I really wish the characters had shoes on while they are running around that abandon ship! So gross! At least Alex and Julia have shoes on but Brad and Fliss really should have shoes on.
. . .
So after really trying, I think I am done with Hellblade after the second chapter.
First of all, I had the hardest time understanding how to get the sixth Lorestone.
So special shout out for PowerPyx and their most excellent walkthrough that just made it simple for me.
I also got super stuck on the second Raven door in Valravyn’s Keep.
So also big thank you to Illumi Nati for their terrific walkthrough as I am sure I would never have made it out of the chapter without their two videos as I also had a hard time figuring out how to get through the fourth door.
It might have been that I was playing way too late at night to really figure out the rooms but also, I know myself enough to know this, I am no good at environment puzzles. This has been true for both RiME and SOMA in the past. And like those two games, I am going to pause on Hellblade as I was trying to go from Valravyn’s Keep to Surtr’s Domain and set my future self up at that region’s first Lorestone but I was getting lost on my way to where that path separates or something dumb on my part and I am only fairly certain that I am out of Valravyn’s Keep and actually in Surtr’s Domain but I will come back to this game.
I just know once I am solely relying on a walkthrough video and playing along with the video, the game is not meant for me at that time. I will come back to it eventually, especially as I own the disc but now is not that time. Maybe if it becomes one of the free games through PS+, that might take some pressure off of wanting to complete it.
Hellblade has eleven chapters and I got to three and earned two trophies so I feel like I got a good enough exposure to the game.
All of a sudden I had the thought that I should eject Hellblade and put Uncharted 4 in but what I need to do is the Arkham Episodes I just bought (picking back up with Red Hood’s story pack) and then finish The Last of Us’ Left Behind. I would like to do a New Game Plus on both The Last of Us and Left Behind but still on the Normal Plus difficulty (I think I am ready to admit that anything more difficult than that is not for me).
I did like the fighting in Hellblade, I could be better at the blocking but I was getting the hang of it. It is not that complicated really, there is plenty of warning of when to block, it was mostly a matter of getting the timing down.
I am also thinking of doing a fun October gaming series of posts where I look at my horror games and try to play a different game a night and uploading a video of my gameplay and see how that all goes for me.
The games I know I have that are horror or suspense centric are :
Dead by Daylight
The Last of Us
Friday the 13th
SOMA
Man of Medan
Darksiders II
Beyond : Two Souls
Bloodborne
Claire
Uncanny Valley
LIMBO / Inside
forma.8
Which is a lot more games than I was expecting when I was having the thought last night. I was mostly thinking of playing Dead by Daylight, Friday the 13th, Man of Medan, and finishing Beyond : Two Souls. Which Beyond : Two Souls, like SOMA, is more in the science fiction slash horror genre.
I wonder if that is why I did not take to Bloodborne either, as that game is very much about letting the environment guide us to our next location. I might just be at a place where I need a tad more linear route.
I do like making lists and trying to organize things (like into a list) so I will have to see if my PS4 can even handle all of these games being loaded onto it. Though, once I try to tackle Man of Medan, like The Last of Us, I will just start and finish the entire game and not bounce in and out. I have really been missing Dead by Daylight, so that is why I thought playing it in October would be a perfect fit. Plus, I bought Ghostface and the Head Case DLC and have not even started the game to see those additions. I have been told the Stranger Things DLC is out and it is twelve dollars and that is before the different outfits for Steve and Nancy, and I have not looked into how much those are.
We are on the sixth episode of Season Three and Nancy has yet to wear her stripe shirt but Steve has not been seen out of his Ahoy outfit so I will definitely want that outfit as that’s Steve for me right now.
I am also been loving Season Three of Stranger Things since episode four. The kids and teenagers are coming together and the adults are making progress and nothing feels wasted or like filler.
If those costume packs for Friday the 13th would drop to a dollar, I will buy those and probably play that game during October. I might start off with Dead by Daylight, play that a bunch and then settle in for some Man of Medan and maybe SOMA, at least figure out where i left off and make it to the next base in that game.
Making that list and sort of intimidated me and now I want to be more realistic with my goals. Especially as I need to consider the free October games (which I can only imagine one of them will be horror specific) and, oh yeah, my desire to buy Murdered : Soul Suspect too. Which I really like that title, it seems like the right amount of silly.
So maybe a week’s worth of Dead by Daylight, Murdered : Soul Suspect, then into Man of Medan for my second playthrough, where I play the party mode (but by myself like a sad person) and choosing either all hearts or all brain options. The heart options is listed before the brain one so that decision has been made.
I strive on direction and over-planning so this all feels very satisfying, if not very nerdy.
. . .
I have to write these thoughts down as this is irritating me so much.
Big Brother 21.
Nicole, Cliff, Michie, and Holly were our Final Four. Nicole and Cliff had the opportunity to vote out Holly or Tommy. With some nonsense they made crazy deals to keep Holly to maintain their final four deal. But they did it in such a way to insult and to make Michie and Holly work hard to be in the Final Four.
All of this work just so Cliff could maybe possibly be in Final Three, in the hardest way possible?
None of this being neccessary if they just voted Holly out, and kept Tommy so that those three could work together to take out Michie. Instead, Cliff really thought Michie was going to vote out his showmance of the summer to keep an old man around. Like, no amount of handshakes would convince me to vote out my in-house make out buddy to keep an old father figure type in the house. In what world does that make sense?
Nicole’s disbelief that the showmance decided to stick together is also ridiculous. She knew this would happen and Cliff voting to keep Holly and her voting to keep Tommy and forcing Michie to break the tie, that would have been good Big Brother TV. Or just voting Holly out would have been an amazing Big Brother move. Instead, they allowed Michie and Holly the honor of being the showmance that has gone further in Big Brother history than anyone else.
That is, if you are being generous that Danielle and Shane from BB14 (Dan’s second season with Britney) were a showmance while in the house, but they did date after the show but it always felt one sided to me.
Like, I get not wanting to ruin a Final Four deal. But I also get that there is only seven more days in the house and if they kept Tommy, Michie would have been mad for four days, they would have voted him out and then boom, no more hurt feelings in the house.
Cliff was super smart to tell Michie that Cliff was going to taint the jury against Michie. Though once Tommy showed up at the Jury House, the jury would have been tainted already but the jury seems to understand Michie is playing a dirty game and respecting his commitment to it.
Michie is definitely not going to go down in Big Brother history has one of the best players but he’ll be on a list to be considered for most winning player but his legacy is not going to last.
Once again, if Michie wins, and I think anyone sitting against him, will win, his tactics would not work in any other season, like most winners could not repeat their tactics to win another season of the show.
Now poor Nicole has to keep moving rooms so that the showmance and bone in every room now as she feels like a complete idiot.
Which would not have happened if they just voted to keep Tommy.
I am still hoping for a Nicole / Holly finale as that is what Jackson Michie deserves.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 