Walking Into Mordor and Other Likely Diversions

You can, in fact, simply walk into Mordor -- you just have to finish Epic Quest Vol. IV, Book IX first. Then you can stroll on down through the broken Black Gate and start some extremely tedious questing in Udûn...

Um, hi. It's me again. No, this certainly isn't a blog entry about Darkest Dungeon or Child of Light. Nor is it about the $200 Milestone Incentive game, Dead Mountaineer's Hotel...

I can explain!

Darkest Dungeon on the PS4

So, I only took my little adventurers on the very first expedition before I needed to take a break. The controls for the game on the PS4 are very... non-intuitive. I lost my momentum quickly and kept telling myself I'd get back to it in time. But then I also needed to let my husband play his games (Dark Souls Remastered and Fallout 4, among others). I gave in to the little voice that told me to play something else. It whispered sweet nothings about festivals and Rohirrim. I have no shame.

However, I do feel vindicated. This past weekend my husband decided to sit down and play Darkest Dungeon. He soon suffered the same aggravation I did with the controls -- so much so that he went and repurchased the game on Steam to play on his laptop. So, I will eventually post that blog entry about it (the June Feature Entry: PTSD Awareness Month)... but you have to understand what this hurdle was like.

Child of Light vs. x360ce

When Child of Light first came out, I quickly discovered it was much easier to use a controller. At the time, I only had a nice little Steelseries controller meant for PC. It was easy enough to set up the x360ce application to make my games think it was an Xbox controller. When I intended to play Child of Light again for my blog entry, I went to set up x360ce files in the game's folder like usual... but something just didn't work right. I tried every configuration I could, even following other people's directions via Google search. Nothing stuck. I became so frustrated that I just... stopped trying to solve the issue and ignored it instead. 

But this past weekend I apologized to my Steelseries controller and fired up DS4windows, plugging in my PS4 controller. It works, so I'll be able to play more and get that blog entry (the July Feature Entry: World Watercolor Month) taken care of.

Birle Harmon, the Wise

My level 115 lore-master in LOTRO made it through all of Gondor (I LOVED everything about the battle to save Minas Tirith!), and I began my foray into Mordor as mentioned above.

Spoiler alert: So far, I really think it sucks...

Granted, I'm only in the first region of five, and I've been questing by myself when the area is meant for groups. I don't mind running group content with other players now and again, but I enjoy questing by myself through areas. Mordor is really going to cramp my style. In fact, it's tempting to not do it and just jump ship to Strongholds of the North. I probably shouldn't, though.

I haven't even imbued Birle's legendary items. I've never imbued anything, actually -- not even on my main on Arkenstone. I don't understand the process and don't want to make a mistake when you can't just say "lawl, jk, reset them points and lemme try again!" Now it's more like taking a deep breath, cringing, then screaming "YOLO!" and hope you did it right. I don't understand how people wanted this permanency with the legendaries when Moria was first released. Flexibility lets you figure out what works and to also adapt your play style. But I guess if I want to actually do any worthwhile damage I'll have to bite the bullet with imbuement.

On the positive side, my husband is checking out LOTRO again and learning to play without me just dragging him around like I did last time. Yay!

Okami

Been plugging away at the HD version for PS4 for an hour or so at a time. I'm currently hunting down the missing canine warriors for Princess Fuse. It sure is awesome that I started collecting demon fangs from the start of the game, too -- I was able to pick up the handful of special items as soon as the Fang Trader became available in the forest (Lucky Cat, Peace Bell, and Wood Mat).

I'm determined to finish everything in the game -- especially collecting all of the Stray Beads!

My Secret... of the Magic Crystals

When I didn't feel like doing any of the above recently, I reinstalled a guilty pleasure game. It's one I only play for the DLC, because it's silly fun. Don't judge me. I have a lot of fun winning the horse races in Secret of the Magic Crystals.

So, yeah. I know I'm behind... but I've got plans to get caught up! And hey, if you guys start donating on my Extra Life page... I'll have no choice but to catch up or feel eternally guilty! I can't stand feeling guilty! You can motivate me and help me be a hero for kids at the same time!

The Oliphant in the Room

"Mister Frodo! Look! It's an Oliphant! No one at home will believe this."
-Samwise Gamgee

Pretend this is an elephant and it's in the room with you. You know what I'm talking about: I missed June's Feature Blog -- and I'm super sorry about it! 

I was playing Darkest Dungeon on the PS4 and I just didn't get a chance to play enough of it to make a worthwhile post. I'm planning to fix that by the end of this month. I'm hoping you can wait until then! The July Feature Blog may be tardy as well, but should be up by the end of this week. (It helps that I have played Child of Light before.) 

In the meantime, celebrate! Birle the lore-master finally reached the level 115 level cap... which is the only way I was able to get the screenshot of the Mûmak in the first place!

May Feature Entry: The Sexy Brutale

This is probably not about the endangered species you expected,
but at least you get to try saving them.

May 18th is Endangered Species Day, and it's harder than it might seem to find a game to fit that particular theme! Even so, I did come up with a few options and let some people select which one fit best. Like last time, I've listed the other options at the end of this entry in case you're interested!

The Sexy Brutale is a misleading title, perhaps making you think the game's content is inappropriate and/or scandalous. Well, the only scandal is that the guests of the titular casino (The Sexy Brutale) are being murdered by the staff. It's your job to relive the same day again and again to figure out how to prevent each murder and gain powers that will aid you in the following preventions.

In essence, this is what happens when you mix up Groundhog's Day, Clue, Phantom of the Opera, and puzzle games. Still with me? Good.

The game opens with a brief explanation:

...and proceeds to introduce you to yourself, the masked Lafcadio Boone. Your mask is plain with a bloody handprint on it, placed there by a creepy, red-glowing girl who appears to be dripping blood and disappears into a pool of blood on the floor. She explains that the handprint protects you and that the others will not be able to see you or chase after you -- which does not lessen the panic attack when they are in the same room and everything goes ominously red. I discovered that only means you're unable to see much and cannot take actions in the room when others are present.

However, even though you're unable to do things with the other guests or staff in the room, you have a wide variety of options available when you are by yourself -- and both a lot of time and not a lot of time in which to use them. At the start of the game, you have a broken pocketwatch which forces you to relive the hours of 12 pm to 5 pm. When 5 pm hits, you're dropped back at your original prone location and anything you picked up disappears. You essentially have to scout around a lot first, figure out where the objects are (and at what point they become available to grab!) and make use of them before your time runs out. 

The tutorial phase of the game equips you with all the skills necessary to prevent the first murder, as it limits you to a select few rooms and hallways. The further you progress, the more rooms and areas open up to you. The bloody girl explains what you need to do to prevent the murders, but apparently cannot help you directly or she'll be discovered. You're taught how to interact with objects, how to listen to footsteps in an adjacent area, how to spy through keyholes, how to hide, and how to beat feet through a door.

The game does a great job of making you want to play more, too. The first murder scene is in a beautiful chapel -- I mean, really, the artwork in this game is beautiful. And knowing that the rest of it takes place in the casino and that you're in a mansion... well, you just KNOW that there will be some great scenes to explore.

Now, once you finish that tutorial and save the first victim, it turns out that he was the clockmaker for the mysterious Marquis who is hosting everyone. Because of this, you can now make use of the clocks all over the mansion -- IF you can find their corresponding key so you can pick a new clock as your respawn area -- AND you finally get the full day to use instead of just 12 to 5 pm.

I haven't managed to play much further than this in the game yet (that is, I haven't saved any more lives because the next one you have to save two people at the same time and there are CCTV codes required, among other complications!), and I really don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might be interested in playing it. So this is where my screenshots end!

What else can I say about the game? Plenty!

The soundtrack. Guys. GUYS. This soundtrack is phenomenal. You can find it on YouTube, but be careful if you're avoiding spoilers because those are there as well. I would even caution you not to go listen to the music without being in the game -- something about the music and the ambience together is what really makes it work.

Even if puzzle games aren't your thing, I would suggest giving this game a try. If you don't want to invest, try a Let's Play and see if that piques you any!

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Those Other Games I Mentioned...

Feist

Feist -- A desperate, savage survival experience full of stunning visuals, dynamic creatures, and a haunting soundtrack. (Released Jul 2015, Mostly Positive reviews)

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty -- Once a happy floor waxer in Oddworld's biggest meat processing plant, Abe stumbles across his boss's secret plan to turn the factory's slave labor force into the latest in the RuptureFarms Tasty Treats line of novelty meat snacks. Abe now has to save his own skin from the grinders, but simply escaping the flesh farm is only the start of his Oddysee - for many dangers await Abe on his journey to discover his destiny. (Released Feb 2015, Very Positive reviews)

Redshirt

Redshirt -- A comedy sci-fi sim about social networking aboard a space station, starring the station's most ambitious low-ranking peon: you! Navigate the professional and interpersonal politics of the ubiquitous "Spacebook" to curry favor among friends and colleagues without dying when you're sent out on a mission. (Released Nov 2013, Mixed reviews)

April Feature Entry: PixelJunk Eden

Guys, I don't think this is how gardens work. 

And I'm pretty sure I'm still very terrible at platforming.

April is Garden Month, and thanks to a handy little poll I whipped up and shared everywhere (special thanks to Skin Deep comic's Discord Avalon members)... the masses voted for PixelJunk Eden as the game for the theme. (The other games in the poll are listed at the end of this entry!)

To start, this was my first PixelJunk game. PixelJunk is developed by Q-Games and began in 2007. PixelJunk Eden is the third in their first series of games, which are all described by Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert as having "simplicity, familiarity, and originality" in common. Other titles in the series include: PixelJunk Racers, PixelJunk Monsters, PixelJunk Shooter, PixelJunk Shooter 2, PixelJunk SideScroller, PixelJunk 4am (formerly PixelJunk Lifelike), and Nom Nom Galaxy (formerly PixelJunk Inc.).

The premise of PixelJunk Eden is pretty simple: You play as a little creature called a Grimp, and you use various platforming skills to 'grow' the garden around you, collect Spectra, destroy Pollen Prowlers, and make a lot of chaos on your screen. The chillaxing soundtrack and endless playability (you can 'die'... but that doesn't stop you from picking up where you left off) make this a casual experience and less of the stressful gauntlet that most platformers can be. (And boy howdy am I thankful for THAT.)

Above is a screenshot of the start screen. It shows that I have played previously and collected exactly 2 Spectra of 75, and that I'm only 20% done with the first garden. I don't know if I'll ever complete any of these gardens because I have limited patience for platforming-type games. I've never really had a knack for precision in games, at least not without the game's help.

Back in the day, when the original NES was the console to have, I would eagerly beg cousins and friends to let me have a turn at being Mario or Link. Because I didn't have a console of my own, the only playtime I had was when these so-called friends and family members would share and hand me a controller. Often their condition for giving me time to play was that my time ended when I died. As you can imagine, I really didn't get to do much aside from being laughed at for being so bad.

   

Fast forward to when I was able to start getting into my own games by my own means, and you can easily see why I would gravitate towards point-and-click adventure games or puzzles or turn-based strategy. Even now, the number of games in my Steam library that boast the tag 'platforming' is very limited, and nearly all of them were part of some bundle and not a direct purchase.

Now back to PixelJunk Eden. ... I'd have an easier time growing an actual garden because that's something I have actual experience with. Sure, I could practice and try to get better at it, but I'm at the age where I have figured out what I enjoy when I play a game and that's what I want to do. Flinging my Grimp-self into open spaces and hoping to land on a plant or grow a new seed is not it.

For me, the biggest flaw in this game is that open space because there is so little that is actually grown or available when you enter a garden, you have no idea which way to fling yourself. I'm not a fan of haphazard moves in a game -- I like them to count and help me make progress! Unlike the way that each move counts in games like Transistor, your moves in PixelJunk Eden are often as reliable as RNG loot rolls in that MMO you love and have been grinding the one raid endlessly to get the last piece of gear to complete a set. 

We all know that feel. That's the feel PixelJunk Eden gives me.

However, it is not a bad game by any stretch. I have played worse (and keep meaning to blog about those experiences, except I keep blocking out the memories...), and this game is quite a few tiers above some other games I have enjoyed passing the time with. The graphics are clean and modern, and being 2D they are easy to look at for an extended period of time. Factor in the unique soundtrack and you've got yourself something that warrants re-releases on newer consoles and platforms. (This started out on the PS3 and they reworked the controls for a PC release.)

I would recommend this game, without conditions. Anyone can play it, and everyone else's mileage will probably be better than my own!

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Those Other Games I Mentioned...

The Botanist

The Botanist -- An optimistic game about growing plants and becoming independent, where every word in the world is a seed that grows a unique plant. (Released Oct 2017, Positive reviews)

Viridi

Viridi -- Nurture a small pot of succulents that grow in real time. (Released Aug 2015, Very Positive reviews)   [I actually picked this one up because it's free to play with a cash shop for extras. It's so casual you'd be better off watching paint dry or, hey, go plant an actual garden.]

Voodoo Garden

Voodoo Garden -- You're owner of a little hut in a bustling swamp. With the help of little spirits you can earn powers and gold by producing various voodoo supplies. (Released Aug 2016, Mostly Positive reviews)

Reus

Reus -- You control powerful giants to shape the planet to your will. You can create mountains, oceans, forests and more. Enrich your planet with plants, minerals and animal life. There is only one thing on the planet that you do not control: mankind, with all their virtues and and all their vices. (Released May 2013, Very Positive reviews)