What happens when a couple friends get together to play a game under one digital roof? Lots of death and hallucinations
Ret-2-Bro
Today was an all work day. Still on vacation, but worked on my video and other things on a foggy/rainy evening. I’ve still been fighting on and off again nausea, in fact I didn’t feel inclined to play anything today. The good news at least is that I do have a video ready to go! I even got to play a little with some green screening!
One Trine To Bind Them All
Managed to get a some of video and audio work done today, would have continued to plug at it but started feeling kinda queasy (even now it’s still coming and going). I’ve also been trying to swing past the post office to send some things off but it’s been hella busy even after election day. I’m hoping tomorrow or the next day things calm down, at least until Black Friday season hits.
As a change of pace I decided to tap into Trine, an extremely addicting physics puzzle adventure game that I received for free quite awhile ago. My thief can shoot three arrows as well as shoot fire arrows to burn enemies or light torches (at the cost of Mana of course), my knight can now charge through crowds of skeletons with a firey blade or a hammer of Knock Off Thor, and my wizard can summon the power of the Illuminati to make a floating platform.
I’ll admit I played longer than I had originally wanted to, but I have a habit of only stopping when I either get tired or finally hit a brick wall giving me the edge to take a break. I just kept on keeping on getting past challenges and tons of skeletons… oh and achievement/trophy hunting! Think I’ve had my fill of being awake for now though, need to see if I can sleep off this sour stomach.
Late Night Open Thread
Should go without saying at this point but there was more Yakuza Kiwami shenanigans this evening, as I went around finding more keys and collectables and completing quests/side quests. I think I might give myself a break from it for now though, it’s been a good binge but I can’t stay on the same game forever, plus it’s starting to get a little repetitive blogging about the same game over and over again as much as I’ve been immersed. I have to keep things melon fresh around here after all. 😛 Plus if I keep at it I’m going to have dreams about wandering the Streets Of Kamurocho, attracting unwanted attention and healing with ramen beef bowls and cocktails while saving a puppy like Yakuza are known for.
In non Yakuza related news I finally rendered the final SFM piece for my latest video project! I plan on piecing things together tomorrow after getting some other work done, and maybe even a bit of play in my ever expanding games library, so there’s a good possibility that I might have a video to release this weekend.
Another Night Of Interactive Japanese Soap Opera Comes To A Close
I think I’ve officially become almost addicted to this as I am to Skyrim. I couldn’t help but get roped into playing more Yakuza Kiwami. I made it to Chapter 4, saved a little girl and a puppy doge. Wandered the city for hours finding all kinds of keys and trading cards.
A little boy in a lab coat taught me how to play rock paper scissors with trading cards featuring “bug faeries”, and yes this is a children’s card game. 😛 You stick your main character card into a machine along with a card in the rock, paper, and scissor slots, and you battle another girl in bug cosplay for a totally wholesome game for Japanese youth, as usual waaaaay ahead of the curve compared to us westerners. 😛
This game is like a really good anime; it has an excellent story with added silliness here and there just to keep you on your toes… just ask this guy:
I also got curious about the original Yakuza for PS2, and decided to look it up last night. I didn’t know Kiwami was a remaster! I’m impressed how they stuck with most of the original character designs, and even recreating most of the game frame by frame!
Obviously the remake looks better, but for the era the PS2 actually looks pretty good. They did an excellent job keeping the original image and spirit in tact.
Serious Sunday Fun (it’s Sunday until I go to sleep)
I’ve been playing Serious Sam 4 for the last few weeks with Yutram in Co-op, and while the game had some hiccups in the beginning, and while optimization leads me to believe this is the Crysis of Serious Sam games; I’ve been having a good laugh each time we finish levels. Tonight we summoned endless black holes, amongst other tools of destruction.
We also found a funny soccer secret hidden in one of the French alleyways:
Pushing the ball through either goal will cause the audience to throw stuff onto the field (like health or armor), but don’t expect much from the audience, as there really isn’t much of an audience!
I’m happy that Croteam didn’t skimp on the ridiculous secrets. May we find many more. For now I think I’ll allow Monday to be Monday.
Current Vacation Spot: Japanese Games (and a little bit of Croteam)
So far I’ve mostly relaxed (aside from doing my usual work around the house), been really getting more into the Yakuza series. I’ve been bouncing back and forth between Yakuza 0 and Kiwami. Sega really knows how to make a fun beat em up game with a serious tone, and not so serious minigames. I have to admit I’ve spent quite a bit of time playing in the Sega Cafe. and did a bit more pool this evening, that and actually advance the plot. Kiryu needs to buy booze for some homeless people to learn some vital information.
Of course I’ve also made time for some multiplayer shenanigans. Yutram and I battled our way through a Serious Sam Halloween, and then we advanced further in Resident Evil 6. We would have played tonight, but I somehow managed to bork my game with extra mods. Fortunately I have an install on my laptop with my mod collection previous to any errors, just need to make time to do a quick file transfer over the network and I’ll be in business again. Oh well, ended up playing more Yakuza 0 anyways. You might ask “Why play Yakuza 0 on Hallow’s Eve?” Just ask Merasmus…
Vacation Mode Engaged
Started my vacation after an early shift this morning, one last bit of sanity before the season of holiday depression rolls in with a heaping side of morons who think microbes are actually paid actors. It was a good thing I got off a little early, our landlord came by to replace our windows, and I had a lot of furniture to move. I got a good workout today, that’s fer sure. Been refining some SFM animation ever since; now I just need to record some voice lines, move lips to match, and I should be ready to render. I was thinking about doing it tonight, but fatigue rolled in after dinner and a long day of furniture jenga.
Tomorrow I move from bed only on my own terms. It’s cold enough that I might leave the computer on, and maybe play a little game to warm up the room before bed. I can test the better insulation on the new windows.
Late Night Open Thread
You’ll have to excuse the slight abundance of Open Threads lately… I’ve been pretty tired, and the first day back was a ball buster. Also managed to get some more animation done, just need to refine it and record a few small lines. I’m too tired to do it tonight, don’t even really know what to say. I’ll have a short work day tomorrow, that will give me time to finish other things on my to do list, and possibly even finally be able to render these scenes!
The French Vietnamese Connection… Or Concoction?
One of the things I like to do is research breakfasts (and meals in general) from other countries, just to see what other cultures enjoy. Apparently the Vietnamese like a breakfast sandwich called Banh Mi, with many a recipe to choose from. I collected some ingredients for my weekend of solitude and created my own spread.
I don’t typically like raw carrots unless certain circumstances apply. Most of the sandwich recipes I saw had carrots cut up as match strips, which I could most likely get away with, but I went the extra mile and grated the carrot instead. I like shredded carrot because it releases the juices, and the texture is much less dry. I also decided to grate a bit of ginger to mix in with the carrot, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, sweet chile sauce, a tiny garlic clove and mayonnaise. Optionally you can also add some lime zest for the extra flavor factor.
I saw a combination of hot and cold Banh Mi recipes, and went for an easy cold version. I spread my mixture over both sliced halves of french bread and topped it with chicken and pastrami, then for the vegetables I used homemade fridge pickles (Banh Mi seems to call for fresh cucumber slices, but these are still pretty fresh from the garden), and slices of onion, red bell pepper and tomato. I had some yesterday and today, and if you let it sit in the fridge the taste gets even better in a similar way to pan bagna. It’s like a beautiful combination of French and Vietnamese inspiration, and the perfect balance of spice and flavor just spins around in my mouth. I have one more helping in the fridge, and I haven’t decided if I want to save it for work or eat it tonight with a little soup. Not that it matters… I have some extra spread leftover along with other sandwich stuffs. I could have a wrap after work tomorrow.
I would say a sandwich of this caliber would be pretty good at anytime, especially on hot summer nights.