Gaming: What I've been playing!

 Hello lovely Guests of the Cursed Kiss Café,

      It's been some time since we communicated! I just wanted to come to you to talk a little bit about what games have been holding my attention for the past few months, and since the year has started.

    For those who have followed my content for some times now know that I am a huge MMORPG lover and on that front right now it's not too bright. Many older MMOs are slowly closing their doors or being handed over to new management. Then there are still many that have made choices over the years that have pushed certain players away. Thus as it currently stands, I have been using Black Desert Online to fill that hole.

    If you're not in the know BDO recently underwent a change of hands now being directly published and handled by Pearl Abyss themselves. It's still the same game just now we're more connected to the company and able to receive updates and content at the same time as other regions. No more (hopefully) si month delays/ Despite BDO's primary content being in its PvP with Node wars, Red Battlefield, and Arsha servers it still offers quite a lot of content for non-pvp enthusiasts such as myself. One of those many things is hunting rift bosses. I haven't really progressed to a point of the story where I can feel the need to find a grinding spot, so what I like to do is left my rift bosses stack up to their max of 12 then go and clear as many as I can.

    There are a few like the freaking Gryphon that I cannot do because the area it's located in WILL get me clapped six way until Sunday. We don't want that, so that one tends to linger in my list. Eventually I will get my Kunoichi around to doing life skills and finding grinding spots but for now adventures in fighting rift bosses and progressing through the story as much as possible keep me occupied and sharp in combat. In addition to the numerous events we have been getting thrown our way, there's always something to do in BDO.

    Admittedly, recently I have been playing hooky. Just logging in for log in rewards, maybe doing a boss or relocating my character, then doing Black Spirit Adventure rolls, and logging out to then sit and stare at my ceiling with the crushing weight of the world on my mind. I'm still finding it hard to commit myself to the game fully.

    Next to BDO I have also been dabbling in Warframe. There was a long stretch in which I had dropped the game because I wasn't sure about the direction of the game and at the time I was struggling in wanting to create content for the game but never feeling like I could find a niche. Anyhow, I picked it back up and although I still harbor little fantasies about making content for it just being able to play the game at my own pace without eyes watching or expectations has been such a breath of fresh air. 

    So much content has piled up since my absence, from new frames to new open worlds and events. Something I am so grateful for  is really just that piece of mind knowing I don't have to rush myself for anyone. Being able to ignore 'meta-talk' and just play the game the way I want which is what the devs intended, that power fantasy. 

     Recently thanks to my best friend I also discovered a nifty little game called Eternal Return: Black Survival. Now I am not the biggest fan of Battle Royale-style games BUT this one really took the cake by combining top down League of Legends/Dota 2 style gameplay and adding in that closing zone element from BRs and a crafting aspect almost akin to building items in your typical MOBA.

    What you get is this very unique game with currently 25 amazing characters, solo, duo or trio (squad) modes and a hell of a lot of fun! I didn't know what to expect when I first picked it up but now it's become almost a daily play at least a game or two game thing for me. In terms of characters I have been playing Cathy, Nadine, Emma and Adela all have my attention as playstyles that I super enjoy. Even if I find myself in unfortunate lobbies from time-to-time.

    It's almost criminal that I didn't mention this game first in this post but SMITE has also been my rock these past few months. I am a MOBA junkie, always wanted to have a role in the MOBA Esports scene. I had recently left LoL and Dota 2 behind to join the likes of SMITE. Sure it's not as big and wild as those two but it's so special and so cool how the community for the most part is tight knit. I also just love what Hi-Rez is doing with the theme of bring mythos to life in such engaging ways. 

    The game as also become something of a bond between my small friend circle and I hope it keeps growing. I have been playing unhealthy amounts of Tiamat, Persephone and a bunch of assassins even though outside of conquest they're a bit iffy. 

    Real recently Magic: Legends has gone into Open beta and once again i find myself playing a game I didn't think I would enjoy initially. It combines diablo-style gameplay with the deck building and mana specialties of Magic into this strangely fun Action RPG. Maybe they'll introduce leagues or seasons of some sort who knows but until then I am really enjoying how the game is set up. 

    Normally I shy away from ARPGs for the fact they always come down to making a one-button build to blast through the game content then you wait until a new league or season with a unique modifier to do it all over again. I am sure that's really simplifying it and I don't want to shame anyone who enjoys that but I want my progress and things to matter you know? I want more than one button spam and gimmicks to keep my interested in a game. 

     Magic" Legends currently fits that bill with the way you have five  base classes with three abilities and bunch of passives to combine with however you choose to build your deck. The rotating hand of 12 cards means it never gets boring but does gt a little confusing sometimes remembering what image is what card. Once you get over the little humps the game really opens up and becomes fun, at least to me.

    I want to play the game a bit more and maybe I'll do a full review of the game. It only recently went into Open Beat like I said and I have finally settled on playing a Mind Mage (blue mana), prior to that I was running Sanctifier (White mana) and even dabbled in Necromancer (Black mana). I feel the game has a lot of potential but we'll see what they do with updates going forward.

    Finally, I want to give and honorable mention to Outriders. Been playing the demo quite a bit here and there just to keep the feel of the game fresh in my mind. It fully releases on April 1st for those not in the know. Originally I had committed myself to being a Trickster (which idk why they didn't just call it a chronomancer!) but like with all things it helps to test and dabble in everything possible just to make sure. Wouldn't you know it I am now for sure going to main Devastator (aka Geomancer) when the game full releases. Nothing is more satisfying than crushing your enemies under the weight of the Earth or throwing their own bullets back at them, and perhaps the most satisfying thing for me is rolling up into a group bathing in an arterial shower then crushing their bones under foot.

     This is also a game I hope to cover after it releases. The company has been doing such good work communicating with the community as well as updating the demo of all things to try and address and gauge any issues they can before the full release of their game.

    Just the idea of running a demo could save devs so many issues potentially. Where have demos gone anyway?? You can't tell me we've replaced them with Early Access labels. That just doesn't seem right if that is the case.

    I could imagine it takes even more work on their part to create a demo build for their game, but looking at Outriders as an example it really helps address concerns players may or may not have when it comes time to release a full product. I know some of us are old enough to remember getting demo discs often times in game bundles that let you get a taste of a game before you actually decided to go out and buy it. Guess that stopped being a thing once we got into the digital age proper. Hmmm might decide to make this a topic to cover to at some point, why the demo has gone the way of the dinosaur.

    Anyway my lovely patrons that's going to do it for me. I know this was quite the long piece here but I wanted to keep you in the loop about the main games that have been currently holding my attention and sucking on my time. Do you play any of these? What's your current list of main games looking like? or have you stopped gaming much due to the Panasonic? 

    Until next time this has been your maître d'hôtel EmpressTiramisu <3 until next time.

xoxoxoxoxo