Overwatch 2 and other notes

Tonight we were playing Overwatch 2, and we were joined by PandaSweet for the entire stream. We had plenty of wins and losses, and we had fun. Because of the crossover with Cowboy Bebop, I did put an effort in playing as Ashe, Mauga, Cassidy and Sombra who have sins as Faye, Jet, Spite and Ed, plus we also had matches as D.va, Orissa, Junker Queen, Wrecking Ball and Moira.

Tomorrow night we're doing one more stream dedicated to Dead or Alive 4 with the goal of trying to unlock Tengu!

For the raid we drooped in on intergalacticpants who was playing Rise of the Tomb Raider

Did some groceries today, was not able to get all the things I wanted not because of cost... but because Shop Rite was sold out!

Finished the second of four WWE related commission stories, and before I go to bed I'll start work on the fourth.... pretty much have to since I'm losing my normal writing time all this week thanks to work.

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Grance!

Played a littled Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League earlier today and managed to pick up another achievement. Also realized that the one achievement I'm waiting on as well as some in-game collectables that should unlock because of chapter progression did not unlock as well

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Achievements

• Number the Dead: Defeat 10 Raising Hell Hit Squads

Overwatch 2 and other notes

Overwatch 2 tonight was very hit and miss, sure we won a few, but I swear a lot of folks were playing like idiots, and my natural instinct to not condone stupidity lead to me phoning in several matches. Played matches as Junker Queen, Moira, Ashe, Lucio, Orissa, Sombra and a handful of others.

Big thank you to PandaSweet for being apart of tonight's stream.

Tomorrow nights stream will feature Dead or Alive 4, we're opening with Story Mode runs for the last default three characters, then we're doing Helena's before focusing on Time Trials.

For tonight's raid we dropped in on  intergalacticpants who was playing Rise of the Tomb Raider

Since WB Games has announced they are going to de-list a lot of games, made sure to nab that Samurai Jack game that came out fairly recently.

Speaking of WB Games, jumped into Suicide Squad early this morning to track down the last remaining Riddler trophies, so that's another achievement we have in that game

Nearly finsiehd the NFL related SubscribeStar Commission tier story I was working on yesterday, just have another section to complete and then its done 

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Achievements

• The Oldest One in the Book!: Collect 40 Riddler Trophies

Dead or Alive 4 and other notes

Tonight's stream of Dead or Alive 4 saw a big focus on the story modes, as we got through quite a few for various characters, and I certainly was shocked by a couple of things I saw (Jann Lee kicking a T-Rex topping the list). We managed to get a few achievements, as well as unlocking a few characters as we put in some quality time on a pretty much forgotten fighting game. 

Tomorrow night's stream will feature Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League as we focus on leveling up each character equally, so we may night advance the plot much if at all.

For tonight's raid we dropped in on SweetLindi who was playing Remnant II

Work today was pretty good with a community health survey, and folks were more or less happy to take part.

Finished the Spider-Man commission and got started on the Star Wars commission that almost seemed like it was going to be scrapped.

Still have not been paid for one of the Dragon Ball commission from last week. That guy is now black listed as far as I'm concerned.

Picked up several strategy guides for various games that we may be featuring at some point, including Dragon Age II, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Tomb Raider Legend

Dead or Alive 4 Achievements

• Unlocked "Ein": Unlocked the hidden character "Ein.
• Unlocked "Gen Fu": Unlocked the hidden character "Gen Fu."
• Unlocked "Leon": Unlocked the hidden character "Leon."
• Total Play Time 5 Hrs.: The total play time reached the 5 hour mark.

Completing Objectives In Mass Effect 3 and Fall Guys

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream lead off with one more round of the 360 version Mass Effect 3, namely the multiplayer as we went on the quest of getting the Veteran achievement which required 5,000 kills. Now keeping in mind I started the 360 version of Mass Effect 3 way back on August 1st, and here we are 27 days later, and I have all but one achievement unlocked. That last achievement is of course playing the game on finishing the game on Insanity difficulty... which I'm really not inclined to do, because I know how bullet sponge like things like Brutes and Banshees can become, having experienced Gold and Platinum Difficulty in the Multiplayer mode.

Mass Effect 3 Achievements

• Veteran: Kill 5,000 enemies.

Once my goal in Mass Effect 3 was done, we switched over to Fall Guys, and amazingly we were apart of a winning squad, and I actually came in first on a solo race without realizing it. We also messed around with the Blast Balls event, making it to the final round three times only to come up short all three times. Still, we did complete the battle pass which final rewards were Mecha-Godzilla related. So woo-hoo! We did it!

Twitch Clips

• When in Doubt... Use The Big Gun
• And he goes flying! 
• Achievement: Veteran - 5000 Kills In Mass Effect 3
• Avoiding the rhino! 
• It's A Blow Out!
• Lucky Landing! 
  

For the raid last night we dropped in on Kalenal as they were playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal! Kal will be looking to wrap ob a co-op objective in Stardew Valley on Monday night!

Of course the Xfinity update, we did have a couple of connection slow down which went beyond the Ethernet and WiFi. I just dare them to tell me it's my Ethernet card in my PC, when the same issues of a stable connection affect the Xbox One which is hardwire and my phone which I'm using to constantly check the WiFi when things start going wrong. 

Then there was the fact there was a power outage this morning at about 9 AM, which reset everything associated with the Xfinity X8 Gateway

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #2, Beginner Combo #1 and Left-Right Step Combo for 28 minutes.

Why do ghosts love elevators? Because they lift their spirits.

What do you call a snobby criminal going downstairs? A condescending con descending.

Song of the Day:  Another Love! by Tom Odell

Finished the latest commission story request for something involving the Shield in WWE... thankfully there was a little promo at WrestleMania 30 that was a YouTube exclusive that made for the perfect framing device. 

Did get another commission request, this time for a story based around Resident Evil 3... thing is there are two Resident Evil three... the original, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis released back in 1999... and of course Resident Evil 3: Remake released in 2020. I think I'll use the original release for the frame work of the story because of how the first half takes place before Resident Evil 2, with the second half taking place after. Gives me more roof to play with.

It's the start of a new week, so let's recap everything we featured this past week over on Twitch which was Overwatch, Mass Effect 3, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV Online, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r] and Fall Guys!

 

Square Enix had an unannounced clearance sale of stuff they no longer own, and so I went ahead and order physical copies what I could that was dirt cheap, which included the Deuz Ex Human Revolution - Augmented Edition for the Xbox 360, plus the standard editionf or PS3 and PC (because why not), Thief for the Xbox One, plus Marvel's Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Edition for the PS4. I did miss out on all the Tomb Raider physical copies.

If you're looking for tools to help with streaming or communicating from home with work, check out what Xsplit offers over at Xsplit.com, use the promo code CASDEN to save 10% on your order! If you're looking for just general stuff, of course you can swing over to Amazon using my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3L8N1Yj.  

For tonight's stream, well it's Sunday night and you know that means Overwatch! 

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

A Wild Night Of Overwatch, Square-Enix's major shake up.

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was pretty damn epic, as I picked up four plays of the game as D.va. We had a lot of fun as we had what is turning into our usual crew with PandaSweet, BangBangBang and BloodyClown. Characters that I used were the usual suspects of D.va, Reinhardt, Moira along with some use of Lucio, Mei, Bastion and Ashe. There was a bit of weirdness as I got knocked out of voice chat in game forcing a restart to get it working, then Panda had trouble with none of the alerts for enemy ultimate attacks were going off. That particular bug goes back to at least 2017 as I did do a Google search on stream, and saw so many complaints about it.

Twitch Clip Links

• Triple Kill and more!
• Four! 
• That's three!
  

For the raid we dropped in on Joliet4 who was doing a music stream featuring some of their original songs like Heartbreaker! You can find Joliet4 over at twitch.tv/joliet4 and listen to some of their songs over on Spoitfy by clicking HERE. 

Square-Enix sold three of its major studios and several of its properties to a company in Sweeden called Embracer Group. Perhaps the biggest shocker was the selling of Crystral Dynamics which basically brought new life into Tomb Raider franchise with the Survivor trilogy! Also on the sale block were Eidos-Montreal and Square Montreal, along with the rights to Deus Ex, Just Cause and several more games, It appears that Square-Enix wants to focus on things they can control in Japan. Now Embracer Group is also the company that acquired Gearbox as well as Cryptic Studios last December, so it really appears they want to make themselves the big publisher and developer of major titles and franchises. Really hope they know what they are doing. 

But the real question is why did Square-Enix do this? It's not shock to me that their attitude to the sales figures for things like the Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was disappointed... not to mention the fiasco of Marvel's Avengers. From what I read, it appears Square-Enix looking to focus more on what they can control and oversee more directly in Japan... which makes me think that Deck Nine along with the Life is Strange franchise is probably going to be on the sales block sooner rather than later.

There is also the question on if Square-Enix is going to allow itself to be bought by Sony, and if so, making themselves 'cheaper' to purchase at a high price. That's been heavily rumored for a while now, but it makes the sale of three major studios look even odder... unless Sony gave a clear indication those three studios were going to be shut down and the games associated with them would be left to rot.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Double Combo #1, Defensive Combo #2, Defensive Combo #1 and Hook Combo #2. Set a new personal best for Double Combo #1 set to No Mercy difficulty by getting a perfect score.

I'm going to make a prediction, Shotzi Blackheart will be released by the WWE within the next 12 months.

Knocked off a few more achievements in Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle following the stream, figuring some of these out really are a bit tough, and the urge not to just look at the solution is just hard to resist. Also trying to go for the Marathon streaks are tougher than I remember, my current best is 19.

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle Achievements

• Cult Classic: Reached rank 15 blood lust.
• Jessi's Jumper: Killed a victim wearing a rainbow hoodie.
• Slayground: Completed every puzzle level of Slayground.

If you're looking for tools to help with streaming or communicating from home with work, check out what Xsplit offers over at Xsplit.com, use the promo code CASDEN to save 10% on your order! If you're looking for just general stuff, of course you can swing over to Amazon using my affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3L8N1Yj. 

For tonight's stream we'll be resuming Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, as we're off to Water Dragon Isle and then for the long gauntlet of encounters that lead to the end of the first half of the game. 

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

Well that was Untangled

Good afternoon everyone,

Boy was yesterday weird, it was like in teens all day... and then things warmed up to the low 20s at night... yes I'm being sarcastic!

Anyway last night's stream featured Kingdom Hearts III, with the big focused on The Kingdom of Corona... (or cheap beer, which was a running gag). Since I have no familiarity with the movie Tangled. I'm not to keen on Flynn's design, but Rapunzel and Gothel had pretty cool looks. The open world when going from Rapunzel's tower to the Kingdom of Corona certainly felt worth of exploring, and the enemy spawn rate wasn't too which meant back tracking or making up for mistakes wasn't as brutal in comparison to Toy Box.

I did like how Rapunzel's long hair was used into exploring the world, as she uses it as way to swing Sora and company over some large gaps. The boss at the end of the world, which was formed from Gothel's cloak after she falls out of a window was unique... but I don't quite kick how or why it was causing sneezing.

In terms of the impressions of Tangled based on what I saw, it certainly seems like it would be good for a casual watch. Nothing really made me say I want to go see it based on the story elements presented... and of course, Rapunzel's realization of who she is by holding a cloth with a sun on it while looking up at the ceiling was too much of a leap, even more... if that is how it plays out in the movie then... wow, that is some 'we need to an emotional trigger moment' style writing.

On a side note, I'm keeping Kingdom Hearts III on Friday nights, which gives a nice end of the week 'feature' vibe... plus it means less things to fight on YouTube for copyright claims.

For the raid, we sent things over to Glorifiedthief who was playing Persona 5 Royal over at twitch.tv/Glorifiedthief!  They are super awesome.!

KINGDOM HEARTS III Achievements

• Happily Ever After: Adventure through the Kingdom of Corona and complete the story.

Twitch Clip Links

1. The Tangled Twist?
2. Keep Dancing 
3. Just Beat The Tar Out Of It!
   

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Difficult Challenge Combo #3, Difficult Challenge Combo #1 and Difficult Challenge Combo #2 for a duration of 34 minutes an a calorie burn estimated to be about 653 kcal.

Fitness Boxing 2 Totals For Week Of 1/16 to 1/22

• Punches Thrown: 9,017
• Estimated Calorie Burn: 4010.75 kcal
  

Wisconsin is full of some really special people... special as in anyone I spoke to in the that state who happened to be a Trump support clearly was on the short bus as a youth. Some folks have their heads so far up their own ass that they totally approve of what happened back on January 6 of 2021...  again, special people... that need to be put in a special place... like a fucking mental asylum. 

Did some long play time of Final Fantasy XIV last night after the stream, knocking out the entire Old Sharlayan Quest chain that sees Alphinaud and Alisaie getting to see their mother and also new clothes. Have to say that getting around Labyrinthos is a pain in the ass because of how it's 'layered', and there is really only one way up and down and that is a long mount ride through a mine. Still there was a great little moment when myself and twins were turn into frogs. Also hit the level cap of 90 for Bard... so now the worry will be about getting gear that kind of equals that!

Some stuff added to the X-Box digital library: Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle, Capcom Arcade Cabinet, Duke Nukem Forever, Tomb Raider Underworld and Saints Row. Wait... Capcom Arcade Cabinet... isn't that the same thing as Capcom Arcade Stadium... well yes and no, think of it as the 360 era version, but with fewer games, actual achievements for the games in the collection... but also some different titles. 

And speaking of Capcom Arcade Stadium... I was up till about 6 AM playing 1942 to get to where I can use the rewind exploit to farm the 10 Million Point Bonus.... which converts to about 38,000 CASPO (Capcom Arcade Stadium Points)... and the end goal is to get 100,000,000 CASPO. Good news is I'm at 10,000.000 CASPO... but the grind is real people... the grind is real!

Capcom Arcade Stadium Achievements

• C Average: Reach Class 10: Jurist.
  

For tonight's stream, I have not made up my mind of what we're going to do yet. I'm learning towards a few things but I do want to save some stuff for weeknight features. I'll figure something out, I always do.

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

There is a lot to do in Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

Good morning everybody,

You ever look at a game and think, boy things are progressing rather quickly, and wonder where all the content is?

Well that is basically where my head is at with Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise. After knocking out four of the game's eleven chapter in the first night two weeks ago, I finally see where that majority of time of this game would take place for true die-hard players. It's the side content... substories and mini games. 

Now since I have no clue of how deep the lore for Fist of the North Star is, the added sub-stories go out of their way to basically have Kenshiro being deeply involved with the city of Eden, keeping the streets safe, helping out of as Bartender and Club Manager, fighting in the Coliseum and so fourth. This is what is expected to eat up the majority of player's time... and this is where the game becomes daunting, and wondering what I should focus on.

There is also the issue of keeping track of everything, while the main quest destinations are always marked, the in ability to access a map to give an over-head perspective of things. Since sub-stories would have me running all over the place, getting lost seems to be par for the course.

Also discovered an issue with the Bartending mini-games, since I use a wired controller, the cocktail shaker doesn't register the movements one must make to complete it. That is a rather unfortunate little detail. Now this is where folks would say 'why am I using a wired controller', and that's because the PS4 battery life is fucking week in comparison to an X-Box controller.

Following the stream, we sent the fun over to Sw33ts_Gaming who was playing Paladins. You can find their channel over at twitch.tv/sw33ts_gaming!

 Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise Trophies

1. The Successor Grows: Unlock 50 abilities.
2. The Man who Overcame: Completed Chapter 5.

Twitch Clip Links

• Oh that's new!
• Now apologize! 
• Bartending With Kenshiro
  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout featured Beginner Combo #2, Weaving Combo #2 and Straight Combo #1 for a duration of 31 minutes and a calorie burn of 472 kcal.

Went after various achievements in several different games last night in Gears 5, Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears of War 4 and WWE 2K Battlegrounds. This was all part of the 12 Days of Christmas challenge that was featured over on www.trueachievements.com. The challenge was to get 1 achievement from different games that had online play.

Gears 5 Achievements

1. Last Rites: Won a Versus match on Ritual

Tomb Raider - Definitive Edition Achievements

1. Adventurer: Played a match to completion in all multiplayer modes.
2. Narcissistic: New character purchased.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Quiet Time: Find the best seat in the house

Gears of War 4 Achievements

1. Rollin' With the Homies: Earned the maximum Consecutive Match Bonus in Versus
2. I'm On Fire!: You've proved you're a true Grub Killer with a positive KD ratio.
3. Sorry, That's Never Happened To Me Before: You were in and out of a round of Versus real fast. Inspired by Tuhin94

WWE 2K Battlegrounds Achievements

1. Nothing personal: Performed 20 taunts
   

As I started to make some progress in the 5.2 content of Final Fantasy XIV, I came across the Sorrow of Werlyt story arc, which will see me facing the adopted children of Gaius van Baelsar. The first of the trails associated with it, Cinder Drift, was certainly a learning experience, as it's two forms that needed to be dealt with. I kind of jumped the gun when defeating the first form, using the Limit Break, without knowing there was a second form. So the discovery of this story quest takes priority over the Main Story... which means by the time I get to the Endwalker content, I won't have to indicate there are spoilers with the screenshots!.

For tonight's stream, we shall continue Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise!

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

Thoughts on Rise of the Tomb Raider's Baba Yaga

Good afternoon everyone,

Hope everyone had a happy and or merry Christmas yesterday! I know my nieces were pleased with the gifts they got this year!

Anyway, last night's stream saw the return of Rise of the Tomb Raider... mostly for achievement purposes and to play the Baba Yaga story. While it is probably more grounded than anything seen in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Baba Yaga content certainly gives folks a chance to test their puzzle solving abilities under fire, particularly the encounter with the 'witch' herself. There is a little bit of an issue in regards to the obvious identity of the 'witch', as it was quite clear everything was pointing towards it, but overall I enjoyed it.

Of course most of the time I was searching for items, tombs and caves, as there were various things I wanted to accomplish within the game. I did knock out a couple of side missions, but there are still a number of things I still want to do in this game, so don't be surprise to see it back at random times.

Big thanks to LvStrkR for gifting Ori: The Collection to me for Christmas! Much appreciated dude!  

Raids were not working last night on Twitch, and everyone I know was not streaming, so we just closed things out for the night. Very rare that happens!

Rise of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Was That Really Necessary?: Kill any animal with an explosive
2. Craftswoman: Craft 5 pieces of Equipment
3. Self-Improvement Junkie: Purchase all skills in one category
4. These Belong in A Museum: Collect 300 cards
5. Hide and Seek: Baba Yaga: Rescue Nadia from Trinity
6. Abandon All Hope: Baba Yaga: Enter the Wicked Vale
7. A Moment of Clarity: Baba Yaga: Face the Witch and live
8. Amateur Chemist: Baba Yaga: Craft the Antidote
9. Season of the Witch: Baba Yaga: Collect 50% of the Documents in the Wicked Vale
10. Last Ride of the Witch House: Baba Yaga: Activate the Ancient Lift
11. Truth Behind the Myth: Baba Yaga: Unmask Baba Yaga
12. Fond Farewell: Baba Yaga: Speak to Nadia again before leaving the Wicked Vale

Twitch Clip Links

• Was that really necessary?
• Figuring Things Out 
• The End of Baba Yaga
  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Body Straight Combo, Triple Combo #1 and Uppercut Combo #1 for a duration of 31 minutes and an estimated calorie burn of 438 kcal.

Installed Gears 5 last night, and knocked out a few basic achievements, such as the tutorial to get started on it. I'm surprised that Gears 5 is much smaller than Gears of War 4 in terms of how much space it takes up on an Xbox console. 

Gears 5 Achievements

1. My Body is Ready: Completed Boot Camp
2. In the Name of..: Acquired Character Skins for 3 different post launch Characters
3. Controlled Bursts: Won a Match of Horde Frenzy (any difficulty)
4. Class Act: Reached level five on any one Assault, one Tank and one Support
5. You've Got Character, Kid: Own 50 character skins
   

Did a bit of Final Fantasy XIV last night but just to get some featured side quests advanced, so nothing major.

It's time for this week's Twitch Bits Reel! This past week we played Overwatch, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Battletoads, Jump Force, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, The Grand Tour Game, Final Fantasy XIV, Capcom Fighting Evolution, Marvel Super Heroes, Mortal Kombat Mythologies Sub-Zero, WWF SmackDown and Rise of the Tomb Raider!, 

It's Sunday which means we'll be playing Overwatch tonight, and we'll be gunning to unlock the Mistletoe Symmetra skin!

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

Well Happy Birthday To Me

Good afternoon everybody,

I have leveled up today, as its my birthday... I am now 39 Years Old. Most would say I'm just wasting my life... they are probably right, but hell, to each their own.

Anyway, last night's stream certainly had no plan as I didn't want to start up anything major or risk finishing a game, so we revisited some old favorites and checked out something I'm considering as a game to feature in 2022.

First up, was the return of The Grand Tour Game, which involved a delay in me doing any gaming during the stream because I had to wait for it to finish installing. It was a great revisit to just doing the first episode. Took me a while to remember how to do things correctly, as I did earned gold medals on every event back in 2020. But something funny happened when I was porting over last night's stream, apparently Amazon doesn't want any footage of the game to exist, and thus blocked the entire stream... so the segment of The Grand Tour Game will be edited out.

Next was Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, this was mostly just trying the score attack. Trying to earn an S Rank in this is not easy, as tracking the ghosts when we get the power pellet is a major weakness. Still managed to get a clutch 'A' Rank, so that's something.

We checked out Battletoads, which game out last year as an X-Box exclusive... and boy the all important aspect of online co-op not being a thing is a major downer. Still it is a game that looks great, is pretty easy to learn the basics of and has some nice humor to it. This is a game we will stream in 2022, which means the save file I've started will be deleted.Still we earned about eight achievements, so that was cool

Finally we jumped back into Jump Force, and I was hoping to get some S-Ranks on Hard Missions to get another achievement and get a step closer to 100% completion, but things did no shake out the way I was hoping in terms of finishing with Awaken Abilities. I did dive back into Jump Force after the stream and was able to knock out the two achievements I want to do... one part thanks to an 'character' event where using One Piece and Yu-gi-Oh character lead to a multiple of two to various mission rewards.

Big thanks as always to Kalenal for the raid during the stream. Last night they were featuring Final Fantasy XIV over on twitch.tv/kalenal!

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Sw33ts_gaming who was playing Super People over on twitch.tv/sw33ts_gaming. From what I can tell Super People is just your typical battle royal game.

Battletoads Achievements

1. Dodgebrawl Champion: Finished a fight without taking damage.
2. Brawling… With Style!: Earned your first 'S' Rank from an encounter.
3. Toads in a Hole: Escaped from the simulation bunker.
4. It Begins…: Got your first collectable.
5. Road Rash: Went in search of the evil Dark Queen.
6. Into the Third Dimension: Used your tongue to reach the background.
7. Battlemaniacs: Defeated 100 enemies.
8. Parks & Recreational Violence: Battled through a creepy amusement park.

Jump Force Achievements

1. Reliable Companions: Raised ten support characters above level 70 through battle.
2. A Master Warrior: Got S rank 10 or more times on Hard Free Missions.
   

Twitch Clip Links

• More Power!!!!
• There's a Finish! 
• Brawlin... With Style!
• Just Kick It Up A Notch! 
  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #2, Front-Back Step Combo and Beginner Combo #1 for a duration of 28 minutes and an estimated calorie burn of 454 kcal.

I can safely say that the rest of this week will feature different games on Friday and Saturday, I might go back to Rise of the Tomb Raider to work on some achievements associated with that on Friday. Would be rather interesting if I go that route. This would mean both Fist of the North Star and Pokemon Shining Pearl being saved for next week.

Managed to finish a fan fic commission based around the WWE in 2010... and got paid for it promptly. Always nice when that happens. Might consider doing another one for the same client. .

For my birthday stream, I will be playing Final Fantasy XIV, and my focus will mostly be with the Eden side quests that were apart of Shadowbringers. We might do other trials and dungeons and stuff as well.

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

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Finished!

Good morning everyone,

Well, we've reached a new high score for games finished with 70 this year... and with a few weeks left, that number will increased.

So yes, we did finish Shadow of the Tomb Raider last night, and I'm really surprised I did finish it, because of how distracted I would get with side quests, tombs and challenges. Hell an hour of tonight's stream was dedicated to just ONE TOMB because of my tendency of not realizing where to jump, a fact that came up repeatedly towards the end of the game!

That said, much like the first two games in the Survivor trilogy, Shadow of the Tomb Raider's 3rd act is really short when all things considered, but the plus side is the game does have a New Game Plus, which allows to start a new campaign with all the abilities unlocked you earned. So there's a nice incentive to play again at some point on a harder difficulty setting.

In terms of the actual story, Shadow of the Tomb Raider served to give Lara closure on the death of her father and the short amount of time she had with her mother, in addition to closing the book on Trinity... even though there is no real connection to the 2013 game beyond a passing mention in Rise of the Tomb Raider. But the question is, where does Lara' story go next, because I would assume there will be a Tomb Raider game on the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles coming in a year or two. 

I was asked how I would the Survivor Trilogy... so first would be Tomb Raider, second would be Rise of the Tomb Raider and third would be Shadow of the Tomb Raider... It's not like I liked the trilogy less as it went along, but I really did enjoy the first game in the saga the most, as I feel it had the best layout of being able to find the tombs without having to go off the beaten path too much.

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Phoenix_face who was playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive over on twitch.tv/phoenix_face! 

On a side note: turns out some of the achievements from last night's stream were part of a DLC pack, and they were diamond achievements. Anyway, two achievements were earned this morning when I was going down the list of what was earned and realized I could pop into the game to get two pretty easy!

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Thanksgiving: Shoot a turkey with a Flare Round
2. The Chosen One: Find the Silver Box of Ix Chel
3. Total Party Kill: Kill 5 enemies with friendly fire
4. Back to Where We Started: Return to Paititi
5. To the Nines: Restore and equip a matching vestige outfitQueen of the Damned: Make an unlikely ally
6. Marksman: Perform 20 headshots with the bow
7. On the Go: Craft special ammunition 50 times
8. Smart and Resourceful: Complete Shadow of the Tomb Raider on Smart and Resourceful difficulty
9. Quite the Adventure: Finish the main storyline
10. Underwater Archeologist: Collect 5 underwater Artifacts
11. That Was A Breeze: Complete the Path of Huracan Challenge Tomb
12. Go With The Flow: Complete The Age Makers Side Mission
13. Eyes Of The Storm*: Obtain A Thousand Eyes skill, equip elite versions of Oathtaker's Bow and Sinchi Chiqa Battle Dress 
14. That's a Knife!*: Fully upgrade the knife
    

Twitch Clip Links

• Achievement: Thanksgiving!
• Get to the Choppa!!! 
• Will he die this time!

With Shadow of the Tomb Raider finished, what will be the next major game to be played? Well Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is the leading candidate at this point. Other contenders include Persona 3, Final Fantasy VII Remake and several other huge games., 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Work Out Featured Straight Combo #2, Sway Back Combo and Hip Shape Focus Combo for a duration of 31 minutes and an estimated calorie burn of 464 kcal.

Just going to say if: the person to blame for the current situation in Major League Baseball is Scott Boris, who has three clients as leaders of the MLBPA.

Didn't play any Final Fantasy XIV last night because of the All Worlds Emergency Maintenance.

So instead my post-stream gaming was focused on Jump Force and I did get two achievements done.

Jump Force Achievements

1. The Curtain Rises: Won friendly match one or more times.
2. Fanfare: Used emotions 100 or more times.

Which means the one achievement that will be a pain in the ass to do as it relates to the online ones would be challenging someone, have them accept and completing the match ten times... managed to get one, but I can't imagine that being possible at this point. 

For Tonight's stream, we will be achievement hunting with Jump Force to lead things off, playing online matches to grind towards that achievement of playing 100 of them and then Iceman and I will be resuming Gears of War 4 with Act IV! 

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

More Shadows Fewer Tombs Raided

Good morning everybody,

Near as I can tell the dropped frames that I experienced during last night's stream was due to the weather, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Anyway, we resumed Shadow of the Tomb Raider as we did a bunch of side quests and pushed the story forward so we're out of the Hidden City and are now in a Mission of San Juan. At this point I have no clue how many chapters of major set pieces are left in the game, as any wikis and guides I'm seeing aren't making it clear, but with my tendency of going off the beaten path and searching for Tombs and Crypts, plus wanting to do the side missions, I could be making the game a lot longer than it needs to be!  

Still there were some awesome moments, the shot of Lara coming up from the water with the fire behind her was just bad ass, and clear indication that Lara wants to stick Roark's head on a pike is a great call back of how she was on a rampage in the 2013 game when she made a make-shift grenade launcher and screaming she's coming for them all. There was a fake out of Jonah possible being killed off, but as Iceman said, if Jonah dies a lot of people stop caring about Tomb Raider.

This does raise a question about when we will see the next game from the franchise and which direction it would go. I can't imagine re-doing the original game as that was done in with Tomb Raider Legend I think.

Following the stream we sent the fun over to DaemonsW0lf who was playing Hunt: Showdown over at twitch.tv/daemonsw0lf!  

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Zoologist: Collect 20 critters
2. Thread the Past: Restore 5 vestige outfit pieces
3. Sixth Sense: Hunt and kill 10 enemies while Perception is active
4. I Believe Hakan Fly: Rescue Hakan from the cultists
5. Family Ties: Free Unuratu from prison
6. Stele Hunter: Complete 3 Challenge Tombs
7. Like a Shadow: Stealth takedown 25 enemies
8. Last Known Position: Lose the enemy 10 times
9. Chain Gang: Perform the Serpent's Fury 3 times
10. Playing with Fire: Burn 2 enemies simultaneously
11. Heart of the Serpent: Find the Mission of San Juan
    

Twitch Clip Links

• Llama llama llama....
• You're not dissuading her 
• Timed Puzzle Ends In A Roll
•  Lara goes on a rampage... again
  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hook Combo #1, Block Combo and Waist Shape Focus Combo for a duration of 31 minutes and a estimated calorie burn of 477 kcal.

Got a request to do a commissioned fan fic based around the WWE... going to consider it since the person wanting me to d a story for them knows when I stopped watching regularly.  

My Final Fantasy XIV adventures saw main story progress from Warrior of Darkness up through A Visit to Nu Mou. I have to say upon arriving in the fourth land of the Shadowbringers content called Il Mheg, I had a hard time seeing because of the Fae cloaking field or whatever, as it was a really bright shade of white that made it really tough to see any damn thing, let alone read the objectives. Beyond that, the story of that we're on our way of slaying the second Lightwarden is pretty cool, considering all out war is going to break out in the World of the First. Urianger being a lot more proactive out in the field is a nice change of pace as well.

So far I have not had to use the 'Trusts' system to get through the Dungeons of Shadowbringers, but Kalenal did say they are work doing because the In-game companions say unique things that tie into the story... so maybe we'll replay any dungeons I do on stream using the Trust system at some point.

For tonight's stream we will be resuming Shadows of the Tomb Raider, as I'll be lead off with doing side quests... we might jump back to the Hidden City to finish one that was in progress that we couldn't get to because we didn't have the knife upgrade.

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

Nothing But Mayhem

Good afternoon everybody,

Well yesterday was interesting, I did a bit of fan fic writing based around Jump Force, and those who know where I post those things can find it in the usual space.

Anyway last night's  stream of Overwatch was mostly Mayhem matches, and I finished on a 2 wins and 8 losses stretch... so not a good week win wise. But I mostly stuck with playing Damage heroes, so it's not like I was trying to go all out as per normal if I was a Tank or Support. I also messed around with the Experimental stuff, where there was some wild changes to how characters play, like for D.va for example, having her boosters last for 4 seconds instead of 2, which meant she was traveling farther. Wonder how many of those things will stick long term? I did get one play of the game as Cassidy, so as usual I had my moments!

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Flint_Locke over at twitch.tv/flint_locke as they were playing Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Tsumihoroboshi! 

Twitch Clip Links

• I show up and things happen!
• I got a couple out of that! 
• We did it! 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured... Weaving Combo #2, Straight Combo #1 and Beginner Combo #2 for a duration of 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 474 kcal. Stepped on the scale today and my weight looked to be about 242 lbs!

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements In Progress

• 360/365 Consecutive Days for One Year's Hard Work
• 32/50 Hours for Karen's Champion
• 360/400 Stamps for Honored Stamper
• 492,161/495,000 HITs for Monster Weight Puncher Lv. 5
• 82/100% for King EX Fighter
  

I will admit I have been doing a little extra each day as of lat, so the pacing for the Monster Weight Puncher is now ahead of the pace it's been on for the past month. Not sure exactly how the additional sessions are effecting the Karen's Champion achievement since I believe only the daily work out time increases it.

The long queues for Final Fantasy XIV certainly have a way of making one want to play it even more. The problem is Error 2002, which is caused by the smallest of interruptions in an internet connection that boots folks from their place in line! 

That said, I did put in several hours to put a large dent into the Main Story Quest, covering the entire Alphinaud Quest Chain up to An Unwelcome Guest. Also solo turns 1 to 3 of the Second Coil of Bahamut... the 4th coil has a few instant death mechanics that I will need help with.

On a side note: Eulmore is clearly a creepy place, Meol is basically Soylet Green because it is PEOPLE!

For tonight's stream we'll be playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider, we'll see how far we get as I clearly got distracted with exploration once we got to the Hidden City last week. There are certainly a lot of things in the area to find... but I know for sure, we're not finishing the game tonight!

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

The Start Of Shadowbringers

Good afternoon everybody,

Last night's stream certainly started off showing just how crazy the queues are for Final Fantasy XIV at the moments with all the excitement around Endwalker, and so many people wanting to experience the new content first. However, for me, I just reached the start of Shadowbringers... so the entire first half hour of the stream was waiting to get into the game... a process that started nearly two hours before hand.

So my stream was mostly focused on basically the initial 'tutorial' of the new major city and all the early cut scenes, plus finding Alisaie and Alphinaud to start getting the Scions put back together. There is some half-baked idea that the person who brings the player to the world of the first screwed up and ripped the souls of the Scions out of their bodies... and yet they have corporal forms. That said, their is the interesting aspect of timing moving differently in this new area than it does in the world I was in, so for the Scions, time has certainly past a great deal... but does this mean by the time we get back to the world of the Source, there will be a time skip? I am avoiding spoilers on that. 

I am glad that there was a cut down on the Aether currents, because it meant less frustration with the compass in regards to being lead to one that could not be reached because of story progression, a fact made really obvious in Stormblood when you have eight to find, but the closest one detected to you is in an area you are not allowed to reach yet!

Big thank you to Kalenal for the raid during last night's stream, they were streaming Final Fantasy XIV as well, but were going out of their way to avoid the Endwalker stuff to make sure they aren't giving spoilers to anyone not up to that point yet. Kal streams over at twitch.tv/kalenal! 

Following the stream, we hosted Maximilian_DOOD who was celebrating their 8th year Streamaversary over at twitch.tv/Maximilian_DOOD!

Twitch Clip Links

•  I love the changes they made to bard
• That was me not paying attention... 
• It Can Be! 

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 492 kcal.

So let me understand this CNN fires Chris Cuamo once they have properly investigated that he has done terrible things, but Fox News endorses Tucker Carlson even though he encourages domestic terrorism. And people wonder why Fox News is considered to be a joke.

Jumped into playing some Jump Force early this morning to knock off some achievements. Still can't get that one win in a Friendly Match, and I finally had a person accept a challenge... just need to do that 9 more times!

Jump Force Achievements

1. Did Something Nice Happen?: Obtained dropped items 10 or more times.
2. Apprenticeship Graduate: Got S rank 10 or more times on Easy Free Missions.
3. A Full-Fledged Knight: Cleared Free Mission on Normal one or more times.
4. Master of Titles: Earned more than 50 or more titles.
5. Seasoned Fighter: Cleared Free Mission on Hard one or more times.
   

It's Sunday which means we have a collection of my favorite clips featuring all the games we played this week, which included Overwatch, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Jump Force, Gears of War 4, Mario Golf Super Rush, Pokemon Shining Pearl and Final Fantasy XIV!  

For tonight's stream we will of course be playing Overwatch, just the usual mess of Quick Plays and hoping we get in games with viewers!

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

Getting Lost In The Shadows Of A Raided Tomb

Good Morning Everyone,

If you're going to get lost might as well have fun doing it!

That was basically the theme of last night's stream of Shadows of the Tomb Raider, which again ran longer than I was planning to mostly because a) I kept getting lost even while checking the map and using the Survival Instinct and b) I kept distracting myself trying to find little collectables and goodies while realizing some of the stuff could have been disposed of to get better items! 

Still, we found a few side missions and progressed the main story to where Lara is now disguised as the villains to try and sneak into their temple to free an ally, but if I'm looking at a list of chapters correctly, I should be about half way through the game, which means things certainly slowed down a lot when compared to the first two games in the trilogy.

The funny thing is this, since reaching the Hidden City, the game really opened up for exploration, hence getting lost and distracted... and this is where Shadows of the Tomb Raider shines. Granted the exploration does distract for the sense of urgency to stop Trinity... hell it does raises a lot of questions about the in-game time line (as in over how many days). Way I figure, none of the adventures of the 'Survivor Trilogy' seem to be more than a handful of fays if cut scenes are anything to go by.

Following the stream we sent the fun over to LifeWithStan who was playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt over on twitch.tv/lifewithstan!  

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Achievements

1. Untold Riches: Gather 40 gold ore
2. Better Equipped: Get 3 pieces of equipment
3. Makeshift Arsenal: Fully upgrade a weapon
4. Resting Places: Uncover 3 Crypts' secrets
5. Hearts and Minds: Retrieve Manko's Necklace
6. The Underworld: Get out of the Cenotes alive
7. New Heights: Complete a climb after finding the Overhang Climbing Gear
8. Como Te Llama: Pet 5 llamas

Twitch Clip Links

• That is one way to get up there!
• RUN!!!! 
• Como Te Llama Lamma Lamma...
  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout featured Hook Combo #2, Front-Back Step Combo and Beginner Combo #1 for a duration of 28 minutes and a estimated calorie burn of 449 kcal!

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise EX Achievements

1. Karen's Contender: Train With Karen for over 30 Hours
   

Instead of switching trainers, I'm going to continue with Karen as the trainer to go after the Karen's Champion achievement which is train with her for over 50 hours, then we'll cycle back to Janice and Hiro to get their champion achievements before focusing on the other trainers.

Just going to saw it, you lose the right to say someone is misusing aspect of your culture the second you start misusing the culture of someone else. Let us all remember that somethings are meant for a particular audience and just because you happen to like it, it doesn't mean it should change just because your feelings are hurt.  

My Final Fantasy XIV adventures to wrap up Stormbringer brought forward a rather turn of the redemption of villains, as I got to play as Alphinaud when the airship was on was shot down, and he is rescued by someone who calls himself Shadowhunter... but it's obvious that he is Gaius van Baelsar, who was a heavily featured villain in the A Realm Reborn arc of the story. While clearly more of a bad-ass anti-hero, the fact that he's popped up means more teaming up with old foes in Shadowbringer when I get to it.

Also found a real interesting side quest called the Corpse Groom that ties in with some NPCs I saw real early in the game. Goes to show there are quests linking to just about every damn thing in this game and no characters are truly pointless!

Now I was hoping to finish the 4.4 content last night, but I had some trouble with the battle where we have to play as Y'shtola for story purposes... however unlike when it came to having to use Alphinaud, the stakes were higher and there was a dedicated enemy attacking me at all times. Still it was worth it to see Y'shtola saying the following to Magnai "I am... not interested, little sun. Try again when you have become a man."

For tonight's stream we'll be leading off with Jump Force, getting in the first wave of any online matches we can get to try and get the achievements associated with online play, then around nine we've got Gears of War 4 with Iceman!

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