This week turned into a good bit of a surprise for me! Apparently, it was Error’s (my son) job to get me out of the house on Saturday for a bit. I just so happened to need an audio extension cable for my head set because I moved my pc from the area it was in, and my headset cable wouldn’t reach.
At this stage of the changes I made to my setup, there was really no going back. Error, Lil Bit (granddaughter), and I headed out to Radio Shack (Yes, we still have a Radio Shack where I live. Look I don’t know why or how, we just do!?). Bam! Got what I needed (or what would work) right off the bat! Awesome! *Hobbit Dance*
Well, apparently Error wasn’t ready to head back to my house yet, he asked if I might be up for heading over to Gamer Geeks to look into some Warhammer 40K stuff he wanted to see. I’m always up to research a bit of game hobby stuff so onward we went!
We arrived at Gamer Geeks and for the first time that I can recall in all the years I’ve been going to a local game shop, there was more Warhammer 40K merchandise than Magic The Gathering. In my youth, well up until a decent portion of my adult life, Magic the Gathering has ruled the markets in all the game shops I’ve ever visited. It was a bit of a surreal moment for me to realize that MtG, while still immensely popular might not be the top dog in our area.
Error and I have been looking into it, although we haven’t made any purchases to date yet. It’s something I’ve always found interesting, but never attempted to commit to. I’m not much of a social person after all, and games like MtG and Warhammer require you get out to play after all. It is something we are still at least looking into, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to commit just yet. The game play I’ve seen looks amazing, but there is the artistic aspect too it with putting the minis together, painting them, and then the requirement to actually get out and play. It would take a commitment like that to hold my interest after all. I’d be happy to play some games with Error as I’m sure he would with me, but we would need more games to actually make us stay committed.
Alas, I have got a bit side tracked though, from Gamer Geeks, we headed over to Walmart to kill a bit more time. Now the realization that I left the house on a Saturday early morning-ish with no food is starting to take its toll on me. Much like the majority of my family lack of food tends to put me in a rather cranky mood as the effects start to manifest to full effect. It is granted that it doesn’t quite hit me as fast as my siblings, but still I am susceptible to being Hangry none-the-less.
We burned some time walking around Walmart for a bit, before Error dragged me reluctantly over to Five Below and then after a snack of some corn chips to Books-A-Million. Since I had somewhat sated my hunger I was able to make the remainder of the journey just fine, but I also knew the snack wouldn’t be able to stave off the effects for long.
At last, we were headed home after the walk through of Books-A-Million. I had already sent Qvaid a text asking her if she’d get me a soup ready so I could eat when I got home. She agreed. We pull up and to my surprise the yard is full of vehicles. I ask MamaA about them as she walks out to try and get Lil Bit out of the vehicle, but she completely ignores my request.
I walk through the door to my Munchkin holding her phone recording, and a yell of “SURPRISE!”! Apparently it had all been a big ruse to get me out of the house so they could plan a late surprise birthday party for me!? Everyone had managed to pull that off under my radar, but MamaA also shares the same birthday as me, so there was a surprise in the surprise for her as well. Qvaid had contacted some of her family and they arrived after Error and I got home.
Falken, Iron, and Kilogre also managed to drive up and make the event as well. It was truly a great time! I have not seen the majority of the gaming group since our last game con we have annually at Iron’s house. Given their absences from our weekend gaming, it was the first real bit of conversation we’ve had in a bit outside of memes and videos we post in one of our fb messenger channels together.
Over all, I had a great time with friends and family to celebrate my 111th Birthday (I’m not really that old, but my nickname is Hobbit, so everyone ribs me about it being my 111th Birthday often). And here I thought that since my birthday had come and went that I was off the hook for anything of the sort. Falken brought an absolutely stunning cake which everyone loved! The gifts were also fantastic, although it is never my focus.
Semi exhausted a bit later Saturday evening, I sat down at my desk with a grin on this Hobbit’s face to start some gaming. It meant quit a lot to this aging Hobbit to have all the friends and family over for something as trivial as my 111th Birthday.
Kudos to everyone that managed to keep it a secret and all the work that went forth to make it happen!
Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Nikoderiko
Nikoderiko, Dysmantle
Dysmantle
Dysmantle
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3
Honorable Mentions
Sons of the Forest
Munchkin
It Takes Two
Once Human
No Man’s Sky
Highlights
Days played: Monday, Tuesday
Players: Qvaid, Hobbit
Comments: Qvaid and I worked our way through the entirety of Nikoderiko collecting all the letters, keys, and gems for every stage in every world.
We didn’t manage to get every achievement for the game, but we finished up our play through with 99% of the game complete after defeating the final boss for a second and final time in the Secret World of the Director’s Cut.
Now, Qvaid and I can’t see where we didn’t 100% complete the game but the devs seem to think otherwise I guess. There is an achievement for completing 106% of the game, if I’m not mistaken.
In any case, it was an absolute fantastic adventure for the both of us, as we finished the run on Tuesday earlier in the evening.
Nikoderiko The Magical World Director’s Cut is certainly a bit of a hidden gem! Plenty of reminders of those classics you played through so long ago, with plenty of heart and soul put forth from the teams associated with the finished product!
Days played: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Players: Qvaid, Hobbit
Comments: Qvaid and I finally decided to give Dysmantle a try on Tuesday evening after we completed our run of Nikoderiko The Magical World Director’s Cut.
Let me just say, wow! Dysmantle is shaping up to be some incredible fun and adventures!
Qvaid and I will both vouch to the degree of grind it holds as well. The amount of resources you collect and drag back to your camp at even the start of the game is fairly insane!
With that in mind, Qvaid and I have certainly been enjoying Dysmantle a lot! It has some a unique set of mechanics in co-op. You share the experience, inventory, upgrades, etc… with your co-op partner. The screen doesn’t split as effectively you have to stay together, but generally speaking that is well within our play style in any case.
We have both been excited to hop into Dysmantle and take on the ex-humans, bust up every thing in site to drag it back to our camp for our storage box, and craft to our hearts content.
We ended the evening on Thursday by back tracking to the starting area with a new weapon, basic lock picks, and a slew of other newly crafted items to assist us in demolition of resources there.
It might be early next week before we get another opportunity to head back into Dysmantle, but so far as I can tell thus far it is shaping up to be an incredible adventure indeed!
Days played: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Players: Aces, Error, Kilen, Hobbit
Comments: We started Friday off with a surprise from Aces. Error had not got home from work yet, and we were in the mood to play a bit more Baldur’s Gate 3. Aces asked Kilen and I if we would be interested in starting another campaign so we could get our fix, without interruptions to the game we were playing with Error.
Kilen and I agreed, and shortly after, we were starting up another run. I normally play a Cleric of some sort for the group, but in this case we had a spot to use Shadowheart for healing so it wasn’t really a necessity.
Kilen made a Paladin, Aces was another Wizard, and I decided to branch out a bit with a Ranger.
As the night progressed, Error hopped on and after a bit of a struggle he was able to get a character in on that campaign which we used to finish up the night.
Over the course of the weekend we bounced around several of the campaigns we had running depending on who was available to play. Playing one that Error, Kilen, and I have going when Aces is not on. Playing the one we have for all 4 of us if everyone was.
I believe both Kilen and Aces have another campaign they are running together, and if I’m not mistaken, they have one they run solo.
I understand the desire to play when everyone isn’t available, however, that kind of game play comes with a bit of a detriment. Since several of us have played through the earlier content an excessive amount of time, it has them in quite a bit of a rush to try to catch up to other campaigns.
In truth the rush is a bit of an annoyance for me. Unlike the majority of our group, I enjoy more aspects of most games I play that are not always in the way of combat. I like to experience the lore, story, cinematics, and other things the game has to offer.
In our first run, I made it a point to collect books, notes, letters, etc… and I ran almost all (if not all) of them. In some cases we got a bit of a hint at some treasure or items. I admit that the majority of it was just lore or perhaps a bit of story. Never-the-less I enjoyed the aspect of it.
I used that feature to give me something to do when someone needed to go afk, we had to take a short break, etc… Once I had it read, I would send it to my chest at camp to clear it out of my inventory and let me know I had completed reading it.
The majority of our group is definitely combat focused though, and I try to balance my desire to experience other aspects of the game with out intruding on what they enjoy too much.
