The State of the Gamer: 5/16/17

/ The Shameful Narcissist

<–The State of the Gamer: 5/9/17          The State of the Gamer: 5/23/17–>

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.

Currently Playing: 2

Title: Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius
Series: Final Fantasy
Genre: RPG – Fantasy
Developer: Square Enix
Platform(s): iOS, Android
Release Date: June 29, 2016
Date Purchased: March 21, 2017
Date Started: March 27, 2017

So much pharming and grinding.  I’ve made a little bit of progress in the story, but I feel really behind in terms of where my characters are.  I’ve only been playing for a few months so I shouldn’t be too hard on myself.  The game is still fun though there are some days where I don’t do anything besides collect my daily rewards.  The plot is still interesting enough to warrant me spending so much time leveling to see more.

Title: The Room
Genre: Puzzle, Mystery
Developer: Fireproof Games
Platform(s): iOS, Android
Release Date: September 2012
Date Purchased: April 16, 2017
Date Started: April 16, 2017

I’ve finished the chapters and am currently in the epilogue that I didn’t know existed.  I thought I’d be able to say I finished it this week, but I’m enjoying the extra level and the eerie little story that goes along with it.  I do think it’s much better to play through each chapter in one sitting, since you might forget where you leave off or certain clues you found in the beginning.  There are clues, but it would be nice to figure out a level without using any of them.

Games Currently Watching

Title: Phantasy Star
Series: Phantasy Star
Genre: RPG – Fantasy/Science Fiction
Developer: Sega
Original Platforms: Sega Master System
Other Platforms: Sega Genesis, Wii Virtual Console
Original Release Date: December 20, 1987
Let’s Player: Hungry Goriya
Date Started: March 24, 2017

I don’t think there was an update this week.  Life gets busy, busy, busy!

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 just finished watching the escape of the ex-Cerberus scientists with Jacob.  Again, I have to say that if you are looking for a game that knows how to do diversity, holy shit is Mass Effect tops.

Title: Out of This World/Another World & Heart of the Alien
Series: N/A
Genre: Cinematic platformer, action-adventure
Developer: Delphine Software
Original Platform(s): Various
Original Release Date: 1991
Let’s Player: MikeNnemonic
Date Started: May 13, 2017

This was the first cinematic game I ever played, and it could possibly be the first cinematic game ever.  The graphics on it were so amazingly ahead of its time, and it played more like a movie.  Now that I’m thinking about it, it was the first game I ever saw with cut scenes, predating Squeenix by some 16 years.  Take that Final Fantasy VII!  Anyway, this game was hard as hell, and we never got further than the part where your alien buddy picks the lock on the door.  We couldn’t time the gun’s force field well enough for that.

I was wary about watching this let’s play as late as I did, since this game is a bit creepy, but so far I’ve been okay.  As I have no idea what really happens, I’m not sure what to expect but the LP is a twofer…it has both the first and second game that I didn’t know about.  The latter features gameplay from the point of view of your alien buddy.  Should be interesting.

Games Added to Playlist: 5

  1. Cosmic Star Heroine – Thanks to Cheap Boss Attack for this recommendation, and you can read his review of it here.  The instant I saw screenshots, I immediately had visions of Chrono Trigger dance through my head, and since I now know about Phantasy Star courtesy of Hungry Goriya (who’s linked above), I can see traces of that, too.  It’s like the two games had a lovechild.  Sega and Nintendo finally reconciled…with sexy time 😀
  2. Golden Sun – This one is credited to LightningEllen.  I don’t remember when or where we were talking about this, but I have it in my notes that I know about it because of her, and my notes never lie!  Past TSN is pretty trustworthy.  Present TSN, eh, better watch out for her.  This is an RPG, surprise surprise.  I think this came up during my “Un-Final Fantasy” post, which I think I subliminally did in order to experience more non-FF RPGs.  Mwahaha, you all feel into my little trap >:)
  3. Baldur’s Gate – Another one garnered from the un-Final Fantasy discussion.  I don’t remember who recommended this one though.  I don’t think I really need to say much about this RPG.  It’s BioWare’s first though, iconic and well known even for those of us who haven’t played it (yet).
  4. Shadowrun – A cyberpunk RPG that I don’t recall ever hearing of.  Again I apologize I don’t remember who mentioned it to me in the comments of the non-Final Fantasy RPG post.  That post stirred up so much great conversation/discussions, ironically for not talking about my favorite series, which you could arguably say my blog is based on.  Usually I’ll get comments on posts for a few days afterwards, but this one still seems to be going strong!
  5. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona – Because Persona 4 Golden is only available for the Vita, it was suggested to me that I go for this version for the PS2/3.  I’m probably going to get P5 first, because everyone is talking about it, but I’ll more than likely buy and finish that before I get a Vita :\

Total Games in Backlog: 109
Change from Last Week: +5

Games Added to Watch List: 1

  1. American McGee’s Alice – I have Ignited Moth to thank for this one due to her review of the art book for the same!  I added both the game to my watch list and the art book to my want list.  This must be the week of the twofer.

Total Games on Watch List: 25
Change from Last Week: +1

Games Purchased This Week: 0

Miscellaneous

It’s time for the results of last week’s poll!  The results were really close…nah, that’s bullshit, one game completely blew all the others out of the water.

With 7 votes out of the total 12, Horizon: Zero Dawn is the clear winner.  Second place Person 5 didn’t even get half the votes at 3, and Final Fantasy XV and NieR Automata received 1 vote a piece.  No love for Squeenix this week at all o.O  However, Tales of Berseria and The Talos Principle didn’t receive any votes, so at least SE received some credit.

With this clear vote in HZD’s favor, I’ll be using my Amazon gift card to purchase it sometime this week.

In other miscellaneous gaming news, I now have more ink.  What does that have to do with gaming?  Well the tattoo is the words “Ne me mori facias,” which, while originally from Carmina Burana,, are probably more well known in “One Winged Angel.”  Even Google agrees with me on this.  If you do a search, that’s what pops up first.  I’ll show you a picture next week (when I should also have my Horizon).  Though I took one after it was finished, there’s a clear plastic cover on it, because my artist is trying something new.  It’s the material they use for burn victims, and while he thought it was so odd to cover a tattoo, this is apparently the newest, best thing.  You just leave it on for 5-6 days, then take it off.  No lotion or anything like that.  The less people have to do for a tattoo, the better it is, since the more instructions you give someone, the more likely they are to screw something up.  It’s actually been less itchy, but there is an ick factor.  There’s definitely some ink on the edges of the plastic so I could see someone who worked in the service industry not going for this option.  Me in my little cubicle world can be as gross as I want (not really lol), since I’m not really around anyone all day, and no one is really looking at my arm.

Next week I should have some various pictures for you 🙂

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: 5/9/17          The State of the Gamer: 5/23/17–>

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54 thoughts on “The State of the Gamer: 5/16/17”

  1. Pingback: The State of the Gamer: 5/9/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks

  2. Sorry I keep adding to your backlog (not sorry)!

    I’m currently playing through the JRPG Akiba’s Beat on PS4 for a review, but Prey just arrived from GameFly today and it’s supposedly very much like BioShock and Soma (two of my all-time favorites). It’ll be a struggle to not dive straight into Prey instead. Injustice 2 just shipped out today as well, and as a huge DC fan, I’m looking forward to that one as well. I did play a little Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed on Vita in the dentist’s waiting room, if that counts.

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  4. Yay HZD! And poor Nier haha. Also, you typed “ne me mori facias” and I started singing the Carmina Burana song. Because I’m a nerd.

    …and that must have been some super crazy BioWare fangirl to recommend Baldur’s Gate to you…..

    Also! I love that the voice for Jacob’s new love interest in ME3 is the same one from female Hawke in Dragon Age 2 (no, I didn’t go through the Mass Effect games playing “whose voice is this from Dragon Age” every time a new character came up… Why are you asking me that?). I know most people seem to remember only the last 5 minutes of the game, but ME3 is a pretty solid story and yeah, BioWare does its diversity well.

    Still plugging away at Andromeda and Horizon: Zero Dawn, although I’ve hunkered down and am trying to finish saving Andromeda first since I’m at a spot in HZD that I can remember what happened immediately preceding my save point. Like other Mass Effect games, it’s hard to leave Andromeda and come back (at least for me) because there are so many conversation and little things like that you have to try and remember. Maybe that would be remedied if I had a TV on which I could read my journal and codices, but until that point… yup Andromeda plot points need to stay in my short term memory haha

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    • I have had both the Carmina Burana song AND One Winged Angel stuck in my head ever since I got the tattoo o.O Two different melodies ughhhh.

      I definitely agree. It’s why I wanted to watch it for myself instead of just seeing bits and pieces and then the ending, which everyone had an opinion about. I still may not love it, but at the very least I’m getting the full experience.

      I loved that there were a few people from Star Trek providing voices like Mirina Sirtis for Liara’s mother and Michael Dorn was one of the krogan.

      It’s like leaving a book for too long. You come back and you can’t quite remember where you left off then you figure you should just start over.

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      • Yes! I was dying listening to Benezia talk.. “Is that Deanna Troi? OMG it’s Deanna Troi!” Especially knowing she thought she could get close and change him, and Troi being an empath and all. And the krogan who is always heckling Wrex in ME2, “No… That’s not Worf…” It was amazing. It was cool that they pulled them in, too, considering the nods to Star Trek throughout the games… Yeah. my nerd status just leveled up.

        Anyway… now I’m picturing a mashup of One Winged Angel and Carmina Burana…

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        • Right?! I thought they voiced very appropriate characters. Asari with their biotics and mind abilities have some similarities to Betazoids, and krogan are warriorlike similar to Kingons. I love how they did that as a nod to Star Trek (TNG) fans. If Sir Patrick had had a cameo, I think I would’ve died.

          It is SO confusing having both songs stuck in your head D:

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  6. Yay! Baldur’s Gate! I used to love that game, it is dated now but the story and characters are great and I think it’s really interesting to see the foundations and similarities with games like Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age. It’s also set in the same world (the forgotten realms) as a book series called The Legend of Drizzt and you sometimes bump into characters and visit cities from the books in the game.

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  8. Persona 5 would be a good first persona game. Persona 4 and 3 are cool too. I wouldn’t recommend Persona 1 and 2 because of their age and they were made by a different director.

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  9. Oh so you thought your Un-Final Fantasy post was a trap eh? Well, it looks like my master plan to get you to add a game to your backlog worked! *evil laugh*

    I’m feeling pretty meh about FFBE at the moment. I got Rydia and cleared a few more story stages, but I don’t even come close to using all my NRG anymore. I honestly just want to finish the main story and move on. I know if I summoned someone special my interest could be sparked again… Just sayin’

    HZD is just plain awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as I am. Yesterday I decided to shove Zelda BoTW to the back burner and focus on Aloy’s adventure. Trust me, that says a lot! 😀 I feel connected to the HZD story, and the massive land of Hyrule isn’t going anywhere.

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    • *gasps* I was tricked!

      I’m like half-meh, have-interested. I’ve been more into The Room, and I’ve only been booting up FFBE so I can get my daily reward. I did the exploration question for Kolobos yesterday and at least picked up the zombie resin someone was looking for. I still haven’t killed those 3 Hill Gigas’ and I need to grab some more Ice Megacrysts. I hope that’s one of the deals one day. Have you tried any of the Bahamut trials yet? I was able to do the raid up to PRO, then he kicked my ass lol. I didn’t bother with the 40 NRG one since my loquacious friend told me he wasn’t able to hack it, and he’s at a much higher level than me. I just want to make sure I’m at a high enough level where I don’t get stuck anywhere in the main story. I also think I’m around the area where I can get Ramuh, but I’d have to look into that. Yeah, I hear you. If Sephiroth one day shows up AND I managed to draw him, I’ll play forever lol.

      I need to buy HZD tonight! I’ve been calling it a night around 10 lately, and haven’t had time to do so!

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      • The PRO Bahamut kicked my ass too (seriously, I hardly put a dent in him before he insta-wiped my party,haha) I’m too bored with the game to fight his lesser forms daily for coin things. I just got the last Esper the other day. Ramuh is still my favourite for electricity storm related reasons 🙂

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          • The Raid event actually uses a sphere system that doesn’t use NRG at all (sort of like how the Arena works). You have 5 raid orbs and fighting Bahamut consumes 1 orb thing. They recharge at a rate of 1 per hour (or you know Lapis will refill them instantly, of course).

            I’ve hit the story wall a few times (some of the boss fights were brutal for me). Spending some time leveling people up in the Vortex, and having friends with badass 6 Star people, really helps. I think it’s mostly me not knowing what I’m doing though, haha.

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            • Oh you’re right. I forgot about that. I keep forgetting to do my daily Arena/Coliseum battles. I’ve only done the Arena once, and I got creamed. All of the available battles were WAY above my pay grade lol. The coliseum conversely is too easy, and I’m hoping that will ramp up so I can get something out of it. It’s also possible that I’m doing it completely wrong lol. I’m going to look up how to find Ramuh tonight and see if I can catch the big guy.

              I managed to pull Dark Fina whom I used as a companion character before, and she’s amazing with her Ultima spell, so I DEFINITELY want to get mine to that level as soon as possible. I also have Emperor Sozhe and Firion. I fused some of the other characters I had because I was getting close to my limit. I want to just work on one character at a time, with leveling, but I always seem to be short Sacred Crystals and Heaven Ash. The highest I have anyone is 5 star, but a few of my characters can go up to 7.

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              • No matter if you win or lose, the first battle you do in the Arena each day will give you 20 Lapis, so I make sure to just try. If you want to win: Pick a lower rank to beat up on (don’t feel bad, it’s the law of nature, lol), Vanille is your friend, and NEVER EVER fight anyone with 6 Star Lightning (she can, and will, destroy you without mercy). I’d recommend knocking out a few of the coliseum battles daily. They are so easy and some of the rewards are special ability recipes, and I got 200 Lapis from one of the C rank brackets, I think.

                Congrats on Dark Fina! I’ve used her through a friend, and she’s awesome! I have Rain and Fina maxed at 5 Star. The materials to make them 6 Star are super rare, and I haven’t even found many of them at all yet. I’m leveling Setzer (I really wish I could send him to you!! 😦 ), Cecil, Vanille, Terra, and Snow for a bit before moving on.

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                • I did notice that you get some rewards regardless, and with the Bahamut fight it’s the same. Even if he whips your butt, you still keep your rewards. I don’t think it’s worth the 40 NRG though. I need so many Sacred Crystals like 15 for one character and 10 for another. Kuja only needs one more Awakening before he’s at his top number of stars, but I want to start leveling some of my other characters, too. At least I’ll get to use Setzer a few times a day because you have him and a few of my other friends do, too! I picked the lowest rank I could find, but alas they were still higher than me. I should definitely be using Vanille. Who knew such a sweet, innocent thing would have a death spell!

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                  • I will shamelessly accept all of the game’s participation awards 🙂 Sacred Crystals were a pain for me too, but I haven’t even heard of the 6 Star materials before… Guess my people will stay maxed at 5. The story bosses are really killing me now. Most of my friends do have 6 Star people thankfully. I know a stranger’s 6 Star Sozhe dude soloed half a boss after he wiped my people, lol.

                    If they ever allow trading, you can have my Setzer as soon as the feature goes live. It’s a crime that you can’t complete your white haired pretty boy party 😦

                    *keeps mouth shut* Vanille has saved me many times in the Arena. Even against higher ranks, you just need to keep her alive long enough to use Death. Cutesy characters with Death spells seem to be a theme though! I’m almost ready to take on Dark Bahamut in IV, and I was shocked when Rydia learned Death, haha.

                    Oh and I read somewhere that Squeenix had intended for Vanille to be the main character in FFXIII, during the very early development phase. They accidentally released a marketing video or something with Lightning in it, and they decided to promote her to protagonist instead. A very wise decision on their part!

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                    • I’ve done that, too: used the companion character to save my other characters’ asses lol. I managed to complete the PRO for the Battle of Judecca and got a 500 Phantasmo Globe reward or whatever the hell is the collectible of the week. I was able to trade a bunch for the 15 Sacred Crystals I needed to level up Kuja to 6. I also got my butt kicked in the Arena by someone like 10 ranks less than me #embarrassing

                      Watch I’ll probably get Lightning so it’ll be a match made in heaven! I DO need to complete it! I will cry a thousand tears if I don’t get Sephiroth.

                      I’m glad they went with Lightning, too! There are enough cutesy main characters in Final Fantasy especially cutesy females. Squeenix make a good choice with that!

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                    • I just squeaked by the PRO Judecca, There’s no way I’m even touching ELT level.

                      I would laugh so hard (and cry a little) if I get Sephiroth, and you get Lightning, haha. The RNG god in this game is very cruel.

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                    • The only reason I made it through PRO is because I had a high level Dark Fina as a companion or a high level Trance Terra. They both have the Ultima spell and that roasts every enemy.

                      That would be the universe playing the cruelest joke! I’d obviously level Lightning up and make her my leader asap!

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  10. I love Alice and its sequel Alice: Madness Returns, solid 3D platformers with a cool vibe to them.

    I’m currently only playing Prey. It started good, slowed a bit, and now I’m moving again and enjoying it quite a bit. Very reminiscent of Bioshock for me.

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  11. Woo! I’m so happy to see that Alice has made it for your watch AND want lists! 😀
    And yay for Horizon winning the poll! 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think of it when you get to play it.
    Looking forward to seeing the pic of the new ink, too.

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    • The ink is starting to look better; it looked awful yesterday hehe. I took the “burn” material off it, and it was super sticky so I had a lot of sticky stuff with ink stuck to my arm. It didn’t come off even after I showered, and acetone did only a little better. I’m just going to let it heal/scab up naturally, and hopefully by next Tuesday it will be picture ready 🙂

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  13. Pingback: The State of the Gamer: 5/23/17 | The Shameful Narcissist Speaks

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