Sakura Beats Bison Before The Third Gears Of War

 

Good morning everybody,

Well last night's stream started late due to work because of some issues beyond my control, hopefully that will not be the case tonight, Anyway, last night's stream was split between Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Gears of War 3, an odd combination for sure, but keep in mind, Gears of War 3 has been something on the agenda for quite some time, and it was high time we got to it! 

Anyway, first, Street Fighter Alpha 3... on it's default settings is complete horse shit in terms of its difficulty when it comes to input reading. Now we were using the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection version, which means the default difficultly is for making sure quarters are eaten up as much as possible, but there is no reason as to why the 2nd person you face in the game should be as hard as M. Bison who is notorious as one of the most difficult end game bosses in fighting game history.We went through the arcade ladder with Sakura because of course I'm going to do with her, she's my main for a reason. We made our way through it pretty gradually, so as the difficulty gradually rose with each fight I was getting a better idea of how the game responds. Which was to have Ryu (the 9th opponent, and 2nd related to Sakura's 'story' for Alpha 3) stomp my ass... of course we went for a rematch got past Ryu and then it was time to face M. Bison.

Now here's the thing with facing M.Bison in Alpha 3 in the arcade, when you reach him you have to beat him, if you lose, credits roll, it's game over. So beating him on any difficulty setting is a small feat in itself, because of how over powered he is. Hell, the psycho crusher the game uses when facing Bison at the end FILLS THE ENTIRE SCREEN, meaning you can't dodge it, you have to block it and it does  insane chip damage. And since I rely more on short combs, diving heavy kicks and sweeps... I couldn't believe it when I beat him. Which meant I got an achievement for beating Alpha 3, and folks can get it for or just reaching Bison and losing, so of the 3% of people who have beating Alpha 3, I wonder how many actually beat Bison.

Now that said, we stuck around with Street Fighter Alpha 3 till 9:30 PM, nearly doing another successful arcade run with Ken, and getting into some online head to head matches where I got stomped on, before switching things over to Gears of War 3.

Gears of War 3 has been a long time coming, as I've played Gears of War 4 solo as one of the first Xbox games I streamed last year, and thanks to Iceman, I was given Gears of War 1, 2, 3 and Judgement. We've played the first two games last year, but with all the focus on Tom Clancy's The Division and The Division 2 and with my schedule being more focused on working afternoons this year, finding the right time to play Gears of War 3 was tough. But it's been a year since Iceman and I played Gears of War 2.

So what did we cover, well, it the entire first Act, and outside of two collectables in the prologue, we managed to find every other one. Something I notices is how good Gears of War 3 looks, as it holds up quite nicely, it could pass as a low-end Xbox One game with how it looks. The aiming mechanics are great, and the new types of enemies certainly are less up close and personal than those of the first two games in the series. I certainly enjoy that in the first Act, we weren't locked into playing as Marcus and Dom, but we got to play as Cole and Baird, as well as see other other squad mates. Not to mention we were able to see the story from two different points of view which was really cool.

Now how will we fit Gears of War 3 in, well the way I figure we'll work around Iceman's schedule, doing split streams with one game at the start before switching to Gears of War 3 when he's available. We might keep it locked in on Wednesdays, but we could possibly put it on other nights as well.

After the stream, the fun was sent over to Kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV Online! You can check out Kal's streams over at twitch.tv/kalenal! 

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Achievements

1. X Marks the Spot: Beat Street Fighter Alpha 3.
   

Gears of War 3 Achievements

1. Level 10: Reached level 10.
2. Level 5: Reached level 5.
3. Marcus, It's Your Father: Woke up from a bad dream.
4. Swimmin' in Glowie Gravy: Defended the Raven's Nest from Lambent Leviathan.
5. Collector: Recovered 5 of 42 Collectibles.
6. We Struck Gold, Son!: Found food and ammo in Hanover.
7. My Turf! Cougars Territory!: Defended and escaped from Cougar Stadium.
8. Putting it Scientifically…: Blew up the Lambent Leviathan from the bridge.
   

Twitch Clip Links 

• Super Combo Finish... We'll Take The Cheap Chip Win
• A Super Combo Finish On Ryu! 
• Sakura Vs Bison Round 1: Bison's Psycho Crusher 
• Sakura vs Bison Round 2: Barely Holding On 
• Sakura Vs Bison Round 3: WE DID IT!!!!!
• Focus Fire On The Chicken....
• Cole & The Slide
• There is one correct answer
• When a Big Guy Scores You Get A Big Guy Dance
• Frags... The Same Plan

 Off stream shenanigans, I loaded The Wolf Among Us back up yesterday to go after the the other achievements within the game in order to have 100% completion... and since they are tied to different choices Bigby can make, I'm glad I went with the ones I did on stream, as the ones I had to do asuch as ripping off Gren's arm, beating up the suspect and burning Aunty Greenleaf's tree certainly isn't the Bigby Wolf we featured during the stream as a guy trying to d a tough job as best he can. Anyway, since these decisions involved doing things that would change the flow of the story, I did them in reverse order by copying the save and started with Episode 5 and worked my way back to Episode 1, by going to the right chapter in each episode to reach key moments. I could've have done it on stream if I knew it was possible before hand.

The Wolf Among Us Achievements

1. Grand Master Librarian: Unlocked all Book of Fables entries in Episode 5.
2. Master Librarian: Unlocked all Book of Fables entries in Episode 4.
3. Journeyman Librarian: Unlocked all Book of Fables entries in Episode 3.
4. Apprentice Librarian: Unlocked all Book of Fables entries in Episode 2.
5. Novice Librarian: Unlocked all Book of Fables entries in Episode 1.
   

I've become aware that there was a short run comic series based on the Wolf Among Us game, and since the game is a prequel to the Fable comic book series, I figure tracking down the trade collections would be a nice what is considered to be the 'true version' of events.... and maybe to get a better idea of how to use Bloody Mary in a fan fic idea I have.

Overwatch Competitive Season 30 Match Results

1. D.va - Blizzard World - 18:34 - Loss - 3-4
2. D.va - Oasis - 7:28 - Win - 2-0
3. D.va - Ilios - 15:03 - Win - 2-1
   

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 28 minutes, with the following exercises: Body Uppercut Combo, Uppercut Combo #2 and Body Hook Combo. The estimated calorie burn was 388 kcal, which seems really low considering the combination of exercises for today and my results. Oh well.

For tonight's stream we will be playing Star Trek Online and featuring the new mission 'Firewall' and other new content that was added as part of the new season 'Reflections', which kicks off the next major story arc of Star Trek Online. It does feature the mirror universe, so who knows how things are going to end up being over the coming year.

So on that nore we'll see you this evening over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

The Nerissa Is Faith Theory Makes Sense

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream started with The Wolf Among Us, as we knocked out episode 4 and 5 to finish the game, then we switched over to Smite for the rest of the stream.

Now there is a theory regarding The Wolf Among Us in regards to the fate of Faith, the working girl Bigby meets at the start of the the first episode and if she actually died. You see the story of Faith is that she is based on the fable 'Donkeyskin', in which she is able to disguise her true beauty, which means she might be able to do just that when it came to maybe hiding her true appearance after she was killed. There is a line early in the game about if the doctor had any information regarding Faith's body, but there were more tests being run because Nerissa was 'The Little Mermaid' so we can assume that maybe there are some biological differences. The other thing is, Nerissa ends up saying a lot of the same lines as Faith, and Bigby does recognize the voice being the same... but he doesn't put two and two together until the very end. So based on all this, I'm better Nerissa is indeed Faith, because it's the only way everything makes sense.

That said, the final two chapters of The Wolf Among Us are shorter in comparison to the first three chapters, but they are more action packed. Hell Bigby gets into brawls with The Jersey Devil, every one of the Crooked Man's gang (Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Georgie Porgie & The Jersey Devil), plus the epic fight against Bloody Mary, that sees her using bunch of dopplegangers to gang up on Bigby who turns into a huge fucking wolf. Hey, when a bunch of murderous clones of a hot babe what does the Big Bad Wolf do? He Huffs... and Puffs... and BLOWS THE BITCHES DOWN!. Yeah that was a rare great line from me during the stream. 

The Wolf Among Us Achievements

1. Once Upon a Time: Completed Chapter 1 of Episode 4.
2. There Was a Wolf: Completed Chapter 2 of Episode 4.
3. Who Ruled The Land: Completed Chapter 3 of Episode 4.
4. He Was Much Feared: Completed Chapter 4 of Episode 4.
5. But Soon He Mended His Evil Ways: Completed Chapter 5 of Episode 4.
6. And All Were Happy: Completed Episode 4: "In Sheep's Clothing"
7. Beginning of the End: Completed Chapter 1 of Episode 5.
8. This House of Straw: Completed Chapter 2 of Episode 5.
9. A Silver Bullet: Completed Chapter 3 of Episode 5.
10. My Last Cigarette: Completed Chapter 4 of Episode 5.
11. The North Wind Blows: Completed Chapter 5 of Episode 5.
12. Happily Ever After: Completed Episode 5: Cry Wolf.

Now there are a couple of achievements left in the game related to checking out some different places in each episode, I'll probably try to knock them out off stream. Hopefully the game has a jump to a specific point in each episode feature, other wise it's replaying each episode to get to each decision point. 

The Smite matches... well they went as expected, as whenever I play Smite I'm either focusing on one character, in this case 'Chang'e' or trying to knock out some quests to get some in-game rewards. Really nothing of note.

SMITE Arena Matches Results 

• Chang'e - Loss - 2/16/13
• Chang'e - Loss - 1/7/15
• Artemis - Win - 6/2/20
• Da Ji - Loss - 6/17/8
• Da Ji - Loss - 7/13/15
• Chang'e - Loss - 2/4/10 
• Chang'e - Win - 4/8/18
  

Following the stream we sent everyone over to Oldish22 who was playing Path of Exile! He's also done a lot of Final Fantasy XIV as well! Check him out over on twitch.tv/oldish22! 

Twitch Stream Clips

• Even I Can't Watch...
• Hi!
• Snap It Off... Stab Him Here 
• Bigby On The Streets! 
• She Will Not Be The Head Of A Major Corporation
• He Huffs... He Puffs... He Blows Them Down!
• Mary Has Been Shattered
• Totally! 
• How Did I Pull That Off?! 
• End The Match With Revenge! 

We added two games to the collection yesterday, both are PAL Region games for the PlayStation 2, meaning I'll need to get the modded PS2 working or go the emulator route to feature them on stream. 

The first game is He-Man: Defender of Grayskull,released in 2005, it is an action-adventure game that I believe is based on the 2002 series 'He-Man & The Master of the Universe' which had some reasonable success for a show limited to Cartoon Network's Toonami block, but it is odd that a game based on it was only released in Europe. Another fun fact, is that there was supposed to be an X-Box version, that was confirmed to have been finished but never released. From what I understand, the reviews for this was pretty mixed.

The second game added is perhaps a game that is Futurama, released in 2003 both in the North America and Europe, however, the North American version is virtually impossible to find, so for collectors purposes, added the European version. It is a 3D plat former where you will play as Fry, Leela or Bender. The cut-scenes of this game were stitched together to form a 30-minute DVD extra for 'The Beast with a Billion Back's. I do recall the reviews for the game play being very mixed, with most of the praise going into the cut scenes while the game play was considered to be lackluster

Sad to have read that SNL Alumni Norm Macdonald passed away, though I never really found him funny outside of his Burt Reynolds impersonation and his stint as the host of Weekend Update. As an actor he always came across as a bit odd to me, like never really comfortable within his own skin, but maybe that was just all an act, hard to said. That said he did have some great guest appearances on the late night talk show circuit particularly whenever he would appear on any of Conan O'Brien's shows

Surprised that the WWE actually pulled the trigger and had Big E cash in the Money in the Bank contract to defeat Bobby Lashley. Yes they protected Lashley by having him have a match with Randy Orton first where he 'suffered a knee injury', so there is the potential for a re-match... and that is where the question lies, does the WWE cut the lets out from under Big E to give the title back to Lashley? That would not surprise me. 

Overwatch Season 30 Competitive Match Results

1. Reinhardt / Orissa / D.va - Junkertown - 22:36 - Win - 5-4
2. D.va - Havana  - 8:29 -Win - 1-0
3. D.va - Eichenwald - 7:29 - Win 1-0 

As you can see, I was actually forced to use other tanks in one match last night, and thank goodness I was able to grab D.va to secure that win because the other person playing her had no idea how to dive. 

For Today's Fitness Boxing 2 workout lasted about 28 minutes with the following exercises: Beginner Combo #1, Front-Bakc Step Combo and Hook Combo #2. The estimated calorie burn was 413 kcal. This nearly was a perfect session, but the phone rang, which startled me and threw off my timing on two punches.

For tonight's stream, I'm not completely sure but there is a chance we'll start up Gears of War 3 with Iceman around 9:30 PM / 10 PM Eastern, and which means we'll fill up the first half of the stream with some random stuff. Regardless we'll have a lot of fun!

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

A Trip To The Dentist Before A Wolf Among Us

Good morning everybody,

Yesterday afternoon I went to the dentist, discovered I have some decay on one tooth, and they did some cleaning, basically gave areas around my gum a power wash because I had some major build up of something, I think they calculus. Anyway, long story short, I go back next Monday afternoon at 3 PM for another visit. 

That said, there were some general observations of the dentist office I went to that bothered me, the biggest one being people who had scheduled appointments being told they had to re-schedule because the dentist they were supposed to see was not there. I know for a fact the dental office I went to has a 'confirm appointment by text message' system, so that means they should have sent a notice to those patients that their dentist was not going to be in. I mean that is just a common courtesy. Will be real interesting to see if that ends up happening to me next Monday.

Anyway for the stream last night we started up The Wolf Among Us, and it was not a blind play through as I have played the Steam version before, so this time we were playing The Xbox One version, which meant achievements. For those unaware, The Wolf Among Us is based on the Fables comic book series. Numerous refugees from the land of Fairy Tales made their way to New York City and just try to get by, and in the game, you play as Bigby Wolf... aka The Big Bad Wolf... who is the 'Sheriff ' who is tasked with the impossible task of  trying to keep the peace and everyone in line. After responding to an apparent domestic disturbance, a head of a working girl is left on the doorstep of Bigby's apartment building and a mystery begins to figure out who killed the girl... but things become more complicated as the story goes along. It really is an excellent game that was developed and published by TellTale games before the company went belly up.

A very cool aspect of the game is how you can set Bigby to either be a 'gives no fucks' kind of guy, or a guy who is 'trying to do his job, but things just end up going wrong' king of guy. He has a good variety of responses and choices that can easily define him either way, and a good test of this is dealing with Snow White, where you can try to be brutally direct with her on certain plot point or try to be a bit more tactful. Hell, a major plot point is basically her over stepping her bounds where she tries to give Bigby an order to burn the tree of Aunty Greenleaf, and Bigby can choose to burn it, question the order or flat out refuse.

Now perhaps an under-stated part of the game is the reveal of Bloody Mary at the end of episode 3... because Bigby gets into a few fights, but you always get the sense he has the advantage, but when Bloody Mary is revealed, you get the feeling she is out of his league, particularly since Bigby is wounded at the start of episode 3

During the stream we had two big raids, one from LVStrikR who was playing Ghosts of Tsumshima over at twitch.tv/LVStrikR and the other raid was from Kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV Online over at twitch.tv/kalenal!

After the stream we sent the fun over to sw33ts_gaming who was playing Smite, she does quite a lot of team up gaming, so be sure to check their streams out over at twitch.tv/sw33ts_gaming!

The Wolf Among Us Achievements

1. Welcome to Fabletown: Completed Chapter 1 of Episode 1.
2. Wolf in Sheriff's Clothing: Completed Chapter 2 of Episode 1.
3. The Long Goodbye: Completed Chapter 3 of Episode 1.
4. The Frog or the Prince?: Completed Chapter 4 of Episode 1.
5. Panic in the Parlours: Completed Chapter 5 of Episode 1.
6. A Light Snowfall: Completed Episode 1: "Faith"
7. Right to an Attorney: Completed Chapter 1 of Episode 2.
8. Breaking Point: Completed Chapter 2 of Episode 2.
9. Sisters: Completed Chapter 3 of Episode 2.
10. Made Them Cry: Completed Chapter 4 of Episode 2.
11. Can I Get a Fresh Set of Towels?: Completed Chapter 5 of Episode 2.
12. No Respect for the Dead: Completed Episode 2: "Smoke and Mirrors"
13. Promising Leads: Completed Chapter 1 of Episode 3.
14. Belly Full of Stones: Completed Chapter 2 of Episode 3.
15. What Big Eyes You Have: Completed Chapter 3 of Episode 3.
16. Huff and Puff: Completed Chapter 4 of Episode 3.
17. Severe Case of Lycanthropy: Completed Chapter 5 of Episode 3.
18. Enchanted Land of NYC: Completed Episode 3: "A Crooked Mile"

Twitch Clip Links

• He Just Wants To Ax Me Something
• We were being civil about this
• I Didn't Do It!
• We Take It Easy On The Beast And He's Still A Jerk!
• Lots Of Bullets To The Face Going On Here 
• This Tree Shall Not Be Burnt! 

Did a little Star Trek Online gaming off stream yesterday morning, just a bit of Endeavor Questing. Now there was a pre-patch install this week as preparation for the new season 'Reflections', which will focus on the Mirror Universe and see Chase Masterson return as Vice Admiral Leeta of the Terran Empire. We of course will do a Star Trek Online stream dedicated to the new content on Thursday night, giving the developers a couple of days to do a few patches and bug fixes.... such as something they announced that was an issue in the new mission entitled Firewall, where if a Captain is killled by a leaking plasma conduit, they will re-spawn in a position that will prevent any further progression in the episode. 

Overwatch Season 30 Competitive Match Results 

1. D.va - Hanamura - 12:31 - Win - 2-1
2. D.va - Hollywood - 11:00 - Loss - 2-1
3. D.va - Rialto - 20:05 - Win - 4-3

Something I observed during the the three ranked matches I played last night was that some people who are queuing up for the damage role are playing a lot more kamikaze than needed, such as going right to the spawn point of the opposing team on attack while we're on defense. That stupidity is annoying on Quick Play matches and there is no need for it in Ranked bouts, and those two wins could've been losses as a result of it.  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout featured the following exercises: Defensive Combo #2, Defensive Combo #1 and Double Combo #1, with a time length of about 28 minutes and estimate calorie burn of 425 kcal.

For tonight's stream we will wrap up The Wolf Among Us with episode 4 and 5 which should be a lot of fun in terms of seeing what poor choices I make poorly. The plan is for a 6:30 PM Eastern start, but we may be delayed, I'll keep everyone posted on Twitter.

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

Lots of Wins Last Night Before A Trip To The Dentist Today

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream of Overwatch was a lot of fun as we spent the entire night playing Quick Play matches, and I ended up picking up five plays of the game! Big thanks to PandaSweet and Chief_b33f for joining in on all the fun! We certainly won more than we loss, ending on a stretch of 7 wins out of the last 10 matches played. Here is the full list of matches played and who I used.

Sunday Night Overwatch Quick Play Matches

1. Moira - Win
2. Moira - Win
3. Moira - Win
4. Moira - Loss
5. D.va - Win
6. Reinhardt - Loss
7. D.va - Win
8. D.va - Loss
9. D.va - Loss
10. D.va - Win
11. Moira - Win
12. D.va -  Loss
13. D.va -  Win
14. D.va - Win
15. D.va - Win
16. D.va - Loss
17. D.va  - Win
18. D.va - Loss
19. D.va - Win
20. D.va - Win
21. D.va - Loss
22. D.va - Win

I did end up with 5 plays of the game, all as D.va through the course of the session which was really awesome. It's too bad I didn't mark down which matches they took place in because three came in a row, and then I had 2 in other matches, one of which was a loss and the other win.  

That said, because of all the ranked matches I've done recently using only D.va my 'bulldog' mentality that I use to have when using her has popped back up, such as diving in on Bastions and chasing down members of the opposing teams back line. Then again with PandaSweet playing Support and Chief_b33f also being a tank, it allowed me to play more loosely too.

Twitch Clip Links

• I'm The Last Person Standing!!!!
• SCOREBOARD! 
• Quad-Kill At Their Door Step! 
• Was That Mean? I don't think so!
• Get the Bastion Twice in 30 seconds 
• Orissa Pulled Me Down!!!!! 

Yesterday was National Video Game Day, and as a stream I do play a lot of video games. I firmly believe there is a video game for everyone out there, some even Free to Play... hell some of the stuff I have played falls under that category.. 

After the stream we raided Flint_Locke who was playing Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Himatsubushi and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Meakashi which are visual novels, they have been working on that for several weeks, doing full on voice overs of the dialog along with some of their friends, which makes it a great experience to watch and listen! You can check out Flint_Locke over on twitch.tv/flint_locke

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily consisted of Biceps Shape Focus Combo, Intermediate Combo #1 and Triple Combo #2 while lasting 31 minutes with an estimate calorie burn of 524 kcal. Finally managed to get a perfect score on the Biceps Shape Focus Combo. Achievement progress update, we're up to 20 hours out of 30 for the Hiro's Contender Achievement, day 276 out of 300 for the Ten Months Hard Work and Transcendent Stamper achievements. . 

Now as indicated I do have a dentist appointed today, at 2 PM Eastern, I'll be walking to it and walking back, so I should be back in time for tonight's stream, But because I don't know what they are going to do beyond probably X-Rays, a cleaning and probably ripping me for not going to a dentist for so long, I'm probably going to have a very casual stream tonight. 

With that in mind, depending on how I'm feeling which might do some Star Trek Online, or we could go ahead and start up a larger game. Other consideration is doing a night of APBA Baseball

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

 

The Colors Were Indeed True In A Life That Is Strange

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night we finished Life is Strange True Colors and I love the finish of the game, as it really does feel like all the choice actually mattered in the outcome of the game. Anyway this will contain SPOILERS!

Episode 4 begins on the Spring Festival, and it's a fun little out door party with a handful collectables, as well as where you can fully lock in your love for Steph (or Ryan). There is a really sweet scene with Duckie in the Black Lantern, along with some things that are very easy to miss (such as Riley at the Bus Stop, which I didn't know about until after the chapter ended). Episode 4 is also where Jed being the true villain of the game is revealed when he tries to kill Alex.

Episode 5, sees a deep diva into Alex's past, the last time she spoke to her mother, the day her father left and her time shuffling through the system once she was taken in by CPS. A lot of it is real heart-twisting stuff, and pretty deep, including a real kick in the teeth of how fucking awful the actual mentality of a lot of people who say they want to adopt a child really is. You learn about the actual fate of Alex's father plus make some huge decisions regarding Jed, plus Alex's future.

Now when I said before that choice actually mattered, so depending on how you interact with key people (Duckie, Charlotte, Eleanore and Pike) can determine of if they side with Alex or not in Episode 5 for it's climax. Basically your actions really matter with them in key moments, in fact Charlotte's big moment is in Episode 3. Also depending on your love interest, Alex will be given a choice of to stay or leave Haven Springs, and there is a different ending on each.

There is another episode 'Wavelengths' coming out towards the end of the month / start of October, so we're certainly streaming that. And we'll probably work in Life is Strange 2 in between, depending on what major game I choose to start up

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV online! You can check their streams out over on twitch.tv/kalenal!  

And yes I'm still debating on if I'll give FF14 a try lol

Life is Strange: True Colors Achievements (Earned on Stream)

1. Pressed Rose: Find the “Pressed Rose” Memory in Chapter 4
2. Count Me In: Find the “Drum Kit” Memory in Chapter 4
3. Exactly 731: Help the Jelly Bean Counter win the contest
4. In Front of God and Everybody: Find the “Microphone” Memory in Chapter 4
5. Birthday Boy: Find the “Polaroid” Memory in Chapter 4
6. The Kind of Thing You Can't Undo: Complete Chapter 4 of Life is Strange: True Colors
7. Scary News: Find the “Mom's Keys” Memory in Chapter 5
8. Some Kind of Fight: Find the “Business Card” Memory in Chapter 5
9. Guitar Strings: Find the “Guitar Strings” Memory in Chapter 5
10. Where The Devil Sleeps: Find the “Pendant” Memory in Chapter 5
11. You're a Helldiver Now: Find the “Bomber Jacket” Memory in Chapter 5
12. Emotional Unearthing: Find all Memory Collectibles in Chapter 5
13. The Only Promise is The Adventure: Complete Chapter 5 of Life is Strange: True Colors 

Twitch Clip Links

• And The Rose Goes To...
• They are totally playing music... can you hear the music they are playing right now?
• Dude... That's One Hell Of A Kiss
• Jed's A Jerk 
• Where The Devil Sleeps 
• And I condemn you

Like the other Life is Strange games it is possible to go back to each chapter of Life is Strage: True Colors to find the collectables missed, and that's what I did earlier this morning.

Life is Strange: True Colors Achievements (Earned off stream) 

1. Crack: Find the “Crack” Memory in Chapter 1 
2. Officer Fish: Find the “Business Card” Memory in Chapter 1 
3. Emotional Enthusiast: Find all Memory Collectibles in Chapter 1 
4. Phone: Find the “Phone” Memory in Chapter 1 
5. Team Chomp-Bot: Find the “T-Shirt” Memory in Chapter 2 
6. Amateur Archaeophile: Find all Memory Collectibles in Chapter 2 
7. Emotional Archeologist: Find all Memory Collectibles in Chapter 4 
8. Haven Historian: Find all Memory Collectibles in Life is Strange: True Colors 
9. Proud Parent: Find the “CIT Sticker” Memory in Chapter 4
   

With those final nine achievements, we have 100% completed Life is Strange: True Colors. 

It's Sunday which means, we have this weeks Twitch Bits video! This week we have clips from Overwatch, Life is Strange Before The Storm, Street Fighter V, WWE Battlegrounds, RWBY Grimm Eclipse, Mario Golf Super Rush & Life is Strange: Before The Storm!

I am debating what would be the next big game I'll start up, I'm leaning towards Final Fantasy VII Remake and Tales of Arise, but there are certainly other contenders depending on if I want to pad the games finished list list with a lot of short games (the current total is 41)

As the Phillies flounder, I do have to wonder should Bryce Harper be heavily considered for the MVP on the National League... and my gut, heart and brain all say no. If they don't win the Division, he should not win the MVP or even be in the conversation regardless of what his stats say.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 33 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 644 kcal. The exercises were Difficult Challenge Combos #2, #3 and #1 in that order. Managed to get another perfect score on DCC #1. I do have some issues with Difficult Challenge Combo #2 which involves a step & jab followed by a quick step back, and with my heavy footed stance it ends up turning into half-step jab with an awkward sway back.

For tonight's stream, well it's obvious folks, we're starting a new week and so we're playing Overwatch! 

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

Life is Strange But The Colors Are True

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream featured Life is Strange; True Colors, and we got through three chapters in a stream that went 7.5 hours. This will contain spoilers for the game! You have been warned.

Our hero is Alex Chen who is going to live with her brother Gabe in Colorado, her power is based on empathy, she can read other people's emotions and use it to piece together what is either making them sad, angry and scared. This does have a draw back because she can feel those emotions and sometimes it will cause her to have a corresponding outburst (I came across two such instances, 1 is part of the story and the other towards the end of episode 3 seems to be avoidable). The town of Haven Springs is certainly a lovely little town, and we certainly have a lot of room to explore when we're outdoors. It's a lot 'bigger' than what we've seen in the other Life is Strange games by far, and you can use Alex's power to get a great deal of insight on the town.. Hell Exploring every thing and interacting with stuff such has finding spots for Alex to sit down and think about stuff are counted towards decisions made.

Anyway, Episode 1 is really a long drawn out introduction, I meant you basically are introduced to everyone important in Haven Springs, from Ethan and Charlotte, to Ryan and Steph, to Duckie and Diane... it all feels very genuine... if you ignore the fact that Gabe basically has been hyped about the arrival of Alex for some time. The story itself doesn't really get rolling until the end of episode 1 when Alex, Ryan and Gabe go to find Ethan who sneaked off to go into a closed off mine around the same time some mining excavations were going to take place. Gabe is killed,despite him phoning in a request for the excavations to be delayed... and the episode two opens with a clear conspiracy in place when the person Gabe talked to says 'there was no call'.Turns out the company doing the mining is up to some super shady shit, which becomes slowly more obvious over episodes two and three, but is fully revealed that they want to hide something at the end of episode three. 

Now between the main plot there are several awesome sub plots and mini things that are peppered through out the game, you can interact with arcade machines for mini-games, find collectables that give further insight into the town and people of Haven Springs, and lot of these collectables are found by using Alex's powers, so in every area you can roam around in, always do a full search. Also there are some events tied to things people say, such as taking a lunch order or answering a riddle.

Regarding Alex's personality, she is certainly a medium between Max and Chloe as being kind of the most well adjusted... and she is certainly way more likeable than Sean from Life is Strange 2. Just over the first three episodes we see Alex come out of her shell from being unsure about moving to Haven Springs to being an big part of the small town community.

Unlike the first three Life is Strange games, True Colors does have a 'streamer' friendly mode.... however there are at least two instances I found in regards to there being awkward with no music at all instead of a non-licensed fill in. Both happen in Episode 1, one is when Alex and Gave are listening to a Kings of Leon record... and the other is when Alex finds the guitar beneath the bed.

You might have guess but I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens in episodes 4 and 5!

Following the stream we sent the fun over to Sheepfuzz (twitch.tv/sheepfuzz) who was playing Jackbox Party Packs! Sheepfuzz does a lot of community streams and is just an awesome streamer with a great personality! 

Life is Strange: True Colors Achievements

1. A Letter To Riley: Find the “Riley Letter” Memory in Chapter 1
2. Head Count: Find the “Helmet” Memory in Chapter 1
3. I Thought I Could Hunt The Monster: Complete Chapter 1 of Life is Strange: True Colors
4. Umbrella: Find the “Umbrella” Memory in Chapter 2
5. No Handouts: Find the “Rent Check” Memory in Chapter 2
6. Time For Something New: Find the “Button” Memory in Chapter 2
7. Bird Spotting: Help the Birdwatcher find her bird
8. Pro Tip: Find the “Gummies” Memory in Chapter 2 
9. Found Dog!: Help the Hoodie Guy find his dog
10. Something You Build: Complete Chapter 2 of Life is Strange: True Colors
11. Earworm Squasher: Find and play the Student's lost song
12. Hell Divers: Find the “Bomber Jacket” Memory in Chapter 3
13. Ethan's Dollar: Find the “Dollar” Memory in Chapter 3
14. And How Does That Make You Feel?: Find the “Appointment Slip” Memory in Chapter 3
15. Upright and Above Ground: Find the “Old Paper” Memory in Chapter 3
16. Valkyrie's Dish: Find the “Valkyrie's Dish” Memory in Chapter 3
17. Memory Collector: Find all Memory Collectibles in Chapter 3
18. Burying Something: Complete Chapter 3 of Life is Strange: True Colors 

Twitch Clip Links

• Bad To The Gnome! 
• Death has been cheated!
• Alex Sings... Yes She Is Singing... What is she singing we don't know 
• I Got It Right!
• Alex's Glasses Have No Lens
• Sitting At The Dock Of The Bay 
• Let's Do A Good Thing!
• Sorry Alex You Don't Have Time Travel Powers
• My Expectations of the Shipping Community
• I Have The Power... HE-MAN!!!!
  

We have two new additions to the collection that arrived yesterday from Japan. The first is Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.... for the Sega Dreamcast. As you might know... I don't have a Sega Dreamcast, nor is my intention to get one that would play the Japan-release version of MvC. See I was expecting to get the PlayStation version, the one that is a very unique version of Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes that is a full on conversion to a 1 on 1 fighter with different gameplay mechanics and balancing. That said, it is cool to have a version of Marvel Vs Capcom that was released to the Sega Dreamcast because it is nearly arcade perfect in that is has the full 2 on 2 experience... but we kind of already have that with Marvel vs Capcom Origins that have I in my digital PS3 collection.

I have not given up hope on finding the unique version of Marvel vs Capcom for the original PlayStation, but the only way to find it is to look through imports from Japan, because the North American releases are way too overpriced.

Anyway, the other addition we have Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2... which translates to  "Private Justice Academy: Hot-Blooded Youthful Diary 2".... but it's actually version 2.0 of Disc 2 for Rival Schools: United By Fate. It includes all the mini-games from the older version, along with two additional characters.The novelty here is the extra characters and having an 'updated' version of the Rival Schools is pretty neat... considering that the true sequel Project Justice has only ever seen a home release on the Sega Dreamcast.

Former Chicago Cub and Montreal Expo Andrew Dawson runs a funeral home in Florida and business is way to good for him because of how many knuckleheads in that state refuse to have any commonsense when it comes to protecting themselves from COVID and it's variants that are popping up. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 437 kcal. The exercises for today were Hip Shape Focus Combo, Straight Combo #2 and Swayback Combo. I did step on the scale yesterday and my weight is down to 246 lbs.

Didn't do any ranked matches in Overwatch yesterday or today (so far), so no results to report.  

For tonight's stream we will be continuing Life is Strange: True Colors and we will finish episode 4 and 5! This is gonna be awesome!

See you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

For Mario Golf Is A Full Contact Sport

Good morning everybody,

Last night's stream feature Mario Golf Super Rush for the Nintendo Switch, making it both the first Mario Golf franchise related game as well as the first golf game in general I have ever played. So this was a learning experience in terms of learning how to play the game and figuring out what is the best approach to smacking a small white ball hundreds of yards into a small hole.

Thankfully, Mario Golf Super Rush is a pick up and play game, it keeps everything simple, so even if you have no clue what you're doing, it's possible to have fun. That said, the limited number of course available for general play is disappointing as you have to go through the 'Adventure Mode' to unlock the other course. Yes, this game has an 'adventure mode' which seems like its an extended tutorial from what I saw, but hell, there was enough people playing online to where I could see some other course.

Yes, Mario Golf Super Rush has an online mode, and boy is it a lot fun, you don't have to take turns, as it can be set for everyone to take their shots at once in a regular game, so no waiting, and the connectivity is pretty solid in my opinion. Playing the Battle Golf mode online with other people is certainly chaotic fun as you have to try to figure out what would be the best way to win and being able to adapt on the fly to different factors like ice and bombs coming your way.

I did enjoy the look of all the character models , and those who have some actual voice lines certainly sound clear (Daisy, Pauline). I am a little disappointed at the size of the roster of characters, because one has to figure that some characters that were in Mario Kart would be in this, say for example Link from the Legend of Zelda, but I guess keeping it only focused on the Mario characters makes sense to some degree.

All that said, if I knew folks who had Mario Golf Super Rush I believe it would make for a great community game night feature, since up to four players could play at once. Maybe some day that may happen, who knows.

After the stream we sent my audience over to TheLadyPhoenix (Twitch.tv/TheLadyPhoenix) who was playing Genshin Impact. Now there is a game a lot of folks said I should play 

Twitch Clip Links

• Chip In For The Eagle!
• It was a Long Bomb For A Birdie 
• A Birdie For Daisy!
• Winning at Battle Golf!
  

Going to be more selective (if possible) with the Twitch Clip Links list, but trying to narrow things down to a short list is often impossible when I feel I had a lot of great moments!

Since working is picking up a little bit, the assignment I was working on today concerned a Major League Baseball team and their quest to figure out where they are going to play in a few years, would they remain where they have always been, or will they start having to look for a new home elsewhere. It's going to be an real interesting to see if this results in the major leagues having another realignment to balance things out.

You may have noticed the list of 'tags' for this blog has decreased some, that's because I went through many posts to combine various subjects into one, such as all Saints Row related posts are filed under Saints Row instead for each individual game, It's a way to help me keep my sanity. 

Overwatch Competitive Season 30

1. D.va - Blizzard World - 16:04 - Loss - 2-3
2. D.va - Hollywood - 15:33 - Win - 3-1
3. D.va - Volskaya Industries - Win - 13:02 - 2-1
4. D.va - Busan - 7:28 - Win - 2-0
   

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 Daily Workout lasted 31 minutes with an estimated calorie burn of 448 kcal. The exercise line up for today featured Waist Shape Focus Combo, Hook Combo #1 and Black Combo. Achievement Progress update, we're up to 19 out of 30 hours for the Hiro's Contender achievement, day 273 out o 300 for Ten Month's Hard Work and Transcendent Stamper,

For tonight's stream we'll be playing Life is Strange: True Colors! We'll get started around 6:30 PM Eastern since I will be working this afternoon!

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