Featuring: Ammo, Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra and Tamrielo
Tonight we talk a bit about some technical difficulties that almost prevented us from recording the show. As a result if anything sounds weird we are on a different server, and will likely be on yet another different server next week. Grace was able to join us so we finally get to talk about Paper Diablo aka Book of Demons. Throughout the weekend I saw the strangest comments over our staff slack channel about a game called What the Golf and Tamrielo finally explains what the hell is up with that. Kodra and Tam talk a bit about the close of Kentucky Route Zero. Bel talks about diving further into Spiders games and playing Technomancer and how once again their ambition outstrips their technical prowess. Ash talks about CrossCode and we wrap things up with a random topic about the perils of opening a Game Store.
We are still in the process of releasing all of the original episodes of Bel Folks Stuff as I continue to work on brand new episodes. This show in particular originally released on January 16th of 2015 and featured my friend Petter Mårtensson. At the time of the recording Petter was behind the Don’t Fear the Mutant blog, and extremely active on the CSICON Network hosting several shows including Claims the Normal, Three MMOSketeers, Enochian Frequency and Who’s Who. In the time since we recorded this he has moved into the game industry proper working for Massive Entertainment a game studio under the UbiSoft umbrella and most known for The Division and The Division 2.
Weird story is that I eventually took over the column he once wrote about Final Fantasy XIV over at MMOGames and then I myself moved on from that as well. We had a really interesting discussion about science fiction and futurism and geeked out more than a little bit about Doctor Who. These early shows run a little long but that is largely because I found myself getting wrapped up in the conversation that I didn’t want to stop. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did recording it.
For those who have read this blog for awhile, you will know that I have this semi-monthly column in which I talk about the games I have been playing regularly and also use this as an excuse to update my blog’s sidebar. The fourth quarter of 2019 was not a good time for regular updates to this because I failed to do one in October and also completely failed to do one in December. With the new year I am hoping to get back on track and keep these, but I have to warn you… today is going to be a bloodbath. Many games are being dropped from the list because quite honestly some of my gaming patterns have changed drastically over the last few months.
To Those Remaining
Destiny 2 – PC
Destiny 2 represents one of only a few games that I am regularly playing that would classify as an endless game. I’ve had a shift away from Massively Multiplayer Online gaming towards more finite single player titles of late, and as such those evergreen games that I always spent time in have suffered greatly. I’ve come to realize that I had not really finished many games because I always wound up getting distracted by the online fare, and if I instead ignore them I find I actually do enjoy polishing games off. Destiny 2 however is near and dear to my heart and is the sort of thing that I can return to over and over again for short bursts. While I am sure that I am making Thalen sad for not playing much, I have missed out on a bunch of things and am mostly okay with that. I do want to finish the seasonal grind at some point but I have 40 some days to do that.
Diablo 3 – PC and Switch
Diablo 3 is another one of those games that is so much part of my core identity that I am not sure if there will truly ever be a period of time when I am not at least idly playing it. Since the time of last posting I completely finished the PC Seasonal Content as a Demon Hunter and made it up through Slayer on the Switch with a Whirlwind Barbarian. The Switch is excellent for grinding a bit from bed before falling asleep, but even of late I have been opting out of that for a few reasons that I will get into later. With the talk of Diablo 4 on the horizon and the conversion of Torchlight Frontiers to Torchlight III, I still find myself extremely connected to this now aging game. I’ve just not found an adequate replacement to truly scratch the same action rpg ich.
To The New and Returning
Here is where the sad bits come in… there really isn’t anything new to be adding to this list. I have played several games but none of them are the sort of things that I expect to be adding to the list in any sort of a permanent manner. Instead I think I am going to implement a new feature called “Ships Passing in the Night” where I talk about some of the games that I had short but intense interactions with, but feel the chapter is either closed or will be closed once I complete them.
Ships Passing in The Night
The Witcher 3 – PC
I have so much love for this game, and while I fully expect to go back and play it at some point I am effectively done with it for the moment. For years I found this game incomprehensible in the way it sorta just drops you in the middle of everything with limited explanation. It was only through watching the Netflix Witcher series that I was able to gain proper purchase and glean enough information to make me feel firmly planted in this games universe. Since then I have been on a tear of playing through everything I could stand from the Witcher games and even reading the novels. The first Witcher will likely always be an impassable wall for me, but I have accepted it. This third game however goes on the top games of all time list for me personally.
The Witcher 2 – PC
After playing through the first Witcher game I had so many unanswered questions, and as a result I opted to do things backwards and go back searching for the answers in Witcher 2. While it was a bit of a struggle to get used to the interface, I eventually mastered it and had a phenomenal time doing what was effectively a golden path play-through of the non-human side of the story. I even was engaged enough to restart and try playing through the human side, only to determine that I had absolutely made the correct choice the first time around and wander away like a bored toddler. This game is always going to have a soft spot in my heart, but it is a deeply flawed experience, but one worth experiencing. Unfortunately I realized too lately that the answers to all of my questions lie in the books and not the past video games.
Greedfall – PC
Another flawed but phenomenal gameplay experience is that of Greedfall. It is a game that is tackling some themes that I have never quite seen a game tackle, which are really spending time exploring the sins of the colonial era. While there are some weird things going on at times with the interface and with combat, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience playing this game and as a result it has caused me to be interested in a deep dive of the developers back catalog of games. If you love the Bioware style of games you might legitimately be interested in exploring the games from french developer Spiders.
The Technomancer – PC
This is the second game I have played by Spiders and I am enthralled. This is currently my gaming main squeeze, at least until I finish it and It is a thoroughly interesting experience. The game is set in a post colonial Mars where it is ruled by rival corporations and military powers that end up creating a pretty damned oppressive environment. That said the game threw me a massive curve ball yesterday and opened up considerably and I am so there for the long ride. Imagine a setting that blends Blade Runner, Dune, Total Recall and the Red Faction games with a dash of Fallout into a single setting. I actually am enjoying the combat in Technomancer way more than I did Greedfall, and I am curious what things are going to be like if I keep going backwards in the Spiders catalog.
TemTem – PC
It is possible that this game might make it to regularly playing status, but for now I am throwing it in this category because I am just not sure. It is a Not-Pokemon MMORPG and it is charming as hell and does a really good job of both mirroring the best parts of Pokemon and bringing new things to the genre. The only thing that I find lacking is there is no xp sharing system and you legitimately have to fight with your not-pokemon to level them instead of doing what I do and just dragging them along for the ride. I’ve only played a few hours on this latest build even though I was a backer and have played various builds along the way. Time will tell if this becomes something more serious for me or not.
To Those Departing
Dragalia Lost – Android
Sorry Dragalia… you had a really good run but there are two things that happened. Firstly the gameplay finally reached its point where it became repetitive to a fault. Secondly I have been trying to read more often and as such that time when I was spending playing Dragalia Lost got replaced with time in the Kindle app. I am not the type of player that ever opts to play a mobile game if I have access to other options, so once it lots its prime real estate for bedtime gaming it really dropped off my radar. I am happier to be reading each night than to be spending time in a repetitive grind that doesn’t really go anywhere.
The Outer Worlds – PC
Sorry Boo, it’s me not you. This is a game I expect to return to and finish up, but in truth it is one of those things that should have graced the new category and not really added as a regularly playing. I’m somewhere around halfway done with the game and I figure when I deplete my current run of bioware-like games I fully expect to dust this off and finish it up. I love the game lots, but just have not been playing it.
World of Warcraft Classic – PC
It just isn’t doing it for me anymore. I can’t fully explain it, but after the absence when I was frustrated with Blizzard over the Hong Kong thing… I found it impossible to get reconnected and actively start playing again. Someone let the magical blue smoke escape and it just doesn’t do much of anything for me right now. I am for whatever reason in the wrong mind state to be enjoying it and as such it leaves list.
World of Warcraft Retail – PC
While I know without a doubt that I will be back and playing Shadowlands… for the moment I have zero interest in anything going on in this game. It is sad because I dearly love my Facepull family, but for now at least I am loving them from a distance. There is just something about World of Warcraft at the moment that I find a massive turn off, because I have tried to log in a few times but jettison in a perpendicular trajectory really quickly. Battle for Azeroth really did ruin the game for me, and I guess I hope it is not a permanent condition because I still have fond memories of how much I enjoyed Legion.
Summary
So there we have it, like I said it is a bit of a bloodbath because I have whittled down the regularly playing list to two titles. I am pretty sure this is the smallest it has ever been since the implementation of it. For now I am very much on a kick of not playing MMORPGs, but time will tell how long that will actually last.
This week has been full of craziness and as a result I don’t have an awful lot of gaming news to talk about. We are in full prep mode for my wife going out of the country, and I am trying my best not to think about it. Last night for example I didn’t properly get set down in front of a screen until almost 9 pm… which generally speaking on a normal night I am trying to wind down about that time. As a result you are going to get a Josie picture and some talk about how that is going. Unfortunately you are only getting a single picture because I am nowhere near the prolific cat photographer that my wife is, namely because when I get home I rarely have my phone handy.
One of the struggles of late is trying to figure out how best to deal with the fact that Josie needs a steady source of water. Kenzie and Mollie prefer to drink out of a cup and Josie has not exactly mastered the art of doing this and just ends up knocking it over and making a mess. When we have had the traditional water dish, the older girls end up playing in it and also knocking it over and making a mess. Some years back we purchased a little water fountain but it never took off because the water more bubbled up than streamed. As a result I spent some time on the interwebs looking for a better option and finally landed on something else.
The above picture doesn’t exactly show off the final device that well, but it is the product shot from the amazon page. The diameter is almost 14 inches wide and when filled with water the entire thing is extremely heavy… enough to keep it from getting slid around on the kitchen tile floor. One of the favorite things for our cats is to get up in the sink during the winter time when we are dripping the faucets and to drink straight from the tap. This in theory mimics this and I have already seen them using it more than the previous option. Josie has figured this out as well and is now using it, so in theory I think we have a winner. It is dishwasher safe and everything unlocks easily so in theory it should be pretty easy to clean as well unlike the previous option.
As far as Josie and her adjusting, she is still very much in kitten “everything is new and exciting mode”. She loves stealing silverware and pens and playing with those so we now have to be way more cautious about such things. She continues to be mostly oblivious to the other cats borderline hostile reactions, and the frequency of those is reducing. Kenzie more or less gives a half-hearted growl when she sees her like she is somehow obligated to keep up the ruse that she doesn’t like Josie. They sniff each other often so I think at some point that rampart is going to fall and for the most part Kenzie is back to her normal behavior.
Mollie on the other hand is a bit of a hold out in this department. They also sniff each other and the other morning Josie came bounding into the kitchen and headbutted Mollie. Mollie was sorta stunned and just sat there for a moment and long after Josie had walked away gave a delayed growl. It is working far better than we would have hoped for, and now we mostly have another snugly baby. The photo is of her snuggling with me on the sofa… in the spot Kenzie normally occupies. Shortly after snapping the photo Kenzie came over and laid on arm of my chair beside me. Were it Mollie who had trespassed on Kenzie’s territory… she would have growled and pushed her out of the way because I have seen her do it numerous times. The kitten however seems to keep getting deference from both of them, which ultimately tells me they are adapting fine.
