Dad vs Videogames 🎮

A quick pose at Gatefront Ruins showing the equipment you could get from defeating enemies there: the Brass Shield and the Godric Knight Armor.

After I was satisfied with my ability to clear the Gatefront Ruins, I then moved on to fighting these enemies on horseback to the east of Gatefront Ruins. I died multiple times as well, until I realized that the weakness of these enemies, is that they are slow to attack. They are also vulnerable to attack while they're trying to turn their horse around. If you charge ahead and hit their horse, you can take down the horse or knock them off their horse, which will cause the enemy to fall down, giving you a chance to perform a critical hit. If you somehow miss this chance, the fight is still easier then on because it is now a 1v1 on the ground.

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.