General Notes

 Good morning everyone,

Yesterday was kind of a lost day due to me waking up early to trim some branches and do some yard work of sorts. Combine that with the after effect of the unplanned marathon stream on Saturday and I was completely out of it all afternoon. I should look into finding a cheap service to get various yard stuff done in one shot, because it is a lot for me to manage.

Last night's stream of Overwatch saw wins and losses. We had a lot of fun though, big thanks to PandaSweet for being apart of the action. Picked up two plays of the game as Orissa and Reinhardt, with other characters used being Ana, D.va, Junker Queen, Bastion, Tracer, Tobjourn and others.

We also messed around with a few other modes besides Quick Play

For the raid we sent the action over to misscammi316 who was also playing Overwatch over at twitch.tv/misscammi316

The plan for today's stream is to continue Persona 3 Portable, depending on my mood and how long it takes to recharge my Xbox Series controller, we may start early to try and get a lot done.

Speaking of plans, since we knocked out Star Trek Resurgence in one night, that frees up this Saturday night to dedicate to Street Fighter 6 on the XBox side of things.

Just realize, I've not played Mortal Kombat X on the console side... I've done MK 9 and MK 11... but not X... hmm...

Since we're at the end of May, the Phillies are certainly looking like they are done for the year, despite being in striking distance of the Braves, but they have too many holes in the line up and pitching staff.

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

Star Trek Resurgence Is A Great Star Trek game with some issues

Good morning,

At the time I'm writing this I have just finished my stream at 4:30 AM in the morning Eastern time following an epic night of playing Star Trek: Resurgence.Now normally I would recap to you my day, thoughts and feelings, but I'm just warped (no pun intended) after that entire surprising, not planned marathon. I love the fact this is a direct sequel to the The Next Generation episode 'The Last Outpost', certainly diving into a lot of the lore I remembered was great, and certainly showed my Star Trek geeky nature!

Part of what makes Star Trek: Resurgence work is that everything just flows naturally from one moment to the next, as it drives you to want to see the next part. This is an extremely well-written game, since the developers were part of the original TellTale Games, so they know what players want from this type of experience, where choices matter in trying to come to various outcomes. This does have a slight negative effect in trying to determine where to stop, or what would've made for a great cliff hanger point... hence why we went for 10 and a half hours. Keep in mind my average stream runs 4 to 5 hours.

Speaking of negative, the TellTale style of controls and quick time events, plus some of the puzzles certainly left a lot to be desired, there were quite a few instances where I felt button presses weren't being recognized or the analog sticks weren't responding. More than once I had doubts about actually doing what was indicated being a success.There were also a number of audio issues, screen flickers, and probably most annoyingly the inability to view percentage of choices to compare among other players.

See the only way to view the results of your choices is to sign up for the Star Trek Resurgence website, which is a blatant ploy by the Developers / Publisher to create a mailing list. I wouldn't be so annoyed about this is signing up via the code provided in the game actually worked. Actually had to do the whole QR scan gimmick.

Still the positives out weight the negatives, and I look forward to doing another play through down the road, because a second and probably a third trip through the game is needed to see the outcome of all choices.

Star Trek: Resurgence Achievements

• Shields Up: Chose Bedrosian’s plan
• Defiant: Disobeyed Solano and reversed hull polarity
• I Got This: Carter went into the hatch last and was injured
• Lower Decks Dalliance: Chose to date Miranda
• Hotari Pride: Sided with the Hotari at the Negotiation
• Jailor: Sent Miranda to the Brig
• Parting Shot: Shot at Miranda as she escaped
• Truth Bomb: Told Riker about the shield codes
• Effective: Let Arminta break Kapoor’s arm
• The Many: Transported the seeds onboard
• Man of Science: Chose Westbrook as your First Officer
• You Killed Her: Edsilar pulled the trigger
• Don't Forget Me: Carter was bioformed
• ACT 4: Resolute: Completed Act 4

We didn't do a raid at the end of the stream, and the plan for tonight is to play Overwatch, that will be about at 7 PM Eastern.

So on that note have a great day and we'll see you later!

Late work, late stream...

Good morning everyone,

We had work in the evening last night, and it didn't go as well as I would hope, as two people just hung up on me in the middle of interviews in which they would've been paid! I mean seriously, who does that?

Anyway, last night's stream featured Kena: Bridge of Spirits as we finished the first major story arc of the game, and found a bunch of the little dudes (the Rot), in fact we found 51 one of them, plus hats they can wear, cowboy hats, cat hats, dinosaur hats! Probably my favorite part of the game. Now of course that comes with the fact that getting loss is practically a reoccurring thing in terms of trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B, and it doesn't help I keep getting side tracked when I see different stuff pop up.

Now, I want to know who the hell exactly finished this game in 10 hours, because I'm already eight hours in and no where near done finishing the game. In fact by my current estimation it will take about four more weeks at most to finish it.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS4) Trophies

• Between the Eyes: Destroyed a Shield Sticks without breaking his shield.
• Taro's Regret: Found Taro's Lantern Relic.
• Spirit Guide: Defeated Corrupted Taro.
• Bow Master: Hit 3 enemies with a single Multi-shot.
• Harness Your Power: Learned the Bomb Ability.
• Weigh Them Down: Destroyed a Moth enemy with a Bomb.
• The Open Range: Discovered the Farm.
• Adira's Love: Found Adira's Ox Relic.

For the raid we dropped in on alexirmen who was playing Final Fantasy VII Remake over at twitch.tv/alexirmen

You know, more and more I think about grabbing a PlayStation 5, I'm certainly leaning digital for a few reasons, but the biggest is actually a problem I have when getting physical copies of PlayStation 4 games in that I am often sent the European version of the game and not the North American version. Yes the physical games are not region lock, HOWEVER,, codes for redeeming additional content that come with the physical copies are region locked. Of course this would mean, seriously rotating between using the all digital PS5 and the PS4 for games I have physical copies of, but that may be the way to go... if I can ever trust Sony not to screw people over when it comes to their digital libraries.

Didn't do any writing yesterday, mostly due to the change in my schedule for the day, as I don't like writing before work. In fact I prefer to write after I finish streaming, but when a stream starts at 9:30 PM, and by the time I write most of this blog, it's already 2 AM.

The plan for tonight's stream is to play Star Trek Resurgence, a game developed by former staff at TellTale Games, and I'm really looking for to playing it.

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

A rough day of reminders of how tough things are

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday was pretty rough for me, for one found out from my father that the paperwork was finalized that the I now officially own the house... and this was supposed to be something mom was here for. I mean a lot of the stuff on the exterior in the yard was projects she started over the last couple of years going back to 2020. Trying to figure out what she was doing is so confusing, and there is no one I can ask for their input.

Then there was the fact that evening hours I was supposed to work was cancelled due to sever issues, which derailed things even more for me. 

Also, I had a job interview yesterday afternoon, and I know I blew it, because I nailed everything I could in regards of explaining my work history. putting over my current job and referencing my familiarity with things I learned at other jobs. Then the subject of how I travel came up, and I had to explain I don't drive... so that bricked my opportunity. 

Did get in touch with one of the coolest people I met during my brief stint in the United States Army, so that's brought a bit of sunshine to my day.

So yeah it was just a day of feeling of awful, in fact the start of last night's stream saw me nearly in tears because of how emotional I was feeling, and I was completely  mellow during everything in Mass Effect.

Now in regards to what we did during the stream, we did all the remaining side-missions I had before finally going to Feros to advance the plot, and this resulted in several achievements being knocked out. O am confused as to while only the achievement associated with Ashley was unlocked and not the one for Alenko, since I took both on nearly every mission so far, and I suspect its kind of tied to the two loyalty missions for Garrus and Wrex, along with Pinnacle station (where I did end up using Ashley for in combination with Wrex to make it easier). Also the romance was locked in with Alenko, but I think we'll leave him on Virmire to see how different things go.

Next time I play Mass Effect, which is scheduled for next Thursday, we have three side missions to do and then we'll head to Noveria for the next major mission. Although I could delay that and go to Virmire since I hit the in-game level for that to be unlocked as a destination.

Mass Effect Achievements

• AI Hacking Specialist: Use AI Hacking 75 times
• Paragon: 75% of total Paragon points
• Soldier Ally: Complete the majority of the game with the Alliance soldier squad member
• Neural Shock Specialist: Use Neural Shock 75 times

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood who was doing a Street Fighter legacy in anticipation of the launch of Street Fighter VI over on twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

Did get a lot of writing for the Mass Effect short story commission done, and I'm certainly changing the canon of a few things in regard to what I established with the Asari. It's mostly to make sure that the final chapter when we get to it will be manageable to write since it'll involve 10 characters

The plan for tonight's stream is to continue Kena: Bridge of Spirits on the PlayStation 4, we'll be looking to get as far as possible as it's clear we'll be getting lost in trying to figure out where to go. But I don't know if we'll be starting at 6:30 PM or 9:30 PM. I'll know for sure probably around 4 PM Eastern

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

Well So Much For Getting Back To Normal

Good morning everyone,

Well right before I was about to start work yesterday, I got a call saying the shift was cancelled, and now I'm back picking up spare hours on the evening shift, which means tonight's stream will start at 9:30 PM.

Anyway, last night's stream opened with Fall Guys, and shockingly, I was able to win a squad show being the last 'bean standing', I've certainly lucked out a fair amount, and we came close to winning a solo show as well. 

We also checked out PowerWash Simulator, and I can see why that game is both addicting and frustrating, because when it gets down to like a few percent points left, you end up wondering where to look to find the last few things to spray. At least there is an indicator of when something is clean before moving on.

But the main event of course was Resident Evil 6, and with Iceman along for the ride, we covered the first chapter of Leon's campaign. Now it turns out Iceman's difficulty is locked in on normal, while my difficultly is at amateur. The pace of play being faster than Resident Evil 5 is a huge plus, along with being able to do melee attacks. Now I did say during the stream we're playing it for shits and giggles, and there were plenty of both, and I'm really looking forward to next Wednesday's stream for more of the same!

 PowerWash Simulator Achievements

• Starting Out: Earn 5 Stars in Career Mode
• Soap Connoisseur: Own all cleaning liquids at the same time
• Fully Equipped: Own the Prime Vista 1500 and three of its attachments

Resident Evil 6 Achievements

• The Longest Night: Complete the tutorial.
• Gone to Hell: Complete Chapter 1 in Leon's campaign.
• One Is Better Than None: Purchase one skill.

We had two raids during the streams, one from Taffe316 (twitch.tv/taffe316) and from Edheldisrien (twitch.tv/Edheldisrien), thank you so much for bringing your communities on over!

For our own  raid we dropped in on SweetLindir who was playing Smite over at twitch.tv/sweetlindir

The latest short story commission request on the books is for another Mass Effect tale, and I have some ideas of what to reference during it in regards to Mass Effect 3, since it's taking place after the Cerberus invasion of the Citadel and involves the Virmire Survivor. 

Speaking of Mass Effect, that is the plan for tonight's stream, we'll hang out on Pinnacle Station to try and get closer to a couple of achievements before we move on to other areas in search for any side quests. We'll try to delay advancing the plot as much as possible.

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

Reached Mid-September in Persona 3 Portable

Good morning everyone,

Work yesterday was about as expected in terms of just being a bland day thanks to being limited by the script we have to stick too, but hey, it kept my mind focus. Unfortunately, I just got a call saying day shift for today was cancelled at the last minute...

Last night's stream of Persona 3 Portable saw about two hours spent in Tartarus as we made it floor 114, getting a lot of things done in regards to quests and trying to keep everyone's levels even proved to be tough considering how I try to always go for the advantage in fights, using the proper elemental attacks to go for Knock downs and All out Attacks as often as possible.That said, one thing is for certain that even with a guided playthrough I did screw up on keeping things timed correctly, so I'm behind on some social links and attributes.

In terms of the the story of Persona 3, Junpei actually getting character development due to his interactions with Chidori is actually adorable, because it's quite clear that he's the first person Chidori met that cares for her well being. The whole Strega story arc as an evil group of Persona users is interesting and I wonder if it's more fleshed out in the original version of Persona 3, or is just 'mid game' filler story that just acts as opposition because Persona 3's overall plot with the Full Moon battles not really having much justification for them other than they need to happen.

Next time we play Persona 3 Portable on Monday will see us reach the point we can fuse four and five personas at a time and basically march towards the next bit trip into Tartarus, which will probably be split over two nights, depending on the number of floors I need to reach.

Persona 3 Portable Achievements

• Paulownia Mall Power Control: Defeat the Hermit.

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz who was playing Outbreak over at twitch.tv/powerthumbz

With work back to normal, tonight's stream will open with Fall Guys for the first two hours, and we'll be starting Resident Evil 6 at 10 PM since Iceman won't be getting home until late, so we might toss in a little filler of something as well. It could be a triple header night! 

Finished the Mass Effect short story commission, it's now up on the SubscribeStar page for those who know what that link is. I'll put in some work on the other queued commission requests that is WWE focused... until I get another one that's a lot more interesting.

Heard that Star Trek Resurrgence is great as a Star Trek story... but not quite a good game, guess we'll see for ourselves on Saturday.

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

August of Persona 3 Portable

Good morning everyone,

Work is back to normal starting today, but it's the assignment that I was doing during the early evening last week... and I'll have to do it for an extra hour... so ugh... it's going to be a long day, But the important thing is things will feel normal today.

Last night's stream of Persona 3 Portable opened up with us doing some grinding to try and get Junpei and Akihiko close to level 30, but after dealing with the August full moon, we experienced the summer break portion of the story, which saw Mitsuru signing everyone up for summer classes which basically ate up a week of in-game time, sure we got to learn about the Major Arcana, but the real highlight was completing a few social links, because it appears I've fallen way behind on the pace for maxing out the academic portion of the main character. 

Now we made sure to cover everything up to two nights before the September full moon, which means tonight's stream will open with a trip into Tartarus... as well as figuring out how I'm going to balance the party because Shiiniro, Koromaru and Ken have all joined the team, so trying to figure out the best way to use them in relation to the rest of the team will be a challenge.

Also way I figure, it'll probably take about eight more streams to finish up Persona 3 Portable, this is factoring in how the gaps between major floors in Tartarus seem to be getting wider, while also trying to anticipate any requests Elizabeth might have.

Persona 3 Portable Achievements

• Bunker Debunked: Defeat the Chariot and Justice.
• Fusion Expert: Perform 50 Persona fusions.

Big thanks to Kalenal for the raid following their stream of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild over on twitch.tv/kalenal

For the raid we dropped in on zdleague who was also playing Persona 3 Portable over at twitch.tv/zdleague

Got some writing done yesterday, I intended to finish the Mass Effect short story, but then I felt the need to lay down and lost a few hours due to a nap. By the time I woke back up that nap it was nearly too late to have dinner.

Been looking at a lot of Jerry Springer interviews lately... and when you really think about it, he really was the greatest day time talk show host of all time, since he applied the same reasoning the like of Oprah did about giving celebrities a place to talk about their struggles, but for the every day person instead.

I looked over the achievement list for Star Trek Resurgence and near as I can tell, it will require three play throughs to get all the achievements that are tied to various choices. We'll start our first play through on Saturday.

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