Overwatch, Super Bowl and other things

Good morning everyone,

We had a little bit of work yesterday morning just to help close out one of the assignments that came in, so hey, I got to feel productive.

Last night's stream of Overwatch 2 was a lot of fun, picking up two plays of the game as Symmetra and Moira. Big thank you to PandaSweet (who had three Plays of the Game as Moira!) for being apart of the fun as well, as we carried as many people to wins as possible but we ran into some bad luck in regards to people just intentionally preventing progress.

Did finally see the new Antarctica map, with is a best of three capture points, and there is certainly a lot of ground to cover to keep the opposing team from overwhelming you if you're defending the capture area.  My biggest gripe with it is the blue'ish tint it has, which does make it hard to see things

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz while he was playing Prey over on twitch.tv/powerthumbz

Started writing a new Mass Effect short story commission, getting a fair bit done. I'll tell you, writing two characters is a lot more fun than writing three or more.

Went to a little store yesterday afternoon to pick up a few things, and man I was lucky to find a half-gallon of milk, a loaf of bread and the last pack of Chips Ahoy cookies they had (it's been a few weeks since I had any cookies). I was also looking to see if they had any eggs, and they were fresh out. Oh well.

Did have the Super Bowl on during the stream, and I was wearing my mom's Eagles jersey... now despite them losing, I know my mom would've loved the game. It's a shame the game came down to basically a referee making a call they should've just let slide because of how the game has gone. Sure the result of the game may have still been the same with the Chiefs getting a field goal, but at least the Eagles would've had a chance.

Cousin Frances got every single Trophy in Stray over the weekend, and just knowing that makes me want to put it on the line up of things to revisit during this years gaming tour.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Difficulty Challenge Combo #2, Straight Combo #2 Biceps Shape Focus Combo.

"I got carded at a liquor store, and my Blockbuster card accidentally fell out. The cashier said never mind."

Song of the Day:Lost on You by LP.

For tonight's stream, we're back to Saints Row with the big focus being on the remaining Ventures to the placed, I believe I have two to go along with their respective tasks and clearing out of threats in the areas where they are located at.

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

We Had Some Work Yesterday; PS2 Variety Night

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday we had some work, not as many hours as I would've liked, but it knocked some rust off... too bad some of the usual features used for work wasn't working as they should've been. I'd really hate to go back to using my phone instead of the web browser set up, because it makes harder for me to hear the people I'm interviewing.

Congratulations to my uncle Freddy who is going into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame!

Last night's stream was truly a variety night of games from the PlayStation 2 era, starting off with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus... and I forgot how bad that game was in regard to hit detection, the wonky A.I. and the bad camera angles. For whatever reason Konami really struggles with making TMNT games that weren't 2D brawlers. Chances are quite a lot of the VOD is going to be muted or cut because of how much footage this game used from the 2003 TMNT series.

Next was X-Men: Next Dimension, a fighting game that clearly has some inspiration from Tekken and Virtua Fighter. We went through the arcade mode as Betsy (aka Psylocke), and outside of Magneto, we didn't have too much trouble. Rather surprised Patrick Stewart supplied some voice work for the game. This game does have a story mode, so it makes it worth revisiting to see what that is like.

Over The Hedge was the next game we played, based on the movie of the same name, and while clearly aimed at younger gamers, it has a nice charm to do for a budget cash grab game.Based on the first couple of levels, I feel this game will be a hoot to play in co-op if I can rope in either my cousin Frances of my brother Leo into spending an evening messing around with it on stream.

Finally checked out Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, and its not a bad RPG,but it's clear it was meant to take full advantage of the PS2's online multiplayer capabilities. It might have local co-op so that might be worth diving into as a novelty.

We took a look at Death by Degrees and I have to wonder what Bandai Namco was thinking, They already had the bases for a decent brawling game in the form of the Tekken Force mode that was introduced in Tekken 3, but Death by Degrees certainly was not as fun to pick up on, due to the weird controls. Does look and sound great though.

Lastly we played Star Trek Encounters, which is in an arcade shooter game that uses some of the same assets used for Star Trek Legacy which was released on the Xbox 360 and PC around the same time. Much like it's more advanced sister game, the 'campaign' is not really fun, but using cheats to unlock all the ships means there is chaos to be had in its various game modes.

On a side note, I have to do something about how OBS is broadcasting things much darker than they should be in terms of the output color pallet.

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal

Tonight is the Super Bowl... and I know my mom would have been rooting for the Eagles if she could watch it... and I finally saw her death certificate... and reading it really hit me hard.

Finished the Mass Effect short story commission and have another one to start working on as well, so this series will be up to 22 chapters.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Advanced Combo #1, Sway Back COmbo and Difficulty Challenge Combo #3

"What do you call a poor Santa Claus?" "St. Nickel-less."

Song of the Day: Sunday Best by Surfaces.

For tonight's stream, it's Sunday and that means Overwatch 2... and yes I will be wearing Eagles green, in fact I'll be wearing my mom's Eagles jersey that was originally owned by my brother.

So we're about half way through FF7-Remake... I think.

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy VII Remake was a lot of fun, picking up right where we left off and getting to where we see Jessie, Biggs and Wedge reside in Sector 7, before we get more insight into things being weird with the timeline with the 'spirits' roaming around. The entire trip to Sector 5's reactor was certainly spaced out to really let the journey take center stage. There is certainly a lot more going into the lore of the Shinra corporation to make them more villainous they they appeared in the original.

That said, I do want to give a little fan theory, and it involves Cloud crash landing in the church... and that he's actually unconscious, and everything he experiences afterward is a full on illusion. I mean it makes sense, particularly in the remake giving the height he falls from is made real clear.

But what about the time manipulation, because Cloud is clearly getting visions of things he shouldn't, namely of Aerith's death scene, and the 'spirits' roaming around basically made sure she didn't get hurt or fall when escaping the church. 

Still near as I can tell, I'm about half way through FF7R, so if things play out as I expect, then we'll probably finish this in a few weeks, which would be really cool, but considering the number of reused assets that I've seen so far, I have to wonder: exactly why was this game in development hell for as long as it was?

Oh an yes... I'd totally ship Cloud & Jessie because as I said last week (either in a blog or on stream), Jessie has the best personality out of her, Tifa and Aerith.

For the raid we dropped in on MissCammi316 who was playing Dead by Daylight over at twitch.tv/misscammi316

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Trophies

• Night on the Town: Complete Chapter 4.
• Plan E: Complete Chapter 5.
• Lights Out: Complete Chapter 6.
• In Lockstep: Bypass the delta-level security lock in Mako Reactor 5.
• Trapped like Sewer Rats: Complete Chapter 7.
• Summon Slayer: Defeat a summon in battle.

Finally got in touch with my Uncle Mark, and found out my Aunt Rona is feeling better after catching Covid a few weeks ago. Hopefully I can touch base with him on several things on Sunday.

Got a nice card of condolences from my Cousin Gary and his wife yesterday which was appreciated.

Did a fair bit of writing yesterday afternoon on the Mass Effect short story, and I feel I could finish it today, but for the first time since December, I actually have work. I'm sure to be a bit rusty, but I hope to get back into the swing of things.

This might lead to some stream start times being later than normal depending on what assignments come in. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Intermediate COmbo #2, Waist Shape Focus Combo, Uppercut Combo #1 and Hip Shape Focus Combo.

"Dad, did you get a haircut?" "No, I got them all cut!"

Song of the Day: f**k, I'm Lonely by Lauv feat. Anne Marie.

For tonight's stream, we're hooking up the PlayStation 2 and going to mess around with a few different games, no real plans, but we're going to have fun

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

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

Thank you to Raid: Shadow Legends for sponsoring last night's stream

Good afternoon everyone,

Let's begin by thanking the folks behind Raid: Shadow Legends for sponsoring last night's stream, as it was the first time I played the incredibly popular mobile game. I elected to take the approach of featuring my first experience with the game on stream, going through the full tutorial, seeing how champions are unlocked, leveling up, upgrading gear and going through the the firs two chapters of the campaign, tried out the classic arena mode and dungeons. All in all I was quite impressed with what I experienced, and I can see myself playing it on a casual basis. You can download Raid: Shadow Legends using my link and enjoy the special in-game loots! Raid is free on PC and Mobile. https://strms.net/raid_fredcasden Use my Promo Code: RondaSESP for more perks

Now before the Raid: Shadow Legends portion of the stream, we did open with Fall Guys, and won my 20th Show in a Squad (team of four), which was really cool, and I came fairly close to winning a few other shows as a solo (Namely in the Jump Show special format). There was quite a bit of hilarity.

We did a recap of sorts regarding the Nintendo Direct, nothing major announced caught my interest beyond DONTNOD releasing a new game later in the year.

Also found a way to properly store not just all the VHS tapes I'm going through, but my DVD collection as well. If I can find a place that would buy those tapes I certainly will have an easy type carrying them iin something that has proper handles

For the raid we dropped in on TokuSHOUTsu just as 'Ultraman Ginga S the Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!' was starting! Got to watch that from the start over on twitch.tv/tokushoutsu

Fall Guys Achievements

• Golden Guy: Win 20 Episodes

Finished writing the Mass Effect short story commission I had started a few days ago, and got another request for another chapter, this time set after the Grissom Academy mission on Mass Effect 3

Spoke with the FnDanteSavage yesterday and got to learn a lot of history about the band he was in and how close they came to touring the east coast! It was really fascinating!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Straight Combo #1, Weaving Combo #2 and Double Combo #2.

The job interview I had yesterday was more of a webinar to 'sell me' on paying for a training course to potential work for them. As the old saying goes, if something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.

"Where do you learn to make a banana split?" "Sundae school."

Song of the Day: Ransom by Lil Tecca

For tonight's stream, we're playing Final Fantasy XIV, we'll do raids, side quests and maybe treasure maps, we'll see what ends up happening.

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

The Three Amigos In Saints Row, We're Being Sponsored By Raid: Shadow Legends!

Good morning everyone,

Considering the day prior, I really slept in yesterday, but a big highlight was talking to my Aunt Grace and Cousin Frances, as I wasn't sure what would be the best time to reach them. It was a real fun chat, and I'm so incredibly happy just to be able to chat with them. Also found two heart shape clocks that I think belong to Aunt Grace, but I'm not 100% sure. This did lead to a series of hilarious text messages regarding a photo of the clocks I sent to Frances, who thought something looked like Buddha. 

Got an invitation this morning to have my Twitch broadcasts being sponsored by Raid: Shadow Legends, and well that certainly is giving me an excuse to try the game out on the PC side of things, since I don't play any mobile games In fact we'll do that during tonight's stream during the 2nd half. If you want, you can download Raid: Shadow Legends for free using my affiliate link: https://strms.net/raid_fredcasden on either PC or Mobile, and use PromoCode RondaSESP for more perks! https://strms.net/raid_fredcasdenhttps://strms.net/raid_fredcasden

Last night's stream of Saints Row was really focused on completing business ventures and finding all the remaining discoveries, so again there was no story progress. But at this point, only two more ventures need to be placed, then the grind for the skyscraper. After that there would be just the main story missions to do.

On a side note, The Planet Saints missions to obtain trucks was a pain, but I used the helicopter to do it... because I was not going to bother with the wing suit approach the game intended!

That said, I was quite surprised to see a little tribute to the Three Amigos in the game. Now going back to at least Saints Row The Third, the Amigo Salute was a selected emote / taunt, but to see basically a diorama of the Aimgos encountering the Singing Bush in this game caught be by surprise! I know for a fact I still have the VHS tape of the movie in my home, and I watched it a lot as a kid, so this put a smile on my face.

For the raid, we dropped in on PowerThumbz while he was playing Prey over at twitch.tv/powerthumbz. 

Saints Row Achievements

• Community Outreach: Completed 10 districts in Santo Ileso.
• Masters of Santo Ileso: Unlocked Criminal Empire Tier 4.
• Challenge Accepted: Completed 25 challenges.

Made a good impact on the Mass Effect short story commission, it's relying on what I can think of regarding Diana Allers and her role in Mass Effect 3, but I think it's coming together nicely.

With the Overwatch 2 Season 3 update, I see they brought back being able to commentate players on the opposing team, because quite frankly as some have seen on stream, if I feel no one was worth of getting a commendation, then I'm not giving one. Not completely sold on a number of the changes on various characters, but the developers are always trying to make changes to break existing 'pro approved' teams.

Had a job 'interview' this morning, and it was more of the company trying to sell me on paying for a training course to work for them, and it raised more questions than answers.

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

"What does a sprinter eat before a race?" "Nothing, they fast!" 

Song of the Day: Want to Want Me by Jason Derulo.

On tonight's stream, we'll be playing Fall Guys for sure, but Fallout 76 will not be on the agenda, as Iceman will not be able to join us this week.So for the second half of the stream, we'll be featuring Raid: Shadow Legends! 

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

New Water Heater and More Saints Row

Good afternoon everyone,

We begin by saying thank you to my brother Leo, his friend Macho and Macho's father for all their help in getting a new water heater installed with little to no trouble, and for half the cost PSE&G wanted. It's one less stressful thing to worry about in what has been a dramatic few weeks. For the record, it turns out the previous water heater was installed in 2003, so it did its job and then some. I recall mom wanted to replace it a few years ago, but then COVID hit and other things too priority around the house.

Last night's stream of Saints Row was entirely focused on finding Discoveries and expanding the Saints Empire, as I refuse to fully advance the main story until I do everything that is considered side content. This meant a lot of roaming around, flying, gliding, getting into scraps and actually having to try things multiple times because of critical mission failures (aka I fought, I died, I respawned). The biggest main in the ass is calling out Marshall and it's 'mini-boss' being an enemy that is invulnerable unless you let it overheat, then shoot its tanks and then wear it down, rinse and repeat until it's defeated. Ended up reducing all the difficulty settings to the lowest possible just to get through it!

That saint tonight's stream will be more of the same, looking to continue expanding The Saints empire and finding all the goodies across the map.

Thank you to Kalenal for the raid following their stream of Pokemon Scarlett over on twitch.tv/kalenal

For the raid we dropped in on PradoxGamerAU, during their stream they were playing World of Warcraft and RimWorld over at twitch.tv/pradoxgamerau

Saints Row Achievements

• Tourist: Completed the photo scavenger hunt.
• Picking Fights: Defeated a miniboss from each faction.

I didn't get any writing done on the 20th Mass Effect story commission request I've received, so I hope to put a dent into that today if certain things aren't an option for the afternoon.

I still have a hard time going to the living room of my home unless I have to do something... I miss mom more and more each day.

Recorded another Box with VHS Tapes video, which will go live on my YouTube Channel on Friday.

Going forward with Overwatch 2, I'm going to focus on just the first 80 levels of the battle pass and forego the titles. Mostly because I want to write more.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily work out featured Advanced Combo #2, Hook Combo #2 and Left-Right Step Combo.

"What's the best thing about Switzerland?" "I don't know, but the flag is a big plus."

Song of the Day: Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran

For tonight's stream, well you know it's Saints Row... muhahahha! So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!