Stealth

Looming In Fog and Shadow

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My weekend of zen is going great. Cuddled with an orange cat this morning, made a healthy Japanese style breakfast, sorted through some video footage and played a little bit of Aragami 2 while enjoying the last of my sakura green tea (it’s almost like there’s a theme going on, or something). I haven’t played since July, but it was easy to pick up where I left off, controls and all. Completed an assassination mission without any detection.

My latest success means that I’ve finally unlocked a forge! The visit alone gave me a couple achievements. I bought a few support items and crafted another mask, but instead of wearing it I went with the old tried and true, for old times.

While they have changed a whole bunch since the previous game I do admit I like the new features. They still have the Classic mode option, which I’ve yet to play. That will have to wait for a future session. I’m thinking of making this one of my October games to play – it would be perfect for spooky season.

Essence Of The Shadows

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Ending my zen weekend with a zen game. Finished a mission in Aragami 2 without any detection or murders whatsoever, plus grabbing additional in world booty (not what you’re seeing in the photo). Only had time for one mission tonight, but I made it count! I’m one achievement richer.We’re still having nice warm summer days, so when the evening hit it felt nice to feel the cool wind drift through the window as I drank some cherry blossom green tea. Needless to say it helped with the atmosphere a bit.

Meanwhile, on Steam Deck last night I started Aragami in NG+ to set myself up to gather more achievements. On my first playthrough I did a mix of stealth with a bit of killing here and there. This time around I’m going to go for the murder medal. Surprisingly killing all the enemies is harder than you might think, especially when you’re trying not to get detected. There’s also an achievement for killing 100 enemies, all in due time.

You Like Konami Games!

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Took to my Steam Deck during another hot day, and decided to enjoy some Metal Gear Solid in the shade. Calling it quits tonight just before starting the Psycho Mantis battle. Managed a good couple of hours on Steam Deck, By the time I depleted the battery it was cool enough for me to switch over to the desktop.

As glad as I am that Konami did an official PC release – I do wish Konami added better graphic features for their emulator. In epsxe I had it looking a lot smoother and clearer, worthy of a 4K TV. Since I’m mostly playing this on Steam Deck though, it isn’t that big of a deal.

Ascension and Awakening

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I was greeted to the sound of rain pitter pattering down when waking up today, and finding that the rain also helped me sleep in even further… Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the green tea I drank while listening to the raindrops and contemplating how to spend this rainy day, but I ended up not only settling on Aragami, but I finally beat it!

It felt satisfying to finally finish it after all this time, and now I can look forward to a bit of replay value! There are still multiple achievements for me to claim, but those can wait another day. I’m on vacation, and I crave more adventure! I’ll save the achievement hunting for another night where I only have time to mess around with it.

Since I enjoyed the first one so much – I figured I would spoil myself a bit and pick up the sequel/final installment in the series. It tells the tale of a completely different Aragami, who frees himself and discovers an entire community of fellow Aragami. I’ve only made it through the tutorial, but it does change quite a bit from the previous game. The game mechanics are a little more athletic, you can sword fight with enemies, whereas the original relied entirely on stealth. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how this one compares with the original.

You Can Almost Taste The Cherry Blossoms

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Aragami’s viewing of the Cherry Blossoms.

There wasn’t much April Foolin’ for me to do today. It’s still my weekend, did a little more reorganizing and then spent some time on the couch enjoying some Aragami – seems like a perfect game to kick the month off with. Finished Chapter 10, only three more chapters remain before I can declare this one finished. Then I’ll return to it whenever I feel like plinking away at Achievements. I tried to start this off as a pacifist, but ended up getting bloodthirsty on a few levels. There are also some scrolls I missed earlier on, so this will definitely have some replay value for me.

Saturday In The Shadows

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Had a very zen evening tonight. Made a large pot of Japanese Curry and some rice, drank some green tea and played Aragami in the living room while getting intoxicated on the epic aromas wafting from my cauldron. Made it through Chapters 8 and 9, survived a boss battle and earned four achievements!

It took me awhile, but I did nail the captain after about 100 retries. In order to defeat him you need to destroy a light barrier switch that protects the Captain, then you have to backstab him and repeat the procedure two more times. You are then treated to an epic battle cutscene. I went from gritting my teeth to being proud af to just get through the damned boss fight. It was so intense that I almost thought I would beat the game tonight! But alas, three more chapters will have to wait for another time. My eyes feel waaaay too shot for me to continue. Time to finish off the rest of my tea and call it a night.

OMG PLAYING METAL GEAR

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Been playing MGS a bit on and off today, and in between my deck and desktop. I just finished chatting it up with Meryl before calling it a night, funnily enough I had the old disc case in easy reach for getting her number. 🙂

I also forgot how fun the VR missions could be! Today I got through all the Sneak Practice levels, and just started SOCOM training. This should come in handy as a fun break time distraction during my future lunch breaks.

I AM THE NIGHT

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After spending a good part of the evening working on my next disasterpiece – I escaped into the world of Aragami for awhile and advanced the plot juuuuuuuuuuust a little. Got a couple scrolls and a talisman! Enjoying a little bit of tea and mochi before bed. It’s getting time to order some more soon, it’s a nice accompaniment to green tea! Kinda like black tea and cookies.

This was the final frame I left off in for tonight in SFM. I’m almost done animating the first scene! I’ll probably take a break from it tomorrow. No sense in rushing on this one – I already know it’s gonna take awhile. I’m thinking after work tomorrow of advancing the plot in DOOM Eternal, reeeeeaaalllly kick off the weekend. I just need to find one more Celestial Ring and then I can inch closer to finishing the base game and move onto the DLC!

Until then… it’s shut eye but for real, yo.

Evening of Zen: Aragami Edition

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It was a bit too warm for me to work on much today, aside from work, work anyway. So I relaxed with some of my fave aesthetics; The eyecandy of Aragami while eating some Pocky and drinking some cherry blossom tea. I’ve been playing it in between Steam Deck and Desktop, and so far I’m the furthest I’ve ever been! I have a couple other pix on Masto.