Shaken, and also stirred

Soon it's New Years Eve, and yet another year begins. I have had time for a bit of gaming this week, mostly just continuing on Psychonauts, and more WoW. I also had a little Overwatch spree, and leveled up to 100. I am pretty confident by now that I will be able to make that Psychonauts review before the Christmas holiday is finished, if I don't encounter some impossible level or something. It doesn't seem to be a too long game, I'm already about half-way through. I have a little bit of work to do today, but after that I'll probably continue again.

Yesterday we finally tried out that Fallout board game that I got for my birthday. Just like any other mildly complicated board game, this one took a few hours to actually set up and understand so well that we could begin playing. The game certainly seems interesting, but there are a loooot of different things to remember. Just like in the video game you fight enemies, complete quests, loot stuff and explore areas. There is a XP system, companions, perks, armor, weapons and a lot of other things that make the game very diverse. The goal of the game is to collect enough influence to win, and the amount depends on how many people are playing. You can also solo this game, which seems interesting, and I'll probably try it myself later. Anyway, we are not ready with our first play yet, since it got so late last night that we had to go to bed in the middle of it. But I guess we continue tonight, and after that I can probably tell more accurately if this is actually a good game or not.

Now I need to go and do stuff, never a Christmas holiday without some work. After that I hope I can sit down again and play for a while. I thought I'd throw in a little Christmas picture of my DK, who was very pleased again with this years opening of presents in Orgrimmar. I do hope you also notice the appropriate Christmas hat and sweater :)

White Powder

One day left until Christmas Eve, and I haven't even felt super stressed out yet. I had a minor problem with one of the Christmas presents, but that's about it. I have already wrapped most of them, and that part seems generally to be in order. This is going to be a little different Christmas Eve, but that's fine, because I still get to spend it with everyone I love. We are actually going to be hosts in our own house this time around, so I'll need to do so much cleaning around here... We also have a Christmas tree this year, and the kitties haven't even destroyed it completely yet, so everything seems fine so far.

I have had time for some WoW, and the new patch Tides of Vengeance was released just last week. Most interesting for me is probably the new storyline, the Incursions, and the new Island Expeditions maps. There will also be a new raid opened on January 22nd, so I have time to improve my itemlvl until then. I have so far tried out all the available raid content at least once, but I do need to run them more often now to get better gear. Otherwise I have just been continuing to grind that
reputation, I am currently honored with all the factions, but it's a looong way to go still before I get them all to revered...

I also started playing an older game this week, in hopes of getting through it this Christmas holiday. It's Psychonauts, and I have actually played quite a bit of it many years ago. I remember putting it down in the middle of it because the game bugged out somehow and I couldn't finish the level I was in. Let's hope everything goes well this time, it's a really cool game. I'm playing it on PC with my controller attached, and I think that is a way better option than last time when I only used keyboard and mouse. Let's hope I have time to finish it and pump out a review before the holiday ends, that would be great. Until then, Merry Christmas and so on..!

Number One

This month has been kind of hectic, and I haven't really had time(AGAIN)for that much games... Last week was kind of filled with school work, and this one has been pretty bad too. Traditionally it has been this way though, since everything needs to be finished in time for Christmas. At least I'm kind of on board with the Christmas presents this year, feels nice to at least have something sorted out at the moment. We have finally had time to host our housewarming parties too, and all the cleaning and organizing is taking a toll. I have squeezed in a little WoW though, last week was the Burning Crusade timewalking where I did a lot of dungeons, was really fun for a change..! Got some decent gear from there as well, and was finally able to reach the item lvl requirement for LFR. So I have also tried out some raids, and I kind of like them so far. Now the world quest event is in progress, so I should really try to raise my rep with some factions.

Been playing Pokémon Crystal as well whenever I have been able to, and I recently left Ecruteak City after beating the gym leader there. I booted up Fallout Tactics yesterday too, since I accidentally got to school two hours early. It seems so far like an interesting game, but it's definitely not the easiest, and you really do need some tactics most of the time. I'm only on the third mission though, so I guess I'll learn eventually.

I'm in a hurry once again, so I guess I'll need to stop this here. I think the worst will be over in a few weeks time though, and I can maybe enjoy a semi-peaceful Christmas holiday for once, with a lot of games. You can always hope, right..?

The void

At the moment I'm in the middle of so many games, I don't even know where to begin. First of all, I have played WoW quite a lot lately, still just grinding rep and gear through world quests. I have also continued playing Pokémon Crystal, I think I'm at the 4th gym leader right now. Additionally, I installed Fallout Tactics on my school laptop last week. I thought about how much valuable gaming time I waste sitting on really unnecessary lectures, so why not use that time? My school laptop is not very high-tech, so I couldn't really start playing anything too recent, but I have been wanting to try out Tactics for a while now.

I have also had the opportunity of trying out a very hot game right now: Red Dead Redemption 2. I play it on Xbox, and I'm currently maybe 10 hours into the game. It's a very beautiful and well-made game, and you certainly get the feeling of what it actually was to live in that particular time and place. But of course there are some downsides too, for example the horribly long loading times. I also get the feeling that 80% of my current game time has been spent solely on riding around on my horse. Other than that I can say that the story and the characters are quite interesting, and the missions haven't been too bad either. This game might not be my personal favorite of the year, but I can certainly see why the majority of people would like it.

Oh yeah, my birthday passed this year as well, and I got some amazing presents :) A Pachimari plush from Overwatch, a new Fallout bobblehead, some nice perfume, a Pusheen coloring book and that Fallout board game I have been waiting for <3 And as a little extra gift, Destiny 2 became available for free on Battle.net..! So it certainly was an awesome birthday again, except for the fact that I also had to get older...

I Hate Mondays

This weekend I went to a gaming convention near my hometown. It wasn't maybe the biggest event ever, but very rarely something like this happens near where I live, so I kind of had to go. The main thing I actually wanted to see was the Overwatch tournament, but just as we arrived, the tournament was over... Every time I try to do something, I swear. Well, we walked around and checked out some other things. There were of course a lot of merchandise and gaming accessories, but they are usually pretty expensive at events like this, so I didn't buy anything. There was a sofa with a small screen and Mario Cart 64, and we sat down and tried it out. I haven't played this particular Mario Cart before, and I'm not sure what to say about it. First of all, I am not sure if my controller was broken or not, but it felt like my characters were extremely hard to steer. The analog stick was really loose, so I suspect everything wasn't alright(I googled this afterwards, seems like this is a very common problem with N64 controllers). We walked around a bit more, there was also a long table with a lot of people playing Super Smash Bros, both Melee and the latest one. Then we watched a Tekken 7 tournament, and played some CS:GO in the PC section. Overall a nice little event, but I'm still pissed over the fact that I missed that Overwatch tournament.

I have been playing more WoW these past weeks, just grinding world quests and doing some dungeons and island expeditions. I just need a little bit better gear, and I'll be able to queue up for Uldir. I also played a lot of Overwatch during the weekend, the Halloween event is up right now. Otherwise I have unfortunately been busy with a lot of other things lately, even though I had a week off from school, I barely had time for any gaming...

One cool thing though, I bought a fantasy board game at a local flea market last week for a really small sum. It's called Realm of Wonder, and we tried it out quickly just the two of us. It seems pretty interesting, but there are a lot of things to remember while playing. If we have time, we'll play another round this week. Maybe I'll need to make a new section for the blog soon, we have also ordered a Fallout board game...

Aliens?

Now I have finally been level 120 in WoW for a while, and I can gladly say that the content is still interesting while at max level. There is a lot of grinding though, world quests and azerite stuff, but so far it hasn't become too boring or tedious. Plus, grinding is kind of a characteristic of WoW, so I really don't think it needs to be complained about anymore. I have tried out a few more dungeons now, and I can still say the majority of them seem a lot more fun than in the previous expansion. The first raid is open now, Uldir, and I hope I get to try it out soon in LFR, just have to get a little bit better gear first.

I have finished the review for Fire Emblem, just need to publish it now. The thing is, I thought I would make a whole new section on the blog for console games, so that's why it has taken more time than usual to actually finish the process. Meanwhile, I decided to start playing Pokémon Crystal again on my phone. I know I was supposed to play a GBA game, but I kind of just fell back to this one. I might play another game alongside it too, who knows if I have the patience. But I haven't really made a review on any Pokémon game yet, even though I have put so much hours into them as a kid, so why not make something out of my favorite game in the series?

On Saturday we are going to play some PS1 games at a friends place, going to be fun. I have my own PS1, but it's still in a box since we moved, and I don't really want to unpack it yet since our "gaming room" isn't really finished. I'll probably post a pic or two once it's done though, when ever that will be... Laterz!

Nob and Nobility

There has been a lot of WoW lately, I have mostly just been trying to level to 120 as fast as possible. I only have one level left, so it’s very close now. There is a whole lot of new stuff going on at once, I have completed all the War Campaign quests so far, and I also tried out the Island Expedition thing. I have been doing a bit of dungeons as well, I have tried out all of the four different dungeons that are availiable before 120. I must say I liked them all, but the Motherload one was maybe a little bit too chaotic for my taste. Too many goddamn goblins running around all over the place. Overall I have been enjoying the content very much, and I hope it stays interesting at max level as well.

I also finally wrapped up Fire Emblem, unfortunately I had to leave it at the final boss. After a lot of googling for possible solutions, I came to the painful conclusion that I will not be able to defeat the last boss with my current line-up, and it is impossible to go back and try to fix things at this point. I already thought I had finished the game when I defeated the main bad guy in the game, but afterwards it turned out that there was a goddamn boss after that as well. I am still kind of surprised I managed to get this far without reading any kind of guides or knowing anything about what was to come. I am still going to write the guide though, I think I have a good enough understanding of the gameplay even if I didn’t manage to beat the very last boss.

Otherwise I haven’t really had too much time for other games, played a bit of Mario Kart with a friend last Saturday. Haven’t played it for a few months now, so it was fun to give it a little go again. Now I just have to concentrate on getting that Fire Emblem review done, and also deciding what GBA-game I’ll be playing next.

Curious creatures

I have unfortunately not had enough time for WoW this past week or so, but I just dinged lvl 113 last night. I am still enjoying the new content very much, and I also tanked my first dungeon a few days ago, and it actually felt pretty smooth. One of my friends has also started playing again in time for the new expansion, so I'll probably team up with her once she gets a little bit higher item level.

Another WoW-related thing I forgot to mention earlier, is that I managed to find that Long Forgotten Hippogryph I talked about a few posts ago. The thing was, I tried finding the crystals a few times, and I even downloaded a very helpful add-on, which showed the crystals possible spawning points on the mini-map. Finally I found my first crystal one day, when the BfA pre-patch had already hit. Unfortunately, my superb add-on didn't work since it wasn't updated for the pre-patch, so I had to bring up a guide map on my second monitor, and work my way forward with that... I have to say it wasn't the most convenient method, but I had no other choice. I managed to find all the crystals within a few hours, my hippogryph appeared, and I was most pleased. So now I have a fancy new mount to start off the new expansion with..!

I played some more Fire Emblem, and now it seems like I'm at the very last fight in the game. It seems like a pretty tough one, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get through it with my current weapons, but let's hope it doesn't take too many tries. Besides Fire Emblem I have also played some more Age of Empires, and even a little bit of Warcraft III.

Now I'm probably going to continue with WoW, laterz..!

Grotesque

The summer is slowly coming to an end, and it seems like the worst is over for now. I'm only working one job right now, and have a little bit more spare time. Last weekend was amazing, when we went to a large music festival, and now I feel more relaxed than in a long time. The biggest news of course is that Battle for Azeroth is live, and yes, I have been playing. I have not had time for that much, but I have started questing on the new horde continent, Zandalar. I really like it so far, I have always liked the troll race, and the story line is quite intriguing. Another thing I like is the dinosaurs, up until now that has mostly been a Un'Goro Crater thing. But I remember reading some rumors a few years ago about a dinosaur-themed expansion for WoW, and although this is not actually the thing, I think it comes pretty close. There are a lot of things that doesn't belong in the WoW-universe, but I definitely think dinosaurs fit in perfectly.

Besides WoW I also had a little Age of Empires II-marathon with my SO the other day. It was really refreshing and fun, I used to play it so much as a kid. Now I have the HD edition on Steam. I got quite excited when I saw that Microsoft has officially announced the development of Age of Empires IV, but we have no release dates yet, or even any kind of game footage. Let's hope they do finish the game, and that it kicks ass as well.

I am still not finished with Fire Emblem, but I have played that very little lately. I kind of got stuck in a fight, and thought I needed to just give up, but I think I have found a solution to continue the game. There are only a few battles left, so I really want to push through..!

Now I'm going to continue with some WoW, let's see if this expansion is as good as I hoped it would be(or maybe even better?).

Breakfast at Tiffany's

This month has gone by so fast, and it has been extremely hot outside for at least three weeks. Not the perfect gaming weather, especially if you don't have air conditioning. I have managed to play some Fire Emblem again while riding the bus, and I'm now at the third to last chapter. The battles are becoming very difficult, and I'm not really sure how and if I'm going to get through this last part of the game. None the less, it has still been an interesting game, and I can't wait to make a review on it later.

During the Destiny 2 free weekend I had a lot of time to try the game out, and it seemed very interesting. I recorded some video, so I might have time to put up a video later. I promised myself not to get too attached, but it was a really intriguing game. I hope to be able to play it sometime later, but right now I don't have the money to buy it, and Battle for Azeroth is just around the corner. So I'll have to put this on ice for the time being.

Otherwise I haven't had that much spare time this last week or so, since we finally moved into the new house, and there's so much to do right now. My new computer desk and chair seem very nice, so that's a big plus. Unfortunately there is still some junk in the room that is supposed to hold all our retro consoles and game merchandise, so I'm going to have to wait a little bit before everything is in order. I'm very pleased with all of this, but I'm still working two jobs, so it's very hard to manage time right now. It seems like I'll have everything in order right in time for BfA though, so I just can't wait for that week to come. If you think it's hot right now, just wait until 14th of August..!

Watermelon

Today I got a little bit of stuff done, finally finished the Blue Estate review. Yey me. I have also realized that the Battle for Azeroth pre-patch is only a few days away, so I kind of panicked and looked up things I needed to get done. Nothing too alarming, the only thing I feel quite stressed out about are the artifact appearances from the Mage Tower. I don't think I'll be able to beat the challenges anyway before pre-patch, but I'll give it a go. I also read up about this hippogryph mount that I would like to get, the Long Forgotten Hippogryph, but it seems like chasing it is not that easy or fast.

Otherwise I think I'll just welcome BfA, I still feel quite sad about the fact that I didn't have more time to spend on Legion, but I really can't do anything about that anymore. I am also quite upset over the fact that I ordered and paid for a pre-order box of BfA over two months ago, and I still haven't received it... When I asked about it last week, the store just told me that it's not in stock right now, and they don't know when they'll get it. Needless to say, I cancelled that order, and now my box is hopefully finally on its way from another store. Well, I wouldn't have had time to play anyway, so I guess it's not that big of a disaster.

I noticed it's free weekend for Destiny 2 right now, so I downloaded it today, and have had time to play a little bit. Seems really interesting so far, but I can't afford it anyway, so better not get too attached. Hopefully they'll have more free weekends in the future. Anyway, I need to go to work now, going to get late again. Cya!

Sunny days

Yeah, so this summer turned around pretty fast. Apparently I have to work two jobs for 10 weeks, and that's pretty much the whole summer. This means that I only have time for work and sleep, and nothing else. I don't really know what to think about this yet, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to make it. Anyway, this means literally zero time for gaming, even less than during the school year. It makes me really sad and stressed out, but I don't have any other options right now. So there is probably going to happen pretty much nothing on this blog for the whole summer. Just a little warning.

I have tried to play some Fire Emblem on my phone while riding the bus to and from work, but sometimes I just fall asleep instead. I'm currently at the final chapter, so hopefully it wont be too long before I finish it. I have also tried to squeeze in a little WoW here and there, I'm now revered with both Argus factions, so I guess that's something. I have also continued doing quests in Icecrown, so that I could get that Loremaster of Northrend.

Haven't really had time for Overwatch lately, I hope I could fit a small gaming night in somewhere. Just trying to keep everything together right now. Midsummer Eve is tomorrow, so at least I won't be home this weekend. Let's just hope for sunny days, alright?

Infectious

Summer is starting, and it's finally warmer outside. I still have some schoolwork to finish up, but the worst is over, kind of. It might be a little bit of a different summer this time around, but not necessarily in a bad way. I have had a lot of things going on, but I have had time to game also. WoW is mostly achievement grinding and leveling at the moment, and I also ordered my copy of Battle for Azeroth. As soon as I get the box and the code, I can start working on those Allied Races. Of course I want this summer to be warm and sunny, but there could be a few rainy days also, so I have more of an excuse to prepare for the next expansion.

I also had a little Fire Emblem spree last week, and I'm now at the last battle before episode two ends. You can really notice that the battles require a lot more strategy to complete, but it's still manageable, and I haven't had to rage that many times yet. I won't probably finish the game or any sort of review anytime close, but I'm still confident I'll see this one through. I kind of also started another game, Blue Estate. It's based on a comic book with the same name, and it classifies as a on-rail shooter, trying to mimic the style of old arcade shooters. I have only played a few chapters so far, but I have to say I really enjoy it. The story itself doesn't seem too original, but the gameplay is very smooth and interesting. I don't know exactly how extensive the story-mode is, but I am really looking forward to making a review on this one.

I have to get back to schoolwork now, I just want to get this last shit done so I just might be able to relax a little bit. And maybe play some games.

The Rest Of My Life

I'm going to keep this one pretty short, since I'm leaving for work soon. Been occupied the last few weeks with a lot of tests and assignments, because the semester is ending and I have to get as much as possible in order before the summer break. I have had time for a little bit of gaming, mostly Blizzard games though. In WoW I have leveled a bit with my priest, and done some LFR with the DK. I am just trying to collect a bit of Legion achievements before the next expansion, and I also continued a bit with my Loremaster grinding while waiting in LFR queue. Also played some Overwatch, the Retribution event has been going on for a few weeks now, and I have been hoping for some cool skins in my loot boxes. None yet though, and the event ends tomorrow...

I also played a few games of Hearthstone recently, which I haven't done for quite some time. I mostly logged in just to claim a few free packs, but I ended up playing a bit also. If I really wanted to get back into the game, which I played quite frequently 3-4 years ago, I would need to put some time into crafting a few good packs. Other than Blizzard games, I played Mario Kart on the Switch a few days ago. Besides just the normal races, I tried out the Balloon Challenge. It's really fun, but I just can't seem to NOT get hit all the time by some other player. Most of the time it's a crazy mess of things and NPC:s flying around everywhere, but it's still really entertaining. I just have to try to get that gold cup.

Now I really need to leave, or I'm going to be late again. Cya laterz!

Ugly kids

Been super busy again, mostly with schoolwork. Spring is kind of around the corner, which means a lot of activities outside, and less time for gaming. I have been more inspired with WoW than usual lately, and I picked up leveling with my alliance priest as soon as I finished with my warlock. Now that we have got a release date for Battle for Azeroth, I really need to make a comprehensive plan for pre-expansion activities. There are a lot of things that I would like to get done in-game before the release, but will I have time for that?

I have played more Overwatch of course, and yesterday the event Retribution was released. Unfortunately I had to go to work so I didn't have time to try it out, but maybe tonight. I have started playing Reaper and Sombra again after a little brake, seems to be working out kind of okay. Another game that I tried out again after a looong brake, is Torchlight II. I played it quite a lot maybe 3-4 years ago, and I really liked it.

I bought a new phone lately, so that kind of paused my Fire Emblem progress for a while, since I had to work a little bit to get my old save file from the previous phone. It all worked out though, so I can continue playing from where I left off, which is a huge relieve, since I don't think I would have bothered to start all over again. So the game is divided into a few separate "chapters", and I have only completed the first one so far. It instantly got a lot harder as I progressed into the second chapter, but it is still fun and intriguing. I'll continue playing whenever I have time, maybe I'll finish the game before summer..?

Old School Hollywood

Been playing WoW now for a few days, leveling my warlock, and I finally just hit 110..! So, it only took me about a year and a half... This is what happens when real life gets in the way of your Azeroth master plans. Oh well, I'm just glad we're not at the next expansion yet. By the way, I don't think I have talked about that earlier. So Battle for Azeroth is the name, and there is not really any exact release date yet, but it seems like the latest possible day for this would be September 21st. As usual, I'm really excited about this one, but I'm just a little afraid that I will have even less time to play than during Legion... Which makes me really sad, but let's not talk about that now. So, Battle for Azeroth will bring the level cap to 120, bring six(!) new playable races to the game, new zones for both factions, and a new RTS-style game mode called Warfronts. All of this sounds really exciting, and I am of course going to continue playing WoW and try out this expansion as well. Meanwhile I just want to continue with Legion, there is still sooo much that I have left to do.

Otherwise I haven't had time for a lot of other games, I have played quite a bit of Fire Emblem though. Right now I am in the middle of a bigger battle, and I'm not sure exactly at which stage in the story I am. The main character told me before the fight started that this was the final one, but that seems a bit weird since that would make the game pretty short..? I could of course google this and see if it really is true, but I'll just see what happens and keep it a surprise. Maybe it is a short game, or maybe there is more fighting after this battle, I'll keep you updated about that.

I finished my RAGE review as well, so that's one thing off the checklist. Now I still have a couple of other game reviews in progress, and if I soon finish Fire Emblem, that would be a third one. I hope I'll have time to finish those soon, but unfortunately I think everything school-related will take more and more time as we get closer to summer. Let's just hope I'll not crash before that. Cya!

Dirt

Unfortunately I have had zero energy these last few weeks, so I haven't done a lot more than sleep and eat. I have played some WoW and some Overwatch though, but not too much. I'm just trying to keep my head above water right now, feels like I'm drowning most of the time. Just going all poetic and shit here.

Anyway, as soon as I'll start feeling better I have a lot of stuff in store. I'm currently in the middle of at least three new reviews, a couple of videos, and also a new weekly section for the blog. I'm very excited for all of this, believe me, but at the moment I don't have the time or energy. For example, I have been trying out this pretty interesting indie horror game called Dead End Road, where you drive around at night encountering weird and scary things. It's not a particularly long game, so I'll have that review done soon, hopefully.

I have also played some more Fire Emblem, the fights are getting a bit more complicated at this point. It's still a lot of fun though, I think I won't have any problems finishing this one. I haven't checked how long the game actually is, so I don't know at all how far in I might be at the moment. Most of my time has been spent with Overwatch, and the Lunar event just started. I have to say though, I'm a little bit disappointed of the play mode in this event. Capture the Flag doesn't really work with the Overwatch heroes, they are all far too different from each other. There are a few heroes that excel in this, and everyone else doesn't stand a chance.

I need to go to bed now, have a lot to do tomorrow. I actually have a week off from school, but instead of resting, I feel even more stressed out about a million things I need to get done. Frickin' great, isn't it?

Open 24 hours

I managed to survive New Years Eve, and here I sit again. The weather was nice and cold for a few weeks, and now it's back to this grey and muddy shit again. Oh well, at least we had a little bit of proper winter. I even had time to go ice-skating..! School has started again of course, and it seems like I'm going to have to work my ass off again, almost like last period. I hope I'll make it through somehow, I feel so tired already.

I have been playing more WoW and Overwatch as usual, and some Zelda. In Wow I decided to do some achievements and raid a little bit, and I also continued with leveling my warlock. Last week patch 7.3.5 was released, and I haven't really had time yet to explore the new stuff. Scaling world zones, Ulduar timewalking, and a new questline is something I can look forward to.

I have also played some Fire Emblem on my phone, through a GBA emulator of course. In the summer I bought this used Fire Emblem cartridge on eBay, and it worked just fine when I first tested it. It didn't take long before I realized the saving feature was broken, so you can play the game but never save your progress... I really enjoyed it though, so I decided I might just as well emulate it and play it anyway. It doesn't seem too difficult just yet, but I'm only in the beginning, so let's see what happens.

I guess I'll keep it kind of short today, I should really go to bed now since it's very important that I show up at school in the morning for a group assignment. I have been extremely tired lately, so waking up in time is a really big challenge right now. It's just the winter kicking in again, I shouldn't be surprised anymore.