Daily Challenge - 2025-02-22
Score: 237 / 300
🟦🟦🟦 🟦 = 76 | P | Final Fantasy VIII
🟦🟦🟪 🟦 = 86 | R | Quantum Break
🟦🟩🟦 🟪 = 75 | S | Metroid: Samus Returns

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-21
Score: 270 / 300
🟪🟦🟪 🟦 = 90 | R | Axiom Verge
🟦🟪🟦 🟦 = 84 | P | Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition
🟪🟪🟪 🟦 = 96 | S | The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

I've never posted here before but I've played this game every day for a few months and this is by far my best game.

Wow congrats! My current highest score is 265

Windmills automatically enhance video game town coziness by a factor of at least ten. This is fact.

100% I'm a sucker for them

Loved this village from Trails through Daybreak

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-21
Score: 186 / 300
🟦🟦🟦 🟪 = 78 | P | Axiom Verge
🟧🟦🟪 🟦 = 70 | R | Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition
🟧🟩🟩 🟥 = 38 | S | The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Garden Story and World War Z Aftermath are this week's Epic freebies

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/garden-story

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/world-war-z

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-20
Score: 188 / 300
🟪🟪🟪 🟩 = 90 | P | Alan Wake's American Nightmare
⬛🟩🟪 🟪 = 61 | R | Mass Effect
🟧🟩🟩 ⬛ = 37 | S | Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-19
Score: 208 / 300
🟪🟩🟧 🟧 = 51 | R | Thief
🟦🟦🟩 🟦 = 75 | S | State of Decay 2
🟦🟦🟦 🟪 = 82 | P | Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-18
Score: 195 / 300
🟪🟪🟦 🟦 = 88 | S | F-Zero
🟪🟦🟧 🟩 = 63 | R | Crackdown 3
🟩🟧🟥 🟩 = 44 | P | Sonic Mania

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Weekly Game Update Feb. 09 – 15

Lots of Trails through Daybreak this week. Not a lot of anything else, but I did get in a bit of Zelda and finished a game. But a lot of Trails.

New/Added Games:

Nothin'
--

Started:

Not really started as I had already but trying to actually get going on Quest for Glory V.

--

Finished:

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES, NSO)



There was some rewind abuse or I never would have had the patience to finish this game, but I wanted to finally at least see it through after all these years. I’ve finished the first game a couple times but never came close with this one. It does good stuff. I appreciate it has more varied environments than the first game. Of course the soundtrack is fantastic. But, my patience for platformers is variable and easily worn down. This one was hitting my limits.

--

Currently Playing

Fields of Mistria (PC, Steam)
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)
Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (PC, Steam)

Daily
Sunday: Trails through Daybreak
Monday: Trails through Daybreak
Tuesday: Trails through Daybreak
Wednesday: Trails through Daybreak
Thursday: Trails through Daybreak
Friday: Donkey Kong Country 2, Echoes of Wisdom, Trails through Daybreak
Saturday: Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire, Echoes of Wisdom

--

Progress:

Echoes of Wisdom


I’ve finished off in the Faron Wetlands. I did most of the available sidequests but skipped the one that involved fighting Smog again. The first time was annoying enough; I didn’t want to do it again. The Deku Scrubs are cute doofuses anyway, also kind of snobby, but doofuses. Quite a combination.

I’ve treaded into the Hebra Mountains, but I’m not far in yet. I was all prepped with warming smoothies, and so far have just dragged a brazier around with me hah. I did meet Condé. He’s cute. Yeti friend!

--

Trails through Daybreak


Oh boy. We’re onto chapter 2 now. The first chapter got intense. Various quick thoughts some from prologue too, all spoiler tagged:
We met Jin! Okay, not my favourite Sky character, honestly found him kind of boring, but it’s nice to a familiar face and maybe this will game will endear him to me.
New character! Hello Feri!
Creil is a beautiful village!! I love windmills… and the stone look… and just very pretty and it was great we got to see it at sunset and night too.
Of course there was a missing cat request. It’s a tradition!
Ugh Walter.
Van’s so pissed at him over his old truck?? This was great honestly. I’m so used to so much drama and tragedy that having it be that was kind of refreshing really. Not to downplay the loss. I get it. We were attached to our vehicle in Azure and sad to lose it (of course we also had the kitty pawprints paint job… that definitely helped a lot), but relatively speaking, it’s way more lowkey reason. I do wonder what the job was though…
Ew Melchior. Hated him immediately, so I’m glad they didn’t keep his evil slimey smarmy self a secret for long.
Ghouls… that was intense. And wow they killed another character. That was sad. I’m glad we did not have to see a 13 year old finish off someone she loved and considered a sister. Thanks Van… I guess? It was a Lot anyway.


Onto ch. 2 and we the players have been introduced to Aaron. I’m curious to see how things go with him. I know he’s another party member. We also saw Cao… yay… but I was wondering when we’d see some Heiyue presence.
Back to city rounds and requests! I’m really enjoying being back in the Rounds, Requests, Story rhythm. Also Old Town district is just so homey. I’m really liking Van. I wasn’t expecting to latch to him so quickly. Very happy with this game so far.

--

Backlog: 177
I guess I didn’t actually have DKC 2 in my backlog for some reason because this didn’t go down

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-15
Score: 185 / 300
🟩🟩🟧 🟪 = 62 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
🟧🟪🟩 🟦 = 68 | R | Rage 2
🟩🟩🟩 🟩 = 55 | S | SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

KiKi KaiKai: Nazo no Kuro Manto / Pocky and Rocky

That's the one

Oh wow, that was just a shot in the dark! Alright, here's mine:

Tales of Phantasia?

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-14
Score: 196 / 300
🟥🟥🟥 🟦 = 24 | S | Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
🟦🟦🟪 🟦 = 79 | R | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
🟪🟦🟪 🟦 = 93 | P | Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-13
Score: 263 / 300
🟦🟦🟦 🟦 = 79 | P | Eternal Sonata
🟪🟪🟦 🟪 = 92 | R | The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
🟪🟪🟪 🟦 = 92 | S | Serial Cleaner

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

My current high-score is 265. SO CLOSE dangit

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-12
Score: 128 / 300
🟪🟦🟩 🟦 = 77 | R | Dead Space
⬛⬛🟥 🟩 = 16 | Fable Anniversary
🟩🟧🟥 🟩 = 35 | S | Fire Emblem Warriors

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Bit of a rough one

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-11
Score: 196 / 300
🟦🟩🟧 🟦 = 63 | Pokémon Platinum
🟪🟪🟧 ⬛ = 59 | R | Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior
🟦🟦🟧 🟪 = 74 | P | Judgment

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-10
Score: 232 / 300
🟪🟪🟩 🟦 = 85 | P | Trine 2
🟦🟪🟦 🟦 = 82 | R | Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
🟦🟦🟦 🟥 = 65 | S | Just Cause 4

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Weekly Game Update Feb. 02 – 08
I missed one or two of these between not having much to say, but I’m back with one. And a couple completions! And another start.

New/Added Games:
Nothing yet, but eyeing Wildermyth

--

Started:
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (Steam)

--

Finished:
Return to Monkey Island (replay)


I’d been meaning to get to this replay for a while, then I started it, then I had a huuuuge gap before going back and progressing…with some more gaps. But it’s done! I played a big chunk of it yesterday to finish it off. After talking about it with a friend some more and thanks to her coming to the revelation of splitting Tales episodes apart I think my series ranking is tentatively:

Curse
Secret
Tales Ep. 4
Return/Monkey Island 2 – can’t decide
The rest of Tales I don’t know what order
Escape

Curse will always remain at the top and Escape at a distant bottom. I like Return but I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot of little good things and nice ideas but no moment that stands out as much as some of the stuff in Curse and Secret do for me and to a lesser degree Monkey Island 2. On the other hand it doesn’t have some of the things that bug me in MI2.

I wonder if it’ll change in the future at all. The first three games in particular are so entrenched in my brain. They’ve worn in their ruts. Return is still the newbie. It makes it hard to compare them for me.

-

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie


At last! I think the post-game could have stood to be shorter. Also, the final final boss was a lot easier than expected which I’m not complaining about, but was surprising. We might have been a bit overleveled. Still, I enjoyed it overall, especially after my grumbles with Cold Steel IV. Some of those grumbles might be a little alleviated now? Not all. There will one day be a future replay and I’m curious to see if any of thoughts might shift there.

Anyway. Reverie. I did have a good time as said, but did feel like the main story pre-credits and the Corridor weren’t as well-integrated with each other as they could be. I’m not sure what the best way to handle it would be, but it did add a disjointed feel. There were also sooo many characters. I know they wanted to give choice and players can make their dream parties, but… so many characters. That’s a lot of maintenance even with ignoring some of them and having auto equip as an option.

I know another three path system is coming in Kai, and I’m curious how that will go. I did enjoy it here, but I felt like they could have done more with it. So I wonder if it’s going to end up feeling like the prototype for Kai.

It was a long time coming due to the length of the game and not always being able to play but finished at last which concludes the arcs for both Erebonia and Crossbell! Where CS IV felt like the conclusion for Cold Steel, this one feels like the conclusion for Crossbell which darn well deserved to have a proper one.

Daybreak coming up! Calvard time! New country, new party, new arc! Exciting
--

Currently Playing

Fields of Mistria (PC, Steam)
Return to Monkey Island (PC, Steam)
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak (PC, Steam)

Daily
Sunday: Nothing
Monday: Fields of Mistria
Tuesday: Fields of Mistria, Trails into Reverie
Wednesday: Trails into Reverie
Thursday: Donkey Kong Country 2
Friday: Return to Monkey Island
Saturday: Trails into Reverie, Trails through Daybreak

I’ve only been dabbling in and out of DKC 2 and very sporadically, so I’m not really including it anywhere. I’ll just quickly save that I’m at the boss of Gloomy Gulch.
--

Progress:

Fields of Mistria


I’ve now started year 2. Spring in these games always comes as a shock after winter—just slammed by GREEN. I’m working on expanding the inn, but need a bunch more wood and stone. I’ve on the second set of floors in the mine after breaking the water seal.

I have more animals! Cows, sheep, alpaca, chickens, ducks, capybara and rabbits. I also got the mistmare, so I’m not doing much walking anymore when I can ride. It’s cute you can make the mistmare take on the appearance of other large animals you have that are happy enough with you. I was riding a cow for a little while.

--

Trails through Daybreak


New Trails new Trails! It’s a special feeling starting a whole new arc in a new country with a completely new party. Of course, there are also new mechanics and system changes to get used to, which I think is a little harder to when you already have such a huge foundation of familiarity built up, but we’ll get there.

I’m already curious about Van and Agnés. We’ve been able to poke around Edith a little bit and I’m liking what I’m seeing. The family that owns the bistro next to Van’s office seem so sweet. Getting a bit of Crossbell vibes which is great in my book. It’s also nice to have a protagonist who’s already established and knows people.

We’re investigating an antique orbment that went from Agnés’ family. But there are already rumblings of a lot shady unberbelly of the city things happening. Our contact’s already been murdered—a death already?? That’s a change from Cold Steel heh. We’re continuing the investigation…

--

Backlog: 177

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-09
Score: 160 / 300
🟩🟧🟧 🟩 = 46 | S | New Super Mario Bros. 2
🟩🟪🟩 🟩 = 67 | R | Saints Row: The Third
🟩🟧🟥 🟦 = 47 | P | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-06
Score: 236 / 300
🟪🟦🟩 🟩 = 70 | R | Dead Space 3
🟪🟪🟪 🟩 = 91 | S | The Norwood Suite
🟪🟩🟧 🟪 = 75 | P | Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

That's better after the last one

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-05
Score: 115 / 300
🟪🟧🟥 🟩 = 48 | R | The Crew
🟩🟩🟩 🟦 = 58 | S | Doom Eternal
⬛⬛🟥 🟧 = 09 | P | Satisfactory

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

oogh

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-04
Score: 166 / 300
🟪🟪🟦 🟩 = 85 | R | Days Gone
🟥🟥🟥 🟦 = 26 | S | Orwell
🟪🟩🟥 🟩 = 55 | P | Do Not Feed the Monkeys

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

Daily Challenge - 2025-02-02
Score: 265 / 300
🟪🟪🟪 🟦 = 94 | R | BloodRayne
🟪🟦🟩 🟦 = 78 | P | Psychonauts
🟪🟪🟪 🟦 = 93 | S | Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King

Play @ https://howlongtobeat.com/play

I'm never gonna beat my highscore. A THREE way tie now lol