Gamer's Diary

Elden Ring: The Quest that Made Me Uncomfortable

July 5, 2023November 27, 2023Halsdoll4 Comments

The bored centaur (I’m referring to myself) hath returned to Elden Ring. I am resuming my gaming adventure where I left off a year ago. After the completion of Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age, I thought I would return to this game because I miss playing a soul’s game. To my surprise, all I need is a little break. I got addicted to the game as soon as I got some sort of lead.

For those who are new to my blog, I need a reason to explore or else there is no purpose for me to roam in open world games. Oh jeez, why does it sound like real life? I still don’t know quite exactly where to go–but meeting Rya caught my interest. Got to save the ‘damsel in distress’…or is she??? She is no princess. She is a servant! What can we gain from unattractive ladies? They might have hidden motives because beautiful women rarely approach people. They are like unattainable stars that you can only admire from afar (I hope you can tell I am joking).

Rya staring at the player — *Meeting Rya, the hunch back blonde for the first time*. *She is to the right.*

She wanted her necklace back–stolen by Blackguard Big Boggart. Taking pity on her distress, I agreed to spend 1000 runes (money), which I didn’t find too difficult to spare. It’s not all that difficult to earn runes in this game. All you have to do is keep killing stuff that come across your path, which in my opinion is a barbaric thing to do. Not all NPCs will attack you, but we all know money talks. Because of my good deed, Rya found value in me. She invited me to Volcano Manor to meet her mistress. It was pure curiosity than flattery that made me proceed with this questline. I just didn’t know where to go in the game, and so I agreed to search for the two halves of the medallion which were located in Fort Haight West and Fort Faroth. I needed the medallion to activate the Grand Lift of Dectus that will take me to Volcano Manor. Anyway, after obtaining the pieces to the medallion, I was able to use the lift to reach Rya who was waiting for me.

holding a medallion in order to activate Grand Lift of Dectus — *Two halves are put together to make a medallion. It was no easy task to find them*

But I was surprised to learn about the manor and the lady she serves. Should have not trusted her easily with that mischievous look of hers. She works for the proprietress, Lady Tanith of Valcono Manor, who in turn asked me to kill other Tarnished folks like me (I am still trying to wrap my head around why players are called Tarnished). Why would I do that? Why would I perform a murderous task for a handsome reward? It doesn’t sit well with me.

Sitting next to Lady Tanith and her servant in Volcano Manor — *But we can be one happy little family…*

For instance, my first task is to kill the NPC Old Knight Istavan in Stormhill. Upon researching on the internet, there is one thing I learned from this quest: You don’t have to kill the NPCs and complete the side quest requested by Lady Tanith. It doesn’t affect the main story. Maybe on my second playthrough, I would complete the questline to learn more about the lore and its story. Currently, I just don’t feel comfortable accepting such a dire task. I still need the NPCs as I don’t play with people online. If you kill them, you can’t summon them. Old Knight Istavan can help you defeat a boss in Coastal Cave early in the game. In the meantime, I just need to continue exploring, beat bosses, kill stuff, and hopefully, it will all make sense at the end because I don’t know what’s going on other than the fact there is a big giant yellow tree, and I feel like I am in a dream–doomed to roam it aimlessly.

sitting and staring at the yellow tree in Elden Ring — *Is this heaven or hell?*

Currently in Nightmare Mode

April 30, 2023November 27, 2023HalsdollLeave a comment

I wanted to write about the story in Fatal Frame Mask of the Lunar Eclipse but I sort of got burnt out; on top of the fact, I am ill as we speak. It hinders my ability to write, but I’m slowly getting better. If only I schedule in advance like most bloggers, this wouldn’t be a problem. Oh, my stubbornness. I just like to do things naturally without a set schedule. You can’t force creativity. It comes to you or it just doesn’t.

*I give myself a cookie for attempting* *to keep this blog updated weekly*

Anyway, I finished my third playthrough with a 62% completion. Took a break from the game and now I am playing it for the 4th time! Collecting all the Wraiths is the hardest part since it happens on random occurrences. However, I am not too concerned about beating the game on Nightmare Mode. I just have to be mindful of using health items and stronger type films since you can no longer purchase them in the Save Menu. Luckily, my weapons (Camera Obscura and the Spirit Stone Flashlight) are maxed out. It’s going to be tough because items in the game are pretty scarce. So that means…I can’t let ghosts touch me! As I mentioned before, the wisest decision is to play the game on Easy Mode so that you can get the feel of the game. All items will be carried to the next playthrough. So I recommend stocking on items while you can. But if you are in just for the story, then Easy Mode is the way to go because the story alone is pretty good.
I still have not grasped the thought process behind the reasoning of each character but I feel that Detective Choshiro Kirishima is the hero of the day.

He is investigating the Moonlight Syndrome that turns people on Rogestu Island into lunatics. Okay…I am just joking that is not the story of the game. Stay tuned while I’ll try to piece the story together on the 4th playthrough in Halsdoll’s style. Hopefully, I will try to get it in before Mother’s Day. I could play more feminine games like this.

Selecting A New Game to Play

March 7, 2023November 1, 2023HalsdollLeave a comment

So far, I’m proud to say I start the year by completing games consistently and they were games I find enjoyable too! By now, like most folks, I know what sort of games I like and what I don’t. For instance, I have never liked FPS and nothing about it appeals to me. It looks boring just shooting people for the sake of shooting. However, I do enjoy third-person shooting games, particularly survival horror games. It’s fun to shoot zombies. Maybe it’s time to switch it up. As I am typing this post, I already finished my 2nd playthrough of the Last Guardian and wonder if I should platinum it. I also wonder whether I should dive into the game a bit deeper. I’ve seen a couple of great analyses and I am beginning to formulate my theory about the game. Then I look at my Wishlist and decided maybe I should just move on. I have seen a few horror titles on my Wishlist going on sale and I am still debating whether I should purchase them.

For those who are new to my blog, my backlog is pretty small because I tend to play everything I purchased. My backlog used to be about 12 now it grew to about 20 titles that I have not played. Oddly, I can hear some people laughing because some people have over 100 titles they haven’t even touched! To me, 20 unbeaten games is a lot since I am the type who likes to play games multiple times. Thanks to the very long games! It doesn’t help that I am a completionist either! I suppose I should not feel guilty about my small list. Many people have a lot of unbeaten games and the list just keeps growing over time. Hopefully we are all accepting adults and can appreciate our differences.

This made me realize how appreciative I am of the Wishlist on Steam, it helps me stay focused and keep track of potential games I eventually want to play. So far, I completed half of the games I purchased on Steam. I thought I would play Dark Souls 1 and 2 again but I have already played enough of it on console! So I guess that doesn’t count as my unbeaten games. Ikaruga is probably the oldest game I have on Steam that I have not beaten. I can see myself spending hours on this game. Arcade games tend to be very unforgiving. There’s no save point. So, you just have to get good at it until you see the credit rolls. Maybe one day I will focus on that game. For now, I just want to focus my energy on story driven, atmospheric games. They tend to be the most relaxing. There’s something about good art that captivate the soul.

Between the horror games I mentioned above, I think I am going to check out PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Why? Because I’m up for a good supernatural, mystery game. Well that’s what I’m hoping. It will be released on Mar 8th. Right now, it’s currently 20 % off until March 23rd–and maybe if I like it enough I will do a review or if I don’t like it, I probably will drop it but I highly doubt that because I like the art style. Plus a story about ordinary people being thrown into extraordinary events is always a great selling point for me!

And yet I want to revisit Darkengard (PS2) and. Drakengard 3 (PS3). These games I started but did not finish thoroughly because I’m interested in its story more than the gameplay which is monotonously boring. Perhaps, if they’ve been siting on my backlog for awhile, maybe it’s just time to move on. I am not as dedicated as I used to be with completing games unless I really like the game! At the same time, my time is just as valuable or even more so than a game. Time is something I cannot gain back so I have to be selective with games.

So, what game have I decided to play? I suppose you are just going to have to check back at a later time. Don’t we all like some mystery? I know I do!

What I Learned from Playing Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

December 13, 2021October 30, 2023Halsdoll2 Comments

Originally posted on Aug. 24, 2017; Revised Dec. 12, 2021

Perhaps, I am a child at heart but I really prefer the simplistic gameplay approach, especially when the story is the focal point. The content of this game is quite mature but with light gameplay, which is both suitable for adults and children. Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, an action-adventure RPG, developed by Namco and Tri-Crescendo, is about a boy’s journey toward finding warmth in the post-apocalyptic world. It has a typical story but it took advantage of the video game medium to produce a unique experience.

What I enjoyed about the game is that it’s beautiful and atmospheric. According to the trailer, it is supposed to have horror elements, which ironically, it’s far from scary, but more so cute like Casper the ghost, but a little lonely. The player plays the protagonist, a young man named Seto who is on the search for human civilization.

Throughout the game, Seto is accompanied by caring loving companions who are not humans. The most memorable companion to me is Crow, who appears to be a big tea drinker like myself based on his clothes. His encounter with the robot is my favorite part of the game.

It was fun chasing and hunting down Crow because it reminded me of playing hide and seek and playing tag. For a moment, I didn’t mind taking a break from trying to find the silver hair girl.

That section of the game illustrates an important point made by one of the characters, Chiyo:

“It’s the sunbeams, the wind rolling over grass and the idle chit chat with friends [are] the gems of life.”

The moment where Seto chased Crow to get his locket back is special and left a huge impression on me. It made realized how we must not forget during our journey in life to enjoy the present moments. That is called living. The game also wanted to make another important point: Crow is a robot. Even if we find happiness in the substitution of artificial life, including digital ones–it does not replace real-life human interaction. Thus, it’s the silver hair girl that can offer Seto a real authentic relationship even if it involves conflict and misunderstanding between both people. Lastly, Sai, one of the main supporting characters, helped me understand that words may not always be the best form of expression, but it’s not entirely useless. Words fill in the part where visual cue fails to communicate simple things such as Seto wanting Ren, the silver hair girl, to be his companion. He wants his memories to live on by sharing them with someone.

Overall, the game provided a philosophical explanation for the continuation of existence, despite the dark side of humanity where most people would want to withdraw and disconnect from all forms of human interaction. The world would be a pretty lonely place when we only answer to ourselves. I thought the game successfully illustrated these points through gameplay and atmosphere. If you haven’t played this game already, check it out. And if you have played it, let me know what you think. I’d love to hear them.

Credits: Picture sources found at fragiledreams.fandom.com/wiki