Day 62: Month 2 Review

It is the end of the second month in the challenge.  I am surprised I haven't driven myself crazy because of it.  I should be freaking out because there is still so many more games I need to finish in the next four months, but I am feeling really calm right now.  I think it's because I have pretty much resigned myself to not being able to complete it.  After all, it is a huge undertaking.  But I am still going to try.  And even if I don't complete the challenge, I will still have fun playing the games I own.  So, it's still great!

Well, I should probably go over what I did complete this month.  The easiest games that I marked off the list this month were the ones from Atari Anthology.  Since gaming technology back then was nothing like it is today, there wasn't a lot for me to do in the games I played.  Since levels are repetitive and most are based on a final score, there isn't much progression needed to be satisfied.  I still have quite a few Atari games to play, and I am looking forward to playing the old-style RPGs.

Other really easy games for me to finish this month were Crash Bandicoot and Jax & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.  The former was one of the first games I played when I first received a PlayStation.  The latter is a game that I have played several times and have little difficulty in completing.  Both of these Naughty Dog games are ones I would recommend to any starting gamer.  They may be old games, but with their availability for PSN download, even new gamers can enjoy these classics.

My favorite game I completed this month is by far 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.  It is unlike any game I have ever played, to my knowledge.  If I wasn't doing this challenge, I would probably still be playing it right now in order to get the other endings.  The puzzles are challenging, and the story is great!  I hope to get the sequel to the game someday.

So far in this challenge, I have completed 25 of the 309 total games in my collection.  Sadly, I should be at 103 completed games at this point to keep a steady pace toward completing the entire challenge.  I will have to worker even harder in this next month.  Especially since it will be the first month in this challenge to have only 30 days.  Right now, every day is crucial to reach victory.  My goal for this month is to try not to get steered away from the direct path in games.  As much fun as they might be, I have to try and avoid doing the side quests.  They may offer more experience and better equipment, but they distract me from the endings.

Another goal for this month is to always be playing a game whenever possible.  If I am not playing a game on the television, then I should a handheld game in my hands.  The only way I can make a bigger dent to the list is if I play as much as possible.  Finally, I will try and do a better job at controlling myself and not purchasing any more games.  I swore to myself that I wouldn't buy any more after I received my copy of Dark Cloud 2
(did I remember to tell you all that I finally bought that game?).  And with any money I earn going toward the household bills, I can't afford to look at a game let alone buy one.

Moving on...

I was up late last night playing The Sims 3.  I managed to earn one trophy during the session.  Other than that, I didn't accomplish much in the game.  And today I spent a lot of time working on the main quest line for Skyrim.  Yes, the main story quests.  If you check out the main story's quest list, you will know that I am reaching the end of Act II.  I have found the guy in Riften, and he, Delphine, and I are on our way to Alduin's Wall.  At the moment of my last save, the three of us are at my home in Whiterun.  I wanted to get rid of as much as possible before I leave for the Wall.  I think I will also take Lydia along with us.  It will seem like a full-on battle party then.

As for my progress in Osu!, I didn't play it much today.  And so, I have fallen back a little on the leaderboard.  It's only a few spots, so I am not worried too much.  I wasn't able to find many multiplayer matches today.  No one was playing songs I had, and the ones that did were locked and I couldn't join them.  I am not a frequent poster on the game's forums, so I not known enough to have the luxury of knowing the passwords to get in those special matches.

Well, that's all I have for today.  I hope to have a well-played and really productive to the coming month, and that you continue to follow along as I continue this journey.  So, for the coming day, enjoythe games you play!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎

Day 48: One more completed!

I finished Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy a little bit ago.  It is a nice and simple game.  I like those kinds of games, because they are easy to get addicted to and not want to stop playing.  My favorite character in the game is Samos, because deep down he was always supportive of the duo trying to save the world.  He just didn't express it in a normal way.

Anyway, I didn't go for 100% completion of the game, because there isn't time in this challenge to 100% every game.  So, I finished the game with 80%.

Now, I have completed 11 games so far in the challenge.  I still have quite a few games with partial progress on them that I should complete before starting anything new.  I am leaning toward Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony.  I have completed it once before, so I think I still remember how to finish the missions.

I also worked on raising my rank in Osu!, and I succeeded.  I played multiplayer mode with some great players.  The three of us were there for at least three hours while the other five spots were filled with players who would come and go.  The three of us are now Facebook friends.  Anyway, I am now ranked #18,037 in the world and #915 in the U.S.A. in osu!mania.  I worked really hard to defeat Atca each round, and managed to do so a few times.  Atca is one of the two friends I made while playing today.  He is ranked #8,517 in the world in osu!mania.  My other new friend, Kimmiee, just started a few days ago and is already ranked #168,292 in the world.

One reason why I perform well in songs is because I like the songs.  If I don't like the song, I am more likely to perform badly.  It is the same when I play other rhythm games.  If the song is catchy, I will perform better than when I am doing a song that I don't like.

I didn't play any other games, but I don't have any plans for tomorrow.  So, I will probably stay up and play something.  So, for the coming day, enjoy the games you play!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎

Day 47: Zooming

The big news of the day is that I am finally in the Top 1,000 among American osu!mania players.  I am currently ranked #984.  I now have to work hard to stay in the Top 1,000, because I already dropped below that once today.  I was #998, and I took a break from playing.  When I started up again, I had already dropped back down to #1,016.  I found out that there are big month long competitions featuring specific beatmaps.  I recently got them all for this month, and I have been trying my best at getting high scores.  It has only been one day seen the start of the competition, but I am among the Top 10 osu!mania players (I come in at #9).  In fact the U.S.A. has five of the Top 10 and ten of the Top 40 (they only show the Top 40 scores).

Today I played on a team as well.  It was a lot of fun.  The teams were almost evenly matched up as well.  There were a team of four people from Chile playing against my team consisting of two Americans, one person from Greece, and our fourth was a switcher.  We had a fourth from Indonesia, one from Chile (who eventually switched over to the other team when one of the originals left), and a couple from South America (I can't remember which countries).  There were times in the beginning when the other team had more people playing than my team had.  Most of those times though, my team still won.  There was even one time my team left me stranded against three on the other team and I managed to win against them.  Of course, the other team's players all failed the song, and I was about to fail as well.  But I managed to squeak by and take the win.

I think that's how I managed to get the Performance Points needed to get in the Top 1,000 U.S.A. players.  And as I type this, I have fallen into 10th Place in the monthly competition.  There are now 6 American players in the Top 10.

I also played Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy today.  I am still in Rock Village, but I have gotten quite a few more Power Cells.  I have 45 of 100 Power Cells; 833 of 2,000 Precursor Orbs; and 53 of 112 Scout Flies; giving me a completion percentage of 44%.  I have just moved the boulder that was blocking the path to the boss preventing me from moving forward.  I still have the underwater area and the swampy area to go through, but I could face the boss right now.  I think I will.  Just a second...

One death...

Two deaths...

And I won!  Now I can move on to the next Zoomer area that leads to the Red Sage's area.  But before that, I will go and complete the areas I mentioned above first.

The last game I played today was 999.  I solved the puzzle that I had trouble with, and have reach the next numbered door area.  It was so brave of Ace to do what he did.  I think I would have stayed behind as well.  But not because I would believe the others who would get out might come back for me later.  I probably would just give up and let the others move on.  Right now I am trying to put together a mannequin in the operating room.

Well, that's all from me tonight.  So, for the coming day, enjoy the games you play!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎

Day 46: Sleepy Entry

This will be a short entry.  I am really tired and I feel as if I could fall asleep at the keyboard.  I rushed myself at work today so I could I get home as early as possible, and now I am too tired to do much of anything.

The only game I played today was Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.  Right now, I have 36 Power Cells, 607 Precursor Orbs, and 46 Scout Flies.  This is equivalent to 35% complete.  I am currently at Rock Village, trying to earn enough Power Cells to power the Blue Sage's machine to lift the boulder.

I still think I can finish before Monday.  That will be good.  Then I can move on to something else.  Well, I said it was going to be short today, and I have nothing else to write.  So, in the coming day, enjoy the games you play.

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎