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The Corner of Randomness: Time To Get Busy

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I’m not going to be around much for the next month or so. It’s not because I’m bored or need to step away from blabbering on about this or that every week. Nope. It’s because my calendar seems to have gotten out of control before I could stop the wildfire of tasks, trips, and visits. In fact, if it had not been for my mother-in-law taking their dog out at 5AM, I wouldn’t be up to write this before I had to get outside to finish some sidewalk work.

Between now and November I have my in-laws here for another week. Then I have a 4×4 event to take photos of. Right after that I head to Colorado to chase fall colors in the Rockies. I get home and almost immediately take off again to go see my brother in Michigan for a hunting trip. Then it’s off to Wisconsin to teach a photography class. I think after all that, I get a weekend home. How did I let this madness all happen?

On the bright side, all this travel means I’ll get some lovely time with my 3DS. In fact, I’m really looking forward to some of this travel as it means I’ll get some time to play the new Metroid: Samus Returns game that is now out for the 3DS. Also, I’d be so full of crap if I didn’t admit I REALLY want the Metroid-themed New Nintendo 3DS. Damn it Nintendo, why did you have to make that when I didn’t have the coin for it?

Anyway, I’m gonna wrap this up so I can finish my coffee, throw on some work clothes, and brace for another day of mosquito bites, sweat, and manual labor. But first, coffee. Lots of friggin coffee!

The Corner of Randomness: Hello Destiny 2

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Destiny 2If the news of hurricanes, wild fires, droughts, and other horridness has kept you busy, then you should know that Destiny 2 is out now. Well, it’s out on consoles now with the PC version having to wait another month before that version will see the light of day. Yet, I’m not snagging Destiny 2 right away. I’m a bit sad by this, but not that sad.

You see, what made the original Destiny fun for me was playing with friends and family. There were the times I’d get up at 4AM so Blake and I could play through a new expansion. Just as we would finish and he’d head off to work, my brothers would be jumping into the game and I’d play through the expansion again. This would inevitably lead to various friends getting home from work and, wait for it, I’d do it all over…again.

That is what I will miss from not being able to snag Destiny 2 right away. I have heard the story is much improved over the first game. Not that it would take much as the story for Destiny was pretty weak. From what I’ve watched on Twitch.TV, it seems like there is quite a bit more to do. That is always a good thing. The game does look like the developers listened to some of the gripes of players, and made changes for the better.

Yet, as I watch streams of the game, it just looks like more of the same thing that I’ve already played. If you liked the first game, then this sequel should be great for you. For me, the part that I’m missing the most is just joking around with people, catching up with my brothers, and simply being able to play video games with friends that are hundreds of miles away. I guess I could always just call them to talk…psh, that’s such a 90s thing to do.

The Corner of Randomness: Back Into No Man’s Sky

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No Man's SkyNo Man’s Sky is surrounded by so much controversy that you could basically cut it with a knife and serve it on a platter to all the haters. There really is no middle ground when it comes to this game. People either enjoy the game, or they just crap all over it. I get it. No Man’s Sky promised a lot, but fell flat at launch. It was essentially a $60 early access title. Well, a year has now passed since the game released. Patches and content have trickled out in that time. So, I decided to see what all has changed.

To start, I enjoyed the game when it launched. It was more of a relaxing kind of game for me. Now that there is more content to it, the game is even more fun. I decided that I’d delete my old game and start anew. Might as well experience what all has been added.

I can say that the game is vastly improved. Simple things like refilling your life support systems, or adding fuel to your thrusters, is simplified and streamlined. There is still that annoying part where inventory management is a constant battle. Yet, there is more spaces to store materials, and it’s pretty painless to now send and retrieve stuff from your ship. Speaking of your ship, the ability to just call the ship to you as opposed to trying to find it is a welcomed addition. There is even a decent photo mode, and I love a solid photo mode!

No Man’s Sky now has a few new modes as well. There is a hardcore mode where when you die, that’s it. There is also a more relaxing creative mode. No more storage management issues as everything is available to those that just want to explore the universe, or build whatever their imaginations can cook up.

At this point, I don’t think anyone is going to change their mind on the game. Like I said earlier, I enjoyed the game at release, but these improvements make the game much more enjoyable. I know there is still some broken promises when it comes to what No Man’s Sky promised and what it delivered. However, it’s nice to see Hello Games continuing to support this game with new content and improvements, even with all the crap they have gotten over this title. If you own the game, patch it up and take a look at it. You might just be pleasantly surprised by how much the quality of life has improved on this game.

The Corner of Randomness: Randomize All the Things

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A Link to the Past randomizer tournamentI’ve noticed a big upswing in various games getting the randomized item treatment. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching a lot of A Link to the Past and Super Metroid randomizer runs as of late. Of which, the latest Entrance Shuffle mode for A Link to the Past is stupidly fun to watch. If you haven’t watched one of the Entrance Shuffle runs, you should seriously consider giving one a watch in the not so distant future! Yet, these are not the only games that now have a random item location mod.

Recently I was watching one of my favorite Dark Souls streamers playing two different types of mods for Dark Souls 1. There was an item randomizer run where the game had all the weapons, armor, and items randomized. So you never knew if he was going to get some sort of badass weapon from a boss, or if he was about to get trolled with some crappy item that really wouldn’t help him out.

The second run he did, he used a mod that made it so every three hits he scored on enemies/bosses would “level” him up. It would also assign some random gear to his character and level his stats appropriately to use said gear. If he got hit, he was back to level 1 with absolutely no gear outside of some basic weapon. This run was extremely entertaining to watch due to just how much skill went into trying not to get hit to lose an overly powerful setup.

Some other notable randomized games I’ve watched have been Mega Man X1, Pokémon Red, and even Super Mario Bros. Currently, all these randomizer runs exist due to mods or changing some code in the ROM that the people are playing. Yet, it has me wondering if we will soon see a developer take note of how much fun these types or games are and actually develop a game around this idea of randomizing where items appear in the game. I think it would be fun while adding a new level of challenge to video games. Hmmm, I wonder if SpeedGaming has anything on right now!

The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind Strategy Guide Review

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I finally have my Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind strategy guide review completed! I gotta say that this is one of the better MMO strategy guides that I have had the pleasure of reviewing. I mean, it wasn’t just maps and basic info. This one actually contained some useful tips and got me through the Morrowind expansion. Pretty cool. I only wish I had a guide to help me plow through all of ESO, but I don’t so I guess I’ll have to rely on the internet for that.

Bonus points to me for reviewing this while the solar eclipse was happening…and a thunderstorm was rolling through. That timing game…so good.

SGR Rating: 3.5/5

Author(s): David S. J. Hodgson, Michael Owen, Nick von Esmarch
Publisher: Prima Games
Editions available: Collector’s Edition, Kindle
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