Final Fantasy, the mysery of the clocks solved, and other notes

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy XIV was a lot of fun, as we balanced doing side quests and roulette runs, so we got to see dungeons, alliance raids, normal raids, trials and other things. So just about all the main stuff one would do basically. In terms of the side quests, I finally finished all the ones in Radz-at-Han, and will now be focused on Garlemald. Did  Big thank you to BangBangBang for being apart of the fun.

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal as they were also playing Final Fantasy XIV over on twitch.tv/kalenal

A bit of a follow up regarding the heart shape clocks, my Aunt Grace saw the replay of the Wednesday night stream, and since I held the clocks up to show the viewers, it allowed her to see them clearly... and they belonged to my grandparents who lived in Philly! I was actually talking to my brother when I saw the text message Cousin Frances sent me earlier in the day, and he was saying he remembered the clocks but wasn't sure either

Got some writing done on the Mass Effect story commission yesterday afternoon, might be able to finish it today, or get a large chunk done, depending on how I incorporate the requested details the client wants. 

Recorded a new tier list making video for my YT channel with the subject being Rolling Stones studio albums... and it turns out I'm missing four from my collection, 3 UK versions and 1 US version. Oh well. It was fun to make, and is not an hour long! 

I took at look at the Nintendo Direct, and there wasn't anything that grabbed my attention beyond the Metroid Prime Remaster and the long overdue addition of GameBoy and GamBoy Advance era games to the Switch Online and Switch Online Expansion services respectively. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #1, Triple Combo #1 and Beginner Combo #2

"What has more letters than the alphabet?" "The post office!"

Song of the Day: Good Days by SZA.

For tonight's stream we are getting back to Final Fantasy VII Remake, and chances are we'll be getting an achievement right at the start if I remembered how well we did in the motorcycle mini-game last week.I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the story progresses.

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

Junkenstein's Revenge Leads To The Ultima Weapon

 Good afternoon everybody,

Last night's stream of course featured Overwatch, as we split the stream between doing Quick Play matches as well as various runs of Junkenstein's Revenge in the Halloween Terror event. Basically went back and forth between the two modes, with a few of the Junkenstein variants (Three There Were, Mystery Switch and Endless). Big thanks to PandaSweet for joining in on a bunch of these, as it was a completely chilled night. I did manage to grab a bunch of Plays of the Game in the event mode, two as McCree and one each for Tracer, Brigitte, Solider 76, Ashe and Torbjörn.

One thing Panda and I realized is that if you combined McCree's Ultimate with that of Baptiste's in this mode the outcome is very pleasing. Doesn't quite work as well with 76, but it was really it does a fair amount of damage.

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Flint_Locke over at twitch.tv/flint_locke as they were doing another episode of their read aloud series of streams featuring Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Meakashi!

Twitch Clip Links

• Come on! Come on!
• One got through 
• Got Two Of Them With That 
• Happy Halloween... SQUISH! 
• An Empowered High Noon! 

Yesterday afternoon I made a quick trip to CVS for my refill of the chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinse, and pointed out the head of the pharmacy that the amount in the bottle does not equal 30 days considering the instructions are for to use it twice a day! He said that would be fixed for the next and final time.

Following the stream and getting the Facebook video done, I loaded up Final Fantasy XIV, and made some progress on the Carpentry job quests before turning my focus back to the Main Story Quest... and everything was leading to my first tates of 'The Howling Wing' and a battle against the third primal, Garuda... which surprisingly was much more straight forward than the battle against Titan was. The thing is... it's what I saw in the cut scene afterward that has me concerned, as I saw the Ultima Weapon... and if things hold true to almost every other Final Fantasy game I've played, that thing is going to be a nightmare to defeat. Sure by the time I get to it, I'll probably be close to level 60 since it appears to be a Level 50 boss based on the MSQ, the gear I'm getting is mostly mid to high 40s, which means as high as my stats are going to be... the gear may not be up to par. Hell if things go right this week, we might stream this thing... depending on how I lay out doing the lead up quests in the mean time.

Experimented with a different way of getting the video and audio from the Elgato HD60S last night using the HD Capture software that downloads with capture card. Using it and listening to the audio through certainly seemed to work wonders and it also appears I can use the same software to play anything from the consoles without switching displays. This test was done using Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and everything seemed to work out. The tricky part would be if I should mute the desktop audio... further experimenting may be required. 

On the plus side, I finally earned another achievement in SPF2T... so yay!

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Achievements

1. Alternative Lifestyles: You completed Y or Z Arcade Mode on Hard or Expert Difficulty.
   

Paul McCarntey had the gall to call the Rolling Stones a blues cover bad when the Beatles were exactly the same thing. The only difference between the two is that the Stones didn't stray too far from the origins and were able to carve out a huge piece of music history, while the Beatles imploded because John Lennon had his head up his own ass.  

We have two new additions to my physlcal game collection: Alan Wake: Remastered for the PlayStation 4, and The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series for the Xbox One, which will remained seal.

Got confirmation that my Mail In Ballot was received by the Camden Count Board of Election back of September 28th for this year's General Election.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 28 minutes with the following exercises Front-Back Step Combo, Hook Combo #2 and Beginner Combo #1 for an estimated calorie burn of 447 kcal. I needed to make a run to the post office, so no need for extra exercises today.Here's the update on the EX Achievement progress: 311/365 consecutive days for One Year's Hard Work, 22/30 hours for  Janice's Contender, 311/350 stamps for Unparalleled Stamper and 433,147/450,000 HITs for Monster Weight Puncher Lv. 4.

For tonight's stream we'll be starting up The Walking Dead: New Frontier, with the plan being to tackle episodes 1, 2 and 3 tonight, then wrap it up with episode 4 & 5 tomorrow! 

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

A Marvelous Wavelength

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night was a double header, as we returned to Life is Strange: True Colors to play the bonus episode 'Wavelengths', and then followed it with Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter EX Edition, so we used two different consoles, the X-Box Series S and the Modified PlayStation.

So first, Life is Strange: True Colors, the 'Wavelengths' episode was certainly a lot more in-depth than I was expecting. It serves as an incredible bridge between what we saw with Steph in Life is Strange: Before The Storm and how she ended up in Haven Spring for True Colors, by showing her getting settled in with running the music store and being a DJ. Since we picked Chloe over Arcadia Bay, we saw the annual PTSD Steph has when it comes to the storm that tore the town apart, plus seeing her slowly getting back into the swing of things. The episode takes place over the course of a year, so it jumps to the key important days of her life and it all leads up to the day Alex arrives in Episode 1 of True Colors. 

To be honest with you, I found that Steph having issue with connecting with anyone long term because of Arcadia Bay getting wiped out adds a lot more to her character than say 'oh she broke up with the girl she was in a band with', as it gives that extra bit of spice to what she is dealing with and why she is comfortable being a DJ and running the music shop, not to mention her conversation with Mikey (also from Before the Storm) also adds more meaning to their continued Dungeon and Dragons shenanigans

Now there are some question I'm wondering in regard to how Steph's choices will effect the main game of True Colors if at all, as it seems like only a few differences could be possible due to how the music store look, and maybe how some NPCs around Haven Springs act, but I doubt that's the case. Still, it was incredible, and I'm really glad the pacing for it was what it was, as it gave so much depth to a character that really stood out from their first appearance.

Also: There were no achievements added to Life is Strange: True Colors with the bonus episode

 Playing Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter EX Edition on the PSOne certainly was an experience, as I don't recall ever playing it in the arcades... and I played all the other all the Capcom Marvle games in the arcades at some point during the late 90s and early 2000, but somehow this one never made it South Jersey. 

We did two arcade runs, one with Manual / Normal settings, and then then Manual / Turbo settings, clearing it with Sakura and Cyclops respectively. The PlayStation port of MSH vs SF, much like X-Men vs Street Fighter, see the tag team mechanic removed, turning the game into a best two out of three round fighter, where the power meters build quickly and the super moves are devastating. I didn't have too much trouble getting through every opponent up through Apoclypse... but Cyber-Akuma... or as in the version of MSH vs SF I was playing 'Mech-Gouki', was a completely different story.

The Cyber/Mech Akuma/Gouki was hell of a pain in the ass with how it would moves, and it took quite a few attempts to beat him. Facing Cyber/Mech-Akuma/Gouki also really showed the different between Normal and Turbo. With Normal I had the time to predict what's coming based on the sprite animations and try to adjust for it, while Turbo basically made me hope I could input things fast enough to overwhelm the game's A.I.. 

Following the stream we sent the fun over to TaterSalad21 who was playing the new MMO 'New World'. You can check his streams out over on twitch.tv/tatersalad21

Twitch Clip Links

• The ones Chloe made
• That has to be a plug for Dark Horse Comics!
  
• When all else fails...
• Shinkuu Hadou-ken with Sakura & Ryu
• I got nailed by Cyber-Gouki's Shining Gou Shock!
• Sakura Beats Cyber-Gouki with Shinkuu Hadou-Ken!
  

Yesterday we added The Fisher Price Rolling Stones Little People set to my collection of oddities, and it is really cool to see the Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and the late Charlie Watts as little figure. The packaging is really awesome as it looks like stage for a concert. The is something i noticed on the Mick figure and that his mouth seems like  the coloring wasn't completed for his lips to show that his mouth is open. 

Work yesterday was weight as I lost one hour because of something needing to be fixed before the majority of the evening staff started, but hey on the flips side, those of them who started during my last hour, also lost time. So I guess it balances out.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 31 minutes with the following exercises: Waist Shape Focus Combo, Block Combo and Hook Combo #1. The estimated calorie burn was 490 kcal. Today we've reached 75% of the EX Achievements... but we still got a long way to go to get to 100%. We're gonna put off going after the Hiro's Champion achievement (to train with Hiro for Over 50 hours) and will now focuse on Jancie's Contender which is to train with Janice for over 30 hours. We already have 13 on record using her.

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements

1. Hiro's Contender: Train with Hiro for over 30 hours
   
2. Grand EX Fighter: Acquire 75% of EX Achievements
   

For tonight's stream we're diving into horror with Until Dawn, so we're obviously using the PlayStation 4, we'll probably start as soon as I have dinner and we'll try and do the completely story in one super long stream!

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

The Hordes Of The Gears Of War

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream focused fully on Gears of War 3 for the entire stream because I wanted to dive deep into one of it's non-campaign modes, the horde mode. 

We sampled it last week, but this go round we dedicated the two plus hours to it, playing with random players, and actually doing fairly well. Granted my reaction time and ability to realize where enemies are at any given moment leave a lot to be desired, but I had a few bright spots as we made it all the way to like level 37 before having to take a break. The big thing we learned about Horde mode is that every 10 levels it gets tougher and it basically is a 'trainer' for Insanity mode. 

Once Iceman was able to join in, focused switched to the campaign of Gears of War 3 as we tackled Act 4. Ice-T's little cameo was cute, and we managed to find 7 out of the 8 collectables during it. There were a couple of times I got a bit too brave and got myself wrecked, but there were other times things went peanut buttery smooth.

There was one down side to the stream, and this was my own fault in that I wasn't grabbing the minute long clips during the campaign... and accidentally deleted a lot of the Twitch Clips that I was sorting through... so  the Twitch Clip links you see below are out of order as I tried to remember what happened when. 

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Kalenal at twitch.tv/kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV! Kal will be streaming again on Saturday, but they have not decided what they'll be up to as of yet! 

Gears of War 3 Achievement

1. Level 15: Reached level 15.
2. Welcome to Horde Mode: Survived the first 10 waves of Horde.
3. Award Winning Tactics: Earned an Onyx medal.
4. Socialite: Earned the Onyx "War Supporter" medal.
5. Level 25: Reached level 25.
6. Respect for the Dead: Your respect for the dead earned you access to Griffin's special weapons stash.
7. Think You Can Handle That?: Found enough fuel to get to Endeavor naval base.
8. Baird's Favorite Kind of Toy: Launched the sub.
9. Welcome To -redacted-: Passed under the Maelstrom and found Azura.

Twitch Clip Links

• They are standing on Top of Each other!!!! 
• We cut it with Marcus' forearm! 
• Just keep coming down there! 
• How about I come over here? 
• Torque Bow

I will admit I'm rather interested in the Rolling Stones Fisher-Price Little People set just for the sure novelty of it. Clearly it was made for collectors in mind, because I can't imagine parents giving the set to their young ones.

Think I'm going back to not playing any ranked Overwatch matches, too many times as D.va am I having all the key match gold medals for eliminations, objective kills, objective time and damage dealt without any help from those queuing up for the damage role, that if I wanted to deal with that horse shit I'd just play Quick Play matches.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily work out lasted 31 minutes and featured the following exercises: Intermediate Combo #2, Advanced Comb #1 and Weaving Combo #1. The estimated calorie burn was 483 kcal. I had one miss and I believe any miss counts at a 7 kcal penalty as before the session started I noticed the game said the calorie burn should be 490 kcal.

Stepped on the scale yesterday, weight holding steady in the mid-240s, and I'm pleased with that, as I am hoping to break the 240 lb barrier by the end of the year.

Already announced on Twitter yesterday, but on Friday night Life is Strange True Colors returns with the Wavelengths bonus episode, and Until Dawn is slated for Saturday night.

For tonight's stream the goal is to finish Detroit: Become Human which we started on Tuesday night. There are 32 Chapters and we already covered 17 of them, so we should be able to achieve our objective.