The Terran Empire Is Not Of A High SoulCalibur

Good morning everybody,

Yesterday was interesting as we had a full work day, but I felt so awkward with the assignment since I know what type of person I need to speak too but the odds of getting through to them is incredibly tough, then again, judging by the length of the project I highly doubt saying it takes a short amount of time to complete will be in my best interests.

Anyway, last night's stream, we started with Star Trek Online and checked out the new content as part of the new season called 'Reflections'. First let's talk about Admiral Leeta... and I hate the character model redesign. I get that Star Trek Online is going to do another graphic revamp in 2022, but the look for Leeta with a more realistic skin tone and hair texture just looks bad. That said, it was great to hear Chase Masterson again, as she certainly loves to get a chance of being apart of Star Trek Online.Anyway the new version of Leeta was applied to the her apperance in the TFO 'Assault on Terok Nor', which makes the terrible up-her-nostril camera angle in her first cut scene look even worse than it did before.

The new episode, 'Firewall' see the Captain being order to visit a secret research facility where Leeta wants to speak to only them. Upon arriving, we sat the facility under attack by the Terran Empire under the command of the Mirror Universe's version of Kuumaarke who quickly has their reputation established as a Purple People Crushing Psychopath. Once Leeta is secured, we learn she has turned against the Terran Empire for the sake of saving everything, but it's clear she has another agenda. Kuumaarke steals some secret data and thus we chase her back to the Mirror Universe, where with the help of Leeta we get the data back and more before returning to the Prime Universe. The epside ends with a great cut scene that reveals the Mirror Universe will have an evil counterpart for the Captain the players create.

Now I played the episode twice, once with Zagreus under the Federation side, and the other as Sorra under the Klingon Defense Force side. The big differences are who gives the mission orders, as the Feds get the orders from Admiral Quinn since it's presented as a Federation issue, while the KDF side gets the orders from L'Rell who presents the story as though it's a Federation matter, but since Leeta asks for the player, the Federation asked for you through the Alliance that has been established over the last few years of STO's existence. It certainly is nice to see separate mission givers again... even if the story plays out the same, the subtle differences matter in terms of world building.

The new Task Force mission, Operation Wolf, is a straight up raid, where you and five other players are involved in a simulation of what it would be like to raid the mirror universe version of Earth Space Dock, which involves hacking consoles by protecting three Exocomps in two separate areas and then fighting a Runabout to escape. It's okay... certainly not something i would want to play more than once a week if I was playing STO every day.

Anyway, since there was not enough in STO to carry the full stream, we hooked up the PS3 and for the first time played SoulCalibur V.  A while back we featured SoulCalibur IV, so remembering how to play didn't take to long, and I can safely say SCV looks pretty damn good for a near 20 year old game (it was released in 2012). We went through the Arcade mode as Hilde, and then tackled a few things in different game modes. It does appear the online modes still work... just no one is around to use them near as I can tell. We might keep SCV in mind as a game to go to for a Fighting Game story mode and other achievements that we might be able to earn.

Following the stream we sent the fun over to SmoresDaFloof who was playing Psychonauts! You can check their streams out over on twitch.tv/smoresdafloof!  

Star Trek Online Accolades 

1. Met Mirror Leeta: You met Admiral Leeta, a devious and ruthless officer of the Terran Empire

SoulCalibur V Achievements

1. History Repeats: Battled in SOULCALIBUR V for the first time (excluding training and VS battle).
2. A Soul Coalesces: Edited a player license.
3. Lively Pub: Changed the BGM in options.
4. Perfect Trainee: Arcade: cleared Asia route.
5. Fetal Soul: Player level reached 5.
   

Twitch Clip Links

• We're traveling sideways!
• Considering the last time we saw you... 
• That is our Mirror Universe Counterpart!
• Whoa we're half there....
  
• Does Leeta Have Her New Character Model In Assault On Terok Nor?
• It's Over 9000! Hilde Defeats Nightmare! 
• Hitting Ezio's Critical Move
  
• Dude needed a bath
  

LvStrkr, one of my channels long time supporters and friends, recommended Artful Escape as a game to feature on a stream, since it's about a 5-6 hour long game. He's had a great track record when it has come to suggesting short games for one off specials, so I'll have to keep it in mind!

Overwatch Competitive Season 30 Match Results

1. D.va - Havana - 26:38 - Win - 4-3 
2. D.va - Hanamura - 13:32 - Loss - 2-3
3. D.va - King's Row - 14:02 - Loss - 1-3
   

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 31 minutes, with the following exercises: Advanced Combo #2, Double Combo #2 and Left-Right Step Combo. The estimated calorie burn was 553 kcal. Now I should make note of what the calorie burn should be before each session starts... but that would mean more notes to take down (lol), but I do wonder if any motion that registers as only 'okay' marks as a penalty towards the estimated calorie burn.

At time of me posting this blog, I'm not completely sure what's on the agenda for tonight, I have considered Tales from the Borderlands, but maybe that would be better for an early start stream on a Saturday to play all five episodes. Not saying that's the plan, just something I'm considering at the moment. 

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