I have a number of gaming journal entries scattered throughout my bullet journal. I'm going to start a “Gaming Journal” collection page to better organize them, but for now, here are the entries that I've fallen behind on.
07/06/2019 – Saturday
Physical Contact seems to be a very important attribute in Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. For defenders, it allows them to get in front of attackers just before they make a shot. The Center Back K. Manolas exemplifies this attribute a lot.
One of the biggest threats in PES 2019 is the low cross. Typically what would happen is, a low cross comes in and the opposing team's striker will seal off my defenders to allow themselves an easy volley in front of goal. I see this happen a lot when playing against elite level teams. When I finally got K. Manolas on my team, I noticed that he was a lot better at defending against the low cross. He would get in front of strikers to clear the ball away.
I love the movie-like lightsaber fight scenes that this game, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, can produce. Also of note is that the graphics in this game are so much better when played on an Xbox One X.
This first video is a fight against a Zeffo Guardian and then a Scout Trooper Commander. This might be the easiest fight against a Scout Trooper Commander that I've ever had in the game.
This second video is a fight against a group of Probe Droids and Scout Troopers. Best way to handle Probe Droids is to use Force Pull and just take them out in melee range.
Normally fighting a group of Scout Troopers is tough, this one went as perfect as it could be. Almost movie-like to me.
It's been awhile since I've played Divinity: Original Sin 2, but after failing on my 5th Ironman Mode attempt at XCOM 2 this was a much needed change.
Note that there might be some spoilers in here especially if you are still early into the game. You've been warned.
I've managed to escape Fort Joy. By doing so, I ended up on a ship, the Lady Vengeance. However the ship is uncontrollable as it is tied to its current owner, Dallis. To wrestle control of the ship, you need to sing the ship a song. The song book is located inside Dallis' chambers in the lower levels of the ship.
As a first-time Civilization player, I had no idea what I was walking in to. Civ VI might be the most addictive game I've ever played.
If you've been enjoying almost any type of strategy game on Xbox One, such as Stellaris, Surviving Mars, or even more action-oriented games like XCOM, Halo Wars, or Mutant Year Zero, Civilization VI combines the best of several types of strategy gameplay styles at a pace almost anyone can enjoy.
Here's another game for the gamer dads out there; Civ 6 is now on the Xbox One. A turn based strategy game that you can pause anytime, which makes it perfect to play around toddlers.
I'm probably on my fifth attempt at playing this game in Ironman mode. Here are some more things that I've learned.
EVAC / SkyRanger / Aborting Mission
On the Xbox One you can “abort mission” or call for EVAC, by calling the SkyRanger using the R3 button. There are some missions where this will not be available, like when there is already a fixed extraction point. You'll know when this option is available if it shows up on the upper right of the screen. Usually on certain missions, you have to fail an objective for this option to be enabled.
One of the first enemies you'll encounter in XCOM 2 are the Sectoids. They are a pain because they have the ability to mind control your units. They can also reanimate dead units on the field, including your own dead allies.
One way to break their mind control link, or to stop their reanimated zombies is to kill off the Sectoid.
Another, probably easier way, is to disorient the Sectoid. You can do this by tossing a Flashbang Grenade in their direction. While this won't kill the Sectoid, it disrupts them enough that their mind control ability stops working and their reanimated zombies just die off.
I would like to end this post with a short gameplay clip of this pretty fun tactical game.
I bought XCOM 2 for $15 when it went on sale on the Xbox One a month or two ago. This game, along with Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 are the only two games I've been playing for the past few months. Anyway what prompted the creation of this post was a traumatic in-game experience in XCOM 2.
I'm playing the game in “Normal” difficulty with Ironman mode turned on. Ironman mode for XCOM games means you only get one save file that is auto-saved. This means that if you made a mistake and the game already auto-saved, you cannot load back a previous save file to undo your mistake.
So I was playing this mission where I had to capture a VIP and then get everyone to the extraction point. There were 12 turns allowed before “Forced Retreat” happens. I did not know what “Forced Retreat” meant prior to playing this mission. I've played missions before where you could fail the objective and the game will still allow you to continue fighting until you get to extract the whole team. This was not the case with tonight's mission.
F-35C Lightning II
Quick breather after a hard mission
A Mirage-2000-5 flying over Scofields Plateau.