When every achievement I can get in AOM is a diamond achievement...

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Where Do I Go From Here? By Al Kent

Work yesterday was pretty solid, felt productive and the rude gate keepers were not as rude as they can be. I sweat if I answered phones the way they did, I would've been fired ten times over!

Last night's stream of Agents of Mayhem saw the completion of two story arcs, one for Steeltoe and the other for Aisha, with the first basically flowing into the later. The best part about it is that the actor who voices D.va in Overwatch is also the voice of all five personas that make up Aisha, so I got to make 'D.va Is Pissed' jokes the entire time. At this point there are two major story arcs left to complete in the main game, which we'll do on Monday's stream.

Now in regards to achievements, Agents of Mayhem wasn't well received by so many people for some inane reasons that it means after a certain point every single achievements is a diamond one, meaning it was unlocked by less than 10% of Xbox players who have played the game.  Now I'm not insane enough to even consider going for completion, because of how much good fortune is involved in getting certain things to appear.

Agents of Mayhem Achievements

• #SquadGoals: Fully deck out Firing Squad in their signature outfits.
• Wedding Crasher: Complete "Operation: Machine Man".
• Broken Hearts Club: Complete "Operation: Red Queen".
• Contract Killer: Complete 30 MAYHEM & Agent Contracts.
• Globally Offensive: Complete the Moscow Global Offensive.

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbZ as he was still playing Prey over at twitch.tv/PowerThumbz 

Now for tonight's stream, we're just playing Fall Guys on tonight's stream as I continue to ponder what will be the next co-op game to play with Iceman. I'm really leaning in towards playing A Way Out or Resident Evil 5.

Of this also raises the question of what game will follow Agents of Mayhem once it's finished, and I'm really leaning towards Hi-Fi Rush

Still not sure what we're starting on Friday's stream in terms of something exclusive to the PlayStation 4.

Did not get any writing done last night, as I got distracted with a few personal projects

And on that note we'll see see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Progress in Agents of Mayhem

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Can I Change My Time by Tyrone Davis

Yesterday got off to a good start as a new boom arm / mic stand arrive which is a lot more managable than the one I got a few years ago. The key thing is now I can have the mic even further away from the speakers, but it does end up placing it closer to me. 

Also had two comic books books, one being the RWBY / Justice League crossover, and the other being the Power Rangers / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover. Really looking forward to reading both.

Last night's stream of Agents of Mayhem saw a big focus on story related content and leveling up some characters. With the exception of Scheherazade, every other agents side stories are completed. We'll be getting to Scheherazade tonight as her unlock missions become available only after the Gaunt story is completed. At this point I can mostly focus on main story stuff, because I am debating putting in the grind to get every Agents up to level 20.

That said, I did notice that as far as the Xbox version of the game goes, not many people actually finished it. I think it was something like 7% of Xbox players finished the main campaign, which is kind of stunning to me. But I kind of figure if I stick with the main missions the rest of the way, I'll finish Agents of Mayhem within three streams. 

So the goal on tonight's stream is obvious, unlocked Scheherazade, do her story missions and then tackle the big story arcs!

Agents of Mayhem Achievements

• Super Agent: Reach level 40 on any agent.
• Bombshells: Fully deck out the Bombshells in their signature outfit.
• Three's Company: Fully deck out Carnage a Trois in their signature outfits.
• You Got Gaunt!: Complete "Operation: Star Power".
•  All the Bells and Whistles: Fully upgrade all areas of the ARK

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal while they were playing Pokemon Scarlet over at twitch.tv/kalenal

My brother hooked me up with some food from Checkers yesterday, it made for a nice change of pace of eating healthy.

You know, there are times I truly believe Naoki Yoshida aka Yoshi-P is a complete idiot... and it's mostly due to him trying to justify something stupid like only a PlayStation console can handle anything Final Fantasy related. 

Got some writing done on the Dragon Ball short story commission, using flash backs have allowed for it to flow a lot better.

So on that note we'll see you later over on http://twitch.tv/fredcasden

We got achievements while playing Overwatch?!

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: No Reply By The Seatbelts

Last night's stream of Overwatch certainly was a tale of two half... because from when the stream started to about when I took my break, only won two matches, but then after the break we got on a row winning a fair bit of matches. I'm sure my tendency to take my foot off the petal when I see my team not focusing on what needs to be done doesn't help matters. But once PandaSweet joined,  things turned around in a big way, and as always thank you to Panda for being apart of the fun.

I picked up four Plays of the Game with Reinhardt, Orisa, Torbjourn and Symmetra, even picked up three achievements as well (I'll list those below). Other characters used were D.va, Moira, Ashe, Ana, Brigitte, and Doomfist.

Overwatch 2 Achievements

• Armor Up!: Absorb 500 damage with Torbjörn's Overload without dying in Quick or Competitive Play.
• Ice Blocked: Block 1000 damage with a single use of Mei's Ice Wall in Quick or Competitive Play.
• Terrable Terrable Damage: Kill 3 enemies with a single use of Orisa's Terra Surge in Quick or Competitive Play.

Now something that does bug me is that when Cross-Play and Cross-Progression was introduced into Overwatch 2, it didn't sync up achievements already earned from the PC side with their Console variants. Goes to show how half-assed Bizzard can be doing things.

Also reversed how I did my Spotify audio set up last night so that I could listen to music while playing and not have the ear bud in my left ear. And thanks to Panda being able to double check, how I set it up meant that the mic couldn't pick up the music. Awesome!

On tonight's stream, we shall return to Agents of Mayhem with the goal being on getting Franchise Force to level 20, completing the second stories for the agents we unlocked and then doing the next big story mission.

For the raid we dropped in on TokuSHOUTsu during the Jetman marathon over at twitch.tv/tokushoutsu

So I went ahead and made a video going through one box of 45s (7 inch Vinyl Records) and it clocked in at over 2 hours because at the same time I was looking up every single song on Spotify.... while I did find 286 songs, 32 were not listed at all. I recorded a video for YouTube going through this process which will be posted in its entirty in a few weeks, but the Playlist can be found at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3lfhkLW4AcfSol7opsWQUA?si=6b02ef1405564117

Got some writing done yesterday on two projects, first got the entire intro and set up for the latest Dragon Ball commission written, just need to do the action sequence and is about 30% complete. The other story, an original idea based on the All That reunion later this year, is about 60% completed.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

A Saturday Of Variety

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Good Lovin' by The Young Rascals 

To say that Daylight Savings Time has already screwed with me is an understatement... I hate the switching of clocks for some bullshit reason that was already disproven scientifically!

Last night's stream ended up having a bit of a variety with it, starting with Elder Scrolls Online. Managing to close out a couple of quests started a few weeks ago. Big thank you to LvStrkR for being apart of the fun on this, but sadly, they weren't feeling well. Hope they feel better soon.

So instead of continuing ESO, I switched over to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, working on the 'campaign' a bit, maxed out Ulala, unlocked Shadow The Hedgehog and Ryse... and really struggled on some things that I thought would be easy. Did get one achievement during it

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Achievements

• Sonic Drift: Did a 10 second Drift as Sonic

We closed out the night playing some Smite, getting in matches as Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena, winning 2 and losing 2. Certainly rain into a fair amount of trolls with people backing out of matches, leaving during the match or staying in the spawn.

Of course with it being Sunday, that means tonight's stream will be focused on Overwatch 2, voice chat will again be in the Discord!

Thank you to Kalenal for the raid following their stream of Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal

For the raid we dropped in on GGVexy who was playing Sun Haven over at twitch.tv/ggvexy

Something that pissed me off was people complaining about visual markers in games, sorry buttercup, but not all of us want to 'engaged' with a game on some deeper level. Visual markers are a great way to indicate where something might be hidden or where to go.

Spoke with my brother yesterday, and more than likely there will be a Saturday stream where I start a lot earlier than normal and end earlier because we'll be taking a trip up to North Jersey to visit some family up there, and it's a two hour drive there... and a two hour drive back.

Didn't do any writing yesterday, as Friday night's stream kicked my ass... that's what I get for seeing an opportunity to finish a game and going for it without realizing how long somethings might end up being!

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Final Fantasy VII Remake is Finished

Good afternoon everyone,

Song of the Day: Love Potion #9 by The Coasters

Work yesterday was good, got two complete interviews done, and nearly had a third, but the respondent had to go. But hey, I felt productive and I'm happy about that.

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy VII Remake went over seven hours because we played from Chapter 15 all the way through to the end of the game. And boy did they add a ton of extra padding to the game to draw things out a bit to ensure some iconic moments from the original version of Final Fantasy VII was represented. And let me tell you that padding certainly felt real during the Expressway escape sequence in, there was little reason for it to be as long as it was.

Something that did occur to me, particularly in the final boss fights in Chapter 18 against Sephiroth is that the mechanics of Final Fantasy VII Remake is very much influenced by Kingdom Hearts. There were a handful of battles I found difficult to get a read on what I had to do, but the Sephiroth fight was text book Kingdom Hearts. 

I do love the fact that the finishing hit was Sephiroth being squashed by a the Fat Chocobo summon.

Now would I play this again... probably not, and my only real excuse to revisit it on stream would be to eventually get a PS5 in order to play the Intergrade story. 

Question now becomes what do I play next on the PS4, I do have plenty of options in terms of games that are exclusive to it. I'll have to mull it over for a few days before making up my mind. Contenders include Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn and Ghosts of Tsushima

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Trophies

• The Pizza in the Sky: Complete Chapter 15.
• No Appointment Needed: Complete Chapter 16.
• Emerging from Chaos: Complete Chapter 17.
• Destiny's Crossroads: Complete Chapter 18.

Thank to Oldish22 for the raid following their stream of Last Epoch over on twitch.tv/oldish22

For the raid we dropped in on MissCammi316 as they were playing Smite over on twitch.tv/MissCammi316

The plan for tonight's stream is more Elder Scrolls Online, continuing the various quests that were picked up and just roaming around while being completely lost on how to easily navigate from point A to point B. However this is a possibility my brother could be dropping by as well to join in for some local co-op gaming.

This week's Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star Stats are as follows

• Punches Thrown: 7,861
• Estimated Calorie Burn: 3120.82 kcal
• Fitness Age: 20
• 29% of Achievements Unlocked
  

Did not start on the next commission request, but I am getting some ideas for it since it's based on Dragon Ball Z when Vegeta and Trunks are in the hyperbolic time chamber. Trunks does strike me as the one to take whatever's given in that scenario.

And on that note we'll see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

 

Two Successful Escapes In One Night of Hades?! WOO!

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Stagger Lee By Wilson Pickett

Work yesterday was surprisingly good, completing four interviews... granted three were due to me coming across three incomplete interviews and getting the the respondents to finish them. 

Actually 'cooked'... and by 'cooked' I mean found some things I could combine to make a meal. Needless to say I can burn water, but I got to do what I got to do in that record.

Last night's stream of Hades was incredible, for one we made it to the Hades fight in every single run we attempt, two we found out the hard way we could fight Charon... and three, we had two successful escapes, one with the fists and the other with the bow. With the fists, it was my second escape with it, but I did it faster than my first attempt. With the bow... being the first time I did it with that weapon, I got lucky because it was that run I ended up having that extra fight against Charon. Like dude, that was butt tightening, let me tell ya!

Hades Achievements

• To Charon's Credit: Earn a Loyalty Card

For the raid we dropped in on sweetlindir while they were playing Smite over on twitch.tv/sweetlindir! 

Tonight's stream, we're back to Final Fantasy VII Remake, picking up in Chapter 15. It'll be interesting to see how long this chapter takes and if there are any side quests. Would like to pick up more than just a chapter complete achievement.

Did a small amount of prompt writing while I was working, which was a challenge, because it was just free writing. If I do enough of these I'll add them as something special for my subscirbstar followers.

Finished the commission request for a WWE story, and got one based on Dragon Ball to bet set during the time Vegeta and Trunks were in the Room of Spirit & Time. Should be an interesting challenge to write that.

I'm going to put my Fantasy Baseball team together the week before Opening day. Because I'd like to know who I draft will actually be available to start!

Filmed the third 'episode' of going through my DVD collection last night, and boy does that have some weird films in. I can easily blame my father for many of the movies I have.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

We finished a 2nd campaign of Gears of War 2

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Expressway (To Your Heart) by The Soul Survivors

Work was pretty solid yesterday, got two interviews done right away so that carried my mood the whole time. 

My first experience with Instacart was pretty good, the delivery was on time and was able to get a refund on what items they couldn't find. 

Last night's stream opened with Fall Guys, and we made it to the final show twice. We were joined by PandaSweet for joining in a lot of the shows we played. There were some really wonky moments at times where I didn't do as well as I normally would in certain events.

We also played and finished Gears of War 2 last night, big thanks to Iceman for being apart of the fun, and we had fewer deaths than the previous week. Picked up three achievements as well. Was again surprised at how under whelming the final boss of the game actually is, since all you do is aim the hammer of dawn at it three times.

That said, a big reason why we were playing Gears of War was because Iceman was not involved in every part of my original play through back in 2020, and we had FnDanteSavage tag in during a good part of Act 4. So this was a fun way to revisit the game and include him, not to mention making it a tougher experience by playing it on Normal difficulty.

Now looking ahead, next Wednesday will be an entire Fall Guys stream since Iceman and I aren't completely sure at what games that have on-line co-op we both have.

For tonight's stream we're going to play Hades some more, hopefully we can get another successful escape this. 

On a side note: I over compensated on the audio fix as the games were a lot louder than me during the stream! I shall make more adjustments before tonight's stream

 Gears of War 2 Achievements

• Organ Grinder: Killed 30 enemies with your Mulcher turret
• Takes a Licking: Bashed 30 Tickers
• Guerilla Tactician: Completed all campaign acts on Normal Difficulty

For the raid we dropped in on x9abenonymous9x who was playing Hogwarts Legacy over at twitch.tv/x9abenonymous9x

I am surprised that that part of the VOD for my play through of My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure has over 1800 views. Well looks like I will play that game again for sure this year!

Didn't do any writing yesterday, but I did pre-record a new Tier List video for a couple of weeks down the line. The subject is villains of Batman the Animated series, and I just know that people will be shocked at who is and isn't in the S-Tier.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!