The Blackangel

Sometimes. It often adds a bit of something that I can’t quite put my finger on to the game.

Negative. I am a meat popsicle.

I would like to figure out a way to come up with a game where every tiny little detail, almost down to which blades of grass you’re standing on, alter the flow and outcome of the game. Something where no matter how many times you play it, it is literally 100% impossible to play the same game twice. But something that big and that random, would be next to impossible. Even the landscape between plays would be different.

I don’t remember much of anything from the day he was put down. I guess my mind has blocked it out. And to be truly honest, I don’t really even want to remember anything.

Bad minimaps make things look further away than they are, or closer than they are. Which in turn makes it difficult to gauge your time needed to get to your intended location, and the obstacles you will encounter on the way. Enemies and dangerous animals for example. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been ambushed by enemy gangs and wannabe road bandits as well as fucking cougars in RDR2.

I don’t know if YouTube is the reason. There are so many other channels up that post the song unedited in a lyric video, and they’re not getting struck down. Then there’s also reaction YouTubers that use the song with unedited lyrics. Also, I’ve seen videos before they even ended up on YouTube and they were still edited.

How about a pizza party when we hit 100k? Pizza party at @DC’s house!

What modern game/series do you absolutely hate and why?

One and three quarters.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD I’ve seen a lot of speculation online about the series, and hopes in articles about what the next entry into the series will be. Some want a sequel to the first Red Dead where we would be playing as Jack Marston and hunting down everyone who killed John and caused the death of Abigail. Others are thinking that it will be a prequel to RDR2. Showing how everyone ended up in Blackwater and what happened on the boat. Also showing how the newer members of the gang joined up. Maybe even delving into the long past and showing how Arthur and Dutch met and became closer than blood. Personally, I like the prequel idea. I would love to know what the hell exactly went down in Blackwater, and how they ended up in that situation to begin with. Playing as adult Jack avenging his family could do well in the series, but I think RDR2 left too many “How” kind of questions unanswered. Don’t get me wrong, I’m obsessed with the game, and always willing to talk about it, and help out if I can. The same way the rest of the forum feels about Skyrim and TLOU. I also want to know what the hell kind of path they had to take to end up north of everything so that they would have to head south to go away from where they were running from which is south of them. Either I forgot how to read a compass, someone decided it was time directions were changed, teleportation existed, or that damn UFO got ahold of them.

That’s one hell of a deal. I would be interested in the trip, but being that I’m a classic gamer with a slight handful of exceptions, the gaming part of the prize would be more or less wasted on me. But my girl might be interested, as she is on FF14 all the time. I’ll give her the link here and have her come to the forum to check it out. She’s not the biggest poster on forums. Including the ones I’ve built and run. But I’m thinking she would see a lot of rewards by joining VGR. I know the returns were immediate for me.

All too often, the game I can’t get my mind off of is RDR2. Especially if I’ve just started a new campaign. I can’t get off the game whether I want to or not. I’m a woman obsessed. I relate one way or another to all the girls in camp. I’m a cynic like Karen, a bitch like Susan, a dreamer like Mary-Beth, a clear world view like Tilly, and a loony if I’m in love like Molly. But in all honesty, if I was going for one of the guys in camp, it would be either Charles or Arthur.

I wouldn’t necessarily call them followers, but my favorite gang members in RDR2 are Lenny, Hosea, and Charles. You do several independent jobs where it’s just the 2 of you. And I wouldn’t want anyone else. They’re the best men in the gang, and the game as a whole. I still think Hosea should have been the head of the gang instead of Dutch, but that’s just me. They would have fared so much better if they were the Matthews gang instead of the van der Linde gang.

RDR2 has some in it. The Pinkertons were a real government agency to hunt down outlaws and other major criminals. There is also mention of the president all around. They also drew inspiration for some of the legendary outlaws from real life. The goofy guy in Valentine that is writing the book about Jim “Boy” Calloway that asks you for pics and stories from other gunslingers gives you names of several outlaws. Some were real, like Black Belle. Others I’m not sure about. I’d have to look into it. There’s also a lot of Army involvement in the game, and a lot of references to the American civil war. Some of the language they use in the game didn’t carry the same connotation then that it does now. There’s a lot of propaganda in the game if you just take the time to look for it.

I've never played the game, but it sounds awesome as hell. Are the expansions going to be available for all platforms, or just for PC?

The only time I play a game on Easy is if I'm a complete n00b, and want to play it and need to learn the mechanics of the game. Things like how the controller is set up, how interaction with NPC's is scripted, and in general how the game runs. After I get all that down, I tend to quit the game and start a new one on a higher difficulty setting. But I can probably count the number of games I have with a difficulty option on one hand. Most everything else is just a linear game that is one setting and has no option in the game code. The only ones in my library (minus the previously mentioned few) that have a difficulty option are fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct.

I don't touch it once I go up to harder difficulties, unless I'm raising the difficulty. It's why I use a game genie on a lot of my old games. I put in codes that put me at a disadvantage to make the games more challenging because after playing some for 30+ years I've just gotten too good at them to the point that they're just boring as hell. So I put in some codes to tweak the program, put myself under some new settings that leave me weaker and my enemies stronger, and the games run anew.

To be honest, the first time I saw my girl playing it, I asked her what movie she was watching.

I can't think of any specific titles off the top of my head at the moment, but a lot of the old stuff had this problem. Games from the Atari 2600, NES, and SNES are the main culprits. They started fixing it around the N64 era, but before then the contrast was a bitch.

RDR2 holds up with this. When you're cleaning your guns, you can get a look at them up close and personal. Or if you go to a gun shop, you can get an even closer look in the customization option.

The skies in RDR2 are absolutely beautiful, and so realistic and appropriate for the weather of the moment. There are times I like to sit back on my horse and just watch the day go by. or take a seat at the edge of camp and watch the clouds move through.

Would this post that I made back in May be a pass as a review? I went over several Zelda games and gave my thoughts on them.

My pick goes to RDR2. There are so many options for outfits, and you can mix and match anything you have as much as you want. You can also shave Arthur or let his beard grow. You can use pomade on his hair to make it a little more presentable. You can let his hair grow to the point that it's as long as that of the girls' hair. If you choose to use hair tonic at least. I've never thought to try it, but thinking about it now, I just might. You can also go to a barber and do anything from shaving his head to just changing the style. You can also customize all your weapons, unless they're one of the unique weapons. You can pick the grip, varnish, metals, carvings, engravings, and upgrades. You can also customize your horse's mane and tail. When I get the white Arabian, I always go to a stable and have her tail braided and colored black. My reasoning for that is because Dutch rides a white Arabian as well, and it just makes it easier to tell our horses apart, until I go for one of the other wild Arabians. Then there's the tack. You can customize it as well. I always ride the upgraded Gerden Vaquero saddle. I also buy the hooded stirrups. They're the best in the game. I'm not saying that from opinion, I'm saying that from fact and how they affect your horse. You have several colors for your saddle to choose from, and I tend to buy them also that I can mix it up whenever the urge strikes me. There's so much that you can customize in this game, that it's almost literally just mind blowing. But that statement is coming from someone who still plays Zelda on the NES.

I had been wondering if I was getting more into walkthrough territory, than review. I’ll try to do another article and try aligning it more as a review, but I’m also going to continue with this one as a walkthrough. There may never be anyone interested in using it, but I’ve had fun writing it. So I’m going to continue it. Thanks. I appreciate all the constructive feedback I can get from everyone willing to offer it.