September 2021 Entry:
Didn't sleep much this month. Apologies for a late post too because as of typing this (10.16), I was sick the last few days. The draft with links and everything was all ready before then.
PS: I seem to have strayed from doing this at some point, but I'm adding any purchases to the MISC section.
MISC=========================
- Thanks to those that remembered. It was actually the first time in a long time I didn't hang out with anyone (most were busy). But a 2 hour drive singing was very therapeutic.
- Another car trip to do a few things (09.04). First was to go to a different GameStop to pick up a copy of Little Nightmares II that was on sale. On the way back, I went to a place I discovered a couple days ago called Sugar Rush. There was lots of good stuff on their online menu. I was surprised that it was a small shop. Apparently they had been open since 2017. I got a Choco Oreo as a for-sure flavor I would like and then a Strawberry Crunch per the recommendation of the worker. Both were really good and not super sweet so I could eat a lot of it at a time. And finally, got some deliveries from Limited Run Games.
- These OREO Brownies are very rich and thick (09.05). As of typing this (10.16), I still have one, but I'm saving it for another day.
- While looking to get my annual gift for collection purposes, I ended up getting a wonderful import deal (09.07). The latest collection I want to collect are all the Bust A Move/Groove games. I already own US Bust A Groove 2 and Dance Summit 2001. I was only looking for the Japanese Bust A Move 2 because it is the cheaper out of the series, but ended up finding an import store on eBay that had a deal for both Japanese versions of Bust A Move and the Japanese version of Parappa The Rapper. Basically I got all 3 games for the price of one. And I know I stumbled upon it by chance. I had a few other choices where they had Bust A Move 2, but I remembered that it comes with a green jewel case. Most sellers didn't have that. And that is how I found that store and I'm so glad I did. Not only did I get the game I wanted, but I got another game from the collection and more, yay.
- There was a point where descriptions for Twitch highlights got wonky. So old stuff with links come out odd looking, spacing and paragraphs were not good, etc. I don't know when I started doing this, but I went back and put my "going live" posts (minus hashtags and links) into the VOD descriptions and finished it halfway through the month (09.16). Since then, I've been putting them in there.
- Had my shortest Ring Fit session (09.16). It was 16 minutes and 2 seconds. 50 seconds less from my previous time. If I recall, it was 2-3 stages and 2 boss fights. So it was a short session, but not an easy one.
- I had an issue logging into my My Nintendo account (09.20). The 2FA was turned on and I couldn't get it to work no matter how much I tried. So I ended up calling customer service. It wasn't a long call and they resolved my issue by turning off 2FA from their end leaving me with the option to log in and turn it back on if I wanted to. But the stand out was the customer service agent, Lilly. While she was checking on her end for something, she asked me what game I was planning to play next. That surprised me. At the time it was Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. She asked what it was since she never heard of it. After I explained what it was, she mentioned the kind of games she played. I remarked how I never had been asked that any previous times I called Nintendo customer support and thanked her for that and her help as it really was a high point and one of the easiest customer support calls I've had. Thanks, Lilly.
- Speaking of customer service, I had to call TWC about my unemployment status (09.19). I thought I wasn't eligible, but it seemed like I was since I was sent the same file I've been receiving every 2 weeks. This story continues in October.
- After some talk on stream and messaging off stream, I made a trade with GToTheNextLevel for his Mega Yarn Yoshi (09.22). It was one I would look for every now-and-then, but knew it was higher than what I'd like to pay for it. But yay for trading locally with friends.
- 200 posts on Instagram (09.25). This set of hundred was all over the place in terms of engagement. Some games that I thought would gain lots of views/likes didn't while other random ones did. Oh well. It continues. More interaction please outside of me deleting posts asking to DM them for collaborations etc.
WRESTLING=====================
- All Out...wow (09.05). Punk is back, Ruby Soho debuts, and the double surprise debuts of Adam Cole and Brian Danielson. Insane.
- And new WWE Champion...Big E (09.13)!
- One of the best things going on in wrestling; the InDex Wedding (09.14). When they first started the silliness, I really wanted it to happen. At some point I realized Dexter Lumis' first words we would hear him say in NXT would be "I do." It did not disappoint.
- Extreme Rules 2021 (09.27) was fun. got 100% of my predictions correct. Lots of good stuff this month in wrestling.
H.E.R.========================
- A positive memory from my time at H.E.R. was when they threw me a surprise birthday. We had been doing it for all members of the staff, but I honestly did not expect one for me because I always request the day off on my birthday. I've been doing that for as long as I can remember working. It happened the day before and I was asked to do a quick meeting with management at the time to set up a new way to show new trainees how to use our booking system. Agents Majordomo and Yeti set us up to talk in our staff room and underneath our security monitor, which in hindsight was smart so I wouldn't casually look up to possibly see the staff running around to set things up. I forget how long we were talking, but it had to have been 10-15 minutes and in between sessions with another one not pending until later. We came up with a plan for recording the process of using the booking system and (I think) were going to start recording. Got up and started walking out of the staff room, but that's when the staff came in with a cake and cheering etc. I was very much caught off guard and very surprised. Everyone got their hugs and we ate the cookies & cream ice cream cake that was at some point figured out was my favorite. If I remember, Agent Majordomo might have said out loud "what's everyone's favorite flavor of ice cream" and everyone answered, ha. The one big thing that sticks out from that is that Agent PQ was there. She was on leave of absence from work due to school I believe. And if I remember correctly, she was the first person that entered for the surprise and was the one holding the cake. I'll never forget the surprise, but I'll never forget that Agent PQ was there for me.
GAMES=========================
- Best Friend Forever was really good (09.01). I liked how the dog you adopt is very much active while you're talking to any of your suitors and that you have a goal for it as well; to graduate from dog school. One thing I would hope could be improved on for a future release is that there was more interaction between your dog and our partner. Other than the dog possibly pooping or running after something while talking, that only matters to the dog. I would like to play this game again, most likely as a community challenge and for chat to control all the choices outside of picking the same dog and partner I chose.
This was also the day of the Twitch black out. I didn't post that I was going live outside of my Discord and anyone that has notifications on for the app. Hence no photos for finishing the game even though I took them.
- Demo Showcase 72 is the first Demo Showcase to be split into multiple parts (09.03). I forget if it was due to the internet dropping or the power going out. I'm surprised we've gone that long without that happening.
- Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (09.05)
- Rocket League (09.06)
- I had been wanting to replay Arcade Archives SUNSET RIDERS for the longest time (09.08). I can't even remember the last time I played it (arcade or SNES), but I downloaded it right away and kept having to push it back on the schedule. Super fun.
- And this trio of games was something I had been looking forward to for a while as well; Mom Hid My Game! + Hide & Dance! + Mom Hid My Game! 2 (09.09). It was fun replaying the first game. Hide & Dance was challenging and had some really good songs. Wouldn't mind trying multiplayer. And the sequel to the first game was more of the same and even had a tease to making a third game in this series. I'd be down for that.
- Because of the Sunset Riders stream, GToTheNextLevel was inspired to do a western game stream (09.09). He played different versions of Sunset Riders and even mentioned playing Wild Guns. I casually asked if I could join and he agreed. So I was on voice chat with him as we ran through Wild Guns on the SNES Switch app. Good stuff. Thanks for having me on as a last minute guest.
- No More Heroes III...absolutely amazing (09.11-09.13). Usually when I beat a game, I type a summary within the 2000 character post limit. I wrote close to 10000 for this one. I tried to keep it short, but there was so much I wanted to talk about. The story...my goodness. It's shocking and gives you more motivation than necessary. The combat is the smoothest and fluid in the series. The skill tree and add-ons are good additions. The clothing you can acquire is fantastic. There is a lot to do and a lot to collect, which I almost was able to do within the 3 streams. Any negatives were knit-picky. A wonderful way to bookend the series. And as of playing and finishing the game, No More Heroes III is my game of the year.
- The Almost Gone was a favorite from Demo Showcase 54. Got it on sale for 80% off and needed a day to play it (09.17). I was surprised to see chat be as invested as they were. Very clever puzzles. The story is not a happy one and the ending could fall flat for some, but I think it was intentional to not have something definitive to go with the overall mood the story had been going through.
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove was voted on as the game Discord wanted me to replay (09.19-09.21). Specifically played through Shovel of Hope, Plague of Shadows, and Specter of Torment since King of Cards and Showdown were streamed a couple of years ago. The biggest downside to the whole series was a poor performance of Plague of Shadows. Had I not done bad, I know I would have 100% like the other two. Regardless, they all hold up well.
- Demo Showcase 73 (09.23)
- Last free game I got for free (ownership discount) from Qubic Games that I own; Coffee Crisis (09.24). Very, very tough even on easy. Mainly because there can be around 20 enemies on screen at one time and they're all going after you.
- And our last Nakana.io game I got for free (ownership discount) that I owned; Journey of the Broken Circle (09.26). Another game I was surprised to see the chat be invested in. The characters might be shapes and inanimate objects, but they went through a very real and very relatable story. Thumbs up.
- Psycho Dream was our SNES game of the month (09.27). It was a short, but decent action platformer. The main reason I chose Psycho Dream and Ninja JajaMaru-kun for this month was because they were both Japanese exclusive titles.
- Escape First 2 was the 3 year stream anniversary (09.29). The actual anniversary date is the 28th. Per usual, I had a guest and it was KrispyChicky. We played Escape First 2 coming off of playing Escape First last year with WhoaEmGee. The escape rooms weren't so great this time around. Some puzzles were interesting, but some things they did were baffling. It definitely brought a lot of memorable moments like when Krispy guessed a password and then we solved the puzzle for that password 10-15 minutes later. I'm glad to have her be my guest to suffer along with me, ha.
Two surprising things happened afterwards. One, got my first hype train. I figured it would have been possible to celebrate the anniversary. We got to level 3 and it was fantastic. Thanks to all that contributed to that. Two, we pretty much did a Just Chatting stream for 2 hours after finishing the game. It has happened a few times where the game is done and I'm ending the stream and chat wants to talk, but never this long. They asked questions and we shared answers/stories. I hope those that listened understand a little more of how and why I do things for the stream.
Thank you to all that showed up for the anniversary stream. Best one so far.
ETC=========================
- ITZY - LOCO (MV)
- ITZY - SWIPE (MV)
I actually prefer SWIPE over LOCO. It did take me a while to like LOCO itself. Plus SWIPE is the first time one of their b-sides get me right away.
- TWICE - The Feels (MV)
Wasn't sure how I would feel about their first English single, but I'm enjoying it a lot.
- Got 4 hours of sleep (09.25). It wasn't the only night I lacked sleep this month (and beyond) and I know why. Reaching my mid-life crisis. I've mentioned it to a few friends, but yeah...it's something I think about a lot. I'm not where I want to be in many aspects of my life. Please help me.
- That's a wrap on September 2021. Thanks for reading. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
