Writing Update
I wrote something in my book! Only a page, but it’s something.
I was preparing another Twin Dragons crossover story for today, but… it felt dry. Like I’d already done it. And I don’t want to put out stories that I feel are just repeats even of my still short list of things I’ve actually written.
I’ve started to come up with another setting that I might be able to use just for this blog. I’ve been working on and with World of Chaos so long that whatever I make will probably feel related to it in some way, at least at present, especially since I still need to work with it to finish up Emilie’s story. But when I write World of Chaos stories (even for the crossover), I have to be careful to avoid anything too close to the plot of my books for spoilers reasons, and it would be nice to just write without that concern.
Video Games
Wednesday Stream
The “A new god” DLC of Immortals Fenyx Rising has continued on exactly the same lines as the first four hours, though of course none of the trials are the same. Outside of that one struggle with Ares’s Trial of Mystery, I think I enjoy his trials the most. They have some of the best flow, with not a lot of standing around thinking. Perfect for the god with whom they’re associated. I think Odysseus trials are my favorite part of the Aphrodite sections, although some have felt less than fair, relying on extremely precise timing just to get them started. I’m just glad they have those pomegranates everywhere to refill my health.
Saturday Stream
In Final Fantasy V, you get basically all of the jobs up front and have little to do to improve them save for actually using them. It’s a little much; I’m just glad the game gives you time to work through each of them, except maybe the Red Mage, with its 999 from the penultimate stage to mastery. I wonder what would make for the best combos? I’m sure someone has a list.
The shrines for the last stage of the game (at least, I think it’s the last; the game is already longer than all of its predecessors) have rather varied degrees of difficulty even within themselves, and I like how you have to go out of your way to cap off the magic classes (except Time Mage? I wonder why you just automatically get Meteor. Maybe they didn’t have another challenge in mind that fit it). Summoning requiring the most work isn’t exactly unique, but I like the idea for Bard songs coming from playing pianos and the Fork Tower for Flare and Holy. I’m glad I spent so much time getting all that blue magic. 1000 Needles and White Wind are fantastic when nothing else is working.
Sunday Stream
Given how much effort I had to put in during the main part of the game, I can’t exactly say I’m surprised that I needed to pull out my “main” party for the Elite Four (Gym Leader, more like) battle. During the main game, I didn’t really have any such party, and, well… I did spend more than two streams with zero progress. With my now shorter streams, I didn’t exactly feel like spending an entire month training up all of my Pokemon enough that I could win. I did not expect that I would have a Pokemon reach level 100 in the course of playing the game normally, but I suppose I have been calling Palafin “Captain Carry” for a good reason.
Free Time
In my free time, I’ve run a second file through Final Fantasy V up to the point where my stream is, with one key difference: it’s mastered every job (except the one the stream file is missing. I don’t want to spoil myself on that task before doing it on stream). The reason it’s mastered every job is that this second file is like the first but with less wandering and more grinding. The end result? I actually have a higher level on the second file despite having less play time. And I mean significantly less: I’ve spent about 2/3 of the play time, simply because I know where to go. This second file is why I don’t have the section on the Saturday stream wondering why Red Mage takes 999 ABP to max out the last section. I know the reward, and I agree with the cost. It’s great. Just… not on a Red Mage.
The second file has a dual purpose, that being to remind myself of what plot has happened so far, since I only otherwise play the game for six hours per week. Not only has this helped me to remember what I’m doing when I start up the stream, but also, I know why we’re missing a job! One crystal shard was still in the water tower when it sank, similar to the crystal shards that were under Karnak Castle when it exploded. I was wondering all the way back then when we’d manage to get the other crystal shard, but it’d been so long that I forgot. I wonder now how much of the tower I’ll have to go back through to get the shard.
Conclusion
Sorry for just another blog post this week! I might be doing these for a bit, just so you know. I still want to have something every week but for now I’ve sort of run out of ideas for World of Chaos and TD Crossover stories. (If you’ve got an idea, feel free to suggest it!) And I spent a lot more than a couple of hours working on World of Chaos before I started writing its books, so that new setting might take some time as well.