Gaming, Summer Season 2022

 

Hullo, dear fellow gamers! Hope you’re doing just fine, and enjoying life as much as I do. Following my last post, I finally had an epiphany and figured out the miracle way to manage my time and get things done: to use a planner and write things down at set dates. You do that, and voilà! Things happen just as planned! Well, that was easy enough, ain’t it? Taking the piss out of myself aside, this is the best — and probably only — way I can commit to a course of action. And so, here are my Summer 2022 Gaming Plans for your enjoyment — and mine! 

 

 

July: 

 

—      Start publishing some New Classics posts. I have roughly 40 of them lined up, and it’s time to deliver them to the world! I'm gonna roll with a pace of 2-3 posts a week, and we'll see how things evolve from there.

 

—      Put together some shared features with fellow bloggers, starting with my dear Yvonne ^^

 

—      Answer comments! Gosh, I’m so late it’s not even funny :/

 

—      Fix errors in my World End Syndrom walkthrough — and replay the game while I’m at it. If there ever was a VN that was meant to be read in the summer, it’s definitely WES!

 

 

August:

 

—      Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I know, I know; how can I ever think of playing that game after my tumultous love/hate relationship with XC2? The thing is, I love the Xenoblade combat and atmosphere. What I’m gonna do is play XC3 in easy mode — and play it a single time. No perennity or replaying pretence here; this is the type of sprawling game that is meant to be played once (and for all), and that’s exactly how I’m gonna play it.

 

—      Tackle Pokemon X&Y solo runs starring Clauncher and Carbink. I’ve been itching to run with these two for years, and I’m gonna get down to it.

 

September: 

 

—      Start getting rid of the games that didn’t get a spot in my precious collection. The pawn shop is the easy way out; but I’m also seriously thinking of giving away the best ones through that blog. I’ll see how I proceed when September comes; in the meantime, dear fellow gamers, don’t hesitate to put an option on any game you’d like to get! ^^

 

—      Take the first steps to make That Extra Level! its own website. I mean it. FOR REAL.

Well, that’s all for now! I’ll make sure all of this is done — and I’ll keep making such quarter plans from now on. It’s both relaxing and stimulating — and it gets things done! I’ll see you soon with some much-deserved gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers; keep doing your thing and take care! ^^

 

Back to the surface!

 

 

Hullo, dear fellow gamers! I nearly had a heart attack the other day when I realised that I last posted one month and ten days ago. Seriously, how did time fly so darn fast? The good news is that time flies so fast because I’m currently busy living my very best life; and the even better news is that I’m reaching a still excellent yet quieter phase, where I should be able to play and post more. Hooray!

 

While I was away living my best life, amazing things happened in the gaming realm. I obviously have to talk about the upcoming Pokemon pair, whose existence I couldn’t believe at first. The games’ names may be a bit uninspired, but the starters… Man, I just luv ’em!!! The very first thing I’ll do when I get my paws on the pair is play a solo run with Sprigatito, which is just the dinkiest little kitty this side of Skitty. Knowing GameFreak, they’ll probably slap a bipedal evolution on the thing — and recent leaks seem to confirm that shitty scenario; however, I don’t care. I’m already overjoyed at the existence of that cute creature, and it will give me a perfect excuse to attempt a challenge run starring Sprigatito and/or whatever his middle stage evolution will be. And mind you, Fuecoco and Quaxly look pretty neat as well, and I’ll sure run solo with them as soon as I’m done with the Grass kitty cat.

 

To stay in the Pokemon realm, my estival X&Y itch is back; I just have to select my lone ranger, and I’m good to go. Feel free to suggest ideas in the comments, dear fellow gamers! I might also play some Hyperdimension Neptunia as part of the New Classic project, as I love playing this series in the summertime. I polished off the three canon games already (reports here and there); however, a ton of spin-offs are waiting for the opportunity to shine, and I’ll be more than happy to indulge them.

 

And how about the New Classics project, you may ask? Well, it’s going just fine. I have many posts lined up for publication, and they’ll all appear on my blog before the end of the summer. As for how I’m living the whole thing, I’d say: pretty darn well indeed. This is absolutely one of my best gaming-related ventures, and I’m immensely grateful I can still have so much fun after so many years of playing games.

 

Well, that’s all for now, dear fellow gamers! I just wanted to let you know that this blog is not abandoned, and that I’m still gaming and writing about games. Take care, and see you soon with plenty of gaming goodness! 

 

The New Classics: Progress Report #1

 

Hullo, dear fellow gamers! The New Classics project is progressing just fine — although you wouldn’t know it, because I cannot seem to post regularly enough; and I cannot seem to do that because I can’t handle time management even if my life depended on it. But the runs are there, and so are the reports; and once I manage to sort things out a bit, you’ll get these sweet reports.

 

I’ve put roughly 30 games to the New Classics test so far; and not only was it tremendously entertaining, but it also helped me figure out what I want my precious collection to look like. As I was busy playing — and lapping up — a game I’ll post about soon enough, I realised something important: I love grinding. Like, I really, really love it. More like I absolutely adore it, hot damn!

 

Well, ain’t that old news, you might ask? It sure is; but the thing is, I might have lost sight of that important fact over the years. I might have forsaken that engrossing trance, that tantalizing never-ending mountain to climb, that sweetest of the sweet activity that gave this blog its very name, in favour of other gameplay styles. I did that for curiosity’s sake, and it was a blast; but after ten years of non-stop gaming, my curiosity is quite fulfilled, and it’s time to go back to the basics and concentrate on what I love most. Namely, good old grinding.

 

This led me to a most ominous decision: all SRPGs will vacate the premises, without being put to the New Classics test. It’s time to admit that such RPGs are just not for me, and that I’ll just never enjoy strategizing as much as freedom & grinding. The only SRPGs I’ll hold onto are Fire Emblem Echoes, because it’s short and I love the hack’n’slash sections too darn much; and Sting’s Yggdra Union and Gungnir — because Dept. Heaven, b*tch. I will amend The List soon enough; but the decision is taken, and it’s taken for good. No FOMO to be found; I’m actually relieved, and glad I went back to my RPG roots.

 

Another important decision I’m going to enforce is to batch-test RPG series. The very fact that I do own full series I have yet to try at all is absolutely ridiculous; I should have bought a single entry, played it, and purchased the rest only if I liked that first entry. Well, what’s done is done; and since I own these series, I might as well give them a try. Here’s how I’m gonna roll: I’ll try the very first and the very last entry of each still unplayed series I own. If I like any of them or both, I’ll give everything in the middle a quick try to determine what I keep; if I like none, I’ll pawn the whole thing. Last but not least, I’ll write a single report for the whole series once I’m done giving it the New Classics treatment.

 

That’s all for now, dear fellow gamers; I’ll see you soon with all sorts of gaming goodness! In the meantime, keep playing and take care!