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Yakuza 0
66 hours playtime
31 of 55 achievements
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Cargo Commander
36 hours playtime
19 of 19 achievements
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May
Yakuza 0
I picked this up in April and spent pretty much the whole month playing it. When I saw it was in the humble bundle monthly it wasn’t appealing enough for me to subscribe, but I had a decent trade offer so picked it up. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did if I didn’t live in Tokyo. I guess people who live in places that are featured in games a lot know this feeling, but this was the first time I’ve played a game set in a place I know well. The two areas the games are set in are modelled on districts of Shinjuku and Osaka that I have visited. The fact that the cut scenes were in Japanese was another appealing point. I could understand a lot of it, and it felt like I was studying a bit while having fun!
I played about 60 hours in April and beat the game, but thought I could get a few more achievements before I posted about it. That didn’t happen though. May has been very busy IRL and so I chose to play a game that was easy to dip into for 30 mins to an hour at a time.
Cargo Commander
Very fun game. Pretty simple game and concept, but very fun. Once I got into it, I thought it was 100 percent-able, so I stuck at it and found a few guides to help me find the rarer cargo items and finally did it! Reminded me of Rochard a little. Nice graphics, likeable character, simple but addictive gameplay and a it was easy to play and pick up for a short time. I don’t get 100% achievements in many games, so pretty happy with this :)
No screenshots this month. I took some, but they weren’t very exciting.
Other news
I’ve been thinking about other ways to approach my backlog recently. I like to play games that I’m interested in or feel like playing, but unless I make a conscious effort they’re always pretty new games. I might try playing one older and one newer game each month. I think it will be a good balance and will mean I can try to check off older games that I might not otherwise be motivated to play and also get to play new games that I’ve spent money on before they get included in bundles or distributed for free!
Work has been busy, particularly in the last couple of weeks. It’s all pretty interesting and I’m learning new things, but I do more than my job entails and I don’t feel that I (and a few coworkers) are really appreciated. Frustrating sometimes and I casually look at job adverts, but that passes when I look at the big picture as there are a lot of positives. I have a fairly steady job, good holidays, I like my co-workers, and the money is decent. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love any kind of job or are doing jobs that they hate, so I should be grateful. :)
Thanks for the reply :)
My immediate boss is in exactly the same situation, probably a worse situation actually as he stresses about getting everything right and spends far too much time in the office and thinking about work. Any further up and they aren’t really interested. Things have been brought up multiple times in yearly evaluation meetings, but nothing changes. Part of it is probably a cultural difference (and in the case of one manager we have to deal with a lot, personality!). I’m in Japan but not Japanese, management higher up than my immediate boss is Japanese. I’ve picked up on a few smaller issues and dug my heels in a bit to force change, but that would probably cause more trouble than it’s worth in the long run with bigger issues.
Phew….anyway, mini-rant over! thanks for the well-thought-out advice.
Back on games….how’s your backlog assassination plan going?
Hi, smythe! I just wanted to lend you a hand—you didn’t reply directly to Trent’s comment, so he won’t see it. Comments get out of threading every once in a while, it happens. I don’t want you to not get a response to your nice comment just bc he never got the notification!
HEY WHAT’S UP I’M BURSTING IN BC I SAW YAKUZA 0
The virtual tourism aspect of these games is a definite, charming aspect to it, and I’m glad you got to experience that first hand! I’m also glad it helped with strengthening your grasp on the language. I’m fascinated about that aspect of it—how do you like the translations vs what you hear? Do you get different kind of insights into the characters? How do they speak compared to the people you work with and talk to every day? More rough, I’m assuming.
Thanks for the comment and the help with my misplaced reply :)
The characters in Yakuza 0 speak a lot more roughly than I’m used to. In that respect, it’s probably a bad idea me trying to copy anything I hear! The way of addressing people is very rude and I’ve never heard it in real life, only on TV/movies.
Also, the English insults are completely different to the Japanese words, I guess it’s difficult to translate. The Japanese phrasing is pretty repetitive, but in English there’s a lot more variety. I guess they choose something they feel is appropriate in English based on the situation. My Japanese isn’t good enough that I can catch everything, but it’s nice to be able to understand most of what’s being said without reading the subtitles.
In real life, the Japanese phrases I use are pretty repetitive. General living things. I can explain most things I want to say at a stretch, but I’m not good at expressing opinions or more complex ideas.
That’s so interesting! I’ve noticed that, too, that English insults are more varied and colorful.
I’m sure that the more you live there and get used to it, you’ll get better and better day by day! Just… yeah… probably would be a good idea to not be this rough with your neighbors and coworkers, ha!
Woah, super cool that you live in Tokyo. Yeah I’d assume it feels different when you’re playing a game that takes place where you actually live.
And good job with the progress especially since it sounds like you had a lot of fun with both games :) As for the backlog approach, I say yeah, why not try what you’ve mentioned? It could work out/be convenient for you!
I don’t have any helpful advice sadly about the work/feeling unappreciated thing, but that does suck. I think many of us have experienced/felt that way at some point unfortunately :/ At least you’re keeping a positive outlook, as you when you said ‘I look at the big picture as there are a lot of positives’, which is good, and I wish I had a mindset like yours honestly!
Thanks for the comment and a belated welcome to BLAEO 😊
It looks like you’re doing well with your backlog so far, and long reviews/reports too 👍
I find it difficult to write a lot. Maybe I should note thinks down as I’m playing rather than just try and summarise 1-2 months after starting the game! 😄
Heh, I’ve actually slacked off a bit with some my own backlog lately due to life / personal stuff, but trying to get back on it now again :) Thank you though for the kind words!
Maybe I should note thinks down as I’m playing rather than just try and summarise 1-2 months after starting the game! 😄
Also YES, that’s what I’ve been wanting to do too for literally forever! So recently, I started logging down thoughts when I can. There’s many games that I wish I remember what I liked/disliked about or the initially feeling after beating a game for the first time… some cool scenes / moments that happened, etc. So I hope you start that and find it helpful & memorable :)
What are these things you speak of? I’ve heard of them, but almost never see them myself. :p
Being appreciated in your workplace is important, but it’s good to hear you’re keeping the big picture in mind. As long as you’re learning and there’s some sense of progression, then you’re doing pretty well for yourself. Could you work within the system / the company (e.g., talk to the right people) to try to voice your concerns? in particular that you’re work isn’t matching your position description? Maybe not, not all companies have good leaders who are willing to listen. Good luck to you!
Thanks for the reply :)
My immediate boss is in exactly the same situation, probably a worse situation actually as he stresses about getting everything right and spends far too much time in the office and thinking about work. Any further up and they aren’t really interested. Things have been brought up multiple times in yearly evaluation meetings, but nothing changes. Part of it is probably a cultural difference (and in the case of one manager we have to deal with a lot, personality!). I’m in Japan but not Japanese, management higher up than my immediate boss is Japanese. I’ve picked up on a few smaller issues and dug my heels in a bit to force change, but that would probably cause more trouble than it’s worth in the long run with bigger issues.
Phew….anyway, mini-rant over! thanks for the well-thought-out advice.
Back on games….how’s your backlog assassination plan going?
Oh wow, yeah, I can imagine it’s a whole different ball of wax in Japan, especially as a foreigner. I might not have commented if I’d checked your profile and saw you were in Japan, as I’d be speaking out of ignorance.
Backlog assassination is going with the Monthly Theme. I don’t tend to like anime / Japanese games, but I’m giving some of them a shot, with mixed results. I may be abandoning (or skipping through) my current game as I tend not to play (read) games I don’t like.