Backlog 2025

Kikki · Post Posted: Oct 29, 2025 4:53 am

Reminds me of Tears of the Kingdom. (EDIT: Referring to much of what Bluie just said about Pokemon.)

Now, I love TotK. When I want to go back to the BotW/TotK world, I don't go to BotW, because TotK is the more fun game. BotW had free endless bombs, which I really miss, and it had cryonis, which was useful in a few situations that TotK can't cover. But overall, TotK has the better, more enveloping powers. And it has the stronger memories, imo (well, Tears) and story and a more lively world. BotW felt so barren. Of course it was more ORIGINAL and definitely fresh.

Tears' problem, imo, is that it didn't need to be a sequel at all. It doesn't feel like one. It should have been an all-new game, not a sequel. Just it's own thing, because only Link and Zelda continue their journey. Everything else is just...written over top of. Everything Sheikah is suddenly vanished from all of Hyrule, replaced with all things Zonai. They made a bunch of characters forget Link! Characters he interacted with memorably in BotW. And Link is an extremely famous person, about as famous as Zelda herself, and everyone recognizes HER. Exactly how did they manage to fail to recognize him?

It doesn't really continue a LOT of what BotW began. It just used BotW as a shortcut to finish a new game. That's what I think rises to the surface of any complaints about Tears. Tears is a very lazy sequel. I'm sure they worked hard, all the individual little employees. But the overall game...it just built on BotW without actually CONTINUING BotW. It feels a bit like fan-fiction that someone wrote and then changed the names in to make it their own 'original' work.

Anyway, FINALLY getting back to reading your comment, that's what I'm reminded of. Nintendo's never been one to craft brilliant stories. They're not writers. They're FUN-makers. They make cool mechanics. I guess Game Freak is the same. They can't be bothered to make worlds that make sense. They just make each individual game to be addictively fun and damn the details. They fall where they will, without building on the lore, without bothering to deepen the world they come from.

It's my complaint with any DLC story for Xenoblade, too. They never DEEPEN the world, they only WIDEN it. Spread the paint out over a larger canvas. If an empty spot appears because the paint is being spread too thin, they SPLOTCH down a gob of the first paint they grab. Even if the painting is Monet's Water Lilies, and what they grab is brick-red paint. SPLOTCH. Hideous gob of garish red on a previously all bluey-greeny and soft-pink-dotted canvas.

Sadness.

Tears kind of...ruins BotW. It UNDOES BotW. That really sucks. Even though I enjoy going back to Tears more than to BotW, I still think that's a shame. Nintendo didn't put in the effort to respect what already existed in BotW, to further the TLoZ universe.

That's what I'm getting at. Sorry I'm not being very coherent, but...I think it's kind of the same thing. Each new Pokemon doesn't FURTHER the world of Pokemon, or deepen it...it just writes over top of it. No?

I (and almost everyone else) would love to see Monolith Software make a Pokemon game. They don't do DLC stories well, imo, but practically everything else, they're genuises. (Genii, whatever! That sounds like it should be the plural of genie to me, not genius.)

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 02, 2025 12:49 pm

Finally sat down and finished a route in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien Enhanced Edition, annnnnd I'm counting it as 'done'. 40 freaking hours for one route and by the end of it, I wanted to smack the male lead and one of the female leads for making me sit through so much extra drama. I did Haruka's route because she literally did nothing wrong and I wanted to see her get a happy ending. Also, I cannot vibe with any of the other route options - basically because they're all way too young for the protag or don't thematically make sense, I guess? The worst parts of the game were the restaurant sections, which I just started skipping after the third or fourth scene there, because I could not stand the blonde pigtail girl. I literally missed nothing from the main plot in Haruka's route from doing so.

Honestly, I may just try to finish my PC backlog to get it done, because it's 90% visual novels. The ones that have multiple routes, I'll probably do the same; one ending and done. That way I don't feel like I'm neglecting them any more and I can come back to them with no stress whenever in the future. I'll probably play To Heart next.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 03, 2025 7:11 am

I haven't turned my Switch on in a while, since I've been playing FFVII.

Kinda forgot how many games I have to play on Switch. Hello Kitty was a huge loss, it's a write-off. Honestly, it's tiresome and completely uninteresting, so...yeah, it doesn't count. Into the garbage it goes!

But I just completely stopped SoS: GrB, and that game is actually pretty fun. It just doesn't HOLD my attention, and honestly, it starts to stress me out after a little while. I can only do one in-game week...one cycle of the bazaar...and then I'm done. Not only for the day, but probably for a while. So there's no way to progress fast, since I get burned out on it so easily. Not precisely sure why but the mechanics just...demand too much concentration, or something. I don't know what.

But it's been sitting there doing nothing for a fair while, now. I left off at Bazaar level 4 (City, iirc). I really should go back to it.

Other than that, I also have Trails through Daybreak II. It didn't grab me at all, tbh. The story didn't start strong, for me, and I don't particularly like Elaine, so having just she and Van in the party isn't compelling. I finished the prologue and I believe I began Chapter 1, but I am REALLY not into Trails-style gameplay right now, where you need to pay attention to every NPC and make sure you check every shop before and after every story beat to make sure you don't miss a limited item or quest of some kind. Super sick of all the timed content. I just don't want to. I've got no energy for tedium, right now. It saps my energy too badly.

I was replaying TotK, but that can be toyed with any old time.

I bought Digimon Survive a bit ago on a HUGE sale. (75% off, I think.) But I haven't even opened it, yet. I also got Potion Craft on the same massive sale, for a couple of bucks, because I remember it and it's got fascinating gameplay, different from anything else I've played, so I went and grabbed it.

I never even tried Constructor Plus. Really should! Same with Uncharted Tales. I bought those both years ago. I did open No Man's Sky, but the mechanics were quite obtuse, to me, so I just gave up, tbh. Graveyard Keeper is one of my games that I REALLY need to get back to, as it was a lot of fun, but something else stole my attention then and GK is more complicated and needs more attention. Oh and Forager. That was junk food, iirc. Total salty, greasy, addictive junk food. No substance. Still, I could go finish it.

And I never did the last battle of Crisis Core because I needed to level up a bunch or at least do more of the high level side quests (missions) to get the rewards, to get the skills (materia) necessary to beat the final, very difficult boss.

And I was replaying the Crossbell games after I finished Sky1 remake, which was fun, but yeah...I'm not in the mood for Trails atm. Not unless it's Trails in the Sky 2nd. Given the space between the Crossbell remakes, I kinda expect 2nd Chapter in spring, but it could be longer. Especially since there's been no announcement of it yet, other than the trailer tacked onto the end of 1st Chapter.

And this is not even mentioning my Steam backlog. And it's only looking at my completely or nearly completely unplayed games on Switch, for the most part, and forgetting the ones that I played maybe a quarter or half of the way into before getting distracted by something.

That's okay. I don't care about backlogs any more. Honestly, I get a fair bit of comfort, knowing how many great games I have to replay, and how many cool-looking ones I have that I've barely started, or perhaps not started at all.

I like having all these sparkly fun worlds to slip into when this one is dull or exhausting or freaky.

Oh yeah and I checked ACNH. I had 115,000 Nook Miles when I signed in and somehow ended up with nearly 117,000 by the time I finished checking the state of my game. They rack up so fast. I never have anything to use them on, at this point in the game. It'll be easy to check out any new features of the update when it comes, though. I'm low-key looking forward to it. It's nice to have a bright spot in January, for sure.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 04, 2025 7:59 am

I posted yesterday, but this is too long to edit in. I made a FULL list of every game and demo I have that I still need to play on Switch. Either COMPLETELY untouched, or only part way through. Of this list, the most finished game is only at half way (SoS: GrB) at most, except ONE, which is Crisis Core, which is basically done except for a final battle, for which I'd need to grind out a bunch of missions, first.

Everything else is either just barely opened (Mars Base, No Man's Sky, Torchlight III, etc) or NEVER opened, not even once, like Digimon Survive, Storyteller, Terra Nil, etc. SO MANY. Plus a whole bunch of demos in various states of being played or never played at all. Blablah!

And I love it. I have NO desire to rush through and finish these. It's like a treasure chest of goodies. It's the Tickle Trunk! (Are you guys all too young...or too not-Canadian...to remember Mr. Dressup?) Or...it's like the shiny new metal garbage can I bought today (ours is busted plastic) and had to put my groceries into, to carry it all in one go, so it's a lovely new can full of awesome goodies. I got the COOLEST groceries, today, guys.

Spoiler:

Anyway! I'm rambling about shopping. What I want to put is my list. I've kept demos separate from full games. This is everything I've got on my Switch. I will come back and edit later, to add what I have on my PS4 and on Steam. Treasures, I tell you!

I kind of love that my perspective on 'backlog' has shifted this way. I'm just really loving having all these unfinished games, ready to dive into, sparkly new, or just a taste taken, whenever I want. Okay. Here's my Switch list. (I've converted entirely to Switch 2 now...I've bundled my original launch Switch into a box, so it's never being touched any more, though I think I will move it down to the tiny TV downstairs to be my Ring Fit machine. You can't play Ring Fit on Switch 2 anyway! Though I really hope they're gonna make a new Ring Fit, now.)

Spoiler:

The only thing in there I'd really just like to finish is the demos, since that's their purpose. To be tried, so you know if you want those games on your wishlist! I should hurry up and try them all. Though it doesn't feel urgent, this at least is a backlog I feel like I should get written off. I'm not sure if I can complete this within 2025. It'd be cool if I could.

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 05, 2025 1:21 am

Oh, woe is me! They added Ice Pikmin into Pikmin Bloom and now my Roadside collection is no longer complete! AND they added in rare variants for that loathsome category too! GIMMIE A BREAK, I ONLY WALK AROUND 8K A DAY! *sob* ...Oh well, at least the Ice Pikmin are cute...

Meanwhile, Umamusume has entered into it's half anniversary celebration on the accelerated global schedule. I appreciate the cute outfits they gave out for every girl so I can get Haru Urara out of her bloomers. Now I can open the game in public with only half of the judgement lol. I haven't done a run in a while, honestly, but I am saving right now to pull for Nishino Flower... who's probably not coming out until late March next year... *SOB* WHY DO I ALWAYS LIKE THE CHARACTERS THAT TAKE FOREVER TO RELEASE? TELL ME!

But I really haven't been gaming much at all beside dailies in Genshin. I'm tired and I just want to draw or watch something instead. I've been working my way through the King of the Hill TV series. I'm in season 11 now. I can't believe this show went on for this long, but then again, it is pretty freaking funny and hilariously accurate as someone who now lives in Texas. People online call it the 'Texas Slice of Life Anime', and yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 09, 2025 4:43 pm

Oof, that reminds me that I never went back to Pikmin 4 after getting to pretty exactly the 50% completion point. (I think it WAS exactly 50%.)

Well, I'm just not into it atm. Pikmin isn't the kind of game that grabs my attention. It's fun enough while I'm playing, but it's easy to get out of the mood for it, and it's hard to get the mood back without pushing myself to play, and any cool game distracts my attention again. It'd take willpower, to finish that one. Eventually, I think.

Right now I'm just fartin' about. Working a lot atm. Well, this is crunch time for the retail world. It's going to get busier and busier for the next seven weeks-ish, and it's already stupid. I'm gonna be spending most of my time at home napping, lol. *sigh*

Well, January should be a peaceful month. In theory.

I'm going to restart Ys X: Nordics, because it's just been way too long to pick up and continue the final chapter, now. I've forgotten most of the game. It's worth restarting, anyway. I love Adol alllllmost as much as Link. (I do love me a good silent hero! Though you can tell Adol is plenty chatty, somewhere behind the camera. Unlike Link, who's probably never chatty, unless he's talking about food. Or maybe his favourite mattress or pillow brands, heh.)

Just reflecting that it's so, SO obvious that Nintendo does not give a hoot about the timeline.

Spoiler:

They threw the timeline out to placate fans, and they've never paid it any mind since. They don't bother to put new games into the timeline. Seems like they may just say 'oh, it's an alternate dimension/timeline' now, any time there is a new game, because how the heck can BotW/TotK fit this timeline ANYWHERE? The Zonai don't belong in the story started by the Hero of the Sky. I mean, Rauru is the founding King of Hyrule, and long, LONG before him, so long that they've lost almost all their knowledge of them, were the Zonai. And the Ancient Hero's Aspect! It looks vaguely like Anubis. A jackal type of being. Is HE one of the Zonai? He is apparently the hero who battled Calamity Ganon 10,000 years prior to BotW. How far before Rauru's time is that? And how does this fit in relation to Skyward Sword? And who is the 'warlike tribe' that the Barbarian armor set pays homage to?

I don't think it fits at ALL. So if they do comment on where it belongs, it'll probably be a cop-out answer of being an alternate timeline. Meaning that they don't give a single thought to the timeline when making games. Which...DUH. Of course they don't. They never did. It's an invention to shut the fans up, to give them the dribbles of 'lore' they so desperately crave. Which I get, because the idea of Link/Zelda/Ganondorf (Demise, whatever) and Hylia and the Triforce, the traces of, uh...Farore, Din and Naydra, I think...it's SO cool. Of course fans want more. They want to make sense of it, to deepen the richness of the world and the characters, the hero and the goddess and the villain and all.

But Nintendo gives zero, uh, fudges. Zero sweet, crumbly, creamy fudges, I tell you. ZEE-ROH.

Not that fans can't give life to the Timeline and the lore themselves. And they do. They try their best. But since NINTENDO doesn't care, it can never entirely make sense. Because Nintendo never puts the detail in, to make it do so. Cuz: NO FUDGE.

But seriously, the Zonai just don't fit into 'the lore' as it existed prior to BotW. At all. The Ancient Hero, either. If you try to make it all make sense, then BotW must be a game that comes way, WAY after EVERY game in the series, since the tribute armors (Cap of Time, Cap of the Winds, Cap of the Sky, etc) all exist in this game. But so does the Ancient Hero's Aspect, which...wtfudge?

Nintendo don't care. They'll stick anything they like in, and they don't care if it makes sense with the Timeline, cuz they don't care about the timeline. They never did.

On one hand, it's hilarious. On the other, it's infuriating. Fortunately, I have my own canon and I can be like Nintendo and just ignore any bit that's inconvenient to the story I wanna tell myself.

Zelda fans may as well just have fun, too. Make up your OWN lore and believe in it completely, because Nintendo's gonna destroy everything previously thought as common sense or fact with each new game. Just...live your own LoZ lore. And stop making stupid videos expounding your theories for 45 minutes, as though they should be taken seriously, ya goofballs. You're theorizing about something that doesn't even exist. There is no real LoZ lore. Sad, but obvious.

The upshot of all of that is: Nintendo does not care about "The Lore". They don't even care about continuity between two directly connected games! BotW and BotW Pt II (aka: TotK). They will throw in any detail they think looks cool in the current game, with NO effort to make it make sense or fit 'the timeline' or anything else. They basically ERASED the Sheikah...a people that still exist!...from Hyrule's history, to replace it with the Zonai. They made no effort to explain where all the other shrines went, or where the guardians all went (even just BITS of them) or anything. Nintendo. Does. Not. Care. About. Lore. They just make games they think are cool and fun. They're probably more annoyed by fans and The Lore than anything. Like, Mario fans don't do this! Mario fans don't demand a Mario Timeline and that we make each Mario game connect to the others! Just play the game and stop overthinking, you LoZ players!

Not that I agree. I do think LoZ should have a proper, reliable lore/world-building that makes sense. But I don't think Nintendo does, one little bit. That's why I think all these LoZ theory folks are a sad sort of funny. Shouting out "I have discovered the truth! This is the truth of LoZ lore!", when, in fact...there is no truth. There is no lore. Just what Nintendo thought looked cool at that point in the development journey.

Two more days of work before a short break, though I've got therapy that day, so it might not feel like much of a break. Therapy is rumbly-tumbly!

I'm not sure what I want to play right now. I want to play the HD version of Skyward Sword, but...money. I also want to replay Nordics, which I should actually do, and I want to play Age of Imprisonment for the story, but I've heard from SOME sources that the contribution to the BotW/TotK story is actually negligible, which would be pretty typical for Nintendo and what they have added or allowed to be added to these spin-off games, even if this one has been declared to be canon.

Meanwhile, of necessity, I've ordered a whatchamajigger. Memory card for the Switch 2. Thankfully on an okayish sale. The internal memory is getting full already since I've brought over a lot of my S1 games. I'm going to try to eventually have 4 or 5 memory cards for the S2, each of which I'll give its own case, and it'll be assigned a genre and have an index card with all the game titles on it, so that I can keep track of where everything is.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 11, 2025 1:10 pm

Wah, wah, wah!

Okay, JUST got my new SD EX card for Switch 2, thank goodness. I don't have time to reorganize my stuff atm since I'm heading for work in 30 minutes (night shift, a bit bleh since I have a 9AM appointment and a BUNCH of heavy chores to do tomorrow, though thankfully I packed some of them in today and last night.) But I did the update my switch demanded when I inserted the card, at least. I'll figure out how to organize my games. I think I'll put JRPGs and life-sims on one card, not sure about combining the two right now...but I want to get some of my biggest memory hogs moved to this card. RPGs (J and all others) at least for this card, I think. That should take a big chunk off the internal memory.

I may need a new pro controller sooner than later. Hopefully I can make do with the joycons in the holder thing for a few months more.

I also just found out how the Mysterious Construct works. Er, sort of. In one way, at least. I looked it up because it's the one thing that really nags at me about Age of Imprisonment. The one reason I'd want to get it, though Hyrule Warriors is really not my thing. I mean, Warriors games aren't. So, big spoiler...

Spoiler:

Got a little more time to write before leaving, and it's going well-ish (for the current era's standards, at least) so I'd better make the most of it. Buh-bi!

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 14, 2025 12:26 am

I'm gonna end up watching all of Age of Imprisonment on YT probably next week. I've been rewriting a LoZ fic that I finished just before BotW came out (I didn't want it to be related to the new game, so I made sure to finish it before launch day). This time I want it to take place hundreds of years after Tears of the Kingdom and I probably need whatever happens in Age of Imprisonment in my mind to make sure I don't go too off canon (though, I made all the Zonai and depths get washed away by a flood some years before the fic gets started, because like Kiki, I'm not a fan of their inclusion). I've actually been wanting to replay BotW lately even though I 100%ed it like a demon back in 2017/8. Never did that with TotK, I hate the depths and I hate that most of the quest NPCs have amnesia. Like, did Ganondorf getting his groove back give everyone except the champions and Terry Town, head trauma? Ugh, anyways, I wasn't planning on publishing a new chapter so soon, but I discovered that I have some subscribers to the LoZ fic rewrite, so, I guess I should feed them lol.

Other than that, Umamusume had a BIG QoL update I haven't been able to scratch at yet. I'll get to it. I also 100%ed one of the Nod Krai islands by sort of accident, so, yay?

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 14, 2025 6:01 am

Bluie wrote: ↑Nov 14, 2025 12:26 amI've been rewriting a LoZ fic that I finished just before BotW came out (I didn't want it to be related to the new game, so I made sure to finish it before launch day). This time I want it to take place hundreds of years after Tears of the Kingdom and I probably need whatever happens in Age of Imprisonment in my mind to make sure I don't go too off canon (though, I made all the Zonai and depths get washed away by a flood some years before the fic gets started, because like Kiki, I'm not a fan of their inclusion).

You got all 900 korok seeds? YIKES.

Aaaaanyway...

I want to write a teeny LoZ snippet, too, but my ideas tend to whirl off, and I end up finding it freeing to change names of everything so that I don't feel like I have to try to follow some 'canon'...I can just float away on JUST the details I like and ignore everything else. So really, I'm more exploring fun ideas based on or inspired by the games, than writing any true fan fiction. Though as I mentioned, not much about LoZ is true canon anyway, since Nintendo will disregard their own canon at every turn, if it doesn't fit with the game they currently want to make.

I don't hate the Zonai for their own sake, I just hate that the Zonai stuff undid BotW. It erased all traces of the Sheikah in history and in that world...just 100% replaced them. Even Kakariko, the one remaining Sheikah home, is now the main home of huge Zonai relics. (If those fallen rings and so on are Zonai, which I assume they are supposed to be.)

I don't even know. Supposedly Rauru and Mineru are the last existing Zonai, but even they are just distant ancestors of the people, who don't even know what happened to their own people. Honestly, the story doesn't fit! Nintendo gave teeny traces of a story without fleshing it ou t at all or bothering to make the details form a coherent narrative. As they always do. The details titillate, but never satisfy. I certainly know why the fans make their own theories.

I just wish they would stop expounding upon them as though they are some 'truth'. GUYS. THERE IS NO LoZ 'TRUTH'. NONE. Make up whatever you find fun of the bits Nintendo dribbles out (and then completely forgets about and disregards, sometimes even within the very same game they introduced those details!) and just enjoy your own LoZ universe, as you like it...but don't try to teach it to the world as though it is 'the truth'. Because it's not. Nintendo will destroy all your theories with every game. Take the bits you like and leave the rest!

Both Nintendo AND the fans are annoying me, lol.

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 14, 2025 1:03 pm

Kikki wrote: ↑Nov 14, 2025 6:01 amYou got all 900 korok seeds? YIKES.

Can you truly call yourself a fan if you don't have the golden poop? I'm kidding, I'M KIDDING.

And I'm not a canon slave, persay, it's hard to be when Nintendo keeps shifting timelines and lore, and whatever else. I just hatehateHATE having my readers coming into my comments and 'UHM, ASKUALLY'-ing me, which has happened in some of my other fics when I get something wrong or don't know a fact from the creator's twitter, or whatever. I had someone arguing with me about if a certain iteration of the teenage mutant ninja turtles wore shorts or not (because they look like they are in the show) because I described them as 'naked' in a scene and they went 'but they're always naked'. When I replied 'no, they're usually wearing shorts' I got educated that APARENTLY the creators answered an AMA several years ago confirming that their 'shorts' are actually creative shadows so they could be more dynamic with the animation and angle. I was like 'okay, cool, but for the sake of the scene and the fact that I don't give a « Cow Poopoo », they're wearing shorts'. Like, my « Harvest Goddess », it's not that deep. I'm giving you entertainment for FREE and I do not need to be corrected over mundane, not known to the general public, factoids. If it bothers you that much that you feel the need to correct me, just move on. You're not helping, you're just being annoying (also, it was probably just a teenager, but still - my free time, my fic).

SO, to save myself from any hiccups, I'll get that Age of Imprisonment lore in me just in case. I feel like most of my missed anything can be attributed to the flood, the fact that it's hundreds of years in the future, and that a (most likely) lot of the land shifted after the big fight at the end of TotK, -but just in case, I'll keep up with the 'facts'. Who knows, maybe I'll find something inspiring to bring to the later chapters? I'm already planning on there being a Sheikah Slate (not the 'Purah Pad' - man that's so dumb), but Zonai stuff? Nah, no thanks, flood ate em'.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 14, 2025 3:09 pm

Bluie wrote: ↑Nov 14, 2025 1:03 pmI just hatehateHATE having my readers coming into my comments and 'UHM, ASKUALLY'-ing me, which has happened in some of my other fics when I get something wrong or don't know a fact from the creator's twitter, or whatever. I had someone arguing with me about if a certain iteration of the teenage mutant ninja turtles wore shorts or not (because they look like they are in the show) because I described them as 'naked' in a scene and they went 'but they're always naked'. When I replied 'no, they're usually wearing shorts' I got educated that APARENTLY the creators answered an AMA several years ago confirming that their 'shorts' are actually creative shadows so they could be more dynamic with the animation and angle.

[SNIP]

SO, to save myself from any hiccups, I'll get that Age of Imprisonment lore in me just in case. I feel like most of my missed anything can be attributed to the flood, the fact that it's hundreds of years in the future, and that a (most likely) lot of the land shifted after the big fight at the end of TotK, -but just in case, I'll keep up with the 'facts'. Who knows, maybe I'll find something inspiring to bring to the later chapters? I'm already planning on there being a Sheikah Slate (not the 'Purah Pad' - man that's so dumb), but Zonai stuff? Nah, no thanks, flood ate em'.

Couple of things, here.

This is easy: I hate "Purah Pad". They erased the Sheikah SO MUCH that they won't even call it the SHEIKAH SLATE anymore?? Purah is a Sheikah! Even if she souped up the original slate, it's still a Sheikah slate! It makes me sooooo irritated with Nintendo, that they erased the Sheikah. (EDIT: But then again...they even renamed the armor set, didn't they? It's no longer the Sheikah armor, it's the Stealth armor.

)

Oh, the other thing, yeah. The shorts, knowledge from an AMA. Does this person think that everyone bases their lives so completely around Ninja Turtles (or insert fandom here) that they memorize every fact from random sources like AMAs that most people never saw, or Tweets no one saw, or press releases no one saw, etc. (???) WHO CARES WHAT THE CREATOR SAID IN SOME OBSCURE SOURCE?

I mean, okay, sure. Share your knowledge, if you want. If you have a source for it, anyway...I've no time for info that people spout as having seen with no reliable source to back it up. But don't go around thinking every person in the fandom is as obsessive with minute, obscure details as you are. I'd be okay with that comment if the person just wanted to share some info with you, without making it something 'wrong' with the fic, when the only source of that info is something very few people would ever have seen.

~

I watched all the Age of Imprisonment scenes. It's a pretty good time, though it left me with some expected melancholy. I saw one critical review beforehand which I find was completely false/misleading, saying that Zelda wasn't really the main character even in this, that the Mysterious Construct (gonna avoid any spoilers out in the open) was the REAL main character. I don't find this to be true. The game really IS about Zelda for the entire first half of the game, maybe a bit more, and then the focus shifts to be about a lot more, but the main subject for the latter half or third of the game would be the Mysterious Construct.

So what? The Mysterious Construct was SUPER interesting. I'm still debating on how to view it. How it IS, and how I WANT to view it. I think a very solid case could be made for two views I have, which are both appealing, though I like one a bit more than the other.

The relationship with Calamo, particularly from Calamo's side, was really interesting, too. I have some fun thoughts about that as well.

It's the best DLC Nintendo's ever done, I'd say. Probably because Nintendo didn't actually do it. *sigh* (Let's face it, Nintendo stucks at storytelling. They're all about the gameplay/mechanics, and not at all about story. HIRE SOME ACTUAL WRITERS, NINTENDO. Why does game development place so little emphasis on good writing?)

Anyway, pretty good stuff, that game. If it ever goes on sale, maaaaaaaybe... (Cuz I feel like the video with all cutscenes left some stuff out. Somehow the scenes felt like bits were missing, like...you'd see Zelda go up and chat with someone like she'd had lots of interaction with them, when they'd never been shown doing so. It just...often felt like something was missing between cutscenes, so I feel like there must have been bits of story cut out with battles. Maybe those bits of dialogue you see pop up in the battles?)

~

I realized even when I said it here, but...there's no way both my RPGs and my life-sims will all fit on one 256GB card. THose are my two biggest genres. They'll each need their own card. Not sure if all my RPGS will even fit on one 256GB card, it may need a bigger one. I only have about 6-8 of them loaded on my Switch 2 and the rest are just sitting undownloaded in my existing library from the original Switch, ready to go whenever I want, but even with just that, I filled about 95GB of my card. (And something like 20 or so GB isn't actually available to you...a 256 GB card is really more like a 230 GB card or something.) RPGs take up the very biggest chunk, because those games tend to be the biggest in terms of data, so it doesn't take a lot of them to fill up a card. Plus I need room for not only the RPGs I already have, but all the ones I will buy in the future. I have two more I want to buy right this minute, lol.

Still, that freed up a big chunk of the internal memory on my Switch 2, hooray. I'll just use this card as my RPG card for now. I'll upgrade to a 512GB card if I have to, if they go on sale/reduce in price, which they probably will eventually, once more people are manufacturing them.

~

I really want three games right now. REALLY WANT. No Sleep for Kaname Date, Tales of Xillia Remastered, and Skyward Sword HD. Greedy! But I deserve a game or two with how much I'm making my body suffer to work, right now.

Gotta prioritize, though, as I got that Express card, and I really need a new pro-controller since using the joycons as a controller is suboptimal and my controller had to be thrown out a few weeks or a month ago. I also have to pay for therapy appointments (SO EXPENSIVE) which I'm squeeeeeezing out two a month right now by telling myself my mental health is more important than ANYTHING else, but I'm going down to once a month in 2026 since I can't fork out this much for long. It's eating up the majority of 'extra' cash I have each month.

I already have tons of great games. A bunch of them I even want to play! Not a burden like some backlogged items can be. But I love having a backlog of games, now, so...I don't care if I add to it. It just becomes an even bigger hoard of treasure! Isn't that what all we greedy monsters want? MOAR TREJUR!

Craving Skyward Sword really badly right now, though. I guess I still want to play with Link.

EDIT: Gritting my teeth and waiting for Black Friday (well, for Nov 20, since that's when Nintendo's sales will apparently start, and go until Dec 3.) I will want to punch myself if I buy any of those games and they go on a big discount in a week. *grit* Xillia and Somnium Files are newly released, so unlikely to go on sale, but maybe Skyward Sword HD will?

Bluie · Post Posted: Nov 20, 2025 1:23 am

Obligatory I'm more focused on art/writing lately than gaming. I've now drawn 12 characters for the Bokujo Monogatari collab (and have 9 more to go if I want to draw one from every game/category), 2 for the Rune Factory collab (it'd be more if the characters didn't have such overly detailed clothes...), and five from a Pokemon collab (I'm drawing one from each region, and then calling it quits). I claimed another Pokemon but I'm on cooldown from the other two collabs so I can't claim til later on in the week. I might give myself burn out, but considering I haven't been this artistic since 2019, I'm riding this wave until it lasts. Why the hell not? Though, I may not draw any one else from the RF collab because while some artists enjoy spending literal days rendering their art, I'd rather not. My free time is so little as is and my style lends itself well to simpler designs anyways. That being said, I'm having trouble deciding who to draw from Save the Homeland/Hero of Leaf Valley, from who's left.

Part of me says Renton, because his design is exactly up my alley, but another part of me says I should give Zann a try. The problem with Zann is that he's a racial stereotype, though I don't know how necessarily bad of a stereotype he is, because I'm white AF and don't have the eye for these things. The rules of the collab is that you must draw the character as accurate as possible, which means not using Natsume's lighter skinned censored version, but then the brother trio from the original Grand Bazaar are in the pool with their edited designs alongside their remake designs. Now the brothers, imo, were pretty freaking bad from the get go (especially since I live so close to the Mexico now and have more or less figured out how to spot stereotypes for them easier). Their original-original designs would be bad to recreate in any form, so I get why there's a strange double standard here. With Zann, lightening his skin didn't really fix anything, and may have even been seen as being more racist than his original design. Sigh, I just don't know, it feels like a powder keg that no one wants to touch. From an artist point of view, the clothes on Zann are colorful and would be fun to draw, not to mention his dreadlocks, -but is it feasibly OK for me, the Ukrainian descent Canadian born living in Texas, to draw this character?

We already had some drama in the discord server attached to the collab (it's where you submit the art and check in with the owner to make sure you're following protocol) where a new member came in guns blazing towards anyone drawing a POC character and that they'd smear them online if they drew them stereotypically. They were promptly called out for assuming we'd be racist (like seriously, « What The Eggplant »?) and for being so unapologetically full piss and vinegar. They left of their own accord, but it's kinda stayed with me, tbh. I have drawn one POC character so far, and it's one of the planet sprites from Harvest Moon DS (y'know, the ones with the big, green afros?), but I've been hesitant to pick up another (and obviously Zann) since. Not because I don't think I'm allowed, but I don't want to end up being 'that' artist who drew 'that' character, I guess. I don't think Shea and Wada from IoH/SI have been picked up either for the same reasons.

Anyways, I digress, speaking of Harvest Moon DS, I went to a mini collectables convention last weekend and found a working copy of it at a used game booth. It was 20 beans and I just couldn't say no. Will I replay it soon? Who knows, but it's nice to have again. Upon putting it into my 3DS I was reminded of the fact that I still have Radiant Historia on there untouched. I kind-sorta have a small urge to play it again, but we'll see. I've really only been playing Uma Musume and Pikmin Bloom as time allows. I had a very successful run with Taiki Shuttle and finally got to use the hot springs ticket (I always get it on Rice Shower and she ALWAYS CHOKES HER LAST RACES).

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 21, 2025 4:08 pm

Weeeelly welly welly...

Nintendo is a stinker. They didn't put Skyward Sword on sale. The games they DID put on sale were of no interest. (They didn't put many on!) Surprisingly, No Sleep for Kaname Date IS on sale, 30% off, which is startling given that it only released about 4 months ago, and it's not that expensive to begin with, in comparison to Nintendo stuff. ($50 compared to $85 CAD...I can't believe Nintendo increased the price of their OLD GAMES when they released the Switch 2! Raising the price of the older games is just rotten, Nintendo. Why does your bad nature seem to be rising to the top so enthusiastically the past year or two?)

I don't think I need the Date game right now or the Xillia remaster...I'll get them! But they can wait.

Today was off, but busy, so...I'm tired, lol. Did a little swatching, but I'm not in the right frame of mind or body to do a lot of it. Just need to do 12 more pencils and this set will be done, then all I've got left are the whatchamajiggers. The Castle Arts Harmonious set, which is at least half done already, I think, on the included swatch sheet. Funny that they work terribly on the paper they chose for it, lol. It's too slippery, the hard silky pigment doesn't lay down well on a paper with so little tooth.

I have lots of writing in mind. Gaming is fun, but I should really always give priority to writing. It takes more effort, though, so when you're tired...

Though honestly, I'm tired enough that I'd mostly like to just SLEEP. Even though I want to write and quill and colour and make foiled polymer clay earrings. It's so hard to get the energy to surge enough to get anything going.

I can't even remember the other things I wanted to post. Still loving my treasure-trove of a backlog, all full of gems.

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 25, 2025 10:20 am

My sister had to help me find the last shrine that I was missing (I knew I had all 32 sky shrines, but could NOT figure out which land one I was missing, even though I had all 120 lightroots already and went back and forth between the two layers over and OVER.) Sis sat there close in front of the screen while I flipped back and forth and eventually found one somewhere between Lanayru and Death Mountain and that was it...got my final shrine and the reward (so ugly, what IS that jackal creature, some cross between Anubis and Rauru. And why does Nintendo so love to give things RED HAIR?)

Anyway, I got all that done. All the champion/regional stuff, too. I haven't finished all the side quests but most of the side stories are done. I've got pretty much all armor up to level 2 but only a few pieces to level 3 and maybe one or two to level 4, but not the ones I most need. Will probably go with Zonai greaves, Champion Leathers, and the Diamond Circlet, since I get one attack up, one battery assist, and one Master Sword beam up, that way, and the highest possible armor defense rating of 88 once I get each piece to level 4.

The game is a lot harder when there are no good dupe glitches any more, though. It's such a massive chore to get the ingredients you need to upgrade your armor, AND you break a lot of weapons and use resources in the process. This game can be an endless grind, if you let it. I think I only have one or two Koltin prizes left and maybe two or three Pony Points rewards. I'm done all the stable quests, except for one or two of the photo requests.

Basically, I'm pretty darned done this game again, except for the final battle.

Spoiler:

Yeah, why'd I put that in here? I don't think any of it has anything to do with my gaming, except that I'm having more than ever muscle cramping, especially in the neck and arm, which does indeed reduce my gaming abilities. Skyward Sword is off limits with forearm and shoulder cramping, it makes it worse FAST.

I am downloading a few more games now that I have an Express memory card to keep all my RPGs on. I keep thinking I have even more games to add to my backlog, but it looks like I did a really thorough job last time! I seem to have every game on Switch that I didn't finish (or never even started). It's funny that I get all happy-excited every time I see a game I think I forgot to add, lol. I really am enjoying just looking at my backlog of treasures

A couple more games went on sale on Black Friday deals, but nothing more from Nintendo, they just have games like Luigi's Mansion 3 on. Who even wants that, now? Two Point Campus is on a fantastic sale, but I hear it performs horribly on Switch, not even very well on 2. Same with Two Point Museum, which isn't on sale at all. IT performs OKAY on S2, I hear, but probably better to get it on Steam. Where it is not on sale at all...neither of them!

Well...surely I already have enough games, lol. I mean, look at that beautiful backlog! (But, but, but...! 80% off for another treasure!)

Kikki · Post Posted: Nov 28, 2025 9:28 am

Okay, claimed every Koltin prize. All I've got left to get from Pony Points is some endura carrots (well, and sleepover tickets, but they are garbage to me, since I NEVER use them. I always figure I may as well get another PP by paying to sleep, and I prefer the cushy bed for the bonuses.)

Of everything left that I could do, these ones MIGHT be worth doing: getting enough korok seeds (pellets, really?) to fully expand all inventory. Get all bubbul gems so Koltin can become a bloopie or whatever it is he wants to be. Blurpie? Oh no, he wants to be the big guy...a Satori. I think? One would think all these bubbul gems would turn him into a bubbul frog, if anything!

I doubt I want to actually do that, but it's one thing. Other than that...finish every quest. (High priority.) Upgrade all armor (too grindy! I already maxed my chosen end-game outfit and a few other select pieces.) Get every well (nah, I don't care about the well lady and her teeny rewards aren't worth it.) Help Addison at every location. (Sure, maybe!) Get every paraglider fabric (or at least the ones that don't require insane levels of grinding.) Complete the Hyrule Compendium. (Maybe? It'd be a big job, as I currently have 260 of 509 entries. I can very easily get to about 300-350, but after that it'll be a real grind, too.)

Easier to remember if I put it in a list:

Koltin
Pony Points
Korok/inventory
Quests
Armor
Wells
Addison signs
Paraglider fabrics
Hyrule Compendium
horse upgrade

I feel like playing something else now, though. But hey, got my list.

NEXT DAY EDIT: Finally grew a brain, and made a new folder on my S2. A Backlog folder. Put all the games and demos I haven't finished (or haven't even started) into it, so that I don't need to find my list to consult it.

Big supper with family tonight, baby cuz' requested 'lots of garlic and cheese', lol, and dinner is in her honour, so we're having a carbolicious cheesy evening.