Contrast is still an awesome game

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream was a lot of fun as we played Contrast, a game that was released originally back in 2013, that saw an Xbox One version released in 2014. Now I first played it back in 2017, in fact it was a game we streamed... however unlike that time when I only unlocked 20 of the 22 achievements with the Steam version, we did a full 100% complete play through... which required a little chapter jumping to find four achievements that I missed. Still my play time was much faster, the first time I played Contrast it took me close to 7 hours to finish it, last night it only took me 4 hours. So hey, I've gotten better at video games over the past five years.

Anyway, Contrast is a gorgeous game, that involves jumping into well light walls to be able to move among the shadows. It is a puzzle platformer, so quite a bit of thinking and planning is involved to see how to get from point A to point B, and even some object moving. The good news is that the game gradually introduces each of its mechanics smoothly, so by the time you reach the final puzzles of the game, all it comes down is just realizing what you can do... and focusing a light beam (seriously I spent a lot of time on one puzzle in Act III because of that).

Best part about Contrast is the story that it tells of a broken family that is brought back together, and the revelation of who Dawn is, as she is the character we play as... and the fact that quite a lot of little details are revealed when one pays attention to all the collectables. Also the kid, DiDi certainly is a charming companion character since it's her story we're seeing, but I wonder how the revelation that her father shares the same powers as Dawn would play out, I don't believe there has ever been a sequel to this game to explore that.

Now we did finish the game a bit after 10 PM, so since I was using the Xbox Series console last night, we loaded up Gears 5 to get in a little extra gaming. No achievements were unlocked during, just a couple of stints of PVE control.

Contrast Achievements

• A New Dimension: Unlocked when the player shifts for the first time.
• Illuminated: Unlocked after the player gets their second luminary.
• To The Heroes Among Us: Unlocked when the player finds the hidden Extra Life 2012 Logo.
• Room 529: Unlocked when the player leaves the Cabaret.
• Now That's Thinking With Shadows: Unlocked when the player clears the Void Jump on their first attempt.
• Punching Bag: Unlocked when the player lets the gangsters beat up Johnny.
• You Broke My Finger!: Unlocked when the player leaves the Cinema.
• Streets Sweeper: Unlocked after the player discovers all collectibles in Act I.
• A Carousel Of Broken Dreams: Unlocked when the player completes Act I.
• The Family Life: Unlocked when the player examines Didi's family pictures.
• This Circus Is A Disaster!: Unlocked when the player goes through the circus tent toward the attractions.
• Just Like Harry: Unlocked when the player makes it over the crocodiles on their first attempt in the Shadow Theater.
• No Backpack Bird Needed: Unlocked when the player jumps into the treasure chest in the Pirate Ride.
• Handy Person: Unlocked when the player repairs the three attractions.
• How'd You Get In?: Unlocked when the player completes the Workshop.
• BookKeeper: Unlocked when the player discovers all collectibles in Act III.
• Let There Be Light: Unlocked when the player completes the Lighthouse.
• FIN: Unlocks when the player completes the game.
• Not That Kind Of Game!: Unlocked when the player tries to enter the XXX door.
• My God, It's Full Of Stars!: Unlocked when the player falls into the void on the way to the Cinema.
• GroundsKeeper: Unlocked when the player discovers all collectibles in Act II.
• The Cyclops' Bottle: Unlocked when the player finds the Cyclops' bottle in the Carousel area.

Twitch Clip Links

1. Too slow at first
2. Just got to untangle the balloon! 
3. That ending...
4. It was bound to happen 
   

For the raid we dropped in on CallMeMsGalasxy who was playing Phasmophobia over on twitch.tv/callmemsgalaxy. Found them though Hover via one of their Overwatch clips. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Body Uppercut Combo, Uppercut Combo #2 and Body Hook Combo. Of course we did some extra because of other reasons beyond my control.

There is another COVID variant floating around, BA.2 which appears to be similar to the variant that kicked the crap out of the North East last year. Cases in my home state of New Jersey are up 40% and this just makes me glad I don't go anywhere.

My Xbox achievement streak continued through today as I continued to knock out things in WWE 2K15, a game that is eight years old, but hey there are things we can get out of it to boost the achievement score. At 40 days this is my 2nd longest streak since originally picking up a Xbox One in early 2020.

WWE 2K15 Achievements

• One foot in the grave: Win a match by a leverage pin. (Single play)
• Ready for the big leagues: MyCAREER - Complete the NXT part.

So the question will become when will we feature WWE 2K15 on stream since I'm messing around with it so much off-stream. Well how about tonight, we'll open with some Garfield Kart: Furious Racing, then put in some WWE 2K15 and maybe work in a third game too.

That sounds like a plan so on that note, we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!