Tag: gaming

My Top Lego Games – Blogtober 2021

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

(a.k.a. I’m having a headache day and this is something I can type from my bed.)

As I’ve made pretty clear over the years, I play a lot of Lego games. So much so that I have them on multiple platforms, and have completed them to 100% many a time.

The other day I was thinking about it. I’m an opinionated person. I have to have favorites, right? I obviously have a small list of games that are terrible, but what exactly are my favorite Lego games. I spent some time thinking about it, and I’ve come up with a list of my top five Lego games, in no particular order.

Lego City Undercover

This is probably my favorite Lego game of all time. There is just something about LCU that caught my eye when I started playing it. I really love that it’s a completely original story with original characters, but with enough references to many different games and film franchises to shake a stick at. The jokes are surprisingly mature, but designed to go over kids’ heads. The world is absolutely insane, so very large and expansive.

I’ve played through this game multiple times, and it hasn’t gotten old yet. I’m still trying to get my hands onto the prequel, but it’s a 3DS game and I don’t have one right now. Maybe one day…

Lego Marvel Super Heroes

I’m taking my nostalgia glasses off for this one, and it still holds up. The first Marvel game to get the Lego treatment, LMSH blew me out of the water. The cast is very large, featuring characters from the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy… the list goes one. You end up using a variety of characters during your playthrough, and Manhattan is detailed enough to be eye catching. Also, having come out after the Avengers film, it’s fun to see characters in more… comic accurate attire.

My first Lego game, but also never my last. I’ve played through at least four times, with another playthrough coming as soon as I can get my hands onto an Xbox 360.

Lego DC Super Villains

Welcome to a Lego game that absolutely surprised me in just how much I ended up enjoying it. When I saw the original reveal for LDCSV, I was cool with it. The announcement that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill were returning to voice their original characters? Okay, I’m 100% onboard. But playing it? Blew my mind. I think I finished my first playthrough it about… seven days? Something like that. It was worth every minute. I’ve since played it several times, and I’m just waiting until the holidays to purchase the Japanese and Asian versions (gotta have all the trophies).

I was just thinking as I sat here. This would have been the game I played with my Dad. He got me into Legos and into DC. Sharing this would have been perfect. Unfortunately it came out about 16 years too late for that.

Lego Dimensions

The largest and most expensive Lego game in existence, and still one of my all-time favorites. LD was a surprise favorite of mine when I first played it back in 2017. Since then, I’ve 10% the game three times, which is a feat in of itself, considering the game is about 60+ hours, on top of having to collect nearly 40 characters. I’ve talked about my love for this game before. I’m hoping that soon I can take a bit and replay some of my favorite worlds.

Also, I can’t help but remember just how crazy it was to get my hands onto every version of the game. The guy at Best Buy gave me such a weird look when I purchased (on sale prior to the cancellation of Year 3) a Xbox 360 version, a Xbox One version, and a Wii U version. He kept saying I only needed one box and just different discs, until I finally just pulled out a post from Lego stating that you had to have the system specific game pads (which isn’t true. There’s three. Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PS3/PS4/Wii U).

Lego Jurassic World

I am still surprised with how much I like this game. I think it’s because I started playing it and watching the films at the same time (as somehow I managed to never see the films completely during my entire childhood). The game is not prefect by any means, especially with the fact that it very much pushes Jurassic World instead of Jurassic Park, but it’s not terrible.

Honestly it’s a fun one that I’m about to finally play on my Vita, probably in the next little bit.

And as a bonus, here are a few that I… didn’t really like.

The Lego Movie 2 Video Game

I’m heavily opinionated about this game. TT Games changed everything with this one, and it didn’t work. They changed the entire storyline from the film, made Wyldstyle the main character, and just… lost the Lego magic. I actually hate-play this when I’m in need to get angry at something. Honestly, if I could forever skip it, I would.

It’s almost criminal that it’s the most current Lego game released. Please let LSWTSS finally come out…

Lego The Incredibles

I like to call this game Lego: Missed Opportunities. A Lego game based off the Incredibles is fine, though their choice to start the game with the sequel film was… odd. Most of the unlockable characters are entirely forgettable, and the post game was pretty simple to finish. I just… didn’t really like it. At least the appearance of the other Pixar characters was kinda fun, especially Dory.

I’m just more annoyed they included the strobe scene. Weird playing a Lego boss battle wearing sunglasses and being directed by someone else…

Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7

I don’t hate this one, per say. I just don’t like it very much, especially compared to the original. I did like that the world felt more expansive, but it just… didn’t click with me like the first game. It was much cleaner and sharper at least. And it didn’t glitch on me like the first game did… twice.

At least it did include a feature I do love. There’s a floating ghost in every room of the hub area once you compete the game, and it tells you how many of each collectable are in the room, and how much you have left. It’s a good quality-of-life update that other Lego games have started using.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

My issues with this one are very minor. The storyline is fine… but forgettable. The characters are ok… but forgettable. The hub worlds are… you get my point. It’s an okay game, but it just doesn’t work for me.

You know what really doesn’t work? The Lantern Planets you visit in free mode. I have never experienced vertigo in a video game outside of VR (which is why I won’t play any VR games), until I played this one. I really hope to never again give this one a play.

So there you have it! My top five Lego games, and four that I have at least some sort of problem with. Remember that these are my opinions and you are welcome to have your own.

Until next time!

Picking Up Games Again – Blogtober 2021

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

You ever start playing a game, and loving it, then stop for some reason, only to return months later and say, “Wait. What was I doing again?”

I happened to do exactly that a couple times in the past few years, but twice it was funny becasue of what happened, and why.

The first one was Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch. I got my hands onto Animal Crossing about a month behind everyone else last year, right when quarentine was just starting. I played it almost religiously for several months, then stopped, just because I got bored. My island wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it to, and I got frustrated with it. Beyond that, I wanted to do something more, like play on islands that were set up like mazes, which I always found fun. But at the time, people weren’t making those, so I just said forget it.

Not too long ago, I happened to unintentionally open the game again. Now, I could have just jumped back into the game and fallen in love with my island and whatnot, and just finished it off and everything. But. I didn’t do that.

Instead, I started over. I deleted my data and went back to day one. I played every day for two months, building up my bells and slowly planning. Sure, not everything is done how I want it (can’t build a bridge were I want, but whatever). But I’m liking it more. And I have a few villagers that I absolutely love, so. I’m currently not playing for two weeks because I’m trying to get the sleep-messed hair style, and then I’ll jump back in to continue on.

The other game is one that I had considered jumping back into for awhile, but I kept on saying, no, you don’t want to. That was Pokémon Sword. When I originally got it (again, far after release date), I played it and loved it. I crafted a team of Pokémon that was well rounded. Thanks to the automatic EXP share, their levels were basically equal and everything. I ended up playing up until right after the original eight gym badges… then I stopped. And I don’t remember why.

The other night, I happened upon my guidebook for the game. I decided to boot up my Switch and play. It was then I discovered that I hadn’t playing since June of 2020. I knew it had been a long time, but over a year? That was insane. I fell right back into the game, slowly making my way to the end of my character’s journey… and got stonewalled at the Champion battle. My Pokémon are strong, and I have the type advantage, but I just can’t win. So I’m in a holding pattern for the next few days, waiting until a Mystery Gift with a level 70 Pokémon drops (or is that Oak’s Lab thing on Twitch comes back online. Whichever comes first.).

I’ve come back to games so many times in the past, and I am always beating myself up for not finishing when I was playing them the first time. One of the biggest games I’ve done that was actually Marvel’s Spider-Man. I’d originally finished the first act, then just kinda stopped for no reason. Came back about seven months later and beat the whole game to platinum in about three weeks (ignoring the DLC, because those Screwball Challenges can go to HELL). I’ll probably be doing this with Spider-Man: Miles Morales one of these days as well, as I have finished the story, but I haven’t completed it fully. It’s on the list.

Another one, and one that might be more surprising, is Lego Dimensions. When I originally played on my PS3, I loved the game. I played through the whole story, and had just started on the Level Packs when I got my PS4. So I switched over to that… and took almost a year to finally play through the Story Packs (because I hated both the Ghostbusters 2016 and The Lego Batman Movie packs, and was just not impressed with what they did with them.) It was only when I blasted through everything on my Xbox One that I finally went back and played the game to 100% completion. I finally did it on PS4, and not too long ago, because I’m worried my PS3 might be on its last legs, I finally got all the DLC trophies on PS3.

There’s one game that I’m still sitting on, and I’m just trying to get enough oomph up to actually play it. I started Lego Pirates of the Caribbean years ago, and beat the first film’s levels. But I just wasn’t enjoying it, so I stopped. About a year ago, I started again, restarted the file, and again beat the first film. And again, I stopped. I’m planning that this month, I’ll sit down and just power on through. I did that with Lego The Hobbit last month, so I’m hoping that being stubborn will get me through.

Coming back to games after having paused is hard, but in a way I love it. I get to reexperience them almost like new, but also know what’s going on. It’s fun, at least to me. While I do love blasting through one game at a time, this method also works well.

Until next time!

Video Game Tag

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I took a few minutes today to take a breath, and realized I hadn’t come up with anything to post for today. I’ve had this tag sitting in my drafts for a good while now, so I guess it’s the best time to break it out!

(Disclaimer: I found this tag on Pinterest a good long while ago, though I don’t know who originally came up with it.)

1. What is your favorite video game of all time?

Kingdom Hearts 2. There’s something about the Kingdom Hearts series that I just love. KH2 has everything I love in spades. Good storytelling, good vocal cast (both English and Japanese), great set of worlds, and a challenge across any difficulty I choose to play on. It’s my go to game when I need a pick me up.

2. What is your current favorite video game?

Lego City Undercover. My favorite Lego game, and probably one that I could play any day of the week. I’ve 100%’ed it multiple times, and I’m thinking of doing it again because of reasons. If you’ve never played it, give it a try. My favorite part is the final part of Level 15. It’s beautiful.

3. What is your favorite video game genre?

Action/Adventures and RPGs. Considering my two favorite games… It makes sense. I also love collect-i-thons, which are basically Lego games in a nutshell.

4. How long have you been playing video games?

24-5 years or so? My dad went out and picked up a Super Nintendo for Christmas in ’95 or ’96 after we moved to Florida. I didn’t get super into gaming until high school, but I have always had a love for it.

5. What was the first video game you’ve ever played?

It was either Aladdin or Goof Troop. We had both, but I’m not sure which one came first.

6. What game have you put the most time into?

Lego Dimensions, by a WIDE margin. Between all of my playthroughs, I’ve probably put in at least 500 hours. Probably more, considering that a full playthrough is at least 60+ hours.

7. Who is your favorite game developer?

I don’t really have one. I mean, there are a few I follow (TT Games, Artifex Mundi), but I’m willing to give most anyone a shot, unless they are Activision-Blizzard, because just look at the damn news.

8. Who is your favorite hero?

Probably Sora from the Kingdom Hearts series, because he goes on a journey. I give mad props to Square for writing a character that grows up both during games and between them as well. The Sora from KHI is not the same Sora in KHIII. And I love it.

9. Who is your favorite villain?

I don’t really have one? I’m not usually a huge fan of villains. I like anti-heroes more, honestly. There are some I tolerate, but no one is immediately coming to mind to say favorite.

10. Who is your least favorite character?

… Gwenpool from Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. She is one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever had the displeasure to hear. I’ve played LMSH2 twice, and her voice is the most grating of them all.

11. What gaming systems do you have?

My currently used systems are PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. I do also have a PS2 and several Nintendo handhelds, but they currently not hooked up or unpacked.

12. What’s your favorite gaming system?

My PS4. It’s the system that basically saved my sanity. I love the innovation of the Switch, but my personally think the quality of games on the PS4 are better suited for me.

13. Do you prefer to play a guy or a girl character?

Usually a girl. It’s still not all that common to have a choice. I always do my best to design a character that is similar to me, because I like to put myself into the story.

14. Do you play with a playthrough or on your own?

It depends on the game. I enjoy having a walkthrough handy, but I don’t always use it. For certain games, I use one a lot. It just depends.

15. Have you ever been to a gaming convention?

I’ve never been to a convention that is specially for video games, unless you want to catch RTX, which I don’t. I’ve only been to a few (Megacon, Metrocon, Shadocon, and EXPcon), and most of those are primarily anime conventions. It’s a thing.

16. What game are you looking forward to coming out in the future?

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the much delayed Lego game that I’m going to cry when we get it. I’m hoping that it gets released in February, because that will be the three year anniversary of the last Lego game released (which is also the absolute worst Lego game, fight me.)

17. What is your favorite memory in a video game?

The first time I beat Kingdom Hearts, I spent nearly four hours on the final Ansem fight. I got my final hit on him… and the try outside my window cracked and fell into against the house. Because I’d been playing while there was a Cat 1 hurricane hitting my area of Florida that day. I like to say that the tree was Ansem, therefore bad, so it needed to fall. (Also, our house was 100% fine. It fell, but it had slowed down considerably before hitting the house.)

18. What video game character do you see yourself as?

Honestly? I don’t. I look similar to Max from Life is Strange, but I’m absolutely not her. I designed my character in Pokemon Sword to look like me, but she’s kind of a pushover. I’m just not that type of person to compare myself to a video game character.

And there we go, another tag in the books. Like I said, I’ve been kinda sitting on this one, and I kept forgetting it existed until today. (Also, I’m totally burned out because of Whumptober and Blogtober prep, so expect the next couple posts to be at about this quality. Sorry!)

Until next time!

It’s September! Let’s Do a Challenge!

~ Liz Harrison ~ 1 Comment

I received some amazing news Monday morning (I’ll talk about it at the end of the post) which inspired me to set up a personal challenge for myself during the month of September. It’s in multiple parts, but it’s something I’ve been thinking of, and now I have the wherewithal to do it.

Part One: Reading

Immediately I think you can see where this challenge is going. When I was posting my review of Lost in the Never Woods, I decided to finally look and see how far behind I am in my Goodreads reading challenge. It’s… not very pretty. As of today (September 1st), I’ve read 22 books (though like five of those were comics). My goal for the year is 52, which puts me 12 books behind schedule. This is the slowest reading year I’ve had. In fact, since I started doing this 2016, I’ve only failed twice. 2018 was due to the move across the country and having to pack my books and things early, and really not having the time to read. Last year was because of the stress of the pandemic, and honestly just mental burnout.

This year, I really don’t want to fail, or if I do, I want to be close to my goal. So, I came up with an idea.

One of my goals for 2021 has been to read every Owlcrate and Barnes and Noble YA Book Club book. Over the course of the year, that should amount to 24 books, less if there is duplicates (which has happened twice as of July.) As of today, there have been seven Owlcrate books sent (August should be shipping any day, pandemic delays) and nine BNYA Books announced. Accounting for the two duplicates… I’ve read two books. It’s a problem.

So, my goal is to read the rest of the Owlcrate and BNYA books. I’ve honestly been shying away from them, because for some reason they just haven’t clicked with me (And The Ones We’re Meant to Find was beyond a disappointment). However, I made a challenge, and I’m gonna give it a shot.

Here’s the list, skipping the ones that I’ve already completed:

  • Owlcrate
    • The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (February 2021 – Magic Unleased box)
    • Sweet and Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley (March 2021 – Of Witches and Wonder box)
    • Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart (April 2021 – Ruthless Rivals box)
    • Sisters of the Snake by Sasha Nanua and Sarena Nanua (June 2021 – Go Your Own Way box)
    • This Poison heart by Kalynn Bayron (July 2021 – Potions and Poisons box)
    • The forthcoming August 2021 – Dark Academia box
    • The forthcoming September 2021 box, should it arrive in September (again, pandemic delays)
  • Barnes and Noble YA Book Club
    • Wings of Ebony by J. Elle (February 2021)
    • Yolk by Mary J.K. Choi (March 2021)
    • Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price (April 2021)
    • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (June 2021)
    • That Weekend by Kara Thomas (July 2021)
    • Small Favors by Erin E. Craig (August 2021)
    • The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith (September 2021)

My rules are simple. Read and review each one. I can read other things, up to and including the final issue of The Old Guard: Tales Through Time, which is set to arrive sometime this month. (Which reminds me, I have to call my comic shop. I still don’t have the 4th issue…) This shouldn’t be too much of a difficult challenge, especially if I take my time and just get through books in one or two sittings.

Part Two: Writing

I’ve been neglecting my writing since May, when I finally completed Febuwhump. Since then, I’ve written one story, with another one plotted out. Even though I’ve written more this year then any other year I’ve been on AO3 combined (31, 891 words at the time of this post), I’ve been dragging.

In an effort to combat that, back in July I signed up for the 9-1-1 Bingo, hosted by the 118 Discord. I was given a 5×5 bingo board with 24 prompts (and a free space). The challenge is to write at least 500 words (if not more) per bingo square. Yesterday I started and knocked one out, which I’m going to be posting sometime today. I’ll talk about the prompts in another post down the line this month, mostly because I have to figure out what the hell a “Meet Ugly” is…

Anyway, onto this challenge. My goal for this month is to at least five squares, not counting the one I did yesterday. I have a couple ideas, so this shouldn’t be too hard. The big thing is that I want get back into writing prompt fic, as I’m planning on taking part in Whumptober starting October 1st (though I’m going to get a jump on it once the prompts are posted any day now).

The only big road block I currently have is that we’re not allowed to double prompts up with any other prompt, including cross challenges. I knew that going in, so that means I need to get a good amount done before October 1st, even if I don’t post them all in September. My aim is once a week, and once October passes, more then that.

Part Three: Gaming

Here’s where the fun is. I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I’m trying to play through the last Lego games I have left on the PS3. Since that post, I completed Lego Dimensions, though I only did it to trophy completion due to the PS3 not exactly liking loading the game. I also finished Lego The Lord of the Rings the other day, which I would place solidly in the “C” rating on the scale. It’s a perfectly fine game, but I’m not a fan of the story and there were some graphical and map issues I took issue to.

As of the writing of this post, that leaves Lego The Hobbit (which I’ve started, since I’ve played it twice before), Lego Star Wars III, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, and Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventures Continues.

For this challenge, my goal is to complete one of these games. The reason it takes so long is because my PS3 isn’t exactly in perfect condition anymore, which means I can only play for about 2-3 hours before the thing starts having issues. On top of that, the games themselves just don’t exactly like the console. I’m working my way through Hobbit right now, and I forgot just how annoying some of the levels are. I’m using a guide for this exact reason, and thank god for that. I also always have the trophy guide up to keep track of everything. Otherwise, this might take a miracle.

Part Four: Watching

This is the part of my challenge list that will probably not be completed. My goal for September is to finish this “year” in One Chicago. As of my last check on my list, that’s 58 episodes (including one Law and Order: SVU crossover). More than two days worth of content.

The reason I’m basically giving myself permission to fail this is because I know I’m going to need a break sometimes. Gaming and reading and watching are all well and good, but I don’t want to completely stress for a month, especially since I dedicate at least two hours every day to applying for jobs, and I know if I do get one, this whole challenge gets nixed. But I wanted to make sure I had something that I could relax on, and this counts.

This also allows me to plan for the two episodes of 9-1-1 that will air during September, which I may or may not review (depends on how they structure episode one. If it’s like Season Three, I’ll just wait until the three episode arc is done. If not, I may go ahead and review it in a special Tuesday post. Maybe. Don’t hold me to it.)

Part Five: Creating

I should put “Content Creation”, but I have a pattern going, and I’m not ruining it, damn it.

Something I’ve been trying to do, to not a lot of success, is try to work more on content creation. I’ve been trying to tweet more, engage with people I’m following and who are following me on Twitter. I’m trying to post more on Instagram, both as pictures as well as in my stories. Twitch is something I’m coming back to (you’ll understand in a few minutes, I promise). And even now, I’m starting to use TicTok to making short videos of Lego gaming gags, as well as discuss TV and film creation, and how people make mistakes. And of course, there’s this blog, where I’m still trying to keep my three posts a week thing going (until October and December, because Blogtober and Blogmas will be happening again this year!).

So, I’m setting goals for the individual accounts. Ones that are actually possible to obtain. I want to try to post and engage at least three times a week on Instagram and TikTok, though posting on TikTok and reposting it to my story on Instagram doesn’t count. I want to keep up with posting three times a week here, with only one of the book reviews from this month counting as a weekly post. As for Twitch, I want to get back into streaming at night, as streaming during the day just isn’t possible with our internet. But I want to at least be consistent at some point.

Wrap It Up

That’s my five part challenge for this month. As for what inspired me to do this, it all comes down to one thing: sight. I can bring everything to sight, to seeing, to being able to use my eyes… and not really worry anymore.

I’ve posted about it on Instagram and Twitter, so I’ll just barebones it here. As I’ve mentioned before, I was diagnosed with iih (idiopathic intercranial hypertension) back in November 2017. On Monday, I went to get my eyes check for the first time in two years (due to the pandemic) and my optometrist took a photo of my optic nerve. It was fine, healthy, completely normal looking. The only way that would be possible is if the fluid in my skull was draining better. And it is. I no longer have to worry about iih (at least not every minute. It’s totally possible that in future, it could come back. But I’m bright sighting this, damn it.).

Because I have this new lease on my sight (and new glasses coming during the middle of the month), I’m taking September as a time to celebrate. And I hope you all are ready to be along for the ride on this one.

Until next time!

One A Day In May – Update

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

At the beginning of May, I came up with the idiotic idea to get a platinum trophy every day.

And I succeeded!

And it sucked.

So. Thirty one days of a new game a day. It sounded crazy. But I had a bunch of UK PSN codes burning a hole in my pocket, so I made heavy use of that account.

Due to the fact that I mostly played vaperware, I’m not gonna go through every game. Just some of the highlights. And yes, there were very few highlights. I really didn’t think this idea through very well.

There were three standout games over the course of the month. Yes, you read that right. Three. There were two others that weren’t total trash, but that’s about it. (And by trash, I don’t mean the games were completely awful. They just had easy or exploitable platinums.)

The two games that I would say were at least decent were Heal and Mahjong Adventure. Heal is a puzzle game with an intriguing story, through it was very finicky. I thought it was pretty good, though without a guide, you could get lost in sections, as there were no direction as to what to do. Mahjong Adventure is just your standard Mahjong tile-matching game. I enjoyed playing this one, mostly because I love playing Mahjong on my phone, though there were several times I had to use an in-game powerup, because the puzzle would be unsolvable otherwise.

As for games that I actually think were worth playing…

From studio Artifex Mundi, I played two games. The first was Demon Hunter: Revelation, which is actually the third game, but the first two didn’t make the jump to PS4. I wasn’t impressed with the story in this one, but some of the puzzles were fun. If you play through this one, I really recommend just skipping the cutscenes and using a guide. You’re not missing much.

Also from Artifex Mundi was Skyland: Heart of the Mountain. This one was slightly better, though I still have to suggest skipping cutscenes. There’s a lot of different, AM-stereotypical puzzles, but for the most part they worked well. The collectables were annoying, mostly because once you complete a chapter, you can’t go back if you missed something. Just a heads up, the voice acting is horrible. But then again, it always is horrible.

And then there was one. The only game this month that I can highly recommend (though, I also suggest using a guide for the collectables, because there are a lot). That is Concrete Genie. This is a tale about a young teenager named Ash in a small seaside town, who is heavily bullied by several local teens. Through art, he is able to express his feelings and keep his head up. When the town is overcome with darkness, his art and his courage are what helps drive it back.

This game was actually surprising. I picked it up on launch day in October 2019, but didn’t start playing it until September 2020, where I got through the first part of the game… then stopped. I picked it up again for this challenge, and I am glad I did. It’s a wonderful story wrapped in a tight game that just works. The collectables are plentiful, but they also aren’t a total pain to get. You just have to use the world around you. The only issue I had with the game was that they added a combat element for the back third act, and it just didn’t really fit, in my opinion. But if that’s my only complaint, I really can’t complain.

There are also VR trophies, and the game is entirely playable in PSVR, though it is not a requirement. Which is good, because I can’t play in VR without getting horribly sick.

The rest of the month was spent playing quick puzzle games and platinum bait, as well as a trilogy of games that can only be called horrible, mostly for their writing. There were some walking simulators that were somewhat fun, and a couple of dating sims that I blasted through (thank you, speed exploits), but on the whole, it was a waste.

And really, I didn’t try to do what I had initually set out to do.

One of my goals for May was to try to clear up some of my backlog of games. Instead of doing that, I ended up playing a bunch of horrible games that I’m never going to look at again. And that’s a shame. I have a couple games I’ve been sitting on for such an occasion. I was hoping May would inspire me to take the leap. Instead, they sat on my account unplayed, or still in their boxes on my shelf.

I’ve kinda taken a bit of a break from playing much of anything since May 31st, since I got so burned out. Now that I’m mostly back to normal, I’m probably going to jump into some of the games I didn’t get to over the course of the month. I want to finally finish Erica (so I can finally delete the app from my phone, and yes there is an app to play this game) and blast through Life is Strange 2 (since I accidently loaded it, so it’s on my trophy list). Actually, looking through my downloaded games, there are a lot that I haven’t finished yet. Maybe that should be my goal for the back half of the year.

Regardless, I’m never doing a gaming challenge like this again. Give me Febuwhump forever.

Until next time!

One A Day In May

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Because I don’t have enough on my plate already.

Back in 2019, I decided to set myself up with a challenge. A task, if you will. I was just settling into life in California, but I was feeling uninspired. What I decided to do was obtain 100 Platinum trophies over the course of the year, with the goal to end on Halloween. The reason for that date was because I had hit 100 Platinum trophies on Halloween the year prior. I figured that hitting 200 on the same date would be cool.

So I set myself to my task. I played a variety of games, both major releases, and a LOT of quick cheap puzzle games. It was in that year I played the majority of the Artifex Mundi hidden picture games, as well as most of the Powgi puzzle games. I finished #150 in July of 2019, right before I started my job (that I would eventually quit, but I’ve told that story before). For #200, I planned to finally finish Lego Batman 2. And I did! I was only two days late. I couldn’t find the last item, so I thought I glitched, and by the time I did, the day had rolled over, since I kept forgetting to reset the time zone on my PS3.

Most of 2020 was playing on my Xbox with my Lego Challenge. I didn’t really set any big gaming goals.

But this year is all about goals. At least, ones that I can actually obtain.

On the first of May, I ended up playing one of the newest Artifex Mundi games. On the second, it was this little vaporware game that was off a “quick platinum games in April list.”

By the third, I had an idea.

I have a big backlog of games, both long and short. I have a lot of quick little ones that will take no more than an hour with a guide, and ones that I will probably never complete because the platinum will take too long. So, I decided to get through some of my backlog.

Throughout the month of May, every day, I am aiming to get a Platinum trophy. For the most part, that means playing a 30min-2hr quick game. On days I’m not streaming, I’m trying to finish some of my longer games, the ones that have been sitting around for way too long.

I’ve mostly finished my list for the month. It’s pretty crazy. Plus I’ve carved out time to write and read, and taking into account that Wednesday and Thursday I’m probably going to feel like death (because second vaccine shot and I know myself). There are so many games that I’ve kept myself from playing for various reasons. But now I’m going ahead and playing.

At the beginning of June, I’ll give you guys a rundown of what I actually played. Yes, a lot of the games will be cheap crappy games, but a couple will probably surprise. Here’s hoping, anyway.

Until next time!

What I Learned from Doing an All Day Stream

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Lesson One: NEVER AGAIN.

Okay, I’m being sarcastic. I’ll do it again… at some point.

For those not in the know, last Friday I did a full Platinum playthrough of The Lego Movie Video Game on my Twitch stream. That’s 100% of the game. All levels completed, all items collected, all characters unlocked, and all miscellaneous trophies achieved. Considering the length of the game, I planned on the stream taking about nine hours. I knew this was a crazy idea, but it was something that I’d always wanted to do, to do a long stream with a game I actually knew.

I ended up taking almost twelve hours total, but there was a full two hours that the stream was offline, and other times that the timer was paused. Reason being I was having internet issues. Turns out if my mom and I are on the same wi-fi connection, I can’t get Twitch to remain stable for more than ten minutes.

I was actually pretty proud with my official time, which was 9 hours, 16 minutes, 55 seconds, just under sixteen minutes over my estimation. I was careful with using the timer, turning it off immediately when the stream started stuttering, and I waited until I was sure that everything was back up before I unpaused the timer. I also made sure that the timer was running before unpausing the game as well, so my time was probably lower.

I also took break every hour or so, for about five minutes. The reason was, I didn’t want to strain my eyes. It’s been over two years since I was diagnosed with iih, but I still overcompensate with keeping my eyes safe. I knew I didn’t need to take as many breaks as I ended up taking, but like I said, better to be safe than sorry. It worked out in my favor as well. My eyes didn’t bother me until the next day, which is normal for me now. (Yes, I need a new prescription, but I’m waiting until everyone in my household has had the vaccine, for safety.)

The biggest issue I had was I’d planned on taking no more than a thirty minute break around noon. We ordered Jersey Mike’s as a treat and everything. Unfortunately, what should have been a fifteen-twenty minute wait from order to delivery turned into over an hour (not the driver’s fault, just busy at the store). That threw off my plan by a lot. By the time our sandwiches arrived, I just sat on the couch and ate with mom, instead of eating at my desk.

But delays aside, it was a lot of fun. I’ve played The Lego Movie Game four times to completion before, so it was fun to go back and blast through it. I was remembering all the things I didn’t like as I played, and why I don’t really want to play it half the time. But at the same time, I was playing through history, as this game came out around the same time as Lego Marvel Superheroes. The different between the games is hilarious (one is amazing, the other… leaves a lot to be desired). My biggest thing I like was playing some of the tasks in the overworld, which are a definite plus. Of course, those tasks aren’t the greatest but still.

Something I did notice were some bugs that I’d never experienced before. I ended up caught in a wall a few times, and a required item spawned in above my character, rendering it inaccessible. Luckily for the latter, going to another hub world and returning reset the issue. I also kept on hitting invisible walls in places that they never had existed before, and I had several things not load properly. I’m not sure if this is because I was playing a digital copy of the game, but it was mildly inconveniencing.

On the streaming side, I did have people pop in! I had a wonderful conversation with several people, include someone who left and returned to see me finish, when I was doing my 15 required vehicle builds in the bonus room. It was nice to share the moment.

Was the stream successful? Unfortunately, not. I was hoping that by playing for a long time, I would get more viewers. I didn’t, due to my frequent pauses and internet issues. My average viewer count dropped, which is a problem (I need it to be 3, it was 1.4, now it is at 1.1).

But it’s ok. It was my first time. Nothing is perfect the first time.

I did decided I’m going to hate-play The Lego Movie 2 Game completely on stream, mostly so I can scream at it. It’s always fun to hate play something. I may end up play more Lego games on stream as well, including Lego City Undercover and Lego Dimensions.

So, my experiment failed. But I’m cool with it. Next time, things will be better.

Until next time!

Streaming Updates

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Hey all!

I was going over my streaming schedule for the next month or so, and of course things have to change due to releases and the like.

First, I’m still going to stream Monday-Thursday 8-10pm PST, weather/health permitting. I’m really trying to get better about it, so I’m doing my best to get ahead of everything, so that I’m not stressing by 7, which is usually the cause for me cancelling a stream.

This Friday was supposed to be my second book stream of the month. I’d already planned on pushing it a week due to Owlcrate’s shipping being delayed. However, Owlcrate announced that the box isn’t shipping until February 24-26, which would be right around the date for the next stream. So, instead, this Friday I’ll be doing another gaming stream, and we will be delaying the book stream until the box arrives. I’ll announce it when I have an idea of when the box is coming. It’s totally possible that I may have to shift the book streams a week across the board. But right now it’s up in the air.

As for upcoming games, we should be finishing up with Kingdom Hearts II by Thursday the 18th. Next up with be What Remains of Edith Finch, which will be next Monday. It’s a short game, but I have plans for Friday night (Wandavision!), so I only have the normal bonus time to do the Friday stream. If you haven’t heard anything about this game, all I will say that it’s one of the best and well written games I’ve played in a while. I just played it on Xbox One and loved every second of it.

After that, I’m hoping to replay The Avengers. Now, I know I said that Kingdom Hearts III was next. However, I really want to play the new DLC when it drops on March 18th, so I figured that replaying Avengers would be fun. Plus everyone gets to see me suck at playing certain characters (re: THOR).

I don’t honestly think it will take a month to play through The Avengers and the DLC. If we have extra time before the DLC drops, there’s a puzzle game called The Gardens Between that we might give a play at. Another short puzzle game that also has a beautiful story, told in silence.

As for this Friday’s bonus stream, I’ll be playing this wonderful puzzle game called Glass Masquerade. It’s your standard puzzle game, with all the pieces being stain glass and weirdly shaped. I’ve already beaten the game before, so this is just going to be a casual play.

So, this week’s stream schedule looks like this: (2/16-2/19)

  • Tuesday (8pm): Kingdom Hearts II
  • Wednesday (8pm): Kingdom Hearts II
  • Thursday (8pm): Kingdom Hearts II – hopefully finale
  • Friday (4pm): Glass Masquerade [casual]

Next week’s schedule is shaping up as well: (2/22-2/26)

  • Monday (8pm): What Remains of Edith Finch
  • Tuesday (8pm): The Avengers
  • Wednesday (8pm): The Avengers
  • Thursday (8pm): The Avengers

Should Owlcrate arrive on February 26th, we will go ahead and do the book stream. Otherwise, we will have a bonus unplanned stream as soon as it arrives.

As for Kingdom Hearts III, as soo as the Avengers DLC is taken care of, I’ll be jumping into it. I’m only holding off because of Avengers, and I was talking it up because I totally forgot that the second DLC was announced. That’s my mistake and on me.

So yeah, here’s the quick update. If there are some cool games that drop before March 18th, than things might get a little messy. We shall see what comes next.

(And just in case anyone is wondering, I’m going to watch the Nintendo direct a bit late today so that I can attempt to record my reactions. If the video doesn’t completely suck, I’ll throw the reaction video up on YouTube. We shall see.)

Until next time!

Check In – My Gaming Backburner

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

So, I’m taking a quick break from Febuwhump, because I remembered that I haven’t written today’s post yet. Whoops!

I was looking back on some of my previous posts, and realized I should revisit a post from the beginning of Blogtober, specifically October 3, 2020.

At the time, this was my gaming backburner games:

  • Concrete Genie
  • Kingdom Hearts II ReMind DLC
  • Marvel’s Avengers
  • Broken Age
  • Erica
  • Life is Strange 2
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  • Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal
  • Final Fantasy XV
  • Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Well. Looking over this list, it’s kinda surprising what is still there. So let me break it down a bit more.

  • Concrete Genie – I’ve started this, but stopped for another game. I’m holding off to replay and finish it on stream in the next couple months. Now, I will say that I absolutely loved the art style and what I’ve already seen from the game. I cannot wait to return to it soon.
  • Kingdom Hearts III ReMind DLC – I’m finishing up Kingdom Hearts II on stream right now. Once that, and two quick games, are completed, I’m doing a second playthrough of KHIII with ReMind on stream. This is absolutely important to me to play.
  • Marvel’s Avengers – “Finished”. I completed the main story in mid-December. It’s fine, but nothing to write home about. I’m tempted to hate-play it again on stream, but probably once I get a following. Maybe if I hit fifty followers. I do want to play the Kate Bishop DLC at some point but it’s not a priority.
  • Broken Age – Haven’t touched yet. Need to make this a priority one of these days.
  • Erica – I’m halfway through and bored out of my skull. It’s a FMV, and every play through takes about two hours long. But there isn’t a skip scene button. Watching the same scene over and over again is a great way to make me not want to play.
  • Life is Strange 2 – Just haven’t played yet. Haven’t really wanted to to it yet.
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – On the replay list. Still haven’t touched it yet since Thanksgiving 2019.
  • Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal – I was hoping to play this during February, but thanks to Febuwhump I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it. I may wait until March to return to this. I won’t be playing it on stream, only because I have a tight streaming schedule, and playing it on stream would feel too segmented.
  • Final Fantasy XV – Started it and just didn’t get hooked. I’ll get back to it one day. Maybe, maybe not. No offence to any fans of FFXV, it’s just not for me right now.
  • Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Done, finished, packed away.

So, yeah. After nearly four months, I’ve completed one game, mostly finished another, started and paused two, and discarded one. And then there are some I haven’t touched.

As of today, I’ve added a few games that I want to play soon. This includes Tell Me Why (Xbox One), The Gardens Between (PS4 for Stream), What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4 for Stream), Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure (Xbox Game Pass), and Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4). Also on this list are some Xbox 360 Lego games that I’m slowly working on. And there’s always new games being added, thanks to people making so many indie games lately.

I am kinda embarrassed when I look back at the list from October and see all the things I never played, even though I’ve wanted to. I really need to just sit down and knock some out. March can’t come fast enough at this point. I love writing, but right now I feel like to take a quick break. We shall see.

Until next time!

Two Weeks of Streaming: How Goes It?

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

How goes it? Well, not perfectly.

Let me be honest, this isn’t how I wanted to start off in 2021 streaming. But that’s how it goes.

I knew jumping in to streaming, and not being a fan of the big Triple-A titles (Fortnight, Among Us, COD, and so many others) meant that breaking in would be difficult. But I’m having fun and that’s what matters, right?

But let’s go back to the Tuesday before last, my first planned stream.

I started streaming a few minutes late, but that was because I was having some connection issues with my sound not coming through my headphones. It’s something that I’ve had problems in the past with, and I wasn’t about to not play any sort of game without dealing with it. I’d say the stream went well, though I didn’t get anyone into chat. The only problem was that in the final half hour, I kept on having connection issues, and I disconnected twice.

I was playing an indie game that I fell in love with a few years ago called Lili: Child of Geos. It’s a fun little game that deals with a young teen girl going to an island to collect flowers for research, and becoming involved with saving the creatures of the island from an evil dictator of a Mayor. I will say that there are some issues with some of the text, as there are some hilarious grammatical issues. But it’s a quick little game that I completed on stream in four hours total.

Wednesday was about the same. Finished off Lili and talked about my other streaming plans. I didn’t have any connection issues, which was good. And I was hopeful for the future.

On Thursday, I started a different game, one that I think is a lot of fun. Well, mostly because I could make social distencing comments and complain about all the people going to Disney World. I began Disneyland Adventures. The game is basically collectathon in Disneyland as seen in 2011, minus any Star Wars, Marvel, or Indiana Jones references. Which makes a lot of sense, because licensing. I didn’t get too far into the game, only because it is a surprisingly long game for being a kids game. But I’m okay with that.

I didn’t stream that Friday, but I did start my planned stream on Saturday. I began playing through Lego Batman: The Video Game, which was my first time touching the game. I got through the first chapter of the Hero story (five chapters) before signing off because of a major headache. I also cancelled my planned Sunday stream because of the same reason.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday’s streams were cancelled as well. Tuesday was because of high winds in my city, which makes having power kind of a gamble (California please bury your powerlines you cowards). I didn’t want to stream only to have it die ten minutes in. And yeah, my power did flicker a few times, so I think it was the right move. Wednesday, my family was watching the Inauguration and all the festivities surrounding it.

Last Thursday, I jumped back into Disneyland Adventures and made some decisions regarding how far into the game I was planning on going (hint, pretty far actually). I had a few funny moments, basically back to back, and I made my first clips from a stream because of them.

On Friday, I did a bonus stream to make up for missing the beginning of the week. On stream, I unboxed January 2021’s Owlcrate, which was a lot of fun to do, as well discussed my top books of 2020 and what books are on my 2021 reading list. Basically a stripped down version of the posts I wrote up for Friday and Monday. And honestly, it was a lot of fun. I got to have way too much fun making changes to what I put on Goodreads, which is something I’d wanted to go into on my 2020 Reading Wrap-up post, but I ran out of time. Unfortunately, the stream ended abruptly, as a certain someone in this house that isn’t my mother decided that downloading a bunch of stuff and crashed the internet.

And then…

I gave up on weekend streaming. There’s just too much that my family does on weekends, that taking the afternoon to stream is just not feasable. But I’m not sure if I’ll stream during the evenings, so I’m not offically changing the schedule yet.

And finally, to round out two weeks, I streamed last night. I continued with my playthrough of Disneyland Adventures. I think I’m two weekday streams away from finishing, maybe three. I keep forgetting just how long the “story mode” of the game is, and I added the additional collectables that half the character have at the end of their adventures. I am, at least, getting most of the collectables off stream. I’m just not completing the quests until I’m on camera.

So, what have I discovered?

Well, my decision to play some not so popular games wasn’t my best idea. There’s just not enough people looking for those games to tune in. Which is kind of an issue, because I’m just not really into most of the “big games”. No offense to anyone who likes them, it’s just not my thing. I may go ahead and play through some games I’ve already played through again, such as Marvel’s Spider-man and Bugsnax. I’m also planning on playing Kingdom Hearts on Game Pass, because why not right?

I did decide that I wouldn’t play any new Lego games on stream (barring Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, because I really want to go ahead and do the first playthrough live. I also am toying with playing through some of the Lego Dimensions Adventure Worlds on stream, just no the actual story. I’m not saying I’m going to do it, just thinking about it.

I also, as I mentioned above, am very much debating not doing afternoon streams on weekends, or limiting it to one day instead of both. I’m not making any promises just yet, but I’ll update the schedule as I decide.

One thing I want to continue to do is having a monthly book stream, unboxing Owlcrate and whatnot. It had a lot of fun with tat. And I guess I’ll have to discuss the new Shadow and Bone show once that starts in April. Which also means I need to read those damn books… Yikes.

I am having fun, even if I’m just talking to the void. Which is something really important to me. I don’t really want to do something that I don’t enjoy.

There’s still a lot for me to do, including making a “stream starting soon” graphic, and a different layout for my book streams. But I have time for that.

For now, I’m getting ready for tonight’s stream, and tomorrow’s, and what the future holds.

Until next time!