2022 GAMING DIARY

I'm playing games a lot more this year so far.

Completed so far this year
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond*
Zelda Skyward Sword*
Metroid Dread
Final Fantasy 7 (original)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2*
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition
* started last year, I had 3 badges prior to this year in Pokemon, I was 4/7 dungeons into Skyward Sword, and on the Oil Ocean zone (give or take a zone) on Sonic 2. I often have a NSO NES/SNES/etc game as a 5 minutes here and there game.

Currently Playing
Age of Empires 3
Final Fantasy 7 Remake - I updated it earlier today ready to start it

Might have abandoned but do want to go back to
Dragon Quest 7
Final Fantasy 12

Upcoming
Pokemon Legends Arceus
Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remake
Zelda Majora's Mask (NSO)
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

Old Games I'm thinking I'd like to replay
Digimon World 2003
Jade Cocoon
Final Fantasy XIII

Alright, progress update. WARNING: SPOILERS.

PATHFINDER: KINGMAKER

"If the following effect is something I don't know, that's where I actually deal with it."

Playing this game without a forward plan is kind of stupid, owing to the fact that you cannot play a game where it's underlying theme is future responsibility of duty. But I went on regardless and just brutally annihilated my foes even though I haven't mastered the system yet. Did I save scum? Rarely. Did I just decided to use my RTS strategies on a CRPG game where I can switch from RTS to Turn-Based in a flash? Definitely.

That's where I know playing a lot of really competitive games egged me on the technicalities more, but that's also where I pretty much fail considering that it suck out the fun out of playing games for me. So, playing this game felt like an actual refresher compared to the other nightmares I have to deal out there. Plans for the future later.

Being honest has its perks... for a future politician.

I decided to be a goodie two-shoes because I want to, but I decided that I can also be a little biatch when it comes to bad guys. Yeah, playing black-and-white morality isn't fun... until you decided that as long as you're still in the white area, you can do a little 'gray' actions. Basically doing 'we do a little trolling' in videogame form.

If anything, I'm having fun with the story overall. Imagine this actively capable goodie two-shoes just getting the trust of her superior and the villain is just pissed that he can't get the other side to join him completely. And not only that, she can prove it. Good in combat, good at heart... and good with the ladies? I was more surprised that my party is women-only, but I can take that. At least I can finally show that I kind of like it when women hit me (made worse by the fact that most of them CAN).

You're really going to argue morality to a person with a golden halo?

Through the course of the game, I kind of want to challenge myself more. Imagine what that would be when it turns out they introduced a concept called 'Swarms'. If anything, I got pissed at the fact that you can only kill something specifically through that method, something that in most videogames are kind of... considered a really, really overused trope nowadays. Don't get me wrong, it's good to be prepared... but the way that the game is setup that taking a swarm fight is better done on the turn-based strategy mode than in the RTS mode. Other than that, turn-based has its perks. You get to be deliberate in your actions. RTS? Well, imagine throwing all of your best attacks at once on one poor soldier. That's what it's gonna feel like. It just shows what threats I have to deal with on both modes. On the turn-based side, it's the bosses. One the RTS-side, groups can utterly ruin your plans, even the measly ones.

I'll continue playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker for the thrill of it. The RPG mechanics of Pathfinder is overwhelming, but I'm sure it's something I can handle.

In all fairness, I never thought that blasting magical grease to your opponents is that effective. To them and to my cohorts.

SILENT HILL
Silent Hill doesn't need an introduction. It's a good horror franchise (barring some games) that stood the test of time if Konami decided not to do NFTs. But here we are, with a neglected horror franchise.

It's not my first rodeo with Silent Hill. In fact, I was played this game back at 2016, only to stop when I realized I couldn't get the good ending for Cybil as I checked a walkthrough. A bummer, really. But I'm back to finishing it. And ready to face the horrors that it has.

You're going to hear this line... A LOT. Maybe.

I... can't say that much for the game yet. I'm still reeling from the fact that the entire game's backstory to the entire mess was because people decided that developing their town was 'bad' (get it, capitalism bad) and then suddenly spawning hell never realizing that hell is CAPITALISM (or socialist, the whole oil-rig aesthetic isn't giving good vibes to this era in all honesty).

Considering how much of a rollercoaster Silent Hill's story is, I'm just going to put it like that. Or maybe I go into a rant about the game in general now.

In a demented hospital. With a gun. I'm not going to make a joke about wounds now, am I? Not when they a massive, squiggly one at their backs.

So far, this game is generous in giving me ammo, and then knowing that the cap is set at 200 per ammo type. Imagine that, telling me that, and I see enemies right at the street. I was knee-deep in my own blood using melee weapons, and now you're telling me that I have to use my gun because there's a lot more ammo? For a survival horror game, that is not a good way to tell your player that you can just ass-blast every single thing you see with a gun... which I totally did once I knew that little tidbit.

For a game trying to sell its horror aspect, you sure are telling me that I'm free to go 'stealth is an option' route. Now I use my guns more than my melee weapon. And then I run out shooting everything because it turns out there's a lot more enemies that using my gun at all of them is a bad idea.

Now that's psychological horror. That and that one enemy that is trying to suck blood out of my bottom. I had a screenshot of that... but the emulator decided that I couldn't. Bummer.

Hell is an offshore oil-rig. And you're going to get that oil for Satan.

FOLLOWING REMARKS
I'm going to go for a more compact post, but with a lot of progress into it. I wanted to go for a 'journey-like' journal post-esque posting, but that's gonna suck the life out of me.

Also sorry for earlier, I accidentally pressed Enter instead of Shift xd. The post got in there earlier than expected.

And I am so going to resize these photos. Jeez, RMN doesn't have a fit-to-forum-post option for images. I already did resize them and THEN make them into .webps. At least RMN got that one right.

Changes in bold.

Completed so far this year
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Zelda Skyward Sword*
Metroid Dread
Final Fantasy 7 (original)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition
Final Fantasy 7 Remake - had a blast, not sure how I feel about the future of the remake series but this was a lot of fun
Pokemon Legends Arceus - fantastic game, completing the Pokédex was a joy unlike the usual chore
Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remake - it had been years since I played, fantastic remaster, I just really feel though that the FF4,5,6 pixel remasters should have included the gba content
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons - I am still playing it but I’ve beat the story, got all the new masteries, elite specs etc, so it is complete but ongoing like most mmos

Currently Playing
Zelda Majora's Mask (NSO)
Phantasy Star Online - I just had a really strong urge to go back and replay this game, I don’t plan to invest thousands of hours again, so I spent a couple days so far setting up a combination of patches and codes to smooth out the experience.

Might have abandoned but do want to go back to
Dragon Quest 7
Final Fantasy 12
Age of Empires 3

Upcoming Games
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - I’m aware it’s out but my friend who I play borderlands with wanted to wait as we both didn’t enjoy 3 that much, and our bills just skyrocketed
Chrono Cross Radical Dreamers Edition - given the leak it wasn’t a 100% surprise, but I’m really looking forward to replaying

Old Games I'm thinking I'd like to replay
Digimon World 2003
Jade Cocoon
Final Fantasy XIII

Whoops been a little while. Changes in bold.

Completed so far this year
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Zelda Skyward Sword
Metroid Dread
Final Fantasy 7 (original)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Pokemon Legends Arceus
Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remake
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons
Phantasy Star Online - Finished replaying, was a fun hit of nostalgia
Chrono Cross Radical Dreamers Edition - Lots of fun, great to replay it. I did several playthrough to unlock all the characters, shame the plot gets really rushed after Chronopolis.
Borderlands 3 - I had completed the main game before but I had never finished all the side quests or DLC, now I've done them all, really enjoyed Gun, Love and Tentacles.
Final Fantasy XIII - First time I've replayed it since release. I enjoyed it but it was a slog in places.

Currently Playing
Zelda Majora's Mask (NSO) - slowly
Final Fantasy XIII - 2 - only just started, probably going to replay the whole trilogy, I remember 13-2 being my favourite of the trilogy, and I never finished Lightning Returns.
Guild Wars - another game that is hard to define ever as completed, I tend to play it every year during the anniversary event, I unlocked tier 3 of the Hero title track this year. I also completed another chunk of the vanquisher and cartographer titles, I caravanned the whole of the northern shiverpeaks and ascalon. Really need to finish the desolation off so I can get rid of the eight holy staffs in my inventory.

Might have abandoned but do want to go back to
Dragon Quest 7
Final Fantasy 12
Age of Empires 3

Upcoming Games
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - maybe
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - just came out on xbox, I'm not in the mood for a visual novel game at the moment but I'm sure I will be before too long.

Old Games I'm thinking I'd like to replay
Digimon World 2003
Jade Cocoon
Phantasy Star Online Episode 3 - this one is the card game one, I really loved it but always struggled to find friends to play it with.

Damn 9 months in and I haven't written anything yet. Guess I've been playing a lot of fighting games and online stuff so not much to diary about.

Been playing Xanadu Next a falcom RPG that's a remake/sequel to xanadu that's a spinoff from dragon slayer and not to be confused with faxanadu which is a spinoff of xanadu. It's an action RPG though what kind of variety its hard to pin down. The combat is somewhat dark souls oddly enough, given the game was made for the freakin n-gage it's likley just an evolution of the many computer RPGs that kings field hailed from and there's just some DNA that Xanadu shares with that. However a lot of the combat is very much driven by stats, you can also manually juke out enemy attacks and bash them in the rear however you might still miss or score a critical strike which makes it more stat driven than your average souls. It could also be compared to Diablo with its top down perpspective and one hand mouse gameplay, but it doesn't have dungeon spam of monsters. There's the occasional puzzle to solve and some metroidish elements which is also tied to classic zelda keys. Except you can buy the keys, but they increase in price each time you buy... unless you sell bones which are scattered throughout areas or sold by certain merchants. Every time I try to pin something down on this game there's something that it does just a little bit differently. Let's just say it's a falcom RPG with slightly more involved combat/inventory management and leave it at that.

I defeated the second boss or so and I'm making my way through whatever path is blocked off by huge boulders. It can be tricky remembering what I was doing in certain points if I haven't played the game in awhile. I don't really have a particular build other than just up the stats of whatevers required to use this cool new weapon I found. I'm not super engaged with the adventure but the environments are oddly compelling, they remind me of Ragnarok Online and the music just gives it a certain vibe.

Diablo 1 I've been itching to play more not quite classic classic RPGs but classic in the 90s resurgence period classic. I could never get into Torchlight or even Diablo 2 but there's something about Diablo 1 that always made me want to at least clear it. The atmosphere is much more thicker and the artstyle is way more dithered and clunky. The development story behind it goes that it used to be a turn based game and it sorta shows. The movement is very "tile based" as in even when freely shooting arrows you can envision the tile based manner the arrow was meant to travel in an FFT way. I picked the Rogue if you couldn't tell, and there's not much of a build I'm going for other than pump a lot of DEX and get STR whenever a bow I get asks me to get it.

There isn't much to buy in this game yet, I keep selling junk for tons of gold but it seems to be better to find the RNG bonus loot in the dungeons instead. Occasionally I'll need an identify scroll or repairs but the game loop of filling up the inventory porting back to town can get tiresome. I suppose the red potions are starting to drop less frequently so maybe thats the game saying to actually prepare and stock up with the money found.

The combat is a lot more tactical than I was expecting. Instead of spam clicking you're sort of taking advantage of the enemy path finding to pack them into hallways to make it harder for them to surround you. The Rogue can shoot through uh windows/bars? Meaning there's lots of oppurtunities to kill enemies without getting hit. It's a weeeeeeeird game because agruably it hasn't found its identity til Diablo 2, which is a streamlined RPG with none of the READING dnd rp crap and just looking forward to the next loot the next level the next skill tree unlock etc. Though if I wanted that I'd play an MMO or something. I just never got the appeal of the diablo 2 endgame other than battle.net nostalgia. So it makes it all the more strange I find Diablo 1 archaicness compelling. I'm around Level 7 or so and apparenly the game only has 16 levels so I feel engaged enough to keep going.

Completed so far this year
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Zelda Skyward Sword
Metroid Dread
Final Fantasy 7 (original)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition
Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Pokemon Legends Arceus
Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remake
Guild Wars 2 End of Dragons
Phantasy Star Online
Chrono Cross Radical Dreamers Edition
Borderlands 3
Final Fantasy XIII
Sonic Origins
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Super Mario World
Digimon Survive
Diablo 3 - One of grindy achievements bugged :( I really don't feel like deleting my whole save and starting from scratch, so probably done.
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2 - finished recently, a nice nostalgia hit but not much more.
Pokémon Shield - I'd previously in Sword bred 6 new competative Pokemon and EV trained them. So I played Shield from start to finish with them, I also got the alternate form of Urshifu, and caught Regileki, Glastrier, and Yamper which completed my Galar Pokedex in Pokemon home, about 40 Pokemon to go to complete the national pokedex in Home.

MMOs/Games that never end
Guild Wars - not played in the last month.
Guild Wars 2 - started working on the Jormag legendary variant sword, completed the Clock Tower jumping puzzle first time this year!

Currently Playing
Plate Up - amazing fun, been playing this with Indrah.
Zelda Majora's Mask (NSO) - Played a bit more, up to Snowhead dungeon.
Persona 5 Royal - Having a blast, played about 50 hours so far. Recently completed the 4th dungeon, nearly done with August.

Might have abandoned but do want to go back to
Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy XIII - 2
Dragon Quest 7
Final Fantasy V Pixel Remake
Age of Empires 3
Digimon World 2003 - Played for a few hours, forgot to save and accidentally hit esc. It scratched the itch I had to play it. I remembered this game being slow but it was super slow.

Games I might get
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Pokémon Violet

Old Games I'm thinking I'd like to replay
Jade Cocoon
Phantasy Star Online Episode 3

Damn january 2022 did not feel long ago... I don't think I've made much progress in any of the games I've been mentioning. I've probably spent a lot of my time this year between Street Fighter V and Tekken 7. I've also played a bit of DUSK and I think I'm somewhat close to the third episode. Been feeling the itch to return to Divinity: Original Sin 2 lately so I might stick with that into the next year. Maybe pick off from Final Fantasy X?