Ninglors Log 23
Completed Games:
Never give up!
Melissa K. and the Heart of Gold Collector’s Edition
Cinders
Won/Gifted Games:
Solstice
Max’s Big Bust – A Captain Nekorai Tale
Bought Games:
Played this week:
Yeah, so two games, that are slightly killing me. Broken Sword 1, since it’s the oldest game I own (and haven’t played) and Dear Esther: Landmark Edition because it’s fp and I’m getting suuuuuuuper ill while playing it. So for both I decided to play a chapter per day and see where that get’s me (the first one might capture me at some point totally and I’ll play more of it :] ). For Dear Esther though…… I try not looking too much on the screen and just listening to the things. Now you probably wonder why the hell I even play it? (Me too, tbh!) I got it back in I dunno when. I played it once, forced myself through it, because the idea is just awesome and all that. And then I’ve put it aside to NEVER EVER touch it again. And suddenly they release a Landmark Edition. WHY? sniff So yeah, cheevos and all that. Luckily there are guides. I don’t think I could do this while searching for everything by myself. That would definitely kill me (and I guess I would also refuse doing it. I try to take a bit care of my health ;) ).
Oh right. Armada 2526 Gold Edition – I abandoned it for now.
As for Batman. My mum seems to be in strike. Or she has to boil down (?) some veggies from the garden and such. So in short: She’s busy. Poor Wayne really!
I was totally sceptical with this one. Like TOTALLY! Because of two reasons. First Tsupdertsundere wrote about it… and it didn’t seem too promising what she wrote about it. Second it’s a Russian VN (sry, don’t mean to offend anybody here!) and I recently played 60th Kilometer which is a Russian VN and it was… bad! So yeah, I was worried. But then having already low expectations normally make the experience better, right? Guess that’s what happened here.
So Never give up! is not THE best VN there is. But it is nice enough. As teeny I had my share of bullying and really liked how our mc can talk back to those bullies. (Which I sadly never really managed to do…) But the Story is not only about meanies at school but actually about a Crime. Somebody runs around killing off Half-Elfs! Our heroine is a half-elf. And yes, I like instantly managed to get her killed off :]
We have three different romance options with three different endings available for everyone. Two possible kill ends. And we can use the skip button! (We like skip buttons!) Also we have bugged cheevos. But(!) we can unlock it easy enough. Saving at the last point to choose something, switch to Russia and tada, we get the cheevo!
Found some badly translated sentences (which is pretty common with having games translated), even had a moment where one word was not translated but still un Russia which was funny. But the word was easy enough to guess. Drawings and music were ok. In total a not so bad game. (And WAY better then 60th Kilometer!)
Recommendation? Yeah
I hate abandoning games I haven’t 100%ed. But I do it non the less. My fingernails started to suffer under the last free incomplete games O.O
I had a bit of struggle going on with this one, since I mostly didn’t know where to go next or what to do. So at some point (yes, I’m a sinner!) used a guide to help me out *hided in shame*
Apart from that struggle it was a nice experience. Good Hogs, mostly enjoyable mini puzzles. Music, Graphics were alright. Story ok – though I didn’t like the love interest too much :]
Since this was gift: Thank you again, I had a great time playing!
Recommendation? Yes, but beware of getting lost :D
This was another gift – huge thank you for that!
I LOVED it! It all worked purrfectly together. Story, Art, music. The first play was just adorable. Sadly trying to get the cheevos and different endings are not that nice any longer. It’s still pretty sweet and all that, but having read the story once already, it suddenly lacks a lot. But I’m super happy I got the chance to play this one! Also I enjoyed greatly that Cinders has more options then going for the prince. Also the family issue can be made a bit smoother which I personally liked a lot. Ok, the stepmom still is a beast, but with the sis it was more comfortable that way. And since I’m more of a harmony person, I really tried to make this work out better :]
Recommendation? Definitely!
So I have abandoned The Witcher 2. Not totally but for now. I finished it once and that was actually the main goal I had with W1 and W2. The second one was way better than the first one! Although I took lots of brakes in between I never had to force myself to play it, as I had too with one. Also the easy setting was this time easy. I think I never really had to use a potion. I disliked how my choices from one didn’t make a difference. I think I liked Geralt less. He basically looked ugly with all his scars shock, Triss on the other hand was rather pretty :D
Even if I liked the story and gameplay and graphics better than in the first one. I’m still not in love with the Witcher series. So, since everybody is praising 3 into heaven, I have high hopes :)
Cat Story ahead!
This week I have a really exciting report!
So we have now for quite a while a tomcat lurking around the neighbourhood. He’s a beast. Get’s into fights with every cat around here, even got to our old lady (my mum was actually for a moment worried he killed her!), he also growled at my babies – separated by a window. And he doesn’t care if I try to shoo him off. So far no close contact with my baby gang though.
Yep, you’re right. That changed!
So we were outside minding out own business – me reading, babies exploring the shed, dog lazily sleeping around, my mom doing something in the veggie garden. Suddenly I notice the grey devil coming out of the bushes next to the shed. At the same time Tizio leaves the Shed to wander off. And BAM their standing face to face! Since Tizio is only a knight in shining armour when he has to battle spiders…. Yeah, he took off. As fast as he could. Little devil right behind him. (Dog also noticed something and started getting excited.) But what the grey beast didn’t realize: There was another cat in the shed. And the moment he noticed something happened, Ameno came right after him – which was actually really funny to look at. So the (let’s just settle with it) Devil noticed Ameno and stopped – Tizio by now already in the house and yeah, gone. Dog was on the terrace. My mum came along to hold him off from joining the fun, because he might just as well go after Ameno.
There we are, Ameno and Devil face to face, both trying to be as intimidating as possible and hissing and growling. Since Ameno is a fluff he was like, wow! Soooooo big! And the other one got smaller and smaller and avoided looking at Ameno – which is always an attempt to seem less dangerous. But where to go? Ameno on one side, Dog behind him. In the end he crawled under a box and super slowly left on the other side. And then he buggered off. And Ameno looked soooo big and strong and victorious!
So there was no cat fight. Only hissing and that kinda stuff. I’m pretty sure the Devil won’t leave it at that since – as I said – he tries to fight every cat around her. Which are mostly girls. From now on I won’t cut Amenos claws any longer because that would just be a disadvantage, right? Yeah, we are preparing for battle. I just wait for Ameno to drill Tizio and both of them digging up a trench for battle. And sharpening claws and teeth and all that. And getting into camouflage and what not!
What else about my week? Not much really. I avoided going out on my own and start working on x-mas presents – yeah, I know, it’s still summer and all that, but I hate doing those kind of things last minute :)
Due to my motivation/down thingy last week I started digging up a bit of the garden to… do something! It worked out great so far. Now the plants only need to grow, so those little bumblebees are happy!
Also I have finished the blanket (yay me!) and believe it or not, I’m spinning! Though I have not idea what to make out of the yarn when I’m done. I’m thinking off a pullover. But at the same time I’m no fan of selfknit clothes – apart from socks, shawls, hats and gloves. Shame on me. But only knitting blankets seems awfully boring :D
So yeah, literally nothing exciting happened! (Apart from the cats ofc!)
Have a lovely week!
Queen Ninglor
Ps: I’m thinking about adding a star rating. I know some ppl here use that. How though? Any advice? :]
I think I liked Geralt less. He basically looked ugly with all his scars
Geralt is supposed to be very ugly according to the story :) However in Witcher 3 they turned him into such an eye candy. I won’t complain about it because that game gave me some amazing naked Geralt screenshots but still it’s wrong of him to be that good looking :P :P
I really should start playing Witcher 2 because Roche’s voice is love <3333 I think listening to him talk and drooling over his voice and accent will be my only incentive to start playing that game :D
Dear Esther is a game I’m curious about cause I like walking simulators. It really sucks that it gave you motion sickness :( What’s the save system in that game? If checkpoints are frequent you can keep taking breaks instead of playing it chapter by chapter. If it has manual saves even better.
Dear Esther only saves at the beginning of a new chapter ;) The chapters are’t that long though, luckily. I think you would quite enjoy it if you like walking sims, although going through the game once is more than enough and you need two plathroughs to earn all the achievs :/
Yea I’m pretty sure I’d like it a lot and it definitely wouldn’t be the first game that I’d have to play twice to get all achievements. Thanks a lot for the heads up about it :)
I asked about the saves because if they are frequent Ninglor could just take breaks more often. Chapter by chapter save is tough, I wish they were more frequent so she wouldn’t have to force herself to continue till the end of the chapter while feeling such motion sickness :(
Yeah, I know :/ It really sucks that she has such an unpleasant time playing because of her motion sickness :(
Ah, well. I mostly avoid games that make me sick, so that’s alright! :)
What? He visited a skin surgeon to look better? O.O
Man, now I’m even looking forward to his looks! :D
Ha, you mentioned Roches voice before. Sadly I went with the elves and therefore didn’t enjoy it that much.
Only went with the elves since I did it in the first and felt a bit responsible to stick with the idea I had for Geralt. To bad the game doesn’t remember my playstyle :]
Dear Ester has for chapters. At the end of each chapter it saves. It normally works out, they are not THAT long. I even played yesterday two chapters one after the other, since the last two feel shorter and it worked therefore. Or I’m getting better at this. As I said some when before, it’s also a training thing ;)
Sadly no manual save :/
I love your life-updates so much - you have a really whimsical way you write about your goings-on that makes it feel like you live in a fairy tale. I’m glad your kitties emerged unscathed.
I’m glad to get a mention in your Never Give Up! review (<3) and I’m even more glad you got more out of the game than I did. Is it okay if I link your Cinders’ review in my VN masterlist? I want to start assembling reviews of games on it, just so people get a myriad of voices.
As for star ratings, I try not to take them super seriously and use them just as a really quick at-a-glance summation of my feelings. I tend to do 2-4 for games I find very flawed/just barely finished, 5 is meh, 6 is okay but not spectacular, 7-8 are flawed but have some really good bits, 9 is great with a few hangups and 10 is quite special to me, made me Feel Things, left a mark on how I think in some form or another.
Hihi, a fairy tale! I’m still waiting for my prince (or princess) to come around and carry me off - no need to rescue though. My mum is no dragon but a lovely mum :)
Well Tizio carried a scar away from all that. Not to be seen, but his little cat soul is all shaken! He is now extra careful when we go out. Like the first time after that incident he didn’t ever dare to come along. Poor kitty! (Ameno is right now totally for going out and super annoying. I should obey soon or I’ll end as catfood or something :D)
I think the trick with Never give up! is to don’t go to deep into it? Maybe? Dunno. But, yes, I’m glad too. And I’m happy your not bothered to be mentioned ;) :*
Yes, ofc you may use it! (If you wanted a star rating for it, I would give it 4/5 because it is awesome but sadly only the first time :D)
Oh so you DO use the stars! I never was sure so I stopped checking tbh ;)
Ok, and how to you add the stars? Are that… I dunno little pics or? Yeah, I could definitely just check out a source code :D
Corralling cats is difficult, absolutely. Give Tizio a big hug and kiss for me for being such a brave boy regardless.
I don’t use star graphics, just like a 8/10. I do use text stars in my post, though, and there are different kinds. I use ones that are just an outline, and there’s ones that are filled in. I’ve seen people use those for the stars in total/stars earned kind of thing.
He is a very brave on! Just killed last night another spider ;)
But you sure use quite a lot of words I have to look up. First whimsical and now Corralling :D
Ok. Not entirely sure I get it, but I guess it will become clearer the moment I take a closer look at it - didn’t so far, since sunshine = garden also I had to do some milk shopping. It’s ridiculous how much milk I need if I drink my coffee nearly half and half :D
You just add the stars as…. symbols? Like a questionmark only… it’s a star?
Yeah, I looked up different html characters - there’s a list of them on wikipedia. Let me find it…
https://unicode-table.com/en/#block-elements around here is where you start finding some misc. symbols you can play around with.
✪ ✦ ✯ ✬
Oh, ok. That are a LOT! O.O
Thanks for pointing it out though :)
Ugh, I hear you about Dear Esther: Landmard Edition, I feel the same :/ I quite enjoyed the game the first time around, but walking sims aren’t exactly known for their great replayable value so going through it again for the achievs isn’t fun. Even worse, you have to play through it two times to unlock all the achievs >_<
What was that about your mum and Batman, by the way? O.o
And Ameno looked soooo big and strong and victorious!
That must have been kind of cute! Give Ameno a big hug and a tasty treat for me ;D
As for knitting, you could knit a really ugly sweater and give it to your worst enemy! :D
Well luckily I started with the comments. And I was like: WHAT? Did I actually play the game the first time around?
Maybe I just didn’t look that close though so I might have missed tons :D
Looking forward to hearing all the ingame things. Maybe the game makes a different kind of sense after hearing the dev comments :)
Well I tried playing Batman with my mum, since she read Batman as a kid and all that and I love the TT games and thought she might enjoy it. So far the progress was real slow. And last week we didn’t find anytime at all to play it. Sadly :/
It was! And I was so proud of him! I’ll do that :)
But… the wool I picked is beautiful! I love the colours! I think I’ll just try knitting a sweater. Maybe I’ll like it and then it’s ok :)
Or if I don’t like it that much, it’ll be a home sweater that can become assimilated by cathair :D
Thanks for the fun update, as usual.
How great is it that you won Solstice after having recently played Cinders? Same dev and all…
I’m curious about the difficulty in obtaining the achievements in Cinders. Is it simply a case where it’s hard to determine which choices are needed for a particular ending without using a guide? But with a guide it’s just a matter of clicking correctly? Or is there more to it than that. My approach (if I ever dug it out of my backlog) would be to play it straight, then replay from a few key points and see if I could get another ending or two. Then once I was satisfied with that and felt I’d spent enough time on it, I’d use a guide step-by-step for the remaining achievements. Do you see any issues with me executing that plan?
So they really did fix all of the achievements in Melissa K. and the Heart of Gold? The one you didn’t get was…voluntary? Grindy or difficult in some way?
I enjoyed Broken Sword 1– it’s the only one of the series I’ve played but I’d like to revisit it some day.
Yikes! Scary thug cat on the prowl! Good thing that he was put in his place….and I’m glad everybody is (mostly) okay.
I’m really happy about winning Solstice as well! Looking forward to it :)
Well most cheevos for Cinders came naturally for me. It’s a few choices you are making. Like going for the prince or running away and such. That are the obvious once. The two poison ones (once success and once fail) I didn’t even try without guide, because…….. I’m not that much of a natural poisoner :D
But I think the others will work just fine with your plan. Also there is a nice steam guide, that helped me out :)
Yes, they fixed the chevoos!
Yes, the one missing…. I stopped trying. Can you remember the door clicking game at the end? I decided that it’s a waste of my time trying to beat the time. Also it started stressing me out and I already totally tense when I beat the medium difficulty. Also the zodiac signs. Yeah. No. So for once I’m abandoning something instead of suffering until I finally achieve it ;)
Yeah, it definitely starts to get interesting! Hope I’m done with Dear Esther soon, so I can focus a bit more on it :)
We don’t need scary grey cats! They can just stay in their garden and be happy there. Haven’t seen him since Friday :D
And Tizio is starting to be brave again and go more easily outside ^^
I never played Melissa K. because of the (previously) broken achievements, so I’m not familiar with the door-clicking or zodiac signs. But yay for abandoning instead of suffering!
Oh, and here I thought you did :)
The door clicking is the monster boss fight :D
Anyway. Now you can play it! happy
Was going to ask the same question about Melissa K.’s achievements ..glad to know I can finally play it ^_^
This evil motion sickness :( I wish there was some kind of pill for it. Or maybe they need to optimize the game better idk, though I also have it with portal..? This cat story was really good :D wouldn’t mind reading more about it, you have a really pleasant writing style.
What are you working on for Christmas already? Some kind of surprise package?
It really is quit nasty. But being aware of it, I can avoid certain games right from the start. Exactly like portal 2. I own it, but I don’t think I have touched it too long, since… yeah… getting sick :D
Ha, thank you. It’s all thanks to the cats really ;)
Could also be a bit practicing writing. Mostly in German though. But writing is writing, right? :]
I mostly start soon in the year to think of things I would like to give to ppl. I’ve recently being doing some ceramic painting and I always wanted to give my mum a butterfly mug. Sadly I never find a nice enough one for her, sooooooo I thought I could make one. That would be more personal anyway, so yay to that! And if I’m giving her one, then my dad has to suffer and will also get something of that sort from me. I never really know what to get him. Books I think of either seemed to backfire so far or he gets them before x-mas because he can’t wait… You get the idea ;)
So nothing to special, but painting ceramics I should definitely start yeah, a bit before it’s time :D
Wow that are such nice gifts, hand-made things always win. But yeh you need the time and inspiration for it as well. Haha I understand with buying books for someone. And when they want to go buy it you just have to hint something like ‘maybe it will get on sale soon’ or ‘I heard the book was bad’. So I mostly get a gift-card that I wrap up nicely. Or bake something that they really like.
Yes writing in German is writing too :p
Used to give my parents quite a lot of handmade stuff we did at school. Most of those gifts where more or less useless, but who cares. Nowadays I spent a bit more thought on it (also I can choose what to do, in school not necessarily ;D) and time making it.
Na, it’s more a hint like: It’s x-mas soon, you really wanna get a book like, now? :D
This comment was deleted over 7 years ago.
I missed your cat stories xD
Congrats on finishing those games and the blanket! Star ratings are great. Since you’re adding stuff to your ratings, I’d say to add the amount of time that you spent in a game. Most people omit it, but it’s a very useful information that besides in Thirteen’s posts, I don’t see very often.
My cats missed you too! :]
As did I! Happy to have you back! throws some confetti
The blanket is super fluffy and nice and I love it! <3
But… the amount of time I spent on a game doesn’t really say anything, since I… tend to get distracted by cats or making dinner or… and then the time just ticks on. It’s like with a Taxi - “You want me to wait? Ok, but the time is running.” But yes, I could probably do that as well. Only need to work out how to put it on the right side without pushing everything around ;)
This might be my favourite cat story so far, thank you! :D I didn’t know Ameno can transform into such a fighter, scaring away the Devil himself. I’m sure Ameno can help Tizio find his fighting spirit as well.
Unfortunate to hear you didn’t enjoy Dear Esther so much. The Landmark edition must feel even more of a drag then, especially a playthrough with the commentary. I think there was at least one achievement tied with playing the commentary? I don’t remember for certain.
Have fun with your next backlog targets! Looking forward to the next chapter of Adventurous times with Ameno & Tizio :)
Oh man, you should have seen it! I mean, I already new he was a little badass and all energetic and trying to battle with Tizio, but I had nooooo idea he would be the same with some stranger cat! I just assumed he would react just the same as he does with human he doesn’t know: Run and hide. But no! He stood his ground! He filled my heart with pride and love and adoration…. <3
Also he was all fighter today again!
And Tizio the runner. I think they might have sorted out how that’ll work. Tizio alarms everybody by sprinting in the house and Ameno is the guardcat who fights everything of. As long as it is not bigger then a dog. Not sure how he would react to… let’s say a horse in the garden ^^
Yes, there is both an achievement for the commentary and for the story. So had to play it twice. I will start any minute my next update sheet and write about it, since I finished it yesterday :)
You wont believe it, but I actually thought yesterday about writing a novell/book thing about my two babies :) Since I started looking every week for a something they do which is worth mentioning I notice so much more things I could talk/write about. I mean even the silly, boring things that happen with them are in the end worth mentioning. Even if it is only once, but still :D
Have a nice week! :)
And Tizio the runner. I think they might have sorted out how that’ll work. Tizio alarms everybody by sprinting in the house and Ameno is the guardcat who fights everything of.
So they’ve figured out their strategy: Tizio will act as recon/bait to lure the enemies until Ameno steps forward to unleash his fluffy fury. It’ll be very effective!
Many people find cats as boring (they do like sleeping, yes..), but those same people don’t probably understand how much you can find from a cat’s life when you follow them on a daily basis. And yes, it seems you have a couple of curious friends that you could write many stories about :)
They ARE effective! And so adorable! Ups, did I mention that already?
But Mr T is now all shaken up again sigh And Ameno insisted on going out again and lazily lie around on the terrace. Guess he just hoped something interesting would happen again.
Boring? Nononono, they are soooooo not boring!
I mean, Tizio even melted my dads heart and he is no cat human!
But you’re probably right. Spending the whole day with them offers a lot more insight and action :D
YAY THE QUEEN IS HERE!!!
Loooooong may she reiiiiiiiiiiiign
Your story cat was soooo epic! It started like a western movie and ended up like a war one!
And the “We’re preparing for battle” part… daaamn, we need to make a movie out of this!
I’m not a huge fan of star ratings… it feels like most people using it tend to replace what they thought of the game by X stars. But some manage to do both, just hope you belong to the last category, it would be a shame not to get to read your thoughts on a game!
YAY; MY LOVE IS HERE!
Aw, I would sooooo love to somehow use this pic, it’s epic! <3
I should really. But… I only have my handy as a camera and… I don’t think I could even do that nicely! Yes, we found something yours truly can’t do!
Noooooooo, I would never do that! I have way to much to say to abandon telling folks my opinion :P :D
But ever since I started with the recommendation part at the end…. I don’t like that to much. Because Yes can be a 3/5 or a 4/5 and…. yeah. So that’s the only reason I’m thinking of adding that :)
I finished Witcher 2 today and I completely agree about the choices! In fact I think the “save import” feature in the Witcher series could have been seriously improved, maybe we’re spoiled by Bioware lol? I can feel quite ill at times playing some first person games, recently The Turing Test was especially difficult, but not on the level you’re describing, that sucks to hear :( Well done on your progress anyway!
Oh yes! Bioware spoiled us bad! :]
The Turing Test seemed really interesting. But yeah, I already figured it will be a no go for me. Sadly. Hope you still got to enjoy it though :)
Thank you! Have a nice week :)
I’m glad you liked the VNs!
Cinders was very good, but a hassle to get all the ending variants. I spent hours trying to get both of the sisters to like me! Also, fastforwarding already seen text takes so much time with all the scene transitions that manage to slow the skipping every time they appear.
edit: I’m not good with sharing my ratings because every time I play a new game I change my past ratings according to the new experiences!
Yes, the different endings where definitely a struggle. I tried getting the captain of the guard by running away with him. But that was only like friends. The same playthrough and Cinders trying to kill her stepmom they kiss at the end though. Hello? Dude, what’s wrong with you? How can you like us more when we try to kill somebody? :D
Yeah, I think I can see what you mean. For you it’s about putting the games in a ratio to each other (hope that works, leo.org offered ratio as the word I’m looking for O.O). For me it’s not so much looking at each game and see whether I liked it more or less then an other game, but more how much I liked it per se. Does that make sense?
Yes, that totally makes sense! I do think that having ratings would work for you then.
I shall give it in next weeks update it try :)