Saturday, July 31, 2021

Today's Notes 7/30/21: No Rage On The Streets Of Rage

Good afternoon everybody,

Last night I really didn't have a plan, so I decided to finally sit down and play Streets of Rage 4, and boy do I regret not playing it sooner. We went through the entire story using Blaze Fielding (whose rack is noticeably larger in this game that it was in the original trilogy... I'm a guy, I will notice these things) and I was surprised at how fair and balance the game was. It really wasn't until the second half of the game where I had to use the assist modes, which penalized my score, but at best I was getting only a C-Rank on the stages I was clearing normally, so I'm not to broken up about that.

There were certainly a lot of familiar enemies, but when I looked at the concept art, I was surprised at how many from the original games were missing during the campaign... then I realized  there is a survivor mode, and that some of the missing enemies might be in that. Also checked out the online mode, and when I was able to play with others, I was impressed with how smooth the game play was with no noticeable lag (unlocked the most recent Sega Genesis Compilation from a few years ago which had terrible online play).

Since I was playing the Xbox version, that meant there were achievements to be unlocked, a total of 45 (counting the recent Mr X's Nightmare DLC)... and on a single night I was able to bang out 20 of them. Some involve completing the single player mode with each playable character, so it warrants revisiting. 

  1. Eating off the Ground: Consume a healing item.
  2. Dude, My Car!: Break the car in The Streets.
  3. Combo Pro: Achieve a "Super!" combo.
  4. Birth of the Cool: Catch a weapon in the air.
  5. Wasted Wine: Break a wine bottle.
  6. THIS IS WOOD OAK CITY!!!: Kill an enemy by tossing them in a hole.
  7. Miss Me?: Meet Adam.
  8. Broke My Toy: Break a spear
  9. Dojo Master: Beat Shiva.
  10. Life's a Struggle: Free yourself from a grab.
  11. It's Chilly in Here: Break both elevator window panes.
  12. Snap Out of It: Beat possessed Max.
  13. Demolition Man: Use a wrecking ball to kill an enemy.
  14. Combo Expert: Achieve an "Amazing!!" combo.
  15. An Elegant Death: Use a chandelier to kill an enemy.
  16. Old-Schooled: Beat Mr. and Ms. Y.
  17. All Clear: Blaze: Complete the campaign in single-player mode as Blaze.
  18. Oops: Hit an ally.
  19. Throwback: Discover a retro level.
  20. Collateral Damage: Use a barrel or a grenade explosion to kill 3 enemies at the same time.

And of course we got a lot of clips from last night as well.

You know it's a good thing I started writing these blogs at night following the stream and before I go to bed, could you imagine getting all these things together when I'm pressed for time like right before work? 

Moving on, Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 473 kcal. Because I do have a habit of powering off the Switch completely, my Joy-Cons were not fully charged (for the first time ever) so I kept getting notifications of low battery life. In fact the battery of the right joy con drained out totally Good thing this was not a session I was streaming! We are now up to 50 out of 100 for the Karen's Best Friend Achievement.

For tonight's stream, we are returning to Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee as we'll be picking up things in Lavender Town... we're going into the Tower, which means Ghost Pokemon! 

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


Friday, July 30, 2021

Today's Note 7/30/21: Bad Camera Controls Are Bad

 Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream lead off with Star Trek Online, as we tackled the four endeavor quests, and we gained a little boost for ships turn rate, which is every useful considering I tend to equip my ships with consoles that boost the speed at which my ships turns... and let me tell you cruisers due need all the help needed to turn! It is rather annoying that Gravity Kills seems to be frequently featured on the endeavor quests. We'll probably be switching ships on both Zagreus and Sorra in a couple of weeks.

Anyway here are clips from the STO part of the stream

In the second half of the stream, dedicated to checking out Lupin The 3rd: Treasure of the Sorcerer King. Released in 2004 when Lupin The 3rd was airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, in theory it should be a very straight forward stealth adventure game with various styles of puzzles.... however, the camera controls are very picky, like you can move it but the camera is really confined to space of what room you're in and what objects are around you. It did take me an hour and 45 minutes to clear Chapter 1. Now the game's CGI cut scenes and voice acting are great, and the musical score which I believe pulls from the actual show is incredible. Not sure if we'll keep going back to it to gradually work through it one chapter at a time.

Here are clips from that part of the stream!

Work seems to be focused on trying to get people's thoughts on a particular school district, and it's amazing how few people are interested. But if only they give the study a chance they will see it's very informative! Ah well.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 31 minutes with the estimated calorie burn being 484 kcal, and we did do some extra so the complete session was 40 minutes with the estimated calorie burn total of 619 kcal. We did score a new achievement this morning

  1. Karen's Buddy: Perform 10 free exercises with Karen

With that done, we've unlocked progress for the Karen's Best Friend achievement, we are up to 47 out of 100 for it already, and we're now at 99 out of 100 for the King Fit Fighter achievement. So when the first one is done, we complete the later. 

Did talk to my primary care physician yesterday to see if I was at risk of any side effects regarding the Covid vaccines, he guesses no based  on my medical history. Problem is the guy tried to book tests without my authorization. And people wonder why I hate dealing with doctors...

For tonight's stream I'm not completely sure what we'll be up to, I'm considering starting up a JRPG of some sort, but I could end up starting up another large adventure game. We'll see.

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


Thursday, July 29, 2021

Today's Notes 7/29/21: Fighting In The Streets

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream featured Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, which oddly enough is not listed on Twitch as a select able category.... which is really weird! Anyway we started by doing an arcade run of Street Fighter Alpha 2, my favorite of all the Capcom fighting games, and of course we've done it with Sakura, because she is my favorite character to use. If she's in a Capcom fighting game you cane bet your ass we're going to use her. There were a few interesting moments, such as my historic problems with dealing with Ken and always needing a handful of tries when facing Ryu.

Beyond that, we messed around with Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, Street Fighter III 2nd Impact, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, Super Street Fighter II Turbo & the original Street Fighter. We even got in four online matches, winning 3 of them. All and all it was a good night with variety of the Capcom fighting games. 

Since were playing the 30th Anniversary Collection on the Xbox One, we earned a couple of achievements.

  1. Find Your Match: Completed an Online Match.
  2. Everything's Custom: Beat Street Fighter Alpha 2.

And of course we have some clips from last night as well.

About half way into the stream we did switch over to Tom Clancy's The Division with Iceman, as we continued on doing post-game stuff, replaying missions on the Hard difficulty setting and messing around the piers. This is mostly to chase a couple of achievements and for sure, we're going to wrap up doing the missions on hard next week. Also here are some clips from that portion of the stream!

Started work on a Space Jam related fan fic, this is a non-commission piece that will be on HF when it's done, the physical logistics of some things will be a bit questionable to say the least.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 31 minutes with the estimated calorie burn being 458 kcal, and we did do some extra free training, so the complete session was 43 minutes with the estimated calorie burn being 667 kcal. We did earn one achievement which lead to another one of Karen's attire options being unlocked.

  1. Karen's Trainee: Perform 10 daily workouts with Karen

Other progress update is that we're up to 8 out of 10 for the Karen's Buddy achievement, which we should knock out tomorrow depending on how I'm feeling following the daily workout. We are also up to 98 out of 100 for the King Fit Fighter achievement. So we're two achievements away from 100% completing the game.

During the stream, I had a delivery, and we added physical editions of Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360), Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Xbox One/Series) and Mass Effect Andromeda (Xbox One). Why would I add the physical copies of games I own digitally to my collection? Well mostly for collectors purposes.

There's a lot being said about things that happened behind the scenes as Activision Blizzard, and the question of if I should no longer feature Overwatch on stream has crossed my mind. But Overwatch is one of the few games I am willing to play online with others on stream... and I'll have to really think hard about what I would want to replace it with. Paladins and Smite are both strong nos as I'm concerned, and I really ave zero interest in other similar MOBA games.

Tonight's stream will of course lead off with Star Trek Online and we'll pair it up with something else, maybe we'll pick a single game to focus the second half of the stream on.

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


Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Today's Notes 7/28/21: Terra-Xehanort Is Seemingly Impossible

Good morning everyone,

We had a good night last night for the stream where we continued Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep... going through the final stages of Terra's campaign that took us to the worlds of Herculues, Lilo & Stich & Peter Pan... before suddenly things started getting hairy. I had to know something was up with the return to Land of Departure to battle Master Eraqus and the sudden difficult spike in relation to everything else... but then... we went to the Keyblade Graveyard.

Now I was able to tear through the Master Xehanort & Vanitas  and the Master Xehanort battle's pretty straight forward... but then the battle against Terra-Xehanort happens which is basically Terra versus a supped up version of himself. And it's complete bull shit with how he has a seemingly infinite combo. Now I did come 'close' to beating him... but I need to find better magic, which means it'll be a shit ton of grinding needing to be done. But the kicker is, it strips away one of the D-Link ability which is kind of how I got through a good chunk of the game!

In all respects, the pain and the ass second phase of the Ansem fight in the original Kingdom Hearts was easier than, but it didn't strip away a major game play mechanic, yes Donald and Goofy get gated off, but everything else Sora does is available! 

Anyway, we only got one achievement last night.

  1. Entrusting Power: Clear the Destiny Islands episode of Terra's story.

And here are the top five clips from last night as well.

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 7/27/21 Clip 1

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 7/27/21 Clip 2 

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 7/27/21 Clip 3

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 7/27/21 Clip 4 

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep 7/27/21 Clip 5

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 504 kcal, but since we did extra set on top of that, the complete session was 43 minutes with the estimate calorie burn being 675 kcal. We're now up to 9 out of 10 for hte Karen's Trainee achievement, which we'll knock out tomorrow, and we're up to 6 out of 10 for the Karen's Buddy achievement, which should be accomplished by Friday if I keep up doing extra stuff each day.

Tried to schedule some appointments and such and I'm reminded as to why I hate dealing with doctors, dentists and the line... appointments are scheduled so far in advance it's impossible to logically set things without running interference in other areas. Can't schedule a dentist appointment unless it's a walk in emergency.

Also was looking into getting to COVID-19 vaccine and I saw one of the apparent side effects could re-trigger the conditions that landed me in the hospital back at the end of 2016... that's good to know...

For tonight's stream we will play The Division after 9 PM Eastern, we'll be waiting on Iceman to continue doing the missions on hard. But before that we'll mess around with some other nonsense. 

Shortly after this post was posted... my mail arrived, and we added four games to the collection, a factory sealed version of Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox 360, with this version being listed as 'purchased from the EA Experience', Oni and The Warriors for the PlayStation 2 both games published by RockStar Games. The Warriors is considered to be one of the best movie licensed games of all time and Oni is a game whose ads I remember seeing that just looked cool. Lastly we added Vs. for the PlayStation, published by THQ, Vs. probably is infamous for it ads featuring one character who was based on a real person. 

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


Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Today's Notes 7/27/21: A Return To Kingdom Hearts

Good morning everybody,

Last night we returned to the Kingdom Hearts franchise with Birth By Sleep, which was originally released on the PSP... which does amaze me. This being my first play through of it, I'm going to the casual route of it for all three campaigns. Now we did start with Terra, and the way I figured we got through half of his story (we've gone to every world up thru Disney Town....

Now the combat is a little different, certainly seems more hack & slash that Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, but there is a special place in hell when it comes to the mini-games. Now the other biggest complaint so far is the voice acting for Terra which is just terrible, Ventris' design just being the use of the Roxas assets... on the flip side, Aqua looks down right awesome, and the voice acting for the Disney characters is really good. I was able to instantly recognize Leonard Nimoy's voice, even if I felt i needed to confirm it was his voice since he did work for Birth By Sleep later in his career.

Anyway we did get a couple of achievements to begin the journey.

  1. The Journey Begins: Clear the prologue, "The Land of Departure."
  2. Pursuit of Truth: Clear the Mysterious Tower episode of Terra's story.
  3. Defying Darkness: Clear the Disney Town episode of Terra's story.

Now I did notice that most people have not played Birty By Sleep as part of the 1.5 + 2.5 Collection for Xbox consoles.... which means even the basic stuff are mostly diamond tier. So it'll be cool to rack up a few during our journey.

Here are some clips from last night.

We added 'The Thing' for the PlayStation 2 to the collection, it's considered by John Carpenter for the canon sequel to his film of the same name. It certainly will be a game we may check it out come October... you know messing around with spooky games. Maybe... who knows!

Was great to see FnDanteSavage streaming last night as he started a play-through of Bendy & The Ink Machine.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 432 kcal. Was feeling alright enough to do some extra, so the complete session went 43 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 624 kcal. In terms of achievement progress, we a re now up to 6 out of 10 for Karen's Trainee and 4 out of 10 for Karen's Buddy.

For tonight's stream, we are continuing Kingdom Hearts; Birth By Sleep and we'll see about finishing Terra's campaign. The areas seem to be getting larger as the story progresses, we'll see if we are that lucky!

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

 

Monday, July 26, 2021

My Physical Gaming Collection As Of 7/26/21

Here is the complete list of games that I currently have in my collection

 

Platform Title
PS2 .hack//Infection Part 1
PS2 .hack//Mutation Part 2
PS2 007: Agent Under Fire
PS2 007: Everything or Nothing
PS2 007: From Russia with Love
PS2 007: NightFire
PS2 007: Quantum of Solace
PS2 All-Star Baseball 2003
PS2 Beyond Good & Evil
PS2 Black
PS2 Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
PS2 Capcom Fighting Evolution
PS2 Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
PS2 Cartoon Network Racing
PS2 Champions of Norrath
PS2 Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse
PS2 Dark Cloud
PS2 Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore
PS2 Death by Degrees
PS2 Devil May Cry
PS2 Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo
PS2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
PS2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
PS2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
PS2 Drakan: The Ancients' Gates
PS2 Eragon
PS2 Escape from Monkey Island
PS2 ESPN Major League Baseball 2K4
PS2 ESPN NHL 2K5
PS2 Final Fantasy X
PS2 Final Fantasy X-2
PS2 George of the Jungle and the Search for the Secret
PS2 Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
PS2 Ghostbusters: The Video Game
PS2 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec [Greatest Hits]
PS2 Grand Theft Auto III
PS2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
PS2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
PS2 Grandia II
PS2 Grandia III
PS2 Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
PS2 Kingdom Hearts
PS2 Kingdom Hearts II
PS2 Legends of Wrestling II
PS2 LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
PS2 LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
PS2 Lupin the 3rd: Treasure of the Sorcerer King
PS2 Major League Baseball 2K5
PS2 Marvel vs. Capcom 2
PS2 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
PS2 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
PS2 Mortal Kombat Deception Premium Pack
PS2 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
PS2 Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
PS2 MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch
PS2 MVP Baseball 2004
PS2 Namco Classic Fighter Collection
PS2 NHL 2K6
PS2 Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
PS2 Power Rangers: Dino Thunder
PS2 Power Rangers: Super Legends - 15th Anniversary
PS2 Ready 2 Rumble: Boxing: Round 2
PS2 Resident Evil Code: Veronica X
PS2 Rocky
PS2 Rocky: Legends
PS2 Rumble Roses
PS2 Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
PS2 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
PS2 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
PS2 Showdown: Legends of Wrestling
PS2 Sonic Heroes
PS2 Sonic Mega Collection Plus
PS2 SoulCalibur III
PS2 Spider-Man 2
PS2 Spiderman
PS2 Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
PS2 Star Trek: Encounters
PS2 Star Trek: Shattered Universe
PS2 Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force
PS2 Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
PS2 Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
PS2 Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
PS2 Street Fighter EX3
PS2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus
PS2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare
PS2 Tekken 5
PS2 The Bouncer
PS2 The Spiderwick Chronicles
PS2 The Thing
PS2 TMNT
PS2 UFC: Sudden Impact
PS2 Ultimate Spider-Man
PS2 Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
PS2 Virtua Quest
PS2 WWE Crush Hour
PS2 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007
PS2 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008
PS2 WWE Smackdown! Here Comes the Pain
PS2 WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
PS2 WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw
PS2 WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006
PS2 WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
PS2 X-Men Legends
PS2 X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
PS2 Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
PS2 Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse
PS2 Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra
PS2 Playstation 2 System
Switch Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Switch ARMS
Switch Bayonetta 2
Switch BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle [Collector's Edition]
Switch Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
Switch DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power
Switch Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch
Switch Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Switch Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Switch Fitness Boxing
Switch Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise
Switch GhostBusters The Video Game Remastered
Switch Hades
Switch Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Switch Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
Switch Just Dance 2020
Switch Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory
Switch Kirby Star Allies
Switch Luigi's Mansion 3
Switch Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Switch Mario Golf: Super Rush
Switch Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Switch Mario Tennis Aces
Switch Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Switch Monster Hunter Rise
Switch New Pokémon Snap
Switch New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Switch Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Switch Overcooked! 2
Switch Pokémon Shield
Switch Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
Switch Ring Fit Adventure
Switch Super Mario 3D All-Stars
Switch Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Switch Super Mario Maker 2
Switch Super Mario Odyssey
Switch Super Mario Party
Switch Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Switch Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
Switch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Switch The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Switch Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] - Collector's Edition (switch)
Switch Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
PS4 .hack//G.U. Last Recode
PS4 Bloodborne [Game of the Year]
PS4 Days Gone
PS4 Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky
PS4 Final Fantasy VII Remake
PS4 Ghost of Tsushima
PS4 Ghostbusters
PS4 God of War (PlayStation Hits)
PS4 Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition
PS4 Marvel's Spider-Man (Game of the Year Edition)
PS4 Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales [Launch Edition]
PS4 Persona 5 Royal (Steelbook Launch Edition)
PS4 Quantic Dream Collection
PS4 Sakura Wars
PS4 Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness [Day One Edition]
PS4 Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
PS4 Tales of Berseria
PS4 The Last of Us Part II
PS4 The Last of Us Remastered
PS4 Titanfall 2
PS4 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
PS4 Uncharted: The Lost Legacy [PlayStation Hits]
PS4 Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection [PlayStation Hits]
PS4 Until Dawn [PlayStation Hits]
PS1 007: Racing
PS1 007: Tomorrow Never Dies
PS1 Animorphs: Shattered Reality
PS1 Apocalypse
PS1 Bio FREAKS
PS1 Chrono Cross
PS1 Chrono Cross [Greatest Hits]
PS1 Contender
PS1 Dance Dance Revolution Konamix
PS1 Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
PS1 Dead or Alive
PS1 Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
PS1 Die Hard Trilogy [Greatest Hits]
PS1 Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout
PS1 Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
PS1 Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
PS1 ECW Anarchy Rulz
PS1 ECW Hardcore Revolution
PS1 Fear Effect
PS1 Fighting Force
PS1 Final Fantasy Anthology
PS1 Final Fantasy Chronicles
PS1 Final Fantasy VIII [Greatest Hits]
PS1 Forsaken
PS1 Gauntlet Legends
PS1 Gex
PS1 Grandia
PS1 Knockout Kings
PS1 Madden NFL 2001
PS1 Madden NFL 2002
PS1 Madden NFL 98
PS1 Mega Man Legends
PS1 Micro Maniacs Racing
PS1 MLB 2004
PS1 Mortal Kombat 4
PS1 NFL GameDay
PS1 NFL GameDay 98
PS1 NHL FaceOff
PS1 PGA Tour 96
PS1 Power Rangers: Time Force
PS1 Pro Pinball: Big Race USA
PS1 Resident Evil 2 - Dual Shock Ver.
PS1 Rival Schools
PS1 Road Rash
PS1 Road Rash 3D
PS1 Rushdown
PS1 Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001
PS1 Scrabble
PS1 Space Jam
PS1 Spice World
PS1 Spider-Man
PS1 Spider-Man 2: Enter: Electro
PS1 Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi
PS1 Tekken
PS1 Tekken 2
PS1 Tekken 3
PS1 The Fifth Element
PS1 The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga
PS1 The Simpsons Wrestling
PS1 Thousand Arms
PS1 Triple Play 98
PS1 WCW Backstage Assault
PS1 WCW Mayhem
PS1 WCW Nitro
PS1 WCW vs. the World
PS1 WCW-NWO Thunder
PS1 Wild 9
PS1 WWF Attitude
PS1 WWF In Your House
PS1 WWF War Zone
PS1 WWF War Zone [Greatest Hits]
PS1 WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
PS1 X-Men: Mutant Academy
PS1 Xena: Warrior Princess
PS1 Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories
PC Ace Ventura
PC All-Star Baseball
PC Blood Bowl
PC Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures
PC Jazz Jackrabbit 2
PC Mortal Kombat 4
PC Power Rangers Super Legends
PC Road Rash
PC Rocksmith 2014 Edition: Remastered
PC Sonic & Knuckles Collection
PC Sonic CD
PC Sonic R
PC Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
PC Star Trek: Judgment Rites
PC Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
PC Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force
PC Tomb Raider (1996)
PC Tomb Raider II
PC Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft
PC Triple Play 98
PC WCW Nitro
PC Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Deluxe
Xbox One Agents of Mayhem
Xbox One Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series
Xbox One Marvel's Avengers: Deluxe Edition
Xbox One Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series
Xbox One Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series - The Complete Adventure
Xbox One Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two: The Telltale Series
Xbox One Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix
Xbox One Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series
Xbox ESPN NBA 2K5
Xbox NBA 2K3
Xbox NBA Live 2005
Xbox 360 BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
PS3 007: Legends
PS3 Assassin's Creed
PS3 Assassin's Creed III
PS3 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
PS3 Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy
PS3 Beyond: Two Souls
PS3 BioShock Infinite
PS3 Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate
PS3 Dragon Age: Inquisition
PS3 Far Cry 3
PS3 Fighting Edition: Tekken 6 / Tekken Tag Tournament 2 / SoulCalibur V
PS3 Final Fantasy XIII
PS3 Ghostbusters: The Video Game
PS3 God of War Saga
PS3 Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition
PS3 Heavy Rain: Director's Cut [Greatest Hits]
PS3 LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack
PS3 LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
PS3 LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
PS3 Lucha Libre AAA Heroes del Ring
PS3 Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet
PS3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
PS3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2
PS3 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
PS3 NCIS
PS3 NHL 13
PS3 Persona 5
PS3 Record of Agarest War 2
PS3 Record of Agarest War Zero
PS3 Remember Me
PS3 Saints Row: The Third The Full Package
PS3 Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments
PS3 Sonic Generations
PS3 Sonic the Hedgehog
PS3 Sonic Unleashed
PS3 Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
PS3 SoulCalibur IV [Greatest Hits]
PS3 Spider-Man 3
PS3 Star Trek The Video Game
PS3 Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
PS3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan
PS3 The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
PS3 The Last of Us
PS3 The Simpsons Game
PS3 TNA iMPACT!
PS3 Tomb Raider
PS3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
PS3 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
PS3 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
PS3 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
PS3 Valkyria Chronicles
PS3 Vanquish
PS3 WWE '12
PS3 WWE '13
PS3 WWE 2K14
PS3 WWE 2K15
PS3 WWE All Stars
PS3 WWE Legends of Wrestlemania
PS3 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008
PS3 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
PS3 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010
PS3 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011
PS3 Young Justice: Legacy

Today's Notes 7/26/21: Dare to Lindholm

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was a lot of fun, we got in a few normal Quick Play matches early, then switched over to Arcade mode once Mayhem became available. Big thanks to PandaSweet and TazerFace for joining in on a lot of the matches.

I did happen to have my best match ever stat wise with Brigitte, and it's why the screen shot is that of the results screen. The funny thing about that match is that I basically got fed up with the two damage dealers spamming 'Need healing' and I actually backed off providing heals in general and just focused on the payload. Thankfully the two tanks, one of which I believe was Panda and the other support also focused on the objective.... and somehow that match was one in what was basically a 4 vs 6 scenario.

Here are the match results in general from last night.

  1. Quick Play: Moira- Win
  2. Quick Play: Brigitte-  Win
  3. Quick Play: D.va - Win
  4. Quick Play: Moira - Win
  5. Quick Play: Brigitte - Loss
  6. Quick Play: D.va: Loss
  7. Mayhem: Widowmaker -  Win
  8. Mayhem: McCree - Loss
  9. Mayhem: McCree / Winston : Loss
  10. Mayhem: Windowaker -  Loss
  11. Mayhem: Reinhardt - Win
  12. Mayhem: Zarya - Win
  13. Mayhem: Echo  / Winston - Loss
  14. Mayhem: Reinhardt - Loss
  15. Mayhem: Reinhardt - Loss
  16. Mayhem: D.va - Loss
  17. Mayhem: D.va - Loss
  18. Mayhem: Tracer - Loss
  19. Mayhem: Zarya: - Win
  20. Mayhem: Brigitte- Win
  21. Mayhem: Brigitte- Loss
  22. Mayhem: Genji / Moria -Win

I will admit in that last match I basically phoned it in as Genji before switching to Moira at the very end to basically provide all the support needed to pull out that win.

Anyway, here are some clips from last night

I put a poll on twitter to see what 'forgotten' RPGs people might be interested in seeing at some point. The list included Chrono Cross, Thousand Arms, Xenosaga Episode 1 and X-Men Legends. To vote visit: https://twitter.com/FredCasden/status/1419519455630139395

 Woke up at 4:30 AM, mostly due to the heat, trust me there is a reason why I hate it when weather gets about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyway, I messed around a little with Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee to try capturing Pokemon with it undocked, and yes while it's easier to aim and toss the Pokeballs , it did show some of the more.... problematic aspects of the game with the ratio of how often the Pokemon will break out of the pokeballs. That said, I did boost the levels of my squad, so we should be on pace or just ahead of the pace for everything in Lavender town.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout saw us using Karen for the first time as the trainer and it was broadcasted on Twitch. The daily workout itself lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 589 kcal, and we did extra, so the complete session went 43 minutes with an estimate calorie burn of 786 kcal. We knocked out two a achievements with this session

  1. Karen's New Student: Exercise with Karen as your instructor
  2. Karen's Best Student: Receive a 3-star rating from Karen

We also made progress on other achievements, we're up to 3 out of 10 for the Karen's Trainee, 2 out of 10 for Karen's Buddy and 98 out of 100 for King FIt Fighter. The Karen's Best achievement's progress is currently hidden, but we need all four of these achievements to unlock the last four outfits in the game

Of course since this session was streamed there are a few clips.

For tonight's stream we are starting up Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, and we'll going in order to the character campaigns from top to bottom... mostly because I know Aqua's is supposed to be done last. My goal is to just get through the story on all campaigns as quickly as possible.

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

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Today's Notes 7/25/21: The Grind Is Real

Good afternoon everybody,

Last night's stream featured Pokemon Let's Go Eevee as we traveled from Cerulean City all the way to Lavender Town over the course of about 5 hours and 45 minutes. Now one would assume because of that amount of time I would've cleared two gyms, Vermilion City plus Lavender Town but nope... a good chunk of tonight was spent trying to catch Pokemon and dealing with the timing, aiming and the annoyance that I can't quite get the Pokeball to go to the right. Occasionally I can get it to go to the left when I want to, but for the most part I'm hoping for the Pokemon to remain dead-center.

But the biggest issue I had (besides my team's Pikachu leveling up slower than everyone else on my team) is how random it seems when it comes to Pokemon breaking out of the balls. I get it, that's the struggle and gimmick of Pokemon Go that was implemented into this remake of the Pokemon Yellow, but it gets really annoying when you get Excellent throws that feel penalized then get one toss captures on terrible throws.

That said there were a few cute moments, mostly focused around Eevee having some special cut scenes and learning key abilities and a run in with Team Rocket that sees a member of the Elite Four coming to our aid. The game's story is different 'enough' from the original to make it stand out... even if there are some continuity issues. 

Anyway, here are some clips from last night.

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee 7/24/21 Clip 1: Don't You Vomit Me On Me!

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee 7/24/21 Clip 2: Weepinbell''s Vine Whip For The Win!

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee 7/24/21 Clip 3: Eevee Being So Damn Cute

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee 7/24/21 Clip 4: Catch The Graveler in Mid-Ar

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee 7/24/21 Clip 5: An Ominous Arrival

Since we are starting a new week that means we have a highlight reel of everything from last week, which featured Overwatch, Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, God of War, Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, Space Jam: A New Legacy - The Game, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Tom Clancy's The Division, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: Masters of the Teras Kasi, Tekken 2, Wild 9 & Pokemon Let's Go Eevee! 

There is a question on if I'll start a second large campaign game for Friday Nights since we wrapped up God of War last week... but since there is still stuff to do in God of War, I'm really debating on if I should try and get close to 50% completion of the trophies and such. Not really sure people would want to see me get my but handed to me repeatedly by Valkyries!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 28 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 436 kcal, we did do some extra things, so the total session was 40 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 594 kcal.This was the last daily session using Evan as a trainer as we switched over to Karen and we went ahead unlock most of her outfits to knock out some her appearance related achievements. Because of how tickets were rewarded, six of her attires remain lock, but we should be able to a couple unlocked tomorrow. Here's the list of achievements unlocked today

  1. Karen's Stylst: Change Karen's Outfit
  2. Karen's Fashion Designer: Put a matching outfit together for Karen
  3. Karen's Fashion Saboteur: Mismatch an outfit for Karen
  4. Evan's Best Friend: Reach A Trusting Parternship With Evan

With those achievement done, we're at 97 out of 100 for the King Fit Fighter achievement, but since that is an actual percent, there are 5 achievements for Karen: Karen's New Student, Karen's Best STudent, Karen's Trainee, Karen's Buddy and Karen's Best Friend. So to get her remaining attires all six of the remaining achievements must be reached.

It's Sunday which means Overwatch is on the agenda! The Summer Games Event is in full effect and so I've updated the skins and voice lines for every character. Granted I only use the same handful every week, but still... I like to keep things uniformed!

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

 


Saturday, July 24, 2021

Today's Notes 7/24/21: Breaking Baldur

Good afternoon everybody,

Last night's stream saw us finish the main story of God of War, which probably took about an hour and half to, since it was all going to certain places, getting items and advancing things along to the fight with Baldur, which was a pretty epic encounter since Freya was caught in the middle. It is funny how Kratos tried to stay out of it, but his very nature lead to him killing Baldur even though Freya was willing to die for her son. This probably sets up the next game in a big way with Freya probably getting back with Odin for revenge. I did love teaser that shows Thor arriving at the cabin where Kratos and the Boy live... and it's funny, that said teaser does indicate several years later, which fits perfectly with how God of War: Ragnarok is coming out next year. 

Now following the 30 minutes of credits, (and yes I let them play even if I was switching scenes) We started in on doing the things I skipped over, a couple of stray enemies, chasing down two Valkyries (that took multiple attempts to defeat) and roaming one of the two realms we had access to but put off exploring... and if I knew each area would have had items to power up my weapons I would've gone to them first! Still there is an entire other area left to explore and a few trophies to hunt down. We may keep God of War in the line up for next week... plus we also have 3 more Valkyries to find... plus the final one that is apparently nearly impossible to beat. 

Anyway since this was a PS4 title that meant we had achievements... or rater trophies unlocked.

  1. Twilight Beckons: Defeat Baldur
  2. Last Wish: Spread the ashes
  3. All Will Fall: Kill 1,000 Enemies
  4. Why Fight It?: Fully upgrade the Blades of Chaos

And of course we have a few clips from last night as well.

God of War 7/23/21 Clip 1: Pounding The Meat

God Of War 7/23/21 Clip 2: Well... He Dead 

God of War 7/23/21 Clip 3: The Teaser 

God of War 7/23/21 Clip 4: Defeating the Valkyrie of The Mountain

God of War 7/23/21 Clip 5: Taking Down The Valkyrie Of Muspelheim 

Now of course with God of War done, that really cements that Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will be starting on Monday night, apparently it will take about 26-30 hours to finish that game and since I'll be taking the casual road, hopefully it will be very straight forward!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 28 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 447 kcal, and we did do some extra today, so the total session lasted 40 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 657 kcal. We're now up to 97 out of 100 for the Evan's Best Friend Achievement, which means we could knock it out tomorrow, a day earlier than I was anticipating. 

Today we also added Road Rash for the PlayStation to the collection, since we already have Road Rash 3D, I think there is one more game in the series for the original PlayStation to add, and I think it's called Road Rash Jailbreak.

For tonight's stream we'll be getting back to Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee as we're picking up right after the second gym, and we'll be going after every Pokemon we see to try and level up as quickly as possible before we reach the 3rd gym on our journey!

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


Overwatch 2 and other notes

We were joined by PandaSweet for many matches in Overwatch this evening, and I branched out a little playing as a wider variety of character...