The Best Price is Free

Nope, I'm actually not talking about an Epic giveaway (shockingly).  I grabbed a couple of free titles from Steam this week.  And before you think it, yes, I will most likely play them!  You too should grab them if you feel somewhat interested.  What exactly did I snatch for the magical cost of $0?

The first title is a bit of a niche genre that I enjoy, so it might not be everyone's cup o' tea.  Steam has a fairly consistent rolling calendar of genre-specific events/sales and this week happened to be Hidden Object Fest.  I'll admit that I enjoy a light, hidden-object game from time to time (my personal favorite is the classic Hidden Folks).  I decided to check out some of the sale titles that are part of this event and stumbled upon an entire series of cat-themed games that involve locating hidden cats in a number of very artistic environments.  One entry in the series is free to play--An Arcade Full of Cats.  I happily added it to my library and am looking forward to giving it a try (the series seems to have a pretty avid fanbase).

The other game I grabbed is a bit of a classic but has positive reviews.  Graveyard Keeper has been around since 2018, but it's one of those pixel games, so it's not like age is going to make a huge difference.  I had checked it out in the past but never pulled the trigger, so it's something nice to have in my back log (not my pile of shame...hopefully!).

If you're looking to flesh out your back log (...and not your pile of shame!) give these titles a gander.  There's no better price than $0, so what's there to lose?  

One Decision I Won't Change

Unsurprisingly, I'm still playing through The Witcher 3--and I have both "Hearts of Stone" and "Blood and Wine" left too, so it's going to be awhile.  Last week I wrote about a few new quest experiences that I encountered, but this week I had the realization that there's one side decision that I've never ventured away from.  I just can't do it...and that's saying a lot because I have even made choices that have led to the "bad" ending (which sucks and is sad).

Geralt in the Netflix series inspired gear set.

I'm talking about the mission to participate in the assassination of Radovid, but more so the end of that mission.  I've experienced both outcomes of Geralt either refusing to participate in the mission or completing it, but there's another decision after the main event (Philippa Eilhart emerging to get her revenge on the psychopath that is the King of Redania).  After Radovid's demise, Geralt and crew flee to the abandoned theater to meet up with their other co-consiprators (one Sigismund Djikstra and Thaler) under the guise of celebrating their victory and cementing their post-assassination plans.  It's here that a side-plot is revealed--Roche, Ves, and Thaler have negotiated a deal with Emhyr that Temeria will stop resisting Nilfgaardian rule in exchange for becoming an independent vassal state.  It's not exactly the free Temeria that Roche and Ves seem to be fighting for, but it's basically the lesser of two evils.

I particularly like the swords for this set.

It's here the Djikstra emerges from backstage and reveals that he actually has his own plan--he will replace Radovid as the new king of Redania (umm, ok?) and will continue the fight against Nilfgaard.  A pack of his minions emerges and Geralt can make the decision to either leave Roche and Ves to their fate (will they be able to fight off all of Djikstra's goons?) or to defend them.  I've never chosen to leave--it just feels wrong abandoning Roche and Ves given that they helped fight off the Wild Hunt at Kaer Morhen.  I am a bit curious about how things would differ if Djikstra was in charge--maybe a decision for next playthrough.

It's a beautiful day where I live, so I'll likely do some adventuring away from the ol' PC.  I hope everyone has a nice weekend either spent outdoors on a lovely spring day or inside with a nice, cozy game.

A True Skelliger

A few weeks ago I started a comfort play of one of my favorite games, The Witcher 3.  It seems like an inherent millennial trait that when things might be a little rough that we turn to our old familiar favorites--that might be a movie or TV series that you've watched a million times or, in my case, a game that I've probably played through at least 10 times.  There's something about that strong sense of nostalgia that manages to soothe the stress of real life.  One of the things that always surprises me about The Witcher 3 is the fact that I'm almost always able to find something new that I missed in one of my previous playthroughs.  So here's my record of what I've discovered in my umpteenth playthrough of The Witcher 3 (plus, a stupid argument that I have with myself every time that I play).

Sometimes you stupidly mess up something that you've done correctly a million times.  This time around it was the mission to trick Caleb Menge (the leader of the evil, sorceress torturing and burning Temple Guard) by pretending to turn in Triss.  Geralt has to keep his cool while he can hear Triss being tortured in the other room and every other playthrough I've done it perfectly.  This time around I decided to click on a slightly different dialogue option (one where Geralt tries to pretend as if he and Triss never had any kind of past relationship) and Menge immediately caught on.  Instead of coolly waiting for a mangled Triss to  appear in Menge's office after escaping from her captors, Geralt and Triss had to fight their way through the entire Temple Guard.  I figured that I had royally messed things up, but it turns out that there's an alternate way to wrap up the mission.  It involves finding a secret message with a method to meet with a spy outside of Novigrad--apparently Menge used this spy for his nefarious purposes.  Geralt can ask Djikstra about it and then he and Triss can meet the spy.  Triss still goes a little bit nuts (this time on the spy, which is a lot less satisfactory than it being Menge) and it's obvious that she's a bit cracked from her encounter with the Temple Guard.  You can still fully complete the mission to free Dandelion afterwards.

There are a billion side quests and many of them you just have to sort of stumble upon.  In my totally insane desire to discover all the question marks in Skellige (which I will discuss later) I discovered two men on a random island who were having an argument about how one of them had corrupted the others sister by luring her away from the priestesses of Freya (a sort of Skelligan religious sect for the ladies).  Geralt can intervene and slay the attacker.  The survivor then is a bit conflicted about the situation and asks Geralt to find books about different religious practices and then bring them to him.  I have always noticed the random items tagged as quest items that are for sale by some vendors, but had never actually encountered one of them.  Now, for the life of me, I cannot remember where to find the books for the quest since they are sold by random merchants.  And, honestly, this quest is highly inconvenient because it is located on a small island with no nearby fast travel markers--getting back to the quest giver means hopping on a boat and returning to the island.  If I find the books, I might complete it, but I'm not planning on going heavily out of my way to do it.

Behold, the lack of question marks!  (Take a look at ol' Geralt's finances too)

Every time I get to Skellige I am always confronted with what is a very stupid internal debate--do I save myself a lot of time (we're talking multiple hours) and ignore the numerous question marks polluting the map or do I needlessly do them?  There are pros and cons to this debate--the main pros include the fact that you might find a decent item or two that you can actually use (out of an absolute mountain that you will sell) and that you will earn an absolute Skelligan longships worth of gold (which, again, you don't really need).  The cons--sailing around to ALL the question marks means fighting off scores of some of the most annoying enemies in the game (sirens and ekidhnas).  It also means having to manage selling off all your loot--another annoyance since finding vendors who have enough coin to buy it all can be difficult (you can wait for 24 hours until their stock resets).  And, most importantly, it's fairly pointless.  The sad reality--I still do it every time!  I think there's something wrong with me.

Surely I can't be the only one who does this?  There has to be other insane people out there who refuse to let the question marks remain  If that's you, I hope you enjoy your adventure--I used it as an opportunity to get caught up on some podcast episodes that I had missed.

Happy spring to the gamers out there!  The weather is getting nicer, so maybe it's a good opportunity to get outside and touch some grass.  Or maybe we just stay in and explore some more pointless question marks on a map.  Either way...win-win!

Museum Updates

I haven't dipped my toes into the Two Point Museum pool since the "Zooseum" DLC, but have been paying attention to the many seasonal updates that pop up from time to time.  One very cool feature that they added into the game is the ability to choose which season you want to play and then have access to all the features/events related to that season...even if the timeframe has already passed.  This is such a great idea because it lets players have the chance to unlock all the items even if they missed the season.

The newest update features a new rift in the digiverse (a sort of side-quest like task that involves hiring a special expert but that unlocks some cool new displays and items for your museum).  The digiverse generally features a collaboration between another game and has featured content from Dredge and Vampire Survivors.  This time around it's an absolute mobile classic--Angry Birds!  Man, I loved some Angry Birds back in the day.  It's fun to see the content in another game that I enjoy.  Check out the preview video:

Besides all the fun Angry Birds stuff, there are also some Easter themed seasonal events and items.  A new botany exhibit, a bunny suit, and some bunnies for the zoo!  I might have to check it out.

Bonus Powerwashing

This week I was pleasantly surprised by an update for PowerWash Simulator 2 that featured the first of several bonus levels that are part of a package called the "Caldera Chronicles."  Similar to the "Muckingham Files" from the original game, this is a series of updates that will add in new levels and some new items.  Check out the preview video:

The new level features a cute, miniature town area to clean.  I was surprised at the size--it took me a couple of hours to fully clean.  The tiny houses, shops, and bean-themed features are a lot of fun.  I absolutely love the fact that they continue to periodically roll out new content--it's nice to return and PowerWash Simulator 2 isn't the kind of game where you'll forget how to play if it has been awhile.

If you're a fan of "Adventure Time" (I have never watched it and am totally unfamiliar with this popular adult cartoon series) the first DLC package features levels inspired by the series.  I'm not sure I'm going to jump on this one, but we'll see.  I'm curious to see what other DLC they release.  How about from "The Pitt?"  Maybe a bit too gory there though.

It's the weekend again and I hope everyone gets to do some quality gaming--maybe even some powerwashing!

Mobile Timekilling

I don't do much mobile gaming but I am a fan of pointless time-killer kinds of games.  They are perfect for those times when you are waiting in line or just waiting for anything (I have a tendency to get a bit impatient so being able to shift my focus off of the wait helps tamp down the frustration or nervousness that I can feel).  In a perfect world I would have a book handy and read rather than waste my time with more brainrot on my phone, but packing around a physical book just isn't very convenient (and no, I have zero desire to do any reading on my phone).  Here are my picks for games to distract yourself from the inevitable waiting.

1.) Candy Crush

It's a classic and there's constantly some kind of in-game event to keep pulling you in.  They added in a seasonal type event where you collect these digital "pins" and it's oddly satisfying to cobble together an entire set.  Candy Crush is perfect because you can generally finish up a level in a few minutes and it's not particularly mentally demanding--match candies, pew pew, collect rewards.  The main downside...ads.  It's true that you can skip many of them but if you fail a level and want those sweet extra turns, you can expect to be wasting time with multiple ads.  It's the perfect time to stop looking at your phone and see how much longer you might be waiting.  At least they aren't depressing ads for medications (although I find many TikTok ads to be annoying).

The season of ultracite has commenced in Fallout Shelter!

2.) Fallout Shelter

I started playing Fallout Shelter when it originally came out (like 2014-ish) and had very few fun features.  Luckily the game has drastically changed since that time and there's plenty to keep you coming back.  In honor of the Amazon Prime Fallout series, they recently introduced seasonal "experimental vaults." These vaults are only active for 40 days and have specific objectives that must be achieved to earn a special kind of XP that will unlock random rewards (like lunchboxes, caps, weapons, pet carriers, etc.).  You start your vault from scratch and there's some kind of fun gimmick with each season--the Fallout series themed seasons (that recently ended) featured a special currency that allowed you to spin the "lucky wheel" to earn random rewards (like different tiers of weapons, outfits, pets, stimpacks, radaway, etc.).  They also featured special characters from the streaming series who could be unlocked by completing special quest lines.  The current season is related to Fallout 76 and features the Scorched (a kind of ghoulish-baddie) who periodically raid your vault.  Killing the Scorched is much easier if you use special "ultracite" weapons that can be crafted from two new rooms--the ultracite mine (finally a place for your high endurance vault dwellers!) and the ultracite weapons lab.

The seasons feature is great because it gives you a reason to keep playing.  It's fun to level up a vault over a short period and try to accomplish all the tasks that are part of the season (I can pretty consistently get all but 2 of them).  There are some ads (optional though) but it's not as egregious as Candy Crush.  I would also say that Fallout Shelter generally isn't as good as Candy Crush for taking a few minutes to knock out a level or objective.  I find myself playing for a chunk of time (depending on the level of my vault) but it's still very casual and low pressure.

If you're looking for the perfect mobile game to offer up some minimally mentally demanding games for wasting time, these two are both great options.

Have a great weekend and find some time to do some light gaming!

Feeling Meh about "Fallout"

Lately it seems like ye olde streaming services have become real interested in adapting video games into streaming series.  In the last few years we've gotten several adaptations including Netflix's The Witcher and Amazon Prime's Fallout.  This trend seems like it is continuing as I've seen rumors/stories that a God of War adaptation is currently in production.  There's something kind of fun about seeing stories and characters from some of our favorite games making it into the main stream, but generally, I've found the quality a bit lacking.

Let's start with the highly controversial The Witcher adaptation on Netflix.  I watched the first couple of seasons and found it somewhat enjoyable.  Henry Cavill played a believable Geralt of Rivia and is a favorite of all nerds thanks to his own dedication to the nerdy arts (such as building PCs and painting Warhammer miniatures).  The series seemed to garner quite a bit of dislike online because many of the characters were not an exact replica of how they were depicted in the game.  I found this a bit silly since the series is based on books (that, let's be totally honest here, aren't the greatest read) and the game characters don't even totally stick to how they're described in the books!  The storylines in the show seemed to at least somewhat follow what was in the books (although there was also controversy because the director/showrunner fully admitted that she hadn't read the books) and there were some fun CGI monster fights.  For me, the show went fully off the rails when Henry Cavill decided to leave and they replaced him with an off-brand Hemsworth (Helmsworth?  I don't know and don't want to look it up).

I greatly enjoyed Amazon Prime's first season of Fallout and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't absolutely suck.  The characters were fun and the world in the show felt like an accurate depiction of what is in the games.  This second season though...woof.  I was very excited because it was going to take place in the New Vegas universe and it was kind of fun to see the landmarks from the game in the show.  With that said, I found the storyline to be very...in-between-y.  It felt like the middle book in a series (and, I kind of wonder if they're going for a 3 seasons type of schedule where we'll see all the major fireworks occurring next season) and like it was sort of leading to something but not really going anywhere.  I was definitely underwhelmed.

Should the streamers keep pumping out these video game adaptations?  I feel like they're looking for anything with a guaranteed fanbase that will tune in regardless of the quality (and, I'm guilty of that).  That's not to say that these adaptations are pure garbage--they've got some enjoyable qualities (at least for awhile).  I'm watching to see which beloved video games will be adapted next--methinks an Assassin's Creed series could be a possibility.

It's the weekend and I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy their favorite games (or streamers!).  Happy gaming or streaming!