On tonight’s Resonite exploration, we went frolicking in a forest, went to a world where we could watch shitty VHS tapes, and ended the evening in a couple of party worlds.
Also worked on some more Resonite footage, since that seems to have become the latest behemoth in my game footage collection since Skyrim. I’ve already come close to piecing another video together, though I probably won’t release it until November since it lacks anything spookworthy. In fact, most of the video work I’ll be putting in between now through October probably won’t be released until November or early next year. Unless I happen to come across some video footage befitting for the season…
Every night before I go to bed. I’ve been playing some form of Castlevania, or Shantae. There’s just something about playing these games at night, during the witching hour that brings out the perfect mood in me to commence the grinding. I even got an achievement/trophy the other night for destroying a druid at midnight! I didn’t even know that was a thing! Now that I’ve achieved Shantae’s final form for this game (that I know of) I’ve been circling back and looking for all additional items that can only be received with the proper abilities and power-ups.
If I finish this before they release Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution I’ll probably have to shell over a few schmeckles on launch day. The release date has yet to be announced, so who knows? If I finish the game and it still hasn’t been released I still have plenty of other Metroidvanias to tie me over. 😛
It was another lovely evening of exploring the four corners of Resonite. We transitioned from summer like isles, into autumn, and eventually hell and a couple Halloween themed places. One of these nights we’ll do something other than Resonite, but we keep finding so many different things it’s hard to really get bored of it. I was telling my friends that I’m up to 450 GB in footage now. Also went through one of the sessions today in Shotcut – already have a video planned this weekend that kinda sorta fits with the upcoming spooky season. It does involve a visit to the spirit realm, so I hope that counts. It also involves a cat, making it perfect for Caturday!
Vacation has been going great! Guaranteed to have over a week of amazing breakfasts, and waking up to new adventures with friends! Today we flew planes and helicopters (depending on your definition of “flying”), visited some Japanese Gardens, went to a Roman Bathhouse, and even did some meditation and watched YouTube videos together. All but the latter documented later for future possible viewing potential. :v
Another fine day playing on my Steam Deck. This time we had a heat wave, so I enjoyed some more Shantae while drinking iced chai in the shade. It looks like I picked a good time to start my vacation!
When the evening struck, and everything cooled off enough I ventured into Resonite and did some exploration with Yutram. Found a few chill worlds, and one that made us really grit our teeth… then we ended our adventures in this night club.We played music and videos ranging from talented to what the actual fuck. All in all it was a good evening, as usual we had a fun time!
Spent some time in bed today with my Steam Deck to keep me company. Finally getting around to playing Shantae: Risky’s Revenge. One of the many games I kept starting but never really did anything with it. I used feeling unwell in bed as a good reason to delve into it. 😛 So far I’ve unlocked the Monkey Dance, and a couple of other buffs from the item shop.
It was a toss up between this and Pirate’s Curse. But since I’ve barely touched this one, and I’m a good ways into Pirate’s Curse I wanted to explore new territory. It looks like it follows a similar playstyle to Half Genie Hero, in which you collect different power dances to explore new areas. My only complaint is remembering to press the B button to confirm menu options, usually it’s A. I’m guessing that’s because it was originally released for the DS? Either way it’s not a deal breaker for me.
Quake was calling my number tonight like a good ol’ friend in need of a chat. Even managed to get a few achievements! Rare ones even! So far I’m half way through the second episode. Still finding all of the secrets, maybe I’ll finish this ep during vacay. :v
Tonight I finally summoned enough patience to finish all of the advanced test chambers in the original Portal. I only solved two of them back when the game was new, and eventually got distracted by a sea of other games and worlds. Fast forward to today and I finally got both the Fruitcake and Vanilla Crazy Cake Achievements! Huzzah! I did end up having to complete the last test chamber on my Steam Deck. Apparently when Portaling up and down it’s difficult to turn yourself when playing at a higher refresh rate. I suppose I could have forced a lower framerate, but figured I could just whip out my Steam Deck and finish the job.
All that’s left is to beat the challenge maps. I wonder how many decades that’ll take me? 😛
Cerberus is set ablaze by Nathan’s endless whipping.
We had a lovely summer like day today – too nice to waste at my desk, so it only made sense for me to take my Steam Deck from its case and venture into the Castlevania Advance Collection!
It’s kinda funny to reflect on, when I was a kid I didn’t really think much of Metroidvanias. As a child my Gameboy Advance mainly received Mario platformers, and one Mario Kart game. Apart from my GBA I didn’t grow up with any Nintendo, the closest I ever got to Nintendo consoles was through visits to friends and families houses who were lucky enough to have acquired them. Even then, they never had any Castlevania or Metroidvania games. It was always Mario Games, Final Fantasy and Mortal Kombat.
It also didn’t help that back then Metroidvanias weren’t really as common on PC, which had plenty of other genres going on, but very little in the way of Castlevania/Metroid likes. It would be several years later when I really begin get into the Metroidvania genre. Better late than never I guess?
Learning to double jump.
Thanks to Metroidvanias like Dust: An Elysian Tail, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and of course, the Shantae Series; I’ve started to appreciate the genre and have come to understand it enough to brave the old school. In platformers you’re used to getting from Point A to Point B, whereas in a Metroidvania there is a lot of backtracking after you acquire different abilities and equipment. Tonight in Circle of the Moon (Castlevania Advance Collection) I learned to double jump, possibly one of the most satisfying abilities to learn in a good few of the Metroidvanias I’ve played thus far. There’s just something awesome about double jumping to areas that seemed unobtainable before, and in Circle of the Moon it felt like I was able to get this ability faster than the other Metroidvanias I played where it took me a good while.
Which one is Mummy Dearest?
Another thing that took me a good while to get was the control scheme. Tapping the D-Pad allows you to dash (if you have the dash boots), and holding down the action button lets you twirl your whip around like a fan of destruction. Until I figured that out some of the monsters felt cumbersome, but now that I’ve learned how to properly navigate the game even the poison worms are easy to avoid. The bones from the bone throwing skeletons on the other hand…
I had just scratched the surface of the castle before calling it a night. But I’m glad to have made a nice dent in the game. I’ve made Nathan stronger with extra hearts and jugs, uncovered a good few secret walls and even bested Cerberus himself. Overall I’d say a jorb well done! I’ll have to see about playing more of these during Spooktober! 😀
