Keri Honea - 9/183 - Strategy Guide Reviews

Gaming Diary: 2017 SGDQ Blues

July 10, 2017 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Summer Games Done Quick came to a close Saturday night/Sunday morning, and thus, Twitch is no longer playing on my PC or TV 24/7. I feel a bit empty. It’s almost the same feeling you get after binge-watching an entire series of a show on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Now that I think about it, it’s the same feeling you get after finishing a really long, 40-hour-plus RPG. I’m left wondering what am I going to watch all day now. Sure, I have the VODs I can watch for all the streams I missed. In fact, I’m going to be doing that for most of this week. But it’s not the same.

Games Done Quick happens twice a year, and it’s become my favorite video game event in existence. I can’t thank Chris enough for introducing speedrunning to me. This run I donated for the first time, and I’m proud I was part of the $1.7 million raised over the week for Doctors without Borders. I’m even happier I finally saw a “kill the animals” run during the Super Metroid race, which was insane as usual.

I am excited about EVO happening this weekend, but speedrunning holds a special place for me. I need to find more speedrun tournaments to watch while I’m at my computer. I’m officially a speedrun addict, even though I’ll never attempt it myself.

As for games I have been playing, I’ve been too busy watching people play games to play many myself. I did get through Thieves’ Town in A Link to the Past, which was far better than goddamn Skull Woods. I started Ice Palace as well, and so far, I like that palace far better than Skull Woods. Crazy I only have three crystals to go before taking on Ganon’s Tower. This will be the first old school Zelda game I finish!

Yes, I never finished the first one. I always get to Level 7 and then get bored and quit.

Monday Gaming Diary: Burn the Skull Woods to the Ground

July 3, 2017 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

As the post title suggests, I have been working my way through A Link to the Past on my 3DS. I have no idea which attempt this is to try the game, but I am the farthest along I’ve ever been. I’m about halfway through the game, maybe less. I might have tolerated this game back in the day, because all games then had this much of a challenge. Little direction, unforgiving enemies, and a general feeling of floundering about. Miyamoto said that was his intention with the first Legend of Zelda game, because he wanted people to talk to one another for clues and tips. H wanted people to link together and discuss the game, hence why the hero was named Link. He’s a crafty one, Miyamoto-san.

I don’t have people to talk to for help, but I do have a strategy guide (that isn’t great) and I have my knowledge from watching speedruns. However, I can barely call that knowledge, as I have quickly learned that they make all of this seem so easy. I’m sure it is if you play this game to completion at least once a day. For the newbie, the game is brutal.

Case in point, I finished Skull Woods last night. I’m fairly certain I had 25-30 deaths ALONE in that dungeon. Dying that much gave me two things: a sharp need to toss my 3DS across the room and memorized strategies for rooms. What made it all worse was that I didn’t always have to repeat a room because I died. The Wall Masters are responsible for at least a third of my deaths, if not three-fifths. There’s nothing quite like FINALLY completing a room, only for a Wall Master to drop on your ass before you can even leave the freakin’ doorway.

And then there’s that lovely moth boss at the end! In the room of conveyor belts and spiked balls! I went through a red potion and a fairy, I still beat it with only 2 hearts left. I apparently need to study speedrunners’ strats better with that boss. Then again, no I don’t, because there’s no way I’m playing this game again.

I treated Chris to a barrage of angry texts about Skull Woods. I’m sure I amused him greatly. I’ve heard a lot of speedrunners say that Skull Woods is their favorite dungeon. To you all, you’re feckin’ nuts. I’m ready to burn the whole place down, the Dark World environment be damned.

Gaming Diary: So Much A Link to the Past

June 26, 2017 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

Chris mentioned in his Corner of Randomness that we’ve been sucked into a Link to the Past Randomizer Speedrun Tournament. I haven’t been able to watch the whole thing, but I came in at a good time. The Bronze Medal matches took place over the weekend, and the Finals have been going on since Friday. The Finals had three games back-to-back on Sunday, which was both insane and exciting. The matches ended with the racers 2-2, so they have to go to a fifth game. Said fifth game is this afternoon. Excitement level is over 9000.

After watching so much ALTTP, I thought maybe I should give the game yet another try. I’m a bit of a better gamer than I was the last time I tried it. Maybe this time will be it. Also, I picked up a ton of new strategies from watching the players. This should be a snap.

I ran into one tiny problem, though. I’m not as good as they are. Not by a long shot.

They make it look so easy to avoid enemies. To save time, they dash through as much as possible, and they don’t fight any enemies unless they have to (to get a key or open a door or a boss). I was all, “THAT’S GENIUS!” In a Zelda game, fighting enemies does really nothing other than risk loss of hearts. It’s not like Link levels up from skirmishes. I do dash through everything and avoid fights as much as possible. But I don’t know the maps half as well as they do, probably not even a quarter. I don’t know the RNG a tenth as well as any of them. It’s easy for them to avoid enemies with ease because they know exactly how and where they will appear.

That said, I’ve learned a lot from their strats running through dungeons and fighting bosses. I always had a hard time with Armos, that first boss in the Eastern Palace. After watching that fight several times on Twitch, I tried one of their strategies, and lo and behold, it worked! It worked the first time, at that. I didn’t even lose any hearts. I pulled out my old strategy guide, which was released for the GBA port of A Link to the Past/Four Swords. It’s not as much of a strategy guide as it is guidelines for what to expect. No wonder I never got far each time I tried it. I’ve learned more from this weekend of watching a randomizer tournament than I have in a guide.

It’s an Official Nintendo Player’s Guide, as well. So much for those. Guess I know which guide I won’t be using whenever I decide to bite the bullet and give Ocarina of Time an honest go. (For the record, I have six different OoT guides. It’s…a long story.)

In Pursuit of Platinum: Odin Sphere Leifthrasir

June 19, 2017 By Keri Honea 4 Comments

I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get the Platinum Trophy for Odin Sphere Leifthrasir because of bronze trophy. I was certain I couldn’t get the trophy requiring an attack chain of 200. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get beyond 150. I figured it was beyond my skills, but I’d still try to get every trophy I could in the meantime. Turns out, I just needed the right character to get that chain. Once that trophy popped, oh it was game on.

I played the game any time I wasn’t working, taking care of the kids, or sleeping. It was rather easy to do since the story is so great. Some nights I stayed up too late playing, thanks to the riveting story. Now that I’ve unlocked every cut-scene, I’ve been tempted to watch them all in chronological order. I like the pulp fiction way of telling the whole story, and I could see how the pieces fit together. I still think it would be interesting to watch them all in order (which you can do) and get the whole, clear picture.

Seeing every possible cut-scene and ending in the final book was also incredibly worth replaying those bosses for. To see all of the endings, you have to make wrong choices about who fights which of the five final bosses. All of those were heartbreaking, but it filled in other motivations, backstories, and gaps that made the true ending feel more complete. It takes at least four playthroughs of the final bosses to see everything. The only bad thing I have to say about the game is that it gave me hand cramps since I couldn’t stop playing.

By Saturday, the Platinum Trophy unlocked. I was part jubilant and part sad. I put in nearly 50 hours into the game. What was I going to do now? I always feel that way after finishing a game I really enjoyed. It’s akin to going through the stages of grief. I’m happy to have accomplished a goal, but now that it’s over, what will I fill my time with? Will the next game bring me as much joy? Am I ready to let these characters go and make new friends?

Other great games await, such as Horizon: Zero Dawn. Question is, which game will I next pursue a Platinum?

Gaming Diary – E3 is Distracting

June 14, 2017 By Keri Honea Leave a Comment

It hit me last night that I hadn’t written my Gaming Diary for the week. What in the world have I been doing? I’ve been way too distracted by E3.

I’m not there this year, which is weird. I wasn’t there in 2013, but that was only because I was 8 months pregnant. This is the first time since 2010 that I’m not going because I’m not affiliated with any press outlet. I have to say, it’s rather relaxing watching all the press conferences from the comforts of home. Been working on one monitor while the pressers stream on the other. My cell battery is lasting quite a bit longer too, as I’m not battling anyone for Wi-Fi or cell tower bandwidth. Then there’s fact I’m eating and sleeping far better than I would be if I was there.

I do miss seeing my friends, and I miss meeting up with my strategy guide contacts and talking the state of guides. That’s part of what is weird. The other part that’s weird is watching the press conferences and seeing where I normally sit. It’s like watching people sit at a bar or a restaurant at your table. That’s my table. I sit there. But now I’m not; I’m on the outside, looking in.

But I am able to do something from home I couldn’t do while at the show—watch gaming tournaments. Nintendo is hosting three invitationals this week, and I’m having a blast watching them. I never had time to stand around outside the Nintendo booth to watch these matches. E3 is always about running from one appointment to the next, usually in different halls, shoving $7 pizza down your throat on the way, and trying to find time to write about what you’ve seen. This E3 I’m watching gaming tournaments. It’s a toss-up which is better.

I’m also able to play Odin Sphere Leifthrasir whenever I want (a/k/a after I get my work done). At E3, the work is never done. The only free gaming time I have at the show is checking my StreetPasses. I’m still loving every minute with OSL. When I realized I can watch any of the unlocked cut-scenes from any chapter, I’ve spent an hour just rewatching the cut-scenes in chronological (not chapter) order. The story is so great, I’ll probably reread/rewatch these cut-scenes multiple times. I’m such a sucker for fantastical lore and love stories.

Then maybe I’ll be ready for the crazy open world game waiting for me in my backlog. Did you see how many were presented at E3? It’s all zombies and open world this year.

From the press conferences alone, here are the games I’m looking forward to the most from the show: