khorasan and Hamadan regions, respectively. He sought to unite the people of Iran under his rule. Alas, the Pox prevented him from realizing his dream.

My seventh character, Abbas Rostamzade, would ultimately be the one to claim the title of Shah, seizing lands in Tabaristan and furthering the realm's expansion into Khorasan and Hamadan. His reign was a long and prosperous one that saw the construction and expansion of hospitals and universities all across the land. He died from the Pox in the forty-seventh year of his reign--possibly for the best.

My eighth and current character, Khosrau Abbaszade, faced a horror unlike anything his predecessors had. In 969, he received word that a terrible plague had come down the Brahmaputra River in the Assam region and begun spreading westward, leaving devastation not heard of since the Plague of Justinian more than four hundred years earlier. Iran was completing its conquest of Hamadan at the time; the plague arrived in Esfahan mere days after the Shah's victory. For three years the royal family remained secluded in their palace with the rest of their court, managing to survive because of it. The people began to suspect that cats, which had become common in Esfahan after the arrival of the plague, were responsible. There were calls to exterminate the cats, but Khosrau, ever the competent orator, was able to calm the angry and terrified crowds and convince them that cats were not responsible. Two years have passed since the plague ended and the palace gates were finally opened again. Iran has survived, but most of Europe and Africa are now in the plague's grip. Most of Central Asia, though, has miraculously been passed by--for now.

---

FF V Advanced. *sniff* Syldra...!

C-A

---

Shah Khosrau has passed, losing a decades-long war with cancer at the age of sixty-two. The plague died down years ago, bypassing most of Central Asia completely. Khosrau's reign saw Khorasan completely conquered, but further conquests were averted when the Saindhava Kingdom to the east declared war, hoping to conquer Kerman. The invasion was repulsed, but Khosrau's ambitions were once again put on hold so that he could help allies in need.

My ninth character, Bahman Khosrauzade, did not inherit his father's alliances, freeing him from the obligation to continue Khosrau's campaign in Iraq. Instead, he is able to focus on conquest without fear of getting caught up in allies' wars.

---

Been learning the Link Between Worlds Any% speedrun on and off for about a month now. I've learned the route so far up through Hyrule Castle. I'm still quite sloppy, but I've been happy that I've at least been able to get tricks consistent, though I'm still far from doing them quickly. I'm hoping once I learn the route, I can go back and start optimizing, but until then, I feel consistency is better.

I'm finding it a lot more fun than I thought I would. After having played this game a few times and 100%ing it, it's nice to have a new reason to go back to this game and get a new experience from it.

House of Gales is butts though. Lost some good Hyrule practice runs due to that dungeon. I will never be a fan of Keese... or Zelda rats for that matter.

---

Dark Souls 1 for pretty much all of the last three months. Nowadays I've been replaying Ridge Racer 4, Mega Man 2, and Final Fantasy 4, with a few sprinkles of Overwatch. I'm so up to date on games mmm~

---

Cat, Life is Strange already felt so indie-hipster-artsy that the homosexual part of Chloe/Max felt completely natural to me. I was more thinking "why wouldn't this be in the game?"

---

Nobody really knows these days what hipster even means. And my problem with it isn't that it's in the game, but that's it's attempted so hard to be shoved into my face.

C-A

---

Shah Bahman has died of the Pox at the age of sixty-seven. He launched a successful incursion into Baluchistan, a region that had long ago been conquered by Hindus. His army, led by Shahrzad of the Firuzkids, a military prodigy who would be remembered in the chronicles as one of the best commanders of her time, stunned the world by successfully fending off the Hindu coalition's forces despite being outnumbered almost three to one. Tabaristan was also fully conquered under Bahman and a brief incursion was made into Tabriz. The Farsi Republic was established along the Persian Gulf's coast with Bahman's blessing and has gained significant influence over trade along the coast of the Indian Ocean. In his final years, Bahman went deep into debt pouring resources into the construction of a great tower that could be seen from anywhere in Esfahan, leading some imams to compare the Shah to the Pharaoh of Musa's time and his master builder to the Pharaoh's minion Haman. Despite the complaints of the imams, the tower was completed, though Bahman went so deep into debt that his realm suffered. With the Shah unable to pay his soldiers, judges, and other officials, crime skyrocketed. Though Bahman ultimately paid off his debts, the damage lasted well past his death. His son, Khashayar Bahmanzade, my tenth character, is stuck cleaning up the remnants of the mess his father made.

---

Final Fantasy X-2. I want to focus on that one first, because that was the one I actually wanted to play and I know that it isn't TOO grindy for things. Plus, the whole job-system dressphere thing. I really am liking the Festivalist and Psychiker dresspheres, too. Yuna's Festivalist is a complete beast and, holy crap, the Psychiker can ABSORB elements, if you master the ability? Goddamn, that's neat! Can't say much about the creature stuff, since... it never appealed to me when I originally heard of it and it now reminds me of XIII-2's monster allies... which were pointless.

Also on my *mumble*stieth round of Theatrhythm Curtain Call. I just start up, then get bored after about 10.000 Rhythmia and want to start anew. Though for a game that claimed that I need to obtain Rhythmia in "no small amount" in the prologue, the fact that I actually beat the game and get the credits when I have 20.000 Rhythmia together always threw me. Getting 20.000 together is NOT difficult.

C-A

---

Man now I want to look up my Rhythmia count.

Though why would you ever want to restart the game? The characters can all be reset (with serious benefits for doing so) and the plot is paper thin as is. There's no progression other than scores really.

---

I really should give FFX-2 another shot at some point. It had some very solid gameplay. The thing that really killed my interest in the game were all the sidequests and mini games. I just found some of them really tedious and it just got to a point where it killed my interest. I know most of them weren't required to beat the game, but I have a bad habit to where if I know it's available, I have to go for it. Personally for me though, overall, Final Fantasy has never really excelled when it's come to having mini games and the like and for me, it really shows when they make a game jam packed full of them. Off the top of my head, I think the only mini game I've really enjoyed in Final Fantasy was Choco Hot and Cold from FF9.

---

GS 6, obviously.

Also, replaying Bloodborne, cuz I can. Additionally, I got Doom waiting for me, I am on like Mission 2 or so.

---

Triple Triad?

---

Blitzball!

---

That brings back memories of NintendoCapriSun's stream of IX. The chat had a lot of fun coming up with "Kweh" puns during the Choco Hot and Cold segments.

---

I think the annoyance of X-2 comes if one tries to get 100% in one playthrough. Or wants to, at least, get Episode Complete on all locations, which requires the... marriage and PR sidequest... Uuuurgh.

My favorite minigame in FF games... I dunno, does the Opera scene from VI count?

C-A

---

Shah Khashayar died of natural causes less than ten years after ascending to the throne. He started a war to seize Oromieh, but died before it ended. Instead, he devoted most of his time to hunting down and eradicating the bands of criminals who had thrived near the end of his father's reign--a pursuit that was hindered when the traitorous Marzoban Peroz of Gilan conspired with Marzoban Yahya of Gurgan, Marzoban Jabir of Mazandaran, and Satrap Shahryar "the Cruel" of Khorasan to force the Shah to decentralize the realm. The rebel leaders were defeated and imprisoned, their titles revoked and handed to more trustworthy men. Khashayar did much to restabilize his lands, but there is still room for improvement. His son, Farzad Khashayarzade, my eleventh character, ascended to the throne at the age of eighteen, having only recently fathered a son of his own. He also inherited the Oromieh campaign, having served as a commander in his father's armies.

---

Chocobo racing, at least XIV's iteration of it.

---

Man can you actually do XIV's version of chocobo racing? I took one look at the systems and was like "nope". Same with Lord of Verminion which looks ridiculously complicated to play with a controller.

---

Fair point. Honestly, that one totally slipped my mind because I tend to see FF8 in a negative light. Triple Triad is one of the few things I like about the game.

---

Yeah, the controls are a bit stiff and have a noticeable delay, but after a while you get used to it. It helps that everyone else has the same control scheme. Effectively the whole thing becomes a challenge of knowing when to speed up, when to turn, and when to get screwed over by item drops. Also that music.
Lord of Verminion, I didn't bother with. RTS isn't really my thing.

---

Playing Minecraft PE. I'm fixing my custom tardis plugin interior now. I'm trying to perfect it. It's taken me almost 6 months to edit this to look great. It only took me 4 days to build the basic tardis itself and about 2 days to add the first furnishings. But the longer a build takes the better it is. I always remind myself this.

Shah Farzad has passed on, surviving many a deadly encounter leading his troops in the field only to lose his life to cancer after reigning for forty-two years. During his reign, the last remnants of instability caused by his grandfather's ambitions were wiped out. He also completed the conquest of Baluchistan, later conquering Afghanistan. The Yohannanids' long-lasting alliance with the Kilabids briefly broke down and led to war, all because of a loutish Baghdadi noble and the Kilabid Sultan's refusal to take responsibility for his vassal's behavior. Relations were quickly mended after the war, though. Islam quickly spread into the newly-conquered lands. Farzad died during a campaign in Central Asia.

My twelfth character is Shahram Farzadzade, Farzad's son. Inheriting the throne at the age of forty-two, his reign is unlikely to be anywhere near as long as that of his father.

---

Question General?

Have you tried Stellaris? I think its another of Paradox interactive's games.

---

I have a copy, though I have yet to play it. I'm working on some custom ship names, planet names, etc. for a custom state that I plan on playing as.

---

Is it like Mount and Blade in space or is it like Crusader Kings in Space?

---

Did they take soft resetting out in AA6 or was that not in Dual Destinies either? I don't remember but either way it seems like a dumb thing to cut

Anyway, just finished the second case last night and holy

---