<–The State of the Gamer: 6/17/21           The State of the Gamer: 7/15/21–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

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What I Purchased

• Kathy Rain – $2.99 on Steam

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What I Put On Hold

Title: Old Man’s Journey
System: Nintendo Switch

Date Started: June 15, 2021

I’m really into Tales of Vesperia right now.  I might come back to this when I’m between games again (since that’s why I started playing it anyway).

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What I’m Playing

Title: Tales of Vesperia
Series: Tales
System: Nintendo Switch

Date Started: May 23, 2021

I am really into this game, and I can certainly see why it’s a fan favorite.  Definite thematic similarities to FFVI and FFVII (those are the two I immediately thought of; I’m not discounting any other Final Fantasies) with the the war between humans and monsters for the former and magic/power through alchemical necromancy in both (holy shit “alchemical necromancy” is a kick ass term.  Definitely noted that down).

I spent about two hours making a list of all the items I’d need for my synthesized weapons.  This included an Excel spreadsheet so you know I’m serious.  My plan is to gather the materials from the known places before moving onto the next story part.  I’ll be able to get the weapons plus the next level in the next town, but there were a few things I needed from some of the first enemies in the game.  I might go back to see if I can defeat the Giganto monster in Kiev Moc.  He handed me my ass the first time, but it’s been a while.  I definitely ran away from the one in Mt. Temza.  I am not ready to face something with 100k HP.

I also made myself a pronunciation guide because they are very interesting in the game.  I’m glad it’s mostly voice acted so I can hear the proper way to say things.  I keep having to refer to it for the pronunciaton of Mantaic, wihch is “MAN-take” and the name Ragou, which is “ruh-GO.”  The one that makes me really happy for the voice acting is Entelexeia pronounced “EN-tuh-luh-KAY-uh.”  I’d have said that “EN-tuh-LEKS-ee-uh” or “EN-tuh-LEKS-ay-uh.” not with the X pronounced as a K.

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What I Played

• Pic-a-Pix Pieces

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What I Watched

Going to do this a little differently by LPer instead of game since I watched a ton CJ.

• CJUGames – he doees a lot of indie horror games, and they’re great for passing the time at work.  Plus his commentary is usually hilarious with the bonus of a posh (aka southern) English accent (omg…I can actually TELL the difference now *slaps forehead*)
  • Lost in the Backrooms – reminded me a lot of The Door in the Basement, which I talked about last time.
  • Apartment 327 – the music reminds me of “Forested Temple” and “The Nightmare’s Beginning” from FFVII.  He only did one video of it (so far at least).
  • Roots of Evil: The Tailor – pretty impressive for a game made by just one person.  The animation was really basic, but again one person made it, and the story was interesting.
  • Locked Fears – Omfg the end of this was so abrupt, and all CJ could say was “What were the rubber gloves for?”
  • The Survey – definite religious motif with the parents named Joseph and Mary and the daughter being Lilith.  There were lots of crosses in the house, and the player was often blocked by an angel statue.  The story is dark AF and a good commentary on ablelism combined with child abuse.  The parents essentially turned their son into a monster.
  • Without Escape – Hello Silent Hill shadow world!
  • Close Your Eyes – This one was the best out of all of them, and after I finished watching, I remembered I’d seen stuff about the game elsewhere.   The Game Theorists did a video about it that I watched a while ago.
  • Harts – ah poorly translated Russian horror game.  It wasn’t terrible actually, and I’m a wuss puss so anything terrifies me.
  • Lazeretto – just started watching this and didn’t finish it before I logged off.  Exploring an abandoned asylum/rehab clinic.  Seems pretty spooky.
• Olizandri
  • Tales of Vesperia – in my typical fashion I’m watching a game I’m playing and intend to review.  I’m about 50 hours in and I watch a video every few days so I’m not too worried about catching up.  There are a lot of benefits of watching the LP concurrently if a little behind my own playthrough.  I can get some tips as well as see the foundation of later things and solidify my notes.
  • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

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I bought cake for the 4th of July because I’m an adult and cake is delicious.

 My dad invited me to a cookout on the day, but I’m getting my Covid shot the day before and might be down for the count.  We’ll see.  I’m at least off on Monday so hooray three day weekend.

What are my state side friends doing for the 4th?  You don’t have to be state side to answer; how rude would that be?  It might not be a holiday for you, but I’ll still hear what you’re doing this weekend 🙂

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<–The State of the Gamer: 6/17/21           The State of the Gamer: 7/15/21–>