May 2023 Entry:
May spelled backwards is yam. I might have used this before over the years. Apologies for the lateness of this entry. June was busy.
MISC=========================
- Backlash 2023 was so damn fun (05.06). That Puerto Rico crowd was loud all night and it made every match feel more important. Zelina Vega's entrance and gear and Bad Bunny's match with the surprise appearances, my goodness. I still go back and listen to the crowd's reactions.
- The History of American Gladiators: From Horse Manure to Steroids to Phenomenon
- Got my copy of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (05.12). Went to pick up my amiibo from GameStop and my collector's edition was delivered about 15 minutes after I drove out, ha. Then when I got home, the ToTK pro controller had arrived as well. Took pictures and posted them and then started playing.
And I had a bad time. There were plenty of parts where I died a lot or things I crafted didn't work. Crafting was something I knew from the trailer that was going to make it or break it for me and it broke it for me. While there are multiple ways to solve puzzles or traverse, forgoing crafting made the adventure very slow. It really took about a week for me to find a groove with the game and find a decent pace to work at. Despite not having as much fun with it, it was the game I would play between streams. I beat it in June so I'll delve more into it then, but those reading now, my initial first week with the game was not fun for me and was the reason I stayed away from streams of it or engaging in conversations online about it as everyone was liking it and I didn't want to be a wet blanket about it.
- The arm rest for my chair came off again (05.13). Same side. I'm not even bothering with it. I take it off when I don't stream and am extra careful not to lean on it when I put it on for streams. I most likely will get rid of the chair once streams are over.
- Got my physical copy of Sky Racket (05.14). This actually came in at the same time as Tears of the Kingdom, but figured to let it have its own post. It was the favorite from Demo Showcase 95 and will be played in August for that month's theme.
- 75 streams remaining (05.15). I haven't been consistently talking about it here, but you can see all of the photos I've been sharing. They are getting a little more attention as here and there someone mentions there or in streams "what happens at the end of the countdown" or something similar.
- Went to the dentist for a cleaning (05.17). Not much of an update there other than I need to floss more. Afterwards I decided to get lunch at McDonald's since I wanted nuggets. Ordered a 10 piece with some buffalo sauce (my normal choice of sauce). Got home and there were only 9 pieces...and they gave me tangy sauce. Disappointing. What cheered me up from that mis-order was playing the newly released Chrono Pack for Theatrhythm. Great picks.
- And since I knew I wanted to relax after the dentist and lunch, I watched Doctor Strange (05.17). I really wanted to see the sequel so I figured watching the first one was in order. Not bad. I wasn't super familiar with the character outside of minimal knowledge so getting more lore on him was a plus.
- Agent Ocean has been back from Portland for a while. Shortly after, he started working at Escapology and reached out about working there. I let him know of the streaming plans so the soonest I'd be able to is in October. He said he'd keep that in mind. In the meantime, we made plans to reunite some of the crew together to do one of the rooms there. It was myself, Agent Blue, Agent Majordomo, and Agent PQ tackling Scooby-Doo and The Spooky Castle Adventure (05.21). In general, it was good seeing all of them in person again. Secondly, we escaped of course. The room itself wasn't bad, but there were a few things that we had questions about. Majordomo and PQ had to leave shortly after. Blue and I chatted outside for a bit before going back in to talk with Ocean some more. Good times with good people.
- Ever since the dentist, I've been waking up around 7AM. I only realized it a week later. Even as I'm typing this (06.12), it hasn't changed. Even if I sleep early/late, I'm still getting up around that time as opposed to the usual 8AM for the past few years. I think I'm used to it, but I wouldn't doubt if things shifted back around July.
- I thought I was going to see the credits roll on Fitness Boxing (05.28). There were only one two achievements left with the last one being "get all the achievements." Dialogue was happening, I was presented with new exercises, and then EX Achievements were given. Granted some were simple ones like giving the trainers outfits they liked/disliked. But the bulk is spending 30 hours with each trainer. While others I can approach with a plan, the simple task of spending time with them is still a large chunk of time. It's attainable, but it doesn't motivate me to do more than I already am.
- NXT Battleground 2023 was great (05.28). NXT doesn't disappoint. For those still thinking it's the 2.0 era, it's moved on for a long time now. And if anything else, their women's roster is one of the best. Specifically for this PLE, holy geez that Dijak and Dragunov match.
- Ended the month with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (05.31). Insane visuals. The things I heard about the movie were amazing to see. Definitely like the Scarlet Witch being part of it. I would have liked more multiverse hopping, but I can understand not wanting the movie audience to get very lost.
GAMES=========================
- Deponia Doomsday was the last game in the Deponia Collection (05.01-05.02). It's crazy how all of it played out. Not sure if I liked this ending more than the original ending, but I liked it.
- Finished LOUD: My Road to Fame off-stream (05.03). I'm glad that the main game had more songs and story added on to it outside of the DLC for My Trip to Japan. Nothing wrong with the DLC, but I definitely enjoyed the main game's songs more.
- MEGA MAN: THE WILY WARS was the Genesis NSO game of the month (05.04-05.06). Ended up beating each game twice including the Wily Tower. Wily Tower was okay, but I was there for the original trilogy of games. Overall, the games felt easier and that's not a bad thing. Mega Man games are tough and if this helps lower the bar of entry for newcomers, rad. It was great playing classic Mega Man after so many years.
It was brought up on stream, but some wondered why I didn't just do a one-off for this. That would have been doable, but I also didn't want to get burnt out on Mega Man. Even when the Mega Man Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection games were up for vote in Discord, the plan would have been to play them one at a time rather than try to speed through them all.
- Demo Showcase 109 had one big distinctive thing occur (05.08). We found one Switch game where you can play in TV and Handheld mode, but NOT in Tabletop. Very interesting. It made sense as we talked about it when it happened, but that is rare. Which demo was it? Guess you'll have to watch the VOD to find out.
- Business Tour was our free-to-play game of the month (05.09). It was Monopoly, but fast and with lots of customization for pieces and avatars. I probably could have kept going, but I was satisfied with what I got from it. Definitely recommend it.
- Beat BurgerTime Deluxe off-stream (05.10). I did this early in the morning too before having lunch. I don't know what compelled me to specifically play it then and there, but I did. I liked it. It's a good version of BurgerTime, but on the Game Boy.
- Lil Gator Game was so dang good (05.11). I had read about the praise the game got for being a cozy Breath of the Wild and that is very true. Not only that, but it's quite humorous and is written very well. The island isn't that big, but I still would have liked an in-game map you could pull up. Thankfully they give you items to help you find what you're missing post game. It was a great game to 100% complete and is in my top 3 games I've played this year.
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga was our GBA NSO and RPG of the month (05.14-05.16). This was a joy to replay. The humor still holds up, the gameplay is solid, and the music is great. The final boss took way too long and that is something I forgot completely. Other than that, it comes recommended. It's a great start to that RPG series.
- Once Upon a Jester was the 10th community challenge (05.20). That goal was reached April 10th. And it is hilarious. Even if you watched me play it live or the VOD, you could watch someone else play it and they do things differently. Whether you play it yourself or watch somebody else play it, you will have a good time.
- Out of Line was the favorite from Demo Showcase 90 (05.22). It actually kept getting pushed back on the schedule so I figured to give it a definitive day; one year after trying the demo. Other than a small issue with the control (the control stick will whip back if you let it go instead of holding in place as you throw the javelin), the game was a nice bite-sized adventure that doesn't overstay its welcome. I'd recommend it on sale only after you've tried the demo to see if the controls are cool with you.
- God of Rock was a game I was interested in once I first learned about it (05.25). A fighting and rhythm game. Mainly I was curious how that would work. Thankfully, it was okay. It's big and flashy with larger than life characters that exude huge personalities. The mash up of the genres worked okay. You hit the proper notes as the ride into the screen. The more precise, the better your strikes are and the more meter you build. The fighting part is putting in simple inputs for supers and specials. It's unfortunate that you miss a lot of the action as you need to pay attention to the notes in order to hit them and that's relegated to one corner of the screen. There's potential, but this is a good base for another rhythm fighter.
- There is a reason I played Doodle God: Evolution (05.27). It was part of Demo Showcase 16 (stream 114). The demos tried were Aperion Cyberstorm, BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!, Doodle God: Evolution, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, and Ninja Village. I owned BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! prior to trying the demo. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom was the favorite and was played a year later. Ninja Village was voted on from a list of Kairosoft demo favorites by Discord and was played in 2022. And Aperion Cyberstorm was played later that same year after I was gifted the game from the developers after Double Pug Switch crashed and wiped my save (which they still haven't figured out why). So Doodle God: Evolution was the last one on that list and thought it would be awesome to have one Demo Showcase have each demo featured in full on stream. I looked up a guide to help with the combinations as there are so many things to create. And it was fine. However...no one showed up. It's been a while since I had a stream where no one showed up. Sure, the game isn't one that would grab a large audience, but I thought at least the tag of this being stream history for a Demo Showcase would have garnered some interest. I was wrong and I felt really down after the stream was over.
- F-ZERO was the SNES NSO game of the month (05.30). Never owned it, but either rented it or a cousin had it. Very nostalgic. Still tough. But the music and gameplay still holds up. We finished every course, but the credits didn't roll. I counted it as a win. The only other thing was beating it on harder difficulties, but I was having enough of a challenge on the easiest mode.
ETC=========================
- TWICE - Hare Hare (MV)
- Muscle spasm update. It's gone...for the most part. I still make sure to be careful, but things like getting up from a lying down position or getting in and out of a car don't hurt anymore. I'm back to exercising like normal minus a few things. But if I do feel any pain, it does form around where the muscle spasm originated. I'm glad I don't have to worry about it as much now.
That's a wrap on May 2023. Thank you for your support. Be cool and be kind.
"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits."
