Platinum, Baby!

On 12/20/2018 at 10:57 AM by Ranger1

I keep telling myself I'm going to be better at blogging, and I write a blog post, and then I disappear again. But then again, up until a few months ago, I hadn't been doing much gaming. And then I was too busy gaming to be bothered to blog. So, here's what I've been up to:

Gaming:

Dragon Quest XI - Last night, I mopped up the last of the trophies and quests in Erdrea and then went and defeated the post game boss. I think they ought to just call it Part 3 of the game and not the post game, though, because it's all the same story, and after you beat the final boss all the loose ends get tied up. All in all, I have to say it was my favorite of the Dragon Quest games and I really enjoyed my time roaming Erdrea. I ended up getting the platinum trophy, and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I'm guessing it took me somewhere around 228 hours to complete the game, not counting the time I took to grind casino tokens trying to earn enough for Jade's last costume so I could get the Dedicated Follower of Fashion trophy. That was a pain in the ass. I hate casino mini games.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Somewhere in the last part of DQ XI, I took a break and played through Shadow of the Tomb Raider. While I really liked it, I don't think it was anywhere in the same league as Rise of the Tomb Raider. I spent a large chunk of the game unable to use any weapons other than the bow. And while I like the bow, provided I have a protected position at a distance to shoot from, I really like have a pistol or a shotgun for close quarters and big, powerful enemies. I didn't think the story was as good as the two previous games, either. But I had fun, and in the end, that's all that really matters. I like exploring all the nooks and crannies, so it's nice to have games that reward me for that, and the Tomb Raider reboots do that really well. I found all the stuff, completed all the challenges, and raided all the tombs, as well as finishing the game. I don't think I'll bother with any of the DLC, though.

Other gaming stuff - At some point in the near future, I want to go back and finish Arkham City before I forget what I was doing. Ditto Tales of Vesperia. And Horizon Zero Dawn is also calling me.

Other Stuff:

I got new glasses in November. This is very exciting, because my vision had deteriorated to the point I couldn't see anything close up. I now have a pair of progressives and it's really nice being able to see both distance and close up again. To celebrate, I've been doing a lot of reading. Currently about half-way through The Last Kingdom, because I feel the need to read the books before I watch the series. Next up, I'll probably finish off several books that I was in the middle of before my vision got bad.

Work is, well, work. I like working in a small, locally-owned grocery store because I get to see the same faces all the time. The downside is when Freeport gets inundated by non-locals and they come in and are rude to us.

Outside stuff - I signed up for the snowshoe race series I try to do every year. I'm not training as much as I should, I need to get cracking on that soon. Beau and I spend a lot of time walking in the woods at a pretty fast clip, though. And on our walks, we see a lot of wildlife or traces of wildlife. There's a fox that cruises the back field on pretty much a nightly basis that's fun to track, and lots of deer, turkeys, and squirrels of both the gray and red varieties. Beau likes chasing the turkeys, but just chasing them got boring, so now he systematically herds them out of the yard. It's a riot to watch.

Watching - A few years ago, I did a couple of those list challenge things and discovered that I was very deficient on my movie classics. So I started this project where I'm trying to see all the movies on the AFI 100 Movies and the IMdB Top 250 (I'm using the 2013 list) lists. I'm blaming it all on Snee, he was the one who got me started by shaming me into watching Chinatown. Anyway, I've gone from around 30 movies to 152 on the IMdB list, 57 on the AFI original 1998 list, and 60 on the updated AFI list. Some favorites so far: 12 Angry Men, High Noon, Chinatown, Pulp Fiction, LA Confidential, Memento, Rio Bravo, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Heat, Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Inception, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon,and probably a bunch more I can't think of at the moment. Anyway, I'm having fun and not necessarily sticking to any one list, genre, actor, director, or era. People keep tossing recommendations at me, and I keep ignoring them. This is my fun project, and I'll watch what I want in the time frame I want.

And now I have to stop procrastinating and actually get something accomplished. I am so not into Christmas this year.

Super Step Contributing Writer

12/20/2018 at 12:21 PM

I need to do that classic movies thing, but for classic books. I read all the typical high school stuff, like Crime & Punishment and Brideshead Revisited, but there are gaps like Little Women and Pride & Prejudice. Also, now that I have debt of my own, I want to re-read Crime & Punishment, cause I think Dostoyevsky will read way differently in my current life context.

Ranger1

12/20/2018 at 10:37 PM

Yeah, I have a list of classic books to read, too. Not enough hours in the day to fit in everything I want to do.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

12/20/2018 at 01:23 PM

I've created a monster!

Your achievement with DQ is definitely impressive. I'll be impressed with myself if I finish the main game. I never beat the last boss in DQ8 though I tried and tried. I would like to complete 11 as much as I can though.

12/20/2018 at 10:42 PM

Yep, it's all your fault. And you and Jason can commiserate together that I'm just not that into Stanley Kubrick's films. So far, I've watched The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon and been underwhelmed by all three. Tarentino, however, is a different story...

That last boss in DQ VIII is unbeatable, I think. I was never able to beat it. You are talking about the one in the post game, right? As for the "post game" in DQ XI, it's really more of a continuation of the story, so if you don't play it, you really miss a lot.

12/21/2018 at 05:36 AM

Nah, I mean the main story boss in viii. I tried and tried...

12/21/2018 at 01:13 PM

I beat him. It was the final boss in the post game that I never beat. I think I might have resorted to a walkthrough for help with the final boss in the main story, though.

12/21/2018 at 01:41 PM

He’s pretty tough man.

Casey Curran Staff Writer

12/20/2018 at 06:29 PM

I still need to finish Shadow. I like the game when it focuses on puzzles, exploration and platforming, but I really don't like the towns they added into it. I keep spending too much time just wandering around looking for the interesting stuff. Combat also feels worse than Rise and 2013, but not sure why.

I remember watching 12 Angry Men for a psychology class and loved it. Really surprised how well that movie held up. Can't wait until Hollywood announces a remake starring Adam Sandler and his SNL buddies that's nothing but racist humor and fart jokes.

12/20/2018 at 10:48 PM

I didn't mind the towns. I kind of liked them, actually. But yeah, the combat was lacking in the fun department. Kevin (Sacred Crayon) said the same thing, by the way. I think Rise was the best of the three, personally.

I was really surprised with how well 12 Angry Men managed to suck me in. I wasn't expecting to like it at all, and then the story just sucked me in. Hopefully, Hollywood leaves it alone and doesn't screw with it the way they have with so many other remakes of classic movies.

Cary Woodham

12/20/2018 at 09:47 PM

Congrats on beating that DQ game! I think the only DQ game that held my interest all the way through was Rocket Slime.

12/20/2018 at 10:50 PM

Thanks, Cary! I've finished all the main DQ games I've played, at least the main storylines. The only two I haven't played are II and III, and one of these days I'll hook up my old TV and NES and play them. I loved Rocket Slime! I still have it kicking around somewhere.

KnightDriver

12/20/2018 at 10:33 PM

I was very tempted to play DQXI today, but I played Minecraft with Mark again instead. If Mark had DQXI, we would've played it in tandem. I'm just not into single player gaming right now. Great job on the game though. That's a lot of work. I don't think I've topped 200 hours in any game ever.

I saw a remaster of Tales of Vesperia coming in January the other day.

Funny, I was just looking at places in Maine the other day trying to remember which island I visited for my friend Cory's wedding probably ten years ago now. It was sort of near Freeport.

12/20/2018 at 10:53 PM

We all have those times when certain games just don't hit the spot or scratch the itch. I get it.

I like Vesperia OK, but not one of my favorite Tales games. Dunno why.

Was that island Chebeague or maybe Peaks? Or perhaps Bustin's?

12/21/2018 at 08:09 PM

First I was thinking Cousin's Island, then Orr's Island. I think it's one of those. You can drive to it via a bridge where my friend used to jump off of as a kid. If I talk to him again someday, I'll find out for sure. I really loved the scenery on those islands. I'd love to photograph them if I ever can get out of this funk.

12/21/2018 at 10:39 PM

Stone bridge or other? I think Orr's is stone.

12/22/2018 at 08:30 PM

I don't remember. I'm looking at Cousin's Island because I think it was near Portland, but that bridge is pretty long and I remember a shorter bridge. It could've been Bailey Island though. There's a short bridge there betwee Orr's and Bailey. I guess I'll never know unless I look up my friend again and ask him, or slueth his online presence. The important part though is that I liked those islands and would visit them again in a heartbeat.

12/22/2018 at 09:32 PM

Well come on up! Andrew will attest to the fact I'm a pretty damn fine tour guide.

12/22/2018 at 09:42 PM

That would be great. As soon as I get more settled. I still have to get some sort of job in 2019.

SanAndreas

12/21/2018 at 02:15 AM

Congrats on the platinum! The only platinum I've ever gotten was for Final Fantasy VII on PS4. I wanted to get a platinum in Valkyria Chronicles but that game is hard to platinum. I haven't actually played DQXI yet even though I really want to. I picked up Valkyria Chronicles 4 instead.

12/21/2018 at 01:11 PM

I didn't realize just how doable it was at first, and I do like to max out my levels for the final battle. If you liked DQ VIII, you'll love XI. And most of my platinum trophies are from Lego games, by the way.

daftman

12/27/2018 at 09:56 AM

Congrats on the Platinum. 228 hours sounds like an unfathomable amount of time. I'm somewhere between 70 and 80 hours in Breath of the Wild and I've been playing that since...August? 228 hours souds like a lifetime commitment lol but then again, I have four littld kids. It's not like I have a bunch of free time

Having wild turkeys roaming around seems like such a foreign yet hilarious thing. Must be one of the dream scenarios for dogs!

Memento is such a cool movie!

12/28/2018 at 10:04 PM

I live alone (well, except for the dog and cat), and am an introvert working at extrovert job. So when I come home, I game to unwind. And I just loved EVERYTHING about DQXI, so it was pretty easy.

As for the turkeys, they are pests. They dig up my landlady's vegetable garden and leave poop everywhere. However, they aren't usually afraid of dogs - my previous dog made the mistake of getting between a mumma and her babies. Let's just say that he avoided turkeys from then on. I think they don't know what to do about Beau, though. Personally, they remind me of the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.

I love Christopher Nolan's films. He likes to play with the concepts of time and memory, which I find very cool. I had no difficulty following Memento, which, apparently, some people did. I also liked how he played with three different timelines simultaneously in Dunkirk.

mothman

01/03/2019 at 10:29 AM

I realized I wasn't going to 100% DQ XI so I did the last battle and called it a game. 92%. I could have completed the casino trophy (8/10), I had 1,000,000 tokens when I finished. LOL.

Great game, I found only two things frustrating.

1. The roulette challenge - I stopped at 59/60 side quests because that one is ridiculously hard unless you cheat.

2. The f'in horse racing. I couldn't do better than 3rd in the Silver cup so I quit.

01/13/2019 at 05:59 PM

Oh, that roulette challenge! I did get it without cheating, but it took me a VERY, VERY long time. I did it on the 1 token table and just kept betting on the same number every time. The Casino trophy was a pain in the ass, I should have just waited on that one until I spent forever trying to earn enough tokens for Jade's final costume. By the time I got it, I had over 20 accolades.

The horse race was a pain in the ass, too, but I finally figured out the course. The big part was avoiding the mud and the pillars and hitting as many ramps as possible.

PixlBit

Platinum, Baby!

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