You can call it writer’s block, but it’s more like I don’t have much to say. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, I present some pictures from Ghost of Tsushima, the game I am currently playing. And if there’s anything worthwhile I like to bring attention to this blog post is that the director’s cut version is coming to PC (May 16th, 2024). That’s exciting news for PC gamers. Do I recommend this game? Absolutely. It’s a video game for grown-ups, although like the protagonist Lord Sakai, sometimes I do forget I am all grown-up. It doesn’t hurt though to play once in a while. 🙂
I didn’t expect to play Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition, developed by Larian Studios, and I did not know it was part of a successful Kickstarter project (Yes, I do live in a cave). I bought a digital copy from Steam’s sales two years ago during the pandemic. However, I heard about the game around the time it was released when a gaming friend pointed out that it’s Co-Op. For that reason, I declined from investing in such a quality game, knowing I’d get addicted to it. Indeed, now in December of 2023 when most people are probably playing Balder Gate 3, I am finally enjoying my solo adventure in Cyseal hunting for the source of evil. More than 60 hours into the game, I am nowhere to beating it! I jumped into the game blindly and learned how to play the game through trial and error (I did the same thing with Elden Ring). Let’s just say, I enjoy figuring things out for myself. Like most people, I ended up restarting the game because I messed up with the skill points and missed certain dialogues with a certain character. On my 2nd play-through, I found it easier to piece the story together while familiarizing myself with the game-play, which to my surprise there’s not a lot of grinding. To gain experience level, the players would have to complete side quests apart from defeating enemies, which is a good way to make players pay attention to the storyline. It’s an ingenious idea to kill two birds with one stone.
Now in terms of game-play, this game doesn’t hold your hand. According to the game, you start out picking two characters: Roderick and Scarlett. You can change their names and even their gender. I think a balance between male and female is fine the way it is. When I initially started the game, I didn’t even bother to change their names. So, yes you are not locked into the default characters. There is some level of customization but there’s no real point to it. Yes, you can zoom in for a closer look but the entire time, it’s better to be in the bird-eye view. Plus, the selected icon pictures that display your characters are limited. This can be quite the eye-sore when you are trying to distinguish your character from others.
Couldn’t find an icon picture that matched my character creation so I chose closest one…
I chose blue hair for the female characterbecause it bothers me very much when the icon picture doesn’t match the character on the screen.
This brings me to the topic of building characters. It’s not important about what class you choose in the beginning because you can change class, although it’s wise to reallocate your skill points in the beginning to your liking because you will mess up. I have been addicted to the strategic game-play. I am not sure if I am enjoying the game-play more than the story. I think there is a good balance. Good sense humor is always appreciated. Plus, the soundtrack to this game is superb. It is what reeled me into the game in the first place.
The theme in character creation menu
Listening to the soundtrack Memories of the Future, makes me feel as if I am romantically drifting to a faraway land called Cyseal where I lie down on a nice white sand beach. It’s a great escape from the winter here because most trees and grass are brown for months. I have yet to feel like it’s home where it’s always evergreen.
Well, since my last adventure with Elden Ring, I was on my way to Mistwood Ruins. A lot has happened since. As usual, I cleared out a lot of areas and beat a few bosses. I am so overwhelmed with this game that I don’t have words to describe my emotions or thoughts.
Since the last screenshot taken of this map, I have discovered more areas below the surface while partaking in Ranni’s questline which in turn alters the ending of the game (I have not reached the ending yet, just some info I found on the internet)!
So far, I don’t know if that is a good thing. It always takes me a bit to process everything. I will provide my final input on the game when I do complete it. So stay tuned for that! Instead of writing out my thoughts, I will provide pictures from this game. I hope you enjoy it!
Purple SeaA Child of the CosmoThe Stars Beneath the SkyResting after defeating Valiant Gargoyle and TwinbladeI Have Become A WitchInside Nokstella, Eternal CityInner Order Nokstella Night SkyI beat Astel, Naturalborn of the VoidMore StarsThe Moon and the Elden Tree
So far, this preachy, cliché game about learning how to get along in a team is quite entertaining. On top of that, the Photo Mode is fun. Slowly, I feel like I can do more of this virtual photography thing. It’s sure a fun way to pastime. Plus, I could always use more humor in my life. In this game, you can select either male (Yuito) or female (Kasane) protagonist to start the game. I chose to play Kasane’s route first. She’s an indifferent, strong rational lady–atypical, but typical of what a strong female character should look like, but I will go more into that later after I finished playing her story.
The color red in this game is far from relaxing
I feel that discussing gameplay, story, and the overall structure of the game will take several blog posts to cover this JRPG game since I like to play games thoroughly. I have thought of writing daily to jot dot detailed playthroughs, but I have not decided if that is the route I want to go for this blog because quality posts matter to me. As a reader myself, I hate wasting the reader’s time. So, that’s why I do my best to write a polished blog post. However, it will take the load off of my shoulders if I just do freewriting like in this blog without being overly concerned about using proper grammar. For one, most gamers don’t care. Secondly, classist book snobs don’t take video game stories seriously, so there’s no point in trying to impress them or convince them. Sometimes in life, you just have to take a side. Being true to myself is more important than finding acceptance. I stand by my hobby.
How true…
It always blows my mind how narrow-minded a well-read person can be. You’d assume they would be more open-minded. Not the other way around. Anyway, I won’t go into politics. After all, I am thinking about a particular person. She doesn’t represent the entire book community. For now, I will take my leave. This summarized my weekly blog update. Hopefully, I provide enough information on what to expect in future posts.
I remember one of my favorite pastimes is exploring the Dark Souls universe and I am surprised by this blog; I discontinued my adventure for Dark Souls prepare to die edition. Should I resume my half-finished journey? That was many years ago when I started dabbing my feet into blogging. Met a few gaming bloggers for sure, but most of them have abandoned their blogs and/or have moved on with their lives. I don’t blame them. All things have an expiration date. Even I deleted my old blog when I lost the motivation and the inspiration to write. My naïve self didn’t realize that by nature, gamers are overall just competitive folks, or perhaps as my friend said, people are just more honest and open to how they really feel online, which most of the time really has nothing to do with anyone but the individual. I wish I understood this sooner. My blogging journey would have been more of a pleasant experience. Writing about my gaming adventures was one of my favorite things about blogging but it’s also the least popular among readers. Somewhere along the way, someone is going to get offended and that is something I cannot control.
So here I am now continuing my adventures. If anyone enjoys this sort of content, welcome. Happy you are joining me. I decided to play Elden Ring. By now, most” hardcore souls/borne fans” have probably already completed the game. Once upon a time, I was a Fromsoftware enthusiast too. I once resonate with the game developer as being a tiny entity that rose from the ground and came on top. It makes a great tale. In fact, it’s a classic tale that works pretty well in video games even in books and it speaks a lot to those who enjoy those types of games. It does give you a sense of tremendous amount of achievement when you defeat all odds. For someone like myself who often got overshadowed by my peers for having neonate features that made me look a lot younger than my actual age, it felt really good to say I beat Dark Souls and got the platinum trophy, although it was my patience more than skills that got me through.
Fromsoftware brands itself for making difficult games and what you buy is what you get. You buy games to get slapped in the face repetitively. Now that doesn’t sound fun. But for some people, they like a good slap in the face, a challenge that reminds them they are not dead. Not just yet. It feels good to feel pain and overcome hardship. Well, that’s just my opinion, but is it?
I bet Rooney, the suicidal girl from the survival horror game Nightcry would do well with Fromsoftware games. Only when our lives are threatened, that’s when we fight for it with all our might! Yes, go ahead and laugh at people like me. I suppose me and Rooney are the same. I don’t think I ever said I was sane. I mean “It’s okay to be undead just have a level head,” I quote the Blacksmith from Dark Souls II. Not everyone is fit for this type of game. Not everyone is born with perseverance. So, no hard feelings. Just move on and stop being a hater.
So, what there’s not to love about Elden Ring? It’s a massive fantasy open-world game that got me just aimlessly exploring. In fact, I don’t know if I am going to the right place. That is a bit of a problem in my book. I’m not a fan of open-world games. There’s no sequence to anything. I just roam the landscape and pick up plants for crafting. Certain areas made me feel as if I am in heaven. Some pretty sights to see over the cliff by the sea.
I feel as if I am already on top of the world even though I haven’t beat the game yet!
Standing next to the bald eagle. At least I got more than one companion. Did I ever mention I love trees?
So far, I defeated a few optional bosses found in the caves; one field boss named Tibia Mariner which wasn’t all that difficult and Margit, the Fell Omen. All the other boss fights are too difficult for my under-level character at the moment. I really don’t want to have to summon other players to help defeat a boss. It can be quite fun if you are into multiplayer games, but not for those who play for the atmosphere. Luckily, you can always summon NPC if it’s available.
I wonder why this game is not called Dark Souls 4? It kind feels like a souls game. Just look at the picture below. I suppose this one feels like you are playing inside a fantasy instead of a fairy-tale book.
View from the cave in SIOFRA RIVER. I wish I could live there. I am already somewhat of a cave woman anyway.
It’s so magical and I love that! I could just escape to its world and never come back to reality. As I mentioned before in my blog, I love books and games. Plus, the monster designs are actually pretty impressive and fun to battle with.
The monsters in Elden Ring feel very real at the same time fantasy-like. If you look closely, it’s clutching two blades with its feet.
It’s like going to a zoo–except that I get to be more interactive and engaging with the environment. How awesome is that? And yet, I still don’t know if I will ever complete the game. All it is, it’s just a polished souls’ game, which is a great thing. However, this game requires massive time investment if you want to enjoy it to its max. And I wonder is that why I had the game sitting on the shelf for almost a year now? I’m not ready to invest my time in it. In the back of my mind, I feel that my time should be used for something else more worthwhile. But at the same time…it’s a great game to pass time.
The game has a lot to offer, especially if you love to explore; you’re a lover of fantasy; and you love lore. There really is much to love.
I am going to do something a bit more casual here. I am going to write an impression instead of a review because I am not here to sell you anything but give you my impression of the game as a fellow gamer who is just trying to help some gamers out there whether you should play this game or not. so I’m too lazy to articulate my thoughts, especially after playing a heavy-loaded game like this. I have already put over 60 hours of gameplay into this game. Not going to 100 % it. I did it with Nier Gestalt years ago, but would at least try to 100 % the side quests. Currently, while writing this post, I’m at 83%. Weapon completion is also important as well. This is a story-driven game. You would appreciate the story more by completing these tasks.
NieR Replicant ver_1_22474487139 released 2021 of April, is not a remake or a remaster of Nier Gestalt (2010). It’s more closely related to Japan’s version Nier Replicant which players play as the brother instead of the father. Some additional content has been added to this upgraded version to flesh out the story. So if you have played Nier Gestalt and wonder whether you should purchase it, you should but not at full price. You are not missing much. It’s just less convoluted than the one released in 2010. Perhaps, this is what some players need, a straightforward story?
I am not a bad girl…
The upgraded version gameplay feels a lot smoother and fluid like you would play in Nier Automata (2017). The gameplay is very simple: hack and slash with plenty of weapons and magic to choose from, although let me warn you that gameplay was never the game’s biggest strength. I stick to one weapon and two magic: Dark Lance and Dark Hand the entire time. As for difficulty settings, there is Normal Mode which is really Easy Mode, and Hard Mode. I can only imagine what Easy Mode is like. You’d go through the game without a sweat. Well, I can see it being an option if you are into speed runs. Some of the trophies required players to beat a boss within a certain amount of time. And if you are just interested in experiencing the story, then there is no reason to play on Normal or Hard Mode.
Without spoiling the story for those who have not experienced this masterpiece (yes it was a masterpiece in my eyes when I first played it). It’s about a brother who is trying to find a cure to the disease called Black Scrawl which has been inflicted on his sister. There are some heavy topics such as body dysmorphia, homosexuality, and borderline incest introduced in this game. Yes, it’s not your typical hero and heroine you see every day. They are humans, but are they?
Let’s go kill more Shades…um…okay?
As I mentioned earlier, the side quests add to the story so don’t skip them. They are fun and addictive with a twisted sense of humor. The greatest attribute of this game is the soundtrack, however, the music arrangement is not as on point as in Nier Gestalt, which did affect my experience. I didn’t like how it sounds unnaturally flawless. So, I didn’t enjoy the game to its max. It feels kind of soulless. Well, it’s not soul’s game if that’s what you are expecting. If I were to compare this game with Nier Gestalt, I would still pick Nier Gestalt over Nier Replicant, playing as a father seems more logical. I don’t know though, I never had brothers who go to an extreme to protect me so it didn’t make any sense to play as an overly protective brother.
Happy times with big brother
Although I can say, I know what it is like to be the protective big sister. I guess there is some similarity in that sense, or it’s just the fact, I’m as crazy as the protagonist. I just like killing stuff. Clearly, though, the game was not intended for the female demographic but why is it so popular among female players? That’s something to think about.
So what’s so great about this game? Well, it’s the story. The soundtrack, but more importantly how it was executed. The game allows players to see from different angles and it starts to question your morality. Who are the real humans? Even if you think you are right, does that justify killing?
I killed innocent people…I killed them all.I even kill the nice robotand I keep killing…I don’t know what I am killing anymore…is that a human?
I think you get my point. The game will make you think about your actions. Are you really righteous?
You must be logged in to post a comment.