Gundam Evolution: So Much Wasted Potential

Hi everyone

First an update on the fridge, turns out I kind of resolved the matter myself when I turned off the fridge last Monday when it stopped cooling by turning up the settings to get it kick on its motor, so the PSE&G said what we need is a cold control that would do that automatically so I don't have to worry. I did ask if there was any way he could tell how old the fridge was and from what he could see, the fridge was made in 1987... so yeah, have to get a new fridge at some point anyway.

There was an apparent screw up with the work schedules so the Supervisor who was overseeing Night Shift wasn't aware I was supposed to be on for the second time in a row. Regardless there was very limited work even though I was told new assignments would be starting. 

I do got a job interview on August 1st for a hybrid position, so hopefully that could lead to a more stability.

Now we did play Gundam Evolution for tonight's stream, and it was quite interesting, because we lost more than we won, but we got a lot of insight over the history of the game from it's release in the fall of 2022 to the announcement of its cancellation from someone who put in over500 hours into the game. Big thank you to Bacon_Apocalypse for all the notes, which I'm going to use for an extra video on my Casual Review series over on my YouTube channel.

Now as for my own experience, I've gotten comfortable using the Gun Tank mech, it has enough mobility for me to do different things and it's not as gimmicky as some of the other choices to play as. I found the map variety to be almost too similar, despite being 12 maps, but the lack of any real mode besides PVP, there was a lot left on the table with Gundam Evolution's potential.

Gundam Evolution Achievements

• Nice Cover: Recover 10 allies total and reach (Casual/Ranked) Match Results

 For the raid we dropped in on misscammi316 who was playing Smite over on twitch.tv/misscammi316 

Did get in some writing on the latest commission request for a Mass Effect short story focused on EDI, and I'm certainly packing the lore into it for my warped take on the franchise.

Our next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern on Tuesday over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and out focus will be on Friday the 13th: The Game for the full stream. We'll be playing the Xbox version of course and the goal is to get a variety of footage from matches for archive purposes.

So on that note, we'll see you later!

So I Binged Watched Star Trek Prodigy

 Hi everyone,

Tonight's stream of Overwatch was a lot of fun as always thanks to PandaSweet being apart of the insanity, along with Odeu! We won a fair bit more than we lost overall, but there were a couple of matches where out teammates let us down. Didn't get any achievements, but picked up four plays of the game (2 as Reinhardt, 1 as Ashe and 1 as Junker Queen). Funny thing is I felt I had betters plays in those matches than what was considered to be the best moment of the match. Other characters used were D.va, Moira, Ana, Kiriko, Doomfist, Tracer, Mei, Orissa and a few others.

For the raid we dropped in on oldish22 during their stream of Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/oldish22

SO during the day, I binged watched all 20 episodes of Star Trek Prodigy, after nagging the entire season for $3 on Amazon Prime (it was on sale for $10 and I had a $7 digital credit), so I spent the late morning and afternoon watching it... and now having seen it, I can appreciate the references that were included in Star Trek Prodogiy: Supernova when I played that last year. While clearly aimed at a younger audience as an introduction to Star Trek, it really tells a nice over arching story, takes the time to give reasons to care about every character and actually wraps up rather neatly with it s final episode. 

Seeing how the series was cancelled after production of Season 2 was announced, I can see the series continuing in other media like comics, web shorts and the like, but if it doesn't, then one can simply see that the one season was to put the main characters where they belonged.

Have to wake up super early for a PSE&G tech to check out to the fridge, I haven't had any issues since Monday of last week, but better safe than sorry.

Our next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern and we're going to dedicate the stream to Gundam Evolution, a game that launched in November of 2022... that is shutting down in November of 2023. Yeah you heard that right, so I want to get footage of the game to review it for my YouTube channel to see what went wrong with it.

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

Playing Gotham Knights As Only Batgirl Was Worth It

 Hi everyone,

So on back to back streams we finished up big open world super hero games, as we finished Gotham Knights and to my amazement, we knocked out 85% of the game's base achievements, which does leave me wondering if I should go the extra mile to get the remaining achievements, some of which involves searching all over Gotham for collectables, problem is that searching for them will involve referring to maps and stuff on a second screen.

Anyway, the build up to the reveal that Talia Al Guhl was using a Lazarus Pit to revive Bruce Wayne was pretty obvious to an extent, but it basically serves how far Bat Family has come since Batman's death to surpass him in a one on one fight. I do kind of feel the plot pacing falls apart once the raid on Kane Tower, since everything feels kind of rushed to an extent. 

Now since I did the entire play through as Batgirl, it meant we saw her character evolve from her doubts and concerns to being confident and declaring herself to the new Knight of Gotham. This really shows off in the end credits, where all the costumes I elected to have her wear was shown during key story moments. It actually makes the choice of sticking with one character matter in terms of the adventure from start to finish.

Gotham Knights Achievements

• Voiceless: Complete Case File 06: JACOB KANE
• Expert Crime Fighter: Prevent 250 crimes in Gotham City
• Out of Their League: Defeat 45 League of Shadows Assassins and 30 Rocketeers
• Drone You Out: Defeat 30 Regulator Drone Masters
• Family Meeting: Defeat 30 Mob Godmothers
• Seeking Asylum: Complete Case File 07: THE LEAGUE OF SHADOWS
• A Momentum Occasion: Unlock all Momentum Abilities as Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, or Red Hood
• Bat Out of Hell: Complete every Batcycle time trial
• Gotham Knight: Complete Case File 08: HEAD OF THE DEMON
• Practice Makes Perfect: Complete all 16 Training Area exercises
• Dressed to Impress: Craft a complete set of Legendary equipment (Suit, Melee Weapon, Ranged Weapon)
• The Man-Bat Family: Defeat 10 Man-Bats in Gotham City

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

Not completely sure what the next major game is going to be on the Xbox side, but with two live service game scheduled for de-listing just to get the footage of them. We'll see what ends up happening.

Ordered some take out from Checkers... and they screwed up my drink order... again...

Since I played Star Trek Prodigy Supernova last year, I made sure to grab the entire first season digitally on Amazon. Would be nice to watch the series and actually understand the general relationship between the main cast. 

Finished the Mass Effect short story commission, and got the go ahead to do another one this time featuring EDI in the spotlight, which was something that was being built towards.

Out next stream is scheduled for 7 PM Eastern on Sunday night, with Overwatch 2! So on that note, we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Just A Bad. Embarrassing Day

Hi everyone,

Friday was certainly a day I'd rather forget, I woke up really early and I figure I'd  get a lot done, which I did in terms of writing the Mass Effect short story commission, got three video made for YouTube and worked on my job search (found out I got rejected by another job), plus my daily work out.

Then around 11 AM I just felt like laying down for a bit... and I didn't wake up again until 6:30 PM... meaning I missed work started at 5 PM. I was so confused that that when I saw the clock that I questioned myself on if it was AM or PM before seeing my phone and that one of my supervisors tried to contact me out of concern because A) I haven't missed a day of work willingly since I had a tooth extraction and B) when I do miss work, I never no-call. They assured me everything was alright and they were more concerned for my well being

Needless to say I cried for nearly two hours, and really resisted the urged to punish myself for this... I can't think of the last time something like that has happened to me.

This is also why the stream to finish Spider-Man Miles Morales didn't start till 9:30 PM, because if I missed work there was no way I was going to justify starting the stream early. We wrapped the game up in fairly standard fashion, the boss fights against the Prowler, Rhino and the Tinkerer were all unique and varied, plus we cleaned up a fair amount of the side objectives that don't involve a second play through. 

Overall, I don't feel Spider-Man Miles Morales is as good as the prior Spider-Man game, while it has its own unique style and feels more grounded, I don't think it makes as good use of the space of the map as the earlier game. Plus having things locked behind having to do a New Game Plus run is just poor decision making.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4) Trophies

• Veloci-Skates: Chase Tinkerer through the city
• Never Give Up: Pay respects at Jefferson Davis' grave in Harlem
• Deep Cuts: Collect all Sound Samples and recreate the Davis Brothers Mix
• Exploding Bulldozer: Defeat Roxxon Rhino
• Family Drama: Defeat Prowler
• Competitive Spirit: Beat Phin at the rocket launch mini-game
• Shared History: Walk through Miles and Phin's past
• Ultimate Sacrifice: Save Harlem
• Memory Lane: Collect all Postcards
• A New Home: 100% complete all districts
• Socially Acceptable: Scroll through the entire Social Feed at the end of the story
• Best Fries in Town: Pay your respects to a legend in the Upper West Side
• Crime Master: Complete all Bonus Objectives for every crime type

For the raid we dropped in on bangbangbang713 who was playing Diablo IV over on twitch.tv/bangbangbang713

I made up my mind, the next PlayStation 4 game for Friday nights will be The Last of Us Part 2... it can't be as terrible as the first game right? RIGHT?!

I saw the list of guest characters for Mortal Kombat 1... and I'm not impressed, and I just know there are going to be a lot of bitter wrestling fans wanting to do every fatality to Peachmaker, since the character model is John Cena. 

Our next stream for Saturday night is slated to start at 7 PM Eastern, and we'll get back to Gotham Knights, so we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

Fridge is holding on, GooD night in Gotham Knights

Hi everyone,

So my fridge is still holding on with its settings set to max in order to keep things in it cool, which has the added effect of over freezing everything in my freezer... but hopefully when the PSE&G tech comes on Monday morning they can fix the problem so I can set it back to normal, or give me an idea of how long it'll last before I have to get a new one.

Work was solid, getting more interviews done... folks were not as friendly as they were the previous night.

Tonight's stream of Gotham Knights saw big progression on the story, and I'm at the point to where I can justify ignoring doing all the random stuff around the city and just do the main story, as the next major thing to do involves taking on Jacob Kane in order to bring him to justice. Part of why I'm considering that approach is because we hit the maximum level one could do in a single play through (30), and to hit maximum leve l(40), that requires a second play through.

Now I did managed to successfully complete one of the major side quests which was to protect Bruce Wayne's identity, and that proved to be interesting with a number of the puzzles to plant the files. The reward being a clip of Bruce acting a fool was worth it.

I am giving heavy consideration of playing Gotham Knights for Saturday's stream, but I'm not 100% sure yet.

Gotham Knights Achievements

• A Worthy Successor: Unlock all Knighthood Abilities for any member of the Batman Family
• From Inside Gotham's Walls: Complete Case File 05: THE COURT OF OWLS
• Solid Alibi: Successfully protect Batman's secret identity

For the raid we visited pradoxgamerau who was playing X4: Foundation over on twitch.tv/pradoxgamerau

Something I realized is that the achievement for completing the first chapter of Jake's campaign in Resident Evil 6 didn't pop for me. Which is really weird on so many levels.

Didn't do any writing yesterday, so after this blog is posted I'll be working on the Mass Effect short story commission.

Our next stream is slated for Friday night at 9:30 PM Eastern, with the focus being on Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and there is a probability we could finish the game! We'll see.

So on that we'll see you next time over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

 

Half Way Finished with RE6

Hi everyone,

We had work today, which meant the stream didn't start until after 9:30 PM, and the work assignment was interesting as it focused on Wellness and Fitness Centers to see what draw people towards them. It's a short study with a high production rate requirement, but for now I'll just take the hours. Even though I had 5 completed interviews.

The parts from PSE&G for the fridge arrived today, but now the fridge is acting normal after I cranked up the internal dial from 5 to 9 on Monday. I scheduled the appointment for the tech to come and install these parts on Monday to be between 7 AM & 9 AM, which is going to suck.

As far as the stream goes, Iceman and I finished Chris' campaign, and a lot of the suddenly weird camera angle changes for various sequences pretty much sucked. It took us an hour to get through Chapter 5 of that campaign, and then we jumped into Jake's campaign, which has less of the frantic action heavy vibe. For the run of Jake's campaign, I'm playing as Sherry, which has lead to some hilarious moments.

After the mid-stream break, I switched over to Forza Horizon 5, and we managed to get quite a few achievements knocked out. Of course because I haven't stream this late in a while, I was spacing out a bit towards the end.

Resident Evil 6 Achievements

• Duty Calls: Complete Chapter 5 in Chris' campaign.
• J'avo Genocide: Defeat 500 J'avo.

Forza Horizon 5 Achievements

• Seasoned Veteran: Complete a Festival Playlist activity in every season
• Tourist Attraction: Complete your first Horizon Tour Race Event
• Points Mean Prizes: Complete any Seasonal Activity in Hot Wheels Park
• Welcome to Sierra Nueva: Arrived at the Horizon Badlands Outpost
• Unlimited Rally: Crossed your first Split-Gate in a Horizon Rally event
• Rouen: Won your first Horizon Rally event
• That Time of Year: Completed a Seasonal Activity in Sierra Nueva
• It's Rally Time!: Joined the Horizon Raptors Team

For the raid we dropped in on holodevil13 who was also playing Resident Evil 6 over on twitch.tv/holodevil13

Got some writing done on the Mass Effect short story commission featuring Tali'Zorah, as setting thing up for it taking place on Rannoch is a bit tough without going line for line from the game. 

Our next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern on Thursday, and we're going to continue Gotham Knights, making our big push on wrapping that up. 

So with that said, we'll see you next time over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Job Hunts, Wonky Fridge and Just Being Batgirl

 Hi everyone,

Applied for a lot of job yesterday, about 20 or so, so hopefully one of them leads to something. Trying to find places I can get do with duties that I can perform or feel confident that I can learn quickly is not easy.

My refigerator is barely holding on, having turned its internal settings to max just to keep it cool, there is some water dripping from the freezer down into the fridge so maybe there is excess ice build up, but I don't know. The parts PSE&G are sending should be here between 10 AM and 3 PM on Wednesday.

Work was cancelled today again, was told worst case we might not have work until Thursday... I'm covered, but this is rather odd considering the heavy lack of work this year in compared to previous years. 

Tonight's stream of Gotham Knights started early-ish as a result and we did a big focus on the side stories involving Mr. Freeze, Clayface and Harley Quinn, as well as making some progress in regards of the main story and other side activities. The boss battles involving the three iconic villains were pretty cool, with Harley's being the most normal, while Mr. Freeze and Clayface's battles making me glad I refuse to play games on anything harder than I intend to, because the bat-cycle section of the Clayface fight took three attempts to clear.

In terms of the main story, the conflict of the League of Assassins and Court of Owls is building, but I have noticed that the more we do in the game, the most positive the citizens of Gotham are to seeing our heroes popping up at different points in time. 

We also experienced some co-op game play tonight, and that there is unique dialog depending on the pairing of characters and who gets to the cut-scene parts first.

 Gotham Knights Achievements

• Working Hard or Harley Working?: Interrupt a presentation at the Monarch Theater
• The Show Mud Go On: Crash a film set and anger the director
• Quartzer Life Crisis: Investigate the disruption at Quartz Labs
• Snow Problem: Keep your cool and survive the storm at Elliot Center
• Unstoppable Force: Unlock all four Momentum bars as Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, or Red Hood
• Bad Apples in Every Orchard: Complete Case File 04: THE MASQUERADE
• Universal Health Scare: Go to Gotham City General Hospital after visiting hours
• Shock Til They Drop: Defeat 45 Regulator Shockers
• Cooldown: Put an inmate back behind Blackgate's bars
• Fusion Expert: Acquire 50 Modchips via mod fusion
• End of an Era: Complete all Villain Case Files
• Rock and a Hard Place: Crack the case at Gotham Reservoir

For the raid we dropped in on hawleigh during their stream of Hogwarts Legacy over on twitch.tv/hawleigh

As I waited for the commission request to come in I started writing a non-commission story based around Hellsing, it's a bit dialog heavy at first and will need a rewrite. Still I'll shelve this story for now as I did get a commission request for another Mass Effect story.

Our next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern on Wednesday, and even with work being doubtful, I probably won't start the stream early just for the sake of keeping the Resident Evil 6 stuff featured without having to fully highlight it out and losing footage of anything done before hand.

But of course if I do start early because of no work, I'll do the highlight way of archiving the Resident Evil 6 content.

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