Lara Rises Again... Only To Fall In The Snow!

Good morning everybody,

Well a new day dawns on us, following a night where Lara Croft was stumbling around in the snow.

Yes, indeed we started up Rise of the Tomb Raider last night, a boy was it a bit confusing in regards to how some abilities were being unlocked and when, as the prologue certainly lasted longer than I thought and the big reveal a good portion of what I playing may be told from a flash back perspective. It seems that way at the very least. It seems Lara has kind of gone loony as she goes all-in following her father's foot steps which puts her in conflict with a fanatical religious group is look for the Divine Source, an relic that seems as if can grant immortality.

Gameplay wise, Rise of the Tomb Raider plays a lot like the first game, but we have the hindrance of snow and the added elements of swimming sections, which gives me flash backs to how swimming was a big deal in Tomb Raider II way back in the 90s. Collectables seems to be a lot easier to find, and there are some in-game perks to finding ancient coins to purchase various items.

I should talk about the micro-transactions Rise of the Tomb Raider has, because it's clear there were some pay to win mechanics going on, which I believe is part of the PVP mode... that sadly was a trend for a long time folks.

Anyway, in terms of where I am in the story, I figure I'm maybe one-third of the way through, if a list of chapters was any indications. With luck, this could be a three-nighter like the first game in the Survivor Trilogy... but I'm not counting on that!

Big thanks to Kalenal for the big raid after her stream of Stardew Valley! Kalenal streams over at twitch.tv/kalenal and plays a lot of Final Fantasy XIV!

Following the stream we sent the fun over to LifeWithStan who was playing Dark Souls III over at twitch.tv/lifewithstan!

Rise of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Quite the Collector: Collect 150 cards
2. Reading the Past: Translate one Monolith
3. Following in Father's Footsteps: Enter the Syrian tomb of the Lost Prophet
4. Quite A Tumble: Survive the avalanche
5. Tougher Than She Looks: Survive a night in the Siberian wilderness
6. One-Sided Conversation: Stealth kill an enemy while he is having a conversation
7. Challenging: Complete any Challenge Tomb
8. Strange Acquaintance: Rescue Jacob from the gulag
9. Rapid Recovery: Heal yourself in combat 3 times
10. Twitch Clip Links

Twitch Clip Links

• The first oops of the game...
• It's a Bear!
• Ho Ho Ho I Got A Machine Gun!
  

My off-stream adventures of Final Fantasy XIV continued, first yesterday afternoon with the liberation of Doma and then seeing that Krile was captured by Zenos' goons... needless to say that jerk has a butt kicking coming his way! Also seeing Gosetsu go down was a big reminder of how Square Enix loves to create really likeable characters only to kill them off... I swear it's their revenge for those of us who found Aerith not worth a hill of beans in Final Fantasy VII. 

Of course the Final Fantasy XIV adventures continued after the stream, as I continued the Main Story Quest up through The Silence of the Gods which mean another Primal fight, in perhaps one the most confusing ones I've seen that used a new element where a shield of sorts needed to be trigger to avoid mega AOEs. I will have to ask Kalenal about that in the future before facing the 'Extreme' version of it.

Finally was able to get a lead on Volumes 4-7 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig, so hopefully I'll be able to add them to the collection to complete that series.

Really excited to do another run of Gears of War 4 starting on Wednesday, as it was the first Xbox One game I finished last year when I got the console. To go through it with Iceman is gonna be a lot of fun I bet!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout featured Sway Back Combo, Straight Combo #2 and Hip Shape Focus Combo as the exercises for a duration of 31 minutes and an estimated calorie burn of 456 kcal.

 I can confirm that I am off work next Thursday for Thanksgiving. Maybe we'll do a long stream that day. 

Saw the trailer for Dragon Ball: The Breakers, and thank goodness it's not another re-telling of the Dragon Ball Z and Super series. Sure it looks like Dragon Ball's version of Dead By Daylight, but at least it's something different!

If Kyle Rittenhouse is found Not Guilty I will not blame anyone for being pissed, because that piece of shit went to Kenosha looking for trouble. In addition the judge is clearly racist and a Trump support whose bias was on full display.

For tonight's stream we will be continuing Rise of the Tomb Raider, and the only thing I can say for sure is that Lara Croft will again be face down in the snow!

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

Tomb Raider... Or Lara Croft Falls Down A Lot!

Good morning everybody,

We're a day into November and some old concerns have popped up, a few of which are related to some local government decisions here in New Jersey... and funny enough it's election day... with Phil Murphy hoping to get another term as Governor. Considering his challenger is a Trump support, I'm pretty sure Murphy is going to win... even though a decision he made has put a lot of us in a bind.

Anyway, last night's stream featured the start of Tomb Raider, not the original from the late 90s, but the 2013 game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. I have played it before, in particular, I played the version on Steam, once in 2017 and again in 2018, both play through were streamed on Twitch. This run is using a console, namely the X-Box Series S, since it hasn't been used much as of late. 

One huge difference I feel between the console and PC versions is the fact the controls feel fighter on console. Sure I had a few deaths during the stream, but I feel they were more my fault as opposed to the game not reading inputs... so I'm a little more open to exploring and finding collectables than I was the first two times.

Graphically, Tomb Raider still holds up nicely, and I didn't waste time putting Lara in the 1930s Aviator attire to give her a look that makes sense for the adventure she's on... plus I think whenever she is shivering, it looks even colder if she's actually wearing a jacket! I do find it fun at how she can be covered in cuts, blood, mud and scrapes... then is totally clean moments later. I get why no game has really gone with the realistic wear and tear on clothing for games like this, just about every game with a female lead would be rated M for mature.

Let me also address the title of today's blog, because I joked about how Tomb Raider is basically Lara Croft falling down a lot, or as some of my regulars called 'Lara just get the shit kicked out of her'. There are quite a number of instances where Lara is falling from a great height, tumbling down a hill and so forth... and this is not even counting missed jumps or failed Quick Time Events or failed combat situations. Since the developers wanted to show Lara toughening up, safe to say that happens quite a bit.

In terms of where we left off, it's at the start of the Chasm Monastery, so a little less than half way through the game, but I do remember there are a lot of big action set pieces in the second half of the game, so I don't think we'll finish it in two nights. 

Huge thanks to Kalenal for the raid during the stream! They were playing Tales of Vesperia on Monday night over on twitch.tv/kalenal!  

Following the stream the fun was sent over to LifeWithStan who was playing Dark Souls III over on twitch.tv/lifewithstan!

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition Achievements

1. One Smart Cookie: One optional tomb completed.
2. Big Game Hunter: 10 large animals killed and looted.
3. Unfinished Business: One challenge completed.
4. Predator: 50 enemies killed with the bow.
5. Bookworm: 25% of all documents found.

Twitch Clip Links

• And that is gonna hurt even more!
• Lara 1 Deer 0
• We're The Predator!
  
• Dude you're finished! 
• We glitched through the floor! 

Volume 6 of Gungrave and Volume 7 of Chrono Crusade arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon, meaning 17 years after I picked up volume 1 of both series I finally have the complete DVD sets. Always nice to be able to fill in gaps in the collection.

A good portion of my off-stream Final Fantasy XIV adventures involved side quests associated with Idyllshire, a city that was abandoned but is now thriving (sort of) under goblins who took it over, and are gradually setting up a community... meaning a lot of quests involved running around, making deliveries, taking out monsters and such. It is a charming little series of side quests, even if when one is done three more pop up... but that is why they are side quests!  

Anyway, I did progress the Main Story Quest up to The First Flight of the Excelsior, and I have to say the apparent death of Iceheart aka Shiva was glorious, but very ambiguous since she fell to her death providing covers for everyone heading to Azys Lla, which is the next huge major chunk of the story.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Intermediate Combo #2, Advanced Combo #1 and Weaving Combo #1 for a duration of 31 minutes and a estimated calorie burn of 490 kcal. As of today we now have 80% of the EX achievements unlocked.

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements

1. Monster Weight Puncher Lv. 4: Reach a total punch count of 450,000 HITs 
   

Oddly enough the requirements for Monster weight Puncher Lv. 5 is only to reach 495,000 HITs, I wonder why it isn't an even 500,000.

For tonight's stream we'll continue Tomb Raider using the X-Box Series S console as we work our way through the island!

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