Gaming

I've now claimed my second helping of pig balls just because I can.

Oops, thanks for the reminder. I did remember it this morning and thought I should open the Epic thingy and then I promptly forgot all about it.

Watching all those episodes of The Last Kingdom got me all nostalgic for medieval life and made me realise that I haven't played Kingdom Come for aaaages. Why was that?
Come on then, let's have another go...

 

Yeah, look at that lovely sky and the countryside.
Why haven't I played this more often?

Oh, yeah. Lockpicking.
And that awful save game system that actually costs money.
(Only in-game money but my character still can't really afford it.)

I'm still stuck quite early in the game just after the prologue and can't seem to progress due to my ineptitude at lockpicking and (after breaking that last lockpick) my inability to get anymore lockpicks because I can't afford them. And I can't get any money from selling stuff I steal because all the traders know that they're stolen goods and the fences that DO buy stolen goods are only available AFTER you do the lockpicking quest that I can't do because... etc.

It is quite frustrating when developers make their games too realistic. They do have to be fun at some point if they want me to keep playing instead of just making me suffer the socio-economic problems of the past.

...and the rats have suddenly become even scarier in A Plague Tale.

I didn't like that bit at all.

I haven't tried it yet. I felt the need for some more mindless waste of tame games a while back and they still keep me busy. For about 2 seconds in between Blender sessions... (It's the kind where you keep running out of energy. I play 2 at once and one of them is particularly annoying - it literally only takes two or three clicks to spend all your energy and then you have to wait an hour or so for it to refill...)

And no, I don't know why I play these games. I do know its only a matter of time before I uninstall them again, though.

Whenever I want a quick play I still click on Trials cos the levels can (theoretically) be done in under a minute. Then I look at the clock and three hours have passed in my repeated failed attempts to get past one checkpoint quick enough.

While I did enjoy the Star Wars pod racing demo back in my youth, racing games aren't really my thing, no matter how long (or short) they last....

The odd thing is that Trials isn't really a racing game. It's really more of a physics puzzle game where you try to maintain your momentum. But you still want to do it in a faster time to break your records.

After a brief bit of Witchering I switched games upon being told I had to find Triss again (I'll save that bit for another day) and went back to Skyrim to see how my new extra companion fares in a long fighty quest.
One of the unexpected things about Brelyna tagging along is that damn Frost Atronach that she keeps conjuring. Even the slightest little disturbance from a nearby passing wolf leads to that familiar whooshing noise and I turn around and there he is again...

 

It feels like he's gonna be an extra, EXTRA companion. Maybe I should give him a name?

Anyway it was indeed great having a mage to back me up in my questy antics and offer some different attacks to the big bash swordy stuff that I usually get up to with Arissa. Right at the start I was sneaking towards a tower with a bad guy looking out for enemies. I got out my bow, fired from a distance and hit him.
But he had enough armour that the strike didn't quite kill him.
There I was trying to draw another arrow before he raised the alarm and suddenly a lightning bolt went flying past my ear and launched him clean off the tower! I turned around and sure enough, there was Brelyna looking smug with her staff.
Not quite so close to my ear next time.

Back in one of those now-lost-in-the-apocalypse posts I mentioned that (in Skyrim) my college assignment took me to a place close to Shearpoint and the dreaded Krosis.
I managed to find a safer path around the area to complete it without any terrifying distraction but with that quest now done and with me having so much fun with my new mage companion... Should we?
Should we?

Go on then. Let's have a little looky-loo and see what happens.
The first time that I accidentally stumbled across him I lasted about one and a half seconds and then the second time when I went to test myself after levelling up I lasted maybe ten seconds. Or maybe time just felt slower in that panic.
But that was aaages ago. I'm better than that now. And I'm not alone. Now there are three of us (four, if you count the persistent frosty atronach friend) so we've got to have a better chance?

What did you say, Arissa?

 

Yep, she knows what's going on.
And here he comes....

 

And straight away Brelyna starts throwing fireballs past my ear. Come on!

 

Unfortunately Krosis has slightly better fireballs that light you up like some kind of nuclear assault.

 

But...
Wait for it...

We managed to beat him!
There were no more screenshots because it was far too frantic and panicky with fire all over the place, lightning bolts here and there and rival Frost Atronachs battling each other like some great icy wrestling bout with the occasional summoned wolf spirit flying in there too, but we won!!!!
It was so much fun that it should be banned.
And I now have his mask to wear... if I want.

I'm so glad I did a hard save not long before it because now I can go back and play through the fight again anytime I like.

...like, anytime you feel like ruining the taste of victory by messing up and losing the fight?