Black Friday

Just kinda wandered around downtown last Friday, and ended-up getting a New 3DS XL for $30-off plus a 32GB microSD for $20. The system transfer from my 3DS XL took forever, and I'll see how much I can get for the old one sans-power-adapter... But yeah, pretty happy about the new hardware!

Otherwise, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is my current jam; needed me some mindless, popcorn, narrative-driven FPS goodness.

...And again, and again...

Marvel Puzzle Quest's reward structure feels too spare, while Adventure Time Puzzle Quest just seems to keep losing everything from treasure to crafted items... I'm balming sync issues? Still, they're both mostly enjoyable and make a decent time-killing tandem.

Alien: Isolation keeps losing me, so it went back on the backburner while I gave Arkham Origins another go. Can't quite put my finger on it, but Origins just doesn't feel right... It all just feels so shallow now; no amazing setpieces like the previous entries in the series.

Speaking of Arkham, I guess PS4 is now definitively the best platform for Arkham Knight... So there's that.

Anyway, Hotline Miami 2 is still brilliant gameplay, but not as groundbreakingly brilliant of a package as the first one; feels more scattered while still kinda samey; different kind of impact.

Finally, Fallout: Haven't tried 4 yet, but went back and revisited 1,2, and 3... And then considered getting back to Borderlands because the dialogue was starting to grate on me... And then realised that all I really wanted to do was play RAGE again... And again...

The Quest continues...

Giving the Adventure Time and Marvel Puzzle Quests another chance, alternating between the two whilst waiting for parties to heal... Adventure Time is still iffy, but neither's bad; I just really wish I could play offline :(

So... Far.

Windows 10 on the desktop? Solid. Windows 10 on a touchscreen laptop? Needs work; specifically, in tablet mode. Like, the design is sound, but it just doesn't quite work yet... Windows get lost to everything but the Task Manager, some apps have constant title bars that simply aren't there in desktop mode, and Solitaire is buggy as all hell. I really like tablet mode, but man, I wish it wasn't such an afterthought :(

Finally...?

Got Windows 10 installed on the X1 Carbon; had to perform a clean installation of 8.1, then upgrade to 10 :\ Tablet mode is kind of interesting... I guess it's nice to be up-to-date.

So anyway...

I now have three amiibo: Toad because extra puzzles in Treasure Tracker, Green Yarn Yoshi because Yoshi's Woolly World bundle, and 30th Anniversary Mario - Classic Color because I found one in the wild and it looks really cool :)

Desert Golfing is rad.

Bloody Roar Extreme because why not?

Wario: Master of Disguise isn't as bad as I'd heard.

Yoshi Touch & Go is disappointing.

The Nexus 5X is too expensive next to the Moto X Play.

My ThinkPad X1 Carbon won't upgrade to Windows 10, and its display is ghosting... Thank goodness for warranties.

Uhm... What else... Ooh! Bought a Casio DG-10! :D

Tennis

Testing Windows 10 for deployment at work... It's kinda meh. I think I like 8.1 better. I mean, it's fine; it's pretty, yeah, but the windowed apps launched from the Start menu? Just not really feeling it yet. The new settings interface? Cool, but the Control Panel's still the place to be. No more Charms bar? Okay, that's totally sweet :) In terms of capitulation, I feel bad for Microsoft's unified cross-platform vision. As a production OS, however, 10's pretty solid so far.

Poo Brain

Why is Adventure Time Puzzle Quest so bad? Imprecise controls, server issues resulting in lost resources, arbitrary waiting periods, etc... It's almost pretty fun, but I just keep giving up :(

Double (Fine) Catching-Up

Sat down with Act 2 of Broken Age... Was alright; a few puzzles were pretty ridiculous and the ending was whack (à la RAGE). Not even mad; just a little underwhelmed.

Into Costume Quest 2 now; buggy, but still pretty fun so far.

Think I might try The Walking Dead again after this... Either that, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Four, or Ys Origin.

Blowing-off some Steam...

I didn't buy anything during the latest Steam/GOG/Humble sales.

Almost worth it...

Finally found a Toad amiibo! Accessing extra content in Treasure Tracker should not have been that difficult :(

Also, found complete copies of Missile Command 3D and Ruiner Pinball for Jaguar!

Freedom Wars hasn't quite been doing it for me; such a slow start.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is pretty... And kinda fun... And awfully simplistic so far :(

Honestly, I haven't been playing or shopping much lately.

Kinda not.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse was great. Finished Killzone: Mercenary; it's gorgeous and also really fun and you should play it. Went back to Demon Gaze; too much mindless grind so far, but otherwise really cool. Hopped over to Freedom Wars... So weird; will report back.

P.S. Kirby's Dream Land 2 is kinda not a lot of fun.

What next?

Almost done Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, and it's just plain delightful; familiar but innovative, improving on many aspects of the series, and generally being the best Metroid-Light it can be. Looking forward to Half-Genie Hero, but kinda wishing it was portable.

Also, this guy at a flea market asked me for $80 for complete copies of Brain Dead 13 (v1.1) and Star Control II for 3DO because he had no idea... That's, like, $250 worth of stuff on a good day, but they weren't mint... I gave him $100.

Took me long enough...

Finished Risky's Revenge, and it was near-perfection. Every issue from the first game was addressed in the second. I found a couple of enemy designs to be problematic (the mermaids and skeletons slowed everything down to the point that it was better to just avoid them) and some of the fetch quests and story twists toward the end felt like filler (e.g. A coffee run!?), but it was still a good time. Just getting into Pirate's Curse now; so pretty!

This bodes well...

So I'm almost done Shantae, and it's great as long as I can play it on my 3DS and totally cheat by exploiting emulator savestates :\ Seriously, it's an incredible technical achievement with so much character... But so very, very broken from a design standpoint. It's like Metroid-light made stupidfrustratinghard to offset the lightness of the Metroidness.

I also got a little impatient and jumped-ahead to Risky's Revenge and Pirate's Curse to see what's up, and they seem to've fixed everything! Stoked.

Just terrible.

I picked-up a complete copy of Cave Story 3D because Cave Story is awesome and Cave Story 3D is kinda rare and sought-after. I'd heard mixed things about the 3DS remake, and... Well, they were being generous. That remake is offensive. I absolutely adore the original, and I guess 3D has some cool packaging, but yeah... No.

Convolution

Current plan:

1. Buy a New 3DS XL and a 32GB microSD card.
2. Transfer the contents of the 32GB SD card in my current 3DS XL to the New 3DS XL.
3. Put the 32GB SD card in my Wii U.
4. Transfer everything from my Wii to my Wii U.
5. Sell my 3DS XL with the originally-included 4GB SD card.
6. Use my Wii as a GameCube because cheap 480p.

Bouillabaisse

The nearly-five-year-old 64GB OCZ Vertex SSD in that Core i5 2500K system I mentioned a few posts back up-and-died yesterday; replaced it with a 128GB Samsung 840 EVO for $83... Amazing how prices have dropped.

Anyway, Shantae's labyrinths kick ass, but it's overworld seriously sucks; currently most excited about finding more baby warp squids so I can minimise dealing with that shit. I really hope the next two games have addressed this, 'cause they all look really pretty!

Also, Club Nintendo closeout! Gotta recommend Donkey Kong (Game Boy), EarthBound, Link's Awakening DX, Super Metroid and Yoshi's Island as must-play classics if you don't already have them. So far I've snagged Doc Louis's Punch-Out, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, and Minis on the Move with just over 500 coins left to blow.

Brutal!

Started playing the original Shantae in earnest and the difficulty curve is friggin' upside-down! The audiovisual design is absolutely gorgeous and the Metroid-style gameplay is solid, but the combat mechanics are problematic, to say the least... Can't wait to level-up some so I can actually enjoy what's on offer here and move-on in the series.

No, wait... Argh.

Azure Striker Gunvolt was totally my jam until it hit me with a mandatory boss-rush level... I hate that shit!

At least Super Mario 3D World and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker are downright delightful.

Wheee!

...But you know what is awesome on 3DS? Azure Striker Gunvolt! First Mega Man-style game I've been able to really get into since Rockman & Forte.

Argh.

Remember how I said Sonic Lost World on 3DS was swell? It's not. I was wrong. It blows. Hard. Like Sonic Adventure, certain styles of levels are fun... The other 75% of the game is painful.

You're kidding, right!?

Thought I was almost done Bravely Default, but it turns out I hafta play through it again... Not just a "new game+" kind of thing, but I actually hafta go redo a whole bunch of stuff; so I check an FAQ to see what other crap is in there, AND I HAFTA DO IT THREE MORE TIMES AFTER THAT!? FIVE FUCKING TIMES TO FINISH THE GAME! One of the most fun grinds I've experienced in years just stopped being fun, friends.

Anyway, Sonic Lost World on 3DS is pretty swell, Skullgirls is sweet (though not as polished as I expected), Shovel Knight is blowing me away (and I never really even liked Mega Man), and Super Time Force Ultra is kinda ridiculous.