<–The State of the Gamer: 1/31/17 The State of the Gamer: 2/14/17–>
A weekly post updated every Tuesday detailing my current gaming projects. I have quite a backlog of games to either play or watch, and I’m hoping a weekly article will assist with my progress as my other accountable posts have done with reading and writing.
I have an account at Grouvee, which is a essentially Goodreads for gamers, so please feel free to friend me there!
Original source of the banner art is located here.
Title: Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls
Series: Final Fantasy
Genre: RPG – Fantasy
Developer: Square/Tose (GBA)
Original Platform: NES
Original Release Date: December 18, 1987
Current Platform: Gameboy Advance
Current Platform Release Date: July 29, 2004
Date Started: November 20, 2016
I didn’t play either I or II this week, but I’m not giving up on DoS yet. Next time I play, I’ll fire up II and see if the newer version holds my interest.
Title: Final Fantasy IV
Series: Final Fantasy
Genre: RPG – Fantasy
Developer: Square
Original Platform: SNES
Original Release Date: July 19, 1991
Current Platform: Game Boy Advance
Current Platform Release Date: December 12, 2005
Date Started: October 24. 2016
I defeated the Dark Elf with (usually useless) Edward’s help. Now I have to return to Troia to collect my reward…or so my hapless characters still believe. Because I have fore knowledge, I haven’t continued the story, since I know my next destination is the Tower of Zot, ,which is a pretty extensive dungeon.
Title: World of Final Fantasy
Series: Final Fantasy
Genre: RPG – Fantasy
Developer: Square Enix
Platform(s): PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Release Date: October 25, 2016
Date Bought: October 21, 2016
Date Started: November 5, 2016
I not only finished all my leveling, but I now have at least one transfiguration for every Mirage. So some Mirages can “evolve” (to use Pokemon speak), and I want at least one of each “evolution.” Now there are some that aren’t available until after you beat the game e.g. Tama’s and a few transfigs of Ifrit Shiva, and others, which is fine; I can wait. There are also two new Mirages in MC Escher’s castle, er Castle Exnine. They’re unknown as of now, but when I find them, I’ll probably take some time to level them as I did the others and make sure I have one of all of their transfigurations, too. I’m still looking at finishing this before the end of the month.
Oh, I forgot to mention, now that I’ve leveled and obtained all possible transfigurations, it’s time to update my Excel spreadsheet. That’s my plan for tomorrow (Wednesday).
Games Currently Watching
Title: Mass Effect III
Series: Mass Effect
Genre: Action RPG – Sci-Fi
Developer: BioWare
Original Platform(s): Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3
Original Release Date: March 6, 2012
Let’s Player: Olizandri
Date Started: January 23, 2017
I think I watched one or two episodes of this this week. I’ll try to remedy that starting tonight. I still really love this series/game (though I did accidentally read a spoiler that I’m sure I knew as going to happen on another blogger’s post today).
Games Added to Playlist: 0
Four in February
Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Cheap Boss Attack, I am now informed about the phenomenon called Four in February. It’s a challenge to pick four games from your backlog and complete them before the shortest month of the year ends. There’s even a Facebook page about it.
This is supposed to be a fun way to work on your backlog, not a stressful obligation. I may or may not finish four or even one game this month (heck, I’m already seven days behind), but I work much better when I have a plan and a timeline, so I’m going to give it a whirl.
I actually have more than the necessary contenders on my list (hope this isn’t cheating), so I’m going to try to make it through four of them.
- World of Final Fantasy – I’m already close to completed this as I mentioned above, but don’t think I”m taking the easy way out. There’s probably hours of game play left, and even after I finish, there’s tons of after game quests to accomplish (some you can’t even do until you beat it), though I’m going to count seeing the ending for the contest.
- ABZU – This gorgeous game could take me less than two hours to beat from what I’m hearing, er, here. That’s less than a Saturday afternoon!
- Cthulhu Saves the World – LightningEllen played this and said it was only around six hours to completion. It’s an RPG that makes fun of RPGs, and Cthulhu, the eldritch abomination elder god has to save the world…so that he can destroy it. Makes perfect sense to me.
- Inside – Folks say that it’s a better (and easier) version of Limbo.
- Journey – Folks also say ABZU is the ocean version of this. I watched my IRL friend Matt play through this on Twitch a few months ago, and I thought it was lovely. The only part that scared me had to do with the cave and the snake. I hope I can figure that out without being too terrified.
- fLOw – I not only have this on my backlog, but already downloaded on my system so no need to spend any money!
- I Am Setsuna – Even though this is an RPG, it’s apparently a very short one. I found this out from a Well-Red Mage who wrote this review. I think I’d have to set up my husband’s PS3 whose laser may or may not work *grumble* I’d never let this happen to my death ray…
Any plans for FiF? I’d love to hear about them so we can #gethype and support each other through the challenge!
What are you currently playing and/or watching? Is it something new or old? Is it a first time run or a replay? What’s the genre? Would you recommend it? What’s on your radar to play next?
<–The State of the Gamer: 1/31/17 The State of the Gamer: 2/14/17–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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Yay! Another 4iF post! That’s not a bad list to choose from, for sure. A few of them are nice and short. I am Setsuna, however, is only on PS4 and PC I think? Not sure it released on PS3.
I’m currently working on game #2 of 4iF, which isn’t the original #2 on my list. I finished up Megadimension Neptunia VII last week and… started Dragon Age: Inquisition again. I’ve already finished the core game before, but wanted to replay it to check out the DLC I missed out on. It’s a massive game that’s taking up so much of my PS4’s HD and I’d like to have that real estate for other things. Right now I’m 60 hours in and nearing the final push of the story content. I don’t feel the need to OCD the map and whatnot, since I’ve already done that before. Otherwise I’m looking at an easy 100+ hours of playtime. Nooooot again, no. Game is incredible though.
It actually made me want to revisit Dragon Age Origins + Awakening and finally give Dragon Age 2 another chance. I went out today and picked up a used copy of Dragon Age 2 on PS3 for $4 with an old coupon. Lucky me, the DLC voucher inside the case still worked. Huzzah!
Best of luck on your 4iF journey!
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I either didn’t buy it or I’m just looking in the right place in my games! I know I have Journey, Limbo, and fLOw. I want to get Inside (I was listening to one of your CA podccasts today where you two were discussing it).
You’re on the second game in the second week of February! That’s good time management if you ask me. 100+ hours sounds like where I am with WOFF. Dragon Age is the other BioWare game I need to get into. I love it how they have it neatly wrapped up. DA for fantasy; ME for sci-fi. I’ve heard and seen the issues with the second Dragon Age. I came up the conclusion that it’s a bridge from the first to the second. I felt the same way about the second Pirates of the Caribbean. I liked the first and the third, but was meh about the second, but once I saw it as the bridge between the two, I was like “Ah, okay.”
I’m thinking I might take a whack at fLOw this weekend, and give up my $20 to buy Inside. I should’ve caught it on a sale, but ah well.
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Yeah, since I’m more of a fantasy nerd I preferred Dragon Age (at least Origins, Awakening, and Inquisition) to Mass Effect, although I wholeheartedly believe the Mass Effect series to be slightly better games from a technical standpoint.
I was at GameStop today and it looked like they had Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition (Origins, Awakening, and all of the DLC chapters/characters) on PS3 for $14. I went in to grab a copy of DA2, which was only $10. Not a bad price for everything!
Good luck with flOw! I liked Flower a bit, LOVED Journey, but I really didn’t like flOw at all. Controlled a bit too weird for me.
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Thanks for the shout outs, as always! You can digi-download I Am Setsuna on PS3 and 4 and the upcoming Switch of course. I hope you do get to play it. Also, flOw and Abzu are wonders. And Cthulhu Saves the World sounds hilarious enough for even a hipster like me to check out!
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I need to check and see where I have it! I’m pretty sure I bought it during one of the sales, but it’s not under my games on the PS4.
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Oops. Sorry… Was that mysterious blogger *me* that spoiled you? If it is, I apologize… 😦
Good luck with your Four in February! Those are some fabulous picks!!
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Don’t worry about it! It was on your saddest game post, which I know was bound to have spoilers. I scrolled through most, but then Mass Effect caught my eye, and I read about Thane. I suspected it was going to happen, so it wasn’t that big of a spoiler. Speaking of ME, I’m sure to meet Samantha soon since I’m currently watching the third part!
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I’m glad I didn’t ruin anything too much for you, at least… I really need to see if there’s a way to mark spoilers on WordPress…
And 😀 to meeting Samantha!
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I’ll usually do a *spoiler* tag then highlight the spoiler text in white! If they person wants to read it, they have to highlight it. I learned that trick from TV Tropes 🙂
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Clever! I’ll have to make my spoiler tag more obvious and try this tip out! Thanks!
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The FIF sounds fun, and you have some solid choices on your list! Journey is amazing, and if you did that, Flow, Abzu, and Inside, you’d probably be able to play all four wonderful games within a week, haha! But yes, That Game Company and the makers of Limbo are great developers with gorgeous artsy games.
As for me, I’m still playing through Dragon Quest VIII and now Fire Emblem Heroes for review, but I also had to quickly play through Atelier Sophie for review. I’ve never played an Atelier game before, but I’d heard that I might like it based on my tastes of JRPGs. I think I’ll hit my FIF naturally… even though they’re mostly impossibly long RPGs for the shortest month, haha!
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I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Abzu and Journey!
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I think I might break out Journey this weekend! I already have it, and I know it’s a fairly short game 🙂
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It’s pretty short – probably around 3 hours tops if you explore a lot. It’s sooo good!
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I played for a bout an hour, but then the stupid motion sickness I get from games with certain camera angles/movements kicked in, and I had to abandon it for a bit. I NEVER get motion sickness except in that situation. The first time I noticed it was with Banjo Kazooie years ago. It only happens if I’m playing it myself. If I’m watching a let’s play, it doesn’t occur. I think it’s because when I’m playing, I keep my eyes on my character, and I can’t reconcile the camera movement around them, but if I’m watching,, I can look all over (that’s my amateur theory anyway lol). I’m going to give it another go today or during the week.
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Oh no! I didn’t think about that . . . I’m sorry. The camera is pretty spinny.
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I never get motion sickness from cars, trains or anything like that, but those wacky cameras. It’s why I was never really into the N64 even though it had so many good games. I’m glad I can still watch them though!
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Heh, and I’m the opposite to an extent. If I haven’t been on long car trips for a while car rides get to me. I have to keep myself desensitized. Trains are fine, weirdly. /end babbling
If the camera is too sickening, at least you can still watch it, I suppose. I watched Journey the first time I “experienced” it and still found it rewarding.
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Trains are smoother maybe? The speed is more constant where as a car tends to be choppier. This is my totally unprofessional, just guessing opinion lol.
I watched it, too! It’s a lovely game.
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Edward is pretty useless now that you mention it, haha. I think I like him because i feel sorry for him for some reason. Congrats on defeating the Dark Elf again! I’m sure Cecil won’t mind any side activities you’re planning before Zot.
Thanks for the shout out! Good luck with your FiF quest. I think I’ll get I Am Setsuna for the Switch. I’ll be honest, other than Zelda there’s really nothing interesting about the launch lineup. That’s a good thing to me though. I don’t even want to think about how long it will take me to finish Breath of the Wild…
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You’ll save money and also make sure the system doesn’t have any issues at first release. I really, really love the look of Breath of the Wild, but I’ll find a good let’s play *we should convince Hungrygoriya to LP it!*
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Good tip! I’ve yet to have an issue with a Nintendo console but there’s a first time for everything. My nostalgia for Nintendo is just too strong. I always buy their latest things as soon as I can. I waited over a year for the PS4, and I just got an Xbox One last fall when they were cheap, haha. I can’t wait for BoTW! It looks like it will have a really interesting story. We so have to find a way to trick hugrygoriya into doing a LP for it!
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Four in February sounds like a really cool thing to do! What a great idea. I’ve never heard of it before you mentioned it in one of your comments to me earlier this week. I think I’m going to try to do it myself. I’ll probably fail miserably, but it’ll be fun to try! Good luck to you!! 🙂
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Cheap Boss Attack clued me into it with his post! At the very least I’ll play some of the games on my backlog even if I don’t finish four. I played a little bit of Journey yesterday and I think today I might try fLOw.
Good luck to you, too!
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It really is a neat idea. I told my husband about it and said one of the games I could do was Yoshi’s Woolly World (which we beat) and he said that game isn’t “old” enough lol! I told him it could be any game no matter how old it is! 😉 The games you mentioned actually sound really good. I’m particularly interested in Abzu, it just looks beautiful!
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Psh age has nothing to do with it lol! It could be a game of any age or era. I think the only rule is it has to be one you haven’t beaten before? Maybe? I don’t even know if that’s a limitation to be honest lol.
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Ah well sticking to games you haven’t beaten makes sense! I think since I learned about this a little later in the month, I’m actually going to do the challenge in March. I kind of make my own rules sometimes 😉
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Why not? I make my own rules when it comes to National November Writing Month! You’re “supposed” to write 50k words in one month, but that’s 1667 words a day. No way I (and many) can do that, so I modify it to either just writing once a day or lowering the word count. I do what I want!
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Yeah, I’ve tried that too, and there is no way I could reach that goal! 1667 is a very specific number and it puts too much pressure on me, haha. Like you, I would just try to write something every day. I have never once met the 50K word goal, but it’s fun to try!
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It’s like 3-4 pages! I used to do a thousand words a day, and that was 2-3 pages. It’s a LOT of writing. I remember talking to someone who wrote 150k words in a month. I was speechless. I think she was a student though or something like that. She didn’t have a day job so had the time to work on such projects. I was envious, but then the grass is always greener.
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Oh wow! Yeah, I wish I had time to work on all my various projects too. You are right though, the grass is always greener on the other side. Ideally I’d just be rich so I don’t have to work (at least full time), but ya know, that’ll probably never happen! 😉
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Time budgeting is so annoying, but necessary! Yep, my pipe dream is to one day be able to make a living through my writing. It would be pretty sweet.
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