My Biggest Problem With Persona 3 Is The Story's Pacing

Hi everyone,

Monday was not fully what I was planing for, but it was an okay day on a few fronts. Did a bit of yard work, cutting branches on some trees that are interwoven with the fence (something my mom allowed over the years... so it's a bit of work). Also finished the AEW story and sent it off to the person who commissioned it. If they like it, it'll be up on the SubscribeStar page by the end of the week. 

This means I was able to move onto the next commission request for a Mass Effect story, getting the introduction and setup taken cared of with references to a much earlier chapter. I should have a fair time writing it as I have a good idea of what I would like to do with the characters involved.

The stream of Persona 3 Portable did indeed see us pick up in the middle of Taratus and it was most certainly a grind to cover a lot of ground to get to the 164th floor. There was a lot of back and forth to keep all the characters even in terms of levels outside of Yukari and Mitsuru, the later of which was needed to off-set the need to use ice skills to help keep a constant advantage.

The plot most certainly flew by as we covered both battles with Strega, the first against the male members of the trio and much later the one against Chidori, who is Junpei's love interest, who ends up dying in the end, sacrificing herself to revive Junpei after he is shot. It reminded me of the Star Trek episode 'The Empath', where Gem is in a position to use her abilities to heal McCoy from certain death. Still this at least gives some major motivation when it comes to what I'm guessing is a rematch against the other Strega members, since Junpei got the big anime yell moment.

But this does bring me to the plot of Persona 3, which in several ways is a follow up to elements I guess that happened in the original game or something in the Shin Megami Tensai universe, in the whole 'Bring About The Fall' plot, where we get Itkuski's betrayal, which would have been effective if it was timed to be actually at the end of the game, and the sudden introducing of Ryoji after the Death Arcana Social Link is completed. It really feels disjointed with the awkward pivot and focus.

Then comes Persona 3's other big problem in that you basically run out of things to do in the 'evening' portion of the game, unless you're going full bore to level grind wildly in Tartrus. If there was something I loved about Persona 5, its that there were enough Social Links only available in the evening hours to really make time fly by. 

Still I do know for tonight's stream we're pushing for another big Tartarus night with 50 floors to cover

Persona 3 Portable Achievements

• Settled the Score: Defeat the Hanged Man.
• Bond Maniac: Max out 10 Social Links.

For the raid, we dropped in on MissCammi316 who was playing Overwatch 2 over on twitch.tv/misscammi316

Now the plan start time for tonight's stream is 9:30 PM Eastern, because I already committed to working what evening hours I could get Tuesday to Friday this week. If for some reason I end up starting earlier than 9:30 PM, then you know something went wrong with that.

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

Old friends from the Army & New Friends in Overwatch

Hi everyone,

Today was a good day, got to talk with a friend from my short military career for two hours super early this morning, talking about life, anime and all sorts of stuff.

Last night's stream of Overwatch was incredibly awesome, for one we ended up playing with a full team of five, big thanks to PandaSweet, Beefstwer, Xlilplayer and others for being apart of the fun tonight. I had seven plays of the game, but was only able to save five of them because only the top five plays are saved on the console side, while on the PC side I could hit a button to mark POTGs to be saved. Overall I had plays of the game as Ashe, Junker Queen, Bastion, D.va and Reinhardt, with other characters used including Tracer, Orisa, Zarya, Wrecking Ball, Torbjourn, Widowmaker and others.

Seriously, though once playing with a full squad is different than playing with randoms, because then I start focusing and worrying about my own play to make sure I fulfill the functions of my role, switching characters if certain match-ups aren't working. It really made for a rarely seen experience on stream where I'm blaming myself for some of the failures I'm having but at the same time I have a team that can have my back as I try to get the ball rolling.

We also picked up a achievements as D.va, as I continue to somehow get in this game at the randomness of moments.

Overwatch 2 Achievements

• Shot Down: Prevent 1250 damage with a single use of D.va's Defense Matrix in Quick or Competitive Play.

For the raid we dropped in on  princesspashley who was playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom over at twitch.tv/princesspashley and too much shock, she never heard the song Fire by the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, but it did lead to a moment where she is battling out again an enemy that is spitting fire at her as the song is playing.

Got a lot of writing done on that AEW Commission request and picked up a couple of new followers on the SubscribeStar page, which is nice. I should have that story finished sometime on Monday.

Speaking of Monday I have a couple of goals I want to do, mostly taking the lawn trimmer out into the yard and giving that a once over, making some pasta for dinner the next couple of days.

Monday's stream might start at 9:30 PM Eastern if I see there are hours available, if not it'll start at 6:30 PM, since I haven't worked Mondays in quite a few years. For sure at this point Tuesday to Friday's streams will start at 9:30 PM Eastern.

And the agenda for Monday night will be resuming Persona 3 Portable, picking up from where we left off in Tarturus last Tuesday with the objective of getting to the needed floor and deadling with the next big boss battle, while putting us in position to deal with the next big story arc.

So on that note we'll see ya'll over at twitch.tv/fredcasden in the evening at either 6:30 PM or 9:30 PM

Street Fighter 6 After Sleeping All Day

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, in the aftermath of everything that happened on Friday morning, I just stayed in bed the whole day... I mean I woke up at like 7:30 AM, had an egg,cheese and bologna bagel... then basically went back to bed, not waking up again until 3:30 PM in the afternoon. I still feel depressed following what happened on Friday morning... but at least last night's stream allowed me to have some fun.

So we started the stream at about 6 PM and went for well over 6 hours playing Street Fighter 6 because there is a ton to do in that game. Not only you have your standard arcade modes, ranked and casual online battles and numerous other gimmicks, but the World Tour mode is awesome in regards to how it truly is a Street Fighter RPG. You create your own character and as you progress through it, you meet the 'legendary' fighters and learn their moves, meaning you can create your own character from the ground up.

Now we didn't just stay in that all night, we spent quite a bit of time in the Battle Hub, trying out the Extreme Modes, clasisc Arcade games (putting up a respectable score in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo), along with Avatar battles, where I was able to take my character up against other players. The online play is really smooth.

My biggest possible gripe with Street Fighter 6 is Modern Controls vs Classic Controls, because the current cast of characters don't really feel or flow the way I would expect with the classic set, and Modern Controls' button controls feels inverted from what Arc System Works does for the sake of being different. Still they are mostly responsive, and I feel Modern Controls really work in the World Tour mode since things

Still, I can safely say we have a lot of reasons to feature Street Fighter 6 with so much to do and a great chance of getting a lot of the game's achievements, because we knocked out half of them during the stream. I really look forward to really diving more into the World Tour mode to see how everything progresses in that.

Street Fighter 6 Achievements

• Taking Initiative: You want to learn the basics? I'm not in the mood to take on students. Go hit the Tutorials, kid
• My Title, My Life: Earned any titles for your efforts yet? Me? Pfft. I don't need a title. I'm Jamie freakin' Siu!
• Jungle-Sized Surprise: Ever hear of Extreme Battles? They're more WILD than regular fights. Let your instincts take over!
• Get Your Game Face On!: Where's your face, dingus? Get your butt to the avatar creator and sort yourself out!
• Leaving the Nest: That's it for basic training! You're a full-fledged rookie now. Next move is up to you. Have fun!
• Fashion Leader: Do you know who else never changes their clothes? Animals. Change your outfit. Please.
• Actions Speak Louder: Something in your way? Easy fix: send it flyin' with a Master Action! One of life's li'l pleasures.
• So This Is the Battle Hub...: Welcome to the Battle Hub. Do enjoy yourself. That is the purpose for which it was built, after all.
• Pleased to Meet You!: Investigation or vacation, you can learn a lot by talking to people. Try chatting in the Battle Hub.
• Kickin' it Old School: You know they've got classic games at the Game Center? They might be old, but they still slap.
• Classic Leaderboard Champ: Tried the Game Center's Ranking Challenge? Give it a shot! Always challenge yourself, even in games.
• Entranced by Battle: Audiences turn mere fights into thrilling spectacles. Spectate a Battle Hub Match and witness glory.
• Becoming the Avatar: In Avatar Battles, you can battle others as an avatar; a self outside of your self. Try it out!
• Ready to Dance?: Have you jammed out at the Battle Hub DJ Booth yet, bud? Turn up and light the dance floor aflame!
• Fighting Fledgling: Swallows can fly super fast, right? Even they were chicks once. Get yourself to Training Mode!
• First Encounters: Start with a match in the Battle Hub. Taking that first step is what matters the most.
• Watching Gets Me PUMPED!: There's nothing quite like a fight, one-on-one, in the flesh! Go spectate an Avatar Battle!
• Up on the Big Screen: Sit down by the Battle Hub's big screen and see what's on show. Man... Used to be me up there.
• Fighters' Codex: You seen these Character Guide things? Talk about rad! Bushinryu gets some rep too, naturally.
• Tales of the Valiant: Head to Fighting Ground and finish Arcade Mode once, buddy! Ya gotta hear fellow fighters' stories!
• Ha-dough-ken: I've worked a few odd jobs. They all doubled as training. You should try a part-time job, too.
• Let the Praise Become Your Muscle: Hrrah! To fight before a roaring crowd is a wrestler's honor! Try earning a "Nice" fan of your own!
• Joining the Pack: A lone wolf is strong, but they're far more fearsome in a pack. So go on—try making some friends!
• Combat Analysis: In combat, you must constantly analyze the situation. Spectate an Extreme Battle, and watch closely.
• Coolheaded Analysis: Reviewing replays is a great way to learn from past fights. You're bound to make some discoveries.
• Welcome to the Stable: Battle Hub Clubs are kinda like sumo stables! You should join one! I hope they have chanko stew...

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood who was also featuring Street Fighter 6 over at twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

The plan for tonight's stream is Overwatch 2 as is the norm. Voice chat will of course be via Discord. 

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

An entire day of feeling depressed

Hi everyone,

Figure I better just post these blogs after my streams from now on...

Yesterday got off to a really bad start, as I made the mistake of trying to talk to my dad about things, and he took it as yet another opportunity to berate me. I refuse to apologize to him, and I'll just go back to just calling him on Father's Day and his Birthday... because I have enough worries, concerns, fears that I don't need him compounding things. Hell all day and I had this gut wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This of course let to me making a video trying to voice my feelings and it's on my YouTube channel, because I want to make it clear that I intend to try, because what's the worse that can happen to me at this point? I've already lost my mom, I barely hold things together as is. So all I can do is try.

Things were so bad for me yesterday that for the first time in years I thought about calling out from work, but since I need to make sure I get what hours I can. There were times I felt I would break down trying to read the script. Made it through the shift, just didn't get a completed interview... so add not feeling as productive as I like to the feelings I dealt with

Hell I barely felt like doing the stream, but my goal every day is to make it to my streams and do them, it's my daily end goal. And we finished Kena: Bridge of Spirits... ironically, its story is about grief and loss, so the ending was getting to me a bit, but the final boss battle and the reason for the events of the game being the result of a village leader's ego took the sting out of. Would I play this game again? Probably to just clean up the achievements in finding the last 26 Rot and all the remaining hats

 Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4) Trophies

• Adira's Fear: Found Adira's Hammer Relic.
• Adira's Regret: Found Adira's Village Heart Relic.
• A Heavy Hammer: Defeated the Corrupted Woodsmith.
• Crossing Over: Learned the Dash Ability.
• Triple Threat: Destroyed 3 enemies with a single Parry.
• Toshi's Fear: Found Toshi's Incense Relic.
• Toshi's Regret: Found Toshi's Harpoon Relic.
• Toshi's Love: Found Toshi's Village Crest Relic.
• A Leader Walks Alone: Defeated Corrupted Toshi.
• The Lonely Path: Reached the Mountain Shrine.
• Restore Balance: Defeated the Corrupted Rot God.

For the raid we dropped in on zonesama who was playing Diablo IV over at twitch.tv/zonesama

So with Kena: Bridge of Spirits done, the next PlayStation 4 game we're going to play will be Heavy Rain, which we'll start next Friday. 

Did get a bit of writing done on the AEW Commission story, with luck I can finish it in a few days. Granted I repurposed an outline for it, but it works.

The plan for tonight's stream is to play Street Fighter 6, and we have extra incentive to do so, as BangBangBang gifted me a code to get 250 coins for in-game currency.

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

It's Friday

 Good morning everyone,

Yes I forgot to post yesterday's blog, my bad! Anyway work was alright last night, got another completed interview, but I really wish the wording of the questions were worded a little more 'humanly'. Thing again, the intro basically comes across as the 'In America' meme from the Yu-Gi-Oh abridged series.

Last night's stream of Mass Effect saw us getting the achievement for using Alenko in the majority of the game, which meant after we did the initial side quests, we went straight to Virmire where we left him behind. I made a mistake but sending Alenko with the Salarians instead of Ashley, which meant we didn't see Alenko's last stand. Once Virmire was done, I noticed I had the max bar filled regarding Paragon, which means i can finally start making some of my usual Renegade choices... and by having Virmire done before Noveria, we justify Shepard 'snapping' a bit.

We did go to Noveria and got all the initial story out of the way, so the next time we play it we can go straight to Peak 15 and then dealing with the one or two side quests that pop up because of the Rachni before the big push for finishing the game. 

Mass Effect Achievements

• Sentinel Ally: Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance sentinel squad member

For the raid we dropped in on princesspashley as they were playing Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom over at twitch.tv/princesspashley

The plan for tonight's stream is to continue Kena: Bridge of Spirits, I know we're somewhere in the second act of the story. The stream will be starting at 9:30 PM Eastern due to work.

Got a new commission request through my SubscribeStar page for a story based on AEW... and since I don't following WWE closely, there is no chance I know what the hell is up with what's going on in the glorified cocaine-fueled fuck fest that is All-Elite Wrestling..but I think I can whip something together using an old outline from something written ten years ago.

Restocked my food supply yesterday, and realized making ramen is rather painless. Sure it's not healthy, but hey at least I'm eating right?

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

Resident Evil 6 Progress, Achievements in Fall Guys!

Good morning everyone,

Another late shift of work yesterday, but I got another interview done and thus felt productive once again. 

Also made some pasta the previous night... and it's edible, so I have left overs for today. There is a big difference in knowing how to cook and 'knowing how to cook;.

Last night's stream opened with Resident Evil 6 which saw Iceman and I knock out Chapter 2 of Leon's campaign.. and since I'm playing as Helena, it certainly has lead to some unique moments and mechanics within the game, such as carrying Deborah and being its target during the boss fight. Now since the chapters are so long, Iceman and I are approaching of doing one chapter per week. So with five chapters per campaign and four campaigns in total... we'll be with this a lot in the coming weeks and months on Wednesdays.

Once chapter two of RE6 was done, and after a break, I loaded up Fall Guys with the intent of testing out an exploit to get the achievement for 5 wins in a row. Currently, if you do one of the short 'special' fan made races that are currently an option, you just have to finish it, doesn't matter the placement. Now do it four more times, and you got the achievement. Also managed to get the achievement for doing an emote before finishing in first place. Now that just leaves coming in 1st place 20 times in races... just wish I knew how many I had done already.

Resident Evil 6 Achievements

• Lifesaver: Help or rescue your partner ten times.
• Buried Secrets: Complete Chapter 2 in Leon's campaign.

Fall Guys Achievements

• Big Tease: Perform an emote just before coming first in a race round
• Infallible: Win 5 Episodes in a row

On a side note, my current Xbox achievement stands at 12 days and 50 achievements earned, some of which I didn't make mention of here in the blog.

For the raid we dropped in on TracyDoll who was playing Dead by Daylight over on twitch.tv/tracydoll

The plan for tonight's stream is more Mass Effect, and we'll be opening with three side quests with the hope we can get the achievement for doing the majority of the game with Alenko in the squad. If we get that achievement, we'll do Virmire before Noveria just for a change of pace 

Also finished the Mass Effect short story yesterday, so the commission slots are now open.

SO on that note we'll see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and the stream will be starting around 9:30 PM Eastern.

 

Social Links In Persona 3 Portable

Good morning everyone,

Work yesterday was alright as I finally had a complete interview for the client that is giving us work, granted I think I screwed up slightly, but getting a complete interview was a nice boost to my confidence.

Last night's stream of Persona 3 Portable saw us pick up in the aftermath of Shinjiro's death and Ken basically making his vow to not let what happen be in vain, which evolved his Persona, in addition we saw Fuuka's Persona evolve as well because someone moved away. This is kind of a weird way to show the companions evolving their powers having nothing to do with being directly linked to the main character, which gives things a rougher feel in comparison to how in Persona 5 Royal everything felt as if these payoffs were more important to the character development.

Still we covered basically all of October getting within striking distance of the next Full Moon, at the same time we made great progress on several of the Social Links, completing Yukari's while also nearly finished with Fuuka's. Some of the stories with the secondary characters have been really hit or miss, such as I wouldn't want to deal with Kenji's story every again, while Mamoru's story hits a bit close to home with details that are revealed. Then there is the weirdness of Tanaka's and Nozomi's stories which has me going what the hell!

We did pick up two achievements, Going Nova was basically the result of boosting one Persona's strength to max and getting to do an all out attack, and I'm rather pleased with getting over 50% of the Compendium done, with all the fusing I've spent time doing. At this pint I have 66% of the the game's achievements. Persona 3 Portable shall return on Monday.

Persona 3 Portable Achievements

• Going Nova: Deal over 999 damage in 1 attack.
• Moderate Bookkeeper: Register over 50% of the Compendium.

For the raid we dropped in on sweetlindir who was playing Paladins over at twitch.tv/sweetlindir

Also, Happy Birthday to long time friend of the channel PandaSweet! 

Nearly finished the Mass Effect short story commission, I would have had it done yesterday but I took a quick trip to a store to grab a couple of things. This story will be finished for today. The WWE short story commission that I picked up a few weeks ago has been shelved because I was not thrilled with the added changes the client wanted. They know what I'm comfortable writing and they pushed for things I wasn't going to budge on.

Tonight's stream will be starting at 9:30 PM Eastern due to work, so that means no Fall Guys, so we'll be jumping into Resident Evil 6 with Iceman  

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