MisterDeutsch

Finished my trading for the school year, so it has been a busy gaming weekend. Started Friday night with some Xenoblade Chronicles X. I finally passed level 50, so I treated myself to three new level 50 skells. I should probably watch some class videos to better understand the systems involved, but for now, I’m just finishing some affinity missions and basic missions before starting chapter 12. I was surprised by the chapter requirements:

I headed over to my friend’s place for board games yesterday. I played Jaipur which is most notable because I hadn’t played it since March 2nd, 2017 as my friend and I were waiting to buy the Nintendo Switch at a midnight launch. That was my first win of the day.

We played Penguin Party, a simple shedding game where placing penguins cards in a pyramid shape leads to more limited placement possibilities (ending with my elimination in all four rounds).

We broke out the massive game On Mars, spent a good hour learning it, another forty-five struggling to finish the first turn just to prove to ourselves that we understood the rules, then put it away since another player had arrived and On Mars only allowed for four players.

With five, we played The Crew, one of my recent favorites. It is a trick-taking game like Spades, but it is cooperative. Each round has missions (like one player can’t take any tricks or one player must take all of the threes in each suit by the end of the round). In all, we played sixteen rounds with ten wins, six losses. Hooray! (We discussed a new game that is out called “The Gang” where you are cooperatively playing Texas Hold-Em. I look forward to trying it one day, maybe at Dice Tower East this July).

We played Quacks of Quedlinburg, a bag-building, push your luck game. I played the most conservatively I’ve ever played in the game and got a well-deserved last place. I think that game is wonderful, too.

We ended the day with Cabo. I managed to pull off a final round Kamikaze, giving everyone fifty points and taking the win by forty-five in all. I may never play so lucky a game of Cabo again!

Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent has been draining my battery as usual. I spent four hours playing through story content this morning! I’m having a blast running into Octopath Traveler II characters and remembering why I prefer the mobile game (parties of eight make so much more sense in a game called Octopath!).

Ditto on the spoilers. I’m saving the post to come back and read it later.

I haven’t even bought Last Stand 100 Academy or whatever it’s called yet! This looks really neat. Kinda like a macro-WarioWare Danganronpa feel.

I played a lot of Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent this weekend. I was just on a roll with the new character Shana’s SP stock ability. It’s such a relief to not have to worry about resources between battles!

I got to play more Xenoblade Chronicles X with my wife this weekend. She doesn’t play, but she watches while knitting. When voice acting starts up, she's listening for the story. We played this way with the Wii U, as well, but that was a decade and another house ago.

I got to play Clank: Catacombs with my oldest and his friend. I was crushed, even though I managed to escape. Just didn’t grab enough goodies in the depths!

We also played 7 Wonders and I was soundly defeated again. I can’t believe that game is nearly 20 years old!

I also lost in Smash Brothers. The only success I felt this weekend was taking my family to the batting cages. My oldest suggested it for his birthday. It’s out-of-character, but lots of fun!

My wife’s been away for most of the weekend in Mother’s Day celebrations, so I haven’t played much Xenoblade Chronicles X. It’s a lot more fun running around Mira when she’s watching.

I managed to gatcha the newest character for Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent. It only took me six hundred rubies! I feel good about that since I had given myself a 4500 rubies spend limit. I mostly leveled her up and utilized her SP stock ability to make more progress through optional dungeons. Having a replenishing stock of magic points certainly makes going all out easier!

I reinstalled Civilization VI to scratch that itch again. I’m neck deep in preparing my students for the Civics End-of-Course exam, so it’s easy to walk away. During summer, I might not be so lucky. I hope to be busy with Switch 2 in Summer, though. Last day for teachers is June 4th!

Speaking of Switch 2, I haven’t gotten my preorder link from the Nintendo Store yet. I checked with Costco. They have it in the system, but with no details, just a placeholder price of $10,000.

I try to always remember that beam wrecks mechs!

Also working on Xenoblade Chronicles X. I accepted an affinity mission for Phog and Frye that I can’t complete even though I am five levels above the recommendation. I hate the way inventory works on this game! I am getting wrecked by gravity attacks, but planning out ground gear just doesn’t work in my brain! Arg!

In Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent, I’m still chugging along, leveling up my party and exploring Solista. Found the underground tournaments and unlocked a new character, too! Hooray!

I’d like to downvote, but you are unfortunately correct.

Had the Framily over, so electronic entertainment was reserved for the kids. Lots of Kirby and Smash happening on the television while I snuck away to play board games with some of the adults.

I played Cabo, the card game where you are trying to get the lowest score before going out, but you can’t see your opponents’ cards, so it’s tough! Managed third place! Out of three…

Played Maglev Metro, a railway/subway pickup and deliver game about shuttling robots to where they needed to go around Berlin. This is my second time playing this game I’ve owned for nearly ten years. It has a lot of little rules that led to me and my companion taking “oh, I cheated” turns undoing actions. When I think about the Switch 2’s price per hour I’ll be playing it, these $60+ board game purchases look insane.

Played Clank: Catacombs again and still was unable to escape to the surface! Second place, though! And the one person who did escape earned a distant third. I can’t wait to bring that one out again!

I did get in a lot of Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent yesterday and this morning. I finally finished a post-game dungeon to grind for material! But I’m still too afraid to continue with the main story after getting walloped last time (in 2024). Maybe when summer vacation arrives…

You are playing it right! I love when I finally decide to get off my butt and continue with the story, but it tells me I need to do something else first. It creates a real feel of the flow of time.

Also, I just stepped into Calderos for the first time after chapter eight. It’s a really scary place (for me), so I saved it for last. However, my Calderos percentage dwarfs my Sylvalum explore percent. They are both really scary for me, even in the forties.

I don’t understand your comment. Are you suggesting I should stay home because everything the Switch 2 has shown you has been disappointing?

Let me try your logic: you should camp out for a Switch 2 because I’m excited!

I get that not everyone is excited for a sequel system that is a massive pile of money. I also get that piracy talk is a lot of commenters’ only interest. I’m excited and enthusiastic. Why not make your own comment chain instead of jumping on one that clearly has a different vibe than you are going for?

Also, can you explain the Switcheroo joke? It’s like the idea of a bait and switch, right? I’m trying to figure out what you felt you were promised that now leaves you feeling like this is a switcheroo.

I’m so excited for camping out! From camping for the Wii with my future wife to the Wii U and Switch with a great friend, I’ve created some great memories along the way.

Switch battery aside, multiplayer in line should be a hoot! I wonder if I should bring a projector to cast onto a wall!