Backlog 2022

[Kikki]

I finally figured out how to get to Jandelaine, lol. I've never been into an inn before, y'see. (I say I figured it out, but I didn't. I looked it up, and it took quite a few Googlings before I got the right answer!) Anyway, I can now see the golden edge on Dax's hair. It doesn't look like a glow, like I wanted, but anything lighter and it didn't show up at all. *shrug*

Since I can't do any of the Hunts while in the trial, I guess when I'm in FFXIV I'll work on Tribal Quests and maybe getting more Grand Company seals...and I guess leveling up land/hand stuff. (Though I really don't enjoy that, for some reason. I don't know why! Still, I'm curious how good a bow I can make once I'm a level 60 carpenter. Probably not any better than I can buy, or get through questing.)

It took about 18 hours after taking the darned thing, but that effective yet overbearing cyclobenzaprine finally wore off about mid-afternoon today. I don't take it often enough to get used to that side-effect, so I'll just have to account for 18 hours of limp uselessness any time I consider the stuff to combat clenching.

Anniversary is tomorrow and sister has made a dazzling array of mini-tarts. (Pastry is my favourite dessert category and baby sis tends to spoil me. I know that's not supposed to be how it goes between oldest and youngest siblings, but there you have it!) I need to clear the driveway of snow again, too...plenty of time for that in the morning, but dunno how much it'll leave for playing anything. Am playing with Bluie a little while sometime on Thursday (well, I'm sponging off her, basically, for ability I don't have.) My gigantic reed of a fella will basically just be following her burly cat man while he kills things, lol. IT's unfortunate but the Astral Era quests of ARR are fairly regularly interspersed with Trials you can't yet solo unless you're really, really good (not me!) or overleveled. I counted 4 more to come before I get to Heavensward.

No other games are calling me right now. I'd play XCX but I'm trying not to. Well, I know it won't come to Switch, what with it's MMO-like reliance on an online system and the greatly enhanced QoL if you can use the TWO screens you're intended to be able to use on Wii U (the TV screen and the gamepad, together.) But depending on what features the Switch-successor has, I can perhaps hope to see it come to that. Don't think I can wait that long to play it again, though. I really miss that world and that music.

2.5 more days until the Backlog 2023 thread goes up.

[Mikodesu]

OH! I almost forgot. There's something that came up in Chapter 4 that I still have no resolve for. If it's story related I do not want to know, but if it's not and somebody knows/sees this...

Spoiler:

You get that potion from Cres before you run after Aria and Geist to get your butt kicked, and I have NO idea where to get a recipe for more. I'm sure they're rare no matter what, but 50% HP compared to... an average of 800. Having one of those in a back pocket would be super nice.

It says it right in the item's description, but as it sounds like you likely used it, it's made from

Spoiler:

putting Wise Man's Root in the fermenter

Whelp. I'm a dummy. Thanks, ryume.

Spoiler:

I would bet it's in the encyclopedia and I just didn't see it in all this time. Go me. The Wiki has spoiled me on a couple big things already so I'm avoiding it like the plague...

And yep, I assumed the fight would be tough but thought I could beat Geist until he one-shot me from full health. Ah, well. No huge loss.

[cinnamon_yuki]

4. Hogwarts Legacy Release Date: February 10th Cost: $69.99 (Digital Deluxe)
6. SoS A Wonderful Life Release Date: June to August Cost: $19.99 to $29.99 probably?

Hey, Cinnamon_Yuki. Thought I'd ask which version of Hogwarts Legacy you'd be getting? The Nintendo Switch version, specifically, was pushed back to July 25, 2023. (on Gamestop's Website)

Also, for Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, the prices were confirmed to be $50 (US) for the Standard editionand $60 (US) for the premium edition (for the Nintendo Switch). (XSEED Games' store/website)

For Hogwarts Legacy, going to get the PC version. I was debating whether to get it on Switch but the modding possibilities and my PC is more powerful than my Switch, I went with the PC one and much cheaper due to regional pricing.

Oh... SoS cost $60 for the Switch? ;_; It probably cost the same with PC. I better check the regional pricing equivalent probably the same as Hogwarts Legacy.

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

Spoiler:

Currently playing:

Pokemon Violet (Switch)

Recently beat:

My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure

I recently bought, like, 20 or so games for my Switch. (New Year's sales)

I also bought 10 games for my Steam acount. (New Year's sales)

My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure was pretty good for what it was (a short, licensed game). Even on sale it was $20 (US), though (50% off).

I'm still in the middle of the main story of Pokemon Violet. I'm like 42 hours in. This game is long, but I did get lost a few times.

Looking forward to many games next year on Switch and Steam.

[Reyvin]

Wow, 30 new games sounds like a lot of time for fun!
----

Visiting here again after a while. I got a bit distracted by real life things happening and didn't play too much for a while. But I recently finished Trails from Zero. While I knew the story from Youtube, it was still a lot of fun to experience it by myself and I'm looking forward to completing my collection with Azure and Reverie next year.

After that, I started up the Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright trilogy cause a friend recommended it to me. I surprisingly like it a lot more than I expected from looking at it, it really is funny and I like how they turn around the cases like, 10 times every trial, with even wackier ideas than in the previous case. Somehow, it still manages to make sense in the end, even if some ideas sound so odd at first. I've already gotten quite attached to the characters after the 4th case, Turnabout Goodbyes, and I live for the puns and funny names. (I mean... Oldbag, really?)

As for what I'm looking at next year, apart from my backlog of about 45 games (oh my « Harvest Goddess »)...
- Persona 3 Portable and Fire Emblem Engage (both January)
- Hogwarts Legacy (February)
- Trails to Azure (March)
- LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom (May)
- JackJeanne (June)
- Trails into Reverie (July)
- Story of Seasons AWL / Our Life 2 / Rune Factory 3 Special

There's a few more I have on my radar, but idk if and when they'll release yet. Also not sure if I'll get everything on this watch list.

I hope everyone is going to have a nice 2023 soon!

[Kikki]

Not just Oldbag, but WENDY Oldbag. (Windy old bag! Goofy, yet painfully accurate.)

Ace Attorney is a fantastic series. I've played every game (multiple times apiece) and they never become predictable. (Except that you always know they'll keep turning things around int weird ways and surprising you, then surprising you again when you realize that the signs of the truth really were in there right from the beginning.)

I really wish they'd hurry up and announce Ace Attorney 7. The Great Ace Attorney games don't count, so the last AA game was in 2016, and I need more.

NEXT DAY EDIT: Bluie nuked Moggle Mog for me. I'm not even sure what happened. I hit a few things...I know I got the big one with a poison arrow...but I don't think it was necessary, lol. I could have just stood there without hitting a single button. It took about, oh...7 seconds, maybe? And now I get to continue with the story.

I really should level up Dax's carpenter skills. *sigh* I need to hit level 50 as a carpenter if I want to do this Artemis Bow quest, and it looks like a pretty darned good bow, so I kinda DO want it...

[Bluie]

We moggled his mog lmao. I think we even skipped a few phases because I never saw the bard Moogle try to res all the fallen ones (if you're doing it normally, everyone beats him up asap). Moggle Mog himself is still pretty tanky, taking one of my dances and my feather bursts before actually going down. That was my first time Data Center traveling and it was a lot easier than I thought. When it first launched I remember people getting stuck in the transfer and not knowing where their character had ended up - but it was fine this time, got over in a minute or so.

Gonna be trying to help my FiL get through the first Endwalker dungeon today if all goes well. Here's hoping I can lure in a patient tank and healer with that first time bonus, and the explanation that he just needs some help. Usually we just get the fam together and run things, but we're all too busy atm. After that, Genshin. I need to do my weeklies before I run out of energy this week. I swear, if Childe doesn't drop my needed material or Dream Solvent, I will scream. IM SO CLOSE TO TRIPLE CROWNING DIONA, JUST GIVE ME THE RIGHT « Cow Poopoo ».

[Kikki]

We moggled his mog lmao. I think we even skipped a few phases because I never saw the bard Moogle try to res all the fallen ones.

I'm glad I didn't end up taking too much of your time, Bluie I hope the dungeon run with your FiL goes well!

~

The moggles (wait, is it moogles when it's plural?) are weird. They look like flying Teletubby cat pigs. It's a shame to have to kill such a noble king, but hey...

Spoiler:

he's basically imaginary anyway, from what the story's been telling me so far. Or...that's vaguely what I've been understanding, lol. Maybe. I felt a bit sorry for Good King Moggle Mog, anyway...assuming he was ever a real being, then in theory he was actually a very good king. But they went and magicked it into something bad.

I think.

It is SO much easier to play as a Dragoon than a Bard! My bard is a couple levels higher than Dax is as a Dragoon, but the Dragoon is just so much TOUGHER and hits so much HARDER. Taking on 3 enemies at once for a main story quest just wiped the poor bard out (and he had no choice...all three insta-target you for this quest) but as a Dragoon, Dax does nearly double the damage and while taking about HALF the hit to overall HP. Maybe I should main Dragoon instead. Bard feels like a very poor solo class. That or I just play it wrong. I probably shoulda been a Paladin, or possibly some type of mage. (I really hate magician clothing, though. The robes are bad enough, but POINTY HATS NO. I just realized I seem to have a real hang-up about hat styles. I'll just have to make headgear invisible for all my roles, I guess.)

I chose Archer initially because the internet agreed it was a very EASY role to play, but I don't think it was actually one of the ones promoted as the best solo class.

I really like the Dragoon pants, that you get via job quests, too. (Hate the helmet. Dax's face may be a bit overly serious, but it's beautiful, so don't you cover it up, game!)

EDIT: Looks like there's an FFXIV update on Jan 10 that will make it so that the last few MSQ dungeons not soloable in the Free Trial (ARR and Heavensward) will be so. It doesn't cover Trials, though. There are still 4 more Trials in ARR for me, and each one is only 10-20 quests apart so I can hit two of them in one day, lol. Well, guess I'll have to either go back and try leveling up Paladin, or level up my land/hand roles. I do want to be able to make weapons suitable for my combat class level. I don't know why I don't like doing the crafting or gathering classes. They actually did them pretty well.

Not sure if I'll end up getting the game because I would play this game a lot while it was my main game (which I would make it during any month I'd paid a subscription fee for it) and I'd go through MSQ fast and end up needing to pester for help on non-soloable content like Trials every couple of days, which is just too much. I count 3 trials in the main Heavensward content and then 1 more in the post content. That's...not TOO bad, actually. But I'm not sure, yet. It feels a bit goofy to commit to a game that requires continual payment to keep playing it beyond the free trial when you're not even into any of the MMO stuff. I'd love if they genuinely made it an offline game and just sold it that way: I'd buy it right now. Not what it is, though! That's what XCX is. (There's something about MMO-style gameplay I love, that has nothing to do with it being online. I think it's the world size and the sheer load of side content.)

[Bluie]

It's moogles when plural, yeah. Moggle Mog is just the good king's name. Dragoon is a pretty well played/loved class, but it get's made fun of a lot in the community because it's a 'greedy' DPS. Basically, that means it's rotation leans heavily into getting as much damage out in a short window, which then translates to a lot of Dragoon players not getting out of the way or into position until the very last second. Or, not at all, which results in either the Dragoon eating damage they could have avoided, or just dying. These players are affectionally known as 'floor tanks'.

It's not just Dragoons that get guff though, every class has it's quirks or has a chunk of players that all do the same mistake and thus give it their meme status. For example: Red Mages that do their backflips off platforms (which is always hilarious to me, I can't not laugh), Black Mages that refuse to leave their leylines even when there's certain death, Healers that wait til the last second to top up parties, Tanks forgetting their tank stance or having a provoke war with their cotank - I could keep going, but you get it, I'm sure. The internet probably didn't outright recommend Dragoon due to it's meme-y status and greedy gameplay when Archer is the far more accessible option for more people.

Anyways, got dad through the dungeon. I was just about to pass us off to strangers when somehow the stars aligned and both my husband and SiL were available to help. I ended up tanking, which is not my forte, but we were going slow for Dad anyways, so it worked out as I remembered how to freaking play Dark Knight (it's been over a year since I last touched it loooool). I honestly wished I like playing Tank classes, as their the most sought after party members in the game right now and that means MONEY, but it's just so fundamentally unfun and the community had a stick up their « Mr.Gourmet's hat » all the damn time about how tanks are to be, so it's just not not worth the headache. I'll DPS dungeons and heal everything else because that's the most fun for me.

Also, Childe did give me my needed material AND Dream Solvent yesterday. Post Christmas Miracle. Diona is just two levels away from being maxed out now. I also had a really fun co-op experience with the Scaramouche fight as it hits really hard in lvl 90 content sometimes, so I decided to see if I could finish it with a little help. Everyone died at 1/4 health except a Zhongli main who finished it off all by himself. We were all screaming in the chat about how our grandpa came to save us lmao.

Weeeeelp, back to work today. I think I work five days in a row until my next day off. Yayyyyy.

[Kikki]

Dragoon is a pretty well played/loved class, but it get's made fun of a lot in the community because it's a 'greedy' DPS. Basically, that means it's rotation leans heavily into getting as much damage out in a short window, which then translates to a lot of Dragoon players not getting out of the way or into position until the very last second. Or, not at all, which results in either the Dragoon eating damage they could have avoided, or just dying. These players are affectionally known as 'floor tanks'.

Yeah, I've seen quite a bit of FFXIV talk among players now by searching the internet for answers for how to do this or that, and I've gotta say...when you see them sharing their thoughts in forums, they don't come across any nicer than any other MMOs playerbase. They all sound like judgemental jerks who must think they have no flaws of their own so they can afford to be unforgiving of any flaws in others. It's attitudes like theirs that make the idea of participating in multiplayer with random people so painfully stressful. (Not that there'd be anything wrong in explaining to someone why they really shouldn't play their dragoon as a floor tank! But that's nto really what I'm talking about: I just mean I've encountered a lot of snideness and lack of understanding for others while trying to figure out how to work my characters in battle and learn other fundamentals of the game. People ask an honest question and almost everyone replies with words that treat them like an idiot for asking.)

Oops! Actually THIS IS THE END OF BACKLOG 2022!

We now have a Backlog 2023 thread, so please go have fun with a fresh new year of gaming.

We also have a 'GotY' thread (though that's not what it's actually called) for you to look back on and summarize your experiences in 2022.

This thread will be closed as soon as a mod is able to get to it, to clear it away so the next one can spread out.