flamebyrd: A screenshot of Madeline from the game Celeste. The text reads "This may have been a mistake." (celeste)
And now for something completely different... As you may already know, I am a semi-regular viewer of the YouTube channel PlayFrame, in which Dan and Carrie Floyd play video games, and New Frame Plus, in which Dan Floyd does deep dives into video game animation.

Anyway I recently came across this clip from Desert Bus for Hope 2019, with Dan driving the bus and Carrie on the couch. It made me laugh very hard, so I am sharing it on Dreamwidth in the hopes that I will be able to find it again in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZYCBgt11z0
Notable excerpt: "Now do an episode of New Frame Plus but it's about the air freshener."

(Also, I guess I can now put faces to the voices, or at least their faces in 2019? Weird.)
flamebyrd: (Default)
Things have been pretty rough recently for various reasons, so I'm going to distract myself from all that by talking about a few things which have been bringing me joy.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0
A couple of months ago I decided to do a bit of date manipulation to finish off the art collection (by resetting the same day over and over) so I could finish my museum and maybe quit the game. I accomplished this, and Nintendo promptly announced a huge update with thousands of new items and new things to do every day. So I'm back on that horse and loving it again.

I've updated my dream at DA-4989-3336-9453. It's been raining so once again there are flowers everywhere, and I've rearranged a few things so all my spare flowers are hanging out on the beach. Which is to say, if you need flowers, please let me know! New things since last time are a new entrance with two bridges, a farm area, the beginnings of a treehouse, and a redesigned museum garden. Also, the clock room is getting out of control.

I also spent way too much money on packs of the new Amiibo cards so if anybody wants to trade doubles, I'm in!

Speedrunning
Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Nintendo Switch remakes of the 2006 Nintendo DS games, were released the other day. I mention this not because I'm playing them (I'm not), but because the speedrunners have discovered a ton of new glitches and strategies to go fast, and I'm loving watching how excited they are to find them. So far this includes:
- If you turn the music off, the game skips all the level up and healing jingles and it shaves minutes off the run.
- If you hatch an egg in front of a particular NPC he will no longer block you from proceeding to Sunyshore City while it is experiencing a blackout
- If you use surf immediately after fighting a trainer near the water, you can float over the terrain (or under it) and progress the story in unintended ways, including by skipping Victory Road completely

It's still early days and they're still trying to figure out what categories and rules to formalise on the leaderboards, not to mention the risk that any of these glitches could be patched at any time, but it's the discovery process that's bringing me joy anyway.

Mini Metro (iOS)
Friendship ended with desktop PC version, now mobile version is my best friend. I'm not going to say I'm good at it, but I also haven't linked it to any social media, which means it won't show the global leaderboards, so I have no idea! I'm finding I get the most joy by coming up with my own challenges, usually "only use the 3 lines it starts with".

Unpacking (PC/Switch/Xbox)
This is a very fun, short puzzle game about unpacking a person's boxes into various dwellings over their lifetime. It has a wonderfully subtle type of storytelling, as you get to know the person through their belongings, what changes and what goes with them from house to house, along with the decisions you have to make about where to put their belongings in each house. Very cute pixel art, some of it very nostalgic. It's short for how expensive it is, but I really enjoyed it. Since I finished the main story, I'm just achievement-hunting now.
flamebyrd: (Default)
🎮 My gaming YouTube profile suggested a Let's Play of Mini Metro, a puzzle game about building urban train systems, and about halfway through I got twitchy wanting to try things, so I went in search of where I could buy it. (As an aside, I really recommend IsThereAnyDeal for getting an overview of the pricing of PC games.) Anyway, it told me it was on sale on the Humble Store (sadly, it isn't anymore), however before I headed over there it occurred to me to search my inbox in case I'd already bought it in a bundle, and it turned out it was in the Itch.io Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid! So I loaded it up on the media PC and had a happy couple of days building train lines. I can definitely see it being a stressful game for some people, but I found the ability to continue in "endless" mode took the stress out of it for me and I could just enjoy trying to optimise my system.

🎨 My watercolours and swatching tools (see last post) finally arrived! I had a nice, chill time swatching all 34 of my watercolour tubes (although now my shoulder hurts - maybe I shouldn't have done all 34 in a single day). I have updated my watercolour spreadsheet with the new colours accordingly, although I didn't think to mark them in any way. I should have added a date column on this. Now I just need to... make some art? That sounds fake.

🖼 Relatedly, I just discovered the concept of Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and I love it and want to make some. I also have a box of blank watercolour postcards I recently rediscovered! Filing tiny art under the list of things I'd like to post people if I ever get around to making a form.

📖 My library hold on Rainbow Rowell's Any Way the Wind Blows came in, so I'm about to start reading that. Here's hoping I like it more than Wayward Son!
flamebyrd: (Default)
I feel like I've been coasting on neutral for a while, so here are some random good things in my life to remind myself that there are things to talk about.

* I made a large pot of ultra strong T2 Sticky Choc Chai, adulterated with extra loose leaf Ceylon tea, and froze it in 1/2 cup portions. Now I can just defrost one with some milk and extra water and have chai without the trouble! It's really good.

* Had my second Pfizer dose on Monday. Spent Tuesday in a feverish haze but was feeling decent again by Wednesday. You go, little immune system!

* Finished Chicory: A Colorful Tale with my spouse and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't quite got 100% of the things yet but I'm pretty close! I wanted to do a full reaction post but to be honest, I don't have a lot to say. The soundtrack has been bringing me great joy and brightening my workdays.

* On that note, I got a new contract for part time work until the end of the year. This is ideal, because I'm also studying.

* I got this set of photopolymer stamps for swatching watercolours, which I loved so much I immediately ordered a stamp and die set to do individual colour swatches. It's shipping from the USA so it will be A While before it arrives, but I am looking forward to having some neatly categorised swatches.

* Speaking of things that are shipping from overseas that I won't see for a while, I ordered Yet More Watercolours and am impatiently waiting for them to arrive. Relatedly, I'm also waiting for a new palette to arrive because I've run out of room in my existing one...

* I also bought more materials for making greeting cards! Would anybody like to receive a random card in the mail?
flamebyrd: A witch and a bard. The bard is saying "Is the world really ending??" (apocalypse)
Summer Games Done Quick is on right now, raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders!

I'll probably do a highlights list once it's over, but I wanted to call out this run now specifically because it's so unusual and clever:
Paper Mario "Stop 'n Swop" by JCog in 26:12.

If you've watched that and are confused, I don't blame you in the least, and offer these additional resources:
Pastebin by JCog attempting to explain it
A YouTube video explaining in detail how this trick was discovered (this was what I was really interested in)
The runner's Reddit AMA

Games!

Jun. 12th, 2021 08:11 pm
flamebyrd: A witch and a bard. The bard is saying "Is the world really ending??" (wandersong)
🎮 I missed the chance to post here about the Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid on Itch.io, but I did buy it, so if you have any recommendations for games in this bundle please send them my way!

🎮 Chicory: A Colorful Tale, a game I Kickstarted way back in 2019, just released! It supports local co-op play, where the second player controls an additional paintbrush, and I really wanted to take advantage of that and get my spouse to join in. This kicked off a very frustrating 45 minutes trying to get the game to recognise two controllers, and ended with purchasing a new bluetooth card and completely reinstalling Windows. So I've only played about an hour of the game, but I'm enjoying it so far!

🎮 I'm still playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons nearly every day. I've been working hard on redoing various parts of my island - my goal was to finish it and upload a new dream before the snow settled. I failed at finishing everything but I did update the dream, so check it out at DA-4989-3336-9453 if you like.

🎮 A while back I came across the Kickstarter trailer for Unbeatable: A game where music is illegal and you do crimes. It's one of the best Kickstarter game trailers I've seen, it really gives an idea of the aesthetic the devs are going for, includes actual gameplay and has fun high-energy attitude. There's a demo out now - it's a simple two button rhythm game which I completely failed at, but on the bright side it has difficulty settings and a no-fail mode, and the final version promises more accessibility options.
flamebyrd: (Default)
Still playing:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo Switch)
A bunch of my friends have reset their game and started over anew, but I'm still too attached to my current island to do that.

This is definitely the longest I've played any Animal Crossing game, and I believe the first time ever that I've caught all of the fish and bugs. I'm not going to say I've played every day, but the longest I've ever gone between playing was 2 weeks - and I caught up by time travelling through a day at a time so I didn't miss any individual day in-game.

I'm currently redesigning the rear half of my island, including the residential part, so that's fun (sarcasm). I recently dumped a bunch of fossils in front of my museum, which turned out to be right under the flight path and it looks awesome. Also, I finally gave in and added a second player to the island so I could pass some of the seasonal furniture taking up space in my storage to their houses.

Fossils: 74/74
Bugs: 80/80
Fish: 80/80
Sea creatures: 40/40
Art: ????

Spiritfarer (Various platforms):
My issues with connecting with the story did not improve over time, but I enjoyed the gameplay enough to finish it. I haven't quite hit 100% completion yet (still have to catch some more fish) but I've completed the story and found all the hidden objects.

Recently completed:

Donut County (Various platforms)
This was available on XBox Game Pass for PC, so I downloaded and it played it through from start to finish over a couple of nights (it's short). It's like Katamari Damarcy if the people the tiny prince rolls up in his ball called him out afterwards to say "WTF, why did you do that?". Cute story, fun gameplay that I didn't find especially challenging (with two exceptions). The only skill it requires is puzzle solving and the ability to move a cursor, except for the final boss battle which needs some quick movement and coordination.

Up next:

If I keep my XBox Game Pass subscription I might try out Octopath Traveler or Undertale. Otherwise, I bought Final Fantasy IX for Switch a while back and I'd like to pick that up again.
flamebyrd: A witch and a bard. The bard is saying "Is the world really ending??" (apocalypse)
Ikenfell is a "turn-based tactical RPG about a group of troublesome magic students", available on PC/Playstation/Xbox/Switch and largely developed by one person (Chevy Ray Johnston). I played it on PC via the Xbox GamePass.

I enjoyed it a lot, even though I had to use the difficulty settings in order to make the battle system tolerable. The plot is very linear, which for me is a selling point (no pesky decisions to make!), and went in some unexpected directions. There are lots of queer and non-binary characters, and their identities are not treated as plot points. The save points are adorable sleeping kitties. The soundtrack is by aivi & surasshu who are apparently best known for creating the soundtrack for Steven Universe.

The general pattern of the game is: You are given a place to go to chase down a plot point. You walk through a dungeon to get there, fighting monsters, solving puzzles and hunting out secret extra items. You fight a boss battle (or two). You are given another place to go. Repeat.

Skills required:
Timing (adjustable, can be disabled)
Tactical combat decisions (can enable an instant-win option)
Puzzle-solving (logic, observation, timing)

Content warnings:
Can be enabled in-game! Spoilers )

More thoughts under the cut (Spoiler-lite) )

Actual spoilers go here )

But like I said above, I genuinely enjoyed it despite its annoyances. Solid use of my 22+ hours.
flamebyrd: (Default)
I finished the non-DLC cases in Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice and I have this to say: I had a lot of issues with this game and would not recommend it without a lot of disclaimers but somehow it still brought a huge smile to my face.

I guess I'm just still weak to these ridiculous characters and their relationships.

(Gosh Phoenix and Edgeworth were fun in this game. It was only a handful of scenes but it made me happy.)
flamebyrd: (Default)
I decided it was finally time to tackle the most recent Ace Attorney game to be localised in English (which was released in 2016).

I'm enjoying the puzzle-solving gameplay and the characters, as always, but I'm finding the new prosecutor this game introduces extremely frustrating and I need to rant about it a bit.

The rest is spoilers. )
flamebyrd: A screenshot of Madeline from the game Celeste. The text reads "This may have been a mistake." (celeste)
If you enjoyed Celeste (the difficult platformer about climbing a mountain while confronting your fear and self-doubt) and are looking for a fun way to replay it but don't want to replay the whole thing from start to finish, check out the Celeste Randomizer mod.

Basically it takes all the rooms and jumbles them up according to a clever algorithm that takes into account entrances/exits/keys/etc. You finish when you reach a room from the end of one of the regular chapters. There's a ton of settings for difficulty, length, type of path, that sort of thing.

It's been out for a while but I just updated and realised there's now a "basic gameplay" mode (so not using any of the advanced movement they teach you in the postgame content), and "easy" difficulty (which turned out to be too easy for me... who knew?), which is basically all I wanted from this mod.

I've been enjoying it on "basic gameplay", "pathway", "short", "normal difficulty" for when I want to play a game but don't want to try anything new or too frustrating* (I'm looking at you, Celeste Chapter 9).

You need Everest, the Celeste mod loader, to run it. PC only as far as I'm aware.

*Your mileage may vary.
flamebyrd: (Default)
My physical and mental health have been teaming up to put me in a downward spiral of despondency recently, so I'm glad Summer Games Done Quick 2020 is running right now to provide some distraction.

If you're not familiar: Games Done Quick runs charity marathons of speedrunning (which is finishing a computer game as quickly as possible). It's a great way to find out more about speedrunning because all runs are commentated with the assumption that many people are unfamiliar with the game and/or the speedrun. This particular marathon supports Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and is online-only, for obvious reasons.

I'll be keeping it on the TV while I study/browse the internet this week. If you're watching, feel free to recommend runs to me! I don't have anything in particular I'm hanging out for this time around.
flamebyrd: A witch and a bard. The bard is saying "Is the world really ending??" (wandersong)
Wilmot's Warehouse, which I reviewed here, is a puzzle game about categorising and organising objects in a warehouse. I enjoyed it!

It's free on the Epic Games store until "8/13/2020 at 11:00 PM" (timezone not specified).
flamebyrd: (Default)
For my own reference, along with anyone who may have visited my island, here is the list of design codes I use on my island, along with the source and/or how I found them. My intention is to update this as I add/remove designs.

My Animal Crossing Dream Address: DA-4989-3336-9453

Museum stone path border: MA-5093-4566-9963 (found via YouTube video)
Woodland stone path: MA-6624-9147-4107
Terracotta path border: MA-2579-1401-1104
Galaxy brick paths: MA-5047-0001-1952
DIY recipe sign: MO-Y77T-Q2YK-955F
Arcade floor: MO-88NY-8GQV-QDHW
Diner stage: custom, based on this design
Stardew Valley-style fruit markers: MA-9749-4582-4863 (Found via Reddit discussion)
flamebyrd: (Default)
With the latest update, Animal Crossing New Horizons now has dreaming, which means you can visit a virtual snapshot of a person's island without needing to add them as a friend or have them open their island for you to visit.

My code is DA-4989-3336-9453!

My house is a mess and I don't recommend looking inside, and there are flowers everywhere because I can never bring myself to sell them (but I need to because this is getting ridiculous), but there are definitely parts I'm happy with.
flamebyrd: A screenshot of Madeline from the game Celeste. The text reads "This may have been a mistake." (celeste)
This morning I checked my island rating with Isabelle in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch) and it came back as 4-stars. She suggested I might want to clear up some of the items on the ground. Oh, I thought! I'm almost at 5 stars!

Spoilers: I was not close to 5 stars.

I am, however, very stubborn.

There are a lot of guides for how to hit 5 stars, and I'm here to tell you that a lot of what they say is not what I did, but it may be easier or faster to follow those instructions anyway. I chose to just follow whatever Isabelle suggested to me and change what I was doing when her suggestion changed.

Here's what I had when I finally hit 5 stars: )

This took ~5 hours of solid playtime. I went back and forth to Isabelle many, many times.
flamebyrd: (Default)
It feels strange to post about frivolous things without acknowledging the state of the world, so: all my strength and support to the protestors, and please let's see some positive change, as soon as possible.

In addition to donations, I've also spent money on a Nintendo Switch, which I suddenly found listed as "in stock" at a local store and bought on the spot.

So I now have Animal Crossing and... that's it, aside from the classic NES/SNES games that come with the Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

I have no idea what the protocols are but if anyone wants to be friends on Switch and do some island visits I am game.
flamebyrd: A screenshot of Madeline from the game Celeste. The text reads "This may have been a mistake." (mistake)
I picked up Child of Light for free from the Ubisoft store a few weeks ago, and I just finished it last night on April 20.

Story: Fairytale-inspired portal fantasy
Graphics: Beautiful 2.5D watercolour-style art
Gameplay: RPG with platformer elements, 2 difficulty settings

In short: I finished this game, so it was clearly fun and absorbing enough to keep me occupied, but I don't recommend it as a cheerful isolation distraction.

More details below the cut. )
flamebyrd: (Default)
Child of Light is an RPG in which all the characters speak in rhyme. I had been assuming that this was merely a narrative convention to make it sound more like a fairytale, until I met the one character who didn't.

The unfortunately-named Rubella will set up rhymes and and fail to follow through on them, at which point the other characters will correct her.
Rubella: Little lady, have you seen bright balloons nearby? Any unicorns balancing on balls or tents raised to the... stars?
Igniculus, annoyed: Don't you mean "sky"?

In fact, sometimes characters feel the need to translate for her:
Rubella: Bravo, you with the beard! Are you a magician?
Finn: Well, you might say 'at.
Rubella: Come to the circus and... try out!
Aurora, interjecting: She is inviting you to "audition".

How does this work? Is this a world-building detail? Does everyone in this world literally rhyme all the time? Is it this world/language's equivalent of using bad grammar? Does Rubella have a speech impediment*? Is she doing it deliberately because she's a jester and she thinks it's funny?

Is this just a running gag the writers threw in for fun and didn't think about?

* In which case the way the other characters react is not at all cool, come on! Actually, regardless this is not how one should react to someone making errors of speech.
flamebyrd: A witch and a bard. The bard is saying "Is the world really ending??" (apocalypse)
Child of Light was free on the Ubisoft store - I would have posted about it here but I discovered it literally 10 minutes before the deal ended. I'd had this game on my wishlist for a while but decided even though it looks absolutely beautiful (I love watercolour art) I wasn't sure I'd enjoy an RPG right now... but free is always worth trying! So far I've played about 10 minutes and it's as gorgeous as promised.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out and I'm not playing it because I don't own a Switch. I've been saying for months I would buy a Switch when the new Animal Crossing came out, not realising this would coincide with a nation-wide Switch shortage! You can't buy a non-Lite in this Switch at all right now, even online (I want the docking function because my neck is not up to extended handheld gaming these days). Anyway, I'm deeply envious of all of you who are playing and I hope you are having fun ♥

A bunch of games are free on iOS right now (see this CNET article for a full list), including She and the Light Bearer, Cat Quest and Takoway, all of which I've now downloaded, and Monument Valley 2, which I already had.

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