Soundtrack Saturday: Crypt of the NecroDancer

In this new weekly feature, I'll be recommending game soundtracks. I'll share a few of my favorite tracks, talk about why everyone should listen to the soundtrack, and a little bit about the composer. This week's choice is Crypt of the NecroDancer by Brace Yourself Games.

THE STATS

Name: Crypt of the NecroDancer
Developer: Brace Yourself Games
Publisher: Brace Yourself Games / Klei Entertainment (PC)
Release Date: April 23, 2015 (PC)
Genres: Roguelike, rhythm
Composer(s): Danny Baranowsky

MY FAVORITE TRACKS

(The titles link to YouTube videos.)

• Crypteque (1-2) 
  This is, arguably, the absolute best track in the entire game. I had to listen to the entire thing when fetching the YouTube link to share it here. Don't believe it's that great? It was used as a crossover song in the PS4 game Amplitude (by those Harmonix guys that brought us Guitar Hero and Rock Band).
• Igneous Rock (3-1 Hot)
  There is some seriously awesome guitar in this track. Enough said.
• The Wight to Remain (4-3)
  The melody of this one makes it sound like it's an OC Remix of a Legend of Zelda song, and that isn't a bad thing! In fact, did you know that NecroDancer has a crossover with The Legend of Zelda? They made a game called Cadence of Hyrule which mashes together Hyrule and rhythm-based fighting. It's available to play on the Nintendo Switch.
• For Whom the Knell Tolls (Dead Ringer)
  Love the bell theme, first of all -- but I also get some great Castlevania vibes.
• Absolutetion (Golden Lute Fight)
  Sampling from several songs across the game, this one just lets it all out and rocks hard.

You can listen to the full soundtrack on Danny Baranowsky's bandcamp page: Crypt of the NecroDancer OST by Danny Baranowsky

WHY I RECOMMEND IT

First of all, I don't think I've ever seen a rhythm game that had a bad soundtrack. (Comment with a link if there is!) Secondly, this is a soundtrack you can enjoy listening to without playing the game. I have used it as part of an upbeat playlist while working on papers or projects, and I'm willing to bet it's great for workouts or drive mixes. (Wait, do people still have those? Is my age showing again?) Additionally, a variety of musical genres and themes clearly influence the soundtrack, so it stands apart from a lot of other game music. And we can't forget the amazingly punny track titles. +1 for puns, every time.

THE COMPOSER: DANNY BARANOWSKY

If this is your first time hearing Danny's name, I am sad for you. Before NecroDancer came along, Danny was busy composing the music for video games, web series and short films including some titles like Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Parallax (short film), Anthony Saves the World (web series with Anthony Burch), Singularity Collapse (fan film based on Half-Life 2), Once Upon a Pixel, Gravity Hook, and Canabalt. He started out as a member of the OverClocked ReMix community in 2001, back when he was hoping to become a film composer. Oh, Danny... I think we love you better as a game composer, but I believe you would do amazing things for film!

Wishlist Wednesday: Firewatch

In this new weekly feature, I'll be sharing game titles from my various gaming wishlists. I'll share screenshots and video from the developer, talk about my expectations, and generally just ramble about why the title made it onto my list in the first place. This week's choice is Firewatch by Campo Santo.

THE STATS

Name: Firewatch
Developer: Campo Santo
Publisher: Campo Santo
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Genres: Adventure, Simulation, Mystery
Wishlist Location: GOG.com

MEDIA FROM FIREWATCHGAME.COM

WHY I WANT IT

First of all -- do you see those gorgeous screenshots? This is a very pretty game, even if it's been out for almost 4 years. I am a sucker for pretty games, especially the ones I get to walk around and explore. I love taking screenshots of the scenery in games. Forget the flashy characters and their witty banter -- show me a game world that has been crafted with obvious love and care! There seems to be a lovely union of both eye-candy landscaping and creative narrative in Firewatch from watching the trailers provided on the game's website, and I have done a very good job of avoiding spoilers! Some people don't mind spoilers, but for me I would rather try to work out the mystery for myself. That is inherently part of the value I glean from buying and playing these types of games.

If that isn't enough to pique your interest, then this probably isn't your genre -- and that's okay! Check back next week for another title and let me know what you think of my selection!

Soul Calibur VI: Pompilidara The Spirit Wasp

A blog entry about how much of a Soul Calibur fangirl I am. I'm willing to bet you didn't see this coming.

That's right, folks. I enjoy a fighting game. I'm not very good at fighting games, but since when has my lack of skill in a game kept me from playing? If you've been following me long enough, you'll remember I used to promote myself as a terrible gamer playing games to help sick kids. I upgraded to a casual gamer after a while because, well... at some point you're going to stop being terrible if you keep playing games!

Now, about Soul Calibur...

My love of the series began with Soul Calibur III on the PS2. I played the campaign, and I practiced with all of the characters. I enjoyed one-shot games where I asked a friend to play me in a few matches. I also enjoyed struggling my way through all of the character stories. I'll be quite honest here: the story is never very deep, it's a fighting game. You either appreciate it for what it is or you move on to a Final Fantasy title or something with a bit more meat to it.

I never had a favorite character to play as, but spent a long time battling away in Tales of Souls to unlock Olcadan (the guy with the owl head). Naturally when they announced Soul Calibur VI and people began making custom characters... I wanted it badly. My husband is good to me and feeds my gaming habits, and the character creator mode was the first thing I dove into.

My first creation was... not very good. We won't discuss it. It never happened. There's no evidence to prove I did anything.

My more recent creation was a better version and I spent far more time on each element of the build. In addition to that, the game had gotten the Witcher update so that the Geralt build was available... and this was the ideal fighting style for my custom character.

To try and explain Pompilidara, aka The Spirit Wasp, to anyone who never knew her when I actively roleplayed... would be impossible. Some of the basic elements to her include having wings, having a mystical sort of power, wielding two swords, fire-red hair, purple eyes, tons of sass, and the obvious mettle to be both a pirate captain and a mercenary.

The wardrobe/cosmetic appearance of my custom character is based largely off of Talim's outfit, made a bit more modest. I only tweaked display appearances of Geralt's fighting style -- the colors of the magic effects, which two of his swords are used, etc. Overall, I was very pleased with the result. I've spent a lot of time playing this custom character in Arcade mode, but I will never claim to be anything but shoddy in a fighting game!

So, here's a clip I made earlier tonight in said Arcade mode, which pitted my build against Ivy. Please let me know what you think! If you enjoy it, consider making a donation on my Extra Life page -- the 24-hour marathon is less than 2 weeks away!

(Newsletter subscribers click here to view embedded video.)

2018 Milestone: The $400 Bad Romance Novel

I knew this was going to be bad, I just didn't realize HOW bad.

In an effort to make sure I didn't read something overtly trashy (I'm raising funds for a children's charity, after all), I thought I could pick something normal-sounding from a selection of teen romance novels. This was a mistake. I'll preface the rest of this blog entry by saying that some people may actually enjoy the book. I was not one of those people.

The Book

The title of my ire in this entry is "That Boy" by Jillian Dodd. Out of respect for the effort it takes to write and publish a novel, I won't be putting any of that information in my blog tags lest this be taken for a smear of the work. It's not intended to be that at all -- I just don't like romance novels, hence why it was on the list of incentives for Extra Life last year!

The Plot (More or Less)

This book starts off in a small town outside of Omaha, Nebraska. A girl (who we don't even get the name of until a few chapters into her first-person narrative) named JJ grows up being an adorable little tomboy next door to a boy named Phillip who kisses her on the playground one day. Things are going swimmingly until another boy, named Danny, moves in and threatens to take Phillip away from her because he insists the usual stereotypes that girls are dumb and can't play boys' sports, like football. JJ promptly gets a pep talk from her dad, and she ends up decking Danny in the face. He lets her play with them after all and they become a trio of little friends.

The book follows JJ's life closely up through her senior year of high school for the first several chapters. She's vain, shallow, and can only think about boys and playing sports, but somehow maintains a strange friendship with both Danny and Phillip. The gist here is that we're supposed to be mentally keeping a tally sheet to figure out which of these boys she's going to end up with, because the very start of the book has a grown JJ fuming about the timing of their proposal. Starting in medias res? Check.

I was actually somewhat entertained by the first few chapters of the book because it very accurately describes what it's like to be a child in grade school and how interactions with classmates can make or break your school life from then on. The parent-child dynamic is painted very well also.

Dodd lost me when JJ got all worked up about a boy-girl party for her friend, and being anxious about spin the bottle and playing seven minutes in heaven. I was that book nerd who didn't get invited to parties like that, and I was happy with that arrangement. The few boys I had crushes on growing up never reciprocated, and I resigned myself to having to find a relationship outside of the small town I grew up in. So I did not understand why JJ was obsessed with "hunting" her local crop she'd known all her life. Not only did it paint her as hormonal and desperate, but I stopped caring about her as a character. I feel like a leading female character with more depth, and deeper interests beyond boys and football, would have made me want to see her happy with 'That Boy.'

Without giving away too much of the plot (no spoilers here, just in case someone's actually interested), there is tragedy that forces JJ to grow up a little faster than most. She ends up living in a house with both boys while attending college. One goes on to football stardom and a happy marriage. The other tries to hook up with JJ and there is a critical communication failure because (surprise, surprise) JJ's bad life decisions lead her to get drunk and flirt with someone else.

She has a pity party for a while, then moves on. They eventually reconnect thanks to the meddling of his mother, and then BAM... he proposes. Deus ex machina? Also check.

If you really want to find out which boy JJ ends up with, feel free to read it. There are even more books in this little series: "That Wedding," "That Baby," "That Divorce," and "That Ring." Not even joking. (If it makes you feel any better, I didn't spend any money on the first book.)

The Moral of the Story

I still don't like romance novels. It's fine if there is a romance as an underlying theme, or one that is a result of a larger genre/focus at work. It doesn't feel phony or shallow that way. Relationships that develop naturally through a variety of situations make it more meaningful to the characters and the readers. Otherwise it just feels contrived. But that may be my inner nerd talking. I relate more to Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle.

I was smart and did not include a romance novel in the 2019 milestone incentives. However, if you enjoyed knowing I had to suffer this way and want to see me suffer through more for the sake of raising money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, please click the image below to visit my donation page!

A Very Special Message from a VIP

Did you think I was done being thankful for your support this year? Think again!

Back in August, the fine people at Children's National in D.C. issued a challenge to the Extra Lifers like myself who are playing games to raise money for the kids they treat. The challenge was to recruit 3 people or raise $100 by August 30th. I'm pleased to say that I was able to complete both challenges, and I couldn't have done it without you! You guys hit it so far out of the park that I ended up raising $286 in a span of 24 hours!

So here's a special thank you message from Brooke, a Miracle Kid at Children's National!

This Year's Marathon Schedule Unveiled!

The final schedule is here for your perusal! I still won't be streaming this year, but I have a diverse selection of games I have not played... more or less.

You would think that making the marathon schedule would get easier each year, but since my game library grows each year it actually becomes harder. There are even more titles I've never played before, and still many that I want to keep "for myself" -- that is, I want to play them strictly for my own enjoyment and not with a blog entry in mind. That isn't to say I don't enjoy the games I play for the marathon or for blogging. A prime example is Town of Salem from last year's marathon -- I still play it on a regular basis and have even gotten my husband into playing it with me.

This year, I took my time and combed through my Steam and GOG libraries, writing down any titles I hadn't played which also hadn't come from $1.00 bundle deals until I had double the number I needed. I also asked my immediate family to help me select console games to throw into the mix this year from our PS4, Switch, and 3DS collections. There are six titles from those libraries, giving me a full third of my list's time away from the PC. I did this so I could get more movement during the marathon and help my eyes. I'm not as young and spry as I once was, and health issues mean I have to plan ahead and be smart to make sure I don't harm myself while trying to participate. I do this because it's fun and it's #ForTheKids -- doing irreparable harm to myself would be very counterproductive!

I set up an elimination chart for myself based on a combination of Metacritic scores and release dates: games with no score were arranged by release date on the opposite end of the spectrum. I then went through the list of 1vs1 and chose one title over the other based on what I felt would give me enjoyment as well as be a title worth writing about after the marathon. Sometimes it came down to simply liking a release trailer better, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

Games That Didn't Make the Cut

Nuclear Throne, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Gravity Badgers, Ballpoint Universe, The Nightmare Cooperative, Kingdom: Classic, Morphopolis, Elven Legacy, Learn Japanese to Survive! Hiragana Battle, Hydrophobia: Prophecy, Eselmir and the five magical gifts, and There Came An Echo.

The Marathon Games by Platform

PlayStation 4

• Code Vein
• Darksiders 3

Nintendo Switch

• Guacamelee! One-Two Punch
• Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Nintendo 3DS

• Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

PC

• Stacking
• Northmark: Hour of the Wolf
• I Am Bread
• Trials of Harmony
• Starchaser: Priestess of the Night Sky
• Moonlighter
• Little Nightmares
• The Last Tinker: City of Colors
• Lichdom: Battlemage
• 7 Mages
• From Dust
• Lord of the Rings Online

But I know what you really want. You want to see the schedule in its final layout.

So here it is! Click the image to view it in all its glory.

Think something from the reject list should have made the cut? 

Let me know in the comments!

LOTRO: Minas Morgul Expansion Prices Explored

I broke down the cost and value of the Mordor expansion when it became available to pre-purchase, so I am following suit with the upcoming Minas Morgul expansion.

I'll have to open with this caveat: I'm not a math whiz. It's entirely possible I messed up in my calculations somewhere. If you think I have, PLEASE don't hesitate to comment and call me on it! I want this breakdown to help people make sound spending decisions so they can enjoy playing LOTRO without stressing about overspending or feeling regret later by not getting it if they really can.

With that out of the way, I'll satisfy those who are impatient first:

Ultimate Fan Bundle

$233.98 USD value if everything was bought individually
est. 26,925 points
+44% value for cost 

Collector's Edition

$163.24 USD value if everything was bought individually
est. 18,785 points
+51% value for cost
**This is the best deal of the 3 packs if you don't care about collecting all of the cosmetics.** 

Standard Edition

$50.75 USD value if everything was bought individually
est. 5,840 points
+21% value for cost

Explanation

I made the full list of items and then either wrote down their current point value from the LOTRO Store, or used the point value of the closest equivalent that is currently available. If there was nothing like it available, I'll explain the logic behind my price estimate below.

The first value listed (above) is arrived at by tallying the individual costs in USD -- what you would arrive at if you tried to buy everything in the pack separately (using best exchange rate of points to dollars). The second value is the estimated points needed to purchase the items.

One big difference this time was that they didn't include any VIP time in the deal. Despite that, they seem to have learned from a complaint about last time: they offered a lot of items you could already purchase in the store and people fussed as a result. This time, the majority of the items are unique to the bundles, with a few exceptions.

The Breakdown

• The base edition of the expansion will be available in March 2020 for 2495 points.
• The Stout-axe Dwarf Race will be available in March 2020 for 1000 points.
• A character slot goes for 595 points in the store.
• Following the cost pattern of existing level boosts (5995 points for level 95; 6995 points for level 105), I am underestimating the 120 boost to cost 7995 points.
• Cosmetic armor pieces in the store sell for 295 points apiece, and there are 6 pieces per set, making a total of 1770 for one set, and 3540 for two sets.
• Cosmetic cloaks sell for 295 points apiece, costing 590 points for two.
• The newer pets sell for 595 points each, or 1190 points for two.
• Premium mounts which come with war-steed cosmetics, as we're told the expansion mounts do, cost 1995 points each, or 3990 points for both.
• Cosmetic Weapon Auras are a new thing, so I added an additional cosmetic item cost of 295 points.
• The highest available wearable accelerator in the store, Shield of the Hammerhand, sells for 995 so I rounded up to account for the level increase and estimated 1395 points.
• The housing teleport item is a repeat item but not found in the store, so I went ahead and undervalued it by using the price of a Return skill at 295 points. (A more likely store price is probably 695 points, but there's no telling here.)
• The highest tier of purchaseable relics sell for 550 points each, so 3 would be 1650 points. The Minas Morgul-tier relics are probably worth more.
• The Expedition Supplies break down into items that can be purchased and items that can be bartered for:
       a.) 5000 Virtue XP: Since you can get 2k virtue xp from most deeds, I estimated that a single Skill & Slayer Deed Boost would net the 5k, so for this item I am underestimating it for 150 points.
       b.) 100% XP scrolls x5 sells in the store for 750 points.
       c.) Scrolls of Empowerment can be traded at their cheapest for marks (3920 marks for 20, and 1960 marks for 10), so this is NOT factored into the cost of any pack.
       d.) Reputation Supply Boost x5 sells in the store for 1000 points.

And there you have it. I hope this helps you decide which pack to purchase if you really gotta have the stuff and the shinies right away. If you aren't that sort of player, I hope this helps you feel better about waiting until March to spend points on the expansion and/or new race. Either way, this took me a couple days to sit down and figure out -- if you appreciate it, leave me a comment and consider making a donation on my Extra Life page linked below!

Doki Doki KFC! Falling for Colonel Sanders

KFC made a dating sim game in which you attend culinary school with Colonel Sanders. You're curious about his 11 herbs and spices, but you find yourself wanting so much more...

Yeah, that's the premise of this game. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But it's that wonderful sort of ridiculous that prompts you to give it a try -- because, hey, the game is FREE. You know going into it that there is going to be plenty of product placement, but is that really a bad thing if it's KFC food? (Have you tried their mac and cheese lately? It is NOT what I remember eating years ago, and that isn't a bad thing!)

This game doesn't pretend to be an amazing visual novel, dating sim, or anything else. We all know that Harland Sanders (The Colonel) was never an actual colonel of military rank. He was a businessman who was given the Kentucky Colonel honorary title (which can be given by the Kentucky governor in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state, or the nation). The hunky, near-magical culinary expert presented to us in this game is not even the slightest bit factual with one exception: he, at one point, talks about having failed a lot in his lifetime in trying different career choices. Despite this, the game somehow makes Harland amazingly attractive. As one Steam review comments, "Colonel Sanders is the best waifu of the year." I have to agree.

Visual Novel Elements

Standard elements of a dating sim/visual novel apply here. There are ridiculously embellished rumors and descriptions -- highly romanticized notions that are designed to make you (or at least the character you're playing) swoon. There are also dream sequences, fight scenes, critical choices where you choose your friend or your love interest, exaggerated physical features, dramatic personalities and emotional upheavals -- I could go on for a while. If you play these kinds of games regularly, this one fits right in (if being a bit tongue-in-cheek while doing so).

Characters

There is a wild cast of characters here to entertain any anime fan. The stereotypes are strong with this one. The loyal but ditzy/quirky best friend. The petty and shallow mean girl. Her buff but dumb guy sidekick. An innocent young victim of bullying. A token nobody to be a butt of jokes. A talking animal. A random, way-out-there character that probably isn't human. Something supernatural. And of course, your hunky heartthrob you desperately want to notice you.

The Colonel

But the real reason we're here and this game exists is, of course, to make us fall in love with The Colonel. There's no shortage of romanticizing of Harland Sanders throughout the course of the game, and the game goes beyond the call of duty to make it absolutely magical. It's so absurdly amazing that you don't even care if it's illogical -- you want to be there, salivating over his crispy chicken and pecs. (It's okay, I'm allowed to say that. My husband has played the game also and said he wants to caress his greasy muscles.)

The Food

Look. Playing this game meets the main objective of KFC in that it promotes their food and makes you want it, provided you enjoy eating it in the first place. It's okay if you don't enjoy it, you freak of nature. That just means there's more crispy, creamy, savory goodness for the rest of us. In any case, you'll probably want to go get you some KFC after playing this game. I know I've been craving some popcorn chicken, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese since I played the game last night.

Chaos Factor

The magic is in the mayhem. I'm only sharing a few screenshots and details because I honestly don't want to spoil the experience for anyone who wants to go play this game -- which I think you should! Just know that there's a lot more to this game and I'm doing my best not to include any spoilers. (Feel free to chastise me in the comments if I do!)

Interactive Advertisement

Despite the wild ride, don't forget that KFC made this. They really just want you to buy their food. Even if Harland might be spinning in his grave. 

PrepareToIndie

As I mentioned, my husband has played the game also. That is, he's started to play it. At the time of this blog entry's posting, he has played 20 minutes of the game and posted his video on YouTube with plans to most 2 or 3 more until he finishes his play through. If you want to experience the game with his silly commentary, just click the image below! He will be delivering more videos in the future, with a focus on indie games and a few bigger titles like the upcoming Code Vein.

The Sparkly Vampires Cometh

2018 Milestone: How to Eat the World's Hottest Chocolate Bar

It's finally here in all its glory! 

Click the picture to go see my Spicy Challenge video!