Plans, Maybe Too Many

On 01/03/2021 at 09:49 PM by KnightDriver

I have various plans for this year. They may seem overly elaborate, or even stupid (I had a friend say that to me once - I'm not sure I don't disagree), but I'm compelled to it by whatever is driving me. Anyway, here's a quick and possibly embarrassing overview of the month's and year's plans.

First is a history quest. Each month is a different period in history. January is Medieval times. I'm reading, playing, and listening to related stuff. So far I'm finding it funny all the licenses fiction, film, and games take with the Middle Ages to make it fun and exciting.

Then I recently added a "simulate sports" quest. I listed a bunch of major sports (and esports and professional game tourneys) over the course of the year and plan to play them in video game form. January sees the last week of American Football's regular season. I simulated the Eagles vs. Washington game in Madden 20. I won with the Eagles 76 to 10. The real game is, as of the moment W 10, E 14 at the half. I'm sure no one will score 70 plus points. I think I have to increase the difficulty in Madden next time.

What's next in sports this month? I've got the beginning of the PBA Tour and so bought the Farsight Studios bowling game (Farsight being those behind Zen Pinball and Pinball Arcade) with the $10 in Xbox money I got for doing Game Pass Quests in December. There is also the beginning of the Hockey Season and finally the IFPA championships. That's the pro pinball league.

I think I'll play some bowling for the next few weeks and then some pinball for the rest of the month. I just redownloaded all my pinball collections on Xbox: Pinball FX3, Zacarria Pinball, Stern Pinball, and Pinball Arcade. I'm also interested in Demon's Tilt, which is a kind of blend of pinball and a bullet hell shmup.

As for my main game for January, I don't have one. Nothing really interested me, so I'm continuing to work on Dragon's Quest XIS. I'm right next to the Ygdrassil tree but I've decided to backtrack and complete side missions because I watched my friend Mark play past this point and some serious changes happen to the world and I don't want to get locked out of anything. I'm happy to say I'm doing fine completing the side missions I missed up until this point.

Also, I'm still plugging away at the last achievement in Farm Together and completing the user-created challenges in Forza Horizon 4. And did I mention the weekly and monthly Game Pass quest challenge games - different every week.

Oh, and did I say I set up my Wii again? Well I did because I'm getting a game soon for it called Medieval Games.

Phew. Enough for ya? I'll now go hang my head in shame, hide under a desk and put a bag over my head.

SanAndreas

01/04/2021 at 02:05 AM

About this time every year, at least until 2020 happened, there was a ren faire that was held about 30 miles east of Phoenix. COVID-19 screwed it up last year, and judging by the state's numbers it doesn't look too good for 2021. When I lived in Oklahoma they did a medieval fair the first weekend of every April that was originally sponsored by the University of Oklahoma but is now sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism. I love swords and armor, and have ever since the first Zelda, Ultima, and Dragon Quest games came out.

Dragon Quest XI S is so, so good.

KnightDriver

01/04/2021 at 05:21 PM

There is a Ren fair near me that I've been to, but it was years ago. I always mean to go back again sometime. I remember I saw a book there on how to speak Elizabethan English, which I learned a little bit of when I was in a Shakespeare play once. I think it's fun to learn interesting dialects. I'm terrible at languages though.

I'm really enjoying DQ XI. I'm going to try to 100% it.

Cary Woodham

01/04/2021 at 04:53 AM

If you looked at Medieval themed media, you'd have a lot to work with, that's for sure!

Of course it's not surprising that you hooked up your Wii if you're going to talk about bowling games! The best bowling game ever made is on that console!

Back in the 16-bit and 32-bit days, there was a popular bowling game series called Ten Pin Alley. Did you know they made an Animaniacs version of that? I've never played it, but I'd like to.

I was lucky enough to play Simpsons Bowling in an arcade once. A lot of people hate on that game, but my friends and I thought it was fun when we played it.

01/04/2021 at 05:26 PM

I was considering selling my copy of Wii Sports but my friend immediately grabbed it and said "no you don't" because of the bowling game. Is there another one that's better on Wii?

I definitely played Ten Pin Alley back in the day but not the Animaniacs one.

01/05/2021 at 07:42 AM

No don't ever sell Wii Sports. Not like you'd get much money on it anyway. Wii Sports is my favorite sports video game, and it even beat out long-runner Super Dodge Ball on NES! There's not a better bowling game on Wii. Wii Sports Resort also has bowling, but it's pretty much the same thing.

01/06/2021 at 06:49 PM

I wanted to check out Wii Sports Resort but I never got it. My library may still have it though

I remember playing tennis in Wii Sports with another friend of mine. He got so darn good at it, no one could beat him.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

01/05/2021 at 10:33 AM

76-10?

I think DQ11 definitely fits into the whole medieval theme. I think it's good to have plans like these.

01/06/2021 at 06:59 PM

Madden on Rookie difficulty is basically "let the player win" mode. The opposition can't tackle you except in the last minutes of the game. Their quarterbacks miss throws like crazy. It's fun at first but then it gets old. I'm going to ramp up the difficulty next time.

All the classic RPGs were influenced by DnD, which was derived from Chainmail, which was a medieval warfare game. Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Excalibur, Conan, the list goes on and on. What's with our obsession with medieval times?

goaztecs

01/05/2021 at 07:29 PM

I don't think it's stupid that you like to plan out the months. If you enjoy it that is all that really matters. I want to see what kind of simulated scores you'll get for hockey. The only problem is that the NHL changed the divisions to minimize the traveling for the teams so all Canada teams are one Division the West took St. Louis and another team and everyone else is in the East.

01/06/2021 at 07:12 PM

I'll get to hockey sometime soon. I'm going to do some bowling and pinball this month, but some week in between championships I'll play hockey and simulate a Flyer's game.

I saw that division change on a website but didn't understand it. I haven't really followed hockey closely for a while even though I hold it as one of my favorite sports.

PixlBit