I reached the second half of Echoes of Wisdom. I didn’t expect it, but for some reason it feels like the game has actually begun now. Maybe I’m imagining it. Haven’t played much since then though, but will continue tomorrow.

I finished the second main quest in Lightning Returns. The fight against

was a lot more fun than the fight against

It’s kinda fitting that I found such a good time to pause on both games, because it’s time for the monthly game of Civ 5! I’m going down the list to play every civilization and the Huns are up this time. I’m not a fan of domination victories, so I keep the map smaller. Usually, I out-tech my opponents at some point on the normal difficulty, but something went really wrong and we’re actually all on equal footing. We’re down to three players and just as my warmonger penalty has worn off and I’m starting to be on good terms with everyone, both of my opponents declared war on me at the same time! They were at each other’s throats for a long time themselves. I fended them off, but I got some rebuilding to do now…

I also dug out Snowboard Kids for the N64 again. Quicksand Valley is really walling me right now.

And a special shoutout to the Beta of Monster Hunter Wilds that dropped all of a sudden. I had no idea! I just wanted to see if my PC can handle the game but ended up playing for three hours. I haven’t played World, so it’s my first time in this more realistic art direction. I miss the colors Rise had, but I’ll get used to it. I wanted to try out a new weapon for this game, but I think I’m too old to learn new tricks. I went back to my trusty Switch Axe within minutes. Everything feels a bit more sluggish, but I’m not so rusty that I couldn’t beat all the monsters in the beta by myself. The Magnamalo from the Rise demo way back when did not leave me with such confidence…

I have everything for Civ V. Old Civs tend to go on sale for 90% and less, so there was no reason to pick and choose.

I finished the desert dungeon in Echoes of Wisdom. I liked it! I thought the water dungeon was kinda boring, so I was a little worried. The list of echoes is getting a little full though. I wish I could blacklist some of them so they don’t clog up the list.

Most of my time was spent starting Lightning Returns. It says a lot about Final Fantasy XIII’s lack of popularity that I haven’t even heard about the third game in the trilogy being very reminiscent of Majora’s Mask of all games! I really should have heard about that…

The biggest difference is that you don’t live through a 3-day cycle multiple times but a 13-day cycle ONCE. You get one chance and if you fail, you lose. I have read that you don’t need nearly that much time for the main quest, but I’m a completionist at heart, so I’m still constantly on edge. They tell you very early on that you can’t save everyone, but so far I like the game enough to plan for a New Game Plus with a 100% guide to make the game eat those words! With some side quests being very specific about their time, this will probably be a lot like that time I used a guide for Final Fantasy 9 to race to the final dungeon in under 12 hours to get Excalibur II while staying on level 1 and getting all missables to create the perfect starting point for a 100% completion (which admittedly ended as soon as I got to that point because that was the most interesting part of it).

I also like that the combat is its own beast and not a rehash of the past, like XIII-2 was. It still feels very challenging though. Unless an enemy is exceptionally weak, you really have to pay attention.

I’m also very close to finishing Wild Arms. I know now why that nostalgia is not the reason why I didn’t enjoy it as much as I remember. The game expects you to explore. Nobody really tells you where to go and what to do and when I play a game for the first time, that’s perfectly fine. I don’t explore a game the second time around, though. At that point, I prefer having a brief guide nearby to make sure I don’t miss anything and so I came into this game with false expectations, mostly because I really didn’t remember nearly as much about it as I thought.

The desire to start a new game of Civ V haunts me every day. I said once a month! Just one more week of patience…

Played more Echoes of Wisdom. I haven’t done much, though. My motivation took a nosedive when I explored around the southwestern parts of Hyrule Field. The open world aspect really doesn’t work for me in 2D, the area just felt too big and empty.

I’m putting the brakes on Civ 5, not because I want to, but because I have to. I finished another game today and I’m henceforth limiting myself to one game per month. I’m really just trying to win one match per civilization for now, so I’ll be done with that in a few years at this rate.

So in its place, it’s finally time to tackle Lightning Returns, the third game in the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy. I’m not sure what to expect. Though most points of criticism are absolutely valid, I thought the first game was much better than people say. The second one is exactly as bad as people say, though. It had some good ideas, but it just didn’t feel right.