Weekend Blog Log (May 31, 2015)

Here I sit amidst a storm. It is dark outside, and rumbles of thunder can be heard in the distance. Why hast thou forsaken me O sunlight!? It has been a dark, and gloomy week here in Georgia. There's been rain, and storms every damn day. The real sh*t kicker is that there's another week's worth of it on the way. I personally have not, in the years I've lived here known of rain, and storms being so constant, and severe. I had expected a bad spring, and summer because of the lack of a disastrous winter, but Mother Nature has really been out to punish the people of the US this year. Did we invoke some sort of biblical wrath, or something??? It sure seems that way. I wouldn't be surprised if a news forecast popped up saying California is now a floating island due to an earthquake, seriously. Anyways I'm not here to babble on about my misery amidst the maelstrom. I'm here to give you an update on my week, and weekend as usual.

Getting past the fact that it's been an unusually stormy week I did manage to find some dry spells in which I gamed like a madman. The games I turned to this week included Destiny, Mortal Kombat X, a little USF4 on the PS4, and 'Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy" which is my latest review project. When it comes to Destiny, and it's new "House of Wolves" expansion I've spent countless hours grinding away for new gear, and weapons. Speaking of which yesterday happened to be my luckiest day in that I scored three new legendary weapons, a piece of legendary chest armor, and a badass legendary ship called the, "Scorpio Miracle". I've never been that lucky in Destiny. Not since it's official launch, at least.

Beyond the grindfest that is Destiny I also took the time to enjoy some offline, and online Mortal Kombat X. I have gotten rather good with Erron Black, and have stuck with him in each online encounter. My current wins in both 'Player', and 'Ranked' are higher than my losses, which is no easy feat amongst cheaters. As far as using other characters go I really do need to train up with my secondary character Kitana. Having the time to memorize her specials, fatalities, and brutalities has not been a possibility due to review work though. Review work demands my full attention, and focusing on details in a complex JRPG can really make you forget things in other games that you play on a regular basis. Eventually I will train up with Kitana, so that she's as natural as Erron Black. That is my goal.

Another fighter I bought recently, and have turned my attention to is the botched port of "Ultra Street Fighter IV" on the PS4. It was supposed to be the "PERFECT" version, but upon release it was so broken, and messed up that no one in their right mind would give it praise. I could not understand how a port could get so screwed up in an upgrade translation. I actually went on a rant on twitter about all the things I encountered while I played the game in the offline, and online scenarios. Capcom really took a pie to the face allowing the game to be released in the state that it was. I think allowing another company to handle the port, and the netcode really hurt the game's potential. Currently the PS3 version of USFIV plays more smoothly online, and offline than the PS4 port does, and that's a seriously bad thing considering the PS4 is new-gen technology.

As far as "Operation Abyss" goes I've found that it is a deeply involved horror/sci-fi anime JRPG that requires the usual NISA grinding. The character management is the most meticulous part of the game while the actual dungeon-crawling experience takes a side seat due to the repetitive implementation of creature designs, and map layouts. At this point in my playthrough I've not yet formed a a solid opinion though as I'm still early into said playthrough. I'm hoping things pick up in pace, and enjoyment once I get my six man/woman Xth Squad up to par for the battles ahead. I really want to finish the game before the June 9th release date, but seeing how my progress has been hindered multiple times at just the third mission that goal might not be reasonable. I will, however try to keep you guys updated on my in-game findings to give you a proper feel for what the game has to offer in case you are entertaining the possibility of buying it for your PS vita.

I think that about wraps things up for this week. I imagine I'll likely not get much gaming done today due to storms. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some breaks in the coming week for gaming, and review work. I do hope so ... Anyways I hope everyone had an Awesome week, and weekend. I hope that you rested up, and that you are ready for the week ahead of you. You've gotta put the work in so that the weekend time off feels more deserved, and worthwhile. Until next game on my friends!

Your Last Samurai,
Brad C. (OtakuDante)