What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?
March 2024
March 31st, 2024
It's the last day of March, and also Easter, but I am neutral on both of those things. I do have to make some dairy free scalloped potatoes for an Easter lunch after posting here, but cooking is no hassle.
As far as games go, I finished An NPC's Odyssey yesterday and felt it was solidly okay. The translation was wonky, and the battle system was a little boring, but it's charming to spend 90 minutes playing a joke someone put so much effort into. My biggest problem is maybe that I got the good ending, but when I went to make the opposite choice to see the bad one, the game crashed, and did so repeatedly! For now, I don't really want to play through the quest again to get the other ending, so I'll leave it at just the one where things work out for now.
I played Pokemon Shining Pearl for quite a while last night, too, getting into the Underground, passing through Cycling Road and Mt. Coronet, and hitting Hearthome City. I really wasn't vibing with it, though, and felt a little bored, so I'll probably skip it for today.
March 30th, 2024
Being awake is posing a major challenge today, but I've stopped accidentally throwing pieces of my coffee machine across the room and gotten set up for today's post.
My top accomplishment yesterday was building this extravagant, two-story brick model of a KFE, no relation to KFC. I loved how needlessly complicated the architecture was here, and also like that the KFE, no relation to KFC, has a lil' hamburger sign. It's perfect if someone starts asking the wrong questions.
I kept on with An NPC's Odyssey, too, finding some of the RPG-centric jokes genuinely cute and wondering if the translators knew what some of the slang they were using meant in others. I think I'll try to finish this today, just to get one last game cleared for March.
March 29th, 2024
Today, I'm starting a little break from work, with five days off straight. I don't have any plans other than "I want to do a lot of crafts," but I'm hoping I can recharge a little this way.
Last night, I buzzed through the Eterna City stuff in Pokemon Shining Pearl. I felt like the Team Galactic building was kind of a difficulty crash after the gym leader, but even with the gym, I'd overlevelled during the week. It was pretty easy stuff.
I also started a tiny $1.99 RPG I'd picked up during a Switch eShop sale called An NPC's Odyssey. You play as an NPC who had his life savings stolen when the hero went through the chests in his house, which is a cute idea. The writing is sort of strange and awkward so far, though, with flashes of funny ideas that don't really gel. I read this is only about two hours long, so I'll keep going. Plus, I'm curious how high you can level up in such a small game.
March 28th, 2024
I still feel kind of spent, and was really not killin' it yesterday. I did play Pokemon Shining Pearl for a little bit before bed, though, making it through Eterna Forest, letting my Pachirisu wreck some fishermen, and hitting Eterna City.
March 27th, 2024
My energy is still bottomed out, so this is just a mirror of yesterday's post. I built this little flower block kit and was actually pretty pleased with it. These floral kits have such lovely petal designs!
I fought a few of the trainers outside of Eterna Forest in Pokemon Shining Pearl, too.
March 26th, 2024
I was really gloomy and low on energy yesterday, so I built this little off-brand Lego drink shop to try and give myself a sense of accomplishment.
I also did some level grinding in Pokemon Shining Pearl because it didn't take any brainpower.
March 25th, 2024
I'm way under the weather today, but scheduled a five day weekend for myself at the end of this week. I'm trying to use my excitement about a little break to power through the week.
My biggest chunk of game time yesterday went to The Quarry, where I feel like I'm continually taking the wrong path and missing out on secrets. I'm so short on the tarot cards I'm supposed to be finding that it's ridiculous! I'm still enjoying it, but I do not feel like a smart cookie. All of my poor camp counselors are likely doomed.
I had a distracting stomachache before bed, so I played a not-bad round of Balatro to get myself to sleep, too. Early on, I was trying to stack my deck with hearts, but once Standard Card Packs dried up in the shop, I had to abandon that strategy.
March 24th, 2024
Yesterday was a pretty calm Saturday. I'm still on my Lego kick, so I built a little flowerpot yesterday. I think this kit was from AliExpress, but am not 100% sure on that. It's been in my stash for a while. I was so pleased with the colors, though, and the round bits on the petals make this one so cute! Blocks are good.
I played Pokemon Shining Pearl before dark, too, but landed in the game's sunset timeframe. It was really pretty, so I don't regret that, and I cleared a skirmish against Team Galactic in a wind-based power plant. A lady straight up handed me a Mew for having played Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee, though, so that kind of overshadowed everything else I did.
I also turned on my XBox to browse GamePass and downloaded The Quarry, wanting to play a newer FMV game to see how things have evolved since the 1980s. The answer is "a lot," but having a down arrow pop up on screen as my player character runs towards a hanging branch still awakens the Dragon's Lair poisoned sparkles in my heart. It also, so far, has taught me how irritating it is for video game characters to walk up and down stairs at the same speed real people would. I'm still super excited to play more of this today, though. It's cool to see the start of a genre and where it's ended up today right next to each other.
March 23rd, 2024
I'm very brick-focused right now, so I worked on lego stuff again last night. I have a bigger, name-brand Lego set I'm chipping away at, but my finish for last night was this fantastic off-brand diner from Five Below. (It's maybe dangerous to have a shop selling cheap toys so close to where I buy groceries. The little utensils and skillet were so bespoke they came on a model runner, and I like the design vibe of the signage stickers on this one, too. I'm really happy with it, especially for the price.
Games-wise, I put my almost-Waldo quest on hold to finish the current event in Fashion Dreamer. I had a lot of fun with it this month, and felt like the developers had really improved a lot of the tedium of the monthly events. I'll be looking forward to the next one.
From there, I got back to my very slow playthrough of Pokemon Shining Pearl, too, clearing exactly one very small route. I want to play a bit during daylight today or tomorrow, since my normal gaming habits don't mesh well with this game's day/night cycle.
March 22nd, 2024
There's a snowstorm this morning, which maybe surprises me more than it should. It makes me glad I'm well set up to have an indoors day.
Yesterday, I got feeling really down at work, so I went to Five Below after my shift ended to buy some off brand legos. I came right back and built a new Cinnamoroll, the one on the left in the photo below, immediately. I hadn't built anything for a few months, so I forgot how fun it is! I'm hoping to crack into my stash of Legos, on and off brand, and model kits this weekend.
As far as game go, I popped into offline mode on Fashion Dreamer again to continue on my almost-Waldo kick. The faux leather pants really made this outfit for me. I'm proud of myself.
March 21st, 2024
I was extremely tired last night, so I just played some Fashion Dreamer before bed. I didn't even go online, instead grinding out outfits for NPCs to get their outfit patterns and character parts. It wasn't bad at all, though, and I made a stunning "tiny person meant to briefly make you think you've found Waldo" cosplay for my characters. Tired as I was, that was the height of comedy for me.
March 20th, 2024
My last 24 hours have gone somewhat poorly! I had a tire blowout on the way home last night, so I pushed my car to a local tire shop and parked it in the lot overnight, hoping for mercy. Then, I got up early this morning to call over for help, which I did get, and pretty fast, which was nice! Even the cheap and mid-range tires are expensive, though, so I'm salty about how much it cost. Things worked out, though, and I'm glad I can get to work hassle free now. Plus, I even have time to do this before leaving again!
Game-wise, though, I was just messing around with GamePass games I'd started and not finished again. I picked Contrast back up last night, and while I like the idea of this game, running through the shadows of 1920s Paris, it makes me a little woozy to play. I think I can get through it in short chunks, though, so I'm sticking with it now because the setting is neat. I'll see how it goes!
March 19th, 2024
I finished Gris last night, and it's probably one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. The ending was very lovely, and I was glad I went back to it. I didn't feel like I got the feel of the platforming down until right at the end, though, so the excellent gravity puzzles made me feel like, on the gameplay front, it ended just as it was getting good. Story and atmosphere seemed more important here, though, so that's fine.
From there, I played a couple of unbelievably bad rounds of Balatro to get myself relaxed enough to sleep.
March 18th, 2024
I'm actually going to try to stick to no new game starts this week, like I was talking about yesterday. Since I've started and not finished dozens upon dozens of games, this shouldn't be much of a challenge.
One of the big benefits I'll get from this is a shot at finishing some of the shorter games I've started, gotten distracted, and not finished on GamePass. I picked Gris back up last night and explored for a little over an hour, finishing the blue levels and reaching the yellow ones. I have no idea what that means in the scope of the game as a whole, but an eel chased me and it was very dramatic. As sedate as this game is, it does not slack on the setpieces.
I played my daily chunk of the Fashion Dreamer event while I was making an unecessairly complicated lunch out of a 38 cent pack of Maruchan ramen. For some reason, I was really set on making my character a cute little St. Patrick's Day outfit, so I did.
Before bed, I played Catlord until I was bored enough to sleep, racking up a lot of the game's static upgrades. When I get every upgrade bought, I guess I'll be done with this, but since I don't play it often, that's not an imminent concern.
March 17th, 2024
Yesterday wasn't a big gaming day for me. I had a lot of craft time, read a trashy vintage crime paperback cover to cover, and went to the grocery store in some surprisingly intense wind.
My biggest chunk of game time went to Fashion Dreamer, which I'm enjoying enough lately to consider playing outside of the current event. Mostly, I was just fiddling with color sliders on my own clothes, though, which doesn't make for wildly exciting blogging. It was fun, though, which is what matters more.
I also decided to play a bit with my all-Pokemon-regions tour and pick up Pokemon Leaf Green for a bit. I do have access to a real copy of this game, but felt so tired of the first chunk of first gen that I started on my Miyoo Mini+, gaining clandestine access to the ever-valuable fast forward button. Once I started playing, though, I was having a blast, which making the game run at double speed only enhanced.
I'm thinking of designating this as a "don't start any new games" week to see if I can make any progress in the many games I've got going. I don't intend to hold myself to that too hard, though, so it likely won't last.
March 16th, 2024
I had a lot of trouble getting started this morning, but am here now. My game time last night was weird. My allergies are making me feel so gross that I couldn't get myself to eat dinner until around 10 at night. A while after that, I turned on my XBox and tried Need For Speed Heat a try, wanting to drive around a palm trees and neon lights city. It was fine, but I don't know if I'll play it again. The load times and banners to buy stuff drove me a little crazy, and I felt like my starter car was handling too badly to have much fun. It delivered on blue skies and shiny lights, though, so it might be good to keep downloaded for mood-based game choices. I'll see!
As a side note, complaints like my load times one are why I specifically note on game pages that I'm using Game Pass on an XBox Series S. This could run great on a Series X, but I will most likely never test that.
I did another mission set in Fashion Dreamer's current event, too, but got knocked out so hard by the super-allergy-medicine I took that I didn't even make my character a new outfit this play session.
March 15th, 2024
The weather's been so up and down that I'm really dizzy this morning. I went over to the neighborhood coffee shop for a caffeine and sugar laden latte to get through the day, though, so hopefully this plan works.
Last night, I was too set on reading and crafts to play games much, but I did keep going in the current Fashion Dreamer event before bed. Making the events less repetitive made them a lot more fun, so I played longer than I expected to again. It was nice.
March 14th, 2024
A new event started in Fashion Dreamer last night, and I was almost shocked to see that events are now quicker and easier to play with more prizes for completed mission sets! I'd only intended to play for a few minutes or so, but I ended up going through the first fourth of the event in one go, really having a decent time. Pleasant surprises are nice.
March 13th, 2024
Last night, I was so tired that I felt disoriented and a little sick, so I played a very bad round of Balatro before trying to sleep. I don't even remember what ante I was in when I lost, but I think it was only the third one. That was okay, though.
Tonight, a new event is starting up in Fashion Dreamer, but I'm still somewhat under the weather. More than worrying about games, I want to get through the work day and figure out the fun stuff after.
March 12th, 2024
Today, I have allergy itching so bad I don't feel like I can think straight, so this won't be a very long post. I played another four stages of Evangelion: Shin Gekijoban 3nd Impact, though. I didn't hit any new gameplay types last night, so better appreciated what the game was doing in terms of using different playstyles to reflect characters' interior states and the tension of battles. This is better than I expected it to be.
I played a run of Balatro, too, tragically losing in ante five when I played a hand I'd meant to discard. I was trying to play a deck optimized for hands three cards and lower, but didn't feel like I was having a ton of luck with it. Even if I hadn't blown things by hitting the wrong button, I think I would have lost soon after.
March 11th, 2024
I was super wiped out yesterday, so I did crafts while watching movies and the Oscars rather than playing many games. After that was over, I was really tired. I did play games for a few minutes, though. Since I'm going to go to one of the theater shows of End of Evangelion next weekend, I felt like it would be fun to play Evangelion: Shin Gekijoban 3nd Impact (pronounced "sound impact") this week. It's a rhythm game from Grasshopper Manufacture, jumping off from the Rebuild movies, and it tries to do a lot with the standard rhythm game setup. So far, I've done four stages, all with totally different playstyles, and all of them felt pretty intuitive. I'm gonna get wrecked when the difficulty picks up, but it's really enjoyable so far.
After playing that for around 20 minutes, I didn't want to do anything other than go to bed, so I did.
March 10th, 2024
Daylight savings time is massively unpleasant, especially while I'm already having trouble with sleepiness. Taking a walk this morning helped me wake up a little, though, so I'm here and posting now.
Yesterday, I played another one of the small visual novels I've gathered on Switch, I'll Kill Her. I don't say that it was just a comic book with any snark intended- that's what it was. There were no choices or game play, but the art was really stylish, with lots of big screentones and bold colors, and it's interesting to think about what a non-standard format like this adds to or takes away from a story. It did have some unsubtle censored nudity, and I'm not sure if there's words they forgot to translate, or if they kept in some non-English words for the vibes. Also, as dark as this story was, the inclusion of a dress-up game from the main menu, which I always welcome, seemed strange. I kind of liked this game, though. It was an interesting impulse buy.
By the time I got to Pokemon Shining Pearl, I was dead tired, so I kind of wandered between Jubilife and Oreburgh for a while until I triggered an event by stumbling towards the right spot. From there, I just went to bed.
March 9th, 2024
I feel really dizzy today, and am in the depths of a manga binge. I started this morning with Goodbye, Eri, though, and really thought it was interesting. Maybe I kicked off the day on too high a note.
In the middle of reading a lot of manga last night, I decided to play one of the short visual novels I had stashed on my Switch and mix up the format a little. I went with the newest one I'd picked up, Looking Up I See Only A Ceiling. It was very short, with a very clear good-ending vs bad-ending trigger, and that was fine. The "explore mode" that unlocks after the main story, to act as an epilogue and explain everything, was a neat feature, but I maybe liked the mysterious feeling better before having the main character flat out explain the game's events. That was okay, though, and I understand why it was included. Navigating the house was also a little weird for me, but that might just be because I have no sense of direction, real or virtual.
Later on, I went in and beat the first gym leader in Pokemon Shining Pearl. I'm playing through very casually, but my victory was so close that I think I should have levelled up at least a little before fighting Roark! I'll keep this in mind for the next gym.
March 8th, 2024
Today's post is another short one! I got to Oreburgh City in Pokemon Shining Pearl this weekend, but that's about it. I'm hoping to fight my first gym in it this weekend, and I have another game I want to try out, too. If I don't pull it off, though, that's cool, too.
March 7th, 2024
I'm still sluggishly chipping away at Pokemon Shining Pearl, having played maybe 20 minutes or so last night. My goal was to catch a Starly, since that is a fine bird Pokemon indeed, but I caught it pretty quickly and was too sleepy to set about any other goals from there. Tonight, I'm kind of hoping to make it to the next town, but if I don't, I don't.
March 6th, 2024
Yesterday did end up being pretty busy, even though I was lucky in that the Facebook outage was shorter than I'd thought it would be. I got in half an hour of Pokemon Shining Pearl before bed, though, which wasn't bad! I hope it is interesting for everyone out there to bear witness to the start of one of the most torturously slow Pokemon series playthroughs documented.
March 5th, 2024
I'm trying to clean my apartment and having trouble focusing, so I only played another ten or so minutes of Pokemon Shining Pearl last night. I was hoping to play a better amount tonight, but it now appears I'm about to drive to my job that uses Facebook during a Facebook outage, so I'm kind of just abandoning that dream.
March 4th, 2024
It's the start of another week. I'm getting back to playing Pikmin Bloom, since the weather is getting nicer and my energy levels are starting to crawl back up. It's generally not very exciting, though, so I probably won't post about it much unless I feel like I achieved something neat I did get out and take a morning walk today, though, which felt really good!
Yesterday, I was bathroom cleaning during the day and played D&D at night, so it wasn't my best game day. I did, however, play roughly the first 15 minutes of Pokemon Shining Pearl. I barely did anything, so there's not a ton to say about it, but games are games!
March 3rd, 2024
It's Sunday and I'm awake, which I suppose is fine. I want to get back on my Pokemon-all-regions-attack, but when I went to play Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee last night, my save file was gone! It's my own fault for not getting the file before clearing off my old Switch for a friend's kid when I got my OLED. Still, it necessitates a different approach. Cute as Let's Go is, I am not redoing my first 25 hours of that.
As far as games I actually did play go, though, I had a really good run in Balatro, but lost in the 7th ante, or set of levels. It felt way more like luck than skill, so I'm not sure how to replicate this. Spending a lot of my earned cash to level up my played hands with the "planet cards" seemed to help, though, so I'll see how that approach goes again.
I also tried Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but losing my EXP when I got hit made me so mad that I quit. It seems like a game with a lot of interesting ideas, but that mechanic felt custom-designed to infuriate me, and I'm ok with dropping things.
March 2nd, 2024
Today, I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed, but I don't really have a lot to do. My toughest quests for the day are buying groceries and making a pot of soup to meet up with family, both of which are super easy. I guess some days are just like this.
On Thursday, someone was a little rude to me on the phone, so I decided I needed a new game as a reward and picked up Balatro. I can't believe it took so long for "poker solitaire, but the numbers get really big" to become a game. Last night, having just started this, I played it until my eyes could no longer focus on the Switch's screen. It's simple, but I enjoyed it a lot.
I don't really know how video games will go this weekend, but I'll have enough to post here regardless.
March 1st, 2024
I got my medications adjusted again, so I was kind of out of sorts yesterday. I counted down until it was a reasonable time to go to bed and then, once I was there, proceeded to start and clear the Space Battleship Yamato laserdisc game from Taito LD Game Collection on Switch in one sitting.
In my defense, I do want to say that Space Battleship Yamato was a much quicker clear than most laserdisc games. I immediately did a good chunk of a second playthrough to try and figure out if I was missing something, and I don't think that I was. My feelings on it are a little mixed, too. I felt like the fact that a lot of the animation was pulled from a TV anime, rather than being bespoke like in a lot of games of this type, made it feel clunky and disjointed, and some of the stretches of animation without play cues dragged on long enough to make losing a life and retrying feel really tedious.
There was a lot that was cool about it, too, though. Being able to select the four stages in any order gave it a decent feeling of player freedom. Since this game combines the strict button command style of FMV game, where you have a split second to hit a directional button before your character dies horribly, and some shooting gallery style stages with projectiles overlayed on the animation, those stages have decent variety, too. Even though the difficulty spiked in spots, I didn't feel like this game was too brutal, either.
Mostly, though, the not-at-all-inspired-by-Star-Wars trench run level is one of the coolest laserdisc game sequences I've played, with some nice first person flying animation, a very good sense of speed, and a quick-moving combo of directional commands and free shooting. If I come back to this game in the future, that sequence specifically will be what pulls me back in. It was short, but so cool!
I also played a couple levels of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest, since I had this game as a kid and find the pirate ship levels relaxing. I'd like to clear the whole game eventually, but probably not now.
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