Played Gears 5 for the first time. It is my first ever game from the Gears of War series. Very nice game. A violent game though. It does provide the option to change the “Mature Content” settings, which allow you to dial down gore and swearing in the game. I wish more video games would add those kinds of settings. It's a really good game with an interesting story and engaging dialogue.
One thing that I don't like is the aiming. It doesn't have the aim-assist that I'm used to from games like Division 2.
In Gears 5, if you aim badly, you've aimed badly. Doesn't matter what gun you are using, you're not hitting the target with a bad aim.
In Division and Division 2, your weapon has an accuracy stat that determines how good your aim-assist is. For example, you have an enemy running across the street from you. You point your crosshair in the direction of the enemy and hit the AIM button. Your weapon's accuracy stat then determines how good the aim-assist is going to be, thereby making it easier or harder to hit your target. A weapon with very high accuracy stat even allows you to aim slightly to the side of the target's body and the aim-assist will still pull the crosshair to the middle, giving you a good shot. I like this game design because it gives weapons in the game their own distinct character. It makes for a very engaging way to play the game.
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.
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.
I completed the DCD Headquarters mission. In this mission I went up against the Outcasts faction. This really was my first time doing a mission against the Outcasts, so I had no idea what to expect.
I looked it up on Google Maps and it turns out this building in the real world is the American National Red Cross bulding that is located near the White House.
The biggest surprise were the Outcasts Engineers. On the final battle at the courtyard, there were multiple Engineers on the battlefield. The Outcast Engineers use a remote controlled car that has like chainsaws on it, I don't exactly remember. Unlike the remote controlled bomb cars that the Hyena Engineers use, this one was armored so it can take a lot of bullets before going down. It also did crazy amounts of damage.
Ifan got a crossbow from Zalsekar the NPC. It had pretty high stats so I gave it to my Ranger. What a difference maker in combat! My Ranger now does some pretty good damage. Weaker enemies are taken out with just 3-4 hits. It probably also helps that I stopped leveling up my Huntsman skill and instead now focus on the Ranged skill, which increases damage from the use of bows and crossbows.
The idea to use the Ranger to strip out Physical Armor from all enemies in the battlefield is a good one. It makes multiple enemies vulnerable to getting knocked down with just one use of the Battlestomp skill.
I played my first two international friendly matches as the coach for the US Men's National Soccer Team. I won both games against Wales and Slovenia. I used the same 4-4-2 diamond formation that I am using with my Master League team. A couple of notes on this:
The striker Weah for the US Team is super fast. Opposing center backs can hardly keep up. I need to look into feeding him the ball in counter attacks. He does seem to have trouble finishing. Not that he's not accurate with his shots, just that they get blocked often. That's probably on me and my shot selection, and not on the player stats.
I need another “fast” center back. Miazga is fast enough, but his partner is not. When I played against Wales, Bale ran circles around my slower center back.
Similar to what I see happen with Casteldine, Ogilvy who is my AMF, can sometimes have trouble keeping the ball. Need to make use of more one-touch passes. He also will run out of stamina just like Casteldine before the game ends.
I don't have good substitution options for LMF, RMF and the fullback positions. I don't think I have a choice though as I already have the best possible players in the lineup.
I looked it up on Google Maps and it turns out this building in the real world is the 
Ifan got a crossbow from Zalsekar the NPC. It had pretty high stats so I gave it to my Ranger. What a difference maker in combat! My Ranger now does some pretty good damage. Weaker enemies are taken out with just 3-4 hits. It probably also helps that I stopped leveling up my Huntsman skill and instead now focus on the Ranged skill, which increases damage from the use of bows and crossbows.