Category: Gaming

Comfort Games

You might think that ALL video games fall under the category of ‘comfort’ games – but in my case this just isn’t true. Some games are incredibly frustrating, some games cause a lot of anxiety, some games are just not very relaxing at all to play. Some require me to actually (gasp) pay attention and be fairly awake.

Then there are comfort games. Games I play that give me such a warm fuzzy feeling, that require a little bit of concentration but not too much, and are just so quaint I absolutely adore them. The first rendition of Cook, Serve, Delicious is one such game (for me at least). Even though you’re mashing keys as fast as you can to try to serve customers on time, I just find it therapeutic to be memorizing specific orders of keys and remembering what keys go to what foods. It’s like knitting (for me) which is a lot of memory exercises.

I even made a video or two of me playing it (you can find it on my youtube channel here)

You can imagine my surprise (and joy) when I learned that yesterday Cook, Serve, Delicous 2(!) released on steam. I had seen this ages ago listed on twitch as a game with no images at all and it sort of fell off my radar since then. I don’t have the budget to pick it up this month but I’m hoping to be able to get it before too long (I’m on steam as Stargrace if we haven’t joined up as friends yet). The graphics look cute, the game play looks relatively similar to the first game and I can’t wait to dive in and make horrible bits of food for people and upgrade my restaurant.

Do you have a comfort game? Let me know in comments!

Investing in a Handheld?

I currently own two consoles and one handheld. An ancient 3DS (not XL or anything like that, just a 3DS) a PS4 (Destiny 1 bundle edition), and a WiiU. The 3DS gets the most use these days, but they all get a little time here and there. I already made a post about otome last week when I was playing Amnesia, and I lamented over the fact that Nintendo is reluctant to put out any vs / otome type games, and that leaves me with steam / pc versions only (for the most part, I realize there are a few 3DS versions etc).

I wondered about getting a PlayStation Vita, and talked it over with the other half who seemed pretty supportive of my love of visual novels (along with JRPG and other PS only titles). The Vita isn’t too expensive, and I really feel that otome (and other games like that) are best played on a handheld where you can relax as you embrace the story and “play” (or read) it where ever you want.

Arislyn has been regaling me with tales of playing Collar x Malice, and there are quite a few other vn being released / that have been released – it would be nice to get a collection going for myself. So far I just have one non-steam physical copy. I’ve never owned a sony handheld before so I have absolutely zero experience with any of the products to date. I don’t know if it’s alright to buy it used (a-la-ebay) or if I’m better off investing in it new from the box. I’ll have to save up for it slowly, it’s not something I can just run out and buy (well, technically I could but it would be taking my budget away from something else, so I’d rather save up month by month) so I’ve got some time to figure things out first.

Have some advice? Know of a great otome I need to pick up? Selling a vita? Let me know in comments!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

That ONE Game

Lets face it, we probably all have a special spot (or two) for that game. A game we want to love, that we keep installed or maybe even keep a subscription to, but we don’t actually play it. Every time we work up the courage to log in something stops us from going further. I can’t be the only one, right?

For me that game is of course EverQuest 2 (and the original can probably fall under that umbrella too). Back in December of last year me and my husband found ourselves with a few extra hours while kiddo was asleep (typically on me) in the early morning hours, and we wanted something we could play together so we returned to Norrath. Even picked up the latest expansion. I subscribed for a year. What was I thinking! It has been ages since I played any game for a year straight let alone one that has fallen so far off my radar I shouldn’t even have it installed.

We played for a few months but then a combination of things happened. As kiddo started getting bigger he was awake more hours and wanted more attention. This baby has always been pretty high maintenance and that hasn’t changed. Then we got to a point in the game where we couldn’t get any more upgrades doing content with just the two of us, we would have to group – except finding a group and having time for that when I never knew when I would be called away was next to impossible.

The other half stopped playing first. No real surprise there, we may have met in EQ2 and it will always have a soft spot for us because of that, but the game has changed, the players have changed, WE have changed, and we were looking for things that just don’t exist for us in that game any more. I trudged on, convinced I could do something myself and that I wouldn’t need groups, or that I could invent a magical group that could complete content in the 15 minutes free I had.

Silly Stargrace.

Months go by, I don’t log in. Then EQ2Wire announces they’re shutting down and nostalgia rears its head and suddenly I find myself pushing the play button. I still have a subscription until December, wouldn’t I just like to peak in and see how things are.

It might have been different if channels worked and I saw any sign of life in game – but for some reason my global channels were all missing (I believe it has to do with a bug of copying another character’s UI) and I was once again in game alone. The last time anyone logged on in our small guild of three was almost a year ago. I don’t want to play an MMO alone. I’ve got a whole steam library of single player games for that. So I checked my broker (made 2k platinum, yay!) and logged out. Needless to say I won’t be renewing my subscription this time around.

I keep trying to find a magical MMO that I can play in the few brief moments I have here and there but lets face it that probably won’t happen again for a few more years. For now I’ll continue to flounder about, pretending to play games where I get nothing accomplished in the hopes that something will eventually stick. Guild Wars 2 is a good one since it has no subscription. I have been logging in daily and getting a few things done here and there but honestly I’m waiting for the expansion to go live – mounts sound exciting.

For everyone reading – what’s that one game you keep installed and you have good intentions about but you never actually end up playing it? Let me know in comments, I know it can’t just be me.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Goodbye, EQ2 Wire

Fan sites are essential to video games. They draw communities together and they help to create hype for the games we all love and share. They provide players with a ‘space’ out there on the internet, something creative that doesn’t have to constantly be monitored by those who run the games.

I remember Feldon very well even though we’ve never met in person. I served with him a number of years on the SOE community council (is that still a thing?) back when it was SOE and not Daybreak. He has always been incredibly opinionated, and sometimes that didn’t go over too well – but he was always honest and true to himself and his site which I admired in a huge way.  I’ve used his site countless times over the years, both when I was a hardcore EQ2 player and just to keep up on things while I was away. He brought honest and informative news to EverQuest 2 players for many MANY years in what can only be considered a thankless job.

Well, not completely thankless. A tough job though, that’s for sure.

I’m incredibly sad to see him shutting his doors after so many years. I think it will be a hard niche to fill as well as he did and I think that Daybreak is worse off for his leaving especially with the demise of sites like ZAM. I do wish him all the best and I completely understand his branching off to pursue other hobbies, we all have them even though video games may encompass a large portion.

So thank you, anyone and everyone who has worked on EQ2Wire. Dellmon, Feldon, and anyone else behind the scenes. Your presence will be greatly missed.

Amnesia: Memories

A friend told me a few weeks ago that Amnesia: Memories was discounted to $3.99 from the regular price of $32.99 (CAD) and of course in an effort to promote otome games as well as support developers I picked it up.

[Potential spoilers below, stop here if you plan on playing through yourself]

Right now I’m going through the Spade world, which involves myself and a character named Ikkyu. He comes off as quite a playboy, barely paying attention to the main character when he’s in public because of some ‘condition’ he has that causes people to fawn all over him. As the title of the game states, you wake up having amnesia, and not knowing who you are, what you were doing, or what you should be doing. You’ve also got a new little companion by your side (Orion) that only you can see and hear. In an effort of restoring your memories they take you through different moments in your life and you play detective, trying to piece together who you are.

Ikkyu knows something is up but he can’t figure out what. You’re not behaving the same as you normally do. He has this vision of you being incredibly prudish and depending on how you answer certain social situations he’ll call you out on it. As you develop the story line with him he leaves hints that it’s some sort of competition to win you over, and so your initial views of the guy are not very high. After all, who wants to date someone who ignores them when in public and who is just trying to win them over in a game! You also work for an odd cafe as a maid. It’s one of those cafes.

I haven’t gotten very far into things yet, but this is one of the better otome I’ve played, and I’m really taking my time and enjoying the story as well as the artwork. It’s a style that I find pleasing, which isn’t always the case. Bright colours, interesting designs, and a story that I find fascinating is just one of the reasons I suggest picking it up if you haven’t yet. I do hear that one of the story lines is quite disturbing, but I haven’t gotten there yet so I can’t talk about it but I’m already fascinated even if it is completely messed up. We’ll just have to see!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!