¡Gabz!

Them vidjia games, especially on this last generation of consoles, have some sort of photo mode. Where you can freeze a moment in time, manipulate it, and have a nice “screenshot” basically. I have never been to keen for this particular feature in games until, Ghost of Tsushima.

And here is why.

If you read this blog, you are well aware of my fascination – or obsession – with Ghost of Tsushima. Currently, I am in my third play-through of the game, anxiously awaiting for the upcoming update. The game’s gorgeous, a lot of times I find myself just wondering around and admiring the scenery. The developers of this game have put to much work and it looks so amazing that it would be a crime not to marvel at it. This has made me dabble a little bit into the photo mode. Especially when I saw what these guys on twitter, also known as “virtual photographers”, are doing with these pictures. They are amazing and they’ve inspired me to make my own “virtual pictures” of this game.

Here are some of my favorite images for Twitter user The Fourth Focus;

It is impressive the amount of things you can do on this photo mode.

Another guy that’s making amazing virtual photography on this game, is Bedan Kimeira.

As I had mentioned, these guys are inspiring me to try to do my own thing. I definitely have much more to explore to get as close as these images.

Here are a few I had taken myself.

Still not even close, in my opinion but it is a lot of fun taking these snapshots and play with the settings to get this outstanding images.

I have finished Ghost of Tsushima. Not only have I finished it, I platinum it, meaning I have completed everything in the game and there is nothing left to I do. Well, maybe to find a couple of clan banners and “Mongolian records” but that’s not fun 😅

I loved this game so much that just like any other game that I had gotten so into it as with this one, I want to replay them. Replay them over and over until I am sick of it. Like Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey, I have probably replayed those games at least 3 times. The only difference is that they either had New Game + and was able to replay with all my goodies or at least I could use armor or weapons I had purchased as extras. Also the DLC’s. Ghost of Tsushima doesn’t have NG+, at least not for now. I know many games out there don’t have it right at launch, they get updated later with.

So, I had two options, just keep playing, roaming around looking for trouble or restart the game and lose everything I have.

Last night it occurred to me. Why don’t I create a second PSN profile? And that’s what I did. I have created a new PSN account/user just to play Ghost of Tsushima as a new game without loosing what i have done on my main account!

I am pretty sure people do this all the time but for whatever reason it had never occurred to me to do so before.

For Tsushima!!!

CrossCode on the Nintendo Switch

> A fast-paced combat system. 16-bit SNES-style graphics with butter-smooth physics. Engaging puzzle mechanics, served with a gripping sci-fi story. That’s CrossCode.

— Nintendo

This game caught my attention solely because of the, as the description says, its 16-bit SNES-style graphics. Like I have said many times before I am a sucker for pixel art¹ so I gravitate towards these type of games very easily. The game is also available on GamePass, as a Free-to-play type of deal. Then again, this game called to be played on the Nintendo Switch, to me.

This game makes me think of many other games. The world of this game is setup as an MMO game, the main character is an Avatar within this game although it doesn’t seems like there is a “typical real-user” behind the avatar. I am sure there’s more to this story and I have only scratched the surface with barely a little over 3-hours of gameplay at the time of me typing this.

The game reminds me a lot of .hack//G.U.. Kind of the same setting, MMO-RPG game. That and also, Zelda, you get a lot of similar dungeon settings and various puzzles with little or no enemies at all. Or, your “outdoorsy-like” dungeons where you get to fight monsters, collect items, talk to NPCs and level up. You also have your towns where you can get side quests (there are lots and lots of side quests and I say yes to everything), trade and buy items, etc.

So far I am very intrigued by the story and where it’s going. The main character and how she came about is very interesting to me. There’s definitely something going on in this “virtual-world” and I want to find out more about it. In other words, I am hooked.

The game play is not very complicated and so far its been a lot of fun. The old school pixelated art it’s fantastic and the control mechanics are pretty smooth. Although this game is, again, also free-to-play on GamePass, it is definitely one of those you’d rather have it on the go. Especially since you’d be doing a lot of “grinding” for items and level points to acquire more skills.

I think of this games as if an MMO-like RPG Game (.hack//G.U.was my example), Zelda and maybe even Diablo 3, had a baby.

My only thing with the game so far, and again, I have just played a merely 3-hours, is that the environments (the ones I’va played so far), sometimes, seem like there’s too much going on and you might miss a thing or two. But also, trying to figure out how to get to an item that’s is clearly out in the open can be a nice challenge. Me, personally, if I can’t figure it out right away I’ll probably just say meh and skip it. I am more about smacking the shiat out off some hedgehogs and leveling up 😜

I have been feeling, among many other feelings, nostalgic lately. Specifically about video games and anime series. For weeks now I have been thinking of playing old video games that I feel like I miss. For example on the switch started going through the Mega Man X series again, not like I finished them all but did play a while. Also got Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection for Xbox One, did start it but haven’t played much after that. Also, I want to revisit NieR Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Metal Gear Solid 5, all very time-consuming games. This, while also wanting to finish Death Stranding.

As far as TV Shows, I want to watch Dragon Ball Z again, sort of, been thinking about getting Season 2 of Dragon Ball Z Kai which pretty much covers the Freeza Saga, and to be honest, that’s all I want to watch of it. One series that I really want to catch-up on is Naruto Shippuden which I believe I left at the start of the second great ninja war, I think. There was some war going on, can’t remember which season is that. And let us not forget My Hero Academia which I am also behind, I’m at season 3 if I recall.

Too many things to play, too many things to watch, and very little time or patience/attention span for all of it. I am aware that most of it’s just the desire to relive those emotions when I first played those games or watch those series. Some of it is not even nostalgia I just want to continue the story. Whichever the case may be, the fact remains that, I might not even get to play/watch any of it.

November 7, 2006, Microsoft Studios released Gears of War for the Xbox 360 by Epic Games. At the time, I had just gotten the Xbox 360 console. Before that, I was a PlayStation only kind of guy. I had no idea about this game, never read anything about it, or had seen anything. The only thing I remember seeing was the teaser trailer one time at my local GameStop. Using Michel Andrews Mad World was kind of nice, at least for me. I remember everyone at the store looking at the TV, everyone quiet, just watching, then everyone was raving about the game and everyone had pre-ordered it. I was still skeptical about it, at the time I was not a huge fan of shooters, I mean, I had played some shooters in the past but hadn't for a while and especially since I had gotten the Xbox 360 and Halo 3 hadn't been released yet. Yes, Halo 3 was the first Halo game I ever played.

Another interesting fact about November 7, 2006, it was my first day working at GameStop. I remember getting there about an hour early before my shift and buying the game, using my employee's discount for the first time (Win!). I remember loving this game almost instantly. Loved the setting, the mechanics of the game, the graphics – everything. I really got into the story and its lore. As far as I was concerned I had never played anything like it before. This was a whole new experience for me as a video game junky enthusiast. I played this game in every mode, on every difficulty. I remember playing on Insane Mode, all by myself, except for the las Boss -- RAAM. Fokin RAAM, he was impossible, even in the lower difficulties, which is why I had to call a friend to help beat him in coop-mode.

Before Gears, I had never played games with online multiplayer. I was always a solo-campaign type of player. Probably due to the fact that back then in Puerto Rico, internet providers weren't the best, and I think this was what made me persuade my parents to get DSL internet, we were still on Dial-up, I think. Also with DSL the speeds were terrible maybe 1 Mbps or something like that, maybe even less. I don't remember much but I do remember asking my parents to get DSL so I could play online games with my buddies.

This game, we (me, my co-workers at GameStop, and later others) played this game, religiously, every single night, after work for the next nine months of our lives. Every single night, the same people, we would be playing this game online, no matter what. I remember we got so into it and all bonded so much over this game, that we even had LAN Parties. Remember those? We would bring our Xbox's, our friend who was hosting, happened to work at an IT Company so he borough a bunch of PC monitors, we brought beer, snacks, pizza, we would have a blast.

This game means so much to me, not because I think is the best gaming experience but because of the bonds I made and all the mementos around this game. I still play it to this day, the Ultimate Edition, however. The remastered version of the first game. Obviously, it has enhanced graphics and all that jazz, and even some extra content. Every time I feel nostalgic, I play this game. I don't ever get tired of it.

All that being said,

Gears of War > Halo

I have started to play: Sekiro Shadows Die Twice — again. I first got this game when it first came out, I even pre-ordered it. Dropped the game not too long after. The game it’s a little difficult. It kinda reminds me of NIOH, another game that I love everything about it but suck at the gameplay. These games require patience and strategy, something I sorely lack of. I’m more of a guns blazing, hack and slash type of guy. Me against a thousand solders, overpowered weapons and magic! 😅

Either way, I want to give it another go and see. So far I have just played the first 10-15 min of it and died at least 5 times already.

That’s a hell of a start!

I had gotten a Nintendo eShop gift card from zee wife and as an early Father's Day gift. As you should know, there is a Nintendo Summer Sale. So I did my what I must and got some on-sale vidjia games.

1. Onimusha: Warlords
2. Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
3. Kingdom Two Crowns
4. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
5. Moonlighter

Pretty Happy with all my purchases, now it's time to maybe put Diablo 3 aside for a wee bit and invest some time on the others!

Last night was another fun Halo gaming night with friends. Like I said before, it’s been years since I had played online multiplayer with other people. And even though I don’t know some of them personally, they’re all good lads to play with and had a blast. Last night was a little closer to home, in a way, because we were playing Halo 3. Halo 3 was, well, my first Halo. The first of the series that I really got into, probably due the fact that the Xbox 360 was my first Xbox console I ever bought and I was working at GameStop at the time so I played the heck out of that game with my coworkers. Thus, I was a little more familiar with Halo 3’s multiplayer than any of the other games in the series.

One of the games we played last night was “King on the Hill” and I kicked ass (a hundred percent luck 😅). I sucked in every other game mode, and that’s okay too.

I want to give my thanks to my friends Justin and Stephen from the Pixelated Podcast, and et al, for some much-needed fun playing video games last night. Stephen had the idea and contacted some of us via twitter and see if we were up for some Halo online gaming. To which most of us jumped right in! We played The Halo Master Cheif Collection on the Xbox One and it was a lot of fun. I hadn’t had this much fun playing online games in a while. The reason I had stopped playing online games is that there are a lot of people out there that are just assholes and they ruin everything 😝. Last night, there were no assholes, just a group of nerds playing the Halos. And by the looks of it, it is going to be a reoccurring thing, I think.

Oh and we also played the online-coop of Minecraft Dungeon since it’s “free” with GamePass.