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EPIC GAMING

To follow up from last gaming centric post, I had set out to play all of the remaining Rockstar titles that I hadn't gotten to in 2024. I regret to inform you that I didn't finish my goal. After Red Dead Redemption II, I proceeded to finally play and 100% Grand Theft Auto III, as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I also finished Max Payne that year, and loved all. Max Payne has such a charm to it, and I am very excited for the remakes coming in 2026/2027. Being this far removed I only remember a handful of things, but I enjoyed it a lot. I still need to finish the series. Grand Theft Auto III was kind of a lot to deal with, being the funkiest of the trilogy. However I still enjoyed it, and I appreciate it for pioneering the genre. My favorite thing from this game is the random NPC dialogue, and the mission passed jingle. That being said it's easily my least favorite Rockstar title so far. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is such a step up in my opinion from III, with the writing, music, and just the world. Ignoring a few little silly things, I really enjoyed my time with it. I played it as kid but never went past the opening mission and am glad I did! At the tail end of 2024, I got really into platinum hunting. As I purchased a Playstation, I need to beef up my account. I started with some easy ones that were mostly done, that being Fallout 76 and Minecraft. These took a few days but were pretty fun to complete. As of now I need to go back and 100% them but I am satisfied with the platinum. For 2025, my goal has been to platinum all Rockstar Games titles on Playstation. I kicked that off a few months before then with Grand Theft Auto V. I want the 100% but I refuse to play the Doomsday Heist for longer than necessary. I am a weenie. So far in 2025, I have gotten Bully, L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and the entire Grand Theft Auto Trilogy, definitive editions of course, as I am stupid and didn't buy the original versions beforehand. Bully is such a gem, and I didn't realize how much I would love this game. Seriously, play it! It took me two days to play all the way through as well as get the platinum. I am so sad Rockstar shelved the sequel. L.A. Noire, like Bully was a first for me. I was so impressed by how real everything felt. I hope someday Rockstar will revisit this style of game and give us another classic. While I didn't enjoy it as much as Bully, I'd recommend this to anyone as well. I think part of my reasoning for not liking it as well was down to the platinum grind. I know I am robbing myself of joy, but I'm in too deep man. Red Dead Redemption is in my top five games of all time, possibly sitting at the top. I have played this game many times in the past, but of course I wanted to replay it again and experience it at 60fps, and get that beautiful platinum. This game holds up amazingly well and rivals the second game. I cannot say enough good things about this game. The atmosphere, the soundtrack, the characters, the writing, the everything. Please play this if you haven't already. John Marston gets overshadowed now because of the great Arthur Morgan, however two legends can definitely co-exist. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition is definitely a game series of all time. Launching in a god awful state, with a sparse amount of patches, randomly received a massive one sometime last year fixing lots of things the series needed so desperately bad. Biggest of all, Classic Lighting. This was such a godsend, and it was partially sparked me to replay these remasters. I don't have much more to say on them beyond what I wrote earlier, but I will say they're playable now. I do feel bad for those experiencing them for the first time this way, as they still aren't perfect, nor do they do the originals justice.

*Bonus Section Because I Don't Know Where To Put This* I started work on the Terraria platinum sometime at the end of 2024, but didn't finish it until January 2025, but i had loads of fun doing it as Terraria is one of my favorite games. In March, I decided to give Fallout Shelter a spin after not really ever taking it seriously for all these years. I am happy to say, I love this game. It is so addicting. I am working towards the platinum, and in the homestretch. Finally, I would like to finish the post by saying that I've been heavily enjoying modded Minecraft, as well as document my plans for the rest of the year. I intend to knock out the rest of Rockstar's games, whether they're on Playstation or not. I also intend to finally cut through my backlog of games, including Cyberpunk 2077, and the Alan Wake series.

[zayadotnet]

Updates

I moved house, have been trying to be more active and made a lot of purchases in the past year. Towards the end of last year I decided to move to stay with a family member as their health started to decline, and so far everything has been a-okay. While moving was tons of work, it's proved to be the right decision. I thought it would be a good time to try and actually do better for myself. So I've been attempting to eat better and get active, and honestly my life has maybe become marginally better. That's definitely on me, as I need to do more. i want to get to where I can comfortably run a decent distance without wanting to die. I'd say on this front as a whole, I have partially failed, but everyday is a new opportunity to do more so maybe one day I'll drop a few pant sizes. As I am over the moon about Grand Theft Auto, and am always waiting for more information, I want to have the best possible experience when it finally releases. For this I needed a new console. I have been running a PC, and an Xbox 360 mostly for several years. I have an Xbox One X but that is in retirement due to the kernel exploit. With Microsoft being Microsoft I landed on the blue side this time around. With the Playstation 5 Pro just being announced and then released, I went with it. As stated by Digital Foundry, the PS5 Pro may not provide any significant performance improvements for Grand Theft Auto VI, I did it anyway as I haven't owned a Playstation since the PS4 Slim. My time spent with it has been pretty great honestly. I'll be making a seperate post documenting what I've gotten up to on it soon. Beyond the console, I was SO overdue a new monitor. I had being using a 1080p 165HZ Acer monitor for probably 4 years or so now, and it was definitely time. The monitor had started to get some pretty gnarly backlight bleeding, and I just wasn't doing my PS5 Pro justice with it. I ended up landing on an amazing deal from Dell, the Alienware AW2725Q. I snagged it for $740 because it was on sale and they also gave me a 10% off coupon. I knew going into it I would have a hard time ever going back but man I am blown away. I cannot wait to experience Grand Theft Auto VI on this setup. I have also bought several games in the meantime and a bunch of wrestling figures. I may make a post on those as well! That just about wraps everything I had in mind up, hope this was an interesting enough read. :)

[zayadotnet]

May 26, 2026

Well, the day has come. 514 days since we got any official news on Grand Theft Auto VI. In a very simple newswire post, Rockstar Games let us down easy with an official release date, and the classic "more to share soon" business lingo. At the very least we got a date? Of course if you have kept up with Rockstar over the years, you'd know to take it with a grain of salt. We can all have a little faith, and trust the process though. If you travel back to Red Dead Redemption 2's release window, Rockstar delayed the game a couple times. On May 22, 2017 in a newswire post they'd delay from "Fall 2017" to "Spring 2018" and with that dropped 7 new screenshots. Trailer 2 would follow on September 28, 2017. Rockstar would then delay the game again on February 1, 2018 just before their proposed spring release window would slip. With this delay came 7 more screenshots, and a trailer on May 2, 2018. They would then go that year releasing the game on time on October 26, 2018. If you come back to the present, we've gone 500+ without any official word until now. We are left with an ambiguous "soon" on any sort of news. Nonetheless, I truly believe in Rockstar's vision with this game, and am proud they have the courage to delay it. When it comes to the most anticipated game of all time, you have lots of weight on your shoulders. I could only imagine what the game developers feel on a daily basis. Regardless if it's on May 26, 2026, or October 14, 2026, the moment we boot the game up, we will forget about all of the little stuff.

[zayadotnet]

Long, Long Road

If I were to say it's been a while since I've updated my blog, it would be an understatement. Considering how inconsistent I am, from now on, if I take an extended break, I will just hop right back in like I never left. Moving on. I will be posting about what I've gotten up to and share my thoughts on the massive news that dropped this morning.

[zayadotnet]

A Long Time

it has been a while since i've updated my blog. from where i left off, i still had to complete the red dead redemption ii story as well as finish that 100% grind. since then i have not only done both of those, but i have gotten all the achievements for red dead online as well. i honestly enjoyed most of the online experience besides the hackers. it took a grand total of 263 hours to get all the achievements in the game. it was definitely a grind, but i haven't experienced a 100% that wasn't a grind at least somewhat.

after red dead redemption ii, i wanted to check out max payne, as i've heard so many good things about the series. remedy seems to make quality games, and i'm a big rockstar games fan (duh) so i thought it would be a perfect fit for me. i started max payne, and so far i'm liking it. the face models and death sounds are really funny to me though, but i look past it. so far i've enjoyed the narrative, and aesthetics the game offers. i am hoping to finish my playthrough in the near future. i will say i'm either bad or the game is pretty difficult.

beyond this, i had set out to finish up getting all of the grand theft auto iv achievements. as of writing, i have just gotten them all. every time i go back to the base game, it's such a treat. easily one of my favorite games ever.

these shots are from my time finishing up the ballad of gay tony achievements but i just love how orange this game can be.

my ultimate goal for gaming in 2024 is to play/replay all the rockstar games titles in preparation for grand theft auto vi. i cannot express how excited i am for this game. just a day or so ago, jason schreier reported that rockstar are forcing employees to go back to the office for five days a week as they are entering the final stages of the game's production. my heart goes out to the developers on this one, but i can't help but be a little giddy. it's been such a long road (hehe) to this game, and we're finally almost there. trailer 1 felt so surreal to me, everything looked amazing. my favorite parts were the ped density, the motel scene, and then the store robbery scene that ended the trailer.

that just about sums up my gaming adventures over the course of the month i've been absent, it's been fun!

[zayadotnet]

Little gif version of my pfp that I made

[zayadotnet]

[Breaking:] New Fortnite skin idea

[zayadotnet]

10 posts!

[zayadotnet]

man.

as a side note, the jump in graphics is so wild

[zayadotnet]

rdr2 progress update 4

a few days ago i set out to finish "duchesses and other animals" as well as legendary fish, and MAYBE legendary animals if i was lucky. i managed to do all. i also bagged three achievements, those being "artificial intelligence", "it was THIS big!", and "hobby horse". i played blackjack which is what earned "hobby horse" to edge out a little more of the 100% as that is the only thing i was missing. finally i decided to knock out finding 48 weapons for the 100%. yesterday was all about challenges. i finished out master hunter, sharpshooter, survivalist, and weapons expert. whenever i had time i made sure to progress the "skin deep" and "zoologist" achievements as well. today i plan on progressing the story as well as hopefully knocking out the gambler challenges, although i have heard those are extremely fun and totally based on skill and not luck. through natural progression of the story i should get the most of the remaining percentage, or at least it will allow me to finish certain things such as herbalist and horseman.

this journey has been amazing to say the least, besides the occasional annoyances, it's actually been a pleasant experience. i blew through the story and never went for 100% the last time i played, but i'm so glad i did this time. now it's time to finish it out.

i reloaded a save and spawned at this spot, and i HAD to take these pictures. so gorgeous. these filters just worked really well here.

[zayadotnet]

different day, same red dead

in the past couple of days without an update on tumblr, i have managed to do a lot while hardly doing anything at the same time. this is due to the side missions i am tasked to endure. yesterday i finished up hunting request 4, as that's all available for now. i did some etc things like a shop robbery, where i only got a bounty of 50 cents, LOL. i spent around $1.5k or more buying premium cigarettes for those cards, and with that i finished those sets and shipped them off. i earned the "pony up" achievement from that, and now i'm sitting at 16/51. as well as an achievement, that bumped me up to 60% game completion. i got 22/30 dinosaur bones as i can't get the rest currently. finally, i started the dreaded "duchesses and other animals" side mission. i got 4/6 parts done, and am around 94% done with part 5. today i set out to complete part 5 and 6. if i have any time left in my day after this (crying), i will starting working on the legendary fish for the "a fisher of fish" side mission. HOPEFULLY i can get through both, but i imagine i will look back at this thinking i was extremely naive. beyond that, i might try to peck around at the challenges, or maybe knock out the legendary animals.

this game has beautiful fast-travel scenes, it's free screenshots

[zayadotnet]

red dead redemption II progress

today was a struggle to say the least, but i did make progress so i guess it balances out. i never reported on yesterday's progress so i'll hit that first. i got all 20 dreamcatchers, and inched a couple of the challenges, and that's pretty much all i did. i checked the rock carvings progress and i misread it, thinking i had finished them already. not the case! today however, i realized they were unfinished so i grabbed as many as i could before i forgot that i needed to complete a side mission to get the last one. that's all sorted now, and i got the achievement "collector's item" for my troubles. after that, i knocked out bandit 10 and explorer 10, i grabbed all the corresponding special equipment from the trapper as well.

i started the long struggle of "hunting requests" from the lovely ms. hobbs which i just absolutely ADORED doing. i mean who doesn't enjoy reloading a save, begging, on your knees for a cardinal to spawn for nearly two hours? i'm now on hunting request 4, and that's where i called it a day.

to lay out all the data:

challenges

gambler 2

herbalist 2

horseman 9

master hunter 4

sharpshooter 6

survivalist 5

weapons expert 3

collectables

?/144 cigarette cards

dinosaur bones

3/5 hunting requests

graves

missions and events

55/107 missions

3/6 gang hideouts

compendium

8/10 fish

4/6 gangs

31/48 weapons

2/5 legendary animals

miscellaneous

play a game of blackjack

complete a store robbery

took this today, i just love this game

[zayadotnet]

🤍

buds

[zayadotnet]

documenting red dead redemption II

continuing my 100% game completion save file today, where i plan to find the rest of the 10 rock carvings and the 20 dreamcatchers. i am using jimbatron's guide from the gtaforums to keep me on the rails. he recommends doing as much as you can before the epilogue, as certain things line up in certain ways, and whatnot. before logging on i am sitting at 54% game completion with 73.7 hours so far. i am trying to stop and really "smell the roses" on this playthrough, while also getting that glorious 100% game completion stat. i played the story, and dabbled in the online mode (rip) on my xbox in march of 2020. i spent around 32 hours on there, the story had me hooked and i couldn't stop. i stopped at 78.1% game completion. according to the rockstar social club tracker, i am well on my way to surpass my xbox stats by the time i finish the story, as i'm just a tad over halfway done with chapter 4.

besides being on a kick to 100% my favorite games, i have also dabbled into the world of achievement hunting! i will touch on that in a more focused post surrounding it but the reason i bring it up here is because well of course i'm doing that with red dead redemption II. sitting at 14/51, i am in for a long grind but it will be worth it. although i am NOT looking forward to that online grind, especially on pc.

below is my favorite picture i've taken during the story missions.

i mean look he's just the best

[zayadotnet]

things to see

i post about video games, music, and collecting said things. besides that there might be the occasional rant, vent, etc post from me. if that sounds remotely interesting to you, consider following? i have a twitter, i rarely do actual things there besides like and retweet things.

[zayadotnet]

*dated september 2023*

i am here to post more things individual to me! this time, it's my top 25 video games. i am honestly not remotely content with this list and will update it around september of this year, and make it a tradition going forward. i never realized how hard it actually is to put this out on a chart/list. i always knew what i held dearly to my heart, but god when it came down to it, i had to REALLY think. imagining how this list will look by the end of this year is currently challenging. this chart is in no order besides grouping series. certain games will ALWAYS be on this list, most definitely the red dead series, and grand theft auto series. those are masterpieces, or damn near. red dead redemption ii is 100% the best game i've ever touched. the first redemption game i still highly regard to be one to stand the test of time. i have a fondness for fallout, there are many things to love, and things to not love, and that's all i'll say there for now. grand theft auto iv has one of the best stories i've played, and it's so played out but the VIBE of that game, the darkness, grittiness, it's great. san andreas is one of my childhood games, i owned so many copies because i was a stupid child. moving onto guitar hero, i still remember my first experience with it at my sister's, i remember getting my first copy of the game from fred's of all places. i mainly play clone hero nowadays, and am mostly average. i play expert, still have never got past that ttfaf intro. i got into wwe pretty early on in my life like most of these games, being able to watch the show weekly and hop in the games after school was special. cozy survival crafting is definitely one of my favorite things ever, and it's funny to call terraria cozy but it is to me LOL. i will never EVER understand terraria hate, how can you hate something so good? i have fallen out of love with minecraft over the years to the (in my opinion) underwhelming updates and odd direction the game has taken. with that however, the new auto-crafter and trial chambers look so sick. i want to say i got into stardew valley in 2018 and have loved it ever since, still haven't gotten through the beginning of ginger island though, maybe someday. ever since extremely late 2017 or early 2018, my main game has been fortnite: battle royale. at one point, i wanted to go pro and make a living streaming, but sadly i am NOT built for that. i've always loved zombies, first experience was probably like season 2-3 twd, and been hooked ever since. project zomboid was such an insane experience in february of last year. such an eye-opener. easily the best zombie game ever made. 7 days to die is also a great game, the impending doom you feel every week is fun and refreshing from what i normally play while still have that survival crafting i love. i grew up on tony hawk games and wasn't sure which ones to put but these were the standouts, and i didn't want to load the list up with a ton from one series. i remember spending all my savings as a kid on saints row: the third and i still wonder if that was a good decision or not. i have played tons of call of duty in my day, although i stopped at ghosts, and have dabbled in and out ever since. black ops is easily my favorite, the campaign, and multiplayer, agh. zombies even. modern warfare 2 is a classic and one i cannot ignore. ghost looks cool. i have played HELLA sims 3 in my lifetime, yes i have played the sims 4 and i can confidently say the sims 3 clears with ease. i dumped crazy hours into the console ports and the pc as well. around this final stretch of the list is where i really struggled so i went for nostalgia with atv off-road fury 2. that series and mx vs atv were definitely a blast to 10 and below me, and might even be today. i'm not quite sure. if anyone actually finishes this, i am sorry, for i am the rambler.

[zayadotnet]

free feeling

i now understand the hype around posting things. airing out my dumb opinions and takes to absolutely nobody is really fun, i feel so free to just exist

me rn