Backlog 2023

[BerryBea]

The arugula on my windowsill is ready to start plucking leaves from! They are surprisingly peppery...even more so than grocery store stuff. I thought baby arugula would be milder but it's actually stronger. At least this stuff is! Must have an arugula wrap for lunch. In a few days I can have a baby greens salad from the merlot lettuce, too.

Haven't gone back to Kynseed yet to figure out my tin bucket (should that even need figuring out?) but I did get a USB-C extension cord so that I can comfortably play the Steamdeck connected to my TV even from my usual gaming spot, which happens to be about 10 feet from the TV. Why are all USB-C cords so crazy SHORT?

Thank you for the kind welcome, Kikki! (And that sounds delicious - I love arugula!)

I played through all of the (currently available) story in Kynseed at the end of last year, so I'm happy to help with any questions you might have. For the tin bucket:

Spoiler:

You can buy one in the general store in the village. I think it's 3 coins. The store is to the left of the tavern.

_______

I started Mutazione yesterday and I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I've just played through the first day so far, but the premise is that you're a teen returning to your mom's hometown to meet your grandfather, who is on his deathbed. This is a post-apocalyptic world, after a meteor has struck, and many people have become mutants. (Despite all of that, it has a mostly friendly, chill vibe.) I know I'm going to love it because on the first day I received a (huge) encyclopedia of the native plants that you can read through, and I've been able to collect a lot of seeds from the plants around the area. So I think I'm going to be doing a lot of gardening, in addition to getting to know the townsfolk, their history, and helping with some issues they seem to be having with the environment. It has a really interesting simple yet unique art style that I like, too.

[Kikki]

Thank you for the kind welcome, Kikki! (And that sounds delicious - I love arugula!) I played through all of the (currently available) story in Kynseed at the end of last year, so I'm happy to help with any questions you might have.

I love arugula too It was the thing that made me sure I had to have a grow-light and a larger sill to grow on...the stuff is SO expensive at the grocery store but I want it on hand all the time...I like it better in sandwiches/wraps than lettuce or spinach. I love the peppery flavour.

Never heard of Mutazione, and wouldn't have been a speck interested in it if I'd just glimpsed it on Steam, but your description of gameplay sounds good.

That's cool that you know stuff about Kynseed, since not many others do, at this point! Very few on Fogu seem to be playing it (or at least haven't played very far.) I had the tin bucket already (took me a while of wandering before I located it in the shop) but I don't know why I had to get it. Uncle said to, but I don't currently have any reason to want it. Already have the pooper-scooper bucket (though I'm pretty sure I shouldn't use that for, say, gathering drinking water!) but so far there's been nothing I want a tin bucket for. Though I guess I saw some spots I could have gotten some water...perhaps I should be watering crops or something. Dunno yet, am barely into the game.

~

Tsuyukusa hit E lock and Lulukoko is fiiiiiinally about to hit D lock. I really need Lulukoko to hit C so I can get that Jersey cow (and a bunch of other things), and then for a while I don't need to care much about town ranks...I'll switch to doing the Farming Tips as my priority for a bit, as well as seeing a few more heart events. Everything now is locked up depending on other characters to appear in the game, so I can't trigger them yet. I could do some Westown events but they boost the link bar so I want to wait until after I break through C lock, which will take a while since I think I need the sweet potatoes for that one.

It's going well, anyway. It's the right game for now. I may feel like going back to Kynseed on Friday. I think I can also actually start using my new (pitifully weak and also probably just right for the current me, lol) bike around then, too. It's a decent set-up that I could potentially play a handheld on, or watch TV, since I'm *supposed* to only go lightly anyway. If I concentrate on exercise, I go too hard. I can't seem to help myself. I think Steamdeck is too big for a handheld while exercising, though. The 3DS is more suitable. Well, I won't know until I actually try playing while on the thing, if it's really an option. I'm not sure I want to play games while on an exercise bike anyway.

Just 1.25 more days, and it's nice and sunny today. I hope it's nice tomorrow, too, as we have to drive to the city! There's a helicopter not too far outside my window atm...close enough to be clearly heard. Just realized that helicopters hovering within view are a sound of my childhood that actually makes me comfortable, lol. I thought Ontarian cicadas, sawmills and the train whistle were the only sounds of my childhood but turns out helicopters are in there, too.

It makes me want to open my window, but it's -9C out there right now. (About 15F.)

[Bluie]

I binged all of FFXIV 6.3 yesterday. Story was fun, dungeon was OK, Trial was fine, Alliance Raid was *chef's kiss*, and the new side quest was nice(loved hanging out with the Four Lords again). Definitely looking forward to the Raid again next week, the music was absolutely fantastic - very heavy on violins/fiddles which I love to hear. 'Rhythm of the Realm' is definitely a new fave for me. ...There are SEVENTEEN new music scrolls and I just *internal screaming*. I had THREE left to get, but they decided in this patch to dump a bunch of old pieces without any scrolls in the game all at once. So, the good things is I don't have to grind special currency for them, but I am at the mercy of dungeon drop RNG for them. At least I can unsync them, but still, sometimes they just WONT drop. I had a scroll that refused to drop for literal months before. Pain. One day I may give up on this quest to get all the music in the game, but then again, I really do like this game's ever evolving score, so probably not.

I did get a little Genshin in too, though it was mostly just weeklies as resin allowed. I did level both Tighnari and Albedo to 90 and get Xinyan ascended to her final phase, so that's nice to get done. Mainly just grinding talents for all my parties now as Xinyan was the last of the characters that I use that I am planning on fully leveling, until I get Yaoyao and Baizhu. I have several characters at level 80 but I'd rather retire them than continue to build them. Just a few more days until Lantern Rite!

[Mikodesu]

I've been taking a break every night to go run around for a little bit collecting missing chests in Mondstadt, and I'm kind of mind boggled how many I forgot. There were two areas I hadn't finished up, both over 80%, and now one is done, the other stuck at 97%. Which is just painful. And I doubt I get it to 100, either.

It has been nice to just run around in the baby area again, though. Chill music, easy to get around. And I don't think I've ever taken Inazuma characters around there either. Don't think I'll keep this up, especially after the next update, but it's been a nice way to relax.


I think for the time being I'm marking Xenoblade Chronicles 3 off of my 'to-buy' list. Watched a stream of the first few hours of the game, and I don't think its for me. If I knew more Japanese and could play without subtitles/menus in English, maybe, but the writing in English just...irritates me. Can't even fully explain why. The intro didn't hook me, and I dunno if I want to play slow combat anymore. Ahh, well. I'll keep watching a playthrough for now, and if I decide it makes a difference I can always drop that and wait till I feel like picking it up.

[Kikki]

What a shame that it's just not your thing, Mikodesu. I hate when a game has a great story, but packaged up in a way that I can't appreciate. I hate missing out playing on the best stories for myself! Watching them in a video is never the same...you just don't get invested, ime. (Watching a video of a story is only an option for me if I already played enough of it myself to get invested in the outcome. Otherwise I won't care about what I'm seeing.)

~

The very first non-candidate event I triggered in Trio was the one I hate most: Frank's Romance. (I hate events that force the MC to behave like an unforgivable idiot. Excuse me, that is MY character, *I* decide her behaviour...and she would NEVER have done that!) The SECOND non-candidate event I triggered was my second least favourite! Dessie's Confidence Bootcamp. It's SO SO SO LONG. And I ignore the little deities for the most part anyway so...blah. They're cute, but as characters they're uninteresting to me.

Oh well, I guess that means all events from here on out are the good ones. The game got the stinkers out of the way first.

I haven't been ingredient rolling for ultimate wealth this time so it's going to take me a while to get up the cash and goods to complete Farming Tips 2, even though normally I complete it so fast that my event visitor basically goes and the next day another one comes. I did manage to prevent myself from hitting Westown's C-lock until Summer 31, though, which is great...Fall 1 and I have my sweet potatoes planted and I only have to wait on them to grow and I can break the lock, without multiplayer shenanigans to get myself the sweet potatoes earlier.

I also did the 'have 2 cows' requirement of #1 without a disposable cow. Wasted money! I always wished it was timed better so that I could buy a Jersey as my second cow, cuz I'd KEEP that. This time I managed to get through the various locks timed in such a way that that's what happened. (Still mad that I somehow named my first cow Skake, though, and I have no way to change it!)

Yuzuki is finally in town and I got his first friend event. Hoping to trigger the second one right away after it. I've been looking through everyone's events and his really are the most romantic, to my view. (Everyone's are pretty cute, but Yuzuki's feel deepest, to me.)

I'm off to the city today to get the allergist appointment out of the way. Hope I never need to do one again because this body is WAY too screwed up to be asked to go without any meds for 72 hours. But at least this PROVED to me that my body really is continually tightening up all by itself, to the point where it spasms or locks up, and that it needs constant pharma to operate normally. It's now no mystery why I always get hurt when exercising, no matter how careful I'm being.

[yzafre]

AC:NH continues. I've appreciated the way the structure of the game forces me to pace myself. You can only move so many houses, bridges, facilities, ect in one day, so if you need one of those out of the way it forces a natural stopping point.

The landscape is slowly coming along, but jeez louise. I had so. many. flowers. Back in 2020 I had put a lot of effort into flower breeding (I think the blue rose was the only one I hadn't gotten yet) but I never actually... got rid of the unneeded flowers. I just moved them to a blank space. I am regretting that now. So much. That's not even counting trying to find places to store bushes so I don't have to start fresh with plant starters again.

I've been doing a little bit of the DLC each day, so that when everything's in place I should have unlocked the ability to design residents' homes.

I've also been watching the reviews for FE:Engage, and I'm still undecided. It comes out at the end of next week.... Is anybody here planning on getting it day 1? I might wait to hear opinions.

[Harvest Moon kawaii]

Currently playing:

Pokemon Violet (Switch)
Zombie Exodus (Steam)
Harmonia (Switch)

Recently beat:

Pokemon Violet (Switch) (main story)

I finally beat the main story of Pokemon Violet after around 67 hours. Although, a lot of that was idle time and getting lost. My next objective for Pokemon Violet is to complete the Pokedex, which shouldn't be too hard. I have over half of the Pokemon of the Paldean region in my Pokedex already. (out of 400)

Next, I think I'll beat (finish) Zombie Exodus on Steam, and Harmonia (on the Switch) since they're shorter games.

My next big game will be me finishing Persona 5 Royal (on the Switch). I'm only 14 hours (approximately) in and still haven't beat the first boss.I think Persona 5 Royal is even longer than Pokemon Violet, like double or triple the time. (120 hours to 180 hours)!

Edit:

Forgot to add the games I bought recently (from the New Year's Sale). I bought 11 on my Switch from the New Year's Sale. I also plan to buy 3 more. The three that are upcoming are Persona 3 Portable (January 19), Persona 4 Golden (January 19), and Grammarian Ltd. ( January 25th).

Games Bought: (on Switch) + 11

Game Beat: (on switch) -1

[midnighttherabbit]

Ended up restarting The Witcher 3 because apparently the new update corrupted my old save file (and I couldn't remember what I was doing anyway.)

This time I'm focusing on the story more and the side quests less, just to get back to where I was, and I think that's making it more enjoyable. The actual gameplay is better now that I'm not super overleveled for everything, and playing all the plot quests means I can actually feel like I'm following a story.

I'm still really disliking the tone, though, and I'm not sure I'll see this through all the way to the end. The writers seemed to have this weird need to inject "gritty realism" into every other scene, to the point where it feels kind of gratuitous and overly edgy. I don't mind that when it's done well, but it just feels super forced and insincere.

[Shan O 123]

I’m putting this here cuz I don’t want to make a thread.




So about a week ago, NintenTalk created ACNH hard mode. It’s supposed to slow down AC. I started last night, and I’m liking it

Spoiler:

My starting map:

Spoiler:

[Code_Name_Geek]

Lumines is so addicting! It may be the first game I've found that triggers the Tetris effect (the psychological phenomenon, not the game) anywhere close to as much as Tetris itself - I keep seeing blocks in my mind whenever I'm not playing. I finally managed to beat the basic challenge the other day but it was pretty challenging to make it that far. I'm also about 3/4 of the way through the puzzle and mission modes, and I've beaten all the computer players (though not without retrying, which is one of the achievements). Some of the remaining achievements will be pretty difficult but I think I'm going to try to get them all since I'm enjoying it so much. You can definitely see the influence it had on Tetris Effect (the game this time) too, which is cool as I loved that game.

I also started OlliOlli 2, which so far feels a lot easier than the first game but it might be since I played that one so much. I've completed all the Amateur challenges up to the fourth world already and I've only played for 3 hours so far. I'm having fun with it as well, though not sure yet if it will surpass the first game in my mind. Still, starting two new games when we're not even two weeks into the year is really good for my goal to start more games this year!

Haven't made much progress on Pokémon Violet, other than beating one more gym. My siblings always play a lot faster than me and finish the game first and then I kind of lose interest, which seems to be happening again. But one of my friends is still playing so I want to at least complete the main story before I put this one down (which I want to do before playing another game on Switch since I've remapped a few annoying controls and it would be a pain to redo those every time I want to play it).

[cinnamon_yuki]

This week's round-up:

I was able to finish Fernweh Saga Book 1. I really enjoyed the characters, the atmosphere, and the freedom of the choices. I might have missed some clues while reading but the author didn't incorporate some hints that lead to the unveiling of the mystery, I probably have to read it again to see if I just missed them. Overall, it was a great read, and look forward to Book 2.

In Disney Dreamlight Valley news, I was able to unlock everyone available. I was hoping for a Mulan theme update for the Lunar New Year next week but it seems unlikely. I'm not disappointed though since I will not be renewing my subscription until March to try out Wo Long. I'm a sucker for Character Creation so I wouldn't mind using Gamepass to play with the Character Creation. I do plan to get Wo Long on sale though but I promised myself to finish either Nioh 2 or Code Vein getting that.

For my anticipated release in January: I have decided to play Persona 3 Portable on Gamepass until my subscription expired for the month. I will probably get P3P on Black Friday and play it from November to December this year. As for Fire Emblem Engage, I'm still waiting for the reviews to see if I could pair up Alear with anybody but I don't think I could concentrate on FE with Hogwart's Legacy's releasing 18 days after and another IF I've been looking forward to 13 days after as well. I would probably get it in April, hopefully, finished with Hogwart's Legacy. Speaking of Hogwart's Legacy, I've just put down my payment for the Digital Deluxe Edition on Steam and my account is ready for House and Wand import. Not game-related but Lockwood and Co. will be releasing it on Netflix in Jan. 27,2023. I hope I kept an open mind and enjoy what I could. Still getting used to the one playing Lockwood since I imagined him differently but he's warming up to me.

It has been a stressful week at work and I don't feel like playing, to be honest. Just want to sleep and listen to music at times... hope others have a more enjoyable week. XD

[Roinda]

I’m putting this here cuz I don’t want to make a thread.




So about a week ago, NintenTalk created ACNH hard mode. It’s supposed to slow down AC. I started last night, and I’m liking it

Spoiler:

My starting map:

Spoiler:

I’ve watched his videos on this. I’m in two minds about it. Part of me is actually interested, the other part doesn’t like some of the rules. Plus I don’t know any one who plays this game so the Sunday markets would be impossible.

Nice island and starters.

[Kikki]

I hate Yuzuki's second event. The event itself is extremely sweet, especially since the MC is the one who gets to be sweet, rather than the love-interest showing off THEIR charms (though Yuzuki still manages!), but the timing is awful. I've waited WEEKS to trigger it, but rain never appears on the right day. I'll probably have to wait all the rest of fall to get into winter before I'll trigger it, since snow also counts and it snows a lot in Winter. *grump* Oh well, will have to trigger some other events while I'm waiting, then.

Lulu and Tsuyu are both on C-lock and Westown is already on B-lock. C-lock and A-lock are the most difficult of the game, imo, because A is the highest lock, and C is the lock that meets the final set of goals of the Farming Tips. I'm progressing more slowly still, and not very organized, compared to before because this is a relaxation playthrough. But I can ingredient-roll as much as I want now to make money, since it won't accelerate town ranks while they're locked. And I want MONEY, thanks. I still haven't upgraded my house beyond the starter upgrade. It's still rather small and ugly, but I haven't been prioritizing anything frivolous like customizations on character or house.

Just won the first Fashion Fiesta with the laughably ugly Mario costume. Del Cosa has the worst taste! This is kind of like those fashion things that Label does in ACNH. You can create the ugliest outfit anyone could imagine and still, you get a full 5-stars.

I feel like playing XCX again. A LOT. I can probably get back to a more normal life starting tomorrow and not be stuck in place so much as this last week, and I don't need a handheld game as much. I really shouldn't play XCX again. Not on Wii U. Maybe on PC, though I don't really like doing the jiggering necessary for that, but it's pretty hard in late game in XCX now that the online portion of the game is so inactive...you can't effectively grind for necessary components of the high-level end-game gear. The (unlicensed) PC version would solve that, but...

Well, I'll do it for sure if Nintendo doesn't get XCX ported to the Switch successor. I am NOT willing to let that game slip permanently out of my grasp when the Wii U completely bites the dust. Don't want to bother with that kind of set-up until it's the only option, though. I wouldn't feel bad about it because I own the physical copy, which I bought new, AND a digital copy, so I've paid for the game twice, in full. No sale either time, even.

For now I should look through my little list of existing games again and figure out what's next, as I'm probably going to want to swap from Trio before too long. I'm a little surprised it lasted this far but I guess it's been perfect for current circumstances. I could go back to Kynseed but it's got such dark tones, and I want a big, comparatively open world, not another small closed one. (I love Trio but it's definitely a small-world experience. Which is great in its own way but I want some variety.)

[BerryBea]

I had the tin bucket already (took me a while of wandering before I located it in the shop) but I don't know why I had to get it. Uncle said to, but I don't currently have any reason to want it. Already have the pooper-scooper bucket (though I'm pretty sure I shouldn't use that for, say, gathering drinking water!) but so far there's been nothing I want a tin bucket for. Though I guess I saw some spots I could have gotten some water...perhaps I should be watering crops or something. Dunno yet, am barely into the game.

Ah, my bad! He wanted you to get it to milk the cow (although you can use it to collect well water and honey as well). It's possible that he won't tell you to do that part until the next day though (I don't remember that exactly, just that I had a heck of time figuring out how to actually milk the cow when he asked me to, because I was trying to use the wooden bucket, not realizing that it was for poop.)
_______

I've had a busy few days, so I've mostly just played the latest hidden object game that I started, Eventide 3. Its story is as bonkers as they usually are, but the hidden object screens and puzzles to proceed are nice enough.

I retired Matcha. It's a puzzle game about the Korean alphabet and combining letters to make syllables. (They make syllable block groupings, so sometimes the letters will just be beside each other, but other times they may be on top of each other.) I know the alphabet and the sounds syllables make well enough already, so I'm not really learning anything new from it, and it's not set up so that you're actually making words, just the random syllables. Beyond that it's basically just a sliding puzzle game, and I really don't care for sliding puzzles. So I don't think there's any value in continuing this one. It's a neat idea (although it could definitely be improved with actual words), but it's just not for me.

I haven't given up on Mutazione, but since I'm streaming that one and am only able to commit to one night a week for that at the moment, that one will be slow going. I will definitely be finishing it eventually though. I haven't decided which game I'm going to play on my own next. I could go back to Dreamlight Valley as there's a character I haven't unlocked yet, or my latest Stardew save. I'm also part way into Magical Diary Wolf Hall, and I have one big DLC left in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Or I could start something new, since most of those aren't really on my backlog anymore. I'm bad at picking one game and sticking to it unless the game completely draws me in. (Most of those did draw me in for quite a while at the beginning though.) I should probably finish Magical Diary since that one is on the backlog.

Edit: I'd forgotten that I'm also a little bit into Kena: Bridge of Spirits, so maybe I'll focus on that one next!

[Bluie]

Finished the Golden Slumber questline in Genshin. It was pretty good, but now I gotta retread it all to open all the doors I couldn't and unlock all the teleports I couldn't reach. Probably will do that today? I also FINALLY triple crowned Diona! I even went out and got her a new artifact set to celebrate (she was on purples, I got her golds with with pretty OK stats). I'm still going to have to beat the « Cow Poopoo » out of Childe every week for Albedo and Xinyan, but it's nice to FINALLY have a character completely maxed! Actively working on everyone I use, but I'll probably focus on Wanderer and Kazuha next seeing as I use them in 90% of my team comps.

Also, I had a revelation the other day - I dislike the playstyle of every electro character in the game. They're just, not fun? Any of them? I've been using Fischl because she was the first one that dropped into my lap and I have every other electro character except Cyno, and I just can't get into them at all. Either I don't like their character or the playstyle itself is just... meh. I actually wouldn't mind having Cyno though as he's really grown on me lately, but I honestly don't know how he plays because I never do those trial runs lol. I will probably just stick with Fischl and begrudgingly level her later.

I'm also getting increasingly angy with how Hoyo keeps teasing Baizhu - both in the Lantern Rite stream and the most recent Xiao PV. Like, ffs, they know what they're doing at this point, BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO BUILD HYPE FOR THE MAN A HUGE CHUNK OF THE FANBASE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR. ITS BEEN 2 YEARS, HOYO, RELEASE HIM FROM PRISON. I get that we have all these Sumeru characters still unreleased, but I am dying to make a team comp with him.