PixlBit

Dual weilding is a great mechanic, but a whole game based on it? Use the left and right analog sticks to swing Okage's giant muscled arms to punish goblins and orcs on a super colorful farm of Yggdrasil trees. Thought there was only one of those, didn't you? There's always a least two of everything in this game including two ways to annoy: one is the camera which contantly zooms in and out as you punch to dramatise the action but which makes you dizzy as heck; and two is the glitchy gameplay. Yeah, it's fun to see goblin parts flying all over but when your fists get stuck in a ygdrassil and don't come out, it's game over. I played the following four games instead. 

Retro

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

I recently organized my DS collection. The oldest one was 2005's Advance Wars: Dual Strike, so I started there. I love this game. It was probably the reason why I got into the DS, my first handheld after those Mattel LED games from the 70s. I had the fat, then the slim one with the GBA slot, and finally the DS XL, which is my favorite. Advance Wars DS is a graphical wonder. It's so easy to see all the stats and gameplay. They did a great job with the U.I. and how the game uses the dual screens. I enjoy it a lot even if I do play the first ten missions over and over again and never beat it. 

Okage: Shadow King

On my PS2, this is a 2001 game that reminds me a lot of Psychonauts four years before that came out. The character models look similarly thin in the arms and legs, the humor is similarly silly yet smart, and the gameplay is also similar. It's an adventure game with a third-person view where you participate in a lot of dialog with npcs and the occasional turn-based battle. Whether your answers matter or not, I'm don't know, but it's sure fun seeing what people will say in this game. I like it a lot and will keep playing it until I don't. 

Rewards Quests
Final Fantasy IX

I just needed one achievement in any Game Pass game, but couldn't get one in FFIX. But I did enjoy the hour more gamplay. I got to my first boss, got killed but then beat it. The active time battle system keeps you on your toes. You have to make decisions quickly even when put on "wait" mode. I thought it would make it purely turn-based, but the timers still run and the enemies still launch attacks if you don't do anything. At least that's what it seemed like. It's kind of good to go fast anyway; no overthinking and wasting of time in battles for sure. I rescued the main female character (I forget her name already), explored an overworld section with random encounters and entered a cave/dungeon until I came across a moogle (?)  and saved my game. I will return. 

Main Game
Farm Together

I moved my donkeys. I made a bigger pen for them not crisscrossed with streams that waste space. I discovered you can transport many items at once with or without a tractor; just keep highlighting things and they accrue. Saves time. Mark borrowed my headset so he could talk to a woman in his game. I never thought I'd see him with a headset on, but there it was. I may try it too, but I'm sure I won't stick with it. I don't enjoy chatting while gaming. I tend to run out of conversation and feel like I'm insulting the person by not talking. Too much pressure. What if I've got to talk to someone in the real world? Do I have to excuse myself. Come on, I've enough of that in real life. 

What did you play today?