Dad vs Videogames 🎮

Some videos showing early game combat in The Division.

Even after all these years, this game is still fun. Yes there are bullet sponge enemies in this game. But I made peace with that fact a long time ago. This game is not a tactical shooter, even if it might look like one.

Started a new The Division playthrough. I already finished this game in the past. I'm doing a 2nd playthrough. This time around, I created a female Division agent. My backstory for her is that she was a Paramedic before getting activated as part of the 2nd wave of Division agents.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the start of this 2nd playthrough. It is weird that even after finishing this game, I was still getting frisson when I went through the early game cutscenes. The story in this game, the premise, the motivation to playing as the protagonist, all of it is still really good.

I've not been able to post as often on this blog, simply because, when it comes down to it, I choose to play video games versus writing new posts. I still would like to publish new posts though, so in this one I'll do a quick status update of what I've been up to lately.

First off, if you hadn't notice it yet, there's a What I'm Playing? page on this site. It basically lists the games I've been playing lately. I try to update the list every month or so.

Second, there's a Local Co-op Games To Play With Kids page on this site. This page has a list of games that you can play in local co-op mode with your kids. By local co-op, I mean playing the game on the same TV. No one needs to be online or playing on their own Xbox to play these games. These are true local co-op games. If you're looking for co-op games to play with your kid on the Xbox, this is a good page to check out. Every game on that page is a game that I've played with my kids so I can verify they work in local co-op mode.

Must be noted, these game logs were written back in 2022. So when I say a “few days ago” below, I mean it happened back in 2022 when this was all written down.

After a break (2021) from playing PES 2021, I started playing again a few days ago (2022), and I found myself struggling to get a win. Every game was a struggle to not concede a goal. I was getting really frustrated with the game. I eventually still won the English Premier League. Barely though, just by 1 point. Had some help from the CPU with Liverpool inexplicably not winning against a lesser team. But the biggest surprise to me, was that I was actually playing in Super Star difficulty. No wonder I was struggling so bad. It was bad enough that I took a break from the game. It was a shock to get back and find the CPU playing so well against my team.

I was going through my journal and realized I have stopped posting about my Pro Evolution Soccer 2021 game logs. This was due to a tagging mistake on my end. I started using a new tag to track game logs and consequently lost visibility of my older game logs.

Must be noted, these game logs were written back in 2021. The game itself is old and can no longer be purchased today. Still, I think it is still a great game and this is a fun way to track my progress in the game. Plus, sharing it might help somebody new to the game. So, anyway, let's pick up where I left off shall we...

While trying to improve my game, I decided to try swapping the positions for Pogba and Van De Beek on the field. Instead of letting Pogba play CMF, I played him as my AMF and had Van De Beek at CMF. On offense, I think this was a better setup because Pogba is a much bigger threat at AMF. Van De Beek on the other hand, is much better at covering the defense because of his speed and aggression. So playing him as my CMF also worked out well.

I'm on my 2nd Master League season and I'm struggling in PES 2021. I keep conceding goals. Even with Manolas in the game, I still concede. I even signed up Elvedi to increase the availability of quality CBs in every game. I'm still conceding. And it always seems to happen in the first half too. They just break down my defense in the central areas. Not sure how to stop it. Even when I went with 2 deep CMFs, I still conceded.

Hanabi Ichijo and Yuito Sumeragi. Hanabi is one of the first characters you are paired with in battle. She's pretty cool. Triggering her ability will imbue your attacks with fire.

Character Name: Edgewater Class: Soldier Playthrough: 1st

Level 18 now in Starfield. I had to reload a save to avoid getting the Rank 2 Weapon Engineering skill. I initially got it because I wanted to be able to craft suppressor mods for my weapons. However, after unlocking it, I found that I still needed to do more Research Projects before I can actually craft a suppressor. On top of that, I was missing materials for the Research Projects. So I unlocked the skill, but couldn’t make use of it right away. In hindsight, I don’t think it was worth it getting it at this point in the game.

So yeah, I reloaded an older save file, and this time I decided to max out my Ballistics weapon skill. The difference here is that this skill upgrade takes effect immediately.

I then decided to roam around outside the Lodge and didn’t realize how much I was missing. I found a store called Centaurion Arsenal that sells really nice modified weapons. I found an Assassin’s Beowulf, which means a Beowulf rifle that already has a suppressor and a medium scope on it. This was what I wanted to be able craft via the weapon engineering skill. But in this case, I could simply buy the weapon and use it right away. I don't even have to worry about finding materials for my research projects and all that tedious stuff.