frostehburr

[frostehburr]

I Like Pikmin

It’s been long while since I wrote this type of opinion piece on tumbles but I have been going through my backlog and wanted to note down what I gathered from the games I 100%ed. First of which was the first Pikmin.

I’d regard Pikmin as a completed franchise because after the fourth one I can not see it going any further mechanically or story wise. Although Nintendo can surprise me like they did with Pikmin 2. I originally thought Pikmin was going to be a one and done game when I played it back in the early 2000s. Turned out I was wrong which is nice.

My first exposure to Pikmin was a trailer that was included on Luigi’s Mansion disc for GameCube. It appealed to me and looked cute so I got it, played it, and been a small fan since.

Fast forward to the hellscape known as 2020s and I pop in the remake on the Switch. And it was everything I remembered. However I did get used to the updates Pikmin 4 gave so a tiny adjustment was needed to remind myself there was a time limit, only 3 Pikmin types, and no dog.

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with Pikmin, the first game was all about collecting ship parts which were scattered across a few areas. The Pikmin you had on this journey were Red, Yellow, and Blue. The original Pikmin trio! Reds retain their fire immunity as they had it from the beginning and they did twice the damage than other Pikmin so you would want them around all the time. Blues were the only ones that could swim so they were essential in the first game. Yellows, however, did not have electricity immunity as the element was not in the first game. Instead our big eared mustard coat flower guys were the only ones capable of carrying bombs… oh and you could toss them higher. Yellows got the shortest straw here.

Map wise, the environments were peaceful despite the creatures wanting to eat you and your plant buddies. But if you wiped out the wildlife, the area would remain silent and empty. Almost depressingly dead. It was quiet unnerving to search for parts without any noise aside from my own footsteps.

Pikmin 1 was the start of a nice franchise I enjoy and while it felt short, it still lasts long enough for me to replay a few more times.

[frostehburr]

The past few years have been torment for me.

I’ve been nonstop struck with health and financial issues and it’s looking like it’s not going to end anytime…

And now everything is on fire! Fan-fucking-tastic

What a nice start to the new year…

[frostehburr]

#good dnd idea #ha ha #vicious mockery

New DnD Spell

Perpetual Vicious Mockery

You do psychic damage by just repeating everything your foe says in an annoyingly stupid voice

[frostehburr]

simple

find a pencil and draw a mouth on your face

[frostehburr]

Echoes of Why Nintendo Games Are Difficult to 100% Complete

So I had gotten Echoes of Wisdom and had played it for the past week and I think I managed to 100% it.

I say I think because I went over a check list to get all echoes, side quests, smoothies, automations, stamps, and outfits.

Nintendo game completion is different than the achievement/trophy completion. In order to determine if you 100% a Nintendo game or not; the game either has a type of percentage in a pause menu much like Pikmin, gives you a cosmetic reward much like Mario Odyssey, or nothing and you just keep going until you assume you're done.

For Echoes of Wisdom, there were no rewards or percentages to track my progress so I just kept going until I was sure I was done.

Most of my aim was to fill the empty spaces in the pause menu. So jars from side quests and stamp tickets. Everything else was unlocked through main story progression. The echoes I had to loop around to make sure I got all of them and deal with some very durable enemies. Lynels are a bane no matter which Legend of Zelda game they're in.

Same with side quests. I scoured around each town multiple times to make sure I didn't miss anything. Double checked Dampé's journal to be sure there weren't any more automations. And walked back and fourth on interesting looking parts of the map just in case something was there. Mostly a lot of heart pieces and stamp stones.

I think the prime reason I managed to finish the game so quickly was due to three decades of experience with video games. Of course, there's always those who say Nintendo games are supposed to be easy enough a child could complete it but I know several adults who have extreme difficulty figuring out how to plug a charging cable into a portable charger. Stupidity has no age and neither simple puzzles.

There's also the Tears of the Kingdom esq method to the puzzles in Echoes of Wisdom. That being the "use what you have in whatever way you want" method everyone loves. Whether it's summoning a murder of crows to peck a monster hoard to death or creating a bed staircase, the way you solve each puzzle can change depending on how you process it. Which may go much faster for some people than others.

Like I said, I have three decades of video game experience so my type of thinking is bizarre. I'm not a speed runner but I do know how to abuse a glitch or bug when I see one. Or they're not glitches and are just features the developers didn't notice.

I'm not entirely certain I really did 100% complete Echoes of Wisdom but I can't find any more to do in the game. It is very fun though, so I am more than likely to go back in an complete it again because I enjoyed my time in the game.

[frostehburr]

My 30 Platinum Challenge Failed but Still Got 7

I had decided to make September a 30 day challenge month. This year I decided to try for the 30 Platinum Trophy challenge. Which is an attempt to unlock 30 platinum trophies within 30 days. And I failed it without even getting one third of the way through.

My guess is it's mostly the games I chose to play for this challenge combined with my ever busy schedule and lack of free time or energy.

At the start of the challenge I popped in Jak and Daxter the Precursor Legacy. A simple platform game developed by Naughty Dog (who you may know as those guys that made the mushroom zombie game). It took me about a week to 100% it and it was then and there I realized I should pick smaller games that take less hours to 100%.

So my next game was Daxter which I breezed through within three days. I think it was a nice preview into Jak 2, which I started but decided to shelf because Naughty Dog is well known to make challenging games. I guess as part of the "no fun allowed" that one guy said was policy in the company or something. Idk, it's been a long while since I heard the actual quote and I got tired of Jak games so I moved on.

Around the time those two games were done, Sly Cooper dropped a PS4 version so of course I had to complete that game. It wasn't as fast as the original PS3 Collection version but that's because the Collection version gave trophies for completing levels instead of offering unique methods like how the PS4 version went.

After that it was Miles Morales to compliment the Spider-man trophy. I thought Miles was going to be a relatively short game based on what I heard about it but I spent far too much time on this game. Particularly because of the New Game Plus trophy. That proved to be a pain in the ass with how little free time I had for the game to begin with.

Although, it was comical how often Miles Morales would glitch and bug out every now and then. One minute several icons stayed on screen even during cutscenes and later the audio for a character would shut off completely. I was legit concerned I wouldn't get the platinum because of the frequent bugs but the trophy popped so all was good.

I then set out on Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. A childhood classic I played on the Gamecube now purchased as a digital copy via giftcard. Lots of hoops for this one.

Another platformer that wasn't too much of a pain and went by alright. Hell of a long credits though.

There was a sudden urge to play Infamous after that so I nabbed First Light and took that platinum within a few days. Fetch was a somewhat interesting character to play but the bright flashes from the powers disagreed with my eyes.

Which made playing the original with Cole an odd choice. You'd think I'd want something less sparky, easy on the eyes, and didn't take all my time to complete.

Well, I was at the end of the month at this point and already decided I failed the challenge. So may as well play a game I really enjoyed. I remember getting the platinum before but since I had to get a new PS3 I had to redo the platinum all over again. Fun.

For the most part it wasn't that bad. Majority of the trophies were morality based so doing two playthroughs unlocked basically half the trophies. The hardcore trophy had me set the game to hard difficulty which was as easy as well easy with the evil Cole playthrough. Evil Cole did massive damage which made breezing through hard mode so much better especially since I didn't have to be concerned about bystanders.

The biggest pain in Infamous was the blast shards. OMG, the blast shards were impossible to find! I ran across all three islands multiple times, zig-zag, horizontal, vertical, and in literal circles in and outward spirals just to find the 30 I had left. It's always most difficult to find the small numbers since they're always in the last place you look. Mainly because there's nowhere else to look after that. Why is that a saying in the first place? Seems like a logical conclusion stating the obvious like an asshole.

Annoying collectables aside...

That was seven platinum trophies I earned in this 30 day challenge that I failed. I had a lot of fun with it and would like to do another 30 day challenge like this next year. However, I think I would pick easier games to play so I'm not stressing on time for this.

[frostehburr]

[frostehburr]

The Most Ninja AAA Game (so far)

Aside from recent trauma I've been going through, I managed to complete Ghost of Tsushima as well as its DLC Iki Island. I know, I know, super extra late to that party but I had it on the back of the shelf and didn't think of it until last month.

The setting of the game is really old Japan, like I think the date was 1275 or something close to that. All I know is that Mongols invaded and the main character, Jin Sakai the Last Samurai of Tsushima, has to do everything he can to drive out the invaders. Which means sacrificing his honor... I think...

Yeah, I know little to nothing about the honor thing. It's apparently a big deal in the game and I assume eastern countries.

I think the idea behind the game was to have an origin story for ninjas and how iconic/legendary they became. In turn making this game about a samurai becoming the first ninja out of desperation to defeat an overwhelming force.

So you see a lot of ninja stuff as you progress through the game. Such as a grappling hook, poison darts, and of course the classic smoke bombs.

I've been playing Sucker Punch games since Sly Cooper (I missed out on Rocket for N64). It's quite nice to see the developers go from 3D Platformer to Full Open World RPG over the years. They may have gained a lot of experience with the inFamous franchise. You can see a lot of Cole in Jin's parkour movements.

Speaking of Sucker Punch's past games; there's a few references via murals in Iki Island. I caught Delsin's karma birds and a very Japanesey Cold from inFamous 2 on some rocks.

The combat is fluid and smooth as are the stealth mechanics. Variety in choices on how you take out enemies is super fun. One camp you can pop in and out of cover until everyone is dead without knowing they were being killed off. Another camp you can charge in with a flaming sword, throwing bombs and knives at people for immediate action. All play styles are thought of.

Outside of combat, the environment work is gorgeous! For a moment I was sure the developers programed real photos of Japan to place in front of you at all times but nope they really did model and textured everything that well. Certainly hit the peak of 3D software with this one.

The plants, mud, and water was all so breathtaking I spent a long while walking around the colorful landscape. Even the fire and snow was super good! I took a screen shot of this one scenery where the blacken earth from a fire met the white snow because it looked like a museum painting and I wanted to keep that image. Also there was a lot of yellow plants. I mean a LOT of yellow plants. Despite what Goombah sensei says, I'm convinced real ninjas wore yellow if they lived with so many yellow plants like what I saw.

Much like all good open world games, the majority of the fun is exploring to find cool collectables. My millennial brain obsesses over finding things! I have to have collectables in my game to really enjoy it! And Ghost of Tsushima delivers on that promise. Artifacts, fox dens, haikus, and hot springs are all over. It's all so worth seeking out and never feels like a chore. What I listed wasn't all there is, either, there's more out there.

Jin Sakai's story in both Tsushima and Iki Island were as dramatic as a hollywood film... a good hollywood film. One that would get an entire fanbase for. Maybe a tumblr sexy man. Hey, I'm certain someone has the hots for Kenji.

Anyhow... Ghost of Tsushima was a thrill to complete and I'd make another account to do it all over again. But for now, it's the shiniest platinum on the shelf and I look forward to the next experience.

oh right, there's the Legends Mode... eh, some other time, maybe never. I hate multiplayer trophies.

[frostehburr]

Drank Tea. Am Furry

[frostehburr]

Wanted to make a quick Vivian for Pride Month

[frostehburr]

Carrot 4 Nakama day 71 plus third MerMay prompt, Lagoon. Not Laboon.

I... have no idea what a lagoon is so I had to search it up on google. Think I got close enough.

[frostehburr]

Second Mermay drawing for 2024 combined with day 70 of Carrot4Nakama.

Felt a little lazy today.

[frostehburr]

Carrot4Nakama day 69 with additional MerMay prompt 'couture' not really sure what couture means. Looked it up and saw it was something about cloths?

[frostehburr]

You know it's an Arizona summer when the texts are burning.

lord the peasants are so loud today

[frostehburr]

My tumbles page is typically just a dump of my thoughts but I've had experience with stalkers before and I really don't want anyone to go through that.

If anyone happens to stumble over here, at least consider donating something to Kayla if you can.

CONTENT WARNING: STALKING

A lot of brewskis have noticed my slow down these last few months and this is the major reason for it. Yes, a person at my work has been following me at the beginnings of my shifts and has not gotten any repercussion. I don't feel safe anymore. My partner and I are moving, but even still we don't feel comfortable with me working at that place, however it's difficult as I don't have a college degree and this place pays more than most jobs around here.

We have some plans in place, but I'm financially struggling. I hate to do this, but I created a ko-fi to help with relocation and to help stifle some of the burden of quitting this job. All the money would go towards things like rent, groceries, and car payments. I do have a Patreon, but it isn't bringing in enough to help with this issue and I'm debating about deleting it due to me not being able to keep up with things over there.

Anything helps, but don't donate if you can't---reading this and sharing it will be a massive help still <3

[frostehburr]

Basically Done with Breath of the Wild

Alright, so...

You know how there are about 900 Korok seeds in Breath of the Wild? Well that's all that's left for me to do in the game. And you know what? I'm not going to do that.

I completed all the quests, filled out the Hyrule Compendium, and finished all 120 shrines. Therefore, I am done.

Hardcore completionists will say something on the lines of "achtually, the game isn't complete because you HAVE to get the golden turd from Hetsu" blah blah blah don't care, it's not worth the effort.

Nintendo never made achievements or trophies or anything resembling them so everything in Nintendo games are dependent on the game itself telling you it's complete. Breath of the Wild encourages you NOT to collect korok seeds. In fact, it stops upgrading your inventory space half way through the collection. The only reason to get all of the seeds is to have the golden turn, which is basically telling you you wasted too much time on it.

If the game tells me I don't have to. I don't have to. No need to fret over it. I decided it's done and if others are going to have a tantrum over one game I play not being wiped clean then that's their issue.

The shrines were my prime concern because they up your health and stamina. Also noticed 120 is like the Nintendo standard for collectables in their games. Aside from Mario Odyssey, the number 120 shows up frequently. Must be something special about it.

What korok seeds I stumbled on while looking for those shrines were what I got... which happened to be 120 as well... huh... anyhow, majority of the trials were basic test your might or freebies. On occasion I did a puzzle that didn't need internet search for. Maybe two that were on top of a mountain pair mainly because they were very stupid puzzles dependent on you going back and forth between the two shrines. Whoever though of that one deserves a slap across the face.

I honestly did not think I'd get through Breath of the Wild, at all. Let alone this year. Breath of the Wild is one game I've strongly disliked for several reasons but I'm not reviewing anything so just know I didn't like it, boo for me.

Just glad it's off the checklist of my backlog.

[frostehburr]

Return of the Carrot Marathon, Day 68!